Chapter 9: Into the Light

"Can I start it off with how fucked everything is?" Tsunade muttered to herself, waiting for everything to fall into place. Itachi didn't have any kind of response to that, knowing that telling her that it'd be improper would only land his skull being smashed against the wall behind him. In one of the many hidden tunnels throughout the Hokage Mountain, three simple rooms had been temporarily transformed. Two became prison cells in which one required high security and the other only the illusion of such, the third a court room.

After the injections never came, he could feel his strength and chakra return to him slowly. Based on the risen quality treatment then and her simple explanation of him and Sasuke testifying together with a cocky gleam in her eyes, he knew she had created a plan of some sort. Knowing it had to do with Danzo, he was dreading the seal of honesty that would be placed on his person at the start of the trial, but with defeat he waited for the Hokage to give him orders that never came.

When the busty blonde left his temporary cell to the makeshift court room, the false seals that were meant to prevent noise only acted as a speaker and made the sound in the room come in clearer.

He recognized the two meant to guard him. Tenzo, now known as Yamato, and Anko Mitarashi. Dressed as though they were both still ANBU, Yamato wearing the ROOT mask, the moment they entered the room, their stiff facade wore away and they mostly relaxed around him.

It worried Itachi.

Listening in, he knew who had been invited.

The two Hokage advisers, Danzo and his own silent guard arrived together. Then Sakura, Naruto, and Jiraiya together. Inochi Yamanaka was the last to arrive, the doors shutting with a final sound before being sealed shut.

He wasn't sure how it would go down, but when the discussion of how to investigate and punish started between the advisers and Danzo, disrespecting Tsunade, the sound of a breaking desk interrupted them.

"We will start this how I want, as I am Hokage and therefore, the deciding vote. Speaking of which, we are all here to discuss the fate of the Uchiha Clan and the actions of their members. There are only two members left however, who have both committed crimes for reasons we somewhat know. Sasuke had abandoned his village and joined one of our worse enemies, and then murdered him. He was forcibly returned back to the village by his teammates after nearly killing another missing nin. Is there anything anyone would like to add? Yes, Sakura, you may speak."

"He also was able to learn quite a bit of the jutsus and fighting styles of one of our worse enemies, bringing them back to the Leaf. Anko Mitarashi is the only other person to know of these, but she didn't learn as much as him or have an interest in passing the more useful ones down."

Ignoring Anko's scoff, the quiet mutterings of the council that steadily began in respect of her points were silenced with a fist on wood. "Is there anything else, someone would like to add on to assist in my decision? You may speak Jiraiya."

"From the stand point of their heritage and bloodline, he's not terminally ill like Itachi. Though it's not common for Itachi's disease to be passed on, there's still the chance."

"True. Inochi-san, I would like to hear your report on Sasuke now."

Suffering severe PTSD from the trauma of reliving his clans massacre and as it turns out, inappropriate contact from one of his caretakers before she retired from her nanny like job, Itachi was forced to listen on how he had damaged his younger brother. How he had became obsessive with getting revenge and rebuilding his clan, starting with murdering Itachi and finding a strong wife to settle with in Konoha. Speaking up about the bonds he had created with people and his slightly unhealthy opinion on them, the hesitation was clear in his voice when Tsunade asked on if his precious people would be safe from those unhealthy opinions.

"If they are consistent and strong, they will be."

It wasn't looking very good. Not until he had spoken up about the crimes that Sasuke had committed while underneath Orochimaru's tutelage. The worse he had done was put transformed medical monsters out of their miseries, defeating them in battle - their minds too addled by the experiments and drugs they were put under. It wasn't always what Orochimaru wanted, several of the test subjects still functioning enough where the snake sannin wanted to continue despite the pain they were in. Assisting in capture of shinobi that were already missing nins of their own villages or thugs,

He wasn't sure what he'd want to hear for his case, but when no one spoke up further in Sasuke's defense, including Naruto, she moved on.

"Now regarding the fate of Itachi Uchiha, former ANBU captain at the age of 13 who murdered the entirety of the Uchiha Clan, beside Sasuke and became a missing nin. Joining the dangerous organization, Akatsuki, soon after, he had began hunting our own kunoichi, Naruto Uzumaki. Entering the village, injuring jonin Kakashi Hatake, Kurenai Yuhi, and Sasuke Uchiha in the process. Is there anything anyone would like to add?"

Nothing was said and not too soon after, the dreaded words were spoken. "Bring the two in, then."

Tsunade sat alone in a chair, her original desk now chunks of wood on the other side of the room. An extremely long one had replaced it and based on the style of it, it was the one the advisers had originally. Forming a large and lazy circle, he was pushed forward aggressively by Anko to walk past the guest to see Sasuke kneeling against the floor, facing the Hokage. Standing on guard, conveniently close to Danzo was Naruto's new teammate Sai, the former ROOT operative.

With a bolt to the floor, his hands practically locked together on either side of said bolt with a bar that was fed through, his dirtied hair hid his face as he refused to look anywhere beside his hands. Kakashi in his usual outfit stood tall behind him, never looking toward Itachi once.

Practically thrown to the ground, Anko and Yamato roughly bolted him to the floor as well - crouching in the view of Sasuke and the advisers, he showed no acknowledgement as they left it unlocked on one side, the acceptance of what was coming making him bow his head as low as Sasuke. He felt the seal applied to the back of his left arm and he had to hold back the heavy sigh.

"The seals placed on your arms will blink red when you lie. Sasuke Uchiha, do you admit to your crimes of abandoning your village, nearly assassinating your former teammate Naruto Uzumaki in the process, to join our enemy Orochimaru?"

The whispered yes was minuscule but she accepted it. "And is it true you yourself, killed said man?"

He could hear the smile in her voice when he said yes, the bittersweet tone not remotely being hidden. "What I am about to offer you is very generous, would you like to hear it? I'm sorry, I didn't hear that."

"Yes." The satisfactory hum she gave at the sighs of relief coming from his teammates made Itachi almost eager to know what it was.

"I will offer you full amnesty for your previous crimes committed against Konohagakure and her people, the key to your compound, a 2 year probation period before re-entering the Shinobi forces, and if you have difficulties finding a bride yourself to revive your clan, assisting you in finding durable surrogate mothers or arranging a marriage. You will hand over every piece of information regarding Orochimaru and his associates. Maps of where his labs are, descriptions of the experiments conducted, a list of his abilities that he had taught you and you've witnessed, and an agreement to teach the ones we had deemed acceptable."

The tension in the air was so thick that he almost felt difficulty breathing. "If you choose not to take my offer, I will have no choice but to imprison you until you fulfill your duty of impregnating four women as a sperm donor. Once complete, you will be executed."

Tsunade said it so nonchalantly, it was clear she didn't care what Sasuke chose. He knew at the end of the day, she had been convinced by the sweet jinchuuriki to give his brother a chance, an understandable and genuinely generous offer.

"I accept your offer. Thank you." Brief and emotionless, Itachi lifted his head to catch Sasuke staring hard at the Hokage. The sudden creaking in the chairs behind them wasn't much of a surprise, the Senju Princess giving a mixed look towards the small group. The whispered shout sent chills down his spine, hearing her voice once more taking a firm hold of his heart.

"Hell yeah, teme! 'Bout time!"

When it was absolutely silent again, Itachi could feel several eyes turn to him.

"Itachi Uchiha, do you admit to your crimes of massacring your clan, abandoning your village, and joining the terrorist organization Akatsuki?"

"I do."

"Do you admit to injuring Kurenai Yuhi, Kakashi Hatake, and Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Yes."

"Do you admit to injuring any other Konoha citizen who did not deserve it?"

"Yes." The seal did not blink, it shone like a beacon, coating the part of the room it faced in a red light. In the direction of the advisers and Danzo, they shielded their faces from the light.

Squeezing his eyes shut at the sound of hitched breathing, he raised his head at Tsunade's overexcited and interested hum. Sasuke was staring intently at him now, his expression only showing a hint of the confused horror beneath that was filling some of the occupants in the room.

"When confronted by Konoha citizens, did you yourself injure them or was a powerful jutsu cast over someone else's form as they did it themselves?"

"I myself injured them." The red lit up the room again.

"When confronted by Konoha citizens, was it your partner or yourself that attacked the others?" The humor strong was in her voice. Leaning onto her desk with a fist into her cheek as she tried resisting a grin, the air in the room came alive with an undertone of panic.

"Myself." Red, once more.

"When you were hunting Naruto Uzumaki, were you attempting to harm her until she became docile in any form to capture?"

"Yes." The light shone again and the sound of a seat flinging backwards echoed the quiet room. In the corner of his eye, he watched Kakashi step forward and catch an angry Naruto. Covering her mouth with his gloved hand, Sakura rose from her seat and joined them in clear preparation for anything. In the other corner of his eye, Danzo had shifted in his seat. Tsunade clearly noticed it as well before she focused on Itachi once more.

"Did you plan to bring Naruto Uzumaki to your leader, at all?"

"Yes." The practical flickering of the light was starting to irritate the advisers and Danzo's eyes.

"Were you protecting Naruto Uzumaki?"

Sitting there for a moment, he resisted a heavy sigh. "..Yes," and there was no light this time.

"How interesting, huh?" Turning to the advisers as they sat there with different levels of confusion and anger, he only knew the complete understanding in Danzo's one eye was noticed by the blonde Hokage and him. "I guess that means I have to ask, Itachi, were you protecting Sasuke, too?"

"Yes."

Everyone had froze, even Kakashi had paused in his constant struggle against Naruto at the public admittance. The lack of interest in his eyes at him was clear though, and Itachi knew before the younger generation in the room what was coming.

Tsunade couldn't hold back the laugh anymore, hiding her smile behind her hand originally before she waved her hand. With sputtered pops of small clouds and Danzo blurring only to reappear, the Hokage had came well prepared. Sai, the former ROOT operative had quickly summoned ink lions to stand on guard as Yamato conjured a tight wooden hold around the old war hawk. Consuming him until only his head stuck out, the two advisers beside him had jumped up and shouted in confusion. "As I have said, we are here to discuss the fate of the Uchiha Clan. Properly, like Hurizen-sensei should have all those years ago, instead of allowing others to go behind his back and make a decision. Unfortunately, the clan's fate had been decided and we only have the victims of that before us now that have made unsavory choices in the aftermath."

"What do you mean, Hokage-sama?" Sakura asked, the fear in her voice evident.

"Silence. This is still a court. But to answer your question, Itachi, did Danzo summon you to his office the night of the massacre?"

"Yes."

"Did he give you the order to massacre your clan?" The room held their breath and Itachi tried to ignore the water gathering in his younger brother's eyes.

"Yes."

"Do you know why?"

"To prevent the Uchiha Clan from going through with the coup d'tact they had been planning."

The chaos that followed afterward started with an explosion. Bursting from his cocoon of wood, splinters had rained upon the group. Wordlessly running through hand signs to destroy Sai's ink lions and to throw everyone back against the walls, Itachi gripped onto his bolt and activated his sharingan. As soon as Danzo turned his back and attempted to run out of the room, his cane abandoned, snakes were summoned to follow. Having no choice but to run after him, the missing nin was joined by all those in the room, excluding Sasuke who was still properly bolted to the floor.

Reaching the exit that Danzo had tried to collapse onto them, Sai spoke up. "He's attempting to summon ROOT forces."

"They're a little busy right now, Danzo!" Tsunade shouted up to him.

The battle was quicker than what the Senju Princess had planned, she'd admit later on to him. Nine shinobi, each powerful in their own right against the corrupted war hawk, as it turned out, the kage had been busy for the past week and him joining in the battle against him only proved his true loyalty to her trusted group.

Investigating how deep Danzo was in a lot of events, she and Jiraiya had warded the makeshift court room in the Hokage monument with seals so no one could shunshin in or out and any signal would be blocked. Using a conflicted Sai as a test subject to disconnect the communication and command seals, trusted ANBU and jonin had approached ROOT quarters with the offer to come quietly and enter Konoha as her true citizens in the new version of ROOT Tsunade was leading or die as traitors.

Seals had been created by Jiraiya to nullify the one Danzo had placed himself, preventing painful punishments if ROOT was spoken of and deaths if Danzo wished.

Taking place just outside of Konoha, several citizens had witnessed the destruction the battle had brought. Unlike her teacher, the new Hokage was not soft or almost blindlessly hopeful and unlike Orochimaru, she was not needlessly cruel. Announcing to the citizens that arrived on scene, civilians and shinobi alike, she exposed some of his more recent crimes.

"He had betrayed our village! Kidnapping children from orphanages and clans, he had created an army underneath my feet called ROOT. He had raided the Uchiha clan after the massacre to plant their eyes in his body! He tried so hard to justify his actions and the missions he had sent them on, saying it'd be for the greater good of Konoha. He was in contact with Orochimaru, with Hanzo the Salamander! How was he protecting our village with them!?"

No one objected then and no one stood in the way of his execution. Instead demanding screams filled Itachi's ears, hidden behind a tree Yamato had summoned for the purpose of him staying away from the public eye as Jiraiya stood on guard in case he tried to run away. Trying to focus on preventing the bleeding from his wounds, he had purposely done his best to shield Naruto away from the twisted man despite her frustrated shouts, knowing that one of those eyes would be able to control her jailer if she was taken off guard.

The public wanted to watch Danzo suffer for what he was doing and when Inochi had brought him forward, the stolen Sharingan eyes implanted everywhere glared at the crowd, gathering horrified gasps and fueling the shouts of torture before death. It brought an unpleasant shiver up his spine, knowing that one enemy was now out of the way and that this Hokage was tired of sitting in wait. Admitting to himself that he underestimated Tsunade from her reputation as a Legendary Sucker for gambling and known for being an alcoholic, she was shaking off the dust and finishing what had been started long ago from before she had left the village.

No one noticed when Naruto and Sakura brought a bound Sasuke to the scene, besides him and Kakashi. Technically hiding from him, he watched the numerous expressions run across his face. Hurt, confusion, anger, and most importantly, loss.

Not too long after, Kakashi escorted Itachi to a new cell in the ANBU head quarters and based on the sounds and his barred window of who visited, Sasuke's wasn't too far away. The quality of treatment had risen compared to the Yangshun prison, though being able to hear and get glimpses was much more painful than receiving bowls of ramen.

He knew what was coming now.

He didn't need Tsunade and Jiraiya arriving to explain the next step, but he appreciated this heads up more compared to before. Then again, he thought bitterly, before was a test and proof to others that he was truly a loyal Konoha shinobi.

The next court would take place in front of the traditional council, made up of the democratic civilian board that assisted in updating the market and their quality of life, and the council of shinobi clan heads, Academy Director, and the jonin commander. A display of good faith and trust in the public to accept his twisted actions for their greater good, and as long he was honest up front, he was to be a true Konoha citizen once more with more acceptance than her simply announcing it.

The fate of the Uchiha clan had been decided years ago by Danzo, she said. A play on words to draw him out and to give him what was due. Her offer still stood for Sasuke, his continued containment was only for his safety until they announced why the massacre happened all those years ago.

With the same procedure of the truth seal, Itachi would be questioned again. All the information he had offered about the Akatsuki of bases, future plans, and Madara would be his proof of goodwill, though that exact knowledge wouldn't be offered to the public with everything considered.

He would be forced to tell of his time from receiving the orders of the massacre to his battle with Sasuke.

"Do not leave out any important details, even if it is.. personal." Tsunade added before leaving.

Knowing she was referring to his illness and his time with Naruto, he could only close his eyes and wish for death instead.

Posted: 04/01/2019

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