Dulcet: Don't even have to say it...

I love reviews, whether they are full of praise or helpful criticism!

Chapter Four: Risks, Rewards, and Strange Reactions

"Are you alright, missy?" Kisame questioned when he was finally not able to stand Mizuki's weary expression any longer. The concern brought up in him was almost the equivalent to a regular person with such feelings watching a poor, sick animal slowly dying and giving up on life. But Kisame had seen it occur many, many times before in human cases when captured prisoners lost hope of escaping and seemed to die spiritually. That was what seemed to happen with Mizuki right then. It was strange, though. Usually it took weeks, months, sometimes even years to take this strong of effect. The Hizoku princess had only been under their captivity for a few days.

Slowly she lifted her melancholy eyes to look up at him… That's when he saw it: without a doubt, she was dying. "I need to get these ropes off," she told him as she limply raised her hands that had not been released since the moment Itachi had first bound them, "I need freedom from them."

"Out of the question," Itachi denied her a little too hastily, even though he was probably the one out of the two present Akatsuki members who most wanted to cut them, "We can't risk your pulling something on us."

Without even so much as a sigh, Mizuki stared at him for a moment, and then once again lowered her eyes, not even attempting to argue. Kisame bit his lip at this response. Where had that temper from that first meeting gone to? That fighting spirit? That flaming hatred? What had happened to it? It seemed to have died off so quickly… too quickly, in fact. "C'mon, Itachi-san," Kisame urged as his teammate nonchalantly took a drink from his water flask, "Couldn't we just take them off until we go to sleep? It won't be long and it's driving me crazy how pathetic she's acting!"

Itachi drew the mouth of the container away from his lips and then wiped away the excess with the back of his hand, his eyebrow raised distrustfully and suspiciously at his partner. "What?" Kisame questioned in an annoyed tone, "What's that look for?"

"Usually, you get your kicks out of someone else's pain and suffering... So I was just asking myself if it was irritation that bothering you…" Itachi explained, "… or if it was sympathy."

"Sympathy?" Kisame repeated, "Hah! You of all people should know that I am beyond such a useless emotion."

"And I also know that such a trivial thing as this would not bother you," Itachi pointed out, "The only things that could ever get on your nerves are if something either stands in your way of achieving a goal, or if you are denied any of your desires. So that's what brought me to ponder your motivation for wanting to cut her bonds."

The conversation suddenly caught the third person's attention, causing her to slowly lift her head in interest as she heard that one of the two was actually fighting to defend her request. "Who are you to say what can and can't get on my nerves?" Kisame retorted, "If I say that her mopey attitude bothers me, shouldn't that be enough?"

And with that said he went over to where Mizuki sat away from the campfire and kneeled down in front of her, taking her hands in one of his own. This action began to bring life back into those blue eyes of the girl, her hopes seeming to finally be coming true as he drew a knife from his boot. "Kisame-san… don't you dare…" Itachi warned from the other side of the camp.

Kisame only ignored the threats. Instead, he looked directly into Mizuki's eyes which caused her to look up and stare back at him. "If I cut these, will you promise not to run away from us?" he asked her, "Because you know if you do, the consequences will only turn worse when we catch you than they would have been if you had stayed."

And so she nodded, her expression taking on the classification of shocked as her heart raced with excitement at what was finally happening. "Kisame-san!" Itachi yelled as he began to make his way over.

But before he could reach the pair to stop his partner, Kisame easily slit the rope, causing the remnants to fall to the ground and making Itachi stop cold in his tracks, horror-struck at what Kisame had just done.

Mizuki's hands came apart suddenly as they were finally freed. And with the lack of restrictions of her hands came also the freedom of her heart as a weight was suddenly lifted, though it suddenly seemed to stop in her chest. Slowly she raised her hands in front of her face, marveling at the space that was now allowed between them. Then slowly she got to her feet, allowing her gaze to go from hand to hand, then down to Kisame, then over to Itachi. Here her look lingered as she frowned over at him, then let her eyes look upward momentarily before she jumped into one of the branches of the great tree behind her, ascending out of sight. "Now look what you've done!" Itachi growled before going after her, only losing sight of her from time to time as she went higher and higher still.

It bothered him that for a princess she certainly knew how to climb a tree efficiently. In fact, what he saw of her movements seemed so effortless while he himself wouldn't have been able to go up nearly as quickly if he hadn't had her to guide his next few moves. Then suddenly Mizuki was lost and out of sight. Itachi became very worried at this, fearing that she had possibly lost him. However, once he had reached the top branches of the tree, he realized that it was tall enough to be in the emergent layer of the forest, which was above the majority of other trees.

And there Mizuki was, simply standing on the branch with her hand lightly touching the trunk of the great plant as she gaped out onto the horizon, her lips only parted slightly as her jaw was slack. "What do you think you are doing?" Itachi demanded as he came to the same level, "Why on earth did you run away like that?"

Mizuki didn't so much as glance at him though. Nor did she immediately answer his questions. That's when the Uchiha member first noticed the bliss and awe that was occupied in her eyes. What was causing that? And so he looked in the same direction that she was, hoping to see something that might have been some significance… unfortunately he saw nothing. There was only the forest covered in nighttime darkness in the space beyond them. "It's beautiful isn't it?" she commented as she continued to gaze out, "It seems like an eternity since I've seen it quite like this…"

Confused, Itachi once again looked out at the scenery and seemed to finally understand what she was so deeply concerned about. Yet, he still couldn't see why she would be so amazed by it. "The moon?" he inquired, "I see nothing so spectacular about it."

"Are you kidding?" Mizuki asked as she finally turned to look at him, "Look at the size of it tonight! I haven't seen it this close in years! What are even more surprising are the stars… You can see so many so clearly even with the light of the moon being so bright…"

She then turned her attention back to the sky, sighing in content at its wonder. And in that moment Itachi saw a hint of something that he had yet to see since kidnapping her: she almost seemed happy. The way her eyes smiled was so peaceful and heart-warming, even to this murderous fiend on this most chilly of nights. The affect of those orbs was so powerful, in fact, that Itachi found himself taking a step closer to her as he felt like he was being drawn and pulled in…

That was when Kisame appeared, causing him to step back in surprise at the interruption. "There you two are!" he sighed with relief, "So what's the deal? Why'd you run up here in such a rush?"

"I had to see the sky," she answered him, "I've missed it after being under all of these trees."

"So you're saying that you're not accustomed to being sheltered under trees like this?" Kisame ventured, even though Itachi could easily recognize the question as an inconspicuous way to interrogate her about the whereabouts of her home.

Unfortunately for them, Mizuki noticed it as well. "I didn't necessarily mean that," she dodged, "I just meant that being derived of the chance was killing me. That was one of the reasons that I wanted to be free of those ropes in the first place."

"I see…" Kisame replied as he kept the disappointment that was so apparent on his face out of his voice as he spoke.

A short pause followed the comment. "Are you planning on staying up here much longer?" Kisame asked, wanting to get back down to camp and settle down again.

"I'll only be another moment or two…" Mizuki answered as she continued to stare at the heavenly bodies above. Itachi looked up too. He could never quite understand what was so special about the nighttime sky. It was just a big round rock with a few glowing dots… nothing to get excited over. Then he sighed with boredom as he looked back over to Mizuki as she still seemed to be captivated by these pointless figures. Then he noticed something very interesting about her that he had not taken into account before now… She was beautiful.

Yes… He hadn't noticed it before, but now he found it to be quite true. She was most beautiful, especially in the light of this bright full moon and beneath all of these stars, with her eyes sparkling with something that seemed close to happiness. Actually, the spell that she cast upon him seemed to be as effective on him as the current sky was to her, which was almost frightening to Itachi. But the spell was luckily broken as Mizuki moved, looking away once again and a sort of regret settling over her features as she accepted what she was about to say. "Okay," she announced, "We can go back now."

Neither of the men said anything though. Instead they waited for Mizuki to begin the descent, which she did only moments after making the announcement. Kisame went after her, followed closely by Itachi as they went down back towards the ground.

Upon reaching solid earth again, the two Akatsuki members found Mizuki waiting for them, her hands held behind her back with her head lowered in a manner that reminded Itachi of the child that he had once known her to be years ago. "Kisame-san…" she called, surprising the other two as they heard the honorific, "Come here please."

With only a moment's pause, the shark slowly made his way forward, curiosity outweighing any suspicion he had as he approached her with careful steps. Normally Itachi too would have been on his guard if he had not also been mildly intrigued.

Upon reaching an arm's distance of her, Kisame stopped and waited to discover the reason he had been summoned. This proximity still did not seem to satisfy Mizuki though, for with a crook of her finger she beckoned him to bend down closer to her, him being almost a head taller than herself.

This too he did, leaning in as if to hear a secret that no one else would be able to know. A secret, however, was not what he was rewarded with. Instead he received the shock of the century as Mizuki lightly pressed her lips against his cheek, causing him to instantly stand up straight again to stare down at a blushing girl. "Thank you very much, Kisame-san," she told him as she bent in a bow of gratitude, "You have no idea how much that meant to me."

Neither men could comprehend these words right away though, both taken aback by the action that the princess had just taken to thank the older partner's kindness. But what appalled Itachi even more than his teammate getting a kiss from their captive was the fact that a small smile slowly crept onto Kisame's face as he began to rub the back of his head in modesty and embarrassment. They were both acting like mere children! "Don't mention it," he told her as he was now smiling dumbly, a look that did not suit him in Itachi's eyes which were now glaring fiercely at the blue man.

But why was Itachi getting so angry at the token of thanks? When had Kisame's behavior or rewards become his concern? And what was this twisting feeling inside of him that made him want to rush up and punch that triumphant and cheery smile right off that shark's face for simply receiving the gesture? At this, he stopped and checked himself. Was he angry that Kisame had received a kiss at all, or was he angry that Kisame had received it while he himself had not?