A/N okay, well this was a shorter chapter than usual, but it was also a much quicker chapter than usual. And guess what, I actually remember some of the stuff I was going to say here this time!!

1) I'm really sorry that I didn't resond to all your reviews. It's just that I got like, fifty, and I'm really lazy, so I didn't respond to all of them. I'm sorry. (By the way, the Anonymous that kept saying please please all the time... was that the same person? just curious)

2) Wanna know something strange, this story was supposed to make me like Kisame x Hinata, a whole bunch, and it really did, but it actually made my favorite pairing in the whole wide world turn into Neji x Hinata. And it's incestuous! Yet I still love it... strange.

3) yeah, there was something I was going to say here, but its gone... damn.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto yaddah yaddah yaddah yaddah (1,2,3,4 yeah that's the right amount of 'yaddahs'..)

Okay, go on, enjoy.

A knight in shining armor. That's what Kisame had become to me. I couldn't possible know what lay beneath the armor of my blindness. He had saved me, he had cared for me, he had loved me, I was sure. But now as I stared at him, I couldn't believe any of that.

I had tried not to make assumptions, tried not to form a picture. I had had so many warnings, some not as subtle as others. I so many ways, I should have been prepared for the hideous shock I suffered at this moment.

My stomach was churning, making me sick. I was relieved that I had already emptied it, or I would have done it even more violently this time around. I was almost dizzy as I stumbled back and fell to the ground.

I couldn't move from that spot as I stared up at the monster in front of me. Fear was clenching at my insides, and horror was clutching at my heart. How could I have ever touched that thing with anything but disgust? Its skin was a sickly pale blue and its teeth were sharp and triangular looking. The small yellow eyes struck terror into anyone who looked into them. As the rain fell around us, its gills ruffled in the moisture. They looked like growths writhing on its face. It was completely and utterly inhuman.

"Hinata," it snarled at me. Its mouth was twisted into a grotesque smirk, baring the razor teeth. I thought of my lips locked against his in a passionate embrace, and I rolled onto my stomach and wretched. It was a dry wretch, but it made my insides squirm.

Suddenly, the monster took a threatening step towards me, and I yelped. I scrambled away from him hurriedly and felt my back hit a tree trunk. I squeezed my eyes shut and hunched my shoulders. I waited for it. For the bite, the hit, however he was going to attack.

"Hinata, please. I would never…" I heard him growl. I opened my eyes cautiously and saw him on his knees in front of me. His eyes were glinting with a feral viciousness and I scrambled back against the tree trunk, looking down as the monster extended its hand out to me. The rough, groping hands brushed against my skin raising goose bumps and shivers where they touched. I gagged.

"No," I screamed. My eyes were wide with terror and revulsion as I scrambled up and away from him. My heart was pounding furiously, and it was making my chest sore. Its face twisted into a sneer and it reached back for me. "No, don't touch me! Get back, just stay away. Don't come near me," I shrieked, and then I turned and ran, leaving the monster snarling on the ground behind me.

"Hinata," the monster roared behind me. It was the loudest yell I had ever heard. It surrounded me and pressed in on my ears. It vibrated the air around me and shook the leaves in the trees. I winced at it, and continued to run, still faster. I couldn't let the thing catch me. It was horrible and disgusting and I never wanted to see it again.

It wasn't Kisame. Not at all. I didn't know what it was, but it wasn't Kisame. The measure of loathing and abhorrence I had towards that thing was unexplainable. It was an abomination, a mutant. It made me want to kill it, get it out of this world. But it was too frightening to attack. I just wanted to get away from it and hoped that someone else would finish it off.

The guards looked at me strangely as they saw me tearing out of the trees towards the gates. But they recognized me, and opened the doors just before I could crash into them. Then, I made straight for Kiba's house. I saw people I knew out of the corners of my eyes, calling to me, but I ignored them. How could I talk to them right now?

The look of fury and disappointment on Kiba's face when he saw me on his door step was almost more than I could bear. He opened the door and let me in, but his lips were pressed into a firm line. I didn't venture too far into the house, I just stood inside the door way. I was waiting for him to say something, but he just stood there fuming.

"Kiba, I-"

"What have you done," Kiba spat. He was angry with me. He had never been angry with me before. I swallowed the lump in my throat, but still couldn't seem to force out any words. Suddenly, Kiba had grabbed my shoulders and was shaking me back and forth violently. "What have you done," he yelled.

"Kiba, he's not human," I screamed back, pushing him away from me. "He's a monster!"

"No, he's Hoshigaki Kisame," Kiba snapped. At the sound of that name, being paired with that image made my breath catch in my throat, and choke me. "He's the exact same Kisame that you swore you loved. So tell me, what have you done?" His voice was deafening and it was cracking into my head.

"No…" I couldn't believe that my beloved Kisame. The one whose touch I craved so much, the one who I ran to when everything went wrong, the one I could barely breathe around, was the fierce creature I had seen. "He's not. He's not the same-."

"He is, Hinata," Kiba said in a softer voice. His rage had dissipated into pure disappointment. "And he's probably standing out there in the rain, a broken man." And then he turned and walked away into the house. He got himself his extra pillows and blanket and lay down on the couch. He rolled over to face away from me.

I glared at him for a few seconds before I turned to the hallway. I stumbled into the bedroom, and put myself to sleep. I didn't bother changing of anything. I just fell straight onto the blankets. But my rest was plagued with nightmares of the hideous blue beast, and Kisame's broken voice. And as I lay awake, replaying the scenes in my head, I began to wonder which one of us was truly the beast.

"I got you something," Kiba muttered, sliding a folder of papers towards me. I glanced at it curiously as I munched on my rice porridge. I had dark rings under my eyes and looked the very picture of melancholy. As Kiba walked away to go train, he turned to me and reminded me, "Your wedding is tomorrow." That was what are conversation was limited too. We spoke only when nessicary, a his voice always held that frustrated note.

I didn't have the appetite to continue eating breakfast after that. I pushed the bowl away and slumped in my seat. My stomach was sore from all the retching and churning it had been doing recently, and my eyes were sore from refusing to cry. Finally I turned to the file beside me.

My thin fingers flipped it open, and I was assaulted by the portrait of a shark like man with pale blue skin. Immediately, I dropped the cover and slide the folder to the other side of the table. I didn't want to look at that right now. I bit my lip and forced myself out of my seat. I made my way to the bathroom and turned on the water until it was scalding hot. I stepped in, clothes and all. I didn't scrub myself, and I didn't wash my hair, I just stood there. The burning sensation of the water and the uncomfortable feeling of the clothes almost pleased me.

Finally, I shed the garments and proceeded to have the proper shower that my body really wanted. By the time I was done, I had used up all the hot water. I hoped it came back before Kiba returned from training. I slipped the white towel around me and suddenly wondered: what color had the towels in Kisame's room been? Immediately, I shook my head to rid that thought and proceeded to do all the day to day functions.

But yet, my lips were set firmly in a line. I wasn't frowning, but I certainly wasn't smiling. My eyes held no emotions what so ever. I looked dead, quite simply. If someone were to look at me, they wouldn't think I was awake. I wasn't really. I honestly felt as though I were losing my mind. As I was slipping my shirt over my head I suddenly broke into a fit of laughter.

It wasn't nice laughter, not by a long shot. It sounded like nails being scraped over a chalk board, or metal on metal. It scared me, that strange outburst. I was so lost, so miserable, I couldn't even control myself. Finally, when I had subsided I came back out of the bedroom and stood in the middle of the kitchen. It was just laying there, the folder, not doing anything. I didn't expect it to, after all, it was an inanimate object, but at the same time, if it just burst into flames and burned down the whole house, I didn't think I would be surprised. Slowly, I realized that this was my only choice. I reached out and lifted the folder open.

I forced myself to look at it, the picture. I stared at it, harder than I had ever stared at anything. I took it in, accepting it as fact. I glanced at the name below the picture: Hoshigaki Kisame. I took my ring off and looked at the name engraved into it: Hoshigaki Kisame. I placed the ring beside the picture, linking them together in my head. It was an elementary thing to do. Like when the teacher put a pretty candle next the picture of a burned out building, so that the child could link the two objects, even though they were so drastically different. I swallowed the lump in my throat and slipped the beautiful ring back onto my finger.

I moved the picture aside and began skimming through the other papers that had accompanied it. The folder was an ANBU file on everything Konoha knew about Hoshigaki Kisame. I ruffled through them, and then settled them into a nice neat pile. I knew why Kiba had given these to me. He wanted me to face the harsh realities, and then he wanted me to live with them.

As I saw it, I had two choices. I could marry Neji, and live a contented life that I had no control over. I would be a puppet for the Hyuuga council, and though I would love my husband, something would always be missing. Option two, was Kisame.

My Kisame. The man I had fallen in love with. The man whose kisses I lived for. If only I could just close my eyes feel him grab me again. I wanted to feel him push me against the wall, and slip his tongue into my mouth. I wanted him to please me so much that I moaned erotically, totally ignoring the entire world around me; even my own embarrassment, because that wasn't important when he as there, loving me.

I remembered how he had never let anything bad happen to me. Maybe he had been a bit over protective at times, I wasn't sure. He lost his temper when I was threatened, and though it had always scared me I had always been touched. And he had protected me from myself as well. He had never let me feel down of hopeless. Whenever I was with him, I felt as though I was strong, I could take on anything when he was there.

But if I were to have that Kisame, I would have to love the other one as well.

So I took the folder, and curled up on the couch. I tangled myself up in the covers Kiba had left. I opened the folder again and picked up the picture of Kisame once more. Then I set it down beside me almost reverently. And finally, I began reading of Kisame's gruesome deeds.

There were times when I had to stop reading, simply because I could no longer tame my stomach. Kiba had spared me from nothing. There were images of grotesquely mutilated corpses, so tangled you couldn't identify anything about them. There were even pictures of Kisame shaving Samehada across a man's face, obviously taken from behind a bush. Kisame's blue head was thrown back gaily as though he were laughing as he did it.

I didn't dare to eat lunch, too afraid it would follow breakfast into the toilet. But I read them all, and I looked at all the pictures. I finished by staring at the portrait I had originally encountered.

Afterwards, I closed the folder and set it back on the table. I sat on the couch with my back erect as I muscled through everything. I had read through the file with a cold detachment, and now I had to let in the fear and revulsion in slow bursts.

But with each mental snap shot of that horrid face, came the memories of calloused fingers brushing my cheek. With each sight of his efficient assignation came the thought of him protecting me from Itachi, and the world itself. Every time I saw him howling with laughter at a man's pain, I heard him chuckle at my innocence.

Then abruptly, I was haunted by images of an unwanted marriage. Before I could let that influence my choice, I had forced it back out. This had nothing to do with Neji, or weddings. This had everything to do with Kisame. The Kisame who terrified and repulsed me, but also the Kisame that excited me, and that I loved. Yet my decision had to be made, before he was lost to me forever.

Maybe I had loved him… but I knew that he was still a monster.

Kiba came back sometime around dusk, a soggy Akamaru trotting behind him. It was still raining. I put the two plates of dinner I had made them into the microwave and clicked it for two minutes. I was too nervous to turn around and face Kiba. I had not made the decision he had wanted. So I stood watching the plates revolve around slowly with a steady hum.

When it was done, I pulled it open before it could even beep. I took the two plates out and shut the door with my elbow. I put one plate on the floor for Akamaru, and one on the table for Kiba. I sat across from him silently. Neither of us had said a word since he had walked in.

Unable to stand it any longer, I stood up and made way to the bathroom. I didn't need to use it, but the bathroom was a place of privacy and I had to get away from that over whelming feeling of disappointment from Kiba. I stepped in and closed the door behind me. I leaned my back against it and let out a sigh.

Suddenly, I was assaulted by the mirror. The sight made my throat catch. I was worse than I had thought possible in such a short amount of time. And I wasn't even sick. For some reason though, I couldn't meet my own eyes. I kept glancing off to the side. How do you look in the mirror when the person looking back was the one that made you miserable?

How could I be making the right choice?

Guilt began to course through my veins. Guilt like I had never felt before in my life. I almost hated myself, no, not almost. I absolutely loathed myself. I could see back, to when I had first laid eyes on my lover. I heard him snarl my name but he hadn't been snarling. He had been begging; his voice 

was broken and ragged with the pain I was causing him. I slammed my hands over my ears in an effort to block out his dying voice.

I saw that leering, evil glare, but it was no glare, it was a grimace of agony. As I watched him fall to the ground in front of me, I did not see a monstrous threat, but a man who had been crushed, by me. I had driven my beloved Kisame to his knees.

And then that glint. That hungry, hostile glint that was no glint at all, but a glisten. There had been tears shining in his eyes. Through my haze of memories, I felt a sharp pain as I too fell to my knees. Kisame didn't cry, he couldn't. He was too strong, too proud, and too durable. He could not be so broken as too let that all fall away. I fisted my hands and banged them on the ground.

"No," I screamed in denial. "How can I do this to him?" Kisame would have never hurt me in the way I had him, and here I was calling him the monster. My eyes were drawn back to my own face, glaring down at me. Our faces were twisted into looks of pure hatred, and without warning I let my shuriken fly. I always kept a few spare ones with me, ever since I had been back in Konoha. They flew through the air, slicing it to ribbons, and then with a crash, the mirror shattered. Flecks and slivers of glass flew everywhere. They rained down on me, peppering me with pinpricks of pain. But that horrible face had been destroyed.

I could feel the glass slicing into my real skin as well. I gritted my teeth as I let them ravage my skin. A sane part of me noted that there was no way I could come out of this without scars as reminders. I could feel the hot blood sliding down my face, mingling with my tears. Suddenly, I stood up and whirled around. I wrenched open the door and rushing into the kitchen, where Kiba had jumped to his feet.

"I need Kisame," I finally blurted out. Kiba stared at me with an open mouth for a second, as though daring himself to believe what I said was true. I was breathing deeply, and I licked my lips to clean them of the blood that was dripping into my mouth. "I still love him. I have to find him."

A slow grin spread across Kiba's feral face. Before I could react, he had launched himself towards me and enveloped me in a huge hug. I gasped in surprise, but smiled lightly. "I knew you'd make the right decision Hinata. I felt a smile form on my lips as well and I hugged him back. Soft tears were dripping down my face, but a huge weight had been lifted from my chest.

"You need to help me find him, Kiba," I said seriously when he had let go. I had made the right decision, but there was more to this than that. "I don't know where he's gone… and I don't know if he'll forgive me."

"Now's not the time to worry about that," Kiba told me as he stood up and got a wet towel. He began trying to clean my face, but I pushed him away. He was only pushing the glass shards farther into my skin. I would need to pull them out one by one later, but I just couldn't do that right now. Kiba just frowned and tossed the bloody towel into the sink. He began shoveling the rest of his food into his mouth. "Fine then. Now, pack whatever you need, we have to leave tonight. Your wedding's tomorrow-." After that, his mouth was too full to continue speaking. I nodded curtly and rushed through the small apartment to grab everything I needed. My bag was minute, due to the fact that I hadn't grabbed much from the Akatsuki base when I had been taken. I also grabbed a kunai holster from Kiba and strapped it around my thigh. I hadn't felt the comforting weight for some time, yet it was still familiar.

Kiba had not packed much, only weapons and a snack. We weren't journeying, we were escaping. The sun had just set, and the gates would be closing. We hurried through Konoha as stealthily as possible. It was a difficult task in a village full of the best ninja in the world. But we avoided every living thing at all costs, and with the help of a disguise Kiba had brought along, we had snuck through the gates in no time.

"Thank you, Kiba," I panted as I finally pulled the cloak from my head and straightened my back. We had been masquerading as an elderly couple, trying to get to the place where he had proposed to me. We claimed it was our anniversary. It hadn't been the best disguise, because the guards had been reluctant to let such old people out at night. But we persisted, and were eventually allowed out, mostly I think, because the guards were lazy.

Now we were standing about two miles away, having sprinted as soon as we were out of sight. Now we were free, and had just stopped running.

"It's no problem, Hinata," Kiba said with a smile. Poor Akamaru had had to stay home. Kiba was still proud and happy that I had chosen to continue loving Kisame. "I say we get to their original base first. That's our best hope."

I opened my mouth to reply, but all words died on my tongue when a bright orange jump suit dropped from the trees before us. Kiba and I stared, frozen, at Naruto as his sapphire eyes bored into us. He was trembling, and I could almost see the whisker lines on his face growing, and his canine elongating. His labored breathing made his mouth hang open in rage. I gulped.

"What the hell are you doing," Naruto snapped loudly, harsher that I had ever heard him speak. I bit my lip, unsure of how to answer. I gritted my teeth a bit. Naruto fisted his hands. "You just got home, you're getting married tomorrow," he yelled.

"Naruto, p-please," I stuttered. Kiba was still recovering from his shock, and he wasn't able to do anything yet. A glare from Naruto killed my voice.

"Is that what this is about," Naruto yelled before I could defend myself. "You're running away. Neji loves you, and look what you're doing. You can't just leave him on the alter because you're scared. You have to be tougher, you're stronger than this! Stop running away!"

"I'm not running," I screamed. Something inside of me had been bending and bending and now it snapped. I found a kunai clutched in my fingers as I screeched. "You don't understand. I am not scared. Stop talking about things you don't know anything about!"

"Then where-."

"I'm going back," I cut him off. Then finally, there was silence. Naruto stood slackly, staring at me with wide and uncomprehending eyes. I took a deep breath. "I'm going back to the Akatsuki…"

Apparently, Naruto wasn't quite as uncomprehending as I had thought.

Before I could blink, Naruto had pinned me to a tree and poised a kunai over my throat. I gasped in pain and shock as the impact jarred my body. But I tried to stay perfectly still, even though my whole being was screaming for me to move, to do something, anything, but I fought the urge. My life blood would spill if I moved a muscle.

"You're doing worse than running away, you're turning into a traitor, like Sasuke," Naruto seethed quietly. I winced at Sasuke's name. It made sense that Naruto would be so angry at this. He had lost his best friend when they had betrayed the village. All that pent up pain was evident, now that I 

thought to look for it. His hot breath ruffled my eyelashes, and made the cuts on my face sting. His angry eyes were filling up my vision, and I took a painfully shallow breath.

"No," I breathed.

"What?"

"I'm not a traitor," I insisted. Naruto's eyes were blazing, and I truly feared for my life, but I had to get it out. I had to get him to understand. "Please, let me explain…"

Naruto was furious, but he eased up. I saw Kiba from over his shoulder tense, ready to spring on him, but I sent him a glare, and he rocked back onto his heels. "Go on then," Naruto prompted. "What's your excuse?"

"I…" It was hard to say it. Especially to someone who would be so judgemental about it. I licked my lips worriedly, finding the metallic taste of my blood to be rather refreshing. How do you tell a former fried that you're in love with the enemy? Particularly when that friend had a knife at your throat. But I thought of the strength Kisame lent me. How he had always been at my side, even when I had been a mess, he was always there.

"Spit it out," Naruto snapped. I gasped and nodded.

"I love Kisame," I murmured. I could have approached the topic a number of ways. I could so easy have eased him into it. But I hoped that the simple word 'love' would move him. I knew how powerfully he thought about it.

"What," Naruto hissed. I had spoken quietly, and I knew that Naruto was praying he had misheard me. I felt the tip of the blade touch my skin. I took a breath as deeply as I dared.

"I love Hoshigaki Kisame," I said again. No one moved. Naruto was just staring at me. His hand began to tremble until suddenly, he dropped the kunai and took a step backwards. He was shaking his head slowly in disbelief and shock.

"H-h-how," he finally gasped. I bit my lips so hard I could taste more blood from this new wound. "Hinata… Hinata-chan, he's evil, and cruel, and Akatsuki. You don't love him, it-."

"Yes, I do," I interrupted as forcefully as I could manage. He still didn't understand. "Think of Sakura," I pleaded desperately. He had taken a threatening movement towards me, but at the name of the pink haired kunoichi, he froze. What if she were in the Akatsuki, what if she turned, what if she had horrible scars as well? Would you still love her?"

Naruto was staring at the ground. I knew bringing up Sakura had put things into perspective for him. Made him think twice about judging me and who I loved. Finally, he sighed and bent down to pick up his kunai. I tensed as he picked it up, thinking he was going to attack me, but he just slipped the weapon back into his pouch.

"Of course I would," he said. I smiled in relief and relaxed my muscles. "Hinata… does he make you happy?"

"Yes," I said, blushing and looking down again. How could he not. He was gentle, and loving. I was more at peace with him than I ever was with anyone. It was hard to explain my intimacy with Kisame. It was awkward, but everyone felt the need to ask prying questions about it. I knew it was just because they cared though. "Very, very much so."

"He's not threatening you is he," Naruto asked fiercely. He was eyeing me now, trying to see if I was lying, or hiding something. "He's not forcing you to go back, is he?"

"Of course not," I snapped. I found myself snapping more than I ever had before. Maybe it was because I was more tense then I ever had been before. I used to be so quiet, and running away from all sorts of conflict. But I found that as soon as someone targeted Kisame, it ignited a furious and protective fire inside of me. I hated how they insulted him, based only on what they as the enemy knew.

"Sorry," Naruto said quickly, holding up his hands in surrender. "I forgot; you love him." I nodded and for while we both just stood there silently. Until Naruto spoke again. "Isn't he a little old for you, he's like fifty."

"Naruto," I gasped, my face bursting into color. "He is not. He's only thirty four…"

"Only?"

"Naruto!"

"Sorry, sorry."

"I'm not Sasuke, Naruto. I'm not doing this for revenge, or power," I murmured quietly after our mock argument. I knew he understood that know, but I really wanted him to know. I saw Naruto sober instantly and give me a little smile. He nodded.

"I know." I nodded in return and we shared our time of acceptance. Once again there was a moment of silence, before Naruto heaved a sigh. "Do you want me to tell Neji? He deserves to know."

"Of course he can't know," Kiba suddenly broke in. Naruto and I both stared in surprise. We had forgotten he was even there. "No one can!"

"But Kiba," I said softly. "I don't want Neji in the dark… and he does deserve to know." I swallowed the lump in my throat. I was leaving my Neji, without so much as an explanation. Only the assurance that I did love him, even though I loved Kisame more.

Kiba grumbled a bit, worried that it would get out. But he understood, and so he nodded. It was settled, all of it. And now it was time to part ways.

"You're still a traitor though, Hinata," Naruto said seriously. "I want you to be happy though, that's why I'm just going to turn around. But you have to come with me, Kiba. Otherwise, you're a missing nin, too."

"Go, Kiba," I said as I saw Kiba open his mouth to protest. "Just tell me where I'm going. I can handle myself…" It took some convincing, but eventually, I did manage to get Kiba to go back with Naruto.

The good byes were quick. Like ripping off a band aid. I was probably never going to see them again. But I didn't want to dwell on that. In seconds, the clearing was empty, and I was running through the forest forcing images out of my head. The time would come to mourn my loss. The time would come when I could cry over them. But it was foolish to do so now.

Right now, my main concern, my one and only concern was Kisame. He was somewhere out there. God knew how far out there, but he was. I could run for hours, days, even weeks. But I wouldn't stop until I was allowed to wrap my arms around him again.

I had only been running for perhaps two hours until I saw the sky begin to turn gray as the sun was about to come up. It was now that I worried that I might miss the base altogether. I wasn't headed straight for it, and it would be all too easy to just breeze on by it.

Yet even if I were to stumble across it, the base was abandoned and in ruins. There would likely be no one there, and certainly no trail as to where they had gone. But it was my only hope.

I ran throughout the entire day, from sun up to sun down, and when the sun came down, I didn't have the energy to find a clearing. I simply collapsed at the foot of a tree, and closed my eyes. I didn't know how long it had taken the ANBU to go from the base to Konoha, but surely it would take me longer due to my confusion as to where it was. And so it did.

When I woke up in the morning, my body was sore and stiff from sleeping the way I had. But I sat up, gulped down a meager breakfast and then kept running. I had said I would run for hours, days, even weeks. It was good that I had promised myself that, otherwise my resolve may have faded.

My body couldn't handle this, no body could. I paused only seconds a day to sip water from a stream and then I would keep up my fast pace. At night time, I fell where I stood, and when the sun rose it was only a few bites of breakfast before I was on my feet again. I saw villages go by with promises of a meal and bed. But they were barely a blip on my radar. Only my sore heart and the remembered feeling of Kisame's presence kept me from giving in and just falling to the ground to die.

It took a week. The last couple of days leading up to the week mark, I had kept my Byakugan activated, despite the extra strain on my body I needed it if I were to have any hope at all of finding the base. And at mid noon on the seventh day, I spotted the pile of rubble that could only be my destination.

It wasn't really a pile, though. Most of the walls still stood, and it had a very distinctive shape. It just needed some serious repairs and the like.

As I walked around it, I came to a training ground. The sight was foreign to me, but when I closed my eyes, I felt my lips curve in a smile. I turned a little towards a spot I knew and opened my eyes. There was the tree that Kisame had pinned me against when we first sparred. It was the first time I had experience that sort of sexual tension around him, and felt myself yearning for it once more. I closed my eyes again. It was all a familiar feel to me now. I let myself bask in the feel of being home for only a few seconds. Then I opened the door and let myself into the ruined building.

As I hurried down the hallways, I couldn't help but pause at the kitchen. I felt my smile grow bigger as I remembered working in here. Next I stopped at Itachi's room and peeked in. It was exactly how I had imagined it would be. Very tasteful, but yet not personalized at all.

There were lots of rooms that I had never even known existed, but when I closed my eyes, everything was laid out before me, even more so than when they had been open. Without thinking, I sprinted down the hallways until I came to a door I knew by heart. Kisame's room.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. I could sense the bulk in front of me, and sure enough, when I looked, I saw a man with his back to me. He was staring out the window, with his hands clenched on the sill. He was deliberately pretending he didn't know I was here. I drew in a gulp of air.

"Kisame," I breathed.

A/N yes, I did use the word 'gaily' in this chapter, I was counting on all of your guys maturity that you took that to mean happily, and not homosexually... okay. Now, thank you guys so much for reading and I hope you guys liked it alot!!

please please please review, and yeah, I'll see you next time. :D

Yuki