This is an AU story of my own imaging. For the purpose of the story, the Uchiha massacre did not happen. The Akatsuki in this story are considered an elite branch of the Konoha ninja system, similar to what the ANBU are. Sasuke and OC are 19 and Kisame and Itachi are 24.
This is a rough draft where I simply just want to put all my ideas down on writing. Please bear with me as it is far from perfect. Regardless, I hope you enjoy what I have thus far! (:
*Disclaimer* Characters, other than my OC, and the cover image do not belong to me but their original creators.
Beginnings
It was a warm evening with a nice cool breeze sweeping through Konoha. Asuna had just finished her shift at the tea house. She was just heading home to get ready for dinner at the Uchiha's home.
The Uchihas have been like her second family for as long as she could remember. Her father had died during a mission when she was only 11. Mikoto and Fugaku were there to help with Asuna's ailing mother and herself through the tough times. It was only four years later that her mother succumbed to her illness and passed. Now, the 19-year-old was orphaned but not truly alone.
Mikoto had immediately started fawning over Asuna as though she was her own child. Mikoto had always wanted a daughter and seeing as Asuna was the daughter of her close deceased friend, Asuna had a special place in her heart.
The Uchihas had offered her a place at their home but Asuna couldn't bear being a hassle despite their reassurance that she wasn't. As such, she had sold her family home and used her inheritance to purchase her very own apartment. Although she would forever miss the memories that the house held, she knew it was a vital step in her moving forward.
Mr. Kagawa, the owner of the tea house she worked at, had been a long-time friend of her parents'. Their family frequently went to the tea house every Friday after a long week to relax. When Mr. Kagawa heard the devastating news, he offered Asuna a job as a waitress and she has been working there since. She couldn't express just how grateful she was to everyone for helping her through the tough times.
After a short walk, Asuna arrived at her apartment and unlocked the door. The apartment was small but cozy. To her left was an open kitchen and at the far end was a small dining table and a couch. Off to her right was a TV she frequently used to unwind after a long day.
Asuna made her way to the bedroom and changed out of her uniform that consisted of a knee length skirt and a simple beige top. She searched through her closet and settled on a simple green and white sundress with a pair of flats that she wore to work. She quickly brushed through her long hair that got messy while it was tied up in a messy bun. After her hair was shorted, Asuna grabbed her purse before locking up and making her way to the Uchiha compound.
Itachi had recently came back from another long mission and Mikoto decided that a family dinner was needed to welcome him home. Sasuke had also informed Asuna that there was going to be a guest. Asuna felt her own cheeks redden when she thought of who that guest was. Apparently, Mikoto had also invited Itachi's partner, Kisame Hoshigaki, to dinner as well. Asuna would be lying if she had said she didn't have a crush on the shark nin. His appearance had attracted her at first but his sweet baritone voice was what really captivated her.
"Oh Lord, have mercy on me and please do not let me embarrass myself tonight," silently prayed, Asuna.
When she had arrived at the compound, she slid the door open and walked in. Mikoto had long since considered her as an adoptive daughter and as such refused to have Asuna knock on the door before entering. According to her, family should be able to come in and out as they so choose.
"Hello? Mikoto-san? Fugaku-san?" Asuna called out. The person that responded was the one she least expected.
"Hey, Asuna. Long-time no see. Mikoto and Fugaku had to step out for a bit. They went to the market to get some dango for Itachi. You know how he is with his sweets." Explained a very blue shark man.
"O-oh, Kisame-sama. H-Hi. I wasn't expecting you to be here so soon. Is Itachi with you?" Asked Asuna nervously, while fiddling with the strap of her purse.
"Itachi was supposed to be with me but he told me to come here first. He went to see Tsunade to give her our report. Mikoto asked Itachi to send me here because she didn't want you to come into an empty house." He replied with a grin.
"Oh, well thank you Kisame-Sama." Asuna breathed out, slightly distracted by that perfect grin of his. A light blush started to dust her cheeks. As hard as she tried to keep it down, it still painted her pale cheeks.
"Asuna please, we've known each other for a while now, yes? Just call me Kisame."
"Ah, yes. Sorry haha" Asuna scratched the back of her head in slight embarrassment. She didn't want to embarrass herself and say something out of line since she didn't know exactly where she stood with him. Which is why she resorted to such formality to avoid saying anything out of line.
"So, um...how was the mission? I heard you and Itachi were gone for a few months this time."
"It was boring really, nothing interesting. I'm glad I'm back now, Tsunade gave Itachi and I a month off."
"That's nice. What were you thinking of doing?" Asuna asked with a gentle smile on her face. Oddly, having a normal conversation with Kisame did wonders to relax her nerves, but she was still conscious of what she was doing to make sure nothing awkward would happen to ruin the moment.
Little did Asuna know, Kisame was feeling just as equally nervous as she was. However, since he was a specially trained ANBU level shinobi, he did well to hide his emotions. But when he saw that smile from Asuna, he felt his heart skip a beat as cheesy as that sounds. He always thought she was cute since the first time that he was introduced to her at a Uchiha family dinner.
It took a split second for Kisame to realize that he was reminiscing and that Asuna had asked him a question.
"Hmm...probably rest and spend as much time as I can with friends before I'm assigned for another long mission. Mostly swim though, it's been a while since we got to stay in the village for this long. We usually get sent on a couple missions every week and only get to stay for a couple days at a time." Replied Kisame with a large grin showing off his pointy teeth.
Asuna couldn't help but giggle to herself at how funny it was. Of course, he would love to take a swim. Though, the weather was starting to get pretty chilly. That surely wouldn't bother him though if he thought going for a swim would be relaxing.
"Wouldn't you ge-"
A sudden ratting noise had stopped Asuna from asking her question. She darted her wide eyes around before landing on a moving figure behind Kisame with spikes jutting out of a white wrapping.
"AHHHH WHAT IS THAT!?" Screamed the waitress. She frantically backed up not realizing that the door had slide opened and the rest of the Uchiha family had walked in. She accidentally backed up into Itachi before jumping and screaming again and falling onto her bottom.
Asuna was beyond flustered and embarrassed.
"Oh, my dear! Asuna, are you ok?" A worried Mikoto kneeled down beside her and helped Asuna up after she was out of her daze.
When everything had sunk in, she couldn't help but blush furiously. Not only had Asuna embarrassed herself in front of her crush but also the poised Uchiha family! Way to make an impression Asuna...
"Ah haha y-yeah I'm fine! Just being silly, I thought I heard something." She tried to explain, still not understanding what she saw.
"Sorry about that Asuna." Said Kisame, as he kneeled on the ground and swung what Asuna saw onto the ground in front of him.
Her eyes had not lied to her! Asuna realized what she thought was Kisame's sword was now a giant thing with sharp shark like fins wiggling around and...omg IS THAT A MOUTH?
Panicking once more, Asuna quickly scrambled further away from it and hid behind the Uchiha brothers.
"WHAT IS THAT THING!?" She screeched, while grasping tightly onto the back of the brothers' clothing.
She looked wide eyed at the people around her. Mikoto was trying her damnest to hide her smile but failing, Fugaku himself had a small grin on his face, and even Itachi and Sasuke were snickering at her!
"What!? Why is everyone so relaxed about this. Can someone please tell me what that is!?" Asuna pressed herself closer to the brothers when the mysterious object once again began rattling furiously and snapping its massive maw.
"Oh, my dear. You have nothing to worry about. That is Samehada, Kisame's sword." Explained Mikoto with a gentle reassuring smile on her face, clearly enjoying the show.
"WHAT? Th-that thing is alive." Stressed Asuna.
"Hn, never heard of the seven swordsmen of the mist, Asuna?" Asked Sasuke, smirking at Asuna.
Asuna sent a nasty little glare towards the teasing Uchiha. "No. I don't know if you've noticed, Sasuke, but I'm a civilian not a shinobi."
Asuna smirked in triumph when he only hn'd in response and looked away. Apparently, even the other four found it funny because they chuckled.
Itachi turned his head and glanced down at the frustrated Asuna.
"The seven swordsmen of the mist are a group of the strongest shinobis of their generation each wielding an immensely powerful mythical blade. The one that Kisame wields..." says Itachi, gesturing to the blue mass on the floor," is Samehada, the strongest of all the blades. It is a sentient sword that feeds on the chakra of its opponents and even its wielder. Samehada develops extreme loyalty to its wielder and has some unique abilities attributed to the duo." Itachi explains.
Asuna frowned. That sounded terrifying to her and the sword even looks the part. "Why did it move?"
That's when a flustered Kisame jumped in. He felt bad that Asuna had gotten so spooked by his usually tamed sword.
"Ah, sorry Asuna. Samehada's never acted like this before, so I can't exactly tell you why." He explained with a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry he scared you. I'll take a few moments to wrap him up again and figure out what's got him so rowdy."
Kisame picked up his sword that was stilling thrashing around a bit and moved to walk outside. Sadly, though the door was blocked by Itachi, Sasuke and Asuna. They stepped to the side to allow room for him to carry the massive sword outside but Asuna didn't trust it any less. Her grip on the Uchiha brothers' clothing tightened much to Sasuke's annoyance and Itachi's amusement. She pushed herself further into the brothers all while keeping a trained eye on the sword.
"Oi, Asuna. You can let go now, he's outside." Grumbled Sasuke and he tried to move out of Asuna's grip.
"Come, my dear. Let's set up dinner, maybe that'll make you feel better." Said Mikoto, as she ushered Asuna towards the kitchen. With the gentleness that only a mother could possess, Mikoto led Asuna to the counter and placed the bags she was carrying on the counter.
"Could you set the table, Asuna? And put the dangos on a plate. I'll get the rest of dinner plated."
"Of course. What did you make?" Asked Asuna, trying to keep a conversation going. Her heart had settled a bit after Kisame took Samehada outside, but she was still a little flustered by the previous events.
"I made some Tonkatsu, Gyudon, Miso soup and of course I bought some dango for Itachi."
"Hehe yes. If you didn't personally know Itachi you wouldn't have guessed he has such a sweet tooth." Giggled Asuna, glancing at the man in question who sent a glare her way.
Once the table was set, everyone took a seat minus Kisame who was still outside tending to Samehada.
"Itachi, dear. Would you mind telling Kisame dinner is ready but take as much time as he needs with Samehada."
"Of course, mother." Itachi stood and went outside to Kisame.
"Still can't believe that sword is alive." Grumbled Asuna.
"Can't believe you screamed twice." Retorted Sasuke.
"Shut up, Sasuke!" Asuna said, punching his arm though being a skilled shinobi he wasn't the least bit fazed.
They both glared at each other until Itachi and Kisame walked in. Asuna shifted her eyes to Kisame who had a freshly wrapped sword on his back. He caught Asuna's gaze and gave her another sheepish smile.
Unbeknownst to everyone, aside from Itachi, Kisame had spent most of the time scolding Samehada for scaring Asuna. He couldn't shake the feeling of guilt at seeing the terrified look on her face. He knew she was merely a civilian, but with him and the Uchihas being shinobis something like this isn't an uncommon occurrence to them.
Itachi had walked in during the last of his scolding. He was rather amused to see a such a well-respected and feared shinobi fretting over the petite waitress. Though, he made sure to keep what he heard to himself.
"Sorry again, Asuna. It seems one of Samehada's scale was bent wrong and it was irritating him because he couldn't realign it with the bandages wrapped around him. He's fine now but I'll keep him away from you in case anything happens again."
"O-oh. That's alright. And I'm sorry too, I overreacted a bit." Replied a sheepish Asuna. She hadn't wanted to make Kisame feel bad.
"My dear, you have never even seen Samehada let alone heard about it! I think any normal person would freak out a bit over something like that." Reassured Mikoto with a gentle pat to the back. "But enough of that! Let's dig in before the food gets cold, I'm sure everyone is hungry."
With Mikoto's prompt, everyone took a seat around the table and dug into their bowls of gyudon which was heavenly. Mikoto always had been an excellent cook.
Asuna had tried to reach for a piece of Tonkatsu that settled in the middle of the table but Kisame had the same idea and their chopsticks bumped into each other.
"S-sorry. You can go first." Said Asuna, withdrawing her chopsticks.
"No, you go ahead. You went first." Countered Kisame.
"Mmm, I'm pretty sure you did."
"No, it was my bad. You go ahead."
"No no, Kisame I insist you go first."
"Oh, for the love of Kami! Here!" Exclaimed an annoyed Sasuke. With expert precision, he grabbed a piece of Tonkatsu and dumped it into Asuna's bowl.
Asuna glanced around the table after Sasuke's outburst and noticed that everyone had a bemused expression on their face but Kisame and herself were blushing slightly from the childish scene that they had caused.
Asuna had awkwardly caught a glimpse of Mikoto's knowing look. Not wanting to keep eye contact with her mother figure, she quickly averted her gaze back to her food. Asuna had mumbled a 'thanks' to Sasuke before indulging in the food again.
You see, much to the dislike of Asuna, the whole Uchiha family had come to know of her crush on Kisame. It became quite obvious whenever Kisame and Asuna were around the Uchihas. They had a tendency, although unwilling, to get themselves into awkward moments such as the one they had just caused.
At first, Asuna had thought that only Itachi and Sasuke knew because when she first met Kisame, they had been rather observant of her. It was almost a year ago when they first met each other. Kisame and Itachi had been assigned on another long mission then, lasting a month. As celebration for their return, the family thought that it would be nice to eat out so they had dinner at Yakiniku Q.
Asuna had never heard anything about Itachi's partner then, only that his name was Kisame Hoshigaki so she was quite excited to meet this mystery man. When she first laid her eyes on the shark nin, she couldn't help but stare. It was not because his appearance was terrifying, no, it was because he was attractive in her eyes. All throughout dinner, Asuna had thought she was being subtle when stealing glances at the shark nin. But she should've known better than to try and be sneaky around ninjas. Itachi and Sasuke had easily caught on to her antics.
The brothers were relentless in their teasing. Much to her embarrassment, she was cornered later that night by Itachi and he had given his "blessing" to Asuna. She was in utter disbelief and wanted to cause some serious pain to the shinobi. While Sasuke had teased her about already being smitten with a man she had met less than 3 hours ago.
The worse kind of embarrassment came a month later after that encounter. Asuna was invited to the Unchiha's house under the impression that she was going to have a nice afternoon tea with Mikoto and Fugaku. Little did she know that their real motive was much more devious. She had nearly spat out her tea when Mikoto smiled at her and asked how Asuna planned on asking Kisame out.
She couldn't believe what she was hearing and looked towards Fugaku to validate what she just heard. He merely sipped his tea and reiterated that his wife had said. It seems that Sasuke had let slip to his mother about Asuna's interest in the shark nin.
"Asuna! I am so excited! Oh, this is great! Kisame is a great choice. He's a fine young man, skilled shinobi and he's so kind!" Mikoto gushed. "You have our blessing! Isn't that right dear? Oh, this is great I can finally have a daughter to talk about relationships with!"
"Ehhhh?" Did Asuna hear correctly? What did Mikoto want of her, to have marry Kisame!?
"I agree with Mikoto on this, Asuna. I think it is about time that you started showing interest in men and actively pursue one. Kisame is an exceptional choice that anyone parent would approve of." Explained Fugaku, quite serious about the union between the two which Asuna would admit was a bit uncharacteristic of the head of the Uchiha clan to include his input on her relationship status.
"I-I don't know what to say. Uh ah t-thank you?" Stuttered Asuna. She still didn't know how to process what she just heard.
That had hands down been one of the most awkward situation that she has ever found herself in.
Thankfully, the rest of dinner was filled with light chatter and no more embarrassing moments. Afterwards, Asuna had helped Mikoto clear the dishes and serve up the dessert. By the time she was ready to leave, it was late into the night. As Asuna waved good bye to the Uchiha family, Kisame offered to walk her home.
A young man never leaves a lady to wander the streets at night. His duty as a shinobi was to protect the village, and he damn well will protect this girl he's grown fond of.
The walk to the center of the village was a quiet one, but it wasn't awkward. The moon was high above the sky and provided little illumination. The village street lights compensated for what the moon lacked and paved the road for the pair. Some restaurants were still open and some villagers were still out bustling around. It created a nice easy going environment that Asuna enjoyed.
Throughout the walk, the pair had been trying to sneak glances at one another, admiring the face of the other. At one point, through poor timing they had caught each other's gaze. They quickly averted their eyes and a light blush dusted their cheeks.
"So...um did you enjoy dinner? Mikoto's cooking is something to die for." Commented Asuna quietly. She still had her gaze fixed on the path in front of her.
"Uh, yeah. I look forward to dinner at their place after every long mission."
Silence fell on them again, which left a lot of time for Asuna to do some thinking. After the "ambush" by Mikoto and Fugaku about her love life, she had put a lot of thought into it. It was indeed a long time. She had never had a boyfriend before but she did have a few dates here and there. Most turned out to be a disaster. It seems she had bad luck in the dating realm.
Maybe what Mikoto and Fugaku said did have some merit. It's been nearly a year since she first developed feelings for Kisame and it should be about time that she acted on it.
No. No more. I will do it tonight. Easy, I'll just ask him if he wants to have dinner with me tomorrow and I'll cook something for him.
Wait...what do I cook him. Sushi? Oh God is that mean!? Would that make him a cannibal? No... sharks eat other fish! But...oh...
"Asuna?"
"Huh?"
"We're here. This is your apartment, right?" Asked Kisame with an amused smile on his face. The girl had spaced out for a solid 5 minutes and ignored him every time he called her name. He was rather curious what had got the girl to think so hard.
Asuna had been so busy with her inner turmoil that she hadn't even realized they made it back to her apartment.
C'mon Asuna...now or never. Just ask him!
Asuna, with a blush building furiously on her cheeks looked up at Kisame who regarded her with a questioning look.
"Kisame..." She squeaked, obviously too nervous to get a full sentence out.
"Yes, Asuna?" Asked Kisame, still not any less confused.
"I-Uh...D-Do...doyouwanttohavedinnerwithmetomorrow." Asuna rushed out, clutching tightly to her purse in hopes of easing her nerves.
"I'm sorry, Asuna. I didn't quite catch that."
Asuna took a deep breathe, before calming beginning again. "D-do you want to have dinner with me tomorrow? I could cook for us...but but if you don't want to we can go out instead! Oh, or oh sorry maybe you don't want to go out anyways...oh and my cooking probably won't be as good as Mikoto and oh..."
Kisame couldn't help but stare in amusement at the stuttering girl in front of him. She looked cute all flustered.
"Asuna." He said, bringing Asuna out of her rambling. "I would love to have dinner with you, and it would be my pleasure to taste your cooking. I'm sure it will be great."
"Oh." Asuna stared at Kisame, not believing what she had just heard.
"I'll stop by tomorrow at 7. Is that ok with you?"
Asuna could only nod dumbly in response.
"Great. See you then. Good night, Asuna. Sleep well."
"G-good night, K-Kisame."
I have a date with Kisame!