"Is that what it takes to make you drop the honorific after all these years?" Itachi said with a smirk as he propped himself up on his elbows. A slight sigh escaped as the raven's breathing returned to its usual steady pace. He relished the sensation of nothing at all as their bodies flickered beneath candlelight.

Kisame's mouth twisted into a smirk. "You caught me." He had slipped up in the height of ecstasy, caught up in the moment. For the first time he failed to refer to the younger man as 'Itachi'san.' Resting on his side, he brought his hand to brush a lock of stray hair behind Itachi's ear, getting a better view of his face. It took him a long time to find the bravery to touch him like this. Itachi let his eyes fall closed upon contact and let out an 'Hn.'

"Now that I'm near death you get comfortable." Kisame's smile quickly faded as his brows knitted and his heart ached at the thought of his partner's demise. "Don't say I didn't warn you." Kisame recalled Itachi's words after the first time they held each other.

"Kisame… Don't get attached to me. We are not lovers, but murderers. People like us…" Onyx eyes fell to the floor. "…we can't afford that comfort…"

Kisame wondered why the Uchiha drew the line between physical pleasure and the comfort of his partner's touch. The two men spent their nights together tirelessly trying to make the other feel good. Pleasure was comfort. Why draw the line there? It always irked the older shinobi.

"It's not like you're as buttoned up as you think, Itachi-san." The blue hand had fallen from his partner's face to trace circles in the fabric of the futon beneath them. "I know your aware that I've caught you sending messages on your crows, presumably about this organization… hell, maybe even me…" Itachi's eyes flashed a sharp glare towards his partner. Killing Kisame was never high on his list of priorities, even after that incident. But now he wondered if he should have gotten it over with sooner. He was a liability, after all.

"See? Even someone as empty as you has ties to somewhere… Not that I really care..." My loyalty is to you. It's been that way since the beginning. His heart panged at the thought, but his tongue quickly translated that pain into a cold accusation. "I'm just a convenient person for you to string along for perfunctory sex."

Itachi instantly and effortlessly summoned a kunai from the ether and had Kisame pinned, pressing the cold metal right below Kisame's sternum. One knee was on the man's stomach, the other had his left arm pinned down. When he spoke, his voice was stolid, unmoved despite his action.

"Making assumptions about my actions is fine…" His sharingan bore into Kisame's unblinking eyes. "But don't think you know anything about how I feel." How could Kisame know when Itachi has had the black box of his heart locked up ever since that night?

Kisame hadn't flinched. It's not that his partner didn't scare the shit out of him—he certainly did. But Kisame was tired of acquiescing to the younger assassin's whim all the time.

"My my, did I hit a nerve. I'm surprised you admit you have feelings at all, Itachi-san…" His trademark sinister grin had taken over his blank expression. He knew he was walking a tight rope. "Although, I should've known better. What else could cause such gruesome nightmares?"

Kunai broke skin as if to say 'stop,' eliciting a quirk of an eyebrow and a defiant stare from the rogue Kirigakure shinobi. Normally Kisame was quick to dissolve any tensions between him and his partner. But that's what got him here… Trying to love a broken and dying man. He was tired of playing pacifist, and he knew he was running out of time.

He scoffed as the blood began to gather at the incision.

"Isn't it ironic, Itachi-san? The Monster of the Bloody Mist reduced to this because of his sentiments for the clan killer who doesn't want any unnecessary bloodshed… Merciful in war, but cruel to those closest to him." The kunai dug into his abdomen as he spoke, and the blood pooling around the wound was beginning to mix with Itachi's semen drying on the man's stomach. He boldly used his one free hand to trace his fingers up Itachi's side, slowly strumming each exposed rib. Kisame didn't break contact with the fiery sharingan glare from his partner, but he remained calm. The worst he can do is kill me. They stared at each other, each waiting for the other to back down. Kisame had never seen his partner so worked up before. It certainly wasn't the first time weapons had been involved before, during, or after sex, but this time it was a-erotic. It felt real.

After a long while and a short sigh, Itachi blinked slowly, his eyes reopening to obsidian. They looked tired. He spoke as he released Kisame from the tackle hold and sat beside him on the futon.

"You talk too much, Kisame." The sharp-toothed grin returned.

"You only say that when I tell you things you don't like to hear, Itachi-san." The conversation lulled. The silence was familiar to them; it allowed their hearts to quit racing if only a little. The reprieve didn't last long.

"It's funny." Itachi's voice was soft but firm as he looked far-off with a jaded smirk. "You've known I'm a traitor all this time, yet you still fuck me like a gentleman."

Kisame let the words sink in as he pressed a hand to his wound trying to stop the blood from ruining the futon. He even scooped up the crimson that threatened to trickle off the side of his abs and smeared it around his chest. It wasn't terribly deep.

"Heh. Did you want a response to that?" Kisame's eyes also looked tired as they searched around the dimly lit room, not wanting to think about how hard he had fallen for this man. Itachi gave him a lukewarm glance which Kisame had learned was an affirmative sign. "…I guess I figured if you wanted me dead it would've happened a long time ago. I don't need to tell you where my loyalty resides, Itachi-san… And besides, you warmed up to me so much, you'd miss my dick enough to think twice about killing me."

He chuckled at his own statement and turned to the unresponsive Uchiha. His eyes were out of focus and glued to the blood on Kisame's abdomen. His gaze was framed by furrowed brows and a look of irritation that deepened his frown lines. "Hn."

They both were relieved when the silence returned, each not wanting to make themselves any more vulnerable than they already were, naked and cum draped beneath the flickering candlelight.

They were at the Akatsuki hideout in Kisame's room, taking some time off before their next mission. It had become such a familiar place, and it was where most of their intimacy had occurred because Kisame's quarters were tucked away in a far reach of the base, giving them more privacy. The room was lit with two candles—one now threatening to extinguish after the many hours of lovemaking it had illuminated.

Kisame's affection for Itachi was born simply out of the fact that Itachi was his. The only one that witnessed his nightmares, brought him to peaceful post-orgasmic bliss, soothed him in his coughing fits, and (rarely) got to comb his hair was Kisame. Though he didn't much care for the way Itachi pressured him into rough intercourse, he complied for fear he might seek it out elsewhere. It happened once. Kisame went out to look for his partner after a mission in Takuni no Sato and found him battered in an alleyway, broken and bleeding. After tending to his physical wounds, Kisame went back out into the night under the guise of a stroll, but he made sure Samehada was with him. He realized then that he could at least leave his partner with some dignity if he played into Itachi's kinks.

Itachi had been lauded as a great and proud warrior his entire life. Somehow his crimes only added to his reputation, if not altering the connotation a bit. He liked forgetting. He liked being someone else, if only for fleeting moments. Eventually, he convinced Kisame to help him achieve that. His partner's sentiments were clear after that night in Takuni no Sato, and Itachi hated himself for it. Their togetherness threatened his safety; he couldn't risk anyone opening the black box.

Normally Itachi would have let the conversation die there and left for a shower, but tonight was not a normal night. Tensions were high and things were reaching a boiling point. A twisted smile betrayed his mask as he realized people only get this defensive when real attachment is at play—people clinging to things they have no right to with no regard for the bigger picture. He knew the signs well. He decided to press further.

"And when I cease to live..." He paused, eyes meeting yellow orbs after noting the amount of blood he had drawn from his lover. "What will you do then?" His favorite shield, that wild grin.

"Well, I guess we'll see when the time comes… Or at least I will."

"It's sooner than you might expect."

"Oh?" His heart arrested at the confession. He didn't know if he meant months, weeks, or days. He didn't want to.

There was a pause as Itachi prepared himself to commit to his strategy. He was leaning forward, eyes trying to catch Kisame's gaze intently.

"Would it be easier for you to let me go if you knew I was just using you for sex?"

"The fuck kind of question is that." He found the strength to look into charcoal eyes as he finished. Calm, affable Kisame was gone. He knew the signs of his partner crafting a delicate genjutsu, only this time he didn't even need his kekkei genkai. There you go again. Your web of lies and deception carefully spun to throw me off the truth. He cursed himself for finding the Master of Illusions so damn attractive; for playing so close to that Uchiha fire. After a pause to gather himself, he resumed. His gaze had glossed over, trying to shield himself from revealing too much. "If there was ever more to it than that, I hope for your sake you could be fucking honest about it… but knowing you that's probably too much to ask."

A wince did not escape Kisame's gaze. A silence that felt like eternity followed.

"Kisame… Thank you for being yourself with me… I'm sorry I couldn't offer you the same." A pale hand reached for blue hair and lithe fingers combed through it near his ear. The words and action certainly pushed Itachi's affection envelope, and Kisame hated himself for closing his eyes and nuzzling into the touch. The finishing blow.

Being Itachi's partner for so many years made Kisame realize that while he didn't like being strung along, the illusion could be far kinder than any truth. This was Itachi's game. His whole life. Kisame never stood a chance.

Itachi rose, eliciting a quiet hiss from Kisame as he pulled his hand away. He returned with a damp cloth, cleaning the blood and sex off of his lover before slipping on his shirt and pants and silently leaving the room.

Kisame couldn't fight the sleep away.

A/N

It has been a minute since I've written anything for these two beautiful creatures.

I know there's a lot of dialogue for these two stoic men here.. maybe it's a bit crack. Only one or two more chapters, I reckon.

Grateful for feedback!