Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Rated PG-13 for: Violence, adult language, adult situations, and suggestive content. Rating is expected to rise in further installments.

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Tora, after gratefully drying herself off with the fluffy white towel, dressed herself and decided to explore her surroundings a bit more before going back to her stolen home. The fox-like paw print on the towel was less of a clue than she had hoped, her futile prayers of finding the polite stranger diminishing quickly. With a heavy sigh, the tiger girl flopped down on the sandy stream bank, a half hour of searching and tracking wasted. Whoever had put that towel there left no trace of themselves behind, and that was something very hard to do. Tora had been one of the best trackers in her village, and had a reputation for obsessing over clues until she solved the answer to perfection.

Even now, as an appointed sage-nin, she felt that hunger for answers creeping up on her. It nearly drove her insane if she tried to ignore it. It was painful.

She flopped onto her back, resting her hands on her stomach, her tingling senses absorbing every pulse of her blood and breath she released. Her jade eyes gazed placidly up at the dark clouds that slowly rolled over the land, the foretold rain approaching rapidly. Tora took a quick glance around, her wide eyes reflecting the little childish innocence left in her.

With a content purr, she lifted her hands from her stomach and let them fall backwards around her head. This was her most vulnerable and favorite position, one that let her soul seem to run free yet endangered her very being. Nevertheless, it was one she savored, reviving a memory that had haunted her since childhood.

Yet the sensation of freedom and the ability to stretch overwhelmed her every other whim, no matter how dire the consequences. If she had a choice, she would want to die like this.

With a sigh, she let her head fall back, arching her neck to the dimming sunlight. Unwillingly, Itachi's mark of ownership opened again, spilling deep blood back down her neck.

Like lightning, Tora sat up, crouching low in defense at the sudden outburst of chakra from nearby. As the throbbing energy subsided and disappeared, Tora eased back into a kneeling position, gently fingering the bloody gash.

Sighing again, she stood up and washed the cut with water from the stream and headed back towards her designated home, hoping that Itachi wouldn't notice the scent of fresh blood from her wound.

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Itachi sat at the kitchen table, resting his chin on his crossed hands. When Tora had left, he couldn't help but follow. It was a boring task to watch her go about her shopping, but her training seemed intense and held his attention. The extreme precision and care she took with her blades moved him silently, the dedication and memories glistening in her large, attractive eyes.

In all honesty, something about her had held his attention for longer than that morning. Ever since he first saw her, a strange, sick fascination bound him to her. At times, his cruel desire and intrigue surfaced- such time had been when Kisame had been suggesting taking respite in this home, and his urges forced him to act on Tora. That cut he gave her was no normal cut, it was a new jutsu he and Orochimaru had been developing.

The jutsu itself was like a form of Orochimaru's curse seal, though easier on the victim. Thirty-six hand katas needed to be performed in perfect order, but the attack itself only required a small portion of chakra. Yet everyone's chakra was different, and that made this spell all it was now. By transferring one's unique chakra signature into another, and trapping it in the correct veins and arteries, the caster could summon their chakra back- taking the victim with it. Itachi had transferred some of his energy signature into Tora, and now when he called. she came.

It was a brilliant attack, and Itachi had mastered it more than Orochimaru. For the while, the serpent king would have to use his original curse seal to obtain his underlings.

Itachi had only watched Tora bathe with slight interest, withholding his lustful feelings for some other day. As she was bathing, though, Itachi had sent a doppelganger- one of his least favorite jutsus- down to give her a towel. The paw print would confuse her a bit, maybe bringing her to the point of musing for a while.

Itachi wanted nothing more than to see her break her cut open. Something about her blood stirred him, maybe it was the fact that his energy was now part of her blood- her very being. Whatever it was, though, it had excited him deeply to see his afflicted wound open and purge itself.

He had not been able to suppress the blast of energy that had exited himself at that moment- the feeling of success was to great to subdue. He was forced to run away after that, otherwise Tora would have found him out.

But Itachi's new jutsu had bound Tora to him. Now she was his puppet. and he was the puppet master.

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In chapter ten: Tora's newly arisen bloodlust drives her to unspeakable crimes. what ever will Itachi-sama say about this outburst of violence?