Second chapter! Wheeeee!

Yes, I decided to continue. With people asking for more, I dun want to say no! So…yeah, I got myself in gear and wrote out the second chapter. And I am absolutely LOVING where this story is going, though it is very fuzzy. Oh well.

Is it just me, or do other peoples' fingers not want to press the 'z' key like they're supposed to? (sweatdrop)

And, Hidan's 'pike' is a pole-stabbing thing used in religion, not a fish. Okay?


Kakuzu sighed as he continued channelsurfing. "Don't you think you're taking this anti-Jashinist thing a little too far? I mean, to uproot both yourself and your son going to a whole other continent just because you heard that there were Jashin people in the area? That seems pretty drastic."

His dad hit him over the head. "Of COURSE not! Look, what they did was unforgivable, and for that they need to be punished! Kakuzu, I can't understand why you'd even question me on this."

"Dad, that was seven years ago. I've gotten over it, and I'm the victim. And besides, just because one group of Jashinists is violent and malicious, it doesn't mean that they all are. I can't understand why you won't let this go," Kakuzu countered. And, this entire thing is bigotry, he added to himself.

Grabbing his son's hair, he hissed something in the boy's ear. "I will not let it go. Once I do away with them, we'll go back and you can continue with your happy little life in Osaka. Am I clear?"

Kakuzu sighed. This was a lose-lose battle. "Yes, sir."

XXXXXXXXXX

Hidan stared down at the pike he held in his hands. Its smooth, cold texture felt familiar and calming in his hands, albeit exciting and energizing. Making sure his bedroom door was locked, he began with his sacred ritual.

He belonged to an underground religion, much like what some people might consider a cult. Named after is god, the Jashin religion was extremely strict and gory, requiring its members to perform elaborate sacraments which included stabbing themselves in the chest and lying in their own blood.

Hidan made a point to perform his rituals at least three times a week, lest he anger his beloved Jashin-sama. A death god was someone you did not want to anger.

He didn't mind doing this; at heart, Hidan loved his religion. It was the only thing that kept him sane at times, and it was all he had left of his biological family. Yet, it had been the cause of most of his strife.

It wasn't the religion itself, more of peoples' reaction to it. Being in foster care, he was often at the mercy of his caretakers. This also meant that he moved around a lot. Whenever a family was deemed unfit to take care of a foster child, or if they simply didn't want the child, all they had to do was call up the kid's social worker, and said kid would be sent to another foster home. And, this had happened to Hidan quite a lot in the past. Apparently, most people didn't like that he willingly stabbed himself, completely forgetting the freedom of religion amendment in the Bill Of Rights. (How messed up is that?) If he was ever caught during a ritual, it was a given that he would be out of there in a matter of days. Luckily, he had found a way to hide his worshipping, and he had managed to stay in Burbank for a few years. He'd like to keep it that way.

He pricked his thumb and drew a large version of his cult symbol, in blood, on his bedroom floor- a circle with an upside-down triangle inside. Standing in the center, he clutched the pike in his left hand and began chanting: "Great god Jashin, may this bloodshed appease you, and this sacrifice bring you glory. Putting my life in your hands, now and forever…" Continuing with the lengthy prayer, Hidan held the pike's sharp end to his heart. "Let the pain be my savior!" he half-yelled, pushing the sharp instrument into himself. Then, he blacked out.

When Hidan awoke, he was lying on the floor, a bloody mess. Glancing up at the digital clock on his nightstand, he was astounded by the time. 5:30. DeAnn would be home -back from work- in about 15 minutes. Shit.

Painstakingly picking himself up, he slumped his way into the bathroom and removed the pike. He held himself up by the edges of the sink as he inspected himself in the bathroom mirror. Hidan's face cringed with disgust at what he was. His normally white hair was tinged with red, matted and falling over his eyes. Glops of blood lay neutral on his cheeks and the underside of his chin, and the fact that he was panting added to the horrific image.

Taking his clothes off, he stepped into the shower and turned the cold tap all the way up. Cold water was always best for after rituals: it rinsed any stray blood off while reminding you not to stay in too long, otherwise risk unclotting the blood and inadvertedly bleeding yourself to death.

After his shower, Hidan took a wet washcloth and immediately wiped up the spilt blood on the floor. Although DeAnn never really came into his room, it was always good to get rid of any lasting evidence. And, should she get a sudden interest in Hidan's stuff…it was just best to be careful.

Sighing as he finished, he threw himself onto the rolling chair at his desk. Now, to get that homework out of the way.

The next day at school, Hidan went to his locker at the beginning of the day as usual. Kakuzu was already at his, rummaging through the confines of what used to be Deidara's storage spot. He didn't know why, but seeing the new kid where his old friend used to be infuriated him. How dare he use the same space that Dei had! Gritting, Hidan bit down on his anger. The last thing he needed was a school fight.

Getting his stuff, he felt the pressure boiling up inside of him. Anger, hate, and sour loss mixed together, leaving Hidan with a loathsome taste in his mouth. After a minute or so, he lost it.

"Hey, Hidan?" Kakuzu asked, "do you know what the math homework was?"

That did it. Everything he was trying to keep inside, everything that was swirling around in his head, exploded. Slamming his locker door shut, Hidan glared. "No. And if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Know why? Because you're a foreign little bastard who's bent on replacing my best friend!!"

The other boy gave him a confused look. "Um, I just want to know-"

"Yeah, sure! That's just what you say. But, in reality, you're a selfish, lying cunt!" The mixed emotion of confusion and miscomprehension that Kakuzu was giving off fueled Hidan's anger all the more. "And them you go around pretending that you don't understand English! TO try and get sympathy! How pathetic! Know what I think? I think that you're A MOTHER-FUCKING HEATHEN WHO SHOULD JUST CRAWL INTO A DITCH AND DIE!! THERE IS NO WAY THAT YOU'RE TAKING DEIDARA'S PLACE, SO FUCK OFF AND GO KILL YOURSELF!"

The other boy took a step back, obviously surprised at Hidan's sudden outburst. Though his hair covered most of his eyes, it was apparent the he was blinking back tears. "Y-you didn't need to shout…" he stammered, before taking off to homeroom.

The white-haired kid was appalled at this. First he tried to take Dei's place. Now he'd shedding crocodile tears just to make Hidan feel bad? Disgusting. "Yeah, you just keep on running, you fucking heathen!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Kakuzu cursed himself as he ran down the hall. Why did he have to be so damn sensitive?! He hadn't really picked up all of what Hidan had said, but what he did understand hurt. Crawl into a ditch and die! Go kill yourself! Wow, he knew that Hidan didn't particularly like him –they were forced to communicate by a teacher- but what had he do to deserve that? Things were confusing here.

Sitting in the very back of the class, he put his head down and sobbed softly. Why him? Why him…

Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Hey, are you okay in there?" a male voice asked.

Kakuzu lifted his head to find a spiky, orange-haired boy with multiple nose and ear piercings smiling at him. Wiping his eyes, he replied as calmly as he could. "I'm fine."

His smile cracked wider. "Oh, no, you ain't," he said, turning his attention to the front of the classroom. "Where you the one that Hidan was yelling at just now? The mother-fucking heathen?"

The other boy nodded, remembering the name from the white-haired kid's rant. "Yes. He, er, got mad when I said about the math homework," he replied softly.

"Hey, do yourself a favor and just don't take it personally, okay?" the orange-haired kid suggested, returning his gaze to Kakuzu. "He's just upset right now. See, his best friend, Deidara, moved right before you came. Follow?"

Kakuzu blinked. He had followed, for once. "Yeah. Continue."

He nodded. "Okay, so Deidara and Hidan were, like, reaaally close. They always sat together, had inside jokes and tortured the teachers tag-team style whenever possible. Ergo, when you show up and start sitting in Dei's normal spots, Hidan somehow gets it into his head that you're trying to replace Deidara, even though you're just trying to be friendly. Give it a day or two and he'll come to his senses." He finished with a giggle.

The black-haired kid nodded with comprehension. "Oh. Now I get it," he said definitely, "but why are you laughing?"

"So I'm a sadist. Sue me."

XXXXXXXXXX

Okay, so all I need to do is regroup that, round to the nearest hundredth, and multiply by the reciprocal and…no. That's not working. Hidan tapped his pencil on his desk as he worked on his math homework that night. Algebra had never been his strength. Neither had geometry, graphing or integers, but that was a different story. He didn't even know why he had to learn all this stuff. He could add, subtract, multiply and divide. What more did a person need? Cooking skills, he guessed…

Letting his thoughts wander, his attention turned to Kakuzu. The green-eyed cretin had made him totally flip out earlier that day. Psh. It was his fault for instigating.

But, he just couldn't shake the picture from his mind - standing there, crying, and all-around confused. It was all just a ruse, right? Kakuzu was just acting. Yes, he was. But…Hidan had been pretty unfair. Kakuzu didn't know about Deidara, or about his closeness with him. And, he probably wasn't pretending about not understanding English all that well. He may not have understood most of what he had ranted about. Also, Hidan DID have a bad habit of taking things too personally and too seriously. Not to mention his talent for picking on certain things about a person when he got mad.

Sighing, he made a decision. He'd have to apologize.


I told you Kakuzu was going to be pretty OOC. But, in a way, he isn't. This is probably why he's all "Money is everything and you don't matter" later on in life. Poor Kuzu-kun. (glomps Kakuzu)

Anyways, I somehow get the feeling that my writing's deteriorating. I guess it's the lack of single-point-of-view-ness, but I don't know.