Title: Learning to Love

Summary: Itachi is the Uchiha prodigy, and Temari is basically a warrior princess. Whoop dee doo. That doesn't mean they have to marry each other! But with two forceful fathers and a signed contract, their destinies are kaput. ItachiTemari.

Author: Bibliophile Nincompoop

"Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you I had no control over."

Chapter 9: Whiskey Kisses

Shisui- 20

Itachi- 18

Temari-15

Itachi entered his bedroom, trying to maneuver around the heaps of discarded clothes strewn about. He hated when his room was like this, and it was usually like this because of his more heated nights with his rather irritating live-in girlfriend. He threw off his shirt and replaced it with another, and quickly changed into a pair of matching pants.

"Baby, I need you, come lay in bed with me." Her whiny voice called out to him. He looked over to her, she was stark naked and issuing him closer with a seductive thin finger. Most men would probably loose their minds at the sheer sight, but it had little to no effect on him. His mind drifted off to the girl who was standing in the living room, Temari... He wondered if would be able to reserve himself if she had been in his bed. Probably not.

"Not right now." He managed to say, trying to erase the erotic picture of the blonde in his head.

"Fine." She pouted, but stuck out lip turned into a devilish smirk. "But you have to make it up to me tonight... all night."

"I won't be here." He was getting quite tired of her insistence, he had better things to do then have a sex fest in his bedroom.

"You always do this to me." She stood up on the bed, and forcefully grabbed him by his black long sleeve shirt. "I won't let you leave until you at least give me a little something... can't we just have a quickie?"

She didn't give him any time to respond before she attacked his mouth with her own, she moaned out loud at the pure ecstasy his mouth and presence did to her. But her enjoyment was short lived when Itachi pushed her back onto the bed.

"Don't forget about having drinks tonight." Itachi slammed the door to the bedroom, he looked towards the couch but there was no Temari. He peeked around the corner to see if she had used the restroom, then to the kitchen but she was still no where to be seen. Itachi opened the door and looked towards the gate, just a little past a blond ran into the crowd of people. Without a second thought he jumped down from the balcony, landing with the finesse that was expected of him. It wasn't difficult to follow her, partially because she wasn't trying to hide from anyone, but also because she had an intense chakra that would be noticeable by most ninja.

He was within a few yards of her, when her chakra had dissapated. Itachi looked through the crowd and saw his best friend holding his blonde, Shisui was smiling like his usual self until his eyes looked up and they met eyes. Then they were gone.

Itachi didn't bother try following Shisui's chakra trail, his best friend may act like a doofus but nearly equalled his own intelligence, the trail would most likely end him in the middle of nowhere. He'd have to look for them the old fashion way, by looking, and even then he might be able to find them. Shisui could have transported them all the way over to the Land of Snow, for all he knew. It was literally trying to find a need in a hay stack.

Damn woman, why did you have to go run off? He asked himself silently, walking aimlessly around town. Oh well, Shisui will probably end up dragging you to the bar tonight anyways. But still... why did he look at me like that? It's not like I've done him wrong. Perhaps he is still upset because of Akaiko, no Shisui would not act so childish over some sleazy woman.

The Uchiha prodigy wandered around, taking in the city and all of its glory, it was rare that he would get a peaceful day off like this and he was going to enjoy it to its fullest. That meant avoiding his apartment and Tsunade.

What is wrong with Temari? I haven't seen her in seven years, and she runs away when we finally get to spend time with each other. She is so beautiful now, she makes my heart throb still, like when we were kids. But she doesn't return my feelings, the look in her eyes is so different when my 'fan' girls look at me, and they say they love me. But I believe I love Temari, but I also don't foam at the mouth or have hearts in my eyes when I see her. What a difficult feeling this love is.

After an hour of walking aimlessly through the city, Itachi made his way to the bar. He looked around trying to spot any of his compainions, but there was no one. He sat down, and ordered a drink. He hated drinking, it just reminded him of his father stumbling into the house after a night out with his 'buddies'. The amber liquid scorched his throat and settled into his stomach. As soon as he finished a glass he would tell himself how much he hated it, and then order another.

Itachi was on his fifth or sixth glass, when Akaiko strolled in. She draped her body around him, every single limb was touching him in some fashion. He was on his tenth glass when Shisui and Temari waltzed in, by then Itachi had a thick glaze covering his eyes, and all he could do was stare broodingly at his whiskey. No one had bothered in talking with him, his blonde and his best friend were chatting away, and his lover was kissing away at his neck. He imagined it was Temari loving his body, he knew that she wouldn't be gentle or shy, she would be: fiery, passionate, and dominate. Their love making would be a constant battle till the very end, he always enjoyed a good fight.

"Itachi?" Temari asked, her face scrunched up in anger and worry. He looked towards her, seeing that Shisui had his arm wrapped around her waist. "I've been calling you for five minutes. We are leaving, and don't worry about escorting me tomorrow, Shisui said he will do it."

Itachi nodded, still processing her words. "Hn."

Temari muttered something incomprehensible while walking toward the door. Itachi's sullen eyes never left her, he wanted more than anything to try to talk with her; to walk her home, to take her out on the town, to show her he wasn't just a stick in the mud. But it wasn't in his nature, and he would watch her walk away with a man who could. Shisui opened the door, but as the blonde exited through, the older Uchiha wrapped his arm around her pulling Temari closer until their lips met for a chaste but meaningful kiss, and they walked out.

Temari walked arm and arm with Shisui, her lips still tingling from his kiss. It felt more strange than good, she would have never guessed that Shisui would have kissed her before Itachi. She looked back at the bar hoping that he would come running after her, trying to whisk her away, but that wasn't Itachi forte. He would never express his feelings for her, not even if she took pliers to his finger nails.

"Thanks for playing along." She was crossing the bridge, noting that the full moon in Konoha was so much more beautiful here than in Suna, when Shisui stopped dead his tracks. "What is it?"

"I know I said earlier that I thought the idea of me and you would be gross, but," Shisui grabbed her by her upper arms, "that kiss... it was amazing..." He trailed off his lips growing dangerously closer to her own.

"Shisui, no, I-" The bridge shook with a tremendous force, and within a second Temari found herself on the ground holding her bleeding arm. She pulled chucks of wood from her arm, looking up to see that the railing where the were standing was floating down the river. She jumped to her feet, automatically seeing two men fighting knee deep of water. Both of their eyes blood red. Itachi had forced Shisui under the water where he was thrashing for air. "Itachi! Stop!"

"How could you!" Itachi yelled at the man under him, "You know I love her! Why would you do this to me! We're friends! Brothers!"

Shisui stopped struggling, his arms falling from Itachi's arms and into the water. Itachi heard Temari screaming at him to let go, but he couldn't, his entire body was engulfed in a pulsating throb of raw power. He could literally feel his sharigan mutating, it was a force far beyond his capabilities. A sharp pain struck the side of his face, leaving a metallic ring in his ear. He found himself laying on his side watching Temari throwing her fan to the floor to retrieve Shisui from the icy river. He felt a pang in his chest when she touched her lips to his, trying to make him breathe, and he did. Shisui rolled over coughing up the swallowed water, and Temari fell to her hands and knees in relief. And Itachi's world went dark.

His eyes batted open, the harsh light blinded his sight and the stark walls were an eyesore. Itachi sat up feeling a massive headache on the side of his head.

Someone coughed rather loudly, Itachi looked over at his best friend and was greeted with a ragged smile, "I guess this proves that you are stronger than me, you ass."

"I acted irrationally," Itachi scowled running his hand through his bangs. "I let my emotions take over, it was foolish. I wanted to hurt you, I needed you to feel the pain you caused me... all because you kissed a woman I have no claim to."

"Hurts doesn't it?" Shisui sighed looking up at the the popcorn ceiling, "Except Akaiko was mine... But you don't know about love Itachi, because the only person you love is yourself."

"Will you two stop it." Temari growled, "You're acting like children." Temari sat up from the green suede couch, her hair was in disarray and clothes wrinkled. But what caught Itachi's eye was the sling her arm was in. "Shisui you deserve a hell of a lot more then that dumb slut, so stop your bitching and moaning about Itachi stealing her away. Itachi you're an ass, you ensue a relationship with your best friend's girl and then proceed to screw her while I'm in the apartment. What is wrong with you two? I thought my life was fucked up!"

Itachi cleared his throat, "In my defense I wasn't fornicating with Akaiko, she jumped me."

"Yeah, I'm sure, that's what they all say." She scoffed, her free hand going straight to her wide hips. "How dumb do you take me for?"

"Very minimal actually," Itachi said getting to his feet, his composure completely in one piece. "and because of that I believe that you can see that the 'dumb slut', as you say it, would behave in such a manner."

Temari rubbed her temples, "How many times must I tell you? You are eighteen, not forty or sixty, so talk like a normal human being."

"That is the first time in that exact wording actually. But you have mentioned something on those lines on numerous occasions." A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Hello?" Shisui waved his hands around, "Can we get back to the fact that Itachi tried to kill me?"

"Why did you do that?" Temari glared at the obsidian haired man.

Itachi pocketed his hands and began to walk away. "You wouldn't comprehend my reasoning."

"I'm not asking you to reveal the skeletons in your closet! Why can't you just say it..." The last part she barely whispered, it was that fraction of a second pause in his step that gave away his intent. But he still ignored her and made his way into the hallway. "You can't leave yet! Itachi! Damn it!"

"For a genius, he isn't all that smart in the ladies department." Shisui smirked, patting Temari's hand which was resting now on his bed. "Thanks for staying."

"It was only overnight." She said as if it weren't a big deal, "But I must say, that was by far the most comfy hospital couch I have ever had the privilege of sleeping on. And that's saying something, because I have spent the night on more than my fair share."

So there they stayed for the next five hours, under the hawk eye surveillance of the busty Hokage herself. Itachi didn't return, but instead his father came and gathered Temari, despite her protests. That's the thing with Uchiha's, you can't say no to them because they either blatantly ignore you or they give you a sour look and then throw you over their shoulder like a barbarian. Temari decided the latter, being the 'lady' that she is.

She waisted no time in locking herself into the guest room, throwing herself on the bed and falling asleep. That night she swore that she saw Itachi in her room, but then again hell would freeze over before Itachi did something so kind, or creepy.

A/N: Another chapter, and you guys thought Itachi was an ass, well he kind of is.