Disclaimer~ I do not own, nor do I claim to own the characters depicted herein. I do however own the stories and plots in which I have created.

A/N: Reviews are appreciated more than you know. I appreciate favs, but I like hearing my readers opinion; that's what drives me to write~

Chapter 2: It Can't be Real

Kisame was beyond words as he stared after Itachi like an idiot. He wanted to wake up. This was all a bad dream. A horrific nightmare. He would wake up any minute now and turn over only to the one and only object of his desire: Itachi.

Several minutes passed and nothing changed. The room was still quiet. The sheets felt stiff from the sweat that had collected on it. The room was hot and felt humid; indicative of his and Hidan's past rendevous. The supposed 'dream' wasn't ending fast enough.

Hidan shifted uncomfortably underneath Kisame. He was torn. On the one hand he was sorry. Sorry he had decided to ask Kisame to fulfill his sexual desires. He had been sexually frustrated. Kisame was there, the mood was right. It all just sorta...happened. But on the other hand he was disappointed. He hadn't cum yet when Itachi walked in. He wanted to ask if Kisame intended on finishing or pulling out any time soon. But that would be sort of weird to ask as well.

Glancing down at Hidan he realized the position they were in. Still in."Oh, sorry.", was all he said, pulling out.

Hidan breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad. Glad to not have to ask that embarassing question. Not like he was reserved or wasn't use to speaking his mind. He was anything but. It just didn't seem to fit the mood for him to point out such a thing.

Kisame rolled over to the other side of the bed, placing the crook of his arm over his eyes he groaned."Shit."

Once Hidan had found the ability to properly move his limbs he grabbed his Akatsuki robe, loosely tying it around his waist. He turned back. He had wanted to say something. Anything. But what could he say? Unable to think of anything Hidan walked out of the room silently closing the door behind him.

Kisame listened to the sound of the click shut. It was a small sound. But in the deafening silence it had seemed loud. A reminder of what he had done.

He hadn't expected Itachi to react that way at all. But what had he been expecting. He hadn't thought the whole ordeal through. It had definitely seemed like a good idea at the time. There weren't suppose to be any reprocussions. Besides he couldn't even put a name to whatever existed between him and Itachi. Close friends? But they had slept together. Lovers? But neither had ever admited to 'loving' one another. Friends with benfits? If that were true why did Itachi react the way he did when he saw him with Hidan?

Kisame drew in another breath, turning over and wishing this whole thing would just blow over. But he knew in the back of his mind that it wasn't that easy.

Itachi was confused. He felt unstable, like his walls had all come crashing down. His emotions were burning inside him like a forest fire. Emotions...it had been a very long time since he had associated anything in his life with those. Everything is or just was. Like some weird law of science. He never expected to feel betrayal. Just expected...what? Kisame to be there always like a loyal dog...shark at his ankles? He didn't why he felt this way and he didn't know why. More than the act itself the not-knowing scared him. He had to be in control, he felt. Things always went smoother that way.

But this. This was different. He had no control over the situation. No overall upstanding purpose. There was nothing to change or alter the fact that Kisame had done what he pleased."But why the need to be on my sheets."

Itachi wanted to throw something. To break something. But apparently someone had already beat him to all the throw-able and breakable objects in sight. The spoon, which stuck out from its position in the wall, could testify to that.

Konan walked into the hideout, noticing how Itachi visibly flinched at her presence. She had never seen anyone this on edge before. Especially not the seemingly emotionless Uchiha. She wondered what was up. She had knowledge of the little spat between Tobi and Deidara. In fact she was a part of it. The other day she had a craving for strawberries. She asked Tobi if the ones in the fridge were his and he said 'you can have 'em purple fairy'. Later on she found out that those strawberries belonged to Deidara. And that's how that started. But that wasn't it. Itachi wouldn't waste his breath, much less his emotions on a silly little misunderstanding such as that.

Taking another step forward Konan reached her hand out gently touching Itachi's shoulder. His eyes shot up, a wild and rare crazed look in them. A look that could only be described as...feral.

Itachi turned away from Konan for a moment then turned back. Almost instantaneously the look had disappeared. So quickly Konan had to blink to make sure this was all real. As she opened her eyes she saw the normal look of apathy on Itachi's face. Itachi made a handsign then, leaving the hideout as soon as he had arrived.

Kisame may have had a tendency to make stupid choices, but he surely was no fool. He knew that it would be in his best..interest to steer clear of Itachi for a while.

Everything felt awkward back at the hideout. As if this incident had altered their way of life. Konan sat upright at the table, her hands neatly folded. Tobi sat wedged between Zetsu and Deidara. Sasori, who had just came back from a mission himself, was even concerned. This was rare considering he usually only cared about beauty. Eternal beauty, that is. Hidan stood in the entryway, arms folded across his chest, glaring at some invisible object.

"Fuck", Kisame said. He was in his room searching. Aimlessly going through drawers, looking under the bed for all his stuff. On the bed a large bag was placed, filled with clothes and his various belongings.

He'd never really been kicked out before. What were the standard proceedures? Did you just take your stuff, leave and never show your face again? Did you leave a goodbye, I'm sorry note? And how did you know what to take. There were some items that were equally shared since before Kisame could remember. They really hadn't a specific owner. It was just known that they were shared. And then what about gifts?

Thinking it better to leave everything Kisame only packed clothing.'This is going to be harder than I thought', Kisame thought, staring at an old photo of Itachi. It was a rare one, the only of its kind. Itachi was smiling, and Kisame was the one taking the photo. His thumb visible on the edge of the picture. He remembered that day so clearly that it felt like it had only happened a day ago. He remembered the beach. The fresh ocean sea breeze. Most of all how content the usually apathetic Uchiha was.

That day Itachi had smiled. Truly smiled. And Kisame had captured the moment in a shakey imperfect, yet perfect picture.

"I can't leave this", Kisame said aloud. If he did he knew he would regret it. Itachi had been opposed to him keeping the picture from the start. He had went on about weakness and things like that. But Kisame had hardly listened. He wouldn't let himself be persuaded. He wanted to keep this precious moment. For once he understood what Sasori meant whenever he went on about the significance of eternal beauty.

Grabbing the photo he made up his mind. He would take the photo. Safely tucking it into his pocket, Kisame made a handsign, disappearing from the room in a cloud of smoke.

Itachi didn't know where he was headed, or how long he had been traveling. Looking straight ahead he realized that he had covered quite the amount of ground.

Feeling the ground shift under his feet he looked down. This was dangerous. For him to be this distracted was certainly not something that had ever happened before. He had many enemies. But that was to be expected with him being a part of the Akatsuki. Looking down he noticed the reason for the shift. Sand. He was on a beach.

Somehow this particular place felt nastalgic. Like he knew this place. Like he had been to this place before.

"Kisame...", Itachi muttered, recalling the day the two had shared.

The day had been one of those oddly perfect days. When everything seems to mystically go right. Leader-sama had given the whole Akatsuki, save for Deidara and Sasori, the day off. Konan had spent the day with Pein, organizing the male-filled hideout. Kakuzu had decided to let loose and go gambling. Staying true to his nature, he only gambled 30 Ryo. Tobi and Zetsu had gone to the mountains to train. Hidan had been...well Hidan, choosing to stay in his room and impale himself through the chest with a modified kunai.

This left him and Kisame. Kisame had suggested the beach. He said he wanted to go swimming. He promised that Itachi would have 'fun' as well. Itachi originally planned to perfect a new jutsu he had been working on. Not wanting to argue though he decided to go along with the plan.

And Kisame was right. The water was cool and refreshing. The sun was blindingly brillant dulled only by the cool sea breeze. He remembered feeling safe, letting his guard down. If anyone dared attack them they would be fools at best. With all the surrounding water Kisame obviously had the advantage.

"Itachi! I found a shell!", Itachi looked up. No one was there but the memory was so real it felt as if Kisame was standing right there again, grinning and triumphantly holding his prize. A broken pink tinted half-shell. Instinctively, Itachi reached into his pocket pulling out a necklace. With a shell tied onto it...

"It's time to head back." Itachi whispered.

Konan nervously paced back and forth.

"You know, burning a hole in the carpet won't help anything.", Kakuzu said just nervously. But he was more nervous about the damage to the carpet. It would cost an arm and a leg to replace it.

"I agree hm. Pacing won't help anything hm.", Deidara said, nodding slightly.

Tobi cuddled up on Zetsu."Zet-chan we have to help."

Light Zetsu smiled."Maybe Konan has a plan."

Dark Zetsu chuckled."We don't care as long as we get laid."

"That's it-

Konan hadn't had a chance to finish because she was interrupted."Have Itachi get laid?", Sasori asked confusedly.

"Nooo. We can set up a romantic date. Remind Itachi of why he fell in love in the first place."

"One problem with that", Kakuzu interrupted,"I've never actually seen them...'ya know."

"Kakuzu! That's disgusting. Get your head outta the gutter."

"Actually I meant I've never seen them say 'I love you' so...", Kakuzu grinned,"now who's head is in the gutter?"

Konan flushed, not able to repress the images appearing in her mind. Itachi with a flushed face, red from-

"Agh!", Konan wailed shaking the unpleasant, but appealing images from her mind."Not cool! Let's be serious here."

"As far as I can tell we were being serious." Sasori raised an eyebrow.

"Okay...as I was saying-

"Yeah, yeah hm. We get them to fall in love but how, hm?", Deidara rolled his eyes while talking. In his mind this plan was full of holes. There was absolutely no way it would work, but he feared voicing his opinion lest he have to owe an even greater debt to Kakuzu by having his limbs reattached after Konan was done with him.

Tobi smiled pulling Zetsu until he was practically craddling the plant man."Everyone needs love!"

"Oh please, get a room.", Hidan said sarcastically. Silence broke out as Hidan spoke his first words sinde the incident.

"Oh. You mean like Itachi's room, huh?" Kakuzu said with a chuckle . Sasori joined in, giving a cocky smirk and flicking a red strand of hair out of his eyes.

"Shut the fuck up Kakuzu."

"Why should I? I mean you were pretty vocal with Kisame so-

"Okay...so what plans do everyone have on getting Itachi back together with Kisame. Anyone?" Konan interrupted the start of a heated argument. She didn't want to be in the presence of their fight. Knowing them heads would roll. Literally.

"How about...how about we all come up with a plan on our own hm?", Deidara asked, seemingly sounding like the voice of reason.

"That's a great idea!" Konan said, jumping up from the table she had been leaning on.

"May the best man win." Sasori smiled."Eternal beauty will always prevail."

Deidara grit his teeth."Eternal beauty? What a laugh hm. True beauty is fleeting. True art is an explosion! Hm."

Deidara and Sasori started to intensely glare at one another. Konan sighed. Here they went again. They just couldn't agree to disagree. Both felt as if they were more right than the other. It was starting to get ridiculous how many times they had had this exact argument.

"Well meeting adjourned.", Konan said with a sense of finality.

At this statement, everyone seemed to split up and go their own ways. Hidan walked off towards the garden near the rear of the hideout. Kakuzu said something about 'grocery expenses', and walked off. Sasori and Deidara were arguing over what form beauty truly took as they walked down the hallway to their room. Tobi and Zetsu were giving each other...bed eyes? Tobi gently pulled on Zetsu's Venus flytrap-like structure, guiding them into their room.

"So why wasn't I included in this...meeting?"

Konan looked up to see Itachi. Unlike last time she had seen him, he had his emotions under control. Not a trace of what she had sworn was hurt, was present on Itachi's profile. His face was cold and apathetic. But seemed much colder than usual, which was to be expected considering the circumstances.

"How long have you been here?"

"Long enough", Itachi said simply."And you can forget about 'helping' Kisame and I. Because there's nothing to help. We were never together."

Konan saw something flicker in Itachi's eyes as he said the last part."Of course!", she said putting her hands up in defeat. This was an act, of course. She had no intention of giving up so easily.

Walking into his bedroom Itachi expected to see an apologetic Kisame. But there wasn't one. In fact, most remnants of his existance in this room were wiped clean.

Itachi could tell he left in a hurry. The bed remained how had found it: wrinkled and sticky with questionable fluids on one part. Clothes were strewn on the floor, across the dresser. Some clothes hung loosely halfway out of the closet and Kisames weapons along with his Samehada, which usually slumped against the wall, was missing. Practically everything of Kisames was gone.

Itachi looked over to the dresser on Kisame's side. He was more than half expecting to see Kisame's prized possession, a picture of him, thrashed. But it wasn't. From the slight drag marks created near the picture frames dust, Itachi could tell that it had been carefully picked up. Kisame had kept the photo of him.

TO BE CONTINUED...

A/N: Please review! Reviews are deeply appreciated and I love feedback. Favs are okay, but I would much rather prefer a review :D