14: Big Girls Don't Cry

[Rockinmuffin]

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, instead of summoning toads and snakes and things like that, I’d have the ninjas summon hot bishounen and bishoujo. xD Why? Because I’m a pervert. …And talking animals annoy me. xD Lol.

Well, half of this chapter you’re not even in it; in case you haven’t noticed by now, this fanfic thingy sort of focuses on Kisame more than you. Lol. But you’re still just as important a character.

And I love you guys so I gave you a fluffy chapter ending. Aren’t I just made of awesome? xD ROFL-COPTOR!

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Kisame’s breath came out in heavy pants as he cut down yet another tree with his Samehada. Hopefully no one would miss the twenty or so trees he had already taken his anger out on. Oh well, better to lose trees instead of people.

Kisame placed his sword on the ground and wiped a bead of sweat off of his brow. His training session had left him feeling sore yet satisfied. Nothing else could take his mind off of his problems quite like senseless violence.

Of course, now that he was exhausted from training he had nothing to keep his mind from wandering to less pleasant thoughts.

Kisame closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

He should’ve known better than to have answered you; he should’ve lied and made something up. How could he ever expect you to understand? Kisame had always thought you were much too soft to be a ninja, too emotional. You allowed your emotions to take over you, to cloud your judgment without a second thought. You could never understand because you were the girl who cried over other people’s problems that didn’t even concern you; heck, you cried in Kisame’s place when he was teased or threatened countless times when he wouldn’t even bat an eyelash.

How could he ever explain to you that emotions held a ninja back from doing their job when emotions were all you had?

To you, maybe he really was some kind of emotionless monster with a black heart and a missing conscience.

He growled at the thought and hastily lifted his sword up over his head, only to smash it back to the ground and leave a small crater in its wake. He still wasn’t satisfied with this and he lifted the sword again only to repeat the process several times until he was left sweating and panting.

“So what if I’m a monster?!” he snarled loudly, leaning heavily on the handle of his sword. “I’m Hoshigaki Kisame of the Hoshigaki clan; the monster of Kirigakure!”

So what if you thought he was a monster? He knew he was a monster. He’d accepted it and eventually you would have to too.

Kisame’s ear twitched and he quickly jumped to his right, just barely dodging the barrage of shuriken that had been aimed for his head.

“You don’t die easily, do you?” A dark chuckle soon followed. “I knew there was a reason I liked you, Hoshigaki.”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve picking a fight with me, Momochi, especially after what you did to my team.”

Zabuza grinned, pointed teeth gleaming. “Picking a fight? You’ve got me all wrong. I just wanted to engage in a friendly sparring match” he stated, feigning innocence.

“Not in the mood, brat” Kisame growled out. “Besides,” he started, revealing his own sharpened teeth, “I can’t guarantee that I won’t kill you.”

Zabuza chuckled again, amused. “A death match? All the better then.” He grinned again as he planted his own sword firmly in the ground and leaned against it casually.

Despite his words, Zabuza didn’t appear to be looking for a fight, Kisame noted, so the shark-like genin allowed himself to relax. He set himself on the ground by his Samehada with a tired sigh and placed his hands on the ground and leaned back on his arms for support. “You’re a sick kid, Momochi” he said quietly with no ill intent behind his words.

Zabuza laughed again. “As if you’re one to talk, Monster of Kirigakure.”

Kisame smirked. “If you think that’s funny then you should hear what people are calling you. Momochi Zabuza, demon of the village hidden in the mist.”

“Demon, eh? I could get used to that” Zabuza sneered. “But it seems we have some common ground. We’re both hated and feared by our village.”

“Except I haven’t done anything to make them hate me” Kisame muttered bitterly.

The monster and the demon sat together in a surprisingly comfortable silence for a moment. Neither wanted to admit it, but it was nice to be around someone who felt the same, someone who knew what it was like to be stared at with eyes full of hate.

Kisame suddenly stood at his feet and pulled his sword up from the ground to place over his shoulder before walking away.

He stopped for a moment and looked back over his shoulder to make eye contact with Zabuza. “Don’t think that I’m not going to still kill you just because we had this little talk.”

Zabuza smirked back in response. “Funny… I was going to say the same thing to you.”

And so the monster of Kirigakure turned from the demon walked away.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

Kisame had never been more relieved when he opened his front door and entered his home. The hours he had spent at the training grounds had worn him out, but at least he was able to blow off some steam. At the moment, he wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower and go to bed.

He slowly trudged up to his room and prepared to pull off his shirt once he was in it, but stopped almost immediately. “..How’d you get into my room?”

You blinked back at Kisame from your spot on his bed and smiled nervously. “Your window was open.”

He looked back at his window to see broken shards of glass scattered about on the floor.

“Uh… It was like that when I got there…?”

Kisame rolled his eyes. “What do you want?” he asked rather loudly, narrowing his eyes at you and placing his hands on his hips. He wanted you to leave. He was tired and he wanted to go to bed and he couldn’t very well do that with you in his bed. …Well, he could, but he was still a bit peeved at you and couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t bite you in his sleep.

And it would be awkward to explain to his parents why he had a girl (especially you) in bed with him when morning came.

You squirmed under his gaze, your cheeks taking on a faint pink hint. “I wanted to say…” you started, then stopped shortly after, biting your lower lip. “Well, after I cooled down a bit I started thinking and, well, I guess I can kind of understand what you were saying. I mean, a person would have to be emotionally detached to deal with the aspects of a ninja’s lifestyle, especially you.”

Kisame remained silent.

“And don’t get me wrong,” you continued, “I’m still mad at you for being a butt-munch to Taki-kun! He may be a ninja but he’s still a kid and no matter who you are it still takes time to deal with the loss of a loved one, and some need more time than others.” You let out a sigh and allowed yourself to lean back on Kisame’s bed, your arms folded behind your head. Kisame snorted at this but you paid him little mind. “I guess I just wanted to come over to apologize. I had no right to call you a monster…”

Kisame blinked, then turned away from you and crossed his arms in front of his chest in a bored manner. “It’s fine” he murmured quietly.

“No, it’s not fine!” you shouted, bolting upright on the bed and looking at your teammate with wide eyes. “It’s not fine for people to call you a monster! And I shouldn’t have let my anger get to me like that…”

“See? Emotions can make you look stupid” he stated jokingly, forcing himself to smile softly.

“Maybe…” you trailed off, your eyes glazing over in thought. You quickly snapped yourself out of your daze and turned back towards Kisame. “It’s just… if people keep calling you a monster, then other people might start believing it. And if other people believe it, you might start to believe it too…”

Kisame let out a grunt in response. He didn’t need other people to tell him he was a monster; he already knew he was. He’d known since the day he discovered that most boys his age didn’t have blue skin or sharp teeth or gills. He was different from everyone else and that made him a monster. Still, Kisame was thankful for those differences that defined him as a monster. Those differences made him stronger in more ways than one.

And if he were ever given the opportunity to choose between being a normal person or staying the same, he’d keep his monstrosity every time.

Better to be a monster than a person who kills out of fear.

Kisame’s ears twitched and he instantly directed his attention back to you. He frowned as he saw you staring down into your lap, barely audible sobs slipping past your lips. He sighed and walked over to you, sitting himself next to you on his bed, his hand patting your shoulder awkwardly. “Don’t cry” he muttered softly, which only caused your sobs to increase. He bit his bottom lip, the metallic taste of blood slowly filling his mouth, but he continued to pat your shoulder as you sobbed and cried and occasionally wiped at your face to vainly try to stop your tears.

Kisame didn’t like it when girls cried, you especially. He told himself it was because it was a sign of weakness and he didn’t want anyone on his team to appear weak.

Maybe if he told himself enough times he’d start to believe it.

Eventually Kisame’s awkward pats to your shoulder had progressed into gentle strokes down the length of your back and your sobs had subsided to quiet sniffles. He continued the action well after your breathing had relaxed and slowed down, his fingers dancing lightly across your spine even though you were already fast asleep.

He wondered when he had fallen back on the bed to rest against his pillows, he wondered how you had managed to bury your face into the crook of his neck without him noticing earlier, and he wondered what his parents would say if they saw the two of you lying together in his bed right now.

His eyelids grew heavy as these thoughts flowed through his head; he tried to stay awake, really he did, but he was already so tired from training earlier and the softness of his bed combined with the warmth radiating off your body was too inviting. Before he knew it, Kisame had joined you in the land of slumber.

He had never had more pleasant dreams.