Slightly Less Traumatic

Sasuke needed to train. It was important. His father was finally starting to pay attention to him and he couldn't disappoint. If he couldn't learn jutsus as fast as Itachi then he'd just need to work twice as hard as Itachi so he could still keep up. And Itachi was always off training or doing missions anyway so he got a lot of practice in, too.

If only certain people could understand that and go away.

"This is really boring," Naruto whined.

"I don't care if you're bored," Sasuke snapped. "I'm training. It's not a group activity."

"Well you could at least do something else," Naruto said. "You keep throwing the same shuriken at the same target and keep hitting it the exact same way. We get it already. You can hit the target. What are you actually learning here?"

"I'm practicing."

"So you can hit a target and you keep hitting the target so you'll get better at already being perfect at hitting the target?" Naruto asked. "Sasuke, that's kind of stupid."

Sasuke's eye twitched. "You're kind of stupid."

Unexpectedly, Naruto grinned. "Only kind of? Thanks!"

"That…wasn't actually supposed to be a compliment," Sasuke told him awkwardly.

Naruto shrugged. "I'm fine with accidental compliments. All of the nicest things people ever say to me are accidents. Like 'I don't care how impressive it is you managed to hit an ANBU with a water balloon, you're not allowed to do that' or 'I'm not saying that this isn't an improvement on the decoration but you still need to wash if off.'"

"I don't actually think compliments count if someone's yelling at you," Sasuke said. "Like if my father said 'Sasuke, clearly you're going to be the best ninja ever and way cooler than Itachi but you still set the house on fire so you're grounded' I wouldn't think that was something I should be happy about."

"Well I don't know who this Itachi is but being cooler than people is always good and being the best ninja ever is a compliment no matter who says it or when," Naruto said. "Unless, I guess, they really hate ninja. But why would your dad hate ninja?"

"It's just an example."

"And you can't be the best ninja ever anyway because that's what I'm going to be," Naruto boasted.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Naruto, look, I'm trying to be serious here."

"How am I not being serious?!"

"You're just really bad at being a ninja," Sasuke said. "And pretty much everything else. Except maybe for pranks. That's why you need to look for compliments when people are yelling at you instead of just when you do something good."

"Actually I think that's just because everyone hates me for some reason."

"Maybe it's because you don't ever do anything but cause trouble," Sasuke hinted.

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, that can't be it."

"You're just saying that because you don't want to have to stop being a trouble-maker," Sasuke accused.

"Am I really the only person who plays pranks in the entire village? Do I really play so many that everyone who lives here would have heard of me and want to stay away from me?" Naruto demanded. "I mean, really? We have people who go around hurting people and the police arrest them and I'm the one they don't like?"

That was a good point. Sasuke's family arrested bad people all the time. But he couldn't very well agree with Naruto about something! "Maybe it's because all the bad people are arrested when we find out they're bad but you don't get arrested." A thought occurred to him. "Do you?"

"No. I mean, sometimes they make me come in and sit down and be quiet for awhile but that's it."

Sasuke stared at him. "Naruto, that sounds more like a time-out than an arrest."

Naruto shrugged. "If you say so. But yeah, people are always really mean to me and call me a fox brat and a demon all the time. Who even knows what that's about?"

"Grown-ups are weird," Sasuke said decisively.

Naruto suddenly ran up to Sasuke and stuck his cheek in Sasuke's face.

"Ah! What are you doing! Get off me!"

"I just want to know if you think I look like a fox," Naruto said, not moving.

"Well how am I supposed to tell if you're standing that close? I can't see," Sasuke complained.

Naruto backed up. "You should kind of already know what I look like, Sasuke."

"If you thought I should know the answer without looking at you again then why did you shove your face in my face, Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto opened his mouth and then closed it again. "I…don't know."

Sasuke decided that he might as well just get this over with and so closely examined Naruto. Naruto was never one to stand still for very long but he made a good effort. "Well…You do have some marks on your cheeks that I guess could kind of look like fox whiskers. But I wouldn't have thought they were if you hadn't brought it up. And even if you did look like a fox it's rude that people would keep calling you a fox brat."

Naruto smiled at him then. "I like you."

Sasuke began to get a bad feeling about this but he couldn't say why. "If you like me then maybe you could let me get back to my training in peace. Why are you even still here anyway? It's getting pretty late."

Naruto shrugged. "I guess. But I don't have anywhere else to be and I'm not hungry yet."

"What about your parents?"

"I don't have parents," Naruto said matter-of-factly.

"Oh." That was awkward. "Well, what about the people who are taking care of you then?"

"I don't have anyone like that either."

That was just weird. "But you're only my age!"

"Yeah. And?"

"I couldn't live on my own! How could you?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto puffed out his chest. "Maybe it's just because I'm so much more awesome than you. Or maybe because everyone hates me. I don't know."

Sasuke would place money on which one that would be. "Well that's…bad. So sorry."

Naruto shrugged. "No big deal. But I'd rather just stay here with you. Even if it is super boring."

"Why is my being boring better than doing something else and getting bored?" Sasuke asked.

"Because I've done all that other boring stuff a million times. I don't really hang around and watch you throw things at things," Naruto explained. "Though the fact you keep doing it the exact same way is quickly making it very, very boring."

"Why don't you train then?" Sasuke asked, getting annoyed. "We could train together."

Naruto perked up at that before deflating. "Oh, I don't know if that would be very safe. Both of us throwing sharp objects. These things can be used to kill people, you know!"

"I know," Sasuke agreed. "But as you keep reminding me, I'm not missing."

Naruto scraped his foot across the ground. "Yeah, well, I kind of…yeah."

It was then that Sasuke remembered how shuriken practice in the Academy tended to go for Naruto.

"You almost killed that one girl the other day," Sasuke told him. "That pink one."

"That's Sakura-chan," Naruto said happily. "She looked at me and everything! It was a good day."

"From what I remember, she punched you in the face," Sasuke replied.

Naruto shrugged. "Well, I did almost kill her. Besides! She talked to me!"

"Yeah but given what happened it really doesn't seem like it's a good thing," Sasuke said. "If you can't even tell the difference between someone talking to you in a good way and when they're punching you in the face and yelling at you you're going to have a lot of problems."

"I'll tell you what, Sasuke. When I have enough people talking to me that I get to choose who I want to hang out with and who I don't then I'll keep that in mind," Naruto said dryly. "And Sakura-chan is amazing anyway. She has the cutest little forehead!"

"A cute forehead?" Sasuke repeated. "How can a forehead be cute? I mean, I guess someone could have an ugly forehead if it had a scar or acne or stuff like that but not having any of that doesn't make it cute."

"I hear what you're saying, Sasuke, but Sakura-chan still has a cute forehead," Naruto declared. "It's too bad all the other girls tease her because it's so big."

Now, Sasuke didn't really pay much attention to this Sakura girl and hadn't even known her name until Naruto had started to gush about her but he was pretty sure of how she wore her hair. "If she hates her forehead so much why doesn't she just get bangs so nobody can see it? Not that I understand what's so weird about her forehead."

Naruto started jumping up and down.

"What?"

"That's brilliant! Oh I'm going to tell her tomorrow and it will be brilliant and then she'll talk to me again and probably won't even hit me!" Naruto said excitedly.

"Unless she thinks you're also making fun of her forehead," Sasuke pointed out.

"Don't ruin this for me, Sasuke!"

Sasuke just shook his head and resolved to never understand Naruto. "I need to get back to my training so that when I go home I won't be too late but will still get lots of training done. My mother worries when I'm not home in time for dinner."

"Well I'll train, too," Naruto decided. He grabbed one of Sasuke's shuriken and held it completely the wrong way before throwing it randomly and having it land on the dirt nowhere near the target.

"Maybe you shouldn't throw that when I'm standing right here," Sasuke suggested tactfully.

"Hey, you're the one who suggested that we train together and it's far too late for a take-back!" Naruto insisted, pointing a finger at him dramatically.

That wasn't exactly how Sasuke remembered it but clearly it was either go home or allow Naruto to train here with him. Though he couldn't really call what Naruto was doing training and if he got really good at doing the same thing each time, like Sasuke was attempting, it would only make it harder for him to eventually learn to do it the right way.

Sasuke sighed. "I'll tell you what. In the interest of you not nearly killing me and me not being really tempted to punch you in the face but trying not to because I don't want to be Sakura, I'll show you how to throw it properly."

It wasn't much of an offer but from the look on Naruto's face he would have thought Naruto was told he'd be graduating or something.

Itachi had thought that the days leading up to this would be the worst. The days where he had first heard that the death of the Uchiha Clan may be possible, just as a last ditch effort to keep the peace, but had never truly thought it would come to this. The days when his hope had started dwindling as those around him had spoken more and more surely about the need for violence. The days when he had agreed to be the one to do the deed himself and bear the blame to protect Sasuke. The days when he had to struggle to keep his calm façade while bearing the suspicions of both his clan and of Danzo who didn't really think he would do it. The day when he had failed and let Sasuke see a side of him he was never meant to see. But wouldn't Sasuke end up seeing worse before this night was over?

But anticipation was one thing. Anticipation was about the future and therefore irrelevant to the present. He knew that the day would come when he would have to murder everyone who had ever seen him as more than another Uchiha shinobi. Everyone but one and Itachi still wasn't certain he was doing the right thing there but what was the alternative? Killing him wasn't the answer either and if this was truly a dichotomy he knew which one he could live with.

But knowing that one day his sworn would be stained with the blood of his kin had always seemed like a far-off concern, even earlier that very day when he knew his hours were numbered. Until he had landed the first blow it didn't seem entirely real. How could it? How could there be a Konoha without the Uchiha? There wouldn't be. Sasuke would see to that.

His father had tried so hard to reach him, to make him understand why the coup was necessary. Itachi could respect his perspective but his father didn't seem to realize that he was nine years too late to make Itachi think that anything good could ever come from war. He was eight years too late to stop Itachi from vowing to do whatever he had to to protect Sasuke. Sasuke wouldn't understand now even if Itachi could stop and explain everything to him. If things went according to plan then Sasuke would never understand but he would be happy and his honor satisfied.

He would never feel the sting of isolation and oppression that had drove the Uchiha to this in the first place. Konoha may not be very welcoming to Uzumaki Naruto but orphans they didn't blame for the Kyuubi attack those eight years ago tended to be better-regarded, especially if their story was tragic enough. Itachi couldn't think of a story that could be more tragic than Sasuke's beloved older brother snapping and killing everyone before leaving him alone and so that was the story he was going to tell him.

And his mother. She didn't feel nearly as strong about the coup as their father but she was the wife of the clan head and she wouldn't weaken his position by openly dissenting with him. She worried for Sasuke constantly and even worried for him. In those final days she was always trying to get him to sit down and rest or come eat some of his favorite foods.

It was almost easy to cut down those who would so casually accuse him of murdering his closest friend, for all that they were right about that, but those who only wanted the best for him and were really trying to help? If encouraging your son when he hesitated over killing you and it had to be done wasn't good parenting then Itachi didn't know what was.

But his tears had long since dried and Sasuke was nowhere to be found.

Standing there amidst all the corpses, Itachi was really getting worried.

Danzo knew better than to touch Sasuke. He knew that Itachi would never allow it and if he did do anything then Itachi was going to kill him slowly and painfully and then he'd expose exactly what Konoha had done and tried to cover up. Danzo knew that as much as he wanted to avoid a war and as much as he was willing to sacrifice to ensure that they could stay at peace, Sasuke was one line he was not prepared to cross.

The Sandaime would never be so ruthless as to have an innocent child assassinated just to make sure all the Uchiha were dead. He had never wanted the Uchiha to have to be destroyed in the first place. And Koharu and Homura wouldn't act on their own.

Tobi? The madman Uchiha who might be Madara? He had promised not to touch Sasuke but who knew what promises were worth to that man? They could kill the clan together and Tobi could flee long before Itachi discovered Sasuke's corpse. But why would he want that? He hadn't touched the village and if he would keep to the first condition why not the second? He hadn't tried to attack the village or even just the Uchiha clan before Itachi offered him the opportunity.

It was a school night. Sasuke was always running late these days, trying to get just one more shuriken throw in. Sasuke was trying to be him. It would be adorable if it weren't so depressing. Even their father had tried to discourage it towards the end. He was probably fine.

But Itachi could not wait around forever. Sooner or later this devastation would be discovered and he needed to be long gone before then. If he were around to answer the questions of the ignorant then it could be embarrassing for the village and he did not know that he would be able to resist all of Konoha's best interrogation techniques. If he were executed or assassinated before having time to talk it would be suspicious. It he died then who would keep an eye on Konoha's enemies and what would Sasuke have to live for?

He tried to justify sticking around by destroying the eyes of every corpse he had created. The Sharingan was nearly extinct now and it wouldn't do to have someone desecrate these corpses trying to obtain one of their own. Tobi helped but he was a lot more brutal about it. Vaguely Itachi wondered what it was he had against the Uchiha clan but it honestly didn't matter. They were dead now and Tobi had gotten his revenge.

Eventually, he decided that he would have to go looking for Sasuke himself. He couldn't just leave without seeing him. Who knew what conclusions Sasuke would draw then? Even if, selfishly, he wanted his last memory of Sasuke to be a happy one and one where he would destroy the boy's entire world.

"It is done," he said quietly.

Tobi glanced over at him. "Done?"

"The Uchiha are dead. You need to leave."

"And you?"

"I'll be along shortly. I need to tie up some loose ends," Itachi said.

Tobi left and Itachi had little choice but to trust that he would actually leave as he had promised. Even if Itachi escorted him out of Konoha, which would place a far greater risk on himself when he returned for Sasuke, there was nothing guaranteeing he wouldn't simply double back once Itachi's back was turned.

Theoretically Sasuke could be anywhere but the probabilities of where he was were far smaller and so he decided he would simply follow the route Sasuke took to school and hope to find him there.

Itachi was relieved to hear Sasuke's voice as he neared the Academy. But who could he be talking with?

"Okay, you have to be doing that on purpose!" Sasuke exclaimed.

"Well, yeah, obviously I'm not throwing a shuriken by accident!" the other voice replied. It was a child and a male.

"How is it that no matter where I'm standing, you always manage to nearly hit me with the shuriken?" Sasuke asked. "I'm not even standing anywhere near the target!"

Itachi crept closer and saw Uzumaki Naruto throw a shuriken at a target and somehow it ended up heading for Sasuke who had to jump out of the way.

"Maybe you're just not very good at teaching if we've been out here all this time and my aim is still so bad," Naruto suggested.

Sasuke crossed his arms and pouted. "Oh, this isn't my fault! I'm not a miracle worker! And I don't think you're even bad at aiming anyway. You can never throw it where you want to go but you always send it right at somebody else."

Naruto started jumping up and down at this. "Oh, oh! That means I'm good at this after all! I can't hit boring targets but when am I ever going to need to be able to hit something that's just standing still?"

"Do you actually want me to give you some examples?"

"I can just throw it and hit the enemy!" Naruto exclaimed. "I don't even have to be trying to!"

"It's not like you did actually manage to hit me," Sasuke pointed out. "You just keep almost doing it."

"Well that's where I'll need more practice."

"What about if you have literally anybody else with you, a comrade or civilian, you aren't trying to hit?" Sasuke asked.

"Then they'll dodge like you've been doing," Naruto said, unconcerned.

"I've been expecting to get almost hit!" Sasuke burst out. "And while a ninja might have the training, a civilian will never see it coming! Besides, if it's so easy to dodge then how would you hit an enemy?"

"Practice."

It was good to see Sasuke making friends. He'd need them in the years to come. But as much as he might want to stay and watch Sasuke have fun with his friend, he knew that he couldn't.

Naruto wasn't an Uchiha. He wasn't ordered to kill anybody else and he didn't know that he would have killed someone just to keep them quiet anyway. Naruto especially couldn't be killed because he bore the Kyuubi and his death would just put Konoha at risk for another attack by the demon. And this time there would be no Yondaime Hokage to save them.

Sasuke's face lit up when he saw him. That was the last time. Itachi stored the sight of it away for another day. "Nii-san, what are you doing here?" Sasuke looked up at the sky as if only now realizing how dark it had gotten. "Oh, it's really late! Naruto, you probably made me miss dinner and now my brother had to come all the way out here to get me! Thanks a lot."

"Hey, I didn't make you stay," Naruto said defensively. "And anyway I learned a lot."

"I sincerely hope that's not true given what I saw towards the end," Sasuke muttered. "Though on the other hand if you didn't learn anything then I wasted my time."

"Who are you anyway?" Naruto asked, turning to Itachi.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Don't you listen? I just said he was my brother."

"Well am I supposed to go around calling him 'Sasuke's brother'?" Naruto demanded.

Sasuke looked thoughtful. "It would be a nice change from me always being 'Itachi's brother.'"

"So who are you?"

Sasuke twitched. "Okay, that time I definitely used his name!"

"Itachi, huh?" Naruto asked rhetorically. "I didn't want to assume."

"Nii-san is the best ninja ever," Sasuke bragged. He'd made those claims before but somehow it had never been like this.

"Now I know that's not true since I'm the best ninja ever," Naruto countered.

"Naruto, you can't even hit a target," Sasuke reminded him.

"No but I'm going to be Hokage someday so that means I have to be the best ninja ever."

"I think it's more likely that you're just not going to be Hokage," Sasuke said. "Or at least not until you actually do become the best ninja ever."

"I'm going to be Hokage and it will be awesome."

"I don't think that just saying it over and over again is going to help," Sasuke said. "Are you going to annoy people into making you Hokage? And anyway, doesn't the Hokage being the best ninja ever mean that the actual Hokage is the best ninja ever?"

Naruto looked stumped for a moment. "Yes…but he's really old! I'm sure he'll die long before I'm ready to be Hokage!"

"That's…not actually a good thing," Sasuke told him. "We don't want the Hokage to die!"

It was statements like that that explained why Sasuke was still alive.

"Sasuke…" Itachi trailed off, not sure what to say. It would have been so much easier if Sasuke had been alone and had just come home like he was supposed to. Then Sasuke could see the bodies for himself and all Itachi would have to do is announce that he did it so he could see how powerful he was and it would be easy. But now there was Naruto to contend with and what kind of callous murderer would take Sasuke home to see the bodies then explain and then leave?

"Yes, Nii-san?" Sasuke asked innocently. "Are Mother and Father mad? I didn't mean to be so late! It's all Naruto's fault anyway."

"It really isn't," Naruto disagreed.

"It's late. Naruto, can you find your own way home?" Itachi asked.

Naruto nodded. "Of course I can!"

Sasuke looked aghast. "Nii-san, we can't just let him walk home by himself!"

"Why not?" Itachi asked. "If you had been a little earlier you would have walked home by yourself."

"Yes but now it's late so you came to pick me up so we have to take Naruto home, too," Sasuke said reasonably.

"That sounds like a good idea!" Naruto said enthusiastically. "I can show you my room!"

"My room's better than yours," Sasuke declared.

"What? But you haven't even seen it!" Naruto protested.

"No but I know you so it's a safe guess," Sasuke replied.

"Hey!"

What could he do? He could insist that Naruto leave alone but that would only be suspicious as normally he would have no problem walking Naruto home. But he had also already killed everyone and was attempting to tell Sasuke about that so did being suspicious really matter? But how exactly was he supposed to take this bright and happy child and spring something like the massacre on him?

Itachi inclined his head slightly. "Very well."

They didn't meet anybody on the street which was a relief because Itachi always expected people to find his actions inexplicable but being seen safely walking a child home before fleeing the village on the night he killed everyone would just add to the speculation. He didn't need for anybody to think it was anything other than a hidden instability in the boy who became an ANBU far too soon. These things happened.

Naruto and Sasuke argued the entire way but they seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was difficult to pay attention to what they – Sasuke – were saying and not just let the sound of Sasuke's happy chatter wash over him. It was important that he hear this, however, for all Sasuke was just talking about whether ramen was an acceptable breakfast food (he was of the sensible opinion that it was not). It was selfish but he wished to remember it to sustain him in the dark days ahead.

"Come to breakfast and having ramen with me sometime and you'll see," Naruto vowed as they reached the apartment where he lived. "I can't even take your opinion seriously until you've had ramen for breakfast."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Sasuke asked. "My parents would never let me."

His parents would never have a say in his life ever again. In either of their lives. Take care of Sasuke, they had said. He would do that.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Naruto said cheerfully, waving. "I'm so glad we're best friends now!"

"I never said we were best friends!"

"Sorry, too late, you can't take it back," Naruto said quickly, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. "Nice to meet you, Itachi."

"It's not taking it back if I never agreed in the first place!" Sasuke shouted through the door.

"Sorry, can't hear you," Naruto said in a perfectly normal voice.

"Idiot, I can hear you just fine," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes.

"That's great but it doesn't mean that I can hear you," Naruto pointed out.

"Then how are we even having this conversation?" Sasuke challenged.

Naruto fell silent after that.

Sasuke slipped his small hand into Itachi's. "Ready to go home now?"

Itachi still hadn't been able to find a way that he was happy with. There wasn't any good way to do this. But letting him see the bodies was wrong. All Sasuke had to do was not know the truth. That was the only condition. "How about we stop somewhere first?"

Sasuke looked surprised but nodded. He trusted him so much. Even lately when the jealousy had risen up and Sasuke sometimes looked like he resented him, Itachi knew that he loved still more deeply than that. And now he would have to take all of that away.

"Why don't you tell me what happened at school today?"

Sasuke looked far more excited by that simple request than Itachi thought warranted. But then, Itachi realized guiltily, when was the last time Itachi had asked him about his day?

Sasuke burst out with a rambling monologue about all the things he had learned and who had been annoying and anything else that popped into his head and Itachi was grateful that Sasuke was content to do all the speaking for him.

Sasuke blinked a couple of times when they reached their destination. "The hospital? Nii-san, I'm not sick. Are you sick?" He looked worried.

Itachi shook his head. "No, I'm not sick."

The man at the desk looked up when Itachi entered but said nothing when Itachi walked right past him. He found an empty room and led Sasuke inside.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked once Itachi had shut the door behind him.

Itachi didn't answer right away.

Sasuke moved closer to him and poked him in the side. "Nii-san, what's wrong? Why are we here?"

Itachi fought his impulse to kneel down beside Sasuke. He needed to not be caring here or Sasuke would never believe him. He might have ruined it already. Instead he retreated to the door and kept his face as blank as possible.

"Nii-san?" Sasuke repeated. "You're scaring me."

"Everyone's dead, Sasuke."

Sasuke stared at him uncomprehending. "Who? What? Dead?"

"Our parents. The other Uchiha. Everyone. It's just the two of us."

Sasuke shook his head wordlessly. His mouth moved but if he was making a sound then Itachi couldn't hear it.

"I killed them."

"No. No. No. No no no no no no no no. NO!" He just kept repeating the word over and over again.

"It would be easier if you saw it," Itachi said. "But you didn't come straight home after school and I'm not about to take you there so you'll believe me. Even if you don't see the bodies, you'll believe me soon enough when you never see any of them ever again."

"But…no." That seemed to be all that Sasuke could say. His face was frozen in a look of disbelieving horror. If they had been home and he had seen he'd probably be crying.

"I assure you, it's quite true. And I know you didn't ask but an endeavor like this shouldn't be undertaken without explaining the reasons why," Itachi said calmly. "I told you I'd lost all hope for our pathetic clan, didn't I? Or at least I said it while you were there. We have the blood of Madara, the greatest Uchiha who ever lived! He could control the tailed beasts and go toe-to-toe with the shodaime himself! And now look at us? Bowing and scraping and arresting civilians like good little puppets. It's intolerable. We had so much potential once but we've become soft and we've become weak. Not a one of us could hope to lay claim to have of the strength of the giants who founded Konoha!"

It was unclear whether Sasuke was even listening to him. His eyes were glassy and he was swaying back and forth. Even if Sasuke didn't really believe him, not yet, he knew that he had to be terrifying him. Well he needed to be scared.

"They say I'm a genius. That's convenient. It lets them off the hook for the fact that I managed to kill everyone at thirteen. I'm far from my best now but in a few years this world will see what I can really do. The Uchiha aren't the only ones who have become pathetic but they're the only ones I'm tied to. I will not share the Sharingan with weaklings. Only those who deserve our heritage will live to claim it."

"But…why…"

It was the first sign of life in Sasuke after his denials and Itachi seized on it eagerly.

"Why what? What more could you possibly need to know?"

"Why didn't you kill me?" Sasuke asked. "Are you going to kill me?"

"No." It was one of the only truly honest things he could say right now. "You're a child, Sasuke."

"I'm not the only child!" Sasuke burst out. "There are kids younger than me!"

"There were," Itachi agreed. "But I knew what they would grow up to be. You, however…you have potential. I think you could be worthy of the Uchiha name someday."

Sasuke was shaking his head. "I-I'll never be worthy of any Uchiha name that means you had to kill everyone."

"I could be wrong," Itachi said casually. "We'll revisit the issue in a few years. The way we think may be different, but I still have faith in you. Do not prove that faith unfounded."

"But why did you walk Naruto home if you had just killed everyone?" Sasuke demanded, desperate to understand.

"Why wouldn't I?" Itachi countered. "As you said, the streets are not safe and one such as him has nothing to do with our clan. Perhaps he has potential."

"I thought you loved me," Sasuke said and there were the tears. Itachi wanted to look away but he couldn't. An indifferent murderer wouldn't look away and he deserved this pain after the future he had stolen from Sasuke. "I thought we were happy. Even when you and Father were fighting I never thought…Just this morning he said he was trying to understand you and now he's dead and you killed him!"

He hadn't known that but it wasn't a surprise, not truly, and it landed like a dagger to the heart but he mustn't let Sasuke see that.

"What is love compared to power?" Itachi asked rhetorically. "I won't pretend that I hated everyone or didn't care but I made my choice. I could have stayed in this pathetic clan and be chained to it forever as its hand or I cast it off and find my own future. What I did will open many doors for me. I suppose you could say that I am pleased I don't need to kill you today, Sasuke, but make no mistake that if you don't prove yourself worthy then one day I will not hesitate."

Sasuke was shaking with fear and rage. "I hate you," he whispered. But that wasn't all there was. He could still see the pained and disbelieving love in his eyes. Well perhaps that would change once the reality of the situation truly sunk in.

"Hate me," Itachi agreed. "That's sensible. I did take everything from you and now you're going to be alone for a very long time. I imagine you might want to kill me. That is your right. But I won't just let you do it. Living is my right. You have to earn your continued existence and your vengeance if you seek it. Since I've killed anyone who might otherwise tell you this, it's only fair that I tell you how to get the Mangekyou Sharingan."

"How?" Sasuke managed to ask.

"You will need to kill your closest friend," Itachi said simply. "And yes, that does mean that I killed Shisui. I don't expect you to just take my word for it. That would be foolish. If you go to the main temple of the Nakano shrine on the far right side and look under the seventh tatami mat you will find the clan's secret meeting place. What I've told you will be confirmed along with so much more." But nothing about the coup. He had made sure of it.

"No. This isn't true. No. Nii-san, you can't have…they're not dead. They're not." But Sasuke sounded more desperate than convinced.

"Would you like to go look at the bodies?" Itachi asked politely.

Sasuke said nothing.

"This is goodbye," Itachi told him. "Come find me when you're ready. I'll look forward to it. Don't disappoint me, Sasuke."

He activated his Sharingan before Sasuke had a chance to respond and put him to sleep.

He caught Sasuke before he fell and gently laid him on the bed. He could afford to be loving now. His little brother wouldn't remember this. He climbed into the bed beside Sasuke and, closing his eyes, held Sasuke tightly against his chest. This was it. As he had told Sasuke, this was the end of everything. At least Sasuke would still have Konoha. He would be taken care of and one day he could right this terrible wrong by killing him.

He stayed for longer than he thought wise but he couldn't justify staying any longer. He placed a kiss on Sasuke's forehead and stood to go.

The man at the desk saw him leaving alone.

"Oh, where's the child?" he asked.

Itachi gave him a blank look and continued walking. Sasuke would be discovered soon enough.

It was time to go now. He could only hope he'd done enough.