"Grrrrr……" Pein was sitting in his office, growling as he wadded up the most recent report.

"I take it you found out what happened with Kisame and Itachi?" Konan asked, a knowing smile on her face.

"Why the hell….they should have…" Pein kept muttering to himself, making Konan shake her head and walk closer. "Pein, you lost. Just leave them alone and move on."

"Konan, I may have lost the battle, but the war is far from over." The blue haired woman frowned. "Care to elaborate on that?"

"I was too hasty. Kisame would of course come to Itachi's aid; it was foolish of me to assume that he'd just stay on the sidelines. No, we're going to have to get under their skin and chip away at their relationship, little by little."

"How?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~the next day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Kisame, Itachi, my office. NOW!" Pein heard the sound of shuffling feet, followed by a door cracking open, revealing a shirtless Kisame. "Now?"

"Isn't that what I just said?" the leader grumbled, walking away. He returned to his office and waited for the shark and weasel. A few minutes later they entered, looking at the leader. "Is there a problem?" Kisame asked.

"Yes. You two have become entirely dependent on each other in a fight, so much so that it's unhealthy. You two are to be put on solo assignments until further notice." Pein turned and grabbed a manila folder from on top of a large stack of them behind his desk. "Kisame, you leave tomorrow for a job, Any questions?"

"No."

"Hn."

"Alright, you're dismissed." The two men left and walked down the hall, silent until they got into their room. "Well, this has to be a first," Kisame muttered. Itachi raised a brow as his partner walked over to the bed, sitting down and holding his head in his hands. "I mean, I've heard of teams split up because they couldn't work together, but never split because they work too well together." The shark chuckled as Itachi walked over to him, staring. "Well, this is just great," Kisame muttered. He looked up as he felt Itachi latch onto his arm. "Angel?"

"Hn?"

"You ok?" Itachi shook his head no, making Kisame sigh and grab him, pulling the weasel down into his lap. "Look, it's just for a few weeks. No big deal, right?"

"Hn."

"Good. Then relax; I kind of like the circulation in my arm."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~three months later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Itachi was sitting in his room, reading a scroll. Or rather, trying to read the scroll. He'd just gotten back from a mission, and had been told that Kisame should arrive soon. So, despite his best intentions, the weasel was glancing up at the door every ten seconds, hoping to see Kisame return. After about two hours of this, he set the scroll aside and walked out of their room and into the kitchen. The only person in the room was Konan, and she appeared to be busy trying to figure out how to make pancakes. "Konan, do you have any idea when Kisame will be back?"

"Huh?' She stopped her work to turn and look at the Uchiha. "You mean he's not back yet? His mission was supposed to have ended days ago."

The Uchiha felt his pulse quicken but remained calm and collected. "I see. Tell me, where did he get sent?"

"The mountains up north, why?" She responded, turning back to her pancake mix. When she didn't receive a reply right away, she shifted to look at the weasel.

Itachi was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~days later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kisame ducked to avoid a kunai and spun around just in time to catch another one, flipping it around and flinging it back at its owner, catching him in the chest. More knives flew through the air, graving his arm.

The shark had been running for the last few days, and was practically dead on his feet. This assignment would have been a challenge for a team, but making this a solo job was virtually ensuring his death.

He dodged another well aimed knife and lunged forward, slicing at an enemy before falling back, running again. The shark didn't know how many ninja were following him, and he didn't intend on sticking around long enough to count.

Kisame changed course and ran into the forest, hoping to lose them in the dense foliage. His prayers went unanswered as the group picked up their pace, closing in on him. "GAAAHH!" Kisame turned to see one man fall forward, a knife in his back. Before the enemies could process this loss, another one was down, followed by a third being hit in the arm. This time they were ready, and hurled a knife with a paper bomb around it at a tree branch.

BOOOOOOOOOOM

Kisame looked at the singed spot, waiting for the smoke to clear. "You shouldn't let your guard down." Kisame jerked his eyes away to stare down at his partner. "Itachi?!"

"Hn."

"What are you doing here?!"

"Aiding my partner," the weasel stated nonchalantly, drawing a knife and bringing it in front of him to defend himself.

"Itachi, why aren't you using your eyes?"

"I've been running for the last three days straight. I couldn't use my Sharingan if my life depended on it."

Kisame snorted. "You really could have picked a better choice of words, you know."

"Kisame." The shark looked down at his partner. "Listen. Just charge and take them down. Don't think about it."

"That's suicide!"

"Kisame, I'll protect you. Don't worry, just go." Kisame adjusted his sword, looking over the group surrounding them. "Twelve," Itachi said, answering the unasked question.

Kisame locked his gaze and the closest one and charged forward blindly, praying the weasel would keep his word. Several loud clangs of metal on metal confirmed his hope, and he sliced down his target with little effort. "Ok, eleven to go…"

"Explain to me why the hell Pein-in-the-ass had to send us on this Jashin damned retrieval mission," Hidan grumbled, following his partner.

"Because he doesn't think Kisame will be ok, and he's fairly certain Itachi won't be much help," Kakuzu answered, ignoring his partner's complaints. He stiffened. "They're nearby. I can feel their chakra." Hidan began looking around, hoping to catch sight of them, or an enemy ninja that he could slice up. They turned and left the path, wandering into a forest area. As they walked deeper into the woods, they came across dead bodies, some of which appeared to be torn into shreds. "This looks like Kisame's work," the banker muttered.

"They're cold as hell," Hidan muttered, bending down and feeling the corpse. "Those two bastards must have taken off." Hidan stood and began looking around. "But you're right, they're nearby." The two Akatsuki walked away from the battlefield, searching for their friends. The finally came across a cave, the opening so well hidden that if they hadn't felt their friend's presence the would have missed it. Hidan kneeled down and pulled away the bushes around it's entrance, only to have a knife come flying at his face. "JASHIN DAMMIT!" He tore away the brush and glared down into the cave. "What the hell…were you….dear Jashin."

Itachi was on his knees, dried blood caked onto his body and clothing badly torn. Kisame was lying on the ground behind him, out cold. The Uchiha stared at the immortal, blinking. "Hidan?"

"Kakuzu, can you give me a hand?" Hidan reached down and grabbed Itachi's hand, helping him up and out of the cave, before crawling inside to get Kisame. "He's asleep," Itachi explained, locking his legs to avoid falling. A moment later, the shark and immortal emerged, both looking worriedly at the weasel. "I'm just tired," Itachi muttered, leaning against Kisame. The shark turned to Kakuzu. "You have any soldier pills?"

"They won't help him much," the banker muttered, pulling one out and handing it to the shark. To his shock, Kisame popped it into his own mouth, swallowing. "What the hell?!" Hidan yelled as Itachi shut his eyes, asleep on his feet.

"You're right," Kisame said, grabbing the weasel carefully. "It won't help him. But someone has to carry him back, and it may as well be me." Kakuzu and Hidan said nothing as Kisame slung over his back, allowing them to head back to the base.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Pein demanded as soon as he saw Kisame. "You were supposed to be back days ago, you stupid shark!"

"Hidan, please take Itachi up to our room," Kisame asked quietly, handing the Uchiha to the immortal. He watched as the zealot walked off, before returning his attention to his angry boss. "Now listen up, Kisame, you-"

"No, you listen." Kisame leaned down to be eye level with the leader, completely exhausted. "Pein, I am tired, I am sore, and I am pissed as hell at you for sending me on that suicide assignment. What's more, Itachi got hurt. BADLY." He brought his face close to the leader's, voice lowering to a deadly whisper. "I am so far beyond giving a damn it's not even funny, so listen up. Itachi and I are through working solo jobs. I don't care what the hell our next assignment is, as long as we're together. Am I clear?" He straightened himself and walked off before the leader could respond, heading to the room he shared with Itachi.

Kisame was grateful to see that Hidan had taken the liberty of tucking Itachi in under the covers before he left. Apparently even Jashinists had hearts. He dropped his sword and cloak and walked over to the bed, sliding in beside Itachi. The shark grabbed his partner and pulled him close to his chest. They'd been separated during the last three months of solo jobs, and nothing was going to keep him from sleeping next to his partner now. Itachi mumbled something in his sleep and snuggled against the shark. Kisame stroked the weasel's hair. Itachi was definitely worth mouthing off to the leader.

Even if it meant he was more than likely going to appear on a sushi plate tomorrow.