A Glass Of Crimson Souls

17) meeting point

"…Awake already?"

Kisame's sandpaper voice reached her ears harshly; she could not help but grimace as she sat up, head throbbing, and looked around. She was relieved to see that she was back in the hotel room.

"Only out a few hours," said Kisame, clearly impressed. "I thought Tsukuyomi took much longer to recover from."

Miho didn't reply his comment. It was dark outside, and judging by the eerie silence punctuated only by the feeblest of crickets chirping, it was late.

"…What exactly is Tsukuyomi?" she asked.

"You tell me," said Kisame, leaning back in his seat and causing it to groan reluctantly. "I've never been hit by one. I hear it's different for every person. What did you experience?"

"…The night he killed me," said Miho quietly, "for forty-eight hours."

Kisame nodded. "Yeah…it's an extremely strong genjutsu, judging from what I've seen. It's psychological torture of the highest degree that leaves the victim completely immobile…it fits Itachi-san's motto of 'mind over body.' He had Hataki Kakashi stabbed for three days straight, and I think he did the same thing he did to you to his little brother, when he saw him."

Miho looked at him sharply.

"You saw Sasuke?"

"Yeah," shrugged Kisame. "Little twerp. Couldn't land a blow. Itachi-san destroyed him."

"Merciless, isn't he." There was no inflection in her statement.

"Yep," was the nonchalant answer. "Didn't bat an eyelash. I've never seen Itachi-san surprised at anything—in fact, the only time I've ever seen him completely taken back was when he saw you that first time."

Miho said nothing and lied against her pillows as she drew the blankets around her. She felt tired, feverish, and in pain. The headache was steadily being overcome by the stabbing sensation in her heart. She curled up instinctively, trying to alleviate her discomfort.

If Kisame noticed, he didn't say anything.

"What exactly is going on between you and Itachi-san?" he asked.

"…You tell me," she said.

"I joke that he was your boyfriend."

"…It was nothing like that," she said, ignoring the sinking feeling in her chest as she struggled to think of a word that had described the two of them. She failed.

"Yeah. Didn't think so. He's emotionally incompetent."

"Everyone in this organization is," she muttered.

It elicited a razor-sharp smirk from Kisame; she vaguely thought it was the same expression sharks gave fish before they were eaten.

"…What do you think of him?" said Miho.

Kisame looked surprised at the inquiry. "Itachi-san?"

Miho nodded wordlessly. Kisame chuckled.

"I was mortally offended when we were assigned as partners five years ago. He was fifteen—youngest kid to ever be an S-Class criminal. Still, I thought I would find a way to get him killed. Clearly turned out harder than I thought. Kid is the smartest guy I've seen. It didn't take me too long to give him his space when he needed it."

Itachi…in so many ways, he was the same as he was before. Commanding the respect of everyone around him even when they didn't want to give it—she had long deduced the weight of his presence since she'd woken up in the hands of Akatsuki. Sasori left Itachi alone, Kisame was not afraid to annoy him but always knew where to draw the line, and Deidara, despite his clear antagonism, knew that Itachi was infinitely stronger and therefore didn't cross the boundaries Itachi dictated.