Makings Of A Miser

Authors Note: Another chapter this soon? WOAH! Yeah but seriously there seems to be no more good stories I haven't read, and I've searched a lot, so it motivated me to maybe write this chapter soon for anyone that's interested in this story, but can't find anything to read in between chapters. So without further ado let us begin.

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As Kakuzu walked out of the Akatsuki base he found himself in a dilemma. Should he go back to Akatsuki? While the initial answer was an overwhelming yes, the more he thought about it, the more he detested it. They had lost three members not including him already, and they had only collected two tailed beats. So unless Konoha really fucked up, their chances of getting them all were slim to none.

Besides what even was their goal? He had asked but had never received an actual answer. It was always the whole monopoly on war thing that was completely impossible. No way countries like Iwa or Kumo would give up their militaries because mercenaries were cheaper.

And even if that was their plan, what would he do after the plan was accomplished? There was no way in hell he was becoming a mercenary, and he wasn't going to lead them either. Plus if ninja were eliminated he wouldn't be able to collect bounties. So what was there for him, the profits of the entire system he supposed. But where was the challenge at sitting in home making money? If he was into that he would have a company bigger than Gatou's with all the money he had saved up.

'So, what are my choices? Go back to Akatsuki? Nope, Go kill the brat? Not quite yet, Go train? Yes, that seems like the best route for now...

He now faced one true problem, where could he go? Kumo, and Iwa were far to militaristic, Suna had a horrible climate, and a lack of bounties, Konoha had to many high level ninja and was always on high alert. So that left either a minor nation, or Kiri.

Kiri would certainly be the best with it's hundreds of deserted islands, and large host of missing ninja. So with the prospect of bounties, and training he set off for a pier that had never failed in giving him visa to Kiri.

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It took him only three days to walk to the small port that had given him access to Kiri for many decades, and only an hour to rent a boat that could quickly get him to his destination. As he set off Kakuzu began to ponder on actual ways to train his new hearts. The only solution it seemed was to simply use them, and hope for his body to adapt quickly.

Kakuzu found no reason to wait however, and created a water clone to steer the boat while he trained on the water surface. He figured that using his lightning affinity could result in unnecessary boat damages however, and decided to try out his jinton affinity. AS he had heard tales, and seen the destruction such a technique could cause.

He was not expecting to get anything spectacular on the first try due to the massive amount of both chakra and control to use the techniques, which involved using fire, wind, and earth affinities. Luck seemed to be on his side however as he began slowly forming the chakra from his jinton heart into his hands, he was able to easily create a conical shape of jinton chakra.

He smirked as the small orb began to buzz to life in his very hands. He observed the small clear greenish* orb, and small white epicenter and tried to expand the green energy outwards. It slowly formed a short narrow conical shape that reached out about 8 inches from the base, and about a 5 inch diameter.

Kakuzu idly realized he was sweating when it ran into his eye, but ignored the stinging with practiced ease. Concentrating further Kakuzu began pointing his hands towards the sea, stopping his movements right before hitting the water with the now extended beam. Closing his eyes for a moment to gather himself before pushing the ray out a final time creating a huge smoke cloud of vaporized water where the beam hit.

Experimentally moving the beam in all directions, Kakuzu quickly dismissed the technique and fell to his knees in exhaustion. Sparing himself only a moment of rest Kakuzu quickly recovered, and reformed the cone, repeating the same exercise as before until he could once again take it no more. Taking off his cloak to allow his skin breathing room Kakuzu went again, determined to master the practice technique*.

XXXXXXXXXX(roughly 10:00 PM)

By the time He arrived at the island the only thing keeping him conscious was the returned chakra from his water clone, and sheer willpower.

'I should have it mostly down pat by tomorrow, after that I'll go on to the Raiton techniques. After that the Third Kazkage's Jiton techniques, then I'll finish with Mokuton*.'

With that thought in mind Kakuzu drifted into sleep.

XXXXXXXXXX (Earlier that day in Konoha.)

"Fucking great..." Tsunade rubbed the bridge of her nose as she finished listening to the report given by the intern team, and the reports of the three now dead ANBU.

Team 10, and Team 7 were just as annoyed the man they had nearly died to kill, was back, seemingly just as strong.

"Well," Naruto was the first to speak up. "If we beat him once, we can probably do it again. Right?" Shikamaru shook his head in response before answering.

"He knows what were capable of now, and he can report that to their leader, or other members, and he's strong enough to kill most of us by himself, so long as he has his hearts. And tracking him now will be near impossible, meaning we'll have to fight on his terms." Naruto looked down dejected, maybe his new jutsu wasn't as good as he thought?

"Well we could have Jiraiya use his spy network to try and find him for us." Kakashi suggested from his leaning position from the wall opposite the Hokage.

"We can't spare the resources, we need his spy network completely dedicated to the Akatsuki right now." The entire room was shrouded in a tense silence followed by that sentence, all unsure on how they would find the S-class criminal without expending to many resources. Before Naruto brightened up.

"Well, why don't we let him come to us?" The rest of the Konoha shinobi looked at him in curiosity, but no one objected, prompting him to continue. "I mean think about it, he was trying to capture me, but those moves were definitely going for the kill at the end, and given his temper when dealing with his partner, he might have gotten so mad he was just trying to kill me. So is it unreasonable to think he'd come after me again if I was 'alone'?"

Kakashi's eye was open farther than Naruto had ever seen and everyone was looking at him like he had grown a second head. Before Kakashi gave one of his patented eye smiles.

"That is probably the smartest thing that's ever come out of your mouth you know that?" Naruto just deadpanned before looking proud at the hidden compliment. After all always look underneath the underneath.

XXXXXXXXXX(back with Kakuzu)

Kakuzu awoke in a daze, his sleep had been filled with odd dreams something unusual for the usually dreamless man. Shaking it off he pulled a scroll from his stitches* and unsealed a pound of dried meat, and vegetables quietly snacking on them he began to think about his training regime.

'With my new found reserves, I think I am more than capable of mastering Jinton today, possibly even my Raiton technique. I however have an entirely different dilemma while I will be able to utilize the Raiton jutsu if the heart is destroyed, I am uncertain if that is indeed the case for the Kekkai Genkai...'

'The scroll containing Jingou fails to mention if something like that can be retained. While I should be able to with the knowledge of how to form the chakra and my five elemental mastery, it's still a topic I would like to experiment with, just in case.'

With that thought Kakuzu concluded he would eject the hearts from his body once he had mastered them, and then attempt to recreate the techniques. Sighing before standing once more Kakuzu continued his training with Jinton, determined to get a solid grasp on it, and his Raiton by the end of the day.

XXXXXXXXXX (in Konoha)

"While the plan is smart, how do we know that Kakuzu wont be able to defeat Naruto, or escape, I mean he wont engage him, if were all there." The others looked down thinking yet again on how to guarantee they would kill Kakuzu with this plan.

"Perhaps..." Kakashi began only to shake his head before Tsunade spoke up.

"Out with it Kakashi, we cant afford to throw ideas out at a time like this!" Kakashi nodded understanding the situation and continuing.

"Well, I was going to say we could attach a seal on him, that might allow us to transport to him, but that's beyond our skill level. The only man who could have made and survived something like that would have been the fourth..." Naruto failed to miss the small glance Kakashi sent his way, but his suggestion was enough to get the creative juices flowing for the group. Causing a great amount of talking that maybe did more harm than good, but was broken when Tsunade spoke up.

"What if we could arrange something with the toads?" Given many looks of curiosity she smirked, and continued on. "Summons are capable of creating reverse summoning contracts, meaning they could summon us, we'd only have to arrange it with the elders, and Jiraiya. All Naruto would have to do is have a toad with the seals on him at all times."

"But wouldn't the toad be in danger?" Naruto asked concerned for his summons health.

"they could recall back to their home before combat began so you have nothing to worry about really." Naruto smiled at the answer happy he wouldn't be putting his toads in any danger before agreeing to the plan himself. The others soon followed up with agreement, before Tsunade spoke up once more.

"Then it's settled I'll call Jiraiya back to talk with the toads, as well as make a plan with us. He agrees that picking Akatsuki off one by one is a better strategy than fighting them all at once, if things go as planned he'll be back in just a few days. Until then train hard Shinobi, Kakuzu and the rest of the Akatsuki are no pushovers." A single chorus of "Hai!" was heard before all the ninja shunshined out of the room, making preparations for the upcoming battles.

XXXXXXXXXX(Later that night)

Kakuzu sat on the beach looking up at the night sky, contemplating his next moves. He had finished learning the Jinton technique "Detachment from the primitive world" near noon that day, giving him plenty of time to practice his Raiton jutsu, he had finished that too with the use of a couple shadow clones, he could afford the taxing technique with his new reserves after all.

Focusing on the night sky once more, he chided himself on staying up so late, he would need rest if he wished to master the Jiton, and Mokuton techniques in the following days. With that thought in mind Kakuzu began to drift into what would hopefully be a dreamless night, though Kakuzu had a sinking feeling about that.

XXXXXXXXXX(Flashback)

The Shodaime looked up at his young opponent, he wore the headband of Takigakure, a new hidden village that had yet to be found by others geographically. The young man Had short jet black hair that spiked backwards, reminding him of young Saru.

His eyes were what caught Hashirama's attention though, the green iris' lacking a pupil surrounded by crimson sclera. The young man's eyes were focused, and determined, he clearly had a mission, and was not leaving until it was completed. He had scored the first hit, Hashirama had to give him that.

The small trail of crimson running down his cheek was a testament to that. The young man- no, boy had introduced himself as Kakuzu, he was wearing the standard uniform of a Taki Jonin. A dark green flak vest with Dark green Pants, wrapped at the ankles with gauze ending in Blue sandals. His headband was rather odd, shaped somewhat like a crown, Hashirama had never seen a headband quite like it.

"If you've come here to kill me..." Hashirama started, only to be cut off by Kakuzu. Hashirama honestly had one concern before the battle began, which was what he was about to tell the kid before being interrupted, which was the small hope, that the statues he had just made at the valley of the end would survive the battle.

"Talk is cheap, let us begin." with that Kakuzu opened up the battle to come with a great waterfall jutsu, a powerful water technique that brought down a great amount of water on his foe..The lesson Kakuzu was about to get would never fade in the slightest.

Hashirama Senju was a true god amongst shinobi, even still injured from his fight with Madara he was beaten badly.

He could only hope to get near that level. 70 years later, he still wasn't there, but Hashirama had let him live because he had potential, Kakuzu had tried to live up to it, live up to the standards set by one of the two things he had learned to respect in his long life; Money, and the First Hokage.*

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*1-I am so sorry I have no clue because Im color blind

*2- I'm going with the assumption Kakuzu learns the techniques the people knew, and how to manipulate the chakra, but no more than that.

*3- Respectively; lightning release, Magnetic release, and wood release. The other element Jinton is dust release

*4- I believe he is able to store things inside of himself thanks to Jingou, if not then I'm adding it in because I doubt a man like Kakuzu would put his money in a bank, meaning he has to put it somewhere right?

*5- This last part was a bit iffy for me, but let me know what you think. I also think it's reasonable to think Kakuzu would respect such a powerful man.

Authors Note: Hey guys, once again I'm happy to present the next chapter of Makings of a Miser! We reveal a bit more of Kakuzu's past, as well as some of his deeper thoughts. Right now he seems like a bland character. But Kakuzu is a guy who, once he get's a mission in mind, he focuses on it completely, training included, with very little time for other thoughts. I tried to showcase this with the observation of his eyes by the First, but I wanted to clarify. Also Critisicm is welcome, and don't be afraid to hit that favorite button! Or review... Or Follow... Jokes aside thank you all for reading

-llkkjj out!