Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Older Brother: Strength

Itachi couldn't believe this.

A mission, for him, at a time like this? Surely there was some sort of mistake? But there it was, written in clear, black ink:

Urgent mission for Itachi Uchiha

It damn well better be urgent, Itachi thought angrily as he ran about the house collecting everything he'd need for the mission. He had been expecting a full day off missions, time to gather himself and prepare for the task he must do.

He couldn't believe Danzo would call him out to a mission today of all days. What was the man thinking? Itachi wished he could talk with his superior and ask the question that burned most strongly in his mind:

Is it to be postponed?

Everyone – Itachi, Danzo, the Hokage and two advisors – had agreed that tonight he would 'take care' of his Clan. The coup was becoming dangerously imminent, and if it began before he took out the Clan….Sasuke's life could be in serious peril.

But the sudden arrival of this apparently urgent mission made Itachi wonder whether the massacre was to be called off, or at least delayed. He couldn't be expected to take on a mission the same day he was going to kill his Clan?

His Mother had received a notice that in the interest of her safety she ought to remain inside the District and his Father had been relieved of his mission, all as planned so as to keep them in the District for that day. Sasuke was already on his way to the Academy and would arrive back home to find Itachi responsible for the….well, for what he had to do, thus giving Sasuke a reason to hate him and, maybe, one day, take revenge. All as planned.

The streets were to be kept clear of civilians and all Shinobi kept busy and away from the Uchiha District. Everything had been arranged for Itachi to cleanly, quickly and quietly murder his Clan.

Everything seemed to indicate that it was still to go ahead but…

Itachi tried to shake the feelings of unease away, intending to make quick work of this mission and return back to the village as soon as possible.

He met up with his ANBU squad and they set out. Itachi had not received full details of the mission, only instructions to head out and that he would be given the info from one of his comrades.

Comrade. Itachi would miss the word, and being able to call Leaf Shinobi his comrades. But if he didn't go through with this, there may not be a Leaf village worth protecting anymore.

The group of ANBU came to a standstill in a clearing several miles away from the village. A man in an avian mask spoke up, the other four ANBU, including Itachi, clustering in around him to hear what he had to say.

"Our mission is this: we are to ambush and eliminate a large group of ninja who intend to infiltrate the Leaf village. We have intel that they plan to camp in this area tonight which is when we will strike. However that intel is not reliable so we must be prepared at any time."

Tonight? No, no ,no; that's too late! Itachi couldn't be away from the village at that time, it was too risky.

"Why not scout ahead and ambush them now?" Itachi asked, keeping his voice as monotone as he could, glad for the feline mask that covered his panicked face.

"No, we must wait until nightfall and for them to be unprepared. Any open assault is sure to send them forging ahead to attack the village. We are dealing with a ruthless group whose only goal is to invade the village. If they realise they've been discovered it is possible they will abandon stealth and invade the Leaf which will only make the situation much more difficult to handle."

"These all seem to be guesses and assumptions," Itachi commented. He didn't like a single word he was hearing. The urgency of the mission was obvious but why was he needed? Itachi had to speed things up or give a reason for the team to attack now. He couldn't sit around until nightfall, waiting for a group of ninjas to fall asleep!

"It is the only information we have so we have no choice but to work with it," the ANBU told him firmly. Itachi nodded, scowling behind his mask. There was no way he could get out of this, not without raising suspicion.

The group scattered themselves amongst the branches of several trees in the surrounding area. Itachi's mind was racing furiously.

He couldn't understand why Danzo was doing this. What possible incentive was there? Something was clearly very wrong here but Itachi was trapped. He had to get things moving along, one way or another.

Perhaps he should leave a shadow clone here while his real-self went back to the village…However, returning alone from a mission would raise questions from any ninja, questions Itachi wouldn't want to answer. The best course of action would be to complete this mission as soon as possible. But he had to give the ANBU a reason to strike early.

Very discretely, Itachi readied and carried out his plan.

…..

Itachi couldn't remember the last time he felt like this. The adrenaline pumping through his body with such vigour it almost hurt, his mind racing a mile a minute, and the bitter sensation of absolute betrayal.

There was no urgent mission. There were no enemy ninja intending to strike against the Leaf village. And there was most certainly no way Itachi could ever trust Danzo again.

It had been a setup. One huge setup. Itachi hated himself for falling straight into it.

Is this how easily loyalty can be abused and manipulated?

It had been nearly noon when Itachi sent out a clone – transformed into one of his trademark crows – to scout the area ahead. He intended to find the group of ninjas, let them know they'd been spotted by launching an attack, hoping to either send them running home or charging towards the village (as his comrade had predicted) so they could attack the Shinobi sooner rather than later.

The further the crow had travelled without spotting a single person, yet alone a group of renegade ninja, the more anxious Itachi became. He had worried at first that the enemy was too far away, that it could take days for them to reach the point where he was stationed. But then, as the winter sun collapsed onto the horizon in the early hours of the evening, Itachi had realised: there was no group of ninja.

He had failed to understand why for several minutes. Had they been fed false information? Nothing made any sense.

But then that one impossible thought dawned on him. He was being kept away from the village for a reason. Something had changed in the plans, something he had not been informed of. But maybe he would never have been informed. He was not a part of this new plan. At least not alive.

Itachi had always trusted his gut feelings. Something in him almost always knew if something was wrong and, right now, his gut was telling him he had been betrayed and that he should return to the village.

Without a word, Itachi abandoned his post and forced his body to move as fast as it could, leaping from branch to branch as he zoomed back towards the Leaf. The ANBU unit almost seemed to have been waiting for this and were on his tail almost as soon as he had moved. Slowing for a few precious seconds, Itachi turned around and hurled kunai at two of them. He didn't aim to kill them, just injure them enough to slow them down.

His feeble kunai were no match for the ANBU in this squad and Itachi eventually resigned to the fact that he would have to use his newly acquired ability. It would cost him, but as the sky darkened so did his hope that he could reach the village in time if he didn't get rid of these ANBU.

Activating the Mangekyo gave him a brief, sad glimpse of Shisui's smiling face. Itachi blinked it away and began accumulating the chakra he needed. The ANBU were forever gaining on him, hurling weapons at him. Itachi knew they must have been instructed to keep him away from the village. He wondered if they had permission to kill him. He couldn't take that chance.

Turning around, Itachi tore off his mask and opened his right eye, feeling an immense strain on his being as he muttered the word,

"Amaterasu."

Black flames engulfed each and every ANBU member he turned that eye on, screams of mingled terror and pain assaulting Itachi's ears. He turned back around, forcing his body to keep moving, knowing that there wasn't a need to check if he had killed the five ANBU. They were undoubtedly dead.

Itachi could feel the drain the use of the Amaterasu had caused. His right eye began to sear with blinding pain, and his worn out muscles begged him to stop and rest. There was no time. The sky was darkening quickly, lights from the village only just becoming visible.

Itachi wondered if this was some sort of punishment for the actions he would have committed tonight, this feeling of utter betrayal. His instinct told him Danzo was behind this new development and it would not end well if he didn't hurry up.

To be able to spare Sasuke's innocent life, Itachi had to be the one to eliminate the Clan. If a Leaf ninja was found responsible for the crimes, Sasuke would surely bear hatred towards the village for what they had done to his Clan. That could easily lead him to defect or strike back at the village that had caused him and his family pain. Danzo had been clear that the only way for Sasuke to survive was for Itachi to strike the killing blows.

Itachi wasn't sure exactly what Danzo intended: to wait for the coup to begin, giving him a reason to deal with the Clan before Itachi could or to have another ninja take Itachi's place as the assassin? Either way, it wouldn't ensure Itachi's or Sasuke's life.

…..

Sasuke stared at the man who had butchered his Clan, who was wiping clean his katana calmly. He wore a mask that hid his face, but Sasuke could feel his eyes on him. The bodies of his parents lie perfectly still at the man's feet, their blood running in rivers.

No matter what his training had taught him, no matter what words anyone had ever said to Sasuke to prepare him for a situation like this, he couldn't quite believe what he was witnessing, much less do anything about it.

Sasuke could clearly see the outline of his burly form, his arms thick to bursting with muscle. When the man finished cleaning his blade, he turned his focus onto his most recent victims. He gave a firm kick to Fugaku's head, violently turning it so his face was towards Sasuke.

It was a terrible sight. Sasuke had respected his Father, known he was a strong and capable man. To see him dead, staring lifelessly back at Sasuke and kicked around like he was nothing more than a toy was almost too much to bear.

Barely holding in a whimper, Sasuke took a step back, pressing himself against the closed door. He tried to formulate a plan, think of something, anything, to do. A way to survive.

But his mind was too full of trauma, too confused to think of anything besides the sight of his parents being murdered.

The man sighed and walked steadily towards Sasuke, readying his sword which winked in the moonlight. In the darkness it was still difficult to get a good look at the man's face.

Something inside Sasuke kicked in. The survival instinct. It was something that demanded action, never thought. Sasuke rushed at the man, letting his impulse lead him. The murderer was stunned for a moment, first by Sasuke's sudden movement and then the force of the body that barrelled into him.

But the man had been alive and fighting longer than Sasuke. He would never be taken down so easily. The boy's small form didn't have enough weight to injure him or even knock him off-balance. Sasuke's sudden move had done nothing more than surprise the man for a moment, less than a second.

Sasuke didn't have a weapon on him and vainly tried to wrestle the katana out of the man's grip. He clawed at the man's fingers for only a moment before his wrist was grabbed, forcing him to stop. It all happened too fast for Sasuke after that. He took a blow to the head, stars bursting behind his eyelids. After that it was easy for the man to knock him to the floor and pin him there.

Struggling was pointless now; the man half-sitting on Sasuke wasn't going to budge, at least not from anything Sasuke could do.

Sasuke didn't care anymore though. Everything was gone.

With a swift motion, the sword was pressed against Sasuke's neck.

I'm scared…I'm scared.

With a thunderous crash a dark shape burst through the window and vaulted against the murderer, knocking him off Sasuke and slamming him into a wall in a corner of the room where the shadows lay.

Sasuke shakily got to his feet, watching the two dark figures struggle, both snarling like dogs as one figure clearly overpowered the other. A gruff voice yelled something, but the words went straight through Sasuke. One of the figures cried out sharply then slumped to the floor as the other stood victoriously over them. Sasuke cringed as someone came towards him, nearly screaming himself when he saw the wicked blade emerge from the darkness first, as menacing as a viper ready to strike.

He didn't know if he ever felt so relieved when he saw it was Itachi who was holding the sword. It clattered to the floor as the holder dropped to his knees and pulled Sasuke into a bone-crushing embrace.

Sasuke allowed himself to sink into the darkness.

…

Itachi held Sasuke up as he passed out, feeling the eight year-old go limp. In a way Itachi was glad Sasuke's body had shut down; he didn't want his little brother to see him, his big brother, crying as if he were only a little child himself. His parent's bodies lay only a few feet away, and the rest of his Clan were either lying dead in the streets or in their own homes.

As he had hurtled through the District, Itachi couldn't stop the tears from falling as he caught glimpses of the bodies of Uchiha strewn left and right. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Itachi had planned to kill every Clan member swiftly and cleanly; no pain, no humiliation. But as he saw more and more corpses, he could see that whoever was responsible did not carry the same respect Itachi held for his would-be victims.

The corpses had painted a gruesome picture of death, some disembowelled, some decapitated. The proud Uchiha, reduced to this.

Itachi had spotted a figure lurking in the doorway of one of the houses. Barely thinking he had attacked the stranger, had killed them before he even knew it was happening. Itachi hadn't recognised the ninja who was wearing no headband and unfamiliar gear. It was possible the man was from another village, hired by Danzo. Itachi had really began to fear for Sasuke's safety then. He knew Danzo had been against sparing Sasuke - Danzo probably would have liked Itachi killed as well if he could have his way.

Anger, deep burning anger, flared inside Itachi. Danzo, the people responsible for this, even the Hokage….for the first time in his life Itachi felt hatred coursing through his body for the lot of them. How dare they….how dare they do this!

Itachi had practically soared towards his house, sensing Sasuke's presence, along with someone else's, in the hall. He had a brief glimpse through the window of a crying Sasuke pinned by a large man, holding a katana far too close to the younger's neck.

Throwing caution to the wind, Itachi had leapt through the window, glass shattering, and pushed the man away from Sasuke. All Itachi could think of was killing the man and, yanking the katana out of his grip, Itachi had gotten his wish. He mercilessly sliced open the man's throat, a bleeding red smile that killed the man as quick as a snap of the fingers.

Itachi hadn't watched as the man had fallen to the floor, didn't even bother to check his identity. His thoughts had been only of Sasuke.

Now, he held his baby brother as close to him as he could, fearing that if he ever let go the world might try to take Sasuke away from him again. Itachi breathed harshly, trying to get a hold of himself and to will the tears away.

He was the big brother, he had to be strong. There would be a time for grief, but now was not it. Finally, with an enormous surge of effort, he pulled himself together.

Itachi considered going straight to confront Danzo, but then decided against it. The man might want him dead and Itachi wasn't going to tempt him, not before he found out why all this had to happen.

He could try the two advisors but they didn't hold any real power. The Hokage. Itachi had to gamble on a visit to the Hokage. It was possible Sarutobi was behind the whole thing, the plan to get rid of Itachi and have these mystery assassins do his job instead. But the Hokage had been the one to suggest words instead of death as a way to solving the Uchiha Coup. The old man would understand the most.

Itachi couldn't leave Sasuke in the District, surrounded by corpses and possibly more ninja skulking around. He didn't want to leave him in the hospital either. In fact, Itachi didn't think he could trust anyone with his brother at this point.

So, holding Sasuke on his back, like the day he had carried him home from when Sasuke had sprained his ankle, Itachi went to see the Hokage.

The light was still on in his office – so Itachi headed up, putting everyone who got in his way in a genjutsu. He didn't have time to explain anything to anyone.

He walked straight into the Hokage's office, not bothering to knock or announce his presence. The room was warm and smelled of tea, such a welcome atmosphere compared to the one he'd just left.

The Hokage seemed genuinely startled by Itachi's visit, the expression increasing when he noticed Sasuke on his back. True to his personality, the man remained serene and looked the two over.

Both covered in blood, no visible serious injuries and very pale. He invited Itachi to take a seat, suggesting that he laid Sasuke on the nearby sofa, which Itachi carefully did.

"Itachi, why are you here? Did something go wrong?" Itachi hoped the man wasn't bluffing; if he was Itachi certainly couldn't tell. It had been planned that after Itachi slaughtered the Clan he would leave the village immediately. If the Hokage thought the original plan had gone ahead, Itachi's presence would be an indicator that not all was well.

"Tell me, did you know that I was sent on an urgent mission this morning?" Itachi asked, clenching and unclenching his bloody hands in his lap. The Hokage looked confused and replied,

"No, I was not aware. It was something from Danzo, I suppose?" Itachi nodded, watching the other man's every movement.

"Yes. I left and a comrade told me we were waiting for a group of enemy ninja to pass through and set up camp, at which time we would strike…."

Itachi told the man everything – how his Father and Mother had been kept inside the District as planned but he sent off on some mission, how the mission had been a huge setup, the ANBU clearly trying to stop him going back to the village. He told him about the two ninja he'd found in the District who had murdered his Clan and the fact that Sasuke was about to be killed when he arrived.

As he told the story, Itachi found his rage building once again. Once he completed his tale, through which the Hokage had looked entirely bewildered by the events, Itachi was so angry his nails had bitten into the skin on his palms from clenching his fists so tightly.

"I swear, if there is not a good explanation for this you will no longer be able to consider me a Leaf Shinobi." Itachi knew the threat would work; the prospect of him throwing his lot in with another village would weaken the Leaf considerably. It would also be very embarrassing for the Leaf to lose a ninja, particularly one such as Itachi.

Itachi glanced meaningfully at the still unconsciousness Sasuke, implying that he would be taking his brother with him.

"I understand the predicament Itachi. As far as I know the Uchiha District is still being kept clear of civilians and Leaf ninja, there is time to sort all this out. Let me summon Danzo, Homura and Koharu and we will get to the bottom of this."

"I won't have Sasuke in the same room as Danzo," Itachi said quickly.

"Why? Do you believe Danzo is behind all of this?"

"I don't know who to trust anymore," Itachi told him stiffly.

"Well, if you don't want Sasuke here while Danzo is, where do you want him?" Itachi thought for a moment. Perhaps the hospital would be the best place for Sasuke at this point.

"The hospital. In a private room, with guards inside and outside the room." Itachi knew he was being slightly unreasonable but he felt a sensation of being owed. The way some orphans claim to feel the world owes them for taking their parents away.

That's right…Itachi thought sombrely, I'm an orphan now and so is Sasuke.

"Very well," the Hokage said after a moment's consideration. "Anyone in particular you would like guarding him? And someone else will have to take him there; you can't be seen, given the circumstances."

Itachi listed the names of three Shinobi he thought seemed most trustworthy.

"Asuma and Kurenai are to be on guard outside the room. Kakashi will take him to the hospital and guard him inside the room. Also, a crow of mine will go with Sasuke. " Itachi knew Kakashi had once been teammates with his distant cousin, Obito Uchiha, and had a fondness for the Clan after Obito's demise. He hoped he could trust the man; it was his only choice right now if he wanted Sasuke away from Danzo. His crow would also keep an eye on Sasuke, make sure no one tried to pull anything funny.

"That can all be arranged." The Hokage scribbled out a note, probably requesting a private room for Sasuke and signed it. Itachi had to wait in a separate room while Kakashi was summoned to come and collect Sasuke. Itachi's crow was perched on the open window ledge inside the office, watching everything with beady red eyes.

The Hokage didn't tell Kakashi anything - only that his assignment was to protect Sasuke and he would be filled in properly later.

Kakashi left with Sasuke and Itachi waited patiently back in the office until the other three, Danzo, Homura and Koharu, had arrived.

It was tense, everyone stealing glances at each other and trying to avoid eye contact.

The Hokage spoke first, getting straight down to the thick of it.

"Danzo, did you send Itachi on a mission in order to keep him away from the village? And did you hire other ninja to assassinate the Uchiha Clan tonight?"

Danzo's withered old face was grim as he spoke.

"I did send Itachi on that mission, and I did use those other ninja. They are members of my ANBU, ten of them, all told only that the Uchiha are a danger to the village. Seven of them did not return to me tonight, I can only assume they were killed in action. The three that have returned have left no trace of their identities on the scene."

Everyone spoke at once.

"Why, why would you-"

"You changed the plan without informing-"

"I don't understand-"

"I did what I thought needed to be done!" Danzo said. "I had my doubts that Itachi would not be able to go through with the massacre of his Clan. I thought it best to hire someone else and be rid of all the Uchiha, including Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha."

"You fool! Our best chance at secrecy for this act was to use Itachi in order to keep stability and peace in the village!" Koharu said sternly, glaring hard at Danzo.

"Once labelled as rogue, Itachi could have turned on us at any moment. For all we knew he could have been planning to side with his Clan all along and go through with the coup!" Danzo told them. Itachi found Danzo's mistrust of him insulting and it only angered him all the more. Because of Danzo's actions Sasuke had almost been killed tonight!

"So through every plan and strategy, you were plotting this all along?" Itachi asked, wanting nothing more than to leap out of his chair and strangle Danzo.

"No, not all along. Only the last few weeks did I consider this possibility. I could have Itachi killed in action and his brother and Clan murdered by unknown ninja, leaving no liabilities. I did what I thought was best to protect the village."

"The idea of Itachi being the assassin was to provide a scapegoat so as not to put suspicion on any other person. If there is no identity to accuse people will turn on one another in doubt which will only cause further conflict."

The five began arguing back and forth. Itachi was infinitely glad that Danzo was solely responsible and the Hokage and advisors were opposed to Danzo's course of action. They had had a plan that would have worked perfectly if Danzo hadn't interfered. Now he had introduced a group of mystery ninja, as far as the populace would be concerned, which would rile everyone up, nations and friends turning on each other in suspicion. It would also make the Hokage himself a suspect. He could order the assassination of a group, if he wanted to.

At this rate, a civil war seemed to be in the mix again - what they were trying to avoid in the first place.

Eventually, they reached a decision.

The two ANBU Itachi had taken out in the District would be held publically responsible for the death of the Uchiha Clan, Itachi and Sasuke the sole survivors. The five ANBU Itachi had incinerated were also being included in the group who had murdered the Uchiha. Their missing bodies would matter little compared to the multitude of Uchiha corpses. Of course in the records their bodies would be reported to have been found at the scene. The story would be that the seven ANBU were turning rogue and had taken out the Uchiha Clan to spite and weaken the village they were defecting from.

The other ANBU – only 3 – would not be held accountable for or punished for their actions. No one but the five people in that meeting room would know about what those 3 had done. However they were to be stripped of their ANBU rank and demoted to Jounin. Such blind loyalty to Danzo had proven to be dangerous to the village; there could be no chance left that something like this would happen again.

Itachi fought hard to get what he wanted. Ideally he wanted Danzo banished from the village, or executed or demoted. But, the fact was, Danzo was far too good at his job and had saved the village countless times with his strategies and ANBU unit. The Hokage and the village still needed Danzo.

Itachi was to remain living in the village with Sasuke and would leave the ANBU, much to his relief, going back to being a Jounin. Danzo did have a right to request certain Shinobi for the ANBU but Itachi and Sasuke were to be given immunity to that right. Itachi would not have his younger brother under Danzo's command.

Other matters were discussed and agreed on. It was nearing the early hours of the morning when they had finally settled on everything. Itachi quickly excused himself, wondering how on earth he was still remaining loyal to the Leaf at this point.

He had promised the Hokage that he would not abandon the village, since the majority of his demands had been met. However Danzo still didn't trust him, and would probably wait for a chance to finish the Uchiha once and for all. For now though, the Hokage was keeping a firm eye on Danzo and would not tolerate the death of Itachi or Sasuke without his, the advisor's or any future Hokage's consent.

Itachi felt lucky. Things could have gone horribly wrong all throughout tonight. But now, at last, he seemed to be in the clear.

The streets were empty as Itachi walked to the hospital. He knew eventually the whole village would find out about the massacre, if they hadn't already, and he would soon be on the receiving end of pitying looks and barely concealed stares.

He asked for Sasuke's room number at the hospital which was given to him immediately by a bored looking nurse. Asuma and Kurenai must have been told that Itachi was permitted to enter. As soon as they saw him approaching Asuma knocked on the door, calling to Kakashi that Itachi was here. Wordlessly Itachi entered through the door being held open to him.

He dismissed his crow when he entered the room since it was no longer needed. Sasuke hadn't awoken and lay fast asleep in a hospital bed, blankets drawn up messily around him. Kakashi sat in a corner of the room, reading one of Jiraiya's risqué books. He looked up and gave a little wave when Itachi entered.

"Thank you, Kakashi," Itachi said sincerely.

"No problem. Although I do wonder, what exactly happened?" His one eye looked pointedly at both of the brothers. Both were still covered in a dry layer of blood and Itachi knew he must have dark circles under his eyes.

"A group of ANBU killed the entire Uchiha Clan tonight. Luckily I arrived back from my mission in time to protect Sasuke."

Kakashi was stunned, attention fully on Itachi now and the book forgotten.

"ANBU? But why?"

"They were turning traitor. I don't know why. Maybe they always hated the Clan or maybe a group of them were….envious…of my position." It was no secret that some of the ANBU had a problem with such a young man like Itachi rising through the ranks faster than any of them had graduated from the Academy. It seemed a fitting speculation for motivation.

"I can't believe it…" Itachi knew this would be Obito's death all over again for the Copy Ninja. "I know you're going to be getting this a lot from here on out but I truly…am sorry, Itachi."

Those words may have meant more coming from Kakashi than from any other person. Itachi could appreciate that Kakashi was no stranger to tragedy and death, and knew, even if only by a tiny degree, what Itachi was going through.

Or at least what he should be going through. Of course Itachi was sad and felt guilty, despite not laying a finger on any of his Clan tonight. But he had readied himself for the death of his Clan for months upon months. He had been prepared to be the perpetrator. For Kakashi and Sasuke, this death was a surprise, a Grim Reaper prowling in the dark, unseen and unheard until it made its kill.

But to know death was coming and have accepted long ago that it would be by your hand was something entirely different. After wading through the blood of his dead Clan, Itachi truly marvelled at a side of himself that would gladly have been the cause of it. He…

He hated himself.

"Itachi, if you need anything, you can always knock on my door." Itachi wondered if he had ever heard Kakashi sound so earnest before.

"Thank you," Itachi said again. He told Kakashi that he was no longer needed, the same for Kurenai and Asuma. They all disappeared quickly, leaving Itachi alone with Sasuke.

Itachi sat on the side of the hospital bed, Sasuke still slumbering on. He absently let his fingers run through Sasuke's blood-matted hair, repeating the action long after the sun had risen. During that time, he let the tears fall. No one would interrupt them, and Sasuke was asleep. In his moment of weakness, Itachi was glad to be alone.

He was so confused. Did he hate himself? The village? His Clan for starting the whole plot to take over the Leaf? Or maybe he hated all of them. The fact that he would have gone through with the massacre, had been willing for months….

And then the fact that still he could think of no other way for any of it to be solved other than in death.

When Sasuke finally woke up, Itachi had gathered his strength. He admitted that his decision to annihilate the Clan was weakness. He resolved now to be strong. Strong as a ninja, as a person and most importantly as a brother.

At this time, Sasuke would need someone strong to protect him, to look up to and tell him that, no matter what, things would be okay.

Itachi could see Sasuke go through a dreadful stage of realisation when he woke up. Remembering everything that happened, confirming it all with his location in the hospital and Itachi sitting next to him, covered in blood.

As tears trembled in the corners of his brother's eyes, Itachi pushed back his own tears and let Sasuke cry into his chest for what felt like hours. When Sasuke had worn himself out with the relentless tears, descending back into the realm of sleep, Itachi was visited by the Hokage.

He'd had an apartment set up for the two brothers, as previously arranged in his office, and warned Itachi that at some point both him and Sasuke would be asked to confirm the identities of Clan members and to recount the events. They had to keep up the act of an investigation to convince everyone that this was not a planned event.

Itachi took the still sleeping Sasuke out of the hospital, cradled in his arms, and to their new temporary housing. Everything they would need had been arranged. Itachi looked over their new residence and was harshly reminded of his old home, now stained with blood and death. He felt the tears again, stinging and threatening to fall straight onto his brother's face who was already beginning to wake up.

This time, Itachi had the strength to push back the tears.

Edited 2/7/15

I'm not that well-versed in the politics of the Leaf and exactly what the plan was for the massacre. Basically I think they needed someone to blame for the Uchiha massacre that wouldn't initiate a war. I thought if they had some ninja to blame from the Leaf that had been in the process of defecting they would be providing a scapegoat without condemning Konoha or any other village.

Thank you to KARASU25, Mononoke-hime x sukai kurora, akasukifangirl, SapphireSami22 and ShirayukiHime87 for reviewing.

KARASU25: Sorry about the depressing-ness of last chapter but hopefully this one made up for it a bit. Yeah, I just thought I'd give Iruka an off-day to continue the strangeness of the morning events. I know it's against his character but I guess everyone is entitled to be a bit snappy on occasion. Hopefully you like the twist in this chapter with Itachi not being the murderer and aren't disappointed with the lack of Tsukuyomi… Hopefully this chapter wasn't too anti-climactic but there will be room for other issues and problems for them to face – and probably some room for the Tsukuyomi later on! I wanted to write about issues the brothers face when they are a bit older and living together so I tweaked things a bit.

Mononoke-hime x sukai kurora: Thank you, I'm really glad you liked last chapter

akasukifangirl: Thank you so much! Yeah, there are teachers at my school that act very…high and mighty and refuse to accept other people's opinions (even in opinion-based subjects!) and, of course, corrections. Iruka was kind of an ass, just having a bad day but taking it out on everyone else. I'll probably elaborate later on why Iruka was like that since it's not really in his character. Haha, I never have the guts to correct the teacher but I'm glad that there are people that do.

SapphireSami22: Thank you so much, your review makes me so happy. Hopefully this chapter hasn't disappointed

ShirayukiHime87: Thank you! Haha, yes, I've seen a few variations of spelling and translation but I'm clear on that now. I never was very good at foreign languages but I'd like to learn Japanese someday.

Thanks for reading,

Cipher.