Hey everyone!

So, I've been hearing requests on and off to repost and/or finish The Kill. As the story is, it was outside my ability to complete because I've changed so much as a writer since then. However, I'm going to take a shot at revamping and completing it. Some of the chapters will be reminiscent of the others, but I'm trying to make the story a little more realistic (as difficult as that may be and I'll probably fail fantastically) and give the characters and plot a little more life. Because I'm changing a lot but keeping the same premise, I've decided to change the title. It will be taken in a new but similar direction. We still have the MadaSakuSasu love triangle, but things will play out differently and the characters have changed a lot. I'm trying to make them more human, Madara especially. He's still going to be an asshole...but he's going to be a realistic, HUMAN asshole. ;)

Without further ado, I present to you the first chapter of Why the Caged Bird Sings!

1

-Conviction-

"Send Takahashi-san up to the office. Now, and don't keep me waiting."

Uchiha Madara was a patient man—when he was not trifled with. Takahashi Ume had pushed her luck with him one too many times. The woman was certainly a valuable asset when she wasn't giving her own opinion on matters. It was obvious she thought she knew better and had a right to say something about it—which meant she needed to be put in her place.

She was his secretary, not his mother, and his mother was long since dead.

The quiet ticking of the clock he found strangely soothing as he flipped through the file folder for which he had accumulated many documents over the course of the past three years. It contained mundane things such as a photocopy of a birth certificate, social security information, and thumbprint scans—nothing of real importance to him. What concerned him were the photographs of the lovely young lady he would soon call his own.

Her short pink hair reflected her spunky and cheerful personality while her green eyes shone with a wisdom and intelligence beyond her twenty years of age. Her facial structure was elegant, with her straight nose, thin eyebrows, and full lips. Her cheekbones were high, giving her a heart-shaped face that he had long ago begun to desire. With every day that desire grew, unendingly, and he knew that he would need to act soon to obtain his prize.

Her body wasn't that of a goddess, with only a full B cup although she had proportional hips that were full and ready for childbirth. However, Madara had been with enough 'goddesses' to know that the fullness of a body was unimportant if one didn't know how to use it. He had slept with plenty of Tokyo's most beautiful women—models, actresses, singers, and so on—and they certainly knew how to use their bodies. But there was always something missing.

The young woman, a virgin, would be easily his to mold to his liking. As far as he knew, she had only kissed one person, and that was one of her greatest regrets. He knew she had been saving it for a certain someone else…but that was unimportant. There was no competition for her. The feelings she held for his young relative were a nonissue, as Uchiha Sasuke was barely a man and nowhere near ready for the relationship she needed; the relationship that Madara could give. Sasuke may have secretly returned her feelings, but again, it was unimportant. He was an Uchiha, and as head of the Uchiha family, the unfortunate boy would be forced to obey his elder's decisions.

She would be forced to obey his decisions, as soon as she became an Uchiha…and this was one thing he did not have the patience for.

Haruno Sakura had always wanted to be an Uchiha, he knew, as she had been pining for Sasuke ever since they began to go to school together in lower secondary school. He had met her then and seen it for himself, although at the time it had been nothing to him. Sasuke had been something of an obsession for her, but to his great displeasure he found that when he had taken interest in her, at her age of seventeen, her infatuation had turned to a love disguised as friendship. It had disturbed him at the time that she was so committed to Sasuke she would stop chasing him if only to be friends, for the sake of any relationship at all with him.

Now that he had made up his mind about her, however, it would only ever been friendship, if he allowed even that. He had contemplated a restraining order on the boy, in case he ever decided to come close to her.

Haruno Sakura would be an Uchiha, as she had always wished, but it would not be to Sasuke she would be married.

It would be to him.

She was his and his alone.

There was a light rapping on the door and Madara observed that Ume had taken her sweet, sweet time coming up. Yes, she had been on her lunch break, but unfortunately for her he wasn't paying her to eat; he was paying her to work for him at any time, any place.

"Come in," he said tersely. The door opened and in walked Takahashi Ume.

She was tall and curvaceous, with short, crew-cut dyed red hair. She had eyes a similar color to Sakura's, with the exception that Sakura's shone with beauty and love while Ume had hard, conniving eyes. Madara could openly state that he and Ume were of the same mindset, but she was still below him and that needed to be made clear.

"You called, Madara-sama?" Her deep, almost masculine voice was somewhat defiant. Madara frowned; she had certainly gotten out of line recently.

"Sit." It was an order.

Ume nodded and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. They were burgundy leather with a mahogany wood frame, matching his desk and chair and complimenting the large office's cream colored walls and black-and-crimson themes.

He let her sit there for a good long time, wasting away her lunch hour while he went back to browsing Sakura's file. Her GPA at Tokyo University was a proud 4.0, but that was not surprising. Madara would not just marry any girl off the street—she had to be intelligent, mature, and all-around perfect. Indeed, everything that Sakura was.

Ume didn't dare clear her throat, as she had been taught to be respectful to her elders, even if that had been faltering as of late. Madara glanced at the clock. Yes, she only had about ten minutes left of her lunch break at this point, which meant that by the time they were done talking she would be expected to work again. It was just as he had intended.

"Takahashi-san. Your performance as of late has been lacking." His voice was cold.

Ume raised her eyebrow, another subtle act of rebellion that he did not appreciate. He frowned as she began to speak. "What makes you say that, Madara-sama?"

His frown deepened. "Exactly that. Your attitude is far from exemplary and that is not tolerated at Uchiha Corp. It brings down the work ethic of my employees." Madara allowed himself a frigid, sarcastic smile. "We wouldn't want that, would we?"

Ume glared, which he matched with an even more intimidating expression. After a long moment, she averted her eyes and submitted to his authority, which pleased him. She still knew who was in charge.

"With all due respect, Madara-sama," Ume said slowly, "I have reason to believe that your particular ethics are lacking, as well."

Madara looked at her, unconcerned by her statement. "You read the file."

Ume nodded. "Yes, Madara-sama, and all I can say is that what you're doing is wrong. She's young—twenty years old! That's not old enough to marry someone like you. You're-"

Madara laughed suddenly, bringing her to a complete halt. She looked at him, questioningly rather than angrily.

"Are you married yourself, Ume-chan?" His condescending tone was meant to be insulting, as well as the content of his words. Ume blanched, then reddened.

"You know the reasons behind my-"

"Are you married?" He immediately switched from condescending to a threat most others wouldn't dream of confronting.

To her credit, Ume didn't flinch, but the look on her face was enough to tell she had been put in her place. "No, Madara-sama," she said quietly. "I never will be."

"Then you should reevaluate how you judge others. You may not approve of my actions, but remember this—you are not involved, and you never will be. If I find out that you have slandered me in any way, you will find yourself buried in a lawsuit so fast you won't be able to collect your next paycheck before you find yourself unemployed for the rest of your life. Am I clear?"

Ume did not make eye contact with him, which was good, but she also did not speak.

"Am I clear?" he repeated harshly.

"Yes, Madara-sama." Her tone was soft and defeated. He had played dirty this time—but then again, Madara was never one to follow the rules.

"Very well then," he said, suddenly pleasant. "I will expect the merger proposal for Konoha, Inc. to be ready by tomorrow. Set up a meeting with Senju Tsunade for as soon as possible."

"Yes, Madara-sama," Ume replied automatically. Her disrespectful antics were no more.

"Dismissed," Madara said, waving her off. "Oh, and Ume-chan."

She had stood and turned to leave, but she looked back over her shoulder at him.

"If I ever discover you to have gone through my files again, I will fire you for invasion of privacy. As you well know, a discrepancy as such will also hinder you from being hired anywhere other than…what is that American restaurant? McDonald's?" Madara laughed coldly.

"Understood, Madara-sama," Ume said, reddening once more, but in embarrassment.

"That is all."

Ume nodded robotically and then left the room, the door clicking shut behind her.

Madara instantly returned to the Haruno Sakura's file, murmuring to himself, "Soon you will be mine, Sakura-chan. Mine, and mine alone."

The tall skyscrapers of Tokyo flashed by him as he sat in the back of the limousine that had been his transportation, the cloudy gray sky promising rain in the near future. However, Uchiha Madara's mind was focused solely on the woman's voice coming from the other side of his cellphone.

"Senju-san has refuted the business merger," Ume was saying with more than a touch of irritation. "Her email states that she sees little to be gained by merging with Uchiha Corp."

Madara hummed noncommittally. "I expected as much. She has Hashirama's spunk, I'll admit that. I believe it's time to up the ante so that she may see the wisdom in accepting my offer."

"Yes, Madara-sama. I've already prepared the order to begin manufacturing the counter to their product line. Once the Uchiha Corp. line of cellular technology is out on the market, their profit margin will fall dramatically."

"Good. Perhaps preventing her company from going under will be motivation enough to reconsider her response. Anything else?"

"No," Ume replied. "That's all."

"Very well. I want the manufacturer to begin production immediately. Have a good evening, Takahashi-san."

"Thank you, Madara-sama, you as well." The phone line went dead.

While not surprised by Tsunade's response to his offer of a business merger, he was still irritated by it. He had no actual need for the Konoha, Inc. to be a part of the Uchiha Corp. business group, but he needed control over the employees—one in specific.

If there was one thing he had learned about his dear Sakura, it was that she could not stand others suffering on her behalf. Her adopted father, Hatake Kakashi, would be the first to pay for her inevitable defiance.

As far as the young woman was aware, they only knew each other in passing. He had been introduced to her through Uchiha Sasuke—her long-standing crush—four years ago at the boy's birthday party. She had been barely sixteen at the time, but the amicable conversation they'd had somehow sparked his interest. She had been about to apply to Tokyo University a year earlier than her classmates due to outstanding performance in upper high school and had been ecstatic enough at her accomplishments to speak to a strange about it. At first, he'd tolerated it as an adult who could appreciate the younger generation's fervor for life, although the fact that she was particularly attractive despite her young age had played a part in his lasting attention. The way her eyes had sparkled as she talked became enthralling, however, and the way she spoke with such maturity, intelligence, and perceptiveness became enchanting. Over time, the conversation had left her schooling and went on to other topics such as the state of Tokyo's economy and opinions on Prime Minister at the time's political stances and those of his opponents in the upcoming election.

By the end of it, he was sorely wishing he wasn't thirty-six and she only sixteen. The girl was a gem, a treasure to be cherished.

She hadn't left his mind after that, but he'd been forced to acknowledge that she was simply too young, despite being legally able to consent to a relationship with him. With that thought, he'd put her out of his mind—however unsuccessfully.

It didn't stop him from making it a point to attend Sasuke's seventeenth birthday party for a chance to see her again.

This time, she'd been distracted and they'd barely gotten a chance to talk. She had greeted him politely, but she showed none of the interest in him that he had for her. It appeared that the last birthday party had been one where she felt out of place and had latched onto a stranger—him—in order to pass the time. Now that she was more comfortable in her surroundings, they talked briefly, he asked her if she'd gotten into Tokyo University and she'd replied with a yes, and then she'd been dragged off by a blond boy who he later learned was her best friend Uzumaki Naruto.

He remembered his distaste for her lack of attention to him very clearly, but even though it should have dissuaded him from pursuing her further, it had only piqued what would soon become an obsession.

That was when he'd started gathering information on her—not quite legally, he had to admit—and the interest became obsession and by the time it was time for Sasuke's eighteenth birthday, he couldn't wait to see her.

She hadn't been there—when he lightly questioned Sasuke, it turned out that she had caught the flu.

He hadn't bothered to go Sasuke's nineteenth birthday and there was no need to go to his twentieth; by that time, Sakura would be his.

On some level, he doubted she remembered him very well; they had seen each other only in passing at Sasuke's birthday parties and he hadn't seen her in nearly three years, even though on some level he hoped she hadn't forgotten him entirely. To his surprise, she had only recognized him as a relative of Sasuke's who was an accomplished businessman—if she knew him as the CEO of Uchiha Corp., one of the most reputable and established businesses in Japan, she had given no indication of it. It had been almost baffling but instead of being irritated, he found her naivety cute, even attractive.

She was his to mold, to turn into his perfect woman—and now she was old enough to fulfill the fantasies he'd been harboring for years, probably starting before it was entirely appropriate.

But the factor of age was of no consequence to him; she was legal and twenty was young enough to be her own person, but not so much that she was incapable of being changed to his liking.

Having reached the more affluent neighborhood of Tokyo, Madara was brought out of his pleasant thoughts about his beloved Sakura when the limousine stopped in front of his home. The home was enormous by the average Japanese person's standards with sprawling rock gardens and a lavish but traditional Japanese structure. The limo parked in the driveway and the driver—his cousin's son, Uchiha Shisui—got out and opened the door for him.

"We've arrived, Madara-sama," the twenty-six year old said politely.

"Thank you, Shisui. You are dismissed." Madara picked up his briefcase and stepped out of the elongated car to go into his home.

He noticed that Izuna's black Honda was parked on the side of the house and he found that he was pleased his brother had come to visit. Izuna had had a rare genetic disorder that had rendered him blind when he was twenty-two, forcing him to have to live with a caretaker if he wished to still live on his own. Madara had gladly supported his brother in his endeavor to maintain independence and had hired a woman named Takekyo Kina to take care of him. Four years later, Takekyo Kina became Uchiha Kina when the two married—Madara hadn't approved at first for Kina could easily have been taking advantage of Izuna's disability to marry into the prestigious Uchiha name, but as time progressed he reevaluated the situation and found that Kina truly loved his brother.

However, his younger brother had gotten married before him, even if they weren't going to have children—Madara had not been too pleased with that and their parents, had they been alive, would have been disappointed in their elder child. Then he found Sakura and he had a newfound patience for her to mature to the point where he could possess her at last.

Izuna was the only person he trusted with the information about his obsession with Sakura, although the situation had been quite watered-down for the sake of his trusting otouto. All Izuna truly knew was that his aniki was enamored with a girl that was a little too young and he was waiting for her to grow up more before he made his move.

Thank the gods that it was finally time, although he had come to the conclusion that he should have started buttering up Konoha, Inc. much earlier than he had. It was of no consequence, however—his will would be realized in due time.

"Aniki, konbanwa," Izuna greeted from the sitting room when he heard his brother's telltale footsteps. Izuna had always had good instincts and they served him well in his blindness; he could tell his brother's approach simply from the way he walked.

"Konbanwa, Izuna, Kina-chan," Madara said amicably, placing his briefcase on the ground by the table and loosening his tie. "To what to I owe the visit?"

"We just thought it would be nice to see you," Kina said politely. "You haven't called in a while. Izuna-kun was growing worried."

That was true, he supposed. He'd been rather busy preparing to reunite permanently with his Sakura and make sure the merger with Konoha, Inc. was a success.

"You have nothing to worry about, otouto," Madara replied. "I have just been busy. There is much to do at Uchiha Corp."

Izuna laughed lightly. "Of course, of course. Kina-chan brought dinner, though. We thought a home-cooked meal might be a nice change of pace from Usaki-san."

"He always does cook so professionally," Kina agreed, admonishing. "No love put into that food at all." She smiled brightly at her brother-in-law. "So I thought I'd change it up a little."

Madara took a seat, finally noticing the delicious scent of Kina's cooking. One thing he couldn't fault the woman for was her skills in the kitchen; once he and Sakura were married, he would definitely have Kina teach her a few things. Of course, he had already ascertained that Sakura was proficient in cooking for herself through his data-gathering, but Kina was exceptional.

Expertly, the raven-haired woman began to unpack the food from the bag she'd brought and he couldn't deny that his mouth watered. Yes, Sakura would need to learn to cook like his brother's wife. Then, although he had nothing against the professional chef, Usaki could be replaced.

The meal was eaten peaceably with light conversation and shortly after, Izuna and Kina left. Madara was forced to acknowledge the relative quietude of the house without his guests, even though he had plenty of servants to take care of the place. But the moment the clock struck eight o'clock, all of them went home to their families and he was left alone.

As he walked up to his room and noticed the silence in the house, he couldn't help but feel a tickle of impatience. Once he was married to Sakura, there would be no silence at all. He would have her, and he planned that within a year or so after the marriage, they would have a child on the way. He planned to have at least two; and he would never come home to a cold, silent house again.

He couldn't imagine anything more perfect than a family, a life with Sakura.

Uchiha Madara was a patient man, but as he undressed and laid down to go to bed without a body to hold close, without someone to say goodnight to, he realized that his patience was running out.

Japanese Translations:

Konbanwa - good evening

otouto - little brother

aniki - big brother

So, that was short, but a lot longer than it was as the prologue of The Kill. Some of you may notice that I hardly altered the first part, while the second part is entirely new. You can expect that in some parts of the story. Some parts will still work for the story, but in essence, this IS a different story. I hope that makes sense!

Please review and tell me what you think of the changes!

Till next time,

Of Healing Love