Warnings: Yaoi – mostly Kakuzu/Hidan, with some Kakuzu/OC and implied Hashirama/Madara. Be also warned for violence, gore, some angst, coarse language, the usual stuff.

Notes: I thought I won't be writing another multi-chaptered KakuHida fic, but obviously I was wrong. I blame Derperuss, who told me the base idea for this story, although I twisted and turned and truly abused it. Hope you will still like it!

I also blame the continuous and frustrating lack of Kakuzu background stories in the series, when we get to know more about characters like Pakura of the Scorch Release (surely awaited by masses), so I felt I have to make my own version.

This is massively a WIP, but I felt that if I won't start posting I might just abandon it, and I worked too much on it for that already.

/*/*/*/

Path to Darkness

/*/*/*/

They moved in almost complete darkness. Heavy rainclouds and thick canopy obscured even the dim twinkle of stars. The night was their ally, covering their presence at this hostile land. Soon they would see the lights of the village and the mission would start at last.

Kakuzu felt his pulse speed up in anticipation, though he wasn't afraid – if anyone could carry out this quest, it was them. They were strong. They were the best, the prodigy of their village. They were prepared.

When he glimpsed Konohagakure in the valley below he raised his arm and the other two immediately came to a halt. There was no need for any last-minute tactical discussion – they had already gone through all that, he just wanted to take a few minutes break before venturing into enemy territory.

He turned back to his teammates. The three of them knew each other very well. Ten years or even more passed since they had started their training as a shinobi together and since then he had hardly fought any battle without the others' aid. They were the perfect team – Kakuzu with his powerful hand-to-hand combat skills, Kokoro with his supreme genjutsu abilities and Shiro with his perfected healing techniques. Young as they all were, barely in their early twenties, Kakuzu thought that together they were unstoppable.

With Kokoro they were practically like brothers, having known each other since childhood and by now knowing each other's thoughts most of the times. And with Shiro… they were even more than that. He let his eyes linger on the slender form a bit longer than it was truly advisable in their current situation. Feeling his gaze, the silver-haired man raised his uniquely coloured eyes and smiled at him. Kakuzu's heart started to beat just a bit faster and it had nothing to do with the upcoming fight. It was strange, the way a simple smile could make him feel. They had known each other forever, but since they had become lovers watching Shiro was something he could never be tired of.

Falling for your teammate was not something the elders encouraged – someone who was considered to be one the strongest ninja of their village, like Kakuzu, was expected not to be distracted by such emotions. Same gender relationships were frowned upon anyway, so they have kept it in secret as much as they could. They didn't manage to fool Kokoro at all of course, but no one else suspected anything.

After this mission they might be able to announce their bond, Kakuzu thought suddenly. Upon completion they would surely be celebrated as the heroes of the village and a hero could get away with a lot of things. And the assassination of Hashirama Senju was certainly not something an ordinary trio of shinobi could have carried out.

Signalling for the others to get moving they descended into the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Silent, quick and deadly like a striking snake. Arrogant in their youth enough to think they could win, they rushed ahead to meet their doom.

/*/*/*/

Kakuzu rubbed tiredly and rather furiously the bridge of his nose. Of all the time and place to remember such a thing… He looked sideways to his current partner and was overcome with the sudden urge to strangle him. The feeling was nothing new, but for once the idiotic zealot didn't commit anything to warrant his rage. To the contrary, he was doing what he was told.

They were hiding behind a crumbling stone wall, waiting for their target to appear. Hidan managed to keep his mouth shut this time, though he was constantly shifting, tapping his foot, fidgeting, unable to stay completely still. Feeling his partner's gaze on him he turned his head and raised an eyebrow, conveying "What the fuck are you looking at?" pretty much without words.

Kakuzu shifted his attention from him, staring once again at the road through the cracks of the wall. In truth, he knew why Hidan's presence indicated these memories, but it didn't make it and less infuriating. All those had happened seventy years ago after all – normally he could hardly recall the events any longer, not in detail at any rate.

Yet since his misfortunate partnership with the priest he was subject to an occasional dream. Sometimes his mind wandered back to his early years even when he was awake, like it happened now. To say it frustrated the hell out of him would be an understatement.

It was, it had to be just these curious physical similarities the priest shared with Shiro. The light hair, the fair skin, the distinctive violet eyes he had only ever seen these two people have. But the resemblances ended there. Where his lover had been quiet, compassionate and smart, Hidan was loud, cruel and idiotic.

Kakuzu hadn't been able to really recall Shiro's face since countless decades. He accepted that, even welcomed it. The less memories he kept of his past the easier it was to live in the present. He wasn't the same person anyway, with his distorted body and soul. Nostalgia never earned anyone a Rio, just made you vulnerable.

However since the priest was forced on him, whenever he thought about his long dead lover he pictured him exactly like Hidan. It was one thing that made him despise the bloody moron even more. Although it was probably also the reason why he had never smashed that infuriating grin from the other's face once and for all, supposed immortality be damned...

The man they had been waiting for had finally appeared and Kakuzu threw himself into the combat with vengeance, ignoring Hidan's standard cries of "Leave this to me!" It was over in no time unfortunately, leaving their target dead but still recognisable so the bounty could be collected.

Hidan screamed at him, angered at not having a chance to even drew his blade, let alone complete his miserable ritual and Kakuzu, hardy getting his tension relieved with such an easy fight, let himself be drawn into another futile argument. It ended with Hidan being smashed into a nearby tree, what made the day just slightly more bearable.

/*/*/*/

He didn't know what it was with the old bastard lately, but he was becoming even more introverted and at the same time more volatile than usual and Hidan wouldn't have thought that possible. He really wished it would stop – he was more and more frustrated and bored with each passing day.

He had also caught him looking at him strangely in the last couple of weeks and it wasn't his usual how-could-I-kill-Hidan-once-and-for-all look. Eerily enough he sometimes seemed to look through him, or as if seeing a ghost. Kakuzu just wasn't someone who spaced out, so he really didn't know what to make of it. As far as Hidan was concerned, the miser was a sceptic asshole of a killing machine and definitely not someone you caught staring ahead, or at you, with glazed eyes.

He tried to make Kakuzu tell what was bugging him, but with that effect he could have interrogated a rock. In no time it became a bit of an obsession. He kept watching the stitched bastard from the corner of his eyes and when he seemed to enter his brooding session he stepped right into his face and asked what the matter was with him.

This was as safe as poking a sleeping biju in the eye, but Hidan didn't have anything to fear. He couldn't be killed after all, and didn't give a shit about pain. He might whine if Kakuzu did something painful, but it was really just to annoy him.

He didn't get the old heathen to confess anything though. The most he could achieve was to drag him back to reality, to get his attention again, which was all nice, but didn't provide any explanation what was going on in Kakuzu's mind.

Hidan realized he was slightly worried and that made him feel uneasy. He wasn't someone who gave a shit about how others felt. Still, he couldn't help to be a bit concerned about his partner and he tried to deal with it in his own way – pestering the other all the time so he didn't have much chance to brood over whatever he was brooding over. Did he get any thanks for it though? Of course not. Ungrateful asshole.

TBC…