Hello, all! Let's see, what to say about this ... Well, before you read it just know this is YAOI (boyxboy). This is the first time I've EVER put ANYTHING I've written on the internet where pretty much anyone can see. Jeeze, kind of a scary thought ... Anyway, hope you enjoy!
Hidan sighed for the thirteenth time that hour. He knew it was getting on Kakuzu's nerves. But then, everything he did seemed to rub the miser the wrong way. And for once, Hidan didn't want to annoy the life out of his partner.
He was troubled.
Less than twenty-four hours ago, Kakuzu had willingly stepped in during a fight to avoid a fatal injury to Hidan, even though he knew that the latter was immortal and in fact enjoyed the pain.
'I don't get you.' Hidan thought as he stared at his partner's back. He hadn't realized he was falling behind and was lagging by at least twenty feet. But that was the least of his concerns.
'You hate me every other day, but today you feel like saving my sorry ass?' He thought. 'Why? Tell me why, Kakuzu! Tell me before I admit you into a Jashin damned hospital for brain damage!' He found himself growling quietly as his inner rant came to an end.
The answer was plain and simple, shining brightly for all to see. But Hidan wanted to hear it from his partner before he assumed anything. For once. Normally he would just jump to conclusions, but he was feeling rather thoughtful at the time.
Kakuzu wanted something.
What was it going to be? Sex? Money? Oh yes, almost definitely money. That poor bastard was obsessed with money. According to him, even Hell ran on money. That was a load of bull and Hidan knew it.
Hidan wanted to scold himself. He loved Kakuzu. He had for a few months now. It had taken a while to come to terms with himself and finally accept that he was gay and that he loved him, but once he had accepted it, he was able to live a bit easier. Of course, telling Kakuzu would probably just earn him a punch in the face and he'd be ridiculed.
No. He had to keep it a secret.
Kakuzu's eyes narrowed. 'Why did I do that?' He wondered, careful to keep his thoughts in his head and not voice them like Hidan did sometimes. But he knew why. It was because, even though Hidan was immortal, he had felt the need to step in for his partner and take the initiative to protect him.
That's what partners did, right?
They looked out for each other. The Zombie Twins weren't exactly a very good example of that, but Kakuzu's actions in the past day would prove otherwise. Not only had he subconsciously stepped into a fight that Hidan had specifically told him to stay out of, but he had also been watching him carefully since.
The ninja they'd been fighting used poison as a weapon. Hidan's body, though immortal, didn't respond well to poison. In fact, it usually made him very sick for a matter of days or weeks until he grew immune, or until someone made an antidote and administered it to him.
The way the Jashinist was reacting was worrying Kakuzu, if only just a bit. He was never thoughtful. Ever. And he definitely had a thinking face on. As much as Kakuzu wanted to know what he was thinking about, he never asked him. He would probably just tell him to 'fuck off' anyway.
"Kakuzu …"
The miser didn't bother to look back at Hidan. He was probably just thinking out loud again. 'Good to know he's thinking of me.' He thought and almost rolled his eyes. But he couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking. Hidan was far too stupid to actually be concerned about the fact that his partner had stepped in for him in a fight.
Hidan had yelled at him earlier for it and that was all that mattered. Of course, though, Kakuzu had just ignored every single word of it and pretended he wasn't there, even tuning him out after a while.
A soft thud was heard. Kakuzu stopped walking and turned to look back at Hidan only to find that he was on the ground, unmoving. Any regular human would assume he was dead, but Kakuzu knew otherwise.
The miser sighed and walked back to his partner, kneeling down beside him. He placed two fingers on Hidan's neck. His pulse was irregular. 'Poisoned.' Kakuzu thought knowingly. He'd recognize the signs anywhere after seeing it so many times. He contemplated what to do for only a few seconds before rolling Hidan onto his back and sliding an arm under his knees and under his neck before picking him up.
There was no way he was just going to leave him there. Not only would he throw a fit next time he saw his partner, but Hidan could easily be captured or injured in his poisoned state. Not that Hidan getting injured was even really important considering he couldn't die, but getting captured was a big deal.
Kakuzu headed down the road a ways, carrying Hidan in his arms, before slipping off the road and into the forest. It would be safer to travel through the trees where he was less likely to be seen. They were on their way home, so once they got there Kakuzu could get Sasori to identify and possibly cure Hidan's poisoning.
By the time they walked through the door, Hidan's breathing had become shallow and laboured. Kakuzu wasn't really that worried about it. He'd seen it all before. Of course, this meant that Hidan was going to end up in bed for a few days to a few weeks and he'd probably whine and complain the entire time.
When he walked through the door, Kakuzu almost cursed. Sasori and Deidara were sitting in the kitchen, talking to each other in quiet voices. The both of them looked up when they heard the door open, however.
"Kakuzu, why are you carrying Hidan, un?" Deidara asked, being the first to speak up.
"The idiot got himself poisoned." Kakuzu replied and shrugged. "I couldn't just leave him in the middle of the road." He completely forgot to add the part about 'why' he couldn't leave him in the middle of the road.
Deidara blinked, grinned, looked at Sasori, and then got up and left the room. Kakuzu stared after him, failing to realize what had just gone through his head. "Sasori," He said as the redhead got up to follow the bomber. "I need you to take a look at Hidan."
Sasori nodded and motioned for him to follow before walking from the room. Kakuzu followed the redhead to his room and laid Hidan down on the bed when he was instructed to.
"You can go now." Sasori said as he went through his assorted tools, deciding what he would and wouldn't need. "I'll call you back when I'm done." Kakuzu nodded in affirmation and then left the room, heading back to his own to start on the report that was due in to Sir Leader.
Once he'd finished the report, which had only taken about an hour, he went back to his room after dropping it off and sitting down at his desk. He was supposed to be counting his money, but he couldn't. His mind was too preoccupied to think about numbers and digits. Instead, he couldn't get Hidan off his mind.
He was mostly asking himself why. Why, why, why. Why had he stepped in, why was he so concerned, why had he carried the Jashinist all the way back? His head was starting to hurt from all the questions.
Kakuzu glanced over at the clock for the third time in a short period and sighed. It had already been forty-five minutes that he'd been thinking. But nonetheless he returned to his thoughts, leaning back against the headboard of the bed he was sitting on.
As time wore one, he began to delve deeper into the matter, asking himself things like 'do I really care?' and 'what am I going to do if I DO care?'. There was one thing he thought of that frightened him a bit. Mostly because he'd promised himself never to allow it.
'Am I starting to love Hidan?'
'I can't!' He thought, almost panicking. 'I promised myself I'd never fall in love! Ever!' The miser sighed loudly as his train of thought seemed to be going in circles. He even felt a little dizzy.
'Alright.' He told himself. "Alright." He repeated aloud. "Get a grip. You don't love Hidan! Why would you? He's loud, and whiney, and a brat, and always wants to do things his way, and he never lets you get involved …" Then he sighed.
Those were all reasons to hate him, yes, but they were also what made him unique and different than everyone else. Nobody in the Akatsuki base was like Hidan, and Kakuzu had to admire that.
His thoughts were abruptly halted as he heard a knock on his door. He looked up and stared at the door for a moment, unsure if he wanted to go answer it, but then gave in and got up, going to open it.
Upon opening it he came face to face with Deidara. "Sasori told me to tell you that he's done with Hidan, un." The blond said before turning and walking away. Kakuzu left the room and followed after him, knowing he was going back to his 'Danna.'
The moment he entered the artists' bedroom, the first thing Kakuzu did was look at Hidan. And then he looked at Sasori. "Well?" He asked. Sasori turned to look at him from where he was once again going through his tools.
"He's fine." Sasori told him. "Just give him time to rest." He said. Kakuzu nodded and went to Hidan's side, staring down at him. At that moment he completely forgot about the two artists in the room.
Screw it. 'I can love him if I want to.' He thought and smiled behind the mask he wore. He picked up the Jashinist and left the room without a word. 'And besides,' he thought as he walked. 'it's not like I have to tell him how I feel.'
The miser returned to their room and set Hidan down on the bed on his side, as every member of Akatsuki shared their bed with their partner. He moved to sit beside him, unsure what else to do at the time.
After a few minutes of just sitting there uncomfortably, Kakuzu looked down at his partner's sleeping face. In that moment, he decided. He couldn't deny it any longer that he was falling in love with Hidan, if he wasn't already.
The miser allowed the emotion to flow through him as he reached over and placed his hand on Hidan's forehead. He was still a bit warm. But then, he tended to have fevers when he was poisoned. Even while he was recovering, he suffered from fevers. The strength of the fever was different every time.
Hidan didn't stir. He didn't even twitch or shift. Kakuzu trailed his fingers down the side of his partner's face and then retracted his hand again. He probably shouldn't be touching him; Hidan would throw a fit if he found out.
The Jashinist mumbled in his sleep a few moments later, seeming to finally be stirring. Kakuzu watched his face carefully, watching as every detail of it shifted or moved. Hidan's brows furrowed and his eyes slowly opened.
Hidan groaned softly as his entire body ached. It felt as though someone had injected liquid fire into his veins and it was now just smouldering. He knew without having to be told that he had been poisoned.
'I passed out …' He thought as he closed his eyes again, completely missing Kakuzu who was sitting beside him. 'Kakuzu probably left me. That bastard.' He thought but he felt his face fall.
'I love him.' The thought made his heart ache because he knew that the miser was completely incapable of loving anything but money. Hidan's eyes suddenly felt heavy as tears built up. It had been a long time since he'd last cried, a very long time. Maybe it was just his weakened state that allowed him to cry. Even if it wasn't, Hidan felt entitled to it.
'Where am I, anyway?' He wondered as he tried to distract himself. 'Someone probably picked me up off the damned road. I'm probably being held captive.' That thought was enough to make him whimper. In the state he was in, he would be completely useless in a fight. He'd never be able to escape.
Something gently touched his cheek and he froze for a moment before realizing that someone was wiping the tears from his face. "'Kuzu …" Hidan murmured without opening his eyes, too afraid to see who it was.
"I'm here." Was the gentle reply. Hm, gentle. That's different.
Hidan felt himself relax. Kakuzu was with him. That's all that mattered.
The Jashinist allowed his eyes to open and he found himself staring up into a pair of green eyes. He blinked in surprise, practically melting under the gaze. It was at that moment that Hidan realized it was one of those rare times when his partner wasn't wearing his mask.
"Don't cry, Hidan." Kakuzu said gently.
'I'm dreaming.' Hidan thought instantly, his eyes going wide. He knew Kakuzu would never say such a thing in the real world, and say it with feeling. But the miser's hand was still on his cheek and his body was hurting.
The Jashinist turned his head away as he realized that it wasn't a dream, breaking eye contact, and stared instead at the wall for a moment before he made an attempt at sitting up. It failed. He didn't bother to try again.
Kakuzu seemed to realize what he was trying to do and helped him up into a sitting position. "Why are you being so nice?" Hidan asked, unaware of his shaky voice. Kakuzu didn't reply for many long minutes.
"I guess because … I care."
'This is it.' Kakuzu thought as he watched Hidan's eyes widen and as he watched the Jashinist's head slowly turn to face him. 'He's going to laugh at me, ridicule me, and then he's going to tell everyone …'
But Hidan didn't say anything. Five minutes passed with the Jashinist just looking at him. His inner conflict was clear on his face. Believe him or not? Kakuzu seriously hoped it would be the former.
Suddenly, Hidan's eyes closed and a small smile broke out on his face. "You care?" He asked, his voice quiet and still shaky. Kakuzu nodded but then realized he couldn't see the action.
"Yes." He said.
"Prove it."
Kakuzu was a bit taken aback by the demand. He blinked in confusion but remained silent as he tried to figure out how to comply to that demand. He pondered it for a few moments before he decided on what to do. The miser leaned forward.
Hidan's eyes were still closed. 'He's just going to take it back.' He thought sadly. He'd gotten his hopes up for nothing. His body went still and numb when he felt something soft and warm press against his lips.
The Jashinist opened his eyes only slightly to find that it was actually Kakuzu kissing him. He swallowed thickly as he fought back tears of happiness and brought his arms up, wrapping them around Kakuzu's neck. He kissed back.
When they separated for air several seconds later, they ended up staring at each other. Just staring for a long time until Kakuzu spoke. "Does that prove it?" He asked. Hidan smiled a bit and nodded. Kakuzu grinned, and Hidan grinned back.
Finally, everything was right between them.
Well ... How was my first fic? XD Reviews and critiques are VERY MUCH WELCOMED! I'm always looking for ways to improve! Also, let me know if you see any mistakes.
Flames will be used to burn my pillow (I hate that thing -_-).