Tenten and Kisame got along magnificently, but although she was having fun seeing Kisame use Samehada during their training spars, she had to admit she was no match for the beaut that Samehada was. Her scythe was just not enough. Even though Tenten loved her scythe, there was just something about Kisame's sword that enchanted her. It was really a great, unique sword. Tenten was almost jealous that it had chosen Kisame as its master because gODDAMN, did Tenten want to use that sword so much. But it was dangerous for her to touch it, so she didn't. 

Kisame wasn't really letting her near the sword anyway, although oddly enough, it had ended up near Tenten sometimes. She kept telling Kisame she wasn't touching the sword but it kept ending up close to her. 

"You and Itachi are really close, huh?" Tenten said on the third day of training, prior to the kidnapping mission. It was late at night and the whole day had been filled with sparring and finer sword techniques and brutal melee fighting that Tenten had not been accustomed to. Despite not enjoying melee too much, she had had fun sparring with him and she was sure she'd improved her melee fighting. Now, it was late and the campfire was dwindling and the two of them were chilling as they waited for sleep to overtake them.

"Yes, I guess," Kisame responded, "I admire Itachi, he really is a great shinobi. I am no match for his intelligence and his skills. You're really lucky you got to train with him."

"Yeah, he was a great teacher, I think my genjutsu skills have improved by leaps and bounds, and he taught me a lot about strategy. I even managed to be complimented once!" Tenten grinned at the thought, Itachi's compliment had been a great achievement for her. 

"What did he say?"

"He said, and I remember this word for word, 'You are a bright kunoichi, and your skills with weaponry are nothing to scoff at. I think you'd even be able to handle some of the greatest weapons ever made.' And jashin, that compliment was really good."

"Ha, that sounds like Itachi. One compliment throughout a whole entire week. But you're lucky you got one. If Itachi thinks you're that great of a weaponsmaster, I can relax about Samehada, I guess."

"Huh, Itachi's opinion is really invaluable to you, isn't it?"

"Well, he doesn't give compliments too often." Kisame said rather wryly. 

There was a short pause in the conversation. Then, Kisame spoke up again. 

"Why did you join the Akatsuki? You seem like a nice girl. Don't you have any goals or sense of purpose in your life?"

Another short pause as Tenten digested the question and thought it over.

"Well, Kisame, you're really powerful, and I wanted to be powerful too. I'm fed up with how others treat me, and if I can become powerful, I'll do it." Another thought crossed Tenten's mind: "Why? Didn't you join the Akatsuki for the same reason?"

Kisame grinned like a shark. "Sure." He said, sarcastically, then continued in a normal voice, "No, I joined the Akatsuki because this world is full of lies and I want to make a world of only truth. That is my goal."

"Full of lies...?" Tenten repeated. "Hardly. It's not full of lies."

This hit a nerve on Kisame. "Surely you've read about my past from the bingo books? Haven't you been taught about the Akatsuki and all of our pasts?"

"Well... no. But I still don't believe that the world is full of lies."

"You're young." Kisame stated. "That's why you don't think that yet. But once you become older, and a terrible person like me, you'll see that this world is doomed and we cannot save it."

"A terrible person???" Tenten ruined the quiet mood so far by repeating that far louder than necessary. "Sure, you're in the Akatsuki, but that doesn't mean you're a terrible person!!"

"I've killed many comrades and friends and partners for the sake of not letting information get out. If I have to kill you, too, I would. Without hesitation. I am a terrible person, and I am doomed to die a meaningless death." Kisame said in a defeated tone of voice.  

"No!" Tenten protested, "That doesn't mean you're a terrible person! You're really humble and you know your weaknesses. You have no problem with pride either. You think you're a terrible person, meaning you have a conscience and feel bad that you had to. It was out of your choice, Kisame-sensei, you had to."

"You're saying it's okay to kill?"

"We're shinobi. We can't really help it. It doesn't mean we're terrible people, we're just people with special circumstances."

"Tell that to the families of those who you kill. I am a terrible person."

"The families knew that they'd have friends and family who would die, if they're shinobi, there's always a chance that they'll die. You're not a terrible person."

"Good night, Tenten. I'll wake you up for the mission tomorrow. And you also have to sacrifice someone, so get some sleep." Kisame said in order to avoid the topic. 

"Fine." Tenten said. "I still believe you're a good person at heart. Good night, Kisame-sensei."

***

It was also the third day of training with Tobi for Sakura. Tobi knew that Sakura didn't have the Sharingan, which was Tobi's primary source of strength, so it was difficult for him to come up with an actual schedule for Sakura. 

He knew that Sakura, so far, had incredible strength, could heal and perform most normal ninjutsu with ease. Since the Akatsuki, she had improved her chakra reserves with Jashin, was experienced with poisons, and with Zetsu had inherited some Wood Style that she could not yet use. She could disappear below ground too, and a side effect was also that her conscience wasn't so bad anymore. 

So. Wood Style it was. He had been teaching Sakura basic jutsu with it for a while, but even with Jashin backing her, her chakra reserves were pitiful. 

On the first day, he had asked Sakura, "Do you know what Wood Style is?"

Of course she did. She came from the village founded by Senju Hashirama himself. What had he expected. 

"Well," Tobi had continued, "You are going to learn Wood Style."

This had conflicted with Sakura for two reasons: first, Wood Style? Wasn't that a dead style? Hadn't only Senju Hashirama been able to create it?

This Tobi had answered by, yes, only Senju Hashirama had been able to create as far as the world knew. Sakura would still learn Wood Style.

Second, Sakura had questions about her medic ninjutsu. Medic ninjutsu had no elemental style so that it didn't conflict with anyone. If she had Wood Style, she wouldn't be able to heal anyone at all, because nobody had Wood Style. 

Tobi assured Sakura that she would still be able to heal. The interesting thing about Wood Style is that for people to have it, they need to have Hashirama's cells. Sakura was clearly not related to the first Hokage either so the cells was the way to go. While Sakura might not notice it, the cells were implanted into her left hand, not her right, so theoretically she should be able to heal with her left and channel Wood Style in her right. Hopefully. This was the first time Tobi and Zetsu had attempted something like this, so they weren't entirely sure but hey, if she wanted to be stronger, she'd have to suffer a bit. 

As such, the last three days had been extremely exhausting for Sakura. She was more exhausted now than she had ever been ever before. Even Tsunade-sama's training, which she had thought would kill her, it was so strict and severe at times, was nothing compared to Tobi's. He pushed her past her mental and physical capacities so many times, she had lost count. She had fainted from the work at least six times so far. Chakra pills were running low and her chakra was at a constant low. Every day, when they sat to eat, she ate ravenously and then fell asleep. But only for a quick nap, because ten or fifteen minutes later, she'd be up again, practicing. The only thing that really kept her going was Jashin and Tobi's smooth, smooth voice. On the second day, she had told Tobi she needed a break and left to go sacrifice someone to Jashin, and she'd been so tired that even after Jashin's energy boost, she had still been quite tired. But at least Jashin had saved her for the rest of the day. 

But now she craved Jashin's power again. She'd been pushed so far, that it had hastened her progress and now she needed to sacrifice again. Whether Tobi liked it or not, she had had to leave and sacrifice, leaving for three hours. But she soon returned in order to hear Tobi's delicious voice. She would keep being pushed past her limits though. She had never expected Tobi, of all shinobi, to be the one that pushed her past her limits so many times. 

Her Wood Style was barely even working, however. The best she could do was raise a pitiful little strand of wood. 

That would improve, in time. Sakura was sure of it. She had been pushed so many times, that she would break soon and that would make or break the sword that Sakura was. 

Tobi wasn't one for chit chat either, so not much time was wasted discussing things, besides training and jutsu. 

By the fourth day, she should at least be able to build a fairly good Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall, she knew. That was her goal. She'd worked so hard, it didn't make sense that she wouldn't. She'd gone crazy in order to accomplish this shit, she wasn't about to leave it. 

"Ready, Sakura~?" Tobi grinned. "Surely you're not done yet, it's only been an hour since your last sacrifice~" 

Sakura's eyes hardened a bit. "No, I'm not done. I'm ready. Call it, and I'll make a Wood Locking Wall. Just like you ask."

In his special voice, Tobi sang, "Okay... Three, two, one~"

Sakura made the hand signs of Rat, Dog and Tiger rapidly, then shouted, "Wood Locking Wall, chanara!" Slowly, with concentration, she lifted up three logs of wood. Good enough to hide under in a pinch, but not good enough to actually use in a fight. She wiped beads of sweat away from her forehead. "How's that, Tobi-sensei?" She grinned. It was the first time she'd managed a usable one. 

"Hmm... Fine. You should improve it, so that you're like Yamato."

"Who's Yamato?" Sakura asked, a bit confused.

"Yamato. He's from your village, remember? Surely you know him, you and Naruto went on a mission with him..." 

"No?"

"Oh right, this isn't canon anymore... hmm... I wonder if my plan will work this time...?"

"Cannon? Plan?" Sakura looked even more confused. 

"Don't worry about it, Sakura~chan~." Tobi sang, in . "Just focus on your work~" Then silently, he added, I'll take care of the rest.

"Oh okay." Rat-Dog-Tiger, Wood Locking Wall.