"Who are you

"Who are you?" Itachi asked, looking up and glaring at Kisame with his sharingan eyes. There was no time to play. Kisame slowly raised his hand up and set it on the handle of his samehada. Who knows what this kid would do at the meer mention of my name. Many people would love to take him on.

"Kisame Hoshigaki," Kisame replied, smirking, "I'm surprised that someone like you could kill my partner . . . Itachi Uchiha." Itachi's eyebrow raised. He pulled a kunai from his pocket, raised it and pointed it towards Kisame.

"How do you, someone I have just met, know me?" Itachi inquired. Kisame exhaled deeply, he shouldn't have said his name. Itachi stepped over the corpse, wanting to start a fight. But, something happened. His eyes closed, they had began to throb badly. He cursed silently. Slowly, he opened his eyes and the faded from crimson to onyx. Kisame looked at him questionably. "I'm going to leave for now. We'll meet again someday, Kisame." Itachi said before leaving abruptly. Kisame unclenched his samehada then turned his attention to the Uchiha, whom he was allowed only to call partner for a short time, on the ground, dead.

The katana was still there, not moved at all. Looking at the body, Kisame noticed that it began to lightly snow. He walked to Akira's body and looked down at it. The snowflakes gently fell onto his cheeks and some mixed with the blood as they quickly melted. Kisame outstretched his arm and pulled the katana out of his dead body. "It's the least I can do for you." Kisame muttered, setting the katana next to him. "Goodbye." Kisame began to walk away. There wasn't anything more he could do.

Walking back to the hideout, Kisame thought about Itachi. His hair was exactly the same as the guy in his dream. His eyes, his looks, every detail matched. But, one question still lingered. Sure, he's got the looks but does he act the same? Kisame was unsure of that. He sighed, he still had a long walk ahead of him.

Madara never told me that it would be so hard to find him, Itachi thought, turning down yet another hallway in the maze that was the akatsuki hideout. He had rushed to the hideout and arrived 12 minutes ago. He turned down a hallway then out of a room came a man with vibrant auburn hair, spiraling eyes, and alot of piercings. Is everyone getting fifty million piercings?!

"Hm? Who are you?" He asked, staring directly at Itachi. Itachi then realized who he was. It was Pein, the akatsuki leader; Madara had told him alot about this man.

"My name is Itachi Uchiha. If he hasn't told you yet, Madara Uchiha sent me." Itachi replied. Pein nodded his head.

"Another Uchiha, hm? Madara, Akira, now you, who's next?" Pein said then sipped his coffee.

"I don't think any Uchihas will be walking through this 'hallowed' hallway other than the ones you know so far." Itachi laughed silently. Pein raised his eyebrow.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because, Madara and I slaughtered them all."

". . . I see. Well, I guess akatsuki's main attractions are the last three standing Uchihas: Madara, Akira, and . . . Itachi, was it?"

"Yes. But only Madara and I are the only Uchihas in this organization." Itachi replied. Pein took another sip of his coffe then asked what happened to Akira. Itachi explained meeting up with him and everything else that had happened after.

"I see. Well, since you look very fatigued, why don't I go and tell his partner the news and then I'll let you sleep in Akira's room." Pein said, starting to walk away. Itachi followed behind him; he didn't want to be swallowed by the 'maze' again.

They got to the room and then Pein knocked on the door. No reply. He tried this again 3 times, still no answer. Pein opened the door and walked inside. No one was there. Although, the bed wasn't made so it showed someone had been there previously. Pein gave out a long sigh.

"Here, sleep in this room, it looks like you won't stay awake for the whole trip to the other side of the hideout." Pein said, pointing at the room. Itahci bowed his head in gratitude and then lyed on the bed. He quickly fell asleep; apparently he didn't notice how fatigued he actually was. Pein closed the door slowly and walked away. He was going to wait until Kisame came back.

Kisame stood outside, thinking. It would be an inconvienance to be walking through the hideout while occasionally stepping on the boards that would give out loud creaks, ultimately waking everyone up. Kisame decided to save himself the hassle and just teleported into his room silently.

He gently set his samehada against the wall and took off his cloak. He layed down in his bed then sighed. He hoped the next day would be better. He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. Suddenly, he heard the rustling of a person next to him. His eyes opened wide and then he met the shocked gaze of another person. The both jumped back and fell on either side of the bed. They sat up and glared straight at each other. "You . . ." they hissed, noticing who each one of them were.

"Why the hell were you in my bed?!" Kisame growled.

"Pein told me I could stay in this room. Besides, it was possible for you to see me so why'd you crawl in next to me?!" Itachi retorted.

"I could not see you! Plus, I don't go into my own room everyday and check if goldilocks is sleeping in my bed before I decide to sleep!"

"Go to--" Itachi stopped talking. His eyes began to hurt again. He needed to rest up and ten minutes of sleep wasn't enough. "Kisame . . ."

"What's wrong?" Kisame asked in a concerned tone. Itachi slowly crawled onto the bed and Kisame sat next to him.

"Can we continue this arguement tomorrow," Itachi asked, closing his eyes, "please."

"Yes." Kisame replied, though he didn't want to continue the arguement. He had already got the satisfaction he wanted from winning the dispute so why go on further? Itachi layed down next to him and fell asleep. Kisame, distancing himself away from Itachi first, layed down as well. He pulled the covers over the both of them and then fell asleep as well.

Pein, in the morning, went to go wake up Itachi. He hadn't seen Kisame last night so he was going to ask if he was killed as well. Pein opened the door to the room and almost gasped at what he saw. There they were, laying in bed in a position in which they had seemed like they were cuddling. Kisame had his arms around Itachi and Itachi was resting his head against Kisame's torso.

Pein, to wake them up, cleared his throat loudly. Both of their eyes shot open. When they realized the position they were in, they pulled away quickly and resumed their bickering.

Annoied by the constant insults, Pein yelled, "Enough!" The room went silent. "Look, the reason I came was to inform you about the current situation but since I see that Kisame is here as well then I have to tell him what had went down last night." Pein explained.

"I already know what happened last night." Kisame spoke up. Pein looked at him questionably. "I was there." Kisame said to clear up Pein's questions.

"Okay. Then, I only have a few things to inform you about. Since Akira is dead, Kisame, you are without a partner. So, I think it is best for everyone if you were partnered up with Itachi," Pein explained, "ergo, Itachi, you are now a member of Akatsuki. Kismae get him his things and then show him around." Pein, after getting a nod from each of them, turned and left the room. They both got up form the bed and yawned.

"Kisame, where is the shower? I still have blood on me." Itachi asked, looking down at his arms and clothes. Kisame nodded.

"I"ll be going in the shower first and then you can go after. As for your clothes, just toss those blood stained ones away, you'll be getting new ones." Kisame said, opening the door. Itachi nodded and then Kisame left.

After getting all situated, Kisame began to show him around the hideout. They passed a few people in which some glared at Kisame but smiled at Itachi. Why are all the Uchihas so popular?

"So he's the new guy, eh?" A voice said. Both Kisame and Itachi turned around. There, in front of them, stood a guy that looked a few years older than Itachi. Next to him stood the man Kisame had bumped into a couple of days ago; Kisame remembered his pasty white skin. "My name is Sasori, what's yours?" Sasori asked, obviously directing his question towards Itachi.

"Itachi Uchiha." He replied plainly.

"Nice to meet you, Itachi. I'm Orochimaru. I hope we can become close friends," Orochimaru greeted with a snaky grin on his face. Itachi nodded as to say 'so do I.'

Kisame, without being told, began to walk away. He knew he wasn't wanted in their conversation. He walked to the other end of the hallway and leaved his back against the wall. He would wait until they were done talking and for Itachi to walk over to him to continue the tour.

"Hey, I feel bad for you. Having to be paired with him." Sasori said, crossing his arms.

"Nobody wanted to be that blue monster's partner. If you want a different one, I could probably help you." Orochimaru said, setting his hand on Itachi's shoulder.

"He's so ugly . . . it's disgusting." Sasori laughed. Itachi shrugged Orochimaru's hand off of his shoulder and glared at the two.

Loud enough that Kisame could hear, Itachi said, "How could you say that? You don't even know anything about him. You just go around and make comments that you know will hurt him. Don't be so judgemental. Looks aren't everything. He may be ugly on the outside but I definitly bet that he's beautiful on the inside, something none of you will ever be." Orochimaru's and Sasori's eyes widened and so had Kisame's. None of them had expected those words to come out of his mouth, especially not Kisame. Itachi had said it all with a straight face, he could not be lying.

"Good day to you." Itachi said, turning around and walking towards Kisame. Sasori and Orochimaru walked the other way, still shocked by what had happened. They would never forget that moment and as soon as it spread throughout the organization, neither would anyone else. Itachi passed Kisame then stopped. He turned his head and, smiling, said, "Are we going to finish our tour?"

Kisame's thoughts were confirmed. "Okay," no doubt remained in his mind, "Let's get going then." He was the one from his dream. He was his friend.