Admitting takes guts

            Kisame stumbled back and took a while to sober up from your attack. If it wasn't for his massive chackra quantity, he would've probably passed out. Trainings with him always got the best of you.

-You still alive in there? You asked smirking.

            He looked up at you with a grunt. On a side he was a bit pissed off because he has been defeated, on the other side, fairly proud of your improvement.

            -It's nothing, he replied, still trembling. Don't get too cocky.

            The two of you loved to tease each other and were very, very competitive.

            -Let's call it a day and go grab a bite, you said, sheathing your swords and headed for the door.

            Kisame got up, following you.

            He followed you but not to the kitchen, but to the medicine room. The door was rather big and white, with a couple dried blood stains here and there. You walked in and started roaming for sanitizers, bandages and a pair of tweezers for Kisame.

            You started patching yourselves up and you took pride in seeing the results of your victory. You kept wondering how bad will it be next time. Or what will be left of the next poor unfortunate you have to kill. A smile crept it's way onto your lips and you relaxed, being almost done with your wounds, now bandaging them.

            You were done before Kisame and as he was busy cleaning his open wounds, you started pulling the splinter out of his shoulder. You couldn't help but notice his muscled shoulders and notice his specific scent. You let your gaze slip down on his arms, noticing his hard muscles and you attempted to peek at his abs but he turned his head towards you.

            -Nanami? What're you doing? He questioned.

            -Pulling out the splinter, you replied evenly trying not to seem nervous.

            -Why were you peeking over my shoulder then?

            -I was worried about the that wound on your side.

            -You got me pretty well there, he chuckled. I don't regret that wound in the slightest, he said, grinning at you.

            -You'd better not, you replied, returning the grin. Because there's a lot more coming.

            And with this you got back to the splinter and Kisame got back to his wound.

            After you finished with the splinter, having nothing else to do to help him, you waited for him to finish and then, together, made your way to the kitchen.

            As you reached your destination, you noticed someone at the table. Deidara was there already and he let out a surprised gasp when he saw the wounds Kisame had just acquired. It was obvious that he was defeated Nanami-style.

            -Woah, Kisame... She got you well this time!

            -And it's only the beginning, you said, grabbing a bit of this and a bit of that from the cupboard and placing them on the table.

            As you scrapped some food together, Deidara left. Probably off to spread the news.

            -Still "in shock"? you asked him, as you sat down and started munching on your food.

            -Enjoy your little victory, it won't happen again.

            -Sure, sure.

            Day by day, both of you excelled and now you started winning more often than when you just arrived. The victories now seemed fairly divided. And so were the cocky comments, which neither of you minded.

            Kisame was then sure of it. He liked you from your very first encounter but he never admitted that. Not even to himself. But for how long was he going to deny it? You were powerful, beautiful, quick minded and you challenged him. Not to mention that you loved a good fight and understood his situation with Itachi. Just like he was always under Itachi's boring restrictions, so were you under mine. So the two of you took your energy out on each other. He had to finally admit it. At least to himself. But was it enough to admit this only to himself? No, he wanted to admit this to you, no matter what your reaction was going to be.

            But first he had to think about when and how to do that and, more than anything, he had to put himself together and ask a girl like you out.

            In the meanwhile, you ate quietly next to him and were nearly done.

            -I'm going now, you said as you stood up.

            You put the dishes in the dishwasher and headed upstairs for a shower.

            Kisame sat there, his head in his palms. All this situation gave him a headache. And Deidara's shoutings at Tobi didn't help in the slightest. And neither did Hidan and Kakuzu's bickering. So he decided to take a walk, clear his mind then get some rest.

            The wind was cool. It was now early evening. The forest was quiete and he already felt a little bit more at peace. Kisame took a deep breath and started walking.

            And so he walked, with you on his mind, until he stumbled upon a lake, hidden deeply in the heart of the forest, surrounded by trees.

            There he stopped and sat down. He looked up at the sky as more and more stars started to reveal themselves.

            "I could bring her here...," he thought, looking around. And he kept on planning and planning for a couple of hours.

            In the meanwhile, you were at the HQ helping Sasori out with sharpening his puppets' blades.

            -Where do you think Kisame is? You asked.

            -I don't know, he replied shortly, uninterested, applying some poison to one of the blades.

            And you kept on working with him, every now and then exchanging a word. But in all this time, Kisame didn't leave your mind. It's been happening a lot lately, You couldn't get rid of the thought of him. Sure, you've grown pretty close in the last year and you grew fond of him, but you started thinking that there was more than just friendship between you and that scared you. You've never been in love before and promised yourself never to fall in love either. Ever. No matter what. But you were slowly breaking your promise to yourself because of him... The Monster of the Bloody Mist...