Hi peepz!! Wazzup with you all? Anyway, here's the, uh, fourth chapter (already?!?!?) to Unrequited Love, and I really hope that although only three have reviewed so far (thanks so much to the three of you, by the way! Ü), you guys would continue to like it (sheesh, why the heck do I sound like someone promoting her soap opera?!?!)! So, enough with the worthless babbling and let's get on with the stupid story… But first…

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, dang it all. But if I did, I'd make Itachi fall in love at least once, and Sasori would never have died, yet Tobi would still get worked into the story somehow.

CHAPTER FOUR: IF I COULD HAVE ANYTHING IN THE WORLD, ANYTHING AT ALL, IT WOULD BE YOU

I knew she was up to something. Why else would that certain smile be spreading across her lips? But what was she thinking? I'd have to be on my guard tonight. I'd better warn Kisame too. And we couldn't let her go. She held valuable information, and if she breathed one word to anyone we would be ruined. We'd have to let Leader deal with her… Wait. No. I can't let that happen. He'd torture her to death. And I can't let that happen. For some unfathomable reason, she's the most important person to me now….

Rika had already planned what she was going to do down to the very last detail. They were going to have to get thirsty or hungry sometime, right? All she had to do was crush the pills to a fine powder and then somehow (okay, maybe not to the very last detail) sprinkle it over their food or drink. Wham! They'd be out like a light after an hour and then she'd transport Itachi back to Konoha. Simple.

And best of all, Lady Luck herself seemed to be on her side.

"That's it! I'm thirsty, I'm hungry, and these fucking bugs are eating me alive!" Kisame burst out suddenly. Rika jumped.

"Then why don't you go get from the stream?" Itachi said. "And by the way, if the insects are eating you alive, then they must really like shark-fin soup."

Kisame gave his partner a dirty look. "Enough with the shark soup cracks," he snapped. "Fine, I'll go get some water."

He got up, slapping some mosquitoes away, and strode off into the trees. For the first time, Rika heard the faint sound of running water. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that her mind had tuned out all other sounds. All she had been aware of was her surroundings.

"There's a stream nearby?" she asked in wonder.

Itachi looked at her like she was crazy. "Of course there is. I would've thought that you'd noticed."

She shrugged. "You know me when I start thinking deeply about the meaning of life."

"After all these years, you still do that," he said, shaking his head. Rika was surprised at the allusion to old times. So he still remembered that, did he?

"So you remember that far, do you?"

"For some reason, my memories never fade."

"Yeah, I know."

Itachi scrutinized Rika's expression carefully. It was emotionless, it showed nothing. But he knew better. Rika was a master at poker face. She could hide her true feelings like she didn't have any. Only her eyes gave something away, and even then, all he gleaned from it was just a flicker. All he could tell was that she was plotting something, and that something was most definitely not good. He briefly considered using the Tsukiyomi or the Amaterasu, and banished that thought immediately. The thought of hurting her was terrifying. She'd kill him afterwards. After all, Rika was immune to trauma. He could not be permitted to let down his guard tonight.

Meanwhile, Rika was discreetly crushing the pills in her pocket. They were already a very fine powder when Kisame strode around the corner, carrying a bottle filled with water. He held it out to Rika.

"Want a drink?"

"Uh," Rika hesitated. She was thirsty, but… "How can I be sure that's not your pee?"

"Because it's not yellow?"

"Oh… But still…."

Kisame rolled his eyes. "Rika, I may be sick--"

"Ha! You've finally admitted it! You're sick!"

He rolled his eyes again. "I repeat, I may be sick, but I'm not sick enough to offer a bottle filled with my urine to a girl, or anybody, for that matter."

"Yes, you are." Itachi's quiet voice made Rika jump.

"THAT WAS A LONG TIME AGO, DAMMIT!!!" Kisame almost roared.

"Never mind, I-I'm not thirsty anymore," Rika said hastily. And then she mentally kicked herself. Why did she turn down that chance?!?! Never mind, maybe when they ate.

Ten minutes later

Rika eyed Kisame chewing the fish without any emotion at all. She wondered whether he cared that he could be eating possible kin. And then she wondered whether he really was half-shark or just looked amazingly like one. And then shrugged it off. It had been a stroke of luck when Itachi had told her to go get some food. She had spiked the fish with sleeping pill powder earlier. So relax.

Rika waited tensely as the two Akatsuki members chewed. She had truly lost her appetite, thanks to Kisame and the urine thing. She desperately waited….and waited….and waited….and waited…..

Sleeping pills still work even though they're crushed, right?!?!

She had just about lost all hope and was about to simply get up and knock those two bastards senseless when Kisame keeled over within milliseconds of each other. Rika jumped and then relaxed. She waited cautiously for a few minutes in case one of them would suddenly sit up and yell, "Gotcha! Just kidding!" Then she got up and checked Kisame's pulse to make sure. It moved slowly and sluggishly and slowly. So did Itachi's, for that matter, confirming that he was indeed unconscious. So unless they had figured out a way to slow their pulse down, she was safe. She knelt over Itachi's hopefully still alive form and began performing the seals necessary to transport him back to Konoha. She was about to perform the last seal when Itachi disappeared.

"What the f--?!?!"

And then she felt something ice cold press against the side of her neck.

"You really, truly couldn't have believed that you could fool me so easily. I know you far, far too well for that," a soft voice murmured in her ear.

Rika dropped her hands, and in one lightning-swift movement had pulled out a kunai and pressed the tip ever so lightly into the Uchiha prodigy's stomach. But then he was gone, and when she whirled around, he was five feet away, staring at her. And then she remembered something. Mangekyo Sharingan. Avoid eye contact at all costs. She dropped her eyes, raising the kunai, and charged at him, focusing only on her target: his heart. Surprisingly, her didn't move an inch, nor utter a sound when she plunged the kunai into his heart. And then she knew why. Because, as the kunai went home, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. What the fuck?! Kagebunshin?! Shit!! She started shouting.

"Dammit! Itachi, you fucking bastard!! Get your ass over here!! Enough with the game!!"

And in a flash, he was right in front of her, just a few small steps away.

"I'm right here, Rika. Relax, don't get your undies in a twist."

That just got her going more. "Don't think for one minute that any guy can have any effect whatsoever on my undies!! And how, by the way, did we get on the subject of my undies anyway?!?!" she shrieked at him.

Ignoring her question, he smiled slowly. "If that's it, then what did I have an effect on?"

"Other than my upchuck reflex? Absolutely nothing."

His (amazingly freaky) grin widened. "We'll see."

He stepped forward a few paces so that they were pressed together. He slowly placed his fingers on the pulse in her throat. She knew it would be racing; her heart was.

"It does seem that I have an effect on something other than your upchuck reflex," he murmured against her ear, so seductively that it was briefly terrifying…. and then arousing.

Rika swallowed. And then his lips quickly took the place of his fingers, his breath warm against her skin. Her breathing turned to hyperventilation. His lips moved higher, and her breath caught as she felt him kiss slowly up her jaw to her temple. And then his lips, his lips slid across her skin, burning it where they touched, to hers.

Itachi, for one, couldn't believe this was happening. He thought that when he'd touched her, she would've flinched away and immediately attacked him. But she didn't. She'd stayed stock-still when he'd pressed his fingers against her skin. He'd almost groaned out loud right then and there.

And now….

He gently parted her lips and slid his tongue into her mouth. She didn't react, only pressed herself closer to him. He was startled, but he was startled, but he quickly recovered. Slowly, the kiss deepened until it got to the point that neither of them was contented with just kissing.

"What the fucking hell are the two of you doing?!?!?"

It looked like Kisame had chosen that exact moment to wake up.

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Okay, this chapter wasn't really as crappy as the last one…. Anyway… I just graduated!! Ü At long last… all those impossibly painstaking times… And one of our graduation songs was actually meant for a famous local star, but it was offered to us before it would become his carrier single, so… That's it. Ü (PS I graduated march 24)

Anyway, if you liked it please review!! If you thought it really sucked and you want to give me a piece of your mind, go ahead and review!! If you realized that I was a psychopath, please review!! If you were utterly bored and just wanted to waste a little time on this fanfic of mine, then we're the same!! More power to us!! (Yeah, I know I've been saying the same thing all over again, don't kill me)

On second thought, please do kill me….

Would it be too much to ask if I told you to make it quick and painless?

Just kidding!!