It was a quiet evening in the house while Itachi drank his tea. All was quiet in the dining room-no distractions. It was the room, the table, chairs, Itachi, and a cup of tea. Sasuke was downstairs in this bedroom on the computer and Kisame was down the hall doing something else.
A quiet clink of the mug sitting on the table echoed in the room. The surface was warm against Itachi's cold palms.
Itachi closed his eyes and out of curiosity, picked up the red mug with both hands. Both of his hands were now warm. Not only were his hands warm, but Itachi was at peace with himself, not thinking about much. His nose was just close enough to the mug to catch some steam and fill his nostrils with the smell of hot tea.
Another clink that was not the sound of his mug sitting down was brought to Itachi's attention. Experimentally, he moved his left arm-the arm where he wore his bracelets. A small jingle was Itachi's only response.
Wearing bracelets wasn't part of Itachi's nature. Itachi wasn't a big fan of jewelry, but curiously, he wore it nonetheless. It wasn't Itachi's decision to buy jewelry. Other people just assumed that Itachi favored wearing jewelry. That or others thought that Itachi looked good with jewelry. Itachi, however, did not wear jewelry because he looked good in it. Itachi wore jewelry because it was a gift from others who cared about him. Well, most of it was.
A thin, black cord was wrapped around Itachi's wrist with a silver clip. It was a medical bracelet courtesy of the hospital where Itachi got treatment for his illness. His brother Sasuke thought that it looked good against Itachi's relatively pale skin and matched his black hair. When Sasuke said things like that, Itachi gave him a wry smile, knowing that Itachi only wore it for medical purposes. Visiting the hospital wasn't part of Itachi's happier memories.
The next item on Itachi's arm was a band. The band was red in color and bore the term 'Determination'. Sasuke purchased the band for little money at a drug store because he thought that it described Itachi's personality perfectly. It did, really. This piece of jewelry was one that actually brought a genuine smile to Itachi's face because it had more meaning than 'looking cool'. When Itachi was exhausted after a trip from the hospital, he wouldn't pass out right away when most would have. Itachi could long outlast them only because he wanted to. After Itachi would pass out, Kisame would always be there to catch him, stroke his hair and say 'you're definitely a fighter. A stubborn one at that'.
The bracelet causing most of the noise on Itachi's arm was a thick, black bracelet made of hematite. If Itachi moved a certain way, this bracelet would clink against Itachi's medical 'cord' bracelet making noise. This one cost more, and had a lot of meaning. The others were for purposes Itachi could control and were bought cheap at a drug store as a small present. This one was a present from Kisame. Kisame thought of a present, bought it with his own money, and surprised Itachi with it. It seemed that Kisame had the same idea that black metals looked good against Itachi's pale skin and dark hair. Upon hearing his reason, Itachi sighed and smiled for Kisame's effort, slipping the bracelet onto his wrist. Kisame then explained that not only did it look good against Itachi, but that it was Kisame's present to him. Kisame figured that he liked to wear jewelry and tried really hard to get him a gift that he'd like.
"You'll never learn that you don't have to buy me presents, Kisame. You know that right?" Itachi had asked him.
Kisame smiled, bent down and wrapped his arms around Itachi's waist, engulfing him in a hug. "And you'll never understand that you're teaching me something that I just don't get. You know that right, Itachi-san?" Kisame had asked him.
Itachi smiled a small smile. He came to love that sharky 'I really tried, Itachi' grin that Kisame had. That grin was among the many other sharky grins that Kisame had. Itachi loved them all.
Lastly, the one piece of jewelry that actually could be called jewelry: Itachi's necklace. It wasn't for medical purposes, it wasn't cheap, and it wasn't…a bracelet. (He was sure that Kisame didn't pay much for the hematite bracelet) This necklace was something that Itachi wore every day. He only took if off to keep it clean and flawless as it was meant to be.
Somberly, Itachi brought his right hand up to the cord with the metal rings wrapped around his neck. He was so fixated on fingering the one middle ring that he didn't hear somebody coming through the kitchen. The necklace was special because of the one who gave it to him…
'Shisui…' Itachi thought.
"Itachi-san?" Kisame asked, standing by the dining room entrance.
Itachi looked up and slowly brought his hand down to rest on the table. Kisame watched his hand and Itachi instantly knew what Kisame was thinking. For some reason, though, Kisame didn't address it.
"Are you ready to come to bed?" He asked him.
"Yeah." Itachi replied, picking up his mug. As he stood up, he swished the warm liquid around the bottom . He wasn't going to drink the rest.
As the Uchiha walked the mug to the sink, he couldn't help but think that Kisame was more like a father figure to him rather than a partner. Kisame truly cared about him, and Itachi confirmed this theory when he turned around only to be met with that sharky grin. Only this time, it meant something different…
'I love you'