First scene is a memory that young Hanaru has in terms of what her mother said she forgot about a long time ago.

I'm really scared now. My aunt is moving here, and when she comes, she, my father, grandmother and myself are gonna sit at the table to talk about how things will be - and I fear me finally having a job will be brought up. If I get one, it means I will have LESS to no time for my stories here. :'(

Composition by Adrian von Ziegler.

Chapter Twenty

Darkness, Beloved

"MAMA!"

"What on earth, Hanaru?" The red-haired woman came running out of the kitchen with the hot pot on the stove turned off, and saw the small girl in her yellow jumper and pink shirt. "What's going on?!"

The girl panted. "N-Naruto, he's going to climb a tree and jump off to see if he could fly!" she cried, running up to her mother and wrapping her arms around the woman's right leg. "I tried to stop him!"

Kushina's eyes bulged out of her socket and turned into while balls of horror and disbelief at the image that her own son was going to... "Where is he now?" she demanded, kneeling down before her daughter and taking her by the shoulders.

"He's in his room."

The mother blinked, releasing the little girl and unsure what to think - before her brain clicked in that Hanaru had just witnessed something that hadn't happened yet, and she didn't know what it was. She was plain afraid and came to her, but so was Kushina. It was too soon, and she had no idea what to do. It meant telling Minato who was out in the living room while their son was doing whatever in his room, and she was going to prevent what Hanaru said would happen. Sometimes you could change the future.

"He's not going to, because I'll make sure," she swore, taking the child into her arms and rubbing her back, before shouting over to her husband, getting his attention. He was in the doorway in a flash. "Make sure Naruto doesn't get into the tree today or anytime without either of us or your father present."

For a second he looked baffled, but then the realization was in his eyes: their daughter had awakened her ESP strangely too soon. But that didn't mean they couldn't close it until she was old enough for it to reawaken on its own...

~o~

She was six years old, but it had been sealed away with help. The whole family agreed not until she was older. They didn't want her to endure a life-altering situation like this - at least not yet.

But she'd saved her younger brother that day.

That was the last time she remembered seeing her parents, and when they left because they had a call from work, that was the final time. When they placed a seal on my head, and it zapped away to the darkness as well as erased my memory of the event. The seal for the sky had been painted in the middle of her forehead - 空 - and that was all she remembered before all was white and then confusion when she came back to.

"We did it for your own good, to keep you safe and prevent you from bearing a heavy burden so soon," Kushina had said through tears, "because we love you."

"But Naruto has a demon sealed in, by a monster who might be building an army at this moment," Hanaru had said in defense. "His name is Madara Uchiha." And when she said the name, both their faces morphed into absent sorrow and internal anger in the eyes.

Her dad was the one to say it, and it shook the foundation of the world they were in. "He drained our blood."

Oh, the monster...he took her brother and Gaara, but he was the one to change Itachi...AND he murdered her parents until Itachi, her family's protector, gave the zombified shells a merciful death. She fought not to cry again with this new information.

But why didn't Itachi tell me his ANCESTOR did this to my family?

At the back of her mind, she knew: guilt because he was a relation to the monster who took her family away. Ashamed that he didn't stop him before he could turn them - and maybe anger because he failed to uphold his job to protect Tsunade's own son and his wife from the demon that attacked them.

Before parting, Minato and Kushina assured her that Naruto would be fine and pair well with the fox demon, and that they could make it through everything...ending with Itachi always there as long as she needed him.

She found herself thinking of another way besides as just protector. A way, after everything and had gotten stronger in the past couple months - no, much longer than that, before she knew who he was from her dreams - and no doubt it couldn't be allowed, yet unable to be shaken off. He would even say no, out of his sense of righteousness.

And the next day, she told Temari on the bus, and when they got to the studio, she broke it to the boys. Every single detail, earning sympathy regarding her parents as well as relief for Naruto and Gaara - but disturbed that they had summoned beasts from the netherworld in them, kept in place by Naruto's Eight-Pronged seal and Gaara's tattooed love kanji.

"Damn it," Asuma grumbled, itching to grab a cigarette when she was done talking. "I'm gonna have to get Kurenai and the kid away after all, if December wasn't wretched enough."

"Yeah, Pop is gonna want to get his business away, but it's not like he believes in this stuff!" Choji agreed fearfully. "And I would want to protect Karui from this!"

Shikamaru shook his head. "What a bother," he grumbled, "because now it seems I should break it sooner than planned. Hanaru, in light of everything...we've decided that we want to join you girls now that it's going to explode into a real bloodbath. I didn't even want to get involved in this stuff after getting away from my family's drag tactician corporation. Whether you want us to or not," he finished with a grin. "And Temari, something else..."

He reached into the back of his pocket, pulling out the simple, classic diamond ring he waited a long time to give to her now that they patched it up.

~o~

It was time to finally contact the Prime Minister of Suna himself, the father of her granddaughter's best friend. He was a man filled with so much weight, making so many difficult decisions and often putting them over his family. More than Tsunade had done for her own.

Beneath the surface, Suna was an ally of Senju, and so if anything were to burst the bubble, they would combine forces. It hadn't happened since WWII in her great-grandfather's time.

"Been a long time, Rasa," she said as they met at the local café, indoors and mostly emptied as it was in the middle of the week. It was two weeks to pass since she was confined to bedrest and let the donated blood from Jiraiya run its course to get used to being in a new body. It was in bed she had the message composed and asked for the help of Prime Minister Rasa Sabaku as soon as possible. So he traveled all the way first-class from his sands to her snow-covered landscape.

The man was somber and sorry they had to meet like this. He had the auburn hair that his son carried, dark eyes, and similar features. Temari got her appearance more on her late mother's side. "Indeed, but I'm glad to provide assistance." They were offered steaming cups of coffee, hers with more sugar as she needed something to wake up to the day. As soon as the waiter was gone, Rasa reached down to his left, opening his briefcase and pulling out a great manila folder to slide across to her.

"We are aware you've been looking into a particular connection to your recent troubles. There's actually very little value found other than the word of those who have encountered the Akatsuki," he went on just as she opened the folder, and the air intensified like the heater flaring to a higher temperature with what her amber eyes roamed over. "We do happen to have some information - this information before your eyes - regarding this organization few to no one knows about, and it happens that one Madara Uchiha does come up, but this was ages before my time and my father's. The 'man' never set foot on our sands until after the bombing of Hiroshima."

And during the war, Hiroshima was the place of supply and logistics for the military, as everyone knew. But, on these papers and off the books, there were a rare few who were not public knowledge, and Rasa's people discovered one such called Akatsuki was amassing supplies not for another World War, but something entirely that fell silent by the time Japan surrendered to America and its allies. Meaning that those who refused to abide by the new ways evacuated never to be seen again...but plans were quietly made behind the scenes.

"We have found that the majority of these parties hide out in Iwa, some in Ame and Kuso - the latter two being smaller and unimportant in contrast to the town of ever advancing tech, like those freak chips," Rasa said gravely.

Tsunade curled one hand in so that her nails were not piercing but only pushing against her skin. Threatening to do the former. Those chips creating those zombie-vampire hybrids, the Kokoro brothers and Asami used...it meant that Madara Uchiha was building an army of these things and was going to cover the town and perhaps the country with blood and monsters. Take in humans as a feeding source, then proceed to conquer the world.

But that also meant her grandson and this man's son were what he needed, that he had in grasp and lost to her people. "Among these survivors is the Akatsuki," she stated dully. He nodded.

"We've tried in our efforts to snuff them out only to lose many good men."

And we might again, but together we could find Akatsuki's weakness - and we have Madara's match to play his hand.

~o~

So, Hanaru's friends had finally come along, but against her protests which were split between want and not.

In the end, the majority ruled over her wishes.

They would have to live about their normal lives until this new month was over. But they also needed to go through harsh, rigorous methods that they'd never known before, which was something Hanaru had gotten used to. And they would have plenty more time while he would take her with him across the country tomorrow morning.

You heard correct: onward to Iwa. Hanaru would have her first taste in a real battle, and she would use her new weapon which Shizune finally had prepared for her.

A long, hard week and a half, he observed in the young woman and her friends in the training rooms, all wearing headphones to keep the loud bullet shots from shattering their eardrums. The shots were being worked on the boys' parts, and Temari got it finally right after three tries. "Shooting at other parts of the body are fine when you deal with your own kind, but not like mine," Sasuke told them as they stood at attention like soldiers in a garrison. "But you aim for the head and the heart, which are the killing points in a vampire or a zombie." He ignored Hanaru's rolling eyes at the obvious facts, even Temari's scoff and grumbling, Shikamaru's bemoans of drag, ending with Choji worried and sweating bullets that he had to learn all of this but mainly work on his aims in short periods of time.

Relax, boy. You're not going out to kill monsters anytime soon. Unlike your female friend.

"If either of you won't be able to handle this," Sasuke finally said, bored and tired at this waste of his time, "then you're welcome to leave and end up lambs for slaughter when you find yourselves face to face with a real creature of the night. That's exactly what I said to Captain Uzuki and her soldiers when they first came here. As far as I'm concerned, you're nothing compared to them - especially one of you being the old woman's granddaughter and another the Suna Prime Minister's daughter."

Itachi closed his eyes at what a fool his brother was to push the buttons of these humans; after all, they weren't like Yūgao and her people. The outbursts were coming.

"How dare you say that," Hanaru hissed. "We can last as long as you think we can. I may be Tsunade's granddaughter and Temari is the PM's daughter, but blood doesn't mean we'll have it handed to us. How dare you assume that!"

Sasuke smirked at her attitude, saying nothing.

"Yeah, we're pitiful humans, but we have the right to protect ourselves and our loved ones," Temari added angrily. "Loss, be it one or more people, is all the motivation we need."

Choji huffed and lifted his chin. "Yeah, and though I'm scared as hell and this is way out of my comfort zone, that won't stop me from helping my friends, my pop and the girl I love back in town!" he declared, stomping the floor with one foot.

And all that was left was Shikamaru. "It's all bothersome since I didn't even want to end up in this business, not even with my family, but I'm not doing this as a way to owe anyone - I don't even want my girls to spiral downwards. I also don't want this town I love to be overrun by monsters like you and the walking dead made," he sneered, deliberately meaning offense which didn't affect the Uchiha vampire in the slightest, or he just didn't show it.

Itachi's attention - he was hidden in plain sight in crow form above their heads amongst the iron pipes - diverted to the little jewel adorning Temari's hand, which he thought was admirable but mistaken at the same time. What the lazy genius didn't add was that the woman he wanted to marry before all of this was a goal of his, and even if it was bad timing, he didn't give a damn.

Sasuke's one-sided smirk vanished altogether into a deep scowl before a full-sided one stretched across his face. "All four of you talk like that now, but while I like it, you need more than big words. Not that it will be a trouble to get you there, if we only have less than two months left."

So the heat was on, and it was back to shooting the paper targets. After this would be the real blood to spill once their worth was proven.

~o~

"Here it is, Hanaru."

Finally, after days of training! She was so ready to shoot some bloodsuckers and zombies, but being rash always gets you killed. That was what that damned Sasuke Uchiha scolded her and her friends about during the grueling shooting sessions.

That hard-ass - sometimes she wanted to do exactly some of the bloodthirsty things Temari said she was fantasizing doing, but that only applied if he was human like him. How could this person be the so-called "good child" Itachi gave his life and freedom so that he could have HIS? The one who is just "himself", as his aniki said, yeah, that's right.

But what the hell? At the end of the day, he was just being their teacher and did applaud them all when improvements were made. None of them had such a strict teacher since some of their old high school classes in past years.

Unlike Temari and the boys, she had undergone much of the methods longer and therefore was seen as deserving of what Shizune now had in a suitcase just for her, and of course her grandmother was there to witness. She could hardly believe it: a magnum which was small but big enough for both hands, and its firepower was greater than in numbers. A caliber of one-foot-long dusted pewter, heavy-looking and carrying silver bullets tipped with mercury - just like Itachi's Crow.

"Oh, I'm so jealous of you, girl," Temari said when she got to hold the arms in her grip, and Choji's eyes were literally like a kid's while in a candy store - or whenever he would look at food.

"Yeah, but we're going to get something like that, too, won't we?" Shikamaru asked, earning uncertainty from the one who had this request pitched in.

"I put it in for you all to have this same creation, but it's going to take more time than Hanaru's had been," Shizune told them. "That also means more training for you three first." Their faces fell, but they accepted it.

While I go off to Iwa with Itachi and Captain Uzuki.

And here she was now, but dressed casually in a jumpsuit unfit for winter outdoors and more for spring and summer: dark blue and photo-real with butterflies, roses, lilies and orchids from paradise, flattering around her body nicely and the sleeves fluttering to the elbows - all like a real kimono. She was to go incognito, like a regular human being, and so was Yūgao who was in a beautifully feminine but professional dark gray suit and a black blouse, her amethyst hair piled into a sleek bun. She really looked like a woman on a business trip.

Hanaru sat next to her, having gotten to talking to her and finding she was a decent person despite her field of profession. She was the latest in a long line of professional bounty hunters; her father as well as her grandfather and so on and so forth had generations of history. She also had a wicked sense of humor that showed the boys who followed her tail she could step on all their balls without using her foot or her fists.

Oh, and don't forget...the Man in Red from her dreams. He really took her breath away that she shamelessly kept her eyes on him the entire time, looking away only when the flight attendants came by occasionally, and loathed the latter.

That's right: Itachi sat across from them both in a pressed black suit, a red collared shirt, and he had sunglasses over his eyes. And this was something she and Yūgao never thought they would see: a vampire drinking wine on a jet in broad daylight. The stories got most of everything right, but Itachi actually kept the ruse with the glass as it wasn't his necessity, so he ended up giving the wine glass for Hanaru to finish off for him as soon as the flight attendants were coming back to see if any of them wanted anything.

Within hours did they arrive at Iwa, the town of rock and earth.

Surrounded by solid mountain ranges that had no snow at the present despite being in the middle of the season but also provided a natural stronghold, Iwa was a mass of buildings comprised of wood and stone in one, connected from bridge to bridge with the tallest buildings. But despite the natural powerhouse, Iwa had a long history of betraying alliances for its own purposes and even using terrorists and criminals, but despite its technological prosperity, everything else was a struggle that came so close to improving only to bounce back...and that was a good, possible place for Akatsuki to get what it needed.

Beautiful place that was also filled with majestic hot springs, but it did nothing on her hometown, as far as she was concerned.

"Everything will happen tomorrow," Itachi told her, accepting the emptied wine glass and putting it in its place in the armrest, "so be on the ready. But in the meantime, you might be able to indulge in a few of their tourist spots."

And that meant a hot spring and nice food, but that was as far as she could go. She was so tired from everything that she couldn't care less for anything. Not even a brand new painting besides Moonlit Dust.

That would be an issue with the luggage, which was part of the show as well. Itachi, on his sunscreen shots, was posing as an intimidating but alluring scion on a business trip, and she was his fiancée who was with him - and the entirety was ninety percent work, he said. "I believe I have a suite," Itachi smoothly told the clerk at the desk who did his best to not look at Hanaru.

"Ah, yes, Tamiya-san," he said to Itachi, "the reservations are all right here. And Yotsuya-san," he added nervously to Hanaru who felt her cheeks blush, even more when the Uchiha glanced her way - and was that a possessive gleam in those eyes?

A penthouse was prepared for them, and it was exciting because she had never been to one of those before. Reminding herself that it was NOT a leisurely trip, she cleared her throat and straightened up. Then she turned around and saw Yūgao yell at the men to bring Itachi's heavy travel coffin in, up to the penthouse after being told by the man himself.

But when the spectacled clerk saw what it was, he protested that oversized luggage wasn't permitted...until Hanaru was entranced by what Itachi did to convince the man it was okay.

And that tone of voice when he said it was fine, it makes my body shiver.

His sunglasses came down to reveal his bleeding red eyes, which meant he used genjutsu to make the clerk agree and allow the "luggage" to be brought upstairs.

Yūgao shared a disbelieved look with her, wondering if that was some kind of hypnotic beam or something, making Hanaru laugh a little and follow him in the direction up to the great space they would share.

Poor Yūgao was jealous at the sight of the great space constructed of beautiful rock and wood, even glass, and traditional shoji furniture pieces, cursing the simple inn room she was given across the street! Chuckling, Itachi commented on how charming cheap rooms could be compared to this.

Hanaru? She was blown away by such beauty, and felt one night of indulgence could kill no one...but oh, she would see that the Senju people had few moments of peace.

"You need your rest now, Hanaru," Itachi told her, "and I do need mine as well. Sometimes walking about in broad daylight is exhausting."

~o~

He didn't approve of the way the young man looked at Hanaru, but he couldn't deny how radiant she was - and how mouthwatering she was when she drank down that entire glass of red wine without getting anything on her, much less a quick state of drowsiness.

This place was impressively tiled, the rocks in the walls polished to glistening perfection, and the bed was a double, only he would not be able to sleep there as long as his injections wore off during the afternoon. He would take his next one before his sleep.

The coffin was placed at the foot of the bed she would slumber. He was guarding her up close and personal this time.

He watched her before he laid in, pulling the lid over his eyes, and as she made her way towards the glassed-in area that was the hot tub, converted into the honey wooden floors and surrounded by bamboo and assorted greenery. She opened up the black gated door and closed it behind her, proceeding to shrug out of her jumpsuit, revealing a black lace bralette and briefs...and this time he saw everything besides what he knew from posterior angle. The image forever imprinted and haunting him to bloodthirsty need, deep within his core that he controlled but released for the sake of tension.

Now this did the trick in pumping undead blood liquid fire.

Starting at the top, the shoulder blades and collarbones were smooth and silky to the touch, the bones defined without being taut. Downward further which presented two perfectly round, melon-sized globes peaked with raspberry. Over an hourglass waist and a flat stomach without unwanted fat, and ended with what their country considered an offense to show to the world especially in hentai teenagers and young adults indulged in. In contrast to the red-gold mane on her head, the small triangle of hair was pale taupe. Everything about her inside as well as outside beckoned towards the word you could only call the one for eternity and generations to come, but it also warned him that while the fruit would taste sweet at this stage, there would be consequences to follow.

Closing the coffin lid, he retreated into the darkness and found himself succumbing to the world of images of his beloved Hanaru.

~o~

She was roused from her sleep, having been in her skin alone because she didn't get time to pack her favorite nightgown in these conditions, lest trouble would occur sooner than planned; therefore, she thought being naked after a hot bath was ideal for a late afternoon nap...

...and now a dark shadow with glowing red eyes, followed by a night sky clear and devoid of clouds so that the stars were twinkling. "Good evening," Itachi's velvety voice said softly.

"E-evening?"

He stepped away, and then landing in her lap as she sat up were her jumpsuit from today and her undergarments. "Please get dressed. Something is coming this way," was all he said, and then she heard the sound of a helicopter above their heads and the roof. What the hell is going on?!

Light shone in, and she pulled the blankets to her shoulders to hide more of her nakedness, which Itachi didn't seem to mind, and why should that surprise her? He lived over five centuries, so it was nothing he hadn't seen before. Ignoring that, she jumped out as soon as the light from the helicopter was gone, and pulled on her clothing before running over there and looking down...only to see SWAT cars and hundreds of people calling up. She couldn't hear what they were yelling about, but knew it wasn't good.

Now she was scared, especially with what Itachi told her.

"Someone leaked out our presence. They are broadcasting it across the local stations, calling us both terrorists - well, actually, I am the one, and you are just my call girl who doesn't appear to be harmful."

He sounded so damned casual, but beneath the cool exterior was a different story. I hope Grandma Tsunade and the others know about this. But they wouldn't leave us alone like this. And I hope the captain across the street also sees and hears...

"Could Madara be behind this?" she asked him as she took out her arms from beneath the bed, making sure it was loaded.

"Likely. Declaring war now, it seems. It's been ages since I've been in a true war, and the time has come with a small battle he is sending..."

From her knowledge on seeking terrorists, they were either shot on sight without prisoners taken, and often prisoners arrested only to be executed for treachery or escaped. She had no idea which one it was and didn't want to find out. Only that they had to hide out and shoot the soldiers coming in.

"You hide for now until I tell you to come out," Itachi told her, and that meant she couldn't prove herself now, but also because they were humans and he knew how she felt. How could she forget his lecture about them against the other, with no middle ground and absolutely no sympathy after you butchered them down?

She would give him an earful when it was over.

And so, Hanaru hid behind a closet and saw the carnage, the blood spilled and Itachi being shot at - by ordinary bullets only rather than blessed trinkets - only to repair himself. He would disappear into a flock of crows and materialize once again, then proceed to use his bare hands to swipe heads off, to sever limbs and lap up enough blood to gain his intel. Some screamed at him, calling him a monster, which was what he got often - and if Itachi was a bloodthirsty beast, what did it take for these men to be soldiers?

Hanaru squeezed her eyes, not wanting to see anymore, and felt her skin burn with wet tears. Her heart shattered a hundredfold.

Itachi shouted for her to get out now, and was he angry - no, that was an understatement. She pushed the door open and felt her bare feet touch sticky and squishy red gore, the horrible stench making her want to throw up...as did the sight. She gagged and swallowed it down.

"Is there a problem, Hanaru?" Itachi growled, looking at her from the corner of his eyes. She broke.

"These were...humans -"

"I KNOW!" he roared, rounding on her but staying his way. His bleeding red presence of fury kept her frozen and shedding more tears. His voice shook the walls and nearly caused the glass to shatter.

"HANARU, I DO NOT RELISH REPEATING MYSELF! AT THIS POINT, I DON'T CARE WHAT THESE THINGS ARE, NOT WHEN THEY TRIED TO KILL US! HOW YOU THINK I WOULD FUNCTION IF I KNEW WHAT THEY WOULD DO TO YOU?! I LOATHE KILLING HUMANS, BUT THESE KIND ARE NOTHING BUT IGNORANT DOGS LEFT TO SLAUGHTER! NOW DO AS YOU ARE TOLD!"

At that point, at the end of his out of character rage, the glass did shatter everywhere: the case around the bathing area, the windows. Everything littered across the floors like crystalline snow which was dangerous to trample on with bared feet. But Hanaru would prefer that over what he said to her, just to make her open her eyes up - and tear her heart in more places.

She didn't like this side of him, which couldn't come out as often. If anything, she would have preferred Sasuke talking to her like that over this one...

"Doesn't mean," she gasped out, "you should think all of them are scum, willing to follow orders or not."

Her choked words caused him to soften a little, even his voice, and the words: "It's just the way it is, and no one has the power to change that."

Itachi and Hanaru's aliases in Iwa: Tamiya and Yotsuya. Both are homages to the main tragic couple in Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan, the most famous Japanese ghost story which later influenced films like "The Ring" and "The Grudge".

My God, the brutality of Itachi killing those men - much like Alucard. ':( And him raising his voice...it cut me up. You don't hear Itachi raising his voice every day: that one time during his and Sasuke's final fight, and when he, Naruto and Bee face against Nagato.