Disclaimer: I own nothing
Hana sighed as she opened the door to her house and walked in. She was headed to her room when her little brother Kiba stopped her.
"Finally you get back! Where the hell have you been?" asked Kiba.
"Kiba, I just got back from a mission and I'm tired so hurry up and say what you have to say."
"You mean you haven't heard?"
"Heard what?"
"He's back." growled Kiba.
"Who's back?" Hana's curiosity now peaked.
"Itachi." again growled.
Hana eyes widened at the name. She couldn't believe what she just heard. He's back S-Class criminal, and slaughterer of the Uchiha Clan is back. Her former teammate and even though they would have ever admitted it former best-friend was back. She couldn't believe it. 'Why is he back?'
She got up and started to run out of the house to only be stopped by her brother.
"I already went to the courtroom, but they wouldn't let me in. Apparently only Jonin and clan leaders are only allowed in. Which means mother is there. So we should wait here until she gets back."
Hana could see the hurt in her brothers eyes. Kiba once thought of Itachi like an older brother, which caused some friction between him and Sasuke. Of course this was before Itachi betrayed his clan, betrayed the village, betrayed her!.
"When did you become so level headed?"
There he stood one eye closed watching his daughter through the crow he summoned. And the other looking at the Hokage and village elders, while the Jonin and clan leaders sat behind him.
"So, Itachi tell us why we don't have you executed for the slaughter of the Uchiha Clan?" Tsunade asked.
"Because I was following orders." Itachi simply stated which caused everyone to gasp.
"You expect me to believe that garbage?"
"It's the truth. You can ask the village elders, they along with Danzo approved of the mission. The third Hokage tried to keep it from happening but failed."
"Is this true?" a stunned Tsunade turned and asked the elders. Who nodded their heads.
"Why would you order such a thing? And why was I not made aware of this order?" asked a horrified Hokage.
"Itachi made it aware to us that the Uchiha Clan were planning a take over. Preying on the fact that as a young boy, Itachi witnessed the horror of war. Which turned him into a pacifist we informed him that many innocent lives would be lost in the takeover. And a possible Shinobi World War could break out we pressured Itachi into killing his clan, for the safety of the village."
Everyone sat there in silence digesting what they just heard until Tsunade broke the silence.
"What about Sasuke why did you tell him to hate you instead of the truth?"
"I couldn't tell Sasuke, he loved the clan. So I told him to hate me so he would grow strong enough so one day he could kill me. And restore the honor to the clan and be the hero who killed the monster who killed his clan for power. "
"Which he did." sighed Tsunade.
"No technically Sasuke didn't kill me." Itachi sighed. "Some time after I joined Akatsuki I contracted a fatal disease that was slowly killing me. I eventually died from it during my fight with Sasuke."
"That brings up another question of why you joined the Akatsuki a group of S-Ranked criminals?" asked one the elders.
"Because they were a group of S-Ranked criminals. They were a threat to the the village and needed to be watched." Itachi simply stated.
"We gave no such orders."
"Self-sacrifice… a nameless shinobi who protects peace from within its shadow. That is a true shinobi. I have and will always protect the Leaf Village."
"I have one more question before we discuss your fate. How are you alive?" Tsunade asked the question everyone has been wondering.
"I was resurrected during the war by Kabuto."
"But there were no reports of anyone having a confrontation with you during the war."
Itachi let out a sigh "Before Sasuke and I fought I had a talk with Naruto. Then I implanted the eye that I received from Shisui into a crow to use Kotoamatsukami with the embedded command "protect the Leaf Village", which is why I was able to override Kabuto's control. The crow had been rigged to react to my Mangekyō Sharingan and was originally intended for Sasuke, in the possibility that he attacked the Leaf Village after transplanting eyes to gain the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. And I broke the genjutsu off once Kabuto was killed."
"What is the Eternal Mangekyo Sharigan?"
"I'm sorry but that I cannot tell you." Itachi simply stated causing Tsunade to glare at him.
"Fine. Take him to Inoichi.."
After Itachi was escorted out by several ANBU, Tsunade spoke up "Now the question is if what he says is true, what should we do with him."
"You should give him something he's never had, peace." said a short old lady who looked like a cat.
"Who the hell are you!" now all the shinobis on alert.
"I'm just an old lady, who happens to know of the pain that young man went through." the old lady said ignoring how tense the room got because of her presents. "Ever since he was a child his father made it clear to him that he lived for the clan, and that his actions and decisions affected them all." By now the shinobis have calmed down and now listening intently. "As he grew stronger the number of people that wanted to use him grew. Instead of playing with friends he was trying to figure out who he could trust. Danzo, Hokage, his father and many more were trying their hardest to get the biggest piece of him. While he was struggling to gather whatever was left for his brother and village. I'm surprised that boy didn't have a mental breakdown from all that pressure."
The old lady then started staring daggers at the elders "Then you order him to kill his clan. And he followed that order for this village. He accepted disgrace instead of honor and hate instead of love. He killed his heart so he could his friends, lover, father, and mother. And you have the audacity to question his loyalty to this village.!"
"Listen you!" Tsunade started screaming only to be cut off.
"No you listen! You say your willing to die for this village, but how many of you are willing ti kill everyone close to you for it?" The old lady stopped and looked at the faces and saw she was close to winning their sympathy. "Itachi has never lived his life for himself, even now he lives for that little girl. The least you could do is let him raise her." And with that she disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving them to reflect upon what she said and wonder who the hell she was.
