Chapter 77: Bite Tongue, Bide Time

I had to escape. My heart, body and soul could take no more sexy time and time is of the essence. Itachi had made use of being alone with me and Shisui found I was already asleep by the time he'd returned. Or so he thought. Now, more than ever, the determination I have to make sure the village is safe has peaked. Sneaking out is my only option, especially now that the pair of men didn't seem to want to let me out of sight. I knew what they were up to; teaming up and distracting me was their way of keeping me safe from Madara. An unrealistic goal, however I truly appreciated and enjoyed their efforts. I left them to sleep beside a clone while I slipped away. With a small sigh, my hand gently pulled the front door, leading to the outside and I was met with the cool morning air. Slipping through, I quickly made my way to the Hokage's residence in silence to finish up some work before our true leader returns. Instead of using the door like a normal person should, I decided it would be more discrete to enter through the outside window, three stories up. In attempt to see inside, I found that it was much too dark to make out anything and carefully lowered myself from the window sill.

"Shikara?"

"Ah!" My hand slipped from the frame in surprise and my body graciously meet the floor. The clouds in the sky moved to reveal a nearly full moon, which illuminated a familiar figure within the office.

Sasuke stood there staring at me with a stony expression. "And to think you're a Jonin..."

Scrambling to my feet I retorted, "I'm a Sage now, thank you very much - also," naturally my head tilted as I patted the dust from my pants, "what are you doing here?" Sasuke silently observed my clumsy self. I sighed and looked to him with reserve, my voice a whisper, "Madara sent you, didn't he?"

He approached me, stopping only inches away. His eyes gazed down at me before responding, "I'm here to warn you."

I blinked, confused. "You're not here to whisk me away to the dark side?"

His eyes narrowed, "This is only a clone, I don't have much time. Don't waste it."

What happened to the sweet boy who used to adore me? I gave a curt nod and listened.

Sasuke continued to speak and though he seemed calm, his voice betrayed slight urgency. "He's coming for you while I remain in the Land of Lightning. Take his offer, don't do anything you'll regret."

Eyes widening, I reacted as a worried older sister would, "you're in the Land of Lightning!? Sasuke, the Raikage is set on killing you! What are you thinking!?"

His clone sighed in annoyance, "it's none of your business, just focus on what I'm telling you. He will find you, and your decision will effect the future of the village, along with your welfare. If you want to keep it and yourself from harm, I suggest you make the right choice." With that, Sasuke's clone vanished and I was left frozen in place.

The right choice? My eyebrows furrowed in contempt at the thought of even considering joining Madara. He doesn't really have any concerns for the village, I'm sure of it. However...this may be a sign he still has some for me. I turned on my heel and approached the desk and upon it lay very little paperwork and files yet to be filled out and signed. I felt my face become flat. I won't be able to focus on this, even if I tried...The wind outside picked up, pushing through the windows a serene breeze. It smelled of cherry blossoms and the freshness before a heavy rain. I looked out in thought, if Sasuke thinks I'm playing with fire, he must know something more. The village has already taken a huge hit and is just now recovering. If Madara has Kurai, then blatantly declining the offer could be devastating. The truth of it was that Shisui and Itachi were clearly doing their best to have me step down as a shinobi. They have been trying for a while now and I wasn't ready yet - but then again when would I ever be? They won't go with my plan and if I go with theirs then it could backfire and an innocent being would suffer for it. Even if I were with child, Madara could care less and insist on me joining him anyways. What would happen then? My eyes dropped to the floor as my hope began to fade. EvenPlan B is too risky. Transferring my power to Itachi and Shisui, hoping they could battle it out with Kurai seems far-fetched, no matter how strong they are. I don't want to risk their lives and they don't want me to risk mine. More importantly... I walked to the window and stared out at the moonlit village, none of us wish to risk the lives of our people. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. I have come to my decision and thanks to Sasuke's warning, made it possible. In the room next to the Hokage's office is a small storage where I keep an extra bag filled with tools and supplies. I quickly retrieved it and begrudgingly set my mind on my self-instilled mission: ...to find Madara.

I managed to make it outside the village with no issue. Now I needed to make an educated guess on where to go from here. If Madara really does plan to come for me, he wouldn't be too far away, right? I glanced around as if it would help and then after a few seconds of contemplation my shoulders drooped in defeat. I didn't plan this out very well...

"Looking for something?" A deep voice called from the tree above.

My head snapped up and my eyes narrowed at the sight of the man I happened to be looking for.

Madara sat upon a large branch, observing me from his perch. "Or perhaps rather than searching for something, it's a someone?"

My fingers gripped the straps of the bag firmly as I thought about what to say. Though I am glad I didn't have to go searching for him, I wasn't particularly happy to see him, either. "Madara..."

He leaped from the branch, landing several feet from where I stood and nonchalantly placed a hand on his hip before tilting his head. "Seeing you out here, I assume you've come up with a decision?"

My teeth gritted before I let out a breath to calm my nerves. I'd rather be ripping his head off than responding to his question but he didn't need to know that. "I have."

I could see his eye narrow through the hole in his mask, "and...?"

I tried my best not to spit out the response, "I'll join you." Before he had the chance to reply with a smug comment, I interjected, "but only on one condition."

His head straighted in curiosity, "you're in no position to make conditions...but I explore you to try."

I shot him a glare, "leave the village alone, in peace, along with all villagers who reside there."

Madara chuckled at my request, "I don't care about the village, or it's people, however I can't promise to leave some of the villagers unharmed if they were to get in the way of my ambitions."

I knew it, he wouldn't agree to such terms if someone were to challenge him. My eyes dropped to the ground. I wasn't sure what to do if I couldn't protect everyone, even if I hand myself over.

Madara seemed to shift his weight before continuing. "As long as your friends or whoever stay out of my way, no harm will come to them."

I sighed and peered at the strange man before me. "Alright. I'll come along with you, then."

"One more thing, before we decide to get too friendly as comrades..." Madara lifted a hand to reveal a scroll.

I blinked and asked, "what is that?"

"Your friend, actually," he replied smugly. "If you try anything, or even seem to be planning on betraying me, I will release the demon."

I stiffened at his words. Does that scroll really contain Kurai?

"Understood?"

Another glare was shot, I couldn't contain it. What an ass to make such threats. "I understand." I strained to not snarl the words but this man makes me want to hate him. I do hate him but for now I have to bite my tongue and bide my time until I could come up with a solid plan to stop him.

"Good." He stowed away the scroll and began to walk away. "Meet me at the nearest hideout. I'll be waiting there to give you your first assignment." He vanished after dropping a small parchment, likely to be the location of where I needed to go and I was left fuming after grabbing it from the dirt.

Fucking. Jerk.