Tobirama:

The thought of Izuna so close to me scared me.

The thought of waking up next to him every day scared me.

He would always hold a grudge against me.

I would always feel guilty.

There was too much history between us, and I knew that the entity that was the two of us together was doomed from the moment I set my eyes on him in Sticky Fingers that evening.

I loved him.

I loved him so, so much.

Izuna:

Tobirama Senju was deemed not guilty for the crimes he'd been put in prison for.

The crimes that there was evidence for were of such light calibre that he'd already done his sentence for them by his two and a half years in prison. He was paid an astronomical amount in damages for the extra time he'd spent, and also for the damage of being put into prison for false accusations.

When the judge reported their decision, Tobirama put his head in his hands and wept.

I embraced him then, held him close to me, not caring how unprofessional it made me seem. The expensive, dark blue fabric of his suit felt good underneath my hands, the friction it created against the black velvet of my suit soothing.

"Thank you", he murmured into my embrace. "Izuna, thank you."

"You're welcome", I whispered, teary.

We stayed in the hallway after the courtroom was empty, a good distance between us, looking at each other, Tobirama with his weight on one leg, hands in his pockets, me with my hands clasped together, now guards to be seen anywhere because Tobirama was free man now.

"Could I..." I asked. "Could I buy you coffee?"

Tobirama smiled his crooked smile that caused the red stripe on his chin to become crooked.

"Izuna..."

I had been quite sure... No, absolutely certain, that he would jump on the opportunity.

But he remained quiet.

"What's wrong?"I asked, suddenly so worried I felt I might throw up.

He looked down, uncomfortable. "After everything..." He sighed, as if struggling with his words, which didn't suit his dark, musky voice somehow. I was a wreck at this point. Having collected himself, he looked up at me. "So much has happened between us. I would feel so much guilt, Izuna. So much guilt. There is nothing for us to collect from each other anymore. It wouldn't be a healthy relationship."

"I'm not asking you for a relationship", I said through gritted teeth, but I knew it was a lie. "I'm asking you to take you to a coffee shop and buy you coffee and cake."

"I would love to. But I can't. I still have feelings for you. It would hurt too much, for both of us, knowing it won't lead anywhere."

I felt tears burning my eyes. "Tobirama, please don't do this..." I whispered.

"I'm sorry, Izuna, I-"

"Not you too!" I interrupted. "I already lost Emil..." He jerked a little at the name. "I can't lose you as well!"

He took to strides towards me, put his fingers underneath my chin. My whole body convulsed of the familiar sensation I hadn't felt in so long. I let out a small moan as Tobirama connected our lips, giving me a wet, sensual kiss.

"I'm sorry", he whispered. "And thank you. I will never forget all you've done for me."

Then he turned and walked away.

My apartment felt particularly empty that night. I turned on the lights, was greeted by my fridge humming happily.

"Good to see you too, Mr Fridge", I said dully.

I closed and locked the door. I made myself a mug of tea, then went and sat on my couch and picked up my book. But I couldn't read a thing as tears were now falling down my face, making my vision blurry.

I dried my eyes, picked up my phone to call Emil, so that he could come and comfort me.

Emil is dead.

And his death struck me like a locomotive once again.

After all these years, despite how short we'd known each other, I still got the impulse to phone him.

I slid down onto the floor, curled up into a ball and scream-cried my heart out for an hour.

I contacted Tobirama two weeks later from a police phone, with a hidden number.

"It's me."

"Izuna, please-"

"Listen!" I interrupted. "I'm phoning you as a police officer, not as a private person. We need your help."

"With what?" I asked.

"Capturing Madara."

We made a plan.

Tobirama told me he had no contact with Madara, but that he suspected he was still watching him.

So we pretended to make plans, to meet at Sticky Fingers, in a way that made it very, very obvious to anyone listening.

I got ready, putting on my short black velvet dress with the leg garter I'd worn the first time I blew Tobirama off, that time in the bathroom stall. They were both slightly tight for me now, but it didn't really matter. I put my hair up with a clip in a high ponytail, let it tumble down to my waist. I did my makeup meticulously so it was subtle but for my eyes, that were smokey.

And I knew I did all of this for him; for Tobirama.

And a memory suddenly struck me from nowhere.

It was at work, at about ten o'clock, and I was in my casual clothes. My phone had pinged.

Emil Evergreen (09:58): Havn't seen u today. Miss u. Coffee break my office u me?

Despite everything Tobirama, I had felt my heart leap.

Me (09:59): On my way! :*

I found him at his desk, writing, and when he saw me, he dropped his pen.

"What?" I asked, blushing.

He remained speechless.

"Emil, what's wrong?"

"Y- You're- You're all... I mean, you- I've never- I didn't know" He'd put his palms to his temples. "Shit, Emil Evergreen, get it together!" he'd scolded himself.

And suddenly, it struck me.

At work, I usually wore jeans and a sweater or a cardigan, but that day, I'd felt like getting femmed up. I wore a purple off-shoulder top with a black, flared short skirt, black tights and even the black leg garter on my left leg.

He'd never seen me dressed femininely.

When I realised, I had smirked, walked around his desk, straddled him but not sitting down. I'd grabbed his tie that was part of the uniform and pulled. He'd swallowed.

"You don't mind, do you, officer?" I'd asked seductively.

At this, he'd taken a water bottle that stood on his desk and ACTUALLY, LITERALLY poured it over himself.

I had shrieked, jumped off, and doubled over in laughter. He'd laughed too, but suddenly, he'd grabbed my waist, pulled me towards him. His shirt was see-through now it was wet, I couldn't help but notice. He'd taken two of his fingers and rubbed them between my thighs.

"I like it that your thighs touch in the middle", he'd purred. "It's fucking hot."

"That's oddly specific", I had breathed.

He'd grabbed the leg garter, pulled and let it smack my thigh, and-

Good gracious God, get it together, I scolded myself as I was getting ready for our mission to capture Madara.

I took my black autumn coat, put on my fake suede heels and left for Sticky Fingers.