Konnichiwa, everyone! Welcome to the first chapter of Shinju Katsumi, Pearl of the Mist. I am SliverOfSilver88, lover (usually) of yaoi (especially Kakashi/Iruka and Naruto/Gaara), rabid fangirl, and the writer of this story. Despite my usual taste for the whacky, un-canon pairings, I have made this young girl's ninja life as accurate as I can to the actual series. The ultimate pairing is Katsumi/Suigetsu, but I'm thinking of adding others along the way.

Just remember, this is fandom. It's not really serious. I have artistic license.

Enjoy, and review! This is my first story

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto… or any of the characters. They are playthings that I have borrowed from the almighty Kishimoto-sama

Shinju Katsumi

Admittedly, we really shouldn't have liked each other.

My sensei was Hoshigaki Kisame, wielder of the sword Samehada, and his was none other than the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Momochi Zabuza, wielder of the sword Zanbatō.

Kisame-sensei was a good master. He was polite and formal, no matter the occasion, and I cannot remember the last time he was angry at me. I didn't care that he looked like a giant shark, as long as he taught me everything he knew about water jutsu and the use of katanas in battle. I actually think the blue-skinned look suits him, especially when he's underwater. He looks at home – a true member of the Country of Water. I think he appreciated me for that.

Momochi-san I didn't think was all that terrifying. They called him the Demon of the Bloody Mist because he killed the whole generation of graduated shinobi, even though he hadn't passed the academy tests. I still, to this day, think that Kisame-sensei could have beaten him if he had had the chance. It was interesting that my master was usually so laid back, but loved to fight more than anything else. Despite this, he was very rarely provoked into verbal argument. Not even by mentions of his 'strangely-coloured' skin. The only time I have ever seen him angry, and I mean apoplectic, is when Zabuza caught Suigetsu showing me where his sensei kept Zanbatō when not in use, and responded with little less than homicidal rage. Haku, who I had always gotten along with, was all that managed to stop him as he surrounded us with his fascinating ice-barriers and protected us from harm. Zabuza smashed and hammered away at the reflective walls as Haku went to get my master.

When usually placid people get angry, it is almost always frightening. I'm a Mist kunoichi. I don't scare easily. But my heart had never pounded so hard in my life. Kisame and Zabuza were facing off, their giant, coveted swords drawn and held ready. Suigetsu was biting his lip with teeth not unlike my own – sharp and devilish. Fitting, really, because he was fast becoming known as the next Demon of the Mist. He was watching intently as the older men exchanged soft, hostile words before coming together with a clash of swords, one meant for cutting, the other for shaving. Suigetsu turned to me, swearing.

"Ahh, Katsumi-chan, I'm sorry. I didn't think he'd catch us." His silver hair glinted off the ice mirrors that had us trapped. Suigetsu and I tried to keep a sense of formality when others were around. I called him either 'san' or 'kun', depending on my mood, but I was always chan to him. Always. There had never been any exception. The irony is clear to me sometimes, because even Suigetsu seems more polite than me, and I am the one who is trained under Hoshigaki-sensei.

I told Suigetsu that he was a lousy ninja for not checking for traps as simple as wires, and we got into a shouting match – something all too common between us despite how much we cared. I was surprised to see that our yells had distracted the two older men, and they had both stopped, watching us.

Now as much as I like Suigetsu, he really isn't the sharpest sword in the set. I did not let on I knew we had stopped the fight between our senseis. I think it pleased Kisame to see me being harsh to his own rival's subordinate. Zabuza looked annoyed that I seemed to be winning.

"Haku. Let them go. I have to punish my student," Zabuza growled through the bandages over his mouth. Honestly, I was at a loss as to why he wore them. I displayed my sharp teeth wherever I went. In Kirigakure they were as common as freckles, and I was proud of them, just like I was proud of my sensei's gills. Haku's serene smile spread across his face as he released the barriers and Zabuza dragged Suigetsu away from me. We were still yelling at each other as Momochi-san made his hand seals and teleported away.

Kisame's lip twitched. "I wanted to fight him, Shinju Katsumi. You almost gave me a reason. Now that I am denied my chance, it will mean extra hours in the water for you. I won't even break the ice for you. Samehada wanted a real fight, and won't appreciate something so trivial."

I was only young back then – around eight – but I was going to travel to Konoha for my exams in a couple of weeks. Usually the elementary hate for the Village Hidden in the Leaves was enough to keep me and my people away, but really there was nothing I could do if my sensei wanted me to go. I wasn't sure who was going to be on my team, because I was kept away from most average shinobi, Kisame having decided that I was too far above them. My rivals were the subordinates of my master's rivals. Suigetsu was the only person my age I ever associated with, and even that was forbidden. I think Kisame-sensei knew that I was crushing on him, and he was merciful, because he knew that I could easily become the next Scourge of the Mist, and I would ultimately beat any Demon that came along. My feelings for the water-moon orphan would not get in the way of my work. It was Kirigakure first, my master second, my way of the ninja third, and then anything else that mattered in my life could take its place after that.

Looking around my village as we made our way out and into the training grounds, I reflected how vicious even our civilians were. We have a Kage – the Mizukage, and he serves us well as a leader… most of the time. I tend to think that Kisame-sensei would be better at the job than he is. I've told my sensei this countless times, but all he does is laugh and make me train harder. I see him smiling though, and it's nice to know I make my blue master happy. My parents had been killed a while ago. I had stopped caring by now. I have no pictures of them, and very few happy memories. We were shinobi, we were a family of shinobi, and my family of water-technique-using shinobi was murdered by bastards from Lightning country. Between the countries of Lightning and Fire, I am filled with so much hate. I will only ever love the water, because that's what I was born to do.

Kisame-sensei takes me to a large lake, covered in ice about a metre and a half thick. He tells me to break it, that he won't do it for me anymore, because I had been caught with someone I shouldn't have anything to do with. Kisame-sensei tells me that he was more disappointed that it was not an assassination attempt. He would have awarded full marks, otherwise. I believe he was bothered not so much that I was with Suigetsu – who he considers an extreme waste of time – but that I managed to get myself caught. I realise how embarrassing it must have been, and I promise myself I will work harder.

My sensei has exceptional chakra-levels, as well as extraordinary strength and agility. I too, have an overwhelming amount of chakra – almost as much as him even at my age – and my strength and speed – although no match for him – is more than enough to beat any others I had been pitted against. Suigetsu, I had never fought before, but I had seen him train. I wonder if I could beat him or not. Realistically, he had a real chance, but in my head, I liked to think I could be unbeatable just like my master.

He will not help me break the ice, so I form seals with my hands – the shark seals he himself had created during an experimental time just after he had accomplished Jounin level. I focus my chakra into my left – and weaker – hand and plunge it through the frozen water. It cut through easily; with the jutsu I had used (Splinter Shark Ice Knuckle Technique), which had raised five deadly spikes along the lines of my knuckles. They retracted back into my skin as I let the jutsu go, and I dived through the hole I had created.

Just as I hit the water, I felt the kekkei genkai take effect. My legs were forming into one single limb; flaps of skin were opening on my sides – gills, of course and a tail. What else? My ears were growing, getting finned. My fingers were joined by webs like duck's feet. I swore in an oddly echoing voice underwater – I had been trying to control the Suiei Sakanabeiru (Swimming Fishtail) bloodline-limit since I had first activated it, almost two months ago. No matter my best attempts though, I transformed whenever I was fully submerged. Kisame-sensei advises me that this is dangerous, because I will rely on it too much if I can't control its use: if I learn to fight without it underwater, than I can use it as a trump-card when I really need it. My hair, once blond, is now bluey-green, but my eyes stay the same. The hitai-ate I wore around the top of my thigh was now around the end of my tail, just above the fins. My loose robe was floating about my torso, but the bandages and green skirt that I had been wearing on my lower half was completely busted by my heavy fish-half.

Kisame-sensei joined me in the water, his own loose black robe drifting about him as he looked at me and shook his head. Samehada was still on his back – no doubt he was paranoid leaving it now because the location of Zanbatō had been discovered and leaked by no one other than his own student. "You failed again," he told me plainly.

"Hai," I answered shamefully, hanging my head. It struck me that because he had called off training earlier, I was not prepared to get redressed from after my training. Once I broke the water again I would revert back to my original shape, because I could not control my ability. It wouldn't have mattered so much if I was a male, or if Kisame-sensei wasn't one, but as it was, the only one who dared choose Hoshigaki the shark-man was a five year old girl. Briefly I wondered if he had ever resented my gender. I liked to think he enjoyed my company regardless. Once we both took breaks from ninja activity, he often treated me to civilian things like ramen and even sushi, on occasion. He has no family, and sometimes I sense he is lonesome. I talk more outside of training, preferring to stay focused and on task while learning under Kisame-sensei, and for a moment, the blood-spilling I may have done that day doesn't seem so bad. My sensei is polite, but when he fights, he fights to the death. Overkill might actually be a word that strolled hand in hand with Hoshigaki Kisame. He delights in shaving his victims with Samehada, and laughs while amputating the arms and legs before watching and waiting for them to die due to internal bleeding or blood loss. I share his sadistic tendencies, despite what is considered healthy.

We spend the next five and a half hours training non-stop. My muscles were already aching from being used so extensively before, and this did not help them in the slightest. I fought off watery shockwaves, dodged blows from a giant sword, and swam laps around the lake with sharks snapping at my fins. I was covered in bruises thanks to the time when I was forced to dart upwards, away from the water beasts, and smashed against the ice. All in all, I completed it to his satisfaction, and so eventually, he let me go.

As I had expected, getting out of the water was somewhat of a hassle clothing-wise. Not an inch of me touched the air for fear of being exposed to my twenty-five year old sensei. I was only young, but it was still weird. Most eight-year-olds, seriously, were not so self-conscious. But I was not most eight-year-olds, was I?

Kisame-sensei took pity on me and shrugged off his long robe, revealing a bare blue torso and thin long pants underneath. He smiled nicely and gave it to me to wear as I climbed out of the ice hole.

"Arigatou, Kisame-sensei."

"But of course, Katsumi-chan."

I wanted to go back to my family's house that was left to me as the soul survivor of the Shinju Clan and have a hot shower. Most mothers exclaimed how wrong it was that I lived all by my self, but it didn't really bother me. I practiced my Swimming Fishtail in the bathtub quite happily. I paid my respects to Kisame-sensei, and thanked him for the extra training session. He offered to buy me dinner but I refused, returning home and promising to wash and then to bring his robe back the next day.

While hanging out the robe and my own garments on the clothes line in the snow, I caught sight of a purple flash to my right. "Sui-kun, you are a lousy ninja."

He sighed, revealing himself and standing next to me. He was covered in bruises from head to toe, and there were cuts across his cheek and on his arm. Zabuza had been less than kind.

"I'm having dinner with you again," he told me. Despite his tough demeanor, and the fact that I knew he could defend himself well enough, he seemed to get lonely a lot, and sometimes I wondered whether it was me or my cooking he was so devoted to. Not that I minded the company – no not at all. I was eight, he was nine, we were both orphaned and meant to stay away from each other. We really couldn't help it.

"Don't Momochi-san and Haku-kun wonder where you get to? It doesn't look like he was kind to you this evening."

Suigetsu grunted and shrugged his shoulders. "Zabuza doesn't care. How was Hoshigaki-san?"

"I only just finished then," I told him. "We were working on my…."

"Yes?"

"My chakra control," I said, pretending to be embarrassed.

"What! But your control is perfect!" he shouted disbelievingly, grabbing the last bit of washing and hanging it on the clothes line. Suigetsu turned to look at me as if I was crazy.

"Obviously Kisame-sensei doesn't think so."

"That's -" Suigetsu shook on the milk crate he had been standing on so he could reach. A massive crack had split the silence in two. Suigetsu and I looked at each other – a fight!

We leapt over the wall of my Clan's compound. I poured chakra into my feet as I scooted over the slippery rooftops, following the source of the fighting. When I found it I was surprised to say the least – the Kaguya Clan were fighting the Kirigakure's shinobi hoard, all on their own. I was confused. The Kaguya's were a bloodthirsty bunch, but it never occurred to me that they would turn on their own village. Kisame-sensei was down there, as were the other Seven Shinobi Swordsmen…. No. Zabuza and Haku were nowhere to be seen. Neither was Suigetsu. Where was he? The boy had been right behind me a second ago.

Kisame-sensei had blood all over him as he slashed and shaved and absorbed the enemy's chakra with faithful Samehada. He seemed to be licking the red liquid gleefully off his face. This would have intimidated most, but not me.

I performed the necessary seals before unleashing Suiton: Bakusui Shōha, and a whole flood of water erupted out of nowhere, surprising everyone except for Kisame-sensei and a couple of others, who had seen me and predicted my movements. I realised that it was an obvious move, and that I would have to think with more wisdom if I wanted to continue living in the ninja business.

Despite my obviousness, most of the Kaguya were submerged, and many of them were climbing out of the water, struggling to stand at least for a moment before my sensei and the others cut them down. I dived, conscious of what was going to happen as soon as the tips of my toes joined the rest of me beneath the surface.

Three seconds below.

One…

Two…

Three…

And no change! Kisame-sensei would be so proud!

The euphoria was short lived. Seconds after I had laughed with pride and fulfillment, my tail, ears, webs and gills revealed themselves. I decided to make the most of it, and leapt out of the water behind people, breaking their necks and leaving them to sink back beneath the cold water I had unleashed upon them.

Once again I made the mistake of using a familiar pattern. Most of the adult Kaguya's had known my father – the second last of the Shinju – and so had learnt to combat my techniques. They also had the benefit of having seen the form before, whereas if I was to fight somewhere else, in a different country, I'd have a good chance of surprise.

A Kaguya had grabbed me as I leapt behind what I thought was the real thing. I swore as my hands closed on a water-clone and a hand with giant bone-claws sprouting from the tips was held at my throat. His hesitation was what killed him. I pulled out one of my kunais from my holster and stabbed him with it. The first time made him let go of me, the second slit his throat.

Kisame-sensei got to him a second after he splashed into the water. We shared a glance, and I could have sworn he was checking if I was okay, but he couldn't have been. We were fighting. There was nothing keeping us on the same side except our hitai-ates. I hated to admit it to myself, but he would kill me if we were presented as opponents on the battlefield.

He was gone as soon as he came. The Kaguya's were dropping like flies. Their pathetic attempt to take over my Village was failing miserably. At this rate, there would be none left at all.

And then I heard a shout of fear that was chillingly familiar. It was Suigetsu.

I know that my village comes first. I know that I am meant to serve and protect my sensei; but I am realistic. I know that he doesn't need my protection, and I know that I'd only get in his way. I am also aware that its completely impossible that any Kaguya will be left after my sensei and the other Mist ninja get through with them. I gave them five minutes. Knowing my first duties would be safe, I set off to Suigetsu.

I proceeded with caution, my anxiety growing with every trap I deflected, dodged and destroyed. I could smell the pure-water smell that was Suigetsu. He had come this way, and I think he was trailing someone. Perhaps they had gotten into a fight and he was kidnapped. I tried to reason with myself that perhaps it was just his sensei he had gone looking for, but Zabuza and Haku had appeared to have gone in a different direction, for their scents were not with Suigetsu's. I started to notice another smell as I continued on: the smell of something evil, definitely. There was someone – something – following Suigetsu as well as me. Fear caused my heart to smash against my ribcage. I didn't want Suigetsu dead. He was so good to me. A companion, a friend. I had only known him a year and a half, and in my mind it was too short, although that was a real achievement. Despite what we had both been through, we weren't dead. I needed him to stay alive. We were rivals.

For a day and a half I followed the scent of Suigetsu, and at last stumbled upon a solemn scene, where a handsome young boy was staring at Kirigakure from the top of a cliff. He held a small flower in his hand. With a jolt I realised that he was Kaguya – he would be the only one left. Like me. He looked upset, and I had half a mind to comfort him, but Suigetsu was nowhere to be seen, and so I must assume that he was dead and this boy had killed him.

Just as I was formulating a plan, I saw a tall, pale man with black hair stalk up behind the boy and lay a hand on his shoulder. This was the evil – but not unpleasant – smell I had experienced yesterday. It filled the air around him like a poison, and despite my learnings and experiences, I was scared. I thought I knew who it was: one of the three legendary sannin, Orochimaru. Even Kisame-sensei had mentioned him before, and seemed to have some degree of respect for him, even if he was Konoha-born.

I chose to watch quietly. Kisame-sensei had taught me to be careful, and I was honouring that lesson. Zabuza must have neglected his pupil though, for out of a pond behind them emerged Suigetsu, leaping at the boy and the other man, his teeth bared and kunai ready. I watched, wincing and worrying terribly as Suigetsu was cast off easily and the other boy turned to fight him, his bones poking from his skin in the shapes of swords and daggers.

"Wait," Orochimaru said suddenly. "Don't kill him. I need to know something first."

He stalked over to Suigetsu, who was lying bleeding on the ground. The water-moon orphan spat at him. "I'm not telling you anything about my village!"

Orochimaru waved the defiant statement away for someone who cared. He leant closer and asked, "How did you disguise your chakra signature from me?"

Suigetsu remained quiet, glaring with ocean-green eyes at the dangerous snake sannin. Orochimaru tried three more times. I was proud of Suigetsu. He didn't crack once – not mentally, anyway. The sickening sound of his wrist under Orochimaru's foot made my stomach lurch. I knew he was too strong for me. There was nothing I could do. Kisame-sensei no doubt could defeat this long-haired felon. But not me. Not yet.

I could only watch in horror as Orochimaru pulled a scroll from his back and wrapped up my friend so that I could only see his feet. The Kaguya boy was watching everything quietly, and as Orochimaru left, the soul survivor looked up at me, straight into my eyes. I didn't move. I stayed stony, but my heart jumped.

And then they were gone, and with it, my best friend, my rival, my love.