#i have a dark kakasasu in my writing list and it's about this scenario too

[avenger-hawk]

How do you think Sasuke's story would have gone if he were never told the truth about Itachi?

Sasuke didn’t even imagine his life after Itachi’s death. Everything he lived for, everything he trained for, everything he planned, ended with his revenge, with Itachi’s death. There was nothing beyond that.

In the anime (ep478) he’s shown on the ground, beside Itachi’s dead body, falling into unconsciousness and saying: “Niisan, I’ll be seeing you soon”. I always thought that he would have wanted to die after Itachi, and that scene validates it. If someone objects that it’s something added by SP, the same thing can be seen on Sasuke’s look when he woke up in Obito’s hideout. He was an empty shell, uninterested in anything until Obito mentioned his brother and the truth. Besides, let me remind that (cap309, or ep52 or 53) when Naruto yelled at Sasuke that Orochimaru wanted to use his body as a vessel (thus implying the death of his identity, his consciousness, at the very least) Sasuke clearly replies: “If I can obtain the power to defeat Itachi by giving myself over to Orochimaru I would gladly give him my life many times over”.

(long post ahead)

Itachi has always been what kept Sasuke alive, in more than one way. He accepted to carry on the massacre to spare his life, he manipulated him so that he would have a reason to exist, making revenge his only purpose, he made sure that his hate would only be focused on him.

Even though Sasuke never really hated him, as Itachi himself noticed when he said that he didn’t have enough hate.

The future Itachi envisioned for Sasuke was for him to get stronger in Konoha then find him, and kill him, thus obtaining a new power, prestige for having killed an S-rank criminal such as he was, and most of it all peace, finally having obtained his revenge.

He miscalculated his importance for Sasuke though. He thought his brother would compartmentalize his hate somehow, being able to put it aside and live a life as normal as it could be in his circumstances, and sometimes it looked like it was almost happening, because of his bond with Kakashi, Team 7, and most of it all Naruto, whose life he saved at the cost of his own.

Yet it didn’t happen because of their meeting at the inn. That event destroyed Sasuke’s already low self-esteem, showing him how little he had grown in terms of strength, making him vulnerable to Orochimaru’s manipulation and making him eventually leave. Still for Itachi’s plan, however an unplanned setback (and a very dangerous one…I’m sure Itachi was very very worried about his brother in the hands of someone he knew very well, from his days as Danzo’s subordinate and from his Akatsuki days), it would have still led to the same conclusion. His death, by Sasuke’s hands. It would have even granted him Konoha’s pardon, because in Itachi’s mind it was obvious that once Sasuke killed him he would return to the village and resume his life.

Like I said Itachi miscalculated Sasuke’s feelings. He didn’t realize how deep they were, how irreplaceable he was for his brother, how impossible it was to compartmentalize his hate and put it aside and live normally, especially after having felt so worthless against him. Sasuke followed Orochimaru, well knowing how dangerous it was, because he needed strength, and not the strenght he could acquire in Konoha, by regular training, but the power granted by someone who put no limits on his knowledge, using forbidden jutsu and whatever he laid his hands on. Exactly what Sasuke needed to defeat someone as strong as his brother.

(In fact, the only time Sasuke looked really afraid in part 2 was exactly when Itachi was coming towards him, after he used all his powers. He was stepping back and his legs were trembling and he looked frightened. I don’t think he was afraid of dying actually, on that occasion. He was afraid of Itachi himself…actually he has that same expression even when Edo Tensei Itachi is coming towards him, although it’s for a short moment. To me it’s because his body was remembering the trauma of the night of the massacre and of that day of their final fight, before Itachi poked him and died…)

However, his revenge was a complex thing. It wasn’t like the typical revenge where you feel satisfaction and accomplishment. It wasn’t like Shikamaru’s, for example. Shikamaru hated Hidan, once he defeated him and avenged Asuma, he was satisfied and ready to move on. (I won’t consider how hypocritical is the different treatment their revenges had because this is not the topic but still)

Sasuke never really hated Itachi…even when he was running towards the inn, he remembers the best times of their childhood. Then he remembers the massacre and how evil he turned. In his memory, in his mind and heart, Itachi first appears as his beloved brother, and then as the evil murderer. It’s even more painful this way. Itach was his most important person and later he became his reason to live, someone he forced himself to hate, someone he focused on constantly, especially during his training under Orochimaru. 

The look he had when he woke up in that cave speaks volumes on how broken he was, how empty he was. It’s like his life has lost any purpose, any meaning. He only existed to avenge his clan against his brother. In the past, when he fought Gaara and protected Naruto against him, he had thought that if he were to die that day it would have meant that he wasn’t strong enough, that he wasn’t worthy enough, to carry on his revenge. It was never about him, it was always about his purpose, his brother. So he’s completely empty, before he’s told the truth, before he finds a new purpose, still related to Itachi, even more related to Itachi.

If Sasuke weren’t told the truth, he would have been completely lost, without a purpose.     

I see 3 possible outcomes. I saw 2 at first but I later edited this post with a 3rd.

He would have stayed with Obito.

I added this cause I hadn’t considered it at first but it’s not impossible. Sasuke would have left the masked weird Akatsuki guy who used to be Deidara’s partner if that very guy didn’t give him something. But Obito might have pushed on being another Uchiha, manipulating him using their common blood as connection. He might have convinced Sasuke that there is nothing in Konoha for him, and at this point he would be right and with Sasuke feeling empty and apathetic, it would be easy to ‘keep him’, and, with the right push, turn him to his side. Not because he’d want to destroy Konoha cause not knowing the truth he wouldn’t care about them, but telling him about Infinite Tsukuyomi, and the possibility to have Itachi back, for example. And Itachi who never killed their parents. A vulnerable, empty Sasuke might see this as a purpose for living.

He would have been found by Konoha.

They would have taken him back to the village, where he would have been put in jail for a hopefully short time until someone (I want to think Kakashi since he just helped Shikamaru with his. Also…because. you know.) cleared their suspicions pointing out that Itachi was an S-Rank criminal and the favor he did to the village outweighed his desertion.

Thus Sasuke would be free, he’d return to his old apartment and he’d be reinstated as a shinobi in due time. His former team would be overjoyed to have him back but he would be detached, apathetic, completely disconnected. He would live mechanically, so to speak. 

Maybe, with time, he would get better. 

This is the future Itachi envisioned for him basically. Only I don’t think Sasuke’s healing process, his moving on, would be fast or easy, and I think he’d never really be happy anyway, because his heart would still ache for the loss of his most important person who, despite having killed their parents and clan and made his life miserable, would still be in his heart, no matter how.

It would take a lot of understanding and a lot of unconditional love to be beside Sasuke without judging, without imposing their ideas and feelings on him. In this scenario I’d like Kakashi to play an important role, because Sasuke looked up to him in part 1 and they had a bond, a strong affinity and chemistry and if only Kakashi had realized that if hiding behing rules and putting the village above himself and anything personal “worked” for him as coping mechanism, it doesn’t mean it would work for everyone, certainly not for Sasuke. Same for Naruto, who should give him space and never impose his values on him.

This is more or less the typical Emi10/Rankai doujinshi AU. And in general it’s a nice AU to read. 

He would have been found by his team, Team Hebi. 

They would have healed him and stayed by his side. He would have woken up with that broken look, not hearing a single thing they said, they would have made their usual mess but they’d have kept their eyes on him, never leaving him alone. Sasuke would have probably wanted to be left alone, and maybe he would have escaped to be on his own, not eating or sleeping or anything, and they would have found him after a while and cared for him, taking him outside in the sun, showing him random little things just to keep his mind off pain and suffering and lack of will to live. 

They would travel, doing odd jobs when they got out of money.

One of my Team Hebi/Taka headcanons is that when Sasuke killed Orochimaru he also took all his money he could find, because he didn’t have anything of his own, and certainly Suigetsu or Juugo didn’t have any. Karin did have some earned money instead, but Sasuke has been shown paying for the weapons and in the anime also paying for all those desserts for Suigetsu so~

Not being in Konoha, a place with too many sad memories, would benefit Sasuke, although he wouldn’t be happy. He would find a sort of peace faster though.

When he freed Suigetsu then Orochimaru’s prisoners, Suigetsu told them to spread the word, that a man had come to bring peace to this world. Suigetsu was so grateful to Sasuke that he defined him a savior for prisoners and oppressed, a detail that has been overlooked with the further development of the plot. I think it’s an important detail that might give an idea of his possible development if he hadn’t known the truth. 

Away from Konoha, not bound by any loyalty, with his unusual comrades beside, a free group of people travelling and helping when needed.

Even though Sasuke’s heart would still ache for the loss of his most important person.