Why, the man asked, as if that hadn't been the first question Sasuke had asked himself. The file had given just enough information to explain what had happened, but -- but why it had to have been the way it was, why it had to have ended in the annihilation of an entire clan, why it had to have used Itachi the way it had, those answers weren't available. Not unless Sasuke found someone who had actually been involved.
"The Uchiha were planning a coup," Sasuke explained shortly, hands loose by his sides out of sheer force of will. For the first time in a while he wished for the ease of carrying a blade, the convenience of having something on which to rest his hands, to give them purpose instead of being forced to let them dangle without threat or action. "Konohagakure saw fit to kill every member of the clan, using Itachi, in order to prevent it."
No wonder nobody had ever discouraged Sasuke from forming his life around seeking out Akatsuski and killing Itachi -- it would have sealed the silence about the Uchiha massacre with a finality unattainable otherwise, because Jiraiya was right. Itachi had taken the secret to his grave.
Had hidden the truth from Sasuke, allowed his foolish little brother to believe in the village that had betrayed them instead of the brother who had sacrificed himself to keep him alive.
"The file Landel's kept about his so-called delusions," Sasuke said, the tone of his voice recognising the irony of it. Truth hidden beneath lies; hadn't Itachi said something about how easily flawed a reality could be, depending on the perception of it? But Sasuke had never been smart enough, never --
He forced his thoughts away from the subject and waited for Jiraiya's reaction. What the Sannin did now would decide whether Sasuke would mention Madara, or indeed anything else he had learned -- and whether Sasuke would be able to trust any information he might give.
Re: Inside M58
"The Uchiha were planning a coup," Sasuke explained shortly, hands loose by his sides out of sheer force of will. For the first time in a while he wished for the ease of carrying a blade, the convenience of having something on which to rest his hands, to give them purpose instead of being forced to let them dangle without threat or action. "Konohagakure saw fit to kill every member of the clan, using Itachi, in order to prevent it."
No wonder nobody had ever discouraged Sasuke from forming his life around seeking out Akatsuski and killing Itachi -- it would have sealed the silence about the Uchiha massacre with a finality unattainable otherwise, because Jiraiya was right. Itachi had taken the secret to his grave.
Had hidden the truth from Sasuke, allowed his foolish little brother to believe in the village that had betrayed them instead of the brother who had sacrificed himself to keep him alive.
"The file Landel's kept about his so-called delusions," Sasuke said, the tone of his voice recognising the irony of it. Truth hidden beneath lies; hadn't Itachi said something about how easily flawed a reality could be, depending on the perception of it? But Sasuke had never been smart enough, never --
He forced his thoughts away from the subject and waited for Jiraiya's reaction. What the Sannin did now would decide whether Sasuke would mention Madara, or indeed anything else he had learned -- and whether Sasuke would be able to trust any information he might give.