Chapter Six: Hatred Turns the Heart Black
In school, Itachi was alienated by the other children. Because he was so talented, some children became jealous of his advanced abilities and because the teacher favored him. They often made fun of him when his back was turned and the bolder ones didn't care if he heard them or not. Most of the children, however, admired him and held him with such a high regard that it reminded him of his clan, always pressuring him to do great, be great, in order to make them look great. Those children would always boast about having Itachi in their class and soon others began to pay attention to him too. The girls would fawn over him, each hoping that one day, he would look their way and smile.
He vowed to never do such a thing to any girl...ever. To him, they were brainless birds, always chirping about how cool he was, how cute he was, and how talented he was. If, for once in his life, someone would look past those things and see the person underneath the flashy exterior...and see his pain.
He decided that if he just isolated himself and kept away from the annoying children, then he could get out of the Academy and go back to being by himself.
One day someone sat down beside him in class. "Hi."
Itachi turned to see a boy who looked similar to him, looking at him. He didn't say anything.
"My name is Shisui Uchiha. I heard that you're related to me."
Itachi looked back ahead of him and nodded slowly.
"Good, because the rest of these kids aren't even worth talking to. My parents sent me here to become a great shinobi. Sure I like fighting, but I wish I had more of a choice in what I have to do with my life. What about you?"
Itachi froze. It was the first time ever that someone had actually stopped to ask him his opinion on something. He turned to Shisui, and gave a small smile.
"I wish they wouldn't use me to make them look better." He whispered, as if someone would hear him.
"Exactly." Shisui leaned back in his seat with his hands behind his head. "But in the end, I plan to benefit from it all more than them. I'll be this great hero and they'll all just be people I'm related to. I won't let them take credit for my hard work."
Itachi smiled at his words. It was as if someone finally understood what he was feeling and he now had someone to share it with. Throughout the year, Itachi and Shisui constantly conversed about their family and their abilities. They became very close and after a while, Shisui was like Itachi's big brother. They often trained together, and as a result, Shisui and Itachi graduated together before Itachi turned eight.
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Itachi was slightly peeved when he found out he had to be placed in a team with two other Genin from his class. However, when they announced Shisui's name after his, he didn't find it too bothersome. The girl placed with them, Kimiko, was a certified chatterbox. Shisui and she would often get into arguments about this while Itachi and their sensei, Hiroshi, would watch. Once while Itachi was out training with his team, Fugaku had given Sasuke a kunai when he was three to see if he could hold it like Itachi had at that age. Of course he was good, but he wasn't as good as Itachi.
During training, Itachi and Shisui would work on activating their Sharingan while Kimiko worked on her taijutsu with Hiroshi. Itachi was the first of the two to activate it; however, Shisui mastered it before he did. Itachi often went home and sat in his room, staring at the wall while focusing his chakra to activate his Sharingan. Once he did, he would then focus on achieving each tomoe until he got all three. The next time he trained with Shisui, he would repeat the process. It was the day that Kimiko had been at home sick when Itachi mastered his Sharingan. Each tomoe did something that helped him in his fight against Shisui. The first tomoe allowed him to see Shisui's attacks coming even though he was moving very fast. The second tomoe allowed him to copy Shisui's movements and jutsu. The final tomoe allowed him to predict Shisui's next move.Itachi went home and told his father about this and then showed him his eyes.
"Hmm," Fugaku smirked, "Well done, Itachi. You truly are my son." However, Itachi didn't feel the joy that came with accomplishment. It felt like he did it for everyone else in his clan. He knew that he had relatives who were older than him who still hadn't even gotten the second tomoe, let alone all three. While watching Sasuke run around the backyard, he felt someone standing behind him and looked over his shoulder. Fugaku looked at Sasuke.
"He'll be like you one day, Itachi. A great shinobi. I want you to help him in every way you know how to achieve greatness and power."
"Okay." Itachi answered, staring out at Sasuke. One day, they would steal his innocence too.
"And now that you're a Genin, I want you to make sure you pass the Chuunin exams. Once you become a Chuunin, you can work at the police station with us."
"Okay." Itachi didn't move. When Fugaku finally went back inside the house, he sighed with disappointment. Was this the life he was meant to live? To be worked and used like common cattle? And for what? Before he was born, what did the clan do to make themselves look so good, and why did they suddenly believe that he was needed to make them look better? The pride of the clan...it was all they ever talked about and it sickened him. They depended on him to make them look good in front of everyone else. They pressured and pushed him to become more powerful...for their own benefit. What did they care about him? He was nothing more than a race horse to them, meant to work for them.
But he was tired of it. He didn't want to be their horse anymore. He resented them for their weakness. They all depended on an eight year old. How pathetic. He didn't want to be controlled any more, living by their stupid rules that centered around him playing follow the leader when, in truth, he was the leader. If they depended on him, wouldn't that mean that he was better than them? Like the village depended on the Hokage, they depended on him. Since they themselves were so incapable of making their clan look good with their own special skills and achievements, they needed him to do what they couldn't do themselves. He couldn't think of one thing they had done since he was born to contribute to the Uchiha pride. Nothing. Why must it be solely left up to him to make them look good? What about all of the other members of the clan? What was so special about him that made them so weak?
What was the purpose of contributing to the pride of the Uchihas? What could they do with the pride that they had built up over the years? They protected the village with their law enforcement; why was he needed? Had they done something that they felt they had to cover up with good deeds?
More importantly, what future is in that? He knew he wanted more out of life than to be a Chuunin or Jounin. When he got there, what would be his next step? In the village, a shinobi could only go so far in life. He knew he didn't want to be Hokage; he was tired of people depending on him. He wanted to go somewhere where the people around him were strong enough to take care of themselves. Where the people around him had goals and ambitions that didn't center around what he did with his life. Where the people around him cared nothing about pride, but gaining more power to rise above others in this world.
Then he looked back out at Sasuke, who was now chasing a butterfly. 'Foolish little brother...' He looked so happy, was so carefree, not knowing about the dangers of the world, about the people that he believed loved him when in truth they couldn't wait to turn him into a puppet to control and make them look good.He balled up his fists. He would find a way to fix this. He would gain control of his life again. He would be the one to dominate the ones that made him feel inferior. One day, one day, he would get his revenge.
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A month before his eleventh birthday which was in June, Itachi passed his Chuunin Exam as expected. And as he expected, he didn't receive praise or recognition as any other child would. That following December, snow covered the village. Itachi sat in his room with Sasuke (who was then six), watching him hold a kunai over a doll as if he were in battle, then stab it. Immediately, Itachi jumped up to make sure no one was around. He remembered vividly how their father had reacted when he saw Itachi holding a kunai for the first time; he didn't want Sasuke to go through the same thing. At the same time, on the inside he swelled with pride thinking about how skilled Sasuke could be one day. He knew that in the end, it was very likely that Sasuke would be his only real challenge.
A week after seeing Sasuke stab the doll with the kunai, he was sent on an A-ranked mission with three other subordinates as the leader. They were to find information in regards to the whereabouts of a missing nin, Orochimaru. Unfortunately, they stumbled upon one of Orochimaru's hideouts and were ambushed by his followers. There was a barrage of shuriken thrown at them and Itachi quickly dodged them. He looked back to see that one of his teammates hadn't dodged the attack in time, and fell the ground, unmoving. 'If he had have been that much faster, he could have survived,' Itachi thought with disgust. Because he had been elected the leader, they depended on him to survive this mission.
Itachi killed many of them, but not before the rest of his team were killed. He stood in the bloody snow and looked around, searching for his comrades. A body moved. He ran to it and turned the person over, and discovered it was his teammate, Yasuo. He had known him since the Academy. "Itachi..." Yasuo choked on the blood that was filling his lungs and looked up at Itachi, getting weaker and colder by the second, "I...I don't want to die...no...no...Itachi, I'm sorry...I don't want to die..."
'How pointless. To die this way, pleading for your life with your last breath...If you had have been stronger, faster, and more powerful, you would be fine. You were weak. You depended on me, like everyone else does.' Itachi wanted to say this to the dying boy, but couldn't get the words to come out. Soon Yasuo stopped breathing altogether and fell limp in Itachi's arms. It was pathetic. They had sacrificed their lives for what? Information that they never got. The mission was a failure and after an intense battle of twenty against four, he was the sole survivor.
"How tragic." He heard a man's voice say. He looked over his shoulder without turning around to see a man in a black cloak with red clouds standing behind him.
"Who are you?" Itachi carefully laid Yasuo's body down on the snow and stood, not bothering to turn around.
"These were some of the best ninja I could find, and yet, you killed most of them with one single stroke of your katana. I am very impressed. Konan seriously underestimated you." Itachi looked at the piercings all over the man's face and narrowed his eyes.
"I hate repeating myself." Itachi stated in an even, lethal tone. The man nodded in acknowledgement.
"My name is Paine. I am the leader of the Akatsuki."I
tachi finally turned around. "The Akatsuki? 'Dawn'? Dawn of what?"
"A new world order. The world we live in now has become dull and old, molded after our yesterdays. It is time we moved forward and made a new set of rules, rules that grant us the power we deserve."
Itachi blinked several times, not seeming impressed or even interested with what he was saying. "What is your goal? What point is there for your organization?"
Paine smirked. "I usually don't tell people I haven't extended an invitation to our plans. That would be very careless of me."
"You must plan of extending an invitation or else you would not be here. You stated earlier that these were the best you could find...Are you saying that you targeted me?"
"Only to test your abilities, to see what you were capable of. I needed to see for myself if you were really as talented as I was told you were. As I said, I am, to say the very least, impressed." Paine stepped a little closer to see Itachi's face better.
"How did you know that I would come?"
"I have spies within the Hidden Leaf. Those with positions of power that can influence the Hokage to make certain decisions. I simply sent a message that someone heard that their beloved rouge ninja was lurking about in this area and my spy made the suggestion that a team be dispatched to check it out. The odds of Orochimaru actually being here would be slim so a team of Chuunin would be enough for an information seeking mission. However, if the team were to come across any of his followers, they should have a leader capable of leading them in combat. I told these ninja to wait for the team here."
Itachi's eyes widened slightly with anger. He had been manipulated. He looked down at Yasuo. "Why would I want to join your organization?"
"Because we have long term goals."
"Which are?"
Paine sighed. He figured he would have to tell the inquisitive child the truth in order to persuade him to join them. "We plan to dominate the countries of our world."
Itachi frowned. "And exactly how do you plan to accomplish such a thing?"
"I've created a three step process. First, we obtain a large amount of money support our organization. Then we set up a mercenary group loyal only to the Akatsuki. To build our reputation, we plan to accept any mission below the usual cost and operate off of excess funds earned in the first part of our plans. Because there haven't been any wars in years, the established shinobi villages such as Hidden Leaf can't afford to charge such low prices, which would eventually lead the smaller countries to hire us over the more expensive shinobi villages. We plan to capture the legendary tailed beasts and use them to secretly start wars and immediately quell them, which would solidify our reputation and convince every country to depend on us. Without any business, the other shinobi countries would eventually collapse due to the lack of funds. When we become the only major shinobi force in existence, we would be able to easily conquer the other countries."
Itachi stared at the man. He had to admit to even himself that it was a well planned goal and he could see it working. "I'm not interested."
"Of course you are. Would you rather allow your family to continue to use you?" Paine whispered. Itachi froze and turned his head slowly back towards Paine. "Yes, I know a lot about you, Itachi. I believe that the Akatsuki is the answer for your problems. Your skills are needed for us to reach our goals. However, we won't depend on you like your clan does."
"How do you know about my clan?"
"I've been observing you personally, Itachi. Your family acts as if you're nothing but a trophy to them, a living symbol of their pride. They belittle you and make you seem inferior to them, when it is you who is superior to them. They are beneath you, and you know that. They depend on you to give them their pride. 'The pride of the Uchiha', they call you."
"That is enough." Itachi took a step forward.
"Itachi, if you sever the tie between you and your clan, between you and your village, then they won't have pride any more, now will they? Do you see how much power you have? They are keeping you from realizing your potential, from realizing exactly how much power you have over them. They work hard to control you so that you will never realize that you have more power than they will ever have. Your decisions, your actions mean the world to them because if you as so much put a toe out of line, it will tarnish their reputation."
Itachi abruptly stopped. He had never looked at it that way. They were holding him back. They were keeping him from determining his true greatness.
"Itachi, we seek power. We have a goal and we are working to achieve this goal. Tell me, what is it that your clan is working towards? What are their goals? Or do they plan to rely on you for the rest of their lives, for the rest of your life? Do they plan for you to die of old age, to die while solely contributing to the 'pride of the Uchiha'? Are you merely a puppet for them, Itachi? To manipulate into doing their biddings? Into doing what they cannot do for themselves? With them, you have no real power. They limit you and your outstanding abilities. They've taken control over your life. With them, they give you meaningless missions in which you watch your weak comrades die," He gestured to the bodies surrounding them, "Tell you to train your weak little brother, tell you to do this, to do that...You can take back the power they've taken from you, Itachi. It is not theirs to keep. Join us, Itachi. With us, there are no rules, no routines, and no laws. With us, you can dominate others; you can make them bow to you. Just give it some thought."
With that, Paine disappeared. Itachi stood all alone in the snow, the ground littered with bodies as Paine's words echoed in his head.
'They limit you and your outstanding abilities...'
Something dark and evil awoke within Itachi as he allowed hatred for his clan to seize and consume his heart. Blackness consumed his pure heart until it became a hollow, emotionless void in his chest; he then had a black hole for a heart, which sucked up all of his emotions and made them disappear. As of then, the clan meant nothing to him. They had might as well had been dead. Tears of rage leaked from the corners of his eyes and wet his cheeks. The only two people who hadn't used him were his best friend, Shisui, and his little brother, Sasuke. However, if he didn't do something, Sasuke would be targeted next. He had to be the big brother Sasuke needed in order for Sasuke to become stronger and be able to keep people from using him. To keep people from hurting him as he had been hurt. Itachi wiped his eyes and moved forward, vowing to never shed another tear or show any sign of weakness again.
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At the funerals, Itachi spoke nice words to the people about those who he had led into death. He touched the hands of mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, saying, "I'm sorry for your loss."
Except he wasn't. All he could see when he looked at their faces, paled with death, was how quickly they were slain...all because they were too weak and depended on him instead of themselves.He saw Yasuo choking on his own blood and begging for his life. Weak, slow, and pitiful. He looked at their dead bodies and remembered out of the twenty four ninja that battled that night, he was the only one left standing. It almost made him smile. He had been so much better than them.
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Itachi waited in the forest outside of Konoha, the crisp cold wind blowing his hair around his face.
"So you received my message?" Itachi turned slowly to find Paine standing on a tree limb.
"I accept your invitation." He replied in a low, even voice. He could see that Paine was pleased with his response.
"A very wise decision. I promise that you won't regret it." Paine jumped down and held out his hand. "This is yours. Do not lose it. You don't have to wear it until you leave your village for good. It is how we will keep in touch. It has other uses but we will discuss them at a later date."
Itachi only nodded then Paine promptly disappeared. Itachi opened his hand and saw a ring.
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Itachi wasn't surprised when Fugaku informed him that ANBU was interested in him after hearing about the ambush and being the sole survivor. He didn't care for ANBU or anything else at that time. Sasuke ran into the room and tugged on Itachi's shirt.
"Brother, will you please train with me today?" Sasuke's big eyes held hope that Itachi would say yes today. Unfortunately for Itachi, he had nothing else planned that day so he had no choice but to say yes. He and Sasuke headed out to a clearing near the outside of the village.
"It's no good if you don't do it right. Do it again, Sasuke, better this time." Itachi hated how Sasuke fumbled with the hand signs for the different techniques and slow he performed them. They practiced for hours until Sasuke pushed himself too far and passed out from the amount of chakra he used. "Just pitiful." Itachi sighed as he picked Sasuke up and put him on his back to carry him home. About halfway home, Sasuke woke up and looked around, then closed his eyes again after realizing where he was.
"Brother, I'll walk." Sasuke mumbled.
Itachi turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder, "Don't push yourself." Sasuke noticed the police emblem on the building had their family crest on the center of it. Itachi saw the look on Sasuke's face. "What's wrong?"
"This is where Father works, right?"
Itachi followed Sasuke's gaze and he saw the emblem. "Yeah, it's the Konoha military police headquarters."
"I've been wondering about this for a while, but why is the Uchiha clan's crest on the military police's emblem?"
Itachi looked surprised, "You noticed?"
"Of course!"
Itachi took a minute to figure out a way to explain it to his little brother, "Simply put, the ones who established the police force were the Uchiha clan's ancestors. And that is why our family crest is on the symbol. Since long ago, the Uchiha clan has been responsible for enforcing and protecting the village's public order." Inwardly, Itachi hated this. It was why the clan had put so much faith in him. Everything that he did was for an unappreciative village. "The Uchiha crest also serves as a symbol of our clan's pride. Now the clan has become smaller, but most of us work here, contributing to maintaining public order. The only shinobi who can enforce the laws...are superior ones."
Sasuke's eyes widened, "Wow! Father is amazing! Brother, are you going to join, too?"Itachi bit the side of his cheek. "Maybe..."
"You should! When I grow up, I'm going to join the police force, too! And Father will come to my entrance ceremony tomorrow. It's the first step towards my dream." Sasuke chatted excitedly.
"Yeah..." Itachi whispered remembering that he had his first meeting with the Akatsuki and ANBU the next day. It meant that he would have to miss Sasuke's ceremony...
Itachi reached the fence leading to their clan's neighborhood and was slightly surprised to see Fugaku leaning on it. "You're late. What were you doing?"
Sasuke whispered, "Father..."
Fugaku lifted off of the fence and turned his back on them, "I have something to tell you. Hurry and come."
They followed him in silence back to their house and into the family room where they all sat on their knees. Itachi and Sasuke sat side by side while Fugaku sat on the opposite side facing them. He chuckled, "As expected of my child, to come this far only half a year after becoming a Chuunin...for tomorrow's special mission, I've decided to come along."
"Tomorrow?" Sasuke whispered to himself. 'But my entrance ceremony is tomorrow...'
"If you succeed on this mission, your enlistment into ANBU will be official." Fugaku closed his eyes then opened them, his Sharingan activated. "You understand, right?"
Itachi knew that the mission was some sort of test to make sure he had the skills necessary to join. It wouldn't be a problem for him. His problem was that if his father tagged along, he wouldn't be able to go to the Hidden Rain village immediately afterwards for his meeting with the Akatsuki, and because the villages were so far apart, he would need all the time he could afford to travel back and forth without seeming suspicious. "There's no need to worry about it. More importantly..." Itachi looked over at Sasuke, giving him his cue to speak.
"Um...Father...Tomorrow's my--"
"Tomorrow's mission is not only important for you, Itachi, but for the Uchiha clan as well. You will be the first to ever join the ANBU." He cut Sasuke off, not even noticing his other son was in the room. Itachi loved this. His presence always overshadowed Sasuke. He looked over at Sasuke, whose whole posture had sunk with sadness and disappointment.
"Looks like I'm dropping tomorrow's mission then."
Both Sasuke and Fugaku looked at Itachi with surprise."Have you lost your mind?! You know how important tomorrow is!" Fugaku yelled.
"Tomorrow, I'll be attending Sasuke's entrance ceremony at the Academy." At this Sasuke smiled. "It's required for a relative to attend the ceremony. Father, you've received the notice, right?" Itachi knew he had Fugaku cornered. If he really wanted Itachi to go on the mission, then he had no choice but to attend Sasuke's ceremony. Fugaku stood.
"I understand. I'll go to the Academy." He leaves the room and Itachi and Sasuke follow him out. Itachi looked down and noticed a big purple bruise forming on Sasuke's leg when they had been training."Be sure to keep that left leg iced."
"Okay." Sasuke replied watching his older brother walk away, leaving him behind. 'Brother...you're so far away...'
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The Next Day
Sasuke stood in line with the other kids as the Third Hokage gave his speech for the students. Sasuke looked over his shoulder to look for his father and found him, appearing to be sleeping while he stood still. Sasuke was disappointed that he father was not paying attention.
'If I were Itachi, I bet he would pay attention...' He thought bitterly. Later after the ceremony, an old teacher of Itachi's spotted Fugaku and the two of them began to reminisce about Itachi's younger days and how much of a genius he was. Sasuke barely paid attention to them."Sasuke." Sasuke snapped to attention when his father called his name.
"Yes?"
"Become a shinobi just like your brother."
Sasuke dropped his gaze to the ground again. "Okay." Deep down inside, Sasuke resented his brother for taking the spotlight constantly.