Taka- Hello! o-o I've been pretty excited about this story thus far. A lot of my friends at school really like it, and most of them don't even know what anime is. So thank you guys, too, it really makes me happy to know that you like the story so much! Oh! And also, I've had over 1,200 hits for this story! OMIGOSH! That beats all of the other stories I've had COMBINED. (Welcome to Camp Kakashi is second with a little over 400-something hits). SO THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH::hugs all of you all: x3

ANYWAY… I figured that I should answer a few questions:

(Q): Is Naruto really dead?

(A): Hm. Well, thus far, he is dead. Sasuke killed him for sake of defeating his brother. I don't know… later on in the fanfiction I may surprise a few of you.

(Q): How old are Itachi, Sakura, etc.?

(A): All right, all right. Now, I know this will be a bit skewed, however, Sakura is around sixteen, maybe seventeen, and Itachi is in his early twenties. So yep.

(Q): Is Itachi going to rape Sakura?

(A): …I ish not telling. A few of my friends at school suggested it, but I don't know. So far, the character I'm portraying of Itachi would not have any interest in sexual desires. But… he would be enjoying the fact that Sakura hates every moment of it. SO. I do have the ability to write a rape scene, but I don't know if I want to. There may be a few moments of close rape, but you never know. You'll just have to find out.

(Q): How do I ask questions?

(A): All righty! You can e-mail me or leave a question in the reviews section.  I frequently check my reviews, so that may be an easier way. You can also post suggestions or opinions and the like. Tank yous!

So. On with the chapter, then? Right.

Chapter Five: Hopeless

The sun had begun to dawn, light from it shining through a dusty window in the cabin. Itachi was sitting down, leaning against the patterned cabin wall, his eyes closed. He was not asleep, but it was so eerily quiet that it seemed he was.

It was in that instant that Sakura awoke, groaning heavily at the first sign of her pounding headache. She sat up, sliding her hand over her forehead. It was not warm. This assured her that she had not caught pneumonia from sleeping in wet clothes; it must have been Itachi's violent blow to her stomach.

Her eyes wandered over to Itachi, whose eyes were now open and glaring at her sternly.

Those damn eyes.

She backed his glare with one of her own, her fingers groping the wall now to balance her as she stood up. Another cry of ache passed her lips, and she leaned against the wall to maintain her equilibrium.

Although the two of them exchanged glances, not a word passed their lips. Sakura had not noticed, but Itachi was no longer in his cloak. Beneath it was his fitted net top, which really did nothing to secrete his tone muscles and body. She was not admiring him, however.

"As I said previously. You are weak."

"You got a damn problem with it? Well that shows a sign of weakness, too. I don't give a damn what you think, asshole." She intensified her defiant stare at him, but her headache prevented her from commenting any further.

"I have a name. Use it." he said, his eyes meeting hers fiercely.

"I only use names with people whom I carry respect," Sakura said, her back pressed against the cabin wall now, "and I don't think my birth certificate reads 'bitch', either."

"You are very obstinate, wench."

Sakura mocked him.

"Why don't you tell me again when I care?"

A shuriken passed by her, dangerously grazing her dress. She barely felt it, though, and looked at the wall where the weapon had been engraved from his throw. She sighed heavily, rubbing her face.

"I am under the impression that you will care," Itachi began.

"Shove it. I don't want to hear your damn lecture, Dad." She blinked sarcastically after this, rethinking her statement. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that you're incapable of having children."

Itachi stood now, advancing towards the woman. He was sure that he wanted to kill her, but he still had to retrieve some information. After he found out about Sasuke in further detail, he'd make sure the job was done. Painfully.

"Come on, honey. That trick is getting old." Sakura said. Instead of pinning her to the wall as he did the night before, he stood in front of her, simply glaring.

"Incapable of having children? Why don't we see about that," he said, looking her over. His intentions were not to touch her, but he knew his observation would faze her. And the effects of it showed almost immediately.

"Don't you dare," Sakura said, attempting to move away from him. She didn't want to even think about doing those sorts of things with this man.

Itachi, in turn, gripped her arm and pulled her toward him. His cold, heartless eyes met hers, and she looked away instantly.

"Let go of me, dammit!" she tugged senselessly away from him, her already bruised arm becoming more injured from Itachi's death-grip. He simply neared her, backing her to the wall now.

"Resistance is useless." He said.

"I'll bite through my tongue before I let you touch me," she hissed, no hint of lying in her voice. The two of them simply stared at each other for a few instants.

From a sudden gust of wind, the door flew open, averting both of their attention towards it. Brief lighting encircled the cabin, and then the door closed, hinges moaning loudly. The cabin must have been years old. But before Sakura could respond, Itachi had leaned in close to her face.

And not only that, but his lips were against hers.

Only now had Sakura actually thought to think about a kiss. His lips were icy, almost frozen against her warm, pale pink ones. She broke it almost instantly, blushing, furious with him.

"Bastard!"

In no ways was Itachi's kiss wanting or desiring, it was simply a mocking one, sardonic of her naïve immaturity. He himself had not enjoyed it, nor wanted to perform the act again. He released her arm, allowing her to babble endlessly about how much of a bastard he was. Itachi was mused by her childish blush, and her glare that swept over his façade.

"Don't you dare touch me again!"

"And what will prevent me from doing so?"

Sakura had nothing to say to that. She did, however, act out her anger. In the concise second that it took, she had slapped him, rough and mercilessly.

And of course, Itachi was unaffected by her feeble attempt.

"Bitch." He held her throat, lifting her from the ground. "Next time, I'll make sure you're crying." He released her from his hold, watching her fall to the floor and sputter for air.

Sakura grasped at her neck, coughing. She felt like she was going to throw up.

Itachi walked back towards his previous position. He gathered his cloak and began to put it on again, glaring at the feeble girl.

"Now," he began, barely allowing her time to recuperate, "I want you to tell me more about –"

"No!" Sakura said, still holding her throat, "I am not your little puppet! I'm not doing whatever you want, because dammit, it's not about what you want!"

Itachi stared at her, mostly in disbelief. How dare this – this woman talk back to him? It did not make sense to him that she wasn't cowering in fear. And maybe, if any, his respect meter moved from negative to positive for this wench. For once in his life, he was unsure of how to respond.

Now, Itachi had never been the sort of man to love. Like, even, for that matter. He hated everything, especially the raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens sort of cliché. But his interest had appealed slightly with this girl, whom so boldly addressed him.

Could it be that she reminded him of himself?

Itachi hadn't been paying attention long enough to realize that the girl's head was outside of the door, sounds of gagging coming from her. She was regurgitating. (Yuck.)

After a few moments, she came back in, wiping her mouth. Itachi watched her suspiciously.

"What." She said, glaring slightly.

"Why didn't you run?" he inquired.

"You wouldn't give me a damn option," she said, noting its blatancy. Itachi said nothing, instead glanced off.

It was silent for a passing moment.

"You may leave, if you wish." Itachi said, to Sakura's surprise. He'd gathered enough information, or at least he presumed so. It shouldn't be too hard to track down a blindly raged teenager.

"…You better not be lying." She eyed him, somehow thinking to herself that he wouldn't be the type of person to lie. At least, not in that way.

"Do not claim me of such fraudulence," Itachi said, "just leave."

Sakura continued her stare. She began to walk towards the door, opening it and giving him one last glance before going out.

Itachi watched the door swing closed.

Taka- Wellll that's all for today. - I ish kinda stuck, but I have a few ideas in place that will happen later, so yeah. Please leave meh reviews and such! x3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in it. But I do own the story! Oh yeah!

Ja ne.