Akatsuki Night In: Snuggle Bug

“How about we play snuggle-bug?” You say merrily. It has been a long long time since you'd last played it; so long in fact that it was before your time in Akatsuki.

Everyone looks at you for a second, then the majority nod, strange looks in their eyes. You notice.

“W-what?” You ask anxiously. They don't reply so you decide to quickly set up the game, brushing it off. You rip up a piece of paper so that there are ten pieces, then as you go to write 'snuggle-bug' on one of them, you feel a hand close over yours. You look up to see Pein standing over you,

“Sir?”

“I'll do that, if it's alright with you.” He says quietly. You know he's not asking but you reply anyway,

“Oh, yes, that's fine.”

You stand up and give the pen to Pein. He sits down and picks up one of the pieces of paper. You look away as he writes the words down, only to see half of the males in the room looking at you.

“What!?”

They don't look away; in fact those that hadn't been looking at you, look as well instead.

'Oh great...- weirdos.'

Just then Pein rises to his feet. The game is ready to begin. He walks around the room, each member taking a piece of paper from him, then he arrives at you last. You take the paper from him and open it.

'Oh, just my luck.'

You're the snuggle-bug. This means you're going to have to snuggle with each and every guy in Akatsuki... even Zetsu.

You put the piece of paper in your pocket, never once showing your true feelings of utter distraught. When everyone is ready Hidan walks over to the light-switch then looks at you with a smirk,

“We ready?”

Your eyes widen,

'He knows!'

The lights are shut off and everyone splits up. You, knowing that at least one of the guys knows you're it, decide to duck and wait in the main-room until everyone else has left. When everything seems reasonably quiet you pull yourself up from behind the sofa that you'd been hiding behind and head out of the room, into the sleeping quarters. You know it's the most obvious place to hide, but you prey that that's what the others are thinking and so they'll think no one is actually stupid enough to hide there.

You wander down the corridor, choosing a room to hide in, but then have no time to be picky when you hear footsteps heading your way and dive into the closest room.

Once on the inside you look around, then curse in your head,

'Damn! Kisame's room!'

You press your ear to the door, listening hard. For a moment you can't hear anything over your heartbeat, but then you manage to pick up the faintest sounds of footsteps in the distance, getting quieter and quieter as the figure walks away. You let out a sigh of relief.

You decide not to risk getting caught on the crossover to your own bedroom, so you decide to stay in Kisame's room and make yourself comfortable. You walk over to his bed and sit on it, laughing slightly at the shark-quilt, then remember that you're actually supposed to be hiding so you dive under the bed-sheets, resurfacing to put your head on the pillow.

You only have chance to get a brief look around Kisame's room before you hear more footsteps. You pull the covers up so that they're completely covering you, then you hold your breath and wait.

Your eyes bulge when you hear the door being opened. You just know they can hear your rapidly-beating heart.

There's a pause when you don't have a clue what's going on, then you hear the door close. You don't know if he's still in the room or not, so you sit tight just in case.

That's when you hear a voice say,

“Kisame?”

Your heart skips a beat. Your eyes widen and you suddenly need to start breathing again, or more, you have the urge to hyperventilate. You know that voice.

He speaks again, only to confirm your suspicion,

“Kisame, is that you?”

You hear footsteps drawing closer. They only stop when they're a few inches from the bed. You want to hold on to the covers, knowing what will happen next, but you don't get chance to before they are lifted off you by a hand. You see the familiar pair of red eyes staring down at you,

“____...”

“Hey, Itachi!” You say with a smile. He continues to look at you for a moment, then drops the covers. They land back over your face. You pull them off quickly and sit up, irritated, “Yeah, thanks for that 'tach.”

He doesn't take his eyes off you,

“Why are you in Kisame's bed?”

“Sleeping, obviously.” You stretch your arms up and give the most unrealistic yawn ever.

Itachi doesn't say anything else so you start to get your hopes up, thinking he's not interested in the game, but then-

“____, are you the snuggle-bug?”

“Damn it, Itachi!” There's a pause, then you sigh, “Yes, I'm the snuggle-bug.”

Itachi nods his head, then he moves towards you. You're actually quite surprised that he's even taking part in this, to be honest. Doesn't seem like his sort of thing. Maybe Pein's bullied him into it?

Itachi gets onto the bed, removing his shoes as he goes. You look at him curiously so he says,

“Kisame hates shoes on his bed.”

You laugh.

Itachi crawls to the top of the bed and manages to slip in behind you, his back resting up against the headboard. He reaches down and puts his hands under your arms, then pulls you up so that you're leaning against his chest. He drops his hands into your lap, then finally he rests his head atop of yours.

By this you are genuinely shocked. It is Itachi after all.

Now, although you are shocked, he seems quite casual; quite content really. He doesn't seem phased by the situation at all. You decide to try and find out what he's really thinking. You try to be subtle, first putting your hands over his, leaning back against him slightly, but there's no reaction. Obviously subtlety isn't working. You try again,

“Itachi, why are you playing?”

You hear him sigh heavily, his breath tickling the top of your ear,

“The game was rigged so that you would be the snuggle-bug. The Leader made it so.”

“So you're saying you played because...”

“Leader said I had to play at least one round, and rather you than someone like Zetsu or Tobi.”

“Oh okay! Well it's nice to know you find me better than those two!” You say with a laugh – somewhat forced. That hadn't really been the answer you'd been hoping for. Truth be told, you do like Itachi; quite a bit actually. You had actually wanted him to have said that he was playing because he was sure to get you.

Well you know you can't have everything, but-

“Itachi, I love you.”

Oh c***. Why did that come out? THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULDN'T START DAYDREAMING WHEN YOU'RE BEING HELD IN THE ARMS OF A REALLY HOT GUY- and there you go again.

“I-Itachi... I... I... I didn't- I-” You lean forward then turn round to look at him, “Itachi?”

He's looking at you as if... as if nothing has happened. Wait- had you been daydreaming about saying you love him? You shake your head and give a half laugh, somewhat nervously,

“Itachi, what just happened?” You hold your breath, worrying about what he's going to say.

“You said you loved me.”

Now, what really upsets you here is how he said that without a single tone of happiness, surprise... or even anger... or any emotion at all. He doesn't feel anything for you... at all.

You should have seen this coming really. It is Itachi the family-killer after all... though you still like him.

You sit quietly, his arms still around you but you barely notice them there any more.

'He.. he doesn't.... I...'

Just then the bedroom door opens. You turn your head to see who it is – not really caring but glad for someone to be taking Itachi's place; thus removing the awkward wall that has fallen between the two of you – or at least you anyway, Itachi couldn't care less. You see the blue skin of whose bed you're lying on. He looks at the pair of you and smirks, then walks into the room and closes the door,

“Hey, ____, are you the-”

“Yes she is.” Interrupts Itachi. You look up at him and glare. Oh of all the- is he that desperate to get rid of you!? Cutting Kisame short just to get the answer across!? That total pri-

“But Kisame, you won't be snuggling with ____. You're going to leave us alone and sit outside this room. If anyone asks, you're the snuggle-bug. Understand?”

Kisame's jaw drops open; almost as wide as yours has. You look at Kisame, then up at Itachi,

“Wh- Wha-”

“Kisame, get moving... or people are going to start thinking ____ or I are the snuggle-bug.”

You don't see the murderous look in Itachi's eyes as he talks to Kisame. The blue-skinned man starts to stammer, lost for words, but then he – fearing for his life – turns and leaves the room.

Your mouth is still wide open. You turn and look at Itachi again. He looks down at you with a blank expression. You don't really know what to say. Did that really just happen? Did Itachi – Itachi Uchiha just tell Kisame to leave the pair of you alone? Does he actually want to spend time with you?

“Ita-”

“-____, you look tired. You should go to sleep.”

“Uhh...”

You don't get chance to say anything before Itachi gets up off the bed, taking you with him, then settles under the bed-covers with you in his arms. You're facing away from him, looking towards the bedroom door so you flip yourself over and look at Itachi. He's still watching at you with that expressionless look on his face.

“Hey, Itach-”

“Go to sleep, ____.”

You look at him a moment, annoyed that he keeps cutting you off. You go to say something but then - noticing something in the dark - without another word spoken you close your eyes, your cheeks flushing and your heart pounding.

What you had seen was a rare sight. Something to be treasured. What you had seen was the smallest loving smile gracing Itachi Uchiha's lips.