Author's Note: You know who you are. And you told me that I published this on April 24th when I knew that I published this on April 23rd you little shit. Oh well. It's all said and done now. Happy one year of knowing you and I hope you appreciate the lengths I went to in order to make it special.

To the general public: If you're confused you have a right to be. I published this story about 1 year ago and I thought it'd be special to post a new chapter in order to both commemorate making it 1 year and still being invested in this (even though at times it seems like I've gone M.I.A) and more importantly, as a thank you to my very first reviewer (on this account), The Secret Sal and the unlikely friend I've made in him.

~This chapter is dedicated to you~

Motor oil, transmission fluid, antifreeze, washer fluid, brake fluid, and power steering fluid. Those were the types of liquids Kisame dealt with on a daily basis for the past twenty-two years. And sweat. There wasn't a day where he didn't wipe sweat from his brow when he was elbow deep in the hood of a car or catch a whiff of the stench of his pits when he was hauling two high performance all-season tires under each arm.

In his profession, Kisame met lots of people who had never even heard of the term "anti-freeze." Liquids, when exposed to temperatures below thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit freeze. The same is true for the fluids in a car. Antifreeze makes sure that fluid doesn't freeze. To Kisame, the logic was simple.

But all around him, nurses and patients were walking down the hallways rolling little metal carts beside them with transparent IV bags dangling by a hook with words like mechlorethamine, chlorambucil, cyclophosphamide, and hexamethylmelamine.

How anyone could pronounce and remember what all of those things meant and did was beyond Kisame, who wouldn't question what the nurses were injecting into his arm if it meant that it would buy him more time to live.

He could only imagine what it would be like to be in Itachi's shoes right now. But he and Itachi were nowhere near the same. Itachi was a college graduate (who probably had a Master's degree or maybe even a doctorate for all Kisame knew) whereas Kisame was a high school drop-out. Itachi was a successful business man who made more than enough money to pay the bills while Kisame was working two part-time jobs and living with a stranger he barely knew just to stay off the streets.

Itachi probably knew what hexamethamelomime did. He probably read the bag out of boredom and understood everything it said as if it was the back of a nutrition facts label. Kisame didn't even understand the back of nutrition facts labels half the time which tells you how much he knew about chemotherapy drugs.

Education aside, Kisame felt bad for his roommate who was confined to a twin-sized hospital bed (which was probably hard and scratchy) reading the back of IV bags all day (if he wasn't spending all his time throwing up like he was the first week of his stay).

When Kisame reached the door of room 341, he curled his hand around the cool metal door handle and took a deep breath to calm his nerves before he entered because as Itachi's visitor, he should be the calm and collected one, right? Right. With his new resolve, he turned the knob and slowly pushed the door open.

Since the day Itachi was admitted to the hospital, his hospital room assignment had remained unchanged. Until this week apparently.

Inside sat a pale faced woman with a black knit hat on her head. She had dark, well defined eyebrows and eyes such a dark shade of brown that they appeared to be black.

"Sorry, I thought this was someone else's room." Kisame uttered and promptly turned on his heel to make a speedy escape. He'd have to flag down a nurse or something and let them know that the nameplate on the door was wrong to avoid any future mix-ups like this from happening again.

"Kisame?"

How did the cancer patient know his name? And then it hit him. He recognized those dark, well defined eyebrows, the same ones that had examined him so carefully the day they first met along with those dark brown eyes that seemed to go on forever when Kisame looked into them but also never gave him any clues as to what the other man was thinking. "Itachi? Is that you? What happened to your—" He began to say when Itachi screwed his eyes shut and tilted his head back as if waiting for Kisame to drop the last word like the final blow that would be his undoing.

"Hair."

"Huh?" Kisame asked and moved to grab a chair from against the wall.

"My hair." Itachi elaborated and opened his eyes to stare at Kisame. "You don't have to be afraid to say it."

Kisame nodded in understanding but didn't know what to say next in response. Setting the chair down next to Itachi's bedside, he decided to say the first thing that came to mind. "So what happened to it?"

Itachi cast his gaze downwards. "Sasuke shaved it all off the other day. He said it would be better to simply get it over with instead of waiting for it all to fall out on its own or worse, wake up completely bald."

Kisame nodded when it hit him. "Wait, that happens?"

Itachi nodded as well. "It can."

"Did he like his present?" Kisame asked, hoping to change the topic.

"Yeah." Itachi responded.

Kisame couldn't help but chuckle. "So you bought him an expensive fountain pen and the little shit shaved your head? That's pretty fucked up if you ask me." He joked.

At this, Itachi closed his eyes and smiled slightly. "That's what little brothers do, unfortunately. They return your affections in very unorthodox ways."

"Well I guess I'm not missing out then, huh?"

"He doesn't shave my head every time I do something nice for him. Sometimes he glares at me, other times he belittles me, but most of the time he raises his voice and tries to make me see his side of things." Itachi mused.

Kisame leaned back his chair and howled with laughter. "Well now I'm really glad that I'm an only child!"

And to his surprise, Itachi let out a short chuckle too. "Does it look that bad?"

He was referring to his hair, or lack thereof, Kisame realized. "It's…different alright" He started and immediately cursed himself or his lack of tact. "I mean, it'll take some getting used to…but it doesn't look all that bad…"

Itachi didn't look very convinced. And Kisame didn't blame him in the slightest.

"Thanks." He murmured.

Kisame knew he was supposed to say something. Something that would make Itachi feel better about all of this. But what did you say in a situation like this? "Why do you ask?"

"No particular reason. I was curious since you didn't recognize me when you came in earlier."

He had to think fast. "It just caught me off guard is all. Monday you had hair, and three days later you don't!"

"Hm." Itachi hummed.

In that instant, Kisame sensed a change in Itachi's tone. Even though Itachi hadn't actually said anything, there was a hint of sadness that Kisame was all too familiar with. "It's just hair."

"I know that, it's just…different. That's all." Itachi sighed. "I definitely feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders but it'll be strange looking at myself in the mirror from now on."

Kisame nodded. "That's understandable. But it was bound to fall out soon or later, anyways, right?"

Itachi nodded.

"And with or without it, you're still the same person you were on Monday. Your hair doesn't define you, your words and actions do."

"Yeah." Itachi agreed.

And out of the corner of his eye, Kisame saw the corners of Itachi's smile falter for a split second before stabilizing again. Was he about to? No, he couldn't have been. Kisame thought. But just to make sure, he tried to meet Itachi's downcast eyes.

And sure enough, they were glassy with tears.

Not really sure how I feel about this chapter to be honest with you folks. I started it in March as a side project, and finished it today as a spur of the moment Sentimental Sunday type of deal for a close friend. I know it doesn't compare to the last chapter and I might revise it in May when I have more time and energy to put forth into good writing...or I might leave it be and pick up with chapter 39 in May when, like I said, I have more time and energy to put forth.

But I hope you enjoyed it anyways and know that I'm not dead - I'm just really, really busy!

Until next time~!

Sasori33-001