AW

The only detail they would reveal was that it would concern the suicide of Itachi’s friend, Uchiha Shisui, who had – according to the official report – taken his life with a myriad of his mother’s sleeping pills and a bottle of vodka.

OMGOMGOMG

it's always so weird. i used to think itachi was crazy, but now that we know his motives... it's just...

it's weird...

this was...breathtaking. really beautiful.

i loved itachi, the way you wrote him, his thoughts, and how even he had moments of uncertainty, of weakness. itachi is definitely one of my favorite characters, and you portrayed him wonderfully. his feelings for sasuke and their whole relationship was bittersweet, but again, beautiful.

i'm becoming repetitive, so i'll stop rambling. but really, your story was incredible.

thank you so much for sharing.

Thank you much for posting this! I really loved it.

I can't say exactly what it was about this story that entranced me; I think it was the gentle pacing. the story moves at its own pace, not to slow, not to fast. Very contemplative without wallowing in cleverness or overwrought descriptions. Itachi's viewpoint especially pulled me in.

Only real criticism I have is a tendency to use the wrong word 'here' a place instead of 'hear' a sound.

Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. I am so utterly amazed at this that I don't think I can find the proper words to express it. Honestly, I can't think of a way to say how much I enjoyed this story (which is perhaps a little odd, given some of the morbiditiy of certain chapters). You captured the essence of the Uchiha family amazingly well but still managed to end the story on an upnote, which is fantastic and not expected given how things ended up in the series.

So, basically, what I have to say comes down to this: Fantastic.

(And on a somewhat unrelated note, around the middle of this story I just couldn't seem to get Blue October's song "Say It" out of my head, as it fits well with the story. Just thought I'd mention it. ^.^)

Oh- I don't have words. This is written so well- it's bittersweet yet beautiful and I'm so glad to have read it. Thank you for sharing it.

“I’m sorry,” Itachi murmured. “I’m so sorry.”

“I thought…” Itachi whispered, and Sasuke wasn’t sure who the words were directed at. “I wanted to see how close I… but… I thought I was going to die. I could hardly feel anything, and I was so scared…

“It was wonderful.”

(In death, we become more aware of how glorious life is. There is only life because death exists as a comparison. Light and dark, cold and warm, meetings and partings, sanity and insanity, perfection and imperfection – these things can only be defined when the other exists. And when we see death, we can then see life, as if again for the first time. Like children, we’re in awe, we retain some of that innocence, able to find and protect the little bit of goodness left within us. We no longer need our illusions – instead, we can see the perfection in what is right in front of us. Innocence is not naiveté, no…

Now, we can learn how to truly live!

However, some look back at life and find they prefer the cold breath of death, that taunting beauty, and become possessed by it. Some do not have a choice.

In both death and life now, we find ourselves able to witness God…)

(…and was it worth it?)


This was probably the most realistic fanfiction I have ever read about a suicide attempt and thinking that you are going to die, and what it feels like after. This fic was marvelous, stunning. Really poignant. I was crying through the last three chapters.

Truly, there is something so raw and real about this. It just really hit me hard. I hope you are considering a career in writing.

It's a wonder that I've never managed to stumble across this amazing story before, really. There are a lot of different things that make this story incredible: the details, the things that aren't said but told at the same time... I read all 10 chapters today, and all seemed a little different from what I expected to happen; it only made it better for me, really. I could ramble for quite a while longer, but I just want to comment on how well and amazingly differently written this is. Hopefully you've continued to write; I'll be sure to check out if you have any other works.

That was beautiful and interesting. Thank you for writing it.
Words cannot do it justice ^^'

Ok, so I'm a bit confused. This is really well written, so I'm ok with the cousins being lovers thing - that's really only to prevent genetic abnormalities in children, and it's not like they'd have that problem! But when Itachi kissed Sasuke was that brotherly or more? Personally, I don't think I could accept that, although I see where you're gettin it. Again, this is really well written either way, so I'll go with it, although I probably wouldn't have read it normally. Great job!

I really REALLY liked this snippet.

"He felt Itachi poke his forehead gently with an apologetic smile, and then the door closed, leaving but a single sliver of light slipping out from under the door to warm Sasuke’s feet with false light."

The whole double meaning of false light (or at least in my opinion - maybe I've been colormarking too many novels, though) was REALLY awesome! Kudos!

A naruto fic which naruto is gone. Yeah,why didnt masashi-sensei choose another tittle instead of 'naruto',if i could i wanted to change it 'sasuke' or something else.haha.
Anyway,you know,i looked for non-humor and non-drama fic,i mean some action and angst,then i found this. At first,i thought this fic would head like in its manga,murder and blah blah concerning uchiha's being,it's proven wrong. Itachi centric,ya allah,how i miss him,his sasuke as well,they are just like gone in its manga,though in indonesian version they still fight each other. Hah,this is super angsty!!i cried a lot and i dont think i can retell this to anyone without bursting in to cry. I'd hate you if u decided to kill itachi,i'm so glad that this had happy ending.
Some of your words you wrote here are so good,one i can remember a bit clearly is about drug,how could you think bout that?cool. Itachi and shisui were still young here but in my opinion they did something they shouldnt,or maybe that's western way,i dunno. Thank you,this is cool,i think i'll read some humor to vanish this lingering sadness.

Oh my god.
I can barely breathe.
...
...
... ... ...

I just read through this story all in one sitting (with a small break in the middle so I could sit by myself in my guest house and just gasp and think about life).
Then I visited your profile to see if you had any more stories and noticed (sadly) that you don't write anymore.
Regardless, I hope you get this review.

You have written the most powerfully accurate insight into Itachi's true personality that I have ever read.
He's my favorite character, not because he's 'cool' or 'powerful' or 'hot' (although he is all those things ^^), but because I've always wondered how he must have felt as a child, this 'prodigy' that everyone loved but no one truly understood.
Acknowledged as a genius, constantly barraged with terms like "perfect", "a genius", and "brilliant", how did Itachi deal with himself once he realized that he wasn't perfect?
How did that realization twist his view on life?
Human life would seem so dark, so futile - we're all just wandering leaves, living endlessly through the days, escaping from the mundanity of it all in fantasy worlds and illusions.
You, Fantastical Queen Ebony Black, have managed to write an emotionally searing take on Itachi that...well, to tell the truth, I can barely find words to describe how sickenly human I feel.
The strange beauty of death, the sweet relief it would give...
You've captured it all, and if I had time (I don't, how human of me), I would write paragraphs outlining all the amazing phrases you wrote.

But I don't want to bother you, seeing how you've moved on from fanfiction, so I'll just content myself with spilling some things that stood out.
I appreciate the quotes and excerpts you put at the beginning of each chapter - they really helped to set the deep, somber mood.
The quote at the last chapter really touched me:

“To be godless is probably the first step to innocence,” he said, “to lose the sense of sin and subordination, the false grief for things supposed to be lost.”

“So by innocence you mean not an absence of experience, but an absence of illusions.”

“An absence of need for illusions,” he said. “A love of and respect for what is right before your eyes.”

- from ‘The Vampire Lestat’, by Anne Rice


I find that painfully true. To be innocent is not an absence of experience; it's an absence of a need for illusion, a love of and respect for what is right before your eyes.
Children aren't just innocent because they haven't experienced much; they're innocent because they love what's right in front of them, unconditionally without restraint. They see the beauty in everything...

This might be a good time to mention Sasuke too - you characterized him just as magnificently.
There's something you do - unlike many fanfiction authors, you don't just take one aspect of a character - say, Sasuke's overall Itachi obsession - and blow it all up, making the character just that.
Your Sasuke doesn't just run around squealing "Niisan, niisan!"
It's done so tastfully - your characters are whole. Itachi's brilliance, his cold analysis of humans, and the break that comes when he realizes he's been living an illusion too.
Sasuke's childlike behavior, his frustration at being inadequate.
Even Mikoto - I remember a line where Itachi thinks that she's beautiful but fragile.
Fugaku, his sternness and utter obsession with having the 'right' family.
Many writers I know just write him as an unloving, inhumane person.
But like all humans, Fugaku has motives. He's raising his sons the way he thinks is right. Maybe his parents were harsh. Maybe he doesn't know how to show affection.
Maybe he's just human.

Oh gosh, it's so brain-shattering.
Forgive me if I'm rambling! ^^;
This story has just touched me so much.

Oh and Shisui.
Shisui...

I always love reading stories with him in them because it's so interesting to see how different authors characterize him. One of my favorite authors who also is writing a story about the Uchihas characterizes him as a light-hearted, clever person. The type who just makes people feel better and is extremely bad at lying.
But I love your Shisui...so dark and troubled.
It makes sense to me - being related to the great Itachi, he would also feel pressure like Sasuke to be as brilliant.
And especially because he's so close in age to Itachi, it would affect him negatively that he's so average. (Although if I recall correctly, wasn't he also a brilliant Uchiha?)
Your ItaSui love was also tastefully done. I especially loved that line where Itachi said it was just an emotional love that slipped into physical.
Despite the abundance of Uchihacest fics and ItachixOCAkatsukigirl ones, I've always found it hard to imagine Itachi ever really falling in love with anyone.
I've always imagined him just caring for a person so much that physical stuff just...slips beyond his control. (In that way, ItaSasu would work)
And you've done exactly that with Shisui, so another round of applause for your amazing characterization.

I especially love the way you write. It's distinctive - you have outstanding grammar like every great fanfiction writer out there - but that's just a nice thing.
Not only do your sentences flow, they have so much meaning.
I love the way you jump back and forth, inserting thoughts within the dialogue.
I can really get into Itachi's head - I was leaning forward in my seat, my mouth agape with anticipation..
And the parentheses - they were strange at first but I got used to them quickly - they add something more that I just really liked.
I'm sure many people have told you how well you write, but I want to tell you again: you took a story that's not original, that's been done over hundreds of times, and you made it powerful, so mind-bendingly different with the way you write.
And, of course, your brilliant insight into Itachi's personality.
But it was all put together with the deftness of a true master.
Oh, I've got it - your writing is like art. I'm serious. All that mentioning of still moments like pieces of art - your story itself is a masterpiece in the way you perfectly put together the scenes.
Starting with Itachi's letter (it grabbed me from the start), all the way until the last few sentences that had me quivering in tears...all so beautiful.
I tell you truthfully that if I could choose to have written any of the fics I've ever read, yours would be one of the two.
(The other is "secretkeeper" by to-love-is-to-lie
/s/3745278/1/
The style is a sharp contrast in comparison to yours - it's a 3-story series of an AU "Konoha High" (don't stop there, it's not tacky) written in diary format of a delightfully funny OC girl who eventually ends up with Gaara. The idea in itself is rather..winceworthy and overdone, but she writes in such a unique and captivating way. And funny fics are just that, fun. ^^)

*sigh*
I just love your story!
And the happy ending...a realistic one, definitely.
It's such an amazing emotional journey...and I love how no one died (except Shisui).
What's so cool is that you depicted Itachi's thoughts and feelings in a way that people can understand him.
I've always thought that about him - the pressure behind being a genius - when people call you a god that changes your view of what perfection truly is - but I hope that everyone reads this story and realizes that Itachi's not just this strange, supersmart ninja.
He's human too.
And like all humans, he has emotions.
Even Sasuke butt out there right now has his emotions, cold as he is.
(In my opinion, he's all emotions - he's completely ruled by his hurt and anger and injustice!)

Oh my...I just read over some of what I just wrote.
I might not make too much sense!
Writing a review for you is more gratifying than simply sitting around and staring at trees for the rest of the day though.

Thank you for writing this story.
I'm going to share it with all my friends and hope that they get what it's like to really be Itachi.
You have changed my life - the least I can do is watch you and favorite this story even though you don't write anymore.
Thank you thank you thankyou!
And sorry for the sappy review...I think I'm on the verge of breaking down myself, and I feel a mixture of giddyness and actually rather insignificant right now.

Tons of hugs and kisses, and again, sorry for the craptastically long review.
-CC

PS. I hope this doesn't get cut off. I wrote a review once that was too long.. -crosses fingers-

I wonder how stupid it makes me that I'm currently crying my eyeballs out after reading this.
Words won't suffice to describe this, so I won't even try. But..just..wow. Brilliantly deep and beautiful and emotional. Purely amazing, in every single sense of the word. Spectacularly done.