Chapter seven

Deidara leans closer to the silverette, a grin in place on his lips. "And then you bit him, un?"

Hidan nods victoriously, laughing when the blond falls back on his bed in laughter. "His face was hilarious! You should have seen it!"

"I wish I had, un!" Sasori scoffs and turns away from them both, annoyed with what the newblood was saying. "Oh come on, danna, un. You have to admit, it's cool that he bit a werewolf without venom! It takes a long time for newbloods to learn venom control!"

The puppeteer turns back and stares at his lover and student, both grinning like idiots at him. "If that's what you think, Deidara…"

He turned back to his work, but Deidara didn't seem to mind. He latches onto Hidan's arm then, startling the younger male. "So, what does it taste like?"

Hidan cocks his head, confused. "What does what taste like?"

"The blood of a werewolf, un! You said you drank some!"

He had honestly almost forgotten, but now that he thought about it…

It was thick, different from human blood. I'd tasted immortal blood before, but that was definitely not like any vampire's. It… tasted of sugar, or cherries… maybe both… Hell, it was a little bitter too… maybe some kind of… I don't even know. It was so good though… and

"Hidan, un?" He was snapped out of his thoughts, glancing back to the blond that had let go of his arm. Deidara stared back, his own red eyes filled with concern. "You were shaking… was it that bad, un?"

He gulps and looks away, staring at generally nothing. Deciding to lie, he replies, "Yeah… it was disgusting… I want to fucking throw up just at the thought of it…"

At least the last part wasn't a lie.


Kisame watches Tobi bandage the wounds, his anger evident. "What were you thinking, Kakuzu?"

"I was thinking I could kill a newblood without help." Kakuzu mutters, but he knew Kisame could hear him.

"And the point in transforming in front of him?" Kisame asks, bending to be at eye level with his friend. "That was completely stupid of you! You don't normally do things like this!"

Kakuzu hums, looking away from the pack leader. "I don't know what made me want to change… he was mocking me, and—"

"So you change to retaliate?" Kisame groans, standing straight again. "Or what? Did this vampire's nature pique your human side?"

"I don't know…"

Kisame sighs, walking away. Tobi watches him for a moment before turning back to his bandaging. "If you want Tobi's opinion… Tobi is simply happy you're okay, Kakuzu." His only response was a grunt, Kakuzu turning to watch the younger boy wrap his arm. "Tobi is also surprised there is no venom in the bite wound."

He hesitates, but nods in agreement. "I'm surprised too, Tobi."

The Uchiha finishes up bandaging then, releasing Kakuzu's arm soon after. "All done! Is Tobi a good boy, Kakuzu?"

Kakuzu chuckles lightly, reaching out to pat his companion on the head. "Yeah… Tobi is a good boy."

Tobi beams, standing to leave with his task complete. Kakuzu watches him leave, grimacing when Zet and Su appear to "play" with Tobi.

Sitting there wasn't very productive, so Kakuzu stood to find Kisame. Perhaps he could get his long time friend to understand how sorry he really was. The tall man moves through the wolves' base of operations, looking for his blue pack leader.

He found Kisame just outside the entrance, staring up at the light sky. Morning was coming to an end, and soon it'd be lunch time. Kakuzu wasn't really sure if he'd be hungry by then.

"Kisame…" The other man flinched at Kakuzu's voice, but looked over to him. "What am I supposed to say? That I did let the vampire lure me in?"

Kakuzu waited, but Kisame simply stares at him with the same blank look he'd given the clouds. "Kakuzu… do you remember when we met?"

He blanched, but nodded anyway.

"You didn't know what to think; a giant blue wolf? That was actually a man?" Kisame chuckles then, a small smile gracing his lips. "And then you offered to take me to your house and bandage my wounds…"

Kakuzu groans, rubbing at his neck. "You were injured; was I supposed to leave you there?"

Kisame laughs, sitting down against the warehouse. "I'm grateful you didn't…"

"Biting me was your way of saying 'thanks'?" Kakuzu scoffs, moving to sit beside him.

"Hey, it wasn't a bad decision. You're a great werewolf; this pack wouldn't exist without you."

Kakuzu held back his grin. "You're the leader, not me. You started this pack."

Kisame barks another laugh, shoving on Kakuzu's shoulder. "Don't be modest; you could be leader if you wanted to be."

"Yeah…" He sighs and looks up through his bangs. "Forgive me?"

"Already have…" Kisame sends a sincere smile before looking back to the clouds. "I'm just going to forget and forgive; but it really wasn't like you to do that."

Kakuzu grunts in annoyance. "I know." He jumps when a large hand slams onto his shoulder, glancing back to Kisame.

"Don't let it happen again."

"I promise." Kisame nods, removing his hand before resting his head against the wall again before closing his eyes in thought. Kakuzu watches him for a moment before deciding to leave him alone, standing to leave.


It had been a week since Hidan snuck out, and Pein hadn't let him leave during that time. The man wasn't aware of Hidan's encounter with the wolf, or even that he'd left, and Deidara believed it best Pein didn't know.

But the blond was growing more and more concerned. Especially when he'd watched Hidan in the common room; the silverette had been staring off into space and shaking lightly, looking deep in thought. No one else seemed to notice however, so Deidara let it go.

Besides, Hidan was a newblood. He was probably just not getting enough blood lately, probably due to Pein not allowing the young to leave.

Sasori had once told him newbloods needed a lot of blood, or at least desired it often. Deidara didn't want to think of Hidan's problem being something else, dismissing his worry and continuing on without a second thought on the masochist.

Though, the bomber couldn't help but feel there was something immensely wrong with his friend. He didn't want to think about it, but looking at Hidan really did bother him more and more.

"Danna… have you noticed that Hidan's… not looking too well, un?" He'd asked after looking to Hidan for the millionth time and getting the same nagging sensation in the back of his head.

The redhead had simply huffed, shaking his head at the newblood. "He brought it upon himself."

Deidara didn't know if Sasori meant it wasn't too bad, or if impending doom was in the silverette's future. He also realized that he didn't particularly want to find out.