The taste of sea water woke Kakuzu up as he quickly pulled his aching body up from the ground.
Looking around the area he soon saw a massive ocean that looked as if it ran on for miles and the dark sand underneath his feet.
But the only place that had this much sand was suna, and there was defiantly no ocean even close to the hot terrain that founded the land.
Hearing a pained voice his attention soon turned to the figure that was lying near him.
Getting a closer look Kakuzu recognized the person rather quickly. If the silver hair wasn't a tell-tale sign then the mad rambling that was coming out of his partner's mouth was.
"Uh, where the hell am I. that damn brat nearly- KAKUZU about fucking time. Do you know how long I was stuck in that damn hole for? That bastard Nara thought he could 'kill me' well I-"
"Shut up Hidan" Kakuzu said quickly trying to access the situation.
The last thing he remembered was fighting the jinchuuriki brat before getting hit with the weird wind Jutsu before it went blank. Had he died? No, he couldn't be.
Of course Kakuzu knew that he would eventually die, even with the Kinjutsu that was still harboured within his body. There was no true Immortality despite what Hidan preached.
So why wasn't he in hell, oh Kakuzu knew for a fact that If there was a god, not Hidan's estranged version of it, That he would go straight to hell for all the crimes that he had committed.
So why was he struck on a beach with Hidan of all people
Sure enough spending a whole eternity with Hidan sounded worse than the fiery pits of hell in Kakuzu's mind, but how Hidan was here in the first place remained a different question.
Had the Jashinist…died
By the sound of it his partner had fought the Nara brat and lost the fight, for some reason Kakuzu didn't know. Without him there to stitch Hidan up every time he got his limbs or the occasional head cleaved off, the Jashinist was very vulnerable.
And if Hidan's head and limbs did get chopped off then there was no way he could fight back or resist it if someone were to leave him in a hole. Knowing Hidan that was what probably happened even if the purple eyed man said he was immortal.
So now he was left on some beach, kami knows where, being the only one there to explain to the silver-haired man that he had died.
What an excellent conversation that would be.
Sighing before shaking his head slightly the brown-haired man looked around, searching the area for any details that would tell him where he was.
Because if this was hell, then it was disappointing
Apart from the beach the sand seemed to go back a few miles and there was nothing he could see that gave him an idea of where he was. Even after being around for nearly a hundred years Kakuzu knew that there was only a few places in the elemental countries that had a beach such as the one he was in.
There was no point in asking Hidan since he still hadn't told the man his theory about being…dead.
Looking down at his own clothes, he was surprised when he saw the cloak that identified him as being part of Akatsuki was in good condition, despite getting most of the recall from the wind Jutsu that little blond brat hit him with.
Reaching up he felt the mask that hid the gruesome scars from the world was still there despite being ripped at the sides. The rectangle shaped hat and headband were still there too, his tattered brown hair falling down because of a tear in the fabric. But apart from his appearance he felt good considering his situation.
His chakra felt more…potent and he could actually feel it running through his veins, normally any S-rank ninja could feel chakra more easily because they were simply that powerful. But this felt different, compared to what it used to.
"What's the last thing you remember Hidan" Kakuzu said while turning to look at the silver-haired man who was still sitting in the sand with an angry scowl on his face.
"That Damn Nara the bastard buried me then I wake up on this beach with you of all people. Where the fuck were you anyway Kakuzu" Hidan stood up glaring at him "I was in that fucking hole for Jashin knows how long"
"I was…occupied"
"Occupied my ass you left me." Hidan snarled before muttering "probably decided to go back to you money obsession"
"Let us go Hidan I don't want to stay on a beach forever" Kakuzu turned calmly walking away from the man, before he heard footsteps.
Looking to his right he saw Hidan, who had his scythe swung over his exposed shoulder. It looked like Hidan had it worse than he did; the red and black cloak had torn apart and was barely covering his left shoulder and torso.
Ugly scars littered the joints of his arms and legs; the old scar from when Hidan had his head cleaved off was still there, only in the form of small silver bumps that went around his neck.
His Hair looked a mess only making him look more like the mad man he was, the silver hair that was usually neat and slicked back was now messy, sticking up in every direction and falling into the man's pale face.
Red eyes narrowed on him as Hidan threw his head back in a relaxed gesture,
"So where are we this time Kakuzu, doesn't look like sunagakure"
"That's because it's not" Hidan's eyes snapped on him
"What do you mean? I'm no genius but even I know that the only place in the elemental countries that has this much fucking sand is Suna"
"Where not in the elemental countries anymore"
"What-"
"We died"
-x-
Hysteric laughing erupted from Hidan, as if what he had just said was the funniest thing in the world. There was a hint of madness in his laugh showing just how unstable the man really was as the masochist leaned against his scythe.
"HaHAhaha are you fucking Retarded, how many times have you tried to kill me. Lord Jashin blessed me with this gift we're not dead"
Kakuzu eyed Hidan for a second before speaking "Then if we're not dead Hidan please feel free to enlighten me on your theory for our current problem"
Hidan scoffed "how the fuck should I know Kakuzu." Before laughing slightly "But if you think that THIS shitty place is hell then you really do have low standards"
Kakuzu rolled his eyes at what the man said but a faint outline of a town in the distance stopped him from replying.
"Well I guess there was a village in this shit hole of a desert" Hidan said with a smirk "Maybe the heathens would like to be my sacrifices to Lord Jashin."
"I doubt it" Kakuzu said under his breath, there was no one who would willingly let Hidan kill them and possibly mutilate them for his religion.
Kakuzu took another step forward only to step on something, looking down he saw a thick sheet of paper that had writing sprawled on the front. Picking up the piece of paper, Kakuzu looked at the picture in the middle, there stood a boy no older than 15 with a smirk on his face.
He had no shirt on and Kakuzu could see the defined mussels that lined his stomach and upper arms, showing just how strong the kid would be. He also wore a pair of quarter length black shorts, reaching just above the lower legs; an orange hat sat on his head and fell forwards slightly.
The name "Portgas. D. Ace" was printed just below the picture in thick black witting; Kakuzu presumed that this was the name of the kid.
However, what really got Kakuzu's attention was the bold writing underneath that said "Dead or Alive" and bellow that was the number "550.000.000".
In all cases this looked like a bounty out of the 'bingo book' that he was so fond of, only in the bingo books there was normally more information of the person in question, only in cases of people from famous clans like the Uchiha had so little information put in their bounty's, because of the secrets surrounding the clan or kinjutsu they held.
Kakuzu eyes had widened when he saw the price they were offering for this persons head, 550 million was unheard of except in cases of S-rank Shinobi.
The highest he had ever seen was when Madara Uchiha was still around, ranking up a whole 120 million ryo on his bounty before his death.
You could almost see the Ryo symbol in his eyes as the wheels in his head started to turn, only being vaguely aware when Hidan turned towards him.
"Oi Kakuzu what you got in your hand." Hidan said, walking towards him with a bored look on his face. Seeing the gleam in Kakuzu's eyes Hidan knew that the paper in the immortals hand had interested him.
but after being partnered up Kakuzu for so long, Hidan knew that the only things that interested him enough to get that gleam in his eyes was the thought of a bounty with a high price.
A really high price
Grabbing the poster out of the man's hand he soon recognized it to be a bounty, not a normal bounty like the one's from the book Kakuzu always read but still a bounty.
Looking at the kid in the photo for a second, not recognizing him then looked at the price that was being offered, Hidan now knew what had excited his partner.
"Damn" Hidan whistled "I'm guessing that you're dragging me along while you hunt down your shitty bounty" he sighed before snarling "assuming we find out where the fuck we are" and kicking the sand.
Kakuzu smirked darkly before replying "Of course" and continued walking towards the village that was now in his line of sight. "Akatsuki can wait a few weeks...besides there are other members" Kakuzu said quietly but Hidan heard it.
"yeah but the fucker's made us do all the shitty work." Hidan said, kicking another pile of sand. "how did the puppet bastard put up with all this sand, it's already in my damn shoes." he wined, his scythe swinging in the air as Hidan raised his foot and started to shake it, attempting to get rid of the sand.
Kakuzu sighed and attempted to block the man's voice. But as Kakuzu knew all to well, Hidan had a gift when it came to talking.
meaning he never shut up even when his head was detached from his neck.
luckily the village they were heading for wouldn't take them that long to reach, since Kakuzu could see it from here. If they were lucky then they would find out what reign they were in.
Then he would be able to hunt down that bounty that was worth so much.
-x-
The village in question was small and the foundations build near the border of the country. But close enough to the capital to earn a steady income, despite the country's decreasing economic situation that was getting more noticeable as the months went on.
They never really had travellers because the people who visited Alabasta normally headed straight for capital and completely forgot the outer towns.
Ever since Crocodile took over it looked like it would be beneficial, especially to the outer countries. But as time went on it turned into a curse, disease and hunger spread through towns like this one, the kingdom of Alabasta barely getting by.
But of course the capital turned into a landmine for travelers and merchants, soon becoming rich and known as a hot spot for casinos and restaurants.
Yet the people of Alabaster still suffered
Some citizens had enough and soon became known as the Rebels, trying to take over Crocodile and give power back to the people.
Soon starting war between the two forces
They had stayed at a stalemate for a few months now, neither side winning, even though Crocodile's power was superior same for his army.
So when people did pass through their village they became suspicious, even though the two people looked nothing like any of Crocodiles men or the rebels.
But as they knew all to well, looks could be deceiving.
-x-
Kakuzu knew as soon as he and Hidan entered the village that the people were suspicious, more like paranoia at its finest.
As soon as they entered the village they were ambushed as the villagers stood around them, holding various weapons at them.
"Who are you" an old man spat out, Kakuzu guessed that the man was the village elder. Despite the mask of anger the man showed, he could hear the desperation as the old man spoke.
"Bad fucking day to pick a fight old man, I'm already pissed about walking through a damn desert" Hidan said with a scowl reaching over to grab his scythe.
"Don't do anything that you will regret, boy" the man said with confidence and Kakuzu could see the Anger on Hidan's face turn into overall rage.
"Who the hell are you calling Boy, old man?" Hidan snarled as he raised his scythe, digging into the ground and carving out the familiar sign. "As long as we leave one of the fuckers alive for info then I can sacrifice the rest to lord Jashin." Hidan said mostly to himself as an insane glint entered the Jashinist's red eyes.
"As you can see my associate is planning on killing everyone in this village" Kakuzu said in a neutral tone "we're just simple travellers, all we want is a few questions answered."
"I doubt you would want your village slaughtered just because you refused to answer such trivial questions" he finished as the old man's gaze suddenly softened.
"Fine what do you want to know" the people around the village elder looked at the man in disbelief "Enzo why are you suddenly giving into these thug's demands like-"
"Because all the young man wants is a few questions answered and I can tell from experience that his associate could kill us all within a matter of seconds without batting an eyelash." Enzo said as the crowd of villagers looked even more shocked,
"Isn't that right brat"
"You better believe – WAIT who the fuck are you calling a brat? Damn ge-"Hidan raged before Kakuzu cut him off, it wouldn't be good to let Hidan kill the man who would give them information.
"Where are we?" Kakuzu asked as Enzo gave him a weird look before answering,
"You're in Caido town, located near the capital of the Alabaster kingdom. If you're looking for specifics then Alubarna is located north from here."
"You're not from around here I take it" Enzo asked, seeing the confused looks on Hidan and Kakuzu's face.
"I have never heard of Alabasta kingdom in all my years on this earth, which elemental country is it within" Kakuzu demanded as Enzo sighed,
"I doubt you would have with all the trouble this country's been having lately. Ever since that damn shichibukai took over the country suddenly began to go downhill." Enzo face twisted into a look of sadness "soon I fear Alabasta will become forgotten with its people".
"Who is this shichibukai you mentioned" Kakuzu said while Enzo looked confused "why would you want to know about that bastard Crocodile for"
"Crocodile" Hidan and Kakuzu said in unison, having no idea of who this 'Crocodile' was.
"che, you really have no idea do you?" Enzo muttered.
"Then tell us old man" Hidan said with a glare. Silence surrounded the man for a few seconds before he meet Hidans eyes with a glare.
"Fine brat, but don't expected this story to have a happy ending" he turned around and used his stick to pull him forward, "follow me, these legs can't take standing anymore".
Hidan and a reluctant Kakuzu soon followed Enzo as he led them down the street, going further and further into the town with every step.
Soon they reached larger building that was way bigger than the others, clad in darkness with the black wood that made up the structure.
Kakuzu was oddly reminded of the buildings of his hometown, since they were built with the same type of wood.
The smaller man led them into the compound, moving through the house until he reached the back room.
Enzo moved to the corner of the room and sat down on a brown leather chair that filed most of the wall, because of its size. But the atmosphere in the room changed as Enzo reached into his pocket, Kakuzu tensed fearing an attack.
"Relax, I'm only getting a stress relief" bringing a median sized pipe to his lips before grabbing a match, lighting the pipe that now puffed out smoke with every breath.
"What is it with old men and damn pipe's" Hidan raged "so are you gonna tell us the shitty story or do I have to kill you. I rather like the second option myself, buuut I've had enough of you to wait for your fucked up version of story time" Kakuzu grasped Hidan's shoulder before he really did kill the man.
"Is that so? Fine I will tell you everything i know, brat" Enzo blinked deeply, taking a long puff of his pipe before opening his mouth to talk,
"It all started with a man named Gold Rodger..."
AN- so this is the new chapter and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. This should be where the true plot starts to show and I've just thought of lots of ideas, but getting that written down is a different story. I was originally going to have Hidan kill Enzo but decided against it for obvious reasons. Hidan and Kakuzu have to find out that there in a different world and Enzo can't do that if he's dead.
but thanks for the reviews that i received and for the followers.
planning on setting up a poll for the decision of if Hidan and Kakuzu should become...
- marines (can't imagine that) or Pirates.
and there is also a third option of them joining the shichibukai , which would probably be more likely.
they could join other pirate crews, which i have seen people do in other fan fictions. but if you have any ideas, please review and tell me.
thanks for reading