"You cannot know strength until you are broken."

Minahira had ran until her legs could no longer handle the strain her body had put on them. She looked around, only to find herself lost in the darkness of a forest. Alone and in traumatic distress, the young child-no older than six- fell to her knees letting loose all the tears she had tried hard to hold back. Her whole clan, gone in an instant it felt like. The blood that coated her hands had began to dry, signifying to her that she may just have made it far enough away from the wreckage to weep the pain she felt out of her young body. How could this have happened? This was not how things were supposed to go-everything had backfired. War was brutal, she knew that-but to try eradicating an entire clan seemed to not make any sense to the newly orphaned child. She had no plan on how to handle a situation of this extent. The gravity of it all washed over her as she realized she had her back up against a wall. Where would she go? Her whole life was turned upside down. She knew of nobody outside of her clan. It felt like an eternity had passed to her, although it could have only been a few moments. Minahira had stood up and brushed the dirt off her clothes, taking deep breaths. Okaa-san had always said it was a crucial part in meditation and brought on calming effects, but with Minahira's mind racing she felt as if it were futile. How could anyone remain calm after something like this? War affected so many innocent lives. Surely she wasn't the only one, right? She had to cling onto hope that she could get through this. She could make a life for herself. All she had to do was become a kunoichi, right? Easier said than done though. With little training from her family, she would have to work even harder to unlock her potential. How would she even go about finding a mentor? An academy setting? A roof over her own head? So many things swirled in her mind, and she felt completely overwhelmed. There was no way a child could accomplish any of this on her own. What options did she even have? It was getting dark outside and she would lose daylight very soon. She knew she had to find somewhere to stay for the evening. The soft sound of rain lightly coming through the treetops was a source of comfort. A small cave in the distance had gotten her attention. Shelter for the evening had been found, and luckily the sounds of running water were near. Food and water would hopefully be available to her. As she peered into the dark cave warily, she had noticed the now abandoned cave appeared to have been shelter to others previously. This would have to be acceptable. She had failed to notice the boy close enough to watch her, but remain unseen by her.

The cold night air had began to set in. Fire, she needed fire. She had only been taught two jutsu at this point in life, and neither of which could create the warmth of fire. Surely she hadn't escaped a brutal death only to find it nearly as soon. She sat down on the cold, moistened ground making her clothing damp. The cool of the autumn air setting in, Minahira shuddered. What else could she do? Tears threatened to spill out of her eyes once more-she had never felt so lost and helpless in her life. The air around her grew heavy. She almost didn't hear the soft footsteps heading her way-the sound growing closer sent a chill down her spine. Had those that pursued her clans death found her to finish the job? She stood up and prepared herself. She had to at least try. The steps had stopped at the cave entrance, although due to the weather and it being night, she couldn't properly see the incoming threat. She formed hand signs, feeling the electricity crackling in her hands "Denshi no Jutsu" The yellow sphere of electricity in her hands had properly formed, giving her a small glimmer of pride in herself. She threw it towards her new assailant in hopes to send a jolt of pain to them. Unfortunately for her, it swerved midair, missing her target and instead causing an explosion directly outside of the cave-the electricity coursed through the air as the rain drops lit up. It was in this moment she could see the person she deemed a threat. A boy, maybe a year or two older than her stood at the entrance, seemingly unaffected by her attempt at his well-being. He had stringy looking dark brown hair-it looked like it needed a good brushing. His eyes were unlike anything she had seen before. They were a piercing green and red color. He had looked at her with the help of the light from her jutsu, he had been shocked to see such a small girl produce a lightning type jutsu he was unfamiliar with. What stood out most to him in that moment was her white hair, tied into on braid that came to her mid back. Her honey eyes caught his attention as well. She didn't seem to have any other distinguishing features that he could tell. The cave she had stumbled upon must not have been abandoned after all. Was he orphaned like her? He had to be- it would make no sense as to why he would be here at this hour. A surge of embarrassment coursed through her as her face reddened from having trying to attack someone only seeking shelter.

"I'm so sorry!" was all that she could manage to get out.

"Do you just blindly attack everyone you see? You could hurt someone, ya know." He appeared calm, but how could that be when she just tried attacking him?

Minahira had lost her voice, it seemed. Her mind felt like it had went blank. She fell onto her knees, wishing it all to just be a dream. She felt more drained than before, most likely due to her depleted chakra pool. Silent tears filled her now blurred vision.

"Ya know if you cry when things get hard, your enemies will use it against you. Who are you? I've never seen you before." He sounded irritated at her now.

"M-minahira." She stuttered through her tears.

"Minahira?" He came closer, joining her on the ground he sat across from her. "My names Kakuzu." He had a look in his eyes that was something akin to dislike. "Where are you from? Did you lose your parents?"

She wrapped herself in the close comfort of her own arms, shuddering at the thought of why she was even here in the first place. Stray tears continued to fall from her honey colored eyes. Her white hair was disheveled looking. "They're g-gone." her voiced was cracking. His look seemed to soften as if he understood exactly what she had meant. Maybe he had went through something similar. He felt understanding towards her, seeing as he too was also without family. Without much thought, he held his hand out for her- trying to show her some form of comfort seeing as this was a fresh wound for her.

"You should join the academy with me. It's your best option out here alone." She looked up at him, taking his hand and smiled warmly at him through her own sufferings.


"Fuckin' miser, are you even listening to me?" The loud voice of Hidan had pulled Kakuzu out of the trance he had been in, making him angry at the interruption of one of his favorite memories. The reality of the time he was in now brought a pang of sadness to him, which he covered up with his own anger.

"No." Was all he seethed out through his teeth, clenching his fists by his side to keep from dismembering his 'partner' that he honestly wished would somehow miraculously disappear for good.

"Leader has a mission for us. Said it's important. Fuck,get your head out of your own ass." The lack of concern in Hidan's tone made Kakuzu want to snap, but he didn't. The other things on his mind were currently consuming him.

Kakuzu stood up from the corner desk he had been sitting at. It would appear he was counting his money once again, but truthfully that was not what was truly on his mind. He couldn't help but reminisce his past life. It was something he wished he could have changed, but the harsh reality of the world took the one thing that had mattered most to him during a time of high stress missions and events that were overall not in his own control. He spoke quite a bit less that his partner, although the real reason was because he had lived a lifetime full of memories and with that comes both the happiness and sadness that he didn't know how to control- and therefor resulted in his more harsh demeanor around others. He shuffled past his partner hanging by the doorway and continued down a dimly lit cooridor to Pein's 'office'. He did not wait on his partner before lightly knocking on the door.

"Enter." He done as he was told and walked into the slightly warm lit room. It was a bit easier to see in here due to the candles scattered around burning. Kakuzu had a deep seeded feeling that he just couldn't shake in his stomach. There was no reason he could figure on why he felt the way he did. He had been in this particular room before on several occasions. He had completed many tasks assigned to him. He was the one who controlled the funds of the whole operation, so why did his stomach drop when he was handed a concealed document. He couldn't even tell what it was, although most likely a bounty to collect if he had to guess. Possible tailed beast? He had no idea. He looked up from the still concealed document to meet Pein's eyes. "You'll find all you need to know on the target in that documentation. This situation is a bit..different from others you've hunted for. From what I have gathered, this target could be of interest to you."

A target of interest? What the hell does that mean? He neatly opened the document. It was indeed another bounty, but this particular bounty had no reference picture to go by. Only a very vague description of some kind of woman that was deemed 'demonic'. The reason for having no available picture was because any attempt towards her was met with death. Nobody who went to find this woman ever returned. In fact there was very little information on her, to the point that Kakuzu was left wondering how to go about this particularly complex situation. At least it would be something to keep his mind of the past. Something he could truly focus on. "Why would this be of interest to me? Although this is the highest bounty I have seen in a while.." He pondered on this fact and wondered just how risky it would be for himself and his partner to fair against this supposed 'demon woman'.

"From what Zetsu was able to gather on this woman, she is somehow connected to the Hidden Waterfall Village-that is why she might be of interest to you."

From Takigakure? He had to wonder WHY this was supposed to be of any importance to him. His homeland made him sick and feel full or rage.


Kakuzu and Minahira had been in the academy together for a few years now. The chunnin exams were coming up soon. Kakuzu wasn't worried about himself, but more so for Mina. She was strong- don't misunderstand- but she wasn't like him. She was much more compassionate and caring towards others, a quality he had deemed as weak.

"PLEEEEEASE?" Minahira had been practically begging to go out tonight for dinner. Kakuzu had felt no obligations on spending what money they had on one meal, but she held a different thought on the subject than he did. She was much more carefree with their money than he was, that's wy he was the one in control of their spending habits now. Purely to make sure they made it through the months with what they could aquire. He did appear to have more of a soft spot for her, not that he would ever admit to it. He pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled a bit heavily.

"Mina.."

"Come on! We never get to do anything fun." She stopped in front of him to give her those signature 'puppy eyes' which in turn, made him sigh.

He pulled out their money and began counting through it, which didn't take much time if he was being honest. He gave the girl just enough to get herself something and watched as she skipped happily into a ramen shop. Watching her made him feel...weird. He didn't exactly know why that was, but he shrugged it off and followed behind her. She had already sat down and waa waving him over excitedly.

"Over here, Kuzu!"

He didn't like nicknames, but the way she looked at him without a care in the world seemed to make him forget temporarily about that small detail. Without a word spoken, he headed towards her. Her happy disposition was something he couldn't quite understand. From what they have talked about over the years, he knew she had been through a lot of traumatic events that undoubtly lead her to him. Funny how that works. It's always the most unsuspecting thing he could've guessed would ever happen. She had been adamant about not leaving him behind, although he couldn't figure what the true reason for that really was. All he knew is that they had made it work, although it was at times very hard for the two of them to even get through an entire month with what little ryo they could produce between the two of them. He took a seat beside her and patiently waited, for her to speak.

"Do you think it will always be this way?"

"What do you mean, Mina?"

"Do you think we will always be together?" That took him by surprise. Does she truly think she could do no better? Have no life without him? Without knowing what the true intent of her question meant, he had replied "I suppose so, unless something drastic changes."

She cocked her head to the side and smiled warmly at him. This seemed to make him feel like squirming around in his seat. Little to his knowledge, what he said will come much sooner than he thought.


He couldn't help but feel a sense of longing for her. That warm person he came to care for was someone he would truly miss. He was hoping that this new mission would help him put those memories on a back burner in his mind for now. He couldn't afford to make any slip ups. The travel to Takigakure would take them a couple of days to get to, so hopefully by then his head was cleared. He had been trailing behind Hidan, ignoring his small talk-which in turn had made Hidan a bit more...vocal. That would be a good word for it.

"Well if you're head is that far up your own fuckin ass, then maybe you should just let me handle this girl."

"And if you can't handle it?"

"Are you doubting me again, Kakuzu?"

"You're reckless."

He knew his words would upset the Jashinist. Hidan had started on another long rant, one that Kakuzu had elected to ignore all together. He tolerated his partner, but only because he couldn't actually kill him. As much as Kakuzu was ready to get this mission over with, he had a sense of dread seeded deep into his stomach- one he didn't quite understand. Maybe the thought of going back to that cursed village is what was paying tricks on his mind. He would never forget what that village took from him, and he had no plans for any sort of forgiveness either. He had subconsciously been rubbing the marks on his arms, proving his time locked up. When he had noticed, he quickly stopped so as to not bring any unwanted attention from his already loud mouthed partner.

They had traveled for several hours and had elected to make a small camp outside of the Hidden Grass village in the covered area of the tall trees. A small fire was lit between the two men. Hidan had been the first on watch tonight while Kakuzu had drifted into a restless sleep.


Both Kakuzu and Minahira had been avoiding each other since they both became Jonin and he honestly couldn't explain why. Things had gotten strange between the two of them over the past couple of years and he could feel the rift forming between the two of them. Minahira had been sent on a mission with a couple of others. Something that had caused a fight between the two of them-although from Kakuzu's view, he was desperate to keep her safe and away from harm. He had a terrible feeling about this supposed recon mission that she was sent on, although there was no real reason he could figure on why he felt this way. She had been gone for only a day, but each hour that passed made him feel worse than the previous. He wanted to believe in her and what she was capable of, but it felt like the elders had held back information when she had told him about her mission yesterday. Yesterday. That was the first time they had spoken in over a week. He could never figure out why he acted the way he did around her. Nothing seemed to make sense about it to him. Even when they were children, things seemed different to him. He just couldn't place his finger on what actually made him feel this way. It was a conversation he had avoided for years. He didn't even know how to talk about it.

He was pulled from his thoughts when something alerted his senses. He didn't know what it was, but something in the distance had sent a large wave of chakra through the air. He could feel his stomach drop, from what though, he couldn't say. There was no hesitation as he sped towards the source. Something wasn't right. Whatever this was, it wasn't normal.

As he approached, the smell of blood and death hung in the air. He could hear in the distance some scuffle of a sort going on, so he had ran off to the side to catch a glimpse of what was happening before blindly revealing himself. What he seen, would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Mina had appeared to be a sort of sacrifice. She was hung up from an exceptionally tall tress-a stake through both of her hands. There was a long trail of blood down said tree with a decently sized pool of blood at the base. His heart felt like it stopped, all rational thought seemed fleeting now. He culd only explain the way he felt as a mix between sickness and pure rage with sorrrow sprinkled in the mix. He had NEVER felt this way before, and it was a truly haunting experience. No mater how he felt, his feet felt frozen to where he stood currently, just out of site.

Slowly Mina had lifted her head, only her eyes were glazed over. In fact, the had looked like they were a glowing white color-something he had never seen befppre in his life. He quickly scanned the area and noticed the other two Jonnin ripped to pieces not far from where she hung. As if his body couldn't control itself anymore, he ran in plain sight towards Minahira as quickly as he could. Which was much easier said than done, he had never experienced this type of pain before. What the hell was wrong with him? Why couldn't he think clearly? Why was he allowing his distress to control him. And in that moment, their eyes locked and as if on que, a wae of new emotion hit him like a monson. Tears. These were tears he shed for her. What was the cause?

"I'm..sorry Kuzu." Her voice was strained. Her brething was rapid and irregular, something he only noticed as he approached her.

As he had reached her in this tree, he couldn't help but reach out to her. It was as if he didn't believe what his eyes were showing him. He gently pulled the stakes out of her hands and carefully climbed down to ground level. That strong chakra he had felt was radiating from her. Her body was hot. Is this her death? It couldn't be. It just couldn't. He froze in his thoughts as she reached up and touched his face.

As if he acted purely on instinct, he leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. Everything seemed to hit him in that moment. This dying soul was the one who had always been by his side. She was the one to lift his spirits and give him a lifetime of warm memories. She was the one. The one to give him hope a purpose. She had been the one person to show him kindness when nobody else would. As he looked at her dying in his arms, tears pooling in the corner of his eyes thretening to spill over once more, he was hit with the realization of why he had always felt 'weird' around her. This was someone he truly loved. And in the moment he realized it, it was too late for her.

"No. I'm sorry Mina."

She weakly smiled up at him. How could she smile during a time like this?

"Can you please...take my body...to the well?"

There had been a small, overgrown and very obviously abandoned well about a mile back. He had no idea what the connection to her was, but he would fulfill her dying wish. He had been gently cradling her body close to him, and with that simple request he stood up and headed that way-constantly rubbing his finger gently over her arm. He had tried any way he could think of to comfort her in this fleeting time. How he wished to confess to her, but he couldn't bare the thought of burdening her in her final moments with his own selfish feelings. He wouldn't do that to her. As he approached the well, she had reached up once more to touch his face, which did indeed make his tears spill over silently. He had never felt a pain in his chest quite like this one.

"Kakuzu?" Her glossed over eyes looked up to him, and the look on her face almost made him break his composure. The look of pain on her face was something he would never forget. "Come closer." She was barely audible. He leaned closer to her, taking in everything that was her. "Thank you...for everthing." Those words struck him in a way he couldn't explain. All he could think of was comforting her in her final moments. He couldn't vocalize what he thought, it was as if he had lost his voice. So he had brought her in for the last hug they would ever share in this lifetime. As he pulled away, she had planted one small, weak kiss on his lips-and only moments later did she fall limp.

And there he let his emotions take over. The tears that broke through were full of misery and pain. Hurt and anger. How could this have happened? Why would the elders allow something like this? He had let her body slip over into the well, something she had mentioned several times since they were children. Apparently to her family, this well held something for them in the afterlife, and although he didn't quite understand this particular ritual-he would do anything for her. And in that moment he realized he could allow himself to die, and be with her. But he also knew that she would scold him for such thinking. No, instead he decided to live FOR her. This was not over. He would honor her memory in the only way he knew how-the keep fighting and live on. Forever knowing he had lost a very important piece of himself on the day she died.

This was not over.


Kakuzu had woken up from his restless dreaming, a single tear had ran down his face in his sleep. Luckily for him, Hidan was not one to pay attention to detail. He hadn't noticed from what Kakuzu could tell. There was no going back to sleep. Not after reliving that nightmare of a day. He had gotten up and switched posts with his partner. His inner turmoil was something he kept trying to push down and ignore. All he cared to think about was completing this mission. That was all he could allow himself to think on.


Hello all! This short story will only be 2 parts long. This story is a true emotional rollercoaster. I've had this little story on my mind for a bit and thought to put it into writing. Hopefully someone out there will enjoy it! This chapter was filled with multiple flashbacks and gives a bit of light on the situation. Kakuzu is a character that doesn't get much love so I thought I'd give him a spin on why he is as harsh towards others as he is in story. I hope this finds the right audience. As always read, review, and enjoy!