Living a Lie

Chapter Thirteen - Wrestling With a Shark

"Guh, Kisame… It's too big…"

"Wimp."

"No, really, it's too big," I complained, trying not to pant from the effort I was putting forth.

Kisame sighed in exasperation. He then proceeded to lift Samehada and hefted the huge sword onto his shoulder.

One-handed.

"Shut up. You're such a show-off."

"You're the one who wanted to see how heavy it is," he replied, grinning.

I crossed my arms and started walking towards a bench. We were currently inside a previously unknown-to-me indoor training area within the base. It was huge, and had everything one could possibly want as far as keeping up one's personal fitness was concerned.

Kisame sat down next to me, and we both settled into a comfortable silence for a couple seconds.

And then he started chuckling.

"What the heck is so funny, Fish-face?" I asked, annoyed. Somehow, I knew that he was laughing at my expense. I just wasn't entirely sure what he was laughing about.

Once his laughing subsided, he turned to grin mockingly at me. "You wouldn't have been able to lift Samehada anyways."

I blinked. "Why not?"

"Only the owner of the sword can wield it. There's a jutsu that I put on it in order to make sure no one can touch it."

I stared at him, confused. "And what, exactly, is so funny about that?"

"I didn't use the jutsu."

…And…?

"Which means you really are a wimp." He continued grinning, but this time I perceived it as more of a challenging sort of smirk.

Something snapped. I turned away from him, my expression turning murderous. "…cocky bastard…" I mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear, and then…

"What the―!" One punch and I sent the insufferable jerk across the room, where he lay dazed on top of a bunch of collapsed exercise dummies.

I started walking towards him, chakra flaring up my arms. Kisame's eyes shot up at my approach, and then narrowed in anticipation. "You're still a wimp, Sakura-chan," he called out, just adding more fuel to the fire.

"So you're arrogant and stupid. Way to be, Sharky," I called back, and then I started running towards his still sprawled-out form. Just seeing him laying there, completely unguarded and unworried, was making me see red. 'He's really pushing it…'

Just as I was about to land a chakra-laden punch to his gut, I noticed something wasn't right. I couldn't stop my fist in time, and the body that it made contact with exploded in a burst of water.

'Dammit, a water clone…' I straightened and quickly looked around while trying to sense his chakra.

There was nothing. 'Where the hell is he? Up? Right? Left? Behind?'

I slowly looked down. The floor was a really nice hardwood finish. I'd really hate to ruin it…

And if he was really under the floor, then I'd just have to draw him out somehow…

I quickly formulated a plan, running swiftly to the exit, knowing that if he really wanted to fight me, then he'd stop me before I could get outside. It was either that, or he'd come outside looking for me, andthen I could tear up the ground to look for him if he tried that stunt again.