The depth of his cruelty

There was a delicate touch on her skin, the soft feeling of the cloth embedded in warm water to clean her. She pretended to be asleep only to be alert should Yua try to do something she mustn't and to escape the shame that been bathed brought, although her body won't allow her much movement. The woman couldn't do much about her state, she wasn't a medic-nin as Ino, yet she took care of her fever and filth as best as she could –rather, as best as she wanted to. She wanted to ask her reasons, but what could she say that would make Ino hate her less?

There was a tightness around Ino's thigh, probably a bandage around the muscle that she herself had wounded in the hopes of awakening that one time, yet he carefully –maliciously let her know it was him who controlled everything –such an egotistical creature. Yua wasn't able to cure it, Ino had done a sloppy job –the only way to return it to normalcy would be if she regained some of her chakra back, would they allow her to? Was there any point to do so?

Yua carefully passed the cloth through her fingers, as if Ino was her dearest friend and not her hostage, she felt how the warm drops fell through her forearms and was able to hear the way the woman snorted when seeing Ino's nails. Ino allowed her chest to move freely up while she breathed –she didn't have to pretend to be exhausted to the point of not feeling her usual ego rise at not being seen as perfection.

"Uhm…" the woman hummed, a low rumble that echoed through Ino's body alongside the sound of the cloth being tossed on the bucket, a few drops fell on Ino's cheek. "You'll be good, don't you dear?" She purred –it was the first time Yua had displayed anything but annoyance. There was no sound to warn her about his presence –the door never made a noise like that, defying previous belief of the space's aesthetic –yet his presence was so overwhelming that she needed nothing of the sorts to know he was close, so she tamed down her uneasiness as not to blow her pretense.

When he entered, Yua was kind enough to toss something above Ino's frame, the man spoke nothing, merely walking further inside the room, his steps purposefully loud.

"My Lord-" Yua's demeanor did not change, Ino wondered if this was Yua's actual personality, the woman had succeeded in selling her a character –hell, she was able to manipulate her at will. Ino hated herself. "I made what I could, she'll need to recover some chakra in order to heal herself or perform." There was no immediate reply after Yua's assessment, Ino couldn't know if the monster was thinking about her words or simply providing her with the same treatment he had given Ino.

"My Lord," her voice was almost trembling, her previous demeanor almost forgotten, Ino's curiosity arose –it was in her very nature. "I swear to you I'll make up for my mistake… I…" she gulped, tasting her words before speaking, "there was a change, with the subject –before, I mean. I don't know what happened, but his walls shook –like, replying to something." Ino did not know what she was speaking of, who was he? "When I went to see her she seemed… scared. She did something, of that I'm sure of."

Yukai's silence stretched, whatever they were doing Ino could not see –could not feel, her senses were all focused on keeping her alive, her usual natural sensing recoiled in itself to keep as much chakra as possible within her body, she still was able to feel Itachi –yet not Yua. Her chakra pool must be rather small…

"We'll see." Was everything he gave, Ino had to control the instinct that told her to tremble, she will never not be shaken by his voice.

"My Lord-"

"Not here." Yua must have moved, the woman was either too light on her feet or Ino's exhaustion was finally pulling her under, for she hadn't heard the woman moving, both voices sounded at the same distance now –something must be happening. There was a wet sound, a kiss?

It was hard to hear someone pleading for touches, yet that was what Ino witnessed, Yua didn't seem the type to beg –yet Ino didn't consider herself the type either, and she had succumbed to that weak nature in order to save her life. "Soon. Please."

She didn't know what happened, but her own instinct was able to assume regardless, the whisper of his voice told her that there was intimacy between them, he must have breathed against Yua's ear when telling her to leave, for the moan she gave was rather shameful.

"You aren't as good at pretending as you think," was the first thing he said after a few moments alone, Ino decided to stick to her charade. "You should rest –rather than pretend you do."

Die. Ino thought and sudden fear climbed up her spine –he couldn't read thoughts, could he?

"You better believe," and his voice was suddenly on top of her –Ino couldn't stop herself from squeezing her eyes harder shut, he was aware of her being awake, yet she refused to look at his damn eyes again; "that you won't have many chances to do so." This moment was shameful, intimate in a way Ino hoped she would have never known –she wondered if this exact same feeling was what everyone else felt, or she was just beyond broken. "Look at me." He commanded.

It took all of her efforts not to simply obey, such was her first instinct –she was a scared little kitten in the claws of a beast, what was she trying to gain when refusing? There was no sigh that fell off his lips at her demeanor, she was still a child even when kidnapped, Yua had made a mistake regarding her –shouldn't Ino exploit that knowledge?

His hands were rough and cold, his hold strong and purposefully hurtful, her jaw in between his thumb and index, he moved her head until she was facing him, he was so close all of the sudden. "Open." He said, Ino refused even harder, purposefully furrowing her eyebrows. The man didn't seem as patient as his demeanor implied, he brought her head down quickly –roughly, her skull connected harshly against the floor, Ino opened her eyes on reflex, his face was impassive in the wake of her pain.

"You see?" He asked, face as still as marble –how could a simple mortal be of such material? "It'll be easier if you obey." His fingers abandoned her skin and left bruises in their passing –Ino wasn't sure this man was able to touch without hurting.

She wasn't even able to lift herself as to pretend to be anything but on the brink of breaking –they had made a wonderful job, Ino could say that. She wondered if the work in the T&I was similar and felt shame at the idea that she wouldn't be able to withstand it.

Two pale, long fingers –nails painted in lavender, a beautiful shade that would have enticed Ino once, reached for something inside his kimono. It was a harsh contrast, she noticed, he was dressed so casually, with clothes far too ordinary to be his (who looked like a man created by a vengeful spirit), too loose around the chest that almost shone against the blue of his dressing. He took out a pair of food pills, far bigger in size than she was used to seeing, and tossed them at her –they landed softly beside her, surprisingly not disintegrating against the floor.

"Eat those." He said, his tone implied nothing, but Ino knew there will be punishment should she refuse. Her arms trembled in their attempt to support her, using her right to lift her torso and the left one to hold the blanket against her. Itachi didn't seem remotely interested in seeing her form.

These wouldn't be enough, pills never were, they justified their existence and importance in situations where no food was available and they needed to keep their chakra and stamina afloat –Ino had none, it was more likely that she will puke them out. When she moved her head to see the two spheres, her skull pulsed in short spans, reminding her of what would happen should she not force her body to also succumb to this man's wishes.

She wanted to be the better person, the better shinobi and fight him and die with honor –but who would know of her sacrifice? Who would carve her name in the stone? Her clan would simply pat her father's back in comfort and forget her as soon as Inoichi stops weeping.

She brought a pill to her lips, smelled the thing, and wrinkled her nose, glancing quickly at the presence in the room. His expression was as closed as ever, yet his eyes gleamed. She took a bite and gulped without tasting, hissing at the sourness that passed through her tongue –water would be splendid. She waited a couple of seconds before taking another bite, wanting to give her body some time to digest some portion of the pill before giving it another. This type of supplement was helpful enough, but too much too soon will stress her stomach –and she didn't need a ruptured organ.

It was as if little spiders climbed through her veins, the vibrations similar to when a limb falls asleep, her hands shook and fell before returning to some normalcy –she glanced up again. "Don't get any ideas." He warned at her gaze, Ino was ashamed how the thought of escaping hadn't even crossed her mind when feeling some of her energy back.

"You are nothing like him." Was the first thing she said to him, which unsurprisingly earned no visible response other than her throat constricting.

It was also a lie, not a big one, not in the sense that she intended to –Itachi and Sasuke looked very much alike, yet the softness in which she remembered her first love clashed roughly with the deep creases of his older brother; she was speaking about their chakras, thing that she first loved about the young boy first and foremost –energy so huge and yet, so calm, he felt like sea, whilst Itachi was a forest fire than no one had been able to put off.

And Ino has never been able at keeping her cool, she was a bold creature. "I hope he kills you."

Itachi, surprisingly, almost smiles.

There was something that siblings learned before anything else, parents taught their children to say mama and papa first and foremost, but the little ones true instinct sparkled a feeling that took form in the most profound parts of their soul, a feeling that was hard and pulsed in their muscles, making them want and cry, a feeling for which they had no word for until a fateful day—

"Mine." Possession was something every human being have and was aware of, the innocence of childhood provided no protection for such sensation, having siblings allowed them to learn about it and tame it down –to share. Only children learned that when it was almost too late, if ever.

Itachi was never possessive, not with material things. He was quick to give and reluctant to receive, which is why no one –perhaps Mikoto, whose eyes were glued to her children's back, yet her love allowed her to live in denial- was able to see the beast taking form. Itachi never showed, never allowed people to see, yet his muscles pumped and tensed with the sensation that sparkled the first time Sasuke laid eyes on his older brother, mine, Itachi thought –yet moved not when Mikoto held Sasuke a little tighter against her breasts.

Mine, Itachi thought when Sasuke crawled towards him and pinched his leg to gets his attention. Mine, when Sasuke played with toys that weren't his –taking them away from the small hands of his peers. His little brother was a selfish kid –and Itachi did little to appease that part of him, he grew up to be a jealous kid as well, wanting to have all of Itachi's attention –hadn't been for his duties, he would have. Such a selfish, jealous boy, Itachi was mostly to blame for his baby brother's missteps –so much greed pumped in his veins that he abandoned the warmth of his village to pursue his desire to kill him.

Itachi paused, his back pressed against the wooden bench he was sitting on, left leg above right –hands neatly on top of them. The sun shone above him –such a contrast with the darkness below –he wondered if all that gloom was fueling his resolve to hurt. The servants moved around him and did not see him, Yua trailed behind her puppet that barked senseless orders to maintain appearances –she craned her neck to glance at him, she might know he was there, under the veil of his technique; but she couldn't see him either, she licked her lips, Itachi glanced directly at the sun.

Sasuke loved him, Sasuke claimed him as his even without uttering a single word –Itachi had devoted himself to that little bund of joy and had broken him beyond repair. What else was love but to prepare him for the most treacherous, cruelest of worlds?

And Sasuke had wanted Fugaku's attention as well –Fugaku's approval. Perhaps Itachi was of jealous nature as well after all.

His right leg skipped up and down, "I hope he kills you." The kunoichi had said. Itachi hoped that too. He blinked when the bright sphere above him warmed until discomfort. Try as he might, he wasn't able to remember the woman –she was Inoichi's daughter, so he must have known her at some point, perhaps crossing paths in some mundane event where their presence was required. He could imagine her, however, watching him from the safety of her father's leg, trying to notice similarities between them.

Ah, yes, she liked Sasuke, didn't she?

It took him another blink to decide his return to the coldness of under, hallways of stone and moss growing in the cracks of the pebbles. He won't have much time now to chase results, his excuse brought Kisame no comfort, and while his partner went alone to retrieve Son Gokü, it won't take him another week to either win or die. Itachi had days, at most, to keep his movements under wraps.

She wrinkled her nose and wrapped herself with her arms when he finally entered the room. She looked slightly better, although skinny still. Her leg was almost pristine –she took care of her own injury, Itachi eyed her while she pressed herself harder against the corner of the room. It was clear she had sensed him by the way she had composed her face to something more annoyed than fearful, yet the way her heart was frenetic inside her ribcage told him everything she tried to hide.

The kimono was tight around her waist, Yua hadn't brought her own clothes. He supposed it had to do with not making her feel comfortable to move and try to escape, but Yua should know better than thinking it will stop a trained kunoichi. Who knew, perhaps it was jealousy after all –he wouldn't put past it. Women.

"Come." He said, and saw how her eyes reflected her reluctance, a light mist that settled in them –they were big enough to reflect the lantern on his hand, orange light against turquoise. She took a step, then halted, glancing at him and stopping her breathing –he moved not, said nothing, she took another step (this time, much slower than the first one), and paused again.

It was tortuous, really, to see her fear and loyalty collapse against each other so spectacularly; he should feel relieved she had a sense of patriotism, but everything he was able to identify was annoyance. This clash would get worst the more she moved, the more she approached him and walked towards what he wanted her to do –Itachi controlled the sudden need to lick his lips. She took another step and he turned, moving outside the room and painting her in darkness.

"Follow the light," he said –it was on purpose, it would make it easier for her not to think about what she was doing, who she was obeying. Experienced shinobi wouldn't be as difficult, they either would choose dead or cooperation –they wouldn't duel much on their decision. Youth was harder, they weren't ready to become worms' food –yet they were so eager to prove their worth to those they admired.

She spoke nothing while following, Itachi moved his hand so he wouldn't cover the light with his body –so she could see the flame, it cast a glow on his arm and neck, tattooing his skin with shadows. After another turn they arrived at the door –rust metal greeted them and screamed against the faint heat of the flame, he glanced at her, yet her eyes were elsewhere.

"What are those?" She asked, how curious that her mind forgot to whom she was speaking to in such familiarity.

Itachi followed her gaze and saw the drawings against the stone, there weren't many of them –Karin didn't make many seals before running away, what a shame it was that Orochimaru got to her, another thing he almost breaks for, another thing to add to the snake's bill. "Seals. To hide chakra." She was able to design a handful of what he asked her –like these ones.

The kunoichi furrowed her eyebrows, something inside her mind was clicking, he had satisfied an old curiosity of hers –strange. He put a hand against the door, it vibrated with life and the seal embedded into it shone with blue light –the kunoichi made a sound of surprise. Karin, another gift of hers, there was still one that he hadn't disclosed yet, Karin's best. What a good asset she was.

After the glow, the door opened, dark mouth allowing entrance, the wind almost blowing the flame. He took a step and entered while the kunoichi's figure lingered by the frame –he didn't push her to move forward, focusing on lighting the torches on the walls. He turned—

The kunoichi paled.

"Ah yes," he moved again, lighting another torch, making gloom less powerful. "A cousin of yours?"

The woman was frozen, muscles tense as if wanting to either run away or reach the man's side, veins bulged out of her neck with the force she was tightening her jaw, eyes huge –bulging. Sweating. Her petit form looked so fragile –Itachi could break her with just a finger.

She exhaled, took a deep breath –no air seemed to reach her lungs. "N…no… w-we held a funeral…" Spirits, how much she trembled.

"Of course you did," he replied, moved to be closer to the person prostrated in the corner of the room, gray –pupilless eyes, looking at nothing, body unresponsive. A vegetable. Itachi crouched and passed a knuckle on the corner of the man's mouth, cleaning the streak of spit that fell to the chin. Itachi bit the inside of his cheek, it was such a great time to 'ta-dah', yet everything he added was, "it's protocol, after all."

It was both a joke and a sarcastic remark, the kunoichi wasn't stupid enough not to understand his humor, her face darkened while even more fear took hold of her muscles, she took a step back.

"Obedience," Itachi mumbled. "Don't move." He glanced at the woman, still tense as to bolt, fingers moving towards her thigh –it was natural for her, but she will find no kunai strapped to it. "He's gone," he said, "brain dead –body still functional." He picked at her, she swallowed, at no point he looked at Itachi, her eyes were glued to the man in front of him. "You should still be able to explore his memories."

She whipped her head towards him, a short and powerful movement that made her bones crack, her skin –if possible- became even whiter, like all the blood was pumped out of her body through an invisible wound. She opened her mouth, perhaps to say something, perhaps to breathe –the truth is that she ended up doing neither and both, choking with a sob.

"I c-c-can't." Ah, he knew she will hate herself for stuttering, she was quite easy to read.

"Yes, you do." He deadpanned while standing, he moved the body of the Yamanaka man with his leg, making him sway slightly. "Your father showed you."

Her head shook, short spasms that became longer, Itachi remained impassive, moving slightly closer, she suddenly stopped. "Yes. You do."

A tear fell towards her chin, "You're vile." She whimpered, swallowed.

Itachi's lips stretched threateningly, a short laugh almost making it past them, "I killed my entire clan." It was a snort, almost, he regained control of his countenance –she was so shocked by his request she probably didn't notice him slipping.

Ino disobeyed.

When she took running, Itachi raised an eyebrow, her footsteps resonated in the corridors she took. She must have stepped over a puddle –she was barefoot, and now there was a splat sound every time the sole of her feet found a stone. Sweet child, he thought, before pursuing. He couldn't let this one slide.

Reaching her wasn't difficult, panic made her sloppy before, the knowledge of his superiority only threw her deeper. He took a simple rock from one of the cracks in the wall, covered it with chakra, and threw it –it landed on the back of her thigh and nailed itself on it. She twisted her body while falling, bringing her fists to her chest and driving them down hard before connecting with the floor.

It shattered sloppily. A bad imitation of Tsunade's technique. Yet it forced him to channel chakra to his feet to keep standing. She was really trying to escape. "Fuck!-" She yelled, it seemed that still there was some pride left on her, or humanity –Itachi, however, was aware of this possibility, and grabbed the kunai strapped to his hip.

It sunk on her ankle like a charm, she tried to stand and he knew she will attempt to skip her entire way out or try to hide as to heal herself –so before she could attempt, he pinned her to the ground with his body. He was tired of her attitude, wondered why she still possessed any will on her. She moved and twisted and tried to fight him off. With his knees, he pinned her hands, and she still tried to make him move away from her by moving her hips upwards.

What could he do, then, to finally break her?

His eyes became alive while he grabbed her face –bringing her close to him, nose to nose. She screamed, "NO!" right on his ear and he furrowed his eyebrows –he shouldn't keep putting her under his spell, there was a limit as to how much genjutsu a brain could stand in a short span of time without shattering, he will keep it light –for he needed to use his Sharingan later on.

"Such a shame," he whispered, bringing his lips closer to hers, she opened her eyes widely, tried to bite –such a savage. He squeezed. "That pretty face of yours."

And under she went.

He stood while she screamed, bringing her hands to her face and trying to fight off a ghost –it was cruel, his illusion: making her believe that chunks of skin and muscle were cut with the edge of his teeth. She'll be fine once she wakes –exhausted by fighting off nothingness, perhaps relieved when noticing her face intact. She'll learn not to disobey again.

She'll learn.

A/N: For those wondering what curiosity did Itachi satisfy, you can see what Ino found in the chapter "The Crow".

There was a little clue about the Yamanaka victim on "The Opening Move", did you noticed? I just LOVE hiding some "superficial" details in some chapters only for them to become relevant later on, this chapter has two of them, hope I'm doing this well enough!