After his divorce from Tayuya, Kisame had moved to a small but nice house in the suburbs, near the place he had chosen to set up his business. Unlike the area where the gymnasium was located, the one where he lived had paved roads even if not exactly well maintained by continuous maintenance; some cracks and dips had begun to take their place in the pavement. Kisame had a garden with two large weeping willows to the trunk of which he had fixed a hammock, about once a week he mowed his lawn with headphones firmly planted in his ears. It was during one of these mornings that he had the idea of enriching his activities by deciding to start undertaking bodybuilding competitions. After all, he too could train and perfect himself together with the clients who inevitably ended up becoming friends with him too.

All in all, it was a serene and positive period, Naruto seemed to make it through in the electoral campaign and was more and more confident that he would have reached his goal without any problems. Since Kisame lived on his own, the blond spent his evenings with him more and more often, the large living room with the huge window overlooking the garden was perfect for their long pampering sessions. Naturally Naruto had also wanted to experiment with the hammock to make love.

"And when do I get an opportunity like this again?" his widening smile would have prevented anyone from saying no.

It hadn't mattered to either of them if someone from the street could have seen them, they had the impression of flying and merging with that sky so blue and intense that it made their heads spin. And Kisame really felt dizzy.

What color are your eyes?

He would have thanked Naruto's rosy and sincere skin all his life, his golden and sunny hair like the gaze that was under that short and jaunty fringe. He wouldn't be gone in a minute, in a day, maybe not even in a month, but he would. Kisame felt that his place was elsewhere although at the moment he still remains unknown. The blond slowly slipped his arms around his muscular body.

Do you have someone who hugs you and warms you up?

Kisame felt that the really important things were now knocking on his door, he couldn't leave it closed now.

The next day he had voted for Naruto in the election smiling to himself as he handed the ballot back to the president of the polling station.

You will win, it couldn't be otherwise. Even those who don't know you personally see all the solutions in your eyes, all his dreams, just as I saw them the first time I looked at you. Good luck.

Stepping out into the sun again, Kisame smiled with his hands in his pockets and his face lost in the sky as he remembered how much he and Naruto had been through together. He had made him forget the agony he felt for Madara, or at least reduced it to such a small size that it was bearable. Naruto had made him understand that having particularities that are different from most people is a strength, something to hook on to make you remember, and not something wrong to be ashamed of. The blond had taken as a starting point to make him understand this the disastrous misunderstanding that happened with Sarana and Tayuya at the Kiba party.

Already Sarana, how are you doing?

Kisame sighed lowering his gaze as he became aware of having inevitably claimed victims along his path.

And who doesn't make victims? It's inevitable, you always end up getting into conflict with someone in life, you can't be liked by everyone and you can't expect everyone to like you.

He thought he heard Naruto say these words with his clear gaze and reassuring smile.

In my head you said these words but in reality I formulated them, the tools you wanted to give me now I have proof that I made them mine. I'm using them, I just did.

Kisame had arrived where Naruto had wanted to take him from the beginning, now it was the blond who deserved someone to do something for him.

It's not that we don't love each other anymore, Naruto, that will never happen. Our story was simply destined to take a path that included a beginning, an evolution and an end as happens to many people. It's nobody's fault, we both needed this and found it at the right time. I'll have to tell you all this, I know.

If Kisame hadn't slept a wink the night after the party organized by Deidara, it wasn't because he still had to get used to the new house, that was a problem that had never really existed. He was small but bright as he had always dreamed of, not to mention that the black writing welcome between the white cobblestones of the driveway, immediately behind the gate, had made him melt right away. He wasn't even disturbed by disturbing noises, there were other houses around but the area was so quiet that it almost seemed suspended inside a large floating soap bubble. It was a color that had kept him awake, a shiny black obsidian.

Will you tell me about Madara? Did you seek me out for this? Are you one of Obito's cousins that life hasn't been too kind to? I'm almost certain of the color of your eyes, but something tells me yours are more incisive, enchanting.

Since Kisame had received that phone call, he could not deny that a hurricane silent, impalpable yet inexorable, had overturned his existence like a sock actually with little.

Itachi…

There was no face, the eyes were only imagined, there had been only a few words spoken calmly, kindly and politely as one would expect from a normal telephone conversation between strangers, yet within hours that name had become his point weaker bigger.

Itachi… I don't even know you but you already have the power to keep me up at night.

Kisame waited with trepidation for the afternoon to finally come to associate a face with that name.

In the morning he had immersed himself in an exhausting training session in the illusion of accelerating time; he didn't even feel like scolding Deidara while, between one series and another, Karin kissed her by sticking his hands all over her. During training he gathered his long and thick hair in a braid but no less showy and noisy. For Hidan he had developed a really tough program, the energy he had to channel was really great and impetuous.

I am still amazed at the power that the mind has over the body and even manages to exponentially increase muscle strength. Well, in the end that's what's happening to me too, despite not sleeping a wink tonight today I'm loaded like a spring.

If Hidan's friend, the one with whom he took anger management class, was as energetic as he was. Kisame would have to constantly watch so that they didn't break something. Tayuya certainly wouldn't have been bored with a guy like Hidan, Kisame was more and more convinced that they were made for each other. A small smile escaped him thinking of her.

"Deidara, now stop it, enough is enough!" Tsunade abruptly interrupted the series she was doing on the chest machine, her voice cutting above the piped music. The blond had taken Karin from her small box, dragging her by the arm. The chair had overturned with a loud crash while the PC keyboard had risked the same fate. The blond had loaded she on his shoulders keeping it taut like a stockfish using it to do squats in front of everyone. Hearing Tsunade's cry she let go instantly, the redhead almost running back to her seat, with her head down and the imprints of Deidara's fingers on the skin of her thighs.

The blond giggled mischievously with sparkling eyes: "Look who's talking! Do you know that because of you I was traumatized by watermelons? Every time I see one I am convinced that after ten minutes you will arrive."

The doctor had opened her pretty, always polished mouth to answer him but she was stopped by a pat from Samui.

For Deidara it was enough that the center stage was his even for a few seconds to make him satisfied. It was enough for him to look at how he also dressed in sportswear, a tight black and green shirt with a tongue drawn on it that left very little room for the imagination, very tight pants of the same colors; he would have gladly remained alone with them on if Kisame hadn't scolded him after ten minutes of him strutting around like a bare-chested peacock.

Tsunade and Samui had then returned to compete to see who puffed out the most chest but this time chirping and laughing.

Beautiful couple too, who would have thought?

Just as he hadn't been able to sleep, that day Kisame hadn't been able to swallow even a bite, so during the lunch break, instead of going home, he had gone for a long walk. Being a purely industrial area, in times when the activities were closed, it remained practically deserted. There had been many changes in his life, most of them had been desired, fought, conquered with tooth and nail, but the last one had happened without warning.

After all, the best things happen when you least expect it, right? And then why did I decide that today my life must necessarily change?

As far as he knew, the man who had phoned him could have been any customer, perhaps the same name with Madara was just a coincidence and he didn't even know him.

Madara, if you really wanted me why haven't you been looking for me all these years? You haven't even looked for Obito, as much as his behavior may have upset you, he's still your cousin and he too had his big problems.

The trepidation for that meeting prompted Kisame to open half an hour earlier that afternoon.

Come on, tonight when you walk out that door you'll know.

He berated himself for being consumed by all that apprehension, it was true that Madara had been an important part of his life; he had loved him, desired him, but it was still a teenage story. It was half past four in the afternoon and his eyes had never stopped looking at the parking lot through the wall made entirely of glass.

"Kisame, what's wrong with you? You're distracted by something" Tayuya's scratchy voice brought him back to reality.

"The last time you said this sentence do you remember how it ended!" Kisame smiled sincerely amused.

Yeah, I was about to jump on the third track train, I still haven't started visiting the city I got off at.

They both laughed happily, so much so that the arrival of a silver Alfa Romeo 159 had escaped both of them. The glass door opened pushed by a redhead with hair of a more unique than rare color. The quick relief Kisame felt at the certainty of learning that this was definitely not Madara's relative prevented him from fully considering that suggestive wine-colored hue and the fact that his small, pale face was almost completely hidden in the middle of it. He began to stagger slightly lost in that gray sweater and light-colored jeans that were decidedly too wide.

Damn how skinny he is! Even the sizes of a twelve year old would be too much for him.

Sasori came to mind for a moment. However the relief in which he was basking lasted a few seconds, another person had entered through that door. The strong sunlight on that spring afternoon rendered only a dark silhouette for now. A little taller than the redhead who preceded him, slender, thin, but he in a healthy way. Kisame narrowed his gaze, he had taken just one step beyond the threshold, still just a figure against the light. The redhead turned towards him and this finally convinced him to move forward, abandoning the cone of shadow.

The cry from those eyes hit Kisame like a shock wave. He was silent, calm, he walked precisely and without making a sound, almost flying. Yet that look screamed desperately and forever. The pallor of his skin and the length of his eyelashes brought out the black of his eyes even more. He looked like Madara, although there was something very different.

More than Madara he looks like someone else I can't remember where I saw.

Kisame felt dizzy. That was what kept me up tonight.

It was him on the phone, Kisame had no doubts, that phlegmatic attitude was also reflected in the way he spoke.

Few people hear that desperate cry, don't they? If someone happens to do it, he runs away shortly after. The face is firm, perhaps you are afraid that your pain will not be understood or you are convinced that you don't even deserve to suffer. You repress yourself to protect something or someone but you don't know that everything escapes your eyes, I understood everything even before I met you.

Kisame couldn't do anything to stop his mouth from falling open, his will not gripping like a worn clutch that keeps the gear from engaging.

If at least I had a high collar, I might look a little less stupid.

Kisame felt like taking a step back every time the other took one forward, but in doing so he would soon find himself against the wall, solving absolutely nothing.

Karin had come out of her small office, to welcome new arrivals.

"Thanks, Karin, I'll do it."

Kisame was now facing both of them, two different, contrasting types. The face of the redhead who had entered first was smooth, the complexion so pale as to seem almost purplish submerged by the hair as if to want to hide. However those eyes were unique in the world, Kisame was sure to see shades of purple despite being brown

You hide your body, the other your emotions.

The dark haired was elegant and very handsome. A gray vest layered over a thin black long-sleeved shirt hugged his narrow waist, brick-red pants. The very white skin but without unhealthy tones, he was composed and motionless but it was clear that his body was made to be flexible. His face was perfect if it hadn't been for those deep dimples that he had under his eyes., Which, however, made him particular and unique.

He will know how to remember you.

His raven hair is decidedly enchanting, very long and shiny, forced into a low ponytail.
A few shorter wisps frame and fall on the mask making it less sinister… Damn, why am I thinking about this now?

He turned without hesitation and smiling kindly at the dark with an impassive face but a desperate look: "We spoke yesterday, right?"

The redhead was silent with his gaze fixed on Kisame while the dark-haired repeated his name making Kisame feel as if a very light cloud of feathers were gently lifting him from the ground.

Itachi… He abandoned himself to that soft and gentle voice as he explained his right shoulder problem.

It looks like you're not left-handed…

Kisame had ended up completely forgetting about Madara, even about the I love you that he had said to him speaking to him for the last time; he let himself be lulled by that bliss that he had possessed him. Fragments of what seemed like a continuous déjà vu swirled in front of him without however upsetting him, almost as if he unconsciously had been expecting all this for some time already.

Kisame had just finished explaining to him that he needed a visit from Tsunade first when the skinny redhead spoke for the first time: "My name is Nagato, I'm his partner. I'd like to join too "he smiled extending his hand, his face meek, sympathetic.

His incisive voice, despite his twig-like body, had shattered the cloud of soft feathers on which Kisame was floating, it had literally dissolved like one of those devastating tornadoes that disappear in an instant for no apparent reason. The redhead smiled, calm and poised, regardless of the storm that had unleashed inside Kisame.

Why do I feel this way? Why do I feel like a steamroller has suddenly run over me? I've only known you both for a few minutes. Itachi… your gaze took my breath away, it's not coming back to me even now that I'm back on my butt again.

The dark-haired man tilted his head slightly to one side still looking at him, as if waiting for Kisame to explain something or decide to move, a tuft of hair had slightly veiled his left eye in that movement. He had the ribs of the neck very defined and marked although remaining very fine and graceful. A very simple necklace, three circles of smooth and sterile silver metal resembling bolts, Kisame was lost again for a few interminable seconds.

He accompanied them to the infirmary where Tsunade would visit them. It wouldn't have been necessary yet he had entered the room with them as if he expected to know and to… see.

"Tsunade, this is Itachi, he broke his shoulder years ago…"

"Wow, Kisame, I'd worry more than the other" the woman interrupted him, then turning to Nagato and softening the solemn expression of her hazel eyes: "lie down on the couch and undress, I need an accurate investigation."

The busty doctor had leaned over him literally resting her buxom chest at the base of her neck. This time Kisame didn't want to laugh just because his eyes remained glued to the dark haired, without remedy.

Itachi sat in the chair in front of Tsunade's desk staring into space ahead of him, his legs elegantly crossed with his hands resting on them. Kisame was standing behind him, frozen in a stillness caused by what he didn't quite understand.

Embarrassment? Afraid to say stupid things? If I have to be honest at this moment I can't say a word.

Kisame's clear eyes lingered on that smooth, black tail that fell between the other's backs.

I was right, I've never seen hair more enchanting than this. I may have a vague idea of what you would look like if you slipped off that red elastic, but this image of you is… faceless.

Kisame had to make enormous efforts to prevent his hands from resting on those slender and bent shoulders.

What is it that made you resign yourself to bear all the faults of the world upon yourself?

Almost unconsciously, Kisame had moved a little to the side. Now he admired the perfect line of the nose and the incredible length of the eyelashes, Itachi seemed to be wearing makeup even if he wasn't, he noticed his chest rise and fall in the slightly labored breath.

Not only do your eyes cry out your pain, what happened to you?

At that moment Kisame had a clear vision of a path that was not easy but beautiful even though he didn't know which hand to shake during that journey. Perhaps not Itachi's, after all he knew absolutely nothing about him and the few opinions that he had formed in his head were totally idealized, could it perhaps be Madara's hand? Perhaps, but he was aware that he shouldn't have expected anything from a possible discovery of him, time had passed for both of them making them evolve in different and perhaps entirely divergent ways. The Madara who remained in Kisame's head was still in his early twenties, just as the Kisame who was in Madara's head was barely eighteen, wherever he was. The third-track train had taken him somewhere, that was certain, now he had to figure out which direction and with whom to make the rest of the journey.

"Okay thanks. You can get dressed."

Nagato had sat up on the couch before going down to retrieve his gray sweater. That body was tender, the collarbones formed two holes, the sternum was visible and the pelvic bones protruded like two blades.

I confirm what I thought by observing Hidan, the power that the mind has over the body is impressive, it produces different effects depending on the person, but always powerful and extreme.

"So Itachi, let me see this shoulder. Stay seated, just take off your shirt."

Kisame gulped, his vision filled with a multicolored glare.

The moment is now.

Every scrap of thought always came to him for no apparent reason. The dark-haired man had taken off his elegant gray waistcoat and black shirt immediately afterwards. As if nothing had happened, slowly, with almost detached calm, without feeling the strong emotions of Kisame who was next to him. Yet they were so intense that Kisame felt them coming out of his body, he seemed to see them in the form of rays of light that invaded the room overbearingly. His ice-colored eyes roamed his abs and pecs, visible but not exaggerated.

You're thinner than last time... but you're toned, supple.

Kisame felt something break inside, like an engine with a valve coming off. He will fall inexorably onto the asphalt after having passed through the various dying organs of the car rattling inside the bonnet, a small piece but the lack of him condemns the engine to death after a few seconds. That valve for Kisame had the form of two sinuous lines which almost touched each other however destined never to meet. A very simple half spiral touched by another soft stroke that bent welcoming its curve, were imprinted on the left shoulder of the dark haired that now Tsunade was visiting.

My brother has a tattoo on his left shoulder while the dancer doesn't…

And so you cover it with foundation…

More fragments.

Tsunade's small, manicured but very practiced hands examined Itachi's right shoulder as she asked him to assume particular positions. She brushed him gently but at the same time firmly, her nails a bitter orange and glossy similar to the one she had on her lips.

Purple would look good on you...

"Okay, tonight I will give my reports to Kisame and then he will call you tomorrow to give you your training program."
Kisame, brought back to reality by the doctor's words, finally managed to take his eyes off that magnet that had been Itachi since the moment he arrived, finding himself in front of Nagato's. He stared at him emanating big question marks, Kisame could well understand, on the other hand he had done nothing but eat his partner with his eyes all the time.

Maybe it's not quite what you think, Nagato, I was more like trying to piece together all these bits and pieces going around in my head. They have become more and more numerous since the day I decided to take the third track train and now I feel I am one step away from the solution.

And then… and then yes, Itachi made his heart race.

Kisame accompanied the two towards the exit, he realized he was deliberately slowing down his pace.
Come on, don't be stupid, see them tomorrow.

"So thanks for everything, Kisame, when can we start?"

He had said his name, he had already done it on the phone actually but it wasn't the same thing. It couldn't be the same because now he was looking into his eyes. It was disarming, disarming his gaze, disarming the cry of pain that those beautiful eyes were unable to hold back, disarming that beautiful and particular face in his sublime imperfection. Disarming…

"Um… tomorrow, at the time you want."

Please start now, I need it now, instantly!

Itachi hadn't come there to tell him about Madara as he had thought, maybe he didn't even know him, but his mere presence had swept away Kisame's first love like a sponge.

The dark haired looked at him again, those moments seemed endless both to Kisame and to Nagato. An eternity that was suddenly interrupted by an earthquake that almost demolished the door. A blond hurricane who jumped into Kisame's arms forcing him away from the two new customers.

"I'm sorry guys but today your day will have a change of plans, you absolutely must celebrate your new mayor!"

Bursts of exclamations, some applause that needed to overcome the initial moments of intense surprise in order to leave. The clatter of the plates of the machinery let go suddenly. Kisame was trying to see where Itachi and Nagato were but for now his sight was blocked by Naruto who didn't let go. He just had time to see Kiba carrying envelopes and packages of all kinds. The soft thud of a closed door made Kisame jump as if lightning had suddenly struck between his feet, the gleam of the silver paint of the Alfa 159 as it was leaving the parking lot.

Itachi… I'm sorry.

Naruto had decided to go downstairs to take the others' hugs as well, Karin was helping Kiba to place the various bottles of prosecco and the pastries he had brought on her desk. Soon everyone arrived without the slightest intention of training: Deidara, Hidan, Tayuya, Samui.

Yet I'm missing something... The lines of your tattoo will never meet, but one welcomes the movement of the other by adapting. I'm ready for this too for you, welcoming you without ever touching you if that's what you want.

"After that you will also meet my friend, the one I told you about. He will arrive a little late but he will come" Hidan held out the glass full of prosecco in the direction of Kisame to toast.

I was curious to know him… however something is missing.

Karin had even gone so far as to turn up the volume of the music, if someone new had arrived at that moment Kisame would have invented the excuse that it was the inauguration party which after all had never taken place, this would have also justified the presence of the new mayor visibly tipsy and with red cheeks.

Your time is now, Naruto.

Kisame decided to let himself go and celebrate his friend's dream that had finally come true. It was only the month of April and yet it had already been a rich year for everyone. Kisame and Naruto had made their dreams come true, Tayuya was finally happy, she demonstrated it by swaying like she had never done by hinting a few dance steps with Hidan.

"I feel music inside, I have always thought it is the universal language that everyone understands because it speaks directly to the soul."

The silver made her do a pirouette causing her red hair to scatter in the air: "You can be sure that the soul exists, it is the only important part of us, the one that must always be taken care of."

Kisame surrendered to Naruto's kisses like that time in the bathroom of the restaurant during his wedding.

It's the last time?

Maybe not, but by now Kisame was aware that he could never go back from the direction he had taken. He felt absolutely free thinking about this, his hands descended on Naruto's waist, grabbed his buttocks, dragged him into the locker room without taking his full lips away from the blond's. They left a trail of nearly torn clothing on the floor; the typical vehemence of all the last times of the world, when one has the awareness that they may be such. Kisame suddenly threw open the bathroom door, leaned Naruto by now completely naked against the wall, kneeling in front of him to let him slide into his bullying mouth.

I want you but you can't be mine anymore.

The blond arched back with his eyes closed and moaning.

Kisame, he's never looked so good, but he's… different.

Naruto's hands slipped into that dark blue hair, he remembered when he marveled at their actual length in the shower of his house, after their first intercourse.

How many more times? Everything in life happens on a limited number of occasions, we never realize it until we see the bottom line approaching.

"Take me, Kisame."

It almost sounded like a kind of prayer, perhaps hiding other words that would never have the courage to come out of the mouth of someone as mature as Naruto. Kisame pushed, carried it all the way to his hot mouth and then brought it back, like a placid sea undertow. Hearing those choked words, Kisame immediately stood up, grabbed the blond new mayor with muscular hips making him turn around. He smashed it against the wall taking it in contrast to his body of bodybuilder steel, his huge erection stabbed him without having even the slightest preparation with a finger, Naruto's rosy flesh didn't resist, it was a fire. The blond turned to look at the scene in the mirror at the back of the room; the right cheek, flushed and burning, pressed to the cold wall. He watched as Kisame pushed his pelvis against his butt, closed his eyes, arched back.

What are you thinking about?

Pure obsidian… a thin, supple body, what happened to you? You are better than that…

This was enough for Kisame to shower Naruto with pleasure from him like it had never happened before, the blond had let himself go into the warmth of his hands just seconds before. Kisame realized he hadn't even noticed, which was also unprecedented.

What's happening to me? What did you do to me?

Kisame had placed his big hands on the edge of the sink, kept his gaze down still panting, felt Naruto's quickened breathing that he had left stuck to the wall like wallpaper, without however having the courage to look at him. The blond didn't say a word, at that moment it was as if an invisible but thick wall had risen to separate them. Kisame had found nothing to do but turn on the cold water tap to freshen his face.

I don't have to delude anyone like I did Sarana and Tayuya, ever again. Now I'm old enough to understand that this isn't right even if it's not easy at all.

He found the courage to look into those turquoise eyes, they seemed to ask him a question.

Is this the last time, then?

I think so.

"Guys, I'm sorry to interrupt you but Hidan's friend has just arrived, he would like to meet both the mayor and his future coach" Deidara's unmistakable voice was very energetic even if muffled by the bathroom door.

For a moment Kisame wondered if by chance he wasn't going to return the favor he had done him at Kiba's New Year's party when he had gone to spy on him with Tayuya, however nothing happened and the locker room was silent again after a few seconds , excluding the shouting of the others who were there and the music. Kisame had thought he saw Deidara's mischievous smile as he followed that sort of Ariadne thread formed by their clothes thrown on the floor. Both of their boxers must have been there in the middle and Deidara sure hadn't missed them.

"Hey upholstery, the celebrations certainly can't end this afternoon or would they resemble my birthday parties when I was seven years old" Kisame had approached Naruto ruffling his thin golden hair "dinner with me tonight?"

The blond had smiled, perhaps a touch of bitterness mixed with joy. Satisfaction and goals achieved not only for having become mayor, had peeked out for a moment in the boundless ocean of his eyes.