His Reason

Dear foolish little brother,

It seems you have succeeded in killing me. Congratulations, I suppose. Kisame damn well better have been the one to give you this note, or else he's dead or something.

I am here to tell you the truth. The truth about what happened so many years ago. The things that were real. As soon as you read all of this, it'll all come flooding back to you, and you might even feel some regret or guilt for killing me. Perhaps. Unless the hatred I purposely forced into you was so strong that you've lost all of your other emotions.

The memories you have of a happy relationship with mother and a decent one with father are shams—created to make you think we had a happy childhood. In reality, we were abused constantly, and even attacked at times by our overly violent father. Our mother always took his side, though she knew exactly what was going on. She saw it all, and simply let it pass by her thoughts, always siding with him.

Makes me sick, just thinking about it.

And then, I even gave you forged memories of the night I killed all of the Uchiha. Really, the other Uchiha members were telling us not to tell anyone else, convincing us it was normal. They were nice enough, but, then again, their underlying evil shone brightly in my eyes. They had to be disposed of.

But you did cry when you saw me kill mom and dad. You cried—of joy, of relief, and of the sadness that you had been holding back all along. Yes, I killed them for our sake—but mainly yours.

At this point, I knew that I would be a convicted felon. The ANBU would be after me, and then, how would I ensure that you'd be a strong ninja?

And that is why I used the Mangekyo to change your memories, to force you to believe we were happy, and I betrayed you all. Did you think I was so evil as to kill my entire family, for no apparent reason? Think again, foolish little brother. It is not so.

And as for Shisui, well, I thought he was different. I thought… I thought he was the only one to understand my pain—our pain. But, indeed, he was just like all the others. When I mentioned running away with the two of you, he showed his true colors. And that was the day I both killed Shisui and obtained the Mangekyo.

I have instilled this hatred for me inside of you to give you an ultimate goal to constantly work for. What worth is a ninja if he cannot push his own body to the limit? My ultimate goal was to kill out family, and ensure you were strong enough before passing. That was all I wanted, and that is why I didn't mind being killed by your unknowing hands.

Just remember, little brother, it was all for you. It was all so you could live a good life. Please, enjoy it, and feel no regret or sympathy for me. Do not live in the past from this point, but look towards the future, and towards becoming as strong of a ninja as possible.

I have always loved you, and always will, little brother, even if I did not show it in an orthodox manner.

Your Ototou,

Itachi

P.S. Accept the offer. It's my final wish.

Sasuke's hands began to shake as he read the letter, tears threatening to fall out. Yes, he did remember. Yes, he felt a deep pang of guilt and regret. He glanced at the body of Itachi, laying just a few feet away, his chest ripped open from the Chidori.

"You understand, then?" Kisame asked with a sigh, seemingly bored from the ordeal.

"I… I… understand," he whispered, collapsing to his knees, his hands still shaking.

"My job here is done," Kisame stated, making no move to go away. "But, there is one thing I would like to know…" he trailed off.

"… Yes, I have it…" Sasuke muttered weakly, knowing that was all Kisame was really interested in, anyways.

"Oh, good. You've noticed," Kisame said brightly.

"Are you being fucking sarcastic?" Sasuke asked bitterly, his voice not much more than a whimper.

"No, I'm not. We all deal with it, and now's the only time I'm sure to get an answer from you. The Akatsuki would like to know if you'd want to take your brother's place. You know, if it isn't too much of a heartbreak."

Sasuke glanced down at the postscript he had pretty much overlooked before. 'Accept the offer'… Was that the offer Itachi was talking about?

"Is that what Itachi was talking about in the postscript?" Sasuke asked weakly.

"Yes," Kisame answered back simply.

"… Then how can I refuse a final wish from my dear ototou?" Sasuke asked weakly, leaving the note on the ground. He would need it no longer, the words and memories the words brought up burned into his memory. "Let's… go…" he muttered, giving a final glance down at Itachi.

'Thank you, brother. I'm sorry I never knew before how much you've done for me. I will follow the path you have spent and lost your life paving for me…' Sasuke thought with a grim smile, conflicting feelings of deep sadness, loss, and optimism.

A/N: Eventually this'll be made into a real story, explaining more in detail about what I'm thinking. / It doesn't really fit as a oneshot, does it? But, anyways, review and tell me what you think of it becoming a real story (which is far into the future, if it does happen).