I do not own Naruto.
Kisame Hoshigaki thinks that there is something telling about the way a person fights. He might have trouble understanding complicated equations and cooking may as well be a black art to him, but fighting, well, that is something he knows.
Whether it is an exchange of fists, the clash of swords, or the meeting of jutsu, there is something that he can read from his opponent when they meet on the battlefield. There is an art to it, he supposes, telling what a person is from how they struggle in strife.
His teacher, he thinks, fights with cunning. Every swing of the great blade Samehada in his hands is a decisive blow, calculated to deliver the optimum amount of damage to the intended target. It is a lot like the way he lives his life, each choice made to bring in the greatest amount of gain. The decision to take him on as his apprentice was weighed and considered heavily, and it meant more that way, because it meant Kisame had beat out all the other options. He had shown the greatest amount of potential, shining like a jewel above all others. Maybe he was rough, perhaps he needed cutting to gleam the best, buffing to bring out the luster. Yet, he was chosen all the same.
Watching his master fight, or fighting against him, is like a chess match. He has to think ahead, anticipate moves and think about possibilities. He has to read the subtle turning of the wrist and extension of the hand and know what is to come. It is from this man he learns to turn his hunger for battle into a passion, and he never tires of it.
Zabuza, he thinks, fights with purpose. He struggles and roars like a wild animal at times; others he is completely silent. Each of his movements has meaning. The stroke of his blade sings out and it says 'I am here, I will win.' He fights to kill, to intimidate, to destroy. When Zabuza picks up his sword or forms a jutsu, there is a message behind each move, a reason to fight. It can be as small as an insult or as large as a threat to life, but he never takes up a fight without reason.
Sparing with the younger apprentice is a clash of wills, a measuring stick for each other. Their style is different, but not wholly unrecognizable when pitted against each other. Kisame fights to fight, and Zabuza fights to fight him. He has to push to win, to strain and want it. Each clash of their blades takes muscle and grit, a contest to see who will fall first. From Zabuza, Kisame learns that determination can be more useful than most would think.
His other teammate throws him for a long time. He thinks at first that she is like Zabuza, fighting for a purpose, a cause, her movements fluid and striving. Then he thinks perhaps she is a planner, like his teacher, because her kicks and swipes seem planned from the very start, her eyes constantly assessing the world around her and how to use it.
It is not until he sees her lose herself during the ambush that he figures her out, and when he does, he is appalled.
Ryuishi fights with desperation. Each light step of her foot and swing of her chain is a measured scream, crying out against forces greater than herself. She fights because she has no other choice, because she is driven and mad. He sees her lose herself to something needy and rage filled, hateful and hungry for change. Every twitch of her fingers that folds an illusion over her opponents is a desire to control something out of reach. The howls that leave her lips are cries of despair and anger, a rejection of the reality around them.
Going against her is like dancing, he thinks, because there is something intimate about seeing that in the surly girl. Her feet leap and bound and swing, setting a rhythm to a song he doesn't know. She jumps high in the air as if she can sprout wings and fly free. She dives deep below as if the water can hide her from whatever it is. Ryuishi is constantly moving around, never defending ground or giving it, just flitting and bending around and around until her opponent is just as twisted up as she is.
She never stops fighting either.
She is constantly at war, inside the village and out. He sees it in her empty eyes, the desperation to prove some point, the need for something he cannot name. It colors her words and temperament, pushing her to become aggressive and foul mouthed at times and tender and compassionate at others.
It is only after she abandons them both that he understands. After he has seen the people -the family- he has never known that he gets it. She is lost and crazy, and she is desperate to have them. He doesn't think she can reach them though, because they seemed so distant, so far away in the genjutsu. Untouchable, untaintable.
Kisame thinks that Ryuishi was so desperate, so hungry for a change, she ran. She abandoned him and Zabuza, searching for her illusionary world, covering her fear with bravado and anger. He doesn't know how long she existed like that, hating the Village, blaming it for taking them away, but one day he plans to ask her.
AN: Another little flash fic! This time some thought Kisame has on Ryuishi and his partners!
This is another canon fic.
A shout out to aturnofthepage, the beta of this series! Eveyrone love them! Also, I should mention this will update irregularly.