admirable
040. mask

"You are looking handsome tonight, sir," she purred, concealing her scowl and shudder.

Itachi looked down at her, not even the slightest flicker of emotion flashing across his features. "I am not interested."

"Why, this is a brothel, sir." She gestured around them; the dark lobby and the scent of smoke thick in the air. "Unless you have different tastes?" She doubted that he had "different tastes", but she must play her part well. Her act had to be flawless when dealing with Uchiha Itachi. Sasuke would never come home otherwise.

"I—ah, I am fine," Itachi said, sounding oddly civil, if not a little uncomfortable. "I have arranged a meeting with someone here."

"A woman?" She did her best to keep her voice sultry. "I could offer you my services, if you had some time on your hands." When she scanned his body with his eyes, she made sure to make a big show of it, although there was nothing much to see, with his cloak on. "…Free of charge."

When his eyes bore into hers, she fought the urge to shrink away. They were standing very close—close enough to feel his breath on her skin, close enough to sense his chakra simmering just underneath his skin, waiting to be used. Tsukiyomi. Susanoo. Amaterasu. All of that could be just a moment away, if she made a single slip. She had to do this. She had to.

Kakashi, Naruto and Sai were not detectable from their chakra, but she knew they were around, somewhere. Her henge was holding well. She could do this. She was the only one who could.

Itachi was very still, almost completely pressed up against her, with the way she was practically draping herself over him like some cheap whore. She forced to keep her lashes lowered, her touch like liquid as her fingers trailed down his cheek.

"An admirable effort," he told her noncommittally, voice nothing over a whisper. "But not enough, Sakura."

—

It was warm. The sun was shining, the grass was green, and the gurgling of the creek was a pleasant sound to her ears.

"Man," Naruto said loudly, breaking the peace as he returned from his hunting further down the river with Sai. "Are you sure you're okay, Sakura-chan? He didn't put some weird jutsu on you?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine." It was odd. There were no disruptions in her chakra, her vitals were stable, and she felt normal. "It's…really weird, actually."

"Why did he just let you go, though?"

She stared off into the distance, watching a mother bird feed her hatchlings. "I don't know."

The moment Itachi uttered her name, she had sprung back, already at the ready. She didn't know how he knew it was her—they had only met once before, and even then, they hadn't even spoken. Her henge had hidden her bright green eyes, her distinguishable pink hair. She even changed the shape of her face and her body figure to be safe, made to appear more mature, curvier, more beautiful.

But he still knew her. He still knew who he was.

And he had let her go. He had only stared at her as she backed away—because even with her teammates, they were nothing against him if they didn't have the element of surprise.

Before she disappeared with a teleportation jutsu, she thought she saw his lips shape into some words—but she couldn't be sure.

Save him, because I can't anymore.

A/N: I don't like this one at all, so I didn't even read it over for typos.

For anyone who's been following me long enough (I don't know if there are any who have, as I'm only a mediocre writer—this chapter is proof of that, hahaha), it was my birthday recently. Same day as Naruto's. :) So I've been a little busy with that. My birthday is always around Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, so there's been lots of family time and hanging out.

(I'm having my actual party sometime in the spring, after I've moved. I'm having a Disney movie marathon. It will be epic.)