Denial

By Chibi Ra Chan

Rated T

Pairing; ItaSaku

She could only feel his breath behind her, caressing her ear.

"Hello."

Beyond that, there was nothing else that seemed all that important.

She seemed to have this crazy idea that if the lights were out it, he would somehow be less dangerous. That if she couldn't see anything other then the barest glint of crimson, than it wouldn't matter. She could forget everything that he had done with those eyes.

She tried to will him away, hoping to dispel the dream if he wasn't really there, but the faintest of touches trailing up her bare arms, leaving goose bumps in their wake, told her that he was definitely there. Definitely real.

Sakura smiled "Hello."

He wasn't sure if she had figure it out yet. Did she want to pretend that she wasn't the one who was losing in this? Or did she still think that she was the one who was taking advantage of the situation; that she was the one who was taking something from him that couldn't be replaced or rebuilt? That she wasn't the one who was losing their way in this?

She signed pleasantly.

It was all she could do to keep up the lie that she hadn't already fallen overboard into him, all and only him, to ever stand a chance to be saved. Or even want to be saved. She wanted to pretend she didn't want him to love her for a bit longer.

O,h denial.

Long finger tips curl around her shoulders, turning her to face the dark shadow that was him. Her breath was caught in her chest, even in the darkness his eyes cut into her soul.

He made no other movement, his hands fell away and he simply stared at her giving away absolutely nothing. She fought the urge to shiver at the sudden loss of warmth. It was summer, yet without his light touch it may have well been the dead of winter.

He left it up to her to make the first move, as always. At least he gave her the choice at all.

Though it was never really a choice now was it?

Once upon a time, the handsome prince fled the kingdom.

It was not the way most stories started, but for her everything started then.

When Sasuke left.

The prince left behind everything, his friends, his home, even his princess, to find the vile villain who stole his family away from him. The most valiant knights in the kingdom searched and battled for days trying to bring their lord back, but alas it was all in vain. The prince was long gone.

The princess was lost and without the help of her most trusted and treasured friend, a knight who only wanted to make his Lord and Lady happy again, than she would have died from heartache.

Vowing to find a way to save the prince, the lovely princess locked herself away in a tower. When she emerged at long last, two years had passed, and she was no longer a child, but a women who was as strong as any man in the kingdom.

The princess was even more beautiful and sought after than before. Even princes and kings from other lands now vied for her attentions. She ignored them all, only wanting to bring back her beloved prince, even though he had hurt her so.

Together her and her most trusted knights set off to bring the fallen prince home.

But unknown to the princess, she had caught the eye of more then just kings and noblemen. Secretly, the dark prince of the kingdom of leaves, the same man who killed the king and Queen then fled the kingdom, now watched her with a growing desire.

He vowed to make the princess his at all costs.

If only she had known. She could have ran, she could have hid, she could have done something to change her present reality. But she still didn't seem to know that she was caught in his carefully laid web.

Her hand lifted ever so gently to rest on his cheek, fingers curling slightly on the swell of his cheekbone. She saw a flicker of something in his eyes, she had lost again. He won, he always won.

"Sakura." The name never before felt so morbidly enticing thea when he said it, like liquid sin. She hated it and craved it at the same time.

"Itachi." It was barely a whisper but in the sheer silence of the room it may have well have been a scream.

He came closer and once again, she was bathed in the warm heat he radiated and his faint scent of damp earth. He was everywhere. Something was amiss, but Sakura couldn't quite tell what. He was different tonight, she could tell by the way her progressed toward her. Usually he jumped her, for lack of better words. He usually swept her up in passion so quickly that she didn't have time to think.

His steps seemed deliberate and careful tonight and she didn't quite know how to react.

He was coming even closer, his lips were nearing with an agonizingly slow pace, and she found herself forgetting what she was upset about. All that seemed to matter was her crimson eyed lover. A valiant effort by Inner Sakura was made to keep her in line.

His lips were a mere three centimeters away.

Was it really all that bad to want love?

Do you call this love?

Two centimeters.

Was it so wrong to want to be swept up in something bigger then yourself? Something stronger?

Don't you ever learn your lesson?

One centimeter.

Was it so horrible to want all the big decisions made for you? To give up control for once?

It is when your not the one who'll pay for it.

Her tongue swept over her bottom lip absently, there was a spark of raw want when her pink appendage touched his lips as well. She was lost in the feeling and made the last movement to bring them together again, it had been over two days after all. She could barely wait to feel his arms pull her nearer to him, into him, to run her hands through the ebony hair she loved so very very much, to press them closer then ever though possible, almost one.

She can make this work, she could figure something out. She believed it, she truly did

Oh denial.

It seems a little too perfect don't you think? Something's wrong and you're being too doe-headed to notice!

Was she really? She tried to think about it, she found that she couldn't. She would get lost again in the feeling of his lips against hers, his tongue twining in rhythm with her own, his hand that was lightly turning circles on her stomach…

You stupid little girl! Something is seriously wrong, and all you can do it let yourself get felt up by the problem! What would Naruto think?

Itachi knew the exact moment she pulled away; not in a physical sense but an emotional one.

Ah, she had finally figured it out.

A bit too late though, it was all over for her now.

He came when she was alone. She laid unconscious, hurt from a long battle with a wizard who knew information about his brother's whereabouts. In the end it was the wizard that lay dead, but the princess did not come out unscathed

He stole her away and hid her in his castle in kingdom of rain.

He tended to her injuries and watched as she rested. She would never truly know how much she enchanted him. In her sleep she looked almost angelic, but despite her soft and demure features, he knew better. She was strong and could use magic to create valleys and to destroy mountains.

He would have no one else but her.

The Princess slumbered for three days. When she finally awoke , she saw the dark prince sleeping beside her. She had heard of him, the man that ruined her beloved prince's life, that had killed the king and queen. He was the reason the prince left. But surely, this pale man with long raven hair that spilt across the pillows couldn't be him.

She wanted him to look as horrible as his reputation, to be as bad as she imagined, but there was no denying the dedication and precision put into the bandages that covered her. The princess was confused and when the dark prince awoke she has shocked at the pair of lovely red eyes that stared blankly at her.

"Hello."

Instantly, she was entranced by this man who made no sense to her. She wanted to know why he did what he did, why he'd kill his parents, why did he hurt his little brother so, why had he kidnapped her, all of it.

She smiled lightly at him, "Hello."

The dark prince's plan was put into motion.

She shook with realization.

"You tricked me into all of this."

Sakura felt him smirk more then she actually saw it. His left hand found the small of her back effectively pushing her flush against him, while the other hand cradled the back of her head leaving her neck open and vulnerable.

Her breathing hitched when his lips made contact with the sensitive skin found there and she let out a shaky sigh when he went lower, nipping at her protruding clavicle. His name came out as a fragment, her mind so hazy that she was unable to finish the thought. It was always like this. Even inner Sakura couldn't muster the strength to say anything.

Lazily he pulled his lips up until they where against the shell of her ear. "No, you did this to yourself."

She heard the dark amusement in his tone, and she wanted to deny it with all of her heart.

Oh denial.

"You thought that you could change things, that if you just loved enough then everything would be okay. You let this go on, you were the one who tangled yourself in me, not the other way around, Sa-ku-ra."

Everyday the princess demanded to be let go, and each day the dark prince told her that she may leave when her injuries were healed. The princess was not stupid, she knew that her extensive injuries would take over a month to heal, but her chances of escaping the huge castle alone and hurt were too slim too chance.

So the princess reluctantly remained at his side.

During the first week the princess was bed ridden and the dark prince would remain by he side. He would tend to her injuries himself, something she would find odd. He had all the servants in the world, why not make one of them do it?

She asked him as much and he replied.'I found you and you are my responsibly.'

She did not like the way her heart fluttered with his reasoning at all.

The second week, she was able to move around a bit more. The dark prince took her on short walks through the castle. When she lagged behind he would call her weak and the princess would get so riled up, that she forgot all about her injuries and raced after him.

Upon reaching him he would suddenly smile, or at least what he considered a smile, which was a slight tilt of his lip, almost invisible to someone who was notaround him as often as she was, and tell her that she would be able to leave soon, if she kept it up.

She did not like the way her stomach turned at that possibility.

When the third week came, the only thing that was left to heal was an injury to her back, from the wizard's sword.

The dark prince now no longer slept beside her, stating that she could defend herself if something should happen, and her injuries did not require constant supervision now. She tried to ignore the way she missed his presence next to her in the all too silent castle, yet when she was unable to sleep for the third day in a row, she relented and asked if she could lie with him at night.

To her surprise he obliged.

At the end of the first month, the princess's injuries were completely healed. Before she left, the castle was stormed by a local lord wanting to take it over for himself.

The dark prince refused to allow her to leave. 'You are my responsibility and I will not have you injured.' She stayed and saw the dark prince fight for the first time. She now knew why he was so feared, he fought with the grace of a natural born hunter, it looked so effortless that she found herself wanting to fight the same way. Single handedly the dark prince fought off the rebellion.

She tended to his injuries afterward, claiming to be repaying the favor.

'I will leave when you are better.' She vowed. The princess would question him, and every once in awhile he would answer. She asked why he did not stay to become king of his own kingdom. They both knew that she really meant why did he kill his parents.

The dark prince picked up her hand and inspected it closely, marveling how such small digits could cause so much damage, while the Princess held her breath as a chill ran down her spine.

'Not everything is as simple as what my little brother has told you princess.' he told her quietly and he kissed her hand.

The princess blushed furiously. It was soft and chaste, merely a light touch of lips to flesh, but the effect it had was incomprehensible.

'I can change him.' She thought 'I can fix him, I can make him into a normal person again. He has good inside him still.' She vowed to herself to do just that, but she didn't realize that she had just fallen into the dark prince's trap.

She shook her head violently, stepping out of the circle of his arms and sat on the bed.

"No, I couldn't have-" She didn't ask for this. She was always one to give her love away too easily, it was the one thing she did best, she didn't want to give it to him, but he took it anyway.

He stole her heart and let her hang herself with a noose of her own conflicting emotions, until he was the only one who could save her. It was such a cleverly laid trap and she had never seen it until this very moment.

"You did. You miscalculated and will now pay with your own freedom."

Oh no, oh no, oh no.

Soon he was back on his feet, and the princess had every right to leave but she still stayed.

'To make sure you do not get yourself killed.'

'To keep you from taking over the entire countryside.'

'To ensure you don't hurt your little brother.'

Slowly but surly, the months passed by and all these reasons faded away until, she wasn't even there for him anymore, she was there for herself because she loved him and wanted him to love her in return. She didn't want to leave.

Her original goal of bringing the fallen prince back to the land of leaves was all but forgotten.

He would never let her go.

Realization finally hit home and she could only stare at his triumphant smirk in total disbelief. He had completely manipulated her, he had her so warped around his finger that she couldn't walk straight without him. He had reduced her to an enchanted little girl with no other thought than to blindly follow her would-be prince.

It had only taken him four months to make her completely push aside everything. Her home, her family and friends.

And she had let him.

This would kill Naruto, or get him killed. And Sasuke…..Oh god Sasuke, he would never forgive her. Could she ever explain that she didn't do this on purpose, that this wasn't supposed to happen, that she never meant to love Itachi she just-

Who was she kidding? He would never understand, this kind of betrayal would break whatever was left of the delicate bond that help team 7 together.

Sakura felt so stupid.

Itachi took her hand and kissed it just like he had only a few months ago, this time a dark smile graced his perfect features. "This was you wanted wasn't it?" He placed her hand flat against his chest, she could feel his strong heart beating away. "You wanted my heart?"

Even now, in the face of her world collapsing in on her, she couldn't lie to him. She gulped "Yes, but not like th-"

He silenced her with his lips but pulled away just as suddenly as he had came, wiping a tear from her pretty glass green eyes before it had the chance to fall.

"Be careful of what you wish for Princess, you just may get it."

Notes: I wanted to take a stab at writing the old cynical Itachi that I fell in love with. It was shockingly easy. I'm hoping that he isn't completely bleh.

Poor Sakura-chan, I love to torture her mentally. In case I've completely failed as an authoress and you couldn't tell, The fairytale part when basically explaining what had happened to lead up to the actual story.

So yeah, review and tell me if this is complete crap or not, I'm very unsure about this one.

Forever and Eternally,

-Ra