"Itachi...Uchiha." said Sasuke.

"Oho, a Sharingan...And moreover he resembles you quite a lot. Who is he, Itachi?"

Itachi finally turned around to look at him. "He's my younger brother."

Sasuke glared. He couldn't talk with his brother with this man around, he was hoping to catch him all alone. He doesn't mind Naruto knowing, but he couldn't trust this random guy, who was apparently from Mist, judging by his hitai-ate. So he did the only thing he could think of, he pretended to fight his brother. He charged at him with a Chidori that he planned to miss on purpose, only for his brother to catch his wrist and redirect it at a wall. Then his brother snapped his wrist, before kicking him away. He slammed into a wall at the end of the corridor. In the corner of his eye he saw Jiraiya appear, that was good, at least Naruto would be safe.

Then his brother was onto him, beating the crap out of him. Their power levels haven't changed at all, had they...No this wasn't why he was here. If Itachi really was innocent, then he had to know.

"You are weak..." said Itachi.

"Itachi...I know the truth...about that night..." whispered Sasuke.

Itachi tensed before he put his brother in Genjutsu. Sasuke found himself in the familiarly terrifying plane of Tsukuyomi. He was in the streets of the Uchiha compound, devoid of everyone. Everything was tinted red and Sasuke felt his heart make a good impression of a jackrabbit in his chest.

"What do you mean?" said Itachi. And Sasuke turned around to find his brother behind him, looking at him with an unreadable expression.

"I...I know the truth. That you were ordered to kill our clan...by the Sandaime."

"How?"

But Sasuke ignored him. "Is it true then? Did- did the Third really..."

"Yes...Our clan was planning a coup. I couldn't let war happen..." Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, but Itachi continued. "There were a lot of circumstances involved. I do not have the time to explain them now..."

"Wait, Itachi!"

"I promise I will tell you everything. Meet me tonight at the Naka shrine and I will explain it to you, otouto."

And with that, the genjutsu dispelled and Sasuke found himself half swallowed by a wall. In front of him was Itachi. He gave his little brother a slight nod and then fled. Jiraiya released the jutsu after the Akatsuki members escaped and Sasuke felt himself fall forward. Naruto caught him and lowered him to the ground.

"Sasuke! Are you ok?" exclaimed Naruto.

"Naruto..."

"Are you alright? Fuck that guy was a monster. I thought he was gonna kill you-"

"Shut up."

"Oi, don't be a bastard! Here I am all worried for you and- mmph"

Sasuke clamped his hand over Naruto's mouth. "You're too loud."

Just then, Guy made his entrance and kicked Jiraiya in the face. The Sannin argued with him, but Sasuke ignored them both. A million thoughts rushing in his mind. The massacre...was ordered. By the Third. He forced his brother to kill his family, because they ordered a coup...But why? What led his clan to try and do that? He had so many questions and no answers. He hopes his brother will shed some light on all of this.

"Right! I think now it's time I bring my eternal rival's wayward student back to the village." said Guy and then he picked Sasuke up and hoisted him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Sasuke was too tired to protest it. "Let us go, Sasuke-kun."

...

Itachi ran with Kisame out of the town. His mind was a whirlwind of emotions. Sasuke knew the truth. But how? He made experientially sure his otouto would never find out. Who told him? Also it seems he did not know the whole truth. He though the Sandaime was behind this, not Danzo. Should he tell him? No. Danzo was too dangerous, he couldn't let his little brother get involved with that scum. It was better if he kept Sasuke in the dark about him. Itachi sighed. Such a mess.

...

Once nightfall hit, Sasuke walked back to the Uchiha compound. Guy dropped him at the hospital and after they healed his ribs and put his arm in a cast, he left. He hadn't been here since that night. It was eerie quiet. He continued his walk until he reached the Naka-shrine.

Once he was there Sasuke waited. It took his brother two hours to arrive. In a screeching murder of crows, Itachi appeared before him.

"Itachi."

"Sasuke."

"You said you'd tell me what happened. So do it, talk."

Itachi sighed. "Our clan was planning a coup. There have always been tensions between the Uchiha and the Leaf. Madara's defection created a rift. The night of the Nine-Tails, the fox had been sighted with Sharingan for eyes."

"Was our clan behind it?" asked Sasuke with wide eyes.

"No, I do not know who was the perpetrator but I do have my theories." Itachi shook his head. "Regardless the village came to the same conclusion as you. They blamed the Uchiha and exiled us to the edge of the village. This only made the rift bigger. Eventually the clan got sick of the treatment they received and began talking in secret, forming the plans for a coup. Shisui and I had been asked by the Sandaime to spy on our clan. Eventually things escalated to the point..."

"To the point you had to kill them."

"Yes. You mustn't blame them, Sasuke."

"Why not? This village...it destroyed our clan. The Uchiha were used up and absorbed by the Leaf as nourishments. Mom and Dad...everyone is gone so they can keep smiling freely! It's not fair!"

"And what exactly do you plan to do, Sasuke? Go around and kill everyone? The person behind all of this is dead. Who would you get your revenge on? The innocent? Are you going to kill children in cold blood like I did? What about your genin teammates? Are you going to kill them too? Your sensei? And after you've done all that, what would you have achieved? Do you think you will be satisfied? Or do you plan to go on and kill everyone in the other villages? Well?"

Sasuke looked down at his feet with an angry but thoughtful expression. Itachi crouched down so they were at eye level and put a hand on his shoulder. "Revenge brings nothing but misery, otouto. You cannot let the cycle of hate continue. You're better than that Sasuke."

"I...I understand. But that doesn't explain why you aren't in the village. If you were ordered, couldn't the Sandaime just, I don't know clear you name or something?"

Itachi rose again. "Ah, that. There is this group, the Akatsuki. Sandaime-sama has ordered me to infiltrate them and give him information, through Jiraiya of the Sannin. They are after the tailed beasts."

"Naruto..."

"Yes, that is why we came here today."

"You were never actually trying to capture him though, were you? It was all a ploy."

Itachi hummed. "Were you worried about your friend, Sasuke?"

"Tsk. As if I would ever worry about that dobe...Listen, Itachi. One day, Naruto's gonna become Hokage. And when that happens, I'll clear your name and make sure you can return to the village."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You seem pretty sure of this."

"Naruto's too stubborn. Giving up is not in his vocabulary. He'll make it, I'm sure of it...I have one more question though. What happened to Shisui, you said both of you were spying on the clan. Did the Third make you kill him too?"

Itachi got a pained look on his face. "No, he did not. It's a bit more complicated actually. If fact, this is why I asked you to come to the Naka shrine. Follow me." Itachi led Sasuke inside the shrine and down to the basement. There he found a stone tablet with inscriptions on it, but when Sasuke tried to read it he found only gibberish. "This is the sacred tablet of the Uchiha clan, it contains our clan's biggest secrets. It can only be partially deciphered by the Sharingan. It says here that for an Uchiha to achieve true power, they must kill and take the eyes of another Uchiha that they are close to." Sasuke remained silent as he listened to his brother talk. "I did not kill Shisui, in fact I did not even know about this until he told me. Shisui gave me his eye and killed himself so that I may achieve the Mangekyō Sharingan, the next stage of the Sharingan..."

"What happened to his other eye?" asked Sasuke and Itachi looked at his brother in surprise. "You said he gave you his eye. Singular. So what happened to the other."

"It was...lost. I do not wish to talk about it right now."

Sasuke looked at his brother in suspicion but let it go for now. He had a lot to think about. Suddenly all of the puzzle pieces fit together, about Itachi, about everything. "So that was your big plan, huh? You wanted me to hate you so that I would kill you...And get your eyes."

"Yes. I wanted you to become strong so you can be safe and happy."

"Itachi you...fucking MORON!" yelled Sasuke as he aimed a kick at Itachi's stomach that he didn't even try to dodge, accepting his brother's anger. He let himself fall down and looked up at Sasuke. The younger Uchiha leaned down so he could grasp his brother by the collar of his cloak. "What in the name of the Sage of Six Paths made you think I would be happy with you dead? Did you think I would never find out or something? That I would just go on my merry way, living with your blood on my hands? Are you an idiot, aniki?"

"Sasuke..."

"No. Shut up. I'm talking now. What were you hoping to achieve, Itachi? Tell me, in your genius mind of a prodigy, what. The. Fuck. Were you hoping to achieve? Redemption? Some kind of fucked up retribution for the clan for the things you've done? Was this your one-way ticket to martyrdom? What was you fucking brilliant plan, huh?! Did you truly, 100% believe that I would be happy, not only living with the trauma, that you've caused with your Genjutsu by the way, but also knowing that I killed the one person who loved me most? That I loved and admired growing up, even after the massacre, because somewhere deep down I knew you wouldn't do this without a reason. Tell me Itachi! What were you thinking?" Sasuke fell down on his knees, taking in a ragged breath. He threw his arm around his brother, hugging him again after so long. "You really are an idiot, aniki."

Itachi was stiff in his arms, it took him a while to relax and put his arms around his brother, but when he did Sasuke felt home. They stayed embraced for a while, until his wrist started throbbing so Sasuke had to pull back from his brother with a hiss.

"Damn it, Itachi, did you really have to break my wrist? Sakura's gonna give me so much shit for thi- Oh, Sage. I forgot about Sakura."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Is she a friend of yours?"

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah. She's the one that told me about all of this actually. I didn't get to ask her how she knows...I blew up on her. Ugh, I'm so stupid. She cared enough to tell me and I just yelled at her."

"It seems I am not the only idiot around, huh, Sasuke?" said Itachi with a teasing smirk.

"Takes one to know one, aniki."

Itachi chuckled. "Yes I suppose it does. It is late, I must make my way back to Kisame." Seeing his brother's dejected face, he added. "Do not worry, otouto. I'll make sure to visit you from time to time." With that he rose and tapped his brother on his forehead with two fingers. "Until next time, Sasuke." and then he vanished.