So I have a confession, and I just have to laugh about. I'm browsing this site and I'm reading some random summary. It reads "M for lemon, language and gore." and then, with no comma or seperation next to it, it says "R&R". Wow, did I read that wrong. cause my mind read it as "lemon, language and gore... and rape & ravage." So I'm sitting there like, there's no way thats what it means! Thats the silliest thing ever!
Turns out it just means "read & review." hahaa... *facepalm*.
Anyways, woohoo! transition chapter~ I hope you like it, I have so many ideas for later- I just have to figure out how to get to them in a way that makes sense. So keep faith! I promise this fluff will end! lol
Enjoy and don't forget to review! -Giggles
Sachi stared at the glowing embers of the dying fire and tried to picture them all sleeping around it. The idea of sleeping out in the open wasn't sitting too well with her, despite all their reassurances that they did it all the time. They even promised to keep watch. But she was unconvinced. She peered into the black of the woods. Somewhere, a wolf howled.
She shuddered.
Hidan snickered, "What- scared of a fucking puppy?"
Sachi closed her eyes and tried to take Kakuzu's previous advice. She ignored him.
"Do you want first watch, Hidan?"
"Cheh… sure."
"It's almost ten forty five, Sachi-san."
Clenching her jaw in anticipation, she nodded.
"Are you ready?"
"Mhm." She lied, squeezing her eyes shut.
"'The hell is happenin?"
"The shot I gave her for her arm was at ten forty five am exactly."
He'd rebound the arm preemptively after their dinner of roasted raccoon to keep her from uselessly aggravating it now that the journey portion of the day was over. But she'd still used it to hold onto him all day…
"Oh this'll be fucking hilarious!" Hidan's eyes glinted as he leaned forward for the best view. The sun had dipped below the horizon and disappeared, leaving them in the weak glow of the fire. "Best offer yer pain to Jashin-sama, skank, and pray he eases your suffering."
She opened her mouth to snap at him, but froze. No announcement was needed for time, her whimper was clue enough. The terrible ache stared somewhere in the center of her palm and consumed the rest of her limb quickly. Reaching into her fingers, burrowing through her knuckles and searing like hot electricity up into her elbow. Hot tears poured down her cheeks as the pain blossomed deeper and stronger in a following wave, resounding through the very fibers of her shattered arm.
She gave a small noise and crumpled into the dirt.
"Told ya she'd pass out like a lil bitch," Hidan giggled.
Kakuzu rolled his eyes, "She was warned. There was no more logical way to carry her with her ribs in that state."
"Shit, take 'a look at that," Hidan pointed, "Still cryin!"
"It'll pass to sleep soon enough. Wake me in a few hours." Kakuzu rolled onto his side and closed his green eyes.
Hidan sighed and poked at the fire with a long stick.
Gasping, Sachi woke curled in the dust, her hand held close to her chest. The worst of it seemed to have passed, but her arm still twinged uncomfortably.
"What was that stuff?" she whispered.
It was almost black now, the last of the fire had been reduced to a few burning coals. She pushed herself back up and cringed with the effort. Hidan, crouched over by the fire pit, glanced her way, "Ah?"
She took a shaky breath and looked around. She couldn't see much else, but there was a dark lump not too far from her that she assumed must be Kakuzu.
"He's snoozing, " Hidan informed her airily, glaring back at the coals.
"I guessed." She cradled her arm, trying very hard not to move or irritate it in any way.
He scratched the back of his head, rumpling his hair. She smirked when he didn't smooth down the mess. He shot her a glare, "Wat?"
"Sorry, just… What was that stuff he used to hold off the pain?"
He cocked an eyebrow, unconvinced that had been her original question, but shrugged and let it go. "It's like… the liquid form of one of those soldier pills, but on crack. A colleague developed it. Fucking flawless till the time runs out. 'Heard it's awful, but I've never had to use that shit."
"A soldier pill…?" she gasped as her arm constricted suddenly, but it passed just as quickly. Tears prickled in her eyes and she blinked them away.
"Nevermind. I'm not gonna fuckin explain- they're a ninja toy." He winked.
She tilted her head to the side, "Why haven't you had to use it then?"
The corners of his mouth lifted, "Cause I relish my pain, sweetheart."
"Huh?"
"To me," he smiled strangely, "To me pain is the sweetest reminder of my faith. For every bit as much of a fucking bitch a broken hand is, it is just as enjoyable. They exist only together."
"That's… interesting."
"See? That drug would be useless as shit to me! It'd only keep me from my suffering!"
She stared at him oddly.
He shrugged and sat so one leg was folded and the other stretched out in front of him.
"I've heard about guys like you from friends in the red district." She made a face, "Perverts…"
"'Ey!" he chucked a pinecone at her and she hissed as it grazed her cheek. "Don't fucking compare me to those creeps! I'm a priest, damnit!" he stopped and stared intensely at her, "Wait- you have bitch friends in the red light? Why the fuck wouldn't you say that before we left the city?"
She covered her mouth and giggled as he proved her assumption right. He grimaced.
"Oh hey!" she sat up, "I have an idea! If you like pain so much- why don't you take the drug, do as much shit to yourself as you can in twelve hours, then 'relish' it all at once?" She grinned excitedly.
Hidan was taken aback by her enthusiastic suggestion. He eyed her, a slow smile forming across his lips, "What a funny concept, kid!"
She perked up, feeling as if she'd been upgraded. Even if he'd still only called her "kid"…
"Naw," he shook his head, "That just doesn't feel too authentic, skank. Better to pour all my best shit into the moment, ya know? Nice thought though!"
Her face fell.
"So about these bitch friends…"
"No."
"But whyy?"
"Pervert…" she shook her head. "I'm going back to bed."
"Kakuzu-san, it can't have been healthy for me to have passed out twice in the past thirty hours or so…"
"I think it's been longer than that?"
"Who knows? I certainly don't! Cause I keep knocking out for parts of it!"
"What is your point, Sachi-san?"
"That I don't think that more of that drug is such a good idea…"
"Oh you'll be fine as long as you continue drinking water."
"How am I supposed to recover and start paying you back if I keep treating my body like this?"
"Don't fret, you'll have an opportunity soon enough."
"Really?"
"I have a plan of sorts."
"There's a plan? Oh thank fucking Jashin! I thought ya'd lost yer shit, Kakuzu!"
Sachi shifted uncomfortably. They'd each had a pear for breakfast and were now waiting on her to take her shot so they could get moving. She looked uncertainly up at the older man, almost fully engulfed in his gear again, "What's this plan, Kakuzu-san?" She chewed on the inside of her cheek.
"I will explain on the way. You are wasting our time right now." He held up the impossibly large needle, "And time is money."
Hidan made faces behind his back as he spoke, then laughed at his own joke.
"I wouldn't want to waste any more money…" she whispered hesitantly. "Is there really no other way?"
"I could carry you, but that would only further inhibit your ribs. Which should be your first priority."
She sighed heavily and held out her arm, "Okay, but I really don't-" she gasped as the sharp needle punctured the inside of her elbow. He pushed in the pink liquid and for a moment, the world went blurry. It snapped back into clarity and she stared at him, feeling lightheaded.
"I hope you learned your lesson last night, Sachi-san. No unnecessary movements."
"Yeah, yeah," she climbed onto his back and glanced at her senseless hand curiously. Liquid soldier pills, Hidan had called it.
Their pace was much faster than anything she would have been able to manage comfortably, but Hidan still complained once every fifteen minutes of their sluggish pace. After so few hours of paranoid sleep, Sachi wanted nothing more than to bury her face in Kakuzu's cloak and rest her eyes a spell. But Hidan's constant yapping prevented her from doing so. She tried tuning him out, humming, thinking of anything else and even asked him politely to be quieter a few times. Nothing seemed to work.
Giving up finally, she sighed and rested her chin on Kakuzu's shoulder so she could direct her question to him, preferring his low rumble to Hidan's high volume. "So… you said you'd explain your plan to me, Kakuzu-san?"
"Remember we are going to the next town to collect a bounty, Sachi-san?"
"Some other Shinobi, right?"
"Yes. This other shinobi may sense Hidan and my presence should we get too close. I plan to use you as a scout, Sachi-san. You will go in and attempt to locate this ninja and report back. I will, of course, be paying you for your services. Which in reality means I will remove a small sum from the amount you owe. In this way, I will also save on what would have been spent gathering information."
"Kakuzu, man, ya gettin to old, or what? You can't send 'er in there! She'd be fuckin defenseless!"
"I am not asking her to engage him, Hidan. It is purely a reconnaissance mission. I understand she has no chakra control whatsoever."
Hidan glanced at the girl on his partner's back. "Yeah. No chance ta' either. That bitch has got nothing."
"Exactly why she is perfect to send in as a scout, imbecile."
Sachi frowned, having completely lost track of the conversation.
"Oh! I see, I see."
"You never think things through, Hidan, that is your problem… Among other things."
"'Ey! Ya wanna go old man?"
"Excuse me…"
"Yes Sachi-san?" Kakuzu ignored the twitching Jashinist at his side.
"How will I know where to find this shinobi?"
"I have faith that you will be successful."
"No, I mean- how will I know it is him?"
"I have a copy of the poster. I will show you." He halted mid step. After fumbling around in his pocket, he pulled out a neatly folded sheet of paper. He undid it so that she could see the wanted sign and the man's face. He had short green hair gelled into spikes all over his head and sharp, angular eyes. She memorized the face immediately.