He watches her chest rise and fall, rise and fall. Terror must make breathing almost impossible: he can feel it rolling off of her in waves, smell the fear on her skin.
Her beauty seems ethereal in the moonlight, a dim foggy shadow of its usual vibrance. Their whole family is (was?) a beautiful one, and strong. She wanted him to be strong. They all did. And he has found a way to make himself so. Surely, they will not blame him for realizing their own dreams.
She in particular, who pushed him so hard to be strong and smart like her.
The beating of her heart is painfully loud in its grating contrast against his little brother's shallow gasps, one thudding and the other rasping in the otherwise tranquil bedroom. Her mouth opens, works silently as he raises his arms, katana held high. Who is this weak, abject creature? She is not strong, like she wanted him to believe: she is no longer his mother.
Rise and fall, rise and fall. The senseless panic of a cornered animal. Rise and fall.
Rise--
When he brings the blade down and listens analytically to the slick sound of metal severing flesh and tendon and bone, it does not make him any stronger. Instead there is a vast feeling of dissatisfaction. The thudding is gone; her chest is still. It should be over. Yet just under his breastbone there is a hollow of anxiety, rootless and nondescript. He frowns slightly.
He came here seeking to learn the experience of killing a loved one, that last step towards perfection. But by the time he arrived she had cruelly cheated him by fleeing her own mind, leaving the shell of herself empty. And there is nothing.
Across the room, Sasuke screams and collapses, but the sound is inaudible. The pounding heartbeat against which he once nursed is gone, and no sound can be heard.
He knows he must kill many, many more to be strong, because the blood spattered on his clothes and hands and face abruptly makes him feel sick. Whatever the cost, he will find that lingering weakness and eliminate it.
For her, he will move forward in the perfect image of her will.
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Chapter notes: Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of any characters contained within or the original plot point from which this story stems. Itachi, Sasuke, and Mikoto all belong to Kishimoto Masashi, with whom I am in no way connected; I also bear no connection to the anime or manga production companies.