Ch. 6

The Only Family She'd Ever Had

The scout smiled at his small inner victory. He had succeeded in briefing and dispatching the Konoha elite immediately after interrogation the Akatsuki prisoner, a very large man that resembled a giant in many ways. He grimaced as he remembered the struggle that the prisoner had put up; he still had lacerations on his arms and legs from where a lethal string had grabbed him and cut him, the string seeming to appear directly from the man himself.

But he pushed that out of his mind, heading back towards the Hokage Tower.

The Konoha elite, he remembered, were the best of the best in any village he had heard of so far. They each had peculiar traits and extraordinary Kekkei Genkai. He shuddered at the thought of having to face any of the seven in battle; he would surely be killed immediately. He thought about each one of them, honored to live in the same place that they dwelled.

Uzumaki Naruto, container of the Kyuubi, and descendant of the Yondaime, the hero that had saved their village long ago. Of course, he was destined for greatness as well.

Yamanaka Ino, the beautiful woman that every man was after. Her elegant aura and beautiful flowing silver-blonde hair were assets that allowed her to easily seduce any enemy, making them extremely venerable for the kill.

Hyuuga Neji, personal bodyguard to his cousin, Hinata, who was the head of the clan. He was rookie of the year every year straight that he had been a rookie. Possibly one of the most promising young men in the village's history.

Rock Lee, the young man who had trained under Maito Guy personally. He was determined to win to a comedic point, but his confidence normally proved to be a useful quality in a fight.

Nara Shikamaru, one of the first chosen by the Godaime Tsunade to become a ninja under her personal order. He was amazing analytically, making him an irreplaceable asset in the midst of battle.

The last member of the team was the fairly new addition to Konoha, Sai. He had taken the missing Uchiha's place on Uzumaki's team. The scout had a very good feeling that this mission would be very personal for Uzumaki and Sai. The missing-nin they were trying to find had been their former teammate.

And finally, the leader of the Konoha Elite Seven, Hatake Kakashi. The mission would probably mean very much to him as well; the girl was his former student and subordinate. He had treated her like his daughter.

The scout just hoped that the last three would be able to push their personal desire to save the girl aside when it came to the field. A shinobi was not meant for emotional purposes; if they did not remember that, their team was as good as dead, then they could call the mission a failure right now.

Sakura entered the room, inhaling deeply. She stepped into the dark space, feeling cold and alone. The only light came from the tiny crack in the bathroom door, and the only noise was the steady drum of the shower running. She was wearing a zip-up hoodie, a white tee-shirt with irrelevant writing on the front and black sweatpants to match the sweatshirt; the clothes that Sasori had lent her. She slowly peeled the jacket off, knowing that it was the first of four more articles of clothing left to go.

Sakura gradually made her way over to the bathroom door. She slid it open, stepping into the steamy room, her eyes watering from the heat. Her sweatpants immediately felt sticky, and her tee shirt became saturated with the moisture in the air. She walked over to the small shower and leaned her shoulder against the wall, making sure that Itachi would be able to hear her when she spoke.

"Itachi-san…when you are finished, I will be in the bedroom."

Her voice was hollow and monotonous. She found it hard to say that at all, much less with feeling.

She turned and began to walk out of the bathroom when she heard the water turn off suddenly, the harsh scraping of the shower curtain being yanked back ringing in her ears. She turned to look at the emerging body, who had hurriedly wrapped a towel around their waist right before she turned around.

"…What the hell?"

The voice came from the wet figure of a large man she had never seen before, none the less as handsome as the others she was staying with. But these few things had not registered yet, and Sakura opened her mouth to let out an ear-piercing shriek at the intruder.

But the man, made of almost all muscle, was at her in an instant, pinning her against the wall and covering her mouth with his wet hand. So her cry was reduced a muffled resonance, causing her to claw at his arm violently until he managed to let go.

"God, could Itachi pick bitchier women? Holy hell…"

He rubbed his forearm where she had cut it up with her nails, glaring at her all the time.

Sakura examined the unknown man and saw that he too wore an Akatsuki ring, meaning that he was just another component in the terrible group. With further investigation, she saw that his hair, white-blonde and slick, naturally ran down his head, and she imagined that he must look something like a vampire when he put on the black and red cloak.

His body was finely toned, and she reminded him of a male version of Ino. His hair, only a little lighter, was the same texture as hers, and his eyes were just as peculiar a color as hers. His skin was fair, also matching Ino's.

She decided to find out who this man was. She tried to maintain a cool and indifferent demeanor, but it was fairly difficult when a man so much bigger than she was glaring at her while dripping wet in a towel.

"And just who are you, intruding upon Itachi-san?"

Not that she really cared if Itachi-san was intruded upon, but she had to have some excuse for marching into the elder Uchiha's bathroom. So she decided that sounding official and important was the best way.

"Watch it, sweetheart. I think I should be asking you that first. You tore my fucking arm off, for god's sake."

She glared at him, returning the fierce stare that she herself was receiving.

"I'm only here because Itachi-san brought me here. Good enough?"The man shook his head.

"Babe, if you want me to let you go alive, you're gonna have to tell me a hell of a lot more than that."

Sakura let out an impatient sigh. Nonetheless, she told him everything she thought he wanted to know.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I am from Konohagakure and was on a mission to retrieve one of our missing-nin when Uchiha and his little group grabbed me and dumped me down here like some bundle of laundry. They're using me to find the same man I myself was looking for, the little brother, Uchiha Sasuke. Not to mention being their plaything", she mumbled under her breath.

But it was not unnoticed, to Sakura's dismay. A wide grin spread across the man's face, and he raised an inquisitive yet suggestive eyebrow. She only glared harder.

"Well, well, what an interesting choice. The weasel normally doesn't keep 'em this long, especially if they're so fiery." He stepped forward, but Sakura held her ground, trusting they would not be alone for much longer. She could sense an immense chakra coming in fast.

"Hidan."

The vampire-man jumped, turning towards the doorway, only to be met with cold eyes that displayed nothing but disdain.

But the nervous manner that the man called Hidan had adapted for a second went away just as quickly as it had come, and the lazy grin splayed across his face once again after an instant more.

"Long time no see, Itachi. I see you got yourself a cute little kitten here…mind if I borrow her sometime?"Sakura had had enough. She took the man Hidan completely off guard and slammed him up against the wall, cutting off his air.

"You vulgar freak, I'm not some possession to be passed around. I belong to one person here, the one who took me himself. I may not be happy about it in the least, but it's better than being handed over to you."

Sakura felt herself being pulled off as Hidan fervently nodded his head, scrambling for air. She turned to see Itachi, grasping the neck of her shirt, violently yanking her away from the suffocating Akatsuki.

"Hidan. Enough. You are not to come in here again; I'm sure Deidara will welcome you. We will speak later."

Itachi had a sharp edge to his voice that hurried even the cool Hidan along.

When they were alone, Sakura found herself up against a wall yet again, staring into black eyes as dark as the soul they accompanied.

"What exactly was going on before I came in, love…?"

Sakura just stared back, but decided to answer as he pushed his entire body onto hers, squishing her unbearably.

"I came in because I thought you were in the shower. I told him, thinking it was you, that I would be in the bedroom, and he turned the water off and got out almost immediately after. I used your name, though. I guess he was just curious."

But this apparently did not suit the elder Uchiha before her.

"Nothing happened, you know….sexually. He just asked me who I was and why I was here. That's all. I must admit, though. He is so polite. Quite the ladies man, I'm sure."

Itachi let Sakura go, stepping back from the wall about a foot. She could've sworn that she had seen a flicker of a smile flashacross his face at her comment, but she was sure she imagined it, because when she blinked, it was gone.

"You'd actually be surprised," he said.With that, Itachi left the bathroom, and Sakura leaned back against the wall, shocked at how Itachi did not try to put her down or anger her before he left.

She suddenly felt the strong pressure in her bladder, telling her that she needed to use the restroom. She closed the door and relieved herself. As she did so, her face turned white, and she started breathing quickly. Panicking, she pulled her pants back up and decided to dismiss what she had realized. She didn't want to think it was true, not yet. It was too early to assume. She listened as he slid his cloak and mesh off, and made her way out of the bathroom, turning out the light as she left.

She stumbled over Itachi's shoes as she was consumed by darkness. But before she could hit the ground, she felt strong arms wrap around her torso, pulling her up. She also felt herself being pulled into a warm embrace from behind, her breath catching in the back of her throat. His scent, his body, his touch…they were all the same as his. For a moment, she closed her eyes and imagined that it was Sasuke embracing her once again, just as he had done that night. She began to cry for what seemed like the millionth time since she had arrived here. The arms moved around to her shoulders, gently massaging her neck as she wept.

Her crying increased at the soft words spoken next.

"Ah…I see now. You loved him."

Sakura pulled away from the man behind her, her knees hitting the floor with a thud. She buried her face in her hands and bent over, her arms parallel to her thighs. She could feel herself shaking violently, tasting the tears flow into her mouth. She heard another pair of knees softly touch down next to her, and warm hand caressed her back.

She brought her hand up to meet his, covering it. This spoke so much more than words. It was her way of saying that she has given up. She was telling him with that one touch that she was okay.

So Sakura proceeded to wipe her tears and sit up. She then moved to push him down softly and let her eyes adjust to the dark. But right as she touched his shoulders, she felt herself being picked up, so she went with it.

She was put down gently on the bed. She could see now; as a shinobi, her eyes were accustomed to warming up to the dark fairly easily. She could see as easily now as she could in the daytime.

Itachi slowly climbed on top of the bed as well. His hands were on either side of her face, while his legs were working their way in between hers, pushing them apart with ease. He brought his face down to hers, gently brushing her lips with hisown. He licked her lips lightly, barely tickling them with the tip of his tongue. After a moment, he slid his tongue into her willing mouth, bringing his lips down on hers at the same time. He sucked on her tongue gently, savoring the sweet flavor that came with it.

Sakura moaned softly when his mouth covered hers. She closed her eyes and kissed him back passionately. She finally let go. She let go of all her hate, all her lust for revenge, all her emptiness; she let go of her bonds to her village, her bond as a student to the Godaime, her ties to all at Konoha; she let go of her rank as an ANBU captain she had achieved before she left; but most of all, she let go of her unrequited love, her love for the brother of the man on top of her. The brother of the man she had been raped by was not the man she had loved all along.

She felt Itachi slide a hand under her back, pulling her up into him. But it seemed that this had an ulterior motive; he was now sliding her shirt off, breaking their kiss momentarily to pull it up over her head. He lay her back down, now kissing her neck. She wrapped her arms around his neck, thinking that this was ironically like the position she was in only a day ago. But it was also much different now; Sakura was ready and willing to love this man.

She pulled Itachi's shirt up as well, tossing it into a corner, where it was long forgotten. She ran her fingers over the scars on his back, tracing them lightly with her fingertips. She also ran her hands along the ridges of his muscular shoulders and upper back, then back down again, brushing her fingers lightly over his spine. She felt Itachi yet again slide his hand under her back, unsnapping her bra this time. She removed her hands from his back, allowing him to slide it off of her shoulders and discard it in the same corner with the rest of their clothes.

The only thing that now separated the two was their pants. Sakura had been smart this time and chose not to wear underwear, finding it only to be a hinderance to her lovers.

So she guided his hand down to her hip, implying that he should pull her sweatpants down. Itachi complied; he wormed a finger under the waistline of the pants, dragging them down at an agonizingly slow pace.

Itachi raised his brows in mild surprise, seeing that Sakura had tactfully chosen not to wear underwear. So now this left only his pants. But he decided not to rid himself of them just yet. Instead, he ran his fingers all the way down her stomach and down to the crevice between her legs. He tickled the inside of her thighs with his fingertips, making her giggle softly. He smiled at the sound; it had to be the nicest sound he had heard in a very, very long time.

Choosing not to mildly torture her any longer, Itachi slowly inserted two of his fingers into her, meriting a blissful gasp from the pink-haired kunoichi under him. He slid his fingers in and out of her core, hearing her groan in satisfaction, causing him to become quite hard.

After a minute or two, Itachi felt a burst of warm, thick liquid pour out of Sakura, covering his hand. He licked his fingers that he had just pulled out of her, tasting her saccharine juice on his hand.

Sakura noticed, while running her hands all over his body, the large bulge that had accumulated throughout their foreplay. She smiled and pushed him off of her and onto his back, taking her sweet time in loosening the wrap that held his pants up. When she had untied it completely, she yanked it out from under him in one elegant motion. She fiddled with the waistline of his pants, kissing his neck while she did so. When she felt that she had beleaguered the man under her long enough, she slowly pulled his shinobi pants down, yet again adding another garment to their collection in the corner.

They were both completely naked now. Sakura decided to experiment, placing her hand on the base of his hard member. This caused Itachi to shudder, and Sakura grinned inwardly. That's not all I can do…

She began to slowly run her hand up and down the hard shaft, and sped up, smiling outwardly this time when Itachi let out a pleasured moan. But he cut her fun short when he turned her harshly over onto her back yet again, and she saw that his eyes were hazed with lust. He pulled her up into his chest, kissing her neck and collarbone intensely. But he set her down again soon, placing himself at her entrance. She half-closed her eyes and grinned smugly, trigging Itachi to decide that he could no longer hold back.

He pushed into her aggressively, causing her to moan loudly and in sudden surprise. He continued this way, only getting faster. Sakura was breathing heavily, and she was now groaning quite loudly. She ran her fingers up his back and wove them through his long dark hair, trying not to scream.

"Sakura…please, scream for me…"

Sakura did not. She wanted to see how long she could make him beg.

"Sakura…please…"She could not hold out much longer. His pleas sounded frantic and anxious.

"Sakura, god…"He drove in and out of her intensely.

"God, Itachi…deeper…"

Itachi let out a loud moan, not able to repress it any longer. He held nothing back; he slammed into her in an almost animalistic way, causing her to finally scream in ecstasy.

"Oh, Itachi!"

He had reached his limit, and so had Sakura. He finally pulled out of her, causing her to groan at the top of her voice. He fell on top of her, and she held him close, welcoming his warm body on her own. Their ragged breathing was the only noise that now filled the room. And there they lay, both falling asleep right after the other.

A few hours earlier…

--- --- ---

Deidara, Hidan and Kisame were all huddled around the windowless door that let to their mysterious comrade's room.

The room that was currently being shared.

"Hey, Deidara, can you hear anything?"

Hidan and Kisame were frantically whispering to the other man, who had his ear pressed intently against the door. The blond man tried to shoo them away, his face set in the most intense concentration.

He licked his lips and said, "Not with you idiots being so loud I can't, yeah. Shut up."

The other members nodded their heads and pressed their own ears against the door in the same fashion. Deidara lifted his face momentarily to scowl at the two other men who had now invaded his bubble. After quickly re-pressing the side of his face against the papery material, he tried to listen to what was going on on the other side.

But his fears were confirmed when he heard a muffled moan drift through the thin door. They had heard no struggle, and now he knew that the woman he loved turned from him and devoted herself to Itachi. He slowly backed away and left the hallway, leaving the other two to their business.

He made his way down to the kitchen, where he knew his dedicated partner and best friend was waiting for the damage report he knew would come.

When entered, he plopped down in the seat across from Sasori. He dare not make eye contact with the man; he knew it would just upset him more. The redhead had given him a stern lecture beforehand, telling him that the choice was Sakura's, and that she would do what she thought was best for herself and for anyone else she was taking into consideration. But Deidara had not listened, and had told him that he didn't know anything about love. It was the first fight they had had over anything but art in a long time. He didn't like it.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but the look on your face tells me that I was right."

Deidara stuck his lip out at the man before him. He knew it was childish, but it was all he could think of. His heart had been torn apart. He wasn't in the mood for "I told you so"s right now.

"Deidara…I can't tell you how foolish you were. You fell in love with something that Itachi had already claimed as his own. In that case, especially that case, you should know better than to try and obtain it for yourself. I can't believe—"

Deidara stood quickly, having just sat down, and angrily pounded his fist on the table.

"Just shut up! You know nothing about Sakura-san, yeah. That Uchiha raped her the first night she was even here! You call that claiming her? I don't. I think she should get a bit of a say in it, yeah."

But before he could continue, Hidan and Kisame entered the room, their eyes as large as dinner plates. They had satisfied grins spread wide across their faces.

"Well if you ask me, I didn't know Itachi had it in him. That was one crazy session, that was."

Deidara glared at Kisame, but the bigger man didn't notice.

"All I have to say is, I wanna get my hands on that hellcat. She fucks like an animal, man."This time Deidara just pushed past the two men, storming out of the room. Hidan and Kisame stumbled as he made his way violently through them. They

then chose their places at the table, glaring at the doorway as they sat.

"Jesus, what's his problem? I never did nothin' to him. Hell, I just got here."

Kisame nodded his head in fervent agreement. Sasori closed his eyes and sighed.

"Hey, what're you sighin' for, shortie?"

Sasori cut his eyes at the crude silver haired man across from him, causing Hidan to shudder.

"You are quite insensitive, Hidan. Deidara loves that girl, you know."

Hidan and Kisame blinked. Then they burst out in laughter, each spurting incoherent sentences of condemnation and ridicule simultaneously.

Sasori decided to approach with a different tactic.

"And you really should be respecting him. Especially you, Hidan. You said that all you wanted was to get her alone…?" The burly man nodded his head, a blatant Well duh, who wouldn't expression on his face.

Sasori let out a small laugh of triumph.

"Well my friend, Deidara has already done exactly that. Looks like he beat you to it, hm?"

Sasori watched his victory play out slowly. A stupid grin spread across Kisame's face, while Hidan just sputtered in disbelief. And with that, the small man rose calmly and walked out of the room.