AN: So, lately I've really gotten back into the Hunger Games with the movie. Have any of you guys seen it yet or read the books? I thought it was pretty good, for movie standards after a book anyways. I was bummed it wasn't a little more violent like the book, but oh well. I guess targetting more age ranges means less awesome action. Darn it.

I absolutely loved typing up this chapter. It was so much fun. You get to find out a little more about what Amaya can do here. I can only say, poor Kisame. I love the guy, but oh man. This is painful


Chapter 11

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Before I could wake up, loud rapping against my door woke me up. Shooting out of bed I quickly pulled one of the cloaks they had given me, pulled back my hair and opened the door.

At first, I expected Zetsu. He would still be angry—he had been ever since that night—and rude enough to wake me like that, and mostly likely wouldn't mind relieving Konan of her morning duty, but instead I came face-to-face with a blue man.

Blue. Blue. Blue…. I blinked, staring straight forward at the span of clearly blue skin in front of my face. Blue…

Faintly coming to my senses, I slowly stared straight up at the strange blue man, struck by how odd he looked. When I saw his face, I instinctively stepped back, putting distance between the two of us. Two tiny beady eyes stared down at me, eyes like a shark. Three gills lined the sides of each cheek, stretching down his cheekbones while his navy blue hair stood nearly straight up, supported by a slashed Hidden Mist headband. If that wasn't odd enough, everything about him was huge. I'd never seen a man so tall, so his massive size, the bandaged sword strapped to his back still managed to find a way to look nearly twice as big as I felt at that moment.

Holly hell, I gasped.

I quickly hid my surprise under the blank mask I wore whenever I came out of my room.

The man chuckled, showing two rows of large sharp teeth, apparently not failing to catch my reaction to his unbelievable gigantic body. "So you're the girl that everyone's been talking about here," he smirked, his voice deep and hard, almost as if he was constantly chuckling or growling underneath the surface.

Everyone's been talking about me? I asked myself clueless. In a way, I guess it wasn't too much of a surprise, but knowing that these men had been talking about me was unsettling. There wasn't anything special about me. I couldn't possibly imagine what could be so interesting to talk about myself, but then again, they might just be laughing at how epically I fail when trying to fight Tobi. That could be. Instead of answering, I took a keen interest in my shoes.

His lips twitched into a disturbing grin. "Come with me."

I didn't even think of disobeying, instantly falling into line behind his towering form. Silently I followed. His strides were longer, yet slower than the pace I had come accustom to with Zetsu and even Konan, but somehow he managed to seem just as graceful and balanced. Even his very presence made my body restless in anxiety. As we walked, my eyes never left his broad back. He was so different. His immense chakra coated everything we passed. Wet. Cool. Like the algae growing underneath a dock, tainted from the countless splashes of sea salt. I'd never seen so much chakra in one person before. Even his wrapped sword was bubbling with raw energy.

Our footsteps echoed across the rock as he led me past the training room I had been using. Confused, I about opened my mouth to question him but then stopped. I didn't know this man yet. He was probably cruel and hard like the others. No doubt, he would not like if someone like me, a prisoner. Somehow though he managed to notice I was going at ask—I made a mental note to be more guarded around him if he was somehow that observant—and he glanced back, that grin still plastered on his face. "You won't be training in there today. We have something special for you."

We? That was a scary thought. I wasn't sure if I wanted whatever a bunch of S-Class criminals could offer me. Even the very thought sent chills shuttering to the very basis of my soul.

Still, it had been nearly a week since I had told Zetsu about Sarnik. Nothing had happened to me, except now my training seemed to be stretched longer, pushing me nearly to the point of collapsing. The bruises were worse. Any hesitation they held for killing me now was gone. Several times if that strange chakra hadn't bubbled to the surface inside me, I would have died. In Zetsu's head, I guess he figured if I was too tried to walk, I would be too tired to use Sarnik to view anything. Yet, Zetsu never came barging back into my room demanding to know more. He hadn't even bothered to take Sarnik away. No doubt, he had told Pein by now, but there was a small voice in the back of my head lulling me into calm. Maybe, just maybe, Zetsu didn't tell anyone at all. Maybe I was actually wrong about the strange plant man.

He was wrong though. I would never been too tired to check up on Katsu. Even if I was, the burst of fresh, clean energy releasing the Shuumi Scrolls gave me was more than enough to refresh me.

Now, knowing that I could see Katsu I stayed up no matter how tired I was to check on him. Whenever he seemed hurt or hungry I made sure that I made Tobi drop off food for him. If a new bruise appeared, I'd glare at everyone for the entire day, knowing that at least one of them would connect that somehow I would know when Katsu was being hurt again. Eventually, the bruises went away all together. Since then his face had started to fill in again.

This was the first time I had seen either Kisame or Itachi since they had arrived. Whether it was because of my sudden intense training or because they were never out, I wasn't sure. In my head, I wondered which one this man was: Itachi or Kisame.

A sudden fear crawled up my spine, realizing that if this was Kisame then he would be the same man that had drained me of my chakra before. The ability to drain someone of their life force and energy right from their body. I shivered. What a terrifying power.

"What's your name?" I asked almost hesitantly. No one ever answered my questions here, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Please don't be Kisame. Please don't be Kisame. Please don't be Kisame…

To my surprise, he answered. "Kisame Hoshigaki."

Dread raced through me in a cold breath. I stared in numbed shock, every muscle in my body freezing in a dawning terror. This was Kisame? The one who drained me off all of my chakra without leaving a single trace of anything behind?

Kisame stopped and turned with a manacle smirk on his face. I gulped, catching sight of his sharp teeth, teeth like a shark.

"There a problem Onna?"

Gulping, I snapped myself out of my daze, realizing that I had stopped walking. Kisame had half turned, one hand moving up to the long hilt of his sword, accented by a small skull-like sharp on the end while his eyes seemed to dance in amusement.

Forcing my voice to work, I lied, "No. No problem Kisame-san. Just thinking."

Neither of us said another word, whether calling out my bluff or to break the silence as we continued down the hallway again, twisting and turning down random hallways.

We stopped in front of the third training room, the largest of all training spaces where Kisame opened the door for me, again shocking me. Despite the nagging feeling in the back of my head, I decided I liked this man; I gave him a small smile. It wasn't as if he really had a choice on what type of techniques he learned. In a way. As an S-Class ninja, being able to steal chakra was probably important. At least one out of the four men I had met here had manners. It wouldn't hurt to like him at least a little bit. Maybe I'd be able to gain an ally.

Smiling with my newfound idea I walked in, scanning the area to see it was nearly identical to the other training area, only the ceiling was bare and the walls seemed to stretch on forever. Rather than the training stumps and weapons, though it almost looked like we had somehow just walking into a bit of the outside world. Soft green grass that had managed to sprout up in the dirt grew chopping and uneven, but it gave some color. The same gloominess lit the room.

I was instantly aware of Zetsu's presence off to the side. His deep rolling chakra was rolling softly all over the room, so thin no normal ninja would be able to detect it but I could smell the earthy scent of dirt and bark as plain as day. When I turned in his direction, he was staring at me as his long body stretched out, leaning casually back against the wall. His wide golden eyes smirked all the way across the room. If I wasn't mistaken it almost looked like he was smiling. It was small, but even from here I could see the slight turn of his cheek.

"Why am I here?" I asked either man.

Kisame stepped up beside me cracking his shoulders with a sickening pop. "You will be fighting me today instead of Tobi. Strictly survival combat," he answered with a grin. "Leader wants to check on your progress."

"Progress?"

His eyebrows knitted together as an amused smile spread across his face. It seemed like he was always smiling. "Ah, so no one's told you yet? It won't matter then. All you need to focus on right now," he paused, his eyes flashing, "is me."

Good luck with that, I thought ruefully. For the briefest of seconds, my eyes drifted over towards Zetsu. Kisame didn't fail to notice.

Shaking off his intrigued look he shot my way, I took a deep breath before going into the clearing and looking up. "I take it your ready then Onna?" Kisame called after me, but I chose to ignore him.

Directly in the center of the training area, I stopped, lifted my arm, and shoved back the rock over my head until a stream of light flooded down over me. It didn't even feel like I had to call on my chakra anymore or focus on what I was doing, as the earth just seemed to move with my will. Bright rays from the afternoon sun broke through from above, casting me in a circle of warm breath taking light. Smiling, I enjoyed familiar feel of the sun, basking in the heat I never have to feel anymore, fully aware both Zetsu and Kisame were watching me. Like I had before I brought my two hands together forming another crystal, this one bigger than before and placed it high up in the opening of the rock. The second the light thought the crystal, the entire room burst with the life and heat of the summer sun.

Zetsu was watching me when I turned around—the feel of his eyes was unmistakable, but I was careful to turn towards Kisame, fully aware the man was already curious about my relations with the plant-like man. Kisame was grinning. "I like the light," I explained simply. "I take it that you have been told about my fighting style and techniques?"

"What makes you think that? Think I need to know what you can do to beat a twerp like you?" he taunted.

I smirked, crouching down and thinking solely about Katsu. Of how they'd been treating him. Of how I'd brought him here. His suffering. Pain. Instantly make my temper flared with my self-loathing. I could feel the chakra bubbling to the surface. As I tensed both of my shoulders popped and the ground shattered under my feet. Rocks flew in the air, hovering and trembling from the power of my chakra. Cracks shot through the rock, webbing quickly up to the roof as rocks and shards dropped from the roof. Everything crackled to life with my chakra.

Surprised, Kisame stepped back, but his grin only grew.

My eyes watched as his sword seemed to come to life on his back, wiggling and squirming in response to my chakra.

I pushed my luck, whispering, "If not, you're dead…"

Holding on to my anger, I smirked, feeling the sudden burst of energy shooting through me. It felt like every nerve, every sensor in my body was flooded with pure energy, a thousand times stronger than the energy from releasing the Shuumi scrolls. I was getting it. It wasn't quit there, but I could almost control it. Zetsu's piercing gaze drove me over the edge with adrenaline, my body reacting with a pleasant hum and tingling power only he seemed to give me. Any confusion or surprise I could evoke in him made my heart race in satisfaction and my mind spin a million miles an hour. The smile on the white half of his face was definitely there now.

"You're pretty cocky," Kisame chided, pulling his sword off his back. I watched carefully seeing how easily he handled it compared to his height and the swords width and thickness. The swords length was nearly as much as his body. It was over a foot wide and varied in its thickness. He shouldn't' be able to wield it as fast as a katana, but from the way the sword moved I could tell it was anything but normal. Kisame smirked, taking his time to unbutton his Akatsuki cloak and set it off to the side. "You shouldn't underestimate your opponent. I might just have to shave you down."

In my head, I quickly calculated a plan.

The ground shot up under his feet. Jumping, he flipped forward to dodge the attack, but in a split second, I appeared in front of him sending a kick to his gut. He twisted his sword, barely blocking my shot. As I pulled back, spinning through with my motivation, he turned his sword to the blade in a move to slash my side. A giant spike shot from the ground separating us.

We both landed nearly two hundred yards apart. I frowned. He could wield his sword much better than I thought. If I was going to get close enough to land a blow on him then I would have to wait until he attacked, estimating by his sheer size that his arcs will have to big large and powerful. If I was fast enough I'd be able to slip in and block some of his chakra.

I gasped suddenly feeling my energy plummet. Kisame smirked.

"My sword, Samehada eats chakra," he announced holding out his blade for me to see. On cue the blade moved, shifting in his hands and letting out a foreign noise. I recoiled. That was how he drained my chakra earlier. With that thing… "Even if I don't hit you Samehada will eat all of the chakra surrounding you that you keep throwing into the air like a lowly genin." After a short pause, he added on with a cruel smirk, "It seems Samehada likes the taste of your chakra. Too bad for you."

If I couldn't attack him directly without losing my chakra then I would have to attack around him. Mid-range to long distance attacks not focused solely on chakra. If his sword could devour my chakra, there was no reason it couldn't steal the chakra in an attack. I'd have to be a lot more cautious now. Any chakra-based attack I could send at him would only be absorbed by that sword of his, most likely being given to him for battle.

Snarling, I lashed out with a giant burst of chakra. No one could see it. No. Instead, I aimed for the ground, everywhere within a hundred yard radius of me. My chakra soaked greedily into the ground as I plan quickly formed in my mind. Everything my energy touched was like as a third eye, a seventh sense. I became overwhelmed in the strong slow-moving chakra that resided in the earth. The sounds of rushing water shifting deep down under the rock.

I narrowed my eyes gauging how fast he could attack. He moved fast enough. I had to be careful not to underestimate him now. Taking a half step back, I braced myself.

"I don't think you could if you tried," I sneered.

The grin fell off his face with a dark scowl. I bit my lip hoping I hadn't over done it. I had never been the one to talk in hard times, but I knew I had to provoke him to make some mistake. His reaction was better than I could have expected though as he slammed Samehada into the ground and took off towards me like a dart. "I'll show you what I can do!"

The second he launched himself towards me I clasped my hands together forming a seal. Water from underground was activated, shooting up from microscopic holes in the rock. Quickly the ground was submerged under the frigid water. Kisame only laughed, swinging his sword to cut a path through the icy clutches. I smirked, slamming my hand on the ground. Lightning shot up through the water, catching him.

A giant splash of water fell from where his body was. A clone! Closing my eyes, I pinpointed his chakra, barely locating him in time to dodge the kick from behind me. Catching him off balance, I grabbed one of his legs, inserting my chakra and severing the Achilles tendon.

He let out a cry before quickly retreating. I panted for breath at the sudden drop of energy again, this time due to my medical attack. Thankfully, I missed his sword this time. I'm getting better. I watched carefully as he grimaced when he tried to apply any pressure to it. That would have to work for now, even if he would over compensate the pain soon enough.

"Not bad," he murmured taking a longer look at me. I ignored the backhanded compliment. He grinned before forcing his leg down, standing evenly on it despite the pain that had to be coursing through his body. Just seeing him made me cringe. "No wonder Pein is so interested you. It's not every day you come across a medic ninja who can fight. But you'll need more than that if you are going to beat me." He let out a coarse laugh.

Obviously his sword is the key to his technique, I mused. But how do I eliminate it? In my head, I quickly shifted my attack strategy, running over all of the scenarios I could use to get him away from his sword. Most turn of events ended in the same way: him winning. That wasn't an option now.

Another large chakra source came in behind me making my skin break out in shivers. Charred skin and burning oak wood. The smells swirled assaulting my nose and turning my head hazy. Temporarily distracted I turned back to see Tobi bouncing into the room, waving his arms crazily. "Morning Amaya-chan! Kisame-san!" he beamed.

That's strange. I looked closer wondering why I was receiving such a strong wave of chakra coming off him. He had never been this strong before. Could he have been hiding it all along? My eyes narrowed as I stared intently at him. Just as he seemed to notice my gaze, the suffocating chakra seemed to be shrinking back, as if he suddenly decided to reel it back in, successfully smothering it. He moved so carefree and light though walking towards Zetsu I could picture the large grin on his face.

"Don't get distracted!" Kisame shouted.

Before I could react, his blade hit me, shaving off my skin, cutting straight through the side of my shirt and sending me flying back. Gasping, I chocked back on a sudden pain that shot through my body, paralyzing me. Everything was burning. My side was on fire. Breathing heavily I glanced down to see my entire left side was oozing blood, sliced nearly through all of my muscles, almost into my organs. The next second, my chakra dropped. My knees gave out as I fell down onto the hard ground, sending sparks and sizzling white lights shooting across my eyes.

Kisame smirked, lowering his stance as he chuckled at my pain. I couldn't think to raise my defenses again. The bubbling chakra was gone. Everything was on fire. I gasped, clutching my side in pain. "Not so cocky now, are you?" he taunted. "To think you were doing pretty good too…"

My eyes watched as he moved forward, sword at the ready again, but I couldn't register he was attacking. The bandages wrapping up his sword were red, dripping with blood. My blood. By the time I realized what he was doing it was far too late. He was nearly upon me. I let out a startled cry, feeling the pain cripple me and knowing I couldn't move.

Was this really it? Were they really going to let me die here?

A picture of Katsu flickered against my subconscious in the mere seconds I had left.

All alone.

Crying.

Dying.

Would I leave him here to fend off these bloodthirsty criminals? When I was the one who doomed him to this fate? Leave him to die? I felt sick to my stomach as my resolve crumbled. No, I couldn't leave him here. I couldn't let these murderers kill him. He was everything, all I had left.

I had to fight for him.

A searing pain exploded in front of my eyes, so tight, so hard it felt like it was ripping my head in half. I let out a blood-curled scream, my eyes burning. Clutching my head, I choked on blood dribbling down from my mouth, suddenly struck in an uncontrollable fit of coarse coughing. Pain. Mind numbing torture.

Everything seemed stopped. Kisame paused half stride, sword ready to crash down on me only feet away as the pulsing agony thumped in my head. The water stilled, no longer rippling out or curling up around his legs and the air felt as if it froze upon my skin. Everything paused.

Turning my head, I looked back at Zetsu and Tobi. Tobi was caught halfway in a startled wave, most likely shouting at me to move or gaping at Kisame's strength. Zetsu had leaned forward, his white hand pushing him off the wall as his black hand stretched out towards us, his face torn in an undistinguishable emotion. When I turned back to Kisame he too was frozen, Samehada in mid-swing towards my helpless form. Not even his eyes moved.

What's going on? I asked myself looking around again. Is this a genjutsu?

Why use a genjutsu when he was going to kill me?

No matter what this was, I smiled at the sudden kick up in my energy. I could feel my body humming in pleasure again. Once I was able to overlook the pain, I could feel the cold chill as I breathed in, refreshing and soothing me. Ignoring the pain, I forced myself to my feet. Still, nothing moved. Out of habit, I checked all of the chakra frequencies around me, seeing if any of them were off or slightly up pace, but there were no signs that this was any illusion. I was completely normal. Bleeding. Crumbling. But normal.

The water seemed to rise a little higher around Kisame's leg, catching my eye. I looked closer to find out it had. To the tiniest details, things had shifted. My eyes widened in shock realizing that things were indeed moving, just at such a slow pace it appeared everything had stopped moving altogether. It was as if whatever was happening was an extreme version of when I normally called upon my energy. Instead of only slowing down slightly though, everything was barely even creeping forward. I stepped forward, flinching at the strange feeling. Raising my leg felt was harder than pulling it out of dried mud. As the water surrounding my feet rolled off, I froze seeing it levitate in midair, slowly spiraling down, down, down towards the ground.

My reflection stared back at me through the water and I froze seeing a strange face staring back at me. My eyes traced over the same curve of the cheeks and soft line of the jawbone, slimmer than before, more muscular, but it undoubtedly belonged to me. Stronger. More mature. Two hollows under my eyes cut deeper, giving my face a wild look. However, none of the subtle changes was what had caught my attention. It was my eyes. Two oval slits cut across my pupil. To any other they wouldn't nearly have been noticeable, but to me they were the eyes of another person. Powerful. Cold.

The change hit me nearly as hard as the conclusion afterwards. "I'm doing this?" I asked myself quietly.

I was controlling time.

Looking back at Kisame I glared, remember Katsu. This wasn't my battle anymore; I was fighting for his life, something more than I was. My eyes narrowed in on his sword. If there was any chance, it was now.

The ground shattered beneath me with a speed I had never seen before. Curling my arm, I knocked Samehada out of his hands, spinning and kicking him in the gut. The force was foreign. The power was unreal. It wasn't my attack, but I shivered in pleasure at the strength coursing through my veins. Kisame's body flew slowly through the air, contorting, bending oddly around my foot with a strange ease nobody should have. I appeared behind him hitting him in the small of the back with both palms, severing the nerve receptors at the base of his spine.

Attack after attack my body twisted, turned gracefully, flying across the room faster than I had ever felt. Each hit, each punch, severing and cutting more of Kisame, breaking and bending him to my will. Everything I had I used, stretching and bending this power, this incredible feeling for everything. All of the colors, the lines—everything was sharper, clearer than I had ever seen it. My body was soaring. As I landed perfectly on the ground, it was an eternity before Kisame fell, collapsing in a heap.

I almost wanted to push for more, attack, lose myself in the power. I wanted to stretch, push myself. Something stopped me. All of the sudden the dull throbbing in my head, the slight pain I had come accustomed to stopped.

Everything exploded in front of me. A pain beyond anything I had ever felt before rocked my body, strong enough to shatter me into a million pieces. I didn't have time to scream as new vision flickered and the whole shot forwards all around me. Then with one breath, the bliss shattered, crashing down all around me.

Kisame let out a flesh crawling cry of pain, his body crumbling down to the ground. Zetsu's extended hand stopped midair, whatever he had been planning lost in his head and Tobi shouted something lost to my ears. My chest burned. The pain in my side roared. All I could feel was the foggy haze as all of my energy drained out of me, creeping out like shards of glass ripping from my skin. Then, following the mind-burning chaos there was a sharp prick in the back of my neck and I found myself falling. There wasn't even time to catch myself.