Manami felt herself pulled deeper into the water. She could not swim even though she was ten in age. She had grown a fear of water after nearly drowning when she was only four. She tried to gasp for air however; it only pulled more water into her lungs. She whimpers lightly the sound like her caught and trapped in the water. She had stopped struggling after the first few terrifying moments. No one was around to help her, the other children of the village she had seen ran off laughing, when she had still struggled at the surface. They had brutally pushed her off the dock into the deeper end of the lake after having chased her down.
She looked up at the surface of the water as she went farther and farther under, she could see the sun setting even as she sank. She slowly let her eyes close, falling into acceptance that she was going to drown. She felt darkness start to pull at her, making her slowly forget where she was or what was happening. Suddenly the faintest of feeling grasped her. Like a ripple starting in a small puddle and growing, she felt safe all of a sudden, could feel the weight of the water start to lessen. Her eyes fluttered up, as she coughed violently to the point she wondered if her lungs were going to start to bleed. She forces herself into a sitting position, feeling her soaked clothes cling to her moving like a second thick skin. She was on solid ground the earth under her not pulling her as the water had. She did not even think to wonder how it had happened until a voice pulled her attention.
"Damn kid, what the hell?" The voice rough and deep was coming from her left. She slowly turned her head still in a coughing fit. She looked at the owner of the voice, the first thing she realizing was they were blue?
As her coughing fit subsided spitting out water occasionally forcing it from her lungs, she focused better on her savior. Her eyes did not betray her; he was in fact a light grayish blue. He was tall far taller than her, with a lean smooth muscular structure to him. He held three gill like marks on each of his cheeks under his dark eyes that were fitting to a shark. His hair was a dark ocean blue with his forehead protector helping to hold it up in place out of his eyes. He was a mist ninja, wearing the standard ninja attire of the village. He was soaking wet just as she was, obviously being the one that saved her from her watery grave.
She tilted her head to the side looking at him, appearing very tired to him. Then again, after almost drowning that would take a toll on anyone. She felt the water drip down from her hair and face, landing either on to her clothes or on to the soft grass under her. She licked her lips panting lightly trying to get her breath back into her lungs. She swallowed thickly taking in one last deep breath exhaling slowly as if trying to ensure herself that she was not going to start sinking again, before looking at her savior with full attention.
"You're blue." She says not uttering a word of thanks or gratitude just simply speaking one of the most obvious things apparent in that moment.
"You don't say, I hadn't realized." The blue male says with a light growl showing that he held sharply pointed teeth that were also very fitting for a shark.
"I don't see how you didn't know," She says pulling her knees to her chest starting to shiver lightly. The sun setting allowed the humid air to cool down and wrap around her wet being. She started to shiver as goose bumps prickled at her skin, teeth chattering.
She looks to the man when she hears a snort come from him before she was wrapped in a large vest. She blinks slowly though did not question the action simply wrapping the vest around her tighter. She allowed her chin to rest on her knees looking at the ground; she assumed the mist nin had done the obvious of removing the vest before jumping in after her. She watched from the corner of her eye as the mist nin adjusted to sitting on the ground cross legged by her side.
"You got a name kid? Or at least home I can take you too?" The mist nin asks. His voice was slightly harsh, though she figured that was from her not thanking him on saving her life.
"I'm Manami Rikimaru." Manami explains. "I don't have a home….I live by myself in a small building complex on the other side of town." She says sniffling lightly to herself. She felt the mist ninja's eyes on her though she did not bother to look at him. "I stay out here most nights, away from the village." She adds glancing from the ground to the tree line where a small clearing just barely seen with a camp already set up. She gasped in surprise when being picked up into the mist ninja's arms that easily carried her over to the clearing that was about 20 feet away.
She did not say anything as he placed her on the ground and watched as the strange ninja walked into the forest. Several long minutes later, he came back with a large pile of wood dropping it beside a small fire pit. He easily started a fire that Manami moved over to stretching her arms out to warm her hands. She sighed slightly more content after a long moment or two as she felt heat coming back to her body. The sun by this point had almost completely disappeared behind the horizon, the sky darkening to a deep blackish blue.
"What's your name?" Manami asks in a quiet voice looking across the fire where the blue male sat.
"Kisame Hoshigaki." He states simply. He looks back at the girl only now really taking in what she looked like. He looks at her lightly tan skin that by the fire seemed to have a faint ivy glow. Her large golden green eyes and, lightly rounded face still holding just the slightest of baby fat to it. Her hair was very short being up close to ears and held an ambry effect going from prefect pitch black to soft snow white. Her clothes were obviously old being worn and torn, and being fairly, dirty. She wore a pair of simply blue plants with a white shirt that held three large light pink flowers on it.
"Thank you, Kisame…. for saving me." Manami says her eyes held far too many emotions, some of which Kisame could no longer name. He trained for just one to many years to remember just what emotions were and that humans were, meant to feel, and just be emotionless weapons.
"You're welcome kid. Why were them other brats gaining up on you anyway?" Kisame questions. He had been walking along the forest line on the other side of the lake when he had heard her scream. He became curious and went to check it out, when he saw the group of kids. They had Manami trapped at the edge of the dock with no escape, obviously mocking her and tormenting her as they pushed her around, before finally giving the final shove causing her to crash into the water.
"They don't like me in the village. No one does." Manami says with a heavy sigh. She looks down from Kisame's gaze seeing the question in his eyes. The very question that just about everyone that met her asked at some point. "They say I'm a monster." She says closing her eyes; however, she jumped crawling backwards slightly as Kisame burst into a full-hearted laugh. It echoed lightly in the surrounding forest, it was deep and rough just like his voice, yet somehow smooth.
"They think you are monster? The hell I want to know what they think of me." Kisame says flashing a toothy grin once he managed to stop laughing. "You aren't any kind monster kid, I don't know what those villagers are on but they need to get off it." He says with a heavy shrug of his shoulders.
Manami blinks lightly looking at Kisame, with wide, rabbit like eyes. She had gotten many reactions from peoples from her answer. However, laughter and disagreement where yet to be among them, though there was a first for everything. She blinked her eyes once, twice, three times before they went back to normal size and she allowed the sudden tension to leave her back shoulders from being scared at Kisame's laugh.
"Well that's what they say. I do not know why though. No one has ever given me an answer. I only got beaten for when I use to ask, they always yelling the same thing that I know the answer already." She says wrapping her arms around her legs. "After so long of no one wanting me around I just came out here." She explains with a light shrug.
Kisame looks at her for a long moment, trying to see the monster that all of the villagers apparently saw. However, he could not find in anyway this kid was a monster, if she looked deformed or something like him he could understand it. She lived in a small non-ninja raising village. Nonetheless, she looked like just a normal sad, lost, scared kid to him. She did not look like a threat to even an insect in his eyes; he could easily kill her with one swing of his sword. He pondered for a moment if the kid longed for death. He had, had a rough childhood even in the mist, people of blue coloration not being the most common of things. Yet, he still had friends, allies, fellow ninja that would lay down their lives to help him; he never once been completely segregated from his village as this kid was.
"How old are you kid?" Kisame asks true curiosity gripping him. Something pulled at his heart for this kid made him feel, remorse, he was fairly, sure that was the emotion he was feeling in that current moment.
"I'm ten." Manami says letting out a slight yawn. "How old are you?" She asks she could tell he was at least in his late teens or possibly even his early twenties.
"I'm nineteen." Kisame says looking around the area lightly. He hears Manami hum lightly catching her nod her head to his answer. He looks at her fully again when she lay down on the soft grass by the fire. Her left arm, bent at the elbow resting under her head to act as a pillow.
"Why are you all the way out here?" She says letting out a second yawn. He could tell she was trying very hard to keep her eyes open. To keep the conversation going, it was not hard to figure out that being hated by her village she did not often have someone to talk too that was not terrified of her.
"I had a solo mission. I was assigned to kill a noble out in this area." Kisame explains looking at the girl as she could barely keep her eyes open. The sun had long disappeared, the stars had come out and only a sliver of the moon showed in the sky yet it provided more than enough light to illuminate the earth.
"Oh I see." Manami says, her eyes slowly starting to close before fluttering open again. Kisame watched her do this for several seconds before she thought of something else to say though it brought shock to him. "Kisame, will you stay here with me tonight?" She asks pleading ever so slightly.
Kisame blinked several times at the question presented to him. He would have never imagined the girl would ask something like that. She had only met him, than again he could easily see that the girl even if not a monster was different. He had saved her yes, but he had saved many that freaked out right after taking full note of his appearance. Not just that she seemed fairly, content with him being around. Then again, the girl had horrible dark circles under her eyes he could not help but wonder if she ever really got a good night's rest. He pondered the girl's request for a moment before closing his eyes sighing as he slowly nodded his head.
"If you go to sleep yes I will stay." He says. After all it was only one night, he had finished his mission early and had more than enough time to blow off before needing to head back to the mist. Besides, if anything, he could always sneak away in the middle of the night when the girl was fully, asleep; it was not as if he was ever going to see her again after this. He had only been nice with saving her because… Well he was not sure, he chopped it up to that he saw drowning as a pathetic way of dying, and kids were just mean little brats.
"Okay Kisame" Manami says with a final yawn. Her eyes drifting shut and staying in said position. "Thank you again" She whispers just load enough to be heard over the slowly dying crackle of the fire.