#i think many underestimate sasuke's impact on itachi's life

[usratonkachi]

We need to talk about Itachi Uchiha.

Not an anti or pro post, I guess, just a personal analysis.

We need to talk about Itachi, but not the hero, not the shinobi, not the cold-blooded murderer, and certainly not the Itachi Of The Leaf™ bullshit.

We should talk more about Sasuke’s big brother, which is, for me, Itachi’s most important facet, that defines almost his whole self as a character. Ya’ll see, I can’t not agree with those who state he sucked as Sasuke’s brother because he wanted to manipulate him all the time by doing some really twisted shit, but my point here is not pointing fingers nor defend any actions. I just want to get off my mind some thoughts about him.

Itachi was only 4 years old when he witnessed the brutality of war with his own eyes (and his whole body if you remember that that was the first time he killed someone). The reason why this is the start of his story is very significant. We often forget that all Itachi knew about before Sasuke’s birth was war and “you have to be a great shinobi to survive this shit”. He knew death by his own hands, he knew blood, he knew a battlefield, and then he saw Sasuke, the very first pure thing he had ever seen, a new life, a new beginning. At this point, all Itachi wanted was to make the world a peaceful place, but now he had another goal: he had to protect Sasuke at all costs. And, as shocking as it may sound, he did it.

Itachi was a double agent while the whole Uchiha coup thing was going on. He didn’t know who he was anymore, as he admits himself to Kabuto later, who he related to when heard about his trajectory as a double agent. A person who always wandered about the concept of a ninja village, of a clan, of a community, didn’t know shit about anything any longer. The thing is: Danzou knew somehow about Itachi’s weakness. And he used it to make Itachi finally make up his mind, leading him into a result that would be advantageous to Konoha. Danzou threatened Sasuke’s life. He said clearly “you can join your clan and you all die, or you slaughter them yourself in order to save your little brother”. That was what made Itachi finally decide. All I can say about it is that he didn’t take Konoha’s or Uchiha’s side, he took Sasuke’s side. He even made sure Sasuke would be safe in the Village by threatning Danzou saying he would tell all Konoha’s secret to the other villages if Sasuke was hurt. I mean, the same guy who hated war and who was supposed to kill his entire clan for the sake of Konoha and the world was whilling to start another one in revenge. Where’s the “Itachi was one of the only Uchiha that didn’t succumb to the Hatred Curse™ (I don’t buy this Tobirama shit too)” thing now?

Anyway, that’s just a little proof of how much Sasuke was important to Itachi and how he had a huge impact on his life. He did love Sasuke very much, you see, but he loved him in a very twisted way, I can’t deny that. But what’s not twisted about shinobis’ lifes? We have to have (“have to have”, is this right?) in mind this is not like real life at all. Anyway, he manipulated Sasuke in every way possible to keep him alive. This word is very important: alive. Itachi’s personal mission was to keep Sasuke alive, and to achieve this goal, he used hatred. He made Sasuke hate him deeply to his core so that he would be stronger and survive to shinobi world, which he had seen many times its cruelty. At this point, all he managed to do was to keep on living despite his disease so that Sasuke would kill him and finally go back to Konoha as a hero. It’s not like he cared about his own life any longer (and I personally think he never really did). However, he didn’t count with Sasuke thinking and feeling for himself. We know he thought about the possibility that Tobi would try to manipulate him and all, but he underestimated Sasuke’s views about the world and will to make justice (no wonder, everyone in this show did this since the very beginning and the fandom does too, so bleh to all of you who don’t take my boy seriously). The thing is: Itachi was so used to see Sasuke as his little brother who needed to be protected that he didn’t see this coming (blind in so many ways poor Itachi lmao). But he didn’t care about what Sasuke could do anyway. And this is another thing very important that I want to emphasize: if Konoha was that important to Itachi, don’t ya’ll think he would try to brainwash Sasuke to save it in the first place, like Naruto did so many times before? It’s true that he trusted Naruto to do it (mehhh), but he didn’t think twice before saying “no matter what you do from now on, I will love you forever”. Even if Sasuke destroyed everything Itachi “protected” before, he would NEVER stop loving him or would judge him. Just like Sasuke forgave Itachi in the blink of an eye for everything. That’s how much they truly love and are kind of obsessed with each other.

Well, I didn’t mean to extend myself at this point but there’s one last thing. Itachi was always meant to be a sacrifice. He was a man who truly wished to make the world a better place and, yes, he was a cold-blooded murdered. He didn’t think twice before killing someone if he believed that was the right thing to do, and maybe he didn’t even think too much about how cruel it is to take someone else’s life. “That’s how you survive the shinobi world anyway”, he probably thought, still stuck on the 3rd Great Ninja War.

The difference is that Itachi sacrificed himself not mostly for peace, but for Sasuke. To make him survive anything bad that could ever happen to him. He broke Sasuke apart but did what he was meant to do since Sasuke was born: protected his little brother and delayed his death as much as he could while he was still alive.

And that’s why I’m not able to see Itachi as a hero or as someone so devoted to Konoha. For me, he was mostly devoted to Sasuke.