Book 2: The Three of Us

Chapter 32: Not The Reunion You Expected

The moment a strong and unfamiliar chakra entered the building, it set me slightly on edge. I couldn't recognize who it belonged to, despite it being eerily familiar. Making eye contact with Tsunade, I can tell she noticed it as well and felt the same. After a few minutes, the chakra stops on the other side of the door and is followed by a knock.

Tsunade sets down her pen, "Come in."

Izumo pokes his head through the door but doesn't enter the room, "There's someone here from outside the village looking for Kisame Hoshigaki. And she's very insistent on finding him."

My brow nits together in suspicion and Tsunade and I share another silent look. Tsunade lets out a heavy breath, "Bring them in."

The door opens all the way and when I see the mystery person, my eyes widen in surprise. The woman shared the same blue skin and shark like features as Kisame. When she stepped through the doorway, she had to duck slightly to avoid hitting her head. It briefly crosses my mind that she's the tallest person I've ever seen. Izumo takes the moment to leave and shut the door behind him.

"Hi, I'm Kina. I hope you don't mind helping me find my brother Kisame. He's a difficult guy to find and he probably thinks I'm dead," her voice is surprisingly chipper and she clasps her hands together in front of her chest as she speaks. Everything she says gives me mental whiplash and sends my head spinning.

When her gaze lands on me, I can see her face twist into one of confusion. She steps towards me and reaches out towards me. The unexpected movement has me grabbing her wrist before she can touch me, "I don't appreciate being touched without permission. Especially by a stranger."

Kina rips her arm out of my grasp as she steps back, "I want to know why you have placement beads," her voice is sharp as she speaks.

"Kisame gave them to me," I answer.

"Oh," she responds, and then her eyes widen when she completely processes what I said, "Ooh."

Tsunade frowns in thought, "I didn't know Kisame has a sister."

"Older sister!" Kina clarifies.

"Kisame doesn't talk much about his family. It's not an easy topic for him," I explain to Tsunade. She nods in understanding.

In my shock, I don't even realize Kisame and Sakura have entered the building until they're on the other side of the door and opening it. Kisame was smiling and talking as he enters the room but stops dead in his tracks when he sees Kina who's turning around to face him.

Sakura notices his quick change and looks at him in worry, "Kisame, you okay?"

Kisame's face pales when he looks at Kina, looking like he's seen a ghost. His eyes are open wide in shock and I can see him shaking slightly. He shakes his head roughly and scrunches his eyes closed, "No, you're supposed to be dead. You're dead."

Tears build up in Kina's eyes and she takes hesitant steps towards Kisame, "It's okay, Kisa. I'm alive. I finally found you. This is real. I'm real." The words she speaks are unfamiliar to me but I know it's there native language.

Kisame opens his eyes again, which are now filling with unshed tears and looks up at his sister, "You're actually here? This is real? You're alive?"

Every movement Kina makes is slow, being careful not to spook Kisame. Her hands land on his shoulders and in that moment, the tears finally fall from Kisame's eyes, "I'm really here."

Kisame falls into her arms and hugs her tightly. She hugs him back just as tightly. Sakura looks towards me in confusion and signs, 'What's going on.'

I sign back, 'That's Kisame's sister. Who he thought was dead. Turns out she's alive.'

Kisame pulls back from Kina and stares up at her in disbelief and this time when she speaks, it's in a language I can understand, "How did you find out I was here?"

"About a week ago I was in the northern part of Earth Country when the gossip reached us that a Five Kage Summit had taken place and you had been there as a body guard for the Hokage. I left right away for Konoha," Kina answers, her accent a lot heavier then Kisame's and at times making it a little hard to understand.

Kisame's brow scrunches in confusion, "Us?"

"Suzu, Wakiko, Uncle Tomoe, Uncle Baiko and Grandpa Shoda. They're also alive. Grandpa and Uncle Baiko can't travel very well, so they won't be here for another few weeks, maybe longer," Kina answers.

Kina and I both notice at the same time when Kisame is filled with guilt and his response at the information is a quiet, "Oh."

"Don't feel guilty, Kisa. It was understandable that you thought we were all dead," Kina says, trying to help sooth Kisame's guilt.

Kisame's face goes pale again as he starts to breath unevenly. His sister tries to reach out to him but he steps back clumsily, "I need space. I need to go."

Sakura and I make eye contact, silently agreeing that we need to get him out of here as quickly as possible. Sakura steps towards Kisame, pulling him out of the room while I stop Kina who's trying to follow after them, "He needs space. Time to process this all."

"I don't understand. Why is he freaking out? Shouldn't he be happier?" Kina asks, voice rising in pitch with distress.

I let out a heavy breath, "Just give him time to let himself think this all through. Wait for him to come to you when he's ready."

"Not to sound like a bitch, but I'm entirely way too exhausted to help deal with someone else's family issues. Itachi, figure out a place for Kina-san to stay and deal with this all somewhere else," Tsunade says, speaking up for the first time in a while.

Kina gives her a light bow, "I apologize for causing problem. I did not mean for it to happen."

Tsunade gives a half hearted wave, "Somethings are beyond your control. I can't blame you for this."

I instruct Kina to follow me after we leave Tsunade's office. With no other alternative, I bring Kina to the Uchiha clan compound, knowing my mother would happily let her stay there. We had some people staying in the guest rooms, however, my room was open. Some of my belongings were still there but it had become incredibly rare for me to stay there. I was living more at Kisame's house now, especially recently. All I could hope was that the bed was long enough for her. She's ridiculously tall. Kisame really wasn't exaggerating when he said he was short in comparison to the rest of his family.