Summary

Madara finally attempts to one-up Itachi. Kisame gives his partner some sound advice. Kagome takes a swim...

A/N: So it looks as though Madara has become jealous of our dear priestess. Apparently, he doesn't like sharing Itachi. Go figure that. Scary...

On another note, a lot less reviews than normal, but I still hit over the 600 mark! Thanks everyone! I will happily bask in the awesomeness of you guys! This is an important part of the story. A little more plot too. I apologize for the wait on this. FFnet locked me out of posting new stuff. It took forever to get them to fix it! But this just means I've been working hard at finishing up more chapters!

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He paced rapidly in his chamber, quickly putting several pieces together as far as his young descendant's attitude as of late was concerned. He'd become less ruthless, softer, much less tolerable of his potential plans. And the boy was even considering calling his entire charade off.

How had one girl managed to completely change his Itachi. The boy was almost unrecognizable in attitude. Sure he was still quiet, self-assured, annoyed easily, if you pushed the right buttons, and intelligent. But now, there was something else growing in the younger Uchiha.

Compassion.

That was bad. Compassion meant one would try to make room for unnecessary mistakes.

Mistakes that could ruin his plans.

His stance grew rigid in shock and he sucked a breath in. Did Itachi-!

"No! I can't think that he'd be so foolish as to fall for that game," he hissed, Sharingan whirling in agitation and he swirled around to glare at the wall of his room. However, he needed to be sure.

He needed sure-fire proof that Itachi wasn't in love with some strange random girl.

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His plan had backfired horribly. He knew the moment he'd laid eyes on the two that the younger Uchiha cared very deeply for the dark-haired girl pointing out a shiny bauble in the marketplace to him. Really, though, Itachi was getting lax. He could easily read the younger male's body language where this girl seemed to be concerned. It may not have been love, but the potential was enormous. He had to stop it! Now! Before he progressed any further.

His instincts screamed at him to do something to fix this growing problem. Then he smirked diabolically. He had just the scare tactic to make the boy realize that he'd strayed too far from his place.

After all. Madara Uchiha was nothing, if not cunning.

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There was that forboding feeling in the pit of his stomach again. Itachi glanced around the marketplace, senses sharp and wide open for any possible attacks.

Nothing. At least, he couldn't feel anything without his Sharingan active. And he wasn't allowed to use that, as per Pein's orders. Something about being recognized immediately. There were days when he really hated his clan's Bloodline Limit.

Like today, for instance. His eyes were itchy, damn it. But to scratch would mean admitting to the fact that they bothered him. It did; after all, he was slowly going blind.

"Itachi?"

And now he'd attracted her attention. He gave himself a mental congrats and an obligatory pat on the back. It was exactly what he hadn't wanted to do.

"I'm fine."

"... You sure?"

"Yes, Kagome. Finish up your shopping," he replied, before adding the final word sullenly, "please."

She smiled hugely and patted his cheek in a sign of affection. He didn't really mind it.

"I'm almost done. I promise," the priestess countered sweetly, spinning around and diving into the crowd excitedly. Itachi huffed in annoyance and gave chase.

Really, though. How was he supposed to keep an eye on her if she always ran off like that?

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She sighed quietly and stared out the window in her kitchen. Itachi had gone on a mission a week ago, and he was due back any day now. A little thrilled, she finally kicked herself for thinking so wistfully and grabbed her shopping bag. She was going to make something special for the Uchiha when he came back.

With the idea firmly in place, she set out for the market. Maybe she'd find some fresh tilapia too!

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Itachi grumbled under his breath at the slow pace Kisame had been keeping. He wanted to go home, damn it! Well... he wanted to go to Kagome's house; recently though, he'd taken to calling it home. It felt more like one than the hideout ever did.

The two Akatsuki members jumped lithely from the treetops, neither one wanting to appear as though they were actually hurrying. However...

"Kisame. Pick up the pace. It will be dark at the rate we're going," the Sharingan weilder announced, gritting his teeth when his partner suddenly stopped. Skidding to a halt several trees ahead, he turned and vaulted back over to the shark man in agitation. Glaring up at him with annoyed Sharingan, he waited for the reason as to why they'd halted.

It was when Kisame avoided his eyes that Itachi got that sick feeling in his gut again. "You're hiding something, Kisame. Out with it!"

"... Itachi..." the blue man hesitated, turning his back on the smaller man, "... If it was me in your place, I wouldn't have let slip about meeting someone. I wouldn't wait for me, either."

The Uchiha sucked in a breath, icy fingers gripping his spine in fear. Something was going to happen.

What about Kagome?

Turning, the former heir ran through the trees, his speed blurring everything around him and almost making him miss the branches several times. He'd only corrected himself in time due to his Sharingan.

Something bad was going to happen. He could feel it.

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Her senses screamed at her in warning when she turned a corner and found it deserted. Gulping audibly, she tried to back away and bumped into someone from behind.

"O-oh! I'm sor-!" She tried to skitter away, but a hand shot out, grabbing her arm and swinging her around to face her assailant. The guy in front of her smirked lazily and raised his other hand to tilt her chin up. She shook him off and moved away. He followed easily.

"Now, now. Don't struggle. It'll only make things worse for you, dear girl," he muttered, unprepared for the shove she gave him to get away.

Kagome spun around and flung herself down the alley, running as fast as she could to get away from the man with the dark aura. It was slimey, and it felt like it was creeping up to suffocate her. She hated that.

Turning corners quickly, she glanced back, not seeing anyone pursuing her. Tears gathered in her eyes in relief. She'd lost him. Then she slammed into another wall... That turned out to be the man chasing her. How had he gotten in front of her?

'Is he a ninja?' That... was bad. The only ninja she'd ever dealt with was, 'Itachi...'

Kagome tried to back away again, but found herself against the wall. She shivered when the older male raised his hand to wipe away the tears tracking down her cheeks in a show of mock affection. She hadn't even realized she'd started crying.

'His touch... feels like pure evil,' she thought, resisting the urge to just purify now and ask questions later. She was afraid to give her abilities away to someone like him. Especially if he somehow managed to survive. He was mostly human, after all.

"You shouldn't cry. Those pretty eyes are better suited for other things," Madara muttered, leaning in to bump foreheads with hers. The priestess sucked in a breath at the elder Uchiha's closeness and shut her eyes in fear. She couldn't take looking at his visible red eye anymore. It brought back way too many bad memories. Despite that fact they were the same type of eyes as Itachi's Sharingan, the menace in them were too similar to...

'Naraku.' She had to be brave. But it was hard.

"W-what do you want from me?"

"... Nothing. You should be more worried about what I plan to do with you."

"Why... are you doing this," she asked, sounding much braver than she felt. She felt him huff a breath in amusement and blinked her eyes open when he moved away.

"Because someone needs to teach my little descendent a lesson," the older Uchiha replied, his Sharingan beginning to twirl rapidly. Kagome immediately became hooked on the spinning orb. She simply could not look away. To do so would mean...

'Would mean what, exactly? ... I don't... know... I'm scared,' the priestess thought vaguely, feeling her eyelids becoming heavy. They drooped shut and she swayed on her feet, unsure of her balance and trying to fight the sudden urge to sleep. Her mind screamed at her that if she sucuumbed, she may never wake again. The male in front of her steadied her by putting his hands on her small shoulders. Kagome shuddered, his touch still feeling completely wrong, and tried to fight her way away. She pushed feebly at him and stumbled back.

'Why won't my body listen? I don't understand! Help me!' She felt his fingers slide into her silky hair and tilt her head up. Her lashes fluttered, her mind continuing to fight a losing battle with the hyponotic affects of the Sharingan and she could feel herself giving in. Opening her eyes one last time, she tried to muster up the effort to glare at him.

Madara tsk-ed and smirked at the glare the small girl sent him. She was fighting admirably against his dojutsu, but she would lose, in the end. They all did.

"As admirable as your struggle is, girl, there is no point," the former founder sighed, watching her blue eyes dialate again in the effort to keep her mind her own, "I always win. It's a shame, though. You're such a pretty little thing. Almost Uchiha, even. But now, you've interfered far too much. I can't allow that any longer." Her eyes slid closed and she finally collapsed against his chest in a deep sleep.

'It took far more energy than I would have imagined to put her under,' Madara thought, allowing his Sharingan to fade in order to conserve his chakra-levels. He looked over the young girl's face carefully, trying to understand the reason before shrugging and scooping her up in his arms. 'She resisted much more than anyone I've ever had to use that jutsu on. Could she somehow be able to battle against my dojutsu? It should be impossible without another Sharingan!'

'It doesn't matter now, anyway. This will be the first, and last, time I will deal with her.' With that thought in place, he turned away, carrying the unconscious priestess into the shadows of the woods nearby. He would at least do her proper justice and dispose of her honorably.

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Itachi flew through the trees at top speed, heedless of possibly leaving tracks. He had to get to her before...

The house was dark and his stomach dropped fearfully. Glancing around to make sure no one was around, he flipped through a series of hand seals and activated the highest level of his Sharingan without melding it into the Mangekyou. He'd only use that if it was necessary.

Carefully, he searched everything within sight for Kagome's interesting chakra, finding nothing and only becoming more frustrated. If Madara had done something to her...

He couldn't think that way. Couldn't lose her right now. Not when she was just as meaningful as Sasuke now. Flinging himself from Kagome's rooftop, he decided to check the next spot on his list.

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Stepping out of the shadows, he leisurely made his way to the center of the iced-over lake. Though it was already March, it was unseasonably cold still. It was simple to cut a hole in the frozen water with a blast of fire. Now, he just needed to get rid of her.

"Perhaps, this will teach Itachi not to become distracted," Madara muttered, cradling the priestess to him gently. For some strange reason, he didn't want to let her go. It was an alarming feeling, and if she was capable of making even him feel so strangely, imagine what she had done to the younger Uchiha after countless months of contact with him. Shaking himself inwardly, the elder Uchiha gave up his hold on Kagome, and she tumbled into the icy lake. Her dark hair flared out around her, and for a moment, she looked absolutely breathtaking. He could almost see why Itachi would want her now.

The odd feeling that had descended over him faded instantly, and he smirked, watching her body sink into the dark depths. Turning, he strode across the lake and stepped back onto dry land. Perhaps now, he could actually get some work done with Itachi's little friend no longer in the picture.

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Itachi frantically searched every place that Kagome had ever gone. The market, the orphanage, the hospital, that old well that had brought her here. Still, he was unable to find her. In a fit of anger, he lashed out at the old well. He got a real shock when his Fireball jutsu merely rebounded off of the crumbling well.

What. The. Hell.

'How-!' Power suddenly flared up from the wood and surrounded him. He wasn't sure what to expect, but the surge felt... friendly? It crackled around him briefly in a brilliant display of white and blue. Then, the power surge abruptly vanished. But not without leaving him with an overwhelming sense of urgency.

And an interesting new ability. Where he'd been unable to locate Kagome's chakra with his Sharingan, he could now literally feel it pulsing in the distance. Another chakra was near her too, one that had been hidden from his senses; a sickening dark one that made him want to retch. He could recognize that chakra signal from a million miles away. She was definitely in trouble.

Glancing one last time at the now quiet well, and hoping that when he got Kagome back he could ask some questions, he leapt into the air and sprinted through the trees at top speed.

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Kagome felt herself drifting. In what, she wasn't sure, but the feeling was nice. She didn't want to leave it.

And so, she wouldn't.

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When he got to the icy lake, Itachi's heart literally bottomed out in terror. Was she in there? Could she swim? Had Madara tried to drown her? Was she even alive?

Swallowing the urge to completely panic, he stepped onto the ice as quickly as possible, skidding to a halt next to the broken hole in the center. With his Sharingan, he could vaguely make out Kagome's chakra. With his interesting new ability, however, he could see it trying to keep her alive; bubbling around her protectively and forcing her to live. It was too hard to explain, and something he planned to carefully analyze later.

The Uchiha frantically flipped through a series of hand signs, calling forth his second best element.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

The lake began to rumble, water shooting into the air and arcing around him in the shape of several dragons, and cascading away from the priestess floating near the bottom of the lake. Leaping down nimbly, he scooped her cold body up and high-tailed it out of there and back onto land. He paid no attention to the waves that crashed around, shattering the icy surface of the lake. The only thing that concerned him was the freezing girl in his arms.

That wasn't breathing. At all.

'What do I do? What do I do? CPR, dammit! Calm the fuck down, Uchiha!' His mind was completely scattered, the overwhelming urge to save her dominating his normally logical side. 'Save her! Save her!'

Itachi set her down gently, wiping her wet hair away from her face and tilting her chin up. Putting a shaking hand over her mouth, he gulped at the lack of air, steeled his resolve, leaned over, and pressed his mouth to hers. He refused to think about the fact that though they were cold, the priestess's lips were still soft.

Maybe later, though, when he wasn't trying to make her breathe.

It was another minute or two before Kagome finally coughed up the water in her lungs. He thought he would pass out from relief. Instead, he shakily gathered her into his arms and held her close, patting her back occasionally and whispering soothing words.

"I'm here. It's okay now." She clung to him, shaking from cold and near-death, while sobbing quietly into his cloak. "You're safe." Carefully, he bundled her up in his wet cloak, hoping to conserve some kind of heat, and started towards her home quickly.

"T-T-T-Tachi?"

"We're going home. You need to get warm so you don't get sick," he replied, tightening his grip when she squirmed. Balanced precariously high above the ground, he stopped and let her get comfortable. Her cold cheek pressed against his collar to try and borrow what little body heat he had right now.

"... Ok-okay. Wake m-m-me up wh-when we g-g-g-get there," Kagome chattered, curling up against him and closing her eyes. With her nose pressed against his neck and her rapid breathing puffing there, he felt his well-earned control finally slip back into place. He'd never panicked like that before. Ever.

That... was bad. He was way too attached. If she ever died...

The very idea made him slightly nauseated. She was important enough that he'd kill for her. And all she'd have to do would be to point him in the right direction.

'This is bad. She means too much now.' And he was one hundred percent sure that this was what Madara had been trying to prove. That attachment made you different. Made you lax. Made you want to do anything for that person. Even-

'Even to die for her.' Itachi shivered. Not even Sasuke had spurred that kind of devotion in him. Yet. He wasn't sure how to proceed at this point. Thinking through several possibilities, he decided that one solution would be better for the both of them; would be the safest.

He'd distance himself from Kagome if that meant she could escape Madara's grip of insanity.

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A/N: NOOO! He's regressing! Damn Uchiha are so stubborn! I suppose you're all going to hate me now. I am a little evil, aren't I? Don't worry. Madara will get his. I have a plan. And it doesn't involve ramen. Lolz.

So, he did kiss her, but not the way you all want him to. That was probably evil of me too. I just know several of you are going to want to reach through your computers and smack me senseless. But, hey! What's a story without a little drama.

As always, please leave a review! I like those!