Kisame clicked his teeth against the cuff in her ear, amused at how Itachi was teasing him. The cuff was in her ear but had Itachi’s hands all over it. That just meant Kisame liked it all the more. Sakura’s breath caught under his teeth and she rocked her hips up against him in invitation.
“Not now,” Kisame sighed mournfully, “Just came to relay the date.”
“The date?” Sakura blinked, all green eyes and soft lips.
Kisame let his eyes linger on her. Haruno Sakura was a girl you could drown in. Kisame would never be able to drown in a real ocean, but looking down at her he was sure he would love to die that way, smothered and embraced by her so fully he couldn’t pull away. Kisame leaned over and kissed her just because he could, just because she let him. Kisame had had more than a few people he had loved; one when he was young and just learning love could hurt as much as it could make you feel happy, another later when desperation and fear made it hard to find himself, and finally, Itachi. Kisame had not lied when he told Sakura so long ago that he didn’t love Itachi like a lover, but it didn’t mean he felt no love for his partner. Itachi was…Itachi, and Kisame loved him. Loved his partner just as much as loved this new spitfire of a girl with her candy floss pink hair and her fists that could break mountains.
He loved them both dearly and it made it easy to let Itachi and Sakura love each other as well. Kisame was a possessive man, he liked to label things his, liked to mark them, but Itachi and Sakura were both his so it was easy. He was glad he’d never have to chose between them.
Kisame kissed her again, marveling at how she opened up to him, went pliant in his arms; all trust and love as he kissed her slowly. Kisame was a killer, a killer who went as far as to kill teammates, and yet Haruno Sakura closed her eyes and let him in and never once flinched away from him. Kisame could have loved her for that alone.
“The date,” Kisame breathed, trying to break away from his thoughts, “Three weeks from now. That small town on the border of Konoha and Ame. Itachi and I will be there waiting for you.”
“Good,” Sakura smiled, “I will have my medic kit with me.”
Kisame didn’t know exactly what was wrong with Itachi but he would have had to be blind not see that there was indeed something wrong. Itachi hid it well, but Kisame and him were together far to often to hide the wracking coughs and the blood at the corner of his lips, to hide the way he couldn’t catch his breath some days and the way his eyes bled. And Sakura was a medic-nin, she would have seen it as well.
And here she was, offering to heal him. Uchiha Itachi was one of the most notorious missing nin from Konoha, one of the most feared the world over, and here she was offering to heal him. Haruno Sakura loved and she loved well.
It just made Kisame love her all the more for that as well.
He smiled and kissed her again just to feel her pulse beneath his teeth. Haruno Sakura was a girl to drown in and Kisame was sure he was already drowning.
.--.
Sakura’s breath caught at the sight of Itachi and Kisame side by side. Once upon a time that sight would have sent fear through her veins and made her heart jack rabbit. Now she flushed faintly as she looked at the two men she had been having filthy hot sex with.
Kisame saw her first which was no surprise given Itachi’s near blindness. He waved, grin sharp and dazzling and Sakura smiled back on reflex, so used to doing so in his company. They had ditched the red and black clouds and wore simple dark clothing. Not that Kisame was subtle with his height and hair and blue skin. Itachi looked less subtle with a blue giant beside him as well.
Sakura had been given three days extra on a courier mission with orders to take it slow (which Tsuande delivered with a wink). Tsunade had also sent her with a stocked med kit and the name of a small inn with a discreet owner. Sakura was currently standing in said inn’s doorway. She waved at the pair and saw the moment Itachi recognized her; he smiled. She had been repressing her chakra as best she could and knew while he could sense her most days, he was by no means a sensor.
The pair came up to her and Sakura shooed them into the building before either could open their mouths.
“This places has the best tempura I’ve eve had in my damn life,” Sakura said, “I’ve already told them to prepare dinner for three.”
“I’m a sucker for good tempura,” Kisame grinned.
“Do you like tempura Itachi?” Sakura asked.
“I do,” Itachi dipped his head.
“Good,” Sakura smiled.
She hustled them into a room and kept up a bit of idle chatter asking them how they’d been like usual. Kisame, who knew the plan, must have seen her faint nervous trembling and covered it with roaring laughter and some quick gropes that made her flush to her roots. Sakura thought she was used to the rowdiness of Kisame, but with Itachi watching she found herself out of odds.
“We haven’t been together, all three of us, since that day Itachi found us in the traveller’s town,” Sakura remarked as she realized this.
“Huh,” Kisame said, “You’re right. We talk about you enough it’s felt like we’ve all been together before.”
“Y-you talk about me,” Sakura said with an embarrassing squeak.
“Oh yeah,” Kisame leered, “there are no secrets between any of us.”
Sakura flushed and shifted, unsure if she was embarrassed or turned on by the fact they’d obviously discussed her, and probably not innocently. Itachi was watching, his smile slightly sly. Staring at the two of them Sakura suddenly felt her heart swell. She grabbed Kisame by the front of his shirt and yanked him so hard he nearly lost his footing. This kiss was quick and rough and when she let go he tried to follow with a growl. Instead she turned to Itachi and reached up to grab him by the face and guide him into a kiss that was more soft. That was their relationships in a nutshell she supposed; all passion but one with Uchiha reserved manners and the other with untamed wildness. She liked both of them. A lot.
A knock on the door announced dinner and Sakura shooed the guys off the wash up and get dressed in the provided yukata sleepwear while Sakura let the inn keeper in to lay out dinner.
The tempura was indeed amazing and they ate while laughing and talking. By the time the plates were scraped clean, Kisame had an arm thrown over Itachi’s shoulder, teasing Sakura enough to make her blush while Itachi listened, eyes crinkled with a smile.
Itachi was not expecting the knock-out drugs in his tea.
Sakura and Kisame both winced at taking advantage of that. Sakura had brushed the drugs in his cup as she attempted to knock Kisame upside the head, and only Itachi’s relaxed nature and deteriorating eye sight let that happen with a little help from Kisame’s flailing arms.
Itachi’s lids started to droop almost immediately and he leaned further into Kisame, still unaware it was anything other than exhaustion. Kisame held him tighter. The reassurance of his bulky teammate must have made Itachi accept the sleep and in seconds he was out like a light, silence following him as Sakura and Kisame looked at one another, both feeling icky for what they had done.
Drugging teammates even for good reasons always made a person feel wrong.
“Let’s get him upstairs,” Sakura said, “My room has been sterilized.”
Kisame scooped his partner up and they headed for her room. A large number of seals had been set up, as well as a lot of bleaching had been done. Sakura made Kisame stay out of the room, taking Itachi in her arms.
“Stand guard?” she asked lightly.
Not that they should be disturbed but Kisame accepted the mission with a grim silence, sitting beside her door. Sakura laid Itachi at the base of a floor wide seal and went to wash her hands. From what they knew, Itachi has a sickness of the lungs, something inherited but curable. It was time to see if the damage was too much though, if he had went to long without treatment.
Sakura snapped some gloves on and centered herself, feeling the reassurance of Kisame keeping watch and then set to work.
.--.
“Enter.”
Kisame took a deep breath and entered the rooms. Seals spread across the floor looked smudged and used, bandages and a tray of equipment set aside. Itachi was lying on a futon, hooked up to an IV.
“Kisame,” Sakura said formally, sitting seiza off to the side.
Kisame froze. Sakura stared up at him solemnly and Kisame knew something bad was coming. He sat slowly, mirroring her pose, eyes darting to Itachi who was unmoving.
“He’s okay?” Kisame asked roughly before anything could be said.
“He okay,” Sakura nodded with a quiet sigh, “There will be some scaring from the illness, and he might have some difficulty catching his breath sometimes, but the illness is gone. The fool could have stopped all of this years ago just by getting some medicine from any hospital.”
Kisame paused, parsed the words and released a slow breath as he realized what that meant. Suddenly Sakura asking him to arrange this without Itachi’s knowledge made more sense. Itachi had known he was sick, had known how to fix it, and had not. Itachi had let himself stay sick, had been slowly letting death approach him knowingly.
“Why?” Kisame asked, voice catching.
Itachi…Itachi had been going to let himself die. Had been going to leave Kisame, had been going to leave Sakura. On purpose. Kisame took a deep sharp breath and Sakura mirrored it a tad more calmly.
“Kisame,” she said, “I’m going to tell you a Konoha secret. It isn’t even classified it’s so secret.”
Kisame shuddered once and closed his eyes. He knew what was coming He knew…
“Itachi is not a missing-nin. He’s a spy.”
Kisame held a hand over his eyes and simply breathed. He had known. He had never truly thought of it, but somewhere deep down he had known. All the pieces that were Itachi just fell together. How he was such a notorious missing-nin but never talked about his crime. How he had ‘just snapped one night’ yet let his brother live and showed no signs of being crazy. How he was so calm and collected and quiet but so polite. How he never targeted Konoha-nin, how he never killed unless ordered. How he was one of the strongest men in the world but simply obeyed and never asked for anything.
“Konoha made him kill his whole family,” Kisame finally said when the words pressed harsh to his tongue.
“Yes,” Sakura said darkly, “And the man who ordered that is going to pay for that crime.”
So not a missing-nin, but not a sanctioned spy mission either. What had Itachi tangled himself into?
“How did you learn this? Secrets like this are buried far further than a chunin can get them,” he said.
“I am the Godaime’s apprentice,” Sakura said simply.
And while that might say she could sneak secrets out of the office, it seemed much more likely that the Godaime had told her. The Godaime Hokage had told Sakura about Itachi and then…and then ordered Sakura to tell Kisame.
“The Godaime knows we fuck doesn’t she,” Kisame barked a surprised laugh.
Sakura raised a brow as if to say ‘duh’ and Kisame let out another harsh laugh. He hadn’t considered it but he supposed honorable little Haruno Sakura would have told her master. She would have had to. And yet here she was, still fucking him and for some unknown reason the Godaime was letting her continue. Kisame doubted it was for information because Sakura was careful to never mention Akatsuki or Kisame’s past allegiances.
That wasn’t important right now though. What was important was Itachi.
“So Itachi is a spy,” he said, “And you healed him. Yet he didn’t want to be healed.”
Sakura nodded and let him work it out.
“That means the Godaime must have ordered it. But why? And why didn’t Itachi get healed earlier?”
He mulled it and finally looked to Sakura.
“Itachi sent his last missive to the Hokage,” she explained, “Saying his mission would be ending, that he was planning to confront Sasuke and let some truths come out. He did not plan to survive this.”
Kisame flinched faintly and looked over at Itachi. Itachi had been going to commit suicide via brother. And Uchiha Sasuke was good, but he was not as good as Itachi so Itachi had let the illness run its course, let it bring him down to a level his brother might be able to get him.
“He’s an idiot,” Kisame said tightly, emotions welling inside of him; anger was one of them but grief was another.
“He is,” Sakura smiled grimly, “Luckily he has us.”
Kisame wondered what plans the Godaime had for them. Wondered what the scheming behind all of this was. He suddenly wished he was back in that travellers inn, fucking Sakura into a bed with no worries other than their pleasure. It had been simple back then. And Kisame was realizing that he had tied himself not just to Uchiha Itachi but to Haruno Sakura, and somehow through both of them to Konoha. Kisame didn’t know what the plans were, didn’t know if he wanted to be a part of them, but… but Itachi was his partner and Sakura was a girl he loved.
Kisame put his hands on the ground and bowed low enough his forehead brushed the floor.
“Thank you,” he said harshly, “Thank you for saving him.”
Sakura grabbed him gently and tugged him up until she could look him in the eyes. Her eyes were spring green and clear. Their was no slyness in them, only open honesty and Kisame breathed a deep breath of the freshness.
“I healed him,” Sakura said softly, “But he still has plans to fight his brother and die.”
Kisame nodded, throat sore with the words he held back, the yells and the growls.
“Then we just have to make sure he doesn’t do that,” Kisame said sharply, “he’s never alone without you or I unless on a mission. We’ll both keep an eye on him.”
“I’ll keep an eye on Sasuke’s movements as well. My teammate is tracking him so it will be easy to see if their paths might be crossing.”
Kisame nodded and took a deep breath and looked over at Itachi.
“We’ll have to keep it a secret that we know,” Kisame realized, “Or he’ll try to out maneuver us.”
“Yes,” Sakura said as if she already knew.
Kisame looked at Itachi, noticed how peaceful he looked in his sleep, his breathing finally even. Kisame swore he was going to make that idiot realize he wasn’t allowed to just go off an die. Whatever it took, whatever schemes he had to become a part of, no matter who he had to obey; Kisame was going to make sure Uchiha Itachi lived.
Kisame loved him too much to watch him die.
.--.
“Sai,” Sakura greeted sweetly.
Her lips were upturned in her most innocent smile and her eyes were wide and guileless, her voice was sugar sweet.
Sai stared at her with something like terror.
“Hello Sakura,” he greeted in return, no nickname to be found, “do you have a shovel?”
“A shovel?” she raised a brow calmly.
“So I may dig my grave before you murder me.”
“I’m not going to kill you,” she chirped, “I’m just need a favor.”
He still watched her like she would rip his spleen out at any moment.
“Will this favor kill me?”
“Why do you think so little of me Sai?” she asked with a moue of a frown, giving an over-the-top pout, “Are we not dear teammates and friends.”
“Yes. Which is how I know you are capable of killing me with your bare hands. Friends let friends write their wills before they murder them,” Sai said flatly, “So am I going to die doing this favor?”
Sakura fluttered her eyelashes to hide her fond smile. Sai was getting so much better in the emotions department. His quips were actually crawling towards funny instead of terrible and by the book.
“I want a tattoo.”
“...there is a good artist on 5th who does clean work.”
“I want a tattoo that doubles as seal,” she further explained
“...there is a good artist in 5th who does clean work and is a retired ANBU,” Sai said blandly.
“I want one of your designs.”
He paused. Sai had used ink in jutsus, had dallied in drawing, for years obviously. But in ROOT his art itself had not been encouraged. It was a waste of time beyond what he needed to fight and he had not really had the autonomy to decide to paint for himself.
Now, he had the time. Naruto had taken him supply shopping even, on the subtle suggestion of Kakashi. Kakashi had understood Sai better than any of them even if tried not to get to involved and had thus spotted the fact that Sai liked art but didn’t really do it that often. Naruto had been the one to approach him about getting more and making it a real hobby because Naruto steamrolled over every sort of argument and simply helped Sai buy so much stuff the boy had to use it or let it rot.
It had opened up something new in Sai and when ever you visited his apartment it was now full of a vast amount of paper and the smell of oil paints and ink and pastels. His apartment was an explosion of art and to see Sai in it, relaxed, was a nice sight.
But as much as Sai could admit he had skill in art, he rarely showed people beyond sketches and so was not used to genuine compliments on it. And Sakura knew by saying she wanted him to tattoo a permanent piece of his art on her that she was giving him the best compliment she could give Sai.
“Are you sure you want me too?” Sai asked flatly.
“Yes,” Sakura said singly, dropping all of her acting to give him a genuine response.
“...I’ve only ever tattooed real seals, not designs,” he said slowly.
“I trust you,” she offered a smile.
“You’ll have to give me time. I will have to get the equipment, and sealing ink takes paperwork.”
“I’m more than willing to wait for you to have time. I’ll even take care of the equipment part.”
“...the lady on 5th-“
“Is not who I was thinking to do my tattoo.”
Sai looked at her, really looked as if scrutinizing her.
“What design do you want?” he gave in.
“A crow. All black ink but with red eyes. I want it to hide a sealing tattoo for a large weapon.”
He looked at her again and she knew what he was thinking. He was thinking of Sasuke.
“And no,” she cut off such thoughts, “it has nothing to do with him.”
“...I have no opinion if it does.”
“It doesn’t.”
“Okay. I will start some sketches.”
“Thank you, Sai,” she smiled brightly, “I will owe you so many dinners for this.”
He gave a return smile, so small it was barely a quirk of his lips. But it was a real genuine smile and it lightened her heart enough she ducked in and gave him a brief light hug. His fingers tightened on her shoulder and she was suddenly unbearably proud of him.
.--.
Sakura was quietly promoted to jonin in the Tsunade’s office, a crow tattoo burning against her side and a shark cuff in her ear, the office sealed as tight as a safe with just her and Tsunade.
“If anyone asks,” Tsunade drawled, “It’s classified.”
“No exam for me,” Sakura laughed taking the scroll denoting her new rank.
“I’ve given you more than enough exams,” Tsunade shrugged, “And now you’re completing an S-rank mission on your own?”
“Oh?” Sakura asked.
“What did you think I could classify your arrangement with Kisame and Itachi as,” Tsunade barked a laugh.
“Dating,” Sakura said dryly.
“Dating is the perks,” Tsunade laughed, “The mission is still S-rank. Now, details.”
“Details on the dating?” Sakura asked, teasing.
“On the mission,” Tsunade said easily.
Despite the easy nature, Sakura knew her Hokage wanted a report.
“Itachi is healed. His lungs still have some scaring, but he is in better condition than he has been in years. I didn’t tell Kisame, but I also healed Itachi’s eyes as best I could. Which means I patched things up and healed the scars, but they will still deteriorate the more he uses them. Nothing much can be done there.”
“Good, and Hoshigaki?”
“Firmly on our side for this,” Sakura nodded sharply, “He’ll work with us to keep Itachi alive.”
“Good, have you told him the rest of the plan?”
“Not yet,” Sakura admitted, “I trust him but….”
“That was too much at once?” Tsunade guessed.
“I want to ease it into him,” Sakura agreed, “I’ll introduce him soon enough though.”
“Good. Dismissed,” Tsunade said.
Sakura bowed.
“Oh, and Sakura?” Tsunade called before she released the seals, “I heard about the crow tattoo.”
Sakura shrugged.
“Don’t get too attached,” Tsunade warned, “This might not end well.”
“I’m ready to accept that,” Sakura said softly, “because it’s far too late not to be attached.”
“Dammit,” Tsunade sighed a Sakura broke the seals and walked from the room.
But even Tsunade knew the heart didn’t always listen.