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There are many beliefs in this world we live in. Some believe there is a peaceful afterlife of warm pleasures and happiness abound. Others fear a fiery demise in a smoldering core for eternity. And others dismiss the idea all together, simply saying there is no afterlife and that they turn to fertilizer after their meeting with the reaper. But what about the possibility of an afterlife, a life after the previous, a reoccurring cycle of birth, life, and death?
Could such a thing exist?
Some would say such a thought would be sacrilegious; and even more would say it is foolish to waste the energy to think about.
Uchiha Itachi was a fool by no means, yet he was not a religious man either. He simply accepted the facts and concluded from there what he thought best and moved on. But what was this strange feeling? This sensation of having gone through those motions before, these feelings that built in the pit of his stomach, those piercing gold eyes that bore into his soul?
What was he suppose to think when he had lived three lives as three different people, but always ended up in the same situation?
Red clouds billowed in the wind as two figures made their way down the dirt path, the only sound shared between them being the soft tinkling of a bell on the shorter's hat. The sun beat down on them over head when they arrived at a small stream, finally taking a break from the hot weather.
"Ne, Itachi-san. Lets break for a while, this weather is ridiculous." the taller figure stated, removing his reed hat to reveal a wild blue face and sharp gold eyes scouting the area.
The smaller figure, Itachi, nodded in agreement before removing his own hat, setting it against a tree and unclasped the first couple buttons of his cloak. "We mustn't take too long. Leader will be expecting us back shortly."
Kisame flashed a shark-like grin and kneeled by the stream, filling a small canteen with the pure liquid. "Of course. We wouldn't want to keep the leader of all people waiting."
Itachi smiled slightly out the corner of his mouth, sitting against the tree his hat was resting against and closed his pained eyes, a simple 'hn' being his only response. On their last mission he had severely over used his sharingan to the point where it was painful to even look around, so the Uchiha put his trust in his other heighten senses to signal for danger. The shark man chuckled at his partner's behavior although worry clouded his eyes, and finished filling his canteen, storing it away inside his cloak when he stopped and peered into the thick of the forest.
"Ne, Itachi-san?"
"There are four."
"Ah ha..." Another sharp grin was bared. "May I..."
"Be quite about it. Your moves are too noticeable."
Kisame smirked and disappeared, a couple seconds of silence passing before shouts of pain echoed from the forest. The raven haired man let out a soft sigh and stood again, grabbing his and his partners hats before following the shouts, soon coming on to a clearing.
"N-No please! Don't hurt me!" A stray ninja cried, holding a kunai in front of him in a pathetic attempt to deflect Kisame's Samehada.
The blue man chuckled again before pulling back. "Ok."
The ninja stared, not believing his luck. "R-Really?"
A loud rumbling laugh came from the Akatsuki member. "Of course not." A simple roll of his arm and the man was dead, dropping the kunai before Kisame's feet. "I swear Itachi, these ninja are getting stupider and stupider every time we come across one."
Itachi ignored his partner, instead looking around the clearing with his sharingan.
"Itachi-san?..."
"...Kisame, move. Now." Itachi jumped back just in time for a landmine to go off where he was standing just moments ago, scattering earth everywhere.
Kisame leapt away from the body, more mines going off under his feet. "The hell?"
Itachi landed in one of the surrounding trees, spotting a surviving ninja appearing out from behind a tree trunk, a small detonator in his hand. Kisame landed next to him in the tree, glaring.
The ninja chuckled and smirked at the pair after looking over his dead comrades. "We're the stupid ones huh? Just look at you two, you didn't even realize you fell into our trap."
The blue man raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean trap? Last I checked it was two to one buddy."
The ninja flicked a switch and machines appeared out of the ground, aiming and firing kunai in their direction. Itachi leapt from the tree to another one, watching as Kisame blocked the oncoming attacks with Samehada.
"Oi oi oi! I just polished my sword asshole!" The shark-like member growled, barely blocking another wave of kunai.
Itachi decided that enough was enough and leapt on top of one of the machines, turning it to aim at the other and leapt off as they attacked eachother. He briefly touched the ground before jumping again as a blast went off. Their enemy laughed hysterically, watching as the akatsuki members closed in on him.
"You wont win! I don't care if I die, atleast I can take you bastards out with me!" He smirked as Itachi got within range and yanked his jounin jacket off to reveal a landmine planted firmly on his chest.
The Uchiha's eyes widened and turned as the man exploded, sending chunks of metal and bone out and impaled his back. He hissed and tried to find a reasonable place to land, forced to land on the ground and succumb to yet another explosion. He closed his eyes and waited to make contact with another mine, opening his eyes only when he felt a solid mass against him. Itachi looked up and stared at his partner, a blush creeping on his cheeks as the blue man smiled back.
"What... You didn't think I was just going to let you fall did you?" Kisame smiled down at him with those soul piercing golden eyes and held him against his chest, leaping off into the trees.
This was the first time Itachi felt safe in Kisame's arms.
===
Itachi walked into the pristine building, catching a glimpse of his reflection in the window as he made his way to his office. He was a strikingly handsome young man in his twenties with luscious black hair and beautifully unmarred skin, the only exception being twin stress lines running across his face. To be the owner of the largest internet malware protection agency and a millionaire at only twenty one was quite an accomplishment, but the young Uchiha merely brushed it off with a shrug of the shoulders.
He made his way up the glass staircase, admiring a certain construction worker currently working on the metal support beams of the main office window. The nice rippling blue muscles barely restrained by the flimsy white top, his slightly too tight jeans cupping his ass perfectly, the small beads of sweat rolling down his strong neck. The young Uchiha had been admiring the worker for the last week, and finally decided that he had found someone who he was actually attracted to. And of course his voice was like nothing Itachi had ever experienced before, so that only added to the deal.
"Hey Hank! A little more to the left- No no no, your other left! Shit..." Kisame hissed as his co worker hit the building with the steel support frame, watching the cord supported staircase shift and swing from the impact.
Itachi gasped and gripped the side of the staircase, the people down below running out of the way as the stairs connected to the ground and upper floor broke from the pressure. Kisame's eyes widened and ran inside, staring as the staircase swung steadily back and forth.
"Hold on sir! I'm coming!" Kisame shouted as he ran to the scaffolding equipment against the window and started climbing up as fast as his legs would carry him.
Itachi gripped the sides of the support, trying not to panic as more and more of the staircase broke away, leaving a very thin perch for him. A shout tore him from his thoughts and he looked over to the blue man by the window.
Kisame panted, holding out his large hand. "Just take my hand sir, I promise everything will be ok.."
The weasel gulped and nodded, slowly scooting across the layer of glass until he reached the end closest to Kisame. "R-Ready."
The blue man smiled encouragingly and reached for him as one cable snapped on the staircase. Itachi's eyes widened immensely and grabbed onto Kisame, being hefted across the great distance and into two waiting arms. He looked over his shoulder at the glass death trap as it slowed down and eventually stopped swinging. The workers and business men down below cheered as Kisame helped Itachi onto the support.
"Sir, are you ok?..." The blue man asked worriedly.
Itachi chuckled and held onto his arm. "More than ok Kisame-san. Thank you. I owe you my life."
Kisame smiled wide and held the smaller man close, his blood still pumping from the adrenaline rush. "How about dinner? Then I think we'll be even."
Itachi could only laugh, staying in the safety of the taller man's arms for a little longer.
===
Kisame sighed as he entered his office and sat at his desk, his police badge catching a glint of sunlight as he looked at the mess on his desk. There were papers scattered across his desk about crimes ranging from thievery to third degree murder. One folder in particular was really giving him some trouble though. Every day this week he had been called out to the same household by the same stupid little kid for the same reason: His mom and dad were fighting. What was wrong with this generation? Did their brains just suddenly shrink in size?
Kisame grumbled and shoved the folder off his desk onto the floor, a small picture of a young boy slipping out. The kid couldn't be older than twelve or thirteen but already he had long lines of stress down both cheeks and eyes that looked far beyond their years. His hair was a healthy shade of black and neatly combed back to a low ponytail, and his skin-
The blue man shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. If he paid so much attention to small details of a kid, he REALLY needed to get laid.
The police officer sighed, watching as the phone rang again with the same number showing up on the caller ID, letting out a growl as he answered it, "Look kid, you've called me out every single day this week because of the same problem, I don't care if your mom and dad are yelling at the top of your lungs nothing is going to happen, you'll be fine. So shut up, and leave me the hell alone!"
The other end of the line was quiet for a few minutes and Kisame was about to hang up when a small, shaky voice said something that shook the officer to his core. "My mom is dead."
-
A squad car sped through the normally cheery looking apartment complex, screeching to a halt in front of a normal looking apartment. The tall blue man practically bolted from his cop car as three other squad cars and an ambulance showed up behind him. Kisame walked up to the door and kicked it in with barely any effort, his pistol already drawn and at the ready. He kept his back pressed against the wall as other officers filed in behind him, passing crooked and broken family portraits. The officer first checked the lower level, clearing every room before making his way upstairs with back up.
Kisame came to a door with a simple name tag across the front, 'Itachi', and slowly turned the door knob. He heard a small whimper from inside and threw open the door, aiming his pistol at the scene before him. Inside a crazed man sat with Itachi in his lap, a knife pressed against his tiny throat. By his feet lay a woman with long blue hair and wide unseeing eyes, a pool of blood soaked into the beige carpet beneath her. The policemen behind Kisame stared at the scene, itching to get inside and take the bastard to jail.
Black eyes narrowed as Kisame glared down at the man, not moving an inch. "Stay back. I swear if any of you so much as moves a muscle I'll kill him in an instant! I've already killed his bitch of a mother, don't think I wont do it!"
Kisame growled and slowly bent down, putting his pistol on the floor. "Just calm down sir, its ok...Don't do anything you're going to regret..."
The man snarled at him, scooting farther back until he was pressed against the wall. "I said don't move!"
Itachi looked to Kisame pleadingly, his eyes moving to the stun gun on his belt. Kisame caught the action and looked back at his squad, signaling to take it. He turned back to the man, keeping his hands up defensively. "I swear sir, I will not do anything to you. Please, just think of your son..."
The man laughed. "This little shit? He's done nothing but ruin my life! I don't care if he jumps off a cliff!" He smirked and shoved Itachi to the ground, raising his arm to stab him.
Kisame took the opening and lunged forward, covering itachi just in time as the officers behind him shot the father with the stun gun. The man let out a yelp and dropped the knife, falling back against the wall as he was filled with watts of pain. Itachi latched onto Kisame's arm, shaking in fear. The blue man got up and held the child close, glaring down at the man before him.
"Oh how I wish I could just stomp your face in you scumbag... But I'll let the boys in jail do that for me..." He turned and walked out as the other officers hurried in to make the arrest.
Kisame held Itachi close, rubbing small circles in his back to try and comfort him. "You're ok now kid...As long as you're in these arms I'll do anything I can to keep you safe..."
Itachi nodded slightly and pressed close to him, relishing in the ring of safety around him.
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