I've noticed there hardly is any Itachi/Sarada fics around, and if there were any extended, few cared to finish.

By the time you finish reading this latest, it's DEFINITELY worthy of a review - and the coldest chills you'd feel in your lifetime.

Chapter Four

The Threats

Why the hell -! How the hell -?!

His brain couldn't form coherent thoughts as he hurriedly picked up the cursed object and slammed the door shut, locking it right away. The cat meowed sharply and leaped around to run up the stairs, maybe to Sarada's room. Taking several heavy breaths, Itachi felt his lungs burn as he hurried into the kitchen, slamming the book on the counter and opening it.

All the pages had been ripped bit by bit. Now they were back together as if by hand. It was difficult to determine whether by tape or glue, but what did it matter? Everything was in place despite the imperfections as proof. But when Itachi passed the final page that was the "death wish", his heart stopped in its tracks at the bold kanji text.

私はあなたと賭けるよ- I'LL WAGER WITH YOU.

私はあなたに賭けをします- I'll make you a BET.

It was a message - to HIM. He closed his eyes for a moment, putting a hand over his rapidly thundering heart which picked up the pace. He could almost hear Sarada speaking to him, through him.

The Babadook is speaking to you.

The kanji text next became a blur to his eyes, but the message was clear: The more you deny, the stronger I get.

Now when he found himself on the page with the victim in bed, looking overhead at the monster, it displayed the fiend larger before the eyes as emphasis for how "stronger" it was getting, and the demand to be let in even greater. Only this time, the little girl - Sarada - wasn't in place, but a full grown man shrinking in bed in fear.

The man was himself.

Dear Kami, what is going on...? Itachi's pores broke out into sweat as he carried on, seeing himself shadowed by the Babadook with his own arms spread out...the pictures becoming all the more menacing and murderous, the pop-ups before his eyes, as if he were really in them...

You start to CHANGE when I get in...

His heart palpitations increased with anxiety, likely due to his niece's condition worsening. Therefore, he is turning into something else...something he could no longer control.

The BABADOOK growing right UNDER YOUR SKIN...

His flesh reaches bubbling and boiling point as the blood beneath.

Oh, come - COME SEE WHAT'S UNDERNEATH!

The monster overshadowing the man with his cat in hand...before primal intent overtakes all reason, and he snaps the animal's neck in half...

...the little girl is next...

...and the man cuts his own throat, spilling vivid red blood down the front of his nude body...explicitly detailed.

STOOOOOOOOOP!

With a strangled gasp and cry in one, Itachi slammed the book shut. The macabre imagery - they could NOT happen to him, his niece OR their cat if he had anything to say about this! If tearing it apart and throwing it into the trash wouldn't help, then he knew the person to call. Someone is harassing us, that is all. They put this together to crack me down like this...

Sarada was still sleeping, but how much longer before she woke? In the meantime, Itachi had Kakashi on the phone and was wiping his face, forehead and exposed neck of the perspiration. "You were there, Kakashi," he said heatedly, reaching for the cup of tea he'd brewed and had calmed him down only so much. "You saw me tear it up and throw it into the trash. But now it's back; someone found it and glued it together during the night!"

There was a heavy sigh on the other end. He could just see the silver-haired man rubbing his temples. "Perhaps it was," Kakashi said at last, "but maybe it's best to come by the station for the report. I would say burn the book, but we need it as evidence, Itachi." In the background, someone was calling for him. "Oops, that's me. I have to leave now." Itachi exhaled but relented. This afternoon was the plan if it was the last thing...but that also meant Shisui going to him about this and demanding to know why he never told him, his best friend and cousin, of all people.

Time to wake the kid. But no sooner did he put his mobile down on the table and was just going up the stairs did he hear the ringtone. His brows furrowed when he saw Kakashi's name on the ID. What could you...? It was strange; if his former partner was needed for the next case, why would he call him back not even two minutes later?

"Kakashi?"

There was a pause, followed by some clicking...then the most horrendous of croaks spoke in words. The kind to haunt your darkest dreams for possibly the rest of your life.

"Ba-ba - dook. Dooook...DOOOOOK!"

He ended it so fast he almost dropped it to the floor. Itachi collapsed to his knees and gasped for air, his lungs contracting as if suffering a gear halt. Whoever that was, they knew his phone number, as well.

He decided now he would leave and go to his old workplace for the report, even if it meant facing Shisui.

~o~

How long had it been since he set foot in here? Very few looked his way, but those who did and recognized him gave him smiles and waved his way, which he returned, but he didn't stop until he reached the counter and was greeted by none other than his former superior.

"Itachi Uchiha - never thought I'd see you again after seven years," Ibiki Morino told him with a tilt of a smile. "You look like you're doing well. How is it being a history teacher at the high school?" The man always had something better to do than to catch up on gossip or even old friends, but it seemed now was a good opportunity for him.

"It's been well for me, Ibiki," he answered, his breathing controlled well. "And Sarada...she's as well as she can be."

The man grunted and motioned for him to come into his office. "I just sent Hatake out not even half an hour ago, and your cousin is busy assisting a new rape case - an eighteen-year-old college girl by a former flame who didn't take their split so well. It hasn't been the same without you here, but we've gone by. But you're not here on just a social call, are you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Itachi shook his head and sat down in the chair for visitors. "No, Ibiki. I'm here because I want to..." He stopped to clear his throat. "I never thought I would find myself here for this reason. But someone is stalking me and my niece."

Surprise flashed over the scarred man's face, then his attention fell to the red thing wrapped up in plastic white bags - leftover grocery bags that Itachi did not have the care to throw out. "Really, someone after you both," he stated. "That hasn't happened to you since I don't know when. What happened?"

"Someone sent us this...children's book." He held up the thing, pulling the front aside to show the title and black character of the name. "It contains violent and graphic images of us and our cat being murdered." He placed it on the desk surface, repulsed to his core and relieved to no longer touching that thing. "He even called me today, not even two minutes after I spoke to Kakashi." He leaned back and went on to tell his former boss about Sarada's episodes since his reading of the book to her - unknowing what would be inside until too late - and not thinking much of it until it got worse. Finishing with Kakashi being present at Sarada's seizure and now the book returning today, followed by the call under Kakashi's name.

"But it can't have been him to do this," he insisted. Kakashi has never done such things. He was with me when I tore the thing up, then left before today...

But why could he not control the chill in his body? His cop instincts insisted to think it was possible and to not think based on personal feelings. Morino seemed to be thinking the same, for he glared at the damnable book and then back up at the Uchiha. "We'll have to follow standard procedure and have him back in when he is done with his duty, to confirm if he made the call you mentioned, Itachi. In the meantime..."

But Itachi lost track of what he was saying and found himself looking across the room to where the coat rack was...and felt himself stop in his own tracks.

Long black coat...top hat...claws for hands...

The Babadook.

"Itachi?"

He shook his head and looked back up at Ibiki. "Forgive me. I was lost in thought."

"Why don't you go back home to the kid until we get word back to you?"

Somehow, that did not make him feel safer, and he could hear that voice in the back of his head: "No one can HELP YOU!"

~o~

He'd left Sarada at the Uzumakis' again, if it was only for an hour, and Hinata was planning to take her husband and toddler out. Boruto was still in school. In fact, Itachi was still firmly set on putting his niece in a much better school than that one - unless something could be done about those two old fools, even if he were to sign a petition himself.

As a second option, he thought about having her homeschooled, but she needed proper social skills from her age to the future. He wanted her to go to the best college she could in the country, never mind any future declines.

It had been barely a couple weeks since he'd cleaned house himself, so when he was just doing the laundry, the doorbell rung. He was greeted by none other than Anko Mitarashi, whom he remembered had helped him get custody of Sarada after she was born and her parents' funeral. "Anko, it's been -"

"Years, I know, Uchiha," the woman told him with a hearty laugh. "Well, I couldn't help but learn of your troubles with the counselors, so I thought I'd come by and let you see some of the options we could put her in when the time is right. After all, that kid deserves a place to be recognized."

Itachi smiled graciously at her. "That is why I can count on you, Anko."

She cracked a grin before turning to look at their surroundings. "Oh, I think I caught you at the wrong time?" The place was once immaculately clean by the Uchiha's OCD hand, but with Sarada getting worse, he seldom could find the right time without his niece pausing him at every turn. And speaking of the little one - "Sara-chan!" The girl was sitting slouched on the long sofa, giving a tired smile.

"Hi, Anko-san," she murmured. "I'm just tired from the...medicine Itachi-oji gave me."

And this was why I don't want to lose her. Chances are she could be taken away from me, my brother's child and my own flesh and blood who wanted me from the moment she was born... "It was prescribed by the doctor," he told Anko, at the look she gave him. "She had a fit yesterday. It's only until I...get her an appointment." Hinted was what KIND of an appointment, which the woman seemed to get, for she nodded in silent agreement.

Later when she left uncle and niece alone, Itachi held the girl close to him as they enjoyed a good anime called The Seven Deadly Sins. There wasn't anything intense, particularly, but it was epic and humorous in the making. Itachi could smile and hold her as she fell asleep at some point during the night, and in time for him to get her to take her medication.

~o~

Late in the night, the wind howled.

Sarada passed out on the side of the bed beside her parents' memorial on the table. Itachi, however, tried to sleep well but had been awoken at some point. But before he turned the lights out, to gaze upon the wardrobe in his room, partially opened...

There is nothing - no one - there. The police are going after someone made of flesh and blood, like the ones I used to catch and put behind bars with them. But no matter how many times he would say that, he could not relax. He had only one good night's rest, and needed more if his niece was going to do this. To lay beside her, even if it was via sedation and prescription, gave him a sense of peace. Her back was turned to him, but it was enough to tell him that she would finally get better once that bastard after them was behind bars and wasn't the monster from those pages, after all.

But if it wasn't Kakashi - after all, it was confirmed - then who the hell was it to get a hold of his number? The team found no trace to any known location, so his friend was cleared of suspicion.

Whoever it is, they are damned good.

Itachi found himself laying on his back, looking up at the ceiling, where streams of silvery light reflected, giving him a small sense of comfort. However...

Scraping...followed by mewls.

He sighed with relief when he slid out of bed, wearing just his underwear, his bared skin shivering at the loss of warmth, and opened the door to let Kyuui in. The black cat leaped onto the loveseat next to the window, curling into himself before going to sleep. The Uchiha closed the door and turned to walk back into bed beside the still-sleeping girl...

...only to hear the door knob turn and creak in the hinges. Itachi froze as he watched the scene. For a few seconds, there was no movement - but then a flash in the streaming light caused his body to jerk and slip under the bed, sliding closer to his niece. He remained frozen in place, praying to the gods he was only seeing things...but his prayers were not answered.

"Ba-ba...dook. Dooook...DOOOOOK!"

The voice...the words...the call...

He's here.

The man who was haunting him and his niece right beside him. He was here, in Itachi Uchiha's bedroom. Scratches and chitters followed with each movement he could sense.

Suddenly, an invisible force pulled down the blankets from his being, but Sarada remained untouched and unaware of what was happening. Gasping sharply, Itachi found himself exposed and vulnerable to the THING overhead, on the ceiling...watching within the little shadows. His hands found themselves on either side of his head, held down by invisible shackles, and his ankles were next - spreading his legs wide open...before his tight-fitted briefs were yanked off. Leaving him nude, in his own bed, with Sarada beside him.

Gritting his teeth, Itachi tried to pull free from his confinement and failed. He was the prey to the predator above, swallowing hard in his throat. Knowing what was going to happen to him. Above, the growls and chittering from the beast above him increased.

Soon I'll take off my funny disguise...you'll see what's underneath...and you're going to wish you were DEAD.

The more you DENY, the stronger I GET.

His jaw was forced apart when he felt something cold and metallic ghost over the front of his body. He bit back a grimace at the sensations that traveled through his nerves and sensitive parts. The muscles in his arms and legs twitched, and his nipples reacted as tightly. He saw nothing before his eyes, directly touching him, but it FELT like there was. Feeling rather than seeing, the invisible razors traveled down, tenderly pinching his firm thighs before going further in. Ashamed of himself, Itachi was losing control of his own body.

The thing above continued to croak down to him as it continued its torture of his naked body: "Ba-ba...BA-BAAAA..."

His heart jumped against his rib cage. Itachi's pubic region and his manhood received the most disgraceful attention. The sensitive length of meat twitched against the waving mound of curls. His hips sizzled like an engine coming to life, rotating in time with each movement as a spot was hit between his legs, his delicate balls now poked and prodded at the mercy of his forced arousal. Why was this...stalker...this monster...making him feel...?

"Dook..."

His guard had been dropped on purpose. For the second his orgasm was impending at the same time the demonic thing with the razor hands and top hat from the book descended down on him with both arms spread out on either side...Itachi saw his face.

"...dooook..."

The face that made you wish you were dead, as he'd been warned: pale, chalky, set with pinprick eyes and an inky mouthful of humanized teeth which did no justice to the fangs of the great white shark. The grotesque sight as well as the noises IT said increased as it came down his way...

"DOOOOOK!"

~o~

He bolted forward in bed, staring ahead at the closed wardrobe and then to the cat still sleeping in the chair. His body shook uncontrollably in the way similar to his niece's fits, shaking off the buckets of sweat that split from every pore he had. His hair was drenched and sticking to his neck, his back, around his face and naked shoulders.

What was worse: his undergarments clung to him in a certain uncomfortably sticky tightness, telling him what his predicament was. Acting on impulse and not stopping to think, Itachi jerked the string of his lamp down to turn the bulb on, lighting the room up. There was no trace of the man with the top hat anywhere, except...

Growling through his teeth with vengeance in mind, Itachi stomped forward to the wardrobe and yanked the doors open, not once stopping and uncaring of wrinkling his good clothes, determined to find the bastard who...

Touched him...violated him...with SARADA beside him...

No one. But that did not mean he could not be somewhere else inside the house. Snarling, Itachi remembered his damp but drying underwear, soaked with his own fluids, and furiously tugged them down his legs before throwing them into the damned closet without a care. The nearest substitute he found were a t-shirt and sweatpants without replacing his boxers. He looked over to see Sarada murmuring and reaching to rub her eyes, coming out of her drugged state. He was relieved she didn't wake earlier to see her uncle naked before her eyes. He would have traumatized her for the rest of her days.

"Oji-san?" she mumbled, grabbing her glasses and putting them on, just as he impatiently picked her up and carried her like his little bride. "What's wrong? Where are we going?"

"Downstairs," he answered simply, irritated at the questions.

"Why?"

"Because I said so," he clipped back, and that prevented her from prying. She rested her head against his shoulder, but the innocent and pleading touch made his skin crawl simply because a certain private area of his anatomy still twitched and tingled at the memory of his dream.

With more searches of the house, and seeing every door and window locked - including the basement which still had Sarada's traps and weapons, and the old belongings of her parents - the bastard wasn't found. Which meant that it had all been a nightmare that Itachi had on his turn.

But why did it feel so real - and why was his body reacting the way it was now?

I felt like I had been taken back to the time I first saw the scene of the night visit from the Babadook, only what the mother experienced was different from Itachi's episode. In other words, due to the information I discovered on the Internet regarding this top-hatted monster, it inspired me for this.

Since the movie's release, a lot of people on the Internet started to make connections to the fact the Babadook was a symbol of homosexuality (example, "being in the closet and eventually coming out", wearing the hat, etc.). Though the monster is a metaphor for grief and death of a loved one, depression, others have gone insane with the homosexual representation that they actually USE the character as their icon. Not to offend anyone of the community, but that's what I have seen, and now look what was brought to life between Itachi and the monster. (cringes) It makes it that much more disturbing.

Be warned: the next chapter is going to have "breakdown" for reasons.