Juxtaposition

Chapter 2

It was the dull, insistent throbbing at the back of her head that had forced her back to consciousness.

Sakura emitted a little whimper as she opened her eyes. Light rushed into her sensitive retinas and blared a rude screech of pain to her brain. It was as if there were five mini anvil-wielding Narutos let loosed in her head, cackling evilly as they rampaged through her skull. Good god, what had she done to deserve this?

The recollection of what had happened prior to her unconscious state rushed back to her in the blink of an eye.

Forest.

Trees.

Cliff.

Akatsuki.

Sharingan.

Falling. Falling. Falling.

Unfocused emerald eyes widened. Uncaring of the discomfort her head was causing her Sakura jackknifed to a sitting position. The kunoichi winced inwardly as her sight wavered for a precarious second, then held. She quickly took in her surroundings. It was nighttime, she was in a darkened cave, and there was a small fire in the center accounting for the orange glow that flickered on the walls of the cavern. She had been lying in the deepest corner of the little rock formation and as she looked across the fire-

Crimson.

Sakura stiffened. She could not look away. Immediately the image of him coming towards her flashed across her mind like liquid quicksilver. The flare of those Sharingan eyes, the dark abyss that swallowed them both-

He had saved her.

Sakura's surprise was quickly dampened by his motives. 'Of course,' the pink-haired medic-nin thought sourly, 'he has to keep me alive so as to benefit him.' Sakura's mood became even worst as she contemplated her predicament. Great, now she was indebted to Uchiha Itachi. This day was just getting better and better.

Sakura continued staring at the dangerous S-class missing-nin across the fire. He hadn't blinked at all since her eyes met his, but Sakura was not interested in challenging the Akatsuki in a game of 'who can outstare each other the longest'. She had other things to worry about and had no intention of trying to engage him in a pissing contest. Sakura was relieved when she easily slid her gaze from his, and even she knew that her success was because he had allowed the action. A small part of her was angered by the notion, but the more 'life-loving' part of her shut her up. To put in simple terms, those Sharingan orbs disconcerted her.

Still keeping her guard up, the kunoichi quickly checked her body statistics. Her ANBU uniform was in place, her chakra level was normal, there were some bruises and cuts from the chase in the forest, and her head still hurt. Other than that there were no injuries on her body and Sakura marveled over the small miracle. She had just fallen off a cliff of indeterminate height and she didn't even have a scratch to show for it! It was highly ironic to her that a known sociopath like Itachi could be so successful at saving lives. She didn't know how he had managed to do it, but her lack of injuries quickly impressed upon Sakura just how good Itachi was in this type of perilous situations.

'Remind me never to drop him off a cliff if I ever have to kill him.' Sakura's morbid sense of humor chose the worst time to present itself, and the kunoichi winced inwardly.

The fine hair at the back of Sakura's nape stood up eerily then. She hadn't forgotten the presence of the Uchiha of course, nor had she been stupid enough to dismiss it. It wasn't possible for her to do so anyways. There was something about the dangerous male that made it very hard to overlook his presence. His aura expanded and filled up the entire cave; it was impossible not to feel the cold darkness, not to mention the quiet hostility that was his signature chakra. Warily, Sakura eyed the male once more. He was sitting in a deceptively casual manner, leaning against the cave wall with one long leg bent and the other stretched to its full length. An arm was draped almost lazily on his bent knee and he looked thoroughly relaxed if not for the slight tenseness of his shoulders the belied his entire posture.

Unbeknownst to Sakura, she stiffened her spine as well as she concentrated her full attention on the Akatsuki. Uchiha Itachi was a lone wolf, feral and deadly. It would do her well to have all her wits around her if she even hoped to survive this encounter with him.

Sakura licked her dry lips and eyed the Akatsuki cautiously. He showed no indication of speaking first, merely continued staring at her as if she was some sort of insignificant insect that had dared to crawl too near him. Once again Sakura winced inwardly at her horrible euphemism. Insects that got in the way get squashed in the end.

The eerie feeling increased twofold, and Sakura shivered.

It really was a good thing that she had no intention of suffering that same fate. Sakura might be feeling a little (okay, very) scared of the situation that she had found herself in at the moment, but she was never one to go down without a fight. Even if Uchiha was to kill her tonight, she was damn well going to make sure that he remembered her forever as the one who gave him a god awful headache before he had to snuff out her pathetic existence.

'Yeah,' Inner Sakura chose the moment to speak up. 'We can't have our dear fox brother Naruto coming up to him to avenge our deaths only for him to go "Sakura who?" right?'

Sakura could not help it; she let out a little bubble of laughter at her alter ego's sarcasm. It must be the stress talking, but her mirth did relax her painfully tensed up form. It attracted the intense scrutiny of the Uchiha though, so Sakura didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing. The sounds of her chuckles died away slowly but there was a more determined light in her emerald eyes now, as compared to the weary and slightly anxious one earlier.

'I'm a Konoha kunoichi. I'm not going to let someone like him take away my dignity.'

'Damn straight!' Inner Sakura hissed fiercely. It was at moments like these that Sakura felt absolutely thankful for the presence of her inner self. She would never be left alone to face her fears.

Quickly prioritizing the list of things that she needed to do, Sakura ran a hand across the side of her head casually, and a brief flare of chakra swept away her pounding headache. The rest of the wounds on her body were too minor for her to waste her energy on and so Sakura easily dismissed them. Next to assume a less helpless posture; sitting sprawled on the ground was hardly intimidating, and Sakura was no Itachi, whom she was starting to secretly suspect would look scary even if he was dressed in nothing but diapers and a baby bib. Inner Sakura helpfully provided a mental image, and Sakura could not help but cough to muffle a soft grunt of amusement.

That's it; she must be going crazy. Why else would she be merrily chortling away in the presence of an S-class psychopath? Slowly though, her amusement faded and Sakura took to her feet unsteadily. Itachi continued staring coolly at her, not the least worried that she would take the chance to run out into the darkness. That would have been a stupid thing to do, not to mention futile.

Sakura composed herself and met his eyes fearlessly.

"What do you want from me, Itachi?"

He looked at her expressionlessly. There was no need to speak. They both knew what he wanted.

Emerald eyes narrowed slightly, but Sakura forced herself to relax. Running her mouth off before Itachi would be a reckless and dangerous thing to do. She needed to keep a level head around this Akatsuki.

"Fine." Sakura pretended to misunderstand. The kunoichi knew that her next course of action would be utterly fruitless and a waste of time, but that did not stop her from doing it all the same. It irritated her that Itachi was being so apathetic, and a perverse part of her had wanted to provoke him into showing some semblance of reaction. Any reaction.

"I will just be on my way then, since you are expecting nothing from me. Thanks for jumping after me earlier."

With that casual statement, Sakura turned towards the cave entrance, fully prepared to sail out of the cavern with her head held high. She had barely taken two steps before he literally materialized before her, and she stumbled to a halt just in time to avoid running into him. Sakura had expected that he wouldn't let her go this easily of course, but had gravely miscalculated his patience. She took a hasty step back before correcting herself.

"What do you-"

With a speed that took her breath away, she quickly found herself slammed viciously against the rocky outcrops of the cave. Pain exploded in her head as she hit the wall hard and she hissed softly as the sharp rocks dug mercilessly into her spine. His hand was wrapped around her neck in a blasphemous parody of tenderness, and he held her a good two feet off the ground with just that one arm. Sakura gagged reflexively as he shut down her windpipe, and her own hands came up to claw his in a desperate bid for air. Emerald eyes blazed with hatred.

He looked dispassionately at her, hardly concerned by her look of defiance, not even reacting to the rivulets of blood that were starting to form from the vicious scratches that she had inflicted on him.

"Do not try my patience."

He did not bother to use his Sharingan on her, and dropped his hold on her just as quickly as it had happened. Sakura fell to the floor in a graceless heap, wheezing and coughing as she took in quick gasps of air. Emerald eyes flared with fury. Sakura closed her eyes and had to force herself to take deep breaths to calm herself down. Her eyes flew open with unrestrained anger the very next second. Inner Sakura howled for blood.

Just how the hell was she supposed to calm down?! That freaking bastard just tried to kill her!!

Wincing inwardly as her hurt spine protested against her movement, the pink-haired kunoichi forced herself to stand. Her hackles rose at the uncaring expression of the male standing before her, and at that moment all rational thoughts flew out the proverbial window. There was no longer an S-class missing-nin standing before her. There was no Akatsuki standing before her. There was no scion of the Uchiha clan. There was no Mangekyo Sharingan user.

There was just a mortal man who had had the gall to hurt her!

Inner Sakura was in full agreement.

Before Sakura knew what she was doing, pure, undiluted chakra shot to her clenched fists. Already in a slightly defensive posture since she stood up it was easy to shift into an attacking stance when she threw the first punch. Unsurprisingly her first hit met air, but that had been what Sakura had been secretly praying for. She grinned a small feral grin at the expressionless male who had nimbly retreated a foot away from her reach, and barely glimpsed the slight narrowing of his crimson gaze when he finally caught on to what she was planning. He wouldn't be in time to stop her now though; she was very sure of that, for her fist was already in motion.

He tried anyway, and Sakura had to commend him for it. He caught hold of her deceptively fragile wrist just as her other chakra-infused hand easily smashed into the hard rock wall behind her like it was made of paper. Crimson orbs flashed as the rock formation started to groan under the powerful abuse. Immediately, hairline cracks formed from the huge gaping hole that her fist had been earlier, rapidly spreading out to the high ceiling like a deadly spider web. The low creak as the huge stone formation slowly disintegrating into large pieces of sharp jagged stones turned into a dull roar as the entire structure shook precariously on its very foundation. Fine particles of sand rained down upon them; it wouldn't be long before the deadly hail of stones would follow.

He could escape the avalanche of rocks unscathed if he exited now, but he wasn't leaving without her.

Sharingan eyes narrowed with barely concealed annoyance when she simply would not budge. Damned girl had used her immovable strength to thwart his attempt to drag her out of the collapsing cave. Overhead, fist-sized pieces of stones started to rain down upon them. Undaunted by what was sure to come next; she merely smiled smugly at him. It was obvious that this was what she had planned from the start. Leave without her, or stay and get buried under the deadly rubble of rocks; either way would mean that he had lost to her, and that simply would not do. His aura flared with agitation. Twice now she had effortlessly provoked his anger, something that was normally slow to ignite within him. It was dangerous, his surprisingly flimsy control of emotions around a small and insignificant kunoichi such as her.

It would be easy to save himself the grieve and let her die, but he needed her expertise in healing. Besides, she seemed to be doing a remarkable job trying to kill herself so far so as not to betray her beloved little village. He sneered inwardly at the thought. She was a determined little kunoichi, but she had sorely underestimated him.

He would not allow her to escape him this easily.

The rocks that fell from the ceiling were the size of dinner plates by now, and increasing in frequency. Her cocky little smile widened; she was so sure that he would leave her be now. There was simply no other way. Sharingan eyes flashed when once again she easily blocked his attempt to extract her from the dangerous cavern. By now, the roar of the crumbling rocks was deafening, and huge pieces of stone were falling all around them. It wouldn't take long before they were hit by one, but still that little smile remained fixed on her face. It was as if she didn't care whether she lived or died, so long as she rid herself of his presence.

He snarled at her obstinacy, a feral slash of lips and teeth.

How he yearned to snap her scrawny neck here and now, but maybe keeping her alive might just be as rewarding. Overhead, the rumble of rocks increased in sound and weight as they finally started to collapse into themselves.

He quickly made his decision.

Her stunning emerald orbs widened when she finally realized his intentions, and as he lunged at her the exact moment the cave started to implode a rush of triumph made its way into his system like a shot of pure adrenaline. He tackled her surprised form to the ground, whirling Sharingan eyes never leaving her distressed ones for a moment, openly savoring his victory against this annoyingly stubborn kunoichi.

Foiled your attempt again, little girl.

Sakura had made a gross, gross oversight.

She knew that Itachi was a known genius, but she wasn't stupid herself and her plan to lull him into believing that she was acting the instincts of a woman scared out of her wits and willing to try anything just for a chance to escape wasn't exactly unsuccessful. To a point, that is.

But then she just had to give away the game too early; and that was where she had made her stupidest mistake.

She had smiled.

So eager was she in anticipating his failure that she had let her glee show, and that had been her downfall. She had indirectly challenged him, and of course he had rose to accept it. Damn the competitive nature inherent to all Uchihas.

She should have known that even dangerous S-class missing-nins would not take kindly to foolish little kunoichis stomping all over their masculine pride.

Which was why she was now stuck in this utterly awkward position with huge chunks of rocks surrounding her at all angles. Deadly. Life threatening. Painful. She tried not to shift her weight as small pieces of sharp stones jabbed into her spine. She also tried her best to ignore the murderous aura flaring right above her.

It was all his fault that her relatively simple plan had fallen apart like a fragile house of cards.

Sakura had planned to mould her chakra into an impenetrable shield from the avalanche of falling rocks the moment he had left, of course. Her perfect chakra control would easily do what most others could not, and that would have saved her from the hail of stones that had been part of her strategy in escaping the Uchiha. What she hadn't predicted was that he would stay under the collapsing cave, tackling her to the ground and actually shielding her from the worst of the impact. It would have been utterly chivalrous of him if she wasn't privy to the fact that he was probably keeping her solely alive just so that he could kill her himself later.

The tumble of rocks had quieted down to a soft slither of sand by now, and a blanket of velvety darkness covered them like the gentle embrace of a lover. It wasn't dark enough though, for she could still see the crimson Sharingan but a few inches before her own eyes, swirling wildly with suppressed fury. Sakura pretended to ignore the deadly kekkei genkai, not to mention the lean masculine body poised over her in the most threatening manner.

This was not good. Not good at all.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Gods, please make her death quick and painless, for she knew that Uchiha Itachi definitely would not be as kind.

The wet slide of liquid against her belly and her thighs, had her quickly opening her eyes again and although she could see nothing other than for crimson Sharingan she could definitely smell the heavy scent of metallic. Copper.

Blood.

Emerald orbs widened as they flew to meet his eyes. There was not a trace of pain in those frozen depths. Anger…that was an entirely different story though. Belatedly Sakura thought that if he wasn't busy holding up the weight of an entire cave worth of rocks she would long be a goner by now, and with that realization came another more unwelcome one.

He was saving her life again.

This was as many as the second time in a single day, and even as logic told her that he was doing so only because he required her skills as a powerful medic-nin and that she wouldn't need any saving from him in the first place if he didn't come after her at all something twinge uncomfortably within Sakura's chest. Guilt.

She shouldn't have anything to feel guilty about. He didn't have to save her though; there were other medic-nins out there capable of healing his eyes. Oh, they would be rare of course, but not impossible to find. He could have watched her jump down the cliff the first time, and not move a muscle. He could have walked away from the collapsing cave, shrugged and went on his way to look for another more willing- and less troublesome medic. He didn't though, and for that Sakura felt that she owed him something.

You are too tenderhearted, Sakura-chan, her fox brother had chided playfully, but that's what I like most about you.

Joining the ANBU two years ago as their head medic was supposed to temper that particular trait of hers, but it seemed to her now that it hadn't worked at all.

Borne from years of healing, it was an unconscious gesture when her hand crept up slowly to settle gently against a corded bicep of the male before her. The sleek muscle bunched under her touch. Narrowed crimson eyes regarded her intently, but Sakura was more interested in focusing minute amounts of her chakra to check for his injuries.

His back was badly strained from the weight of the rocks that he was forced to support, and one of the jagged stones had ripped into his right thigh, clipping his femoral artery. That explained the appalling amount of blood she could feel but not see; a ruptured femoral artery could cause death by sanguination in less than fifteen minutes, and he has got to be in excruciating pain. Sakura found herself inwardly impressed by the Uchiha's immense willpower. She had seen patients who went out like a light just for a minor cut, but then there were those like him on the other end of the spectrum, who could continue to go on even when near fatally injured. It was purely mind over matter, and Sakura was starting to learn that Uchiha Itachi had a will like titanium. Unfortunately that didn't exempt him from the fact that he was going to bleed out soon if nothing was done to staunch the bleeding.

Sakura looked straight into the eyes of the proud Uchiha. Crimson Sharingan blazed down upon her. Her small hand on his bicep clenched slightly, as if demanding for assurance.

"I'm still not going to heal your eyes." Sakura spoke hesitantly, her earlier fire muted; turned to concern for the injured male above her. Akatsuki or not, he was still a human being made from flesh and bones and she had made a vow to save lives when she had first became a medic. She had no plans to break that sacred promise just because of him.

Itachi did not say anything; merely continued looking down at her.

Sakura took a deep breath.

She prayed that she hadn't made a mistake by doing what she was going to do next.

::tsuzuku::