AN: Because I could. I never get to write one shots anymore and I've never written an Ita Saku oneshot before. This has no real ending. Get over it.
"Why?" She snarled, tears of fury spilling down her lovely cheeks.
Itachi said nothing, there was nothing to say. Sakura had stripped him of all his evasive subtlety. She knew what he would say and therefore he would not justify himself with words. They simply weren't needed.
Sakura knew all too well what his answer would be, and it only caused her tears to gush further.
Because I cannot be what I am not. The unspoken words resonated in the space between them.
12 Anbu members critically injured returning from an 8 month mission from stone. 3 died at the hands of Uchiha Itachi having walked into a battle the Uchiha user was currently involved in without understanding that meeting Uchiha Itachi meant death, no matter how many Anbu they had. It was their arrogance that had led to their downfall. Itachi was caught in a three way battle with no way out.
Team seven, eight and nine had been sent to retrieve them, with an entire fleet of medics. Sakura had been up for two days and fifteen hours before their health had been stabilized. Severely drained of chakra she had passed out in a chair. Someone had taken her home when she awoke, but it didn't matter because the tears came anyways. Her tears were not for the dead, though she cried for the guilt of that too. She cried for him.
Konoha could only respond in turn. Every Anbu member available had been called back to go on the witch hunt; including one Haruno Sakura; Anbu Captain. Uchiha Itachi had been allowed to roam free for too long. Konoha wanted him alive, but would settle for his death at this point; whichever came first. Yet here she stood ahead of all the others, shouting at the man she loved.
"You didn't have to kill them" She accused.
He stood silent, regarding her with the same look as before. His unspoken words would not change.
He wouldn't defend himself to her; she, who knew him better than anyone else did. It was inevitable that it would come to this. He had been provoked into the battle, having stumbled across the Anbu group in the midst of his battle with nukenin, and all out pandemonium had ensued. He'd had no choice but to finish them off, and they had started the fight by trying to kill him. It wasn't in his nature to run, as the Anbu would have doggedly followed him and he could not leave them alive and unscathed as Aakatsuki would be compromised.
As it was he had barely escaped with his life. He could not have gotten out of the battle without some death, though he had tried to, another fact he would not bother telling her. He had decided on the plan with the least damage. He attacked, and killed when he had no other option, keeping Akatsuki appeased, and leaving as little death as possible.
He knew it would hurt her, but it hadn't been personal. It wasn't like he had killed them to spite her. She was a weakness; his weakness but he did not need to tell her anything that would upset her further as that information would un doubtably do. She was coming to mean a lot more to him than he ever thought possible. Therefore he stood silent under her own verbal and silent accusations.
"They want you dead. Are you satisfied? I'm supposed to turn you in on sight" Sakura choked.
"Then nothing has changed" Itachi replied.
"IT HAS changed! Did you not fucking hear me? Every Anbu squad is out searching for you." Sakura snapped.
"I was a wanted man before, Sakura" Itachi explained patiently.
"And you had to go and rub it in their faces!" Sakura cried. "They weren't focused on you and you threw up the bloody red flag."
"My fate has not changed" Itachi replied calmly.
"Damn you! Why did you have to do it?" She cried as she launched herself into his cloak.
Itachi's arms wrapped around her, in wonder at how the girl did this to him. He had thrown away all emotions and feelings long ago on his path for truth. She had made him feel, forced him to. In the past he had hesitated, had kept her as far from him as possible. She refused to let go. He had fought her in the forest, had kept her alive as an amusement, a thing to trifle with. Time and time again she had sought him out to try and kill him. He in his arrogance had kept her alive until she succeded.
Those fights had turned into something else entirely. She had kissed him during their 25th spar. It had become an addiction. They had tried to end their tryst several times and it hadn't worked. He was tired of fighting against it, perhaps that was why he lacked hesitation. Or perhaps it was this girl's way of disarming any one she was around for long enough. Sakura didn't live in a world of barriers and secrets. He supposed he loved her for it, if he were capable of love. He stroked her short hair as she muffled her sobs into his jacket.
"I did not mean to hurt you" He murmured.
"I hate this." She said with feeling.
"I know" He replied.
She and he were constantly somewhere in between, compromising themselves and the very positions and morals and rules they stood for. It was why they hadn't meant to start it in the first place. It was also why they couldn't end it. Because they were the same. Exactly the same when it all came down to it. The same shade of grey.
"Why did it have to be this way?" She choked.
"Because fate is inevitable" He replied steadily.
She trembled against him , hating him for his honesty.
"You can't die" She insisted, wrapping her fists in his cloak.
"Everything has a time and a place to die." Itachi remarked, factual as always.
"This isn't that time!" She snarled.
Itachi said nothing. They had never shared the same ideas about fate, or death ever. He respected her ideas all the same, but could never agree to them. He had seen too much death, had caused most of it, or at least had a part in it. He knew what lay beyond for him after what he had done and was willing to accept it. Always the martyr.
"Damn you, live for me." She cried. "Please" She trembled.
"I am yours." He replied as if that was obvious. Green eyes blurred with tears, streaking down those creamy cheeks.
"Is that all you have to say to me?" She sniffled, disappointment radiating from her very being. "After everything. You won't even fight it." She stated, grasping for him to understand how she needed this…she needed him.
"How can I continue to fight against something you love?" He retorted. "You're crying. If I fight them, I hurt you more. Something has to give, Sakura."
"You don't have to fight them. There has to be another way" Sakura pleaded.
"I drew the line in the sand long ago Sakura. There is nothing left for me but a traitor's death in Konoha. We've been through this, time and time again" He said softly.
"You know that's not true"
"That's the truth they accept. The only truth they will hear"
The tears continued to fall from her long black lashes and his image was blurry in her vision. He would not lie to her. He never had. He always presented things the way they were. Damn it! Damn him! She needed his lies. Anything but what they had now.
"Beg me." She replied, burying her head in his chest. Itachi ran his fingers through those petal soft tendrils, soothing her wracking sobs.
"Please Itachi. Please Ask me" She curled her gloved fingers around his Akatsuki cloak in desperation.
She needed to hear him say that he wanted her. She needed it. She could live in the darkness if she knew she was wanted. If he would guide her. If she could follow him through.
"I cannot beg. You know that. I will not ask. You know that as well. If you come to me it will be your own decision and nothing more. I will not have your regret, Sakura." Itachi replied.
"Damn your pride. This is important!" Sakura sobbed.
"Pride is always important in the end, is it not, Sakura? You sense them as I do. Make your choice" He said, extending his hands.
He waited for her to either take them or bind them. Either way Anbu were on their way.
"You're forcing this!" She sobbed.
"We've finally come to the fork in the road" Itachi replied with a shake of his head. "This is fate"
She could feel them looming closer. Her mind spun. How could she choose? What should she choose? What could she live with? Who could she not live without? With a cry of rage, Sakura's fist slammed into the ground with an impact that sent the next 20 miles of landscape into a crater from the epicenter.
Anbu members scattered from the sinking ground, avoiding rocks and trees that crashed as they fought to reach level ground. Several Anbu members were injured because of Sakura's famous strength, but no one was critically injured. When the dust settled, Itachi was nowhere to be found.