Itachi never intended for Sasuke, or anyone other than the third to Hokage, to really know why he left the village. To be seen as a hero was never his goal. He did what he did to prevent a war and to save his little brother that he dearly loved, even if he never said it out loud. But I believe that this world, this Village, needs to know what one of it's greatest shinobi has done for it. My name is Sakura Haruno and I'm going to tell you the story of two misunderstood brothers.
It all started on the fourth anniversary of the day Sasuke left. I was depressed to say the least. Naruto and Kakashi-sensei were both deployed on missions so there was no one around who shared my feelings that day. I was wandering about the village reminiscing at our old training grounds, Ichiraku, the academy... Really, everywhere I looked, there was some memory of us, Team 7.
I found myself standing in front of the Uchiha compound after a while. I don't know what I was doing there. I never let myself in before, feeling as if I'd be trespassing. But that day I let myself in and that's where I learned the truth.
Slowly I entered the abandoned little community tucked away from the rest of the village. I wasn't sure what to expect. Blood and bodies? Obviously someone would've cleaned it up for Sasuke after the massacre. What I found was emptiness and silence. I started exploring the small town. The houses and shops still had everything in them. Clothes, furniture, trinkets. Nothing was moved from where it had been; time had only covered everything in a thick layer of dust. I was somewhat surprised that the compound hadn't been looted. I was also creeped out. The small town was rundown and eerily quiet. A ghost town.
I walked through the streets admiring how the Uchihas built such a nice place for themselves. I saw the large police building with the Uchiwa fan painted proudly on it. Their special training grounds and dojos were glamorous. You could tell they took pride in everything they made.
Eventually, I found what I shouldn't have. The main Uchiha house. It was grand and elegant. I knew the second I laid eyes on it what it was. Hesitantly, I approached the overgrown path leading to the entrance of the house. I stopped just before the door to see if anyone was watching me. It felt as if someone would pop out of nowhere and reprimand me for being here.
I opended the door which creaked from being so out of use. The dust in the hallway flew into the air after being disturbed by the sudden gust of fresh air. I choked on the dust suddenly invading my lungs. After finding the electricity turned off I had to rely on a candle I found by luck in the kitchen. I then began to explore the rest of the house. There was a sense of gloom lingering over the whole place. The kitchen and main living area were elegant but plain.
I stumbled into Sasuke's room by chance. It was exactly how I expected it to look. Plain, dark, and lonely. There was nothing in there that didn't need to be there. I sat on his bed a moment. Who knows why. Maybe I thought I'd understand. Feel what he felt. But that was silly thinking back now. I was only sitting on his bed. How could I have possibly known how he was feeling or even how he felt all that time ago. Resigning myself to the now late hour, I made to leave that abandoned place. I was stopped when I saw the turned over picture frame. I'm not sure what I was expecting to see when I lifted it up. An old family portrait maybe. Something he could no longer bare to see. I did not expect to see our genin photo. Team 7. I quickly let the picture slip back onto it's face and left the room. I wasn't sure how that had made me feel. Sad that he left us behind. Disappointed he didn't take at least our picture with him. Or hopeful because maybe he had felt too ashamed to face us.
In the hallway I saw one other door I knew I shouldn't enter but felt the need to. What did the room of the man who killed his entire family look like? I had to know. Well they say that curiosity killed the cat. But I also heard that satisfaction brought it back. Itachi's room had a genjutsu placed on it. What I saw was real but there was something I couldn't see. It fey as if something was missing from my sight. The genjutsu was casted to cover something up. After poking around for a while I stepped on a squeaky board.
"Why would a wealthy family have a squeaky floorboard in their house?" I thought to myseIf. "They wouldn't."
With bated breath, I pulled up the board. I half expected an exploding tag or some sort of trap to go off at the intrusion. What I found instead was incredibly unexpected. Hidden in the floor of Itachi Uchiha's room was a diary. The genjutsu jumbled the words in the diary to form ridiculous sentences. Things like: " Sasuke is a mama's boy", "Icha Icha paradise is a work of the gods", and "The Uchihas are better than the Hyuugas".
Knowing I probably shouldn't, I took the diary to Tsunade-sama. She helped me decode the diary in secret over the span of the next year. Eventually we learned of the Uchihas attempt at a coup d'etat and Itachi's top secret mission to stop it. Slowly we began to gather evidence to clear Itachi's name and have him praised as a hero of the village. To help Sasuke understand.
We weren't quick enough though. Later that year, Sasuke completed his revenge and killed Itachi. After the war, Naruto told me about how Obito had told him and Kakashi-sensei about Itachi's story. How he was sorry for not telling me sooner. He also told me that Sasuke had also found out after he had killed his brother. I told him how Tsunade-Sama and I had also known but didn't want to say anything until we had solid evidence.
Sasuke's death in the war rocked team 7 and all who had known him. Naruto made it a point that as Hokage, he would not let anyone feel the pain Itachi and Sasuke felt ever again. The empty Uchiha compound became a monument to the brothers who gave their lives for the village and each other. The vile elders responsible for an entire clans eradication were exiled from Konoha forever. And I? Well, I live on.
Well, this was just a quick thing. I don't know if I like that last sentence. please excuse any errors, I'm using my tablet.