I sense their chakra long before they come into view, giving me time to rise from my crouch beside the large oak tree I was using for shelter. The peasant looking man they are chasing enters the clearing in a full out sprint, turning his balding head to glance behind him quickly a look of pure terror twisting his, middle aged features. He is halfway across the field when he trips up in surprise as he notices me. I gather from his expression that I must look a strange sight; a darkly clothed young woman standing alone in the woods at the dead of night drenched thoroughly from the heavy rain and clutching a small, glinting dagger in her hand would probably make any man think he was seeing things.
Of course the old slightly rusted dagger was only for picking herbs and wouldn't really do much damage in a fight but the weapon still seemed to bring him pause. The man and I both turn to look at his pursuers as we hear them step out of the treeline.
Both men are easily taller than me by, at the very least, a foot and are notably dressed in the same black cloak with red clouds. I look to the taller of the two first, instantly memorizing his pupil-less green eyes, masked mouth and his crossed out Waterfall village forehead protector, before glancing at his partner. This man's most prominent feature is his slicked back, not white or gray but actually silver hair, his eyes are a deep magenta and his robe is unbuttoned to display his chest where lies a small shining silver pendant I've never seen before, resting around his neck is his Hot Water village forehead protector.
"Please, you're a ninja right? You must help me, they mean to kill me!" The balding man throws himself to his knees in front of me drawing my full attention away from the cloud-cloaked ninjas. I force my expression to stay neutral but I feel absolutely disgusted at his pathetic groveling. He even has the gall to reach for my leg to continue his begging, my response is nearly automatic as I jam my knee into his face sending him sprawling a few feet away. He clutches his bleeding nose with a scream. I move my soaked but always disheveled hair from my eyes with a flippant toss of my head, it falls easily back in my face not a second later refusing to cooperate as per normal.
The silver haired ninja barks out a loud laugh, his face brightening in genuine delight at the groaning man's pain. His tall partner is inspecting me closely, hiding his surprise at such a callus move from a woman.
"That'll teach you to run from us "Lord" Mezuki, you good for fucking nothing, waste of space bastard. Kick him again, woman!" The silver haired ninja encourages me while he adjusts the wicked three-bladed scythe on his shoulder, his large grin is sadistic and eyes wild. I give the now named man in front of me a repulsed glare.
'So this is the man that has been causing such a stir in these lands by starving and murdering his people for his own malicious self gain.' I think and I grip the knife in my hand tighter suddenly feeling very retributional. "Yeah, I'll help you." The man's eyes light up in disbelief and hope just before I slit his jugular. The man is dead instantly because I was precise in my aim for his vitals but I listen as the air mixes with his blood in loud gurgling sounds and watch the life drain from his eyes until they're dull.
"Why tell him you were going to help him, if you were just gunna kill him?" I look to the tall masked man and see he is giving me a curious glare as he breaks the silent moment with his deep voice.
"I did help him. I helped him leave this world far quicker than your companion would have I'm guessing. It's far more than he deserved and he should be grateful to me as he suffers eternally in the pits of hell." I emphasize "hell" by kicking his ribs in, and nod with satisfaction as I hear a bone break and his body rolls away from me across the grass, head at a sickening angle.
"It's not every day people come this deep into the forest, ninjas chasing lowlifes into my backyard are even rarer. I'm curious why were chasing him? Are you that righteous?" I hum in thought for an idle second not giving them a chance to respond. "Hmm, no you don't exactly seem to me like the types to reign down vigilantly justice in the name of the common folk. You must be bounty hunters then, am I right?"
"Correct, so we'll be taking his head now." I nod and quickly stooped low to pluck the gold ring from the dead guys still warm hand as the men began to approach to collect the body. I feel both sets of eyes watching me as I pocket the tiny momento.
"Think of it as my cut of the bounty I'm not asking you to split with me," I answer the unspoken question in the taller ninjas eyes, giving him a wink and a toothy smirk. I hear him grunt in response clearly not liking my action but not saying anything as he crouches down next to the body. Pulling a kunai out of his cloak, he rolls his sleeves above his wrists to avoid the blood that pours from his finishing the decapitation I had started. I notice with curiosity the black stitches the appear in the same spot on both forearms, as a healer I scan instantly for signs of infection but the skins not even so much as discolored red with irritation. The stitches are perfectly straight and clean but I can tell they're old, 'why is he still wearing stitches on a wound that's clearly healed?'
I take a step toward him without thinking, reaching out for his arm so I can examine it more closely. He pauses his work on the guys spinal cord to watch me. He doesn't even flinch as I take his surprisingly warm hand in mine turning it palm side up, I boldy graze my fingertips across his unusual veins which are black instead of blue and seem to be moving, not pulsing, beneath his otherwise smooth tanned skin. My fingers continue up his arm to the stitches, the work is flawless but the material is slightly frayed from age, bemused I realize he must have done them himself. I snap out of my musings as his bicep contracts under my touch, I raise my eyes to his taking in his guarded expression and tense posture. I let go of the limb and watching as it falls to his side and step out from his personal space. I shrug off both men's suspicious glares.
"Sorry, medical instinct and morbid curiosity are a terrible combination sometimes." I glance to the trees just so I have an excuse not to look at them for a second.
"Sooo, you're a healer or some shit like that?" I look at the silver haired one and nod.
"The villagers in the town just east of here seem to think so." I answer vaguely with a one shoulder shrug. Seemingly satisfied with my medical background he begins to pull open his cloak further revealing his toned stomach I set my focus on the bloody, half stitched stab wound that appears just above his left hip. I glance to the masked man wondering why it was only half stitched before I look harder at the fist-sized hole in the silver haired man's gut and notice the blood is slightly discolored and a strange ooze is seeping out alongside it. 'Poison, that's why it's only half treated; to slow the blood flow so he doesn't bleed out and so the poison doesn't flood his system. quick thinking on his friends part.'
"How long ago were you poisoned," I look for signs of distress in his body language; sweating, erratic breathing, fever anything but he looks fine.
"Maybe two hours ago, damn bastard's bodyguard got in a lucky shot," My eyes widen in disbelief. 'Two hours with a poison in his system, one that was probably meant to kill him... and he's only complaining about how he got it, who is this guy?'
"I see," I chew on my bottom lip as I settle on my knees in front of him, I take his wrist in my hand absently finding his pulse. 'His pulse is normal it's as if his body doesn't even know he's injured' I reject the thought that this is a new type of poison I've never seen before because as I pinch it between my fingers and bring it to my nose to smell, I instantly know its burnlock poison by how my fingers feel like I've burned myself. Produced from a rare and expensive plant from out of this region, burnlock is suppose to be an extremely painful but quick death.
'So how is he pain free and still alive?' I wonder and look at the man's face in amazement.
"What's that look for?" I poke the edge of his wound experimentally, careful so I don't get more poison on my bare hand, "Ouch! What the fuck are you doing, bitch?" Okay at least I know his nerves aren't damaged.
"Nothing I'm just wondering what you'd like me to do for you." His face screws up in confusion. "By all rights you should be dead and if not dead then nearly so and incoherent with pain, I'm telling you now; there's no cure for this poison because no one has ever lasted long enough for one to work. If you weren't lying about it being two hours since you were hurt then somehow you are immune to burnlock poisoning, which is impossible because it works by attacking nearly every system in the body and you wouldn't be alive anyway if you didn't have the same bodily systems as everyone else. Or..." I pause and fall into my silent thoughts.
"Or?" The masks man prompts me to continue my thoughts aloud.
"Well his body is not reacting as if it's in any pain or stress at all and I'm wondering, since he can't possibly be immune to how the poison works, maybe his body just completely ignored the poisons effects and when his body should have succumbed to death it.. just... didn't. But then that would mean..."
"That I'm immortal, yeah we already know that. You asked me what I wanted you to do well, just get this poisonous, oozing shit out of me and seal me up so me and Kakuzu can get the fuck out of here!" I analyze this new information in stunned silence, before turning to eye Kakuzu as I put name to face for the first time. He nods at me, his green eyes boring into my face intensely, as if by looking at him I was asking his permission to seal up his friend. Neither of them are in anyway shocked by this turn of events as I am so I decide to think over the fact that I just learned this guy is also an immortal later when I'm alone again.
I move my hands to rest just above the flesh of his injury and channel my chakra into him to force the poison, infection and anything else unwanted out of his body, it all falls to the ground in a slimy pile of white pus, red blood and clear poisonous liquid. I do a double check to make sure I got it all before picturing in my head his wound knitting together. I take a look at my finished work and smile as not even a faint scar remains behind. I run my hand over the now slightly pink skin and I feel his stomach muscles clench tight at my soft caress, and I'm woman enough to know why as I hear his sharp intake of breath, and feel his hand suddenly on mine grasping hard and holding it still.
I know most of his reaction is coming from the dopamine that was released when my chakra healed him but I like how his eyes have quickly darkened with lust. Both of us quickly turn to Kakuzu as he shoves the now fully severed head into a white sack that bleeds red almost instantly. I tug my hand gently asking for it back without looking at him, his grip tightens before he lets go completely and I rise from my place on the ground backing up a few feet.
I glance at the sky and see dawn is nearing, I sigh and mentally count that it's been four days since I've gotten any sleep I glance to the two men out of the corner of my mind who seem to be having a quiet argument, 'at least tonight wasn't boring'. I gather the knife I dropped before and find the herbs I had been gathering before everything started, they continued to argue as they watch me retrieve my things. I don't eavesdrop despite my curiosity, I watch as Kakuzu is the first to turn his back and walk away, the other man sneers at his back seemingly upset.
"Hidan, move your ass,"
"Fuck you, you don't tell me what to fucking do!" Hidan yells and doesn't seem to notice he's already following Kakuzu's order.
'Kakuzu the mysterious and Hidan the immortal, I don't think I'll be quick to forget you two,' I stare after their retreating forms knowing I might never see them again.