Life and Debt: Prologue

Kakuzu never liked falling into debt.

Whether it be finance, or favor wise.

And perhaps that fact wasn't so hard to believe. He'd never experienced the horrors of being in anyone's debt in the first place.

The stitched man of over ninety years had much blood and sin on his annihilating hands, but if there were anything on his list of moral doings, and if there were anything else aside from his battle skills that he could pride himself in, it was that he had never, ever fallen into debt. When it came to money, although it was painful, he was always willing to spend his own when the time arose; never borrowing any from a soul, and never asking for any that he didn't earn himself. Yes, though his credit score of life was a shame to lay eyes upon, when it came to finance or owing favors, he was completely debtless in his mind's eye. He was an exceptional miser and a widely feared and powerful man in the shinobi world; the Akatsuki's fairly respected treasurer.

His crazy voodoo-doll-of-a-partner, Hidan on the other hand, was a different story.

In fact, Kakuzu couldn't recall a day in which the silver-haired man was not in his debt. He couldn't reminisce on a single moment in time that he hadn't been the one saving his partner from decapitation, saving him from getting a limb sliced off like a piece of Thanksgiving turkey or re-stitching those limbs. Couldn't think of a time that he hadn't saved him from getting detonated to the point of nonrecognition by an underestimated foe. Sure, there had been times that Hidan would take an enemy off of Kakuzu's hands, but Kakuzu always did the same for Hidan ten times over.

The roles had not once been switched, and Kakuzu couldn't imagine it being any other way, and it hadn't.

That was until a few... things happened.

Terrible things. Things he'd rather not think about. Things that he'd take more than enough pleasure in putting in his past. But then again, one would find that impossible since this... thing had come to the point of being a gruesome constant in his life. A constant that had become impossible to run away from back then. It was like trying to run away from air.

And he had to fix it. He had needed to fix it as badly as he needed his brain. But he resented it like hell. Hell with no money. There wasn't any way around, under, or above it. The only way was through, and for once in his life- his very, very long life- it came to the point that Kakuzu could no longer see the light. And back then, in the heat of the moment, he was desperate for some. He had been willing to do almost anything.

But now, all he can wonder is: what have I gotten myself into?

A month ago

"C'mon Kakuzu! You tryin' to get me killed?!" It seemed Hidan never grew tired of using that joke. He loved dangling his immortality in the air like a dog's chew toy; loved taking advantage of it, especially on the brink of what would be anyone else's certain death.

"Behind you, Hidan!" Kakuzu barked out as the dirt-filled air forced its way through his mask, chocking him.

All the while he jerked and jumped this way and that over the shallow sea of bodies that covered the small plain they occupied. Hidan narrowly dodged the worst of a barrage of kunai thrown at his back, some of which had explosives tags attached to them, somersaulting away and baring only a lightly nicked ear and perhaps a blown out ear drum from the small explosion. He caught one kunai with lazy expertise, smacking a palm over his damaged ear a few times.

"Son of a... Thanks a lot, Kakuzu, you were supposed to watch my back! You gonna pay for my damn hearing aid, ya' heathen?" Hidan yelled over the commotion, catching his footing. Taking half a second to inspect the blade which held a small sample of his blood, he slid the metal across his tongue with a flick of the wrist, cleaning it, and flinging it right back at the shinobi who'd thrown it. Bull's-eye, right in the throat. The enemy went down with a gurgle, and Hidan cackled.

Kakuzu grunted at his partner's comments that were slightly drowned out by the regime of ninja surrounding the two, keeping them a distance apart.

"It's not my fault that you continue to act recklessly, Hidan. Don't expect me to constantly babysit you. You'd better stay on your toes," he rumbled before going through blurring hand signs.

"FIRE STYLE: DANCE OF A HUNDRED FLAMES!"

A chorus of satisfying screams were followed along with the smell of burning flesh. Only two minutes, and they'd already taken down three fourths of this Iwagakure squad. Only about ten remained. On any average day, Kakuzu would have taken them all on his own and finished them in sixty seconds at the latest.

"Tch! You're one to talk, Kakuzu!"

Kakuzu turned to meet the voice at his back and was met with a woman the miser hadn't noticed before instead. It was hard to see anything further than five feet in front of him due to the thick, smoky atmosphere. She had somehow managed to sneak up a distance behind him, and had thrown a small shuriken that went noticed a second too late. It grazed his left cheekbone.

The kunoichi was yanked backwards away from Kakuzu not a moment later, receiving a retractable spear through the chest. Hidan then yanked it out, tossing the lifeless body over his shoulder into the dusty abyss before chancing his partner a glance, eyebrow raised. "I'm not the one who just let his guard down when you would'a normally detected her a mile away! Seriously, you've been kinda off lately," Hidan said offhandedly as he turned slightly to encounter a bold ninja who thought for some reason that a frontal attack would solve all of his squads' problems. The man collapsed to the ground where he met his doom not a millisecond later.

Hidan fell into another fit of maniacal laughter as he looked up at the grey sky, a generous spray of fresh blood blotched on his face. "Aww, man, keep em' coming! Lord-Jashin, does this please you?"

Kakuzu took his partner's distraction with secret grace, and did not provide a retaliation to his previous comment. He instead tried to focus on the power in his hits, the smoothness of his dodges and focused in on the names of each jutsu he yelled out, though on regular occasion the jutsu would pass his lips as easily and thoughtlessly as the air that left them. But he focused in on every little detail anyway. Everything else in order to block out the pain. The searing pain in his lower chest. The pain in his back where the masks that would normally hold the hearts of powerful ninja he had encountered were. He needed to block it all out.

But he couldn't block it out.

It wasn't the pain that demanded his attention, it was the fact that the pain was abnormal that got to him. He knew something was seriously wrong. Kakuzu was older than most shinobi on earth now a days, and during the many decades in which he had lived in his body, it's no surprise that he had grown very accustomed to it. He knew exactly how it worked. And right now... It just wasn't. The flames within his chest, around his hearts- it was spreading. Again. The feeling had been making its appearance for weeks.

In the beginning the burning sensation would come and go, not to come again for days, and he thought it nothing more than heartburn. But as time went on, the feeling came back more and more frequently until the pain started to become a permanent residence. Almost unbearable. Kakuzu had come to realize that this feeling was not merely heartburn. Unless heartburn had the ability to take out a heart completely, that is.

Another jolt of blinding pain shot through him, and this time, he couldn't stop his reflexes as his hand came to twist at the skin where his heart beat underneath. His throat itched and he coughed up a thick amount of blood, wetting his mask. He thanked the gods that Hidan was still too busy relishing in his killing spree to notice. Nonetheless, he tore his unsteady hand away from his chest which now held a stilled heart.

That would make the sixth heart this week. The sixth heart he was forced to replace in the dead of night when all were sleeping except for the unfortunate shinobi he killed for his new lives. He would never tell anyone any of this. No one. None of the Akatsuki knew, and that included Hidan. And that's how it would remain.

No, he would never mention it to Hidan.

But apparently, Hidan would mention it to him.

…

"Allll right, so I was wondering when the hell you were gonna say something," Hidan spoke. It was the first noise between the two in about fifteen minutes. He sounded aggravated as he kicked at a small pebble on the muddy ground. The air smelled salty, the atmosphere misty and humid as a light rain poured down over head. The rain slid down in between the folds of the partners' cloaks.

The two had finally taken a small break after hours of walking back to headquarters, and were currently lounging on the stairs of an abandoned stone building surrounded by an equally abandoned muddy clearing. Kakuzu ignored the water droplets trying to invade his eyes, instead focusing on the tone of Hidan's voice that had been slightly droned out by the steady rain. He watched his partner's bloody hand rub away the crusting blood from his beloved scythe with his torn cloak as he sat a few feet away from him.

"...But apparently I gotta bring up everything, pull every topic outta your stubborn old ass. You did good while it lasted, but you should already know that you can't hide your pain from me." Hidan yawned a bit, taking a second to glance over at his still partner.

"I'm able to tell when the devil himself is in pain."

Though the Jashinist wasn't fully looking at him, Kakuzu still made an effort to decrease the stiffness of his shoulders. Now wasn't the time to appear tense. The more disinterested and at ease he appeared about this sudden topic of conversation, the more likely he wouldn't seem as desperate to Hidan. Desperate to fix this problem. He willed his anxiousness to settle, forcing calm into his voice. He would need to play his cards smoothly.

"You have a lot to say, but none of your gibberish tells me what brings you to actually care. Not that you need to."

Hidan narrowed his eyes as if it were obvious. "Be-cause knowing you, you'd be twitching on the ground half dead before you tell me what the hell's wrong with you. Even during instances when there seriously is something wrong with you, that's why!" he yelled.

"Shut your mouth, Hidan. I have no idea what you're talking about. Since you obviously haven't noticed, I guess I'll point out that I'm far from a child in need of consoling," the man said, trying to ignore the fact that Hidan's statement was in a way, true. But, he didn't need comfort. All he sought was a solution.

Kakuzu's mood darkened if that were possible. It was almost laughable how much Hidan was pretending to be concerned about his well being. Kakuzu always knew his partner's true selfish motives and at the moment, they were very clear to him. He could sense them just as well as Hidan could sense pain. Suddenly he realized. Hidan HAD known. He had been aware all this time. As much as the miser had tried to hide his mounting pain, had it really been that obvious for a while now?

Kakuzu knew that on a normal day, Hidan would have continued to pretend to remain 'oblivious' to his problem, silently relishing in his suffering like the sadist he was. But today during their battle, apparently the Jashinist had come to realize just how serious Kakuzu's unknown condition had really become. So it was now that Hidan had become 'concerned' about what was really going on. Please. As if the silver haired man's REAL intentions weren't to find out just how much his problem would hinder the mission, or just how much his problem would keep him from having enough time to preform his precious rituals during battle. Kakuzu's jaw tightened.

This was no time to get angry or lash out at him like normal. He needed to stay calm. Because the miser had made the near impossible decision a while ago, and now he was determined to stay focused on his task at hand. There was no changing his mind, no matter how much the maniac infuriated him. As much as he hated to admit it, and as many times as he had denied it in his mind, wracked his head and brainstormed other solutions within these past few weeks... Kakuzu knew this was his only way out.

He truly could see no other way.

Despite the irritation the treasurer was now feeling, Hidan had unknowingly made the first step of his plan easier. He had presented the opportunity he'd been looking for, yet had been dreading to take ever since he had decided just a few hours ago.

And he hated that in doing this, perhaps he would give Hidan more satisfaction.

"Hidan, I'm..."

He wasn't going to say it. This entire thing was stupid. He didn't know what he was thinking before. Perhaps he really was going senile. No, he wouldn't dare say it. The last two vessels within his lower back that he had just obtained, as strong and healthy as ever two days ago were now as frail as a leaf. He could feel them as they made a weak *thump-thump* and he knew they would be gone by nightfall. He brought a slow hand up to place over the heart within his chest. The one he had also replaced many times before, and had just done so a few days ago. He kept his hand there a moment longer, but there was still no beat. The dead organ reminded him that he had to do this. He could not afford to continue this cycle. He couldn't believe his own words. Instead of clutching at the pain, his nails dug into the flesh of his knees, and he could only manage to let it out in a whisper.

"I'm dying."

"Well, no duh." Hidan rolled his eyes as if Kakuzu were an idiot. "Have you looked in the mirror lately you old fart? You didn't know this, but I've been planning your funeral for about a month now-"

He snapped and his partner was an inch from his face in a heartbeat, a now burning iron fist wrapped deathly tight around Hidan's neck. "Listen to me." Hidan's smirk was gone, replaced by a twist of agony and anger.

"My body is no longer functioning the way it has been. You don't need to know the medical details. Just know that at this rate I really will be dead."

"Argh- and what in the fuck do you want me to do about it, eh?" Hidan tore himself from Kakuzu's now loosening iron grip on his scorched neck. "Damn you. What? I look like a fucking doctor to you?!" he hissed, distracted by the burns on his neck.

Kakuzu's teeth sank deep into his tongue, drawing blood. His body's way of begging it to stay still. At this rate, perhaps his pride would kill him first. "I need your help."

Need. Help. He could barely force the words out, and the last syllables almost made his mouth go numb, and he swore he felt a small bout of dizziness. He wasn't sure if it was due to his condition or the insanity of his words, but he made sure to make them perfectly clear. He would not repeat them again. "I want to live." Going. Going to live. It was a mantra he had been telling himself all day long. He had to. And as desperately as he had searched, he really saw no other way than... "And I want to live. Forever."

There was silence for a very long time. A new record of silence for Hidan when it came to responses, who seemed to be in the deepest thought Kakuzu had seen him in. Ever. So many emotions had flickered across his face. The first being an unbeatable look of unconstrained shock followed by a strong look of confusion, horror, disgust? And Kakuzu was certain Hidan would deny him this... this... whatever it was. Surely a blasphemous man like him, one who had openly criticized the being he followed, would never be granted eternal life. At least not in this way. Suddenly, it truly was the most ridiculous idea Kakuzu had ever thought of, and he never felt like such an idiot in his life. Fury and self-scorn washed over him, and he opened his mouth to cancel his previous words-

"And what's in it for me?"

Kakuzu had been staring at the puddles near his feet, taking deep interest in them during the moments of silence. He almost missed the words that suddenly filled his ears. He felt as though he were waking up from a deep sleep as he looked up at his partner's face. He blinked numbly at him a couple times, certain he had just been hallucinating. But there Hidan was, mouth now closed, staring right back.

Hidan had snapped out of his flurry of thoughts, but his words had been slow and deliberate when he'd spoken them. He was now wearing an unreadable expression. Emotionless. He had stood up at one point during his deep, silent thought process, and he was now standing very still before the miser, regarding him with slightly narrowed hawk eyes. Kakuzu had never seen the man look so serious, still, and almost calm. There was no signs of scorn, no signs of possible teasing. He had made his decision, but still, the man would milk this for all that it was worth.

Kakuzu's fists clenched, but his resurfacing irritation served as his relief in disguise. Hidan would do it. They would try it... But just like a second tidal wave, a feeling of dread and second thoughts washed over him. He truly hated Hidan. It was no joke that the man was a seriously unforgivable, insanity-driving pain. Was this really what he wanted? To live a life resembling his? Was his own life really worth it? Was it worth what he would become…?

A Jashinist.

…His life would no longer be his own.

No. It would be his own. He would make it his own. Somehow. His money was worth it. His fortune. The Immortality was worth it.

He looked back up at the insane man. Pale and bloodied skin. Unkempt silver hair now even more plastered to his head from the thickening rain. He was now stroking the amulet around his neck with a thumb, but his purple eyes that remained cool and inspecting stayed on him, dancing with an intensity Kakuzu knew the Jashinist would only have if he got the chance to murder an entire nation. He was forever young. He would never die.

'And what's in it for me?'

He knew he needed this.

"I'll be in your debt."