Sakana
Sweat soaked her hair, dripping down her forehead. When the wind shifted, she caught a whiff of herself, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
It was the third day of their relocation, and the trek would last the length of the day. Already it had consumed several hours, and between Tobi's unrelenting bubbly persona, Hidan and Kakuzu's incessant squabbling, and the soreness growing in the balls of her feet, Sakana could only thank Jashin that Zena was there to help her retain her sanity. Without the brunette's calming presence, she'd surely have committed murder.
Pein, Konan, and Zetsu had split from the group that morning- their last morning at the campsite. The leaders had their own business to attend to, and Sakana hadn't gotten the chance to speak to Pein before the trio departed. She was split between disappointment and relief.
If she was being honest with herself, she wasn't even sure where she stood with her 'brother'. Kogitsune-maru was undeniable proof of her shared blood with him, as well as proof that she truly was of this world, but the years that separated them were a grim reminder that they'd never share a bond more intimate than Leader and Subordinate.
Sakana sucked a sharp breath in through her teeth, ignoring the concerned look Zena shot at her. When she finally managed to pull herself from the dreary thoughts, she'd nearly ran into Kakuzu's broad back.
"What's going on?" She asked, peering around the miser.
"Your turn to take care of the idiot," grumbled Kakuzu, stepping to the side.
Now with a clear view, she could see Hidan, who was chasing a frolicking Tobi, who also happened to be toting Hidan's scythe.
"YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Hidan roared, his face reddening.
With a roll of her eyes, she stomped past them. "Stop fooling around."
"What the hell is she all pissy about?" she heard Hidan ask, hissing.
Nobody said anything, but Sakana heard the leaves, twigs, and rocks shifting underfoot as the others moved to follow her.
The marched solemnly for a while, with Kakuzu eventually overtaking her and taking the lead. Tobi and Zena came next, slowly ambling past her until she was practically alone with Hidan.
Zena and Tobi were far enough ahead that she couldn't make out the clouds adorning the bouncy man's cloak when she first looked at Hidan. He kept pace with her, strolling along, his reclaimed scythe laid across his shoulders, wrists resting on either end of the long pole. For a while, neither spoke. Sakana couldn't find any words for him, and she never really knew what was on his mind, so she opted for watching Zena and Tobi's shrinking forms.
Finally, after what felt like eons of their somber march, Hidan broke the tense silence.
"Why are you upset?"
Sakana was almost surprised at the question. After another stretch of silence, she answered, eyes still fixed on Zena's back. "There are a few factors in my growing anger."
Hidan was quick to reply with, "Care to elaborate?"
"Hatake," she began, almost hissing the name. "Pein. I'm tired of walking. I miss 'normal' life. I miss home."
When she voiced the words, she realized that the home she was missing wasn't the ramshackle apartment nestled cozily between crack dens in the poor side of town, back in Podunk City, Earth. She missed the sprawling base hidden underneath an unassuming house. The normal she missed were the strange interactions between the strange people who lived inside. But she didn't bother elaborating further, letting the conversation drop back into awkward silence.
Another moment passed and she continued. "I feel like wasted potential. I lost out on years with a family I never knew about. I rely on everybody around me to take care of what I can't. I want to be more."
Hidan stopped in front of her, cutting her off mid-stride and mid-sentence. "Slow down." He dropped his scythe in the dirt and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Breathe."
"I don't want to breathe, I want to stop sucking." She whispered, staring into his magenta eyes. "I want to-"
"To what?"
"I want to break shit." She said.
An amused smirk appeared on Hidan's face. "There's my firecracker."
She felt a smile tug at her lips. Hidan dropped his hands from her shoulders, lacing the fingers of his right hand through her left. Her inner turmoil wasn't fully soothed, but it was a start. "I feel different from before the attack."
"You are different," he replied. "Not bad different. Just different."
Sakana gave him a questioning look.
"You care more about things you didn't give a shit about before. You're moodier."
"I've always cared, I just didn't bother saying anything."
"That's still a change." Hidan replied as they traveled further down the path.
"Am I not allowed that?" She asked, the question coming out harsher than she intended. "I- I feel tired. Not my body. My soul. I converted-" She didn't miss the sharp look he sent her, "-to be strong for myself. Yet I'm still depending on Akatsuki to come to my rescue. The entire time in Konoha, I kept thinking 'I'll be okay, because they're coming to save me'." She stopped, watching Zena and Tobi disappear into the horizon. "Next time, I want to save myself."
Hidan was quiet, but his features softened. Neither said anything for a while, and the conversation was dropped as they caught up with Kakuzu, Zena, and Tobi.
"We can reach the new base by sunset tomorrow. Lets stop for now and set up camp."
Kakuzu and Tobi took the liberty to scout the area while Sakana, Zena, and Hidan set up the campsite. While Hidan busied himself with gathering wood and brush for a fire, Zena and Sakana plucked berries off of the bush that bordered the small oval shaped clearing. Thatches of sad, brown grass riddled the dirt and Hidan ripped a few up for kindling.
"So is something going on?" Zena asked quietly, leaning towards the other girl, her eyes wide and concerned.
Sakana shook her head, she didn't want to get into it again.
Zena didn't seemed convinced but she let it go, gathering the edges of her skirt up to carry the few dozen blackberries to the fire pit. She worked carefully but swiftly, sorting through the berries to pick out any that were bug-infested or overripe, then reaching into her hip pouch and retrieving a scroll. She unsealed it in one quick move, pulling out a medium-sized pan and a wooden spoon, followed by several herbs.
"I'm not gonna question it," Sakana remarked, propping her hand under her chin.
Zena gave her a smile, waving the spoon in front of her. "It's imperative to have proper cookware."
"Fuckin' weirdo," Sakana laughed.
Not too long after Zena had prepared everything for dinner, Kakuzu and Tobi returned, toting two dead rabbits and a bird.
Zena set about rummaging through her cooking scroll once more, and Sakana gazed across the campsite at Hidan as he shucked his cloak off, baring his scarred skin and lean muscles. He drew a kunai and began skinning the rabbits and removing the feathers from the unfortunate birdie.
Forest creature and berries. Mmmm. Sakana didn't think it sounded very appetizing, but her stomach still growled when she caught a whiff of the berries. She rose to her feet and crossed the clearing, watching Hidan silently work. He didn't falter as she approached, his hands moving in steady motions as he cut the skin from the rabbits.
"You can't expect me to eat the Easter Bunny," she said, but Hidan just gave her a dry look.
"Its a hare," he said bluntly as he carefully began pulling back the rabbits skin, exposing the bloody pink meat hiding underneath. "And if you don't want to starve, you'll eat it."
"Can't you at least cut the head off? It's freaking me out."
"The brains hold the most protein," Kakuzu's raspy voice informed her. He had come over from his perch at the base of the dying tree on the rim of the field and now stood peering over Sakana's shoulder to judge Hidan's handiwork.
"Just cut the fucking heads off," Sakana growled.
A smirk appeared on Hidan's lips and he positioned his kunai at the base of the neck, lopping the head off with a sickening crunch. Sakana made a face and turned her head, vomiting onto a patch of dead grass.
"Nice," Zena called.
"A warning would have been appreciated," Sakana grumbled, wiping her arm on the sleeve of her cloak.
"I am not kissing you," Hidan retorted.
Sakana shrugged.
After he had removed all of the feathers from the bird, Zena cooked the small pieces in her pan with the berries and herbs. Sakana ate a handful of uncooked berries and took a bite of the bird's leg. The bone was miniscule in her fingers, but it was protein nonetheless.
Her stomach gurgled and churned, and Zena gave her a disapproving look, holding a tiny food pill out to her.
"It's the last one," she said, dropping it in Sakana's palm.
As it dissolved, Sakana could taste roasted meat and steamed vegetables. The taste of Zena's cooking was gone as soon as the pill was, but Sakana felt pleasantly satisfied.
"What do you think Kira and Suki are eating?"
"Probably fish." Sakana smirked, "And crow."
A giggle rose in Zena's throat as she imagined Kisame hunting for fish in a river like a real shark would. Picturing Itachi offering up one of his pet crows as dinner seemed to tip her over the edge.
Once everyone had finished their meals, Kakuzu took first watch, reclaiming his seat at the base of the tree.
Sakana spread her cloak on the dusty ground and stared up at the sky. Hidan laid down next to her, curling into her side without a word. At some point she drifted asleep, her body and soul weary. Hours passed and her azure eyes cracked open once more.
Kakuzu was crouched by her head, poking at a snoring Hidan with a stick. His red and green eyes flicked over her and back before he began to push the stick up Hidan's nose. When the zealot didn't budge, Kakuzu rammed the twig into Hidan's nostril.
The immortal bolted upright with a shout, blood spurting out of his offended nostril and dribbling down his pale face. "Fuck!"
Wordlessly, his partner returned to his spot and settled back against the tree, closing his eyes.
Sakana gaped at the great display of violence for a moment, jumping into action and yanking the stick out of Hidan's nose, causing another river of blood.
"For fucks sake, woman!" He screeched, slapping his hand over his nose.
"What?" Sakana asked, dropping the bloodied twig. "All I did was get it out for you."
"Warning would have been appreciated, you bitch." He sneered, his voice nasally and annoyed. "Fuck you, Kakuzu."
Kakuzu didn't respond.
Hidan climbed to his feet, offering a hand to Sakana. "We need to do a perimeter sweep."
She accepted his hand and he pulled her to her feet, leading her by the hand into the trees.
Hidan led her in a wide arc around the camp, weaving his way through the dark woods away from the others.
"Where are we going anyways?" She asked, following Hidan as he stepped over a hidden wire. Kakuzu and Tobi had placed the traps earlier on their sweep, making sure to hide them well. Sakana would have probably been impaled several times if Hidan wasn't there to warn her.
Eventually they broke free of the foliage, the trees making way for a fat 'L' shaped clearing with a stream cutting through the bottom part of the space. Hidan crossed it in a few strides, settling down on the bank of the creek.
He quirked a silver eyebrow at her. "Come sit down,"
She had stopped at the treeline, but quickly joined him, her left knee touching his left. "Shouldn't we getting back soon?"
"Kakuzu isn't sleeping yet," He replied, his eyes fixed on something on the other bank. "It's still his turn. I asked him to wake me after two hours. He still has another before we trade shifts."
Sakana didn't say anything for a while, trying to pick out what he was so focused on. Finally, when she couldn't bear the silence, she asked, "What are we doing?"
"Taking a break." He said, finally looking at her. "I could also do with a bath. And a nice meditation."
Suddenly it dawned on her that she hadn't felt the telltale nag of Jashin's demand for blood. It had been nearly a fortnight since her last proper sacrifice with Hidan. She hadn't even thought about how Hidan must be feeling.
"Yeah," she said, regret pooling in her stomach. Was she a bad girlfriend/lover/whatever?
She hadn't really even thought about Hidan in the nearly two days he'd been unsealed.
"Lets pray," she said, closing her eyes and bowing her head. Usually Hidan would start the prayer, the words spilling from him like entrancing waves… But he hadn't started yet. Instead, Sakana felt his lips ghost over hers. She leaned into the kiss, lifting her hands to the back of his neck. After an eternity of kissing, they broke apart, lips bruising and chest heaving. Before she could ask, Hidan had pulled her to his chest, pressing a sweet kiss to the top of her head. "I'm sorry," He mumbled, tightening his grip on her. "I failed you. I failed to protect you."
"No-" she whispered, turning her cheek to his chest. "You didn't-"
"I'm not a good boyfriend," he said, cutting her off. "I can fuckin' take care of you better than this."
With the curse, she felt her spirit lighten. He had been in an off-mood all day, and now he was finally feeling better.
"I thought I was a piece of shit," she admitted. "I hadn't been thinking of how you feel."
Hidan shrugged, shifting her entire body.
She let him hold her for a minute, but then slid out of his arms and settled back into the dirt and rocks in front of him. "I really did miss you while you were sealed," Sakana admitted, looking away from him with a light blush dusting her cheeks.
"I could feel it."
Hidan had a pained look on his face, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, creating thin lines across his face.
"Do you want to pray now?" She asked, taking his hands. He didn't reply but began drawing a circle around him in the dirt. Sakana helped, shifting away to complete the drawing. Then he began the prayer, the words pouring out of him. They were foreign yet familiar to her, and soon she was joining in, offering her own blood to the God with a hard bite on her thumb.
"Gee, what took you so long?" Jashins voice rang in her ears immediately. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten your oath to me."
Jashin-sama, Sakana bowed. Forgive me.
"Damn that pesky Goddess seal," Jashin laughed, "Though I am taken aback that it took you a fortnight to remember me."
Why didn't I…?
"When you broke your inner seal, I was blocked out by it. Fret not, I fed off of the seal in return for your sacrifices."
Your grace, a sacrifice is not available tonight-
"I'm aware. I'll accept your blood for now, but bring me a soul tomorrow."
Thank you, Jashin-sama.
When she came back, Hidan was finishing the prayer, his face less strained.
"Better?" He asked, leveling his gaze on her.
"Yeah," She replied, standing up. "Now I think you mentioned a bath?"
A grin split his face and she had barely enough time to unzip her cloak before he tackled her into the ice cold water.
They made it back to the camp thirty minutes later, Sakana was soaked to the bone and shivering.
"Its not that bad," Hidan scoffed, taking his cloak off and hanging it on a tree branch.
"S-Sure," she managed, her teeth chattering.
Kakuzu gave them a withering glare as they neared him. Sakana sat next to the fire, huddling as close as she could without melting her skin off. Hidan sat next to her and they quietly watched the fire until Tobi stirred, shooing them off to sleep with a cheerful chirp.
Sakana
True to Kakuzu's word, we arrived in the village of Dirt (I cackled at the horrible name) by noon the next day. On the outskirts of the village, there was a small chicken farm with a tiny, aged home and a medium sized barn. Kakuzu led us down the worn footpath and through the flock of chickens, into the barn.
"Reminds me of back home," Zena sighed wistfully.
"You lived on a farm?"*
"Mmm. With my Nan and Papa," she smiled. "We had plenty of livestock, and it was much bigger than this, but it was home."
I smiled softly, now thinking of my own home. Even though it was in the shady part of town, it was my space. A haven from the reality of society. I felt a pang of sadness over my worn InuYasha tapestry and plethora of stuffed animals.
Kakuzu formed a handseal and a trapdoor appeared in the middle of the barn. He opened it and descended a set of wooden steps. It was dark and dusty, but a torch lit up the small hallway.
Hidan closed the hatch as he stepped down.
Kakuzu led us though a maze of tunnels, finally to a wooden door. Opening it up, he stepped into the lit room. I waited from Zena and Tobi, then followed them through.
Inside was a spacious kitchen, and Zena squealed. It was newer than the one at the old base, with better equipment and more space.
There were two doors leading out- one on the south wall and one on the east. Through the South door was a classic dining room with enough space for everyone. I let a low whistled out and went back to the East door.
It led to a long hallway. Wide double doors along one side gave way to a chic living room. There was even a television- a large flat-screen model that was surely top-of-the-line here. I had seen some more impressive back home, but I had to remind myself that the people here hadn't needed to explore technology as much as we had on Earth.
Hidan plopped onto the couch and flipped the TV on, an obvious 'fuck you I don't need a tour'.
Kakuzu led the rest of us through the rest of the base- showing us where the bathrooms, training room, and meeting room were. Finally he led us through a hallway that was just off of the living room. "This is where your rooms are." There were doors on either side of it, lining the hallway.
He stalked down the corridor and disappeared into a room.
The first door on the left had the 'Shu; sign emblazoned on the door- Itachi's. The next two rooms would obviously then be Kisame and Suki's. The middle door was blank, but the next had 'Nan' on it. The first door on the right side had 'Ao' and 'Sho', the next was bare, and then one with 'gyoku'. The next doors on either side led into bathrooms that were mirrors of each other. Kakuzu had went into the fifth door on the right side of the hallway, 'Hoku'. The next was apparently mine, and was blank. Hidan's was the last door, 'San' was carved into the wood.
Zetsu's 'Gai' was the only carved door on Zena's side. Tobi's was still blank, but if things went like they were supposed to, he'd soon be in Sasori's room.
I left Zena in the hallway and stepped into my new room. It was smaller than the last, but roomy enough to fit a full-sized bed, a tall wardrobe, a desk tucked into the corner, and even a closet built into the wall. I opened one of the doors on the wardrobe. Cloaks hung on one side of it, while the other side sported a column of wooden drawers. Clean clothes were folded neatly and tucked into the not-too-shallow compartments. Grabbing a set of fresh garb and quickly changed, I changed and left the room to explore the rest of the base.
I stepped into one of the bathrooms and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. It had been a while since I had last saw myself, even with Konoha deciding to randomly be douche-bags.
My hair had grown barely an inch, but now it hung awkwardly on my head like a mop. Tufts of it stuck up in different directions, undoubtedly the result of sleeping on the ground almost every day for the past two weeks. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and leaned in to get a better look at my face. It seemed to be made of hard lines and angles. A frown formed across my lips, setting my mouth into another hard line.
You could ask any woman, and they'd tell you that they were a few pounds too heavy. I felt 10 pounds too light. Normally, it would be something to be proud of, but I didn't like the way my cheekbones jutted out, how my body looked so thin that I could be snapped in half like a twig, and I absolutely hated how frail I really looked under my masquerade of toughness.
When I finally emerged from the bathroom, the aroma of cinnamon, bacon, and crispy fried eggs was wafting through the hallways like a delicious beacon leading to the kitchen. Zena had been busy.
I found my way to the source and audibly moaned. "Oh, Zena-"
"Oh dear god, Sakana, all I did was make breakfast. You don't have to come in and try to seduce me for it," Zena replied, stirring something at the stove.
I didn't respond, eyeballing the breakfast spread that covered the counter. There were already eggs, bacon, and to my surprise and delight- cinnamon rolls.
"Honestly, I don't think I'd mind too much if you were my soul mate," I sent Zena a grateful grin and nabbed a cinnamon roll as I retreated to the living room.
Hidan was still sprawled across the longer couch, but now he had a cinnamon roll of his own to munch on. "What the hell is this?" He asked, waving the pastry at me.
"Um, a cinnamon roll?" I asked, tearing off a piece of my own and stuffing it into my mouth. It was warm, flaky, and was exactly the right amount of icing. Zena truly was a goddess in the kitchen.
"Oh, that's what they're called? They're fuckin' delicious," Hidan said, shoving the rest of his into his mouth.
"Mm," I agreed, turning my attention to the TV that took up at least a fourth of the wall. Some strange show with a samurai and a princess was playing, but I had no idea what was even happening in the show.
Then, a ball of blonde and blue came flying at me at 90 miles an hour. All of the air was knocked from my lungs and all I could manage was a low, "oof."
"Sakana-chan!" The ball chirped from on top of me. The sound was a mixture of voices, and after a minute of struggling, I finally turned around to see my attacker.
Before I got a chance to look, the weight was lifted off of me and I bolted up, afraid to get tackled again.
"What did I say about giving her space?" Voice number one reprimanded, his tone taking on that of a parent chastising their child.
The second voice was feminine and apologetic, whining out,"I know, but I was so worried that she wasn't okay."
I grimaced at the two now standing above me. "As happy as I am to see you, I'm gonna have to kill you." My cinammon roll was now smushed into my shirt, the once clean black fabric now covered in gooey frosting and flaky crumbs. Oh how they would feel my wrath.
"Uh-- uh..." Suki stammered, then turned on her heel and bolted out of the living room and down the hallways.
Kisame turned a wary look on me. "Don't hurt her too much, okay?"
I shrugged, "I'm not chasing her through the entire base."
The shark-nin grinned and ruffled my hair before turning on his heel to go find his lover.
I padded back to my bedroom and grabbed another set of clothes, heading back to the bathroom. This time, I stripped and stepped into the shower stall, washing the dirt and sweat from my skin. The late-night bath with Hidan didn't exactly get all of the ripe odor off, so now I scrubbed lavender-scented soap across my body with vigor.
Once I had washed and conditioned my hair, I turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, drying off and dressing quickly. Even though my hair was damp and it was a tad chilly, I felt a million times better.
This time, I went back to her bedroom and plopped onto my bed with a sigh.
"Everything okay?"
"What is it now?" I sighed, propping my wrist under my chin and turning to glance at the door.
Kira stood there, also freshly showered and donning plain black training garb. "I can come back if now is a bad time."
"No-" I said, sitting up. "I just thought I was going to get attacked again."
"Suki?" Kira asked, quirking a scarlet eyebrow up with the question.
"Yeah, ruined my fuckin' cinnamon roll."
"I'm surprised you didn't murder her," Kira chuckled, crossing the room to join me on the bed. "Actually I wanted to talk to you about how I treat you."
"It's okay," I replied, "really. We're both assholes and we can butt head sometimes."
Kira nodded, "I'll murder you if you told anyone, but I was actually worried about you for a minute there."
I didn't really want to talk, much less think about the weird power-up, but it was bound to come up eventually. "I don't know what it was, but it felt… powerful. Like I could do anything. And then I didn't. Fucking Uchihas, right?"
"Right," Kira said, standing up. "I'm gonna go grab one of those cinnamon rolls before they're gone."
"Good idea," I said, "Hidan seemed particularly intrigued by them."
"Race you to the kitchen," she smirked, bolting out of the room before I could make it to my feet.
"You cheating whore!" I screeched, giving chase.
Ah, things were finally returning to normal at the Akatsuki base.
女神 の帰還