Ko walked through with quick, short, carefully planned steps. They fell, one after the other, like they should. Not how she wanted them to. In reality, she wanted to sprint through the village, screaming like a harpy. One, two, three, four, five, six, she was almost there. Almost to the village leaders house. Almost to her last surviving family member, or, ailing family member, she should say. She had gotten message from a paige while she was in the forest, training, shaping her technique into something worth showing, and being proud of. As a sage's daughter, she should be refined, proper, a lady, if you will, and she tried to act as such, biting her tongue whenever something stupid was said, repressing her whims and urges to dart out and snatch something from someone's hand, just because she could. After twenty two years, one would think she would get used to it, but she couldn't stand it. She was never allowed to play like the other children, never allowed to be let free to roam and explore, she only-
She was at the house. Drawing up everything she was taught about manners from her father, she walked in, keeping a level head when she saw her fathers body, covered in a white sheet. Her mask was impenetrable, like her fathers teachings.
"I'm sorry, Miss Ko." The village leader said, with false grief in his eyes.
"I- It is fine, Leader Sama. Thank you very much for trying. I will return home now."
Ko closed the paper door to her house, covering her mouth to restrain a scream. The tears came silently, along with the shaking, along with the burning that covered her entire body. She shook like a paper bird in the breeze. She breathed deeply, and exhaled, drawing from the springs of her training. She dabbed her eyes, unpinning her hair from it's tight, formal bun. The snow-white ringlets fell down her back. She brushed her bangs back from her face with a pale, flawless hand. A sages daughter had to have flawless hands and feet, she was told. She accepted her fathers death, with, to her surprise, little grief. She supposed it was from the harsh way he had treated her. 'But, it was for my own good.' Ko thought, half-heartedly. It was over now. She looked around the house, thinking she could get used to living alone.
Ko felt a shudder go down her, she felt claustrophobic, like the walls were suddenly closing in on her. She needed to release, right this instant. She crept out the back door, running into the forest directly behind it. She felt her braces begin to fall, and she caught them in her small hands.
She tore her kimono off in a hurry, throwing it onto a smooth rock nearby. She undid the buckles to the braces, letting them fall off of her small body like eggshells a new born bird. They traveled the five-foot distance, and fell to the ground.
White, translucent fins popped out on her back, three to a set, two sets in all. Two long, powder-white fins behind her ears, and gills on either sides of her neck. Two sets of two on the backs of her legs, one on her thighs, the other on her calves. One fin on the back of her forearm. They fluttered in the breeze, so happy to finally be able to breathe. Ko inhaled and exhaled again, feeling free, for a rare moment. This was the only part in her day when she was actually able to be, dare she say it, human, or, whatever she was. This was also part of her, now deceased, fathers training. He had gotten the braces for her, telling her to hide her- mutations. That they were unsightly, and that no sages daughter was going to be a freak. She jumped into the water, feeling her fins sigh in relief. They got so dried out over the day, you would never believe it.
"Free at last." Ko smiled to herself. She swam swiftly through the water, never losing the thrill of swimming. It never got old. Never. Her small body was like a tiny rocket as she flew through the water.
After a few hours, she felt herself growing tired, to her dismay.
"Aw, man…" She said. It felt good to talk like this, it was like, for this short time, she could catch up on being a 'normal' for once. She didn't really know why she had this appearance, this half-human half-aquatic creature form, but she had heard stories. There was an old woman who would always tell the most amazing stories to the towns children. She had crept in once, on this ceremony, and had heard a story. It went that every fifty years, the gene would re-appear, randomly, in a young girl. Her hair would be paper-white, and she would have fins like a fish. She was, supposedly, the re-incarnation of the Water Goddess, Mizu.
It had struck a chord with her, but she wasn't about to believe that she was the reborn Water Goddess, or something ridiculous like that. But she wanted to.
Ko dragged herself out of the water, and grudgingly put the braces back on, almost feeling her fins cry out in dismay. She pulled the kimono back over her, now flat, body. She snuck back to her empty house, shrouded by night.
"Water Style- Ice Spear!" Ko froze the water through, sending it flying through the air, spearing through a tree.
"Wow…" She said, breathlessly. It had never been that powerful before. She smiled.
"Water Style- Ice Spear!" She pushed as hard as she could with her mind, trying to break the mental barrier, trying to push herself farther. It hit the tree and shattered.
"Man…" She said, crossing her arms against her light blue kimono.
"Alright, well how 'bout this then? Water Style- Tidal Pulse!" She pulled the water from the lake, creating a lightning quick orb of water that shot through the air. It exploded on contact with the rock wall, leaving a crater. She felt overwhelmed with power. She created six of them, sending them all as fast as she could into the wall, wanting to break it down. She laughed lightly to herself, when she nearly did. It was so ironic. Here she was, the late sages daughter, breaking down a rock wall. It was so- blunt.
"Excuse me? Miss Ko?"
She stopped laughing immediately, patting her ruffled clothing down, pushing her bangs out of her face.
"Um, excuse me. Yes? May I help you?"
She turned around to see the same paige that had alerted her of her father's passing.
"I have a message for you, from Leader Sama."
"Oh, thank you. You may go."
"Thank you."
The paige sprinted off. Ko turned red with embarrassment. She would have to be much more watchful, next time she had a lapse like that. She read the message. It was nothing notable, just about what she would receive from her father, since she was his only heir. She put it into the pocket of her dress, patting it down again.
"Miss Ko?"
"Oh, you needed me, agai-"
She turned around and was not met by the slightly familiar image of the paige. Two men, one tall, one very tall clad in black cloaks and large hats made of straw looked back at her. The cloaks were decorated with red clouds. She recognized them. Akatsuki. She stepped back, almost falling over a rock.
"What do you want from me?" She asked, trying to contain her terror. The tall one stepped forward.
"We're here to offer you a proposition, Miss Ko."
"I'm not interested, thank you." She said, backing up over the rock, getting closer to the lake. She let her fins rise up, just enough to let the braces slide off. She pressed her arms against her sides, preventing them from falling to the ground- not just yet.
"It's one that we'd suggest you'd take." The tall one answered. "Unless, of course, you'd like to die."
Ko judged the distance from the two of them to her as she stood at the edge of the lake. She guessed it would take them about two seconds to cover the distance, basing this off the stories she had heard about the power of the Akatsuki's members.
"No thank you." She said. In a single, swift motion, she tossed the kimono off, disregarding stripping in front of strangers, and shook the braces off. Her white fins popped out immediately, and she dove into the lake, swimming away as fast as she could. She was glad her hair was tied back as she swam quickly for the mouth of the lake. She knew it led to the sea, and beyond that- she didn't know. She had never swam in the sea.
"Kisame!" She heard the tall man cry. She looked back briefly to see the very tall man, Kisame, throw his cloak and hat off, and she almost stopped swimming. He was completely- blue. From head to toe, nothing but blue skin. She saw his gills and sharp teeth, and knew that she was going to run into some trouble. She swam faster, pushing, pushing, pushing her limits. She swam, literally, as if her life depended on it.
She felt him catching up to her, and her stomach began to flip-flop. She spread her fingers and toes out as she kicked and paddled, putting the webbing in between them to use. She was breaking even with him now. She could see the mouth of the lake, and she pushed herself to make it there. If she could, then it was almost certain she would-
She felt to rough arms wrap around her, and she thrashed instantly, trying to shake him off. No chance. She kicked backwards, aiming for anything, but hit a sand-papery, hard stomach. He gripped her tighter, and she cried out, feeling her fins being crushed.
"Augh! Ow, please, please, you're hurting me, please-" He held her head back, and she saw the tall man pull his hat back, revealing spinning red eyes. She was fixated on them, and everything faded out.
Kisame felt the white woman crumple in his arms, and he shifted her over to one arm, climbing out of the water. He shook out his hair, pulling his cloak and hat on. He looked in wonder at the pale, white fins that protruded from her body. He touched one, feeling the smooth, membranous texture.
'Huh.' He thought.
"So, Itachi-san. Do we kill her, take her…?"
"I think we should take this one. She'd be good for you." Itachi said with a wave of his hand.
Kisame huffed.
"Fine." He wanted to take her apart and see how these fins were attached.
He shifted her to his other arm. For someone so small, she could swim pretty fast. Pretty fast. Not as fast as him, but pretty fast. He supposed she owed it to these weird fins. He touched them again, as he retrieved her kimono. He pulled it over her head, trying to disregard the fact that she was wearing nothing but underwear. He was completely fascinated by these fins.
"Say, Itachi-san, what are you doing to this kid in your- world thing?"
"Teaching her a lesson for refusing the Akatsuki."
Kisame nodded, not wanting to ask any further.
"Please! No more! Please!" Ko cried.
The tall man didn't listen, and cut another fin off. It fell to the ground, dead. She screamed out in agony. It was like losing a limb, maybe worse, she wouldn't know.
"Please!" She cried out. Blood made a steady beat on the red ground. Everything was red, just like his eyes, the eyes, the eyes, the eyes. Cold, unfeeling. Everything around her was red. The sky, the ground, ever her, although she didn't know if it was from her own blood. The post she was tied to was red. The roped that bound her were red. She had a feeling that this wasn't a real world.
"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have refused the Akatsuki!" She cried out as he raised the knife again.
"You're right. You shouldn't have." He said. He moved forward for another incision.
"No… no.." Ko twitched and writhed on the bed, in a dream state. Kisame watched her, not wanting to imagine what Itachi had thought up to do to her. He hesitantly reached out to touch her head. He pushed the soft, white hair out of her face.
"No!" She cried out, sitting bolt upright. She rolled off the bed, falling onto the floor. She looked around, seeing the insides of a room. The walls were made of wood- no, the floor- the floor was wood, the walls were rock. She stood up, seeing the man that had chased her through the water. She jumped, slamming back against the wall, trying to get away from him. Her eyes were wild. All facades were thrown to the wind, her training had deserted her.
She knew it, that red world was a dream. She glanced down to her forearm, seeing the fin where it should be. She looked back to the blue man. He had stood up, and was looking at her now. She bristled, gauging how fast she would have to run to reach the doorway. She guessed very fast. Which was a problem, seeing as she was not a very good runner. She sprang away from the wall darting out the door. Kisame rolled his eyes. She didn't look back, jus kept running. Down the hallway, left or right? Right. She ran right, and she could almost smell the outdoors. She slammed into a body, and almost fell back. The person grabbed her by the arms, pinning them to her sides.
She looked up, seeing the blue man. "Let go of me." She hissed, kicking out, trying to kick the fork of his legs. He caught her leg between his knees, throwing her to the ground. She skidded a few feet, jumping up again, running in another direction. Two arms grabbed her from behind and held her captive. She cried out, thrashing about.
"Someone, help me! Please!" She was about to cry.
A door opened in the hallway, and a man with long, blonde hair peered out.
"Kisame, what the hell do you think you're doing, yeah? Don't tell me you're planning to-"
"No, Deidara, I am not." He growled out. "She's the newest recruit, and Pein-Sama has put me incharge of her." He squeezed her suddenly to keep her quiet. She gasped out, feeling a rib crack. She stopped moving, trying not to agitate the fracture. Tears brimmed at the rims of her eyes.
"Oh, Kisame, I think you hurt the new recruit, un."
Kisame looked down, feeling a newly formed dent beneath his forearm.
"Oh shit." He said.
Deidara came out of his room, helping carry her to the medicine room. They lay her out on the table, Kisame turned the lights on.
"Woah, yeah, what are these?" Deidara asked, touching one of her fins.
Kisame felt a jolt of emotion at Deidara's action. He didn't want him touching her.
"Fins…" Ko gasped out.
Deidara raised his eyebrows.
"We've got this, Deidara. You can leave. Now." Kisame said quietly.
Deidara slunk out, not wanting to start a fight he couldn't win.
Kisame didn't know too much about chakra healing, but he knew enough to fix this.
"Ok, don't move." He said.
Ko looked up at him with inquisitive eyes. He was, she hated to admit, handsome, in a way. Besides being blue, and having sharp teeth, of course. He was like a shark, she guessed, from the rough skin and teeth. She thought it was interesting. Being calm enough to reason, she was almost positive she was never making it out of here alive.
'Well, it cant be too bad here.' She thought. 'Here, I'm not a sages daughter.. Maybe- maybe I could live here. At least for a while.'
She felt the pain ebb away from her rib, and she felt it mend rapidly. The pain was gone, and she breathed in relief.
"Thank you.." She said, quietly. She didn't completely trust him, but- she thought she could learn to.
The man grunted in reply.
She ran a hand along the fin behind her ear, subconsciously, and winced. It was skinned along the rim. It was like sand paper had been run along-
She looked up at the blue man, remembering his rough skin. She reached out and touched his arm, he jerked it away, looking at her like she was mad.
"Were you touching my fin?" She asked.
He looked startled. "I-"
She read his face. "Please don't touch my fins. It hurts." She ran her finger along her fin again and flinched.
"Sorry." He said gruffly.
She sat on the table, thinking.
"I'm Ko." She said.
"Kisame."
She hopped off the table, making towards the door. She felt a hand grab her arm, and the turned back, smiling.
"I'm not going anywhere. Do you have anything to eat?" She felt pleasant, partially from not having to pin her fins back anymore.
Kisame looked at her. "Yeah. Follow me." He walked ahead, leading her into a kitchen. A couple people sat at a long table, eating something. Ko looked at them, not sure if she could actually trust any of these people.
"We have- ongiri." He said. She looked at the barren cupboard, taking the rice ball gratefully. She was ravenous.
Half-way through her meal, she was called into the leaders quarters.
"Pein-Sama wants to see you." A man with grey, brushed back hair said.
'He could use to button up his cloak.' Ko thought.
She walked away, carefully avoiding the sickle he carried. She walked in to the dimly lit room, the only light coming from where a man was sitting. As she got closer, she began to feel uneasy. He had a quiet, commanding aura around him that reminded her of her father.
'Father…' She thought, feeling waves hit her mind. She bade them away. She couldn't break down in front of this man. He looked up at her, face embroidered with piercings, a cloud of orange hair on his head.
"Please, take a seat." Pein said.
Ko sat down in a chair across from him, watching him carefully.
"You'll be staying in whatever room you like. Here is your cloak, hat, and ring. If they're stolen, it is your problem." He handed them to her from across the desk. "You may go."
"Thank you." She said quietly, getting out of that room as fast as she could. She walked down the hall, still nervous. She didn't know anyone, which was unnerving, coming from the Rice Village, a small village where everyone knew each other, and each others business.
She checked the doors on the hallway, trying to find one without any belongings. Five doors in, she found one. She pulled her torn kimono off and threw the black and red cloak over her head. It was extremely long for her, piling up at her feet. She slid the ring on, at least that fit her. She looked at the inscription on it, recognizing it as that of the Rice Village. She put the hat on her bedside table, and exited the room, holding the cloak up so that she could walk.
Ko made her way down the hallway, and turned to see the kitchen and living room. For a criminal organization, it was a nice hideout. The man with the long blonde hair and blue eyes- Deidara, she remembered was sitting at the table. She shuffled over, pulling her cloak up, sitting across from him.
He smirked at her cloak.
"That's a bit long for you, un, isn't it?"
"I, I suppose." She said, embarrassed once again.
"Hey, no problem. Kakuzu'll fix it up."
"Kakuzu?" She asked.
"Come on, yeah." He said. They passed the same man with the gray hair and sickle, Ko walked closer to the wall, not wanting anything to do with that thing.
They entered a room that smelled like- money? A man sat in a chair, counting yen.
"What now, Deidara?" The man asked.
"Hey, you think you could fix the newbies cloak, un?"
Kakuzu looked around Deidara to see Ko.
"Come here."
Ko hesitantly stepped forward, wondering why Kakuzu wore that black mask. Only his eyes were visible between the white hood and black mask. The only skin showing was on his hands. Grey, stitched together skin. Ko forced herself to meet him. He took the cloak, pulling a needle out of nowhere, and expertly hemmed the cloaks edges, letting her small feet be seen. She smoothed it out.
"Wow.. Thank you. You're very good at that." She said.
He refused to acknowledge her, continuing to count the money.
The pair exited the room, heading back to the kitchen.
"I'm Deidara." He said, suddenly, extending a hand.
"I know. I'm Ko." She shook his hand.
"Tell me, Ko, do you like art?"
The question caught her off guard. "Art? I- I suppose so." She said, uneasily.
He smiled. "I think art is a bang." He said, cheerily.
She smiled. "Me too." She remembered when her mother tried to teach her art, before she passed away. She remembered the two of the sitting in the foyer with colored paints, and she almost laughed at the memory of her failed attempts at drawing a fish. Her mother had laughed too. That was only a week before she had been murdered.
Ko saw someone out of the corner of her eye, and she felt the rage rise. It was that man, the one who had sent her into that dream world and- and cut her fins off! She sat up from the table, knocking over her chair. She stormed away from the surprised Deidara, briskly making her way over to the tall man with the black hair and red eyes. He was rummaging for food in the cupboard when she clasped his shoulder. She pushed his as hard as she could, only managing to tip him slightly. He turned to her, boredly.
"What?" He asked, munching on the ongiri.
She seethed. "What the- hell! What the hell! Why did you go and- and torture me like that for hours?" She couldn't remember ever using explicatives, but she liked it.
He swallowed. "It was a dream sequence. You couldn't feel a thing."
"Yes I could! At the time I could!"
"Wasn't real."
"Well it was to me!" She reached back to punch him, but someone caught her fist. Kisame looked down on her from his two feet height advantage.
The man walked away, waving nonchalantly.
"Don't, Ko. Itachi will kill you. He'll literally kill you."
She watched Itachi retreat to his room.
"Fine."
They sat at the table. She sat across from him, studying his face. She was right, he was handsome, despite his color, and the teeth… She looked away.
"Who are you, exactly?" He asked her.
"I, Well, I'm Ko Rashin from the Rice Village. I was a sages daughter, so, well, I had to behave as such, hence my uptight-ish-ness. I suppose you want to know about my fins. Well, I heard a story when I was little about how every fifty years, a girl is born as the reincarnation of the Water Goddess Mizu. And, as legend tells, she's born with white fins and white hair and, as you can see," She gestured to her array of fins. "The story fits."
Kisame nodded. He hated the fact, but he felt- tender towards her. For once, he didn't want to tear apart the person who sat across from him, he, dare he say, liked this person. Maybe even loved- 'No. Too soon. Besides, I'm… Me.' He rebuilt the iron mental wall.
"Leader-Sama asked me to train you, since the only place that you're strong is in the water and jutsus. We heard about your- appearance, and abilities, so we decided to bring you in."
"Well, how thoughtful." She said, she thought he would at least give her some condolences, at least a simple "I'm sorry". It felt so good to be able to make smart remarks and, heaven forbid, speak freely.
Kisame didn't indulge her, simply pulled her out into an extremely large, empty room. "Look around you. There is absolutely no water."
Ko realized he was right, and began to feel nervous. No water meant no protection and- She felt herself being propelled by a fist, and she hit the wall with a crash.
"Oh!" She picked herself up. "What was that for?"
"You're pathetic." Kisame said. He cursed himself for feeling bad about saying it, but he needed to goad her into attacking.
"What? How dare you! I am not!" She ran at him with full force, aiming a punch at his face. He deflected it, quickly grabbing her arm and twisting it behind her back. She felt a bolt of pain from her arm, and stopped moving.
"See? Weak. You need to learn the basics." He released her, and she flexed her arm, trying to move the pain out of it.
Ko fell into her bed, exhausted. She hurt- everywhere. She knew she was bleeding somewhere, but was too tired to do anything about it.
'I would've done better if there was water…' She thought. She slept for a few hours, but woke up in the middle of the night, hearing a soft banging sound outside. She slipped her cloak on and tiptoed to the door, hearing a string of cursing. She raised her eyebrows. She heard footsteps pad along the hallway, and out the main entrance. She opened the door, recognizing Kisame from his blue hair as he walked outside. Silently as she could, she stalked outside, feeling a cool breeze. She could run, right now if she wanted to. She could just swim away in the river.
She saw Kisame duck behind a rock wall. Ko followed him, pulling her cloak off and setting in onto a tree branch. She slipped into the river, feeling her fins sink into the water. She sunk to the bottom, swimming soundlessly across the river, peering above the surface to see Kisame, wearing only shorts. He dived into the water, leaving his cloak and headband on the rocks.
Ko edged away, worried about how Kisame would react to her intruding on him. He resurfaced, facing away from her. Suddenly, in a cloud of smoke, he disappeared. Two hands grabbed her shoulders, pushing her against the rocks that bordered the lake. The air was knocked out of her in a whoosh.
"What are you doing out here?" Kisame growled.
Ko was at a loss for words, for once.
"I-"
"Did you think you could run away?" He looked furious.
"No, I just followed you here after I heard you in the hallway.. I was just curious."
His hackles fell, and the fury ebbed away from his face. She winced, trying to shift so that her fin wasn't being crushed between the rocks. He let her go, and she reached back, pulling at the fin to fix it. He began to turn away, but thought better of it. He looked at her, feeling guilty.
"I'm sorry. I- I just didn't want you to run away."
She stopped tending to her fin. "Oh? Why is that?"
He looked at her. Ko blinked, feeling nervous under his gaze. He cracked a smile, for the first time.
"How about a race? How about, if you win, I'll tell you why, and you can go free."
"And if you win?"
He smirked. "If I win, I'll tell you why, and then you have to be my man-servant for a whole week."
Ko grinned, loving a challenge. "You're on."
She felt relieved that Kisame was finally warming up to her. She liked talking to him.
"Ready… Set… GO!"
They both sprung forward, heading towards the only place that could serve as a finish line, the rocky shore where Kisame's headband and cloak laid. Ko wanted to leave so badly- did she? Did she really want to leave? She had just begun making friends with Kisame- no. No, she had to leave this place. She swam faster, desperate to win. Hand over hand, she pushed herself. Kisame was easily gliding along, not even breaking a sweat. She angrily pushed forward, getting ahead. Kisame suddenly bolted forward, touching the rocky shore before she was even three-fourths of the way there.
She groaned, sinking down into the water, too tired to support herself. Kisame swam back, holding her above water, resting an arm on the shore. She panted, exhausted once more, already sore from the day of rigorous hand-to-hand combat. She pulled herself to the lake edge, laying a hand on the moist rock.
"So, what's the reason, master?"
Kisame smirked. "The reason is that I'm not ready to lose you yet, because I've finally found someone that's like me."
Ko blinked again. This was not what she had expected.
"But, I mean, I'm a freak. So, I understand if you don't feel the same way. You can go if you want to.. I'll tell them that you slipped out during the night."
Ko looked at him, seeing the way the moonlight reflected onto his face, making his skin colorless. He was- perfect.
She pulled herself up and kissed him, feeling the rough texture of his chest chafe her neck and arms, but she didn't care. She felt him stiffen, then two hands quickly held her to him. He reached up to touch one of the fin sets on her back, when he pulled away, silently asking her permission. She smiled, kissing him again. He gingerly touched one of the fins, running two fingers down the tissue.
She broke off, leaning her head against his sand-papery chest, feeling the texture with the fins behind her ears. She was glad she stayed.
"By the way, you're still my man-servant." Kisame said. "Which means…" Kisame leaned back, holding her shoulders, smirking.
'It's going to be a long week.' Thought Ko.