A/N: Quick update is QUICK, eh? This one is written in Kisame's POV again. It's a bit of a recap of a few previous events, but also a (hopefully) exciting lead in for the next juicy chapter. Enjoyyyy :P

Kisame was concentrating all of his energy into chakra control. He diligently worked to regain use of the energy and after a while, he felt like he was making some progress, however small. It was as if that magic little combination was almost in his grasp, but a new hurdle would always appear to hinder his efforts. Nevertheless, Kisame remained determined; after all, he had a very important goal, one which involved a meticulous torture and subsequent killing of Kabuto - and he couldn't forget that.

Numerous outcomes played themselves in his mind of what he would do when he did dispel the jutsu, but he kept mentally reminding himself to stay on track. His animalistic side screamed and tore at his ego, wanting to take over and saturate his mind in murderous thoughts, but Kisame's rationality and self-control was surprisingly well conditioned. More alarming than thoughts of violence though, was that every once in a while he would get distracted by the kunoichi. The pink-haired one. And those certain thoughts were getting harder to ignore considering the things she had done to his body earlier.

Well, he had to admit to himself, it wasn't much- at least not to the average person. But unfortunately for someone like Kisame, these occurances didn't happen very often - not from totally willing participants anyway. Also to his sorrow, it just so happened to be his luck that he was completely paralyzed while the slip of a girl stroked his body so...delectably. It was nothing short of torture - being unable to react or respond, just trapped within his mind with his traitorous thoughts.

But the girl...

Kisame was no expert on medicine and the ethics involved, but he seriously doubted that it was normal to touch patients in the way that she had.

'Not complaining.'

No definitely not. And it wasn't like she touched him in a sexual way per se... it was more so an innocent, curious touch laced with hesitation and exploration. He steeled himself and resumed trying to pulse his inert chakra receptors to life.

Silence. Blank. Empty mind. Control. Breathing. Focus. Pulse. Strain. Flow. Flow. Flow. Expand. Rush. Focus harder.

Except... he just couldn't forget the way her fingers traced his body, his face. Particularly when her travelling digit made its way to his lips. His skin was oddly numb, completely void of an actual nerve response, but imagining it in his mind provided an excellent substitute. Then when the girl's finger trailed into his mouth, he found himself mentally catching his breath. Nobody in their right mind would ever have dared to get that close to him, but he supposed he was in a prime position for such scrutiny. Even then so, he admired her boldness - or possible insanity - for he could still taste her skin on his tongue; a pleasant warmth at such a dark time.

Also... the medic girl's healing powers had pleasantly surprised him.

'Fuck, this is going nowhere.'

Mentally punching his brain, he let his thoughts wander for the time being. He was becoming increasingly useless in this state; it was like his mind constantly sought out anything but the most important task at hand. Either way Kisame gave in to reminiscing about the delicious way the girl's chakra penetrated him and enveloped his wounds. He could sense every vibration of warm energy, every fiber of every muscle stitching itself together. Such a feeling must have just been a side effect of his paralysis, he deemed.

It was strange since all his prior medical treatments had had the complete opposite effect though.

Kisame recalled one particularly horrid incident when he had carelessly fought against a very proficient johyo wielder, and subsequently got his right ear sliced clean off. Needless to say, said ear-amputator had suffered an incredibly painful death from the hands of Kisame soon afterwards. After returning to the Akatsuki base, Kakuzu had to reattach the ear back onto the side of Kisame's head with his weird stitches, much to the Mist-man's chagrin. As grateful as he was to have his hearing device back in its proper place, the process hurt like a fucking bitch. And Kisame was a man who could handle a lot. Not to mention, Kakuzu wasn't exactly the definition of kindness - in fact he was pissed all the time and avoided all unnecessary socialization. The Akatsuki sure knew how to choose them, Kisame thought with a grim chuckle.

He wasn't about to be a hypocrite though; sometimes he thought about his own characteristics. Truthfully, he was never really dismayed by his appearance, or the reception of it by other people. He only ever cared about being stronger in terms of battle, so with a body like his he had a great advantage. He was a direct product of the reputed "Bloody Mist" and it made him glad that at least some good came out of his upbringing there. Mentally flexing his hand Kisame thought of his Samehada as well. Nobody but him could wield the terrible beauty that was the shark-skin sword, and it caused a swell of pride to surge within him. Then he felt his blood thirst return when he remembered Kabuto's intentions with his sword - with him. Kisame's sensitive nose instantly went to work to try and pinpoint where said mad scientist was and what he was up to. He was still in the same spot somewhere in the room and his scent remained unwavering in intensity.

If he hadn't taken note of the subtle shifts of scent and sound he would have assumed someone had killed the little prick.

Maybe the kunoichi.

Except that was impossible seeing how she had passed out on top of him earlier after healing his damaged lungs. Kisame had to chuckle to himself half-humorously - the girl was clearly not cut out for this sort of work. She made a decent medic, but otherwise he guessed she would make a pretty pathetic combat nin with such lousy stamina. Taking advantage of her absence, he continued his chakra-regaining exercise unhindered.

At some point he had felt a very, very subtle hint of activity in his chakra network, somewhere in his forearm. Kisame inwardly rejoiced and decided to focus on that particular spot primarily; if he could activate even one receptor, his immense amount of chakra would act as a flood and burst the dam which was the paralysis seal. He ignored every pain in his body, every blood-lusting thought, every fossilized linger of numb finger-trails over his blue skin.

Silence. Stillness. Focus.

Kisame even failed to acknowledge the girl when she returned to the room; he just couldn't blow this opportunity. It was a matter of life and death, and unlike before, his life had some purpose in it now - no matter how small.

'I will take my time with you, glasses,' he thought, laughing his low, dark laugh inside the recesses of his mind.

If Kisame bothered to pay attention to what was going on around him, he would have heard some muffled dialogue and approaching footsteps. Thoroughly focused on the mission to get his arm working, he didn't even sense the presence of two figures looming over him on either side of the bed he occupied, or the metal clasping around his wrists. After a few moments he finally felt something. There was a definite shift in himself, as if he had just entered a different dimension or something.

'What the hell? Did they start already? Am I out of time? Shit!'

The audible pop - like a release of pressurized air - caused a snowballing effect of terrible pained aching inside of him. Kisame immediately came to realize that the chakra receptors he was so painstakingly trying to stimulate in his forearm were now becoming responsive - and quickly. Just like he had imagined, a flood built up and exploded with vigor out from each receptor filling his body with sensory perception. It was first the nerves that flared to life, each one screaming out that he was in pain- probably from the lungs, which Kisame was already aware of, but not to this extent. He couldn't willingly move any of his body parts, but could feel involuntary twitches from his hands. Ignoring any pain or aches he felt, Kisame made himself ready to react - to rip apart whoever stood in his way. With every pulse of chakra, he felt more and more anticipation, the animalistic part of him threatening to take him over entirely. The only unfortunate part was that his body just would not cooperate with his mind. Kisame focused then on his blood circulation, weakly using chakra to will it to move a little. Very slowly it seemed to have some effect as the tingling in his extremities got more intense and moved inwards towards his torso.

'Good. Just a little more...'

Then a sudden pain gripped him with such intensity that it forcibly caused muscles he forgot he had to roar in protest.

'Fucking hell.'

Punched. Punched in the fucking gut. His veins roared with life now, the violent act having forced them into working again. Kisame would have been grateful, if it wasn't for the incredibly intense chest pain and blood he was now spitting out - his pride notwithstanding. Finally after having lain in this shithole for god knows how long, he was capable of movement, regardless of how limited. He raged; his blood hot, his throat burning, fists aching to crush necks. Instead he waited. He bade his time for the right moment to strike. That idiot was clearly underestimating his power to release him so unabashedly. No cheap, sleazy punch would cripple the likes of Kisame. He was an S-rank shinobi and Kabuto would soon know just what that implied.

The blue-skinned man decided to play it safe and not give any indication that he was regaining his strength so quickly. He masked his chakra as it built back up and worked its way to a steady flow so as not to alert Kabuto in the least. He laid perfectly still, like a predatory fish baiting its clueless prey, and when the right moment presented itself, he would make his move. Kisame had to force himself not to flash a toothy grin at his own genius. For once he felt legitimately good; could feel the blood, the chakra, the adrenalin rushing through his veins. The thrill of the bloodbath that awaited was almost making him dizzy with excitement.

Then he felt something else. A familiar but unidentifiable warmth.

'Mm. Nice.'

The bloodlust in him ceased raging for the time being to focus on the new feeling. A familiar pressure, a soft humming vibration. Kisame fought every urge not to open his eyes and look at the girl he knew was now healing his fresh wound. For a second he wondered why, but instead he was fascinated by how much better it felt now than before - now that his nervous system was more alert. It was a strange, comforting feeling and the fact that the rest of his body still ached and tingled made it feel even better. He inhaled with steady control so he wouldn't startle her and enjoyed the scent that wafted in through his nostrils. Pleasant. Comfortable. Not like flowers smelled, not like any perfume - but uniquely... her. He would have to pursue it further some other time, but now more pressing matters were at hand.

Kisame once again forcibly steadied every possible fibre of his being into a smooth, unsuspicious rhythm. He was never the greatest at meditation and the like, but being trapped in this hole had forced him to get in tune with the mystic powers of his psyche. Every second that passed gave Kisame energy. He felt like he could get up and punch a hole straight through the concrete floor. Thinking better of such an ambitious undertaking, he decided to remain in waiting and regenerate as much of his power as he could.

A sudden, brief flash of Itachi manifested in his head and he almost chuckled to himself at the implication. Before he had met his now-deceased partner, Kisame had been overly zealous in his actions, always jumping headfirst into every situation before assessing it. Itachi never mentioned anything to the Mist-nin, but battling alongside the sharingan user had eventually taught Kisame many invaluable things, one of which he realized he was employing now. Patience: a virtue which he didn't know the true meaning of for quite some time before. Mentally smirking, he promised himself it would be a long while before he would meet again with his old partner.

Kisame tuned his senses to the maximum and waited.

After having some sort of rubbery-feeling pads applied to his chest, he realized he was going to have to make his move soon. The transplant procedure was probably going to be initiated pretty quickly if Kabuto had any intelligence at all - left to regenerate fully would make Kisame a serious threat for him, and he couldn't risk that.

'Heh, little do you know.'

Kisame took this opportunity to very faintly open one eye to assess the current situation. He was attached to some machinery and his wrists were clasped to the metal frame of the bed. No problem - he could break free of those relatively easily. Otherwise, nothing else truly hindered his escape, except for maybe the two figures over in the corner at the other end. Well, then again, no, not really. They were most likely there as an intimidation tactic to force the medic girl into doing their dirty deeds. He couldn't blame the kunoichi - if he were as weak as she was, he'd feel apprehensive too, especially after getting a look at that mutated creature thing.

Cracking open his eye again he realized the girl was now coming towards him again. Quickly he reassumed his "unconscious" state and waited for her next move. He was surprised when instead of hearing her perform hand seals, there was a rustle as she grabbed the cloth he was covered with and started wiping the blood from his chest.

Kisame couldn't help but be shocked again by her actions.

He couldn't figure her out, but he'd be damned if he didn't relax a little under the touch. This was definitely not protocol, so why would she bother paying attention to such a strange detail? 'Must be one of those female mysteries I'll never figure out,' he guessed to himself. As the cloth traveled upwards, her movements became more slow and calculated, and for the briefest moment, he forgot the predicament he was in. When she dragged it across his sensitive lips, Kisame found it becoming harder to keep a steady breathing pattern. The urge to open his eyes and look at the creature doing this to him was almost unbearable. He wanted to see her face, wanted to know what she was thinking as she removed the bloody traces off of his skin.

Before he had a chance to consider further, something in the air changed - something subtle but ominous. Shaken out of his previous musings, Kisame strained his acute senses further to pinpoint the disturbance.

'Shit.'

There were four different chakra signatures somewhere far off, but heading closer at a running speed with purpose, and Kisame guessed it must be Konoha tracker nin looking for their missing medical kunoichi. Whatever the case, this was not going to be good for his escape plan. He was a wanted S-class, ex-Akatsuki, rogue nin, and Konoha would definitely want him captured for questioning and whatever else. He needed to plan out a course of action quickly before anyone else noticed their gaining presence. Before Kisame had a chance to think further on the matter, a searing heat stabbed him suddenly in his core. His eyes shot open in shock and the arteries in his neck threatened to explode out of his skin. A pale, quivering, dainty hand was flattened over his abdomen - the source from which the pain came. Kisame saw white spots as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. No thoughts processed. His brain froze and all that came out as testimony of his being was a chilling, primal sound from the depths of his soul.

Soon after the pained utterance resonated in the room, Kisame was abruptly brought back to reality. He attempted to grasp what just occurred while his body tried to recover from the aftershock of burning pain.

'My chakra...'

He instinctively tried releasing some of the chakra in his shackled hand and after a moment, nearly sighed in relief after feeling the familiar sensation. Pain gripped him still, but the commotion all around him was enough to take Kisame away from dwelling on it any further. The pink-haired girl was on the floor away from him sobbing her guts out, and Kisame's own pain-marred eyes gazed absently at her hunched form for some long, drawn out seconds. Just what the hell was going on? Jerking back his head he noticed that ghastly creature and its master had made their way to the girl's side and were about to lift and carry her off somewhere while she violently thrashed and resisted, screaming. Kisame looked away, closing his eyes. The four intruders were about to reach this room and even Kabuto was now up and alert.

One thing he did know, and that was that this entire mess was about to become a whole lot messier.

This was his only chance to break out of his bindings. Kisame gritted his teeth and braced his aching wrists. Expelling a massive, sudden surge of chakra, it overrode the chakra-stabilizing electrode pads, causing them to pop off his body. Instantly, his chakra flow sped up and almost overwhelmed him in its sheer intensity. Kisame had to blink a few times to regain his composure and grinned widely as he felt the metal around his bruised wrists burning and expanding.

''GGRRH!"

With an exertion of force, the shackles violently shattered and hit the tiled walls with a loud clang. Kisame ignored the bleeding from the bits of metal which managed to embed themselves in his skin; his adrenalin-fuelled mind was seeking one thing only - Kabuto. At that moment, Kisame noticed the bed next to his was vacant.

'Goddamn coward!'

Licking his lips, he decided he would now really enjoy taking the little fucker apart. But first, he would take this opportunity to get his sword back. Having sensed Samehada's presence in the room already, he knew where it was stashed. Quickly rising from the bed with the advantage of the adrenalin rush he felt, Kisame found he could walk- albeit a bit slowly considering the pains he was still experiencing.

Forcefully swatting a curtain to the side he slightly stumbled towards his goal, and saw Kabuto standing in front of the cylindrical contraption which encased Samehada.

'Perfect. Two birds one stone,' he thought with a near-maniacal sneer.

Grinning even wider, Kisame made the murderous intent he felt clear. Like a wild cat stalking its prey, the shark-man inched forward. Kabuto looked frantic under his stoic facade and stepped to the side where a metal panel was, his finger hovering over one of the buttons on it.

"Take another step, and I destroy the sword," he said as firmly as possible.

Kisame's brows furrowed even more in anger and he broke out in a dangerous laugh, completely unfazed by the gray-haired man's threat. Kabuto's face began to mutate, he noticed, the right side of his already pale skin turning even paler as a strange scale pattern erupted over it. Kisame just watched the bizarre transformation unfold completely undeterred. Flexing his fingers, the shark-man was about to make his move.

That's when Kisame noticed from somewhere in his blood-hazed mind that the ear-piercing screams from the pink-haired girl had abruptly stopped.

Silent tension filled the room and there were four distinct chakra signatures present in the doorway.