Happy tenth chapter everybody! Thanks for sticking around!

Days passed where Itachi simply did not see Karin at all.

He found no signs of her in the halls, no flashes of red hair slipping around corners or pale hands reaching out of doorways. The dining room was likewise empty, candles unlit and curtains pulled, no food or table settings in place when he slowly cracked the door open.

The first night he sat and waited for her, drumming his fingers on the table as he tried to imagine what could possibly be keeping her. After half an hour it seemed she was not going to come, and so he left.

The next night he only waited ten minutes before leaving, his faith in her barely substantial to warrant waiting at all, and from there on he would only duck his head briefly into the dining room, unsure if such a symbolic action was capable of maintaining their bargain, but unsure how they would otherwise have dinner if Karin would not appear.

It was not exactly apprehension he was feeling but a suspicious curiosity, knowing Karin was far too determined and far too clever to act without reason, to disappear unless there was some strategy behind it.

It almost certainly had to have something to do with her friend who, it pained Itachi to recall, had been just as intent on arranging a marriage between the two of them as she'd been.

But Karin's friend had also been worried about her, concerned she was running out of time for something, that she needed to have a plan in place. Karin's response had been unusual, he recalled—she'd been aloof, disinterested. For the first time since he'd arrived she had chosen not to bother him about the marriage that night, and while he would not be surprised to see her try such a thing as a manipulation tactic, he begrudgingly found himself convinced her disinterest had been genuine.

Maybe not good-intentioned or regretful, but genuine all the same.

Days continued to pass without a glimpse of Karin, and it occurred to Itachi that he might truly be alone, that Karin had abandoned him and left the castle for an unknown amount of time.

Even if Itachi did not see her, though, Karin was not entirely gone.

He could hear the halls rearranging themselves throughout the day, usually once or twice in the afternoon, a couple times in the evening. He assumed she'd been in the kitchen when he found pans and tableware rearranged, or when the tables were sticky as if someone had spilled tea and neglected to clean it up.

Barring the presence of a very inconsiderate ghost, it seemed Karin was still somewhere in the castle, and only avoiding him. Or that their paths were so divergent that without her intentionally seeking him out they would naturally never see each other.

He had no real idea of where else she might be going in the castle, what other rooms there might have been. More importantly, he had no clue what Karin could possibly be doing with all of the free time she had now that she wasn't bothering him.

Sometimes on his way to and from the kitchen he'd smell faint traces of a woman's perfume and inexplicably he would recognize it as Karin's (though given the absence of other women he could have easily guessed such a thing), and just as quickly he would lament that he had, at some point, become familiar with particular scent she wore.

It was surprisingly mature for her, a floral scent more reminiscent of something his mother might have worn. Except that the longer he thought on it, the more Itachi struggled to recall if his mother had worn any perfumes at all, let alone Karin's variety.

He never would have paid attention to such a thing. He never would have imagined he'd run out of opportunities to see his mother, and this had been a gross oversight on his part.

The decision to confront Karin did not come easily and it did not come immediately, but Itachi decided he only needed to learn a lesson once for it to stick.

It was very easy to avoid problems. It would require no mental effort on his part to continue his research, to confine his greatest worries to what material would be appropriate for a chapter of his work covering the annexation of a country three decades ago.

That was the simplest way to live and simplicity has its own appeal. Simplicity meant he could live and work uninterrupted, meant that he could live in a world inhabited only by himself and his curiosities.

But simplicity did not come without cost. Simplicity was why he had turned his back on Shisui, why he had left his village. Itachi's desire for simplicity had led to him becoming trapped in that damned castle, had led him to attempt rescuing Sasuke on his own after Shisui had set off without him.

Being alone had only ever been appealing when it was optional, when he was only ever a short trip away from home. Things were much simpler now, in that he could be end up alone forever without needing to make a single decision on the matter ever again.

Whatever Karin was doing would continue whether or not he was aware of it. He could, then, choose to isolate himself from her entirely and hope it would work out in his favor.

Or he could do something about it.

The only doors he could see when he stood in the hallway were the ones to the library, which he had come through, and the ones leading to the kitchen, the dining room, and his bedroom. He was almost positive Karin was in none of those places, and so he stood at what seemed to be the center of the hallway, and spoke hoping he would reach her wherever she was hiding.

"Karin," he called. He waited a few moments, listening for any signs of the woman.

Unsure how he might otherwise find her, he continued, slightly louder this time, "Karin, I am going to wait for you in the library. I wish to speak with you."

His voice echoed through the halls with no reply, but he hadn't exactly anticipated one.

Itachi waited a little longer then turned around to go back to the library in order to wait, however long that might take.

He only had time to sit and open one of his books before the halls began to move and, when he concentrated, he could hear the slap of Karin's shoes as they hit the stone floors, her pace unusually quick. It was oddly like Karin to disappear without explanation only to rush to see him the instant he asked for her.

And then, once she appeared, to act entirely indifferent to it.

In spite of her haste, Karin looked as though she was trying her best to be the picture of nonchalance when she open the door to the library, leaning against it in what appeared to be an attempt to look smug, bemused. As if she'd known he was going to call for her.

As much as he wouldn't put it past her, he very much doubted that was the case.

She'd been dressing more casual as of late but she was clearly wearing lounging clothes then—loose fitting pants with a frayed hole in one knee, and another knit sweater that seemed slightly too large for her, the sleeves rolled up around her elbows.

Even her hair was tied back in a crooked ponytail. Loose strands hung around her face as if she'd been running her hands through it in frustration, tugging on her roots.

Karin tucked one of the loose strands of hair behind her ear, her lip twitching into the barest smile. "This is a first," she started, shutting the door behind her but not coming any further into the library. "Don't suppose you've missed me?"

Itachi closed his book and stood, the thump of the pages coming together unnecessarily loud. Even though her eyes immediately flickered back to his he could tell Karin had been looking around the library, either at the charts he'd hung or the shelves he'd rearranged or, if she could even see it from there, the makeshift bed he'd made in one of the corners.

"You've really taken to the library, huh?" Karin asked, beginning to walk towards him. Though she'd been annoyed by his research in the past he couldn't discern any bitterness in her tone or expression. He couldn't really assign any particular emotion to it, and perhaps it was meant to be vague, open to interpretation.

Neutral ground, one might say.

"I have questions for you," he said, getting straight to the point, and she paused a few shelves away.

The was a careful stillness to her but he wasn't fool enough to consider it peaceful.

"I might have some for you too, then," she said, her tone gentle but no longer playful. Proper, like one of his primary school teachers.

For a moment neither of them spoke and the entire room was silent, too early in the day for there to be candles lit and the grounds, as far as Itachi could tell, were entirely deserted. It occurred to him that in the entire time he'd been there he hadn't seen or heard any living creature, no birds or mice or even the smallest of insects.

He cleared his throat. "Question for question, then," he said, as business-like as he could manage. If she would follow his lead and be serious about the matter they might actually be able to accomplish something here.

Karin nodded slowly, calculating. "So you're getting serious about this then, is that it?"

"I want it as a bargain," he said, seeing surprise flash across her face.

"Oh?" she replied, her tone far too curious for his liking.

"Question for question, and we will both answer honestly. One after another."

Karin grinned, then seemed to think better of it. "One caveat," she said, adjusting her glasses. She hesitated a moment, then gave him a slight nod. "I might not be able to answer everything you ask but… I'll try my best."

Before he could retort, she held up one of her hands and clarified. "That's a can't, not a won't. I promise to answer all of your questions honestly, and to the best of my ability. In good faith."

In good faith seemed like a trap for fools. However, if she was agreeing to speak honestly Itachi would already be in a better position than he had in the past. He would just need to ask questions she could answer, and hope she would accidentally let something slip.

When he didn't outright refuse, Karin took another step closer to him, holding her hand out.

He eyed her suspiciously but she only raised her hand higher, the underside of it stained with ink as if she'd written something and smeared it by accident. He acquiesced with a sigh, walking over to complete the handshake.

Karin gave his hand a firm pump, a more recognizable eagerness peeking out from her unusual calmness. "So who goes first?" she asked, pulling her hand back and forming it into a triumphant fist.

"Why are you so insistent on marrying me?"

Karin's smile twitched downward and she let out a sigh. "Of course you'd go first, why did I even bother asking?"

When that got no reaction from him she huffed again, her eyes going shifty before she gave him a slight shrug and looked down at her shoes, her one hand clenching and unclenching in that strange habit of hers.

"I… It's because… Because I don't want to be alone in this house forever." Karin looked down, tapping one of her shoes on the carpet. She hesitated a moment longer before adding, "And because you're much, much better than the alternative."

Even if the alternative to him would be complete loneliness, Itachi wasn't quite sure he agreed.

And yet… Surely she had alternatives beyond him. Suigetsu, for one. There had to be more people like him, other places she could go.

"Being married won't change anything," he argued. "The simple act of us getting married would not make me like you any more than I do already." And, conversely, as long as he was trapped here, married or not, she wasn't exactly alone.

He hadn't given much thought to marriage before but it seemed the marriage itself was only symbolic of a pre-existing relationship, that it was people choosing to be be married that was truly significant, not marriage.

Hence the backwards nature of her pursuit.

Karin interrupted his thinking with a wave of her hand. "That's a problem for another day. It's my turn now, okay? Okay." She paused for a moment to think and Itachi braced himself, taking in a deep breath as he tried to imagine the type of devious or invasive nonsense she could—"What do you like to do for fun?"

Itachi blinked. "… What?" he searched her face but she seemed entirely serious. "What I like to do for… fun."

The odds that Karin had entered into this bargain without actually having any questions for Itachi suddenly seemed very high.

She gave him an indifferent shrug. "If you think I'm wasting a question that's my problem, not yours. Either way, you promised to answer."

"I did promise…" Was that really the best question she could think of? Itachi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before relenting, at least grateful it hadn't been anything complicated. "I read. I like researching… Cooking."

He looked up to see Karin staring at him, her mouth open in disbelief.

She whined, almost sounding offended, "Is that honestly it? I already knew all of that that."

"Is that another question?"

Karin let out an indignant noise. "No, but that was an awful answer. You're so boring."

Ignoring her response entirely, Itachi went on. "I understand that you've let people go in the past…"

"Is that a question?" she interrupted, flexing her shoulders as she talked in case he couldn't already tell she was mocking him.

"I know it for a fact. When Sasuke came here…" Itachi paused and frowned, thinking back to what he'd been told by Shisui, and what he could extrapolate from that. "He was tracking you because people had gotten away and escaped. That's how he would've known. But you let Sasuke go as well. So why is it that you let some people go and not others?"

"I don't have any use for someone I can't marry… Or someone I don't want to marry," she said, making what seemed to him an unnecessary distinction between the two. "And I don't want someone who won't… They have to want it too, not because they're trapped here or bribed into it."

Which was certainly news to Itachi, who was about to give her a heavy reminder of that when Karin held up both hands in a placating gesture.

"You're not technically trapped here, Itachi. You chose to be here."

He smarted at the implication. "That's absolute nonsense, I did not choose this, I do not want to be here. I am only here because of your thrice-damned—"

"Itachi," Karin said, her voice slow and soft. "I know. You don't want to be here. But," and she held up a single finger, "It's a technicality. You chose the bargain. You chose to stay here of your free will If… If you agree to marry me, it won't be because you're… because I've forced you or bribed you with something beyond what you'd get out of a marriage."

"Why must—"

"Ah, ah. My turn."

Itachi rubbed his eyes, quickly tiring of her nonsensical rules and how weak her justifications were for them. He began to wonder if she simply had gone crazy in her loneliness, and was only now trying to justify it.

Karin leaned against the shelf next to her, giving the top a good rap before speaking up, once again cool and professional. "Itachi. How do you kill a spellcaster?"

"What?" he asked, the topic so divorced from anything that had been said that he was truly considering the possibility that Karin had lost her mind.

She cocked a grin at him. "How do you kill a spellcaster? You definitely thought I was one, and you were pretty certain you could kill me. So if I wanted to kill one, how would I do it?"

As relieved as he was that he only need to answer a simple question of expertise, Itachi couldn't help but think Karin was wasting her questions on information that would do her no good.

It'd be her loss. "Spellcasters aren't inhuman they're just… Less human. They can die from injury like any human can, it might just take more work. Your… Whatever it is that makes it impossible to injure you is wholly unique." He frowned. "You should know most of that already. It's common knowledge."

Karin let out a breathy laugh. "Once again, if you think I'm wasting my questions that's my problem, isn't it?"

Itachi narrowed his eyes, wondering what her strategy could possibly be, or if she even had one.

It was his turn again. "How can I get out of here?"

Karin's smile faded into a long-suffering grimace. "I would have to let you go, which would mean breaking the initial bargain we made, and I'm not gonna do that."

"There's no other way?"

"None that don't involve either of us dying."

Itachi took a deep breath. And then another—

"This isn't new, Itachi. This is the agreement you made; you said you'd stay here forever and I'm going to hold you to that."

"What if…" and he wracked his mind for possibilities. "You are doing something—you only have so much time left to accomplish it. What if I helped you? If I could… I do not know what your friend was speaking of, but if I could help you with this, would you let me go?"

Karin's smile this time was smaller, sympathetic. "I'm sorry, but no. It just won't work like that."

"Why not?" he demanded. "Who else besides you is capable of making these rules?"

Karin began to speak but stopped herself, shaking her head. She gave him a weak shrug instead. "I'm sorry, Itachi. I… If things were different, I… I really think we could work really well together."

He let out a hot breath and gave her a dismissive wave, her weak apology not doing either of them any good. "Ask your next question."

There had to be something else he could do. Something he could offer, or a loophole he could find. Suigetsu was loyal to Karin, he knew, but there had to be more people involved. Or perhaps he could somehow go above her head, find a way to contact the spellcaster who controlled the castle.

Which would likely end poorly, Itachi realized. He looked around the library, wondering what kind of magic it would require to maintain such a building. It seemed unlikely that the spellcaster would be so indulgent if they didn't have some kind of fondness for Karin.

A protective fondness that would not take well to a young, male intruder attempting to go behind her back.

Karin shifted nervously and fidgeted with her glasses again, catching his attention. "Itachi," she said, speaking carefully enough to warrant at least a little bit of concern. "What can I do to make you want to marry me?"

A/N: And in celebration of Chapter 10 I give you: one cliffhanger.

My favorite thing about Itachi is that he's just so brilliant... except when he isn't. If only he'd read Beauty and the Beast before!

Thanks again to everyone who has been leaving comments and following the story. Your patience and kindness amazes me and I'm so lucky to have a fic community willing to at least give my pet rarepair a shot!

I'm on tumblr as something-like-air if you wanna stop by!