[Gods AU]

She looks the god in the eyes. The tension is so high, a knife could easily break it. The god is smiling that motherfucking smile of his and all she wants to do is wipe it off of his face with her sword.

But she can't. She's here for other reasons.

The god is looking back at her. His goddamn smile mocks her and he throws his hands up in the air as he practically yells, "Sakura, it's so nice to see you. Now get out."

His face contradicts his words. The smile, the posture, everything screams joy but then again, the god has always been good at deceiving.

"After all the hell I've been through with that dog of yours I'm not leaving until I have a word with you," Sakura states.

The god's arms fall to his sides and his smile turns down a little. He shrugs. "Well you are in hell, what'd you expect?"

"Itachi," Sakura starts to say.

"Get out." The god turns to leave. His black coat invisible against the darkness of the Underworld.

"Sasuke has gone mad," Sakura says.

"Not my problem," Itachi shoots back.

He leaves Sakura alone and heads back into his palace.

Sakura follows.

"Itachi you son of a bitch," she yells from behind him. "For once in your goddamn life, do something for others."

The doors to the palace opens with a single touch and for a moment the Underworld is bright with the lights that flood from the castle and its grounds.

"I don't care."

"You should."

Itachi turns to far her. His smile has been long gone and his brown eyes look at Sakura with amusement.

He steps towards her. "Like you did? All those centuries ago?" He snorts. "Really, Sakura, you of all people shouldn't be talking about caring."

"At least hear what I have to say," she pleads.

"No thanks," Itachi sings.

Sakura clenches her first. Fingernails digging into her hand and making little crescent marks on her palm.

"Itachi," she growls.

"Do you really want to encourage mortal rumor?," Itachi takes another step towards her. "Do you really want to give me a reason to believe them? Who knows what comes out of your mouth might make even me think that you're fucking the god of war."

"That's not true and you know it."

"I guess I do," he mutters in agreement.

"If you do know, then you can listen to what I have to say."

Itachi turns around. He's no longer facing Sakura and begins to walk deeper into the palace.

Sakura's pissed. The son of a bitch has gotten on her last nerves.

A flick of the wrist and a sword appears in her hand.

She aims the sword at Itachi's neck, but he dodges. Then she aims for the knee, followed by an arm and a leg and back and forth it seems as though she can never land a hit.

They're flying through the castle. Itachi laughs as though this was only a game. As though Sakura  wasn't trying to kill him. He dodges and dodges and he never stops. Just keeps going like some insanely agile idiot.

Sakura s growing tired. Her dominant hand aching from swinging her sword so much.

"Thanatos," she whispers as she places the top of her sword on the ground.

"What was that?"

"Thanatos. That's what this has to do with you."

"The god of death," Itachi says, "What's happening that they involved that bastard."

"Sasuke is the god of war, Thanatos is the god of death and you are the god of the dead," Sakura  explains, "think about it. As the god of war Sasuke likes to kill and Thanatos has to release those souls, giving you more work."

"Most of the gods are getting tired, Sakura, nothing I can do about it."

"Yes, but if enough people die, then—"

"Sakura," Itachi smiles, "The gods are tired. Take Zeus for example, he walks around the mortal world wearing a brand new suit everyday. He picks up girls wherever he goes and fucks them all night long. Some gods aren't causing troubles and others are. That's nothing new, you should know that by now."

"Itachi—"

He cuts her off once again.

"Has Sasuke ever told you his real name? And I'm not talking about him being Ares."

"What do you mean?" Sakura  questions.

"I mean that Sasuke has a name that came before Ares."

Sakura's mad. She's confused. Eyebrows scrunched up and eyes hard as stone. Her jaw is clenched and her sword is shaking.  And then she begins cursing. And Sakura only ever curses when her temper can't be controlled.

"What? The fuck are you talking about, Itachi? A god only ever has two names. One comes at birth and the other comes sometime later in life."

"Sasuke's been around longer than most of us," Itachi explains, "Yeah, I guess he's younger than most but he's the embodiment of something much older." He leaves the hallways that they're standing in and leads Sakura  through the palace.

He walks past the throne room and past the large black chair that lies in the front and center of the room. He leads Sakura onto the dining hall and grabs a pomegranate from the bowl in the center of the table.

"Want some?" He offers.

"I'd rather not be here for eternity."

"Your loss," he shrugs and eats a mouth full of the fruit.

It seems like forever has passed when he next speaks up.

"So, Sakura, what do you need from me?"

She's silent as she thinks of her response. Itachi has always been a tricky one. She remembers all the shit he used to play on others when they were young. Remembers the way that lies always flow through his mouth as if they were the truth.

She hates seeing those traits in others. She hates the way others would lie for their own benefit.

She can't trust Itachi. She knows this even though it's been centuries since the two of them last saw each other. And the smile that seems to be permanently glued onto Itachi's face makes her uneasy. But what other choice does she have. Most of the gods are busy doing some sort of bullshit in the mortal world. And those who aren't doing that are too much of an idiot to help.

"You are the god of the Underworld. You see the souls of others and by some weird miracle curse you always know what's going on in the mind of others. I'm sure you know what I've wanted before I even knew what I wanted."

~~~~~~~
By arahabaki