The air in the hospital room seemed to freeze. Every gaze settled on Uchiha Itachi's pale face, waiting for the answer that had come far too late. Light filtering through the window cast faint shadows in his deep eyes, adding to their gloom.
He coughed violently several times. Shizune immediately stepped forward to help, but he stopped her with a slight lift of his hand. He drew a deep breath, the sound ragged from lungs strained beyond their limits, then looked into Sasuke's stubborn, anguished eyes and slowly spoke. His voice remained hoarse and weak, yet carried an unsettling calm now that every pretense had fallen away.
"That night... the Konoha High Command-Shimura Danzō-forced me to make that choice, using your life and the greater casualties a civil war would cause as leverage." His words were like cold blades, each one laying bare the bloody past. "The Uchiha coup... could no longer be stopped. If it continued, the Uchiha would be wiped out, and Konoha would be severely weakened, giving outside enemies an opening."
Sasuke trembled slightly. Though he had already learned this from the scroll, hearing Itachi say it himself still struck him with more force than he could bear.
"Danzo's terms... were that I would do it myself and bear the name of traitor, in exchange for your safety, and... for the Uchiha name to avoid utter disgrace and live on through your bloodline." Itachi's gaze never wavered as he calmly described that brutal bargain. "I... accepted."
"Why... you?!" Sasuke forced the words through clenched teeth, his anger and bewilderment suppressed to their limit. "Why did it have to be you?! We could have done it together..."
"Done what together? Fought back?" Itachi interrupted him, clear, profound sorrow showing in his eyes for the first time. "Did we