A/N: It will all click into place...
Onii-chan the Assassin

Itachi had come home. He had passed by his mother in the kitchen who had just looked at him and mentioned that Shisui was over and was taking a bath with Sasuke. Itachi said nothing to her, and she knew better than ask about his mission or the blood on his clothes. Itachi was pissed. His mission had been one of assassination. ANBU was fighting a secret war with ROOT for control of Konoha. He had just killed a young boy on orders; a young blond boy. He had been skilled but not as skilled as he. Itachi felt ashamed having to kill someone so young and was enraged by the missions that ANBU kept giving him. That boy was Sasuke's age! My father thinks that ANBU can do no wrong and he just helps to bury to bodies when they're found. They all turn a blind eye. They're just tools of the government.

Early this morning Itachi had been standing in the Hokage's office. Sarutobi was sitting at his desk, pipe in hand. "Itachi, you must do this thing for Konoha. ROOT has been doing dangerous things based on Orochimaru's experiments on people. They have been playing around with genes and human modifications using Konoha's children as their starting points. They have secretly made these pseudo-clones to create an unstoppable army of ninja's with the highest skill levels."

Sarutobi looked up to see Itachi's reaction, "Itachi, they even have a clone of you. You the greatest genius the Uchina's have spawned in generations. They will be someone besides Hakate, outside of your clan who will have Sharrigan!"

Itachi just stood there without movement. He did not care what the old man had to say. He was not going to kill some eight-year old boy, just because he said so. Neither did he care if someone outside the clan had the Sharrigan blood limit. Fewer and fewer Uchiha had or were able to activate the Sharrigan each generation. His father had told him so many times. Kakashi couldn't pass on his Sharrigan and it was the opinion among the Uchiha that the eye he had was weakening with each use faster than normal. It was one reason that Kakashi wore his mask, to rest the eye as much as possible.

Sarutobi looked back down at his desk. "Itachi, the boy has the DNA of the Fourth. He is already at ANBU levels. If he develops the Hiraishin no Jutsu, he will be unstoppable and Danzo will take over the village. We will go back to war with all the other hidden villages in his quest for power. The boy is the key to his future. I have made certain that there are no more samples of the fourth's DNA that can be used to create another of these poor people. Danzo is brain-washing all of them to think of nothing but their missions. They have no happiness in their lives, only training and killing."

Itachi just stood there in front of the desk. Nothing was going to change his mind. Assassinate children! Sarutobi-teme!

Sarutobi could see that he wasn't getting anywhere. He would have to play his last ploy; he would have to tell Itachi the truth.

"Itachi, we intercepted some of Danzo's plans. The boy's next mission is also an assassination. The intended target is your brother, Sasuke. They think that in time your brother will be troublesome and might even become as powerful as you. They want him eliminated. He is learning how to do Hiraishin no Jutsu, and if he completes that jutsu not even you with your speed and your Sharrigan will be able to protect your brother from him. Hiraishin is instantaneous transportation. Sasuke-kun will be dead before you can even blink."

Sarutobi looked up again to see a Itachi who was trembling as he tried to stand absolutely still. "Itachi. Please. Protect Sasuke. Assassinate this boy before he kills Sasuke-kun."

Someone thinks that Sasuke can be as good as me? I don't think so, but he's my little brother, so maybe, in time. My mother will be unhappy if I let Sasuke be killed. My father won't give a shit he will just keep on my back asking about what ANBU's and the Hokage is doing while covering up for them. I guess I am going to have to do this to protect Sasuke and keep my mother happy. I don't see any way to really avoid it. "H-h-hai, Hokage." Itachi said between clenched teeth. He leaned forward to bow just over the Hokage's desk and held out his right hand for the folded paper orders.

Sarutobi placed his piper between his teeth, unfolded a sheet of paper from in front of him, and picked up his chop. Slowly tapping it in the red-inked pad, he then carefully pressed it to the sheet and placed it back down. He folded the paper back up and placed it in Itachi's outstretched hand. Just as he did, he watched a tear fall onto the edge of his desk. Sarutobi knew that Itachi would do this, but he doubted that Itachi would be able to do anything else for some time. It's too bad we don't use Danzo's techniques to control people's emotions; it might be easier on my people, to not have to suffer such torment. But our strength is in our humanity and sending an emotionless agent out on such a mission wouldn't make it any easier on me.

"You're dismissed, Itachi. Sarutobi watched as the teen turned and vanished in a puff of smoke. It's terrible times that we live in. I thought I gave up this responsibility when the Fourth was installed, but he had to go and get himself killed. Now, I just ordered him killed again but we have so few top ninja left after the war, I have to maintain a balance for the sake of the village, I can't let Danzo bring us to war again. I hope that when I meet the Forth again, in the afterlife he forgives me for this; and for not fulfilling his wishes for Naruto.