Chapter 2: Last Words

-Many Years Later-

-The Uchiha Clan Compound-

Uchiha Itachi sat with his back to a tree, feeling his blood trickle down to the ground. He'd failed, and now his death was certain. Worse still, he couldn't even say for sure that he had made the right decision. The Uchiha clan had been contemplating rebellion after a century of mistreatment and mistrust by the village at large. Danzou, Elder of Konoha, had offered the dutiful Itachi a choice. Either he could silently assassinate the entirety of the Uchiha Clan and take the burden of their dishonor upon himself, or Konoha's forces would eradicate the clan and the Uchiha would be known far and wide as traitors.

Danzou, head of the shadowy Root division of Konoha's secret police, had always been a hard negotiator.

In the end it had come down to a careful balance. If he agreed to do the village's dirty work, he could bargain for his brother's life. If he fought, there were no guarantees.

Still, he had fought. Was that right? Would things have been better if had made another choice?

The carnage was almost over now. Itachi had wounded Danzou in their confrontation, and the leader's bodyguards had pulled him back to the safety of Root's headquarters. Unfortunately, Itachi had not escaped unscathed. He knew, too, that his mother and father had been killed. Itachi couldn't call any of this a victory.

Well, maybe there was one small victory. As he watched, young Sasuke crept tentatively out from the house basement's secondary exit. His brother had survived. Mother had shielded him from a blast, but Sasuke was peppered with burns. His face was a bloody mess, his left eye destroyed by shrapnel.

Now, Sasuke approached, almost unable to believe what he saw.

"Sasuke," Itachi spoke, slowly and painfully, "I need you to come here... I need you to listen to me."

Sasuke nodded, tears running down his face, and approached.

"Listen, my little brother... I'm so glad you're safe… I have something I need from you… Consider this your first mission as a shinobi... I know you haven't yet graduated from the Academy but... agree to do this for me, and in my eyes you'll already be... a fully-fledged ninja."

"W-Wha- I- Yes, I'll do it, I'll do anything! Just promise to stay alive!"

"Good. Good... I need you to do what I couldn't, to keep you safe... This is a high-rank, deep-cover assignment... You know how important that is, right?"

Sasuke nodded fiercely, eyes wide.

This would be messy. There was no way around. The village elders had wanted a clean break with the Uchiha Clan, something that would have saved face for the village. The reputation of both Konoha and the Uchiha clan would remain the pristine, pure-white of funereal robes, and young Sasuke would live a pitied, but treasured, existence as the last of the glorious Uchiha.

He twitched with a spasm of pain and guilt. He had ruined that. Konoha would certainly lose face for this open infighting, but it would be the Uchiha as a whole who would bear the resentment of the villagers. The Hokage would have no choice now but to disclose the Uchiha plans of rebellion to justify this botched assault to the other noble clans, such as the Hyuuga and the Aburame. To do otherwise would tear the village apart at the seams.

Sasuke would live life being doubted and mistrusted every step of the way. This could only end in his younger brother's death. Itachi took a deep, shuddering breath before he spoke.

"These are the principles you must follow… Graduate from the Academy. Train hard. Learn well. Become strong. Be the loyal Konoha ninja that everyone will want to see. Do not disobey orders..."

"Yes! I was going to do that anyway!"

"There's more..." another deep breath, wracked with pain. "When you are ready, leave. Leave the village. Go far away. Erase your presence. When Lord Hokage dies, so too will your protection... The village will be glad to seal away the final memories of the Uchiha clan." Itachi became quiet for a moment, a genuine smile seeming to cross his face.

"There was a man who I looked up to. I don't know why I even remember him now. He was just passing through and I must have been two or three years old at the time, but I remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday. His name was… Roger… and he told me things that seemed like an impossible dream." Itachi paused, lost in thought for a moment. "Sasuke, the world is so much larger than this. So much larger than this village, and you'd never even know it. Even if they send you on missions outside the country, the only thing you'll learn about the people there is how to kill and deceive them. I wanted to see the world... and I thought I might meet that man again some day, but... " Itachi began coughing painfully, before silencing his younger brother's cries of horror with a raised hand.

"Sasuke... see the world. Do it in my place. Promise me that you'll get away from this before you get hurt."

"Big brother! Don't talk like that! I can't live without help! I won't! Don't make me do this!" Sasuke slammed his fists into the ground as he screamed.

Itachi fixed his eyes upon Sasuke who was now so distraught that he no longer clutched at his ruined eye. "Help? Yes, I can help you... I want to give you something. Consider it an early graduation present. Or... an apology."

"Just- stop! Stay with me!"

"No, little brother." Suddenly, Itachi moved as if he were uninjured, sitting up quickly and grabbing Sasuke firmly with one hand. "I'm so sorry. I love you. Please, find something else worth living for."

With two fingers extended, blood dripping down his hand, Itachi tapped his little brother right between the eyes.

Then everything went black for the youngest Uchiha.

The Third Hokage arrived to a scene of utter devastation. This was a catastrophe. He had not expected Danzou to launch an attack prematurely. Hiruzen and some of his most loyal agents had been delayed in a final closed meeting to make one last case for an alternative solution to the Uchiha problem that did not rely on genocide; he saw now that this attack had been timed perfectly to ensure he received the news of the assault too late to change the course of events.

Disgraceful. It was clear that Danzou could no longer be trusted to work within the system. This was monstrous, but Hiruzen knew he should have seen this coming.

The evidence of his abject failure to do so lay bare before him.

The overwhelming majority of the dead and dying around him weren't even ninja. Just civilians.

He didn't care what that devious wolf had to say in his own defense. Danzou would not be able to hide in the shadows and have others shoulder the blame this time.

Turning to the two dozen Anbu operatives standing by, he spoke. "Spread out. Three-man teams. Stop this immediately. You have my full authority to use lethal force. Signal for medical attention as necessary... End this." His face hardened as he turned to look towards his agents and took a deep breath.

"Disperse!"

Wordlessly, the masked operatives flickered away, a storm of leaves the only mark of their departure.

Too much had been lost this night. Hiruzen felt as though he had just had to amputate a limb.

He moved further into the village, walking alone. He had verified that Danzou and the majority of Root had already vacated the area, and there was no one left with both the ability and inclination to attack him. Moving in silence, he approached the residence of Clan Head, Uchiha Fugaku.

His face fell as he approached the clan head's house. Hiruzen saw a young child, smeared in blood, heaving deep sobs while holding a body that was so bloody as to be almost unidentifiable. Moving closer, he saw the body had once been Uchiha Itachi. His eyes were closed, and his slack face betrayed the remnants of a mysterious smile. What a waste to see that the promising young man was now clearly just another casualty among many. Hiruzen had never been one to shed tears when others were clearly in greater pain around him. Nevertheless, he knew they would come later.

"We were supposed to protect the village," he murmured, "We were supposed to protect Konoha... but how can anything be said to protect the village if it sacrifices so many of its people... Danzou, was the danger that you saw really so great as to be worth this cost?"

Hearing his voice, the young, sobbing Uchiha Sasuke opened his eyes and looked up in shock, still taking deep, gasping gulps of air. What Hiruzen saw in that child's eyes caused his jaw to drop and his wrinkled face to contort in astonishment. The child's face was red and swollen from tears, the left side caked with blood.

Within his right eye-socket, the child's deep, black eye was filled with the irreconcilable sadness of one who has just lost everything.

Within the left glowed the dark red kaleidoscope pattern of a Mangekyou Sharingan fading slowly away into nothingness.

The boy collapsed, completely drained of chakra just from the effort of opening his new eye.

Hiruzen gulped down his initial shock and stilled himself. This was without precedence.

This information must not be allowed to leave his most trusted circles.

Hiruzen returned to the staging area outside the Uchiha compound, leaving the worst of the smell of blood and smoke behind him. ANBU operatives had returned and were serving as guards to medic-nin or standing watch. Several surviving Uchiha clan members and one unfortunate ANBU ninja were receiving urgent treatment before being sent back to the hospital.

Sarutobi Asuma saw his father approach, carrying an unconscious young child. One look at his father told him that something unusual had happened.

"Get this child cared for by someone we can trust," his father said. "Check his eye and assume acute- possibly dangerous- chakra exhaustion. He should remain under guard until the situation stabilizes. I need you back at my office as soon as you can return."

Asuma nodded silently, knowing better than to press for more information. One look told him everything he needed to know.

"What next, Lord Hokage?"

Hiruzen looked at his son with a grave expression. "Next? We light the signal-fire for our counter-attack."