[Another long pause. Sasuke has his doubts about it, but he'll hold his tongue. It isn't his place.
And then, out of the blue--]
The Uchiha used to be a noble clan in Konoha. They co-founded the village with the Senjuu, and did so in order to end the wars and form a truce. They used to be mortal enemies, according to my father.
By the time I was old enough to understand, the clan dwindled down and headed the police force. My father was both the head of the force and the clan's leader. He constantly gave Itachi all of the attention, always praised him. I didn't get any of it.
Itachi's the clan prodigy. He graduated from the academy in only a year at the age of 7, awoke his Sharingan at 8, became a Chuunin at 10, and an ANBU captain at 13. Only a teenager, and already in the village's most skilled group of shinobi that reported to the Hokage himself.
I idolized him. Looked up to him. I wanted to be like him, but I just wasn't strong enough. I could tell that my father was disappointed that I was only average when in comparison to aniki.
When it came time for me to enter the academy, Father only went because Itachi was going to skip his mission to do so. Even then, I was in my brother's shadow. My father wasn't even proud that I was the top of my class and got the highest grades. He only told me "continue on this path and be like your brother."
I hated it. I hated all the attention my parents were giving my brother, and Itachi saw that. He was still a brother, though. But then... he missed some important meeting the day before, and his best friend, too. He was killed then, Itachi's friend. Itachi was accused of killing him, even though it appeared to be nothing more than a suicide.
Itachi beat those three to the ground for the accusation, and started acting unlike himself. Father showed up then, and my calling out to him stopped him. When Father went inside, the look Itachi gave him... It was his Mangekyou Sharingan.
Only then did my father pay attention to me. It took me a week to learn the most basic fire jutsu, but it made me so happy when I finally heard "that's my son." Then he told me to stop aspiring to be like my brother.
Not long after that, I came home late one night. All the lights in the district for out, even though it was dinner time. When I came up to our street... there were dead bodies everywhere. I ran home, fearing for my parents. I was scared, naturally; I was only seven. When I finally found my parents, they had just been killed. The one standing above them - their killer - was...
Itachi. I didn't know why. Didn't get it. He showed me his side of it - that he killed because he could, and because he hated all of us, wanted us dead. I ran away, but he caught me. He told me to hate him, to despise him. I did.
He took everything away from me, and made my life hell.
[Sasuke paused here, taking in a shaky breath. He started talking again after a moment.]
Madara showed me differently, here. That Itachi didn't do it because he could, that he did it because he had to. My father wasn't happy with the direction the clan was going. He planned a coup. Itachi was a double agent, spying on the Uchiha for the Hokage while spying on Konoha for the clan. The elders ordered the entire clan to be wiped out when peace negotiations failed. He was practically forced to play the role of the villain. If he couldn't do it, then they would get others from ANBU to do it. Itachi agreed, and found Madara who helped willingly, with agreement that he would touch Konoha.
Itachi couldn't follow through completely, or I wouldn't be here. He killed his lover, but he couldn't...kill me.
[Voice/Private] /tl;drs
And then, out of the blue--]
The Uchiha used to be a noble clan in Konoha. They co-founded the village with the Senjuu, and did so in order to end the wars and form a truce. They used to be mortal enemies, according to my father.
By the time I was old enough to understand, the clan dwindled down and headed the police force. My father was both the head of the force and the clan's leader. He constantly gave Itachi all of the attention, always praised him. I didn't get any of it.
Itachi's the clan prodigy. He graduated from the academy in only a year at the age of 7, awoke his Sharingan at 8, became a Chuunin at 10, and an ANBU captain at 13. Only a teenager, and already in the village's most skilled group of shinobi that reported to the Hokage himself.
I idolized him. Looked up to him. I wanted to be like him, but I just wasn't strong enough. I could tell that my father was disappointed that I was only average when in comparison to aniki.
When it came time for me to enter the academy, Father only went because Itachi was going to skip his mission to do so. Even then, I was in my brother's shadow. My father wasn't even proud that I was the top of my class and got the highest grades. He only told me "continue on this path and be like your brother."
I hated it. I hated all the attention my parents were giving my brother, and Itachi saw that. He was still a brother, though. But then... he missed some important meeting the day before, and his best friend, too. He was killed then, Itachi's friend. Itachi was accused of killing him, even though it appeared to be nothing more than a suicide.
Itachi beat those three to the ground for the accusation, and started acting unlike himself. Father showed up then, and my calling out to him stopped him. When Father went inside, the look Itachi gave him... It was his Mangekyou Sharingan.
Only then did my father pay attention to me. It took me a week to learn the most basic fire jutsu, but it made me so happy when I finally heard "that's my son." Then he told me to stop aspiring to be like my brother.
Not long after that, I came home late one night. All the lights in the district for out, even though it was dinner time. When I came up to our street... there were dead bodies everywhere. I ran home, fearing for my parents. I was scared, naturally; I was only seven. When I finally found my parents, they had just been killed. The one standing above them - their killer - was...
Itachi. I didn't know why. Didn't get it. He showed me his side of it - that he killed because he could, and because he hated all of us, wanted us dead. I ran away, but he caught me. He told me to hate him, to despise him. I did.
He took everything away from me, and made my life hell.
[Sasuke paused here, taking in a shaky breath. He started talking again after a moment.]
Madara showed me differently, here. That Itachi didn't do it because he could, that he did it because he had to. My father wasn't happy with the direction the clan was going. He planned a coup. Itachi was a double agent, spying on the Uchiha for the Hokage while spying on Konoha for the clan. The elders ordered the entire clan to be wiped out when peace negotiations failed. He was practically forced to play the role of the villain. If he couldn't do it, then they would get others from ANBU to do it. Itachi agreed, and found Madara who helped willingly, with agreement that he would touch Konoha.
Itachi couldn't follow through completely, or I wouldn't be here. He killed his lover, but he couldn't...kill me.