AN: A new character will be introduced in this chapter, an original character, and he shall be a reoccurring character throughout the entire story. This chapter shall be semi focused on his chapter development alongside of the main plot. Also Amegakure and its brief history is introduced. Please, no one scold me for getting facts wrong. I have purposely made the history for this story like with Kusagakure. I am not writing it from lack of knowledge but out of creativity.
starstorm 10: Thank you so much for your kind review. I'm so glad you are enjoying what you have read so far. Don't worry, I will not be abandoning this story since it has just started. Hope to have you along for the rest of this crazy, twisted ride!
And to the people that spammed my inbox with alerts and favourites, thank you also! I'm glad people are liking what they see. At least I hope so.
Read and enjoy!
Warning(s): Language (High), Blood/Gore (High), Genderbend (Low), Out of Character (Konan), Original Character(s) (Low)
…
Wasteland
Mayfly Arc
Chapter 15
It had happened so fast. If one were to blink, they would have missed it.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Kakuzu swung his fist towards Zetsu's face and within inches of her fragile cheek, it had happened. Thick, green, finger-like appendages thrusted forth from the girl's waist, exploding through the skin in a shower of hot blood and flesh and making her squeal out in agonized pain. One of the sharp digits impaled his hand and pierced through bone like an ice pick. It took a split-second for the pain to register in his brain but just as it did, the extensions withered away and shrank back into her body, gone as quick as they came. Time resumed its original pace and Kakuzu recoiled his stabbed limb and the hand which had been embedded in the girl's hair while Zetsu collapsed to the ground. It took another second for the man to realize what had just occurred. The Mayfly…had that been the Mayfly? His questions had to wait, however, when he heard the wet gurgling emitting from the teenager's throat and witnessed the rapidly expanding pool of blood that was engulfing the forest floor and his boots.
Kakuzu swore, ignoring his injured wrist and the blood soaking into his pants as he crouched beside the girl to analyze the damage the Kekkei Genkai had inflicted. He yanked up her formally blue shirt, now painted red, and inhaled sharply from horrific carnage before him. There was nothing left as he found himself staring through her at the blood soaked grass beneath. Her waist, where the Mayfly originated, was mangled in a show of dark gore and blood. It had bisected her.
"Fuck!" Kakuzu spat. He reached forward, threads quickly sprouting free from his stripped wrist and attempting to stitch the girl's two halves back together but it was to no avail. The skin was too tattered and it was like trying to stitch together granules of sand. With this realization, he stood, dumping his bags, and ran back to the cabin. Konan has been negotiating her future residency at Amegakure with Pein when Kakuzu kicked open the basement door and screamed down the stairwell. "I need some fucking help!"
"Kakuzu?" Konan questioned, the urgency of his tone alarming her and a dead weight settled in her stomach. Even without an answer, she had a suspicion exactly what was amiss. "What did you do?"
"The girl activated the Mayfly!"
"What?" Konan and Pein both voiced in unison.
Konan ran up the stairs to confront Kakuzu and paused when observed him. He was panting with his bleeding hand nestled against his abdomen and reeking of the overwhelming scent of sharp copper from the copious amount of blood that stained his slacks. She knew there was too much to be his own. She did not wait to interrogate him further as she wedged herself past him and fled from the cabin, praying that the injuries were merely superficial and appeared more frightful than they actually were. Once outside, her prayers were shattered and she gasped aloud, shielding her mouth as tears flooded her tangerine orbs. Zetsu was sprawled on the ground, convulsing in a pool of her own blood with her jaw slack and eyes rolled back into her head. Kakuzu arrived shortly after and prepared himself for the woman to scream to him, labeling him with the blame for the girl's current condition but to his honest surprise, she did not.
"We need to get her to Amegakure!" Konan proclaimed.
"Amegakure?" Kakuzu responded, bewildered by the suggestion but she did not explain as she was swiftly in action.
She dropped her knees besides Zetsu and extended her arms, her pale skin and Akatsuki outfit turning pure white before peeling off into dozens of sheets of paper. The paper attached itself to the teenager and encased her in a pallid cocoon. As quickly as she could create new layers though, the blood oozed through and after the minimum of a hundred coats later, the crimson substance had been successfully curbed. She levitated the populous swaddle and stood, shuttering from the hot liquid that bathed her legs and squelched inside her sandals.
Zetsu safely enveloped, she focused on Kakuzu who had been idly standing by. "Go inform Leader about what happened. I am taking her to Amegakure."
Kakuzu detested being ordered around by someone of the female persuasion, but just this once he allowed to pass as he grunted in agreement. Konan nodded and her hand flashed into a quick sign which triggered the emerging of two, paper angel wings to sprout from her shoulders, shedding the sheets like feathers. The wings stretched and flapped, lifting her off the grassy floor and hastily, she flew off into the woods, the makeshift cocoon hovering behind and skillfully dodging the towering trees before vanishing into the darkness. Once she was gone, he snorted and lumbered back to the cabin where Leader has been patiently awaiting an explanation about the morning's incident.
"Am I able trust your claim about the Mayfly as truth and not a cover-up for an assault on Zetsu?" Leader inquired when Kakuzu returned, making the brunette bristle at his superior's doubting.
"Yes. The girl awakened her Mayfly and actually assaulted me." Kakuzu rebutted, exhibiting his punctured hand before finally tending to the gaping wound and stitching it closed. He would have to splint it later.
"How severe is her condition?"
"She bisected herself."
Leader nodded, folding his hands atop his desk. "Then critical. We may have lost a vital asset to the Akatsuki due to the unpredictably of her bloodline. It is unfortunate."
"She is worth considerably even in death."
"Yes, but alive she was invaluable to us." Leader reclined in his chair, sighing. "However, there is little that remorse shall do for us. Has Konan tended to her?"
"Yes, she took her to Amegakure." Kakuzu answered, awaiting the gingered man to raise an eyebrow towards the fact that his partner had taken the girl to a restricted territory for emergency care. He had been hearing the two whispering about the village frequently and he did not understand their immense interest in it, especially with Hanzō of the Salamander in command.
"Perfect. I want you to go to Amegakure and report back to me about her condition." The other man said, much to Kakuzu's perplexity.
"Would it be particularly wise for us to go sauntering into a village notorious for its maximum security and dictatorship?"
"You would be surprised how lax the village government has become." Leader vaguely replied. "Now go. I need to know if we must make preparations for negotiations over her remains."
Kakuzu obeyed, concluding his inquiry about Amegakure could be satisfied later as he left the dark office and departed from the cabin. The Land of Rivers and Wetlands were neighbours so the travel to Amegakure was brief, only a few hours even with Kakuzu's casual pace. Eventually, the environment changed from lush and green to mush and brown as the towering forest died into putrid swamp and sunny weather became torrential downpour and dark as night like a light switch. The air was choked by blinding fog but even through the thickness, the glaring spotlights of Amegakure could be seen in the distance, scouring the surrounding area of intruders. Immediately, Kakuzu began to doubt his superior's insistence that the village had suddenly become welcoming of strangers.
Hanzō was notorious, not just for his slaughter of countless shinobi during the Second World War, but also his intense paranoia which resulted in the conversion of Amegakure into an impenetrable stronghold. Not even a fly could get in. There had even been a popular rumour that he had become so afraid of being assassinated, exclusively by a person with Mayfly, that he reinforced the buildings of the entire city with metal exoskeletons to prevent one from phasing through the village. No one was permitted within the village to confirm it so the truth was unknown. The assumption that Konan and Leader held that the government was cozy with visitors was absurd. Even with a dying child in her arms, there was little belief they would allow Konan to enter and particularly an S-Ranked shinobi wanted for escaping prison and the murder of the Takigakure Elders. Perhaps he should just turn back and await Konan's return instead and leave the reporting about the girl to her. She hadn't returned yet, however, so she must have gained entrance. Maybe for once in his life he should trust someone on something they have told him. But just this once.
As Kakuzu trudged through the mud and knee-high weeds closer to the village, he could hear murmuring voices with echoing footsteps through the thick slop and saw the beams of flashlights peering through the mist. A toad croaked loudly in the reeds besides him and scuttled into the murky bog with a splash, causing a pillar of light snapped over to his location, settling on his midsection before gradually scaling up his tall form and shining onto his veiled face. He lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the glare through his sunglasses.
"Who's there? You are trespassing on Amegakure territory! State yourself!" A voice shouted out. Another person stomped over and another flashlight was rudely shone into Kakuzu's face also. He did respond. "Put your hands up and approach slowly!" He should have trusted his instinct about the village instead of someone else's word. Looks like force was the only option left.
He conformed to the simply demands as he lifted up his arms above his head and stepped forward in three long strides, breaking the distance between himself and the guards. The two Amegakure guards shuffled closer through the veil of smog, momentarily shrinking back at the behemoth of a man standing before them before recomposing themselves and pointing their weapons towards him, jabbing the spears dangerously close to his ribcage.
"State yourself!" The smaller of the two male guards barked like a tiny dog at a dog twice its size. "State yourself or you will be taken into custody!"
"I don't have to state anything." Kakuzu growled, dropping his arms and making the guards poke him again. "I'm looking for a woman. Blue hair. Had a dying child with her."
"You are Kakuzu?" The second guard replied, voice muffled by the rebreather attached to his headgear. It startled Kakuzu with their recognition of him and further more when the two men voluntarily lowered their weapons instead of instantly attacking him. "Angel told us you might be coming." Angel? And what the hell was Konan thinking about slinging his name around like that? Did she want him to be arrested again? And again, Angel?
"Angel told us to escort you to the hospital." The tinier guard said, shaking Kakuzu's uninjured hand. "Anyone in alliance with God and Angel are welcomed into Amegakure." God and Angel? The hell were these two babbling about!?
The rebreather man withdrew a two-way radio that was tucked in his vest pocket. "Host Guard Tower, this is Perimeter Patrol. Open the village gates. A special guest of God and Angel has arrived."
"Roger that." The radio crackled back.
There was spine-tingling screeching that rang out as the steel gates steadily chugged open and a waterfall of rainwater poured off them. The two guards herded Kakuzu backwards as the doors yawned open outwards, belching out a wave of hot air from the grinding gears that dissolved the enclosing fog and revealing the colossal metal walls that enveloped the village. A floodlight focused on them, following along as the guards escorted their welcomed guest into the sheltered village before veering away as the doors shrieked back closed behind them. Inside, Kakuzu was able to confirm that everything and more that he heard overheard about Amegakure was true.
The village was entirely industrial as every building as far as the eye could see was an ugly hybrid of rock and steel and even the ground beneath their feet was of rock and plates of metal that clanged noisily as they were stepped upon. Large ducts lined the streets to drain away the copious amounts of water that rained down constantly and the people that walked about were clothed in heavy, plastic raincoats with umbrellas and a few with rebreathers. Kakuzu pursued the two men as they wondered through narrow alleys and wet roads towards the hospital they had been instructed to take him to, tucking his long, brown hair beneath his leather coat to save it from the moisture. In the middle of the village he spied a massive structure, taller than any other building in the process of being built as it was encompassed with wooden platforms and tall ladders. Carpenters were currently working regardless of the foul weather, heaving up pallets of slabs of steels with pulleys and pounding them into place, their hammering resonated to the roads far below. On one side of the bizarre architecture appeared to be the casting of a demonic face.
"We are here." Kakuzu stared at his two convey, having been too interested in the building that hadn't noticed they were at their destination. The hospital was large but dingy, just another steel structure which colour matched the dark clouds that permanently plagued the sky with tiny, circular windows that did not permit peeking inside.
"Thank you." He grunted, the acknowledgment was void though the friendly guards did not notice as they nodded.
"You are most welcomed." The smaller man shook his hand again, accidently grasping his wounded hand this time and making him cringe behind his mask. "God Bless you, and God Bless the Akatsuki."
Kakuzu did not return his odd blessings and the two men took it as their cue to leave as they bowed politely before walking off back to their posts at the gate. Once they were gone, he checked his hand to ensure the stitching did not tear then entered the dreary clinic to search for Konan. Inside, it was brighter than it outside as the walls sported a pure white paintjob with pictures of various landscapes and was brightly lit. There was a cute nurse behind the front desk that was scribbling away on a notepad, not noticing Kakuzu as he advanced towards her. When she failed to divert her attention to him after several seconds, he impatiently pounded his fist down onto the brass bell on the counter, making her flinch and quickly straighten up to face him.
"C-Can I help you, sir?"
"I'm looking for a woman. Blue hair. Brought in a dying child."
"Oh yes. Angel. You must be Kakuzu." Again with Angel and again with her telling everyone about the man with one of the top three bounties in the world. "She is in the Pediatric Wing. It is on the third floor. Just walk down the hallway and you should find the elevator. Once on the third floor, the waiting room will be on your left."
"Thank you." He left before she could start gibbering about angels and gods also as he followed her directions to the elevator and took it to the third floor.
Once on the third floor, he took the left and walked into the waiting room which walls were a cluserfuck of bright colours and hideous, stenciled animals, signifying he was in the correct place. The room was empty except one person who was slumped in the corner, chin propped up on her palm and a troubled expression disgracing her beautiful face. Even the paper flower in her hair appeared wilted. It was Konan.
"You came." She said and sat up as Kakuzu walked towards her. Her old uniform and pants were crusted with dry blood like his.
"Obviously you knew I was since you told everyone to expect me, Konan." He grunted back as he took a seat across from her, having to cram his sizable frame into the inadequate chair. "Or should I say, Angel?"
She spared him a small smile at the nickname. "Oh yes. I am also known as Angel in Amegakure."
"Why Angel? Who the fuck is God? How do people know of the Akatsuki? Why the fuck are you handing out my name? Why the hell is Amegakure suddenly alright with people waltzing in and out? Especially a S-Ranked criminal?" The paper wielder's smile fluttered with the barrage of highly languaged questions.
"Those are all good questions, Kakuzu, but they are not relevant to our current situation." She softly said. "Aren't you curious about Zetsu? That is why you are here, isn't it?"
The tanned man inhaled sharply at her skillful dodging of his inquiry but bit his tongue as he knew it would do no good to yell at her for answers, specifically in the middle of a hospital. "Fine. How's the girl?"
"I don't know. They rushed her into surgery immediately after I handed her over but I have heard nothing since. Only a nurse giving me paperwork to sign but that was hours ago."
"Hmph. Doesn't matter to me. She dies or lives. Either way, she is worth a handsome price."
Konan grimaced at the horrendous comment. "Is that what a human life is worth to you, Kakuzu? Money?"
"Yes, because everything is fleeting. Friends, family, love, life. But money is forever." Kakuzu knew better than anyone the truth of that statement.
"Money cannot buy happiness."
"No, but it can rent a hell of a lot of it."
"And what worth will money be when you die?"
"Even Hell runs on money." By her expression, he had successfully trumped the woman and smirked when she heaved a frustrated sigh and twisted around in her seat to face away from him.
The two sat in silence as the hours slowly ticked by and the day darkened into night. A few parents arrived with their sick, young children who proceeded to curse Kakuzu with a nagging migraine when they ran around screaming and playing with obnoxiously loud toys. A few even sneezing on him. Thankfully, they were gone as soon as they came and before he could either tell their parents to hush the child up or he would silence them himself, forever. Konan hadn't budged from her chair as she stared listlessly at the cartoon animals on the wall and had chewed all her manicured nails into unsightly stubs. By the eighth hour, there was no further information on Zetsu's condition and his minuscule patience had been eaten away. He was about to leave and exclaim he would return after his mission, when a pudgy nurse waddled out from a pair of swinging doors, gazing at a clipboard in her fat hand.
"Are the parents of…Zetsu, here?"
Konan shot up with the mention of the girl's name. "Yes. Yes, we here." Kakuzu sighed, sinking back down into his chair and stroking his throbbing temples. Thank the Gods.
"O-Oh, Angel. You are the mother of this child?" The nurse stuttered, slightly flushed from being face to face with an idol.
"Yes." Konan answered shortly, eagerly trying to get the conversation moving along pass the unnecessary. "How is she?"
"I'm sorry but I can't tell you. The doctor just sent me to tell you that the surgery has finished. He is finishing up and should be out soon to speak to you personally."
"Oh, thank you…"
The nurse giddily scurried out and Konan slumped with a deep sigh, propping her chin back in her hand as she went back to observing the crayon scribbles on the wall. Kakuzu snorted and checked the clock. It was midnight. Looks like that bounty would have to wait another day. Right now all he wanted was to confirm the girl's life or death, then go back to the cabin to rest. Thankfully, the wait for the doctor wasn't nearly as agonizing as thirty minutes later, a nerdy-looking man in a white coat exited into the waiting room.
"Ah yes, are the parents of Zetsu here?"
Konan perked up. "Yes." The doctor walked over to greet her with his hand extended, but stopped mid-step, staring at Kakuzu with Kakuzu staring right back.
"K-Kakuzu?"
Konan flinched when Kakuzu spontaneously erupted into genuine laughter, the sound foreign originating from him. "Well if isn't Ryu Hitoshi?" Kakuzu stood and yanked the shorter male into a semi-embrace, thumping his hand hard enough against his back that it shook him and made his thick-rimmed glasses threaten to titter off his narrow nose.
"Kakuzu, I thought you were…well, I didn't know what to think! You look amazing!" The doctor, Ryu Hitoshi, babbled and stepped back to admire the man. "Certainly not the wrinkled, grey-haired old man I saw last!"
Kakuzu smirked. "The benefits of Kinjutsu."
Konan cleared her throat, interrupting the reunion. "You two know each other?"
"Ryu was a doctor of the prison I served at in Takigakure. We became close after he was assigned to my care."
"Ah, great. Now what about Zetsu?"
"Oh yes," Dr. Ryu said, pushing his taped glasses back onto his nose as he read the clipboard in his hand. "We repaired what we were able to and thankfully, none of her organs were damaged and neither was her vertebral column so the majority of the damage was external. However, due to the trauma and the amount of chakra our medics had to use, she has fallen into a coma." Konan gasped, muttering 'oh my god' and her eyes became hazy with unshed tears. "We have her on blood transfusions and under twenty-four-hour surveillance."
"Will she survive?"
Dr. Ryu sighed, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Angel, but I cannot not say. Due to the severity of her condition, anything could result badly for her. Including an infection or reaction to the blood transfusions. As it is, she has a less than a twenty-percent chance of surviving the night, and the chance barely increasing for the week. I'm sorry again."
Konan wiped her eyes, the moisture smearing her lavender eye shadow. "Can I see her?"
"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow visitors due to the threat of contamination."
She nodded and clasped his hand in hers. "I understand. Thank you, doctor." Dr. Ryu returned the gesture, struggling to remain stoic in response to the woman's distress. "I'm going to return to the Land of River and report back about Zetsu. I'll be back tomorrow to check up on her." Suddenly, she turned toward Kakuzu, orbs of fireballs ablaze through the veil of wetness. "I hope you're happy, Kakuzu. You tortured that poor girl to her death. The money will never repay the damage you've done."
Kakuzu did not grant her the pleasure of a reply and Konan left, shoulders trembling as she walked off. Dr. Ryu sighed, scratching his cheek in a ruse as he mopped away the tears welled on his eyelashes. "I hate this job sometimes. What was this girl's relation to Angel and God?" There were those trigger words again that Kakuzu was beginning to loath.
"Just a stray brought in from the rain."
"Oh, I see. Well, it's been hours since I last ate. Care to join me to my office? We can catch up."
Kakuzu agreed and followed his old comrade as Dr. Ryu steered him towards his office which was on the opposite side of the wing, away from the rooms of sickly and sniveling children. Once inside, he locked the door for privacy and sat behind his desk while Kakuzu sat across from him with his arms and legs crossed.
"So, when did you become involved with the Akatsuki?" The doctor asked as he scrounged up a cucumber sandwich and canteen of coffee from his suitcase.
"A year ago. How the hell does everyone know about us? I thought we were just a burgeoning mercenary group." Kakuzu grunted, kindly objecting when his friend offered him a cup of cold coffee.
"Certainly not here. The Akatsuki was the organization led by God and Angel that freed Amegakure from Hanzō."
Kakuzu pinched the bridge of his nose from the nonchalant remark. "So many fucking questions about that statement. Who is God? Konan is Angel, but why? The hell happened to Hanzō?"
"I'm surprised you are unfamiliar with this. I would have thought that they would have told you about their achievements considering you are now a member of the Akatsuki. Nevertheless, I can explain it," Dr. Ryu took a bite of his sandwich and washed it down before beginning the recent history of Amegakure.
"At the eve of the Third World War, an organization known as the Akatsuki emerged. At first they were focused on helping the sick and poor but eventually they started a Civil War to overthrow Hanzō. Hanzō responded with slaughtering their members and the organization disappeared. Then one day, two survivors of the Akatsuki reappeared and assassinated Hanzō and all his associates. They were labeled as God and Angel and have been governing Amegakure ever since." The explanation stunned Kakuzu as his mind reeled to comprehend it. If that was all true, then it explained everything. The casual security of Amegakure, the fact that everyone was cozy with a fugitive walking freely among them, Konan and Leader's interest in the village and Konan's pet name. Of course, there were still burning questions too like the largest of them all: How?
"Why the hell have I not heard of this in the papers? Hanzō's assassination would make the world headlines." Kakuzu commented, flabbergasted.
Dr. Ryu shrugged, adjusting his oversized glasses again. "Amegakure is a very secretive village. I did not know of Hanzō's death until my employment at the hospital."
"Speaking of which, how the hell did you leave Takigakure? Was your involvement in my "escape", ever discovered?"
Dr. Ryu wiped his hands on the inside of his coat as he finished his sandwich. "No, I wasn't. After your "death", I insisted on your autopsy to confirm your matter of death but the Warden was so eager to dispose of your body, he immediately wheeled you off to the morgue. After you escaped and killed the Elders that night, an investigation was launched but due to the Warden's actions that day, I was ruled as an innocent party in the matter. Afterwards, I submitted my resignation at the prison and left Takigakure. I studied to be a pediatrician and came to Amegakure."
There was an uncomfortable moment of silence before Kakuzu cleared his throat, mindlessly scrapping his fingers through his hair. "Ryu, I'm sorry for lying to you. If you knew my true intentions, you would have never assisted me in my escape."
Dr. Ryu chuckled with an awkward smile. "Truth be told; I probably wouldn't have either. I preferred your story about wanting to die off the prison grounds. It was more appealing then knowing it was because you planned to assassinate the Elders." There was another period of quiet between the two men and pediatrician decided to abandon the topic in favour of something else. "So, that girl. A nurse mentioned to me that she was Angel's daughter? Is that true?"
"No, she isn't. She's just some brat I rescued from a dump."
Dr. Ryu quirked a brown eyebrow as he sipped at his beverage. "You rescued her?"
Kakuzu snorted, realizing how poorly worded that was. "Not voluntarily. She was supposed to a black check for the organization but certain parties have gotten too attached to her." Dr. Ryu experienced a mixture of unsettlement and being unruffled with Kakuzu's proclamation about the girl's worth. Afterall, the man had single-handedly run the prison financially from behind the scenes. Money was his passion. But, a selling a child? He had also heard Angel mentioned something about 'torture'.
"She must be special then."
"She has the Mayfly." Kakuzu said casually.
Dr. Ryu spat out his mouthful of coffee and Kakuzu scowled as he wiped droplets of the fluid from his shades. "The Mayfly? I thought that Kekkei Genkai went extinct during the Second World War due to complications with the bloodline. It mutated into a type of brain cancer?"
Kakuzu scoffed. "You actually believed that?"
"Well, I'm a doctor. Not a conspiracy theorist." The other brunette explained, wiping up the splattered liquid from his desk. "Where did you find her?"
"Kusagakure. Amegakure isn't the only village with its secrets."
"That would explain a lot. The failed activation of a Mayfly would correspond with her dramatic injury. I was baffled how a child could be bisected internally instead of externally." Dr. Ryu uttered, recalling his memory of old medical texts that spoke about injuries associated with the botching of a Kekkei Genkai. "Was she the only one?"
"She is now. There was another that attacked the Iwagakure encampment and was killed by their captain in a suicide attack."
"The Old Kusagakure Massacre? That was the real cause of it?"
"Yes. You should stop reading the news. Reality is crazier than fiction."
"It really is." There was a high-pinched dinging and Dr. Ryu plucked his beeper from his belt buckle, pushing up his glasses as he read the text. "I'm sorry, Kakuzu, but I must get back to work. One of my patients is experiencing projectile vomiting." Kakuzu cringed at the delightful image.
"It's alright. I am glad to have spoken to you again, Ryu. I did not expect to see you again after my escape from Takigakure." Kakuzu stood, his back cracking audibly from the cramped chair he had spent the last half-an-hour in.
"Well we will be seeing a lot more of each other now that you aligned with the Akatsuki. It'll be like the prison days again." Dr. Ryu lightly joked, actually earning a bemused smirk from his convicted felon friend.
"Indeed. I'll be back again soon to retrieve the girl's body." The two men shook hands, the smaller male wincing when his hand was crushed in the other man's unyielding grasp.
"Hopefully it doesn't come to that. I never wish ill on my patients."
'Hopefully it does,' Kakuzu thought as he left the office. Otherwise, he would have to pray for the chance the girl survived physically, but not mentally due to the Mayfly.
…
AN: Wow. This chapter finished so quickly. My quickest yet I believe. Thankfully, it is my midterm this week so I only had one math lesson and had the entire week off so I spent it franticly writing. This chapter came out decently for exposition dump. The next chapter shall be the same and the one after will return to active plot. Please forgive any mistakes.
Next Chapter: The Mayfly results.
Until next time.