Naruto 1. Chapter 1

Description:

Itachi saved Konoha from war at the price of his Clanmembers lives. Against the agreements made with the Council, he refuses to abandon Sasuke and join the Akatsuki. Itachi deals with the past and tries to kill Madara, who influenced the need for the Uchiha Massacre. All is well at first, but can Itachi save his brother when an enemy reveals the past?

Hello everyone! I got the idea for this story sometime after I started Itachi's Wish, and decided to go ahead and post it. This story will be long, and have at least one sequel.

This story is rated PG-13 for possible future violence.

Currently decided pairings (These may change later, and I will be adding more. If you don't like these pairings then don't read the story): Itachi x original character, Sasuke x Karui, Sai x Karin, Suigetsu x Hinata

'Thinking' 'quotes' "Talking" _Flashbacks emphasis._

I will be editing or even re writing this later, since I have not had the time to edit this story as much as I have wanted. Since this is a fanfiction, some things like character ages, personalities, and even lineages, are changed.

**I do not own the Naruto story and its characters. Original characters are copyright to me unless stated otherwise.**

_**Chapter 1:**_

The clouds filtered out the sun, shading the earth in their gray cast. It was peaceful, calm, with the promise of rain lingering in the air. The black haired ninja took a breath of the fresh, cold breeze. As long as the rain waited until he arrived back home, the weather was perfect for a mission. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the rain, but it could be annoying while you were on a mission. The water left mud, and the mud left clearer tracks, and it was more difficult to see your surroundings and more difficult for summons to track enemy scents.

Right now, he was traveling toward the village gates, early as usual, and hoping that the others were early so that they could all begin and end the mission sooner.

He doubted that they would be quite this early, though. That was alright with him, since he was going to take a slightly longer route to the village gates. He needed the extra time to take care of something that needed his attention. The change in scenery couldn't hurt either...

He turned onto a small footpath near the Academy, and from there walked on to the grass and into thick stand of trees growing behind the Ninja School.

It wasn't a very noticeable place, and this was especially true to his adult eyes. But it was a place frequented by many Academy students. It was almost like another world, and the younger children often pretended it was. The innermost trees were overgrown and wild like the untamed ones in the training grounds and less populated areas of the village. No one bothered to cut these trees, but other than the obvious growth the plants had made, the place was similar to how he remembered it.

A large branch laden with pink blossoms grew at head height, swaying with the breaths of wind filtering through the area. Brushing the sakura branch aside, he continued down the path, nothing more than another one of the silent shadows that had accumulated under the trees.

Stars of light filtered through the branches, slightly gray due to the overcast sky. He remembered coming here, enjoying the solitude, how the sound of the villager's lives and the birds made a quiet, peaceful backdrop to it all. He would have to visit again, when he didn't have a mission to go to...

Far too soon, he exited the place, disappointed that it wasn't as large as his childhood memories had painted it. Then again, it only made sense, everything was much larger to a child...

His senses picked up a familiar chakra signature, and the sound of a a young heartbeat speeding up as he passed. There, behind that tree. But he made no acknowledgment of the other's presence, walking right by the tree and toward Konoha's gates. He'd let his raven clone handle it.

He was soon out of the other's sight, and a minute or two later, his clone deactivated itself and transferred its memories...

_Hard black eyes watched as the kid glanced around the tree's massive trunk. The kid was far better at staying hidden than the average child, but she couldn't honestly believe it was enough to get away with her actions for long... And she didn't, but she did it anyway, it seemed..._

_The clone teleported in front of her as she stepped out, seemingly satisfied. But that look quickly changed to an 'oh hell I just got caught' expression. As much as the ravens that formed the clone wanted to smirk at her reaction, they had to play the part of Itachi, who was about to give a lecture. Or as close to a lecture as Itachi could give, anyway. The kid knew it was just a raven clone, not her father, but the ravens spoke for Itachi. She had to do as she was told._

"_Ah...hello father..." the kid said. She addressed the clone as Father since that was who the clone's memories would be transferred to._

"_Where are you headed, Kaiko?" Translation: 'You aren't supposed to be here.'_

"_Ah...back to class...?" Kaiko tried. An apology mixed with what her next course of action would be._

"_You are headed in the wrong direction. See that you never lose your way again." The clone said. In other words, don't skip class anymore, unless you want to be grounded._

"_Yes sir..." Kaiko replied. She blushed slightly, a little irritated and embarrassed at being caught. She turned and left, and the clone knew that she would go back to class and stay there this time. Since she had gotten caught, it was unlikely that she would cut class again. The clone released itself, coming apart in a burst of inky shadows, macabre, almost ghostlike presences fading in the wind. Disappearing into oblivion..._

The real Itachi allowed a smirk to cross his face. He tilted his head up toward the clouds, going over the scene the raven clone transferred to him.

Kaiko, what would he do with her?

Overall, she was a great kid, with the exception of her tendency to break rules in what she liked to call 'harmless' ways. For instance, her recent obsession with cutting class. She knew she was up to the standards required by her teachers, and therefore able to graduate. Her parents would not allow this, however, and kept her in the Academy. The instructors gave her more advanced work, but she didn't really like the Academy, and had always promised that she would be out of there as soon as possible.

Her methods were unusual, which was good for a ninja, however, she picked the wrong time to use her...creativity, as she put it. She left a clone at the Academy, then she herself would leave and head to the library, train with friends of hers that had already graduated, or, if both her parents were gone, go home. The clone learned what Kaiko needed to know, then, once the school day was over, deactivated and transferred all its memories to her, so it wasn't like she fell behind in her classes. Far from it, actually. This was why she called her method of avoiding class 'harmless'.

This method was, however, irresponsible. She couldn't avoid all the irritating things in her life, and in the future, some of her superiors or comrades might question her responsibility and reliability. Putting this character trait together with his mission experience, he saw how it might be a problem, even if those who were not involved might find it interesting.

This was one reason she was made to stay behind in the Academy. She had skill, but still so many things to learn, so much maturity to gain. Many ninja were thrown into battle, and the chaos tore them to pieces. Itachi didn't want that for her.

There were other reasons, of course. One being that night that ran red with blood. Uchiha blood. His family was the only one left of that bloodline, and many either hated them or simply thought they could earn a name for themselves by killing his family members.

That night... That night was horrible, he had tried to clean up his mess, and he still thought he did a horrible job of it.

For better or for worse, though, it made him who he was. And for the first time in a long time, he let his mind fully experience his past once more, in the brief minutes it would take to get to Konoha's gates. It wouldn't be long till the anniversary of _that night._

Some part of him couldn't let it go, and what he couldn't bury, he needed to face...

…...

_23 years ago..._

The droplet fell, slowly, weakly clinging to the cold metal surface before falling to join with a small, cold pool not far below his blade. Not much different than a being facing death. Fight all you want, it would still happen to you. And fight all you want, no matter how good you tried to be, you still ended up doing something wrong. Even if it was something that the average person considered relatively innocent.

In life, in death, in good and evil deeds, everyone was the same. Everyone experienced these things. Cling to life, cling to the idea that you are better than the things you fought against, but you just ended up like that droplet of blood at the end of that blade. You still fell.

Itachi's hand trembled slightly. Damn...he had actually gone through with this, hadn't he? It was finally over.

The breeze picked up, setting the trees alongside the house into a ghostly dance. They brushed against the outer walls, like the hands of the dead that would never walk again. Because of him. The whole scene reminded him of a reality that he didn't want to deal with, but he didn't have a choice.

Because in reality, this was far from over...

The night he reported the Uchiha's rebellion to the Hokage was so much like this night. The Uchiha's anger had been a wound, torn open by time and politics, festering into an infection that would not stop without a drastic cure. This cure, the clan decided, had to be in leadership. The Hokage, the Council, and Danzo had to die, along with all those who opposed the Uchiha. Fugaku, Itachi's father and the clan leader, had been considering this course of action for years. At first he had only toyed with the idea, but with the increasing resentment between the Uchiha and Konoha's leaders, he began taking the necessary steps to make his plan executable. The entire clan justified it, saying they would plan things perfectly so that the transition in leadership was smooth, there would be the smallest loss in life possible, and none of Konoha's bloodlines would be eliminated. But most of them knew, deep inside, that they could not ensure any of that.

A year or two before Itachi made ANBU, he worked with his father at the Uchiha Police Station, preparing for his future role as clan head. Itachi didn't particularly care for the idea of taking on the responsibilities of Clan Head _and_ Police Head, but it seemed to be a tradition, at least in Fugaku's eyes. Well, even if Itachi received both titles at first, he would give the title of Police Head to Sasuke as soon as he was old enough, provided his little brother was still interested in taking the rank.

Itachi had mentioned Sasuke's wish to lead the Police. Fugaku merely nodded and said 'I will consider it'. Itachi wasn't sure he believed his father. Fugaku may not have even heard Itachi, since he had been reading a recent Police report. The next words out of Fugaku's mouth were mutterings of how it was hard to get anything done with the restrictions the Council placed on the Police Force. And in the months that followed, Fugaku had made several such comments in Itachi's presence. They were subtle, but Itachi still knew he was meant to hear them.

He hadn't thought much of it until he got the notice from the Hokage, inviting him into ANBU. He was sure he should accept, considering the impact he would be making on Konoha's welfare. He would be handling the most dangerous, secretive, and important missions the Hokage could ever hand out. He wasn't too happy about the increased amount of kills he would have to make, though, as well as the other less pleasant parts of ANBU.

Father saw the notice, and then all but ordered Itachi to join. The only reason he gave Itachi was 'For the good of the clan' . A few months after he joined, Fugaku pried every bit of intel he could from Itachi. The information ranged from what Konoha's patrol patterns were to what the other ANBU's reactions were to having the future Uchiha leader among them. Fugaku would also tell him to rise in the ranks as quickly as possible, and to represent the clan well. Itachi asked Mikoto, his mother, for an explanation. She only paused, frowned, and said 'The Uchiha need to increase their favor with Konoha's leaders.'

That wasn't a good enough answer for Itachi. Especially considering the grim undertone in her voice.

In time, Fugaku provided Itachi with an explanation. He started with the night the Kyuubi ravaged the village, and how suspicions had grown toward the Uchiha, who, the Council believed, were the only ones able to control the monster. The restrictions on the Police Force, which had been bad enough before, were increased. Within the higher politics of Konoha, the Uchiha were swiftly losing their reputation and their power, their position and very existence becoming more and more endangered. To Itachi's alarm, Konoha's leaders were pushing the Uchiha into the position they feared.

_Traitors._

Itachi insisted on negotiation, rather than rebellion, stating the risks of the rebellion and how it only reenforced the Council's need to restrict their clan. Fugaku's mind could not be changed. After a week of trying to fix things, Itachi decided there wasn't anything else he could do. He was concerned with the welfare of his clan, his family, but he was also aware of Konoha's needs. His earlier years had been tainted with war, he remembered everything, the blood, the screams, his own panic as a dying ninja pursued him, desperate to kill one last enemy before he died. Itachi closed his eyes as the memories came flooding back.

_Itachi peered out from his hiding place, eyes widening as the loud, limping enemy struggled forward, looking like something from a horror show. The child froze as he saw the unfortunate pause, then lock his gaze onto him. The child scrambled away as the dying enemy limped after him, blood streaming liberally from his wounds. _

"_I'm not dying without killing as many of you Konoha wretches as I can!" _

_The words had come out as a desperate, hard to understand snarl. Itachi tripped over a corpse filled with kunai embedded in the flesh of the dead one. He snatched two of them up, holding them like he had seen the adults do. He desperately pulled himself forward, trying to get to his feet, slipping on the blood that coated the pavement beneath him. _

_The enemy lifted his short sword, stumbling forward, disoriented from the loss of blood. Itachi reacted on instinct, and moments later, everything seemed to grow quiet and cold as he realized his actions. After the battle was over, he clung to his mother, afraid of what he had done._

No child should have to make their first kill at the age of four.

But that was what happened to Itachi. At that age, being so close to a battle zone was scarring. Itachi remembered, even more than the average child would. He avoided killing and war when he could, knowing it did nothing but contribute to the sad state the world was in. Not that he didn't recognize killing was necessary at times.

The Uchiha rebellion would do nothing but cause another war. Fugaku and Mikoto knew it too, but they were foolish enough to follow along with the rest of the clan's wishes, recklessly thinking they would handle whatever came.

Ninja villages were not easy to take over. Considering the restrictions already in place, it was obvious that the Uchiha were already suspected, and Konoha was taking precautions. The Hokage had expected it even before Itachi reported it, Itachi's words had only confirmed what would happen. The Uchiha rebellion had little chance of success, many clan members would die, even if they succeeded. If they didn't the remainder would likely be executed. Either way, there would be too much death, and too much war to justify any of it. Konoha's position in the world would be in danger. Other nations would see an opportunity and attack, and with its members fighting themselves, Konoha and the entire Land of Fire would be consumed by the flames of war.

Blood would cloak the streets, all because of the ambition of his own family, and the blood would be that of countless innocents, who had nothing to do with the Uchiha's plan. Konoha's leaders were not without blame, either, but at the moment he couldn't do much about them. Unfortunately, neither the Council or the Uchiha would bend. Time grew short, and the Uchiha planned the rebellion for the next day. The Council's orders were firm, to say the least. There was no time to think of a better solution, and neither side would agree with it anyway.

He, Itachi Uchiha, became the worst of murderers then.

The wind blew through the open window, and the shutters crashed against the sides of the house. The still corpses in front of him lay still except for their hair, swaying with the wind that darted through the window. He remembered when he found out Madara was still alive, watching the Uchiha clan. Everything fell into place in Itachi's mind. It would take more investigating to prove it, but Itachi knew Madara had purposefully engineered the destruction of the Uchiha. Itachi threatened to reveal Madara's presence to the village. He demanded Madara help him finish off the Uchiha clan. In return, Itachi would keep Madara's existence secret, and he would join the Akatsuki, Madara's organization.

Itachi killed most of his half of the clan, then fought Madara, before completing the job by killing Fugaku and Mikoto. There was no other opportunity, so he risked being killed by Madara before finishing the destruction of the Uchiha. If Itachi died fighting Madara, the rest of the village could handle his parents. Obviously Madara's power was depleted by fulfilling his part in the massacre, Itachi managed to drive him away. Madara would go off and heal in whatever shadows he had crawled into. Itachi would have to hunt Madara down, preferably before Madara could regain his power. Itachi was good, but not good enough to destroy Madara at full strength. He would have to change that, the crazy old man was way to dangerous to leave alive...

"I..Itachi..." a young, trembling voice said, sounding like the cold wind, blowing away his thoughts.

Itachi's eyes flicked upward. He had meant to clean his blade before his little brother came back. It wouldn't make much of a difference either way, though.

Itachi closed off his expression, and he cleaned the blood off his sword while regarding the other calmly.

"Hello, Sasuke..." Itachi saw Sasuke flinch as his blade cut through the air, its cruel length gleaming murderously in the light. It slid lightly back into its sheath, or as Itachi sometimes called it, the sword's cage. Mainly when Itachi was in a bitter mood over an unnecessary death. At those times he couldn't help but liken his sword to a wretched animal that was only used when necessary, one that had to be locked up as much as possible. He walked forward, avoiding the pool of blood drying on the floor...

…...

Sasuke panicked, running home, because he clung to some sort of hope that even if the rest of the Uchiha compound had gone to hell, his own home would be safe. Cold, numb, icy shock sank its fangs into him, as if he were experiencing nothing but a nightmare. When he crossed the doorway of his home, he wanted to wake up, find his parents and brother there like they always were, proof that none of this was real.

But the numbness would not last forever.

The house was dark, and Sasuke stopped running, stepping lightly inside the house. "Father, Mother...?" he called out. But his voice was barely there. How could anyone be expected to hear it?

He walked deeper, shadows and fear creeping deeper and deeper into his heart. His hand reached for the doorknob of the room ahead of him, and he paused, gathering up courage so that he could finally force himself to enter.

What he saw were his parents lying limply on the floor in a pool of their own blood. His blood froze within his veins. The nightmare had also reached his home.

Sasuke finally caught sight of his brother's looming presence behind the corpses, face edged in moonlight, terrible as the light reflected off a blade. "I..Itachi..." Sasuke's voice sounded small in the face of his surroundings. He eyed the pool of blood dripping from Itachi's sword. Sasuke could barely hear his own voice, so he was surprised that Itachi heard it.

His older brother looked up. "Hello, Sasuke..." Itachi's voice was dark, intimidating, and though Itachi's expression was closed off, Sasuke could detect a large amount of negative emotion raging beneath his brother's calm face. Itachi cleaned the blood from his blade.

The wicked looking thing gleamed in the moonlight as it slashed the air, and Sasuke flinched at the sound. Itachi slid the instrument of death back into its sheath and walked forward. Involuntarily, Sasuke took a step back.

But why did he step back? Was he afraid of Itachi? His older brother was intimidating, but logically, shouldn't he be happy that his brother was here? He shouldn't feel afraid anymore, Itachi was more than capable of protecting him from whatever threat had stolen its way through the compound...

But Itachi was like some ghostly, unpredictable predator through a forest. Maybe most _would _be afraid... He easily stepped around the pool of blood, walking until he stood beside Sasuke.

"Madara..." Itachi murmered bitterly, as if the word was poison.

Sasuke blinked, tearing his eyes away from his dead parents so that he could glance at Itachi. "What?"

Itachi placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, in a way that was probably supposed to be comforting, but Sasuke didn't think it really helped.

"Madara, a former member of our clan during the founding of Konoha, he finally decided to take his revenge tonight..." were the words in Itachi's hollow, bitter reply. "I...I couldn't stop him, I'm glad you did not come home till just now..." Itachi's hand tightened its grip slightly at the last part. He turned to leave, it was time to report to the Hokage and ANBU. "Come..." was all he said to Sasuke. A moment later, Sasuke pulled his gaze away from the corpses and ran to catch up with Itachi.

Sasuke's steps sounded painfully loud in the morbid atmosphere. He jerked at every sudden noise. A floorboard that creaked when Sasuke walked on it, a cricket that abruptly started chirping, heedless of the dead scattered like fallen leaves, and a window shutter that slammed shut as the wind passed.

Itachi was grateful that their parents corpses were somewhat hidden by the shadows, it was enough that the seven year old saw them dead. It would have been even worse if he saw their bloodied throats and other various wounds. Sasuke only saw the corpses and the edge of their blood pool.

Sasuke was losing focus, even though he had not seen the full horror of their parent's wounds. He wasn't looking where he was going, he started panting, staggering from the weight of the remnants of chaos littered about.

His next step splashed what felt like water from a shallow storm puddle hitting his legs. He froze. It hadn't rained in a while, Sasuke knew it wasn't just water...

He glanced down, and saw a corpse about a foot in front of him. His feet darted backwards as he panicked, and fell backward, sticky, partially dried blood coating his hands. He shoved himself to his feet, panting. He had to get away.

He tripped on a crack in the pavement, and came face to face with the source of the blood pool. His hands slipped on the cold entrails that had seeped out of the corpse. He froze, stomach clenching as he recognized the dead one. His great uncle, and his great aunt was right beside him. Sasuke trembled as his stomach clenched harder, and the sickening sight caused him to vomit. Tears streamed down his face, and he made no effort to stop them.

…...

Itachi guided Sasuke into their great aunt and uncle's house. Sasuke continued trembling slightly, drowning within his fear and feelings of sudden loss.

Itachi wasn't any good at comforting others, especially when he was responsible for their pain. Guilt sank it's fangs deep into Itachi, and he didn't think he could ever get rid of that accusing feeling. He left Sasuke sitting at the kitchen table, his face buried in his arms. The tears had died off by now, but Sasuke still trembled, clenching his fists as he worked through the reality that he had just seen outside.

The entire clan was dead, he and Itachi were alone. Mother would never smile again, he would never have a chance to make Father as proud of him as he was Itachi... Many of the dreams and goals his seven year old self had put together were gone.

Sasuke paid no mind to Itachi for the moment, even as he left the room to get him a glass of water. Itachi hoped it would be enough to help distract Sasuke from his pain for a while. He walked into the darkened kitchen, taking a glass from the cupboard and filling it with cold water.

"Sasuke." Itachi's voice cut through his thoughts. Sasuke's face lifted from his arms and turned toward Itachi, who was holding out a glass of water. Sasuke's thank you was barely audible as he took the glass and drank several large sips. Sasuke frowned and stared at the floor.

"I'm...sorry." Sasuke said quietly.

Itachi blinked, a bit surprised by Sasuke's statement. He was _sorry _? "For what?"

"I showed weakness, ninja aren't supposed to cry, or be sickened by corpses. Or afraid..."

"Sasuke, not everything you learn in the Academy is accurate. It is unrealistic to think you can hide your emotions all the time." Itachi said. "Ninja who think they can do that live in a fantasy, don't accept that existence for yourself."

Sasuke just nodded, thinking about Itachi's words.

"We can't stay here any longer, the Hokage needs to know what happened."

Sasuke got off the chair and followed his brother without a word, looking up at the night sky so he could avoid watching corpses, or the cold, lonely streets... He wondered where all the cat summons that hung around here went...

They walked in silence, Sasuke trying to shut out the morbid surroundings that claimed his attention.

Itachi watched as Sasuke tried to ignore the corpses and darkened streets. He needed to take his mind off of all this.

"You know, when Shisui and Ameko made their first kill, they threw up as well." Itachi said. It had to be the worst distraction he attempted, but he couldn't think of much else to say. Not only that, but Sasuke still seemed a bit ashamed at his perceived show of weakness. Sasuke looked up to Ameko and Shisui almost as much as he looked up to Itachi. Itachi hoped this would be enough to let Sasuke know his reaction was normal.

"Really?" Sasuke asked, surprised, he looked up at Itachi.

"Yes." was Itachi's reply.

Sasuke turned his head toward the ground a moment and kicked a pebble that rested on the road. "But you didn't." he said.

"No. I was only four when I made my first kill, so I already knew what it was like, while Ameko and Shisui did not. But even though my reaction was different from theirs, I wasn't concerned with hiding my emotions." Itachi replied. "Once I made my first kill, I was...unhappy with the fact that I wasn't any different than enemies I defended against."

"But you had to defend yourself." Sasuke said.

"Yes."

"Why would you feel sorry for that? Enemies are evil! They deserve to die!" Sasuke said.

Itachi didn't answer at first. The statement reminded him of the corpses he left to rest in the blood soaked Uchiha compound. "...Things...are never that simple, Sasuke." was all Itachi said. If only Sasuke knew...

In Itachi's mind, he had committed murder, even if it was to save the village. The penalty for murder was death. It had been that way since the dawn of time. He wondered how Sasuke would feel if he realized he had just condemned his older brother... Maybe he wouldn't care, just say Itachi deserved to be damned...

...And maybe he would be right...

They finally reached the compound gates. For now, they were free of the carnage that infested their home. They were walking toward their future, uncertain as it was.

And Itachi would make sure that future was as promising as possible...

…...

…...

I hope you enjoy this new story! I will try and make the next chapters better.

Please tell me what you think of this story in a review and what you liked and disliked about this story. This encourages me and helps me know what to work on, in addition to me making my writing more descriptive and improving characterization.

Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Yay, next chapter! Please review, as I like to see what others think of this story.

**I do not own the Naruto story and its characters. Original characters are copyright to me unless stated otherwise.**

…_**...**_

…_**...**_

Did something count as occupied when it was filled with emptiness? Sasuke didn't think so, because emptiness didn't help anyone. The streets were empty, cold, and lonely, but he supposed that was better than having to stare at corpses as he walked. It didn't keep the morbid images from resurfacing, however, and occasionally he would catch himself imagining one of the dead ones about to walk out of an alleyway to greet him. The images were not filled with horrific looking undead, but more subtle images of terror, like the ones he sometimes found in his nightmares. In those dreams, everyone _seemed _normal, but he somehow knew that the 'normal' ones were the harmful ones.

He really didn't like thinking about nightmares right now, but he couldn't help it since he seemed to already have stumbled into one.

A pebble skittered along the pavement, set in motion by Sasuke's shoe as he kicked the tiny stone. Nightmares aside, what was going to happen now? He supposed the Hokage would help them adjust to their new life, whatever that would be. He was sure Itachi would try to make things reasonably normal and have Sasuke back at school as soon as possible, training hard to fulfill his dreams. But nothing could ever be normal again, Sasuke knew that much. How could it when 'normal' involved the family and clan that was currently lying limp in a pool of blood? He wouldn't ever be able to come home and tell his mother about his day. He could still go home and train, but he couldn't ever try and make Father proud of him, because people couldn't be proud if they were dead. Shisui and Ameko couldn't help Itachi train him either, which was one of the things he enjoyed the most. He liked hanging out with the older kids, they were cool and strong, everything he wanted to be. He always learned so much around them. Itachi himself had been training him less and less lately, though.

But Shisui and Ameko were dead now, he couldn't train with them anymore. He wondered if Itachi would train him more because he couldn't train with Shisui and Ameko, or go to clan meetings since there was no longer any clan...

He felt guilty for those thoughts. They were selfish, and what good would more training do anyway? Thinking about what he could gain from the tragedy was a pathetic attempt to make himself feel better. He knew that nothing would ever be the same, and there was nothing good about that. He would appreciate any attempts that Itachi made toward fixing things, but it couldn't fill the emptiness that death left.

Sasuke shivered as the winds changed, drawing colder like a cloak made from mist rather than cloth. The change made him more aware of his surroundings, and he was surprised at how far they had already walked. They were already almost half way to the Hokage Tower. Once they passed through this residential street, they would be walking by the compound of the Goldensight Clan. His best (alright, _only_ friend his age), Rin, was the last of her clan. She was about five when her parents were attacked and killed right in front of her, and they were the only Goldensight members living in Konoha. His parents were friends with hers, so he and Rin had met briefly several times but never talked long. But at her parent's funeral, they befriended each other and hung out at the Academy after Rin joined it a few days later.

Sasuke remembered the funeral vividly. The scent and moisture of rain lingered everywhere. It had stopped raining, yet the clouds refused to clear, making the day seem later than it actually was by hiding the sun. It seemed far too perfect a backdrop to the miserable occasion, and too close of a companion to the silvery white flowers people deposited at the graves.

Sasuke blinked as the wind picked up, ending his reverie. The trees rustled as the wind wound through them, like a gang of macabre ghosts slinking through their limbs. Mocking, like predators waiting to pick off the last two Uchiha. The brothers entered the next street, and Sasuke stopped and turned to the side until he faced Rin's house. His shoes crunched the bit of loose dirt scattered on the road as he watched his friend's dark home. How did she live like this? She was the only one left of her bloodline. Yet, she seemed happy enough, most of the time...

Losing his own family felt horrible to Sasuke, even though he wasn't quite the last one, and he didn't actually see his parents die like Rin did. At this moment, he gained a much larger appreciation of the loneliness his friend felt. At the funeral he felt so safe and secure with his own family, naively thinking that nothing like this could ever happen to him. He had lived a peaceful life up until now, after all. Everything had felt almost too perfect to ruin. And he was glad of it.

How could he have thought he would be more immune than anyone else?

Itachi's dark voice filtered through the air a few moments later, quiet, calm, just one word. But it told him they needed to keep going. There was a clan to report dead...

…...

Hana Inuzuka separated the stack of paperwork into several neat piles. Groups of papers were either stapled or paper clipped into sections, ready to be filed or used. She was followed by a trio of white and brown-gray dogs padding lightly beside her, ready and willing to take on whatever came their way. Her steps didn't make a sound in the quiet hallways as she walked by, briefly stepping into each room to drop off a grouping of paperwork in its designated office. Soon enough, she made it to the front, where she left the last pile at the receptionist's desk.

Hana sighed. It was quiet tonight, though that was a good thing. This was the clinic closest to the Hokage building, and ninja could be brought here at any time of the night, injured on a mission. There was a small medic station near Konoha's gates so that an injured ninja could be stabilized, but the heart of Konoha's medical facilities needed to be at the center of the village where it was more accessible to its citizens. The fact that a messenger wasn't helping transport a wounded comrade here or breaking the door down shouting for assistance meant all was well.

Only problem she had with that was it was hard to stay awake when things were dull. Lately she had been pulling double shifts because the village needed it, but tonight things had been slow. That meant she had to help everyone eat through their mountain of paperwork.

She was only fourteen, but she had mastered a great deal of medic skills for both humans and animals. That took a lot of discipline and patience, but even if she could deal with paperwork, as an Inuzuka, she was more suited to action. She began to turn and walk away, thinking about her training. She had always helped her mother take care of injured dogs, and after she mastered the canine race, she went to other clans to learn about their summons. The Uchiha and their felines, the Nara and their deer, the list went on from there. With the increasing need for medics and the difficulty in training ones who also had the required skills in combat, she found it necessary to extend her abilities to humans.

Her eyes darted toward her dogs as she heard the light huffing sound of them sniffing the air. She turned in the direction they faced, focusing chakra to her nose as she tried to pick up the same scent.

She smelled it soon, the scent of dried blood, way more than what was healthy to lose.

She jogged over to the glass door and peered out, looking for the source. The secretary looked up, a bit surprised at the medic's actions. The fourteen year old payed no attention, however, merely blinking as she eventually saw the dark shapes of two ninja walking far too calmly down the road.

It was Itachi and his kid brother, Sasuke. Itachi wasn't walking quite like normal, he wasn't stumbling like Hana would have expected, but each stride still did not come as easy and confident as it normally did. The wound had to be serious if it was affecting Itachi at all; he had that cold, confident, 'nothing can get me' facade that was difficult to break. Not unless something like the most important part of his world caving in snapped it to pieces.

She signaled two of her dogs to stay at the hospital, and let the third beast follow her as she opened the hospital door and stepped out into the cold night. Itachi, she couldn't believe him. How could he walk so casually after losing so much blood? He tried to take the world on and poured his life's blood out for everyone, then never asked for anything in return. That was a good thing sometimes, but Itachi had a way of letting that martyr's personality of his reach self destructive levels.

So, she pulled on _her_ firm medic facade, the one that said 'do as I say or I will beat you into the ground, heal you, then beat you again'. You had to be determined to keep fellow ninja in line, many of them tried to act tougher than they were and skipped much needed hospital time.

Itachi wasn't going to get away with the heavy gashes along his arms. Hana was really very surprised to find they had not been completely immobilized...

He probably already knew she was there, but one didn't just walk right up to a ninja like Itachi without alerting them. If you accidentally surprised them, then they could lash out before they realized it was just you.

"Uchiha, don't think you can stalk right past a hospital while your blood's dripping all over the place!" Hana growled, quickening her pace after she finished her statement. To her surprise, Itachi jerked a bit, as if surprised by her presence. This bothered her even more. Even wounded, he was usually alert enough to notice someone.

The boy glanced back. "My wounds are barely bleeding anymore, and I must speak with the Hokage." he said calmly, not even bothering to stop as he addressed her. Maybe he wanted to get to the Hokage Tower before she stopped him. Well, he could give his report while she treated his injuries, if she could not get him to come to the hospital.

Hana Inuzuka does _not _let any comrade's wounds go unattended...

…...

Sasuke never thought very deeply about people's working hours. He knew there were medics and ninja on missions who worked late, but for some reason he never thought of the working hours of those in government positions, like the Hokage.

It was probably almost 10:00, and the Hokage was still working, and apparently not ready to stop for another two hours. The Hokage didn't work until 12:00 all the time, but it wasn't unusual for there to be a lot of work that needed to be caught up on. Before, Sasuke had always assumed the Hokage stopped working after five, like several shop owners he knew of.

Obviously that was not the case, because they were not going to wait at the Hokage Tower while an ANBU member got Konoha's leader. Itachi explained that this was one of the days when the Hokage usually worked until midnight.

They were nearly at the tower now, passing by one of the few buildings still lighted at this time. There were street lamps, but right now there were only a few of them lit since only ninja traveled the village this late.

The lighted building was the Hospital, raining its warm, glowing gaze down on the cold streets. The lights were almost a welcoming sight to Sasuke, strangely enough. Normally, he would not have thought of them as warm, but they were a contrast to the living nightmare he just faced. He had only ever been in the Hospital when he was hurt. Not badly, granted, but it was enough for him to consider the hospital an unfriendly place. Especially when he was taken there several times to visit a dying grandparent. Watching Grandmother slip away made him almost hate the building. Sure, it was a place where people got better, but how could he not mind the place when it was also very sad? People _died_ there, he had seen them where they waited, abandoned and fading. Even the medics were powerless to stop beings leaving this world. Most of the dying tried to put on a brave face, but Sasuke was sure most were angry or regretful at the fate they were forced to experience. How come no one escaped it? The bad people should have to deal with death, not the good people like his family.

The thought made him feel so miserable and angry. Death...was so wrong...

But in spite of his uncharitable thoughts, the hospital was something that remained the same, even though his own future had changed forever, and that pleased him.

His gaze instinctively darted toward the opening hospital door and the change in the light streaming from it. The silhouettes of a girl and a large dog approached them, walking with the confident strides most ninja possessed.

The girl looked as stern as Mikoto, Sasuke's mother, when she was about to give a lecture. She brushed past Sasuke, completely ignoring him in favor of trying to get Itachi to enter the hospital to get his wounds treated.

Sasuke blinked as he noticed the drying blood coating Itachi's sleeves, along with the droplets of fresh blood seeping from deep slash wounds. Itachi gave no hint of the pain that had to come with that, but the wounds seemed obvious now that Sasuke looked. How could he not have noticed?

Once again, despite Itachi's words, Sasuke felt weak. What else could he be if he let his emotions blind him so much that he didn't notice his brother had such serious injuries?

But Itachi seemed distracted as well, because he gave a startled jerk when the girl called out to him. Itachi continued walking, and the girl just kept following, going on and on about how he risked losing the use of his arms, how stupid he was to allow an enemy to slash them, and didn't he know that she couldn't heal him while he was walking so fast?

Sasuke kicked at another pebble lying on the ground, something he seemed to be doing a lot tonight. He thought the medic was annoying, but like the Hospital's lights, her lecturing was much better than the emptiness that surrounded him.

He briefly wondered if she was a fangirl, though, considering how adamant she was about helping Itachi. Sasuke hated fangirls...

…...

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew the mission would be carried out flawlessly, Itachi was one of those ninja a leader could never doubt. The boy, though only twelve, possessed an amazing balance of power, morals, loyalty and maturity.

The Hokage took a long puff of his pipe, watching the smoke ring as he let it drift from his mouth, spreading into the air. The wispy stream of gray was the only other thing moving in his dead quiet office.

Guilt sank its fangs deep into his insides, gnawing on them sadistically and thoughtfully. It hurt like hell, worsening every second _he _thought about it.

Even though it was the Uchiha that had plotted against Konoha and endangered the lives of its citizens, there were other factors involved. One of those factors was him. If he saw this coming sooner and hadn't hesitated, then he would have found some way to change Konoha's dealings with the powerful clan. Never mind that the Council and Head ANBU, Danzo, all disagreed with his methods and caused problems for him at every turn... He had dealt with far worse situations in the past, so why hadn't he more firm in standing up to the Council?

'Because I had no idea this would happen...' He thought, releasing another smoke ring. But it was a stupid excuse. Because of his lack of action, two kids were robbed of their family, and one of them was obligated to eliminate that family. The eldest was forced to take up the responsibilities of clan head at the age of twelve. Granted, because of the clan's decreased size, leading it would not be as difficult. But a nearly non existent clan birthed a completely different set of responsibilities. One was simply keeping enemies from finishing the damage the Uchiha clan had already been dealt.

A group of chakra signatures flared into his perception, and Hiruzen glanced toward the door as he analyzed the situation. Moments later, the wooden doors all but burst open. A fourteen year old Hana Inuzuka walked right beside an injured Itachi, lecturing him in the low, hard tone reserved for her most stubborn patients. One of her dogs padded beside her, paying no heed to the situation and instead focusing on his surroundings. Hiruzen concluded that the beast was quite used to Hana's scolding by now.

Itachi all but ignored her. He had to finish the mission by reporting the results. Since his wounds were not quite life threatening, he refused to stop walking even for a demanding medic.

Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and wondered if he should allow Hana to hear Itachi's report. He might as well, this was only a fake report anyway. Itachi would deliver the real one later, once he returned to his ANBU duties after the Clan's funeral.

Itachi's strides took him to the center of the room, where he stopped, his faced locked in his usual stony expression.

Hana sighed and stopped talking because Itachi was now standing still and she could heal him. Mission accomplished. But she also fell silent because it was obvious that Itachi was going to give an important report, considering his injuries and determination in getting here. Green chakra glowed around her hands, and she listened even though she had to concentrate on repairing Itachi's arms. She didn't even bother wrinkling her nose at the heavy stench of smoke infesting her poor senses, even if it was worse considering her enhanced sense of smell. She greatly disapproved of smoking. Not only was it gross, but it was also unhealthy. It annoyed her when ninja purposefully exposed themselves to something they knew was going to be hell on their health. But she wasn't really one to bother scolding the Hokage on his habit, it wasn't like he didn't know the risks.

Except for the light and quiet buzzing of Hana's healing chakra, everything was silent for a moment. Hana was amazed that Itachi could receive this much damage. Who could do this to one of Konoha's youngest and most skilled ANBU...?

She shook her head slightly. As it was, Itachi had been using extra chakra in order to continue the use of his arms and to keep from losing too much blood. If he had been anyone else, his arms would have been disabled completely, and he might not have survived whatever fight he was in. "...Itachi...your arms will never be the same again..." she said. They all knew what she meant. His arms would still work fine, just not as well. But anything that decreased a ninja's skill could endanger them.

"I will learn to compensate..." Itachi said after the brief time he took to gather his thoughts. He would train hard, and not allow his arms to become a problem for him. Not when Madara's wretched designs on Konoha could still be executed... "More importantly, Madara Uchiha is still alive. He acted upon his resentment tonight and destroyed the clan. Sasuke and I are the only survivors."

Sasuke watched as Hana's eyes widened, and wondered what she and the Hokage were thinking. He noticed the sharpening of Hiruzen's gaze. The old man didn't react much more than that, but Sasuke knew he was shocked. The boy could tell from the slightly urgent undertone in the Hokage's voice. "And Madara...?"

Itachi closed his eyes a split second before answering. He tensed slightly as Hana's chakra stung his wounds. Other than the occasional stinging and buzzing sensation, the healing process was painless.

"I fought him. Eliminating the clan seems to have weakened him, as I managed to drive him off. I don't know how long it will take for him to recover."

Grim silence followed, and Hiruzen closed his eyes. Madara... he did not know he was still alive, and definitely did not expect his involvement. Itachi did well to face him, even in a weakened state, Madara had the experience to make a formidable opponent.

"I will send ANBU after him, we cannot allow him to recover. I will also have Kakashi help with the investigation and...put everything in order." Hiruzen said solemnly. Even with ANBU after Madara, an investigation of the Massacre still needed to take place, even if it was just for show. Kakashi would understand the situation and help, even though he wouldn't be too happy about any part of it. Hiruzen would have to handle the legal part of this, transferring ownership of the entire clan and its funds to Itachi. The fortune would gradually be split to each boy's family if and when they had one. From there the fortune would be split among each generation until it was distributed among the same amount of members as there were before.

Hiruzen also had to make funeral arrangements. Even though Itachi and Sasuke were the only Uchiha left, there were several who had close Uchiha friends and relatives in law. They too would want to say their goodbyes.

…...

Several days later, the day was deceptively bright, and unbelievably normal. But it might as well have been raining up a flood considering how dead inside he felt. Something broke inside of him once his family died, bleeding out a torrent of emotions. Now...the flood waters were dying down, but leaving his emotions buried beneath the waters, pieces of everything floating dead on the surface.

The funeral was very large, and Sasuke never realized how many people were close to members of the Uchiha Clan. But, then again, what could be expected when their clan was so large? Surely a lot of people would be impacted by a group that size.

The Hokage himself came to speak at the solemn gathering. Weariness weighed in the old man's tone, indicating that a burden far greater than the destruction of an entire clan loading him down. But it wasn't so obvious that everyone notice, just mainly the ones involved in every detail of the recent events. Itachi of course noticed, but Sasuke was oblivious to it, and he simply isolated himself as he and Itachi went through the motions of the miserable event. They were first in line to place their silvery white flowers at their parent's graves, but even resting somewhat near the corpses, the flowers could never get near his parents and express how much he missed them. Funerals were only for the benefit of the living, not the dead.

It was supposed to be a way to say goodbye, to comfort everyone, and the air was thick with the condolences from the tide of people that flowed around him. Itachi spoke at the funeral several times, leading the funeral with the Hokage since he was the new clan head. The twelve year old gave the speeches with the sincerity and dignity of an adult, regardless of his age. For a moment many even forgot that they were listening to a kid, Itachi presented himself that well.

But Sasuke let his brother's voice fade around him like mist. Everyone else felt the impact of the serious youth's speech, but Sasuke could do nothing but remember the past instead. He felt alone, he wanted his family again, but he felt like doing nothing but rejecting everyone's attempts to help him. What did they know? What did they understand? They did not lose anything. Maybe a friend, maybe one or two family members, but they didn't come home one night to find everything their life was founded on drowning in a broken, bloody pile.

Their pity was worthless.

He noticed Rin a few times, standing alone like an island amongst the sea of Konoha's citizens. Her funeral attire was like a burdening shadow, engulfing her in a way that made her appear very, very small. Sasuke even dared to say that she seemed vulnerable, due to the way her small hands gently clung to her ghostly white flower. Her hair's feathery, dark brown strands brushed just past her shoulders, contrasting perfectly to the plant. Two side pieces at the front of her hair were pulled back and pinned with small, graceful silver flowers. Her hair drifted up and down with the occasional breath of wind, yet she herself seemed so still.

Sasuke thought he felt her eyes on him a few times, but he never noticed her approach him. She read his mood perfectly and knew better than to speak to him now. At the moment he desired solitude.

He caught a glimpse of her as she left. No adults, no matter how kind, took notice of the loneliness beneath her peaceful exterior. She had no family, yet she seemed to be happy most of the time. He heard adults comment on how cheerful and polite she was.

Sasuke had received a few such comments himself, but he wondered how true they would be from now on, and if they would even come. He didn't care about that, but it would prove any obvious changes in his actions. Right now he could feel himself closing into his solitude, so similar and yet so different from his only friend, and he knew there was nothing positive for anyone to comment on now.

The tomb was sealed with morbid finality. More flowers would soon be planted near the tomb, since so many Uchiha had died. Perhaps the growing flowers infesting the grave site were supposed to signify that life would renew itself, that joy would find its way again. That was something Rin would probably come up with.

Sasuke wasn't sure why Rin left so early, but something that would normally seem disrespectful to him somehow seemed alright when she did it. Maybe because he decided that she was the only one besides Itachi who understood him, even if only a little.

…...

The gray clouds drifted carelessly over the land, supposedly fortunate in their short and emotionless spans of existence.

But Rin always thought that was sad. Some beings envied how the clouds never had to be in pain. But clouds were...nothing. They couldn't feel _anything _let alone happiness. Wasn't that worse than misery, or even the very definition of it?

Many associated the rain and the clouds with dreary things. Death, sadness, tragedy, but Rin liked the rain. Many people did, but there were yet others who only saw it as miserable.

In the light of representation, she supposed one way she viewed rain was as the occasional cleansing period in life. The time for letting things go, washing them away, and making them new again. The world needed rain to survive. It represented life, renewal, and comfort to her. Rain was beautiful.

And after the rain, the sun glanced from behind the clouds, looking magnificent like a being that had the determination to hold on in the midst of their trials. The sun...it wasn't one to feel so sorry for itself that it gave up, pushing away any encouragement saying that continuing was easier said than done. In fact, it didn't even need encouragement to keep going.

With the sun came greater happiness than with the rain cleansing the agony from one's heart. The sun meant that everything was still alright, there was still a world overflowing with opportunity, everyone still had the chance to reach out and take the future they desired.

And right now, the sun's light edged the clouds, making a breathtaking view sweep over Konoha, and it fueled Rin's reveries the whole morning.

Why couldn't people be more like the sun?

…...

Sasuke sat on the wooden planks of the dock overlooking the small lake in his family's backyard. It was often used to practice fire jutsu, since the open water was less of a fire hazard.

He tossed a small stone into the water, watching his rippling, temporarily distorted reflection. It showed a dead solemn seven year old with a small pile of school books by his side. He was dressed in his usual dark blue shirt and khaki shorts. The shirt had a small but proud Uchiha symbol stitched on the back, the red and white fan.

A frog croaked somewhere across the lake, and Sasuke knew that soon more and more frogs would join it later on in the year, obnoxiously carrying on with their endless noise.

The cool air brushed up against him, like one of the felines that served as comrades to the Uchiha. Sasuke wondered where they all were the night of the Massacre. Not even the cat belonging to Itachi helped, that much was obvious considering the beast's lack of injury. Itachi said something about Madara using Temporary Exile Summoning, a jutsu that could send an enemy's beast far away for a set amount of time, and it was difficult to get them back in the middle of a fight. The longer an enemy planned to keep the summons away, the more chakra it took.

At 3:00 in the morning following the Massacre, Sasuke woke to a weight pouncing lightly onto his back. He opened his eyes to see Raven's gaze burning into his, right before the beast darted off. Itachi told him the Exile Summon wore off not long before that, and all the cats were checking on their humans and territories. They came back to corpses, along with the ninja that were clearing them away to be prepared for burial. The boy flinched as horrific, enraged yowls infested the night. One by one, the beasts were discovering their dead humans. Raven was the only one fortunate to have surviving humans, and he checked on them throughout the night, patrolling harder than he usually did.

Sasuke never payed that much attention to Raven, that was Itachi's job. But now he noticed the beast's nightly patterns, and how the feline seemed to be hoping for pieces of a past that could never be recovered.

He wondered where the Exile Summoning sent the beasts, and if it contributed in any way to their actions now.

Raven was mainly Itachi's beast, a large black tom cat that seemed to be the dominate one within the streets immediately surrounding their home. The cats chose their own territories and had their own system of leadership within the clan compound, patrolling the grounds and watching over the young Uchiha as they played and trained.

Now all the cats had to watch over were two brothers and the sickeningly empty homes of the Uchiha compound. The cats helped take care of everything, which meant less maintenance work for he and Itachi, along with less genin teams they would have to hire to keep the compound in shape. But it was awful to think of how far the clan had fallen, with the population being composed mainly of ninja beasts...

Sasuke shifted slightly as a small fish leaped out of the water before falling back in, dragging a bug down with it into the depths of the lake. He learned to fish in lakes here, in this small body of water. It was also the site of his first grand fireball jutsu, and the shore of the lake was pretty close to where he had celebrated most of his seven birthdays.

Now he was out at the lake mostly to think, wait, reminisce, and occasionally train.

At the moment he was just waiting and reminiscing.

A minute later, light steps on the dock's wooden planks signaled it was time to go. Sasuke stood, picking up his schoolbooks before turning to face Rin. He nodded to her, and they were on their way.

A small flock of birds darted through the sky, singing as they flew out of sight. The breeze blew past, and other than the small sounds the early morning village made, everything was quiet. "So, your brother's out on another mission?" Rin asked, trying to fill the silence. It had only been a few days since the massacre, and she treaded lightly in each conversation, trying not to bring up the subject if possible.

"Yeah, he said he would be back by 4:00, and that he would train me for an hour or two." Sasuke replied. He wondered what mission could be that short. Well, it was probably just some simple, boring ANBU business, nothing like a more time consuming infiltration or assassination mission. The Hokage had been giving Itachi shorter missions lately.

"That's good, Iruka's been giving us more complicated work lately..." Rin replied.

"About time, the other assignments were all too easy." Sasuke smirked slightly.

Rin glanced at him a moment before smiling a bit. "Yeah."

She faced ahead once more, thinking over the past events. Sasuke seemed to be doing pretty well, considering. But he was sometimes quieter than he used to be, more focused. He tried to cover things up with a cheerful facade, but Rin occasionally caught flashes of pain in his eyes as he saw other children with their families. Itachi was doing his best to be there for him, but one older sibling had no way to replace an entire clan. It didn't matter how powerful and caring Itachi was.

Sometimes Sasuke would take extra effort just to be alone, or he would snap at people and tell them not to bother him. For the most part, it wasn't that noticeable, but...she was around him a lot, so she could tell he was unhappy even when he wasn't avoiding everyone.

She had no clue what do about it, except maybe to distract him from his unhappiness sometimes...

"Hey, I'll race ya!" she said, taking off into a run with no warning.

Sasuke just smirked. "Cheater!" he called after her as he took off.

Their feet darted lightly over the paving stones of the road, carefree and energetic.

Running... how could something so simple feel like pure freedom?

…...

…...

Preview of next chapter:

_Itachi raised his eyebrows as he read the scroll the Hokage handed him. "I'm not sure a bunch of twelve year olds will want to listen to a kid their age."_

_Hiruzen smiled a bit. "They will, you'll see."_

Itachi really hoped the Hokage would be right. But at the moment, the idea of teaching a trio of antagonistic kids didn't seem too promising...


End file.
