"Hmm… I can't just let others suffer losses because of my own mistakes."
Itachi's inner nature suggested he was a very gentle man. From a peaceful perspective, his decision to annihilate his clan wasn't entirely unreasonable. Zaraki Kita, looking at Itachi, thought of all of Orochimaru's misdeeds and shook her head. Konoha truly was a peculiar village.
——Humans are social creatures.
Zaraki Kita merely expressed this thought as she moved a piece, capturing Itachi's rook and putting him in check again. Itachi didn't flinch, his gaze meeting hers, waiting silently for her next words.
It seemed she had something to say, but she was hesitating, calculating the right measure.
——At your age, even if I said it, you probably wouldn't fully understand.
"You think I'm a child?" Itachi countered. Zaraki Kita shook her head, then gestured after a moment of thought.
——Killing your own clan… it must be indescribably difficult.
For Zaraki Kita, this wasn't a sudden revelation, but for Itachi, it certainly was. He didn't panic or feel anger, yet he asked, "What exactly are you trying to express?"
——Life is unpredictable.
Itachi fell silent. That wasn't the answer he wanted. Truthfully, even he didn't fully know what answer he sought. After a long pause, he looked at Zaraki Kita again and asked in the calmest tone he could muster:
"For you, don't you think someone like me is dangerous? Someone who could easily slay their own family… eventually, someone like me could turn the blade on you. Aren't you worried at all, letting someone like me become one of your people?"
Impressive… but so young.
Zaraki Kita thought: if Uchiha Itachi had slaughtered his clan at twenty-three, he wouldn't be saying things like this. But he had done it at thirteen. His skills were incredible, his talents as a ninja extraordinary—but he was still so young. Young enough to be stubborn, childishly rigid, and meticulous about some things.
——Where there is light, there is shadow. And where there is shadow, there must be light somewhere. Itachi, you are like everyone else. Reasons don't matter. You are people with nowhere to go, without a home. But life… life is long.
"Mm… yes, it is long."
Itachi agreed with that theory, but only with the theory. He set down his chess piece—another loss.
"Um… can I ask you something?"
Zaraki Kita nodded.
"How have you managed to hold on all this time, on your own?"
The question was polite. Zaraki Kita smiled and replied bluntly:
——Not alone. If it were only me, I would have given up long ago. Humans are social creatures… even someone like me… is…
She didn't finish, because Konan arrived, playfully wrapping her arms around Zaraki Kita's neck from behind. Her forearms curved around her, lightly nuzzling her cheek without concern for the still-underage Itachi watching.
"How many games have you won?"
Zaraki Kita smiled, letting her hand graze Konan's sleeve, enjoying the comforting sensation, but didn't answer.
Itachi's lips curved slightly. Every time he saw their interactions, he couldn't control the expression on his face. He'd seen couples before—same or opposite sex—but their intimacy was something else. It gave him a feeling he couldn't describe, just a warm, good feeling.
"Counting this game, I've lost three times."
"Again? I knew you wouldn't go easy, Itachi. He just started playing, and you've already played for so long." Konan's slight reproach was playful, not harsh.
Zaraki Kita smiled and looked up at Konan, signaling:
——Next time, I'll let him win.
"No problem. Doing things you're not good at can be fun too," Itachi replied, far from sounding like a fourteen-year-old. Then again, which fourteen-year-old had massacred their entire clan at thirteen?
"Hehe, you sure know how to talk," Konan said with a gentle smile. She glanced at her lover. "Want to keep playing?"
Zaraki Kita shook her head, holding Konan's hand and waving goodbye to Itachi.
"See you next time, Kita-san, Konan-san."
The two left hand in hand. Itachi quietly packed up the chess set, lips curled in a soft smile, calm and gentle.
Akatsuki wasn't as bad as he had imagined. Here, besides revisiting old memories, there were other things to do—like playing chess.
━━━━ ❖ ━━━
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