Taken

"I became an integral part of his life. I played check over and over until capture was more and more inevitable, and ignoring me was no longer possible. In this game, you cannot control the other player, cannot force them to endgame, but you can aim to win, to trap, to take yourself. But waiting... waiting will result in nothing."

"Sasuke!" Karin stops in her tracks, frozen, and ogles her heart out.

I ignore her and throw my shirt over my shoulder, pacing away from Itachi, who nonetheless follows me like puppy. Ha, that's laughable.

Concealment of truth. Eleven across: LIE.

One who does eleven across. Thirteen across: LIAR.

"Wait-" Karin tries to stop me, just as Juugo arrives by her side.

"Fool," I state, slapping the newspaper on her. Then tilting my head, "One who wins all War. Four letters. Twenty one down," before marching on.

"Sasuke, someone's looking for you," Juugo calmly states as I pass him.

I stop. She said Sunday night.

Juugo extends a business card towards me, a phone number handwritten on the back. I raise an eyebrow at the name of the corporation.

"After that trial Friday," Juugo explains, "Orochimaru asked Kimimaro for information on you. He's not just interested, Sasuke, not here for a "congratulations, you have potential" coffee discussion. He wants you, no matter what, and came with a serious offer for a high up position. Possibly a position even above Kimimaro in the firm." He added, with a chuckle, "I think you made my boyfriend jealous."

"Oh my gosh, this is IT, Sasuke!" Karin exclaims, her eyes shining with starstruck admiration. "To get into THE top firm, but also to be selected by Orochimaru himself, and all in your second year. With this, you are set!"

I impassively glance down at the card once more, before sliding it in my pocket and walk away. Stopped once more.

"Please call him now," Juugo advices, a hand on my shoulder. "Do it while Orochimaru is still here. You cannot let this opportunity slip away."

I stare into Juugo's eyes. All too familiar words slip out of my lips automatically. "I'm busy," I say. "I'll do it some other day."

Both Karin and Juugo cannot conceal their shock at my icy coldness, not a shred of enthusiasm, not a hint of warmth nor victory.

"You... you might not want to do that," Juugo warns, "You'll ruin his impression of you... and he isn't a patient man to begin with."

"Sasuke, this is Orochimaru!" Karin babbles, too shellshocked.

"If he wants me no matter what," I say evenly, "then he should have no problem waiting." Too much aggression escapes on the last word, and before my anger becomes too uncontrollable, I push them away and leave.

I stride onwards, my eyes focus on the distance ahead, trying to clear my mind. A pair of footsteps follow me, only blurring it with more rage.

The anger is irrational, but I still find excuses to rationalize it anyways.

I am angry, because Itachi barred me from anything relevant to his work, because he never once thought I was competent enough, but has no problem putting a twenty-three year old girl in charge.

I am angry, because that twenty-three old girl is my ex-girlfriend, a person I judged as inferior, to add to the insult.

I am angry, because that ex-girlfriend is currently in a relationship with my brother, and I'm now jealous and enraged and want her back, because that is how I am suppose to feel under these circumstances.

I am angry that my best friend, the moron goof, knew about all of this, he and a billion other people not the least relevant, but I, the ex-boyfriend and brother did not.

"Sasuke..."

My line of vision falls on his hands once more, on the silver ring. The thing that has bothered me since the moment I set my gaze on it. Instead of ignoring its presence, I should have been analyzing it. The ring hasn't been his usual subtlety. And within a second, I have to avert my gaze again, unable to look any longer, avoiding it as I have the entire time.

I am angry, because the relationship may be something more, but that was the one question I did not ask Itachi, because I am scared of the answer, and I am angry at myself for that too.

Most of all, I am angry, because I actually believed him. That this time, Itachi came for me, as he oh so wonderfully lied, and not for some lousy side agenda or to deliver craptastic news. You'd think that after falling into the same trap over and over again, I'd have learned my lesson. But no, it's always the same, and Itachi is just that brilliant of a performer.

"Please Sasuke..."

I am so angry that I want to commit murder, and simultaneously, I am able find a billion motives, as well as a billion justifications that can bring the law to my side and allow me to escape scotch free. I will escape without a single false remark, but none of it will be the truth. I can lie to myself as smoothly as Itachi can lie to me.

No, my anger IS rational, just not for any of the reasons above. But since I long refused to listen to the truth, labeling this anger as irrational works just fine.

"Sasuke-"

I stop. Turn around at an intercept. "I believe you have completed your mission here," I bitterly spit out. "Little brother informed. You may leave now."

The light turns green and I cross, picking up my speed. And thus, the routine continues. We have been through this cycle – wash, rinse, repeat.

Just dump the bucket on me.

Drain me to the core after every meeting.

Make me hate you more that I already do.

A blaring honk. A grab of my arm. The flash of a turning car.

We stand in the middle of the busy street, Itachi staring into my eyes with his own over-pooling shock, fear, and sick worry, holding onto me so tight his hand is shaking – the one with the beautiful ring on it, I may add – and I, I wishing that car had fucking rammed me over and then some until I was a bloody mess, so I may sue his fucking ass for failing to yield to fucking pedestrians! It's a fucking GREEN LIGHT, ASSHOLE.

For the first time, Itachi is speechless, his breathing uneven, everything falling out of his oh so perfect control, because he didn't predict this would happen, did he?

No, he thought he could keep me in the dark until dinner time, when his pretty young new wife arrives, and she would begin with conversations of the weather, gradually moving up how they know each other and then the business, and then they would hold hands at the table, and I would see matching rings, and I would blink back my shock, and they would smile prettily and tell me the good new at the same time, because it must be timed perfectly, and they would hold their breaths for any objections so they can pretend I had a say at all, and I would recover and scoff, then maybe irritably demand why I was not invited to the wedding to lighten the mood.

Or would it be more realistic of Sasuke to smash a few glasses and stand up, demanding who gave either of them permission to do that, and going into another petty tantrums of his that might freak Sakura out, but Itachi knows oh so well of.

Or maybe Sasuke should act as he usually does, which is nonchalant, maybe take a sip of the champagne and ask coolly, "Is that all?"

"Isn't that all?" I question.

Itachi is still searching for words, his lips parted, his eyes scanning me back and forth in concern because I must have such an ugly expression on at this moment that is so inappropriate and must be changed back to professionalism immediately. "Sasuke-"

The light turns red. He is interrupted by the symphony of honking horns, some high, holding screeches, some short bursts of low baritone. Movement, yells, anger, an increasing heat and coldness.

Oh the sweet confusion. Why is the little brother so upset? Does he still harbor feelings for that one girl? Does he not approve of her in such hazardous work? Does he feel cheated that the visit held an ulterior motive after all? Or maybe he's just in another one of his inexplicable sour moods.

No, no, no...

No.

"No, you are wrong, Sasuke," Itachi finally figures out.