Kisame knew he was breaking one of his fathers deepest rules, but at nine years old his curiosity could stand it no longer. It was early morning. Hisato was at a clan meeting, and with no reason to carry a weapon while in the Hoshigaki compound, the sacred sword leaned against it's designated spot on the wall. There would never be a better chance. Tentatively the boy reached a hand towards the bandaged blade as he knew better than to try the hilt, to try and claim the sword.

He held his breath the last few inches and then his fingers were against the pristine, white cloth. Immediately his arm started going numb as he felt his chakra being sucked away, but he let it. He had plenty to spare.

Then something changed. Instead of leaving him, the chakra was flowing in; chakra completely unlike his own. It moved through him, through his body as though curious about him.

"Samehada?" Kisame pondered to himself.

The alien chakra paused and then formed itself into a statement he didn't understand how he could understand. You are not Hisato.

His jaw dropped at this. "I... I'm his son, Kisame," he managed to stammer.

Ah... that explains it, the sword seemed to say. Your chakras are similar. Is Hisato dead?

"No," Kisame answered. "I just-" but he never got to finish. As soon as the syllable left his mouth, the chakra withdrew and four razor sharp blue scales burst from the wrappings.

Kisame cried out, and would have stood there in shock if instinct hadn't kicked in. He leaned to the left, turning away from the scales so they breezed by him. Still one managed to catch his right shoulder. It was aiming for his heart.

Before he knew what happened, he had his back against the opposite wall and was staring between the sword and the blood now rapidly soaking his shirt.

It wasn't that bad. His mom would be able to take care of it in no time. Then it sunk in that he would have to explain this to her.

"Aw crap..."

"Hold still!"

"Ow! Mom, I can do it myself," Kisame complained. He managed to escape punishment so far by feeding her a story about practicing his sword-work with a Water Clone, and making the mistake of trying to block a blow with his shoulder. Now his mother was hovering over him with a jar of her foul smelling disinfectant balm.

She glared at him. "Why did you even come to me, then?"

Kisame, who had spent the last five minutes bristling, deflated and stared pleadingly up at her. It was look she couldn't resist.

"Ugh, fine." She pressed the jar into his hands. "But you're letting me heal it. You don't need to be half asleep during class."

"Sure," He said as he wrenched the jar open. His nose wrinkled at the scent of rotten seaweed, but he dipped his fingers in none the less.

Uni watched her son apply the salve to his open, angry wound like it was nothing. Honestly... she'd never seen a kid with such a high pain tolerance. Probably had to do with his chakra. When he was finished she took the jar back from him and returned it to one of the many shelves in her lab.

The room was clinical grey, and yet the sliding panels that led outside were all open, giving it a light and airy feel. There were tanks filled with poisonous fish and aquatic plants. The shelves and cabinets contained jars of slimy things, prepared samples, and completed experiments that were labeled in some indecipherable code. When Kisame came in Uni was sitting at her work bench, where she had been examining proteins under her microscope, but now she got up to collect a bottle of distilled water from a small bar fridge, gesturing for her son to take the chair.

After twisting the cap off, she poured the water over her open palm. Instead of spilling everywhere, it collected into a small bubble - like a miniature Water Prison - that grew steadily until the bottle was empty. She turned her hand over. The bubble remained suspended.

Kisame tilted his head away as she pressed it against his injury. It slid easily beneath his skin, spreading throughout his muscle under her direction, and the sensation caused Kisame to squirm in discomfort. She concentrated on the water and used it as a channel to sense the damage.

Uni closed her eyes and frowned. It could have been worse. The cut was clean, and nowhere near anything vital. Focusing the water she began to repair the damage, not just to skin and muscle, but also to tendons, bone, and blood vessels almost on a cellular level. The technique was one of her own invention, and was as effective as any medical jutsu, though healing was not what she normally used it for.

In less than a minute it was done. She drew the water back out of her son, walked to a sink, and let it splash down the drain. When she turned back to him, she had a fist on her hip and that look in her eye that meant Big Trouble.

Kisame lowered his head and fidgeted his fingers together, trying to look contrite. "I know what I did was really stupid, and I promise It won't happen again."

Uni nodded and said, "Yeah. Next time there won't be a next time."

He gulped, then took the risk. "We can still go chakra surfing this weekend... can't we?"

Her eyes narrowed, and she smirked with her pointy teeth in a way that would put the fear of death into anyone outside her family. "If you manage not to act like an idiot for the rest of the week, than I'll think about it."

This made the boy beam at her with a big toothy grin. 'I'll think about it' with Uni usually meant 'yes.' All he had to do was avoid anything as stupid as trying to touch Samehada, and that was about as stupid as you could get. He couldn't believe how easy he was getting off.

Uni coughed, feeling pleased and embarrassed at the same time. "Well, go clean up and get your tail fin to school before you're late!"

"Yes Mom!" He leapt up and ran from the room before his luck ran out, but he still called a brief, "Thanks," behind him.

He was running full tilt through the Village, already a few minutes late. The heaviness of his backpack and the weights on his arms and legs did nothing to slow him down and he briefly thought it might be time to beg father into increasing them. With his mind wandering, he didn't notice the little boy who was standing unmoving outside the academy until it was almost too late.

At the last second he vaulted over the other kid, who didn't even flinch or duck. He knew the kid. Everyone knew him. He was like a lost, mute little zombie, always standing there and staring at the Academy... and who could blame him after what happened to his clan.

"Sorry!" Kisame called back even as he continued across the grounds.

He flew up the front steps two at a time, ripped open the doors and thundered down hallway after hallway, only slowing once he reached the door to his class.

Cautiously he slid it open half an inch and peered inside. He was hoping to see that Bonjin-sensei wasn't there yet, or that there was an opportunity to sneak in, but what met him instead caused him to throw the door open and look around in confusion.

Empty! Where was everyone?

Slowly he walked in and looked around. Empty seats, empty teacher's desk, empty chalkboard... no wait! There in the bottom corner by the door was some writing in Bonjin's hand. As he read the white on green that he suddenly remembered from the day before, the blood drained from his face.

Chakra training tomorrow.

Remember to meet at the pond.

Don't be late!

The teacher in the next room was suddenly interrupted by a frustrated wail. She stuck her head out to admonish whoever it was, but instead got her hair rearranged in the wake of a blue blur dashing back out of the school.

When he finally found his class standing around one of the many large ponds on the grounds, Bonjin was just finishing up his explanation of water walking. "Mr Hoshigaki, glad you could join us," the teacher cheerfully crowed. "So glad in fact, that I'd like to see you again after school."

The other students snickered as Kisame groaned, but he accepted it. It was his fault for being late.

Shun materialized beside him and leaned in to whisper, "What took you so long?"

Kisame couldn't just tell him what had transpired with Samehada, so he simply said, "Later." He would use the same lie he had told his mother.

"Now then," Bonjine-sensei said over their brief conversation, "You should all have a clear grasp of the concept. Do we have any volunteers?"

Immediately Kisame lowered his head and tried to will himself invisible. After that first disastrous class two years ago, he had only volunteered himself a couple more times before completely giving up. Without fail, every time he was required to do something practical in class he would humiliate himself. Even things he could do as easily as breathing at home often ended in disaster. He quickly learned to keep his head down and his mouth shut if he wanted to avoid attention.

Unfortunately his sensei rarely went along with this plan. When no one seemed eager to be the first to get wet he said, "Mr Hoshigaki, seeing as you know this so well that you didn't need to be here on time, why don't you give us the first demonstration.

Kisame shrunk even further into his jacket. Why didn't things ever go his way? Still, he didn't argue and made his way through the students to the edge of the water.

You'll do fine, he thought to himself. You've been doing this for years. You'll do fine.

As he passed Inari, the taller boy whispered, "How are you going to screw this up? Huh, shark-face?"

Though he pretended to ignore the jab, it severely threw him off. By the time he took his first step onto the water, he was so nervous that he could barely keep afloat. A few more steps and he started to sink. Realizing this, he put his hands together in the water sign and pushed more chakra to his feet, but that only caused it to bubble alarmingly.

He was starting to panic, which Bonjin caught. Stepping forward, the teacher said, "Let up a little, you're overdoing -"

BOOM!

The children shrieked. Most of the water in the pond jumped straight up and then splashed back down, drenching the kids at the front and coating the rest in mist.

When it cleared, Kisame was gone.