The Last Uchiha
Chapter Two: Brotherly Love
By Azure Orbis
Disclaimer: Do not own and still wondering why anyone writes these anymore. Oh well.
A/N- The second and final installment to The Last Uchiha, a little something of what is going inside Itachi's very twisted, very strange mind. Takes place after Itachi meets him brother again for the first time in a long time. Have been wanting to finish this for a while. I guess I am simply fascinated with the dynamics of the relationship between the Uchiha siblings like many people. Can't say I love them anymore, but they sure are interesting!
"So, why did you do it?" His partner asked. Itachi remained silent, even though he knew what "it" referred to. Then again, he was not sure. Was "it" the reason why he killed the entire clan or was "it" the reason why he did not kill the entire clan?
"I was testing my strength." Itachi replied, the same answer he gave many years ago. Kisame grunted, evidently satisfied with the answer. While they forged ahead, getting even deeper into the forest, Itachi's thoughts returned inevitably to his baby brother. Well, not a baby anymore from the last encounter, Sasuke-chan had grown up looking a lot like their father, but with their mother's pretty face and dark hair. Well, Sasuke would look like her if he didn't scowl so much. Itachi missed her sometimes, the way she would have a neatly packed lunch for him everyday and how she would hand it to him with such a sunny smile. Akatsuki provided no such catering and he was a terrible cook; it was one of many skills he lacked in since he spent his time doing less uplifting deeds.
Kisame glanced at Itachi, wondering what exactly went through the younger man's head. It was not everyday that you were partnered with a person who murdered his entire clan, which was also one of the most powerful families in one of the most powerful hidden villages. But the most interesting part was when he discovered that Itachi spared a single person: his younger brother. If he felt guilty, why would he leave a memento to torment his mind with? Or was this a plan for the future, to use his little brother as pivotal piece to manipulate like a disposable, but vital chess piece? It wasn't that Kisame was truly interested in the Uchiha, but to be frank, the Uchiha scared him and it never hurt to know a little more about a new partner because that just might save his skin someday. Right now he was content to know that Itachi did not like to talk about his family, could not or would not express emotions, utilized extremely powerful doujutsu with those disturbing red eyes of his and was especially reticent about his little brother.
He spared him because he loved him.
Admittedly, Itachi's love for his baby brother was not that of a normal sibling. He did not want someone to be molded and modeled after him, someone to be his carbon copy but was destined to only exist in his long shadow; he did not want a playmate to fawn over him like the rest of the family and the rest of the village. He wanted a worthy rival, one who could challenge him with his own original techniques, not ones he learned from their father, the same ones he learned from his father and so on.
There were times when the narrow-mindedness of their father also blinded him too. All for the clan, everything for the clan because the clan was all that mattered. It was so mindless, how each and everyone of the family, from the youngest to the oldest, would think that the world and even the entire universe rested on the shoulders of the almighty Uchiha clan. Well, he proved them wrong, in the almighty part at least.
Sometimes, he questioned himself. Why exactly did he kill nearly his entire clan? And with increasing frequency, he could not come up with an answer immediately. The reasons that he repeated to himself a thousand times became old and faded with the years. And like the blood that had stained the streets was later washed off, so his reasons became blurred and unclear.
Then he remembered. They all had the potential to be great, but instead stuck to the old ways of thinking, restricting themselves by always thinking about bettering the clan as a whole. They never were able to see beyond the clan and that was their folly and ultimately, their downfall.
When he stayed up late, studying choice scrolls well into the morning hours even when the strain of his eyes started to affect him, his mind would occasionally ask if he was completely insane. Every morning, in the darkened and stilled hours he would crash on his bed, completely exhausted and be asleep within moments. Waking up later that same morning with bloodshot and bleary eyes, he would always promise he would not stay up that day. And that night he would be found pouring over the same scrolls doing the same thing. It had actually become more than a bad habit, it had become routine. The rare chance that he was in bed early was the night he spent tossing and turning, trying to find that imaginary comfortable position. He would end up lighting up a few lamps later to study briefly just to make himself sleepy. And that night, he would sleep even later than usual. A destructive cycle indeed and yet, even he was powerless to stop it, so he didn't bother to fight against the midnight reading sessions. Yes, he decided he was completely insane to metaphorically hit his thumb with a hammer, repeatedly. Perhaps it was the fact that when he stopped, weary with words blurring into one big ink puddle, sleep was sweeter that way, more precious than anything. Perhaps, or maybe he was just a masochist at heart.
He briefly wondered how his younger brother was, what he was doing at this very moment while he stared at the very unexceptional ceiling. Was he playing with his friends? Was he enjoying a guiltless life? He knew these were rhetorical questions, that his brother was thrown into the bottomless pit of revenge and guilt the day he murdered their family. He still remembered those words he spoke of; "If you wish to hate me, to kill me. Run, cling to life and live horribly until the day you can avenge our clan." He knew full-well that placing such a heavy duty would make Sasuke more introverted than ever.
Revenge was a strange thing, while it dried up all remains of human goodness and ability of having emotions, it also gave you the false sense of strength, to keep you going to fulfill your murderous dream. And once that dream was accomplished? Would you be finally free? Free to live and to soar like a bird toward the dreams you had long forgotten you had before this nightmare? No, that was the beauty of it. The hatred and fury that stirred in your heart would suddenly dissipate, leaving you as a shell of what you once were and what you once could be. And there, you would in your despair, discover that all that you once held dear to you has withered to nothingness and that you no longer were human, but more of an animal with the needs to fed and sleep, but with no more life in you than a cold stone. No, he did not wish such a cruel fate on his younger sibling, but he knew, even those many years ago, that no one would be his match. There was only the possibility of his brother, growing in strength and hatred, would someday be a worthy rival. There was no guarantee and he knew that too.
So, why did he do it? Why did he spare only one? His new partner certainly asked a good question. Itachi did both for selfish reasons, possibly insane ones, but still selfish nonetheless. He wanted the Uchiha clan to be even greater than it was, but since he could not convince the old heads of the family to change their traditions, he would have to do it himself. It was the clan that was mighty, it was the individual upon which the clan's might was built on; just like a weak link in a warrior's armor could lead to his downfall, the strength of many links led to a powerful shield. However, instead of focusing on the community, Itachi concentrated on the individual. Perhaps it was too cruel, what he had done and expect of his younger brother. This all became a sort of test to mold him into a worthy opponent, one that both loved Itachi and hated him, one that could be classified as mentally unstable as he was. Perhaps Itachi was grooming his successor without even knowing it. After his brother surpasses him and defeats him, Itachi will finally be able to rest. All his burdens will be carried on by his baby brother, who will also seek for that person to finally defeat him and take the painful burdens away from him.
Kill and be killed. Itachi laughs, in a twisted way, he is fulfilling the Uchiha clan's and Konoha's goal: to produce the best shinobi, one that is unbeatable and is truly a tool without any ties or messy bonds to hold them back. Too bad the mental toll on the creation is too great that it causes either mass destruction or self-destruction. Yes, sparing Sasuke was caused by emotional weakness, but it was also a marvelous time-sensitive plan to extract himself from the mental hell he created. On that day, Sasuke would come and free him. It was a burden he should have never placed on his beloved sibling, but now it was too late. All he could do now was wait for that day. And so, while it is midnight and he is at the verge of collapsing over his books, he dreams a little of that day when he will be released. That is the day he will truly be free of the past, of his family and of himself.
In the end, all Itachi wanted was to be free.
Parting note: There is another fic out there called The Last Uchiha. To clarify, and avoid any possible quarrel, I did not steal that title, only discovered it later. So, the title is not original, based on the Last Rose, a song that is about the last rose in summer, the last of its kind. Ah, glad that's off my head. College has indeed made me paranoid about plagiarism and other things. I'm not sure if my characterization of Itachi is "correct" enough, but I couldn't quite explain why he did the things he did. Uchiha Itachi is one complicated character, even more complex than his brother. So, please tell me what you think about the fic, comments are really helpful.