"Oh come on, Itachi. We still got the target. So what if two or three of the people got away?" Kisame asked angrily. They were walking along a path at the edge of a cliff, heading back from their most recent mission, to kill someone that had cheated Leader-sama out of some money. The killing had gone easily enough; however, a few of the ninjas had slipped away before Kisame could slice them in half with his sword. For some strange reason, Itachi was furious about that, and was refusing to talk to him.

"Itachi, at least tell me why you're so mad. Itachi?"

Itachi spun around on the small trail, the movement sending small rocks over the edge of the cliff. Anger was etched into every line on his face, his black eyes cold and hard. He glared up at his partner.

"What?" Kisame asked, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring right back at his partner.

"Kisame, the man we killed was well liked. Obviously, people are going to be angry about his death, and they're gonna come after us. We should have killed everyone; that way, the rest of that village wouldn't know about his death until we were back at the lair. Can't you even figure out something that simple, you stupid shark?!"

"God, Itachi, you know I never think of those things. So what if they come after us? We'll just kill them all and go home. Simple as that."

"No, moron, it's not that simple! They're gonna bring more people, and I've already overused my eyes, so I'm not going to be much help!"

"So you're just worried about getting hurt? I'll just kill them all then! Problem solved, we go home, end of story!"

Itachi just glared at him before turning around and starting up the path again, shaking his head at the idiocy of his partner.

Kisame watched him walk away, then started walking again as well. Itachi was giving off a aura of death, and Kisame knew better than to try and talk to him when he was like this. They continued along the path in silence for a while, when Itachi suddenly stopped. Kisame, who didn't notice, nearly crashed into the Uchiha.

"What the...Itachi, what's the matter?"

"Shh." Itachi held up his hand, his face serious, dark eyes narrowed, scanning the nearby forest. Kisame looked up, trying to find what had spooked his partner.

A kunai knife flew out of the the trees, flashing silver in the sunlight.

Itachi and Kisame jumped back as the knife pierced the ground. Dozens of ninja leapt from the darkness of the forest. Kisame reached around and grabbed Samehada from his back. He landed on the ground, and launched himself forward, slicing three ninja in half, spinning around in midair, slicing another across the torso. The man screamed as he fell back, his blood gushing out, staining the ground crimson. Kisame effortlessly sliced a female ninja in half, before turning to see how Itachi was holding up.

Itachi's blood stained the ground around him. His face was twisted in pain as blood flowed from a wound on his chest, and he was panting, his hair damp with sweat as he fought to keep the surrounding ninja from harming him further. They were pushing him back; he was near the edge of the cliff now, and nothing would be able to prevent his fall. A ninja slashed at him with a sword, Itachi took a step back to avoid it...and stepped right over the edge of the cliff.

Itachi's black eyes widened in surprise as his body fell, arching as it went. His hair tie snapped, and his dark hair surrounded his face. Itachi's pale hands reached up, grabbing at nothing, before gravity pulled down and over the edge of the cliff.

"ITACHI!" Kisame yelled, slashing through yet another ninja, before running towards the edge of the cliff, slicing through the ninja at the edge of it before they could throw kunai at his partner, injuring him further. Kisame channeled chakra to his feet and ran over the edge of the cliff.

He could see his partner's body falling through the air, eyes closed; he guessed Itachi had blacked out. Itachi was nearing the ground; luckily, the was forest coverage, but Itachi would still get seriously hurt.

Kisame increased his speed, but it did no good. Itachi's body hit the first tree and vanished into the deep green of the forest.

Kisame bent over his unconscious partner, and lifted him to a sitting position. Itachi's face was pale, and there was blood trickling out of his mouth, his eyes closed and his brow furrowed. But he was breathing. Granted, it was harsh and ragged, with every breath seeming to be a labor for the Uchiha, but he still was breathing.

Kisame shook his head in amazement as he gently picked his partner up. Itachi's arms were flopped across his chest, his head leaning against Kisame's chest. His hair was tangled mess, and blood from the wound on his chest and soaked into the ends of it. One of his legs seemed to be broken; no surprise there, the kid had just fallen over a cliff.

Kisame set off in search of shelter, listening to the dry crackling of leaves underfoot and the soft breathing of his partner.

Itachi's head hurt. That the first thing he noticed.

Itachi slowly opened his eyes, narrowing them and hissing at the light. His whole body hurt, not just his head. Itachi pulled himself into a sitting position, blankets covering him falling off as he did so. Itachi looked around. He was sitting in a slightly damp cave, with a fire going in the middle. It was night outside, the cool air invaded the cave and washed over Itachi, making him shiver. He noticed his hair wasn't in his usual ponytail. The black locks fell over his shoulders, adding to his femininity.

Itachi moved his right leg out from under the blanket. It was bandaged and in a splint, but still hurt like hell to move it. There was also a bandage on his side.

Mumbling startled Itachi. He quickly twisted around to see the cause of it, only to give a cry of pain and grip his side. He tried again, only this time, he went slower.

Kisame lay behind him, eyes closed and face peaceful. Itachi studied him for moment, then turned himself back around, closing his own eyes for a moment.

That's right. He had fallen off a cliff. Kisame must have carried him here, and taken care of his wounds. If Kisame had killed all the ninja the first time, this wouldn't have happened. But Kisame had still taken care of him. Itachi opened his eyes slowly again, twisting around again to look at his partner.

Even if you are a moron, you still are important to me, you stupid shark, Itachi thought, smiling.

Itachi laid down again and closed his eyes, listening to the soft breathing of his partner as he drifted off again, counting his blessings; among them, his partner.

Author's Comments:

I woke up an hour earlier to finish this. Ok, this one I blame on
1. I listened to way too much Linkin Park again
2. I read a lot of fanfics
3. One of my friends nearly fell off a cliff recently.

And now I'm gonna go get breakfast, if you hate this, that's ok. I have a headache now...