A/N: I apologize if this chapter is a little short. It's pretty important, however.
Thanks to all of my reviewers for their thoughts on my writing and story! Really, it makes me feel like writing more.
Chapter Stats
Rating: PG-13 for situation
Pairing: ItaSaku
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C h a p t e r T h r e e : T h e s e F e e l i n g s
After my encounter with Sasuke, I only vaguely remember what happened right after. Hindsight tells me that I can blame Itachi for that, wanting to conceal the location from my memory as well as possible. Why it mattered, I don't know, because I certainly wasn't about to run away at that point.
Itachi had led me into a run-down hotel nearby. He didn't even bother to disguise himself on the way… I'm assuming he used genjustu instead, since no-one even looked twice at us, despite the fact that he was cloaked with an Akatsuki robe, and I was walking around in a thin, tattered nightgown, and barefoot. We were silent throughout the walk, since he wasn't talking, and I was afraid to initiate.
There is darkness after this, and it only lifts when it comes to my next clear memory.
I was sitting tiredly on an uncomfortable bed when he pulled a set of black clothes out of his cloak. He handed them to me blankly, and I only stared back in confusion.
"Clean up. Be quick," Itachi said, motioning to the bathroom. "There are some matters we have to take care of."
I swallowed nervously, and took the clothes with a shaky hand. It didn't take an expert on fabric to tell that this wasn't your run-of-the-mill material. It had to have been expensive…
I dragged my lagging body into the little room and flicked the light switch. A small fluorescent light flickered feebly over the mirror, which showed me my exhausted, battered reflection.
I slid my hand along the splintered wooden door, about to close it, when Itachi stopped me in my tracks with his dark voice coming from the main room. "Don't bother closing the door."
My eyes widened and I watched my face become pale in the mirror. "Why…?" I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, and my nails instinctively began to dig into the door.
"You have nothing to hide from me."
A million thoughts raced through my mind. Had he been stalking me before? Has he really seen me naked? Why would he want to? Is this a trap? What's going on?
Where's Sasuke?
Why that had crossed through my mind, I don't know, but at that very second, Itachi was suddenly behind me with a frozen hand on my neck. I stared at him helplessly in the mirror as he watched me back, dragging his hand along my throat and along my jawline. My hand dropped weakly from the door, and he smirked.
That smirk…
Had I not known any better, I would have thought that Itachi had stolen Sasuke's smirk and claimed it as his own.
"Do you think you know my little brother so well?" His voice was a satanic hymn as it rolled into my mind, washing out every other thought that I had been grasping at. "Do you think that he ever cared about you?"
"I…" When I swallowed, he traced the movement with a finger, sending chills down my spine. I became mute in this tense moment.
"He does think about you… Sakura." My name rolled off of his tongue in a way that made my pulse pound wildly. "From time to time… he wonders what it would be like to… have you…" Itachi's cunning smirk grew wider as my face began to show signs of a cold sweat.
"He has considered using you as a tool… a weak, useless tool… to recreate his beloved clan…"
Even through my fear, this had set off a deep rooted anger in my system. Weak… I hated being weak. I've always hated being weak…
But I was stupid… I was just making myself weaker as I gave into this twisted reality…
"All you have to do… to make him taste his own blood… to make him feel weak instead… to show him that you are no tool…"
I could hardly breathe.
"…is to use him, himself…"
Inhale…
"You will seek him…"
Exhale…
"You will grant all of his wishes…"
Inhale…
"You will gain his trust…"
Exhale…
"And you will betray him, just like he betrayed you."
Choke.
His lips ran down my neck, just barely brushing against the fine hairs on its surface. I bit my lip to stifle the noise of surprise that rose to my throat. His breath was tickling me as it ran over my pallid skin.
He began to speak against my neck. "It will be easy for you."
I struggled to stay standing. I couldn't fight this feeling…
"You, of all people, can tap into his emotions… even seduce him…"
A strong hand tilted my head to the side to face Itachi, who trailed his lips upward along my neck and jaw until he reached my lips. His just barely grazed mine, and I had a despicable urge to close the gap between them right then and there. Why was he making me feel this way? I couldn't help but hate myself for it.
That is, until thoughts of Sasuke resurfaced.
"If you find his strengths and weaknesses… you can destroy him," he whispered.
The hate diminished, and that dark personality that was growing in my veins assured me that this was so wrong, it was right.
Itachi's evil eyes gazed into mine, and his face remained contorted with a smirk. "What do you want, Sakura?"
"Re… revenge…"
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Naruto stares at me with wide eyes. "So you…?"
I look down guiltily. "I… lusted for Itachi, yes."
A terrible awkwardness hangs tangibly in the air. I feel more than embarrassed for having to reveal this to these people who hated Itachi so terribly, and for good reasons… but it's part of what I have to do. I promised not to skip anything, and that's an agreement I intend to keep.
"Sakura…" Kakashi murmurs. He stares at the floor. I've never seen my old sensei this troubled. "I really didn't see that coming."
I bite my lip. "Neither did I."
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I never kissed Itachi then. I almost had, but just after I had told him what I wanted, he had disappeared and closed the door behind him.
Just like an Uchiha to leave me on the edge.
I lethargically turned on the shower and peeled off my useless pajamas. The water was frigidly cold, but that was just fine with me. I pulled myself into it and just let the liquid pound on my aching body. It was therapeutic… allowing me to think clearly for the first time that day.
Uchiha Itachi... who was he, really? Even while he terrified me... just a few minutes before, I wanted nothing more than to force myself onto him, to feel his skin on mine...
If what he was saying was true... Sasuke really did notice me. And that, too, stirred my thoughts, but in a different direction.
Even so, Sasuke would be harmed by my doing. I would make sure of it…
I guess I just didn't know how far it would go…
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A/N: Poor Sasuke-kun... xD