Kisame was aware that there was distance between himself and Itachi. It had always been there, and it probably always would.
The Uchiha didn't get close to people; either that was his choice, or the one thing he wasn't capable of doing. Even around Kisame he was cold and stoic. It had been weeks before he'd talked to the shark, months before they'd carried on a conversation, and almost a year before they had a relationship that could loosely be interpreted as friendship. Very, VERY loosely.
Kisame sighed to himself as he walked down the hall of the Akatsuki base. Maybe that was why he felt so happy around Itachi. He was the only one who could get that close to Itachi. The only person who ever had half an idea of what the Uchiha was thinking about. The only one who could get physically close to the weasel.
But there was still distance between the two.
Kisame ferverantly shook his head as he grabbed the doorknob to the room he shared with Itachi. He really shouldn't think about that stuff; he was the closest person to the Uchiha, so what was the problem? It was stupid, cruel, even, to want more from Itachi when the weasel couldn't give it to him. "I'm home," he called out as he entered the room. Itachi looked up from where he was laying on the bed before lying back down and staring at the ceiling.
Kisame could tell that his partner wasn't in the conversing mood, so he grabbed a book and sat down in an armchair. He opened it up and started reading. Silence filled the room.
His concentration was broken by the sound of soft footsteps approaching. "Kisame?" the shark looked up. Itachi was standing above him, his expression unreadable. "What are you reading?"
Kisame tilted the book's cover towards himself. "Let's see, it's called…" his voice trailed off as Itachi pulled one of the shark's arms away from the book and slid into his lap. "You can keep reading," he informed Kisame.
Kisame was expected to read while his adorable partner was sitting in his lap, snuggling against him. Yeah right.
However, Kisame was concerned that if he simply put the novel aside and focused all his attention on the weasel (which he wanted to do oh-so-badly) he'd scared the Uchiha off. So, he opened his book and held it up with one hand, wrapping the other arm around Itachi to make sure the smaller man didn't slide off his lap.
A few minutes passed, and Kisame had completely lost interest in his book. "Play with my hair."
The shark had to look down to make sure he'd heard right. Itachi stared back at him, his face stoic as always. But those black eyes were exposing some kind of emotion….was it….want? "Please?" Itachi asked, his voice somewhat unsure.
Kisame shut his book and gently dropped it to the floor. His now free hand traveled to the back of Itachi's head and grabbed the hair tie. He paused before gingerly pulling it down, freeing the onyx locks from their prison. He set the hair tie down on top of his book, before returning his fingers to Itachi's head. He lightly brushed his fingertips against the Uchiha's warm scalp, before sliding his fingers through the strands of black hair.
For a long time, Itachi's face was completely blank, and Kisame couldn't tell if his partner was enjoying this or not. The shark was overcome by a sudden impulse and kissed the top of his partner's head.
To his amazement, Itachi shut his eyes and gave a content sigh, resting his head against Kisame's chest. The Uchiha's head wasn't directly over the shark's heart, but it was close enough that he could still hear the heartbeat. Reassured by his partner's actions, Kisame resumed stroking Itachi's hair, gently pulling at the locks and stopping every now and then to give his partner another kiss.
The room was filled with silence, but this was a comfortable, relaxed quiet, and not the uncomfortable awkward kind Kisame was so used to. He looked at his partner's face, and if he had to guess, he'd say Itachi was thinking something along the lines of, "This is nice." Itachi slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the shark. "Can we stay like this?"
"Sure, but my leg's falling asleep." Itachi frowned. "That's not what I meant." He sighed, searching for the right words. "I mean…" He growled to himself. Kisame watched, an amused expression on his face. It was a rare occurrence to see Itachi at a loss for words.
The Uchiha moved his head and pressed his eyes against the side of Kisame's neck. Maybe not having to look at Kisame would make explaining easier for him. "I don't like being around people. It's annoying, it's pointless, and it makes me more homicidal than usual. For the longest time, you were no exception to that rule. But…..lately……it's become harder and harder to feel like that around you. This was a test to see if I could actually stand to be close to you." Itachi pulled away and looked up at Kisame. "As it turns out, I can. Moreover…..I can be close to you…..and actually like it." He blushed as the last part came out.
Kisame wasn't sure how to respond. Slowly, as if he were disarming a bomb, he moved one hand from Itachi's hair to his chin, tilting his chin up to face the shark. "You really mean that, don't you?" The weasel looked away, nodding.
Kisame opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it. Instead, he leaned in and kissed his partner.
Itachi returned the kiss hesitantly, then with more feeling as it went on. Kisame wrapped his arms around Itachi's back, and Itachi slipped his own around the shark's neck. When they broke away, he was panting, and Kisame was grinning. "You need to work on kissing, you know."
The Uchiha frowned and bit Kisame's lower lip.
"OW!" the shark silently begged for mercy as Itachi pulled at his lip.
Satisfied, the Uchiha released his partner and smirked. "What was that?"
"I said you need to practice this," Kisame answered, pressing his lips to Itachi's again.