Chapter 4:
Kira had only a blinking-second to react when Kisame charged. For a man of his size, it was not surprising that he was able to cleanly clear the jump from one side of the bed to the other as easily as breathing; and what only added to the complications was his speed. He was acutely swift on his feet, wasting no time whatsoever in cornering Kira.
Before the young woman could make a counter move against the towering man, Kisame's hand once more found its way around the base of Kira's throat before he threw both his weight and Kira's into the wall behind them.
Kira couldn't help but gasp when her spine collided with the solid barrier in a most unfriendly way. Then the next thing she knew, Kisame had her dangling in midair by the throat with the wall as her only means of support.
Did this man mean to kill her?
...Was that his real purpose?
After a few moments, the sure feeling of suffocation hit Kira like a ton of bricks. It an attempt to fend this monstrous man off, Kira kicked out with her legs, but her efforts proved to be useless against his brute strength. If she had any chance of escaping his death grip, she was going to have to resort to her other methods.
Forcing her body to remain calm, despite its undeniable screams for oxygen, Kira closed her eyes and focused on her chakra. Using what breath she could, she inhaled one deep breath through her nose into her aching lungs and held it for a second or two. During those couple of seconds, she skillfully manipulated her chakra into a new form of energy that heated her body from the inside out.
When at last, she was ready, Kira's eyes snapped open and fearlessly stared up into the shadowy face of Kisame. Then, with one more, swift gasp of air, using this time a small opening with her mouth, Kira unleashed a stream of orange flames right at Kisame's form.
The fire was mainly directed at the arm that was holding tight to Kira; and it brought great satisfaction to the woman when her flames licked at the man's robed limb, forcing him to drop his hand away from her throat while he batted away the burning inferno that was attacking his arm.
With Kisame momentarily distracted with extinguishing the fire on his sleeve before it could reach his skin, Kira scooted out of reach, made a run for the door, and dashed out of the room.
This was the second time within five minutes that she had escaped from that man's grasp. And Kira would be sure as hell lucky if she could do it a third time. But there was only one problem with that; if she did indeed get caught, she felt positive that there would be no escape next time.
Keeping the one kunai blade clutched tightly in her hand as she ran through her house, Kira made it to the front door which she found unlocked and already open, most likely from when Kisame had entered, before bolting outside into the night with only one goal in mind; to get the hell out of this situation.
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Glaring excessively at the door where he had watched the young woman flee to, Kisame briefly swore out loud before he turned to face the left, far corner of the room that was nothing but shadows.
"She's might be more of a handful then we thought, Itachi-san." Kisame confessed though he seemed pretty at ease despite the fact that their prize just ran right out the door, literally.
Out of the blackness of the corner, Itachi Uchiha's form stepped forth; his eyes ever glowing red as he met Kisame's expecting stare. By being hidden in the corner of the room, Itachi had been able to watch and analyze the girl and her 'supposed' skills. Did she have potential? Absolutely. But she would still be no match for him; Itachi knew that with absolute certainty.
"Don't overestimate the girl, Kisame…" Itachi replied as his gaze flickered over to the open bedroom door; staring at it calmly as if nothing had happened.
Kisame took that moment to grumble to himself about being 'cut' and 'almost-burned' in one night by a girl, younger than him no less. He finished his little rant with something along the lines of 'I'll get her back for those little stunts…'
Hearing his partner's words, Itachi started for the door, "Then let's go." He stated. "I think we've given her a fair enough heads-start." He pointed out.
Kisame grinned before he followed in step alongside the dark haired Uchiha; in a less than a minute both men found themselves stepping outside the small house; their eyes skillfully scanning the grounds for any sign of the girl. Kisame couldn't help but nod his head approvingly when he found no visible trace of her in sight.
"Not bad, girlie." He murmured out loud, almost like he was actually paying the woman a compliment in person.
"She's headed south…." Itachi informed in a low tone; stating the fact like it was the most obvious thing in the world as turned his body to face the new direction. "…but she won't get far." He added.
Kisame mimicked his partner's action before snickering out loud. "So the girl was heading into the woods? How predictable…." He thought to himself. "Still…." He added, putting his thoughts into words,
"I've always loved a good chase."
The two S-Class missing Ninja shared a quick glance with one another before they set off in fast pursuit of the girl. She may have gotten lucky the first couple times by surprising Kisame with some tiny distractions , but when they finally catch up with her once more, she wasn't getting away.
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Leaves and twigs crunched beneath Kira's bare feet as she weaved closely to the trees of the woods. Despite the chill of the night air, the young woman was without cold for her blood was running hot with adrenaline.
Being acutely aware of her surroundings, Kira could sense that she was being followed. That much did not really take her by surprise. However, how fast her follower was catching up did. Even with her head start, he was still closing in.
To be more exact, "It's like he's practically breathing down my neck." Kira thought to herself with a small frown pulling down on her mouth. The man's charka presence couldn't be more than 100 yards off.
But how much longer will that last?
"...not very long..." Kira mumbled out loud to herself.
This guy was persistent; and clearly, he meant business.
"Running away is not going to stop this guy..." she added knowingly.
Then perhaps it was time to take a stand.
"Right..." Kira stated with a determined nod of her head. And she knew just where to do it.
Veering off to the left while still keeping the trees as a cover, Kira quickened her pace and headed South East. After a few minutes or so of nonstop running, when the certain sound of rushing water reached her ears, she smiled triumphantly,
"Just a bit further!" she declared as she spotted a glowing light up ahead. With a great leap, Kira broke out of the line of trees and landed gracefully on the bank of a fast moving river. Stepping forward, she walked out towards the water; stopping before her feet could touch the river but still be close enough so that the wet sand encased her bare feet.
Then she turned about to face the towering line of trees; watching carefully for any sign of life. But the only movement around was the soft swaying of the forest as the wind stirred around it.
How deceitful. The scene actually looked somewhat peaceful; with the clear night sky and the reflection of the bright moon shinning off the top of the flowing water.
Glancing around, Kira couldn't help but softly shake her head in wonder, "This stillness couldn't be any more false..."
And she was right. Not even the beauty of nature could mask the danger she could feel approaching. So just, where was it now?
Kira first turned her head to the left, then to the right.
"Nothing..." she noted out loud to herself; that she could see with her eyes at least. Her senses were telling her something completely different.
He was here, there was no doubt about it.
Eyes narrowing with anger, Kira shifted slightly on her feet, widening her stance into one meant for combat while she brought both her hands up from her sides and placed them accordingly to the rest of her body which now stood ready for a fight.
"Alright..." she fiercely called out as her lavender eyes skimmed her surroundings, "...feel free to come out anytime soon..."
From somewhere within the trees, Kira picked up the distinctive sound of male laughter; it was a low rumbling sound that came from the back of the throat. And it sent chills down her spine.
Straightening up to her full height, she frowned before she briefly twirled the kunai blade that she still had, clutched in her hand.
"Suit yourself." she answered before she drew back her arm and flung the blade at tremendous speed in the direction where she had heard the laughter.
Things fell silent after that.
For a moment at least.
Then, from the shadows of the trees before Kira, the large man named Kisame slowly stepped out into the clearing. His blue face was grinning in merriment, while his golden eyes shone bright with amusement.
"What's this?" he replied as he raised his own arm up from his side; hanging off one of his slim and long fingers was Kira's kunai blade that he now effortlessly spun about on his appendage. "You wanna fight, eh?" he asked as he took a few more steps closer.
Kira tensed up.
Did she want to fight? Not exactly; that just wasn't her thing. However, she'll do what she must to stand against this man and whatever his reason for targeting her was.
Kira took a step back on the bank, this time letting the shallow water edge touch her feet; its coolness brought her comfort, and it gave her strength.
"Well why not?" she boldly answered, "...I'm wide awake now, so might as well have at it."
Kisame threw his blue head back and barked a loud laugh. When he brought his attention back onto Kira's he flashed her a sharp-toothed grin before he reached up to grasp the hilt of his monstrous sword.
"You sure are a funny one..." he stated with a quick chuckle, "...got lots of spirit too." he added, "...We'll have to break you of that."
"Not a chance!" Kira snapped back. Then without a moment's hesitation, she focused her chakra, and moved her arms up into a unique form; one that even Kisame wasn't familiar with.
And as he watched the way her arms moved as she swayed them around her body, his own eyes widened at what he saw.
"So this is what Leader-Sama meant..." he noted to himself as he watched with fascination as water from the river behind the girl, came up and circled around her form.
"She moves...and so does the element...how interesting..." his head added seconds later.
Keeping her eyes locked on Kisame's form while she continued on bending the water around her to do her bidding, Kira took in a deep breath, focused on the form of the water before she raised her hands and gestured at the blue man before her.
Like a dog obeys the order of its master, some of the water that she had drawn about her, shot itself right at Kisame's form. And as it drew nearer to the blue man, it changed its state from water to ice and took the form of long, sharp needles.
Kisame watched with soft surprise as he eyed hundreds of ice needles coming at him from all angels. He responded by firmly grasping the hilt of his sword before he started to bring it down across his front so that he could use it as a blockade.
However before his move and Kira's attack could meet, a jet stream of fire came out of nowhere and intercepted the two.
Kira gasped in shock as she saw the oranges flames overpower her ice attack.
"Wha...?" she asked herself as she eyed the raging inferno before her.
Where on earth had that come from? She had been watching Kisame intently, and she didn't see him make an kind of move that would've brought fire into the picture. Not to mention the stream of flames came from a completely different direction.
And that could only mean one thing.
Kisame wasn't alone.
When at last the stream of fire died out, Kira, who had been so stiff to look anywhere else but in front, slowly turned her head in the direction where she had seen the flames come from and was surprised to find that they're starting location was not very far from where she stood now.
Turning her head slightly over her left shoulder, Kira willed herself to search out Kisame's partner. But when her eyes finally came to a rest, she found herself struck numb with fear at what they found.
"Oh..." she breathed out as her lavender eyes widened in absolute horror, "...my...God!"
No more than ten feet away was indeed a second man; he was dressed in similar attire like his comrade though he stood shorter than Kisame's own build. He had a head full of dark grey-black hair that he had tied back into a ponytail and half his face was hidden by the high collar of his cloak. However, those details were only minor things to take note on.
His eyes were what was important here.
They were the color of fresh blood, framed with long dark lashes that no doubt matched his hair, and they stared unblinkingly back at Kira. And with the eye contact came the full awareness of his chakra presence too.
Just like before...
So Kira hadn't been imaging things in the woods earlier on that night; she had seen someone. And that someone was him.
The ferocity of his chakra, the sure power that was just emanating off his cloaked form was enough to force Kira's own body into trembling with fear. And she found herself losing all focus on her own defense because of it.
"Come on..." Her head screamed at her, "...get a grip and move!"
But she couldn't. Her body was paralyzed on the spot just by him watching her.
"...move..." she whispered to herself out loud, beseeching her limbs to do at least something. "...Move..." she repeated more firmly while she closed her eyes to refocus her thoughts on the situation at hand, "MOVE!" she ordered as her eyes snapped back open to stare back over at the red-eyed man.
At last she had regained control over her body; though she still carried the fear for this man with her, she was not going to let it reign. Pushing as much of it back as she could, Kira willed her arms to start moving once again in an attempt to conjure up another attack to send at her new opponent.
But midway through her movements, the man himself moved.
In the blink of an eye, he closed off the distance between him and Kira and quickly caught the young woman by her neck.
"So fast!" her head screamed in response.
Because of this, she lost her control over the water and it fell uselessly back down to the ground, splashing at their feet.
Kira gasped and cringed when the man then applied some heavy pressure around her throat and hoisted her up till she was standing only on the tips of her toes with him himself being only inches away from her face. Naturally, she then brought her hands up to try and pry his grip off her neck; but her efforts proved to be fruitless and instead, the red-eyed man tightened his hold on her painfully.
She couldn't help but close her eyes at that while biting down on her full lower lip to try and not cry out in front of this man.
"Look at me..." the man suddenly spoke; his voice was low, and surprisingly rich sounding.
Kira could only whimper as she kept her eyes closed shut.
"I said..." the man repeated as he used his strength to actually lift Kira off the ground by her neck, "...Look at me." his voice seemed darker now; his tone filled with a silent warning.
Slowly, Kira let her eyes sweep open till she was once again trapped staring directly into those blood red orbs.
The man's eyes then widened slightly before, to Kira's shock and terror, the center of them started to spin.
Kira watched for no more than 5 seconds before her eyes swept back down and she fell into complete darkness...