"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto called out, his voice cutting through the quiet evening air.
Sasuke, startled, turned to see a boy his age with blond hair.
"You're… that kid. The one they call the demon fox."
Naruto nodded, unfazed by the label. "I have something to tell you."
Sasuke waved a dismissive hand. "Leave me alone."
But Naruto persisted, walking over and sitting down beside Sasuke.
He leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, barely audible.
"I have news about your brother, Itachi… and the truth about your clan's massacre."
Sasuke's brow furrowed, confusion warring with a flicker of rage. "What do you know about Ita—"
Naruto swiftly placed a hand over Sasuke's mouth, his other hand gesturing for silence.
"Shhh!"
"Don't be so loud. There are three Anbu monitoring me. If they hear us, it'll be a problem."
Sasuke's eyes widened. "But… I didn't sense anyone else here."
Naruto simply said, "Just be quiet and listen. Don't interrupt until I'm finished."
Sasuke hesitated, then nodded slowly.
"I have two conditions," Naruto continued, his voice low and serious.
Sasuke's gaze sharpened.
"If you have any believable details, anything real beyond the rumors circulating in Konoha, I'll accept any conditions you set."
"My conditions are simple," Naruto stated.
"First, you can't tell anyone that I'm the one who told you all this. Second, you need to keep control of your emotions until I'm finished. No matter how much you want to react, don't."
"Otherwise, I won't tell you anything."
"Just that, nothing else?"
"Yeah, just that."
Sasuke nodded, his young face set with grim determination.
"Then tell me what you know."
"Hm."
Naruto began, his voice low but steady.
"Your brother Itachi told you he killed all the members of the Uchiha clan to test his strength, and left you alive because you were too weak, right?"
Sasuke's surprise was evident, but he kept his promise and remained silent, nodding slightly.
Naruto continued, "He lied to you. He did it for the village. The Hokage and all three elders are the ones who forced him to do it."
"They told him it was for the village's sake, but my friend… nothing should ever come before family."
Sasuke's control wavered, his fists clenching, but he fought it down, his eyes burning.
"Continue," he managed, his voice tight.
Naruto nodded.
"You've probably sensed the tension between the Uchiha and the Hokage factions for the past few years, right?"
Sasuke nodded.
"Your brother was an Anbu, a double agent. He fed information about the Uchiha meetings directly to the Hokage."
Sasuke's breath hitched, but he can't remained silent.
Anger started flickered across his face as he finally asked, his voice trembling, "So… Itachi betrayed the Uchiha clan a long time ago?"
Naruto shook his head. "He didn't betray his clan, not in the way you think."
"He was always more loyal to the Hokage faction, to the village. In the conflict between the Uchiha and the Hokage, Itachi chose the village."
"Because in the Ninja Academy, more than ninja skills, they drilled the 'Will of Fire' into everyone – how the village should always come before family or oneself."
"Just like many others, your brother was thoroughly manipulated by this 'Will of Fire' ideology."
He paused, letting his words sink in.
Seeing Sasuke face, full of rage. Naruto show malicious smile and continued.
"Otherwise, think about it. He said he left you alive because you were weak. But what about all the infants and the elderly in the Uchiha clan? Were they equal or stronger than him?"
"He told you that story because he wanted you to hate him, to fuel your desire for revenge, to make you stronger and awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan when you grew older."
"And about Village's Hokage and elders just like him, they expect you to serve this village – the same village that made him kill his parents and made you, Sasuke, an orphan, all because the village elders were afraid of your Uchiha clan and it's power."
Sasuke's expression was blank, his eyes dull and unfocused, as if he couldn't process the enormity of the information.
In a flat voice, he asked, "Is… is that all true?"
Naruto nodded,"Every single word is true, just don't ask me how I know the details", a grim satisfaction settling within him.
He stood up.
"Don't do anything reckless, Sasuke. You're still weak. You wouldn't be able to defeat a seasoned Chunin, let alone the ones responsible for this."
"Just wait. Grow stronger using the village's resources, and then… take your revenge when you truly believe you can kill all those who made you and your clan suffer like this."
"Revenge," Naruto said, his voice cold, "is a dish best served cold."
With that, he turned and walked back towards his apartment, glancing in the direction where he knew the three Anbu are.
'These idiots didn't hear anything, right?'
'Of course not.' Kurama reply.
A few minutes later, Sasuke also rose and walked towards his own home.
But the blankness in his eyes was slowly being replaced by a chilling rage.
By the time he reached his doorstep, his Sharingan had already manifested two tomoe, swirling with barely contained fury.
He muttered under his breath, a promise and a threat, "I will destroy this whole village."
——
Back in his apartment, lying on his futon, Naruto considered the volatile situation he had just created.
'Sasuke won't be able to control his emotions for long. He might lash out at some unsuspecting ninja.'
He shrugged internally. 'Doesn't matter to me, as long as he doesn't reveal that I was the one who told him.'
In his mindscape, Kurama smirked. "Brat, you're quite the manipulator. Turning that little Uchiha's hatred towards the very village his ancestors helped create."
'Madara Uchiha himself stopped caring about Konoha the moment he left,' Naruto thought, a hint of cynicism in his mental reply.
"This is just speeding up the inevitable. I didn't do anything out of ordinary."
After death of Itachi, Obito tell everything to Sasuke in anime, so it really didn't change anything, just speed up things.