Chapter ten: beauty and the beast

Priviet!

I got this chapter idea after my friend got a kiss from an old girlfriend. He is apparently not very bright because he broke up with her because she was cheating, and she's still with the other guy.

Anyway, Jess and hidan finally get a little time, but at this junction, I'm not really getting to the romance. They're just getting softer to one another.

I don't own naruto. If I did, someone would notice that most of the perverts have white hair. (Kakashi, Jiriaya, the third Hokage, Hidan...)

Jess POV

Okay, so, things were not going the way I'd preferred they would.

Hidan was distant at best. If things didn't captivate his attention, or benefit him, he'd leave. I found him every morning laughing manically about jashin while hurting himself. And he hadnt even noticed me.

This was getting ridiculous. I had always thought that if hidan came to this world, we'd hit it off just fine. Now it seemed like we were mirror opposites.

I crawled out of bed, and changed out of my pajamas. I decided not to think about it anymore. I was just going to get myself stressed out.

I heard the familiar yelp of pain from down the hallway, and I walked down to his room, to take away whatever sharp thing he'd impaled himself on this time.

I walked in, and saw hidan grinning widely over a huge gash in his arm. The blood was dripping all over his leg, and out onto a large circle with a triangle in it. I recognized it as the Jashin symbol or something.

"Where is it?" I asked. He reluctantly handed me a small dinner knife, with flecks of blood covering the blade. I sighed, and grabbed a roll of gauze.

I sat down on the bed, and started wrapping his arm. The gauze wrap soaked up the blood like a sponge, dying the white cloth a dark crimson. He rolled his eyes, as if taking care of his cut was an inconvenience he'd rather not take part in.

"Why do you keep cutting yourself? Are you goth or something?" I asked.

"What? No way, bitch, I'm a instrument to carry out lord Jashins divine will!" He said.

"Yeah, yeah." I said, "I don't know why you believe this jashin stuff."

He rounded on me quickly. "What do you know, you heathen? You don't know me." He said, angrily.

I paused, trying not to show how deep his words cut. I guess i didnt know much about him. I felt bad, selfish even.

"I shouldn't be trying to tell you what you can and can't do." I said, quietly.

"Then why do you?" He said.

I fell silent, trying to avoid answering. He wouldn't have it. He lowered his head, trying to meet my gaze. His eyebrows knitted, "huh, bitch? Why do you? Huh? Huh?!"

"Because you remind me too much about myself!" I practically yelled. He recoiled as he realized there were tears welling in my eyes.

"What do you mean?" He asked, quietly.

I didnt answer. I just pulled up my sleeve, forcefully, and showed him the deep scars in my arm. His eyes widened, and looked at me confused.

"It happened when my parents got divorced." I said, feeling nonchalant now that I'd shown him, "I mean, never thought I'd be a self-harmer until my mom started dating this total fuckwad. He belittled me, lashed out at me like I was there to be a punching bag, and I just… it felt good. Like I was cutting him. Like somehow by hurting myself, I was hurting him. Until I realized that it was like… taking poison and expecting someone else to die."

His eyes softened as I kept going, "I didn't see my dad anymore, because of some fiasco that happened between them. It was the only thing I could turn to."

I felt the warm, salty stinging tears streak lines down my face. I felt like it was happening all over again. Like I was actually reliving it, like I was taking a knife and stabbing it into my own arm.

Suddenly, I felt a hand brush my forearm. I looked up, and saw hidan comforting me. He did it so awkwardly, so jerkily, that it felt like he was just grabbing me. But on his face, he wore a new, sincere expression, so different from his normal one it was almost like I was looking at a different person.

He looked… sorry. As if he'd accidentally hurt me. He looked in my eyes, and for the first time, I didn't see the crazy, Jashinist immortal. I saw me. The old me. The one in pain, the perpetual pain.

"I became Jashinist to get rid of the pain." He said, "When my village stopped being an actual shinobi village, I tried to show everyone we were still strong. I fought some of my fellow ninja, trying to get them to fight back. Instead, I ended up killing them."

He sighed, as I saw the pain, the absolute horrors behind his purple pupils. The albino man continued, through gritted teeth, "The pain of slaughtering your fellow ninja, your friends… it was unbearable. That's why I am Jashinist. Because every time I hurt myself, every time I run myself through with a pike, it reminds me. It reminds me of my life before everything went to hell. " His voice cracked, "that's why I joined the akatsuki also. Kisame, itachi kakuzu, and the others all had one thing in common. They all knew the pain it took to slaughter your own. They were like me. They understood my pain. And even though I act like I hate them, when I'm around those people who understand my pain, even if I'm fighting, I…I'm completely at peace."

This was shocking. Hidan understood. He wasn't crazy. He wasn't one of those religious nut-jobs, he understood the hurt I went through. As I felt him pull me in, I didn't realize it was a hug until he got both arms around me. He held me so protectively, so tightly, I thought he'd never let go. And I hoped he never did. I wasn't fangirling anymore. I felt so safe in his arms. So safe. More so than I ever had.

"Hidan." I said, my words floating off my tongue.

Suddenly, the door was flung open and Tobi charged in wearing his duck underpants. His fingers had iced frosting on them, so I assumed he had discovered the wonders of a cookie jar.

"Hidan-senpai's in love!" He said, jumping around, "hidan-senpai's in love!"

"You're fucking dead!" Hidan hollered, letting me go. He tackled Tobi to the floor and began beating him up.

"Hidan-senpai's in lo-GAKK!" Tobi said as he hit the floor, "AND TOBI IS IN PAIN!"

"Next you'll be in a fucking body cast!" Hidan yelled, pulling tobi's arm behind his head.

I sighed. Guess that little moment was over, then. I got up, and walked out, feeling the heat in my face subside. Maybe opposites DO attract, after all.

This was a sad-ass chapter! Sorry about that. I just couldn't figure any other way to write it! I mean, for them all to connect, there has to be something touching that sparks inside them to bring the two closer, and I thought that this could be a good idea.

PM or REVEIW if you have an idea on how I should do Itachi's moment, cause I AM STUMPED!