I'm not as pleased with this chapter, but if I pick it apart too much it'd be an entire waste.

Posted un-beta'd, so you know the drill, loves. read, love, reveiw. (repeat as neccessary :P ) -cp

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She was sitting in the chair when he quietly came back in, having disposed of the black cloak, broad-rimmed hat and other garb that marked him as a member of the hidden orginization. At the sound of the door latching her head jerked up. Her silvery eyes were red rimmed and she looked quickly away from him, swiping at her face. He felt that familiar tug that men everywhere get when confronted with a woman crying, that desire to comfort and amend, no matter that it wasn't thier fault. He pushed back the dark blue hood and shades masking his face and kneeled in front of her.

They stared at each other in tense silence for some time. Seconds passed, minutes, then he broke into that big, cheezy grin and she laughed.

He held out a brown paper-wrapped package to her as she wiped away the last tears from her cheeks. "Thought we'd need some new clothes," he said, still smiling, "Hope I got the size right, huh? Some of this was the lasts they had in stock."

She tore into the parcel and revealed three outfits, piece by piece. The first was fairly simple, a black, tunic-style shirt and a pair of durable multi-pocketed pants also black, "Lots of places to hide wepons" Kisame had noted and she noticed he was wearing a pair himself, all though in a lighter, olive color. The second was slightly more complex, a mesh undershirt followed by a dark blue top and another pair of multi-pocketed pants also in dark blue, and an all-most-black brown hooded jacket. The third almost made her heart stop. It was a kimono, not a formal cut, but it must have been expensive none the less. Dark ebon-blue bamboo trailed up the sides and sleeves over a milky silver background.

She looked at him in shock and he shrugged non-chalantly, "It was on sale." He looked at her out of the sides of his eyes, "So, you gonna try them on or what?" She nodded vigerously and stumbled over her feet in her haste to make it to the bathroom. The work clothes, as she had dubed the first set, fit nicely as did the second set, ninja clothes she noted, but the kimono...well...

'Breathtaking...' He thought, 'Simply breathtaking.' He had always thought her pretty, but now, well now she shone. She had let her hair down and it flowed perfectly into the dark blue pattern on the back, almost to the point that it was dificult to tell where one ended and the other began. And the cloth that so perfectly echoed the silver in her eyes.

He knew it was made for her the instant he had seen it in the display window at that high class botique. No matter that it was among the most expensive of the gowns there, no mater that it was impractical, no matter that he had had to have it altered from a larger size to fit her exceptionaly curvy figure. It was worth every penny to see her in it, even once, because it was just for him. Oh, she might wear it for someone else some day and he'd never see her in it again, but today, this first time, she was wearing it for him. The urge to make this more than a buisness-partnership swelled to nearly over welming, but he quickly quelled it. He knew he could never expect anything more. Sure, she was attractive, but she was more than that. She was a kunoichi, a powerful ally with a blood line limit. She would complment his own talents, where he was intimidating she was demure, where he used brawn she would employ finess and control. She was the perfect partner, really. Well, except for Itachi.

"Well?" She prompted, giving the kimono an experimental twirl and flushing slightly as she flashed a long, pale, line of thigh. Kisame tore his gaze away from that tantilizing glimpse and flashed her a smile back. "It looks great. I thought it would be a good idea for us to both have something nice. Rough clothes are great for travel, but they'd be practically useless if a job called for, oh say, dancing." She paused in admiring the cloth to shoot him an incredulous stare. He laughed and ran a hand through his hair, cheeks bleeding to purple, "You'd be surprised the jobs we had to do, me and Itachi I mean. There was this one time," He laughed just thinking of it, "This one time we had to assasinate an old govorness. Not a fun job, but the pay was good and it served our purposes. Well the only chance there was to get to her was at a party she was going to be hosting that month. You should have seen Ita-chan all gussied up..." Kisame paused, Itachi would kill him in seventeen different ways if he ever found out the secret nic-name the rest of the Akatsuki ha called him by, "He looked every part the rich, single, bachlor. And that old woman was on him like a dog in heat, and everything else with boobs for that matter...and some without. The look on his face," he laughed, "Priceless."

"What about you?" The question shocked him and he just looked at her for a second. "Me?" he shrugged "I was dressed up like his man-servant. Everyone at the party had one, some even had a couple. Besides, I never was that great with the ladies, I'm, um, different."

"So?" she started "Every one is."He stared at her in shock, eyes wide and face burning. After a moment he blinked and shook it off. "Go change." He said turning his head away so she wouldn't catch his blush, "I've got one last thing for you." when he heard the bathroom door close he heaved a sigh and slid down into his chair. Every one is. Why does she have to do that?