MonkeysTotallyRock

Okay, background information:
I'm currently working on something - this something may just be a one-shot, I'm honestly not too sure (but it seems to be leaning towards a full on chapter).
But it evolved out of a feeling I've had for some time: Itachi is, in every sense of the word, a hero. From the day he's born, he devotes himself to the village, hardly receives recognition for it, and dies, trying to make his brother into a hero. His love for Sasuke is one of the most beautiful aspects about Naruto, and – I'll be honest – I'm a man, and when Itachi died, I cried. Not teared. Bawled. So there's my honest confession.
I love the character of Itachi. He's developed superbly by Kishimoto, so kudos to him.

So here are my questions/problems/areas of advice-needing:
1) I'd like to avoid character bashing. A lot of Itachi fics I've read seem to Bash Danzou as the evil mastermind behind all of this, or crush Sasuke as an incompetent, selfish meanie-face who can never understand Itachi.
It seems a lot more complicated than that. At least, from Danzou's death, he seems more of a character that I can empathize with.
He really, really wants what's best for Konoha - he's just very, very misguided in the policies he implements.
So I need some help striking a balance between the two and perhaps understanding exactly how the you will massacre the Uchiha clan went down

a) who ordered the kill?
b) Sasuke refers to - 'even you couldn't kill them all yourself' - who helped Itachi, if anyone did?

2) Some details I need a little help with as well
We know from the manga that Itachi DID have a girlfriend, who he was, tragically, forced to kill. Do we know who she is? How they met? Were they in love? Was she *pregnant*? Etc.

3) We know he has that famous ethereal sword and that really powerful shield - do we at all know how he got them?

4) Did the fourth Hokage already accept Hokage-ship by the time Itachi was born?

5) For any of you more experienced writers/readers (basically everyone haha), if you have any advice for me, I'd really really appreciate it.
I know I've been clogging this section of the forum a lot recently, so I really appreciate your patience.
Thank you soooo much.

-MTR