A/N: I fucking suck. After a ridiculously long absence, I have returned! I truly missed writing and am happy to say that I feel much more inspired as of late than usual. Hopefully, I'll continue to move along on this story much faster than I have been. I apologize for my long absence and want to thank each and every one of you who has messaged me, reviewed, alerted, and favourited this story. It really does encourage me to do my best and see this story to the end! Lots of interesting things in this chapter for you...some humour, mushy cute things, and a little bit of sexy stuff to satiate your craving since I left you for so long. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of that jazz. It belongs to Kishimoto and I feel privileged to torture his characters with my completely fucked up mind.


Submerged - Chapter Nine

It took the shark a long time before he was able to fall asleep. His mind was heavy with thoughts of the raven sleeping only a few feet away from him. Through the darkness he watched Itachi's chest rise and fall in his sleep and noticed the slight twitches in his face as he dreamed. Who knew a man could have such feminine eyelashes?

Kisame smile. The Uchiha almost looked his age when he slept; a look of peace and relaxation on his face and for once not looking so weary. What would he do now? It was hard to deny his feelings for his younger partner now. The kiss they had shared could never be erased. Even if he pushed it to the back of his mind, it would easily work it's way back to the front in his dreams. The feelings growing in his heart could never be burned away so easily. Would he continue to struggle day by day to surpress the urge to hold the raven in his arms and caress the soft skin of his throat with his lips? Or would he dare make the move to romance the boy? Seduce him even...he had guessed by their conversation that the young Uchiha was most likely a virgin. It was particularly easy to arouse an oridinary virgin with just the smallest of touchest. He had a hard time believing it would be such an easy task with Itachi. Even if he has the courage to touch him in such ways, he didn't suppose it would be the best method of showing the raven his affections. After all, his body didn't just lust for him but longed for something more. Something more intimate and permanent than just one night of warm flesh against flesh.

Turning to lie on his back, he rested his hands behind his head. The thought passed through his mind that it might never be possible. They were both ninja and fugitives of the law. Wanted nin, they would never get any peace. After all, what did he expect? Some happy life with Itachi, living on the coast with just each other for company? A cozy life with his partner was a laughable thought and he quickly pushed it out of his mind. But really, what did he want from this? More than just sex, of course...but they could never live comfortably with one another. Perhaps just being acknowledged by the raven would be enough. To be needed and appreciated, even if they were just two missing nin hell bent on causing destruction. Groaning, he rolled on to his side and began to pick at the bedding absentmindedly. All these thoughts were pointless if nothing ever happened between them, so why was he even bothering to worry about it?

Had he resigned his fate to just travel alongside him, hiding his feelings and shielding himself from all distraction? What did he have to lose if he didn't? Kisame couldn't stand living in a world plagued by lies, but living in a world where he constantly lied to himself about these feelings? He simply couldn't live that way. It was all or nothing. He had to try. There must be some way to draw his eyes. Small acts of kindness may not go unnoticed by his young partner but they didn't seem to be enough. Making any advances on his partner might not be the best idea without first knowing if his feelings were reciprocated. That and if Itachi was in a bad mood he was sure to suffer some sort of consequence...

And then an idea hit him with full force...his birthday! There must be something he could do that would make the raven happy. Even if it were something small...he racked his memory for all those little moments when the Uchiha's eye lit up at the sight of an object, the way his lip upturned slightly when something pleased him, the look in his eye when he found something particularly pleasing or satisfactory. Then suddenly, he had it. Sure...it was a long journey and it would tire him substantially, not to mention be very dangerous, but perhaps it would be worth it.


-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-


Strong sunlight streamed across the floor of the pair's shared room. Bright light shone across the shark's face, slowly coaxing him awake until he couldn't tolerate the light anymore and turned to his side, pulling the blanket to shield his face. It was too late, he was already awake. Realization of his day's task roused him even more and he flung back the covers, glancing at the window and silently cursing. It was already nearing noon. Aware that making a stealthy get away was much less likely as the morning grew later, the shark glanced over at his partner and was shocked to find him still asleep. It was a rare occasion when the raven slept longer than the shark. Shrugging it off as luck on his part, he began to ready himself for the trip, grabbing some of the items he would need. The late start set him back quite a bit. He'd have to be quick.

Movement out of the corner of his eyes grabbed his attention. That was strange. He could swear he saw the surface of the mirror ripple slightly. His eyes locked on the mirror, not budging as he scanned the surface for any signs of movement. When the mirror appeared to just be it's stationary self, he lowered his gaze back to the table below it and began to scribble a quick note to Itachi, lying about his whereabouts for the day. After penning down a quick excuse, that more than likely wouldn't satiate the raven's curiosity, he looked up and had to stifle a yelp. Two great yellow eyes peered out of the mirror at him followed by a large crooked grin.

"Damn it Zetsu, don't you ever knock? You nearly scared the life out of me, you bastard." he hissed, voice filled with venom, lip pulled back in a half snarl.

At this the mirror surface rippled a bit and pulled back as flesh and cloak began to pull itself forward. The Akatsuki member's body contorted in an awkward angle as an arm grasped out from the surface of the mirror to cling to the frame and he pulled more of his body forth from the object, that wide crooked smile still adorning his face as he cackled. The yellow eyes darted over to the raven's sleeping form and back to Kisame. "Sleep, sleep, sleep. We thought you would never wake! It was getting so boring just watching you drooling on your pillow."

"Seriously, it's fucking creepy...you just appearing out of nowhere like that." the older man took a step back and crossed his arms, clearly annoyed at the intruder, "You're going to do it in the wrong place, wrong time one of these days if you don't watch it." It was more of a warning than advice to the creature.

"Wake your partner." croaked his black half, clearly not amused with his other half's attempt to anger the shark.

"Why? If this is about his medicine, you can just give it to me. I'll be sure he gets it. It isn't like you're asking me to preform a reanimation jutsu or something. I'm giving him a damn package." already running late, the older man was not amused. He simply didn't have time for Zetsu's shenanigans and needed to get moving his he expected to avoid Itachi's questions. As is, he was worried Zetsu's sudden entrance and cackling would wake the younger man up at any minute. Nervous, he glanced to the figure on the bed and felt relieved when he saw he was still sound asleep.

"I was not aware you knew of the Uchiha's sickness."

"He's my partner. He trusts me." Kisame answered, defensively.

"Trust, trust, trust, trust, thrust..." the white half of Zetsu chided, giggling madly, "Ooooh I'm sure he trusts you very much Hoshigaki-san."

"How long were you watching us, anyhow?" the shark shuddered at the thought. If he'd been watching them all morning waiting for them to awaken, how many other times had he been spying on them? He'd avoid thinking about that. If he did, he might just be inclined to rip the white half from the black half in rage.

His fellow Akatsuki member's smile grew even larger as he he slipped into some sort of sing song voice. "Looooong enough..."

"Enough with your questions. Shall I dispose of this medicine or are you going to take it?" the black half pulled an arm from the wall beside the mirror and stretched out his hand in which he held a small brown parcel.

"Damn it, just give it to me." disgruntled, the Mist-nin uncrossed his arms from his chest and snatched the parcel from the pitch black hand.

"Different than the last one, it is." the white half of Zetsu twisted sickeningly to stare upside down at the package in Kisame's hands, "As his condition worsens, the dosage has had to be increased. This has a more immediate effect."

"Worsens?" Kisame was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, I thought the Uchiha told you. He does trust you afterall, does he not?" his grin grew wider to the point Kisame was surprised his face had not ripped from the strain of his own amusment, and added, "Be warned, it makes him a little worse as the dosage increases as well."

Cackling with laughter, his fellow Akatsuki member swiftly retreated into the glass mirror and wall behind him leaving no traces he had ever been in the room and before the shark could ask him exactly what he meant by 'worse'. The sick feeling in his stomach confirmed him he already knew what the man was insinuating and that the fact Zetsu may be watching them more than he thought.

"Kisame?" the voice was faint and more quiet than usual, but with the pressing anxiety of waking his partner caused him to jump with a start, "What are you doing? It is late. Why did you not wake me?"

"We're staying another day. Already took care of it. And don't worry, I paid for it so don't pull that crap about saving money."

"Why?" asked the Uchiha sleepily.

"You seem pretty tired and I have some things to do." Kisame was never very good at lying to him, or making up excuses on the spot. He silently cursed Zetsu for delaying him, "Don't worry about it. Just get some rest."

He was surprised, and slightly worried, when the raven didn't argue and instead turned over to pull the blankets tighter around his body.

"Zetsu left some new medicine for you. I'm sure you know what to do with it. I'll just leave it on the table." he placed the parcel containing the medicine on the table below the mirror Zetsu had popped out of minutes before.

"Hn..."

Itachi had already drifted off to sleep again. For a moment, the shark debating staying to watch over him while he napped but knew even in such an exhausted state, the raven could protect himself. Still, in case he did not remember their conversation when he awoke, Kisame took the note he had scribbled down earlier and placed it on the table next to the medicine. He wouldn't want him to worry. 'As if he would.' the shark noted, gloomily.

He was about to turn to leave when curiosity stuck him. How exactly was this medicine different than before? The first batch of medicine the plant-nin had brought his partner was a bottle of pills. It certainly couldn't contain more, or else he would have heard the little capsules shifting when he had snatched it earlier. Curiosity got the best of him and he pulled back the brown wrappings of the package, glancing over his shoulder to be sure the crinkling hadn't disturbed Itachi, and then unwrapped it fully when he saw no signs of the raven stirring awake.

Inside the package was a box about the length of his palm and just as wide. Quickly, he popped off the lid to reveal five long syringes and two small bottles of clear liquid. He turned one bottle over with his forefinger, inspecting the label but found it was left unmarked. Whatever it was, it was for Itachi's benefit...still, he half prayed that Zetsu had really just been trying to tease him more when he said it would make Itachi worse.

Closing the box, he quietly wrapped it securely back in it's brown wrappings and placed it on the table once more next to the note. Gathering up the things he needed, he placed them into a small pack and secured it next to Samehada on the belt that wrapped around his chest. With a final glance back at his sleeping partner, he pushed open the door to their room and exited into the hall.


-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-


Serveral hours later, he stood in the heart of Konoha, disguised by a transformation jutsu he had worked on occasionally. He had taken the form of a woman. It seemed the most vulnerable and least suspicious choice. Using a transformation jutsu wasn't particularly hard, nor was transforming into the opposite sex. It had been an easy enough justu and he was able to transform himself into a woman with long navy hair and shining yellow eyes. Though he was able to rid himself of the gills that would have surely given his identity away, the light blue grey tint of his skin had remained. The tricky part of the jutsu was hiding your chakra level and signature while still being able to maintain control of the jutsu for an extended period of time. Having such a large reserve, this wasn't a problem for him. Give or take, he'd be able to keep up the disguise for around two hours before it began to strain his body and he was forced to return to his normal form.

Kisame had taken a casual yukata from the hotel before leaving and changed into it after transforming outside of town. The deep forest around the village provided an ample enough hiding place for his cloak and Samehada. She hadn't been too happy about him just leaving her there like that, but eventually stopped rustling in her wrappings and making clicking noises as he reassured her with some gentle words that he'd be back soon. Getting into the village hadn't been as difficult as he had thought. Apparently, he had arrived during some sort of summer festival and many different vendors were entering and leaving the village. Disguising himself as a member of one of their parties had been simple, and he easily passed by the gate keepers who to his surprise and advantage, seemed to be more interested in one another than the people entering the village as they chatted and flirted openly with one another.

Vaguely from their previous endeavor to the ninja village, he remembered a few basic landmarks that might aid him in finding the location of the shop he was looking for. Careful to avoid too much contact, he pushed through the noisy crowd surrounding a ramen shop and skirted around the corner only to come to another dead end. Frustrated, he stopped to survey his surroundings, hoping to gain an inkling of an idea where he was. Towering above the rest of the buildings on the far end of the city he could see the Hokage's dwelling nestled in the shadows of the craggy rock faces of the former Hokage's before. If his memory didn't fail him, he remembered it being somewhere to left of that building about ten streets back on the corner. He thanked his lucky stars that the shop was on a corner. It'd be much easier to find.

Making his way across the stream of people in the street he continued off into a side street and down an alley, making his way to the west side of town. Turn after turn, he found himself actually working away from his desired target. The streets were not exactly straight and some curved off in the opposite direction, while others ended abruptly in dead ends. When he hit another dead end for the fourth time in a row, he wheeled around quickly in frustration at yet again getting lost and collided so roughly with what felt like a solid brick wall, that he fell backwards. A curse was about to escape his lips when he looked up and directly into two coal black eyes and his heart dropped into his stomach like a burning hot stone.

'No, oh god, no. Anything but this.'

The black orbs were topped with large dark eyebrows and framed by a perfectly cut out of date hairdo. Kisame cringed as the shining green spandex and obnoxious orange legwarmers confirmed his worst suspicions. It was definitely him, there was no mistaking it; the man he hated more than anyone in his life. The man who had kneed him in the face when he was about to deliver a killing blow to one of the Leaf-nin and mocked him openly. Out of all the damn people in the village he could have run into he had to run into him.

'Someone kill me now...' he pleaded to the empty alleyway.

"My deepest apologies!" began the man standing before him and the older man cringed at the sound of his voice, "Are you alright?"

"Uh...yeah, it's okay..." he muttered in reply, "I'm fine."

"A lovely lady such as yourself shouldn't be wandering back alleys alone." the man smirked, his teeth gleaming in the sunlight. Kisame's stomach churned with disgust at being called lovely by the spandex clad weirdo. Getting away from him was now top priority. Screw Itachi's present. If he didn't make a run for it and fast, he'd soon find himself strangling the man out of desperation and the last thing he wanted to do was draw attention to himself in a village full of trained ninja. Recoiling, his eyes darted around for any place he could run and hide.

"I-I...wha-" the shark stumbled over his words still confused by being referred to as lovely by that appaling man. He had nearly forgotten that he was disguised as a woman, even if he was a rather awkward and tall one and quickly remembered he had better do his best now out of all times to conduct himself in a ladylike fashion. The man reached out a hand to help him up and with much reluctance he took it, doing his best not to shudder in disgust as the tan hand gripped his own. "We're in broad daylight. Besides, I'll be fine. Now I really need to get goi-"

"Nonsense, miss! I won't have it. Let me accompany you."

"Uh, don't you have something you were doing here?" Kisame pressed, as he dusted off his yukata and glanced about again for a line of escape, "I'd hate to be a burden..." 'More like I'd hate to have to rip your head off in this alleyway before getting what I even came here for...'

"I insist! Wherever it may be, I shall escort you!"

Kisame thought this over. He had no idea where the shop was located, and this man obviously knew the city well having lived here all his life as a ninja. As much as it pained him to be in his company, if he could tolerate it for just a bit longer he could use him to get to the shop and retrieve Itachi's gift without wasting countless more hours in the city and possibly drawing attention to himself. The longer he was here wandering aimlessly, the most likely he would be to look suspicious to an outsider and the harder it would be for him to maintain his transformation jutsu. He wasn't exactly blending in well with his light blue skin colour either...

"Well, I got lost looking for the Dango Shop." he admitted this as sweet and shyly as possible, attempting to hide his utter dislike for the man, "Do you know of the place?"

"Know of it? Why of course I do!" he beamed, "They have the best dango in town. My good friend, Anko, is one of their best customers. You're actually not that far off. Only a few blocks up the street and to the right and you would have been there!" Kisame cursed his luck. If he had held out a little longer he would have-

Unexpectedly, the spandex clad man hooked his arm around Kisame's and led him along down the street, still smiling brightly as ever while the missing-nin stumbled along in complete shock at the contact. The Mist-nin had the urge to punch him in the teeth, but refrained and let him take the lead as he led him down the crowded streets of Konoha and past several different restaurants, a ramen shop, and a bar that was tucked a little farther into the buildings than the others. A drunken blonde woman was being dragged from the bar by a dark haired woman, kicking and screaming and yelled something unintelligible at the pair. His guide seemed to take no notice of whatever vulgarity she blurted at them and greeted her by name enthusiastically as they walked past. The woman with short dark hair blushed bright red and apologized repeatedly for whatever the woman had said and was still trying to coax her away from the bar when they passed a large group of people and they disappeared from sight.

"Always full of fire, that one! She makes a fine Hokage." Kisame blanched at the idea that the drunken blonde was their Hokage and one of the legendary Sannin. "Even in her age she's still filled with youthful passion!"

The shark caught himself rolling his eyes. He had no desire to hold a conversation with this man. Still, his nemesis chattered along loudly despite not getting any answers out of his partner, making wild gestures in the air with his free arm as he talked. The Mist-nin did his best not to look too displeased and nodded politely.

"Here we are!" the man announced exuberantly after what felt like an hour, leading Kisame into the dango shop still arm in arm and up to the counter.

Even though he had taken the form of a woman, he could still not meet the shopkeeper's gaze as he hurriedly requested an order of dango and a small box of dried tea leaves that he remembered Itachi had ordered a cup of the time they had visited.

"What do you say to me joining you, miss?" the man inquired in a voice with an expression that the shark could only assume was supposed to be charming.

"Oh, I'm not staying..." he replied and added, "They're not for me, you see."

"Oh, a very special someone then?" Kisame heard his voice drop slightly at the thought, but his dazzling smile still remained, "I'm sure he'll find them to his liking."

"...well..." Kisame flushed slightly at the thought of Itachi. 'Damn this man to hell for making me blush.'

"Well, he is a very lucky man." his voice softened and this time the dark haired man's smile was truly genuine as he released Kisame from his grasp, taking his hand in his.

"Yes, I suppose he is..." but Kisame had to think it was he, who was the lucky one.

"Perhaps we shall be fated to meet again! Until then, have safe journey maiden." he kissed the hand he had been holding and bowed his head slightly in respect before rushing out of the shop. The Mist-nin could have sworn his cheeks were flushed and he was frowning.

"I'm sure we will." and this time Kisame actually smiled. Oh he was sure they would meet again alright...and because of those last grueling ten minutes spent with him, he would make sure it was very much enjoyable...and bloody.


-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-


Trees passed by him in a blur as the shark made his way back to the inn. He'd been traveling at a good pace for over three hours now and would be reaching his destination soon. The little box concealed in his clock bounced along in his pocket as he ran. More than enough times, he had thrust his hand into his pocket to make sure it was still there. It'd be awful to have traveled so far and went through such a horrid ordeal just to have it fall out of his pocket as he traveled. He cringed at the thought.

To his left the sun was beginning to set in the west. He's make it shortly after darkness fell.

His predictions were correct and shortly after the sun had set beyond the horizon, the lights of the small town in which there were staying appeared in the distance. Picking up the pace, he sped toward the town.

When he pushed back the door he was surprised to find Itachi was curled on the bedmat, asleep. The blanket was once again pushed down at his feet from the raven's flailing. His sleep seemed to be getting more and more restless. Kisame wondered if he had been asleep like that all day. At the sound of him entering the room, his partner's eyes flickered open, sleepily. With one arm he propped himself up and with the other he rubbed his eyes, still heavy with sleep.

"Kisame?" his voice was slurred and eyes unfocused as he looked up at his partner. Kisame slung off the pack and his giant sword and hung his cloak on a hook on the wall but not before removing the package containing the tea and dango. Itachi still seemed rather tired so unless he requested it, he'd make him the tea at a later time.

"I brought you something...for your birthday and all." he announced, moving to sit on the floor next to the raven haired youth.

"Birthday?" his words were slurred and through his slightly vacant eyes Kisame could see the gears clinking into place as the raven slowly realized what his partner had been talking about, "For me?"

"You can't be mad at me for getting it for you though..." he started, fiddling with the wrapping on the package in his hands. Like a child, the raven's eyes widened and he sat upright moving towards the shark, eyes growing large and full of curioisity as he stared at the box in his partner's hands, "I'm sorry for lying to you...I had to go all the way to Konoha and back for it, but I knew you liked them and all. Plus, unless you want to start an old lady shelf of cat figurines back at the Akatsuki lair, I really didn't know what else to get you."

With that, he handed the parcel to Itachi who took it with eager hands. Pulling off the wrapping and flinging it on the floor, the raven just stared open eyes at the box and began to turn it over and over and over in his hands. After turning it over what felt like twenty times, his partner began to run his fingers along the box slowly. And then he giggled. Kisame sighed and glanced over at the table where he had left the medicine Zetsu had delivered. He was wrong. Itachi hadn't been in bed all day. Sometime during the course of the day he had been up enough to make his way to the medicine. Scanning the room he noticed a syringe lying carelessly on the floor some feet away from the table along with a long rubber band. He wondered how long it had been since Itachi had injected the medicine into his veins.

"It's a box." his partner said rather stupidly.

"Uhmm...yeah." Kisame sighed. He's hoped that when he gave the younger man the gift he would have gotten a bit more of a reaction than what he had just received, "Go on, open it."

With a little bit of a struggle, the Uchiha pulled off the lid of the box and exclaimed with a rather uncharacteristic smile, "They're a dango family."

"Aren't you going to eat any?" for a second the shark felt slightly hurt, but remembered his partner wasn't exactly in his right mind, "I mean, you can save them if you want..."

"Eat them?" Itachi seemed almost confused.

"Oh come on!" exasperated, the shark placed a palm to his forehead is disbelief, "Yes, eat them! What else would you do with them? Stick them in your nose? For heaven's sake, Itachi."

The Uchiha stared down at the box of dango in his hand. Six little white rice treats in pink papers stared back at him. Impatient, the shark plucked one from the box and bit it in half. "See, eat it."

Without warning, Itachi jerked forward towards him, mouth closing around the remaining half of dango in his outstretched fingers. Kisame shivered as the tips his fingers holding the treat were engulfed by his partner's hot mouth. His warm tongue brushed one of the digits before pulling back and taking the dango half with it. The raven munched happily on the piece, unaware of the deep blush on his older partner's cheeks.

"I-I think I had better go to bed, Itachi." Kisame managed to stammer, pulling back from the advancing boy who apparently didn't realize the treats were in his own lap and not in the shark's fingers. "Today was really rough. We can share the rest of these tomorrow" He wasn't lying about his day. It had been rather grueling.

Quickly he took the dango from the raven's lap and placed it in a small cooling unit before extinguishing the light and retreating to his bed mat, pulling the covers up over his face. He'd rather not have expose just how much discomfort the youth had caused him with that small contact. Evening his breathing to a slow and steady pace, he pretended to be asleep.

Movement. His blanket was being tugged on. And then, hands were around his torso and a warm body scooted up to press against his back. He felt a face nuzzle into his back between his shoulder blades. Cursing silently, he willed away the burning heat that started to grow below his waist at the contact of the gentle hand resting on his abdomen. He could deal with this... after all, Itachi would have to explain it to himself if he woke up cuddling his partner, not the other way around. And it wasn't exactly unwelcome contact either...

Sleep has almost taken him when he felt hot breath on his neck. Kisame froze. His eyes flung open and whatever weariness he had felt before vanished as the warmth trailed along his shoulder. The shark yelped in surprise as he felt Itachi's soft lips press into his flesh at the crooked of his neck. More kisses followed, trailing up his neck, towards his ear. A groan escaped his mouth as his assailant took the lobe in his mouth, caressing it with his tongue. The hand on his abdomen had begun it's own affections, stroking over his taunt stomach, slowly tracing his muscles with soft fingers.

"W-what are you doing?" he managed to get out, struggling to not let his own desire for the raven's actions to hold precedence over the morality of the situation. The sick realization that Zetsu must not have been lying hit him full force.

No response.

He pushed back from the boy and rolled over to face him. Even in the dark, he could see his face clearly, his eyes free of his usual Sharingan and filled with an emotion he had never seen in them before. Was it...? No, surely it wasn't...desire?

"Itachi?" he questioned again.

The Uchiha reached out a hand to trace his partner's pectorals before placing one hand gently on his shoulder. Scooting forward, his cheek soon joined it as he pressed his face into the shark's broad chest. Itachi murmured something that he couldn't quite hear and the Mist-nin moved his head a little lower to try and catch the words the young man was uttering. As he did so, his partner raised his head and their eyes met. Again he froze, unsure of what to make of the expression in the Uchiha's eyes. Before he could register what was happening and pull away, the raven surged forward and pressed his mouth over Kisame's in an eager kiss. Itachi's tongue lightly coaxed it's way inside the hot expanse of the older man's mouth. Their tongues met, the older man's caressing his younger partner's delicately and uninhibited, his flesh feverish with his own desire.

The shark became lost in their kisses and reached a hand up to cup the youth's jaw to deepen their kiss, exploring the raven's mouth fully, his body nearly incoherent with need. Breaking their kiss he trailed the hand down the man's neck pushing aside the yukata, the fabric falling to land slightly off his young lover's shoulder, and brushed one slender collarbone with his lips sucking gently at the warm flesh. The breathless moan that followed went straight to his groin and he continued to lick and kiss along the raven haired boy's neck and jawline.

Kisame felt hands clumsily exploring his body, touching and stroking every bit of exposed flesh they could reach. As a hand reached to make it's way under his waistband he pulled back with a gasp, remembering just who he was kissing and caressing.

"No..." Itachi moaned softly as his lips retreated from his neck, "Continue...please..."

'Did he just say...please? And...ask me to keep doing?'

"Don't stop...please." came another moan, "Make me...feel...please."

'Damn it, Itachi...you don't know hard it is to say no to you right now...'

"No, not like this." regretfully, he pried loose the raven's grasping fingers from his trousers and held the hand loosely in his. "I couldn't. As much as I want to, it just isn't right. I might be wanted for mercilessly killing countless people, but I just can't do this to you. Not with you like this. It's...I just can't take advantage of you like this. Not because of my own selfish desire..."

"I want it." the raven breathed, pulling himself against Kisame again, pressing his chest against him. "I want you. I don't want...this feeling to end."

Kisame's defenses nearly collapsed as the Uchiha ground his hips into his own, a wave of pleasure rushing through his body. This time it was his neck being assaulted as his partner places kisses along his neck and down his chest. Again, the man's hands were fiddling with his waistband. With a sharp jerk, the shark pulled back and clambered out of bed, nearly tripping over the blanket. He rushed to grab his cloak throwing it around his shoulders and fastening it into place.

"Not like this, Itachi." he repeated, "Please, go to sleep now."

He fled the room. "Kisame..." he faintly heard his partner call out his name as he closed the door behind him and rushed down the hallway. A few feet down from the door to their room he spotted a chair and quickly retrieved it to prop against the door handle, hoping it might be enough to hold the raven in if he should have the desire to come after him and continued down the hall and out into the chill night air.

This had been too much. Too much and he wasn't sure how much of it he could take. The raven had reduced him to some love sick fool...but what had he done to the raven? More importantly, what had the medicine done to him? Were his advances completely drug induced or was their some underlying emotion behind those that Itachi chose to suppress that was waiting to burst forth, taking every opportunity when his consciousness waned to leak out? He had to know. He needed to know.

It was decided. He would confront the raven tomorrow.


A/N: If I remember correctly, dango is one of Itachi's favourite foods so what better than to get him a treat from his home village that he obviously misses? Hmmmm, some actual confrontation awaits in the next chapter!

I've begun to realize it must be my goal in life to be a complete utter bastard to every character I love. I suppose it's their right of passage. If Oliver loves you he'll write you in some sort of awful embarrassing situation...Yup, I'm an asshole.

Also, if you haven't yet...follow me on deviantART! I post there are well, but usually a day or so after updating here. Still, I keep a journal and other things there so you'll know why I might be absent. Plus you get to read about all these exciting things such as me bitching about my job, life, boss, apartment, and any other awkward and stupid thing that happened to happen to me to piss me off or embarrass me. Hooray!

With that being said, I have also found another love...Star Wars. The flames of the fandom have rekindled in my heart and I have horrible urges to write dirty Obi-Wan and Anakin smut. Lord help me. I've got the hugest crush on Obi-Wan. And as creepy as it sounds...Darth Maul. Oh lord the things I would do to-uhhm, never mind. But really, I should be posting some useless drabbles I've been working on for that so keep an eye out for it! And as always, please review and tell me what you think!