Kaze no koibitō

27

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Kakashi looked over his shoulder at the giant trees behind him, unnerved with the incessant pounding coming from within. He could only imagine what was in there that could make that kind of unholy racket and hoped that it didn't have anything to with Naruto. He'd only just recently gotten back in his former student's good graces...he didn't need him dying on him just yet.

A hand rocketed past his face, barely missing him, and struck the bark hard, sending a shower of splinters in the Copy Ninja's direction. He leapt to the side and ran for better cover to wait for his chance to strike. Gai and Lee engaged the Pein body again, distracting it from sending more missiles his way.

Curious as to what the construct's true purpose was, Kakashi crept back over and looked at where the Pein had struck at him. A tiny crack in the structure was bleeding water...and the crack was getting bigger every second.

Well...he'd have to figure it out later. The 'cat' part of his nickname was killing him at the moment though. And you know what they say about cats and curiosity...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hold still, you little bastard!"

Naruto ground his teeth in frustration as he ran sideways on the trees he had created, a water shark striking the wall just behind him every few feet. Kisame was showing just why he was a prominent Suiton user, effortlessly creating the sharks despite his weakened condition.

Kisame had not come out of the water for several minutes as he tried to skewer Naruto with water spikes, tear his flesh with water sharks, or rend his flesh with a quick swipe from Samehada when the blond ventured too far out into the water. The blond couldn't even catch a moment to concentrate so he could try his plan...and Kisame knew that. His head was only above water long enough to taunt his opponent before diving under again.

Naruto was noticing something that he hoped Kisame wasn't though. As he ran around the cylinder, he noticed that the water level was dropping at a slow, but steady pace. This could only mean that something had punctured the outside wall at some point, meaning there was fighting going on near them. Imprisoning both him and his opponent suddenly wasn't such a hot idea, as he couldn't see or help his comrades outside.

His hands flew together in the seal for Kage Bunshin and four of them puffed into existence, already running along with their creator. He needed to get Kisame out of the water and fast. The four peeled off and sprinted across the water, stopping at even intervals near the edge.

Kisame poked his head out of the water just high enough for his nose to break the surface and breathed. The gills on the side of his head provided him with a bit of oxygen beneath the surface, but he was still human and had to come up for air. He'd noticed the four clones as they ran across the water's surface. How could he not? The ripples they sent throughout the liquid reverberated through him. He didn't need to know what his idiot of a foe was planning; he just knew he had to stop it.

The rasengan they were forming weren't helping his disposition any and he took off toward one, sending water sharks for the other three. The sharks hit their mark and he shredded the surprised clone with Samehada, letting his sword eat up the chakra hungrily, before whipping around to seek out Naruto.

The jinchuuriki was standing parallel to the water, his eyes shut in concentration, his hands wrapped tightly around the gnarled staff. Kisame didn't need to know what he was concentrating on to know it was bad news for him and propelled through the water like a torpedo.

Naruto's eyes snapped open when Kisame's shoulder slammed into his gut and he was rocketed up the side of his ring of trees, before being driven into them with bone-jarring force. Kisame snarled, slammed Samehada into the wood hard enough that it would stick, and grabbed the blond's head, pushing his nose just millimeters from the spiny barbs of the zanbatou. Kisame's gravely voice seemed to echo as he breathed hard, the exertion beginning to take its toll as the poison wound its way through his veins.