Kurenai was shocked at Itachi's behavior. She yanked backwards and snapped her teeth, threatening to nip him again. Itachi smiled and slid back.

"Kurenai…" he murmured, holding her face in his hands. "You taste good."

"Is that a compliment?" Kurenai asked, feeling Itachi's hand fisted in her hair. Itachi smiled and licked his lips.

"Indeed it is," he said, releasing her. Kurenai immediately scooted back, trying to avoid another show of intimacy from Itachi.

"I'm not kissing you again, if that's what you want," Itachi said, trying to hide his disappointment. "Come on; I'll clean you up."

Kurenai hesitated. "This better not be a trick of some sort," she threatened. "Or I swear, I will hurt you so bad-"

"Yeah, yeah," Itachi said. "Kakashi said he was going to demolish me and he wound up in a coma for a week. Asuma said he was going to pummel me into the ground, and he wound up road kill. Tsunade said-"

"Point taken," Kurenai mumbled. "But I will leave a mark if this is more crap from you!"

Itachi sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Mother."

Kurenai reached down and promptly smacked Itachi over the head.

"Okay, that I let you do," he confessed, standing up.

Kurenai mimicked Itachi, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Let's go, brat," Itachi said, standing up. "You want to get clean, don't you?"

"Sure, I want to be clean, but sex will only get me dirtier, right?"

"Wh-what are you trying to say-?"

Kurenai flipped off Itachi and proceeded to Itachi's bedroom.

OOOOOOOOO

Itachi waited, watching TV with no particular interest at all while Kurenai showered. "Boring…is that a movie…? Oh, no this is the porn channel…Boring…boring…boring…Apollo 13…boring…boring…Desperate Housewives…Oh, let's watch that!"

"Don't," Kurenai said dryly, walking out of the bathroom. Her hair was dripping wet, and the water was pooling on the rug. Itachi sighed and turned off the TV.

"You're going to have to go with your own lingerie, since I don't wear thongs or any female things like that. I've got a shirt and some pants that might work, though."

"Fine," Kurenai said, finding her clothes. "By the way, we use the same shampoo."

"What?!"

"Yeah, shameful for a man, I know."

"Shut up."

"Why should I?"

"Because I'm telling you to."

"What are you gonna do, bite me?"

"Yes! No…Aw, screw it!!"

"You're annoying, you know that?"

"I know; I get it from my mom."

"Shut up!!"

"Oh, I'm scared!"

"You should be!"

Itachi made a face and turned away. "I'm not putting up with any crap from you."

"I've already bitten you three, four times by now," Kurenai snapped waspishly.

"And I think we all know who wears the thong in this relationship, right?"

"Right; me!"

"You are a disgrace!"

"To men, yes!"

Kurenai found a brush lying in the corner of the dresser and began brushing out her hair. "That's mine!" Itachi cried.

"Tough noodles with a female," Kurenai said unrepentantly. "You take a female prisoner and offer to let her clean up in your room, you take what you get."

"I really hate you."

"I know you do."

Kurenai took her underwear and other undergarments back into the bathroom to change. The door slammed shut, and Itachi began flipping through the channels again.

The apartment door slammed.

Itachi turned slightly, simply to see who it was. His roommate, Kisame, walked in, looking absolutely spent. He dumped Samehada in the closet just to the left of the door and proceeded to collapse on the couch, landing on Itachi's legs.

Itachi gave him a horrendous stare.

"Get up. Now."

"I'm too tired to mooooooove," Kisame whined. Itachi bucked his legs irritably, trying to get Kisame up. The missing-nin was unceremoniously dumped to the floor, and Itachi kicked him in the head.

"Stoooooooop," Kisame moaned. Itachi cocked a leg and kicked him soundly again. "Bitch," Kisame mumbled, reclining against the front of the couch.

"Move it, hell shit!" Itachi shouted, thumping Kisame in the skull. The former Mist nin made a face and slithered over to the bathroom. "Who's in there?" he asked, perplexed.

"Kurenai," Itachi said, settling on the pillows. Kisame's eyes widened.

"You're letting your prisoner clean herself up? In your bathroom?!"

"Yup," Itachi said matter-of-factly. "Got a problem with that?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," Kisame said tartly.

"Deal with it," Itachi said lazily, just as Kurenai waltzed out of the bathroom, covered only with a bra and a tiny pair of underwear that looked like the bottom of a string bikini to Kisame. His eyes nearly popped out of his skull and they followed her out of the bathroom.

"Kisame, no ideas," Itachi said lazily, tossing a pair of pants and a shirt to Kurenai. "She's mine."

"I'm no one's," the jounin bit back, yanking on the pants. "These are huge," she muttered, pulling up the pants. "You have one huge ass," she complained.

"Suck it up and deal," Itachi said, throwing the TV remote onto the coffee table in front of him.

"They really need to make these things for women," Kurenai continued as she pulled the shirt over her head. She saw a hair tie lying on the dresser next to the hairbrush she had found and tied the shirt in the back. Itachi could clearly see the outline of her form now, and Kurenai seemed much more comfortable. She looked around and, spotting the roll of bandages on the vanity in the bathroom, she stuck her hand in the door, grabbed the bandages and began winding them around her lower legs. Itachi simply stared, then sighed.

"Girls," he mumbled, standing up. "Always have to look perfect."

"With your hair?" Kurenai asked disparagingly. "You've got hair as pampered as mine!"

"Problem…?"

Kurenai rolled her eyes. "Figure it out, fuzz-for-brains."

Itachi sighed. "When I am finished with you, you won't be able to feel your ass for a week!"

"Keep dreaming," Kurenai said flippantly. "It might actually come true in one of my illusions!"

Itachi grumbled something horrible about "takes after her Hokage" and "whore" under his breath, then turned off the TV and stood up.

"How would you feel about joining us?"

Kurenai was shocked. "What ever gave you that idea?!"

Itachi shrugged. "Your boyfriend is Asuma right..? Sarutobi Asuma…one of the Elite Twelve…"

Kurenai's eyes narrowed. "What's he got to do with anything?"

"He'll probably come for you, and if you want him to leave alive, you owe me a couple favors."

"You…make…me…sick!"

"I know," Itachi said with a sarcastic shrug. "I get it from him."

Kisame looked up from the floor. "Hey! I've never told you what a ho you are!"

"That's because you're small and insignificant, because teaming up with me was your idea, and because I will pummel you if you do."

Kisame gulped and scooted backwards across the rug. "Okay-three very good reasons-I'm going now…"

Itachi sighed and turned around. Kurenai looked over his shoulder at the retreating Kisame, who was making horrible faces at Itachi's back.

"Is he okay?" she asked slowly. Itachi sighed again.

"I ask myself that question every day."

OOOOOOOOO

"Uchiha Itachi!!"

Itachi threw a kunai at the door. "Exploding tag."

"What a load of bull-"

The tag exploded, and Kurenai had to smile at the shout of surprise from behind the door. "You've got to be kidding me."

Itachi shook his head. "He's a moron."

Kurenai exhaled slowly and ran a hand through her hair. Three days in this hellhole and already she was used to life in the Akatsuki. "Should I let him in?"

"I blew down the door, smart one."

"It's not crumbling."

"Tough luck for whatever sucker's out there."

"What if I told you it was your leader?"

"What if I told you to stop lying?"

Kurenai locked eyes with Itachi, and Itachi could have sworn sparks jumped between the two of them. Finally, Itachi sighed heavily and went to the door. Peeking through the massive hole he had just blown, he snorted.

"I will never know how you do that."

Kurenai shrugged and took Itachi's place on the couch. "I'm special that way."

Itachi raised a hand and muttered something Kurenai couldn't catch. The door immediately repaired itself, and Itachi slowly opened it. "Whoops."

"Where's Yuuhi Kurenai?" the leader muttered, brushing ash off of his cloak. Itachi wordlessly pointed to Kurenai, who was playing with a handfull of kunai.

"You want something?" she asked, looking up at the sound of her name.

"As a matter of fact, I do," he said, pacing swiftly towards her. Kurenai's grip on the kunai shifted, and she slowly stood up and stepped away from the couch. "What do you want?"

"You know a guy named Sarutobi Asuma?"

Kurenai turned her head slightly to the side, staring at the leader through a curtain of black hair. "Why do you need to know?"

"Just curious," he said dismissively. "I mean, his life isn't really important, now is it?"

Kurenai's eyes widened. "You wouldn't dare."

"We would," the leader threatened, moving closer. Kurenai stared at the shock of orange hair sticking straight up in a series of spikes.

"Why would you go after Asuma?"

"He's your boyfriend. Reason enough for me."

Kurenai's eyes narrowed to cat-like slits. "There's more."

A smirk played across the leader's lips. "Of course there is, sweet little tiger."

Kurenai's kunai ascended to a dangerous height. "You have ten seconds before I flatten you."

"Itachi, do you normally allow her to mouth off this much?" the leader asked, feigning shock. "Well, I never!"

Itachi shrugged. "She's not killing anybody and she's not doing any harm. Why not?"

"One…two…"

The leader gave an exaggerated sigh and turned back to her. "Okay, little lady. Since you're so vehement about this, I'll let you know the inside scoop."

"Three…four…!"

"He's a jinchuuriki."

A/N: Sorry this is a little short. I will be updating every week or so, because I have a couple other stories going as well. So…this will be updated, but it might take a while. And for those of you wondering, the leader of the Akatsuki was never named, at least to my knowledge. So if anyone knows his name, I'd love to know. Thanks, and enjoy the fic!!!