Starting Over Chapter Two: It Lurks Around Your Door, a naruto fanfic

I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house,

That don't bother me.

I can take a few tears now and then and just let 'em out.

I'm not afraid to cry every once in awhile.

Even though going on with you gone, still upsets me.

There are days every now and again, I pretend I'm okay.

But that's not what gets me.

What hurts the most, was being so close,

And having so much to say, and watching you walk away.

And never knowing, what could have been.

And not seeing that loving you, is what I was trying to do.

-Cascada(Originally done by Rascal Flatts) - What Hurts The Most

Day after day, she plastered on that fake smile that made her sick to her stomach. She did what she was told, she made the coffee, she baked the pies, the walked around in that tiny waitress dress, she withstood that nasty, hungry glares that came from the male customers, and the disgusted, dissaproving looks of the females. She picked up her shitty tips and handed out bills, whilst getting groped by old men-resisting the urge to knock their remaining teeth out-she sweeped and mopped, she took out the trash and took the yelling that came from her boss when she accidentally dropped something or was five minutes late for work.

Sakura did all that, with that sickeningly fake smile plastered on her face.

And then, when her terribly long night shift was over, she made the lonely journey back to her one bedroom apartment, in the bad neighborhood, all alone.

She placed the key in door, hearing the click that notified her that it was unlocked, and turned the doorknob. She walked over the dirty clothes from the night before, telling herself that she would get around to picking it up eventually. She dropped her keys and her bag on the little couchside table and kicked off her little white flats. Sakura walked to the kitchen and swung open the refrigerator door, noting excitedly that she had bought a new jug of her favorite juice, cherry pomegranate, and poured herself a glass. Just as she was replacing the bottle in the fridge she noticed another bottle that she had recently bought.

A brand new bottle of sake.

Sakura smiled a little a pulled out the bottle, cracking open the top, "This one's for you shishou," And poured a shot into her pomegranate juice.

Sakura sat down on the couch, pulling out an old ninja scroll she had had since she was a genin and read through it once again, like she had everynight after she met him. She remembered writing this scroll only she couldn't remember why exactly she had written it in the first place. She did it right after they had gotten back from fighting Zabuza and Haku on their Land Of Waves mission, and she remembered looking up all of the information that she could on the Seven Swordsmen Of The Mist and writing all of her findings in the scroll, she ran past the records until she gotten to his name. The same information was in her bingo book but she like her scroll better.

Name: Hoshigaki Kisame

Origin: Kirigakure - Village Hidden In The Mist - Water Country

Age: 23 (when recorded)

Weapon(s): Wields a large blade named 'Samehada' or Sharkskin, able to shred through and eat flesh and chakra in a single slash.

Rank: S-Class Criminal, Jounin

Hoshigaki is a serious criminal wanted in nearly all large Shinobi nations, and mostly in Kirigakure for espionage, numerous counts of murder, and the assassination of the Mizukage. He is incredibly dangerous and is now identified as a member of the notorious crime organization, 'Akatsuki'.

Sakura couldn't surpress the giggle that escaped her, that wasn't the Kisame she knew at all! Of course, she didn't really know him, considering they had only talked that one time. She sighed and leaned back, placing the scroll on the table. She couldn't believe it had really been a decade ago that she had been a genin, and a young shinobi partnered with two of the greatest future shinobi of all time; Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.

Both were dead now, or at least she knew for a fact that Naruto was, she couldn't say too much about Sasuke since the last time she had seen him was when they had met him on the mission with Sai when she was fourteen. The records had confirmed that he was dead however, but Sakura had this sinking feeling that he wasn't. Sasuke wasn't one to be put down so easily.

She sipped her cocktail as her thoughts drifted back to the man she had recently met only a few days ago. He had been so different than the-dare she say it-monster she had known him as as a kid. Or maybe her perception had been off, she didn't know. She did know however, that who he was now, wasn't anything like he was then. Or maybe he was never a bloodthirsty killer anyway, maybe he just acted that way for the infamy and the fear factor. Nonetheless, the more Sakura thought about him, the more she was sure she would like to see him again, if just for someone to talk to.

Sakura lifted her arms over her head, and with a blush immediately dropped them back down.

She stunk, really bad.

With a resigned sigh she tiredly got to her feet and stuffed the scroll back under her couch. She really needed a shower, and then possibly some sleep, seeing as it was three in the morning. She downed the rest of her drink and trudged herself into the bathroom, intent on taking a long shower. Just as she was turning on the faucet however, a hurried bang on her door stopped her in her tracks. Sakura stopped, looking up, shock and surprise written all over her face. Who the hell would be at her door at this hour? Slowly she grabbed the kunai that she kept hidden in her bathroom cabinet-she had them hidden all over her apartment, her old shinobi instincts never wearing down-and proceeded slowly to the front door. She hesistantly reached a hand to the knob and slowly pulled it open, her kunai placed behind her back.

All she could manage was a gasp, before a huge black figure crumpled on top of her.

If you feel, so empty,

So used up.

So let down.

If you feel so angry,

So ripped off.

So stepped on.

You're not the only one,

Refusing to back down.

You're not the only one.

So get up...

Let's start a riot, a riot.

-Three Days Grace - Riot

He walked along the dark and seemingly empty street, a slight spring in his step whenever the pink haired woman entered his thoughts. Normally he wasn't one to skip-or like, ever really-but talking to her a few nights ago had put him in a much better mood as of late. He wasn't nearly as melancholy as he had been lately, maybe it was because he knew someone in this huge city, now. Maybe it was because she was someone who could understand her, maybe it was because she knew what he had to deal with everyday when he would jerk awake from those red-tinted nightmares, and maybe it was because he could at least talk to her every now and then.

If he felt the need to that was.

He passed up a seemingly empty alleyway, only stopping when he heard a couple of snickers behind him. He stopped, throwing an irritated glance behind him. A gruff looking guy came out of the shadows, swinging some kind of pipe around, a creepy smile on his face as he walked around Kisame.

"Well looky what we have here boys," His greasy voice grating on Kisame's ears, he knew that this wasn't going to end well.

"He certainly is an ugly one, boss. What are we gon' do with him?" Another one said, followed by at least six other guys.

"Hey, freak! What are you doing in my alley anyway?" Kisame ignored him and started walking away, "Did you hear me, freak? I'm talkin' to ya!" That was when Kisame felt something collide with the back of his head, it was the pipe he presumed. Kisame growled and muttered, "You boys, really don't want to mess with me." Damn his head really hurt, what the hell was that pipe made out of anyway? It feel like lead.

"Oh yeah? And why is that? You gonna eat us?" The whole group of thugs burst out in a chorus of drunken laughter, as Kisame fought down the rage bubbling up inside him. He really, really, really, didn't want to fight right now, and he was going to avoid it at all possible, but these thugs were wearing on his already worn down patience.

"No. I might slit your throats open though." He said, a death glare looming in his eyes. The 'boss' of the group seemed to get angry and swung his pipe at Kisame again, only to have it caught. Kisame ripped the pipe out of the man's hands, and bent it in half with one hand, throwing it aside as the man watched with wide eyes. Kisame smiled, showing a row of sharp malevolent teeth, "Still wanna go, boys?"

"You-You're gonna pay for that, asshole!" He ran at Kisame, his hand clenched in what Kisame thought was a pretty pathetic fist. Kisame caught his hand with seeming ease and squeezed it in his han, smiling with gruesome pleasure as he heard the bones snap and break, mingled with the anguished screams of the man. Another thug ran at him, some kind of switchblade in his hand and Kisame didn't seem to noticed the toxic dripping off of the blade, as it was buried into his stomach.

"Shit!" Kisame hissed as he felt his head spin. He had to end this fast, who the hell knew what was on that blade. He snapped the neck of the guy who stabbed him, throwing his body aside. Another one flew at him trying to punch him in the face, and Kisame knocked him into the cement wall, hard. Smirking as he heard his back crack on the wall. The 'boss' of the group tried to hit with a trashcan lid but Kisame just blocked it and swung at him in a kick, knocking him at least forty feet back, until he hit the ground, unconcious. Almost done, he reminded himself, as he felt the poison begin to work through his system, slowing down his breathing and turning his muscles to sludge. The last three ran at him in unison and Kisame flung three kunai at them, effectively catching each one in a different vital organ.

Once they were all down, Kisame began limping away. His head was spinning incredibly fast, and his body felt like it was going to give out, both from the blood loss and from whatever the hell it was on that blade. He stumbled along the wall, trying to make it home, even though he knew he would die if he didn't get help from somewhere. But who? Who would help him?

He felt himself turn away from his house, and further along the road to an apartment building he had only been to once, she had to be home, he reassured himself. She was a medic, wasn't she? He couldn't remember. Would she help him? He knew she would.

He found the apartment building that he unfamiliar with but he knew it was hers, he trudged along to her front door and slammed his arm against it, praying that she would open the door. He didn't hear anything except for the pounding of his own head and heartbeat, and he hissed as sweat dripped into the gash in his gut. Fuck, he was so screwed if she didn't open that door.

Just before his conciousness gave away, he saw a dim light pour out and the pink hair he had prayed would be there. He smiled goofy, before his body collapsed and he fell right on top of her.

Sakura grunted, trying to get out from under him. Finally she pulled herself out and pushed him over, gasping at the deep wound in his gut and the pale pasty blue color of his skin. The blood in the gash wasn't blood red, it was red with a purple tinge, which lead her to believe he had been poisoned. Sakura knew she had to help him or-judging by the looks of it, she would say soon to-he was going to die. She ran to the kitchen and got a bowl of warm water and a few towels, she grabbed the cushions off of her couch and propped his head up on them. She had to keep his head elevated higher than his heart so that the progress of the poison would slow in reaching his brain. She slowly pulled his black sleeveless shirt over his head, her eyes lingering on his very well sculpted chest for a second before snapping back. She gathered chakra in her hands and scooped up some of the water and pushed it through his wound, wincing as he grunted in pain from the poison extraction method. When she pulled the water out she saw the purple tinges in it, noting happily that she had managed to get some of the toxin out. She contninued this process until finally the water came out clear, leaving his body free of poison. She took one of the towel and wiped off her forehead and then his, brushing a few strands of the deep, navy blue away from his eyes. She smiled as she felt his skin, noting that it wasn't sharklike in the least bit, but quite soft, yet worn from years of shinobi work and civilian work alike. The wrinkles in his forehead smoothed as she saw the pain in his feature melt away a bit. She let her hand linger a little longer than was proper and soon caught herself and pulled away to heal the gash in his stomach. She gathered more chakra together, feeling awfully tired since she was out of shape from not using her healing in such a long time, and began brushing her hand gingerly over the wound, watching the skin knit and form back together. After all of that was done, she probed his body for anymore injuries. Satisfied when none came up, she wrapped a bandage around his stomach and stood up.

Her brow furrowed when she realized that he was still asleep on her floor. She had to get him into the bed or at least on the couch. She looked over at her too short couch and sighed. There was no way he could lay on that thing while being comfortable and possibly not falling off of it at the same time. She resignatedly sighed and gathered some chakra into her body, lifting his very large-and heavy frame-off of the floor and carrying him to her bed. She laid him down and pulled the headband off of his head, removing the few senbon from behind his ear-so he wouldn't stab himself in the middle of the night-and watched amazed as his hair fell and drooped over his face. It was actually pretty long, reaching all the way down to his jaw line, and Sakura found herself liking it this way. She rubbed the dark blue locks in between her fingers, noting with surprise that it was actually pretty soft, despite what it looked like-coarse and rough. She sighed and released his hair, hanging her head in her hands. Just because he was the first familiar face she had seen in a long time didn't mean that she had to attach herself to him like this. He was just an acquaintance, she reminded herself, and he had even been an enemy at one point. Yet here she was, watching the rise and fall of his chest in reverie, wondering why things had turned out this way. She had healed him, something that she would have been exiled for in Konoha, an act of treason to heal an enemy. Thus was the code of the shinobi.

But, she wasn't a shinobi anymore, and she wasn't in Konoha. She was here, in this huge civilian city, in her apartment sitting next to an unconcious S-Class criminal, whom she had just healed. The same rules didn't apply this time, and they could be friends without anybody caring in the least bit. No one could tell her what to do, she made her life for herself and so did he.

She pulled off his boots and pulled the blanket over his legs, up to right before his wound. She grabbed an extra blanket and pillow off of the bed, and a pair of shorts and a tank top and switched off the light before shutting the door, leaving a small crack in it.

What had done that to him? Her reasoning deducted that he had been jumped, probably on his way to his apartment, and probably for the same reason he was so despised anywhere else. Sakura dropped the blanket and the pillow onto the couch and placed her clothes next to it, before walking into the bathroom to finish what she had started earlier. She was tired, but she really needed to get showered, plus she had plenty of time to sleep tomorrow, as she was off of work. She thanked the heavens above for this and switched on the faucet. She fiddled with the hot and cold taps until the water was to her liking-just a bit above scalding-and stepped in. She nearly let out a pleasure moan when the hot water hit her aching calves and back. Who knew being a waitress would be as taxing as it was? She was a shinobi once, you would think that she would be able to bust a few tables for Kami's sake. She stood under the hot spray, her thoughts once again returning to the man currently lying in her bed. This thought made her blush just a bit, but she didn't know why. Even IF anything was going on between them, which it was not and would never happen, it wasn't like she was a virgin or anything. A platonic friend sleeping alone in her bed, shouldn't make her blush. She let out a chuckle, it wasn't like she was sleeping with him. It wasn't like he was naked. She felt her cheeks warm again, and she groaned aloud. Kami! How embarrassing, she really shouldn't think of him being naked, especially when she too was naked.

Yeah, but did you see those pecs? Did you see those abs!? Dear lord, he would've thunk it...

'Oh no, not you again.'

Yes me! Yay Inner Sakura is a good girl! (A/N- Hahah! Yay, I just had to put a little bit of a Tobi moment in here, cuz I'm whacko like that, back to the story)

'Where have I heard that before?'

I dunno, but anyway. Like I was saying, you can't tell me that he isn't...nice to look at. Even if he is a fish...

'He-He's not a fish! He just has a demon....That's all. It's not his fault.' Sakura blushed ashamedly, 'Would you just go away and let me finish my shower? I really don't need you around right now.'

Pssh. Fine, but at least take in consideration what I said, okay? BUHBYE SAKURA-CHAN!

Sakura sighed and grabbed her jasmine shampoo, squirting a little in her hand before lathering up her long hair, the suds dripping down her stomach. She rinsed her hair and began to lather up her body, running her hands along her stomach. She began to think about Kisame's rough hands and how they would feel against her skin, how they would feel stroking and touching and-

No! No! No! She was not thinking about that! No! Just because she was lonely, and hadn't had sex in like forever, and he was the only man that she had met that she had actually had something of a connection with, did not mean that she should even entertain those thoughts. Sakura decided that she should probably wrap this whole shower thing up and head to bed-err couch-so that this wouldn't happen again. She quickly finished washing and rinsing, all the while humming something that sounded like 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat' and then stepped out turning off the tap and wrapping a towel around herself. She stepped out of the bathroom and switched off the light. As she was walking to the living room, she couldn't help but peek into her room to see how he was. Really, that's all it was. Really.

She felt a small smile creep onto her face as took in what she saw. He had rolled over on to his side and had his leg propped up over the blanket, with his face buried into the pillow. Sakura giggled a little as he mumbled something in his sleep that sounded vaguely like, 'Imma kill you...ya..muffin...man...yeah.' Sakura straightened up and closed the door back, walking back into the living room and pulling on her shorts and top, climbing onto the couch, hoping that she would wake up before he did the next morning. But what if he did wake up first? Would he leave? Would he stay?

Sakura found that as she fell sleep, she hoped he would stay.

A/N - Yes I have updated this fic. AMAZING RIGHT! I was bored last night..oh and btw I am almost done with BTN and Poison Ivy's next chapters sooo...Expect those soon. Well thanks for all the support and love! Love you guys. Hasta la bye bye.

-Ny-