Nyoko

My head still throbs from being kicked in the head yesterday. It doesn't help that my mind has been racing ever since the end of our spar, when Madara revealed that we would finally be meeting the man who slaughtered our clan. I don't know what to expect from meeting him. Is he going to react negatively to the knowledge of Ryuji and I being Uchiha clan survivors? Afterall, he went through with the difficult task of taking down every clan member he knew of. Wouldn't he be upset to know that he didn't take out all of them? If he was capable of taking out an entire clan, there's certainly nothing Ryuji or I could do to stop him from taking us down.

And why? Why did he do it? What was his motivation? What could possibly drive a man to slaughter his own flesh and blood, as if they were animals. As much as I find the prospect of meeting Itachi to be intriguing, I can't help but worry that this may not be a good idea.

I look at Ryuji. He looks excited. He didn't even want to leave the Hidden Grass. Why is he looking forward to this so much? The cluster of thoughts in my mind make my head throb in even more agony than it already did.

I can't keep my thoughts to myself any longer. I've been avoiding talking to Ryuji ever since he volunteered us to train with Madara without discussing it with me, but I needed to talk to him about this. "What do you think meeting him is going to be like?" I asked my brother, sheepishly.

"I don't feel that it matters. This is going to be a learning experience. He's not coming to make friends with us." Cold as ever.

"Do you think he'll be open to telling us why he did it?" I ask.

"Maybe. I suppose we'll find out," he replies. Wonderful social skills, Ryuji. No wonder you had no friends back home.

After a few minutes of silence, Madara enters the room. Immediately, the air feels colder. There is an aura of evil that follows him. Why does Ryuji seem so fond of him?

"Itachi will be here momentarily. Don't worry, I will leave the three of you alone when he arrives. I wouldn't want to intrude." His low voice echoes throughout the room.

"What can we expect of Itachi?" Ryuji asks. So now you are curious.

"What to expect of Itachi… hmm. Well, he is a cold, calculated individual. Afterall, he is a killer." I sigh. Super. "He will not shy away from any question you ask, though. And despite his bloodsoaked background, rest assured, he will not lay a finger on either of you. I've made sure that he understands how important the two of you are to me." Well, isn't that sweet. Creep.

A soft clunking sound emerges from the corridor leading to the room. He's here. As the sound crescendoed, my anxiety grew more and more intense. I know he will not do any harm, but I still feel an ever growing sense of nervousness. I eventually see a tall, shadowy figure traveling through the corridor. As my anxiety reached its boiling point, he emerged. He wore the same cloak as Madara, black with red clouds. He had dull, black hair that he tied in a ponytail, with bangs framing his face. His eyes were nearly completely jet black, just like Ryuji and I's are. He had pronounced stress lines on his face. He seemed to be distant and cold in his demeanor, but if I were to be perfectly honest, I have a hard time picturing him as a psychotic killer.

He walks directly to Ryuji and I. He takes his time to look at Ryuji and I, studying us, as if he wished to take in every single detail. The tension in the room was almost palpable, I could feel it building up in the room. If the air was cold when Madara entered, the air was now freezing. So... analytical. I guess he does seem like a killer. I want to break the silence, but I can't force any words out of my mouth. I'm paralyzed.

A low, uninterested voice comes from the agent of our clan's downfall. "So… you two are my father's bastards?" I cringe at that word… bastards. Such a disgusting sounding word.

Madara chimes in before Ryuji or I speak. "Well now, I don't want to overstay my welcome. I bid you all a farewell. I will see you later, twins. I'll see you later too, Itachi." He swirls his arm in a circle and disappears behind it, as he always does. How in the hell does he do that…?

Ryuji is the first to speak. "I see Madara has told y-"

"Told me that my father was an unfaithful cretin?" Itachi interjects. "That he had two children that no one else ever knew of? Yes… Madara told me." He spoke without emotion, but I couldn't help but believe that I saw pain in his eyes. "Now let me ask, why is it that you two wanted to meet me so badly."

Ryuji didn't speak, so I took the responsibility of explaining our reasoning upon myself. "All of our lives, our mother told us that our father was a Hidden Grass shinobi, and that he had died before we were born. Just before Ryuji and I's mother passed away, she told us the truth. That our father was a man by the name of Fugaku Uchiha." I felt like I had to force the words out of my mouth. It was as if every instinct in my body was telling me to not continue speaking. "After we buried her… we felt that we needed to learn more about our heritage. Without our mother, we had nothing to tie us to the Hidden Grass. So… we left. When we tried to gather information about Fugaku, we found out he had died, along with the entire Uchiha clan. It was after this that we met Madara." The fateful day replayed in my head as I told of it. It sent shivers down my spine. "Madara told us that he knew you, and that he could connect us with you. We wanted to speak with you, so that we could learn about our clan."

It felt as if Itachi was staring into my soul. His gaze never wavered. He waits before responding, choosing to continue to stare daggers at me. Finally, he spoke: "In other words, you want to know why I did it?"

Chills went down my spine and every hair on my body stood straight up. Despite his calm, unwavering tone, he carries an aura of intensity.

"If you wouldn't mind telling us, we would like to know," Ryuji replied.

"Very well," Itachi says. "Ever since I was very young, I have been far more powerful than anyone else in my clan. The Uchiha acted only of their own accord. Selfishly. I grew tired of the clan's… antics. I disapproved of them for a long time. I felt that I just had to wait it out. I was the heir to the clan, afterall. One day, I would lead my brethren, and I would put an end to their reprehensible behavior. I truly believed that… until I met Madara. You see, Madara Uchiha is a clan patriarch. He was hailed as the most powerful clan member, and one of the most powerful shinobi to ever live. Just the name instilled fear in thousands." Well that explains that. "Madara decided that the clan needed to be punished for their actions. They would not fix themselves, they believed themselves to be perfect in every way, shape or form. So, Madara and I decided…" He paused.

"... to kill them all."

I feel several beads of ice cold sweat run down my face. He really is intense.

"There would be two caveats, however. Firstly, we would not attack the Hidden Leaf Village. It was not the village's fault that the Uchiha were insolent, after all. Only the clan was to blame. Secondly, I wanted to spare my younger brother Sasuke." In his heart, was there some kind of soft spot?

I ask, "Why did you want to spare him?" Itachi's expression changed, ever so slightly. I seemed to have struck a chord. As quickly as it changed, however, he went right back to being wholeheartedly uninterested.

"Well, that is quite simple. I needed someone to test myself against." So much for the soft spot. "Only he had the potential to truly test my abilities. So, I made him hate me, so he would train day and night to grow strong enough to kill me. This would truly test my strength. Also, once I dispatched my younger brother, I could have his eyes for the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan."

Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan? What is that?

Ryuji asked before I could. "What is this, Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan?"

"Did Madara teach you nothing of our clan's visual prowess?" Itachi questions. Now the stares were directed to my brother. "First, you must know of the Mangekyou. It is the level above the Sharingan which the two of you have likely awakened. As you know, the Sharingan awakens in an event of emotional stress. The Mangekyou is similar, however the stress needed to awaken it is far greater in intensity. The only stress intense enough to awaken the Mangekyou is… the loss of a loved one." Another chill shoots down my spine, and I feel as if I could get sick. "The problem with the Mangekyou is that it is a double edged sword. It gives access to abilities more powerful than you could imagine. The drawback is that the more you use it, the more the light will leave your eyes. Too much usage of the Mangekyou, and one will go completely blind, and lose all of their power."

"Now, when two people have the Mangekyou Sharingan, given that they have strong blood ties, one can take the eyes of the other, and implant them into oneself. This awakens the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. There is no risk of blindness, no matter how much one uses its power. Not only that, it can even give some extra strength to one's techniques granted to them by the Mangekyou, as well as a lower chakra cost. This is what I wish for. I need my brother's eyes, before I lose the light in mine, and to become even more powerful than I currently am."

Neither Ryuji nor I knew what to say in response. This was more intense than I could've ever imagined.

"Well, if you have no more questions, I will be on my way." He turns to leave, and words leave my mouth with a will of their own.

"Wait!" I cry. Itachi turns towards me. "What was Father like?"

Itachi pauses, as if I caught him off guard. A look of surprise spreads across his face. He quickly regains his composure.

"He was a powerful, respected man. He took great pride in my abilities. Yes, he was a very proud father, indeed. Eventually, though, I grew more powerful than him. He didn't like that. It fueled the clan's abhorrent antics… I loved my father, but he could not be excluded after everything the clan had done."

There is another moment of brief silence. Ryuji finally breaks it, "Thank you for your time, Itachi."

"Yes, thank you," I add.

Itachi begins to walk back down the corridor. His voice echoes down the chamber as he leaves. "It's truly a shame that my father sullied his memory…"

"... by creating you two bastards."

I cringe once more at the word. He continues to walk into the darkness of the corridor, until he is no longer in sight. I can't get the brief moments of pain in his eyes while he spoke of his family out of my head. He spoke as if he had no remorse, but I can't believe that to be true. There has to be more to this…

And I will find my answers.