Interlude I

"See that you don't."

It left a chill along my spine. I turned towards him and could see a dark look in his eyes. I was...confused to say the least. I understood his concern somewhat, but still, to threaten an eight year old with death. There was something deeper at play here. This was not normal nor was it something I would have expected.

"You would threaten a child?" I asked after a moment. Shikaku's eyes glowed with an unholy light and I felt myself shiver as he spoke in a tone unlike the man I had just had dinner with.

"You're no child. You're anathema. An abomination born from an unholy union of worlds."

I swallowed as I stared at Shikak-no. This was not him. There was something eldritch in his eyes and I sensed that I was speaking with something other.

"I didn't choose this."

"Choices matter little in the game of gods. All that matters is that you are," Shikaku's voice had taken on a guttural tone as the creature spoke through his mouth.

"Why do you care if I walk the path of hatred?" I asked after a moment despite the cold sweat dripping down my back.

"Power is an odd thing, child," IT hissed, "It is a warning. If you awaken the mangekyou before it is time, worlds will shift and gods will perish, for this world is but a lynchpin in a larger game of existence. DO NOT AWAKEN THAT FOUL POWER."

Shadows rose from the grounds. Monsters of the existential ether snarled in an arcane language that was beyond my understanding. Hundreds of red sharingan eyes turned towards my shaking form.

I ran.

I let my chakra flow through my body as I rushed down suddenly empty streets. The creatures nipped at my heels as my legs burned from the exertion. I was moving faster than I ever had before. Still, the creatures chased me. Hunting. Hungry.

It began to rain and I screamed in agony as the drops hissed against my bare skin. Where the drops hit my skin, boils arose out of my flesh and calloused into smooth pearls. The pearls dropped from my body and filled the silence, for the rain made no noise, with dancing laughter as they hit the stone paved streets.

I slipped on a stone and I noticed then that they were not pearls. They were eyes. Sharingan eyes staring at me. Accusing me. Mocking that which I was not.

I screamed as the creatures tore into my flesh.