April had arrived, Kisame smiled observing what he had done with her hands, also respecting the foreseen times. The permits to start his business were there, the gym had all the necessary machinery and tools, the changing rooms, the bathrooms, the infirmary.
The staff was full, it consisted of three people. The secretary Karin, a young girl fresh from studies who had done a specialization in the branch. To be completely honest, Karin had taken a specific course to become a notary secretary, as a result she had presented there with the totally formal approach she had learned of the office. Kisame had noticed this by the way she looked at him forcing her gaze to flick over to her through the lenses of her reading glasses as he explained things to her on her first day on the job. The immaculate shirt buttoned strictly to the top and woe to forget an unbuttoned button, the long red hair gathered in a high and very tight chignon from which it would have been a crime to let a few small tufts escape. About ten days had to pass before Karin noticed the sunny and positive climate that was actually breathed in that place. Thanks to Kisame's smiles and jokes, the girl had started to melt by showing up with her hair free, letting her jaunty fringe frame her forehead. The gray cotton trousers had given way to short jeans that revealed her skinny legs up to above the knee and the shirts in which she bundled up like a mummy had been replaced by brightly colored tank tops that were always different, also considering the progressively growing.
"I hate exposed bra straps." Karin had even begun to confide in Tsunade, the junoesque doctor who had been hired on a stable basis as head of the infirmary, naively considering her an expert on the subject.
Given the vast size of the gymnasium and Kisame's plan to further enlarge it, it had been necessary to hire all these figures full-time.
"Honey, the problem isn't so much the shoulder pads you see. More than anything you should get a good push up, what size do you have, the first or the second?"
"Ehm…" Karin's cheeks were blushing while Kisame had turned away to hide a laugh, meanwhile he pretended to dust the abs bench.
The third member of staff was himself, both owner and technical director. His life's dreams were finally coming true, however it hadn't been easy and Kisame had the impression of being back from a long and exhausting battle.
I know, Tayuya, you should have been there instead of Karin. Or perhaps you would have preferred to pursue your musical talent? I never knew practically anything about you.
Yet Kisame and Tayuya had been married for three years. The fact that Kisame had lived away from his family for as long as his studies required led him to believe that he could lead his life on three different tracks and that these would never cross.
Perhaps finding compromises is the key to managing life well without causing pain to anyone. Right, after all, life is made up of compromises, always.
The first track, the official one, had been precisely this, the life that everyone expected him to lead. He had no longer found the courage to turn off the family's smile, he had already done it once in the past and perhaps this had caused him more pain than the parents themselves. At stake was also the gratitude towards the fact that they had allowed him to follow the course of study that he had always wanted by helping him financially, for this reason Kisame had avoided repaying them with further disappointments. The day Tayuya had gone to his house for the first time, Kisame had realized how his fate was already in a certain sense decided. He had had a kind of premonition through which all the future already built had appeared.
If everything had worked out as it should, he would have given a serene future to both him and the people around him.
Naruto was the second rail, the preferred one but not the main one. The blond knew everything about him, he had been the only person with whom Kisame had never been afraid to express himself and speak openly, he had been the first to know about the decision that Kisame had taken to marry Tayuya, even before his parents, still before the same future wife who was still waiting for an affirmative answer to the proposal she had made to him.
"Kisame, I am pleased to see how you always try not to hurt anyone, this shows the greatness and goodness of your heart and I am honored that you have thrown it into my hands. But perhaps in this case the person who will suffer will be Tayuya, condemned to a life of non-love used a bit like an object to exhibit and that's it. Forgive me for being so direct, Kisame, I'm doing it for you since as far as our relationship is concerned, absolutely nothing changes."
Naruto had accepted that choice with his usual maturity and empathy.
It was true that nothing had changed in their relationship, since Tayuya often had concerts on weekends, Kisame and Naruto continued to see each other as before. Tayuya knew it, even she herself sometimes went out with the whole group, she was aware that an intense friendship existed between her husband, Naruto and Kiba. This was part of the norms of a normal life, after all even she herself needed to confide in Samui sometimes. Kisame always came home later than her on the weekends, often after she was already asleep, yet she calmed down when she found him next to her the next morning.
"Did you have fun with your friends last night?" she asked him as they sat at the breakfast table. Kisame wanted all meals to be healthy and done on a regular basis.
"Crazy, as always. You know those guys are a earthquake" Kisame smiled the way he thought he should be having his own wife as he made his own bowl of yogurt, cereal and seasonal fruit.
"I'd appreciate it if you came to one of my concerts sometime." Tayuya had made an effort to assume her husband's healthy habits, but that didn't stop her from perched on the chair with her legs crossed in the most twisted way possible.
Kisame was trying to be natural trying to come up with something plausible.
Naruto needed to talk.
Kiba's car is being repaired and he needed a ride.
It was supposed to be just a quiet drink then we got carried away.
Naruto drank a little too much so I stayed over for the night.
In reality Kisame always remained blond at the end of each evening, often the unbridled sex they had together made him stay away even for weeks from his duty as a good husband. And he was certainly a good consort, Kiba and Naruto were good guys, they had even acted as witnesses at their wedding. During lunch they animated the whole table of guests and the evening of dancing which lasted until almost dawn. Even Tayuya had carved out her space of about an hour to play and sing, receiving the applause of the guests. Kisame just looked at them, Naruto looked happy as if this was a normal marriage. And it really was, he had been able to look so far ahead that he already knew that his relationship with Kisame would not have been compromised.
"Kisame, love certainly cannot be canceled with a signature on a piece of paper, even if one of the four is mine" the blond had chased him into the restaurant bathroom, in the middle of the ceremony, to reassure him about this.
Immediately after the blond had glued him to the wall to steal a kiss from him, neither of them was touched by the fear that someone might enter.
"Sorry, Kisame, but you look so good in the tuxedo that I couldn't resist, if I were you I would wear it more often."
Kisame was completely certain of the first sentence that Naruto had addressed to him entering that bathroom only a few hours away from the fateful Yes.
He realized it even just by looking at Tayuya in her wedding dress, with those bas-relief embroidery on the skirt that seemed to come straight from a tablecloth, and the phosphorescent pink Converse that occasionally peeked out from underneath.
The third rail on which Kisame's life flowed for now was rusty, dead and half forgotten, even though he knew it existed in the depths of his mind and was there just waiting to be traveled to reveal his mysterious destination. How unknown was the face of that dream that often made him jump at night, whether he was at home, lying next to Tayuya, or whether he was knackered after an evening of sex in Naruto's arms. Kisame was trying to grasp what was hidden behind the round and disturbing holes of that hideous mask.
If I can't know what your face looks like, I would like to at least understand what color your eyes are, maybe I can see them if I concentrate.
He always woke up without having succeeded. He thought about this while he made love to Tayuya closing his eyes. And here the female body that he had in his hands was transformed into a lithe, thin and candid one, he passed his hands through her red hair which turned black between his fingers. When he reached orgasm, Kisame imagined the tight hips and firm buttocks of the dream. Sometimes Tayuya had wrapped her thin legs around his waist, he had imagined them slender.
The muscles tense in the effort of the pose… you are better than this…
"Kisame, you seem distracted" his wife had turned on her side, giving him her back.
"What are you saying, why? Yet it seemed to me that you liked it" Kisame was running the tip of her forefinger casually on her bare back, lightly brushing her.
"I wasn't talking about tonight, you are always distracted, towards me and towards feelings. Sometimes it seems like you love me but sometimes… you don't."
"I don't quite understand what you mean, will you protest giving me more concrete examples? And yet you've always been a direct woman, you've never gone around the conversations without hitting them" Kisame had stopped stroking her back by putting that arm under his head.
"There is always something that for one reason or another is more important than me. Naruto, sports, even when you're at home you can't wait to sink your head into some book. You never offer me any activities to do together, you never come to see my concerts. I believe that when you love someone, you also want to spend time with them."
"Damn, Tayuya, this is not like you. Naruto is my best friend, sport is my job, I'm a personal trainer and I have people to follow. I've heard you play dozens of times at home and in the evening I'd like to take a break and relax, if you allow."
Tayuya sighed without turning around and without saying another word.
Can't I be your distraction, Kisame? You obviously don't feel comfortable in my company.
Kisame got up irritated from the bed to go to the bathroom completely naked. He looked at his reflection in the mirror, he wasn't bothered by her but rather by himself.
You were right Naruto, I put Tayuya in the position of not being loved and as a result she became the victim of this choice. However I'm afraid someone else was harmed as well, it's you, Naruto.
The first few months, while he was making love with Tayuya, Kisame's thoughts had turned towards that blond who had relieved him countless times of problems and anguish by always finding the right words at the exact moment in which they had to be said. His company had allowed him to drive away loneliness, get to know himself and his true desires. The blond had entertained him, had taught him to make flaws a strength, thanks to him he had forgotten the difficult experience he had with Madara, and then that boy loved him. But for some time Kisame had had the impression that his train had passed over a switch without him being fully aware of it. He had been diverted, without any jolts, towards that forgotten and rusted third track with an unknown destination.
A faceless dream. Who are you? What is your name? How do I find you?
It was Naruto who unknowingly showed him that binary remained buried in his mind without dying completely, his life divided into three watertight compartments had done the rest. Kisame was trying to drive away that dream, that faceless man, but by now he had found himself thinking about him even while he was with Naruto.
"Why don't we go to Susanoo this weekend?" Kisame's eyes were lost on the pastel green ceiling of Naruto's house.
He had slipped an arm behind his head forcing his impossibly muscular body to remain relaxed. That question had come to him immediately after having sex and realizing that his eyes had remained more closed than open trying to replace Naruto's body with that of his dream.
"I must confess that I no longer feel the need to go to that place, I find everything I desire in you" the blond had embraced him placing small kisses on his companion's powerful and smooth chest.
"But actually I meant just for fun, like that, to do something different." Kisame placed a kiss on Naruto's golden hair.
The blond leaned his head on the other's chest without saying anything.
And so you got there, Kisame, you have someone you can't leave aside. You will try a little more to push it out of your head but this will only reinforce that thought you want to put away. It will become an obsession and end up draining all your energy. I know you are having this experience for the first time in your life. I'm ready to step aside but still remaining your friend, you'll still need me in your troubles but I'm glad to see the worst are over. Helping others is the thing that has always made me more complete.
Naruto had fallen asleep hugging Kisame with a smile on his lips.
It wasn't that Saturday or even the following one. Kisame had made an effort to concentrate as much as possible on work, for now he had a job as an employee in a large sports center, however his lifelong dream was to start his own business by opening his own gym. It wasn't certain he would succeed, but throwing in the towel without trying wasn't like him.
You don't frequent this place, why? And yet you have a trained body. Maybe you're a loner and outside of your job you don't like being around lots of people.
Kisame sighed as he stood in the shower at the end of that long day. The train on the third track was accelerating more and more and it was no longer possible to get off without hurting yourself. He fixed his hair looking in the mirror, over time the thin bracelet that Sarana had given him had ended up tearing, while the one with the silver skull with bright eyes was always firmly on his right wrist.
Before opening the door of his dark green Land Rover Defender, Kisame took out his cell phone for just a second intending to turn it off, looked around as if he was committing a crime before slipping it back into his pocket. Kisame had traveled that road only once in his life, on the evening when he had celebrated his graduation, but he automatically remembered it, one meter after another, as if he haunted it every day.
Nothing has changed since that occasion, like the road downtown traveled first with Madara, then with Sarana and finally with Naruto. The streets are always the same what changes is you, that's why you have the impression that sometimes they hurt like a thousand knives while others are able to light up your eyes with smiles.
No one knew who was there that night, Kiba, Naruto or even his wife. Before stepping out of the Land Rover Defender, he left his cell phone dormant in the glove box. He felt like a vacuum in his stomach as his black leather loafers landed on the Susanoo parking lot. However, the feeling gradually subsided as he waited his turn at the entrance, that time no one had booked well in advance so he had to wait patiently in line.
Several times the thought of turning back, getting into the car, and hopping back onto the first-track train to go and have dinner with his wife crossed his mind. But by now the exchange had taken place, the trains have no steering because the tracks decide the direction, once on it it is impossible to get out.
Kisame only really felt safe once he was hit by the music and the green lasers that cut through the smoke bombs on the main dance floor.
The thin and petite bartender with bob hair was always there, kind and smiling with her big girlish eyes. Like the first time Kisame took his favorite drink of hers, the Cosmopolitan. It was as if he had his own way of being superstitious, going back to places where he had hopes that something was going to happen, he tended to repeat the same actions that he had done the previous time.
Yeah, like when I was comparing Madara to all the things that came after him, and then what do I hope happens tonight?
He didn't sit down right away in front of the bar, but he preferred to move to the opposite side of the dance floor.
If that solitary boy were to return I could not forgive myself for having made his doubts worse.
Kisame laughed to himself watching Choji's performance. He realized that he hadn't valued that chubby boy the previous time, he was certainly someone who hadn't had a simple life. Kisame knew what it meant to deal with bullying especially during the delicate age of adolescence and for Choji it must have been no different. Maybe those butterflies that he had embroidered on his shirt and as a pendant on his necklace represented that grace and lightness that he craved but that he had never had, maybe he kept his brown hair so thick and long in an attempt to make his cheeks appear less round. And then his way of reacting to the teasing and insults of the public said a lot, he was used to responding in kind, it was probably a training that he had been forced to start very early.
Irony and self-irony are qualities always developed by people who have suffered so much in life.
New dancers had been added after Choji's comedy. Kisame sighed sensing that maybe his third rail was really dead and aimless.
Well, on the other hand, more than three years have passed and something must have changed, people even get tired of doing a job like this. From now on he'll just have to hope to meet you casually on the street. But I don't know your face and maybe you've changed cities.
He shook his head resignedly getting up from the table, walking towards the entrance he was already thinking about what he could tell Tayuya to justify himself when the announcer's voice off screen announced the names of Yahiko and Shisui. Kisame, who was about to go through the door, stopped as if struck by an arrow.
"So what do you do, go out or stay? Make up your mind because you're blocking the entrance."
The station master had whistled, in a few seconds the train on the third track would close the doors.
And now I have a one-way ticket.
Kisame retraced his steps, his eyes adjusting to the multi-colored lasers again as he saw the redhead and the dark haired rubbing each other on stage. The rotating pole dance pole was still there and the two dancers who were performing were now not touching it.
He's there for someone else.
Shisui had taken off his studded leather jacket smiling mischievously and winking at the audience that had begun to delirious, by now Kisame was close enough to see his eyelashes full of mascara and dark eyes marked heavily in pencil. Yahiko's pierced arms wrapped around his torso tracing the lines of his abs with his red-enamelled fingers.
People started crowding in front of their managers, the bidding had begun.
Kisame was still waiting. Yahiko's eyes really did have those purple tinges he had first noticed. The dancers kissed with their tongues, Shisui's hands squeezed Yahiko's trained butt, his hair looked like living fire, the combination between that color and the red of the pants and nails was perfect. The train was running but the Kisame station hadn't arrived yet, he was still waiting while a smoke bomb had started to spread a thick fog that remained low, covered Yahiko and Shisui up to knee height. Kisame narrowed his gaze as he unknowingly walked under the stage. Something slightly moved the layer of smoke glued to the ground at a point away from Yahiko and Shisui.
Maybe it's just a blast of air, after all, it doesn't take much, the audience is screaming like a madhouse and the vibrations would move a mountain.
A big man with olive skin and long black hair had come up under the stage, planting himself there with his arms crossed and his mouth drawn into an annoyed pout. Kisame recognized him instantly, he was the one who had scolded Naruto three years ago when he had come to the table to offer him the weasel after conquering him.
Kakuzu, the tight-lipped manager. They usually pair him with the most coveted dancer.
The intensification of delirium that Kisame was around confirmed his thoughts. Kisame instinctively approached the manager, saw his bright green eyes scrutinizing him severely. Kisame approached even more as if it were now a personal challenge.
I wonder if he remembers me too?
Gentlemen, I hope that by now you have not exhausted all your energies screaming because I dare not imagine how many deaths of heart attacks there will be from now on…
The screams of the audience so overwhelmed the mysterious announcer that they had to turn down the music and turn up the volume of the microphone to allow him to continue.
Are your pistols loaded? Do you already have the shot in the barrel? I hope so because now whoever shoots it first wins. It's still him, the star, the weasel!
Kisame felt himself suddenly lighten up as he saw Shisui and Yahiko bend over to put their hands under that thick curtain of low ground mist, his bleary eyes registering that slim body being lifted by the other two over their heads, lying down and facing the high. Shisui squeezed his ankles while Yahiko had grabbed him by the shoulders, the mysterious dark hair's long hair ended up on his head mixing with his fiery hair. They made that body turn on itself as if to show it well to the public while the weasel stood as still and tense as a board, this time already wearing only that system of belts around the body and black stiletto heels.
Kisame swallowed with a dry mouth seeing the weasel's body become softer to adapt to the suspension imposed by the other two before throwing him onto the pole. He gripped the metal, using the rotation to cushion the blow. He was born to fly, his crossed legs gripping the pole with just the start of his thighs leaving the rest of him elegantly forward, knees slightly bent. The masked dark haired supported the upper part of his body by passing the pole under his left armpit, his free right hand forward, his cheek hidden by the mask resting on the pole. He let himself slowly slide down as he continued to spin, a slight quivering of the muscles.
Why don't you use the right? Clearly you are not left-handed.
Yahiko grabbed him before he hit the ground, hugged him to his chest before throwing him into Shisui's arms who caught him on the fly, the dark haired hair parted in the air. Kisame staggered in dizziness.
I feel faint, but if I want it I have to get moving.
He approached Kakuzu who had never taken those strange and bright eyes off him. It didn't matter that he fired higher and higher figures, Kisame engaged in a fight to the death with two other guys at least as fierce as him. After ten minutes it ended in a draw. Kakuzu had stopped for a moment as if he were thinking intensely instead of shooting an even higher figure as he would have been used to.
"All right, you won, I can see that you really care. Your eyes aren't just ravenous like other people's. It almost seems as if you have arrived at your destination after a long journey."
Kisame couldn't believe his ears, Kakuzu had caught in him not only a difference but also the truth, perhaps he was a friend of the weasel as well as being her manager and that choice had been dictated by this.
Hey, that's not right!
Ugly greedy, I'll never set foot in here again!
Who's this? He's new, a rookie, he doesn't deserve the weasel the first night he comes!
"Shut up and be thankful I don't kick your ass out!" while he scolded the rude customers, Kakuzu motioned for the weasel to get off using his index and middle fingers.
Kisame stopped breathing as he observed that perfect body from the bottom up, the slender and elegant legs going down the ladder, the slender figure seemed to vanish in the spotlight.
Kisame suddenly found that mask in front of his face, as in his dream, he concentrated on the round holes to try to see the eyes.
I will only be able to breathe again if I see them.
His breath didn't come back as he watched the weasel's abs and ribs move to the rhythm of his breathing quickened by his recent stunts. Kisame wanted him, perhaps from the first time he had seen him more than three years ago, but other aspects that had gradually made their way over the years were added to the ardent desire for him. Kisame almost seemed to read the pain behind the mask, the weasel didn't use the dominate hand and his talent was just too much for a place like that.
Why all this? What tests has life forced you to undergo? What compromises? You are thinner than the first time…
Kisame was certain that he could read the answers to all his doubts in those mysterious eyes.
"Come on, let's go, you only have twenty minutes."
Kakuzu's rough voice wasn't enough to make him breathe while he walked with his eyes fixed on the candid back of the weasel caressed by the beautiful raven hair, so smooth and shiny that it looked like silk. His body was slim but still toned, his buttocks and legs looking like they were made of marble. Crossing the track with Kakuzu opening the way for both him and the masked dark haired, Kisame turned for a moment to his right, clearly feeling the weight of a gaze fixed on him. He came from two black, large eyes, a beautiful face increasingly hidden in raven hair, the fringe ever longer and perfectly combed sideways to the right. He hid the pain behind a frown and loneliness.
I'm sorry you still couldn't help your brother after all this time, I would if I could.
Kisame was displaced for a few seconds as he entered the purple penumbra of the private room.
"Do you want something to drink or do you prefer me to put on the music right away?"
The weasel had a gentle, persuasive voice, made to put anyone in front of him at ease.
It was the mistakes you made in your life that made you this way, didn't they? You fear that emotions may lead you to err again.
"I'd like us to sit down for a moment."
"Okay," the weasel walked in perfect balance on his thin stilettos.
"Take off those heels please, they make you unnatural."
"Do you want me to take off my shoes?" the weasel gave no inflection to his voice, always calm and alluring.
"Do you usually wear stuff like that in your life? I don't think so, you're doing it because you're being ordered to by this place."
Kisame turned towards the pink curtain that separated the private room from the prying eyes of the other customers, a slight movement had attracted his attention. Kakuzu's shadow was out there, surely the big man had looked inside for a moment on hearing the unusual speech.
The weasel had taken off his shoes pointing out to Kisame how even his toenails were painted the same purple as his hands, his body appeared slim and slender even without wearing those things.
"Come on, come sit down" Kisame felt the need to prod him by patting the red velvet with his big hand.
The dancer, as soon as he had seen him position himself on the couch, had walked towards what was definitely a smaller version of a dance floor. The dark haired complied, approaching and sitting down without making the slightest noise. He had purposely attached his body to the muscular man's. Kisame couldn't stop his eyes from watching the weasel's butt settle on the smooth and soft sofa, he was so light and delicate that he seemed evanescent. It was impossible for Kisame to stop the erection. The dark-haired man began to caress his client's powerful thighs. Kisame immediately grabbed those elegant and white hands, gently stopping them.
"Where do you come from?" he asked the weasel without leaving his hands neat and small compared to his.
"Lots of different places."
Nice answer, shocking. His willingness to keep his true identity hidden was evident. Kisame wasn't at all sure about getting out of there with his face and his name in mind, however when you had to do the right thing you had to try hard.
The moment is now.
Kisame sighed starting to massage those white hands with his thumbs almost unconsciously: "I've watched your performance, I've never seen anyone move like that. Shisui and Yahiko are simple dancers so they wouldn't be able to grab onto a thin pole on the fly and always keep a perfect pose, after being thrown almost at random like a balloon. I'm sure you're much better than you let on. You are an acrobat, aren't you?"
The weasel remained motionless and silent, breathing regular, no stiffening of the muscles and no trembling, he did not try to free his hands from those of Kisame.
"You won't believe it but I've been wondering for over three years why someone with your skills ended up in such a place; and why, even though you're not left-handed, you don't use your right hand."
This time the dark-haired had a reaction, he slipped his hands from that delicate and gentle grip to rest them on his thighs: "It's not what you think, this is a serious place. No one has sex, it's just exhibition."
"Do you take me for a fool? I know what lap dancing is, even if you don't really do the guys who come here, when you dance on them it's like you do, you're still selling yourself. Clearly this job is not for you. You're too talented to throw yourself away like that."
Pronouncing these words, Kisame had quietly placed his hands on the weasel's shoulders looking intently at those sterile round holes as if to make sure that his speech was successful. When he released him he noticed that the palm of his right hand was full of foundation.
"Did you come all the way here just to talk?"
"Yes, because contrary to what you are led to believe, people can also care about you. Maybe there is someone out there who loves you even if you think you don't deserve it."
This time the dark-haired sighed, Kisame perceived it clearly both with hearing and seeing the movement of the bare chest wrapped in his straps.
"My name is Kisame, this is my number" he handed the dark-haired his business card on which, in addition to the telephone, his profession as a personal trainer was also written.
"Your time is up, Kisame." the dark-haired got up from the sofa with his calm and phlegmatic movements to start disappearing through the small door that was camouflaged at the back of the room.
Kisame smiled made happy for two reasons: the weasel had accepted the ticket he had offered him, and he hadn't recovered his stilettos leaving them abandoned there on the ground. He was certain that soon he would no longer need to wear them.
Kisame decided to relax, he really needed it. As beautiful as the masked dark haired's body might be, there were other priorities.
You're not used to attention from others, are you? The day you understand the value of this and that you too have the right to enjoy it, you will finally throw off that mask.
Kisame headed briskly in the direction of the bar, noticing that the lonely boy was gone.
You only look at him, but still your questions have not been answered, and neither have mine.
"Do you want another Cosmopolitan?" the bartender's voice was shrill but she managed to be kind at the same time.
"Yes, thank you" Kisame was impressed by her good memory, so he decided to take advantage of it: "Do we know anything about that boy who was alone at that table before?"
The smile disappeared from that woman's delicate face, her big brown eyes suddenly became sad, she spoke in a low voice as if she feared being overheard by someone: "His brother works here, he's the masked dancer they call weasel. That boy has been coming for years because he suspects it but unfortunately the major didn't have the courage to tell him the truth. They haven't had it easy since they were little. I hope things settle down soon because it's a pain to see the same scene every weekend."
The arrival of other customers forced Kisame to take his drink and sit down at a nearby table.
And so he covers your tattoo with foundation.
Kisame had to calmly finish his drink to allow all the intense and tumultuous emotions to settle down. Then she got up from the table ready to go home to put up with Tayuya's tantrums. His gaze was drawn to someone wearing a tight-fitting, long-sleeved turtleneck shirt.
The base color is dark red, but above it it has black streaks that look like ink dropped from above…
He could never forget such a garment, he had seen it in a shop window to recommend it to Madara. He instinctively approached, the man was in the dim light and was talking to someone on the phone. Turning away, he didn't see Kisame approaching despite his bulk.
"I understand, Kakuzu, unfortunately I can't do more than give advice."
Kisame could never forget a voice, even after many years.
"No, unfortunately the situation has not changed with either of them."
"Obito?"
The dark-haired man turned in his direction, caught the phone on the fly, which was about to crash to the ground after it had slipped out of his hand while his mouth dropped dramatically.
"Sorry, Kakuzu, let's finish the speech one more time" now his voice was crossed by a slight tremor.
"Obito!"
"Kisame, I can't believe it. Come to my office, we have a lot of things to talk to each other."
This time it was Kisame's turn to cross that sterile room and so white as to hurt his vision like the glare of the snow.
It was Kisame who went to him so he felt it was his duty to break the ice once they were seated facing each other: "I chose that shirt, I recognized you thanks to this. Madara should have given it to you… that Christmas."
Obito sighed closing his eyes and pressing his fingers between his forehead: "I know, I understood that. I remember very well your words of that evening, they sowed the seed which then flourished thanks to my wife. Rin, she's the bartender, you've definitely seen her. She was the girl I lost in the accident that killed my parents. She had walked away because she couldn't handle the situation, we were both very young at the time. As you can see, things settled down with her, while with Madara…"
"I haven't heard from him since that evening" Kisame was trying to remain calm, but inside his emotions were pounding like a river in flood.
"Me neither, he signed his discharge from the hospital two days later and vanished. He didn't even pick up his things from my house and didn't show up at my wedding, of course I've never stopped looking for him since that day. To tell the truth, that's why I took over the management of the place, I have the hope that Madara will be attracted to it, even Rin tries to give me a hand in this, always paying close attention to anyone who crosses the dance floor."
"I had the idea that Madara didn't want to see me anymore. I had also stopped by to give you Christmas greetings and I know that there was someone in the house, I saw him hiding behind the curtain after I rang the bell, however he decided not to let me in."
"Kisame, it was me you saw. I'm sorry but Madara was my whole family at the time. My parents lost in an instant, Rin had abandoned me and I had lost contact with my cousins who were also victims of an accident; all of this had ended up making me possessive and starved for love. I can't forgive myself for destroying Madara's life, he really loved you, I'm sure of that."
Obito pressed his palms to his eyes, Kisame saw his tears only stream down his left cheek.
"I loved him too." Kisame reached out to stroke Obito's short hair.
This family needs me.
