"I know where they are," Kakuzu said.

Kisame stared in disbelief, and Kakuzu spoke tentatively. "They're in the far west wing," he concentrated on the frozen close up of Fuu and Hidan on the center monitor, "They went down that way before the guards checked."

"You do know there's a locked gate, right?" Kisame asked. Kakuzu ignored the statement and started for the door, but Kisame grabbed his shoulder. Kakuzu knew his doings could potentially cause controversy at the institute, but he was hoping he could convince Kisame to keep this secret. Especially since Kakuzu didn't know how the new administration would react to the "hidden" room he created. Mei and Kisame were silent as Kakuzu tried to explain himself.

"The gate is broken and can be lifted."

Kisame sighed heavily, obviously frustrated with Kakuzu's secrecy. "Kakuzu, I'm not going to ask questions right now because the more time we talk the less we have. Mei, watch the cameras and call us if anything changes. I'm leaving you in charge for now." Kisame nodded towards Kakuzu, "Lead the way."


Hidan's head lolled to the side, and hit the wood shelf with a soft thud, waking him.

"Fuck… where the hell am I?" Hidan held his head in his hands and squeezed his eyes shut. He could only remember bits and pieces about how he arrived in the room. 'Kakuzu's daughter brought me here… no she's his niece… his daughter's dead...' He opened his eyes and saw the girl asleep on his lap. 'She looks so sick,' Hidan thought. Fuu laid on her side facing Hidan with her hands curled under her ear. Hidan ran his fingers through her turquoise hair, only to find thinning in some spots, and tucked it behind her ear. He looked out the window towards the setting sun. How long had he been here? Fuu slowly opened her eyes and yawned.

"Nap's over I guess, huh?" She said.

Hidan took a deep breath. His mind was mucked with nightmares of riots and memories that he didn't recognize. He felt confused and upset as if he held all the pieces but no way to put them together.

Fuu sat up and, recognizing Hidan's distress, crawled over to the wooden shelf and reached inside. She held in her hand a small, orange bottle. She whispered to him, "This is the stuff Kuzu gives me sometimes before I go to sleep," and placed the bottle in Hidan's hand, "Have some." Hidan opened the bottle and unthinkingly poured a handful of pills into his hand and swallowed them.

"Good, right?" Fuu asked.

"I don't know," Hidan mumbled. The two sat in silence for a moment before Hidan stood up and walked over to the window. When he reached the old glass door he pushed against it. The metal frame made a quick screech and Hidan pushed again, this time using his full body weight, finally opening the door and flinging it open.

"Kuzu never let me open that..." Fuu said curiously, and hurried over to meet Hidan. The two leaned against the balcony and watched the stars blink in the blue-black sky. Hidan leered down over the thin rail. They were up on the top floor so it was a considerable drop to the ground.

"If I jumped everything would just go away," Hidan said.

Fuu sighed. "Yeah, I think about that sometimes too." The two were silent for a few moments before Fuu added, "I feel like I'm trapped."

Hidan raised a brow, but quickly whipped around when he heard the door slam open and saw Kakuzu all but jump into the room. He lurched towards the balcony and yanked Fuu back into the room. "What the hell is wrong with you, Fuu! You know you're not allowed here without me! Don't you understand? What if you got hurt?"

Fuu started to cry. "I'm sor-sorry," she sobbed.

Hidan tried to walk forward, and collapsed onto the ground. Kisame rushed in and picked Hidan up off the floor, but found the younger man couldn't stand. Kisame reached into his pocket, pulled out a small flashlight, and shined it into Hidan's eyes. Hidan tried to wave the light away but Kisame pinned him to the wall. "Kakuzu, get over here. Something's wrong with Hidan."

Kakuzu saw the spilled pill bottle laying on the ground and mumbled a curse under his breath. Fuu moved in closer and started to cry into Kakuzu's shoulder. He picked her up and handed her to Kisame. "Get her out of here now."

Kisame took Fuu and said, "I'm not leaving."

Kakuzu scowled at Kisame. He hurried to place a hand on Hidan's head and gasped at how hot it was. Hidan spoke weakly in delirium.

"Kakuzu?"

"Hidan, lay down now. You're not well," Kakuzu said, but before Kakuzu could restrain him, Hidan wrapped his arms around the older man's neck and planted a sloppy kiss on his lips.

"I wanna kiss you again," Hidan said, before falling to the ground with a thud.

Fuu's crying declined into soft sobs muffled by Kisame's shoulder. Kakuzu stood mortified and slowly turned to look at Kisame. With wide eyes Kisame instinctively reached for his radio and hit the talk button.

"Mei, 10-20 far west 14. I need back up and a medic ASAP," Kisame said, but hesitated on the next part.

"Don't," Kakuzu mouthed silently.

"Page Dr. Senju we have a situation, over."


"You're lucky I'm not the boss anymore or I'd fire your ass, Kakuzu!" Tsunade turned to Kisame, "And you too! You're supposed to be the eyes and ears of this place and you didn't even think to check if the west wing gates were all secure!" The woman sat back down and massaged her temples.

"Kakuzu you only have one patient! One patient! He's classified as mentally unstable, yes, but you're the most experienced doctor we have. If you can't handle him..." Tsunade sighed, "Kisame get out. I need to speak with Dr. Taki alone." Kisame tried to throw a sympathetic glance as he left, but the other man glared back in anger. The door shut and the two were alone.

"What did he tell you?" Kakuzu questioned.

"Everything."

Kakuzu went silent.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Kakuzu? You snuck Fuu into the far west wing, and left painkillers unattended! Imagine if Fuu was the one to overdose! She'd be dead!" Tsunade yelled.

"Fuu knows how many pills to take," Kakuzu said.

"Obviously not! She gave Hidan about fifteen!"

Kakuzu was speechless.

"Are you fucking serious, Kakuzu? Are you trying to ruin your career?" Tsunade's voice turned to a whisper, "because I will ruin it right here, right now, if you don't tell me the goddamned truth."

Kakuzu ran a shaky hand through his hair. It was muddled and frizzy from all the running around that night. He ran his hand down his face, and he glanced at the clock. It read 4:30am.

"Tsunade… he was delirious."

"Kakuzu, I don't have time for your whiny bullshit! Starting tomorrow I'm not going to be the one sitting in this chair! It's going to be Danzo, so if you're hiding something tell me and we can settle this now, or else he's going to be the one to find out, and you know everyone involved will suffer." Kakuzu bit his lip.

"Yes," he said simply.

Tsunade stopped her ranting and stared, "What do you mean, yes?" Kakuzu shook his head and avoided eye contact with Tsunade.

"There was an… incident."

Tsunade threw her hands up in disdain. "Oh my god, Kakuzu are you fucking kidding me?"

"Tsunade, please," Kakuzu begged. "I need this job. I need to be there for Fuu and give her what she needs and-"

"Than you should've thought about that before you started a relationship with your patient, Kakuzu!" Tsunade yelled exasperatedly. "I was rooting for you Kakuzu! I really was, but this mess... why? Why would you do that?"

"I don't… I don't know," Kakuzu said. Tsunade dropped her face into her hands and the two sat in silence.

"Is it me?" Tsunade asked.

Kakuzu looked up.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when she died. I didn't even know if you wanted me around anymore after we broke up. So I didn't even bother coming to see you when I heard. That was a mistake."

Kakuzu shook his head. "I don't want to talk about this."

"You never do and you never have," Tsunade said.

"You have no idea what you're saying, Tsunade. That was a long time ago."

"Do you still keep your daughter's picture in your desk? The one of her and Fuu? She looked just like you. Do you know that? I wish I could've helped after… after everything."

Kakuzu met her eyes, "You did more for me than anyone else did by helping me take care of Fuu."

"I was too late though, wasn't I? Our relationship was never the same. We can't even talk anymore without yelling at each other."

"Tsunade, our relationship was always like that. That's why it didn't work," Kakuzu said. Tsunade put her hands over her eyes.

"And when I saw you again for the first time after all those years… with all those scars. I couldn't help but think I could have done something to prevent it."

Kakuzu sighed, "You know that's not true."

"Fuck, Kakuzu. Why him?" Tsunade wiped tears away, "I knew you were lonely, but I was right here, and I thought I let you know that when I told you and Fuu to come here."

Kakuzu shook his head, "Tsunade…"

"I don't know what's going through your mind. I never have, but don't do this to yourself. If you go after him you'll lose what little you have left, and it won't be worth it."

"You're wrong."

"I'm not going to say anything, but you can do better than the hell you're making yourself live through. Why do you make yourself hold this pain in your heart? Why don't you just let it all go?"

"Just because you tell me you're going to keep quiet doesn't mean Kisame won't say something," Kakuzu said.

"Kisame never wanted to get you into any trouble. He was reluctant to speak, but I made him talk. You're not the only one with secrets here, Kakuzu, but if you get caught again you're not going to have my mercy to bounce back from. It will be the end."

"I want to get Hidan out, and Fuu," Kakuzu said. Tsunade couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"What did you just say? Have you missed everything that has been going on for the past seven months? For the past three years? It's impossible. He either stays here or he's dead.

"Tsunade I can do it, but I need your help."

"Are you fucking kid- oh my god Kakuzu are you listening to yourself right now?"

"Three months. All I need is three more months, Tsunade."

"That's nonsense, Kakuzu! Will you listen to me for once in your life! You will lose everything!"

"I don't have anything!" Kakuzu yelled, "Everything I ever had, ever loved, is gone."

"I'm sorry, Kakuzu, but this is too far. I won't help you do this."


Hidan woke up, again, in the infirmary, and moaned.

"Looks like someone's awake..." Kabuto said.

"I really hate you, four eyes." Hidan spat.

"Gonna have to do better than that," Kabuto sighed.

"Where's Dr. Haruno?" Hidan asked.

Kabuto gave him a cocky smile, "Oh? You didn't hear?"

"No. I didn't, asshole."

"She's no longer with us. She was relocated to a different hospital. We'll miss her although I always did find her lack of creativity in treatments a bit... boring."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"We're under new management, Hidan."

Hidan thought back to what Itachi told him and a pit formed in his stomach. "Who's my doctor than?"

"Don't be so worried Hidan. You'll meet him in a bit." Kabuto dis3appeared behind the curtain and Hidan cursed under his breath. He tried to remember how he got here in the first place. 'Fuu… the broken gate… leaning over the balcony… didn't she say she felt trapped? That she wanted to die sometimes?' Hidan furrowed his brow, 'Kakuzu was there… he held me I think… no that can't be right…' A few minutes passed before the curtain was thrown open again. Hidan almost screamed in horror at the person who appeared behind it. A 'man?' with pure white skin, long pitch-black hair, and slitted yellow eyes all but slithered towards him.

"You must be Hidan. Call me, Orochimaru. I'm the new," he threw his hands up in mock celebration, "head of medical. Fantastic. I know."

"Holy shit! You look like that bitch from The Ring."

"Is that a... film?"

"Yup," Hidan's response was one more of frightened yelp than an answer.

Orochimaru tsked and went about looking through some charts, "Hm, I can't say I'm familiar."

"Well… ya' should look into it."

"Hm, look at these charts. No wonder everybody is so interested in you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well," Orochimaru sat down on the bed prompting Hidan to retreat backwards into the pillows, "yesterday you overdosed on a dosage of opiates that should've killed you in an hour, yet here you are. It's almost like you're… you're... what's the word I'm looking for?"

"Immortal?" Hidan said. Orochimaru hissed in agreement.

"Precisely." Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and the two sat in awkward silence.

"Okay. I'm gonna throw up if I have to keep looking at your face," Hidan said. Orochimaru rolled his eyes and got up from the bed.

"I'm finished with you for now," he said and haphazardly yanked the I.V. from Hidan's arm.

"Oi! Fuck! Even I know you're not supposed to do that!"

"Leave, Hidan."

"Don't gotta tell me twice," Hidan leaped out of the bed and quickly left the medical wing.

Hidan strode down the hallway to the cafeteria. Good, it was lunch. Hidan quickly scanned the residents until he spotted Itachi and literally dragged him from the usual group to an empty table in the corner.

"What do you think you're doing, Hidan?" Itachi questioned. Hidan took a deep breath.

"Yesterday Kakuzu's niece took me to a room with this glass door balcony thing, and I took some happy pills that made me forget where the hell I was, and then Kakuzu busted through the wall or something and threw me to the ground, again, but then picked me up and then I think I kissed him or he kissed me, and I woke up in the infirmary, and the creepy ghost chick from The Grudge is my fucking doctor, but worse." Hidan finally inhaled. Itachi was stunned.

"Wait-what did you just say?" he said, confused. Hidan started again, but slower.

"Kakuzu's niece took me to a room with a-,"

"No! After that!" Itachi said.

"Happy pills-"

"After that, Hidan." Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose.

"The Grudge, but worse."

"No! Before-" Itachi growled in frustration and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Did you just say you kissed Dr. Taki?"

"Look, it's not fucking new," Hidan said, and Itachi put his face in his hands.

"Oh god, Hidan, you better not have."

"Oh yeah. We did, and you're the only one who fucking knows so you better shut your goddamn mouth about it and help me."

"With what!?"

"I gotta get out of here," Hidan said.

"Are you an idiot?" Itachi said. "There's no getting out of here, Hidan. I warned you everything was going to change for the worse, and if you keep doing stupid shit you're going to get a sentence worse than death. Trust me." Itachi got up from the table and left the cafeteria with the rest of the residents who were starting to file out of the dinning hall. Hidan waited until most of the residents were gone and then hurried up to the west wing.

He stopped at Kakuzu's door and contemplated going back to his room, but this meeting between them was long overdue, and who knew if Kakuzu would remain his doctor? Dr. Haruno was gone. Kakuzu could be next. Hidan thought about just barging in, but instead knocked on the door.

"Who's there?" came Kakuzu's deep voice.

"Who do you think?" Hidan breathed heavily as Kakuzu opened the door.

"We still have our daily sessions, yeah?" Hidan asked.

"Hidan..."

Hidan went inside and sat on the couch. Kakuzu sat in the chair across from him.

"Hidan, what happened yesterday was my fault. I'm sorry."

"Yeah," Hidan said nervously, "No problem."

"No, Hidan. It is a problem. I'm sorry."

"Look Kakuzu I feel all messed up and-"

"I'm so sorry, Hidan."

"Stop apologizing! It's fucking annoying! What happened is over! Be done with it, yeah? Look, Hidan motioned to his body, "I'm okay! So relax. I just want to talk. Please." Hidan closed his eyes, "I just want to talk to you."

"Alright," Kakuzu said.

"What the hell is going on? Are there protests happening on the outside because of me?"

"They're more like riots, but yes."

Hidan shook his head, "And Konan?"

"She's dealing with the press as best as she can."

"God, I miss her so much. It's killing me, Kakuzu. I keep having visions of her being dragged away and locked up for no good reason other than being associated with me. This whole month is a blur and I can't even remember what happened yesterday."

"Hidan. Yesterday you overdosed on-"

"Yes I fucking know that!" Hidan exhaled. "Kakuzu, this is fucked up… right? I mean this thing between us. It's fucked up, right?"

"It's… it's inappropriate."

"Did you... kiss me yesterday?"

"You kissed me."

"Hmm... could've sworn it was you who kissed me."

"No."

"You kissed me back though, right?"

Kakuzu scowled in response.

"Okay. Okay. That's embarrassing," Hidan murmured and looked out the window. His leg bounced up and down in anxiety. The way he spoke was borderline manic, and Kakuzu hesitated before speaking.

"I wanted to," he said, and Hidan turned his gaze back to Kakuzu.

"What?" Hidan asked.

"I couldn't because Kisame was right there, and you were delirious anyway, but it doesn't matter because Tsunade found out about everything."

"Oh shit. Are you gonna get fuckin' fired?"

"No. She couldn't do it because she's not the head of the institution anymore, and… I think there are other reasons as well."

Hidan nodded in response, "I heard it's going to start sucking a lot worse than it already does around here."

"Things are going to be different," Kakuzu said. The two were quiet for a few minutes, and Kakuzu watched as the younger man fidgeted on the sofa until Hidan met his eyes and broke the silence.

"Do you ever think about me? Or is this all in my head?" Hidan asked suddenly, "Because I think about you all the time. I think about all of our sessions and what we talk about, and I think about what you say, and the advice you give me. Now I can't stop thinking about Fuu. Why is she trapped in this hellscape anyway, huh?"

"She has PTSD and schizoaffective disorder. She suffers from anorexia nervosa as well. She may also have Todd's syndrome. We don't know though. It's undiagnosed."

Hidan laughed, "Kuzu, you're speakin' a different language."

"If she lived with me I would have to quit my job to be with her all the time, but that would mean I wouldn't be able to support her. It's impossible to do by myself."

"Oh," Hidan said.

"I think about you too though."

"You probably think about throwing me off the roof," Hidan smiled.

"No. Not really."

"That explains why you kissed me when I was all drugged up yesterday."

Kakuzu rolled his eyes, "You're unbearable."

"Well," Hidan continued, "why you wanted to anyway."

"Hidan, how can you crack jokes at a time like this? You do know where you are right?"

"Oh I'm aware. It's just when I'm with you I feel like I'm somewhere else," Hidan said.

"Hidan..." Kakuzu couldn't take it any longer. It'd been too long since he felt like this about someone. He needed it, wanted it, regardless of the consequences.

"What?"

"I still want to kiss you."

"Then what the fuck are you waiting for, Kuzu?"