Nightmares: Balancing Act
Date Posted: 5/8/16
Word Count: 1031
A/N: GOODNESS, I do apologize for the long wait on this one! I did Camp NaNo this April, so that took up most of my writing time. But I have more time now, so I'll be getting back into the habit of updating this. :) I hope you all enjoy this installment!
~Penelope
He had to cross the rope.
He didn't know why. But he knew there was something he had to do. It was his job, to cross the rope. Greedy black shadows hid the ground far below, and he could see nothing above or around him.
Just the rope.
There was a platform at one end. On it, there floated a deep, crystal mirror. He could see himself in it. At the other end, an identical platform and mirror waited. And he stood in the middle, perfectly balanced on the wire.
"Itachi!"
The voice came from the mirror on his left. He looked up, and in the glass was reflected his father. Fugaku Uchiha.
Fugaku stared at him with his regal hardness. The way he almost always looked. But never with him.
"You are an Uchiha, born and bred. You owe your allegiance to your kin. Our future rests on your shoulders. You were born to this purpose."
The mirror swirled, and he stared at himself again.
"Uchiha!"
This voice snapped from the mirror on his right. He jerked his gaze in that direction to stare at his reflection, and instead stared into the cold eyes of Danzo Shimura.
"As a shinobi of the Leaf, you are bound to protect all those who claim sanction therein. Not just the Uchiha, but the village as a whole. Innocent men, women, and children. The good of the village comes above all else."
The apparition wafted and swirled, like a cloud of smoke, before vanishing just as the first had. He stared into his own Sharingan eyes.
He had yet to move a step.
"Itachi!" called Fugaku again, from the left mirror. "Do not forget the hatred we suffer. Do not forget the countless generations of Uchiha who have put up with cruelty and segregation, unfairly judged according to our ancestors. So judged by the same people this village expects us to serve. We cannot stand for this."
He paused. He thought. It was true. Incensed stares with no rooted purpose, complaints, ridiculous restrictions. The Uchiha were persecuted for a history they couldn't help.
"Uchiha!" said Danzo again, from the right mirror. "Your clan drifts ever closer to the edge of reason. They return hatred for hatred, and make little efforts toward the compromises offered them. They are quick to accuse, and as slow to forget as the rest of us. Their animosity makes them a dangerous threat to the stability of Konohagakure."
He paused. He thought. It was true. Incensed stares with legitimate purpose, complaints, ridiculous expectations. The Uchiha returned the village's distrust with bitterness and cruelty, only further incriminating themselves.
"Itachi!" Fugaku shouted. In the mirror, he looked distressed, pained even. "You have great power, both as a shinobi and as an Uchiha. As your father, I ask of you: please, aid us in our revolution. We will overthrow this corrupted system led by prejudice old men and construct a new, better system, free of bias. The Leaf Village will at last be at peace with itself. Come, my son, and let us build a better place together."
His heart clenched. He saw the problems. He saw the ways dictated by age-old traditions, and all the flaws that were willfully ignored for the sake of avoiding upheaval. The Elders and the Hokage, well-meaning though they might've been, were unwilling to rock the boat even if it meant striving for something better than what they had.
"Uchiha!" Danzo bellowed. He jumped, looked, and found that same cold gaze staring him down. "Your people hold the gift of the Sharingan, one of the most powerful techniques in the world. Think of the state of chaos that would come were your clan to revolt and drag the entire village into a civil war. Konoha would crumble. Stability would be lost, along with countless lives of civilians and shinobi alike. Your friends, who have taken you in as their own, would label you a traitor and be forced to hunt you down. This society as we know it would disappear. Only ruin would lie in the ashes, and the Land of Fire would be without its ninja village. This could lead to a decline in the status quo of world politics, and even more people across this nation could be put at risk. Would you really do such a thing, for the sake of a single clan?"
His heart sank. He saw these problems too. He saw the fires of war spreading to the borders of the Land of Fire and beyond. He saw his country without a defense. He saw Leaf shinobi lying dead, and the remnant scattered abroad. He saw civilians without protectors. The Uchiha, justified though their anger might have been, were catapulting toward world war, and wanton death.
"Itachi," Fukagu whispered. "You must choose."
"Uchiha," Danzo murmured. "Choose now, or be counted among the rest."
The rope set fire. It began to creep along the cord from Danzo's side, inching its way toward his feet. He watched it with wide eyes, as it danced and waved at him, licking the rope like a beast licks its maw.
Fire ignited on the other end too. The rope began burning away. If he didn't choose, he would fall to the abyss below.
As he stared into those deep shadows, he began to make out the writhing forms of people. Not just any people. He saw Uchiha. He saw all of his kinsmen, drowning in the nothingness, clawing at the air, begging for life, floundering. He saw his entire clan beneath his feet.
He also saw others. Others appeared in the midst of the struggling Uchiha, one after another, until a mere crowd turned into a mass so vast, it was like a sea. A sea of the dying, poor, unfortunate souls trapped in the darkness. He saw his team, he saw the Elders, the Hokage, the Academy students. He saw Sasuke.
He saw Sasuke.
Sasuke was crying.
Itachi jumped, off the rope, into the dark, toward his baby brother.
He awoke with a jolt, eyes bolting open and Sharingan flaring to life.
The shadows that bathed his ceiling did little to comfort him.