Sakura was beyond exhausted. It had already been a long day when a team came back from a mission gone horribly wrong, forcing her to do intensive surgery for several hours past her normal quitting time at the hospital. She was tired, sore, and in a remarkably foul mood. The only bright spots were that she had a quiet evening at home to relax and unwind and that her extra training was paying off. Despite the long surgery she still had some chakra to spare. Also, tomorrow was her day off and she was determined that nothing short of a war starting was going to get her out of her bed.

So she was understandably quite peeved to find that not only was someone in her apartment, but it wasn't one of her friends that she had keyed into her wards because they had all been deactivated. She couldn't sense anyone inside, but if the intruder was really good they could hide their chakra from her. She debated alerting one of the ninja on patrol for the night but, at the risk of sounding like a Nara, that just seemed so troublesome when she didn't know for sure that there was someone still inside.

I'll just take a quick look, she decided, and if I find someone when I'll alert the patrols.

Pulling out a kunai, just in case, she quietly eased her way through the front door.

Immediately her eyes were drawn to a rather large (excessively large if you asked her) weapon leaning up against her couch and sighed heavily. Returning her kunai to the pack on her waist and stalking through the apartment to where she could have bet easy money he would be she didn't bother to rein in her irritation.

Of all the stupid stunts the man had pulled over the last several months, she fumed internally as she pushed her bedroom door open, this was the most reckless, idiotic, short-sighted, moronic –

Her thoughts, as well as her body, froze as she stepped into her room at the sight waiting for her. Lounging in her bed, on her freshly laundered white sheets, looking for all the world like he belonged there was her very secret, so not boyfriend, in all his large, muscular, blue skinned glory.

He had looked up at her entrance and flashed her a sharp toothed grin. "Welcome home Pinkie. I was starting to worry you were out on a mission."

Everything she had been ready to say, the lecture she had already mentally composed completely slipped away and she found herself asking the only question that seemed relevant at the moment.

"Kisame, is there a reason you are naked in my bed?"

His smile widened and he propped himself up on one elbow, giving her a full view of his entire body. "Yes there is."

She waited for him to elaborate but when it seemed he didn't plan to asked, "And that would be?"

His free hand gestured to the pile of muddy and blood splattered clothing lying in a heap near the door.

"Didn't think you wanted all that on your nice white sheets."

"And you couldn't wait for me on the couch, or in the kitchen, or you know not in an enemy village?"

He laughed, the sound deep and rich and Sakura had to forcibly stop her body from shivering. His voice always seemed to have that effect on her. Actually it was probably how she ended up in this messed up, borderline treasonous situation. Though she wasn't quite sure what to call it. Something as mundane as "boyfriend" just didn't cut it, "lover" seemed a bit off, but his preference of "fuck buddy" made her cringe every time she heard it even if it seemed the most accurate term.

Shaking her head she walked over to his head of dirty clothing, figuring she should toss them into the washer before they stained her light beige colored carpet with what she hoped was just mud and blood, though some of the stains looked a bit more…interesting.

"Careful with those, that shit stains like a mother. Last time –"

"I don't want to know," she said, cutting him off. "The less I know about the grime you bring into my home the better." After carefully arranging the pile of cloth in her arms, held away from her body to avoid staining her shirt she turned back and narrowed her eyes at him. "And get off my bed, you are still filthy and my sheets where clean when you got here."

Kisame shot her a leer, "oh? And where would you like me to be?"

"Just get your ass in the shower."

"Only if you promise to join me," he retorted.

Sakura sighed, biting out a quick "I'll think about it," before leaving the bedroom and making her way to the small laundry room in her apartment. She dropped the soiled clothing on top of her dryer and started the washer filling with cold water. She propped the lid open and dumped in some detergent, made especially for blood stains and other bodily fluids that ninja and medics alike tended to get themselves covered in. She used a bit more than she normally would, since he hadn't bothered to soak the stains and most had started to dry and set in.

She could hear the shower turn on in the bathroom across the hall and smiled, at least he was listening to her. She was torn between being angry with him and pleased to see him. It had been over two months since they had ran into one another, and it would be a lie to say she hadn't missed him. To her surprise it was more than the physical parts too. She had missed their playful banter and his toothy grins as much as she had missed his strong arms holding her close against his muscular body. But it was far too risky for him to be here, and certainly wasn't something he could afford to make a habit of.

Really, she thought, how had he managed it anyway? There was supposed to be guards making sure S Class criminals like him didn't wander into the village. For a terrible moment she considered that perhaps he had killed the guards, that is was their blood and various bodily fluids she was about to wash out of his clothing.

No, he wouldn't do that, he had promised when this had all started not to engage leaf ninja in battle, at least not to the death, unless absolutely necessary. Kisame was a lot of things, a criminal and traitor in the eyes of even his own village, but he was a man of his word.

Deciding it was probably for the best that she didn't know how he had done it, she reached for one of the articles of clothing, which turned out to be his pants, checked the pockets and removed several scraps of paper she found before dropping it into the washer. She followed the same process for his cloak, which had various weapons she was sure he never used judging by their appearance, before reaching for the last piece of clothing, his shirt. As she lifted it, intending to just drop it into the almost full tub of water, she noticed it hanging weirdly off her hand. Looking at it closer the back of the shirt had been shredded, like as if several long gashes had been cut into it.

Now logically, Kisame wouldn't have shredded his shirt taking it off, or afterwards so it stood to reason that he had been wearing the shirt when it had been cut and if he was then…

Her eyes widened and she dropped the shirt into the water, barely taking the time to slam the lid down before hurrying into the bathroom. She pushed through the door, leaving it open behind her and crossed the small space to wrench the shower curtain back.

Kisame, his large frame filling her shower and making it look much like a much tighter fit than normal, grinned down at her. "Knew you couldn't resist the temptation Pinkie."

"Can it Shark Boy," she snapped, "are you hurt?"

"Nothing I can't handle," he scoffed, attempting a casual shrug but now that she was looking at him with a medic's eye and that the shock of seeing him had worn off she could see the tightness in the motion. His shoulders were unusually stuff as well, and on the right side of his ribcage she could see the beginning of a rather fantastically dark bruise forming.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Turn around." She ordered.

"Oo you know I like it when you get bossy girlie." He leaned down so his face was level with hers, "give me a kiss and I'll think about it."

Giving him a sweet, though completely fake, smile she stepped forward as if she was going to comply. To his surprise however she grabbed his arm, spun him around and, stepping into the shower, pushed him chest first against the cold tiles. He gave a surprised yelp (that he would totally deny having done later) as she took in the ragged mess that was his back. It had stopped bleeding, probably hours ago, but the three long gashes where still nasty looking and she knew they had to be hurting terribly. Healing naturally would take weeks, if not a few months to be fully healed, and the resulting scar tissue could make movement difficult for him. And all that was assuming none of them ended up getting infected and killing him.

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" She demanded, releasing his arm and setting her hands against his back to assess the damage before she could start healing the cuts.

"You realize you are getting your clothes all wet, right?"

"I don't care. Answer the question."

He mumbled something in response, but over the sound of the shower she couldn't make it out.

"Hey," she said, poking him in the shoulder, "what was that?"

He sighed and turned to face her, forcing her to step to the side and further under the spray of water.

"I didn't want you to think it was the only reason I was here."

Sakura gasped softly in surprise, the sound swallowed by the water hitting her back. His words, coupled by the expression in his eyes was unlike anything she has experienced with him before. Their earlier run ins had been all along the same lines, witty banter, play fighting until someone took the opportunity to cop a feel, and then sex. No soft looks like the one he was giving her now, or touches like the gentle caress of his fingers along her arm.

She parted her lips, intent on asking him what exactly that was supposed to mean, when he closed the distance between them. He pressed his lips against her own, immediately taking advantage of them being parted and slipped his tongue into hers. Sakura returned the kiss eagerly, hands on his chest and almost wishing he had a shirt on so she could pull him closer (though she much preferred his bare skin in the long run). Her body flared with a heat that had nothing to do with the steamy shower as his large hands gripped her hips, pulling her against him and letting her feel his own reaction, hard and solid against her stomach.

They kissed, hands going everywhere and he even managed to get her out of her shirt, until the warm water ran out and she drew away from him with a gasp as cold water rained down on her back. She spun around quickly to shut the water off before turning back to face him. She let her eyes move over his body with a smile, already thinking of everything they could (and if she had anything to say about it, would) be doing soon.

He flashed her a sharp toothed grin, reaching up to run his fingers through his dark blue hair. "See something you like Pinkie?"

His gesture, and the stiff way his arm moved when he raised it, reminded her of the mess that was his back and she mentally kicked herself for getting so distracted.

Realizing he was actually waiting for a response Sakura pulled off her remaining wet clothing, feeling his appreciative eyes following her every move and stepped out of the shower. She grabbed two towels, both bright pink, and tossed him one.

She wrapped the towel around her and moved towards the door, stopping to look at him over her bare shoulder. "Let's get you patched up and I'll show you just how much I like the view and you can tell me all about your ulterior motives," she said, her voice still a bit breathy from the kiss, before sweeping out of the room.

Suppressing a laugh as she hear him scramble to follow, she thought to herself that maybe "lovers" was still too strong of a word but she had a feeling that wouldn't be the case for much longer.

She always did have the most unfortunate taste in men.

A/N Written for a prompt on tumblr to include the quote "Is there a reason you are naked in my bed?"