Uchiha Itachi sat dazed on the bed, his eyes distant, as though a lifetime had passed. In front of him, Sasuke held both his hands, his expression earnest and his eyes full of concern.
He definitely hadn't started calling him "big brother" just to stay alive.
Before Itachi could start wondering whether to give his little brother a taste of his newly awakened dojutsu, Sasuke changed tack and got down to business.
"Brother, it's what we do that matters. Doesn't the very fact that we're talking here prove that our future isn't set in stone?
What the Sage of Six Paths showed me was only one of countless possible futures. And wasn't the whole reason he showed me to let us change all of this?
The past can't be undone, but the future is still ours to shape."
"But..."
For some reason, Uchiha Itachi could barely meet his little brother's eyes. He had begun questioning the purpose he had pursued all these years-even his entire sense of self.
Normally, neither he nor Shisui should have reacted this way, but Sasuke's revelations had hit so hard that they had left them utterly dazed.
Sasuke firmly cupped Uchiha Itachi's cheeks in both hands, looked him in the eye, and spoke earnestly.
"The brother I know isn't someone who cowers like this. He's full of confidence, brilliant beyond compare. He believes in himself without wavering. If he makes a mistake, then he makes a mistake-there's still a chance to put it right. He doesn't deny himself or drown in self-doubt.
So what if it's a dead end? Haven't you heard that there's always a way out? As long as you're willing to walk, there's a road beneath your feet!
Besides, this isn't a dead end! The moment you realized the future I saw wasn't what you wanted, that future was already destined to change!"
Watching the confusion gradually leave Uchiha Itachi's eyes, replaced by a light brighter than ever, Sasuke smiled faintly. The swagger he had never bothered to hide grew even more unrestrained.
"We make the plans-why should heaven get to decide whether they succeed?
Fate isn't fixed. What the future looks like depends on what we do now."
Seemingly moved by Sasuke's gaze, Itachi met his eyes earnestly. His expression shifted several times before he finally gave a firm nod and clasped Sasuke's hands tightly, his gaze almost tender...
Sasuke discreetly withdrew his hands, immediately regretting that heartfelt outpouring. They had been brothers for seven years, and Itachi was his big brother, but... even actual brothers weren't supposed to react like this, no matter how moved they were, damn it!
Hey, why did it feel like his brother complex was turning into full-blown obsessive devotion?!
Remembering how often he had dreamed of Itachi losing his mind at night, Sasuke's eye twitched wildly.
He remembered a story about a pair of star-crossed lovers.jpg.
Creak-
Uchiha Shisui pushed the door open and came in after taking a good while to recover. Seeing the scene before him, he rubbed his eyes. What had happened?
"Ahem, Shisui, how about I tell you another story about a star-crossed... ahem, an eyeless man who fell off a cliff and died, followed by his clan's destruction?"
Shisui: "???"
Still baffled, Shisui saw Uchiha Itachi abruptly turn toward him, a pitying smile curling his lips.
A little while later.
"Stop, stop, stop! Give me another minute to recover!"
Even the normally good-natured Shisui couldn't help shooting several fierce glares at Sasuke and Itachi. He had slipped outside precisely because he could tell Sasuke had more bombshells to drop and feared his convictions would collapse. Why were they still kicking him while he was down?!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Shisui went back out into the courtyard to catch his breath, leaving the recovered Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke staring at each other.
After a moment, neither could keep a straight face, and they laughed at the same time. Remembering his earlier confusion, Itachi couldn't resist asking.
"Sasuke, you said there were two pairs of Mangekyo outside the village. Assuming nothing unexpected happened, I must have defected, and my outlook must have changed. One of the remaining eyes should be the one Shisui entrusted to me, so what about the other? Was it that Masked Man's?
Was it because Madara Uchiha used Izanagi during the Battle of the Valley of the End, like you said?"
Sasuke smiled without answering. He rather enjoyed keeping Uchiha Itachi guessing and teasing him like this. Although he had gotten carried away and blurted out nearly everything he should and shouldn't have said, it would still take a miracle for Uchiha Itachi to figure it out.
But looking at Sasuke's expression, Itachi remembered certain things Sasuke had said in previous years-things he had dismissed as a child's wild, innocent fantasies-and a sudden flash of inspiration struck him.
"Wait. Four Mangekyo eyes outside the village... how many were still inside? Count Danzo's too."
Sasuke's smile stiffened slightly. Itachi's mind worked a little too fast... no, he had underestimated everyone because of the broken state Uchiha Itachi had been in when his convictions collapsed.
He was about to hold up one finger, but after meeting Itachi's bright, intent eyes, he reluctantly held up two.
" Hiss-"
Itachi sucked in a sharp breath, a chill running down his back. After the massacre, Sasuke was the only Uchiha left, so where had that Mangekyo come from? With the Uchiha wiped out, no new ones could emerge. It had to have existed beforehand.
Apart from the Uchiha, only one person in Konoha openly possessed a Sharingan...
His pupils contracted as a white-haired man with dead-fish eyes appeared in Uchiha Itachi's mind.
"Kakashi's Sharingan was a Mangekyo?!"
Sasuke: "Huh?!"
"How could someone outside the clan awaken a Mangekyo?
No... someone outside the clan couldn't awaken a Mangekyo, so it must have been a Mangekyo already..."
Sasuke: "Huh, huh, huh?!!"
Seriously, were you using cheats?! How the hell did you figure that out?!
Seeing Sasuke's reaction confirmed Itachi's suspicions, and he began working through the information he had in his head.
Madara Uchiha was alive and plotting something. The Masked Man was connected to Madara Uchiha. From what Sasuke had implied, that man had once been part of the village, and what he had done showed no regard for even his own family-he was worse than an animal. So it wasn't unreasonable to guess that the Masked Man was an Uchiha who had died or gone missing in one of the wars...
Countless names flashed through his mind. Combined with the information Sasuke had given him earlier, they finally settled on a boy wearing goggles.
"How is that possible? Didn't we just deliver Grandma Mikoto's allowance a little while ago?! How could the boy she described as so innocent and cheerful that he hardly seemed like an Uchiha be the mastermind behind everything?!"
Itachi looked as though he had seen a ghost. Sasuke also looked as though he had seen a ghost. Even Shisui, who had just opened the door and stepped one foot inside, looked as though he had seen a ghost. Then he walked back out.
What the hell was going on?! ×3
Sasuke scratched his head in frustration, feeling that things were slipping out of his control. He had only planned to show off a little after taking care of business and annoy Itachi while he was at it. Why did it feel like he was annoying himself instead?
But while he was wondering how to explain this, Itachi exhaled and shook his head.
There was too much information to take in, but it wasn't crucial to their immediate situation. They could discuss it later. He now believed almost everything Sasuke had told him and was especially heartened by his astonishing performance.
That's my beloved little brother!
"We'll discuss this later. Now isn't the time. Our immediate priority is figuring out how to avoid that utterly disastrous future."
"Actually, the moment you became aware of this, Brother, the ending had already changed. If we want to steer it toward the best possible outcome, it only takes a few simple steps: bring the village and the Uchiha closer together with as little bloodshed as possible. Cooperation benefits both sides in the first place."
Pausing, Sasuke beckoned to Shisui, who had opened the door and was hesitating over whether to come in. Then he fixed his gaze on Itachi's eyes.
"And the first step is for the clan's Mangekyo wielders to beat out a consensus."
Exchanging a glance with Shisui, Itachi immediately understood who Sasuke meant.
The head of the Uchiha Clan, captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, leader of the clan's Hawks, and his father-Uchiha Fugaku.
But...
"I understand the reasoning, but why do we have to beat out a consensus?"
Before you continue