Kisame's fingertips brushed the cloth-wrapped hilt of his sword. Pain exploded in the left side of his face. When?!
Like a ragdoll he was sent flying, the force of the kick making him roll through the grass. Instinctively he held on to his sword, ripping it from its sheath on his back. The belt tore and the scabbard fell away.
Shit.
Just in time, Kisame raised his naked blade, using it to shield his body. Less than a millimeter from the edge of his sword, Gai's bare heel stopped as he froze mid drop kick.
" Impressive." With that, Kisame took a literal stab at Gai, thrusting his sword at his opponent's chest simply to see how quickly he could evade. Gai was gone in a flash. Two back flips and he was crouching meters away, watching as Kisame got back on his feet.
Now you want to see what I can do, don't you?
To his surprise, Kisame could feel his heartbeat speed up with excitement. This was far better than he had dared to hope. Maito Gai… it would almost be a pity…
A breeze stirred the grass, making it sway gently between them, a small sea of green. Kisame breathed in the ocean air and grinned.
Then he went for his opponent's throat.
It was a good fight, the kind that made Kisame's blood soar in his veins. He swung his sword in wide arcs, slicing through the air and missing Gai almost every time. Although the Konoha shinobi had to be tired and in pain, he would not stand still long enough to be hit. Even without the use of chakra, he was faster than anyone Kisame had ever fought.
He would bait Kisame out, looking for openings and more often than not, Kisame would let himself be lured because he enjoyed the sound of his sword slashing through the air and the near misses that left long tears in the other man's ugly uniform.
Gai lead him towards the edge of the field, closer to the forest and Kisame ran after him, taking a swing while Gai - sans chakra - ran up a tree and backflipped off the trunk to land behind Kisame. It was the moment Kisame had to break his half-hearted promise. He made a water clone and had it strike Gai from behind.
Finally, the hilt of Kisame's sword came down hard on the back of Gai's head and he collapsed, momentarily stunned.
Kisame pointed his sword at Gai's throat, wondering idly why he hadn't decapitated Konoha's brutish beast when he had the opportunity. He wasn't usually the type to toy with his prey. This time, though, he let the tip of his blade linger on Gai's skin without cutting him.
They were both panting, Kisame realized. He'd actually broken a sweat fighting an injured man who couldn't use jutsu.
"What am I to do with you now?" he asked no one in particular.
"You hideous monster-!" Gai spat at him, his face beet red with fury and exertion. "Your disgusting seal is the only reason you're not dead yet! Coward!"
"Oh?" There was a chance, Kisame had to admit, that Gai wasn't all wrong about this. If he had been able to use chakra, the fight might have gone very differently.
I could have enjoyed it even more…
"I wonder…" he said, studying the man on the ground. What was left of his pathetic outfit was hanging off in blood-soaked strips revealing shallow cuts. "If I cut your arms off, will you still try to fight me?"
Gai raised his head and stared at him, his pupils black holes of endless defiance. "I'll fight you till my last breath!"
"Maybe I should cut off both your arms and legs and see what you'll say then?"
"…I'm not afraid of you. Do your worst! I will never bow to you! I, Maito Gai, will never give up!"
"You're quite loquacious, aren't you? Perhaps I should cut out your tongue first?" Kisame said absent-mindedly. Someone was coming, but he didn't want to take his eyes off his prize quite yet.
"Kisame! Here you are! I have been looking for you."
"Fuguki-san…" He glanced over his shoulder and nodded a quick greeting. Despite himself he felt faintly annoyed by his superior's interruption. As always his eyes were more drawn to the hilt of the sword strapped to Suikazan's back than to the man himself. Samehada. Whenever he saw it, it was as if he could feel it beckoning.
"They told me you were going to get rid of your gift from the Mizukage; you shouldn't—" Fuguki's heavy steps came to an abrupt stop. "What is this..? This creature?" he sounded as shocked as if he had seen a ghost. "Don't tell me…"
Fear. Kisame could smell it, taste it even. He'd always had good instincts for it and he was never wrong. He could feel it now, the mist around them was suddenly suffused with it.
"I was about to finish up with him. I will be at the headquarters shortly if you need me, Fuguki-san."
"You're going to kill him? Good. Do it now and we will be able to talk here. No need to waste any more time."
There was urgency in Fuguki's voice. He spoke like someone looking to distract a predator from his gaping wound.
Fuguki-san… are you showing me your weak spot? But what kind if weak spot is this? Why would you be scared of someone as pathetic as him?
"Fuguki-san?" Kisame shifted his stance. His sword was still hovering over Gai's Adam's apple. Surprisingly, the Konoha shinobi had kept his mouth shut so far. He was trying to inch away, though. Kisame had noticed his small movements and was quite amused by them. But not as amused as he was by his superior's inexplicable discomfort. "I was just wondering… maybe I should not be hasty about this."
"What? What are you saying, Kisame? I don't have all day." Annoyed, Fuguki reached for Samehada. "Do you want me to do it for you? Fine."
The giant sword came down with a rush of air. Fuguki wasn't so much aiming as slamming it down blindly, knowing full well that it would crush any man in its way. He was too used to dealing with his foes like that. It was graceless, and for a while now Kisame had found himself thinking that Samehada deserved better.
Not this time, Fuguki-san.
Kisame turned and in one smooth motion swung his sword around to block Samehada's fatal descent. Sparks flew as the blades collided, the shock of the impact shooting hot arrows of pain up Kisame's arm. He wasn't strong enough to block it – few people could have managed that – but he deflected the attack and Samehada buried itself in the grass inches from Gai's head. Gai merely blinked. He was, Kisame thought once again, probably too stupid to understand what was happening.
"What do you think you're doing, Kisame?!" Fuguki raised his sword for another attempt, but this time Kisame stepped between his superior and his prisoner. He raised his free hand in a placating gesture he didn't quite mean.
"I apologize, Fuguki-san, but this was a present from the Mizukage to me, after all. I can't allow you to destroy it quite yet. I think it would be rude of me to discard it this quickly. I should treasure it a while longer, don't you think?"
"…" Fuguki was furious. There was a vein throbbing in his forehead. Underneath, though, the wheels were turning. "Do what you want, Kisame. This is none of my concern," he said with more dignity than Kisame had thought he'd be able to muster. "We will talk later." With that he teleported away, leaving behind only a cloud of fast dissolving white smoke.
Kisame felt another chuckle building in his chest. He turned back to the man on the ground and grinned with fiendish delight.
"Hm, it looks like I might have some use for you after all, Gai-kun."
A.N.: This chapter marks the end of this story's first arc (of three). From here on out there will be Kisame/Gai non-con, dub-con, stockholm syndrom-y stuff, etc. (although it might still be a while till we get to that). oh, and some Gai/Kakashi undertones - pretty much like there were before. Yes, I'm a terrible person.
