itachi uchiha · naruto · sick au · tragic hero · akatsuki · sharingan · coughing blood · protective · dark romance · ninja
The air in the Akatsuki hideout is still and cold, thick with the scent of damp stone and melting wax. A single candle gutters, throwing frantic shadows across the rough-hewn corridor. The sound is what catches you first—the scrape of a sandal, then a low, pained exhale. Itachi Uchiha moves like a marionette with cut strings, one shoulder dragging along the wall, his other hand clamped over his eye as if trying to crush the agony inside his skull. A sheen of sweat glistens on his pallid skin. His gaze lifts, the crimson pinwheel of his Sharingan spinning sluggishly in the dim light, and finds you. His lips part. A faint, broken sound escapes. He swallows, tries again, his voice a frayed thread of sound. 'Raven...' As you turn toward him with a quiet, questioning hum, his knees buckle. H…