Prologue The Will of The Shark
[With Kisame]
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" Damn it, this guy doesn't know when to give up, huh?!" One of Kisame's eyes slid as he looked back slightly at his pursuer. Wearing the robe of the rogue ninja group, the Akatsuki, the masked man chased him as he jumped from tree branch to tree branch with incredible fluidity. Just as the masked man was getting to his back, Kisame snickered in his mind, " Let's see how he handles this! "
The rogue swordsmen quickly dived to the ground just before the masked man's hand grasped his back. Landing, Kisame did a quick spin as he hit the grassy forest floor. Then, in a flash, he made the hand signs for a water release, roaring out, " Water Style: Multi Water Shark Bomb Jutsu !" Then, several sharks made of water shot towards where the masked man was supposed to be.
After the sharks detonated, branches and scraps of wood came clattering to the forest floor, and the remaining water scattered down as shimmering droplets. "I don't see why you're making such a fuss about this offer, Mr.Hoshigaki." Kisame's eyes widened as he turned quickly around, just barely seeing the end of the swirling effect that man seemed to appear from.
"I already told you I'm not interested in this crazy plan of yours," Kisame growled, one hand sliding backward to grab Samehada's hilt. The shark-like man's eyes narrowed while thinking, " This masked bastard's entire personality switched up before he was acting like a complete goofball. "
The masked man sighed before saying, "A shame you would have been useful in bringing true peace to this rotten world." Launching forward, the masked man went for Kisame, who in turn met him with another shot of his Water Shark Bomb jutsu. Kisame scowled as he watched that strange swirling effect come over the masked man, his jutsu disappearing into it.
Kisame took several swings at the masked man with Samehada in a quick series of movements. The masked man disappears, using that swirl effect to suddenly appear behind Kisame to dodge the first swing, only for Kisame to reply with a turning slash that causes the masked man to step backward, followed by five shark bombs sent out by Kisame to keep pressure. The masked man let out a snicker, activating the swirl a third time to wipe away the 3 sharks before seemingly sinking into the ground itself.
The masked man appeared from Kisame's right, his kunai aimed at his neck. As Kisame turned, he smirked as the two remaining sharks shot out of the ground, seemingly ramming into the masked man. The rouge ninja's smirk warped into a scowl as branches of wood shattered, scattering wood chunks and twigs from the liquid blasts. Suddenly, the masked man drove a kunai into the back of Kisame's neck just as the swordsman turned to swing Samehada down on him.
The singular eye was just barely visible in the hole of the mask, narrowed in irritation as the Kisame and Samehada collapsed into a puddle of water, thinking, " He must have switched with a water clone during one of my movements with Kamui, had I not realized his Samehada was a fake I would have kept cautious." The masked man turned to his right, looking into the forest, thinking, " Don't think you've shaken me yet, former swordsman of the mist. I've shown you too much to let you live." That's when Kamui's swirling effect overtook him as he pursued his target.
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[Underground]
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" I don't get what that swirly shit he's doing is exactly, but it's some form of ocular jutsu, maybe one of those sharingan ." Kisame mused as he quickly moved through the dirt, heading for the nearby lake. He was even more confused now. Kisame was sure someone would have mentioned a rogue Uchiha, especially one as skilled as this guy.
His eyes narrowed, " And all that world peace crap that psycho was trying to sell to me, even if the masked freak was being honest, which even a complete dunce could see he wasn't being, how the hell would he and his little band do it?" He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to start thinking up a storm; sensing he was near the foot of the lake, he headed upwards, erupting from the ground with a start.
" Shark summoning! " Without a second wasted, Kisame summoned one of his sharks into the lake; it was a silver-colored mako, its eyes lulled up to Kisame asking, "Hoshigake, what's going on? I can sense that your heart rate is..." The mako stopped itself as Kisame let out a low sigh before replying, "I need you to take Samehada. Find someone who can take care of her Snaps."
The sword suddenly squirmed on his back, releasing shocked whining noises of disbelief as Snaps replied, "I...What Hoshigake...what could possibly make you do this?" Kisame scowled, snapping back, "Look, we don't have all day Snaps," The shark-like man going to grab Samehada from his bag to seal her in a scroll, only to earn himself several scales to the hand as he scowled, "Don't be like that girl this is for your own good."
"Give me something to work with, at least, Kisame," Snaps argued back while flopping forward in the lake's water, bringing himself closer to the shore as Kisame struggled to negotiate with Samehada to let him seal her. Kisame rolled his eyes," There's a masked man who's been pestering me for a few days now, I can't shake him, and now he wants me dead."
Kisame didn't need to admit anything for Snaps to understand what he entirely meant, "I....see," It took a moment for Snaps to continue a much more lucid tone to the shark's growly voice, "What do you want me to look for in Samehada's new host?" The shark's words seemed to unravel the sword's temper further as it wriggled, hissed, and jabbed Kisame's hands relentlessly without taking any of his chakra.
"Just find someone like me, someone ostracized, who needed someone to be there for them," Kisame more shyly said while letting out a heavy sigh at finally getting Samehada into the scroll before looking at Snaps's eyes, "Be everything I needed when I was young to that person."
He gently placed Both Samehada's scroll and the shark summoning contract into the mako's mouth before, with a nod, he sent the shark off to find a new home for his beloved weapon. Kisame then scowled, thinking, " Now, it's time to give Snaps all the time he needs ."
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[(A week later)At a river-fed pond near Konoha village]
(Author's note - Naruto is still academy age here; I don't have an exact age for him)
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Naruto was sitting at the edge of the pond, swirling a stick at the top of the water, once again doubts bubbling in his heart, " Should I really even go back to the village? " small tears dripped down his cheeks and dripped into the water.
"Having a rough day, kid?" A growly voice asked with a surprisingly soft tone. Naruto didn't hesitate to answer, "It's okay, just the villagers can be a little mean sometimes." That's when he blinked and turned to see the shark poking its head from the water; that would almost be cute if not for the maw of razor-sharp teeth.
Naruto jumped back in surprise before wiping his teary eyes and exclaiming, "A..A talking shark?!" Snaps's eyes narrowed at the boy before him, and Naruto kept that shocked but somewhat amazed look. The shark could tell the kid had potential. If he had to guess, this was the unfortunate soul stuck with the nine-tails between the immense chakra that had Samehada bouncing the scroll in his gut around and the whiskers. It wasn't hard to figure out.
"The name is Snaps. What's yours, kid?" Snaps kept his tone calm and collected. He didn't know how much longer Kisame had in the tank to keep running from "the masked freak," but lasting a week was already a miracle. Naruto paused, poking his fingers together before finally caving to his own curiosity, happily replying, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"
That caused the shark to perk up even more. Nine-tailed Jinchuriki and an Uzumaki?! Snaps immediately locked in because this was his big chance to honor Kisame's legacy and ensure his last request was fulfilled. "Naruto Uzumaki...hm, it's a fine name," he started before asking, "So Uzumaki," Naruto quickly interjected, "Just call me Naruto. No need to be formal, Snaps."
"Hm, fine...Naruto, how would you like to do something for me? It's incredibly important to me," The shark's tone became gravely and melancholic, which caught the young boy's attention," It's honestly more of a burden for someone so young, but you might be my only chance."
That's when Naruto's response made the shark flinch, "Of course, I'll help you, Snaps," before the shark could even let out a word, Nauto followed up, "You trusting me with something important to you, and you even bothered to check on me when the people in my own village wouldn't. So it doesn't matter. I'll take it on without a second thought."
Snaps let out a snicker and a chuckle before replying, "Well, you certainly have the right attitude for the job, Naruto," that's when he spat out the shark summoning contract, "Before anything else, I need you to sign this contract for me."
Naruto blinked before dropping to his knees and unfurling the contract, looking up to ask," Uh, how do I do this?" Snaps replied, slightly amused, "Just bite your thumb and leave a thumbprint in blood on the paper." The young boy flinched a bit as he followed through with the shark's instructions, and once it was done, the contract rolled and disappeared.
The boy looked at the shark before asking, "So, what's next, Snaps?" The shark replied more strained, "Next, I'm going to have to train you how to perform the summoning jutsu... You know how to channel chakra, right?" The deafening silence at the question made the shark mentally sigh before thinking, " At least with his signature, the kid's keeping me here, so when Kisame finally kicks the bucket, I won't be going anywhere. "
Snaps then gave the boy a slight smile. He had his work cut out for him, but he'd live, " I handled dealing with Kisame in his early days. How much harder could this kid be ?"
Prologue end