"If you tell anyone I begged-"

Kisame was cut off as a short chuckle left Koraru's lips. Before she had even touched him to begin his physical he had jumped away from her, asking, no begging, her not to invade him. Unable to hold her calloused expression any longer she had laughed him off, telling him she had no intention of actually do it, unless he thought it was completely necessary. He quickly declined of course, loudly, and they were now making their way back towards Koraru's bedroom, both of their arms stacked high with books and reference scrolls.

"Of course not Kisame-kun. Doctor patient confidentiality and such. I would ne-"

She stopped as one of the scrolls fell free from under her arm, causing her to shuffle the other contents she was carrying carefully in hopes of allowing her to pick it up. She huffed in frustration as she dropped another, Kisame smirking in amusement and shaking his head. All that poise and grace crap and she couldn't even carry her own books. He shuffled his own load in one swift movement, reaching down and picking up both scrolls with his large hand in one fell swoop. Koraru glared to him lightly as she flicked her hair behind her and began forwards once more.

"Don't look so smug, you're hands are huge compared to mine."

Another smirk tugged at his blue lips, his eyes running over her form as her hips swayed from her movements.

"Every part of me is huge, Koraru-chan."

"Mhmm, you're ego included I see."

She returned his smirk over her shoulder and they shared a quiet laugh, Koraru opening her bedroom door with her elbow, allowing the heavy door to creak open as she pushed on it forcefully. Kisame followed her inside, the room was much better illuminated than it had been earlier, the fire still well stocked and burning brightly, providing both light and warmth to the cold dark room. He followed Koraru to her desk, setting her books down on the floor beside it. The surface itself wasn't what he would call usable, notes, scribbles, diagrams and formulas were scattered all across it, some strewn across the floor before it, which Koraru was now busying herself retrieving. She hummed quietly, a content smile set across her lips as she shuffled them into a neat pile, and set them down carefully.

"Thanks for your help Kisame-kun."

He waved his hand, taking a few moments to appreciate how warm her bedroom was, chasing away the chill which had settled upon his skin during their walk through the hallway. He grunted in relief as he sat himself on the edge of her bed, his eyes running over her folded green nightdress once more. Being much closer than he was before he could see that the thin mint coloured material was covered by a glittered gossamer layer of fabric, a silver bow nestled between the breast, and a thin silver trim along its bottom edges. He ran his tongue along the back of his lips as his eyes lingered, before the bed sunk down beside him, his head turning to allow him to lock eyes with the Mizutenshi staring up at him. She smiled softly, Kisames face remaining rigid as she did. He liked looking at her, most people with a preference for women did, and he liked being around her, her charm made him feel better than he ever did when he was on his own. That smile though, that small but accepting upturned expression which was so often settled across her lips, whether looking at him, Itachi, Yuri, Oruka...it was always the same. She wasn't unsettled by his appearance, she wasn't afraid of him, or even wary of him... that was his favourite part. He found himself unintentionally smiling slightly in return, watching her as she fell back into her very standard, and slightly itchy, white bed sheets. Her eyes closed over slowly.

"You'll be training with me in the morning, so you should make sure you get plenty of rest."

She pouted, one eye creaking open.

"What kind of training will we be doing?"

Kisame smirked, crossing his arms and leaning closer to her.

"Nothing as delicate as what Itachi had you doing. I can't believe you got away with that."

She glared at him, pressing her elbows against the bed and pushing herself off of it slightly.

"Itachi's training was very helpful and balancing. Being beaten into the ground isn't the only way to learn a lesson you know."

Kisame rolled his eyes, his smirk firm.

"We're criminals Koraru-chan, you can't seriously expect us to coddle you. We were told to get results out of you, and we will."

She released a defeated sigh as she flopped back childishly, closing her eyes once more.

"Brute force isn't always the answer Kisame-kun, there's something to be said for training which can actually be enjoyed."

Kisame's eyes lingered on her smooth stomach for a few moments longer than he meant them to before he pulled himself from his seat, throwing his hands into his pockets in defeat and shrugging his shoulders.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand. We have obligations here, even me. So don't expect me to go easy on you."

He walked towards the door, his hand resting on the door frame for a few moments.

"I'll see you in the morning, 7am sharp. Goodnight."

She sighed and sat up, giving Kisame one last gentle smile.

"Of course, goodnight Kisame-kun."

Koraru followed Kisame through the woods, her eyelids heavy and her body still sluggish. She had slept in a little later than intended that morning, having spent the previous night sitting up reading through her notes. The hours had ticked by, and she eventually found herself being rudely awakened by Kisame, having failed to be ready to meet him at the allotted time. He was less than amused by her disregard of his instructions, and was currently giving her the cold shoulder. He hadn't uttered a word since they left the base, the only sounds filling the early morning that of the wind rustling the trees softly, and their own footsteps as they made their way through the overgrown path.

"Where are we going?"

She looked ahead to Kisame but he didn't answer, solid in his conviction to ignore her, causing her to puff her cheeks childishly.

"I said I was sorry."

Kisame stopped, taking a deep breath before pinching the bridge of his nose tightly.

"It's not like I meant to sleep in you know."

He turned to face her sharply, his brow knitted in aggravation, a heavy frown pulled across his lips, his sharp eyes boring into her. She flinched, her confident stance faltering briefly under his intense gaze.

"Whether you meant to or not, you did. I told you to get some sleep, I told you when to meet me, and you disregarded both my advice and instruction."

He leaned forward, lowering himself slightly, making himself eye level with the woman. Her glittering pink orbs where unfocused as she stared back at him.

"You're acting like you don't want my help at all. If you fail, leader will kill you, then I have to tell your brother, and Itachi will die. So stop being so selfish, because there's more than one person invested in you doing well here; get your head out of those stupid books, and start paying attention."

He straightened up and turned back around, he wasn't going to await her response, and he wasn't going to let her annoy him any further, at least until they reached their destination. Koraru hung her head lowly, staying a few steps behind Kisame as she followed him through the forest. She knew she was being childish with many of her actions, skipping meals, staying up all night, she wasn't even doing the yoga stretches Itachi had requested of her. Her fingers laced themselves together, finding comfort in themselves as she felt a heavy weight rest itself onto her shoulders. She stole a glance at Kisame as he led the way, a silent sigh slipping past her pink lips. He was right, she wasn't acting very grateful for his help... Her lips pursed together tightly, and she sucked in a deep breath, she should apologise again.

"This is where I come to train."

She stopped walking, looking up to realise that Kisame had done the same, now standing just beside her as he scanned the area quickly. It appeared to be nothing more than a small clearing, to the right in the distance was a small mountain, sitting behind a cliff face around 100ft in height, water cascading from a small river atop it crashing down onto the earth below, creating a small waterfall, a river no wider than 15 feet continuing on. It was quiet and secluded, very off the beaten path, but still didnt really seem like an adequate training place for someone like Kisame. His jutsu tended to be on a massive scale, how could he possibly use such a small space to hone his skills?

"We'll start here."

He approached the cliff face and walked toward the waterfall, Koraru following after him when he offered no explanation as to where 'here' was. It quickly became apparent upon approach that the crashing waters of the waterfall covered a small opening, Kisame entering inside from the side, and glancing behind him to ensure the woman was still following. Koraru blinked to help her eyes adjust to the dim light, focusing onto Kisame as he set his sword down beside him and removed his cloak, folding it over neatly and setting it beside his weapon. She kept her eyes on him as he turned to face her, gesturing towards the falling water.

"For the next few hours we'll be sitting below the waterfall. You need to toughen yourself up. With Itachi working your mind, and the others working your combat skills, I'm going to work your body. It's out of shape for a combatant, being thin isn't the same as being fit. Harden your scalles fully, and set yourself below the waterfall. I'm going to increase the rate of fall every 3 minutes, don't let your armour break."

"Increase it until...?"

He smirked darkly.

"Until you prove to me that you can handle all the pressure I can exert."

She gawked at him, her muscles tensing as she shook her head no.

"I cant withstand that kind of force! My scales aren't that hard they-"

"Then make them that hard. The only limitation that they have is that of your own chakra, and your chakra is my chakra."

She glowered at him, crossing hers arms across her chest as she huffed in defeat. Sometimes, she wasnt quite sure if Kisame knowing so much more about her kind than the others was a good or bad thing.

"Fine."

Kisame had found his training to be highly amusing, fishing Koraru out of the river not once, not twice, but three times. She now sat behind the waterfall on all fours, panting heavily, soaked from head to toe, her scales still cracking and falling from her as he laughed at her loudly. He wasn't all that surprised that her scales were weak, enough to withstand about 4 tonnes of pressure, but her armour should have been able to hold up to more, no what surprised him was the way she panicked each time she fell into the water. She could breathe in complete submergence, so her squeals had been quite comical to him. She knelt up, glaring at him in annoyance as she pulled his cloak into her arms, bundling it tightly and throwing it at him. It didn't do anything, but it made her feel better.

"Shut up it's not funny!"

He chuckled once more, running his hand through his damp locks, a mischievous smirk set across his blue lips and a dark but delighted twinkle in his silver eyes.

"Oh but it is. Why are you screaming when you fall in? You can swim."

He puffed out her cheeks as she stood up, dusting herself off.

"It's not the falling in! It's the who knows what water pressure forcing me down the river! I cant swim against that!"

Kisame only shook his head, shrugging his shoulders.

"So transform into your full mizutenshi form. It wont bother you at all."

Koraru released her annoyed glare, instead sighing heavily as she wrapped her arms around herself, peaking Kisame's interest and curiosity.

"Its been a long time since I've transformed every part of my body at one. By section sure, but other than that..."

She trailed off, Kisane quirking an eyebrow.

"Why?"

Koraru rubbed her arms in discomfort before continuing.

"Well I didn't have a whole lot of chakra did I?"

Kisame placed his hands into his pockets and rolled his eyes.

"Entirely your own fault. It's not like it would have been hard for you to get some."

Koraru stifferend, her knitted brow returning as she glared at him. He didn't understand at all, did he?

"I didn't want to feed on anyone else."

"Mangetsu is dead. You think he would have wanted you to torture yourself the way you did?"

Kisame's eyes widened as he stumbled slightly, Koraru pushing forcefully on his back as she shoved him. He pivoted on his heel, grasping her wrists tightly and frowning at her. Her eyes watered as she stared up at him, her cheeks tinted red in anger.

"You don't have to remind me you know! I think about it all the time without you saying it."

His grip on her wrists tightened and he pulled her closer to him, lowering his head to her level.

"Don't push me again."

His voice was low and filled with discontent. He was bored of thinking about Mangetsu already, and she hadn't even been here that long. He was tired of her tears and her random bouts of emotions, one minute she was fine and the next she was weepy and sad, she had to get control over herself, and she had to get it quickly.

"Listen up Koraru-chan. You need to get in control of yourself. You need to try a lot more. Train harder, think harder, act tougher, and most importantly? For the last time, stop crying all the time. If the Akatsuki catches even a whiff of your weakness your in trouble."

He thrust her hands back and straightened up, glowering down at her as one of her tears fell free from her sparkling eyes. Her expression soured further, her flawless features twisting into immense anger. It was fleeting though, the expression melting away into nothing as her shoulders sulked lowly, her head tilting towards the mossy earth below her feet, her bright locks falling forwards to cover her eyes. Kisame watched her intently as she sucked in a deep breath.

"I'll try harder. I will. I don't cry all the time though..."

Kisame snorted, crossing his arms.

"I've seen you cry plenty of times since you arrived."

She stayed silent for a few moments before sniffing lightly, her hand passing across her face ans wiping her tears away.

"I thought you were my friend. I felt safe around you, so I thought I could talk to you."

Kisame winced slightly, straightening up. It was true he hand known Koraru for a long time, mostly in passing though. Being on a team with Oruka and Yuri he spent a lot of time with each one in his younger years, in particular Oruka, the two becoming close friends. It meant that he spent a good deal of time at the man's apartment, often running into Koraru considering she lived there. They spoke from time to time. She would ask him about his missions, he would stare at her breasts, Mangetsu would growl at him. He would consider her an acquaintance at best, he didn't really know enough to consider her as anything else, expect as a sexual partner in his fantasies anyway. His stomach pitted and he watched her intently, her tanned hands running across her face again and again in an attempt to clear her vision of her tears, before finally tucking a strand of her fuschia locks behind her ear. Her eyes were slightly red and puffed, causing Kisame to involuntarily look away from her. Did he feel guilty? He scoffed to himself quietly at the idea. He hadn't done anything wrong dammit! He grunted, pointing towards the waterfall once more.

"We don't have time for this, get back under the water."

"I'm sorry Kisame-kun, it won't happen again."

Her voice was quiet and shaky, and she passed him quickly, her eyes ahead. Kisame watched her as she settled beneath the cascading waters as he wanted, her legs crossed and her eyes closed. He watched her fixedly for a few moments, his brow knitting together in thought as some unseen weight pushed down on his shoulders. He shook his head once, grunting to himself and preparing his hand signs. He hadn't done anything wrong.