Chapter 19: For Your Information

The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the neatly trimmed grass of the cemetery, bathing the granite markers in warm, golden light.

Kisame sat comfortably on the ground, but did not commit the faux pas of leaning against Neji's gravestone. It seemed even the Monster of the Mist had some manners.

"Let's say I have a friend who needs help with something."

Tenten controlled the urge to voice her doubts about a former Akatsuki having friends, opting for diplomacy instead. "What help does your friend need?"

"He has a somewhat unsavory past, but he's turned over a new leaf. There's someone he's become quite fond of and would like to get closer to."

They stared at each other for a long moment.

Finally, Tenten couldn't help herself.

"Are you asking for love advice, Hoshigaki Kisame?"

"It's not love advice, it's just something my friend wants to know," the blue-skinned man was rapidly turning a strange purple color, but maintaining a deadpan expression with all his might.

Tenten took a wary step forward, gauging his reaction.

Kisame was entirely still, as if afraid of spooking her.

She took another step. Then another.

When she was in front of Kisame, she stared into his eyes for a long moment.

"Osh," Tenten finally said. "Is that you?"

An uncharacteristic smile wreathed the missing nin's face, utterly unlike his normal savage grin.

"Tenten. You recognized me."

She sighed, lightly touching his jaw. "What's going on here?"

A visible shudder passed through the shark-nin's frame as Osh rubbed his cheek against her hand. "I was so happy when you said you trusted me. And that you think I'm wonderful."

Tenten narrowed her eyes, withdrawing her hand. "I do, but why are we in Konoha and why are you using Kisame's body to talk to me? And what's with the weird question?"

Osh grabbed her hand, bringing it back to his face and nuzzling her palm like a cat. "I can finally touch you, Tenten! And this body is full of so much chakra! I don't need to accumulate it from the air like I've been doing anymore to power our dimension-hopping. The possibilities are limitless!"

Tenten jerked her arm away firmly. Osh let go of her hand, dejected.

She didn't know Kisame's face was capable of such a beseeching look, but if a puppy had the eyes of a shark, this was the most bizarre way it could have mutated.

"Osh," she repeated.

"Tenten-san?" a voice called out.

Mirai stood at the edge of the graveyard, a bunch of flowers clutched in one hand. She looked curiously at the strange man. "Who is that?"

"Hello, Mirai. This is Kisame, a friend of mine," Tenten said, casually placing a companionable hand on the man's shoulder. Despite being in a sitting position, he was so massive he was almost on eye level with Tenten, "Are you visiting your father?"

The young kunoichi nodded, gaze lingering on the stranger who did not quite strike her as 'friendly'. Then, she caught a scroll Tenten tossed to her.

"Could you give that to Shikamaru? It's a coded message from his relative, Shikrabappu. I received it yesterday during a mission."

Mirai nodded again, noting Tenten's covert hand signal that the scroll had something to do with the mysterious man.

"I'll pass by Uncle Shikamaru's after I visit Dad," she gave a pleasant smile, betraying nothing, "It was nice to meet you, Kisame-san."

Kisame grinned at her.

It was clear to Mirai that even the older kunoichi found the man's fang-toothed smile highly unsettling. She hurried to Asuma's grave to quickly pay her respects so she could deliver the scroll to the Hokage's adviser.

Tenten watched Mirai walk away and towards the far end where the Sarutobi clan's cenotaphs were placed. Osh was leaning lovingly against her hand. She gently but resolutely pushed him upright.

"Cute kid," he remarked. He glanced up at Tenten, and she was able to notice something, now that she was much closer to him.

The 'real' Kisame was peering through and watching her interact with her weapon with an interest and amusement she recognized from their brief encounter many years ago.

While she wasn't sure if Kisame had volunteered for Osh to control his body, she had a sense that the two were reaching a growing accord and she was beginning to see more of Kisame's original personality surface in his expressions.

That grin had likewise unpleasantly reminded her of their encounter years ago, when he'd nearly drained her entire store of chakra with Samehada.

She was conflicted about having to speak with her beloved weapon through a missing nin's body.

"Osh, I've asked you twice. Are you going to answer my question? And… don't pout. It looks really, really weird."

"Can I hug you, Tenten?"

"No," she folded her arms. "If 'the friend' you were asking about earlier was yourself, then my advice is not to try to force affections on anyone. And answer their questions when asked."

"Kisame tells me…" Osh trailed off, seeming to listen to an inner voice, "He says if I reveal information too easily, you'll end the discussion and make me bring Kakashi back to you."

Tenten frowned. "If you don't answer, we're ending this anyway. Please bring Kakashi back to me now."

"Wait," Osh panicked, scrambling to his feet, "I was trying to create a mood! And that Sixth would just ruin it!"

Tenten's brow twitched at the description of her hot boyfriend as a mood-killer, "Is 'aggravated' the mood you're going for, Osh? Because that's what I'm feeling now."

"No! I-," he looked around and saw Mirai had left and they were alone.

Surprising Tenten, he knelt before her and took her hand. "I wanted to… I was…"

Tenten watched as Osh went still, and bent his head.

When he looked up again, it was clearly Kisame back in charge. He tsked. "Pitiful."

He stood up to his full height, towering over her. "I was the friend he was referring to, just so you know. If you can help me with something, Tenten, I'll translate your foolish weapon's ramblings to you. I specialized in intelligence gathering in my day."

"I don't really need your help," she retorted.

He might have been one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist who carried out covert missions and guarded top secret information, but Tenten specialized in barter and business transactions now, apart from weaponry. She'd expanded her skillset since the war. And what he was offering was a bad deal. She looked pointedly at their still-joined hands, "Could you let go?"

He grinned, "You didn't used to mind."

She gave him a look that could dry all the water jutsus in the world. Still smirking, Kisame oh-so-carefully released her fingers from his grasp.

"Osh was already about to tell me, before you stopped him. Forgive me if I don't trust your translation to be entirely accurate."

"You're right. It would have just been an educated guess. I don't think he wanted to discuss it with you while I was listening in," Kisame hummed, glancing at the grave marker beside them. "He was going to revive your team mate in exchange for your soul."

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A/N: Happy birthday Naruto! I used to wonder if there was any significance to his birthday falling on 10/10. I think it's safe to say there's absolutely none.