That summer slipped away softly, Kisame had several reasons to think that it had been the most beautiful of his life and that it could never be equaled or surpassed by anything else.

He went out every night with Kiba and Naruto after finishing his shift at the pizzeria and then ended up sleeping at the blond's house every weekend. There was nothing wrong, very often he was too tired to go home or all three had had a few too many drinks. Sleeping in the double bed together with his friend of hers for Kisame was not a source of embarrassment, but an honor.

Naruto considers me so important that he has filled the void of his home with me.

No one thought anymore with pain of Obito and Madara, of Sarana, Kabuto or Sasori. No one had ever mentioned the Susanoo again. It was as if they needed nothing else and that each other's company filled them completely.

This was a feeling that Kisame hadn't felt for several years, at least since the summer after the end of the eighth grade and he would never have imagined that it could happen again and even be better.

Kisame had started to think that his transfer to study exercise science could have been a problem, a small crack in that crystal of absolute completeness, but once again Naruto intervened to fix things: "You forgot that I too will have to undertake my course of study? I want to do my best to become mayor. Everyone has their own dreams, Kisame, and with this the full right to follow them. There will be a weekend every week to spend together, count how many there are."

The only commitment Kisame made during that summer break was to find accommodation for when he should have started attending university. He had placed an ad online on a student site looking for roommates. After a few days, a girl, nickname Cool, had answered him, but when she spoke, she had confessed that her name was Samui. He had available three apartments located in the same building which would be shared between her, Kisame and another girl in her second year at the Conservatory. Everyone would still have their privacy. Kisame spoke about it to be fair with Naruto however she already knew that for the blond there would be absolutely no problem. It was amazing how Kisame managed everything while remaining radiant in that period of his life.

He didn't actually meet Samui until his first day of university, the girl had given him an appointment in front of the structure to give him the keys to the apartment and to explain a few things to him. Kisame watched that yellow building immersed in the most absolute happiness. The negative things in his life had dissolved: Obito, Madara and the faces of Sarana and Kabuto who, during the last few months, had thrown his mistakes in his face every day, leaving room only for the positive ones.

Sometimes Kisame had to admit that he felt a little guilty about this situation, in the end he had gotten his happiness at the expense of someone else's, however it was enough to think for a second of Naruto's bright smile to chase everything away in an instant .

Samui reached him very punctually, leaving him speechless for a few moments. She was a very tall and showy girl, her bleached and straight hair cut in a perfect bob that reached her shoulders, her light blue eyes, not clear like Kisame's and not dark like Naruto's. Her busty cleavage highlighted by a tight dark purple t-shirt, the fuchsia mini skirt the same color as her boots. An ice crystal pendant was almost lost in the middle of her full breasts. Judging by the smug expression she assumed upon seeing Kisame's reaction, she was herself one who liked to be the center of attention. However, she appeared by nature a calm and very staid girl.

Maybe she just needs to familiarize herself.

"Tonight you will also meet my friend Tayuya" she said with a hint of a smile before saying goodbye.

Now Kisame had feared fainting, he hadn't been able to answer anything anymore and he hadn't even said goodbye. Throughout the day, even during the first few lessons, he had grabbed his cell phone several times with the temptation to write to Naruto only to put it back in his pocket seconds later.

I have to start on my own, I can't stand calling him for every silly thing. It could have all been planned by Tayuya on purpose maybe she just wants to talk to me, after all nothing happened at Kiba's in the evening and it was clear that I didn't want to.

At the end of the day he had thrown himself sighing on the sofa of his new apartment on the ground floor without even looking at how it was made, he had only noticed that in front of it there was a pellet stove and a large window.

However, I am happy that the era of dark houses and narrow windows is over.

He covered his eyes with his forearm waiting for dinner time. Samui had invited them all to his house on the top floor in order to get to know them all. Kisame was aware that the blonde had organized that evening with the intention of making friends and birthing something good between the three of them, very probably she wasn't even aware of what had happened at Kiba's New Year's party and hoped that the Tayuya herself no longer considered that event so important. As he climbed the stairs to reach the third floor, Kisame's legs felt heavy as if he hadn't slept in months.

After all, Tayuya is in her second year, she will have met other people and, most likely, our paths will take very different directions.

His thoughts were interrupted by an excited noise that echoed in the narrow stairwell, this part of the building was old-fashioned with thick white steps, the kind that have the first one bigger than the others and rounded and the thin railings in wrought iron. The noise was clearly generated by someone running up, now Kisame felt it distinctly, she stopped turning down to see who he was.

A flash of red hair held back by a gray band, a cardigan of the same color, white Converse, probably the same as New Year's, Kisame had already guessed from that party, that she used to dress comfortably.

"Kisame, I can't believe it! Samui had told me about a new roommate but I never would have guessed it was you."

Tayuya's amazement seemed sincere as she hugged him, unlikely that it had been pre-planned.

"So how are you doing? Are you studying here too?"

"Yes, I finally enrolled in sports sciences, today was the first day."

"Well, great!"

There didn't seem to be any hard feelings from the girl, she was an earthquake as always. They climbed the last steps that separated them from the Samui apartment with the redhead continuing to hop with a hand on the boy's shoulder.

During dinner everything was very quiet apart from Tayuya's vehemence. Kisame, contrary to what he had believed at first, was not embarrassed in any way by her.

Perhaps at Kiba she had simply drunk too much, which also explains why she had gone to spy on Deidara.

Even Samui had something strong-willed despite its showy, busty and very feminine appearance. Kisame couldn't quite understand where this feeling came from, however he was convinced that the two girls were made for each other.

I hope one day she doesn't think of letting me taste these melons!

Kisame couldn't help laughing after making this joke in her head, Tayuya was convinced that his smile was aimed at her.

"Kisame, would you like to hear me play the flute sometime? You know, I've had very few people's opinions, sadly, and the day I have to perform in front of a real audience I will be assailed by doubts."

Tayuya looked at him with her brown eyes, always very little made up, standing on the landing of the second floor, she was waiting for her answer before entering the house, after dinner.

"Sure why not…"

"Then tomorrow evening at eight at your place." she chirped the redhead without even letting him finish the sentence, then she entered the house all perky.

Kisame had calmed down, it seemed to be a peaceful friendship that also made him happy.

This goes to show that I'm no longer the type I was in middle and high school who couldn't hook up with anyone.

He was also happy to have something to tell Naruto and Kiba that didn't merely concern the lessons, the study or the trainings that he now also did for internships.

Surely the adaptation to my new life will be less complicated than expected.

"Kisame, if you want I can give you a hand."

Tayuya watched him sitting at the table in the kitchen corner of Kisame's apartment while he, after putting the roast fillet in the oven, was intent on cutting the salad with the utmost precision using the crescent. He was leaning on the workbench which was exactly in the center of the room and not leaning against a priest as usual, Kisame found this arrangement infinitely more practical.

Tayuya swung her legs impatiently like a child, she had brought a bottle of prosecco which was now there embracing her yearning gazes from time to time, her crossed hands resting under her chin as if to say: hold still, you, you cannot uncork this bottle now.

Kisame had noticed that that evening she had made an effort to put a little more care in dressing, she had a one-piece dark green cotton dress, high black leather boots and a small beret of the same shade of green, to hold back her tuft rebel; however she could not avoid those false notes and blurs of her warning of her not feeling comfortable in certain clothes. The totally heelless boots that gave the foot a slightly squashed look, the total absence of jewels, makeup that didn't match the style in the slightest, those flesh-colored leggings, then, were a real eyesore.

"No thanks, I'm almost done and then we just have to wait for it to finish cooking."
"The sleeves of your shirt rolled up like that look great on you, you who have all this merchandise at your disposal would be committing a crime by keeping it hidden. And by the way, that skull bracelet is nothing short of gorgeous, your olive skin makes it stand out even more. If it's a gift, you can be sure it was made from the heart."

Kisame looked at her for a second without saying anything, these few words had the power to plunge him into the blackest discomfort. Madara...

Come on, don't go overboard, since when can't a friend compliment you?

"Yes, it's a gift, but I gave it to myself. Sometimes you have to gratify yourself, right?"

She stared at him tilting her head slightly to the side as if she wasn't entirely convinced by her words.

Kisame tried to relax himself and her friend by proposing a toast that she, of course, gladly accepted. The girl's usual talkativeness, while they ate, ended up reassuring him completely, in the end that was her personality, she had already seen him the night before from Samui.

Before the end of the dinner they had managed to down the entire bottle of prosecco followed by another of red wine that Kisame had at home, the mixture of the two colors and the different gradations had disturbed him a bit. However, when Tayuya's toe, deprived of the boot, began to tease his knee, he grabbed an excuse on the fly: "Forgive me, but my head is spinning a bit, I'll sit on the sofa for a moment."

Kisame felt a little dizzy, as if the ground was shifting under his feet as he moved from side to side. He had crashed into the pillows pressing a hand to his eyes when he had begun to hear strange notes floating in the air. At first it seemed to him that he had imagined them, they had the same pattern as his dizziness. He was certain they were real when they became more insistent and bullied their way into his head literally disturbing his brainwaves. He took his hand away from his eyes to look to his left, the side where he heard the music coming from. Tayuya was perched on the arm of the sofa with a flute in her hands. The gleam of her polished metal reflected in her eyes. Kisame's confused head had the impression that those flashes, as they came and went, left twisted trails in the reddish air. The notes were simple, they suddenly went from high to low tones almost without following a logical thread. Kisame had begun to feel light and insubstantial, he no longer felt his body, but the soporific and hypnotic effect that arose from that music prevented him from panicking. Even his will was now evanescent and he let himself be carried away by those notes suspended in the air. His enchanted feeling made his eyes feel heavy, yet he couldn't separate them from Tayuya's. The song had lasted about two minutes, but for Kisame it had seemed like an eternity.

No, it can't just be the effect of the wine, something like this has never happened to me.

Tayuya smiled, got off the armrest to sit next to him.

"Do you know that I haven't seen Kiba and Naruto since the New Year's party?"

Kisame couldn't formulate any sentence still competently dazed.

"I was thinking maybe one day we could go visit them together. In the end they never heard me play the flute but only sing. I wrote this piece, I only managed to perfect it in the last year; before, I was a bit ashamed to play in front of others."

Naruto is mine alone, I have the right to be only with him at least once a week.

But instead of saying this, Kisame only managed to nod with wide open eyes. Tayuya smiled understandingly, kissed him on the forehead and then thanked him for the nice evening before leaving.

So Kisame, shall we take the bus?" Tayuya's scratchy voice had roused him from that sort of trance he'd been in for a couple of days.

She stood before him with the large purse in her hand, one of those shaped like a plain cotton sack with no locking device, it hung limply from her shoulder. Kisame had never liked that kind of bags they always gave a gypsy touch to the women who wore them; he was sure that there was also that infernal flute in there, however he was curious to see Naruto and Kiba's reaction in front of that very strange song. He didn't know how long he had been sitting on that bench in front of the university, the first autumn leaves that had started to fall had created a brown layer on his legs and shoulders without him realizing it.

"Yes, I'll be right there."

It was Saturday and they were on their way to Kisame's house where she too would have lunch before meeting Kiba and Naruto.

I hope to still have a few moments to be alone with him.

Kisame still couldn't understand how the strong-willed redhead had managed to extort that invitation from him, to lunch at his house moreover, with his family. He stiffened when she sat next to him on the bus, he couldn't help but think of that toe that had touched his knee, if there hadn't been that contact he would have been happy that morning considering that trip as a nice reunion between friends after a long time and that's it.

Okay it's not the end of the world, after all we were both tipsy that night, I'm sure Naruto's smile will be enough to change everything.

All in all, the journey was short, Kisame had realized that his anxiety grew as they approached home, so much so that when they reached their stop he didn't have the slightest desire to get off.

Come on, what could possibly go wrong?

Kisame's mother was waiting for them at the front door, made up, smiling as she had never been, with the blue drop earrings that he had given her, her hair fresh from a hairdresser. The two boys climbed the three steps that separated them from her before being both literally invested by her embrace, even Tayuya who was seeing at that moment for the first time.

The woman had prepared a sumptuous lunch to say the least, she did nothing but offer appetizers, coffee, and aperitifs to Tayuya, Kisame knew that it was not a simple spirit of hospitality, he had never seen her like this, she looked like a fully loaded spring.

"Kisame, you and your father are strikingly alike."

The parent laughed at that sentence toasting the girl all happy. It was an idyll, smiles, bright faces, Kisame felt her heart open to see around all that happiness mindful of how much they had suffered because of her.

Not only them, but also Sarana, Kabuto and Madara.

Before starting to eat, Tayuya had taken out her flute and began to perform. It was the same piece that she had played in Kisame a few days before but now it didn't sound as strange and disturbing as it had been that day, perhaps she had modified some notes by improvising. The redhead received an applause smiling pleased.

"Did you seriously write that? You're a real genius" Kisame's mother seemed to be in perfect harmony with the world.

"Thank you ma'am, but the genes are quite different in my opinion" Tayuya blushed slightly.

"You can easily give me your name" the woman reassured her "and I confess that I still find it hard to hear myself called ma'am."

Sincere laughter framed this exchange. Kisame had felt soothed during lunch, while his mother was always coming and going from the kitchen serving a flood of delicious dishes. Every time he saw the people around him finally happy because of him, his heart filled with joy.

Yes, because I know the real reason why they are so happy, and the fact that I now live in a different place could make things easier for me. Perhaps I have really found that compromise that I have longed for so as not to disappoint both myself and others.