“...nngg...”

The strained sound of a pained moan was the only thing that escaped the bruised throat of the young shinobi as he felt a foot harshly push against his side, and roll him off his belly and onto his back. He tried to squirm away from the rough contact, because he could feel the grotesque movement of his shattered ribs loosely pressing into his distressed innards. It was painful, but just the disgusting, and disturbing sensation was what the young boy wished to escape more than anything.

He wasn’t afraid- He was more confused now. He fidgeted away as he felt a hand clasp him roughly by his jaw, and yank his frail-looking face from one side to the other, then back, examining, measuring his worth. What was he? A stock-animal? An item?

He was glad he couldn’t see this, he was glad he could feel himself slipping into a dark, numb abyss. He could escape from who ever this creature was that had just beaten him without a reason or care. He could escape from the feeling of blood and sweat all singed slightly into his cheek.

“...You’re the one...”

The stranger spoke up, his voice dark, and ominous, and despite everything, the young boy stared up, slipping dangerously close to death, and yet he was still attentive- Coal black eyes flickered in dying sight, gazing in the direction of the man that hovered above, yet the boy’s sight had already blacked completely out. It was all for show now.

The ruthless man laughed maniacally as he traced one of the dark lines down the young Uchiha’s face with a tender fingertip. “Yes.. You are the one.. The one I need.. And in time, you’ll be mine..”

A possession? Was that what Itachi was? He would have felt quite miffed about this if he could manage to feel any emotion while he was trying to concentrate on breathing- It was so hard, with every little inhale he could feel his broken bones shifting, rocking, jerking out of place, then falling loosely back in with each exhale. He could taste the blood settling in the back of his throat, collecting so much that it was bound to choke him if he allowed it to trickle down much longer- He had to move; He could now, because he could hear his assailant glancing upward, and dropping his possessive front due to movement approaching, and the predator then decided to abandon his prey and take his leave- For now.

Itachi rolled back onto his belly with the last little bit of his strength, sputtering, and coughing up blood, practically convulsing as his forehead finally met the soft grassy surface that had embraced the rest of his battered form.

Still... He could hear something- A flutter of feathers, a pulse, the beat of wings, a raspy cawing- A crow. The eight year old boy smiled to himself as his heavy eyelids finally allowed themselves to rest. The black bird perched above him was here for the soul that would soon exit his dying body, and he would not leave until he had that in his possession.

..Everybody wanted Uchiha Itachi, it seemed, and as he slipped from the grip of consciousness, he knew, the demons would tear him limb from limb to have a piece.. Let them come..

...He would regret his hospitable welcoming later...

- - - - - - - -

DARKO...

...Some people are just born with tragedy in their blood...

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There was a bustle outside; White light, bodies moving, quivering, panicking; So many emotions, so many people that were unknown, and a few that were not. The news was spreading, like wildfire, like disease- Death had come swiftly, it had come to claim three lives, lives of people nobody had expected to die today. An elite jounin, and two genin students, on a simple D-ranked mission, right here in the village. Their bodies were torn apart, wasted, gored, and mutilated in the most horrific, and disturbing ways. It was dusk when the bodies were found, and the sun had been sinking in the horizon, casting the most ominous red glow over the scene. A more isolated training ground was where four bodies laid sprawled, slashed open, and gutted, cut as if they had been played with, all except for one.

Uchiha Itachi.

That was where all this manic attention was focused now- After nearly being sick to his stomach, the jounin that found the wasted group of Leaf shinobi had acted quickly, and discovering the eight year old Uchiha still just barely clinging to life, he rushed him to Konoha Medical Center, the emergency room. Within the time it took the doctors and nurses to give their full attention to Itachi, and have him hooked to IVs and cleaned up ready to be stitched back together and receive blood transfusions, all the staff, practically all the jounin in the village, many members of the ANBU, and the hokage himself knew of this disturbing event.

Everybody knew the situation- One jounin down, two genin murdered, and one genin hanging in the balance, though his wounds didn’t match to those of his fallen comrades. They were killed by surprise, swiftly dealt a deadly blow, and then mutilated. Itachi was bruised up, as if there had been a struggle, and the cuts that spanned his young, fragile body, they seemed highly suspicious, almost as if they could have been..

“Self-inflicted...”

The boy’s perception of this was hazy- He was drifting somewhere between the realms of sleep and complete consciousness, and yet his mind was taking in the surprised, and slightly offended reactions of his parents- The proud head of the Uchiha, they didn’t want to hear this. They didn’t want to hear this doctor try to tell them Itachi may have done this. They didn’t want to hear that their perfect son could have been the one that slaughtered his teammates, or that he may have injured himself to such an extent, though only to make himself look less guilty.

It was all rubbish, wasn’t it? Itachi couldn’t have killed a jounin and two genin by himself, could he? Maybe he could, but.. Why would he? What purpose would it serve?

Fugaku and Mikoto seemed to use the same logic against the doctor that had examined and treated the young boy, but it was to no avail; Itachi was still going to be here for a few weeks for monitoring, not just because of his obvious injuries, but on a deeper psychological level-

For the love of Kami- He was going to be monitored and examined by a shrink. The boy wasn’t around enough, however, to know what to think. Perhaps this was for the best- Something inside him had changed, something was wrong.. He needed help, Gods, he needed somebody.. He tried and tried to grasp the reason for the fear arising, dragging his mind down into a nightmarish and yet blackened state.

Something had happened- Itachi couldn’t completely remember. Only slight flashes of brutal slaughter played through his mind in a scarlet tone. His sensei, his team mates, they all fell before him so quickly, he couldn’t figure out what had happened- They were dead, lifeless.

Did he do this? No, no, he didn’t, he didn’t! There was something else, somebody else, he had fought for his life, he had used all his knowledge, all his skill, and yet his enemy had merely toyed with him, and left him.

..But he had left him alive...Why, why would this creature leave this boy alive..? Why, why was Itachi’s head pounding so violently, why did his eyes burn? Fire? There was fire. Itachi could see fire from behind the blood that had splattered into his eyes, and dappled his vision in crimson overcast. It hurt-It hurt- By Kami it was killing him. His eyes; There would be nothing but ash left. He had to keep fighting, he had to stay alive, he had to. He had to!

In a burst of movement the boy, still less than conscious, came up off the hospital bed with a scream that was completely feral- it sounded like an animal that was caught in the jaws of a predator, about to be forever silenced. The boy bolted as far as he could, ripping out IVs and other various monitors as he did, and the doctor, along with Itachi’s parents, only watched in utter surprise and shock as the injured child made for the door, and took off down the hall. Luckily he was caught moments later after making it just around the corner, and escaping into the arms of other hospital workers. It took three or four of them to restrain the flailing child- Apparently he was stronger than he looked, though it was most worrisome because of his battered state. He was fighting for his life, or at least his overactive mind inside his dormant body believed so, and yet at the same time he was only making things worse.

It ended soon enough- Though it took a good portion of the hospital staff to hold the boy down so he could be restrained, and a heavy dosage of sedative to calm his endless inward battle.

It should have been so very apparent now- Itachi had not done this to himself, no matter what the medical testing suggested. Looking down at the child, seeing him still writhing, and fighting against the restraints that pinned down his bandaged limbs, panting, exhausted and brutally inured, all that should have been enough, but no.. There was one other strong indication that this boy had indeed fought for his very life, and lived where his team mates and sensei had been slaughtered, and now everybody in the room was gazing down in shock and yet.. In awe.

The slumbering boy finally began to still, and the crowd in the room moved in closer as he did- They all wanted to get a glimpse; The deathly pale, sweat beaded skin, marred here and there with cuts and bruises, making the boy seem as if he had seen a ghost, and as if he truly had, here he laid wide-eyed, though his eyes rippled fiery crimson, gazing, unblinking.

Sharingan- Activated in the face of death. Now all that was left was to find out..

What had happened to Uchiha Itachi..?

- - - - - - - - - -

...TBC...

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A/N: Here we have the very first chapter of my new fic. Anybody find it slightly interesting so far? This chapter isn’t meant to be completely clear, just a bit intriguing. What is to come? Horror, angst, suffering, schizophrenia- All those dark and yummy things. Title is tribute to ‘Donnie Darko’- Obvious reasons. Later pairings- Probably a few. Uchihacest, I’m sure. Lemons and yaoi and wicked hallucinations- oh my! Please review if you read it. Reviews are the fuel for this burning fire that is my imagination.