Chapter 47: Remember the Name
The first thing Hidan did after making sure both he and Mei were safe and far enough away from Kure-Ji-Kira was to find them different clothes. They needed to completely erase anything that linked them to Kure-Ji-Kira, but all the while they did that, Hidan could not stop thinking about Kakuzu.
Even a whole year later and Hidan still worried about his love. He checked the box containing Kakuzu's true heart, his proof of love for Hidan, to make sure it was still beating. It pounded steadily every time and put Hidan's own heart at ease just a little. Even so, he wished he had more information. If he just knew where Kakuzu was he would feel better, but then again he knew he would just go and try to find him if he did know.
Hidan had to focus on keeping both him and Mei safe and alive, which proved to be far more difficult than it would seem.
Hidan had taken Mei as far from Kure-Ji-Kira as he could and they had settled down all alone in a huge nearby city. Hidan made sure they kept their heads down for some time after escaping since he could hear the people in the town talking about the mass breakout from the local prison. After a month or two it calmed down and when Hidan thought he hadn't heard anything in a while he allowed both him and Mei to stop hiding as much.
Hidan soon figured out that he needed a job and something to do with Mei while he was looking for one. Two months after their escape he sent her to the public elementary school around the corner from where they were living. The first day Hidan picked her up from the school she was scowling as she said,
"I don't like school, Dad."
Already being in a bad mood from having no luck at finding work he growled in response,
"How come?"
"It's really boring. I mean, everyone was paying attention to me and staring at me but they seemed like they were scared of me or something."
Hidan glanced down at her and slid his eyes over the black scar on her cheek. He sighed. When he was younger his parents had tried putting him in school too. Not only did he curse out his teachers and the other students, he nearly killed a kid for calling him a pale, white-haired freak. He didn't want to think about what Mei would do to someone if they made fun of her. Especially since he made her carry around a pocket knife at all times for her own safety.
"Damn..." He muttered as he rubbed his forehead. "Wish I could let you stay at home but I really don't know what Id do if something happened to you and I left you all alone. You're gonna have to keep going. Try to make a friend or whatever."
Mei nodded, wishing she could do something to help her Dad, and wishing her Daddy was there to take care of both of them.
"What kind of job are you trying to get?" She asked, looking up at Hidan and smiling.
When she smiled at him like that, Hidan was really glad he hadn't killed her when she was a baby.
"I'm not good at much, so I don't really know. I just went around today and tried to find something. I'm fucking worried we're gonna caught someday too."
"If someone tries to get you, Dad, I'll just cut the bastard up!" Mei smirked as she pulled out her pocket knife, opened it, and slid the smooth edge alone her thumb.
Hidan laughed then thought of something.
"Erm... Mei, try not to say words like 'bastard' in school, huh? I don't think teachers like it."
"Ok!" She nodded happily.
The next day, Hidan was called into the school to meet with Mei's teacher, a young woman with long dark hair and eyes that made her look like a stupid dog. She wasn't very strict or mean, she just seemed upset as Hidan sat down across from her and next to a nervous looking Mei.
"Today Mei called another girl in her class the 'B' word."
Hidan turned on Mei and scowled, "I told you not to use words like that, dummy!"
"Nuh-uh! You said not to say bastard not bitch!" Mei replied, sticking her tongue out.
"Mei!" the shocked teacher replied.
"Sorry Miss Kaplan..." Mei bent her head. Hidan rolled his eyes and looked back at the teacher saying,
"I'll come up with a list of words she shouldn't use tonight. It's not really her fault for not understanding why they're bad."
"Ok..." The teacher said warily. Hidan picked Mei up and carried her as they walked home. She fell asleep on his shoulder then when they got back home he woke her up.
"Aren't you a little old to be falling asleep on my shoulder?"
"So what?" She asked snarkily. He smiled then became serious.
"Okay. I'm need to teach you how to blend in with other kids normally. Firstly, you shouldn't say bad words like bastard, bitch, fuck, damn, shit, hell, and whore."
"Why are those bad words? Everyone always used them all the time back at our old home. Especially you!" She asked.
"They're only bad for kids, like you."
"But you said Jashin loves bad words!" Mei said, obviously becoming frustrated.
Hidan opened his mouth to reply but then stopped. He patted the bow in Mei's hair that was adorned with the Jashinist symbol then unclipped it and put in on a shelf next to her bed. He also took off his rosary and laid it next to her bow.
"For right now... you can't talk that much about Jashin-sama."
"But-!"
"Shut up." He said, though not very harshly. "You need to trust me, ok."
"Lord Jashin might hate us, Dad..." She whispered nervously.
"No, he won't." Hidan replied firmly. "Just do this for a little while until we find Kakuzu. Then, we can cause all the pain and destruction we want for Jashin-sama forever."
Mei pouted for a minute then nodded. Hidan nodded back then stood up and left the room to go make dinner. Mei made sure Hidan was busy, then went over to a drawer and pulled it open. Inside was a collection of pieces of glass Mei had found on the ground around their apartment building. She had cleaned them so they were clear and sparkly. She loved the way glass looked, and the way it felt. She really loved things that were smooth and shiny more than anything. Also, there was something about glass that always reminded her of Orochi, and the way his glasses had shone when he tackled Yamada and rescued her. Yeah, she had really liked that...
Life passed uneventfully for a while. Mei went to school, and somehow Hidan found a job working as a phone sex operator in the day and a bartender at a gay bar at night. He found both jobs while looking in the cities local gay newspaper. They weren't the best jobs but it did give Hidan more than enough money. He and Mei spent it quite frivolously though. They travelled a lot and bought as many things as they wanted. Hidan wondered what Kakuzu's reaction would be if he ever found them using his precious money that way.
Finally the time came for Mei's 10th birthday. That was when things really began to get interesting.
It was two days before her birthday when something finally came along that made Hidan go back to really being his old self. He was working a double shift at his bar when in walked Sasori and Deidara.
"Why do we have to come to a bar like this? You know I can't dance." Sasori complained as Deidara held him by the hand and pulled him towards the floor.
"But you can watch me dance, un!" Deidara replied. Sasori smirked.
"Well I do like th-" His eyes suddenly found Hidan behind the bar and he yelled, "HIDAN?"
Hidan glanced up curiously, then when he saw Sasori waving at him he instantly climbed over the counter and started running towards them.
"Hey Hidan!" he boss yelled, "Get back here or you're fired!"
"You can suck it!" Hidan yelled back, his heart racing. "I'm quitting this shit hole anyway!"
Deidara and Sasori ran towards him and when he reached them he threw his arms around them both, laughing the whole time. Both Deidara and Hidan tried to talk at once and then finally Sasori barked,
"Shut up! Let Hidan talk. But first we should really go outside."
Deidara rolled his eyes but nodded anyway. They walked out the front door and Hidan said excitedly,
"Nothing's really been happening to us. We've been laying low. What about you guys though! Is- is Kakuzu-?"
"No. Kakuzu isn't with us. We thought he would be with you." Sasori scowled.
"We got separated as we were trying to escape." Hidan said softly his heart falling.
Both Sasori and Deidara were silent for a moment then Deidara spoke up lightly muttering, "Hidan, un. He might be... dead, yeah?"
"No." Hidan replied fiercely. "That bastards not fucking dead. If I know anything I know that!"
Sasori smirked. "Yeah. He'd never be the one to die easily anyway."
Hidan smiled then asked, "So it's just you two then? Where's everyone else? The rest of Akatsuki?"
"We're all together. We're staying at Leader-sama, er, Nagato's house." Sasori explained.
"All of you?"
"Yeah. Leader-sama's house is huge! You have to come see it. un! I'm sure he would let you stay there too! We were actually looking for you guys for a while but we never got any leads or anything, yeah. How's Mei doing? Is she big now? How old is she, un?"
Hidan's mind was reeling. Pein would let them stay at his house? With everyone from Akatsuki? They were bound to find Kakuzu faster if they were all together! He smiled and replied,
"This is perfect! I have to go tell Mei now! She'll be so happy to see you all!"
"She's doing good then?" Sasori asked, a light smile coming across his lips.
"She's turning 10 in two-" Hidan stopped and looked thoughtful for a second. "Wait! I just had a fucking brilliant idea! You guys can all come and surprise her for her birthday! This is perfect! She's been kind of depressed lately and this will totally cheer her up!"
Both Sasori and Deidara agree to Hidan's idea and after talking a little more they part ways, Hidan going home early because he had just been fired. When he got home he saw an empty ramen packet on the counter and saw Mei's light on in her room.
"Mei!" he yelled.
"Dad?" She asked as she poked her head out of her bedroom door.
"What do you want to do for your birthday?"
Mei looked down, suddenly depressed. She was remembering back when she was in Kure-Ji-Kira, birthdays were always fun, because everyone would come and have fun. She didn't really have any friends that she liked at school, and she felt like a party with just her dad would be kind of lame.
"Nothing." She replied.
"Okay." Hidan shrugged as he replied. Mei was taken aback for a moment, thinking Hidan would at least insist on taking her out to eat or something, then she just ignored her suspicion and retreated back to her room. Hidan tried not to let his good mood show too much, but he was smiling as he opened his own pack of ramen and tossed the noodles into boiling water.
Two days later, on Mei's birthday, Hidan picked her up from school and as they got on the subway told her that they were going to visit some friends of his.
"From the phone sex or the gay bar?" She asked jokingly.
Hidan glared playfully then smirked. "The gay bar."
"You aren't cheating on Daddy are you?"
"Course not!" Hidan replied in an aghast voice.
Mei laughed. "I know! You still talk to his box. You still love him."
Hidan glanced at her curiously. Since when had she heard him talking to Kakuzu's heart? He smiled. She was just too damn smart sometimes. He wondered how she could really be his child.
When they reached the right station and got outside, a car came right up to the sidewalk and honked at them. Hidan and Mei got in and the driver, who had quite a few nice piercings Hidan noticed, took them exactly where they were trying to go.
"A driver?" Mei asked, now becoming much more interested. "Who are we seeing again."
"Some old friends." Hidan replied and couldn't help himself from smirking.
When they arrived and Mei saw the house they were going to she nervously asked Hidan, "Dad, are you sure I should be with you?"
"Oh yeah. They said they wanted to see you." Hidan replied.
Hidan was really excited as they walked towards the door. The past year had been very boring and he knew it was hard for Mei to live with just him. It had probably been really boring.
Hidan knocked on the front door and they heard some arguing coming from behind it. Suddenly the door was thrown open and two flashes of pink burst out and tackled Mei, shouting:
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEI!"
Both Aki and Ueno landed on top of Mei as she crashed to the ground. They were chanting her name as they both tried to give her hugs and kisses at the same time. When she finally realized what was happening, she looked towards Hidan with wide eyes and he smiled. She then smiled so big it was like her face might break.
"Aki!" She cried when they finally let her sit up. "Ueno!"
"Mei!" They shouted in unison. "We missed you so much!"
"I missed you guys to!" She then looked inside the house and her heart beat faster. "Is... is everyone else here... too?"
"Yup!" They answered then each gave her a hand to help her off the ground. She walked inside to find nearly all of Akatsuki smiling back at her. Hidan was high-fiving Suigetsu and Kisame in the back.
First She saw Sasori and Deidara. She ran to them and hugged them both. They explained to her how they met up with Hidan and told her happy birthday. She then saw Tobi, Zetsu, Sasuke, and Naruto. They all gave her hugs too and wished her happy birthday. The whole time she went around the room Aki and Ueno followed her, beaming.
"Aunt Karin! Aunt Konan!" She cried, her smile simply growing even wider. "Where is Uncle Pein?" She asked after hugging Konan.
"You can call me Nagato now." A voice said from behind Konan. Mei became a bit confused when a thin man she didn't know stepped out and smiled at her.
"Hi Mei." He said tentatively. "I am the real body of Pein."
She seemed nervous at first, but then her smile returned.
"Then are you going to wish me happy birthday Uncle Nagato?"
He smiled and replied, "Happy birthday Mei."
Konan then looked like she remembered something and led Mei to a smaller room off to the side of the main entrance. In a cradle that hung from the ceiling there was a tiny baby, sound asleep, with dark blue hair. Mei's eyes widened and she stuttered,
"I- I didn't think it'd b- been this long since I saw everyone!"
Konan just smiled, obviously ecstatic and overwhelmed with happiness. Mei understood how she felt.
"I'm already pregnant again." Konan whispered to her. "But don't tell anyone yet."
They shared a giggle then as they left the room, Aki and Ueno appeared. They had been waiting outside the door for her. Mei glanced around the room until she saw Kisame, Suigetsu, and Juugo.
"Hey kiddo!" Suigetsu chuckled.
She hugged them each for a while, then something seemed to glint in the corner. Her heart beat even faster from all the excitement as she made her way over to Kabuto. He patted her head and said,
"You sure got bigger, huh?"
"Is...?" She couldn't seem to get the words out. Kabuto found it very amusing.
"He's outside. In the garden. He said something about not wanting to get in your way while you said hi to everyone. Seems like he's just shy though, since he was really determined to see you today."
She nodded, her mouth hanging slightly open. Aki and Ueno appeared by her side once again and Ueno pouted.
"You really wanna see him that bad?"
She just nodded, smiling. Aki rolled his eyes at Ueno and the latter shrugged in reply. Mei walked outside and into the garden. The light shone into her eyes and she heard some water running like in a small stream. She looked around and saw that there was a stream in what Kabuto had called 'the garden'. There was also a tree, and under that tree, she could just see the glint of Orochi's glasses as he stared at her with his animal, yellow eyes. He didn't smile, but she was probably smiling enough for the both of them as she ran towards him and hugged him tight.
"I never got to say thank you." She muttered breathily.
"Don't worry about it." He said cooly. "I will always protect you."
Mei's eyes, which had been blood-red ever since their escape from the prison, looked almost exactly the color of her blush as she stared into Orochimaru's.
"OI!" They suddenly heard Hidan call from the house. "WHY IS IT SO DAMN COZY UNDER THAT TREE?"
Both Mei and Orochi turned and stuck there tongues out at Hidan who only fumed about it for a minute until the sight of Mei so happy made him relax.
Nearly everything was perfect. The only thing missing was... Kakuzu.
Hey yo! Uuuum. Woot! Everyone's back together! A little older! Stuff! Yeah!
Review and yeah! Un!
KeikoPan- DEIDARA HAS TAKEN CONTROL OF THIS STORY UN! BE PREPARED YEAH!
