A genius above all others, Itachi was born into the Uchiha Clan and praised by all as the best of his generation. However, not even his family, friends, or teachers could understand him.Not much is known about Itachi's childhood except that when he was only 4 Itachi had already witnessed countless lives lost due to war, which emotionally traumatized and affected his demeanor. It is also known that he graduated from the ninja academy after only one year. At age 7 he graduated from the Academy and mastered the Sharingan at age 8, passing the Chunin exam at age 10 and becoming ANBU Captain at age 13. According to Madara Uchiha, Itachi also had a lover, whom he killed during the Uchiha clan massacre.He was praised highly by his father, who saw the family's future in Itachi and neglected his other son-- Itachi's little brother Sasuke. However, during this time Itachi showed great affection towards his little brother, Sasuke, and even encouraged his father to come to the Academy when Sasuke was enrolled, something their dad had otherwise forgotten, by saying that he would otherwise not come on a mission.
After having acted strange for a long time, not coming to the clan meetings and refusing to train with Sasuke, it would finally seem that he snapped. With the help of Madara's teachings (and possibly the help from Madara himself), he slaughtered his entire clan overnight (with the exception of Sasuke). Due to the fact that Sasuke was never to know about the Uchiha's attempt at a coup d'etat and the Konoha higher ups's orders, Itachi used his Mangekyo Sharingan to capture Sasuke in a genjutsu and show him how he had killed everyone. After this Sasuke ran away, but Itachi confronted him again and explained that he did it all to test himself. He also explained that the new eyes he had acquired could also be acquired by Sasuke and all he had to do was to kill his best friend. Telling Sasuke that he let him live because he had the potential to become as strong as him, he also tells him to hate him and detest him, if he ever wanted a chance of defeating him.
