UNDERSTANDING

It never ceased to amaze Itachi how well Kisame knew him.

The first month they were together, Kisame had taken them out to eat once or twice a week. He made Itachi order first, and soon knew the Uchiha’s favorite foods. Whenever they spoke to someone, Kisame would let Itachi do all the talking. Pretty soon, he could distinguish between Itachi’s happy monotone, angry monotone, and bored monotone. He’d researched the Uchiha’s past, and knew all about the murder of his clan and Sasuke, his little brother. And when they fought, he’d always watch the Uchiha out of the corner of his eyes, and quickly became familiar with his fighting style, and his attacking preferences.

But it was more than that. Kisame just knew things about him.

Like the first time it stormed. Itachi hated thunderstorms with a passion, and spent the first hour of this one trembling in his room. Suddenly, he heard a knock at the door, and when he opened it, Kisame stood there. Wordlessly, he walked in, and sat down on Itachi’s bed. A moment later, Itachi sat down by him. Neither one said a word, but Itachi curled up beside Kisame, grateful for his presence. The next time it rained, he went to Kisame’s room. Kisame had somehow known that Itachi needed the comfort without admitting his fears, so he rarely said anything about them.

One night when it had stormed, Itachi came in and found a pile of books on the end table. “I was reading,” the shark explained. Itachi skimmed the titles and pulled out a book, sitting down to read. Kisame smiled. He’d known Itachi liked to read, and had actually gotten the books in order to find out what kind of genre the Uchiha liked to read. Pretty soon, Itachi was spending nearly all his free time in Kisame’s room, and the shark wasn’t surprised in the least when he came back from a solo assignment and found out his partner had moved in during his absence. He’d known it was going to happen.

He never let on when he was tired or hurt, but Kisame had somehow figured out his limits. When he fought, the shark knew exactly how long he could stay on the offensive. If he collapsed, Kisame always caught him, never saying a word, never needing to say anything. Itachi hated being seen as weak at any time, so Kisame never spoke about it if something happened to Itachi, always finding something else to talk about.

And when his feelings deepened, he didn’t say anything, but Kisame still knew. He’d also known that his partner would never admit them first, so he told Itachi that he loved him. And that had led into more research on the shark’s part; whenever they slept together, he’d listen carefully to ever cry and sound the Uchiha made, and soon figured out what Itachi did and didn’t like, where he did and didn’t want to be bitten, everything.  

And now, he slept peacefully beside Itachi, knowing he was in no danger from the Sharingan user. Itachi watched him, wondering what he was dreaming about. He had no idea.

It was true; Kisame knew everything about him, even though they’d never spoken about any of it openly. But the same couldn’t be said for him. He knew only the vaguest details about the sharks past, had no idea what scared him, wasn’t sure about anything he liked to eat, and simply knew that, (physically speaking), Kisame was stronger than him.

“In short,” Itachi thought, “I know nothing about the person I claim to love.” Tears silently filled his eyes.

At that moment, Kisame woke up. He had no idea why he woke up; maybe a nightmare, or-he noticed the tears in Itachi’s eyes. “Itachi?” The man in question shut his eyes tightly, allowing a few tears to fall. Kisame brought his hands up to Itachi’s face and wordlessly wiped away the tears. It was another of those things he just knew; even if he didn’t know what the problem was, he knew that the Uchiha needed comfort. Slowly, Itachi opened his eyes, sniffling a little.

“Better?” Itachi nodded, and Kisame wiped away the last few tears before removing his hands. Itachi’s hands shot forward and grabbed his arm. He brought the shark’s hand up to his face, resting it on his cheek. He sighed contently and slowly intertwined their fingers. “Kisame…” he began.

“Yeah?”

Itachi smiled. “I want to know what you like to eat, to read, to do. I want to know about your family, friends, and childhood. Kisame, please tell me; I want to know everything about you.”