Debt
Payment #1
"Urgh...tch!" A long brown haired man panted inconsistently as he held his deep wound. It dripped with dark red blood, staining the ground. His pupil-less green eyes flickered urgently around the area, trying to find anywhere to hide.
"THERE! FOUND HIM!"
"Shit..." The injured man breathed. He felt the warm liquid of his body escape him as he trudged further, ducking and trying to get out of his pursuers' visions. He hid his presence as his view on the world dimmed.
The injured man's breath caught in his throat when he felt a shuriken fly past his cheek, drawing blood.
They're here...!
Being a ninja, the injured man ran for it. He dodged weapons as if it was a normal occurrence, going deeper into the Land of Fire's border. He was desperate to get away.
"GET BACK HERE! YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH BREAKING OUT OF JAIL!" Shouted one of his pursuers.
"This guard is persistent..." The green eyed man muttered incoherently. He winced when he felt a strong kick to his back, forcing him forward to grab onto a branch. He swung on it, but the loud snap make him realise that it broke upon receiving his weight. He growled lowly when he realised that they had reached a clearing, and he had nothing else to hold onto. The man skidded to a halt on the grass, mumbling a few curses when he was outnumbered and surrounded. It didn't help that he was injured either.
I've gotta get outta here...
"Kakuzu, give it up. You're outnumbered!" The guard that spoke previously, spoke again. He was the lead guard. With an accusing finger, he pointed at his victim, "Come back safely and no one gets hurt!"
Kakuzu stood there, muscles tense. He was ready to jump anytime soon.
"What's going on here?" A curious voice asked.
Their attention all turned to the woman that had entered the field. She was dressed in a light yukata and wore her brown hair into a long ponytail. She didn't seem to be too alarmed at the sight of blood, but more surprised at the number of people.
"Ah, Miss, you shouldn't be here!" One of the guards warned her, surprising drawn on his expression.
The woman's brown eyes scanned the area. She had seen many prison guards before, but not when they were cornering a person.
So he's a prisoner...she thought, staring at the brown haired man in the centre.
He looked surprised, but he was thinking of a plan to get out of the area, and the arrival of the girl was what he would call, 'gold'.
The female didn't flinch when she felt a cold, sharp metal object at her neck. She felt a slight pain when it drew blood, but not enough to warrant movement. Behind her stood the jail-breaker, Kakuzu, holding a kunai to her neck.
He got here really fast...the female thought absentmindedly.
Kakuzu's grip on her was strong; it was around her shoulders. He didn't feel any form of resistance, which confused him. But, he didn't question it. He would do it later.
"If any of you move...I will kill her!" Kakuzu threatened.
The guards tensed and they let out a low growl, despising his way of taking a hostage.
"Lowly scum...!" One of them muttered.
"STAND DOWN!" The head guard raised his arm to the side, signalling his subordinates to stop.
"But...!"
"He's got a hostage." The lead guard narrowed his eyes at the prisoner and woman. Hatred burned in his eyes, "As much as I hate it...we'll have to let him go...for now." His tone darkened.
Kakuzu ignored the protests of the platoon of guards, slowly inching back into the forest. He was ready to flee, and it was all thanks to that woman. It did confuse him that the guards didn't persist in his capture. It was as if there was something stopping them.
Maybe the girl?
Strangely though, the woman wasn't scared. She stared at the prisoner escapee with mindful eyes as he roughly wrapped an arm around her waist, bringing her with him as he fled.
Kakuzu felt the blood come down his clothes the more he moved. He had forgotten his wound was still bleeding, and thus, he neglected it. He was forced to stop, panting vigorously as he put the woman down.
She just stared at him for a long while as he tried to stop the bleeding.
"What the hell are you looking at?!" He snapped.
"...you're injured." Her tone was almost bland as she stated the obvious.
"So?"
"Come this way." She lifted herself and beckoned for him to follow her.
Kakuzu made a face and contemplated his options. Should he stay put? Or should he follow a woman he knows nothing about, who could be leading him into a trap?
"If you're thinking it's a trap, you're wrong." She read the expression on his face. It was almost an open book.
"What?!" He inhaled sharply. Blood dripped onto the ground.
"If you don't hurry up, you'll bleed to death." This time, her voice held a high pitch, as if she was fussing over the problem. "Hurry up!" She waved her hand to make him follow her.
When he didn't budge from his spot, she frowned and glared at him, before stomping over and grabbing his arm, pulling him roughly with her.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Kakuzu hissed. He tried to dig his feet into the ground to halt the dragging, but the female's hidden strength had surprised him and he was forcibly dragged along. "What the hell do you want from me?!"
"I want you to follow me and stop complaining!" The female snapped. She huffed and continued, throwing back snappy and curt responses whenever he said something.
Finally, they reached a small house in the middle of the forest. It was covered from a normal person's view since they had to go through a secret passage to get there.
"Alright, we're here." She led the man through the garden, which had many herbs and spices, as well as vegetables planted. There was a lot of vegetation and trees for fruits, and even wheat on the side and a small mill.
A farm girl...?Kakuzu was confused. Why the hell did she bring me here?
"In we go." After unlocking the door, she pulled the prison escapee in and led him to a room where he could see some surgical equipment and bottles. "You lay down first. I'll be right back."
Kakuzu turned around to face her, but she had gone further into the house. It was bigger than he had thought. He stayed put and looked around the room - it was spacious but not big enough for it to feel cramped. There was a bed on the right side, near the window, with fresh white sheets. A long glass cabinet that went up to his knees sat up against the wall at the end and side of the room, forming an upside-down L shape from where he stood. Stored inside the cabinet was several bottles, all labelled. On top of that cabinet was the surgical equipment and a heap of bandages.
The prison escapee made his way towards the cabinet, taking the bandages and beginning to dress his wounds.
"I thought I told you to sit down, not dress your wounds, you idiot!" The female snatched the bandages out of his hands and pointed at the bed, almost glaring at him. She hissed, "Get. On. The. Bed."
He soundlessly compiled - even though he was absolutely reluctant.
What a pushover...he thought with annoyance.
"Good. Now take that shirt off so I can see the wound." She instructed, getting a few things from the cabinet.
Kakuzu frowned. "Why is the hostage helping the villain?" He almost cackled at the irony of it.
"You could say I'm a doctor of sorts." She wore gloves and took some equipment on a tray over to him.
Kakuzu noted that she didn't have any surgical equipment on the tray - it puzzled him.
"A doctor?" He questioned.
She sighed at the man. He had too many questions! She carefully peeled off the clothing stuck to his skin via blood, making sure it was as gentle as possible. She then inspected and cleaned the wound, making sure there weren't any foreign particles, before placing her hands over the wound. Her hands formed a light green.
Kakuzu watched her the whole time.
She's a medical nin?He thought.
"You can relax. I'm just healing you. It might take a while, though, since the wound is deep. So you can rest easy." She nodded at him before focusing on the wound.
Kakuzu didn't know whether or not to trust this girl. He was honestly just confused - even if she was a medical nin, why did she help him? Surely she had an objective?
"You must be wondering why I helped you." She spoke with a bored tone, brown eyes trailing to his face.
Kakuzu held a funny expression. Did she read his mind?
"It's obvious from your expression."
"...then why did you?" He asked, diverting it back to the topic.
The medical nin just observed him for a long while, before she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, letting out a small sigh. "It'd be against my morals to leave an injured person injured."
The escapee stared at the woman, an eyebrow raised. His brows then furrowed; she had too noble of a reason - was she making it up?
"...there aren't people like that in the world." Kakuzu scoffed. He had gone through something like this before - but he was betrayed. Trusting the other party on words alone are not sufficient enough. "I could kill you after this." He muttered.
"Will you?" She challenged, a smirk playing at her lips.
Kakuzu frowned. That wasn't what he was expecting. He turned his head into the opposite direction of her, so that he was facing outside the window and staring at the maintained garden.
Knowing that he won't say anything in return, the medical nin chuckled lightly and changed the topic. "The garden outside was actually all planted by me. There are a huge variety of vegetables and fruits, as well as herbs." She paused, "Oh, I'll need to make some herbal soup for you to help in your production of blood."
Kakuzu's brow rose. His eyes remained turned to the garden. A knock sounded on the front door. He saw somebody outside – if his eyes weren't failing him, it was a child. A boy.
"That must be Kaede." The medical nin mainly spoke to herself. She retracted her hands from Kakuzu's abdomen and stood up, glancing over her shoulder to look at the escapee. "I'll be right back. Don't move from your spot, or else the wound will open up again. The healed area is quite shallow right now."
The door quietly closed behind her. Kakuzu stayed quiet, instead, he eavesdropped on the conversation between his 'carer' and the boy, Kaede.
"Nao nee-san! Look! I grew this herb! Just like how you told me to!" The boy's voice was high pitched but it wasn't so much that it was girly. Kakuzu couldn't see the boy's face properly, but he distinguished his short blonde hair and shaggy attire.
"That's wonderful, Kaede!" Now Kakuzu knew her name was Nao. She was smiling at the boy. It was completely sincere and different from the expressions she's shown him.
It was silent outside, which puzzled the escapee. They weren't talking at all, but Kaede had a sad expression. Kakuzu could now fully see his face – he had a strange orange colouration in his eyes.
What's this brat so sad about?
"Nii-san said that he'll be back soon. But he always says that. I never know when he'll come back." Kaede's voice was quiet.
"…Kaede, I'm pretty sure that Shota will be back soon." Nao smiled. "After all, he still has many things to look forward to coming back to." She ruffled the young boy's hair and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "If you ever need to get healed up, just come by."
Kaede blushed and nodded before he went off. Nao watched him go. When he left her vision, she returned to Kakuzu's room, in which she continued the healing process.
"He might have already died in the war." Kakuzu spoke nonchalantly.
Nao was a tad bit surprised, but then gave him a gentle, but small smile. It was almost sad. "Realistically speaking, it's quite likely." She chuckled a little, "But when we think he's dead, he shows up out of nowhere, wounded."
"Hmph."
"Your name is Kakuzu, is it not?"
"What of it?"
"Sorry for the late introductions. My name is Nao. It's nice to meet you."
"Tch...I'll be in your care. But if I find you suspicious, I will kill you."
"I'd like to see you try."