Practice
Just A Starving Writer

Standard Disclaimer Applies
Author's Plea: And, for some unexplained reason, the crack continues. Maybe by this time next year I'll have found a plot...

Round 5.

Sakura was confused.

She was terribly, mortally confused.

Her usual kidnapper had gone to a lot of trouble to secure her company. Her new ANBU guards (two now! Tsunade was growing increasingly frustrated over her inability to keep her apprentice from being swept away.) had caused him a slight bit more trouble than the previous singular guard, and her location at the gate to the village ensured the presence of two more shinobi he had to defeat before running off with her.

Even then, he'd only just managed to subdue her and begin the trek to a quieter locale when a team, presumably returning from a mission, spotted them. Luckily the returning shinobi seemed tired enough that they didn't put up much of a fight and didn't follow when he took the opportunity to leave with his prize.

So Sakura was a bit confused when after all that trouble, he merely set her down and began to walk away.

"You're leaving?" she said with disbelief.

He stopped but did not turn to face her.

"Practice would be pointless today."

"Why?"

He didn't respond, or even move.

"All that trouble and you just leave? Are you really that tired?" she asked blankly.

"You are incapacitated," he said instead.

"I'm faking it," she responded as she stood up warily.

It was only then that he turned to face her. Though his features belied none of his thoughts on the matter, she knew better. It was more than a bit disconcerting that she knew him well enough to read into his blankness.

"Yes, I faked it. That genjutsu was a pain, but nothing like you seemed to think. Still, it would do no one any good if I actually put up a fight while there were others to distract you. Best if we could just get out of there before someone was seriously hurt."

"You are too trusting."

"Probably, but I also would have kicked your surprised ass had you tried to kill anyone."

"You are overconfident in your abilities or you trust me with your life."

It was a strange statement to come from him, but she still took the time to turn it over in her mind a bit before realizing with very little care that part of it was entirely true.

"Then I suppose I trust you with my life."

"You are foolish."

"I never said I wasn't. I'm incredibly foolish, but my experiences with you so far have led me to that conclusion. Anything is worth this trouble it if it distracts you from going after Naruto. You may abduct me regularly but you don't really hurt me and you always let me go in the end. I've been injured more while training with my team."

"When I am satisfied with my progress, I will kill you." He wasn't making much of an expression, but she could still see the smirk.

"I don't think you'll ever be satisfied," she said with a wry grin.

"True. You are unsatisfactory." His lips twitched, and she figured it was an attempt at a grin of his own.

"Just be honest with yourself. You will never get enough of me."

She was grinning madly when she realized exactly what she was doing. The realization knocked the smile straight off her face.

"Ino's going to kill me," she whispered. "I'm flirting with Uchiha Itachi."

Said Uchiha merely stared at her placidly while her cheeks bloomed in morbid embarrassment. Whatever he was thinking did not make itself known to any but himself. Instead, he stared before relaxing and sinking gracefully into a sitting position on the leaf-strewn ground.

"You are weak to form attachments to your enemy," he said only after several awkward minutes for Sakura.

"I am not forming an attachment to you!" she spluttered while her cheeks grew even redder.

"Your actions say otherwise."

"My… What?"

"You make every effort to see me alone and yet have no desire to kill me."

"That doesn't mean I'm growing attached to you! It simply means I don't want anyone else involved in this ridiculousness!"

"Your excuses are weak. You are obviously attached."

She spluttered again, and it was entirely unbecoming of a kunoichi. The following widening of her eyes and drop of her jaw did nothing to help the image.

"Why—you—You're flirting with me!"

He did not look amused, but then he never did and somehow she still knew he was.

"Ino's really going to kill me," she whispered again as she collapsed on the ground beside her tormentor.

They didn't speak nor did they spar. They simply sat with their own thoughts in silence until the slight sounds of approaching ANBU signaled his abrupt departure. She was left feeling curiously alone, even though she knew it was ridiculous.

She realized exactly how ridiculous she was when she tried to stand to greet the ANBU. At some point, without her notice, he had managed to secure her legs to the ground.

"If you're trying to get me to kill you, you're doing a great job!" she yelled with frustration even though she knew he was long gone.