Author's Note: Well hello! ...again. So I totally wasn't planning to update this anytime soon - not yesterday, not today - not until May at the earliest. But as I said in the last chapter I wanted to update to mark this story's one year anniversary and as a gift to someone very special to me. And I should've mentioned this at the end of the last chapter, but this is part 2 of 2 (the last chapter took place earlier in the day) and I couldn't bear to not finish what I started! (that and I have homework that I really don't feel like doing right now sooooooo~ yeah!) Hope you enjoy another Kisame chapter!

He had a purpose.

Kisame came with a purpose today. And bringing Itachi Uchiha to tears over his lack of hair was not a part of Kisame's agenda.

"Do you know what hexomethomelomide is?" He found himself saying.

"Excuse me?" Itachi asked, blinking a few times to dispel any tears that might threaten to fall.

"Hexylmethmelomide. I don't think I'm pronouncing it right, but I was wondering if you knew what it was."

Itachi slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I've never heard of that word before. Why?"

Kisame shrugged. "It's nothing really. I saw it written on an IV bag in the hallway and was wondering if you knew what it was." He supplied, feeling stupid now for asking. It did not, however, stop him from closely examining the IV bag hanging by Itachi's bedside for the word he was looking for.

Itachi stared at him at length before reclining back against the bed, the barest of smiles gracing his lips. "Sorry, but my specialty is in accounting, not biochemistry."

"Yeah, you're right, I should've figured that." He chuckled. "Are you starting to feel any better yet?"

"I'm happy to not be retching into a bowl three times a day." He answered. "But other than that, I don't feel much differently than when I was still living at home."

"I see."

And with that, both men had grown silent, Itachi staring into his lap and Kisame staring somewhere into the space beyond Itachi's bed.

"Kisame?"

"Yeah?"

Itachi rubbed at his left thumb nail which was growing rather long. "Why did you come here today?"

Kisame never noticed it before but if you only saw Itachi's hands, you would think that he was a woman, based on his finely manicured nails. When he looked up to find Itachi staring at him from out of the corner of his eye, he registered that he had been asked a question. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Itachi sighed in exasperation. "While I appreciate the visits, I don't think you came here to inquire what various chemotherapy drugs do, am I right?"

Unfortunately. "Yeah." Kisame laughed. I have a purpose. But while he could remind himself of his purpose all day long, it didn't stop the fact that Itachi was waiting for an answer and Kisame's lips weren't moving. "I looked into those classes. For my auto mechanics certification."

Itachi raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What did you find?"

"Well," Kisame started, "it turns out I don't need to take any classes. I just gotta pass a certification test."

Itachi nodded in approval. "That's good. How much does it cost?"

You never beat around the bush, do you, Itachi? "The registration fee is thirty-six dollars and the test fee is seventy-four."

"One hundred and ten altogether." Itachi whispered under his breath. "That's not bad. Where would you take it?"

"There's a location about twenty minutes away from here by car."

"That's not bad."

Kisame slowly nodded. "Yeah. Not bad at all."

"Is there a problem? You sound unsure."

Of course he picked up on that. Of course. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing."

"Is there something you're not telling me? Because if it's a matter of money, we can come up with a plan—"

Kisame shook his head. "No, it's not that." Should I tell him?

"Then what is it, Kisame?"

"It's just that…I hate taking tests." He admitted. "I've never been a good test taker. I flunked the written part of my driver's test three times before I got it right even though I knew how to drive"

Whether he was crunching numbers in his head again or thinking of a clever insult to hurl at him, Kisame didn't know. All he knew was that Itachi was thinking of what to say in response.

And after what felt like three minutes of silence, Itachi spoke. "While I don't know how the questions were worded when you took your driver's license exam, or how well you actually knew how to drive, I can tell you this: you've been a mechanic for over twenty years, correct?"

Kisame nodded. "Yeah.

"You've been taught everything you know from Suikazan, who must have had some form of accreditation if he was able to own and operate his own auto repair and maintenance shop, correct?"

"Right."

"And was there ever a time when you worked on a car without his supervision?"

"Yeah, all the time, actually." Kisame answered and started to realize where Itachi was going with this.

"I may not know how skilled you are as a mechanic or what kinds of questions will be on this exam, but I'm sure that with the experience you have, this test will be a breeze. You just need to remind yourself to relax and take your time with it."

Kisame nodded in agreement. Deep down inside he did know what he was doing and was confident that he could answer any of the questions he came across on that test. "You know what? You're right. And besides, there's some online practice questions I could study I guess."

"That would be a good resource to study from and I highly recommend that you use it." Itachi said. "Do you have a date in mind for when you would like to sit the test?"

"Not yet, no."

His roommate nodded. "Well be sure to let me know so that I can wish you luck on the day that you decide to take it." He smiled. "And on the subject of payment…I know I said that I would allow you to live in my apartment rent-free but that was on the pretense that you would be taking classes that would conflict with your work schedule."

"I completely understand. I want to thank you for the offer, Itachi, but I'm going to have to decline."

"Alright."

"And you don't have to worry about that hundred-dollar test fee. I'll pay that myself too."

Itachi blinked in surprise. "Are you sure? The least I can do is pay for you to take the test since I insisted you pursue it in the first place."

Kisame shook his head. "It's fine. It's a small fee. I can pay for it myself. It's no big deal."

"Are you sure?" Itachi asked, skepticism lacing his voice.

"Positive." Kisame reaffirmed.

Seemingly content with Kisame's answer, Itachi allowed himself to relax and leaned back against the bed. "Alright. But if anything comes up, be sure to let me know so we can work it out."

"I will." Kisame said and rose to his feet. "Well I should probably get going so you can catch up on your rest."

Itachi, who had already closed his eyes, raised his eyebrows in response first, before opening his eyes to meet Kisame's. "Yeah. Thanks for stopping by, today."

"No, thank you for encouraging me to see this through."

"It's nothing, Kisame." Itachi dismissed.

"You may not think so, but I do. And let me tell you something," he said evenly, "Sasuke is lucky to have an older brother like you."

The feels just keep coming and coming, don't they? *evil laugh*

I wanted to point out real quick that Kisame keeps butchering the name of the chemotherapy drug he saw last chapter. The first time I wrote out that long word that started with an 'H' I wrote it correctly. Every time thereafter, Kisame has been butchering it in some fashion because he can't remember how to pronounce it.

****To everyone who reviewed the last chapter: Thanks for the lovely reviews as alwayssssss~! They give life to my day, they really do. I will respond to them later though because I'm lazyyyyyyyyyyy

I can't say I know where I'm going with this now. I think the next chapter will be a Kisame chapter but I haven't really decided yet.

Stay tuned and expect to hear back from me mid-May or so!

Until next time~!

Sasori33-001