I'd returned to "Allure of Darkness", a long-enough-hiatus of a fic (by five months to be exact, and that's more than a record broken for me) which includes vamp!Itachi and an OC of mine, and that means that and this story will be for the Halloween month. :D

Be warned there is swearing in here, but did I have to remind for those who know the movie?

Chapter Four

What is Wrong With Her?

He never thought that if his brother had come, it would escalate to anything like this. He meant it when he said he would make Sasuke see what he missed, but THIS?!

And Sarada - what had gotten into her to say such things? Who did she mean by "he's gonna die"?

Izumi told him this when they laid in bed, side by side, looking up at the ceiling that night. "What could be wrong with her?" she asked. "It can't just be Sasuke..." Disappointed by the lack of answers, Itachi shook his head, but he was even more disappointed in his brother. For his actions tonight and long before that. Did he really think his own daughter would just welcome him with opened arms as he came uninvited?

So, that day he was at home, he waited for Sasuke to come so that they could discuss. Izumi took Sarada to the hospital, and part of him was worried. He tried not to, because Itachi Uchiha didn't show his worries or even let them take over.

Doorbell rang just as he was getting the brandy ready, since they were going to need the load of it. He stood up when his brother walked into the sitting room. "Sasuke."

"Itachi," the younger answered. This was their greeting perhaps for the rest of their lives if nothing would be resolved. But maybe that could change even if nothing would be what it used to be. "Where are the girls?"

He didn't approve of the casual way Sasuke spoke of his estranged daughter, because what right did he have? "Izumi took her to see Kabuto," Itachi answered.

There was a small amount of concern on his younger sibling's face. "...is she getting worse?" he asked, sitting down across the elder who picked up the decanter and began to pour.

"Looks like it. I pray that it's nothing that can't be fixed. Imagine what would happen if something befell on your child," Itachi said venomously, taking a sip from his glass, but Sasuke didn't yet do it. His face had turned ashen as if he'd seen a ghost.

And it looked like the old-fashioned guilt-trip did the trick. "So, what do you have now to say for yourself since today is just the two of us?"

Of course, the response was what he expected. "Sometimes I have these thoughts," Sasuke answered, finally taking a sip and swallowing. "Thoughts that if Sarada wasn't born, then Sakura would still be alive, that she'd be here with us..."

It was then and there that Itachi snapped and went on the greatest tirade he'd ever been on in his life. "You can't blame her because of what happened," he interrupted, "nor can you blame her for something that was not her fault! Sakura had known the risk in carrying the child, but she insisted on following through, knowing she wanted this baby more than anything, and this is how you repay her wish by neglecting the very gift she left behind for you. Izumi and I wish we could've had what you had, but nothing changes how much we love our niece; she means the world, and both of us would gladly give our lives if something were to happen." He paused to take a heavier drink that left his throat burning and his voice hoarse to his ears.

"Every child is born into this world, whether having a good life or bad, but every moment is precious, and what you did - you scarred her, you left her without a father who could've been there to raise her, to share the things to bond with her over her mother. Yes, it's hard to imagine, but it sometimes heals the soul when you are with people that are a link to them. Do you understand what I'm saying, little brother; do you see now what you tossed aside?"

~o~

Sarada was in there having her examination as well as getting her shot. Who knew what was being done to her in there. Izumi was really worried and couldn't help herself. She refrained from biting her nails, settling on fidgeting with the amethyst around her finger.

She might have been waiting for close to an hour and a half when she was asked to come into the doctor's office. Gray hair pulled into a small ponytail, glasses too wide but otherwise helpful for his sight, Kabuto Yakushi smiled at her as he waited by the door and closed it behind him as soon as she was inside. "Sorry that your husband couldn't be here to listen with you, Mrs. Uchiha," he said regretfully, sitting back behind his desk. He shrugged off his white lab coat and hung it behind himself.

"We don't know exactly yet, but it looks like broken nerves. Often seen in adolescence or early childhood, sometimes runs in families. She's showing all the symptoms: hyperactivity, vomiting, agitation, and affected concentration." He was writing all of this down. "I'm going to write down the medication she is to take to calm down the nausea and everything, and you should have it ready for pick up in a few days. It's also going to stimulate so that she'll sleep better at night." He put his pen down and tore the paper off the pad to give to her.

Izumi was shocked by all of this. Sarada might have something akin to encephalitis, which inflamed the brain nerves, but how could she show this now when she was only twelve years old? But he also said it happens in families. No one in my family had that, and Itachi hasn't yet exhibited. Sasuke had it once when he was older than his daughter is now.

"Her condition isn't exactly as it seems," Kabuto told her, which calmed her down just a little bit. "Because no one knows what causes hyper-kinetic behavior in a child. Stimulants are effective and helpful to an extent. Symptoms can also be...overreaction to depression, which is in my field, but even a great mind like myself can hit a wall and need all the help I can get."

"But my niece can't be depressed," Izumi insisted. "Angry because of her father, yes, but she's functioned well. She always talks to us, too." But if he was right, then would that mean she and Itachi would have to take her to another doctor - a psychiatrist?

But Kabuto shook his head, laughing a little. "No, I wouldn't recommend that just yet. I say we see what happens first. Give at least two or three weeks."

Okay, that was reasonable, but that also left something else: the girl's bed shaking. When she asked this of the man, Kabuto frowned, brows creasing as the sign. "Well, have you ever known your niece to...swear?" he asked.

"S-swear?" she repeated. "No, but on Friday when her father came, she said some things, but cursing wasn't one of them."

"Hm," he said, nodding. "That's interesting. You see, she let loose quite a string of obscenities while I was examining her."

Could she be even more shocked? "I find that hard to believe!" she exclaimed, demanding to know what Sarada would say. This was so unlike her, if she hadn't said it enough.

And Kabuto looked uneasy talking about it, when he said the vocabulary was rather extensive. Damn it, she wanted an example, that was all! So, he relented hesitantly and took a deep breath, answering in a steady heartbeat, his face clearly turning pink as he couldn't believe a little girl who hadn't yet become a teenager would just go and say such things to his face.

"Specifically, Izumi, she advised me to...keep my fingers away from her goddamned -"

The word he spoke which Sarada had used was the one which spelled C. U. Next Tuesday.

Slapping a hand over her mouth, Izumi tried to fight back the painful throbbing in her throat and her heart breaking into small cracks. "I...I can't believe it," she croaked. "I don't understand why she would do this now. I don't even know where she heard that word. That's a word my mother hated herself."

Kabuto agreed with her. "I understand. Although, I still say that the psychiatrist idea be put on hold for now so that we see what happens. It's always too early to tell, but this is also something we can fix," he assured her with a kind smile that also insisted she try not to worry.

But she was far from reassured.

How am I going to tell all of this to Itachi?

~o~

Kabuto said it looked like brain inflammation, but it was too early to tell, and the only way to keep her stable for now was to be on stimulants that would help her sleep as well as to calm her down. At least some good news came out of it, but there was the chance it wasn't as it appeared.

Could this day just get any worse than it already was?

Sarada was so tired by the time they got back to the house, so she went right to bed and slept much of the afternoon. Or it looked like she would be clunked out the rest of the day and night. "We'll just have you take your pills the way the doctor told you, and everything will be fine," Izumi assured her, but he heard the doubt in her voice.

"What else did Kabuto say?" he asked as soon as the girl was gone, probably going to change herself. He planned to have the porridge brought up, which was being prepared at the moment in the kitchen.

She sat down, clearly shaken as she got it out, but when it ended with a certain word she hadn't been present to hear their niece speak, Itachi bit his tongue so hard he thought he tasted blood. "Where did she -?" he started only for her to interrupt him with a hand to his face.

"That's what I said. I don't even know, but I know Sarada isn't like that. Kabuto thinks it's depression, but we know better." She huffed. "I don't like waiting around to see what happens, but what choice do we have?"

He begrudgingly agreed with her, though got to thinking: what if this is a mental change, after all? I don't want to think of her turning into someone else because of her father...or perhaps if we could bring them together somehow, then he can talk to her. His wife smiled when he suggested it, but she wasn't going to just step out of the way if she heard her brother-in-law say something that put him out of line.

Later that night, they were laying down for bed and just thinking about "engaging" when they heard the noise, and it was a different kind altogether: Sarada was screaming.

"UNCLE! AUNTIE!"

There was loud thumping, as well. In a flash, they were out of bed and racing for their niece's bedroom, Itachi throwing the door open himself -

- only to see something that existed only in a magic show, but there were no cheap tricks. Oh, my God, the bed is SHAKING! And with Sarada atop it; she hadn't been making it up, after all! "OH, GOD!" Izumi shrieked, doing the honors of diving atop, trying to stop it herself, and Itachi decided to follow her.

Some time passed before the tremors and side flips ceased, and the room was silent as a ghost, right when the flickering light bulbs returned to normal. The only sounds heard were his own heartbeat as well as the breathing from him and his girls. Sarada and Izumi sat upright while he remained on his stomach, watching them. The girl was crying hysterically, clutching onto her aunt for dear life.

"What's...happening?" she moaned, subsiding into more hiccups and whimpers. Izumi shushed her and massaged her back in small circles. Itachi got up and crawled back over to them, taking them into his arms just as Kisame and the others were coming in.

Later that week, she was back at the hospital, this time for further examination despite him and his wife pleading their cases to Dr. Yakushi. This occurred as a screaming and fitful Sarada was being strapped down; the scene was witnessed through a glass window. She even cursed, calling them all bastards and bitches with the F-bomb before it.

Itachi's heart clenched with the cold grip of fear. He then looked up along with his wife and the doctor to see his brother running up to them. "I came as soon as I got your call, nii-san," he rushed, running his hand through his hair, ignoring Izumi's cold glare completely. "How is she?" He looked to his left and saw her, thrashing and swearing. The sight made him flinch.

"That is NOT Sarada in there," Izumi said, "even though I want to deny it. None of us taught her to behave like that, and she's never been around bad influences - except yourself." He scowled at her but said nothing, and Itachi held up both his hands to calm them down before returning his attention back to Kabuto.

"Well, the most common symptom we do have here is the disruption of the chemical activity in the brain. It's showing definitely - in the temporal lobe." Which processes the senses, memory, language and the emotions. "It's rare, but it also causes bizarre hallucinations, usually just before a convulsion...like shaking of the bed."

What the hell was he saying, that Sarada imagined it?! He sure as hell did not imagine it; hell, his wife was there, too! They all jumped on the damned thing, and it would have turned them all over! But why would the doctor, one of their friends if not the closest, just continue to believe it was the brain of their niece - and Sasuke's daughter - if not her BED?!

"Then what the hell causes it?" Izumi hissed.

"Lesion...primarily in the temporal lobe. A kind of seizure disorder."

"Then explain how her whole personality could change," Itachi demanded, Sasuke remaining quiet as he listened in on much of what he missed, but his eyes said he found this hard to believe, too.

"Well, it could last for days, maybe weeks. It's not rare to find destructive, even criminal, behavior. If it's just a lesion, she's fortunate to make it out. All we have to do is remove it."

They all agreed, even Sasuke.

However, in the viewing of the insertion of the tubes, the scans and everything, the X-ray results were presented, and there was nothing. No displacements, no abnormalities. Her lobe was clean as a whistle. She was healthy as a horse.

But if it wasn't a tumor, what the hell was it?!

Something else happened when they took Sarada home, that Kabuto also had to be there, and Itachi called him himself while Izumi was shouting and trying to restrain their niece. Sasuke wasn't there due to some business, but he promised to come by, only he arrived when his brother phoned him and insisted his daughter needed him more than ever - so he had no choice but to come by, and at the same time Kabuto arrived. The spasms had gotten worse, but it was an understatement. Even the medication worked temporarily now.

There she was: eagle spread in her sleeveless pajamas, doing a morbid version of crunches, and wailing for it to stop. There was NO way this could be an ordinary spasm.

Her cries were made out to be this: "UNCLE! AUNTIE! FATHER! MAKE IT STOP! IT'S BURNING!"

Finally, it stopped as they all stood by - but it left behind snarls ripping through her throat, her eyeballs rolling upwards to show the whites. Kabuto acted fast and rushed for her...only for Sarada to jerk upwards and lash an opened palm to him, striking him so hard it would leave a red mark and sending him onto the ground.

"Keep away. The sow is MINE!"

That voice - who the hell is that?!

Itachi heard himself gasp, but wasn't sure if his wife and brother did the same, as Izumi knelt to help Kabuto stand back up. They watched in distress as that person changed from being in pain and assaulted by invisible forces to someone else altogether. Now her face was twisted and demented as if she enjoyed the sight. But it wasn't as horrible as much as her lifting her shirt up and then thrusting her hips forward, uttering the obscene version of asking one of them to take her - the way he and Izumi would go at it, but that use of word was never in effect.

The entire room was in a hysteria. Sarada - no, it couldn't be her AT ALL, and he wasn't dancing around in denial - fell backwards and howled in torment, continuing her battle as everyone gathered around her to inject morphine to calm her down. Itachi stayed to help, clenching every gut inside his body, while a sobbing Izumi was rushed out by Kisame who came in when things got worse.

Neither of them were going to get any sleep that night - or however longer after that.

So, yes, I had a hard time writing the word Sarada swore, which spells "C. U. Next Tuesday" (figure out what that was)? It's one of the living obscenities that is taboo for me to write, along with the F-bomb. Yes, other people use them, but I have my own lines to draw.

Goddamn this chapter. I'm wiping the sweat from my brow because of what happened alone.

As for the condition Sarada is in, I've used encephalitis in a couple previous fics of mine: "I Walked With a Zombie" and "Zombie Brother". It's inflammation of the brain and can affect parts of the personality if it gets worse. :S It can go from mild to the worst of stages. It's also likely that in terms of demonic possession, mental illness is a factor worth discussing with the doctor.

Man, exhaustion. XD But review please since I missed you guys.