The Sharingan's Voice

Chapter 9.1 Differences in Skill

"Kisame, what are you doing here?"

Naruto skitted to an abrupt halt, turning to the cause of interruption. He was lucky to have been on time, Tatakai had barely signaled the stop, no doubt still ready to defend himself, should Naruto have overlooked it.

Quickly assessing the situation, he took note of the fact that Tatakai had addressed the blue-skinned man by name. The way he'd worded his inquiry left no doubt that he knew him. Naruto warily eyed the stranger, who returned the favour by grinning a slightly disturbing smile that revealed rows of sharp, pointy teeth.

"Naruto, come here!" The dark haired boys eyes didn't leave his acquaintance as he called him over, voice cold and demanding. It only added to Naruto's suspicions, but he begrudgingly did as told.

"Heard you were close by. So I thought to say hello. You two up for a little spar?"

"No." Tatakai's voice was icy. Naruto curiously watched the exchange as he stepped next to Tatakai, who finally turned to look at him, eyes flashing red.

'Stay close!...S-Class...Don't let his sword touch you!...Don't interfere...'

The jumble of information assaulted Naruto's mind, then the moment was over and the other turned back.

"Why not? You always enjoyed a good fight..." Kisame pointed out.

"Where is he?"

"....or is it that you can't?..."

"What do you want?" Tatakai continuously grew more annoyed.

"Are you two teammates?"

"Cut the crap. Did he tell you to come here? Is he too much of an asshole to face me himself?"

"No, he's just busy with some other business rightnow. He wasn't opposed to the idea of me saying hello, though."

"Alright, you said your hello. Now leave!"

"I think not. I haven't had a good fight in a while and 'he' is a pain in the ass about 'unnecessary' fighting. I want to train and you are here, so let's spar. I'll refrain from leaving any overly visible marks on you, don't worry."

"Tell him to keep his lackeys in line."

"Well, if you don't want to, then... " He turned to Naruto, looking at him expectantly, but before he could reply, the other boy had moved in between them.

"Leave!" Kisame grinned, and then moved, fast, as expected of an S-Class. Naruto whirled around to face the threat, but was pushed away as Tatakai stood in between them again, blocking with his practice sword. The blue man chuckled as the other boy jumped back, throwing a kunai to keep Kisame from getting close again.

"Come on, it's just a spar! I want to see with whom you practice now!"

"You are not welcome here, Tell the asshole to show up himself or leave us the hell alone."

Kisame ignored that, still laughing, then rose his sword for another swing. Naruto, ignoring the other's request, multiplied himself and joined the fight. Tatakai cursed.

The attack forced both boys to retreat, leaving deep grooves in the place they had stood just a second before. A Naruto-clone that hadn't been fast enough poofed out. Another, who had tried to advance from behind was also blocked and quickly destroyed.

This guy was powerful, Naruto had to admit that. He had expected the strength but his bulky form had not suggested the speed he could conjure and it quickly became clear that they were rather being toyed with than battled. He could see Tatakai's frustration rise quickly, too. The other was still trying to defend him, even though he had no clue which one was the real him out of all those duplicates running around. It put Tatakai on the forefront of the fight and it was obvious that, while he seemed to know the other's fighting style well enough to be able to almost predict his movements, that he managed just barely.