Hello everyone! Thank you so much for the 15K reads! That's awesome homies! Hope you enjoy this chapter! And sorry for the nasty delays, college is a time killer!

//////////////////////////////////////

It was towards dinner time when I woke next. Everything was hurting me. I was sore from both training all day yesterday and from the two hours of rough sex during sunrise. I woke next to a snoring Itachi, out like a light still, but those concerning bags under his eyes had gone away. There was also a sense of peace to his features.

He was so stressed out yesterday, not that I had blamed him for it. He did feel terrible over hurting me and probably stressed about other things. He looked like he hadn't slept well, if at all. I didn't want to have him worry over me to that extent, but hopefully, it was over something else more important than my well-being.

I had slept through some pretty rough earthquakes, apparently. I overheard Sasuke talking with Guy about thirty minutes ago, saying they were thinking about telling me and Itachi about some hard-core earthquakes. Apparently, Yamato had left? I don't know how that's possible on an island, but maybe it was for something important? Maybe the war has started already? Or another emergency Tsunade needed him for?

The idea of the war going on with us locked up here made my head spin unpleasantly. The idea left a foul taste in my mouth. I could find out once I go into Nine Tails state, but once Itachi is awake and alert.

For now, I simply tried to bask in this feeling, peace and quiet in my mind, allowing it to focus on Itachi before the last name of Uchiha drew my brain to another primary focus.

Spiraling orange.

A pit of black at its center with an orb of glowing red malice. The eye that held a sick excitement when it fell on me and looked me over like a prize possession. Like a small kid would to a toy or a sweet candy.

Eager to have, impatient.

I grimaced to myself and covered my eyes with an arm, sick to my stomach as the idea of him... just the idea... threw my brain into this sort of haze. He held a control over me by doing so, and it made me feel worse, angrier.

Vengeance...

The hunger for it was growing into an ugly scar within me. Kurama carried it for me, letting it grow and nurture me the way he wanted. To get what he wanted. And to symbolize his desires, he'd even stoop so low as to give all of his power to me, sacrifice his own chakrs to get what he wanted.

He hates him just as much as I do. He did ruin both our lives, I guess.

The image of my father flashed before me, in the emptiness of my mind, he was there, watching me. His eyes are calm and warm, full of apology and pride. Happiness and seriousness take over his figure, which demands authority. He was so young... so very young, he looked about as old as Kakashi is now.

Maybe younger?

He barely had the chance to live before Madara ripped his life away from him the day I was born. He took my father and my mother from the world the day I came to be. My first breath... was it happy, or was it sad? Did he get to hold me? Did he get to speak to me...? Did it happen right after or a little bit later into the night? Did my mother get to do those things to?

Again, his spiraled mask came to mind, hands outstretched to me with longing, wanting what I carry to rule the world. To destroy it and make it his own. I reached out as if I was able to grab those hands that wanted Kurama's power. I reached my hand towards the ceiling and made to grab those hands, the same look of excitement mirroring his.

A longing... a deep-rooted longing I've wanted since I could walk.

Revenge... for making my life miserable... for making me grow up clueless to who or what I was. For making the smallest wish a tedious nearly impossible task to grant. For making me grow up hated by everyone... for making me feel guilty for something I didn't do.

Revenge.

Revenge.

Revenge.

"Revenge. Let his blood cleanse the wrongs he's done to the both of us. Do this... and I'll consider us even. Hell... I'd even consider us friends." Kurama's voice rumbled through me.

"Mmm." Itachi softly hummed, stirring beside me as he woke slowly.

I let my hand fall against my chest, turning to watch the dark figure stir. The room was just light enough for me to see his eyes creak open and regard me with fondness. The bubble of anger in me popped, and those eyes made me feel better, safer.

"Good morning, Itachi." I greeted, caressing the side of his face gently.

He all but purred against my hand and turned to kiss it before licking my palm with a low growl that made my face heat up. His hand under the covers slid up my stomach to my chest, making me shiver as ice cooled my core, pushing me into the bed more. He moved over me, sliding his body over mine, looking down through his curtain of hair to stare into my eyes.

"Good morning, beautiful creature." He whispered softly. "Why do you smell so angry?"

"Just letting my mind wander too far." I sheepishly shrugged, unable to look away from his gaze.

His eyes demanded my attention, and I gave all of it to him. He seemed pleased with my actions and leaned forward and stole my lips and my breath away. I didn't look away or close my eyes, and neither did he. His hungry eyes studied mine for a long moment before he parted to let me breathe.

"Don't wander too far, then." He spoke before abruptly freezing like marble above me, eyes popping open wide and looking through me rather than at me.

"Wha-"

"Sh!" Itachi snapped the moment I tried to ask what was wrong, making me flinch.

He tilted his head and looked to the door with a look of disbelief and disturbance before looking like he was thinking something through. He blinked and slid off the bed, I made to follow, but a sharp pain through my lower back made me freeze with a grunt. He looked to me quickly before looking back to the door, his hands balling into fists before relaxing.

He then lowered his eyes to the floor for a very long moment, making me worry even more.

"Did you wake up at all? Or did you sleep straight through the day?" Itachi finally asked after a pregnant pause.

"I-I slept through the day. Why?" I asked in concern. "What did you just hear?"

"It's. Uhg, fuck. Hey, sit up when you can." Itachi looked back to me, but with a look of discomfort and unrest.

I blinked a few times before doing just that. I winced at my smarting buns and other regions before sliding into a sitting position. I huffed and held a hand over my gut, looking down to see my seal under my hand, different than it used to be but holding together all the same. Itachi sat down beside me, facing me with a serious look to his face, but also with something apologetic and guilty.

"I must confess something to you, Naruto." Itachi gently grabbed my hands into his own, holding them in my lap. "Promise not to get loud or be too upset about it?"

"Well, that depends on your answer. You're starting to scare me a little." I honestly admitted, frowning at the fact he thought I'd get mad at him.

"Fair enough." He inhaled end exhaled slowly before making direct eye contact with me. "You weren't sent on an S-ranked mission. This was a disguise to get you to leave with us to come here on this remote island, away from the mainland." Itachi began, making me straighten in alarm. "You aren't here to collect animals. You're here to keep you and Bee from coming into contact with the enemy forces. You two are the sole purpose of this war. To take your Tailed Beasts and use them to throw the world into complete control, ruin, and devastation. Madara would have come straight to the both of you if he knew where you were, so Tsunade and the Rikage agreed to hide the two of you here while the war was fought."

The room went silent for a moment, and my vision tunneled on Itachi, jaw hanging open in disbelief and horror. He watched me for any reaction other than my wide-eyed look of shock, but after I didn't answer, still too overwhelmed and mad about what I just heard, he continued.

"The war has already started, the forces mobilized, and the fighting just started by the sound of the conversation I just heard. On top of that, our location is compromised. The enemy senses our presence and, during the day, had tried to invade the island and take the both of you. Yamato and Sasuke held the enemy, identified as Kabuto off, but Yamato got snatched in the process. Apparently, the Tsuchikage was here with others, chasing Kabuto all the way here. They got so close because we let loose." Itachi whispered, looking at me with worry and nervousness. "We cannot stay here anymore."

He sat there after he finished speaking, and let me take everything in. He didn't look like he had any expectations on how I'd react, only looked nervous and guilty. I blinked slowly, trying and failing to hide my anger about what I was just told. The fact I was brought here to be hidden away made me sick to my stomach and it hurt me, deeply so. Tsunade would just throw me in a glorified cage like it was nothing and have everyone lie straight to my face.

"She ordered you to keep silent, then?" I asked after swallowing the lump in my throat as a flash of Danzo's face came into mind.

"Yes, she did. Everyone knows except for you, because she knew you would never stay away." Itachi nodded, being honest with me. "We had to get away and fix ourselves a little before taking on something as intense as a war. You couldn't go a day without an episode and I was in desperate need to learn my limits." Itachi squeezed my hands tightly, but not tight enough to hurt.

"If she explained it plainly to me, I'd have agreed." I glared at Itachi before letting my glare vanish.

I exhaled loudly, looking down at Itachi's lap, frowning heavily as sadness swamped through me. I looked to my stomach, glaring at the seal sadly, feeling slightly defeated for whatever reason. I suddenly felt wrong, thinking about Madara earlier definitely didn't do anything for my mood either, so I was left suspended in this anger and sadness of mine for the moment.

"Don't blame anyone by those who did this to us. Everything is his fault, take it out on him." Kurama's voice whispered into my right ear, as if he were right there in the room with us.

"I'm so tired of this bullshit." I gave a sigh, feeling my shoulders sag, eyes blinking up to Itachi, tired and feeling the energy get zapped from my body. "I hate everything sometimes... you know?" I asked, hoping he could relate.

Itachi smiled sadly, and cupped my face, leaning forward to kiss my nose before bumping our foreheads together. "Yes, I completely understand. I'm sorry about lying."

"It's okay. I don't hold anything against you guys. It wasn't your fault." I whispered back, shivering as the need to kill Madara burned so vibrantly inside my chest that I felt a little giddy.

"Hn. So, how long before you can get up and move around?" Itachi asked me then, his face softening completely, back to that look of adoration and love, the look he almost always wore around me.

"Give me a little bit to heal up from earlier, and we should be good to leave. Do you think Guy and Bee would come along? Would they agree to let us leave?" I asked him then, blushing as he made a lewd face after admitting I needed to heal from our rough lovemaking.

"I doubt they're going to deny us that. They know just as much as I do, that the sooner we leave the better it is for all parties." Itachi nodded. "Sorry for completely breaking your ass by the way. It was an accident. Mostly." Itachi chuckled quietly, making me flush hot as he slid his arms around me, hugging me gently after I winced in protest. "You just kept making those succulent sounds, I couldn't help myself."

"W-Wha-! I-I uh!" I stammered, face heating up so much that tears formed in my eyes.

"Speechless. Lovely." Itachi teased, catching my bottom lip by one of his fangs and pulling it, making me freeze from embarrassment and internal panic from not knowing how to react in such a situation. "I will never get tired of you, lovely creature. You are far too easy to get a reaction from."

So saying, he yanked my head back by my hair, causing me to make a sound somewhere between a gasp, a yelp of surprise and a moan. I jolted when teeth dragged from my chin down to my shoulder, poking just enough to barely break the skin, but just enough to fry my brain. I practically melted into this hold, at his mercy and unable to move as my brain failed to communicate after what had just happened. He left several love bites along my shoulder, before settling down and hugging my body against his chest. I was nothing short of relieved that he had stopped. I was now physically horny but much to sore to really want the problem to be fixed. He understood I couldn't take much more, and simply decided on holding me.

He let out a sigh, running his fingers through my hair to help me calm down. I felt soothed and relaxed in his ice cold arms, feeling the temperature helping me physically regulate myself. His form sagged after a time, and laid us both back down on the bed. He continued to rub his fingers along my scalp and through my hair, lost in thought, basking in the silence that happily fell between us after such a jarring information dump.

I guess... If Madara never did the things he's done, we would have never met each other, or gotten to this point. I wasn't about to thank him for it though, but I was happy where I was then. I was comfortable, and finally on stable ground. I was strong, like my father before me, and loved by a man who adored me and had the patience to help me through my lowest moments. What more could I possibly ask for from such a cruel world? I wasn't greedy in that respect, at least not as much as I was when I was little. I made my own family, my own friends, and found someone who loved me.

That was enough for me.

Even if the world burned, and it was just me and Itachi left, I'd be happy knowing I wasn't alone.

I never noticed when I fell asleep, but when my eyes opened next, the pain in my body was gone and I felt more rested than when I had originally woken up. I looked up when I still felt fingers moving through my hair to find Itachi staring blankly at me, eyes filled with deep thought. His eyes focused when I cleared my throat, pulling him from his mind. His eyes looked oddly sad in that moment, staring almost through me immediately. They looked tired and wounded in a sense, but soon flooded with love adoration. He leaned forward and gave my forehead a gentle kiss before pulling away.

"Ready to go?" Itachi asked me then, raising a brow with a weak smile.

"Yeah, lets go." I nodded and pushed myself off of him to get dressed, the soreness completely gone from my body.

I got my clothes set, threw a cloak around my shoulders and loaded my weapon pouch on my hip. I straightened my hair in a nearby mirror and slung a small travel bag full of scrolls with rations and water and otherwise. I watched as Itachi packed his daytime outfit, and similar things to mine. He looked up after he finished packing his things with a serious but calm set to his face and nodded. We both left the bedroom clean and bed made, completely set on leaving this island.

I would travel across the entire sea if it meant becoming part of this war. I was going to settle things once and for all with Madara Uchiha, I was going to bring peace to all five great villages. I was going to avenge the wrongs Madara has inflicted upon our world.

Itachi lead the way, following the sounds of his brother and Bee, who were communing in the main hall with a serious set to their faces. Once we came into view the both of them stood on their feet from the couch quickly, oddly enough, looking packed, with a third bag sitting beside the couch, packed as well.

"Hey, finally you guys slept like the dead. Was wondering when I'd have to wake you guys up by hitting you both upside the head." Bee planted his hands on his hips, regarding me with a serious glare. "Going somewhere?"

"We know. We heard." Itachi spoke simply. "The longer we delay the more of an advantage we give the enemy. Let us be off. Guy's nearly done getting his room straightened."

"Our thoughts exactly. We moved areas since you were asleep. The attack happened an hour after you both fell asleep and we had the pleasure of the Tsuchikage moving the island inland for us to reposition us. We are very far from the battlefields. We need to hurry." Sasuke explained, giving me a hard look that lingered, seeming to give me a questioning look before turning back to Itachi. "We have a head start. But not a big one. They are setting up a forcefield as we speak to keep us locked in the island."

"They?" I tensed, alarmed.

"Various men from the allied force." Bee shrugged a shoulder. "Nothing we can't penetrate if we work together. You know what I mean, brother." He then smirked and flexed his arm and patting it. "No better time to perfect the bomb than now."

"Yeah, I suppose." I winced, remembering when Itachi nearly went deaf.

"Speaking of bombs, here." Sasuke chuckled something to Itachi, to which he caught with ease. "Wear them while on the battlefield. It's a muffler. They should allow you to hear still above normal but not to the point its a disability."

Itachi smiled and put the two plugs in his ears before inclining his head in thanks just as Guy came into the room and grabbed his bag. He looked to me and grinned widely before we all left the building, now lifeless without our presence to fill it.

Once the fresh midnight air greeted us, I was quick to activate my Tailed Beast form, but the moment I did the world stopped spinning for me. It must have been the shorter distance between us and the war, but my head and senses were filled with death, pain, and adrenaline. I gasped and hugged my arms together out of a sense of shock, mouth falling open as I could practically hear war cries and blades colliding. It was thick in the air, in the ground, everywhere. Itachi seemed to wince as well, before looking to me.

I quickly collected myself before rolling my shoulders and launching forward, creating a rasengan, watching it morph black and grow bigger and bigger, hands jutting out of my back to do so. I giant form of purple with a bomb in hand flew in front of me, and crashed into the first layer of the dome that had been placed to stop us. The entire form cracked and splintered, but my tailed beast bomb broke through the barrier and I flew past the first layer and crashed into the second one, and Bee followed suit and broke the second and so on. Guy, Sasuke, and Itachi followed quickly, jumping from layer to layer as me and Bee made the path with relative ease.

Seems they weren't trying too hard to keep us away... or maybe our power was greater than most. We were monsters after all.

So close I could almost touch it.

So close I could see him in front of me.

Hear his voice.

Taste the venom of his intentions in the air.

Smell his blood in my nostrils.

"Madara..." Kurama growled lowly as the last barrier broke, us escaping the prison of that island.

The masked Akatsuki will be mine to kill. If someone does the honor other than me, I don't think I would every feel settled and safe again. Never again for as long as I live on this miserable world. I will have the peace Jiraiya envisioned or die trying to find it.

We hit the ground and Immediately, Guy went in a different Direction than us. The four of us traveled together though, moving quickly across the ground. Sasuke leapt onto Itachi back and grabbed on, and I grabbed Bee's wrist before we blurred across the rocky landscape, making quick to get as close and as fast as we could before needing to slow down in enemy territory.

The rock slowly turned to dirt and trees, that thickened until we had to slow down because of the forests we ran into. We traveled by tree, moving as quickly as we could while remaining silent. I dropped my form to conserve energy, and to not glow in the nighttime setting. We were a very long ways away from the main battlefields, but I had a deep feeling in my gut that Madara wouldn't be there, or at any location with a ton of people. We were his objective after all. He would seek us out once we were discovered.

We were... so he could already be on his way towards our location. We could fight out here with no one else to get in our way. No one to get caught up in our battle should one happen out here. He would be very stupid taking us on alone too, maybe he has friends with him. For some odd reason, I was wishing deep down that he did. Everyone else could fight them off for me and let me handle him instead, as it should be, as it must be.

"You have that look in your eyes again." Sasuke pulled me from my thoughts, after hours of silence. "We've been running for several hours and that look hasn't left your face. Careful how you tread."

"I don't need to hear this from you, Sasuke, I'm fully aware that caution is important. I won't become what you did." I hissed, angry he thought I would do something so drastically stupid.

"You have that look in your eyes, though. Just... promise to keep a leveled head?" Sasuke asked, eyes filling with genuine concern and worry.

"Of course I will." I whispered, eyebrows drawing together at my twisting gut, hands shaking unknowingly at my sides, eyes forwards at the trees zipping past us.

"You're a terrible liar." Sasuke mused. "I get that this may get personal for you-"

"You don't, though." I shot him a glare.

"Don't give me that bullshit. Of course I understand. Itachi murdered my entire clan, destroyed my life and his own because of Danzo, who single-handedly destroyed hundreds of years of culture because he felt like it." Sasuke frowned.

Itachi looked away from us with a wince out of the corner of my eye.

"You were blessed to know a family's love. I never got that luxury. I never knew who my father was until very recently, still don't know my mother. I never felt safe in my entire life, and the only other person besides Itachi I've felt safe with was killed by the Akatsuki." I answered back, glaring at him sadly before looking forward. "My entire life was his making, in a sense. It disturbs me, is all. I'd be at peace once he's dead for good."

Sasuke gave me a grim look before moving his attention ahead of us in silence. I looked to see Bee having a similar grim set to his face, looking down more than in front of us. Itachi moved closer to me, but stayed to where he didn't bump into me, a silent and subtle way of comfort as he scanned the area around us constantly, each time his foot struck a branch I could sense his chakra pulse about the forest around us.

We must have been traveling for about another two hours before I suddenly ran into an iron bar of an arm. Itachi had stopped dead in his tracks, and halted the entire group, eyes wide and head cocked to the side in concentration. His eyes then looked up in alarm and whipped around, searching for something we couldn't sense or see.

"What is-" Bee began, but Itachi shushed him quickly, his eyes going red.

Sasuke did the same thing and rapidly looked around with his mangekyo sharingan on full display. I narrowed my eyes and lowered my body a little in a defensive stance, ready to bolt or move in whatever direction I needed, Bee doing the same as he drew his swords.

Itachi tensed at the same time Sasuke did, and both exchanged a serious glare before looking around more nervously, seemingly lost sight or sense of whatever it was that Itachi saw or felt. The wind blew gently, the only sound being the leaves above us, but then the feeling of eyes boring into me sent chills throughout my entire body, for some reason, flooding me with fear. A second set of eyes landed on me then, too, making me shudder and lean a little into Itachi's body, pulling out a kunai and glaring around, nearly going into Nine Tails mode from the feeling of eyes on me.

"Well... this is a beautiful sight indeed. All of my pawns right where I need them." A familiar voice whispered from every direction, making all of us flinch in surprise. "You seem different, boy."

"Smell different."

"Look older in a sense. Yes... If my memory serves me right, your birthday is nearly upon us. Only a few days out from today. It feels like it was yesterday when I ripped you from your mother's arms, and pulled that beast from her belly." Madara's words cut through me like a poison laced blade, jarring me from what he had said. "You come bearing the other Jinchuriki and a few new toys for us to play with. How have you been fairing, Itachi?"

"Show yourself, don't be a coward." Itachi hissed in a tone that sounded more animalistic than human, baring his fangs.

Flames burst from the ground around the area to form a ring. I activated my Nine Tails mode and growled threateningly at the display as the flames jutted through the tree line and higher. A form spiraled into existence about twenty feet away, dawning a white mask with two eye holes instead of one. One eye familiar and red, and the other rippled and purple just like Pein's was. However, a second set of eyes opened just beyond the fire, watching us hungrily, burning red with intensity that put the raging fire to shame.

"Masked Akatsuki...!" I hissed under my breath, Kurama's rage and eagerness mingling with my own.

The mask tilted to the side, eyes glaring straight at me with need in them, but the eyes beyond the fire put his to shame, making my stomach knot unpleasantly. Sasuke growled and slashed his sword through the air, aimed at Madara, who stood holding a giant metal fan with the Uchiha symbol on it, latched to a handle and chain. Itachi and Sasuke both tensed as Obito swung it to the side, mirroring Sasuke's actions.

"Why are you standing there, come and face us!" Sasuke growled, eyes narrowed in apprehension.

"It's fun watching you grow increasingly nervous. Besides, it's not you who I want. I'll sit here until I get the chance to attack, I'm not your first opponent. He is." Madara chimed with excitement as he held up a thumb behind him, to the eyes beyond the fire. One of the red eyes past the flames turned purple and began to move, circling around the fire.

The chakra of this hidden person was much more than double the amount of Madara in front of me, but it felt off, and oddly familiar to Itachi's in a way I couldn't place. Those mystery eyes had me nervous, and my attention kept flickering back towards them before looking back at Madara, feeling those eyes plotting as they glanced between me and Bee.

"My... what strong chakra these four possess. One is very similar to mine. Itachi Uchiha I'm guessing?" The voice that sounded identical to Madara's spoke from past the flames, making me gasp in shock, as did the others. "Oh... he does smell intoxicating. I cannot wait to have a taste."

"HOLD ON! WHO ARE YOU!?" Itachi yelled, just as confused as I was.

A presence took shape behind us, and we barely had time to react before a hand blurred into Itachi's barred arms, splitting the tree we stood on in half. A man taller than any of us stood there, forcing Itachi on his knees with a grin of excitement and hunger, powerful eyes that glare down at him before looking up to me in a frenzy of anticipation.

"Madara Uchiha, and it is an absolute pleasure to meet someone who can actually put up a fight." This man claiming to be Madara introduced himself.

His leg kicked Bee in the gut and sent him flying with blood trailing after him into a nearby tree, and Sasuke in a different direction. The hand that almost hit me in the fraction of a second I missed, was caught by Itachi with a snarl before throwing the man away from me. I quickly blurred to the side just as hands barely missed grabbing my head, the masked man coming into view then, glaring at me.

I swung my claws down and it phased right through him simultaneously with a second pair of arms that thrusted me backward in time for that giant fan to barely miss hitting my side.

I scrambled backward, creating multiple clones at my side before rushing him, a barrage of blows aimed at him in rage, all passing through him and giving him no window to hit me. Just as I did this, Itachi went flying past me in a blur, through more trees and past the wall of fire these two created.

A large purple ribcage formed and immediately shattered as this man claiming to be Madara broke through Sasuke's Susanoo as if it were nothing but mud. I saw this and rushed over, my clones being destroyed behind me and forgotten as I was quick to pull Sasuke out of the way of a punch that hit my arm instead, creaking my bones and bruising everything immediately upon contact. Sasuke swirled around me in a violent way, lightning zipping across his screaming sword to cut him, only to completely fail as the sword was blocked by a blue rib, which vanished before the man held out his hand, sending us both flying back with a shock similar to Pein's almighty push.

"Sasuke take Bee and run!" I yelled after catching us, just as this monster blinked in front of me with a wide grin. "DAMNIT GO!"

"NARUTO ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID!?" Sasuke cried, but a tentacle wrapped around his waist and the two vanished behind the veil of fire just as Itachi's figure blurred in to kick the masked Akatsuki away with a thunderous collision.

"WHO ARE YOU, REALLY!?" Itachi yelled at the masked man as they began to fight nearby, leaving me with this crazed individual, ridiculously strong.

I winced as I was struck in the chest by a knee, shooting me up and into a tree, feeling something in my chest snap painfully. I cried out in pain, tasting blood in the back of my throat as something pierced my abdomen before I could even register a thing. I zipped around this monster immediately without inspecting the damage I took in favor of a rasengan slamming him into the dirt below us. More shadow clones formed and advanced on the guy, dozens and dozens of them raining down on him, each one being taken out, but gave me a window long enough to look down and pull the kunai from my gut, the wound healing over instantly.

"Is it nice? The life I've given you? You seem healthy. Far more healthy than Madara is. Perhaps it's his blood keeping you so well intact. His mind is a little frayed, you see. Of course, dying does fray the mind a little, but becoming a monster does the major damage to one's head. Fills it with hunger, animalistic thought and violence. Deep down I know you're enjoying this. If you must really know my identity. Ask Kakashi when you get the chance, that traitor knows some of what I used to be." The masked man chuckled as he deflected another blow from Itachi, who was growing more frustrated that he was being kept from me, frantic in expression and beyond enraged... but...

Utterly terrified.

The moment I looked to their conversation, I felt a hand grab me by the throat and ram me into the ground hard, making my world spin dizzily. The hand squeezed so tight my airway was cut off, I made to make more clones, but my nine tails form was quick to shut off, suddenly feeling all of my strength leave my body in a rush that jarred me and made my mind freeze, something shooting around my body and tightly binding it, legs and arms becoming tied together painfully, causing me to writhe in agony.

My neck was creaking beneath the force of his hold, threatening to snap, however the grip shakily loosened enough for me to gasp dizzily, hearing a body thud against the ground. I frantically struggled, but yelled out when something stabbed through both of my legs and stopped my movements dead in that instant.

"Pity... the eight tails got away. Wish for me to chase after and secure him?" The masked man asked, coming up beside us, dragging Itachi's body, which was wrapped in bandages scribbled with seals across them. Seals I have never once seen before in my life.

"Not now, give them their false sense of security. They may join the main army before the next nightfall." Madara hummed blissfully, baring fangs at me, making me freeze in horror. "I've gotten what I wanted for now. Let Zetzu have his fun. It's nice to be meeting you, Naruto Uzumaki. Oh, how much I've heard about you."

"I-I don't consider meeting you a-a pleasure." I grunted out, shaking from the pain in my legs.

The hand around my neck squeezed again, making me wince as bruises began to form under his hand, his grip wasn't tight enough to choke me, but it definitely hurt, that's for sure. I growled in discomfort as he leaned forward, inhaling deeply, nose to my cloaked shoulder, and remained there for a time. I felt scared, extremely scared considering my position was fucking terrible. I was frightened for Itachi, scared for myself, and of the masked man hovering over us with folded arms, regarding me with sick pleasure.

"Make it quick. After you're done we need to leave before the enemy comes after us. I'm sure their sensory ninja have picked up on your presence. Your chakra is much too loud and noticeable, Madara, especially in this form." The masked man sighed and dragged Itachi along with him, who was unconscious and bleeding from a deep gash in the side of his head, making me shudder with rage.

My cloak was shredded so fast I gasped in shock, tensing when nails as sharp as claws cut through my shirt, just where my shoulder was and exposed bare skin and the scars Itachi had given me from repeated bites. His fingers caressed them, making me cringe in disgust as those calloused frozen fingers tainted places only Itachi had the right to touch. A blue blush spread across Madara's cheeks and nose as he seemed to admire my neck, breathing deep and heaven, getting visibly drunk off of my smell.

There was no doubt in my mind, he was exactly like Itachi. He grabbed a fist full of my hair from the back of my head and yanked it to the opposite shoulder, making me grunt in pain as he yanked me up against his chest. I flinched when his tongue dragged across the skin, fangs thicker and longer than Itachi's scratching across the scars, making me feel all kinds of wrong and uncomfortable, panic swelling in my gut and a pressure forming in my head.

"You seem to have kept Itachi well fed. You smell like liquid heaven. Nothing tastes better than the blood of a trembling enemy, no? Hnhnhn, I've had many meals since waking up, but I can already tell that you are by far the sweetest smelling. You will surely be the tastiest meal. It's a shame really, that you carry the Nine Tails within you. You must die eventually, but first? First, I'm going to indulge." Madara spoke against my skin, fear swelling as my legs kicked, growling in pain at whatever it was that was stabbed through them.

A stabbing pain erupted from my neck, making me cry out in agony and nothing but dread and pain filled my system, completely unlike Itachi's bites, polar opposite to them in fact. Those thicker longer fangs pierced deep into my flesh until I felt his gums against my skin. I struggled but the hand grabbing my hair tightened painfully, and the pain and fear flowing through me caused my body to freeze and go unresponsive despite the intense. I felt tears rolling down my face, panicked and panting, winded by this terrifying sensation.

Each pull of blood from my body left me feeling weaker, much faster than Itachi did when he drank my blood. These gulps were much larger and quicker, greedy. The hand behind me balled the fabric of my shirt, and he moaned against my neck, letting out several pleased sounds as he drank and drank and drank, leaving my increasingly disoriented. The moonlight peaking through the canopy grew fuzzy and overly bright. My heartbeat got deafeningly loud, and my breathing and his moans soon became the only thing I could register past the numbing pain. I could no longer feel the tears on my face, only the pain originating from my neck.

Black dots danced across my vision, and my neck felt like it had just been ripped open, before the sensation left my body. I tiredly watched as my surroundings changed, unable to see where I was, unable to feel anything past this sense of hopeless dread... and for the first time in a couple days, Danzo's voice whispered in my head, quiet but still there.

"Pathetic."