Tsunade looked down to acknowledge Kakashi. "Okay, go."
Kakashi sat up and pointed to the scroll. "Since she's blind in the back, we'll play it cat-stalks-mouse. Since I'm the one she wants, I'll be the mouse. I'll come 'crawling out of a hole with my tail between my legs' and she'll go nuts for it. I'll play it up a little, get mushy and all. Put on the cute face, the one girls love, while a couple of you will surround her, unbeknownst to her. Create a couple of distractions off center and front: rattle some leaves overhead, or something. Her attention will be mainly on me, and her peripheral vision will be focused primarily on the distractions you guys are making in the treetops. Then, while she's a little off, the strongest of us will take her out from behind."
"That's a great plan, and all," Tsunade started, "but you'll probably get hurt, won't you?"
Kakashi shook his head. "She's obsessed with me already. All I have to do is get close to her and act scared and she'll be eating out of my lap."
Tsunade frowned. "I dunno…I mean, so many things could go wrong, and if she just grabs you and makes a run for it, we're all screwed."
Kakashi shrugged. "I'll make her chase me; kind of shy away. Ever seen someone try to calm down a nervous horse? She'll be trying to calm me down, I'll be backing up, and it'll take her a while to get to me. In the meantime, two or three of you will play the oafs and make some noise, and the rest will slam her from behind. Simple."
"Again; think of how many things could go wrong…"
"Are we doing this, or not?"
"It's not black ad white like that-"
"It is now. Are we doing this…or not?"
Tsunade looked to Kurenai. "Volunteers?"
Kurenai looked as if she couldn't make up her mind. "Well, I guess it's worth a shot, but…"
"But what?"
"If Kakashi stays with her for more than…ten minutes or so…she'll try again."
"How do you know?"
Kurenai lowered her head. "The Sakura Shintenshin!"#
OOOOOOOOO
Yasu paced her room, frustrated. Itachi was making dinner, trying to regain favor with his leader.
"Pacing, Yasu-sama, isn't going to help much," Itachi said, pouring white rice into two bowls. "He simply isn't going to come back, and by now they must have him in the hospital under the guard of six dozen ANBU black ops. You failed the sealing, so now they know what you're after. There's no way around it." He spread vegetables and several chunks of meat over the top and began hunting for an extra pair of chopsticks. "You have to accept that, move on, and find another love."
Yasu shrugged as Itachi emerged from a cabinet under a drawer with another pair if chopsticks. "I've been thinking about that for a while, and-I dunno," she said. Itachi pushed both pairs of chopsticks into the bowls and set them down on the small table Yasu had plunked down in front of. "Do what you want, but I wouldn't recommend getting into Sasori or Deidara."
Yasu's eyebrows rose. "Dare may I ask-?"
"No, you may not," Itachi replied evenly. "Um, as non-perverted sounding as I can make this, their room is right next door…and I hear things."
"Ouch," Yasu said. Frankly, she was amused.
"Apparently so, for Deidara," Itachi muttered.
Yasu smiled and gingerly tasted a bit of the food.
"Wow," she said, surprised. "Where'd you learn to cook like this?"
"I copied my mom one night," Itachi grunted, somewhat embarrassed at the compliment. Yasu shook her head.
"You're incredible."
"I know."
Yasu finished her meal in silence. Itachi, in turn, said nothing as well. He wordlessly took her empty bowl and chopsticks and placed them in the sink along with his own. He washed his hands, found a scroll and a pen, and sat down at a small desk against the wall. Yasu saw a small book lying on the coffee table and picked it up.
The cover was black with a single kanji in the bottom right hand corner that read "simplicity." A red satin bookmark fell through the middle, showing where the writer had last put pen to paper. Yasu, curiosity awakened, sat down slowly with the book and opened the cover.
The first page was blank, and had no writing whatsoever, not even a name. Yasu quickly turned the next page, eager to see what lay beyond the next page.
It was clearly a diary.
Words stripped themselves off the pages and threw themselves at Yasu with anger at never being released before. It was amazing to Yasu to discover that Uchiha Itachi actually had emotions. There was a picture taped to the first page, above the entry. It was a picture of the Uchiha family: the baby of the family, Sasuke, barely six years old and standing in front of Itachi, at thirteen, and already mature beyond his years. Sasuke had several siblings alongside him, Itachi and a sister in back of them, and their proud parents in the back. Yasu's eyes glazed over the picture, barely taking in what it was before reading the entry, written in an averagely neat scrawl: to be expected of a teenage boy to not really care.
I'm ashamed of myself for trying to "put my thoughts down on paper" just because Mother says I should. Pretty sad, given she'll be dead tomorrow. I'm still not sure about Sasuke, though…wait for him to come home, leave him…? I don't know anymore. I might actually care for him, though…I'll be killing them at about the time he goes off for training, too…kill him before he gets there? Leave him? Let him go, kill them, and go before he gets back…? Actually, that's a good idea. He'll leave, I'll kill them, get my Mangekyou, leave, he'll come back, see everyone dead, and run to a friend's or something. I'll be home free, we all live happily ever after.
The end.
Yasu turned the page.
I killed them. I killed them all. They're all dead, and my hands are painted with their blood forever, like fingerprints on glass. You cannot wipe them away, no matter how hard you try, and they will always be there to haunt you, until you hate your own reflection and just completely lose it. And the Mangekyou now burns over my eyes, cruel and punishing for any fool who dares cross me. I almost can't believe I pulled it off; Sasuke got home early and saw me kill the last of them. Stupid boy, he tried to run.
I almost killed him.
Almost.
But then I realized that the death I would die would be a humiliating one, and since nothing but the Mangekyou can defeat me now, no one could ever defeat me. But eventually, I would grow old. Embarrassingly, humiliatingly old. And then I would die an embarrassing death of old age: a humiliating death for a shinobi. And that would be simply unbearable: even suicide takes less honor than dying of old age, so I left one alive, the only one who could ever achieve the Mangekyou to begin with. The only one in my generation who showed trace of the Sharingan at such a young age. He will become a legend, a feared shinobi everywhere. He will be a village's dream come true of power, and he will rule shinobi everywhere with an iron fist, as cold and cruel as mine.
And then, when he is the strongest, and only then-
I will die at my brother, Sasuke's hands.
"What are you reading?" Itachi asked sharply. Yasu abruptly looked up.
"Give me that," Itachi said gruffly, yanking the book out of Yasu's hands. Yasu smirked and stood out, hands slightly outstretched. "I think that's sweet, leaving your little brother, whatever your purpose." Itachi shivered as Yasu's hands traced his hips. "I like sensitivity in a man," she whispered, pressing up to Itachi's body.
"Well, then," Itachi replied, trying to keep his tone flat and even. "I'm probably not your type."
Itachi regretted taking off his cloak now: he had been sweating, he was so hot, and taken it off, but now he felt…vulnerable. His half-fishnet shirt did little to shield him from Yasu's touches. He had also taken off his shoes and the bandages covering his lower legs. Itachi jumped at the feel of Yasu's hands stroking his stomach, and he tried to slide away. Yasu smirked; she had always been good at making people move…
"We shouldn't-" he started weakly, but Yasu cut him off.
"Don't lie to me, Itachi" she said quietly. Her own cloak dropped to the floor with a soft whisper of fabric. "Don't pretend you don't want to."
Itachi sighed. "I know I shouldn't be doing this, but…" He reached forward and kissed Yasu, completely giving in to her.
At first she was a bit surprised; this was not at all what she had expected from Itachi. Itachi has a soft side, she thought. Ha-ha, Itachi-you are sweet.
Yasu could feel Itachi testing her lips, and she decided she would allow him to French her. Hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained! Itachi smoothly slipped his tongue into her mouth with enthusiasm, and Yasu began to kiss him back. Itachi seemed mildly surprised that Yasu would challenge him for position of aggressor, but he quickly adjusted to the change and began waging open war.
A sharp bite to Itachi's lower lip shocked him out of Yasu's mouth momentarily, and he retreated to himself. Yasu immediately took over, and shoved into Itachi's mouth, completely overpowering him. Itachi could feel bruises rising under Yasu's hands and lips, and she was becoming more and more aggressive as she went.
When he was finally released and allowed to breath, Itachi gasped between pants, "So that's how you wanna play, huh? You like it rough? Okay, then-that's how we'll play it!"
Yasu and Itachi fell to Itachi's bed, stripping along the way.
OOOOOOOOO
Tsunade slipped into Kakashi's room as quietly as possible. She didn't want to wake him if he was asleep.
"No, I'm awake," Kakashi sighed, sitting up. "Whatcha got?"
"Food," she said, setting down a bowl of rice. "You're probably not very hungry, and your stomach is probably upset, so I just put in a couple vegetables and some meat."
"Thanks."
Tsunade sat down on the edge of the bed, next to Kakashi. "You okay?" she asked, resting her hand on his back.
Kakashi nodded wordlessly, slipped down his mask and began to eat. Tsunade stood.
"I have to go to the hospital this afternoon. Iruka has the day off, and he says he wouldn't mind coming over to check on you every few hours if you don't mind. Personally, I think it would be good for you both-he keeps a cool head, and if he still doesn't…dislike you for the Chuunins a couple years ago, you should be okay. But he said he didn't mind if you didn't."
"I don't mind if he doesn't," Kakashi shrugged. "I'll probably just sleep anyway."
Tsunade nodded. "All right. I'll send him over to check on you in a little while; just after I leave, I think, and then a couple times before I get back. Okay?"
Kakashi nodded his assent and thanks and simply prayed everything would go smoothly.
A/N: # I will explain this next chapter. Bare with me for a little while and everything will clear up! For all those who are reading this and care, my grandma is getting better, but since she has asthma and all sorts of allergies it might take a while for her to get out of the hospital. Sorry for the delays, but I really want to spend time with her there, because she is a really awesome grandma. Thanks for being so patient, and there will be a dedication next chapter. The winner will get his or her own one-shot! Anything but the pairings in my profile are acceptable, any genre, whatever. Thanks again, you guys! Hugs!!!