A/N: I have quite a few more chapters pre-written to last me a few weeks, so hopefully I can catch up on this fic in the meantime!

Answer the the question: The World's Youngest Parent's were 8 and 9, and lived in China in 1910! Crazy…

Answer to the riddle: Not a single man got wet because they were all married! :P

Still disclaiming.

Misunderstandings

'After I left, there wasn't really anywhere I could go without any money. So I stayed in the land of rivers, found that small town, and hid in plain sight. It'd been working up till recently…'

Hidan stared at Mika as she finished her tale, slightly dumbfounded. Refusing to meet his gaze, her golden orbs remained fixated firmly on the floor, her black locks shadowing her expression. For several long moments, he wracked his brain trying to think of a suitable response.

His initial thoughts had been, shit, didn't think you had it in you, but that probably wouldn't make her feel any better. He also considered, 'she had it coming', 'it wasn't your fault', and 'maybe she didn't die?', but they also seemed considerably inappropriate. He knew he wasn't the brightest Akatsuki member, but he wasn't completely insensitive. Especially not around her.

Eventually, he settled on a simple statement, wanting to test her reaction. 'That's not the first time you've killed something, though.'

Her eyes snapped to his, hurt and accusing. 'That's hardly the same thing.'

'No… But if you think about it, that was worse.'

'How? How is killing a wolf worse than killing a living, breathing human being with a husband and children?'

'You say that like a wolf doesn't live and breathe.'

'You know what I mean.' She huffed, folding her arms disapprovingly.

Hidan regarded her carefully, before continuing. 'What I meant was, animals hunt to kill to eat to survive. They don't do anything deliberately malicious or have any hidden agendas. They're just natural. But humans aren't like that.'

Her expression twisted into something between disbelief and denial. Disbelief at the fact that Hidan was intellectually reasoning with her, and that although he sounded reassuring, he was actually proving to make her feel worse. Denial at the horrible realisation that he was right.

She struggled to find a reply for a while, finally settling on a disgruntled mutter. 'Is this supposed to make me feel better?'

'I suppose not. Sorry.' He deadpanned, drawing a blank of anything else to say.

The room fell into silence. Gnawing on the inside of his cheek, Hidan's thoughts swarmed his brain. He had wanted this explanation so badly, but this was not what he'd been expecting, and he was no good in these situations. He didn't know how else to respond. There was clearly no way he could relieve Mika of the heavy guilt she was clearly carrying, and he was positive she didn't expect, let alone, want him to.

Which is why he was so surprised when she spoke again. 'It should have been him.'

Her words were nothing more than a whisper, so quiet that Hidan almost asked her to repeat them. But when she raised her head again, eyes catching his in a deadlock stare of regret, he knew he'd heard her loud and clear.

'So… why don't you?'

Blinking rapidly several times, Mika cocked her head to the side. 'Why don't I… what? Go back and finish the job? Are you serious, right now?'

Hidan shrugged. 'Why not? That'd get rid of any wanted flyers. The world would be one bastard less and you'd get off Scot-free.'

'Oh my god, you aren't joking.'

'If you want, I'll come with you.'

'So that you can beat me to it and make him one of your sacrifices?' Mika saw right through him.

Hidan grinned, unashamed. 'Well, it'd save you the guilt.'

'A win-win, huh?' She muttered dryly, almost drawn into considering the offer. 'Thanks, but no thanks. This is just something I'll have to live with. The damage has already been done to my soul – maybe I'll see you in hell someday.'

She stood, stretching her stiff muscles from being cooped up inside an inn for three days.

'You're leaving?' Hidan questioned as she made to slump her duffel bag over her shoulder. He seemed disappointed.

'This is the way it goes with us, isn't it?' She smiled, sadly. 'I think I've dragged you around long enough this time, don't you?'

Blinking, he tried to work out how long they actually had been together, this time. It must have been around a week, at least. Give or take a few days of his Akatsuki-related absences.

'And thanks, for helping me get away from there. And for… well, you know. Just thanks.'

Mouth set in a thin line, Hidan watched her move towards the door, movements slow and reluctant. He wondered if she was nervous, about starting again in the world on her own, but knowing Mika, he doubted it was that.

'Hey,' He called after her.

She tensed when she was suddenly encased in a firm pair of arms, startled by the gesture. His chin rested on top of her head, between her ponytails, and he let out a soft sigh as she relaxed into the embrace.

She closed her hands over his forearms in return, surprised again when he mumbled into her hair, 'Be careful.'

'I will.'

Since the encounter with the wolf pack, Mika had been dedicating more and more time to her own private ninja training. Sneaking out of the orphanage was easy for her, she was an experienced veteran in the act. It also wasn't hard to locate the nearest ninja academy, following the scent of sweat and the sound of a variety of battle cries, Mika frequently found herself observing the school intensely.

She was thirteen now, but as she watched through weathered eyes at the new kata the students of the academy had been learning, she realised she had aged considerably these past eight months.

Perhaps the amount of concentration she put into her training was the reason, finding less and less time and energy to waste her time feeling sorry for herself. Her temper did not flare quite so regularly, and when the other kids tried to push her around now, she simply walked away.

Of course, sometimes they were too persistent to ignore, and Mika was forced to fight back. And of course, she was always the one who ended up in trouble, but she didn't care anymore. They were just a means to an end.

It was summer now, and the orphanage field trip season had begun, which Mika usually found to be nothing more than childish distractions. Dull. But today was different. Today they were going to the ninja academy.

The halls of the school seemed to loom over her as she trailed behind her walking party, and Mika couldn't help but feel intimidated. The white washed walls were not lined with pretty childish paintings or collages of tissue paper and gliiter, but report cards, trophy walls and graded leader boards. Mika hadn't considered the intellectual side of becoming a ninja.

Shaking off her insecurities as their group leader directed them into a demonstration hall, Mika took this as her opportunity to slip away. A trip like this was not going to be wasted on her, and she didn't have any interest in re-watching their daily katas, which she had already familiarised herself with.

Keeping close to the walls, she scurried around a corner and hurried to find the nearest storage cupboard. A hiss of victory passed through her parted lips as she hit the jackpot, gathering as many kunai and shuriken into her pockets as she could fit. She'd made sure to wear a hooded jacket today, large and bulky enough to conceal her stolen weapons.

Making her way outside calmly, her eyes scanned the academy training field. It was lined with target dummies, practice logs and punch bags hanging from chains in the trees lining the field. It was the perfect place to practice her aim, only, she wasn't the only one who had thought to use the arena at this moment.

Her golden eyes widened, unable to believe her luck. She had been waiting 8 months for this, holding in all the burning anger she'd felt, ever since he had betrayed her and taken her back to her prison cell.

And for once, Hidan did not appear to have noticed her.

Taking a deep breath, Mika steadied herself as she mentally prepared, refusing to let this opportunity slip by. She had no idea why he was here in River country, nor did she care. But she was for sure going to be quizzing him after she'd torn his eyes out, the traitorous bastard.

Letting out a scream of pent up fury, Mika launched into his side, only half winding him but shocking him enough to land heftily on the floor. He grunted upon impact, but his ninja responses were far quicker than her. She thrashed as the boy rolled her onto her back, one fist pulled back, about to pummel his attacker.

Mika's eyes squeezed shut as she gasped, unable to move fast enough to block, but the force of his punch never arrived. Cautiously, she opened one eye. The other was quick to follow as she stared up at the seriously unimpressed glare of her frequent acquaintance.

He said nothing, just glared, arms now folded over his front as he, for the millionth time, held her pinned to the floor with only his knees.

Matching his glower, Mika ground her teeth as she watched his expression twist into bewilderment.

'What the fuck do you look so pissed about? You're the one that jumped me…'

Resisting the urge to stick her tongue out, she managed an unladylike growl. 'You know damn well why I'm pissed, you bastard! You took me back!'

'Took you back? Where to, you crazy bitch?!' Despite his confusion, Hidan hid a smirk at her growing curse vocabulary. He had taught her well.

'Back to hell!'

Hidan stared at her for a moment, then let out a breathy laugh. 'Well, you'll have to let me know how I did that, so I can do it again sometime!'

And then he winked at her. The lying bastard had the nerve, no, the audacity, to wink at her. As though this were all just some game to him.

With a roar of frustration, Mika bucked beneath him, throwing herself from side to side so hard that the fourteen-year-old was finally forced to put some actual effort into restraining her.

Leaning forward, he pressed down on her upper arms as he attempted to calm her down. 'Alright, already! Just calm down and shut up will ya! And even though I still have no idea what you're talking about, I'm sorry, alright!'

Her thrashing slowed, her arms starting to burn under the force of his grip. Angry tears had begun to build in the corners of her eyes, and she tried to turn her head away, in shame. Why could she still not fight him off? Was she always going to be this pathetic?

'Mika.'

The sound of her name sounded foreign in his voice, which gave her pause.

'What did I do?' He asked, head tilting ever-so-slightly.

Mika frowned, searching his eyes for any hint of amusement left, but all that remained was confusion, and maybe a little concern.

'You brought me back here…' She whimpered, sounding hurt. 'You brought me back to River country.'

Again, Hidan's head tilted, eyes flicking upwards as he thought back. 'No, I didn't?'

'You did!' She insisted, a little louder.

'Mika, I'm telling you, I didn't take you anywhere. Your family might have, but I didn't take you anywhere after the last time I saw you.'

The girl's breath caught in her throat. '…My what?'

Sighing, Hidan finally let up on weighing her down. Rocking back onto his heels, eyeing her carefully in case she decided to launch at him again, he recalled their last parting. 'You collapsed, out of shock or exhaustion, who knows. Anyway, I was about to take you to the next village along, when this young couple charged at me, snatching you away and demanding to know what I'd done to you.'

Mika blinked, bewildered as Hidan scowled, clearly annoyed at the memory.

'I was about to give them a piece of my mind, when they said they'd been looking for you for two days. They were pretty pissed, but I figured they were just worried.'

'Wait, this couple, did they both have like a sickly blonde hair colour and matching v-necked sweaters?' She demanded, kneeling forward in his face. His breath hitched as she threatened to invade his personal space, but relaxed again when she settled for staring intently and waiting for the answer.

'Uhh, yeah actually.'

'You idiot. You idiot! They weren't my parents! That was Mr. and Mrs. Fucking Perfect! Those pansies must have brought me back then, after that… Damn it.'

The male flinched when Mika slapped herself in the face, then suddenly changed the subject. 'And what're you doing here now, anyway?'

Hidan scratched his head, struggling to keep up with the female's mood-swings. 'I was on a mission, transporting some Lord back to his home not far from here. Thought I'd get in some target practice before I left, but then some psycho tackled me from behind.'

Blushing a little, Mika clambered to her feet. 'Oh.'

'What, no apology?' He asked, a teasing eyebrow raised.

'No. But as your punishment, you can help me train.'

Again, Hidan was surprised. 'Train? And hey, why am I being punished? I told you I didn't take you anywhere!'

'You're being punished because you're a jerk. And I want to learn how to use these properly.' She replied matter-of-factly, producing her stolen weapons from earlier.

'…Well it's about time you learned how to do something useful.' He grinned, swiping the weapons from the girl before she could scold him again. 'But first, you have to learn how to disarm your opponent!'

'But that's not fair… I'm unarmed!'

With another wink, Hidan danced away from her as she tried to snatch them back. 'Life's not fair, kid!'

With a snarl, she dipped her head, leaping forward. 'You can't call me that, we look the same age!'

He cackled as he evaded her, and as the afternoon rolled into evening, both teens ended up rather tired and sweaty. Well, Mika more than Hidan, but still.

'MIKA! MIKA~!'

Mika winced as the voices calling her grew louder. 'Guess that's my cue, took them long enough.'

Hidan looked on to the doorway, seeming deep in thought, until he realised she was waiting for a reply. 'Oh, yeah, I should probably be heading home now too.'

'Well, see you around, then.' She threw him a smile before making towards the academy building.

'Don't miss me too much!' He shouted after her, smirking, but the expression faltered when she suddenly turned back to face him, a smug smirk matching his own tainting her face.

'What?' He demanded.

'I just remembered, today was the day I finally caught you off-guard.'

Hidan's eyes widened, realising she was right, then he scowled. 'Tsk. Yeah, whatever.'

'I'll see you again!' She called, undoubtingly.

'…Whatever.' He repeated as she scampered into the building. When he was sure she was gone, he allowed a small smile to slip onto his features.

Despite his ego taking a hit, he couldn't help but feel a little proud of the girl. She'd always been such a weed, weak and tiny and useless. But today, as he'd watched her practice alongside him, he'd seen something spark behind her fiery irises. Something unidentified blooming from the depths of her mind. And he was looking forward to whatever it would grow into.

A/N: Hope you liked it! Don't forget to review!

Question of the chapter: What was the first word spoken on the moon?

And the riddle: How far can a dog run into a forest? (This is one of my favourite riddles).

Look forward to your guesses!