AN: I just wanted to thank the people which have reviewed and alert this story. Makes me feel all nice inside and really encourages me to resume writing this story though don't worry, this story is my number one priority as of now. After this chapter, I have one pre-written chapter after this so once that one is posted, updates will take more time as I will have to write them out before I post them. With all that out of the way, enjoy and review please.

EDIT: Chapter editing as of (June 8th) Minor editing for quality purposes.

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Wasteland

Mayfly Arc:

Chapter 2

The Woodlands was experiencing its worse storm of the decade. Torrential rains drowned the earth and the vicious combination of wind and lightning desecrated the county's captivating forests, reducing the age-old trees to kindle. All and any wise living creature and person had seeked shelter from the sweeping floods and mudslides so not to be washed away. Obviously, it was a brilliant time to be crossing the country for a mission and potential, or unpotential, payday. Sometimes, it could honestly be said Kakuzu would do anything for money. And they would be right.

Money was the only reason he was currently trudging to Kusagakure, ankle deep in sloppy mud and soaked to the bone from the icy rain, heading throbbing from the deafening thunder quaking the ground. It was a wonder that he hadn't been stricken with pneumonia during the three day trek. Or struck by lightning, for that matter. But after this, he would happily spare the money to buy a bottle of warm sake. Perhaps even two. Hell, he might just get wasted.

Due to the thick fog, it was impossible to view into the distance and spy any evidence of the village approaching so for all he knew, it could be five or fifty miles anyway. The scroll he had been issued detailed his informant was stationed in one of the Iwagakure camps surrounding Kusagakure and would meet him a safe distance from the village to avoid any resident eavesdroppers or wondering eyes. With the storm, however, it would be foolish to await someone in the rain and wind and Kakuzu would likely have to divert course to seek out a hotel until the weather relented. Hopefully, his informant was a patient person and would not mind a day or two extra until their meeting. Though, now the struggle would be finding a hotel or motel to retreat to. Even a stable shack.

Lightning scattered throughout the black clouds, briefly highlighted the water-logged land with radiant light and for the split-second it existed, Kakuzu spied a figure huddled under a tree alongside the pathway before the concealing blackness returned. He questioned the sight. Only a fool would be outside in this weather, besides Kakuzu that was. It could be his contact, or anything/anyone else. It could just be a dead body propped against a tree. It was far too dangerous making assumptions and conclusions.

So, whilst shuffling through the slop, Kakuzu kept an eye and safe distance from the hidden subject, whether it be friend or foe, real or imaginary. As he rounded it, there was a small faint glow originating from the spot, concluded to be a lit cigarette, confirming it to be both real and a person. He paused briefly as he now observed the hidden figure, trying to determine any key features such as armor, appearance, or inflation but the darkness prevented that and he was left to assume it could be his contact or not. The person made no attempt at revealing themselves to help his cause either, clearly as cautious. Kakuzu recalled the scroll and among the information listed within for the precautions to pursue once he encountered his contact or his assumed contact. Safer than shouting names. He cleared his parched throat.

"The healthy human mind doesn't wake up in the morning thinking this is its last day. But I think that's a luxury, not a curse." Once he finished reciting the phrase from the scroll, he patiently awaited an answer.

His company did not immediately reply and he questioned if he had spoken correctly or loud enough so not to be muffled by the pounding rain. Worst case scenario, the person was not his informant and assumed him to be insane for spouting randomness at them. The silence persisted and Kakuzu concluded the mysterious figure was not his target and his travels should resume. Foolish to wait in the rain and wind for acknowledgment.

"Outnumbered. Out of our minds. On a suicide mission. But the sands and rocks here stained with thousands of years of warfare... they will remember us." Kakuzu stopped again, recognizing the second half of the secret phrase.

Finally, the unknown company stepped from the shadows and the tanned man recognized the Iwagakure J nin garb which the blonde and four-eyed individual boasted, confirming without a reasonable doubt it to be his contact. He kept his guard however.

The fellow man inhaled deeply from his cigarette before flicking the remaining butt into the mud and extending his glove-clad hand out to Kakuzu. "I take it you are my contact from the Akatsuki, yes?" He questioned, smoke leaking from his mouth and nose and oddly enough from beneath the Iwagakure headband tied around his neck as he spoke before it was swept away into the biting wind. "Katsu Domon, captain of the Explosives Corps and Fourth Iwagakure division. At your service."

Kakuzu did not extend his own hand. "I'm not one for introductions."

The Iwagakure informant, Domon, sniffed and dropped his hand, tucking it away in his pant pocket. "Understandable. Hard to trust anyone these days, yes?" Kakuzu did not reply and the blonde sniffed again. "Very well. We should probably move somewhere warmer and more private to speak, yes? My squadron's campsite is nearby." Kakuzu grunted and Domon sniffed once more before turning and trudging into the forest line with Kakuzu keeping his distance behind.

Thankfully, the man spoke the truth and after approximately twenty minutes of shuffling through mud and over tipped and charred trees, Kakuzu could view battered buildings on the outskirts of the woods and their shattered windows glowing and emitting smoke. He already felt warmer. They broke the tree line and stepped into a graveyard of abandoned buildings and collapsed structures. No one walked the streets but the buildings were alive with chatter and laughter that resounded over the whipping wind. Domon directed them farther into the desolate section of Kusagakure before he finally headed towards an elongated building which appeared to function as a guard tower at one point in the past. Domon knocked on the sealed door and a small window slid open the next moment as someone peeked through at the visitors. Upon seeing the man, the door was hastily yanked opened and the Chunin on the other side bowed respectively as Domon stepped inside.

"Captain Katsu." The young man greeted and Domon tossed in his hand in half-assed wave as he passed. Kakuzu stepped in shortly after and the Chunin sputtered a greeting to the imposing man also before locking the door behind him and scurrying off to rejoin his team. The old, stone tower echoed with the dripping of water entering through cracks of broken bricks and the floor boards reeked of wet dog. The walls flicked with the fading lights of oil lanterns and a single fire roaring in the middle of the floor which four teams of three were camped around, the members varying in ranks and occupation, including a few Genin. Kakuzu pitied their young, pathetic lives.

The Iwagakure shinobi greeted their captain as Domon passed and he scaled the stairs which swiveled to a second floor. Kakuzu followed behind and he stepped onto the next floor, Domon had already lit an oil lantern which hung from the rafters and was busy lighting an old, rusty furnace which sat along the back wall. The blonde stood and removed his gloves, shaking them free of the coal dust and moisture before pulling them back on and gesturing towards a single table with two chairs positioned on either side as he monitored the coals. "Take a seat."

Kakuzu mutely accepted the offer and shrugged off his trench coat, draping it on the back of the wobbly, wooden chair to dry before he sat down and proceeded to ring his brunette locks of excessive water. Once the coals began to glow red, Domon secured the small door on the heater and walked over to the table, only to pause in front of a chest squatting behind the opposite chair. "Care for a drink?"

"Please." Kakuzu replied instantly, swallowing back salvia to relief his dry throat in the meantime.

Domon unlocked the chest and heaved out a fancy bottle of sake and two shot glasses. He popped open the fresh bottle and poured Kakuzu a shot. The missing nin swallowed it down in one gulp, relishing the warmth of the alcohol at the bottom of his stomach. Domon refilled his glass twice before pouring himself a shot also and settling in his chair, leaning back into the flimsy wood.

"Now then we're settled in, I can finally share why it was we dragged you out here during the storm of the century, yes?"

"Please do." Kakuzu replied gruffly.

Domon chuckled and lifted his glass to his lips. Suddenly, in an unusual display, he grasped his throat, in a gesture of self-strangulation which made Kakuzu pause and raise an eyebrow as he watched the man throw his head back as he sipped from his drink. Once the hot liquid had traveled his throat, he relented his hand and audibly cleared his throat, cracking his neck for extra measure. Kakuzu snorted at the odd ball behavior. Like him to be blessed with the whack jobs.

"Well then, I suppose I should start from the beginning. From the very beginning, yes?" Domon remarked, clearing his throat again. Kakuzu grunted and shifted his bandanna aside as he took a swig from his glass. "Well then, my squadron and I have been assigned here for the past year and half now and been observing odd occurrences concerning our new neighbours, Kusagakure."

Kakuzu finished off his third drink before reaching over to the dwindling bottle to pour himself another. "Odd how?"

"Hmm…how does a mysterious hospital, shady doctors and missing children sound?"

Kakuzu finished pouring his drink and passed the bottle on to Domon. "Sounds like a horrible novel."

Domon barked with laugher before he clamped his throat again and finished off his drink, clearing his throat afterwards. "Yes, yes, a bad novel, but true. Alright, from the beginning. It began with the hospital," Kakuzu grumbled in his throat. This man really intended to tell him as though it was a really was a bad novel. "We were ambushed by Konohagakure shinobi and one of my men had to be sent to the Kusagakure hospital to be treated. Whilst inside, he reported odd circumstances."

"Again, odd how?" Kakuzu grumbled.

Domon poured himself another glass of sake and adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Kusagakure is a village of small population, yes? Not many people compared to other villages such as Konohagakure or Iwagakure but enough to still retain rank of Hidden Village, regardless of the Second World War. Anyway, whilst inside, he reported besides himself, there were no other patients bed ridden despite the hospital being the only in the village."

"So? Perhaps the villagers are healthy and have no need for a hospital."

"Perhaps, but if that was the case, then what need for a hospital? Given Kusagakure's financial situation as of the past half century, the fact they chose to build an elaborate hospital rather than feed its starving population or reinstate its military is suspicious in itself, but I digress."

"Please do."

"Very well. Besides the lack of patients, apparently the hospital had a vast amount of doctors and nurses. Far too many to be working, even if every bed was occupied. And they would all clock in within the same time together, but he hardly saw a third of those which would walk in, yet most clocked out together. So, what are these doctors and nurses doing if they are not working the hospital?"

"I don't know, playing solitaire in the staff room?" Kakuzu answered shortly. "Care to explain if this is leading somewhere? Because at this point, this seems all like overblown coincidence."

"Yes, yes, it is. Just trying for suspense." Domon insisted, sniffling. "Alright, covered the hospital and doctors, now for the children, yes? Well then, the village has an orphanage, quite a large one, sadly. One day, we observed some of the resident quacks escorting a group of children from the orphanage to the hospital. Perhaps they were sick, yes? We paid no mind, except the following month, the same quacks took more children, then the next month and the next. Between three and five children each month, but we never saw any of them returned."

"Maybe they died in the hospital." Kakuzu dismissed as he sipped his glass.

Domon stroked the facial hair nestled under his nose. "Perhaps, except some of men were bed-ridden at the time and they claimed the children appeared as were perfectly healthy and were taken to an unknown section of the hospital and never reemerged."

"So? You've hired me to find some damned brats?" Kakuzu seethed, his short fuse beginning to burn bright from being roped along with the man's dull storytelling. He was not a man of patience or tolerance.

"No need, already did myself. And from I can deduce, those poor children are likely dead. Now I ask you listen for just a bit more. I promise this shall all tie together nicely and you will understand why it was this mission was of the highest priority." After a moment, Kakuzu relented his murderous impulse, giving the man only a few more minutes to conclude his story before he strangled him himself and upturned the place for his payment. Instead, he concentrated on his alcohol, the only reason his sanity remained intact.

Sensing the thick cloud of tension infesting the air, Domon reached into his vest pocket and withdraw a crumpled package of cigarettes. He tapped the box on the table until a single stick slithered out and tucked the cancer stick between his lips.

"I got curious from all these happenings and decided to investigate myself. I trailed the quacks from the hospital and listened in, tried to see if they would allow anything to slip about any goings within that hospital. Several weeks got almost nothing, a few names thrown about and code, nothing that could be used. Then, finally, one of them dropped a bombshell and it all made sense." Kakuzu quietly awaited the 'bombshell' as Domon lit his cigarette and inhaled before releasing the smoke slowly. "The Mayfly." Thunder boomed overhead as the word was spoken, adding to the ominous vide it emitted.

Kakuzu hadn't heard that bloodline since his imprisonment during the Second World War. Now the kekkei genkai was only heard of in history books and told to misbehaving children to frighten them straight. No one dared speak of it, not even in hushed whispers. Its once worshipped existence had become a taboo in itself.

"The Mayfly?" He questioned quietly, the phrase feeling foreign on his tongue. Domon nodded, taking another drag. "How is that possible? The Mayfly was eradicated after the Second World War."

"That is what we would like to know also. You see why it was we enlisted you and the promised payout was so impressive now, yes?" Yes, yes he did. Implying the Mayfly existed was certainly interesting indeed. He was curious himself now. "Now, care to hear the conspiracy theory we have constructed?"

Kakuzu sighed, adjusting him in his seat. "If I must."

Domon tucked his fingers underneath the fabric of his headband and tugged it, a cloud of smoke of billowing from the neckline before he resecured the forehead protector. "Now then, we believe that hospital is just a front, a cover up, and there must be some secret corridor or level. It explains the copious amounts of quacks roaming about and the missing children, yes? They must be using the kids as experiments, or worse, food. If the Mayfly is indeed involved, it would be no surprise. Might also explain the lack of patients, yes? Perhaps those which were ill or crippled were hoarded away for extra fodder." He stamped out his cigarette on the wooden table. "Also, we suspect Kusagakure is being funded from the outside. No possible way they could afford everything themselves, especially since they're still in debt to the Five Nations for their sins during the Second World War. Our theory? Konohagakure. Not only would they have experience with reviving a dead bloodline, the Senju bloodline yet with limited results, they also have motive. A small army of Mayfly wielders could easily cause opposing forces, such as us, to withdraw and it would cement their position of superpower as they would then successfully possess the strongest kekkei genkais to ever exist. Yes?"

"I can see why this would be a conspiracy theory." Kakuzu mumbled after a few moments of proceeding everything the captain had rattled out. He swallowed down his sake to assist with befuddled brain cells but the lingering buzz only scattered them more. "So then, not only do you suspect that Kusagakure is drabbling in the revival of the Mayfly, but also Konohagakure is involved?" It sounded dumber spoken aloud than in his head.

"Yes."

"Well then, if you're so sure on all of this. Why don't you just investigate it yourself? Seems you have evidence on the matter." He must've have been getting drunk because he had just possibly made his entire presence void with that single question. Thankfully, that was not the case.

"Well, primarily for one reason. First being, my men and I are under constant threat from Konohagakure who are just camped across the river. And with Kumogakure now breathing down our necks, I need all my men on hand for the real possibly of farther ambush. Also, a have a week left until I can return to Iwagakure and I plan to survive that week so I can see my wife and the birth of my firstborn. Would you like to see pictures of my wife, Kira?"

"No."

Domon whined at the rejection and removed his hand from his pant pocket where he had already made a grab for his wallet to display pictures of his beautiful wife. "Anyway, safest to include an outside party. On the off chance you are caught or your act is witnessed, it'll be assumed a mercenary group became a bit too greedy for their own good and if we are at all suspected to be connected, then we can just throw you out to the wolves to protect ourselves, yes?"

Kakuzu stared at the blonde flatly. "I better get payment for the bullshit I've been placed through before I leave to chase fairytales."

Domon sniffed. "I suppose I could spot you some of the money under the table, yes? Only if it ensures your devotion to this situation."

"I promise nothing."

"You will have to if you desire the rest of your payment." Domon stood up from the table and returned to the heavy chest behind his chair. He inputted the code for the lock and yanked the chest open again before groping around for its hidden contents. After a moment, he withdrew a thick file of paperwork in one hand and the other clenched three neat stacks of paper money. Immediately, Kakuzu's interest was rekindled. Domon took his seat again and tossed the folder onto the table before dumping the wads of cash on top of it. Kakuzu made a grab for the money first as he weighed each stack in his hand before fingering through the bills, making a quick estimate of the amount.

"This should suffice." He said and shoved the stacks into the pocket of his coat before he picked up the file and opened it. Domon emitted a sigh of relief.

"The file contains copies of everything gathered at this point. Maps, interviews, and my personal notes." He supplied as Kakuzu flipped through the various papers which had been stuffed inside. "It should be enough information for you to conceive a plan on how to get into the hospital."

"And once I am inside, what exactly am I looking for?"

"Any evidence of the existence of Mayfly and any connection to Konohagakure or whichever village is funding them. Files, samples, hell, if you bring an entire person with the bloodline out, that would be perfect." Kakuzu snorted at the last option. He had fought those with the bloodline during the First World War and knew from personal experience it was not that easy. No doubt worse now due to those mutations. "If you are unable to find anything or prove this entire thing was a simple misunderstanding, you will still be paid for your troubles, but only a quarter the amount. Yet, still a pretty penny, yes?" Not particularly, but money was money, so Kakuzu chose not to complain.

"Very well."

"After you get out with any information you acquired, you will return here and shall be given your payment then can go on your way, yes?"

"Preferably." Kakuzu downed his last warm drink and stood, shrugging on his damp coat and tucking the file under his arm, more than prepared to give his farewells and leave. He had about enough of the man with the speech impediment and smoker's rattle as he could stomach for a lifetime.

Noticing this, Domon stood as well, extending his hand in another attempt for a shake with the hired man. "Thank you for accepting this offer despite the trouble that had been caused and the general unbelievableness of the situation." Kakuzu eyed the captain's hovering hand for a solid minute before submitting and grasping it with his own gloved hand, giving it a firm shake only to release it the next second but Domon was satisfied.

"There's an empty building across the way. Used to be a restaurant of some sort but we cleared it out to use as extra shelter in case of an ambush. You can use it for the night. Cheaper than renting a hotel, yes? I'll have my men carry over a cot for you."

"No need." Kakuzu dismissed. "I'll take it as is."

Domon sniffed. "Well alright, if you're sure, yes? Have a comfortable night then and good luck."

Kakuzu did not return the man's blessing as he made haste from the tower with the proper filing in hand. The rain had not let up the slightest during his meeting and he was politely escorted from the building by the same nervous chunin before the door was promptly slammed and locked behind him, leaving him in the pouring rain. Thankfully, if there was one credit he was capable of giving the captain, it was his accuracy with directions as after a few minutes of walking directly forward through the fog, and Kakuzu stumbled upon the hallowed restaurant.

The wrecked structure had no door so he ducked inside to escape the rain but discovered the inside was no better. Holes were punched in the ceiling, permitting water to leak inside in rivers and drench the floorboards which emitted a detestable reek and without a door, it was as cold as the outside. It was free however, far cheaper than a hotel, so again, Kakuzu did not complain as he sought out a dry spot to sit.

During his search, his foot collided with a lantern which had been carelessly left behind and when he picked it up and dusted it off, leftover oil splashed within much to his relief. With the lantern in hand, he managed to discover a dry area in the very corner of the café and removed his trench coat and muddy boots, setting them aside to dry before he sat down. He regretted rejecting the offer of a bed but he would be damned if he went crawling back for one. Though, he should have least stolen the rest of that sake.

After some fiddling, he lit the lamp and positioned it so enough light was illuminated and bounced off the walls for him as he dumped off the contents of the folder. The file hadn't been too particularly thick and shifting through the paperwork proved how hearsay the whole situation was. Only Domon's notes recounted the mention of Mayfly but then it had only been one occasion with no other evidence listed to verify it yet been enough to spook that old croak Tsuchikage enough to scramble up assistance from a up and coming mercenary group to investigate. If the Mayfly did exist, it proved how fearful Iwagakure was of it and the distinct advantage Konohagakure or any village would have over them and possibly others. This could shift the war in ways never seen before.

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AN: The Woodlands are just the region Kusagakure is located in since an official name was never given. Next chapter, the Mayfly will be demonstrated. Thank you for reading.