THIS IS NOT SLASH! NO ROMANCE IN THIS ONE SHOT!
/ {The Kaleidoscope of} / [Uchiha Itachi] / {Peace and} / [Uchiha Madara] / {War} / [One-Shot] /
Am I truly capable of this?
I know that I possess the skills necessary, but my heart?
My heart is already in mourning…
Itachi walked slowly back from his most recent three-day mission, it wasn't particularly taxing, but he was tired nonetheless; he padded slowly home, his thoughts little by little turning back to what had been said during is meeting with the Hokage-sama, Shimura Danzou, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura… The Sandaime and his councilors Itachi couldn't help but think with a heavy sigh to match; although he was close to home – only a few leaps from the Uchiha compound, he needed to be alone for a little while. Halting his steps, he shot off into the dense forest which surrounded the Uchiha compound, finding peace in the silence. He walked slowly, feeling how heavy and uncomfortable his ANBU armour felt to him, knowing what it signified, knowing that there really was only one way to prevent to inevitability. He closed his eyes, halting his steps desperately wishing for an alternative but knowing that there wasn't one…
"Itachi-kun, your skills have only ever surpassed everyone's expectation, you are truly an outstanding shinobi…." The elderly counselor of the Sandaime spoke, her voice gentle and unthreatening, but with an undertone of hurriedness, Itachi made no outward visible sign as he kneeled in front of the four elderly shinobi, only one with their back to him;
"Arigatou… Koharu-sama," He forced his tone to express nothing but politeness;
"I think it's time we discussed why you're here… all of your reports back about the Uchiha have been less than pleasing-"
"Danzou!" The third cut across him, finally turning around to face the young boy kneeled in front of them, sadness clawing at him at how young he was, still not quite fourteen; "Itachi-kun, I fear that we may need to ask the worst of you… the Uchiha seem intent on organizing a coup d'état and we…" He sighed again, "I will do my best to find a peaceable solution, I would far rather no blood was shed over this… however," The elderly Hokage took another drag from his pipe, not really wanting even to have to articulate it, "We may have to enlist you to… to completely wipe out the Uchiha clan if no solution can be found…I wish that this were not the case, but…"
"I understand, Hokage-sama… I too… desperately hope that some other solution may be found, but I will prepare myself for such an eventuality as removing the Uchiha entirely… I will take on the burden," He spoke calmly, feeling as he wasn't even really there, as though someone else had taken over his body and was speaking for him; he remained still as he could hear the two councilors shifted uncomfortably, the Hokage gave a deep 'hmm' of thought, as Danzou, Itachi carefully noted, remained stock still – the mysterious hawk-like nin's single visible eye boring into him.
"The only way is to destroy the Uchiha,"
"I do not agree, Danzou… I will seek for another alternative before we make a move,"
"But Hiruzen-"
"No! I will at least seek another option, Itachi-kun, you may stand," The Hokage's gentle voice reach him and he followed the command, looking over the other three in the room he could tell that Koharu and Homura agreed with Danzou just by their postures, "It is regrettable that we even have to be considering the option, however, will you accept this task if we ask it of you?" Itachi's face remained passive and solemn as he bowed low to the company in the room, wondering why fate was such a cruel thing.
Itachi resisted the urge to smash his fist into a nearby tree, his anger and sadness nearly overwhelming him as he thought about the meeting. Of course, there was no question that he would do as the Third asked of him, but it was more bloodshed where he was trying to prevent it, more anger where he was trying to mend already wounded hearts. He took a deep, slow breath in and out, his attention spiking as something caught his interest, his Sharingan springing to life; whipping around her saw nothing and sensed nothing else, but there had definitely been a presence, Itachi paused for a moment, sensing nothing else, but knowing to keep his eyes open for something which would no doubt rear its head again. Itachi shook his head in an attempt to reassure whoever may still be watching that he didn't see anything,
"Hn, must have just been a squirrel," He spoke low and to himself as he walked slowly off, back in the direction of his home; it didn't take long for him to step onto the open porch and slide open the door, forcing an even, mild expression to his face,
"Nii-san!" The immature voice of his little brother reached his ears, as he stepped up into the house, his bare feet, feeling to cool of the wood; "Nii-san! You're home!" The young boy literally leapt into his brothers arms in joy, hugging the elder, "Whatcha wanna do?" Itachi could only look at sadness at him, how innocent, how happy, how carefree… how the younger would soon come to hate him,
"Sasuke, your brother has just returned from a mission, don't disturb him," Their mother's voice alerted both of their attentions, Itachi gave in to the pathetic expression his little brother held,
"It's alright, I'm not too tired… Besides, I could use someone to help be with my target practice," He forced the most genuine smile he was able, watching as one grew onto Sasuke's face.
Itachi found all the targets laid out with ease, they were no match for his Sharingan, nothing was hidden from him… including the man watching from a distance,
"Nii-san, you're so good! You even nailed the blind spot, right in the middle! …Alright, now it's my turn!" Sasuke's amazed voice forced the young man to his feet and to turn to the younger
"Sasuke, let's head back," Itachi looked over to Sasuke, who'd already whipped out two kunai knives as held them in an 'x' across his chest;
"You lied, Nii-san," Itachi forced a solemn smile, as he waved Sasuke over to him. The younger came running immediately, the elder tapping his forehead with his two forefingers as he was within reach,
"I'm sorry, Sasuke, maybe next time," The younger rubbed his forehead and looked decidedly irritated; Itachi couldn't resist the guilt at making Sasuke so irritated, as he turned to walk away, the younger still catching immediately up nonetheless, they walked the rest of the way in silence, Itachi's mind on who he'd be locating tomorrow.
~~/********/~~
"So you're the one I've been sensing all this time," Itachi appeared out of nowhere, right behind the unknown shinobi; he himself turning to face the young boy in front of him. The only one out of the 'great Uchiha' to discover his presence, and seek him out, this boy;
"What do you want?" He asked slowly, observing as they boy as his Sharingan appeared in his eyes;
"You must be Uchiha Madara, right?" The elder raised his eyebrows slightly, surprised at how much the boy seemed to know,
"And you are Itachi, am I correct?"
"You are… Am I right in thinking that your hate for the Uchiha clan has not subsided?" The boy stood cautiously, making no threatening move, but equally as well, showing that the was not to be trifled with;
"The Uchiha and Konoha… Are you worried I've come to take your clan from you?"
"Not so much worried… I'm more worried that another war will be started because of the clan," Their Sharingan bounced off one another's, both showing the utmost strength and ability with just a glance, "And I will put a stop to whatever trouble they cause… I will not allow the Uchiha's selfish desire for power to be the stroke which crumbles Konoha, by creating a civil war," Itachi spoke with such assuredness, Madara could not immediately dismiss him, although the elder wasn't too sure which he hated more, the Uchiha or Konoha; "Have you come to destroy the Uchiha or Konoha?" The boy asked, almost as if reading Madara's mind – the man paused, considering what might happen if he said either;
"Konoha shunned us, shunned me, forced me into a corner… but the Uchiha, they were my siblings, my friends and my clansmen, yet they stopped trusting me the moment Senju Hashirama offered the peace treaty; they trusted him in a heart beat over my years of faithful leadership. My grudge is greater against the Uchiha," Itachi's stare didn't wane in the slightest, but he issues the faintest hint of a nod in understanding,
"Help me, then, to take revenge on the Uchiha, who betrayed you so quickly and would now, after a taste of peace would so soon throw it away in because of their own stupidity at not listening to you,"
"You want me to help you kill them all?"
"Yes… help me take revenge on our clan's impertinence," Madara smiled very lightly, a smug, smirk of a smile telling the young Uchiha he had an agreement, "Although, I have a condition,"
"Oh?"
"In return for helping me, you must not touch Konoha. It's the clan or its Konoha, I will not allow you to take revenge on both," Madara allowed a far more obvious smile of amusement to find his lips, Heh, what a brat… but either way, his eyes hold formidable power and my grudge still stands strong
"Fine;"
"It will start in one weeks time… wait until dusk, then we'll begin; oh, and I will handle my own family,"
"Hmm? You want the joy for yourself?"
"That's right, I will kill my family, my friends and… I will kill those associated to me, you begin at the far side of the compound, we'll work towards the middle," Madara could sense something else to the boy's words but decided not to push,
"As you wish," Itachi nodded once more, "Oh, but before you leave, there's something you should know,"
"Hmm?" Itachi wasn't quite sure what he meant,
"Have you heard of Mangekyou Sharingan?" A vaguely questioning expression passed Itachi's face,
"I've heard of it,"
"Then do you know what's necessary to obtain it?"
"Yes," Madara nodded, turning his back to the younger, in preparation to disappear,
"You won't get far with your 'plans' without it," As soon as his sentence was finished, the elder was gone, Itachi remained for a few moments, before dashing off to his destination – hating the idea, but knowing what had to be done.
The young man deactivated his Sharingan as he knocked on the door, eventually a young man answered not looking particularly impressed;
"Itachi? What are you doing here? We have meeting tonight,"
"I am well aware, but there's something we need to talk about… please, it is very urgent," Itachi forced his words as polite and desperate as he was able, Shisui sighed heavily,
"Can't it wait?"
"Unfortunately not," Itachi met his eyes smiling lightly, in an apologetic fashion;
"Haa… fine then, but it better not take long, I don't want to have to hear one of those lectures by Fukgaku," Itachi forced a breath of laughter as Shisui rolled his eyes at how stern the younger of the two's father could be.
"I am sorry, Shisui, but it really cannot wait… However we should be only a few minutes late to the meeting," Itachi turned and began leading his friend away from the house towards the Nakano Shrine, Itachi unable to prevent his mind recalling the events of the evening previous;
Itachi-kun… haa, I can't express to you how regretful I am that he haven't been able to find a solution,"
"I understand Hokage-sama,"
"Do you accept the burden of responsibility for this? Will you take the mantle of being your clans' destroyer?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama,"
"I cannot begin to understand the pain you must have been in recently, but know that it is you who have allowed the leaf to endure,"
"…Hai, Hokage-sama," Itachi rose to his feet, as the Sandaime turned to face him,
"Complete your mission by the end of the week,"
"… Hai… Hokage-sama,"
"So, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Shisui's voice interrupted Itachi's thought train just as the boy slid to a halt on the dock which stood over the water, allowing a calm to wash over him, "Well? Fugaku's gonna be pissed off if there isn't a good reason for this," the slightly elder Uchiha threatened, the exasperation evident in his voice,
"I'm well aware," Itachi, flashing his Sharingan to his eyes turned to face Shisui, capturing him within a Genjutsu, although the other Uchiha, known as Shunshin no Shishui, easily overcame it. But he didn't see through the fact it was a kage bunshin the real Itachi had been following them there and grabbed the nin's arms ripping them behind his back, knocking his leg out from under him and forcing his head underwater. Itachi forced his face solid, resisting the hatred and emptiness he felt for taking his best friends life, instead channeling his hated into the man's whose life was draining beneath him. Itachi channeled all his hatred and turmoil he felt at what he was doing into Shisui. It seemed to take nearly forever but Shisui eventually stopped struggling, the gurgling ended and the tension in his arms completely failed, he released his arms and the only sound puncturing the cold, cruel air was the splash of the body as it fell into the water. Itachi couldn't help but gasp, pant even struggling to control his breath as it full hit him what he'd done. It wasn't just the murder, it was now real to Itachi, it was really happening;
The Uchiha would fall.
"What is it?" Itachi, although knowing full well why Inabi and Tekka, as well as a few others had appeared, they weren't impressed,
"We had two men missing from last nights meeting… Why did you not come?" Inabi didn't immediately say what was on his mind, "I can understand that you've been occupied with various meeting since you joined the ANBU, you're father's also told us that he's looking over you… however," His pause was awkward, Tekka cut in,
We have no intention of treating you differently,
"I understand… I'll be more careful from now on, please leave…"
"Yea, but before we do, there's one more thing you need to answer," Tekka continued, Itachi looked visibly shaken – at least to he who could read, oh-ho! They've seen through you Itachi! You should have been more careful! Madara had kept himself well out of the way for the past few days, but he'd hadn't not been paying attention, his amusement only grew as the actions followed, yes, Itachi may well be capable of taking this once great clan out… I cannot wait for the end of the week, when I can finally wipe clean the stupidity of our clan… I would rather only Itachi and I remained that tens of Uchiha with no strength… Madara couldn't resist his grin as he could see the Mangekyou forming in Itachi's eye.
The stood next to each other at in a tree at the Uchiha compound, they looked once more at each other before shooting off to their designated targets, Madara himself barely containing his grin, Ahhh! These fools will die and I will bring war where they fell to their knees for fake peace!
Itachi found his way to his 'home', but not before killing a few on his way, remarkably quickly as he stood, facing his father – Uchiha Fugaku – he couldn't resist the stab of hate towards the arrogant man. He drew his sword,
"I-Itachi, w-what is this..?" He looked frightened, as Itachi leapt forward, forcing all his hate and anger at the situation his father had forced, he was almost sickened at how he could have mistaken himself to taking pleasure in watching the end of such a man. His thought could only focus on one sentence, I can only pray that this will bring about a peace the Uchiha could never appreciate… I'm sorry, Sasuke, may your sacrifice be the key to peace for as long it can be protected…