A/N: Someone asked in a review if this was discontinued. It's not! Unfortunately, I'm just a very busy person, and even when I do have time to write I'm often so exhausted that I can't produce high enough quality material. So! I try to update monthly, and I'm working hard to update even sooner with these last few chapters. But I promise you, this story will be given closure and completion. I'm in far too deeply now to quit :P

Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this chapter. I slogged through it, but here it is. This is still development, so I'm sorry that there's still mystery in the air. Next chapter everything is revealed!

The stray gravel of the parking lot black top crunched underneath the tires of Kisame's black Avalanche. He hummed as he pulled into a parking spot in front of Oh Mai Pho.

The restaurant was closed already, and he was initially shooed away when he approached the glass doors. Adam recognized him, however, and assured the manager it was fine.

"I'm just here to see Itachi," Kisame promised with a well-placed grin.

Itachi was sitting towards the back of the store, seated on a bar stool. A pretty white bowl contrasted sharply with the black table top in front of him. He was slumped—which wasn't terribly uncharacteristic—as he stared dully into the soup.

"Hey," Kisame said as he came up behind him.

Itachi's head snapped up, spacey eyes focusing just slightly. "Kisame?"

"That's me." He offered a twitch of a grin. "Whatcha doin?"

"I should be asking you that." Itachi frowned, scooting around on the stool to better face him. "Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about something." He took a seat on the stool next to him. "Are you…okay? You don't seem well."

Itachi's eyes dropped to the floor. "Bad day," he said quietly.

Kisame frowned, reaching out one hand to run through the bangs to the side of Itachi's forehead. "Yeah? What's wrong, baby?"

Itachi shrugged, turning back around towards the soup. "Nothing."

"Something isn't right," Kisame insisted. "Tell me what's bothering you."

Itachi sighed. "There's nothing, Kisame. I just…get this way sometimes." He stared into the soup, poking a sheet of beef with his chopsticks.

"Get this way?" Kisame prodded, leaning forward a little.

"Yeah." He didn't extrapolate, so Kisame let it drop.

Itachi grabbed a spare pair of chopsticks and a Chinese soup spoon, handing them to Kisame. "Here, help me eat this."

"No, you eat it. You need to."

Itachi shook his head. "There's no way I can fit all this in my stomach. If you don't help me, it will go to waste."

Kisame sighed. "Alright, fine. But I'm making you eat most of it." He took the chopsticks from him, breaking them apart.

Itachi handed him the bottle of Sriracha. "Because I know you like the smother the flavor out of your food with hot sauce."

Kisame grinned. "Someday I'll get you to eat as spicy as me."

Itachi didn't respond.

"Baby?" Kisame tried, but Itachi just slurped up some noodles.

Kisame dipped his spoon into the broth and squirted some Sriracha into it so it wouldn't pollute the rest of Itachi's food. They ate in silence for a couple minutes, Kisame worriedly sending glances towards Itachi. Something was off; Itachi was really down if he wouldn't even converse with Kisame.

"Hey, is there anything I can do?" Kisame asked. "I know it's probably just something you have to deal with but…can I make you feel better?"

Itachi's fingers twitched. "Can you hold my hand?"

"Oh, babe," Kisame chuckled a little, immediately reaching out and twisting their fingers together. "I can hold your hand."

"Thanks," Itachi muttered. Kisame frowned, eyeing the tired lines slanting across his cheeks.

"You look so tired."

"I am, I guess."

"Are you done here?" Kisame asked, looking around the empty restaurant. There was a waitress with headphones on sweeping between the tables, and Adam was finishing the dishes.

"I can't leave until everyone is done, technically. I'm supposed to be helping, but Adam and Cynthia convinced me to sit and eat while they cleaned up."

"Good," Kisame grunted, eyeing the other two staff members. He'd have had a few choice words to say if they had forced him to keep working when he was obviously so upset. "As soon as you're done eating, I'll drive you home."

"You don't need to do that, Kisame," Itachi said tiredly. "I have bus money."

"I'm not arguing with you about this." His voice was firm and his eyes were set. "Keep eating."

Itachi didn't say anything, floating the bottom of his spoon around on the broth.

"You're not doing it right," Kisame pointed out.

"I'm not hungry." Some black hair slipped out of his bun and flopped in front of Itachi's eyes. He didn't bother brushing it out of the way.

Kisame's fingers traced the curve of his face on his way to tuck it behind his ear. "I'm really worried about you."

"You don't need to be."

"I am. It doesn't matter what I do or do not need to do."

Itachi shrugged listlessly.

"You're not going to let me help you? You're done opening up to me?"

Itachi looked up at him, something overwhelmed fluttering around the edges of his eyes.

Kisame let his thumb rub against Itachi's chin. "It's a lot, huh?"

Itachi just stared at him.

"Can you just tell me what you need? There has to be something. Something I can do to legitimately help you." He leaned forward a little closer. "Babe."

Itachi looked hesitant. "I don't want to ask."

"And I'm telling you that it's okay."

Itachi chewed delicately on the inside of his lips. "I…don't think it's good if I sleep alone tonight. So…maybe you could—"

"Yes."

Itachi wrinkled his nose. "You don't even know what I was going to ask."

"You want to stay over at my place."

Itachi shook his head.

"Oh. Uh—well, continue, then."

Itachi squeezed his fingers around Kisame's. "Maybe you could…come spend the night at my apartment."

Kisame's eyebrows raised up his forehead slowly. "You want me to stay over? Yeah?"

"If that's okay; but, I know you have work, and other things, so don't—"

"No, its fine. I promise." He smiled a little. "I'd love to spend the night with you. You know that."

Itachi only shrugged.

Kisame kept a firm hold on his one hand, pestering him to eat more. Itachi thoroughly maintained that he didn't have an appetite, but Kisame saw to it that he ate the majority of the bowl.

"I'm full. You're going to make my stomach pop."

Kisame kissed the top of his hair. "Get your things, I'll take this to be washed." He let Itachi's hand go and brought the white bowl to Adam, who cleaned them quickly and set them out to dry on two white dish cloths. Itachi stood a little out of place by the door, waiting for Kisame.

"Take care, Itachi," Cynthia said in earnest as Kisame pushed the door open.

Itachi looked upset that anyone was making any sort of deal over him.

Kisame shut the radio off in the car. Itachi was quiet the entire way over, but he did hold Kisame's hand when offered. He only spoke up when Kisame need a direction or two.

He pulled into a parking space in Itachi complex. "So what do you think Sasuke's gonna do when he sees me walk into his apartment?"

Itachi shrugged. "I don't know. Sasuke's pretty unpredictable."

Kisame's lips pressed into a line. Itachi was being so shut off, he didn't like it. He reveled in Itachi when he opened up to him and was honest…this just felt wrong. "Okay, well let's go find out."

Itachi was halfway up the stairwell when he paused. "Um, you should know—I mean, I should warn you, my house is a little…plain."

Kisame raised an eyebrow. "Okay?"

Itachi frowned. "I'm just—don't expect any—"

Kisame pressed his hand against Itachi's mouth. "Itachi, don't overthink this. Unless you have a fucking mortuary in your basement, I don't care."

Itachi sighed. "Alright." He turned back up the stairs, fishing his key out of his pocket. "Welcome to casa del peasant," he muttered.

Kisame rolled his eyes.

"Taidama," Itachi called as he entered the apartment. "Sasuke—" He glanced at Kisame, and then a string of words Kisame couldn't begin to understand tumbled off his lips.

Sasuke replied something in Japanese, and Itachi wrinkled his nose.

"Uh—you gonna fill me in?" Kisame asked. It wouldn't be fair to say that he was nervous, since he wasn't, not really, but—Sasuke had teeth and claws when it came to Itachi's boyfriends, that much was apparent. He didn't really know what he was in for.

"I just called him out to come say hi."

Kisame raised an eyebrow, because he was fairly certain that Itachi was leaving something out.

Sasuke did eventually come out of his room, though he clearly wasn't expecting Kisame to be there. His exterior immediately changed. He straightened, expression hardening, chin tilting upwards. Defiance radiated from him.

Intimidation. Nice.

"I…don't know if you two have officially met though Suigetsu," Itachi started, taking a breath, "but regardless, I haven't introduced the two of you, so." He gestured towards them. "Kisame, this is my little brother Sasuke. Sasuke, Kisame."

Kisame grinned. "I think you might have been too drunk to remember me the handful of times we've interacted," he joked, winking. "I'm glad to officially meet you, though. I've heard a lot about you."

Sasuke didn't bite.

"Otouto…." Itachi muttered.

After a dry stare at Itachi, Sasuke crossed his arms. "Why is he here." There was an intensity to Sasuke's gaze that Kisame couldn't pinpoint. He was asking his brother something, trying to communicate with him through bladed glances.

Itachi fidgeted, and Kisame frowned. "I invited him to spend the night."

Sasuke calmly shifted his gaze to Kisame.

Kisame had to wonder—what the fuck was up with these two and their stares? 'If looks could kill' took on a whole new meaning. Maybe it was a genetic thing?

After a couple of uncomfortable seconds, Sasuke looked back to Itachi. "Doushite?"

Itachi tilted his head in question.

Sasuke glared for a moment and the motioned him over.

Kisame didn't understand any of the resulting dialogue, because, first and foremost, he didn't speak Japanese. Additionally, they spoke very softly, and quickly. The only thing he caught was Itachi insisting, 'Daijoubu,' a couple of times, which he tried to commit to memory so he could put it into google translate when he had the chance.

He did notice how close they stood together, and the crease between Sasuke's eyebrows as he touched Itachi's face. Itachi looked even more tired than before. He muttered something, and Sasuke's expression became dark. Sasuke blocked Kisame out entirely, it seemed, his entire focus tunneled onto his brother's well-being. The more they talked, though, the more Itachi's shoulders sagged, the more his eyes went dull. Kisame wanted to interrupt, if it was making Itachi feel worse. It wasn't a good idea, he knew that, but Itachi seemed…sad. Kisame inherently didn't like things that made Itachi sad, and wanted to put an end to them. Sasuke wasn't attacking him, that much was clear, so he wondered why Itachi seemed so exhausted.

After a couple more moments Sasuke embraced Itachi fiercely, placing a kiss on the top of his head—something that startled Kisame, just a little, because brother's typically didn't display affection like that. Not that he had a problem with it—no, he was just beginning to realize that he might have underestimated their relationship before. Itachi and Sasuke had something unique, something that Kisame was understanding he couldn't compare to.

Sasuke then looked up at him and, straightening his back, crossed the room.

"It's a pleasure to officially meet you," he said dryly, his teeth grinding in the back. "I have some things to get back to, and I'm sure you can't wait for the grand tour—" Kisame was very impressed by the sarcasm this kid could create on the spot, "—so I'll let you two be. We can have a conversation in private some other time."

Kisame grinned amicably at him. "I'll look forward to it."

He caught just a glimpse of Sasuke's glare before he disappeared down the hall.

Itachi looked over at him. "Well…that wasn't bad at all. You got off lucky."

Kisame chuckled, making his way towards Itachi. "I'm sure he isn't done with me. He'll corner me later while I'm trying to take a piss or something and chew me out." He studied Itachi's face for a short moment. "What was all that about, between the two of you?"

"Oh," Itachi muttered. He paused for a moment, looking at the ground. "He could tell something was wrong, he just wanted a chance to grill me on what it was. Specifically, wanted to make sure that you didn't have anything to do with it." He twisted his lips. "Sasuke's very aware of my history of, uh. Having off days."

'Depression' lingered in his words, unspoken, but loud enough for Kisame to pick up on.

"He wanted to make sure I was alright."

"And are you?" Kisame asked seriously, tilting his head down to try and meet Itachi's eyes.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. It's temporary, don't worry."

"You're sure?"

He looked up. "Very sure. I've learned to tell the difference between little bouts of feeling down and…long term problems."

A little heaviness settled in Kisame heart, because he didn't take to the idea of Itachi being depressed. While he was with him, at least, he would try his best to make him feel better.

Kisame smiled. "Good. Now, where's that grand tour Sasuke mentioned?"

An eyebrow was quirked, dark eyes incredulous. Kisame only grinned.

Itachi motioned listlessly around him. "Here it is—ratty couch, empty shelves. Welcome to my home." He glowered at the naked walls and bare countertop.

"I think it looks wonderful," Kisame commented gruffly.

Itachi gave him a dubious glare.

"It looks like the house of someone who's sacrificed everything to take care of his family. It looks like the house of two brothers who don't need fancy art or expensive junk to call a place home." He tilted Itachi's face up to meet his. "There's nothing wrong with how you live, Itachi. And how much you have to decorate you house doesn't change how I feel about you."

Itachi stared at nothing in particular. "It's just a reminder."

"Of what?"

Itachi shrugged. "Of everything that I wish I could fix."

Kisame ran one hand over Itachi's hair. "It's also a reminder of how hard you work. Of how strong your bond is with Sasuke. Isn't it?"

Itachi's eyes were overwhelmingly tired. "I don't know. I guess. I just…."

"I know," Kisame interrupted. "It's alright, Itachi." After a beat, "Will you show me your room?"

Itachi nodded, motioning him into the hallway. "This," he pointed to the first door on the left, "is my room. First door on the right is the bathroom, and after that is Sasuke. In the back of the hallway is the washroom." He opened the first door up, letting Kisame walk in first.

Itachi's room was a square. His bed was adjacent to the right wall, a nightstand next to it and a desk on the other side. He had a built in closet with sliding glass mirrors, dresser, and a bookshelf full of worn paperbacks. He didn't have anything on his walls aside from an old scroll with Japanese calligraphy on it. Against the wall right next to the door was a cluttered table and a rolling chair that slanted brokenly to one side.

Kisame walked over to his bed, grinning a little. "Ah, so this is where you masturbate," he joked, eyes wicked as he looked over at Itachi.

Itachi blinked. Eventually a snort escaped him. "Not really."

Kisame raised an eyebrow, grin still lingering. "No? Never?"

Itachi only shrugged.

"Damn. Now it's going to be hard for me to imagine."

"You've been imagining it?"

Kisame only winked.

Itachi pulled is socks off and tossed them into the scratched plastic laundry hamper on the side of his desk. "Do you want to shower?" He asked, pulling the band out of his hair, rubbing the soreness away from his scalp.

"Nah, I showered before I came."

"Okay. I'm gonna hop in real quick, so you can just…." He trailed down, hand still raised slightly, staring down at the plain white comforter on his bed. He suddenly looked lost.

"Itachi?"

"…I have a twin bed."

Kisame blinked. "Uh, okay?"

Itachi turned around to look at him. "We both can't fit on a twin bed, Kisame."

"Oh." He tilted his head. "Okay, that's fine."

"How is that fine?" Itachi's forehead scrunched up. "Where are you going to sleep?"

Kisame shrugged. "I'll take the floor." It was carpeted, and Kisame had slept in much more uncomfortable places.

Itachi's eyes widened. "I'm not letting you sleep on my floor."

"Then I'll use the couch."

"No, you can't—!" Itachi sank down onto his bed, slumping forward. "What's the point of having you stay over if we can't even sleep together," he muttered, letting his head fall in his hands.

"Woah—hey, Itachi, it's okay. Hey," he knelt down in front of him. "Look, it's not a big deal."

Itachi didn't answer.

Kisame pressed his lips together. "C'mon, let's get you in the shower. It will help you feel better, yeah?" He tried to pull Itachi to his feet.

"I'm sorry," Itachi whispered.

"Babe," Kisame laughed a little, unsure, shocked, "you don't need to apologize. Here, get your sleep clothes." He tugged on Itachi's arm again.

Itachi moved like molasses as he stood up and walked towards the frayed sweats and old tshirt tossed over the back of his broken chair. Kisame watched him with a frown, one hand slightly outstretched, as if he might just fall to the ground.

"Hey," he said quietly, trying to look him in the eyes. "You can sleep as soon as you get clean."

Itachi nodded. "I know. I'm fine, I'm fine." He sighed. "Just tired."

Kisame put his hands on Itachi's shoulders, directing him out of his room and towards the door Itachi had designated as the bathroom earlier.

"We still don't know where you're sleeping," Itachi muttered as his bare feet his the cold tile, placing his clothes on the sink counter.

Kisame shrugged. "We'll figure it out. I want you to take care of yourself first, though." He leaned forward, giving him a small kiss. "I'll wait in your room."

"Alright. Feel free to make yourself at home; your clothes are in the bottom drawer of my dresser, if you want to change."

Kisame closed the door behind him as he left the bathroom. Sasuke was propped against his doorframe, arms crossed, an unreadable expression on his face. Kisame waited for him to say something, but he remained silent.

Back in Itachi's room, Kisame took the liberty to snoop a little bit. He just poked through the obvious stuff, mainly Itachi's cluttered desk. It looked like a pile of keepsakes, though some of them he didn't understand. There was a folder of old school papers from high school which put a spot light on Itachi's intelligence. He got 100 percent on his finals for Anatomy, Chemistry, Spanish, Literature…there wasn't a report card to go along with it, but Kisame could only guess it was just as flawless. There were certificates, too, and awards. There were other school papers from elementary school, but those were Sasuke's. That was cute. To the other side of the desk was a stack of Children's drawings, also Sasuke's. One that stood out was of four people in front of a house, clearly a child's cliché, messy but endearing depiction of a family. The two boys were holding hands, and giant flowers bloomed next to them in the blue-green grass.

There were also random things which didn't seem to hold any significance. A receipt to a clothing store, a broken calligraphy pen, a blank notebook, a small plush figurine of an anime character, a pencil case that looked like a pocky box. He saw the theater ticket stub from Everest, though, which pleased him. There was a picture frame at the back of the table, spotless despite the mess surrounding it.

Itachi was a young teenager in the photo, maybe thirteen, and though you could feel the early onset maturity from the photo, he had a childlike innocence in his smile. Sasuke was a little bubble of happiness next to him, haphazard hair, fat little cheeks, and the brightest smile Kisame had ever seen on a child. Their parents stood behind to him. The woman was beautiful, with black hair and a soft smile that radiated motherly affection. Sasuke got his looks from her, Kisame could tell. The man in the photo was stern looking, with frown lines set into the gradual wrinkles under his chin.

"That was taken a month before our parents were murdered."

Kisame almost jumped at the unexpected noise. "Oh—hey." He glanced back down at the photograph. "Your parents were beautiful."

"They were," Sasuke agreed in a defensive tone. He didn't follow up his precious statement, but had a look in his eyes like he was expecting Kisame to say something.

"I'm sorry about what happened to them," Kisame tried, sounding awkward.

"I don't want your pity." Sasuke's tone couldn't really be considered friendly.

"Oh."

An awkward silence took its place between them.

"Did something happen with Itachi?" Sasuke eventually asked.

"What?"

"Something is wrong. You can tell, I'm sure, since you're not completely incompetent." Sasuke sounded like he was doing Kisame a favor by giving him the benefit of the doubt.

"All he told me was that he's having an off day. I'm assuming he has a history of depression, from what I gathered." Kisame set the picture frame down, turning to face Sasuke.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Hm. Nothing else happened?"

Kisame put his hands up in surrender. "I swear, I didn't do anything."

Sasuke seemed to roll over the possibilities for a moment. He settled on Kisame telling the truth, evident by the slight relaxation of his posture.

Kisame chuckled a bit. "Is this the part where you chew me out? Where you scare me into submission?"

Sasuke's gaze was bland. "No."

"Really? I'm almost disappointed. I've been practicing my 'yes, sir,' and 'no, sir,' and 'I'll have her back by eleven, sir." He chuckled to himself again.

"Itachi's right," Sasuke said dryly. "You aren't funny."

"What? Itachi's never said that about me."

Sasuke only raised an eyebrow.

"Hm," he hummed. "So he talks to you about me. Interesting." A crooked smile tilted his lips. "What else does he say? Besides my subpar comedic skills?"

Sasuke's dark eyes held a myriad of emotion. Kisame tried to decode them—he'd spent so much time trying to decrypt Itachi, after all, it really should have been easier. He knew that Sasuke wasn't fond of new people entering Itachi's life, and he supposed that he had plenty of merit for that. But Kisame didn't think that he had done anything wrong. Was Sasuke giving him a chance before he brought out the claws?

"You make him happy. Happy enough that he practically forgets that he was depressed for years."

Kisame's brows furrowed. "So he does have depression?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Not in the form of any official diagnosis. Itachi would never 'waste,'" he grit out the word between his teeth, "money on appointments or medication. Depression is just an easy enough explanation."

"So," Kisame glanced at the door, into the hallway; he could hear the shower running. "Days like today, is what you mean?"

"Yeah. He gets this way, sometimes. Like all the weight he carries around all day just got to be too much for him. When he first started falling into it, we were still kids. Scared the shit out of me. He always tried to make me happy, always was smiling for me and humming to me. Putting his best foot forward, trying to make me see the brighter side of everything." His jaw shifted. "One day he was just…empty. Couldn't keep up the act."

"That would be scary for a kid," Kisame agreed. Hell, it was kind of scaring him now.

"He's been getting better, though. After his…last boyfriend, he decided to change a lot of things. A stronger forest after a wild fire, or whatever."

Kisame didn't speak.

"He's been working on himself, and he almost never has 'those days' anymore. But when he does, it's unnerving."

"Because you don't want him to relapse."

Sasuke's eyes flashed up at him. "Yeah." He took a step into the room. "I'm telling you this because you need to understand that Itachi isn't healthy. Not all the time."

Kisame nodded. "I know that. It doesn't change what he means to me." He smiled. "But thank you."

Sasuke's brows furrowed. "For what?"

"For being honest with me, for trusting me with personal information. I'm not planning on disregarding it."

"I do not trust y—" Sasuke snapped his mouth shut. "Whatever. It doesn't matter." He fidgeted, almost imperceptibly, looking uncomfortable. "You're sleeping over?"

Kisame laughed a little. "Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of being inappropriate—not while he's feeling like this, not while you're so nearby to cut my hands and balls off." Kisame didn't have a problem buttering Sasuke up a little bit.

Sasuke seemed satisfied. "Was it his idea to have you come over?"

"Yeah. He said that he didn't want alone, knew it wouldn't be good for him if he was alone tonight."

Sasuke's gaze softened. "That's good," he said quietly.

"Hm?"

His eyes flicked up. "Itachi isn't good at asking for things. He isn't good at relying on other people."

"I've noticed," Kisame muttered.

"But he asked you for this, and that means he's making progress. That's good."

Kisame met Sasuke's eyes for a second. He had found something for him and Sasuke to both relate to: taking care of and worrying about Itachi. At least they weren't complete enemies. "Do you think you can talk to him for me? Maybe he'll listen to you."

Sasuke frowned. "About what?"

"Itachi forgot he had a small bed and is beating himself up for it now."

"Wait, what?"

Kisame jerked his head towards the bed. "We both can't fit in it, so I'll probably just sleep on the floor, but Itachi's acting like he committed some terrible wrong. I honestly don't mind, but I don't think he'll listen to me. Can you talk sense into him?"

He stared at the bed for a moment. "I have an idea." Sasuke tilted his head, eyes scanning the room. "Shove Itachi's bed up against the back wall, I'll be right back."

Kisame blinked as Sasuke left the room, but dutifully shoved Itachi's bedframe against the wall, fitting it against the other side of the desk. Sasuke came back in with a deflated air mattress in his arms and an electric pump.

"Help me open this up," he ordered, kneeling on the ground by the outlet, plugging the pump in.

Kisame got it unfolded, the thick green lining fuzzy against his hands. He spread it out on the floor, letting Sasuke inflate it as he pulled Itachi's mattress off of the spring frame.

When they finished, Sasuke fetched a spare couple of sheets, and the covered the two mattresses so it made one bed, piling the comforter and blankets on top of it.

"There," Sasuke muttered. "That should be fine for the night."

"Yeah," Kisame grunted, "good plan." He grinned over at Sasuke, raising a hand for a high five.

Okay, maybe they weren't there yet. At least, that's what Sasuke's expression said.

Sasuke paused before he left the room. "…just keep your hands above the waist."

Kisame snorted.

He knelt down next to Itachi's dresser, grabbing the sweatpants. He got too hot when he slept to wear the hoodie, so he left it folded in the drawer. Only a minute or so later he heard the bathroom door open, and Itachi's gentle footsteps tapped down the hall. He blinked rapidly when he walked back into his room.

"…what's this?" He asked softly.

Kisame grinned, getting up from the makeshift bed and walking over to him. "This is an example of the fruits of Sasuke's and my teamwork." He took the worn towel from Itachi's hands, noting the holes along the edges, and draped it over Itachi's wet hair, drying it.

"Oh," Itachi replied, letting one hand curl around Kisame's wrist. His lips twitched a little at the edges. "I'd forgotten we had that mattress. Karin got kicked out of her home for a couple months last year; she stayed here."

Of course Itachi would be the one to barely be able to support himself and his brother, and yet still have Karin stay with them when she needed it. Maybe it was true, maybe the people who got the harshest hands dealt to them walked with life in the most gracious ways.

"Well, Sasuke remembered. I told you we would work it out, right?"

Itachi nodded, eyelids drooping.

"You look tired," he commented.

Itachi shrugged, rubbing the towel over his hair. "I guess," he answered ambiguously.

"C'mere," Kisame suggested, holding a hand out for him. Itachi pushed himself against Kisame's chest, wet hair leaving damp spots on his shirt. "Do you want me to braid your hair?" He suggested, rusting the towel across the top of his head.

"You know how to braid?" Itachi mumbled in question.

"Nah. But how hard can it be?" He led Itachi back towards the bed, coaxing him to sit down. He squeezed the white towel around fistful of Itachi's hair a few more times, until drops of water stopped collecting at the tips. Itachi leaned against his chest, one hand resting on his thigh. "Now, how do I start?"

"Separate my hair into three plaits."

Kisame did so accordingly, rubbing his fingers into Itachi's scalp along the way.

"Take the outermost section and cross it over the middle one. Then do the same on the other side. Repeat."

Kisame's brow furrowed a little bit, but he did get the hang of it after a few tries. "Uh, I don't think I'm very good at this."

Itachi laughed a little. "It's a learned skill. I can do it myself, it's fine." He reached his hand back, trying to pull his hair out to the front, but Kisame grabbed his hand and kissed the knuckles.

"I can do it, you just sit there and relax." He used his fingers to comb the half-correct braid out of Itachi's hair, nose wrinkling at the little knots that kept snagging towards the bottom.

"You can just rip those, it doesn't hurt that badly."

"Like hell I am." Kisame spent a couple extra minutes threading the tangles apart. He tried again at the braid, a bit more successfully than the last time. "There," he announced, satisfied. "See, I told you I could do it."

"I'm very proud of you," Itachi murmured, voice a mix of drowsiness and sarcasm.

Kisame slipped out of the bed for just a moment so he could turn the lights off. Once back at the bed, pulled Itachi down to settle in the comforter, rolling him over so they could face each other. Itachi raised one hands to press against Kisame's naked chest, butterfly touches that traced the curves and swells of his muscles.

"You drive me crazy when you do shit like that, you know that?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "When I touch you?"

A chuckle. "It doesn't take much." Kisame's fingers wandered up Itachi's arm, eventually resting on his cheek, one thumb stroking the skin under his eye. "Hey, there's something I need to talk to you about."

Itachi's eyes flicked up, a worried glow appearing underneath his tiredness. "Oh. That's not good."

"Huh?"

"It's never a good thing when your boyfriend says 'we need to talk,'" Itachi muttered, fingers curling ever so slightly against his chest.

Kisame laughed. "No, no, it's nothing like that." He tapped his thumb against Itachi's cheekbone. "I'm going home."

Itachi blinked slowly. "Forever?"

"No. I'm going for a month."

Itachi hummed. He reached up and slid his fingers against the hand Kisame had resting against his face. "A month? That's not bad."

"No?"

Itachi shook his head, letting his eyes close. "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow night."

Itachi's eyes flew open. "What?!"

"Sorry, I know it's late notice. I just wanted to be there for Thalia's funeral. I only booked it yesterday."

Itachi tried to push himself up on one elbow. Kisame pressed him back down into the comforter. "Kisame, if you're leaving tomorrow, you should be at home right now, not here with me."

"I should always be here with you," Kisame countered easily. "I'm already packed, my boarding passes are printed and on the kitchen counter. Mangetsu is driving me to the airport. It's fine, don't worry about it."

"But—"

"Why do you think I drove to your work to tell you instead of just calling you on the phone?" He pulled Itachi forward into his chest, burying his nose into black hair. "I'm not going to see you for a month. I need my fill of you while I can get it."

Itachi slid one arm across his waist. "Alright. Fine. But international flight require you to be checked in—"

"A minimum of two hours before boarding, I'm well aware. It takes 45 minutes to get to the airport. I board at six-fifty. That means I literally have all morning and much of the afternoon to spare. So—shh." He kissed the top of Itachi's hair. "Stop trying to kick me out of your house."

"I'm not," Itachi muttered. He relaxed a little, feeling Kisame's gently breaths against his hair. "Will you be able to call me while you're there?"

"Over Wi-Fi, yeah. I just—can't promise how much. I'm really going to be with them as much as possible; there won't be a lot of alone time."

"Of course. I wouldn't want anything otherwise." A pause. "But you can call me a few times, right?"

Kisame chuckled. "I'll try to talk to you every night before bed. Does that sound fair?"

Itachi nodded into his chest, pressing a kiss against a dark line of his tattoo. "Okay. I'll miss you."

"I miss you already."

After a pause, Itachi said, "Thalia's funeral, you said?"

"Huh? Yeah."

"So your aunt made it? She's okay?"

"Oh," Kisame grinned, "yeah. She's good. Strong woman, she'll get through it. My uncle has been like iron for her, so I'm not stressed out over her anymore."

"That's good. That's really good," Itachi mumbled, sleep seeping into his voice.

There was a bout of silence after that, and Itachi started to fall asleep. Kisame shifted a little, pulling the pillow down to cushion their heads. "Night, baby," he murmured, lips still pressed against Itachi's hair. He stayed like that for a couple more minutes, blinking into the darkness.

Itachi's breathing evened out fully, his whole body loosening up and going limp as he drifted off. Kisame was quite relaxed and comfortable when he heard a noise in the hallway.

The door creaked open, dull light from the hallway beaming through the crack. Sasuke poked his head through.

He looked softer than before, more tired than Kisame had seen him. "You can see it, right?" He asked quietly.

Kisame cocked his head.

"How much Itachi deserves. I'm not going to sit here and chastise you, or try to scare you into taking care of him, because if you're worthy of him you should do that anyways. I just—" he paused there, taking a long look at Itachi's sleeping back. "Take care of him. Don't hurt him. Please."

Kisame used his chin to nudge Itachi's head closer into his neck. "I will," he whispered. "I promise."

Sasuke stared at them for just one more second. "Uh. I'm sorry for your loss, by the way. Good luck in Upolu."

Kisame smiled. "Thank you."

Sasuke clicked the door shut quietly.

Kisame kissed Itachi's temple a couple times, feeling the movement of his breathing, soft and warm in his arms. Kisame had never been so attached to the little things like this. Never been so content to just listen to someone breathe, to feel the exhalations against his skin. He could lay there and stroke and comb and braid Itachi's hair for the rest of eternity without getting bored. He could watch Itachi grade his students' papers until the world ended. He wanted to.

He hadn't felt that way with Sandy, even, and he had thought that she was his soul mate.

Itachi was different. Itachi was so different. He had lodged himself into a dormant wedge of Kisame's heart and was bringing some part of him to life again.

"Oh, my Itachi," he murmured, pressing him tighter ever so slightly. He seriously considered just not sleeping. He'd rather stay up all night and just watch him and hold him. Suck up as much of his presence as he could before he left him.

He could sleep all night on the plane, anyways.

The lullaby of Itachi's breathing eventually became too enticing, though, and Kisame was soon asleep, face nestled in Itachi's hair.

Itachi sniffed, fingers digging into the pillow his face was buried in. He stretched the muscles in his shoulder and flexed his toes.

He rolled over in the bed and pushed his face into the comforter, refusing to open his eyes. He unstuck his legs from the tangled blankets around him, kicking a little as the cold air washed over his exposed foot. The muscles about his shoulder blades flexed as he pushed his arms above is head, stretching his wrists. One hand flopped onto the sheets next to him. They were smooth and cool. Itachi wanted to bury his head in them and go back to sleep.

But, wait, they shouldn't be cool at all, they should be—

"Kisame?" Itachi opened his eyes up to the bright room and lifted his head up.

His bed was empty.

"Kisame," he whined, collapsing back into the sheets. After a moment he pushed himself to his elbows, frowning at the white sheets. "Kisame," he called, a little louder. He didn't get an answer from the hallway, so he slid out of bed and made his way for the door. The apartment was quiet, incredibly so. All he could hear was the hum of the refrigerator and the soft clicking of Sasuke's laptop keyboard.

He checked the bathroom first, since it was close.

Empty.

He padded to the kitchen.

Empty.

That was the grand total number of rooms Itachi had to his name, so if Kisame wasn't anywhere there….

That meant he wasn't there at all.

He went back inside his room, running a hand over his hair out of habit, feeling the plaits of his braid fondly. When he reached for the hairbrush he kept on his desk, he noticed the pajama bottoms Kisame wore slung over his broken chair. Kisame's clothes had disappeared, as well.

So he really had left.

Well—that was okay. Itachi couldn't expect him to stay, not when he was leaving the country in only hours. He knew that Kisame was probably being unrealistic when he said he would spend the morning with him. He did wish that Kisame had at least said goodbye, but Kisame was far too considerate towards him to wake him up for that.

It still made him sad, though. He was in such a shitty mood the night before, he felt like he didn't really properly say goodbye to him. And now he wasn't going to see him for a month.

He hadn't even kissed him hardly. Like, maybe one peck.

He hadn't even kissed him.

Holding in the groan that was rolling around his chest, he took out his braid and started brushing his hair. He was bitter, a little bit. He already missed Kisame, and he was frustrated that he wasted his last night with him acting so whiny and depressed.

He finished combing his hair and headed to the bathroom to wash his face and teeth. There was a spare toothbrush sitting on the counter that Kisame must have used.

He sighed.

Itachi was digging through the fridge looking for some yogurt to eat for breakfast when the knock out the door sounded.

He stood up straight and closed the fridge, frowning as he headed towards the door. Who would be knocking so early? He checked the peephole and his eyebrows shot up his forehead. He quickly slid and clicked the locks. "Kisame?" He asked.

"Ah, shit. I was hoping I'd make it back before you woke up." He had two bags in one hand, something that looked like a tool kit in the other. He leaned forward and kissed Itachi's cheek on the way inside.

"What are you doing back?" Itachi asked, blinking as he closed the door behind him.

"What do you mean? You thought I bailed without saying goodbye?" He frowned, setting the toolbox on the floor and dumping the bags on the counter. "I told Sasuke what I was doing."

"And what would that be?" Itachi asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Sasuke didn't say anything to me."

"I just ran to get some groceries. Bacon and eggs and the whole works. While I was there I figured I'd go home and grab my toolkit and fix that broken chair of yours."

"You didn't..." Itachi frowned cutely, face crinkling up. "C'mere."

"Huh?"

"Come here."

Kisame grinned a little, languidly approaching Itachi. "You rang?"

Itachi stretched up on his toes for a kiss. "You owe me morning snuggles." He wrapped his arms around Kisame's neck.

"I was going to give you those morning snuggles, if only you had stayed asleep."

"You didn't need to leave to do either of those things." He kissed the tip of his nose. Oh, his whole heart was beaming, having Kisame back in his arms.

"I want to cook you a real breakfast. You didn't let me last time. Besides, the second I mentioned it to Sasuke he got all excited. You're starving him, aren't you?"

Itachi kissed his cheek. "If I win the lottery I'll be sure to invest in some culinary lessons."

Kisame chuckled. "Or I could teach you. I could teach you how to make tuna tartare and then eat it off your naked body."

"Tuna? That doesn't sound sexy. I'd rather you cover me in chocolate ice cream." He kissed his other cheek.

Kisame squeezed his hips. "Oh, don't say that, baby, don't say that. I've been good. You're gonna make me go crazy."

"You're leaving town anyways. You're stuck with your own hand no matter what I say."

Kisame pulled back a little to look him in the eyes. "What happened to you from when I went out to now? You've never been so flirty." He grunted. "Provocative, actually."

"Provocative?" Itachi laughed a little. "I'm no such thing."

"You should wear my shoes for a day." He bumped their noses together. "Maybe you would have mercy if you were driven crazy all the time like me."

"Who says you don't drive me crazy?"

Kisame groaned. "Babe. Please. I can only take so much."

Itachi hummed, sliding both his hands up to cup Kisame's face. He tugged him down again, pressing their lips together, asking for a little more. Kisame made a small noise and wrapped his arms tightly around Itachi's lower back. Itachi got sick of stretching up, so he tugged on Kisame's shirt and made something of a moan. He got the hint, thankfully, and picked him up and set him on the counter. He grabbed Itachi's face, tilting his head and licking Itachi's lips open. Itachi's hands couldn't decide if they wanted to tangle in Kisame's hair or grab his jaw or biceps or rub all over his stomach.

They settled on some cocktail of all three.

"Uh—" came a bladed voice from the hallway, "when you said you were going to make breakfast, I didn't think that was code for sucking on my brother's tongue."

Kisame pulled away with a pop and licked his lips. "Yeah, thanks for telling Itachi about me leaving to get ingredients, by the way. Let him believe I skipped out."

Sasuke's stare was dead. "You didn't ask me to tell him anything."

Kisame snorted, one hand rubbing Itachi's waist. "You're a bit of a fan of conflict, aren't you?"

"Yeah, you're not quite familiar enough to be talking to me that way. Now start being useful or I'll throw you out on your ass."

Itachi hummed, sliding his fingers into Kisame's hair and tugging. "One more," he murmured, leaning forward for a last kiss. Sasuke was edging for the sink, so Itachi hopped off the counter before he had a chance to spray them with water. After eyeing them for a few seconds, Sasuke became apparently satisfied with the distance between them and disappeared back into the hallway.

Kisame headed towards the stove, pulling the grocery bags with him. Itachi got him a couple of frying pans, setting the on the stove and turning it on.

"Can you cut some peppers without setting anything on fire?"

Itachi glared at him. "I can do plenty of things in the kitchen. Inexperience does not equate disaster."

"It does when it comes to you."

Brushing off the well-meant bullying, Itachi pulled the shiny red peppers out of the grocery bags, wadding them up so he could put them in the closet later. "So, how much do I owe you for the groceries?"

"What?" Kisame asked, cracking a couple eggs in a pan.

"How much do I owe you?"

"What?"

Itachi's eyebrows dented in. "The ingredients. How much were they?"

"I'm sorry, I can't understand what you're saying." He was hiding a grin as he added cheese to the eggs.

Itachi glared. "Kisame."

"Itachi."

"I'm not playing around."

"Neither am I. The kitchen is no place for games." He grinned as he began laying bacon strips out on a buttered pan, the sharp sizzling filling the kitchen and overtaking Itachi's voice.

Itachi was frigidly slicing an onion when he felt Kisame's arms wrap around his waist, lips seeking out his cheek. "Don't touch me."

"Baby—"

"Don't 'baby,' me," he snapped, jerking back and elbow in to Kisame's stomach.

"Itachi, I just—"

"Why do you refuse to respect me about this?" Itachi demanded, whirling around.

Kisame blinked. "Wha—"

"You know how I feel about this, yet you won't ever consider my feelings. You always act like you're right and I'm just being a brat. When we bought groceries for your house, you insisted to pay. And when you buy groceries for my house, you still don't let me pay." He lost a little steam, staring at the ground. "You tell me to compromise with my brother, but then refuse to do it with me?"

Kisame stared at him, hands half outstretched, eyes swirling with shock. "I'm—sorry. Itachi, I'm sorry. You're right, I'm not being fair. I just—no, yeah, you're right." He dug his wallet out of his pocket, producing a receipt. "Here, you can pay half."

"Half?"

"I'm not a smart shopper like you, and I probably bought way too much. I'm sure this would be half the amount on here if you had shopped."

Itachi took the receipt from him though he didn't meet Kisame's eyes.

"Do you forgive me?" Kisame asked, fingers pressing gently against Itachi's jawline, trying to coax him to look up.

"Of course I forgive you," Itachi muttered. "I hate feeling helpless. That's the root of it."

"I'm sorry, babe," he said, pulling Itachi back into his arms. "I guess it's just one of those things we disagree on. I should have been more flexible."

"We should probably talk through it," Itachi said, "since it keeps coming up."

"Yeah, you're right. But—I dunno, can we do it later? I don't want to fight right now. Since I'm leaving soon. I want to enjoy this morning with you." He hummed.

"Okay, we'll put it on a to-do list. But maybe we can enjoy our last morning…without burnt eggs and bacon."

"Ah, shit!" Kisame abruptly pulled away. He saved both the eggs and the bacon, thankfully. The eggs were done and he slid them out of the pan and onto a plate. "Scrape this off with a spatula and then put the peppers and onions and diced tomatoes in it."

Sasuke wandered out of the hallway a few minutes later, drawn by the savory smell wafting from the kitchen. He was a little wary, like a baby animal nudging out of its nest to eat. He scooted up next to his brother. "Tell me what part of this you cooked so I can avoid it."

Itachi twisted his head to kiss Sasuke's cheek, slicing through a large, perfectly red tomato. "But I'm preparing this. You're telling me going to eat it?"

Sasuke hummed, resting his chin on Itachi's shoulder.

"You're getting too tall."

"You're getting to short."

Itachi laughed.

"Breakfast is served," Kisame interrupted, grinning.

Itachi plated the fresh tomato and made his way to the kitchen. Sasuke was sitting a little too eagerly, eyes roving over the plate of bacon and the cheese eggs.

"I bet this is the first real meal you've had in…how long?" Kisame joked.

"I don't like you enough for you to make fun of my brother yet." Sasuke grabbed the plate of tomatoes, taking three slices before scooping a pile of eggs onto his plate.

"Fair is fair," Kisame conceded, passing Itachi the sautéed peppers and onions. "I better see you eat," he said, sticking a strip of bacon in his mouth.

Itachi rolled his eyes. "So, how is school?" He asked Sasuke, sipping his water.

"Fine. Most people in my class are stupider than me, no offense," he said honestly. He scooped a gratuitous amount of eggs into his mouth. "Okay, this is really fucking good."

"Language," Itachi reminded with a frown. "And don't eat like such an animal. And sit up straight."

"Okay, mom." Sasuke straightened his back and rolled his eyes.

Itachi picked up a piece of bacon and held it out towards Kisame. "Open."

Kisame grinned. "Is this a tradition, now?" He asked after swallowing. "You feeding me bacon?"

"It can be. If you come back over and stay the night so you can make breakfast for me," Itachi replied, taking a bite off the same strip of bacon.

"It's not going to take too much to convince me to come crawl in bed with you."

"Okay," Sasuke stressed, "I'm trying to be really generous about this but you are pushing it."

"Gomene, little brother," Itachi apologized halfheartedly, a sing song to his voice, holding out more bacon for Kisame.

Despite the sheer amount of food Kisame had prepared, they managed to finish it all. Sasuke shooed Kisame out of the kitchen as soon as he began gather dishes for the sink.

"Itachi and I will take care of it," he promised.

"And I should…?" Kisame prompted, raising an eyebrow.

"Fix his chair like you promised." Sasuke hip bumped Itachi closer to the sink. "I need to talk to my brother."

"Very well," Kisame said good-naturedly, chuckling as he moved into the hallway. It shouldn't take long.

"You're so rude, little brother," Itachi scolded, turning on the water.

"I just want to talk to you. Besides, he did promise to fix your chair." Sasuke scraped spare food and ketchup off the plates and into the garbage disposal, handing them to Itachi to be soaped up.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Itachi asked as he cleaned.

"Did he touch you last night?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "You make it sound unconsensual."

"So he did touch you?" He switched to drying.

"No, Sasuke, he didn't."

"Did you touch him?"

"No, Sasuke. We just snuggled and fell asleep."

"That's pretty gay."

Itachi's eyes rolled to the side, gaze sarcastically dead. "Exactly what will you not be upset about."

Sasuke shrugged, dipping a rag into a glass drinking cup to remove the water droplets.

Itachi sighed.

They finished cleaning the dishes quickly, Itachi leaving Sasuke in charge of taking care of putting them all away so that he could spend more time with Kisame before he left—which had to be any minute now.

Upon entering his room, he found Kisame spinning around in his no longer crooked desk. "Ta-da," he said through a grin.

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "I messed around with that for an hour. You fixed it in ten minutes?"

"Ah, so that's the reason it was so messed up. Please, for the good of everyone, don't ever try to fix anything ever again."

Itachi shrugged. "I've never pretended to be a handy man. That's why I have you now, right?"

"Ah, is that the reason you're keeping me around? This has all been a ruse just so I can fix things for you, huh?"

"Yep." Itachi's lips popped on the 'p' as he plopped himself onto Kisame's lap. "Kiss?"

Kisame grinned, pressing several smacking kisses to Itachi's lips. "I like your brother, you know."

"You do? I'm surprised. He's been nothing but rude to you."

"That's not true, baby." He kissed on Itachi's neck. "It must be nice to have someone like that. He loves you so much."

"Yes," Itachi said, smiling. He wrapped his arms around Kisame's neck. "Sasuke's the best thing that's ever happened to me, and ever will."

"Damn. You're not gonna leave me for him, are you?"

Itachi nuzzled their noses together. "No."

Kisame reached behind him and grabbed Itachi's hair brush off the desk. He pulled it through Itachi's hair, wrinkling his nose at the snags. "It's really pretty, you know. A little dry, though; it keeps breaking off when I run the brush through it."

"I know. I don't take very good care of it. Conditioner adds up, and it's just a frivolity."

Kisame didn't like the way Itachi referred to taking care of himself as a frivolity, but he let it pass. "You know what's a lot cheaper than conditioner and does a great job?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Coconut oil."

"Oh. I have some of that in the kitchen. I didn't know that had other purposes behind cooking."

Kisame shrugged. "Just letting you know."

"How sly," Itachi murmured, reaching forward to grab Kisame's hand. "You have to go soon, huh?"

"Yeah, probably. And here you were trying to convince me to leave last night."

"I was a mess last night. Sorry about that."

"No need for apologies," Kisame murmured, pulling Itachi in to hold against his chest.

"Do you ever get tired of it?" Itachi asked, skirting his hands up Kisame's strong arms.

"Tired of what?" Kisame asked. His jaw was set and his brows were kind of furrowed; the muscles in his neck were tensed, arms locked around Itachi's waist.

Itachi was melting. "Tired of taking care of me? Of dealing with me?"

Kisame snorted, digging his thumb into Itachi's hip. "You say such dumb shit sometimes, Itachi."

"It's not dumb," he mumbled. "I'm serious." He slid his hands all the way up Kisame's chest to his neck. "I feel like you're babysitting me half the time."

"Does that mean you'll call me daddy?"

Itachi blinked, and then wrinkled his nose, tilting his head to the side. "Why on earth would I ever…?"

Kisame burst into laughter, burying his face into Itachi's hair.

"What? I don't get it."

"Never mind, never mind," he snickered.

"What, what's so funny? Tell me." Kisame just kept laughing, so Itachi yanked his shirt. "Tell me."

"I'll tell you later," Kisame promised. "Trust me, now's not the time or place."

Itachi harrumphed a little, but settled for molding back into Kisame's arms. Kisame was so strong, and big and…warm and comforting and oh time and space didn't matter when Kisame held him, nothing mattered except staying there forever.

And suddenly Itachi was so overwhelmed by his own heart, fingers fluttering around the tattoos on Kisame's cheeks. He brushed his lips against his, just enough that Kisame leaned in closer. "I...Kisame, I...' he shifted." I don't want you to leave," he finished, frowning internally. That wasn't what he wanted to say, but…."I mean, I want you to go and be with your family but—"

Kisame pressed his chin on top if Itachi's head. "I understand. If it were any other situation I would take you with me."

"As if I could afford a trip like that."

"I would pay for you. Obviously." Eye roll.

Itachi pulled back, eyes flaring. "You would not—"

"Okay. Let's not fight over something that isn't even happening. Not when I have to leave in…five minutes." He sighed, squeezing Itachi's waist.

"Only five minutes?" Itachi stretched up on his toes. "You better start kissing me, then."

Kisame grinned.

Itachi was feeling very limp and gooey, Kisame's tongue leaving him damn near light headed, when Sasuke came into Itachi's room with a harsh clear of his throat.

Kisame gave Itachi one last kiss and slid his hand up from his ass into safer territory. Itachi reluctantly stood up, letting Kisame get up, as well. "I should get going." His voice was throaty, and Itachi wanted to crawl back in his lap and kiss him a little longer.

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed, arms crossed as he leaned against the door jam.

Itachi rolled his eyes at his brother before grabbing Kisame's hand and leading him towards the door. "Drive safely. Can you text me before you board?"

"Of course." He kissed the top of Itachi's head. "I'll see you in a month."

Itachi hummed. "Just a month."

Kisame laughed a little, opening the door. "Don't miss me too much. I'll call you, remember?"

"I remember. Goodbye. Good luck, too." He watched Kisame descend a couple of steps before he closed the door and turned around.

Sasuke was standing behind him with a scarf.

Itachi blinked. "What is that for?"

"Your first student comes in 20 minutes, and you have a bright red hickey on your throat."

Itachi spun in his desk chair.

Bored. Bored, bored, bored….

The restaurant had a small malfunction with the oven and it caught fire. Someone let a slab of beef fall in there, all the way in the back where it got snagged across a rack, and it cooked and cooked (and the oven was so old, it freaked out and smoked up the whole room.) As per code, the place needed to be shut down for a day or two to make sure the problem wouldn't happen again.

So now he was stuck at home, with nothing to do all afternoon. He didn't mind, not really, because he was still getting paid. He just wasn't used to having such a large block of free time at his disposal. What to do.

Kisame spent a good ten minutes on the phone whining about the unfairness of it all. Right when he leaves town, then Itachi gets paid leave from work.

Itachi mostly scolded him for being ungrateful, but he really wished Kisame was there to enjoy his time off with him.

He missed Kisame. A lot. More than he thought he would. In theory, it wasn't that hard to be without a lover for a few weeks. But in practice….

Itachi wasn't even a clingy person. He was fond of alone time, of personal space. He dealt well with taking care of himself and being on his own.

For too long, though, he had been lonely. And he was rather used to having Kisame around. He was rather used to not feeling lonely anymore. It was like taking a cozy jacket off on a cold night; suddenly he realized how awful he felt before, in the absence of the comfort.

It wasn't even because Kisame was his boyfriend. Of course, boyfriends were special. Kisame was sweet on Itachi and made him feel like he dripped of honey and diamonds. But even more than that, Kisame was his best friend.

Itachi didn't have any other friends.

That wasn't a…good thing, he was sure. He just wasn't all too skilled at making friends, was never quite sure what to do or what to say.

But…he should try, right? He could try. He had so much time on his hands for the next two days.

It was then, in a lightning bold of miraculous timing, that he remembered something. He got up from his desk chair and moved to his cluttered desk, digging through little slips of paper. It wasn't there, so he checked his drawers, even the floor under his dresser. It would be just like him, to throw it away….

Luck was with him—for maybe the first time in his life—when he found it at the bottom of his clothes hamper, where it must have slipped out of the pocket of his pants from that night.

He tapped his thumb against the unintimidating—it really was, he had to convince himself of that—card, blinking at the black numbers.

What's the worst that could happen, right?

He plopped onto his bed, scrunching up the comforter where he landed, and unlocked his phone. He carefully tapped the numbers into the dial pad, checking it a few times before he called.

"Hello, you've reached the office of Maria Arietta, how may I help you?"

"Hi, I'm—my name is Itachi Uchiha."

"Hmm, Uchiha?" There was tapping on the other line. "I don't recall any students of that name, are you the guardian of someone here?"

Itachi wrinkled his nose. "No, actually, I was calling to talk to you."

"To me?" There was hesitation in her voice. "Have we met before, sir?"

"I ran into you at The Grind a little while back."

Silence. "Sir," Itachi could hear the set of her teeth in her words, "I would first like to inform you that making this type of call to my work place is wildly inappropriate. Secondly, I am married and—"

"Maria," Itachi interrupted, shaking his head to himself. "You've misunderstood me. My name is Itachi—do you remember me? I spoke with you, and your husband, Alec, while I was there with a guy I was dating."

A beat, and then a squeal. "Oh my god, Itachi!" She giggled. "Of course I remember you! Oh my, I was terribly rude to you, my apologies! Today's just been a long day and—oh, never mind about all that. What can I do for you?"

Itachi didn't know if he had ever heard someone so excited to do him a favor. "Nothing much. I have a couple days off work and was wondering if you would be partial to meeting somewhere."

"Absolutely! Do you have today off? I could meet you as soon as I'm done with work! Alec doesn't get home until seven on Tuesdays, so I always have so much free time on my hands. There's this really cute pastry shop in Crestline that offers afternoon tea and all sorts of cute little snacks."

"That sounds fun," Itachi replied, smiling to himself. Maria's energy was infectious.

"Oh good, good! Itachi, may I save this number in my cell phone? I can text you the address!"

"That's fine."

"Yay! I'm so excited! Well, I really should go—after all, no personal calls on an office phone and all that yada yada. I'll see you at around three thirty, does that sound acceptable?"

"I'll see you then." Itachi rolled over onto his back.

"Alright! Drive safely! See you!"

The phone hung up, and Itachi's hand fall down next to his head.

Well, that wasn't so bad.

And now he had a date

It was kind of fun, Itachi thought, all of Maria's wild hair, as it nearly entangled his face as she hugged him.

"Itachi! I was so sad when you never ended up calling me after I met you. I simply must ask, how did—!" she slapped a hand over her mouth as she pulled away. "No, I can at least wait until we're seated."

He smiled at her, a little confused. At least he knew he wouldn't have to carry the conversations.

Maria led him into the bakery. It definitely looked like some place she would go, with mismatched pink and green chairs, lacy umbrellas for the tables, and polka dots everywhere. There were porcelain figurines of babies and animals on the shelves, and large glass pastry displaced at multiple points throughout the shop.

Maria was clearly a regular. The staff greeted her warmly, a cute girl with a long blonde ponytail clapping behind the register. "Maria! Welcome back. It's been too long!"

"Ino!" Maria bounced forward, leaning over the counter to hug her. "It really has been, my dear. How is Sakura?"

"Beautiful, as always. She's in the flower shop right now, but you better say hi to her before you leave! She'll throw a fit if she finds out you stopped by without talking to her."

They spoke for a few minutes, Itachi standing silently behind Maria (who hadn't bothered introducing him, not that he minded at all). Ino eventually leaned around her too smile at Itachi.

"And who is this?" She asked. "New friend?"

"Oh! Yes, of course, this is Itachi! We met a few months ago and finally got around to meeting again. This is Itachi! Itachi, this is my good friend, Ino. Do you want to know the cutest thing?"

"I would," Itachi replied, amused.

"Sakura started this pastry shop, and Ino's flower shop moved in right next door. They started dating and ended up partnering their businesses. It's just the cutest thing I've ever heard!"

Itachi chuckled. "Flowers, sweets, and romance? That's pretty cute."

Ino smiled brightly. "I'll get you two seated on the patio. Follow me!"

They were led through the quaint little shop. Itachi admired the whimsical knickknacks along the way. The happy patio was bordered by a white picket fence. There were mint colored porcelain tables and lace chairs, umbrellas fit for a princess shading each one. On the other side of the fence was the flower shop Ino must have been referring to earlier.

Maria knew the menu by heart, and ordered two pots of tea. One was green, Itachi's favorite, and the other lavender, which Maria adored. Maria picked out two types of scones and little glazed tea cakes. There were little sugar gel sweets in the shape of flowers that faintly reminded Itachi of wagashi.

They were at last settled, Maria delicately pouring them both cups of tea, when a part enthralled, part devious smile lit her face "Alright, enough of this anticipation. You simply must tell me what became of the two of you!"

"The two of us?" Itachi asked, picking up the teacup. He preferred the Japanese cup, but this was fun, too.

"You and Kisame!" Maria exclaimed with barely concealed excitement.

"Oh." Duh. Itachi cleared his throat. "We're doing well."

"So you're still…?"

"Together? Yes. It's been almost five months now."

Maria clapped her hands. "I'm so happy for you. Really, truly. The two of you seemed so…fit together when I saw you at The Grind."

Itachi hummed. "It seems that way sometimes."

"The two of you and Alec and I should go on a double date sometime!" Maria suggested.

"That would be fun. I'm sure Kisame would love to, but it will have to wait. Kisame lost some family, and is out of the country in his hometown for a month."

Maria pressed a hand to her heart. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Do pass along my condolences to him."

"I will." Itachi offered a little smile. "He being gone has left me with a lot more free time than I usually have."

"You're welcome to come over and have dinner with Alec and me! Eating by yourself can get awfully lonely."

Itachi hummed. "Thank you for the offer. I usually eat dinner with my brother, though."

"Invite him, too!"

Itachi laughed a little.

They made small talk for a little while. Maria asked about Sasuke, a subject Itachi never got tired of bragging about. Maria talked about her job, how much she loved it. Itachi told her about the incident at work, about his students (turned out, one of the kids he tutored went to her school). Eventually they settled on the subject of Alec. Maria talked about him like he was made of gold, like he was the best thing to ever happen to her. Itachi supposed he was.

"It's just this inexplicable feeling, when you find that person that completes you so well." She sighed. "I got married so young, and most of my family was against it. They didn't think he was good for me—too serious, too stoic. But that's what's good about him! He makes up for what I lack. I need someone a little more…grounded," she finished with a giggle and a wave of her hand.

Itachi hummed.

Maria's gaze softened a little bit. "What about you? Does Kisame make you feel that way?"

Itachi looked at nothing in particular. "Kisame makes me feel…a lot of things."

Maria leaned a head in her hand. "I know it's still early in your relationship but…I knew early. I knew that I loved Alec exceptionally strongly only a few months in."

Itachi stiffened a little, staring holes into the scone in front of him.

"Itachi?" Maria prodded. After a second or two of silence, "Itachi, are you in love with him?"

A beat.

"Yeah." He looked up, biting the smile on his lip. "I'm in love with him."

Maria didn't squeal like Itachi expected. These past few minutes she was actually uncharacteristically calm. He appreciated it, because he felt like a cat being sprayed with water all the sudden. One of her token squeals might cause him to jump right out of his chair.

"It's a lot more terrifying that you think it's gonna be, huh? I'm such a romantic; I thought falling in love was going to be all singing choirs and butterflies and warm fuzzy feelings. It wasn't. It was me crying in my bathroom at three in the morning and hopping around from foot to foot."

"I haven't done that yet," Itachi replied absently.

Maria smiled. "That's good. I was a mess." She took a thoughtful bite of a tea cake. "Have you told him?"

Itachi shook his head, pouring himself some more tea to warm his cup up.

"Why not?"

Itachi fidgeted a little. "Because I still don't understand it. And I don't like not understanding things." He sighed a little, looking up at Maria's giggle. "And also because I don't know what he thinks, or feels. We've already been going slowly, I have no problem waiting a little longer to figure things out."

"Love is kind of like a tightrope, huh?" Maria smiled wistfully. "It can be scary, if you don't know if the person you love is there to catch you if you fall."

Itachi chuckled. "Well, that's one way of seeing it."

Maria leaned forward on her hands. "Can I give you some advice you didn't ask for? If it's not too bold?"

"Go on ahead." He picked a scone apart between his fingers.

"In my experience…it's worth risking it to be in love, you know? Even if it's scary."

Itachi hummed, slipping his finger through the teacup handle. "Yes, I agree. I don't regret anything."

Maria beamed. "That's wonderful."

A pretty girl with bubble gum pink hair threw herself into Maria's chair. "How dare you say hi to Ino and not me!"

Maria giggled. "I was going to, I swear!" She wrapped her arms around Sakura's waist. "Sakura, meet my new friend, Itachi."

Itachi gave a little wave.

"Good to meet you," Sakura chirped, stealing a scone off of Maria's plate. "How is Alec?"

"Alec is wonderful, that hasn't changed and never will. Oh! Tell me about what happened last Thursday! You never explained what that text meant!"

"Oh, oh, oh! Ino and I were coming home from a date when we found a shoebox of kittens. It was duct taped shut, does that just make you furious? If I found the low life that did that to those poor animals…."

"Well, are they okay?"

"Yes, yes," Sakura assured, taking another cookie. "They are all currently living with Ino and I. You and Alec wouldn't be in the market for cute little gray and black kittens, are you?"

"Aw, no. But if they're cute enough, I might be able to convince Alec!" She turned to Itachi. "Do you want to adopt a kitten?"

"Ah, unfortunately I wouldn't be able to take a kitten at the moment."

"Aw, that's a shame." Maria looked like she was thinking. "Oh! What about Kisame? Would he like a kitten?"

Itachi shook his head. "No, Kisame isn't a fan of kittens, or cats, for that matter."

"Break up with him," Sakura said bluntly.

Itachi's eyebrows shot up his forehead.

"Sakura, no," Maria scolded, slapping her arm playfully.

"Who doesn't like cats!? There has to be something wrong with him!"

"Sakura."

"Fine!" She turned to Itachi. "I apologize, there is nothing wrong with your boyfriend."

Itachi tilted his head, slightly confused, something of a smile making its way onto his face.

Maria and Sakura took off with the conversation at that point, chatting animatedly about things that Itachi could barely keep up with. He didn't mind in the slightest, just hearing them talk. He wasn't much of a talker to begin with, he quite enjoyed listening to them and staying silent.

"Well," Sakura eventually sighed, "I should probably get back to work. You know, what I get paid for." She kissed Maria's cheek, pushing herself to her feet. "It was nice to meet you, Itachi! Come back anytime, we always favor friends." She left them with a wink and wave before returning to her flower shop.

"I should actually get going, too," Itachi said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I ate so much of our time up with Sakura," Maria said sadly.

"You're just fine," Itachi promised. "I really enjoyed myself. Thank you for coming with me, especially on such late notice."

"Oh, any time! I had so much fun. Do you promise me you'll call once Kisame returns? So we can double date?"

"I promise," Itachi said sincerely, standing up.

Maria bounced into his arms for a last hug after they left the shop. "Call me anytime you want to talk, I mean it."

"I'll remember that," Itachi hummed.

He waited until he saw Maria get in his car and start to drive away before he headed towards the bus stop.

"Scoot over," Itachi mumbled, climbing onto the bed next to Sasuke.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm lonely and I miss my boyfriend." Itachi sniffed, pulling the covers over him, and tried to nuzzle his way under Sasuke's arm. "I don't wanna sleep alone."

"Nii-san—" Sasuke broke off with a laugh, relenting as Itachi nudged his head to rest on Sasuke's chest. "Is this all I am? A replacement boyfriend?" He wasn't complaining in actuality, though, not really. A couple months ago, Itachi wouldn't even ask for something like this.

"Yep." Itachi readjusted his head and closed his eyes, humming when he felt Sasuke's arm press to his back.

"Two weeks without him and you're already helpless." Sasuke snorted. "At least you're halfway through the month." He patted his back with faux reassurance. "You're halfway there."

"Kisame decided to stay another week, so no, I am not halfway there," Itachi grumbled.

Sasuke scolded, "You're becoming codependent."

"I am not. I'm just—" Itachi stopped suddenly, stiffening slightly against his brother. "I'm just…." He lifted his head up, twisting around and supporting himself on an elbow so he could look Sasuke in the eye. "I'm in love with him. A lot."

Sasuke stared at him for a second. "Hm," he eventually grunted.

"More than I ever loved Marcus," he added.

"You better."

Itachi hummed, settling back down. "I know it frightens you, but Kisame's so…he's just…."

"That's bad," Sasuke muttered.

"Hm?"

"When you don't even have words? That's when you know you're fucked."

Itachi smiled.

"I…" Sasuke started, shifting a little, one hand curling around Itachi's arm. "I, you can, I don't want you to think—fuck." He let out a sharp breath, frustrated with his lack of words. "'You have my blessing.'" he finished lamely. "Not to sound cheesy."

Itachi's fingers, which had been pressing the Viennese Waltz into Sasuke's shirt, stilled. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," he grunted. "You haven't been this happy since…fuck, Nii-san, I don't think you've been this happy since before Mom and Dad died. And you're…getting healthier, exponentially so since you started dating him. He's good for you. And I know that, and I'm not going to try to ruin that for you. I have to trust you, right?" He slid one hand up to Itachi's hair. "But—if he does hurt you, I will kill him."

"I know," Itachi hummed affectionately. "I really don't think he will."

Sasuke was quiet. "Have you told him?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Itachi shrugged a little. "That would make it awkward, if I confess to him and he can't say it back. That would be awful. I'd rather just be patient and wait to see how things play out."

"You don't think he loves you back?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi shook his head, and Sasuke could feel the sadness in just that tiny little movement. "No."

Sasuke frowned. "Why not?" His voice was defensive.

Itachi snorted. "No need to get angry, he has no obligation to be in love with me."

"But why don't you think he feels the same way?"

Itachi sighed. "You know me; I always fall in love too quickly, I always get emotional before I need to." He pillowed his head better on Sasuke's chest. "My heart is always before my head. Kisame's probably just not there yet, that's all."

Sasuke was quiet for a moment. Itachi was already in so deeply, he was already set up for heartbreak. And now Sasuke felt tired again. Even though Kisame wasn't a scumbag like some of Itachi's other boyfriends, he had Itachi's entire heart in his massive hand. It was too easy now to hurt him. And that wasn't his fault, Sasuke knew that logically—even if his heart was screaming something else—but the thought of Itachi ending up in pain again drained every drop of energy from his entire being.

Sasuke tapped his fingers. "Okay. Well. Just make sure that, when the time comes—make sure that you don't conflate love and sex, you know? Especially for him."

Itachi chuckled. "That's not a problem."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.

"We haven't had sex, Sasuke."

Sasuke blinked. "Really?"

"Really," Itachi drawled.

"Nothing? Not even a little?"

"Nothing. I don't think he's even seen me with my shirt off."

Sasuke stared at the ceiling. "Wow. I'm impressed and surprised."

"You have no faith in me, Otouto. It wounds me so."

"Shut up," Sasuke said with a snort. "How come, though? Not that I'm complaining, it's just that the two of you seem very…touchy." He sounded a hair uncomfortable. "I assume you're attracted to him like that?"

"We are. I am." He nuzzled a little more into Sasuke's chest. "But I wanted to do this right, so I promised myself way back when we first started dating that I wouldn't do anything with him until he told me that he loved me." A gusty sigh was blown over Sasuke's shirt. "I haven't given in yet."

"And will you?"

"If he doesn't confess soon, I don't know what I'll do," Itachi muttered.

Sasuke laughed. "Just make sure you're indoors."

"Obviously." I picked at the hem of Sasuke's shirt. "I'm proud of you."

"Proud of me?"

"You were able to calmly talk to me about my sex life without bursting into flames."

"Yeah, well. If it makes you happy, it's not something worth fighting."

"Thank you." Itachi's voice was satisfied and warm. "We're getting better, little brother. Do you see? We're getting so much better. That makes me happier than anything else in the world could."

Sasuke pressed a hand tight to his back. "Yeah. Everything's getting better."