Chapter 5: The Ending, and The Future

"So, that's it?" Kakuzu asked.

"Yeah, that's it."

"So she was a werewolf the entire time?"

"Yes."

"You were right. It does explain everything. The screaming in the hospital, never getting tired in gym, needing to eat a lot…"

"I told you it would."

They were silent, the early dawn lighting up their room.

"What happened?"

"Hmm?"

"After, what happened? You're here now, and you obviously hadn't seen each other in a while."

"Well, the village found out what she was, and the Yugakage forced her to leave. I grew heart broken, declared myself a rogue, and went looking for her. I searched for two years, then you guys found me. You forced me to join you, and I haven't seen her."

"Until now?"

"Until now."

They were silent for a bit more.

"Why do you think she helped the Waterfall nin yesterday?"

"I couldn't tell you, Kakuzu. You'd have to ask her yourself."

Again, the pair was silent. Kakuzu yawned, the stitches on his cheek stretching.

"That was kind of depressing."

"How?"

"You fall in love, are excluded from society, find out she's a werewolf of all things, and she gets kicked out of the village so you can try to find her for two years? That's counts as depressing in my books."

"Yeah, I guess. I'm going to sleep. Wake me when Pein's done with Umi."

Hidan rolled over and went to sleep, leaving Kakuzu to stay awake and wait for Pein to finish. He tried to be angry at Hidan, but failed. How could he be angry at Hidan after a story like that?

He sighed, then got up. Might as well walk around a bit. He exited the room, then walked alone through the tunnels. He let his mind wander, and he was surprised when he found himself outside the hospital wing. He walked in, somehow ending up standing next to the bed where Umi had lain.

His fingers brushed the sheets, thinking. He knew he would be told to kill Umi as soon as Pein finished with her, but he didn't think he could do it; not anymore. He also knew Hidan knew this as well, so what had he been thinking when he asked Kakuzu to wake him up?

Kakuzu's fist tightened on one of the metal railings, snapping it. The bastard! How could he ask that of him?! How dare he! That was Hidan's plan? He tried thinking of ways to get around it, but failed. That fucking prick was smarter then he let everyone else think. Kakuzu had walked right into his trap, playing into his hands. What made it worse was that there was no way to escape it. If he hadn't listened to the entire story, he might have been able to avoid this, but now it was too late.

Kakuzu hung his head, ashamed. How had he been tricked like that? Was it because he thought he had known his partner, and didn't think he was capable of anything like this? Or was it because he was too caught up in the story to think straight? And he called himself a criminal, he thought bitterly to himself.

"Kakuzu, I'm finished with her. You know what to do."

Kakuzu gritted his teeth, then turned to walk back to his room. How the hell was he going to get out of this one? He slammed open the door, and Hidan jumped awake.

"How dare you!" Kakuzu screamed, flying across the room to pummel Hidan. Hidan rolled off the bed, landing and flipping himself up, letting the bed take the punch. Kakuzu turned again to Hidan, cautious this time. Hidan was near his scythe now.

"Kakuzu, I'm not going to fight back. I didn't think you'd figure it out this soon."

"How could you ask this of me?" Kakuzu demanded, shaking with anger.

"You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do, and you know it. You tricked me, Hidan."

Hidan grinned.

"Can't deny that. Now, shall we go?" Kakuzu could do nothing but follow him out the door, face pale as he thought of what he would have to do next.

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"Kakuzu, what do you mean you can't do it?" Pein demanded, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"I can't kill her, Pein. Hidan made sure of that."

They both turned and glared at Hidan. He grinned. "You can't make me kill her, nor can you kill her yourself, Pein. Your genjutsu will have no effect on her."

"So I've discovered. Kakuzu, go fetch Itachi."

Meanwhile, Umi watched the exchange. "That was well played, fairy."

"I thought so too bitch."

"Don't think this is over, Hidan. She will be killed."

"Don't count on that, Pein. Itachi won't be able to do much either. His sharingan will be his destruction, and he can't begin to hold his own in hand to hand combat with her, even in her weakened state."

"Don't count on it."

Umi grinned. "Thank you, Hidan, for giving me the opportunity to get revenge."

"No problem."

"What revenge?" Pein asked suspiciously.

"I've been wanting to kill you since I first heard you had kidnapped Hidan. I have been hunting you for the past year, Akatsuki leader, and now I have found you. That's the only reason I helped the Waterfall nin yesterday, so that I could get close to you. Now I can fulfill the promise I made so many years ago."

Kakuzu walked back, dragging an annoyed Itachi with him.

"Wait, Itachi-!" It was too late. Itachi had already activated his sharingan, dragging both him and the grinning Umi into the world where he had absolute reign.

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'Where am I', Itachi thought looking around him. This wasn't his world, he was sure of that. How did he end up here?

He heard a low, growling, chuckling voice behind him, and he whirled around. There was nothing.

- Greetings, little bug. -

He whirled again, searching for the voice.

- You thought you had trapped the human's mind, didn't you? Foolish one, there is more then one being who occupies that mind. -

"Who are you!" Itachi demanded, searching all around him, eyes peering into the infinite darkness surrounding him. The voice chuckled again.

- You humans are so entertaining. I am the creature who rules the night, the Hunter, the Demon-of-the-Moon, and more. I am the the feeling that makes children hide under the covers, waiting for the dawn to rescue them. I am the destroyer of light, the God that rules Hell. I am everything, human, and you cannot escape me, for you no longer rule this world. -

Itachi growled. "Like hell you are."

- I am losing my patience with you, human. Bow to me now, and I will end your life quickly, or defy me longer and I shall make you suffer. -

"I'm not bowing to someone who refuses to show themselves."

- So be it. -

Yellow eyes seemed to suddenly swallow the sky. They rolled casually down to look at Itachi. They flashed, and he fell to the ground, screaming, only aware of the force that threatened to tear him apart.

-You had your choice… -

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The next thing everyone else knew, Itachi was screaming on the ground, blood pouring from his eyes. They stared at him dumbly, then turned to look at Umi. She looked down at him, face expressionless.

"He had his chance."

Pein took a step back.

"What the hell are you?" She turned to him, grinning in a humor-less grin.

"I am the one who will kill you."

She leaped forward, exploding outward into her giant wolf form. He tried running, but she snapped him up in her jaws and lifted him up into the air, yellow eyes watching him squirm maliciously. She grinned, something Hidan never wanted to see again. She twitched her neck slightly, and Pein flopped to one side. Bored with her game, she just shut her jaws, splitting Pein's body in half. He lived for a brief moment, enough to curse her, then died, eyes glazing over.

Umi bent her head down and started tearing him apart. Devouring him quickly, her teeth carved quickly through him. Just then, Konan turned the corner. She froze as she saw Umi eating her partner. She dropped the papers she had been carrying, then shook violently.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" she screeched, then launched herself toward Umi. The wolf spared her nothing more than a casual glance, then continued eating. Konan collided with her, and the wolf snapped her head around and cleanly separated her head from her body, bored. Konan's body fell, and she started eating her as soon as she finished devouring Pein.

Kakuzu watched, shocked. This was the girl that could barely raise her hand that morning?! The wolf yawned, bored, then turned to Hidan. She opened her mouth slightly, apologizing, and wagged her tail. He fearlessly scratched behind her ears.

"Just like old times, huh?" Umi panted happily and licked Hidan, covering him with bloody saliva.

"Gross, bitch. That's fucking disgusting."

She turned back into a human, somehow clothed.

"What, you didn't lose your clothes this time?"

"Pervert. I have had practice, you know."

"I wouldn't have guessed, considering how easily you transformed. By the way, how did they taste?"

"Pretty damn good, if you ask me."

"That's nasty."

Kakuzu watched her, terrified. "Hidan told me, but I didn't think…"

"That I was actually this? Yes, I am the Night Demon, my own curse. The gene has been passed down for generations, ever since the first made a deal with the original demon Himself. Centuries ago, He offered to share his power with Gen, the founder of my clan. Unknowingly, the foolish man agreed. This-" she motioned to herself "-is the result. The Great Night Being took over the body, conquering the weak human mind. With his new disguise, Bane raped women, spreading his gene. As a result, the Izou clan was created, a memorial to Gen's foolishness. We hid our power from the world, killing those who couldn't control it. The rest of the world eventually discovered us, and the Hunt began. A few of us managed to survive, and we banded together and went into hiding. We barely revealed ourselves again until last century, keeping on the outskirts of the villages. The genes weakened, until only my mother and I were left of the once-powerful Izou clan. Still, the gene was weak in her, and she feared it would be lost in me. However, it strengthened in my blood. Last year, my mother died."

She looked away, tears threatening to overspill. Her muscles trembled in weakness, and she sagged against the wall before her legs gave out. She slowly sank to the ground, then continued while Hidan sat next to her.

"I am the last of my kind. I am the last of the Nephilim, the fallen ones."

Kakuzu was fascinated with the clan history. He had heard of the Izou clan, but it was just a story to convince children to go to bed at night. "Go to bed, or the Izou will get you!", or "The Demons live in the dark, you don't want to go out at night!", or even "The Fallen will hunt you down if you disobey your father." The threats and names were many, but he never knew that they had been based on an actual clan! And if the threats were real, it made you wonder what the clan had done to start the threats.

"Why do you have so many names?" he eventually asked timidly. She looked up to meet his eyes, and they seemed to contain the wisdom of ages in them. The fluorescent lights were reflected back to him in her gaze, making it seem alien.

"They are the names your race gave us."

"How did you earn those names?"

She closed her eyes and leaned against Hidan, exhausted. He rubbed her back, watching her.

"The old clan used to hunt down and eat human children. It gave them the strength to resist being overthrown by the monster within."

"And in resisting the monster, you became it yourselves."

Her eyes flashed back open, glaring at him.

"Believe me, human, what we did to control ourselves was nothing compared to the destruction the Demons caused. Compared to Them, we were angels."

Kakuzu shivered. Hidan rose, picking her up with him. Umi had fallen asleep, and her head was cradled against his chest. He walked to the door, and Kakuzu put his hand on his shoulder.

"Where are you going?"

Hidan turned back to look at him, magenta eyes steel.

"There is no more Akatsuki, Kakuzu. I'm leaving. The Akatsuki robbed my childhood from me, as did my village."

He looked down at the sleeping women in his arms, eyes growing soft.

"I'm going to start a new life."

He ran out the door, and Kakuzu watched as he slowly disappeared into the distance.

A/N: Hah, the end! Thank you people for reading and reviewing (you'd better review, I went through all this trouble), and I hope you enjoyed this! Farewell!