It Started With A Kiss (A Kisame Story)

Chapter 18.

Umi didn’t find Kisame in his room, and pausing as she wondered where he might be, she eventually decided to ask one of the others. Considering the majority of them had been in all day, they had to have noticed Kisame at some point—and ultimately where he was now. Walking swiftly down the corridor, picking up her pace a little as she reached the doorway, Umi entered and headed over to the nearest person—being Sasori. Coughing gently to catch his attention, to which he looked up expectantly, Umi then continued hurriedly,

“Uh, hey, Sasori-sama. Um...have you seen Kisame around anywhere, by any chance?”

Sasori met your gaze apathetically, just like always, and shrugged slightly, having not really considered him. It was only as he noted the slightly fierce look in your eyes, a shadow of a glare and a scowl passing over your face that Sasori realised that you considered this important, and rolling his eyes, Sasori paused as he thought it over, before finally responding casually,

“I haven’t seen him in a while; last time I remember seeing him was when he said he was going for a walk. He didn’t say where, though.”

Smirking triumphantly at this news, Umi shook off the idea of asking everyone for more details, simply thanking Sasori with a smile and rushing off outside. It was only when Umi did so, however, that she slowed to a halt, realising Sasoridid have a point with what he was saying. Although now she knew that Kisame wasn’t in the hideout and was going for a walk, that didn’t mean everything was solved. There was tons of places to look, and Kisame could be in any one of them—so where would he go? Umi nervously bit her lip, glancing up at the sun and not knowing what to do. She didn’t want to waste time, she’d said that before, but rushing around all over the place looking for Kisame would be doing just that. There had to be some way of finding him rather than just walking around throughout the forest, and taking a deep breath, Umi released it, calming herself down, turning her thoughts to where Kisame could be.

Naturally, he wouldn’t have left the area; he had a mission to do, after all—even if he wasn’t particularly happy with it at the moment—and his duty was to his job in the Akatsuki. Pein would get really pissed off at him if he did so, anyway. So he had to be in this vague area; and he wouldn’t be around the village. The villagers knew of the legends about Umi and had never really treated her with a welcoming and friendly nature as she was a mermaid; merely putting up with her because they had to. But considering Kisame's appearance, Umi had known they would only do the same to him. In a moment where you wanted to be alone to be one with your thoughts, wandering through crowds of people who were staring at you in a wary way wasn’t an atmosphere that most people would choose to be in. No; Kisame had to be away from the village—out in the forest, maybe? Umi doubted he was heading anywhere in particular; he just wanted to think, and no doubt recall everything that had happened so far to try and figure it out. So where would he be?

And then it hit her.

The lake.

Kisame was concerned about what had happened with Umi, and the last time they had been together hanging out as good friends had been that conversation at the lake. If Kisame was trying to figure out what exactly had gone wrong and why she was acting like she was now, then the lake would be a good place to go. Plus, the view was calm and tranquil, and quiet enough to remain in your thoughts without anything else getting in the way—along with Kisame's connection to the water. All in all, it was the perfect place to go in this situation, and as such, Umi altered her direction and darted into the trees, running as fast as she could to get to the lake. Once she reached the shores, it would be easy to find him, and then she could confront him, and talk. How exactly she would start the conversation, Umi wasn’t too sure; there was so much to consider in terms of the topic and what she should start with—but at the moment that didn’t matter. What she had to concentrate on was finding him first—then she could try and work out what she would say.

A thought that was ever more present as the lake appeared up ahead.

A spasm of nerves shot through Umi's body as she arrived there, and she swallowed hard as she came to rest on the water’s edge, scanning the shore to try and find Kisame's location. For once in her life she wasn’t thinking about being a mermaid while looking at the lake, and it felt...good, for some reason. Maybe it was because it had dominated so much of her life, that to be free from that grasp for a moment was a good sensation; though it was a little dampened by the fact that Umi spotted Kisame a second later, ambling along the shore on the far corner of the lake. Sighing as she saw the look on his face, Umi shook it off; she had promised herself that she would make this right, and therefore she would, her resolve set as she set off towards him, adamantine in her decision and knowledge that Kisame would not be avoiding this conversation.

She did, however, slow down as she approached him, quietening her movements so he wouldn’t simply walk away if he knew she was there. Slowly making her way through the trees, she took a deep breath to prepare herself for everything she had to say and anything that Kisame might throw back at her in anger, before finally stepping forward. Kisame's back was to her, so he didn’t immediately see her, too deep in his thoughts to fully notice. Umi was only grateful for this, though, and called his name gently. Freezing at the sound of her voice, Kisame hesitated, unsure how to respond. Anger and sadness had been competing in his head for so long, he had no idea which one to pick, prompting him to turn and look at her over his shoulder, his face calm but his voice angry as he growled,

“What are you doing here? What more can you say to me to mock me and make me look like an idiot? You haven’t been so intent on speaking to me before.”

“I know that, and....and I’m sorry,” she breathed in return, hanging her head in shame. Kisame could say nothing to respond at the emotion in her voice, spinning round slowly to face her, his anger disappearing completely as Umi lifted her face again, revealing her eyes shining with tears. He was brought to an utter standstill with that image, remaining silent as Umi then went on quietly,

“I know I’ve been an idiot lately, Kisa, I know that. I ignored you and pushed you away, treating you like crap and never once gave you a reason for doing so. I dismissed anything you were going through and concentrated on my own selfish needs...but I’m not about to do it anymore. Please don’t think that I don’t care, Kisame...because I do.”

A smile flashed over Kisame's features for a second as Umi spoke those words, his eyes intent on her face although she didn’t return his gaze. He wanted to cut in; to say there was no need to apologise—that he understood, but Umi was too caught up in her words for Kisame to do so, prompting him to say nothing as she went on,

“The—the only reason I did that, Kisame, was because I—because I was afraid. I have no idea what will keep me human, and there’s only a certain amount of time I have. I’ve grown to love my life here, and I’ve grown to care about you. The idea that I was going to lose all of this...I’ve never experienced hurt or loss in my life, and I didn’t know if I would be able to handle it, so I thought it would be better if I cut you off. If I did that...then maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much when I changed back. But now I know better. I know that I was simply making myself worse; and dragging you into the fray at the same time. Now I know that I want to enjoy what I have, and focus on what is in front of me; because it’s that that will help me deal with it better. If I go on like I was...I’d just be losing you faster than before. So I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you, I swear.”

At this point the tears Umi had been fighting to keep back finally flowed, pouring down her face in a hot, silent flood. But abruptly Kisame knew what he had to do; for the moment, he didn’t need words, and he fully walked over to her, gently pulling her close and hugging her softly, Umi immediately returning it. Then eventually, as she began brushing away her tears and pulling away slightly, Kisame finally replied quietly,

“It’s okay, Umi; I’m not angry at you. I just...I just didn’t understand. But now you’ve let me know...we can figure this out. We can work together and we’ll know what to do. I’m not going to leave you alone in this—and I was never planning to.”

But Umi could only hug him in response, grinning into his chest.

She was never going to lose him now.