Hi! I can't believe it, 12 reviews so far. Thank you so much to anyone who's reviewed. Keep it up, it's so encouraging. Now, for chapter 5. I may have mentioned this in the last chapter (can't remember), but this story may be moving to an 'M' rating because there WILL be strong lemons near the end. So be warned :)

So anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 5- Mia the killer

"Don't you dare look!" Mia cried.
She shrugged off the towel that she had stolen in the last village, and sunk luxuriously into the warm water of the natural hot spring. It was fantastic to be able to relax once in a while, ponder some things, and get fresh air too. At least now she had someone to guard her clothes.

Hidan, who was stood behind a nearby tree, shouted back, "Why would I want to do that? You're as flat as a chopping board."

"Liar. I'm bigger than that and you know it." She was right, of course. She flushed and sank deeper so the water went up to her face. He was so insulting sometimes.

"Just hurry up!"

"I swear I won't take that long! But I am a girl, so I do need some time to be feminine. Ha!" Her feet dabbled at the bottom of the pool, and then came across something odd. She reached down and picked up the thing that her foot had discovered. "Hey Hidan- I just found a dead rabbit in the pool…"

"Just throw it out then. For crying out loud."

"It's got such a cute face… But okay." She tossed the rabbit away and continued her ambling and wondering.

What struck her was that this was a perfect time for Hidan to leave, if he wanted to. He could have dropped her clothes and crept away into the night, too quietly for a normal girl's dull ears to hear. It wasn't like his stitches needed cleaning anymore. She wasn't complaining, of course. It was a mystery what drew her to him, but the more she thought about it, the more her face would begin to heat up.

Hidan was a killer, a member of a religion that believed in utter destruction and murder. It was the way he had lived for years. But he was also an outcast from society, a freak even among his own people. That small part of their lives intertwined, giving them something in common. This was the small bit of hope that Mia needed, but she couldn't help but feel there was some measure of distance between the two of them.

It was a bridge, and there was only one thing Mia could do that would make her an equal of Hidan's.

"Are you nearly done yet?" he said impatiently, and she heard some movement from where he was.

Mia turned around, and it took her a few seconds to register what she was seeing.

They were face-to-face. Hidan had actually stepped away from the tree and was staring with interest right at her. The waist-high water tickled at her stomach, but soon stilled along with her body. His brow was furrowed, but her eyebrows shot upward.

"Um…Hidan. What do you think you're doing?" she asked pleasantly.

"It's not what you think," he said crossly. "Just hurry up so we can set up camp." That was a lie if ever she heard one.

An amicable smile spread over Mia's face, but Hidan sensed what was coming.

"Fuck…" he muttered.

Mia leapt out of the water, slung the towel back on and cracked her knuckles. Hidan, the immortal and powerful shinobi, swore again under his breath before the girl clenched her fists and beat him until her hands hurt.

The camp fire was crackling, and Hidan and Mia sat at opposite sides, with Mia still smiling and Hidan with his habitual scowl. She was sure he had been peeking, but he was still refusing to own up to it. What unnerved her a little was the way he had been looking at her since she had dried her hair with the towel and freshened up. Sure, all the dirt cuts had been cleaned from her face. Sure, her elbow-length cerulean hair had been washed for the first time in aeons. But that didn't warrant all those odd looks on his face.

Suddenly, Hidan's ears pricked and he made a deft movement to his feet. He flung the damp towel on the fire, putting it out, and stared into the distance.

"What's wrong?"

He didn't look at her, and said, "Jashinists are nearby. Ah, man… Leave me the hell alone!"

So he had put out the fire to avoid alerting them…

"Hidan… Are Jashinists ninjas?"

He shook his head. "Just normal people. Normal crazy people, mixed with some shinobi defectors like me. The ones who are looking for us are ordinary people."

Mia did a sharp intake of breath. If they found them, this would be her chance to put her on equal footing with Hidan. She got to her feet and yelled out, "Hello! Weird Jashin people- we're over here!"

"What in Jashin's name are you doing, you idiot?!" he barked.

"Hello! Just follow my voice and we'll be waiting!"

He grabbed her and covered her mouth, but it was too late. Within seconds, the ruffling of shrubs nearby was heard and three figures appeared through the foliage.

It was two males and one girl. The girl was probably nearing seventeen or eighteen, with a sumptuous figure and rich brown hair; she seemed a person with great potential in life… Which begged the question as to why she was there in the first place. One of the males was around Mia's age, with a baby-like face and angelic hair, and the other was older, tall, lanky and hostile-looking. They were all looking at Mia and Hidan like hungry animals.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Hidan muttered.

"We came to join you, of course?" the baby-faced boy said, with an irritating heightened inflection at the end of his statement.

"That is, if you don't mind," the girl added.

"I don't need a couple of annoying teenagers tagging along with me, okay? Just get lost and I won't kill you."

The lanky boy sniggered. He pointed to Mia, who continued to smile. "You've already got one, I see. I didn't think you were a lolicon, Hidan, but clearly I was mistaken."

"Look- Ruriko, Yusuke, Kai… Get lost!"

"I can get rid of them for you, Hidan," Mia offered.

"You can't do a thing."

"Oh, really?"

This was her chance! She darted forward, quick and agile. Years of running from people had benefited her after all. The three people were immediately taken off guard, and the last to react was the one Hidan called Kai, the jeering, lanky male whose eyes widened upon seeing Mia coming towards him. She raised the fist that beat Hidan earlier, and slammed it into the boy's face. He cried out and smacked to the ground, winded completely. He hit his head on a rock, too. As she was pummelling his face and body, Mia seemed to feel a kind of numbness. Even as the blood started trickling from his nose, and she was sure he had fallen beneath consciousness.

She stood properly and gave him one last kick in the abdomen, ensuring his fate.

"There," she said shakily. "I hope you get the message."

Yusuke's face lit up. "That was awesome! Thank you for getting rid of that bastard, girl."

"That settles it," Ruriko said, "We're following you both."

Yusuke and Ruriko slept surprisingly soundly around the newly burning fire, later on that evening. Their faces were peaceful in sleep. Mia wasn't sure how she felt about them following her and Hidan on their travels, seeing as she had beat their comrade to death, but it was clear now that this was a new chapter in their story.

"Mia…" Hidan muttered.

They were sat next to each other now, watching their two followers.

"What is it?"

"Why did you beat that guy to death?"

She laughed feebly. "Does it bother you?" His scowl said it all, really.

"You seem bothered by it."

Her smile broke under the pressure of the look on his face, and hers became clouded with uncertainty.

"I don't know…" she mumbled, "I just had this idea. I wanted you to see me as your equal, to put us on the same level. Things started out unfair, with me being above you and saving you from underground, and then all you did was insult me and put me beneath you, making you above me. I wanted it to be equal, because then I might earn a bit of your respect. I saw it as a challenge, but also an opportunity to get close to a person for the first time ever… I guess it does bother me a little It hasn't sunk in yet."

All of it came gushing out in a monologue. She felt her face flushing from the sudden descent into serious conversation, something that she found highly uncomfortable. Sharing feelings with anyone was difficult, let alone a person like Hidan. Who knew how she was going to be received?

"You got that right," he replied. "You are almost my equal now. We're both murderers. But I enjoy the blood, the pain in their voices. What I don't want is to be immortal, actually. It sucks, sometimes."

They both sighed and were left to their silent thoughts. He reached out and put his hand on hers.

"What the…?"

"It's hard, the first time you kill, isn't it?" he said in an oddly contemplative tone.

She shifted closer to him.

"Yeah, it is."