Learning to Manipulate
Chapter 3- Amusing or Alarming?
I'm sorry that this chapter took so long. I'm back at school, so I have lots of homework and stuff now. But I hope it was worth the effort. I hope you have fun reading it.
Sakura stifled her laughs with her hand as she watched the two grown men dancing together. Itachi had suggested that she do something to occupy her time. She had asked, with a cheeky smile, that they teach her to dance. And so, as a demonstration, Itachi had to perform a lovely romantic waltz with Deidara. He couldn't refuse, unless he couldn't dance. She couldn't help but smirk as they shot death glares at each other as they circled around the room, all for the pink haired kunoichi's entertainment. She could see Itachi's barely concealed anger. It pleased Sakura to see that at least something irked him, that he wasn't completely impassive.
"Enough." Itachi growled and dropped Deidara's hand. "I'll dance with you now." He turned to Sakura with a coy smile. "I think I should dance with Deidara first." She smiled innocently, watching as he rolled his eyes and sat down where Sakura was before. "This was your idea, yeah?" Deidara asked her and grinned. She shrugged. "I'm bored." Sakura watched their feet as he led her around. Eye contact could be… awkward. She picked up the basic movements of the dance fairly quickly, and her feet were getting boring. Sakura's gaze traveled up to Deidara's chest, and lingered there. They flicked up to his eyes, almost unintentionally, and was caught by his vivid blue eyes. He looked smug, and moved gracefully. It probably showed in her eyes, because she knew Deidara could tell what she was thinking. It irked her that both him and Itachi could read her like a book. Embarrassed, she screwed her eyes shut and pulled away from him.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Itachi stand up. Great… She groaned inwardly as he took up her hand and swept her up to dance again. She was already sick of dancing. But even this was worth it to have seen them dancing together. Itachi's hand gripped her waist possessively, and his other hand squeezed hers tightly. At least Deidara was gentler, compared to the way Itachi roughly threw her around. After about half an hour more of switching between the two, she sat down, tired of continual spinning and twirling. It was making her dizzy. But at least it passed the time. And it meant that she wasn't alone with either one of them. She could tell Itachi felt cheated of 'his day' alone with her.
"If you're done dancing, then Deidara can go, yes?" Itachi was thinking the same thing as Sakura was. Damn it. "Yeh I guess." She mumbled. Deidara looked disappointed as he opened the door forbidden to Sakura. Her mind worked fast as she saw that the front door was opened, tantalizing her with views of freedom. Her chances of getting past both Itachi and Deidara to get out the door were slim, but it was worth a try. She gathered as much chakra as she could to her feet, and then sprinted. She leaped over the lounge and surprisingly, made it through the first door. But just as she was almost out the front door, she ran straight into Deidara's arms. It was so infuriating, straight to him.
"It seems like she wants to stay with me." Deidara walked her back into the middle room with a laugh, holding her shoulders firmly. Itachi laughed as well, grabbing her wrist as Deidara handed her back, like a dog that escaped from its leash, making a dash for freedom. It was only when she had calmed down that she realized something. She had been there for so long and had only just realized. Her chakra. It was just a tiny fraction of what it usually was. "If you want to go outside, then you can go out the back." Itachi said slowly, like someone explaining something very simple to a little child. "Hmh." Sakura grunted crossly. "You can let go of me now." She glared at him as Deidara disappeared through the door again. "But you might try to run off again. And we couldn't have that…" His grip on her wrist tightened. It hurt. "How could I?" She said innocently. "The door's already closed." She just wanted his strong, possessive grip off her. "Fine." He let go of Sakura's hand and pushed her into the room.
Now Sakura was scared. He was in a bad mood- it was just too obvious. Sakura wondered if the entertainment she had gained from this venture was really worth it. Whether it was worth it or not, the brief moment was now well and truly over. Itachi came into the room behind her and shut the door. "Leave me alone." Sakura shot a glare at him. "I'm tired." She sat down on the bed, before realizing that could be a bad idea. "But I've got to make the most of what's left of my day with you…"
In a flash, he was on the bed next to her. She stood up almost as fast, walking away from the bed. She was going to be smarter this time, wasn't going to fall victim to Itachi's tricks. He stood up and was in front of her again. "Scared?" He smiled. He obviously thought it was all a game. "No." Sakura denied, walking backwards, away from him. "Just a little?" He asked, following her. "Its hard to fear when you hate so much." She spat back, still retreating. "Don't hate me." He said imploringly, his gradual steps towards him slow and menacing. "I'm not that bad… if you get to know me." He smiled. "I'd rather not…" Sakura growled. She jumped as she bumped into something behind her.
The corner. That bastard! He'd cornered her. "Why don't you give it a try?" He whispered and kept moving towards her, until he couldn't get any closer. "Don't." Sakura glared at him, but changed her tactic. "Please?" She thought that that would work better than swearing mindlessly. Itachi stared at her for a minute before stepping back. "I won't… If you don't want me to…" He moved back and sat on the bed. "Huh?" Sakura was surprised. "I told you I wasn't so bad." Itachi raised an eyebrow. Sakura sat down on the far side of the bed, away from him. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all… "Trust me now?" He smiled at her, not moving towards her as she expected him to. "A little…" Sakura returned the smile, though only slightly.
"I wouldn't if I were you…" His well-meaning smile turned into a sly grin as he moved suddenly, right next to her. "Bastard." Maybe she wasn't the only one doing the manipulating… He had caught her off guard, and she couldn't do anything about it without her chakra. He grabbed her shoulders and once again moved closer. Sakura turned her head away from him, uncertain of what he was going to do. He took one hand off her should to move her head back, forcing her to look at him. "Don't deny it." Closer. "Deny what?" She was getting angry again, though Itachi had seemingly lost his anger. Closer again. Too close for comfort. How many times did he have to do this? "The… attraction." He barely even had to whisper for Sakura to hear it. "What the hell?" And with her hands un-restrained, she slapped Itachi. Without chakra it was only a superficial slap, but the rapidly forming red mark on his cheek made her feel proud. It was obvious that his pride was damaged as he stood up abruptly, his hand over his cheek. He glared at Sakura and left, slamming the door behind him. She heard the lock click and the sound of footsteps walking away from the door. She lay down on the bed with a sigh. That was close. Maybe she'd alienated him completely. Hopefully she had. Then he would leave her alone. She smiled, imagining what Sasuke would react if she told him she slapped Itachi. But she hadn't seen Sasuke in so long… In a way, Itachi reminded her of his little brother. There was such a strong resemblance between the two brothers. It brought back memories. How happy she'd be if Sasuke showed the same kind of attention to her as Itachi did…
Dinner never came, and Sakura started getting hungry. Only when she was denied food that she realized how well they actually fed her for a prisoner. A prisoner… She wanted to escape, fast. She obviously wasn't doing much stuck in there. It wasn't much help to anyone. She had figured out by then that she wasn't being held at their main base. Maybe some small base or even a captured house. So finding out her location would do no good. A plan… She had formulated one earlier. It wasn't all that smart but it would do. Hopefully it would get her out. Away from the madness…
Woah, LONG time writing that one but its finally finished.
Hope you enjoyed it. There might be two more chapters, but I think the next might be the last. It depends on how much I write.
s2- Envy