Day 8

Kakashi had become suddenly clingy and skittish-again. Pein tried to hurt him again yesterday, and Kakashi fought back. Pein managed to hurt him pretty bad, though, even with Kisame stepping in. I took him from Kisame, and he calmed down a bit, but he still cried for the rest of the day. He didn't want to be more than a few feet away from me. I almost feel bad for him-he's like a little shadow, following you everywhere and only wanting to please. I think he's growing on me just like I am him. I-

Itachi glared angrily at the page in front of him. How could he be feeling emotions?! It just wasn't right! He should, by no means, be feeling anything for this slave besides the urge to dominate him and to make him his!

And yet, he almost cried when Kakashi did.

He hated seeing the jounin in tears, broken and crying on his knees, begging you not to hurt him, and Itachi just wanted to take him into his arms and comfort him, just to make him feel better. And then Kakashi would settle down, and cling to him, and beg him not to make him go back to Pein, and then he would tell him how much he wanted to stay, and he would thank Itachi for being there for him, and Itachi would just lose all his resolve right then and there. Honestly, how could you hurt that face? It was too cute.

"Itachi-sama?"

Itachi dropped the book and pen on his bed, standing up and walking over to Kakashi. "Hai?" he answered, taking Kakashi's hand and leading him out of the room. Kakashi followed close behind, and Itachi could feel that Kakashi wasn't resisting him in any way, shape, or form.

"I-I was wondering…why does Pein hate me?"

Itachi sighed lightly and took Kakashi into the kitchen, leaning against the counter and trying to get his words under control. Finally, he decided to just tell Kakashi the truth. "I don't know," he said. "I think he just needs some anger management, there was nothing stopping him from using you as his anger management. He likes to feel powerful, so he gets a rush from beating you down. It makes him feel bigger. Which I don't understand: I mean, who could ever hurt you? You're so sweet, and innocent…and you've got a cute face." Itachi offered Kakashi a small smile and gently reached out, caressing the side of Kakashi's face. Kakashi took this as leave to be near Itachi, and stepped a bit closer.

"Itachi-sama…I don't want to touch you without your permission...but…"

Itachi sighed. This was something else that had resurfaced in Kakashi-the idea that the slave should never touch the master without the master touching them first or telling them to. Kakashi had blurted it out, in a moment of panic and pain, that Pein had once beaten him senseless because he accidently touched him walking by. And that was when Kakashi first became as scared as he was now. Itachi and Kakashi both knew that Pein was being ridiculous, but no one dared say anything to Pein. The leader of the Akatsuki would skin them both alive.

"Come here."

Itachi wrapped his arms around Kakashi's shoulders, pulling him close and holding him to his chest. "You can always come to me whenever you need me," Itachi whispered, 

"And I don't care if you touch me without groveling first. Kakashi, you're better than that. And you and I both know it."

Kakashi seemed skeptical, but slowly approached Itachi and looped his arms around the Uchiha's neck. Itachi's arms wrapped around Kakashi's waist, pulling him closer and letting him know he was fine with Kakashi's contact. Kakashi's head fell to Itachi's shoulder, and his long, silver hair floated down around it. Kakashi's hair had lost its spike somewhere along the lines in Akatsuki-now, it was long and silky, and brushed against his shoulders.

The door closed, and Kisame walked by.

"Well, glad to see he's okay," the shark-nin commented. "Hi, Kakashi. Feeling better?"

"Yes, thank you."

Kakashi brightened a bit at the change of subject, and turned slightly to face Kisame. One arm, however, was still wrapped around Itachi's neck, as if Kakashi couldn't bring himself to let go. Similarly, Itachi had one arm settled in Kakashi's lower back. Kisame fought down a smile at the scene: Itachi really did have emotions buried somewhere. Granted, they were buried quite deep, but they were still there, which Kisame thought was wonderful.

"That's good. Itachi, planning anything for tonight?"

Itachi sighed and glanced at Kakashi. "We have that meeting later. And he's not exactly stable…what with Pein's encounter with him yesterday."

Kisame exhaled slowly through his nose. "Well, we've been through this before. You and I both know there's no other way to do it."

Itachi nodded slowly. "And it makes me quite upset. It's not going to be easy for any of us, but I still think it's the best way to go."

Kisame nodded. "Doesn't change the fact that I don't like it."

"None of us do. And yet we do it anyway."

Itachi sighed and gently pulled Kakashi after him as he left the kitchen. "Come on," he said softly. "Let's go. You're going to stay in the living room for a minute, and I am going to find food. Want anything?"

Kakashi shook his head, and Itachi gave him a look that clearly asked, are you lying? Kakashi ducked his head, then slowly nodded. He decided to trust Itachi. Pein hated it when he asked for food, and tended not to give it to him for much longer if he asked.

"I'll get you some ramen."

Itachi guided Kakashi over to the couch and slowly lowered him down to it, leaving Kakashi in the room as he left and went back into the kitchen. Itachi grabbed something for himself and a container of leftover ramen from the fridge, knowing that Kakashi liked it and it was easy on the stomach. Itachi had found a plate of rice and vegetables, and had decided he had better eat that before someone else did. It looked good.

"Here you go," Itachi said, handing the ramen and a pair of chopsticks to Kakashi. The jounin dug in ravenously, and Itachi realized that his body was probably still catching up from having so little food for so long. Itachi sat down on the couch next to Kakashi, then began eating his own food. Kakashi would clean up after himself when he finished. Itachi noticed Kisame rooting around in the fridge, and the shark-man joined them several minutes later with a tuna sandwich.

"I didn't know we had tuna," Itachi commented. Kisame shrugged.

"Caught it earlier."

"You went swimming?"

"Yep."

Itachi shrugged ambiguously. He had neither approved nor objected, so Kisame figured he was free to continue his excursions. There was a beach right behind the Akatsuki's lair, only a small portion of a mile away. Kisame usually went there to swim, and sometimes returned with fish. Itachi never told him this, but he was glad Kisame could go out and have a good time, while being productive at the same time. Itachi had always given him a neutral stand on the subject, and Kisame rarely even asked for a reaction.

"Want some?"

Itachi glanced over at Kisame, then shook his head. "No, thank you. Kakashi, want some tuna?"

Kakashi shrugged. "A bit would be nice…just half a sandwich."

Kisame nodded and went back into the kitchen. Kakashi finished his ramen and disappeared into the kitchen, cleaning up after himself. He returned with a piece of bread folded in half, tuna salad in the middle. The sandwich was wrapped in a paper towel, and Kakashi unwrapped it when he sat down to eat. He ate quickly, then folded the paper towel and placed it on the coffee table in front of him. Itachi finished eating, and Kakashi took the dishes to the kitchen. "Just leave them in the sink," Itachi called, changing positions on the couch. He grabbed a book from the end table and opened it to a red ribbon, picking up his reading right where he left off. Itachi vaguely registered Kakashi going into the bathroom and cleaning himself up, brushing his teeth, combing his hair, everything that he had neglected to do in the morning. Personally, Itachi encouraged this: what was the use of brushing your teeth first thing in the morning? The very next thing you were going to do was eat, and then all that was in your mouth for the rest of the day. Eat breakfast, then clean up. Besides, no one was truly awake right after they woke up.

Kakashi's weight dipped down into the sofa, then shifted over to Itachi's side of the couch. Most of Kakashi's weight was suddenly on Itachi as the jounin leaned on him, arms wrapping around Itachi's shoulders and holding onto him.

"Hello."

Itachi's wry greeting elicited a smile from Kakashi, who slipped even closer to him, resting his head on Itachi's chest. Kakashi just liked being close to him, Itachi had discovered: the comfort of being near another human and not feeling pain was something Kakashi hadn't experienced much of. Itachi didn't even have to do anything: as long as he didn't push Kakashi away, both of them were happy.

"You two look happy."

Kisame settled in the armchair across from the couch with his own meal, which consisted of a tuna sandwich and a handful of chips. "Well, it's good to see he's doing okay. When is this meeting, anyway?"

"Around three, I think."

"It's noon right now."

Itachi sighed and put one arm around Kakashi. The Hatake's grip on him tightened just the smallest bit, and Itachi felt his heart drop into his stomach. Kakashi was not going to be happy for a few hours, that was for certain. Itachi sat up a bit, adjusting his grip on Kakashi. Kisame just watched them for a moment, then took a bite of his sandwich.

"Tuna's good…"

Kakashi nodded. "Thank you for making it for me…"

Kisame shrugged. "No problem. You need the protein anyway. How have you been keeping food down lately?"

"Very well," Kakashi replied. "I haven't had an upset stomach since Itachi-sama started giving me enough food."

Kisame smiled. "I'm glad," he commented. "Everything's back to normal now? Digestive tract in order again?"

Kakashi nodded and sat up a bit. "I just feel a lot better…"

"He has more energy," Itachi said dryly. "I've been considering taking him to train a little bit soon. He could use the physical activity. And it would also help him for when he gets back to Konoha. Granted, he'll need to put on a bit more weight, but he should be fine. I'll turn him over to Tsunade and we'll go from there."

Kisame nodded. "That should work. But we might want to get Konan to look him over before we go, just to make sure we didn't miss anything too stupid."

"We're not stupid," Itachi grumbled. "We just don't know that much about the medical practice."

Kakashi smiled and carefully stood up. "Do you mind if I find something to read?" he asked. Itachi shook his head.

"Not at all," he replied, still half-buried in his own reading. "Book shelf in my room is fine. It's up to Kisame about his room."

Kakashi nodded. "Thank you. I'll start in your room, Itachi-sama."

Kakashi walked into Itachi's room and immediately saw the bookshelf. It was tall; it almost reached the ceiling. Kakashi was impressed. The entire thing was packed with books! Kakashi dropped into a cross-legged, seated position on the floor and began browsing books from the bottom up. On the second shelf, he saw a small, black book with no title on the binding. Kakashi pulled it out, curious. All the books he had seen before didn't really peek his interest. But now…Kakashi glanced at the front and back of the book. There was no title. Kakashi opened the cover of the book and flipped through the pages; there was writing on them. But it was only a few pages that were filled. Kakashi noticed the format of the book: it looked like a diary. Kakashi noticed the titles; it went by day. Day One, Day Two, and so on and so forth. And it was dated. Day One seemed to be the day he came to Itachi…and Day Eight, the last day, was…today…Kakashi hurriedly turned back to the first page and began to read. At first, it was only notes about his medical condition. Then, it slowly evolved into a diary of Itachi's feelings for him and how he was growing more and more attached to him as he got better. Kakashi's eyes widened as he continued reading-

And then it all stopped cold.

It was as if Itachi couldn't stand his own words and had stopped writing. Kakashi slowly lowered the book to his lap, in shock from what he had just read. Itachi…attached to him…Kakashi shook his head. It wasn't possible! Itachi just felt sorry for him. But…this probably wasn't supposed to be seen…Kakashi felt tears spring to his eyes. Itachi-sama…do you love me? Or are you just using me, like everyone else? And what if I love you back?

A/N: Angsty…review please? I know you love it and want to tell me all about it…SO DO IT!!