Bien Pensant
By: Taira-chan
(A/N) This actually started out as a writing exercise about describing a bloody knife, which somehow turned into a Kakuzu fic? Let's face it Kakuzu is seriously deprived of love and really needs some, poor guy. Oh and in case anyone was wondering the title is a common French phrase for right thinking, or orthodox ideas, etc. Anyways reviews are welcome , and constructive criticism is always greatly appreciated! Enjoy.
The silver surface of the blade gleamed, the dim lighting from the tableside lamp reflected off its luster surface. The black, plastic hilt was thick and heavy, fit only for the hand of a full grown male. Splatters of a thick, crimson red liquid covered the hilt and shimmering blade.
Blood.
Just as the blade of the knife, the still wet, crimson blood reflected the slim amounts of light that graced the features of the solemn study. Blood dripped from the blade and onto puddles on the tile floor of the quiet house. Small splotches of the wet substance covered sections of the floor and even walls with thin, overlapping layers.
A tall man with dark skin, peculiar sea foam green irises with a bright red sclera, and a black and white head piece made from cloth that covered everything but a small section where his eyes were placed. The man casually stood above a mutilated body, the said knife in hand. He carelessly dropped the gleaming blade, his eyes carefully scanning over the room carefully, wondering where such a man would keep his money hidden.
Curious eyes skeptically gazed over the bloody and torn corpse, nothing he hadn't seen before. His tan features, or those that were visible to the world were crinkled with frustration and annoyance.
Kill the man quickly and quietly. Find his money. Bring it to me. That was his job and his only job, yet he had already failed at the first of those three, and now he had no idea where to start looking for the money.
It occurred to him that he could get the money and keep it for himself, sell the corpse for a wealthy bounty and then go on his merry way. The man figured as long as he remained in the organization with pitch black cloaks and distinct red clouds no one aside from a handful of overly eager, newbie shinobi would dare to confront him directly. Most people were smarter than that, including the client who had hired the shady organization to do his dirty work.
And furthermore, the client was as rich as it gets; he could live without a few hundred thousand ryou. The organization needed the money more than he did anyways.
Money, this man believed, was the one true power of balance and equality in the world. Money demands power and strength to acquire. It determines social standing, influence, and how you view the world. Everyone strives for money and everyone wished they had it. Money is the one object that can create that blissful sense of false happiness and hope.
Value of life is money.
People horde and collect the ryou all their lives to gain what they want. Money, to this man's eyes, is the establishing factor of life and death. Money does not betray you or change, its value is always constant and reliable. It does not bend or flex or to accommodate people's wants or needs like a god would.
Who needs an unreliable person or a temporary god to guide them when they have something like money to lead them to heaven. It is nature for people to change and shift with the crowd and leave those in their past behind. It is nature for people to optimistically believe in gods that clearly aren't there, or if they are there, are only temporarily there until some frivolous whim carries them off into the wind.
Money does not change. Money does not leave. Money does not betray. Money guides a path to a higher place of stability and purpose.
Money loves the greedy nature of this man, Kakuzu he is called, and Kakuzu loves the stability money so kindly offers.
This man, Kakuzu, had once placed his hopes and dreams and beliefs in unreliable objects such as a few carefully selected humans. However, over time they faded and betrayed him because of a failure that was not his fault in the very least. Though, that was many years ago, when he was a young man with optimistic beliefs and values and a strong bond with his village and its people; when the years of his life were shorter and time had not etched its wrinkled marks on his deeply scarred face.
Yes, there was a time when he himself gave away his way optimistic mindset into the common believe that people never change and will always remain the same. Kakuzu had figured out the hard way that in all honesty, that belief was a load of bullshit crafted by the minds of innocent children who have not yet experienced the cruelties this world has to so openly offer.
When you are sad and alone and god is missing, the people around you have abandoned you, and you're unsure of yourself…money is your only solution. Your only friend. Your only comfort. And your only source of life in this wretched world. Money is everything.
Kakuzu thought these frigid thoughts daily; because he was alone and cold and deprived of the materialistic comfort every human so desperately craved for in everyday life. Except for the bitter presence of a material object that would never satisfy his humanly needs. But Kakuzu was no human, he did not need warmth or comfort or friendship. He did not need to blindly worship a god like his naïve partner, whose religion was founded on the destruction of entire villages and mountains of corpses left in his wake. He did not need anyone or anything but money. He was a monster; the broken ties he previously maintained with other "humans" who had abandoned him spoke loud enough to tell him that.
He had money, he did not need humanity, and he did not need their snarky comments and harsh remarks. He did not need their praise, like Hidan did. He did not need women to fawn over him with every flick of his hair or wipe of his brow; he was just fine without those unnecessary wants. He did not need to be pampered or treated like a prince, because one day those people would die, and you, being the immortal one, would be stuck alone.
Money does not die or leave you to go on to a better place. Money is like Kakuzu, independent, unloving, hateful, snide, irritable, and stable. Perhaps that is why Kakuzu loves his stacks of gold so much, not just because they will never betray him, but because Kakuzu and money can relate to one another. As odd as it sounds money is the one thing that could possibly understand Kakuzu's way of thinking. An inanimate object, yes, but still the only object that could ever hope to unveil the mysterious depths of his twisted and shattered mindset.
"Oi, Kuzu, found the damn thing!" Kakuzu's odd and stupidly naïve religious partner called from the depths of the dark hallways and obscure rooms.
"Good, bring it here," Kakuzu hissed, secretly glad his buffoon of a partner found the money. He had found stability at its finest.
"What do you think I'm doing you mother fucker!" the Hidan angrily shouted. He had an easy temper; though, he had no stability in his life so it was understandably so.
"Hurry your ass up, you son of a bitch," Kakuzu growled, his voice hiding the relief and slight pleasure that came with finding the bar of gold.
"Ah shut it, you bastard. I'm here," Hidan yelled, throwing a tweed bag overflowing with gold bars and coins to Kakuzu's feet. Kakuzu shifted through the bag's contents; the smooth, frigid metal of the coins pressed against his warm hands. "Stop gawking over that damn bag and let's go deliver it to our 'client'," Hidan impatiently snapped, putting air quotations around client.
"No. There is more money here than what our client was offering to pay for the job. We'll be better off taking the money and going on our way to the next bijuu," Kakuzu stated, his eyes still glued to the golden luster of the precious metals.
"Whatever, Kuzu, just as long as Leader doesn't fucking castrate me for your decision, you money whore."
"He won't do that dumbass, and anyways if he did that then we could spend less time at the bar and more time hunting for the bijuu and collecting bounties."
"What is up with you and your bounties? You get a few ryou, big deal! You get money then you don't spend it, what's the point?" Hidan angrily yelled, waving his hands around dramatically to prove his point.
"When you are alone, money is the only solid thing you can rely on. Money is the only thing we can strive to live for. You can never have too much money; money is the essence of everything right and good. Money creates the stability people like us need."
Money is never-changing.
Money is always there.
Money never sways.
Money is life.
Money is Kakuzu's only reason to still be alive.