Unleashed

Outside, it was silent. Nothing gave a hint of a breath of noise to the still and dark room. Though the boy's body convulsed and strained against the hard floor, changing inexorably in mere moments, his agony obvious but soundless.

Different from the color of destruction inside, crimson eyes watched Naruto now. Despite their intense hue, they were cold. Dead. They always had been. There was no demon to seal here, nothing to break free and make the body's owner feel virile and aflame with wicked power. Just the deep blankness, the occasional memory of blood or tears.

Uchiha Itachi had no soul.

Nevertheless, he was not completely detached as he watched the transformation unfolding before him. He could see to its core with Sharingan, had watched the Kyuubi pace its cage many times before in the fiery blue eyes that had defied him as he tortured the boy, seeking to draw it out just like this. The marks of that very torture had faded away from the golden skin in smoking lines of glowing red right before his eyes, weak human muscles straining against the heavy chains.

It had changed, now. Itachi could not only see it but also sense it. The warmth in the air around him spoke forcefully of what had gone on inside the spiked blonde head, which even now was turning a deeper shade of yellow, tinged by flame-color.

Naruto opened his eyes.

Not even Itachi was brave enough to stay standing there. He stepped back a bit as the glowing form moved with a strength that belied the weeks of abuse and starvation, pulling itself into a sitting position. The eyes focused on him as though the room were filled with daylight. They were red too, but smoldering scarlet shimmered in orange-gold. Slitted.

"You...released me?" The voice was rough, several octaves deeper than the young man's had been. It sounded like thunder held in for a long time, a volcano that had been dormant since primeval times suddenly rumbling to life. A purr and a growl and a hiss all at the same time.

"Yes." He had never been one for conversation, even less so now with one of the most powerful demons in existence staring him in the face, undoubtedly wondering why its vessel was bound painfully to the wall. And as he met the intense gaze that burned into his own, saw through him as surely as he did through it, Itachi wondered what he had done.

The Kyuubi's eyes left his, swinging up to where the body's wrists were swathed in thick and cruel chain. There was barely a flash of white teeth, nary a strain of the rippling muscle, as the bonds ripped free of the ageless stone and then of the flesh itself. For a brief moment, deep red gashes stood out against the glowing appendages, but just as quickly they were gone.

It was good to be truly free. The seal was broken, but that was meaningless if he was still tied to the wall by some asshole in a weird cloak. Offhandedly, Kyuubi wondered what the fuck was going on. Just as quickly, he decided he didn't care. He had been sealed in the goddamn kid for nineteen years; questions could wait.

The shackles clanked to the floor, chipping the granite as they bounced away and into some dark corner. Itachi didn't move as the demon-boy stood, even though he could feel the heat of his body as intensely as he would the summer sun.

"I'm much obliged." The words were harsh, rough, bitten off after each as though the sharp teeth made it a pain to talk. Sharingan was still intense, still trying to read what lay beyond the golden veneer. He would soon know whether this was a mistake...

Sharingan had always been his savior in the past, allowed him to slaughter his enemies as easily as slow-moving insects. It made no difference that he saw it coming this time. The powerful fingers, tipped by slight but very sharp claws, wrapped around his neck. Itachi, the epitome of expressionless, winced as he was lifted from the floor and shoved into the wall.

"You don't look familiar. Wrong place, wrong time, kid." It didn't matter that Itachi was twenty-six: everyone was 'kid' to an age-old demon. Although he knew it was pointless, Itachi spoke.

"I unsealed you, and this is how you thank me?" It wasn't quite whining, as that would have been nothing like him. Close, but not quite. Kyuubi chuckled, loosening his grip every so slightly.

"No, I plan to thank yy ley letting you live, and have some fun." At that, Itachi blinked.

Yeah, it had been a long nineteen years. The kid had gotten his share of the action when he grew a little and the kunoichi realized he had nearly endless stamina, yet another gift from yours truly besides all the chakra and saving his skinny little ass in battle. But that hadn't been anything Kyuubi could enjoy, locked behind the Fourth's seal, bored and hungry. This seemed a bit more promising: the slim throat pulsed with life against his palm, echoing the rhythm that had begun in his own body. He let the silent man drop, noticing the way he easily regained his footing.

"And just who the fuck are you, anyway?" Kyuubi was a bit irked by his nonplussed expression and easy grace, the way not a fold of fabric seemed out of place on the cloud-print cloak he wore. The deep lines beneath the weird red eyes spoke of evil or weariness, the latter he thought. A like soul, somehow.

"Uchiha Itachi." The name was melodic, much in the same way his blood beat now, but didn't ring any bells. Kyuubi didn't care.

"Why did you release me?" The sharp eyes had long ago noticed the forehead protector, a deep line slicing through the Leaf emblem. He remembered a similar mark on the foreheads of the ninja defending the village he had been trying to destroy when this whole mess started.

Itachi shrugged.

"You have something I want."

That made Kyuubi chuckle, a low rumble far too deep for the still-young body containing him.

"Today must be your lucky day."