Um. Hey. Been a bit.

Maybe I'll finish this story one day... ha-ha... At least I haven't forgotten y'all? Anyway I think one of you wanted more interaction with Kisame-san so here you go. Full filler non-content cutesy fluff.

Chapter 20: Moment of Respite

We walked into Ikari's room and saw her writhing on the floor. Her body twitched and shuddered and began dissolving before our very eyes. Her time was up.

One of her eyes rolled to the back of her head and the other turned to glare at me, "Did you find it?" her words were slurred as the left side of her face began to melt off, revealing the bone and tissue underneath in an incredibly horrific display.

I shook my head and stood straight. Now was not the time to throw up. Now as not the time to…

Same gripped my shoulders and I leaned into him. Pein stepped in front of me, "It's gone. He must have it."

Ikari's good eye widened, "Gone… but how…? He… said it… fuck…" she squeezed her eyes shut and some of her dark and partially coagulated blood gushed out and splattered onto the floor. I gulped and felt the ghosting pain through my gut in a form of sympathy for her. As much trouble as she had caused these past few days I don't think even she deserved a death this cruel.

I took a couple of brave steps closer and kneeled down. Despite the horrid scene nothing smelled rotten, but I think it was because she was decaying faster than natural causes. I didn't touch her, only met her gaze, "We need to know where it is. Please, with the last of your strength tell us where Orochimaru has put it, or taken it, or whatever! I promise you that your death will not be a lost cause if you help us."

A faint shimmer ran through her open eye. I noticed that her body was next to gone, next to nothing but a deep red stain on the bed. She closed her eye and leaned her head back as her final moments came, "He said if it… wasn't there… he… moved it… to the left wall… with… the… mossy st—"

Ikari's body convulsed violently as she was completely erased from this world. Her ripped clothes were coated in a thick layer of blood and what looked to be stomach acid. The room was silent for several minutes before Same took me gently by my elbows and lead me out into the main hallway.

When the world came into focus again I sprinted for the nearest bathroom. My head was pounding and my teeth were aching from clenching them so hard. My stomach was already empty so nothing came up. To try and calm down I roughly splashed some water on my face but nearly drowned myself in the process.

I couldn't believe it. Idaina had gone so peacefully. Why had Ikari been such a mess?

Hands patted my back gently. Same was there and he gently brushed a lock of hair from my face. I dry heaved for a few more moments, but when nothing happened he pulled me from the bathroom and to our shared room. He laid me on the bed and disappeared for a moment, only to return with a damp cloth.

"Pein-sama has instructed you to rest. He and Konan will look for this so called mossy stone wall. You've done enough, no more fighting for now."

He kissed my temple and washed the worst of the dirt off of me. I really wanted to shower, but a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over me and I didn't even bother to think about moving again.

When he finished he left again. I laid there looking up at the ceiling and for once enjoyed the absolute silence that was around me. It had never been all that quiet since I had landed in this world, not even with Idaina. She tended to snore and talk in her sleep which I could hear from across the house. Either that or someone was running up, needing our help to heal someone.

Same returned with a fresh set of clothes and laid them on the bed, "Here. I've got a change of clothing for you."

I reached for them but I couldn't even sit up. I met his gaze, "Can you change me?"

He looked shocked for half a second before letting out a short laugh, "What?"

I pouted, "Please? I'm so tired."

Kisame rolled his eyes, but he did as I asked and began stripping me. I didn't really think about what I was asking until he went to take my top off, but by then it was too late and I was shivering under his intense gaze.

He looked at me and I bit my lip and tried to cover myself. I found that I couldn't due to my tiredness, but thanks to my abilities I was getting better by the minute.

Still, "What?" he kept staring, "Kisame what?" I asked, biting my lip.

His gaze flew up and met mine again, "Sorry, you're just so beautiful is all."

I blushed as he put on my shirt. I squirmed a little as most of my strength returned. I was a little disappointed at that. I kind of wanted to feel as drained as my mind did right now, that and so I'd have an excuse not to do anything for a few hours.

I could sit up now and I playfully nudged him with my shoeless foot, "You sap. If I'm beautiful then you are positively handsome."

He shook his head and threw the extra pair of pants at me, "I'm offended that you're lying to me."

I scoffed, "I am not. Kisame you are the single most attractive man I have ever met, and don't you forget – ahh!"

I panicked when the weight of his body was suddenly on me. He kissed me roughly which effectively shut me up. I reached up and locked my arms behind his neck and simply just felt him against me.

He trailed kisses down my neck before stopping at the center of my chest. He looked up at me with a little grin and a burning fire in his eyes. I giggled and ran my hands through his hair.

"No one's ever said that to me before. I'm sure it's hard to imagine why," he joked. Clearly referring to his unique extra features.

He squeezed my hips which made me laugh furiously because it tickled, "Stop! Ah-ha no stop! My one weakness!"

He continued to tickle me and I tried to get back at him by doing the same thing. I got no such luck though as when I squeezed his sides all I felt were hard and well-trained muscles. When he seemed to realize that I was trying to tickle him he just shook his head with a wide smile.

"I'm not ticklish."

"That's not fair," I whined, "everyone's ticklish. Good lord why are you so solid? I've been training for months and I'm still a squishy pillow."

As if for emphasis he squeezed me again and I gave up. He rolled over and landed on his side, he put his arm around me and pulled me on top of him and kissed me a few times before just looking at me. Simply looking.

I laid my head down and found his heartbeat easily enough. I rubbed small circles on his neck with my index finger and thought back to my trials. I shivered noticeably and Same wrapped himself further around me.

"Cold?"

I shook my head, "Not really. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"You…"

He laughed, "I'm pretty great I know."

This time I laughed. I hit him lightly on the arm, "No not that. Well, I mean yes you are, but that's not what was I thinking about."

He looked down at me and ran his hands through my hair, "Do you want to talk about it?"

I took a moment to think. After a moment I decided that I did.

"When my training with Idaina was complete, I had to face these trials in the house of the Healers. It was some cryptic spiritual stuff and it was kind of scary. I only had four trials, which if I remember correctly she said was fairly above average. Anyway, in the very first trial I had to walk down a long dark hallway. I heard all kinds of voices screaming at me, begging for me to help them, but there was nothing I could do. I could ignore them easily, but then I heard you…"

I shivered at the memory. Same's grip tightened slightly and buried his nose into my hair, "I'm listening," he whispered.

I gulped as I dredged up the memory, "I you heard you crying out for me. Saying stuff like "I thought you loved me!" and you sounded awfully wounded. In the back of my mind I knew it wasn't real, but now that I'm thinking about it I realize just how badly it scared me. I had completely forgotten about that first trial to begin with, that is until Ikari hit you with that jutsu. I thought I would lose you and I flew into a blind rage."

Same laughed but it was humorless. He reached up and ran his fingers along my jaw gently. He was so strong, so powerful, so deadly, he could murder me in an instant healer or not. The fact that he had never once even lifted so much as a pinky towards me made my heart flutter.

"I can't promise that I'll never die on you Kit, but I can promise that I'll never let anyone hurt you. I won't let anyone come near you with ill intentions ever again."

I sighed happily and wrapped my arms around him. He was so warm and so comforting that I never wanted to leave this room. If we could just stay here forever that would've been more than perfect. I shifted my legs and remembered that I still wasn't wearing any pants. I decided that if we were going to sleep then it wouldn't matter anyway.

"What's going to happen after, you know, we do away with Orochimaru?"

I looked up to see him purse his lips, "Back to business really. The only reason we're eliminating him is because he's not going to stop fighting us to get to you. If he does everything will just go downhill from there. As an active threat against the Akatsuki we can't let him live so long as we can stop him."

I sat there for a moment, thinking. Nights and long conversations with Idaina floated through my mind. I decided to take a risky move and ask Same the one question that was worth answering right now, "What are you guys planning?"

Kisame didn't say a word. I looked up at him and saw that he was staring blankly at the ceiling and that his face had gone emotionless.

"Same?"

He didn't look at me, "I can't tell you Kit. Not unless the higher ups say so and deem you worthy enough to know of your plan… but if it's any consolation I think you're more than worthy."

A small smile spread across his features, I sat up and ran a hand through my greasy hair and sighed heavily, "Flattery isn't what I want right now, but I get it. More secret ninja stuff."

Same saw me and started to sit up as well. He rested his elbows on his knees and gave me a hard look, "That's not what I meant. You're as good a shinobi as the rest of us. Our leader just doesn't think you're ready yet to—"

"Kisame I'll never be ready!" I blurted out. He shut his mouth and his body went stiff, "I'll never be ready to hear that you guys want to take over the world! Idaina told me you guys wanted world peace and in order to achieve it you were going to, like, resurrect some evil being and use it to control everyone! That's absolutely awful!"

"What would you know?" he suddenly shouted. I felt myself shrink back as he raised his voice for the first time against me, "you know absolutely nothing about this world. You just happened to have a special power and if it weren't for that you would've been killed long ago, even if I wanted to keep you, it wouldn't matter! You would've been deemed unnecessary and thrown to the side like some useless broken toy. And the only reason your friend is alive is so Pein has a hold over you and your actions! You – you don't – ah!"

Kisame screwed his eyes shut and before I could say anything his fist collided with the wall. He punched it so hard that bits of stone were embedded into his knuckles and he started bleding. I unconsciously reached out to heal him but he stood and started pacing furiously.

"Kit I'm terrified to have the feelings that I do for you. I know you can't really die, and that helps, but I've never… wanted something like I want you. In the short time I've gotten to know you I can't handle the thought of you dying, or being kidnapped, or maimed or worse!"

He kicked the wall. It wasn't just a tap out of frustration either, oh no it was a full on karate master kick to a point about four feet high on the wall. More pieces of stone fell out and without a second to think he slammed his knee into the wall. He was bleeding there now too.

"Kisame—"

"Kit I've never been afraid of anything my entire life. But you… my god you terrify me."

Same finally stopped to look at me. I noticed he still had a cut on his cheek from earlier that I had somehow missed. I stood and pressed my hand against his cheek and let my healing chakra flow into him. The wounds were gone without even a trace of a scar.

He was breathing heavily, but he looked to have calmed down some. I pulled him over to the bed and sat him down so I could heal his hand and his knee. I didn't look at him as I spoke, "There are a lot of things I know I won't be ready to face, even when I'm facing them. I'm not ready to face Orochimaru, I'm not ready to face this world, hell I don't even want to face Maggie right now and she's my best friend. There are things I'm scared of too, and the biggest thing that I'm scared of right now is losing you. You've been my anchor this entire time and I can't thank you enough for that…"

I gazed up through my lashes. Kisame's hardened look had softened back to what I had been used to and he reached up to run his hand through my hair, detangling the worst of the knots.

"Kit—"

"And" I interrupted, "no matter what I've decided to stay with you. No I won't be ready for so called world domination, but I'm hoping I might be able to convince you guys otherwise." I didn't add that I highly doubted that I would be able to do anything against Pein, but leaving it on the lighter note was a better call.

There was a sharp exhalation of air meant as a laugh and he took my arm and pulled me up and onto his lap where he kissed me feverishly.

Without any pants on I could easily feel him through his. I blushed and broke away so that I could look at him. He hugged me and at this angle his face was buried in my chest.

"Sorry for scaring you…"

I wrapped my arms around him and stroked his cobalt hair, "I was more scared that you were going to hurt yourself," I looked down at him and I felt my heart swell. I bit my lip, because the thoughts floating in my mind right now were not only far from decent, but if I said those three little words that I was thinking right now it would seal our fate together.

Did I want that?
I mean it's not like I could just up and run away. Even if I went to Itachi and begged him to send me home and he actually did, I don't think I'd be able to adjust back to normal life after living here all this time.

The mere thought of leaving Same forever made my heart heavy with regret. I've been in a few long term relationships and I've been on my fair share of dates, though never with a wanted criminal mind you, but none of them could ever match up to Same. I don't know if it was just because of circumstances that we met or what, but I was just so enamored with him. I don't think he realized just how much of a hold he had over me.

"Kisame…" I said slowly.

He didn't move his head, "Hmm?"

"I love you."

Slowly, very slowly, I felt the room chill over. He didn't move, he didn't look up at me, he just kept holding me. I became worried and I was about to ask if something was wrong, but a voice from behind us suddenly spoke up.

"O-oh, is Tobi interrupting something?"

At the voice, I leapt off of Same's lap and rolled into the bed awkwardly, trying to avoid kicking him in my haste. I attempted to cover myself under the bed sheets, "Tobi! Goodness, please warn us next time!"

The childish man giggled, and I gulped as there was still a murderous aura in the room. I focused in the feeling, on the chakra of who it was coming from, and I was taken aback to find that it was coming from Tobi.

When he didn't leave the room Same stood slowly and gently pushed Tobi out of the room, telling him to go bother someone else. He shut the door and locked it before turning back to me and discarding his still heavily shredded shirt.

"I'm going to go take a shower," he announced. And no sooner had he said it he was gone.

I felt tears welling up in the inner corners of my eyes. He… he hadn't reciprocated my feelings. He hadn't said anything. He didn't even acknowledge my confession. I don't know if it was because Tobi had come and ruined it, or if just didn't care about me as much as I did him. I suppose, as a war hardened criminal, I shouldn't be all that surprised. I was dumb for thinking that I could just bring down his wall in just a day, witch just one naïve sentence.

It still hurt though.

Rolling over, I faced the wall and tried my best not to cry. I used my healing chakra to suppress my tears and my staunch my feelings, but if there was one thing I couldn't heal it was emotional pain.

I could hear the running water and I let the noise sooth me. After a time it stopped and I heard the door open. I didn't bother turning around because I was sure he was only in a towel to mess with my head. I guess now that I was feeling better I could clean up to, but I just didn't want to get up anymore. I stayed prone and didn't even blink when Same shut off the lights and crawled next to me.

I could feel his skin against my legs, and it didn't take a genius to figure out he was in nothing but his boxers. I wanted to blush, but I just sunk further into the covers instead.

"Kit," he said quietly, his voice was right in my ear and his breath on my neck tickled pleasantly.

"Yeah…"

He kissed the back of my neck and one hand slid to cup my breast. Now I blushed. I couldn't move away because of how close I was to the wall, but I wanted desperately for him to keep touching me. To at least be able to keep pretending that he loved me.

"Kit…" he said again, his voice a little huskier. I felt him pressing into me and with no warning whatsoever he grabbed me by my hips and flipped me around and on top of him. From this angle I was forced to look into his eyes.

Even in the dark I could still see his piercing gaze.

"Kisame?" I asked hesitantly. He didn't respond, but he kept kissing me. He nipped at my lips and I heard myself whimper. Not so much in pain, but something entirely different. His hands roamed my dirt covered body and I suddenly wished I had showered after all.

As if reading my thoughts he said, "You look and smell fine. I'll love you no matter what you look like."

I froze as his body flipped us again and his mouth slid over my neck. My breath got heavy and ragged as he dragged his tongue against my skin and I smiled as realization sunk in.

So Kisame hadn't abandoned me.

He didn't hate me for admitting my feelings.

Now that I think about, he probably just had to take a moment to figure out his.

When he reached my mouth again I kissed back with more ferocity than I think I ever had. I heard him chuckle at my enthusiasm and he slowly removed my shirt.

"Kisame…"

"I don't care what anyone does or say or thinks. You are never leaving my side."

I smiled despite the dark and I felt more tears flowing down my cheeks. I was so happy. I hugged him and kissed him and said, "I love you too."