Unknowingly

Chapter 1: Under One Roof

Rain pelted against the roof of Satoshi's home as the moon towered over the sky, bringing a cold breeze over the little village. Despite the rain which was caused by the storm, it was almost a peaceful sight. Peaceful enough for Sakura to lose her guard and enjoy the relaxation that came with it. But she quickly deviated from her thoughts, she couldn't possibly do that knowing where she stands.

There was nothing peaceful about being held captive by two dangerous missing nins who were also members of the infamous organization Akatsuki. One wrong move could get her fatally injured or yet, killed. They could even use her bond with Naruto to their advantage or torture her for any information about her village. But despite all of that, she let herself relax at the comfort of the warm bed she is currently lying on, ignoring the warmth of Itachi's body at her left. Apparently, it was required for her and Itachi to share a bed. She has been sleeping on the same bed with him for five days already and although she disapproved of it personally, there was nothing she can do about it. They can't afford to be revealed, end of story.

Their cover has been kept up at all times ever since they got near this village. Whether they're out in the open or in private, they kept on holding hands, leaning in to each other and calling each other in their preferred term of endearment, the perfect image of a happily married couple.

She turned to her left to face the Uchiha beside her, observing his steady breathing. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought that he was asleep, but being with him for the past few days told her that he was just as awake as or even more than she was.

Groaning, she shifted her position so that she lay on her stomach. There was so much going on in her head and all she wanted right now is to fall asleep until the sun came out. Satoshi kept on implying that she should take as much rest as she can, considering the little life inside of her. A few minutes passed by and she suppressed another groan as she shifted position yet again so that she was lying on her back, staring at the wooden ceiling of the room.

"Sleep" commanded Itachi through closed eyes.

"That's what I've been trying to do for the past hour or so" she replied bluntly, earning a look from him.

He regarded her with a disinteresting look and Sakura just stared at him in return. "Come closer" whispered Itachi out of the blue.

"What?" replied Sakura, disbelief evident in her voice, as Itachi pulled her to his side, her head resting on his chest and his arm wrapped around her frame.

Itachi didn't need to supply her with an answer because in a matter of a few seconds footsteps were heard outside their room. She grew tense as the footsteps got nearer and nearer and an image of Yukio with a creepy smile on his face emerged from her mind. She pressed up against him more, feeling scared of seeing Yukio's face again, and Itachi in return tightened his hold on her. Suddenly, all thoughts about Yukio disappeared and, although against her better judgement, she felt safe in Itachi's arms.

The doorknob turned and the intruder stepped inside. Although in the darkness of the room, both shinobi saw that it was only Satoshi who entered.

"Maybe he's become suspicious of us" Sakura thought and she stiffen as realization hit her. They can't afford to be revealed. If Satoshi found out that they were just acting and that they were different persons from what he perceived them as, Itachi and Kisame will no doubt have him disposed, even if he was kind enough to provide shelter for them for the past few days.

At that thought, Sakura wrapped her free arm around Itachi in a warm embrace, her facial expression showing bliss at having her dearest husband so close to her. In addition, she pressed her lips to the side of his face and for a fraction of a second she felt Itachi stiffen. Their act seemed to take away Satoshi's suspicions as they heard the door closed.

Upon hearing Satoshi's footsteps vanish, Sakura dislodged herself from the Uchiha's arms, pressing herself at the wall to get as far away as possible from the man she was cuddling to just a few seconds ago. They have managed to convince Satoshi that they were indeed a couple, that even in their sleep they still sought each other out. It was the kind of relationship that Sakura could only long for and having convinced someone that she was in a relationship like that was quite bitter. It reminded her of everything she wished she could have.

That was the closest contact Sakura ever had with a man, and the thought that she did it with a person who she despised disgusted her "For how long are we going to keep this farce up?" she asked, eyes directing everywhere except to him.

"For as long as it takes" replied Itachi sharply, as if she wasn't worthy of further explanation.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked as she finally turned to face him.

"It means," said Itachi as he turned and bore his eyes into her own "that you will stay with us until we decide that you can leave."

The way he said those words told her that there were no room for arguments, that she will not have a say on any matter, and that they still held her life in the palms of their hands. Anger welled up inside her, they were treating her just like a toy. "Why should I continue to allow you to control me? Why should I stay by your side when you refuse to tell me what's going on?"

"Because you are to do as I say" stated Itachi with a voice like steel. For a moment Sakura saw his eyes flashed red with the sharingan but it was gone so fast she doubted that she even saw it. "You are to obey every order I give you unless you want to die."

He paused, musing over something as suddenly a mocking glint lit up in his eyes "Or perhaps you'd rather be with Yukio?" his eyebrow rose, mocking her further.

Sakura found herself at a loss for what to say. She has convinced herself that being with Itachi and Kisame is better than being with Yukio. She really didn't know what that mysterious shinobi meant by turning her into his doll and she didn't want to divulge on that matter any further. The fact remains that she has chosen to stay with the lesser evil, but evil nonetheless.

Deciding not to retaliate, she laid down again and turned to face the wall, her back facing him. Losing an argument to the elder Uchiha was something she had expected but not fully accepted. Ignoring him seemed like an act of a guilty person but at this moment she decided that it was the right course of action. All of a sudden, the man behind her grabbed her shoulder and flipped her onto her back roughly. His eyes glowed dangerously with the sharingan and there was nothing she could do but stare back at him.

"Do not," he spat out, venom filling his voice "turn your back on me."

"And why not!?" she answered back, her eyes just as intense or even more so as his. "It's quite clear to me that all the words I will say will hardly mean anything to you, so why on earth should I continue to speak to you!?"

His grip on her shoulder tightened and if it kept on going like that, she was sure there'll be bruises soon. She squirmed around but it only resulted with him tightening his hold further. She was planning to strike back with a crass comment, because engaging in a combat with the irate Uchiha is like a death wish, but the way he was staring at her through heated sharingan eyes made her change her mind. Instead she remained silent and diverted her eyes from the man hovering over her.

Sakura didn't know how many minutes had passed by when Itachi finally loosened his hold on her shoulder. Her pride told her to turn her back to him again but the more rational part of her told her not to after seeing Itachi's reaction. She guessed that even someone as unemotional as him can't stand being ignored. She was stunned after seeing that side of him, the side which gets infuriated just like anyone else. The fact that she could easily see that his calmness was a deception was even more frightening than seeing him in his infuriated state.

Itachi regarded her with a cold stare "I repeat, do not turn your back on me, ever" he imparted, emphasizing each and every word he had spoken.

Tension filled the air as the four occupants of the room sat around the dining table to eat breakfast. Satoshi's eyes darted from Itachi to Sakura and back. Although none of the two spoke a word ever since they came down to eat breakfast, it was quite clear that they're in the middle of a quarrel judging from the way they are behaving around each other. But Satoshi wasn't fazed about it, Sakura is pregnant after all and it wasn't unusual for a pregnant woman to be emotional.

The loud scrapping of the chair against the floor brought the attention of the three to the source. "I'm going to take a bath" stated Sakura as she walked away, leaving the three men to themselves. Two days have passed since Satoshi walked in on them in the middle of the night and her first big argument with the stoic Uchiha. It was unnerving to be even near him, she mused as she got her change of clothes and made her way to the bathroom.

Ever since that night she had been kept on constant surveillance, except for times when she needed to tend to her personal needs. She was okay with Kisame watching over her, he kept on teasing her though and their good-humored quarrels gave her something else to think about. But when it's Itachi's turn to watch her it made her want to get as far away from him as possible. He never talked unless it was truly necessary and she really felt her situation as their captive whenever she's with him. She doubted that Itachi even thought of her as a human being with feelings, the way he was regarding her made her feel that she was just a toy they are playing with and when the time comes when they are no longer interested in keeping her, she will be disregarded and who knows where she'll end up?

She groaned aloud as she turned on the shower and droplets of water came down, engulfing her with its warmth. Winter has just started and she was thankful to have the luxury of being able to bathe in warm water. Forget Akatsuki, forget Itachi, for now Sakura decided to pamper herself the only way she knew how, taking a long, relaxing and warm bath.

Itachi sat uncomfortably in his chair as he ate the remainder of his breakfast. Satoshi is glaring at him and Kisame did nothing to ease the situation, in fact he seemed to be enjoying it. He rarely spoke to her since that night when they got into an argument, he simply didn't have time to address how stubborn she was behaving. Tension rapidly grew whenever they are in the same room and from the way the older man is staring at him, he guessed that he was already aware of the situation between him and Sakura.

"Itachi," Satoshi began, not changing the way he was staring at the younger man. "I know I'm in no place to say this, but you have to make up with Sakura."

Itachi just stared at him in response and the older man took that as a sign to continue. "I know that a pregnant wife is hard to please, but what you're doing is not right either. As a man who has gone through the same situation twice, I simply cannot leave you and Sakura like that" then his gentle tone changed and all of a sudden he was accusing him. "If I hadn't known better, it would seem like you don't care for her at all, let alone the child inside of her."

"I care for her" he simply stated, without a hint of annoyance.

Satoshi's stern look didn't change "Yet you keep on ignoring her. Is that the proper way to care for your pregnant wife?"

Itachi just sighed inwardly in frustration, it wouldn't do good if he killed the man who generously took them in for the past week after all. And arguing back is simply illogical, so he just regarded the older man begrudgingly with an even stare.

Proud with himself, Satoshi let out a smirk "Then let me tell you how I handled my wife when she was in the same situation as Sakura."

Itachi suppressed a long sigh and a wide grin appeared on Kisame's face.

Eerie silence filled the air as the sky darkened, as though mourning for the innocent lives that were taken just minutes ago. Frightened eyes took in the sight before him, a family of four lay lifelessly on the cold grass as they swam in their own pool of blood. The young boy chose to stay in his position hidden behind the bush although his limbs were already cramping. He didn't dare move for he knew that the one responsible for the slaughter is still lurking around the corner. He had witnessed how that deranged man killed the whole family with a wicked smile spread across his face while laughing in an insane and nefarious way. As for his reasons, the young boy couldn't come up with any at all. Maybe he wasn't even a human, the young boy thought to himself. No person, no matter what upbringing, would possibly take pleasure in killing the way the deranged man did.

"My, my" warm breath suddenly tickled his neck, his fear of being found rose a level higher. "Hide and seek is really not my favorite game to play, so please come out now."

His breathing sped up as he swung around, frantically searching his surroundings for the man responsible for the family's death. However, his eyes came up with nothing and for a moment he regretted his decision. His actions caused the bush he was hiding in to move and he had inevitably given away his location.

"Aw, don't worry pretty boy" he suddenly heard the voice from his right.

"It will all be over soon enough." His left.

"I'm just here to ask a few questions." Behind.

Out of the blue, the man appeared in front of him. A wide smile was plastered on his face as his eyes shone with a maniacal glint. His gloved hand reached up to caress his cheek in a manner that he supposed was meant to be comforting. However, his whole body shivered from the light contact.

"You'll help me, won't you?" the man chuckled and the boy was speechless from the way the painted man was regarding him "Of course you will! If you know what's best for you."

Although he said those words with a smile, the young boy couldn't help but shudder in fear in the presence of the dangerous man. He haven't uttered a word but the man took that as a yes.

"Now let's see…" the man began, thoughtfully rubbing his chin "You come from the village about two miles away from here, do you not?"

The young boy didn't reply, but the man asking didn't seem to mind all that much.

"Good. Then I suppose that you can tell me whether a young lady with pink hair has recently been there?"

Yes, he had seen such a young lady with pink hair. The color of her hair was more than enough for him to remember her. She was beautiful, unlike any woman he had ever seen. He wanted to come up to her and ask why she was in their village if it hadn't been for the two intimidating men walking beside her. That was the first and last time he had ever seen her and he relayed all those information to the man, having no choice left.

The deranged man's incredibly wide smile widened ever further as he took in the young man's words. "Ah, and is she still in the village?"

"I don't know" he answered without a moment's hesitation "That was the only time I ever saw her in the village and haven't heard about her since then."

Yukio stared at the young man and knew that he was telling the truth "Aw, that's just sad" and then he paused,

"And I'm afraid you're no longer of any use to me."

The young man's eyes widened as a hand was thrust straight through his chest. He glanced down and saw rivers of blood flowing through his open wound as he fell hard on the ground. Hot tears fell from his eyes and mixed with his own blood as he stared hard at his killer, his terrifying smile still lingering on his painted face.

Then his eyes went blank, his heart stopped beating and his chest ceased to rise. Another innocent life was taken that day by the same man.

The morning sunlight that illuminated the small room and the soft chirping of the birds caused Sakura's eyes to flutter open and wake with a start. She rubbed her eyes to get rid of the sleepiness and was not surprised to find Itachi sleeping beside her, his arm wrapped around her waist and providing her warmth. They have been staying with Satoshi for almost two weeks and they have decided to leave tomorrow. The lack of growth in Sakura's stomach will probably make Satoshi suspicious if they stayed with him any longer. During that time she has gotten a better view of her two captors and she found that being in their presence was not as uncomfortable as it was in the beginning, in fact she has gotten used to them being around that she quite enjoyed their company. Of course, she won't admit it to them and she was quite sure that the feeling is mutual too.

Kisame enjoyed teasing her, mentioning about how he looked forward to seeing the little miracle in eight months' time and how 'his little mouse' will be as big as a whale in the coming months. There was no doubt that Kisame enjoyed her predicament a little too much. In a way, he reminded her of Naruto.

Itachi, on the other hand, was a totally different story, she thought as she turned around to face the sleeping Uchiha beside her. To her immense surprise, sleeping on the same bed with him wasn't as unnerving as it was before. He rarely spoke, but when he does even a single sentence would mean a lot of different things. And acting like a besotted wife to him seemed like second nature to her, there were even times when she sought out his company. Thankfully, he heeded to her request without question. Kisame even mentioned that if he didn't know them personally, he would think that they were indeed a real couple.

Breaking away from her thoughts, she stared at the sleeping face of Itachi. It was the first time she ever saw him asleep and, despite the stress lines on his face, he looked at peace. It reminded her that just like anyone else, Uchiha Itachi is still a human being despite the crimes he had committed. Then her eyes lingered on his arm that was wrapped around her waist. It was weird but sleeping on the same bed with him for almost two weeks taught her that Itachi was quite cuddly while asleep. There were several incidents when she would get up out of bed only to be dragged back again by his strong arms. It didn't bother her, though.

She was about to reach out and tuck a stray strand of hair away from his face when the sound of the door banged open reached her ears and jolted Itachi awake. "Good morning, love birds!" greeted Kisame as he entered the room with an unusually large smile on his face. "It's a lovely day, the sun is shining, the sky is blue and Satoshi, our wonderful landlord, has prepared us a sumptuous breakfast!"

To her surprise the shark-like Akatsuki member was a morning person. It didn't matter if it was sunny or raining, Kisame always had a smile on his face every morning. It was quite annoying at times and she couldn't blame Itachi for throwing a kunai towards his partner. In fact, if he hadn't done that before her then it would've been her kunai embedded on the wooden door an inch away from Kisame's blue face.

Sakura smirked at the unsurprised Kisame, that blatant attack was more than enough proof of who was really the one in charge between the two Akatsuki members. Kisame, annoyed by her gesture, stepped forward and took hold of their blanket. If it wasn't for Itachi's hard glare, Kisame would have lifted the blanket and thus left their clothed bodies to shiver in the chilly air of winter.

"Kisame," called Itachi, his glare never fading "get out."

"Come on, Itachi. Satoshi will scold me if both of you won't get up for breakfast. And besides," said Kisame as he grinned at Sakura who was staring at him through half-lidded eyes "the baby has to eat, right?"

The shark-like man then stepped backwards to evade Sakura's incoming kick to his stomach, his grin widening at seeing her reaction to his teasing. The sight of her glaring back at him amused him more. "Hahaha… Got you there, little mouse."

Sakura stared at the large man questioningly and then it dawned to her that her failed attack on Kisame caused her to get out of bed, just what the large man has been aiming all along. She groaned in annoyance as she grabbed her sweater from the chair and put it around herself. At the same time, Itachi decided that it was indeed time to get out of bed.

Kisame smiled upon knowing that he has completed his task of waking up the two for breakfast. Maybe Satoshi will give him a larger serving of breakfast for that. A large part of the food was always saved for Sakura. The older man always told her that a pregnant woman like her should eat plenty because she is now eating for two. It didn't pose a problem for him if Sakura can manage to eat her share, however she can't. Her share of food was too big, there was no way she could eat it all by herself, even if there really was a baby inside her. Some might think of it as sheepish but for Kisame, when it all comes down to it, eating plenty is very essential. One cannot have full control over his chakra if his stomach is empty.

Disregarding those thoughts, Kisame made his way downstairs followed shortly by Sakura and Itachi. The fact that they were holding each other's hands as they went down didn't bother them at all.

Author's Notes: Hello! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! Some parts of this chapter are from the original story "Game of Seduction" by Crimsonsnowflake, sadly she has deleted the story from her account here but I'm trying my best to rise up to her expectations.

Anyway, thank you for all the support! I was really overwhelmed with the amount of people who included Unknowingly to their favorites and subscribed to story alert. I really appreciate it and I hope that you'll stay with me until the last chapter!

If you have any questions, I'm just a PM away!

It's always nice to get a review, it's a way for me to know what I need to improve on, so please have some time to write a review.

Thank you and see you in the next chapter!

(*^o^*) Peace out! (*^o^*)

Kaycee