For frostious

Symbiote

Hidan was a nightmare all by himself. Slowly but surely, he caught up to Kakuzu's lagging patience. The constant nagging drove him up a wall.

"I'm just seeing how long it takes you to snap," Hidan would chuckle, sliding his pike so aggravatingly into his chest. The blood dripped from those dark, twitching fingers, so alive and so full of mischievous energy that would never be satisfied. Sometimes in those strange moments between waking and sleeping, Kakuzu thought Hidan had been put on this earth to torture his irreverent soul.

But fully aware, Kakuzu knew there was no such thing as a soul. At least inside of him, he was empty, and he was used to his emptiness. Emptiness was even a comfort, oftentimes. Without a soul, a person can do anything, and not feel a conscience pulling at their sleeve. It frees the mind of things that usually hold a person back. With the power of a hollow self, things and people can be destroyed with little emotion or feeling.

Kakuzu couldn't destroy Hidan like a normal person, and it bothered him intensely. Hidan was becoming a constant in a world where the constant had been being alone and fending for himself. Kakuzu was not used to relying on somebody else to back him up, nor was he used to helping anybody else accomplish their goals.

Helping yourself was the most profitable charity of all. There was nothing appealing about helping this aggravating parasite bleed himself to death. Repeatedly. There was nothing to gain from Hidan's tedious rituals and loud mouth.

Nothing to gain at all. Yet when Hidan was cold, Kakuzu threw his own blanket in the other mans' face. When Hidan was hungry, Kakuzu dug into reluctant pockets. When Hidan was fighting, Kakuzu moved with him. Perfect synchronization.

Hidan didn't need Kakuzu's help, and Kakuzu didn't need Hidan's help. But they were intertwined by what Hidan ironically whined was fate. Kakuzu thought it was bad luck. Remarkably bad luck, but he supposed after five-hundred years, he was bound to come upon something of the sort. The dice would eventually roll two ones in such an overly long lifetime.

"Oi, fuckface!" Hidan yelled close to his ear. Very...close. The other man was right up next to him, voice echoing in his tender, ancient eardrums. "Hey, what the hell is your problem! I'm done, hey, I'm done with my ritual."

With a slow, calming breath, Kakuzu smiled a smile that wasn't really tender in the least. "Great. Let's go, Hidan."

Kakuzu had figured it out. Hidan was a nightmare and a parasite all mixed into one. He was a nightmare that plagued him in full wakefulness. If Hidan ever decided to sneak into his dreams as well, Kakuzu might lose control of his aching mind.

With a bounce, Hidan rose to his feet. "It's you who always holds us up, you know! I swear, I'm ready to go and you're just sitting there, gaping stupidly like a complete dumbass. I mean, what do you even think about, seriously man?!" Staring at him with righteous indignation, the priest balled his hands up into fists, still covered in blood, mouth dripping from his ritual.

But Hidan was also a parasite. The kind that clings to your skin, travels through your blood, and sneaks up into your brain. The kind that stick to you and don't let go, and eventually, you need them to survive. Because if you rip them out of you, you lose what was originally essentially you, as well.

"Come on." Kakuzu stood up, bones aching from their long walk the previous day. Hidan might have been a nightmare. But when Kakuzu looked at him he saw a tiny bit of himself in the other man. The same stubbornness and inability to see things any other way. And more and more, every day, he felt drawn to Hidan. He felt drawn to him, and he wasn't sure why.

He told himself it was because Hidan was an oddity, a freak of nature, and he felt compelled to examine him because he was forced to deal with him regardless. Frowning, he turned to the other man. Hidan's mouth was open, his fingers scratching his newly healed chest.

Hidan must have seen something strange in Kakuzu's eyes, because he frowned, mouth closing with a snap. "What the hell is wrong with you today?"

Ignoring his companion for a second, Kakuzu began to move, hand gripping his briefcase remarkably hard. He knew he was going to get it, but right now, he didn't care one bit. "You."

It was the truth.