Commission for aem309.
Unravelling Since I Found You
By: Rise of the Blossom
Chapter 1
It seemed his previous realisation was now confirmed, Kisame concluded, cutting down a foe without issue, sighing as he did so.
There was no-one who excited him in battle.
He was bored.
And in his boredom, he wasn't afraid to admit he lashed out – well, perhaps not lashed out per se for he was always in control of himself. It was more like acting on impulse in a bid to lessen said boredom. He was not insane like the rumours claimed him to be, but he was happy to submerge himself in bloodshed and despair. He was not against proving Kirigakure to be as bloody as its infamous name stated.
Bodies and random body parts lay strewn across the battlefield in his wake, soaking the dirt and making it several shades darker with their blood. Many times, said blood had splattered onto his uniform and exposed skin, though like the first time it'd happened when he was just a child, he wasn't opposed to it. In fact, it didn't affect him in the slightest.
He'd well and truly earned his nickname as being the Kirigakure no Kaijin.
The thought had Kisame grinning and unnerving his remaining three opponents. If he weren't mistaken, he could hear somebody's teeth chattering.
At least he could return to the village to that loudmouthed woman of his once he was done cutting down the last three Konoha-nin. She'd threatened to hide from him during his mission, but that was all part of the excitement. Finding her while so high on bloodlust was always fun for him and she knew that.
Swinging his blade onto his shoulder, he assessed the three who remained, immediately placing one of the three as an Uchiha.
She was a tiny thing – he believed his thigh to have more meat on it than her entire body – with wide eyes, the redness of the sharingan almost the same shade as the blood of her comrades sprayed onto her skin. Even without the sharingan, however, he would have known in a heartbeat who she was, for the Uchiha emblem stood out proudly on her uniform.
"An Uchiha, huh?" he questioned aloud almost thoughtfully. Really, there was nothing to consider. He knew what had to be done. "Those eyes of yours can be a pain in the ass."
A strangled scream was the only thing that signified his movement, the woman soon collapsing onto her knees in confused agony, clutching at her bloodied face with trembling hands. That blood flowed freely onto said hands, soon slipping between thin fingers and dripping to the dirt below her, her responding sorrowful, short-lived cry when she realised what had happened making Kisame's grin return.
"Y-You're a monster!" one of her teammates cried, immediately grabbing her shoulder to drag her backwards and out of his reach. "What the hell have you done to her?"
He raised his hand, palm facing upwards without a care and showing off his prize like a child would its painting. The two teammates blanched wonderfully at the sight of their comrade's savagely torn out eyeballs. "Now you can't predict or counter my attacks." Chuckling darkly, Kisame added, "Don't take it personally, Uchiha-san. I'm merely ensuring my own survival by taking extra precautions."
They drew their weapons like they stood a chance against him, yet he didn't feel any excitement towards their inevitable defeats at his hands. No, Kisame had to make his own entertain and forced excitement by cutting at them mercilessly, drawing out the battle and painting the surrounding trees and grass with their blood, their tortured screams and begs for mercy finally aiding in his enjoyment.
"Where are you trying to go?" he asked with a laugh and in one strong sweep, he effortlessly removed more of the woman's limbs, grinning widely when her blood coated him. "You'll have to drag yourself by your chin now seeing as you have no arms or legs."
He stood over her intimidatingly, barely taking even a step before she sobbed into the dirt, struggling to continue moving.
"I could always end it for you and put you out of your misery," he offered, still grinning. "Saves you bleeding out."
Still holding her eyes in his left hand, he glanced down at them, wondering what his reward for procuring such a sought-after weapon would be. While he didn't necessarily carry out missions or the such for the sake of praise or financial gain, he didn't mind receiving either. Moreover, he knew they would be handy for the Mizukage – could even gain him the upper hand, should he ever require it.
Sealing them was a must, Kisame decided. That way they would remain in good condition–
"They do not belong to you."
The cold voice had him spinning on his heel, preparing to block the tanto blade threatening to slit his throat, but he found himself pleasantly surprised when the Konoha-nin's reinforcements slipped right by him.
Then, noticing his left hand to now be empty, Kisame chuckled.
"You're fast," he complimented and turned to face the man whose back was to him. He was visibly shaking as he knelt beside the limbless woman and Kisame heard his teeth gritting, a quiet sound of anguish leaving him. "Oh?" he questioned, attempting to peer over the other's man's shoulders. "Did she die?"
Funny. He hadn't noticed.
Similar to the woman, the Uchiha emblem on the man's arm stood out to him and he responded with a huff of amusement.
He wasn't particularly upset over the loss of the eyes – defeating an Uchiha wasn't all that impressive when they were as weak as she had been.
Kisame watched curiously as the man clutched her closer to his chest, the faint shaking of his shoulders unmissable. It amused him as much as it irked him, for Konoha's shinobi were notorious for being emotionally weaker than the other villages', always screaming about that damned Will of Fire of theirs.
Would that Uchiha be any different, he wondered.
"Killing you would be too easy," he muttered, voice gruff and weighed down by his grief.
The kid was brave or stupid – either one suited him just fine. After all, if he was stupid enough to have a death wish or wanted to join the woman he held so lovingly in his arms, who was he to say no?
He grinned again. "That so?"
Blood red eyes were undeniably furious when he finally looked over his shoulder at him, features twisting with hatred. "How about I take your precious person too? Even it up a little, huh?"
Playful brown eyes filled his mind briefly and Kisame damned himself for allowing it to happen, for it gave the angered Uchiha all he needed. Even his claim had no effect because of his momentary weakness, but still, he said, "She isn't weak enough to allow herself to be killed."
"I never said I would go after her," he muttered with surprising calmness.
Kisame smirked in response. "I won't fall for your genjutsu either, Uchiha-san."
"I don't possess any ordinary sharingan," said the man harshly and stunning him for just a split second, when he stood, he engulfed the body of the woman he cared for in flames, never looking back at her or hesitating to do so. Instead, his hateful gaze remained locked on his, although Kisame was not foolish enough to look into the man's eyes. He'd fought many of Uchiha clansmen before and had yet to lose a battle. "I don't need to look into your eyes either."
That was a bluff, he warned himself, continuing to keep his sight set on the man's movements. The second he saw the twitching of muscle, he would lunge, Kisame decided.
For someone to remain so composed after losing a loved one – someone from Konoha, at least – was unusual and perhaps a tad unnerving, too. He knew he had to tread carefully. A man who possessed no fear of the outcome of battle was by far the most dangerous, for he fought without restraint, taking risks anyone else would balk at.
"Should I have you kill her similarly to the way you killed my lover?"
Kisame's eyes narrowed fractionally.
A cold smirk graced the Uchiha's lips. "No. That would be too easy, too."
What the hell was that brat playing at? While Kisame believed himself to be greatly skilled at many things and a quick thinker, he knew he was not immune to mind-fuckery.
"You need to pay for the horrors you have created and taken part in."
Kisame found himself holding his breath, unnerved by the sight of the sharingan taking on a different design by morphing into a pinwheel of sorts, then damned himself to all different kinds of levels of hell for breaking his own goddamn rule of never looking into an Uchiha's eyes.
But…
Nothing happened.
Nothing was changing.
Was he trying to intimidate him?
Smirking, he lunged, swinging his blade down on the Uchiha without hesitation, only to scowl with annoyance when he disappeared like smoke dispersing in the wind.
Genjutsu, then.
"Release!" Kisame barked, shocking himself with a burst of chakra.
He spun quickly when the Uchiha appeared behind him all of a sudden, his blade only just missing his wildly curly hair.
"It's too easy changing your personality for you."
There wasn't anything that stood out to him in particular about the Uchiha – they all looked the goddamn same to him – but still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was somehow out of his league and while that previously would have excited him, Kisame now only felt unsettled. He had something worth losing, after all – a novelty to him.
A shiver ran up Kisame's spine when the man lunged upwards, time seeming to slow down when their gazes once more connected, the cold fury undeniable.
"You're going to forget she even existed," the Uchiha muttered.
He cursed himself when he was seemingly caught in another genjutsu, his body becoming paralysed. Once again, he released it, but mere seconds later and it was once more weighing down on him, paralysing him more securely than before. He couldn't break it.
Was this the end?
How unfitting for the Kirigakure no Kaijin.
"You won't hear her name. You won't remember her voice. If she approaches you, you won't see her face. In your mind, she's just another Kiri-nin. But you'll know there was someone there. You'll know that there was someone you love."
It'd been a long while since he last experienced dread, but that was definitely what he was feeling in that moment. His stomach twisted uneasily, chest responding with a pang of its own.
"Enjoy this feeling, Hoshigaki-san," he murmured, voice deadly soft. "Enjoy experiencing the same hollowness you have bestowed upon me."
