Chapter Text
Seven-year-old Sasuke Uchiha's eyes widened as she stared at the bodies littering the ground in horror.
Tears welled in her eyes as she walked through the eerily silent compound, the stench of blood quickly becoming overwhelming.
"Kaa-san? Tou-san? ...Nii-san?" the innocent little girl called out, clinging desperately to that thin string of hope that maybe someone, anyone, could be still alive.
However, as she walked through the blood-covered hallways, that string of hope slowly slipped away from her hands.
Dread pooled in her stomach as she stopped in front of a particular room.
She slowly opened the door to find her brother, covered in so much blood that her stomach turned, standing over her parents' bodies.
"Nii-san! Kaa-san and Tou-san are....Why?! What is this?!" The child cried, refusing to believe the harsh truth.
"Foolish little sister," her elder brother said menacingly, "I killed our clan to test my strength; to obtain the mangekyō sharingan."
The little girl flinched as her brother walked towards her, unable to take her eyes off of the blood.
"You will become strong. Become strong enough to kill me and survive in obscurity." Itachi said.
'Why would you want me to live just to kill you?' the younger of the two thought, 'Why wouldn't you take the opportunity to kill me now?'
"No." the little girl said, mustering up a determined face, "I will not kill you. Not without a true reason. I do not want to make the wrong decision and lose my only surviving relative because of faulty judgement."
Itachi's face softened ever so slightly before returning to its stoic nature.
"Very well, then. We will meet again, Sasuke." Itachi looked into his younger sister's eyes, mangekyō sharingan ablaze.
Had Sasuke been conscious for a second longer, she would have seen the tears streaming down Itachi's face, and a few seconds more and she would have heard his choked sobs.