WARNING: If you thought "The Secrets That Keep Us Up All Night" was graphic and morbid, DO NOT READ THIS SEQUEL. I'm really going to push the envelope on this one. There WILL be a lot of violence, blood, language, and sexuality, and it won't be peaches and cream. DO NOT READ THIS STORY IF YOU CANNOT HANDLE VIOLENCE IN ITS EXTREME FORM.

THIS IS A PROLOGUE. All of these events are flashbacks, except for that little bit at the end. I'm too terribly excited about this story to hold it in.

"Can't sleep?" Sakura looked sympathetically at her husband as he wandered into the kitchen. He sighed, raking a hand through his hair.

"Headache."

Sakura frowned. "You've been getting a lot of those lately, Sasuke." He grunted, massaging his eyes.

"I can barely use my Sharingan these days." Her eyes widened.

"…..Have you been sore?"

"Yes. I keep having these dreams." Sakura waited for him to finish, afraid to ask. "My brother keeps invading my dreams. Telling me how I'm cursed. That I'm evil. Tell me, Sakura," he looked back at his wife, eyes wild, bleeding red to Mangekou, courtesy of Orochimaru. "Am I evil?"

"Sasuke, calm down-"

"You didn't answer the question, Sakura." Sasuke didn't look in his right mind anymore. "What am I? !"

"Sasuke, stop!" Sakura stood, grabbing his face. "Why is this coming up now?"

"I don't know, I don't know!" Sasuke's eyes squeezed shut. Sakura couldn't believe this was happening. The insomnia must have been worse than she originally thought.

"Sasuke, deep breaths." His breathing became harsh, choked. His Sharingan faded, face going pale, his mouth gasping.

"Sasuke? !" Sasuke fell to the ground, an ocean of blood pouring from his lips, sticky and black. "NO!" Sakura clutched to Sasuke, shaking him. "Not you too! Please! Don't leave me!"

O*O*O*O*O*

Sakura crashed into the ground, breathing hard, clutching her stomach. Hinata circled back around, Naruto hot on her heels. Sakura screamed like a wild animal.

"Sakura-chan! What happened?" Naruto kneeled by his friend, holding her hand. Sakura screamed louder, face contorted. Hinata turned on her Byakugan, scanning her body quickly.

When she could breathe, Sakura started to cry. "It's too soon! It won't survive!"

"What?" Naruto looked up helplessly to Hinata, who was looking similarly upset. Her white eyes scanned the desert. A sand storm had been on their tails since they hit the desert, but now it was upon them.

"Naruto, follow me!" Hinata's Byakugan was her only sight now, for the sand had blocked the sun, and everyone had to close their eyes to avoid the swirling sand. They barely made it inside the cave she had found before the sand storm became full force. Naruto placed Sakura inside, behind a pile of rocks to shield her from the storm. In vain, he tried to use his Namikaze jitsus to move the particles enough to pass through the storm to get to Suna. They were still fairly far away, but Naruto knew whatever was wrong with Sakura, it would be best dealt with in a hospital, or at least, not inside a raging storm. Nothing.

Naruto looked back at the two most important women in his life, watching one cry in fear, the other anxious with thought. "Hinata-chan, what's going on?"

"Please, Hinata, make it stop! Please!" Sakura begged between her sobs. "It's not time! It will die!"

"Uchiha-san, please calm down," Hinata used her doctor's voice, the comforting tone that was also commanding and firm. For most, this carefully practiced tone was soothing, assuring them that they had a calm and very proficient doctor. It fell on deaf ears. "Calm down, Sakura, you will make it worse." Sakura continued to cry, becoming incoherent as her back arched so far off the ground, she was balancing on the back of her head. As her spasm released, she choked on her scream, panting, coughing, crying.

Naruto knew better than to interrupt, but he still paced with worry around them, brow contracting with every desperate scream ripping apart Sakura's throat. Hinata finally looked up, concern etched over her expression. "Naruto, her baby is coming now."

Naruto stopped walking, staring, horrified. "But-but I thought-! She's only seven months! Barely that!" Hinata nodded, not surprised that Naruto knew so much about Sakura's second pregnancy. He wasn't able to participate in Sakura's first, and now that he was considering a family, he was desperate to help and learn.

"That's what I'm worried about. Sakura's right." Hinata gazed down at the weakly sobbing kunochi. "Her baby has been small through the whole pregnancy, and now he's coming early." Hinata motioned for Naruto to face away from Sakura and come closer. "I'm not sure he'll be able to breathe, not to mention that Sakura's body hasn't adjusted for childbirth yet. Without a hospital, there's a very real danger that her baby will never be born and they will both die."

Naruto's face was frozen in a rectus of complete terror. He shot back to the entrance of the cave, trying again to clear a space so they could escape. "FUCK!" He turned away from the swirling sand now blowing into the mouth of the cave. He slammed his fist into the wall, causing the rocks to break and crumble, thus completely blocking the entrance. Blood dripped from his knuckles as he pulled his hand from the rubble. "At least we'll be safe from the storm here," he said in a low voice. He came over to Sakura's side, kneeling. "What do we do?"

Sakura reached up and seized Naruto's hand, gripping it hard. Naruto cupped his other hand around hers, letting her crush his already wounded knuckles without complaint. She opened her eyes, looking at Naruto through her tears. She silently pleaded to him, begging for the strength to get through this. Naruto heard her, and nodded.

"Just hold on, Sakura-chan. I won't let anything happen to you."

O*O*O*O*O*

"I was innocent, Sasuke…..you're the monster." Sasuke tossed and turned, unable to wake, not even aware that he was dreaming. It was terrifyingly real, seemingly lasting weeks and weeks of seeing everything.

Itachi shook his head, blood pouring from his closed lids like tears. Sasuke couldn't move. He was shaking hard. The orange sky above him was riddled with black clouds, falcons circling overhead, crying for the blood below. "Do you even understand?" Itachi's face turned up, raising his eyelids. Sasuke cried out in horror. He had no eyes. "I gave you these."

"I don't! You never gave me your eyes!" Sasuke cried desperately, terrified at the sight. "You died with your eyes! You're lying!" Itachi blinked and his eyes were back, but the blood was still coming from them, as well as his mouth.

"Not those eyes, Sasuke. The other ones. The ones that let you use Mangekou."

"I had that before you died!"

Itachi tilted his head, smiling like he did when he was just a thirteen year old boy, before the massacre. "Are you blind? Because I am."

"What the fuck do you want from me? !" Sasuke tried to run, but the black mud under his feet was wrapping up his legs, holding him in place.

"I gave you my eyes, Sasuke, that's what I wanted. We are the brothers of the Uchiha clan, and you are the last one, because you killed me. You killed the last true Uchiha. You won't even take my gifts to become a better ninja, you just run away from our name." Sasuke shook his head, confused. He squeezed his eyes shut against the throbbing in his head, getting worse and worse with each word from Itachi's long silenced mouth. "You still live in your pathetic way. I did what was best for you, and you threw it away. Everyone calls you a coward. Uchiha is tainted forever because of you."

"SHUT UP!" Sasuke fought against his bonds, screaming as he saw the falcons begin to lower, their beady hungry gazes fixed on him.

"Give me my eyes back, Sasuke. You don't deserve them." Sasuke screamed as the falcons ripped out his eyes. Warm blood poured from his empty sockets as the pain in his skull reached fever pitch. His neck began to burn as the blood washed over it, igniting a long forgotten fire in his chest. "You sold your body to the devil, everyone knows that. What they don't know is that you sold your soul too, and the devil is here to collect. Only this time, I'm not here to save you."

Fire blossomed around Sasuke, consuming him completely; the fire he had thought he had shed years ago; the fire that took him completely in, that took every thought with it, fueled by ambition and hatred. It was all coming back, and now, there was no one to put it out.

Sasuke felt himself falling….

"Shit…" Sasuke sat up suddenly, eyes wide. He rubbed his face, feeling the cold sweat on his brow. Lightly, he touched the place on his neck that still burned. It was hot against his fingers, as if it actually had been branded.

He looked over at the right hand side of the bed, but Sakura wasn't there. A light shone from underneath the door. Sasuke sighed, sliding out of bed to join her.

O*O*O*O*O*

"Please! Please just kill me!" Sakura sobbed, reaching behind her to clutch at Naruto's arms. He was sitting up against a wall, Sakura propped up and supported between his legs. His jacket was draped over Sakura's naked lower body, hiding the sight from both of them. Hinata was peering between Sakura's legs, brow furrowed in concentration. "Let me die! I'm begging you!"

Naruto didn't answer, just holding on to her, letting her rip ribbons in his skin with her fingernails. When she descended into soft, hopeless sobbing, he pushed the hair from her face tenderly, stroking her tear streaked cheeks. "We're here, Sakura-chan. Hold on. You can do this." She whimpered.

This was so unlike her last birth. Though Tenmaki was a difficult pregnancy, Sakura's labor was only three hours, as if Tenmaki knew it was time to be born. There was a lot of swearing, and she punched Sasuke once. When it came time to push, all Sakura could say was "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" to no one in particular. As soon as Tenmaki was delivered, all of the anger went away.

Now, here was the same woman, weakly crying on the hard ground of a cave, begging for death even if it meant the death of her child. A sheer terror that wasn't there before pervaded the air. Tenmaki's birth may have been a trial of motherhood, but this was a war for two lives, and Sakura was ready to surrender after almost thirteen hours of pain.

Suddenly, a terrible scream ripped from Sakura's throat, her fingers digging so hard into Naruto's flesh that she punctured his skin deep. Naruto went pale. "Oh fuck!" A torrent of blood washed from between Sakura's thighs, soaking Naruto's jacket and Hinata's lap.

"Naruto, please!" Hinata snapped. She reached inside her bag, taking out a plastic case and removing a sharp scalpel from it. "Sakura, deep breath. When I say push, you need to do it, no matter what you feel." Hinata didn't wait for Sakura to give an answer, turning on her Byakugan.

The scalpel disappeared from their view a second before Sakura screamed again. When Naruto could see the scalpel again, it was awash with blood, and Hinata's arm was soaked with it up to the elbow. "Naruto, hold her!" Sakura began to thrash, fighting the unimaginable pain taking her apart. Naruto grabbed her as best as he could, restraining her arms and holding Sakura against his chest. He felt the blood creeping up his legs. "You need to push, Sakura, now!" Arching her back, Sakura did as she was told.

Naruto didn't know someone had so much blood in their body, nor could be believe that Sakura was still awake after all of that. Sakura finally relaxed, shaking and crying weakly. Hinata was sweating, her hands working on something neither could see. "Please…please…" Sakura begged over and over. Naruto held his breath, shaking with the shared effort of birth. His eyes stung, and as he blinked hard, he felt tears rolling down. "Please…" she whispered one last time before the light in her eyes went out.

"Sakura!" Naruto shook her, looking desperately to Hinata. He could see a blue child in Hinata's hands, a boy with a shock of black hair. He wasn't breathing.

O*O*O*O*O*

Naruto rubbed his stomach uncomfortably. His normally invisible seal for Kyuubi had appeared last night, bringing with it a deep burning sensation. He sat at his desk, trying to finish the reports so he could get some sleep, but the pain was distracting. He wanted to avoid telling Hinata about it though, no need for her to get worried.

He looked at the clock; three in the morning. Naruto rubbed his eyes, sighing. So tired….

He sat up, ears pricking. Something was seriously wrong. As he stood from the desk, a ripping pain in his stomach made him crash to the ground. He fought it, clutching at the wooden floor for a purchase. His suddenly sharp nails scored five deep grooves in the wood. Kitsune was waking.

"No!" Naruto protested, fighting the demon down. He could feel the whisker marks, his vision was sharp and orange. Eventually, Naruto pulled himself together enough to fight his way to his feet, taking off out the window.

He could feel something happening in the Uchiha district, something wrong. He ran as fast as he could without using any chakra. In this unstable state, Kyuubi would take any opportunity to break free. It felt like an eternity, running to his best friends' house only half a mile away. With each step, the intense burn of his seal increased.

Finally, he was at the Uchiha house. Naruto was half blind with the pain, but he broke down the door and towards the screams. Tenmaki was standing at the doorway of the kitchen, hand on the doorjamb, staring with a wide eyed blank look. Naruto stopped behind her, similarly fixated on the scene in front of him.

There was black blood everywhere, Sakura covered in it, screaming, and Sasuke on the floor, gurgling dark red foam. Sasuke's half dead eyes connected with Naruto's, and Naruto felt the insidious red chakra bubble from his skin.

"Sakura!" He managed to choke out an order. She turned, face covered in the sticky substance, tear tracks cutting twin rivers in the dark blood. "Get him to the hospital, now!" Naruto fell to his knees, fighting the urge to let Kitsune take over and kill the household. "I'll stay with Tenmaki! GO!"

Sakura seemed to break her horrified trance and hauled Sasuke over her shoulder and out into the night. As soon as Sasuke was gone, the stabbing sensation died down back to its slow burn, chakra calming. Naruto took deep breaths, looking back to the five year old.

"Tenmaki, are you okay?" He sat down, back to the doorjamb. She stared still, pale and questioning. Her brow began to crinkle in distress. "It's okay, Ten-chan. Come here." Naruto held his arms out to the small girl, who broke down in tears, throwing herself into his embrace.

"Naru, what happened to Daddy? What happened?" she bawled, clutching to Naruto's jacket. Naruto stroked her hair soothingly. He swallowed, nursing deep fears, knowing what it was that had finally taken a hold of Sasuke.

"Your daddy is sick, Ten-chan. But it's going to be okay." Tenmaki looked up at him, wiping tears from her face. Naruto patted her head. "You remember Hinata-san?" She nodded, still crying a little. "Well, she's very smart. I think she may know how to make your daddy better." He smiled with a confidence he didn't feel. Tenmaki gave him a shaky smile in return. "You feel a little better now?" She didn't respond, only to grasp herself back into Naruto's tear soaked shirt.

Naruto just hugged her again, hoping his words would come true, wondering anxiously Why is Kyuubi coming out? And why did I suddenly want to kill? What's happening to us?

As the sun came up on Konoha with no word from Sakura or Sasuke, Naruto was still holding an exhausted Tenmaki. Gaara will know what to do. He's had a demon before. Surely this has happened to him too.

O*O*O*O*O*

Come back… Sakura could feel her life fading away. After all the pain, both emotional and physical, she was ready to let go, to be with the rest of the dead in their land of dust. She too wanted to just be the particles in the wind, gazing without interest on the land of the living.

Come back, Sakura… Suddenly, through the dim gray that had enveloped her, she saw him, striding towards her. Those black eyes rimmed with almost female eyelashes. Itachi smiled at her. At this, she was convinced she had died.

You need to live, Sakura.

Why? she questioned back. I want to stay here with you.

Itachi looked at her in his special way, his smoldering eyes gazing into her soul, those eyes that she dreamt of every night. Sakura, I'm not here. I am not far, I promise. We will meet again, sometime soon, but you have to live.

Where? Where are you?

Wake up. Wake up now. Itachi smiled, head tilted, eyes closed. Your son is crying for you.

I have no son. Sakura thought bitterly. My newborn is dead, and I will die with him.

Sakura. Wake up. Naruto needs you. Sasuke needs you. And most of all your son needs you. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.

"SAKURA! Wake up!" Sakura shook her head weakly, opening her eyes. Naruto's blue eyes were looking down at her. He smiled. "Sakura! You have a son!"

"What?" she mumbled thickly. Hinata was at her side, smiling widely, flushing with joy, her hoodie in a bundle in her arms. "Son?" Nodding, Hinata placed the bundle on Sakura's chest. A pale boy with black hair sticking up wildly wailed at her from the fabric. Breathless, she wrapped her arms around the tiny being. He stopped crying, becoming peaceful.

Naruto helped her sit up a little against him so she could feed her newborn. Sakura didn't care that Naruto was right there, so entranced was she by the little miracle in her arms.

"That's…wow…" Naruto whispered in amazement. "I've never seen… what's his name going to be?"

Sakura thought, stroking the cheek of the tiny five pound child as he nursed. "I think I'm going to have to talk to Sasuke about that." She looked up at Naruto, who was gazing at the baby with a look of awe. Any other day, she would have called him a pervert and hit him, but she knew he was looking at her newborn, completely taken in by the experience of giving birth. She smiled tiredly, grateful for his support, the way he shared her pain. Sakura could see the bloody streaks on his arms and the blooming bruises she had inflicted on him. "I was thinking Minato."

Naruto looked up at her, shocked, then he grinned, rubbing the baby's hair. "Gonna steal my first kid's name, eh?" Sakura laughed weakly, feeling herself falling asleep.

She could finally rest.

O*O*O*O*O*

"Uchiha-san, wake up." A warm hand shook his shoulder gently. He winced, shifting around.

"Where am I?" He struggled to focus on the faces above him.

"The hospital, Uchiha-san." The first voice spoke. "You've been asleep for quite a while." He rubbed his eyes with heavy, unfamiliar hands.

"I'm not dead." It was somewhere between a statement and a question. The fog cleared and he could see their smiling faces. "Shizune?"

"Yes. And you remember Hinata? She saved your life."

He could vaguely remember such a person, from a long time ago, like a dream. His hands felt at his head, finding a long braid of charcoal hair. His hair. So many pieces missing…. Everything was swirling in his mind. He pushed himself up to sitting, feeling his hair, staring at his body. It was thin and pale, in white pajamas. His name…..

Uchiha Itachi.

WHOO! That was exhausting, and it's prolly confusing, but it's something to nibble on. Please review, and try not to kill me.