Kakuzu followed Reni back into the house, wondering why she was acting so odd. She didn't seem to like the village leader, even though she had been nothing but kind the day before.
He shrugged. Oh well.
Reni sniffed around the house, breath leaving faint trails in the dust. Her explorations brought her to the old kitchen, and Kakuzu chuckled. Of course.
He clicked his teeth together to draw her attention, then led her back to the entrance of the house, hearing Hidan start to wake in one of the other rooms.
As he walked by, Kakuzu called out, "Hidan, we're going to see if we can find breakfast. Hurry your ass up if you want to come."
He heard a grumbling noise emerge from the depths of the room, and he walked out on the porch to wait, feeling in a good mood. It might be the fact that he had Reni back, it might be that for once he wasn't wearing the Akatsuki clouds and being feared, but he felt good. Reni chased butterflies in the reedy grass on the lawn, and children waved at him as they walked by. It seemed perfect.
Hidan emerged from the house, yawning, and Kakuzu stood.
"About time you got out here."
"Chill out, will ya? You're starting to sound like Sasori."
They both cringed at the mention of the name. It had been years, but Sasori was one of the few people Kakuzu had been able to call a 'friend', and Hidan knew this.
"Aw, shit, I'm sorry, man. I didn't mean to say that."
"It doesn't matter. He's dead now", Kakuzu said gruffly, and he walked off into the sunlight, Reni prancing happily to his left side, a few butterfly wings caught in her hair.
Without thinking about it, he knelt down and picked them out, casting them aside. A shadow fell across his vision, and he looked up to see the Kage, standing a few feet off.
"Good morning."
"Actually, it's afternoon, but we'll go with that."
The Kage's smile seemed stiff, and Kakuzu wondered what was wrong.
"Is something the matter?"
She waved her hand dismissaly before replying, "Oh, it's nothing. Just stress and all. Anyways, I presume you are looking for breakfast? This way."
Her excuse seemed plausible, but something about her threw Kakuzu off. However, he just followed her, a tense Reni at his side, Hidan following.
She led them to what looked like the village's only restaurant, and Kakuzu looked through the dusty windows, seeing a few people inside eating. The all looked up at him through the window, their green eyes scanning him. From the careful gazes, Kakuzu could tell they were nin, but he ignored that in favor of watching Reni, who was sniffing at the glass curiously. Remembering her last exploitations with glass, and the remains of the shattered oven, he positioned himself in between her and the easily breakable material.
"You may order whatever you want. Consider it part of our hospitality", the leader said and smiled, bowing slightly.
"Thanks…..", Kakuzu realized then that they didn't quite know her name.
"Oh, I'm sorry. My name's Bakura. Enjoy your breakfast."
With that, she left them, and Kakuzu and Hidan looked at each other before shrugging and walking inside the small building.
The girl followed the two men into the building, still not quite able to shake her fear of buildings. But she knew the giant wouldn't let anything happen to her.
The other people in the building watched her, and she lifted a lip to snarl at them before the giant said something to someone else, drawing her attention away. The others chuckled at her, but she did nothing more than flick a glance in their direction, showing her disdain.
The giant finished talking to the person behind the counter, and he glanced in her direction before turning and walking into a door in back, where the smell of food was emerging from. The girl gathered her haunches to leap over the divider, but a small sound from the giant stopped her, and she looked up at him for confirmation.
He nodded, and she grumbled before turning her head to the side, stomach growling.
A sudden shrieking noise behind her, and Reni whirled around, snarling at whatever startled her. A child of maybe three stood before her, a huge grin on his face. Beside her, the giant was tensed, like he was frightened of something. But he couldn't be frightened of the child, right?
Unsure of what to do, Reni stopped snarling uncertainly, wondering what she should do. She didn't want to hurt a child, but it didn't seem like it was going away anytime soon. Btu she had never been this close to one before.
It moved suddenly closer, and Reni could feel the gazes of everyone in the room watching her, making her even more tense. What if she did the wrong thing?
She moved away from the child, and it blinked before starting to sniff sadly, tears pricking its eyes. She chittered worriedly, wondering if maybe the child was hurt, and moved closer, sniffing it for injuries.
The kid smiled and quickly reached out, grabbing her ear and pulling harshly. She growled and yanked her head out of reach of the child, raising her head above his in an attempt to frighten him off. But he just smiled and giggled more, pursuing her.
She skittered away, trying to get the giant between her and the kid, but before she could get herself there, the kid tripped and fell, landing heavily on his knees.
His chin trembled, and he started crying, wailing causing her to scurry back to him, rolling him over concernedly. Her instinct to protect the young made her do this, but now that she was here, she had no idea what to do.
The kid cried louder and wrapped his arms around her neck, sniffling into her chest, and she stiffened, allowing him to be there but not doing anything else. She looked up at the giant, but he seemed to be just as lost as she was.
Uncertainly, she wrapped her arms around the kid, whimpering softly, chittering to draw his attention. He turned his wet face up to hers, and she grinned, continuing to make those noises. He sniffed, but smiled slightly, reaching his hand up to wipe away his tears.
She yipped, and he laughed, encouraging her to do it again. The variety of noises she could make seemed to entertain him, so she kept it up, purring and everything else. His laughter pealed across the room, and everyone relaxed, causing her to relax as well, not as worried about upsetting them anymore.
A woman's voice called from somewhere outside, and the kid turned and walked away, waving a farewell to her. She panted back, and he grinned before leaving, answering the call.
Kakuzu tensed as Reni snarled at the child before her, wondering what she would do. He had never seen her interact with children before, so anything she would do would be a complete surprise.
The kid moved suddenly, startling Reni, and she pulled away, moving before the kid could register what was happening. He blinked and started crying, miserable that his new play-toy was leaving him.
Confused, Reni moved back to his side, and the kid lunged out and grabbed her ear, startling both Kakuzu and Reni with the speed that arm possessed. She growled and yanked her head away, scurrying back to Kakuzu's side, kid following.
The kid suddenly fell, and he started crying, sound grating on Kakuzu's nerves. He didn't like children, especially this one that was harassing Reni so much.
Reni chittered concernedly and moved closer, using a hand to roll the kid over. He sobbed and wrapped his arms around her neck, wailing louder, and she stiffened, looking up to him for help. But Kakuzu had no idea what to do either, so she gave up on him and started making noises to the kid, crooning at his face.
The kid smiled and pulled back, watching her, and she kept making those same noises, making the kid giggle happily. A voice called from the street, and the kid walked away, laughing at Reni still. The gazes in the room dropped their warning level as the kid walked away, and Kakuzu was glad Reni had handled it as well as she did.
The cook came back out with their orders, Hidan getting ribs for some odd reason while Kakuzu got eggs and bacon, ordering a raw steak for Reni.
Moving toward their tables, Kakuzu gave the steak on the plate to Reni, who growled happily and started gnawing on it, drawing the attention of the few nin in the room. They watched her with disgusted gazes, then all simultaneously rose and paid for their meals, leaving them half-eaten on the table. Kakuzu barely hid back a laugh, while Hidan didn't even bother to do so, laughing with a mouth full of food.
"Hidan, don't talk with your mouth full."
"I wasn't talking, dumbass", Hidan replied, calmly flipping him off and going back to his meal. Kakuzu rolled his eyes and continued eating, dipping a piece of bacon into the egg yolk. Reni chewed calmly on the floor beneath the table, occasionally growling softly when a piece refused to cooperate.
There was peace for all of two seconds.
Before Kakuzu could really get into his meal, some kid screamed and ran by the window, drawing their attention, both staring out the window before taking a bite. More screams sounded, more running by, and Kakuzu sighed.
"Should we see what's going on?"
"Do we have a fucking choice?"
They both growled and rose, Reni looking startled as they did so but quickly following, trotting at Kakuzu's heals.
On the street, they could see what looked like a dog walking, people running away from it.
"What the hell?" Hidan started, and then the dog suddenly lunged forward and grabbed a guard dog by the neck, dwarfing its size and easily lifting it up and tossing it over. Kakuzu and Hidan both blinked.
"What the fuck is that, some monster-dog?"
"Swamp wolf. They hunt in here when they get hungry."
They both turned and looked at the nin that had spoken, holding a knife.
"Why don't you just kill it?" Kakuzu asked.
"We're trying to find the rest of its pack before we do so. They never hunt alo-"
His speech was cut off as another one of the monster dogs seemingly came from nowhere and wrapped its jaws around his leg, shattering it. The nin screamed and stabbed at it with his kunai, but the canine twisted his head and let it land in a less damageable place, in its ruff.
Kakuzu and Hidan both swore and leaped away, Reni snarling at the wolf. It growled back at her, dropping the wounded nin and circling around her.
They both circled, Reni being careful to keep herself between them and the wolf. The wolf growled frustratingly at his inability to get through, then lunged, trying to get over her.
She leaped up and bit his stomach, startling the wolf with her ability to fight. It growled and twisted away from its intended jump, snapping at the girl hanging of his stomach. As the wolf twisted away, Kakuzu got a glimpse of webbed paws. Well, that was to be expected.
Reni let go as the wolf landed on its side, avoiding the bite intended for her. She rolled to her feet, and the wolf watched her warily, wound on his stomach bleeding. Reni licked her lips, opening her mouth in a grin, and Kakuzu got another glimpse of Reni's dangerous side.
She snarled and tackled the wolf, and it twisted its head and bit her arm, thankfully the one that was still in good condition. She yelped and tried yanking it out from between to wolf's jaws, but it held on tenaciously, dissuading her attempts.
Kakuzu jumped forward and punched the side of its skull with a hardened fist, at the same moment Hidan sliced at the stomach with his scythe.
The wolf howled in pain, the sound resonating oddly in its throat as it died. Its jaws loosened around Reni's arm, and she growled and yanked it out, glaring at the wolf.
Clapping sounded, and Kakuzu turned around to see a few kids applauding him, making him confused. What had he done that was so impressive?
A sudden motion showed on is right, and Kakuzu whirled around to see another wolf rushing him. Reni snarled and tackled it, knocking it off its feet, but it merely yelped and ran past her, heading back toward the swampy forest.
Confused, Kakuzu turned around, and he could see more wolves running away through the streets of the village, fleeing from the weapons. A few corpses littered the streets, more canine than human, and blood ran into the storm drains.
"What the fuck is wrong with them? Can't they take out a few dogs?" Hidan asked incredulously, and Kakuzu couldn't help but agree with him. Why were these people so weak against dogs?
It hit him. The village's seclusion, which they thought would help them, was actually hurting them. They could not grow strong by learning from other ninjas, and were stuck in their old techniques, the strength of them being lost over the years as the teachers died and weaker students overtook them. Within a century, this place would only be a shadow of its former glory.
Kakuzu's lost his thoughts as Bakura walked over, a small cut on her forehead but nothing more.
"Well, well, nice job. I didn't think you could fight this well" she said, honestly surprised. Kakuzu narrowed his eyes at her, but ignored the tone. It sounded almost degrading.
Bakura looked calmly over, and stiffened when she saw Reni licking her wounded arm, hissing softly between her teeth.
"Well? Aren't you going to heal her arm?" she turned to Kakuzu, voice venomous. He tensed.
"If she wants her arm healed, she'll come to me. I do not force her into a decision."
Hidan looked back and forth between the two, unsettled. Even he could tell this wouldn't turn out good.
"What if she doesn't know what's good for her? What do you do then?" she growled, and Kakuzu glared back.
"Like I said, I do not force her into a decision. She has been on her own enough to know what is good for her and what isn't."
"Hey, let's go finish our breakfast okay Kakuzu?" Hidan said uncertainly, trying to break up the impending fight.
They both ignored him and kept glaring at one another.
"I'll have my medic nin heal her arm, if you won't", Bakura seethed.
"Don't you remember what happened last time you let one of your medics go near her? She didn't like them that much."
Something snapped in the Kage's eyes.
"Well, she'd better learn!" she shrieked, lunging toward Kakuzu. He dodged, not attacking her yet.
His eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean?"
Bakura laughed, then said, "Did you honestly think I was going to let her leave with you? My sister's staying here."
"Hey, she's not your sister!" Hidan shouted, grabbing his scythe off his back.
"Of course it's Hikari! Come on, Hikari, get over here where your big sister will take care of you!"
Bakura's eyes were wild as she signaled her village forward, and the nin somehow managed to separate Reni from Kakuzu.
"Kakuzu!" she wailed, struggling against her captors, trying to reach him. Hidan was slashing away at the ones attacking them, but even he could not get through fast enough to stop them from taking her. Kakuzu pulled against the chakra ropes that bound him, screaming Reni's name.
She called back to him, pulling against the people but not yet hurting them. Kakuzu managed to force a hand up, and quickly dropped two fingers in a signal they both knew well.
With a sudden snarl, Reni bit out the throat of one while pushing away from another, managing to free herself from their grasp. She dropped to the ground long enough to position her legs underneath her, and lunged up to leap onto another one's shoulders, twisting his neck until it popped and leaping off to avoid a hastily swung blade.
Bakura tackled her from behind, and they scuffled on the ground for a bit until she managed to get Reni underneath her, straddling her stomach and holding a knife above her in the air.
"It's all right, sister! We'll die together!" she screeched wildly, grinning with madness. Reni struggled to get free, but two other nin held her arms down, keeping her from moving.
Reni howled out into the air in fear as she tried to get her legs underneath her, but the old woman's weight kept her pinned, only managing to unbalance her slightly. Bakura licked her lips and leaned in, hissing softly in Reni's ear.
"It's all right, Hikari. We'll both go to a better place together."
She grinned again as she raised the knife above her head, ready to plunge it down into Reni's ribcage, and Kakuzu could only watch in horror as he pulled against the ropes, struggling to reach her.
The girl clamped down on a scream building in her throat, watching with wide eyes the insane woman above her. She didn't recognize the name she kept calling her, but she wasn't that person and never would be.
The woman raised the knife in her hand, and Reni howled while trying to get her legs underneath her to throw her off, but it was to no avail. She could hear the giant bellowing her name, but he couldn't get to her, ropes holding him back. The woman raised the knife high above her head, and Reni closed her eyes in anticipation of her death.
Suddenly, all the weight was yanked off of her, and she snapped open her eyes to see one of the giant wolves snarling as it tore the woman apart. All the other people were screaming and trying to throw off their attackers, but the starving animals wouldn't give as they bit and tore.
The girl saw one creeping up on the giant, and she snarled a warning at it, rolling to her feet. To her surprise, it ducked its head and scampered away, leaving the giant alone as he struggled to untangle himself from the ropes.
The smaller man shouted as he jumped away from another wolf, and she growled at that one too, again watching in astonishment as it left him be at her growl. Why were they listening to her?
Her eyes flicked toward the wolf she had helped kill earlier, and it hit her. That had been the alpha of the pack, and by killing him, she had become alpha herself. When she had howled in fear, she had summoned them to her assistance, and now they were providing them with a way to escape this horrid place.
She ran forward and pulled the ropes off the giant as the smaller man ran to her, muttering something under his breath as he walked forward.
She pulled the giant free, and he growled something and picked her up, running away from the carnage. As they ran by the child that had bugged her earlier, she saw a wolf cornering it, and she growled at it to back off. It looked at her and obeyed, leaving the child alone.
They ran back to the house, and the giant hastily set her down and ran into the room they had slept in earlier, grabbing the supplies they had. As he did so, she walked to a window, watching the wolves tearing everyone apart. Some people were managing to run into the swamp, but a lot were being hunted down, brought to their knees like deer.
The giant came back, and she chittered to him briefly before leaving the window, following him out the door.
As they left the building, a particularly large wolf cornered them against the wall, crouched and prepared to spring. The giant placed himself in between her and the creature, and the smaller man stood beside him, weapon raised.
While they were looking at the wolf, she peered through their legs and growled softly, giving a direct order to leave. The wolf looked uncertain, but another snarl made it yelp and run away, tail between its legs. The two men looked puzzled, but shook it off and ran on, one on each side of her.
They ran swiftly to the outskirts of the village, and when they reached the crest of the hill they turned and looked back, viewing the scene below them.
A fire style technique gone wrong was blazing through the village, the user probably already torn to shreds. Smoke hung in the air, and more buildings caught as the wind blew. Screams echoed through the air, along with growls.
A wolf ran up the hill at them, and before it could clear the trees and be noticed by the two men, the girl growled a clear warning and hunched her shoulders, clearly threatening it. It seemed confused, shuffling back and forth on its feet a few times before attempting to walk forward again.
She snarled again, drawing the attention of the two, but the wolf stopped, hunching its shoulders, confused. She was their new alpha, and they didn't know what to do without one.
The girl turned her back on it as the two noticed the wolf standing in the shadows, musty coat blending in with the gloom. They gave surprised noises, but cautiously followed her away, keeping a watchful eye on the canine.
Kakuzu and Hidan both blinked when they saw the wolf standing in the undergrowth, shocked. They hadn't even noticed it come up to them, yet Reni had been able to growl and send it away. What the hell?
Kakuzu had noticed it as well when she sent away the wolf about to attack them. What was she, some kind of wolf god?
Unsettled, they walked away, keeping the corner of their eyes locked on the hulking wolf as they left the Village Hidden in Swamps. Somewhere in the fires lay the remains of Reni's aunt, grin still on her face.
The healing one watched the girl interact with the child and control the wolves interestingly. It seemed his plan might work out after all.