juxtaposition

j u x t a p o s e

Prompt/s: sudden craving for Itachi

Word count: 1448

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JUXTAPOSITION

(ˌjəkstəpəˈziSH(ə)n)

/ noun

/ the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.

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Emerald eyes widened with fear, and then shock, but Sakura quickly righted herself and sent a fierce glare to the tall male. Well, as fiercely as her throbbing head granted her to, at least.

It entertained Itachi to no end.

"Why, you ask?" He mused quietly. Green orbs narrowed. The way the S-class missing-nin toyed with her was not welcome. "Maybe it's because you intrigue me, cherry blossom.

Sakura looked down, and her form froze at the way the Akatsuki's velvety voice had spoken her pet name. It had been the same one that he had used on her when he had been almost visionless, feverish, and half-dead.

The kunoichi slowly brought her eyes up to meet his. Why? Why me? Already feeling the strain, her voice was tired when she said, "Why couldn't you just let me go?"

Silence.

Itachi wasn't blinking, and she tried her hardest not to look down again when she felt that she had been staring at his crimson orbs for far too long.

Sakura gulped. He was near. Too near for her liking. The petite shinobi began to turn away. To her dismay, he caught on immediately and suddenly she felt slender fingers curl upon her pale wrist. Movement stopped. She growled softly with aggravation.

"Tell me, Itachi... what do you want with me?" The pinkette tried to slip into her naive facade again. To her inward despair however, the look on his handsome face told her that he was not easily deceived.

"Come with me." It was a quiet command.

Once upon a time, Sakura would have done exactly what the Akatsuki had desired, no questions asked. But now after she had seen him near death and apparently just as human as anybody else, she had somehow developed a backbone and iron will against this psychotic killer. She scowled at him.

"Why should I?"

"I want to know why you risked everything to help me."

"I'm a medic-nin; I swore an oath to serve and protect and heal."

He raised a slender brow, "I'm your enemy."

"But you're still human."

The Uchiha, for the life of him, could not understand why he would go through such lengths to have someone so unwilling by his side. Of course he was fascinated at first; he was on his deathbed and he knew it, before falling unconscious and then awakening, then realizing that he was actually still alive and breathing and not blind.

Imagine his surprise waking up when he found Sakura kneeling by his side, seemingly half-asleep by the way her eyes were fluttering and her shallow breathing.

He decided to hold her captive, study her. He honestly didn't know why, but she managed to capture his complete and undivided attention. He was mesmorized by the way that a dozen emotions could emerge on her lovely face in under a minute. The way she would defiantly talk back to him was a first; no one dared to act so fearlessly and petulantly before him, for people knew that he could harm them without lifting a finger.