AN: EDIT: Chapter has been edited as of (June 4th) Edits include: Plot tweaks to ending scene concerning Akatsuki introduction.

Wasteland

Mayfly Arc

Chapter 1

"Would you like for me to walk you home?" Ayana asked quietly, watching as Kiyoshi packed his suitcase. They had returned to the doctor's cramped office after he had requested the rest of the day off due to his breakdown. Surprisingly, Tarou had been supportive, permitting it and even offered him to talk the next few days off. Kiyoshi considered it, as K-MF-001's field test was scheduled at the end of the week and he was unsure if he possessed the mental capability to attend the event.

"I'll be fine, Ayana-chan. I'm just going to go home and rest." Ayana nodded and Kiyoshi shoveled in whatever paperwork he suspected he might need during his downtime before heaving the leather suitcase to his side, feeling considerably heavier in his exhausted state. "If I take the next few days off, I can trust you to care for 084, yes?"

"Of course." The woman answered.

He nodded, tucking his hair behind his ear. "Good. She's not due for any testing so she should be left alone until I return. But, if anything comes up, please inform me. These days will be uncertain and I want nothing to happen to her while I'm gone."

"Absolutely, Kiyoshi-kun. She will be monitored closely."

"Thank you, Ayana-chan." He supplied a kiss on his forehead, a purely platonic gesture.

Ayana accompanied Kiyoshi as he departed the laboratories, loading onto the elevator in the west wing which was connected to the sizable hospital which had been built above ground to guise the affairs occurring below. Especially from Iwagakure eye. While they rode the several stories up to the hospital, Kiyoshi lost himself once more to his buzzing thoughts as he realized her would have to begin creating a back-up plan if everything were to go wrong. He had cared for 084 since she was arrived from the orphanage seven years prior and considered her a second daughter to him due to it. He did not want to see the same fate of 001 and 002 occur again and would protect her by any means. Even it meant risking his job or even his own welfare.

The elevator chugged to its destination and the bell rung as the doors parted, startling Kiyoshi from his thoughts and he silently followed Ayana as stepped off into the active employee only break room which reeked of freshly brewed coffee and smoke. A few of the nurses which worked the infirmary ward in the laborites were there, taking their breaks before they began their second shift at the hospital itself. They greeted the two as they passed by and Kiyoshi wondered how they could appear so calm, smoking their cigarettes and gossiping, despite the death of two innocent children mere hours before. He did not return their friendliness.

The hospital was quiet as they navigated the white halls to the front entrance, the only noises being the beeping of machinery and distant conversations. Hardly anyone were in the beds of the rooms which they passed. Due to the village's small population, there was not much use for the hospital which had been built as a ruse. Those which did come in, if they were rendered ill enough, would be relocated to the laboratories for fodder and their love ones told of their abrupt death. If questioned about the body, they were supplied an urn of ashes, ashes gathered from a fire pit, and told a fib their body had been cremated for them by the hospital. When they heard it had been free, they usually quieted down and left peacefully with the faked ashes of their family or friend. When in reality, their loved ones were either alive, though not for long, and being used as a host for the Mayfly or supper for 001. Kiyoshi felt his abused stomach clench at the thought, but he convinced himself it was the overpowering stench of bleach, knowing the acknowledgement of his role in everything would make him heave again.

Finally, they stepped into the main lobby of the hospital. Another nurse was lounged behind the front counter, her eyes glued to the fashion magazine and grunted a farewell as Kiyoshi and Ayana departed through the doors. It was hardly evening and the air was crisp with a hint of oncoming rain and the surrounding plant-life which engulfed the village. Barely anyone roamed the dusty streets and those which were still out at this hour were shopkeepers closing shop or people walking home such as they.

Despite being a hidden village, the Kusagakure was smaller than the rest and a fragment of the superpower is once. After the devastation of the Second Shinobi World War, the village was forced to repay a crippling debt by the Five Nations due to the damage they had caused in the war. Mainly the inhumane acts of those which possessed the Mayfly. It had bankrupted them and decades later, they had never recovered which explained the lack of military, the abandoned buildings, such as schools and hospitals, and humble population.

"It's cold tonight." Kiyoshi blinked and glanced over at Ayana, who had taken her red scarf from her bag and wrapped it around her neck. It complained her black hair so well and he debated about telling her but bit his tongue.

She noticed the man's steady gazing and smiled. "Smells like rain also. We should both get home before we're caught in it." Kiyoshi nodded lamely and they increased their pace towards his home.

Kiyoshi's house was located in the back of the village, amongst the towering foliage and within the shadow of a crumbling building which had once functioned as an Academy, once upon a time training Kusagakure's most talented. Now it was a shelter for the local vermin and distant memories.

As they circled the rotting structure, a modest cottage could be seen. The open windows were illuminated and even from their distance, a delicious scent was wafting throughout the air though Kiyoshi could not muster any hunger from the smell due to his unsettled stomach. He looked at Ayana who had her nose pointed towards the air, inhaling the aroma and Kiyoshi wondered if he should invite her in for dinner. It was just a thought though, when he remembered the woman was due for his shift at the hospital and also his wife, Sayuri, who was highly disapproving of Ayana's presence and would never allow the other woman within the house. He assumed it to be jealously as he spent more time with the nurse than his own wife due to his career. Or perhaps distain for the prettier and younger woman. Either or.

Suddenly, Kiyoshi swiveled on his heel towards Ayana who paused in her step. "I'm fine from here, Ayana-chan. You should be heading off to the hospital before you're clocked late." He told her gently.

"Alright, if you're sure, Kiyoshi-kun. I will see you whenever you feel well enough to return to work and I promise to watch over 084. She'll be safe, I swear it."

The blonde man nodded. "That's all I ask. Thank you."

They hugged before exchanging farewells and Kiyoshi watched Ayana's retreating back until it disappeared safely into the distance. He then turned away himself and walked the short distance to his house. The door was unlocked and he stepped inside, relishing the warmth which immediately embraced his shivering bones. As he disposed his bag on the coat rack, Sayuri rounded the kitchen corner.

"You're home early. Actually going to join us for dinner tonight?" The distain in her voice was painfully obvious and Kiyoshi sighed as he shrugged off his coat. Not this again.

"No, I will not. I became ill at the hospital, I'm going to lay down." He said as he hung his coat and made his way toward their bedroom when he heard Sayuri hot on his heels.

"Kiyoshi, do not bullshit me!" She seethed, venom spewing from her lips. "You never eat with us anymore, not morning or night. You spend all your time at the hospital and with her." Her, referencing Ayana. Kiyoshi turned towards wife. This argument had gotten old the first time she had brought it up. Now it was beginning to irk him.

"Sayuri, there is nothing between Ayana and I. She is merely a nurse I work closely with in the children's ward." He shot back, the lie feeling thick on his tongue. If she knew the truth, a possible affair would be the least of their problems. "I will not be having this discussion with you again, Sayuri-"

"I will not drop this, Kiyoshi! Not when you neglect your own daughter and wife! If you think-"

"Mom? Dad?"

Both parties ceased their arguing and looked over, seeing their daughter, Miku, standing in the mouth of the hallway. She glanced between her feuding parents nervously before walking to her father, cautiously wrapping her arms around his waist. "Welcome home, dad. You're home early."

"Hello, Miku, sweetheart." He cooed, ruffling the girl's matching blonde locks. "I had an incident at work, so I'm not feeling very well."

"Oh, are you going to eat with us?" She asked quietly, peeking around her father to her mother who retreated back into the kitchen and the sound of pots being clanged together emitted a moment later.

"No, sweetheart. I'm going to lay down. But I have the next few days off so you and I can have all the time in the world together." Immediately, his daughter's face lit up and she smiled widely. Kiyoshi ignored the guilt gnawing at the back of his subconscious. He hadn't spent that much time with his daughter for the last year.

"Dinner." Sayuri announced from the kitchen and carried out a pot to the dining table which had been neatly arranged. Only with two plates, Kiyoshi noticed. He patted his daughter's head before detaching her from his waist and shooing her off to dinner. The girl bounced off before pausing, looking at her father who shuffled off to his bedroom.

"Dad?"

"Yes, sweetheart?" Kiyoshi asked, stopping in the hallway.

"I love you." She said.

"I love you too." He replied back before retiring to his room as the girl skipped off to the table to eat supper with her mother alone. Kiyoshi's heart ached at the three words which he could not recall the last instance which he spoke them to his own daughter.

As he entered his and wife's shared room, his worries came creeping once more as he undressed. He had the next few days off yet he wouldn't have a moment of rest. The field test, 084, Ayana, it was enough to make his head spin. Yet, despite the anxieties pledging him, he forced himself to concentrate on Miyu. He would finally have time with his daughter and he would be robbing himself and her if he couldn't enjoy the time. Everything could wait until he returned to the laboratories. Unless Ayana came to him, he should not worry or he would be spouting grey hair before his forties.

He yanked off his shirt and tossed it aside along with his shoes before he stood to close the open window so he could rest. The wind had begun to whip up with the approaching storm and the light from the cottage cast on the swaying trees outside, creating dances figures in the shadows that his exhausted mind actually mistook them for people for the briefest second. He scolded himself for his silliness, last thing he needed was paranoia too, and drew the blinds closed, blocking out the outside world before he switched off the light to sleep.

Outside the cottage, a figure stared into the closed window before striking a cigarette and walking away.

An extensive rainstorm engulfed the Land of Rivers, grasping the land with heavy downpours and whipping winds throughout the night. In a forest secluded from the wandering eye, a humble cabin in the woods was tossed about by the storm. The wooden structure groaned, desperately clinging to the side of the incline it was perched on. The current occupant descended the stairwell to the basement, the steps creaking and shifting from the person's weight and a history of wood rot and the resident termite population. The lantern clenched in their hand flickered with their movements. The company paused before the closed door of the lower room and knocked heavily, awaiting a reply from the other side from the unexpected guest of the night.

"Enter." A voice answered the next moment.

The person grappled the brass knob but the door stuck fast, swollen with the water trickling throughout the structure and required a shove to unlatch it. Once inside, the visitor yanked the door closed behind them before lifting the lantern to brighten the basement and fellow man which was seated behind a discarded, oak desk. The man was alone this time as his companion was visibly missing from his side.

"Take a seat, Kakuzu." The ginger man remarked, gesturing to the flimsy chair which had been set out before the desk. Kakuzu obeyed silently, wedging his large frame into the sorry chair and seating his lantern to the floor, positioned so he could still see Leader's face. "I have an interesting mission for you."

"Interesting?" Kakuzu repeated. Leader nodded, folding his hands beneath his chin and closing his unnerving ringed orbs.

"The Tsuchikage has reached out to the Akatsuki with an unusual concern."

"Of?"

"Kusagakure." Leader spoke without a moment of hesitation. It sounded more insane aloud.

Kakuzu narrowed his red eyes. "Kusagakure? For what reasons? They have occupied the village, and they have no military to combat them with. What possibly reason would Kusagakure frighten them so?"

"He refused to explain. Instead he merely said to meet an associate of his that is current stationed in Kusagakure and he would explain all of this madness. The only reason I agreed with such a ridiculous request to due to the sizable sum which we will be rewarded with. It would be enough to fund the Akatsuki for the foreseeable future. That is why I chose you for this job, being the only one which I trust with such an investment."

Kakuzu scowled behind his bandanna. It sounded like a waste of time to him, chasing another old man's paranoiac thoughts but if this payout was as large as Leader implied it to be, then perhaps just this once he could chase a few fairytales.

"Very well. I'll do it."

AN: This is the second half of the prologue. The main characters shall get more screen time in following chapters such as Kakuzu. Thank you for reading and please leave a review, would like to know if I've gotten people's interest. Also feel free to ask question in the review or in private message. I would love to answer them so long as they're reasonable.