In Kirigakure, before the era of the Blood Mist...
The containment tank smelled of brine and copper.
Kaito adjusted his glasses, checking the seals on the glass. He was a researcher for the Water Shadow's special division, which sounded prestigious until you realized it meant he spent his days mopping up genetic failures.
Inside the tank, Isane floated.
She wasn't fully human anymore. Scales—rough, gray, and shark-like—patched her skin. Her hands were webbed. A heavy, bony protrusion was forming on her shoulder, looking suspiciously like the start of a shell. She was beautiful, in the way a storm front is beautiful.
Kaito tapped the glass.
Isane opened her eyes. They were yellow, slitted, and utterly devoid of the madness the other scientists claimed she had.
Click.
Kaito opened the airlock. He wasn't supposed to. He placed a boiled egg on the metal rim of the tank.
"Protein," he whispered. "For the... condition."
Isane surfaced. She didn't splash. She displaced the water like oil. She took the egg, her webbed fingers brushing Kaito's hand. Her skin was cold, rough as sandpaper, but her touch was gentle.
She couldn't speak—her vocal cords had shifted to something suited for underwater sonar—but she hummed. A low, vibrating sound that resonated in Kaito's chest. It was the Lion's Roar (Kuji-in: Tō), the sound of the universe seeking harmony.
"They're coming for the fetus tomorrow," Kaito said, his voice trembling. "They want to dissect it. See if the Sanbi's chakra transfers to offspring."
Isane stopped eating. She looked at her swollen belly, then at Kaito.
The alarm blared.
Red lights flooded the lab.
"I disabled the perimeter seals," Kaito said, pulling a scalpel from his pocket—not for her, but for the guards. "But I can't disable the ocean gates. You have to swim, Isane. You have to swim deep."
She reached out, grabbing his lab coat. She wanted him to come.
"I can't breathe down there," Kaito smiled sadly. "Go. Make something beautiful out of this mess."
He pushed the release lever. The tank walls dropped. Isane didn't hesitate. She dragged herself to the drainage sluice, looked back once, and dove.
Kaito turned to the door as the armored guards burst in. He held up his scalpel, a man of science trying to be a warrior for exactly three seconds before the kunai hit him.
He died thinking that the shape of water was actually the shape of love.
(Era: The Present - Akatsuki Hideout)
The cave was quiet, save for the wet shhh-luck sound of Kisame eating lunch.
It was a raw fish. Not sushi. Just... a fish. He had ripped the head off and was chewing on the midsection, bones and all.
Itachi Uchiha sat across from him, sipping tea, looking perfectly pristine. He watched Kisame tear a strip of meat from the spine with triangular teeth.
"Kisame..." Itachi said softy.
"Mmph?" Kisame swallowed a chunk of vertebrae. "W-yhst..." He gulped. "What?"
Itachi paused. The question was rude. It was illogical. It was beneath him. But the sound of the crunching bones was driving him insane.
"Was one of your parents..." Itachi hesitated, searching for a polite word for 'monstrosity'. "...a shark?"
Kisame blinked. He looked at the half-eaten fish in his hand. He looked at his blue skin. He touched the gills on his neck.
He spat out a fin.
"BWA-HA-HA-HA!"
Kisame's laughter boomed off the cave walls, shark-like and terrified of nothing.
"A shark! You Uchiha and your theories! No, Itachi-san. My mother was a saint. My father was a dinner guest. I'm just the result of good breeding!"
He took another bite. CRUNCH.
"Besides," Kisame grinned, blood on his teeth. "Sharks are too nice. I'm something worse."
(Era: The Present - Kirigakure Training Yard)
The training sword was too heavy, but Suigetsu refused to drag it.
"I'm Zabuza," he declared, puffing out his chest. "I'm the Demon of the Mist!"
"No, you're not," Mangetsu said, sharpening his own blade (Hiramekarei). He looked bored. "You're too squishy. Zabuza is hard. You're... puddly."
"I am NOT puddly!" Suigetsu yelled, turning his arm into water to emphasize his point, then instantly regretting it as he dropped his sword.
"See?" Mangetsu sighed. "You're more like Haku. Pretty. Delicate. Meltable."
"TAKE THAT BACK!" Suigetsu shrieked. "I am the reincarnation of terror!"
"You're a turtle," Mangetsu deadpanned.
Suigetsu froze. "What?"
"A girl turtle," Mangetsu nodded sagely. "Mom said we have turtle blood. That's why you drink so much water. You're trying to build a shell, but you can't because you're soft."
Beat.
Suigetsu's face turned bright red. Mangetsu cracked a smile.
They both broke into laughter, the high, clear sound of brothers who hadn't been forced to kill each other yet.
"Shut up!" Suigetsu wiped a tear away. "Let's go find some swords. I'm gonna find one bigger than yours and smash your shell with it!"
"Good luck, Turtle-Princess," Mangetsu called, walking away.
"I HATE YOU!"