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As soon as Kakuzu had finished his lunch, which he ended up sharing with Sakura due to the fact she only got one bite of pie, he dragged her immediately back to his room.
Slamming the door, he shoved her onto his bed, and glared at her with her arms crossed.
'...The hell have we gotten ourselves into this time?' Inner Sakura whined.
"What's going on, Kakuzu?" Sakura asked cautiously, her thoughts identical to those of her inner personality.
"What's going on with Zetsu?" he scowled at her.
"Huh?" she blinked. "Oh, I get it, you're jealous."
"I warned you about him," he hissed, advancing on her. "Yet I find you cooking for him, and touching him. You shouldn't even be anywhere near him unless you're healing him!"
By now he was so close she could feel his breath in hot puffs against her skin.
"Kakuzu-" she started, but he cut her off.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" he spat. "He was looking at you like he was going to eat you!"
"Kakuzu," she repeated, grabbing his shirt, and pulling him down to sit next to her. "He's not going to eat me. He needs me to help him with his fevers."
"Zetsu isn't logical," he warned her, staring into her eyes seriously. "His black personality might just kill you out of spite, whether you heal him or not. He's unstable."
"People have called me unstable before, as well," Sakura sighed, and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Thank you for worrying about me, but I really don't think he'll eat me," she spoke, moving her hands to hold one of his. "And if he does, you can be the first person to say 'I told you so'."
The bounty hunter gripped her hand tightly.
"Be cautious, Sakura-chan," he warned her. "You aren't as safe here as you pretend to be."
"I know," she looked away. "Can we go get some shopping done? I can cook you something tonight, if you like."
"Deal," he answered, picking his mask and hood off the bedside table, and giving her a hand up.
"And Ragdoll?" she grinned cheekily at him. "Can you spar with me later? Pein said I could get training off anyone I could convince to help me."
"That depends if you think you can keep up with me," he smirked back at her.
At that, she just gave him a flirtatious smile, and led him to the door by the hand.
"Let's go find Zetsu-kun, and stock up on food, ne?"
--
The trip to the nearest town was not the most peaceful outing Sakura had ever taken. Still, being used to traveling with Naruto and Sai, Sakura had perfected the skill of ignoring her company.
As Zetsu and Kakuzu traded threats, Sakura focused her energy on finding hints of where the heck she was.
'There's so many trees, we could still be in Fire,' Sakura thought to herself.
'That'd be ironic,' Inner Sakura replied. 'Hey, wait... do I smell salt?'
'That'd mean...' her eyes widened.
'We're in Mist,' Inner Sakura mirrored her thoughts.
'That's right, look at those flowers!' she glared at some purple blossoms. 'They only grow where there's an extreme amount of moisture!'
'Well, this sucks.'
'Yea-' "Whoa!" she came to a halt when Kakuzu's face blocked her path. "What's up Ragdoll?"
"I said, is there something wrong?" Kakuzu frowned. "You looked angry."
"No, nothings wrong, as such," she just sighed in response. "I was just thinking."
"To yourself?" Zetsu asked curiously, making Kakuzu raise a brow. Who else would she be thinking at? It's not as though she had telepathy ... as far as he knew. His keen gaze once again settled on Sakura.
"Yeah..." she answered Zetsu, grateful he kept quiet about her alternate personality. "We close?"
"The nearest town is just beyond that bend," Zetsu informed her. "We should alter our appearances now."
Sakura nodded, and performed the hand seals lightening quick for a transformation jutsu. Her hair suddenly became jet black, and she stood a couple of inches taller, but other than that remained the same.
Zetsu turned into a pale man with pitch black hair, and matching eyes, but kept all his other features the same (except, of course, for his fly trap, which seemed to sink into his body.)
Kakuzu didn't bother casting any genjutsu, as he was covered with a mask and hood anyway.
Eager to see civilization again, Sakura picked up her pace, forcing her escourts to match her.
The town itself was small and quaint with an open market, selling everything from fruit and fish to clothing and knick-knacks.
Sakura dragged the others over in excitement, and started to look through the stands.
It took a while, and a lot of haggling from Kakuzu, but they finally had enough food to restock the Akatsuki pantry, in addition to bag-loads of fruit and vegetables that Sakura planned on making some master pieces out of (which Kakuzu forced Zetsu into carrying). Sakura was a little relived by the end, getting a little worn out trying to choose fruit.
Everything they looked at, Zetsu argued with himself about.
"We could try peaches. I hate peaches. Oranges? I hate oranges. Potatoes? Disgusting starchy things. They look like mutant eggs. Our petal might make them into a pie. Potato pie sounds gross. So did apple pie."
In the end, Sakura had to talk him in and out of buying various things, and convince him fruit could take on many more forms than just raw or pie. She definitely needed a break...
"Sakura-chan," Kakuzu addressed her, bringing her out of her thoughts. "You only have the clothes on your back, don't you?"
"...Yeah," she replied, a spike of hope rushing through her.
"Go pick out some more clothes while we're here," he offered. "Not too many, though."
Even though it was unlike Kakuzu to offer to buy someone anything, as a large grin spread across her face, he couldn't help but think it was worth every cent.
The two men followed her as she jumped from table to table, Kakuzu happily paying for a few shirts and pairs of pants, amused at her excitement.
"She is unusually happy for one in her predicament," Zetsu voiced, and Kakuzu was unsure whether or not to respond.
"She is a tough kunoichi," White Zetsu answered himself. "She will do what is needed to survive."
"Indeed," Black Zetsu took on a sinister tone, the same hungry grin covering his face.
Kakuzu suppressed a shiver, and started to walk a little faster, eager to leave the cannibal behind.
In his haste, he almost knocked into his female companion as she came to a halt outside a store. She turned around, and gave him a pleading look, her face bright red with embarrassment.
He felt his eyes flick to the shop display, and his own cheeks coloured as well. Underwear. Ever thankful for his mask, he looked back to the woman in front of him.
"Come on then," he said gruffly, and led her into the store, and raising an eyebrow when she didn't leave his side. "I trust you don't need my help picking anything out."
She shot him an annoyed look, and went to start browsing the shelves. Kakuzu spared a glance outside and froze. Zetsu was standing across the street, glaring daggers at him through the door. He gave the cannibal an innocent shrug, and turned back to the counter in front of him, ignoring the killing intent directed at him.
A splash of pink caught his eye, and he moved to inspect a delicate hair-piece. It was an intricately designed comb, decorated with sakura petals the exact shade of Sakura's hair, with a inky black border. It was the kind of thing a geisha might wear.
He felt his lips twitch into a small smile at the thought. He'd love to see her like that, and wondered briefly if she'd ever had to impersonate one for a mission or anything.
He felt Sakura approach him from behind.
"What're you looking at, Ragdoll?" she asked him curiously, placing a hand on the small of his back.
"Do you like it?" he showed it to her, his voice softer than she'd ever heard it. "I'll buy it for you, if you like."
Sakura was oddly touched by the offer. She'd heard from others how stingy he was, which was confirmed by his constant haggling with the food-stall owners (which she couldn't help but find comical), but... he'd only been generous when it came to her. Anything she'd asked for so far, he'd bought without complaint. She couldn't help but feel touched.
'He might want something in exchange,' Inner Sakura pointed out skeptically.
'He's at least hoping for something, that's for sure,' she thought, as she gazed down at the hair-piece, brushing her fingers across the detailing. 'But he's already told us that.'
'Maybe you should have picked out some sexier underwear,' her Inner voice snorted.
Outwardly, she let out a sigh, and placed the comb back on it's shelf. She turned to her escourt, and stared into his confused eyes, her own full of gratitude.
She placed the items she'd picked out on the counter next to them, and gave him a gentle hug.
"You don't have to buy me anything like that, Kakuzu," she whispered. "You've already gotten me so much, and I'm grateful."
He lifted a hand up to play with her hair.
"That's not the point, Sakura-chan," he whispered to her huskily, putting her on guard. "I know you want to leave. And if you do manage to get back to Konoha, I want you to have something to remember me. To make you think of me."
'Is he for real?' Inner Sakura's eyes widened. 'Maybe you should take him up on it.'
'I don't know,' Sakura was still hesitant.
'If you don't take it, that's a pretty harsh rejection,' she warned herself. 'You'll be pretty much saying you don't want to think of him ever again after this.'
'But it's still allowing him to make a claim on me.'
'So?'
'You've changed your tune. Whatever happened to him being a freak with stitches?'
'He's growing on me,' Inner Sakura defended moodily. 'Now take the damn comb.'
'You want it that much, huh?'
Letting her other personality have her way, she leaned up an gave him a kiss on the cheek through his mask.
"Thank you," she smiled at him. "But you know I don't need gifts to remember you, right? You've made quite the impression, just being yourself."
When he didn't answer, she gave him a gentle squeeze.
"But this doesn't change the fact we can't be together. You know that, right?" she looked into his eyes, a little concerned.
"You might change your mind, in time," he smiled lightly at her, not that she could see it. "In the mean time, please accept it."
"Alright," she whispered back to him, after one final squeeze. "Thank you."
It was then they realized the shop attendant was staring at them in a mixture of amusement and caution.
A little embarrassed, Kakuzu made the purchases, and led Sakura back out of the store, carrying her bags for her.
"Why did you leave us out here," Zetsu scowled at them.
"You could have come in if you wanted, Zetsu-kun," Sakura pointed out, touching his arm in concern. He seemed really pissed.
"I wouldn't have wanted to interrupt your moment," he hissed.
"But spying on it was fine?" Kakuzu retorted, getting annoyed himself.
"It's not as though you were hiding it," Zetsu glared at him fiercely. "I should devour you right now."
"Shit," Kakuzu swore under his breath. "Black Zetsu's taken over," he whispered to Sakura, as the cannibal started advancing on him.
Sakura was shocked to see him acting so fearful. But, she guessed, she'd never seen Zetsu flip out before.
'If you don't do something, our Ragdoll's dead,' Inner Sakura warned her.
'Whoever thought we'd be protecting an S-class criminal?' she asked herself sarcastically, as she stepped in front of the bounty hunter, and raised her hands to rest on Zetsu's chest.
"Calm yourself, Zetsu-kun," she begged. "We don't need to make a scene."
"Harlot," he hissed back at her. "What did you think you were doing back there? Have you slept with him too? You've only been here one night."
"I haven't slept with him," she informed him calmly, the only sign of her anger being a twitch of the eye. "But we've become friends, I'd say. He did something nice for me, and I was just thanking him. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"
Zetsu's eyes flicked between them, to detect any lie.
"So there's nothing going on between you?" he questioned, gripping the girls shoulders and roughly lifted her off her feet.
"Not like what you're thinking," she evaded, and lifted her fingers to brush what she knew to be his white cheek, under the genjutsu. "Where's white Zetsu-kun? I miss him."
Zetsu's eyes softened marginally, as he set her down.
"We apologize. We have no right to be jealous," White Zetsu answered, and they heard an audible sigh of relief coming from Kakuzu.
"Does this mean you like White Zetsu more than me?" Black Zetsu sulked.
"It's just not the same without both of you," she smiled softly at him, and stroked her hand through his hair.
"Are we your friends?" Zetsu asked her curiously.
"You could be if you wanted to," she agreed.
"Then we just did something nice for you, by not killing either of you. So thank me like you thanked Kakuzu," he demanded.
"It's not quite the same when you ask for it," she giggled, and pulled him into a hug. "But alright."
Zetsu wrapped his arms around her, and shot a triumphant smirk at Kakuzu, who was clenching and unclenching his fists, staring at his feet.
"You kissed him, too," Zetsu reminded her smugly.
She leaned back, so she could look him in the eye.
"You were really paying attention, weren't you," she laughed slightly, then leaned in to his white cheek. "One for White Zetsu," she said, pecking him on the cheek, before moving to do the same on the other side. "And one for Black Zetsu."
"Although next time you want a hug or whatever," she let out an irritated sigh, settling back into their embrace. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't threaten them out of me."
Leaning her head against his chest, she managed to catch Kakuzu's eye, and give him an apologetic look, to which he just looked away.
'No matter, we'll just talk to him later,' Inner Sakura voiced. 'It's not as though we had a choice, so he can't stay mad at us.'
'You're starting to get fond of him, aren't you?' Sakura asked, both amused and a little frightened.
'He might leave Akatsuki for us.'
'Lets not close doors yet, though. The others might be our ticket back home.'
'I know, but a girl can dream.'
Slightly disturbed with her Inner, she pulled away from Zetsu slightly.
"You ready to head home yet?" she asked him.
Letting his arms drop from around her frame, he nodded, and started walking back up the path, carrying multiple bags of food.
She took a couple of steps towards Kakuzu, and took a couple of bags off him, brushing her fingers across his hand as she did so.
"I could have fought him," the stitched nin spoke, not looking at her.
"I'm not sure your Leader would approve," she sighed, starting to follow Zetsu's path. "Besides, I didn't want to risk it. We can talk later, Ragdoll."
"Yeah," he agreed. "We will."
--
Back at the base, Kakuzu had whisked Sakura back to his room immediately. Zetsu had wanted her to cook something for him again, but Kakuzu used the excuse she had to sort out her clothes, and forced him into taking a raincheck.
"Sakura-chan," he breathed, once they were safely back in his room. "Do you understand now, why I don't want you near Zetsu more than necessary?"
She took his hand in hers, and squeezed it gently, not making eye contact.
"I understand your point of view," she bit her lip nervously. "But... I think he's just a bit lonely."
Kakuzu's eyes widened in shock, before narrowing to slits. He grabbed her shoulders, and pinned her roughly against the nearest wall.
"Lonely?" he spat. "If he's lonely, it's because he ate all his f***ing friends! Are you forgetting he's a hardened criminal?"
"So are you," she pointed out with a frown.
"Yeah, but I'm not a f***ing cannibal!" he shouted, increasing the pressure of his grip.
"Well, that is an unfortunate habit," Sakura agreed, and Kakuzu looked like he was going to blow his top.
"Unfortunate? Unfortunate!?" he repeated in disbelief. "He might f***ing eat you!"
Sakura sighed, and shook her head.
"I'd be dead, Ragdoll. I'd care if he ate me just about as much as I would if you turned my body in for a bounty."
Kakuzu dropped her, and she fell awkwardly onto the floor.
"I don't want you dead," he stated plainly, his voice and eyes both seeming a little hollow. "And if you did die, I'd return your body to Konoha before I handed it over to anyone else. Despite what you say, I know you'd want your friends to have your corpse."
Sakura had never thought she'd find someone talking about what they'd do with her corpse sweet as such, but she also never thought she'd be on such good terms with Akatsuki, either.
"Thank you," she replied, a little awkwardly, from her spot on the floor.
Any response Kakuzu might have made was cut off by the door slamming open. The stitched ninja whirled around, furious at whoever it was that was invading his privacy.
The interloper just happened to be one very concerned Kisame. Concern turned to anger, as he noticed the visibly forming bruises on the young woman's upper arms, and the killer expression on Kakuzu's face.
"What did you do to her?" he growled, storming over to the other nin.
Just realizing what was going on, Sakura leapt up, and put herself between the two ninja exerting killing intent.
'We're making this too much of a habit,' Inner Sakura scowled. 'If we just let them fight over us, we'd likely halve Akatsuki's numbers.'
"Please, Kisame, this isn't what it looks like," she begged him to believe her.
"I was just coming to get you to bring over your stuff," he explained. "I heard loud noises and raised voices."
"It's none of your business," Kakuzu growled.
"It is when I'm her new guard, and you're beating her up," he replied with just as much venom.
"It's not like that," Sakura interrupted again, and drew herself a little closer to the ex-waterfall nin, just to prove her comfort with him. "We were just talking. He was just a bit rougher than intended," she glanced at him, and received a nod of confirmation.
"You've got bruises," Kisame narrowed his eyes.
Sakura looked down, and noticed she did, in fact, have purple hand-shaped prints on each arm. Using a burst of green chakra, she healed them both immediately.
"There, gone," she gave a tight smile. "Kisame-kun, I'm a kunoichi, not a civilian. I can survive a little rough housing."
"I'll be sure to remember that," the blue skinned man raised a sardonic brow. "Now get your stuff, you're moving into my room."
She nodded, and obeyed, picking up her few belongings. Kisame picked up her sleeping bag and bed roll, and motioned for her to follow. She did, but not before giving her previous room mate a sad smile.
"See you later, Ragdoll," she farewelled him, and closed the door behind her.
Kakuzu sat down on his bed, feeling oddly empty, and sighed.
"What is that woman doing to me?" he muttered to himself.
--
Next time: Bonding with Kisame!!
Thanks again for reading and reviewing!!
Til next time, the_human_error