Itachi knew Kisame and Pein had both left on separate missions a few minutes ago; he had waited to make sure they was safely gone before venturing into the leader's room, searching for Kakashi. He didn't want to leave the jounin alone for too long, but he also didn't want Pein coming back and stumbling upon the two of them-especially Itachi. Then he would certainly suspect something.

Itachi snuck down to Pein's room, opening the door on soundless hinges. He closed it just as quietly behind him and glanced around, looking for Kakashi in the slightly-darkened room. Seeing no one, he proceeded to the next likely place-Pein's bedroom.

And there he was.

Hanging from his bonds, blood dripping down his whole body, and just waking up from unconsciousness, was Kakashi, tear-streaked face begging for mercy. Itachi gasped at the sight of Kakashi, beaten and bloody. He approached slowly, watching his love and speaking to him softly.

"Kakashi…Kakashi, love, don't move, okay? You'll only hurt yourself more-just hold still for a moment, I'll get you out, I promise. Love…Kakashi, love, come on, answer me," Itachi pleaded with Kakashi, reaching out and touching the jounin's shoulder. Kakashi suddenly yelped and shrank away from Itachi's touch, breaking into sobs again and begging Itachi not to hurt him. Itachi soothed him with quiet words, kissing Kakashi as gently as he could and reaching up, moving a hidden kunai into his palm from his sleeve to cut Kakashi's wrists free. Kakashi fell into Itachi's arms almost immediately, sobbing frantically and clutching at Itachi as if there was no tomorrow. He just seemed relieved to be rescued from this hell-hole Pein called a room, and Itachi could see why. He carefully wrapped Kakashi in his own Akatsuki cloak again, then gently picked him up and carried him up to his room. Kakashi tried to withhold his sobs the entire way, but failed upon reaching Itachi's door. He finally just burst out crying, and wouldn't stop until Itachi had set him down on the floor in the kitchen, given him a glass of water and a slice of bread to calm his nerves, and sat down on the floor across from him. Then, Kakashi finally quieted, and Itachi gave a small sigh of relief.

"Love?" Itachi said finally, when Kakashi had finished eating, "Can you tell me what happened?"

Kakashi shook his head, putting his hands in his lap, his head going down and silver hair falling into his face. Itachi sighed and pulled Kakashi into his lap, stroking his hair and kissing him softly. "Oh, Kakashi…what have they done to you…?"

Kakashi pressed his face to Itachi's shoulder, both hands clenched in Itachi's shirt helplessly. He lay out across the missing-nin's lap, being supported only by Itachi's arms, and holding onto sanity through sheer willpower alone.

"Kakashi," Itachi finally said, "Come on, get up…I need to get you some more water…"

Kakashi whimpered and clung to Itachi, but rose with him and moved with the Uchiha. Itachi refilled Kakashi's glass with cold tap water, handing it to him and waiting as the jounin downed the entire glass.

"Not so fast, you'll make yourself sick," Itachi said, taking back the glass. "I'll wait a few minutes and give you a little more, okay?" he murmured, brushing Kakashi's bangs aside and kissing his forehead. "In the meantime," he said, "I can clean you up. Come with me, okay?"

Kakashi nodded and followed close behind Itachi, all the way to the bathroom. Itachi brought the both of them inside and turned on the water in the shower, undressing as he waited for the water to heat up. He left his boxers on, though, as reassurance to Kakashi, and maneuvered the jounin into the water before climbing in himself. He felt Kakashi immediately freeze up, and wrapped his arms around Kakashi, holding him close with one arm and washing his body off with the other hand. Kakashi buried his face in Itachi's shoulder, not daring to move, and clung to him as the hot water dripped down over both of them. Itachi washed Kakashi's tender skin as softly as he could, feeling Kakashi's shivers of pain and shaking of fear. He did his best to keep Kakashi happy and quiet, but it was fairly difficult to do, given Kakashi's state of mind.

Itachi moved slowly over Kakashi's body, using a soft cloth he normally used for himself with some soap to clean the blood off Kakashi's whip-lashed back. Every time Itachi touched a wound, Kakashi would whimper and cling to Itachi even more, as if the punishing blows were still being laid. Itachi sensed Kakashi's discomfort and stopped every now and then to calm him down again, kissing him, stroking him, and just making sure he was okay. Kakashi was gradually calming down, and he didn't seem as anxious as Itachi went over his wounds. As Itachi's hands moved lower, though, Kakashi became nervous again, and it was no secret why. Itachi moved very slowly at that point and constantly whispered reassurances to Kakashi, telling him he wouldn't be harmed. By the time Itachi reached Kakashi's inner thighs, however, the jounin was softly crying and backing away from Itachi. Itachi cleaned him off as quickly as he could, shut off the water, and wrapped Kakashi in a towel. He helped Kakashi out of the shower and grabbed a towel for himself, kissing Kakashi as gently as he could. Kakashi shivered and whimpered beneath Itachi's touch, but tried his hardest to stay quiet. He only knew of the consequences of even making a sound under Pein, and even worse under Kisame, and never wanted to go through that again.

Itachi took Kakashi to his room, got himself dressed with clean boxers and a pair of pants before handing Kakashi the same and a shirt. Itachi found a shirt for himself and waited while Kakashi got his clothes on. Itachi had gotten himself a fishnet shirt and black leather pants; Kakashi was dressed in a half-fishnet shirt and loose gray pants. Itachi took both of their towels and hung them up in the bathroom to dry, then came back to his room.

Kakashi was sound asleep on the bed.

Itachi smiled at the sight: Kakashi was so cute! He soundlessly backed out, closed the door, and left his love to sleep.

OOOOOOOOO

Kakashi woke up alone.

Fear immediately lanced through his heart when he realized he was alone: had he done something wrong again? Had Itachi abandoned him? God forbid, had Kisame or Pein come back? Kakashi huddled closer to the bed, curling up in a ball with the blankets wrapped tightly around his body, trying to keep warm.

The door opened.

Kakashi gasped and shrank back even more, until he saw it was only Itachi and sat up. Itachi sat down next to Kakashi and took him into his arms, giving him a sweet, chaste kiss and pulling him back into his lap. Itachi made sure that the blankets were still wrapped around Kakashi to keep him warm and hugged Kakashi close to his chest for the extra heat. Kakashi settled down in Itachi's lap, content for an eternity.

"Hello, love," Itachi greeted, setting another gentle kiss on Kakashi's soft, full lips. Kakashi accepted it gladly, straightening and following Itachi as the Uchiha made to pull back. Itachi smiled, realizing his love wanted more, and kissed him deeper. One hand came up to support the back of Kakashi's head, and the other hand stayed in Kakashi's lower back to hold him up and stay close to Itachi. Kakashi let out a soft moan of content: he loved Itachi and was perfectly happy to be here for the rest of his life. Itachi deepened the kiss again, tongue pushing at Kakashi's lips, asking for entrance. Kakashi's mouth opened eagerly, and Itachi shoved himself into Kakashi's mouth. He pushed himself deeper and deeper, taking in every curve and crevice of his love's mouth and tasting Kakashi's bitter-sweet taste.

"Love…" Itachi whispered between kisses. Kakashi took a deep breath and lunged right back in, begging Itachi for more. His hands found their way around Itachi's neck, and the Uchiha could feel Kakashi weakening under his touch. Kakashi whimpered with submission, and Itachi found himself unable to resist. He shoved Kakashi backwards, throwing himself on top of him and kissing him harder. Kakashi was shocked by the sudden action; too much to move as Itachi's hands ran down his body, toying with the waistband of his pants-

"Stop it!"

Kakashi suddenly had the voice to cry out and the strength to push Itachi away, turning onto his side and curling up again. Itachi broke away, panting and sitting up a few feet from Kakashi. Tears were streaming down his face again, and small noises of fear and pain were sliding out of his throat. Itachi carefully leaned forward and picked Kakashi up, offering him a kiss as a silent apology.

Kakashi gasped and shot away from him.

Itachi knew the jounin fully expected to be forced into sex, beaten, or thrown out like trash: instead, he was being offered comfort, and he didn't believe it was being offered to him. Itachi tried again to approach Kakashi, this time only succeeding in backing Kakashi up against the headboard and gaining a choked sob. Itachi sighed and lowered his head for a moment, thinking.

"Kakashi, Kisame's coming."

The ploy had the desired effect: Kakashi leapt into Itachi's arms as if burned, suddenly as trusting and loving as he had been minutes ago. Itachi gently stroked his hair, quieting him down and reassuring him that Kisame was nowhere around.

"Love, I'm sorry," Itachi finally said, kissing Kakashi as chastely as he could. "Now, just bear in mind that I would never force you to do anything against your will, and I would never hurt you, under any circumstances. Just keep calm, stay with me, and you'll be fine," Itachi promised, kissing Kakashi once again. "Come here…" he pulled Kakashi closer to him, running his hands up and down Kakashi's arms to try to warm him up again. Kakashi seemed to be calming down: his muscles were slowly uncoiling, and his breathing evened out a bit. His heartbeat was becoming regular again, and he seemed to be overall more at ease with Itachi.

"Love, I'm sorry," Itachi whispered, kissing Kakashi's trembling lips. "I didn't mean to hurt you, or scare you…I just love you that much."

Kakashi nodded. "Me too," he murmured. "But…the funny thing is…I still consider myself a virgin…."

Itachi smiled. "One day, I'll have to change that," he said. "When you're ready, of course."

"Might not be too long from now," Kakashi said softly, burying his face in Itachi's shoulder. His hands found their way to Itachi's shoulders again, entangling themselves in his shirt. Itachi found himself somewhat comforted by Kakashi's grip on him: maybe it was reassurance that he was okay, or maybe he just wanted to know Kakashi was safe…either way, he loved having Kakashi alone with him, just the two of them, and it seemed like there was always a tomorrow. That tomorrow would certainly bring ruin upon the both of them, but for the moment, tomorrow was just another thing to screw over. Itachi honestly couldn't care less about another day: as long as Kakashi was with him, right here, right now, everything else just seemed to fall into place. Kakashi was safe, at least for the moment, and Itachi was satisfied with reconciling himself to Kakashi. The jounin was comfortable around the Uchiha again, and Itachi was glad to have Kakashi back in his arms.

Itachi heard stomping footsteps, and suddenly his door slammed open.

In it stood Kisame.