AN: No lemon, if you were expecting that I'm sorry, but I found myself unable to write one. Well, there's enough smut around, so if you want lemons, go look for them somewhere else ;)
And I apologize in advance for the OoC Deidara -.-
On the other hand, the ItaSaku has landed! Though there's bound to come trouble...

10- Persuasion

Oh, the sensation of his lips on hers! His hands roaming over her body, his warmth… It seemed so long ago since anyone had touched her like that.

She glanced at him. His eyes were closed, the dark eyelashes almost brushing his cheek; their contrast with his pale skin made him seem even more feminine. With his hair falling over his face he looked so much like his little brother, but there were the lines under his eyes, the different jaw line, the more delicate nose, and it was clear he was Itachi. She couldn't love Itachi… No.

"Look at me," she whispered. His eyes opened, and she stared into the deep black she knew so well. Sasuke-kun… She sighed deeply. Sharingan changed the black to red. Itachi tried to look inside her mind, but it was as if there was a misty barrier around her thoughts. He did his best not to make her notice, and concentrated more. There, a clear image! He saw eyes at first, deep black eyes. Around the eyes a face took shape, pale skin, surrounded by dark hair. Sasuke. She was trying to imagine he was Sasuke. He kept looking at her, and slowly moved his hand over her face to close her eyes. He kissed her again. "Sakura…"

She buried her head in the crook of his neck, grasping at his shirt. He thought he felt hot liquid falling on his skin. Was she crying? She wasn't shaking or sniffing, but it probably wasn't blood either. Tears then, still. "S-Sasuke-kun…" she whispered. He closed his eyes. She missed his little brother too.

Sakura's kisses were desperate, she was holding onto him as if she feared she would fall if she let him go. Her eyes were shut tightly, she didn't want to know who exactly she was kissing. It was easier to stay in her dream world and pretend he was his little brother. The moment reality would kick in, she feared she wouldn't understand herself any more.

Memories of her last time with Sasuke crossed her mind, but she pushed them away. Itachi's touch was cold and unemotional, nothing like Sasuke's dark passion. If she allowed herself to notice that, she wouldn't be able to continue.

His hands slid lower, tugging at her belt. She felt his knee nudge her legs apart, and shivered.

"No!" She pushed him away and wildly shook her head. "What are you doing?!"

"Sakura. What are you doing?" he asked. She blinked, once, twice. Slowly, realization downed upon her. She lowered her head and confessed:

"I… I miss Sasuke-kun so much…"

"And by doing this, you can bring him back?"

"N-no… But I can imagine… and…" She bit her lip.

"Sakura, let's make a deal." His voice was suddenly not soft and gentle anymore, but business-like. "You want to be loved. I can give it to you, and you'll have the memory of Sasuke as well. There is a lot you don't know about him, I could tell you. In exchange, I only ask you to stay with Akatsuki."

"You can't ask me that," she said, her eyes wide. "I know I accepted your offer to join you, but I can come back on that, right?"

"Don't be stupid, Sakura. You know you have nowhere to turn to, and you don't want us coming after you as enemies. Besides, I know you long for affection."

"That is true…"

"I am the only one you can really trust, Sakura. Don't lose that."

She stared at the ground. "You're right. Oh, I hate it to say it, but you're right." She lifted her head and looked straight into his eyes. "Alright, deal. I'll stay."

The corner of Itachi's mouth lifted in a way that could've been a smirk.

Sakura slowly made her way to her own room. She was completely lost in thought, so that she only noticed the other person in her room when she had already closed the door.

"D-Deidara-san!"

The blonde was leaning against the table, and looked up when she entered.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "I'm sorry that I caused you trouble, but it's very late and-"

"Sakura-chan. What did Itachi do to you, hm?" Deidara asked sternly.

She was a bit surprised by that answer. "He… Well… Why would you mind, anyway? And why are you calling me Sakura-chan­ all of a sudden?" It sounded sharper than she meant.

He gave her a pained look, and his stern demeanor changed to almost shy. "I'm sorry, but… Sakura-chan, I…"

"What?"

"I don't really know how to say it… But if you want to go to sleep, then-"

"Oh, it's okay." She was quick to smile. Deidara was one of the only people here who were sincerely nice to her, and she didn't want to make him feel bad. Besides, Deidara, at loss for words, that was a very rare thing. It had to be important, then.

"Sit down, please," she said, and took a chair herself. Deidara obliged.

"Well… Sakura-chan, I am concerned. I don't think you really want to be here, hm."

She stiffened. "Oh! How did you come to think that?"

"In the first place, you were forced to come here by Itachi. And secondly, he was the one who killed your lover, hm. You said so yourself, you said that you hated him. But now it seems like you are seeking out his company, and tonight when you kinda saved him from me, it seemed like you were protecting him. What has he done to you, hm?"

Sakura bit her lip. Itachi had pressured her not to tell anyone about Tobi being Uchiha Madara, but if she didn't, how would she explain the situation to Deidara?

"It's quite complicated… He told me some things about him and Sasuke-kun that put matters into another perspective."

"Another perspective. I see. Are there so many ways to view a murder, then?"

"I'm very sorry, but it's such a long story, and it's already very late…"

"Yeah, it's alright, hm. I just wondered… did something, ah… happen?"

Her eyes glazed over for a moment, but then she said: "No, why? What would you expect to happen?"

"Nah, it's nothing, hm. But, Sakura-chan…"

She smiled friendly. "What is it, Deidara-san?"

"Why did you really interrupt me and Itachi?"

"I… I was concerned he might hurt you. You said yourself that he is very powerful and cruel." That blatant lie was perhaps the meanest thing she had ever told someone. It wasn't true, but she didn't want to explain everything to him, and she didn't want to hurt him either. This would be the best thing.

He smiled. "Thanks, Sakura-chan. But…"

"What is it?"

"You're not happy here, are you?"

She thought for a moment. "No, I am not happy here. In fact, I do quite hate it. But I don't think there is any place left for me to find happiness, so why bother?"

Deidara suddenly stood up, and grabbed her hands.

"Let me take you away from here!" His eyes started to gleam. "Sakura-chan, we can go away, together, far away without ever having to bother with Akatsuki again! I'm gonna show my art to the entire world, and you'll come with me! Sakura-chan, we could be together and always-"

She drew back her hands. With her eyes turned to the floor, she said: "Deidara-san, don't say that. You know just as well as I do that such a thing could never be possible."

Deidara stared at her depressed face, and slowly raised his hand to her cheek. "Sakura-chan, I…"

She quickly stepped away from him. "Please don't say it," she begged. "It's impossible!"

"But-"

"You are very friendly and kind to me, and I don't want to make you sad. Please, don't bring up a thing like this."

He lowered his head. "I thought you cared for me, hm."

Sakura felt tears coming up. "Deidara-san, I do care for you. A lot," she assured him. "But what you ask is really impossible. I can't leave Akatsuki."

"I see," Deidara answered. He avoided her eyes and took a deep breath. "Well then, we'd better forget about this."

Sakura nodded. Deidara turned around and went to the door.

"Good night, Sakura-san."

She cringed when she heard the suffix, but answered politely: "Good night, Deidara-san."

The following day at breakfast, Sakura found herself unable to look either Deidara or Itachi in the eye. She ate without appetite, but merely poked her food around a bit.

Then Tobi sat down next to her, and she stiffened.

"Good morning, Sakura-san!" he said cheerfully. Sakura tried very hard to forget what she knew about him, but didn't succeed. How did he dare to pretend he was still a nice person?

"Good morning, Tobi-san," she managed to answer. He chuckled lightly.

"How are you? What happened last night when you ran away suddenly?"

She looked down at the table. "I'm fine, thank you. There's nothing for you to be concerned about."

Of course he understood the double meaning of her words. She imagined him smirking beneath his mask when he answered: "That's good."

Hatred clenched together in her stomach. She looked around the room, searching for a distraction. Luckily, Itachi noticed her distress, and stood up. He walked around the table and leaned close to Sakura, completely ignoring Tobi.

"Let's get some books and search for info about the Bijuu," he said. Sakura nodded, smiling gratefully. She saw Deidara glancing at her with narrowed eyes, though, and felt a pang of guilt.

"Here's a book about legendary demons," Sakura said, carrying a very heavy, dust-covered book to the table. There was, apparently, a library beneath the rock as well. She wasn't really surprised. Itachi glanced at the book and shook his head.

"That's not about Bijuu, only about Orochi, Raijin and such. The real legends."

"Ah, okay."

She took the book back to where she got it. When she walked back to the table, she noticed someone else had come in. Konan was talking to Itachi, and handed him something. She smiled when she saw Sakura, but left the room in a hurry.

"Leader and Madara are waiting for her," Itachi explained, when Konan was gone.

"What did she give to you?" Sakura asked. Itachi showed her. It was a small bundle of papers, folded so tightly that it easily fitted in his hand.

"This is what Deidara got for Leader, the thing that almost got him killed," he said.

"Oh! What is it?" He handed her the papers. Sakura carefully folded them out, and laid them on the table. There were several pages, covered with text in a small, scribbly handwriting. Sakura squinted.

"Is that calligraphy or just a very bad writer?" she said. Itachi didn't answer, but took one of the pages. He read a few sentences, then put it down again.

"This is a report about how to kill Bijuu."

Sakura's eyes grew large. "What? What does it say?"

"Here, read for yourself."

Sakura took the paper and narrowed her eyes. After reading it, she said:

"Here, it states: If the human host of the Bijuu is killed with any normal weapon, or dies from illness or old age, the Bijuu is released and gets his own body again. But when Naruto died, nothing happened!"

Itachi silently handed her another paper.

Sakura read aloud: "There are several conditions under which a Bijuu can die along with its host. If the host and the Bijuu are sharing chakra, their bond becomes stronger, and the Bijuu will be tied to the host more closely. However, this alone is not enough. If the host is dying, the Bijuu will be released, unless… The text becomes really hard to read here," she sighed. Itachi took the paper from her hands, and continued:

"The Bijuu will be released, unless the host is healed and saved from death. Normally, this will just continue the bond between host and Bijuu, and both will survive, but there are exceptions. As stated before, a host can hold the Bijuu only for an estimated time. This time is the host's life expectancy. If, however, the host is kept alive longer than he really should live, the Bijuu cannot break free, but he can't stay inside his host any longer either. Because of this, he will most likely die."

Sakura's eyes were large. "So this means… A Bijuu can only stay in his container as long as that person's life expectancy?"

Itachi nodded. "Probably, yes. So if the host lives longer than he should, the Bijuu dies. Sakura, how did Naruto really die?"

With a frown, Sakura closed her eyes. "He was severely wounded. I believe they said it was Leader who had fought with him. He had tried to save Kakashi-sensei, they said. But now he was dying as well. I… I kept putting chakra into him, kept his blood running and his heart beating, even though I knew it was hopeless. I… I kept him alive as long as I could, but in the end, he died even so."

Itachi slowly nodded, though his face remained blank. "Sakura, do you understand what this means?" he said. "You kept Naruto alive longer than he would've lived without you. Because of that, the Kyuubi had nowhere to go, he was trapped inside a dying body."

She held her breath.

"Sakura, you killed the Kyuubi."

AN: Aii, now she's in trouble... Foolish girl, she should've just gone with Deidara.
Any suggestions? Please review!