An Itachi Fanfiction

Truth

Eventually, Sasuke woke up. "Sorry, I had to knock you out so you wouldn't continue to push yourself while you're still recovering and Madara tied you up so you wouldn't push yourself when you regained consciousness," I explained.

"Itachi was my enemy," were the first words to come out of Sasuke's mouth.

I scoffed. "If you really believe that, then you really are blind". Sasuke turned to look at me. "Even I knew that there had to be more to the story, there was no way he massacred his entire family just for some power. In fact, I asked him about it, I asked him why he really did it, and I was willing to cooperate when he showed me the truth. Do you want to know why I stayed with him? It's because I realised that he was the most selfless, kind, compassionate person I have ever met!"

"(Y/N) is right," Madara added. "That fateful night, it is true that he slaughtered the entire Uchiha Clan and then fled the Hidden Leaf Village, but it was his mission to do so. He was ordered by leaders of the Hidden Leaf, and that is just the beginning of the truth of Itachi Uchiha". Sasuke looked at him shocked, then turned to look at me. I smiled and gave a small nod in confirmation. "That night, Itachi set aside his personal feelings and fulfilled his mission. In order to explain Itachi's story, I must take you back to the beginning, when the Hidden Leaf Village was founded.

"It all started more than 80 years ago. Back then, nations fought for power, for the right to exist or expand their borders. Various clans were hired by various nations to participate in the conflicts. Among all of these numerous ninja clans were two that were feared above all others as the strongest".

"The Uchiha and the Senju clans," I answered. Madara turned to look at me, somewhat frustrated that I interrupted his story.

"Right. We of the Uchiha clan possessed exceptional chakra and the Sharingan. Excelling in all types of warfare, we became known as a battle clan, and then I was born into our clan possessing chakra that was especially powerful, even for an Uchiha. Back then, I spent every day on the battlefield. At the cost of my friends and younger brother, I continuously sought more power. Thanks to that, I was able to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan fully, and I became the leader of the Uchiha.

"With that power, I fought the Senju clan more times than I can count. Of course, it was inevitable that I would face Hashirama, the leader of the Senju clan and the future First Hokage. Led by Hashirama, the Senju clan became acknowledged as the fiercest and most feared by all the other clans. Whenever the Senju made a move, so did the Uchiha. If someone hired the Senju, their opponents hired the Uchiha and we became rivals. The more I faced Hashirama, the more my name became known as well".

"You stole your brother's eyes merely to heighten your own reputation? Is that what you're telling me?" Sasuke assumed.

"I did steal them, but I did so only to obtain the strength necessary to protect the Uchiha clan. It wasn't merely for distinction; my younger brother was fully aware and agreed with it. In fact, he volunteered his eyes to me. But then one day, the Senju clan proposed a truce with the Uchiha, and the Uchiha accepted. The majority on both sides had grown weary of the endless conflict, they had simply had enough of all the fighting. But I was the only one who opposed it. I couldn't help fearing that one day the Uchiha clan would come to be oppressed by the Senju clan. However, everyone else in the Uchiha clan wanted the truce. As their leader, I had no choice but to go along with their wishes. It wasn't too long afterwards that our alliance forged an agreement with the Land of Fire, and thus the powerful system of one village to a nation came to be. Other nations quickly followed suit and one by one the fires of war were at last extinguished.

"But due to a certain 'incident,' the Hidden Leaf's peace was short-lived. There was a battle over the seat of the village leader, the Hokage. As you already know, the first to occupy that seat was Hashirama Senju. Both the Village and the Land of Fire chose him. It was clear the Uchiha were being displaced in the power structure. I decided to nominate an Uchiha for leadership to protect the clan. I knew the path would lead to a confrontation with Hashirama, but no one supported me at all. My followers shunned me for trying to rekindle the flames of war and betrayed me. I was not only accused and berated for having personal ambitions but more than that. They scorned me as a selfish brother who stole his younger brother's eyes in order to save his own. I left the Hidden Leaf, having been betrayed by everyone and decided to return as an avenger, and I declared war on the Hidden Leaf Village.