I sat on my bed, grinding my teeth in frustration. It had been THREE WEEKS since my blasted plan had been put into action, and no progress had been made. If anything, my attempts at kindness were driving my partner further away than ever. I'd even go as far as to say that Kisame was starting to think I'd gone mad. Which wasn't too far off the mark, considering how absolutely ridiculous this plan would appear to anyone but me.

Nevertheless, I was no about to give up. I had started this fiasco with a clear goal in mind, and I was determined to succeed. The problem now was figuring out exactly where I'd gone wrong. Perhaps I was being too kind to my partner, and he suspected something. Maybe I could tone down the niceties, or alter exactly how my affections were displayed-

"Itachi."

I turned to look at my partner, who was standing in the doorway. Kisame was looking at me, concern on his face. He was probably disturbed by the fact that I hadn't noticed him when he'd first opened the door and walked in. Personally, I saw no reason for this to invoke worry. I had sensed his chakra signature as soon as he was at the door, and chose to ignore his entrance until it became necessary to acknowledge his presence. Clearly nothing was wrong with me.

I looked at him, offering a soft hn in reply to my name. "Pein's just given us our new assignment," he explained, unable to hide his smirk.

Although I withheld any outward sign of glee, I was actually delighted at the prospect of going out on a mission. Kisame and I had been at the base for far too long, in both of our opinions. This had resulted in restless behavior in him, and a stronger than usual urge to violently murder everyone around me. Missions were the one thing that kept both of us sane. Why the other groups detested being sent out is beyond even me.

Kisame quickly informed me of the departure time (sunrise the next day) and then handed me the scroll that contained all the data for our mission. No doubt he'd allowed his mind to wander in the presence of our leader and now expected me to read the information and form our plan of attack.

Immediately I picked up the scroll and began reading. This was exactly how I liked things involving our missions.

-n-

I allowed my lips to briefly curl into a smile as the man trapped in my Tsukiyomi let out a blood-chilling screech. Oh, how I'd longed for this.

My latest victim had an interesting fear; the sight of his own bones. Seeing the white as snow supports for the human body made him scream like there was no tomorrow. Which was exactly the case for him at this time.

I bent down by the man, who'd been tied to the ground for his torture session. Ignoring his pleas for mercy, I reached into the gaping wound I'd inflicted on his chest, my fingers curled around a rib. Ordinarily I wouldn't soil my hands with direct torture, but he made this all too fun.

The smirk still on my face, I snapped the rib between my fingers before ripping the bone out of the body, and tossing it away. Another cry of agony escaped his throat, followed by a sob. He was breaking, and fast.

As entertaining as our game was, I knew that my partner required aide back in the realm of reality. The smile fell as I stomped down on his throat, suffocating the life out of him. With that, I ended our game.

My world of red and black gave way to the array of colors present in the real world. The silence of the Tsukiyomi was replaced by the cries of ninjas in combat, and metal on metal as these people clashed.

Without missing a beat, a formed the appropriate hand sign to wipe out several of these men and women with a giant fireball. Now the stench of burnt flesh pervaded the air, making me wrinkle my nose in disgust. This is one of the reasons I enjoy Tsukiyomi torture so much. There's no messiness to it.

A quick survey revealed that my partner was holding his own against two other fighters. The men were using kunai blades against Kisame's Samehada. It was almost laughable, really. Those two didn't stand a chance.

I looked around the surrounding area, searching for any additional enemies. No more were visible on the battlefield, but a few could have easily slipped away while I was using my eyes, and Kisame was dueling others.

My suspicions were confirmed seconds later when a few shuriken flew through the air, aimed at my partner. Our opponents were trying to take out Kisame, since he was still engaged in combat, before moving on to fight me. Most would call this a coward's tactic; I could see the logic behind such a move.

My next move was both automatic, and immediate. However, it stands out in my mind because it's something I hadn't done since my days in the ANBU.

I extracted a few kunais from my cloak, and then, rather than throw them at the hidden enemy, I hurled them at the flying blades, deflecting them from my partner.

That was the first time I'd ever protected Kisame.