Title: Ice Cold Water
Characters: Hidan, Kakuzu, a few others
Genre: Humor/Romance
Rating: K+
Warnings: minor swearing
Summary: What he doesn't say, he understands. What he does say though...
Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto.

He liked watching him at times like that. It was amusing. Most of the time, Hidan was annoying like hell, but when he was drunk... he was quite the entertainment. He made a complete fool of himself.

Kakuzu himself didn't like to drink; he considered it a waste of time and money, not to mention he liked staying sane, thankyouverymuch. So he just observed, as he usually did.

Tonight was just like every other time. They returned from a completed mission, and most of Akatsuki was already at the base, so they sat together for the evening. Leader-sama didn't join them, of course, but Konan was there, sitting on the edge of the table and talking to Sasori about something, her face solemn, while Deidara was laughing hysterically at Hidan, who was trying to explain something to him with wide gestures and absolutely incoherent sentences. Itachi was sitting a bit further away, talking to Madara about something, with Kisame occassionally butting in to say something. For a while, Kakuzu looked at them, and he only looked back at the bigger company when Hidan suddenly exclaimed loudly,

"Stop laughing at me, dipshit!", and aimed a kick at Deidara, who evaded it, still laughing, and Hidan ended up falling off the chair he was sitting on, landing on the floor with an eerie-sounding crack. Kakuzu frowned. Konan stood up from the table, turning in the way of the silver-haired zealot, her thin lips pursing into a frown. She watched without a word as the masked man bent over and picked up the still blabbering Hidan from the ground, then she turned around and left the room.

"I'm going to bed," Sasori said matter-of-factly, and he stood up as well. Deidara immediately followed suit. For a moment, Kakuzu wasn't sure about what to do.

"Put me down already," Hidan frowned at him, his words slurred, and Kakuzu very nearly laughed at his reaction time. But instead of putting him down, he carried him outside. "I said, put me down, for fuck's sake!" Hidan said, growing impatient.

"As you wish," Kakuzu grumbled. They reached their destination; the small lake at the back of the hideout.

"What the fuck!" Hidan came to the surface, splashing and coughing. The water was ice cold, and he wasn't wearing a shirt. "What did you do that for, you fucktard!" He seemed seriously pissed, but, as Kakuzu noted, his violed eyes looked much clearer and more focused. As he started crawling out of the lake, Kakuzu grabbed him by the wrist, and pulled him out. "Let me go, Jashin damn it!" He nearly fell back into the water in his struggling, but Kakuzu didn't let him.

"You should thank me instead..."

"Thank you for what?" Hidan stared at him when they were both on solid ground. "For throwing me into a fucking pack of ice? I hate you."

"At least you're sober," Kakuzu stated, but Hidan wasn't his companion for years now to not notice the small twitch his face gave.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Now that he was sober, he found himself being able to think properly, and he knew something was amiss. He didn't like it, not one bit.

"I know there is something. Come on, tell me, 'Kuzu."

"Stop calling me that," the miser growled, and Hidan surprisedly noted that he actually sounded annoyed, something that seldom happened lately.

"I'll stop if you tell me what's on your mind, 'Kuzu." He knew he sounded childish at that moment, and that he was only annoying the other furthermore, but that flash of pain he just managed to see in his eyes was something he's never seen before, and he knew it would haunt him if he didn't pry. "Is it that I drank too much? I know sake isn't cheap-"

"No," was the simple answer, and Kakuzu started going back to the base. Hidan did the only thing he could think about: leaped after him and wrapped his arms around him from the back.

"Kakuzu-"

"What the hell?" Kakuzu gasped, and that was the moment when the zealot realized he was still dripping wet with freezingly cold water. He himself felt cold too, but in the past couple of minutes he got used to it so much that he actually managed to forget about it.

"Whoa, sorry," he took a step back, but it was too late; now Kakuzu was soaked too.

"Are you totally retarded?" the other sneered at him, and Hidan found himself taking a step back. Kakuzu stared at him for another moment, then turned around. "Whatever. I'm going to bed."

Hidan followed him silently. The momentary warmth that he gained from Kakuzu's back now only made him shiver even more.

Hidan hated the silence. He usually couldn't keep his mouth shut for more than half a minute, and that was exactly because he hated long silences.

This one was especially awkward. Kakuzu didn't talk to him since they got back to the room they shared, not even when Hidan tried asking him, not even when he tried insulting him. He just changed into a set of dry clothes and laid on the bed, pulling the blanket up to his waist. Now Hidan was laying on his stomach by his side, also in dry clothes, though his hair was still damp and he still felt frozen to the bone, and tried to figure out what to do. Kakuzu was laying on his back, his head turned to the other direction.

The zealot raised a hand uncertainly. He was expecting Kakuzu to grab his wrist as he started trailing his fingers along his stitches - this was something he did many times, as he was fascinated by them, and Kakuzu never hid how much that surprised him -, but all he did was look at him.

"'Kuzu..." Hidan murmured, trying not to clatter his teeth. He was completely out of ideas. "Please..."

"Why do you even care." It wasn't even a question but a statement.

"Why wouldn't I?" Hidan stared at him.

"I never thought you would say that."

"Say what?"

"I've heard it many times before, but never from you."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Hidan started to get impatient.

"You said you hate me," Kakuzu stated, his voice nothing out of the ordinary, but Hidan realized he was seeing the same flash in his eyes.

"Oh, yeah?" He had no idea what to say. The idea that Kakuzu actually took him seriously never even crossed his mind. "What were you expecting? You dropped me into a fucking lake!" Kakuzu stayed silent. "I said many other things. I call you a fucker on a daily basis. Why is it any different?"

"Isn't it?" the other's voice sounded hesitant, much less harsh than his usual tone.

"Duh!" Hidan rolled onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow, while he continued tracing his fingers down Kakuzu's chest to his waist. "No."

At that very moment, Kakuzu snatched his wrist away. For a moment, he didn't even understand what was happening, until he was pulled onto the miser's chest, his lips claimed.

Finally, he wasn't cold.

A/N: Reviews make me smile (a lot).