In one of the merchant villages in Rain Country lived a woman named Megumi. She worked as a bartender in a seedy izakaya located in its central district. With dark hair, dark eyes, and her signature dark lipstick, she exuded an air of someone who was immune to intimidation. It made the shop's most troublesome patrons think twice of harassing her. And they should. What the locals didn't know was that Megumi was actually a rogue kunoichi from Takigakure. Majority of her earnings came from working as a sleeper agent for one of Akatsuki's most formidable members: Hoshikagi Kisame.
That late afternoon, her handler dropped by for a visit just as he said he would through the falcon he had sent days earlier. And just as she hoped, he brought with him his handsome partner. After instructing the newly-trained bartender to man the drinks, she led the two into a table located in a secluded corner of the shop.
"Nice to see you Kisame-san. And you too Itachi-kun," she said with a wink. "My, my, talk about puberty done right. Handsome doesn't even cut it. This godforsaken hellhole could use an eyecandy like you every once in a while."
"Good afternoon to you too, Megumi-san," Kisame greeted. Itachi merely bowed quietly.
"Look, we can't stay long," the swordsman started. "Tell us what you know."
Two weeks ago he had asked her to gather information on the possible whereabouts of a man named Roshi. He was a shinobi from Iwagakure who decided to leave his hidden village to become a wanderer. He was also identified as the jinchuuriki of the four-tails, which made him Kisame's target.
"Lucky for you, Roshi the Wanderer wandered into this very bar barely a month ago," Megumi replied. "He was cute. Could do without that ridiculous ginger beard though. And he was a bore to talk to. Never said more than two sentences at once."
Megumi poured a shot of sake and handed it to Itachi, who took it with a thankful bow.
"Did he mention anything that could clue us in on his current whereabouts?" the younger shinobi asked. The kunoichi merely grinned at him and raised an eyebrow.
"You know the drill 'tachi," Kisame said. "Drink up."
Itachi said nothing and downed the drink in one go. He settled the shot glass on the talbe and smirked back at Megumi.
"Atta boy," she sang before continuing. "It took a while but I managed to squeeze out a clue of where he's headed. Roshi-san wants to go somewhere to hone his skills. From what you told me, he specializes in Lava Release. Jutsus like that are better honed by practising amidst large boulders. I have enough reason to believe that he's heading west for the quarries of Stone Country."
"Another agent reported that he was spotted visiting the Tsuchikage six weeks ago. If he had come from Earth Country, why not head straight south for Stone rather than making a detour for Rain?" Kisame asked.
While her handler spoke, Megumi had poured another drink of sake and handed it to Itachi. Before she could pull back her hands, he took her wrists and gave them a firm squeeze.
"Megumi-san, if I drink this I want to make sure it counts."
Holding on to her left wrist, he tilted his head back and downed the drink before pressing it against her palm and curling her fingers over it.
"Talk," he ordered, abruptly letting go of her.
"Gotta love Uchiha men," she sighed. "Because of border control. For decades now Earth has been salty towards Stone. It all comes down to politics. I don't know the details but it's enough to make Earth Country take extra security measures to make sure that what's theirs remains theirs. Think about it. The Earth daimyo would have a massive stroke if he finds out that one of his country's weapon for mass destruction is seen waltzing into enemy territory. Assuming he wants to avoid drama, he enters the country's borders through Rain. This place is far too deep in its own mess to be of any threat to Stone so they are more lenient. And just in case my awesome deduction skills cannot convince you, I followed him all the way to the border. Saw him go past it myself."
Kisame snorted. "You could've skipped all that story time if you had just told us that beforehand."
"And cut precious quality time with my boss and his colleague? I wouldn't dream of it."
Kisame took a few more drinks from her before declaring that they had to start moving. It would be nightfall soon and they had yet to find a place to stay.
"You can stay over at my place. I'm sure I got room for two more," Megumi offered, winking at Itachi.
"Thank you Megumi-san but it's wiser to head west and find shelter there. That way we cover more ground," he replied.
"Tsk. Such a shame. Oh well, if you change your mind all you gotta do is knock."
The western part of Rain Country was more rural. Houses and buildings were far in between and stretches of its roads were lit with nothing but moonlight. In its nearly empty road trekked two cloaked figures whose faces were hidden under straw hats.
"You're aware that if you had said yes you could have boned her right? I wouldn't have minded." Behind Kisame, the Samehada growled as though in agreement.
"There are more pressing matters to deal with. We have a four-tails to catch. I wouldn't write that down as an easy task."
Kisame frowned at his younger partner. "Since when did you turn into a prude?"
"..."
Then as though a lightbulb lit up in his head, the swordsman's face broke into a smile. "Heh! Or maybe I'm reading the entire situation wrong. You haven't turned into a prude Itachi-san. You just got picky...or I daresay committed.
Itachi continued to stare straight ahead. In his face was a look of nonchalance.
"What theories have you come up with now?"
"I have a few but I'm not gonna talk about it just yet." Kisame turned to Itachi with a grin. "Say, you look positively glowing for someone who was at death's door three days ago. Whatever sorcery Sora-san did to you must have been pretty hardcore."
It had to be. There was a mighty expensive crack on the minshuku's floor to prove it.
"She is one of the best," Itachi replied. "Overshadowed only by Tsunade-hime and her apprentice."
"Yes but it can't be just that."
The Uchiha turned to look at Kisame questioningly.
"Shio-chan was a bright ball of sunshine this morning too, all smiles and blushes and shit. I wonder...it must be something in the water." Kisame tapped his chin with his index finger as though in deep thought. The gesture elicited a quiet chuckle from Itachi.
"Perhaps," he replied, the word laced with laughter.
"Ah. Kids nowadays..."
As their playful exchange died down, the duo fell into another bout of comfortable silence. It was only interrupted by the crunching of gravel under their feet. Itachi looked up at the bright moon above them. It was a beautiful waning crescent bordered by a sprinkle of twinkling stars. It looked more surreal than it had been the night before.
'Not that you were paying attention to it that much,' he thought to himself. Oh no. His attention was entirely focused on something else.
She had been staring at him for some time now. Itachi had been feigning sleep but the minutes had ticked by and she had not shown any interest on anything else aside from him. It was beginning to make him feel antsy.
"You're creepy when you stare like that," he declared with a hoarse voice. When he heard her surprised gasp, he opened his eyes and smiled at her like a satiated cat. Shiori continued to stare.
"I can't help it. You have annoyingly beautiful girly lashes. You don't deserve them. It's maddening really." Then she added as a whisper, "Oh and you're naked."
He lifted his head to look at the thin sheets that covered them. Sometime while they slept, it had slid down to their hips.
"Oh..."
"Yeah..."
His gaze trailed up to meet hers once again. "So are you."
Shiori squealed as Itachi rolled on top of her. He gave her a lingering kiss and rested his forehead against hers, contented at how pleasantly warm she felt against him. They were polar opposites. Cool and warm. Hard and soft. Fair and olive. And yet they moulded together perfectly. Thoughts of last night along with the feeling of her thighs against him made his blood run hot once again. He went in for another kiss, one which was more urgent than the last and made a disapproving sound when Shiori pulled away.
"I have to get up. Konan-san will be here in an hour."
"So? How long does it take for you to get ready anyway?"
"After last night? An hour."
'And that's if I'll be able to walk straight,' she added as an afterthought.
Itachi activated his Sharingan and checked the cat-shaped clock which hung on the wall in front of him. "Konan-san always arrives at five on the dot. According to that thing, we still have eight minutes and 52 seconds left. 51...50...49...48-"
"-And you're seriously going to waste all that time counting backwards?"
Itachi merely smiled and continued counting. "44...43...42...41-"
Shiori cut him off by gently nibbling at his lower lip. He pulled the sheets off of them, exposing their bare bodies to the cool air of dawn.
"I want to see you," he said. "All of you."
Shiori shrugged and flipped them over so that she was straddling his hips. A victorious smirk spread on her lips as she saw the blush blossom on his chest and slowly creep up to his neck and cheeks.
"I'm all yours to see."
Shiori could understand why the female merchant gave her a horrified look. One minute they were happily chatting about goods and trading marketing tips. The next Shiori had pressed her lips flush against the unsuspecting girl's forehead. It was a bold move, one that could have earned her a painful smack on the face. She had been lucky though. Her target was too shocked to move.
"You...um, looked-you looked feverish. Just-just checking," she stammered. "Happy bargaining!"
She turned tail and brisk walked towards Konan who watched the entire exchange five stalls away.
"That looked awkward," she pointed out, falling in step beside Shiori in the crowded town center.
"It was awkward. Let's hope I never see her again. Ever."
The two women slipped into a quieter alley and hid in the shadow of a pile of crates. Konan spoke up first.
"So what did you get?"
Shiori replied, "She's a frequent traveller to Tsuchigomo Village. One of her patrons there is a local girl named Hotaru. Last time she saw her, she was with Utakata. I can guarantee that based on the pictures you showed me. You find Hotaru, you find Mr. Utakata."
The dark-haired girl hesitated before asking, "So which one is he? A marked man or a jinchuuriki?"
Konan raised an eyebrow. "All jinchuuriki are marked men. As for Utakata, we need to act fast. If we don't get to him first, the Hunter-nins definitely will."
The Hunter-nins of Kirigakure were as resilient as they were deadly. They never took any prisoners. For them a mission would only be deemed a success if they had their targets' heads in their hands and those targets' bodies were cremated. Even Konan was wary of them. The kunoichi was pulled out of her thoughts at the sound of Shiori suppressing a yawn. She had been doing that a lot the entire day.
"Did you stay up late last night?" Konan asked out of curiosity.
"Of course not. Why would I?"
She could tell Shiori was lying but decided to drop the subject. "Fine. Anyway, your intel tells us that we need to go east. Itachi-san and Kisame-san are most likely staying west. Guess I have to return you to him first. I'll send them a message to meet us at the nearest headquarters from here."
Shiori couldn't remember any headquarters near the Land of Grain. The trek might take days and the thought made her yawn again.
"I guess we better start walking."
Their southbound journey was quiet and uneventful. Konan wasn't as chatty as Kisame and could stand not talking for hours. Shiori respected her personal space and entertained herself by gazing at the silhouette of clouds on the velvet sky. The thin crescent of the moon peeked behind a cloud making her smile.
"I heard Sora-san did an excellent job with Itachi," Konan said, breaking the silence between them.
Shiori nodded in reply. "She's awesome. You guys are lucky to have her around."
She never got to asking the medic-nin why someone like her ended up in a criminal organization. However Sora was the kind of person who always knew what she was doing. Whatever her reasons were, Shiori knew she would agree with her.
"I'm surprised you haven't lashed out at him for leaving you at Kawagakure."
Shiori shrugged. "Well he did make up for it by saving me from those Kawagakure shinobi. And he didn't exactly give me a chance to get mad." Before she could snap at him, he had drained all her anger and replaced it with panic by nearly bleeding to death. And then once that was sorted, it happened.
She had said it before and she would say it again. Itachi felt good. More than that, his tongue was another story. She learned it by firsthand experience that early morning. The young man had a knack for driving her towards the edge. Then just before she would go over he would stop, look up from between her legs, and give her that smug Uchiha smirk. It drove her crazy. He did this a few times until she begged at him to take her already.
"-or I swear to Kami I'll kick you in the face-"
He was inside her before she could finish her sentence, rolling his hips over and over and over again until she felt herself topple over the edge. He kissed her to stop her from crying out and then buried his face on the crook of her neck when he himself lost control over his lust. He gripped her hips so hard that she wouldn't be surprised if he left a bruise. And the noises he made...well...those will stay with Shiori until she reached her deathbed.
He pulled her on top of him after they both settled down. She rested her head on his chest, listening to the machine-like murmur of his faulty heart.
"What in the world just happened?" she drawled, feeling spent.
"Hn. You're welcome," he murmured in reply, resting his lips on the top of her head.
She chuckled, "Now I'm really going to be late."
"You have twenty-five minutes. I'm sure you'll be ready in twenty."
"And what of the extra five minutes?"
"For this." He put his arms around her and enveloped her in a snug bear hug. "Don't be in such a hurry to leave me."
Shiori said nothing as she hugged him back. She wished she could tell him the same thing, beg him to drop everything that he had sworn to die for and just be with her. She would never say it out loud but she wished he would choose her over his penance to Sasuke and over his beloved village which had branded him as a traitor. She would never say it out loud because she knew it was nothing but a pipedream. His plans had been set into motion before he even knew that she existed. And from his conversations with Sora, she knew it was too late to stop them. They were living in borrowed time. The best they could do was treasure these moments, to pay attention to every detail until all of them were seared in their memories.
Travelling to the nearest headquarters took five more days. Konan and Shiori arrived in the hidden lair first. It was an undergound bunker lit with old wax and furnished with nothing but the barest of necessities. Its empty state was a grim reminder of just how many of the Akatsuki had fallen. Everyone knew there would be more deaths to come. It was only a matter of when. To keep their morbid thoughts at bay, Shiori brewed tea which she and Konan drank quietly on the spacious dining area. The two women sat across each other, enjoying the comfortable silence until Shiori noticed Konan staring at her.
"Is there something wrong, Konan-san?"
"Something is different about you. I've been trying to put my finger on it."
"I must have lost weight."
"No, it's not that."
The younger of the two shrugged and gulped the last dregs of her drink before pouring herself another cup.
"Let me know once you manage to put your finger on it."
It was only late that evening when Kisame and Itachi arrived in the headquarters that she realized what it was. On the outside, the ward and her handler looked as stone-faced as ever, going through the exchange process with the formality of professionals. The only reason that Konan was able to figure it out was because whatever certain glow Shiori had Itachi had it too, like a switch had been flipped on within the both of them.
What those two had was beyond the cold relationship of a prisoner and her guard. Whether they acted on these feelings, Konan would never know. But knowing that it was there, it was happening and it existed made her smile. It was another reminder, that for all the bad things happening around them, something good would always come to maintain the balance.
Writer's Notes: First things first, a big BIG thank you to those who reviewed on the previous chapters (Ketsui Tasogare, pmann1, simplegirl42, cutepoison, a couple of Guests and many many more). You guys are the reason why I push on with this story for so long now, nearly a year apparently. I many not be excellent in updating but I do try. And I hope you guys enjoy reading this because I loved every minute of writing this story.
I know a lot of you guys love fluff but for those who cringe at the sight of it, please bear in mind that this is only part of the story. It's Itachi for cripes' sake. It's hard enough to integrate Itachi in a fluff scene a few times...putting him in one all the time is impossible. He wouldn't be Itachi anymore. XDD
The songs I Found by Amber Run and Certain Things by James Arthur were on when my 2-month-long writer's block finally broke. The last two chapters were named after them as a thank you to my muse for coming back. Surprisingly, I thought the songs actually fit well with what Shiori and Itachi have. Go on. Have a listen. They're really good songs I promise.
And as per usual, my only request for you guys is to leave a review and lemme know what you think, no matter how crazy. Rant in the review section, I'd be more than happy to read them all. I may not have enough free time to reply to you all one by one but please know that each review is something I treasure. Till next time.