"Or are you worried about her because you love her?"

Love her…love her…love—

"Takara?"

Takara Ohiko bolts upright, gasping for air. Her hand shoots to her throat. She breathes hungrily. Then, abruptly, her pulse slows and her breathing returns to normal. She looks calmly up at the man with black hair and says, "How long was I asleep?"

Crimson eyes with three black commas around the irises stare back at her. She does not seem to notice.

"Not long," he says, handing her a glass. She gulps the water down eagerly. He waits until she is finished. "Do you know who I am?"

She smiles suddenly. Her eyes are wide with the kind of trusting innocence you would expect from a toddler. "Of course," she says. "You're Madara Uchiha. You're my master."

---------------------

Kabuto had, at this point, accepted the inevitable fact that he was going to die.

His blood, flung all over the walls, was proof. There was simply too much of it. He had his hand pressed halfheartedly to the wound on his chest, but he knew he was going to die anyway. So when the black-haired man kneeled beside of him and threatened him with death if his questions were not answered, Kabuto just laughed. The other man had said that too.

"The girl," this one said. "Where is the girl?"

That was exactly what the other man had said. Kabuto laughed again. He must be hallucinating. Oh well.

"What girl?"

"What girl?" he replied giddily, repeating his earlier words.

"The girl you kidnapped, the girl you stole from me."

"The girl you kidnapped, the girl you stole from me," this man hissed.

"I don't know what you mean."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Where is Takara Ohiko?!"

"Where is Takara Ohiko?!" The man gripped the front of Kabuto's shirt and lifted him up.

Kabuto was still laughing. "You already asked this, Madara. You took her."

The man in front of him stiffened, and his laughter vanished. This was not the same as before, this was no hallucination. He groaned. This was happening again.

"Madara?" the man said.

Kabuto said nothing, staring instead at the ever-growing pool of his own blood. The glow around his hands was fading. Soon he would have no chakra at all. And the wound was still fatal.

"Itachi," he muttered as it dawned on him. "Itachi Uchiha." He grinned, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth. "Well, well. Someone seems to care an awful lot about—"

"Shut up," Itachi growled.

Kabuto's laughter, less crazed than before, filled the room. "Or what? You'll kill me? Look around, Itachi." His grin widened when Itachi quickly surveyed the room. "I'm already a dead man. Dead men tell no tales. Isn't that the saying?" He spat blood at the other man.

It hit Itachi's cheek and slowly trickled down, but Itachi paid no heed.

"Where did Madara take her?"

"And you expect me to know?"

"Damn it, Kabuto!" Itachi shook him. "When, then? When was she taken?"

"This is delicious," Kabuto muttered. "Itachi Uchiha needs help from us."

"Us?"

"Go find Sasuke," Kabuto said, joy evident in his voice. "Sasuke knows."

Itachi dropped Kabuto. He landed on the bloody floor with a thump, and lay still against the wall. Just before he left, Itachi heard Kabuto's voice.

"I don't know much about you," he called. "But I know your reputation. Why do you care so much about this girl?"

Because she's…

"She's my partner."

Itachi walked out of the room, Kabuto's laughter echoing behind him.

---------------

"Sasuke."

The voice was in his mind, that much he knew.

"Shut up, Orochimaru."

"You let him take your best weapon, Sasuke," said the voice. "You let that ancient Uchiha bastard take your—"

"Shut up."

Sasuke rubbed his temples, The headache had begun that morning, had continued unceasingly. That stupid Sannin. He was still there. Sasuke had not gotten rid of him, he had merely absorbed him. And now that snake's pestering voice was trapped inside his skull—

"You have to get her back."

"I have to do no such thing." Sasuke's cold voice filled the empty room.

"Madara stole her. You have to get her back before Itachi comes calling."

"She's not an object, she's a person. Madara did not steal her," Sasuke hissed. "You saw, didn't you? She went with him. Willingly."

"You believed that? Ha!" Orochimaru's laughter reverberated in his head. "Naïve young boy. She's not a person, Sasuke-kun, she's a weapon. She was made for one purpose: to be used."

"How is she a weapon? Her skills aren't even comparable to Naruto's." The familiar name of his old best friend fell easily from Sasuke's tongue. He allowed himself a moment to wonder how Naruto was progressing, and then he quashed it.

"You are aware of the presence of Jinchurikis in our world, correct?"

"Yes."

"Takara is the human host for the Ten-Tailed Phoenix."

"There is no ten-tailed biju."

"Wrong, Sasuke-kun. There is. Cousin to the Zero-Tailed Leech, the Ten-Tailed Phoenix feeds off of pleasant feelings, slowly sapping it from the people around the Jinchuriki. When the only thing left is negative, the Ten-Tailed Biju unleashes it's powers and kills."

Sasuke said nothing.

"Ironically," continued Orochimaru's smug voice. "The phoenix creates light chakra."

He began to laugh again.

"You said Itachi would come for her," said Sasuke. "When he comes, I'll kill him."

---------------

Itachi's mind was racing, his thoughts scrambled for the first time in his life. He didn't stop to plan. He didn't pause to consider his options. He barged directly into the room and launched himself at the black-haired teenager he called his brother.

"When was she taken?" he demanded, holding Sasuke up by his neck.

Sasuke said nothing, staring stonily at his older brother. He had anticipated this. He had told Orochimaru he was going to kill him. But taking in his brother's appearance, the crazed expression, desperate eyes, Sasuke realized how weak Itachi was in that moment. He didn't want to fight him when he was weak.

"Why?" he asked instead. He made no move to free himself from Itachi's grasp.

Itachi stiffened.

"Why do you care when she was taken? Don't tell me you're going to try and get her back."

Why does everyone keep asking me why I care?!

"Just tell me when, Sasuke. When did Madara take her?" he snarled.

There was silence. Itachi activated his sharingan, nearly shaking in his anger, but it timed out on him. Blood trickled from the corners of his eyes and he winced.

"He's your brother, 'tachi. If you explained—"

"I'll never tell him, Takara. He can never know."

"He's still your brother. You still care for him. He needs to know that."

Shut up! Itachi screamed at his mind. Shut up!

His hands dropped from Sasuke and he took a step back.

"You're weak." Sasuke's voice was icy, the tone Itachi had come to expect.

Itachi did not answer. He turned away from his brother and calmly headed toward the door. He was better with her gone. Sasuke was right: he was weak. With her gone, he could regain his strength. He could—

"Two hours."

Itachi stopped. Two hours. Two hours. They couldn't have gone far!

"Later, Sasuke," he said. "Later, I will fight you."

And he vanished.

---------------

"What do you remember, Takara?"

"Everything, Master." Takara smiled as he tended to her bandages. "You saved me from Orochimaru. He and Kabuto were going to use me. He made Kabuto pretend to care for me." Her grin suddenly widened. "So I snatched his immortality jutsu and brought it to you." She swiped at a piece of hair that had fallen in her face.

Her tone of voice, her mannerisms, all belonged to the Takara that Orochimaru had re-awakened. Madara smiled. Orochimaru had done all the work for him.

"Do you know a man named Itachi Uchiha?" he asked.

"I'm her partner."

Itachi stepped out of the shadows of the room. Takara blinked at him from her seat on the bed, and Madara smiled good-naturedly.

"Ah, Itachi-san!"

"While infiltrating the Akatsuki was brilliant," said Itachi coldly, "and while I had never suspected you initially, bringing her back to Akatsuki headquarters was not very intelligent, unless you wanted me to find her."

"Why wouldn't I want you to see your beloved partner, Itachi-san?" asked Madara, opening his arms wide. He gestured to Takara. "I rescued her from Orochimaru!"

When Itachi didn't respond, Madara said, "Oh come now. You aren't upset, are you? You were lagging a little, so I went ahead and got her for you! Aren't you happy? She's safe, as you can see—"

"What did you do to her?"

"I'm insulted, Itachi-san! I wouldn't do anything to Takara-chan—"

"Master," spoke Takara suddenly, a look of confusion on her face. "Who is he?"

Itachi froze, angry expression forgotten. "That's not funny, Takara."

"How does he know my name, Master?" Fear and suspicion crept into her voice.

"Now is not the time for jokes, Takara." Itachi's tone hardened.

"Oh, I'm afraid she's not joking, Itachi-san." Madara grinned. "She's suffering from what I like to call selective memory. She remembers what I wish her to remember. I am, after all, her Master."

Madara chuckled. He looked at Itachi's eyes, relished in the emotions he saw there. Panic. Anger. Sadness. Takara's black eyes settled on her Master as she awaited orders. Itachi stopped looking at Madara, stopped caring about Madara. He spoke to Takara, and her eyes slowly drifted to him.

"'kara," he said. "My name is Itachi Uchiha. You're my partner for the Akatsuki."

"I don't have a partner," she said, shaking her head. "I am Master's subordinate."

Itachi nearly flinched. "We were assigned a mission by Pein, to go undercover in the Mirror Village. You posed as my girlfriend."

"I love Master." She frowned. "I don't need anyone else."

Seeing the barely concealed pain in Itachi's expression, Madara said, "What did I tell you, Itachi-san? She's not going to remember you, because I don't want her to. Her feelings for you were holding her back. Now, she can be what she was meant to be."

Itachi didn't look away from Takara as Madara completed his speech.

"Now, Konoha will fall."