chapter eight. snap and massacre.

During the trip back to Kohona, Itachi had a lot of time to think. His squad members left him alone, as always, not willing to bother their quiet captain. Everything he had been taught, everything Orochimaru said, it all burned like flames in his mind. The fire of thought consumed him during the trip back, and it consumed it as he went through his everyday routine at home.

He knew it was his destiny to become great. It was what he had been told by every one in his village. The other Uchiha clan members prized him for his abilities. His father had told him, before he had enrolled at the academy, that he was to be the most talented of all Uchihas.

Then, during the academy, he had been taught about what it meant to be a shinobi. He had been taught about the mission.

And now, for the first time, he questioned it.

"Even for a Uchiha, you are exceptionally gifted."

"Try your best to become a great ninja."

"The Akatsuki can give you greatness. The Akatsuki can give you power."

"What do you fight for?"

"You fight for the good of Kohona."

"There is no good or bad. There is only power."

Itachi shook his head. And why did he fight for Kohona? If it was his duty to become a great ninja... his destiny... then why did he have to bother with Kohona's missions?

His thoughts were interrupted as his younger brother ran into the room, obviously annoyed at something. "Brother. Today you were supposed to teach me Shuriken Jutsu."

Itachi sat there, remembering. He had promised Sasuke, but then his tasks and his thoughts had kept him too occupied to play around with the younger boy. "I was busy. Besides, father is a good teacher."

Sasuke's expression turned very serious. "But your way of throwing them is the best. I'm only a kid, but even I know that. You always act as if I was a burden to you."

Itachi motioned with his hand. He had more important things to do then deal with Sasuke. "Shoo. Shoo."

When the younger boy didn't move, he pressed his fingers together and pushed them against Sasuke's forehead. "Forgive me, Sasuke, just this once. I don't have time to take care of you today."

"All the time," Sasuke complained, rubbing his forehead. "Always saying 'Forgive me, Sasuke', then poking me in the head. Then saying 'Today'. I never see it."

But Itachi was already leaving the smaller boy behind.

Itachi spent the next hour with the Hokage's council, receiving his next mission. When he returned home his mother and father were preparing dinner, Sasuke off somewhere unknown. Itachi clenched the mission scroll in his fist... another mission... for the good of Kohona...

"Father."

The elder Uchiha looked up at his son. He was surprised that Itachi was speaking with him, but he didn't show it. He didn't understand the boy any more. Ever since he had enrolled at the academy, he had turned into a different person. Uchiha was content with Itachi just keeping to himself and not bothering the family.

"Once, you told me I was to become a great ninja. You told me that I was a genius even among the genius clan of Uchiha."

Uchiha waited a moment before he nodded. "Yes. And you have become a very talented ninja."

"Then fight with me, so that I can measure my talent against yours."

"What are doing, Itachi?" Itachi's mother interrupted, unnerved by what was going on. "What is this all about?"

"It's all right, if Itachi wants to spar, I'll spar with him."

"No. This isn't just about sparring." Itachi's eyes narrowed as he produced flames with his chakra, showing his parents that he was serious. "I was taught in my classes that I was a tool for the mission. I was taught that I was fighting for Kohona. But through my missions, I learned. I learned that there is no such thing as the good of Kohona. Kohona doesn't care about what is good. All Kohona really wants is power. And I thought... why fight to gain power for Kohona... when I can fight to gain power for myself."

Itachi smiled. "You yourself, father, told me to become a powerful ninja. It seems as though that is my destiny. I must become even more powerful than I am now. But first, I must test my strength against the most powerful clan in Leaf village... I will test my strength against the Uchihas."

Uchiha jumped up and pushed his wife out of the way just as Itachi threw a ball of fire at her... the blast shattered the wall behind them, sending plaster and wood crumbling down to the floor. So Itachi meant to kill.

"Itachi, stop it!" Itachi's mother had no idea why her son was doing it, but even as she tried to persuade him she activated her sharingan. She would protect her family, her clan, she would protect Sasuke... even if it was against her own son.

Itachi's smile spread even wider as he saw his mother and father were finally serious. Still, he was happy to see, that his parents were no match for his abilities. After only a few minutes, his father and mother lay dying on the kitchen floor.

"Please... Itachi..." his mother gasped, "...leave every one else alone. Be satisfied with fighting us."

Itachi laughed. "It's too late. Every other clan member is dead. I was saving you for last."

No. Itachi's mother started coughing, her blood splattering on her husband's cold body. Then she heard a voice from outside the house... Sasuke's voice... Sasuke was still alive.

"Sasuke!" she cried, trying to gain strength to give the message. "Don't come in!"

On the other side of the house, Sasuke trembled at his mother's scared voice. On his way home, the streets had been littered with bodies... the bodies of his cousins, uncles, aunts. What was going on? "Mother! Father!"

Sasuke tore the door open, running into the room only to see his parents incapacitated on the floor. Itachi was standing over them. "Brother! Why? ... Who could have done this?!"

Sasuke started as the door closed behind him. Itachi didn't move, but narrowed his eyes at his brother.

"Hmm. That was foolish of you, little brother." He turned his sharingan on Sasuke, showing Sasuke exactly how he had killed every Uchiha clan member.

"No.." The images hit Sasuke hard, and he collapsed from the shock. "Mother... Father... why... why did you, brother?"

Itachi scoffed. "They were just a measuring stick to test my greatness."

"A measuring stick? You killed every one for that?"

"It was very important for me to do so." I am the most powerful of the Uchiha clan. It is my destiny, to grow even more powerful than that.

"Bullshit!" Sasuke pushed himself off the ground, charging at his older brother even as tears streamed down his cheeks. His attack was cut short however, with a swift punch to his stomach. Itachi threw him off his arm, and he landed on the other side of the room.

Sasuke coughed and gasped, his stomach aching and the air knocked out of his lungs. His father's empty eyes stared up at him from the floor. No, it wasn't his father any more. It was a corpse. He was so scared.

"Please..." Sasuke couldn't stop crying, and ran away even as he trembled. "Please don't kill me!"

"Foolish little brother. You're not even worth killing." Itachi stared down at his brother, and something clicked inside of him. Sasuke... he was an innocent... just like that little boy he had killed... Itachi shook his head, clearing away those thoughts as he turned to go. He left one final message with his younger brother. "If you want to kill me, live miserably. Hate me. Survive through the ugliness. Learn to survive."

Itachi left the house then, walking slowly towards the front of the Uchiha estate. No one would stop him. There was no one left that could have. When he got to the front, he saw Orochimaru standing, warily, to the side.

"You will lead me to the Akatsuki."

Orochimaru nodded. "Yes. It is my job to do so."

Itachi smiled to himself. He had finally found something he truly believed in.

He had finally found something to fight for.


~owari~