At last chapter four and the continuation of Itachi's and Sasuke's little 'chat'. And to the request of an Itachi/Sasuke fic, I don't mind m/m relationships, but I don't like incest, so sorry, but later there will be plenty of brotherly love. Italics are flashbacks.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.


Fallen

Chapter 4

'I was made to do it, I had no choice'.

These words entered Sasuke's ears but they did nothing to calm his anger. It did not change the fact that it was Itachi who had killed his family, his entire clan.

'Sasuke, please listen to me, let me explain, at least let me tell you why I killed everyone ...apart from you'.

This caught Sasuke's attention. He had always thought that his brother had left him alive to get revenge on him for his family, but the tone in Itachi's voice seemed to suggest otherwise.

He decided to give his brother the benefit of the doubt. The wasn't much he could do to fight his brother anyway, as he seemed to be stuck in his own mind thanks to his brother's technique.

'Come on then, explain yourself', left Sasuke's mouth, with a sneer of disbelief, 'Who made you do it?'

'Orochimaru', Itachi said with a stony face. He knew Sasuke had already had a run in with him and wasn't sure how he would take this news. Apparently, not very well.

'What! Him! You mean the sound ninja that attacked me in the forest of death, bit me and left this stupid mark'.

'What, he bit you, let me see'. Itachi started walking over to inspect Sasuke's claims. If Orochimaru had bit Sasuke, his job was going to be a lot harder.

'No, stay away from me, why do you care anyway. Just explain what the snake guy had to do with you murdering our family'.

Explain. It was going to a lot harder than that. Sure, he could tell him the truth, but it was another matter if Sasuke believed him or not, and in the current situation he was going to need a lot of convincing. Sasuke still looked like he would like nothing else but to see him dead by his own hands.

Well, I might aswell tell him the truth, you never know.

'We are, I mean, our clan, are a race of demons that were banished to the mortal realm, to live as humans for the rest of our lives'.

Sasuke, very out of character just sat there in stunned silence, but not for long,

'What kind of fool do you take me for?', he stated rather hotly, looking away.

He couldn't believe that that piece of information could have effected him like that, it almost sounded...right, that it would be the most natural thing in the world for him to be a demon, but he pushed that idea aside as soon as he had thought it, returning his stony glare to Itachi.

If looks could kill, Itachi would be dead a million times over, so he decided, quickly, that it would be best to just show him. Fortunately, with his Sharingan technique he could show his brother what was in his mind, his memories, not just invade other people's.

With a few hand seals, Itachi conjured up a semi-translucent screen, about his shoulder level.

He closed his eyes and dug out the well buried memories that would convince Sasuke that he was telling the truth. It was then up to Sasuke himself whether he decided he would forgive his brother or hate him for eternity.

'Just watch'.

Colours slowly started to swirl across the screen, forming indistinct shapes as Itachi strived to put his thoughts in a reasonable order. The memories materialised on the screen.

The first scene was of a younger Orochimaru, leaning against a wall that faced the forests bordering Konoha. The Uchiha clan insignia revealing it to be in their section of the village. The image was partly hidden by tree branches and leaves as if someone was hiding behind the foliage. Orochimaru suddenly glanced straight at the viewer and for a few seconds only the dense foliage could be seen, but the observer quickly got over the surprise and started peering again. They moved to get a better view when the brothers' father entered the scene and listened intently on the conversation that the two ninjas were having.

'Don't you think you have been punished for long enough, you lived with the humans, what, three hundred years or so, just because of that one family member?' He asked, voice barely above a whisper.

The father's face became a mask of fury at the mention of this person and he managed to force out a simple, 'Yes'.

'Of course you are' he replied with a smile that the father couldn't see, 'Well your chance to go back home is here, but there is a price', he uttered seductively.

'What price?', the father asked eagerly.

'Just kill all the hated humans in this village, then you will be welcomed back with open arms'.

The father smiled, nodded and left to prepare.

'What! Our father was ready to kill all the people in the village, did he really hate them that much?'

'Yes. Many of our family believed that they should be back in their rightful place, and Orochimaru reminded many members of that. They hated the humans as it was partly their fault that they were stuck on earth in the first place, so requesting that of them wasn't a hard choice on their behalf. They would gladly kill them'.

'And why did he let you watch?'

'He wanted me to see and listen, to influence my decision.

'What decision?'

To answer his question the screen started moving again to form a different image.

It was deep in the forest in winter. The trees were leafless and the ground icy. Itachi was heading towards a frozen pond, with Kabuto at it's bank. He looked up started talking before Itachi even reached him.

'You do know that you clan is preparing to slaughter the village, everyone, a couple of thousand people?'

'Yes, but I don't understand why. What is this talk of demons and going home, this is our home, or are they keeping things from me?'

'They are keeping things from you', he said slyly, 'because they think you are to weak and love the humans to much, so much that you would want to save them. Would you?'

'If I was able to I would. My family', he spat out, ' are going to far'.

'Well, there is a way, quite an easy way, really'.

Itachi looked down at him, finally reaching the edge of the pool, but before he could speak,

'Kill them first, before they can get to the villagers'.

'What! That's to extreme and I would never think of doing that'.

'It's your family who started this, put you in this situation, aren't you angry at them, don't you hate them?'

'I do hate them'.

The screen slowly fuzzed out of existence, having done it's purpose.

'I let the hate overcome me, much like your hatred and so I killed my family instead of them killing the everyone in the village.

Sasuke still looked quite reluctant to believe him, but he couldn't help thinking that Itachi's story sounded plausible. Plus, that feeling of belonging kept tugging at the corner of his mind.

'But still, that doesn't explain why you let me live, and why Orochimaru did it in the first place'.

'I let you live because, like me, you also didn't know about our family heritage and I had no reason to kill you and as for Orochimaru, he is an important person in the ranks of the damned and gets free rein on about everything he does. The sovereigns of the underworld would normally step in on the matter of something a huge as a clan being wiped out, but since we had been banished they couldn't have cared less what happened to us, so Orochimaru was left to his own devices. It was just a game to him'.

'A game, how could someone be so sick and twisted?'

'You've met him, look at what he did to you, he is sick and twisted'.


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Until next time