TH: Early update yay! Also a shameless personal plug... I have a new story starting up, an Itachi-centric one. "Perchance to Dream;" please check it out! In other news, I want to thank everyone again for the reviews, faves, alerts and all that. I really do appreciate it.
In A Life
29. Revelation
It made a dismal sort of sense. The Uchiha were planning a coup d'etat. Had they gone through with it, it would have resulted in civil war, destabilizing Konoha and the Fire Country. Other countries and Hidden Villages would have seen that weakness and struck. Thousands would have died. War would have torn apart their world. It was obvious: The Uchiha had to be stopped.
As deplorable as genocide was, in this case, it became inevitable. Even necessary. If the Uchiha had not been stopped, the outcome would have been far worse. Killing the clan became the lesser evil.
But how do you kill a clan of powerful ninja, Sharingan-users?
By setting them against another Sharingan-user. The most powerful one in decades.
Despite the horrible logic of the choice of Uchiha Itachi as executioner, Kakashi found it difficult to condone the action. The boy had been just that: a boy. Thirteen, and forced to kill mother, father, cousins, elders, children… It made Kakashi nauseous that his Village had ordered the massacre.
At first he hadn't wanted to believe it. He'd believed Uchiha Madara had been lying. After all, according to accounts, Uchiha Madara was dead. But then, everything had clicked. It all made sense. This was what he'd been missing in his evaluation of Itachi, of Itachi's actions.
It made sense, now, why Itachi had seemed almost to avoid violence. Why he avoided killing whenever possible. Why he'd never completed his orders to capture Naruto. Why he hadn't killed Sasuke.
Why Obito had never seemed to condemn Itachi for familicide. Why Obito had told Kakashi not to hate Itachi.
Kakashi was shaken by this new understanding of the Uchiha Massacre, which was probably what Madara had been intending by telling them the story. The old Uchiha apparently still held a grudge against Konoha for his past, and seemed to plan for its destruction. Why not make its ninja question themselves and their leaders by speaking a few well-worded truths?
:Don't let him get to you,: Obito said, appearing beside Kakashi and glaring with undiluted hatred at the masked Madara. The falling snow drifted through his transparent body. :It was partially the bastard's fault why the massacre happened. Why the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. Much of what is wrong with the world is Madara's fault.:
"What do you mean? If that's true and Sasuke knows it, then why would he work for Akatsuki? He would follow his brother's wishes and return to Konoha," Kakashi demanded of Madara. He knew the answer, but asked in order to stall for time to think.
:Madara was behind the Kyuubi attack?: he echoed Obito. :Madara is the reason sensei is dead? The reason Naruto…:
Anger rose in Kakashi, and he wanted to take the Raikiri in his hand and punch it through Madara's withered heart. But that would be pointless. Sure, he and Yamato had Madara trapped… but Kakashi was not fool enough to believe it. Madara had not lived this long by being so easily beat. There was a trap somewhere in this.
"Naruto, someday you will have to fight Sasuke. Or rather… I will make you fight Sasuke," Madara said. "This fated battle has been long in coming. I will use Sasuke to force people to acknowledge the Uchiha Clan."
Predictably, Naruto exploded: "Sasuke isn't your toy! You're out of line!"
Kakashi grimaced. For all Naruto was morally right… what Madara said also rang with truth. Sasuke and Naruto would fight. Madara would use Sasuke. Because Sasuke would allow himself to be used.
:Kakashi! Don't let him distract you with your emotions! Think!: Obito snapped. :That's what he is going to use Sasuke for… but there's a lot he's not saying.:
Obito was right. What about everything else? Acknowledgment of the Uchiha Clan was too small a goal. Too simple.
"If all you want is to make people acknowledge the Uchiha, then why do you need the Bijuu?" Kakashi asked. "What the hell are you really after? What do you want?"
In an instant, the atmosphere changed. Initially, the tension and danger of Madara's presence had made the sunlight seem almost cold, the edges of the weak winter light sharp. But now, as Madara turned his head ever so slightly toward Kakashi, the day seemed to dim, and the cold turned to something deeper than just the chill of falling snow.
"Well, if you must know…" Madara said, voice thick with a gleeful malevolence, "It is to become complete."
"Complete?" Kakashi said, brows snapping together.
"What do you mean?" demanded Yamato, speaking for all of them.
"There's no use in telling you," Madara said dismissively. He shifted, and Kakashi bit back a curse as Yamato's mokuton bonds shifted, too. "There are other, more effective places to have this conversation."
Madara's body began to disappear, swirling in an echo of his mask's design. "It's been fun chatting… See ya."
"No! Damn it!" Naruto shouted, pounding his fists against the wooden cage Yamato had created around him. He fumed a moment, then turned furious eyes on Kakashi and Yamato. "You! Why'd you let him go?"
"We didn't let him do anything, Naruto," Kakashi responded, letting his Raikiri fizzle out. "He's too strong for us to hold him here, no matter how hard we try. His Mangekyo assures that."
"What will we do now?" Yamato asked. He dispelled his jutsu, and the mokuton cage around Naruto retracted. The blond seemed to slump where he stood, his thoughts likely turning toward Sasuke, and growing dark.
:Kakashi, Sasuke has already begun his attack on the Kage summit,: Obito said softly. Kakashi closed his eyes against the pang of grief that came with the words.
"We need to continue to the Kage summit," he told Naruto and Yamato. They couldn't hear Obito, so they didn't know. And Kakashi couldn't tell them. "We need to stop Sasuke."
:Kakashi…: Obito said.
:I know. I know!: Kakashi thought sharply, knowing Obito would hear him. Sasuke had just signed his death warrant. By attacking the Kage, he had ensured that there could be no mercy. :It's too late. There can be no happy ending now…:
