"How long do I have to keep doing this?" Shiryoku asked as she stood in the middle of the lake.
"Until you get it." Kisame replied, sitting on the water's edge, feet hanging over into the shallows. He feigned disinterest, hiding his true feelings behind his voice. To Shiryoku he sounded bored and on the border of leaving the girl to train alone, but in reality he couldn't take his eyes off the young woman. Kisame could not understand how she was able to perform a ninjutsu already. 'How the hell is she doing this?' Kisame thought as he stared slack jawed at his student.
They had only been working for a week, she should just be starting to be able to mold her chakra in the correct way to utilize it's affinity for water. Yet here she stood, shrouded in fog from the Hidden Mist Jutsu. The mist that surrounded her was rather light in comparison to the full blown, pearly mist that Kisame could create.
"Am I even doing anything?" She asked, growing irritated by Kisame's perceived disinterest.
"A little bit." Kisame replied. "You've got a nice haze going."
"Haze?"
"Like on a hot summer day when it's so humid outside you can see the moisture in the air."
"I've never seen that. I know the mist of home and I vaguely remember the sunshine in Tani."
"Then use that to your advantage. When using this jutsu, remember the thick fog of the Land of Water, and hold it in your mind. Let your chakra create the reality in your mind."
"You're basically describing my Kekkei Genkai." She snorted, the haze surrounding her growing a little denser.
"No, you're doing it right now. Keep focusing on what you're doing without engaging your ability." Kisame watched her nod her head confidently, returning to the task at hand. After a moment, Shiryoku dropped her hands, letting the fog that had gathered about her evaporate. "Now what?"
"Taking a break."
"Breaks are for the weak. 'The weak are meat, the strong eat.'" Kisame quoted.
"Eat your heart out." Shiryoku joked, walking toward Kisame. He held out his hand as she approached, his palm gently resting against her stomach to stop her from walking past him. After kicking off her shoes, Shiryoku sat down next to him, gently paddling her feet in the shallow water.
"What was it like growing up in Kiri?" Shiryoku asked, lifting her leg from the pool, listening to the water gently fall from her.
"It was…" Kisame replied, absentmindedly chewing on the inside of his lip. "I grew up on the streets - there were more homeless children in Kiri than ones that had homes. We all divided off into little cartels and gangs, each having their own territories to protect. I ran one for awhile, but I left when I got into the academy. Because of how I looked, most of the other students decided I was the one to prove their worth against. I usually beat the everliving shit out of them - killed a couple too…" He mused, a distant smirk ringing in his voice. "Somehow managed to graduate when I was 10. I killed all of my classmates just so I could find a place in my village. And for awhile I thought I had, but then… Your mother made the right decision raising you outside of the village."
"I don't remember much of living with her." Shiryoku admitted. "Whenever I think about home, I'm sitting by the ocean watching the sun rise before the mist had rolled in. Swimming all day, coming back inside looking like a prune. The ocean was where I was happy…" Shiryoku gently raised her nose to the air and breathed deeply. Kisame figured she was trying to draw out the old sensory memory of her childhood. And then she spoke. "You smell like the ocean. That day I woke up on your shoulder the sea just radiated from you. It reminded me what home smelled like. I couldn't believe I had forgotten."
Kisame smirked to himself, remembering the smell that had emanated from her blood the day he found her; the dusty Kiri mist that he had not known he missed. The smell that made him remember one small piece of his home that hadn't been all too bad. He glanced over at Shiryoku. Her head was resting gently on her shoulder as her feet thrummed happily in the water. Ripples slowly spread across the pool with each pat of her foot. Shiryoku dug her feet deep in the shallow water before kicking a smattering of water into the air. She overshot how hard to throw the water, sending it back on the pair.
"Sorry." Shiryoku apologized sheepishly pulling her legs out of the water. Kisame noticed that the small splotches of water than remained on Shiryoku's skin glimmered blue in the dully lit cave. He wanted to examine the blue skin beneath the water, but kept his hands to himself.
"You should get back to training." Kisame said before the girl could soak them any further. Shiryoku nodded before walking back to the middle of the lake without her shoes.
"Hey, Gills!" Hidan yelled as he made his way into the cave. "Itachi says he needs the Freak."
"What does he want with Shiryoku?" Kisame asked, standing up from the shallows.
"Hell if I know. He just told me to get her."
"Why did you come get her?"
"She may be a freak, but she's still one damn fine piece of ass… What the hell is she doing?"
"She's training."
"Freak!" Hidan yelled out to the girl, breaking her concentration. The shroud of mist that she was trying to build dissipated instantly. "Get over here."
"I have a name." Shiryoku defiantly replied, bringing her hands to rest in front of her torso to mold more chakra.
"I don't give a shit. Move it." Hidan scolded the woman.
"Go away, I'm busy." The woman said, moving her hands to form the seals she needed. Kisame chuckled to himself, turning away from the infuriated silver-haired man. He had never met anyone that filled Hidan with such impotent rage before. Kisame absolutely loved how much she pissed him off. Hidan had a quick fuse to begin with, but watching the girl slowly grow bolder in her defiance of him, her complete lack of fear for him, assured Kisame that Akatsuki had made the right choice in keeping her.
"Get your ass over here."
Shiryoku cloaked herself within the mist again. Kisame could still see her inside of the fog, but she had infused a lot more chakra into it this time, creating a much denser haze. "Dammit! Don't fucking think you can hide from me." Hidan howled at the girl, angrily marching across the placid lake toward the girl. The closer he came to Shiryoku, the thicker the mist became. Kisame was quite impressed by her ability to already affect the density of her fog. Soon, both Hidan and Shiryoku had completely disappeared in the mist.
"Where the fuck are you, Freak?" Kisame could hear Hidan shriek from within the mist. Kisame smirked as he listened to the Jashinist make his way across the lake. The smile was wiped from his face the moment the pain hit him.
A small, angry knot found a home in the pit of his stomach, doubling the large man over in pain. Kisame landed on his knees as the knot in his stomach began taking hold of his entire torso. Pain tore at every sinew and muscle in his body. He felt as though a black hole had formed in his intestine, pulling himself into his body until he imploded from the pain. The pain suddenly jumped to his head, pushing down on his brain. The pressure that swelled on his brain pushed on the back of his eyes. Kisame clawed at the stone floor of the cave, trying to force the pain from his body. The pressure on his eyes became unbearable, forcing him to push his palms against them out of the fear that they could bulge from his head. The slightest movement made every piece of him feel as though he were as fragile as porcelain. Kisame's stomach turned, forcing him into a fit of dry heaves.
"Shiryoku, stop!" Kisame yelled into the mist once he was able to catch his breath. An explosive blast ricocheted through the cave with a deafening boom. Stalactites that ran along the roof fell from the force of the explosion. As they hit the ground, the stalactites burst into small pieces of shrapnel; some of which embedded themselves inside of Kisame.
Hidan was thrown from the mist, skidding to a stop across the stone floor of the cave. He collided with a stalagmite along the far wall so hard his back should have snapped. The moment Hidan hit the stalagmite the mist that had enveloped Shiryoku disappeared. The woman was standing on the far side of the lake, having moved through the mist in order to evade Hidan. Kisame rushed to push himself to his feet, running across the water toward the woman. She was still standing, but he could see her neck collapse under the weight of her head. Her knees buckled as she passed out, throwing Shiryoku through the water's glassy surface. Kisame dove in after her.
It was hard to see in the murky water of the dark cave, But Kisame was able to zero in on the girl before she sank too deep. Shiryoku had plummeted about ten meters before the shark was able to reach her, trying to breach the surface before she breathed in too much water. As Kisame made the ascension, he noticed that the girl had only been a meter from being pulled into the submerged river. If she had only been a couple feet to her left when she fell into the lake, Kisame would have never been able to reach her in time. He didn't doubt his ability to pull her from the river, but by the time he would have gotten her out and to the surface, no amount of CPR would have been able to save her.
Kisame broke the water's surface, pulling the girl to the water's edge. Shiryoku had a weak heartbeat, but he knew there was water in her lungs that she needed to expel. As Kisame began CPR on the girl, many of the Akatsuki members came barreling through the door.
"What was that?" Kakuzu asked as a remnant stalactite shrapnel fell on him.
"She used it, didn't she?" Deidara asked, popping out from behind the dark man. "Shiryoku used her Kekkei Genkai, hm."
"Freak fucking threw me against this piece of shit." Hidan was seething as he stomped down on the stalactite he had crashed into. He began taking out the frustration he felt toward the girl on the innocent piece of rock, thrashing his heel against the column until it shattered into pieces. Once the stalagmite was thoroughly pulverized, the silver-haired man moved to another column, destroying it until all rage he felt toward Shiryoku had been beaten out of him.
"Is she breathing?" Itachi asked, kneeling beside Kisame and the girl. As he did, Shiryoku coughed the water from her lungs. Her breathing was haggard as she tried to expel the liquid from her lungs. Shiryoku rolled on to her side facing Kisame, her palms pressing against her pounding head. One hand pushed the bandages covering her head up to her forehead, revealing her eyes. Kisame could see a tangerine colored circle glowing brightly under the filmy, white membrane. The vibrant color quickly faded to the dark outline that Kisame knew to be her iris. As soon as the orange had completely vanished from her eye, Shiryoku passed out again.
Itachi pulled Kisame's attention away from Shiryoku before Kisame could take a closer look at the girl's eye. "You're bleeding." Itachi stated, pointing to the gills on Kisame's right shoulder.
"I'll deal with it later." Kisame replied as he picked Shiryoku up. The Akatsuki members parted from the entrance of the cave, making way for Kisame to take the young woman back to her room. Hidan was off in the distance, violently throwing shards of broken rock against the cave wall.