OH HEY YES I DO STILL EXIST AND AM STILL WORKING ON THIS. I'm a little ashamed to say that I procrastinated and avoided working on this chapter for...how long has it been now? Until today. And then wrote it all out in about two hours.
I'm sorry! But this is the first time I've even written Kisame, and I don't often write for Itachi, so doing something centered completely on them was a little hard to get myself into doing.
For those who are wondering, Itachi does business negotiations for a rather large and unnamed global company, and has, as you will see, some rather questionably legal side jobs that he does with Kisame. 8D
Hopefully the next chapter will be out quicker, since I have part of it written already!
Itachi's lips were drawn down in a nearly imperceptible frown, and yet again he checked his watch, pen snapping down sharply against the table in front of him. Kisame was late. his rather fearsome sometimes-colleague had been the one to call this meeting in the first place, and he was late.
He had better things to be doing with his time than waiting on a potential job, especially when he had made it perfectly clear to h is employers that he would be on vacation. He completed his jobs in a timely and professional (well, most of the time) manner, and was one of the best in the business world. They couldn't deny him a vacation, no matter how long he took, because they simply couldn't afford to fire him, and he knew it as well as they did.
So why, he asked himself, did he receive a call from Kisame this morning that basically consisted of, "Hey, I've got a job I need your help with, don't worry, it's in town, I got your current location, so I'll be there at ten." Even Kisame, w ho was only unofficially hired by the company, should have known perfectly well that he was busy.
A knock on the hotel room door drew him out of his thoughts, a nd he rose from his chair, stalking with the grace of a panther and about as much deadly intent to the door and opening it to reveal his sometimes-partner, who somehow managed to make genuine Armani look about as rough and stupidly casual as a pair of ripped up jeans and a grungy t-shirt.
"Hey, Itachi, I know you're on vacation and all, so sorry about interrupting-" Kisame began, only to be cut off by a particularly deadly look from the shorter man. His grin was sharp and apologetic at the same time, and when Itachi stepped aside, he moved into the room, heading straight for the kitchenette and the mini bar.
"So I guess it's right down to business, then, just like usual," he commented, filling the tense silence as if the aura of malcontent coming from Itachi was just rolling right off of him (and it really was, he was too used to his sometimes-partner's demeanor by now). "It's urgent business, see," he said, over the clink of crystal glasses and the sound of liquid sloshing into one. "They put me on it because they figured the guy would bolt, and he has. He's hiding out here, but not good enough, got the address and the details here," he tossed a manila envelope across the bar and onto the table Itachi was once again sitting at.
The younger man deftly flipped the envelope open, pulling out the paperwork and scanning it quickly. Upon reaching the end (and the price tag), his dark eyes snapped up to the tall man across the room. "A five hundred thousand dollar job? I take it they truly do believe not even I can convince him to reconsider?" A nod confirmed it, and he placed the papers back into the envelope.
"Then why interrupt my vacation, if they're already convinced he needs to be silenced?" The glare he sent towards the man was chilling.
"Well," Kisame said, that sharp, sharp grin back in place as he answered simply, "they wanted a clean job. You know I'm no good at clean."
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"So what exactly are you doing out here anyway?" Kisame asked, making an attempt at a conversation that wasn't going to end up one-sided, ashing his cigarette out the window before it was snatched from his fingers by Itachi.
The younger man didn't usually smoke, he'd found out through observation and a little digging on his own, but he would before a job, though Kisame didn't understand the point of doing it just every so often.
"You should know better than to intrude in my private matters, Kisame," was the response he got for his troubles, and he leaned back a little more in his seat.
"Come on, I want to know what makes you, of all people, just up and leave with hardly any notice to go on a vacation halfway across the northeast." He glanced over at the man next to him in the driver's seat to catch just the briefest change in Itachi's expression, before glancing out at the line of rosebushes they were parked next to, bored with the wait. "You used to be part of that snooty Uchiha family, right? Those Japanese one-nobles? I heard there's one that lives here in this city, some kid still in school living by himself," he added, conversationally, looking back to see his partner's expression just a little darker than it was before. It was, after all, extremely guarded information. Almost nobody knew or could find any information on Itachi's past and origins that wasn't fake, but Kisame was just that good at his job.
"He's here," was the only warning he received before Itachi was out of the car and their target was slammed against the hood, gag already in place so he couldn't scream. Man, the kid was fast.
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Itachi had to commend Kisame on coming up with the idea to take the man onto a private boat handled by the company. At least this way, if he couldn't bring the man around, they could sail as far as fuel would take them in order to dump the body where nobody would be able to find it.
Getting tired of listeing to the muffled groans from across the cabin, and satisfied Kisame had taken them out far enough that nobody would hear the man, he moved to remove the gag. He earned a string of unintelligible curses and threats for his efforts, which was silenced quickly enough when he upturned the man's chair and delivered a well placed kick to his captive's chin.
He had to reason that at least blood didn't stain too badly on black, but it irritated him that he would likely have to arrange for a cleanup once he was done. The dirty part of his job always had a certain kind of satisfaction from it, but at the same time, it was often more trouble than he wanted to go through.
"I'm sure you know why you're here," he said, voice flat. "I believe we have some things to discuss that you seem hesitant to accept. I hope that by the time we're done here, you will come away from our encounter enlightened to your faults."
The man was silent, aside from his rapid breaths, and Itachi almost smiled at the way his captive twitched when he heard a switchblade being flicked open. Perhaps today wouldn't be such a waste. After all, this type of negotiation really did suit him better.
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It was much, much later that day that their ship returned to port, sans one passenger, a length of steel cable, a switchblade, one Armani suit, a pair of gloves, a spare anchor, and two gallons of floor cleaner.
Itachi agreed to split the pay with Kisame fifty-fifty, even though he'd done most of the dirty work. He considered what wasn't gained in monetary value was gained in stress relief, and left it at that, parting ways again with his partner in crime after another successful business meeting considerably more relaxed than he had been upon waking up.
A drink before bed would help him relax even further, along with a soak in his hotel suite's massive spa-style tub to wash away any remaining blood he might've missed on the boat. He hardly lamented over the loss of his suit, seeing as the payment would easily take care of the replacement costs.
The only thing that bothered him was the fact that Sasuke hadn't called today, but then, there was always tomorrow, and if the boy took too long, he would just have to give him a bit more incentive.
Okay, that came out a little better than I'd expected, even if it did take me however long to actually get around to writing it. Hope you leave a review after reading! Let me know how I did with the characters, since they're not usually who I write for