Chapter 24:

Raxiel was trying to calm down…

She was trying not to get nervous again…

She was really trying…

Very hard…

But nothing was working…

Minutes that seemed like hours went by, and finally the door opened. In came the man with the big straw hat who had been talking to the head table-waiter.

Raxiel's eyes started dancing. She couldn't look surprised, for if she did, it'd ruin the disguise. Quickly, she calmed herself down, and carefully, she smiled at the man as he shut the door. Now it was just Raxiel and the man.

Silence…

Raxiel tried to hold her sweet smile, but as her temper was rising, her smile was gradually fading. She wanted to know something about this man she would be serving for the rest of the restaurant hours…

Anything…

"Cool it, Raxiel," she thought, trying to be on her best behavior.

Soon she knew too much about the man.

As he slowly took off his straw hat, the almost-too-familiar black hair and red eyes were shown.

It was Itachi…

The one whom she never wanted to see again…

He'd caught her, and now she was under his command. No kunai could save her, for she knew too well that he surely already knew about it.

But instead she looked down, trying to look weak. She had to keep up the disguise.

There was a one percent chance that he didn't know who she was…

One percent…

But it was all Raxiel had to hold onto.

Hope…

Slowly, Red Eyes walked over to his chair and sat down, never taking his eyes off of her.

"Let the games begin," she thought as she slowly and gracefully walked over to him and poured him tea. Before long, she stepped back, waiting for his next set of orders.

After drinking the tea very slowly and quietly, he finally spoke, "Fine weather, huh?"

Raxiel's eyes widened. "THAT! THAT is what he's going to say!" she thought to herself. Quietly, she replied, "Yes, very fine."

"So then tell me, why did you pick a job like this where it's inside and not outside?"

"Trivia game this time, I suppose," Raxiel thought.

"It was the only job that would pay the most, and my mother and father need the money, mister… -"

"No, I don't want any formalities," he said, taking another drink.

"Then could I at least have your first name?" she asked calmly.

"Take a guess; call me whatever you want," he said, finally drinking all of the tea. "It's amusing that you would say being a geisha pays well, since most geisha get either little or nothing pay," he spoke casually.

Raxiel choked. "Curse him for being so smart!" Quietly, she walked over behind him and started to serve him more tea. His hand snatched hers before she could pour any. Raxiel almost jumped, but calmed herself just in time.

"Tell me something, geisha. Who are your parents? What clan are they from?"

Raxiel knew she should have started out with the sake instead. "Is it of any importance to you, Matsu?" She knew that if she weren't in this position, she would have called him renegade instead.

"Not exactly. I was just wondering, since I've never seen anyone else like you."

"How can he not show any emotion?" Raxiel thought. She frowned for a second but then remembered to smile. She set the teapot down and backed away towards the wall behind Red Eyes.

"Geisha."

Startled by his firm voice, she spoke a little tensely. "Yes?"

"Stand over there by the wall," he ordered. Raxiel was starting to feel her anger rise. She did not like this "Matsu" she was serving.

"May I ask why that wall?" she asked, now talking almost… seductively?

She was cursing herself for speaking in the foreign tone she was, but it was the only way to hang onto her hope.

"So I can look at you."

"Nice excuse," she thought blandly as she slowly made her way towards the opposite wall. Soon silence followed making Raxiel really believe that he had not figured out whom she was.

Then he asked the most stupid question that Raxiel did not have an answer for. "What is your name?"

That one stupid answer… she did not have…

"Darn it!" scrambling to think of a name, she soon started faltering. Itachi sensed it and slightly smirked.

"Your name, geisha," he said sternly.

Raxiel knew he was playing with her, but soon he took his game farther. He stood up and started walking towards her. She was about to make up a name when she suddenly noticed how close he had gotten…

Memories…

Unwanted…

"Amaya! It's Amaya, Matsu-san…"

Itachi's smirk grew by a millimeter. "Oh, what a nice name. No doubt named after your mother, right?"

"Wrong. My grandmother," she said smoothly yet stubbornly.

He took a few steps closer to her. Raxiel was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Her hand slipped behind her to clutch the kunai she had wrapped around her waist.

Itachi leaned in towards her, making their space tight. He closely examined her. "You remind me of someone."

"Oh, is that so?" she asked sweetly, now thinking that this would be a good time to use her kunai, but for some reason, she was paralyzed.

"Curse you, Itachi!" she thought, livid that Red Eyes was actually winning the game.

Red Eyes brought on of his hands up and licked the tip of his forefinger. "Yes, you do."

"Oh, and what's her name?"

And soon, Raxiel couldn't take it anymore…

When his wet forefinger touched her cheek, she gasped. The powder she once had on was now off, bare skin showing her cheek.

The residue was left on his finger…

Soon he had traced her right eye, leaving it bare to show her true identity.

The hairpiece she had been wearing had been unconsciously taken down with his other hand, showing some of her true brown hair she had missed coloring.

Raxiel's eyes were as wide as saucers, and noticing her complete hypnosis to him, Itachi smirked. He leaned in to whisper into her ear.

"Raxiel…" he hissed.

Foolishness…

Without thinking, Raxiel took out her kunai, placing it above her head in a striking position. Red Eyes effortlessly caught her hand before it could move downwards to strike the back of his neck.

Silence…

Finally, Red Eyes spoke, "You wouldn't happen to know her, would you?"

Raxiel, forgetting her one percent chance, blurted out, "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. What of it?"

"You can give her a message from me. Tell her in five days I'll want to see her at the spring. If she doesn't get the message or fails to come, then her little Kazekage friend will be killed," he snapped right back at her.

Raxiel gasped…

Her guard was let down…

All because of that one word…

Kazekage…

All because it was him he was talking about…

Him

Very soon, she felt that same calloused hand begin to stroke her bare cheek again.

"Oh, and Amaya?"

"…Sir?"

"You look lovely tonight," he said seductively. Raxiel was about to lose control of herself when she accidentally dropped the kunai and it made a loud, clanging noise, snapping her back to reality.

Itachi let go…

He walked away…

"But I'm afraid you're just not right for me," he said. With that, he was gone, taking his straw hat with him.

Him

Unwanted Memories…

Those feelings of love can never be buried…

They'll never leave you alone…