Living With Itachi, Chapter 4
Recap:
Itachi just stared at the table. He was poker-faced as usual, but Sakura could tell there was a look of awe on his face.
Sakura smirked. "Let's eat."
Itachi and Deidara didn't need to be told twice.
Chapter 4
"You're a very good cook, yeah. Did you know that?" Deidara said in between shoveling mouthfuls of food.
Sakura rolled her eyes. Naruto and Kakashi had always complimented her food. As if she already didn't needed to know.
"Yum. So, Itachi-san, what do you think about her food?" Deidara asked Itachi with a wolfish grin. Food was flying out of his mouth.
Sakura sighed. "Deidara-san, please eat with your mouth closed." Then she turned her attention towards Itachi, mildly interested in what he had to say.
Itachi chewed slowly on some tempura. Then he neatly took his chopsticks and picked out a small amount of rice and put it in his mouth. Finally, he spoke.
"It is not bad."
"It's not bad, Itachi-san? Are you insane, yeah? It's the best thing I've ever tasted, yeah…" Deidara exploded, with more food flying out of his mouth, most of it hitting Itachi.
Itachi glared at him, while taking a napkin and dusting off the chewed up pieces of tempura and rice off him.
Sakura stifled a giggle.
"So, Deidara, can you tell me a little about Akatsuki." Sakura asked him sweetly.
"Sure, yeah! Akatsuki was estab-"
"Be quiet Deidara. The leader won't be very happy if you leak information about Akatsuki to kunoichi, who could easily pass on the information to an enemy." Itachi said unpleased.
Deidara scratched the back of his head. "Oops, I forgot. Sorry, Sakura...yeah. That's top secret info, yeah..." Deidara said cheerfully.
Itachi scowled at him. Deidara's softening up to that girl. He better be careful. He doesn't know what top secret information he'll accidentally leak to her and the leader will have his head for it, he thought, while feasting upon some Takkai Gohan.
The woman's food was actually quite good, no lie. But the food tasted quite familiar. Like his mother's food. So, eating Sakura's food was a melancholy yet welcoming experience. She was reminding him, more and more of his mother. But maybe that was just him. It had been a long extremely time since he had any contact with any woman or had a woman's presence any where near him. He didn't particularly like women at all for numerous reasons.
But the fact that Sakura kept on reminding of his mother and his past was quite distressing. They were just to test his ability. He had killed his mother, only did she fall at his hand. He had sliced her throat off, ear to ear. He still remembers how she was crying and begging to spare his father's life. He still remembers how her blood spilled -
No, he did not want to remember. He didn't want to remember his mother or his past at all. His mother didn't even understand him.
Crack! Itachi clenched one of his chopsticks so it broke. The sound of it breaking brought him away from his thoughts. He stared at the two broken pieces of the chopstick in his hand.
Sakura raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you?" She scoffed.
He simply stared at her.
She ignored him.
Sakura started to crunch on tempura. "Is there anything fun to do here, in Cloud country? Any beautiful sight-seeing places?" She asked hopefully.
Deidara's face brightened. "Yeah, there's plenty of beautiful works of art to-"
"Be quiet. The kunoichi isn't here for sight seeing." Itachi said quietly.
"But" Deidara protested.
"There are too many risks. What if the general population recognizes her and rats? Or a spy finds out? What will you do? Do you want to deal with the leader?" Itachi asked Deidara dangerously.
"You're right, Itachi-san." Deidara said quietly, masking his anger.
Sakura sighed. This wasn't working out the way she planned. She wanted to at least go outside and breath some air, not to be a prisoner stuck in some unknown country, not allowed to go anywhere with out an Akatsuki member.
But at least, she wasn't chained in a dungeon subjected to torture and no food.
She plastered a cheerful smile on her face. "Fruit cocktail, anyone?" She asked cheerfully.
Deidara's face broke into a grin. "I would like some...yeah. You're cooking is awesome. Much better than anyone else's cooking I've ever tried...yeah." He said smoothly, piling his plate with a generous helping of fruit cocktail.
"It's not that good." Sakura said casually.
"Don't lie…yeah. You seem very hungry...yeah" Deidara said knowingly.
Sakura stopped in the middle in of scooping some Takkai Gohan on her plate.
Deidara was right. She was very hungry. It had been a very long time since she was this hungry. In fact, ever since Sasuke died, Sakura didn't eat and she didn't feel hungry, she just wanted to crawl in a ball and sleep for ever and forget everything.
She stared at her slim pale wrist. It was bone and there was only a thin layer of skin. That was it. She looked sickly.
It was ironic. Before Sasuke died, she wanted to be skinny. She had always believed her was on the chunky side. She would starve herself and train herself, wearing out her body then she would cram an entire tub of ice cream since she was so hungry. It had been a bad habit for her.
But no matter what she did, train; starve herself, diet pills, or whatever, it never worked. She always weighed the same. The pudge, which she always imagined was on her body and refused to budge.
Now, she was deadly skinny. She was betting she was only around 60 to 70 pounds. It was sad, that she once wanted to be this way. Now, she look liked a rag doll. At least before, she looked healthy.
Sakura considered how many calories the tempura had. For the amount I'm going to put on my plate, I would say 500 calories and since Tempura is fried there is always a high amount of fat.
For a minute, she fussed about eating that many calories.
But then she stared at her skinny wrist one more time.
Screw that. Who cares? I'm already underweight. And there isn't anyone to keep in shape for anyways. I might as well get fat, she thought bitterly before piling her plate high with tempura.
As she began to scarf it down her throat, there was a sour expression on her face.
Deidara gave her a concerned look.
Sakura scowled.
Itachi had that same impassive look on his face.
There was absolutely no conversation.
"There's some sake in the kitchen. You guys want any?" Sakura said finally, breaking the silence.
"Gimme some...yeah!" Deidara said excitedly.
Sakura grinned.
"None for me." Itachi said frigidly.
Deidara snorted. "Don't mind him. The only reason why he doesn't drink is -"
"Be quiet Deidara, she doesn't need to hear useless nonsense..." Itachi said agitatedly, looking extremely annoyed.
Sakura was appalled. He probably has some unpleasant experiences with alcohol.
In situations like this, she would have said "Don't get you're panties in a bunch!" or such.
But she wouldn't dare say that to Itachi because she would probably burst into giggles saying that to such an aloof, uptight person and he would have killed her for saying that.
Suddenly, a mental image of Itachi in tighty whities or briefs popped in her head. Sakura blushed a very deep red, from the roots of her pink hair to the very end of her toes and chocked on the rice she was chewing on.
She could imagine him, getting ready for bed or whatever. His long ivory muscular powerful able-bodied frame just in tighty whities. She could just see the sweat glistening on his chest…
She was treading in dangerous territory. But she couldn't resist.
Don't fraternize with the enemy… she told her herself.
There was no way she could do this to Konoha. There was no way she could do this to Sasuke.
Sasuke-kun…
That's right. She hated Itachi. He had ruined her life. He had ruined her chance for a happy life with Sasuke. He had ruined Naruto's life. He had killed Kakashi-sensei and so many of her other friends.
"I'll go get the sake. Where is it?" Sakura asked. There was a quiver in her voice and her hands were trembling.
"It's in the lower kitchen cabinet…yeah." Deidara said, not aware that Sakura was unstable at the moment.
"I'll be right back." She exited the table and headed towards the kitchen.
Sakura stumbled and she held the kitchen counter island for balance.
Don't think about Sasuke, Naruto or Konoha. You're doing this for their sake.
She took the deep breaths to calm down.
Then she opened the lower kitchen cabinet and grabbed the sake and some ceramic flasks. The sake bottle was heavy and cold in her small sweaty hands.
But at least it would help her forget. There was nothing better than drowning her sorrows in alcohol.
She swung the heavy bottle unto the table. Deidara grinned.
"So, Sakura-san, do you any tolerance for alcohol?" He asked her.
"Yes." Sakura was good at containing her alcohol. She never drank too much and was always the responsible one when Ino dragged her and a bunch of friends to a club.
She poured a small amount of Sake for Deidara and herself and handed Deidara a cup.
"Kanpai!" Deidara raised his flask for a toast.
Sakura gingerly raised her ceramic flask for a toast. They clinked flasks.
There was nothing really to toast about. Oh well.
She swirled the light amber-colored liquid in her flask, before chugging it down. It was fresh, chilled and flavorful the way she liked it. No doubt it was expensive sake. Most likely premium sake or ginjo-shu.
She reached for the bottle, pouring some more liquid in her ceramic flask and then gulped it down in a couple seconds. Before Sakura knew it, she had drunk about more than half the bottle. Soon, she polished the entire bottle off.
"Hey, you drank the entire thing! There's no more for me, yeah…" Deidara whined.
Soon, Sakura went back to retrieve two more bottles, one for her and the other for Deidara.
Ten minutes later, she consumed the second bottle and went back to the kitchen for the third time, bringing two more bottles just for herself.
"Sakura-san, I think you've had enough to drink. You don't look too well." Deidara remarked looking a bit perturbed.
"I'm fine, Deidara-san." She managed to soberly.
The images of Naruto and Sasuke began to get fuzzier as she downed more alcohol down. I don't want to remember. Get out of my head.
She was starting to feel dizzy; the thoughts of Konoha, Naruto, and Sasuke were in the very back of her mind now. She was slightly flushed.
"Anyways, is it just me or is it hot in here?" Sakura asked shoddily. The words were loose on her tongue. She ignored the incredulous look, Deidara shot her.
"It must be me." She said aloud to no one in particular and started to fumble with the dirty red Chinese style half-sleeved shirt she always wore.
Deidara's eyes bugged out of his head and there was some kind odd expression on Itachi's face.
"Deidara, remove all the alcohol from all nearby premises. And stop what you're doing kunoichi, before you do something you will regret." Itachi instructed. His composure was the same as usual, emotionless.
"I don't wanna." Sakura slurred defiantly. Apparently, she couldn't hold her alcohol as well as she use to. Her current weight couldn't absorb it.
"Hai, Itachi-san." Deidara muttered before leaving the room.
Sakura's looked around. The room was spinning and there was no body except him, her greatest enemy.
Just great.
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Itachi grabbed Sakura's thin wrist, dragging her across the room. "Let me go!" She cried, trying to push him away. But it was no use.
"Kunoichi, you are drunk and you have no clue what you are doing. Listen to me." He said in a lulling voice. He was trying to calm her down.
He should have not allowed her to drink Sake. It was a foolish decision on his part. Now, he would have to pay dearly by taking care of the drunken girl.
"Why should I?"
"Because you don't know what's good for you."
"Humph. I have a name, you know? My name is Sakura! Stop calling me, kunoichi. It makes me feel like a tool not like a person." She slurred.
"… I won't call you kunoichi if you treat me respectfully and don't make things complicated."
"That's what you are, a tool. A shinobi is a tool and must never show his/her emotions." He stated. It was one of the few rules from the shinobi handbook that he believed.
"That's that damn rule from the stupid handbook. Screw the rules, I'm a person too and I have feelings." She screamed.
"A shinobi is a tool. Tools aren't supposed to feel." His ears were now ringing from the shrillness of her voice. He couldn't take this any longer, but he would have to keep his hidden anger under control.
"Wrong! Every shinobi and I that is out there has feelings. We all feel something whether it's lust, anger, sadness, or whatever emotion it is. Even you I bet, the ruthless emotionless bastard S-class criminal that slaughtered his entire family with out shedding a single tear, probably does feel something. We are all human!" She ranted.
Now she had done it. That was the last strike. This was his limit.
Itachi stopped in his tracks. He tightened the grip on her wrist.
"Ow!" She cried. Her wrist was turning purple from the lack of blood circulation. She tried to remove her wrist from his painful tight grip, but it was useless.
"I told you before. How many times do I have to tell you? Don't bring up the past. The past is the past, a fragment from before that doesn't matter anymore. You are weak, you live in the past. The past is before. You must live for the future for tomorrow. Emotions are useless. They make us weak and surrender, to give up. They make you vulnerable to the enemy. So, they can easily slit your throat. Emotions are attachments. There is one emotion you need in life, and that is hatred. Hatred makes you stronger and gives you motivation to defeat the enemy." He murmured against the shell of her ear.
Sakura closed her eyes. Her pulse was erratic. He was treating her like… Sasuke. Always lecturing about how he lacked hatred. She wasn't Sasuke's replacement, or his pawn twisted by his sadistic sayings and doing. She wanted to slap him so badly that moment. She hated him, for causing her so much pain, Sasuke so much pain, Naruto so much pain, and she blamed him for all her current troubles. But she wouldn't risk him getting angry. Her entire body was trembling.
"Please, stop. I'm sorry." She rasped.
He eased the grip on her wrist. There were now angry purple bruises where his fingers had been.
"Hold your tongue next time, kunoichi." were his only words.
Her head was pounding and the room was turning upside down. She felt bile rise from the bottom of her throat.
Next thing, there was puke all around her and a very unhappy but still emotionless Uchiha, covered in puke was glaring at her.
END OF CHAPTER 4.
a/n: Sorry for the late update. Anyways, this is the unedited verison. I'll have the edited verison up soon once I find a BETA reader.