Naruto: First Love

Chapter 422 Extra - Itachi
"Being excellent also has its troubles. When you have power, you will be isolated and become arrogant, even if you are given the greatest expectations at the beginning. Sasuke, you are my only brother in this world. I will exist as an obstacle that you must overcome and continue to exist in this world, even if you hate me. This is what a brother is."

————Xinzi remembered clearly that Itachi, who was in the Ninja School at that time, was so outstanding that he studied almost all by himself and seldom communicated with others because he would be excluded and envied.

"Life is born, life dies, but life can also be saved. The tribesmen gather to form a village, and then some people become connected to it. If these people are called companions, then we are indeed companions. It is because of the connection that it happened. Because of the connection, that guy died. I didn't understand the real pain, the pain of losing a life. You only know it after you lose it. No! You are forced to realize the feeling of not wanting to lose the most important thing."

————Tenma’s death brought sorrow to Kokoro and Itachi. To this day, the two of them could not forget that the cheerful boy who was once in Mizunoe’s class lost his life in order to save them.

"Will you have eyes like these someday? The day you understand this sadness?"

————Itachi always felt that Sasuke was too naive. If he really understood what sadness was, he would definitely feel even worse.

"It is because you are too obsessed with such a trivial thing as your clan that you ignore the truly important things. The real change cannot be restricted by rules, premonitions or imagination."

————They were selfish and only thought about themselves. They never thought about the clan they had abandoned. This was what Itachi had always rejected.

"Those who turn their swords on their companions will die miserably... We don't know who we are until the moment before we die. When death comes, you will know the real you. This is the meaning of death, don't you think so?"

————Even though he missed his former clan, Itachi never regretted exterminating it. Itachi hoped to use his own sacrifice to complete his clan and protect Sasuke.

"Everyone relies on their own knowledge and understanding, but they are bound by it and call it reality. But knowledge and understanding are very ambiguous things. That reality may be nothing but a mirage. People live in their own self-consciousness. Don't you think so? How far can you see with your eyes?"

————What you think is the truth may not be the real truth. Even he cannot see clearly what is hidden behind those eyes.

Itachi knew that if anyone could speak the most clearly, it would probably be Xinzi. The things he had concealed for a long time were useless to Xinzi. Although Xinzi was no longer in the Uchiha clan, she still knew about the Uchiha clan.

"You are not worth killing. Foolish brother, if you want to kill me, then hate me, detest me. Then live ugly, keep escaping, keep escaping. Live a miserable life. Then, when you have eyes like mine, come to me."

————Xinzi had always hated Itachi's behavior. On the night of the extermination, Xinzi had wondered if she had not left the Uchiha clan, would she have died? Would she have died like Izumi, or would she have been like Sasuke, half dead and hating Itachi?
"I want you to look at me and find what I lack. So, stop telling me how perfect I used to be."

————How much Sasuke loved Itachi, and how much he hated him after his clan was wiped out.

Because Sasuke doesn't know the truth, and he is unwilling to believe the truth that he didn't see with his own eyes.

But Xinzi understood everything. In her heart, Itachi must have always been so outstanding and perfect.

"I told you all the truth, without hiding anything. I always lied to you to make you forgive me, and I always pushed you away with these hands. I didn't want to involve you, but now I think about it, maybe you once had the power to change my parents and the fate of Uchiha. If I could face you from the beginning and discuss the truth with you on an equal footing, then no matter how much I, a loser, say to you, you won't listen. So, this time I want to at least let you know more of the truth. It doesn't matter if you never forgive me. No matter what you become in the future, I will always love you."

——At that time, Itachi thought he would die, because forbidden techniques like Izanami require a price. He confessed everything he had done over the years and only hoped that Sasuke would take good care of Kokoro in the future. He hoped that these two people he loved most could live in peace in this world.

"No matter how dark the village is, no matter how many conflicts there are, I am Uchiha Itachi of Konoha."

——It's not that he can't leave Konoha, but the roots of Uchiha are in Konoha. Uchiha is Konoha's Uchiha, not Itachi's Uchiha. He destroyed the once prosperous clan, and he needs to make up for everything he caused.

"Any ninjutsu will definitely have weaknesses."

——Itachi is extremely smart and believes that nothing is without weaknesses.

His weaknesses are Sasuke and Kokoro.

But not many people know this, and Xinzi only knows that his weakness is Sasuke, but he thinks he can't beat Sasuke.

But Itachi knew that he could protect Sasuke for his entire life, but he needed Kokoro to accompany him for his entire life.

People who have been lonely for a long time will begin to yearn for warmth.

"Forgive me Sasuke this is the last time."

——The last time I fought against Sasuke, it was not to resolve the hatred, but to fight for his heart.

Koko will never know why Sasuke continued to fight Itachi even after knowing the truth. It was just because Sasuke wanted Itachi to acknowledge him and give up Koko. After all Itachi had done so much, the one who was hurt the most was not only him, but also Koko.

Itachi knew how important Kokoto was to him, and he couldn't give up on him even if he was just his younger brother.

But none of them expected that Sasuke would lose control and fight him with all his might.

Later, Afei appeared and made good use of Sasuke and Orochimaru in Sasuke's body, resulting in both of them being injured.

Because of the recurrence of the illness that he had been hiding for a long time, he was forced to let Xinzi pay such a huge price for both of them. She fell into a coma and her whereabouts were unknown.

After the Fourth Ninja World War, Itachi searched for Kokoro for a long time, and he understood that from now on, the only one who could accompany him would be Kokoro.

Sasuke already had companions he couldn't abandon and people who loved him, so he, as a brother, could have completely stepped back, but Kokoro didn't.

Even if Fengjian Yexue was not dead, she was no longer his relative. They could only depend on each other for the rest of their lives.

From then on, Uchiha Itachi of Konoha withdrew from the stage of history. Having wasted half his life, it was enough for him to just become history.

(End of this chapter)