Chapter Thirteen: Beast

I miss Konoha. In Kiri, the air smells of salt and every day is cold and wet and foggy without fail. It's August, but I have to wear my Akatsuki coat to stay comfortable, whereas at home, I'd be parading around in nothing but mesh armor in the heat. But I can't call Konoha my home anymore; it's unlikely that I'll ever be able to return.

Kisame and I tramp through the marsh back into Kiri, and this time, we don't take the main road, which is the only way for a foreigner to enter. There's an intangible wall surrounding Kiri, just as there is in Konoha, and it detects unauthorized entries into the village. However, the walls are only so high, and village is not protected from above in the belief that an airdrop invasion is easily noticeable, a hugely erroneous misconception, especially in regards to a Konoha Anbu.

"How does that help you in the least?" Kisame asks skeptically when I point this out, "You still can't go dropping from the sky and expect nobody to notice."

"A human can't." I allow, "But other things can." I call Akaime to my shoulder and he obediently flaps down. "Konoha Anbu are taught a traditional forbidden technique of the village – the Shapeshifting jutsu."

"If it's forbidden, why do they teach it to you?"

I shrug, because that's a question I've never known the answer to. "The Shadow-Clone jutsu is also forbidden, but I daresay there are more jonin who can produce one than can't. Anyway, the Shapeshifting jutsu is the transition from human to animal and back. You do need a bit of blood to get started, but the hand seals are simple – Rat, Monkey, Tiger, Dog. And as long as you have a visual reference," I gesture to Akaime, "It requires very little chakra."

"Sounds practical," Kisame concedes, "Seems a waste to forbid it."

"It's forbidden," I explain, "Because of one major catch: The longer you stay in an animal's form, the more your mind fuses with theirs until you lose sight of your purpose and forget who you are, taking on all the tendencies of the true animal. After just an hour in an animal's form, your human self would be nearly unsalvageable." I grimace, because I've known a few people who have fallen to that fate. Two from my Anbu division took the forms of squirrels, left to scout the territory, and never returned. Another once turned himself into a dog. He was able to return to his human form, but his mind was completely lost – he lives now in a mental health facility where he spends his time drooling, gnawing on cow bones, and chasing his own rear end.

"Luckily for us," I continue, "We only need the time it takes to get over the wall."

"Not we," Kisame corrects, "Just you."

I lift an eyebrow. "I'm not doing this alone, if that's what you're thinking. Don't think you're worming out of this after you've already committed to the plan."

That's exactly the type of thing Kisame would do; leave me to fend for myself in a place I barely know after I've just assisted in the murder of one of Kiri's jonin.

"Itachi." He admonishes with a smile, "Why on earth would you think that?"

I roll my eyes. "Okay, so if you're not going over the wall, how are you gonna get in?"

"I'm going through it." Kisame announces, and sighing, I cross my arms.

"We've already been over this. Your chakra will be recognized by the wall because you're a missing nin and we'll have ten jonin on us before –"

"But there's where you're wrong." He interrupts, "An animal's chakra leaves a different signature than a human's, and since the wall only detects human chakra, animals are free to come and go as they please."

"Yes," I say, trying not to sound impatient, "But that's not how it works. In the Shapeshifting jutsu, you're not actually turning into the animal, you're not changing your chakra signature - that's impossible – but you're just . . . it's like . . ." I search for the right word, "It's like you're cloaking yourself in that animal's form. But you're still human on the inside . . . at least, until your body actually starts to fuse with theirs."

Kisame shifts his weight in a way that reminds me of a little kid needing to go pee but unable to escape from the predicament in which he has found himself. "I have two forms," he explains, "One is mostly human."

Emphasis on the mostly, I think to myself.

"And the other is mostly shark." Kisame reaches back to the handle of his enormous sword, beginning to unwrap the bandages. "The shark form requires a fusion with Samehada, and since Samehada is neither man nor beast but something else entirely, a fusion between our different chakra creates a new chakra signature that is not totally human."

I watch in some sort of repulsed fascination as Samehada is unleashed before me for the first time. And I beg to differ when Kisame says that it's neither man nor beast, because it's definitely beast. Blue and spiky, it has a large split near the front which I take to be fashioned in the shape of a mouth, complete with shark teeth just like Kisame's.

Akaime shifts on my shoulder and hisses rather aggressively at the thing, and Samehada's mouth moves, emitting a strange rasping, munching sound in return. I jump a little in surprise.

"It's alive!"

"Of course it's alive." Kisame snickers to see me so astonished, "Anything with chakra is alive, dumbass." With this, he forces open Samehada's jaws as wide as they will go and steps in. It's definitely one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen. Even more bizarre than the time I found Kakashi reading porn on an Anbu mission.

Kisame manages to fit all of his body inside Samehada's mouth, which snaps shut behind him. Then, with a gargling sound, the sword begins to stretch and bulge here and there. I see something like a face emerge, and a long, sinewy tail on the other end.

When the transformation is complete, a true monster stands before me. It doesn't even look like Kisame anymore, apart from the shark-ness. His nose is just a pair of slits, and his shark grin stretches all the way across his face. Fins and webbed fingers and too many gills.

A monstrous form is fitting for such a monstrous person. I remind myself as his unnatural eyes fix on me. Akaime is flustered and hops to my other shoulder, which is further from Kisame.

"Don't you remember what Orochimaru told you? It's rude to stare." His voice is raspy and his words distorted, as though his mouth isn't made for human speech.

"You definitely can't walk into Kiri looking like that." I point out, "You'll give everyone nightmares."

"I'm not going to just walk through." He protests, "There are other ways to get into Kiri unnoticed."

I arch an eyebrow. "Such as?"

He shrugs indifferently. "The main water pipes should be big enough."

"Fine." I concede, "Where should we meet?"

"See that tall red building with the spire? Right behind there."

After confirming a meeting place, I hold out Akaime before me and nip my thumb to draw blood. I smear the blood over his back, matting the feathers together, and he eyes me contemptuously to let me know how rude that was. Then I execute the hand signs and integrate my chakra, focusing on what Akaime looks like. It's the first time I've used this jutsu, and I'm afraid to say I'm more than a little nervous.

The first feeling is that of being squeezed until I think I might explode. Everything grows larger surrounding me, making Kisame look even more like a horrifying predator, which of course only means that I am growing smaller. Then begins a pricking sensation all over my skin, like someone is sticking needles into me. This, I realize, is the sprouting of feathers. My mouth and nose fuse together and for a few startling seconds I can't breathe until my beak is fully formed.

The whole thing happens very quickly, and I find myself a crow on the ground next to Akaime, who is a little bigger than I am.

I hop around so I am facing Kisame, and open my beak to say something intelligent like: "See you on the other side." But all that comes out is the loud caw of a crow. I blink and try again, but I can only make birdlike rasps and warbles. Kisame finds this hilarious and makes a strange coughing noise in his through that is probably a laugh. He holds up his webbed fingers and wriggles them in a mock flirt.

"Toodaloo." He grins, before turning and dashing away to find a way to get into the water network.

I lift my wings, which are heavier than I imagined, and make a takeoff attempt. Instead, I jump into the air and land flat on my beak, sending Akaime a look that even on a crow is decipherable as meek and helpless. He only clicks his tongue and hops in answer.

A/N: thanks for reading, please review! sorry I haven't updated in a few days; I've been pretty busy :P