Uncanny Magnetism

Chapter Nine

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A/N 8/9/13: Shiznits. It's been nearly 7 months, hasn't it? Thank you to everyone who has been adding my story to their favorites, alerts, and especially leaving me reviews and feedback! I have not left you guys! (:

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"Ugh, shit." I lifted my head from the cool, metal lab desk and wiped the sleep from my eyes. My internal clock was telling me that it was already early in the morning. I turned my eyes to my specimen rack and watched as the test tubes churned and bubbled softly. "Please work," I whispered to the tubes as I rested my chin on my folded arms. The reactions taking place inside the tubes were dying down to a slow simmer. In minutes, they would be ready to be injected into various chakra centers within Itachi's body to revive his Sharingan. I determined an estimate of ten minutes just as the door to Sasori's room opened.

"Haruno, you have an hour to get packed and ready." The man himself made his way across the room to his lab area and eyed my tubes.

"W-what?!" I snapped out of my clouded daze as I turned around to face him. I expected a short time before departure, days perhaps, but I didn't expect to leave this soon.

"I made myself clear." Sasori's stone gaze told me that his decision was set. There was no leeway. This meant that I could not watch over Itachi during his healing process. My experiment would be an entire chance. I felt doubts rising in my head on whether or not the risk was worth taking. However, I knew Itachi's body and its capabilities. It had grown strong and healthy in his months of rehabilitation from illness.

"Understood." I got up from my seat to prepare injections for the Kekkei genkai revival in Itachi's body.

"Each syringe costs extra." I could hear the smirk in Sasori's voice. I rolled my eyes as I took ten syringes from a glass cabinet; blowing whatever monetary value I owed him according to his currency. In this moment, I did not care what I needed to pay Sasori in return for his lab resources in order to carry out what I needed to do.

"Cheap bastard," I mumbled under my breath as I made my way to the desk. I swallowed hard and said my prayers to Kami-sama as I glanced over at my tubes and watched the last few bubbles pop at the surface of the liquid. I quickly transferred the serum from the tubes to the syringes, being careful not to spill a drop of the precious liquid, and placed them securely in a package. "Don't touch, promise me that," I glared at Sasori.

"You have my word."

"I'll be back, and I need your operating table."

"You're just racking up a debt, aren't you, Haruno?" He cocked his head with a look of amusement sliding across his face. "I wonder what you're up to, though I have my suspicions."

"Don't worry about it. I'll be back and ready to go after I'm done with my business," I said as I set the operating table with an IV drip, heart monitor, and a change of sheets. Sasori's gaze followed my movements as I rummaged around the room.

"Making yourself quite comfortable in my room, hm?" He trailed behind me as I prepped for however much time I would be away.

"Suck it up. You offered to share, and I took the offer." I eyed him from the side.

"Everything comes with a price, Kunoichi," He smirked, seemingly happy that I will probably owe him a grand amount.

"It's worth it." I wrapped up my work and gave him one last sneer as I slammed the door. I fumed at Sasori's high demands as I stormed down the dank hallway and made my way through the maze of a hideout to Itachi's room. Without much of a thought, I burst through the room door with a confused, half-naked Itachi drying his hair from a morning shower. I immediately began packing changes of clothes, freshly sharpened kunai, putting together a simple medical kit, and toiletries without acknowledging him.

"Where are you going?" He questioned, pausing as his dropped his towel onto his cot.

"You must follow me now. This procedure must be carried out immediately before time is up," I said, lifting my pack and gazing him directly in the eyes. I could see the confusion and resistance in his eyes. "Trust me," I said, softening my tone, but still remaining stern. He paused, staring at me for a bit as if he were digesting my words.

"I trust you," he said. He put on a shirt and took my pack from me as we headed back to Sasori's room at a swift place. By the time we reached his room, only about half an hour was left for the procedure.

"Get on the operating table." I gestured to the roughly arranged cot. Itachi complied without a word. I did not feel remorse for being demanding at this time. As soon as his body was flush against the sheets, I pulled his arm out to hook him onto the IV drip. "There are several sets of solution hooked onto the IV, so you will be set for however long it takes for the revival," I explained as I hooked him onto the heart monitor as well. I could feel his aura of concern penetrating the air as I carried out consecutive tasks hurriedly. I could feel time ticking as I fumbled for the case of syringes. Thankfully, Sasori had not disturbed the precious serum as he promised.

"Interesting," Sasori interjected as I pulled out the first syringe. Both he and Itachi seemed to be on the same page as I now, acknowledging that they understood what I was doing.

"This will be painful. I am sorry. The pain may last a few days, weeks, or perhaps months. I am unsure. I don't know how long I will be, but it is unfortunate that I will not be around to overlook your healing process. I am reluctant to say that this is all a game of chance. Do you trust me?" I said, acting my part as Dr. Haruno when I worked at the Konoha hospital. I could feel my brows furrow as I relayed the information to Itachi.

"You know I trust you…Sakura." My heart hitched for a second at the sound of my name. Remembering that time was ticking, I brushed off the strange feeling. I placed the first syringe above his first brow. I quickly moved onto his right brow with the second syringe, then his left temple with the third, right temple with the fourth, and above his aorta with the fifth. I paused and looked at Itachi. I felt pained as I watched the grimace on his face grow more intense with each injection and the sweat beading on his forehead. But, I knew Itachi was strong. I began the second set of syringes starting at the left pulse point on his neck with the sixth syringe, and then the right with the eight. When I injected the ninth syringe where his chakra core was, he gave in and cried out. Though his cry was very suppressed, I knew he was in deep pain. Reluctantly, I injected the final syringe once more into his core. I could see he was trembling by the end, being stubborn and trying to hold in the pain. He was exhausted and would fall into deep sleep soon, so I tried not to worry too much.

"Time is up, Haruno. We must depart," Sasori called from the doorway. I gave one last glance at Itachi as I rose from the stool beside his bed. Just as I turned, I could feel his fingers brush against mine. I gave his hand a gentle squeeze as I gathered my pack and left with Sasori on a mission I knew nothing about.

"Kami-sama, don't disappoint me now."

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"We'll set up camp here." Sasori stopped in his tracks abruptly in a small, shrouded clearing. I was getting frustrated at his traveling tendencies to stop and go in spurts. After twenty two times of nearly grinding my already flat nose into his rather nice, chiseled back, I was glad this was the last.

"This is a rather small enclosing…" I thought out loud, looking around the area. There was just enough room for one tent.

"It will do," Sasori said as he began the hand signs to create a barrier around the circular area. I was setting up a pit for a fire when rain started falling from the sky.

"Great," I muttered, throwing the sticks down. I had not noticed that Sasori already had a tent made. He motioned by the entrance to join him inside. I hesitated, remembering his conniving nature. "Do I really want to be with Sasori in such a small place for an entire night? I could set up a tarp and sleep out…wait; I do not have the luxury of basic survival items." Growling, I gave in when I noticed that my first clean pair of clothes would be completely soaked in a few minutes. Sasori had the only tent, and mat, and bedding. I had a feeling that this mission would not just be a few weeks time. I reluctantly made my way inside the rather cozy tent.

"Spent a sizeable amount out there contemplating whether or not to come in?" Sasori smirked, sitting with his arms crossed. I could feel energy in the air that told me he was up to something.

"What are you plotting, you sleaze-bag?" I narrowed my eyes at him, sitting down on the opposite end of the mat rolled out on the ground. I really did not have any desire to share anything with him.

As if reading my mind's complaints of the single mat, set of bedding, and tent, Sasori shredded my question with a frank reply, "I'm not plotting – I simply packed efficiently. There is no use in having separate things. The weight would simply slow us down. Having two tents, two mats, and two sets of bedding is completely non-tactical. Wouldn't you agree?" I merely grumbled under my breath, accepting that his words were correct. I lay down, facing away from him with arms crossed and a scowl on my face. I really didn't want to be here. But, I didn't have a choice. However, as I mulled through my thoughts, I realized that I technically did have a choice.

"If I hadn't gone through so much to create a revival serum for Itachi's Sharingan, I wouldn't owe Sasori an insurmountable debt, thus I would not be here. So, why did I do so much?" As I thought, the rain poured harder, and it was also probably icy rain seeing as I was shivering at the moment. "If only Ita-" I cut my thoughts off by shaking my head. It was so damn cold. As if on cue, I felt a blanket being pulled on top of me. A pair of arms wrapped around me as well.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I elbowed Sasori in his, though I hated to admit it, chiseled abs. He made neither sound nor movement from the jab. It was almost as if he inherited the lack of feeling from his previously wooden body.

"You were whimpering and it annoyed me. Besides, it would do neither of us any good if we froze to death."

"Did I give you permission to make physical contact with me?" I tried to break from his arms again, but to no avail.

"So, what gives Itachi the right?" His words struck a chord.

"How would you know?" I spat at Sasori whose body was flush against mine.

"I live with him, Haruno. I know things. Your judgment seems rather off lately. Reason for the cause?" I could feel his smirk from the subtle movement of his chin resting on the top of my head.

"Get lost," I jeered, "I don't need this." I infused my hands with chakra and pried him off of me, being gentle enough to only shove him a few inches away from my back.

"Be logical. Coldness equals shivering. Prolonged shivering leads to hypothermia. Hypothermia means risk of death." I thought about his words. The flimsy fleece blanket was clearly not enough. I weighed the benefits and the disadvantage. Unfortunately, the only disadvantage was having the sly mongoose much too close for my comfort.

"Fine. But, this is an exception and only for tonight," I said through gritted teeth, reluctantly complying with his idea of spooning in a single man tent with one mat and one blanket. His arms wrapped around me again. I shuddered in disgust.

"You really aren't in tune with the weather, are you, Haruno?" I cracked open an eye at his strange question.

"And what does that have to do with anything, shit head?" I was becoming peeved, especially because I was tired.

"It's going to be like this for at least a week. And if not rain, it will be zero Celsius every night." I could feel my brains boiling. There was no way this was happening every night.

"Fucking weather god!" I cried out, burying my head in my hands.

"Think of it this way, Haruno: Each night you 'suffer' this situation with me, you receive a syringe off of your debt."

"Are you serious? Just one?"

"A syringe costs about 100,000 yen. You also owe me many other thi-"

"Where the hell are you getting your syringes from? They don't cost that much. I've worked in the hospital long enough to know, don't gyp me!" I cut him off in disbelief. If one syringe cost so much, I could not imagine how much debt I had actually racked up by making myself a bit too at home with his multitude of medical supplies.

"These are top notch. Didn't you feel how smoothly they entered the skin? Anyways, how much does it cost for one night at a hoar house – about the same? Sums it up."

"I will fuck you up," I threatened, feeling my eyebrow twitch in aggravation.

"Oh?" I could feel the corners of his lips curl up.

"Don't take it the wrong way, sicko. You shinobi have no limit, I swear."

"Only sensible in the ninja world where: 1. Romantic relationships stand no chance against a high demand life, 2. Men are instinctual, and 3. An attractive kunoichi is hard to come by, then yes, limits are quite unreasonable to a man." Sasori seemed so nonchalant saying that last point. It was as if he were indirectly complimenting me.

"Was that a compliment?" I smirked. I realized that I had stopped shivering. Despite hating being with Sasori, I found that I disliked him less and less the more we bickered. It was almost entertaining.

"Haruno, at face value, you are already worth millions of yen. With your medical ninjutsu and other strength on top of that, you are easily worth more than Sarutobi Asuma and his father combined." I was baffled at why he was telling me this, but it was rather flattering. Knowing Sasori, he was completely logical and frank about things. But, his voice seemed so different from his sly, cold, logical one I was so used to.

"It's almost as if we're frie-" I halted my thought before it could bloom into that. I mentally checked myself. Here I was with an S-classed ninja spooning me on a mission that I practically had no choice to go on. There was nothing natural about that. But, in a way, I felt like I was going insane because I began to actually become rather comfortable around the Akatsuki as of late. Was it Stockholm's Syndrome?

"And why are you relaying this information to me?" I questioned, genuinely curious.

"Go to sleep, Haruno." I smirked at his quick response. The arm that snaked across my waist constricted me more. I could feel a vein pop up in my temple; it was definitely of his tendencies to make me feel as uncomfortable as possible.

"This is platonic," I stated firmly.

"Platonic," he echoed lazily as I drifted off to sleep.

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A/N 8/12/13: At last! I can finally say I have another finished chapter. Please, please, please leave me a review! I was very reluctant to upload this chapter because it's been so long. I hope it does not disappoint. By the way, I feel really guilty about putting in swears because it's not of my nature to, but it just seems so…Sakura. I also went through all the previous chapters to brush up on any grammatical errors and spelling. I may have missed some, but I can ensure that I am trying to make this story top quality for you all! I also added some miniscule changes to clarify the plot line a bit. But, they are only small additions to existing sentences.