"One, two three."
Kakuza stared at the fist Deidara had made, and then looked back at his own flat palm. "Dammit, I lose again."
"Yes, you do," Deidara said. "Paper covers rock."
Kakuza sighed and kicked his feet up against the wall. "I am so bored…."
"Ditto, un."
"One…two…three…four…"
"Dude, what are ya doin'?"
"Counting bricks."
Deidara sighed. "Well, better than getting tortured by that Tsunade kid."
The door slammed open.
"Speak of the devil and he will come for you," Kakuza said, swinging his legs around. "I take it you're here for-"
Tsunade placed a hard kick to the side of Kakuza's head. "Well what was that for?!" he sputtered, sitting up.
Tsunade stuck out her tongue.
"I could."
Kakuza sighed. It was going to be a long day…
OOOOOOOOO
Kakashi sat quietly, not really doing anything at the moment. Asuma and Gai had taken him home and let him sleep, but when he woke up, they had left. Kakashi was just bandaging whatever wounds he felt like bandaging, and smearing ointment on a few abrasions, burns, and lacerations. He almost wanted Itachi there, for all it was worth; Itachi had treated him nicely-
A gentle tap on his window caused him to look up.
Itachi was there, leaning on the frame, and Kakashi hesitantly slid it up. Itachi stepped inside, and Kakashi slid back to allow him room.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, before Itachi was crushing him against his chest.
"You're safe," the missing-nin murmured, and Kakashi realized that was the sole reason he was here. "I wasn't sure-"
"I'm okay," Kakashi said quickly, and Itachi released him.
"Don't do that again."
Kakashi smiled a bit underneath his mask, and Itachi gently reached for it. "What, jumping out the window?" Kakashi whispered, and Itachi carefully tugged down the mask.
"Of course," he murmured, tracing the smooth contours of Kakashi's face. "You really had me."
Kakashi shrugged. "And what, you thought jumping was gonna kill me?"
Itachi smiled. "Of course! We were, what…three stories up?"
Kakashi shrugged again, and Itachi thought it was one of the most innocent looks he had ever seen from the Copy Ninja. "You get to a point when you don't really care much anymore," he said quietly, and Itachi pulled him close.
"Retard," he said teasingly. Kakashi was on his guard as Itachi leaned forward-but wait, his hands were on his-
Itachi's lips brushed Kakashi's in a soft, chaste kiss, and Kakashi immediately jerked backwards, startled.
Itachi pulled back, concerned. "What?"
Kakashi shook his head. "N-Nothing…I'm fine."
Itachi didn't look convinced, but he said nothing more on the subject. "Kakashi…"
"I know," Kakashi said bitterly, cutting Itachi off. "And why do you even care? What do you care, about me? Why do you care if I live, or die?"
"You need a reason?" Itachi snapped.
"Yes," Kakashi said hardly. "Yes, I do."
"No you don't. And if you have a problem with me caring about you, brat, I can stop caring at any time, and I will hurt you-"
"No!" Kakashi said quickly. "Please, no. I-I just wanted to see if you were still using me…like you did before..."
"I was never using you, Kakashi," Itachi said, and pulled Kakashi into his chest. "Why would I?"
"Last time…" Kakashi hesitantly started. "Tsukiyomi…"
Itachi sighed. "It's complicated," he said quietly, nuzzling Kakashi's neck. Kakashi felt a slight kiss on his skin, and then sharp canine teeth nipped at his throat again. The jounin pulled away, knowing if he let Itachi go any further he couldn't be stopped.
"Stop it."
Itachi glared at Kakashi, who was backing away. "You want a repeat?"
"No!" Kakashi cried, pulling away even more.
"Then cooperate with me."
"This is what you wanted all along, isn't it?" Kakashi whispered. "I can't believe I ever thought you were-"
"Neither can I."
Itachi turned around slowly, as if mocking the pair of ninja behind him. Asuma and Gai stood in the doorway. It was Gai who had spoken.
"Let him go," he said softly. "And nobody gets hurt."
Itachi glanced at Kakashi, weighing his options. If he tried to fight both jounin at once, and only since it included Gai, he might end up getting a bit more banged up than he was hoping. He could always take a hostage, but the only other person there was Kakashi, and he was probably going to throw a fit if he went after him. He could blow up the whole building, but he might kill himself in the process…and he would also kill Kakashi. He doubted he could run very far, and the only reason he was in this was for the Yuuhi. He thought she would be with Kakashi, but he wasn't, so-
Several shuriken flew towards him, and Itachi dodged them easily. But now he was out of time to think, so he would just have to take Kakashi and make an exchange…but wait, that Sarutobi was the last jinchuuriki they needed! He could use Kakashi for them both!
Itachi whipped around, running full out for Kakashi. The jounin looked stunned and ducked as Itachi reached for him, but Itachi swept him up into his arms and turned, looking around frantically. Window, window, window-gah, where was the stupid thing?!
…No, duh.
Itachi kicked out, breaking the glass. He leaped through, but not before he heard the desperate struggles of Asuma and Gai, trying to win Kakashi back.
Sighing at how stupid they were, Itachi raced off into the trees.
OOOOOOOOO
Gai exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. "What now? I know he's gotten away, so it's fairly pointless to pursue him…"
Asuma sighed. "He wants me. He wants to make an exchange: me for Kakashi."
"The Swallow?"
"Of course."
Asuma sighed again. "I know he's also taken a liking to Kurenai. Why, I have no idea, but it's fairly sudden and it only came about when he had her…"
"Yeah," Gai said. "Okay, I'm going to Tsunade. If you want you can pursue Itachi-"
Asuma shook his head. "No. That's exactly what he wants. It's a trap, of course. Um, a source told me that the Akatsuki has all the jinchuuriki's demons extracted…except mine."
Gai nodded. "Okay, let's go to Tsunade. She'll know what to do…"
OOOOOOOOO
Kakashi's nails were already drawing wicked scratches across Itachi's skin, and he was watching the blood carefully. If Kakashi happened to bite him, the blood flow would increase by too much. And that was not good.
But if Kakashi wanted to be a pain, that was fine. He could always discipline the brat later. But if someone was following him…that was another story. He might have to do something ahead of plans, and that wasn't good either…
Face it Itachi-the entire situation is not good.
OOOOOOOOO
"What happened??!!!"
Asuma sighed. He had known Tsunade wouldn't take this very well, but still…
"Tsunade-sama, please, try to understand-" Gai started.
"No!" Tsunade said, throwing up her hands. "I won't have it! Dear Lord, people think I'm drunk!"
Asuma heaved another sigh. There was really only one way to do this…
"Tsunade-sama, if you don't authorize this I'm going in alone."
"Fine!" Tsunade threw up her hands again. "Go get killed! I don't care at this point!"
Asuma grinned. Score one!
OOOOOOOOO
Kakashi bit deep into Itachi's flesh again as he threw him into a random cell in the dungeon. "And don't you dare-!"
Kakashi flew at him again, aiming for his vital points and praying for a hit. Itachi slammed the door and used his body to block it until he could bolt it and fasten the chain across the edge. Itachi could feel the door shaking under Kakashi's weight repeatedly being thrown against it and sighed again. The jounin was a beast!
Itachi walked away. All that was left to do was send Konoha a little note, and all would be well…
OOOOOOOOO
"Tsunade-sama! A messenger from the Akatsuki insists upon seeing you immediately!"
Tsunade sighed. "Alright, Shizune let him in. Tight security, and don't let leave him alone at any time!"
Shizune nodded and put down a squealing piglet. Tsunade smiled and let Tonton jump into her lap, then sat back and waited for this messenger.
He entered, hunched over and spitting nails at Shizune and the ANBU trailing him. Tsunade smiled and rose.
"Sasori of the Red Sand, eh? Well, I certainly didn't expect to see you here."
Sasori hissed and flicked his tail impatiently. "We want to make a trade. Our ninja or Yuuhi Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma, for Kakashi."
"Oh, yeah, like you didn't see that one comin' a mile away," Tsunade muttered under her breath.
"Is there a problem, Tsunade-san?" Sasori purred. "The Akatsuki is offering you a fair deal."
"It's hardly fair!" Tsunade cried.
Sasori shrugged. "Oh, yes, you'll like this last part, then. You see, if our demands are not met in full in five days, the Copy Ninja will die. Or, I can bind him to me, and he will be my slave. And you will decide that as well."
Tsunade felt her jaw drop in shock. "Th-That's…!"
"Life isn't fair, Tsunade-san," Sasori said, and Tsunade swore he was grinning under the piece of cloth over his lower face. "Learn to deal with it. As I said before-you have five days to either release our ninja or hand over Yuuhi Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma. Your choice." With that, Sasori turned to leave.
"Wait!"
The missing-nin turned back to Tsunade expectantly. "What?"
"Why do you want Kurenai?"
Sasori shrugged. "How should I know? Itachi just wants her. And I'm just following instructions."
And he swept out of Tsunade's office, still giving her that same, damnable smirk.
Tsunade sank down in her chair, covering her face with her hands. "Now what?! I can't just hand over my own ninja, that's just wrong by every moral! And I'm reluctant to release the other Akatsuki, because then they'll…! And if I do nothing, Kakashi will die!"
Shizune let out her exhaled breath. "I can't help you," she said quietly. "The only thing I would suggest would be an attempted rescue, but the chances are low that any good would come of it…Maybe you should just ask Kurenai and Asuma would they think," she said carefully. "And they know Kakashi best too…"
Tsunade nodded. "Would you get them, please?"
Shizune nodded and swept out of the room, the ANBU slowly backing up. Tsunade waved them off, and they disappeared. She covered her face again and leaned forward on her elbows. Why, oh why did this have to happen to her every time?
A/N: Haha, cliffy! Oh, well…review if you want to know what happens! And sorry for the late update, school and stuff has been crazy!! I had to visit my grandparents', then I had to visit my uncle, and then…aw, you don't care. If you got the end of this without being bored and stopping, thank you and chocolate chip cookies. If you didn't…I don't care either. REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!!!