Itachi's Love
The first time she meets him, she notes that he's fairly plain for a supposed prodigy, the genius heir of the Uchiha clan. Being a member herself, however, she knows what it takes to get such recognition from the clan head, first son or not. She takes a few moments to feel pity for his younger brother, but a squalling baby; he will soon learn that, in ninja clans, the youngest child is neither coddled nor spoiled. Just as she herself learned.
Her father urges her to go meet the other children, as do other parents; but really what they all mean is, make friends with Itachi. So she approaches him like the other shy girls and exuberant boys. Soon the older boys are playing ninja and dashing through the trees – a game that Itachi is clearly winning. Most of the girls and the younger boys (much to their disappointment) stay on the ground cheering for the prodigy.
She herself would have liked to stay on the ground, but one firm glare later from her father that promises punishment if she does not obey and she find herself in the treetops, trying to avoid getting tagged by the faster, more experienced boys.
It's inevitable that she's tagged not five minutes into her turn, and it's entirely her own fault when, startled, she misses the branch and begins to fall. She closes her eyes, expects to hit the ground, possible breaking a limb or two – but instead she feels a sharp pain in her ankle. She opens her eyes to find that Uchiha Itachi has caught her by her ankle, saving her from a nasty fall and giving her a broken ankle in the process.
She really doesn't know whether to be thankful or upset, but her father is clearly pleased, by the way he keeps on using her as an excuse to give him yet another pat on the back. She sees the way Itachi's smile is becoming forced, but is not yet brave enough to face her father's wrath if she dares interrupt him.
The second time she sees him is when she gets an idea of why he is called the prodigy. She watches, hidden from sight but not from his mind, as he releases kunai after kunai – surely those ones must miss, they're at the completely wrong angle – no, that kunai pushed it onto the right angle, but what about the other one – and they all hit, in a rhythmic thunk-thunk-thunk. He then leaps from tree to tree, collecting all the kunai in a practiced manner. Finished, he puts them away and asks her what she's doing there, hiding like a chipmunk in the treetops, and can he do anything for her. She is seized by a fit of nerves and leaps away through the trees. It's the only thing she can do right; a fast getaway. She decides she needs to find a new training spot. Preferably in the opposite direction.
Then the third time; at a family meeting. It's been several years since she spied Uchiha Itachi training. Since then she has become a chunin, a bit too late for her father's liking but relatively early compared to the other academy students.
Of course, it's only average and expected of an Uchiha.
Of course, the prodigy Uchiha Itachi has already been entered into Anbu. She's heard that his younger brother is only average for an Uchiha and can't help but feel more pity.
She is there only because both her father and brother are dead, just recently but with what's been going on in the clan recently there has been no time to mourn for anyone (it doesn't stop her mother from opening sake bottle after sake bottle late at night and sleeping in until noon the next day. It's the only reason she's at these meetings rather than her mother.). The new silence and solitude in the house is unsettling and she hasn't gotten much sleep. There are bags under her eyes and her skin is an unhealthy pale shade.
But she's not the only one who's changed. Uchiha Itachi looks older than he should be. And he looks weary, as though he has a weight on his shoulders. She can't help but stare at him the whole meeting. He must notice because his obsidian eyes flicker in her direction a few times, but he must not deem her important or a threat, or perhaps he is just too tired to deal with her, because he makes no further note of it throughout the meeting.
The both of them are rarely addressed throughout the meeting; she, because she is unimportant and is only there to tell them that yes, she is on active duty and yes, her mother is fine and will not hamper the clan in any way. He is there to observe and remember everything, and although he is rarely spoken to, he is often spoken of, as though he weren't there, or – even more unsettling – as though what he has to say does not matter. As though he were nothing but a tool for the Uchiha clan.
As the meetings continue, she feels more and more uncomfortable by the direction they are heading in. She is aware of the bitterness between the Senju and the Uchiha – and now the Senju is so widespread that there isn't even a proper clan for the Uchiha to hate.
Just the village that refused to acknowledge them at the level that they wanted.
Just their own pride and indignation, hidden behind a mask of "honour" for the clan.
It takes a lot of courage to come up to the Hokage, to voice her actual concerns. If her brother had still been alive, she would have confided in him. If her father had still been alive, she wouldn't have dared to put one toe out of line. But her only family left is a drunken mother who can't get her name right half the time. She figures she doesn't have anything more to lose.
(But the thing is, there is always more to lose.)
Her voice has always been quiet and even he has to strain to hear what she's saying.
And then an Anbu operative in a weasel mask drops down and she's thinking, I'm going to die oh god why did I do this because she's seen that mask before and she remembers it because it is Uchiha Itachi's mask.
And then he takes off his mask and gives her a weary smile, and she thinks perhaps she won't die that night.
It isn't that shocking, really, to discover that the prodigy Uchiha Itachi is a mole for the village. But that's probably because she's in shock – in shock that the Hokage has need of her services. Her, a lowly chunin who passed on a mix of luck and family status and will probably never activate the sharingan.
Once she's calmed down from her shock, the Hokage explains that those are exactly the reasons why she would make a good mole; she is one of the last people they would expect to turn on them.
It is then that she realizes that she does not love her clan the same way others do; wholeheartedly, devoting their existence to that red and white symbol. She, on the other hand, loves the village. She loves the children and the academy and the monument and the tower and the people and every last tree. And so does Itachi.
She'll admit to feeling warm and superior, because she shares something with him that no other girl will ever be able to. The secret smiles he slips her when no one else is watching is enough to strengthen her resolve and keep on spying.
So she spies, and she keeps an eye and ear out for things in places that Uchiha Itachi (the prodigy) cannot easily hear or see because everyone knows his name and face and his presence is enough to stop conversations. She picks up pieces and bits and reports them to Itachi. She never reports to the Hokage on these matters herself; Itachi had told her it was too dangerous and she wasn't skilled enough to enter and exit such a high-security place unnoticed.
She gets so caught up in the excitement of spying and sharing a secret with the prodigy Uchiha Itachi that she stops looking at Uchiha Itachi the person and doesn't notice when he becomes more and more weary, as though the weight on his back has become the world (or in his case, a village).
She slips up just once, but just once is enough for a clan as meticulous and paranoid as the Uchiha. Only a few of the heads have noticed, Uchiha Fugaku included, and in the chance of more spies, they keep the knowledge of her actions to themselves. She pleads guilty and spins a tale of being threatened. They obviously don't believe her, but won't pass up a chance like this. So they feed her false information to whisper into Itachi's pale ear and she repeats after them. And she discovers that night that she does not love her village enough.
And then the fata words come out; coup d'état. In a week, every Uchiha will drop their missions and head for Hokage tower in a revolt to restore power to their clan. She is not told of the date, because they don't trust a former spy.
The night the massacre begins, she is sitting on the side of the small stream that runs through Konoha. A few crickets chirp and she sees a fish jump from the water. She feels, rather than hears, the blade approaching, in a direct line for her heart, and leaps aside just in time to receive nothing more than a scratch on the arm. She knows she won't get so lucky a second time, and that only Uchiha Itachi's underestimatin of her skills saved her this time.
She stares into crimson red eyes on the face of Uchiha Itachi as she tries to comprehend what is going on. He's willing to spare her the confusion, because she's going to die anyways.
She was just a diversion. She was meant to get caught. No, Uchiha Itachi had set her up so that she would get caught. The Hokage had been in on it the moment she had stepped through his doors. The council had ordered for her to be a dummy, get caught so that suspicion would be lifted off of Itachi. The effect had been minimal, but apparently just enough that he could hold out until this night.
And then, he tells her that she is the first one he has come for. With that, the knowledge of being used, of being betrayed, and now of being targeted for death when she had only been trying to help prevent a civil war- something inside her snaps. She closes her eyes at a burst of pain in the back of her head. When she opens them again, everything around her seems so much clearer. She turns to look at Uchiha Itachi and realizes she has unlocked her sharingan.
She wants to laugh, really. Minutes, maybe seconds before her death and she unlocks it. No one else will know until they carve open her body and scoop out her eyes.
It is those thoughts that drive her to attack him. Perhaps if she had screamed, run away, anything other than a frontal confrontation, she might have lived. But she had become arrogant, and now she paid with her blood.
She never felt the blade enter her and pierce her heart, because milliseconds before that her red eyes meet Uchiha Itachi's spinning red eyes and she finds herself in a peaceful, if not slightly dark world, where her mother remembers her name and her father is proud of her for unlocking her sharingan and her brother is alive.
She enjoys that world for three days and three nights and on the third night her mother tucks her into bed and her father kisses her forehead and she passes away quietly, without fanfare or fuss.
Uchiha Itachi brings her dead body to the compound so that it will seem like everyone died the same way. Because honestly, she wasn't anyone special. Just someone who didn't love the village enough. She is not forgotten, not because he loves her or she has left a mark in his soul or any nonsense. Because Uchiha Itachi feels it is his duty to remember the names of each and every Uchiha he killed that night.
Because kind, gentle, wise Uchiha Itachi has only ever loved two things; his brother and his village.
Itachi's Love
Fin
A/N
Despite my guilty pleasure of oc stories, and my wish that Itachi could have gotten a happier end, I also respect his love and dedication for his village and his brother. Moonlite Nocturne's Itachi/oc story A Glass of Crimson Souls firmly reminds us multiple times that no matter how sweet or perfect or imperfect your character is, and that even though Itachi has a huge heart capable of loving many, the one person he will always love the most will be his brother, and the one thing he will always love the most will be his village.
Edit
After re-reading my original summary (Because kind, gentle, wise Uchiha Itachi has only ever loved two things; his brother and his village. Oneshot, one-sided Itachi/oc), I realized it is not quite true; *spoiler warning* because when Itachi killed his parents, he was crying. Therefore I don't believe he is incapable of loving anyone else apart from his brother, he's just decided to give everything up for him and his village. It makes his love for anything else seem pale in comparison.