Chapter 17 Tsukuyomi Part 2

Hi all, hope you're doing okay, and enjoying the story so far. As ever, this is inspired by Silver Queens DOS and will have some content from that fic put in here raw. Thanks to MathisMagic, my Beta, and all of you. Thank you for reading and commenting – I especially love your reviews because they often inspire me to take the fic in different directions.

WARNING: This one is going to be a little… Dark, I expand a little on what the Tsukuyomi actually does, where Silver Queen details the psychological damage of seeing the Uchiha massacre by having Shikako skirt around the issue… which fits with her character, but as Shikako is not the direct narrator, I've decided to really pile on the suffering and explore it a little.

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear." Mark Twain

Shikako had been so confident when they'd made their way over to Sense's house; so certain they could address the issues disquieting her Uchiha teammate.

She was so very wrong.

The scene she and Sasuke barged in on was not what she had initially imagined, not that she really knew what to expect…

Asuma, Gai and Kurenai are littered around Sensei's bedroom, in a way that Shikako was certain her Sensei would disapprove of if he was conscious enough to do so, looking battered and… damp?

The two Genin share an uncertain look, and Sasuke grilled the Jōnin on what on earth had lead up to this circumstance while Shikako ran a Diagnostic on Kakashi-sensei.

She can't find anything really wrong with him. There were traces of water in his lungs, some minor bruising – but there is absolutely no reason for his unconsciousness. Moving her hands up from his chest to his head, Shikako focused with everything she had – and still came up with nothing.

Shikako was not skilled enough in Iryō Ninjutsu to pick apart what the signals in his brain meant, but somehow they seemed – off. Subdued, like his chakra… and while she couldn't say for certain why she couldn't help but feel that Sensei was… awake in some way, despite his obvious unconsciousness.

Behind her, the Jōnin were being difficult, and a vaguely familiar signature raced down the hallway.

She turned, hands still bracketing Kakashi's skull and emitting green light.

And the answers they have been denied are so readily supplied…

"It is true," The familiar Tokubetsu Jōnin asked breathlessly "that the Itachi is back?"

And the whole universe halted, and Shikako was suddenly and painfully aware of every contractive squeeze of her frantic heart, and the reaction of everyone in the room.

Gai's otherwise friendly face twisted in anger, the deadpan that overtook Asuma's expression, and the way Kurenai very slowly closed her eyes; because the damage had clearly been done.

Except that is hadn't.

Because the Idiot kept going.

"And that he's after Naruto?"

The green glow of hands died, and Shikako only had eyes for Sasuke.

He too had stopped breathing, and Shikako watched as his face twisted in panic and hatred and fear.

Desperate fear and she remembered his words – words he'd said not ten minutes ago 'I can't let that happen again.'

In her periphery Gai-sensei slapped a hand to his head, but all Shikako saw was the slow way Sasuke turned away from her to face the door.

She knew what was coming, knew that he would leave – find Naruto and face Itachi. She can't let him go alone.

By the time Sasuke had ploughed through the nin in red sunglasses blocking the door, Shikako had released her Resistance Seals and reached down to web the static half of her modified Chūnin Summoning Seal onto Kakashi-sensei's floor.

Shikako blew past the assorted Konoha nin with a chakra enhanced leap; and if she kicked the legs out from under the already unbalanced Special Jōnin, slamming him into the ground as she shot past, well: fuck that guy.

Who wares sunglasses inside anyway?

Shikako cursed as she followed Sasuke that she had told him where Naruto was going, cursed that she hadn't had time to integrate the things she'd learned this morning into the Recall Seal.

She had been able to do some work on it the past couple days – it now functioned with greater chakra efficiency, and the glaring error of being able to track the body in motion had been solved by the integration of some design elements from the Markless Seal. She'd even decided on a name for the damn thing, which should help – Hearthstone for the fixed half, and Touchstone for the secondary mobile half – though together they unimaginably remained the 'Recall Seal'.

Still no luck on multiple usage front – so Shikako was going to have to choose which of her comrades to attach the Touchstone to… which one to save…

She will probably choose Naruto – he is in real danger: Itachi loves his brother too much to kill him…

Or at least, that belief is what keeps Shikako from planting the Touchstone Seal in his skin right that instant.

Otafuku-Gai is 12 kilometres away… Shikako has never attempted to move anything that far, for all that her calculations should allow for it… And if not well… there were safety protocols coded into the seal for a reason…

As Shikako closed the gap between them, she called to the Uchiha; telling him they'd be crushed, begging him to reconsider – but he surprised her…

"I know!" Sasuke snapped "We're not going to fight. We just have to warn Naruto."

It warmed some part of her chest that Sasuke included her in that 'we' as thoughtlessly as he had seemed to, but also: Damn, damn, damnit all.

They would be no match an S-rank ninja: speed or strength. The most likely outcome was that Itachi had been and gone by the time they'd even got there; hopefully having been rebuffed by Jiraiya.

There was clearly no way to stop Sasuke from going, so Shikako merely followed; matched his speed and hoped to any divine being that might be listening that they survived.

Internally, Shikako was screaming. At herself mostly – because how could she forget about this? How could she still not remember?

But what would they do if they actually found Itachi? Try to fight him? They would lose so fast it wouldn't even be a joke – it would just be a slaughter. And as much as Sasuke knew that, the fact of their immediate demise probably wouldn't matter if he saw his brother again.

Those wounds were just too deep…

Best-case scenario? They, by some impossible stroke of luck, arrive first and are able to warn Jiraiya – and then they hide behind his brightly coloured robes like the helpless children they are when compared to Itachi.

Anything else was pretty much suicide.

They bled chakra for speed, the pace was punishing; and when they arrived it seemed to Shikako that they were both too soon and too slow all at once.

It was crowded with some kind of festival and Shikako had to focus to hear anything above the drone hundreds of civilian level chakra signals.

"Where?" Sasuke panted, eyes darting around.

"I'm trying!" She snapped, closing her eyes and reaching out for Naruto's sunshine chakra, or the placid calm of Jiraiya's.

'No!'

"They aren't together!" Shikako bit her tongue and tried to find a way to breathe, to fix this…

She had to keep Sasuke away from Itachi.

"I'll go for Naruto. Jiraiya is in that direction, somewhere. I can't get a lock on him. Use all the stealth you can!" It was a small miracle she could sense him at all, frankly. "Tall, white haired, red haori. His forehead protector has the kanji for 'oil' on it. Find him. I'll get Naruto."

Sasuke wavered and opened his mouth to protest. But Shikako cut him off.

"Itachi knows you, Sasuke! If you go for Naruto -" She cut herself off. "I'm an unknown. Go! Get Jiraiya! We're wasting time!"

She darted away before he could protest, and it was rude, but he could be angry at her later – right now she was too terrified to care.

Shikako crushed her chakra in tightly, hiding it like this was the aftermath of just another nightmare.

As much as this was a nightmare, the monsters she was hiding from were real.

The horrors that haunted her dreams always were…

She found Naruto in short order, both hotel and room. There was no one else in there with him, she realised with some fractional easing of the crushing terror in her chest.

There was still time.

Shikako pounded on the door, calling out "It's me, let me in!" rather than use his name and risk drawing any untoward attention.

Naruto opened the door looking puzzled, "Shikako? Why're you here? Did something happen?"

"Yes," She said simply. "Where's Jiraiya?"

'Please god, know where Jiraiya is!'

When he disgustedly informed her that the perv had found a lady, and left him alone, Shikako almost cried.

What to do, what to do, whattodo?

Leave.

Would they be safer outside? Not really, but they'd be closer to Jiraiya – and that had to count for something.

"We have to go. Itachi Uchiha is after you," She informed him quickly, uttering that name like a curse... like she was saying Voldemort or something. "You need to stick with Jiraiya. He's already hurt Kakashi-sensei."

"W-what?" Naruto stammered. "Kakashi-sensei is hurt? How?"

"I don't know, he just wouldn't wake up" She tells him anxiously, and regrets it at the stricken look on Naruto's face. "Look, don't think about it right now. Sasuke is looking for Jiraiya. We really need to get you to him now so let's go."

She nudged him back into the room and over to the window.

"Remember Kakashi-sensei's escape and evasion lessons? Now is the time – suppress your chakra first" She ordered, unable to keep her wild eyes from darting around and lessening the sounds of her movement with chakra. She nudged him to do the same.

Naruto frowned at her, confused and perceptive in the way only he could manage. "You're really scared."

"Yes." She really, really was. "Let's go."

Shikako kicked herself when Naruto decided to leave a clone behind, but congratulated him on the idea quietly as they slipped down the street. The fear was overwhelming everything, every thought, every movement out the corner of her eye…

They crept low across the rooftops, silent as death, in the direction of Sasuke and Jiraiya.

Eventually, they dropped soundlessly to the ground in an alleyway; ready to blend into the mass of people on the road.

For a ninja, other people were the best disguise, and Team 7 had an unexpected edge.

Shikako really thought it might work, for a moment; she was already choosing which of the techniques from 'Advanced Disguise Techniques, Theory and Practice: 2nd Edition' she would use.

And maybe they'd have stood a chance, if they'd reached the crowd – but they didn't.

Because with a flicker of speed so fast Shikako didn't even register it, a pair of feet (with incongruously purple nails) stood between them and the mouth of the alley.

Instantly, Shikako wrapped her hand vice-like around Naruto's forearm, pulling him behind her while applying the Touchstone seal.

Then, slowly, Shikako raised her eyes to be level with the Missing nins chest – her eyes caught on the red clouds, stark against the black background.

"Hello, Naruto."

Well, fuck.

Swallowing, Shikako tried to think of some plan of action that would save them both…

She considered, for a moment, flaring her chakra… but while that might bring Jiraiya, would definitely draw Sasuke… she could feel his signature fluttering to and fro even now searching for the Toad Sage.

Naruto wasn't in immediate danger – the Recall Seal works… Even if it might not take him all the way, it won't hurt him, and the trajectory couldn't be tracked.

That knowledge steadies her.

Naruto is safe.

She can pull him from this danger in an instant, and that thought returns some functionality to her fear drenched mind.

'Plan,' she commanded her brain, 'get Jiraiya's attention exclusively.'

Someone appeared behind them, blocking their escape.

Though Shikako doesn't turn to look, she can tell some things about their second assailant; and tapped a code into Naruto's wrist, so that he stood at her back. She heard him draw a kunai with his free hand, and pressed her lips together – knowing it would be worse than useless against this foe.

He is not as big a threat as the one before her, but that says very little for their chances – especially since he had no reason to hold back. His chakra reserves were enormous, vast as the sea. Kisame, worn memory supplied. Of the Seven Swordsmen, she knew his reputation from the Bingo Books… his sword Samehada was probably his best asset as a Jinchuuriki hunter – she can feel its cold hunger even now.

Shikako forced her eyes a little further up, resting them finally on a simple three looped necklace. It was too high, too close to those deadly Sharingan eyes; in the periphery of her focus she could see the flat line of his mouth, the end of his nose. She could barely breathe at the thought of what he might be able do to her with his Mangekyō eyes, but she couldn't afford to ignore his arms.

Not that it would matter, if he chose to engage in combat with them.

By all rights they should be dead already, would be – if Itachi really was the traitor everyone thought he was.

Shikako didn't have a cat in hell's chance of walking away from this confrontation, unless Itachi chose to spare her.

Which he might… they weren't dead yet, after all. That had to count for something.

Not much, admittedly – this was after all, the man who murdered his entire family, bar one, under orders.

However distasteful he might find the murder of children, and however pacifistic his natural tendencies – Shikako knew that he would not hesitate to kill either herself or Naruto, should the necessity arise.

But he didn't want to kill them… he did want something though...

Maybe if Shikako could figure it out, she might walk out of here alive.

In the awkward silence that prevailed, Shikako carefully tapped out another directive against Naruto's skin.

Directions first, then the condensed patterns for 'search' and 'covert' and finally Ram, Serpent, Tiger – the hand seals for Kage Bunshin.

That done, Shikako released his arm – and though she didn't reach for any of her various pouches, they hovered ready.

She needed to distract them from the blond to have any chance of the plan working. No easy feat given that she is the extra, the annoyance in this scenario.

This was probably the most danger she had realistically been in since the Kyuubi attack.

"Naruto. You're coming with us." It wasn't threatening or commanding. Itachi didn't need to be. He just said it softly, an undeniable statement of fact.

"What do you want with Naruto?" Shikako returned in her best attempt at similarly even tone.

It was late afternoon, so there was shadow enough to work with – supposing she could even catch them. For Itachi that was an impossible dream, and while with Kisame it might be possible to snare him, she certainly couldn't hold him for long. His chakra was like a tsunami, eagerly awaiting the moment it could crash down upon them.

"Our mission is to capture the Nine Tailed Fox," Itachi replied, perfectly smoothly. Shikako let her head tilt, she had honestly not expected him to answer.

Very obviously and slowly, the shadows beneath hers and Naruto's feet turned dark as ink. A circle perfect darkness extending a foot around them. The Jutsu was as yet unattached to anyone; so it was a relatively low chakra statement piece.

From what she could see of Itachi's face (too much), he didn't seem overly concerned, but when Kisame chuckled Shikako allowed herself to bristle, to appear unnerved by him and flash her teeth; like any cornered animal. The parameter of the circle changed. Rose like mist under her clumsy direction.

To any of her Clan, the lack of skill the move displayed would have been obvious.

It was a weak attempt at mimicking the three dimensional Jutsu her father had banned her from practising. But the insubstantial dome of shade probably looked interesting to non-Clan members – if the way Itachi's chin tilted slightly was any indication.

Naruto, thankfully, saw it for the diversion was - and soundlessly a dozen fragments of his chakra slipped away as insects on the breeze, not a sound or whiff of smoke to betray them.

"For what purpose?" Shikako stalled, and she thought that the set of his mouth tilted up very slightly. Was he amused by her blatant delaying tactics, her pathetic attempts to threaten S-Rank Missing-nin, or the clone trick? She couldn't imagine that he'd missed it... was he going to play the game?

"I cannot tell you that."

Apparently, yes.

Shikako turned away from that unproductive line of questioning, and dropped the shadow-mist until all that remained was the thinnest boarder just above the ground, and focused on forming a seal under the back even as she asked. "Just the Kyuubi?"

It was risky to ask, risky to speak, risky to keep silent... she might raise suspicions, or make herself an irritant but... she needed time.

'Come on Jiraiya...' she begged, stretching out with her senses. But he was still too elusive, and Sasuke was still too close. Fast moving Naruto's flickered around, searching the local area at speeds which indicated that they had returned to their most natural shape.

The corners of Itachi's lips might have lifted fractionally. "Clever. You are correct, we are also after the other Bijuu."

The panic had both dulled and sharpened Shikako's world.

Beyond the ally, the entire universe was Monet: a blur of indistinct colour and shape. Within, she could feel every move, every breath, and twitch, and hair lifted in the breeze.

The slight tremor of Naruto's shoulders as they pressed against hers.

She hoped he could contain himself; Kisame would likely not be as impressed by Naruto's gumption as Ibiki had been.

"We? How many of you are there?" This was an informational goldmine, Shikako hoped Naruto was taking notes – as the one guaranteed to survive, he had a duty to pass on this intel.

From behind, Kisame shuffled, and the deliberate sound of rustling cloth was almost unbearably loud. "Come on, Itachi. There's no need to play nice with her."

"To be able to deduce so much from so little," Itachi mused.

"Uniform implies an organisation," she informs his necklace dully "implies hierarchy… though I can't think of anyone powerful enough to command you to take missions..."

Shikako saw the lines of his face become level and smooth again, and wondered if she has overreached herself.

"Among the 9 members of the Akatsuki," He began, "there are those who can best me as easily as I did your sensei."

"Akatsuki," She echoed, unable to disguise the fear she felt at that observation. She might not even have believed it, if she didn't Remember Madara... Pein. "The red dawn." In both this life and the last, a red sky at morning was a bad omen…

"If you're a member, I'm surprised that everyone doesn't know that name."

Not flattery so much as cold hard truth. An organisation of S-Ranked Missing-Nin should have been infamous.

The fact that they weren't was terrifying.

"In time," Itachi said. "In time they will."

Ominous.

Shikako scanned the outside world as she tried to process what that meant, and promptly froze. A Naruto-fragment was coming back, accompanied by Sasuke.

No.

'Where are you, Jiraiya? Please!'

Thoughtlessly her eyes began to rise in horror, but when she saw the red of Itachi's eyes, they dropped with a shuddered breath.

"What kind of goal could unite such individuals?" She forced out, throat almost too tight to form the words.

"Peace." He said, and though his voice was utterly unchanged, the Nara thought he seemed to convey that word in a sardonic, derisive way.

Predictably, it was at that point that Sasuke arrived; and it seemed that Shikako was correct in her worry that his reason would be overcome by a need for vengeance.

From her position Shikako could see him (and a very guilty looking Naruto Shadow Clone) standing behind Itachi, but only for a second - far longer than she could strictly afford to take eyes off the older Uchiha.

Then he spoke up after an elongated second of unnatural stillness, and his voice was thick with anger and hatred.

"Itachi."

Real terror came back then, the kind that steals away every other thought - drowns every other feeling.

If Itachi was alone, maybe she wouldn't be so afraid; but with Kisame watching, he'd have to keep his cover.

Shikako knew Itachi would never kill Sasuke, but she knew with just as much certainty that he was all too willing to hurt him.

Shikako was numb with indecision. She could activate the seal and save Naruto... but what would the Akatsuki members do when he was gone? That was a much more pressing question with Sasuke here to share the consequences.

Itachi didn't move, didn't turn around. "Sasuke. It's been a long time."

He didn't do anything as plebeian grit his teeth, or purse his lips... but something about his face was suddenly different – an artificial smoothness was now present.

Oil over restless waters.

And then of course Kisame would have to speak up, to stir the festering cesspool that was Itachi and Sasuke's history.

There no way for him to not know that Sasuke was the sole survivor of that terrible night – the actions of Uchiha Itachi are known to the entirety of the elemental nations.

An S-Rank other S-Ranks avoid – the horror story that frightens even veteran ninja.

Was the shark-man really spoiling for a fight so much that he would instigate a fight between an S-Rank Missing-nin and a Genin?

She didn't know what to do, but she knew what Sasuke was going to do. It was stupid to the point of insanity, but really… there weren't any actions left that were actually good.

Just like in the Forest of Death.

Action and inaction were equally useless, equally suicidal.

It wasn't indecision that held her captive in those fractions of a second, but rather the certain knowledge that things were about to go very wrong.

Then Sasuke acted, and Naruto exploded into a thousand moving pieces in solidarity; Shikako had no choice but to follow suit.

Seals, Shikako realised in that instant, did not automatically duplicate their effects just because their canvas had done so… It might have, if she integrated it into his chakra system, but its influence enclosed only that single true body.

Shikako closed her eyes and let the shadow fall away to reveal the network of Flash Bang Touch Seals beneath her feet and apologised silently to Naruto.

Sasuke was talking, some feet ahead, but all she could hear was the sudden cursing and retreat of Kisame. Really Shikako thought he was being dramatic – if it really was one enormous explosive seal, she wouldn't be standing on it; and she certainly wouldn't risk her boys being anywhere near it.

Shikako jumped up into the air, straight up as high as she could as Sasuke destroyed the structural integrity of the building to her right; using friction to build up the charge and power of his one-hit assassination Jutsu.

When Shikako twisted her fingers into the activation hand seal, she murmured 'Fuinjutsu Style: Recall' even as the world exploded into a riot of light and sound. She'd only had time to field test up to 50 metres, and for short distances there were no additional energy requirements once the seal was set – but Shikako really couldn't afford to take any chances with Naruto, so she shunted three quarters of her remaining reserves down the open connection between herself and the seal.

Shikako was still airborne when she felt Sasuke's Chidori die out – though she couldn't hear it over the continuous eruptions of sound from her former position.

When she inevitably started to come down, Shikako (keeping her eyes closed against the glare of her own seals) twisted her body and pushed with her chakra until she came down hard upon the roof of the left hand building. As the seals were still going off, and no one seemed to her pursued her so far, Shikako decided to make absolutely certain that their plight would not missed - no matter how far Jiraiya had gone.

The Touch Blast pressed into the kunai was a real explosion this time, and its detonation roared as far above that heads as Shikako could throw the projectile.

Which was pretty high, especially when factoring in chakra enhancement.

She tried, mostly in vain, to track the progression of Naruto across the space been her and Kakashi-sensei. Her seals deceived her senses as much as anyone else's. She did get the sense of completeness before the thread of awareness died out; so there was room for hope.

The flashes of light from the seal were violent enough that they pulsed red and painful even through her closed eyelids, and Shikako couldn't go back into the alley until they stopped. Thankfully, the attack left her chakra sensory perception largely unmolested.

It was almost impossible to notice the sudden loss of one Naruto in the multitude, even before factoring in her own bombardment on the senses.

Shikako desperately hoped it would work.

Her distraction was almost deafening, but Shikako had been careful.

Light without heat, and concussive blasts that wouldn't perforate eardrums or tear apart insides – that was the hard part. Making sure they went off one at a time in rapid succession, like the world's most unpleasantly jarring seizure-inducing club scene; rather than one large burst of sound and light that would be almost as dangerous as a real explosive seal.

This plan had a number of advantages.

There was now simply no way Jiraiya was unaware of their location.

No one seemed to be aware of the original Naruto's disappearance.

Hopefully this diversion would also bring a net advantage to herself and her remaining teammate, because Sasuke was used to having explosions go off in his face by now, and therefore had experience in fighting half-blind for the paltry seconds it took for his special-snowflake eyes to readjust.

As soon as the seal spent itself, Shikako loosed a handful of lightning Senbon at Kisame, before directing her attention to the Uchiha – ostensibly this was to help the dwindling and half-blind mass of Naruto's; but was also because she had played too much Pokémon as a child in another life, and that part of her brain insisted that she should have a serious type advantage with that move…

Shikako opened her eyes to find that she had affected Itachi and Sasuke's 'fight' not at all. Somehow her thirty seconds, unimaginably long in a ninja fight, of violent distraction had done nothing to so to even slow down the older Uchiha.

Sasuke wasn't using chakra, which could only mean that he was no longer able to – either pain, exhaustion or unconsciousness would be to blame… and he wasn't exhausted...

Shikako jumped down from the building, and even before she hit the floor, she was performing the hand seals for replacement.

Because despite the gleaming white spots obstructing her vision, Shikako could see very clearly what was happening - what was going to happen.

Itachi's body blocked his brother from Shikako's sight, but she could still feel him – the chaotic tumble of his chakra indicated in pain, rather than unconscious. Through the ringing in her ears, Shikako thought she might be able to hear the pained noises coming from him.

She could feel Itachi too, the power gathering at two points of burning focus within his skull.

The sudden transition was jarring, and Shikako's final, desperate plan fell apart.

She thought, hoped, she'd have time to plant one last Touch Blast, perhaps just on his sleeve; enough to drive him back. Just a little more time she could use to protect Sasuke's until Jiraiya turned up…

But it didn't work out that way.

She had switched their positions exactly.

Out of the corner of her eyes Shikako could see Sasuke stumble and fall; not expecting for there to be empty space under his feet, and in too much pain to compensate for the change without warning.

Sasuke had been looking his brother directly in the eyes.

Shikako tried to move, to lash out, to do anything – but the attack was already set, and Itachi's Mangekyō opened wide and pulled; drew her inside of its blood and black depths.

She screamed.

Mostly it wasn't even from the pain, though the addition of his chakra to her system really did hurt, in large part it was simply the shock.

Shikako had never experienced a Genjutsu she could not break

She had severely underestimated the Sharingan's power because of that.

The blazing agony of the Tsukuyomi slid through her chakra network like hot oil. Slick and black it eluded her attempts to contain and expel it. She tried everything she could think of to disperse it - pushing it away, transforming the nature her chakra, spinning it like she was performing the reinforcement technique.

It didn't help.

Every move served only spread it further, only smeared it in deeper.

Shikako's entire system was awash with it in almost instantaneously, and she couldn't keep from choking on the tainted bitterness of it.

The chakra pathways of her eyes burned with the strain of the onslaught and Shikako wondered if they might collapse. Wondered if that might be preferable to this - drowning in oil set ablaze.

But they didn't, her near-religious commitment to her prescribed Iryō Ninjutsu preserved their integrity.

The burning lessened, sight returned – and then it was so much worse.

A red sky bled across her sight, with black clouds and a hateful grey-brown disk that glared down darkness across the forming landscape. Vaguely familiar buildings were turned completely alien by the inhuman perception forced upon her mind – white-darkness stark against black-light. Too sharp and overexposed to be real.

She ached from the excess clarity, but all attempts to block it out failed. Because it wasn't her eyes that ached, it was her mind.

All of this was in here with her.

She couldn't get it out, couldn't get away.

This wasn't subtle hint, or sly suggestion like all the other Genjutsu she'd ever felt... it didn't try to deceive the senses - it overtook them. With brute strength it held on and forced her see what her own eyes never could.

Reality is perception, and Itachi has created this new reality to impose upon his victim.

"In the world of Tsukuyomi, time and space are mine to command."

The whole world wavered, and reformed until Shikako was in a dojo. There were two people kneeling on the ground. And Itachi was there; a study in warped light and shadow. He was geared in ANBU armour, sword held ready.

He was haunting, covered in so much bleached-white shadow that Shikako thought she could finally understood how white would be considered a colour of evil...

Shikako whimpered pleas and denials; tried to turn away. But the world moved too, rotating with her like she was the sun. She ran, but the ground refused move under beneath her feet. She couldn't block out the black glint of the blade that took the lives of Sasuke's parents, or the feeling of their blood soaking into her skin – warm but rapidly cooling.

Covering her ears didn't muffle the sound of an entire clan dying one by one.

The fact that this was all in her head didn't make it any less real.

Itachi was in here with her, and he was real. Everything she saw was real – because it happened. It happened to the entire Uchiha clan years ago: and now or happening to her.

The worst night of Sasuke's life resurrected for the sole purpose of 'motivating' him.

"To test the limits of my ability…"

As she was dragged through the clan compound, Shikako tried to fight. Tried to use her chakra, Jutsu, seals.

Nothing worked.

Shikako's entire being was smothered by Itachi's power, and her chakra was no exception.

She watched powerless as Itachi cut down a young mother and infant child with a single blow, and wanted to be sick. She cried and screamed, clawing at her wrists first - to dispel the Genjutsu with pain.

When that failed, and an old man stepped bravely in front of his wife, she went for her eyes and ears and throat.

She lacked even the power to hurt herself this place; and even through her frantically gouging fingers, she saw everything.

She didn't even know these people, and she wanted to die rather than see this.

What would it have been like for Sasuke?

To witness this. To see his family die again? The people loved, cut down brutally by the person he loved the most…

This torture had been intended for him.

There were over three hundred people in the Uchiha clan. Ninja. Civilians. Elderly. Children. Babies.

All dead.

Shikako still fought as the night drew to a close, but it was a weak exhausted thing; feeble twitching punctuated by broken cringing sobs.

"If you wish to kill me, despise me. Foster your hatred. By all means, flee. Cling to your wretched life…"

Then.

The whole world wavered, and reformed until Shikako was in a dojo. There were two people kneeling on the ground. And Itachi was there, a study in warped light and shadow. He was geared in ANBU armour, sword held ready.

"Seventy one hours, fifty nine minutes and fifty nine seconds left…"

"Oh, god, no."

By the sixteenth revolution, Shikako had stopped trying to use chakra to disrupt the Jutsu.

Forty-three cycles later she had ceased her attempts physically intervene: the fates of these people were utterly unchangeable by any means available to Shikako.

One-hundred and eighty-two mass homicides after that, Shikako is on her knees in a dojo again, and she finally understands the true torture of the Tsukuyomi.

She watched three-hundred and seventy-one people die two-hundred and forty-one times: and she remembered each as a separate night. Identical but distinct in her memory. Memory that is as sharp and painful as the scene that plays out before her now. Perfect recall imposed upon her as if she had a Sharingan of her own to observe it with.

After a further one-hundred and twelve repetitions, Shikako finally accepted that she could not take her own life.

She had witnessed the murder of the entire Uchiha Clan five-hundred and thirty-six times when she accepts the equal futility of trying to goad Itachi into killing her – finally stopped trying to throw herself on his blade

For the eight-hundred and sixty-first time Shikako watched the trusting overlarge eyes of a five-year-old girl turn to gaze up at Itachi, hands still waving a rattle in the face of her infant brother. Shikako sobbed, but could no longer scream.

Six-thousand-four-hundred-and-thirty-three massacres have taken place and Shikako is motionless as the world deposits her once again in that dojo. By now, even the tears have stopped.

"Eighteen hours and forty-six minutes to go." Itachi informed her solemnly, raising his blade for the one-hundred-ninety-two-thousand-seven-hundred and thirteenth time, but Shikako's mind was no longer capable of processing the information the Tsukuyomi imposed upon it.

Shikako watched the Uchiha massacre two-hundred-fifty-nine-thousand-and-two hundred times before the technique finally released her mind and chakra.

As oblivion overtakes her, she cannot tell the difference.

Notes: So um... I think that's what the Tsukuyomi would be like... basically it sucks - a lot.

On a side note, when I read DOS at this point in the story, I imagined a thousand things about what happened between Shikako succumbing to the Mangekyō and waking back in Konoha; and I've done the same here. If there's enough interest, I'll write them up and pop them in the bottom of the next chapter like I did with Dona's ficlet.

Thanks for reading, please comment... I am worried that it got perhaps a touch dark right at the end there... so feedback would be great.