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Kisame leans his head back against the stone and takes as deep a breath as he can, feeling a few petals escape on his exhale.
"I know this isn't what you wanted, Itachi, but I'm afraid that it's what has happened. Your brother is set on his path of vengeance, thanks to Tobi's machinations, and your whole village is falling apart.”
He starts coughing and can't stop, his body jerking with the effort to expel more of the flowers growing in his lungs.
The fit doesn't end until he coughs up what feels like most of a branch of sakura flowers, and he catches some in his hands, pressing them into the dirt in a mockery of an offering.
The rest he lets drift away on the breeze, hoping that they'll find a better fate than he will.
"You know, right up until the last moment, that last fight with your brother, I'd hoped that you would give up on your mission. The way you looked at me sometimes, I thought that maybe there might be something there for us. For me."
A light rain begins to fall, misting all around him.
It seems fitting.
"But your sense of duty and responsibility was always too strong for that I guess. Still, I can't help wondering... if you'd known that you'd be taking me with you... would you still have done it?"
He sighs, petting Samehada as it lies next to him. The sword prickles under his palm, a feeling of unhappiness pervading the chakra that it presses against him.
"I know. There's no point in thinking about what might have been, it only makes things worse. It's probably because I held out hope for so long that the disease has moved so fast."
And it has. It's only been a month since Itachi died, and he'd had to move quickly to get everything in order and taken care of.
He'd known that he didn't have long.
"You'll be alright, Samehada. I don't know why you like him so much, but I've sent Killer Bee a message, just like you wanted. You won't be without a wielder for long, I suspect."
The sunset blurs in front of him and Kisame smiles into the damp air.
"Goodbye, my oldest and truest friend."
With a few flicked hand signs, he sinks into the earth and is gone.
Itachi's grave will have to be enough for the both of them.