Book 2: The Three of Us

Chapter 15: One Secret Still Left Untold

Anko stops abruptly mid way through her explanation and I look at her in confusion, "Why'd you-" I don't even finish my question when I see the her eyes widen and body tense, switching my question, I ask, "What's wrong?"

The ground shakes and in the distance I can see large clouds of smoke rising into the air. Anko continues to look in the direction of the commotion, her attitude easily switching from carefree to one of complete focus, "That." 

Apprehension builds in me as I observe the skyline before me. Battle was something I enjoyed when it was just me against my opponent. This was different. It was happening in the middle of a village - my village - filled with innocent bystanders. This was not a battle I could take time to enjoy. The overwhelming feeling to not only protect the people I care about but also a whole village left me reeling. 

"We should go," I say, grabbing Samihada and looking over at Anko for confirmation. 

Sealing up the fuinjutsu project we were working on, she gives me a nod, "I agree." 

Standing beside me, we take off into the direction of the battle, ready to do whatever we could to protect the village. 

Swinging Samihada at the summoning beast, the sword absorbs a large portion of its chakra upon impact. The chakra flows from the sword to me, increasing my chakra reserves and strengthening me. Jumping back from a swing from the cat-zombie looking thing, Anko takes the moment to throws a barrage of kunai at it, each with an explosive tag on them. The summoning poofs out of existence with a puff off smoke and for a moment we can rest. 

Anko lets out a groan of frustration as she stomps up to me, "How the hell are you not even a little bit tired? We have been going at this for hours non stop!" I can see the effects of chakra depletion starting to bother her, slowing her reaction time and leaving her winded. 

All I can do is give her a shrug, "Endless supply of chakra really has its benefits. I'd give you some but Samihada would probably try to steal all your chakra and I don't want to risk that right now." 

The ground shakes and cracks below us, soon followed by an after shock, exploding from the epicenter of the village. Years of training snaps into over drive as I grab Anko, throwing her over my shoulder and running as fast as I can away from the explosion. Pain erupts through out my whole body, feeling as if each cell is being ripped to pieces. Once we are out of the blast zone, I collapse to the ground, dropping Anko in the process. I bite the inside of my cheek until I taste blood to stop the scream that catches in my throat. Tears threaten to fall as the pain continues, leaving me breathless. My hand goes to my chest, gripping the front of my shirt. It feels like there's something around my heart trying to stop it from beating. 

Anko's able to catch herself before she hits the ground and quickly crouches down next to me to check me for injuries, "Hey, Kisame. Where are you hurt?" Her eyes search over me, frantically looking me over, her hands holding me up by my shoulders to keep me from collapsing face first into the ground. 

The intense pain begins to fade but a dull ache stays. Looking at my hands, I watch as my tremors worsen. I take a deep breath to steady my breathing, "How did you not feel that? The earth as it was torn apart. Destruction on that level, the massive disruption of nature. Didn't you feel it?" 

Looking up I'm met with eyes filled with concern and confusion, "I don't know what you're talking about. What you're saying doesn't make any sense." 

My mind is still reeling from the shock of what I just felt, each thought stumbling over the next and leaving my head spinning, "But-I can feel it. I can feel it all. It's all I could feel."

"Hey, you're starting to freak me out a bit," Anko says, an uncertain smile on her face that turns to more of grimace. 

Memories of me with my Papa as a young child surface to my mind; 

This is something only Hoshiki people can do. Us Gaki have the strongest connection of all our people. That's why our people look up to us, because we have the strongest connection to the energy of Haa Shageinyaa. Outsiders can't know about this, you mustn't share this with anyone outside our people. 

I push all of my shock to the back of my mind, standing back up and taking a step back to remove Anko's hands from my shoulders. I give her my best carefree smile as I put Samihada on my back, "Ahh-sorry-sorry. Don't mind me. Lets get going and try to group up with others." 

Her eyebrow nits together as she looks at me, her eyes sharp with suspicion as she gives me a frown, "Yeah, fine, let's do that." She gives me one last look before taking off, her cold answer causing me to grimace. Pushing her away like that hurt her a lot, we're close friends and she knew I was hiding something from her. Looking at the back of her as she walks away, I can't help the guilt that settles in my stomach. It didn't feel right to hide this. 

I send an apology to Haa Shageinyaa before consciously cutting my chakra ties to the world around me. The lingering pain dissipates and the dull ache nearly disappears all together. The disconnection leaves me feeling disorientated and out of balance. Cutting myself off from Haa Shageinyaa - nature's energy, chakra, whatever someone wanted to call it - always left me feeling empty, like an important part of myself was missing. It also felt incredibly lonely, I've become used to the constant presence of that energy and without it, I felt like I was in a vast void of nothingness. 

***

Haa Shageinyaa is the great word of the Tlingit culture, the creator. Once translated as the Great Spirit, it is now most commonly translated as God.