Full Summary: A Sasuke and Itachi story of how the massacre would have played out had Sasuke been involved and things played out a little differently. Naruto and Sasuke's friendship will have a place in this story, as well as Sasuke and Sakura's relationship, but the focus will be on Itachi and his strange new feelings for Sasuke and Sasuke's coping with the tragedy of his clan. Itachi and Sasuke's development is the main focus. Yaoi, Uchihacest... lemons later on. If you can't read this being open to SasuSaku AND ItaSasu, then you shouldn't read it at all. Enjoy!

Chapter One: Sasuke's Sentence

The streets were busy as Itachi Uchiha passed his Aunt and Uncle's bakery. The smell of fresh bread wafted through the open windows, striking him unpleasantly as did the eyes of the customers. Children ran wild chasing each other with toy shurikens nearly running into Itachi, but their mother quickly stopped them and apologized to him with her head lowered. Itachi said nothing and walked on, irritated he had to go interrogate someone for his father at the headquarters on his day off.

No one seemed capable of doing anything without him anymore. The dependence was not something Itachi had ever wanted and he despised it. With each day that passed, he grew more and more bound to his place in life—the future leader of the Uchiha clan. That role was not something he would become, but something that would become of him. He would lose himself to it, and the first signs had already begun to show. A kind smile to his young cousins could no longer be tolerated. Allowing an inferior clan member to address him as anything less than "Sama" was a disgrace.

Itachi stopped when he noticed someone had fallen into step beside him.

"Good morning, Itachi-sama," spoke a young lady. She was a member of one of the Uchiha branch families. Itachi couldn't even remember her name.

"Good morning," Itachi said, and kept walking. After a few more silent moments of her walking beside him, Itachi spoke.

"Did you want something?" he asked.

"Um, well, yes, Itachi-sama, you see, I was wondering if you would have dinner with my family this evening, if you aren't busy of course."

Itachi sighed mentally before glancing over at the girl. She could only be a few years older than Sasuke, and now that he looked at her, he could tell she was one of the girls that his father had picked out for him to consider as a wife. This was no doubt connected with her sudden invitation.

"No, I can't make it," Itachi said.

The girl paused as if struck and stopped walking. Itachi didn't stop until he was a few steps ahead of her. Letting a devious smirk crawl onto his face, he turned and glanced at her over his shoulder.

"But I would allow you to spend the night with me."

# # #

Itachi played lazily with the girl's long dark hair that was splashed across his chest. Her slim body was hardly able to handle what he put her through last night, but she seemed determined to please him. Itachi smiled, amused she had gone through with it. Should he not choose to marry her, she would be in serious trouble.

Heavy footsteps outside his door warned him of the approaching visitor. Recognizing his father's stride, Itachi scowled. He moved the girl from her innocent position at his side so that her body was draped scantily clad with the sheet across his. He could feel his father's glare on him when he entered the room.

"Itachi," he said, his eyes narrowing at the girl, "come to my study. Now."

# # #

"What the hell are you thinking, Itachi?" Fugaku shouted. "Don't you have any respect for your position?"

"No," Itachi said, his voice calm and controlled, "actually, I don't."

Fugaku's eyes narrowed. "Look Itachi. Sleep with as many of them as you want, but you have to choose one. The leader of the Uchiha clan cannot be without a wife. You will carry on the main branch of the family. This is not a light matter. You have a responsibility to this family."

"I do not need a wife right now. I'm only twenty-one and not due to take your position for many years yet. Why should I have to worry about this now?"

Fugaku sighed. "Fine Itachi. We've been through this before. I don't really care if you are married or not, but you need an heir. I was your age when you were born. You can't wait much longer, or your son will not be ready to take your position. But it's to your shame that he will be born out of wedlock."

Itachi finally looked up at his father. "Alright. I'll choose a wife by the end of the month."

Fugaku's face relaxed. "Good."

# # #

Itachi found his lover nervously sitting on his bed when he returned to his room to change into his ANBU uniform. He had forgotten about her. Trembling, she addressed him nervously, citing her torn clothes as the reason she was still in his room.

Itachi smirked at the memory and pulled some of his clothes out of his closet for her to wear. As he watched her change, he admired the slender curves of her delicate body and the long dark hair that fell down her chest. Just as she was about to leave the room, he called out to her to wait.

She froze and turned to face him, the clothes a bit too big, but not suspicious looking. Something odd struck Itachi in that moment as he saw her nervous expression as she hugged his clothes tightly to her. She was quite beautiful.

"What's your name?" he asked.

The blush the rose in her cheeks was endearing as she muttered "Ruka".

Itachi moved closer to her, pulling her in his arms and ghosting his lips over her ear.

"Come back in two nights, Ruka."

Full on trembling now, she nodded and slipped out of the room.

Amused, Itachi changed into his ANBU uniform and left the house. As he checked out at the front gates for his solo two day ANBU mission, his mask firmly in place, the sun was just setting. Off in the distance, he could hear an obnoxiously loud person boasting about their hit on an enemy they encountered on a recent mission. Leaving the front gate, Itachi noticed Kakashi and his squad, the annoying blond one still shouting at his younger brother who had a look of complete irritation adorning his face.

"There's no way you could have taken that guy without me roughing him up for you first! Besides, I got the final hit on him!"

"He was already down then, Naruto," spoke up the girl, the one Itachi recalled as Sakura. She looked even more irritated than his younger brother and not to his surprise, the copy ninja had his face buried in one of those perverted novels.

"I told you already, Sakura-chan, he was getting back up! If I hadn't of taken him out, he would have caught Sasuke-teme off guard!" he shouted.

"Naruto!" Sasuke finally shouted. "If you don't stop shouting in my ear I'm going to strangle you!"

"Not a very cohesive team you have, eh, Kakashi-san?" Itachi asked, pausing outside the gate as they approached.

Sasuke's eyes immediately shot up to see the familiar fox mask of his brother's ANBU uniform.

"Eh heh," Kakashi chuckled as he scratched his head, "They've always been like this, ever since their first days as team seven over three years ago, but somehow they manage quite well."

Itachi glanced at Naruto who was eyeing him with suspicion. Every time he had ever met his brother's obnoxious teammate they were always bickering. Itachi vaguely wondered how Sasuke could stand it. Just one glance at the defiant look on Naruto's face made Itachi weary.

"Sasuke, you should try to get along with your teammates better," Itachi scolded lightly.

"Tsk," Sasuke sounded, giving him a disdainful look. "You try getting along with these two sometime."

"Hey," Sakura said, "What did I ever do?"

Sasuke simply glared at her with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

Itachi laughed and ruffled Sasuke's hair as he passed them. "See you in a few days, Sasuke."

# # #

Sasuke lied awake that night, wondering what it was his brother was up to on his mission. He had so many short solo missions, he could only assume they were assassination missions. Itachi was the most skilled ANBU in the village, so if Konoha wanted someone taken out without a mess or any trace of it back to them, he was the only one that could without a doubt pull it off. Lately he overheard his father complaining about how often they had Itachi out on missions, away from his clan duties. He couldn't deny it would be nice to have Itachi around more, but even if he was, Sasuke wouldn't get any time with him. He resented Itachi for it sometimes--not being around enough. He knew it wasn't Itachi's fault, but it still bothered him. It was the excuse Sasuke used when his father harassed him about taking the Jounin exam. Letting his father think he was unable to pass it without Itachi's help was a small price to pay to not be forced to take it yet. The truth was, he had been ready to take it right after the Chunin Exams when him, Naruto and Sakura had all finally passed. The truth was, all three of them had been ready to take it, but none of them admitted it. There was always an excuse, a reason they couldn't do it. Sasuke knew he wasn't the only one getting hell for not taking it yet. The Hokage was constantly on Sakura about it, and everyone gave Naruto curious looks when he said he wasn't ready. It was an outright lie, and everyone knew it.

The truth was, none of them wanted to leave team seven. Once they passed the Jounin tests, they would either be assigned to a new squad or routed into the ANBU Black Ops and they could rest assured they'd never be on the same team again. Sasuke knew Kakashi preferred keeping them around as well simply because he never recommended them for the test, which would have forced them to take it. It was only because of the fact that none of their year had made it to their level yet and to Jounin that they could continue to linger as team seven.

Sasuke sighed. He knew it wouldn't last forever, but despite how annoying his teammates were, he knew he would never find friends like them again.

# # #

The next morning, Sasuke headed out to the training grounds to meet his team for a sparring session. It was their day off, and Kakashi-sensei wouldn't be there to keep them in line. Sasuke smirked as he met them, psyched for the match.

"So Teme, what are you up for? Old fashioned tai-jutsu match? Or do you wanna play rough?" Naruto asked, his casual tone turning deviant with the last part.

"Me against both of you. Anything goes," Sasuke said, his smirk the worst of all his condescending looks.

Naruto huffed and was about to object when Sakura smirked back and said, "Fine. Anything goes."

Sasuke watched her, catching the odd glint of amusement in her eyes. Something about that look left him uneasy.

Ready to wipe that smug look off her face, Sasuke hands formed seals faster than they could react and sent a massive fire jutsu across the training field. Sensing Sakura beneath him, Sasuke leapt back to avoid her blow from below after her earth style jutsu that buried her beneath the surface, only to have to use a substitution to avoid Naruto's vicious wind attack. Catching Sakura's kick and punches that came at him were no easy feat, and when he did, he felt as if every bone in his arm and hand had been crushed. However, it wasn't long before he caught her in a paralyzing gen-jutsu and she fell limply against him. Instinctively catching her, Sasuke realized she wasn't under the jutsu when she knocked him to the ground.

"How did you break that gen-jutsu?" Sasuke asked, staring at her in shock.

She said nothing as Sasuke flipped her onto her back and backed off as he felt Naruto at his side. She had definitely gotten strong to be able to break one of his sharingan techniques so quickly. Impressed, Sasuke decided it was time to get serious.

For the next twenty minutes, he spent a good amount of chakra just avoiding Naruto and Sakura's attack, but so far, they hadn't hit him once. Just when he was about to make his move and take Sakura out, he felt one of Naruto's nasty wind jutsus that would saw a person to ribbons if they didn't get out of its way.

"Damn it," Sasuke muttered as he realized his only escape route was into Sakura. Only just escaping the brunt of the jutsu, Sasuke and Sakura both lost their balance as the harsh wind swept them off their feet and tumbling across the training grounds.

Winded, Sasuke glanced at Sakura, who was much closer to him than he preferred, and saw her already making seals. Jumping to his feet, he saw her swing out to knock him back down, but preempted her attack and fastened both of her legs to the ground with his own and twisted her into an arm bar. Seeing her smirk, Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"What's so funny?" he asked--and then he felt it.

A dainty hand had a firm grip squeezing ever so hard on his lower region. He felt his entire body restrict in tension. The next moment, there was a kunai at his throat, and Sakura's smirk deepened.

"One move, Sasuke Uchiha, and they're as good as mine," Sakura's clone said from behind him. The Sakura still beneath him was still smirking in glory at the shocked expression on his face. Releasing the real Sakura in his grip, he closed his eyes and smirked in defeat.

"So this is what the Hokage teaches you."

# # #

Finally arriving back at the village, Itachi checked in and raced across the rooftops back to his own room, ready for a long hot shower and his bed. Landing gracefully on the balcony that Sasuke and he shared, he walked past Sasuke's room, noticing his windows were shut. Sasuke never shut his windows since he liked it so cold in his room, and Itachi smirked, wondering what he could be doing in there that would make him shut them. Pausing to peer through the crack into his brother's room, Itachi's eyes widened.

That pink hair was unmistakable. Sasuke had her in his lap, her back to him, trailing hot kisses up her spine and neck, his hands roaming her naked body freely. Itachi was about to move on when Sasuke suddenly shifted the girl, tangling his hands in her long pink hair and pulling her head to his lap. A foreign feeling struck Itachi as he saw the girl take Sasuke's hard length into her mouth. His eyes travelled up his brother's body, resting on his eyes drunk with lust as his teammate sucked him off. Itachi could only imagine the sounds coming from Sasuke's throat that must have been nothing short of pure bliss, and Itachi was suddenly a little disturbed at how aroused he was getting watching this. Still, he couldn't tear his eyes away from his brother's pale and beautiful face twisted with such pleasure. Finally unable to stand it, Sasuke pulled Sakura into his arms and pushed her back onto the bed, his body sliding flush against hers and a look of such ecstasy on Sasuke's face that Itachi had to turn away. Sliding open the door to his room, Itachi couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling that was consuming him. A desire so utterly wrong and disturbing he felt he had to be going insane just for feeling it at all. The desire to see Sasuke look like that for him.

Stepping into his room, covered in blood and sweat, and completely hard, Itachi noticed Ruka sitting on his bed as he had requested. Without a word, Itachi started pulling her clothes off, ignoring the fearful look in her eye. Allowing himself free reign of her body, Itachi convinced himself the thought of her waiting here for him had been the true reason of his arousal and was ready to fuck her senseless, having not even discarded any of his uniform. However, the uncertain sound of her calling his name made him pause and look up at her for the first time.

"There's blood all over your face," she said, her voice shaking with fear and disgust.

"Don't worry," Itachi muttered, "It's not mine," before taking her completely.

# # #

Itachi rose early letting the steam of the shower cloud his senses. The shame that burned in his mind was not washing away as he wished it would, and seemed to be taking over his sanity. Every sound Ruka had made sounded like his precious little brother, and every time he sank into her, he saw Sasuke's look of unadulterated pleasure behind closed eyes.

Itachi couldn't explain it. He had never found himself attracted to men before, and had always taken the greatest pleasure in his female conquests. He wouldn't deny he had admired his brother's youthful beauty, but it was the same admiration he held for himself. Never had he confused it before last night as he did then. Sighing, Itachi shut off the water and went back out into his room. Seeing Ruka getting dressed, she eyed him wearily, as if unsure how to act.

"Itachi-sama," she said bowing.

Itachi nodded to her just as he noticed the door open to reveal a very bemused Sasuke. He paused, clearly not expecting to find Ruka standing there and Itachi watching him with a curious expression.

"Sorry," he muttered, "Itachi--Father wants to see us as soon as possible."

Sasuke kept his eyes on the ground as turned to leave abruptly.

"Sasuke," Itachi said, bringing him to a halt. "Any trouble getting Sakura home?"

Sasuke turned back to look at him as if he had just been busted, but Itachi's amused look allowed him to relax a bit.

A muttered, "She's still here," was nearly lost as Sasuke left the room leaving Itachi staring after him.

# # #

Sasuke sat on his knees and bowed respectfully to his father as he came and sat before him and his brother.

"Itachi," Fugaku said. "Any progress?"

Itachi looked up with an impassive look. "Yes."

"Good."

"Sasuke," his father stated, addressing him with a sterner voice than Itachi had got, "When are you taking the Jonin exams?"

Sasuke cringed at the question. "Soon."

"You better," was all he got.

"Now," he said, "I have something very important to discuss with the two of you. As you might have noticed, there has been some recent tension between our clan and the village elders. The truth is, this has been going on much longer than either of you might have noticed, and this time the village has taken it too far. Itachi is constantly under strain from missions that they should have other shinobi qualified to do, taking him away from his focus as the next leader of the Uchiha clan. The village has grown weak, relying on us for everything, while still suppressing us with the power they dangle over our head. The Uchiha elders and I have decided that the clan is finally ready. With an alliance with the misplaced Fuma clan, the Uchiha will take control of Konoha as it was meant to have and restore the prestige of our clan and village."

Sasuke sat completely still, his calm expression hiding the burning shock he felt radiating within him. Was his father talking about a coup d'état? Was he serious? He acted as if Itachi were the only skilled shinobi in the entire village! Surely he was one of the most skilled, but it would be madness to attack the village.

Sasuke thoughts were broken when Itachi spoke exactly what he had been thinking to which Fugaku replied, "And that is why we have made a deal with the Fuma clan."

Sasuke caught the skeptical look on his brother's face. "The Fuma clan does not trust anyone," Itachi said, "what have you bargained to enlist them in this senseless revolt?"

Fugaku looked up, his face suddenly very aged. "We have agreed to allow them to have the sharingan with the agreement that the clan will have a permanent alliance with the Uchiha. It is my and the elders desire for this 'new' clan to one day merge with the Uchiha. But that hardly is of concern right now. Taking the village is crucial."

"I won't be a part of it," Itachi stated, his face just as stoic as ever.

Sasuke looked to his father, feeling as if he had missed something when Fugaku turned his gaze to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, do you understand your position?" he asked.

Anger welled up in his chest as he stared at his father. "No. I don't understand my position. I refuse to have anything to do with this. The village does not need the Uchiha to take power. It's my own sensei who is the favorite to be the next Hokage--why should I betray those who have made me what I am?" Sasuke shouted.

Fugaku looked livid, "It is the Uchiha clan who have made you what you are, make no mistake. Without that Sharingan you would be nothing, do you understand Sasuke?"

Itachi glanced at Sasuke and back to Fugaku and spoke quietly, "Why don't you tell him already what you intend for him?"

Fugaku glared at Itachi but closed his eyes and spoke anyway. "Sasuke, as my only other heir, you are to marry the leader of the Fuma clan's daughter. They will accept no one of less purity to ensure the sharingan passage in their bloodlines."

Sasuke stared dumbstruck at his father. The bastard wouldn't even look at him and his throat was so tight he couldn't even speak.

"You will leave in one month's time. The day after you arrive, you will marry and bed the daughter, and the following morning is when the attack will be launched," he continued.

Sasuke sank back on his knees and let his gaze fall to the floor.

Itachi watched his younger brother, defeat drowning him in misery. He knew what Sasuke was thinking about. That precious little pinkette probably in his room using his shower and that blond dope of a teammate he had. He spent nearly every night at the Ramen stand with his team. That world he lived in, free from harm and surrounded by such undiluted happiness had just slipped away from him.

Itachi felt a twinge of guilt as he realized he had failed to protect Sasuke from a taste of his life.

"Father," Itachi said, snapping Sasuke's head up towards him, "This should not be Sasuke's burden to carry. I will carry out this task."

"No, Itachi," Fugaku said.

The slight shimmer of hope in Sasuke's eyes died.

"Sasuke cannot replace you, even if you could replace him. He is not suited, nor do I believe he ever will be, to become the leader of this clan," he said, a note of finality ringing through his voice.

When Sasuke entered his bedroom and saw Sakura towel drying her hair, she greeted him with the sweetest smile he had ever seen. His stomach twisted and he felt like he was going to throw up.

"Sasuke-kun," she started until she noticed the look on his face, "Sasuke? Is something wrong?"

"You have to leave, Sakura," he said in a hollow voice.

Sakura stared at him, the towel slipping from her hand. She tried to reach out to him, but he brushed her hand away.

"Just go."

# # #

Sasuke leaned against the railings of the bridge watching Naruto pace in front of him.

"Ya know," Naruto started off on another rant, "I'm used to Kakashi-sensei being late, but where the heck is Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke felt the nausea rise back up in his stomach and closed his eyes. He had a pretty good idea as to why she wasn't there yet. Flashes of her from the night before left him with an unpleasant heat on his face. It hadn't been long after that bold move of hers that day when they had sparred that he had kissed her. And it hadn't been long after that that he had taken her home with him. Just when he felt that things were beginning to fall into their natural place in his life, everything had been turned upside down. With Sakura as more than a teammate, he would see her often enough and he knew he could never escape the Dobe, and it wouldn't have been hard for them to move on in their careers. Fear of losing one another would have been abandoned, and finally his father would have shown a little more faith in him.

But it was too late for that now. There was nothing he could do. Soon the village would know of his doomed marriage to be and despise the Uchiha for their unwanted dominance over Konoha. Sasuke wanted to protect his friends from what was to come, but he didn't think he could even protect himself.

"Sakura-chan!!"

Sasuke's eyes snapped open to see the dobe facing their approaching teammate. Unwillingly, Sasuke glanced over at her. The guilt was to be expected, but what he didn't expect was the sharp pain he felt in his chest at how haggard she looked. Tearing his eyes away from her, he closed them again, determined to remain nonchalant.

"Sakura-chan! Why were you so late?"

There was a long pause.

"I just overslept; I was up late last night," Sakura said.

Sasuke winced at the unintentional truth in her lie. He could feel her eyes burning into him as she felt certain he didn't know she was watching him, weary herself of the unintentional implication of what she said.

"You never oversleep, though, Sakura," Naruto said. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, Naruto, will you drop it already?" she asked.

"Hey teme!" Naruto shouted. "How come you haven't even taken one look at Sakura since I asked her if she was alright. Did something happen between you two?"

Sasuke's eyes snapped open way too fast. As he caught Naruto's eyes, Sasuke saw them widen significantly.

Well. That was it. He had done it now.

"Did you hurt Sakura-chan TEME?" Naruto burst out, grabbing his collar and shoving him back into the railings causing a great discomfort in Sasuke's back.

"Naruto, will you stop it, Sasuke didn't do anything," Sakura said.

But the look in Sasuke's eyes told him otherwise. As much as Sasuke wanted to pick a fight for Naruto's bold stunt he just pulled with him, he couldn't help but feel nothing but overwhelming sadness at the realization that he and Naruto's spats were numbered.

"Answer me, teme!"

Sasuke finally shoved Naruto off of him and said, "Look, dobe, it's none of your business."

Naruto looked at him like he had never seen him before. With eyes that accused. That burned. His words were like a confirmation, and it was more than just the fact that Sasuke had, in fact, hurt Sakura, it was that he had betrayed their bond. A wound to one of them was like a wound to all, and Sasuke felt the pain of his betrayal to Naruto as if it were his own, all from just the look in his eyes.

# # #

Realizing he couldn't handle being near his old team, Sasuke bailed citing clan business to Kakashi and found himself walking down a path to nowhere. The ground beneath his feet was dry and hard, desperate for a rain that was not due for weeks. As he walked on, he felt the ground soften, and noticed that his surroundings had darkened.

He had walked into the forest to where Itachi trained. Strange, Sasuke thought, that he had ended up here when his mind was so clouded. Walking to where Itachi had the targets set up, he sat down and leaned against a tree.

Sasuke wished Itachi wasn't gone so often. He could really use someone to talk to about all of this. The entire situation was like a bad dream and he felt that he had only to wake up to be rid of it. But that was just wishful thinking.

The pain he had seen in Sakura's expression as he told her to leave was branded into his mind's eye, forever there to torment him. It couldn't be helped though. It was better for her to hate him for using her than know how much he cared when he couldn't be with her. There was nothing she could do.

There was nothing he could do.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke looked up to see Itachi wearing his sparring clothes.

"What are you doing, Itachi? I thought you had a mission."

"The village has decided to give me some time off to appease our elder's recent irritations. All they are really trying to do is create excuses for the coup later so they don't seem like such warmongers. It backfired when the village suddenly yielded to their demands though. It's all just proof that the clan has no real need for such defiance—they just want more power," Itachi said, throwing one of his kunai at the target.

Sasuke closed his eyes. The entire situation was absurd. "Can't you do something, Itachi? Convince the elders this is a bad decision?"

Itachi scowled for a moment. "If they listened to me, the Uchiha clan would have been disbanded long ago."

Sasuke sighed. "I don't want to go, Itachi. I don't want this to happen at all."

Itachi sent a kunai at an odd angle and struck the target on the tree above Sasuke's head.

"Then don't."

"He'll disown me... or kill me," Sasuke muttered.

"He couldn't kill you even if he wanted to. He would have to send me, and you don't have to worry about that. No one else in our clan could take you. Besides, I'll become the leader of the clan in a few years and then I will un-disown you," Itachi said, smiling slightly.

Sasuke looked up at him hopefully. "Do you think I could really get away with defying him? And that once you're the clan leader, the village will forgive the actions of our clan?"

"Oh I doubt we'll be forgiven," Itachi mused, "but it's not as if we are trusted much as it is... Listen, Sasuke. He can't make you do anything, so if you don't want to go, then don't go. He can find another way to satisfy the deal with the Fuma."

# # #

That night, Sasuke found himself outside of Sakura's apartment. Just as he was about to knock, the door opened and Sakura stared at him with tears in her eyes.

"Your chakra signature has been flaring for the last twenty minutes," she said. "Do you want to come in or not?"

Sasuke's gaze fell to the floor as he stepped inside. Sasuke stood still as Sakura ran around the apartment busying herself with trivial activities.

"Sakura," he said, trying to get her to stop. She kept rearranging pictures on a table.

"Sakura."

Sasuke grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the pictures and into his arms.

"I'm sorry."

And just like that, she was sobbing into his chest, no questions and no anger.

# # #

"Make it quick, Sasuke," Fugaku said.

"I wanted to inform you that I will not be marrying the Fuma girl."

Silence.

"Yes, you are. Get out."

"No. I'm not."

"If you betray this clan in such a manner, I will have you executed for treason!" Fugaku exclaimed, raising his hand and striking Sasuke before he even knew what was happening.

Sensing another blow coming, Sasuke's sharingan flared and his father was struck with a rather powerful genjutsu, the resounding thud of his body hitting the floor sending panic throughout Sasuke's body. Eyes widened in fear at what he had just done, he turned and left the room only to find his brother just outside the door.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke stopped, his heart still beating furiously in his chest. Blood was trickling down his lip and into his mouth, but he didn't move.

"Don't worry. I'll tell him I did it. He wouldn't believe you to be capable of such a powerful genjutsu anyway," Itachi mused.

"Itachi, what do I do?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi caught sight of his brother's distraught expression and he couldn't help but hate himself for what he had to tell Sasuke.

"Right now, the only option we have is to tell the village about the Uchiha's plot... If you defy him and he demands your punishment, the village will yield to his will right now unless we tell them the truth. However, if we do, we will also be charged for conspiracy and withholding potentially threatening information," Itachi said.

The blood had drained away from Sasuke's face.

"So that's it."

Sasuke passed Itachi like a ghost, any presence of life gone from him like he had disappeared into an endless black void.

Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading. Please review!!