Title: In Passing
By: Midnight Unicorn
A/N: like the previous chapter based on the Kyuushuu RP, but with a different character. Light yaoi warnings
Disclaimer: Naruto world belongs to Kishimoto, Tenno belongs to Rough Hands. Takumi belongs to me.

Most days Takumi didn't like people and went out of his ay to avoid them. Unless temperatures were frigid to the point of dangerous he slept outdoors when he could, away from the smells that reminded him he was surrounded by useless, animated bodies that, by law, he was not allowed to dispose of.

Sometimes, though, the rain got to him, too.

Growling inarticulately under the shelter of his hooded jacket, Takumi stomped through the dirty streets of the less-than-appealing half of the city, the type of place where too many of his jobs had been of late. He was quickly realizing it was time to stop hiding his talents behind the façade of a freelance medic. Surely an assassin received better pay? It's not like he as squeamish about killing. It's not like he hadn't killed already many times.

Takumi was deep in his thoughts, pondering which among his contacts would be most beneficial in expanding his job description, but not so deep that he did not catch the ragged breathing from his left and stopped just before a full grown man stumbled in front of him and landed face first in the mud. The rain dampened the effect but after a few seconds Takumi inhaled the sharp tang of blood and wrinkled his nose with displeasure.

"I hope you didn't get blood on my shoes," he remarked disdainfully, stepping back to examine said footwear.

The man emitted a strange sound that turned out to be a weak laugh as he pushed himself up on all fours and the scent became stronger. Tipping his head slightly Takumi saw the mud was already mixed with a fair amount of blood and no doubt that fall had just dirtied the wound. "I do so apologize if I ruined your shoes," the other man rasped. "I'm afraid I had other things on my mind than where I landed."

"So I see," Takumi replied dryly. "Perhaps no one mentioned, but it seems you need a medic."

"How kind of you," the man chuckled, rising with difficulty to his knees, one hand pressed over his shirt, hiding the extent of his injury. "Know where I could find one?"

Takumi narrowed his acidic green oculars as he assessed the man. His clothing was plain enough, what wasn't damaged by tears, blood and a few burn marks that had probably smoldered out in the damp air, but there was a kunai pouch strapped to his thigh and inclining his head the other way Takumi say the leaf symbol of Konoha on his upper arm.

When he looked at the man's face again, thin and pale, streaked with mud and diluted blood, and met his eyes, ice blue, piercing, almost captivating if Takumi were a romantic, he was an odd mix of resigned and wary. "You're a shinobi of Konoha."

"You do have an eye for the obvious," the man retorted, sounding mildly irritated. He planted one foot on the sludge-like road and started to rise, wavering and uncoordinated, accompanied by a sharp inhale of pain. Takumi counted the seconds till he fell again, groaning as his knees found the still hard stone beneath the muck.

"You know, you fell in the first place for a reason," he continued, now somewhat amused, which was rare when he was wet and cold and in a place of people. "My guess is it has something to do with blood loss."

"Yes, well, if you could just direct me to a medic…" the man as panting slightly with the wasted effort and a full-bodied shudder wracked his frame.

"It so happens," Takumi drawled, feeling little urgency as he taunted the man, propping one hand on his hip, jutted slightly to the side. "I am a medic. It also happens I am in need of money."

The man groaned in frustration, which briefly became pain and he doubled up a little, clutching at his chest. "I don't have any money," he growled. "I do have a room, though, and you can use it, I don't care. I just…" he trailed off as he began to shake violently. "I think there was poison on that blade…."

Takumi wasn't sure if that last part was spoken to him, but he could never pass up the possibility of laying his hands on a new poison. "Deal," he agreed briskly, leaning over and slinging the man's arm around his comparatively narrow shoulders. He grunted in pain, but Takumi ignored him, frowning as his hood fell back and the man's ragged breathing filled his ear.

"How sweet of you," the man's words were running together, but not in the same manner as a drunks.

Takumi ignored that on reflex. "Which way is this room of yours? It better be nice, or the deals off and I'll just leave you here to die."

"Sweet," he muttered again, but in a more sarcastic way. "It's the Kuroda's inn, know…"

His voice faded again. Takumi shifted his hold, which illicited a moan. "I know it. How much blood have you lost?" He didn't answer right away, and then his feet stopped stumbling along, almost pulling Takumi off balance which annoyed him severely. "You dumbass!"

"I don't….think…." It was plain every word was a struggle for coherency, but Takumi understood. He looked around quickly, spotting an overturned and empty food cart in an alley between two restaurants. He dragged the man—who seemed to have lost all ability to control his body—to the flimsy wooden shelter and propped him up under the minimal cover.

He nudged the man's hand away from his shirt and peeled the bloody fabric away as it clung to his skin. The man made a strange gurgling that was the best he could manage at a chuckle. "Not….u…first n-mes…doc…"

"Shut up, you're distracting me." Takumi muttered, pressing a hand to the man's forehead to force him t sleep. "Now, let's see what we can dig out of you blood stream…"

I

The bed he was in was somewhat familiar. He wiggled his shoulders a little and remembered it belonged to the room his client had generously rented at a fairly decent hotel. Too bad the man had lied about the possible danger of the mission. Now, what he couldn't remember was how he got there.

"Get up." He tensed for a moment as the irritated voice he didn't know nor sense in the room snapped at him, but then a face sprang up in his mind and he repressed a smile.

He sat up first, feeling light headed for a moment and a faint ache across his torso as well as a chill. "Good morning to you too," he replied mildly, assessing the situation rapidly. He was without a shirt, which would explain the chill, and a fresh scar that slashed from his hip to his shoulder was angry red but closed accounted for the pain. He blinked and then cautiously lifted the edge of the blanket pooled around his waist and spilling over his legs, checking that he was right. "You stripped me."

The medic glared, arms crossed over his thin chest but not a trace of shame coloring his pale cheeks. "I also washed you which was NOT part of the deal, but I couldn't put you in the bed all covered in blood and mud when I'm going to have to sleep in that."

"You could have put me on the floor," he pointed out.

"You tried to kick me in the face," he was informed angrily. The younger man looked really good so thoroughly agitated, less androgynous, more interesting. He also looked tired.

"I'm so sorry, reflex," he tried for a charming smile, but it didn't seem to have an effect. "Let's try again. My name is Tenno. Obviously you've already realized I'm a Konoha shinobi. You're turn, name and village."

Those poisonous emerald eyes narrowed at the command in his voice, and Tenno was prepared to catch a kunai aimed between his eyes. "Akira," he replied stiffly. "And I'm not affiliated with a village. Never have been."

Tenno cocked a skeptical eyebrow; he really wanted to curl up under the blanket, but he had no weapon and Akira did. "Where—"

"I learned what I needed to; now get out of the bed. I'm exhausted," he snapped. Tenno was surprised sparks didn't fly off of him in aggravation, but he didn't seem like a fire-natured person, anyway.

A slow grin unfurled over his mouth, and he slid back down to curl up just like he'd wanted, tipping his head to look at Akira mischievously. "It's cold though and I'm warm here. I can share." He scooted over a little, eyes sparkling.

Takumi cursed himself for noticing the almost sapphire shade his eyes became and for remembering how he fit his frame with broad shoulders, a trim waist and toned muscles, the inevitable scars fading into his pale skin tone. He's noticed more to, but didn't let his thoughts wander there. "No. Move."

"Make me," Tenno taunted.

He was right that Takumi had a weapon—several—but not exactly what kind. He literally jumped at the first loud crack of the whip as Takumi yanked it from its holster at the small of his back, like a small explosion in its suddenness. It was also a warning. "Move now, before I make you leave this room as you are."

For a moment Tenno was concerned; again the naked and defenseless against a weapon was not working in his favor, but he forced himself to dismiss it and smirked. "Big toy for a little boy."

Takumi graced him with a look of utter loathing, crossing his arms again, but it wouldn't take much to flick the whip and let it bite into Tenno. He almost hoped for it. A moment late, though, his expression shifted with alarming rapidity from anger to his own brand of amusement and he arched one frighteningly delicate eyebrow. "What is it exactly you want, Tenno-san? I've already healed you. I owe you nothing."

"True enough, Akira-kun," as he'd hoped the smirk quirked a little downward at the familiarity. "I'm afraid I only have what you see to repay you with." He reclined on the pillows again, sacrificing the warm comfort of the blankets for temptation.

"I can't tell if you have no shame or no pride," Takumi remarked sardonically.

"Do you care?" Tenno laughed. "Quit staring and come partake, boy."

Surprisingly Takumi obliged without verbal protest, leaning over the bed to dig his free hand into Tenno's pale hair. He hardly had to pull to get the man to rise up and kiss him hard. There was a brief struggle for dominance before Takumi gripped harder and pulled back a little to glare. "I'm not a boy," he informed him smartly. "And you are bottom."

Tenno opened his mouth to protest, but his blue gaze slid down to the whip and he checked himself. "If you insist."

Takumi smirked briefly in self-satisfaction before meeting Tenno in a second open-mouthed kiss.

I

Takumi didn't really dwell on one-night-stands, but it wasn't exactly a completely forgettable night and whenever he happened to pass through Konoha he thought briefly on the occasion. Admittedly this was happening more often as he had finally acquired the home he desired in the forests of the Land of Fire, hidden and far from almost all humans.

What a coincidental day, though, when he ventured into Konoha to meet with a man about something called 'Kyuushuu' he learned that Tenno had ascended to Hokage. He indulged his curiosity to see the man speak to the village. The intervening four years had been kind to him.

Shaking his head in the slightest of amusements he turned away, returning to his intended course.