An unlikely partnership Chapter 1, a naruto fanfic

~Itachi's Point of View~

The Akatsuki's main base was unusually filled. Everyone except Pein, Konan, and Zetsu were held up in the large cave. Apparently Deidara and Sasori had been given a couple of weeks off from missions, so they were focusing on their artwork. And no doubt arguing about it...

Kisame and I happened to return from a mission about the same time as Hidan and Kakuzu. Once we had finished giving Pein our report, he informed us that Kisame and Kakuzu were to have extended time off from missions. The two of them were exhausted beyond measure, and I couldn't blame them. Most of the missions Kisame and I had been going on as of late were mostly combat situations. So Kisame tended to take the lead on those sorts of assignments.

And I suppose Kakuzu was just fed up with Hidan. Ah Hidan,the obnoxious man who was just a year older than I. He had somehow managed to catch my attention and my heart. I'd somehow fallen for him. I wasn't sure how it happened, but his face plagued my thoughts constantly. I was actually quite happy to know that Hidan and I were the only two who didn't have time off. That meant there was a chance we might actually get sent on a mission together. I collapsed onto my bed and let out a heavy sigh. "What I would give to spend even a little time alone with him..."

My eyes were becoming heavy and I was just about to give in to sleep when there was a knock on the door. I groaned and reopened my eyes. "Yes?"

"Yo, Uchiha, it's Hidan. We gotta mission from Pein, says it's real important. We're to set out for the land of iron to collect some important documents."

My heart jumped in excitement. I was actually getting a chance to be alone with Hidan. I got off of my bed and walked over to the door and opened it. "All right. Is there a set time we need to retrieve the documents, or is this a mission that we can set our own pace on?"

Hidan brought a hand up to play with his hair. "Nah man, Pein said to take our time since everyone else is here at the base. So we can head on out as soon as you're ready." He cocked his head to the side and smirked. "I do have one request though; try not to treat me like I'm a worthless piece of shit like Kakuzu does."

I had to suppress a smile at his words. "You need not worry about that. Give me a moment to gather up a few things and we can set out." I turned around and walked over to my small dresser to collect various weapons and supplies. I packed everything inside of the pouches that were adorning my waist. I could feel Hidan's eyes on me the whole time, and I can't say I disliked the feeling. "Hidan, I am curious," I turned around to face him. "did you think staring at me the whole time would make me pack faster?"

Hidan was smirking at me and let out a menacing laugh. "Nah, just felt like staring." He stepped back into the hallway. "Okay, Uchiha, I guess this means we can head on out now. I'm also just gonna assume that you're gonna take the lead and I'm to only speak when spoken to, follow orders, that sort of thing?"

I tilted my head and looked at him in confusion. "Is working with Kakuzu really that bad? Or is my reputation that bad? I thought we'd just take our time and work together. It's a simple retrieval mission, there shouldn't be any need for us to boss each other around."

Hidan's eyes lit up. "Hell yeah working with Kakuzu is that bad!" He smiled happily after saying that. "Itachi my friend, I think I see a beautiful partnership in the works." He grabbed a hold of my wrist and started dragging me down the stairs.

My heart stopped in my chest. "I can walk on my own you know..." Ah, keeping up appearances around Hidan is going to be hard work. "It's taking all of my effort not to slip my hand into his..." I sighed at how pathetic I was being. I, Itachi Uchiha, who slaughtered his own clan, was in love. How absolutely pathetic.

Hidan simply shrugged it off and turned back to wink at me. "Maybe I just wanted to hold your wrist." He continued to drag me along until we exited the base, and then he laughed. "Oh relax Uchiha, it was just a simple joke, don't take everything so seriously."

I stared at the complicated man in front of me and huffed. "Let's just head for the land of iron now..." I ducked my head to hide my oncoming blush, and quickly shuffled ahead of him. "This, is not going to be easy." I was very fortunate that I got my breathing under control by the time Hidan caught up to me.

The two of us walked side by side from there on out. Hidan was talking about anything and everything, and seemed very happy that he wasn't being ignored or interrupted. I couldn't help but laugh at a few of his stupid jokes. He was so energetic and happy over everything.

Hidan looked over at me and grinned. "Damn, you totally just laughed at my joke."

I tilted my head at him as we stopped walking. "Why, does that surprise you?"

Hidan chuckled. "Well, y'know, Kakuzu is kind of stiff with no sense of humor whatsoever. Damn jerk never laughs at my jokes, never listens when I talk, and usually scolds me for talking too much." He grinned at me again. "I dunno man, you just kind of listen attentively, and let me get it all out of my system."

I frowned. "Does Kakuzu really treat him that badly?" I stared at Hidan for a moment, trying to figure out how anyone could possibly mistreat him. Especially with that messy silver hair, that menacing smile, and those alluring purple eyes. I let out a longing sigh. "Oh how I love those eyes..."

Hidan gulped and scratched the side of his face. "Uhm, hey man, why're ya starin' at me like I'm somethin' to eat?"

That immediately snapped me out of my thoughts and I could feel my face heat up. I bit my bottom lip and shook my head. "Hn..." I once again made haste to get in front of Hidan as a way to hide my embarrassment. "I'm so foolish. What was I thinking staring at him like that?"

"Yo, Itachi! Wait up!" Hidan caught up in a matter of seconds and stopped right in front of me. "Hey, your face is all red. You got a fever or something?" He didn't give me time to respond before opening his mouth again. "That's cool man, you're willing to risk your health for the sake of the mission. But it'd probably be a good idea if we found a village by nightfall."

I gave a simple nod in reply. "That's still a few hours away, so let's keep walking."

The two of us resumed walking side by side along the pathway. After another hour or so, I was beginning to think I did have a fever. Something felt off to me...I was beginning to feel light-headed, and before I knew it, the ground was spinning. "Wait, the ground...?" I must have gotten too dizzy to realize that I was falling.

Before I had the misfortune of collapsing on the ground, I was caught in a very warm pair of arms and pressed against a very firm torso. I strained my eyes to see who it was, Hidan. "Of course it's Hidan, who else would it be...?" I groaned softly and my eyes were becoming too heavy to keep open.

Hidan held me securely against his chest. "Hey..." His voice was quieter than usual, and held a sort of gentleness to it. "You okay?"

I groaned again and shook my head. My eyes were too heavy, so I finally gave in and closed them. I relaxed against Hidan's chest and started to fall asleep. "Hn...tired..."

"Hey wait a Jashin damned second; you can't fall asleep on me now. We can't be more than two hours away from the nearest village." He shook my body gently. "Come on now man..."

I coughed as a bout of nausea rushed through me. I turned in his arms and pressed all of my weight against him. "This may be the first time I'm actually happy I'm having an attack from the illness..." I nuzzled my face into his chest and became very comfortable. "He's so unbelievably warm."

Hidan let out a heavy sigh. "Fine, fine." He let go of me with one arm, which I assumed was so he could put his scythe down. He scooped me up in his arms and slung me over his back. "Damn Itachi, I think you're lighter than the scythe." He no doubt picked the scythe back up with the intention of carrying it by hand the rest of the way. "I'm just gonna assume you got some sort of health thing goin' on, and carry you. Get some sleep and don't even think about protesting, you got me?"

I tightened my grip on Hidan and nodded against his shoulders. "Hn...sleep, no protesting..." I yawned softly and nuzzled into him. "...Understood."I heard Hidan sigh as he resumed walking down the path. I could feel myself drifting in and out of consciousness for several minutes before finally giving in to sleep.

~Hidan's Point of View~

After another ten minutes of walking I could tell that Itachi had fallen asleep. His arms were wrapped snugly around my neck and his face was pressed tightly into my shoulder. I found it oddly comforting to listen to the sound of Itachi breathing. "Damn, maybe I should have talked to Kisame before telling Itachi we had a mission. Although, it is kind of adorable that the great and almighty Itachi Uchiha is currently sleeping on my back..." I smirked to myself when the thought crossed my mind.

Night had finally fallen by the time we reached a small village. Not bothering to conceal my weapon, I made my way to the nearest Inn. It looked like the only Inn the village had, but it was pretty damn nice. I approached the counter and smiled at the nervous looking woman. "Hey there, you gotta room for two by chance?"

The woman tried her best to smile back at me, but failed miserably. "I-I uh...yes. It's the last room we have available. How long will you be staying?"

I thought about that for a minute, and how it might be better for the both of us if Itachi had a few days to rest. "Let's make it two days." I placed a generous amount of money on the counter in hopes it was enough, and not too much. "I really hope I don't get scammed out of this payment, Kakuzu will kill me." I chuckled to myself at the thought.

The woman seemed rather scared by my sudden laugh, but she handed me the room key nonetheless. "Uhm, go up the stairs there and your room will be the last one on the left...please enjoy your stay."

"Thank you!" I hauled Itachi and my scythe up the stairs and made my way to the end of the hall. There was an oval shaped mirror hanging on the wall in between the last two rooms, and I got a glimpse of how peaceful Itachi looked. I turned my attention to the door on the left and unlocked it. Upon entering the room and turning the light on, I noticed that it was a decent size; balcony straight ahead, small bathroom to the right, small lounging area on the same side as the bathroom, and the double bed was on the left. Wait, what?

I stared at the bed in disbelief. "Well fuck." I set my scythe against the bathroom wall, and walked over to the bed. I carefully took Itachi off of my back and placed him on the bed. I removed all of his ninja gear so that he was left in just his shirt and pants. I placed them in a not-so-neat pile on the left bedside table. I took everything of mine off save for my pants and necklace. My stuff I just dumped on the floor in the corner of the room.

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed in frustration. "When I told the stupid cunt I wanted a room for two, I meant two separate beds. Not one big bed for two people..." I was just about to tuck Itachi into the left side of the bed, when he started to shift.

His eyes slowly started to blink a few times before they were open completely. He groaned softly and scanned the part of the room he could see. After a moment, his eyes locked on to mine. "Hidan? Where are we?"

I put my hands up in surrender. "Look man, we're at the only Inn this village seems to have, and I told the dumb bitch downstairs I wanted a room for two, and she said this was the last room. But I swear to you I didn't know it only had one bed. I'll sleep on the floor or the couch or something and just—"

Itachi stopped my sentence short by waving a hand at me in dismissal. "It's fine Hidan, sharing a bed for one night isn't going to kill us."

I scratched the side of my face. "Uh yeah, about that...I kind of thought you'd be better off resting for a few days, so we wouldn't be slowed down, so I booked the room for two days."

Itachi's eyes seemed to light up after hearing that. "Either way it's not going to kill us." He started to say something else but seemed hesitant. He continued to keep his eyes locked on mine for several minutes. "Is it all right if I go back to sleep?"

"Huh? Course it's all right. That's the whole point of the room." I yawned and scratched the back of my neck. "Think I'm gonna get some sleep too. After all, I was lugging something heavy while walking for two hours straight."

Itachi had this look of guilt on his face and frowned. "Hidan, I'm sorry, you could have woken me up."

I laughed heartily at his comment. "Oh you don't have to apologize Uchiha, I was talking about my scythe. That thing is so damn heavy. You weren't heavy at all, it was kind of nice listening to you sleep." I winked at him before turning off the lights and crawling into the bed beside him. I laid down on the right side flat on my back. I let out another yawn before mumbling, "Night Uchiha."

I had been having a very peaceful dream about sacrificing the lives of innocent people to Lord Jashin, when I was rudely awakened by the sound of coughing. I groaned and sat up. "Who the fu—" I didn't finish my remark when I realized it must have been Itachi I heard coughing. He wasn't in the bed anymore, and the bathroom light was on. I listened to the sound of him coughing for several minutes before hearing the toilet flush. After a few more minutes I heard the sound of running water, followed by a small, pitiful cough. Once it got quiet, I laid back down and waited for him to come out.

It took another minute or two, but Itachi slowly made his way out of the bathroom. He crawled back into the bed, got under the blankets, and snuggled up against me. His entire body was trembling, and I couldn't suppress a yelp when his ice cold face came into contact with my chest. His teeth were chattering, and rather loudly at that.

I frowned and instinctively used my left hand to rub up and down his arm. "Hey man, you're ice cold. What the hell is wrong with you?"

Itachi pressed as closely to me as he could without having to climb on top of me. "...I got sick and most of what I threw up was blood..." He continued to tremble and press into me in a desperate attempt to get warm.

I sighed and wrapped both my arms around him. "Well come here then." I tucked the blanket tightly around the two of us and held him firmly against my bare chest. I rubbed my hands up and down his back and shoulders in an attempt to warm him up. "Damn Itachi."

~Itachi's Point of View~

The heat was finally returning to my body and I no longer feared freezing to death. A part of me was thankful that I'd had an episode; it gave me a valid excuse to cuddle up to Hidan. He was still so very warm compared to me, and I didn't want to move.

Hidan apparently had other plans, for he started to pull away.

I panicked. "No, not yet...I need more time with him." I tightened my grip on Hidan's body and pressed my face into the crook of his neck. I all but climbed on top of him in the process. "H-Hidan, I'm not warm enough yet..."

Hidan sat up and looked down at me. "What do you mean you're not warm enough yet? You feel plenty warm to me and you stopped trembling." He looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face.

I frowned and shook my head. "Hidan, please..."

His expression changed to that of mild shock. He had this look in his eyes that said he knew. He nodded and laid back down, gently pulling me against his chest. He ran his hand up my back and gently cradled my head. His fingers began to gently massage my scalp, and he let out a soft yawn before nuzzling his face into my hair. "How long?"

I felt my heart skip a beat at his question. I took a deep breath and sighed. "Too long..." I nestled my head comfortably onto his chest and closed my eyes. "Far too long..."

He wrapped his arms around my waist and gave me a gentle squeeze. "Then for the rest of these two days we have this hotel room for, you can crawl into my arms at anytime your sickly heart desires."

His voice was soft and teasing as he spoke.

I managed a weak laugh and sighed contently against his chest. "What about when we're back at the base?"

Hidan went quite for a minute and then pressed a gentle kiss on my forehead. "As long as you're comfortable with the rest of the guys knowing how you feel about me, then you will always have a place in my arms, and a place on my chest."

I instantly felt a warmth that I hadn't felt in years. I climbed up on top of him and nestled into the crook of his neck. "Thank you Hidan." I smiled against his skin when I felt him wrap the blanket tightly around the two of us. "May I go back to sleep now?"

Hidan let out a raspy chuckle. "It's about time you selfish dick. You did wake me up after all." His voice was filled with playful mischief and he placed a big, wet kiss on the top of my head. "Sleep now little weasel. I'll be here when you wake up."

I brought my hands up to rest them on his chest and I sighed contently. I let out a soft yawn and nuzzled into him before closing my eyes. "Good night Hidan..." I fell asleep in Hidan's soft embrace, listening to the gentle sound of his soothing heartbeat. And I knew one thing was certain; this was going to be the most peaceful night's sleep I'd ever had.

A/N: I decided to switch it up a bit, and write a story in multiple points of views. I ended this on a simple note, in case I don't write anymore chapters.

If it gets enough interest I'd be happy to write more.

Also, it was odd for me to write Hidan's lines, since the only cuss word I ever use is hell.