Fanfiction: The End and Beginning
Title: The End and Beginning
Rating: PG-13, because Itachi's a psychopath
Characters: Itachi-centric
Words: 1,284
Summary: Itachi had always strived to have almost no major weaknesses. He wasn't going to stop now.
A/N: I fail at titles. I'll write frenchsoap's late b-day present soon HOPEFULLY WHEN THE A/C IS FIXED. Also, please be gentle because this is the first thing I've written in a LONG time... though I think it fits pretty well with canon. *passes out*
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Itachi sat in the ANBU meeting room, inspecting his mask after their latest mission. He could hear other ANBU talking in the background, but he ignored them for the most part until two wandered near him.
“Did you hear? Kiyoshi's brother snapped the other day and he had to kill him.”
“That's terrible... I don't know if I could kill family.”
“I guess that's one of the things you have to deal with as an ANBU.”
The first speaker shrugged and left, the second following him out of the ANBU meeting room. Itachi put his mask back on, finding no cracks in it though he had stopped looking a few minutes ago. He stared at the wall, eyes unfocused.
Was it really so difficult to kill someone you are related to? If that is true, he thought, then it's a potential weakness, possibly a fatal one. Itachi had always strived to have almost no major weaknesses. He wasn't going to stop now.
Some time later, Itachi was still contemplating how to accurately test himself without getting arrested. He was walking next to Shisui as they followed the Nakano river back home from the shrine where he had met his friend after his ANBU mission. Shisui was talking about something unimportant, and Itachi was tuning him out as usual. His friend seemed undeterred by Itachi's apathy and babbled on when Itachi said nothing. It was a routine they had carried on for years. Despite Shisui's incessant chatter and inappropriate jokes, he was Itachi's best friend and one of the few people he actually like in the Uchiha clan... or even in the whole village.
Then it occurred to him: Shisui was both his best friend and his family. In addition to what he had learned in the shrine... He easily slipped back into the mindset of an ANBU captain. He could certainly overpower Shisui; he was strong, but he let his guard down when he was with Itachi. The issue was how to get away with it.
Suddenly, Shisui's ramblings caught his interest.
“...There's just so much pressure from the clan, you know... It's hard...”
Maybe it was hard enough that Shisui would want to make it go away... Itachi noticed that Shisui was conveniently walking between himself and the river. Less than a heartbeat later, his friend was partially submerged in it.
The initial shock had been enough for Itachi to wrap his hands around Shisui's neck and force him several inches underwater. His friend began to struggle once he realized what was happening, but it was futile; Itachi was sitting on him in a way that made it impossible to gain any leverage. A couple of minutes later, Uchiha Shisui was dead.
The only hard part had been coming up with a plan. The only painful part had been when Shisui's fingernails broke his skin. Shisui had been much easier to kill than most of the people he was ordered to assassinate.
Itachi remained still even after Shisui had stopped moving for well over a minute. He was still trying to wrap his mind around what had happened to his eyes. Sometime during the “struggle” his vision had faded from the red tint of the sharingan to a world of inverted black and white. It was still the sharingan because he noticed the same effects, but there was something more... Was this...? Yes. This was the legendary mangekyou sharingan.
He rose slowly and looked around him. Itachi was half-hoping there would be a witness so he could test his newfound power, but he was alone. The mangekyou sharingan was beginning to hurt his eyes, so he reverted to the normal sharingan, quickly scrawled a suicide note in Shisui's handwriting, and tossed the corpse into the river. Itachi took the long way home to allow his clothes to dry. He didn't stop consider what had happened until he was safely in his room.
He had killed his best friend easily. Did this mean he did not have such a weakness?
“Maybe he didn't count...” Itachi muttered to himself as the voices of his family drifted through the walls. He was an Uchiha, but he wasn't “family.” He had to be absolutely sure...
It didn't take him long to get the hang of the mangekyou. All it took after that was some careful scouting of the Uchiha compound as well as his family's daily schedules and his plan was set.
Early one afternoon, Itachi began his attack. It was the perfect time. Everyone was exactly where he wanted them, and the clan had been growing suspicious of him recently anyway. Although his main objective was his immediate family, he started his massacre on the outskirts of the Uchiha compound and worked inward, allowing no path for escape.
Sasuke should be here soon, he thought. He was saving his little brother for last. It seemed fitting since besides Shisui, Sasuke was the only other Uchiha he could admit to being fond of.
He could hear Sasuke's panicked shouting as he entered the dining room where his parents waited for their end. His mother had fallen first after breifly pleading with him to stop. His father knelt down to cradle his wife's body. He had noticed Sasuke as well was able to utter a weak warning to the young Uchiha before Itachi struck him down. Of course, his little brother didn't listen. He had always been stubborn.
Sasuke ran into the room and sputtered incoherently at his older brother. Itachi decided it was time to end this. He doubted he would have any trouble killing Sasuke. He had felt no pain or guilt when he'd slain his parents. As soon as the kunai meant for his brother's heart left his fingers, he realized he was wrong.
It missed, only leaving a small cut in Sasuke's shoulder.
“Foolish little brother...” he muttered irritably.
He had to buy himself some time to forumulate a new plan... he hadn't accounted for Sasuke's murder to go awry. He took a deep breath and demonstrated the power of the mangekyou sharingan to his brother. Sasuke was barely able to remain conscious, muttering a desperate question.
“Why?”
“To measure my capacity.” To test myself for weakness. It was basically the truth.
In a rare moment of bravery, Sasuke launched himself at his older brother, but fell and was scared into fleeing upon getting a close look at his parents' corpses. Itachi met him outside easily. What he told Sasuke then was mostly the truth. If Sasuke truly was his weakness, then Itachi would either overcome it and kill him, or his weakness would be his end. For that, he needed Sasuke to grow stronger as well, to see if he really was inable to kill his little brother or if it was just a strange moment of emotion left over from the life he was leaving behind. After he had informed Sasuke of the secret place in the shrine, his little brother collapsed.
Itachi left him there knowing Konoha nin would be along shortly. He sped off into the forest, away from the village. He fingered the ring in his pocket with “scarlet” inscribed on it with one hand and pulled out the slip of paper with his other hand. On it were directions to the meeting spot with the missing nin from the organization called “Akatsuki.”
It was the end of his old life as the amazing Uchiha prodigy and the beginning of his new one as a feared missing ninja, where he would cut whatever ties remained to Konoha and the clan. The next time Itachi met Sasuke, he vowed that he would not fail to kill his little brother.
Rating: PG-13, because Itachi's a psychopath
Characters: Itachi-centric
Words: 1,284
Summary: Itachi had always strived to have almost no major weaknesses. He wasn't going to stop now.
A/N: I fail at titles. I'll write frenchsoap's late b-day present soon HOPEFULLY WHEN THE A/C IS FIXED. Also, please be gentle because this is the first thing I've written in a LONG time... though I think it fits pretty well with canon. *passes out*
----------
Itachi sat in the ANBU meeting room, inspecting his mask after their latest mission. He could hear other ANBU talking in the background, but he ignored them for the most part until two wandered near him.
“Did you hear? Kiyoshi's brother snapped the other day and he had to kill him.”
“That's terrible... I don't know if I could kill family.”
“I guess that's one of the things you have to deal with as an ANBU.”
The first speaker shrugged and left, the second following him out of the ANBU meeting room. Itachi put his mask back on, finding no cracks in it though he had stopped looking a few minutes ago. He stared at the wall, eyes unfocused.
Was it really so difficult to kill someone you are related to? If that is true, he thought, then it's a potential weakness, possibly a fatal one. Itachi had always strived to have almost no major weaknesses. He wasn't going to stop now.
Some time later, Itachi was still contemplating how to accurately test himself without getting arrested. He was walking next to Shisui as they followed the Nakano river back home from the shrine where he had met his friend after his ANBU mission. Shisui was talking about something unimportant, and Itachi was tuning him out as usual. His friend seemed undeterred by Itachi's apathy and babbled on when Itachi said nothing. It was a routine they had carried on for years. Despite Shisui's incessant chatter and inappropriate jokes, he was Itachi's best friend and one of the few people he actually like in the Uchiha clan... or even in the whole village.
Then it occurred to him: Shisui was both his best friend and his family. In addition to what he had learned in the shrine... He easily slipped back into the mindset of an ANBU captain. He could certainly overpower Shisui; he was strong, but he let his guard down when he was with Itachi. The issue was how to get away with it.
Suddenly, Shisui's ramblings caught his interest.
“...There's just so much pressure from the clan, you know... It's hard...”
Maybe it was hard enough that Shisui would want to make it go away... Itachi noticed that Shisui was conveniently walking between himself and the river. Less than a heartbeat later, his friend was partially submerged in it.
The initial shock had been enough for Itachi to wrap his hands around Shisui's neck and force him several inches underwater. His friend began to struggle once he realized what was happening, but it was futile; Itachi was sitting on him in a way that made it impossible to gain any leverage. A couple of minutes later, Uchiha Shisui was dead.
The only hard part had been coming up with a plan. The only painful part had been when Shisui's fingernails broke his skin. Shisui had been much easier to kill than most of the people he was ordered to assassinate.
Itachi remained still even after Shisui had stopped moving for well over a minute. He was still trying to wrap his mind around what had happened to his eyes. Sometime during the “struggle” his vision had faded from the red tint of the sharingan to a world of inverted black and white. It was still the sharingan because he noticed the same effects, but there was something more... Was this...? Yes. This was the legendary mangekyou sharingan.
He rose slowly and looked around him. Itachi was half-hoping there would be a witness so he could test his newfound power, but he was alone. The mangekyou sharingan was beginning to hurt his eyes, so he reverted to the normal sharingan, quickly scrawled a suicide note in Shisui's handwriting, and tossed the corpse into the river. Itachi took the long way home to allow his clothes to dry. He didn't stop consider what had happened until he was safely in his room.
He had killed his best friend easily. Did this mean he did not have such a weakness?
“Maybe he didn't count...” Itachi muttered to himself as the voices of his family drifted through the walls. He was an Uchiha, but he wasn't “family.” He had to be absolutely sure...
It didn't take him long to get the hang of the mangekyou. All it took after that was some careful scouting of the Uchiha compound as well as his family's daily schedules and his plan was set.
Early one afternoon, Itachi began his attack. It was the perfect time. Everyone was exactly where he wanted them, and the clan had been growing suspicious of him recently anyway. Although his main objective was his immediate family, he started his massacre on the outskirts of the Uchiha compound and worked inward, allowing no path for escape.
Sasuke should be here soon, he thought. He was saving his little brother for last. It seemed fitting since besides Shisui, Sasuke was the only other Uchiha he could admit to being fond of.
He could hear Sasuke's panicked shouting as he entered the dining room where his parents waited for their end. His mother had fallen first after breifly pleading with him to stop. His father knelt down to cradle his wife's body. He had noticed Sasuke as well was able to utter a weak warning to the young Uchiha before Itachi struck him down. Of course, his little brother didn't listen. He had always been stubborn.
Sasuke ran into the room and sputtered incoherently at his older brother. Itachi decided it was time to end this. He doubted he would have any trouble killing Sasuke. He had felt no pain or guilt when he'd slain his parents. As soon as the kunai meant for his brother's heart left his fingers, he realized he was wrong.
It missed, only leaving a small cut in Sasuke's shoulder.
“Foolish little brother...” he muttered irritably.
He had to buy himself some time to forumulate a new plan... he hadn't accounted for Sasuke's murder to go awry. He took a deep breath and demonstrated the power of the mangekyou sharingan to his brother. Sasuke was barely able to remain conscious, muttering a desperate question.
“Why?”
“To measure my capacity.” To test myself for weakness. It was basically the truth.
In a rare moment of bravery, Sasuke launched himself at his older brother, but fell and was scared into fleeing upon getting a close look at his parents' corpses. Itachi met him outside easily. What he told Sasuke then was mostly the truth. If Sasuke truly was his weakness, then Itachi would either overcome it and kill him, or his weakness would be his end. For that, he needed Sasuke to grow stronger as well, to see if he really was inable to kill his little brother or if it was just a strange moment of emotion left over from the life he was leaving behind. After he had informed Sasuke of the secret place in the shrine, his little brother collapsed.
Itachi left him there knowing Konoha nin would be along shortly. He sped off into the forest, away from the village. He fingered the ring in his pocket with “scarlet” inscribed on it with one hand and pulled out the slip of paper with his other hand. On it were directions to the meeting spot with the missing nin from the organization called “Akatsuki.”
It was the end of his old life as the amazing Uchiha prodigy and the beginning of his new one as a feared missing ninja, where he would cut whatever ties remained to Konoha and the clan. The next time Itachi met Sasuke, he vowed that he would not fail to kill his little brother.