Title: Unspoken bonds

Author: Agni

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: According to Lord Alfred Tennyson, "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." Is it really?

Pairing: Itachi/Naruto.

Warnings: Prepare yourself for a truck full of angst, anger and pure twistedness. This is a dark story. The most unnerving one that I have ever written. There is Dubious consent lemon in this chapter. I wouldn't call it outright rape because the situation itself is not normal. So prepare yourself for something darkly unrealistic and the closest thing to horror that I would ever write. (I am probably overestimating this, but better safe than sorry.)

I am warning you that both Itachi and Naruto are completely out of character. Almost unrecognizable from canon and it was purposefully done. This is long, almost frightening, deranged and every other synonym you can come up with.

Those who want to flame me after reading this, I apologize in advance. I don't know why I wrote this but it is still here. It is something so far and beyond my comfort zone that I am amazed that I wrote it.

Anusha… please, consider yourself warned in particular. Don't come to my home to murder me in my sleep once you are done with this. Yes, I have butchered our Itachi and Naruto beyond recognition and it pains me just as much as it is likely to pain you. (And don't send Seph after me either, I have Jenova on my side.)

This story is dedicated to Starsofyaoi. Don't take it in the wrong sense. You are my best online buddy and I heart you. Just because this dark, morbid thing is dedicated to you doesn't mean anything. You are the sweetest girl and the most amazing writer.

Have fun.

Kiyoshi

Theirs was a story without an end.

A story that was stuck in a comma filled with pain, slowly descending into darkness.

Theirs was a love that was once pure, full of cherished innocence

Until time and separation turned it into something as ugly.

Theirs was a story that was interrupted by fate in the cruelest way

And now the final chapter is being written.

Unfortunately, there is no happiness in this little fairytale

And no wide-eyed innocents in this play.

Only madness and two empty hearts suffer silently at the will of fate.

Kiyoshi

'Extraordinary.'

His mind whispered to him for that was the only manner in which he could describe the man. He was beyond ordinary, beyond anything he had ever seen. He was beautiful but Kiyoshi had seen many men who were just as striking. However, there was something about him… his unnatural intensity, the way his haunting black eyes followed Kiyoshi's every move that made him believe that he was extraordinary.

Their eyes had met only once and yet it seemed as though he had claimed him in a single glance.

He turned away, scowling as a mixture of dread and excitement assaulted him.

He knew of him of course. He was Takahashi Itachi, the Lord of the Takahashi clan and a very strong and skilled swordsman. Rumors stated that he was in close and personal contact with the Emperor himself.

Moreover, he was now linked to their family through his sister who had married his brother.

"Nii-san, is something the matter?" He turned to look at his sister-in-law, Miyamoto Shouko, and shook his head, not looking in the mysterious man's direction.

"Nothing." He whispered to her, "Just felt a chilly wind."

Deep grey eyes looked at him piercingly for a moment before the woman nodded with a gentle smile. "It is rather cold, isn't it?" Shouko asked as she gazed at the beautiful snow-covered garden. "However, Kentarou-chan seems to enjoy this weather." She stated with an amused smile.

Kiyoshi eyes drifted towards the said child at the mention of his new nephew. His older brother, Kenichi was proudly showing off his heir to their relatives and the baby seemed to be enjoying all that attention. "Kentarou-chan is just like Ken-nii-san." He said, "He enjoys being the center of attention."

"Yes." Shouko stated but there was an odd note in her voice. Kiyoshi looked at her in question and was graced with an amused smile. "And you do not seem to cherish attention as much as your brother and nephew do." She slyly and subtly gestured towards her brother who was still watching Kiyoshi with his intense onyx gaze.

Kiyoshi glanced at Itachi before turning his head away while narrowing his eyes in irritation.

There was a breathy chuckle, almost inaudible and it seemed as though it was meant for his ears only. He glanced at him with a faint scowl, watching as those lips curled in a small, amused smirk.

Suddenly, Itachi disappeared from his sight he started in surprise when he felt a presence at his back. He looked about and was startled to notice that Shouko was no longer standing beside him and every one else had gone inside the house to escape for the cold.

"Miyamoto-san." A voice whispered in his ear and he closed his eyes, resolutely forcing himself not to react. "Isn't this the first time we have spoken to each other?"

He stilled as his cold breath landed on his cheek and he tried to calm himself. Why was he affecting him so much?

"Do you not follow the common codes of decency, Takahashi-san?" he asked, swallowing his reaction and narrowing his eyes.

He seemed amused, "Blunt." He whispered, "Blunt, shrewd, unbecomingly reckless and bold. Those are the words often used to describe you, Kiyoshi-san. However, they failed to mention your stunning beauty." He tensed when he felt him take a step closer. Itachi was not touching him but he was close enough to make him uncomfortable. "They say that you are without emotions, that you haven't spoken a kind word to anyone and are full of conceit."

Kiyoshi brought his hands to his lips, concealing his twitching lips. "Is that so?" Icy blue eyes glanced at the man standing behind him. "I was unaware that a man of your station pays heed to gossip."

He stiffened suddenly Itachi's hands settled on his hips. It was too bold, too possessive for Kiyoshi to ignore or excuse. He turned around swiftly, his hand grasping Itachi's in a vice-like grip. "Your audacity astounds me." He hissed, his expression frigid.

A frightening smirk crossed the older man's lips as he leaned forward, his lips just a whisper away from Kiyoshi's. "Does it?" he asked softly, "But you know me," he whispered and Kiyoshi frowned in confusion, "You know me so well… all you have to do is remember, love."

His breath caught in his throat. Up close, the intensity of Itachi's eyes was all-consuming. He took a quick, instinctive step back, unnerved by the predatory light in his gaze. His instincts had not been wrong. There was something unnatural about him. His body radiated coldness instead of heat and his skin was pale… silky, without even a single blemish…

"And very perceptive, it seems." Itachi murmured thoughtfully, looking at him with interest. He raised his hand, seeming as though he was about to touch him but Kiyoshi recoiled even before their skins could make contact. He smirked and pulled back. "Just like him…" he whispered, much to Kiyoshi's confusion, "Haven't changed a bit… I would have thought that you would have softened a bit."

"I beg your pardon?" He asked sharply, suspicion lining his voice, "I am afraid you have mistaken me for someone else."

Instantly, Itachi, with one hand cupping his chin and the other around his waist in a possessive hold, trapped Kiyoshi. "Don't be so wary of me." He spoke softly in his ear, but there was a hint of steel that lent a dangerous tone to his words. "I am not patient enough to wait a year for you to submit to me again. Adjust quickly…" he warned.

His words chilled Kiyoshi and he looked at him with wide eyes.

Itachi smirked at him, a dangerous, wicked smirk and drew away, as sly as a snake.

There was something lifeless about him, a faint sense of emptiness and loss. Sanity barely lingered in his eyes but the manner in which he looked at Kiyoshi was unsettling, intruding and yet very intimate.

It was for the first time in his adult life that Kiyoshi couldn't hold another man's gaze. He turned his head away, swallowing the resentment he felt at his defeat.

For it was defeat. It was a brief moment of submission that the man in front of him caught instantly. Pleasure and triumph graced Itachi's regal, unearthly features and Kiyoshi felt sick in his heart. The decay he could sense in the man pained him. The cruel twist of Itachi's mouth should have made him wary of him but all Kiyoshi could feel was a certain sense of helplessness and sorrow.

"What…" he asked, almost to himself, baffled by his own feelings.

His icy blue eyes glowed in anger and confusion as he shoved the man away from him, his hand instinctively going toward his sword. "What are you doing to me?" he asked dangerously.

Itachi leaned back, looking amused but his eyes didn't hold any hint of humor. They were serious, intense and dangerous. "You cannot deny me for long." His words were confident, almost prophetic. "You cannot deny your heart and your soul for long."

Kiyoshi frown, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his sword.

The older man took a step away, those inhuman eyes trailing down Kiyoshi body possessively.

Kiyoshi couldn't bring himself to speak but his body burned at the caress of Itachi's gaze. There was something achingly familiar about the man. It was like a vague, precious memory, just out of his reach, tormenting him with its elusive presence.

For a long moment, Kiyoshi couldn't bring himself to speak. He didn't know what he could say.

Itachi unnerved him.

Abruptly, the urge to flee was overpowering. The man's presence, his intense, knowing eyes and those ethereal features woke something painful in him. He felt as though he was falling willingly into an abyss of dark memories and remembered pain.

Kiyoshi took a step back, his breath escaping him in short, fevered pants. His head was pounding, his vision swimming as unknown panic assaulted him.

In front of him, Itachi's lips curled into a triumphant smile and Kiyoshi suppressed a curse that was aching to escape him.

Spinning on his heel, he ran. He couldn't stay.

He didn't have the courage to.

Archery was very soothing. The constant, intense focus that it demanded helped keeping his thoughts away from darker contemplations.

The pounding headache in his temples, the exhaustion coming from another night of sleeplessness and bad dreams did nothing to deter him. One after another, time after time, he released his arrows, hitting the target with unmatched precision.

Archery was his escape.

In a curt voice, he ordered a servant to fetch his arrows and scowled, observing his callused fingers.

Images lingered at the forefront of his mind. Somehow, in an odd twist of fate, he could remember his dreams now. All his life, he had ached to know what those phantom memories were and now that he knew, he wished he had never seen them.

He had seen that disturbing person in his dream. He clearly remembered those intense eyes and yet they were different. They had been wise and intelligent but the dark knowledge and pain that he had seen in reality was absent.

The man had been unnerving; even in his dreams, but in his dreams he was someone innocent, someone pure and untainted. He had been someone who took pleasure in simple things.

Itachi had been there…

And he had been Naruto.

Kiyoshi closed his eyes, his fingers tightening around his bow as he contained a snarl.

Itachi and Naruto…

'What a tragic, romantic, painful story…' Kiyoshi thought to himself, a darkly sarcastic smirk twisting his handsome features. 'A story of innocence, of pure love, mischief and loss… an idyllic little tale that has no meaning in reality! '

He snarled and snatched the arrow from his servant, notching it on his bow and letting it go, watching with vicious satisfaction as it hit the target dead center.

"All you have to do is remember, love…"

"I am not Naruto." He whispered to himself as he let another arrow fly.

"But you know me… you know me so well…"

Kiyoshi closed his eyes once again, with sheer force of will, pushing those disturbing thoughts away.

He looked at his target in silent determination.

"I will never be Naruto."

His arrow missed.

"He is beautiful, isn't he?" Kenichi said with a smile, startling his wife.

Shouko looked away from her brother-in-law who was practicing archery and gazed at her husband with a frown. "Beautiful…" she flushed and shook her head, "I wasn't admiring hi-"

"I know you weren't." Kenichi interrupted and settled down beside her, "I was merely stating a fact." He chuckled at Shouko's indignant glare and relaxed. "You are too easy to tease, aisai."

She glared at him but he ignored her and continued looking at his brother. "Beautiful and fascinating. He always has been." When she looked at him in confusion, he elaborated. "I was five when he was born; I remember… it was a dark, silent night when he took his first breath. I remember how softly he cried, how quiet he was." He shook his head, "That's why father gave him the name 'Kiyoshi'. Fitting."

Shouko turned towards Kiyoshi and frowned thoughtfully. Naruto hadn't been quiet. He was always playful, boisterous and the center of attention. To think that in this life he was-

"He has always been… different." Her husband whispered softly, "He didn't start speaking until he was well past three years old… it worried our parents. Even after he started speaking, he rarely uttered a word." Kenichi smiled fondly as Kiyoshi hit the bull's eye with expert precision. "During that time, I think father was relieved that I was the first born and therefore the heir." He chuckled, "All of us were surprised when he started his studies."

Shouko looked at him in question, "How so?"

"He was just so…" he paused with a faint frown, "Brilliant…" he shook his head, "No, not brilliant. Sometimes I felt as though he already knew everything he was being taught. Everything came to him so easily. To me it seemed as though the knowledge was there, somewhere buried in his mind and his teachers just awakened it. Everything he touched, he easily mastered." He smiled sadly, "I would have been jealous. He caught up to me in an instant. I would have been but…"

"But?"

Kenichi observed his younger brother keenly, his eyes solemn. "It wasn't natural." He whispered, "His silence… his pain. It isn't natural. The sadness of this world hasn't touched him. Father and I saw to it. He has never been hurt, never been scolded, never been hit… never. He has never seen the ugliness of battle and war, Shouko and yet-" he combed his fingers through his hair with a sigh, "And yet it feels as though he has faced great sorrow and heartache in his life. How can a child so coddled wake up in the middle of the night, sobbing and shaking in terror? How can he imagine himself killing others, seeing blood, watching someone he loved get hurt when he has never experienced such things?"

Shouko stilled, looking at her husband in shock.

"It has always been there." He whispered, "This air of melancholy and loss has always been there around him, even when he was a child. His smiles were never innocent. His laughter always carried a hint of mocking darkness in it. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't draw a genuine smile from him. My baby brother was silently suffering and I couldn't do anything."

"Keni-"

"Then you came along." Kenichi whispered, his piercing black eyes looking at her. Shouko stilled, baffled yet somewhat nervous. "You and your brother. Itachi."

The manner in which Kenichi said Itachi's name sent panic racing through her veins.

"How many times had I listened to the same name spilling from my otouto's lips when he woke from a nightmare, dazed and confused?" he said softly, his eyes hard and unforgiving, "I thought it was a coincidence." He confessed, "The mention of your brother garnered no response from Kiyoshi. He didn't even remember the name Itachi. He never remembered anything from those nightmares of his. I passed it off as a coincidence. It never occurred to me that your brother and Kiyoshi had never met and that was the reason why otouto didn't recognize him."

Jet black eyes narrowed calculatingly, "But that was until last night." He murmured, "You must think that I am a fool, Shouko." He whispered frostily, "Assuming that I could be so easily distracted by the presence of my son that I would ignore my little brother's pain. I saw it."

Shouko flinched, "Kenichi I-"

"I saw it. I saw the manner in which your brother's eyes followed him. Not once did your brother gaze stray. I saw the interaction between them… I saw how you cunningly left my brother alone with that man so they could talk. I saw how Kiyoshi responded… how disturbed he was."

Shouko swallowed and looked into her husband's piercing eyes, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Kenichi asked with a scoff, "Shouko, you may be my wife but know your place." He hissed softly in her ear, aware that his brother had just glanced at them. He didn't want to make Kiyoshi suspicious, "If my brother is hurt by your or your brother's actions, the consequences for you…" he paused, brushing his lips against her cheek dangerously, "Will be severe."

Shouko closed her eyes, trembling faintly. There was a reason why Kenichi was her mate despite being a human.

He was dangerous.

"Kiyoshi is my brother's mate…" she confessed, wincing slightly when Kenichi's hissed in anger, "Long ago, Kiyoshi was Naruto… he sacrificed himself to save nii-san's life. He gave my brother a blessing that was so strong that it made Itachi practically indestructible." She gazed at Kiyoshi sadly, "The blessing became more of a curse to Itachi. His mate died and he couldn't follow. The spell protects Itachi from everyone, including himself."

Kiyoshi pulled away from her and glanced at his little brother with narrowed eyes, "Kiyoshi was a demon in his past life?"

Shouko chuckled hoarsely, "Not just any demon, anata. He was a demon prince. I'm sure you have heard about the old legend of Yukimura Naruto and the battle that ended with the loss of his life?"

Kenichi stilled and looked at her with wide eyes, "That's a nearly five hundred year old tale." He whispered, "Are you saying…" he trailed off in disbelief.

"Sometimes death is mercy, anata." She whispered softly, "Sometimes when you are saving someone's life, you aren't doing them a favor." She reached forward and kissed him lightly on his cheek, "There is a reason why mates die together. Living alone is too painful to comprehend." She looked at him with love blatant in her eyes, "We demons dedicate ourselves to our mates and can never be complete without them. I chose to give up my powers to be with you, so that I could grow old and die with you. Itachi would do the same for Kiyoshi-nii-san. I am certain of it."

Kenichi turned to look at his brother, frowning thoughtfully. Kiyoshi seemed pale even though his arrows never failed to meet their target. His beautiful blue eyes were troubled and stormy but still intensely focused. There was a slight tired slouch in his frame but Kenichi doubted that anyone would notice it.

"I may forgive many things, Shouko, but causing my little brother pain is not one of those things." He whispered warningly, "Tell your brother to tread carefully or I might just grant him his wish and end his life."

Kiyoshi missed.

Shouko watched as her husband stilled before standing and walking over to his brother. She smiled slightly when Kenichi ruffled Kiyoshi's hair, his hand lingering in a sweetly protective gesture on his younger brother's cheek.

She could understand Kenichi's feelings. Somehow, Kiyoshi, with all his brilliance and grace, always seemed so achingly fragile. In her eyes, the difference between Kenichi and Kiyoshi too obvious. Her husband, with his tall, broad-shouldered frame, excluded strength. On the other hand, Kiyoshi was graceful and elegant but glaringly more vulnerable than Kenichi was.

Despite Kiyoshi's prodigious skills, Kenichi was always the stronger one.

Closing her eyes, she worried her lower lip. Itachi wasn't as… as gentle as he used to be. He wasn't the indulgent, affectionate, teasing mate that Naruto knew.

When Naruto died, he left behind a wound that grew and festered. Over the years it that started to consume Itachi, a constant throbbing pain that would never go away. It ate at her brother, dragging him further and further into the dark world of loneliness and despair.

Shouko forcefully stilled her thoughts as Kenichi's laughter reached her ears.

Her lips curled into a small, sad smile when her husband situated himself behind Kiyoshi, no doubt hugging him just to annoy his younger brother. However, even from a distance, she noticed that there was nothing humorous about his expression.

She recognized that protective look for what it was and shook her head in silent remorse.

Even she could tell it was going to end badly. Yet a selfish part within her wanted to give her brother at least a moment of happiness.

Even if at was at the cost of her brother-in-law.

The game of predator and prey was as old as time itself. A game in which the hunter hunted for something he desired and the prey did its best to escape. In the wild, the hunter's power emerged in the form of short bursts of strength, speed and cunning while the prey's abilities were weaker but more enduring, more patient.

In case of animals, the logic was simple and could be applied without problems. The actions of humans and demons couldn't be so easily explained.

Kiyoshi couldn't escape Itachi. Whether he truly desired to escape the unnerving man was a different issue altogether. One that he wasn't too willing to contemplate.

The demon was relentless in his pursuit, cold, calculating and ruthless.

Sometimes, Kiyoshi felt that the depth of Itachi's love for him was endless and terrifying. The more he looked into it, the more dangers he perceived. There was no beauty or innocence in such a love.

At the same time, Itachi's hatred was just as palpable and just as deep.

The mixture of intense love and intense hatred had produced a creature that was alien and unnatural. It was something that Kiyoshi couldn't escape, didn't want to escape and yet wished desperately to get away from.

Itachi knew no restraint. He acknowledged no rules and respected no authority.

To him Kiyoshi was Naruto.

And Naruto was his.

He was a replacement.

That was perhaps the most upsetting thing in the twisted affair. It wasn't enough that he was confused about his own feelings towards Itachi, he had to face the fact that Itachi saw him as Naruto.

Kiyoshi had always known that there was something different about him. Very often, he could feel as though he was living someone else's life. When he was a child, he would view the actions of other children with exasperation and a vague sense of amusement. It wasn't the haughty disdain of a particularly intelligent child, it was the almost affectionate amusement of an adult reminiscing on his own childhood days.

As he grew, the feeling of deja-vu kept assaulting him. When he had first lifted his sword, the weight of it was familiar to him and yet he desired to wield something heavier, longer.

His first Nodachi fit perfectly in his grasp, its length and weight pleasing him instead of disappointing him.

Wielding a Nodachi came to him so easily that his masters had to find something else to teach him to keep him engaged.

That proved to be a difficult feat. It seemed as though everything he touched, he mastered. It frustrated him just as much as it frustrated his masters. To him it felt as though he hadn't earned that level of proficiency. It felt as though that knowledge wasn't his.

That was why he became fond of archery. Archery wasn't something he had mastered easily. He had to work hard to gain the level of proficiency that he possessed now. Archery was his own.

He hadn't borrowed Naruto's skills in archery.

He didn't want leftovers from Naruto.

He definitely didn't want to be Naruto's replacement for Itachi.

Stepping quietly into his room, he closed the door behind him.

Almost instantly, he wished he hadn't.

"Why is it that your arrogance doesn't surprise me anymore?" Kiyoshi eyes, his icy blue eyes glittering with suppressed rage. "That you can be so dishonorable as to enter my home, my chambers, without permission in the middle of the night…"

"Honor has no claim over me." The demon sitting comfortably in the dark room said, his was somewhat amused. "Nor does your disgust and disapproval affect me." Itachi's eyes glowing eerily in the darkness, "They are not real despite your best effort to distance yourself from me."

"You have no right to intrude upon my life like this!" Kiyoshi hissed, his face pale with anger. "The past has no significance now."

Itachi stilled, his eyes narrowing dangerously at Kiyoshi. "You remember." He whispered and stood, slowly walking towards Kiyoshi, "You remember what we were… what we had."

Before Itachi could get too close, Kiyoshi raised his hand, placing it on the demon's chest and pushing him away with as much force as he could muster.

Itachi didn't budge. He took a step closer, capturing Kiyoshi's hand in a vice-like grip, "You remember." He whispered once again before pulling the human into his arms, trapping him. "My little mate…" he murmured in Kiyoshi's ear, "My Naruto, naïve and honorable till his very last breath."

Kiyoshi struggled futilely in the firm embrace. "I am not Naruto." He said desperately. "I don't lo-" the human choked on the word, unable to complete his sentence.

Itachi's lips curled at the edges into a frightening smirk. "Say it." He challenged, leaning back to look down at Kiyoshi's face, "Say you don't love me. Say that you won't submit to me." He pressed his lips against the smooth skin of Kiyoshi's neck, "Will you be able to deny me, I wonder?" he whispered, his hand fisting in the human's hair to keep him in place, "If I took you now, forced you to submit, will you able to push me away?"

Kiyoshi struggled harder, stomping painfully on Itachi's foot to hurt him but the demon didn't even flinch. "Your feeble human strength can inflict no damage on me." Itachi said, twisting Kiyoshi's hand viciously behind him back, making the human wince in pain and glare at him. "You glared at me with these same exquisite eyes before, Naruto. You tried to push me away then too. You never liked to notion of belonging to someone. I was patient with you then. You were so innocent that I daren't risk hurting you." The demon's grip tightened painfully and Itachi dragged him towards the futon. "I don't have the same patience anymore. I own you, Naruto." Itachi whispered viciously, "And I'll prove it."

"By raping me?" Kiyoshi asked, clearly reading Itachi's intentions. A sneer marred his handsome features as he glared at the demon. "By defiling me in a way you would never have allowed Naruto to be defiled?"

"You know me too well to think that I would resort to such manners." Itachi said, looking at him impassively. His eyes though… his eyes told a different story. There was an ugly, wrathful light in them that stunned Kiyoshi to such an extent that when Itachi's pushed him onto the futon, he fell without struggling.

"You love me." Itachi said with utmost conviction. "Ours was a soul-bond. No matter how many times you are reborn, you'll always be mine." He pinned Kiyoshi's hands above him head, glaring into those blue orbs, "Your body will enjoy no one's touch but mine. You decided that it must be so. When you blessed me…" he spat the word as though it was a curse, "You bound us together in a bond that can never be broken. You tied us into this vicious cycle."

"Itachi, I-"

"You left me." The demon spoke frostily, "You naïve…" he grit his teeth, visibly holding himself back. "You thought you were saving me, giving me a chance to live but you forgot that you were my life. You left me alone, taking the easy way out, assuaging all your guilt while I suffered for five hundred years without you. Five hundred years without a mate." Sharp claws dug into Kiyoshi's wrist as Itachi's rage continued to increase.

Kiyoshi sagged against the futon, looking at Itachi's face with wide eyes.

"You can't blame me for what Naruto did." Kiyoshi said, "And you know what he did was out of his devotion for you." He looked steadily into Itachi's eyes, "Tell me, truthfully, wouldn't you have done the same thing in a heart beat for Naruto? In that last moment of desperation, all he could see was you. His primary concern was your safety and he acted accordingly. Granted that it caused you more pain in the end, but he wasn't aware of it. All he wanted to do was save your life. What mate wouldn't think like that?"

Itachi stilled above him, his eyes glittering in age-old anguish and suddenly, the pain and loss that he felt was transferred onto Kiyoshi.

The human struggled under its weight, feeling his breath still in his chest at the sheer agony written on Itachi's face.

Kiyoshi wanted to reach out. He wished so dearly that he could just find the strength to raise his arms and accept Itachi into his arms. The burden of this pain… this love was too much for someone like him. He wasn't Naruto. He didn't have Naruto's strength or innocence.

Naruto loved Itachi until his very last breath. Loved him enough that he could think of nothing and no one but Itachi.

Kiyoshi didn't.

So he turned his head away from those probing eyes, silently rejecting the man in front of him.

And Itachi understood.

"You can't do this." Shouko whispered urgently, grasping her husband's hand desperately, "You can't allow this, Kenichi, you know it! It will ruin them both." She looked pleadingly into Kenichi's eyes, "There's no telling what Itachi-nii-san will do…"

Kenichi didn't answer, he simply continued to dress. They were going to visit a highly influential family and he wanted to leave a good impression. Although, considering that it was Kiyoshi's omiai, his appearance didn't really count.

And Kiyoshi always impressed people so he wasn't too bothered.

"Are you listening to me!" Shouko shook him, her beautiful eyes narrowed and angry. "Nii-san will not tolerate his Naru-"

"Kiyoshi is not your brother's property." Kenichi said calmly, "And you'd do well, wife, to remember that I only care for my brother's well being and happiness." He looked at her, his black eyes piercing, "As far as I can see, you brother only causes him pain."

"Kiyoshi-nii-san can't have agreed to this!" She cried out in frustration, "He couldn't have. He knows what is at stake! He knows nii-san!"

"Kiyoshi has voiced no objections." He answered, "The girl is beautiful and talented. Her manners are refined and she will be a good wife for Kiyoshi." He raised a brow at her, "He has known her all his life and he approves of her. You really didn't expect that Kiyoshi will marry Itachi, did you? The very notion is ridiculous and what right does your brother have to destroy Kiyoshi's happiness?"

"Kiyoshi will not be happy!" She insisted, "Can't you understand, anata? They share a soul-bond and such a bond cannot be broken. If he marries her, he will be forever miserable. He won't be able to touch her without feeling as though he is betraying nii-san. His body and so-"

"Mind you tongue!" Kenichi snapped, glaring at her, "I'll not have my wife speaking so boldly and imprudently. Have you no shame, Shouko?"

Before Shouko could speak, there was a knock on the door. "Kenichi-sama, the others are ready to depart. They are waiting for you and Shouko-sama."

"Yes, please inform them that we will be there in a moment." Kenichi commanded firmly before turning and narrowing his eyes at his impulsive wife. "You will do nothing to jeopardize this, you understand?" he said in a whisper, "Nothing if you wish to retain my respect for you, Shouko."

Shouko flinched and closed her eyes. He was testing her. He was testing her loyalty and she knew that she couldn't disappoint him.

Itachi was on his own now.

It was to her dismay that she found the woman intended for Kiyoshi to be his perfect match. She was soft-spoken and respectful but her eyes glowed with intelligence and fire. A beautiful liquid grey to compliment Kiyoshi stunning blue.

When Inoue Kyoko spoke, her voice was firm underneath the gentle accent. She had seen Kiyoshi interact with her. Her bright personality seemed to give life to Kiyoshi silent, somber demeanor.

The young woman knew of Kiyoshi's keen intelligence. Her brother-in-law hadn't spoken a word but Kyoko didn't refrain from speaking, somehow knowing that he'd listen and appreciate her.

Shouko sat through the proceedings in silent agony, knowing that things had just gotten worse. Both Inoue and Miyamoto clans were well-known and respected families. Kiyoshi, with his prodigious skills, was considered to be a good catch by any standards.

She glanced at her husband, her eyes pleading, "Kenichi… please…"

He looked at her before shaking his head firmly. Despite everything, his eyes were gentle and sympathetic. He didn't like giving her pain but he was looking after his brother's interests. Shouko understood even though she didn't agree.

Itachi was going to be enraged and the only one who'd suffer the consequences of it would be Kiyoshi.

That was something Kenichi failed to understand.

The interview was over before the light of the day faded into night. Kiyoshi was looking a little thoughtful yet not at all disturbed by the prospect of getting married. To Shouko, it almost seemed as though he hadn't given a single thought to Itachi's reaction to this.

She had long ago learned that it was useless to try to read Kiyoshi. His expressions gave nothing away. His eyes were always steady and calm like a peaceful lake, betraying nothing about what existed underneath the surface.

Kenichi seemed pleased with how the interview had been carried out. The fact that Kiyoshi hadn't shown any sighs of distress only added to his satisfaction. He was talking animatedly to his silent brother, his grins carrying a hint of teasing fondness in them.

When she looked closely enough, she saw Kiyoshi's lips twitch in response to his brother's liveliness.

Kiyoshi seemed content.

She wondered as she glanced towards a set of strategically planted Sakura trees, seeing a glimpse of glowing red eyes.

How long would that last?

"Inoue Kyoko." A voice whispered against his ear and Kiyoshi stiffed, "You mustn't care much for her if you'd so willingly risk her life by choosing her to be your bride."

Icy blue eyes narrowed in anger and he spun around, his long hair slapping against Itachi's cheek. "You impose upon me once again." He hissed, wrapping his yukata tightly around his wet body. The audacity of Itachi to enter his o-furo when he was taking a bath was appalling.

"I will impose upon you whenever I wish." Itachi replied, his dark eyes glittering with possessive rage, "Going behind my back and attending a marriage interview… and you accuse me of being audacious."

"Behind your back?" Kiyoshi sneered, "Now I need your approval to make decisions regarding my life? Nothing…" he hissed, "Nothing gives you the right to interfere in my life! Naruto is dead!" he said desperately, his heart twisting in unknown anguish, "I am Kiyoshi! I am right here, standing in front of you and I am not Naruto!"

"What name you possess hardly matters, now does it?" Itachi asked coolly, looking at him with those infuriating impassive eyes. "It doesn't change who you are."

"Who I am?" Kiyoshi asked, feeling a sense of acute pain and helplessness rising within him. "Ho… how can you claim me when you don't even recognize me? Every time you look at me, you see someone else! You see your beloved Naruto in everything. I mean nothing to you. I am just a replacement for him." He slapped his hand on his chest to emphasize his point, looking into Itachi's eyes, "Miyamoto Kiyoshi, that's my name. Naruto is dead! Get over it and move on. Stop tormenting me!"

Itachi reacted then, moving so fast that even an archer's keen eyes couldn't track him.

In an instant, Kiyoshi was trapped. Itachi's arms were like bands of iron wrapped firmly around his body. The demon's strength was unshakable and all he could do was struggle feebly and curse while trying to suppress a part of him that simply wanted to melt in that embrace.

He couldn't leave himself open to that kind of pain. Itachi would never be able to love him as Kiyoshi. He knew it. If he gave into the demon now, there would be no turning back.

His future would be full of misery and for once, he wanted to be content, if not happy.

"If you truly love Naruto…" he whispered finally, "Would you have him suffer like this? Forcing him to be with someone he doesn't love?"

Itachi stilled and Kiyoshi pressed for the advantage. He was being selfish but the prospect of submitting to this was frightening. He couldn't. To do so would be disastrous for both of them.

"I have decided to go through with this marriage." Kiyoshi said softly but firmly, gathering his resolve and staring at Itachi in the eyes. "She is to be my wife and she will be under my protection. If you claim to care for me, even the slightest, stay away from her." His hands fisted in Itachi's haori. "Don't stain your hand with the blood of innocent people, Itachi." He whispered, "Your Naruto wouldn't have liked that."

"You claim that you are not Naruto." Itachi said, tightening his arms possessively, "Yet you say such things. If you know of Naruto's feelings with such intimacy, you know that you are Naruto. Deep down, under all that denial, you are him. And you belong to me." He hissed in Kiyoshi's ear. "You will be marrying no one, Naruto." He whispered and Kiyoshi knew that his arguments had fallen on deaf ears.

"Bullshit." Kiyoshi cursed, "What I do is my busin-"

Itachi's kissed silenced him then. Hot, invasive and absolutely incapacitating.

Everything turned black for Kiyoshi at that moment. The touch was so achingly familiar, the taste of those lips, the gentle caress of that tongue was so damn familiar that he was helpless against the assault.

He pushed, almost absently, against Itachi's shoulder, his mind feebly battling against his body and soul and losing ground.

"Look at me and tell me that I have no rights, Naruto." Itachi whispered seductively against his ear, using his powerful arms to keep Kiyoshi trapped. "Tell me you hate me. Tell me that you don't feel this." He pressed his body against his mate's, "And tell me you don't feel the need to respond. If you can say all that without lying, I'll leave you be." He chuckled when Kiyoshi whimpered, fisting his hand painfully in the human's hair. "But you can't, can you?" he taunted, "Because you love me."

"You ba-" Itachi kissed him again, pushing against the wall of his bath, his hands slipping under his clothes to caress moist, naked flesh.

Kiyoshi could do nothing but gasp, falling to his knees as the power to stand, to think left him.

How was it possible? How could just a few simple touches do so much to him?

He struggled once again, feeling desperation rise within him.

He couldn't do this. He couldn't love Itachi. That would ruin him. He wouldn't be able to love anyone else. He wouldn't be able to ever be loyal to anyone but Itachi.

He wouldn't be able to marry Kyoko.

"Please…" he begged, shuddering in want as Itachi's brushed teasing kisses against his neck. "Please, please don't do this, Itachi. Don't make me do this… if" he grasped Itachi's haori desperately, looking at him with frantic blue eyes, "If you love me… even a little… just please le-" he gasped, his eyes wide when he felt two slim fingers inside him, exploring a place that had never been touched.

"Itachi…"

You will dance at my command tonight, Naruto. You will obey me, you will submit to me.

Kiyoshi started at the voice in his mind, letting out a low moan, his nails digging into Itachi's arm. "Wha…" he whispered, a small hiss escaping him as he felt the fingers prod deeper. He tried to squirm away but he urge to push closer was beginning to overwhelm him.

"Just as innocent as you were then, when I first took you… do you remember Naruto?" Itachi asked, his voice deep and amused.

You have the gift of music on these beautiful lips of yours.

This night, you will sing for me. That music will be more beautiful than any other sound in this world and only I shall have the privilege of hearing it.

"You didn't know about mating." He whispered, his fingers moving gently, slyly. "I had to teach you everything… but what exquisite pleasure it was… watching your face when you first felt it… my body within yours…" Itachi's eyes burned with passion, "That was sublime…"

"Shall I explain in detail so that your innocent little mind is corrupted by my words?" he asked mockingly, repeating what he had said to Naruto all those years ago.

Kiyoshi moaned in misery, his head pounding at the abrupt invasion of memories even as his body hummed with pleasure.

You love me, do you not, saiai

"Very much…" Kiyoshi repeating out loud, chocking on a sob.

You will accept me and I shall posses you and we shall be mates in the truest sense.

Kiyoshi cried out, his head tossed back and his body arching as Itachi slid into him with a single, powerful thrust of his hips.

No joining of two souls can be more intimate than this is, saiai.

The human sobbed, biting his knuckles as his body accepted the pleasure while his heart suffered under it.

Itachi leaned over him, nuzzling his neck, pressing soft kisses against the skin. His gentleness was mocking Kiyoshi. Telling him that he could and would make Kiyoshi love him, submit to him, dance to his will anytime he wanted.

Itachi had utter and complete control over him.

I have captured you… forever.

He didn't realize when he gave in. When he lost control of his mind and sunk into the blissful pleasure that somehow felt so familiar to him.

Itachi's breath caressed his ear but what the demon was whispering, Kiyoshi could scarcely comprehend. His mind was blank even as he responded to Itachi's kisses. Even as his body moved and pressed against the one above him.

The height of his pleasure was a bright, white explosion that blinded and disoriented him. He could feel an alien warmth seeping into his skin, flooding his entire being but even that was a distant sensation.

All he could sense was one word, spoken by Itachi, whispered so reverently that no one could doubt the demon's love.

Naruto.

He blinked dazedly.

That was not his name.

It didn't take too long for the reality to sink in. Just as soon as the chill of the night started to assault his sweat-moist skin, he started to emerge from the haze of pleasure, pain and long forgotten memories.

He stayed there, half-sitting, half-lying on the floor of his bath, his yukata still wrapped around his body but barely hiding anything. Slouched in an undignified heap, he looked up at Itachi, finding the man to be flushed with the recent activity but otherwise impeccable as always.

Those same infuriatingly impassive eyes were gazing down at him. Silently watching him. There was no compassion, no love… nothing was there on that face. Not even a hint of desire or passion lingered on those striking features.

Suddenly, he felt as though his chest was caving in and crushing his heart. Shame burned so furiously in his veins that Kiyoshi thought, for a moment, that he'd die with it.

He felt so dirty, so filthy that he couldn't stand to be in his own skin. He could feel the bile rising in his throat, making it difficult for him to breathe. The tickle of semen down his thighs only added to his misery.

As he struggled, Itachi stood and observed. He didn't do anything.

He didn't even lift a fucking finger.

"Is this your revenge?" Kiyoshi asked hoarsely, looking at Itachi with wide, angry eyes. "Is it? Do you like this?" he gestured towards himself, "Do you like what you see? Does this give you pleasure, Itachi?" he stood shakily to his feet, almost instantly slipping to crash painfully against the floor. "You got what you wanted, right?" he whispered, laughing when he noticed that Itachi's hadn't even taken a step forward to help him to his feet. "Misery loves company, right… you are miserable and you wanted me to pay for what happened… you wanted me to pay because I fucking loved you enough to give my life and powers to you… that I loved you enough to step in front of that sword, that I loved you enough to worry about you till there was no breath left in my body."

"I have no desire for revenge." Itachi answered calmly, peacefully.

It made Kiyoshi ferociously angry.

"Liar." He hissed, "What do you want then? For me to acknowledge that I was Naruto… fine… I was." He emphasized on the last word, "I am Kiyoshi. Naruto loved you… Kiyoshi loves you… without reason, without restraint… and you… you don't love either of us do you? You have forgotten love and turned it into hatred… you have turned it into insanity!"

"You know nothing."

"Don't I?" Kiyoshi asked viciously, "Don't I? I am right here… I know the difference between your love and your hatred now. I have felt both. Love was when even the slightest hint of pain from me was unbearable for you. Love was when my dignity, my innocence and my happiness were the only things that mattered to you. This." He gestured towards himself in disgust, "This is hate. I tried telling you. I tried, Gods know it. The fact that you can stand there, watch me like this is the proof of your hatred. We could have moved on. I with Kyoko and you with someone else… we wouldn't have been happy but we would have been content but you couldn't let it be… you were determined to ruin us both!"

"We are mates." Itachi hissed, shooting forward to grasp Kiyoshi's chin in a painfully tight grip, "We are mates and I will not have you with anyone else. You are mine. Mine and mine alone. I dare you. Go ahead and marry that woman. I dare you. I will ruin her for you. I will chop off every finger of hers that she dared to touch you with. I will destroy her so utterly that you-"

Kiyoshi punched him, straight in the face, doing more damage to his hand than to Itachi's body.

"Look at you!" Kiyoshi cried out in desperation, "There was a time when you wouldn't even think of saying such things. Using your strength against an innocent woman? That would have gone against every moral you held dear. Naruto would have been ashamed to call you his mate for saying such things!"

That stopped Itachi completely.

Kiyoshi clenched his wounded hand, ignoring the spike of pain that assaulted him.

There was no turning back now.

"Inoue-san." Kiyoshi greeted the woman softly, refusing to acknowledge her concerned stare as she took in his tired and pale features.

"I apologize for the inconvenience I have caused you and your family." He bowed formally to her. "I realize that by drawing away from our agreement I am exposing you to censure. Such is our society that failed marriage interviews are usually considered to be the fault of the woman." He looked at her in the eye, "And considering that the fault lies in me, I will do everything in my power to ensure that you aren't blamed for this."

"Miyamoto-san." She whispered softly, her eyes looking at him with carefully disguised pain. Kiyoshi could see it and his sorrow was even more acute because of it. "My family was given no reason for this abrupt withdrawal." She said, "But… I have known Miyamoto-san since childhood and know that there is a reason for this. I…" she paused, moving her gaze away from him demurely, "I have always been partial towards Miyamoto-san but if I am not considered wor-"

"Don't say it." Kiyoshi whispered, closing his eyes. "I am aware of your feelings, Kyoko." He admitted, "And I am honored to have the affection of such a beautiful and wise woman."

"But Kiyoshi-san will not accept me."

"I am not capable of injustice." He whispered, "And our marriage would be a grave injustice against you. I find myself… incapable of being the husband you deserve. You have no notion of what I am, Kyoko, of what I have become."

She looked at him in confusion but Kiyoshi didn't bother explaining himself. "I planned to go forth with this marriage even though I knew I wasn't capable of loving you." He confessed, "Because I knew that I would respect you and treat you with care. I am fond of you. We would have been happy, Kyoko. I planned to let you miss out on true love knowing that it was unlikely that you'd find it. You love me and I could give you myself." He swallowed, "But… I have become tainted now. Marrying you means that I'd expose you to certain things that you shouldn't be exposed to. I would have made you miserable, just as miserable and pitiful as I am now."

He laughed bitterly and Kyoko flinched, closing her eyes in pain at the sound. She had no right to ask him about his troubles. He had denied her that right.

But she still worried over his obvious pain.

"Kyoko," he said gently as he turned towards her, "Don't forgive me. I have always encouraged your attachment to me. I gave it room to grow because I knew love was beyond me. You were someone I was familiar with, someone who understood me better than anyone with the exception of nii-san. I planned on getting married to you since I was sixteen, Kyoko. I encouraged you to think of it, wish for it but now…" he seemed guilty, "I have almost ruined your heart for other men. I cannot forgive myself for that."

The young woman looked at him silently, watching the anguish cloud his unique blue eyes. How many times had she gazed into those eyes and wished to see love?

When she had been on the doorstep of womanhood, she was attracted to his sheer and unusual beauty. The impact of those stunning blue eyes at first glance was breathtaking. Everything about him had been so majestic, like an exotic predatory animal.

The charm of his appearance started to fade away as she grew more mature. His silent, somber demeanor and his wise and gentle ways drew her to him then. He was a guardian, quiet and ever-watchful. He protected those he could protect and his honesty spared no one. He could be kind or cruel with his words and that earned him a rather dubious reputation.

She understood him.

Now, as a woman who was so much in love with him, who knew him so well, she forgave him.

She knew that society would question her. Their marriage to each other had long been anticipated. Ever since she was a little girl, following him around, tripping and running to keep up with his long legs, people had speculated.

She could hear those words in her mind. She remembered the indulgent smiles she got from her parents when she stopped referring to Kiyoshi with the honorific of "nii-san".

She also knew that by Kiyoshi's own doing, none of the blame would reach her. She was certain that she'd receive pity at the expense of Kiyoshi's respectability.

"You have been hurt." She said after a long moment of silence, watching as he tensed. "Someone has hurt you in ways that you wouldn't speak of." Her intelligent eyes look at him understandingly, "And they have threatened me as well. Is someone trying to recruit you for your skills? Trying to turn you against our Daimyo?"

Kiyoshi closed his eyes, refusing to answer her. Let her believe that the enemy was another mortal man that he could hope to defeat. Let her believe that it was a simple issue of political power play.

The less she knew about Itachi, the better.

"I see." She whispered, standing up gracefully and turning her back on him. "I have known you all my life. I have loved you all my life. I can wait for you all my life."

Kiyoshi froze, his eyes wide in shock. He shot forward, grabbing her arm to prevent her from walking away from him. "No." he said firmly, looking into her eyes to convey his seriousness. "You will do no such thing. You will not ruin your life and bring shame upon your family like this! I will not have it."

She gently placed her hand on his arm and smiled, "My decisions are my own. You refused our marriage, Kiyoshi-san and with that you gave up the right to command me as a husband can. My reputation and the reputation of my family is no longer your concern. I will deal with the consequences of my actions."

Kiyoshi let out a sharp curse, startling the gentle woman in front of him. "So that's it? You will manipulate me into giving in to you? You will use my affections and my concern for you against me? You are just like him."

She looked at him questioningly, "Him?"

Kiyoshi looked pale, shaking with fury and desperation. He was trapped. Trapped between the man he loved, the man his soul was tied to and the woman who loved him enough to give up her own life and happiness for him.

"I need to leave. I will lose my mind if I don't. I need to get away."

"Kiyoshi-san?" Kyoko asked, becoming increasingly alarmed.

Kiyoshi backed away from her, "Kyoko, for both our sakes, if you love me, I beg you. Grant me this…"

He looked at her, his eyes wide and pleading, "Release me."

"Release… you?" She asked, unable to understand.

Kiyoshi looked beyond her, spying a shadow amongst the trees. The presence was terrifyingly familiar, making his blood run cold in his veins.

I have let my heart be vulnerable to you and you can do with it as you please. Is that not the ultimate submission?

Kiyoshi winced, his heart throat closing with dread.

Itachi.

"Do what you will." He whispered finally, "Wait, if you wish. I'd rather you live than die. Eventually you will come to your senses." He said before fleeing.

He prayed with all his heart that Itachi had followed him. He prayed that he was right and Itachi wouldn't - couldn't harm an innocent woman.

He didn't know what to believe. Itachi wasn't the same person that Naruto knew or loved. He wasn't the same honorable general that would cut off his own arm before harming someone who was blameless.

Do you find me lacking somewhere? Why do you fight me so strongly?

It was an odd mixture of dread and relief he felt when familiar arms wrapped around his waist, preventing him from leaving. Kiyoshi knew Itachi could have caught up with him anytime.

He had chosen an isolated place, where no one could see them, hear them to trap him.

Always the strategist.

If you are troubled then I am troubled as well.

"What happened to that…" he said hoarsely, unable to distinguish which voice real.

Which Itachi was real

"You terminated the alliance." Itachi said. "Wise decision."

Kiyoshi closed his eyes, sagging against the warm body. "You will not have it any other way."

Shall I list each and every one of your lovely attributes for you?

It would take me days to complete my task.

"Pretty words." He murmured dazedly, tilting his head back as he stared at the night sky.

Itachi smirked, pressing his lips gently against his mate's neck. "Yes." He confirmed, "Pretty words for a pretty mate."

He should have expected it. Four years he had managed to keep his Naruto with him and live. Four years, they had stayed together, drowning in their own darkness but close together.

He should have known that it was impossible for that relative peace to exist for long. All incomplete stories needed to come to an end. The curse on their souls that they had foolishly cast on each other had to come to an end.

Naruto's blessing had to come to an end.

Itachi had known it. He had known it ever since he first laid eyes in his Naruto… that Naruto who insisted on being called Kiyoshi. He had known that one day he would lose him.

Selfishly and mercilessly, he had kept Naruto by his side. It didn't matter to him that he was giving Naruto nothing but misery. It didn't matter to him that he had forced Naruto to let go of everything he cherished, to lose all respectability in society and to almost become estranged from his own family.

Nothing mattered other than having Naruto by his side.

For four years, he stood as a silent witness to Naruto's pain. Feeling a sense of perverse satisfaction to see him suffer as Naruto had forced him to suffer for five hundred years.

Now it seemed, their time was up.

The stench of blood that lingered in the air was familiar and nauseating. He was intimately acquainted with that scent. It drove him mad with possessive desire when it was accidently spilled in bed. When he lost control of his demon body and harmed his fragile human.

It happened. Rarely, very rarely. But it did.

Itachi walked through the dead silence of his home, his footsteps echoing hollowly in the darkness, knowing that this was the end.

But knowing and wishing for it were two different things.

He couldn't risk losing Naruto. He couldn't suffer the thought to being away from him. The five hundred years drove him steadily mad and he couldn't even think of living for a single moment without Naruto.

He wouldn't allow Naruto to leave him this time.

Not without taking him along.

Methodically, he paused at every door he passed, sliding it open and peering into the empty rooms before moving on. With every door he passed, the noise got louder and the darkness in Itachi's eyes increased.

The house was too silent. Kentarou's squeals were absent, Kenichi's deep laugh and Shouko's affectionate reprimands were nonexistent.

His beloved Naruto's soft voice was absent as well.

Itachi snarled, his hand moving in a slashing motion, blasting a door open, disregarding the damage it caused.

There was a slight whimper.

Itachi stilled and marched forward, fury radiating from his every step, his finger clutching onto his sword in a white-knuckled grip.

He would have swung his sword, ready to kill, if he hadn't stopped those wide, innocent grey eyes looking up at him fearfully.

"Ji-chan…"

The demon stilled, forcing his body to relax before he dropped to his knees and pulled Kentarou roughly towards him. He ignored the boy's frightened whisper and tightened grip as he stood, leaving the room and continuing with his search.

"Ji-chan…" Kentarou whispered, pressing his face against Itachi's shoulder, "Otou-san and Yoshi-ji-chan are hurt. Ninja…" The four year old murmured shakily.

Itachi's steps faltered for a moment, his grip on his nephew tightening for a moment. "I know."

"Yoshi-ji-chan… he…"

The demon continued silently, opening and shutting doors as he searched through the large house for his lover.

"Ji-ch-"

"Be silent." He commanded firmly as the odor of blood became more potent.

He found them in the courtyard. Kenichi and Naruto were leaning tiredly against the wall while Shouko frantically tired to tend to them both.

Even from a distance, he could see.

Both their wounds were fatal.

"Kaa-chan!"

Shouko turned towards them in alarm only to sag visibly in relief when she spotted her brother. "Nii-san, they…"

Itachi walked forward swiftly, depositing Kentarou in Shouko's arms and dropping to his knees in front of his lover. "Naruto."

Kiyoshi pulled away from him, closing his eyes tiredly, "Even now… like this, you refuse to acknowledge me, Itachi." He whispered hoarsely, turning to look at his brother, "Nii-san… I am Kiyoshi, right?"

Kenichi gathered Kiyoshi in his arms, wincing when his wounds protested. "You are always and will always be my Kiyoshi." He whispered, combing his fingers gently through his younger brother's hair.

Itachi reached forward but Shouko caught his arm, shaking her head. "Please, nii-san."

"You didn't love Naruto, right, Ken-nii? Just me and not Naruto, right?"

Kenichi didn't even spare a glance at his wife's brother, pressing a soft kiss against Kiyoshi's forehead. "I don't know any Naruto. I have only one brother and only one I cherish the most, that is Kiyoshi." He assured quietly and firmly, "Kiyoshi is my little star. My own little brother. Remember what I said, Yoshi? There are no nightmares in the protection of my arms."

"No nightmares." He whispered, closing his eyes, "Everyone loves Naruto." He murmured feverishly, "It's always Naruto. They always kiss Naruto, smile at Naruto… never Kiyoshi… Kiyoshi doesn't exist."

Kenichi bowed his head so that Kiyoshi was wrapped with him in their own little world. Shouko and Itachi didn't exist at that point, only the two brothers, bound by bonds just as potent as the ones shared with Itachi and Naruto.

The elder of the two stayed silent.

"Kiyoshi gets punished for Naruto's mistakes." He whispered faintly, "Kiyoshi wants to be free of Naruto, no more Naruto."

Kenichi closed his eyes in pain when he felt his brother's strength slowly fading. "Sleep, Kiyoshi." He whispered, "There will be no more nightmares. No more Naruto. There will only be Kiyoshi and Kenichi. Us against everyone else, remember?" he smiled faintly when Kiyoshi nodded. "Always, us against the everyone else. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you this time but I promise." He lifted his head slightly to glare at Itachi in fury, "I will protect you. I won't leave you alone next time."

Shouko reached towards her husband when he leaned tiredly against the wall, visibly paling, "Keni-"

"I have nothing to say to you." He said softly, looking away from her and Shouko flinched, her eyes clouded in pain and guilt. "I warned you… you let this happen…"

"Kenichi, I, you know I couldn't have-"

"Don't speak." Her husband commanded hoarsely, his body jerking at the force of the sob that escaped him.

Kiyoshi was still.

Kiyoshi was not breathing.

He closed his eyes, hugging the warm but unnaturally silent body close to him. "Leave us." He said to both of them, "In death, let us be ourselves."

Itachi narrowed his eyes, "Na-"

"Don't!" he cried out hoarsely, "He isn't Naruto and I will not allow you to say otherwise. He is my brother. Kiyoshi. He shall remain that! You will not torment him in death as you have tormented him in life." He glared at Itachi, his eyes slowly losing their vision. "I wish I had never laid eyes on either of you."

Shouko choked on a sob, burying her face in her hands.

"Leave."

"Anata, ple-"

"I regret the day I took you as my wife." Shouko stilled, her eyes wide in horror. "You have brought nothing but misery upon my family." He looked at her. "Our bond-"

"No!"

He sneered, "Our bond will be terminated with my death." He said with conviction, disregarding the sheer agony on the face of someone he loved so much. "Whateve-"

Shouko slapped her hands on her ears, shaking her head so that she wouldn't be able to listen.

"Whatever bonds that we have established are null and void." He whispered, his voice slowly loosing strength, "We will never be mates again, Shouko." He looked at her in the eye.

"Never."

Shouko let out a low cry as her husband died before her eyes, his last words to her echoing in her mind like a curse.

That which is inevitable cannot be prevented, despite the wishes and desires of all those involved.

I was four years old then and if the Gods had been merciful, I would have forgotten what happened that night when we lost both my father and my uncle.

I didn't. I learned that a rival Daimyo had ordered an assassination of my father and uncle. It wasn't honorable nor was it an end befitting of a Samurai. The entire village had suffered losses but the loss of Miyamoto Kenichi and Kiyoshi was the most devastating.

At least, to me it was. It didn't take long for mother to follow father and I knew that it wouldn't.

Mother was so full of guilt and sorrow that making her live was a punishment compared to dying. Even as a child, I knew my mother and father to be one entity. It wasn't possible for one to exist without another.

I was left with Itachi-ji-san but that wasn't saying much. Ji-san was a silent, ghostly presence. He never spoke to me, he never looked at me, he never took interest in my affairs.

They said he was mad. That he would go on these wild rampages when he encountered enemies, destroying them utterly and leaving none alive.

The women in the village feared for me, thinking that one day the wrath of my insane, silent uncle would turn to me and the Miyamoto clan would perish from the world.

That never happened. Itachi-ji-san watched over me from a distance, somehow managing to survive until I was old enough to live on my own.

One day, he too left.

He took an entire village with him.

It wasn't until later that I found out that the village was a ninja settlement and that they were the same people who killed by father and uncle.

Itachi-ji-san had spared no one, they told me. Not even a single child survived his wrath. They said that he was a raging demon, killing indiscriminately, ending lives as though they didn't matter.

He did all that while humming Kiyoshi-ji-san's name in a morbid little tune that still seemed to echo in that abandoned village.

He died with the name "Kiyoshi" on his lips.

I didn't understand what happened to my family. I never could. The once great clan was nearly dead with me as its sole survivor.

I had no one to turn to after Itachi-ji-san died. I couldn't recall ever being so lost in my life.

Itachi-ji-san left me all his worldly possessions. The one thing that proved to be invaluable was a slim book. Within those few pages was a dark, solemn tale about the truth of love. I don't know how much of the tale was real and how much was my uncle's imagination.

However, it gave me an insight into the history of my family. The love between my father and Kiyoshi-ji-san, the love between my parents and most of all…

The frightening bond that Kiyoshi-ji-san shared with Itachi-ji-san.

These were four people tied together by something unknown, something that was best left unspoken. I could never understand how things became as bad they did.

I never would. What my uncles and my parents felt is still a mystery to me because I know these words couldn't even express the fraction of the pain they went through.

After all these years, when I have my own family, my own children, I still wonder, can my peaceful and light-hearted love for my own family compare to what my parents and my uncles shared.

After all these years, I wonder. Who was to blame for what happened?

Was it the illusive Naruto who started it all?

Was it Itachi-ji-san who insisted on sticking to the specter of his past?

Was it Kiyoshi-ji-san who allowed Itachi-ji-san to continue as he did, despite all his strength and wisdom?

Was it mother? She, who let her love for her brother blind herself to the pain she'd be inflicting on her husband and his family?

Or was it my father, who, till his very last breath, refused to forgive my mother out of his love for his own brother.

Could this dark, convoluted business be love? Could that, which ruined my family and destroyed my childhood, be love?

I would never understand, I guess.

And maybe it is best that I don't.

There are some people in this world that are meant to be together. For better or for worse. Sometimes, love can before more than the pure, innocent bond that I share with my wife.

Sometimes, it can be a force that overwhelms and destroys. Nothing can excuse the way Itachi-ji-san treated Kiyoshi-ji-san. Nothing can excuse my father's behavior towards mother. Nothing can excuse my mothers disregard for Kiyoshi-ji-san's well being.

There can be no excuses but perhaps… there is an explanation.

I don't understand this. Maybe, I never will so I leave it for you, the reader, to decide.

Maybe there would be someone amongst you who knows what this tale means. Who understands what it is trying to say.

Maybe, this person will be able to give my parents and uncles the understanding they deserve.

Maybe this small book was a way to reach out and ask why? Why did this happen?

Why?

"What are you reading so seriously?"

He started, his wide blue eyes turning to look at his older brother, his heart pounding loudly. "Sasuke-nii…"

Sasuke frowned at his brother's uncertain, slightly frightened voice, "Naruto? What's wrong?"

Naruto shook his head roughly, thoroughly unnerved. "I was just reading…" he swallowed, "Just something that Reina-chan gave me… she said that it was the oddest coincidence."

Sasuke arched a brow, "Coincidence?"

The younger of the two looked completely spooked. "This book, lead character's name is Miyamoto Kiyoshi. He has the older brother by the name of Miyamoto Kenichi."

The older brother looked at Naruto in confusion, "The Miyamoto surname is not entirely uncommon, Naruto. Just because we share our last name with the characters in the book means nothing."

Naruto shook his head, "You don't get it. That's not the only coincidence." He whispered, "Kiyoshi has blue eyes, black hair, he is thin, pale and tall… like me." He looked at Sasuke, "Kenichi has black eyes and black hair, like you. He is also pale and tall but broad shouldered and strong looking… just like you, nii-san."

Sasuke raised a brow. Sure that was a coincidence but nothing to be alarmed about.

"And…" Naruto whispered, clutching the book in a white knuckled grip, "Kiyoshi is the reincarnation of someone else… a demon prince, according to the book."

Sasuke scoffed, "There are no such things as de-"

"The demon's name is Naruto and..." he bit his lower lip, "There was an Itachi in it."

Sasuke froze, his gaze snapping toward his younger brother.

"What?"

Some people are just meant to be together.

For better and for worse…