Dreamcatcher
By Airyo
Secrets in a Memory - 4
"But I can't p-protect my family if I'm not strong! Konoha isn't K-Konoha without them! You're a...a stupid ANBU!"
Itachi stared at the tiny form of the girl. He'd only started talking to her in an attempt to distance himself from the whirling storm of emotions inside him. Yet she was yelling insults that made him stop and think.
He had resigned himself to "protecting Konoha", same as Shisui's final wish. Yet what was Konoha? What made it Konoha?
Konoha was formed by its people; the bad neighbors and the good neighbors, the strong and the weak, the old and young, loyal and traitorous, happy and unhappy, boisterous and quiet...it all defined Konoha.
And the Konoha he wanted to protect was peaceful. Peace was the safety of the people of Konoha, the happiness, the sense of security and trust and hope for the future. The massacre of one of the pillar clans that supported and protected the village would send everything toppling into mass panic and fear.
Just like the aftermath of the Kyuubi attack. It was what he'd vowed to himself to prevent from befalling his village ever again.
That wasn't a Konoha he would want for Sasuke to live in.
Konoha wasn't Konoha without its people. Destroying the people was the same as destroying the village.
It took a little girl to make such a simple fact clear to him.
Danzo was wrong.
Itachi stood up.
"The measure of one's ability is in what one chooses to protect, so I think you are far stronger than you realize. Thank you," he said sincerely. He laid a soft hand on the top of the little girl's head in a moment of gratitude and comfort. He hoped that was enough to comfort her, even though he wasn't doing a very good job of it to begin with. Then he teleported away.
He didn't have much time.
"Danzo-sama," he said quietly. The council member looked up from with his desk with a frown.
"Weasel, it is not yet sunset."
"Correct, it is not."
"Then you have no reason to be here," Danzo said dismissively. He started to turn back to his paperwork when a heavy killer intent filled the room. He looked up into a black blades spinning on a field of crimson.
"I must refuse your mission," Itachi informed him calmly.
The colors of the world inversed.
AN: I am of the belief that Itachi would be looking for any little reason to pursue an alternative. Hinata's words are certainly not that powerful, but they are enough of a catalyst. Madara isn't as big an influence either and I'm totally ignored the whole Uchiha mentality thing.