Warnings: OMG MANGA-SPOILERS MUCH? God I'm such a spazz. I should have put that at the beginning. Oh well, maybe you thought this was just my imagination xD

Writing this helped me get in-touch with my inner Itachi love. But you all have to admit it…before you knew the truth, you were either over-analyzing him, or you thought he was crazy. Or you were a Sasuke-hater and you loved him from the beginning because he was totally mean to that Emo bastard xD So what did YOU think of Itachi?

After living and breathing and moving in the open air - the clean, light, not musty air - of the real world for even just a day, I didn't want to go back into Orochimaru's hellhole in the side of the cliff. As Naruto so appropriately nicknamed it.

I'd made double speed. Adrenaline, excitement, I didn't know what made me go so fast. Probably eagerness to get this over with and get back to Naruto, and almost just as eager to get back to Sai and tell him off. Now that Itachi was gone…Smiles were becoming frequent. The regret I thought I'd be feeling never came, not even in hints. Our parents' suffering hadn't gone unjustified. That was worth it.

Something still seemed to be missing. I couldn't grasp it, but it was undoubtedly something.

Maybe it was crazy…but the thought of slaughtering someone else I hated made me a little giddy.

If the elders had just let the Uchiha function as a normal clan, and not shown them distrust, they wouldn't have rebelled. Somehow…everything involving the Uchiha, Sasuke, Itachi, and the tragedies tied to them, led back to the council of elders…Danzou…Koharu…and…The other old guy. I never thought of the old freaks, so their names slipped. "But I don't understand one thing, so far," And "so far" was necessary, since I knew there was so much more to this story. "Why did you betray Uchiha? What made you different?"

He sounded a little distraught, but maybe that was because I was getting so good at reading their stoic emotions. I always knew how Sasuke felt or thought, even if no one else did. "You won't have questions when I'm through." He replied. "Where was I?"

"Your father."

The story began again like clockwork, and a new image appeared. It was the even more brutal looking man, the brothers' father, and he seemed to be overseeing a meeting of higher-ups in the clan. The image was soundless, this time. "I became a spy on his orders, after he told me the clan's intentions. He knew I was good enough to get into the Black Ops, likewise the Hokage, and he wanted information. The opposite happened."

The image flashed again. Finally I just sat down, more comfortable watching the scenes. But this time it wasn't an image in front of me, I was sitting in a familiar room, with the Third Hokage alive and well at the desk Tsunade now often made her bed on after lots of sake. Itachi, looking around the age I graduated, stood before him and the looming elders, head bowed. Words came, for once.

"Have any new plans been made?" The old man's voice sounded nostalgic for me. I'm sure Konohamaru would have loved to see him again, even like this.

"Yes, but the objective is the same. There is still no question…My father wishes to either control you or kill you, and there are many plans involving that…second option." The memory Itachi passed a folder full of paper to the Hokage, who looked them over with heavy eyes.

"Why haven't you ordered it yet?" Danzou, I'm sure that was him, hissed after over looking the papers. Such elaborate plans…I could only imagine what assassination plans the Uchiha could come up with.

"There is still a chance that is unnecessary. There must be something we can do for them…" His second statement sounded so less sure. When people you thought you trusted were targeting for assassination, and you really wanted to help them, what did you do?

"Pardon. What order?" Itachi raised his head a little and eyed the two men and the woman behind the Hokage with a hidden hatred.

Sarutobi held his hand up before his advisors could break the obvious news to Itachi. They all silenced. The Third didn't want what the Uchiha's were fated for, and neither parties wanted to lose their double agent so early on. "It is nothing, nothing to concern yourself with now. Thank you, Itachi."

The darker male stepped out without a word, and the one in my head began to speak again. "You wonder why I betrayed Uchiha. You haven't seen war…not in person. But you have had nightmares such as the one I showed you of the Kyubbi. During the Third Ninja War, I was four, and I'd already seen a bloody battlefield. I'd witnessed just as much as the frontline did, and I'd lost people I knew and often cared about to a mindless, rapid slaughter. You and I are alike. We've seen lives taken…and we fight to protect them. Don't you?"

"Yeah." I was surprised by the solemn turn he'd taken. I couldn't answer much with anything else, I was too stunned.

"War is hell. Seeing it made me betray the Uchiha, for I knew if a civil war began, people would take advantage of a sure to be crumbling Fire Country, and I didn't want to see more people die. Not for my clan's self interest."

"So the Elders used it against you." I snarled.

"The mission later given to me by those three was my decision whether or not to take it. Though if I'd refused, they'd have found someone else to do it. The clan's death was inevitable…I wouldn't have acted any differently. It was what I wanted."

"But that's still how they saw you. A tool. They didn't care about how much it was hurting you." In another way, Itachi was like me. I felt a sympathy - that had just been slowly growing - consume. They just look at the monster, they don't care about how much pain you're in. They just see you as a tool, they don't care about what you want. They just want you for power, they don't care about your wishes. That seemed to be how Konoha was run. I wasn't accusing Tsunade - or any of the Hokage's, my heroes…but the higher power over them. People they couldn't argue with in their right mind.

Pain I hadn't even heard of led back to the people governing my own country.

"The Elders gave me the mission to annihilate the Uchiha." He didn't reply to my comments, but his response had taken noticeably longer.

I was sitting on the ground, in the night. A full moon like a cotton ball sat in the jet black night sky. Uchiha district houses lined the streets. Footsteps - no doubt a young child's running - rang through my ears. "Don't show me this." I managed.

The image and the footsteps faded.

"I can't even imagine what your mentality was like," I said, trying to be light, but it probably didn't settle on him that way. I suppose I could have imagined. But betraying your parents with the ultimate…killing them…the choice for me…for anyone, I would have thought, would be obvious. You just couldn't. But he had.

Itachi never betrayed his people out of hatred. It was out of greater good. He had no choice. No one…No one who knew the truth could possibly blame him for that sacrifice. If Sasuke knew better, he wouldn't have blamed him. And Itachi was yet to give me a reason why we couldn't just tell him and end all of this.

"I told you earlier…Madara was still alive. His chakra is so powerful…like your current Hokage's, he is still alive right now." My eyes widened a bit. "I found out. He was bitter towards both Senju and Uchiha, and he wanted an opportunity for war. I told him he could help me - get his revenge on Uchiha - so long as he promised that he wouldn't touch the rest of the village. The Hokage tried to reach a truce, but in the end, too much time had passed and our night was at hand."

"You did it all." I whispered. Killed them, left the village in a fake dishonor, and joined up with Akatsuki.

"You know already…but there is one thing I couldn't do." I nodded listlessly. "Hard as I tried…Tried not to think about…to just act…it never worked. I couldn't kill my little brother."

Sai hadn't quite developed what it meant to trust someone, or to keep someone's secrets. He'd been committing acts in secrecy since he was born, but not outside of Danzou. He knew well enough that if he were to say something about those two little tidbits of information to anyone…Or if he blabbed about Sasuke, Naruto would unleash his fury.

But he knew both Itachi and Sasuke were trouble. He'd been tied to Naruto and Sakura by orders, and he'd previously requested to stay bound to them. Naruto, anyway. He'd never gotten to know Sakura. Somehow…Naruto was holding him like shackles, without trying.

He already had Sasuke behind him. Someone unlikely, and who was nothing like Naruto, personality wise. In Sai's opinion, a relationship like theirs shouldn't have existed. But now he was being bound by the same tie. Something odd about Naruto, in particular. When Uzumaki and Uchiha were around each other, Sasuke melted like ice in a microwave. Even when they were angry, or against each other, something still made Sasuke's drive, him. But this didn't have to do with Sasuke.

This was some strange trait that Naruto held to draw people. To change people. People grew so easily attached to him so quickly, often whether or not they knew about his monster. Regardless.

Before Naruto, and before that mission he was assigned to kill "the traitor," Sai was nothing more than a human. He had no name, he had no feelings, and his only purpose was to serve. After Danzou gave him a name and sent him off to kill Sasuke, Naruto made him remember so many things, and feel so many different ways, it was insane. Not just the emotions he faked to make people trust him, but real emotions. Things he didn't guide or control.

He felt them now, more than ever. He was just like Sakura and Sasuke. He'd been made Naruto's teammate, and he already wanted to be what they were to him. That was a lot, coming from someone who'd been a subordinate, and absolutely nothing more, beforehand.

Besides everything else, he was damn cute. That was good enough.

But the Uchiha's were a danger, it seemed, nonetheless. Both were missing ninja, and he wasn't sure if he believed Naruto's story about what Itachi told him. He didn't necessarily doubt Naruto telling him the truth…He wondered if what Itachi told him wasn't just a ploy. Naruto had believed him so easily, it seemed farfetched.

As for Sasuke…Sai had been taught by Danzou he needed to be killed, but now he couldn't understand why. The original purpose was so Orochimaru - someone much more bothersome - wouldn't have a body to attack Konoha with. But if Sasuke succeeded in killing him, what would Danzou order then? If he still wanted to eliminate the Uchiha, there was another reason he was unaware of. That's where his mind ran out of ideas. Sasuke would have wiped out two big threats…in theory, anyway. Itachi was still alive. Yet another problem. What would Sasuke do if he found out? That made him dangerous. Danzou was probably unaware of Sakura's death, and even if he did know, the fact that it was an accident could be vouched. Whether the fact that it was accidental counted or not, Sasuke still posed no real threat to Konoha. No obvious threat, at the least.

But they weren't to be trusted. It had been their reputation since day one of their time in Konoha. Uchiha's had dangerous minds. Maybe it was biased, but he'd never been taught to think otherwise.

"Without you, Sasuke wouldn't even be here right now, would he?" That was scary thought. Where would Sakura have fallen in the world with Sasuke to swoon over? Maybe she would have been a better kunoichi, not always so distracted. More than her…where would I be? Sasuke was my first one-on-one friend. When I thought about it, the only one. I had plenty of friends now, but they had all been distant. It had just been me, him, Sakura, and Kakashi in my world. Sakura treated me like any loner female would have treated a boy, and Kakashi was my sensei, not my age - someone I couldn't connect with. Sasuke, in the beginning, didn't want anything to do with anyone. But that must have been a forced action, since it quickly fell apart. We respected each other, and when necessary and with heavy sarcasm, complimented each other. We fought and argued, just like the boys we were, but we - within being bound teammates - were friends. Without him, I probably would have been the same I'd been before I graduated. No one else could have brought out what he did in me, I was sure.

"I guess not." Itachi' story began again before I could even ask for a continuation. The tower with the Hokage, the elders, and the memory Itachi returned, though at first it was the real one talking. The one from the picture had darker splatter spots on grey fabric. Post-massacre. "After I was finished, I knocked Sasuke out and left him for the ANBU to find and hospitalize. I couldn't do anything else. I returned here and begged the Hokage to leave Sasuke alive, and be kept out of the loop."

"I assure you no harm will come to the village by keeping him alive." It sounded like begging, even coming from Itachi. His voice cracked and his hands were trembling so lightly, you would have to get your eyes close to them to see. Although, considering he'd just killed his family and was currently pleading for his little brother's life, his self control was incredible.

"That is unacceptable. You knew the requirements of this mission when you took it." It was Danzou's angry response again. He'd made his statement so soon, Sarutobi's words had caught in his mouth. Itachi gazed back at this man in fury. He'd had enough of his disrespect, and it was probably the first and only time Itachi spoke without thinking in his life.

"If I find out any of you have so much as laid a hand on Sasuke, I'll spill every secret this village has to your enemy countries."

That was all it took to silence each other being in the room, and they were beyond taken aback. After a few moments of silence and everyone - including me - watching his trembling figure, Danzou opened his mouth to speak but the Hokage refused to be interrupted again. "You have my word."

Itachi watched the old man's eyes for signs of lying, but pools of sincerity went on for infinity. He nodded. If there was anyone he could trust in the world, it was Sarutobi. He only worried about how these elders would act when he passed. Or even before then. Itachi departed without another word, ready to complete his duty.

"Disappear." Danzou muttered. My mental picture faded as Itachi disappeared from the room. Not just this room in particular, Konoha its self, for the next six or so years.

Nothing else came out of Itachi's mouth, and suddenly, everything was black. I couldn't make a sound. I worked my voice, but no sound came. Everything was pitch dark, and my eyes couldn't even begin to focus in the empty nothingness. I tried to move, and I couldn't see my own limbs and arms, even though I knew I was holding them in front of me. "Where am I!?" I could still think. It was comforting that I could still talk to Kyubbi, even when things like this happened….whatever this was.

"That is a very good question."

"Are you being sarcastic?!"

"Duh. Your mind. Where else?"

"Then do you know what's going on? Did you really need me to be that be specific?"

"I have no idea. Quit asking me questions."

"NO."

"Kit, why don't you just relax and think about it. There' s a reason, no doubt. Actually, I'm surprised you're still this sane. Two years ago, you would have been squealing."

"I trust Itachi." Then the explanation was obvious. He'd stopped the images, and wasn't using his mangekyo anymore. I was still out like a light, just like Sasuke had been so long ago. I kept that thought in my head, praying he would be able to get me out of my comma quickly. Or…

"Um…Kyu?"

"WHAT?"

"You know what he was doing, right?"

"Yes."

"Then…do you think I'm going to realize it if something happens to my body outside of here?"

"Are you ever able to feel anything?"

"No, I just thought this might be different. Hey, when I die, will I still be able to talk to you?"

This seemed to stump him, momentarily. "I wouldn't know. I guess it would be nice."

"NICE?"

"On your part, brat. Even if you died, your mentality, or maybe your soul…This, whatever, would always be with you. Even in death you'd have someone to know."

"So it would be on YOUR part, too. You probably fear death as much as a regular person."

"I am not afraid. Though, it's something no living creature looks forward to. Even a sealed one."

"I must have a gift."

"Excuse me?"

"I can turn bloodthirsty monsters like you and…Heh, guess Sasuke falls there too, sometimes - into big softies."

"…Call it whatever you'd like. It's more like a curse for me and the Uchiha kid."

"SURE it is."

I blinked. Light stung my eyes, but this was not my mind. This was my body. I shook my head rapidly back and forth, growling at the light and reality of the real world. My head was a lot less annoying. I looked down, and saw the grey sheeted bed I'd started out on. I was still sitting up straight. Apparently my body hadn't gone slack at all, just remained frozen in that one spot, explaining my stiff back. I looked back up, and was eye to eye with onyx jewels. I fell back a little more, distancing myself from Itachi. "I hoped I'd be able to get you out of that." He muttered, and I was surprised he'd said something so light.

Because, for some reason, when he had me in my mind with the pictures, I didn't cry. Now my eyes were spilling over. My brain had processed all of the knowledge, and worked out the mysteries behind it, but now the feelings had consumed. I just wasn't good at following that one rule - keep your emotions in. "Why would you do that? Do that for this village after all they've done to you!? All they've used you for!?" With crying, came screaming.

"Why are you a shinobi?"

The question he asked was the same I'd asked him. Only, in easier to understand terms. I just didn't get it yet. "That doesn't matter! I'm a shinobi because I want to be something besides a "monster," and protect the people I love!"

"And as shinobi, you have a duty. Would you back down from a mission if it was given to you?" He sounded so calm and wise it, it was unbelievable.

"No, I wouldn't, because -!" I cut myself off, comprehending. That's what I asked him. Why would you fight for your village after all they'd put you through, and with the consequences it entailed? I was displaying what was, for me, the highest possible form of hypocrisy.

"You and I are no different." He replied. "It doesn't matter how much the elders hate you, or how much pain you've been put through because of this place. You follow your duty as a shinobi because there are people you love, and people you want to protect here."

But that wasn't all. No, there was still more. I was still missing one last piece of the story. "Because you didn't want to see more people die in a war. You left Sasuke alive because you loved him too much, but…You still haven't given me a good reason why I shouldn't just tell him, and end this stupid mess." My sobbing calmed a bit. "What did you tell him that made him hate you so much? Why?"

I was watching him now, and his eyes looked heavy, with his eyebrows turned up in the slightest. He'd only faltered when I mentioned Sasuke. Something told me that no matter what Sasuke did or would do, he'd always love his little brother more than the world. Something unconditional - Sasuke was all he had left. "I told Sasuke I killed them to test myself. I planted the seeds of hatred in his head, knowing he would come after me wanting revenge. It's an Uchiha's natural instinct, even that young."

"That's what you wanted." It wasn't a question, it was statement of disbelief and wonder. Why?

He answered as if he'd read my mind. "I'd planned my own death from that moment. If Sasuke finds out the truth, he will be no different than the others in the clan who wanted a rebellion. I knew the Hokage only saved him because he didn't understand what was going on." He continued, "But by keeping him angry like this, his drive will only go stronger."

"Sorry, I don't understand." I whispered, though somewhere far back, I was slowly developing the answer he gave.

"I want Sasuke to kill me, so the village sees him as a hero, and he can live a normal life." My whole body absorbed his words, and it finally hit me - Itachi wasn't ever and wouldn't ever be the blame. He was selfless…He'd caused his brother necessary pain, and now he was going to be killed for it. He knew there was no hope for his return, so he'd sacrifice himself for his brother's well being.

No. He wouldn't.

We were silent for a long time, him probably assuming I needed time to let everything sink in. But it had already been absorbed - I just wouldn't accept it as what had to be. My heart and mind that had led me into reckless promises so many times before bound me to yet another destiny. I wouldn't let him die. I wouldn't let Sasuke die. I'd find away to make things normal again, even if it killed me. "I'm not going to let him kill you."

No response. Maybe he thought I was kidding, and even if he thought I was serious, knew I wouldn't be a difficult detour. But I would be beyond difficult. I'd decided for myself that right now, that was my only goal.

I would make sure that neither of the Uchiha brother's had to suffer anymore.

"I won't let him kill you, and I won't let him die either. I don't care what you tell me now," I glared at him with an unnerved defiance. "I'll find a way to make things normal. You're keeping your life."

He tried to speak, but I was still talking. I caught him before he could say a word. "I'm not sure…why Sasuke forgot what he did when he woke up, or what he saw around us as proof that made him think…That he really did kill you. Yeah, we told him that. He thinks you're dead." Itachi's eyebrows raised in the slightest. Uchiha's were getting so much easier to read, for me. "Even if I have to keep him thinking that. Nothing is going to happen to you."

A few moments passed and nothing else would said. At first he looked like he knew they were just empty words, and either way, he wasn't going to let me interfere with his plans. But then a dumbfounded, surprised look settled on his face. Everything was so subtle, though, you had to be use to every little twitch and half-centimeter movement an Uchiha's eyes and lips made. I was getting so talented, I was sure I was reading his thoughts. He looked like he wondered why I'd say this to someone who I'd only seen one other time, and back then they were trying to capture me so I could die a slow, painful death via chakra extraction. I almost answered without hearing a response, but he lifted his hand to stop me.

"Your decisions are yours." But his eyes gleamed with pity. "Whether you keep your promises or not, it won't affect my decisions." He stood up, and the movement was so graceful and fast, I blinked and he was walking away. "I will continue."

"If I can't stop you, I'll stop Sasuke." I replied to his backside. "I don't give up."

His steps even faltered. Only for a fraction of a second, but I caught it. He stepped out of his old, childhood bedroom and into the balcony-style hallway. I followed him a little ways, but I thought of the object on the table, and wondered if he was leaving it. "What about…" I even started to say it, but apparently he could read my mind, too.

"It's for you." He handed me a picture frame, with a black sheet of paper over where the image should have been. I hadn't even seen him grab it, so he was really damn fast. "You can move the paper and see it later. Someone is coming to look for you, they're outside."

I yelped, and dashed past him for the stairs. If anyone but Sai and I saw Itachi at this point, all hell would break out. He'd be reported and followed…and the guard sent after him would probably get killed. At the top step, I paused and looked back, to find Itachi nowhere in sight. He must have been thinking likewise.

I took a deep breath and remembered my promise. A promise I would keep, this time. I had to. I was going to make sure that neither him nor Sasuke had to die. Itachi was peaceful and broken and Sasuke was innocent and clueless, but their families had been killed because of their difference. Now they were both in a confused kind of hurt. I couldn't live with myself if Itachi lost his life to Sasuke. Not anymore, I couldn't. No matter what Itachi did now, I would keep Sasuke either thinking his brother was dead…or tell him, and fight him away.

I dashed down the stairs to answer the doorbell that was now ringing, just like Itachi had foreseen. It didn't even occur to me until after it was open that no one ever came into the Uchiha district, and no one but Tsunade and now Itachi knew I was here.

Note: So I really, really love that chapter ^^ I have to know...does anyone have plans on how we should take out Orochimaru? xD