Sasuke Uchiha Was Dead

Uchiha Itachi's hand trembled as he yanked back the blanket.

Moonlight spilled through the shattered window, illuminating the familiar face on the bed.

Sasuke Uchiha.

His little brother.

He lay curled beneath the blanket, eyes shut tight. Blood gushed from a deep knife wound in his chest, staining the sheets dark red.

Uchiha Itachi's pupils contracted sharply.

His mind went blank.

"Sa...suke..."

His voice shook.

He looked down at his hand—the one holding the Kunai. Blood still dripped from its tip. Sasuke's blood.

He had stabbed him.

With his own hand.

"No..."

Uchiha Itachi began to tremble violently.

"No... no... no!"

The cry tore from deep in his throat like the roar of a wounded beast. Chakra ran wild inside him, blasting outward from his body!

Boom!

The walls of the humble house shattered instantly. Tiles flew, and most of the roof was blown away. Dust billowed as debris scattered everywhere!

Uchiha Itachi fell to his knees beside the bed and clutched Sasuke's small body to his chest.

"Sasuke... Sasuke... wake up... please, wake up!"

His voice was raw and ragged.

Sasuke gave no answer. His body was growing cold, his breathing weaker by the moment.

"Why... why did it have to be you..."

Tears spilled from Uchiha Itachi's eyes.

"Why were you here?!"

He had made sure Sasuke would be at the Ninja Academy. The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had even arranged a gathering for the students. Itachi had prepared for everything. So why was Sasuke in this civilian's room?!

Who?!

Who had put Sasuke here?!

Countless possibilities flashed through Uchiha Itachi's mind.

The Masked Man?

Shimura Danzō?

The Third Hokage?

Only those three parties knew about tonight's operation.

Was it Danzō? He never trusted the Uchiha. Did he want Sasuke dead too? Or was it the Masked Man? What did that man who called himself Madara Uchiha want? Or the Third Hokage... No. He should know what Sasuke means to me...

But no matter what he thought, the body growing cold in his arms reminded him of one fact.

He had killed his own little brother.

The person he had sworn to protect.

The person he had sacrificed everything for, even slaughtering his entire clan so Sasuke could live.

He had killed him with his own hands.

"Ah... aaah!"

Uchiha Itachi threw back his head and screamed.

Two streams of bloody tears ran from his eyes, down his cheeks, and onto Sasuke's pale face.

"No!"

That cry of despair, carried by Chakra, pierced the Night Sky.

It swept across all of Konoha.

In Konoha's residential district.

Lights came on, one after another.

"What was that?"

"It sounded like it came from the Uchiha Clan Compound..."

"What happened?"

Residents pushed open their windows and craned their necks to look. Some threw on coats and stepped outside, gathering in the streets to talk.

The sound had been so agonized, as though someone were enduring the worst pain imaginable.

It sent chills down their spines.

"It came from the Uchiha..."

"Who knows... Mind your own business and go back to sleep!"

But despite those words, no one could truly rest. That terrible scream kept echoing in their minds.

Shimura Danzō raced through the streets with members of Root.

He had just left the Sarutobi Clan compound, his face grim.

Everything tonight had spun out of control.

The Uchiha Clan was supposed to be wiped out. Instead, the Sarutobi Clan and the Shimura Clan had been struck first.

Who was that masked man from the Akatsuki?

As he pondered it, a desperate scream rang out from the direction of the Uchiha Clan Compound, piercing the silent Night Sky.

Danzō stopped dead.

"Was that... Uchiha Itachi?"

His brow furrowed.

Something was wrong.

What kind of man was Uchiha Itachi? Calm and ruthless, willing to cut down anyone without hesitation to achieve his goal.

For him to make a sound like that on the Clan Massacre Night—and for it to carry beyond the Uchiha Clan's barrier—could only mean something terrible had happened.

"This is bad!"

Danzō's expression changed. He swept out his hand.

"Everyone, get to the Uchiha Clan Compound at full speed!"

The Root ninja accelerated at once, streaking across the rooftops like black shadows.

On another road leading to the Uchiha Clan Compound.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, raced through the night with the Anbu.

His heart was heavy too.

The Sarutobi Clan had been attacked, as had the Shimura Clan. The mysterious man who called himself Tobi possessed Space-Time Ninjutsu and a pair of Sharingan.

Tonight was far more complicated than he had imagined.

Just then, a heart-rending scream came from the Uchiha Clan Compound.

The Third Hokage's pupils contracted.

"Itachi?!"

He knew that voice.

Uchiha Itachi was the genius he had personally nurtured, instilled with the Will of Fire, and placed such high hopes in. Yet now he was screaming in despair.

That was not normal.

"Pick up the pace!" the Third Hokage ordered grimly. "Get to the Uchiha Clan Compound at once!"

The Anbu ninja accelerated together, roof tiles cracking beneath their feet.

More and more residents emerged onto Konoha's streets.

"What on earth happened?"

"Something over by the Uchiha, I think..."

"I heard something terrifying just now!"

"Don't go gawking! Can't you see the Anbu have been deployed?"

Some spoke in hushed voices. Others stood on their rooftops, staring toward the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Konoha's major ninja clans began to respond as well.

At the Hyuga Clan compound.

Hyuga Hiashi stood in the courtyard, hands clasped behind his back, staring toward the Uchiha Clan Compound with a deep frown.

Behind him, a Hyuga Clan ninja knelt on one knee. "Clan head, there's a disturbance at the Uchiha Clan Compound. The voice was likely Uchiha Itachi's. Should we send someone to investigate?"

Hyuga Hiashi was silent for a moment.

"Send a few clansmen with strong sensory abilities to the perimeter. Don't let them get too close."

"Yes, sir!"

Meanwhile.

At the Nara Clan compound.

Shikaku Nara sat up in bed and rubbed his temples.

"What a night..."

He told his wife beside him, "I'll go see what's happening. Keep the doors and windows shut, and stay inside."

The Yamanaka Clan, the Akimichi Clan, the Aburame Clan, the Inuzuka Clan...

Nearly every major ninja clan in Konoha sent out scouts at the same time.

No one knew what had happened inside the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Inside the Uchiha Clan Compound.

The Uchiha clansmen who had escaped Itachi's blade huddled trembling in the dark.

Some of them heard the scream. After a long hesitation, they gathered their courage and felt their way toward it.

Bodies lay everywhere in the compound, and the air was thick with the smell of blood.

The stone path beneath their feet was sticky. Every step felt as though it landed in a pool of blood.

Still, they came.

When they reached the civilian house, now reduced to rubble, the sight before them stopped them in their tracks.

Under the moonlight, Uchiha Itachi knelt amid the debris, clutching a child tightly in his arms.

Two trails of bloody tears marked his face. His gaze was empty, as though his soul had been torn away.

At the center of the Uchiha Clan Compound stood the clan head's residence.

Uchiha Fugaku stood in the doorway, looking toward the depths of the compound with a complicated expression.

Beside him, Uchiha Mikoto gripped his arm tightly, her face pale.

Tonight, Itachi had told them he had a mission to carry out.

They knew what that meant.

They had chosen to accept it.

But now that desperate cry pierced the Night Sky, and both Fugaku's and Mikoto's hearts sank.

"Was that... Itachi?" Mikoto's voice trembled.

Fugaku did not answer, but his fists clenched.

"Let's go see."

He headed toward the sound, with Mikoto close behind.

Along the way, they saw the bodies of their clansmen, one after another.

Mikoto covered her mouth as tears slid silently down her cheeks.

Fugaku's expression grew darker, but he said nothing. He only quickened his pace.

When they passed through several alleys and reached the civilian house reduced to rubble, the sight before them stopped them both.

Amid the ruins.

Uchiha Itachi knelt on the ground, holding a child in his arms.

His face was streaked with bloody tears, and he looked utterly broken.

Several surviving Uchiha clansmen stood on the rubble around him. They stared at Itachi with anger, fear, and disbelief.

"Itachi..."

Fugaku's voice was low.

Uchiha Itachi trembled slightly.

He raised his head and looked at his father and mother.

The eyes streaming bloody tears held unbearable pain.

Fugaku's gaze shifted from Itachi's face to the child in his arms.

When he saw the child's face clearly, his breath caught.

That was...

Sasuke?!