Please note that there are some major spoilers in this if you haven't read the recent Naruto Shippuuden chapters. Please don't yell at me telling I didn't tell you.
Uhm...this is kind of a go along with another oneshot I did thats called Just To See You Smile. You don't have to read that to get anything in here because I just copy/pasted about seven paragraphs from that to this. I couldn't think of a title at all. So, I searched through my itunes and came across Porcelain. You may not get the connection so, I'll try to explain it. If you have a porcelain doll from say, your grandma, and you've never really liked it. But after a while, you grow to like it more and more. One day it falls from it's shelf and breaks on your hardwood floor. It's sad, no?
Quick little quip...Itachi it extremley out of character. Sorry!
Porcelain
Footsteps echoed down the corridor. Outside the stone walls, and through the tiny windows, lighting flashed. The rain pattered against the walls solemnly. The footsteps turned sluggish as the rain speed up until ultimately there was no sound save for the tapping of the rain and claps of thunder.
Kisame stopped next to one of the windows and gazed outside. The trees morphed and slithered as the rain cascaded down the glass.
Zetsu had come back from witnessing the fight between the two Uchiha brothers about an hour before. He had told Kisame to meet him at Pein's office where he was to give his report.
"I trust the fight went well," Pein said leaning back in his chair, Konan standing behind him.
"Not…exactly," Zetsu spoke slowly.
Pein frowned and looked from him to Kisame. "I see. And I suppose you thought it was the right thing to include Kisame in this conversation."
"Well…He has a damn right to know what happened," His black half interrupted rudely.
Kisame's stomach tightened. He knew that this morning when Itachi left the compound, there was a high chance that he'd never see his partner again. But some part of him still repressed the fact that he could die. He just…couldn't. It wasn't possible.
Pein ignored the slight outburst from the darker side of the man before him. He sighed and stood, walking to the fireplace and gazed in the flickering flames. The light skipped over his face, reflecting off his piercings and casting specks of light on the wall. Kisame followed the dancing lights with his eyes, his mind going blank.
"Tell me what happened," Pein said evenly, "I find it hard to believe that Uchiha Itachi could loose that easily to a mere child."
"It was an interesting fight," Zetsu explained, shifting his weight on his feet, "The younger one, Sasuke, has grow immensely in power. I thought at the beginning of the fight that it would be over in the matter of minutes…"
It was an off day for the Hoshigaki/Uchiha team. They sat in the designated living room in the Akatsuki base; Kisame fiddling with a kunai and a sharpening tool and Itachi reading a book.
Kisame looked over to his partner who held the book only five inches from his face. "You know…we could always kidnap some medical nin and have them fix your eyes. Maybe one of the Konoha ones. They're better then any of the others."
Itachi replied with a light "Hn," and kept reading.
The shark frowned, "I was serious you know."
Itachi closed his book and looked over to his partner, his eyes their regular onyx color. "I don't know if it would work, Kisame. I've looked through that possibility myself and we'd have to find someone with enough chakra control so I wouldn't be rendered completely blind from an accidental flare. And where as taking a Konoha medical ninja is a good idea, do you seriously think that they'd do it? They'd probably kill me the first chance they get."
Kisame pondered this for a while. "True…"
"Besides, as long as I don't keep the Sharingan active the whole day, my eye sight won't deteriorate that fast."
"You better damn well do that because I'm not being a Seeing Eye dog for you when you can't see at all," Kisame laughed but quickly stopped when the Uchiha shot him a glare.
"The first half of the fight was just genjutsu," Zetsu watched Pein take this in, "Just as I thought it would be. It turns out that the brat is exceptionally well at it too.
"At one point, Sasuke broke Itachi's Tsukuyomi. I think this was where Itachi started to take him seriously. It must have been some lucky shot. There's no way a whelp like that could overcome Itachi's jutsu that easily.
"It surprised me what Itachi did next…"
It was just turning spring and there were no missions for any of the teams. Not that there was many of them left, with the Zombie Twins and the two artists dead and gone. There was only Kisame, Itachi, Tobi, Konan and Pein to help. It was anybody's guess where Zetsu went.
"God damn Konan," Kisame grumbled as he picked up one of the boxes from the grass outside the compound, "This is why I don't work with women."
"You better not let her hear you say that Kisame-san," Tobi said in a sing song voice as he ran outside with a rug in his arms. He was the only one still with his cloak on even though it was a good sixty-five degrees outside.
Weird kid... Kisame thought as he climbed the stairs and set the box he was carrying just inside the doorway.
When he walked back outside, he noticed Itachi sitting on the three foot high stone wall along the front walkway.
"You going to help?" The shark asked, slightly irritated.
"I would if I could," Itachi said softly.
Kisame did a double take. That wasn't exactly something characteristic for his partner to say. He sat down next to him.
"What do you mean?" He asked as he watched Tobi run and trip while he was carrying a box full of china. Konan came careening out the double doors that were propped open to yell at him.
The man next to him didn't respond right away. He looked over to him and noticed he was staring warily at their mask-clad co-worker.
"I was training last night," Itachi explained, "That's all. I'm just sore."
He stood and stretched slightly, his shirt rising and inch or two over his waist band, reveling his skin. Kisame spotted some discoloration in his skin but dismissed it. Itachi never lied to him. And if he was training, he was training. Everyone gets bruises from training; it was normal.
"They were both attacking each other with their clan's Katon Goukakyuu when Itachi triggered his Amaterasu."
Pein snapped his head over to Zetsu. He nodded his head as he spoke to his leader, "I know, it was a risky move, especially because he had been fighting with genjutsu the whole time. I don't know how the man had that much chakra left to pull that off.
"I don't know how, but somehow Sasuke escaped getting harmed from Amaterasu. I believe it might have to do something with the curse seal and Orochimaru's power."
"What?" Pein sneered, "I thought he killed that damn-"
"I'll get to that," Zetsu's black side lashed out, "Yes, he did. But first, let me finish where I was.
"Sasuke used another Katon jutsu that knocked Itachi back. They talked for some time. They were both almost completely out of chakra. Sasuke brought his final attack that he called Kirin. I thought Itachi died there, honestly. The little brat even almost killed me with his damn lightning bolt.
"Itachi regained his ground with his Susano."
"Sounds like a damn pattern," Pein said, frowning, "One attack after another, the other one dodges or blocks."
"Yes. I think that's why the fight took so long. But also, each attack hit their target at least enough to harm them each time. Itachi was bleeding profusely after Sasuke's lighting attack."
Blue feet padded quickly down the hall. When he reached his designation, he quickly knocked on the wooden door in front of him. He bounced on the balls of his feet on the cold floor. Why did the anti-heroes always have to live in a stone building that got so cold at night?
He knocked on the door again when no one answered. He grumbled as no one answered to second time. Kisame grabbed the handle and twisted it slightly. He peered inside the dimly lit room. His partner lay on his bed, seemingly asleep.
He let himself in quietly and latched the door behind him. He made his way over to Itachi but stopped. The man has his shirt off and his back was laced with cuts and scraps and his skin was discolored in many shades of blue, green, and yellow.
Kisame knew his partner trained hard and often but, there was no way that he could have done this to himself. But…how? There was no one around the base that could stand up to Itachi. He'd kill them before they'd get the chance.
He knelt by the side of the bed and spoke softly. "Hey, Itachi-san. Wake up, will you?"
The black haired man stirred a little but didn't wake. Kisame's brow pulled together in confusion. His partner didn't sleep a lot and when he did, he was a very light sleeper and woke up at the tiniest sound.
He shook his shoulder lightly and tried again. "Itachi, you've got to wake up now."
He flinched and Kisame could tell from his back rising and falling that he was awake. Itachi shifted his head to peer out of the curtain of his hair. His eyes widened and he sat up quickly, his long hair, out of his hair tie, flailing around him and then settling over his chest and shoulders softly.
"Kisame," Itachi said quietly as he continued the stare at his partner with wide eyes.
The shark studied his reaction. He'd never, ever seen him act like this. It was almost as if he was scared of him. And scared, he knew, was not in the Uchiha's range of emotions. Not around him anyways.
"Get out Kisame," Itachi commanded, his voice breaking just slightly.
Kisame looked at him hard, "No, I'm not. Not until you explain everything."
Itachi continued to look at him with wide eyes until finally he relaxed, his eyes sliding halfway shut and he gaze falling to the bed he was sitting on.
"Who did this to you?" Kisame asked, his voiced demanding but soft to not freak him out.
"..I did."
Kisame frowned, "No you didn't. You couldn't. Those are no normal training injuries."
"I told you," Itachi said almost inaudible, "I did it to myself."
Biting this inside of his cheek not to yell at him, Kisame stood up and sat on the bed in front of his partner. "Look at me."
Itachi kept his head tilted down. Kisame cupped his chin in his hand and pushed his head up so they were looking in each other's eyes. Itachi tried to tear away but Kisame stopped him. "You're going to answer me. I'm not leaving until you do."
They stared at each other until a small sob came from the black haired man's throat. Before Kisame could react, his partner slid his arms around his neck and was crying silently into his chest, his tears soaking into his shirt.
He let Itachi cry. Not because he thought it would be good for him to get it out…he just plain didn't know what to do.
"Itachi," Kisame asked, linking his hands around his waist, "What happened to you?"
"It was…Tobi," he mumbled.
Kisame blinked. "What do you mean 'it was Tobi'? That annoying kid did that to you?"
"He's not…" Itachi stopped, another sob catching in his throat, "He's not just an annoying little kid."
Kisame listened intently as Itachi explained himself. What he got from his crying partner was that the organization's Tobi was actually Madara Uchiha; one of the founding fathers, if you will, of Konohagakure. It confused the shark that this man abusing his partner could still be alive but, he let Itachi continue without interruption. Supposedly, Itachi has earned himself the spot to be under Madara's teachings. They were both working together to find a way to improve the Sharingan.
But, the man had a somewhat violent streak. And not even Itachi, the child who slaughtered his entire clan in his early teenage years, could stand up to him. And this man…was the real source that pulled all of them into Akatsuki and he was covering himself up as some inept kid.
They sat in silence after Itachi finished his explanation. Kisame was awestruck at what was really going on behind Akatsuki. He went to move Itachi back so he could talk to him face to face but the Uchiha had fallen asleep again, his face tear streaked.
"As you know, Pein, Sasuke killed Orochimaru somewhere around a month or two ago. He took in his chakra, and with that, ultimately his soul. After Itachi threatened Sasuke to stop using his attacks, Orochimaru's chakra slipped out and brought forth he himself. And he's still as disgusting as always, throwing himself up with his snakes.
"He was gone quickly though. It was almost a joke. Itachi's Susano held the Sword of Totsuka."
Pein laughed. "Of course Itachi had it. It's a good thing too. I would have hated to see the day when Orochimaru got his hands on that."
"Yes. Anyways, Itachi impaled him with it, sealing him away," Zetsu shook his head, "As I said, it was almost like a joke. He was there one second, gone the other.
"They were both almost completely drained of chakra now. Itachi couldn't even activate his Sharingan for a second. He was intent on taking Sasuke's eyes and it seemed like he'd stop at nothing to get them."
"So, you're telling me that if you get Sasuke's eyes, you'll be able to see again for the rest of your life?" Kisame asked as they were working through Itachi's many books and papers on the Uchiha Sharingan.
"Yes. That's what Madara has told me. He said that he went through the same detraction a long time ago. It was a total experiment but, he took one of our clan member's eyes that had exceptional ability in his techniques and replaced his own with his. I was surprised when he told me. He certainly had confidence in his theory considering that if it didn't work, he wouldn't be able to see anything."
"I see…"
"Sasuke attacked him with tool after tool that he carried with him, from kunai to explosive tags, but the Susano was still in affect and deflected him. It's the ultimate jutsu, really. I made Itachi nearly invincible."
"You say nearly," Pein sat down again and rested his elbows on the desk and rubbed his temples.
"Well, Itachi seemed to be suffering from internal bleeding. I'd say it happened way before the fight, despite the pummeling they were giving each other."
Kisame made a slight noise which caught everyone's attention.
"What is it Kisame?" Pein asked.
"It's…It's nothing," Kisame lied.
He'd promised Itachi he'd say nothing to anyone about knowing about Madara. Pein and Konan of course already knew because they were playing leaders for him. But Itachi had warned him that he'd probably be put to death if anyone found out that he knew the real secret behind the orange spiral mask.
"Is your eyesight getting that bad Itachi?"
Seconds ticked by. "…Yes."
Kisame sighed again and looked to what lay on the desk. There were books and loose papers all on the subject of the Uchiha Sharingan. Most were in Itachi's script.
"Look, when you fight you damned little brother for his eyes, what if…" he stopped and frowned. "If your eyesight is that bad, what are you chances of beating that brat?"
"I will beat him. There is no other outcome," Itachi said smoothly, "And I will take his eyes."
Kisame stood from the chair, "You're so god damn conceded! What are you going to do once you can see? Follow that damned Madara around like a puppy?" He yelled, frustrated.
Itachi's gaze fell to the rug on the floor.
"Itachi," Kisame's voice lowered and he ran a hand through his hair, "I'm worried about you."
"Kisame, when we both started here in Akatsuki, the only thing closest to a smile I could see on your face was a sadistic one. I can tell you smile more genuinely now. I hear it in your voice."
Kisame started at him, irritated that he completely changed the subject.
"Did you even listen to a word I just said? You didn't even answer my-"
"The reason," Itachi cut him off, "Is…" he stopped then a sad smile ran across his face.
"It's just to see you smile, Kisame."
"Itachi eventually got the brat backed up into a wall. He reached to rip out Sasuke's eyes but…" Zetsu stopped and made a face.
"But what?" Pein asked, "What did he do?"
"This is the part that confuses me," Zetsu shook his head, "All he did was fucking tap the kid in the forehead. And then he collapsed, dead. Sasuke lost consciousness shortly after."
Kisame bit the inside of his cheek hard. So there it was. His partner was dead. Now it was official.
It was late at night and Kisame was helping Itachi sift through his Sharingan work again. They did this almost every night that they didn't have a mission. Kisame was getting tired of reading over the same things time over time but, he wanted to help his partner as much as he could.
"Itachi-san," he sighed, "How much work do we have to go through?"
"I don't exactly know," Itachi said, his voice muffled by the scroll he held near his face.
Kisame huffed and threw the papers he held on the desk and stood from the chair. He walked to the bed and sat down beside his partner. "You're no help, you know that?"
"Hn."
Kisame reached across Itachi to grab one of the scrolls beside him. He stopped when he saw Itachi stiffen. He noticed how close they were to each other. Kisame slid his gaze over to Itachi. His partner's face held it's ever stoic expression but his eyes showed nervousness. The shark moved to sit back up but stopped halfway. He pulled the scroll down that blocked Itachi's lips and softly pressed his lips to his.
Itachi pulled back quickly, his face barley pink. Kisame mentally kicked him self and moved to get up off the bed. The black haired man grabbed his sleeve though. He looked back at his partner.
"I…I don't want you to go," Itachi stumbled over his words.
"I don't think it would be very good if I stayed any longer tonight though Itachi," Kisame said, turning to walk towards the door.
Itachi released his grasp on his sleeve only to relocate both hands on his collar and pulled him towards him into a kiss, his eyes squeezed shut. It wasn't as soft as the one Kisame had given him. It showed what he was feeling at the moment; scared and unsure.
Kisame still stood on the floor and Itachi was kneeling on the edge of the bed. Kisame slid his arms around his waist. When they pulled away from each other, Kisame stared into his partner's eyes. They were a mix of emotions. Itachi bit lightly on his bottom lip as they stood there.
"Kisame," Itachi said quietly, releasing and then gripping back onto the collar of his partner's cloak, "I don't…I don't know what to do."
Kisame laughed at him and himself, "Neither do I."
He started kissing him again, pushing him back so he lay on his back on the bed. He straddled him as he unbuttoned his cloak.
"You sure Itachi?" Kisame asked, hovering a couple inches above his face.
He nodded his head slowly and Kisame started kissing him again.
When Kisame woke up in the morning, he found Itachi sitting on the side of the bed in his black issued pants. There were bruises on his back and arms. Kisame smiled as he knew he was the one to give them to him and it wasn't that damn Madara, and it wasn't to hurt him.
Itachi heard him sit up and turned around, his let down hair following the movement. There was the slightest of smiles set on his lips. Kisame smiled back.
"Did you leave his body out there Zetsu?" Pein asked anger in his voice.
"I checked if Sasuke was indeed knocked out and then I went to find Ma-I mean, Tobi," Zetsu corrected himself, glancing over to Kisame who stiffened as he heard his mistake, "He was fighting the Kyuubi and his teammates at the time. But I told him that Uchiha Sasuke had beat Itachi.
"Telling him that in front of the kids childhood friends would make them want to go and find them. So I sent Tobi off to gather Itachi's body and take care of Sasuke."
"What?!" Kisame yelled loudly from his corner of the room.
All three sets of eyes were on him now.
"What are you so stressed out about, Kisame?" Pein asked, giving him a weird look.
"You're just going to let that bastard have his body?!" He was shaking with anger.
"I don't see a problem with it Kisame," Pain said calmly.
"I fucking do!" He yelled and stormed out the door and to his designated room.
He grabbed his cloak and Sameheda and ran outside into the pouring rain. He ran and ran and ran until he could feel the faint sign of the chakra he knew all to well.
"Dammit," he growled, "I'm not going to let him have him."
Just wait Itachi…I'll see you again. And I'll make sure I see you smile one last time.