A/N: Yayz! This chapter was much easier to write, so that's why there's a quicker update. Also I wanted to make up for the really slow update last time... n.n; So, here you go! And there's the beginnings of some very light ItaSaku-ness in this one! And, from now on, there'll be plenty more to come! XD
I made sure not to allow what I'd heard that night to affect me. I remained stoic and detached from the people who often came to visit me. Of course, since this was, apparently, Haruno's and Sasuke's home, they were the ones to visit me most often with food, drinks, things for entertainment and other such offerings. Ino came almost as often, but not quite. I often heard Haruno denying her entry when she thought I was asleep.
What she didn't seem to anticipate was that I had trained my mind from the time I was very young to be a light sleeper and so I was able to awake at the slightest disturbance. That's how I noticed that Haruno's warm tears, soft touches and loving words weren't only bestowed upon me that first night. She came in every night, crying, to touch me and whisper things she thought I didn't hear.
"I love you... I miss you... I need you... but he's insane, my love. If he knew of what I'm doing, he'd surely kill us both. But I can't help it. I love you, I need you. Oh, Itachi, my Itachi... if only you would look at me with such soft eyes like you did before. Now, though... you're cold and you're cruel. You're not the same and it breaks my heart."
I worked very hard to resist the loving caresses, the tender words and the feeling of warmth that caressed me every time a tear fell on my cheek or her hand touched my skin. I told myself that she probably knew that I was awake and was trying to screw with my head as she had been all along. This was just another stage in her plan.
And then, finally, when I could walk again without others to assist me, I went into the bathroom adjoining the room that belonged to me and looked in the mirror. I was naked from the waist up and the first thing my eyes were drawn to was the scar on my left shoulder where a broken bone had supposedly broke through the skin during my "accident".
There were no burns, no gaping holes; the scar wasn't even over my heart. Okay, perhaps I'd exaggerated the pain, because the pain had been excruciating.
My eyes met the gaze staring back at me in the mirror and it felt as though I was looking at a completely different person with my face. My skin, once fair and unblemished, was slightly more tanned from days out in the sun and, despite my young age, I had laughter lines in the corners of my eyes.
My eyes narrowed on the offending lines. What did I have to smile about?
And then it was time for the ultimate test. I tried to focus my chakra to my eyes and activate my Sharingan. One moment, nothing; second moment, nothing; third moment, nothing. I counted the seconds, waiting for my eyes to fade from the lifeless black voids to the piercing pools of crimson I was so used to... but, by the seventy-eighth second, still nothing had happened.
My eyes widened slightly. A jutsu to lock away my chakra? No, all of my chakra would have to be gone and, if that was the case, then I would be unable to move... in the best case scenario. No, this wasn't a chakra-locking jutsu.
So, there was only one other explanation left: I was dreaming.
It made sense. Sasuke was still a missing-nin as far as I knew and, from what I could remember, he had no tolerance for Sakura. There was also the fact that there was no way Konoha could create something that Haruno called Tokyo Tower just to throw me off.
I couldn't help but smile at my ignorance. What an imagination I had!
I looked out the window at the dark sky and the brightly shining Tokyo Tower and my smile fell. If beauty such as this had existed in the world I belonged in, if people were as soft-hearted as the people here, perhaps... perhaps things would have turned out differently.
I shook my head. I refused to think that. Dwelling in the past was for weaklings and for those who had no future and I was neither of those.
"I-Itachi...?"
I turned to see Sakura standing in my doorway with a tray holding some finger foods. She had a weak, half-hearted smile on her face and, from her red, slightly swollen eyes; I could tell that she had been crying.
"Yes?" I asked, ignoring it for the sake of her dignity. I had seen her cry on occasion since I'd come to stay in her home and every time I tried to ask her why she only brushed off my questions and changed the subject. She seemed to feel bad for crying in front of me and I hadn't the faintest idea why.
"I-I brought you a snack," she told me shakily, placing the tray on the bedside table. "Um... Sasuke-kun... he's decided not to join us for dinner and, unfortunately, the news of his absence postponed my making of the actual meal. I-It's too late to make a decent meal, so I hope you'll accept this."
I looked down at the food and nodded. "Yes. Thank you."
"I'm sorry for not being able to make you a proper supper. Excuse me," she said hastily and turned on her heels, walking away.
Before I had a chance to stop myself, I stepped forward and grabbed her wrist to stop her. When she turned jade eyes glistening with unshed tears my way and looked at me with barely-suppressed misery, I regretted stopping her, but found I couldn't stop myself. "Please, nobody likes to eat alone and I doubt I can eat this much."
She looked torn between rejecting me and throwing her arms around me and sobbing into my chest. She did neither. She simply pulled up the bedside chair that she had brought in days before for the guests that would come to visit me and she nibbled on some of the food she'd prepared especially for me.
"Did you and Sasuke have an argument?" I forced myself to keep my voice impassive.
She nodded, her chin quivering and tears finally rolling down her cheeks. She wiped them away with one of her knuckles and a memory of her brushing those same knuckles against my cheek came to my mind. I shook it off.
"About what?"
She shook her head. "It's... It's nothing important. He and I... we just haven't been seeing things eye to eye lately."
"I see..." I murmured.
She nodded again and then stood. "Please... thank you for the offer to let me eat with you, but I'm afraid I'm not hungry. Excuse me." She left and, this time, I didn't try to stop her. Instead, I turned to look out the window at Tokyo Tower and then down as I saw Sasuke walk down the parking lot and into the arms of an unfamiliar woman.
Was everybody in this dream world of mine completely unfaithful?
A/N: Yes! XDD
