I slept horribly last night.

My head was aching and I felt tired still. I just wanted to go back to sleep.

I rubbed my temples and slowly sat up, staring off into space. I thought about asking Itachi about if there is any other spare clothes to use while I'm here. It was kind of gross being stuck in these same clothes for too long without washing them.

I opened the door very slowly and peeked through the crack to see if I could find Itachi. I didn't know what room he was staying in, so I really needed to be careful about the others finding me. I don't want to imagine how that would turn out.

I saw the coast was clear and walked out quietly. I knew where Kisame and Hidan's rooms were so I avoided the other doors.

Fortunately, when I turned around, I saw Itachi walking out of a room at the very end of the hall. He looked at me questionably.

"Why are you out?" He asked and rushed me back inside his room.

Rude.

"Someone could've easily spotted you," He said once the door was shut.

"I was just trying to find you," I replied. "I just wanted to ask you if there was any spare clothes to change into,"

"We have a female member here," He said. "She rarely stays here, so I'll go check if she has any clothes in her room,"

I nodded and he left the room. 

Itachi suddenly walked back in as soon as I sat on the bed. I was a bit surprised at how fast he was.

"Did you find anything?"

He shook his head.

"No, she must have taken them with her. You can just borrow one of my shirts instead, I guess,"

The room suddenly felt warmer as soon as he said that.

The hell? I better not be blushing. That shouldn't bother me.

I nodded and he walked over to his dresser to find a shirt. He dug around, then handed me a faded black shirt with the Uchiha crest on the back. It looked small. 

"This is one of my old shirts. I don't wear it anymore since it's too small," He said, starting to reach under his bed.

I took the shirt, still feeling warmth. I actually recognized this shirt from the old days. I didn't think he'd still have it.

He pulled a set of kunais out from under his bed and started putting them in his cloak.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I have a mission today,"

"You're leaving?" I asked. "Can you at least take me with you? I don't feel comfortable being left alone here. Hidan or someone else might cause problems,"

The room started feeling even more warm after I asked that question. I realized how clingy I felt and I was embarrassed.

He nodded. "Yes, I was going to have you come with me anyway. I don't want another member potentially finding you here while I'm not here,"

I decided to keep his shirt here and just wear my regular clothes for the mission. Kisame poked his head through the door.

"Are you ready?" He asked Itachi.

Itachi nodded and had me walk out first so Kisame could stand in front of me. Itachi was behind me.

"I didn't know she was coming too," Kisame remarked quietly.

"Yeah, I don't think Hidan would be trustworthy," Itachi replied.

"I don't trust Hidan either and I never have, even when I first met him," Kisame agreed. 

I hoped to god that their mission has nothing to do with the Leaf Village. I hope I'm wrong.

We exited their base and I was thankful to see the sunlight and breathe fresh air again. It also made me homesick at the same time, since I missed the freedom. 

"Uh, what is your mission for?" I asked.

Itachi probably knew what I was worried about. "Nothing to do with any of the villages. Our Leader just wants me to check something,"

I nodded and we walked for quite a bit. We stopped in a secluded area in the forest and Itachi turned to Kisame. 

"I'll go check the hideout here. Stay here with Kasumi,"

Kisame nodded and Itachi left. 

Kisame and I sat down on the grass. He put his sword in front of him and I stared at the handle with curiosity, because it looked like it was made out of stone. I reached to feel the handle and Kisame looked at me.

Spikes grew immediately and I retracted my hand back quickly. He snickered at my reaction as the spikes retracted.

"Samehada is a picky one," He chuckled.

"Your sword is alive?!" I grimaced.

"Kind of," He said. "It's attracted to anyone with an extraordinary amount of chakra, like a jinchuriki for example,"

"So it just grows spikes whenever it doesn't like the person's chakra, or whatever?"

Kisame nodded in response and then changed the subject. "I've noticed your hostility towards Itachi isn't there anymore,"

I picked at the grass awkwardly. "It's...complicated..."

"You said he killed your friend. Nothing is complicated about that," He pressed.

Why does he even care? 

"It's nothing!" I suddenly got defensive. "I still hate him. I can't stand how he betrayed us and how he just abandoned his brother!"

Kisame rose an eyebrow as if he didn't believe me. Frankly, I didn't believe my words either. 

"I see," Kisame shrugged.

"Hey! They're over here!" An unfamiliar voice shouted.

Kisame grabbed his sword in alarm and we both quickly stood up.

"Take your head band off!" He whisper-shouted at me.

I untied it around my neck and shoved it in my sleeve.

"Stay back," Kisame said.

Two unfamiliar men approached us. One was wearing a dark blue zip-up jacket and the other was wearing a grey cloak. They didn't have a headband on, so they must've been rogue ninjas.

"What are you doing here?" The one in blue asked.

The grey one eyed me. I didn't like it.

"We're passing by. Who are you?" Kisame asked. I started standing behind Kisame to keep out of the way. It's nice that he towers over me.

"We were sent here to retrieve the Hokage's daughter," He replied. 

My heart started racing. 

Who the hell are these people?

Kisame looked confused.

"I don't know who you're talking about, but if you come any closer to me, I will have no choice but to slice you up," Kisame replied. 

I could tell he was getting bloodthirsty now.

The one in grey suddenly got behind me and grabbed me.

The one in blue smirked. "You lied to us. She was right behind you the entire time and now I'm going to assume you're her body guard. So I'll have to end you right here,"

Shit. Now Kisame knew who I was.

Kisame looked at me with confusion but then focused his attention back to the two men.

"I don't really care, but my partner does so I'm gonna have to take you down," He grinned, showing off his shark teeth. 

He swung his sword towards the man who grabbed me and the man's grip started lessening on me. I broke free and turned around, kicking him. 

I ran back to stand next to Kisame.

"What did you do to him?" I asked.

"My sword loves certain chakra, remember?" He replied. 

I was about to weave a sign, but Kisame stopped me with his free hand. "You won't be able to hurt this guy. Just stay behind me,"

I huffed, slightly irritated and just stood behind him.

I watched as Kisame cut the guy's arm and left a huge gash. 

"She's coming with me whether you like or not, you oversized shark," The man in grey stated, while clutching his arm.

Kisame didn't reply and started swinging samehada towards him again. The man who was in the blue cloak got in front of his partner, giving the man in grey an opportunity to escape. The man in blue attempted to get closer to me, but Kisame circled around and swung his sword towards his legs, leaving a huge gash.

Kisame grinned, almost bloodthirsty when he saw that the man was kneeled down to clutch his legs. He used this opportunity to bring the sword down on his shoulders, causing the man to collapse with his eyes wide open.

I glanced over at Kisame, wondering if he killed him.

"It's about time you got here, Itachi," Kisame said.

Itachi suddenly appeared in front of us.

"What happened?" He asked.

"These two men confronted us and started going on about capturing the Hokage's daughter. This is all news to me," Kisame replied, looking at me after he mentioned the last part.

Itachi didn't turn around. "Two of them?"

"Yes," Kisame replied.

"Where is the other one, then?" Itachi asked. 

Kisame and I looked around. The man who was in the grey cloak was nowhere to be seen. This was alarming. 

Itachi looked over at me. "Are you alright, Kasumi?"

"Y-Yes,"

Why did I suddenly lose my ability to speak? What's wrong with me?

Itachi was still in sharingan mode, so we didn't look at him directly in the eyes. The man in the blue cloak lied on the ground helplessly and Itachi's eyes went back to normal.

These men just lied here helplessly and then Itachi's eyes went back to normal.

"He won't be a problem anymore," Itachi stated and started leading the way again. 

Instead of taking the path we took to get here, we took a different direction.

"So, you're the Hokage's daughter then?" Kisame asked me, breaking the silence.

I looked over at Itachi for help.

"Yes," He replied. "That's why Orochimaru was targeting her,"

Kisame nodded. "Tch. You're as secretive as ever,"

Itachi didn't reply.

"Are we heading back to the base yet?" Kisame asked.

Itachi shook his head. "Sasori is coming back today. It's best if we wait until he gets there. You know how he is about being on time,"

We reached a cave with a pool of water in front of it. Since I was wearing a dress, I didn't have to worry about pulling it up. I slipped my shoes and stockings off and waded into the water. It helped cool me down.

Kisame relaxed against a rock in the distance and Itachi sat down on a huge rock, deep in his thoughts. I couldn't help but stare at him. He had both of his arms propped behind him and was leaning back. He was staring at the water, so you could tell he was in his thoughts.

I felt myself getting warm again and looked away quickly. I splashed water into my face and wiped it. 

Bad Kasumi. 

He's still a criminal.

I looked over at him again and noticed the breeze moving his bangs slightly. 

He suddenly looked over at me and I nearly tripped on the spot trying to play it off as if I was just looking in a different direction.

God damnit. Now he caught me staring.

What the hell is wrong with me?

~~~~~~~~~

Sorry if you guys think it's rushed, but it's finally happening guys! 😏