Full Summary: Hiya, all! Sorry for the long wait! :3 I won't bore you with my excuses, so I will get on with the story. Without further ado, here's the first chapter to DarkBlood, the sequal to Bittersweet!

When the Council allows Itachi's life, only under the condition that his demonic chakra will be extracted, Sasuke found his soul breaking from guilt he has carried over the years. However, when the man to extract the chakra comes to the palace, things slowly begin to progress from good to bad. New enemies are made, people are tested, and a dangerous journey to keep balance to the packs, possibly even to the nation, will await. With his body holding another within, the Uchiha can't help but feel his wish was terribly ill-thought...

Enjoy! :D

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Chakra communication"

Chapter 1

"Are you out of your mind?!"

Naruto had to flinch at the volume Tsunade used towards him, fangs bared, eyes wild with upright shock and unapproval. The dirty blonde she-wolf snarled at him again, snapping her teeth, pacing back and forth, her temper affecting her strides; the blonde alpha knew it wouldn't be pretty.

Luckily for him, Jiraiya and Iruka was close by; Jiraiya calmly watched the exchange while Iruka sat at the edge of his chair, muscles tensed, ready to lunge and hold the she-wolf back incase she felt the need to beat her nephew to a bloody pulp. "What the fuck is wrong with you!? You are trying to ask me... no, the whole freakin' council that you want to keep that monstrosity alive?!" If he were in werewolf form, Naruto's ears would have been flat against his head, his shoulders hunched and his eyebrows furrowed.

It wasn't like he was fond of the idea himself; the only thing compelling him to ask was the request from Sasuke, and for his lover, Naruto would do it for him. He'd do anything for the Uchiha to make him happy... 'Which is probably gonna be the death of me...' The fox thought, flinching again when Tsunade marched up to him, looking him dead in the eyes; those molten honey eyes burned like the sun, heating Naruto's soul on fire by the mere glare they sent into his own cerulean orbs.

"Answer me, boy..." She growled lowly, watching as Naruto snapped his head up to glare back with as much intensity; he hated it when he was referred to as 'boy'. "Yes... I'm asking you to allow Itachi to live." Tsunade reared back slightly, snorting loudly and unlady-like, her top fang gnawing at her bottom lip. She had stopped yelling, finally calming herself down, but the great displeasure in his decision still shown itself in her body language. "And why, exactly, have you decided that he should keep his miserable life? Even after all of the horrible things he's done to the pack? To Gaara's pack? Hell, even to his own family?"

Naruto winced; she hit a low nerve, speaking of Itachi's actions against his family. "It isn't like I want him to live; he has done many things that prove that he should be killed right now and here... but..."

Tsunade raised a brow impatiently, albeit somewhat curious. "Then enlighten me; tell me why I should speak with the council. Give me an adequate reason as to why I should persuade every councilman to allow the eldest Uchiha to live on." Naruto squared his shoulders and furrowed his eyebrows, his eyes flashing brightly at the slight mock in his aunt's voice.

"Because... because Sasuke has requested it."

Tsunade only stood silently, simply looking at him, waiting for him to continue with an annoyed expression on her face. "He wants his brother to live because he is the only blood-kin he has left... despite everything he has done to him, to both the packs. I am asking, only out of his desire to keep his only family left alive..."

For a moment, the room was quiet; no one moved, nor spoke. Everyone's eyes were on Naruto, and it was slowly unnerving the fox. He wondered, although his body was tensed, as if preparing for another onslaught of yells from his aunt, maybe even from Jiraiya or Iruka. He waited for a long moment, looking around the room, before starting when he felt a large, calm hand clasp his shoulder.

"Heh, how noble of you, brat. Didn't know you had it in ya."

Naruto looked up to stare at Jiraiya, a bit surprised to see a amused smile plastered onto his lips. His gaze shifted over to Iruka, who stood up to stand beside the old mage, his own smile on his face. "Well Naruto, if fulfilling Sasuke's wish is what you want to do, then we can help... although, I can't guarantee it without the consent of the head councilman." The guardian said, looking over to where Tsunade was standing.

The she-wolf watched them, her eyes hard, still gazing intently on Naruto's form. He, in turn, squared his body to stand up to his full height, a head taller than his aunt, and he returned the gaze with his own stubborn one. They remained staring, one of out his stubbornness to keep a promise, the other for reasons only known to herself. Finally, after a few moments, the she-wolf let out a snort, but her visage softened slightly.

"So be it..." She said, making Naruto's glare relax to a expression of surprise.

"I will... discuss with the council members about sparring Itachi, despite him forbidden to ever leave the prison hold." She rubbed the back of her neck, looking away from her nephew with an unknown glint to her eyes. "It isn't guaranteed that your wish will be carried out, but there's always trying... mmhp!"

The grunt came out of her parted lips, surprised, when the tall blonde suddenly lurched forward and wrapped his arms around her, hugging his aunt with all he was worth. He didn't swing her around like he would have normally did, due to the limited space of the room, but he did repeat 'thank you' like an over-joyed pup; the sound brought a small, affectionate smile to Tsunade.

"Yeah yeah, brat... you're welcome." She said, patting his back before the fox let go, a large grin on his face. "Best you go and talk to Sasuke about it. Jiraiya, Iruka and I will speak with the council members... we will call you if you are needed."

The blonde didn't have to say anything, simply nodding his head enthusiastically, almost bouncing out of the room with a new, happier aura around him; it was more tilted towards making Sasuke happy, rather than keeping Itachi alive. As soon as he left, however, Tsunade's smile fell from her lips, the she-wolf collapsing on nearby chair with a loud sigh.

"Great... now what?" She grumbled, looking up at the amused expressions of Jiraiya and Iruka. "The kid's got bravery, facing you like that, Tsunade." Jiraiya joked, sitting down in the chair he was previously in. Iruka copied, his own smiling falling after the little joke, sighing slightly. "You know... there isn't any guarantee that we can keep Itachi alive."

At that, Jiraiya grew serious. "I know; I'm surprised that you actually agreed to it, Tsunade. You know the council will maul you alive for bringing the option up." Said she-wolf let out a dry bark of laughter, far from amused, her eyebrows furrowed in her frustration. "They can try... besides, I only agreed because I really thought there was an alternative... it would have made the brat happy."

"How do you know that there really is one?"

Tsunade looked over at Iruka with an irritated look on her face, the visage barely affecting the guardian, before shook her head. "I don't. I only assumed. I never said that preserving Itachi's life will happened... only that is was a possibility." Iruka shook his head, rubbing at his temple with a slightly worried expression. "A very low possibility.... ugh, now what? I don't know of any other way to keep him alive... he can't remain in the prison hold for the rest of his life; that would be rather stupid, for he'd just stay for all eternity unless one of us kill him... there really isn't a reason as to why he should live..."

"Except to make Sasuke happy, which results in Naruto being happy." Jiraiya finished; he wasn't too keen on Sasuke yet, but if he made Naruto happy, then he at least saw him as a valuable ally, in the least. The three of them remained silent, thinking, pondering on what should be done about the situation that presented itself to them. Tsunade leaned her head back, letting out a sigh. "Typical... leave it to the brat to have us think over things we shouldn't." She said, a humorless chuckle releasing from her throat.

Again, silence reigned over the three for a moment longer, at least until Iruka perked up. "Well... there is one way." Both council members looked up and to Iruka, a spark of interest in their eyes. "Well? Shoot away; I'm open for thoughts." Tsunade grunted, raising a brow towards the guardian. He shrugged his shoulders, moving so he leaned forwards, growing rather serious.

"Well... when I was a pup... there was the creation of a strange concentration among chakra... the elders called it 'jutsu.' I'm pretty sure you've heard of it during your training." Both Tsunade and Jiraiya nodded, now intent and all the more interested at what Iruka thought about. "In my own training, we received a bit of background among it. Not as much as you two, but background all the same. My sensei spoke of a jutsu that he wasn't suppose to... among the forbidden laws of the pack, I believe. He called it...Purification. He said that it was meant to be used on those to rid of their demonic chakra... most likely their immortality as well."

Tsunade growled, eyes narrowing. "I know of that... it is, indeed, forbidden, unless it is absolutely necessary... I guess you can call this necessary. But, that jutsu is forbidden for a reason; it requires the soul of a pure-hearted woman, human or no. It is said that our ancestors used it to contain a greater power once before, and it has never been used again."

Iruka furrowed his brows. "What of the demonic chakra?"

"The demonic chakra is purified by the woman's soul, destroying it completely, leaving the owner of the chakra completely mortal, weak. Death awaited the owner if no action is taken to care for them. The woman dies immediately after... who knows what happens to the soul."

At the news, Iruka's face fell slightly, letting out a sigh. "So... it's back to the drawing board, huh?"

"Technically, no."

Iruka and Tsunade looked over at Jiraiya, both a bit surprised at his comment, tilting their heads. "There is another jutsu that has been used many more times that its original predicessor. It is said to be called Soul Transition. Though it isn't at a literal sense, it does captures specific target's chakra and entraps it inside a special-made container... the name of the containers escape me, sadly. Anyway, this jutsu is much safer than the previous one, but not many know about it, much less know how to perform it."

Iruka pursed his lips, confused. "So... you are saying that if we knew how to do the jutsu, Itachi will be free to live as a mortal... virtually harmless. But, you are also telling us than no one knows how to conduct the jutsu?" Jiraiya shook his head. "Well, we can't... but one person I know can."

Tsunade suddenly growled, her fangs gnawing into her bottom lip as she sat up, as if disgusted. "You aren't talking about him, are you?" Jiraiya looked over at the head medic, a look on his face that told all she needed to know. Again, she growled, more annoyed than angry. "You know how much I hate him! He's so... strange... and something about his scent always seemed off. I don't like it; he can't be trusted."

"I'm not saying that he can be trusted. What I am saying is that he is the only one that can do this... The elders always had a weird liking to him, but we will keep a close eye on him ourselves. We are better than those half-baked wolves anyways."

Tsunade backed down, albeit reluctantly, leaning against the chair with an exasperated sigh. "Fine..." She grumbled, furrowing her brows. Iruka wasn't any better in his own mood, but he remained calm about it, getting up and nodding his head. "Well, I guess it is settled. I will go and assemble the elders at once. If what you say about him is true, then keeping the eldest Uchiha alive will be much easier than we bargained for."

Sasuke blinked his dark eyes slowly, staring intently ahead of him, his ears barely hearing the words that flew from his companion's mouth. At the moment, he really wasn't listening to the conversation; instead, his mind wandered over the thoughts of the blonde haired fox he called his mate, although one couldn't really blame him.

The Uchiha, though never admitting it, was rather nervous about the ordeal he had put Naruto in. Being that he was alpha, it was he who had to deal with the council before anyone one else did, and he knew that some of the elders still disliked the blonde for various reasons. Discussing about keeping Itachi alive... 'They would try and chew him out... and besides...' The brunette thought, furrowing his brows, his fists unconsciously tightening against the fabric of his jeans before moving slowly to his belly, feeling something akin to nervousness stirring within. A fang dug into his lower lip, drawing a bead of blood, but he paid no attention to it, too caught up in his troubling thoughts to notice.

At least, until he felt warm, wet flesh run over the wound, making him jerk back with alert, wide eyes.

Dark orbs stared into the turquoise optics of Sakura, the she-wolf grinning wildly and chortling humorously. A laugh was released when the Uchiha blinked at her, quiet, his troubled mind slowly processing what just happened. "Did... did you just lick me?" He murmured, as if horrified. However, Sakura looked as if she couldn't care any less than what she did, shrugging her shoulders casually. "Why, yes I did." She commented, her grin growing as she continued to giggle.

The Uchiha, however, was far from amused, his eyes flashing as he glared at the she-wolf. "That is very disgusting, Sakura." He said, his lips curled in disgust, wiping at his mouth harshly to rid of the spit the pink-haired woman left. She only laughed out loud at his statement, leaning back on her arms to support her upright body. "Ha! As if you care; I was only cleaning that wound of yours."

Twisting her body slightly, Sakura brought a hand up and poked at the little puncture in Sasuke's bottom lip, the skin already sealing over and working to make the skin flawless once more. "Besides, werewolves lick each other's wounds all the time. It isn't anything to be disgusted about."

"I find it pretty nasty to have another's tongue on my lips, much less my body, regardless."

At that, Sakura suddenly smirked, raising her eyebrows in a sly manner as she waggled them suggestively. "Oh? You don't seem to mind when Naruto does it."

It was funny, seeing the young Uchiha gape at the she-wolf, a red tint taking up onto his cheeks. "Sometimes, I have the right mind to burst into you two's room and yank Naruto away from the main event; you are pretty vocal during your after-dark 'sessions' with my best bud... more so than one would expect from an Uchiha actually."

At this point, Sasuke's face was almost redder than a tomato, his eyebrows drawn together to inhance the glare he had on Sakura, but to his disappointment, the glare didn't faze the woman any. She simply continued to laugh at his expression, almost to the point that she was rolling, but finally, her laughter died away.

"Okay... in all seriousness, I know why you zoned out on me."

The sudden change in Sakura's attitude made Sasuke snap from his blush-trance, looking up to the pink-haired woman with a slightly blank expression. "It's about Naruto's visit the council, isn't it?" When the Uchiha turned away, hiding his visage, Sakura allowed a smile to form, her eyebrows raised. "You know he'll be fine, right? Besides, he doesn't go straight to the council room. He always goes to Tsunade first, due to her being the head councilman; a big coincidence that she just happens to be his aunt too, huh?"

Sasuke didn't answer, but the relaxed posture he was beginning to have made the she-wolf grin, leaning back slightly as she did. "So you see, there's nothin' to worry over!" The Uchiha snorted, looking away for a moment. "That isn't my only worry..." He murmered, not entirely concious that he had said so aloud, at least until Sakura suddenly pushed at his arm to gain his attention.

"What else is there for you to worry over?"

Sakura watched as Sasuke looked away again, shaking his head, finding his behavior rather... strange; Sasuke never acted the way he was now, even when he was very upset. Aside from worrying about his mate, something more bother the male... something huge, it seemed.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" She asked, suddenly worried now that she noticed his subtle changes in the way he looked at her, the way he bit at his lip, much more often than what she would have liked. "C'mon, Sasuke, you can trust me, if it is that personal to you..."

Sasuke snorted, almost in a disbelieving way, but Sakura knew the Uchiha long enough to know his bluff; something was definitely bothering him. Despite the snort, Sasuke did keep his gaze away from Sakura in defeat, his lips parting as he let out a silent huff of breath. "I honestly don't know..." He grunted lowly, so low that the she-wolf almost didn't hear him.

"Mind telling me how this... 'worry' makes you feel?"

"Weird."

Sakura's brows rose up at the comment, but before she could even question it, her mind gave a jolt. She sat upright at the abrupt shock, her body shivering slightly at the familiar force of her puphood friend's chakra. "Jeez, Naruto! That hurt!" She growled, only to recieve something pushing back at her, almost snorting or scoffing. "Now's not the time to complain; I'm being called into a meeting."

"So fast?"

"Apparently so. Whatever Tsunade said to the council must have either convinced them, or wanted me there to immediately try to kill me with their lectures. Either way, it's a meeting."

"Should I tell Sasuke?"

"It's the reason I called for you. Occupy him, take his mind of off things; I can sense his worry from all the way over here."

"Will do."

As soon as they broke their connection, Sakura turned to look at Sasuke, her mouth upturned in a large grin. "Hey Sasuke, how about you come hunting with me and the patrol? We could use the extra hand." At that, the Uchiha blinked slowly, furrowing his brows slightly in a curious fashion. "...Hunting?"

To Be Continued....

Short, sweet, and to the point. :3 I didn't want to immediately tell you all who they were gonna summon, but I have a feeling that you may have a hunch on who it is. And what's wrong with Sasuke? Again, I think you all may know as to what it is. ;3 You can guess, but I ain't tellin' 'till the next chapter! ^^ By the way, those so-called jutsus up there in the story are made up,( I think they are, at least) so don't freak out about them, please. I know they aren't in the show, I just needed something for this story to start rollin' and continue to roll.

Jutsu has a slightly different use here than it does in the show... think of it as a spell of sorts for this story. *shrugs*

Not so much as a first chapter. More like a prologue, or the prequel of the official first chapter. Don't worry; you'll see much more characters in the story, and I'm gonna try to get more action for each of them instead of solely focusing on Naruto and Sasuke. Other characters need love too! D:

Anywho, I apologize for the wait, but I'm afraid you all have to get use to the waiting for awhile... basketball practice is killing me, but I won't bore you with stories about my life. ^^

So, I hope you enjoyed the prologue/prequel of Chapter 1, and the official Chapter 1 will come along as soon as I can get to it!

Happy Hunting! :3