Nagisa stood on the shore of her family's private land with her eyes closed, taking in the air around her. The calming sound of the waves crashing against the sand centered her and the smell of the sea filled her nostrils. It was just her outside and she loved it. Letting out a deep breath, she picked up her staff and got to work with training.

"Looking good, princess."

The female immediately stopped what she was going and turned back to see Shigeru and Hitoshi on the path at the back of the shoreline. She didn't know how long she'd been exercising, but it was enough for her to work a sweat. How long had they been watching her?

"How many times do I have to tell you? It's Ms. Uchiumi." Nagisa rolled her eyes. "Hell, at this point, I'd rather you call me Nagisa."

"Glad we're on a first name basis now. I've been wondering about your true colors, Nagisa. You don't strike me as a stickler for manners." Shigeru smirked as he walked over to her. She frowned, realizing that she had unfortunately played right into his hand.

Hitoshi eyed the staff in her hands. "You're proficient in bojutsu?"

"We don't use it like you do." Nagisa answered quickly. "Staffs are our primary weapon while we hunt. One side ejects a spearhead and the other a fishing hook. It's unique to the Uchiumi and only we can wield them."

"Looked to me like you use it for more than fishing purposes." Shigeru interjected.

"Everything I learn is for self-defense only."

Shigeru had analyzed the female and her movements prior to him and his partner revealing their positions. There was no way she had perfected her techniques for 'self-defense' only. In his mind, something wasn't adding up with her, but the pieces of the puzzle were going to come together soon enough.

"Let me see this self-defense in real time then." The burly male rolled his shoulder's back. "Shouldn't be an issue, right, Nagisa?"

"Shigeru, we're here to talk, not spar." Hitoshi chastised as he crossed his arms. "I want to know more about what happened to all these disappearing girls. The elders mentioned the chief's daughter was also a victim and said you were involved in the incident."

"Is."

"Excuse me?"

Nagisa narrowed her eyes. "My little sister isn't dead so don't talk about her in the past tense. I'll call it a vulture to keep it simple. It usually comes at night and kidnaps females from the island. A couple of days ago, the vulture came to this shore and kidnapped my sister while I was with her."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Hitoshi frowned. Judging by how she had previously reacted, he believed it was safe to assume that she and her sister were close.

Shigeru raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Like this very spot?"

Nagisa pointed down the shoreline and the trio walked a little ways towards the rocks to where the female was the eye-witness to the last known attack. Before Hitoshi had realized it, Shigeru took control of the conversation. While he and Nagisa went back and forth, the blond observed in silence.

"What did you see?"

"It was like a big black shadow."

"Then how do you know it was a bird?"

"I specifically remember seeing wings."

"Are you sure? How can a shadow have wings?"

"I know what I saw. Do you think I'm lying or something?"

"You could be. I just met you so I can't fully trust your word."

"Well I could say the same to you…"

"You said earlier that you learned moves for self-defense. If it was just you and your sister, you could've possibly put up a fight. When the kidnapper came, why didn't you do anything?"

"Firstly, I didn't have my staff, but-"

"You can use those same movements with just your hands and feet, so we could take into consideration that you made the choice not to do anything."

"I would do anything for my sister! Everything happened so fast, it was hard to-"

"Did the vulture have a weapon?"

"...I think he had claws..."

"You didn't say that before when you described it."

"Well-"

"So did the vulture grab your sister with these said claws?"

"I don't think so. He just grabbed her in his arms."

"So now the vulture is a man with arms, not wings."

"He had arms and wings. He took her, flew away, and disappeared!"

"Alright, you're refuting your previous statement of seeing a shadow then."

"Stop twisting my words!"

Shigeru smirked as he watched Nagisa let her frustration loose. If he was going to figure any of this out, it was definitely going to be in his own way. He was going to get all the information he could, even any underlying messages that he would force out along the way. Deciding to leave it there for today, he tried one last question.

"Quick question, sweets. Does your sister look anything like you, because if she does, then-"

Highly irritated, Nagisa pointed her staff at Shigeru's face with a glare. "How about you finish your job and get off my island?" Not wanting to talk anymore, she turned away and walked back to the main house to cool off. How dare he try to make her out to be a liar and accuse her of giving her sister up!

"With pleasure, princess." Shigeru laughed. "Let's talk tomorrow! Same time?"

Hitoshi watched Nagisa ignore him and storm off before letting out a groan and turning back to his partner. "Could you be anymore of an asshole? She just lost her sister for God's sake."

Shigeru shrugged in response. "Weren't you the one that said 'do what you want with the information given'? Next time, I won't let you sit in on my interrogation for free. You'd best hurry up and get your ducks in a row or you'll miss out."

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Kisame sat on his bed in the guest lodging his group was assigned to. The accommodations had been more than what he was used to; most times, if he was on a job, he'd sleep outside somewhere. The door to the house opened followed by two voices, signaling that his housemates had returned.

The blue-skinned male had spent the day exploring the island. It took about two hours to travel from one side of the island to the other on foot at a leisurely pace. The Uchiumi clan took up one fourth of the land, the town and dock took up another fourth, and the other half of the island was free nature with lush greenery. During his stroll, he didn't see any trace of this 'birdman'. Although he was going to do more of an in-depth investigation later, he was leaning towards assuming that the target wasn't stationed here.

Night had fallen, so Kisame took Samehada and set out to go to the shoreline. He'd overheard some of the villagers saying that the kidnappings usually happened at night so he figured now would be a good time to be on the lookout. Heading to the shore, Kisame walked through the sand in thought. The Mizukage had told him that this would be a break from his normal activities, but right now, everything felt just the same.

In the distance, there was someone standing on the shore. As he moved closer, he recognized the person as the violet-haired hostess from earlier. She didn't seem to react to his presence as she continued to stare out into the ocean, however her right hand was gripping a staff. It was almost as if she was in a trance. Suddenly, Nagisa turned towards him and instantly attacked.

Kisame jumped back as a spearhead was launched at his chest. The female retracted the weapon and immediately lunged for him, swinging the body of the staff. Although he was thrown off guard by Nagisa's sudden movements, he was impressed by her fighting style. She had excellent reflexes and she knew her weapon well. Of course, it wasn't enough to overwhelm him and, after he let her get everything out of her system, he successfully knocked the staff out of her hands and pinned her to the ground.

Nagisa tried to get her breathing under control as she realized she couldn't move her arms or legs. The ground felt soft under her, reminding her that she was still on the beach, and the black shadow she had so vividly seen slowly morphed into one of the Kiri shinobi she was hosting. Realizing she'd been staring into his eyes for longer than necessary, Nagisa felt the heat rising to her face and looked out to the ocean.

"Could you please get off of me?"

Kisame stood up and let Nagisa collect herself. He immediately noticed she had been crying from her tear-stained face and was going to speak, however Nagisa beat him to it.

"I'm sorry for what just happened. I honestly don't know what I was thinking." She didn't look at him, and it seemed more like she said it to herself than to him.

"Isn't it dangerous for you to be out here alone at night?"

Nagisa let out a small, humorless laugh. "Yeah, you could say that." Hugging herself as a breeze blew from the ocean, she turned to Kisame and quickly changed the subject. "How come you didn't come out here with your friends earlier?"

"We all have different jobs to do." He responded, quickly dismissing the assumption that they were friends. "I assume they came to ask you about what happened since you were there?"

"I've had nightmares about it since it happened. I've been coming out to the shore since I was a kid to clear my head, so I thought it would help now, but I still see everything like it's in real time. When I saw you, I thought you were the kidnapper, but I must've still been dreaming." She frowned as she clenched her fists. "I want to find my sister no matter what. Whatever you need me to do, I can do it."

Kisame listened to her request, however he already knew what his answer would be. Since the Mizukage sent him here on a 'vacation' of sorts, he wanted to keep it that way. He wasn't going to have to kill any comrades this time.

"The best thing for you to do is to stay out of it."

"Why does everyone keep saying that? I know my sister is still out there and if I have to go out and find her myself, then I'll do whatever is necessary. I just feel that… maybe I'll have a better chance of finding her if I work with you."

Nagisa stared at the male in front of her. No matter how she looked at him, he was intimidating. She hadn't realized it before, but his eyes were intense. Even then, there was a speck of something else in his eyes that she couldn't quite place. Shinobi were still human, so he couldn't expect her to just toss her expectations to the side, especially since he witnessed this side of her.

"You'd have a better chance with the others. You'll become collateral damage working with me."

Nagisa scoffed at his wording. Collateral damage? She may not have an assassin's background, but she was no stranger to hunting and killing animals in nature. What she would be going after was just a really big animal of sorts. "You can't kill me. I'm the chief's eldest daughter and heir to the clan."

"I'll do whatever is necessary, just like you said." Kisame answered back smoothly.

"Then, I promise you, I'll never put you in a position where you'll have to kill me. Deal?"

He didn't believe her. How could he? The majority of his missions ended in casualties and this one wasn't going to be any different. The only deviation was that she was willingly putting herself into chaos while knowing the repercussions. In a way, he liked her boldness, regardless of how futile it was, and she already had the prerequisites to put up a decent fight. The answer, however, was still the same.

"Not a chance."