Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does.
She was beautiful. Everyone would have to agree. Everything she did was beautiful. The way she walked, she fought, she spoke.
And he absolutely hated her.
Both sides of him hated her.
There was only one word to describe her: whore. She wasn't even worthy of being called by her own name.
When Zetsu had introduced himself at their first meeting, she turned around and walked away from him without so much as acknowledging his politeness towards her. None of the other Akatsuki members had received this.
She joked and laughed with Deidara and Kisame, trained with Itachi, helped Sasori clean and fix his puppets, read to Tobi. She even socialized with Hidan and Kakuzu. But never Zetsu. Zetsu seemed to be nonexistent to her. She never talked to him. The most he would receive from her was a glance as they passed each other in a hallway.
The woman wasn't even a member of the Akatsuki. She was just a spy for them, gathering information on possible threats and occasionally stealing a scroll filled with high-level jutsus. Pein-sama trusted her and, if Orochimaru hadn't run off with his ring, she would be made a member in a heartbeat.
Zetsu didn't trust her, though. He always had the feeling that she was plotting against them, that she would betray the Akatsuki and let out all their secrets to the world. More than once, he thought about going to Pein-sama and telling him this, but where was his proof? He only had a thought and the other members would most likely defend her.
All adding up to why he hated her.
-----------------------------------------
There she was, chatting with Deidara, catching up on the current events. She was gone for a while on an important mission and came back with her right arm broken. What did she care? She had something to brag about.
Zetsu continued to watch her with disgust as the other Akatsuki members did whatever it was they were doing. He overheard bits of their conversation. Nothing too interesting. She was only talking about her mission and had reached the part where she broke her arm.
"---And then this rock came down and SMASH! crushed my arm!" She gestured with her good arm.
Deidara smirked and looked up from the bird he was molding. "Wow, h'mm. You sure know how to break some bones, Chiharu!"
"Yeah," the woman laughed.
She looked past Deidara and faced Zetsu, a slight blush forming on her cheeks. She smiled a bit and looked away, continuing her chat with the blond artist.
Zetsu thought this look was for Itachi or Sasori, seeing as both of them were sitting next to him. He grumbled about how idiotic she was for showing that look on her face. He had no idea the smile was for him.
----------------------------------------
It had been about two days since she had returned and Zetsu guessed that she would be staying at the base for a while until her arm had healed enough for her to go on the next mission. And, much to Zetsu's dismay, most of the other members had gone off on missions, so he would be stuck guarding the base and her. Oh, great. Six or so weeks with that bitch.
He was walking back from the greenhouse he built to house his plants (He was very pleased with his collection and the plants proved to be very useful for concocting poisons and medicines.), when he heard a familiar voice cry out in pain.
He turned partway around to see the woman face down in the dirt. She had obviously landed on her injured arm. His black side laughed and even his white, kinder side snickered a bit at her pain. He was going to leave her there, but he would probably get in trouble for doing so. Zetsu sighed and approached her.
"A-are you okay?" his white side choked out with just a bit of concern, holding out his hand to help her up.
She lifted her head and smiled shyly and blushed, catching the Kusa nin off guard. She stammered, "Um, y-yes. I'm okay... Th-thanks for asking."
She hesitantly took hold of Zetsu's hand and he pulled her up.
"Th-thank you, Zetsu-sama..." she bowed a bit and scurried off.
He blinked several times. This was probably the most she's ever said to him in all the time she's been working for the Akatsuki. She even blushed when he looked at her, but that could've just been from embarrassment.
He looked down at his hand. She had slipped a small piece of paper to him when he helped her up.
Curious as to what the message said, he unfolded it, read the short sentence written in very neat handwriting and held a face of shock.
Zetsu's golden eyes were glued to that little piece of paper. It seemed to hold all the answers that explained why she acted the way she did. Why Chiharu acted the way she did. And he knew she wasn't lying. The three words held the truth within them. Those three little words.
I love you.
He ran after her, to apologize for being so rude.