Book 2: The Three of Us

Chapter 11: Shocking Realizations

"It all began after the nine tails attack. People learned that the only thing capable of taking control of a biju like that was a sharingan. It didn't take long for the blame to fall on the Uchiha clan. It made my clan furious, to be blamed for something that they had no part in. Yes, whoever the masked man was, he was definitely an Uchiha, but we knew for a fact it wasn't anyone that lived in the village. 

As the years passed, the prejudice towards my clan got worse. The village had turned on my clan. Some of the Uchiha elders started to resent the village, and the Uchiha who looked up to them quickly followed. Ideas of a coup de ta started to spread.

At the time I was an ANBU captain under Danzo's control. He approached me and got me to spy on my own clan. He never stopped feeding me the idea that this conflict would only end in death. I lost hope for a peaceful resolution and in that moment of weakness I was ordered by him to kill my whole clan if they ever followed through on the plans to attack the village. With the promise that Sasuke would be spared, I agreed. I was ready to kill my whole clan in order to protect Sasuke and the village.

I wanted to avoid this at all costs. I went to the third hokage and told him of how bad things had gotten and what Danzo had ordered me to do. Of course he didn't want it to come to that but he was unable to stand up to his childhood friend. I was disappointed in him and began to question his authority as hokage.

Shisui and I spoke with one another and we started realizing that things weren't adding up. Who was the one that spread the rumors that it was an Uchiha responsible for the nine tails attack? How did the village so quickly turn on a clan that they trusted? It all came back to Danzo and we knew that he was to blame. We found evidence of Danzo being in contact with Orochimaru and knew that he was a danger to this village. He saw the Uchiha clan as a threat to his own power and was prepared to do whatever he could to destroy us.

With this evidence I was able to go to my father, and got him to understand that the village wasn't at fault. Danzo was. He shared this information with the clan, helping to convince them that the village wasn't our enemy. At the same time we started spreading rumors that the third would be stepping down as hokage. In preparation to find a new hokage, my mother got in contact with Jiraya who was able to convince Tsunade to return to the village and become the hokage.

Once Tsunade became hokage things started to improve but I knew Danzo would still try to do everything he could to destroy the Uchiha clan. I told Shisui we should kill Danzo and we did."

There was silence as we took time to process everything we'd learned. It was a lot to take in but it also made everything make a lot more sense.

"The police force for so long was only run by the Uchiha, right? Was that Danzo's doing? Another way to turn the village against the Uchiha?" I ask, trying to make sense of how much Danzo did to harm the Uchiha clan.

Itachi's nods, "Yes, for over twenty years he had fought against the change is legislation allowing non-Uchiha to join the police force."

I let out a breath of disbelief, still trying to wrap my head around all of this. Thinking back on all that happened right after Tsunade became Hokage, it remined me of another thing I found strange at the time, "That private orphanage that popped up around that time, did that have anything to do with everything that happened? It's probably a stupid idea but the timing was strange, and why in the world would there be such thing as a private orphanage?"

"Danzo was in charge of a unit called ROOT, similar to ANBU but completely under his control. We learned that he had been kidnapping children and training them to become his own personal weapons. That orphanage was made to help the children he'd taken," Itachi explains. The more I learn about Danzo, the more I realize how horrible he really was, and the more I was thankful he was dead.

I look over at Kisame and see him sitting there deep in thought. Itachi and I both watch him in question as his brain looks like its running a million miles a minute. Kisame looks up at Itachi, "This masked man you spoke of. Did he happen to wear a mask with only one hole for his left eye?"

Itachi looks at him in question, confused why he was so interested in the masked man, "Yes."

"He didn't happen to be completely batshit crazy and would switch between two different personalities? Also was he able to teleport as if he was being sucked into his own eye? What about attacks somehow being able to move right through him?" Kisame asks.

I can tell Itachi has a moment of realization when Kisame asks these questions. "There's a strong possibility it's the same man but I can't say for certain. However, I did come across a masked man just like that when I was a genin."

"That's the same man that tried to get me to join the Akatsuki and has wanted me dead since I refused," Kisame says.

The odds that they had both met this man is crazy and whoever this masked man was, he was incredibly dangerous. Hearing the strange abilities he was capable of feel almost familiar as I continue to process and think everything through. Rubbing my forehead with my hand, I close my eyes in thought, trying to figure out why it sounded so familiar.

"He gets those abilities from having the mangekyo sharingan, right?" I ask. Itachi gives a hum of confirmation. My eyes snap open when it comes to me, "Kakashi-sensei unlocked similar abilities with his mangekyo on our mission to rescue Gaara. That's why it sounded familiar!"

Itachi takes in a sharp breath, "Holy shit." Kisame and I both look back over to Itachi, shocked by his quiet but sudden response.

"Care to explain what the 'holy shit' is about?" Kisame asks.

"The masked man is Obito Uchiha," Itachi says, still surprised at his own realization.

My own eyes widen at the realization, "Holy shit."