Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Don't steal and don't sue. Thank you *Phantomness bows*

Warnings: Sex, violence, forced pregnancy

Chapter 25: Paper Faces on Parade

As Akane swept into the room, all eyes, indeed, were on her. She spotted her father in a deep, forest green robe, dozens of ladies and gentleman in various costumes and masks, and there he was, Mamoru. As though they had planned their costumes together, he wore red as well, a red tunic and black pants, and the mask of a vermilion bird, though his was plainer. He was speaking with an older woman who wore a plain white robe and the mask of a white tiger. She whispered something in his ear, and then stepped away. Akane scowled, before making her way to Mamoru. Had it been an assignation? Surely not…

"Akane-sama," Mamoru whispered to her, and then the music started up again. Dancing with him was even more wonderful than she had imagined. Eventually, however, another lord tapped her on the shoulder, asking for a dance, and she was forced to oblige. Although her costume was beautiful, Akane was forced to admit it was starting to become rather stifling, and she turned to see Mamoru dancing with his sister, who had chosen a simple robe of deep blue-green. Only, from the way the light caught it, it shimmered like the play of sunlight on ocean's waves in a mesmerizing pattern. I want that, she thought with a sudden stab of envy. Then, they moved, and the mask covering Rei's head and face was revealed, that of a magnificent dragon, fangs bared in a challenge.

Behind her mask Akane's face flushed, hot and angry. How dare that little upstart presume to order her around! Who did she think she was? She calmed herself with the thought, however, that in mere hours she would be in Mamoru's bed and Rei would be able do nothing about it. So she forced herself to smile at her current partner as they whirled around the dance floor. She endured another hour of dancing, smiling spitefully when she saw Mamoru leave his sister when another lady clamored for his attention, before retiring to her rooms. So very soon, he would be hers…

Making love to Mamoru was even more wonderful than she had imagined, Akane thought, hours later, when she lay sated in his embrace. As she had expected, he was a wonderfully passionate young man, yet surprisingly inexperienced. What a delight it had been to teach him the finer points of pleasing a woman. She closed her eyes in bliss as she snuggled even more tightly against his chest.

Itachi laid there, Akane firmly trapped in his genjutsu, and thought of Satsuki, wishing it were she who was by his side now. Akane held about as much appeal for him as a stick of wood did, and at least a stick of wood could be burnt to light a fire to heat water or cook a meal. Akane had no such utility. If not for the money the Akatsuki was receiving to protect her… she may have temporarily been a receptacle for his seed, but he certainly felt nothing for her.

The next morning, Mamoru was gone when she woke. While Akane would have preferred to wake in his arms, she understood the necessity. Even if threatened into silence, her servants might gossip. Even Shizuka might not hold her tongue. She sighed in pleasure as she recalled the heights of ecstasy he had brought her to, before ordering her servants to prepare her bath.

A sudden explosion nearby rocked the house. Akane screamed and dove underneath the bed. Another explosion followed, and another.

"All right, have you had enough, un?" A voice shouted outside. "Bring out the Daimyo's daughter, Akane, and maybe I won't blow you all to bits, un!"

Akane huddled even more tightly underneath the bed. They wouldn't actually give her up, would they? This was what her father had hired those ninja for! She smiled widely. They would give Rei to whoever the bomber was, and all would be well…

It just had to be Deidara, Sasuke thought with a sigh, as he was led out by a nervous Joushu. Why did it have to be Deidara? Oh, he knew he could take him, but dealing with the artist was irritating. Deidara took a couple of looks at him, before nodding. He suddenly threw a handful of clay spiders at him. Sasuke screamed in terror as they climbed all over him, settling in his clothes and hair.

"Just had to check that you weren't giving me a decoy, un," Deidara said cheerfully. A kunoichi would have instinctively dodged, and perhaps even dropped her transformation. "Now don't you worry, pretty lady, I'm not here to kill you. We're just going on a little trip." He motioned for him to follow him onto the back of a large clay bird.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that." Itachi's calm voice cut in as he flickered in next to Deidara, putting a kunai against his throat, eyes Sharingan red. "The lady, you see, is under my protection."

Deidara just laughed. "I wouldn't be too hasty, shinobi. You see those spiders?" He gestured at Sasuke, who was festooned with them. "Let me give you a demonstration, un…" He produced another spider, and tossed it high into the air, making a sign with his hands. "Katsu!" As predicted, the spider exploded. Joushu gasped and paled, almost fainting away. Itachi looked singularly unimpressed.

"Mamoru-san," Sasuke begged, looking into Itachi's ruby eyes, "Please don't let me die! Did what passed between us last night mean nothing to you?"

When he heard those words, Joushu did faint. Sasuke smirked inwardly. Deidara burst out laughing.

"I didn't peg you for the type to screw around on a mission, un! Perhaps you'd like a good-bye kiss before I leave?" He taunted.

Silently, Itachi withdrew the kunai from Deidara's throat, and then turned to Satsuki. "Forgive me," He told her, before tilting her chin up. Even as their lips met, he drove the blade of his kunai between her ribs, piercing her heart. Satsuki choked and coughed up blood, collapsing. In an instant, Itachi's eyes morphed into the Mangekyo Sharingan and Rinnegan. The Naraka path activated as the King of Hell formed around Satsuki, protecting her as it healed her. Of course, the C1 spiders had already been deactivated by her Chidori nagashi earlier, so she was in no danger.

Deidara sprang back onto his clay bird, only to curse as Itachi neatly deactivated it with precise application of raiton chakra. From viewing Satsuki's memories of fighting this man, Itachi knew better than to give him time to form any more explosive clay creatures or use the mouth on his chest. He doubted they could contain an explosion that massive. So as Deidara leapt into the air, Itachi cut him down with the chidori sharp spear and made certain to decapitate him. Then he sliced through the mouth on Deidara's chest, just in case, glad Konan had given him advance warning of a possible attack today.

Ten minutes later, Satsuki emerged from the King of Hell, fully restored. "No forgiveness is necessary," She said, tossing him back his kunai. "Is he dead?"

"Yes," Itachi replied, stowing the kunai away. "Are you uninjured?"

"Of course," She replied, before giving him a kiss, making sure that a genjutsu was in place around them both, so no one saw.

Itachi had already disposed of Deidara's body, and attendants were hovering around Joushu, attempting to wake him with minimal success. Itachi dismissed her and she went upstairs to change out of her bloodstained clothing and spread the news that the bomber had been defeated. By then, Akane had finally crawled out from under her bed and was enjoying a bath. Sasuke went to clean up and smirked inwardly. He would let Akane explain her dalliance to her father herself.

Sasuke dressed in a pale pink robe patterned with white sakura blossoms and went to another voice lesson. Training in the Garden of Paradise was improving his range and tone, but not quickly enough to suit him. And learning all those songs was time-consuming… was this really necessary? Surely he could pass as Akane now, couldn't he? What were kidnappers going to do, challenge him to sing? With his mastery over Fuuton, it was clear to him that at this very moment downstairs, a furious Joushu was confronting Akane about her lewd actions of the previous night. Nonetheless, Akane did have her father wrapped around her finger, and he finally conceded that as long as she did not get pregnant, and no news of it reached Genji's ears, it would be tolerated. Sasuke frowned. Perhaps a different lesson was in order…

There could have been a child, Sasuke thought as he knelt by Akane's bed that night, his henge perfect. Akane had certainly dallied multiple times in the past. She had an irregular cycle, so this was perfect. His hands glowed pale green as he ran them over her stomach in the mockery of a lover's caress, no hint of a scar remaining from where he had gutted her with a scalpel while she slept, trapped in genjutsu. Slowly, the tiny egg, its nucleus replaced with one from one of Deidara's skin cells, having traveled down the fallopian tube at astonishing speed and implanted itself into the newly grown uterine lining, began to divide, and divide, and divide again…

Akane's last cycle had been over three months ago.

Her last dalliance had been two and a half months ago.

The child will be two months and a week old by the time she wakes the next morning.

Joushu's physician will be examining her in three days.

When Akane woke the next morning, her breasts felt unusually tender, which she put down to Mamoru's enthusiastic ministrations, but oddly enough, she was also quite nauseous. She pushed away the various breakfast dishes and called for simple rice porridge, which she ate slowly with a frown. Had she eaten something that disagreed with her at dinner last night? It was a good thing she was seeing her father's physician the day after.

Shizuka tsked, but privately, she fretted. Akane had not bled for three months, and she knew her mistress well enough. She was not as pure as she would like others to believe. Surely it could not be…?

When Joushu's physician confirmed the diagnosis of pregnancy, Joushu was enraged. Sasuke made certain that a copy of the physician's report made it into Genji's possession. Genji, of course, was outraged, and threatened to break off the engagement. The Earth Daimyo, who desperately needed Genji's riches, offered his youngest daughter, Aoko, who was four years younger, at thirteen, and a confirmed virgin, instead. Genji sent a note saying he would be sending his personal physician to check Aoko over, clearly not trusting Joushu's promises.

Unlike Akane, Aoko was short and chubby, with brown, curly hair. There was no way Sasuke could pass as her, without henge. He would still be her bodyguard, Joushu decided, but he would be accompanying her as her sister Akane. That seemed satisfactory to Sasuke.

That night, he lay in Itachi's arms, as Itachi slowly stroked his hair. There was no condemnation in Itachi's onyx eyes, no shame in Sasuke's. Their lips met in a chaste kiss.

Sasuke loved Itachi enough to let him pierce his heart with a kunai, even if there was no way to bring him back afterwards. To him, Itachi was worth more than life itself.

Itachi loved Satsuki enough to let her impregnate another woman, using his form, despite the condemnation and consequences it would bring. To him, Satsuki was worth more than life itself.

Any physical intimacy they engaged in was only another expression of that love.

Akane tiptoed down the stairs towards Mamoru's room. She was already pregnant, and the physician had prescribed her powders to help with the morning sickness. Her engagement had been broken off, so now she need not worry about Genji. She would not be showing for another few months, she had slipped sleeping powder into the tea her maids had drunk before bed, and now she was alone. She would have Mamoru again! Slowly, she opened the door to his room, which of course, she had the key to. What she saw stopped her dead in her tracks.

The window was open, moonlight spilling over Mamoru's nude form. His long hair spilled over his shoulders, painting him in a stark contrast of black and white, raven's feathers on fresh snow, she thought, living poetry in motion. The only light came from his eyes, the right eye a dusky amethyst, the left as red as blood and black as night. Mesmerized, she could do naught but stare, until she noticed he was not alone.

Rei knelt between her brother's thighs, her lips wrapped around what was unmistakably his shaft. Her eyes were an inverted mirror of his, but while Mamoru had projected an air of calm serenity, hers glittered with possessive lust. Mine, they seemed to pierce into her soul like a thousand knives. You may have his body, but his soul belongs to me. As Akane made to step forward, to break this despicable scene, she found that she could not move a muscle. Mamoru shuddered, once, and Rei drank him down, pulling back so that Akane could glimpse the pearly fluid trickling from her lips before she rose and kissed her brother, her lover, full on the mouth.

End Chapter

Started 3/6/16

Completed 3/7/16

Bastard! Itachi is *fun* to write, granted, Sasuke is vindictive as well. Remember how his Sharingan is so developed it can see individual cells? And Sasuke did undergo medic-nin training!