(Kisame's POV)

"Ugh..." I grunted. Why wouldn't my stupid stomach pain go away? I have had this long-term stomach ache for the longest time, and I couldn't manage to get rid of it. I managed to deal and hide it for a while, but now my guts were twisting and knotting so hard that I couldn't help but growl in protest. If the Akatsuki found out, especially the Pein, I'd be dead. It's really too bad he hated when we called him that. Addressing him as 'Leader' all the time really gets annoying...

"Ow..." I murmured again, feeling another pulse of pain run through me.

Itachi was sitting next to me when the fit had started. "Kisame, why do you keep grunting like that? It really does get annoying, you know..." Itachi scolded.

We were sitting on the couch in front of the TV while I sat with my legs crossed and my arms wrapped around my middle with my head bend toward my lap, trying to minimize the pain.

"I can't help it, you know..." I growled, tightening my grip around my sides.

Itachi raised a brow. "We're supposed to be hunting nine-tails. I certainly don't want to do all the work myself; how are you going to manage that blonde brat if you can't stand up?" he said skeptically.

I frowned harder, although he didn't see it. "I can stand..." I groaned. "Sort of, anyway..." I grumbled quieter, just barely loud enough for me to hear myself.

"Prove it." Itachi sighed, resting one elbow on his knee and putting his chin in his palm.

Now, don't get me wrong; I had worked with Itachi ever since I jointed the Akatsuki. I knew that he hated dragging around dead meat, which wasn't usually the case with me, so I never had to worry. And if Pein noticed I was slacking off because of a stomach ache...

I forced myself to stand, and was a bit wobbly. One arm remained wrapped around my middle.

Itachi sighed again. "I'm not going to drag you or call for help when you pass out, I hope you know. You're making a stupid decision."

I shook my head. "Naw..."

We left the base in around an hour. I had time to tightly wrap some gauze around my middle, putting on extra pressure to stop bits of the pain, which it did.

We walked along a shaded path away from the base. Aside from a partly cold breeze, the sun was shining and it was peaceful out.

Itachi stopped near a tree and lowered his head.

"What is it, Itachi?"

"Shush, you idiot! Somebody might be coming, Kisame!" Itachi scolded.

I tried to sink down behind a tree, but I knew it was too late. There were two, maybe three, ninja coming. They weren't normal people, and they weren't of the Akatsuki. They had seen me, perhaps my Samehada, but they knew I was there.

"Itachi!" I hissed, leaping into a heavily shaded tree.

"They've already seen you!" Itachi hissed back. "Trying to hide now is a waste of time!"

I nodded, and winced from the pain in my middle again.

"Hey! You!"

I heard a voice yell after me.

"You idiot!" I heard an aggravated female voice yell only sightly quieter. "Now it knows you're here! So much for a sneak-attack!"

"Hey!" I called without thinking.

There was a threatening pause, and the voice that called at me first called again. "Who are you?"it asked.

"I'm a wounded ninja," I yelled back. "I am waiting for some of my village people to come get me. Do not worry." I tried to mimic the voice of a normal, high-pitched villager. To a guy that resembled a half-shark type-thing with a really low voice, everybody seemed to have a high voice.

"Do you need help?" the female voice called.

"No, I'll be fine." I lied smoothly. I really was tricking these shinobi that should be at a high enough level to tell that I was faking. It really was funny.

It was then a third voice came into the picture. "Ninja, what is your name and what village do you belong to?" the husky male voice yelled. "I can report back to the Leaf Village with my squad and see why your squad is not with you."

"Uh, no need!" I yelled back. "My name is Ka-... Karu(Ka-are-oo), and I am from the Village... The Village Hidden in the Mist!" I thought of my skill using water justu to help me out. "I just sent a water clone to the village; my teammates should not be back yet!"

"I'm going to come up there and check on you!" the younger male voice yelled.

"No!" I screamed. "I am fine! Leave!"

I knew these three ninja by name. Kikashi Hatakay; Naruto Usimaki; and Sakura Haruno.

(Forgive me for the horrible spelling. Lol.)

"Leave!" I yelled again, twisting from the pain coursing through me.

There was a silent pause. I thought I was going to fall from the tree, or pass out, or something. That's when I heard the twang of a bow being released, and I heard the whistle of the wind moving around the arrow.

Not enough time to make hang signs. Not enough time for a justu. Too dizzy to move.

Itachi...!

The arrow burned my shoulder as it pierced through my thick skin. Blood stained the sharp tip of the arrow as it poked through on the other side of my shoulder. I glanced down at it.

Lovely.

I felt my breath being sucked from my lungs. Too slow. The word was moving just too slow. The headache. The pain. No noise.

I was going to die...

I fell off the edge of the wide tree branch, falling in a way that Naruto or Sakura would probably see me and then another blade would shoot through my heart and I would die and Itachi wouldn't be around because he would have already left in search of another tactic to catch Naruto.

Time went by so slowly as I fell from that tree. I really had time to think about my childhood. Even though it was only about a 15 second drop.

I thought of the time when I was but a young boy and I found a wild, stray dog. It was my best friend, named Chiki. It was a basset hound or something like that. A puppy. I remember that I had sheltered in some village's ally, can't remember which one, and it was attacked. Lit on fire. I hugged that dog so hard because I was so scared that I snapped its neck. I didn't know she was dead until I tried to run from the flames and she didn't come. Burnt to a crisp, I think.

And then I pictured Itachi's face when Pein told the guys that I was being held hostage or my dead body was hanging in the Leaf Village's prison. Did I honestly think that they would come to get me; come and give up their defenses and comfort of being hidden well in the shadows? Aha ha, not likely.

Hunt, train, fight, train, fight, train, hunt, fight, hunt, train... Kill... The only real words I actually knew. All the rest came to me just so I could do one of those things and only so I could do one of those things. Make friends with Itachi so I can go on hunting parties and kill. Train with Itachi so I can become strong to fight. Train so I can hunt. Hunt to kill. Train to kill.

The cycle never ended.

"You oaf!" I heard a sharp voice hiss. I felt something get my back, my Samehada, and pull up. Back into the tree. The ground wasn't coming anymore, but going.

I landed on a thicker tree branch, and then, poof. We were back in the comfort of the shadows.

"Are you an idiot or something?!?" Itachi roared. "You just fell like a rock! Did you want to get killed?! I should have let you, you no-brained idiot!"

I flinched at his scolding, but I knew he meant well. I shook my head, trying to shake free the hangover that helplessness leaves.

"I know," I said shakily, "I know..."

Itachi looked quizzically at me. "Kisame..." He sighed after a moment. "I couldn't let you die."

It was my turn to stare at him. Itachi was a rock. A freaking rock! He never spilled unless he was going to commit mass murder. I gulped.

"I really could care less about anybody else, normally including you, but I realized something."

"You're not Itachi." I said after a moment.

Itachi blinked. "What?" He stammered.

I grabbed the handle of my Samehada and swung at it 'Itachi'. He was sent flying back, and a cloud of white smoke burst from around the traitor.

There was that blonde brat.

"How did you know?!" He spat, rubbing his sore cheek.

"Did you think I wouldn't know?!" I yelled. "I should know my best friend, and he isn't a hunk of whatever you just tried to pull!"

Naruto blinked, than got up and swung at me. I dodged easily.

"Where's the pink chick and that old man?!!" I questioned, trying to find Itachi or signals of the other ninja.

"Like I know!" Naruto retorted. He tried to swing another punch at me, but I made a few hand-signs and got myself away from the scene.

Where was Itachi?! Had that blonde brat really saved me when he could have killed me then? What would Pein say when I returned home saying that I left Itachi to be killed by the Nine-Tailed Fox?!

Oh man, I was a dead man...

"Hey! You fish freak! I ain't done with you yet!" I heard Naruto yell.

Then the pain in my stomach reminded me I couldn't fight like I wanted to, and hanging around, waiting for Itachi to pop up when he could be getting stabbed by Kikashi didn't sound too appealing. What if Kikashi found me right now? I couldn't fight him! I should have learned how to protect myself from the Sharingan! I learned better than to make Itachi mad! Awe, man, I really was dead!!!

"Oi, Kisame, get your butt over here!"

Oh God, it was Zetsu! I'm going to have to go to the store and buy him some Miracle-Grow or something, I thought as I bounded away from the thick clump of trees to a small hill where Zetsu stood.

"Where's Itachi?" He hissed.

"Don't know!" I spat, kneeling down to see if the black-haired rouge was in the line of sight.

"There he is!" Zetsu announced after a moment, pointing to a dark shadow gliding along the tops of the trees.

Itachi knew we were at the hill, because he leaped off a branch and landed silently beside me. His eyes were narrowed in frustration. "That was the most humiliating defeat I've ever experienced." Itachi said crossly.

"Itachi, look--" I began, but was cut off.

"Like I care!" He growled. "You almost killed yourself twice, didn't listen to me, and fell out of a tree!"

"I got hit with an arrow!" I protested, groping for the wound in my shoulder. Sure enough, it was still there.

Itachi glared down at it before fixing his glare back on me. "Whatever. At least you found out Naruto was deceiving you."

Hey guys! I've been away, but now I'm back!!!!!!!! Sorry! I don't own anything! Thanks!!! Please R&R!!!!