Disclaimer: Ownership of Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not me.

Also, authour's note inbound at the end of this chapter.

Blackness.

A stifling dark surrounded Kisame, obscuring his surroundings. He became idly aware that he wasn't able to see his own body beneath him, nor was he able to reach up and touch his face with his hands- for all his knowledge, he may have become nothing but a brain and a pair of eyeballs, floating in an endless sea of ink.

Am I dead? Is this what death is like?

He contemplated the question with childlike curiousity; the prospect that he had, in fact, perished, struck no fear in his heart. He floated alone in his thoughts for a few moments, a few months, a few years, or longer. Time seemed skewed, and his perception of it no longer existed or mattered. Suddenly, a voice reached him through the dimness.

"Kisame?"

His idle thoughts paused, focusing on the change in atmosphere, and for a brief second his mind was tinged with confusion. He knew that voice, didn't he?

"Kisame?"

Struggling, he attempted to turn his head; or, at least, what passed for turning his head in the limbo he found himself suspended in. His reflexes were slow, his unseen body almost immobile, and after a few seconds he was forced to admit defeat.

Without warning, the darkness in front of him turned from pitch black to steel grey, then faded to the colour of pale stones. Light had begun breaking through his bleak surroundings, and he was able to see that he did, in fact, have a body; it was pale and thin-looking, and still largely unresponsive compared to the relatively unchanged speed of his mind functions. He was unclothed, and floating in a vast empty space.

Finally, the light grew enough to bathe the area in soft yellow radiance. A figure stepped around Kisame from behind him, then came to a stop before his inert body. His blurred eyes wavered, then focused on the figure, recognition flooding him.

Seyeon stood before him, wrapped in nothing but a long, black length of some soft, silky cloth. Her face was adorned with a warm smile, possibly the most peaceful expression Kisame had ever seen appear on her face. However, as he looked closer, he realized that there was nothing covering her eyeless sockets; however, the upper half of her face was shrouded in shadow, hiding them.

She stepped forward. "Oh, thank goodness, you're alright." Drawing him close, she pulled him into an embrace, and Kisame felt his body flood with energy. His movement restored, he gripped her tightly back, memories flooding his brain of what had just happened: Chira, the young man, his attack, Seyeon sending him away…

He looked at Seyeon, the faintest traces of tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes. "Why would you send me away? I should have stayed with you."

Seyeon didn't respond, however. Her face twisted into a frown, and she grabbed Kisame by the shoulders.

"Kisame, wake up. Kisame! KISAME!" Her voice began changing, growing raspier, and more male.

"Kisame!"

Kisame awoke with a start. Jerking upward, he immediately winced in pain, the memory of Seyeon still fresh in his mind. Looking wildly around, he registered that he was seated on a bed of reeds in a small, thatched-roofed cottage; his chest was heavily bandaged, and Zetsu was on the ground beside him.

"Oh, you're awake." "I think you were hallucinating, you were rambling and not making a whole lot of sense."

Kisame placed a hand on his bandaged torso. "Where are we?"

Zetsu looked at him, furrowing his brow in confusion. "We're in an abandoned hut, about two miles from where you and Seyeon were attacked." "We figured that this distance was enough to- hey!"

Kisame stood abruptly, fighting to ignore the lance of pain that shot across his body. Grabbing Samehada with his right hand, he threw his Akatsuki cloak about him carelessly. "I'm going back to get her."

White Zetsu looked at him with concern. "Kisame… you're injured, badly. I've patched you up with my spores as best I can, but they're a temporary fix at best. You should return to Leader-sama for rejuvenation."

Kisame glanced at him, and was about to open his mouth to argue, when Black Zetsu cut him off. "Go, Kisame. Get her back."

Kisame bowed his head. "Thank you, Zetsu. Report what happened here to the others, I'll be back to Ame with Seyeon as soon as I can."

Without another word, Zetsu sank into the dirt floor of the hut, and Kisame left the dilapidated structure without another word.

Slowly but surely, Kisame made his way to the location of his and Seyeon's standoff. Blood seeped from under his bandage, and he grimaced, forcing himself to carry on through the occasional spasm of pain that shot through his abdomen. His movement speed was decreased sharply by the extent of his injuries, but he kept a pace regardless, driven by concern for Seyeon's fate.

Finally, he reached the clearing. The sight that met his eyes shocked him: the ground was cracked and broken, with entire sections of the turf ripped from the earth and thrown across the area, smashing against trees and uprooting small shrubs and bushes. The ground was littered with bodies in various states of dismemberment, most unrecognizable, as though they'd been mauled by some gigantic predator. Glancing over, he saw Chira lying against a slab of earth, his right eye uncovered, a black orb revealed in the socket. The massive wound in his chest left Kisame no illusions that he'd need to be dealt with; his demise had clearly come about in a very painful manner.

Swiveling around, Kisame frantically surveyed the area, looking underneath bodies and throwing pieces of the environment itself about, searching for Seyeon. Suddenly, a clattering behind him caught his ears, and he spun around, one hand shooting to Samehada's handle; however, the suddenness of the action caused a bolt of agony to course through his body, dropping him to one knee, his face contorted with pain.

Before him, a lone Mist ninja was running toward him. His single remaining arm was gripping a kunai, his mangled face twisted into a completely unreadable expression. Kisame's hand let go of Samehada, and he grabbed vainly for it as he fell, but his wild reach missed; bracing himself, he looked the ninja dead in the eyes. If this was to be his death, he would face it head-on.

Shlack!

Kisame blinked. The Mist ninja stopped his suicidal charge and looked down at the long silver blade that was now protruding from his heaving chest. Catching Kisame's eye, the ninja coughed once, his breath sputtered, and he fell forward without another word.

Behind him, Seyeon was kneeling on the ground, one arm holding her scythe in a shaky grip. Even as Kisame exclaimed in surprise and started forward, the blue-skinned kunoichi fell forward, her massive blade disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Kisame caught Seyeon as she fell, placing a hand on her cheek and turning her face toward his. Her lips fluttered, and she struggled to speak.

"No, don't try to talk." He whispered, tears trickling down his face. "Save your strength, I'm taking you home. Seyeon, please… Please don't…" his voice trailed off.

Seyeon smiled, but the look quickly dissolved into a gasp of pain. "I'm sorry… Kisame. I didn't want you to have to see this."

"I've done what I meant to do. I've made peace with my sister, I've finished off the last remnant of my past. I know the truth, and that's all I've wanted. You… you've got so much more to do." She coughed, blood pooling at the corners of her mouth. "Please… just, do one thing… for me…"

Kisame held her head close to his chest. "Don't say that. You won't need me to do anything, I'm taking you home. You're going to be fine!" he half shouted, half cried, as though trying as hard to convince himself as to convince her.

Seyeon shook her head. "Kisame… take care of Val."

Finally, Kisame let go. Tears poured down his cheeks as he let them flow unrestrained. Holding onto Seyeon as the life drained from her body, he cried like he had never cried in his life.

"Why did you have to do this? We should have both gone." He clenched his fist. "I never wanted this. I never wanted any of this."

Seyeon inhaled deeply, her breath turning wheezy and laboured. "It's okay. I'm going to see my parents."

"I love you, Kisame."

Seyeon's head slumped to the side, a ghost of breath passed through her lips, and she lived no more. For a moment Kisame simply sat there, cradling his dead lover in his arms. Nothing mattered anymore; Seyeon was dead. He had promised that nothing would ever happen to her again, and he'd failed to hold up that promise.

Reaching into his belt, he removed a kunai. A single tear dropped onto the polished black metal as he moved it into position in front of his chest. The tip settled just against his flesh-

"Kisame….Take care of Val."

He stopped. The last ghost of Seyeon's voice fluttered away in the breeze. Kisame let his fingers slowly open, and the kunai fell from his hands to stab into the loamy ground. Then, setting his mind, he stood, Seyeon's bloodied body held in his arms.

Looking down at her small form- so tough in life, yet so frail in death- Kisame took a deep breath. He stood there, alive, because Seyeon was dead. He wouldn't squander her sacrifice.

Without another thought, he left the clearing.

One week later…

In the courtyard of Pain's tower, the Akatsuki had assembled. Before them, Seyeon's body was laid out on a stone table, her hands clasped on her stomach, her eyelids closed over her empty sockets. In any other situation, she might have been sleeping peacefully.

Deidara, Tobi, and Hidan stood, slightly removed from the proceedings, their heads bowed. Pain and Jonan were slightly nearer, Itachi at their side; and directly before the stone stood Kisame, Valhalla, and Kakuzu. Kakuzu's hand was placed on the small of Valhalla's back as she sobbed uncontrollably. Tears ran unheeded down her face, dripping to the ground, as Kakuzu bowed his head. Kisame's eyes, however, were dry.

He placed one of Seyeon's hands in his own and held it for a few seconds, grasping her cool flesh tightly. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see that Itachi had stepped forward. "Are you ready?"

Kisame took a deep breath and nodded, glancing over at Valhalla. Her tears had subsided, leaving two tracks down her face, but her expression was set as she nodded her agreement. She and Kakuzu stepped back from Seyeon's body, Kisame following, as the other members of the Akatsuki stepped closer to level with their fellows.

Itachi formed three hand signs, then extended his right hand, his first two fingers pointed upward.

Fire style: Fireball jutsu!

Exhaling deeply, he blew a cloud of bright flames onto Seyeon's body. The surface of the stone burst into flames, burning quickly to cover the whole table. Valhalla buried her face in Kakuzu's shoulder, unable to rest her eyes on the sight.

Smoke rose from the fire, flitting away into the blue sky of one of the rare clear days in the Hidden Rain Village. Kisame looked upward, imagining that he saw Seyeon's face in the rising smoke, hearing her laugh as she rose to greet her parents. The flames continued to burn, and the wind carried the wisps of smoke out over the village as the fire burned, and with a final burst, Seyeon's body was engulfed in flames.

Alright, I feel like I owe some explanation here.

I know it probably seems odd to create an entirely new character, then kill them off at the end of the very same story that you introduce them in. But, the truth of the matter is, Seyeon is a character that I developed almost four years ago. I want my writing style to stay evolving, and Seyeon doesn't interest me as much as a character anymore.

Now, that's not to say that she won't reappear at some point in the future… I think her design was solid enough to warrant a possible revisit. But, I've made my decision, and my decision is to continue without her.

Now that that's done, I'd like to thank everyone who's stuck through this story to the end, even through my (admittedly numerous) periods of almost no posts whatsoever. I do this, first and foremost, to express creativity, but knowing that there are people out there who enjoy it makes it all the better.

Thank you, and I'll see you all in the next story.