CRAAAAAAAAAACK
It was about 3 in the morning, and it had been storming all night. Kisame was sound asleep in his bed, muttering something about fish, but Itachi was wide awake. He couldn't sleep through storms; he never could, and he probably never would. He hated them with a passion.
CRAAAAAAAAAAACK
"Dammit, why can't it storm somewhere else?" he thought. Or at least quieter. He loved the rain, and he could stand the lightning, it was the thunder that always got to him. But he might not have to worry too much longer. It seemed the storm was calming down, at long last. Maybe he could finally sleep...
CRAAAAAAAAAAACK
"Fuck," he whispered before ducking under the covers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Next Day...~.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What sounds good for breakfast?" asked Kisame. He was wide awake, and ready to eat. Storms didn't even seem to faze him.
"You pick." Itachi grumbled. The storm had decided to let up about 10 minutes before sunrise, and he was exhausted. People were giving them a wide berth, mainly because he looked like he was about to kill the next person that so much as said hello to them. Kisame, being Kisame, didn't notice anything.
"Ramen actually sounds good," Kisame answered.
Itachi smirked. "What kind of breakfast is that?"
Kisame frowned. "If you don't like it, we can eat something else."
Now it was Itachi's turn to frown. "I didn't say that, I just said it was a weird breakfast choice."
Kisame turned around and walked forward. "Weird or not, that's what I'm eating. Coming?"
"Yeah." Wonderful. He'd been up for less than an hour, and he'd already upset Kisame. God dammit, why did it bug him so much to upset Kisame? He'd hide Deidara's scope or set some of Sasori's puppets on fire, and when they found out he'd just laugh. But when Kisame looked at him like that, he'd feel like he just got punched. Why was that...? Oh well, time to eat.
As they sat munching, Kisame watched Itachi. The weasel picked at his food, and didn't speak. He wasn't surprised; Itachi never spoke unless spoken to, and even then a response was rare. Not to mention he'd been up all night. Oh yes, Kisame was fully aware that Itachi hated storms, but he wouldn't let him know. Itachi would just deny it anyway.
As he finished his second bowl, he paused to ask Itachi a question. "How long will it be before we get home?"
Itachi stopped picking at his first bowl long enough to reply. "If we keep up this pace, a few days, tops."
Kisame grinned. "Great. Hurry up and finish your food."
Itachi pushed his bowl forward. "You can have it."
"Sweet." Kisame inhaled it. "How can you stand to eat so little?"
Another smirk from Itachi. "I lose my appetite when I see you eat."
Kisame sighed and stood up. "You're a real bastard sometimes, you know that?"
Itachi flinched, but Kisame didn't notice. "Sorry." he muttered.
"Yeah, yeah..." the shark climbed to his feet and was already walking away.
Itachi got up too, feeling like some invisible person had punched him again...
The trip was uneventful for a few hours, until Itachi noticed something...
"Hey, Kisame?"
"Hmm?" Kisame stopped and turned around.
Itachi was looking at a road sign. "We're heading back to the base, right?"
Kisame raised an eyebrow "...Yeah?"
"And the base is a pretty good distance from Konoha, right?"
Ok, Kisame was really confused now. "Yeah?"
Itachi closed his eyes. "Then why does this sign say we're ten miles from Konoha?"
"WHAT?!" Kisame ran back to the sign. Sure enough, Konoha was ten miles down the road. They'd been on the wrong path for hours.
"FUCK!!" Kisame yelled. Itachi had already turned around and walked back the way they came. "Nothing to do now but backtrack..."he said over his shoulder. Kisame grumbled and followed his partner.
They only had to backtrack for an hour before they got back on the right path. Once on it, Itachi decided to lead ("To avoid more dumb mistakes") but were only able to travel for a few more hours before it got dark. The sky was clear, meaning Itachi would be able to sleep. The two quickly ate at a nearby restaurant before checking in to their hotel room. Itachi took a quick shower and sat reading while Kisame washed up.
Kisame finally came out with a sheepish look on his face. "So, um, how long before...?"
Itachi closed his book and sighed. "Well, even with the delay, we can get home in about three days. IF we don't have any more problems."
Kisame sat down on his bed, not looking at Itachi. "I'm sorry, ok?"
"It's my fault for making you lead. It won't happen again."
Kisame crawled under his blanket, facing away from Itachi. "You know, Itachi, sometimes I really..." he trailed off and fell asleep.
Itachi turned off the lights and rolled over, but he couldn't sleep now. That invisible kicker was back, and raising hell. But there was something else. What was Kisame trying to say?...
The next day was peaceful, and neither one of them said much. In fact, the silence was only broken when Kisame said he smelled rain. When they got to a hotel, Kisame and Itachi quickly checked in.
"You're being pretty quiet," this comment came from Kisame. Itachi was ahead of him, scanning the numbers on the doors, looking for their room number.
Itachi stopped at a door and inserted their key. "This is normal for me. You're the one who usually runs your mouth off."
The two Akatsuki members stepped into their room. There was one double bed. GREAT.
"The clerk probably thought you were a girl."
Itachi groaned and moved into the room, removing his cloak. "We shouldn't even be here now."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Itachi sighed. "If you hadn't screwed up on the road yesterday, we'd have passed this little hellhole a long time ago, so don't complain."
Kisame was about to lose it. "I'm sorry if I screwed up, but it's your fault we have to share a bed! At least I don't look like a freakin' chick!!!"
Itachi glared at him. "That because you're a giant blue freak!!!!"
That did it. "What the hell is your problem?!? You're always making snide remarks, you rarely apologize, you act like it's embarrassing to be seen with me; dammit Itachi, I REALLY HATE YOU!!!"
Itachi's eyes widened. Did he really just say... He couldn't speak, he couldn't move. That invisible person who usually kicked him had just reached inside of his chest and pulled out part of him. He felt his eyes getting watery.
"Itachi?" Kisame knew his partner should have responded by now. Something was wrong. Very wrong. He tried again "Ita-"
Itachi pushed past him and stormed out the door. He needed space, and he needed it NOW.
Kisame sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. What the hell was wrong with that guy?...
Itachi kept going until he was half a mile outside the village. He stopped to rest in the boughs of a tree, the tears still in his eyes. He wouldn't let them spill over. Was it true? Did Kisame really hate him? And why did he care? Why the hell did it even matter? It started to rain. He listened to the quiet sounds of raindrops, not caring that he was getting soaked.
"It's because he matters to me..." he thought. The sky lit up with a bolt of lightning, immediately followed by a clap of thunder.
Kisame was still in the room when he heard the thunder. Immediately all his thoughts went to Itachi. Itachi didn't just hate storms, he was terrified of them. But he had been so upset, he probably wouldn't come back here on his own. But would he seriously stay out in a storm all night?
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
Yes he would. Kisame ran out of the room.
He looked around the village for half an hour before going outside the village. The rain was coming down pretty hard, and he had no idea where to look. He'd half to run around blindly until he felt Itachi's chakra; there was no other way. This part of the search lasted about an hour, until he finally felt something to his right. He stopped, and at the next bolt of lightning saw an entrance to a cave. He quickly ducked inside.
"Itachi?" he called out. The cave was pretty cold, but at least it was dry. He was almost sure he felt Itachi's chakra nearby. "Ita-"
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
There he was. Kisame walked over and kneeled down, any angry thoughts evaporating at the sight of his partner. "Itachi…"
The young man looked like a drowned rat, err, weasel. His hair was plastered to his face, and he was soaked through. Itachi's whole body was shaking from the cold, and his eyes were wide open and red. He was still dripping, meaning he had only recently found this cave. He was sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest. He had glanced up the first time he heard his name. "What?"
"Well, um, we need to, uh, go back to our room…" Itachi's eyes were focused on a rock to the side.
"Go. away." he said before resting his forehead on his knees.
"Itachi, it's storming outside." No duh. Itachi didn't even respond. Kisame tried again. "Look, I know you hate storms-"
"I'm fine. Just go." Itachi refused to look up.
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
Itachi flinched, then pulled himself into a tighter ball.
Kisame shook his head in disbelief at his partner's stubbornness. "You're not fine. You're soaking wet, curled up in a ball in some cave, shaking from hypothermia, and flipping out because it's freakin' storming. Come on, we're going back." He reached out to grab Itachi's arm. At the feel of Kisame's touch, Itachi sprang backward, with his back against the wall. "Don't. Touch. Me."
What the hell? Ok, this weird, even for Itachi. "What's wrong now?"
"Nothing. Just get away from me. NOW." Itachi was glaring at Kisame.
Kisame ignored the glare; he was used to it by now. What had he done to make Itachi flip out like this? Let's see, they had argued. About what? He complained about the bed, Itachi called him dumb, he called Itachi a chick, Itachi called him a freak, and he said….oh.
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
Kisame looked back at the glaring eyes. "You won't come back because I said I hated you, right?"
Itachi's eyes widened before he hid his face again.
"I'm right, aren't I?"
No response.
"Itachi…" he reached toward his partner again.
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
Itachi was on his feet, moving quickly towards the mouth of the cave. "I'm going back to the hotel," he said, and was gone in a flash.
Kisame quickly followed. He was not going to drop the subject until got an answer.
He arrived back at the room only moments after Itachi. "Answer my question, Itachi!! You ran off because of what I said, right?!"
Itachi was looking at the floor. "Drop it, Kisame."
"The hell I will!"
Itachi glared at him with blood-red eyes. "I said drop it."
Kisame glared right back. "And I said no." For the third time in a short while, he reached an arm out to Itachi.
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
Itachi stepped back. "I already told you. Don't. Touch. Me."
Kisame paused for a moment; then lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Itachi in a bear hug.
Itachi proceeded to flip out. "What the hell?! Let me go!!"
"Not until you answer my question!!" Itachi began to struggle violently, but he was no match for Kisame's strength.
"Listen to me!! I'm not gonna let go of you 'til you answer, so just-OWW!" Kisame stopped talking. He had to look down to make sure what he thought was happening really was happening.
Itachi was biting his shoulder.
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
Kisame stopped, then squeezed Itachi harder. "Go ahead. Kick me, bite me, I don't care. But I'm not letting go."
Itachi eyes were closed, his teeth clamped on to Kisame's shoulder.
"But if I really hated you, would I have spent almost two hours looking for you, because I knew storms scare you?"
Itachi's eyes snapped open.
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
"I don't hate you, Itachi. I never have, and I never will. I just got mad, and I'm sorry, ok?"
Itachi slowly opened his mouth. His teeth had left a mark in Kisame's shoulder. "It hurts…" he whispered.
"Hmm?" Kisame could feel Itachi trembling.
"When the person who's the most important to you… says they hate you…it really, REALLY hurts." Itachi buried his face against Kisame's chest and began to silently cry.
Kisame held the young man against him for a few minutes before reaching under his chin, and bringing Itachi's lips against his own. The action startled Itachi, but he quickly shut his eyes and returned the kiss. When Kisame nibbled at his bottom lip, he opened his mouth and allowed the shark access to the inside. Their tongues explored each other's mouth for a few moments before they broke the kiss to catch their breaths.
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
Itachi jumped again. He suddenly felt tired, and he finally noticed that both of them were still in their soaking wet clothes.
"Kisame?"
"Yeah?"
"Can we please go to bed?"
Kisame looked down at him with a soft smile. "Yeah."
The two quickly changed into dry clothes and crawled into the bed.
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
Itachi was pressed right up against Kisame's chest.
"God, you really do hate storms, don't you?" Kisame smiled down at him.
Itachi looked at him with round, onyx eyes.
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
Itachi squeezed the front of Kisame's shirt.
"It's ok, just relax…" Kisame wrapped both arms around Itachi and stroked his head. He continued to stroke him and mutter soft words of comfort into his ear, until Itachi finally fell asleep.