Glory Of The '80s

I'm not afraid to die...

Down by the Naka River, Maito Gai stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the road before him littered with twisted corpses, some clearly smaller than others, blood pooling out into the mud. In the middle stood a familiar figure: a tall blue sharkman in the red and black cloak of the Akatsuki, holding a monstrous, spike-covered sword to the neck of a shinobi who Gai recognised as a member of the Akimichi clan, judging by his size and the chest armour he was wearing. Gai did a double take when he noticed that the sword had a mouth, and was convulsing like a rapidly beating heart as it drained the chakra from the dying man. A fat tongue emerged from the sword's mouth and licked its chops. The sharkman stroked it, as though it were a beloved pet, and slung it over his shoulder.

"I'm absolutely positive I've seen him before," thought Gai out loud. The sharkman raised his head.

"Oh gods," he said wearily. "Vat are the odds? Ve seem to run into each other a lot, don't ve? My name is not 'old boy', by the vay."

"Would you mind awfully telling me what it is, then?" asked Gai, surprised at his own nerve.

The sharkman shrugged. "A good shinobi does not reveal his secrets," he said, "as I'm sure you're avare, but since I'm going to kill you anyvay, my name is Kisame Hoshigaki. Perhaps I should carve it on your arm, but I'd rather get this battle over, vouldn't you?" He laughed. Gai looked at the corpses littered around him, noticed that one of them had bandages around her forehead, thought of Neji, and felt sick. Several of his fellow Konoha shinobi were lying dead around him, and this scoundrel was treating it like a joke.

"I'm afraid I don't find that remotely funny," he said coldly. "Shall we just cut the banter and get to it?"

"Vell, then, let us not vaste any more time," said the sharkman, shrugging. He tossed his cloak aside, knelt down, placed his hand upon the surface of the river and bellowed, "Suiton – Senshokuko!" and water gushed from his mouth.

Within seconds, an immense wave surged up over and around Gai. He realised he was not alone within the wave; a vast wall of blue streamlined shapes was slowly growing bigger. Sharks. Not illusions, real sharks. Hundreds, no, thousands of sharks were swimming towards him in a mass, the sunlight in the water glinting off their bared white teeth. Thousands of mouths ready to tear Gai to pieces and reduce him to nothing but bone shards and bloodstains. He wondered if there was any way he could grab one of the corpses, throw it to the sharks to give them a feeding frenzy as a distraction, but he was floating, and swimming around looking for potential shark fodder would require more time, air and chakra than he had left.

It was then that Gai realised that there was only one way he was going to get out of this. The Asakujaku had worked against the clone of Kisame, but this was the real thing, and he doubted that even the Hirudora was going to be enough. There would be collateral when the water dispersed, there was the risk of it hitting nearby buildings, but Kisame could and would increase the size of the immense bubble of water he was trapped in, and it was the lesser of two evils.

Lee, Tenten, Neji...take care of yourselves. Be strong. Stay alive.

There was no time to waste. The sharks were closing in on Gai. He decided to cut to the chase, and start off at the sixth gate.

"Keimon! Kai!"

The chakra gate within Gai's belly opened. His heart thudded loudly in his ears as his eyes glowed the colour of hot coals and blood coursed through the surface of his skin.

"Kyoumon! Kai!"

A further gate opened within Gai's abdomen. The drumbeats of his heart grew louder and louder. There was only one more gate to go.

"Shimon! Kai!"

The final gate, located within Gai's heart, opened. His body coursed with power. It was better than any orgasm he had ever had; every hair stood on end, every muscle tense, even his very cells were burning. A cruder man than Gai would have described the sensation as a full-body erection.

Before dying, he needed to be at his most conscious, his most alive. In order to slay the blue monster before him, he needed to become a monster himself. This was it. He was no longer Maito Gai. He was the Will of Fire. He was the Evening Dragon.

"Banryu!"

Gai found himself within an enormous green dragon made of chakra. The thing must have been the size of at least three buildings piled on top of each other. All around him, chakra seethed and burned and hissed.

He had never, in all of his years, felt so alive, and so angry. There were two thoughts first and foremost in his mind: I am going to protect my village, at the cost of my own life. And: I will destroy you, villain, and avenge every man, woman and child you killed, at the cost of my own life. I shall drag you down to the afterlife with me, and I will make you wish you were in Hell.

The sharks exploded like bubbles, the sheer force of Gai's chakra rapidly pushing the water back and tearing a path towards Kisame. Kisame clapped his hands together and a giant shark made of chakra and water built itself around his body.

The dragon opened its mouth as Gai drew back his fist.

"Disappear!" Gai roared, and threw an almighty punch. Fire – a combination of chakra, body heat and sweat - burst from his fist, and through the mouth of the dragon. The shark countered with a great jet of water from its mouth.

Gai vowed to put every little bit of chakra he had into his next, and hopefully final, attack. It was now or never.

XXX

A few miles away, as he stood on top of a roof with Tenten and watched the paper woman from Amegakure burn, Neji Hyuuga's Byakugan picked up what appeared to be a green fire to the north-east. Turning his head slightly, he saw the mighty chakra dragon.

He had never seen this jutsu in action, but it didn't take a genius to realised what – or rather, who – it was.

Icy fingers stroked his spine. He wondered where Lee was.

XXX

Dragon and shark clashed in midair.

The dragon opened its mouth for one final roar, and the fiery chakra of its breath encased the gargantuan shark in flames. The remaining sharks vanished instantly. Something – was it the shark or Kisame? - howled in rage and pain.

Then the beasts dissipated, and Gai and Kisame both crashed to the ground.

XXX

"You're fucking kidding me," said Tenten weakly.

"I can't think what else it would be," said Neji. "Remember that time when he pulled out the Asakujaku? This is the same principle. And that was only the sixth gate..." He couldn't finish his sentence. The full horror of what they had just witnessed dawned on both of them.

XXX

Gai could see Kisame lying only a few feet away. The sharkman managed a weak smile, despite himself. His body was covered in burns and one of his legs was twisted beneath him. Yet he did not look pitiful; he had the look of a proud warrior who knew that he was beaten, and was prepared to accept the consolation prize with grace. Had this been anywhere else, Gai thought, and had either of them had the energy, and had their bodies not been so shattered and worn, they would have shaken hands.

"Vell," said Kisame. "It vould seem...you...you aren't...so stupid..." Then suddenly, his body went limp. The Samehada appeared to fold backwards upon itself, and Gai could have sworn he heard the horrid thing howl with grief. He thought of his beloved students, memories of their eager little faces, their banter, their sparring; Neji carrying his grief for his father and fatalism around like a comfort blanket, Tenten punching a tree in anger and frustration after losing in the Chuunin Exams, Lee's big adoring eyes and rapturous murmurs of, "Yes, Gai-sensei, of course, Gai-sensei," and wondered where they were, and if they were alive. A vision of the three of them, hands linked, smiling down at him, danced before his eyes before everything went black.

Although Kisame was no longer alive to hear them, these were the final words that Maito Gai spoke, before the last ashes of the fire that burned within him went out for good.

"Thank...you. It has been...an honour...Kisame Hoshigaki."