She knew she should be running and he knew he should be chasing her. Neither of them could force themselves to move. It was a sudden push of his body against hers, pinning her to a tree, those green orbs smoldering and he lost control. Rows of sharp teeth glistened in the darkness of night as he bent down and kissed her deeply.
When had this game begun?
When had she begun to betray her village?
When had he allowed her to become something more than just a good time? When had she become something so much sweeter?
It had begun months ago, the medic had a solo mission. They'd met while she was on her way towards her destination. "Oh, uh.. well I'm on my way for a mission, and none of the details of said mission is to get into battle with either of you, so I rather just be on my way.." she shrugged when Kisame acknowledged the girl and asked what she was doing. Itachi stood to his side, silently amused by the medic's answer.
"What fun would it be if we just let you go?"
Sakura looked thoughtful, "Because I know at least 4 ways to kill you without touching you... all without a blood limit." Her eyes darted towards the Uchiha before returning to the big blue skinned man beside him. Kisame let out a rather amused laugh while Itachi narrowed his eyes.
"Telling us such a thing does not give us much confidence that we should not kill you."
"Mhm. I guess not. Well, I mean, what do you get from it anyway?" She asked, her emerald eyes flashing like gems beneath the moonlight, her hair like liquid moon around her shoulders, some tucked beneath her mask. Both men may have been S classed shinobi, but even they could see when something is truly beautiful.
The two men traded a look, "We could keep you as bait for the Kyuubi friend of yours. Or maybe just keep you as a pet." Kisame mused.
"Well, I would be too annoying for you to keep me as a pet. If you mean to warm your bed, you may be many things, but I do not think rapists are one of them. That would be Hidan." Itachi and Kisame both raised an eyebrow at this. They weren't sure if they should take it as a compliment or be offended. "We kill and fight and steal. You think rape is beneath us?" Itachi asked dangerously.
There was a look in her eyes at the question that made them both pause, "I would hope so." She said softly before disappearing in a flurry of leaves. Both men were too confused and lost in thought to go after her.
The second time he had met her, she was sitting in a tree not too far from the Konoha border. She wore black shorts and a red tank top, her feet bare and her hair pulled into a messy bun on her head. She looked relaxed as she lie on the tree's limb. "If you're going to stare, at least bring food with you." She yawned as she stretched, and had he not caught himself, he would have smiled at this. It was bad enough he was staring at the girl as her arms raised above her head and stretched, her shirt hiking up over her stomach and showing gracious amounts of ivory skin.
"Well, I could always eat you." Kisame shot back, only for him to realize how that sounded.
"I mean, I wouldn't be too upset." She laughed lightly as she slowly stood on the limb.
"You act rather recklessly for a medic and shinobi. You're quite a bit away from home and you hardly look ready for battle." He chided.
Sakura shrugged, "People underestimate me all the time, works to my advantage." She answered simply, taking out two bars and handing one to him. Kisame stared at the bar in her hand for a long moment, "I could kill you. I should kill you. You should kill me. Someone should be dying right now, why are you offering me food?" He asked, truly stumped at the moment.
"Well you haven't killed me and I don't really feel in the mood to fight right now, so why not just have some food and enjoy the nice weather?" She answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
She looked at him.
Really looked at him and he knew she didn't see him as a monster, he knew she really saw him, past his name and what he looked like - she saw him.
And he saw her.
The first time they kissed, it has been several months of this game. Meeting during missions, pretending to fight only to get alone for at least a minute or two. Her solo missions became more frequent and they met each other more often. Itachi figured it out and while he would have liked the Pinkett for himself, he figured his friend (or closest thing to a friend he had since Shisui) deserved to have happiness as well, whatever that may mean in the world.
The first time they kissed, they were both soaked to the bone from the down pour, they'd been in the hotel and didn't even know it until they saw each other scouting. Itachi didn't need to be asked as he figured the two would eventually end up needing time alone, so he left for a while.
They tumbled through the door of her room and he kissed her right against the wall. They kissed so deeply and her body was flush against his. In the back of both of their minds, they knew this was wrong. They knew at some point they would have no choice but to be enemies again. To actually fight each other.
But right now, while they still had time, they didn't give a shit. Her body felt too good to him and his mouth was too warm to give up right now. Sakura moaned as Kisame bucked his hips to meet hers.
The kiss ended all to suddenly when Itachi burst through the room, "Konoha nin are here." He said suddenly, not bothered at all at his partners disposition.
Sakura and Kisame looked at Itachi before each other, sharing one last kiss before letting go.
It had been months before they eventually saw each other again. Rather, he and Itachi waltzed right into her home. It'd been a long day at the hospital and her body was hurting, her feet and legs felt dead, her chakra was at bare minimal and she had a headache that could kill a horse. Unlocking her door and slipping off her sandals, she walked right past the two men in her kitchen and went right into her shower.
The two traded looks and Kisame acted fast when he heard a thump in the bathtub. Walking into the bathroom, Sakura was lying unconsciously in the tub, the shower curtain pooling around her. Sighing deeply, Kisame pulled her from the bathtub and to her room. Itachi turned off the water and put back the curtain.
Kisame dried off the medic and put her into a pair of clean sleep clothing and sat beside her on the bed. He watched her sleep and something in his heart fluttered. "You shouldn't be here.." her voice came at some point, both men were in the room watching over her. "I don't want you guys to.." she whispered as she moved a bit, "Have to fight for nothing.." Itachi raised an eyebrow, why did she care about their well being? He wondered if this is why Kisame was so attached to the woman, she saw them as people instead of... monsters.
Kisame waved off her concern and brought her body to his. "It'll be fine."
"I'm so tired.." she murmured.
"Then get some sleep." Kisame shrugged.
Shaking her head lightly, "No. I mean I'm tired. Of this place. Of here. I'm locked in a hospital for months on end. I do everything for everyone else and at the end of the day.. no one is here to fish me out of the bathtub.." her eyes were glassed over from unshed tears. "I love my people. I love my village.. but I can't do this anymore. I'm just so fucking tired."
Before Kisame could say a word, Itachi prompted, "What would you do then?"
Her head shot up and the two stared at each other, "You plan on having Sasuke kill you." The shock that rippled over his face was amusing, "I'm not an idiot. I've seen a lot of scrolls and I know a lot of secrets. You want him to be the one to cleanse you of your sins. I hope you know what you're doing.." she gave him a soft smile, "I'm going to have him do the same for me."
Everyone remained silent and still. "You want him to kill you?!" Kisame hissed.
"No, you dolt." She shook her head, "I may be a little weaker than my teammates, but I'm smarter and have a few abilities of my own. I just need him to think he killed me."
"You want to be free without being a missing nin." Itachi murmured. Sakura nodded.
"What if you regret it. Once you leave there is no coming back, Haruno." Kisame said pointedly. Sakura nodded with a sad smile, "Shishou is leaving soon anyway, she'll be passing things to Kakashi and him to Naruto. She never wanted to be the Hokage to begin with." She shrugged, "My teammates have barely seen me in the last 4 years, haven't really heard a peep out of any of them so, I mean.. would it really matter? I have a lot of acquaintances, but only one friend... and she's already married and expecting. I'm just... here.." Sakura looked away, it was the most tired either of them had ever seen her.
"And where would you go? We can't exactly just live a normal life. If you're expecting us to have some fairytale ending or something like that, it isn't going to happen." His words cut her and she removed herself from the bed. "I'm not expecting you to take away my problems. I'm not expecting you to sweep me off my feet. I'm not expecting anything! I certainly didn't expect to fucking fall in love with you!" She hissed, both men staring at her.
"I'm not an idiot. I know there is no coming back. I know there is no "normal" life to lead after this. But I am still going and if you don't want to join, then that's your choice, I'm used to being alone anyway!" Tears were spilling now, her voice was angry but so sad too. This was the most emotion either of the men had ever seen from her, which was ironic because Itachi had only ever heard how annoying she was as a fan girl when she was younger.
"So you're not doing this for me?"
"No, I'm doing this for me.. it'll just be a perk if I get you too." Sakura said seriously, her eyes soft when watching the man with blue skin.
Itachi didn't need to be told to leave, so he exited the room and left them alone.
Kisame didn't pull the punches this time. This time, when he kissed her, they saw stars and white lights dancing behind their eyes. They made love that made the chorus sing Hallelujah.
Months would pass when Itachi would die by the hands of his brother and the village of the Hidden leaves would learn their blossom had wilted in the same fashion.
Sasuke cried as his chidori went right through the medic's chest. He had been expecting her to side step it. He though she would do something. But she didn't. Her eyes watched him as they dimmed, "I forgive you." She whispered as blood spilled from her mouth. And like that, the light in her eyes flickered out as if someone had snuffed out her flame.
When the boy had left, Kisame knelt beside the girl and sighed, he knew what he had to do, he only had so much time to do it and the brat took up a good majority of it.
He would bring her back, just how she told him to.
*.*.*.*.
The morning was warm, sunlight filtering through the window and birds chirping somewhere not too far away. The shower turned off and the man with blue skin dried himself off. Clothing, a cup of coffee and the man was satisfied as he sat on the front steps of his small home. He breathed in deeply as a smile graced his lips, "Tag! You're it!" Cried a young voice, a high pitch laughter filling the air as a tiny body flung it's self onto him. "Hey now, where's your mother?" Kisame laughed loudly, "She's over there." The boy pointed. There stood a woman with deep red hair and blue eyes, he smiled warmly at her, then love filled his eyes at the sight of the woman she spoke with, the woman with pink curls and green eyes who was heavy with her own child.
"Think you're ready for that?" Sakura laughed as they sat down so Sakura could put her feet up.
"Don't think there's much choice at this point." He smirked.
"I suppose not." The two kissed.
They played the game and won, and what better prize could they have received?