Hello, Maahiyum here...yes really here. Finally.

I bare my half-edited chapter for all to see.

My writing might be rusty, but I hope it's worth reading after nearly 2 years.

A Morbid Acuteness of the Senses

Chapter 10

The Mask of Rain

Various sojourners were lounging around with nothing to do but wait for the rain to calm down. The more bored individuals had gathered into whispering groups. The hushed topic of conversation was of course, the ghastly man who had thrown the entire tavern into a tizzy with his titanic tool of death.

After Hidan had disappeared into the unknown, Sakura had taken to sitting, huddled near the hearth. She stared morosely into the splattering flames without seeing them, instead, she was lost to consternation. There was no way of communicating with Hidan; not only were there too many ways that the information could be intercepted, but there was no reason for "Hidan of Akastuki" to contact outsiders. If this tavern was truly the entrance to the Akatsuki's hideout, Hidan would not be coming out anytime soon. This much she understood. But what could she do in this mission? What was her part? Wait in one tavern or another, fretting over Hidan's return? Hidan had told her not to do anything or try to get in, so of course she would not listen.

There's got to be something that I can do, there's no way I'm going to wait at home like a 50's housewife!

Well, you can't follow him into the snake pit.

Besides that!

Well, this is a reconnaissance mission.

That's it! We'll do exactly that! Gather information!

But how? It's like we already got shoved into the snake pit and we're just starting to find out which ones are poisonous!

Letting out a small huff, Sakura stuffed all her worries onto her brain's backburner and switched her position on the settee. Now was the time to think and come up with a plan of action for herself. Tapping her fingers on her knee, she recounted what she knew so far and what to be aware of.

Her and Hidan's goal together, was to find out more about the Akatsuki and what they were scheming. Hidan would be able to get the inside information about their plans, so that meant that Sakura should observe and learn about them from the outside. She would have to map out the city….well, the entire country of Rain for that matter and pinpoint the locations of Akatsuki activities, figure out which areas were safe houses for her, and most importantly, find out who, exactly was running the country. Rain looked like a dump at first, but it was definitely an urban dump. From her initial wild goose chase through the city, it was clear to see that it was pretty densely populated. The vast array of rusted buildings, slanted roofs, and hodge-podge walls of all heights and colors were made by an equally vast number of people who needed them. But the next question was this: Where were the inhabitants? And more imperative than that, what did they do in Rain?

The economics and infrastructure of Rain was not very well-known outside of it. To people from other lands, nearly everything about Rain was swathed in a mystery as intimidating and dank as its climate. Furthermore, outsiders were not very interested in such a small country. From her various shopping escapades back home or elsewhere, Sakura only remembered one thing ever being from here, and that was packaged rain water. It wasn't an item that flew off the shelves or was in high demand by your average person in any kind of setting. For the big people that cared about that sort of thing, in the world of commerce, Rain was a microscopic blip. To top it off, it was surrounded by countries that were tens to hundreds of times larger. So while the mystery was there, it wasn't that there was nobody brave enough to come solve it, the issue was more that nobody cared enough to raise the curtain of rain.

Then that's where we'll start. With the people.

Sakura cast her gaze around the room, this time, really trying to take in even the most minute details of the people scattered around her.

The hearth and the settee was in the center-back of the long room where she was seated, it was a very good vantage point. Starting with the closest, she eye-balled her way clockwise around the room. To her left, in the corner table, was a lone, gangly looking boy dressed in various shades of gray, fiddling with a notebook. His clothes were well worn but clean of the usual street grime. His dark pants were tucked into the knee high shafts of his black utility boots. His pale face and russet hair contrasted sharply, but handsomely in the amber glow of the fire. He looked like he was trying to find the solution to a problem in his notebook. A student with homework, maybe? Sakura itched to go and ask what he was mulling over, but she didn't want to be conspicuous so soon after Hidan's departure.

Moving on to the next bunch, was a trio clustered around a coffee table. Two men and a woman were looking at papers in between plates of bread and bowls of soup. They seemed about 10-15 years older then herself, and dressed to go out into the rain. They were having a disagreement over the papers, but Sakura could not see what was on them.

In the next corner was a tall, potted plant and a rustic couch with two young women on it. They were dressed in deep colors, but colors none-the-less (unlike the previous 4). One had on a burgundy tunic over leather stockings, the other had a dark green tunic over gray breeches, both had pants that were tucked into long boots. They were sitting comfortably facing each other and...giggling? The burgundy topped girl, a pale haired blonde, mentioned the word "Scythe" and other things Sakura couldn't make out. Her friend, a brunette, said something in reply and pursed her lips, rather animatedly. They both tried to stifle their laughs. Sakura rolled her eyes and moved on to the next person or people. It wasn't difficult to figure out what their topic of conversation was.

One by one, she went around the room. She did not expect to hear anything important, but looking at least at how the locals were acting and how they were dressed gave Sakura some ideas on where to start. Nearly everyone wore boots of one kind or another, and something with a deep hood. This wasn't as much a local fashion trend as a functional necessity. Though, she had also noticed that nobody but her had their hood up inside. Which meant that she was sticking out like a flying bird in a clear sky. The people she had seen so far were not big and muscular on average. Very few seemed to be the kind that did heavy work or outdoor labor. This only supported her thesis that agriculture wasn't a big thing in these parts.

Sakura briefly checked the money she had and stood up. Giving a mock stretch and-for added effect- scratching her behind, she silently prayed nobody would pay attention to her or find her hooded-ness strange as she shuffled out of the lodge. A few feet away from the exit, she gave one last look at the door beyond the counter. As she walked out, she let the door swing shut behind her. Adjusting her hood snug, she splashed around the main streets for a good hour until she found the place that carried all the tools she would need for the initial stage of her observational quest. The apothecary.

As soon as the door heavily fell shut behind him, his vision blacked out and the already soft, scared murmurs of the lodge's patrons ceased to be heard at all. Temporarily blinded by the darkness of the storage room, Hidan suppressed the urge to panic like any other person would if one of their most depended on senses are suddenly taken away. Then again, it was stupid of him to walk into the room without flipping on the lights. He reached an arm behind him feeling for the doorknob he had just let go. Instead of the doorknob, he felt the cold metal of a storage shelf. Following it's side, he found a wall and began a systematic search for a light switch. It wasn't until the second wall that he found it. With a dull thud and crunch, the power switched on and a handful of light bulbs, lazily hanging from the ceiling, trembled slowly into a grey incandescence.

Before he got a chance to clearly look around the room, something hot began to prickle at the back of Hidan's neck. The pricks came hotter and faster and he jumped forward, covering his neck with a hand and uttering a string of curses. Looking back, Hidan saw a swaying wire spitting sparks like a baby dragon. He took another step back, still rubbing the back of his neck, he saw on the floor a small pile of shattered glass and in its center, a hand's breadth of wire still attached to the bulb's base.

"Oh, for Jashin's sake! You've gotta be kidding me...", Hidan muttered, realizing that the scythe on his back must have slashed the low-hanging lights while he was bumbling around blindly in the dark. He took the scythe off his back and held it carefully, awkwardly, in his hands, taking care not to bump any of the various shelves lining the walls or any additional lights hanging around his head. The room was quite spacious for a storage closet. Its length seemed to spread longer then the bar and kitchen on the other side of the wall. There were more lights, some lit, some not, hanging low from the ceiling as he looked on until the far end, where a small desk, chair, and spare mattress were located.

Hidan sighed in annoyance as he judiciously walked towards the furniture. He had to navigate his head around the lights and his scythe, which was now more horizontal then vertical, around the extra shelves jutting from the walls. Either this was a clever ploy to slow down any would-be intruders, or most of the Akatsuki that passed through here were short, he thought. Hidan considered himself to be on the taller end of the bunch, perhaps since his departure, there were no longer any tall members left? Oh well, at least he didn't have to crouch or bend over.

Reaching the desk and chair, he sat down heavily. Leaning his scythe against the desk, he glanced at the few things on it. A cup of pens, sheets of inventory catalog and old receipts, a handful of coins. He flipped through the catalog for anything possibly weapons or shinobi gear related. Nothing there. Frowning he put the papers down and stared at the shelves he had nearly flipped over. The shelves nearest the door had large pickling jars, sacks of flour, a crate of eggs, and other food related things. The shelves nearest to him held stacks of linens and bedding material. There was a box of first aid. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary for a travelers' lodge.

Hidan flared his nostrils and slowly breathed out. This could not be a dead end. He was absolutely positive that in this lodge was a clue, a way, to reach Akatsuki. Maybe under the desk? He ran his hands around the edge of the desk, then under it. Maybe something was attached or it had a secret mechanism. Once more, there was nothing to find. The underside of the desk was as smooth as slate. As an afterthought, he gave it a small zap of chakra as he stood up and turned to look at the mattress.

It was not a bed, it was simply a dingy, uncovered mattress lying haphazardly accross the floor. It was just wide enough for one person to be comfortable. But only if that person liked to sleep without a pillow, a blanket, or any sheets. Hidan nudged it cautiously with a foot, waited a minute, and when nothing happened, he kicked it aside. It slid forlornly to a stop before hitting the wall.

Finally! Some progress! I knew I'd find something in here, Jashin-sama!

Where the mattress once lay, there was the beveled outline of a rectangle inlaid into the floor with a small inverted lip on the side nearest him. Triumphantly, Hidan stuck his hand down and lifted the door up to reveal a set of stairs leading into darkness. Taking a step back, Hidan ran his fingers over his rosary. He wasn't going to get caught in the dark a second time! If Sakura ever found out about the light bulb incident, he wouldn't hear the end of the jokes. He needed something to light his way. A torch, a candle, anything would do. Maybe one of the boxes in the room had something. He went back to the last shelf. Scanning it with his eyes, he paused at the box of first aid materials.

That looks promising.

Bringing it down, he removed the lid to find rolls and rolls of bandages. Scattered between them were jars of salve and healing balms. A spool of thread and a surgical needle. A small bottle of antiseptic. A pair of scissors. Candles, matches...and there! Long tubes that looked like emergency flares. He looked to see if there may be any glow sticks as well, but there weren't.

Hidan frowned down into the descending stairwell. He had lit a rag on fire and tossed it down. It had revealed that the stairs ended after 5 or 6 steps and then it became a smooth passage.

There were 5 flares in total and they only lasted a few minutes long. If each one lasted at least 4 minutes, then Hidan had a total of 20 minutes to traverse the unlit areas. He had no idea how long the passage would be or if it would all be pitch black. Not to mention that with one hand holding up a flare, he would only have one hand free for defense if anything happened. It was impossible to tell what was down there or where it would lead. The only thing he knew for sure was that it had to lead to Pein.

Hidan secured the extra flares to his belt, held a lit one in his hand, and jumped down. He landed on the glowing cinders of the rag and kicked it forward. Holding the flare in front of him, he could see that a few yards ahead, the passage got wider then ended abruptly. He began walking to what he thought was the end. The flat stone hewn wall got closer and closer, until he was standing right before it.

This isn't right. It doesn't end here, I just know it!

He brought the light closer to see if there were any marking or indentations. He touched it with the flat of his hand. It seemed solid. Hidan frowned and gave it a swift kick.

OW! Shit! Jashin, damn it! That was stupid!

Hidan hopped on one foot as he nursed his toes for a few seconds. When he put his foot back down, it was still smarting. He pushed at the wall with both hands this time, and when nothing happened, he sent in a pulse of chakra and immediately, it not only moved, it disappeared to reveal the rest of the passage. By this time, his first flare was nearly finished, but he went in without lighting a new one. The faint glow was enough to see by for now. He wanted to make the flares last as long as possible. A few yards more into the passage, his flare gave out, but luckily, Hidan wasn't left completely in the dark. There seemed to be enough light coming from something up ahead that he could make the walls and the shapes of his hands and feet.

Hidan, with his scythe positioned to go in any direction, slinked down the dim corridor. It was a straight, narrow path that seemed to slope down, further and further below ground level. Every few yards, there were strange neon lights fixed to the walls. They gave off a strange blue hued light that put an eerie effect to the place. Hidan scoffed, Typical, that bastard Leader's always gone for the over dramatic style.

The air was beginning to feel cooler and heavier with moisture when Hidan finally reached a stairwell. He peeked into it for signs of any hidden traps and saw that the dark tunnel tightly wound upwards and more of those weird blue lights lit the steps. Hidan grimaced and mounted his scythe on his back before taking the first step up. He had to duck slightly because that first step brought him high really fast and he would have hit the ceiling of the corridor if he hadn't. He took the second step and nearly fell backwards as he got pushed back by his own weight.

"Fuck!" he yelled and tried to keep his balance. When he managed to teeter on the edge of the step, he noticed that his scythe had gotten lodged behind him against the low ceiling and tight walls of the stairwell.

"Oh, for Jashin's Sake! Why isn't this getting any easier? This isn't exactly the great come-back I am meant to make." Hidan stepped back out of the stairwell and unstrapped the scythe. This place really wasn't meant for tall people, it looks like. Hidan tried a handful of methods to go through the stairwell without getting stuck with his scythe. Ultimately, every useful, normal way of taking the scythe with him failed. Either it got stuck, or he got stuck, or he painfully got stuck by it. But one thing was for sure, he sure as hell wasn't leaving his best weapon behind in some Jashin-forsaken Cimmerian labyrinth under a freakin' travelers' lodge or whatever the hell he was below at the moment.

Hidan's forehead wrinkled as he tried to surmise one last way to get through the treacherously tiny stairwell. After what seemed like an eternity, he thought of a solution. A ridiculous solution. One he felt he should apologize to his beloved scythe for afterward. Hidan pick up his scythe and held it in front of him horizontally, with the blades facing up. He adjusted his grip so that it would be closer to the end of the shaft, and lifted the blades' end up enough to create forty-five degree angle. Then he stepped into the base of the stairwell with his scythe positioned the same way, which is exactly how a sword or a lance should be held but not a scythe. He was the horse, his scythe was the lance, and the stairwell was the tournament ground. And then he ran up the stairs with a battle cry,

"Jashin-Samaaaaa!"

So began Hidan's joust.

Sakura stepped out of the shower in her room at the small inn that she and Hidan had stayed at the night before. Her hair was now a rubicund brown. The dye she had used was supposed to make it black, but her hair was too light for it to work all the way. The apothecary from whom she bought it from had told her so. Still, it was enough for her to not be recognized by her signature blush colored hair. Her face was framed by dark, still-damp, locks. It was incredibly odd for her since she never imagined herself with dark hair. She smeared the dye carefully on her eyebrows, waited a few minutes a washed it out. When she opened her eyes this time, she stopped breathing for a second. This time, as she looked in the mirror, she truly felt what people call an out-of-body experience. The mirror was no longer a reflector, but a window through which someone she had never met before was staring back at her. Her eyes seem to glow more vibrantly green, her features looked sharper, her skin paler.

Sakura slowly smiled and so did the stranger.

Perfect! This is perfect!

This is such a good disguise! Nobody will know this is Sakura Haruno from Konoha!

Bet even Hidan wouldn't recognize you in a crowd.

He….might. He's been with you so long, how could he not?

Would it hurt to test this new disguise out?

We can't test it without him to begin with. And we don't know when we can see each other again.

If I see him anywhere, I'm gonna sneak up on him. See what he does.

Yeah, ok, later. Let's stop admiring our new hair and put on the rest of our disguise.

We both know this isn't so much a disguise as it was a shopping spree for you.

So what? Same purpose.

Sakura went over to the bed where she had spread out all the new clothes. By all, she meant the 2 shirts, 2 pants, and 3 pairs of socks. They were all dark shades and meant to be inconspicuous. But her most prized possessions were the rain coat and knee-high boots. They were the most expensive of all her items. She put on one set of clothes and packed the remainder away into a small bundle. She stashed her usual weapons away under her coat. Then she looked sadly into her wallet.

She had only a quarter of the money both her and Hidan had initially started with. She would be able to stay at the inn for only 2, maybe 3 more nights before she ran out of money. Which meant that she would have to get a job somehow, too. Which, actually would be a good way to find out more information anyway, but on the downside, if a prospective employer asked too many questions, she may not be able to keep her story straight.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Sakura zipped up her coat and smoothed it into place. Checked her hair out one more time in the bathroom, and exited her room, letting the locks slide into place behind her.

Now, where to go first?

Author's Comments: Yes, it's not very long. But i did my best. I'll try to continue when I can.

So Sakura is looking to get hired to make some quick cash, and if anybody asks her, she must give her name. So what's her new undercover name?

I was thinking Haruna Sakuro, but if you readers have other suggestions, leave them in a review :)

I'm looking for something stupidly funny, but usable as a real name because I like lame humor and puns ;)