Chapter 2: Reason

Waking up in such a small room of no windows with a tray of cold food was never a paradise for anybody, especially for Sakura…

Looking at the room she was in, she noticed how small yet simple it was. A surprising queen-sized bed, two lit lanterns on the sides of the bed and a door leading to the bathroom. Okay, so this can very well be defined already a paradise for a prisoner of the deadly organization of Akatsuki and she was lucky to have gained it rather than a stinky old jail cell with rotten food. But did they really think that she was going to say here for that long?

Checking her wound on her abdomen, Sakura mustered all the chakra she could gather and started to close the wound. It wasn't a nicely done job though and she didn't even bother to cast another bandage on her wound, seeing she has none anyways. If any stress would befall on her, the wound might re-open again and trauma could hit her as fast as a bullet. But she had no choice, judging from the looks of things and the silence of the surroundings, she slipped off the bed, still wearing her red sleeveless and white skirt overlapping the black shorts.

It's going to be a risk on trying to escape but it would be a sure death if you at least didn't try to. You may not know that you might be able to get out of here with less pain than torture itself. So, as Sakura opened the door with ease, she thought about something. 'What could've Itachi told me the last time he went here? And why the hell would they even leave the door unlock?' she thought

'Maybe they think that we're so scared to have not even the courage to touch the damn door to escape.' Inner Sakura said

'If that's what they thought of me, they are truly prejudiced. I'm a medic nin, how dare they think so low of me!' Sakura replied back

Clearing her mind of all those things, she ran her bruised fingers—from the fight she had with Sasori when they took her—on the wall. Trying to keep her eyes open, she felt dizziness overcome her as the insomnia last night got to her.

Sakura grasped hard and leaned unto the wall trying to keep herself from falling, when suddenly she felt an overwhelming presence on the far left of the hallway.

Upon having the lamps on the hallway illuminate the person's features, she finally recognized that it was Itachi!

She made no comment as she stared unto the blood-red eyes of the sharingan. She could see his whole face since his robe was open, which had a smear of blood on it (probably he went on another fight), and really, it shocked Sakura how smooth and masculine his face was. He was about in his twenties but the two lines that scared his face betrayed his youth.

Staring at him was not a good thing to do especially if you had just tried to escape from his grasp. But she did not miss the ragged breathing of the Uchiha and the fast beating of his heart made.

'Enough about the observation! Try to think of an explanation that will help in saving your life, Sakura!' Inner Sakura snapped

"Is something the matter, Itachi-san?" Sakura asked, not fully sure whether that was the right question to ask.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at her, "Mind your own business, kunoichi!"

Alright, so that made Sakura twitch in choler as she shouted at him, "My name Itachi-san is Sa-ku-ra! And I was just trying to ask if anything was wrong, not trying to start an argument!"

Uh-oh, maybe she should not have done that, but seeing him be so cold—not that she wasn't used to it or anything—with a question from her didn't, well, that made Sakura flare up.

"You are weak, kunoichi and I do not want any people around me like you." Itachi stated with an impassive voice.

'Weak?' Sakura repeated in her mind with shock. Her hands tightened into a ball of fist as she gritted her teeth.

In an attempt to punch Itachi on the face, he quickly grasped her whole hand into his own and tighten them, making Sakura yelp in pain.

Having to be blocked with the hand, she tried to kick him, which made the wound on her right side open once again.

Itachi grabbed her ankle with his other hand and let go her fist as he slid his right hand to get a kunai in his holster. He quickly settled it in the side of Sakuras neck, making her go numb with fear and pain as the wound started to bleed once again.

When Itachi had let go of her ankle, she fell to her knees and grasped the bleeding wound with her left hand, covered with the marks of Itachis fingers among them, panting when she could not even get enough chakra to heal the re-opened wound.

"Come with me…" the voice of Itachi echoing through the hallway made her shiver and look up in confusion.

Still staring at his sharingan, Sakura understood that he wouldn't even bother to say another word. So, she stood up, hissing in pain, as Itachi lead the way to her room.

Plopping down on the bed as Itachi closed the door and lit the lanterns on each side of the bed, Sakura made a growling sound…

Itachi turned to look at her and placed his robe at the chair beside the bed. Seeing that the cold food that was present at her desk, he could already knew why her stomach grumbled. He said, "You have not eaten yet…"

Sakura looked down, a faint blush on her cheeks. "N-no…I haven't…"

Itachi stared at her malnourished and frankly injured body. There was no way she could heal those bruises and wounds on her whole body.

"Pull your shirt up!" Itachi ordered

Sakura was shocked with this. 'Pull my shirt up? What the hell of an order is that?' Inner Sakura screamed

"Your wound…" he simply stated

Sakura looked into his eyes and could not even find the slightest of patience. She had to do this or she would piss him off and do it instead. Something she didn't want to happen. So, she pulled her red sleeveless up to the bottom of her breasts, just enough to let him have a full view of the re-opened wound.

He brought his hand up and carefully started to release green chakra to heal and close the wound. His warm touch was tantalizing and Sakura could not help but admit that he really was hot. Whether he was evil or not…

As the wound started to heal, with Itachis help, Sakura felt a lot better…though she would have to wash all her clothes since it was all soaked in blood. What would she wear while her clothes were wet? That wasn't important for now…

When Itachi was done healing her wound, he stood to leave, putting his own robe. He was about to leave the room when Sakura spoke out loud with a quivering voice, "Itachi-san…I-I know it's Akatsuki business, but…" she paused and gulped,"…at least tell me the reason why I'm here. I at least deserve to know what is happening to me!"

Itachi made no movement whatsoever and didn't even turn around to look at her. But when moments of thinking had passed, he said to her, "Orochimaru is after you."

"Orochimaru? Why?" Sakura asked

"We have been ordered to take you captive and nothing more than to keep you from him." Was what Itachi replied.

"Why? You may not know it but since Sasuke is with Orochimaru, couldn't it be him who wants me? If that is the real reason Orochimaru is after me…I would prefer that they have me in his grasp then." Sakura said while blushing…

Itachi laughed dryly as he turned around, "Kunoichi…he left you and the kyuubi for power to defeat me…do you think he would want a nuisance like you around him?" Itachi asked coldly

Itachi stared at her and finally answered his on question, "I thought so…it's a no right? It isn't my stupid brother who wants you but Orochimaru himself nothing more." He said sternly

"Then why have you and the others taken me as captive? Surely I mean nothing to you, if you really think I'm that weak!" Sakura asked in choler as she stood up from the bed.

"You are something important to this mission of Akatsuki and I propose that you behave well enough for the others to not torture you." Itachi replied quickly

"Tsunade-sama is already there. I must agree with the fact that she won't let them get me." She stated as she stood in front of Itachi, just inches away from him.

"With the night you were captured by Akatsuki, could your partner protect you from Orochimaru? Since your partner was killed by Sasori, I highly doubt it!" Itachi said in a more loud and stern voice

"Y-you killed him? You killed Lee?" Sakura asked in anger. Her eyes blazed in anger as she raised her hand in an attempt to strike him across the face.

But to Sakuras dismay, Itachi caught her wrist in mid-slap. Bringing her along with him when he turned around, her back banged against the wall and pressed his body against her.

"Bastard! You're such a bastard!" Sakura hissed, trying to get away from the tight grip of his hands on her own.

"Hn…" he replied in her ear, making Sakura shiver down to the spine. She blushed at the contact and the proximity of their bodies against one another and looked away when his smooth hair brushed against her cheek.

Itachi's eyes locked with Sakuras as they stared at each other for a long moment. His hand left hers and crawled up to her nape. Sakura made a muffled sound for him to let go, blushing at the thought that he was going to kiss her.

Itachi did not move and started to untie her hitae-ate. Grasping it in his hands, he pulled away from her and opened the door. "Don't try to escape. I'll be in my room which is three rooms away from yours." He said, then shut the door close

Sakura slumped down the wall, her eyes full of shock and fear of what might've just happened to her and Itachi.

"Please…no…" she whispered

Miakoda13: Hello! Thanks for all the reviews you have given me for my first Naruto fic! Hope you all liked the first chapter, though it was a bit short…this is longer…

Sorry for the late update though, kind of busy and I didn't actually know what to write next…yup, had writers block.

So…hopefully, next time I update…things for our pair will go in exciting ways…conflicts and all that romance things…and even longer!