It was late at night in the forests of Konoha. The only light was coming from the twinkling stars and the flickering fire.
"Hey Kakuzu, get up, old miser." His vision was fuzzy. His green and red eyes flickered open to see his obnoxious silver-haired partner standing above him.
"What." Kakuzu said coarsly. Hidan had disturbed his nap by the camp fire.
"We got to keep moving. I don't want to sleep out here." Hidan walked away. Kakuzu rolled back up in his cloak, turning away from Hidan.
"You don't have to sleep out here if you don't want to. I'm staying here." Kakuzu stated. Hidan grumbled.
"Leader's not going to be happy if were're late."
"Since when have you given a shit about what Leader thinks?" Kakuzu snapped, turning back and glaring at the young Hidan. He jumped a bit, then gave an equally menacing glare.
"No wonder nobody loves you! You're just a grumpy b-" In a flash, Kakuzu had sprung from his laying-down position and now had Hidan pinned to a tree trunk with one strong hand wrapped around his throat. Hidan squirmed under Kakuzu's firm grip, clawing at the stitched hand.
"You shut up you little brat! What the hell do you know?" He snarled at Hidan, who was now gasping for breath. "You've never felt it before!" The fierce purple in Hidan's eyes began to fade to lavender. Leader would certainly be mad if he killed another one of his partners. He dropped the strangling Hidan, and he colapsed in a heap on the forest floor. "Take my advice; don't talk shit like that unless you know what you're talking about." He stormed off and grabbed the body of the person they were sent out to kill. "We're moving." He needed to get his mind off things.
~70 Years in the Past~
Takigakure.
Breezes ruffled through the trees. The emerald leaves danced around the air. Warm rays of pink sunlight shone down on the Hidden Village of Takigakure. A beautiful array of yellows and oranges streaked the afternoon sky as the sun began to set behind the distant mountains. A pair of lovers stood on a bridge that went over the fast flowing river that rushed out as a brilliant waterfall that deemed the village: The Village Hidden by a Waterfall.
A tall dark-haired shinobi stood with a beautiful watermelon pink lotus flower. She would gaze up at the man, her scarlet eyes meeting his. She would smile as he leaned down and placed the lotus into her long white hair behind the ear. He would cup her face with one dark hand and bring her into a passionate kiss. She used to wrap her arms around her lover's strong neck and once the kiss was broken, she whispered into his ear the same thing they told each other everytime they meet.
"I love you, my fortune." She whispered softly in his ear.
"I love you too." The man would say.
Every sunday afternoon, the pair would come out and meet by the pine bridge over the rushing water. Every sunday afternoon the man would bring a watermelon pink lotus flower to her and place it delicatly in her snowy hair. And every sunday afternoon they would renew their love for one another with whispers of sweet nothings.
But this sunday afternoon was different.
There will be no whispers of love. No couple standing on the lone pine bridge overlooking the waterfall. No watermelon pink lotus. For the girl with the snowy white hair had not come. And the man stands on the bridge alone.
"Why..." He clentched his teeth. He took one last look up at the sky, now laden with dark grey storm clouds; before retreating into the thick forest.
He walks through the village; head hung low. He recieved stares and scowls from his fellow Takigakure shinobi. A day ago, he was a beloved member of their force, powerful and brave. But now he was shunned for his failure, not being remembered as the shinobi he was- and still is.
Now, he sits in a prison cell. Ridiculed for an almost impossible mission. Of which he failed on. He clutches a stolen kunai in his right hand, waiting for a gaurd ninja to bring him his daily meal. That is when he'll strike. When he hopes to finally be free.
His hands are caked in the crimson blood of the Takigakure elders and various shinobi who opposed him. He contained the four hearts of the elders, and now was on his way to the secret vault; in hopes of discovering Takigakure's most closly gaurded secrect. Earth Grudge Fear.
The night sky threatened to let out a savage storm on the village. Citizens cower in fear as their ninjas are taken out one by one. A now S-Class criminal and traitor to The Village Hidden by a Waterfall. His very gaze evokes fear in the hearts of the residents, and no one opposes him with the newly acquired jutsu. And he stalks the streets alone.
Vengence and hatred slithered its way into the man's heart. Taken control. The love for the snowy haired girl and his precious village have all but vanished. He rounds a corner, only to lash out and attack an old teamate of his. But his eyes see nothing but blood now, and as the former friend slowly dies at his hands, the cold hatred grows ever stronger.
The thunder finally struck. Lightning streaked through the moist air. Flashes of blue light and the roar of the storm surged through the night. The rain was relentless. The broken hearted man became drenched in the downpour of rain and the blood of the villagers.
"Please!" They pleaded, but their cries fell on deaf ears. He killed them like the rest.
The exit loomed ahead. Once he crossed that border, his rampage would be subsided. But one thing stood in his way.
The snowy haired girl. Her long silky hair hung loose down her drenched back, and not fear, not hatred shone in her scarlet eyes. But love.
"Stop!" She yelled through the thunder. "This isn't you! this isn't the real you!" He walked right past her, paying no heed to the snowy haired girl. She grabbed his stong arm and turned him to face her. "I want to come with you. Bring me with you." Her eyes pleaded with him. But his gaze was hollow. "I love you, my fortune." She said, pulled down his dark mask, and kissed the broken hearted man.
"Quickly." He snapped out of it. "Come with me." He grabbed the snowy eyed girl's arm and led her through the gloomy forest.
They escaped. For days they ran. Finally, they reached a place that they could call home. "He wouldn't let me see you." The snowy haired girl said by the glow of the fire. "My father wouldn't allow it."
A small cottage in the thick woods was where they stayed. They made a life there. The healed hearted man would hunt people down for money to be able to support the snowy haired woman.
He rubbed her bulging stomach gently. A small child -their child- was developing in the snowy haired woman's womb. She gazed up at the healed hearted man with pure love in her scarlet eyes. "This is our fortune." She would say, and gaze back down at her belly.
But they were after them. They tracked them down to their home in the night. And ripped the snowy haired woman from the man.
She gasped for breath, the kunai stabbing her chest. He cupped her face, the blood of their hunters on his dark hand. "I love you, my fortune." She said as the storms rolled in. The rain pattered on her softly. He gave her one last kiss before her scarlet eyes faded, and she let out her last breath. "I love you, Kakuzu..." That night, the lotus plant in Takigakure wilted. That night, the snowy haired woman and her unborn child fell from the world.
The hollow hearted man buried the two next to the small cottage in the forest and left them with only one sentence carved into a rock as a tombstone.
"I have five hearts, but none of them compare to the one that you had."