The world faded away into a cloudy, darkened atmosphere. Starry lights seemed to dot the ground, yet she could see nothing, until...

A small light.

It grew and grew until it lit up a scene beside her, a bright summer day in Konoha...and young Sasuke?!

This must be Sasuke and Itachi's past.

She watched as a young Sasuke hopped gleefully around the tree trunk to his discovered brother.

"Nice try, Sasuke," Itachi smiled gently at his gleaming brother, "But not quite!" With a poof of smoke, Itachi disappeared. Young Sasuke was so surprised.

Her heart swelled with sadness and longing, seeing such a happy and carefree Sasuke...but then it suddenly hit her.

Her eyes widened and she gazed around, but could find no Itachi in this dream-like state. Somehow, she still detected his presence, though...like pushing forward in the black of night without any knowledge of what lay ahead, she called out into the emptiness to Itachi - "that gesture - started with you?!"

Itachi's deep voice echoed in her mind - "Yes."

Time passed like the blowing of autumn leaves across a cool front. Within moments, she watched through his early days, of dreaming to become Itachi and visiting the market with his mother. She watched him from the shadows of Itachi's tsukiyomi as he grow through his academy days, attained his first kunai, attempted to gain his father's respect through learning the great fireball technique. She watched his surprise as his father's attitude toward Itachi slowly shifted...And then suddenly she was at the scene she dreaded was coming, the scene she did not want to see...

The door creaked open to reveal his parents, dead and bloody at his feet.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke cried, and his young, tortured voice struck her like a train.

"Itachi, please! I don't want to see this! Please, end this!" Sakura cried, the tears rolling down her face. She couldn't bear to watch any more.

With that the clouds once again engulfed the story in front of her, and crows cawed and squaked in front of her, their feathers dancing around her until Itachi appeared before her.

"...Why, Itachi?" Sakura's voice wavered miserably, "Why would you do this to him...? He was just a child..."

Yet as she looked up to face him, she found his eyes swelling with tears. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"I swore...I would never speak of this to anyone," Itachi murmured, "And I will not speak anything of it except that it was to protect Sasuke because...it was similar to an order."

Sakura's heart dropped seemingly below to the Earth's core. "Why...h-how...who would do such a thing..." Sakura began to stammer, her world spinning.

Her heart panged with guilt that she could have overlooked such an important, such a tragic, shaping moment in Sasuke's young mind. Or Itachi's.

"Who would order such an evil, genocidal act?" Sakura grit her teeth, staring at the ground.

Itachi granted her no answer.

"I understand, you still won't speak of it...but please tell me...has the man responsible for this at least...come to justice?"

"He is dead. My brother killed him."

DANZO!

No wonder...all of Sasuke's decisions up to that point made perfect sense. His thirst for power following Orochimaru's corruption, his hatred emanating from the Uchiha Curse, his search for revenge against Itachi...it all made sense. Like a pawn he fell in line with Itachi's plan, until the truth about the massacre came to light through Obito. So much of Itachi's simple plan had been thwarted by men of power, seeking to use Sasuke for their own means...and succeeding, to some degree. And then after the whole thing was over, when Sasuke had just begun to believe his strife was finished...He must have found out the truth...which is why he went after Danzo.

"Please...I have shown you these things, so that Sasuke does not need to. I want you to understand this...for his sake. Few know of these memories, and I would prefer it to stay that way. But there are more important matters...may we continue?"

Sakura nodded, weakly.

She stared confusedly into the scene of chaos.

Smoke rose from the ground, and the entire sky seemed ablaze with white electricity. The entire atmosphere was darkened and she couldn't breathe through the smoke. The horizon was on fire with a crackling black flame...Ameterasu...? Where am I?

There was a shift in clothing as she gazed at Sasuke standing atop a large slab of wall, with an Uchiha fan painting faded on the side. With a swing of his arm, the lightening danced around his hands then plummeted down toward -

Itachi...

So these are his memories...

His final moments while fighting Sasuke...

The world flashed a brilliant white and she shielded her eyes and face from the light and resulting wind. That must have been the final blow.

When the light and wind subsided, she gazed back up to watch as Itachi stood once again, protected by his now cracking Susann'oo.

He...survived?!

Barely...his coat was completely disintegrated, his holes smoky with fire. He stood up shakily, only to trudge forward muttering things Sakura couldn't hear.

Suddenly, she witnessed Itachi clutch his mouth as blood seeped forth. He hacked violently, falling back to the ground.

She couldn't believe her eyes. Sasuke was standing, shaking in fear after having thrown the last of his kunai bombs. Itachi stood once more, his mouth and eye dripping with blood, only to pause before Sasuke, smile, then collapse.

And just like that, the smoky, chaotic world before her faded back into the chilly evening. She once again faced Itachi.

"So Sasuke didn't truly kill you...," Sakura couldn't contain her disbelief. Was this what he was trying to show me...? and...why?

"No, he didn't...My illness did. It began with an achy feeling whenever I breathed, a high fever, and fatigue. Over time I began coughing up blood...the pain was sharp right around my lungs." He gestured to the pinpoint of the pain. "My father struggled with it the years he was alive..."

"...Why would you show me this...?" Sakura murmured in confusion.

"Because Sasuke's in trouble...," Itachi replied softly, "He's contracted the very disease that killed me. Without help, he will eventually suffer the same fate as me - he will die...

...Will you save my brother?"