A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, faved and subscribed! Early update, because Donna said so! More reviews mean even earlier updates!
Story note: Kakuzu's body isn't his original one. It's a shell that he sort of subconsciously created using his memories. The shell has no elemental affinity, so that's why he doesn't really use any attacks other than the usual threads. Does that make sense?
One other thing: Death has a funny way of changing people. Hopefully, it's for the better.
On with the story!
To Hell and Back
-xXx-
Chapter 2: Rebirth
Unlike death, rebirth was painful, terrifying. The tunnel Kakuzu plummeted through looked like swirling clouds of smoke. At first it was like being in the eye of a tornado. But the walls of the tunnel twisted, contracted and expanded. Sometimes the passage was so narrow Kakuzu's body would scrape against the surface, coming away with blood.
'Rebirth.' Kakuzu was descending headfirst through the womb between worlds, passing from Hell to Earth.
The rapid rate he was falling was so great, his skin, taut from the secure stitching, flapped, rippled, threatened to pull away from his face. Kakuzu's stomach leapt into his throat. His knuckles scraped against the rough walls as they contracted around him again.
A high pitched whining met his ears. Kakuzu's heart flipped. He wasn't alone.
Kakuzu heard scratching and digging, and holes appeared in the tunnel walls. Pale white eyes stared through them. Hungry eyes.
"Huuuuungry….sooooo hungry," one moaned, swiping at Kakuzu with its claws.
Kakuzu turned his head slowly. There was little he could do. Hundreds of razor tipped fingers waited for him down below. He closed his eyes. Claws reached out for him, snagging on his clothes. It was like toppling off a cliff and falling through a thick forest, only the branches ended in sharp talons.
Those claws grabbed hold of one of his legs. He felt as well as heard a sick CRACK. Kakuzu was no longer falling, but being pulled towards a hungry mouth, saliva running in thick cords from its lips. A forked tongue lashed out and wrapped around Kakuzu's waist.
"Huuungry…" the Gaki moaned, and opened its mouth wider. Kakuzu kept his eyes closed, not wanting to be hypnotized. He inhaled deeply, and choked on the monster's putrid breath.
Kakuzu hoped that he could control is chakra better, now that he was out of Hell. He focused, ignoring the hot, thick drool falling in his hair and the throbbing pain in his broken leg.
Come on…chakra…to the arms…
Something stirred inside his biceps, and Kakuzu felt a jolt of excitement. The wriggling intensified. The threads were moving under his will. Good.
Kakuzu's eyes snapped open, and just before the Gaki's great fangs came down on him, Kakuzu shot his threads from the seams in his arms. They wrapped snugly around the beast's head and squeezed with brutal force, slicing it clean off. Blood, hot and black, sprayed like a morbid fountain, soaking Kakuzu and splattering the tunnel's walls.
Gaki screamed all around him, many of them holding out their massive hands and flicking out their tongues to get a taste. The claws holding Kakuzu loosened, he ripped the tongue away, and he felt himself falling again. The Gaki continued to claw at him, but this time, he knew he could use his chakra infused threads to slap the Gaki away.
The tunnel, once dark and riddled with hungry beasts, brightened. There was a disk of bright blue light. Kakuzu squinted his eyes. Was it an exit? The end of the tunnel at last?
The hole expanded. As he approached it at blinding speeds, Kakuzu saw clouds in the perfect blue.
'Sky' Kakuzu thought.
He fell through the hole, and hit an invisible barrier. He smashed through it. The barrier shattered like glass, shards glittering and spinning out of sight. The hungry, pleading moans of the Gaki faded with the broken pieces.
Kakuzu's leg throbbed again and he gasped. Instead of inhaling air, however, he sucked water into his lungs. Bubbles blew out of his nose, his gaping mouth. Seconds on Earth, and he was drowning.
Fear gripped Kakuzu's heart, but he quickly used his instincts.
Kakuzu kicked hard with his one good leg and swam towards the white, puffy clouds above. His sense of direction was muddled, and if it had been a cloudy night, he wouldn't have known which way was up or down.
The water wasn't deep, and Kakuzu broke the surface before his lungs gave out. Kakuzu gasped for air, his lungs burning. The air was fresh, clean. Human air. There was no rotten stench of death, no brimstone, smoke and fire. No stale Gaki breath.
Kakuzu eyed the land surrounding the water. There was a small sandy beach that ended in forest. 'A pond or small lake, then.' Kakuzu swam to shore. Once he hit land, Kakuzu crawled, dragging his leg behind him. Kakuzu got to dry sand, and lay there on his belly.
The sand was hot, coarse but it felt good against his skin. A gentle breeze tousled his hair, the sun warmed his back. Buzzing insects and bird song filled his ears.
Kakuzu thought it was sad, that he had to be dead in order to really appreciate life.
Hell seemed like a bad dream. A chilling nightmare, a warning of what was to come if he didn't change his ways. But the humming of the gold locket against his chest brought Kakuzu to his senses.
No, he was dead, no changing that. He had a temporary body, he wasn't sure how he knew that, but there was a sense of urgency in his gut. His days on Earth, in this Paradise, were numbered.
Kakuzu rolled over and gritted his teeth. His leg…it was still broken. This body was mortal, he had to be careful with it. Kakuzu got shakily to his feet, trying not to put too much pressure on his other leg. He hopped on the beach, searching for a stick he could use as a temporary crutch. He didn't see one, so he cut a branch from an Oak tree. A cardinal flew off, chirping indignantly.
'This'll have to do until I can find someone who knows medical ninjutsu…'
The dead shinobi wondered how he would find Hidan. He had no idea where he was…hell he had no idea where he was himself. Once he got to civilization, he'd know. He could usually tell what village he was in just by the look of the buildings and the people.
Kakuzu hobbled on, leaning heavily on his stick and grunting with the effort. He found a path flanked on both sides by forest, and followed it. He felt like an old man going for a stroll in the park. If only that were true.
Sighing, Kakuzu continued his way along, keeping his ears pricked for any signs of human presence. He felt naked, traveling without his cloak and mask.
Kakuzu halted when he heard giggling. Children playing. Sure enough, around the gentle bend in the path came a trio of kids, running around a barking puppy.
"Go get it, Cho!" a boy cried, throwing a stick. The puppy wagged its tail and bounded after it, catching the stick in its jaws and trotting back proudly to its owner. The little girl petted the dog's head.
Kakuzu snorted, smirking despite himself. He searched the children's clothes, looking for anything that could tell him where he was. The tallest of the three children had a rain cloud on the back of his shirt. Hidden Rain, perhaps? Or was it coincidence? Kakuzu couldn't be sure. He'd have to see a forehead protector first.
The three kids obviously weren't ninja. They weren't even old enough to be genin yet. Kakuzu walked past them. The three stopped and gawked at him, as expected. The girl gasped audibly and whispered loudly to the younger boy "You see those stitches on his face?"
"He has creepy eyes!" the littlest one said, forgetting to whisper.
"Ow!" he uttered a moment later, the girl no doubt elbowing him in the ribs.
Kakuzu said nothing to them. Why should he? Still, Kakuzu wished he had a cloak. He shivered in the cool shade the trees provided. As if in response, the locket hummed and heated up, spreading warmth through his body.
'Hell water is awfully friendly,' Kakuzu thought.
The old missing Falls nin limped at a slow pace. The path was long and the trees only seemed to grow thicker. Was he heading towards a road, or just getting deeper into the forest? Kakuzu cursed inwardly. He should have asked the kids for directions. Hadn't even crossed his mind.
The wind began to pick up. Kakuzu shivered again. Could he get sick, in this body? He didn't want to find out. He could no longer see the sun. The trees formed a roof with their thick canopies. Kakuzu felt as if he were back in the tunnel, hobbling across it, instead of down.
A twig snapped in the brush beside him, and Kakuzu froze. Another snap. A low mumble. Someone was hiding in the trees, just out of sight. Kakuzu focused his chakra into his right arm. He thought it funny how he had to really stop and think about where to put the chakra, as if he were in training.
The voice grew louder. Kakuzu could catch snippets of it.
"…if you'd just let it be…"
"…hungry, its offspring were grown, I see no cause for concern…"
"…balance is broken…"
Two voices arguing, one harsh, rasping, the other smooth and higher in pitch. Kakuzu's eyes widened.
It couldn't be…
Kakuzu stepped off of the path and lifted his bad leg carefully over the bushes and stepped around thorny brush and young trees. He followed the voices, which had seemed close, but the voices were moving. Kakuzu found the source of the snapping twigs he'd heard. Vines were snaking around underbrush, clutching small birds and mice. Food.
The dead nin followed the vines as they retreated slowly, heading into the heart of the wood. It was tricky to traverse through the forest, with prickly plants and fallen logs scattered about, but Kakuzu managed. He came to a clearing, a large, gnarled old tree in the center. The vines ended there, retreating into the ground at the tree's roots.
Kakuzu, at first glance, wanted to call it oak, but the leaves were strange. Flat with toothy edges. Could this be it? Kakuzu approached the tree. The bark was covered in a fine, green moss. When he was within touching distance, he reached out and laid his palm on the bark. It was cool and dry. The tree flinched under his touch. Kakuzu looked up and a face appeared, half black, half white, eyes gold and gleaming.
"Zetsu?" Kakuzu asked the face.
"Kakuzu is here…"
"but he died…"
"…look, it's injured…"
"…sh, we don't want to eat him…"
"Still hungry…"
Kakuzu swallowed, remembering the Gaki (sooo hungry).
"Zetsu. Can you tell me where this is?" Kakuzu asked. Maybe he could steer the conversation away from food to things more…productive.
Zetsu looked at Kakuzu with his eerie, piercing eyes.
"This is our home, our refuge, our space, ours. The forest belongs to us, and us to the forest. You're trespassing, you stink of another place. You stink of Hell, you stain our sacred grounds with your condemned feet."
Kakuzu backed up. Things were not going well. He really had no idea how Zetsu had become entwined in a tree. Zetsu's face looked sort of rough, a bark pattern etched into the skin. How long had the missing Grass nin been here? Kakuzu had only just died. What had happened while he was in Hell, fighting off hungry beasts and fetching water from a flaming river?
"The damned cannot walk here…"
"Let's eat him…"
"Yessss…"
Kakuzu realized this was getting nowhere, except to his second death. He turned and limped away, reaching the edge of the clearing and struggling over the bramble and rotted tree trunks. A vine wrapped around his broken leg. Kakuzu let out a yell and shot threads out of his arm, severing the plant appendage. It snapped back to the tree. A dozen more vines lashed out, slithering like faceless snakes.
The dead shinobi kept cutting the vines away as he clumsily made his escape, his leg screaming in agony every time he tried to use it. Branches whipped at Kakuzu's face as he fled. A vine wrapped tightly around his walking stick and wrenched it from his hand. Another vine hooked around Kakuzu's arm and tugged it behind him, pulling it out of the socket. Kakuzu cried out in pain.
"I won't let you!" Kakuzu snarled and tripped over a low hanging branch. He fell forward, striking hard, smooth ground. He'd gotten back to the path. A dog barked, children laughed.
Back where he started?
The vines, as if afraid of the path, withdrew, slithering back to Zetsu's tree. Kakuzu lay there, panting, sweat pouring down his face, clutching his shoulder, his right leg hurting worse than before. He bit his lip and grabbed the nearest tree for support, pulling himself up. He leaned against it for a moment, trying to get his breathing back to normal. Kakuzu slammed his injured shoulder into the hard wood, snapping it back in place. He grunted in pain, grimacing, squeezing his eyes shut tight.
That was one problem taken care of. Kakuzu tested his arm. He could move it, though it was sore. He thought he heard faint whispering again, and limped away, keeping to the middle of the path, as distant from the foreboding trees as he could. The path wound through the forest for another half hour, but finally, the trees ended abruptly. Kakuzu saw tiled rooftops. Houses. People.
Kakuzu sighed. Finally, he could get his leg looked at. Hopefully this was a ninja village, and not a civilian town. Civilian medicine was slow. The architecture looked familiar to Kakuzu. He started to wonder if maybe it was Hidden Rain after all, when he saw a ninja walk past, the Hidden Rain insignia on his forehead protector.
Kakuzu frowned. It looked like Hidden Rain, but it couldn't be. For one, the weather was too fair. And all of Pein's followers had their symbols scored out. A gust of wind ruffled Kakuzu's hair, cooled the sweat on his skin. He brushed his hair out of his eyes. The wind grew stronger, kicking up dust and bits of paper.
The paper whirled in miniature cyclones, clumping together, forming a shape. Kakuzu stood still and watched as the figure became more humanoid. Last to form was a face, pale, female, large blue eyes. Kakuzu recognized her, but she seemed different. Older, perhaps.
"I thought you were dead," Konan said as the last sheets of paper settled on her shoulders.
"So did I."
"Let's go somewhere quiet. Not good for the Amekage to be seen talking to a dead Akatsuki."
"Ame…amekage?" Kakuzu blurted as Konan pulled him into an alley and slipped through a door. She pulled Kakuzu in after her and shut the door, leaning against it.
Konan frowned up at Kakuzu, taking in his slumped form, the way he carried his shoulder, the slashes on his exposed skin.
"You look horrible."
"I ran into another Akatsuki on my way here," Kakuzu grunted as he sat down on a wooden crate.
"Did you?" Konan asked, sounding bored. She settled on a barrel beside Kakuzu, smoothing the fabric of her kimono and tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
"Where's your cloak?" Kakuzu inquired, gesturing to Konan's robes.
"Were you in a coma all this time?"
"Something like that."
"Ah…you've missed a lot…"
"I need information…and someone to fix my leg."
"Did Zetsu not recognize you?" Konan asked, sliding down on the floor on her knees.
She stretched out Kakuzu's leg, making him hiss.
"Oh, stop your whining."
"If it had been chopped off, I could have sewn it back on…but the bone's broken…twisted."
Konan sighed and focused chakra to her hand. Kakuzu watched as the chakra took form as glowing blue light. He remembered the lightning blade and closed his eyes. Konan ran her hand slowly down Kakuzu's leg, mending the shattered bones and torn muscle.
Kakuzu broke out into sweat again. It was painful, having bones and muscles move around inside his body.
"There, all done. It will still be sore, so don't put too much pressure on it for a few days. I'm not the greatest at medical ninjutsu."
"Hn…" Kakuzu grunted, wriggling his toes and feeling the muscles pull as he moved them.
"Don't undo what I just did!" Konan snapped.
Kakuzu stopped moving.
"Konan…when's the last time you saw me?" Kakuzu asked suddenly. Konan frowned, thinking. She was definitely older, there were faint lines at the corners of her eyes. Her hair was even longer.
"The last time I saw everyone was about eight years ago, when we were sealing two Jinchuuriki at once."
Kakuzu felt his heart flip. Eight years…he swore, he'd only been in Hell for a few hours. He would have understood a few months, even. But years?
"Kakuzu?"
"Yeah…just…I didn't think so much time had passed."
"So you can imagine my shock at seeing you."
"What happened?" Kakuzu asked.
Konan stared at her hands in her lap, a sad expression befalling her pretty face.
"Konoha," she spat bitterly.
Kakuzu sighed. He'd been beaten by Konoha as well. That weird kid…the Jinchuuriki…had rendered him helpless. And his sensei had finished Kakuzu off with a single blow. He had never expected to die that day…
"…didn't work out too well," Konan was saying. Kakuzu shook his head.
"What happened to everyone? Deidara? Kisame? Hidan?"
"Well…Deidara died shortly after you did. He went up against Itachi's brother."
"Another brat from Konoha," Kakuzu cut in. Konan nodded, smiling.
"But at least Deidara went out the way he wanted to."
Kakuzu smirked. The kid had gone out 'with a bang' as he'd always threatened he would.
"And…everyone else?"
Though the only one he really needed to know about was Hidan, Kakuzu was curious.
"Well," Konan began, rubbing her hands together, "Madara's still alive, but he's in a high security prison cell in Konoha. Zetsu, as you've seen, is alive, but after Madara's incarceration, he took root in the forest near this village. I think he may have lost most of his humanity over the years."
"Yeah…" Kakuzu murmured, rubbing his shoulder.
"The rest of us died in battle..."
Kakuzu leaned forward.
"Where is Hidan?"
Konan's eyes widened.
"His body, you mean?"
"Where?" Kakuzu repeated.
"Well…we never looked for Hidan's body. We just assumed…ah…that…without you…"
"Konan," Kakuzu said loudly, cutting her off, "you don't have to explain it to me. I just need to know where he is."
"Oh…well, I don't know. But I'd say…your best bet is to look near where he last fought."
"Konoha," Kakuzu sighed heavily.
"You didn't wake up out of an eight year coma, did you?" Konan asked slowly. Kakuzu gave a short, barking laugh.
"No. Would you believe me if I told you I came back to life?"
"Of course I would," Konan replied with a smile.
"Pein could revive himself after death, you know."
"Ah…how did he…?" Kakuzu trailed off, seeing Konan's face fall.
"It was the Kyuubi child. Pein killed Jiraiya and…Jiraiya was his mentor. When he'd found out about his death, and who had killed him, the boy came after us."
"How did Kisame go?"
"Suigetsu. A young man who was traveling with Itachi's brother."
"Will you tell me now, how you went from a criminal to the Amekage…which…if I have my facts straight, wasn't possible eight years ago?"
Konan laughed. It was genuine, warm and made her look more like her old self.
"This village looked up to me. After Pein's death, Hidden Rain needed a leader. Konoha didn't have any incriminating evidence on me, and I used it to my advantage."
Konan shrugged with a coy smile.
"I guess…I make a fitting leader. The financial hardships our village had faced for so long started to ease away when we opened the country up to free trade. In a short time, we earned enough wealth and power to be bumped up to one of the leading countries in the world. And you know what that means," Konan finished.
Kakuzu nodded.
"Amekage."
"Is that gambling woman still the Hokage?" Kakuzu asked.
"No."
Konan fell silent. Kakuzu quirked an eyebrow.
"Then who is it? That Kakashi nin? The Uchiha brat?"
"Neither. It's the Kyuubi kid."
"What? Why did they let a monster become Hokage?"
Konan laughed bitterly.
"Supposedly, he keeps his monster under control."
"Hn…well, thanks for fixing my leg, Konan. I don't have much time, I need to head to Konoha, see if I can pick up Hidan's trail."
"Aren't you hungry? Thirsty? You need a change of clothes, at least!"
Kakuzu would have argued, but his stomach growled as he started to protest.
"Come on, old man," Konan said, giggling, offering Kakuzu a hand. He took it, letting the kunoichi drag him to her house, both of them ignoring the gawking passersby.
-xXx-
"Aaaaah," Kakuzu sighed, closing his eyes and pushing away from the table. Konan had laid out a feast fit for a king. Kakuzu had never tasted anything so good. For the second time since his rebirth, he'd felt regret that he had to be dead in order to enjoy the simple things.
The clothes Konan had given Kakuzu were typical ninja attire. Black shirt, black pants, sandals. She even found him a mask to wear over his face, as well as a cloak similar to the Akatsuki cloak, only it had a hood instead of a high collar.
"There's a guest bedroom upstairs you can use, if…"
"No, I've really got to go. I'm on borrowed time."
"Aren't we all?" Konan sighed, taking another sip of her sake.
Kakuzu got to his feet, slipped the mask over his mouth, pulled the hood over his head, and padded over to his sandals. He slipped them on and headed for the door. Kakuzu opened it but paused, glancing back at Konan.
She looked miserable, sitting alone at the long oval dining table. No children running amuck in the house, tugging at her skirt. No husband leaning down to peck her on the cheek. Madara had had a dream. And he didn't care who he sacrificed to make it a reality.
"This may sound strange, coming from me, but you need to move on. Pein's not coming back," Kakuzu said and stepped over the threshold, snapping the door shut behind him. He didn't want to see Konan's face, but as he hesitated at the door, he thought he could hear muffled sobbing.
The dead Falls nin started walking down the path, heading for Fire Country.
-xXx-
So, what did you think of seeing Zetsu again? The end of this chapter has made me and Renren shippers of KakuKonan. Go check out her PeinKonanKaku love triangle story! It's sweet! Renren is PurpleWolfStar35, by the way.
Um, anything else? Hm…next chapter, Kakuzu visits the Haunted Forest of the Nara clan! They say a banshee lives there…I wonder who or what that could be?