It's not the nightmares that keep me awake;It's knowing that I'm doomed to repeat them for the rest of my life. That in itself puts the nightmares to shame.

It's me. I know who killed your family.

Oh,sinner,won't you come out to play?

Lest your sanity survive another day,

There's nothing left but death and lies,

And it's all contained behind your eyes.

He was well aware of everything he'd done. He remembered everything he'd ever witnessed;The deaths of his clan members,the blood that pooled beneath his feet. He longed to forget,to pretend it never was,and so he lived a lie. Though he spoke little before the massacre,he scarcely spoke at all now. He'd been accused of treachery,duplicity,and murder,but no one knew it had all been a lie. Itachi,too,had been unaware of it at first,because the Leaf Council had given him the order;He was to eliminate the Uchiha Clan,as they posed a threat to rest of Konoha. He hadn't stopped to think that if this was the case,then he,too,posed a threat. He had been raised to be loyal to his village first,so he chose Konoha over his own family,as he'd been taught.

He felt nothing as he killed them. He could vaguely hear their screams,barely see their horrified faces and badly mangled bodies. He was dimly aware of the blood that soaked into his clothes and skin. But he knew what he'd done,and those images,then blurred,came back to him with agonizing clarity in his dreams. He'd left his brother alive the night of the massacre,lying to him in his dazed condition,but now he realized why he'd done it. If anyone should have the right to kill him for what he'd done,it should be a direct descendant of those he had slaughtered. He hoped that one day,Sasuke would finish him off.

And then he learned something that made his lip curl in disgust and contempt. There was a bounty on his head not three days after his deed. His own ANBU squad began to chase him,disregarding his former position of power above them. He had not known that the village council had been corrupted,or that the order to kill had been administered by a Senju,the Uchiha Clan's enemy. Once brothers in arms,the Senju and Uchiha Clan had supported each other for some time,until the Senju were refused access to the power of the Uchiha bloodline limit. They had wanted the Sharingan. Now holding a grudge,a Senju had infiltrated the council and plotted the demise of his enemy from the safety and concealment of his title. The council's names were often never revealed to citizens in the village. This particular council member made a mistake.

Senju Ikadsu was the man's name. He'd held a council spot as one of the major heads. Decisions were passed through him,and he also made decisions himself. At age 56,he was hardly an ignorant man. He had done well to keep himself reasonably under the radar,passing himself off as Kodetsu Omayo,and surrounding himself with protective body guards. Once aware of the man's identity,Itachi had found slitting his throat to be an easy,if not effortless task. However,this only increased the bounty on his head.

He left Konoha after that,now despising the village and all it stood for. After all,what good was a village of traitors; Did they really need another in their midst? He had chosen that village over his family,and now he couldn't take back the mistake he'd made. He blamed his village for that,he blamed the Senju Clan,and he blamed himself most of all. He slashed the symbol on his headband,the stiff metal giving way reluctantly under the edge of a kunai. He discarded the memories of his childhood and innocence to the farthest reaches of his mind;He gave up on all thoughts of loyalty,pride,and love. To replace his clothing,he now donned an Akatsuki cloak,and it fit him with the same connotation as a mask would fit a thief. Although he'd given up on loyalty,he protected and served the Akatsuki as he would have his own family,if only to make up for the past.

He'd worked alone for some time up until when Kisame arrived. Then the two were partnered up as roommates,and comrades in battle. They had gotten along far better than most other teams. Kakuzu had,after all,killed all of his previous partners. It was only by pure luck and chance that Pein had found Hidan,and paired Kakuzu up with him instead. Needless to say,Kakuzu had been furious. A loud-mouthed partner he not only was not allowed to kill,but couldn't?The miser was better off dead. Sasori and Orochimaru tolerated each other—no--Sasori just barely tolerated him. But that was as far as he went. It was no secret that he disliked the snake,but then again,who in their right mind didn't? As for Pein and Konan,they spoke for themselves. Zetsu had worked alone for years now…so yes,Kisame and Itachi worked reasonably well.

That didn't mean that Itachi made an effort to cooperate; Somehow,it just worked that way. He was more or less silent—hell,Kisame probably thought he was mute—and yet he was the one who made most of the underlying decisions. Kisame failed to question him,rarely mentioning any possible flaws within the Uchiha's plans. Itachi knew what he was doing,and he could make even the most ludicrous plan work seamlessly. Kisame accepted this without inquiry,and did well not to intervene. Why bother,if everything was fine the way it was? Perhaps it was Kisame's willingness to please and his likeness to silly putty that irritated Itachi,but at the same time enthused him. He himself had been used as a pawn throughout his whole life—by his own family,his village,and now the Akatsuki—but now Kisame appeared to be a pawn of his very own.

Itachi had long ago admitted to himself that he was sadistic. His mind worked in ways that proved fatal for those nearby. There was a reason he'd been known as the prodigy of his family,and it was the same reason that,not too long after his arrival,he'd ended up scaring Orochimaru away. Armed with a mind such as his own and skills to match,he was no doubt a dangerous person. But when paired with someone who was a potential subordinate,he could become so much more! If he could gain power over that partner of his,perhaps he could…could…what?

What in such a godforsaken world as this could he ever hope to achieve with that kind of power? This was why he had always worked under others. There was nothing in this world he truly desired to have,let alone acquire through some kind of power trip! From his position on the ground,Itachi gazed in Kisame's direction,managing to portray an expression of utmost boredom in the process. At the time,Kisame was training,muscles flexing as he practiced formations with his Samehada. Sweat dripped along his well-muscled frame and his face was pulled into a look of paramount concentration. Taking all this into consideration,a smirk tugged at Itachi's lips,and he turned away as it took it's full form. Maybe there was something he wanted…

And now,all he had to do was find a way to make it happen.