Chapter Six: Awkward

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I smiled slightly as I snuggled closer to Kisame; his arm wrapped firmly around my waist. We'd both been awake for a while now, but neither of as spoke since we didn't want to disturb the tranquil atmosphere. Although, we also knew that it would be rude not to communicate. We resorted to having a conversation without words.

A slight squeeze on my waist. Good morning.

My hand rested on top of his. Good morning.

He nuzzled my neck with his head. How are you feeling?

I sighed. Happy.

Although the peace of the morning was shattered when the bedroom door was thrown open and two kids ran in. One with blue hair, one with brown; they were miniature versions of their parents.

Wait… parents?

I woke up rather suddenly and sat up straight as stiff as a board. You've got to be kidding me, I dreamt of a future with Kisame? I felt my cheeks redden with embarrassment even though I knew no one could possibly know what I had dreamt of. It felt so real. I could practically smell the flowers on the windowsill in my dream, and I could've sworn I really did feel an arm around my waist. Frowning, I remembered something similar to that from last night. Wait, did it really happen or did I dream that too?

Running a hand through my hair I began to try and sort out what was dream and what was reality. Getting my own room; reality. Sneaking out; reality. Stubbing my toe; my foot still hurt so I was pretty sure that was reality too. Getting caught by Kisame; I'm thinking reality. Spending the night in Kisame's room; Reality. No, dream. Wait, maybe reality…dream? Ugh, I don't know!

Sighing, I rolled off the bed and headed to the bathroom that I knew was there. I was glad I had a basic idea of how the room was set out since it was still too dark to see clearly. I'd have a shower, and then when I was calm and more awake, I'd tackle to whole 'dream vs reality' thing again. Placing my hand against the smooth wood of the door, I pushed it open.

It was now that I realized that the shower as already occupied.

I screamed and backed out of the bathroom, slamming the door closed. Inside I could hear Kisame slip and fall in the shower. Refusing to open the door and check if he was ok – or conscious even – I rested my back against the door and slowly slid down it until I was on the floor, my hands covering my mouth. I had just walked in on Kisame in the shower. In . The. Shower. Of course everything was too steamed up from the fog the hot water caused to see anything, but that still didn't get rid of the fact I walked in. And now my mind – a small evil and perverted part – was throwing images at me that I had avoided seeing; my imagination working overtime. It was showing me his rock, hard stomach glistening in the water, his blue hair wet and plastered to his face, his –

I felt my cheeks flush and the back of my neck grow hot.

Hands now covering my nose, I went in search of a tissue. Nosebleed; are you serious? Finding a box of tissues, I grabbed out a handful and pressed it to my nose with my left hand. My right was trailing along the length of the wall, searching for the familiar feel of something in particular. When I found it, I flipped it with a click and waited for my eyes to adjust to the new bright light.

Ok, there was no need to solve my earlier problem. I had indeed spent the night in Kisame's room. Geez that sounded bad; like something had happened. I'd just like to clear it up that nothing had gone on.

Pulling the tissue away from my nose, I used the conveniently placed trash can and discarded the, now tinted red, tissue. Muttering inaudible ramblings, I massaged my temples and mentally shoved the images that were dancing in front of my eyes away. I locked them in a chest in the far corner of my mind and threw away the key. Ok, then.

The water running in the shower was shut off.

Making my decision in a split second, I opened the bedroom door and ran out into the hall. Kisame obviously knew I had walked in. He didn't just happen to fall down as soon as I entered. I don't know what anyone else would've done had they been in my position but I didn't wanted to be confronted by him at the moment. Granted I wouldn't be able to avoid it forever (Damn!) but an hour or two would be an acceptable amount of time.

Briskly walking, I was hardly aware of where I was heading until I entered. Ok, the kitchen it was then.

The first thing I noticed wasn't the whole bunch of glad wrapped food containers on the kitchen bench, but the amount of people seated at the table; which was everyone except Pein and Kisame. They all raised their heads when they heard me enter and I saw as their eyes dropped down when they realized what I was wearing.

Maybe I should've stopped by my room to change first. Although, what did I have to change into?

"Why is Ren-chan wearing Kisame's shirt?" I saw that it was the mask wearing guy from before, Tobi. Deidara mustn't have succeeded in murdering him.

"Because I needed fresh clothes Tobi-san," I replied slightly embarrassed. Not too sure why by embarrassed nonetheless.

"Oh," was his simple reply, "And you must call Tobi, Tobi-kun."

I smiled at him – a little unsure whether or not he smiled back – and headed over to the food bowls. There was quite a range and I felt myself wondering why they were all sitting out in the open. Maybe they had gone off; it wouldn't surprise me. There was some sort of food from each person and as I reached out to pick one up I noticed the state the kitchen bench was it.

It was clean.

I swiped my finger along the surface and brought it up to my face to inspect, as if I was some sort of clean freak. It was amazing; there was no grease or grime on my finger that would've been there yesterday. Wonder what spurred the other members into cleaning it up. Maybe Pein was absent because he got food poisoning.

"We all tidied the kitchen up since we thought you wouldn't like cooking in a dirty one," Sasori said boredly from behind me.

"Is that your, oh-so-subtle way of asking me to cook for you?" I asked turning around.

"I told the other members about your cooking last night and they wanted to taste for themselves," Konan explained.

I nodded, it made sense. Although, I still wonder why Pein was absent. I growled mentally when I realized he probably thought of himself as too good to eat with the others. Something told me be possessed a huge ego.

I had no objection to cooking for everyone, actually, I loved cooking. It would also be the perfect thing to take my mind off this morning's…incident. The chest in my mind rattled slightly in its corner but didn't burst open.

Before I started on my monster task of cooking for eleven people – Pein was going to eat whether he liked it or not – I had the mind to ask if anyone had any preferences to their food. Was I ever glad I did, because it seemed everyone had something to contribute.

Tobi seemed to like sweet flavored things, but hated bitter. Deidara like his food spicy and despised plain food with a passion. Sasori just didn't eat at all – just like a teenage girl. Hidan like meat and Kakuzu was rather finicky about having all the necessary nutrients and amino acids. Itachi was a fan of bland foods (too me rather surprising) and as I already knew, Zetsu didn't eat any form of plant. Konan wasn't fussed unless it had a nice flavor and said that Pein had a weakness for sour things. I made the assumption that Kisame would like things with fish. Apparently the other members thought I was wrong but I'm pretty sure I'm right. Kisame is a shark and sharks eat fish. If Kisame was a fish he would have huge eyes and be constantly opening and closing his mouth like a moron.

After I had all my necessary information I walked back over to the food bowls to see what I would be working with. Somewhat glad I now only had to cook for ten now. Scratching the back of my head while I thought, I realized I would have to cook something different for all of them. Unlike most people, my breakfasts tended to be rather large since I was a strong believer in the fact that breakfast was the biggest meal of the day, not dinner.

With a sigh, I started cooking up my dishes. This might take a while.

A few hours and a group of hungry people later, I placed a plate of food in front of all of them. I was pretty surprised I had all the necessary ingredients to make all the things I wanted too, despite a substitute or too. Everyone had a dish they should like and Kisame's, Pein's and mine were sitting on the counter. I was nervous when they all took their first bites, afraid of resentment of my food. My worry seemed to be without reason as praise was spoken as soon as they swallowed.

"Fucking great, Ren!" Hidan obviously.

"Interesting…" Itachi always vague.

Deidara was busy gulping down his water, Tobi had somehow already managed to eat all of his food (a faster eater than Kisame it seemed) and Konan winked at me.

I smiled at them all, pleased with the fact that they enjoyed the things I cooked and went to go sit on the counter and eat my own food. It was mostly silent as everyone ate apart from an argument between Hidan and Kakuzu, and Deidara and Tobi. Everyone managed to finish around the same time – myself included – and I moved to clear all the plates. As I moved around the table, piling the dishes high in my arms, Zetsu spoke.

"Would you mind cooking for us all the time?" his white side asked softly.

I stopped to think. It sounded like a fun idea, and I liked the challenge of cooking for such a wide variety of people. Sure the dishes might be a pain but what else was there to do around this place?

"Sure," I agreed, "But there's a problem; I used up all the food."

I saw Kakuzu stiffen, "All the food?"

"Well there's enough to make a lunch snack, but I might need to go shopping today if you guys want dinner."

"If anyone is going shopping, it will be me. I don't trust you with money; you'll buy the most expensive brands. Besides, you've wasted enough."

Ouch. Chalk one up for Mr. Mysterious. Actually, now that I think about it, Tobi's mask is more secretive than Kakuzu's cloth.

My mood had visibly decreased when I pilled all the plates, glasses and cutlery into the sink. I filled it up with hot water and let it soak for a little while before I actually washed it.

When I turned back around, everyone was already leaving. Eat and leave; did I expect anything else? Konan, at least, had a reasonable excuse to leave, holding up Pein's plate as signal she was taking it to him. Zetsu's two halves argued – slightly weird to watch – about whether or not he should help but soon left along with the others. Kakuzu was among the last to leave and seemed to be muttering something I couldn't quite catch. He seemed rather angry though.

"Is that for me?"

I froze when I heard Kisame's voice, the chest in my mind rattling like crazy now. I clenched my jaw to keep it shut, managing a stiff nod in his direction.

He ignored my obviously awkward reaction and proceeded to inspect the food I made, a smile lighting up his face.

"I love fish," he said, "But no one seems to buy any."

I relaxed, my satisfaction of being right about Kisame's food preference easing my mood. He smiled at me as he pulled a clean fork out of a drawer near the sink. It seemed he had chosen to ignore what had happened this morning and I slightly thanked him for it.

With his fork in one hand and plate in the other, he turned to leave the room obviously seeking somewhere else to eat.

"Have you told anyone I tried to escape?" I asked softly, my voice almost above a whisper.

He stopped, his back facing me, "I caught you so I don't see the need to." He started walking again but before he left the room he spoke again, "And I really don't want to see you get into trouble…or gone."

I blinked after he disappeared from my sight. Was that a tinge of purple I saw on his cheeks?

Not much dialogue in this one...actually in many of them :S

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Crimson Poison xx