Hoshigaki

Absolute Truth

Kisame almost cried when he spotted pink hair and a smile from his perch in one of Konoha's many trees. Her hair was still long and she had actual friends who looked genuine, like they really cared. Then she looked over her shoulder suddenly and stared towards his general area. And when he saw her heart-shaped face and the confused tint to her green eyes, he couldn't stop the few stray tears that dripped down his cheeks.

Sakura turned back to her friends and they lowered their voices a bit more. She'd gotten far better at sensing since the genjutsu incident and he could feel the bubble of pride swelling in his chest. Five years. She shouldn't have had to raise herself all that time.

Tearing his gaze away from his pup, he scrutinized the two (or three, really) in her company. The two red triangles on one of the boys' cheeks was a dead ringer for the Inuzuka Clan, and if that didn't cement the fact, the puppy beside him certainly did. The other boy's face he couldn't see with it shrouded in a high collar and a pair of dark glasses. Kisame lost the name at the moment, but he was sure he was from that one noble clan that controlled insects.

Then the genin sensei arrived. Yuuhi Kurenai—he'd heard about her before from Itachi. Good in genjutsu, speed, and intelligence, and not a bad fit to his pup's capabilities. Or at least what her capabilities used to be. He wouldn't blame her if she changed her style or found a new one; it had been so long and he was excited to see all the new things she learned.

As the four of them walked into the Aquatic Center, he took it as his cue to leave.

He reappeared just outside his pup's apartment.

::

A hand shot up from the water and grasped the edge of the pool, a head following and a torso flopping onto the ridged flooring. Kiba swiped his goggles off and tossed them off to who-knows-where as he gulped for air. "If I die this year, I want to be cremated," he gasped. Akamaru floated by on a paddleboard, soaking wet and already half asleep. "Build a new Aquatic Center in my name and spread my ashes around it. Then don't put any water in the building."

There were a few splashes behind him as another hand emerged to his left and another body set itself on the ledge. Sakura slapped her goggles down in front of her and reached up to pull off her swim cap, braided pink hair dropping back into the water. "Then why," she breathed, "would you want an Aquatic Center to be built?"

"Our of pure spite."

A third pair of hands reached Kiba's right and Shino pulled himself completely out of the pool in one swift movement, but rolled onto the ground shoulder first and flopped onto his back as he drew in air. His swim cap he shucks off and throws to the side but his goggles, though, he keeps on in the absence of his glasses. "I didn't consider the possibility of something being worse than the obstacle course. This is an instance where being proven wrong does not end in an enlightening experience."

Kiba made a face. "You like to be proved wrong?"

"It builds character."

Kurenai walked up to them and crouched down, the whistle around her neck swaying slightly. "If you guys keep this up, maybe I'll reconsider entering you at one of the meets they host here," she joked. She laughed as Kiba let himself sink back into the water. "But honestly, you three have done a fantastic job. Training is done for the day and you can all go home—but if you choose to stay in the pool a bit longer, that's fine too." She reached into the pool and gently plucked Akamaru from the board and set him down gently, giving his head a few pats after she does so. He barked and lolled his tongue out.

"Chlorine sucks," Kiba muttered. He finally hauled himself from the pool and, just as Shino had done, completely flopped onto the ground.

Kurenai lended them a sympathetic smile. "We have two missions tomorrow and the first one doesn't start until eleven so you can all sleep in."