Uchiha Itachi had never imagined he would receive such an answer from Uchiha Chizumi.
He looked up and met Chizumi's gaze.
Those sharp black eyes—could they really see through the "evil" he would one day commit?
That he himself would wipe out the entire Uchiha clan?
Itachi could not find words for what he felt.
Shock?
Bewilderment?
Horror?
Or perhaps all of these at once?
So much so that when Chizumi's hand closed around his throat, Itachi did not try to dodge.
He stood perfectly still, experiencing the faint suffocation as the five fingers tightened.
His lips trembled; he forced out a question: "Will the future your eyes see definitely come to pass?"
He did not know why, but when he noticed that of all the names Chizumi mentioned, his younger brother Sasuke was missing…
A slight relief stirred in his heart.
That alone proved—without asking—he already believed Chizumi truly could see the evil of the future.
"Itachi‑kun, Senpai has never misjudged anyone! Even the Hokage's eldest son—Senpai saw the evil in him! It's an ability not even the Hokage could refute!"
The reply did not come from Chizumi but from Izumi behind him, her voice already choking.
The girl had long since placed unconditional trust in every word Chizumi said.
She believed he would never lie.
Which meant…
Both she and her mother would, on some future day, die at Itachi's hands.
She could not accept that.
Eyes blurring with tears, Izumi quickly wiped the corners of her eyes.
Gritting her teeth, she asked the question everyone—Fugaku included—most wanted answered:
"Itachi‑kun… why would you do this? I'm your friend! My mom has no grudge against you! And the people of the Uchiha clan—none of them have wronged you either!"
"So many of them are kind! Even Senpai hasn't arrested them; that proves they're truly good! Why would you kill even those kind clanmates?"
"You told me yourself how much you love Konoha!"
Izumi truly could not understand. In her memory, Uchiha Itachi was introverted, yes, but at least kind—
At the very least a shinobi who loved the village.
So why would he turn a blade on Konoha's own people?
Itachi gave no answer.
He was still thinking.
"Itachi…" After more than a minute of silence, Uchiha Fugaku finally spoke, expression complex:
"If the village and the Uchiha clan were to enter an irreparable conflict… you would stand with the Hokage, wouldn't you?"
Itachi froze.
Suddenly he understood why his "future evil" showed the clan's annihilation.
If matters truly reached the point of no return…
He knew he would choose—not the Uchiha, but the greater Konoha.
To keep the Konoha from plunging into a civil war of heavy casualties; to keep the Uchiha name from being forever stained by rebellion—
He would be the one to stop it all.
He would willingly bear every sin, every curse.
Even if it meant betrayal by all; even if it meant the label of rogue ninja, he would unhesitatingly protect Konoha.
"…I understand."
Now all his doubts are connected.
He saw why Chizumi's hostility toward him was so strong though he had done nothing to deserve it.
So—
That was the "future" awaiting him?
Did it mean the rift between clan and village was truly unbridgeable?
That violence was inevitable?
And that this "future" lay only a year ahead?
Feeling the grip vanish from his neck, Itachi stepped half a pace back.
He coughed lightly, easing the discomfort.
"No wonder you want to kill me…"
Drawing a deep breath, heart swirling with emotions even he could not name, Itachi met Chizumi's eyes again:
"You think everything I will do in the future is wrong. You think if you strangle me in the cradle, the Uchiha massacre won't happen."
"But, Chizumi, you haven't realized—you've already taken the Uchiha side. You haven't thought through what disaster would strike Konoha if I didn't act."
"If the Uchiha and the village fight, the whole Konoha will fall into a terrifying war. Then the dead will number in the thousands—maybe tens of thousands! Konoha would never recover from such a civil war!"
"Chizumi, I understand my future actions. It's something I must do—something I cannot avoid."
As he spoke, a faint smile curled on his lips. Once he grasped what he would one day do, he could almost step into that future self and feel his emotions.
A trace of bitterness lay within the smile; two clear tears slid down his cheeks, born of silent, self‑moved resolve.
He could feel endless curses and misunderstandings rushing at him, yet he would carry the resolve to protect Konoha—and a secret he could never voice—quietly toward death.
Right…
Perhaps he would not kill Sasuke after all.
Perhaps he would leave a contingency—to train Sasuke, letting him become Konoha's new guardian.
So Sasuke could safeguard Konoha's future.
"Where the leaves dance, the fire lives on. In the past, present, and future… I will gladly become a withered leaf burned to ash, illuminating the village's tomorrow."
"Father, I'm sorry to disappoint you. If, in the future, you truly choose that path, I will stand against you."
"That is the conviction and capacity I cannot be shaken from."
Itachi spoke earnestly to Fugaku.
Fugaku was left speechless.
The proud gaze he once turned on his eldest son now felt unfamiliar—almost chilling.
He wanted to refute Itachi.
To slap him hard across the face.
To shout and demand why he was so cold‑blooded, why he would spare not even his own kin.
But…
Imagining the consequences of all‑out war between the Uchiha and Konoha—
A sliver of despair rose in Fugaku's heart.
If Itachi of the future had chosen to protect Konoha, then this was the only choice left to him as well.
—SMACK!!!
A sudden, resounding slap rang out; Fugaku saw Itachi's face whip to the side, a vivid red handprint blooming on his naturally pale cheek.
It was not Fugaku's hand.
Nor Chizumi's.
"Uchiha Itachi!!!"
Izumi, eyes brimming with tears, glared at the friend who now felt like a stranger.
Her chest heaved; voice breaking, she shouted, "Is this what your conviction amounts to—disgusting, nauseating evil? What are you getting all sentimental about in the name of justice? Someone like you dares speak of the Will of Fire? You're a twelve‑year‑old kid—can you think straight? What right do you have to decide the lives and deaths of innocent people?!"
~~~
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