DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto – Haruna is an OC who I would have created in the Naruto-verse if I did.

Just a random one-shot a friend of mine gave me inspiration in. Peaches, you know…

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MARTYR COMPLEX

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1 – Itachi didn't break the vase

It's broken. The vase's shattered fragments lie dangerously on the floor under the coffee table where it has fallen years old and still finding his feet, Sasuke fidgets, eyes darting everywhere in the room but her face and Mikoto wonders why she asked in the first place.

"Ano… Okasan, I –"

"I broke it Okasan."

Mikoto watches as Sasuke looks up at his brother in surprise. Her eldest son's face betrays no emotion but she notices the protective arm he places around his little brother's shoulders. Itachi lowers his eyes respectfully to the ground in front of his mother and explains for the both of them.

"It was my fault Okasan; I was careless. Please forgive me for my inattentiveness. I will use my birthday money to buy you a better one as compensation." Sasuke gasps at what his brother has done, but Itachi only shakes his head slightly. It was Sasuke's idea to play in the living room and he should have known better.

In the end Mikoto only sends the two of them to hang the rest of the laundry after cleaning the mess up. She never liked the old glass vase anyway.

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2- Itachi didn't trip over the stairs

Her eldest son doesn't fight back. He doesn't want to cause trouble. And so he does nothing in his defence as one burly kid shoves him hard against the wall. They are only jealous of him, these older genins, and know no other way to get even. He has no wish to be baited.

And when it's finally over, Itachi stands, dusts himself down and quietly continues on his way home, clutching the brown shopping bag to himself tightly.

His lip bleeds and he winces when she applies cold medicinal cream to it. "I fell over the stairs Okasan, but I'm fine now. I'll be more careful." Mikoto knows Itachi is far too attentive to trip over anything but also knows her son wouldn't give any names. She makes a mental note to pay a few parents a visit tomorrow.

Fugaku is surprised when he walks into the kitchen and sees his eldest, prodigy of a son on a stool with the first aid kit close by. Mikoto explains the story to him and he only sighs and reminds his son that Uchiha shinobi were not careless. However the matter is closed and Fugaku isn't angry. Mikoto gives Itachi a kiss on his bruised cheek for his bravery.

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3- Itachi didn't fail as a team leader

The silence between them is anxious and heavy. Haruna doesn't sit still. She paces back and forth, sits down and stands up again, restless. Itachi is silent and tense, his knuckles white in his interlaced hands.

He jumps up when a medic opens the door and asks if the two of them are waiting for news of the ANBU shinobi inside. Both nod, Itachi with his heart in his throat. Beside him, Haruna has already read the body language of hospital staff and the verdict isn't good. When someone was saved the doors would fly open with a bang and a jubilant nurse would relay the news of success. Opening the door quietly and politely on the other hand…

It is a shame, the female medic says. They did what they could do but the wounds were too severe. She is sorry for their loss and Haruna bites her lip while Itachi falls to his knees.

She answers for him when the Sandaime comes in to ask how Itachi-kun's first mission as team captain went. "We completed the mission, Hokage-sama but…There was a kunai trap set around the scroll we were after and –"

"Forgive us, Hokage-sama." Itachi cuts in. "Forgive me. I was unable to protect our teammate."

"It wasn't his fault though, Hokage-sama," Haruna reasons, standing in front of the Uchiha defensively. "Itachi was always reminding us to stay alert. It could have happened to anyone…"

But Itachi insists. The blame was his as a team captain and he deserved whatever punishment the Hokage would inflict on him for failing to protect one of his own men. "Haruna-san is just being considerate but the facts are facts. Hiyazashi-san's death is my fault." He pauses, his expression pained. "He had a wife. She's a friend of Okasan's."

His fiery teammate continues to deny his part in the unfortunate accident but it is of no use. Itachi leaves the room quickly, his stomach churning as he prepares himself to explain his first mission as squad leader to his parents.

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4 - Itachi didn't kill Shisui

Kagami's son's demise is a big blow to the clan and one that causes much upheaval in the clan meetings. Mikoto doesn't say much from her seat beside her husband, but her heart aches when Itachi's name is mentioned with undisguised suspicion. There were no cousins closer than the two of them. Ever since he could crawl, Itachi would not be far behind his curly-haired cousin. The accusations of the clan members fall on unresponsive ears.

He cries in his sleep sometimes. Mikoto hears the quiet sobs from the other side of the paper walls, muffled from under his blanket. The pain of loss was only doubled when one was blamed for it.

And so Mikoto begins to come to his room whenever she hears them. Rubbing soothing circles on his curled frame until the trembling stops. But in the morning Itachi's face is paler, mouth set in a harder line. He laughs less. She doesn't think he has laughed since Shisui's drowning.

Itachi reiterates his innocence of the suspicions against him to no avail. They no longer trust him and no longer does Itachi ever venture around the compound on his own.

The distrust is palpable. Mikoto watches as Itachi feigns ignorance and assures him that she believes him.

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5. Itachi didn't kill his parents

In the end Mikoto feels nothing but pride of him. To sacrifice was to give up something good for something better, and her son knows the value of peace.

"You are a good son, Itachi. To be a shinobi is to do the dirty work that no one else will…" Her son's eyes widen and he chokes back a sob. "But there are some crimes you shouldn't have to bear the burden of."

The shoto in the pocket of her apron had been a parting wedding gift from her parents, a slightly curved blade both light and lethal. A gift to protect her children with, unused and untainted - until now.

Can he obey his parents, his mother, one last time?

Itachi, her eldest, is shaking. He doesn't answer but he won't leave. She tells him not to move then, not to lay a hand or her or on his father.

It was never a question of whether she loved her husband or not. She did, more than anything. But as a mother, her children had first place in her heart. And when Fugaku looks into her eyes and nods, she knows she chose the right man to be her husband.

"Forgive me, Itachi." Mikoto says. And the blade sings twice.

The last thing she sees is her son fall to his knees.

The last thing she feels is her son's trembling fingers grasp her hand.

The last thing she hears is her son sobbing.

In the end the son did not kill his parents. Mikoto dies smiling.

He hears Sasuke calling, his voice rising in panic and fear as he realises why the compound is so silent that night. Thinking quickly, Itachi conceals the bloodstained shoto under the bodies. He must move quickly since he senses Sasuke at the door.

His young, hesitant, innocent brother.

The door creaks open.

"Nii-san! Oka-san and Tou-san are…"

He will never know. The blame is his and no one else's. Bracing himself, Itachi takes a deep breath, and turns around…

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FIN

AUTHORS NOTE:

Shoto - A blade longer than one shaku but less than two is considered a shōtō (short sword). The wakizashi and kodachi are in this category. Nobility especially would use these swords.

I don't know whether this links to my Once I had a Sister fanfic or not, but pretend it does. I'm having a little trouble sorting my priorities out right now so... *embarrassed laugh* Haruna did say Itachi had a martyr-complex - and I agree.

Please R&R!

Alatariele C.
- in collab. with Noetic Sky