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“Let me go,” Sakura whimpered.
“I think not,” Hoshigaki Kisame said lazily, holding her arm in a death grip.
“Just let me go,” she begged.
Hoshigaki let out a long-suffering sigh and rolled his eyes but did not let go.
“You’re going to die too if you don’t let me go,” Sakura said as she dangled off the face of a three-hundred-foot cliff, stopped from falling only by the hand holding her arm fast.
“I’m sure your meager weight won’t drag me down,” Hoshigaki snorted from where he hung by the tips of his fingers from the edge.
Sakura glanced down at the rapids far below and knew if she hit those rocks she would die. Instantly. Messily. Unless she hit the water. Then she’d drown. Slowly. Painfully.
“Hoshigaki,” she said as strongly as she could, her voice weak to her own ears, “Let me go.”
The sharkman finally looked right down at her, black eyes meeting her dazed green ones.
“You’re concussed,” he finally said, “And as such, I don’t have to take anything you say seriously.”
“I’m concussed, not stupid,” she snapped, watching parts of the cliff around them crumble.
A loud, earth shattering crack rang out in the distance and the earth rumbled beneath them, more loose debris falling about them to plummet into the ravine.
“Pretty damn stupid if you’re asking me to drop you to your death,” he snorted.
“Why are you even hesitating?” she growled, frustrated, “I’m a Konoha-ninja, your enemy.”
He was silent and she watched his fingers holding fast to the single root and clump of earth that kept them from falling to their death.
“You healed me,” he said simply after a long moment.
She stared at him and muddled through the haze of her mind. Oh. She had.
“You were the only hope we had at beating that ninja,” she said.
She remembered now. Sound-nin ambush. If fate didn’t hate them enough two Akatsuki ninja had been right near by and dragged into the battle. It would have been a three-way melee between Sound, Akatsuki, and the Konoha team if the idiots from sound hadn’t decided to attack both of them. And there were a lot of the fuckers. It had forced the two Akatsuki men and the four-man cell of Konoha-nin to fight together however briefly. And then Orochimaru had shown up with Sasuke.
Last she had seen it was an epic fight of Itachi against Sasuke and Orochimaru in a battle that had seemed way out of her league, if just for the level of personal angst behind the fight. Sakura had been thrown back to back with Hoshigaki Kisame of all people, being mobbed by curse-seal wielding ninja. One of which looked like he had fins, and when Hoshigaki flooded the area, had turned his legs into a tail. Sakura was useless in the water and Hoshigaki had taken a damaging hit so the only logical thing to do had been heal him so he could beat the fucker.
“And you’re undoing all that work,” she hissed as blood slipped down over their joined hands and over her skin to drip forebodingly, “Now let me go, asshole.”
Hoshigaki barked a laughed and tightened his grip on her arm. She was sure she heard her bones creak and knew she would be bruised. Not that that mattered when she was going to die.
“It’s a logical choice,” she pressed, “If you let me go you’ll probably be able to pull yourself up. I’ll… probably survive the fall. You can go get the others and they can come retrieve me. As it is now, we’re both going to fall and no one will ever know which direction we disappeared in, especially if the water erases our tracks.”
“I’m not stupid either.” Hoshigaki snorted again, “I let you go. You die. There will be no retrieving except for that of your body. I let you go and save myself and your team will turn me to dust even if I explain you told me to let you die.”
“What do you care of what they’ll try and do?” she argued, frustrated.
“Why are you so on insistent on me saving myself by sacrificing you?” he shot back.
He had a good point. She supposed she shouldn’t be trying to cajole an enemy into killing her. She should be clinging to his arm and demanding he save them. Or perhaps trying to drag him with her to sacrifice herself to take out an enemy.
“Because I think you can live,” she said simply, “I know there isn’t any hope for me in this situation, but do not make it two deaths.”
He stared down at her, lips parting in what she registered as surprise. He seemed to struggle with this.
“Let go,” she said more gently.
She had never been holding onto him in the first place. He had reached for her as they had been blasted back and caught her. He could have let her fall. She did not try to drag him down after her.
“Goddamit,” he groaned, “You fucking Konoha-nin and your hearts of gold crap.”
“Use it to your advantage,” she growled, “Let. Me. Go.”
“No,” he said stubbornly.
“You’re bleeding out with just the effort off holding me up!” she yelled as blood dripped further down her arm and under her sleeve to her shoulder.
“How about you save us the trouble, and both let go,” a voice above hissed.
Oh shit. Sakura thought as she peered up at a sound Nin, foot poised above Hoshigaki’s hands.
“Fuck you,” Hoshigaki spat.
Sakura watched in numb shock as Hoshigaki kicked off the rock wall, grabbing a shard of rock as they left the surface and throwing it at the man with eerie accuracy and deadly force. Sakura’s last sight was the man choking on his own blood, scrambling at the stone lodged in his throat. Then Hoshigaki wrapped her tight against him and they were free falling.
Please be instant. One part of her begged. Please hit the rocks and be quick. Another screamed for the water and the chance they might have. There is no chance she thought. She had no strength to even swim.
They hit the water.
She blacked out at the force.
.--.
Sakura woke to cold. She ripped her eyes open with force and groaned at the crust that clogged them. She rubbed at her face, wiping the blood and dust and sludge that had collected on her face. When her face was clear she glanced about. She was in a cave. A dry cave, but a cave none the less. Her clothes were damp. Which meant she hadn’t been out of the water all that long.
She looked around and spotted, a few feet away, a lump that was Hoshigaki Kisame who had obviously dragged them in here and collapsed. Making to stand she hissed at the pain and took a deep soothing breath. She gently felt her side. One rib definitely broken, and a few bruised. Her chakra eluded her grasp and she sat down woozily realizing she was still concussed. She was lucky she had woken up with a head wound. She was lucky she had woken up at all considering she thought she would die in the fall.
She tried to stand again and gagged as the world reeled and her feet protested. Looking down she realized she was covered in bruises but no open wounds. It must have been a bumpy ride. She reached for her very, very small pool of chakra very slowly and got a good enough grasp to make sure she had no internal damage. Then she shuffled to the lump that was Hoshigaki and kneeled beside him. It took an effort to roll him over but she was stubborn enough to gently shove him onto his back.
He didn’t look so good. He was a paler blue then she was used to and he was unconscious. The wound on his chest, which she had already healed partially once, had ripped open again and Sakura didn’t know if she had the ability to heal it again at the moment. She was concussed and using high precision chakra techniques while thus was just a death sentence for anyone under her hands. She was also quite low on chakra at the moment.
“Old fashioned way then,” she murmured to herself.
She ripped off her shirt to reveal her sports bra.
“Lucky,” she grinned seeing the intact seal still stitched and whole on it.
This was Naruto’s genius at work. He had made her a personal storage seal that she could not loose easily. She wordlessly activated it and dumped the medical supplies out onto the ground. She had to pause at this and breathe a moment as the world swirled but pushed on ahead. Opening the specialty case she pulled out a few blood pills. She pressed them into Hoshigaki’s mouth and worked his jaw to crush them, washing them down with the water from a fresh water bottle. Hoshigaki didn’t even groan. She liberally used hand sanitizer to clean her hands, wiping the grime on her shirt. Not the most ideal but it was all she could do right now. She used more water to wash out the wound and the surrounding skin after ripping his shirt further off.
“If you get an infection, you’re screwed,” she told the unconscious man, “Here’s to hoping your regeneration abilities are as good as they say.”
She pulled free a needle and threaded it.
“Okay Sakura, steady hands time,” she said as she squinted at the wound, “Steady hands.”
By the time she was finished stitching up the chest wound she was sweating and panting both from concentrating so hard and from exhaustion. Hoshigaki had started to breathe easier though and regained some color from the blood pills. The wound had also not started bleeding very badly again so she counted it as a win. She covered the wound with a gauze pad and taped it down. It would have been better to wind the bandages around him, but she could not get them under him and around his chest so she went with the next best thing.
“Now, don’t you die on me,” she told the unresponsive man.
She wrapped him up in an emergency blanket as best she could and then stole his damp cloak for herself. It was not ideal, but he needed to conserve his body heat more than she did. She was out as soon as she hit the ground knowing she still might not wake up with her head wound still so fresh.
.--.
The feel of fingers gently sifting through her hair awoke Sakura. For a moment she imagined it was her mother, gently stroking her hair, cooing at her that it was time to wake up. Then she felt the stone beneath her and the way her ribs ached. She also noted the fingers were not stroking but probing. She whimpered softly at the pain and tried to sit up. Hands helped her do so, untangling from her hair to brace her. She blinked her eyes open to peer into dark black ones.
“Awake now?” he peered at her, “Or is this another episode of you being so out of it you can’t focus?”
“What?” she blinked, “Did I have episodes?”
“Good. You’re responsive,” he snorted.
“What time is it?” she asked, peering at the light she saw.
She had not noticed an entrance before. Then she realized it was a fire, not sunlight.
“When did you make a fire?” she blinked.
“About half a day ago,” he said propping her against the wall.
She noted she was now wrapped in her own blanket. Her medical supplies were all neatly set against the wall also.
“Did you get the wood outside?” she asked, peering down the tunnel that curved, cutting off any light.
“No wood on this rock,” he shook his head.
“What? Rock?” she blinked, worried.
“The river carried us right out to sea,” he grinned, showing off her teeth, “You’re lucky I had the blood and chakra to make a quick summon. It dragged us to the safest piece of land. Which as it appears, is a rock in the middle of the ocean.”
“We’re trapped. On a rock. In the ocean,” she asked blankly.
“Until we can walk out on our own two feet,” he snorted, “My summon stuck around and has been fetching wood from the shore, but we are lucky he even managed to drag us here without drowning us. No going back that way.”
Sakura tried to think about that but was too tired.
“How do you feel?” she asked, looking to the blood spotted gauze on his chest.
“Much better,” he grinned, “Nice stitches. Little lopsided though.”
“Had a concussion,” she said defensively.
“I know,” he said simply.
There was a moment of silence.
“Hoshigaki,” she started.
“What?”
“Why am I naked under this blanket?” she asked suddenly catching onto said fact.
“You’re only mostly naked,” he pointed out.
“Why am I mostly naked?” she noted the underwear and bra which sent a thrill of relief through her.
“Your clothes were wet. When I woke up you were shivering so hard the ground was shaking,” he joked, “Had to dry them out.”
She looked at the mess flopped beside the fire.
“That doesn’t seem to be the way to do it.”
“Got tired part way through,” he shrugged form where he leaned against the wall beside her.
She leaned further back and hissed, lifting her head again.
“That’s what I was checking out. Seems mostly healed,” Hoshigaki muttered as he prodded the back of her head again.
She leaned back more slowly this time and felt tentatively for her chakra again. She could grasp it better definitely, but it was still drained, not having recovered from the battle yet and obviously having worked hard to keep her alive. She was not even half ready to try water walking a great distance like Hoshigaki was suggesting.
“You didn’t know we were on a rock,” Hoshigaki said suddenly.
“What? No.”
“And yet you healed me first instead of figuring out where we were when you awoke.”
“Shouldn’t I have?” she frowned at her.
He stared at her with his strong hard face, black eyes looking almost frozen in the light. Then he broke into a grin which showed off his impressive teeth and made his whole demeanor look more animated. He snorted and slapped her on the shoulder which shook her whole body.
“Call me Kisame, Kitten.”
“Kitten!?” she demanded.
“Sorry Kitten,” he shrugged with a wide smirk, “Never learned your name.”
She huffed at him and wrapped the blanket tighter as she suddenly noticed the chill more acutely.
“Haruno Sakura,” she introduced herself, “You can call me Sakura. Thanks for saving my life.”
“It was mutual,” he laughed.
She shivered once and looked at the fire longingly. She wasn’t sure her cold heavy limbs would help her closer to it. Suddenly she was scooped up in wide arms. She squeaked in surprise, letting go of her blanket to grip the cloak hanging around Kisame’s shoulders. He set her down again quite quickly. And by set down, Sakura meant sat down and set her in his lap. He shifted and the cloak around him fell wider, to almost cocoon her. Sakura felt the heat of the fire and the extra cover kick in quickly, her bones seeming to absorb the heat happily. She subconsciously leaned further into Kisame, noting his body temperature had risen to a safe place.
“Best sleep Kitten. You’ll heal up quicker that way.”
“Not a Kitten,” she murmured, destroying say statement by almost purring in the warmth, “You’re like a furnace.”
He snorted and she gently ran a hand over his chest, chakra slipping into her fingers. He stayed silent as she monitored his health, checking his wound and making sure she had not missed any internal bleeding. He even stayed still as she slipped her hand up to his neck and counted his pulse.
“You’re good,” she murmured, eyes drooping.
“Course I am,” he grinned down at her, “Just quite low on chakra right now.”
“And a huge wound on your chest. I meant your good relatively. No strenuous activity,” she said.
“But I has so much…strenuous activity planned,” he growled playfully, “Especially having you sitting so willingly in my lap and all.”
She flushed dizzyingly fast and he roared with laugh as she tried to nudge her way out of what she realized was a very intimate hold. Sakura wasn’t a prude, wasn’t opposed to any form of hot fun sex, but not like this, in this situation. The fact she was so worn out she was showing her flush was unacceptable.
“Sit still Kitten. Don’t get my blood pumping with all your playing.”
She flushed so hard she thought she might pass out and shot him a glare of murder. He practically howled with laughter and held her tighter. She huffed and settled, to weary to try and put up a fuss about his inappropriate game. She drifted off in the arms of an S-class criminal.
.--.
Sakura felt much better the next time she woke. The smell of food also helped her mood and she sat up, confused at why the stone was suddenly warm. Looking down she realized she was lying on a thick Akatsuki cloak, practically balled into a nest. And there was fish frying on a rock beside the fire.
“Food,” she moaned happily.
“Ha!” Kisame laughed, “Thought that might wake you up. My summon caught some for us.”
She accepted the small pieces of already cooked fish he handed her. She ate it slowly so as not to upset her stomach or swallow a fish bone. When she had finished off a full fish and Kisame was starting another one she glanced about finding the cave little changed. Except her clothes had been spread out.
She sighed as she nudged her shirt, seeing the shreds it practically was. How it hadn’t fallen off before she pulled it off she had no idea. Her shorts weren’t much better but they were intact enough she could wiggle into them. She mournfully looked at the cuts across them making them much shorter. She was glad her plain-Jane underwear were the same black and thus unnoticeable through the holes.
“Lost most of your gear but the medical supplies I see,” Kisame noted.
“My medical supplies were sealed in my bra,” she said.
“Kinky,” he leered.
She flushed and glared at him yet again and when she saw his eyes light up mischievously she knew he was getting amused at how he could get a rise from her. She made a commitment to not let him rile her up anymore.
“Lucky for you,” she huffed.
“Yes,” he settled down, “Very lucky for me.”
She glanced at him from under her lashes at the serious tone and found him staring at her again with that look. Like he was trying to pry into her and figure her out.
“Are you cold?” she asked, “Sorry for stealing your cloak.”
“No problem Kitten,” he said easily, “How are your chakra levels?”
“How far would it be to land?” she asked instead.
“Five kilometers at most. But it’s rough choppy water,” he said, “and we’ll be in enemy territory.”
Sakura tried to imagine the map of the countries in her head. They had been close to the south so the river must have spit them out either very close or right in Mist territory. Not the best place when you were one of their most notorious wanted men.
“Not enough to make it that far,” she confided.
“I could get us there,” he said, “but we would be vulnerable.”
“I have enough fresh water to last us two more days at most,” she said eyeing her medical supplies.
“We’ll use at least half that time then,” he said.
She nodded and focused on her chakra, wrapping it up inside and focusing on the broken rib. It was really, really painful and only her pain tolerance and sheer stubborn will had stopped her from whimpering at every move. She gave up some of her preciously restored chakra to knit the bone together and lessen the bruising. Kisame said nothing and just watched.
.--.
Sitting in a cave with an S-class missing nin half naked was a lot more boring then it sounded. Sakura had wanted to sleep again but had slept to much in the last three or four days.
“What is your favourite color?” she asked out of the blue, bored of staring at the fire.
Kisame stared at her, obviously taken back by her question.
“Green,” he finally answered, “Yours?”
She considered this.
“Neon orange. So bright it hurts your eyes,” she decided.
He snorted.
“Is that why the Kyuubi brat wears orange?” he asked.
She had never considered that.
“Or maybe I just got used to him wearing said color.”
There was a moment of silence.
“So you and the Kyuubi brat huh,” the sharkman said leaning back into the wall opposite.
“No,” she said resolutely, “Not the way you are thinking. Naruto and I are teammates.”
She didn’t bother to stress the one word that described them. Teammates in their career and outside of it. Naruto was her friend, a man she trusted to watch her back, and a man she hoped to forever share her life with. But there was no intimacy and they agreed they didn’t need it. Even if the other found someone else they loved, it would never detract from what she and Naruto were.
“Huh,” Kisame said again, rubbing his chin thoughtfully at her answer, “Like Itachi and I.”
She raised a brow at him, a bit surprised and wondered if he truly knew what she meant. Nd if he did, did he really see Uchiha Itachi like she saw Naruto? That was a lot of attachment for a pair of missing-nin and she filed it away.
“What’s your favourite weapon?” she asked her next question before she got too deep into that line of thought.
“Samehade obviously,” he snorted, “What is your favorite attack?”
“Punching!” she grinned, showing off her teeth and imagining the feel of stone crumbling beneath her hands.
He laughed but she also heard the appreciation in that tone. Sakura wondered if she should ask more questions, if she should start to profile Hoshigaki Kisame. Wondered if she wanted to go down that rabbit hole. She had already broken protocol by healing him, saving his life, and now sitting peacefully with him. Some would say she was already compromised. Sakura would tell them to go fuck themselves.
So Sakura started the next round of the question game in the faint firelight with a seven foot tall sharkman watching her from the shadows.
After a few hours of idle chatter, asking questions that didn’t break any rules or give away any real information on either side, Sakura realized it was getting closer to night as the air cooled.
“Do you want your cloak back?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” Kisame grunted from where he sat next to the low fire, arms crossed.
“If you get sick and die after all the work I put in, I will beat you,” she said with warning.
He looked up at her and smirked, standing. He toed some of the damp logs brought to them closer to the fire to dry out before going to the flames. Sakura had yet to see the entrance to the cave or the summon but she didn’t worry about that much.
Kisame approached her and for a moment she saw what made him so fearsome. He towered. A seven foot tall man of muscle wound around a solid frame. His bicep was as large as her muscled thigh. She tilted her head back and looked up the solid tower of blue muscle into dark eyes and bared teeth and felt the thrill go down her spine.
At any moment this man could reach out, wrap one hand around her throat and steal her life from her. He could crush her with so little effort or immobilize her with a bit more. He could drown her in the waves she heard lap in the distance or simply break every bone in her body one at a time. He could hold her down and tear ever secret out of her. He could take anything he wanted from her. Her life. Her knowledge. Whatever he wanted.
She leaned back further as he paused, eyeing her. He fell to one knee and reached out, brushing his hand across her throat. She both wanted to pull away and push closer.
“You’re thinking too loudly kitten,” he said in a voice of low gravel, “I can practically hear you screaming.”
“Then I’m obviously not thinking that loudly if you think its screams echoing in my head,” she said in a husky tone, unable to stop the lowering of her voice.
For one moment he looked surprised, and then he grinned and leaned even closer. Her breath hitched but she did not move back. This seemed to give him the answer he wanted and he abruptly let go of her skin to flop beside her, spreading out the cloak further. Then he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her as close as he could against his hard, muscular chest, tugging the blanket up over the both of them (which didn’t quite fit, but it worked).
Sakura couldn’t stop her hands from lifting to rest across his pectorals. She wanted to whistle in appreciation at the hard muscle but thought that would be wildly inappropriate, especially after that little episode.
Neither of them said another word as they drifted off sharing heat.
.--.
Sakura looked over the desolate looking waves surrounding them on ever side. Emerging from their cave to find they really were on a rock was…surprising. It was a large rock for sure, almost five acres, but only barren raised rock. There were a few other caves made by crashing waves and high tide, but none as deep as theirs had been. Only gulls and some seals made this place their home. She could not even see the land from here, the sky and sea merging to make a bleak grey scene.
The wind cut to the bone too and Sakura shuddered, wrapping the blanket she had turned into a make shift cape closer. Kisame glanced at her and then to the water were a large shark rose to the surface, eyeing Kisame and then her. Sakura stared at the dark scared creature that could easily consume her in one bight. Kisame nodded to it and stepped out onto the water. Sakura followed slowly, the waves rolling violently under foot. This would take concentration. She had the precision and the skill, but it was still quite difficult.
“Tell me the moment you falter,” Kisame told her seriously.
She gave a curt nod and they started their walk. They had considered running it, but that would take energy their freshly healing bodies would be hesitant to give up. Best to save the strength they had in case they ran into trouble on the shore.
Sakura shivered in the wind again and tried not to focus on anything but the vicious waves they stepped and leapt over. When she finally caught a glimpse of the shore she nearly heaved with relief. The tossing and turning was turning her stomach along with the biting cold. She faltered, one foot sinking into the water. She stood, glanced at Kisame’s back and shook her foot dry, without saying anything. She could make it the last kilometer. She could.
Of course fate just wanted to show her she could be wrong. A fin swam around her feet and darted up to Kisame. She looked up in concern and paled at the wave that rolled in on the left. Kisame stopped and braced his feet, ready to ride it out and Sakura hurriedly did the same. Except she had faltered, her flickering chakra nearly run-dry again. Sakura had iron perfect control of her chakra but even she could do nothing if there was simply nothing to grasp.
She went down with a wet gasp that turned to a lung full of water, tossed on her head and over her heels by the force of the water till she had no idea what was up and what was down. Teeth sunk into her arm, as gently as teeth could, and held her firm against a long sandpaper rough body against the tear of the water until two arms wrapped around her and tugged her.
She breached the surface gasping and spluttering.
“I told you tell me when you faltered Kitten. If Sugo hadn’t caught you and let me know where you were you would have drowned.”
“Shut up,” she coughed.
He barked a laughed and pulled himself onto the surface of the water. She glanced at the shark swimming at their feet.
“Thank you…Sugo,” she said.
The Sharp did a circle which she took to mean he heard her. Kisame held her tightly and carried her the last distance as she shuddered and shivered, now wet and cold. They reached the stretch of beach and Sakura saw the wide wild river they had obviously flowed out of.
“Now what?” she asked, “I mean obviously beyond heading…home?”
“Now we find some way to dry you off,” he snorted.
Kisame was surprisingly practical for an S-class criminal. They headed down the beach and then into the surrounding countryside which was rocky but slowly turned to foliage and then wooded. They stopped as the grey dimmed to black and night fell over the foggy day. Kisame refused to set her down and simply wrapped his cloak around the both of them, especially when Sakura barely stopped shivering.
They finally stopped beside a giant old conifer with drooping branches covered in flat needles. He shoved aside the drooping branches and tucked her in against the trunk inside the shelter the branches mad.
“Don’t move,” he said looking at her.
She nodded and he stood, taking her wet blanket with him to wring out. Sakura had to admit she relaxed a great deal into the embrace of the tree. Being around actual trees again was…comfortable. She had grown up in forests and in forests she would always feel more at home. And the ground was a good deal softer then stone.
“We can’t risk a fire,” Kisame said, as he hung the dull brown blanket in the branches, helping to further hide them well it dried, “Luckily it’s a warmer night out here than in the ocean.”
She nodded and he looked at her.
“Clothes off,” he ordered, “They will make you much colder and need to dry.”
She scowled but stripped off her shorts.
“Bra too,” he leered.
She eyed him a moment and he gave an eye roll, dropping the playful attitude.
“If you get sick, I cannot help you,” he said, “And the damp and cold are already making you shiver.”
She couldn’t deny he was correct. And her bra was large and tight enough to be making her chest cold.
“Don’t look,” she warned him.
He looked upwards and she pulled it over her head, hanging it carefully. When she looked back he was looking. She flushed and brought her hands up quickly, using her arms to cover her chest and glaring.
“I said no looking!” she hissed.
“And I promised nothing,” he chuckled, “Why hide such a pretty sight anyways.”
She tried to stop the blush and was only fairly certain she had succeeded. The arms over her chest had drawn his eyes though and he frowned at the marks on them.
“Just flesh wounds,” she said quickly as he ran his reached for the bleeding teeth marks.
They were small scrapes. The shark summon had slotted her arm in his mouth in a way she made minimal contact with his serrated teeth. The few slices were from where she had been pulled by the current, scraping against the edges of teeth. She had gotten worse in training spars with academy students.
But she suddenly realized it was not the teeth marks he was reaching for. It was the large hand mark that covered a huge chunk of her one arm. It was purple and green and yellow but perfectly visible as a hand mark in the little light that wasn’t blackened by a cave.
“Hmm. I didn’t realize I had gripped you so tightly.”
There was a tinge of regret in his voice. But more so there was a deep, dark lusty quality. She felt a shudder go down her spine that was not from the cold.
“Well, you did save my life I suppose, even if you marked me doing it.”
He bared his teeth and let out a low rumble at the mention of marking her and she flushed as he cradled the arm eyeing the bruise.
“Suppose?” he barked a deep laugh, “No suppose about it Kitten. I saved you twice.”
“And I saved you twice, so we’re even,” she argued.
He just let out a dark chuckle and flopped back against the tree. With one swift move he had grabbed her by her hips and tugged her onto his lap so her back hit his chest. She gasped at the quick move and reached her arms out to balance herself, forgetting about being shirtless. She steadied her hands on his knees and leaned back enough she had some balance using his chest. She stiffened as his hands slipped up, one splaying across her stomach to help her with the balance. The other ran up her side as soft as a whisper, and played quickly over the swell of her breast before he dipped it low to steady on her hip.
“Hmm. Nice tits Kitten,” he rumbled, nosing her skin at the juncture of her neck and shoulder.
She released her held breath in a pant as she realized what had just happened. The other night had been a mix of playful and intimidating and all about power. The other night had been the weighing of his power over her and the way she knew he could do anything but didn’t. This though. This was cutting it dangerously close to fraternizing with the enemy.
He pressed her father down in her lap and she was made aware of his interest. She whimpered and he chuckled, fingers spasming on her stomach. She leaned back just the slightest into the touch and held any other noise in her throat. Then suddenly he tugged her closer and closed the cloak around her. The hand lessened its grip and his arms wrapped closer to cradle more the press her and he nuzzled her shoulder again, breathing over the skin.
“Sleep Kitten.”
She obeyed.
.--.
The next day was spent walking through forests, heading northwest. They believed they were on the very tip of fire country at this point as the terrain was far too wooded to be anything but Hi No Kunai. Sakura had tugged on her still slightly damp clothing and fashioned the blanket into a wrap toga of sorts that left her arms bare but covered up everything else down to her ankles at the very least.
The day was spent hiking, mostly in weary silence. The few words exchanged were meaningless fun, empty words, and things that would not get either of them in trouble with their respective sides. It was easy and made the day lighter. Especially when the sun emerged to light their way instead of the fog of the day before and the darkness from the cave the days earlier.
That night they curled up under a tree and risked a fire. Sakura slept wrapped in her own blanket and there was no inappropriateness even though Sakura had caught Kisame eyeing his own hand mark on her arm at varying times.
.--.
The third day of being out of the cave they spent walking and jogging in intervals, stretching their bodies and enjoying the feel of moving.
At one point they even had a race, Sakura taking to the trees as was natural for a ninja of the great forests. It ended when Kisame almost pulled his stitches and Sakura nearly fell out of the trees multiple times.
“You’re like a monkey,” Kisame gasped, resting on a root as Sakura filled their bottles from a spring.
“All Konoha-nin learn to tree hop before they learn to even use chakra to walk up walls.”
“All Mist-nin learn to walk on water before learning bunshin,” he retorted.
Sakura smiled at him and he grinned back.
“Let’s take it more slowly,” she said offering him a water bottle he downed.
She peeled back his gauze and tape a moment to peer at the wound. It looked strained but fine. She taped it back, making sure to press the tape hard enough it would stick. She offered Kisame a reassuring smile and he stared down at her with dark eyes. She suddenly realized she was kneeling between his legs, hands on his chest, and what that would look like from his angle. She resisted the urge to leap back as if he was burning. Instead she held a lingering eye contact and then stood slowly, taking a step back.
“Let’s head a bit further north,” Kisame said standing as if nothing had occurred, “There should be a village in that direction about an hour away.”
“You can sense it?” she asked.
“Nah. Been there before,” he grinned with a secret.
She agreed, wanting to get some clothes and wanting a place to rest tonight that felt safer than in the open.
.--.
“Been here before he says,” she muttered, sticking close to Kisame’s side.
Kisame barked a laugh and gained a few looks, but most glanced away quick enough when they saw his height. He was under a slight henge to change his skin color and hide the Akatsuki pattern on his outerwear. She had wrapped her blanket up and around her to cover her more, hiding her face and hair like a hood.
“It’s a traveler’s town,” Kisame snickered at her glare, “Which means they have an assortment of things travellers want. Travel gear shops, bars, inns, and brothels.”
“More brothels then the others,” she said eyeing the women in the doorways.
“The traveler wants what he wants,” Kisame leered at her, “Don’t worry Kitten. Theirs may be bigger but your tits are still prettier.”
She kicked him sharply in the heel which only made him laugh. She headed for an Inn and walked up to the desk which was manned by a young man who eyed her.
“A room for two for the night,” she said, “With two Beds.”
“Only single bed rooms here honey,” he snorted.
She grit her teeth and wondered if the emergency cash she had stashed in her medical kit would be enough for two rooms.
“One room with a big bed then please,” Kisame cut in grinning.
She coughed up the cash and accepted the key. They went up the two floors to the far end and unlocked the door to the clean inn room. There was a large bed in the middle with a small table and chair. The windows were covered by curtains making it dark, but it looked tidy and clean. Sakura peeked into the bathroom and sighed happily at the sight of a shower.
“You want to go get food Kitten?” Kisame asked tossing his cloak on the desk.
Her stomach reminded her she had eaten nothing in the past two days but what berries, roots, and nuts they had collected while walking. Along with the few protein bars she had had stored. But that wasn’t as important as feeling clean.
“I’m not leaving this room for the rest of the night,” she said simply, unwrapping her handy dandy blanket turned clothes.
Kisame chuckled but shrugged.
“I’ll go get some food to bring back then. Want some clothes too.”
“If you have the money, that would be nice,” she said, offering a thankful smile.
“You’re not the only one with a secret stash. Mine just doesn’t contain medical supplies,” he winked.
She shut the bathroom door as he headed out and stripped off her gross underwear. She was in the steaming shower not a minute later, sighing blissfully as the water washed over her and finally started to warm her down to her bones. It was nice to feel warm after so many days of cold and damp. She scrubbed and relaxed under the spray of water till she heard Kisame return. He of course entered the bathroom without knocking.
“Showering!” she yelled at him.
“Nothing I haven’t seen without a curtain Kitten. Got you some clothes.”
She huffed but he left the clothes on the sink and shut the door behind him. She shut the shower off and dried off before glancing at the clothes, a feeling of dread.
“That fucker,” she hissed.
He had also swapped her old clothes for the new leaving her little choice. She stared at it before releasing a sigh and deciding she wouldn’t let his joke affect her. She tugged on the lacy green lingerie that…what the fuck… matched her eyes. She flushed as she remembered him telling her his favourite color was also green. She grudgingly admitted they were quite nice, even if they had a touch to much lace for her and would offer no support in a fight.
She simply sighed and pulled on the short jean shorts that could barely be called shorts and not a belt. The shirt was at least a bit more modest button up three quarter length sleeve thing. At least that’s what she thought until she pulled it on and realized it had been made with only three buttons leaving it open at the bottom to show off her navel and open at the top to show cleavage. It was also partial see through.
Sakura turned before the steamy bathroom mirror and grudgingly admitted it all looked quite nice on her. The fact he had eyeballed her size correctly was surprising. But the thought that chased away any embarrassment and made her grin was the thought of seven foot Kisame walking into the store that sold these clothes and buying them before judgmental sales people.
She exited the bathroom with her chin in the air and ignored Kisame’s deeply amused and appreciative looks from where he lounged in the desk chair. She faltered when she smelled food. He offered it to her teasingly and she accepted the take out container, sitting on the bed across from him to scarf down.
“Thanks for the food. And thanks for the clothes I guess. If you can count them as clothes,” she said as she finished her noodles and vegetables.
“No problem Kitten. Thanks for the room,” he chuckled.
“What is the plan tomorrow?” she asked.
He paused.
“I like how you ask,” he said, “As if we were a team on a mission. When the fact is we’re in Fire country and I’m a criminal.”
She paused at the realization. True. She should not be asking for his opinion or lead. She was in home territory and should be booking it to Konoha if not trying to bring him down.
“I was surprised you didn’t bolt for home as soon as we touched Land Kitten,” he continued, “I fully expected to wake to you leaving one night or trying to kill me.”
“I…” she paused, “I was too weak.”
“Not too weak to break my neck and stumble home,” he pointed out, “At one point I was a lot weaker then you.”
Sakura set her food container aside and looked him straight in the eye.
“You saved my life,” she finally relented.
“And that means nothing in the ninja world,” he said simply, “A man in my place might have saved your life once only to change his mind.”
She shrugged self-consciously.
“I…I’m a medic,” she finally said, “Through and through. I prefer to save lives then take them. You didn’t push me so I didn’t have to push back.”
“So if I had pushed you, you would have pushed back?” he asked.
She looked up at his tone of voice and flushed at the look he gave her.
“Not like that,” she cleared her throat.
He stood suddenly and stepped forwards. She pressed back against his advance until her back hit the headboard.
“Now is when you run Kitten?” he chuckled as he loomed, “Now, when we are in a room surrounded by a village. When we were alone you did not flinch from me.”
“I’m not flinching,” she said quickly, “Just keeping some personal space.”
He loomed over her and then leaned over, placing his hands on the headboard to box her in. She held her breath as he leaned in, dark eyes impossibly dark in the glow and consumed with a sort of want.
“You do not flinch away from my touch,” he agreed, “One of the few. Do I not frighten you? Horrify you?”
“You…” she hitched her breath, “You are a strong man Kisame. A powerful one with few who can compare. You frighten me on some level, but that is only instinctual. But not horrify.”
“Do you not find my teeth too sharp, my eyes to quick, my skin to rough?” he asked gruffly peering at her.
Sakura looked at him closely and thought out how to say her words.
“I’ve seen much worse things than a few sharp teeth or a pair of black eyes or a complexion not like china,” she breathed, “I lost my taste for blunt teeth, plain eyes, and porcelain skin.”
He gazed at her hungrily for a long moment and then leaned over, kneeling on the bed and releasing the headboard. His fingers gripped her hip, locking her in place as he leaned over. He initiated the kiss, but she could not say she did not press back against it, opening her mouth to let him in.
“We can’t,” she panted against his mouth as she pulled back to get a breath.
“We’re doing it right now,” he rumbled pressing closer.
“We shouldn’t,” she swallowed.
“We could cut the sexual tension between us with a knife Kitten,” he chuckled lowly, “I for one am going to act on said tension.”
She panted but he covered it with his mouth again, razor sharp teeth brushing against her bottom lip just enough to send a shudder down her spine, but not draw blood. She let out a wanton moan that made him growl. He pulled her closer, using his grip on her hips to control her. She grabbed his shoulders for balance and whimpered as he scraped his teeth along her jugular. In retaliation she drug her fingernails over the skin of his shoulders. He shuddered and bowed his head to nip at her collar bone.
“I am not gentle,” he warned as red marks appeared where his teeth had been.
“I did not think you were,” she retorted arching against him.
If she was going to do this, it would not be half-hearted with faint ‘we shouldn’t’s ringing out the whole time. It was past that now. She gasped in surprise as he pulled back enough to tug on her shirt front popping the few buttons and tearing it one place.
“You just bought this,” she moaned, undeniably aroused by that action
“For the express purpose of ripping it off you,” he growled a laugh eyeing the front of her bra.
She gasped as he nuzzled the swell of her breast before running his rough tongue over the same skin. She let go of his shoulders and fell back to lay on the bed, hands working on the button of her shorts. Kisame helped her shimmy out of them but when he went to touch he paused and then stood. She propped herself up enough to toss the shreds of the shirt off and then waited, still propped on her elbows. Kisame stared at her, running his eyes down her skin and figure, lingering on the lingerie and what they covered. His eyes seemed to darken with want and he licked his teeth, a wide grin taking over his face.
“I knew it would be a good color on you,” he said huskily as he stripped his own shirt over his head.
She rose to her feet and undid his drawstring while she hesitantly kissed around his bandage, eyeing his expression. He groaned and grabbed her hips again, pressing flush against her so she couldn’t even undo his pants.
“Kitten,” he growled, “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?” she asked playfully looking up at him through her lashes.
He groaned and tossed her on the bed. He stepped out of his pants as she rolled over kneeling and trying to work her fingers over the bra strap. Stupid metal clasps were supposed to be easy. Kisame grabbed her by the hips again and pressed them back against his groin. She gasped as she felt his cock, especially as he pressed so tightly against her.
“Let me just get this blasted clasp,” she panted.
He merely growled and spun her back to face him, pressing her into the mattress. She tightened her thighs around his hips and gasped as he harshly grinded into her. She threw her head back and moaned, especially as his fingers slid up her legs and his teeth nicked her navel, licking and biting their way up her stomach. He shoved her bra up over her breasts to bunch at her collar bone.
“I love your tits Kitten. Have I told you?”
“Thrice now,” she gasped as he nipped them, hands rising to grasp them curiously.
She arched her back, pressing them closer to him so she could reach the stupid clasp. With desperate fingers she popped it and tossed the lace over the edge of the bed. Sakura grabbed Kisame’s face in both hands and tugged it away from her breasts to press a desperate hungry kiss into his mouth, biting her way in. Kisame pressed back eagerly squeezing her breasts enough to make her keen into his mouth.
Then his hands moved back to her legs, trailing over the material around her clit.
“Only one more bit of lace,” he grinned into her mouth.
He ran his fingers over the edges and then down and she gave a strangled cry as he gave her a hard stroke with his thumb, his other fingers rubbing circles over her entrance. He hooked two knuckles in the material and gave a rip that tore the lace right off of her.
“Oh,” she moaned, “That’s hot.”
“Not as hot as you kitten. Mewling so wantonly under me,” he laughed into the skin of her shoulder, teeth finding a sensitive spot.
He grabbed her knees and wrapped them tighter, higher, up on his waist so she felt his heavy cock against her skin.
“Ready Kitten?” he chuckled as he lined himself up, cock nudging her opening.
“You’re just going to shove it in?” she demanded.
“I’ll save tasting till later,” he bit her shoulder.
And then he surged forwards, pressing into her in one fell swoop.
“You fucker!” she yelped, strangled and breathy all at once.
She panted and clenched around him as he groaned wonderingly. He pressed further and she groaned.
“Give me a moment you bastard,” she hissed.
He laughed at her profanity but obeyed. Sakura simply breathed, panting around the feel of his cock as he body adjusted and slowly relaxed. She whined faintly as he moved just the slightest, shifting his weight and her body responded. She wanted more of this pleasurepain and she wanted him to fuck her.
“Fuck me,” she said aloud, urging him with her heels.
“All adjusted then, Kitten,” he teased as he dragged himself out.
“Yes, now fuck me,” she growled.
He laughed again, breathlessly, and pulled out to rock back in.
“Oh!” she gasped, throwing her head back out of a mixture of surprised pain and pleasure, “You-”
He cut her off with a vicious kiss that plundered her mouth, moving his grip to her hips where he dug them in hard enough to bruise.
“I’m going to devour you,” he whispered into her mouth.
Sakura let herself be devoured.
.--.
Sakura woke slowly, wrapped in comfort and sleeping on the softest surface in nearly a week. The sheets felt so smooth against her and Kisame felt warm pressed against her. She lifted her head peered at him.
“So that did happen,” she flopped back down, let out a content sigh at the softness under her.
“Betcha pretty ass it did,” Kisame growled playfully, looking right back at her.
“Hmm,” she merely hummed as his fingers worked up her spine, counting the vertebra.
He dug his blunt nails over her skin and she noticed his arousal pressed against her leg as she gave a weak moan.
“I don’t know if I have the energy after so little sleep last night,” she muttered.
“Come now Kitten. You’re a ninja with stamina. That was only four rounds.”
“And a lot more then I have ever had in one night,” she grinned.
“Then you have not had anyone as great as me,” he mocked nipping at her neck.
She gasped as he brushed his teeth over a sensitive spot that wasn’t quite bruised but close enough. He pulled back smirking and took her arm, nipping and kissing at her hand before making his way up. He lingered especially over the mark of his hand, still yellow on her skin.
“What is with you and marks,” she moaned.
“I like seeing me on your skin,” he grinned slanting his mouth across the bruise, “I’m going to go book us another night. To recover of course.”
“To recover,” she snorted, “You owe me new clothes too.”
“I didn’t owe you any to begin with,” he smirked, “And I like you perfectly fine without any.”
She blushed and teasingly snapped at his neck. He drew back laughing.
“Before you go to book another night how about breakfast first,” she teased.
He gave a strangled moan as she grabbed his hips and slithered her way down his body, licking her lips as she looked up at him, helping him with his morning problem.
.--.
They spent the rest of the day and night in the room, both resting and then using up all that energy. Sakura took the lead at times, and at others let him pin her down and take her hard and fast. Sakura had never really been with many people intimately (though she had been with enough to know what to do). But this was a whole new adventure for her and she gladly took it.
By the time midnight of the second night rolled around she was exhausted and fully sated, stretched out like the cat Kisame insisted on calling her. Her hips had finger bruises covering them, as did her chest and sides and Sakura ran her fingers over them, fascinated. They weren’t deep enough to hurt, just enough to color the skin and Kisame quite liked them if his inability to stop nuzzling them said anything.
“You are a beast,” she hummed snuggling her face into his hair.
“A sexy one,” he grinned up at her from where he had his face tucked against her breasts.
She snorted at him and he licked the bruise spreading across the swell of her left breast, tasting her skin. Kisame nipped at her nipple making her moan lowly.
“How can you not be tired?” she asked.
“Stamina,” he snorted breathing over her flushed skin, “One more round at least Kitten.”
“Let me take a cat nap at least,” she smothered his mouth with a kiss.
He licked his way in and properly ravished her mouth before letting her fall back.
“Sleep then Kitten,” he chuckled, pulling her flush against him.
She curled her head up in the crook of his shoulder and nosed the skin as she drifted off, content.
.--.
Sakura woke slowly, pleasantly sore but rested at least. She hummed and rolled out of Kisame’s hold onto her back. She blinked open her eyes to stare at the ceiling a moment. The small amount of light slipping through the curtain indicated morning. She turned her head to Kisame again and grinned nosing his throat. He muttered in his sleep and the arm about her waist tightened. She chuckled and nipped the skin to make him squirm more in his sleep.
Then she looked up and let out a short scream of surprise.
Kisame sat bolt up at her yell as she yanked the sheets up to cover herself.
Uchiha Itachi simply raised an eyebrow from where he was seated on the one chair in the room.
“Fuck Itachi,” Kisame groaned falling back to lay down, throwing his free arm over his eyes, “Can you even try to be less creepy.”
“Hn.”
Sakura flushed and tried to glare as his black gaze turned on her. She tensed holding the sheet closer and theorized how quickly she could escape the room if she even could. Kisame’s arm tightened about her waist, giving her reassurance.
“You were missing,” Itachi finally said smoothly.
“Yeah, was recovering,” Kisame grunted, “And then got distracted.”
Itachi simply stared at Sakura and she hissed at him, glaring right back. He quirked a brow and she got the feeling he was amused.
“Time to get up then I guess,” Kisame groaned.
Sakura didn’t take her eyes off Itachi, wary and knowing. Kisame was an S- Class missing-nin as well, and arguably more terrifying looking, but well… Uchiha Itachi was the boogey man of Konoha. She knew exactly how deadly he was and how much destruction he could wrought. Sakura had also had the pleasure of Kisame’s company these past few days and knew enough of him to have a grasp on how he worked and reacted. Kisame was not a threat to Sakura at the moment, but Uchiha Itachi on the other hand, could be what spelled her death. So Sakura didn’t take her eyes off of him.
Then Kisame’s arm uncurled from her waist and snapped up, tugging her down by her hair.
“Ah!” She yelped, “You ass-”
He smothered her with another kiss that she melted into, trying not to be too self-conscious about the fact Uchiha Itachi was currently watching their make-out session. Kisame was pretty good at distracting her from this fact though as he stroked her skin. She ha to trust he would protect her for now as well and that Uchiha Itachi wouldn’t slaughter his partner’s bed companion for now.
“One last time as a goodbye?” Kisame grinned against her lips.
“Not with your partner sitting there,” she snapped back.
“He wouldn’t mind.”
“I would,” she snorted.
Kisame let out a sigh and nipped at her bottom lip once before pulling back and sitting up.
“How did you even find us?” Kisame asked as he stood, grabbing his pants to pull on.
Itachi merely gave him a look that Kisame snorted at, finding his shirt. Sakura watched them carefully and wondered how quickly she could get out the window if they decided she was coming with them. Sakura stood, wrapping the sheet about her securely and not missing the way Itachi eyed her. She growled at him, a warning in her eyes, and Kisame laughed aloud.
“Don’t mess with my Kitten, Itachi,” Kisame teased, eyeing her appreciatively.
Sakura flushed and gave him that half lidded look she knew drove him wild. He groaned and raked a hand through his hair.
“Wish we had more time,” he grunted.
Sakura sort of did too. For an S-rank missing ninja who had been hunting Naruto for years, he was a pretty great guy. And fantastic in bed. She barely regretted sleeping with an enemy, even if this was going to take some fast talking when she got home.
Itachi stood and wordlessly handed his partner his cloak. Kisame pulled it on and then beckoned Sakura closer. She skirted around Itachi carefully and he gave that look again that said he was amused as she folded herself in Kisame’s arms.
“Three months from now. Here,” Kisame muttered into her ear.
“It’s a date,” Sakura said, giddy as she felt the thrill bloom in her.
“Leave a note if you can’t come,” he grinned, “Be seeing ya then Kitten.”
She watched as they swept out of the room, Kisame throwing her a wink as he closed the door. Sakura waited a moment to make sure they wouldn’t be popping back in and then collapsed on the bed, legs shaking. She let out a weak moan. She was sore. Pleasantly so, but still sore. And she wouldn’t deny the sight of Uchiha Itachi in her room had sent her heart jack-rabbiting in fear.
Then she sat bolt upright.
“Wait! Kisame! I don’t have any clothes!”