A/N: Woah. Almost forgot to update this.
Crud. I'm out of backup chapters now, and chapter five is just making me mad. It's been an ungodly amount of time since I started it, and still it remains only halfway done.
Anyways, onto the story. I've got some more notes for the end, like answering some questions or making comments on reviews. For now, just enjoy, and as always, thank you for reading!
Barely a week had gone by, and already Itachi found himself withholding less and less from their training. He was so involved in learning the girl's methods and techniques that he hadn't even begun teaching her new skills yet. When her chakra supply had regenerated completely, he found himself hard-pressed to defeat her. She had the most precise and total control over her energies, enabling her to manipulate them in a number of unthinkable and complex ways.
It made him almost glad that he had told Iwa not to kill her.
Moving down to the mess hall to pick up a packed breakfast, he mused about what type of creative way he should wake her with today. As much as he hated to admit it, the morning ceremony had turned into a game that he somewhat enjoyed. Once he had even gone so far as to set up an intricate system of thin, silver wires the night before, so that when he opened her door to awaken her the next morning, she would be jerked up to the ceiling by her feet. He still sported a bruise on his back from when she had thrown things at him in retaliation.
Her door creaked open when he gave it a light push, and he stopped. She was reclining on the deep windowsill, a book laying open in her lap. Aside from physical training, he had given her extensive reading materials to peruse, make note of and in some cases, memorize.
Her head was tilted back onto the stone frame, and her eyes were closed. Her pink hair was mussed and knotted about her shoulders. Before he could move into the room to awaken her in some rude form, her eyes snapped open, and she pinpointed them on him immediately. She blinked a few times, glanced down at her book, then closed it and tossed it to the bed.
He glanced at the title. Ah, so she hadn't been asleep. "Practicing the chakra alert barrier?" he gestured to the book as she attempted to pat her hair down.
"Yeah," she frowned, tugging at a knot, "Only, I thought it didn't work when you were sleeping. To make a maai barrier you have to be conscious, right? The book said it wasn't recorded as an accomplished feat."
Now Itachi frowned, sitting on her wobbly bed. She had been sleeping? "It's not…" He trailed off, watching pensively as she growled, swiped a kunai off her tiny bedside table and sheared her hair off at the chin neatly. She dusted the loose pink strands from her shoulders, and gave him a shrug.
"Easier this way. Did it back when I was in an exam, once," she replied, hefting the food package he had dropped on the mattress. This time he followed silently as she led the way to the outside training field.
They spent a good part of the morning going over taijutsu partner sets, a style created by the Akatsuki. It was used for a two-man team when besieged by many opponents at once. The style demanded that both partners be in perfect sync with each other, moving in different basic shapes coupled with complex moves about an invisible center.
"Break!" Sakura gasped after a particularly difficult maneuver. Itachi was inclined to agree. He dropped onto a grassy patch under a tree and watched her move over the to tiny stream that ran through a rock bed across the clearing. She bent to cup water in her hands and drink, then again to pour the water over her head. She came back looking slightly less flushed than before.
She dropped down onto a flat mossy rock a few feet from him. "I'm hungry," she told the sky, stretching out along the rock to absorb its warmth.
"Not my problem," replied Itachi, reaching up to untie his headband and rub the sweat from underneath.
She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him, instead muttering some obscenity paired with his name. She rose tiredly and grabbed the empty food cloth. "I'm going to the kitchens for lunch. Want me to bring you anything?" He merely grumbled, and she moved away.
She had disappeared into the building when Itachi felt something soft brush his neck. Reaching up, he plucked at whatever it was, and his hand came away pink. It was a lock of the girl's hair. It must have lodged in his shirt collar when she brushed it off herself earlier on.
Thoughtfully, he rubbed it between his rough fingers, watching as a few strands dislodged from the main bundle and drifted away on the breeze. It smelled faintly of whatever hair supplies were provided in the women's showers. In the background, he heard the doors to the building open, and he sensed her coming. Quickly, he shoved the hair into his pocket.
She plopped back down onto the rock, sifted through the new bag, brought out some food for herself, then tossed the sack to Itachi. He went right for the apple she left for him. And like the all the times preceding it, ever since she had come, when he bit the apple, it was sweeter than any other he could remember eating.
Light was glowing through the thin blinds of Itachi's small room. He was still lost in a pleasant dosing, caught between the world of the awake and asleep. His mind foggy, he didn't quite register the faint click as the door opened, or the equally quiet sound of it closing.
Drawing in a deep breath, Sakura placed her lips right alongside his ear. She prepared herself to scream at the top of her lungs "ATTACK! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" but had barely gotten the "ah" out before she was pinned to the floor, large hands holding hers down, foggy red eyes peering into hers.
Swiftly regaining her bearings, she used a quirk jerk of the body to switch their positions, seeing his sleepy eyes suddenly grow sharp as she held the kunai to his neck, straddling his waist, efficiently holding him down.
She smiled at him widely, seeing the recognition in his eyes. "Didn't think I could beat you at your own game, did you?" Of course, she shouldn't have let her guard down to say that, she realized later on, because in a flash, she was once again under him.
"Don't count your chicks before they hatch, woman," he replied softly, one corner of his mouth quirking. She pouted at him, then glanced down, probably trying to find a way of escape.
And that was when she became aware of his preference to sleeping in the nude.
She was still faintly red when he found her on the training grounds. He didn't have a chance to gloat, because she snapped, "Can it," before he could get a word in edgewise. She continued riddling the practice dummy before her with any sharp projectile she could find in her weapon pouch.
The engaged in a furious bout of training, using any and all skills to dominate over the other. Itachi had to fight not to provoke her, but was pleased all the same to see that her face was still flushed, and not from her exertions. She missed his catlike grin. He disappeared from in front of her.
Suddenly, there was a pleasant warmth pressed against her from behind, a hand on her waist and another grasping her forearm. The fingers at her waist stroked lightly through the thin material of her shirt. The other hand slid up her arm slowly, moving to her neck to brush the pink hair away, then to her throat, grasping it lightly. Breath fanned across her skin. Her last kunai fell from nerveless fingers.
She trembled, breath shuddering quickly from her chest. Her eyes fluttered shut as Itachi's arm wrapped about her waist, pulling her closer to his firm chest. She damn near choked when she felt soft lips against the side of her neck.
As suddenly as he had grabbed her, he released her, leaving her to stumble to the ground. She looked up at him through hazy, half-lidded eyes. He twirled her kunai in his long fingers. They stared at one another for long moments before Sakura finally spoke, waiting till her light panting abated.
"Jerk."
He made sure she saw his grin, letting it reach his usually cold eyes. "The end justifies the means, my dear."
"You requested my presence, sir?"
"Ah, Uchiha." Iwa looked up from his work. "Yes, I called for you. Have a seat." He gestured to the seat facing the desk. The young man seated himself gracefully. Setting down his pen and folding his hands on the desktop, Iwa watched the man steadily. "The girl; how is she faring? It's been nearly a month."
"Sir?"
Iwa sat back. "She interfered with our operations for months, then the very same night we first give chase, she is captured. It seems odd to me that such a skilled missing-nin should fall into our hands so easily. She gave no information away during her time in her cell. When you attempted to question her, she threw off your spell. Why would she be so protective if she has nothing to hide?"
"And my objective?"
"Use any means necessary to get yourself inside their main base of operations. Once inside, do as you see fit in order to gather information on who is running the organization."
"And when I have gained a sufficient amount?"
"Take them out. Cripple the syndicate by getting rid of its leaders in one swoop."
She didn't bother asking what would happen after the big shots were killed. They both knew that, even if she survived the mission, it was unlikely that her home would welcome her back.
He closed the office door gently behind him. Certainly he had considered the idea that she was deceiving them all, yet he had not expected it to affect him so strongly when hearing it spoken by another.
Shinobi were trained in the art of deception, trained with the ability to lie with an impenetrable poker face. Frailer and more innocent looking women than Sakura could put up a false front, endorse lies and foster fake identities. Yet…
Bright, talented, witty Sakura…
How could she possibly be his enemy?
"Gain their trust. Integrate yourself. Make it seem that you could never cause them harm."
Sakura sat alone on one of the side porches of the complex. Her legs dangled off the edge, bare toes skimming the grass and warm dirt below. Warm light tumbled about her; a soft breeze stirred her pink hair to life. Her green eyes were open and unguarded, watching with curiosity as the men on the far side of the field sparred.
They moved in graceful and fluid arches and turns, light reflecting off their weaponry. Those who were resting on the grass cheered their comrades on. Watching them work together and enjoy one another's company made Sakura suddenly feel the sharp tang of alienation. The bitter taste of the solitude she had lived for so long flooded her mouth, threatened to fill her eyes.
Softly, he sidled up to her, presence not so dark due to the sunny day. He stood beside her and spoke not a word, and she felt strangely comforted by his silence. Almost at the same time, she looked up, and he looked down, green meeting red, the two stares locking for what seemed to be an eternity.
She saw it coming but made no move to stop it. His fingers brushed lightly underneath her eye, first one, then the other. He bent close to her face, his being surrounding her, filling her senses.
Eyes still on hers, he spoke in a whisper. "I've never seen you cry. Don't start now."
His fingers briefly touched her jaw, and then he was gone.
Woah. OO; Itachi wasn't supposed to be all touchy-feely, but lo and behold, he is. Just kinds came out that way, and I won't change it. I write on whim and fancy, and so shall I always.
Ok, Isiri asked me if I had
a soundtrack for the fic. And so, after grinning at her entusiastic and
lovely review, I jotted down some titles. Here's some songs that make
me think of Itachi and Sakura, either as a pair or individually:
Do You Believe Me? by Juliana Theory
My Sweet Prince by Placebo
My Love Has Gone by Dido (Not so much the lyrics, but more the mood - it's really melancholy and somewhat bittersweet)
And, completely by accident, while I was writing, I popped in the movie Daredevil soundtrack. Some of the songs totally fit, others just lent a really nice background for me to write to.
Another thing I listen to when writing is Trance/Techno/Electronic
music. There's not alot in the lyrics department, so I don't really
have to pay close attention, letting me get into the writing. Some
artists I love are Delerium, DJ Tiesto (the mixes ROCK), and dj GT.
There are so many more, but I don't really want to dig them up. I'll probably keep a sort of "soundtrack for this chapter" for each update, just so you guys know what songs brought the mood and element.
saika-chan - Does their...interaction in this chapter assure you that this is an Ita/Saku? Hold no doubts. my friend. :P
animEvivvErz - The phrase "Fear the Kunoichi" has taken on new meaning. >D
ppiglette - Thanks! Of course, taking the time to be meaningful makes for short chapters and short stories, hah. But I'm cool wit' dat, yo.
darkninjafromhell - Hell yeah - Sakura's kickass! She's totally thrashed in the fandom. People need to appreciate her and her strengths more.
And to everyone else - Thank you so much for the encouragement! I loves you all!
