Story 1: The Beauties and Their Beasts
Chapter 4:
Appearing from behind one of the towering bookcases came an almost equally tall man. But his height was only part of the formula that made him so strange to Itachi. His very skin was a grayish-blue color, and it wasn't from the blue light that shone down from the fish tank above them.
He wasn't wearing a shirt, just a loose pair of pants and was dripping wet. His also blue hair looked short and spiked, even when wet, and his eyes were small and black, like an animals. He had lines beneath his eyes that looked like gills and Itachi could just see into his mouth where rows of jagged, sharp teeth sat, looking as if they were just about to tear into a piece of meat.
Itachi backed away, towards the open door. The man picked up a towel that had been laying on one of the couches in the library. Itachi looked down at the floor. Wherever he stepped, this man dripped water onto the carpet. Before he could stop himself Itachi scowled and reprimanded him,
"You shouldn't walk around wet in here, you'll damage the books!"
He looked up, surprise clearly written on his face. Itachi backed away again, sure that what he had said was bound to make this dangerous-looking man angry. Then, he just looked amused, and laughed.
"Heh, sorry, I guess you're right. I never read these things, so I don't think about it. You probably love books, right, Mr...?"
He trailed off, directing a hand to Itachi. Cautiously, Itachi stepped forward, his eyes narrowed in apprehension. After a minute he said softly,
"My name is Itachi. My brothers and I were offered clothes and a place to stay the night, out of the rain. I... saw this library and I couldn't resist. You have so many books..."
While drying himself off, the stranger replied modestly,
"Well, this was already here when I got to the castle, I just added the aquarium up there, it was the only place that was big enough. Did Zetsu let you in? The weird guy with the two faces?"
"Yes, he did. Can you tell me, please," Itachi added. "Who you are and how you came to live in such a palace?"
The man finished drying, tossed the towel back onto the couch, and grabbed a shirt. As he pulled his arms through the sleeves he said thoughtfully,
"Nagato was here first, he's... I guess this is his castle. Never thought to ask him how he got it. I think he might be royalty or something. He lives in the left wing. I think Kakuzu came second. He was a thief, a rich one too. I think he was going to retire when he came across this castle and decided on one last blow out. When he came inside though, he wanted to live here instead. Him and Nagato are friends now, and he lives in the basement, fixed it up really nice. He wanted to be close to the vault down there, where he keeps all the money, you know?
"Sasori was third, he's up in the towers, he likes to look at the stars, says they're beautiful or something, they just looks like specks to me. He had a lot of money too, when he found them, probably from his art. He was looking for a place to settle down, so they agreed it was beneficial for all of them to be together.
"I came last, and brought Zetsu and Tobi with me. They've been with me for as long as I can remember. When I was... human, I guess, they were my lackey's. We were experimented on by this mad scientist, he kept us all captive for a while, but eventually I got out and killed him. Now, Zetsu can't live without human flesh, I can breathe underwater, and Tobi won't ever take that mask off. I don't even think Zetsu knows what he looks like underneath it."
He looked up suddenly, as if surprised that he had gone on talking for so long. He turned away, back through the rows of books he'd come in from, muttering lowly,
"Sorry to bore you with my life story, not like you care... it's stupid..."
Itachi hurried after him through the towers of books.
"Wait, I wasn't bored," he said when he caught up. He placed a smooth, dainty hand on the man's tall, broad shoulder and he turned around, surprised at Itachi actions again. "What's your name?"
"Kisame..." he breathed. For a moment the air between them was strangely constricting. Itachi felt self-conscious for some reason. The tension might have gone on indefinitely, but they were interrupted by a voice booming through the library, making both of them jump back in surprise.
"Master Kisame, dinner is ready. Please bring along that tasty visitor as well, I think he'll find what he's looking for in the dining room."
Itachi's breath caught. They knew he was looking for something, they probably knew he was looking for his sister(at least, he had been until he saw the library). Did that mean he would find her at dinner?
He frowned. Kisame just stood, a bit confused as to what was even going on. Suddenly, Itachi took his hand and started pulling him out of the library. Before he could question it, Itachi commanded softly,
"Come along, Kisame!"
Kisame followed without hesitation, and with a slight smile adorning his blue-skinned face.
Far below the castle, Hidan had actually obeyed instructions for once in his life. While his two brother's had not even bothered to listen to the command, "Do not wander," he had. Not, of course, because he respected rules or anything of that sort, simply because it was cold in the tunnel outside his room, and warm beside the fire.
Plus, the clothes given to him weren't particularly warm. They were silk, just like his brothers' were. The pants were red and fit snugly to his skin. His outfit resembled Itachi's a bit more than Deidara's, but it was different non-the-less. His shoes were black boots too, but came up all the way to knees and tied with a string instead of just snapped, like Itachi's. His shirt was silver, like the blade of a knife, and billowing. The long sleeves looked like the sleeves of a pirate, he liked the way they felt when he moved his arms. There was a wide opening down the center of the torso of the shirt. Hidan left it hanging open instead of tying it closed because it felt more natural that way. It left his toned chest perfectly exposed. There was also a red choker laid out for him, and once he put it on he realized he rather liked it.
The room he'd been placed in was somewhat barren, there wasn't much in it. It definitely didn't look as richly decorated as the main entrance hall or the room Deidara was sent to. The large, round bed in the center took up most of the floor space. The ceiling was very low, and seemed even lower because it had folds of dark fabric hanging from it. The walls all around were stone and there were no windows because it was an underground room. It was lit not only by the main fire in the fireplace that Hidan stayed in front of, but also by many smaller lamps along the walls. On one wall there was a table that had nothing on it. If not for the cackling fire it would have been dead silent.
Hidan was too busy admiring the nice clothes and warm fire to notice many of these things. When he sat down on the edge of the bed, he found that it was rather comfortable, but that was the extent of his interest in the room itself. He really wasn't inside it for very long before he heard a voice coming from somewhere around the walls, announcing in the familiar voice of the weird servant,
"Master Kakuzu, dinner is ready. If you would please be so kind as to fetch one of our guests who happens to be in the room beside you and show him the way up."
Hidan stood and scowled.
"Who the hell's this Kakuzu guy anyway?" He muttered to himself. A second later he heard a creak, and the door of the room he was inside opened slowly.
Hidan turned to face the opening door and stood up from the bed. He was a bit curios as to what a master of this castle might look like. Kakuzu was not as he'd predicted from the way he looked.
He'd covered his entire body so the only skin you could see was that around his eyes and forehead. He was wearing a mask over his mouth now even though he hadn't been wearing one before. His eyes narrowed as he took in Hidan's appearance.
Hidan felt himself blush under that strong gaze. He faltered a little when Kakuzu began walking towards him.
"Wh- what are you lookin' at?" Hidan stuttered firmly as Kakuzu stopped before him, staring down thoughtfully at the eldest Akatsuki son. After a minute he finally spoke, saying in a cruel, manly voice,
"So you're mine, huh. Not very feminine, I see. Since when did I lower my standards to male? I'll have to speak with Zetsu about that. Besides you're lack of proper genitalia, I must admit you are rather fetching. If you were in the sex slave industry you would sell for a high price with this face."
At this, he raised a gloved hand and grabbed forcefully onto Hidan's chin, lifting it up and to the side as if he were examining him. Hidan's eyes widened and he was at a loss for words for a second. Then, he became perfectly livid.
He smacked away Kakuzu's hand in an instant then clenched his fists and stood glaring at the taller man, absolutely shaking with rage.
"No one has ever- ever even dared to touch me-! You fucking bastard! You don't have any clue who you're messing with! You ain't gonna goddamn sell me on any fucking sex slave shit! Who the fuck are you acting all cocky-"
"You're loud," Kakuzu interrupted him, his eyes narrowed dangerously. Hidan gulped, keeping a defensive position in case Kakuzu was going to try something else. "And obviously stupid," Kakuzu added, grimacing beneath the mask. "I really am going to have to talk to Zetsu about this. How he ever thought you were the suitable match for me I'll never know. I've barely spoken to you for five minutes and I already want to snap your neck."
"Well I don't fucking like you either you old pervert!" Hidan spat back.
Kakuzu didn't appreciate that much. He grabbed Hidan's arm tightly and, ignoring all his screams and feeble attempts to break away, led him up through the dark tunnels and into the main part of the castle. As they reached the large double doors that led into dinning room, they opened and Kakuzu tossed Hidan unceremoniously into the room where six pairs of eyes all turned and stared at them.
"What the fuck was that for you goddamn asshole?" Hidan yelled back at Kakuzu who ignored him and walked over to the table. Tobi stood fretting in the corner and Pain, Kisame, and Sasori glanced at each other, wondering what the situation was exactly.
Itachi and Deidara just rolled their eyes and Deidara mumbled towards Hidan,
"We haven't been here one night and you're already making enemies, un?"
Itachi then added in his two cents,
"Hidan, you do realize that these people are the ones who have offered us clothes and a place to stay the night, is it really wise to go picking fights with them?"
Hidan just gapped at his two brother's in shock.
"B- but, you guys didn't hear what he fuckin' said to me! He's a goddamn jerk, I don't care if he's rich or gives us a place to stay!"
His brothers ignored him and Tobi rushed over to try and calm him down.
"Can everyone have a seat please?" He said in a panicked voice like a child's. "Zetsu'll be mad if I don't have everyone seated when he gets here!"
He then quickly directed everyone to their seats. Deidara was beside Sasori and Itachi beside Kisame. When it came to getting Hidan to have a seat he refused point blank to sit next to Kakuzu. In the end, Kakuzu himself had to forcibly push Hidan into the chair where he pouted about it for the next few minutes. Itachi and Deidara both thought that Kakuzu's approach to controlling their brother was actually quite inspired; no one had ever really been able to make him do anything before.
Then, when everyone was finally seated(Itachi noticed that there was a spare seat beside Pain, whom he had been introduced to a few moments before), footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs just past the doors of the dinning room.
Tobi went over to the doors and before opening them, said happily,
"And now, our final guest for the night..."
Oh Hidan and Kakuzu... your demented relationship brings me so much joy. Don't worry, they may hate each other now, but you know what they say, "It's a thin line between love and hate." For KakuHida fangirls, that line is all but nonexistent...
Thanks for reading! Please review, it makes me write fasterrrr!
KeikoPanda102