The Light to His Darkness

Prologue

It was a dark night. The full moon's light illuminated the streets of the village hidden in the leaves, also known as Konohagakure. For the other inhabitants, it was a calm evening like all the others. But for the Uchiha clan, it was the darkest and bloodiest night of their entire existence. For him, it was a night of pain and sacrifice. A night that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Itachi Uchiha stood in the middle of the street, near what was once his house, a neutral expression on his face. The bodies of his victims lying on the ground around him, lifeless.

That night, he lost everything. His parents, his teammates, his friends and everyone he knew and loved. They were all dead. He killed all of them with his own hands. That night, the young prodigy and ANBU captain became a murderer.

He couldn't keep the promise he made to his best friend Shisui. All their plans had fallen through. All their efforts in vain. Then, he found himself all alone to carry that heavy burden on his shoulders. All alone to carry that big secret in his heart.

"I-Itachi... W-Why?" a small, trembling voice whispered.

The latter directed his empty gaze toward his little brother who was on his knees, on the ground in front of him, terrified by what he had just seen. His little body was shaking like a leaf barely hanging on a tree during a heavy storm. The eldest Uchiha looked him straight in the eye with his Mangekyou Sharingan, terrorizing him even more.

He forced himself to tell him things he didn't feel. Horrors for which he was not responsible such as the death of his best friend Shisui or the fact that he massacred his clan to test his abilities, to become stronger. The fact that he was playing the kind and gentle big brother act so he could gain their trust. All of those were lies.

He forced the child to rewatch the massacre of his clan several times, in a loop, again and again, without stopping. He drove him crazy. He forced him to rewatch how he eliminated his parents over and over again. He wanted his little brother to hate him with all his being, to loathe him.

He hid the truth from him. The fact that he had done all that to protect the village. To protect him. He knew that the clan was planning a coup d'etat and that the Hokage was aware of it. He also knew that it was very possible that the clan would fail. That it would lead them to be called traitors, to be killed. 

The 13-year-old Uchiha had to make a choice. Either obey orders and eliminate the whole clan with his own hands while sparing his little brother, or perish with them.

What could he have done? What could he have done other than obey to avoid the humiliation of his clan? To prevent them from being called traitors? To prevent Sasuke from being killed?

"Little fool... If you want to be able to kill me one day, fill your heart with resentment! Hate me! Save your life cowardly... Run... Run! Hold on to life... Then, when you possess the same eyes as me, come to me!" he spat out those words that were like venom in a very cold, even icy tone.

Sasuke Uchiha had in front of him a criminal. The image of the nice and kind big brother no longer existed in his mind. For him, all that was just an act that he played to obtain the trust of the clan. For him, Itachi Uchiha was nothing but a traitor.

But what he didn't know was that, deep down, Itachi was dying slowly with sadness and remorse. He had to do this. He was forced to do it. Threatened to do it. He didn't have a choice. He never had it anyway.

The young boy with long black hair tied in a low ponytail turned his back on the person who was, in his eyes, the dearest in the world. The person for whom he preferred to make this enormous sacrifice. The person he loved more than himself.

He took a few steps forward before turning his head one last time towards his little brother. He let out a small tear despite himself. A tear that reflected all his pain, his regret, his guilt, his powerlessness to change things and his inability to protect his parents and his friends.

He disappeared from Sasuke's field of view in a split second, leaving him all alone. He abandoned him forever, leaving behind him an immense hatred and a great desire of revenge that was devouring the little boy from within.

Itachi had only one goal in his miserable life from that moment on. Live to serve the village as a double agent in the biggest criminal organization named the Akatsuki. But also, living while waiting for the day when he will be eliminated by his little brother. The day when he can finally get rid of his pain and rest in peace.

From that day on, Itachi lived only for one goal... to die.