A/N: I don't know why I can't seem to post this shit on time.

25.

The following couple of days after the incident with Itachi's memory loss, Madara noticed no changes that raised any red flags. It was weird.

It wasn't that he'd been expecting Itachi to turn into a basket-case resembling Sasuke, but rather that he'd been expecting something horrible to come of that incident and nothing had happened at all. Itachi was just having nightmares about things he didn't usually have nightmares about - more specifically, his newly found phobia of memory loss.

There were very few things Itachi felt he could have. Everything he'd ever felt he could call his own had, at one point or another, been taken from him. His family, his home, his friends, his life, his body, his freedom, everything. Even at that point, with everything he'd once lost back in his hands, he still seemed to feel like he couldn't have it. There was nothing Itachi had at that point that he could possibly take for granted, with the exception of his mind. His mind had never failed him.

Until last week, when his memory had been stolen from him. He hadn't seen Itachi meltdown like that for a while - it had taken a good day and a half before he'd stopped randomly having panic attacks.

So, considering just how big of a deal it was, it was weird to Madara that nothing had changed. The memory loss had stopped. His hadn't started having worse nightmares - just different ones. He hadn't lost or gained appetite. His insomnia had neither improved nor worsened. His chakra hadn't been behaving oddly (Madara would definitely have noticed that), it had still been as calm as a placid lake. His behavior hadn't seemed off, nothing seemed to have changed for the worse or for the better.

The only thing that had happened was the isolated incident that started it.

He looked down at the letter they'd received from Kaisuki that morning, her long list of questions that he'd already answered. The answers to all of those questions had been some variation of "actually no, he's completely fine". He didn't know what else he could tell her. He had been trying to think of any and all questions he could that might aid her in her diagnosis of the problem, but he had no information to give her.

Whoever had punched Itachi had been packing a lot of force behind their fist - they'd broken bone and split about two inches of flesh a good millimeter deep with a single blow. What if they had had the time to hit him more than once? Or had they been holding back on purpose? Considering the kind of people who had Itachi on their "Persons of Interest" list, the kid was lucky to have survived that encounter.

Chances were extremely high that their perpetrator had been possessed, but Madara hadn't picked up on any demonic chakra signatures in the area and by that point he definitely knew what they felt like. It was literally a lead and a dead end in one breath.

He looked up from the letter again, staring at Itachi's back. Itachi was making dinner and Sasuke was sitting with Madara at the dinner table, waiting for his brother to give him directions to assist if necessary. It was quiet in the kitchen, save for the sounds of the sizzling frying pan and the knife hitting the cutting board as Itachi sliced up vegetables.

All was calm, at least at that moment.

"Sasuke," Itachi spoke, attracting his little brother's attention. "Can you come here?"

Madara watched the boy get up and approach his brother, resting his chin on the heel of his hand to prop his head up. "Yea?" Sasuke asked even as Itachi was handing him an open box of spaghetti.

"Can you break them and dump them in the pot?" Itachi offhandedly requested. At first, Madara thought nothing of it, but he saw Sasuke giving pause.

"You... can't?" Sasuke asked slowly, and then Madara saw him looking at his older brother's hands, which were unoccupied. He'd finished dicing the vegetables and the meat didn't need attention in that moment.

Itachi looked over his shoulder at his brother as he was reaching for the cupboard distractedly. "I..." he began, looking back at what he was doing and pulling out a glass. He filled it with water as Sasuke broke the spaghetti into two halves and dumped it all in the boiling water.

"I've been a little under the weather today and my grip has been pretty weak," Itachi absentmindedly said, though Madara did notice his voice was a bit subdued. "I just tried to break it myself but I can't. I think I'm just getting sick. I didn't eat much today, and that probably isn't helping so..."

Before Itachi could continue, there was a sharp knocking on the door. Sasuke sighed heavily and headed for the door, Madara watching him go. The door opened and Naruto's familiar chakra signature filled the room like the stench of sour milk. Madara looked over his shoulder momentarily before he turned back to Itachi. The man's back was to him already and he was stirring the pot of spaghetti.

"What were you saying?" Madara asked. Itachi looked over at him, blinking.

"Oh, that's all I was saying," the man replied nonchalantly. Madara stared at him. He had been looking a little pale the last day or two but he hadn't mentioned anything about weakness. The older Uchiha frowned and turned to his letter to Kaisuki.

He has informed me that he feels weak today, though

Madara pause mid-sentence when he felt Sasuke's chakra suddenly take on a tone he recognized. Unlike his brother, Sasuke had the most telling chakra of any individual Madara had ever met. It was most obvious when he was afraid, but second to that was pain, which Madara was picking up on right then. He stood up silently and stepped closer to the entrance to the hall, where he'd be able to hear whatever it was Naruto was saying.

"... - are you actually an idiot? What did Itachi tell you he's been doing the past ten years? Networking? Sasuke, your brother is a mass murderer, has been for years and always will be; what makes you think he found good, wholesome company on the fucking road?"

Madara felt his stomach drop as fury swelled inside him immediately. Could these people find nothing better to do that bully Sasuke until he turned against his brother? Did they really have nothing better to do?

He stepped around the corner, eyes smoldering with the Sharingan, and walked up behind Sasuke. The younger Uchiha didn't notice him at first, but Naruto did. The blond's pupil's blew huge and Madara saw him stiffen but he held his ground. The oldest Uchiha placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, startling the living daylights out of the kid, and addressed Naruto directly.

"Get out."

Naruto looked extremely offended. "Excuse me? Who the fuck are you to-..."

"Kid," Madara interrupted, gently pushing Sasuke out of the way so he could walk up to Naruto, who backed himself nearly into the door. "Either you leave right now or I'm going to put you into dinner."

Naruto stiffened for a moment but then seemed to realize the ridiculousness of what Madara had said. He clenched his fists and glared defiantly in response, but Madara could feel the anxious stirrings of his chakra. His hairline was producing sweat and his carotid was pulsing. He was genuinely afraid. The blond could probably tell at that point that the Uchiha Madara who had turned up in Konohagakure looking for Itachi was the real deal. He wondered if the kid could feel the angry simmering of the oldest Uchiha's hot chakra. Children these days were too easy.

The most powerful man in the history of the Shinobi Nations leaned forward until he knew he was uncomfortably close to the little brat, closed the distance another three inches, made unwavering eye contact, and said in a quiet, venomous voice:

"No one will notice you're gone if I put a genjutsu over the entire village and they'll never find your body if I fucking eat you."

Naruto's face turned white. Madara wasn't sure if it was because he believed the Uchiha would actually eat him or if it was because he knew that Madara would definitely kill him if prompted by anything. "Y-... Ts-Tsunade won't like to hear you're threatening me, you know."

"Naruto," Madara slammed his hand against the door beside Naruto's head so fast and so loud, the boy jumped visibly and shrank back. "Get. Out."

He dropped his hand down the door and turned the knob, opening it out from behind the blond. Naruto stumbled backwards, nearly hitting the ground, and Madara was slamming the door in his face a split second later.

He turned to Sasuke, who was staring at the door numbly. "You good?" He asked, letting out an irate huff. He really hated that blond little creep.

"Y-yea," Sasuke mumbled, "I'm fine, I- I just..."

Madara frowned, "what is it?"

He watched the boy's lip tremble before he whispered, "I hate it here. I want to leave."

Before Madara could reply with any form of comforting words, advice, or ideas, another crisis arrived. There was a crash - the sound of shattering glass - closely followed by the unmistakable thud of someone hitting the floor without catching themselves. Madara and Sasuke made eye contact for just an instant before they hurried into the kitchen.

Itachi was already working on getting back up but he looked delirious, swaying back and forth and staring at the floor. Madara and Sasuke both dropped to the floor on either side of him, "Itachi, you okay?" Sasuke was already asking, sounding startled, "Itachi?"

His brother didn't respond right away and that immediately worried Madara. Itachi's eyes were glazed over and he was breathing erratically. "Itachi!" The oldest Uchiha shook him a little, still nothing. At that point, panic was starting to set in. He'd been fine, albeit weak, less than ten minutes ago. At that point he was having progressively more and more difficulty breathing and his face had lost so much color he looked nearly dead. His skin didn't feel cold - in fact, it felt burning hot. Like he was actually sick, as he'd mentioned before.

There was glass and water all over the floor. "Let's move him, Sasuke," Madara stated, grabbing the prodigy under one arm. Sasuke grabbed his other and, on the count of three, they stood up with him. "Living room couch." Madara commanded.

Moments later, Itachi had been lain down on the couch. In that amount of time, his eyes had slipped shut and his breathing had become somewhat shallow. All Madara could think of was how horrible he'd looked the day he and Kisame had picked up Sumi, but there weren't any demons in the area - Madara would've sensed them!

What the fuck is going on?

There was a banging at the door and Madara looked at Sasuke briefly before he stood up and stalked across the room, to the door. He threw it open, "What?" He snarled before coming to realize that it was Wolf, Cat, and a couple of regular ANBU members.

Wolf didn't waste a moment darkly replying, "Where are they?"

Madara froze for a moment. "What? What happened?"

"They been told multiple times that the younger needs to move his weapons. He hasn't. They're being arrested for violating probation," Cat replied coolly. "Whether you see them again or not depends on their reason for violating orders."

Madara was still for a moment. "What the fuck are you talking about? I have heard jack shit about this."

"Just because they don't tell you something, doesn't mean it never happened," Wolf replied icily. "Step aside or I'll arrest you too. I was going to hold off taking you in until they were sentenced as a formality but it's not required that I wait."

"Madara?" Sasuke's voice floated through the door just as Madara was about to tell Wolf that they weren't in at the moment. "What is it?"

A moment later, Madara felt the younger brother step into the hall behind him. "W-what's going on?"

"You," Wolf sneered, "and your brother are being arrested. Where is he? You," he turned back to Madara, "step aside."

"For what!?" Sasuke exclaimed in bewildered horror, "what did I do?"

"You disobeyed instructions related to your probation," Wolf stated. He looked like he wanted to shove past Madara but, like most, was somewhat apprehensive of touching the Uchiha without his permission.

"What instructions? I haven't seen you in weeks because you only come by when no one but Itachi is home!" Sasuke all but hollered, looking distraught and furious. Some might have thought Sasuke's reaction was exaggerated - probably the ANBU in their doorway, in fact - but Madara knew that Itachi was seemingly dying in the other room. They couldn't let Wolf take him in; the guy would probably poison Itachi and then claim he'd been sick when they brought him in and then tell everyone that Madara had poisoned him.

Sasuke wasn't lying. Sasuke was distressed and frightened. That left only one other option: Wolf was lying. Why would Wolf lie about something like that?

"Who hit you?"

Madara's stomach dropped and he concentrated extremely hard for just a moment and read all the information he was getting from Wolf. He was acting conceited; excited. He seemed to be trying to pretend he was furious but wasn't succeeding and was instead coming across as low-key ready to throw a party. His chakra was practically laughing at the situation, at Sasuke's watering eyes and wavering voice, at the prospect of getting to take Itachi in. But there was something more going on. There was something else.

"I don't... remember."

"He's given Itachi black eyes before."

"What instructions?!"

Wolf hit him. Wolf hit him.

He wasn't possessed though. So why? Something else had to be wrong. Perhaps he was corrupt or being bribed. Perhaps he was under a spell. Madara didn't know, but he remembered the Wolf that Itachi had known before the massacre. That Wolf hadn't been a kind or gentle soul, but he'd been morally sound. He'd been mentally sound. Wolf barely seemed to have an ounce of self-control in Itachi's presence now. He couldn't seem to refrain from attacking him. Wolf had never been the type to hold grudge like that. The man wouldn't forgive his own mother for leaving his father behind but he'd never put someone in an interrogation chamber past their use point. There was absolutely no reason for the number of times Wolf had taken Itachi into his interrogation chambers. The man used to have more faith in his ability to extract information; what answers he got, he knew were the truth.

Sure, Itachi was a tough nut to crack, but this was excessively cruel and Wolf had never been a cruel person.

Why hadn't they seen it before?

Because Itachi will take any and all forms of abuse from anyone and accept responsibility for it, whether it's just punishment or not.

Wolf obviously wasn't possessed but something was wrong with him and Madara wasn't going to let him anywhere near Itachi ever again. The interrogator took a step towards Sasuke, heading past Madara, but the oldest Uchiha stepped directly into his path, blocking the way.

"Move," the interrogator growled, "or else I'll-..."

"I hate it here. I want to leave."

"You'll what?" Madara hissed in reply. The other ANBU members stiffened and Wolf looked a little taken aback.

"Do you know who you're speaking to?" The man ground out. Madara's vision flickered to something brighter, clearer, and more vivid as he activated his Sharingan. Wolf all but flinched as he slid a foot back.

"Do you?" He replied icily. "Wolf, I'm only going to tell you this once, so listen closely: we're leaving this village, we won't be coming back, and there is nothing you're going to do about it."

There was an eerie pause.

"Excuse me?" Wolf deadpanned with some kind of furious incredulity.

"W-what?" Sasuke's voice spoke up from behind him. Madara turned to look at him and smiled.

"Sasuke, go look after your brother, make sure he's safe" he ordered in a even voice. He slowly returned his attention to the ANBU standing before him. There were five of them standing there altogether but he knew there would more when the fireworks started. He didn't have any weapons on him, but he had his chakra.

That was really all he'd need.

"I'll come for you both in just a moment."

...

Tsukai,

DO NOT come to Konohagakure. I repeat: DO NOT COME TO KONOHAGAKURE, at least until you've seen us. Please meet us at the Hut on the Hill. Shigaki will know what I mean.

In regard to Uta... originally, I was going to tell you that he's fine, because he was. However, the day we left the village, he complained of weakness and eventually collapsed and became delirious and extremely feverish.

He's still pretty out of it but he's been recovering well.

His chakra feels a bit weaker, not darker or lighter. When it first happened, there were no changes at all. At this point he just feels weak and tired.

No noticeable amounts of anxiety or depression. His nightmares haven't worsened, he's just having them about memory loss now instead of the usual. He's spent a lot of time in bed. He hasn't had any interest in getting up.

I'm really really worried at this point. We both are. I don't have any medical evidence but I have a feeling this isn't the end of it. Please hurry.

Umada & Usake & Uta

...

After Kaisuki got Madara's update about Itachi's condition and their new location, she and Kisame picked up the pace twentyfold.

He could tell that Kaisuki was concerned. Kisame himself was concerned. They'd been moving mostly in silence since Kaisuki had explained the contents of the letter. The fact that the three of them had gotten out of Konohagakure suggested that something had happened. Why did they leave?

He didn't know when or if he would get an answer out of them.

He hadn't been to their safe house in a long time. All partnerships in Akatsuki were told to find themselves a safe house somewhere. Itachi and Kisame had put theirs together after the first time Itachi fell seriously ill, about two years into their partnership. It had been a nasty bout of pneumonia, but at that point Kisame suspected it was the earliest sign of his Inflammatory Lung Syndrome.

They stepped up to the door and Kisame knocked in the pattern he and Itachi had come up with before opening the door and walking in, Kaisuki trailing behind him silently. No one was in the main part of the house. Kisame looked towards the back, where the bedrooms and bathroom were, and frowned.

"Hello? Anyone home?" He called, stepping further inside. Kaisuki ducked under his arm as he held the door open for her. "Itachi?"

The sound of footsteps reached them and a not a moment later Sasuke stepped out into the living area, looking exhausted but nonetheless happy to see them. "Hi," he greeted, walking up to Kaisuki. She approached him as well and they hugged for a moment before Kaisuki asked the burning question.

"Where are Itachi and Madara? Back there? And what happened, why did you leave?" She wanted to know. She looked like her fretfulness was mounting. She worried so much about those boys.

"U-uh... Itachi and Madara are back there, yea," Sasuke said softly. "Itachi's sleeping but I... should get Madara."

Kaisuki nodded slowly. "Yes, please do." The youngest Uchiha nodded and ducked back into the house.

Kisame gazed at the back of Kaisuki head. He wasn't entirely sure what to think yet - he still hadn't met Madara. Sasuke looked like he hadn't slept in days. They'd left Konohagakure, likely not on friendly terms. Something was wrong with Itachi. A lot of things had been happening rapid fire and it looked like it had started with Madara's revival. Chances were high that Madara escaping and getting to Itachi had not been part of the plan, so he supposed it made sense that things would sort of start going to pieces after that happened. Still though, it didn't make him feel very good about who Madara actually was. He believed Kaisuki when she said he was the real deal but it just seemed like too much was going wrong.

Footsteps returned and a man fitting Madara's appearance stepped into the room without Sasuke. He looked a bit banged up - bruises, cuts, and burns here and there - but he seemed to be somewhat more alert, though very troubled.

Kisame stared at him for a moment. It was kind of weird to see a piece of history walking around in modern times.

"Okay, I'm going to ask you exactly what I asked Sasuke: what happened? Why did you leave the village?" Kaisuki asked right away, her tone less gentle than when she spoke to Sasuke. Kisame glanced at her briefly before returning his attention to Madara. He wanted to gauge as much of this man's behavior and personality as quickly as possible.

Madara stared at her, frowning. He seemed to be very troubled. "Wolf is the one who gave Itachi that black eye and then wiped his memory of it. He also told Sasuke to move his weapon's stash and then made him forget so he could get both him and Itachi in trouble for violating probation."

"What makes you think that?" Kisame wanted to know where the rather stretched accusations were coming from. He understood that demons had subtler tells than humans, and he knew that the tells were largely based on instinct rather than physical evidence.

"It's hard to explain, but you've been in the presence of possessed people before, right?" Madara began. Kisame nodded expectantly. "When you're a sensory type, it's like talking to someone who's wearing an expression of anger or something while they're laughing. It was like that, only with his chakra. His chakra felt clear of demonic influence but it wasn't behaving normally. Saeka would've felt it too if she were there, I know it. He was trying to act angry and forceful but his chakra was acting like someone who was enthralled by what he was doing. It reminded me of how Hidan is, and Wolf is not Hidan."

Kisame nodded but didn't say anything, and Kaisuki continued the conversation, "Okay, so you made this deduction about Wolf being off... what happened after that?"

"I had a feeling he was going to lock them up and then pass at least one of them off to Teara without telling anyone." He sighed, pressing his fingers into his eyelids. "Naturally, I wasn't going to let him just walk off with them after having a thought like that, so I decided to take our leave instead. Everyone in the village had a problem with that and now they're down by a third of their population. Team 7 lives but Kakashi doesn't have the Sharingan anymore. Itachi's..."

Kaisuki nodded encouragingly for him to continue. "He's what?" Kisame couldn't help wonder what had crossed her mind when Madara had mentioned that the village was down by that many people. They hadn't gotten a number that high from the local papers, but she hadn't outwardly reacted at all. Itachi's dirty little secret had to have killed over three hundred people in her hometown. Maybe more. Probably more. He didn't actually know how many people were in Konohagakure.

"I don't even know how to describe it, just... come on," he beckoned them to follow him and headed towards the back. Kisame and Kaisuki exchanged a glance for a second before they followed after Madara.

Sasuke had a hand pressed to his sleeping brother's forehead, looking bothered. When they walked in, the younger Uchiha looked up. "He fell asleep again."

Madara sighed softly, "Is his fever back?"

"No, I was just seeing," Sasuke replied quietly, pulling his hand away from Itachi's head and touching his shoulder instead, "Itachi, wake up."

His brother groaned softly and slowly opened his eyes. Itachi looked towards the foot of the bed and Kisame watched his eyes settle on the newcomers for a moment. "Hey," he greeted weakly, drawing out the word and closing his eyes again.

"Itachi-kun," Izumi's voice came through at that moment. "I heard what happened to you. How are you feeling?"

Itachi opened his eyes again and stared at the ceiling. "I'm just... tired. And I... um, I don't... feel well."

"Don't feel well how?" Izumi wanted to know.

Itachi shrugged and it was the slowest motion Kisame had ever seen him preform. "I don't... just... tired. I mean, w-... uh, weak. I feel... weak. I want to sleep."

"Do you remember what happened in Konohagakure?" The irou-nin continued her questionnaire without commenting on Itachi's fatigue. She looked extremely worried and was clearly starting with a cognitive assessment. So far, by the look on her face, it seemed like he was failing the assessment.

"No, um," Itachi whispered, rolling onto his other side so slowly, it looked like he was being weighed down by tons of pressure, "I wasn't... um, awake for... that."

"You weren't awake?" Izumi clarified details Kisame knew she already knew about. Definitely an assessment. "Why not?"

Itachi stared up at the ceiling. "I don't know. I was... um... getting, uh... I mean, waiting for... Madara and Sasuke to... to come back into the... room. I got really... dizzy and I fell and... then everything went dark for... for a while."

It was becoming worrisome, just how slowly and disjointedly Itachi was speaking. Kisame's stomach was sinking steadily. He looked over at Izumi as she nodded, her eyebrows coming together. "Where were Madara and Sasuke?"

Itachi looked at her. "Um... I think someone was... at the door."

You think? You don't know?

At that, Izumi looked to Madara and Sasuke, the latter of whom answered. "It was Naruto. He was... being Naruto. Madara came to the door after I answered it to chase him off by threatening to eat him."

Izumi smiled at that, seemingly before she could help herself. "I see." She said. The younger Uchiha nodded silently. Izumi hummed and turned back to Itachi. "When did you come back into the picture, Itachi-kun? Where were you?"

"We were... here." Itachi softly replied. "I woke up here."

At that, Kisame immediately addressed Sasuke - he knew how far the safe house was from Konohagakure. It usually took him and Itachi about three or four days to walk it if they weren't in a hurry, two if there were in a big hurry. "How long did it take you guys to get here?"

Sasuke looked at the blue-haired man, blinking, "Uh, two days?" Kisame nodded and Sasuke continued. "We had to take turns carrying him on the way here. Believe it or not, this is a seventy-five percent improvement from when we first got here. The first two or three days he couldn't understand us or speak at all."

Kisame stared at him. Izumi had blanched Kaisuki's already pale skin. "You didn't mention cognitive impairments like that in your letter, Madara." Izumi slowly said.

Madara hung his head. "I know," he softly replied. "I forgot I hadn't... that isn't the only thing I left out. I didn't want to say how bad he was really doing in a letter. Wartime instincts, sorry."

"Alright," the irou-nin sighed, pressing a finger against her temple for a moment. "Tell me all of it, then, please."

Madara nodded, "On the first day, he couldn't walk, talk, or understand us. He couldn't concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds before he'd get distracted by something moving. Halfway through the second day, he got up and took a shower on his own accord, but he still couldn't talk. He didn't start talking until yesterday afternoon, actually, and from that point it's just been a struggle understanding him some of the time. He's getting better, it's just slow and it started really bad. When he first collapsed, he was having trouble breathing. It was like his brain forgot how to operate certain parts of his body."

"I suspect it's demonic poisoning," Khrai's voice came through suddenly. "Really bad demonic poisoning; I've never seen a case this bad before."

"When would he have gotten it, though? The incident with the memory loss was days before this started," Sasuke asked uncertainly.

Khrai shrugged. "I don't know, I wasn't there. I doubt Wolf was the only person in Konohagakure who's possessed. Someone else probably did something. When was Naruto over in relation to Wolf?"

"Like five minutes before," Madara grumbled. "Do you think that little creep is possessed? That would be annoying, all things considered."

Khrai sighed and nodded. "Probably. Jinchuriki of the kyuubi is possessed by a real demon. That's a great fucking combination. Anyway, since he's away from them now he should recover fine, it's just a matter of waiting out his symptoms. Demonic poisoning doesn't usually cause permanent damage unless it's really fucking bad," Khrai explained, looking down at Itachi again. Kisame followed her gaze when he saw her shoulders sag somewhat. Itachi had fallen asleep again, seemingly oblivious to seriousness of the discussion and the fact that it was about him.

"He doesn't have enough energy in his system for any of us to pick up on it, so I suspect he's just having such a nasty reaction because he's so sensitive to it," she continued with a sympathetic frown. "A little goes a long way with this one. We'll all stay here at least until he's back to normal, and then we can delegate someone or two to accompany Kaisuki on the road."

The conscious men in the room all nodded. "On that note," Kaisuki's voice returned to them at that moment, "let's let him sleep. He needs rest if he's going to recover quickly. We'll wake him for dinner as soon as I'm done with it."

Another chorus of nods and the four of them silently left the room, leaving the door ajar.

"I'm gonna dump this bag in one of the other rooms," Kisame said offhandedly, heading further into the place.

"Alright, I'm gonna start food," Kaisuki replied to him. Kisame hummed in acknowledgment.

He walked in the room he'd already chosen and dropped the satchel on the floor, then dumped himself on the bed and pondered the situation and the information he'd received thus far. He wasn't an investigator of the supernatural on the same level that Kaisuki was but he had worked in Akatsuki for more than half his life.

Itachi was wanted by the Underworld. According to Sasuke, one side wanted him dead (but didn't seem all that committed, just judging from the fact that Sumi was the only one ever sent after him) and the other side wanted to capture him, for still-unknown reasons. Kaisuki had said that they'd deduced that Teara needed Sasuke so he could get Itachi, and Itachi so he could get his hands on Madara. According to Sasuke, Teara's behavior suggested that his life likely depended on him finding Madara, and he was willing to do anything and sacrifice anyone to succeed.

At the same time though, Teara hadn't been around for the revival of Madara, and Kaisuki and Kisame hadn't been able to find him in a while. Madara getting away was obviously not part of the plan. Was it possible that Teara was being punished or had been killed for a failure? Or was he on the run, somewhere? Or was he just doing something behind the scenes, biding his time and waiting for an opportune moment to strike them down? Or perhaps waiting for an opportune moment to escape his employers?

He didn't care about Teara. He cared about what the man was doing. When Teara was missing in action, it made Kisame uneasy. Out of everyone they knew, everyone they had faced, Teara was the biggest threat. He was the strongest, the fastest, deadliest, and the most resourceful enemy they currently had. He had a legion of demons at his command, not to mention however many he carried with him to enable the superhuman abilities he boasted, such as the use of their magic, shadow manipulation, and unfair strength. He lacked a conscience. He didn't seem to feel emotions like joy and he didn't seem to know what kindness looked like.

The thing was... at a certain point, Kisame had been the same. Human beings didn't turn out like that for no reason. Kaisuki had been worried (so worried she'd been spouting things that were none of his business) about Sasuke's mental status but Kisame knew the kid was right to see humanity in Teara. Despite how he behaved, the man was only that - a man. He hadn't been born evil; someone had made him that way.

It hadn't surprised Kisame to hear that Teara was probably looking for Madara out of self-preservation. At one point, Kisame had been doing something similar. At one point, he'd been a mercenary who would kill anyone and preform any task to stay on his "godfather's" good side.

Kirigakure raised their shinobi to be like that. Some of those shinobi escaped that life, other's didn't. Kisame had escaped his country but it had taken a lot longer to escape his homeland's teachings (or lack thereof).

Honestly, the major difference between Kisame and Teara was that Kisame had been raised by humans. Humans, whether it was intentional or not, had morals of some kind, ethics of some kind, values of some kind. All of them, even the crazy ones. Even if those morals were skewed beyond recognition by any normal, sane person, all humans had morals that they lived by.

Demons didn't. Demons didn't live by a code; they lived by their list of wants. They wanted to kill. They wanted to torture. They wanted to cause pain. They wanted to ruin lives and break minds. Teara had been raised by a group of monsters that didn't know what the word "conscience" meant. How would he have learned that he could be good if he didn't know even what good was supposed to look like?

Akatsuki had offered Kisame some solaces and some freedoms, but more importantly, they had differentiated for him "good" and "bad", to some degree. Akatsuki was a criminal organization in the eyes of the law; they all knew that, but the leaders were visionaries who saw something better for the world that they could do instead of wait for.

They knew that some of the things they had to do were awful and cruel. They knew that some of the things they did were unjust and unnecessary in the eyes of the ones suffering. They believed that the end that they could see was worth the means it took to get there, but they had always been willing to tell him the truth when he asked them how his task was helping someone somewhere.

Teara hadn't had that set of teachers. It was unfortunate but chances were that there was no way they'd ever get through to that man anyway. He'd spent his entire life under the watchful eyes of the Underworld and by that point, if he'd had it even half as rough as Sasuke had, he was probably terrified of the people he worked for. The best thing they could do for Teara and the rest of the world was kill him.

But knowing that the white-haired man had to have been suffering unimaginably at the hands of those things, never finding any salvation...

Kisame sighed softly and closed his eyes. He didn't like the direction things seemed to be going. He didn't like it at all.