Loyalty (Sasuke Uchiha)

"At the end, for your sake, he transferred his own ocular powers to you."

"What are you saying? Just... What are you trying to say?! Why would Itachi do something like that?!"

"Don't you get it? In order to protect you."

The look of pure terror and shock on Sasuke's face caused me to retreat further into the shadows as I watched silently.

"Protect? Did you say protect?!" Sasuke's eyes looked as if they were about to bulge out of his head, as he stared at Tobi in disbelief.

Yes, Sasuke. Protect.

"You've got to be kidding!"

"I'll say it once more. You think you know about your brother, but you know nothing."

"If you continue speaking such nonsense, I'll kill you!" Sasuke said in the least threatening tone ever, his eyes looking off as if he was lost, empty of any emotion. I cupped my hand over my mouth, holding back a small cry. It was painful seeing Sasuke like this.

"You're not making this easy, I suppose that's natural.. Suddenly being told such a story by a stranger like me.

But what I tell you now is the truth.

Itachi did mention it, did he not? About his accomplice that night.

I am that Madara Uchiha."

>>>> timeskip

"Afterwards, Itachi appealed to the third Hokage, beseeching him to protect you and Danzo from the councilors. He fled the village after threatening Danzo. If anything were to happen to you, Itachi would leak all the intelligence he had on the Hidden Leaf to unallied nations. He worried about you the most, and yet he could not tell you the full truth, so he told you as much as he could."

It was hard to try and maintain my Invisibility Jutsu as I stood on the furthest corner of this room, ignoring Tobi, well, Madara Uchiha, as all my attention was on Sasuke. I had to figure out how to get Sasuke out of here, and fast, before Tobi could do anything else.

But hearing about Itachi's harsh past, the decision to be forced to choose between his own clan and village, that made the truth even more painful. The heavy burden he carried for many years, and not one even knew the truth of him. He was just seen as a heartless murderer.

And none of this was even Itachi's fault.

It was the Village. The Village caused him to commit his deeds. And for what? For this?

More memories flashed through my mind of Itachi, as I stood there relaxed, examining through each and every one of them.

These memories made it even harder. Itachi was a kind person, till the very end. Even when he had his own conflicting problems, he still came to visit me. He even did take Sasuke to see me.

That was days before he had wiped out his entire village, and grandfather was forced to eliminate my memories of him.

That hurt even more. I can't begin to think of what Sasuke must be going through right now.

Speaking of Sasuke, this was one of the rare times had I ever seen him vulnerable, a solemn expression on his face as his eyes were cast down.

"He gave you a reason to seek revenge against him, and hoped it would make you stronger. They wanted you to believe that the Uchiha was a proud clan from the Hidden Leaf Village." Tobi continued on.

"He begged the Hokage to make sure you would never learn the truth. And from the moment he left the village, he resigned himself into battling you to the death in order to bestow upon your new powers." Sasuke was trembling in the coil of the rope by this moment, hid head bowed down.

"That is Itachi's truth."

So that's what Itachi meant when he told me he was going to give Sasuke something important to him.

Hearing that hurt even more.

"No.. You're lying. It's got to be a lie.. It has to be."

My eyes widened in surprise as I saw Sasuke's eyes wide in shock, his face seemed to be paralyzed in fear.

It was interesting seeing this side if Sasuke, yet it hurt my soul at the same time.

"It's all nonsense." He continued on.

Sasuke then snapped his head up, his tone rising in anger as he shouted at the orange masked guy. "Itachi tried to kill me many times!!"

"If Itachi really wanted to kill you, you'd most certainly be dead right now." Tobi spoke in his deep rumbling voice.

"He even used the mangekyo sharingan against me!" I watched as Sasuke's eyes shook in frustration. "There's no question he was trying to kill me!"

"Even your contingency plans were factored into his calculations. He had to pressure you hard during that battle. Surely you've figured out why? You understand it now don't you?

"He wanted to free you of the cursed mark, and the death of the one closest to you. It was a battle to awaken your mangekyo sharingan. Itachi carefully set up everything in that battle, diverting your attention from the truth, by pretending to the very end that his intent was to steal your eyes.. You're starting to see the truth." Tobi continued to rumble.

"You're lying." Sasuke shot back at him. I could see the conflict in his eyes and it pained me even more.

"You sent the Nine Tails to attack the Hidden Leaf! Itachi told me it was all your doing!" Sasuke snapped. "You laid false charges against the Uchiha and you teamed up with Itachi to toy with our clan!"

"Itachi was lying when he told you about that. Just as I've explained. He was overcome with fear that you would somehow discover the truth. He wanted to absolutely make certain there was no chance of that. He told you lies to make sure you wouldn't trust me. He even planted Amaterasu in your eyes."

Amaterasu?

The most advanced level of Fire Release. It takes the form of black fire, not stopping until it completely destroys its target.

I narrowed my eyes as Sasuke continued to yell at the Akatsuki, cursing his brother.

Still, Tobi continued to block Sasuke's rage in the truth, speaking of how he left his village with that heavy burden, and that the only reason Itachi joined the Akatsuki was to spy from within, making sure they wouldn't threaten his village.

See? Like I said before. Itachi knows where his loyalties lie.

My admiration for Itachi grew deeper, throwing me into a deeper pit of depression that everything he did was for the village he loved, and for his little brother. His loyalty to the Leaf Village reminded me of Naruto. What drew me in even more is that after the Third Hokage's death, Itachi personally went to the Leaf and threatened Danzo that the deal was still set; if anyone laid a hand on Sasuke, then they would die.

Now that is some loyalty right there.

But even still, Sasuke screamed at Tobi, refusing to believe a word that came out of his mouth, even though everything he said was true and supported with evidence.

"Those eyes of yours were not able to perceive a single truth about Itachi. You weren't able to see through any of his illusions created. Itachi killed his friends, superiors, his lover, his father, his mother, but he couldn't bring himself to kill his little brother." Tobi said as he approached Sasuke with every word.

Even I was in shock as I felt a tear slip.

And then he continued on how Itachi had rid himself of any feeling for his clan for the sake of his village. Yet still, he could not kill Sasuke. Tobi then released Sasuke of his restraints.

"Do you understand what this means?"

Sasuke killed his older brother believing a lie. He lived his entire life to this day, to kill his brother.

But it was more heart breaking to find out that your brother did all that to protect the village he adored, living the rest of his life worrying and checking in on you.

I was right believing that revenge is not the right path.

"To him, your life was even more precious than the village. Until the moment of his death-- no. Even after he died, it was all for you, to confer on your new powers. By allowing you to defeat him, he had avenged the Uchiha clan. He made you the hero of the Hidden Leaf Village. Ravaged by illness, painfully aware of his impending death, he forcefully prolonged his life with medication, all for the sake of his beloved little brother. Because he had to fight you and die in your presence.

"For the peace of the Hidden Leaf Village, and most of all for you, Sasuke Uchiha, he wanted to die being known as a criminal and a traitor. He accepted disgrace in the place of honor, and hatred in the place of love. And yet, Itachi still died with a smile on his face. He bequeathed to you the Uchiha name, still fooling you to the very end."