Itachi, and Seiko were on the road, their destination being northeast towards the Hidden Rain Village. It was then that Seiko noticed that their path was taking them directly east instead.
"Where are we going?" Seiko asked Itachi.
After a moment, Itachi said, "We are going to regroup with Kisame and his apprentice."
"That shark freak has an apprentice?" Seiko asked. Itachi nodded, and after about fifteen minutes, he finally came to a halt. "This is the rendezvous point."
Seiko looked around, silently noting the fact that they were surrounded on all sides by nothing but trees. "How can you tell?" Seiko asked.
Itachi remained silent until Kisame came down from the top of the trees along with the black-haired kid whom Seiko had fought earlier.
"You! You're Shark Freak's student!" Seiko said in shock.
Tsyuoshi just glared silently at Seiko until he said, "Yeah, that's right."
Seiko grinned and said, "Well you're obviously not that strong even though you're the student of this power house."
Tsyuoshi continued glaring, but didn't bother making a move. "Now, now, you two, you should get along at least for the rest of the trip," Kisame said with a grin.
"Yes, Sensei," Tsyuoshi said quietly.
Seiko just sighed and said, "Let's just hurry and get on our way. The faster we get there the faster I can get away from you freaks."
They now headed straight for the Village Hidden in the Rain. After a while of silently walking, Seiko walked up beside Tsuyoshi. "So...what's your story?" Seiko asked with a friendly grin. Tsuyoshi ignored him, which agitated Seiko. "Come on, it's a while 'til we get to the village, so we might as well make some small talk." "It's no good, Kid, Tsyuoshi here doesn't like talking if he doesn't have too," Kisame informed him. Seiko sighed and continued talking to Tsuyoshi anyway. "So, what are you skills?" he asked. Tsuyoshi continued to ignore him. "What are your likes and dislikes? Blood type? Height? Weight?" by this time Seiko was simply bored, and he kept asking question after question until, "What's your sword's name?"
Tsuyoshi kept quiet for a moment, but then said, "Sakugen Sora."
The sudden answer surprised Seiko, and he said, "So you can talk after all." Seiko examined the slender sword that had a slight curve in the middle of the blade. "That sword is definitely different from the behemoth that shark freak over there carries," Seiko said with a grin.
"Watch it, Kid, or you're gonna find this behemoth in your gut," Kisame warned.
"You mean like what my Yamaarashi did?" Seiko spat.
"Enough." Itachi's steely gaze silenced the entire company. Seiko sighed and started to talk to Tsuyoshi some more.
"Is it always like this?" he asked.
Tsuyoshi, seeming to have finally found his voice, said, "Yes."
"That's kinda disappointing," Seiko decided.
After a couple of hours they found a cave to camp in. "Tsuyoshi, go out and get some firewood," Kisame ordered.
Tsuyoshi nodded, and Seiko said, "I'm going to go with him, it's too boring sitting around with you guys."
Itachi sighed and Kisame seemed to be agitated by his comment. "Fine, but don't think about escaping," Kisame growled.
Seiko just gave him a half wave in acknowledgment and walked after Tsuyoshi. "So, what's your story?" Seiko asked as he picked up some branches.
Tsuyoshi sighed and quietly said, "Kisame stumbled upon me when I was a child."
Seiko looked up at this, and he chuckled, saying, "Kinda sounds like my past." After a moment, he added, "Except mine has a little bit more bloodshed in it." Tsuyoshi didn't respond to this, and instead just kept gathering wood.
After a while, Tsuyoshi finally said, "Bloodshed?"
"Yeah, it's not that big of a deal, plus I want to know more about you. You're stronger than you let on and I want to know where all that strength came from," Seiko stated.
Tsuyoshi paused and looked down at his sword. "My past...I left my village in order to find the legendary Phantom of the Hidden Mist, otherwise known as Kisame Hoshigaki. Some say he was the strongest swordsman ever, and I wanted to know how to use a sword."
Seiko grinned, and he said, "So why did you want to know how to use a sword?"
Tsuyoshi quietly replied, "In order to...protect the person I most admire." After that they headed back to the camp, and Seiko sighed when he saw Kisame.
"You're still here?" Seiko said to him.
"I'm the one taking you to the leader, so of course I'm here!" Kisame said angrily as he gripped his sword's handle more tightly.
"Kisame, please control yourself, he's just another brat." Itachi said, eating some rations.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, and Pain wants him alive and well when he sees him, but you know me Itachi, I can't stand little punks who always run their mouths," Kisame said with a scowl, showing off his shark-like teeth.
Tsuyoshi sat down and started to make a fire, and Seiko sat next to him. "I don't know how you can live with that shark freak," Seiko said to Tsuyoshi "His teeth freak me out the most."
Tsuyoshi looked over and smiled, showing off his own triangular teeth. "It's a common symbol among the Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist," he said quietly.
Seiko grinned and said sarcastically, "Wow, that's some symbol." They both laughed a bit.
Kisame looked at both Seiko and Tsuyoshi laughing, and turned to Itachi. "I've never seen Tsuyoshi enjoy himself that much."
Itachi nodded and said, "No, neither have I."
Later on, while everyone else slept, Seiko got up from his sleeping bag and sighed, adjusted his goggles which were coming off from him tossing and turning in his sleep. "I gotta piss," he mumbled, and he walked out into the forest. After relieving himself he started his way back, but the campsite seemed to have disappeared. "I wasn't more than fifteen feet away from the campsite…so how did I get lost?" he asked himself.
Tsuyoshi came up beside Seiko rubbing his eyes "Who are you talking to?" he asked quietly.
Seiko looked up at him and just sighed, "I'm lost."
"What are you talking about, the camp is right over there," he said as he pointed to the campfire not more than ten feet away. "How did you ever become a ninja when you have such terrible sense of direction?" Tsuyoshi asked him.
"Shut up!" Seiko said in frustration, and he walked over to his sleeping bag so he could sleep the embarrassment away. "Glad Shark Freak didn't see that," Seiko whispered to himself.
"We both knew you got lost," Kisame said from his own sleeping bag.
After what would be considered a far cry from a good night's sleep, Seiko walked with Tsuyoshi and was examining the scroll his sensei had given him. Ranritsu. You have such unbelievable power...I need to master you soon, but I can't do it with anyone around, Seiko thought.
Tsuyoshi looked up ahead to see a small village, and he looked up at Kisame and said, "Can we rest there?"
Kisame nodded and replied, "We already planned on it."
Seiko looked over at Itachi, observing his cold gaze that was so similar to Sasori and the attitude he displayed to those around him. Itachi was calm and controlled, but when Seiko looked at Kisame he saw the complete opposite. He was feisty, he loved to fight, and he seemed to always want to rip things apart. Seiko wondered how these guys could agree on the simplest decisions, let alone something that would take far more cooperation.