"Oh Kisame-san, you're so manly." Itachi wailed, throwing an arm dramatically across his forehead and swooning over. Kisame caught the teen in his thick muscular arms, they bulged with pure power as Kisame flexed them.

"Yes. I am. Now come on doll face. Give me a kiss..."

"Oh but I cannot! My hear belongs to another!" The Uchiha cried out, tilting away from the epitome of manliness and awesome before him. Kisame offered a roguish grin.

"Can they do this?" He asked as he flexed his arm again and the pure masculine movement had caused a nearby village to blow up. Itachi threw his arm around Kisame's shoulder and threw his head back, showing off a gorgeous expanse of pale flesh for Kisame's hungry manly gaze.

"Take me Kisame!" He begged, tearing off his clothes and leaving himself naked and beautiful in front of the testosterone oozing sex god before him.

"Bullshit." The Uchiha stated, pulling Kisame out of his story. The kiri nin offered the boy a teasing grin.

"Yeah, but it makes for a good story." He replied before sighing and settling back. "Now where was I..."

"Tell the real story, not your creepy porn version." Itachi stated, crossing his arms stubbornly. The nin sighed.

"Fine..."

It had been the cold season and Itachi and Kisame were being sent on their first undercover mission. The Uchiha was being disguised as a child prostitute in order to seduce a client who was known to have preference for children. He was dressed in a red kimono with his hair piled into a bun. Kisame would easily admit that it did his heart good to see him snobbish partner so uncomfortable. He took each step carefully in the heels he wore. The kiri nin was tempted to push him over in the mud but would wait until the mission was over.

They approached the brothel and twice Itachi slowed down, face devoid of emotion but tense. Kisame sneered.

"You suddenly a wilting flower, Uchiha?" He barked and the boy looked towards him, eyes blank. "Get your ass up here. We don't get paid if you don't do your job."

Not that he was going to actually have to fuck the creep. Itachi was far too young to be doing that shit. There was a line Kisame drew for any shinobi and Itachi having sex at fourteen was one of them...well...at least with some wrinkly pedophile. If he wanted a girl or guy his age that would be different.

Pfft.

As if prissy Uchiha actually knew what to do with his dick or mouth. The brothel was crowded and Itachi stuck close to the kiri nin, allowing Kisame's large frame to clear a path for them. Kisame's eyes scanned for their target. He was unsure on why someone needed personal information him nor did he care to know. A job was a job and he would be getting paid nicely for this. Finally his eyes found the man matching the description. Long thin beard and heavy set eyes. He studied the man, awaiting confirmation and when one of the prostitutes called him by name it was confirmed. He looked down to his partner and nudged him with a leer.

"Ready to shake your ass for that guy?" He motioned to the man called Eto and Itachi looked towards him, nodding slowly. Kisame lightly pushed him forward.

"Pein gave you the briefing. Get the information and if shit gets weird signal for me."

The Uchiha nodded and glided forward, dipping his head and somehow the effect was instantaneous. Kisame watched as several patrons turned to look at the pretty Uchiha, including Eto. Kisame took a seat at the bar and observed the man study Itachi who offered him a shy smile and duck his head. Eto smiled, patting a napkin to his sake stained mustache and stood up. He was a short man, barely taller than Itachi and his stomach protruded in a way that showed he was wealthy and lavishly fed. Eto approached Itachi and the boy shyly lowered his eyes. Kisame nearly laughed. The brat was a natural.

Kisame ordered himself a sake. All the Uchiha needed to do was bat his eyelashes a bit and get the creep drunk. He only needed to be killed if he became a threat to the mission. No doubt Itachi would not want to kill the guy so this left Kisame with little to do but wait for Itachi to return. He leaned in his seat and offered the woman standing next to him a slight grin. If she was put off by his appearance she his it well and returned the sly smile.

He was onto his third cup when he chanced a glance back to Itachi when he realized he and Eto were gone. Kisame slowly stood, handing his sake to the girl and leaving her, not hearing her muttered words. He walked forward. Neither were in the room and yet he could sense Itachi's chakra still in the building. Kisame took to the stairs leading to the bedroom, two at a time, shoving past drunken patrons. A long hallway of doors greeted him. Cursing Kisame made his way down the hall. Itachi was in one of these rooms...had Eto managed to overpower the snob and drag him to a room? An uncomfortable pressure filled Kisame chest as he opened the first few doors. The patrons inside barely noticed him and he moved on to the next door.

Several doors down he finally sensed the kid's chakra again coming from one of the rooms. Kisame approached the door and twisted the handle open, the bedroom inside was enveloped in light from the hall and Kisame stared in at the single bed. He could see a pair of thin legs wrapped around a man's waist as the man struggled to get his pants down. He noticed that the feet were small and the toenails painted a dark purple. At seeing those too little feet, Kisame lost all control and he was suddenly charging forward, not even drawing Samehada. Eto turned, eyes bulging in shock as Kisame bared down on him, grabbing him by the head and twisting until a snack reverberated through the musky room and Eto fell forward across Itachi's body, dead.

Itachi lay in silence for a moment, his eyes inactivated and coldly curious. His eyes met his partners and instead of Kisame seeing fear or gratefulness from being saved from the rapist, the boy looked highly annoyed.

"Why did you do that?" Itachi snarled, pushing the dead man off him and sitting up, naked as the day he was born. Kisame bared his teeth, throwing Itachi's robe at him.

"Why did I...? What the fuck were you doing!?" He snapped back, indicating to Itachi's splayed legs.

"The mission." Itachi hissed as he casually rose from the bed, not in the least bit bothered by his nakedness in front of his partner. Kisame turned away, feeling uncomfortable with seeing his kid partner naked with some assholes bite marks on him. The boy dressed lazily, annoyed by Kisame's odd behavior.

"You willingly let him do that?" The kiri nin asked in obvious disgust. Itachi shot him a glare.

"We needed the information, which sadly we will never have because you killed the target."

"I thought he was raping you..." Kisame muttered, small eyes narrowed.

"Obviously he was not raping me." Itachi replied as if Kisame was the dumbest person he had ever met. The kiri nin scowled. He moved forward, quickly approaching Itachi who stood his ground.

"I don't know how it is in your little town, but here we don't have kids spreading their legs for information. We have more dignity than that." He bared his teeth at the kid who fought down a snort.

"Dignity? Us. How quaint." Itachi shot back and Kisame's anger gave way to confusion.

"You're a kid." Kisame muttered facing the boy.

Itachi stared uncomprehendingly, the lines under his eyes prominent. Kisame shifted uncomfortably. Itachi had his robe on but it was still open, hiding nothing of his body. Kisame could not help but reach forward and pull the cloak closed. Itachi blinked.

"You're too young to be having sex." Kisame murmured. "Especially with fully grown men." The look Itachi gave him was so lost that in an instant Kisame's blood ran cold and he stared at the tiny kid in shock.

"You're...not a virgin are you."

"No." Came the whispered reply.

"And it was with an adult?" Kisame murmured and Itachi nodded.

"That's why you understand all the sexual comments and...shit..." Kisame trailed off. "I made fucking jokes about you fucking your way to promotion." He understood that no kid not even someone like Itachi could give consent. They were too young.

Rape.

If there was one thing...one crime that disgusted the kiri nin it was rape. It explained so much yet left so many questions unanswered. He shot a glare at the dead man, suddenly wanting to do nothing more that to get Itachi into some clothes and get him home.

"C'mon," He managed, not looking at the dead man or the Uchiha. "Let's get out of here..."

Itachi stared at Kisame, head resting against the pillow offered. He fought down the smile that threatened to form on his lips.

"How chivalrous." He murmured and Kisame shifted uncomfortably.

"It was a turning point." He conceded. He watched the Uchiha look away, eyes unreadable.

"You would have been the first person to tell me I was more important that a mission. That I mattered. My own father..."

"I know." The kiri nin stated softly. Itachi slowly sat up, the blankets still bunched around him.

"I never thought we would get along." The boy murmured. "I thought one of us was doomed to be killed by the other. I'm relieved it changed." He offered Kisame a slight smile which was returned. It had been the first time in days that Itachi was not drowning in the guilt of leaving his brother. Danzō was not plaguing his thoughts. For the first time in days he was relaxed and smiling. Something that had once taken years for Itachi to do in Kisame's presence. Kisame glanced at the clock. It was dawn. They had been sitting here talking all night. He grinned at Itachi was had made himself comfortable under the covers.

"Want me to show you the library?" He offered and watched Itachi's eyes light up.

The hideout was hidden beneath a large rock formation, making it appear part of the foundation. Kakashi eyed the structure carefully. There was no way to sneak in. A ring was needed and Itachi had taken his when he fled. Genma however had come with several explosive tags and was handing them out to the gathered nin. Sasuke took his tag and studied it for a moment. His katana was strapped to his back, newly sharpened. Kakashi watched the teen, lazily twirling his tag in his hand. One by one the team moved forward, placing their explosives down and darting back into the treeline. Genma waited until the last person returned before making the hand signs.

Sakura covered her ears in preparation. Sasuke stood at the ready, hand on his weapon and face devoid of emotion. A moment of utter silence filled the area. Everyone waited with baited breath.

The explosions went off in perfect sync. The ground shook and the foundation of the hideout trembled violently as it began to crack. Sakura cringe back but Sasuke was already moving forward, drawing out his katana and charging through the falling debris.

Inside Itachi had been scaling the wall to look at the books when the first explosion rang. He turned sharply, eyes narrowed and Kisame who had been sitting at a nearby table stood suddenly. Suddenly the room began to shake violently and the books on the shelves spilled over, Itachi with them. Kisame swiftly moved forward and caught the boy, setting him on his feet. The room continued to shake and they knelt low, waiting for it to be over. Books struck them and the shelf tipped over. Kisame pulled Itachi forward, towards the middle of the room, when the explosions stopped.

"Stay here." He ordered and moved for the door. Itachi stared after the kiri nin for a moment. The library was in shambles. That explosion was not normal and already Itachi had a sinking feeling of who it was. He let out a low breath and closed his eyes.

Kisame rushed down the hall. He could hear Hidan cursing as he emerged from his own room, forehead bleeding.

"Pein and Konan are still gone?" Kisame called over his shoulder and the Jashinist nodded. Zetsu made his way down the destroyed hall.

"It's the Uchiha kid and several shinobi." He informed the kiri nin who cursed.

"How the fuck did they find us?" He snarled. He took Samehaha and the three made their way towards the hideout entrance. True enough Sasuke and several Konoha nin stood at the destroyed entrance of the hideout. Sasuke moved forward, expression reminiscent of Itachi's bored annoyance. His eyes locked with the kiri nin's. Kakashi moved around the debris, eyeing the Akatsuki. Shikamaru had come for his own reasons and stared at Hidan who looked amused by the whole situation.

"Where is Itachi?" The Uchiha drawled. Kisame snorted.

"You must be a special sort of stupid of you think-"

"Otouto." Itachi's voice broke the silence and Kisame clenched his eyes shut as Sasuke's gleaming red eyes moved past him to stare at Itachi who stood among the rubble. His cheek was bleeding and his eyes were inactivated. Kisame fought the urge to yell at Itachi to run. That he wasn't prepared to face Sasuke. Instead he took a step back in the boy's direction, face stony.

Sasuke's lips curled into a chilling sneer. Kakashi drew out a kunai, his focus now on the biggest threat in the room. The taller Uchiha took a step forward and Itachi followed suit. Still unarmed, and still not prepared. Kisame stood with baited breath, fingers itching to grab Itachi. The brothers had eyes only for each other. The rest of the room did not exist. Itachi could hear his future self in his head calmly telling him that Sasuke was not ready yet. That Danzō was too much of a threat for Itachi to die. Sasuke stared at his sibling, cold fury swarming in him. His knuckles were strained white on his katana. He watched as Itachi activated his eyes and stared at him blankly.

"Come to kill me foolish little brother?"