Like many, Kisame grew up in a laboratory. He was fed dose after dose of strange chemicals and they made him into something entirely different. He grew stronger and stranger, but still he obeyed every whim, never once trying to escape his captor. He was the perfect soldier – a weapon of war.

That's what it boiled down to. There were two sides. He never assumed he was on the wrong one. He never realized with two sides come two different stories.

When he turned seventeen, he left the lab. He was brought to a training ground with others like him – a man named Zabuza Momochi. They called him a demon and Kisame understood why when their training was finished. He killed quick and without hesitance.

Kisame looked at his first job as criminal justice, but something still didn't sit right. He was told he was killing criminals, but the look in their eyes told Kisame they were innocent.

His last job was genocide. He went in with a team and they slaughtered an entire clan. With partners, they invaded homes. They murdered babes still in their mother's arms. They murdered children, parents, grandparents. They were told not to discriminate, so they didn't. They killed.

But Kisame stopped. He saw his partner enucleate a teenaged boy with his bare hands. Overkill.

"We're gassing them," Kisame reminded coldly. "It's unnecessary to mutilate them."

"Let me have a little fun," his partner growled in response.

"This is business!" Kisame said sharply.

"What can I say? I like to mix work and pleasure."

Kisame stared and listened as the kid screamed for his little brother to run. Everything was happening so fast and Kisame could hardly keep up. The strong scent of blood engulfed the room. He stared. A child ran away. The teenager's empty eye sockets bled out like red tears. He fell to the floor, clawing at the wood and sobbing in agony. Kisame watched the soldier raise his knife and something in him snapped. He couldn't let it happen. It was far too cruel.

He moved quickly, taking out his own blade and wielding. He sliced clean through the soldier, who collapsed on the ground without even a whimper.

Kisame then bent down and said, "Hey, kid?"

"Sasuke..." the teenager rasped.

"Who?"

"My brother," he whispered shakily. "Find him... please... Help him..."

Kisame didn't want to leave the teenager alone to die, but he did. The least he could do was fulfill his final wish – especially after slaughtering his parents.

So Kisame ran through the woods. As a trained tracker, it didn't take him long to find the child.

"Are you going to kill me, too?" he asked quietly.

Kisame removed his mask and put a finger to his lips, urging the child to keep his tone soft. "Tell me your name."

"Sasuke Uchiha," the boy spoke.

"That is the last time you will ever speak it," he commanded. "From now on, never tell a soul your name. If you do, you'll suffer the same fate as your family. Now run far and fast. Hide in the slums and don't leave." Those were his parting words.

  ||XxXx||     

When he returned to the house in the woods, the boy was still alive. His will to live was strong. His breath came out shallow, but Kisame promised he'd do all he could. He picked him up effortlessly and left. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw three strange faces. None of them wore masks. There was a purple haired woman, an orange haired man and a frail looking redhead. They were strange cloaks and looked serene, which he found strange amidst all the death and decay.

"Hello," the woman spoke. "Kisame Hoshigaki?"

"Yeah, what?" Kisame asked bluntly. "Who are you?"

"Just a pair of eyes," she smiled. "My name is Konan," she introduced herself. "This is Yahiko," she pointed to the orange haired man before gesturing to the frail redhead, "And this is Nagato. We can help your friend if you'd like. We can help you, too."

Kisame stared down at the bloody face of the boy in his arms. "All right..." he relented easily. He was at a loss otherwise.

They led him to a base deep in the forest underground. It was dim and dark and dank, but he didn't complain. He wondered if he was in some sort of secret base and, if so, then whose?

"Lie him down," Nagito instructed as he fetched a bag of medical supplies. "Quickly."

Kisame did, allowing the man to work. Konan led him out of the room, offering to ease his confusion.

"If you have questions you may ask them," she said.

Kisame paused. "You told me your names... but who are you really?"

"We're a small group, but strong," she said. "Apart from us, there are three others – Monjin, Kyusuke and Daibutsu. We're Akatsuki."

"Who leads?" Kisame asked.

"Nagito," she said. "He has a vision... A vision for a world far better than this."

"Hm," Kisame snorted. "Utopia? Utopia doesn't exist. It's a dream."

"Perhaps," she considered, "but there must be something better than this. There has to be."

Kisame couldn't disagree with that. He knew the world was terrible. Children get murdered and lose their innocence far too early. They're forced to survive on scraps found in trash bins. They're forced into lives they're far too young to lead. Status is all that matters. If you don't have it, you don't have anything.

"Hopefully the boy will wake up soon," Konan added.

Kisame let out a sigh. "Why'd you take me here so willingly? We're on opposite sides."

"But you're different," she said knowingly. "You have guilt. You have a conscience. You couldn't kill that boy. You felt something and that says a lot... It says a lot that a soldier is still capable of feeling."

"Sensory training didn't quite take, I guess," he muttered.

"That just shows how strong you are," she told him. "Weak people will allow their minds to be transformed. The strongest people hold fast and stay true."

"Hm," Kisame mumbled.

"So, tell us about the laboratory," she requested.

Kisame shrugged his shoulders. "There's not much to tell. They take kids and put shit in their bodies so they'll be obedient and strong. Or they do experiments to formulate drugs. The head researcher – Orochimaru – he's a pretty sick guy. He has no remorse. He'll try anything and if he kills someone in the process, he doesn't care. He'll just start over with another person. The government got wind of his experiments and contracted him to do the soldier operation. They funded it so they could have mindlessly obedient nobodies do the dirty work and take out people who cause trouble."

"What trouble did that boy's family cause?" Konan asked with a frown. "They seemed... innocent."

Kisame shrugged. "They never told us. We just did what we were asked to do. We're exterminators. We get rid of the vermin."

"How sad," she whispered.

  ||XxXx||     

Due to a mix of blood loss and poison, the teenager slept for a long time. Every so often, Kisame would go back to the slums and check on Sasuke. He didn't seem happy, but he didn't seem completely broken either. Children are resilient.

"There's nothing to be done," Konan informed him sadly. "Either, he'll wake up or he won't. We don't have the resources with us to wake him. They're... costly."

"Hm," Kisame mumbled gruffly. There was only one thing to do now and it wasn't going to be easy.

After locating Sasuke, he took him. He brought him to a brothel place and sold him. The woman seemed pleased with the rumored last Uchiha and offered him a heavy sum of money. Kisame shoved the cash in his pocket and left, unable to meet the child's eyes. He knew he'd be met with an inevitable look of betrayal.

It was dark when he left. He made his way to the good part of the city and to the familiar laboratory – a place he hadn't been near in years. He waited in the alleyway silently as doctors left one by one. The last to leave was Tsunade Senju. He made his move. He grabbed her, putting a palm over her mouth and dragging her back into the alleyway.

"Don't make a sound," he warned as he slowly released her.

She turned around and eyed him. "Kisame?"

"Yeah," he murmured. "I need help..."

Tsunade Senju – one of the best doctors around. Upon that, she was also always incredibly sympathetic. He remembered her from his days in the lab. She spoke kindly to him, unlike the rest. He knew it was a long shot, but he needed to try. So, he told her about the boy whose name he didn't even know. He told her about how long he's been sleeping. He told her everything. The entire time, she nodded along to his words and when he was finished he said, "I have money... I know these things are expensive, but I need him to wake up..."

Tsunade nodded. "How much do you have?" she asked. "If I could do this for free, I would... but you're right. Drugs are expensive. They would notice if supplies were stolen."

Kisame dug the cash out of his pocket and handed it all to the woman. "Oh, my," she whispered. "This is too much." She gave him back most of the money and smiled gently. "Where did you get this?"

He shook his head. There's no way he could tell her. He was ashamed. He remained quiet, pocketing the money. At least he could save it for food and other necessities, even if he did have to buy in the slums.

Tsunade didn't press him further. She purchased the supplies she knew she'd need before archiving the receipt. After that, the two of them left and returned to the Akatsuki base. Konan didn't scold Kisame for bringing a stranger into the midst. Instead, she simply watched - quiet yet knowing.

The entire time, Tsunade asked no questions. She did her work. She checked his vitals before administering a single shot to the teenager's inner elbow.

"It's strange," Kisame murmured. "He's been asleep for ages..."

"We can wake up coma patients easily," Tsunade explained. "It's a recent development. Our head researcher came up with the formula earlier in the year, but it's worked every time. We can reverse brain damage. We can induce comas as well."

"Well, shit," Kisame deadpanned.

They sat in silence the rest of the time. Soon, the boy stirred. Kisame hovered over him, forgetting momentarily that the boy couldn't see him. Past his bandaged eyes were empty sockets.

"Hey..." he spoke.

"The teenager sat up slowly. "Who are you?"

"I'm the one who killed your parents," Kisame confessed. "I'm the one who told your brother where to go. I'm the one who saved you."

"I see," the boy murmured.

Kisame found it strange. "No, you don't."

"But I do," he insisted. "I see everything. Being blind hasn't changed that... Perhaps it helped. My sight isn't clouded by what's in front of me."

"You're an Uchiha...?" Tsunade asked, piecing things together.

Kisame frowned at her knowingness. He left that part of the story out.

"Yes," the boy said. "My name is Itachi."

"My, God..." Tsunade whispered. "We were told your clan was massacred."

"We were," Itachi said simply. "Most of us, at least. Where's my brother?"

"He..." Kisame paused. "He died."

"You're lying to me," Itachi called him out. "He's alive."

Kisame scoffed to himself. He should have known the lie would be in vain. "I sold him."

Itachi nodded slowly. "How old is he now? How many years have passed?"

"Two," Kisame said.

"Then... eight," Itachi murmured.

"I sold him to a brothel," Kisame explained. "That means... seven more years until he's put to work. We'll get him out before anything happens."

Itachi nodded, relaxing slightly. "We have time."

Or so they thought.

Years passed and Kisame learned more about his ethereally strange friend. There were days Kisame would find him talking to things that never spoke back.

New members were recruited. There was neurotically religious Hidan, the salacious Deidara, the emotionless Sasori and the strange but strong Kakuzu.

Akatsuki was growing stronger. They were waging a war, but it was a war they lost. Just like that – members were taken out. He watched the people who welcomed him die off one by one – killed by the militant group he was once a part of.

Apart from Kisame, all that was left were Deidara, Hidan, Itachi, Kakuzu and Sasori. Lacking in power and strategy, they were forced back underground. They allowed the years to pass, working in quiet ways. They fed the hungry, they nursed the wounded. They did what they could, trying to remain unnoticed.

Itachi took the role as the new leader. It came to him naturally. He was physically weak, but with his mind, he saw the world.

They made countless attempts to infiltrate Villa Joy, but security was high. Sasori and Deidara weren't strong enough. Hidan and Kakuzu lacked the motivation, not willing to risk it. Kisame volunteered himself for the job, but Itachi couldn't find it in himself to part with the man. He knew that if worst came to worst, he would end up losing Kisame. By then, he had grown attached.

  ||XxXx||     

One evening, Itachi found himself mourning. "What is it?" Kisame asked gruffly as he sharpened his blade.

"It's Sasuke's fifteenth birthday tomorrow," Itachi said quietly, leaning forward and staring down at his hands. "That means he'll be forced to enter an auction."

"I'm sorry," Kisame apologized flatly. He knew it was his fault, but at the same time if he never did it then the man in front of him might not be alive.

Itachi shook his head. "You did what you felt you had to do." A pause. "I suppose it's too late now. He'll lose that part of himself. It'll be stolen away. It'll happen again and again... and he'll get used to it."

"Yeah," Kisame murmured.

"I can only blame myself," Itachi smiled bitterly. "He's my baby brother. It was my responsibility to protect him... but I couldn't do that. Still, I'll make it up to him."

That was a promise he would die to keep.

  ||XxXx||     

For many more years, things were quiet. Itachi fell for the man who helped slaughter his family and he felt like this was the ultimate betrayal to his brother. But still, he couldn't stay away.

"How can you do that?" Kisame asked one night.

"Do what?" Itachi questioned, sitting on the other man's lap and putting an arm around him.

"Kiss the man who sold your brother and killed your family?"

"I don't know," Itachi admit. "I suppose that makes me terrible."

"You're not," Kisame promised. "You feel a lot. You feel everything. It's like... upon seeing the world, you take in every emotion. You internalize the world."

"Mm," Itachi mused.

"I'm incredibly ugly," Kisame added nonchalantly. "And a lot older than you are."

"I don't care," Itachi dismissed, ghosting his fingers across the middle-aged man's face. "You made mistakes, yes, but you're not evil."

Kisame smirked at that. "All right."

"How do you think Sasuke is doing?" Itachi asked. It's a question he brought up quite frequently and every time Kisame gave him the same answer.

"He's okay," he said.

"No," Itachi murmured, trying not to lose hope. "He's not... I can't possible hope to make it up to him now. It's been too long. He thinks I'm gone. In a sense, I suppose I am. I'm gone from his life."

"You'll find a way to make it up to him," Kisame said, "and maybe I will, too."

Itachi smiled faintly. "Perhaps."

"You'll be reunited again," Kisame swore. He'd make it so.

  ||XxXx||     

Their newest recruit was a girl named Karin – a girl from the slums. She was young, but she was fierce. Itachi could see it from a mile away. She had determination. With her presence would come a change. She knew her way around the city. She was agile and quick. She had never been caught. She said she liked to work alone, but Kisame was insistent. He propositioned her and she simply smiled. She knew exactly what to do.

  ||XxXx||     

Jugo and Suigetsu. Kisame judged them critically when Karin first brought them back. She seemed proud of her mission, but Kisame was a little wary when she brought back two young men. One of the kids wasn't even wearing pants.

"Where's a bath?"

Those were the first words to leave his mouth. With the raise of an eyebrow, Kisame showed him to the bathroom. Jugo and Karin followed, along with Itachi, who seemed just as pleased as Karin.

Suigetsu filled the tub and removed his shirt, unceremoniously sinking into the water. "Ahh," he sighed, sinking into the tub. "Much better. I felt like a fish out of water."

"That's kind of what you are," Karin noted.

"What were you spliced with?" Kisame asked the pale haired man. "A trout?"

"I don't know," Suigetsu snapped. "I didn't exactly have time to ask!"

Kisame snorted back a laugh. He was spliced with a shark – the predator of the sea. It suited him just fine.

Itachi leaned against the counter. "Did Karin tell you anything?"

"Not really," Jugo murmured, watching as his friend rehydrated.

"Well," Itachi started. "We have a job that would be perfect for you, but it needs to happen quickly, before your picture gets out to the public."

"Okay," Jugo agreed. It made him feel good to be needed – even if it was for a job like this.

  ||XxXx||     

Jugo was more volatile than Kisame first assumed. That very night, he returned with blood on his hands and a very chipper friend.

"What did you do?" Kisame demanded.

"We killed someone who deserved it," Suigetsu answered easily.

"Who?" the larger man growled.

"Orochimaru," Jugo supplied the answer this time.

Kisame paused. At the mention of the simple name, hundreds of memories came back to him – memories of his childhood, of countless injections. "I see..." he said slowly. He couldn't find it in him to be angry. "If anyone saw you..."

"No one saw us," Jugo said surely.

"He has a son," Kisame informed them.

"Then I guess we did him a big favor," Suigetsu laughed callously.

"Don't be this careless again," Kisame warned. "We didn't break you out so you could get revenge on everyone who wronged you. This is a delicate operation we're running here."

"It's over now," Jugo said with finality. He nudged Suigetsu and the two of them walked off.

  ||XxXx||     

The following day, Jugo applied for a job at Villa Joy.