Otokage

May

And she had the strength of a hundred men if she was able to keep training with him on her back.

"You know, I wouldn't mind heading off to Nadeshiko with you," Kisame commented. Sakura paused, throwing a look of surprise over her shoulder.

"Eh? Really?"

He shrugged. "Why not? You can't really go wrong with a shark guy."

'Besides,' he thought. 'You managed to get Tobi to take his mask off when no one else could. I want to know what's different about you.'

Day 11

Kisame was used to the stares people gave him. He got it—he was tall and blue and had these huge-ass muscles that gave everyone the impression that he'd kill a person for accidentally bumping into him. But theses stares...

"Oi. Haruno-sama," he whispered, glancing around him. "I have two questions."

She looked over at him. "What are they?"

"Well, one, why am I seeing mostly kunoichi? Not that I have a problem with it, it's just that kunoichi aren't the dominant power force in other villages."

Sakura grinned. "This is a village of matrilineal lines," she answered. He bobbed his head in understanding before clearing his throat.

"Okay. So two, why the hell are they staring at me like I'm a discount piece of meat?"

She coughed to hide her laughter. "Marriage in Nadeshiko is much different than any other village," she explained, her grin growing wider. "They go out to find men strong enough to defeat them. If they find someone capable of doing so, they bring that man back to village and marry them. Because of this, women have been growing stronger and stronger with each generation."

Kisame was processing this slowly. "So they're looking at me... because they think I'm strong."

"Pretty much."

A group of kunoichi whistled in their direction.

"Hey, what's your stat total?"

"That sword looks like it'll deal a lot of damage. Wanna go a round?"

"Whaddya' got under that shirt, sweet cheeks? Bet you've got battle scars for miles."

He was flabbergasted. Sakura actually laughed at the expression on his face and clutched her stomach as she wiped tears from her eyes. When he asked what they were doing, she laughed even harder.

"What do you think? They're catcalling!"

"Are you serious?!"

Day 12

"I've never felt so violated. And they didn't even touch me."

The meeting was a short, sweet one that proposed a student exchange program between Nadeshiko and Oto. It went on for no more than an hour, the document was signed, and Sakura and Kisame stayed in the village overnight. After leaving the village, they traveled half a day before stopping at a local bar at the ports to wait for a ship to take them back to the mainland. They settled on seats by the shoreline where they could see the full moon's rays caress the ocean. Not that the view really mattered with Kisame slumped over his pint of beer and Sakura chuckling at his expense.

"You can't really blame the way you look," she said. She took a swig of her sake as he slumped down even further.

"The next time a woman complains about catcalling, I'll take it seriously."

"You learn something new everyday, eh?"

He brought himself back up and downed half his drink. "In the worst way possible," he sighed. He eyed her for a few seconds. "Are you even old enough to be drinking alcohol?"