Chapter 9
It was raining as if it would never stop. The grey of the clouds were merged with the high buildings of the industrial city. When Kakuzu and Hidan had reached the bed of the lake, it was well past noon. Of course, it was hard to tell only by watching the sky for the area was always clouded. Hidan thought it deserved well its name: it rained every single time he had been there, and he was pretty sure he didn't have anything to do with that meteorological phenomenon.
Amegakure was the only village where the Akatsuki members didn't need to hide they appearance or their signature cloak. Everyone in the village knew that whoever was wearing it belonged to the closest circle of the Leader. Thus, although they were rarely sighted wandering in the village, the inhabitants hold them in high esteem and would make their best to please and to help them in the best way. When Kakuzu and Hidan approached the gates, the guards split into two then bowed, letting the two men continue their walk on the bridge without disturbance. The entrance of the village, they were welcomed by the smell of wet earth and rusted iron. The village was definitively the most technologically developed in the whole Shinobi world, but the city – severely injured by the aftermaths of the past dictatorship and the previous wars between the Elemental Lands – had yet to escape the poverty it was sloshing through. Although the quality of life improved greatly since Pain took power, there were still issues that were hard to overcome especially because of the ostracized status of the country.
For as much as Hidan loathed the way most of the villages turned after the war, he couldn't help but feel empathetic for Amegakure, because it felt like they didn't forget what they had been through, just like him. It wasn't his ideal place (he thought the weather was terrible and the architecture even more), but for the first time in forever, he felt a little at home there. Even if he would never admit it, he was glad to be part of the Akatsuki. He despised the fact they were miscreants and he always spent an awful amount of time mocking them or arguing. Yet, he couldn't help to feel bonded with every single member of the Akatsuki. Just like him, they had turned their backs to their hometown and the stability it provided them to pursue a higher goal. Only those who did it knew what was the price to pay for this choice. But then, the Akatsuki came and gave them an anchor in a world where people like them weren't neither cats nor dogs. It gave them a place to stay, allowed them to achieve their dreams and contribute in the higher goal of changing the world. Sometimes, a sense of guilt would point out that they didn't deserve his acknowledgment because they didn't believe, that he was committing a great sin and they should be sacrificed for Jashin, but he could never resolve to that thought, rather preferring to ask Jashin for forgiveness in endless prayers and rituals that would bother his partner and the other members in a terrible manner.
On the way that led to the tallest tower of the city, Hidan stopped on an eating place and ordered two meals to take-away. After leaving the temple, Kakuzu had hold true to his word and they stopped once for breakfast – his breakfast, Kakuzu never ate when they were outside; he would sometimes buy small things to take away and some water that he would consume later when Hidan wasn't around or was sleeping. For some reason, the older man didn't want anyone to see what was under his mask, and Hidan didn't dare ask him. Yet, he still thought the man wasn't eating sufficiently. When he asked Kakuzu how he could hold on with so little food, and the only reply he had got had been "One of the few advantages of being old".
Now that they would finally access their rooms, the old man could eat a proper meal in all due privacy. Soon after he ordered, Kakuzu joined him by his side and said: "Don't take much time, we need to go".
"It's okay, I ordered a take-way. For you too. 'Didn't eat anything this morning, did you? I got you a dish with fish and rice, and..."
"I didn't ask you anything" Kakuzu said while walking aside from the restaurant.
Aaah! he's embarrassed . Just a question of time, he would thank me later. Heavy raindrops were now hitting the floor and everything that was interrupting they fall towards their final destination, mixing its typing melody with the chatter of passer-byes. Looking behind his back, Hidan could see people of every age, in groups or alone, running their businesses as if the nothing had changed.
To witness the banal routine of civilians was almost embarrassing for someone like him. They spent so much time hearing the sound clinging metal or explosion bangs, screams of pain and supplication or just utter silence, that the sound of the crowd living their daily life was feeling unnatural. Being around people who lived a quite and normal life was making them feel how much they didn't belong to that world. And yet, there was an unconscious need would pull them towards these places to witness these spectacles from afar or hidden in a corner.
The waitress finally arrived with two steaming bags and handed them over to Hidan with a smile, wishing the two men a good day. Hidan thanked her back and turned to join Kakuzu when the waitress called him again and gave him a black umbrella saying the bags would get wet under this rain, and it would be a pity that their meals would get ruined. He accepted the umbrella and thanked her back with a slight bow of the head. He then walked next to Kakuzu who already took the umbrella from him, letting him carry him the two bags with more ease.
"Thank you" Hidan said, to which Kakuzu replied with his typical "mmh" as proceeded with their walk in silence towards the tower.
Hidan went to his room without arguing, leaving Kakuzu to meet the Leader alone. The discussion went smoothly and quickly. The leader said the plan was worth a try. He would stop the search for Jinchuurikis for now, and wait to gather enough data before establishing a contact with them. In case of failed cooperation, they would proceed to their capture. In the meantime, they would go on with the mercenary missions they received, and keep hunting down bounties. He would wait tomorrow to inform the rest of the members of the new plan, as Deidara and Sasori were already on their to Amegakure and Kisame and Itachi had to finish the mission they had been assigned on the Land of Waves. Overall, Kakuzu was satisfied with how things went, although he could shake off the thought that the Leader could have thought about it before. Kakuzu was suspecting the Leader to be under the influence of someone else. Of course, it was only an intuition. The young man always made sure to have the last word on every matter. He even made himself worshiped in his own village as god. But he was very much a human being and he was very young. His overconfidence could easily be turned against him, for people like him were very manipulable indeed. Perhaps he was just fearing the young man would fall in a trap.
Kakuzu walked out of his office and took the staircases to go on the floor on which were the rooms. When he reached it, he saw a bag hanging on his door handle. He let a small sigh escaping his mouth, then he took the bag and opened the door. He didn't need to be pitied, he was fine all by himself. The brat was really exasperating. He either wouldn't shut his foul-mouthed or he would care and bother with things that weren't necessary, without mentioning he relied too much on him and on those around them, and that was a burden. Trust was something the didn't exist in the Shinobi world, let it alone among criminals. It would only backfire sooner or later, just as it had happened to him. And deep down, he didn't want that to happen.
He put the bag on the desk that was facing the window, then headed to the bathroom. Whenever the opportunity to rest and retire from his activities showed up, he would take back the routine he had had when he used to belong to a place. He would clean himself up, then wear clean clothes that usually consisted in a mid-thigh long sleeve shirt with vents in the sight and black cotton pants, he would tie his hair in a low ponytail then put some perfume, one with plant and animal extracts that was getting even more rare to find as synthetic perfumes were taking more shares of markets those days. That ridiculous ritual was what was making him feel that he was still human, the last thing along reading books that helped him keep his sanity. Each time he looked at his image in the mirror, he would wonder why such a vile creature was still walking on the face of the Earth. His face, as well as the rest of his body, were the maps of his long journey: the stitched scars that extended the line of his mouth from ear to ear, to his eyes reddened by the curse and time, were the memorial of his first death. The other scars scattered around the rest of the body were a reminder left by his opponents.
Outside this room, he was just a hopeless monster with a criminal past, but behind the door, he was what remained of the man that died seventy-seven years ago. And he intended to keep it this way until his time would come to an end.
Sitting in front of the desk, he switched on the kettle and prepared a cup of Oolong tea. That day hadn't been a bad one so far. The smell that came out of the plate was not terrible. He wouldn't thank the idiot properly because it would give him only more confidence and would trespass the limits again, but he would return him the favor sometime. Maybe.
As Kakuzu settled to observe the sunset on the city, the noise of a paper slipping under the door into his room interrupted the quietness of his mind. No rest for the damned, he thought while he stood up and went to pick up the piece of paper that was carrying the chakra signature of Konan. Yet, something in the note caught his attention. Only after a few seconds, the look in his eyes softened, making the wrinkles between his eyelids almost disappear. Fuu had escaped from Takigakure. Now she was actively researched by her former village with the help Konoha and Sunagakure. No jinchuuriki had ever escaped from the village they belonged to. The Shinobi world had lost one of the key pieces that helped balancing the powers in a world on the edge of war. But that wasn't what concerned the man as that had to happen anyway. She had chosen the same path he had taken years ago, and that bothered him. True, she freed herself from a system that used people as chess-pieces for the interest of few, but the choice she made left her in with no place to settle down. She had just given up on the only opportunity to have a stable future, for as much as that said future was far from being ideal. Right at the moment, she was either a 'Nobody', or a 'Traitor'. "To be or no to be, this is the question" said the character of one of the old books that composed his collection. It couldn't say it any better. At the moment, her best option was to accept to collaborate with the Akatsuki. They would provide her with a shelter and protect her from her persecutors, even if she would have to use her power to serve the organization's purpose. Kakuzu paused a moment, wondering when did he start to care so much. Was he getting senile? Ignoring this last thought he went back to his chair. Hopefully, the girl is lucky enough, and she is in the Land of Earth now. There, they would not be able to catch her without causing major political problems. Sipping his tea, he watched the night gradually setting on Amegakure.