So, yes; I've been writing as much as possible to make up for my months of being grounded. I'm sad that this and Worlds Apart, Yet So Close are going to be over soon, but I'm proud of myself for getting this far, you know? Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews, and thank you for continuing to read this, even when it took me a while to update.

Well, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. The next one will be longer; I promise. :)

Please read and review!

"Honestly, Sakura, I do not believe we are making progress."

"Shut up! Stupid fucking Uchiha — I outta rip your goddamn head off!"

That was the gist of their entire conversation, expanding for over an hour. Needless to say, Sakura had no intentions of giving in and letting Itachi have his way. He was not going to claim her; she'd see to that. Whoever said she even wanted to be claimed by Uchiha Itachi?

Because she didn't.

Like, at all.

Because Itachi was an arrogant bastard.

And his ego was too big.

And he was mean.

So, there.

.

.

.

Harry and Ron made a point of walking past the Room of Requirement on their way to their potions class. Hermione rolled her eyes, sighing and shaking her head as she followed them. The two boys slowed their pace and glanced around the hall. Then, as if they were spies or — ironically enough — ninja, they darted across and flattened themselves to the wall. Hermione glared at them as they inched their way toward the door.

Slowly.

Painfully slowly.

Ron stuck his ear by the door.

Silence.

The faint sounds of talking — or, rather, yelling — floated out to the three.

"Fuck you!"

"As I stated five minutes ago, I would gladly—"

"Do you want me to punch you? !"

"I do not desire pain, Sakura. I am no masochist. I've said this, as well, many times during this conversation. We are merely repeating ourselves, and I think it best if we move on to a more pressing subject."

"Oh? Then what would you like to talk about, Itachi Von Strangle?"

"My proposition, of course. I've yet to see you cease your resistance—"

"Fuck that! I am not going to talk about this!"

"Our entire point in being here—"

Ron and Harry heard no more.

It most likely had something to do with Hermione snatching their ears and yanking them away from the door.

"Ow!" Ron objected. "Hermione!"

"That," she snapped, dumping the pair in the middle of the hall, "is what you get for eavesdropping!"

"But, Hermione —"

"No 'but's!"

"Oh, come on!" Ron complained, rubbing his poor, wounded ear. "We're just curious! Is that a crime, now? !"

Her glower silenced both of them.

"Now, move!" she barked.

The pair shot to their feet and scurried down the hall, desperate not to anger the drill sergeant again. Hermione sighed again, shaking her head incredulously.

Boys. They just didn't understand these things.

She paused to glance at the Room of Requirement's door. Then smiled.

Men were so complicated.

And weird.

She wished Sakura luck with that man and hurried off to catch up with Harry and Ron.

.

.

.

Sakura and Itachi heard and sensed nothing of the trio. They wanted no disturbances, ergo the Room of Requirement provided it: a one-way sound-proofing.

Of course, if they had realized that the sell-casters were listening in…well, it wouldn't have been pretty. Sakura would've stomped them into the ground.

Itachi would've just killed them.

Simple.

"I don't care what our entire point in being here is!" Sakura growled. "I am not talking about it!"

She didn't like the smirk he wore or that look in his eye.

"Could it be," he murmured, "that I discomfit you?"

Sakura glared at him as if he had killed her mother.

"No," she hissed, turning away childishly and crossing her arms over her chest. She lifted her chin and closed her eyes, the picture of disobedience. "You do not make me uncomfortable. You piss me off."

"Is that so?" Her back stiffened. She could sense him very closely behind her, his smooth voice at her ear. She knew he was smirking; she just knew it. "I think differently."

Sakura couldn't reply. Her breath was caught in her throat. Her heart pounded at a mile a minute. She was paralyzed.

His breath tickled the sensitive skin of her ear, sending an involuntary shiver down her spine. Her body tingled; she was hyper-aware of him. His every breath, his every movement.

She was reminded of their encounter in the Hospital Wing. She had thought he was playing her — toying with her in some sick, twisted game. But he wasn't. He'd said so, and he'd meant it; she'd seen it in his eyes.

This, she realized, was one power of the Uchihas.

They had ways of getting what they wanted.

Plus, they were all pretty damn good-looking.

Not that it mattered.

At all. Right?

Right?

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt cool, calloused fingers lightly skim her jaw. Slowly, they slid along and gripped her chin. She had no control as he deliberately turned her head.

His face was only a whisper away. Sakura couldn't help it; she swallowed. Instead of smirking like he usually would have, he eyes were attracted to her mouth at the action. Her lower lip trembled ever so slightly, betraying her.

His eyes — his natural eyes — darkened. Her heart leapt into her throat. Her fingers curled into the smooth fabric of his long-sleeved black shirt (provided by Hogwarts, of course). His other hand gripped her elbow. His gaze locked onto hers evenly. Her fingers tightened in his shirt. She didn't push him back.

He dipped his head.

And kissed her.

.

.

.

"How fucking long," Sasuke growled, slinging a rock at the ground, "are they going to be in there?"

He still sat on the branch. Kisame still sat against the tree. Deidara still laid on the ground. Not much had changed during the hours.

Kisame shrugged indifferently, scratching the back of his head to relieve the itch he'd had for the past forty or so minutes. "Beats me, kid," he grunted. "If I know kitten, they'll be in there for a while. Don't be surprised if you brother shows up with a broken arm or something."

Deidara snorted, throwing the dirt clod again and caching it. "She won't calm down very easily, yeah," he remarked, smirking. (Because, honestly, who doesn't like to see an Uchiha getting dogged on by a woman?) "She'll beat him all to hell and back, judging by the way she tried to kill him earlier."

Kisame gave a short, rough laugh. "What the hell was that about, anyway?" he asked, not really expecting an answer. "So she doesn't want her cat and Itachi's bump'n ugly and making little tiny cats. Big deal. She didn't have to go all psycho and throw shit and try to strangle him."

Deidara laughed. "Who cares?" he retorted with his trademark grin. "It was damn funny, yeah."

"You two are idiots," Sasuke said bluntly. "I honestly can't see how either of you got into the most powerful criminal organization in the world."

Deidara muttered under his breath about what a little bastard the Uchiha was, shooting him a death glare. Kisame fixed him with a dry look.

"Look, brat," he snapped, "if you think you're so smart, then why don' you enlighten us? Go ahead — explain to us the inner workings of the crazy hellcat's mind."

He delivered them both a flat glare. "Itachi wasn't talking about the damn cats," he hissed.

Silence.

Confusion.

More silence.

Then:

Click.

"What, yeah? !"

.

.

.

The students all sat in the Great Hall, chattering and just beginning to eat. They'd had half a day of their classes already, and they were hungry, damn it. Putting up with Professor Snape for a potions class, suffering through two hours with that man — they deserved this food.

Of course, not every student had Potions that day before lunch, but…

Aw, hell. They all deserved to eat.

Because they were in school.

And school was a bitch.

So, yeah.

Dumbledore and the professors sat at the head of the Great Hall as usual, making polite conversation as they feasted upon the meal. The Gryffindor table was as lively as always, laughing and occasionally throwing food (ahem, the Weasley twins, that is).

Until the large doors were kicked open, that is.

All talking immediately ceased, and every person in the room turned to see what was going on. Deidara was fuming in the doorway, looking as though he was seriously considering blowing up the next person that so much as looked at him the wrong way. Kisame stood a ways back, obviously amused, with Sasuke at his side. The younger man was most definitely pissed, but not as much as Deidara.

"Where," the blond demanded, "is the Room of Requirement? !"

"Deidara—" He glanced over in surprise "—what the hell are you doing?"

Sakura and Itachi were sitting at the Slytherin table. Staring at him like he was an idiot.

And not fighting.

Relaxed in each other's company.

Deidara clenched his fists.

Thinking quickly, he made up something.

"We need to talk," he said, earning a raised eyebrow from both of them. "Now."

o o o O O O o o o

Hatake Kakashi glanced around the outskirts of Amegakure, sharp eyes taking in everything. His hitai-ate had been lifted, revealing his Sharingan. His five teammates — Yamato, Sai, Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru, and Hyuga Neji — were all in position to attack behind him. It was quiet.

He didn't like that rain. It wasn't natural. He could see chakra within each individual drop.

They were taking every precaution, keeping away from the rain until they knew what it would do.

Except Naruto, of course.

"Come on!" he yelled, springing up from his place. "What the heck are we doing here? ! You said Sasuke was here, so let's go!"

"Naruto, don't—"

But it was too late.

The blond charged right into the rain and made a beeline for the village. Kakashi sighed, shaking his head.

"Damn it, Naruto."

With a grimace, he gave the signal to move out. The couldn't leave the idiot alone, after all. There was no telling how much trouble he'd get into.

All at once, the five shinobi darted after the jinchuriki, mentally cursing him for his lack of common sense. Thankfully, nothing happened.

The rain didn't turn to acid and melt their faces off. Enemies didn't start leaping out from behind every rock. They didn't spontaneously combust.

Nothing.

Unbeknownst (and very fortunately) to them, Pein and Konan were away on business elsewhere. So there was no one around that could sense chakra signatures through the rain.

Then, Neji's sharp eyes caught something. "Hold up!" he called.

The other immediately halted at his order — even Naruto, who was a good twenty feet ahead of them. Thirty or so more feet past the blond was the thing that Neji had seen.

It was…well, he didn't know what the hell it was.

The air just…looked funny. It was…

Neji frowned.

What the hell? The air was moving. Not like it normally moves, because, obviously, air moves; it looked as though it was alive. It warped and twisted, to the shinobi's surprise.

That was when it opened up and spat out a group of people.

o o o O O O o o o

Deidara was still pissed. He had intended on getting directions to the Room of Requirement, busting in, and bitching out Itachi because, um, hello: he saw Sakura first.

And he liked her first.

So, there.

But that plan had been ruined.

To his irritation, Sakura and that Uchiha bastard seemed to be buddy-buddy again. All was right in their little world.

Their little world that didn't include him.

And as much as he wanted to blow the evil fucker up, he knew he couldn't. For a few reasons:

No. 1 – Unfortunately, Itachi was stronger than him. (Damn him.)

No. 2 – Sakura would get pissed if he did.

No. 3 – He was not jealous. At all.

No. 4 – He knew when he had lost.

So, despite whatever feelings he may have harbored toward Sakura, he knew he didn't stand a chance. Better to give up than get hurt.

"Deidara, what the hell is going on?" Sakura demanded. The five shinobi were conversing a couple hallways away from the Great Hall.

He frowned. "We need to go home, yeah," he said, acting upon his quick thinking. Sure, he'd just made it up in a split-second to keep himself from looking like a fucking moron, but whatever; they did need to go home eventually. Why not now? To add credibility to his statement, he continued: "I don't like this place. It's too damn weird, yeah. I'd rather be back in familiar territory."

To his surprise, Sakura appeared somewhat sympathetic. "Yeah," she muttered in agreement, eyeing the strange stone walls of the hallway distastefully. "I don't like it either. I think I might punch the side of the castle or something just so that Dumbledore-sama will send us back already."

Kisame barked a laugh.

"Violent woman," Sasuke grunted, shooting her a reproachful look. "What the hell is the matter with you? Do you just punch shit as the answer to everything?"

Sakura gave him a flat look in return. "I don't know," she retorted, cracking her knuckles. "Let's find out, shall we? You can be my test subject."

Sasuke snorted. Like Deidara, he was still pissed, too. Sakura was hogging his older brother, and as far as he was concerned, she could go jump off a cliff. He just got Itachi back, damn it! And now this girl was going to steal him from him? Um, like, no. Unh-uh. Not happening.

"We still have to deal with Madara," Deidara reminded them. "We've got to take that bastard down—"

"Itachi and Sasuke already killed him."

"—once and for— what?"

"Yeah," Sakura agreed flatly, sending Itachi an irritated look. "He didn't bother mentioning it until about an hour ago."

"When did this happen?" Kisame inquired, one eyebrow raised.

"Before they showed up here."

Good God, Uchiha's were impossible.

Deidara sighed, scowling. "Well, that's one problem taken care of," he remarked dryly.

"So, we're going back?" Kisame confirmed.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah. We're going back."