Several months had passed and the tension between Shinjo and Kakuza had reached a breaking point.

Shinjo sat in front of a fire, stripped of his robe, trying to tie a bandage around his shoulder. The bounty had been a difficult one and he had been cut badly in the battle. He sighed in frustration as the bandage slipped again. Angered, he tore the bandage off and threw it in the fire, taking some satisfaction from watching it burn.

He sighed and listened to Ryuu and Hida play fighting in the nearby river where they had gone to bathe the blood off themselves. Kakuza paused in dispensing their meals to look at the wounded man. Putting the final meal aside, she crawled toward Shinjo on her knees. His eyes narrowed and watched her approach with caution. Pausing in her movements, she looked at him and said quietly, "I can stitch your wound. It'll heal faster if it's properly taken care of." Shinjo made a dismissive sound and ignored her and Kakuza became irritated.

"If you want your wound to become infected and lose your arm, be my guest! A useless shinobi is of no use to the Akatsuki or me" she hissed, the rasp in her voice more evident as she strained it to sound somewhat civil. He knew what she said was correct and that he needed proper medical care but his pride was interfering.

He remained silent and suspicious but he didn't try to stop Kakuza from sitting at his side. She dug in his bag that was near her and removed bandages and a small pouch that contained several small vials. Selecting the one she needed, she pulled the cork out with her teeth and poured the dark blue liquid into his wound. Shinjo hissed and grit his teeth as his wound bubbled and sizzled and finally subsided. Kakuza opened another vial and poured some of the amber liquid onto a bandage and began to stitch and wrap Shinjo's wound.

Her hair tickled his face and he examined her face while she was concentrating on wrapping his injury. She was close to him; he could feel the warmth from her and his heart began to beat a little faster. As angry as he was with her for being so secretive and seemingly indecisive when it came to him, Shinjo craved the taste of her lips again.

His non injured arm reached up, his hand clenching the front of her shirt and before she could react, he pulled her forward and slammed his lips on hers. A strangled gasp came from Kakuza, Shinjo's actions taking her completely by surprise. She tried to pull away a little but his grip on her was firm.

Due to the awkward position she was in, Kakuza moved forward to straddle Shinjo's waist and broke the kiss. She looked into Shinjo's eyes and read every emotion he had in them, the last few being desire and something close to love and care. She cupped his cheeks and kissed him, her hips pressing into his as she slid her tongue into his mouth.

His hand dropped from the front of her shirt to her waist and his other slid up her thigh. Each time she pressed against him, he groaned a little and his discomfort was growing by the second. He was close to just throwing her onto his bedroll and taking her but with Ryuu and Hida so close, he doubted he wanted an audience. Shinjo settled for slipping his hands under her shirt and running his fingers over her stitch lines.

Kakuza moaned softly as Shinjo sat up a little and tilted her back, attacking her neck with his lips and teeth. He wanted to bite down so badly and mark her but he knew this wasn't the time or place. Panting, Kakuza moaned "we should stop. Hida-ah~! Mmmm they're close..."

Kissing down her neck and to her collarbone, he murmured agreement but was reluctant to stop. Unfortunately for him, his moment was interrupted by a loud, shrill whistle. "GodDAMN! I leave you for, like, two minutes and you're already...hmmmm Kakuza...not bad..." Ryuu said with a mischievous smile. Before either Shinjo or Kakuza could smack him, Hida punched him, sending him flying and crashing in a mess of limbs on the ground far away from the camp.

"Hmph!" Hida said, brushing her hands and taking a place near the fire and began eating the meal Kakuza had put out for her. A little flustered, Kakuza got off Shinjo's lap and sat next to Hida while Shinjo tried his best to hide his erection. Ryuu eventually untangled himself and joined them for the meal, keeping silent so as to not provoke anyone. He didn't feel like getting beat up again.

Orochimari smiled as she watched over the kunoichi's shoulder as she wrote down what she dictated. The message had to be simple yet intriguing and it had to be convincing enough for him to come alone. "Your reports to Suna and Kiri are ready?" She hissed. The kunoichi nodded and added the impressive looking but false seal to the message and added the scroll to the pile on the desk. Orochimari ran a pale finger along the kunoichi's jaw and smiled sinisterly as she watched the other woman's pulse quicken and beat through her skin.

"As long as no one interferes... We need to get him alone or else the outcome is not assured. And I'll be damned if that...organization...prospers without me!" "My Lady" Kabuta interrupted, causing Orochimari to turn around and glare at her apprentice. "I'm ready to deliver the scrolls" she said while bowing. Orochimari sneered at tossed the scrolls at her before tapping the kunoichi on the shoulder, signalling her to follow. "Make sure you don't get caught. If you do, you're on your own" she said as she left, the melodies of her voice lingering in the air. "Yes, my Lady" Kabuta said quietly while placing the scrolls in her bag. First delivery: Suna.