Author's Note:

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a little while. My busy schedule is finally slowing down, which I'm thankful for, partly for my own sanity and also for my writing!

Side note... I GOT COMMISSIONED ART OF SORA AND I'M SCREAMING. SHE LOOKS SO GOOD! I'll post it soon!

Sorry, it's a bit fluffy and edited by me lol. But I hope you like it regardless. I'll repost it once it gets back from being edited!

The next chapter is almost finished and I'll be posting it shortly, so expect another update very soon. It's cracky. And smutty. Hope that's good with everyone because it's happening lol.

Please drop comments, they literally empower me when I get discouraged with my writing!:)

THANKS FOR READING!

-J.E.

We rose far too early to set off on the last leg of our journey to the coastline early. The morning dew rose towards the pink sky from the damp grass in thin, wispy plumes of mist. I set a decent pace despite my grogginess, driven by some horrible combination of giddiness and profound humiliation. My mind from drifting back to recall the events of the previous evening, each time causing my insides to twist and flutter.

You're getting too attached to him. That can't happen again, and you know it.

Kisame's gruff voice ripped me from my thoughts, "Sora-chan, the Coliseum is on an island that's impossible to get to unless you've already been there, right?"

"Yeah," I croaked, the sleep still thick in my throat.

"Then, I'm assuming we'll need to find someone with a boat. Ya know, for you poor bitches who aren't half shark and all…" Kisame jeered.

"That's where were headed. I'm taking us to the old man who took me there before with Orochimaru—his place is a couple of hours from here," I said tiredly.

"And you know for certain that he'll take us across?" My heart skipped a beat as Itachi's smooth, stoic voice coming from just behind me fanned the flames of my bashful nervousness.

"He will, he owes me a favor," I stated plainly.

"What kind of a favor?" He probed coolly.

Why is that the part he's concerned about?

"I saved his sons life a while back." I mumbled through a yawn.

"Hm," Itachi mumbled gruffly.

I cocked a quizzical brow at him, then at Kisame, who simply shrugged and walked off towards the alluring sound of crashing waves. The scent of salty air mingled with the damp wood of the forest. The tree line parted suddenly cleared the pale yellow and brown of the sand grains along the beach made the insignificant wooden dock a short way down stick out in stark contrast.

Walking down, I noticed a dark, worn looking wooden boat nestled against the dock just beyond the white water of the rolling waves. "Oi! Sora-chan!" A familiar, sweet deep voice hollered. I squinted slightly to get a better look at the tall, muscular man with brilliant auburn hair making his way slowly the dock.

No way!? Is that Koki? Woah, he got HOT.

"Koki?" I squeaked in high pitched disbelief. Koki had been an obnoxious, young teenager the last time I'd seen him. I stared wide-eyed and mouth slightly agape at how the strikingly handsome man could possibly be the annoying kid I had met years before. My mind momentarily flashed to when I'd saved him from being killed by a band of rogue pirates, the second time Orochimaru and I had passed through.

Kisame's gruff voice reminded me that there were other people around and I blinked hard to focus, "That's the guy's son?"

I continued staring and spoke softly, "Yeah… that's Koki. I haven't seen him in years… I hardly recognize him—he's a lot… older."

"I think the words you're looking for is hotter," he clarified wryly, prompting me to sigh and roll my eyes, trying to pretend he wasn't very spot-on in his observation. I could feel the sprinkling of a dusky pink blush rising over my cheeks as I watched my now grown-up, chiseled friend run, shirtless, down from the stairs leading up the dock.

The tanned skin of Koki's sculpted abdominals glistened with sweat under the bright rays of sunshine from the manual labor his profession involved; the scar running diagonally across his stomach from where had been sliced had faded. My eyes unwittingly scanned his muscular arms, my mouth went dry, and my abdomen knotted as they flexed while he snatched a shirt that was slung over the bottom of the railing.

"I knew it—look at your fucking face right now!" Kisame mocked, jabbing an elbow into my side. The angry spike in Itachi's chakra smacked me like a punch to the gut.

Why can I feel both of their chakra so much stronger than usual?

He was no doubt shooting Kisame a hard glare as I heard Kisame snort a laugh. With a groan, I whipped around and slapped a large blue bicep, scowling at the two of them. "Enough, both of you," I began sternly, then pointed a chiding finger at Kisame with his mouth pulled into a cheeky grin, "You—get your mind out of the fucking gutter," I scolded before aiming my hard glare and finger at Itachi, "And you—be nice." I put a hard annunciation on my words as they hissed through my clenched teeth.

Koki ran up to us, threw his beefy arms around my waist, and hoisted my small body off the ground in a crushing embrace. Itachi's chakra flared far more aggressively than before the moment Koki touched me. "Shit—hi, Koki! How've you been?" I asked cordially, while softly hugging him back. "Where's your dad?"

"I'm not bad," he said, gently setting me back down. "My father passed away about a year ago—so I've been running this place by myself ever since. But never mind that, what're you doing here?" His tanned face scrunched in confusion as he scanned my companions "And who are these two dudes?"

I cleared my throat to stifle a laugh before stepping to the side to introduce my companions, "These are my teammates, Kisame and Itachi. Kisame, Itachi—this is my old friend, Koki." I glanced over at Koki, "Think you can take us across to the Coliseum?"

Koki suddenly lit up happily, "It's nice to meet you guys! I can definitely take you guys across—anything for you, Sora-chan," he said while beaming at me. Itachi's chakra spiked as Koki pinched my cheek, forcing a dusky pink to scorch my face while I sweetly smiled back.

Itachi seems fucking pissed. Is he… jealous?

Kisame stuck out a hand and shook Koki's hand vigorously, "Nice to meet you, Koki!" He said chipperly as Koki grinned back at him.

He extended a hand towards Itachi, who silently glanced at it and ignored it, then continued scrutinizing Koki from head to toe, "Sora-chan…" Koki dropped his hand, then looked at me tensely, "Why is he glaring at me like he wants to cut me into pieces? Is he your boyfriend or something?" The touch of disdain in his words told me he was becoming perturbed.

I awkwardly snorted a laugh at the thought, "What? No. No, absolutely not." I spluttered, internally dying as Kisame began snickering up a storm from behind me. "You'll have to forgive Itachi. He can be a bit… antisocial sometimes." I said disconcerted. Kisame to guffawed loudly as I felt Itachi's glare settle on. I willed myself to avoid his eyes at all costs.

Yikes… Why are you like this

Ready to be done with the uncomfortable tension that was building, I began striding over towards the rickety looking dock. The rest of the group rapidly followed suit onto the worn, creaking wooden planks over to the ship. Koki immediately reached a slender hand out to help me step up onto the sun-bleached ship deck and Itachi's chakra sparked wrathfully. The white sail blinded me as it gleamed in the sunshine and rippled in the wind. It would take about a half a day to reach our location, and I dreaded every minute of it.

I stood silently, resting my arms on the sun-bleached wood of the ship's sides, twiddling my intertwined fingers, eyes focused on the fiery orange sun in the distance dip below the watery horizon. The salty breeze whipped my light blonde hair in front of my eyes, glinting in sun-kissed whisps in the pink and orange evening rays. We would need to enter the border into the Land of Water under the cover of night, or else we ran the risk of being caught—that would defiantly not score points with Pain. And we were cutting it close.

I glanced up, noticing someone striding up to me in my peripheral vision. It was Koki, a pleasant smile spreading over his handsome, charming visage. "What's got you so tense, hon?"

I punched him with a decent amount of power and glowered up into his beautiful hazel eyes, "Firstly, never call me that again," My heart fluttered as the sound of Itachi's deep, rumbling chuckle met my ears; I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to ignore him and refocus my train of thought. "Secondly, I'm worried about getting into the Land of Water undetected—" I started in a much kinder tone.

"Psh, you're the same as always—" He brought a strong, calloused hand to rest on my shoulder, "You worry too much." He winked while peering down at me with a degree of adulation that made me melt. The same look I'd seen Itachi give me…

Damn… okay, he got really hot.

My core tightened as heat burned my cheeks and I quickly averted my gaze back to horizon where the sun had nearly been swallowed by the choppy ocean. I nearly cringed feeling the wrath seeping from Itachi's dangerous glare from where he'd been sitting in a cold silence. It broke my heart in the strangest of ways because, for as much as I wanted to be his, I wasn't. He had no reason to be so jealous—even if Koki was being a bit overly friendly.

I forced the gears of my brain to grind and come up with something that was neutral, then suddenly remembered his father. "Hey, I never said how sorry I am about your father passing away…" I gave him a honied smile, "He was a great guy—what happened?"

"Thanks," He rubbed a nervous hand on the back of his neck, his pleasant expression faded quickly into stark grief. "Uh—about a year ago he kinda… didn't wake up one morning."

My face scrunched together with sadness, realizing his father most likely had an aneurism. Poor Koki… I gazed up in dismay into his inviting, hazel eyes, while my heart broke for him, "I'm so sorry—that must have been really hard," I reached my hand out to hold the hand Koki had resting on the splintered wood rail and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I'm proud of you for taking over for him. And I know he's proud of you too." I gushed, with the hope of erasing his sorrowful demeanor.

Let's hope I can fix at least one of these men's uncomfortable chakra.

For the strangest reason, the intensity of the chakra signatures around me had been turned up and was terribly sensitive to the emotions swirling within them. Combined with my own growing anxiety, I was beginning to feel a bit nauseous. A stale breath of relief escaped my lips, watching Koki's saddened visage morph into pleasant content. "I hope so. I promised him I'd keep everything going, so that's what I'm doing." He shot me a joyful smile, then grew crafty. "So, what's the deal with you two, huh?" Koki playfully shook my shoulder.

I looked up at him while leaning over the sturdy, wooden railing and lifted a brow at him inquisitively, watching his eyes gesture back in Itachi's direction. An internal of relief washed over me as Kisame walked up to Itachi and sat beside him, probably to prevent the brooding Uchiha from continuing seething in his sullen funk.

Oh, Kisame. I love you—thank you.

The blush flushing my face became searing, my mind immediately going to what had occurred the night before. "We're just teammates." I muttered.

"Well, you might think that, but he," he began to whisper, while motioning his wry gaze again to Itachi and Kisame, "certainly doesn't think so."

I released a weary sigh, "That isn't any of your business."

His sweet, innocent expression died, his plush lips pulled into a mischievous grin, "You're fucking him, aren't you?" He whispered slyly.

"Koki!" I snapped and smacked him swiftly in the stomach, a bit harder this time. "Watch your fucking mouth!"

"Ow," he deadpanned. "Sora-chan, I'm not 13 anymore," The devious smirk returned as he continued, "I know how this shit goes." He patted my shoulder and winked before sauntering back to the helm of the ship.

"You're still mentally 13!" I hollered back. I watched his strapping shoulders bounce with laughter while he walked while a hand waved me off dismissively. I rolled my eyes, but a small smile curled a corner of my lip upwards.

He's still got a lot of growing up to do.

The evening twilight began to darken into night as we crossed the border into the Land of Water, meaning we didn't have long until we'd arrive at our destination. My stomach churned with anxiety and apprehension and in combination with the choppy seawater rocking the wooden vessel left me feeling a bit nauseous. But thankfully, Itachi's chakra had gone from a boil to a simmer.

I sat on the hard, damp wood of the hull and put my head between my knees to try and rid myself of the waves of nausea. The unrelenting plethora of fearful situations my brain presented as to what fate awaited me on the dreadful island we were heading to.

I've never gotten seasick before, the fuck is this?

"Feeling a little green around the gills there, kiddo? Ha! Get it? Gills?" Kisame lightly teased.

"Yeah, that's a good one," I snickered weakly, continuing to keep my head wedged firmly between my knees. "This is what happens when I feel hella stressed, and happen to be on a fucking boat… My brain thinks I'm caught swirling around in a whirlpool." I muttered and blindly patted to the empty seat beside me, gesturing for him to take a seat.

"And you can't heal that yourself?" He asked plainly.

"If I could, do you think I'd be sitting here like this?" I grumbled back, while fighting back a particularly bad rush of nausea and inhaling deeply through my mouth, then out through my mouth.

Just as I began retracting my hand, Kisame caught it and yanked me by my wrist up to stand on my wobbly legs. I groaned, "Ugh—Kisame, what the fuck are y—oof!" I let out a sharp huff from the air being forced from my lungs by Kisame's abrupt, sizeable hand smacking straight into my gut, knocking me down to the hull of the ship with a hard thud. Itachi was instantly on his feet glowering with dangerously narrowed lids at Kisame.

"Oi! What're you doing?" Koki bellowed from adjusting and retying a rope. I watched Itachi's threatening scowl shift to scan Koki.

Kisame moaned a sigh, "Both of you relax—she's fine. Just wait a second." He grinned down at me and folded his arms.

What the fuck..? My ass hurts, but my nausea is gone…

My eyes slowly widened in bewilderment, gawking at Kisame while climbing to my feet. "I—it's gone…" I stammered., "H—how did you do that?" I stared at Kisame astonished.

"It's an old trick in the Land of Water to cure seasickness," He stated, outstretching a blue hand to grab mine and hoisted me off the ground. He patted my head patronizingly, "You're welcome!"

I gazed blankly at him, wide-eyed in disbelief and watched as he strode off to plop down. My chakra had been recentered, by hitting my center tenketsu chakra point which had reset my equilibrium of fluid in my ear.

Woah… I want to learn that.

"Kisame…" I began wryly with a cheeky grin, clasping my hands behind my back. "Will you teach me how you did that?"

"Are you from the Land of Water?" he probed, knowing full well that I was not.

My face and tone went abruptly deadpan in disappointment, "No, I'm not."

"Then," he shot me a wide grin, "Nope!" The inflection in his voice went much too high. I knew it wasn't going to happen.

Giving Kisame a hard glower, I crossed my arms and sat down with a huff, puffing my cheeks out in frustration. "Rude..." I grumbled. My sight accidentally flitted over to the brooding, raven-haired man seated across from me, studying me, the angry demeanor dissipating. I flashed him a small smile and averted my gaze, not wanting to keep the tense eye-contact.

A couple of hours later, we were deep into the Land of Water. Despite Kisame helping my seasickness, my apprehension was growing by the minute, forcing me to work much harder to keep an outwardly composed countenance. I sat rested up against the hard wood planks of a storage crate, deliberately sharpening the shining silver blade of the chokuto Kisame had gifted me, trying to calm my nerves. The anxious knot twisting in my stomach meant it wasn't working.

You need to get your chakra under control and calm the hell down.

I was fighting a losing battle to keep my chakra signature composed. My uneasy gaze lifted to scan the sullen Uchiha, studying me with prudent, moonlit eyes, before they slammed shut, like he was reprimanding himself for looking at me. "You hungry?" Kisame asked. I glanced upwards at him aloofly and watched him stride towards me, holding two onigiri between his thick, blue fingers.

I stared back down at the sword in my hands. With a gentle shake of my head side to side, I sheathed the shiny, metallic blade back into its dark cherrywood scabbard. "Not really, but thanks for offering, Kisame."

Kisame sighed, then clicked his tongue while squatting down in front of me and resting his elbows on his knees. "Here," he shoved one of the little rice balls directly in front of my face, causing my head to suddenly jerk backwards in surprise. "Take this over to Mr. Grumpy-pants over there and see if he'll eat it. Maybe try to get him to talk to you a little."

"As appealing as that sounds, I think I'll pass." I shot him a deadpan glare and crossed my arms over my chest. "Why should I, anyway?"

Kisame leaned forward subtly, "Believe it or not, the quieter he is, the more he has to say..." He whispered with a smug smirk, then lazily waved the onigiri mere inches from my face.

Damnit… I know he's right. Sasuke was the same way, and they're brothers after all.

I frowned and snatched it from him with an irritated groan. I begrudgingly rose to my feet and ambled over to the brooding Uchiha, who sat meticulously sharpening his own sword. I came to stand in front of him, "I'm not hungry." He growled without sparing me a glance.

"I think you are. That's probably partly why you're sitting here with your panties in a wad." I taunted, knowing full well this wasn't the time, but not caring anyways.

Itachi's arm froze half-way up his blade and shot me a bitter, sidelong glare, "I'm perfectly fine."

I blew a raspberry and rolled my eyes, "And I'm a giant, purple tiger." I deadpanned, taking a seat cross-legged beside him, ignoring his hostile glare.

Yep. There it is, the 'fuck off because I'm upset' look. And he adorably looks just like Sasuke.

My gaze unintentionally softened at the thought. "What's swirling around up in there, Itachi?" I implored, gesturing a twirling finger to his head.

"Nothing that's any of your business." He growled, sharpening his blade with a more aggressive stroke.

The harshness of his words stung, but I knew better than to let it ruse me or to continue to pry. From my prior experiences with, it only would make it worse. Letting out a faint sigh, my lids fell closed in defeat, trying to swallow the pain and anger threatening to spill out at his words. "Alright… I'll leave you alone—sorry for bothering you," I said nearly emotionlessly, not daring to meet his burning gaze. I set the onigiri down on the tip of his sword and averted my eyes, pushing up to my feet and brushed a rogue strand of hair away from my face, tucking it behind my ear.

I heard him heave a weary sigh as I sauntered back over to plop defeatedly opposite of him, hating how my heart clenched with sadness and hurt from Itachi's cold shoulder. I slunk my knees up to my chest and hugged them tightly, resting my cheek against the soft fabric of my red qipao through my open Akatsuki cloak.

Why are you so upset? He didn't want to talk, who cares?

I closed my eyes and inhaled the salty air, praying that that might convince sleep not to turn its back on me.