Chapter 3

Hidan was terrified. Why was he here? Had Master changed his mind? He really hoped he hadn't. The neko took a deep breath and slowly turned around. Behind him stood a young man with round glasses and silver hair tied back into a low ponytail. Since the neko could talk, all he could do was stare at the other with big, terrified eyes.

"Hidan, were are your manner? Haven we taught you that you are to bow when facing us?" Kabuto said as he stepped forward causing Hidan to back up and press himself against the car, holding onto his notebook like his life depended on it. Konan, who was on the other side of the car, saw this through the windshield. Anger began to rise within her a she saw how the man scared the neko. She walked around the car, keeping her head high and with an angry voice she spat "What do you think that you're doing?"

The young man turned his gaze to her with a clearly faked smile on his lips. "Well I'm just saying hello to Hidan here. He used to live with me and my guardian."

"You live with Orochimaru?" Konan said and raised an eyebrow, as Hidan quickly hid behind her. "Yes I do. He took me in when my parents died. Oh I haven't properly introduced myself. My name is Kabuto" the man said and gently bowed. Konan just crossed her arms and looked at him with cold eyes. "What did you want Hidan?" Kabuto gave her a cruel smile as he looked straight at the neko who peaked out from behind the woman.

"Well as I believe you know, Hidan used to live with us. Can't I say hello to an old friend?"

"After what the two of you have done to him, I don't want you coming near him ever again!" she yelled at the silver haired man who looked at her with shocked eye. Hidan was shocked as well. Did Konan just stand up for him? To Kabuto?

"Well I can tell that I'm not welcome hear, so I'll take my leave. Nice to see you Hidan" the man said with a wicked smile before hurrying over to a small, blue car and drove of. The neko was still holding onto Konan's arm, slightly trembling.

After making sure that the jerk Kabuto was gone, Konan turned around to face the neko. She looked at him with a confident smile and said "Hidan I promise that we will never let that man or Orochimaru hurt you ever again" Tears were beginning to form in the neko's eyes as he dived forward and gave her the biggest hug me could giver and cried into her chest, eras flat on his head and tail wrapped around his leg. They stood there in the parking lot for a while. Konan let Hidan cry his heart out as she ran her hand in small circles on his back.

When the neko finally calmed down, Konan gently guided him back into the car and soon they were on the road home. The blue haired noticed the Hidan looked a lot happier during the drive home, like he was finally out of his protecting shell. "Maybe he's starting to come out. That's good. He deserves to be happy" she thought as she pulled over at the house. They both got out and walked into the house where they were greeted by an exited Deidara, who quickly hand his hands on the bags when now inspected the new clothes they had bought, happily chatting with Hidan who sat next to him on rug in the living room. The silver haired neko wasn't at all as tensed as before.

Pain walked in with two cups of coffee just as Konan took of her shoes. He gave her one of the cups and gently kissed her. "Did thing go alright?" she smiled before looking away with a more serious look on her face. "Orochimaru's little assistant confronted Hidan" she said with a cold voice. Pain's eyes widened. "Kabuto?" she nodded. An uneasy feeling hung around them so Pain decided to change the topic. "Well it seems like you managed to get Hidan to relax a bit at least" Both looked over to where Hidan and Deidara were sitting and observed the two nekos. "You could say that he finally let out his feelings" Pain raised both eyebrows but looked happy. It was a good thing that the silver neko was opening up to them so they could help him.

"Hidan, can I ask you something, un?" Deidara suddenly asked, looking away. The silver neko nodded but he was stating to feel a bit nervous. What was he going to ask? "What happened when you lost your voice, un?" Hidan felt his chest tighten and his entire body tensed. Deidara noticed the effect of his question and quickly added "But it's fine if you don't want to tell me. I didn't mean to make you upset or anything, un"

"It's okay. I guess I need to tell you sooner or later" the other wrote in the note book and showed Deidara. "You want me to get Pain so he gets to know this to, un?" Hidan nodded but he didn't look at the blond. Deidara, who felt a bit guilt to have made Hidan so uncomfortable, leaned in and gave him a big hug before standing and to find Pain.

A few moments later Deidara came back with Pain and Konan. Deidara went back to sitting next to Hidan on the floor while Pain and Konan sat down on the sofa. "So Hidan, Deidara said you wanted to tell us something" the orange haired man said and leaned forward. The neko nodded and wrote in his notebook. He then gave it to them. "I think maybe all of you should get to know this. But I guess I'll have to write it down and one of you'll have to read it" Pain looked serious but nodded. "You sure you want everyone to know?" Konan asked with a concerned look on her face. He nodded and looked at Deidara who just smiled at him, glad that Hidan was starting to open up to them.

Hidan spend the rest of the afternoon writing in his notebook. He sat in the corner of the living room, out of sight from everyone. Tobi had been very curious of want he had been writing but Hidan hadn't let anyone see it yet. He was so deep in thoughts that he didn't notice Konan who walked over to him with a tray since he wouldn't sit at the table, for two reasons. One: that he was still a bit scared that they would punish him if he broke the rules that Orochimaru had beaten into him. The marks still ached when he thought about it and, Two: he was a bit unsure if he trusted the other just yet.

When she touched his shoulder, she caused him to jump, slap her hand and shrug away from her. "Hidan it's me, calm down" When the neko realized what he had done, he quickly bowed his head and curled up into a tight ball as if he expected that she would hit him. But the blow never came. Instead Hidan felt a hand gently caress the side of his face, making him look up in surprise. "Don't worry. It was an accident right?" the neko quickly nodded, reaching for Konan's hand and carefully licked the small red mark he had caused. "Thank you sweetie. Now eat up okay?" she said and placed the tray on the floor in front of the neko and stood up. Hidan reached for the plate and sniffed on the food. It smelled really good, he took a bite and soon he had finished it all. It had been some time since he had been able to eat until he was full. It was a nice feeling.

When he was done, he stood up, took the tray and walked into the kitchen where he found Itachi and Kisame doing the dishes. He gently tapped on the blues man's back, since he couldn't reach his shoulder, to get his attention. Kisame turned around and was a bit surprised when he could see anyone. Then he heard a small cough and looked down to see the silver neko standing behind him holding the tray. "Oh, hello there Hidan" he said with a big smile. Itachi also turned around as he continued to dry the plate he was holding. "You have more dishes for us? As if we weren't having enough of it" the black neko snapped and turned back. Hidan's eras laid flat on his head as he looked back at Kisame. "Don't worry. He's just grumpy. You want me to take that?" the blue man said and pointed at the tray in the silver neko's hands. Hidan nodded and gave a quick bow before rushing back to his corner.

"What's with you Itachi?" Kisame asked as they continued.

"Nothing. I just don't understand him that's all" the other said, tail twitching slightly.

"Oh? How's that?"

"Well, he doesn't say anything. I know he can't talk but he seems so distant" Kisame stepped back from the sink while drying his hand of on a towel. "Itachi, you know he's been through a lot. It's only natural for him to feel a bit insecure. Besides we don't know what Orochimaru did to him but I can tell you that it wasn't good." This made Itachi look up with wide eyes. He had never really given much thought to what Orochimaru actually may have done, and now he felt quite bad for snapping at the silver neko.

He decided to apologize to Hidan. Itachi walked into the living room with his ears standing up, trying to find the sliver neko. He soon heard the scrambling of a pen and followed it. "Hidan? Why are you sitting in the corner?" he asked when he found the other who looked up in surprise. "I'm not suppose to sit in the furniture" Itachi looked a bit shocked. Was he serious? "You know it okay for you to do it here. No one will be mad okay?" the silver neko tilted his head to the side. The black neko grabbed the other's wrist, pulling Hidan with him to the sofa and sat down, Hidan a bit unsure. "Is it okay if I watch TV while you write?" Hidan nodded and continued to write in his note book. The sat like that for nearly an hour until Itachi felt something in his side. He turned to see that if was, only to find a now sleeping Hidan gently leaning against his arm. The black neko slowly moved of the sofa so that he wouldn't wake the other and grabbed on the blankets hanging over the back of an armchair. He laid it over Hidan and walked up the stairs to go to bed himself. But before he went to sleep, he quietly snuck into Kakuzu's bedroom (that he now shared with Hidan) and poked the banker who was sitting at the desk.

"What?" Kakuzu grunted as he looked up from the book he was reading. "I was just gonna tell you that Hidan is sleeping downstairs if you wondered where he was" Itachi said with a rather cold since he didn't like the attitude he was getting from the banker. "Whatever. Anything else?"

"Nope. Good night Kakuzu" the masked man only grunted as Itachi walked out. The banker continued to read for a while before getting ready for bed. He slid into his bed, turned of the light and awaited sleep. But for some reason, he could fall asleep. He just kept thinking about the silver neko downstairs. Why was he thinking about him? He was just another neko, but he couldn't help but feel sad for the way he must have been treated, and he wanted to make him feel safe again. After nearly 30 minutes, Kakuzu got up and walked down the stairs and into the living room where he found Hidan curled up on the sofa. He gently lifted the sleeping neko and walked back upstairs, laying him down on Hidan bed before going back his own.

Why was he feeling so strongly for the neko? And why did he want to gain his trust so much? This was the last Kakuzu thought before falling asleep.

TBC

There, all done ^_^ sorry for taking so long.

Hope you liked it. Please post a review and tell me what you thought :-D