AN: This chapter is going to have dark themes, warnings below. So, if that disturbs you, skip this chapter—and the next one, and perhaps the remainder of the arc because it isn't going to get much better. Besides that, I can't say much else and except, hey, character development?

Cat Beats: Zetsu's a child, I'm not going to anything like that to her. Just, she isn't going to have a fun time for the remainder of the arc. Her innocence is going to be taken away but not like that; rather, in the mental sense.

rarae aves: Yes, I realize the implications I've made but Zetsu is safe-ish, it's for character development.Haha, I'm glad because he's going to get worse—so, so much worse in this chapter and next.

Kuro641: Well, you'll just hafta wait and read!

Longer left leg: Yes, I like it too and it's going to get better (?). Thank you for the review!

Warning(s): Language (High), Genderbend, OC (Original Character), Death/Murder, Mentions of Noncon, Mentions of Suicide, Implications of Pedophilia

…

Wasteland

Red Dawn Arc

Chapter 34

Once Kawai Gaku joined the Akatsuki, everything grew expectational shittier.

Kakuzu had thought Zetsu was bad, he thought Sasori was worse, but neither of them combined had anything on Gaku. He was everything horrible packaged in human flesh; rude, lazy, obnoxious and disgusting. Once entering the organization, he did nothing but bitch and eat—and he bitched and ate a lot.

In his first week, he had gormandized through their entire food supply (food meant to feed six people) and Konan had to do an emergency grocery run in the middle of the week because Sasori had discovered the fridge and pantry empty and started complaining he was hungry and going to starve. Gaku had drank all Zetsu's chocolate milk too (three gallons of it) and she was so sad when she discovered it all gone. It made Kakuzu want to punch the bastard's ugly face moreso, not for Zetsu but because how much money he had literally eaten through. Gaku didn't clean up after himself either, leaving dirty dishes and empty packages all over the kitchen until Konan had to clean it because she didn't want an infestation of ants. It wasn't like Kakuzu and Sasori were helping either ("it's a woman's job", Sasori had said, and Kakuzu refused to pick up a mess that was not his own).

After this, Konan predictably castigated Gaku, telling him to contain his gluttony because it was everyone's food and he replied by spewing such misogynist bullshit at her that the slightly sexist Kakuzu himself, who had just entered the kitchen to make tea, was left horrified. He thought Sasori was bad with the occasional "women belong in the kitchen" comment but it was nothing compared to what Gaku said including telling Konan that she shouldn't speak to him like that unless, "she wanted to be put on her knees".

If Kakuzu wasn't mortified by now, then it multiplied by ten when he spied Zetsu, peeking over the couch with large, glistening eyes. She had been in the adjacent living room, watching a movie and within earshot of Gaku's anti-woman opinions. Once the ex-Iwa shinobi was finished, he delivered the stupefied Konan a supercilious smirk and left, walking past a fuming Kakuzu who glowered at him. How neither he or Konan murdered him that day was a mystery and thankfully, Zetsu never questioned what she heard. That didn't mean Kakuzu was happy to have had her hear such disgusting and objectionable things towards the female gender. He imagined it must've caused damage, even if she didn't realize it. It wasn't the only thing to affect her though.

Since Gaku's recruitment, Zetsu's behaviour had changed dramatically. She had gone from a happy, outgoing child to being quiet and withdrawn that spent her days quietly reading or watching television, going entire days without speaking to anyone, including Konan. She wasn't eating, or rather, drinking as much either. It was obvious what the source of her sudden change was as whenever Gaku entered the same room as her, she would suddenly run out like a frightened feline. Sometimes, gagging as she did. Konan was worried due to this and spoke to Dr. Ryu about it who suggested taking her to a psychologist. She suspected Gaku might've done something to the girl, but she was never out of sight of an adult, whether it was Konan or Kakuzu so Gaku didn't have the chance. Kakuzu made sure of it too as Gaku had made disquieting comments about Zetsu to him.

Whenever the two men passed each other by, Gaku always made it a point to tell Kakuzu how cute his "daughter" was or asking questions such as how old she was. Once he even mentioned how "happy" she would make a man one day. It was so bizarre and immediately the red flags were flying. Due to this, Kakuzu kept a hawk-like eye on Zetsu, the only time he wasn't was when she was in the bathroom or sleeping. Most times though, she was in his room, either doing homework or reading.

Finally, after two and half miserable weeks, Pein summoned Kakuzu, Zetsu and Gaku for a mission. Kakuzu was praying Gaku's efficacy on missions made up for his terrible personality.

God loved ignoring him though.

…

"Konohagakure has hired the Akatsuki to find and detain a pair of deserters; lovestruck teenagers." Pein explained, handing Kakuzu the mission file. "They've gone AWOL for two weeks now and the Hokage wants them found and handed over alive so they may face punishment for defecting the frontlines." Kakuzu opened the file and on the inside two pictures were paperclipped; one of a dark-haired boy, and the other a light-haired girl, neither practically unique. To him, just two children.

Gaku stole a glimpse over his shoulder and whistled. "What a little hottie. Lucky bastard."

Immediately, Kakuzu was disturbed because one: he just said this about a thirteen-year-old girl; a child, and two: he had said this in the presence of a thirteen-year-old girl. Thankfully, Zetsu was too innocent to realize what was said if she heard, and he was going to make damned sure she never understood either. She was a bit bewildered when Kakuzu hauled her chair nearer to his own but presumed so it was to get a better look at the mission folder that she'd been trying to read.

"They've been discovered hiding in village known as Cheeko Sands, outside the capital. Since the Firelands and Wastelands do not have an extradition act with each other, you'll have to go in and arrest them without the local authorities' knowledge. If Suna learned that Konoha had shinobi in their nation, they'd restrain them which could cause a lot of issues between the two nations."

"More issues than a war?" Kakuzu asked dryly, staring at the mission details. Gaku laughed a little too loudly as the quip and slapped him on the shoulder, much to the ex-prisoner's ire as he gave him a side glare.

"Yes, more so than the war." Pein monotoned. "Now, would you kindly leave ASAP? We do not want our targets leaving the area and losing them."

Kakuzu obliged, standing up and as Zetsu did so too, she grabbed his hand, a gesture he surprisingly, he did not spurn. Gaku had plucked the file from his other hand and as they walked out of Pein's office, he noticed the greasy man staring intently as the two pictures, or instead, the girl's picture while grinning widely. It incited Kakuzu to clutch Zetsu's hand which he didn't let go of for the remainder of the mission.

…

Being back in the Wastelands have Kakuzu borderline PTSD after his last visit here. If he had it his way, he would've never set foot back in this backwards, dirt ball of a nation, but he couldn't have it his way, so he'd suck it up for the sake of the mission.

They made it to Cheeko Sands by evening and decided to make camp outside the township for surveillance but also, for rest as Kakuzu ended up having to backpack Zetsu for the last hour because she had started falling asleep on her feet. Due to the nights in the Wastes being cold, freezing even, a campfire for warmth was made. Kakuzu had made the executive decision he would be the lookout for tonight because he didn't trust Gaku with it, and he didn't trust Gaku with Zetsu, though, he didn't mention either of those points. Gaku just said "whatever" and laid down.

After a few minutes, Gaku suddenly leapt back up. "I can't sleep, I'm going to take a walk," He proclaimed, as if thinking Kakuzu gave a shit. "Would Zetsu like to come with?"

Zetsu was having difficulties falling back asleep since she had napped for an hour earlier; that, and the cold. So, it was obvious she couldn't sleep as she twisted and turned underneath Kakuzu's cloak she was using as a makeshirt blanket. She stared at his grinning face with large eyes at the mention of her name but before she could say anything, Kakuzu answered for her.

"No, she wouldn't. She has to sleep for the mission."

Gaku's smiling diminished into a scowl, like a child told no, only for it to return a second later as he played it off with a shrug. "Ok then. I'll be back in a few minutes." Then, he walked off and disappeared into the inky darkness of the desert.

Once he left, Zetsu let out the heftiest sigh like she had been holding it in for a long while now, something Kakuzu noticed and piqued his interest.

"Girl," Zetsu glanced up at him curiously. "Are you alright?"

"I don't like the new Firefly. He's bad and tastes bitter."

"He tastes…bitter?" Kakuzu questioned, eyebrow hoisted as he was mystified by her statement.

"Yes, like…like licorice!" She tried licorice once because Sasori bought a pack so she tried a piece behind his back and hated it and now, it reminded her of Gaku so she hated it more. "It tastes like licorice but smells like trash." She said, crinkling her nose when she said trash.

"Chakra has a taste and smell to you?"

"Yes…?" She replied hesitantly like she was nervous of giving him the incorrect answer. Didn't it to everyone?

Kakuzu had never heard of such a thing even amidst sensor-types outside it having colour and feeling but he figured it to be a characteristic of the Mayfly. It was interesting and as he was getting acquainted with the girl, he discovered she had a lot of intriguing quirks to her.

"It's fine, girl, he can't do anything to you." He told her and patting her on the head which in fact, made her feel a thousand times better, perhaps a million as she smiled and nodded.

She fell asleep a few minutes later, lulled as Kakuzu unconsciously continued petting her hair while he kept a watchful eye for Gaku's return or any potential threats. What was claimed to be a few minute walk turned into hours as the ex-Iwa shinobi failed to show up. It left Kakuzu irked and worried. Not worried for Gaku's wellbeing but instead, worried that Gaku was doing something he shouldn't be doing, like going after their targets himself. He wanted to leave and hunt for him himself, but he didn't trust Zetsu being by herself while she slept, even if he left one of his hearts with her. Gaku would be back, he'd just have to be patient.

At daybreak as the waking sunlight inundated the circumambient wasteland, finally, Kakuzu spied Gaku in the distance as he approached the little campsite. To say that at this point he was mad would be an understatement, he was furious.

"Where the fuck have you been?" He challenged Gaku once he was officially back.

"Taking a walk like I said. I just got lost in the desert." Gaku claimed, literally shrugging off his question.

"Where's your shirt?" Kakuzu asked next as he distinctly retained the man having a shirt on underneath his opened cloak when he left.

"It was hot, so I took it off. Must've dropped it on the way." Gaku replied, glancing down at himself like he just realized it was gone.

Instantly, Kakuzu called bullshit on this since despite being in the Wastelands, it wasn't hot, it was numbing. He should be freezing and it evident he was by the quivering his muscles. That, and how could he have dropped his shirt? He could've on and on about everything that didn't add up with his claims, including questioning the suspicious scratches on his greasy face, but he'd be here all day and he couldn't do that with a time sensitive mission such as this. If it wasn't for that, he'd do it. He enjoyed making people look like idiots.

Instead, for the time being, he left it as he nudged Zetsu awake. After Kakuzu snuffed out the fire and buried the campsite, he unconsciously grabbed Zetsu's hand and held it as the three of them walked in the direction of the dirtball down the dusty path. It was dawn yet Cheeko Sands was bustling for dubious reasons.

Heading down the boulevard, they happened upon gathering of citizens, standing outside an alleyway and chattering. It was restricted by yellow tape and had a plain, white sheet hung over to inhibit sight inside while two police officers positioned outside it told everyone to stand back. Though, the blanket failed at hiding the blood and tissue painting the walls over it. There was a woman screaming, crumpled on the ground and mourning as another, older woman hugged her and cried too.

"M-My baby! My l-little baby girl!" Presumably the mother bawled. "Why? Why!?" Whatever happened here was a disturbingly violent crime.

Kakuzu glanced at Gaku on a hunch and discovered the man staring at the crime scene, in particular, the wailing mother with a sickening grin plastered on his lacerated face. It left the elder with a stinking feeling as he clinched Zetsu's hand, distracting her own observation of the scene as she stared up at him curiously.

"So, where are these brats?" Gaku asked, awhile after they had left the incident behind.

"We have information of the targets being seen here three days ago, so it's possible they might've left by now but if they hadn't, then they're likely hiding out in an inn or hostel," Kakuzu replied, pulled out the mission file and examining the details over. "Cheeko Sands is a farming village and doesn't have a large population of shinobi. It shouldn't be too hard to find them once we start asking around since two teenaged shinobi wound stand out. We'll start at the inn as there is only one which is utilized mainly by the merchants which pass through. Girl, you heard everything I said, correct? This is information you'll need for when you start going on missions yourself."

"Yes, sir." Zetsu answered automatically despite having her face buried in one of her books as they walked. He left it, instead flicking her on the ear as punishment to which she squawked.

Finding the location of the community's only inn wasn't the hard part, it was finding their marks, if they hadn't left by now. Walking in, the elderly owner's beady eyes instantly widened upon witnessing the two, large intimidating men entering his little establishment. Kakuzu walked up to the desk, purposely positioning Zetsu beside him so the owner was given a false sense of security with the child present.

He introduced them as plain clothes officers (a lie) and questioned the old man if he had seen their targets as he showed him the pictures of the two teenagers then informed him if he was housing them and didn't tell them, they had grounds to arrest him for hiding and abetting two fugitives (also a lie). Immediately, the grey-haired man started singing like a canary, explaining the girl and boy had rented a room from him a few days ago and while he was suspicious of them given their skittish nature, he didn't say anything because they were obviously shinobi and him being a weaker and older civilian, which was understandable.

Once he gave up the number to their room, Gaku went ahead without letting him finish and Kakuzu had to go after him, instructing Zetsu stay behind in the lobby in case things went sideways. Gaku quickly found said room, and without the generosity of knocking first, kicked open the door. True to the old man's testimony, inside was the girlfriend and boyfriend delinquents.

They went rigid, staring at the shirtless intruder in the middle of packing their bags which left the presumption that they were preparing to leave the Akatsuki wasn't a minute too late. Once the stupefaction left, the two teenagers ran like a pair of scared rabbits, scampering towards the only other exit in the room which in this case was the window. Gaku was on them, grabbing a fistful of the girl's long, blonde hair and using it to wring her back onto the mattress, making her yelp in pain. Meanwhile, the boy made it to the window, throwing himself at it, shattering the glass and falling through just as Kakuzu entered.

"I've got the girl, get the boy!" He ordered Gaku.

Gaku stared at him, semi-glaring and opened his mouth, obviously to fight him on this, but didn't, either deciding to listen, for once, or realizing that quibbling with Kakuzu was a bad choice. Either or, Gaku turned and pitched himself out the window after their other mark. Thankfully, the inn was single-floored so after dusting himself off, he took off in the direction the boy was fleeing down the street, pushing past gaping pedestrians.

Kakuzu grabbed the girl. "Don't make me hurt you." He warned her quietly, yet stern while squeezing her arm. She nodded, incapable of replying through the waterworks pouring down her face, black tinted from her make-up.

After detaining her, tying her hands together behind her with the use of his threads, he walked her out of the room and back into the lobby. Zetsu had stayed put like told, staring at her book and ignoring the older inn owner as he tried to ask her what she was reading. Kakuzu whistled and she obediently fell to his side, trailing after as he walked them out, basically dragging his detainee with them who decided to play a corpse. Outside, it wasn't hard to find which way Gaku and the other brat had gone as he guided by the pointing of chatterbox citizens.

Once he did find them, he had to push through a horrified crowd which had gathered. In the middle was Gaku, on top of the boy and thrashing him. Kakuzu grabbed him and pulled off the poor kid. The girl screamed out at the sight of her boyfriend, laying in a puddle of his own blood, beaten black and blue and mimicked a bloodstain instead of a human being. She hurried to his side, falling beside him in the crimson liquid and crying a grumbled version of name through tears which was all she could do with her hands behind her back.

Kakuzu pushed Gaku back as he tried going back in. "What the fuck do you think you're doing!?"

Gaku swiped a stray drop of blood on his chin, smearing it with the blood painting his knuckles. "Little bastard tried fighting back so I put him in his place."

"Then you should've restrained him, not beat him within an inch of his fucking life!" Kakuzu yelled back, gesturing at the dark-haired boy who was gasping and spitting up the blood draining into his throat. "You've made a fucking scene now. Grab them and let's get out of here before authorities arrive." He didn't give Gaku a chance to reply, as he turned his back to him.

He picked up the boy, slapping his back to help him puke up the last of the blood from his broken nose then shackled him and his girlfriend to each other at the ankles so if one tried running, they'd be dragging the other one.

Quickly, Kakuzu ushered them from the gathering of onlookers with a hurried pace and towards the exit of the village, having Zetsu walk in front of him while pulling their two targets behind him and Gaku tailing them. It wasn't until they had left the township and Kakuzu confirmed they weren't being hounded by law enforcement that he paused in order to withdraw a map from his pocket.

"The file mentioned that Konoha had a checkpoint inland of the border to the northwest." He said, once calculating their location and the location of said checkpoint. "We'll take them there."

Surprisingly, Gaku was quiet with his commentary and curious, Kakuzu glanced back at him to doublecheck he hadn't been left behind or had died—the second of which was a possibly he so wished for. He was there and when Kakuzu's bloodshot eyes met his, Gaku immediately glanced elsewhere with a sudden deliberation like he noticed something interesting in the distance. It came off to Kakuzu as suspicious and it would've only confirmed it if he started whistling too. He was up to something, that much was obvious, and Kakuzu wanted to call him out of it, but couldn't given he didn't know what it was. So, he kept mum, instead concentrating on getting their sniveling marks to the checkpoint to be handed over, in one piece, as per Pein's request.

Once they reached the treeline dividing the Firelands and Wastelands, Kakuzu decided to be a merciful god and call for a break. Mainly because Zetsu was starting to slow down in front of him, paired with the jailbirds dragging on their tethers. After checking on the boy's injuries which, while bad weren't terminal, he tied them to opposite sides of a trunk so no collusion could be had.

"I'll watch them." Gaku offered, much to Kakuzu's skepticism.

He wanted to decline him, but since he had to look over the map, being the only person here who knew how to read one, and babysit Zetsu, he decided that this once, just this once, he would trust Gaku to do something and not fuck it up. Unfortunately for him, that'd be a decision he'd regret as the second he turned his back, Gaku happened to "accidently" drop a kunai beside the boy's tied hands, much to the juvenile's initial confusion until he realized why until he noticed how Gaku's white eyes were continuously glancing at him then down the path.

Kakuzu hadn't noticed any of this, being too preoccupied as he decided right now was a perfect chance to teach Zetsu how to read a map and to her credit, she was genuinely curious, asking legit questions.

"K-Kara, run! Run!"

Kakuzu straightened up just in time to see their two teenaged targets ran past him, fleeing into the trees with Gaku hot on their heels. He was halted when Kakuzu grabbed him.

"How the fuck did they escape!?" He howled at him. Gaku just shrugged, shaking the tanned man's hand off him and muttering he'd catch them with what could be described as a thrilled grin before taking to the treetops after them.

Immediately, Kakuzu was left with a sickening feeling and after picking Zetsu into his arms since he knew she didn't have the chakra capabilities to climb, he gave chase also. However, he ended up losing them in the thick brush and had to have Zetsu track Gaku's chakra. After several minutes (and gagging on Zetsu's part), they located them. Oddly, Zetsu mentioned it only being his chakra which made Kakuzu fear their payday had escaped. He landed back on the dirt path, letting Zetsu to which she walked to the bushes to dry heave after having to track such despicable chakra for so long.

Just then, Gaku surfaced from the nearby foliage, scratching his head and mumbling to himself. Kakuzu charged up to him, interrupting his little conversation with himself though hadn't caught a word of it. "Where are they?" He demanded.

"I…They're dead. They killed themselves."

"What!?"

Gaku pointed and Kakuzu pushed past him in the direction of his pointing. After a bit of searching, he found the puppy lovers. They were laid out at the base of a tree, dead like Gaku claimed. The boy was laid out on his back, bloodsoaked further as his throat was slit, the stained kunai clenched in his hand while his girlfriend was beside him, laying on her side, her face crusted in disgusting bile. She hadn't had her throat slit but instead, by the bruising on her neck, strangled. A murder-suicide, by all appearances. Kakuzu wasn't buying it though as a lot of things he noticed didn't add up.

First: why would the boy strangle the girl instead of slitting her throat? It was considered a lot less "painless", not to mention the fact that manual strangulation could take anywhere from two to five minutes, depending how hard the person was fighting back and by the dark bruising, she hadn't gone quietly. Also, he must've died first as his skin colour had gone blue and grey while she still had a fleshy shade. How could he kill her if he was dead? Lastly: the state of undress, something Kakuzu didn't focus too hard onto but he had spied how the girl's belt was undone and her slacks appeared hastily pulled up. No, this wasn't a murder-suicide, it was a murder. Kakuzu was outraged.

It wasn't the fact that Gaku killed them, that upset Kakuzu, because he didn't give two damns about two little shits that decided to play house during a war. No, it wasn't because they were dead, but because their pay would be halved since Konoha wanted them back alive. He wanted to kill the motherfucker himself for what he did but doing so would jeopardize his position in the Akatsuki and he wasn't worth it. Instead, he decided once back in Amegakure, he'd inform Pein of Gaku's treason and pray the ginger-haired bastard did something about it for once.

So, he picked up the two dead bodies and returned back to Gaku who was flexing his hands, staring at the red streaks littering them. He whistled and after the ex-Iwa nin turned, he threw the dead boy into his arms while slinging the girl over his shoulder.

"Let's get them to the tradepost so this hasn't been for nothing." He explained through gritted teeth as it took everything inside him not to bite the bastard's head off.

He whistled again and Zetsu came out of the woodwork, cradling her stomach and smacking her lips after spilling her cookies for the last few minutes. He grabbed her hand and she cringed when he squeezed it a little too hard. During the entire travel to the checkpoint, Gaku kept going on about how much of a shame it was with this shit-eating grin that Kakuzu wanted to punch off his greasy face.

As imagined, Konoha wasn't happy having the two kids turned out dead instead of alive like explicitly wanted. So, due to it, half the promised payment was handed over, much to Kakuzu's ire. If he hadn't wanted to kill Gaku, then he did now, a hundred-fold. How he didn't that moment, he didn't know.

Kakuzu would regret not killing him that day.

…

AN: Oof, so, apologies this chapter came so late. Basically, the location I've been working at got shut down so for the last two months, we've been closing down, and it was hell. I never want to close down a store in my life again. Thankfully, everyone got relocated including me so now I'm working at a new location the city over and while it's a hella of a lot nicer, I hate having to relearn everything and meet new people. So, yeah, my muse was got killed because of this but I'm back now.

I've got nothing else to say except the next chapters, going to be like this one so if you didn't like this one, you aren't going to like the next one; the first half at least.

Next Chapter: An incident happens and changes everything for Zetsu and Kakuzu.

Until Next Time.