Sunlight poured through the thick canopy of green trees, sending the brightness to shine upon the dirt road path in small bits and pieces, moving as the breeze pushed the leaves back and forth on fragile tree limbs, occasionally knocking the small green foliage to the ground in slow, fluttering movements. The air was thick with a soft of smell that was calming and yet so beautiful, one that would make you stop and just want to be engulfed in your surroundings, relaxing to the sound of nature. A breeze swept through the paradise forest, ruffling hair and clothing to give you somewhat of a cooling pleasure to the warm, moist climate that would by itself but unbearable. To Kisame, that day was perfect as him and his partner were traveling back from a recent mission they had accomplished.

It was a simple mission, really. They were searching for more insight on a tailed beast the Akatsuki had their greedy eyes set on, but knew was one of the harder ones to retrieve. Hell, Kisame didn't even care, they didn't get any information, so why were they sent on the boring, stupid mission anyway? Was there any point to it? With his mind clouded with thoughts of their mission and it's succession, which he doubt was high, he nearly stumbled over his own two feet, earning a mumble from his partner.

To the rest of the Akatsuki, Itachi had always been grumpy towards everyone and never showed any emotion except for anger, and it made him less likable for the more sociable members, such as Deidara or Tobi. To Kisame however, he had found himself having respect towards the Uchiha, even with the lack of emotion that he had showed. He could even say the shark nin had a small ( It's bigger on the inside ) crush on the younger, yet stronger, Akatsuki member. He doubted Itachi was...well...off towards the other side of the path. But yet again, no one knew that much about Itachi to gain insight on his sexuality. He probably didn't even have a sexuality.

"You're doing it again," Itachi mumbled softly, his voice full of annoyance towards the Missing Kirigakure Nin. Kisame, upon hearing the cold voice he had grown to find himself liking, snapped out of his deep thoughts and stared right at Itachi. "Stop staring at me like a dumb animal, it's making me uncomfortable." Itachi was always moody, probably his only emotion besides annoyance.

"Sorry, Itachi-san," Kisame responded, adverting his gaze from his younger partner. He had done it again. Anytime his thoughts drifted towards Itachi, even the slightest thought, he found himself gazing at him on accident, until the Uchiha told him off about it. Oh how life could be so cruel...when Could it be free of lies, just as he wanted it?

After hours of what seemed like pointless walking, the sun had started to set. The overgrowth towering over their heads would soon disappear, and instead the calm gentle canopy of stars would replace it, illuminating the light with a gentle silver glow. The green leaves that covered them were not painted an arrange of pastels oranges and yellows, the setting sun creating somewhat of a fire affect around them.

Kisame found himself gazing at Itachi again, loving the way the colors danced across the Uchiha's smooth pale skin, as well as his beautiful ebony hair. Purple tinted his cheeks as he gazed upon the sight of his unrequited love, causing a sadness to settle in his stomach. He wanted Itachi badly, so badly that it hurt. He wanted to hold the Uchiha in his arms, to kiss him, to show that someone cared. Even if he could, it would be wrong. They were both guys, and that was deemed abnormal for society. Yet again, Kisame was anything but normal with his pale blue skin, intimidating golden eyes, gills and sharp teeth, not to mention his monstrous strength and height. No wonder he had never been able to pick up a girl.

Itachi, with his looks, would be able to catch any gender. He was handsome, extremely handsome, and it too had caught Kisame's unsuspecting eyes and entranced him. It was like the weasel was using a Genjutsu on him to make him feel this way. The shark nin would be lucky if he even got one love in his entire life time. People still focused somewhat on looks rather than what was inside of them...well...Kisame Didn't really have appealing features with either in that category, but he still craved for the attention and the love. The one person he could have been with, a girl that he had not caught the name of in the Cipher Corps, had been killed by him on a mission, even after the kindness she tried to show him. He didn't even remember what she looked like, but remember the attempt of kindness she had shown on that mission, and the guts she had to ask him out...on a date.

When Itachi turned to look at Kisame, who was still staring, immediately the shark turned his head to stare in the other direction. He was hoping that his staring hadn't made it obvious to the Uchiha of his newly found liking, and he found himself gripping his palm tight enough to draw small beads of blood from the punctured flesh.

When the shark turned to examine his surroundings, he had already found that they were away from the woods, heading to a small, secluded nearby village. It would most likely only have about one or two inns, and even those would be small, but yet cheap. They could get a small room with maybe two beds for a low income, and that would make Kakuzu's day.

In a small amount of time, the two had reached the entrance of the small village, and immediately searched for the sight of an inn. Luckily for them, there was just one around the block. It wasn't large, only having about a few rooms, very small rooms, but it would have to do for the night. The village itself wasn't nice looking, so he doubted the inn would be. The two reached the door to the office were they could request and pay for a room, and Itachi looked to stare up at Kisame's face with somewhat of a serious expression.

"Stay out here," he commanded, opening the door for himself before staring back at the shark ninja for a small moment, walking in to the office building.

When Itachi had stared in to his eyes, his face had turned an awkward shade of purple, and his heart began to beat faster. Oh what the Uchiha could do to him if he didn't try... Everything Kisame did to stop thinking about Itachi always failed. It was like he was a virus that had programmed itself in to Kisame's brain, and there was no software that could detect let alone delete this virus. He was Kisame's drug, and no rehab could cure him of his deadly addiction. He could kill him...but he knew that Itachi was stronger, and the only person dying that moment would be Kisame. "Learn to pick your fights wisely..." the Uchiha had told him on their first mission when Kisame killed a band of rogues that did not needed to be dealt with.

When he was stuck in his thoughts again, something that he had a habit of doing lately, the sound of a key jingle broke him from the thoughts. He shook his head, and innocently stared down at a pair of keys waving in his face. Itachi was out of the office, and now shaking the brass object in front of his face. He felt as if his face was a bright red, especially at how close the weasel's hand was, and the heartbeat he had just calmed started to rapidly beat once more.

"They only had one vacancy," he reported, pulling the keys from Kisame's face. "That vacancy has no bed, but it would be no problem for one to sleep on the floor." He was implying that Kisame was going to sleep on the floor. That's how it always was.

Kisame nodded, reaching a hand up to rub the back of his neck as a nervous tick. "That's fine, Itachi-san. It's not a problem..." A look of uncertainty flashed across the Uchiha's face, but he mentally shrugged, and started heading towards the direction of their room. Like a lost puppy, Kisame followed, gazing at the back of his crush's head. He wanted to run his fingers through that silky hair, just to see if it was as soft as he dreamed of.

Itachi thrust the key in to the lock of their room, and quickly flung open the door. Kisame mentally scolded, staring at the bed. He was hoping it was a large bed that Itachi would somewhat consider that the two of them could sleep on it, but no, it just had to be a one person bed. He definitely felt that his poor back was going to be sore that morning.

The two walked out from under the door and inside, and Itachi closed the door behind Kisame, who placed Samehada by the door frame. Kisame watched as Itachi moved towards the bed, sitting on the edge as he began to unbutton his cloak, throwing it to a random corner of the room. He threw himself in to the bed, pulling his hair out of it's hold. Long curtains of silky ebony hair spilled over his shoulders and showered his face, giving Itachi that sexy kind of look. It took all of Kisame's monstrous strength not to tackle the Uchiha and do things to him. Sexual things.

After his own cloak had been discarded, he walked over and picked up the cloak that Itachi had thrown carelessly away, placing it on a chair by the bed. He continued by discarding his own cloak, folding it, placing it in a neat stack with Itachi's. He felt a small tubular bump on the pocket of Itachi's cloak, but ignored it. The shark nin decided to head to the bathroom for a shower, just as he always did after missions like this. He was covered in sweat after walking around all day in a heavy black cloak, carrying Samehada, and having to fight the Iwa ninja earlier.

When Kisame returned an hour later, the light was still on by Itachi's bedside, but the Uchiha was seemingly asleep. Kisame shrugged, walking over to grab his cloak, planning to use it as a blanket, since there weren't any others present. He grabbed the large piece of material, but stopped when he heard Itachi shift.

"Kisame, turn out the light before you go to bed, will you?" he said, rolling onto his other side, snuggling into the covers. The shark didn't respond, leaning his hand over and pinched the burning heat between his two fingers, airing out his hot fingers as he walked over to his spot on the floor. When he laid out his cloak, preparing to sit down, he was interrupted by Itachi's voice again.

"You...t-turned Out the light, didn't you?" The voice wasn't able of being mistaken, but he felt as if the stutter made it someone else. Kisame turned to look at Itachi, who...

...who Was visibly shaking.

This worried the shark. Itachi, the emotionless void. Itachi, afraid of nothing. Itachi, the obvious stronger of the two of them. Was shaking. But why?

He shook it off as his mind playing tricks on him, trying to simulate his tiredness for him. He laid down on the cold, hard wooden floor, about to fall asleep when a whimper broke him from his light sleep. Itachi was now whimpering. And it was real.

Deciding he couldn't sleep with Itachi's small noises, he got up from his spot and walked over to the other side of Itachi's bed, shaking the weasel with his arm.

In return, a hand gently brushed again Kisame's arm, and a sigh escaped the Uchiha's lips. "You're there," he said quietly, almost a whisper. Kisame was confused. He could see the weasel clearly in the darkness, but why couldn't Itachi see him?

"Yes, I'm still here," Kisame set, soothingly rubbing his hand across Itachi's own arm, a signal that he was still present. "Can't you see me?"

"Of course I can, foolish little brother," Itachi murmured, followed up by a yawn. "I'm not blind, yet at least."

Those few words bounced around in Kisame's head as he tried to process them. Little brother? Did...did the Uchiha think he was Sasuke? The sword-wielding shark nin didn't know much about the weasel's little brother, but he did know that Itachi and he seemed to have a mutual hatred for each other.

"Itachi, I'm not Sasuke, I'm Kisame. Kisame Hoshigaki. Not your little brother," he said, shaking the Uchiha once more.

"Oh, well that's even better," Itachi said, his lips forming into a grin in the darkness.

When he was lost in his thoughts for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day, Kisame was broken from his thoughts with something unexpected. A soft and warm sensation ran across his lips, and his eyes widened in realization. Itachi was kissing him. Something he had dreamed about countless nights during his loneliness. Without any second of hesitation, he moved his lips with the Uchiha's, hands drifting to gently caress his hips and crawl onto the small bed. Itachi's arm snaked around the shark's neck as he deepened their kiss, the feeling of a tongue running across Kisame's pale blue lips.

With a large amount of hesitation and uncertainty, Kisame parted his lips for him, a quiet whimper escaping his throat as he felt his tongue run across Itachi's, which was greedily examining his mouth. His face was a dark purple and he started to sweat, the feeling from his dreams seeming almost unreal, as if it was a dream. Just like he wanted to, his fingers ran up Itachi's fragile body, soon making it to his ebony hair, which he threaded his slender fingers through. It was just as he had imagined. So soft and silky...

He heard Itachi groan as the two pulled away for much needed air. Saliva still connected their mouths and soon broke, leaving a small stream down both of their chins. When Kisame looked at Itachi, his pale face was a dark red, almost the color of his Sharingan. Without even asking for permission, Kisame had lost himself in the moment and glued his lips to Itachi's neck, earning a soft moan from the man that was now under him. Itachi's legs shifted under Kisame and gently brushed against his manhood, earning a loud groan from the shark.

His slender fingers slipped themselves under the hem of Itachi's shirt, rubbing at his well toned stomach. The sensation Itachi had given him was addicting, and he wanted more of him, so much more. The craving he tried so hard not to think of resurfaced, and the lust inside him began to break free of it's containment. He wanted to show Itachi how much he had grown to love him, how much he cared. He gently bucked against Itachi's knee, earning another groan from the weasel's mouth. The Uchiha craned his neck to allow Kisame more access to his neck, and now some of his shoulder area, losing himself in to the feeling of lust. He hadn't expected Kisame to react this way, but glad he did.

The shark's mind snapped back to reality, and Kisame found himself pushing away with a protesting groan. No, he didn't want this, at least, not like this. Itachi wasn't acting as himself, and it somehow scared him. "K-Kisame?" Itachi asked with a disappointed voice. "Why did you stop? I thought you loved me?" Was Itachi drugged? Maybe a ninja from earlier injected him with something during the fight.

He suspected another one of his strange fantasies of Itachi, but suddenly a random thought came to mind. Zetsu had brought them a small parcel the past night, a small bottle shape, saying it was for Itachi's condition. There was a tube-like object in Itachi's cloak, and he recalled hearing Itachi get out from his bed for something. Could it be...that the medicine he was supposed to take gave him an effect? It was strange...