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FOLLOW YOUR ARROW
.
Kakuzu sat at this desk yet again, trying with every ounce of willpower to continue going through his first patient of the day's insurance papers.
He was too agitated though, too disturbed at himself, too distracted.
He didn't like this situation. Hidan was not bending to his will, not showing one single damn emotion. Not doing anything wrong aside from those first seconds of their interaction, and he'd recovered so quickly...
Kakuzu had never concerned himself with his assistants before. They never had made any impact on him at all, he felt nothing at all for their presence. But this one...
He could not understand why he was so unsettled. He was nothing more than temporary help until Kisame found him someone better. So why couldn't he get the brat off his mind?
He was probably in there, going through everything, running his stupid pale fingers over all the files, rearranging things as he saw fit, as if what's-her-name that was here only yesterday had never happened! The nerve of the boy!
Wait... wait.. no. There he started again. First of all, he really didn't care for the girl who'd just quit. No, now he was just making up reasons to be angry with him.
Secondly, that's what Hidan should be doing. If he were wasting time, that would be a different thing.
Kakuzu looked up to his closed office door, considering this.
What if he were goofing off at this very moment? Then the Doctor could catch him, make him feel two feet tall, and he could finally get back to work. Surely that was the problem, he hadn't gotten to raise his voice yet. His body was just witholding unneccesary stress.
He started to stand up, then stopped himself.
What if he wasn't goofing off? Then what would he do? Probably make himself look a fool.
He lowered back to his seat. No, he needed a real reason to go up there. Checking on the new meat would just be a side-mission...
But... had he forgotten anything? Forgotten to tell him something, forgotten to turn any of the machinery on...
The corner of his mouth crooked up as it occured to him. Yes! The copy machine! He'd walked right past it. In fact he actually did need to make a copy of Hidan's information, so there was even more justification to make a quick trip to the front to turn it on.
He dropped the ink pen he'd been holding, slipped his glasses off, set them lightly on the desk, and pushed from his chair.
This was all he needed. Just a little venting and he could get back to work. Damn that infernal man, what the hell was wrong with him to be so... so...
So what?
Uninfuriating and therefore more infuriating than average? So disciplined? So attentive and respectful?
His face twisted to a scowl as he stalked up the hallway. Great, now he was angrily complementing him for lack of anything else to do about the situation.
There had to be something wrong with him. He had to push his buttons somehow.
.
He entered the reception office only to find the man going through the drawers of the desk, as he'd envisioned earlier.
He had to stop for a moment though, just to get used to the sight of a male sitting behind that big desk. It made the chuck on furniture seem not so overpowering in the room, like it was meant to be used by a man instead of the young women that had always inhabited it.
Then Hidan's eyes... those strange, pigment-lacking eyes, met his.
"Need anything, sir?"
He resisted the frown that picked at his facial muscles. His skin pricked all over at the steady, nonchalant gaze he was caught in, and again he caught himself admiring the guy.
He had not met many albinos in his life, even in his profession he'd only met a small handful, but every single one of them had peaked his interest no more than an average person. So what, they were a different color? Humans came in all sorts of shades, he himself having dark skin due to a bold mixture of Italian on his mother's side, with a full-blooded Spaniard for a father.
If anything he'd been somewhat repulsed by it. They were just 'creepy', as the kids say. All white and pale and...creepy.
But this one, Hidan. He wasn't the same. He was not completley white. His skin was very pale, yes, but not white. His hair was color-free, yes, but it seemed to have these strange sort of natural highlights and lowlights in contrasting silver tones. When the light hit it just right it even seemed to gleam...
Bloody hell he was still doing it! Insolent, idiotic, infuriating little pest!
"Not from the likes of you." He said, brows rising then as his new employee stiffened.
He turned to press the power button to hide the fact that he'd noticed. It agrivated him, first of all. Any idiot could tell that the guy was doing his best to behave the way he seemed to think Dr. Hoku wanted him to. The worst part being that he was succeding.
What was worse still is that Kakuzu should not be as concerned with it as he was. He should be pleased. Why the hell was it a bad thing that Mister San was minding his manners? Why did it bother him?
'Well obviously because it is a lie.' He consoled himself. Look at the guy, he clearly wanted to tell Kakuzu to go fuck himself. So why didn't he? Why was he trying so hard? The elder man was fully aware that receiving only minimum wage for a job that he made sure was far-too-demanding was not worth the effort.
So? Why?
Why did Hidan insist on trying so hard?
"Very good sir. I'll get back to my own business." The albino stated plainly, turning to busy himself with the desk.
Kakuzu finally did press the button now, once the machine whirred to life he turned to leave.
"You do that." He said.
That was it. He was not going to play these games. Hidan needed to quit, and he needed to quit soon, before any more of his time was wasted. And that meant that the Doctor needed more ammunition. Which meant it was time to take a closer look at the newbie's files.
If that didn't help, then he'd go ahead with his original plan from lastnight and give him errored insurance papers to confirm. He would be forced to either ask for assistance or apologize for the mistake he inevitabley made, and Kakuzu would use either at a decent excuse to tear the man a new one.
He smiled, you know what? Maybe he'd just do both, come at the fool with all cannons loaded. Why hold back? He was only a temp...
-x-
The door was locked, Hidan was still in the front half of the building. Kakuzu had the phone against his earwith one hand, the other one rapping his pen so quickly against his desk that it was almost a constant hum.
With each ring on the other end of the line, the man's blood boiled hotter.
The contents of Hidan's portfolio lay scattered out in a half-circle in front of him. He was so far past angry that it didn't matter at all to him that half of this travesty was his fault, for not throughly looking at the documents last night.
Finally, the other end of the line was picked up, and his rage very near exploded out of the top of his head.
"Heey Kakuzu! It's... wait... it's only 7. You didn't run him out already did you?"
"You have five seconds, Hoshigaki, to explain who the FUCK I just hired." He snarled, not yelling but being far too loud for casual conversation.
"Whah? I told you... He's one of Itachi's friends."
"DID YOU EVEN INTERVIEW HIM!? Or is this some sick sort of joke? I swear on my mother's grave I will KILL YOU FOR THIS!?" Now... now he was yelling. He'd risen to his feet and slammed his hand onto the wooden surface beneath him at the last as well.
"Whoa. Okay Kakuzu. Hold on let me get my copy out here so we can figure this out. Don't get yourself too worked up, now what did he do?"
"He didn't do anything you twit. It's what he is that's the problem." He snarled, clenching his eyes shut and forcing himself to relax enough to sit back down.
The sound of shuffling papers could be heard on the end of the line.
"You mean albino? C'mon Kakuzu you can't be so pissed about that..."
If he could have reached through the phone and strangled the man to death, Kisame would be long dead by now.
Instead, he snatched up the foam stress-releif ball that the man had got him as a gag gift and clenched it until his knuckles went white.
"No, you imbecile. He is mentally handicapped. 12 psyche wards. Recovering drug addict. SIX FELONIES IN TWO YEARS! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE!?"
"What?! You're losing it Kakuzu, I met the guy, he's perfectly sane." More paper shuffling.
"But for how long!? What the hell could have possesed you to put someone like that in my company!? Do you have any intelligence at all? It's a wonder you're still alive making blunders like this. I COULD THROTTLE YOU!"
"Okay, okay! You need to calm down or you're gonna have a stroke! I'm sorry! Okay here are his papers, give me a minute to look through... Whoa..."
"You had better resolve this, Hoshigaki. If I go down I'll take you with me. You'll regret ever meeting me. Do you understand?"
"But... well... How did... Kakuzu, you gotta believe, I had no idea."
"I know you didn't. If anyone should lose their job it should be you." He ground out, having abandoned the stress ball to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Well.. I mean. I... you can't just fire him man, that's against the law! He could sue you for every penny you have."
"If you make one more thoughtless comment, Kisame, I swear-"
"Okay yeah, my bad you probably knew that... Awe shit this guy has everything in the book..."
"Which means I cannot make him quit accordingly either. I may be a physical doctor but that still falls under the category of 'healer'. I could be accused of intentional mental sabotoge. Unless he quits of anything but his own devices, the man has my entire business wrapped around his finger..."
"Oh God Kakuzu I... fuck. I don't even...FUCK! God I'm gonna kick Itachi's ass."
"You had better stay away from that boy and fix this mess or you might as well write your last will and testemate!" Kakuzu barked into the phone. "If I find out you're doing anything different... well there's no threat I could give you to explain what I'll do to you."
"Yeah. You're right. I will I swear, but in the meantime just-"
"I will handle my employee. You worry about your end." He finally sighed.
"Kakuzu I promise you I didn't mean-"
Again he hung up on him.
His tired eyes looked up to the clock. 7:36 a.m. The day had barely even started. It was blessing as well as a curse. At least he hadn't done too much damage. Even though he was not to blame. And even though that was childish to make himself believe...
Damn. This was a mess. A horrible ugly mess.
He briefly considered the possibility that perhaps he'd been overdoing it. Maybe he had yet to wake up and none of this had actually occured.
But no, he knew that not to be true. He wasn't going to do some asenine thing like pinch himself. The screaming headache in his skull was more than enough proof that he was fully awake.
And fully screwed.
He realized now though why he had instantly hated the man. He should have listened to his gut, this had been a bad idea from the start. He hadn't wanted to do it, and instead of opting out he'd foolishly believed his so called 'friend', making the mistake of trusting him.
This is why he preffered the company of dollars and coins to that of any animate being.
It also answered the question of what was wrong with the albino man sitting at the reception desk right now. Why he was trying so hard to keep his composure.
'Dear Benjamen...' Kakuzu thought with something close to fear. That kid could very well have just lost it and done something horrible to him. He'd had his back turned to him so many times. He could have been... What did they call it, shanked?
He sat there, stareing blankley at the wall in front of him, trying to discern what his next action would be.
He would not apologize, absolutley not. He never had done such a thing to anyone, and never would. But there was no argueing the fact that he would have to change his demeanor toward Hidan. And that alone made him furious for the fact that he was not sure how exactly how to do such a thing...
Damn. Damn Kisame and damn politics and laws and karma and most of all, damn Hidan. Damn them all to hell.
-o-
Hidan, meanwhile, listened to the heavy silence in the room now, with an enormous grin plastered across his fate.
Ooh dear God in heaven above, this was the most beautiful thing to happen to him since he'd had that acid trip that landed him in the intensive care unit.
He turned, seeing no more reason to continue eavesdropping since his 'boss' had gone silent, and nearly skipped his way back down the hall, pulling out his phone as he did.
He dialed Itachi's number again, stopping at his desk to wait for all the ringing to stop and then to listen to the Uchiha's voicemail.
"You've reached the Uchiha residence. Leave your name and number and I'll return the call as soon as I can."
"Itachi baby," He said after the beep, letting out a joyous laugh before continuing. "Forget what I said. You're fucking beautiful man. I love ya. Come check me out at my fucking captian's quarters when you get the chance."
He slapped the phone shut, and leaped into the office chair, spinning around a couple times, letting loose maniacal yet glee-filled laughter as he did so.
When he'd finished his small celebration, he scooted back up to the desk and picked up the receiver to the office phone, stabbing at the red button labeled 'hold'.
"Still there fucker?"
A shocked silence on the other end made his smile widen to near-impossible lengths.
"Doctor Satan's a little busy at the moment. You'll just have to call back some other time, prefferabley during my fucking break. Ciao!" He slammed the phone down into it's cradle, leaning back in his chair and propping his feet up on the desk to contemplate this dazzling situation he found himself in.
"Unless he quits of his own devices..."
Again he laughed out loud. Fat chance there would be of that happening. He'd made the decision to stick this one out before he even knew of the power he had over the man.
He couldn't be touched! That old bastard couldn't do a single damn thing to him, granting that he didn't do anything too crazy, like cause property damage or shoot up heroine right there in the office.
But if he was understanding this right, as long as he obeyed the laws... he could do anything.
"Love ya, Big Man." He chuckled, winking and pointing up to the ceiling. "You've outdone yourself on this one, seriously."
He heard the distant sound of what he assumed was Kakuzu's door opening, then slamming shut, and quickly pulled his feet off the desk just as the man stalked into the room carrying a few stray papers and a fat manilla folder.
He came wordlessly over to Hidan and handed him the papers, and turned around to pull more out of the envelope and slip them into the copier.
Hidan took them in silence, noticing the easy-tear dotted line down one of them that was made of thicker material.
"You keep track of your own hours. There are two timecards there, you punch in and out every time you come and go. The machine is by the table in the breakroom in back. Do not lose them." Dr. Hoku explained in an even voice.
Hidan smiled once more. If he didn't know better he would say the fucker was actually trying to be nice to him. Good thing he did know better. He wasn't trying to be nice, he was legally bound to be nice.
As wonderful as this was, it didn't alter his plan. If he immediatly just took advantage of the situation like so many others would do, then his little boss here would make it his main priority to get rid of him as quickly as possible. And as much as he hated the fucker, being a doctor as he was, and owning his own clinic as he did, they guy was probably pretty fucking smart.
Hidan could honestly say he could be clever when he wanted to, but the shitty fact of it is that this guy was older and more learned in the ways of the world that he was, which meant trying to outsmart him was a dumb idea.
And that was why he was taking the safe route, sticking with his original plan to grit his teeth and take it slowly. Let the man think he was still King Shit, and change the powerscale slowly to where he'll be able to make enough money off the fucker and still have his fun before he realized what's happened. After that point he'll unleash as much hell as he can. They'll probably lock him up on a funny farm again, but oh well. It's not like his life was heading anywhere anyway.
"Yes, sir. You had a call from a Mister Akasuna, but he said not to bother you and he would call back later."
The Doctor turned to look at him while the clattering machine behind him spat out his copies.
"Sasori does not like to be kept waiting. I'm not surprised."
"Do I need to go punch in right now, sir?"
" No. Today will count as training. You will start clocking in next week."
Hidan held the man's stare, pushing back the angry fire consuming his insides. Training? Who the hell had been training him?
"The other two papers are your K-4 and W-4 tax forms. Fill them out and bring them back to me when you are finished. Do you have a car?"
Hidan was caught slightly offguard at the last question, having been studying the forms and letting out a string of swears in his head. "A car? Erm, no I... I'm not allowed to drive... sir."
"Then how do you plan on getting back and forth to work every day?"
"My roommate, sir. This building is on his work route."
Kakuzu only grunted at him, turning around when the copy machine spit out the last of the papers.
"I'm going to assume you'll be staying here during your breaks then."
"You assume correctly, sir."
"You did not bring food with you today though."
"No, I didn't."
"Do you not normally eat lunch or dinner?"
Hidan smirked at the man's back, awefully chatty all the sudden wasn't he? "Not every day, no."
His employer tapped the papers on the machine to straighten them and turned again.
"And why not?"
Hidan shrugged as he spoke, masking his grin quickly. "Just not hungry, usually."
"That's not good for you. Bring at least lunch from now on." Kakuzu said quickly, hesitating for a second when the albino met his eyes again and tipped his head in question. Then he turned and disappeared again without another word.
He counted to 30 before breaking into a giggling fit. He hadn't called him 'Sir' in the last three of those responses. The man didn't notice at all, but then again it was a subtle little change, the kind of tiny little changes he would continue to sprinkle onto every interaction he had with Dr. Hoku until things were leaned more in his favor.
The second step of the plan was the one that was going to suck. This included getting the bastard to like him. Which meant he still needed to work his ass off while he was here.
Now Hidan wasn't neccessrily lazy, he would get anything done once he actually started on it. It was the procrastination that was his problem, usually. He wasn't a master manipulator really, but if he felt like being so, he could usually pull it off, and if he didn't want to do something he could most times find a way out of doing it, whether it be temporarily or otherwise.
And that was a part of himself he would be battling here as well, or at least until he knew his boss well enough to get away with shit.
He clapped and then rubbed his hands together.
It was fun to be bad.
.
The bell dinged suddenly then, startling him before he spun in his chair to face toward the newcomer.
"Oh!" She said, stopping short. "H-hello, you're new. Is...is Ino sick?"
A slow smile spread across his features just before he glanced at his watch to find it 15-till-8. Ah, the first patient of the day.
"Nah, she got shit-canned. I'm the replacement. Name's Hidan." He nodded to her, flashing his most charming smile.
"Oh.. uh.." The woman stuttered in her quiet voice, face turning slightly red. Whether it was from the surprise of him cursing at her or his attempt at seduction, he didn't know, and didn't care.
He had no interest in women. At one point in time he believed himself fully to be bisexual, not since he'd first been given 'the talk' by one of his foster parents (who happened to be lesbian) had he ever felt the need to pick one gender or the other. But over the years he found girls to be more and more fucking annoying, not worth putting up with all the demands and whining and always, ALWAYS fucking crying over every dumb little problem that presented itself, just to get laid. They were fun to look at, but that's about as much as he bothered with anymore.
The only reason he put forth the effort with this one is so that she would talk him up when she went into that little room with the Doctor. Give him more than his due with the hopes that she'd get to see him and flirt every time she came in, in the hopes that maybe, just maybe one day he'd ask for her number. Unless she was married, in which case he didn't mind being the center of her late-night fantasies. Call it stroking his ego a little. Nothing wrong with building yourself up...
"Doctor Hoku will be with you soon, g'head and have a seat." He said, making sure she saw him looking her up and down.
"T-thank you... Hidan." She stuttered out, fully blushing now as she whirled and hurried to a corner in the waiting room out of Hidan's sight range.
The pale man rolled his eyes and made a face before pushing himself from his chair to trek back to his boss's office.
-o-
Kakuzu was on the phone again, but now he was actually doing his job. He only had 15 minutes until his first patient of the day got here, and he had yet to pre-confirm her insurance papers. She'd just recently switched to a new company. Minor details...
"Eligibility..." He said into to mouthpiece to the automated voice, scribbling little circles on the corner of her folder, laying open on his desk.
A knock sounded at the door and he stiffened, permanently bloodshot eyes flicking up to the cheap wooden thing.
"Your eight o'clock is here, doctor." Hidan's muffled voice sounded from behind it.
He sighed and pushed up his glasses to rub at his already tired eyes. Then took them off completley and sat them gently on the desk. Perfect, she was early, and he was still trying to work out her payment method.
Another knock sent his weary mood back into anger.
"ThankyouHidan!" He snapped, sucessfully turning what would be a curteous response into a slightly sarastic and rude response. "I'll be out in just a minute."
No more noise sounded from behind the door, and he ground his teeth together. Dammit, that one wasn't his fault. And besides, technically it wasn't mean.
Never before had he ever worried about his blood pressure. Kakuzu Hoku may be a world-renowed asshole, but despite that he usually could control his rage, mainly for the fact that he'd been forced through several anger management classes as a child and adolescent, and since then had kept a hold on it simply for the fact that losing control of your emotions made you a pitiful excuse for a person.
It made you say things without thinking, do things you'd regret, and he did not like that to happen mainly for the fact that, as previously mentioned, he was never one to apologize.
He did not need remorse in his life, he was far to busy for that, riches did not just fall into your lap, after all. And if one was concerned with the past, how could the future be attended to properly?
Sure, he'd had his moments where his vision clouded with red, but never had it been like this.
Just today he'd contemplated homicide more than was healthy. A dose of his own medicine, you might say, forgiving the pun.
Kisame's halfway joke about him having some sort of stroke seemed like an infuriatingly ironic occurance. The man always joshed with him in such mannerisms, but now it really was bothering him.
Which only pissed him off more.
The elevator-esque music droned on in his ear, interrupted briefly by the automated voice informing him that someone would be with him shortly.
With a growl, he came to the decision to teach Hidan how to do this mind-numbing task, and slammed the phone back into it's cradle.
This was secretary work, after all, and if he was forced to treat the man with respect he didn't yet deserve, well, he could at least make him earn it. If he messed up, then that was plenty of reason to unleash a reasonable amount of pent-up anger on him. After all, he was the man's boss, not his mommy. He may have to be nice, but that didn't mean he couldn't be strict.
-x-
"Good morning Miss Hyuga." He said to his patient as he stepped into the waiting room.
"Doctor Hoku." She replied quietly, jumping from her seat and quickly making her way past the arch with a nervous glance in Hidan's direction, and coming to a stop at his side.
Kakuzu raised a brow at this and leaned forward to peek at his new employee.
He was sitting behind the desk, and looked to be writing something. The elder man assumed it to be the forms he'd given him earlier, judging by the brows creased in confused irritation and how he paused for a second to tap the end of the pen against his lips in thought.
"I see you've met my new secretary." He said, leaning back to his previous position before turning and guiding the timid woman to the examination room.
"Oh, yes. He's... he's nice." She said, wringing her hands with her vision secured on the floor. "It's strange to see a man behind the desk. I-I've only ever seen girls."
"Don't concern yourself with him. He's only temporary." Kakuzu stated, moving to shut the door to the adjoining room.
"Oh.. really?"
Kakuzu again tipped up a brow at her sullen question.
"Yes. Really. Anyway, I'm assuming you're having your headaches still?" He went to the sink and slipped on a pair of latex gloves as he spoke.
"Yes. I've tried everything, but they k-keep coming back. Sometimes they hurt so bad my vision goes a little f-funny and-"
"Have you been to the optometrist?"
"Um.. well..."
"You need to have him look at your eyes if you think it's related to vision. I can only determine so much in that feild of study."
.
The next appointment walked through the door just as his first patient scurried out, after a squeamish wave to Hidan, who smiled back warmly but said nothing.
The new arrival was a woman as well, and showed a small but still curious amount of interest in Hidan as well. And after she left, the pale man stood from his chair and stepped briskly over to him.
"I finished these for you." He extended the few papers to the Doctor then, who stared at them for a few moments before receiving them and nodding with a grunt.
"Your 9 o'clock is late. I was going to take a break... Should I wait for them?"
"Yes... give it ten minutes." He said, guarding his words carefully. Of course he should wait for them, that was his damn job! "If clients are not here within fifteen minutes after their scheduled appointment time, they are considered late and have to reschedule, wether they show up or not. They all know this, do not let them convince you otherwise." He explained, turning to escape his secretary's presence.
Dammit, every time he had to set eyes on the accursed man he noticed something that interested him for reasons he didn't understand. Like how he had a small cowlick in his hairline above his left eyebrow that made a few of his loose hairs stick out forward instead of falling straight down to his skin.
"Am I to handle the rescheduling, or do you do that?" Hidan piped, making the older man grind his teeth as he halted.
"I will handle that until you're better aquainted with your other duties and the patients as well. Just make a note of it and leave it on my desk at the end of the day."
"Alright. Thanks."
Kakuzu grunted at him again and was halfway down the hallway before it occurred to him that the man had not referred to him as 'sir' for a while. He wondered why he hadn't caught it sooner, seeing as the newbie had said it in almost every sentence when he'd first arrived. In fact his demeanor had been growing steadily more casual with each interaction.
His eyes narrowed at the thought, but he did not stop until he was seated once more in his office chair.
What could he do about it? He still wasn't being disrespectful, the tone he spoke in said nothing of the sort, in fact it hid well the fact that his antics had changed.
Surely this was a side effect of Kakuzu's own new attitude. The man felt slightly less threatened and therefore more comfortable around him. That sure had taken affect immediatly though, hadn't it?
Well... he supposed it was no bother. If Hidan grew somewhat fond of him then there would be less chance he would be sued when the day finally came that the Doctor would be able to fire him and get the insufferable runt out of his life and get back to normalcy.
Ugh, this task only seemed to grow into more amd more of a pain with each passing second.
The bell dingled again, (He heard it only because he hadn't shut his office door this time, for that exact purpose.) and with an almost inaudible groan the coffee-skinned man slowly rose from his chair again. It seems the patient had arrived exactly one minute before their oppurtunity to audience with him would have passed.
He sauntered out into the hallway, scanning what little he could see of the waiting room for her. The nine o'clock was a heavily pregnant woman named Kurenai Yuhi. He detested his appointments with this client, only for the fact that she, for some unknown reason, seemed to be dead set on Dr. Hoku to be the one to deliver her baby, instead of traveling an extra half-hour to the large town to the south, to a real hospital to carry out the task. No, she wanted to do one of those nonsensical home births.
He knew how to do it, unfortunatly. He'd taken the class mainly just to boost his resume so he would have less trouble finding a hospital to start at back in his fresh-out-of-college days, and he didn't deny her her wishes now only for the fact that he would be making quite a bit of money off it and the continued visits she and her child would have.
But regardless, he still dreaded the quickly approaching moment.
His pace slowed as he got further up the hall, still not seeing anyone seated and waiting for him. His features tightened in irritation before he heard the murmered voices of who he recognized to be Hidan, and either a feminine man or a masculine female.
Stopping just before the wall opened to the albino's range of vision, his face screwed up further as he listened to their hushed conversation.
"I have a fucking break in, like... one minute, just go wait outside for me!"
"I'll do no such thing, it's 30 degree's out there. If you have only a minute then surely there's no problem with me waiting right here."
"You dumbass! I'll explain in just a damn second if you'll just do what I say!"
Kakuzu was caught completley off guard by the mans cursing, and again by his hostile voice. And because of both these things combined he couldn't determine whether the person he was conversing with was his friend of someone he really didn't care for.
Not wanting to waste time solving the dilemma, he stepped out from behind the wall, and those soft magenta eyes flicked immediatly over to him a moment before Hidan's visitor turned around to see what had caught the man's attention.
As soon as the charcoal eyes of what Kakuzu realized was actually a feminine man landed on him, a small, but sweet smile took over his features.
"You must be Doctor Hoku." He said, coming up to his as he talked with an extended hand. "I've heard so much about you. I am Itachi Uchiha."
He studied the man for a heartbeat, eyes flicking only once back to Hidan, who was staring at them both silently and emotionlessly, before taking the man's hand and giving it a brief shake.
"I stopped by to make sure Hidan was behaving himself and to punish him if anything else were true. Is this so?"
In the background, Hidan put a palm to his forehead and leaned forward onto it, eliciting a smirk from Kakuzu.
"Itachi Uchiha..." He said, ignoring the question. The man had been a model of good manners, but he didn't want to put that on the table. Complementing him would surely do nothing but worsen the situation for himself in some way. "I've heard much about you as well. Hoshigaki never shuts up about you, actually. It's irritating."
Itachi's eyes broke away for him to give an embarrassed smile, blushing, to the wall beside them. "I hope he's said nothing negative."
"On the contrary. He makes you out to be a god among men."
"I see..." The raven haired man said, clearing his throat before he again met the man's hard gaze.
"Yes. I've come very close to smacking sense back into him." He growled, and the Uchiha's eyes shifted.
Kakuzu continued, Ignoring this. "I'd like to have a chat with you, while you're here."
"Well, I'm only on my break, I do not have much time, I only stopped by-"
"Yes, I'm aware. It's rather important though."
"I'd be happy to stop by after work if this relates to Hidan, Doctor."
"My clinic does not close until 9."
"I see... well perhaps we could arrange a meeting tomorrow."
That's right, Kakuzu recalled. Tomorrow was Saturday. Well, at least there was that small favor granted to him. Running his own business as he did, and having the extra hours during the normal work week, he normally remained closed on Saturdays. He lost money from it, yes, but being in the profession that he was he was well aware of what could happen to a man of his increasing age if he did not take time to relax and iron out the stress wrinkles on his persona. That, and his secretaries earned overtime already with the hours he kept, and he didn't want to have to dish out an additional days pay.
He simply forwarded the clinic number to his cell (Which he rarely used otherwise.) and either stayed home to relax, or ran errands that needed to be dealt with.
"It will only take a minute, really. I won't keep you long." He pressed on, turning and starting yet again back toward his office so that the Uchiha had no more chances to make excuses. "You have fifteen minutes, Hidan. Use them wisely." He called out loudly, whirling when he heard what sounded like a small item being tossed at the wall and then falling to the ground.
Itachi had fallen in step behind him with his hands behind his back, and was now staring at him quizzically. Hidan hadn't replied, and Kakuzu could hear him shuffling around at his work station.
The older man 'hmph'd' and continued on his way.
.
Once in his office he shut the door and gestured for Itachi to sit in the chair he pulled from the corner of the room to rest in front of his desk, and then went to repeat the action in his own seat.
He leaned forward, making a hand pyramid as he studied the Uchiha.
"I'm assuming you're the 'roommate' Hidan speaks of."
"Yes," Itachi said softly." I've let him stay with me until he has to means to provide for himself."
"So you two are close friends."
"We were estranged for awhile. He came to me about three months ago out of the blue with nothing more than a trashbag of clothes. We've become close in our time together since then, though."
"Kisame mentioned you were friends in highschool."
"Yes, that is why he sought me out. He had nowhere else to go."
"I see. He told me you've been giving him rides because he's not allowed to drive. So he's a moocher then." The older man said the last more to himself, but it did not go unheard.
Itachi cleared his throat at this. "Dr. Hoku, I'm going to assume you're aware of Hidans legal history, and I'm going to assume as well that you're not happy with it. But you musn't judge him negatively until you've become better aquainted with him. He is far from Insane, you only have to give him the chance to prove it."
"Getting aquainted with him is what I'm trying to do." Kakuzu said sharply, not faltered at all by Itachi's straightforwardness. "I am a doctor though, I'd like to know certian details. He had a history of drug use, is he using any now?"
"I would think that these would be questions better suited for Hidan himself."
"I plan to ask him as well, but I'd like to know if he tries to lie to me. And since you're here anyway.." he trailed off, not breaking the unreadable stare he was receiving from the man.
There was a moment of lasting silence before Itachi spoke. "I feel I need to tell you that I don't appreciate what you're doing here, doctor."
"And what is it you think I'm doing?"
"You and I both know you have no intention of asking Hidan these same questions. You would have asked them by now if you did. You're only trying to devise a way to force him into quitting."
Kakuzu opened his mouth to speak, his blood lighting up again at being spoken to in such a way by someone so much younger than him. Itachi cut him off, however, which only fueled his anger further.
"Hidan is in recovery, and has been since he moved in with me. The only drugs he's on are his prescriptions. He smokes cigarrettes but I'm helping him to quit, I've already informed him not to partake in the habit anywhere near your establishment. He attends therapy unhappily, but regularly." The Uchiha paused to look at his watch. "I need to be going soon. It was very nice to meet you, Dr. Hoku. Kisame holds you in very high regards. I hope you can live up to those standards in Hidan's eyes as well. He needs a stable authority figure in his life, though not a bully." He rose from the seat and nodded before turning and making his way smoothly to the door.
"Mister Uchiha."
Itachi stopped and turned, features set into calm indifference.
"Hidan says he sometimes goes days without eating. I've instructed him to start bringing one meal to work with him at the very least. Please see to it that he continues the habit at home. Taking medication and fasting is not a good combination."
Itachi smiled at him and nodded once more, then opened the door and was gone.
Kakuzu sat in thoughtful silence for awhile after he left. Well, his new employee certianly had one hell of a loyal friend. One that was also apparently a dear friend of his own closest aquaintance. Kisame maybe be a childish, thoughtless, oaf at times, but he still held respect for the man. Mainly for the fact that he still tolerated Kakuzu's deplorable treatment of him after all these years.
Kisame was a good judge of character, one of the aspects that landed him in his current job. The man was easy-going and casual most of the time, but he could be just as much of a brute as the Doctor himself when he disagree'd with something or someone. And the man could always sniff out a truely bad personality from a mile away, which was one of the reason's Kakuzu trusted him so much.
If the guy hadn't suspected Hidan of anything... well, he supposed maybe he'd blown the whole ordeal just a bit out of proportion. Though he'd been perfectly right to do so, in his opinion.
As usual, he wouldn't apologize for it, but maybe he could give the man a call and let him be aware that things were under control, and there were no hard feelings...
After all, he did not need regret in his life, even for something as insignificant as this.
-o-
Hidan sat outside on the hood of his roomates car, one hand holding his thin coat tight around him, the other one bringing a cigarette to his chattering mouth.
Itachi had been right, it was fucking cold out here...
But at least the bastard had been kind enough to bring him his pack. That would definitely make the rest of this day more bearable.
His friend rounded the side of the building almost as if sensing his thoughts about him, and regarded him emotionlessly as ever as he neared the albino.
"What the f-f-fuck did he want?" Hidan said, bracing himself against his traitorous, shivering body and taking another long drag of sweet, blessed nicotene.
"He was concerned for you." itachi replied, shrugging and turning a half-circle to hide his miniscule smirk. He leaned sideways against the car, facing the wall just as his friend was. "What's this about you not eating every day?"
"He fuckin' narked on me! That stupid crotchedy old fucking b-b-bastard!"
Itachi stared at him for a moment, tsking and shaking his head. "The first thing you're doing with your paycheck is buying a bigger coat."
"Yes mommy. Don't change the s-s-subject, what else did he s-s-say?"
"He asked about our friendship. He's close friends with Kisame so-"
"Yeah, I know that, dumbshit, that's how I got the job."
Itachi cleared his throat. "Don't interrupt me, It's rude."
"I'm a rude guy!"
"Don't spread your foul mood to me, Hidan. No one's making you stick with this. Everyone knows the man is an ass. You don't need to be dealing with that in your condition."
"Hey! I'm not a f-f-fuckin' basketcase okay!? I'm fit for normal society, just go ask the shrinks at that shit factory you work at." He took a drag of his cigarette, letting the smoke come out in little puffs as he continued. "Besides, this is a sweet gig. Turns out the guy can't legally f-f-fire me, and can't be mean to me. If he is, I can call him in and report mental ab-b-buse on his ass and make him lose everything."
Itachi stared at him for a few heartbeats before sighing. "I was afraid of this happening. Don't screw this up, Hidan. This is a good job."
"Is there an echo out here? That's what I just fuckin' said. I'm not gonna fuck it off."
"... What?"
Hidan stopped in the midst of another inhale to give his friend a questioning glance. "Huh?"
"Did you just say you weren't going to fuck it off?"
"Yeah. You know, I'm not gonna purposely sabotage myself, that'd be fuckin' stupid."
"Hidan that's not even a real saying. And it's horrible grammar to boot."
"Oh dear j-j-jesus, I didn't realize I was talking to the speech police."
Itachi couldn't hold his straight face any longer, and let out a small chuckle. Hidan couldn't resist his laughter either, he never could when the Uchiha did. It was contageous.
"You're rediculous."
"Thanks, I try."
"Really Hidan. I don't think he's that bad. Gossip has made him out to be a monster, but he seems reasonable, if a little bit biased. You need to make this work, for your own sake."
"What? That man is Satan!"
"No. His social skills are just aweful. He doesn't know how to properly convey his feelings, and it converts into anger, which is the only thing he's comfortable with exerting."
"Well aren't you a fucking psycho-analyzer."
"It's my job and my gift to understand the workings of the human mind. I'm trying to help you here, by understanding him you can work to get along with him better-"
"Jesus 'Tachi I don't wanna screw the dude! He's like fifty! Ew!"
Itachi rolled his eyes at this. "Oh please. He's handsome for his age. And a doctor. Many people find that combination irresistable."
"You're so fucking gay, Uchiha."
"And you're dense. I think he already likes you more than he lets on. Speaking of which, you're to start bringing lunches to work, and don't expect me to make them for you."
"Awe what? Damn, you and everyone else, always on my ass about food. You're all just jealous of my bod."
"We are concerned for your physical and mental health. Food is neccesary for your recovery, Hidan."
"Yeah, yeah..."
Itachi grabbed Hidan's wrist and twisted it to look at the time, receiving a yelp and resistance for it. "I need to go." He said, giving Hidan a hard push that shoved him from the hood of the car. "Get back to work."
"Ja Führer, wie Sie möchten!*" Hidan said loudly, catching himself before he crashed to the pavement and standing ramrod straight to salute him as he spoke, then flicking his cigarette out onto the parking lot and marching dramatically back around the corner of the building.
Itachi rolled his eyes, but smiled, before getting back into his car.
"Good luck, Doctor." He said quietly, backing from the parking spot and heading back to his own job.
A/N-
Aaaaand there's another good stopping point, I guess. Lol. I was having a terrible time trying to end this chapter. I've fallen so in love with this story, don't ask me why... the inspiration just keeps flowing.
So, I feel I should let everyone know that I it seems that you can only review anymore if you're not logged into an account. So, if you'd like you can PM me with your reviews, or just wait until resolves the problem. I can't stop writing anyway, so it doesn't matter to me, though I do so love to hear your feedback. It's creativity fuel.
I want to thank the guest that left me the long and wonderful review for the last chapter. It was inspiring and made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, I hope I don't dissapoint you throughout the rest of the story.
Sorry if this chapter seems like boring kind of drabble, but as I said, I'm trying to make it real. People don't just spontaneously fall in love with each other, especially two people like Hidan and Kakuzu. But hopefully you can at least see the relationship progression as well as the character development as you learn each little random tidbit about their pasts.
Ja Führer, wie Sie möchten* - 'Yes Leader (or master), as you wish!' in German. xD Google translate, bitches. Don't blame me if that's incorrect. .
Anyway... I had a list of stuff I wanted to say, but now I can't fucking remember it. Not surprising really... So I suppose I'll end it here.
Thank you all for reading! Forgive the typos! And I'll see you next chapter!