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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

My back ached, it was a strangely normal feeling after hurting it so many times there but I couldn't remember why it hurt. There was no reason that I could recall that would make my back hurt like it did.

I couldn't remember who won the chess match; it all seemed foggy and chopped like a glitch online video that won't buffer faster than the actual video playing. It was laggy, that's the word Leon used to use I think.

I didn't open my eyes when I first came to. The room was cold, I hated waking up cold; it was always the start of a horrible day. I felt the little prickles of Goosebumps on my skin from the cold. I growled at the cold, trying to curl up to warm myself. I couldn't move I was restrained, my hands and ankles shackles to something. This position was scary familiar, like when Emi and I had been trapped in the medical ward.

That had seemed so long ago. Thinking of Emi made me think about Hidan. Thinking of Hidan made me think about Kakuzu. Thinking of Kakuzu made me really confused. I struggled vaguely at the bounds on my ankles and wrists. It was a pointless effort, I knew that.

I opened my eyes slowly; they were assaulted by bright light. I blinked rapidly, trying to make my eyes adjust to the sudden light. It didn't do much to help, much to my surprise. The light was very persistent.

After it faded I was confused first, shocked second, thrilled third. My eyes met with the slightly charred ceiling of the well known medical ward. I don't know how I got back but I was glad to be here, regardless of if I was restrained to the same examination table as before.

The room was quiet, no signs of sound or movement anywhere around me. That kind of worried me, this room was never quiet. There was always some sort of noise in here. It was actually strange to find it so silent. The room, as mentioned before, was bright. Brighter than it should have been; none of the Akatsuki really liked the lights to be bright so why was the light glaring so angrily from above me?

I closed my eyes again and let my ears adjust instead; trying to find any sound that could indicate life. It took several moments but I heard the extremely faint thrumming of a heart beat, no a heart beat and a half. The second beat was floundering and weak, missing several beats at a time, giving off a weird rhythm.

I tilted my head towards the sound, my eyes still closed. The sound was coming distinctly from my left. Both beats were very close together, possible next to each other. It was weird though, two hearts so close together. I opened my eyes again, prepared for the bright light. It didn't hurt my eyes nearly as much as it had before.

My eyes settled on the side of Kakuzu's face. He was unconscious; I knew that, I had never seen him so 'peaceful'. It was strange and I'm not sure I liked it. The last time I had seen the man he had had five very nicely working hearts. Now I could hear one and a half only. There were heavy bandages around his torso and his right arm.

My eyes stayed on the stitched ragdoll of a man for a long time, he barely moved, only twitching occasionally. No one came by, the light was still bizarrely bright but I was fine with it now. Kakuzu's sleeping face worried me. Neither his attitude nor his looks were complimented by the serene look. He was a man that seemed the only be calm when he was dead. I didn't want him to be dead, nor appear to be dead.

I began panicking, thinking he was gong to die. My own heart jackhammered wildly in my chest cavity. I felt the impulsive need to get him some more hearts, to save the man that I had barely ever talked to but felt a strange draw towards. I tugged and yanked at my restraints, thinking of a heart that I could take to give to him, one that he would want and be able to use.

I didn't expect to actually go somewhere. The jerking sensation was so surprising that when it stopped I stumbled and fell to my knees, my eyes wide in shock. I was in a meadow filled with flowers. I didn't have my jacket and I felt a foreign object in my pants pockets. I pulled the strange object out, it was a rather large meat cleaver, I was surprised it fit in my pocket. The edge gleamed in the late noon sun light, winking at me.

I saw a man passing next to the meadow. Something whispered in my ear.

You said you would kill to be back.

I was stumped as to what it was, where it had come from, and why it was here. I remember thinking that I would kill if it meant coming back. I hadn't thought that through. The man walked into the clearing and looked startled to see me.

I stopped thinking then, I walked slowly up to the man, he didn't move, just watched me with a confused expression on his young slightly scarred face. I saw the shinobi band across his forehead. I didn't recognize the village symbol.

I stopped thinking again. The knife in my hand was already in the man's chest, carving a gruesome circle. I panicked, screaming and pulling the knife away. Blood sprayed across my shirt and face, the ninja didn't scream, just looked in pain.

My mind stopped thinking before I could panic any further. The knife was in his torso again, cutting a deep circle where his heart would be. I pulled back again, screaming.

I had no control; the knife was controlling me the man had fallen back, almost dead with a chunk of his chest missing and his heart beating faintly in his open chest cavity.

Take it, help the ragdoll man

I did what the whispered voice told me to do. I grabbed the heart and teleported back to the medical ward. Screaming loudly for Emi when I got there, the action proved unnecessary as she was already in the room along with Sasori, Pein, Hidan, and a half awake Kakuzu were already in the medical ward.

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