Cleaning Itachi's room to his satisfaction proved to be quite a challenge. The madman was a perfectionist on top of everything else. And, adding insult to injury, he ate most of the dango while watching her clean up!
"What kind of mass murdered likes dango anyway?" Sakura asked petulantly.
Itachi did not dignify that with a response.
Much as it nettled her to be cooperative, Sakura had to admit to herself that Uchiha Itachi was not quite what she had expected. When he wasn't threatening her, he was well-mannered and even pleasant. He has to be plotting something. What could he possibly gain from behaving politely? What do I have that he can't take by force?
While she folded clothes and grudgingly alphabetized books, Sakura continued working on this conundrum. If he was hoping to use her as a pawn against his brother, he was out of luck. Not only was she unwilling to betray Sasuke to his evil sibling, but she knew deep down that he was unlikely to care one way or another what became of her. Their marriage had been arranged and Sasuke had accepted it simply as his duty to the village.
We could have won him over eventually, Inner Sakura insisted. What's not to love about us?
Sakura didn't even bother to reply to her Inner as she continued working on the problem at hand. Kakashi-sensei didn't care much, but he might conceivably decide it was his duty to rescue her. Was Itachi one of the many people who seemed to want revenge on him?
Honestly, though, the only person likely to come after her was Naruto, and she had no idea what anyone could want with him. Her obnoxious teammate was a subpar ninja, despite his huge chakra reserves. Itachi didn't seem like the kind of person to take offense at Naruto's ordinary exuberance, so what could he want with him?
Of course, there was the explanation Itachi had given her himself for her presence: to inform the village in no uncertain terms that they could not use his little brother like an animal. But that would imply he cared about Sasuke, which was completely impossible. How could anyone kill a child's family in front of him and still love him?
Most likely, this was part of his experiment to study her genjutsu resistance. He had said he wanted to assess her without emotional distress first. No doubt he would begin acting like a proper missing-nin soon enough. She stacked the last of his shirts and closed the closet with a bang. "There!" she mumbled. Now maybe he would stop watching her!
Itachi grunted, exactly the same noise his brother tended to make. "I suppose it is satisfactory." He lifted the last stick of dango from the box and held it out to her. When she reached for it, however, he suddenly pulled it back. "Your name?"
"You kidnapped me and you don't even know my name?" she asked, offended.
He regarded her flatly. "You were not my objective. Sasuke was. Now, your name?"
Well, she might as well tell him before he beat the information out of her. "It's Sakura. Haruno Sakura."
"Very well, Sakura-san." He handed her the dango, rose, and lightly touched the top of her head as he walked out the door. "You may read my books or sleep, as you choose. We will continue our research later."
o-o-o-o
As he had expected, Leader-sama accosted him as soon as he was in the main living area. "Itachi."
The Konoha missing-nin inclined his head respectfully. "Leader-sama."
"Kisame tells me that you have acquired a... wife."
"That is correct." Itachi folded his hands. "She is a young Leaf kunoichi, the teammate of the kyuubi vessel. She could be a useful bargaining chip."
"That is convenient," Leader-sama allowed. "But it still does not explain why you, of all people, formed a personal attachment. I thought you understood they were to be avoided."
Fine words from a man so thoroughly possessive of his own lover. "She was supposed to marry my brother. I took the opportunity to make a statement to my former village."
"I see." The powerful man held Itachi's gaze firmly. "I hope you understand that you are to keep her under control while she is here, and that she is not to interfere with your missions."
"Naturally," Itachi agreed.
o-o-o-o
Itachi was not particularly eager to go back to his own room, as it was infested with his little wife, but he found it was the only place where Kisame would not follow him. The antisocial man actually found himself looking forward to the return of the other members. At least Kisame would have someone else to talk to about Itachi's Lolita complex.
Fortunately, by the time he returned, the girl – Sakura – was asleep. She had apparently fallen asleep in the middle of reading, because her face was buried in his medical encyclopedia. He privately wondered if she had noticed the pages he had marked for his own reference and what conclusions she had drawn. Perhaps she would confront him about it and satisfy his curiosity without effort on his part.
At any rate, she was on the floor, shivering in her sleep. Itachi sighed. It really wasn't his problem, but she would get sick from the cold. She was used to Fire Country, after all. The climate around the Akatsuki base was chilly and damp.
He considered as he removed his hitai-ate and laid it neatly on his desk. The girl was already a bit of a nuisance, though he was sure he could train her to be useful. Through either fear or reward, it hardly mattered. But if she became ill, she would likely be even more of a nuisance. Itachi knew some basic medical ninjutsu, but they were mostly for healing injuries. Illness was far more complicated.
Of course, the opportunity to practice could be valuable, especially since her lungs would be one of the most likely organs to become infected. Perhaps he would learn something that could help him with his own illness.
Itachi sighed again and shrugged off his cloak. No, that would not do. He had missions to accomplish, hunting the kyuubi vessel being among the most important. He had no time to study medical ninjutsu on the little girl, however interesting it might be. And if he let her become ill, he might lose the opportunity to gain valuable information about the nature of genjutsu.
Since he could not allow her to spend the night on the floor, nor could he himself be exposed to the cold longer than necessary, Itachi was forced to share his bed. For your sake, Sakura-san, you had best be a quiet sleeper. He scooped the girl up easily, laid her on the bed, and settled down beside her. He pulled the covers up and prepared to spend several hours lying awake, trying to accustom himself to the presence beside him.
Of course, then the girl had to go and make things worse. She very naturally sought warmth in her sleep, which unfortunately meant him. Not only did she nestle against his side, but she dared to wrap her arms around him, hugging him.
Itachi stiffened, but was more curious than annoyed. Sasuke had been four the last time he crawled into bed with his aniki. He had forgotten what a sleeping child felt like – warm, limp, and trusting. It was not wholly unpleasant. After a moment's hesitation, he found it most comfortable to drape his own arms around the little girl – not so little after all, now that he felt her chest pressing against his side. Interesting.
Sakura made a little noise of contentment and rubbed her head against his shoulder like a kitten. Itachi smiled ever so faintly. Perhaps, he meditated, after all he had done to protect it, Konoha owed him one of its innocent children.
After all, it was due to his actions that she had grown up with that luxury.
o-o-o-o
The first thing Kisame heard the next morning was a shriek. "Pervert!" The high-pitched noise penetrated stone walls and reverberated throughout the base.
The Mist shinobi stretched his arms and cackled. Itachi was in trouble! Now, what could the stoic man have possibly done to earn himself that title? Itachi was many things – even he was scared of him at times, though he didn't let it show – but 'pervert' was not generally one of them. Actually, come to think of it, Kisame had never seen him seek a woman's company. Probably too much talking for him.
Well, at any rate, Kisame couldn't let this go by without finding out what had happened. The girl was still screaming, so he put on his cloak and followed the noise to Itachi's room. He knocked on the door and was answered with a heavy sigh and a barely audible, "Yes?"
"What's going on in there? It's five in the morning, Itachi. Can't you torture your new pet at a more human hour?"
The girl shrieked indignantly. "I am not a pet! And this – this pervert put me in his bed and slept with me!"
If Itachi even grunted in response, Kisame didn't hear it. He was too busy howling with laughter. "You sick bastard! You really do have a thing for little girls, don't you?"
o-o-o-o
Itachi decided that raising his voice was not worth the trouble and therefore waited the full half hour it took for Sakura to stop screaming at him. "Would you have preferred to make yourself sick sleeping on the floor?"
"Yes!" she shrieked back. "Anything would be better than sleeping with a criminal! I can't believe you were holding me!"
As Itachi recalled, she had begun the holding, but he knew it would be useless to point that out. "Very well. There is a book of medical ninjutsu on my shelves. Master it, and you can sleep on the floor."
"What?" the girl asked, looking confused.
"I have no time to care for a sick child," Itachi explained, annoyed at having to point out the obvious. "If you wish to make yourself sick, you must be able to treat your own illness."
And then she was screaming at him again. He would really have to do something about that.
o-o-o-o
As it turned out, Leader-sama spared him the trouble. Itachi allowed Sakura to accompany him out of his room for breakfast, and they met Leader-sama in the kitchen. He glared down at the young girl and told her, in explicit detail, what would become of her if he heard another racket like the one from this morning. Finally, the little girl had sense enough to be terrified into silence.
Itachi permitted himself a small smirk to go with the sugar in his cereal. It seemed that there were limits to even this little kunoichi's courage. Well, he decided, he could improve upon that. After he was through with her, Sakura would have the strength and capabilities to finish the battles she was inclined to start. He would see to that.
