It Started With A Kiss (A Kisame Story)

Chapter 5.

Pein flung open the door and went over to the open window, staring out through the trees—but like he’d been expecting, he saw nothing. Gathering she had woken up while he’d been talking with Itachi, he span around and told Itachi to track her; to find her and bring her back immediately. She couldn’t have gone far, and considering she was injured, tired, confused and unfamiliar with the land, so it wouldn’t take long for Itachi to find her. Nodding once in acceptance, Itachi disappeared from the room and into the forest, finding her trail straight away. Pein could only watch, half angry and half accepting of what she had done. Although it made things more difficult, meaning he had to send out Itachi to look for her, at the same time, it was expected. To wake up in a foreign room after having passed out in front of a group of strangers wasn’t exactly the situation where you immediately sit back, accept it all and greet those around you with a friendly smile and an open mind. Clenching his fists, Pein glared at the forest—Kisame had better get here soon. He’d better be able to sort all of this out.

No pressure meant.

Itachi sped on after Umi's trail, impressed with just how quickly she’d gotten away, even in her current state. Her power was legendary, though, so it couldn’t be too surprising. If he continued on fast enough, Itachi would catch up with her soon, however; she was using all her energy on increasing her speed, and at this rate, with her injuries and her general exhaustion...she’d burn out relatively easily. But he doubted she was thinking too rationally. Two sets of people had tried to come after her today, one of which stuck her in a building and were most likely going to force her to stay there. Having not dealt with this world much, Itachi could guess Umi was scared and unsure of how things would turn out now. All that mattered was getting away, and she was going to use all her power to do it. In a way, Itachi pitied her, and felt guilty for chasing her like this—she was penned in from all sides, and afraid to turn to anyone in fear they would take her power, too. He didn’t exactly want to frighten her...but it was his job, and he’d do the best he could.

But Umi was getting paranoid. Those guys were good; she had sensed it on Kakuzu when she had first seen him—what if they had already figured out she was gone? What if they were already chasing after her with intent on locking her up in a cell this time? ‘Leader-sama’, or whoever that guy was, hadn’t sounded particularly happy with the whole situation; he sounded weary with how things had turned out. If he found her after she’d run away like this...he might be tired of how difficult she was making things. But realising what she was doing, Umi shook her head, clenching her fists and glaring at the path in front of her. They might have several advantages over her, and she might be nervous—but she couldn’t just sit back! Did they really expect her to sit there and take the idea that they were forcing her into staying there; forcing her to use her abilities for them? There’s no way she’d let them do that—and as such she built up her power again to speed up.

Only this time it didn’t have quite the effect she wanted.

A surge of strength went through her body; only for it to suddenly cut off, and to leave Umi feeling weaker than before. Shocked at what was happening, as well as the fact her legs were weaker and her chest was heaving, Umi legs collapsed from underneath her, causing her to tumble across the ground and eventually come to a halt a few metres onwards against a tree. Groaning in pain, Umi pushed herself back, trying to return the strength to her legs and push herself to continue onwards, but her body seemed to have lost its defiance, even if her mind was the opposite. Unsteadily she got to her feet, holding onto the tree for support, but when she tried to set off once more, the same thing happened; she collapsed into a heap, sitting there glaring in frustration. She didn’t feel upset; like crying—she felt angry. What in the hell had she ever done to deserve this? It didn’t exactly help that she sensed someone’s presence a moment later, a shadow appearing over her shoulder from across the clearing.

“You need to rest; you can’t keep running like you have,” he greeted softly, his voice a lot calmer than Umi had been expecting. But shaking her head, she kept her back to him, scowling down at her body and cursing it all mentally before she finally spat back,

“I know I can’t win against you; I know you’re powerful—that you have the Sharingan. I know I’m injured and I’m tired, and I have no idea where I’m going. But I will not—just sit back and let you do whatever the hell you want to me. I will fight and struggle all the way. Everyone thinks I’m this clueless little girl who has no understanding of anything—”

“Then clearly they underestimate you,” Itachi quickly shot back, causing Umi to fall silent.

Itachi, too, hadn’t been expecting what she had said; that she knew of the Sharingan. He had thought that she had no idea about the ninja world or anything on shore—but instead she knew more than people thought. She had gone to the effort of finding out what she could...and therefore he knew he had wrongly underestimated her. But it was with Itachi's words that Umi managed to calm down; that she managed to realise that she had to think about this rationally and calmly. He hadn’t done anything to yet, and she didn’t truly know all of what had happened. If this guy had the answers...there was no reason not to listen to him. Slowly she turned around, to see a young boy standing a little way away from her, his Sharingan eyes staring intensely over at her and revealing him as a Uchiha. There was nothing about him that Umi could sense that was fully malicious, his eyes merely tranquil and calm; but then she noticed something else. He was from the same group as the guy she had bumped into, she knew that; but he wasn’t wearing his cloak. Though knowing she was sitting there wearing one herself, Umi couldn’t help but question softly,

“This...is your cloak? You gave it to me?”

“Yes. You didn’t have any clothes on; I felt I should respect your dignity,” he returned gently, before continuing,

“I—none of us—are here to hurt you. I know things are strange right now; that you don’t understand. But we can help you figure it out. My name’s Itachi Uchiha; I work for the Akatsuki, and—”

“The Akatsuki? T-that’s what the cloaks stand for?” She cut in, glancing down as she whispered the word once more. Nodding in agreement, Itachi then slowly began to walk across the clearing to her, never taking his eyes off hers once. Knowing she was wavering in her defences, Umi turned and started backing up, placing her hands up in front of her as her back met the tree and she found she had nowhere else to go. But once Itachi reached a few paces distance from Umi, he stopped, respecting her personal space and keeping his distance. Once again Umi was brought to a standstill, without a clue as to how to react to all of this. He was nothing like she had imagined he would be if he had caught up with her; showing no anger towards her in the slightest. She didn’t want to trust him; she had allowed herself to relax in that guy’s presence before, and then she had been attacked out of nowhere; she wouldn’t let it happen again. Though at the same time her mind was reminding her that Itachi was nothing like those other guys had been; he was approaching her from the front, speaking to her and trying to explain everything; and as she tried to make sense of her conflicting thoughts, Itachi added softly,

“I can take you to meet Kisame; I know you know him somehow.”

“I don’t...I mean...it’s complicated,” Umi breathed, sighing in defeat, signalling Itachi to fully approach her, gently laying a hand on her shoulder.

“I can help you understand things a little better—if you come back to the hideout with me.”

For a moment Umi paused, contemplating it, but with a  sliver of her curiosity returning to her, she nodded slowly, abruptly remembering her legs; her body and the state it was in to say apologetically,

“My legs, though...I got injured, and with everything that happened...”

“Don’t worry; I can help with that, too. Look at me,” Itachi suddenly breathed, and narrowing her eyes as she wondered what he meant, Umi glanced up, only to get caught in his gaze. A second of panic passed through her at the idea he was going to hurt her; but she could sense this wasn’t an attack; he was merely...sending her to sleep. The power stopped her from being affected for a moment, but slowly Umi began to feel drowsy, her eyelids fluttering, until eventually she slumped forward, Itachi there and ready to catch her, before he gently picked her up and walked back the way he came; hoping this would be the last time he’d have to carry her unconscious body back to the hideout.