Itachi

A mother led her upset, toddling son away from the dango stand and stopped once they were out of the other pedestrians' way. Bending down to look him in the eye, she gently said, "Itachi, I know you are upset, but you cannot use our clan's prestige to demand that you receive someone else's dango."

"But mother – "

"But nothing," she interrupted him, "Our clan has a saying, 'Power and prestige come with duty and responsibility.' This means that we use our power and authority to help others, not take what isn't ours."

Itachi was still upset, but his contemplation of Mikoto's words soon eclipsed his previous indignation. Seeing that her son understood, Mikoto took Itachi back to the clan compound.

As Itachi observed the hospital's staff, visitors, and patients from his perch in the waiting room, he realized that most expecting mothers had the father and often some other close adult friend or relative with them when the baby was about to be born. Shouldn't Father be here with Mother, then? Especially since, from what his chakra-enhanced hears could tell, his mother was in pain.

When the nurse finally told him that he could go in to see his mother and newborn brother, Itachi asked Mikoto about why his father couldn't be there with her, since other fathers were at least in the hospital. But his mother just gave him a tired smile and said, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, Itachi. Your father's job is important, and babies don't always come at the most convenient times."

Itachi could see the value in his mother's words, but as he looked down at his baby brother, he realized that the needs of his brother would likely come first for him. He figured that just one exception to the "Needs of the Many" rule would probably be okay. After all, hadn't his parents told him that he would need to be careful and help Mother take care of little brother? And he had been taught the "Take Care of Little Brother" rule first, after all. A small smile crossed Itachi's face. Yes, he would follow the rules his parents and the Academy had taught him, but rules could often be interpreted in many different ways. This was his interpretation, who else would know to gainsay him?

The clan elders had held another meeting, and Fugaku informed Itachi that the clan had decided that they could not trust the government to act in the clan's best interest. The more Itachi learned about clan-village relations, the more he wondered about why no one else seemed to take to heart the rules they had all learned as children. He had been taught to obey his parents, and to uphold the will of the clan, so he acted as a spy as they had asked. But he had also learned that the "Needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," and in this case, the needs of the village outweighed to needs of the clan. If only he could help the rest of the clan to see this as well.

Itachi ended the genjutsu and raised his sword. He had failed; it was all he could do just to keep Sasuke safe, let alone the rest of his family or the clan. At least, with this, maybe his parents would understand why and rest in as much peace as possible. Father seemed shocked, dumbfounded even, but as the sword approached his mother, she simply smiled and said that she understood and was proud of him.

Author's Note: This is not meant to be from any specific fanfic or canon version of Naruto, but is just a thing for Itachi in general. I was basically just like, "You know, people are often hypocrites. What if the Uchiha had all these sayings and rules that they taught the children in the clan and Itachi really took them to heart, but most of the Uchiha either didn't or they bent their own rules beyond recognition?" And then I went from there and typed this all out.