So…for anyone who hasn't already figured it out, Danzo is screwed. Like…monumentally screwed. By a twenty foot pole. Right up the backside. And I am NOT sorry about that. That dick deserves to die, dammit.

Anyway, on to more pleasant things…or not, actually, this chapter is going to be extremely unpleasant. Maybe trigger warnings for…(does it count as torture if there's no active torturing going on? Does ripping a soul apart on the molecular level count as torture? Personally, I'd say yes, but…) bad things. Trigger warning for bad things happening. But this is Naruto, between all of the murder, torture, genocide, and general war crimes and crimes against humanity, we're used to that.

Also, a warning for an impatient, sarcastic, and demanding Sasuke (with some slight touches of sympathy, colored by resentment). But you all already knew that. This chapter entirely from his P.O.V. We'll get to Naruto next chapter.

Sasuke's P.O.V.

He finally wakes up in that damn tank after four days…and the first thing he does is start complaining. It's at times like this when I think about reconsidering my decision to recruit Suigetsu. Then he proves his worth in battle and reminds me why I decided on him in the first place.

"You are so useless!" And he's at it with Karin. Again. "Why did you leave behind my Executioner's Blade!?"

"Shut up, Suigetsu!" It takes almost nothing to set her off. "You should just be grateful that we didn't leave you behind too!"

"How dare you!? You were knocked out just as much as I was, Karin!" He's got a point, even though the two of them should just knock it off and not waste their energy on fighting each other.

She screeches again, and makes me want to tell them to just get a room already. Maybe then I wouldn't have to worry about her shrieks bursting my eardrums. "Hey! I ended up that way trying to protect all of you!"

"All of us were protecting each other, you guys. We're like fish in water, we can't do without one another. So stop your quarreling." Finally, the voice of reason, not that either of them are all that inclined to listen to listen to Jugo anyway.

Still, it works to calm Suigetsu, at the very least. "Anyway, are we really going to get the Tailed Beasts' power now, Sasuke?"

"Hn. Who knows?" Though I can think of one way we might we able to. "Maybe. But there's no reason for us to depend on the Akatsuki handing such things to us." Not when my eyes have grown this strong. And then…there's what I suspect is locked away deep in the hideout. If I can open up that place…

But as I reach for a glass of water, my vision blurs, and the sound of a clinking glass sounds loud in my ears as it tips over. I misjudged the distance? I raise a hand to my eyes, a slight panic brewing as my vision wobbles. Damn it…

"Something wrong, Sasuke?" As usual, Karin is quick on the uptake, too quick.

"No, it's nothing." There's no reason for them to know. It will pass. And if it doesn't, I know exactly who can fix it. "Karin, Jugo, get Suigetsu out of the tank and ready. I'll meet you all at the south end of the hideout in a little while. There's something I want to check out."

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Sasuke?" Suigetsu frowns, warier than he usually is. "These Akatsuki really don't like it when we poke our noses into their stuff."

"It'll be fine." Madara doesn't know me as well as he thinks he does, especially if he thinks he can leash me with the promise of Tailed Beasts and the threat of retribution if I betray him. No matter what, he won't get in my way. I won't allow it.

For now, though…I think I'll find out just what's kept him so occupied for the last few days.

The concentration of chakra is highest right here, in this room. I stare at the door, frowning as I try to discern the presence of any traps or other dangers before walking in. I don't see a thing. Arrogant bastard.

But when I push the door open, unearthly screams assault my ears, and an eerie glow fills the darkness. The room, ringed by torches, contains a huge statue with more eyes than I care for, and two hands on which five figures stand. So…this is where they've been… I had wondered why those Akatsuki weren't walking around the hideout. They've all been hiding in here.

My gaze drops to where a form hangs in the air, surrounded by a massive amount of chakra, with red chakra bubbling out of his mouth. It's a stark contrast to the light blue of his kimono. It's also…familiar, like I've felt it before.

…Naruto…I've felt a similar power in Naruto.

But those screams…I turn my Sharingan on the sight and watch, transfixed, as the demon's chakra is ripped out of the human body holding it. I feel like I'm watching his body go into full organ failure in slow motion. His body seems incapable of offsetting the damage of the chakra drain all by itself, and his own pale blue chakra is disappearing from the vital organs.

And then there's those screams. I've never once heard a human make sounds like that. Ever. Is this what a Tailed Beast extraction entails?

After what seems like an eternity, the last of the bubbling red chakra disappears into the mouth of the giant statue, and the last of the man's own chakra disappears from his body as it falls to the ground, still and lifeless. He's dead.

One of the figures atop the fingers turns towards me, disappearing from his place and reappearing in front of me. "Sasuke, have your wounds healed?" Madara sure does like to make conversation.

I nod slowly. "My team is healing well." And that's all he needs to know. "I take it that this is what's done with jinchuuriki?"

"Are you having second thoughts, Sasuke?" If that mask wasn't in the way, I'm sure that I would have seen an eyebrow rise.

"Hn." I'm insulted. "I've held up my end of the deal. Second thoughts would be pointless." The only thoughts I have now involve avenging Itachi's death. And all aspects of what entails.

Including interrogating the prisoner in the cell in the southern end of the hideout, if it turns out to be who I think it is.

Suigetsu fidgets even more than usual as I approach the three of them. "Alright, so what's up with the secrecy, Sasuke? Why did you want us to meet you here? It's just an old moldy hallway."

"Hn." The fool. Can't he tell that this place has been used recently? There's dust in the corners of the hallway, but the center is clean, like a clock has swept through and dragged away the dust. "Follow me." I have a feeling that I'll know the place they're keeping the third jinchuuriki when I see it.

I step quietly through the hall, measuring every step as I observe the walls and doors, looking for even the faintest trace of chakra. There's not much around here, just residual traces from…Zetsu, I think his name was. The black and white venus fly trap knock-off. He must have brought the jinchuuriki in here… He seems to like skulking around, but today, I'm going to make that habit of his work for me. "Karin, can you sense any other chakra down here?"

"Chakra?" She watches me, puzzled by my request. "Uh…sure, just let me check." Her eyes turn away from me, closing as she infuses her own chakra, stretching it out in search of our target.

"Sasuke…what are you expecting to find down here?" Jugo keeps pace with me as we walk, his own gaze flicking about, likely on the lookout for threats. "There's something…strange about this place. Like it's tugging on my chakra?"

"Tugging on your chakra?" Suigetsu frowns. "Hey…you're right. What's up with that?"

"I don't know, but it's coming from that room over there." Karin opens her eyes and points to a section of wall further down the dimly lit hall. "It's faint, but I can just sense someone or something's chakra in there. But Sasuke…" She moves to clutch my sleeve, her eyes narrowing. "Whatever it is…it's not human."

"Not human, you say?" Interesting… Now I know that I have to take a look. "Alright then, let's go."

"Are you sure about this?" Suigetsu grins nervously as we approach the door. There's seals all around it, all over it, probably even in the door itself. "Because it looks to me like someone really doesn't want whatever is in there to get out."

"I'm sure." I put my hand to the door, noting the character for the number ten inscribed on it. The Ten-Tails…it has to be. Now, it's time to prove or disprove my theory. "Let's see what Madara is hiding in here." The seal keeping the door shut breaks under my fingers with just a short, concentrated burst of chakra.

"Should we really be going in here? It's probably been sealed for a reason." Jugo worries too much. After all, the four of us brought down one of the jinchuuriki. Even if there's another one sealed up in here, they don't stand a chance against us. Against me.

Especially not if it's who I think it is.

The door swings open with a gentle push, revealing a huge, mangled form in the darkness. Karin puts a hand on my arm and holds me back a moment. I allow it as she passes me a lit lamp. "Here, now we'll be able to see whatever this…thing is." The thing in question moves slightly. It can hear us. And as I raise the lamp, I correct that thought. SHE can hear us.

I raise the lamp above my head, letting the light bounce off the walls and onto the form sitting in the middle of the room.

Wings. Giant, misshapen wings that drape across the floor, gathered in clumpy piles. They look broken, which would explain the strange shape I saw in the darkness. And in the middle of the pair of vivid, fiery-colored wings, sits a girl with long brown hair hanging limply to her waist. The tan of her skin is dappled by the shadows and lamplight flickering across her skin. But there's something very wrong with this picture.

"The hell? What's this thing? Some kind of demon?" Suigetsu raises a hand defensively, hanging back near the door as I step further inside. "What the fuck's going on? You never said we were going looking for jinchuuriki in here! What do you want with this thing?"

She draws back, jangling the chains that hold her arms out to the sides and far away from each other. But she doesn't get far, what with her feet shackled to the floor. She's afraid of us.

Jugo frowns at the sight of her. "Why do you think she has those masks on?"

My guess would be to stop her from using ninjutsu. But those masks are going to have to go. I have questions, and I want her to answer them. "Fairy." She stops moving, tilting her head slightly, her ear twitching for a moment before she stills like a statue. She recognizes my voice, then…that's not surprising. "I thought I would find you here."

"Hey Sasuke, I hate to break it to you, but that's not a fairy." Suigetsu…I didn't mean it literally. Moron.

"Hn." I step forward, setting the lamp down on the floor as I crouch in front of her. She moves slightly, but it's clear that the tension in her muscles has relaxed, for the most part. Ciara…it looks like this time, I found you, not the other way around. Because, last I checked, that's what she and that other moron were intending to do.

She lowers her head slightly, tilting it further as her ears twitch again. She blows a slow breath through her nose, proving, in my mind, that she's quite aware of us. So I slowly reach towards her, running a hand through her hair and lifting it away to access the mask's fastening at the back of her head. It comes undone easily, slipping away from her face to reveal soft red lips. Ones that I remember well, from her obnoxious habit of kissing my forehead.

Lips that form a single word. "Sasuke…" Her voice is richer, less child-like than I remember. I couldn't hear much of anything when she was screaming over Itachi's body, nothing coherent, anyway. And there's a lot about her that's not so child-like anymore. She must be almost a foot taller than I remember…

"Sasuke, what is this thing?" Suigetsu's voice brings me back to the present and away from unwanted memories of that place.

"This is the Ten-Tails jinchuuriki." And now, I know exactly who she is. "Ciara Shiryugu, a chunin and medic from the Leaf Village." I slip off the mask covering her eyes, brushing her hair away from her face and down her back to reveal those sunburst eyes that I saw on several occasions.

Her eyes stare into mine, like she's trying to peer right into my soul. "…Genjutsu."

I frown, not entirely sure what she means. "There's no genjutsu." I would know, I checked.

She shakes her head slightly, the light in her eyes dimming. "You asked why they covered up my mouth and eyes." The eyes are self-explanatory, but the mouth… "They don't want me singing any more genjutsu."

Well, that's certainly a new trick. "And when did you learn to use genjutsu?" The last time I checked, she could only see through genjustu and break it, not use it herself. But Kabuto did say that it showed that she had an aptitude for it.

"When I was traveling with Jiraiya." And she's not adverse to answering my questions, good… "A couple of his toads taught me." Her eyes search my face, an emotion glimmering in their depths that I haven't seen in a long time. Sadness. "Sasuke…what are you doing here?"

I narrow my eyes at her. "I'm asking the questions here."

"…I see." There's a spark of realization in her eyes now, overwhelming and pushing away the sadness. "Then ask me whatever it is that you want to know, and I will do my best to give you whatever answers you're looking for." She manages a smile. It's faint, but it's there. "So ask, Sasuke."

"Hey! Don't get so friendly with him!" Karin pushes her glasses up her nose. It's almost amusing to see her acting so haughty, especially since, if she were free, Ciara could easily put her in the ground. Not that she would, if she's anything like I remember. "Besides, Sasuke is here to interrogate you, not be your friend. So shut up and do what you're told, freak!"

The sadness returns to her eyes, so I glare over my shoulder at Karin. "Enough, you're making this more difficult. Stay back and keep quiet, Karin." The last thing I need is her clamming up the way she did back then in that first preliminary round of the exams.

"Sasuke…it's okay." What? I frown at her as she shows me that sad smile. "I know what people think of my kind."

"You mean that you've got a chakra monster shoved in you and could go around annihilating whole mountains with a temper tantrum?" Suigetsu really needs to learn how to shut his mouth. "Because we've already been through that once already. Come on, Sasuke. It's seriously a bad idea to stick around. She could go ballistic and try to kill us like that monster ox!"

"Suigetsu, ENOUGH!" He and Karin are being nuisances, and it's clear that they need more incentive in order to behave. So I radiate Chidori along my arms, shooting them a threatening glare. "Go outside and keep watch."

"But Sasuke, she's-"

"KARIN!" I turn to her, ready to force her to knock it off if I have to.

But a soft voice stops me. "Sasuke…I told you…it's okay." She sounds weary, and her giant broken wings twitch helplessly on the floor. "I know what I am…and I've made my peace with it. But maybe this conversation should be private." Peace, maybe, but she's definitely not happy about it. She's gotten better at telling the truth, but leaving out everything that contradicts it.

"Hn." Still, it's about time someone said something sensible. "Jugo, take them outside to keep watch."

He hesitates for a moment, then nods. "Alright, Sasuke. If anything happens, we'll be back right away."

"Hn." Good. If I'd known they were going to act like this, I wouldn't have brought them down here. It's actually a relief when Jugo drags them out and closes the door most of the way. Now…

Deep emerald eyes stare at me, flecks of gold dancing through them in the lamplight. "…It's good to see you again."

I glare at her flatly. "I suppose it would be, what with the way you've been helping Naruto chase me. Although…you were absent the last time we came face to face."

"I was on a mission in the Sand at the time. Gaara and his advisers requested that I stay on after the emergency mission in order to train their medics." She says it so fondly, and my eyes narrow. So she and Naruto really did make friends with him… I'd suspected, but never bothered to confirm it.

She grows quiet, so I take it as the invitation to ask another question. "You're close to him?"

She nods solemnly, a soft smile returning to her face. "Yes. The two of us are…friends, kin. He is very special to me, just like Naruto." Then her face falls once more. "And when Gaara died, if only temporarily…I screamed, I cried, I felt helpless and angry and sad. Just like…" Her eyes darken, and I know that look. I've seen it in the mirror once or twice.

Still, I can recall one instance in which she cried like that. One that becomes clearer with each passing day. "Just like with Itachi."

She looks up at me, the beginnings of tears forming in her eyes. "…Yes. Like with Itachi."

And now, we come to the things I really wanted to ask. "You tried to save him. Why?"

"Because I loved him." There's not a hint of hesitation in her words. "Because I still do, even now that he's gone. I always have, and I always will, no matter how foolish people might think I am."

Foolish indeed…but she's not the only one. "Do you know why Itachi killed the Uchiha Clan?"

"No." She shakes her head lightly. "I can only assume that he was coerced into it, or that he became a scapegoat for someone else's deed. Because the Itachi I know and love would never do that sort of thing on a whim, or out of cruelty." She laughs softly, even as a tear falls from her eye. "He would never do it at all if he wasn't forced to…"

So…she already figured it out, then. Maybe not the details, but the main idea. And that's more than I can say for myself. That thought leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth. "What if I told you that you were wrong? That Itachi really did slaughter my clan on a whim."

Her gaze hardens slightly. "Then it would be clear to me that I really was the one who knew Itachi best, save maybe for Uncle Shisui." She pauses a moment, her posture softening again. "I'd also accuse you of hitting the sake."

"Hn." Good, then she should be…receptive to this information. Not that I've definitively confirmed it, but once I reach the Leaf, it should be easy enough to force the elders to confess, or to at least confirm the identity of the one of forced Itachi's hand and drove him out of the village to die. "You're right, he didn't do it on a whim. He was ordered to do it."

"He was…ordered to do it?" As she takes in my words, I can see the gears turning in her head. Now I can see why it's said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Because it feels like I can see hers through those eyes. "…Who?"

"The elders of the Leaf. They conspired against my clan, took advantage of their isolation and desperation, and they forced Itachi to annihilate our clan to prevent the Uchiha from taking over the village." And to that end, they used my brother's loyalty to the village to their own ends.

"They…what?" Now that's the reaction I was looking for, that fusing of disbelief and comprehension. Confirmation that what she thought was the truth is right, but now having names to put with the deed. Then, her gaze darkens. "…That's genocide."

Yes, it is. "And they forced Itachi to be the one to commit it." Good, she understands, at least a little. "It's not the only crime they've committed, but it's the one that matters the most to me. And I'm going to make sure that they pay for it."

She's silent, at least for a few long moments. "…Can you prove it?" It doesn't sound like a denial, more…a challenge. She WANTS me to prove that it's the truth.

"Not yet." But I know that it won't be all that difficult to ascertain. "But I'll be sure to ask Danzo about why he wiped out your family as well while I do."

Now THAT gets her full and undivided attention. "…What do you know about that?"

"Not very much. But more than you do, I'd guess." After all, she was only five years old, there's not much chance that she figured out at that age what could have happened to her family, let alone why.

Hurt flashes through her eyes but she seems to stomp it right back down, keeping her face otherwise calm. Her gaze drops to the floor, and I can just see that her bottom lip is squished between her teeth. She's nervous. "…What…what is it that you think you know about that?"

She's not angry, like I thought she'd be. But there's still time, and soon she'll know the fury that I feel. "I haven't confirmed it for myself yet, but it lines up with what I already knew." Scattered details here and there, but mostly from listening to Kabuto over the years. I think his fascination with her was even worse than Orochimaru's. There's still a lot that isn't clear to me, but after this conversation, I'm sure that it will be.

I refuse to remain blinded by Itachi's lies any longer.

So, let's begin with what I know from Kabuto's research. "It was at the end of August when you were five years old. In the middle of the night, the Shiryugu estate was attacked by a large group of ninja who somehow managed to bring down the detection barrier. This group managed to catch the clan by surprise and wiped out over four hundred men, women, and children before morning." The official details as to the hows and whys were never released, but what Kabuto had managed to pry out of some old medical reports was disturbing. "They were all killed with extreme precision. By elite assassins."

It's a surprise when she nods tiredly. "Yes…I know. One of them found me as well. I'd just woken up and heard Dad roaring. I'd walked past Uncle Eito and Uncle Yukio's bodies…they were protecting Dad but…" She sighs, hanging her head as her eyes close. "One of them found me while I was crying over his body and stabbed me in the abdomen. I was just a kid and I was bleeding out anyway, so he left me for dead. I guess he didn't expect Uncle Kiyoshi to have survived and taken out the last few of his comrades."

"Kiyoshi?" I recognize that name. Wasn't he…

"Yeah, he was Shisui's older brother. He was married to my Aunt Miyako." Her voice wobbles a little, and even in the dim light, I can make out the tears dripping from her face. "They were going to be parents…and Uncle Kiyoshi and I were conspiring to get Tatsuo to ask out Shisui. I…used to ask her when she and Shisui were going to have babies. But after that night…"

I don't see any point in going over what could have been. It can't become reality, which means that there's no point in even thinking about it. All that's left now…is to destroy the ones responsible. "You said that you were stabbed and left for dead? How did you survive?"

"…My uncle used rudimentary medical ninjutsu to keep me stable while he used up all of his chakra, making a deal with a demon. Kiyoshi arranged it so that he would keep me alive, since everyone who otherwise could have was dead. If he hadn't asked for the spirit's help, I would have died that night, just like all of the others." She laughs brokenly. "I guess he only really bought me another decade anyway. I've always known that I was living on borrowed time…"

Borrowed time…? Does that mean that she always knew it would come to this? But that can't be true. Rumors about the Akatsuki have only been flying around for so long, and they haven't been actively gathering jinchuuriki until recently. At least, according to what I've heard from Madara and Zetsu.

"Sasuke…" Her green eyes sparkle with something dark, something hidden away deep inside that I've never seen before. "I don't know what you're doing here…or why…but you have to get away from them as soon as you can. These people are dangerous…they've already killed six of us, and now they have me and Utakata, so they're probably going to-"

"He's dead. It's been about half an hour now." Utakata, huh? I hadn't had a name to put to the face before, but I remember it clearly. "Brown hair, and wearing a blue kimono, right?"

Her eyes widen, and the drying tear tracks dampen again as fresh tears spill from her eyes. "He's…" Her breath stutters, catching in her chest as the chains begin to shake. "No…not again…" Her eyes close up tight but the tears only flow faster. "Utakata…Utakata…I'm sorry…I couldn't…" Her shoulders begin to shake, revealing the quiet sobs, not quite concealed from my eyes. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"

Clearly, I'm not going to be able to get anything else out of her like this. Fine, I'll come back to see her in a day or two. But first… If anyone comes in and sees that she's not sealed up, they'll know something's up. And judging by how long Madara was at it earlier, they won't be expending that much chakra again in a hurry. There'll probably be a few days, maybe a week until they deal with her. There's time to get more answers out of her.

I runs my fingers through her hair, pulling it back and frowning at the slightly haphazard mess. But the shaking calms slightly, so I pull pieces back and let them slide through my fingers as I hold them up and away from her neck. She doesn't struggle at all as I return the mask to her mouth, fastening it there.

Her eyes don't open in the slightest as I run a thumb over her cheek, wiping away the tears there, then moving to the other. Her eyes open slowly, the little light there before extinguished completely. I don't like it, it's just…wrong. Then they close again, and I fasten the second mask back around her eyes, avoiding each and every feather so that none of them bend or break.

When the door closes behind me, I catch Jugo staring at me. "What is it?"

Karin and Suigetsu sit on the floor behind me, determinedly staring in opposite directions. Jugo sighs and shakes his head at the two of them. "So your conversation went well, then?"

I wouldn't say that it went well, but it was productive, at least. "It was a start." But I'll be sure to get more out of her next time, I just have to be fast.

"Sasuke, I saw…" Jugo frowns, glancing at the door behind me. "Was she really crying?"

"Hn." She has more than her fair share of grief without me publicizing it. Besides, it's clear that I'm not the only one grieving Itachi. And I'll make sure that the rest of the Leaf regrets his death as well. Itachi…

Now I know why the look in her eyes felt so wrong. Because I've seen it once before.

In Itachi's eyes…the night he slaughtered our clan.