So things did escalate a bit there. XD
Hopefully, this chapter will provide some insight as to what our pretty boy is going through!
Disclaimer: Deals with controversial topics.
Enjoy! :)
CHAPTER 7
Utakata is beyond happy with Itachi's practice sessions.
"Whatever you're doing," he says, "keep doing it."
He continues to praise him in great detail, and says that if Itachi makes such steady progress, he definitely has a good chance at Youth America Grand Prix.
"But," he stresses meaningfully, "we need to increase our hours. It was alright until now since we weren't training for anything."
So on top of Tuesdays, Thursdays, some weekends, now Itachi finds himself practising on Fridays, as well. His weekend is marked with at least half-day training sessions, from 7.30 in the mornings till 5.30 in the evenings at most. His toes bleed so heavily by the end of the second week that he can map out the trail on the dance floor as he jumps and spins across space. He honestly considers wearing the Pointe shoes even though they're typically worn by ballerinas, not ballerinos.
Itachi meets up with Sakura again on the following Friday. He picks her up from outside Kamui, just like the first two times and Sakura doesn't protest when he pushes her into the plush cushions of the backseat, kissing her deeply, as Kakashi drives them to her motel room.
"How was your day?" Itachi asks between his kisses.
Sakura's hands are fisted in his shirt. "Mmm… it was fine."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Kakashi increases the volume of Clair De Lune playing in the background, and Itachi grins against her jaw. When they reach the motel, Itachi follows her inside. As soon as the door shuts behind him, he pulls her close to him.
"So listen," he begins while leaving, buttoning up his pants. "My mentor – he's increased my timings for practice."
Sakura is sitting on the edge of the bed, legs swinging back and forth. She's wearing only her T-shirt and panties, her hair mussed and wild, and Itachi wonders whether he could get away with clicking a picture on his phone. He hesitates, decides against it, and shoves his hands in his pockets instead.
"Okay."
"I need to rearrange a few things," he says.
"Okay."
"I might not meet you for a while."
Pause. "Oh. That's fine. It's not like you're obligated to explain anything to me."
Itachi nods. "Right. Of course."
On Saturday, he sends her a text before sleeping. Sasuke is lying beside him on the bed, reading another one of Jiraiya's books. Chopin's notes flow through the stereo, warming Itachi from the inside out.
Hello Coco
She replies ten minutes later, when Itachi is almost asleep.
Heyyyy Preeti Boi
Itachi stares at his screen, blinking a few times to make sure he's reading correctly.
Uh…?
I'm drunk a little
He calls her immediately, heart thudding for some reason, feeling abruptly awake. Sakura picks up on the second ring.
"Who are you with?" he demands directly. Sasuke raises his eyebrows at the tone. Itachi shakes his head lightly, schools his features, gets to his feet, and leaves the room.
Meanwhile, Sakura is giggling on the other end. "S'sori and everyone! Dei got a job! So we are celebratin'!"
Itachi relaxes, leaning his back on the wall in the hallway outside his bedroom. "Don't do anything stupid."
Sakura laughs harder. "Too late!"
"What did you do?" he asks warily, rubbing one hand on his forehead.
"Hey, wait!" she says to someone on her side. "I'm coming!" Pause. "It's a friend, okay? Chill the fuck out!" Pause. "From the club, geez! Stop acting like my dad, Kakuzu!" Longer pause. "Whatever. Just hold on a fucking minute." When she addresses Itachi again, she sounds annoyed. "Sorry. Wow, that killed my buzz."
Itachi slides down to the floor, not knowing what to say, so he hears her breathe, instead.
"Is everything okay?" he asks eventually. "Do you need me to pick you up? I can call Kakashi."
"No. No, it's nothing," she replies, then takes a deep breath. "How was practice today?"
He wants to know where she is, how much she's drunk, what stupid thing she pulled off, and why her mood went to the gutter in two seconds flat.
"It was fine," he tells her.
Silence.
"I better let you go," he continues. "Have fun."
"Yeah. I will."
Silence.
"Good night," she offers softly.
"Good night."
Sasuke questions who it was as soon as Itachi re-joins him.
"Konan," he lies, not knowing why.
Sasuke lets it go.
Itachi and his friends are sitting with Sasuke's little gang – they've taken up the habit since Itachi refuses to stay in the cafeteria where Izumi sits alone at a table, the rumour mill is still on-going, and Izumi doesn't approach him in school –
Until now.
She walks towards them with obvious purpose, face set in stone, and Itachi warily straightens up as she reaches their group.
"Can I talk to you?"
"Okay." He doesn't move.
"I meant in private."
"Then, no." From the corner of his eyes, he sees Naruto grin approvingly. Itachi is confident that they're both thinking the same thing: Izumi won't dare say anything about Sasuke in front of Sasuke. Even if she does, she won't get away with it.
"Don't be a child, Itachi," Izumi says with irritation. "You don't even reply to my texts."
"You broke-up, Izumi," he reminds her. "I moved on."
"I was just angry at you!" she exclaims. "You took that seriously?"
"Weren't you the one who told me that I should take you seriously?"
Itachi has no idea where all this anger is coming from, but he feels smugly satisfied when Izumi's face turns green and then red.
Sasuke cuts in before she can reply. "I think you should leave."
That doesn't sit well with her, either. "This is none of your fucking business, jerk."
And Itachi's insides turn cold. "One more word out of your mouth," he says dangerously. "One word to Sasuke, I will start taking everything personally. Am I clear?"
Izumi looks ready to explode with rage. "You're such a fucking piece of shit, Itachi! When the fuck will you ever treat me with respect?"
Sasuke is already on his feet, and Itachi quickly grabs his arm. "When you do something to deserve it," he tells Izumi.
"I've done so many things for you!" she cries out. "I reply to your texts regardless of time or place or context. I'm always there for you when you want to hang out. And you never initiate on your own! The only thing you wanted from me was sex! Is that all I was to you? I freaking loved you, and you never bothered with me! You never cared about me! I tried so hard to gel with your friends for you, and you never appreciated it! I cancelled so many trips for your sake. I never hounded you for gifts or anything. All I wanted was your attention. Was that so hard? Paying attention to your girlfriend is a given! Even then, I had to beg for it! And now, when I said some things in anger, you were supposed to understand me! You were supposed to calm me down! You were supposed to realise that I didn't mean the break-up!"
She's breathing heavily by the time she's done with her speech, and tears are flowing down her face. It's truly a contemptible sight to witness. Itachi has no idea what to do with her anymore.
Eventually, Hinata gets to her feet to climb down the bleachers.
"Hey, Princess!" Suigetsu grabs her arm quickly. "What are you doing?"
Hinata crouches down to speak with him. Itachi is close enough to hear her. "We can't just leave her be, Su. She's obviously distressed."
Suigetsu holds her gaze for a few seconds in a silent question, but retracts his hand.
Hinata wraps an arm around Izumi's shoulders, and whispers in her ear. Izumi is shaking her head, trying to wipe the tears, and hiccupping.
"I'm going to take her to Dr. Orochimaru," Hinata calls out. "She needs to calm down."
To Itachi's surprise, Konan goes with the pair. Now, only the boys are present – silent, awkward, not knowing what to say.
"You need to pick girls carefully," Kisame finally mutters. "No psychos anymore, please."
"She's not a psycho," Zetsu rolls his eyes. "She needs help. Did you not hear her right now?"
"It's like she didn't have a life of her own," Yahiko says with wonder.
"She was depending on Itachi for everything," Nagato adds. "I mean, he was her boyfriend, his friends were her friends, and she would only hang out with us. She should have had her own social circle, as well."
"A back-up system," Suigetsu nods.
"Actually," Naruto begins seriously. "I've seen this happen many times. Teme, you remember Ino? She left our class like two weeks ago? I spoke with her a few times, and she used to complain about her boyfriend a lot. And most of it was very similar to what Izumi just said. There were others from our class who would agree with her, and console her, and tell her how her boyfriend is an asshole. I mean, it's like they're trying to normalise this, you know?
"Even in our school, I've seen many students going through this. And not just that – there are so many posts on social media these days that try to glorify this kind of behaviour. I mean, it's quite unhealthy, isn't it? It puts a lot of pressure on their partners. Am I right, Itachi?"
"Are you planning to go into politics, Namikaze?" Itachi asks dryly.
"Shut up," he replies without heat. "Seriously, this needs to change, though."
"Change begins within you," Sasuke quips and grins mischievously.
Naruto tsks. "You're all hopeless. If you keep letting this shit go, it's only going to snowball. And if you want to quote famous people so much, I have another one for you: What's the point of having a voice if you're gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn't be?"
"Shouldn't I ask you that? You're the one who made assumptions about me and acted accordingly, when, in fact, I've never done anything to you."
Naruto raises his eyebrows coolly. "Apart from standing and doing nothing when the others harassed me, yes, you're quite right."
None of them responds. Itachi thinks that, like him, they're all remembering the times when Namikaze was troubled in school and they'd ignored it, because it wasn't their problem to deal with.
When it's almost time for lunch period to be over, Yahiko looks at Naruto seriously, and says, "There's a reason we call you Kitsune. Don't forget that."
Naruto grins.
Itachi waits by his phone, glancing at it every two minutes. He needs to finish his homework, but Sakura should be calling any minute now. She said she would after her shift ends.
When the room suddenly fills with the shrill noise of his ringtone, Itachi snatches it, pauses, lets it ring a few more times, and then taps on the green icon.
"Hey," he greets as coolly as possible.
"Hey!" her voice is cheery and Itachi feels himself grinning. "What are you up to?"
"Pulling a late night," he replies, standing up. He walks to his window and settles on the ledge, one leg propped up and the other dangling aimlessly. "Sasuke doesn't want to help me anymore."
She laughs. "I'm sure he has his own things to do."
"Where are you?"
"Walking to the motel. It's a nice night."
"Yeah," he agrees. "I wanted to ask you something."
"Shoot."
He traces his right index finger on the metal languidly, leg still dangling, looking out at the silent and dark backyard of his house. "Do you like Cinderella?"
She hesitates. "Not really."
"Why not?"
"I can empathise with her situation to some extent, the helplessness she feels after her father's death, and her step-family stepping in to make her life worse. But the rest of it is too … I might rant. Is that okay?"
"Rant away," he smiles.
"Okay, so the most ridiculous point is that the Prince can't recognize her after the ball. That puts way too much importance on her appearance – I mean, it's all nice make-up, isn't it? That the Fairy Godmother does? The nice hair, the nice dress, the nice shoes. And he has to run around the town to fit the glass slipper on every woman? Even if I let that go, it is a fairytale after all, but it's also showing how boys won't take notice of girls if they're not conventionally pretty enough. Then the way she desperately wants to attend the ball – for what? To meet the Prince and hope he'll fall for her? Their happily ever after doesn't make sense, either. Because neither of the two really know each other. This is why I love Elsa. You remember how she tells Anna – you can't marry a man you just met. That line kills me every time," she giggles. "Cinderella might have been good before, but today? I don't think so."
"It's the same for a lot of movies, though," Itachi points out. "The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White. They all revolve around the girl waiting for the boy to rescue her. Little Mermaid gives up her voice and the boy ends up rejecting her."
"Actually, I like The Little Mermaid for that reason," she says seriously. "It's harsh and cruel. It tells you that you shouldn't sacrifice something so important for someone who wouldn't appreciate it. Not to mention, the boy liked her when she was a mermaid – as she was."
"Why do you like Frozen?" he questions, thinking that he might already have figured out the answer.
"Elsa is a Queen," Sakura replies instantly. "And I don't mean her political status. She represents power, struggle, and magic. Imagine if a Disney Prince comes to her rescue. She'll ice him up before he can finish a single sentence. I'm not saying that she should stay alone forever, but that she deserves someone as equally amazing as her. A typical Disney Prince just won't make the cut."
They stay on the call until Sakura reaches her motel room, discussing random things, before Itachi regrettably says that he should get back to his studies.
Sasuke soon learns that it is Naruto's birthday.
"I'm throwing you a party," Sasuke declares when they're standing in the parking lot.
Naruto flushes. "You don't have to do that."
"Don't be a spoilsport," Yahiko claps him on his back. "It's for all of us."
"I was hoping to meet up with some of my other friends," Naruto says sheepishly.
"Just call them, too," Sasuke rolls his eyes. Kisame twitches but stays quiet. "It's nothing big. I'll book an overnight resort. We can head there by six-ish."
"Oh. Right. Can I talk to you?"
Naruto drags Sasuke a little away from their group. They watch as Sasuke laughs at whatever Naruto says, rolls his eyes, and answers. Naruto blushes harder, rubbing the back of his neck.
"All set," Sasuke says when they return. "I'll bring Naruto with me. He wants to pick up Sakura on the way. And who was that?"
"Gaara."
"Right. Whoever Gaara is. I mean, his neighbour."
Itachi tells them that he'll join after his ballet class.
Sakura is wearing a patterned, light green blouse tucked in a black pencil skirt. Her hair is down for the occasion, and Itachi thinks that she's the prettiest in the room. He hasn't met her in the last two weeks, and they've only spoken on the phone twice. He feels the same nervous energy coursing through him as he pulls out his phone to send her a text.
You look pretty.
She's standing on the other side of the room with Hinata and Konan. Sasuke is making Naruto dance in the middle, along with Yahiko, Nagato, and Suigetsu. Kisame is drinking by the minibar. Zetsu is sitting with Gaara – a stoic redhead – in equal silence on the couch in one corner.
Sakura checks her phone, smirks, and types out a reply. Itachi's phone beeps. He's standing by the window with a pint of beer.
You look sexy enough to eat.
He laughs softly as a thrill shoots down his spine. Itachi is wearing a pair of distressed denim, white button down, white shoes. His hair is tied in a bun, and he's put black eyeliner. He actually arrived only ten minutes ago, the last one to join.
You're welcome to do that.
Washroom.
Itachi sneaks out of the room. There's a washroom at the end of the hall, and another on the floor above. Sasuke has booked a private resort, thankfully, so that they won't have to bother with other guests.
First floor, he sends her and climbs the staircase.
Sakura enters ten minutes later. "Do you want me to lock the door?" she asks slyly.
Itachi doesn't respond. He strides to her and watches with amusement as her face darkens.
"Did you miss me?"
"You wish."
He extends his right index finger and pushes her hair aside, revealing one side of her neck. He then proceeds to graze her skin lightly down her collarbone, and pops open the top-most button.
"Did you miss me?"
"You wish."
He pops open the next three buttons. She's wearing a plain black bra this time, the half-revealed valley between her breasts turning him on more than anything else.
He untucks her shirt. Doesn't bother with the rest of the buttons. He pushes the thin fabric of the bra aside to reveal her right breast and cups it in his palm.
"Did you miss me?"
Her breath hitches. "You wish."
He leans down to take her erect nipple in his mouth and sucks harshly. Her hands fly to his head to hold him in place. Itachi snakes his other hand down to the end of her skirt, caressing the skin there teasingly. He lets go of her breast and puts some distance between them again.
"You'll have to answer."
"I did."
His teeth clench. Sakura is glaring at him defiantly the way she always does. He rakes his eyes across her torso and admires the sight in silence. It doesn't last for long, though, because she shrugs off her shirt entirely, unclasps her bra, and steps out of her skirt.
Smirking, she asks him, "Did you miss me?"
Itachi's eyes narrow. "You wish."
Then they're both closing the distance at the same time, and Itachi picks her up, carries her to the counter and places her on it. The kiss is aggressive as they both fight for dominance, and Itachi loves the power play. Izumi had been submissive most of the times, and Itachi thought that it was what he wanted. With Sakura, though, he discovered that his taste might not be as straightforward.
When Itachi enters her, she bites down on his shoulder to muffle her voice. He yanks her by the hair, and growls, "Look at me."
Sakura does. She holds his gaze and doesn't let go, long after he comes undone.
Izumi is at the gate. Sasuke snaps in the intercom, and she's let inside. Itachi is sitting with Zetsu, nursing his fourth beer of the night. Gaara has moved on to speak with Naruto and Suigetsu by the minibar. Kisame has stopped in the middle where he's been dancing with Konan and Yahiko. Nagato, Hinata, and Sakura are sitting by the indoor mini swimming pool, with their feet dipped in water.
Sasuke is waiting for Izumi by the entrance of the living room. She enters, wearing a tiny silver glitter dress and matching strappy heels.
"What are you doing here?" he asks her guardedly.
She ignores him and heads straight for Itachi. "I can't believe you didn't invite me! I never would have known if Yahiko hadn't posted a photo online. What the hell, Itachi?"
Sakura, Hinata, and Nagato are rising to their feet.
"This party is thrown for Naruto by Sasuke," he tells her. "Since you're here, how about wishing the birthday boy and thanking the host for letting you in?"
She glares. "You should have been the one to invite me."
"Izumi, this is getting tiring."
"I'm still your girlfriend, you jerk!"
Sakura stiffens in the corner of his eyes. Itachi takes a steadying breath. "We broke up. You broke up."
Her hands flail in the air with impatience and anger. "I told you that I wasn't serious about it! Which part of this don't you understand?"
Naruto interferes by stepping in the middle. "Izumi, can we just enjoy for tonight?" he says nicely. "Sasuke has taken a lot of effort. I want to make sure that it isn't taken for granted."
Izumi laughs in his face. "A lot of effort? All he did was make a phone call, Namikaze. But you won't understand how it works, obviously. Things are different up here. Don't let this go to your head. Sasuke has thrown parties for Hinata and Suigetsu countless of times. You're nothing special. So calm the fuck down, and move aside. I need to speak with my asshole of a boyfriend. Henceforth, don't talk to me. Know your goddamn place."
Sakura and Sasuke are already moving towards the pair. Itachi can't see Naruto's face, but he sees the way his shoulders stiffen at her words.
Sakura stands close to her. "Hey, are you in denial or something?" she snarls. Sasuke has grabbed onto Naruto's arm. "Maybe Sasuke can make a phone call and put you in an asylum? That's how things work, right? Up here? And if you didn't want to break up with Itachi, then maybe you shouldn't have!"
Izumi gives Sakura such a withering look that Itachi is surprised she isn't punched in the face instantly. "None of your business. Who the hell are you, anyway?"
Naruto has the presence of mind to grab Sakura's elbow, the way Sasuke is doing with him. Itachi almost wants to smile at the sight.
"Don't ruin the party, Izumi," Sasuke warns her. "I won't hesitate to throw you out. Kakashi and Kimimaro are right outside, you should know that."
Itachi wants to pat him on the back. Izumi realises that he does mean it, so she throws one last glare at the three of them, before marching to the minibar and pulling out a bottle of vodka.
"I don't want to," Zetsu mutters from beside him in the tense silence that follows, "but I blame you."
Izumi is left alone until Hinata takes pity on her and joins her at the bar table. Sasuke is trying to salvage the mood by turning on the music again, and Naruto obeys without complaint. Sakura and Nagato return to the deck and dip their toes in. Yahiko and Kisame come to him at one point and force him off the couch.
"You're the fucking Black Swan," Kisame rolls his eyes. "Dance."
Itachi's toes are still not fully healed, actually. His limbs are aching from all the spins and the jumps and the dance routines, not to mention his bathroom shenanigan right when he'd arrived, and he really doesn't feel up for it. All he wants to do it sit like a sack of potatoes for the rest of the night.
Sasuke throws him a sly grin and plays Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli and Itachi thinks that maybe he could postpone his Being A Vegetable plans a little. Sasuke sure does know how to get him to move. So Itachi starts to groove to the music, and Naruto catcalls openly, beaming.
Soon, he notices that Sakura and Nagato join them. Even Zetsu and Gaara are pulled in. Suigetsu wrenches Hinata off from Izumi, cheering Come on, Princess! Half an hour into it, everyone is laughing breathlessly, sweat trickling down the side of their necks, but no one really stops, anyway.
At one point, Sakura is to his front, and Itachi allows his chest to be flush against her back – just for a few moments – but he feels her breath hitch, and he pulls back quickly before anyone reads too much into it.
And then suddenly Itachi feels someone tugging on his arm with unexpected force, and the next thing he knows is that there's a tongue in his mouth.
Itachi rips her away. Izumi stumbles back in surprise, eyes wide. The party comes to a complete standstill, and the atmosphere abruptly changes. Someone stops the music.
Here's the thing: For Itachi, physical aggressiveness is limited to music, dance, and sex. She knows it. Everyone knows it. He hates getting violent. He's always been a pacifist at heart, and he feels genuine, pure, unadulterated hatred thrumming inside his veins towards her for bringing out this reaction from him.
And here's another thing: When Itachi was at the brink of puberty, Utakata had sat him down and explained how Itachi shouldn't shy away from sex or sexual activities. He explained how it's going to be a new facet, a new dimension of his life, and that it should be embraced with grace.
For sex is a form of art in itself, he'd said. It's sensual, intimate, and it brings out a part of you that is otherwise restrained, otherwise coated in vulgarity and crudeness.
Itachi never questions his mentors on principle. So he took Utakata's words in stride and explored away to his heart's content. It was simply an added bonus that he genuinely came to enjoy sex and honestly, what's not to like?
For Itachi never mistakes sex with romance. Sex is pleasure. Sex is art. Sex is sensual and intimate. So yes, he is a sexual being by nature.
Izumi knows this. Of course, no one knows the details, but she knows Itachi is unapologetic in his approach to all things sex. Everyone knows it. To try and take advantage of this trait –
"Get her out, Sasuke," Itachi says with such finality that Izumi's eyes widen even further with fear. "Get her the fuck out right now." He takes a warning step in her direction. "If you text me, or call me, or force your presence on me again, I will have Kakashi throw you out of the school and your mother out of the country. I've tolerated you speaking shit about my brother, ruining this party, and I can list out every single wrong thing you've done but I won't. I won't because you need to deserve even the slightest attention that I pay towards your existence. So get the fuck out of my sight, right now."
She doesn't. She's rooted to the spot. "I was just –!"
Itachi dials Kakashi's number, himself. "Come inside."
He doesn't tear his eyes away from hers. He wants to witness the terror in them first hand, relish in it, because he's Uchiha Itachi and he's pissed.
Kakashi enters in under a minute. "What's wrong?"
Izumi is breathing heavily now.
"Make sure that she isn't seen in the school again," Itachi says with deceptive calmness.
"Itachi," she puffs out. "You can't do that."
"Watch me."
"No, please. My mom – she'll hate me if you do this. You know her! Don't do this." She takes a few steps in his direction, and he holds up a finger to stop her.
"You've tested my patience for far too long, Izumi," he states. "You got so carried away that you must have forgotten your goddamn place."
Izumi doesn't go quietly. She's crying and flailing in Kakashi's grasp, begging Itachi not to go through with it. He takes another steadying breath and reminds himself that Kakashi is his guardian for a reason.
The following silence is tense. He feels Sasuke's cautious hand on his elbow and forces his body to relax as much as possible. Itachi doesn't like to get angry.
But when he does, he feels rebellious.
When he's trying to sleep later that night, his phone beeps. It's Banana Flyer.
Are you awake?
Yes.
Come down to the swimming pool.
Itachi checks up on Sasuke and then goes down to the living room. Sakura is still in her skirt and blouse, feet dipped in water. He takes a seat beside her and mirrors her position.
"What was that?" she asks directly, forgoing all niceties and small talk. "Your ex. What was that?"
He studies the still water and his disjointed feet under the surface. "She pissed me off."
"That's what you do when you're angry? Ruin lives?"
He side-glances her. "What do you do?"
Sakura laughs coldly. "Definitely not what you do."
"That's not what I asked."
She snorts. "If it's a stranger, I yell. If it's someone I know, I hit."
The answer derails Itachi's thoughts entirely. "What?"
"I told you," she shrugs. "That's how we settle things. Me and my friends."
"Okay," he drags out. "I don't prefer getting violent. So I do what I can do."
"Like throwing someone out of the school? How can you even do that?"
"Just a matter of little politics."
"That's not what I meant," she says flatly. "I meant, how can you help a homeless girl get on her feet – and on the other hand, do this to your girlfriend. I don't understand."
Itachi doesn't respond.
"You're quite the strange person," she continues. "Sometimes I feel like I have you figured out, and then you do something that completely throws me off."
"Really?"
"Yes," she says and leaves it at that.
"Is that a problem?" he asks.
Sakura takes her time with this one. "To be honest, I'm getting your good side."
"What's my good side?" he inquires. He's stopped studying his disjointed feet and now studies her instead.
"The stories," she smirks.
"That's it?"
"Your need for validation is rather shocking."
He smirks down at her. There's a beat of silence, where he's counting the freckles on her cheek.
"Besides," she says seriously, "this is temporary."
"True," he agrees.
They end up behind the mini bar, on the floor, and Itachi takes his sweet little time with her, despite the fact that he's still slightly buzzed, despite the fact that it's past 4 AM, and despite the fact that his entire body is searing with pain.
"Why is this temporary?" he wonders aloud with his hand inside her, tongue in her mouth, chest pressed against hers.
She gasps. "This is just sex."
"Maybe that's why it doesn't have to be temporary."
Her hands fist in his hair. "True."
His thrusts are deep and steady, and Sakura's apple green eyes are half-lidded with pleasure. He stops for a moment, grabbing a random liquor bottle from the minibar. He uncaps it, takes a slug, ignores the burn in his mouth, and captures her mouth again. Sakura tilts her head back to swallow the liquid.
"Shit," she hisses. "That's strong."
Itachi leaves sloppy kisses along her jaw. Sakura pushes him on his back, straddling his hips.
"Are you trying to get me drunk, Pretty Boy?" she teases, grinding her hips.
His muscles buckle. "Maybe."
They file into cars the next day at almost noon. Naruto thanks Sasuke for the party by placing a quick kiss on his cheek that has Sasuke blushing up a storm, and Yahiko, Nagato, Suigetsu, and Konan waste no time in catcalling.
Sakura gives him a heated look across the distance, and Itachi winks.
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