Disclaimer: Characters contained within do not belong to me.
Author's Notes: Thanks so much, Aista, Mathlover15, XxanimeaddictxX and itachifan01 for reviewing the last chapter. I have to say, writing this chapter was intense, and not unlike pulling teeth in some parts. Even though I'm determined to see it through, reading that people are enjoying it makes the work so much easier. I really would love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
By the way, I'm up to the episode where Madara implants Itachi's eyes into Sasuke. Catching up quickly...still so much to go!
Into the Dark
by Kristen Elizabeth
If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs
It was rare that Itachi ever had a free day from his duties, either official or unofficial, so when a day off did roll around, he almost didn't know what to do with himself. Out of habit, he woke before the sun rose, but since there was no training session or mission that required his attention, he lay on his futon and watched the room fill with light. It was only when a particularly cheerful sunbeam crept across his eyes that he finally sat up.
After folding and storing his futon, he washed his face and hands and dressed in his usual pants and high-collared shirt. The scent of breakfast drew him to the other side of the house, where his mother was serving Sasuke a rolled omelet over his rice. His father was nowhere to be seen.
"Good morning," he greeted them.
Mikoto looked him up and down with a warm, motherly eye. "Itachi...good morning."
"Nii-san!" Sasuke beamed around a mouthful of rice. "Guess what?"
Taking a seat the low table, Itachi smiled as his mother handed him a steaming cup of tea. "Did you lose another tooth?"
His little brother frowned. "I stopped losing teeth ages ago, Nii-san. I'm not a baby!"
He nodded in apology. "Of course not." Mikoto set a bowl of eggs and rice in front of him. "Thank you, Okaa-san."
The formality made her smooth brow crease, but the shadow disappeared almost as soon as it crossed her face. She returned to the stove to make up her own breakfast, now that her boys were fed.
"I made a Fireball yesterday!" Sasuke announced, unable to keep such news to himself for any longer. "And father said it means I can start wearing the fan!"
Itachi swallowed a bite of his omelet like it was a lump of clay. "I'm glad, Sasuke." He tried to smile. "I'm sure Otou-san was proud of you."
Sasuke looked down at his breakfast, his tone heavy with guilt. "He said...it meant I didn't have to follow in your footsteps anymore."
For a moment, Itachi allowed himself to indulge in a long-standing, deeply buried fantasy: that he and his brother had been born into another family, a nameless clan where they could have been friends instead of eternal rivals.
He felt Sasuke trying to look at him without being noticed, so for the boy's sake, Itachi nodded. "He's right. My footsteps aren't worth the walk, Sasuke." He hesitated. "You'll find a better path."
Behind them, Mikoto cleared her throat. "Sasuke, it's almost time for school. Are you ready?"
Suddenly a whirl of renewed energy, Sasuke downed a few rapid bites of his breakfast before scrambling off to collect his books and ninja tools. When Itachi tried to get up as well, his mother stopped him with a gentle hand.
"Itachi, I know you have the day off," Mikoto began, "so there's no reason not to finish your tea."
Lowering himself back down to the floor, Itachi picked up his cup. Several moments ticked by in silence. Finally, he cleared his throat and set his cup back down. "Kaa-san?" His mother's lovely face lit up at the relative informality, and Itachi immediately felt guilty for addressing her as such, knowing that it would suit his purposes to do so. "May I ask you about my engagement?"
She blinked. "Yes. Of course. But...you know I wasn't involved in the negotiations. I only approved your father's choice."
"That's just it." Itachi paused. "I want to understand why Otou-san made that particular choice...and not another."
Just then, Sasuke skidded back into the kitchen with his school supplies. "Nii-san, I'm going to practice my Fire Release after school. Will you watch me?"
He very nearly agreed, seemingly able to give his brother some much-needed attention, but then Itachi remembered that his day wasn't as free as he'd thought: there was a clan meeting in the afternoon, and it had been made quite clear to him that he could not miss it for anything.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke." He gestured to his brother, and when Sasuke was close enough, Itachi poked his forehead with one finger. "Another time."
With a slight slump in his small shoulders, his little brother left the room. A moment later Itachi heard the front door slide open, only to be slammed shut with more force than necessary. He released a pent-up breath.
While he talked with Sasuke, his mother had been brooding over her tea. Now that they were alone again, Mikoto lifted her head and looked her eldest son straight in the eye.
"Another choice?" She smiled softly. "Do you have someone else in mind, Itachi?" He glanced down. "I see." His mother's gaze never wavered. "Do I know her? Is she one of us?"
He shook his head. "I'm not sure."
Mikoto's eyebrow lifted. "How can you not be sure about that?"
Itachi hesitated. "Kaa-san, I realize I've already asked you this once before, but please tell me everything you can about Akane's family. If I'm to be her husband, I want to know everything about her and her parents...her siblings...everything."
His mother might have settled down to run her husband's household, but she was still a jonin-level kunoichi, fully capable of drawing correct conclusions with limited information, especially when it came to her own children. She only watched Itachi for another moment before he could see realization suddenly dawn on her.
"Oh, Itachi," she murmured. "Of all the girls in the village...why her?" He took a sip of his cold tea, but said nothing, not even when his mother sighed. "All right," she eventually agreed, surprising him. "I don't know much. Isako-san...Akane's mother...she's not a very warm woman. Plus, she's much older than I am, so we're hardly friends. What I do know is mostly just rumors that might not even be true."
"Anything, Kaa-san. Thank you."
Mikoto sipped her own tea before continuing. "I remember when Isako-san was pregnant because I was carrying you at the time. Even though she was so much older than me, it was her first pregnancy, too. Had she been nicer, I might have tried to be more friendly...but then you arrived early and I was so caught up in being a new mother that I didn't have time to think about anyone else."
Itachi watched her carefully as she went on, "I heard that she'd given birth, but I didn't hear anything else, certainly nothing about her having twins, which is something that would have gotten around. Twins are rare...almost unheard of in our clan. But it must have happened, because the next time I remember seeing Isako-san was three years later. You and I were taking a walk around the compound, and she was out with her daughters."
Hearing that he'd seen Emiko years before he could even remember intrigued Itachi and he leaned forward slightly. "What do you remember about them?"
"Beautiful little girls," Mikoto mused. "I remember hoping that I would have one, too." She flushed pink, as if ashamed for the thought. "But I was already carrying your brother; I just didn't know it yet." His mother frowned, as if a thought had just struck her. "I do remember how much Akane looked like her mother...but the other little girl..."
"Emiko," he supplied.
She nodded slowly. "She was different. When we stopped to say hello, Akane came right up to you, but Emiko...she hung back. I remember telling you to greet her, too, but Isako-san..." Mikoto stopped.
"Kaa-san?"
His mother's frown grew deeper. "What sort of a parent says something like in front of a child?" she scowled, lost in the memory. "Telling me she didn't matter...of course the poor thing heard her. She was on the verge of tears!"
Itachi's hands gripped his tea cup tighter. "Why did she say it?" Mikoto shook her head. "You must have some idea, Kaa-san. Even if it's just a rumor."
His mother set her cup down. "Itachi, let me explain something to you that you will never understand until the day you are a parent yourself. There is nothing more important to me than my children's happiness. You and Sasuke...there is nothing you could do that would make me stop loving you. Nothing. A parent's love is unconditional, and even if there are two children, it only multiplies. It never divides."
He swallowed a lump in his throat. "What are you saying?" Looking back and forth between her onyx eyes that so closely matched his brother's and his own, Itachi dared to ask, "Are you saying...Isako didn't treat Emiko like a real parent would?"
"More like a caretaker," his mother said. "A reluctant, resentful caretaker." Reaching across the table, she put her soft hand over Itachi's. "I didn't tell you this to encourage you to forsake Akane. She's an excellent kunoichi and I believe you'll be happy with her, no matter what her family life is like."
Itachi shook his head. "I'm sorry. I think you're wrong." He eased his hand out from under hers. "One more question. Why didn't you say something back then?" When Mikoto frowned, he added, "Your husband is the leader of the main branch of the Uchiha clan. If you didn't like the way Hideo's wife treated her daughter, why didn't you do anything about it? Why did you let that little girl be raised in the shadows, believing she wasn't worthy of anything better than second best?"
"Itachi, I..."
He stood up. "Never mind, Okaa-san. I'm starting to understand." Itachi paused. "That's just the Uchiha way, isn't it?"
With that, he left the kitchen, heading for the sunshine and solitude of the courtyard where he could meditate in peace before being summoned for the meeting he was already dreading in his heart.
"They keep us isolated from the rest of the village like pariahs."
"We shouldn't have to stand for this! We're the strongest clan in Konoha."
"We're the strongest clan in the entire Land of Fire!"
"They're scared of us. That's all it is. They know what we could do to them."
With his head lowered, Itachi listened to the angry voices all around him. The hidden meeting space beneath the Naka Shrine was packed full of his clan members, and every Uchiha in the room, save for him, was on his feet, shouting the same things over and over again as if volume was tantamount to action.
Itachi's head pounded hard enough to make him wince with each heavy throb. How much longer would this go on? These men who claimed to be better than everyone else...they never actually did anything. They were like barking dogs chained to trees.
"You're right, Tekka." Upon hearing his father's voice, Itachi lifted his aching head. Fugaku's muscled arms were folded over his chest as he waited for the roar to die down before he continued. "We are the military might of this village. We possess a power for which they have no counter-attack. The Sharingan makes us invincible...and Sarutobi knows that."
Itachi frowned. He knew all too well that his father had little to no respect for the Hokage, but to refer to him like that announced that he no longer cared to even fake his allegiance to the Hidden Leaf or its leader.
It was a declaration of war.
Uchiha Hideo, Emiko and Akane's father, stepped forward. "What do you suggest we do, Fugaku-sama?"
"As long as Sarutobi has the Nine Tails, anything we do would be fruitless," Fugaku reminded them. "He keeps that demon child under close watch, but the boy is weak. My younger son tells me he's dead last in his classes and may never graduate."
Itachi lowered his eyes again. Whether Sasuke had volunteered this information or given it freely in a desperate bid for their father's attention, too much of their clan's arrogance and ambition had rubbed off on his little brother already...and it was beginning to show.
"Eliminating the brat could set the beast within him free. We'll need to be careful about this and consider every possible scenario. I suggest we take our time."
At this, the room erupted again as the bloody-thirsty, impatient men of his clan protested any further delay. Fugaku held up his hand until it was silent.
"Some of you in this room are too young to remember what happened six years ago, but most of you should know exactly what we would face should anything go wrong. Rushing ahead blindly in this regard isn't just foolish, it would be suicide." He looked around, daring anyone to disagree with him. When Itachi felt the heat of his father's stare land directly on him, he looked up, straight into his father's eyes. "Do you agree, Itachi?"
Without blinking, he replied, "It's never unwise to fully consider one's actions...Otou-san."
After a painfully long moment, his father broke their stare. "Are we united in this?" he asked the room. A chorus of agreement followed and when it died down, Fugaku nodded. "Then we meet again next week with ideas on how to proceed. Dismissed."
Itachi slowly stood up, as not to draw any attention to himself. Although his mind was racing, he made no sudden movements; he just went along with the shuffling crowd as they came up from the depths of the shrine.
As it wouldn't be prudent for a large group of Uchihas to be seen leaving one place at one time, each clan member departed separately and silently, some even transforming in order to slip out of the shrine unnoticed.
For Itachi, leaving the meeting was always an exercise in double subterfuge. Not only did he need to avoid being seen by any random villager or fellow shinobi, but he had to shake off whatever Uchiha was assigned to follow him that day.
With movements too fast to be tracked, his hands formed the familiar signs as he murmured, "Kage bunshin no jutsu."
At the exact second his clone appeared, Itachi vanished, reappearing high above the shrine in the depths of an obliging tree. His clone continued on as if nothing had happened, heading for the Uchiha compound. One of his clansman followed, rather obviously, Itachi noted. No wonder the man had never made ANBU.
Motionless, with the chakra in his own body dimmed and the chakra in his clone at a normal level, Itachi waited until he could sense no one else in the area before he leaped to an adjoining tree. While his clone was tailed all the way to his house, Itachi made his way to Hokage Tower.
Smoked curled up from the end of the Third Hokage's pipe. His eyes were mostly closed, but Itachi had no doubt that the older man had heard every single word of his report. Although he hadn't shown any emotion over the plans to overthrow him, there had been a flicker in his ancient eyes when Uzumaki Naruto's name had come up.
"Do you know when this is happening?" the Hokage asked, his tone solemn.
Itachi shook his head. "They haven't decided yet, but I would imagine it won't be long now." He paused. "They're growing impatient."
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded as if he'd been expecting this all along. "But there's still time."
"Time, Hokage-sama?" Itachi frowned. "Time for what?"
"For negotiations." The man who had introduced himself as Danzo stepped out of the shadows, and Itachi's eyes narrowed. Had he really been there all along, totally unnoticed? What sort of man was able to do that? "Hiruzen believes it's still possible to talk his way into peace with your clan," Danzo told him.
The Hokage closed his heavy eyes. "You've made your feelings on this subject very clear, Danzo."
"At what point will you start listening to me?" Danzo's eyes were mostly closed, but his scarred jaw was taut with determination. "When they use the Fourth's child to attack the village? When they come for you with a hundred Sharingan?" He leaned on his cane. "The time for negotiating has passed, whether you want to admit it or not."
Itachi said nothing, but he looked back and forth between the two men as they stared at each other, locked in some silent communication that came from a long history of friendship and rivalry.
"Itachi?" the Third finally said.
"Yes, Hokage-sama?"
"I realize leading this double life must take a toll, but if you could keep reporting what you learn...you could save this village from collapsing in on itself."
Itachi nodded. "I understand. I'll do my best."
"But how far would you go, Itachi?" Danzo stepped towards him. "For the village...what would you do in order to save it?"
"Danzo!" The Third stood up abruptly. "There's no need for that."
"Maybe not yet," Danzo conceded, "but the time could come, Hiruzen. If it does...Itachi..." He paused. "You're the only one who could stop your clan. So, I'll ask you again. To save Konoha, would you be prepared to..."
"Enough!" Itachi blinked at the thunder in the Hokage's tone, but Danzo had no reaction. "This discussion is over. Itachi, you may go. And...thank you."
Swallowing back a lump in his throat, Itachi bowed his head before vanishing from the room. He reappeared on a hill that sat lower than the Tower, but still stood tall enough to look over his home. His village.
He couldn't go straight to the Uchiha compound as his house was still being watched by the clan member who thought Itachi was already inside, so Itachi set out for the last place he'd felt truly at peace.
It was foolish, but on his way up the steep stone steps, Itachi had almost convinced himself that there was a chance Emiko might be waiting for him at the Muromachi Shrine. He hadn't seen her since the night they'd kissed under the moon, but he was constantly looking for her, hoping to see her amber eyes in the endless faces on the street, and those stolen moments had become the light in his increasingly dark life.
Yet, for all the ways she made his world a little brighter, Emiko was still such a mystery, one that he couldn't seem to solve. Was it possible to fall in love with an enigma? Was it even possible for him to fall in love at all? He had certainly never planned on it. Love limited a shinobi; it created priorities that were in direct conflict with one's duties to the greater good.
Wasn't love the very reason why he had betrayed his clan in order to work with the Hokage? It wasn't just his love for the village; his love for his family wouldn't allow him to sit back and watch them destroy themselves. He was absolutely certain he was doing the right thing in that regard.
But what did Danzo want him to do? And why was he the only one who could do it?
As Itachi walked the crumbled length of the pathway that led to the abandoned houses of worship, a flash of red and black caught his eye. He didn't need to see the new arrival to recognize the chakra signature. It was the man who had taunted him with silence only days earlier; just as Itachi had suspected, the cloaked figure had found him again.
Standing very still, Itachi waited for the man to materialize in front of him. Up close, he looked to be thin and frail underneath his patterned cloak, but Itachi knew better than to underestimate him. The orange mask that covered all but one of his eyes practically announced to the world that nothing about this man was what it seemed to be.
"Uchiha Itachi."
It disturbed him that the stranger knew his name, but Itachi kept his expression neutral. "Who are you?"
"I suppose you could say...I am you," the man replied, turning his head just a bit. At the new angle, Itachi could see that the one eye revealed through his mask was red with back markings. "We're the same blood."
Itachi lifted his chin. "You're an Uchiha? What's your name?"
"Is that important? You must know by now that even if we fought, you couldn't defeat me, so why not just listen to what I have to say, and spare yourself unnecessary pain?'
It made him sick to his stomach to realize that the man was right. His chakra was even more powerful than Itachi remembered, and given that he had the Sharingan, too, Itachi could see no scenario in which he would win in a fight between them.
The masked man took Itachi's silence as a cue to continue. "There's a war coming," he began. "A war that will destroy this village."
"How do you know this?" Itachi asked.
"Because..." His eye narrowed behind his mask. "I'm going to start it."
Despite knowing he was literally fighting a losing battle, Itachi flew at the man, his Sharingan burning. Taijutsu came as naturally to him as anything else, but the nameless Uchiha countered and ducked every blow with agility and ease.
"You're good," the man complemented him. "But not good enough."
It happened before Itachi could see it coming, let alone stop it. Drawing back his arm for another attempted blow, Itachi's body suddenly stopped, paralyzed by an unseen force. He could only look around in horror as the shrine, the trees, the sun...everything around him melted away, leaving him suspended in the middle of a dark red void.
He knew his way out of a genjutsu, but for some reason all of the methods that always been second nature weren't working. In fact, the more he struggled to release himself, the more it felt like he never would.
"What do you want?" he asked his faceless opponent, his voice echoing. "Why are you doing this?"
"I've already told you what I want." The masked man materialized a moment after he replied, hovering just beyond Itachi's reach. "Do you want to see it for yourself?"
Without waiting for an answer, the man disappeared. As soon as he did, the world around Itachi melted again, but this time it morphed into his worst nightmare. Suddenly, he found himself standing in the middle of a devastated village.
His village.
There were bodies everywhere. Looking around in horror, Itachi recognized few faces; most of the villagers had been ripped apart. The streets were soaked with blood and gore. Taking a step back, Itachi stumbled over something soft, but solid. Unable to catch his balance, he fell to the ground, and it was only then that he saw what had tripped him.
Emiko lay on her stomach in a pool of blood, her head unnaturally twisted towards him. Her back was a mess of burned fabric and scorched flesh, as if she'd been run straight through with a bolt of fire. But it was her eyes that made Itachi struggle to keep from crying out. They were half-open, almost looking straight at him, but the rich amber color was clouded over in death. Lifeless.
Scrambling to his feet, Itachi tried to run away, but something out of place in all the carnage caught his attention. Pink. He knew that particular shade and who it belonged to. His legs felt as if they were made of lead, but Itachi moved towards the bit of vibrant color, not wanting to see, but needing to know.
The little girl named Sakura was lying on her side, her remarkable hair nearly covering her face, her tiny arms holding her bloody stomach as if to literally keep herself together, but it was what lay behind her that made Itachi drop to his knees.
Sasuke's small body had curled around Sakura's even smaller frame like a protective shell, but the boy's efforts had been in vain. A blade had sliced across his little brother's back, straight through the Uchiha fan on his shirt, exposing flesh and muscle and bone. Both children were motionless in death.
Pain like he had never known crushed Itachi's heart and it took a second before he realized that the strangled screams shattering the silence were coming from him. Even the knowledge that the scene wasn't real couldn't stop his visceral reaction. This was everything he had ever feared, everything he was trying to prevent, and it was laid out in front of him with such intense detail that it wasn't possible to brush it off as a product of the genjutsu.
Not when he knew that the man who had created it in his mind was fully capable of making it a reality.
"Would you like to see more?" his tormentor asked. "Your parents, your best friend, your cherished Hokage?"
On his knees next to his brother's body, Itachi fought for every breath. Unshed tears flew from his eyes as he shook his head back and forth.
"You're going to do this to us?" he managed to ask, nearly choking on the words.
"No." Itachi lifted his head to find the masked man standing over him. "You're going to do it to yourselves."
This time, Itachi shook his head out of certainty, not despair.
The man's laugh was cold and cruel. "If you think your Hokage can prevent this, you're wrong. If you think he will prevent it, you're just naive." He crouched down to Itachi's level. "Whether it's by my hand or by the hands of a hundred Uchiha...this village will be destroyed. There's nothing you can do to stop it."
When the man stood up, Itachi picked himself up off the ground on shaky legs. "Then...why show me this at all? If I can't prevent it, why did you come to me?"
The man said nothing. He just stood his ground, his body as devid of expression as the mask that covered his face. In that moment...Itachi knew. He had no idea how he knew...whether it was true that when two skilled shinobi fought, they could read each others minds, or if it was just some undefinable instinct he possessed...but he had no doubt now who was standing in front of him.
"I know who you are."
The nightmare around him faded as the genjutsu slipped away. Twilight had descended onto Konoha while he'd been trapped, but Itachi could see his opponent clearly, despite the darkness.
"Do you?" the man asked. Itachi inclined his chin. "Even if you did...which I doubt you do...no one would believe you. Until it was too late."
"Spare the village," Itachi said.
The masked man laughed. "Are you giving orders now? How like an Uchiha you are." His laughter faded away. "Let's say that I did. What would you give me in return?"
"Something you want even more than the destruction of the Hidden Leaf." Itachi's mouth was dry and his stomach churned at having to say the words, but he pressed on. "The end of the Uchihas." The air suddenly felt colder, like all of the warmth had left Itachi's body. "I told you," he said quietly. "I know who you are."
"You wouldn't," the man snorted. "They're your blood."
"They're yours, too," Itachi reminded him.
"You're even more interesting than I thought." There was a long pause. "I know my reasons. Uchiha Itachi...what are yours?"
The image of Sasuke and Emiko's broken, bloody bodies was still with him; every time he blinked, he could see them again. This was the only way, he told himself. The only way he could change that future...was to take charge of it.
"Am I free to go?" he asked the masked man, his voice dull. "I assume you'll be watching me?"
"I wouldn't encourage you to cross me. I have no tolerance for betrayal."
Itachi smiled but there was no light in his eyes. "No. Of course not."
But when had Itachi become so used to it?
It was a warm night and the citizens of Konoha, ninja and civilian alike, filled the brightly-lit streets. As Itachi aimlessly walked, he paid close attention to the sounds, sights, and smells. An old woman selling homemade sour candies, a father and mother holding their child's hands, two shinobi in flak vests laughing over a bottle of sake.
This was his home. He couldn't explain it, this deep-seeded attachment to the Hidden Leaf. Perhaps it was seeing the village nearly destroyed by war that had given him such an intense loyalty. It didn't matter that, to Konoha, he was just another Uchiha, a necessary thorn in an otherwise peaceful community. He knew what his purpose in life was...why he had been born with the skills he possessed. And it wasn't for the Uchihas.
It was for them. The old woman, the small family, the shinobi. All of them. To protect them. From anything.
Even from his family.
A flash of yellow darted in front of him. Itachi blinked and focused on the young boy weaving in and out of the crowd. His hair was unmistakable. Itachi could clearly recall the man who had passed it on to Uzumaki Naruto.
Inevitably, the Fourth's son slammed into someone and fell back into the street. The man the child had run into turned around, and Itachi could see the fan pattern on the sleeve of his shirt. An Uchiha. Itachi didn't even know his name; he wasn't even high enough to warrant an invitation to the clan meetings, but he was still an Uchiha.
Upon seeing Naruto, the man growled and raised a meaty fist, preparing to strike the child. Itachi was about to intervene when he saw another flash, this time of silver. Perhaps no one else saw it with their ordinary eyes, but Itachi watched as Hatake Kakashi darted forward, grabbed the attacker's arm and twisted it with a sickening snap. He was gone before the man could even howl in pain.
Unaware of how he'd been saved, Naruto jumped to his feet and took off running. Itachi stood in the street long after the would-be assailant was carted off to the hospital, his mind in turmoil.
Hate. Was it all his clan was good for? Would it corrupt Sasuke someday? Was it already too late for his little brother?
How far would you go, Itachi? Danzo's question haunted him. For the village...what would you do in order to save it?
His feet started moving before he even told himself to walk. He let instinct lead him, not knowing any other way, until he found himself a remote part of the village that invited no one to visit, much less think about staying.
Two masked ANBU guards tried to stop him. Itachi only said, "I need to speak with Danzo."
TBC