Naruto swallowed the fruit flesh and looked Sasuke straight in the eye with his azure gaze. "Itachi Uchiha wasn't a hero, and he never wanted to be one. He was just a pitiful man driven into a corner by Konoha's rotten system, a sacrifice torn between loyalty and family."
"Shut up!" Sasuke roared. "You don't get to judge him!"
"I have the right to judge anyone." Naruto rose to his feet, pulled a thick document pouch from his clothes, and slammed it heavily onto Sasuke's blanket. "These are Root's top-secret files, codenamed 'Night of the Massacre.' They record every political struggle between the Third Hokage, Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and Fugaku Uchiha."
Sasuke stared at the document pouch. His hands trembled, yet he did not dare touch it.
"Too scared to read it?" Naruto sneered. "Then I'll tell you. The Uchiha clan planned a coup, and the higher-ups decided to strike first. Danzo gave Itachi two choices: either the entire Uchiha clan died, including you, or he slaughtered the clan himself and spared you. He chose the latter."
"This is the truth you wanted." Naruto leaned down, bracing both hands against the edge of the bed as he glared at Sasuke.
"From my perspective, Itachi was a complete bastard. He slaughtered so many of his own clansmen with his own hands, including his parents and lover. He was practically a demon... But when it came to you, he held nothing back. He drove you to chase power like a mad dog so that one day, you could kill him, become Konoha's hero, and restore the Uchiha's glory."
"Stop... Please, stop..." Sasuke clutched his head as tears spilled from his eyes.
That heart-rending pain was ten thousand times worse than being struck by Tsukuyomi. The man he had always