Originally posted by: RasenDori
i feel that there is one main hole in the itachi is a good guy theory: he wants sasuke to hate him, he left him alive to be the avenger of the clan
if you want someone to become stronger for revenge you dont make them hate you... all of there anger goes the wrong direction and you will NEVER gain that former relationship again
if itachi just tells sasuke someday "oh yeah...it wasnt me ... it was some other guy"
do you think that sasuke will just say "oh...i had it wrong this whole time. lets go kill him together nii-san...right after you give me a hug"
then everything that built up sasukes character since chapter 4 has been a complete waste of time
if itachi was a good guy why would he make sasuke lead such a dangerous life?
im an older brother myself and i cant imagine putting my sibling through that much hell...itachi cares very little about his brother now and only wants sasuke to kill him
so lets say if orochimaru killed the uchihas you would tell your brother, that a really strong and evil ninja killed his whole family so he would go after him instead? by telling sasuke that you did it yoo can ensure that he only focuses on you and therefore doesnt face any strong ruthless enemies. and you obviously wont kill him since you love him.

i am also a older brother and if i had to choose between these to i would choose to make myself the target.