Stay With Me

Two hours, sixteen minutes, thirty-five seconds and counting.

She had lied there for two hours, sixteen minutes, thirty-eight seconds and counting, fiddling with the loose strings of the cotton sheet that rested on top of their nude bodies. She had lied there for two hours, sixteen minutes, forty-nine seconds and counting, trying to figure out what to say. No. She knew what she wanted to say, she just couldn't find the voice to say it.

He wasn't someone she was afraid of. He had never been. From the moment he had found her wounded in the woods, picked her up without a word, and brought her to the place he called "home", she knew she couldn't fear a man who had shown her kindness. She couldn't fear a man that emitted such loneliness from his eyes.

So instead she vowed to fight next to him, no matter what side he was on, because there was nothing more important to her than paying a debt back. He had protested at first along with the rest of the members, but when they watched her take off her headband that wrapped around her neck and scratch a line through the emblem they understood she wouldn't be one to betray them.

She was strong and brutal; a natural-born fighter from Kirigakure, the Hidden Mist Village where Kisame was born from. She quickly bonded with the rest of the Akatsuki, often called the "baby doll" of the group due to her young age. She was switched around often, going from team to team, being the only capable member that could keep up with each of their moves.

But she was happiest when she was with him.

The moment she wrapped her arms around his neck and asked him to be hers, she knew. She knew that those short times she spent with him, those times he had smiled just for her, those times he had shown her who he really was, proved to her that he was worth leaving everything behind.

"Itachi…" She murmured, gently pressing her hand against his warm back, shuffling closer towards him. She closed her eyes, breathing him in and out.

"You're awake." His voice startled her as he shifted to his other side, facing her. He didn't say anything and nor did she. Instead she let herself shuffle even closer, hands curled under her chin while her reddened cheek pressed against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

He wrapped a reassuring arm around her, letting his chin rest on top of her head, her long, dark hair rippling across the futon as he brushed it with his fingers, over and over again. "Are you okay?"

She slightly nodded, kissing his skin ever-so-slightly. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Depends on what the question is." He answered, letting out a small chuckle. "Go on ahead."

"What will happen when Sasuke grows strong enough to fight against you?" She asked, trying to hide the slight hesitation in her voice. "What will you do then?"

"I'll fight." He answered quietly, fiddling with her hair strands. "Why do you ask?"

"I just…" She didn't know. She didn't know the answer to that. She didn't have to ask because he had told her the answer a long time ago. She didn't want to be reminded. A large part of her just didn't want to know. "I…"

"Are you okay?" He asked again, this time removing his chin from her head and tilting her head up with his fingers.

She smiled slightly. "Why do you ask?"

"You're crying."

"What?" She reached up, touching her face as she felt the wetness pour down her face, hiding the eyes with the palm of her hand, shaking her head. "No, no, I'm not… I don't…"

"You don't cry." He finished the sentence for her, placing a hand behind her hair and pushing me closer as she quickly pushed away, picking herself up. She wrapped herself with a cotton sheet, securing it tightly as she leaned back against a wall, letting her back slide down onto her butt as he watched. "Are you okay?"

"Stop asking me that!" She yelled out, pounding her fist against the floor. "Just stop! Stop! Do you even,-" She paused, raking her hair back with her fingers, over and over again, doubling the pain she was already feeling. "Do you even get it?!"

"Get it?" He muttered, letting his head droop back onto the pillow as he watched her from where he lied. He knew she wasn't a crier. Far from it. She had endured horrible pain in battle and not once had she shed a tear. She was always the one who comforted others, always the one who was there when she was needed the most. She was never the one who needed comfort.

She snapped her head towards him as she dug my nails against her forearms. "Get it… don't you get it? How do you make it sound so simple when it's not? Don't you get that your brother will never truly understand just how great you truly are because you're letting him kill you as soon as he finds you? Don't you get that if you let him kill you, he'll end up completely and totally alone? WHO THE FUCK CARES IF YOU'RE DOING THIS FOR HIM, IT'S UNFAIR! It's unfair that you have to let yourself die just like that? And for what? For his sake? Itachi, he hates you."

"I know that."

"Then?!" She shook her head, thousands of tears blurring her vision. Her voice became smaller and smaller as she went on, rubbing her eyes with each hiccup. "But… but… what about me? What about me who has fallen in love with you? What about me who doesn't want to let you go just like that? I get it. I fucking get it. Your brother is your world. But what about me? What do I do when you're my world?"

This time he crawled next to where she was, pulling her close. She started sobbing harder, her arms wrapping tightly around his waist, letting herself drown in his scent. "You make me happy." He whispered, gently brushing his lips across her cheek. "But I decided my fate a long time ago."

"And I can't change your mind?" She murmured back, pressing her lips against his. "There's nothing I can do?"

She could feel him slightly smirk as he deepened the kiss, letting his hands slide around her waist as he toppled on top of her, his hair gently brushing against her cheeks.

She grinned as he brushed away her tears with his thumb, leaning down and kissing her nose. "I love you." He started kissing his way down, unfolding the cotton sheet as he moved.

"I'll take that as a maybe."