Unbeknownst to everyone, Kisame Hoshigaki had always wanted to be a father. No, he didn't want a child to create a weapon or to continue his bloodline, but just for the sake of loving him or her.

When he was a part of his village, he never had any friends or had any true friendships with another person. He was something of a loner as people tended not to hang around him. Kisame himself didn't mind it, but that didn't mean he had to like it. So due to his non-existent social status, he only had two goals. He had to survive through the harshness of the shinobi lifestyle, and he had to protect his village.

Those goals carried over as the years passed. All was fine an well, that is, until he received his mission to guard the Cypher Division. Not so much the people, but the codes. And he did just that. In attempt to save his village's information, he killed five men and a woman that had done nothing but showed him her utmost kindness. But Kisame soon discovered that it had all been a ruse. The person who assigned him this very mission, Fuguki Suikazan, had been leaking Kirigakure's valuable information to well-known enemies.

Kisame took Samehada for himself, unintentionally became a member of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, defected from the village he loved from the bottom of his heart, earned his title as the Monster of the Mist, and took refuge in Amegakure.

It didn't take any effort to blend into Amegakure. The place was already filled with rogues and missing-nin, so no one minded another person joining their ever-rainy village. Kisame was able to snag a small apartment towards the south side on the outskirts of the market district.

He felt lost and didn't know what to do with his life. Was he to stay a rogue forever? His worries soon dissipated when his doorbell rang and a petite red-head greeted him out in the hallway. She smiled at him brightly and held out a plate of slightly burnt white chocolate chip cookies.

"Hello! My name's Saki Otsuka and I live right across from you!"

Saki was a civilian nurse at Amegakure General Hospital. She was a sweet little thing who always wore a wide smile. If the smile didn't reach her lips, it shone from her mint green eyes.

Her and Kisame married two years later.

"Akatsuki?" Kisame repeated. The woman sitting across from him gave a small nod.

"Yes. Our leader wants you to join our ranks, Hoshigaki-san. We do not ask for much. The only difference between being a standard Amegakure shinobi and an Akatsuki member is that you'll be taking completely different orders from that of your peers. We'll give you some time to consider our offer, but remember- very, very, very few people have this opportunity."

The woman stood up and shook hands with Kisame before leaving out the front door. Saki came out of the kitchen and took hold of her husband's hand.

"What are you going to do, Kisame?" she asked, "That was the Angel. It won't be a good idea to refuse her."

He brought Saki into his arms and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Don't worry. Really. We'll figure something out."

In the end, Kisame accepted the invitation to join the Akatsuki, and Saki was two months pregnant.

Seven months later, Saki was admitted into the hospital. She was eleven hours into labor with Kisame constantly glued to her side. Through all her effort, a healthy baby girl was born. Her hair was pastel pink and her eyes were a lovely shade of green- emerald. As Kisame held her tiny, fragile body in this arms, he smiled.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

His head snapped up to his wife who was panting softly and growing paler by the minute.

"Saki?!"

Nurses and a doctor bustled into the room, fussing around her and the machines around the hospital bed. Saki gazed upwards at her husband and daughter and mustered a shaky grin.

"Ki... Kisame... I love you and... I always will... You know that, right...?"

"Of course I do, and I love you too, but-!"

"Hush, darling..." she interrupted softly. Her hand then raised slightly to grasp his much bigger hand. "Put our sweet... girl beside me, would you...?"

He lowered the baby down onto the bed. Saki turned her head to the newborn and caressed her cheek softly, tears pouring out of her eyes.

"Ah... My little Sakura... I'm sorry for doing this to you... sweetheart... Mommy loves you... And Daddy... Daddy will have to take care of you... from now... on..."

Her hand slowly slipped out of Kisame's blue hand as the room filled with the single tune of the heart monitor.

Kisame walked out of the hospital that day with a heavy heart and a bundle of his new hope on his arms. He stopped in the cover of an old tree, staring out into the rain as it assaulted the streets.

What am I going to do now?