Hidan's prayers were soft and methodic at first, but as the days passed in isolation they became incoherent. There was no way to tell if it was morning or night anymore, or how long he sat trapped in the small room. The only contact he received was a tray of food placed in his room twice a day.

Hidan promised himself he would murder Kakuzu and if he ever got out of this cell. He planned the entire slaughter out in his mind. Hidan would corner the man and break his legs so he couldn't escape, then he would make him beg for his life, and finally strangle him to death the same way Kakuzu threatened him during their last encounter. Except, when he got to the end of his bloody fantasy, he saw the same tragic look in Kakuzu's eyes.

"Fucking shit!" Hidan banged the back of his head against the wall. He couldn't get that look out of his head.

"Best not to think." Hidan said, and fell into a restless sleep until a guard yelled at him to "wake up and get up."

"He smells worse than shit. Let's hose him off before we bring him back up." Two guards picked him up by his arms and pulled him to his feet. The man and woman dragged him in front of a damp wall, and he heard the twist of a rusted spigot. He tried to cover himself from the water, but his energy was deleted so he huddled his limbs together and prayed for it to be over. Once the water stopped he shivered against the cold air as the guards tried to towel him off.

"Here are some new clothes. Put them on."

Hidan tried not to shake so much while he put the shapeless grey smock and pants on. The guards went to grab him again but he snapped at them.

"I can walk for myself." Hidan tried to walk up the stairs but he got light headed and felt sick, so the guards had no choice but to help him up the stairs. Even the soft lights of the west wing were too much for his eyes. The east wing was even worse. He was blinded by the white walls and bright lights until finally he was brought into an office. The woman who sat in front of him gasped at his appearance, and, honestly, Hidan was a little put off by her's as well. She had the biggest breasts he'd even seen. Her blond hair was pulled into two loose pigtails, and the plaque in front of her said Dr. Tsunade Senju.

"Well," She said, motioning Hidan towards a seat with velvet upholstery, "Sit down!"

Hidan's usually slicked back hair hung, still damp, above the dark circles of his eyes and, because he lost a bit of weight, his cheekbones were more apparent.

"Just how long was he down there for?" She asked one of the guards.

"About a month."

Hidan started to laugh, "Really? Only a month? Felt like a year."

"We need to get him back on meds STAT," Tsunade put a hand to Hidan's forehead, "and also fluids. He's burning. Hidan. Look at me. You have to tell us who put you down there."

"Kakuzu," Hidan growled.

Tsunade bit her lip and grabbed the phone on her desk, "Hello? Yes. Hi, Shizune. It's me. Everything is fine just put me on to 14 west. I have to speak with Dr. Taki."

That was all Hidan needed; a number and a direction. He shot up from the chair and ran out of the office. He knew where the west wing offices were because he was dragged passed them. Newfound adrenaline pulsed through him and he sprinted through the hallways until he found number 14.

"Where the fuck are you, scumbag! Where are you, Kakuzu! You piece of shit!"

Kakuzu sat at his desk with a young girl. The two were in the middle of eating lunch when Hidan bursted in.

"Fu get behind me now."

"Uncle Kuzu what's going on?" Fu asked nervously.

"What's going on is that I'm going to rip "Uncle Kuzu's" fucking face off for making me live in my own piss and shit for a month!" Hidan lunged at Kakuzu and struck him in the nose with a satisfying crack. Hidan lurched at Kakuzu for another punch, but he caught his wrist before the silver haired man could land it.

"What was leaving me to die in a hole going to do for me, huh? You bastards think you can help people, but you just make them worse. And it doesn't even fucking matter to you. I bet you wanted me to rot down there from the beginning. Didn't you?"

Tsunade stormed into the office and jabbed a syringe into Hidan's side. He screamed in aggravation.

"Haven't I gone through enough already! This isn't fucking right! He fucking left me… left me… he left me to die…" Hidan collapsed onto the floor with a thud.

"Kakuzu what is going on! You better have a good goddamn reason why you went over my head like this or you can leave right now." Kakuzu turned to the little girl.

"Fu, go to the green house and I'll meet you there."

"I don't want to go there without you!"

"Fu go now," Kakuzu said, and the young girl ran out of his office, "Tsunade, he needed to be broken down. There was no way I was going to make any progress with him if-"

"Are you insane! Patients deteriorate in solitary confinement after one day! He was there for a month, you idiot!"

"Hidan is different. I admit that I made a mistake in not telling you, but you're underestimating how dangerous he is-"

Tsunade cut him off, "No! You're underestimating how big of a mistake this is, and now you're going to face the consequences, Kakuzu. You can't keep doing things like this. We have protocol for a reason! What were you thinking?"

"He needed something to drain him and make him more pliant. If someone didn't do anything he would have kept breaking rules. Maybe even kill someone."

"Kakuzu, you almost killed him! I don't care what the media is saying about this kid! Your priority is his well-being, and right now he's running through the halls trying to kill you with a 38º fever!"

Kakuzu sat down in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. Tsunade sighed.

"All of his medical expenses are coming out of your pay, Hidan is your top priority now, and you can personally deal with the press about him. Don't ever go over my head again. Do you understand, Kakuzu?"

"Fine."

Hidan woke up in the medical wing with an I.V stuck in his arm. He was finally feeling how sick he was.

'This is worse than prison,' Hidan thought. If you fought in prison they gave you a slap on the wrist, and if you tried to escape they just took away your outside privileges. The curtain around his bed was drawn open and Kisame stood with a cell phone in hand.

"Hidan, here's a phone to call that lawyer of yours. Are you able to speak?"

"Fuck you."

"Good. You got fifteen minutes." He handed the phone to Hidan and closed the curtain.

Konan...The two spent their childhood together as best friends, but grew apart when she started dating Pein when she was 16. Even after she volunteered to be his lawyer they could barely make eye contact with each other. He dialed the numbers anyway.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

"Hidan! Oh my god! Where are you? I came to the institute to see you! I was there everyday for a week and called but they wouldn't let me talk to you!"

"That's because they locked my ass up in isolation for a month. I'm a fucking wreck. You have to get me out of this shithole."

"Why would they do something like that? "

"I… I tried to escape."

"You what! Hidan why?"

"Because you're a bitch for letting this happen to me! Because I can't trust anyone! Because I would rather be shot in the head than have to stay another minute in this place!"

"Hidan. I'm sorry," Konan started to cry, "It- it wasn't my decision. The jury saw your medical records and reports from ."

"What? Are you telling me this is his fault?"

"No, Hidan! It's no one's fault! You're sick! Hidan there is something seriously wrong with you!" The words echoed in Hidan's head. That was it. This wasn't a secret last resort plan to get him off death row. He was here because he belonged here.

"Hidan? Are you still there?"

"Yeah."

"I'm so sorry."

"So it's… it's my fault that I'm here."

"No! It's not your fault-"

"If I'm sick that means there's something wrong with me. Not the rest of the world."

"Hidan… I'm sorry."

There was a long silence on the line.

"Konan?"

"What is it?"

"Did you know?"

"Did I know what?"

"That I'm fucked up."

"Hidan..."

"Was I like this when we were kids? Why didn't someone- no one ever told me anything-," Hidan felt his head ache in frustration.

"Hidan please… I- I don't- please, Hidan. We'll think of something. Okay?"

Hidan dropped the phone off the side of the bed. God he was so weak. Every part of his body hurt. He just wanted to go back home. Back to the Jashinists. Back to the people that cared for him, but… they were dead. His breath hitched and he quickly tried to hide the tears welling up in his eyes.

Hidan was in the hospital wing for a week before they let him go back to his room. The head doctor, Sakura Haruno, oversaw that Hidan made a speedy recovery. He also had one visitor, Itachi Uchiha, who came on a rainy afternoon.

"Hey. Jugo made cupcakes, and I brought you one."

"Get out."

"I'll leave it right here. How are you feeling?"

"You really don't have anything better to do than bother me?" Hidan said.

"Look. I wouldn't have come here unless it was important," his voice turned to a whisper, "I heard Dr. Taki transferred all of his patients to other psychologists. You're his only patient now. What the hell happened between you two?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"They say he's going to be watching you closely for now on."

Hidan took a bite out of the cupcake. "Whoop-de-fucking-doo."

"I thought you'd take this more seriously."

"That ditshit you call a doctor; I couldn't care less about him."

"Hidan I didn't come here to-"

"Than tell me why the fuck you're here, Itachi."

"Hidan. I was one of Dr. Taki's patients and at my last session he wasn't himself. He couldn't focus."

"And what of it?"

Itachi sighed, defeated, "I don't know. I thought maybe you'd know something, but you don't."

Hidan scoffed. "Thanks for the cake."

When Hidan got back to his room the next day he slept for hours. It was late afternoon when he was woken up by a loud knock on the door.

"Oi! What now?"

It was Kisame. "Hidan, you need to get up. You have a meeting with Dr. Taki."

"Do I get to eat first?"

"You'll be eating in his office."

"Fine. Can I use a real fucking bathroom for once?"

Before Kisame took him to the showers he gave Hidan a bath kit. Although the water was freezing, and the pressure was low, he reveled in the ability to use shampoo again. His facial hair had grown in and he was amazed the bath kit actually contained a crappy razor to shave with. When he was done Kisame brought him to the west wing.

"Dr. Taki, Hidan's here."

"Send him in," Kakuzu's office was warm and spacious. Books lined the shelves on the walls and a large window overlooked the woods. On the opposite side there were two brown couches sitting on a dark-red rug.

"Hidan why don't you make yourself comfortable?" Kakuzu said. There was a plate of food on the desk where Kakuzu was sitting. Hidan grabbed it and went to the couch. The two sat in silence; Hidan ate and stared out the window while Kakuzu watched him.

"Are you just gonna watch me eat? Or does something get accomplished in this room?"

"What would you like to get accomplished?"

"Oh cut the crap. You left me to die. Don't act like you care."

"I wasn't going to leave you, Hidan."

"Oh yeah? How much longer did you plan on letting me marinate in my own shit than?"

"Listen, you're-"

Hidan stood up, "What? You're going to tell me I'm fucked up? That I deserved it? Say it than!"

Kakuzu took a deep breath and regained his composure, "I'm sorry."

"Go to Hell." Hidan sat down. He didn't have the energy to fight back anymore. Kakuzu was right; being locked up for so long broke him. Time passed in silence and Hidan watched the sun go down behind the mountains.

Weeks passed uneventfully. Hidan did as he was told, and kept to himself. His weekly sessions with Kakuzu became bi-weekly, and soon he was going to sessions four to five times a week. Hidan didn't particularly look forward to therapy, but it wasn't as boring as the rest of his day, so he went without protest. Kakuzu, on the other hand, didn't feel especially confident about Hidan's "progress," if one could even call it that.

Hidan spoke about everything and nothing. He didn't remember enough of his past to talk about the night he was taken from the church of Jashin, and he didn't care enough to try to. And something else; he seemed… depressed. Kakuzu decided to try a different approach.

"Why don't we play a sort of game, Hidan?"

"Ha. You're a funny guy, you know that, Kakuzu?" Hidan wouldn't give him the satisfaction of being called doctor.

"I'm serious. I'll ask you a question, and if you answer it you can ask me a question."

"And you have to answer it? You can't say no?"

"That's how it works."

"Fine. Ask me a question."

"Why do you think you're here at the institute and not somewhere else?"

"Where the hell do I start? I murdered a bunch of people, but apparently not enough to be killed myself. Sasori is an idiot who couldn't do his job right, and my lawyer thought she knew what was best for me too, so now I'm here."

Kakuzu nodded in response. "Your turn."

"What the fuck happened to your face."

"When I was younger I was given an important job and failed. This was my punishment."

"Well what was the job?"

"Hidan it's my turn."

Hidan groaned, "Fine. Hit me."

"Do you think you should be here?"

"No! Well I mean- no. I don't know. Maybe? Fucking Christ. I don't want to be here, but they told me I was fucked up and maybe I am and everybody I trusted turned on me so…" Hidan turned his attention back to the window. He couldn't stand to look at Kakuzu anymore. That tragic look stressed him out. "There is something wrong with me that everyone can see except me," he turned towards Kakuzu. "Now tell me. What was the job?"

"I needed to kill someone, but I couldn't do it."

"Chickened out did you?"

"No. I was young and didn't know what I was in for. Much like you." Kakuzu focused back on the folders which littered his desk, "Hidan we're done for today. You may leave."

"Wait. I have one more question. Who is that girl always with you? She called you her uncle, but she was wearing a resident's uniform."

Kakuzu sighed as if this was common knowledge. "Yes, my niece is a resident here. I'm not allowed to treat her, but I try to spend as much time with her as possible."

"What's wrong with her?"

"That's confidential information, Hidan. You can leave now. I assume you won't wander the halls, or should I call Kisame?"

Hidan walked over to Kakuzu's desk and leaned in. "You seem to have a lot of time to yourself now that I'm your only patient. Why did then make you do that anyway? I don't think you did it to yourself.

"I don't expect you to understand."

"Try me." The air between the two men intensified.

"Don't waste my time. I have reports to write up. Our next session is tomorrow afternoon."

Hidan slammed the office door closed before he left. When he got back to his room Kisame was waiting to lock his door shut. "Kakuzu told me you would be late."

"Sorry to be a fucking bother." Hidan closed the door to his room and splayed onto his small bed. His thoughts were scattered except for the fact that they all connected back to one man, Kakuzu.

'So he tried to kill someone…' Hidan thought, 'and couldn't do it so they took his face.' Hidan admitted that kind of sucked, and Kakuzu also had to deal with his niece being stuck in a place like this. No wonder he's such an uptight asshole. If Konan was put in here Hidan would be doing whatever it took to get her out. Contrary to how he acted, Hidan cared for Konan. His memories of their childhood together meant something to him.

That night Hidan dreamed he was a child. He looked up and saw young Konan sitting on a branch in a tall tree.

"Hidan, don't be a dope! Climb up!" Konan said. Hidan was tired but he climbed. The tree became difficult to climb, and when he was about to reach for Konan's hand he was yanked down by his ankle into the mud.

"Get up!" He turned to see Kakuzu with an extended hand, and catching his reflection in a puddle, realized he was older again. He reached up for Kakuzu's hand and the older man shoved him against the stone wall. Except instead of hitting him, Kakuzu kissed him fiercely. Hidan woke up in a cold sweat, and with a tent in his pants.

"Ah, fuck me!" Hidan grumbled into the pillow.

Springtime arrived, and the residents were finally given more time outside. The other residents stayed away from Hidan and Tobi was nowhere to be seen. Hidan planned to beat the bastard or at least scare him so bad he pissed his bed for a week if he ever saw him again. His days went like this: Wake up, eat, workout, eat, sleep, and go to therapy. There were no more calls from Konan since he was in the hospital, and no one came to visit him either.

During an afternoon session Hidan absentmindedly asked Kakuzu, "Do you have a wife or something?"

"No, but I was engaged once."

Kakuzu understood that if he wanted to get Hidan to open up sometimes he would have to as well. He chalked it up to Hidan's personality.

"What did you knock her up?"

Kakuzu hesitated which made Hidan laugh ferociously. "You did! Kakuzu, you dog you! Do you have a kid?"

"Hidan talking about my personal life is not going to help you with your situation."

"Come on! Let me be the doctor this time." Hidan grabbed Kakuzu's reading glasses and a spare clipboard from the coffee table."

"Hidan stop it."

"Just tell me! Tell me if you have a kid and I'll shut up! Just tell me!" Hidan begged. "What the hell does it matter!"

"Yes. A daughter. Now stop."

Hidan went on, "Is the gremlin as pretty as you or as ugly as its mother?"

Kakuzu grabbed the clipboard and wacked Hidan across the face. The glasses broke off and cut Hidan right below his eye.

"Ow! What the fuck, Kakuzu! I thought we were over this crap!"

"She's dead."

It all fit together. That was why Kakuzu was the way he was. Hidan sat down, suddenly interested.

"I didn't know."

"She died when she was five years old." Kakuzu was breathing heavily, but as full as rage as the man seemed to be, Hidan saw something else as well.

Hidan stared, sickly entranced by the way Kakuzu's eyes betrayed his anger. Kakuzu looked so furious yet so vulnerable, and Hidan wondered if it was just his disfigured mind mixing things up again. Comforting people was always something Hidan failed at, but he couldn't stop himself from taking Kakuzu's face in his hands and bringing their lips together.