A/N: I'M SORRY! THERE IS A LEMON-ESQUE THING! But it's not much, and if you cross your eyes they're just having tea. There are some emergency random pairings. NaruHina if you squint and pray. Thank you to all of those who read this! Your feedback will help me compose another KisaZet! :D Thank you so much for your feedback, and enjoy!
-WhirledPeace
"I am not human," he had started. We lay on the bed, barely touching, looking up at the dreary ceiling of his room. "My mother was a plant demon. She lured men to her cave and tortured them, often eating them. She planted a spore into one man, and when they made love, the spore was in turn implanted into her. In essence, that is what created me. It was as if I am her clone." He looked over at me, making sure I was still there. "This man she allowed to live, and he returned home. When I was born, she sent a letter to him, telling him she had his son. And he came for me.
"Before he came, however, my mother summoned a demon into me. She intended to use me to infiltrate his home, and destroy it from the outside. But when my father returned to her cave, he killed her and took me. Though he didn't raise me, of course. Growing up on the streets aside, I was able to steal books. I found out all I could about my demon. I soon learned it was killing me. Though some complicated maneuvers, I was able to expel it."
"You what?" I cried. Everyone knew what happened when you extracted a demon! Zetsu stared at me.
"Hush. I didn't get rid of all of it, and it still resides partially within me. But it's… manageable. It is what you know as black Zetsu." I lightly trailed my fingers over the black side of his chest.
"Huh. But wouldn't that make you half-human, if you had a dad?"
"No. That part within me has long since died." We looked at each other. "I am not human."
"You know, it doesn't really matter to me," I said.
"I figured. But that means I am no cannibal, either." I nodded, contemplating this.
"Then why do you allow people to think that?" I asked. He drew close to me, drooping am arm over my waist.
"Let them think I'm a cannibal. It's the highest they've ever thought of me." And that made sense. But I was sure it would only make sense to me. Me, the demon love child of a half-shark man and a great Daimyo. My days in the cold, proper house of my mother had made me want to go insane. I knew what it was to not be human, but be trapped in a human life. Being considered a cannibal meant you ate your kind, and if you were considered one of the humans, then so be it.
"I'm so glad someone feels the same way I do," I mumbled against his cheek. Zetsu turned his face so we kissed.
That night, I told him of my origins, my own failed grasps on humanity. It was something I had always been taught to hide. But I wasn't as dangerous as Zetsu. I had a better grasp on sanity and self-control.
A kunai sliced my arm, and I pressed my back hard against the wall. There were too many. Sweat and blood clogged my vision. I was panting hard, but could sense Itachi to my side, where he had fallen after being hit. Something wrapped around my ankle, and I fell to the ground. I closed my eyes. This was it.
Instead of being horribly impaled, the thing that had caught my turned on my enemies. I looked up, seeing vines wrap around the seven guards. They gave strangled cries before their necks were snapped. I sat up, crawling over to where Itachi had been struck down. "You all right?" I whispered to him. He was out cold. I sat up against the wall, regaining my wits, before looking around. Zetsu stood in the doorway, leaning casually on the doorframe. "What're you doing here?" I asked.
"Takeout," he replied. I shuddered. Slowly, vines began wrapping themselves around me, delving into my wounds. Through the contact I felt energy flow into my exhausted muscles, while healing my cuts. I let my head fall back against the wall.
"Thanks," I panted. "We were in quite a situation. Think you could help Itachi?" I opened my eyes and looked pleadingly up at him. Zetsu's face grew disgusted, and he spat at Itachi.
"Let him rot." I sat up a bit.
"Why are you helping us?"
"I'm returning a favour," he said lazily. He didn't move. I got up, muscles cramping slightly. Then I took a few steps toward him.
"I know what Itachi did," I said. "He ruined any chance you would have to consider him a teammate. Akatsuki is built on being able to know you have backup. And… I know he screwed up. But give him a chance. Please." Zetsu stared into my eyes for a long minute. He then sighed, looking away.
"Fine." I turned to see vines wrap around Itachi, healing him as they had me. I grinned, turning back to Zetsu. I kissed him full on the mouth.
"Thank you."
Three years passed. We tried our best to find a space together, just for us to be alone, but that grew increasingly difficult. Zetsu began growing slightly distant, and explained curtly that he was looking for an exorcism type jutsu. In short, he was supposed to be able to separate himself. As for me, sometimes training Itachi could not be postponed or put off. Itachi was now sixteen, almost seventeen. That brought a bitter taste to my mouth, thinking of Zetsu's age our first time.
But there was an incident that changed our hectic lives forever.
I was asleep after a hard day, when a soft noise awoke me. I don't sleep soundly, I don't think anyone in Akatsuki does. I rolled over in my bed and looked down at Itachi. He was sobbing quietly, curled up in the fetal position. This scared me beyond measure. Itachi may be young and a twerp, but he didn't cry. This didn't scare me even half as much as seeing that he was crying blood. I, working in instinct and reaction, scooped him up bridal style, running out of our room and down the hall. I quickly opened Zetsu's door and burst in.
Zetsu was sitting in the middle of his floor, pouring over a scroll. He looked up at me, agitated. "What?" he snapped.
"Itachi- he- blood-" I gasped, laying Itachi out on his bed. Zetsu didn't move. "He needs help! For fuck's sake, you're the medic!" I cried, at a loss at how to get him to move. Itachi was gasping and convulsing violently, blood dribbling from his mouth. Zetsu looked at him, mildly agitated.
"I'm in the middle of something," he informed me. But he stood, cracking his back. He wore no shirt, exposing his torso and plant growths. Without much thought he lifted his arms and his leaves twisted around him, melding with his flesh.
"Zetsu, goddamnit, he needs help!" I screamed. "Can you not see that?" Zetsu looked again at Itachi.
"I see he is having a seizure," he said. "And I see he is bleeding from his eyes and a bite to his tongue. There's no internal bleeding, and no damage to his ocular nerves. If I tamper, there may be permanent damage done." I stared.
"Zetsu, do you know what you're saying?" I asked.
"You want me to do something?" Zetsu snarled. "You want me to help?" He shoved me roughly to the side and grabbed a vile, uncorking it with his teeth. He grabbed Itachi's jaw and forced it open, then poured the green liquid into Itach's frothing mouth. While his black hand held Itachi's face, his other squeezed Itachi's throat, making my young partner swallow. Itachi stopped convulsing and lay very still, eyes wide. Zetsu closed the eyes. He then looked at me.
"Is he…" I said slowly. Zetsu shook his head.
"Not even a thank you?" he asked bitterly.
"Thank you," I sighed in relief, embracing him. I felt a kunai jut into my ribs, and stepped back.
"Leave," he ordered.
"W-what?"
"I said leave. This next part is not going to be pretty."
"Huh? What's going on?"
"I'm helping. Now get the fuck out of my room." A vine wrapped around my ankle and threw me out into the hall, where I slammed into the wall. Zetsu slammed his door. I slid down against the wall, taking deep breaths. These feelings washing over me were too human for my comfort. Had Itachi done this to me? I wasn't even anywhere close to tears when I had thought Zetsu was dead, and now Itachi was just suffering, and I felt an unfamiliar stinging in my sinuses. So… human.
It was entering the third day when I finally saw Itachi. Zetsu let me into the room. Itachi was bandaged profusely, even around his eyes. Zetsu looked exhausted, but was in once piece. "How is he?" I asked.
"Alive. I had to perform and emergency surgery."
"Will he live?"
"That is between him and me." Zetsu crossed his arms over his chest.
"Thank you," I said. "I'm so relieved." Zetsu just glared at me.
"You can take him back, now," he said. Without hesitation, I went over to the bed and scooped him up. "Come back when you're done. There's medical situations we need to discuss."
"Sure." I left and went to my room, where I lay Itachi down on my bed. I caressed his cheek affectionately, before I went back to Zetsu's room, shutting the door after myself. "So what's up?" Zetsu was sitting on his bed, staring at the opposite wall.
"He'll need to take medication, and I've given him precautions to take."
"What's wrong with him?" I asked. Zetsu was examining his nails.
"Something that I'm doing my best to deal with."
"Can you cure him?"
"It's not a matter of curing, Kisame." Zetsu finally looked up at me. "But my confidentiality was requested, and that is something I will honour."
"Tell me what's wrong with him, damnit!" I cried. Zetsu looked at me dully.
"That's not what I wished to speak to you about, Kisame," he said. I growled.
"What?" I snapped. "What do you want?"
"I… that is…" Zetsu looked down. "You must apologise to Itachi for me."
"Oh?"
"Yes… he was healing in my bed for quite some time."
"So?"
"You must tell him I am very sorry, I know how cold it can get at night." I stared at him.
"You little shit. I'm worried about Itachi-" Zetsu stood quickly, facing me with an icy glare.
"Itachi is fine. Or do you not trust me?"
"Trust? Zetsu, you don't know the first thing about trust!" I bellowed. I then hit the wall, sliding down to the ground again. Zetsu had slapped me.
"D-don't pretend you understand anything," he said, rage quivering in his voice. I looked up at him. I saw his inhuman rage and power. His black hand pointed at the door.
"Out," his deep voice ordered. It was the demon within him; the demon he was.
God, it must've been maybe two years later when he exacted his revenge. He used all he had ever learned about me against me.
Madara was hanging around lately, but I didn't think much of it. When I asked, he simply said he was just "giving orders". I bought it at the time, until I heard Zetsu scream.
He knew I had always wanted to make him scream. Scream my name. He had always insisted on having either complete or half control over whatever we did. Either he rode me, or controlled how I was in him. He rarely made a sound, and was usually in complete control of himself. He knew I wanted to dominate him, make him lose control and just scream. So that's why he did it.
It wasn't faked, from what I could tell. It was coupled with a few moans and gasps, Zetsu making sure to slip in Madara's name. I could hear Madara growl something at him, primal and carnal. It was the way I wanted to take him, but he never let me.
I opened the door to his room. I just couldn't believe it. Madara had Zetsu up against the wall, thrusting painfully hard. He held Zetsu's hands captive against the wall with one of his hands, and the other controlled exactly what was going on between their violently coupled bodies. But then Madara turned his head to look at me.
"Can I help you, Kisame-san?" he asked, stopping all movements. Zetsu whimpered, hands scrabbling desperately at Madara's back. "Shh, Zetsu," Madara cooed, biting at his neck. Zetsu gasped. And then he did something that made my mouth water. He set his black foot back down on the ground. And he hooked his white ankle over Madara's shoulder.
"No," I growled, as Madara moaned deeply.
"Then- ah!- would you mind- oh!- leaving?" I glowered my deadliest at Zetsu. But I said nothing, and just left, slamming the door after myself. I went straight to my room, and pounced on Itachi.
"Kisame!" he squeaked. "What- what are you doing?"
"I want to make you scream," I told him. But I knew he rarely did. When overrun with pleasure, he would moan and whimper. But as another of Zetsu's cries pierced the air, I knew I had to at least give it a try.
I stumbled into the forest and fell to the ground, panting and gasping. Dirt and forest debris were getting in my wounds, but I didn't care. I was too exhausted. "My, my, my, Kisame-kun," came a sultry voice from somewhere nearby. I groaned, lifting my head. "You've ruptured a kidney." I slowly blinked my eyes open, and stared at Zetsu. He sat calmly, cross-legged, on a rock, sipping a cup of tea, and watching me.
"H-help," I wheezed. "Help!" Zetsu sipped his tea.
"What's the magic word, Kisame-kun?"
"G-goddamn it, Zetsu!" I crawled over to the base of his rock. "The m-most powerful ninja of our time a-are… ah… b-battling to the d-death, and you're s-sitting here… ngh… drinking t-tea?" Zetsu scowled.
"Five… four… three… two…" I felt something within me rupture. I screamed.
"What did you do?"
"Predicted the failing of your second kidney," he replied calmly. Panic welled up in me, and I struggled up at him, but fell back down.
"God, Zetsu-"
"What's the magic word, Kisame?" he asked tiredly.
"P-please," I gasped. Vines wrapped around me, and I felt a warm, tingly sensation overcome me. I fell back to the ground and let Zetsu do his thing. It took a few minutes, but finally, all my cuts had been closed well enough. I sat up, groaning as my muscles seized up. "Th-thank you, Zetsu," I said. The best I could manage right then was to sit up against the rock. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you helping your precious Madara?" I spat. Zetsu hummed, contemplating my question. He then dropped a hand to pet my hair.
"Did you ever think he meant anything to me?" he asked softly. I gulped and said nothing. "You think he would understand me?" I closed my eyes. Elsewhere, just outside the protection of this forest, Madara and Sasuke were battling with Naruto and that girl, Hyuuga. It was the battle of our time. No one could not choose sides. I had been helping Madara, until all this had happened. So I had snuck off to get healed.
"Who'll win?" I asked. Zetsu sighed.
"It's obvious to see what'll happen, Kisame. Sasuke has more allegiance towards Konoha than Madara. Madara against those three won't stand a chance. Especially…" I could feel him grinning. "If you stay here, Kisame."
"You want me to abandon him?" I cried.
"Of course. He's as good as a dead man." I got to my feet, slowly, shakily, and, while bracing myself on the rock, looked into Zetsu's eyes.
"Does he mean that little to you?" I cried. Zetsu's face pinched in disgust.
"He told me to stay here. He told me he didn't want me getting hurt. As if I could be hurt by children." I chuckled. I couldn't help it. The irony of Zetsu calling them children was too much.
"So if he let you fight, he's be alive?"
"He's not dead yet. But yes. I could've handled them."
"It's not over yet." Zetsu sighed.
"No. It's not." He grinned at me. He had easily outlived Kakuzu, Hidan, Deidara, Itachi, Leader-sama, and now Madara. I was all that was left. He was more powerful than them. Those sharp teeth, nimble hands, and cold eyes could take down whatever was in his path. He was a monster, a demon; a being that wasn't to be trifled with. Madara wronged him, and now was close to death. I… if I had truly hurt him more, why was I still here?
"Zetsu…" I said slowly.
"You understand, Kisame. You understand why I do the things I do, how I work." Zetsu got off his rock.
"I… I would follow you," I said. "You know I'm a follower. I've lost my leader. I need someone to follow." It was true. To him, I could be a follower. A human. Zetsu smirked. Itachi was gone. Madara was gone. So with the clashing of fangs and claws, we hurled ourselves into round two.