Unfulfilled wills
Uchiha Itachi loved his village with most of his heart. Growing up in war - watching those he loved depart and never return made its mark on his emotional development and he desired a home where there was peace. He enjoyed basking in the soft laughter of children as they ran through unguarded streets, knowing they had a home to return to without concern for deaths and partings. Without the color of too red blood staining their vision and hands.
When his brother was born to the sound of chaos, though his young infant eyes would not comprehend the death and the dying and the soon to die, Itachi swore to himself his brother would have a better life. A life beyond the selfish power-hungry desires of his clan who warred with the efforts of peace and had to be cowed into compromise. He hoped his brother would love the village as he did and when the council determined the Uchiha were too dangerous and greedy to allow to live, with a heavy determined heart he shattered his precious little brother's world.
Now as he died, fulfilled in the knowledge that Sasuke would always hate him, Itachi let himself smile the soft, tender smile reserved for Sasuke. The amateresu should kill Uchiha Madara and his final mission would be complete. Blinded by sibling love as he was, Itachi knew without a doubt that Sasuke would not see beyond Madara's manipulations and go after Konoha should Sasuke know the truth. As a result of this predictability, Madara had to die. Sasuke, he thought fondly as fell, watching Sasuke's look of horror, was a sweet idiot who believed vengeance realized would fulfill something, when it only led to emptiness and death. He hoped someday that Sasuke would understand the meaning behind the village and the hope for a warless world.
He felt the soft earth beneath his body and savored each last breath. But as darkness embraced him tenderly, his chakra coils seized and trembled as destiny groaned. He knew, just suddenly knew, that Madara would survive and Sasuke would try and defend a worthless clan. Sasuke being the fool that he was. And with that realization, he struggled against death, knowing it was foolish and wasteful, because if Sasuke went against Konoha, his final wishes would not be fulfilled because the Kyuubi brat would prevail even against the enhanced Uchiha eyes.
Uzumaki Naruto. With his last breath, Itachi pictured the boy in his mind with his too-blue eyes reflecting the freedom of the sky, and the heart that encompassed a village. The boy whose potential overwhelmed Sasuke's. A boy whose love was too forgiving and understanding, whose chakra potential sans Kyuubi was immeasureable. Uzumaki Naruto.
His dying thought was his brother would die because as much as Uzumaki Naruto thought of Sasuke fondly and desired to save him, the desire to protect was exponentially more powerful than the desire for vengeance. If Uzumaki Naruto determined Sasuke to be a lost cause, then he would kill to protect the village he loved. Sasuke would die. Itachi wept as his body stilled.
