Itachi was a man weighed down by thoughts. He always considered things no one else would, making him old before his time.
He had been that way ever since he was little, leaving others unable to guess what he truly thought.
Unrest within the Uchiha Clan was growing. There were doves who sought peace, hawks who sought radical change, and even some who stood in the middle, watching and waiting.
Itachi could sense a massive conspiracy looming over the Uchiha Clan, pressing down on him until he could barely breathe, as though an invisible hand were controlling everything from behind the scenes. Yet he had no idea what to do. Where could the Uchiha Clan's fate possibly lead...?
As he was lost in thought, he suddenly glimpsed a dust-covered figure outside the window hurrying into the house. He could only vaguely make out the figure's lowered head and clenched teeth, seemingly struggling to hold something back, with a barely perceptible look of hurt on his face.
That was right. The newcomer was none other than the second son of our Uchiha Clan Head-Sasuke Uchiha.
"Big brother, are you there?"
Hearing Sasuke knock on his bedroom door, Itachi opened it to find tears still brimming in Sasuke's eyes, their rims red and swollen, as though the tears might spill at any moment.
Itachi could imagine how desperately he had held back his emotions the whole way home to keep his tears from falling. Looking him over, he saw that Sasuke was filthy, his clothes disheveled and covered in dust, his whole appearance utterly bedraggled. The hurt on his face was even harder to conceal, as though he had suffered some tremendous injustice.
Although Itachi knew what had happened, he still had to pretend he knew nothing.
"What's wrong, Sasuke? Did someone bully you?"
At the sound of Itachi's gentle voice, Sasuke could no longer hold himself together. His tears were like a dam on the verge of bursting, suddenly pouring out as its floodgates gave way.
He threw himself into Itachi's arms and burst into tears. As the son of the Uchiha Clan Head, when had he ever suffered such humiliation? Someone had actually thrashed him that badly. It was simply too embarrassing.
Only after Itachi had comforted him for quite some time did Sasuke choke out what had happened at school that day. It left Itachi speechless. He really could not blame Naruto Uzumaki for saying that. If you sucked, practice more. If you could not take losing, do not play.
The Itachi of the present had not yet become the laughably filial son he would later be. He understood his duties as an older brother and felt that, as Sasuke's brother, he had to shoulder that responsibility. An eldest brother was like a father, so today, Itachi decided to properly educate this foolish little brother of his. Otherwise, if this kept up, the boy would grow up crooked.
"Sasuke, what exactly do you want to do? You're not asking your big brother to settle the score for you, are you? No way, no way. Surely no Uchiha would actually do something like that? That would be far too embarrassing. Our Uchiha Clan can't afford that kind of disgrace..."
Itachi's words were like a sharp sword, slicing straight through a certain person's fig leaf and instantly silencing Sasuke. His brother had seen through every little scheme of his. It was rather awkward.
"Ahem, nothing of the sort, big brother. How could I do something like that? I wanted you to train with me and teach me powerful ninjutsu so I can get stronger, then defeat that guy Naruto myself. I'll get my revenge with my own hands."
Hearing this, Itachi breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that what he had just done really had been necessary. He had noticed something was off about Sasuke, but he had not expected his little brother to actually want him to teach his classmate a lesson. This... in any case, there was no way he would go. He simply could not bear that kind of embarrassment.
Even setting all that aside, if his little brother really learned to throw his weight around and flaunted his status as an Uchiha outside every day, their father would probably give Sasuke a complete childhood without Itachi having to lift a finger, wouldn't he?
After all, the Uchiha Clan's reputation in the village was already utterly rotten. If someone continued damaging relations between the village and the Uchiha at this critical juncture... hiss, the consequences did not bear thinking about...
For now, though, teaching Sasuke a few principles was more important.
"Sasuke, do you know why you lost today?"
But before Itachi had even finished speaking, he seemed to sense something and looked toward a spot within the clan grounds. Then he looked back at Sasuke and tapped his forehead with his index and middle fingers.
"Sorry, Sasuke. Next time. Something just came up."
At those words, Sasuke, who had been perfectly happy a moment ago, changed his expression faster than turning a page. He immediately grew upset, his little lips jutting out so far they could hold an oil jug. He really could not understand what his older brother was up to. Why had he gone back on his word? He had just said he would train with him.
Watching Sasuke turn his head away, too angry to look at him, Itachi could only smile helplessly and shake his head, offering no explanation.
"All right, Sasuke. Next time, for sure."
As Itachi said this, he tapped Sasuke's forehead with two fingers again, making Sasuke cry out in pain.
After that, Itachi quickly left, leaving Sasuke behind to sulk alone.
"Hmph, damn it! Stupid big brother, mean big brother! All you do is lie! And Naruto, you big idiot, just you wait! One day, I'll beat you with my own hands!"
It turned out that Itachi had sensed Shisui's chakra and rushed straight to their usual training spot, even leaving Sasuke behind at home.
Sure enough, only after seeing that familiar figure from behind did Itachi's mood ease a little, because there were far, far too many things he wanted to ask Shisui.
"Big brother Shisui, you're back?"
Shisui nodded. Looking at Itachi, who had already grown nearly as tall as him, he could not help marveling at how quickly time passed. That little child who had once followed him around every day was now a ninja capable of holding his own. Whenever he thought of this, he felt deeply gratified.
"Yes, I'm back, Itachi."
Itachi looked at Shisui and hesitated to speak. He truly did not know how to explain the recent changes in the village to big brother Shisui. He did not even know what he himself should do. He had entered what people often called a period of confusion.
Seemingly noticing that something was wrong with Itachi, Shisui smiled gently.
"Itachi, what's wrong? Is there something you want to ask me?"
Since Shisui had taken the initiative to ask, Itachi could hardly put him off any longer, so he told Shisui about the recent changes in the village, the relationship between the Uchiha Clan and the village, and the rest.
After listening to Itachi, Shisui also fell briefly silent. His lips moved, but in the end, he merely remained silent.
In truth, Shisui had long since noticed that relations between the village and the Uchiha Clan were growing increasingly tense. There had even been calls within the clan to launch a rebellion and overthrow the Hokage, but Clan Head Fugaku had suppressed them all.
Shisui knew all of this, but he did not know how to tell the Itachi standing before him. After all, he had always thought of Itachi as a little brother. If possible, he did not really want him to face these things...
"Itachi, who told you all this?"