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Itachi doesn't remember much about his childhood back in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. One of his earliest memories was at at four when he came home from his very first day of school with a finger paint drawing of his whole family, their house, and even the cat. He was very proud of it, but his father, Fugaku, was not nearly as thrilled. His mother Mikoto did hang it on the fridge, but the next day it was gone, ripped to bits in the garbage can, and Itachi was given something new to do at school: reading "Crime and Punishment."

That was just the way his dad was. He expected a lot of his oldest son, and Itachi tried to fill the role he was expected to. It was difficult, certainly, and he worked a lot harder than he let people know, but lived up to expectations. When he did, the expectations rose. His mother was not much help in these situations, too afraid to stand up to her husband or go against his will.

By the time Itachi was ten, he came to the conclusion that he was more of a tool then a son. But every child strives for their parents approval, and so he also learned that if his parents wanted him as a tool, so he should be. Easy, right? So it seemed at first glance, but there was one more variable to take into account: Sasuke.

Itachi's little brother loved him unconditionally. There were no expectations to fill, no reputation to live up to, no plans for his future. For Sasuke, Itachi was a brother and not a tool. He spent time with Sasuke whenever he could, which wasn't very often considering his schedule. In a way, they were little more than strangers, but the way Sasuke just was, uncorrupted and untainted, Itachi couldn't help but love him for it.

With age thirteen came rebellious hormones, and Itachi took his realization that he was being used one step further and saw that it was wrong. He refused to go the extra mile his father always tried to push him. In fact, he refused a lot of things. But the result he got was not at all what he desired. Sure, his father eased off, but rather than getting mad he simply gave up on Itachi and moved onto plan B. For eight years Itachi had been blind to what his little brother really was: his spare.

He didn't want to let his father corrupt Sasuke, but what choice did he have? All he could do was watch his brother struggle trying to fit his old shoes, and succeeding, if only barely. He knew Sasuke well enough that he would most likely break under the pressure eventually, and so Itachi pushed himself ever harder, but it was too late; his father's eyes were elsewhere.

Having skipped two grades in school, Itachi graduated high school two years earlier than normal and began his undergrad at one of the top colleges in Japan, planning to major in the field of Law. Three years later his father heard of opportunity in the United States and so uprooted his family to move to Sacramento, California. Itachi, rather than going straight to college, took intensive English classes and then applied to Harvard, all the way across the country. The school was a great one, so his father would have no complaints, and he would also have a chance to get away. Naturally, he was accepted.

It was not long before he was due to leave that March 23th happened. It was a quiet evening, Itachi, nineteen at the time, was upstairs studying, when he heard his parents yelling downstairs. His mother was wailing something, and his father was screaming. English and Japanese were all slurred together, and Itachi's brain had a fairly hard time comprehending. He ran downstairs to investigate in time to see his father pointing a gun at this mother. He yelled at his father, acquiring at to what he was doing, and his father just turned to him, smiled, and answered, "This, son," before firing. His mother's scream died in her throat along with her.

Itachi, completely outraged, ran at his father and tried to get the gun away. He noted his father's pupils were dilated, a sign of drug use. His father was not the type to use drugs. What on earth had gotten into him? Itachi had been taking Tai kwan do lessons since he was six, but his father was stronger. In the struggle for the gun that followed, someone's finger pulled the trigger. Fugaku fell down on the ground next to his wife, a bloodstain blooming on his chest.

Itachi looked that floor of the living room, the two bodies lying there, and for the first time in his life was completely scared. Be bolted upstairs, packed as much stuff as he could into one suitcase, and ran. He caught the next plane to New York, and from there to Connecticut, where he started his graduate years at Harvard.

To this day he blames only himself for what happened. He was no idea why or how March 23rd happened, but he knows it was him who at least shot his father, and he knows that if he had gotten downstairs sooner and disarmed his father he could have saved his mother as well. It was all his fault. All of it.

After he received his degree at Harvard, there was nowhere to go but back to where he came from. He moved to San Fransisco, where he quickly got a job at a small private firm. He lives in a small apartment on the outskirts of town alone. He is very well aware that his brother must still be out there somewhere, and what he must think. If they ever meet, as unlikely as it is, he must let Sasuke keep thinking that. It's easier than explaining, and in the end it's the same conclusion.

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