Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is me having fun and being scary.
Summary: All it takes is one suggestion, one lie, and Itachi is still the brother Sasuke loves.
Rating: R
Warning: Incest, sexual situations, and violence.
Author's Notes: I finally rewrote this. If you read the old version, I advise you to read this over, as it is very different. I apologize for the long wait (if anyone is actually waiting, haha).
Etc: Finally. Geez.
Schism
By: Hana J.
Prologue:
Uchiha Shisui was dead. Fugaku knew that the rumors surrounding his son, Itachi, would bring the Hokage's attention on his family. Now, the rest of the Uchiha Clan had begun to point fingers at his son, not even Fugaku's influence as the head of the Clan could quiet the whispers. Yashiro had only left at his request, and Itachi's surprising apology, giving them only enough time to make a swift excuse to thwart an official investigation. The police headquarters – family business – would allow Fugaku some leeway, such as not informing the Hokage of Itachi's questionable whereabouts the night Shisui died until all evidence had been collected. There was no reason to sully the Uchiha name without proper evidence. Still, despite Fugaku's efforts, there would be a police force at his house by dawn.
Fugaku watched the receding figures of Inabi, Yashiro and Tekka before heading back inside. One last look at the courtyard allowed him a glance at the crack marring his wall, breaking in half the Uchiha fan. A kunai still stuck in cement between the red and white paint.
…
"Don't come in here, Sasuke!"
Sasuke froze. That was Itachi's voice. His hands tightened on the door handle until his knuckles turned white. Sweat slithered down his face, dripping from nose and chin. Breathing heavily, he opened his mouth, but Itachi's name would not come out. The echo of his earlier screams – Mother! Father! – seemed to tremble throughout the house, broken only by the sheath of a sword.
The door opened. Sasuke stumbled away, tripping on the wooden floor, and crouching defensively. The tension drained out of his body, and he was left exhausted, tears forming in his eyes.
"Brother…" he said, voice cracking as he took a step forward.
"Don't look, Sasuke," Itachi said, "Quickly follow me."
Swallowing, Sasuke turned, running to catch up to Itachi's quick stride. "Everyone…Mother, Father, everyone…" he slammed into Itachi's back as his brother suddenly stopped. Itachi's hand engulfed his shoulder and steered him away from their home.
"Everyone is dead," Itachi acknowledged.
Sasuke grabbed Itachi's hand, squeezing close to his brother's side, choking on tears and hiccupping on screams. "Who?" he finally managed to ask, passed his scratchy voice and red rubbed eyes.
"I don't know," Itachi said, the words heavy in their weight. "I only got a glimpse of their face. But we can't stay here. There is nothing for us here."
"But…Konoha," Sasuke replied, struggling to keep up with his brother. "We can't…we can't just leave," he said.
"We have no choice, little brother," Itachi answered, exasperation leaking into his voice.
Sasuke flushed in response, crowding close to Itachi's side as they jogged through the forest, branches cracking under their feet and whipping past their faces.
"They will blame me for killing them," Itachi said, gathering Sasuke into his arms.
Sasuke clung to Itachi; thighs secured safely in Itachi's hands and arms wrapped tight around Itachi's neck. It was much easier to cling to Itachi's back than walking over uneven ground and stubbing his toe on thick roots. "They can't blame you!" Sasuke shouted into the cool night air. "You didn't ki—kill them!"
Pushing his face into Itachi's neck, Sasuke missed his brother's smile. "Ah, but that is how the law is, Sasuke. They have no one to blame but me. You did not see the man, did you? And, just the other day, you remember don't you? Our cousins coming to our house and demanding to see me. You see how that looks suspicious, to shinobi eyes."
"Where are we going?" Sasuke asked, avoiding Itachi's rhetorical. Itachi would never kill their parents. It wasn't possible. Sasuke didn't see how anyone could blame his brother. And if Konoha would blame his brother, well, he didn't want to stay there then.
"Somewhere safe," Itachi answered, his voice comforting in the black night. Sasuke pressed his cheek into Itachi's shoulder, the adrenaline leaving his body now that he was safe, like a leech, on Itachi's back. Nothing could hurt him. He closed his eyes, the drone of crickets singing him to sleep, Itachi's footsteps like a heartbeat.
…
The weather in Konoha was humid and the shopkeeper a market man that tended to vegetables near the Uchiha Clan's holdings was already sweating, even though he was packaging his vegetables in crates under the shade of a large, healthy oak. The smell of vegetables was strong, a musky scent that reminded him of straw barns and dirt. But today, something was different. A sweet smell that was carried on a cool breeze.
Dusting off his hands, too curious for his own good, he piled one of his crates high with the freshest of vegetables: thick squash, hollow-sounding pumpkins, strings of green beans, and bright, juicy tomatoes. His excuse already made, he went to visit Uchiha Teyaki, his best customer.
The Senbei shopped loomed in his vision, the Uchiha Clan emblem bright over the dull brown roofing. But, before he even got close, the box fell from his hands, squash rolling toward the front gate of the Uchiha Clan compound. The smell hit him. His eyes couldn't believe what he was seeing. Bodies, everywhere. Teyaki-san's wife, splayed in front of the shop, Teyaki, slumped over the front counter where he sold his goods, throat slit.
The smell was rotting flesh. The Uchiha Clan had been massacred. His feet took him to the Hokage, sour stomach acid dribbling down his chin as he ran, not toward the Police Station, which for so long had been considered the safety of Konoha, but toward the last person he knew that held up the foundation of Konoha.
Later, after sitting in the hospital to recover from shock, a nurse informed him that there were no survivors. The greatest Clan in Konoha was no more.