Ink
KisaSaku

The bell above the front door chimed, alerting Kisame of a new customer. Automatically his eyes drew to the clock, only to frown when he saw they were already past closing. Dammit, Deidara. He had asked his co-owner to lock the door ten minutes ago.

Leaning back in his chair, Kisame listened more than looked for the blond tattoo artist. When there was no sign of where the younger man had run off to, Kisame resigned himself to dealing with the newcomer. With a sigh, he pushed himself up from his desk before he moved into the mainroom, leaving the piece he had been working on on the tabletop.

A young woman was standing in front of the counter. From her profile, he saw she was eyeing the artwork on the wall with absent interest, her long, pastel pink hair falling down her back in soft curls. Her white playsuit was modest but revealing enough for him to see the smooth skin of her legs and arms were void of color or lines. A first timer.

"If you're lookin' to get something, you'll have to come back tomorrow," Kisame said. "We just closed."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know." She looked away from the art on the wall to glance at him as she flashed him a small, apologetic, and almost nervous, smile.

Kisame blinked. It wasn't often that he lost his words, but the woman before him was downright gorgeous. Her smile, though shy and polite, softened her features, but it was her eyes that drew his notice. They rimmed with kohl and the most brilliant shade of emerald he could recall seeing. His mouth suddenly felt try.

"Uh," Kisame said lamely. He swallowed thickly before trying again, "It's fine. You lookin' for anything in particular?"

She shook her head. "No, just browsing-."

The bell chimed again as a man slipped inside the shop. He glanced at them briefly before meandering to the wall on the other side of the entrance to scan the rows of art. Kisame frowned. He should lock the shop before another late night rush came through. People always came in late - and drunk - on Saturday nights and they always had to turn them away. Where was Deidara with the keys?

"Well if you want to come back tomorrow, I can sketch you a couple of pieces," Kisame offered, returning his attention to the woman. "See what catches your interest."

She nodded but the smile had vanished from her face. In fact, her entire body language had changed. It was then that he realized her eyes kept flickering to the man that had entered behind her and there was a nervousness about the way she chewed the inside of her lip. Something was wrong.

Kisame eyed the man again. The stranger was well-built but definitely smaller than Kisame. Not that that was surprising. He was well over six feet tall and almost entirely wrapped in muscle. He was intimidating without even trying and downright terrifying when he was. It suddenly seemed so obvious why this pristine princess had walked into his shop.

"Yeah, that would be cool. Thanks," she said. But there was no enthusiasm in her voice. Only thinly veiled tension.

The man glanced at her again, obviously sensing her pending departure. Kisame knew he had to say something. If he didn't and he let her walk out those doors, she would end the night as a victim. Whether for the small clutch in her hand or the space between her legs he didn't know, but in either case, it made his blood begin to boil.

"Dude, can I help you with something?" Kisame suddenly asked before she could turn to leave. His question was innocent enough but his tone was hard and direct.

The kid looked at him abruptly. He blinked in surprise before he shook his head. "Uh, I was just checking out your art."

"Didn't you see the sign? We're closed."

"Oh," he said lamely. He briefly glanced at the petite woman before he inched towards the door. "I'll come back another time."

Kisame stared him down until he slipped out of the shop and disappeared down the dark sidewalk.

The moment he was gone, the woman closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. Kisame returned his gaze to her, his expression softening in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she nodded. She met his gaze as her small smile returned, this time the edges warming with appreciation. "Thanks. I'm sorry for the hassle. He started following me and the light was on and I just didn't know where else to go..."

"You don't have anything to apologize for," he told her when she trailed off. "Do you want me to call the police?"

She shook her head. "No. He's probably gone by now. I think you scared him off pretty good." Her smile turned vaguely teasing, causing him to smirk, before she brushed her hand through her hair and half-turned towards the doors. "Anyway, I should get going so you can close up your shop."

His frown returned as did his concern for her safety. She didn't look very comfortable leaving the security of the well-lit parlor quite yet and surprisingly he found that he didn't want her to go yet either. "I don't mind if you stay a little longer," he said. "You won't be in the way."

Her expression turned quietly hopeful. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Just hang out a little longer," he shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm Kisame, by the way."

"Sakura."

He resisted the urge to snort. Of course it was. What else could her name be with features like that? But he kept his thoughts to himself as he turned away to begin cleaning up his work station.

"What're you doing downtown by yourself anyway?" Kisame asked conversationally. He shot her a brief glance to find she was eyeing his art book on the counter.

"I'm here with some friends," Sakura said. "Well I was anyway."

And without pause, she launched into a story about how her school was on break - medical school, he was surprised and impressed to learn - and her best friend insisted on bar hopping. They had a great time until Ino had ditched all their friends by happily jumping into the car of the guy she had been trying to hook up with for three years, too sloshed to remember that going out had been her idea in the first place.

Kisame chuckled at that. He listened to every word Sakura spoke, quickly finding that she was quite witty and her sense of humor was rather twisted but never crass. He didn't even notice that he had finished cleaning his station and was simply enjoying listening to her talk until he heard the backdoor to the shop slam closed.

Deidara appeared around the corner a moment later. He stopped in the doorway to the backroom when he spotted them. "You doing one more tonight?" he asked.

The smell of ash and smoke reached Kisame's nose, causing him to frown. That's where the blond had disappeared to. He decided against chastising Deidara, fully aware that if he hadn't left the front door unlocked, Sakura wouldn't have had somewhere to escape to.

"Nah, just hanging out," Kisame shrugged.

Deidara cocked a brow, but fortunately kept his mouth shut for once. They both knew Kisame never just hung back, unless Itachi, his good friend from high school, came by. Which was quickly becoming less and less as he got more involved with his father's business.

Deidara eyed Sakura curiously. "You want me to lock up?" he asked Kisame, his eyes never leaving the pretty female lounging in Kisame's chair.

Kisame quickly shook his head. "I'll do it." He was enjoying Sakura's company and he didn't want her to feel like they were kicking her out.

The blond shot him another half-surprised, half-questioning look, but he just turned away to cross the room to his own work station.

Sakura hummed thoughtfully as she resumed thumbing through the art book she had swiped from the counter. "Maybe I should get a tattoo. Like a heart or something." Unintentionally Kisame snorted, causing her to shoot him a look. "What?"

He just shook his head as he failed to hide his smirk. "You're such a chick."

"Uh, yeah," Sakura retorted. Then she turned his book around to show him the picture she had been looking at. "Not like a heart-heart. But like an anatomically correct heart, with the chambers and Coronary arteries and Aortas."

He followed her finger to the tattoo he had drawn a few months ago of a dagger piercing a bleeding heart. He cocked his brow. "Uh…you sure you want that one?"

She shot him an unimpressed look. "I don't mean this one exactly, but something like it. Oh, come on, you know what I mean."

"He does," Deidara said across the room. "He's messin' with you."

Sakura glanced at the blond before she turned back to Kisame to find he was openly smirking. Slamming the book closed, she raised it like she was going to strike him with it. But her intent was softened by the amused smile tugging on the corner of her mouth.

"I'm kidding, princess," Kisame laughed. He held up his hands playfully, only lowering them when Sakura put the book down.

"Well what tattoos do you have?" she asked, eyeing the art that was peeking out under his long-sleeved shirt.

Pulling his sleeve out of the way, Kisame turned his arm over for her to see. "Just a couple I got while in the military-."

"Whoa," Sakura interrupted.

With great interest, she put the book aside and grabbed his wrist to pull his arm closer to get a better look. Her fingers danced across his skin as she gazed at the colorful art, obvious appreciation in her green eyes. She traced the bold centerpiece, a large Trident of Poseidon with a powerful shark circling the hilt, before she pushed his sleeve further up his arm to see the rest of the work.

Kisame was not a man who blushed by any means. But the intensity of her focus and the delicate strength of her fingertips sent little jolts of pleasure up his arm and made him warm with masculine pleasure. He was quite liking her attentions.

A thump across the room suddenly reminded Kisame they weren't alone. He chanced a glance at Deidara and found the blond was openly watching them with a blatant smirk on his face. Kisame awkwardly cleared his throat, inwardly praying his embarrassment wasn't showing on his cheeks, and hesitantly he withdrew his arm from Sakura's touch.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized, afraid she had offended him. "That work is beautiful. Did you make it?"

"I drew the traces but Deidara was the one to tattoo it," Kisame replied.

Sakura watched as he pulled his sleeve down again before she flickered her eyes to the clock and bit her lip uncertainly. Kisame realized a moment too late that he had unintentionally made her feel unwelcome and he stood with her as she took a half-step towards the door.

"Anyway, it's getting late and I'm sure you want to close up by now," she said, a little too casually. "Uh, thanks again for...earlier."

Kisame half-shrugged. "It was nothing. Just glad I could help."

Sakura smiled before she glanced at Deidara briefly. "Nice to meet you. Hopefully I'll see you guys around again."

Then she turned towards the door. Kisame followed her at a slower pace, not really wanting her to leave but at the same time not knowing what to say to make her stay. He was fortunately saved the embarrassment as Sakura suddenly turned around again before she made her exit, her hand on the door handle.

"Can I call you sometime?"

Blinking, Kisame nodded a bit dumbfoundedly. "Uh, yeah. I'm usually here at the shop most days. If you call the front desk, they'll transfer you over to me."

Somewhere behind him, Deidara sighed. "You have got to be fucking kidding."

It was then that Kisame realized what she was asking. "Oh..." he muttered. He just stood there for a moment, completely taken aback as he processed what she was asking and why.

Kisame didn't think himself bad looking by any means, but Sakura...she was downright gorgeous. She was the type of girl who turned heads when she walked into the room and could make any man lose his train of thought whether she was dressed to impress or in an old pair of sweats. It almost seemed a joke that she would look at him.

"Uhh...yeah," Kisame stuttered. He hadn't felt this nervous since high school. What the hell was wrong with him? "Yeah, 'course."

A happy smile lit up her face before she pulled her phone out of her small purse and passed it to him. Kisame punched his number in before he passed the device back to her, feeling strangely excited and nervous. It had been so long since the last time he had done anything like this.

"Great!" Sakura said, still smiling. "I'll talk to you soon then."

Kisame nodded and muttered an agreement before she slipped out of the shop and disappeared into the night.

He continued to stand in front of the door a moment longer until Deidara snorted behind him. "Call the shop? Really, Kisame?"

Kisame threw him a look that clearly told him to shut up before he headed back into the backroom. The piece he had been working on was still sitting on his desktop, but his motivation to finish it was no longer present. Instead his fingers itched to trace a heart. With all the chambers and Coronary arteries and Aortas.

He was going to need to do some research.

end

I was asked to upload this from tumblr, so here it is. Hope you enjoyed!