"My physical condition is actually..."
Itachi instinctively wanted to evade the question, but when he met the other's unwavering gaze, his lips moved slightly. He knew the facade he maintained for the organization and outsiders wouldn't hold up here.
"Sometimes, I do experience sudden discomfort like today..."
"Be more detailed."
"..."
After hesitating for a long time, Itachi finally told the truth.
There were many theories about Itachi's condition. In the original story, Obito had once told Sasuke that Itachi was 'terminally ill and holding back', but at that time, Obito was manipulating Sasuke for his own ends.
His words were filled with half-truths, like distorting the truth about the Kyubi's Rampage, so it was hard to say how much of it was fabricated.
In the original work, Itachi had left Amaterasu as a failsafe against 'another person with the Sharingan', showing just how little he trusted Obito.
Logan also had doubts about the 'illness' claim. After all, while medical technology in the Ninja World was very uneven, the level was still quite high. Most wounds could be healed with a simple medical ninjutsu, eye transplants were as easy as cutting an appendix, and there were techniques like Orochimaru's Living Corpse Reincarnation and Tsunade's Creation Rebirth. So there shouldn't be any truly incurable diseases. (T/N: It seems the Author forgot about Kimimaro.)
But regardless, there was no doubt that prolonged use of the Mangekyo Sharingan had taken a heavy toll on Itachi's body.
Now, with the chance to press for answers, Logan's persistent questioning and careful analysis of the symptoms, along with Itachi's honest admission, confirmed his suspicions.
"I see."
Logan's expression softened slightly, 'As long as it wasn't a death sentence, there was still hope.'
So, you've been checked, and you're not sick, right?"
"I'm not sick," Itachi said, though the phrasing made it sound like an insult.
"As long as you're not sick." Logan nodded with relief.
Itachi's grip on his cup stiffened slightly, and he took a sip of water to steady himself.
Picking up his chopsticks again, Logan didn't notice the weirdness in their conversation. He thought about Itachi's condition, which was closer to a curse than a physical disease.
Not to mention the side effects caused by the Mangekyo Sharingan, Logan also suspected that the years of guilt from the Uchiha Massacre, the pressure of his work in Akatsuki, the burden of protecting Konoha, and the forced suppression of his feelings for Sasuke were equally to blame.
A normal person would have long since buckled under the weigh, and for Itachi to endure this long, determined to fulfill his mission to the very end, was nothing short of miraculous. The tangled web of duty and sacrifice made Logan's heart ache for him.
"By the way… your eyes. How bad is the blindness?"
Logan asked casually between bites, his gaze lingering on Itachi's dark eyes. Up close, he noticed for the first time the faint hollowness in them… a void where there should have been depth.
Blurred vision, double images, the occasional flicker of confusion… when he heard this, Logan felt a heavy silence settle over him.
"Compared to before, my vision has deteriorated significantly, but it hasn't affected my combat ability too much yet." Itachi rubbed his eyes.
"Oh, as long as you can still see, that's fine." Logan forced a smile. There was no way around it… without evolving the Mangekyo into the Eternal Mangekyo, blindness was inevitable.
Logan pretended to take it in stride, as between two battle-hardened Ninja, there was no need to dwell on the melancholy.
Some things didn't need to be said aloud, and overstating them would only make it awkward.
"Since your eyesight is not good, why don't you get a pair of glasses?" Logan suggested out of nowhere, "I recommend round frames with thin gold or black rims. They're very popular recently."
"Senpai, glasses wouldn't..."
"Don't knock it till you try it. They'd look cool on you."
Itachi simply lowered his head and ignored the other person as he ate. He wondered why he suddenly felt so drained.
Sometimes, exhaustion just crept up on you... But had he ever felt like this before?
"Senpai, my vision can't be restored by relying on external objects." Itachi sighed.
"Ah, oh, then just forget I mentioned it." Logan dropped the subject.
However, after just a while, Logan became curious and asked, "Then, what's your degree like? Can you still tell people apart from animals at a distance?"
"Tell people apart from animals..." Itachi couldn't help but repeat dryly, and the corner of his mouth twitched, "It's not that bad."
Logan held up a finger. "How many is this?"
'Was this suddenly a game?' Itachi's eyelid twitched, "Senpai..."
"How many?" Logan pressed, leaning back and raising his hand further, turning it into three fingers, "If you don't answer, I'll assume you can't tell people apart from animals!"
"Three... No, stop this childishness."
"I'm just testing your eyesight. How is that childish?" Logan said righteously, then an idea struck him and he coughed lightly, "Alright, let's play a game. One finger means 'forget', two fingers mean 'love', three fingers mean 'water'..."
"This is to test both your reflexes and your vision. Combining the two might have miraculous effects on your condition..."
Itachi listened to Logan's utterly nonsensical justification with a hand pressed to his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
"Are you ready?"
"I suppose." The disinterest in his voice was palpable. He wiped his face, regaining his usual aloof composure, then rapped his knuckles on the table and turned toward the counter, saying calmly, "Check, please."
"Hey, hey, wait a second..."
In the end, Logan didn't get to play his 'interesting' game. Itachi made it clear he wasn't interested and even pretended to leave, forcing Logan to give up.
Past experience proved Itachi's decision correct, as he had narrowly avoided yet another one of Logan's pranks.
'Oh well, I'll just find someone else to play with.' Logan silently began considering the next suitable candidate, 'How about Sasuke?'
Once the topic of the Mangekyo Sharingan's toll on the body was set aside, the conversation meandered to other things.
Truthfully, there wasn't much novel or exciting to discuss. Without social media or gossip columns, they ended up exchanging tidbits about the Akatsuki's internal affairs, intelligence on the Five Great Nations, and even comparing whose shuriken were sharper.
Outside the izakaya, the dim yellow streetlight continued to cast its unchanging glow over the small stretch of road. The dishes on the table gradually emptied, and Itachi found that the usual fatigue and pain from his Mangekyo's strain didn't feel quite as oppressive.
At one point, Logan asked why Itachi had chosen Dosei City as their meeting place… and whether it was because he had developed some deep admiration for his 'senpai' back then.
Itachi flatly denied it, insisting that it was purely a matter of convenience and that he had simply picked a location both of them remembered clearly.
"Ohhh?" Logan drew out the syllable skeptically, " Just a casual memorable moment? If you hadn't brought it up with your Genjutsu, I would've forgotten about it entirely."
"Is that so?" Itachi replied with a stiff expression that didn't reveal any flaws.
In the distance, the night watchman struck his copper gong once more. The lighthearted banter faded, deliberately or not, as both of them knew they hadn't met just to exchange idle chatter.