An Itachi Fanfiction

Recovering

I woke up in yet another dark cell. I looked ahead of me and saw Madara leaning against the wall. "Don't you think this whole 'capturing' thing is getting a little old?"

"Considering you escaped last time, no," he replied with a smirk.

I shrugged my shoulders in innocence. I narrowed my eyes at him. "So what do you want with me this time?"

"For starters, I want you to heal him," he replied, gesturing to Sasuke lying beside me.

I looked at Sasuke then back at Madara. "Why should I do anything for you?"

"You won't, but I know that you'd do anything for him. He's pretty badly injured, do you really want him to have any permanent damage?"

I looked over worriedly at Sasuke and after a while, I caved. I moved next to him so I could properly heal his wounds. When I was done, I sat against the wall and waited as I thought about what happened right before I blacked out. I awakened my Mangekyō Sharingan. The trauma of watching the one I love die must have been too much for me. I could feel the tears start to form in my eyes, but I closed my eyes to block it out. 'No, I will not appear weak, not in front of him,' I thought as I glared at Madara.

After what seemed like forever, Sasuke started to stir until he opened his eyes. He looked around and we locked eyes. I smiled softly at him. "Look who's finally awake".

"Itachi..." he trailed off.

My eyes darkened. "He's dead," I replied, answering his unvoiced question.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "So, it's finally over".

"Not quite," I added, glaring at Madara. Sasuke followed my line of sight until his eyes landed on Madara.

Madara took that as his cue to speak. "I had (Y/N) treat your wounds. You won, but you sustained quite a bit of damage, and you're not completely recovered yet. Try not to move unless it's necessary. We've met once before, although we were enemies then. Don't worry, I don't hold Deidara's death against you," Madara told him. "I'm not your enemy". I tried not to laugh at that. "I merely brought you here in order to tell you something. It's about Itachi Uchiha". I stiffened. He turned to me. "(Y/N), it's time for Sasuke to learn the truth".

My eyes widened. "No! I made a promise! Itachi never wanted Sasuke to learn the truth!"

"Don't you think Sasuke deserves to know the truth about his own clan?"

"Yeah, but-" Eventually, I backed down. He was right. I always wanted Sasuke to know the truth about the massacre, but the promise I made to Itachi always prevented me from telling him myself.

Madara turned back to Sasuke. "You think you know all about your older brother, but you know nothing. Let me start with a quick introduction". He proceeded to take off his mask, but as soon as he did, Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan activated in Sasuke's eye and Amaterasu appeared on Madara's body.

I placed my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing. 'How sneaky of you, Itachi'.

Once he had put out the flames, he turned to me with a glare. "You knew about this".

"Actually, I had no idea, but it was definitely fun to watch," I replied with a big smile on my face.

Sasuke placed his hand over his eye and I rushed over to him to support him. "What was that just now?"

"That was Itachi's doing," I answered him. 'Even in death, you're still protecting your little brother'.

"That was the Amaterasu, which Itachi seems to have implanted in you," Madara explained.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked, shocked.

"To put it simply, he placed a Jutsu inside you in order to kill me. I should say, he did that in order to keep me away from you. He probably set up this little trap so that the Amaterasu would automatically activate when you saw my Sharingan," Madara explained. "Itachi must have done something to you before he died". Sasuke's eyes widened as he figured it out. "At the very end, for your sake, he somehow managed to transfer his own visual prowess to you".

"Why would Itachi do such a thing?" Sasuke asked, still shocked.

"Isn't it obvious? Because he cares about you," I answered with a soft smile.

He stared at me with wide eyes. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Sasuke, I hate to say it, but I suggest you listen to him. Chances are everything he's about to say is the truth, but I'll be here to correct him if he decides to lie". I glared at Madara as I added that last bit.

Madara sighed. "You're not making this easy. I suppose that's only natural hearing a story like this from a complete stranger but what I'm telling you is the truth. Itachi did mention it, didn't he? That he wasn't alone that night, that he had an accomplice".

"Sasuke, meet Madara Uchiha, Itachi's accomplice to the Uchiha massacre," I said, hardening my glare.

Sasuke clenched his fists in anger. "Shut up! None of that matters anymore! Just get out of my sight, you hear me?!" I could tell he was talking to Madara.

Madara only stepped forward. "No, you will listen. You need to hear this. It's your obligation. It's about the life of your brother who risked everything for the sake of the shinobi world, the Hidden Leaf Village and most of all, for the two of you, his younger brother and the woman he loved". I shut my eyes in an attempt to stop the tears from falling again. "You will know how Itachi lived. Do you know why Itachi implanted the Amaterasu in you? It's because he never wanted us to meet, or to talk. The only ones who knew the truth about Itachi were the Leaf's Danzo, the Third Hokage, and the two advisors Homura and Koharu". He turned to me. "And of course, you". Sasuke looked at me in shock.

"What are you saying?" Sasuke asked, understandably confused and shocked. "Protect me? He didn't want to protect me, he just tried to kill me. He tried to steal my eyes!"

'Jeez Itachi, what exactly did you put him through in the Tsukuyomi?'

Sasuke started lashing out. He tried to get up, but he was still weak. I placed my arms around him to support him. 'Forgive me, Sasuke'. So that he wouldn't push himself, I was forced to render him unconscious. I gently laid him down on the bed. I looked up and saw Madara grab a hank of rope and raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that really necessary?"

"You're the one that knocked him out," he replied as he proceeded to tie Sasuke up.

'Fair point'. I moved to sit next to Sasuke as I waited for him to wake up.