Woo! It's getting steamy in this one!

Chapter 10: Mutual Attraction

As the next few weeks flew by in a whirl of wedding preparations and confused feelings. Kisara suddenly found herself staring the inevitable in the face: she would be married in less than a week. She was sitting with Lord Matsuoka, Yahiko once more in a shadowy corner of the room, when she came to this realization.

The trio were seated in the Lord's study, which was imposing as ever. The Lord was planted behind his desk, like an unmovable object, while Kisara sat before him, hands folded demurely in her lap. On the Lord's desk sat a bowl of tangerines, one of which he offered to Kisara wordlessly. She declined his offer, also wordlessly, and he placed it neatly back in the bowl. He then turned his full attention towards her.

"My dear, are the preparations coming along to your liking?" The Lord smiled at her, always causing the hair on the back of her neck to raise in response to his sticky sweetness.

"Just fine my Lord, I appreciate all of the time and dedication you have taken with everything, even the smaller things." She smiled back at him, the edges of her mouth protesting somewhat at the effort.

"Of course, of course, no expense should be spared for my new bride. I wanted to ensure that all the last-minute questions were answered. Oh! I almost forgot, I also called you in here today to ask you when you would be picking your new body guards." He said this last part so flippantly that at first Kisara didn't catch what he had said.

"When I would be…?" she repeated stupidly.

"Of course, Yahiko-san" He nodded in the direction of the shadowed corner, "And Hatsuharu-san's contract expires once we are wed and you will be protected by guards of my estate. If you would prefer, I could set up interviews with several excellent candidates this afternoon." He offered this information while his long fingers found a tangerine and began to peel it in quick efficient strips. With each one of the strips he discarded, Kisara felt too that the last of her sources of comfort were also being stripped away, laying her bare and vulnerable as she sat before him.

She swallowed thickly and cleared her throat, careful not to let her voice waver. "That would be lovely, my Lord."

"Excellent. I will arrange for the candidates to be presented to you before dinner. Please let me know your new choices by tomorrow morning." With that clear dismissal, Kisara rose, bowed slightly and then turned and exited the room.

She strode down the hallway, face as blank as she could hope to make it, Yahiko trailing silently behind her. Finally, she made her way to the gardens, the ones that she and Haru had explored in her first week at the estate and it was by far her favorite spot besides the library. She made her way through the maze of hedges, too aware of Yahiko's presence as she did so.

After several minutes of taking right and left turns in a seemingly haphazard fashion, she located what she had been seeking. A lonely bench, almost overgrown by the hedges around it. She strode towards it with purpose, and turned to face Yahiko.

"I apologize." She said thickly.

"…For what?" He asked, his brows flickering down momentarily in confusion.

"For this." And she walked right over to him and began to cry, quite earnestly into his chest.

At the first contact, she felt him tense, but was too distraught to do much of anything but cling to the black fabric of his shirt. She cried silently, tears running down her face only to absorb non-discriminatingly into both of their clothes. She did this for what seemed like an eternity, but could only be a few seconds when she felt a tentative Yahiko place his arms around her. He did so gently at first, as though he was afraid he would either break her, or cause her to react in anger at his touch. Then when he seemed to realize what she wanted, he did so tightly, holding her to his chest the way one would hold something precious. Like she was something precious.

Itachi didn't know how long they had stood in the garden. It seemed like it could have been hours. He had held her as she cried so silently in his arms. He could feel at the same time both how fragile and how strong she was. This was a woman who was used to beating her enemies in combat on a regular basis, but here, in this arena, she seemed to be up against a foe who had successfully tied her in knots.

Itachi had known all along that their mission was at an end. He and Kisame had completed the information collection for the Eight Tails the week before. As far as their mission was concerned, they simply had to get Kisara to the wedding and they could return to the Akatsuki hideout with both good news and a solid plan to capture the tailed beast.

However, to hear so suddenly that Kisara had to replace both himself and Kisame, and then in turn to see such an uncharacteristic display of emotion from her…Itachi had to admit that the situation…displeased him.

Itachi also had to admit several other unsettling things throughout the experience. Such as the fact that he had enjoyed holding her in his arms, putting aside her obvious emotional distress. He had enjoyed the feel of her lithe form, pressed against his. He had enjoyed feeling that he was a source of comfort to her.

Lastly, he had to admit that as much as she reminded him of Shisui, he had never wanted to kiss his dear friend. In fact, he had never wanted to do anything with Shisui that he wanted to do with Kisara. No indeed, Kisara was clearly a different person than Shisui and he was beginning to not only see it plainly, but to desire her for her characteristics that were uniquely her own.

Finally, after Kisara was able to calm down enough that they could exit the garden, they returned to the manor. Kisara had asked him if she looked alright and he had responded, "You look lovely". Yes, it would appear that the situation was becoming decidedly complicated after all.

Kisame knew something wasn't the same when he changed shifts with Itachi later that night. He knew something had happened, and it wasn't Kisame's style to be out of the loop when it came to a mission.

"What did you do?" He asked Itachi bluntly once Kisara was safely behind her closed door.

Itachi tensed visibly before forcing his body and face into the blank neutral look he took when he was about to lie.

"Nothing."

"Bull shit, you did something."

"I told you, nothing." This time the response was defiantly irritated. The son-of-a-bitch had done something alright. Come to think of it, the girlie had been acting weird since he had asked her to call him Haru. He had thought that at first it had just been the stress of the wedding, or some girly shit like that, but now, seeing Itachi, all the pieces clicked.

"You fucked her, didn't you?" He deadpanned.

The effect of his statement was immediate. Suddenly, Kisame found himself pinned against the closest wall, red Sharingan eyes staring at him behind a cold and expressionless mask as the front of his shirt was fisted in one if Itachi's hands.

"Don't you dare use such vulgar language when you speak of her." He hissed.

Kisame felt his blood run cold. They had been comfortable too long, he thought. He had almost forgotten how dangerous his partner could be. Almost. But Kisame had always excelled at gambling. So he rolled the dice.

"I'll use whatever language I want to use when I speak of our mission." He replied he replied with emphasis his fists clenched at his sides. "Have you forgotten why we are here? It wasn't so that you could go gallivanting around, sticking your dick into the first decent-looking chick you saw." He winced inwardly and sent a silent apology to Kisara. He knew of course that she wasn't like that, but he needed to make a point with his socially-inept partner.

Itachi stared at Kisame, and Kisame could swear that he could see the steam boil over in Itachi's head. He saw that slowly, so slowly, his partner's eyes began to shift into the Mangikyo Sharingan pattern. He tensed involuntarily. Surely Itachi wouldn't do that here. After all, the two were having their tussle right outside of Kisara's room. Anyone could walk down the hallway and see them and then they would all be 'fucked' so to speak.

Kisame waited a beat, then two, holding his breath and waiting for the Genjutsu to take effect. When nothing happened for about a minute, Itachi slowly changed his eyes back, first to the regular Sharingan, and then back to their usual black. Kisame watched, fascinated by the level of control that Itachi must have over his emotions. He retracted his hand from Kisame's shirt. He backed up a few steps, then turned away from him. His next sentence was muffled and Kisame almost didn't catch it.

"…It wasn't like that."

"Then what was it like?" Kisame asked this, truly interested. He had never seen Itachi attempt to explain his actions before.

"It was my fault. I kissed her."

"Is that all?" He asked this, skeptical, one eyebrow raised.

"I held her too."

"What are you, still in the academy? You mean you didn't even feel her up?"

Itachi turned around and frowned, well as much as Itachi ever frowned, at Kisame. "It didn't seem appropriate at the time to do so."

"Ha ha! Well, aren't you the gentleman. You won't do more than kiss her because it wouldn't seem appropriate, yet you still kiss a women who is not only engaged to be married, but who you are also being paid to protect. How noble." The sarcasm was dripping off of his tongue by the end of his statement.

"That would appear to be the case." Itachi stated shortly. Clearly he was getting frustrated by the conversation.

"Itachi…she can't come with us." Kisame said, this time real care coming into his voice.

"I…wouldn't want her to. She doesn't deserve that kind of life." Itachi's voice surprised Kisame. He was still facing away from the blue-skinned swordsman, but his voice for once didn't mask his feelings. His voice showed Kisame that what Itachi was feeling was truly painful. "I'm retiring for the night, see you in the morning." He stated this in a way that implied that this conversation would never be revisited and headed towards his room.

"Imagine that. You actually care about her, you idiot." Kisame said to no one before taking his usual place beside Kisara's door to await the dawn.

Kisara threw herself on her bed to try and avoid her racing thoughts, though wouldn't you know it, they somehow managed to catch up with her anyway. Of all days, this had been the hardest one she had spent in the company of Lord Matsuoka. Not only was she told that she would have to say goodbye to the only two people she actually liked on the entire estate, she had been forced to pick their replacements in front of them!

Lord Matsuoka had been true to his word and had provided her with various suitable candidates for her bodyguards. She had tried at first to pay attention, but each one soon became a blur of muscle and blank face. And on top of it all she made a complete fool of herself in front of Yahiko.

Her face flushed scarlet at the memory. She had utterly disgraced herself by shoving herself in his arms and crying. Shinobi do not show emotion, what had she been thinking?

"I was thinking how good it felt when he kissed me." She sighed to herself.

She turned over, clutching one of her pillows against her chest. She had to shut her eyes against the images both from earlier in the day as well as the one with Yahiko in his room several weeks ago. She rolled over again, mortified. How could she be attracted to him? Sure he was very handsome and sure she had seen him fight and that was enough to get any girl trained in the ninja arts worth her salt to admire the swiftness of his movements, the subtle grace as he wielded a sword. But it was more than that.

For a long time the only two people that Kisara had felt close to where her brother and her dear Yuri. Then, when she had been feeling so adrift with the business of her arranged marriage, somehow Haru and Yahiko had stepped in and supported her when she had needed it most. Each had demonstrated not only affection for her, but also a protective edge that she had come to appreciate and knew she would sorely miss.

And then, there was something else entirely when it came to Yahiko. As her thoughts drifted to the mysterious raven-haired man, she felt a warmth curl around her belly in response. It was true, when she thought of Lord Matsuoka, the man she was supposed to marry, she felt nothing short of indifference and slight disgust whenever he spoke to her. But when she thought of Yahiko, she had an almost inescapable desire to throw herself at him once more, and in a much different way than the way she had earlier.

She sat up quickly. This is very dangerous, girl, you don't know anything about him, she thought to herself furiously. She must remember that her marriage wasn't just about her, it was about her entire village. They needed this alliance to pull through or everyone would be in danger of starving. She crushed the pillow to her chest with single-minded determination. It wouldn't do to fall in love, not with so much as stake. Pushing any and all thoughts of Yahiko firmly from her mind, she shoved herself under the covers and strongly urged herself to sleep. Besides, he wouldn't be around much longer anyway.

Kisara awoke the next morning feeling much better. She had taken the time to sort out her priorities and nothing would stand in the way of her objective: ensuring her village's future. She had taken extra care dressing and getting ready because somehow she felt protected under her layers of silk. Protected from any feelings she may have towards other, particular, shinobi.

She walked out of her room and immediately she saw how infantile her protection really was for she spied Yahiko. As their eyes locked, Kisara felt a shiver go down her spine which had absolutely nothing to do with fear.

"Good morning, Kisara-sama". Yahiko said after a few seconds, black eyes boring into her green ones.

"Good morning Yahiko-san." She said, quite transfixed by his gaze. Dammit, keep it together! What is wrong with you, he looks exactly the same as yesterday, nothing has changed! She screamed at herself, and yet, it seemed as though something had changed.

It was something in his movements, no, his expression? Whatever the reason Kisara was beginning to get the impression that Yahiko was stalking her. That impression did nothing but grow through the entire day.

They began it just like any other, each sharing breakfast with the other in the kitchen, as Haru had retired several hours previously. She could sense Yahiko's eyes on her through the meal though she kept hers firmly locked on her blueberry scone.

She noticed it again as they took some time in the library, though she was trying her best to focus on her fascinating scroll detailing the history of Lightening county, she could feel his gaze burning holes into her clothes, though each time she looked up Yahiko seemed to be absorbed in whatever it was he was reading.

Finally, closer to lunchtime she made her way to Lord Matsuoka's study to inform him of her choices for her new bodyguards. She could feel Yahiko's eyes on her as she went through each and every candidate with the Lord, finally selecting two at random. Upon her selection, she couldn't help but notice that out of the corner of her eye she saw Yahiko frown slightly at her choices.

"Are these the ones you would like to select, my dear?" The Lord intoned.

"Yes, I thought they would be the most suitable." She replied truthfully. She had chosen the two guards at random because for some odd reason, Lord Matsuoka liked to hire his help with almost identical credentials. There really was almost nothing to tell them apart besides their names.

"Very well, your choice will be noted. Anything else you would like to discuss?"

"Yes, I was wondering if you had heard from any of the guests who will be arriving from my village." She asked hopefully.

"Yes indeed, here the full guest list of who will be attending. Please look it over carefully and let me know if I have forgotten to invite anyone." He handed over a new piece of scroll, each name carefully written in the Lord's legible hand.

"Thank you, my Lord." She bowed graciously then was stopped suddenly by his hand on her shoulder. She tensed in surprise, then forced herself to relax.

"Haven't I told you to call me Hajime?" He asked, smiling in his slightly unsettling way. He bend towards her and placed a light kiss on her cheek.

Kisara, in total shock as this was the first real sign of affection she had experienced from her fiancé, blushed scarlet and did her best to leave his presence in the most gracious way that she could. She waked out into the long hallway after making her goodbyes to the Lord, promising that she would indeed see him at dinner.

She stopped in the hallway, unsure of where to go next when Yahiko took a firm grip on her arm and dragged her into a joining hallway. Too bewildered to do anything but follow him, they strode along for several minutes before finally arriving at a door. Yahiko looked swiftly around and after confirming that they were alone, escorted her into the room beyond the door.

It took her eyes a few minutes to adjust to the lighting when she realized with a shock that they were in Yahiko's room. Upon this realization, Kisara found her face once more turning red.

"Yahiko-san, what are we doing in here?" She turned to face him, but was thrown off by the expression on his face. First of all, it was rare that Yahiko had a true expression, she was coming to realize that they were usually associated with strong emotions. It would appear that this time was no different.

In short, Yahiko looked angry, angrier than Kisara had ever seen him before. He looked at her with such intensity that she felt the need to scoot back towards the wall, anything she could do to promote space between the two of them. The corners of his mouth were turned down in a frown, his eyebrows were scrunched up in the middle.

When he didn't answer her question right away she said, "I think I should leave, you don't seem like yourself again." She said this, referring to that night a few weeks ago when he had stated almost the same thing. She made her way for the door when he again grasped her arm, gently this time.

She turned to look at him and again his eyes sent sparks down her spine. Instantly she felt her stomach muscles tighten and her pulse quicken. What was it about his eyes? They seemed to hold the power to melt metal, and Kisara was nowhere near as sturdy. Slowly, he detached his hand from her arm and instead braced both of them on either side of her head.

"Yahiko-san, what are you doing?" She asked, more anticipation and confusion than fear present in her voice.

"This." He said simply, as he placed his lips upon hers.

As electrifying as his gaze was, his kiss was simply liquefying. Kisara had to brace herself against the wall as his body moved closer to fill in the gap. His hands moved from their position on the wall to place themselves firmly behind her head and on the small of her back. He crushed Kisara to his chest, all the while, his mouth moving expertly on her own. She could taste him, a delicious and spicy flavor which reminded her of something she had never tasted but knew it would quickly become her favorite food.

Lost as she was in the moment she couldn't hear herself screaming to stop, that this man would never be her husband and that he would be gone in a few days. As their kiss deepened, Kisara finally gave in to what her body had been warning her about the entire day. Yahiko-san had been stalking her, like a lion hunting down a sleek gazelle. And he had made his kill. Kisara finally put aside that annoying voice in her head and gave herself over to the moment, and to Yahiko. She pushed back into his chest, her own hands clutching at his arms, sliding over the tough and ropy muscles she felt beneath his shirt.

Yahiko grunted in surprise, but immediately took her actions in stride. Slowly, he worked his way down her elaborate kimono, tugging suggestively at certain areas. When he found no resistance from her, he deftly untied her obi with his right hand, left one still keeping a firm hold on her lower back. Once he had succeeded in untying it, he peeled off the top layers of her dress, and this time Kisara had no feelings of vulnerability.

To her credit, she made sure he got as good as he gave. She hooked her fingers on the hem of his shirt, dragging her fingernails lightly over his toned stomach, teasing them slightly under the band of his pants. Yahiko shuddered at her touch, moaning lowly in his throat in a way that told Kisara that he liked it.

By this time Yahiko had succeeded in removing all of the layers of her kimono except one, her inner-most shift. This item was made of light cotton, lighter than the rest, and settled on her body softly, clinging to all the right places. Yahiko placed on hand on her neck, massaging and kneading his way down her shoulder and upper arm, taking her shift with him as he went.

Breaking the kiss only once during this time, Kisara succeeded in getting his shirt over his head. Both of their upper bodies unclothed, they continued together, skin touching only other skin. Kisara's heart was beating wildly by this point, her stomach clenching and unclenching in anticipation of where this would lead.

"Yahiko-san, do you have any bandages?" came a totally unexpected voice followed by a very loud knock on the door.

Both Kisara and Yahiko started badly at the interruption, causing Kisara's head to knock painfully against the wall.

"Oy, Yahiko-san? Are you in here?"

"Yes, what do you need?" Itachi said crisply, while ensuring Kisara's head was alright.

"Bandages, I cut myself slightly when I was training just now. Is Kisara-sama with you?"

Yahiko looked swiftly down at Kisara at this question, a not-quite panicked look on his face. His expression clearly asked, what should I say?

Kisara lightly shook her head and mouthed, I'm in the library.

"No, she wanted to get another book from the library, she was going to meet me outside in a few minutes to take a walk."

"Okay, but do you have any bandages?" Haru's voice wined, clearly he was in pain.

"No, check the kitchen." Yahiko deadpanned, resuming his usual composed manner at this point in the conversation.

"Fine, see you later." Came Haru's voice, his footsteps clearly audible as he trudged to the kitchen.

Yahiko, satisfied that the intruder was gone, turned back to Kisara. But rather than return to their activity, he merely watched her. Disconcerted by his gaze, Kisara looked back, unsure of what else to do.

"Yahiko…what is this we are doing? What do you want from me?" she asked him, real despair in her voice, and for the first time, dropping all pretense of formality. "I'm getting married in less than a week and after that I don't think I'll be seeing you again." As she spoke, she realized the foolishness of the situation and bent to pick up the discarded layers of her kimono. She pulled her shift tighter around herself, blocking more of her skin from view. She paused to hear him reply,

"I don't know."

"You don't know what you are doing, or you don't know if I'll see you again?"

"Neither. Both." He shrugged almost helplessly.

"I think you had better figure it out. We can't do this again." She said this softly as she fixed the rest of her outfit and headed out the door, leaving Yahiko quite alone.