Chapter Ten
"Why do you do this to yourself?" Itachi asks as he leaves the bathroom carrying a small wet cloth. Kneeling down beside me, Itachi lifts the cloth to my lip and tries to stop the bleeding. "Why do you bit your lip?" his voice was now dry and didn't seem to have any concern, but that isn't what I wanted to believe. I think for a moment, choosing my words carefully.
"I bite my lip because I worry," I say, my voice muffled by the cloth. Water drips off of the small cloth and lands on the cloak, sliding down the dark red and black fabric instead of absorbing into it. I silently hope that he understands that when I say that I worry, I mean that I worry if he likes me or not. Dabbing the cloth on my lip, he moves a bit closer, as if to see if the bleeding was stopping. Backing up some, he puts the cloth back up to my lip.
"Do you worry for Sasuke?" he asks, pausing for a second, and then he turned his sight to the wall beside him as if it had suddenly done something of interest to draw his attention. I look to him surprised, where did this come from?
"Why would you say that?" I ask, my cheeks flood with color I no longer tried to hold back because his eyes were off of me. Slowly he turns to me and I lower my face, trying to make the color less apparent.
"When Kisame said his name, your face seemed turned red and know," he says gesturing to my mouth, "and you bit your lip when you heard he was on his was coming here- do you worry for Sasuke?" My eyes widen a little and I am surprised, does he pay so much attention to me? I try not to smile and realize he expected a response.
"No- I don't worry for Sasuke," I say. I don't worry for him- is that a lie? Since when did I not like Sasuke? I try to think back about it, I have based my entire life around his, even planned the future, our future. I feel cold and wrap the cloak around me tighter, but it only seemed to make me colder. Itachi leaned forward and looked at my lip again, this time he was only inches from my face.
Standing up with the cloth, he walks away from me; so that's it? He'll talk to me for a while, then get up and walk away as if nothing ever happened. I sigh and watch as he leaves the bathroom, expecting him to just go back to his chair and not speak to me again. Instead, he came over and kneeled at my side again. Surprised, I lean back a little bit, what is he doing? After just sitting there for a moment, the silence becomes unbearable, I find myself needing to say something- anything!
"You never told me why your face turns red," Itachi said, saving me form embarrassing myself by blurting some random thing out. I quickly look up, is he just- just making small talk with me now? I blush; maybe I should test it before I say anything.
"I- I don't feel like talking right now," I say, slipping in a yawn between words. If he doesn't try more small talk, then he doesn't care, if he does, then he does care. I was pretty sure he would continue to speak. However, I was proven wrong. Slowly Itachi stands up and brushes himself off.
As he begins to walk off, I get upset. "So this is it?" I ask, not caring about the desperateness that was seeping through my voice and actions. "You act like you care for a moment, then you get up and walk away the second the conversation doesn't fit to your liking?" Realizing what I just said, I turn my face towards the ground, ashamed. I might have just said, or admitted to something huge. My face goes red, embarrassed. Itachis' footsteps stop, and then begin to turn back around towards my direction. I watch his feet as the stop only about a yard from me.
"You told me that you didn't want to talk, I didn't want to force you to," he said, my eyes wander back up to his face. So he- didn't want to force me? I think to myself, blushing fiercely with my face covered by the cloak. Trying to cover it up, I look up to Itachi.
"So do you want to talk then?" he asks, eyeing me curiously.
"Yes- I do," I reply, trying to calm my blushing and push back any emotions that had just rushed through my head a moment before. Silence falls and again I find myself uncomfortable in it.
"Do you care for the Fox Demon?" Itachi asks; his sight on the ground as he actually sits down next to me for once. I think over how to reply.
"No, I don't care for the Fox Demon," I begin, trying to choose my wording carefully. Itachi looks to me with a semi-surprised look on his face, "but the boy, Naruto, I do care for- he saved my life once," I say, thinking back, but it wasn't too long ago. It's not like I liked him the way I do with Sasuke, or Itachi, but he at times was a friend. I try to get my mind off of it by changing the subject.
"Why were you so wet when you came in earlier?" I ask curiously, trying to look confused.
"I had to guard the building from the outside, it was raining," he said. That makes sense. Suddenly I realize something- if he had been soaking wet when he came in- how come the cloak was dry when he gave it to me? It hadn't been that long- had it? I stare down at the fabric wrapped around me and try to figure out why.
"What are these cloaks made out of?" I ask, having the feeling that my voice was probably annoying to him by now. He leaned into me and picked up a sleeve.
"It's a regular fabric that has had several jutsus' performed on it," he put the cloth onto my face as if that made it obvious. Annoyed that I couldn't see his face, I move the sleeve and realize how close he was. He's- just inches from my face, I try not to blush or turn away; maybe this is my chance. Maybe I can… I look into his eyes and decide to do it, I will kiss Itachi. Slowly I lean forward, and it seems that he does too, I close my eyes happily as my cheeks flush with color and-
"She's being relocated," Sasori says, slamming the door open. He stops when he gets in, realizes how close we are, and then in a way does that glare at Itachi. Disappointed, I draw away from Itachi, I guess it's not time yet. Itachis face is dark and I'm unable to read it. "Itachi- you stay here and clear the area so they can't follow us," Sasori says, lifting me to my feet and removing Itachis cloak. Itachi nods and catches his cloak as Sasori throws it to him. Sasori hoists me up onto his shoulder, glances at Itachi with an emotion of almost anger, and then begins out the door. I watch sadly as Itachi disappears from view. I am for once not surprised when I find myself thinking- be safe Itachi.