This might seem surprising, but I'm still alive! Just crazy busy, but I managed to (finally) finish this! Besides, what better way to finish a weekend than to have a new chapter? Right? I've been working on several plot points that were niggling at me, so the next chapter should be up before too long (hopefully). Anyway, please enjoy this!

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Kisame contemplated the beads dangling from his fingers thoughtfully. Was he being paranoid to think these beads had a direct link to the dreams that felt so much like memories and which he kept having, night after night? It felt too much like fact to be mere possibility.

Then a new thought crossed his mind. Maybe the beads were manipulating him, distorting his memories. Maybe he had never met the woman before, or not as he thought he had. Maybe that was what the engravings on the beads meant. Maybe they created a genjutsu when he slept, trapping him within fake memories.

He glared at the mysterious beads. He didn't know for sure what they did, but hey were suddenly very suspicious. Still, as long as he didn't know for sure what the engravings meant, he could not act appropriately. Knowledge was power, and no one could have ever accused him of not striving to be as powerful as he could be.

He needed to head to the library.

-:-

Sakura grinned through a split lip, grabbing her opponent by the ankle as she avoided a kick to the face and pivoting with the momentum to throw Ameyuri further to her right and into one of the many pools littering the training grounds.

It didn't keep the other woman down for long and in a moment she was back in a flurry of kicks and punches that had Sakura on the defensive for several long minutes before she found an opening and retaliated in kind. It was hard to avoid using chakra to enhance her strength, since it was almost a reflex by now, but she managed well enough. However, changing her fighting style was trickier, as she didn't want to make anyone think she might hail from Konoha.

She twisted around a punch, jammed her elbow into Ameyuri's kidney and sighed in satisfaction as the other woman bent over with a gasp that allowed her to knee her in the face. Even she could feel her teeth rattle as the swordswoman dropped to the ground like a sack.

Straightening up, she took a deep breath of misty air, which promptly left her lungs in a whoosh as a foot kicked at her ankle in an effective move, fracturing the bone and sending her to the ground too, pain flaring in her leg. She only just managed to avoid having her head crack open on the rocky ground as she landed within grabbing distance of her sparring partner, who wasted no time in rolling over her, trapping her and pinning her throat with her forearm.

Sakura could have used her superhuman strength to dislodge her, but that would have been against the rules, and besides, she was quietly amazed at Ringo's resilience. The other woman's nose was clearly broken, blood and tears covered her face and the blow must have undoubtedly blinded her for a moment, but she had managed through sheer force of will to keep her body moving. That was the kind of things that kept you alive in a fight, that allowed you to come back from a mission when others would have perished. If anything, Sakura could respect that in the other kunoichi.

She didn't struggle, and after a moment, Ringo let off the pressure with a huff. "That was sneaky. Impressive. It would have worked on a lesser ninja, certainly," she complimented gruffly.

Sakura's lips twitched as she gingerly got to her feet.

She rolled her shoulders as they both walked to where Ameyuri had left a bag with water bottles and a few ration bars in it. As they sat on a boulder to rehydrate themselves, the Kiri kunoichi pondered aloud, "Wonder what's keeping What's-His-Face. Woulda thought he'd be here by now."

Sakura shrugged. For all she knew, Kisame could have gotten waylaid by someone on the way or gotten a mission at the last minute.

She chose not to comment.

Still, by the time they had both cooled down, the large man had not graced them with his presence and it niggled at her, suspicions festering in her mind. Had she done something to arouse his suspicion on top of his curiosity?

She had to work actively on remaining loose-limbed on the way back to the apartment. Ringo didn't look alarmed, but with ninja of her caliber, that didn't say much.

"You can take your shower first," offered Ameyuri as they walked through the door. "I'll get started on dinner."

With a nod, Sakura headed to the bathroom and disrobed silently, listening to any sounds from the rest of the apartment. Except from Ringo cutting vegetables, all was silent, but that didn't mean anything. She expanded her senses beyond the walls of the apartment, looking for anyone lying in wait outside or on the rooftop, and only then did she relax fractionally.

She kept the jutsu on at the same range while she showered and ran a healing hand across her body, paying special attention to her face, though she was quick about it, not lingering unnecessarily over scar tissue. Ameyuri had gotten in a good hit across her face, and the flesh was tender under her fingers as she gingerly let her chakra wash over her.

She didn't dare take too long under the shower, lest the other kunoichi come to investigate. Once she was done, she joined Ameyuri in the kitchen and was promptly given a wooden spoon before being herded in front of the stove with the most-important job of stirring the curry once in a while.

Left alone while Ameyuri took her own shower, she let her fingers idle over the spices rack.

-:-

A library wasn't a place that was frequented by all ninja. Many of them didn't step foot in it after the Academy, learning all they needed from their genin sensei. If they were in search of new jutsu, they generally went straight to the source and asked someone who knew the desired jutsu to teach it to them (or stole it from them). Those who wanted to invent their own jutsu, on the other hand, could be found pouring over dusty scrolls for days before going to the training grounds to test their creation. Some were what was commonly referred to as "paper ninja" and were basically researchers and thus practically lived in the library.

Mostly, though, libraries didn't entertain that many guests at a time, and Kiri's was no different. Kisame knew this well, and did not want any rumours spreading about him visiting the building, since it was not exactly a benign affair.

He henged into a nondescript paper ninja that no one would bat an eyelash at for seeing him in the library and headed into one of the most obscure sections of the building, where scrolls relating stolen techniques from enemy villages were kept and, more specifically, Uzushio's.

He was looking for anything pertaining to fuinjutsu. Maybe not any seals, because his knowledge on the subject was, as with most ninja, basic at best, but if he found a scroll explaining how to decipher seals or which explained the basics of the subject, he'd be satisfied.

Unfortunately, Uzushio had basically been razed to the ground, and what had been retrieved was often in tatters, incomplete or so smudged with blood and mud that it was impossible to make sense of sentences, let alone whole paragraphs.

Still, he did not give up. There had to be something in here that was worth his time.

A few scrolls seemed promising, and as he poured over them, he felt a glint of excitement at last.

"Interesting reading choice. Looking to expand your area of expertise?"

Tensing, Kisame looked up from his stash. Kaminashi Kazuo, Head of the Intelligence Corps, was staring straight at him with unflinching eyes.

"Why don't you get rid of the henge? There's only us here," continued the man affably.

Caught, Kisame did as bid silently as the other man came up to him and fingered one of the tarnished scrolls lightly.

"Given the subject, I'd hasard a guess that this has something to do with your ward," murmured Kazuo, eyes glinting behind his glasses. Kisame's face remained stony.

"Touchy...Well, well. This is very...interesting."

The words were mild, but clearly conveyed that unless Kisame could assuage Kazuo's curiosity, the latter would investigate more thoroughly into the blue man's affairs and, perhaps, even alert the Mizukage as to his suspicions.

"One must know what one might have to deal with," replied Kisame noncommittally.

"Ah yes, the woman is said to probably hail from Uzushio. Be careful, there are some who might be suspicious if they see you with such reading, given your company nowadays," tossed the man over his shoulder as he disappeared around the corner of the book stack, tone light and civil but inlaid with much meaning.

Kisame, unsettled, frowned. Clearly, he was going to be under close watch for a while. Or had he been already? Was that why Kazuo had come to him? Was it a warning not to look into things too deeply? If so, for what reason? Was there something he wasn't supposed to find in there?

He had the niggling suspicion that when he came by again, the rows would be devoid of their scrolls. Besides, if he showed too much interest in the contents of those scrolls, he would attract even more unwanted attention. Disgruntled, he renewed his henge and went back to his reading.

-:-

When he returned to the apartment, much later than he should have, he found that both women had already eaten and were sharpening weapons around their coffee table which seemed to have acquired new dents recently, but a pot of curry was still on the stove. Wordlessly, the more mysterious of the two females served him while the other opened her mouth then closed it with an audible click. When he peered at her, she shook her head mutely and motioned for him to go ahead with what he was doing.

"It smells good," he said, taking a whiff of the aroma as he brought the food to his mouth.

He took a bite. His eyes widened. Sweat pearled on his brow. His skin, from his neck to his hairline, flushed.

He coughed, forced himself to swallow, and asked hoarsely, pushing the plate back while Ringo laughed her head off on the sofa, body bent in two, "What the hell did you put in this curry? Is it even curry? My tongue can't tell."

"Guess that'll teach me to leave the supervision of the food to a woman who can't taste shit!" chuckled Ameyuri once she had managed to contain herself somewhat. "Maybe next time you should be on time to make sure she doesn't mess up the food," she suggested, knowing perfectly well this had been Sakura's passive-aggressive way to get back at Kisame. After all, she had witnessed the woman deliberately pouring half a bottle of white pepper into the stew while she stirred it. It was also why there were a few takeout cartons in the trash, but their smell had been eclipsed by that, more poignant, of the curry.

"I guess I will have to," agreed Kisame, reaching for the pitcher of water.

It was as he took his first deep gulp that he realised someone must have tipped the salt container over the pitcher.

Spraying the table with salt water, he then coughed for a good minute or two, swearing internally to never again be late for an appointment with the two women as Ameyuri guffawed once more.

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I really love messing with Kisame's head and making him paranoid. Does it show? ^^