Named after the episode in Shippuden when Madara tells him everything he knows to Sasuke - and changes the course of history. So, long awaited or what? See what happens...
Itachi Shinden is to thank for this. :'D
Chapter Seven
Truth
These are...your memories.
She saw it all as if it were a dream, and she wasn't seen by anyone as she witnessed everything. There was nothing and no one but herself and the images, sounds, smells and feelings that dominated her vision and senses.
There were Shinobi of all nations fighting each other. Bodies fell. The skies overhead were dark with storm clouds that growled with thunder as humanity clashed with each other. But above them and standing atop a cliff was a lone human figure who looked down upon the bloodbath. And even though Naru wasn't one of them, she felt what HE was feeling, as she looked upon the young face, rounded and devoid of the lines he had as a man, framed with shorter hair that reached his chin.
The silent pain and unshed tears spoke of seeing this violence for the first time, shattering his innocence. It's you, Itachi.
And of course Kurama woke up so he could watch with her. Indeed. He wasn't laughing now, even though he lived for moments like this.
Itachi looked as if he were only four or five years old, the age she was when she'd been released from the orphanage after she was deemed a "threat" to the other children, and old man Sandaime gave her that old apartment of hers. Which was long since demolished to the ground because of Pain. He was now running through the field as if trying to find someone, anyone he knew who was alive - and a ninja from Iwagakure was just that, so the child ran to his aid, offering him water...but as soon as the man saw the ninja tools strapped to the boy's thigh, he lashed out on instinct and pulled his kunai...only to find his throat slashed by the young Itachi at the same time he was approached by another man who looked somehow like him. Dark hair and eyes, wearing the flak jacket and standard attire, but stern-faced.
Itachi called him father. This man was his father. He almost cried and said he did nothing but try to help this man to almost being killed by him. "Itachi, this is war," his father said grimly. "Not among people only, but among nations."
The Third Great Shinobi War, Kurama told her gravely. Each conflict gets worse with each era.
Then the scenes changed: the entire Shinobi forces gathered for the memorial of the dead lost - the one Kakashi-sensei said had the names of those who died in the field and were listed for their efforts - and the Third Hokage announced he would take responsibility and step down, which had a debate as to who would be the Fourth.
Itachi listened in part as someone who served his father - who was the captain of the Leaf Police Force - as they thought of their master being the next Hokage, and then try to take the Sharingan eye from Kakashi Hatake who got it from a friend of his...Obito Uchiha, who died saving his friends.
Naru was shocked at how young her sensei had been - and how sad. Beside him was a pretty brunette with purple markings on her face who was wiping her eyes.
The man, Itachi's father - Fugaku was his name - refused to participate in anymore bloodshed because the fighting was over. But it looked like his son was suffering inside all the more. He would eventually walk away, and that was when she saw him approaching a lone man standing over a couple gravestones, and her fury resurfaced at the sight of Orochimaru. He looked exactly the same as she remembered. That snake...
He said there was no meaning of life when the boy asked the question. With that answer, she saw Itachi jump off a cliff some time later, and she shrieked in horror even though she knew he would be alive...and he saved his own skin with his kunai, landing safely and then being comforted by a single black crow that curiously came to him.
Itachi must have thought life was meaningless, but how did he change his mind? She got the answer as soon as she saw him in the hospital with a beautiful woman with long raven hair - his mother.
She was pregnant. At the present with snow falling, she told Itachi that he was going to be a big brother, and it was then that he said he wanted a little brother...and his wish was granted when his baby brother came in the summer.
Naru squeaked when she saw BABY SASUKE squirming and grunting in his mother's arms, who had such a wonderful glow about her. Even her husband seemed to soften up as he named his new son after none other than the Sandaime's father, which was an immense honor.
It was Itachi's response that was more important for her, as he reached and poked his little finger into the baby's chubby but soft cheek, seeing the new life, seeing it born. His life had been changed altogether. He became a brother, swore to protect the younger one with everything he had.
As for his Academy life, he was taunted by other children, but he would deflect back their rocks by picking one up and sending them back before going about his business as if nothing bothered him.
Itachi was a social outcast, preferring training because there was nothing else that piqued him. No matter times changed. It made her feel sad, especially since she saw a cute girl who was named Izumi - of the Uchiha clan. But she learned the girl was only half; her mother was a clan member while her father wasn't. And the mention of the death of the father had to do with none other than the night of the Kyuubi rampage.
The night of my birth.
Itachi, that night, was babysitting his brother who was four months old by now. Their parents were working then. He and Sasuke were on the porch when the "storm" blew and chaos reigned supreme.
Everyone in the Uchiha compound was running for their lives, the police force doing everything in their power to get them to safety. Along the way, the baby crying and still in his arms, Itachi rescued Izumi and dragged her with him to join his father and the others.
The Uchiha were all confined to protecting the civilians of the Leaf while everyone else was fighting the monster which destroyed their homes and killed many innocent people - including Iruka's parents.
So were none other than Naru's parents: the Fourth Hokage and her mother, the previous Jinchuuriki.
She saw her infant self laying asleep in a basket at the foot of the memorial as old man Sarutobi was given his old job back, honored her parents' names as well as everyone else, face taut but sad.
Since the village suffered, rebuilding was in order, but out of everything else, the Uchiha clan was placed on the outskirts and close to the prison. Isolating them from the rest of Konoha, which sparked outrage amongst them all. Some shouted this was just like the reign of the Second Hokage, who had bestowed them the job of the police force in the first place - and it was here she discovered they had been suspected of the Nine-Tails incident. Because of the higher-ups themselves: the Sandaime, the two advisors Naru vaguely remembered when she was a little girl - and who were killed by Danzo when he took over - and finally that one-eyed mummy himself.
But it was clear old man Third didn't approve of this treatment, and he was always overruled despite his intentions.
Naru had no idea what to make of all of this: the Uchiha were seen as respected, but they were kept outside due to unwarranted suspicions. It wasn't them at all, but that masked Akatsuki. He let the blame fall on the Uchiha. The Uchiha can control as well as suppress me. If they had taken my power for themselves, Kurama snarled, it would have been a repeat of their ancestor's history.
In other words: these three elders stuck to the past more than the old man.
Poor Itachi had to bear witness and be treated the same as the rest of his clan, and Izumi as well as her mother had to move back in, no matter the girl being only half. Yet she still seemed so happy and was working her tail off to be a Shinobi, too. That sparkle in her eye: it was the same as when Sakura and the other girls looked at Sasuke, but she didn't seem to annoy him.
He apparently made enemies, which didn't surprise her. He showed he was at the top, but he didn't seem to do it intentionally because everything in the classroom was easy compared to what he saw on the battlefield at a young age. Children learning how to throw dangerous tools before they can read?!
There was also the matter of him and Sasuke. The brothers were extremely close, and when the elder would come home, the younger would always greet him with pure joy. As far as Sasuke was concerned, there was nothing but him and Itachi. His world evolved around his aniki, whom he wanted to train him as they got older, but there was little to no time and promises of "next time" and a poke to the forehead broken. She would eventually see why.
Itachi graduated from the Academy at age seven, by this time having a Genin team including one of his old enemies who eventually acknowledged him - but was jealous because Itachi was ahead of him. They were tasked once with getting a missing ninja cat from a respectable clan - this made Naru think back to the time with Granny Cat, Nekomata and the Paw Encyclopedia when Sasuke was still with them - but when the mission was a success, it ended badly afterwards.
This was when she saw Itachi was debating which was important, finally seeing it for the first time: a clan as a whole or individuals, when his teammate Tenma said that getting the cat whiskers for his ailing father, the clan head, was more important than saving him just because the man sired him and therefore was someone he respected.
Naru's blood boiled when she saw that masked Akatsuki - who the hell is this bastard? He ruined ALL of our lives! - kill Tenma and caused Shinko, their female teammate, to retire...and awaken Itachi's Sharingan. And what the hell when this got back to Fugaku whom he once respected: his son lost a friend, and all he cared about was that Itachi got stronger by one more step.
There was also...Shisui Uchiha.
That boy with the curly dark hair - and older than Itachi, had also seen war before his eyes - he was so lively and full of energy that she thought she could have been friends with him herself. He was a cousin of Itachi's, but he was also his best friend. He taught him so much, helped save his life in the Forest of Death...but this was also where the trouble with ANBU began.
These Shinobi operate from the shadows. There is no justice done by the law, but by the blade itself.
That was why she couldn't stand this kind so much, no matter if they were under the Hokage or that Danzo. That man was no true leader, just a scared child who didn't grow up.
Itachi and Shisui's deeds must have gotten back to the old man by this time, for in a few years, Itachi Uchiha - son of the clan leader and elder brother of the boy who would become Naru Uzumaki's rival and best friend - entered the Black Ops when he was only eleven years old. This was when his hair had grown so much longer than before and tied below his neck. The lines on his face would start small and begin to get worse as time would go on.
The things he did...the orders and sacrifices, unable to trust his innocent little brother...it took more than a toll on him, but that wasn't the worst of it. The mega worst had come in the next two years to come. By this time he was made captain at age thirteen years old.
Itachi had been a double agent for his kin and the Leaf's Elders.
But by the looks of it, he chose the village over his own blood.
The Uchiha had become dissatisfied with their way of life: never having a place in the governing body, and it seemed they would never trust the higher-ups any more than the higher-ups trusted them. No compromise could be reached despite Sarutobi trying his best.
Even Itachi tried to get his father to see reason, but the man was vehement as he showed his son the stone tablet that was hidden beneath the Nakano Shrine which was the Uchiha meeting place - and his Mangekyo Sharingan. The legendary jutsu above the basic Sharingan. Only a few mastered it, and Fugaku acquired it during the Great War, Kurama told her. If they had it their way and regained their power place, they would have taken you and dragged me out like the masked man did to Kushina.
She would have ended up just like her mother, only really died right away after having him extracted. She swallowed down the horrible outcome had it gone that way.
Shisui Uchiha tried to resolve things himself, having said that he planned to use his powerful visual prowess which was unique in that you could control someone without their awareness...but everything went awry when Danzo STOLE his right eye for himself. He would have gotten the left one if Shisui hadn't gotten away.
It was then that Itachi's best friend all but gave up, even though the fight was still far from over. He managed to remove his remaining eye and gave it to Itachi before throwing himself off into the Nakano River...
...therefore awakening Itachi's Mangekyo.
Itachi was suspected of Shisui's mysterious death, even though it looked like a suicide. He was innocent without solid proof, but things had entered a downward spiral with a path of no return. His relationship with his fellow clansmen entered a loathsome stage when he realized how shallow they truly were. If they'd taken over Konoha, they would not see people as individuals, but puppets to control out of fear and prejudice rather than understanding and friendship. Naru had no idea if that was worse than Danzo's current regime or just the same, but less was not an option.
Oh, God...this is it. The moment we've been waiting for.
The one she thought of as a murderer and ruined his brother's life had endured longer and harder than they ever had. He had all the qualities of a Hokage, but no one knew he could have become one himself if things had been different. She could see him on that seat. He deserved it more than anyone - but what about herself?
Now she was at a moment that really did change her views: the Uchiha intended to revolt against the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Itachi had solid proof that he presented to the elders. The majority were in favor of locking into battle with them, their combined Black Ops to launch an attack from behind and ending the conflict fast, but that meant two options, both ending with bloodshed.
Option one: annihilating the entire clan behind the backs of the rest of the village.
Option two: triggering the Fourth Great Shinobi War, which was NOT something Itachi wanted as much as the rest of them.
That would mean Sasuke would lose his childhood innocence like his big brother lost his. As would the other children his age who had it easy compared to their predecessors.
The Sandaime wanted to resolve it without spilling blood, but everything failed, and the night drew closer. The night which was issued without his consent by the order of none other than Danzo. The first option of extermination turned out to be what Itachi would do, because he had only two choices of his own: to align with his people and die with them as they launched their coup d'état - or to side with Konoha and spare his otouto.
Naru wanted to close her eyes, but she HAD to see the rest of it. That night when the fates of Itachi, his brother and their clan were sealed. She felt his emotional pain when she saw it in his eyes if his face betrayed none of it.
She saw the full moon at its highest the night of the butcher. Every light that went out right after every body that fell when his sword cut them down: man, woman, elder and child alike.
The first to go was Izumi herself. But the way Itachi did it did NOT involve his weapon of choice, but something that made it easier yet was much worse in comparison: he put her under his genjutsu, made her live a future that would never be. A world where they were happy, married and had a child, retired from the Shinobi life, grew old and died together. All of that in a single second, and she died happy in his arms. Her mother came next.
Blood spilled on walls, the floor and even furniture items. The lone figure swept through the carnage like a phantom in midst...and two most important people were saved for last just as someone else was running through the streets and seeing the dead bodies of his clan, an aunt and uncle - and panicking as he remembered his mother and father.
Meanwhile, Itachi stood over his kneeling parents, sword unsheathed but not striking them down. He had no idea how to explain himself, but his mother said they understood. But here they chose to die rather than be trampled upon by the village leaders.
But Fugaku's last words were this: he wanted Sasuke to be taken care of, assured his eldest son that their pain would be over in an instant. And despite their different philosophies, he was still proud of him.
Those tears...
Seeing that made Naru feel her own burning her cheeks.
That was the last thing she saw before she was sucked out of the memory world, but that was when Sasuke came in, and the rest was history. Gasping sharply, Naru looked up at Itachi's face. Once more, she saw the stoic mask of a man who lied to everyone in order to protect - including his little brother whom he loved more than everything - and was willing to give everything up for Sasuke and Konoha together.
He willingly became a criminal for the greater good, but that was a worse burden than anyone could shoulder. Just like it was to carry a demon that ravaged your home, be blamed for it.
"Itachi...you're innocent. You've been a good guy all this time."
He was a ninja devoted to his village all along, exploited by none other than Danzo and the dead counselors.
Whoo, relief! (wipes brow) Sweat and tears in one. Review please - and please, give me more than just "beautiful chapter", "great job" and the likes". :( I really don't want to go into another rant like I did when I began this story.
