Hoshigaki

Absolute Truth

"Yes, sensei," they chorused tiredly. She bid each of them a goodbye and a reminder to eat a good breakfast tomorrow before taking her leave. Left with the sounds of kids splashing in the next few lanes over, Sakura lazily set her chin in her palm. "So," she started. Her legs dangled freely in the water. "We cooking or getting take out?"

The answer was unanimous. "Take out."

Akamaru woofed in agreement.

::

Kisame took in the shabby apartment and was hit with a wave of nostalgia. It's like the first shitty apartment he got for himself in Ame where he met Saki and she gifted him those god-awful white chocolate chip cookies. The traps set up around the unit made him quirk a smile at her caution, but he wondered why the trip wires, sensors, and weapon launchers also extended to her next door neighbor. Were they friends too?

But traps like those weren't enough to keep out someone like him, so he slipped through the kitchen window and surveyed the area. The kitchen was clean, there weren't any dishes in the sink, and the fridge had no magnets or post-it notes. He frowned as he squeezed down the narrow hallway towards the bedroom. There were no stray marks and no pictures, and by the time he pushed open the old wooden door, a thread of sadness wound around the veins on his heart.

White walls were bare and navy sheets were made. There were still no pictures, no dust, but four handwritten scrolls hung on the wall just behind her bed.

"Remember what you witnessed here. This is what happens to fools who think they can change the world."

"Did you understand that, girl? You're their homegrown advantage. How does it feel to be used?"

"Because I'm not a good man."

"You will be an exemplary shinobi or you will be nothing at all."

"Pup..." he sighed. Kisame ran a hand over his face and turned away. He recognized one of those phrases to be his, probably, and deep down he knew that he could've prevented this. If he was there, she wouldn't have to live by those words and he could've raised her not to listen to people like the Akatsuki.

Which was hypocritical on his part, but she didn't have to listen to him anymore. How could she? He'd abandoned her and he wouldn't blame her if she hated him.

That thought alone made his eyes water again and he forced his attention on the small wooden desk right beside the bed.

There were... odd books and scrolls separated into neat piles. Titles like Hiruzen Sarutobi: Twice a Hokage and A Biography of the Fourth Hokage: Namikaze Minato and Rogues LXI: Orochimaru and Sannin from War met his speculating gaze. There were no notes, but as he thumbed through the marked pages he sees tabs by things concerning the Third Hokage's political decisions, his relationship with his students, and his choosing of his successor.

None of it made sense, and it made concern sprout in his blood. What sort of... research was she getting at with something like this? Was it authorized?

(Like he was the paragon of lawful work, but that wasn't the point.)

Kisame glanced down the hallway, back at the desk, then set the book down and worked his fingers through a series of hand seals. Strings of chakra erupted on the desk as a film of water covered a small 6 inch by 6 inch square. A pale catshark popped its head out in greeting with its reddish-white skin and the top half of its 8 inch length. She wasn't the smallest shark he could've summoned, but she was the smallest, non-bio-luminescent species that came off the top of his head.