My Pain is Yours

Chapter 9: Dealing with Six-Tails

Kakuzu crashed through the trees, muttering swears beneath his breath and cursing Hidan as he went. Aiko followed, worried for Hidan as Kakuzu continually repeated that he would kill the bastard when they caught him. Aiko had never seen someone so angry and was almost afraid.

No, she was terrified.

"K-Kakuzu?" Aiko murmured.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up already?" Kakuzu snapped.

Aiko recoiled as Kakuzu rounded on her. He glared with hatred towards her and anyone else who dared get near him at that current moment. Aiko took a cautious step backwards, eyes flashing as her hand instinctively lowered itself to her thigh where her holster was.

"Don't you dare attack me," Aiko hissed, controlling her own rage.

"Look," Kakuzu tried to restrain himself. "Just stay away from me and no harm will come to you; understand?"

With a curt nod from Aiko, Kakuzu turned back around and they began pursuing Hidan again. Aiko kept her mouth shut, trying not to put Kakuzu into a worse mood; if he lost control and they got into a fight they might not find Hidan. They had to save him, right?

Aiko began violently shaking her head. Save Hidan? What was she thinking?! Why did she even care if they saved him or not?

Then, she heard an echoing explosion that made her stomach turn.

Kakuzu looked up at the sudden sound, narrowing his eyes.

"There he is!" Kakuzu snarled. "Great! He found the Biju too! Just lovely!"

Beginning to run into the thick trees to get to the sound of the explosion, Kakuzu found himself nearing a hotter environment; whatever this Biju controlled, it was powerful. Kakuzu just hoped that it didn't possess lightning chakra, otherwise he was going to have a rough time dealing with it. He began cursing Hidan again and again.

Hidan you will be a dead man by the time I get my hands on you!

"W-wait up!" Aiko called, tripping over tree branches. "Kakuzu!"

The missing Waterfalls nin stopped again and Aiko came to a halt, panting.

"Be quiet!" Kakuzu growled. Aiko blinked and winced upon hearing a deafening crash nearby.

Blue chakra tails manifested, reaching out of the forest. Aiko wanted to scream, to get away, as she felt a massive amount of power coming towards her as the chakra monster stepped closer, snapping trees and such in half as it lunged at its prey.

Eyes widening, Aiko saw a giant beast appear, thrashing out at something and howling into the night; its roar was piercing and hair-raising. Aiko felt a tingle of fear run throughout her body, her hand hovering just above her thigh where her holster was. She gulped, heart leaping up her throat and suffocating her. Kakuzu looked back at Aiko.

"Don't make any sudden movements," he ordered, voice choked.

Then, the beast whipped its giant, wolf-like head around to look at Aiko and Kakuzu. The kunoichi quickly averted her eyes, afraid that making eye contact might enflame the beast's temper. She peeked nervously around Kakuzu, searching for Hidan.

Where was he?

However, realizing that it now had new victims to play with, the Biju turned on Aiko and Kakuzu. Raising a massive clawed paw, the beast slammed it into the ground, causing the earth to split in half from the force. Kakuzu shielded his eyes as shards of rock were launched at them, the earth opening up beneath their feet.

Aiko released a startled cry.

Debris flew into both Aiko and Kakuzu's faces, dust was kicked up and hurled at them along with rocks and twigs. The two Akatsuki nin leapt away from each other to avoid an uprooted tree and Kakuzu landed farther away from Aiko than he had anticipated.

Shit.

"Aiko!" Kakuzu roared. Where is she?! He then noticed the figure darting to his side.

"I'm okay," Aiko murmured, landing beside Kakuzu. "Nothing hit me."

"Good," Kakuzu gruffly replied. "Now where's that religious idiot?"

Another person hopped onto a rock behind them and Aiko felt her heart skip a beat.

"What did you just call me?!"

Both Aiko and Kakuzu turned around to see Hidan standing triumphantly behind them, smirking as he held a bloodied spear in his hand; his face was marred with dirt stains. Aiko scowled at him as he continued grinning. The Jashinist snorted and cracked his neck.

"It's about time you two showed up," Hidan clicked his tongue. "What took you so long? Eh?"

"You. IDIOT!" Kakuzu thundered, leaping at Hidan in an effort to rip his head off.

"H-hey! WAIT A SECOND!" Hidan yelped, escaping Kakuzu's deadly hands.

Aiko watched in horror as Kakuzu began chasing Hidan around in an attempt to actually try and kill him. She made a movement to intervene when she felt something hot and heavy breathe down her neck. A cold sweat edged down her back as she spun around.

Too late.


"You are just a stupid, selfish bastard!" Kakuzu yelled, slashing at Hidan with a kunai.

"Will you cut it out?!" Hidan shouted, trying to avoid the continual death-blows.

Hidan and Kakuzu stopped fighting in an instant upon hearing Aiko's bloodcurdling scream.

Clamping her eyes shut, Aiko opened her mouth to make a cry for help as she was thrown throughout a row of trees by the Biju, her scream stopping after she crashed through the third one, ripping through them and causing them all to snap in half on impact. Hidan and Kakuzu turned to see a row of evergreens missing, a wall of dust clouding where they had once been.

"Argh! That little moron!" Kakuzu shouted, rushing to go to Aiko's aid.

"Hey, hold up!" Hidan yelled after him.

Kakuzu spun around. "What?! Go make yourself useful and take care of the Biju!"

"I'm not taking care of that beast!" Hidan griped. "You do it."

"Fine," Kakuzu's eyes flashed. "But you have to go help Aiko."

Before Hidan could complain about that too, Kakuzu was gone to try and subdue the vicious Six-Tailed monster that had begun to unleash its full fury. Hidan smoothed out his messed-up hair and rolled his eyes; why did Kakuzu have to be such a prick?


Aiko dizzily sat up, moaning and holding her head as she pushed a tree off of her with trembling legs. Aiko's glossy hazel eyes widened as she lurched forward, coughing and hacking up blood; her ribs were broken.

Focusing her chakra, Aiko activated her Mystical Palms Healing Technique and pressed her glowing hands to her stomach and then around her back, healing her injuries. She felt the blood flow stop and she reached behind herself to grab a tree branch with which to pull herself onto her feet. She held her head in her hands, mind throbbing.

"So you're still alive? Eh?"

Looking up, Aiko found Hidan resting his elbow against the tree she was leaning against and frowned. "It looks like Kakuzu didn't kill you either," Aiko said coldly. The dim light in her eyes flickered as she glowered at Hidan. He raised an eyebrow, lips drooping into a pout.

"What's that look for?" Hidan asked.

"Nothing," Aiko muttered. She tried to walk but tripped, falling against the tree.

Her wounds weren't completely closed yet.

"Would you like a hand?" Hidan offered with a smirk.

"No, thank you," Aiko tried to walk again. The last thing she needed was help from him.

"I think you do," Hidan crooned as Aiko failed at walking for yet another time, clutching the tree.

"I do not!" Aiko felt like she was going to collapse, head still spinning.

Hidan frowned. "Hey! I'm just trying to help!" He crossed his arms over his bare chest. "Yeesh! You don't need to be angry! It's not my fault that…" Something caught his eye and he suddenly reached out and grabbed Aiko's arm, pulling her into his chest.

They narrowly missed a deadly strike from the Biju.

Aiko screamed again.

"Quit shrieking in my ear woman!" Hidan yelled, trying to get the thrashing Aiko into his arms.

The brunette finally complied, realizing that she was helpless to defend against an attack on her own. There was another loud smashing noise and Aiko buried her head into Hidan's chest to keep the rocks from hitting her face. She allowed the Jashinist to lift her into his arms and carry her to safety. As Aiko kept close to Hidan, she noticed how warm he was.

She tried to deny the blush creeping into her cheeks, but Aiko found her efforts useless.

Successfully getting Aiko out of the danger zone, Hidan promptly dropped her to the ground where she fell with a light thud. Aiko jerked her head up. "What was that for?" she demanded. Hidan shrugged casually, that dry smirk playing across his lips. Aiko tried to stand up.

"Look, just do all of us a favor and stay here," Hidan snorted, folding his arms across his chest again. "We might as well wait for that greedy old man to take care of the Biju."

Aiko didn't listen and forced herself onto her feet.

"Hey! What did I just tell you?" Hidan grimaced.

The kunoichi smiled weakly at him and replied, "Hey, I'm a ninja aren't I? I have to be strong."

Hidan rolled his eyes, looking away. "Whatever."

Then, there was one loud boom that silenced all the ones that had come before, and Aiko and Hidan found themselves tearing their gazes over to where Kakuzu was fighting the Biju. They both opened their mouths in disbelief as a billowing black cloud hung over where the battle had been taking place. From the looks of it, the smoke was beginning to dissipate and neither Aiko nor Hidan could see any signs of the Tailed Beast.

They also couldn't see any signs of Kakuzu.

"Kakuzu…?" Aiko whispered in disbelief. "Is he…?"

"Well it's about time," Hidan said, a smug smirk on his face.

Aiko whirled around. "You are the worst Hidan! You really, really are!"

"Hey!" Hidan was affronted by this. "I saved you didn't I?"

Aiko stopped, blushing furiously. "Well…yes…but…!"

"Oh for the love of god, will you two stop fighting?"

Aiko flinched, spinning around. It couldn't be…! Her jaw hung open as Kakuzu emerged from the lingering smoke, face an odd, dark greenish color, skin nearly black. His red and jade jewels flickered as a fire burst behind him, and Aiko could hear the Biju's piercing shriek of pain as its carcass went up in flames. Aiko couldn't believe it.

"You took down the Biju on your own?" Aiko exclaimed. "How did you survive?"

"I am strong," Kakuzu growled, hoping that he would finally get some respect out of Aiko and Hidan. "Do not underestimate me. We will wait here for Zetsu and then head back to Amegakure to meet up with Shinsei, Itachi, and Kisame. After that, we'll seal the beast and then everyone will go their separate ways."

"Head our separate ways?" Aiko repeated.

"Duh," Hidan drawled. "You can't expect us to find the other Biju if we're in Amegakure all the time, can you? Yeesh! Your stupidity amazes me sometimes!"

"Yes, says the Idiot King," Kakuzu grumbled.

"Hey!" Hidan shouted. "Whose side are you on Kakuzu?!"

That fool will never grow up… Kakuzu concluded, shaking his head.

Aiko tried to keep her laughter to herself as she turned away. With a little sigh, however, she then remembered that she would have to thank Hidan for saving her life; after all, if he hadn't been there, she would be dead. As she looked at his arms, Aiko noticed that they too had been burned. Funny, those burns still looked fresh.

Aiko drew in a sudden, sharp breath.

No! Wait! He got burned from protecting me!

She remembered him holding her, the warmth; it wasn't just from his body.

"Wake up Aiko!" Hidan muttered, pushing past her. Aiko turned to look at his back as he smoothed out his hair again, pushing the frayed strands down. He adjusted his cloak collar and straightened it out. Aiko could only stare as he turned around. "What are you looking at?"

"N-nothing," Aiko murmured quickly, cheeks reddening. She averted her eyes, heart beginning to pound.

I don't know what I'm supposed to be feeling right now, but why can't I stop looking at him?


Author's Note: Aiko's starting to fall in love with Hidan! Yay! This ought to start becoming very interesting; and for all of you who are wondering about Shinsei and Itachi, they will be focused on more in the next chapter, I promise! So please do look forward to that!

Speaking of the next chapter, I've been writing a lot on this story and neglecting the others, but I just can't help it! I love this story!

Please review! I would really, really appreciate it!

-Aiko of the Akatsuki