A/N: So obviously a lot of the backstory is made up, I followed as much as we know from the anime, but hopefully this clears some stuff up.

Question answer: A blessing! 3 Well it would be, to see a group of unicorns, wouldn't it!

And the riddle answer: His horse's name is Thursday ;D

Still a disclaimer!

Judgement

Rain beat down on them as the pair leapt from branch to branch, having taken to the trees to be less detectable. Hidan had just finished his tale of his indirect conversion, and Mika's mind was reeling with the information.

'When they finally explained everything to me, it was too late to go back. I was already like this. Apparently, it was an experiment they'd been working on for a while now, they just didn't expect to get a breakthrough on a heathen…' He snickered, amused at his past blindness. 'Really rare to be selected specifically by Lord Jashin to continue to follow his ways without the obstacle of death.'

'So you just accepted that without knowing a thing about them? Since when do you let anyone tell you what to do?'

'Well I didn't just happily go along with it all happy and merry and accepting of my consequences… I tried to kill them, at first. Besides, I didn't have much of a choice at that point!'

Rolling her eyes at the absurdity, Mika couldn't help but wonder, 'why you, though?'

Hidan shrugged, seeming unfazed. 'Who knows. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy that conversion, seriously!'

'Why? What did you have to do?'

'There were loads of initiation tasks and tests of loyalty and a shit ton of reading to do. I had to learn the entire ways of Jashinism in like, three days before completion.'

'Completion?' She echoed, finding the phrase odd.

She almost regretted asking as Hidan's tone took on a grave note. 'Completion of the conversion, in order to remain the way I was, I had to shed some serious blood. In the name of Jashin, a whole lot of sacrifices.'

Mika gulped, dreading the answer to her next question. '…And what did that entail?'

'Because I hadn't been involved in the religion at all prior to this 'experiment', I was way behind on the acceptable quota of spilled blood for a loyal patriot to Lord Jashin. I lacked evidence of dedication, obviously, so I needed to make up for that, and fast.'

Glancing over at his companion, the Jashinist's brow furrowed. He considered momentarily how much detail he could go into with her, but something about the firm line her mouth had set into convinced him to comply. 'They gave me a choice. Either I could stay at the temple and learn directly under the high priest for a minimum of two years, with him teaching me all the rituals and ways of their Lord, or…'

Mika grimaced, bracing herself. 'Or?'

'Or I could slaughter the entirety of my village.'

The redhead tried to reign in the gasp of horror that rushed through her lips, but failed miserably. Hidan's eyes were fixed dead ahead as he waited for her to process what he was telling her, silently admitting to choosing the latter option.

She watched him from the corner of her eye, calmly leaping from tree to tree beside her. She'd always known he was crazy. Angry, even. Angry at the world for some unknown reason that baffled her still. But to slaughter an entire village? His own village?

'I never liked them anyway.' He scoffed suddenly, and Mika almost laughed at how casual he sounded.

'…Do you regret it?'

Hidan met her eyes as he took off from another branch, a thoughtful expression on his face until, finally, he answered. 'No. The world is a sick place. The way of Jashin is to cleanse it before the day of final judgement.'

'By sacrifice?' She guessed, dropping his gaze when he confirmed.

She wasn't sure what to make of it in all honesty. Although, she supposed, she was glad he'd managed to cheat death up until this point. Having an S-class criminal on your side had its benefits. Feeling a sweep of awkward silence fall upon them, Mika reached for the first change of subject she could. 'Maybe we should stop for food. I think we've run for long enough now.'

As if on cue, Hidan's stomach growled in agreement.

'…Take that as no complaint from you then?' Mika smirked, as she dropped from the trees to the ground. From higher up, she had spotted a small café type stall up ahead.

Grumbling at his treacherous stomach, Hidan followed her. He guessed one little break couldn't hurt, that is, until he felt a familiar prickle in the back of his mind.

'Aw you have gotta be kidding me. Now of all times?!' He growled, slapping himself in the face.

Mika turned to him, annoyed. 'Hey, it was your stomach that rumbled…' Not to mention the rain had just decided to pick up. A bit of shelter wouldn't go amiss.

'Shh, not you.' He silenced her, waving her off as though she'd simply accept that explanation. 'There's something I gotta do, might take a while…'

Confusion won out over offence, and Mika had to question that further. 'Er, okay… How long is a while?'

'Meh, about three days or so. You can wait for me in the next inn if you want.'

'Oh right, yeah sure, that sounds reasonable… NOT. YOU IDIOT. What the hell is so important that it has you running off for three days without a single explanation?!' She fumed, hands slapping to her hips as she rounded on him.

But Hidan was already strutting away, one hand flicking dismissively over his shoulder. 'Just some Akatsuki business, we're far enough away from the Leaf by now so the next inn should be safe for a while.'

Mika stared after him, a mixture of shock and fury as he disappeared from her sight.

One day, one day she swore, she was going to murder him.

Somehow…

'You went to the trouble of calling us back here, just to seal the two tails?' Hidan grumbled, scowling through the darkness to the blurred silhouette of their leader.

'It will take three days. Prepare yourselves.' Pein stated, used to disregarding Hidan's complaining.

'Three days? Oh man, it's raining where I am!' He continued anyway, despite being ignored.

But this time Pein didn't ignore him, picking up on his choice of personal pronoun.

'Where you are?' He raised an eyebrow and turned to where Kakuzu's shadow was standing silently. The older member's lack of response confirmed the unspoken question of you aren't together? 'I thought I told you to keep an eye on him, Kakuzu.'

'You told him what?!'

'Something came up.' Kakuzu muttered in response to Pein, his voice husky and mysterious as always.

'Woah, hey!' Hidan shouted, extra irritated at being bypassed this time. 'Wait just a minute, you asked that old miser to spy on me?! What kind of team is this?'

'Hidan, you and I are birds of a feather, which is precisely why I am wary of your motives. We are more similar than you care to admit.' Hidan scoffed in disapproval, but their leader continued, undeterred. 'However, it doesn't matter what you use to justify war, religion, philosophy, resources, land, revenge, love… Even a whim. No matter how trivial the motive, they are all worthy causes for war. There will always be war. Human instinct seeks conflict.'

'Alright, nobody wants to hear your long-winded lecture!' Hidan muttered rudely, though it was no secret to Akatsuki that he held little to no respect for the Rinnegan user. 'Listen, I've got my own way of doing things. I have my own set of goals. I don't intend to devote my all to this… organisation, alright?'

'That is why I asked Kakuzu to keep an eye on you. But heed this, so long as you are affiliated with the Akatsuki, you WILL contribute to its cause. We have no use for petty distractions.'

'Huh, you can act all cool if you want, but it won't change the fact that the only thing the Akatsuki wants is to make money!' He growled hatefully, choosing to avoid the 'distractions' comment. 'You're the same as Kakuzu… and fighting for money is the motivation I hate most.'

'You're right, our immediate ambition is indeed financial, but the Akatsuki's true goal lies elsewhere, and it is one that will ultimately cost a great deal of money to fulfil.'

This was news to the Jashinist, making him realise just how little he actually knew about Akatsuki. 'After Tobi, I'm the second newest member of the team, so I haven't heard anything about this true goal from you. You just plan stuff behind my back!'

'Are you sulking?' Pein spared a mean chuckle for the Jashinist before putting on an unusually patronising voice. 'I suppose it's about time I told you. The Akatsuki's ultimate objective will be accomplished in stages. There are three steps in total, the first being money.'

'Tch…'

'The second is to assemble the finest mercenary army the world has seen.'

Hidan, jumping to conclusions before Pein had a chance to finish, groaned half from exasperation and half out of boredom. 'Come on, that's just what the shinobi villages are already doing! You complete a mission and you get a payment. What, you want to become the ruler of some tiny village that doesn't have a host nation to support it? Is that what we're all doing here?! Heh, how stupid.'

'…A tiny village, you say? Hm, you have it backwards.'

'What?' He ground out, getting more agitated by the second.

An evil smirk crossed Pein's lips as he regarded the arc of Akatsuki silhouettes assembled on giant stone fingertips. 'We don't want to rule one village, Hidan. We want to rule them all.'

Hidan grumbled in irritation as he shook the rain from his cloak. How is was still raining after three days was beyond him, and it was really starting to get on his nerves.

Cursing as he accidentally trudged straight through a thick puddle of soggy mud, he shook his sandal angrily and stomped away, heading toward the nearest inn he presumed Mika would be staying at. To his mild relief, he was able to pick up vague flecks of residue chakra she may or may not have realised she'd been leaving behind, a breadcrumb trail for him to follow.

The inn he arrived at was much swankier than anything he'd ever known Kakuzu to stay in, which was completely unsurprising to the Jashinist. Flashing a grin at the startled receptionist, he ignored the way she jumped up in concern at his bedraggled appearance. Murky droplets fell from his cloak and feet as he walked, snickering as he caught her pulling out a mop from the corner of his eye when she thought he was out of sight.

Heading straight up the stairs, still following the chakra trail, he paused when he reached the end, outside a door on the first floor. Pressing an ear to the wood, he grinned again when he heard a shower running inside. Perfect.

He picked the lock like a professional and sauntered inside to make himself comfortable on the bed, stretching out his legs and folding his arms behind his head as he awaited her return.

The room was pleasantly comfortable, he noticed, with modern décor including a white oak chest of drawers, desk and matching headboard. Atop the desk stood a half sized mirror, and beside that rested a small radio and landline phone. The Akatsuki member spared a moment to appreciate the moderate luxury she had selected.

When the sound of running water was finally shut off, Hidan had found amusement in sifting through the Methodist bible he'd found tucked away in one of the hotel drawers, stifling laughter when the bathroom became quiet.

The lock on the bathroom twisted, and her slender form appeared in the doorway, clad only in a too-long t-shirt, and a towel around her hair. She almost choked on the toothbrush hanging from her mouth when she saw him, toothpaste mingling with curse words.

'Fucking hell, Hidan, you tryna give me a heart attack?!' She scolded, disappearing back into the bathroom to spit, followed by a quick gargling noise as she tried to drown out his laughter.

'I hope you're satisfied.' She scowled.

'Very.' He grinned, snapping the book shut and chucking it carelessly onto the floor. 'Hope you didn't miss me too much.'

Rolling her eyes, she crossed the room to where her duffel bag lay strewn across an armchair in the corner. Pulling out some shorts, she angled away from him as she shrugged them on. 'So, do I get an explanation?'

Hidan ran a finger over his chin in mock thought. 'Hmm, nah. Nice towel, by the way.'

She glowered at him as she took a seat, tugging at the material wrapped around her head. A tumble of glossy, black locks fell from its constraints as the towel was discarded, catching his eye as she began to brush through it with her fingers.

'Where do we go from here, then? Carry on heading West?'

'You changed your hair back.' Hidan commented bluntly, ignoring her question and sounding smug.

Mika shrugged. 'Yeah, well, I figured there isn't much point in hiding it any longer, now that those fliers are out.'

'Uh-huh… So about those fliers…?' He pressed, sitting up and crossing his legs in anticipation. He'd waited too damn long to get the full story by now.

Sighing, Mika's hands stilled in her hair as she locked eyes with him in the mirror. Expression clouded, her eyebrows furrowed as she realised she had been putting it off for too long.

'Alright, fine. I'll tell you. But first, answer me one question.'

'Go on?' Hidan agreed nonchalantly, all too eager to finally find out what the hell was bad enough that Mika would willingly enlist herself into a life on the run for.

'What you said the other day, about judgement and sacrifice?'

'The people in this world are what's left it so messed up, by sending them to an early judgement with Lord Jashin, the world is one step closer to being cleansed of its evil.' He supplied, though she hadn't asked her question yet.

She hesitated, taking in his words and swallowing thickly. 'So what you're saying is, eventually the ideal world would be completely free of humanity?'

Unsure of where she was going with this, Hidan backtracked a little. 'Well, no, not everyone. Just those capable of evil. Which is mostly everyone.' He grinned a little, an attempt to lighten the mood, but Mika couldn't meet his gaze.

'I see.'

'…Why do you ask?'

Snapping her head up suddenly, expression that of unprovoked resolve, Mika spoke softly. 'So that includes me, then?'

Hidan almost reeled back at the words, though spoken quietly, they rang in his head as he replied, eyes visibly softening. 'Mika, I hardly think you're capable of evil.'

Again, she swallowed hard. 'You might think differently after I tell you my story…'

A/N: I really hate making Pein the bad guy, but hey, there's gotta be some conflict in the plot! Also, any feedback on their interactions and Hidan's backstory so far is greatly welcomed!

And now for everyone's favourite part: Question time! What is the only animal with four knees?

And the riddle: If a blue house is made out of blue bricks, a yellow house is made out of yellow bricks, and a pink house is made out of pink bricks, what is a green house made of?

Till next time! :D