I'll be honest with you; I was beginning to like this new Itachi.

While I still lived in constant fear of the little Uchiha, it didn't completely overwhelm me. Being able to soothe the savage beast (or weasel, if you prefer) gave me a strand of comfort to which to cling at the darkest times. I wouldn't say that I had power over Itachi at this point; that would be an extremely lethal lie. More like…I was no longer existing way below his level.

See, during the night when he first slept on my lap, things changed between us. After my heart and brain started functioning post Itachi putting his head on my leg, I tried to go back to watching for danger. I say tried to because in reality, I spent more of that night watching my partner than I did watching for danger. Of course, since Itachi was still a big threat to me at the time, I guess you could say I was watching both danger and my partner by staring at him.

Hey, you try focusing on imaginary enemies when there is an adorable weasel in your lap! Crap, I called him adorable again…

Anyway, having him sleep that close and observing my partner whilst he slept kinda put things in perspective for me. Like, even though Itachi's a sadist who murdered nearly everyone in his clan and is probably more dangerous than most of the other Akatsuki members, he's still a human. Granted, a violent and twisted human, but a human nonetheless.

He's only about twenty; nearly young enough to be my kid. Wow, that makes me sound old. Besides that, he's a guy that loves his little brother even though the brat hates his guts. Itachi's distant, and focuses so much on training that he rarely takes proper care of himself health-wise without outside prodding. Sometimes, I think the kid's trying to drive himself into an early grave.

All these things ran through my head while I was on guard that night. Can you blame me for not looking out for possible ninja hiding in the shadows?

Morning came, and I thought for sure the guy would kill me when he woke up from his sleep. When he didn't, I was overjoyed. Not only had I gotten away with having him rest while touching me, but also letting him sleep past his watches. Maybe there was a heart in that sadist after all.

Ok, I know I'm stretching things now.

The biggest changes came in the days after that. During the times Itachi had watch, everything remained the same as it had always been. But when it was my turn to look out for enemies, Itachi would fall asleep only if his body was in contact with mine. Weird, huh?

It was kinda cute, really. That big, tough weasel curled up against my leg or arm like a tabby cat near a hearth. What I would have given for a camera. Of course Itachi probably would have burned the photos and shoved the camera down my throat for such actions, so maybe it's better that the only pictures I have are in my mind.

Now, I for one had no problem with this new arrangement, and since Itachi was the one that technically started this business, I was guessing he didn't have any issues either. The status quo had changed, but not necessarily for the bad. And then, one night, I did something that could very easily have gotten me killed where I stood. Or sat, as the case was.

Surprisingly, this nightmare happened when Itachi was on guard, not me. I was sleeping away in bed like any tired out shark would do, just minding my own business and waiting for the shift change. Only it never came, and I woke up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. I can't remember what did it; maybe I had a bad dream, maybe my body was just so used to short periods of rest that my long nap confused it. Whatever happened doesn't really matter; the only important details are that Itachi had let me sleep through a shift, and was now sitting up in bed looking like he was about to collapse at any given second. "Itachi?"

He spun around to look at me so fast I thought his neck was going to snap. Blood red eyes stared at me briefly, before figuring out that no, there was no threat, I was merely awake and wanting his attention. "Hn?" he asked

I sat up and propped my still half-asleep form against the headboard of our bed. For once we were back inside the base, and I could sleep on a mattress without wondering who had been here before me or what they had done in the bed. "Why'd you let me sleep?"

"I didn't see a reason to wake you."

"Tch, how about the fact that you're about to pass out?"

Now, the comment in and of itself was pretty dangerous, and had I been fully awake, I never would have made such a risky remark. It was equivalent to calling Itachi weak, and my partner hates being called weak with a passion. Particularly if it's me saying it, for some reason.

His onyx eyes narrowed, and with a calm tone he none too gently informed me that he was most certainly not about to pass out, and I better be more careful before saying things like that to him in the future. He didn't use those exact words, but I'd really not repeat what he actually said. It still gives me chills at times.

For some reason that night (maybe it was a full moon, maybe some gypsy's curse on me from decades ago was finally taking hold, I don't know) my mind was filled not with fear at his words, but mild annoyance. I didn't make that comment to hurt him; I was just trying to keep us safe! And even though the gesture of him allowing me extra sleep was pretty nice, it put both of us at risk if he was so close to dozing off.

Fortunately for me, my brain was still working well enough to remind me that saying these things aloud would definitely earn me a one-way trip into the Tsukiyomi, which would probably end badly for me. But I couldn't just roll over and go back to sleep with Itachi sitting there already halfway into dreamland, could I?

My brain, being the frightening thing it is, decided that the best course of action involved killing two birds with one stone, and before I knew what I was doing I had grabbed Itachi, pulled him against my chest, and told him to go to sleep.

Around the time Itachi began struggling against me and threatening me in ways that would give you nightmares for months, I began to realize exactly how screwed over I was.

1) I had called Itachi weak.
2) I had physically assaulted Itachi.
3) I had given Itachi a direct order.
4) I was still clinging to Itachi like he was a lifeline.
5) The logical side of my brain demanding the weasel's release had been completely overridden by the small part of me that had suddenly discovered it liked to hold Itachi.

Look at the situation from any angle, and it was pretty obvious that I was a dead shark who had no chance of escaping this fiasco alive or in one piece.

Yet somehow, I came out of it alive and unmaimed. I think it was because I refused to let go of him. Had I released the weasel, he more than likely would have done me in without a second thought. But because I continued to clutch him to me, Itachi eventually gave up and with a "Fine," settled himself against my chest.

Before long, it dawned on me that we'd gone from him sleeping on my arm or leg to him dozing on my torso while being held tight by me.

Confused does not even begin to cover how I felt at that moment of realization.

I'm pretty sure that my mind went into shock after that, because the rest of the night's a complete blur. Minus the feeling of Itachi's gentle breathing on my skin.