kjnv, I'm happy that you enjoyed goodbye so much! I thank you for that. However, I won't be continuing it as I intended to leave it on a sad — and mysterious — note. As for this chapter, it is a mini-story that features Kakuzu and the life he had nearly seventy years ago. It was supposed to be about maybe 500 words, but somewhere along the way I couldn't help but lose myself in the story. So, here is this 1,800+ word piece that was not quite big enough to be placed in My Courageous Shinobi.
Disclaimer: I suppose since these are required, I must say, "I do not own anything of this fic but the idea!"
lxxi — ashes
He had not always been such a man.
One so wicked and infatuated with worldly possessions; wielding five beating, living hearts, while at the same time owning none of them — not even his own.
There was a time when he had been a simple man, a shinobi, one who fought for the honor and prosperity of his village and loved ones. And there had been a woman; warm, gentle, soft. His greatest pleasure had not been in murdering and harming others for monetary gains. No… back then, he would be content just to rest his head against her bosom and listen to the steady thumping of her single heart. He would allow her to envelop him in her frail arms and gather his battle-worn body to hers.
Whenever you need me, I'll always be here, she would murmur to him, her voice a sweet balm for his soul. Under this tree where we first met. Then he would rise anew the next morning, a phoenix, ready to resume life as a shinobi.
He had not always killed in cold blood.
She would routinely trace her fingers over the numerous scars adorning his arms, chests, and legs. I like them, she had said once with a smile, because they show how bravely you've fought for our village. After that, he no longer felt any shame over the marring of his body. He sloughed off the many layers of dark cloth and proudly displayed the scars wherever he went.
It wasn't long until he realized it was not the village which he fought for.
It became clear, irrevocable, that the village meant nothing to him when she became ill with a mysterious sickness. At first it began with a shy cough behind her fist, progressing through various more stages until one day she collapsed on him during their excursion to the market. He realized too late that what she had claimed a "passing sickness" was no such thing, especially when it came to be that she could no longer get out of bed without assistance lest she crumble to the floor.
He begged the village leader, and then the village elders.
Save this woman… Please, save this woman!
They refused; they claimed there was no time for inconsequential matters when a likely war between the nations was brewing up. Taki is financially unstable as it is, Kakuzu. Do you truly believe we have money on the side to spend researching a bedridden civilian's disease? Some of them even laughed, finding his request preposterous — a joke. The elders may have deigned to accept helping her, had she been a kunoichi with singular, exceptional ability or skill. But she wasn't. She was just the woman he loved, and to them she was another faceless person residing in their village. When all seemed lost he lowered himself to the floor, onto his knees. He pressed his forehead and palms to the ground and implored them once more.
Then assassinate the Shodai Hokage. If you wish to save this woman, bring the head of the Hokage into this room. Only then, will we heed your request, Kakuzu.
He accepted their proposal. Two weeks later he came back to Taki, bloody and battered… and a failure.
Following his aborted attempt, the aggression between Konoha and Taki increased tenfold. He had always known that he was an apt shinobi, he proved it countless times on the battlefield. But the mission the elders had dispatched him on had been nothing short of a suicide mission. They had sent him to infiltrate Konohagakure and die in the process. And he had returned, to their veiled displeasure, with his life intact. Along with a new scar he hoped to be able to show his beloved later. It was one left by a kunai, running horizontally across the lower half of his face, lined perfectly with the split of his lips. He would be sure to tell her an amazing, elaborate story of how it came to be.
Yet, all too soon he learned the truth behind the elders' action of sending him to Konoha.
He has grown… feeble, would the rest of you not agree?
Who's to say he wouldn't betray us should another village offer a cure for his lover?
Quite so. In these precarious times, we cannot risk having one of our own turn on us.
Kakuzu poses a risk to us. He has become shaken.
His purpose has been outlived.
We have made it clear to Konoha on which side we stand, as planned.
The village must be rid of him, he is a potential threat.
I agree.
As do I.
Yes, we will dispose of him.
They had never intended to look into the unidentified illness that plagued his woman. With that, an indescribable rage filled him. It was like fire, so hot and unmanageable, and boiling his veins from the inside out. This newfound fury was what made him able to learn the obscure hidden jutsu of his village. The ability to extend his own life by stealing the hearts of his opponents, along with their intrinsic elements. He killed the conspiring elders, and the village immediately branded him as a criminal and traitor. However, his newly obtained powers and vast control over the Jinogu jutsu kept the many hunter-nin at bay.
Kakuzu vanished, though distant rumors, along with the Bingo Book, noted of a formidable shinobi who hunted men for the massive bounty on their heads. They also spoke of the legion of scars and wounds he had hidden under his many layers of cloaks. The physical description of the missing-nin Kakuzu continually changed from one thing to another, though they all implied monster.
"How is she faring?"
The black hood lowered itself in the night, revealing a brunette with matching brown eyes. "Kagome-chan hasn't gotten much better, but her health hasn't regressed, either. Kaede-sama grows weary as well, and I'm afraid it won't be long until she passes on." Sango frowned deeply, though the concern on her face wasn't from meeting with a traitor of her village in the middle of the night. "What can we do…?"
Kakuzu's right arm suddenly lifted, and Sango flinched.
"Give me your hand," he said.
She did, and he dropped a vile of honey-yellow liquid on her palm. The moonlight reflected off the glass, giving it a majestic shine. Sango's eyes widened.
"Is this… Did you really find—" Sango stopped herself, took a composing breath, shook her head and smiled. "Getting this antidote must have cost a fortune."
Kakuzu's eyes glowed in the night, and they flickered to a spot in the distance before reverting back to Sango.
"Go," he commanded, "the patrol will soon arrive in this area."
Sango looked up at him and nodded.
"Don't ever let yourself get caught, Sango. I won't forgive you if you do." His words sounded so calm, and yet there was an underlying malice that the woman could not ignore.
"I won't."
Kagome sighed as she carefully lowered herself down against the tree's bark, leaning against it for support as she descended. She sat down in a spot between its massive roots, her hands reaching out to feel the rough textures. For a woman who had been chained to her bed for over a year, it was unbelievable just to be outside again.
Sango had brought her foreign medicine, urging her to try something else other than Kaede's concoctions. Kagome hadn't missed how Kaede's eyes narrowed in what might have been suspicion, but the withered old woman turned her head and feigned deafness. Too weak to even hesitate, Kagome had allowed Sango to help her up and tilt past her lips one-third of the contents in the vial.
The next day she was able to function normally. Move on her own again. She had jumped for joy, screaming.
This antidote's effect isn't permanent, Kagome-chan, Sango had said with an apologetic softness in her eyes, but it'll keep your symptoms at bay. You only need to take a new dose every three days, and I'm sure that soon enough… Well, soon enough we'll be able to figure out what's wrong with you. The brunette had wiped furiously at her eyes before continuing in a cracked tone. Miroku and Inuyasha are still out there trying to figure out your sickness. And now that they've discovered this medicine for us you won't have to deal with the pain anymore. Not as long as you take it.
Kagome's face had darkened with horror, and desperation made her voice thick as she asked, Only if I take it? W-what if I can't? You mean I'll have to go back to—
Sango had silenced her by forcing her into a tight hug.
Don't even think about it. Don't even think about going back to that state, Kagome-chan! You don't have to anymore, the antidote will be available for you as long as you need it! He'll make sure of it! As the brunette had wept into her shoulder and Kaede gazed out the window with a pensive look, Kagome couldn't help but wonder. He? Hadn't she meant both Inuyasha and Miroku? … Were they really the ones who had sent her the antidote?
While reflecting over the memory, Kagome fell asleep against the tree.
"Kakuzu…" she mumbled in her pre-dreaming state, "is it you?"
"Kakuzu… is it you?"
When he heard his name, the man stiffened.
He permitted himself to relax when he heard a light snoring from the opposite side of the tree. The shinobi leaned back against the bark, smiling under the black cloth covering his mouth.
"So you can walk on your own again," he said softly, careful not to awake her with his voice. "Good. Enjoy your life, be happy. Your health won't hold you back any longer. Not as long as I live." He ran his fingers along the scar on the bottom half of his face, and there was a thoughtful pause of silence before he decided something. "But before I leave, there's one story left that I haven't told you. About this scar."
A little smile painted itself on the sleeping Kagome's face.
"Listen closely woman, because I'll only tell it once…"
Dreams do come true, if we only wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it.
—James M. Barrie
Author's Note: Yes, this took place long before Akatsuki was even a thought in a certain someone's brain. Let's just say that in this particular universe, Kakuzu started doing what he did for a noble reason. Then he lost his way decades later and became the avaricious bounty hunter that he is now.