Itachi never bothered to check downstairs to see if Kisame and Ritsuko had left. He was exhausted from the long night and went to bed shortly after returning home. He had forgotten all about them. So the two spent the night in each other's arms; lying naked on the floor. Ritsuko stirred awake to feel warmth at her back and an arm wrapped around her waist. She felt woozy and light-headed as she struggled to wake up from a deep sleep. This must the lingering effects of a dream…one that she had often since the break-up. She groaned softly as she intertwined her fingers with his, causing Kisame to awaken as well. He too thought he was dreaming as he still cuddled her from behind. He planted a row of soft kisses along her bare shoulder, causing her to giggle.

"I love you Kaneko," he murmured.

"I love you Kankuro," she whispered.

Then both of their eyes flew open in horror. "WHAT?!"

She looked over her shoulder to see Kisame staring at her. She screamed and shoved him back. "Get away from me!" She reddened as she realized that he was stark naked. That was really weird. She felt a chill run down her spine and she rubbed her arms for warmth. That's when she realized that she was naked also. "Wha…how...?" Her voice trailed off in horror.

Kisame felt terrible and full of shame. How did it come to this? His memories of last night were all mixed up and jumbled around. He didn't remember what had led to this…all he knew was that it had to be his fault. He was much stronger than her; if he had used force then she would have been powerless against him. "I'm so sorry," he blurted out as he tossed her clothes over. Her shirt was ripped apart so he tossed his instead. They landed around her but she didn't move to retrieve them.

Her lips tightened into a thin angry line and her expression grew thunderous as fire blazed in her brown eyes. "Sorry?" She hissed as she trembled with rage.

He swallowed nervously and nodded. "I didn't mean to, you have to believe me-"

"I'll MAKE you sorry!" She screamed as she flew at him with flying fists. He tried to avoid them but they came too fast. She landed a few good punches which sent him flying hard into the wall, knocking the wind out of him. Then she fell to her knees and threw up. She had pushed herself too far in her hung-over condition. Her body ached, her head pounded, and her stomach heaved as her throat burned. When she stopped she started to cry, trembling from head to toe. She felt so exposed, so vulnerable, so violated. How could this have happened? She flinched as she felt a blanket drop down around her shoulders. Kisame knelt beside her with a black eye and a split lip but he looked sympathetic. She saw the regret in his eyes and realized that he had spoken the truth. That wasn't the face of a rapist. She scowled and looked away, determined to think ill of him.

"I'm gonna press charges," she threatened.

"I'll drive you to the police myself," he said contritely.

"Oh you would, huh?" She chuckled grimly as she forced herself up to stand, wrapping the blanket around tighter.

"Of course," he said seriously. "It being a mistake doesn't justify it."

No it didn't, at least they agreed on that. He quickly pulled on his pants and zipped them up. "I'd recommend that you showered and cleaned up…but you'll need the evidence."

She frowned softly but knew that he was right. Still she didn't relish the thought of putting on clothes that reeked of sex. But she didn't have a choice.

He left her alone in the room to change and went upstairs to find Itachi eating breakfast. Thankfully he was alone. "Oh did you end up staying the night?" The Uchiha asked casually enough. He paused when he saw misery etched on his friend's blue features. "What's wrong?" Kisame couldn't bring himself to speak. The reality was damning enough, to say it aloud would be hell. Itachi slowly stood up. "Kisame?" He prompted again but his friend remained silent. Just then Ritsuko entered the room wearing her wrinkled clothes and Kisame's shirt. Itachi's eyes grew impossibly wide as he realized what had happened and turned a sickly shade of green.

Nothing was said for some time as Ritsuko found it hard to look either man in the eye. "Can I use your phone?" She mumbled. "I need a ride."

"I can give you a ride," Itachi said quickly as Kisame also said, "I'm giving you a ride, remember?"

She glared scathingly at him, making him flinch. "I think you've done enough," she said tersely.

"She's right," Itachi said with a face full of fury. He couldn't believe that Kisame would do something like this, especially to his girlfriend's best friend. "You will wait here until I return," he said firmly.

"What are you, my mother?" Kisame asked sarcastically. He felt bad enough without everyone acting like he was some kind of criminal.

Itachi grabbed hold of his collar and yanked him down to eye level. "Don't you understand what you've done?" He hissed in a deadly quiet tone so that Ritsuko couldn't hear. "Some consequences will not be so immediate."

Pregnant. Ritsuko might be pregnant. That's what Itachi was implying. Kisame found the very thought suffocating. "I'll wait," he squeaked.

Itachi released him and turned towards Ritsuko with a gentle serenity. "Right this way."

She followed and Kisame stared after them as they walked out the door. Then he sank into a chair at the table and covered his face in his hands. "What have I done?" He asked miserably.

Ritsuko decided to sit in the backseat, not wanting Itachi to see her. She wrapped her arms around herself as her head rested against the window. She wrinkled her nose at the manly scent that came off the shirt. Then she realized that her skin reeked of it as well. She felt disgusting and used. She tried hard to remember what exactly had happened so she could include it in her statement to the police. It took some time to piece most of last night together and the result surprised her. She…had been the one to come on to him. Strange, why did I do that? She thought with shame. But then again it made sense. She only drank herself stupid because of her heartache. She not only missed Kankuro but missed companionship, affection, love…perhaps she'd been projecting that onto Kisame instead. So then…he wasn't entirely to blame. That shattered her image of him as a chauvinist. Then she recalled the spark…that intrinsic feeling of intimate connection. She lowered her gaze as she started to wonder if…perhaps it was…

"I'm sorry," Itachi said sympathetically.

Ritsuko looked up to see his sad expression in the rear-view mirror. "Would you say…that Ki—" she swallowed, having a hard time bringing herself to say his name. "That he makes a habit of taking advantage of girls?"

"No," he said solemnly. "In fact he often makes it a point to avoid attachment altogether. You see…" he sighed. "His fiancé left him…a few years ago."

"Why?" She asked curiously.

"She cheated on him with a close friend of ours and they married instead."

She thought about that for a moment, not that it really applied to her situation apart from the knowledge that Kisame wasn't the kind who threw himself at women. So…why her? Surely he was strong enough to resist the sloppy seduction of a drunk. She tried harder to remember…but all that came was an image of them kissing passionately with the words "meant to be" Where the heck did that come from?

"So where would you like me to take you? The police or the hospital?"

"Take me to Shizako's."

He started at this. "But surely you want to press charges."

"I…haven't decided…that is…" she sighed as she pressed a hand against her pounding forehead. "Take me to Shizako. I need her."

"Very well," he purred softly as he turned down a different road. Nothing more was said…what else was there to say? The unspoken loomed overhead with suffocating pressure. But to talk about it wouldn't solve anything either, so the silence remained.

Once he pulled into the driveway Ritsuko tore out of the car and pounded on the front door. Shizako opened it. "Suko? Where have you been?" Ritsuko threw her arms around her friend as she started to cry. Shizako hugged her back but looked completely confused. She looked up to see Itachi's sad face through the glass. She looked to him for answers but he shook his head and put the car into reverse.

Shizako led Ritsuko inside to her room. Ritsuko clung to her, sobbing into her shirt. Shizako sat on the bed and silently held her, letting her cry it out. She knew better than to demand answers, Ritsuko wasn't forth-coming unless she wanted to be. Still Shizako was really worried and scared. Last night Itachi said he was going to drop her friend off later since she was too drunk to be reasonably moved. But she had fallen asleep waiting for her return. If only she had made herself wait, if only she had called to double check on what was taking so long…she felt terrible. At last Ritsuko's wrenching cries began to soften into sniffling sobs. Then she pulled away and Shizako handed her a box of tissues.

"Thanks," she mumbled as she used several of them. At last she went still, her gaze downcast.

Shizako rested a hand over hers, patting it reassuringly. "I'm here," she whispered.

Ritsuko looked up with blood-shot eyes. "I had sex."

"You did?" Shizako gaped. "With who?"

"K-Kis…ame." She forced it out.

Shizako's eyes bugged out of her head. "You're kidding me." Ritsuko glared fiercely and she quickly retracted her statement. "No, of course you're not. I'm sorry it's just that…wow!" She said in a rush. "I just can't believe he'd force himself on you like that."

Ritsuko reddened. "He…didn't."

"He didn't?" Shizako repeated. "You mean that you-?"

She nodded as she went even redder. "I was so blasted drunk that I came onto him."

"And he didn't stop you?" She asked incredulously.

Ritsuko smirked deviously. "I'm not as gentle a lover as you are."

Now it was Shizako's turn to blush. "How would you know something like that?"

"You're not as desperate as I am," she explained. "You have loved ones who care about you and you're secure in that knowledge. I…don't really have that. I love hard, lose hard, especially when it's comes so fleetingly."

Shizako frowned in thought. "Are you saying that you did this on purpose?"

"Of course not," Ritsuko huffed. "I probably mistook him for Kankuro in the middle of a hallucination." Then she paused. "No wait…that's not right."

"What do you mean?"

Ritsuko groaned as she pressed a hand against her head. "I…knew it was him…and not Kankuro. I…asked him a question right as I kissed him."

Shizako perked up with curiosity. "What question was that?"

She tried really hard to remember and then growled in frustration. "Oh I don't remember anymore." She may not have remembered the question but she began to remember the connection. His touch had run soul deep, bringing peace to her troubled heart. She'd never experienced anything like that before. Again it made her wonder if maybe…

"Well…what do we do now?" Shizako interrupted her thoughts.

Ritsuko's hand curled into a fist. "We forget that it ever happened."

"What?!" Shizako protested. "You can't keep a secret like that!"

Ritsuko raised a questioning brow. "You haven't told your parents that you sleep with Itachi. How is this any different?"

"It's completely different!" Shizako snapped. "I use protection and it's a choice we made together!"

Ritsuko didn't back down, instead she looked sad. "But if I report him to the police, they'll have to tell Niigata," she said, saying her foster mother's last name. "If she knew then she'll send me away for sure."

Shizako didn't doubt that, she was aware of the rocky relationship the two had. "But he deserves to be punished!"

"But I was every bit as responsible," she confessed. "I shouldn't have gotten so drunk and made a pass at him. I'm…more to blame than he is."

"I don't buy that," Shizako growled. "He's a man, he could easily refuse you. He should be punished! What if he got you pregnant?"

Ritsuko stared at her in amazement as the concept finally hit home. She wasn't on the pill like Shizako. Niigata wouldn't allow it. Still Ritsuko wasn't an idiot, she knew better than to have unprotected sex…well…except for this one time. And once is all it takes…

She swallowed nervously as she pressed a hand against her queasy stomach. "Well…let's just hope that I'm not."