Originally Posted by Nikushimi

You're not much of an outside-the-box thinker, are you?

We have no confirmation that Itachi did anything to begin with. Saying he can never make up for what he did is like prematurely and arbitrarily deciding he's guilty before being presented with adequate evidence to fairly make that judgment.

We know Itachi was there during the clan murder. Uh...so were the rest of the Uchiha. Sasuke was only gone because he had to go to school. We also know that Madara was there during the clan massacre, as well as the fact that he participated in it. It seems a little too coincidental if you ask me.

IMO, Madara killed the clan and Itachi tried (but failed) to stop him. By the time Sasuke showed up, Madara had already boned-out, possibly thinking he had gotten them all (or maybe he left Sasuke alive on purpose), which would've left Itachi in a pretty tight situation.