Sakura felt much better today. Her body had regained its strength and she felt healthier than she had felt in a long, long time. Sakura sighed. Still, what would a healthy body do her if she was trapped here in the middle of nowhere? At this point, she didn't have the spirit to escape. Where would she go?
To Sasuke.
A part of her brain had never given up the dream of being with him, but she recognized that he wasn't the same handsome Uchiha she had fallen in love with. He was cold, and evil, and manipulative. And he had killed Naruto. No, Sasuke didn't love her, he only wanted to use her. For his own gain. Sakura felt like beating herself for always putting up with him. She just couldn't say no to him, and Sasuke knew it. Every night he had come searching for her, he had made it clear that she was just to be a quick shag and nothing else. Every night, she had dreams of waking up with him beside her, but he was always gone in an instant. Yet the next time he came, she said nothing to him. I'm so helpless, so weak… Sakura thought to herself, letting tears well up in her eyes.
And she hated being here with Itachi. God, he looked so much like Sasuke, he even smelled like him, had the same stoic expression… how long would she last before she fell in love with him too?
"Sakura." Itachi appeared right behind her. Instinctively, Sakura swung around and tried to deliver a quick blow to his stomach, but she hit nothing.
Itachi sat in the armchair in her room, rolling his eyes in an almost comical fashion. "Why do you keep on trying?"
Sakura fumed. "Shut up, damn Uchiha. I hate being here." She muttered profanity under her breath before walking up to his armchair. She stood over him fiercely while he sat and looked up at her. "What do you want?"
"Start working." He commanded her.
Sakura raised her hands to do some simple healing tricks that sensei had taught her, but then she hesitated. Perhaps… "If I heal your eyes, will you… will you teach me to fight better?" She asked timidly. Sakura watched as Itachi's eyes raised to her own, unblinking and unfeeling.
"That can be arranged." Itachi muttered quietly. So she wanted to improve. Few training sessions with him, she would be much better than she was now. For now, she was nothing. A wisp of grass in the forest, of no significance or power. No wonder his brother had been able to manipulate her so.
Sakura started healing his eyes slowly. It was quite simple really, Kakashi had explained to her that the sharingan had terrible effects on its user's health. He had taught her how he healed his once every few days, and now she'd finally be able to use it. Her hands glowing with warm, green chakra, the energy flowed into Itachi's eyes. It was slow work, with slow progress, but Itachi's eyes would get better and better…eventually.
After about an hour or so, Sakura stopped, wiped the sweat off her brow and turned around.
Itachi opened his eyes, instantly feeling the improvements. He could really see. His vision wasn't as sharp as a hawk's but he could make out small details. He looked at Sakura and she appeared quite different than how he had first seen her. Her hair seemed more lustrous, her eyes brighter, her skin whiter… She looked, just more beautiful than before. Itachi could almost slap himself. Don't be a soft fool. She's just another one of Sasuke's pawns, nothing more.
Itachi opened his mouth to utter small thanks, but a loud banging sound came from outside the door. Itachi was surprised he hadn't sensed Kisame earlier. He usually noticed him from a mile away. "Enter, Kisame."
Sakura, slightly frightened, moved herself behind Itachi. She felt oddly safe around him. Probably because he could blow his enemies to smithereens, she told herself with a shiver. He was intimidatingly tall, powerful, and handsome. The way he held himself, just with an air of knowing something that you didn't, was enough to make her go crazy. Sakura snapped out of her thoughts as Kisame came whirling in a mass of grey.
"Itachi!" Kisame was awfully loud to be Itachi's partner. He seemed… more happy-go-lucky, trusting, and less… evil than she had anticipated. Kisame caught sight of her right away, and chuckled very loudly. "Ah, so you've finally found yourself some company, eh, Itachi-san? Come on, little lady, show ourself." When Sakura didn't move, Kisame reached out for her arm and pulled her out from behind Itachi.
"Don't jump to conclusions." Itachi said quietly. He stood there as Kisame twirled Sakura around, making her dizzy. He examined her closely.
"Well, if you don't want her, I do." Sakura blushed fiercely at this, not daring to believe how incredibly humorous Kisame was. "What do you say m'lady? Aren't scared of me, are you?" Kisame whispered in her ear. He drew her close to him and Sakura could already feel his erection pressing up on her. She was at a loss of what to say. All of a sudden, Kisame seemed even more frightening than Itachi. She wondered if she would ever feel safe here.
"Enough, Kisame." Itachi, sensing Sakura's discomfort, pulled her away from his partner. Idiotic Kisame, always wanting to fuck every female in his way. He almost always killed them after, and Itachi couldn't have that happening to Sakura. And oddly enough, he felt strangely possessive of her. He narrowed his eyes at Kisame. "Get out of here." He said with menace.
Kisame knew when to back off. "Whatever you say." He winked at Sakura before disappearing.
"Don't get unnerved by him." Itachi told her before walking to the door as well. "We'll eat in five minutes." Before he left though, he felt Sakura tap him on the shoulder. Itachi turned around and looked at her questioningly.
"So when are you going to give me sparring lessons?" Sakura asked him.
"Whenever." He was almost mocking her now. She couldn't do anything about it if he didn't want to teach her anything. Sakura could feel her anger flaring up like usual. She drew back her hand to hit Itachi across the face. He didn't flinch, but grabbed her wrist before she could touch him. "Not smart, Sakura." He whispered. With his hand on her wrist still, he pulled her toward him like Kisame had done moments earlier. This time, Sakura didn't feel scared. She simply glared at him, their faces an inch apart. However, she was surprised when she felt his arm snaking around her waist. Relaxing her arm as he let go of it, she started to cry. How many times had this happened with her and Sasuke? Every time she grew angry at him, this was the situation.
Itachi held her close to him, smelling the lavender in her hair. She was crying into his shoulder now, her shoulders shaking with weakness. He could feel his heart melt just the slightest bit. She must feel horrible being locked him in a place like this. Tomorrow, he'd bring her out to the rest of the forest and teach her how to spar.
They stayed like that, with Itachi's hand around Sakura's waist, the other entwined in her pink hair and Sakura leaning onto him. Finally, Sakura stopped crying. With an embarrassed smile, she wiped her face clean of tears.
"I'm sorry." Sakura whispered. "I'm so sorry."
Itachi looked down at her, unimpressed.
"It's just that Sasuke…" She blinked her eyes shut while saying his name. "I'd always do that. I'd always try to hit him then he'd grab my wrist and you looked so much like him that I just flipped out for a minute." She babbled on while Itachi tilted his head and looked at her. She seemed really weakened by whatever his brother had done to her. He wanted to know what it was. Using the sharingan he stared into her eyes. She gasped for a second, realizing what he was doing a split second before he did it.
We're about to have a very, very juicy flashback guys. Stay with me, and thanks for your comments. Btw, one reviewer asked me if this was sasusaku or itasaku, and though it is a bit of both, it will ultimately end in itasaku. Thanks for reviewing and reading!