A Killer's Kiss (An Itachi Uchiha Love Story)

Chapter 17 - First Kiss

 "Are you okay, Rikki?" Deidara asked.

"Well, not really," I confessed.

The blonde Akatsuki member entered my room and sat down on the bed beside me. "Do you want to talk about it, hm?"

"Not really," I answered again.

He put an arm around my shoulder and pulled me against his body. "Come on, tell me what's bothering you."

I didn't really want to discuss my problems with him, but it didn't seem like he was going to leave me alone unless I talked. I tried to think of a way out of the situation, but he had me locked in place with his arm around me. Maybe talking to him would do me some good. I didn't have to tell him everything. I could be vague enough to satisfy his curiosity. Hell, maybe he could even give me some helpful advice.

I took a deep breath and thought carefully about my words. "I'm just upset over something that happened on my last mission."

At first Deidara didn't say anything. I couldn't tell whether he was waiting for me to say more or considering how he would respond. Then he said something surprising. "You're an awful liar. You know that?"

He reached over with his free hand and turned my face towards his, forcing me to look into his piercing blue eyes. I pushed his hand away and looked away from him in embarrassment. He could see right through me. I should have known better. You don't get into the Akatsuki if you can be so easily fooled.

"Fine, you caught me," I admitted. "I'm really just upset with Itachi right now."

"Is that all?" he asked with a chuckle. "You really shouldn't get so hung up on him. He's not worth your time."

Even though he was so easily dismissing my troubles, I could feel his grip on my shoulder tighten. It's as if the mere mention of his name was a trigger. Was there something he knew that I didn't? I needed to dig deeper.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Because you can't trust that anything he says or does is true."

"I don't follow."

"Because of his Sharingan."

"Sharingan...?"

I was utterly confused. A look of surprise and disbelief covered his face. "Are you telling me you don't know about the Sharingan?" he asked. When I shook my head, he pointed to his eye and explained. "It's a visual kekkei genkai passed down through the Uchiha clan. Gives them prowess in genjutsu among other things. That's why I'm telling you that you can't trust him. He's probably been using it to deceive and control you this whole time."

"Do you really think he would do that?"

"Of course!" he exclaimed. "He used it to trick me into joining the Akatsuki." He paused a moment. "Now that I think about it, Itachi was sent to recruit you, too. I guarantee he used his Sharingan to trick you into joining as well."

I thought back to when Itachi and Kisame had come to recruit me. It had been Itachi who convinced me to join. He had known exactly what to say to me to get me to go with them. Had I been trapped in a genjutsu and tricked by his Sharingan this whole time? Had every kind word he ever said to me been a lie? I thought about all the times I looked into his eyes and saw my own reflection. Was he only showing me what I wanted to see? What was real and what was only an illusion?

My head was spinning thinking about the implications of what Deidara was saying to me. I must have been lost in my thoughts for quite some time because the next thing I realized was Deidara waving a hand in front of my face to get my attention. I blinked and came back to reality.