Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
When he stared at the boy's bright blue eyes, barely visible in the haze that was his life, Itachi knew that Naruto was the one he needed to trust.
The boy had gotten it all wrong; his life was a mess upon a mess, and he knew nothing. Naruto walked into every dangerous situation he had ever gotten into the same way: head first, with no regard for his own safety or anyone else's. He was reckless, headstrong, passionate, and he would always get it wrong.
Uzumaki Naruto thought he could change everyone. He thought he could march in and change the world, because he was just that sort of person. He had never known any better, and even though he was as far from innocent as anyone could be, he held the indestructible optimism of a child who had never known war or suffering or ugliness. It was eternal, admirable…and wrong.
Itachi knew that there were some things that would simply never change. For those who did not know that, he held both contempt and pity. It was difficult not to simply walk away and scorn them, and the only reason he didn't was because he had been that way once himself.
Black eyes blinked as Naruto flailed high in the discolored air. Even caught in a genjutsu, the boy was still defiant. Itachi surveyed him, anything but impassive though his face remained a study in the art of a mask.
Itachi was not a man of any strong faith, and Naruto was destined to get it wrong every time.
Uzumaki Naruto was a child who was always wrong, but as Itachi stared into his blue eyes, reckless, headstrong, passionate, he knew Naruto was the one he needed to rest all his hopes and faith in. Naruto was the only one who could save his brother from darkness.