We landed back on the slightly uneven stonework surrounding the pools. My feet didn't even touch right away from being clutched so tightly against Hidan. I just dangled there for a brief moment before he loosened his grip slightly, allowing my body to slide down until my toes touched the ground.

"Ehhm…" A tiny, whimpering noise that I didn't even recognize on my own lips escaped me. I was mortified to find my body shuddering against Hidan as my bare skin met with his, causing my nipples to tighten as they brushed roughly against his torso.

Wh-what was that? What is this feeling?

The breath hitched in my throat as I tried to process what my body was doing. It seemed to be entirely out of my control. There was a certain heat gathering in my core that I attempted to ignore, all I could do was pray that Hidan didn't notice my strange reaction. Could he feel my hardening nipples against him? I couldn't bring myself to look up at him and check, I gave into my freeze and hide instinct, burying my face into his chest and wrapping my arms tightly around his midsection so there would be no more erm... rubbing…

I could feel Hidan clear his throat, his chest rumbling. "So who the fuck are you?" He asked indignantly.

"Well, I was hoping Izumi might remember by now. Your group is trying to break the seal, are they not?" The man answered from his spot on the fence.

"Pretty fucking bold of you to say you're here to check up on her while also threatening to torture her. What's the fucking deal, what do you get out of this?" Hidan seemed irritated. The hand that rested on my back pulled me against him with a good amount of force. He didn't seem to notice he was doing it. I certainly did.

"I've actually come with an invitation. Perhaps I could speak with her alone for a moment?"

"Are you fucking stupid or something?" Hidan shouted incredulously.

"At the very least you could let her cover up… I'm not here to put her in yet another uncomfortable situation today." He advised with some admonishment.

Hidan growled under his breath.

"I promise, I won't move," the man added. I could hear the chipper smile in his voice.

"Izumi," Hidan said sternly. "There's a towel on the ground behind you. Put it on and get behind me." He commanded.

I shook my head against him, not able to move my body. If I pulled away to do that I would be entirely exposed and that wasn't something I could even process. I knew logically I couldn't just stand there hugging Hidan for the rest of my life but I also knew I wasn't ready for the alternative yet.

"Fucking look away, will ya?" Hidan shouted at the man before returning his attention to me a moment later. "Alright, no one's looking, now hurry the fuck up."

When I didn't move right away, his hands shifted to my shoulders and peeled me off of him. Opening my eyes with a pained expression, Hidan was right in front of me leaning down to eye level, only inches from my face.

"I'm only looking at your stupid fucking face, okay? Now get your towel, get behind me, and let me handle the rest." His words were pointed and precise. I swallowed and nodded. He nodded back, "Okay?"

"Okay," I agreed. I moved quickly, taking a step to the towel and snatching it against my body, pulling it around myself with a huge sigh of relief before scrambling to get behind Hidan.

"Can I look now?" The man said, still perched. His hands were over his eyes and his smile perfectly intact. He peeked between two fingers before pulling them away completely. "Excellent," his smile grew broader. "Now, I just need a word with Izumi then."

"Tch," Hidan spat, his body moving into an offensive stance. "So you are fucking stupid," he called out before launching himself at the man.

It was nothing my eyes could follow. The two were still one moment and then suddenly there was a cacophony of clanging and metal on metal. The man had leapt from the fence and onto the water as if it were a solid surface where the two continued to clash. I slowly backed away as they did so, Hidan's wild howling filling the night air.

"Is this guy really your type, Izumi?" the black-haired man inquired in a shout as he dodged Hidan's attack effortlessly and made a move towards me.

"Fuck off!" Hidan shouted as he swung his scythe again while running towards me. "Izumi, get back!" he yelled at me.

Just before the mysterious man reached me, he jumped back to avoid being carved in two as the metal clanked loudly against the stone just feet from where I stood. I stumbled backwards and lost my footing among the cragged and wet surface, but to my surprise, I never hit the ground.

The feel of plush fabric against the naked skin of my shoulder blades made my eyes widen. When I looked up, I was met with a pair of inexplicably green eyes that glinted with joy. A strange feeling of uneasy familiarity churned within my mind. Between those eyes and the trickling ambience of the hot springs, the familiarity grew until it was a crushing force in my head. I let out a sharp gasp as the pain intensified, my eyes clasping shut. All I could hear was that damn baby again, but as the cries began to fade I was left with nothing but a name on my tongue. I snapped my eyes open again and stared up at the man with intensely knitted brows.

"A-Aki…?" I questioned quietly but with great confusion. The name was familiar but I didn't know how or why I knew it. The man's green eyes lost their playfulness, surprise overtaking them for a very brief moment.

"Do you remember me?" He asked, a certain hopeful excitement to his voice. I continued to just stare at him, wracking my brain for how I knew him, as it had become very evident that I did at one point.

"Oi, the fuck are you doing?" Hidan's irate voice tore through whatever mental gymnastics I was doing. He looked frustrated, hand on his scythe, itching to swing it but knowing he couldn't do so without hurting me. He wouldn't resign himself to just waiting around for long, that much I knew.

"Come with me," Aki urged quietly, his fingers digging into my shoulder. I shook my head, I couldn't do that. I couldn't even remember who he was. A look of sadness and disappointment washed over him as he took in the situation.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as his face moved closer to mine. Hidan's cursing faded into a low drone as I hyper focused on this man, Aki, moving uncomfortably close to me. Grabbing the towel around me even more tightly than before, I felt the heat rise from his breath against my ear as he whispered, "We wouldn't have to hurt you if you'd just come with me."

And like that it was over.

He shoved me away from him, propelling me forward into Hidan who finally saw his opportunity to rage, his eyes appearing more red than purple as a fire burned behind them. I yelped as I suddenly hit hard against him, his left arm instantly securing me in place to him in one fluid motion as he continued to give chase. My body was crushed up against his chest, my feet not even touching the ground. Hidan charged forward with me pinned to him as a helpless passenger. He lashed his scythe out in vain with his right hand but Aki quickly disappeared beyond the tall wooden fence that enclosed the springs.

"Fuck!" Hidan yelled as he unintentionally squeezed me even harder out of anger. I wheezed harshly against him, wincing my eyes shut as the pressure built against my ribs.

"Hidan," I squeaked out with a gasp. He looked down as though startled and released his grip around me which left me stumbling backwards.

"We should go inside." I said a bit frantically, mind reeling from the encounter.

"Go inside? Sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere but after him. You stay put," He ordered as he released me from his hold and before I could even protest, he was over the fence as well.

"Okay," I said meekly to no one, hugging myself by the shoulders and sinking to the ground in crouch. I tried to focus on counting the cobblestones as I waited and wondered if I should be retreating back into the bathhouse or if that would only get me in trouble with Hidan. What did "stay put" mean to him exactly?

"You're not supposed to be alone, Izumi," Zetsu's calm voice startled me into toppling over on my ass.

"God Zetsu, you always manage to scare me, don't you?" I said with relief. He looked at me apologetically.

"You'll die if you keep wandering around by yourself, you need to be more careful." Only his head was visible, the rest of his body hibernated underground as he spoke.

I sighed, "I know, I know... What are you doing here anyway?" I asked.

"Just checking in. I saw Hidan running through the woods by himself and grew concerned. Is everything okay?" His face was always so innocent, whether he was or not was beyond me. Although he didn't seem like the fighting type, more of a spy to gather information which he seemed to be quite good at.

"I don't know," I said with a weak smile and a shrug.

"There's still a little blood on your face," he remarked, his hand moving to touch the wound on my temple. I winced as he wiped at it with a cloth.

"Is it gone?" I asked, blinking expectantly at him.

He smiled pleasantly, "Yes." I sighed with relief and returned a smile.

"Gotta go," Zetsu said abruptly before sinking into the earth, not even giving me the time to ask why.

"Okay bye," I mumbled sarcastically after having been suddenly ditched twice within five minutes.

"He's not the smartest, huh? I feel like you could do much better Izumi," Aki's voice cut through my train of thought. I whipped my head around to see him perched atop the fence with the small bit of red-stained cloth in his hand. I realized he was talking about Hidan who clearly was unsuccessful in tracking him down.

"He's not… we're not together. It doesn't even matter, you know he'll be here any second when he realizes you doubled back," I warned as I straightened up, continuing to hold the towel tightly against me. Maybe I was giving Hidan too much credit, but I hoped I was right.

"I only wanted a chance to chat, just the two of us," he smiled but it quickly faded. "I really want you to come with me. Orochimaru-sama and I will take care of you." His eyes were pleading.

"I can't do that. I only just remembered your name, I don't even know you, and all you've done is hurt me." I said defensively.

He sighed with frustration. "Izumi, it's only because we had to. Just to give you incentive, but I promise we can take care of you much better than the Akatsuki. You'll never need to know pain again." He was very convincing. Whether it was true or not was another thing, but I believed that he believed it.

"I have to go. I am sorry, Izumi." He said apologetically before retreating in a flash. The very next moment, Hidan came leaping over a different point of the fence.

"For fuck's sake, Izumi. You stood out here waiting? Why the hell wouldn't you go back inside to Kakuzu?" He berated me, clearly taking out his frustration on the only person in front of him. I inwardly scolded myself for not following my instinct originally.

"Sorry…" I offered weakly, distracted by all the thoughts running through my head. Orochimaru had my blood now, so he could cast his justu on me again. I wondered where I would be when it happened, and more importantly, who I would be with. I made a note to tell Itachi when I got back to base.

"It's fine, let's go. I couldn't fucking find him…" Hidan admitted with annoyance.

"Thanks for trying," I said as I made my way into the women's bath house. "What are you doing?" I asked as Hidan started to follow.

"Oh yeah, like I'm gonna fucking leave you alone after all that." He rolled his eyes.

I scowled at him, wishing I could have a second to change in private. I was already beyond embarrassed by my little incident earlier that I wasn't even sure if he was aware of it.

"And don't forget all your wounds need to be treated." He added and hesitated for a second.

"Hey," he said, suddenly very serious. He grabbed my wrist to force me to turn around and look at him.

"What that guy said earlier… What happened in Gorzo's mansion?"

This was the second time he'd asked and I wasn't feeling any more ready to talk about it. I let out a heavy sigh of frustration which immediately made him frustrated as well.

"Please Hidan, I don't have it in me right now…" I pleaded.

"I just, I don't know, I saw some bruises," he gestured to my hips. I blushed 1000 shades of red.

"Hidan! That means you looked!" I cried.

"I didn't fucking mean to, it just happened!" He bellowed back, like that was supposed to make me feel better. "That's beside the point, I don't see why you can't just fucking tell me. It's not a big deal."

"It's a big deal to me! I just want to take my mind off it, Hidan!" Our shouting match had escalated to the point that we were both just standing there staring each other down with jaws clenched and fists balled at our sides. Of course it was a little skewed as the top of my head didn't even meet his chin.

"Since when do you care anyway?!" I pressed.

"I don't fucking know! I'll fucking care if I feel like it!" Both his chest and nostrils were flaring as he loomed over me.

"Well… good then!?" I shouted in confusion.

"I fucking guess!" he bellowed back with a very aggressive shrug.

"Alright well… I'll meet you up in the room!" I eventually shouted after a moment of silence, not even sure why I was shouting anymore, and tucked into a changing stall, grabbing wildly at a robe.

"Fine by me!" He boomed back, his stomping footfalls echoing as he left.

Upon entering the bedroom I noticed that Kakuzu was passed out with earplugs in, softly snoring. He had amazingly slept through all the commotion outside and downstairs. And they say I'd make a lousy ninja... Nevertheless, he had prepared the medicines and left them out with some brief instructions. There were two sets of herbal mixtures, one for open wounds and one for bruising, both were topical.

Hidan was sitting on his bed mat, his eyes following me like those of a hawk. I tried my best to ignore the feeling of his gaze burning a hole into my back, grabbing up the medicinal mixtures and moving to sit against the wall. Trying with what little energy I had left, I fished around in my wounds for a few stray pieces of glass that I found had not come loose in the spring. As I had displayed earlier, I was not very good at it.

"Alright stop, I can't fucking stand watching this," Hidan griped as he sauntered over and plopped on the bamboo floor in front of me. "Give me your damn hand," he ordered impatiently with his hand out. I glanced at him hesitantly before placing my hand in his, palm up. He began scouring it for any missed pieces of glass before starting to rub a salve into the open wounds.

Okay guys, I have some things to say but they aren't super story related so feel free to bypass.

I received a review that legitimately made me laugh out loud when I read it. Someone said they read the original version of this story (which I wrote as a teenager, over a decade ago) and noted that they enjoyed the changes I made. I just want to say to that person and anyone else that ever read the original version, I am so sorry.

It is horrendously cringey. I'm not saying what I have going on now with this story is exceptional by any means. I'm no writer, but man, it was bad. It was a garbled mess of an edgelord main character and uselessly excessive and nonsensical descriptions. I cannot express how much I don't recommend reading the original. (But I also can't bring myself to delete it. It is a relic of my youth.)

Anyhow, thank you mystery guest reviewer, I appreciate you and the fact that you think this version is better, and I offer you my condolences on the loss of your time. I found that I mostly enjoy writing scenes that show how the different members interact with each other and Izumi and show their human sides. Some might say I write the Akastuski out of character, but we don't really know how people act behind closed doors, so this is just how I like to imagine it.

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading guys :)