Woohoo! Chapter 6 is up! Thank you for all those who reviewed in the last chapter and for still sticking with this story. I love all your wonderful reviews! Be sure to read the author's notes below because I have an important announcement. So here's chapter 6 of Mysterious Lover. Hope you enjoy reading!

Rating: Rated M (not suitable for mature teens and kids.) Skip the first 3 paragraphs of this chapter if you don't like to read lemons.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It only belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Itachi put his arms around her as a drowning man would grab a life preserver. They clung to each other, his mouth parting hers and taking possession as though he had spent years of dreaming about the opportunity. No one had ever kissed Sakura that way before. She had been used to gentle, friendly kisses.

There was nothing neither gentle nor particularly friendly about what he was doing at the moment. Itachi was making his claim to her clear. He lifted her in his arms and carried her back to the large stuffed chair he had recently vacated and sank down without ever losing contact with her mouth. His tongue searched and explored her mouth, lightly tracing the slightly uneven line of her teeth, coaxing her tongue to meet his in a playful duel. It was as though he had waited forever for this opportunity to get to know her as well physically as he knew her mentally and emotionally.

His right hand rested at her throat. When he began to explore the contour of her face with his lips, placing tiny kisses in a careful row, his left hand slowly inched downward until it rested on her right breast.

Sakura had never experienced so many intense emotions at once. She was shaking with reaction. Never in her wildest imaginings did she expect to feel so on fire. Everywhere he touched, a combustive flame seemed to flare up between them. She shifted restlessly in his arms.

He clamped his arm around her waist. "Be still." He said sharply.

Her eyes snapped open and looked him straight in his eyes. That was the least loverlike command she had ever heard.

"I'm having all I can do to hang on to my self-control as it is, Pinky," he advised her with a rueful grin.

Sakura wanted to disappear in a puddle of embarrassment. Of course she knew all the clinical details regarding sex, but at the moment, she hadn't been thinking about those facts.

Hastily getting to her feet, she straightened her dress and attempted to smooth her hair where his hand had ruffled it only a few moments before.

"I suppose we should go get something to eat," she managed to say while trying to steady her breathing.

He grinned. "I suppose we should," he mimicked softly. "Otherwise, we might not leave this room for the rest of the day."

She whirled away from him in an attempt to hide the expression on her face. How could she tell him that she wouldn't mind at all spending the rest of the day in bed with him?

"Why, Pinky, I'm shocked to hear such lascivious thoughts coming from your pure and chaste mind."

Oh no! She had forgotten how clearly he could read her mind. Turning to face him, knowing that her face must be a lovely shade of fiery red, she said, "Stop it, Itachi. I can't seem to block you out of my mind the way you do me. But don't you dare tease me about my thoughts, do you understand?"

He stood up and faced her from across the room, his smile gone, and his expression serious. "I'm sorry, Sakura. I wasn't making fun of you, please believe me. I was only trying to lighten the volatile atmosphere, if possible. You see, this is why I knew a relationship between us would never work. Everyone needs their privacy, even from their closest loved one. I don't want to destroy what we have in the hopes of having more."

Picking up her purse and pocketing the room key, Itachi handed her the purse and opened the door. "I want to make love to you very much, but not at the expense of everything else we have always shared. I won't ever sacrifice that, do you understand me?"

She walked passed him and he closed the door behind them and politely guided her down the hall, his hand resting lightly at her waist.

Sakura realized that she seldom heard him call her Sakura. She had always been Pinky to him or Ms. Haruno. For a shocked moment, she felt a loss so intense she could scarcely comprehend it. What would it be like never to be called Pinky again? That had been very special name between them that no one else had ever known.

She understood what he was saying to her. Their physical response to each other was astonishing, like wildfire racing before the wind. But she wasn't willing to give up their unique relationship in order to experience the full expression of their physical love for each other.

When they reached the lobby of the hotel, Sakura recognized that they were next door to Shisui's casino. A blast of hot air hit them when they stepped outside.

"Do you mind if we take your car? Mine hasn't been found yet," Itachi said, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened between them.

Sakura nodded, her thoughts still engrossed in all the discoveries she had been making about herself, her beliefs and about Itachi.

They made an idle conversation over brunch. Sakura had never seen so much food at one time before.

"Haven't you ever been to Las Vegas before?" Itachi asked later, sipping his coffee.

"No. It isn't the sort of place you'd visit alone."

"True. Maybe we should plan to stay another night and I'll show you around."

She glanced down at her dress. "I'm afraid I didn't bring anything dress to wear."

"That's no problem. We can always find something here, if you'd like."

Sakura grinned. What better way to see Las Vegas than with your best friend? Add to the fact that he was your boss and was giving you permission not to be at work the next day and she couldn't find nothing in his suggestion to complain about.

"I would love it." She stood up and held out her hand. "I can hardly wait to get started. Let's go."

He laughed at her enthusiasm, and for a moment, Sakura stared at him in astonishment. She had never seen I. Uchiha laugh. Never. She had seen an occasional smile, but that was all. Now, he looked happy and relaxed. She was amazed at the transformation.

Hugging his arm as they went out the door, Sakura decided to make that day the most special day of her life. She knew without consciously acknowledging it that they might not have many of them together.

Itachi must have made a similar resolution. Never had Sakura seen I. Uchiha so relaxed before. His smile came easily as she took him on a tour of the stores, modeling the most outrageous and the most demure outfits for him. She found that she enjoyed making him laugh and catching him by surprise.

As a joke, she tried on a flame-red dress that molded her curves, leaving a long length of leg showing. Hastily digging in her purse, she found some hairpins and gathered her hair into a rather precarious topknot on top of her head. Casual curls fell in front of her ears and along the nape of her neck. Thankful that her heels were high enough to effectively show off the dress, Sakura sauntered out of the dressing room to where Itachi waited.

Later, she wished she'd had a camera trained on his face when he saw her. He did a perfect example of a double take. He was sitting in a chair and she ambled over to him and leaned down, knowing the top of her dress would fall open.

"You look a trifle bored, cowboy. Care for a little action?" she said in a low voice.

His gaze zeroed in on the front of her dress then bounced up to meet hers. Sakura thoroughly enjoyed watching the color wash over his cheeks then recede.

"I don't think that's quite, uh, you, Pinky." He said in a strangled voice.

She straightened, running her hand from her waist down to her thigh. "Oh, I don't know. Just feel this material. Isn't it something?" Gently picking up his hand where it was clenched on the arm of the chair, she placed his hand on her thigh.

Itachi jerked back his hand as though the dress had been as hot as its color indicated.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a gruff whisper.

"Trying to find something to wear for tonight, honey," she drawled, trying to laugh.

"Hn. That won't do at all."

She assumed a disappointed air. "Oh, that's too bad. I always thought that red was definitely my color."

Without looking at him, Sakura sashayed back into the dressing room. She was chuckling as soon as she reached the small cubicle. Curious to see if she could, Sakura tried to focus in on his thoughts, in a way similar to what he said he had done with her years ago.

All the time she was taking off the red dress and trying on the next one, she concentrated. Slowly, she began to pick up his amazement and confusion at her behavior, as well as his embarrassment.

What's the matter, cowboy? Can't you take a little teasing?

"Is that what it was?" he responded promptly.

I always wondered how I would do as a dance hall girl.

"You'd be a sensation. However, I don't think my heart could handle much of that."

You'll like this one much better, she assured him.

He did. The blue-green material shifted color like the ocean on a sunny day. The dress fit her snugly to the waist then flared to a swirling skirt that emphasized her trim legs.

She felt his sigh of relief when she walked out. Her smile was impish. "Is this better?"

"Much," he said with conviction.

After paying for her purchase with her credit card they were soon back on the street.

"Shisui asked us to drop in this afternoon if we had time."

"I would love that." Sakura recognized that no matter what they did, she would love it. She enjoyed being with Itachi, getting to know the physical side of him. Mr. Uchiha was still very much in evidence, but the shock had worn off and she was catching glimpses of the Itachi she knew and loved beneath the gruff exterior of her employer.

When they reached the ornate lobby of the U-BIZ, Sakura paused and looked up at Itachi. "Why don't you go on up and I stop in the rest room for a moment?"

"Would you like me to wait?"

She shook her head, still a little shy with him. "That's not necessary. I need to freshen up my makeup and it will probably take a few minutes. But I promise not to be too long."

Itachi grabbed her small chin and leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips, disregarding anyone who might be watching. "I'll see you upstairs, then."

When Sakura sat down in front of the mirror, she hardly recognized the glowing woman in front of her. Her hair seemed to have a vitality all its own, her eyes sparkled and glittered, even her skin seemed to have taken on a special glow. Love was the best beauty aid going, she decided with a grin.

Hastily renewing her lipstick and powdering away the shine on her nose and forehead, Sakura left the ladies lounge and started toward the elevator. Before she realized what was happening, two men with very muscular body, one on each side of her, took her arm and propelled her through the front door of the casino and into a waiting limousine just outside the door.

"Wha–? Wait a minute! What are you doing?" The car pulled away from the curb and quickly joined the traffic along the Strip.

"Don't worry, lady. Nobody's going to hurt you," one of the men said. She glanced around in the car. Sakura had never seen so much luxury in an automobile before. The driver wore a uniform and cap and the men on either side of her were in dark suits and wore sunglasses.

Itachi!

"What is it? Where are you?"

I don't know where I am or where I'm going. Two men just grabbed me as I started toward the elevator and they're hauling me away in a luxury car.

"Who are they?"

I have no idea.

She could feel his fear and anger wash over her and she almost flinched away from its intensity.

"We are not going to hurt you, lady," the man repeated. "Our boss wants to see you."

"Who is your boss?"

He looked at her without expression. In a flat tone, he replied, "He will tell you himself."

"Where are you now?"

I don't know. We just passed the Tropicana and seem to be heading out of town.

"Don't worry, Pinky. I'm right behind you. What does the car look like?"

Uh, it's silver. She glanced around. Has some sort of antenna on the trunk.

The car picked up speed once it left the town area. Sakura didn't want to give away the fact that they might be followed, so she forced herself to continue looking straight ahead. There wasn't much to see. Occasionally, there would be a house enclosed in a high fence. Most of them had swimming pools, which Sakura didn't find too surprising. The desert was a good place to spend time in the water.

They made a sharp right turn onto a smaller road that took them farther from any other signs of houses. Eventually, they pulled up in front of a heavy gate. The driver spoke into a small hand-held mike and the doors slowly opened. As soon as the car passed through, Sakura turned around and watched the gate close. The gate was the only break in a tall, stone wall that seemed to encircle a multi-acre area.

After following a winding road for several minutes, the car ceased to a stop in front of a sprawling, bungalow home in adobe and red tiles that was designed for Southwest living. The home was beautiful but Sakura was not in the mood to stand around and admire it.

She was escorted with a great deal of courtesy into the house and was thankful for the air-conditioning that greeted her at the double door entrance. One of the men showed her into a large room which had one wall of glass and overlooked a giant swimming pool. The water looked very inviting.

The sound of ice tinkling in a glass caused her to turn around. A middle-aged woman holding a tray of drinks smiled and said, "I brought you something to drink."

Sakura smiled. "Thank you." She walked over to the tray, which had been placed on a round coffee table. There was quite a selection to choose from. She poured herself some iced tea from a pitcher, added lemon and sipped the liquid absently.

"Where are you?"

Behind a massive stone wall. Did you ever see the car?

"I got a glimpse but that's all. Did you turn off the main road?"

Yes. We turned right, just past a white, two-story house on the left that had a cyclone fence. Did you see that?

"Damn. Yes. I passed it a few miles back. Who's there?"

No one at the moment.

"Try to stall them until I get there."

Itachi! There's no way you can get onto the grounds. The wall is massive.

"I'll check it out. Just be careful. When you have any more information, let me know."

She wandered around the room, sipping her tea and enjoying the objects d'art that spoke of expensive tastes. Sakura couldn't believe her attitude toward what had happened. At first, she had been startled then frightened – until she had made contact with Itachi. After that, she had calmed down. She knew she wasn't in any danger. She had been treated with courtesy and kindness at all times, except for having been whisked out of the U-BIZ by a couple of strangers.

Plus she had a great deal of faith in Itachi's ability. Sakura had to admit that she was curious as to what was going on. She had a hunch she'd done eventually.

When a man walked into the room, Sakura was ensconced in a comfortable chair, gazing out at the garden surrounding the pool.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Ms.–" He paused waiting for her response.

Sakura's gaze returned from the garden and made an inspection of the man standing before her. He lacked several inches of being six foot but he made up in girth for his lack of height. She had to admit that his excellent tailoring did its best to conceal his obesity. Her eyes wandered to his face which was as round as his body, and met a pair of black eyes that seemed to have seen everything in the world and would no longer be surprised at anything else they might see. His gray hair was thinning badly, despite his attempts to disguise it.

Without getting up, she said, "Haruno Sakura," in a quiet voice. "And you are–?"

"Pein. You may have heard of me."

"Yes, Mr. Pein, I have heard your name before. Are you responsible for my sudden visit here?"

He laughed, obviously amused at her attitude. "Yes. This is my home."

"Is this your usual way of getting company when you are bored, Mr. Pein?" she asked before taking another sip of her drink.

He sank down into a chair opposite hers with a sigh. "Not usually, no. I'm just tired of Shisui's games, that's all."

"And what do I have to do with Shisui's games?"

"I am not sure. That's what I intend to find out."

"Why me?"

"Because you're the only woman Shisui's been around lately. I figured if I brought you out here, he might be willing to talk to me. Up until now, he has refused my calls."

She nodded her head sagely. "I see. I'm supposed to be your calling card, is that it?"

He grinned. "I suppose you could put it that way."

"Obviously, you didn't know Shisui very well. He doesn't care for women."

"Now, wait a minute. I have known Shisui for years. You aren't trying to tell me that he's–"

"Uh, no, Mr. Pein. That isn't what I meant. He's a little bitter at the moment, that's all. Obviously, you have mistaken me for his girlfriend. I am not."

"But you managed to see him yesterday when no one else has been able to get him in months. He's holed himself up in that casino and refuses to talk to anyone."

"If you could talk with him, Mr. Pein, what is it you would want to say?"

"That's between me and him."

"Okay."

They sat there for a few moments in silence. Sakura once again began to admire the beauty of the garden.

"I figure Shisui should be trying to call me any time now," Pein finally muttered.

She glanced around and smiled. "Don't count on it, Mr. Pein. Your men were so slick at whisking me out of the casino no one knows where I went."

"But Shisui will miss you and begin asking questions."

"Hardly. Shisui doesn't even know me. The only reason I saw him yesterday was to find my –er, boss, I. Uchiha." Sakura began to put some things together. "Do you by chance own some land and a small cabin in southern Utah?"

He looked at her suspiciously. "So what if I do?"

She shrugged. "I just wondered. That's where Shisui and I found Mr. Uchiha last night."

Pein suddenly sat up straighter. "You mean that man was nosing around – You mean Shisui sent him to– Are you telling me you found that place?"

"I wouldn't presume to tell you a thing, Mr. Pein. Nor would I want to point out to you that kidnapping is a federal offense." She took another sip of her tea and returned her gaze to the beauty of the outdoors.

"Who is this Mr. Uchiha?" he demanded.

She turned her head. "I told you, he is my boss."

"What was he doing snooping around me?"

"I don't know. You'll have to ask him."

"What does that mean?"

"Just that he will be here demanding some answers from you before too long. Hope you have them for him. He can be very demanding." She sighed. "A very difficult man to work for, I'll admit." Her limpid emerald gaze met his.

"But the job does have certain compensations."

For a heavy man, Pein moved with a surprising agility. He strode out of the room and she couldn't hear his voice calling someone as he stormed down the hall.

Idly, she wondered if she had hurt his feelings. Here, he was being such a kind host. Oh, well. Maybe he'd have to find someone else to make friends with.

"Pinky?"

Oh, hi, Itachi. My host's name is Pein. He knows Shisui and seems to feel Shisui is avoiding him. He's also the man who owns the cabin in the mountains where we found you.

"Damn."

Where are you?

"I have found the place. I was hoping that I would not have to storm it, though."

I can ask him to let me go. He seems a very accommodating fellow.

"He's anything but that. He's ruthless. That's why Shisui got out of the partnership with him. He doesn't like the way he runs the business."

Oh. Sakura had a sudden hunch that she shouldn't have been baiting the man.

"What did you say to him?" Itachi demanded.

Oh, nothing much. Reminded him that kidnapping was a federal offense.

"That's great, Pinky. Nothing like reminding him that he's in deep water now." He was silent for a moment, "You aren't even scared?"

No. This is kind of fun, you know? Nothing very exciting has happened to my whole life. Now in one weekend all kinds of things are happening. Maybe you should let me come out in the field with you more often.

She wasn't sure but she was almost certain that what she felt was a groan in response.

"Pinky?"

Yes?

"Please don't antagonize the man. I've got to get in touch with Shisui and see if he can shed any light on this."

Good idea. He said he expected Shisui to call now that had his girlfriend.

"What?"

Yes. That's why he had me grabbed, to get back at Shisui. Isn't that amusing?

"I don't find that damned thing funny about any of this. Why should he think there's something going on between you and Shisui?"

I suppose because I was shown up to see Shisui yesterday when I first arrived. No one else has been able to get through to him.

"I told you that."

Yes I know. So now Pein thinks that Shisui and I are sweethearts.

"Maybe we can use that. Just sit tight, Pinky. I will be in touch."

She smiled. "I know."

"Who are you talking to?" Pein demanded, as he stomped back into the room.

"No one."

"I heard you talking to someone. Are you bugged?"

She glanced down at the sundress she was wearing. "No. I just have a habit of talking to myself. That comes from living alone too long." She looked at him and smiled.

"Is there a chance I could go lie down somewhere for a while? I didn't get much sleep last night."

Pein eyed her suspiciously. She met his gaze with a very innocent smile. Abruptly he turned, motioning her to follow. The hall they followed was spacious and long. Eventually, Pein paused and opened a door. The drapes were pulled and the room was in cool shadows. As luxurious as the rest of the house, the elaborate décor seemed to imply that whatever was troubling Pein, it wasn't the lack of money.

She nodded her head. "Thank you, Mr. Pein." Closing the door quite gently in front of him, she heaved a sigh of relief and went over to the bed. "Okay, Itachi. I have taken myself off to a bedroom for a nap. That should keep me out of trouble."

There was a long pause. She wasn't sure he had heard her. "Good idea," came back distractedly. "I'll see you soon."

A/N: Chapter 6 is done. I'm sorry if you didn't like this chapter. I just don't feel like that I gave my best in writing this. But anyways, keep reviewing and let me know what you think about this chapter.

As I have said on the start of this chapter, I have an important announcement to say. Sorry to disappoint you but…this will be the last update that I'll be doing. Not that I stop writing this story but our 2 week Christmas vacation is already over and our classes will resume on Monday, January 7 so I'll not be able to update this story for a while but I'll promise I'll try to update this when I have a free time. I hope you understand me. I just want you to be patient and I'm hoping that when I update you're still here with me. So see you on my next update!