I do not own Naruto. This takes place a little bit in the future, and is kinda ahead of OTRATS chap. 74.
Hoshigaki Kisame walks the halls of the Ame hideout in silence, leisurely strolling toward the command room, where he knows he can deliver the freshly stolen scroll before returning to his quarters. He cannot wait to shed the wet, heavy cloak adorning his shoulders, and collapse into an actual bed. Not a shitty, too small for his body, worn springs and broken frame, tavern bed, but his actual mattress. The one he purchased, big enough to fit three of him, and with fitted sheets so soft it could make an angel weep.
Beside him, his young partner strolls onward, stoic and silent as usual. His coal eyes sweep their surrounding instinctively, and Kisame knows that old scroll is a thousand times safer in Itachi's pocket than some shitty archive in Waterfall.
He rubs his nose, which itches from just remembering that dusty tomb. Sure, the guards had been pretty fun to tangle with, but the place was some giant library, and they had spent forever just trying to locate this one item. Honestly, it was boring as all hell, and he's pretty sure that he saw the kid slip more than one scroll into his cloak for his own personal perusal. Which is fine by Kisame, because the kid deserves to enjoy himself, and who's going to miss a couple scrolls among those thousands?
The pair turns the corner before the doorway, and another pair seems to be exiting where they will be entering. It's the Zombi Combo, the weird immortals that Kisame believes wouldn't be out of place in a fairytale. A real couple of weirdoes, and they looked thrashed.
The tall man grins upon seeing them. It's an feral expression, to be sure. Any opponent that could deal that much damage to those two would be a fun fight. Certainly more fun than a glorified library.
"Well, you two look like you met the wrong end of Rice Country harvester. What the hell happened?" he asks casually.
Acid green eyes flick up to him, and he pauses for moment as they approach. The others don't say a word, but something about their injuries seems off to him.
His small eyes track their wounds again. He notes the impressive indent on the older nin's chest, and he senses the loss of a substantial amount of chakra. There is a grim set to his eyes that he only gets when he's been punished for failure.
The shirtless zealot is what tips him off though, because he's quiet, like he usually is around Kisame, but he's also smug. He smirks victoriously at the taller man even though his pale skin is littered with still healing wounds. Parts of him look angry and raw, as if there was a large period of time between re-attachment, and there are livid slice marks around his limbs. Almost every line looks clean, purposeful and masterfully separated, save for two.
There is and angry, swollen welt around his arm, where it looks clawed and shredded. Not a clean slice through, but a rabid severing by brute force. It brings back old memories.
More nostalgic, however, is the still missing piece near his neck. There are familiar indents in the shape of teeth, and furrows in his skin where is attacker tried to dig in around the bite, using their nails on the vulnerable area.
Kisame inhale sharply, and he feels shock and anger course through him.
"Your neck," he accuses, but the white haired man grins, manic and smug.
"She doesn't fuck around, does she?" the Jashinist croaks. "Sweet little monster like her, she takes a piece of you and she fucking swallows it, doesn't she?"
Kisame shouts, and his hand darts out before he can even think about it. It wraps around the smaller man's neck like a vice, crushing in power, but the fanatic simply laughs. He laughs and laughs and laughs, and Kisame can feel his blood boil inside his veins.
"Why you so angry big blue?" he wheeze out. "Orders are fuckin' order, and I ain't never enjoyed mine so much."
Kisame realizes how true that statement is, and his rage redirects itself. He crushes the white haired man's throat, his fingers brushing over the hollow where there once was flesh, before throwing the limp body as hard and far as he can. It cackles at him, and the sound echoes in the halls as Kisame storms through the door at the end of the hall with a new found vigor, Itachi by his side.
"WHERE IS SHE!?" he demands to those supposedly his superiors, the door slamming shut behind him.
Inside, the previously conversing duo stops their conversation, their eyes locked onto the raging man before them, who seems to have doubled in size.
"I asked one thing when I committed myself to this organization. WHERE IS SHE?" he roars, and the duo sits so calmly before him. So still and gentle when he can only see red. He punches the wall in his frustration, and the concrete crumbles under his power. His knuckles bleed, but it doesn't matter.
"Kisame," comes a commanding tone. An orange masked figure melts from the shadows, previously unnoticed, followed by the torso of a wickedly grinning bi-colored being. "Control yourself."
Kisame whirls on the newest addition to the room, bearing his teeth like a beast.
"All information on her was supposed to be delivered to me first. I was the one that was supposed to bring her in. Me," He stresses through clenched teeth. "WHY THE HELL WHERE THOSE TWO SENT?"
The shorter masked man stalks forward, unperturbed by the giant's wrath. He examines the others among them calmly, considering his words carefully.
"The rumor was unconfirmed. It was determined that it would be a waste of time to withdraw you from your operation, and the next best qualified team was sent in your place," the Uchiha explains.
"Obviously, you were wrong," the blue man spits relentlessly. "I don't see her here."
"There were...extenuating circumstances," the orange haired pseudo-leader interjects placidly. "Variables unforeseen."
"The Rakki Ryuu has been very busy, it seems," the Uchiha agrees.
Kisame feels a hand on his back, a reassurance of his partner's presence, and a silent reminder to calm down. He struggles to leash his fury, visibly shaking with the effort.
"As I said before, it was an unconfirmed leak, but it was the best lead we had. Obviously, it turned out to be both true and false at once," the true leader of the Akatsuki continues. "Very much in her style, it seems."
Kisame isn't in the mood for word games. If he was ever further from the mood, he couldn't say when.
"Explain," he demands sharply.
"You're old unit has had a reunion without you, it seems, and they have taken in a Yuki ward," the man states casually.
The words feel like a physical blow, because while he remains unsurprised, it still stings. They began as a duo before he entered the scene, but it was Kisame who discovered her first. It was Kisame who tested her for the Academy, and it was Kisame who knew her better than anyone. Not Zabuza, him.
"Not only that, but there was another team. A genin squad from Konoha. She seemed remarkably attached to them for a missing nin, and we can only conclude that she has had previous contact with them and their jounin sensei," bites the Uchiha sharply.
Itachi gives no tell, but inwardly, he winces. She treads thin ice, playing so many games at once, and though he knows her heart, her mind remains a mystery. Her need to help could be her ruin.
"None of this matters," Kisame protests.
"Oh, but it does. Her attachment to the people around her made her unstable, and she not only deduced that she was a target, but she took steps to defend the collateral at great cost to herself."
Kisame feels his gut sink into his feet, because he knows her. Maybe it's been years, but she has always been a danger to herself when fighting with a squad. Her need to defend them was suicidal, and her loyalty to individuals she cared about was insane. She always took blows from opponents she was not fit to fight against just so others wouldn't have to take them. In a fight like this, it could be lethal.
"It also seems that among the Konoha squad, there was not only the last remaining Uchiha in The Land of Fire, but the nine tails Jinchuuriki as well. She's been collecting assets, it seems. She's far more than a political tool with abundant resources and ties. She's directly connected to the Akatsuki's interests now," the masked man finishes.
Kisame feels dread replace the rage in his body, because not only has she once again taken more than she can handle, but she's made herself a target. She's out there somewhere with finicky leaf nin, and while he trusts Zabuza to guard her, he knows that in she's wouldn't survive a fight with an Akatsuki. Especially if her opponent was that psycho.
"Is she-?" he asks, but he can't force the words out. They stick in his throat like a curse, because he can't think on it. He can't begin to imagine that he was too late.
"She's alive," comes the unsettling voice of the torso emerging from the wall. A yellow eye locks with his, and Kisame hates the look that plant bastard sends him. "Barely."
"Zetsu was kind enough to watch over the fight, and you should be grateful he did," The leader states haughtily. "He was able to finally place a tracer on her. Finding her again will be much simpler."
"It wasn't easy. The bitch likes water so much, the spores kept washing off, and her chakra doesn't absorb right," the plant man explains. "Keeps killing the trackers. They're transporting her body to Konoha, and she hasn't stabilized yet. Tricky business, keeping her alive with how much damage she took. The brat they have is an acceptable medic."
It's not relief that fills Kisame, but apprehension. She's alive, yes, but for how long? He never thought she might die before he could get his chance to settle things, that the very organization he serves might be the ones to do it. She was so determined, and he always thought she could do anything. The legends made her out to be larger than life, and he forgot how very fragile and human she is.
"I'll kill him," Kisame whispers. "That white haired zealot is dead."
"Hidan was beguiled," interjects a feminine voice tonelessly. "Your old teammate used her genjutsu to great effect in the conflict. It appears that the rumors stating she lost her skill in that area are untrue. She blurred the lines between reality so much, he lashed out at her instinctively, unaware of the actual damage he was dealing. The team will be punished accordingly."
Kisame bites his tongue, but he does not rescind his statement.
Itachi watches his partner and knows the Zombi combo will pay, not only for usurping his chance, but for the damage they inflicted. He remains blank, but he feels vindicated, knowing that he made the correct choice. Her need to help may ruin her, yes, but it also guarded those around her as well. His little brother may be traumatized, but he is alive and well, and the same figure Itachi owes his clan's continued existence for now claims an ever greater debt. She guarded not only his honor, but his heart as well.
"I'm going," Kisame states bluntly, and his tone brooks no argument. He will go to Konoha. He will talk to her. He will see her again, and nothing will stop him.
"In good time, Kisame. If the spores reveal she has recovered, you will be sent. I promise you this, but before then, we will allow Konoha to heal her for us if it can be done," the leader states.
"Konoha has the best medical care in the world," Pein states placidly. "Have faith."
"Konoha is filled with disease and corruption," Kisame fires back. "I trust that village even less than I trust the one that reared me."
"A wise choice," amends his recruiter. "But trust that they aren't so stupid as to set their own bijuu container off by allowing someone he holds dear to die."
Kisame clenches his hands into a fist, and he snarls. The anger and dread inside him feed off of each other, and he knows he will not waste anymore effort for this organization until his deal is fulfilled. Not when she's out there, at deaths door. Not when she's playing with forces far beyond her control. Not when she still has that same drive, the self-destructive and insane tendencies she has always had. They have a short amount of time left before he goes to fulfill his desires on his own terms.
"No other teams," Kisame states again. "I will be the one to bring her home."
"As we agreed," states the swirl-masked figure agreeingly.
Itachi proccurs the scroll from inside his roll and tosses it through the air. Konan raises her arm to catch it, her amber eyes glued to the swordsman that whirls, stalking out of the room in a temper, his partner quickly following after.
For a moment, the three rulers sit in silence, absorbing the information that has been gathered. It was a rather emotional outburst from one of their members that was usually the most professional.
"Pretty dramatic for a guy that abandoned her for twelve years," States Zetsu observantly.
Inside his head, Obito thinks that time isn't a good measure for relationships. It's been thirteen years since Rin was murdered, and the wound still bleeds. If anything, it is more raw than ever after recent events, where Kakashi failed to protect yet another woman from harm. He sympathizes with Hoshigaki, if nothing else.
Were Rin alive, he would have done anything for her, including working in an S-rank organization to build a place to keep her safe.
AN: Hey, look. Akatsuki being Akatsuki. Also, hey look at what Kisame's been up to. Why, was he scheming like Ryuishi? And Itachi is in here too. Nice. Also, the first appearance of Obito, who is projecting very hard. I'd like to point out that while he's projecting himself on Kisame, he also has no qualms about using Ryuishi. Maybe OOC. IDK yet.
All mistake are mine. No beta for this, only me.