Glass
Itachi thinks about why he is doing what he is doing and why he is sparing Sasuke's life. He really did love his little brother. Older siblings just have a hard time showing things like affection.
Itachi knew.
He knew that it would break Sasuke.
A seven-year-old couldn't lose his entire family and not remain scarred.
Itachi knew staying wasn't an option. Once the deed was done, he had to run.
Sasuke would be all alone then.
Alone – with no purpose.
No family to come home to – no mother to talk to about his day – no father to teach him new jutsus – no aunt to make him cookies – no uncle to keep his priorities straight – no brother to push him onward.
Itachi knew that without a purpose, a man loses his mind, goes insane, loses his will to live.
Sasuke needed a purpose.
And what better purpose than to kill the very man that inflicted such pain upon him?
It made sense. Itachi didn't like it – yet it made sense.
That's the exact train of thought Sasuke's mind will take as well, he thought as he threw 7 kunai. Slipping two more out of what seemed to be thin air, he bounced two of the projectiles, sending all four flying in new directions. They hit every single target.
"Wow, Itachi! You nailed every target, even the one in the blind spot behind the rock." Sasuke gawked at the targets before he posed, two kunai held tightly in his small fists. "Alright, now it's my turn!"
"No, Sasuke. It's time to go," Itachi called out to his little brother's hiding place behind the tree. The young boy was obviously disappointed, lowering his kunai slowly.
"What happened to the new shuriken jutsu you were gonna teach me, huh?" He quirked a reproving eyebrow.
Sometimes that little brat is too smart for his own good, the elder Uchiha thought.
"That'll have to wait til later. I have an important mission in the morning and I have to prepare for it." It was true. He really couldn't spend that extra time that Sasuke would want to put into the jutsu supervising him. Sasuke's lips puckered as he looked away from his brother, as if ashamed of his older brother.
"You're such a big fat liar…" He muttered, pouting at the unfairness of it all. Itachi smirked, then almost in acquiescence he summoned Sasuke forward with a couple flicks of his fingers. The boy's face lit up excitedly as he ran to Itachi, letting out a small giggle.
"Sorry Sasuke, maybe some other time," Itachi said as he poked Sasuke on his forehead. He grumbled uncontentedly, glaring at his older brother. Then, as if he hadn't heard a word Itachi said he shouted,
"Okay, just watch this!" He ran off, the two knives held firmly.
"Hey, be careful!" Itachi's warning went unheeded. Sasuke's cry of pain as he twisted his ankle echoed through the forest. Sighing, Itachi lifted him up onto his back.
"Come on, let's go home."
"Okay," Sasuke gritted out.
They had reached the village and had just passed the academy before Sasuke began giggling.
"How come the one who twisted his ankle is the one who's laughing?" Itachi playfully questioned. "Or maybe you were just looking for a way to get out of walking home…"
"No way, that's not it!" Sasuke replied indignantly. "It's just that I can't stop thinking how I'm finally gonna start at the academy tomorrow."
His mind was so simple, so naïve. Being a ninja was simply a game, a means to become a hero in his peers and his family's eyes.
He had no clue as to what a ninja had to face; what an Uchiha had to face.
Itachi knew.
He knew it would crack Sasuke.
The young boy might become exactly what Itachi wanted him to be, live exactly the way he calculated.
The young boy might grow up bitter and become the very thing he wished to destroy.
It was a risk he would have to take.
He's not a bet for stakes to be made on, a small voice whispered in the back of his mind. Perhaps his better judgment. He's a human being just like you and everyone else out there.
But if I don't do this, he'll lose what little hope he has of a normal life left…
Itachi explained the Uchiha clan's history to Sasuke as they passed the police headquarters. Sasuke had finally noticed the Uchiha insignia on the police insignia.
"Are you gonna join the force too?" Sasuke asked excitedly.
"Well, I'm not sure." Itachi replied hesitantly, truthfully. Second thoughts were becoming his constant companions these days.
"Why not?" The young Uchiha demanded his small little mind not able to comprehend such thoughts. Thankfully, he let the matter drop.
The thought of what he had to do haunted him, kept him from sleeping, kept him from performing at his best.
And people noticed.
The day after the Clan meeting, which he didn't show up to because of… obvious reasons. The other members of the council were none too pleased.
He had been in the middle of talking with Sasuke about power, hoping he'd remember his words when all was said and done, when they came up to the door, demanding to know why he'd been absent. They mentioned Shisui's death.
They accused him of it.
Itachi lost his temper. He'd never been good at controlling, in all his years.
"The people of this clan are all the same. You focus on the trivial and lose sight of what is most important," he sneered.
"Such arrogance!" His father accused him.
"That's enough! If I hear one more word of this nonsense, I'll have you locked up behind bars!"
"Being the best isn't all it's cracked up to be…" He had told Sasuke not minutes before.
It was true. Being the best meant maintaining that good reputation.
Itachi hated it.
"Big brother you have to stop!" Sasuke's pleading voice rang out in the courtyard.
Itachi gasped as he realized what he'd been about to do. It wasn't time yet, not yet the time. He fell flat on his face before his accusers.
"I'm not the one who killed Shisui, but I apologize for the words I have spoken. I'm truly sorry." He knew they couldn't arrest him since he was an ANBU, but they would do everything within their power to mess everything up.
The time is drawing near… He thought somberly.
Itachi knew.
He knew it would shatter Sasuke.
He waited until Sasuke left for the academy, when only those whose lives need be taken were there.
Sasuke seeing the results wouldn't be avoidable.
Itachi berated Sasuke for his foolishness.
"I'm scared…I'm scared!" Sasuke scrambled out of their parents room, running to the outside of the Uchiha compound. Itachi cut him off.
He told him how he needed someone to test his abilities. Only Sasuke would be worthy, only Sasuke would be capable of using Mangekyō Sharingan.
Only Sasuke would have the hate needed to pursue Itachi.
"Foolish little brother…If you wish to kill me in hate and revenge, surviving in such an unsightly manner as this, by all means, flee – cling to your wretched life.
And then, one day, when you posses the same eyes, come back and face me."
His eyes flashed and his little brother fell to the ground, unconscious.
Itachi left him lying there. The Leaf shinobi would enter Sasuke into the hospital when they found the others. He had to get out of Konoha, and fast.
The deed was done.
Itachi knew. He had known from the start.
He knew it would break Sasuke. The traumatic life with no family would crack Sasuke.
Itachi knew.
A life with no purpose – would shatter Sasuke – like glass.
AN: I'm planning on making this a one-shot series similar to others floating around. If you readers will please review or message me, giving me a dare, a sentence, a portion of lyrics from a song, anything and I'll make a one-shot out of it. I'll do romantic pairings, I'll do things like this between brothers, I'll do almost anything. :) The only pairings I won't do are on my profile so check that out if you feel like it. I'll attempt to every dare I receive, just to please you all. :D Please review and give me some dares!
In Christ,
Timber Wolf