2.

It was Kisame who was the first to wake up because of sounds coming from the kitchen. With his mind still hazy from sleep, he first thought it was the axe murderer, here to claim their lives and was trying to remember any self-defence videos. Kisame never really worked hard in that department, because of his large body the man was under the impression that one can just bulldoze anyone down. It took him a few seconds to recognise the sound of frying eggs and bacon. He moved across the floor towards the door like a cat at night, as to not wake up Itachi, god knows that the man needs to sleep, and listlessly dragged his feet to the living room.

"Morning," grunted Kisame to Tomoko's back. She cracked two more eggs onto the pan before turning around.

"I just got back from work. Would you like some coffee?" she offered with a dazzling smile. The long hours of…whatever it is that Tomoko does for a living, hadn't smudged her makeup or ruined the flamboyant hairdo. Without waiting for a response from Kisame, she poured another cup of coffee for him and sat down across the bulky man. Everything moved too suddenly for his somnolent mind to grasp it.

"You know that it's like…six in the morning? Why did you get up? I tried to be quiet but…"

Kisame attempted to shrug her off, not even noticing that the mess from last night was cleaned up. It wasn't he who cleaned it anyway, 'Not my apartment' he thought and dragged Tomoko's futon next to Itachi's. It took a few large gulps of coffee before he was able to arrange words into something comprehensible.

"I'm a light sleeper, sometimes…I don't know damn it woman it's too early. You don't seem raped…"

Tomoko snorted and got up to deal with the food, "I can take care of myself. Believe me there have been attempts," during the last word, she cut a tomato with a bit more force than necessary.

Kisame tried not to shudder at the thought of an irate Tomoko. There was no air of hostility encircling her, but there was an edge in that welcome personality that put him off. To make it worse there was no better word to use for it except for paranoia. Tomoko wasn't exactly menacing or ominous. Maybe a little secretive, but that's natural when you meet for the first time. Kisame decided not to rule out the psychopathic serial killer theory just yet.

"Where do you work, Tomoko?"

She threw the salad into a glass bowl before glancing over her shoulder, "Are you Itachi's lover?"

Kisame chuckled; it was a question used a few times too many, "None of your business."

"Exactly," responded Tomoko with a wide smile, "I'm glad we got that straight."

She grabbed two plates and the salad bowl and set them on the table. Tomoko sat down across Kisame once more, "I hope you don't mind western food. I can't really cook native."

"Why are you even cooking right now? Go to sleep!" muttered Kisame. Food was bland, but he didn't have the guts to admit it. Tomoko on the other hand didn't seem to care. She ate her three eggs and pile of bacon and washed it all down with a cup of black coffee.

"Oh, I know! You're jealous that I get to spend more time with Itachi than you?" she mused with a large grin while rolling around a tomato slice with a fork. Kisame rolled his eyes, "I already slept in the same room with him, what else does your heart desire?"

The cheer on Tomoko's face was washed away and replaced with dismay, "Not even in the same bed? I didn't think you'd be the shy type."

"What can I say," shrugged Kisame, "I'm the innocent-seme type of guy."

"How would that even work? You'd cuff up the poor bloke and suddenly blush and cover all his private parts?"

Kisame snorted and ate another slice of bacon, which tasted like rubber, "Silly woman, I'm more into tall brunettes…Otherwise it feels like I'm fucking my sister."

Tomoko giggled, "Oh good, then I won't need to hide knives under my clothes whenever you come to visit!"

With another sudden movement from Tomoko her dishes ended up in the sink before she yawned, "I'm going to bed, don't be too loud with Itachi, and don't do it on the table," she slurred over her shoulder before disappearing into the secrecy of her four walls. Kisame only caught a glimpse of a dresser before Tomoko emerged again.

"Kisame, bring my bed back," she commanded, "Maybe you'll see Itachi's beautiful abs peeking out from the blanket."

Kisame couldn't help but to grin at the thought and with some reluctance got up with the help of the wall and tried to gather everything as quietly as possible. Tomoko used the time to pull out all the pins from her hair, not even bothering to take off the makeup. At around seven o' clock, she always got extremely sleepy, it was as certain as sunrise. Every time when she came back from work, Tomoko tried to eat breakfast before doomsday began in order to not wake up three hours later because of hunger.

Kisame dropped the futon in front of the door and resumed his previous habitat against the wall, "I guess you're leaving me alone now? It was nice meeting you."

"Yeah, yeah," she yawned again like a dog, "you'll be back soon enough, whatever…" muttered Tomoko and dragged the futon in her room and shut the door with a bit too much force. Kisame heard some rustling and some muttering before the apartment was once more silent. Save for the occasional sound of Kisame sipping coffee or Itachi shifting under the covers.

When Tomoko awoke during the day, it was because her phone was vibrating against her hand. There was no need to even check who was calling her at...well any time of the day.

"What is it?" she muttered quietly, slithering back under the covers. The world didn't deserve to see such a horrendous sight.

"Do you have to work tonight?"

The previously sluggish persona was awoken, "Hey, you sound weird. Is everything okay?"

"No, that's why I need you tonight."

Tomoko checked the calendar on her bedside quickly before smiling, "We'll drink an entire bottle of gin and you can cry on my shoulder. My treat as well. I'll bring pizza too if you'd like that."

There was a long silence on the other side before a barely audible chuckle, "Come over whenever. I just got home from work."

He hung up before Tomoko could protest. It was only half past six, not her latest. The girl rolled out of the bed and pulled a long t-shirt over her head before she left her room. For her surprise, Itachi was seated behind the only table in the house, glaring holes in a blank piece of paper with a pen on his right. The girl went unnoticed before a cough awoke Itachi from his reverie.

"Ignore the smudged makeup," she added quickly, "Are you trying to write?"

A smirk was glued on Itachi's features, "Quite pitiful, isn't it? Kisame left around ten. I came back here and thought I'd try to write, but nothing." It just caught Tomoko's attention that Itachi's hair wasn't in a braid. From this angle, he almost looked like a woman. A pretty one at that.

Tomoko sighed, "Writing comes easily only to a selected few. To most people it means tears and blood and a few mental breakdowns to complete a book. There's no point in forcing it, or it won't be any good. Go out, live a little and find a job for starters. The less worries you have, the easier it'll be to focus on writing."

Itachi shrugged, "Seems like good advice. I should go and make a copy of the key for this place."

A smile spread across her features, "There you go! That's a start already. I don't think that I can come home tonight, so you can borrow my key for today. Tomorrow we can go somewhere, anywhere. I could even introduce you to an owner of a small pizzeria, you could work there as a start."

Itachi's eyebrow rose and some life seemed to return to his eyes, "Why are you so helpful?"

"Ah I guess…I don't want you to waste your talent. I wasn't lying yesterday when I said that I love your writing…"

The comment caused her some embarrassment, she coughed and averted her gaze elsewhere, "Anyways, don't worry. You can copy the key in the mall nearby so getting lost shouldn't be easy."

"Tonight," began Itachi carefully, "Are you going to your boyfriend's place?"

He studied Tomoko carefully, unsure if he probed in her private life too much or not. She shook a little before the room was filled with her laughter.

"Oh my god," she cried, "My boyfriend? No, I'm extremely single. He's just a very old friend. Just called me a few minutes ago and sounded really distressed, begging me to come over there to drink with him and…well I can't really refuse what if he does something stupid?!"

Tomoko suddenly grabbed the pen and drew a huge cat across the empty paper, "See," she said triumphantly after finishing; "Now you can't write today. So go and see a movie and visit a jazz bar and cry yourself to sleep since Kisame isn't here to cuddle you."

"Because that is the only piece of paper in the house?" thought Itachi with some derision as he watched Tomoko head to the bathroom to transform herself once more for the night.

Hatake Kakashi was the captain of the murder unit in Tokyo. Thanks to his clever wit and sheer luck, Kakashi managed to get hold of the position of a captain before he was thirty. Despite his handsome looks and interest from the counterparts, he remained single. The root of the problem could be traced back to his attachment towards one certain woman he knew from work. A long-time comrade, Tsubaki Rin. She was the brilliant angel, the shining gem in the dull group of companions Kakashi usually had to deal with.

They slept once, and the slept twice and even tried dating for a while. Kakashi thought that it was going competently, but like a myriad times before, he was wrong. People often are when it concerns feelings, especially if it's two people who are so incapable of conveying them to the other side clearly.

The beautiful furniture surrounding him, in a flat written to his name seemed so empty without Rin. Even if she only set foot in this place twice. Where did she even live? Technically, Kakashi, as a captain, could find out, but that would be meaningless. He wanted Rin to clasp his hand and shyly lead her to her nest.

"What is she doing right now?" he thought tiresomely and lit another cigarette.

Kakashi heard someone knocking on the door, "Come in!" he shouted, not bothering to even get up from the sofa.

The smell of pizza and Tomoko's perfume mixed with the smoke of tobacco, it was…strangely relaxing. He waited patiently for Tomoko to free her feet from combat boots and stroll over to the sofa. The ashtray was gently pushed aside and replaced with a pizza box and two bottles.

Wordlessly, she lit up a cigarette. To witness her smoke was unwonted. Usually Tomoko simply lit up a cigarette and let it burn on its own. They could sit like that for hours, staring at the dark and glare holes into an imaginative spot on the wall.

"You could've lit some candles you know?" said Tomoko after a while, voicing the thought that had been on Kakashi's mind for quite a while. Out of habit, he touched the scar running across his eye before sighing.

"I didn't want to. Shall I get some glasses? I feel like I've been a terrible host."

Tomoko giggled before she took just one puff of the remaining cigarette and put it out, "I'm used to it. That's what I like about you."

Kakashi couldn't help but to smile at her crude sense of pleasant and he took the liberty of mixing the cocktails.

"Are we doing one or two cocktails tonight?"

Tomoko seemed mildly amused, "Well, you seem to be on the brink of death so just one killer is enough."

While Kakashi was trying to make the gin more drinkable, Tomoko began eating pizza. Kakashi rarely ate that stuff, unless he was so out of sorts that even petrol as a dipping would do. When he got back, Tomoko quickly finished the remaining slice before she accepted the glass from Kakashi.

"What are we toasting today?" she asked.

Kakashi didn't answer for a long time, lost in thought, "This doesn't deserve a toast. Just drink."

Tomoko seemed to pick up the nature of the problem and she smiled before drinking nearly half of the contents of the glass. She wasn't in the mood for slow drinking tonight.

It had become a routine for the duo, getting together after irregular intervals of time to drink. Patience was the key here. You sit and wait, distract yourself from the problem long enough until the alcohol loosens up the shackles of your mind and the problem is suddenly out there. Both Kakashi and Tomoko were incredibly private about their lives, but from all their acquaintances, they knew most about each other. Somehow they didn't clash, despite the age gap.

"Rin is getting married," he blurted out.

Tomoko studied Kakashi for a few moments, drank the rest of her drink before lighting up another cigarette.

"With who? You're not planning on murder, are you? Otherwise I'll kill you right here and now myself."

Kakashi laughed humourlessly and shook his head, "Some asshole hotel owner. The motherfucker's loaded, compared to me. He's the heir of an entire chain of hotels. Amano…something. I don't know…I felt like trashing my office when I heard. She didn't even say it to me. I just overheard some colleagues talking."

"It could be arranged, if that's the case you can talk her out of it," offered Tomoko.

"What?" demanded Kakashi suddenly, "This day and age? She isn't some rich heiress! If I went to her now…I'd probably just wind up sleeping with her."

Tomoko shrugged, "Probably, but I can talk to her as well. Last time I checked we were on good terms."

Their words were slurring, just a little. There was still a bit time before the two of them would be a mass of incomprehensible ideas. In a metaphorical sense, it would be very similar to the way Kakashi and Rin conversed.

Tomoko didn't even notice that she was suddenly pinned on the sofa with Kakashi towering over her. The cigarette fell from her hands and landed next to the carpet.

"Idiot," she murmured, "I don't want to burn to death in this place."

Kakashi snorted before he threw the bud into the ashtray roughly, not bothering to get off Tomoko.

Really, she was too easy to dominate. Rin was much more stronger, much taller. Tomoko didn't even bother to put up a fight. Was it willingness or nonchalance?

"What would you tell her? It would make me seem even less of a man that she thinks I am right now!" he shouted. Tomoko never flinched under him. That trust…it was infuriating to Kakashi. It went unsaid that to hurt the other was never on their minds.

"I'm not that stupid," she snapped, her temper finally emerging, "You really think, that I would prance there 'Ooh Rin, Kakashi is so sad will you fuck him again?'!"

Kakashi sighed; the alcohol was clouding his judgement, "Fine," he snapped, "Talking some sense in you has always been wasted effort."

He leaned down, closer to her face, their lips nearly brushed together, "Just this one night?" he asked, sounding almost hopeful.

Tomoko couldn't help but to laugh, "Well well, wasn't it you who told me never to sleep with you?" The comment caused Kakashi to tighten his grip around her wrists to the point of it becoming painful. Still, Tomoko made no movement to stop him.

"I honestly don't give a shit right now. I can go and catch an STD from a prostitute if you prefer, or we can do it here."

A grin spread across her features, "You're terrible…whatever."

But she had foreseen this outcome as one of the possibilities. Her clothes didn't have any buttons or zippers, everything was easily removed. It didn't matter, for Kakashi this was a way of ridding himself of this frustration while Tomoko was simply…detached. It was obvious that her mind was elsewhere, there was someone who'd occupy her mind. Pretending it never happened would be easy for both of them. Tomorrow she would be the sweet Tomoko again and they'd both become untouchable once more.