AN: Yes, here it is, the final chapter of the Red Dawn arc! This chapter is going be quick and painless. It's taken four years but we're finally going to introduce the Akatsuki members. Due to how massive the next arc is going to be as it going to span a twenty year time span, I'm thinking of dividing the arc into parts for each member since each one is going to have 5+ chapters dedicated their recruitment and I've got 5 members to introduce, plus filler members. I'm not going to be like the canon and just recruit them all at once since it makes no logical sense. It'll give me time to develop everyone's character too since no ones' character is going to be like canon (if it wasn't obvious enough by now). It's going to be headcanons galore and I'm so excited to write everyone.
Kuro641: There was a hint here and there. I'm so glad and now that we've gotten to the Akatsuki, it's going to get a lot better!
Cat Beats: Oof, I'm saying nothing except it's going to be a take on a canon arc, but reimagined. I might've given too much away with the introduction of the Wasteland, but it's going to be a twist no one is going to predict (I hope, haha).
Warning(s): Language (Low), Genderbend, OC (Original Character), Mention of Mental Illness
…
Wasteland
Red Dawn Arc
Chapter 39
"They've returned." Pein proclaimed all of a sudden, causing Konan to glimpse up from the paperwork she was doublechecking for him. She didn't have to question the "who" as she had been anxiously expecting them for the last two days. She felt a little bit nauseous from the anticipation as she waited for their arrival to Pein's Tower. Had the mission been a success? Part of her prayed for it, while the other half didn't want to think of Zetsu's innocence, what little remained, being shattered by having to consciously end a person's life.
After a half-an-hour, during which Konan spent staring at the paper on her desk, incapable of focusing on it, the elevator chimed happily and through the open doors out stepped Kakuzu with Zetsu sheepishly behind. Konan immediately noticed the blood staining her oversized jacket and felt as her stomach twisted. She hadn't experienced the previous killings because how well Kakuzu hid them from her so this might as well be the first one.
"You took your time with the mission," Pein mentioned, eyeballing Kakuzu who was exercising his best pokerface, granting the ginger no hints as to which direction the mission went. "How did it go?"
Kakuzu said nothing. Instead, he ushered Zetsu over and she hesitantly stepped in front of Pein's desk. Pein stared at her with sleep deprived eyes, patiently waiting for a confirmation of success or failure. Shrinkingly, she stared back into his Rinnegan as she quietly rifled in the kanga pocket of her hoodie, it jingling suspiciously. She obtained the item inside and extending her hand, opened it, dumped the mysterious item on the desk with a jangle. It was a golden bracelet, its charms smudged with crimson.
Kakuzu then clapped his hand on Zetsu's shoulder, his lips quirked behind his mask, giving him the appearance of a beaming father posing with his daughter for a picture. "It was a success." He finally communicated.
Pein picked up the piece of jewelry, turning it over in his hands until finding an identifying and ludicrous pun inscription on the inside that read, "Enri, You've Charmed Me, Love Izo". It confirmed ownership or association to the target, Dokuro Izo. "And she killed Dokuro Izo herself?"
"Yes, she did." Zetsu fabricated a weak smile though she experienced no pride in the killing itself, just a little in Sir's praise.
"You had nothing to do with it?" Pein confirmed, scrutinizing Kakuzu since, given the flipflopping of his attitude towards the teenager, he would've put it past him to have a hand in this mission to make it easier on her.
"No, I did it myself," Zetsu interjected, speaking on Kakuzu's behalf in a surprising gesture. "Sir wasn't involved."
Pein piqued an eyebrow and stared into Zetsu's saffron-coloured eyes, searching for the slightest hint of deception since it was said that the eyes were the windows to the soul. She stared back, a little more confident which translated in her gaze. After a minute of this, without breaking eye contact, he offered his hand, making her flinch back and finally blink as she observed the outstretched hand, puzzled.
"Welcome to the Akatsuki, Zetsu." Pein told her and once confirmed she had heard him correctly and the astonishment left, she positively glowed, brighter than the sun itself. She accepted his hands with both of her tinier ones, shaking it excitedly and herself in the process, grinning widely.
"Oh, Zetsu!" Konan pushed herself from her desk, running over and practically tackling the little girl into a bear hug. "Congratulations!"
"I'll mail this off to our employers as proof of Dokuro Izo's death." Pein said, taking the bracelet and putting it in a drawer for later shipment. "In the meantime, I have something to give you, Zetsu. I just received it back this morning also." In the same drawer, he withdrew a plastic baggie, one that reminded Zetsu of the ones Izo used but this one was silver. Konan had no knowledge of what was inside, so she was just curious as anyone else.
"Zetsu, would you kindly give me your…right hand?" Zetsu obliged, wriggling free from Konan's suffocating embrace and skipping up to his desk, extending her right hand to him. Pein opened the small package, shaking a silver object into his palm that he clasped so it wasn't spied yet. He gently grasped her hand and pushed the item onto her pinky finger; a ring.
He relinquished her hand and she pulled it back, eyes glimmering at the beautiful, large jade centerpiece that carved into it was the kanji for "gai" and equipped on a dark grey band. "Gai, or "sign of the boar". It is commonly associated with emotions and intuitions," Pein explained. "The size is perfect, but it'll have to be sized as you get older, as is obvious. I had it custom made for you so instead of a silver band, it has one made of carbon fiber, as it won't intrude with the Mayfly."
"Thank you, Sir Leader!" She gushed then turned to Konan to exhibit her new ring and measure it side-to-side with the woman's own opal ring. Zetsu then displayed it to Kakuzu, jumping up and down and waving her arm which he caught in order to get a proper view of the new piece of jewelry on her finger.
"Konan, would you kindly measure Zetsu for a cloak?"
"Happily." She replied, walking back to her desk then returning with green, sewing tape and pins.
As she took her measurements, she and Zetsu chatted about the girl's new membership and which colour she was going to paint her nails (pink, naturally), Kakuzu realized something that may be important later.
"Girl, when you use the Mayfly, does it go through your clothes or under?" He inquired out-of-the-blue. Konan paused as that was a brilliant point and waited for Zetsu to reply before she carried on since she didn't want to tailor her for a cloak which would be ruined later due to her Kekkei Genkai.
"Oh…uhh…under? It pushes my clothes out of the way." She said, hiking her jacket up an inch as demonstration, showing the white, grotesque scar chiseled into her waist. It meant that the vegetation would tear right through it if it was suited to her instead of it. Konan thanked Kakuzu for bringing it up since it saved her future self a lot of labour.
"Zetsu, can you activate the Mayfly for me?" Konan politely asked, pulling the pins out of the tape for widths taken thus far.
Zetsu did just that and there was a humming noise as if a hummingbird was flittering through the office. White spikes grew from underneath her jacket, darkening into an emerald green as they migrated upwards and agglutinated together into a large flytrap that once it finished developing, exceeding twice Zetsu's height and weight. It was impressive she could shoulder something so large without falling over but if you squinted, you could see her knees quivering, fighting not to buckle.
Konan quickly made the new sizings, the grandiose flytrap presenting little challenge for her considering when she took Sasori's measurements, he insisted on a cloak being made for him and Hiruko. She had to tie two tapes together just to circle the puppet's obese frame. Once she finished calibrating everything, Zetsu demilitarized the bloodline, falling over dramatically over the relief.
"I'll get to making your cloak as soon as possible. It'll be big so it may take time." Konan commented, back at her desk as he wrote down all the numbers of a scratch piece of paper.
"That's ok." Zetsu said, pushing herself up into a sitting position with her legs outstretched in front her.
"It'll also mean that while wearing it on missions, you'll have to have the Mayfly activated at all times." Kakuzu tacked on since he doubted she wouldn't be swimming in it otherwise. "It'll give you additional experience with it."
"That's…ok…" Zetsu said again, this time a little hesitant as she dreaded the thought of having to hoist around the one-ton plant around on a day-to-day basis. Perhaps she should start doing squats during her training routines now.
"Why don't we celebrate and all of us go to dinner?" Konan suggested to which Zetsu immediately cheered, "yes!" while punching her hands into the air.
"Are you paying?" Kakuzu questioned, though made the decision that even if she said "no" he'd go for Zetsu and the food.
"Of course," The origamitress rolled her eyes at him then stared at her partner. "Pein, would you like to join us?"
Pein waved them off, staring down at paperwork he was scribbling his signature on. "I'm fine. You three enjoy yourselves." No surprise but Konan didn't dwell on it. Maybe one day he'd pick pleasure over business.
"Ok then. Let's get you back to the house so you can clean up." She told Zetsu, herding the girl towards the elevator while Kakuzu shadowed her, enticed by the idea of washing up and getting into something more casual.
Turns out when Konan said, "all of us", that included Sasori since despite not being a fan of the teenager, she wanted to include him into events instead of treating him like the black sheep of the organization. Well, she regretted that and offering to pay because they went to a family-owned diner and the redhead ended up eating through two appetizers, one meant for the three of them, since Zetsu couldn't eat "normal" food, and one he ordered for himself, two entries of a half-pound steak and two filets of salmon then a half a cake for dessert.
Both Konan and Kakuzu kept exchanging glances which read, "where is it all going"? Then, when Zetsu politely asked for a little piece of his chocolate cake, being a connoisseur of anything and everything chocolate and never having tried cake, he replied by grabbing a handful of it and smashing it in the girl's face. This caused a food fight between the two teenagers which involved a few innocent bystanders at other tables. It quickly turned into a fist fight and in his attempt to get Sasori off Zetsu, Kakuzu picked the brat up and chucked him across the restaurant and accidentally through the front window.
Konan paid (also leaving a five-hundred percent tip for the damage caused after apologizing profusely to the understandably irked owners) and the adults quickly dragged the two chocolate-smeared and bruised children out. Sasori was taken to the hospital to get the shards of glass pulled out all while he fake-cried and claimed child abuse to the doctors and nurses. Dr. Ryu was unfortunately working that night and tried running in the opposite direction when he saw Kakuzu carrying a bleeding and shrieking Sasori down the hallway. He wasn't successful.
Konan decided in the future there was no harm in leaving Sasori home for dinners-out and if he did join them, it would to a buffet where his gluttonous eating habits wouldn't make her wallet cry—and Sasori and Zetsu would be seated at two different tables.
A hard and expensive lesson was learned that night.
…
Kakuzu was walking to Konan's room as it was Sunday, her only day off during the week, to speak with her, when Zetsu came running out of her bedroom, skidding to a halt before colliding with the man.
"Sir, Sir!" She squealed, pushing a piece of paper up at him. "I draw you a picture!"
He examined the drawing, finding it to be drawn in the girl's medium of choice—crayon—and sketched was her in pink and green and with a huge smile and beside her was what he surmised to be himself but it could've also been an imaginary monster that personified grief with its wild hair, large black eyes and dressed in black. The only hint he had it was him was the face that advertised a stitched smile. It was horrible and had the quality of a child but Kakuzu loved it.
"Thank you, it's beautiful." He said, taking the picture and tucking it under his arm then ruffling her hair which was starting to turn shaggy dog and required a shave.
"You're welcome!" She delivered his midsection a hug then bounced back into her bedroom, gone like the wind so he continued his travel to Konan's bedroom.
"Come in," Konan granted in reply to the rapping on her door. She expected it to be Zetsu, back to show off the new picture she had drawn in her sketchbook but instead, it was Kakuzu. She switched off her sewing machine and turned in her chair to speak with her unexpected guest. "Oh, hello, Kakuzu. Can I help you?"
It was the first time Kakuzu had glimpsed the inside of Konan's bedroom and it wasn't so much a bedroom as much as a tailor shop. Her desk was a sewing station with a sewing machine, spindles of fabric and quilt, handmade patchwork on the wall and three mannequin torsos, two of which was draped in the old Akatsuki uniform and new Akatsuki cloak.
"You do everything by hand?" He inquired, briefly distracted by the interesting discovery.
"Yes, I do. I've designed everything myself, including the cloaks." She said, pointing at the Akatsuki cloak she was in the middle of putting together, that cloak being Zetsu's.
This entire time, he thought they were manufactured off-site due to the high quality, down to the trademark red cloaks being stitched into the fabric, and he was honestly impressed that Konan did everything herself instead. He couldn't imagine how long it took though and that was patience he did not possess. It was cheaper too.
He had wasted enough time acting like a child in a candy shop though and cleared his throat, loudly. "I'm here—" He was cut off as Konan placed her finger to her painted lips and shushed him, displeasing him with the rude interruption until she pointed to the other side of the room. In the bed was Pein. He was asleep and shirtless, which could easily be misconceived as something else but for his own sanity, Kakuzu didn't go there.
"You two share a bedroom?" He asked. This entire time, he thought Pein just slept at his little tower since he had never seen him around the house.
To her credit, Konan didn't blush, realizing herself how this may appear to outside eyes. "No, we do not but he hadn't been sleeping well so he's just trying to rest. I ask you please whisper so he isn't disturbed."
If she didn't want to disturb him, then why was she using a powerful sewing machine which was much louder than his speaking level but Kakuzu said nothing that might result in him getting kicked out before he could talk to her. "Alright," He tried again, this time voice hushed into a whisper. "I just wanted to talk about Zetsu."
She paled a little upon mention of the teenager. "What's wrong with Zetsu?"
"Nothing is wrong with her," He insisted, sighing he may've have triggered her maternal instinct as the only times he brought the girl up in the past was when it was bad news. "I've got a question."
"Ok."
"Has she told you of the Wasteland?"
"The Wasteland?"
That should've been answer enough but he decided to pry a little deeper. "That hellscape she's been dreaming of?"
It took her a moment but then it clicked with the bluette. "Oh, are you talking about that picture she drew? Yes, she did. It was…interesting. She has such a creative imagination." She said, despite grimacing as she remembered the dark picture and all the morbid details Zetsu had explained to her.
So, she did know. He was curious how long she had known but decided it wasn't critical. He just wanted to know her thoughts of it and since she didn't appear too concerned, though a little disquieted, he decided he shouldn't be either. Konan had enough on her plate between the Akatsuki and Amegakure and she could use a break without something else to worry about, especially if it involved Zetsu. Besides, he didn't want to freak her out with his paranoias. Maybe she was correct, and it was just Zetsu's "creative imagination". He couldn't have helped it but letting her watch those war tapes.
"I was just curious," He claimed, and would've left it at that and left her room, when a third party decided to speak up.
"The Wasteland…is that what she calls it?" Konan and Kakuzu looked over to find Pein sitting up and staring at them, his arms draped over his blanketed knees.
"Na—Pein, I'm sorry, did we wake you?" Konan asked in an apologetic tone.
Pein shook his head. "I wasn't asleep. I can't sleep because everytime I do I go—there."
"There?"
"The Wasteland," He clarified then made direct eye contact with Kakuzu. "I've seen it too—I've been there too."
"You've been dreaming of it too?" Kakuzu interrogated. "How is that possible?"
"It's the chakra rod," Pein pointed at the back of his neck as an example. "Due to it, Zetsu and I share a special connection. You may've noticed how she can hear outside communications that she has no involvement in? This has included experiencing the other's dreams—or at least, this one."
"Is that why you haven't been sleeping?" Konan questioned next to which Pein nodded. "How long has this been going on?"
"Ever since I established a connection with her, but back then it wasn't so periodic. Now, it's every night."
"So, you've seen everything?" Kakuzu kept asking, too curious not too. "The Hanging Tree? The Moon? The Monster?"
"I've seen no Monster, but I've this "Hanging Tree" and "Moon"."
"What could be causing it?" Konan inquired.
Pein shook his head. "I do not know but do what you must to stop it. I just want to sleep without these nightmares every night." The pierced man then laid back down, turning his back to them and pulling the covers up to his neck, effectively ending the conversation.
"Could it be the Mayfly?" Kakuzu purposed to Konan in a considerate whisper.
She looked at him, eyebrows piqued like it was something she just realized too. "It could be. But how would we learn if it was or not?"
"I've got a person."
…
That "person" was Ryu since overnight, he had turned into the resident Mayfly expert, in Kakuzu's opinion.
Ryu had the rare day off at the hospital so after being informed this at said hospital, Kakuzu led Konan to the pediatrician's humble little house he had been guest to once or twice now.
Ryu answered the door in reply to the doorbell ringing and was surprised to be greeted by two guests—new and old. "Kakuzu—and Konan-chan! Hello!"
"Hello, Ryu," Kakuzu greeted. "Can we come in?"
"Of course!" The eyeglasses man stepped to the side, welcoming his friends into his home. "Please excuse any messes. I wasn't expecting anyone today."
"It's fi—for fuck's sake, Ryu! I told you to quit feeding that fucking thing!" Konan flinched from Kakuzu's sudden exclamation and directed her gaze at where the miser was angrily pointing to find a large fish tank but inside wasn't fish but—black slime? She didn't know how else to describe it except as exactly what it was; it was black slime.
"I-I haven't! I've just fed it snacks once and awhile when I need to collect samples from it!" Ryu claimed, trying and failing to use a blanket to hide his little experiment that had grown from the size of a fat kitten to a fat adult cat since Kakuzu last dropped by a few months ago. As he did, the substance crawled up the side of the tank at Ryu like an excited puppy greeting its owner. "It's just germination process."
"That fucking thing is going to continue getting bigger until it breaks out and eats you."
"Yes, you're right. I'll only feed it once a week from now on," Ryu yielded, implying he had been feeding it more than once a week despite his claims of "once and awhile". "W-Would either of you like tea?"
"I'd love tea." Konan said.
"Sure." Kakuzu parroted.
"I'll go prepare a pot." Ryu said then fled to the kitchen while Kakuzu and Konan seated themselves on the sofa in the living area and waited.
During which, Konan cautiously scrutinized the black slime through the partings of the fabric after Kakuzu's off-handed suggestion of it breaking out and eating them. It was huddled in an alligator skull inside the aquarium and she could've sworn it was staring back at her through the empty eye socket.
She tapped Kakuzu on the shoulder and pointed at it. "What is that?"
"A pet project of Ryu's." He explained plainly since it was easier than disclosing the fact it was the Mayfly he had washed out of Zetsu's head. Well, that didn't exactly answer her question, but she decided to drop it since it was obvious he wasn't going to tell her.
A few minutes of awkward silence later and Ryu returned with two steaming cups of oolong tea. He placed the china on the table in front of Kakuzu and Konan. "So, what brings you here?" He finally asked, situated himself in the chair on the other side of the table with his own cup.
"We have a few questions about the Mayfly." Kakuzu divulged and like she predicted, once the utterance of the bloodline left his lips, Ryu immediately lit up like a child being told they could have a puppy.
"If it involves the Mayfly then I think I'll have the answers." Ryu said, leaning at the edge of his seat.
Konan took a taste of tea before speaking. "We are concerned that the Mayfly may be causing Zetsu to have disturbing nightmares."
"Nightmares?" Ryu inquired. "What type of nightmares?"
"A hell she calls the Wasteland where the Monster lives and there's the Hanging Tree with millions of withering corpses hung from it." Kakuzu summarized casually and pulled down his mask to drink his own tea.
Ryu pushed up his glasses. "O-Oh my." Kakuzu heard the excitement cracking his voice and prepared himself for "Fanboy Ryu" to show himself as something they said must've triggered him.
"At first, I didn't think anything of it because Zetsu has such an active imagination but then my partner mentioned having the nightmares too," Konan said to which Ryu gifted her a bewildered look which was understandable. "He's losing sleep over it and I'm afraid it could start affecting Zetsu too."
"Basically, could the Mayfly be fucking up her brain and causing the nightmares?" Kakuzu put in a crude nutshell.
"Y-Yes, it is—and I can explain why! I just read a book—well, not a book but a chapter of a book—finding an entire book on the Mayfly is impossible. Anyway, the book was called, The Curious Case of Clansby Hirohiko Jo. It was ten years before the Second World War and in it, Jo traveled the world and would spend time with famous clans in each country to study them—one of which was the Mayfly. Oh, fun fact, there is no clan name for the Mayfly because technically, it isn't a clan, so it goes by the bloodline, but I'm getting off topic—"
"Have you been in topic?" Kakuzu inquired.
Ryu flushed. "Y-Yes, sorry. I'll try to summarize this. So, while staying with a member of the Mayfly, Jo discovered the Mayfly was—to pure it bluntly—clinically insane?"
"Clinically insane?" Konan parroted.
Ryu nodded, pushing his glasses up again due to the motion. "Yes. Approximately half the population of the Mayfly. It was considered perfectly normal to hear voices and see things. In fact, it was a Rite of Passage for a user to experience their first glimpse of "Hell"."
"Hell?"
"Yes. Jo documented that to the Mayfly, heaven did not exist, only Hell and they would all be going to it, no matter how good a person you were."
"I'd go insane too if I told I was going to Hell and there was nothing I could do about it." Kakuzu expressed, crossing his arms. "I know I'm going to Hell, but that's due to my own personal choices."
"The man Jo was staying with explained that it was because of the Third Son's Curse and anyone who didn't experience the hallucinations were considered "blessed" for not having to see the Hell waiting for them."
"The Third Son's Curse? What is that?" Konan asked, the first time she heard of the myth.
"Here we go." Kakuzu mumbled, pressing his fingers into his eyes. Konan delivered him an inquisitive glance, not sure what he meant by that but had a hint when she noticed how Ryu straightened up, fuzzy lips pulled back into a cheek-splitting smile.
"So, it goes like this: the original user of the Mayfly was a man known as Father Mikaerisu, priest of The Children of the Rabbit Goddess, an ancient religion that worshipped Princess Kaguya who is said to have eaten the fruit from the God Tree and gifted man with chakra. One day, a dying man approached Father Mikaerisu, claiming himself to be the Third Son of the Mother God and promised him God-like powers in exchange for his body and soul. Father Mikaerisu agreed. Purportedly, this was a test by the Mother God herself and upon seeing the leader committing a cardinal sin—greed—she cursed him so he nor any of children or children's children could not enter heaven and that the power given to him, the Mayfly, would corrupt him and anyone who used it. Thus, the Third Son's Curse. It is believed to be why the users of the Mayfly went insane during the Second World War."
"Oh god." Konan muttered.
"What bullshit." Kakuzu interjected, his fingers migrating to massage his temples instead.
"Well, Jo did not buy it either and started investigating as to why people with the Mayfly would be experiencing these delusions. Turns out, the Mayfly weren't practicing, say, "healthy reproduction habits". In their attempt to keep the bloodline pure while birthing as many new users as possible, there was a lot of inbreeding."
"They were a bunch of cousin fuckers?" Konan gasped and slapped Kakuzu on the arm, which he glared at her while clinching his arm. "What, woman!?"
"In a nutshell, yes. It wasn't an unheard-of practice though. When Jo studied the Uchiha, they did it also and he discovered that was why the Sharingan was causing them to go blind; it wasn't the bloodline was getting stronger, it was they were making themselves weaker due to their bad genes."
"That one isn't a surprise." Kakuzu said.
"Jo determined that this was the case with the Mayfly too and that the breeding was changing the chemical structure of their brains and increasing the chance of mental disorders such as schizophrenia."
Konan predictably flinched at the grim comparison. "Schizophrenia?"
"I-I'm not saying Zetsu has schizophrenia, just that she has an increased chance of it. Especially since we do not know her family tree."
"How the hell would all of them be experiencing the same fucking things?" Kakuzu demanded.
"Oh, it's a phenomenon called mass psychogenic illness or mass hysteria is described as "collective obsessional behavior"."
"I can understand that, but what I cannot understand is why or how Zetsu would be having nightmares of these things when she has no exposure to them." Konan inputted.
"Well…" Ryu uttered, trying to think of an explanation to that.
Suddenly, the potential cause hit Kakuzu, making him sit up and press his face into his palm. 'Oh shit.'
"What is it, Kakuzu?" Konan quizzed him and it made him question if he accidentally said that out loud.
"Zetsu wanted to learn more on the Mayfly so I let her rent a movie on the Second World War."
"You did what!?" She screamed and proceeded to hit him on the arm again which must've started bruising.
"How was she going to learn how to use the Mayfly? By reading? And hit me again, woman, and you'll regret it!"
"Do you have any idea what you might've done to her by letting her watch that!?"
"I didn't think it'd cause a psychosis in her! Besides, she was having these dreams long before I let her watch that fucking movie."
"What!? And you didn't tell me!?"
"I didn't think anything of it!"
"That would certainly explain it then. Certainly, a lot easier to explain than an ancient curse." Ryu chuckled interrupting the fight. "Konan-chan, are you still taking Zetsu to the therapist I recommended to you?"
"Well, I—no, I'm not. When I called, the receptionist said they couldn't get her in until the next month and I didn't want to wait that long, so I decided to find someone else, but I never had the time to search." Konan admitted sheepishly.
"Oh, and I'm the bad parent?" Kakuzu remarked sarcastically, rolling his eyes. It earned him a third hit that he replied by lifting his fist while glaring at her. She just fearlessly glared back, silently challenging him to do it because he would be the one to regret it.
Eventually, he lowered his hand and the two guardians hustled themselves to the opposite ends of the couch to avoid further conflict.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I know a great psychotherapist you can bring Zetsu into and this time, I'll put in a good word for you, so he'll see you as soon as possible."
"That would be perfect, Ryu, thank you." Konan said.
"Of course, Konan-chan. Oh, and take what I said with a grain of salt. It may not be that way with Zetsu. It could be as you said, and she just has a creative imagination."
"That's what I'm praying for, but something has to be done for her and Pein's sake."
"Of course, I'll get you the name and number of the therapist." Ryu pushed herself up from his chair with Kakuzu and Konan mimicking him.
"Oh, and can I borrow that book you were talking about? I'm sure you explained everything, but I'd like to read it for myself." Konan requested.
"There's actually a lot I left out, so I encourage reading it for yourself! Let me go find it." He left into his dining room to find said book, the table of which had been transformed into a desk and was buried in paperwork and miscellaneous books plastered with bright, colourful sticky notes between the pages. Konan joined him in the search.
Kakuzu entertained himself in the meantime by peering into the fish tank and tapping on the glass. It appeared to hurt the Mayfly slime as it visibly shivered and retreated deeper into the skull. He felt it glaring him despite possessing no eyes.
After awhile of excavation, the book was found and already bookmarked to the chapter involving the Mayfly. Konan thanked Ryu and met back up with Kakuzu who was waiting at the door with the novel and doctor's name in hand.
"See you later, Ryu." Kakuzu called out, pushing open the front door and taking his leave.
"Thank you again, Ryu!" Konan said, waving goodbye while following the man out.
"Of course, and I wish the best with Zetsu!" Ryu waved back.
…
It was radio silence for the next two weeks.
Kakuzu didn't go out of his way to speak to Konan and neither did she. Zetsu mentioned nothing either but the girl wasn't one to talk of her personal going-ons unless confronted about them. So, he presumed nothing of not had happened yet, so he patiently waited for word. The third week in and finally, there was a polite tapping on his door one night.
He grunted his permission for entrance and Konan walked in, quietly sliding the door shut behind her. She wasn't wearing her emotions of her sleeve for once so he couldn't immediately tell if the incoming news she had would be good or bad.
He turned his desk chair towards her. "What has happened?" He asked, no bullshitting around the bush with him—or however that saying went.
Konan let out a heavy breath. "I was able to get Zetsu in to see the psychotherapist. His name is Dr. Toni. She's had six sessions with him thus far. I've attended each one with her and encouraged her to be honest with him about everything and she has been—maybe a little too honest. I was horrified by what she told him. She was talking about the Monster and how she can hear and see it and about the Wasteland—and don't ask me about her explanation of the episodes she was having. I've read the book Ryu gave me and the author detailed everything about the hallucinations the Mayfly were having and Zetsu described them down to the detail. It was…I cannot describe what it was like hearing that. It makes me feel like I've failed her because she's been seeing these visions for awhile and I never knew." She sighed again, placing her face in her hand.
"Neither did I. Whenever she spoke of the Monster, I thought she meant it symbolically, not a real fucking monster that lives in her head." The tanned man inputted.
"Well, Dr. Toni doesn't want to give a diagnosis yet. He's prescribed Zetsu on anti-psychotic medication and depending on the outcome, he'll make a diagnosis."
"Is the medicine going to make her a zombie?"
"I don't know. I've read the side effects and it did mention drowsiness, but we'll have to wait and see."
"And if it doesn't work, then what?"
"I-I don't know…" She admitted, shaking her head then reaching up and putting the paper flower in her hair back in order. "But I can't just let her suffer these nightmares until they drive her to insanity—or Nagato."
"Nagato?"
She turned crimson red from the slip up. "P-Pein! I meant Pein."
He didn't care so he didn't ask. "Then we'll have to wait and see." He agreed.
…
"Sir! Sir! Are you ready to see my new cloak?"
"Sure. Go on, girl."
Zetsu pushed open Kakuzu's door, standing proudly outside it with her arms outstretched over her head, elongated sleeves flopping down and hitting her in the face. "Tadaa!" Kakuzu looked up from his paperwork at the teenager and smiled, tickled at the sight in her new cloak. It was ten sizes too large to reimburse the size of the Mayfly. It made her have the appearance of a little child playing dress up with her parents' clothing.
"It's great. Do you like it?"
She smiled, pressing the velvet sleeves into her blushing cheeks. "I love it."
"Is it big enough for the Mayfly?"
"Oh, let me try." She buttoned up the cloak before triggering the bloodline.
As the Kekkei Genkai grew, it filled out the cloak like a balloon being inflated. Once it was at its maximum girth, the large collar was snug around the flytrap with the sleeves hanging empty on either side and it had picked the bottom of the uniform off the ground, so it was right at Zetsu's knees. Basically, it as a perfect fit.
"It's perfect, girl." He confirmed.
"Yay! Zetsu cheered and pumped her fists before realizing he couldn't see it since it was hidden by the vegetation. "Konan finished it this morning so I can wear it tomorrow for my mission!"
"Your first mission as an Akatsuki member?"
"Yes!" She deactivated the Kekkei Genkai and as the additional weight disappeared, she stumbled a step, suddenly lightheaded and cradled her head.
Kakuzu noticed this and was prepared to catch her if she blacked out. "Girl, are you ok?"
"Mmmhmm," She hummed, literally shaking off the feeling. "I'm just tired."
"You haven't been sleeping?"
"I am but my new medicine makes me tired." She said, shrugging off her cloak and bunching it in her arms so she didn't trip on it as she entered the elder's bedroom. "It's for my nightmares. That's what Konan said."
"Is it helping?" He asked, taking the cloak from her and smoothing it out over his lap so the fabric wasn't wrinkled.
"I think so? I haven't had any nightmares since I started taking it." She confirmed, snuggling herself under his kotatsu. "I saw Dr. Toni last night. I like Dr. Toni. He asks me a lot of fun questions and lets me draw pictures. He said I have…umm…I can't pronounce it, but it started with an 'S'."
She didn't have to try to say it because Kakuzu had the hint. "That so?"
"Mmmhmm," She nodded, yawning and buried her face in the pillow, resting her eyes. "Konan was sad, but Dr. Toni said if I keep taking my medicine, I'll be ok, and I won't have the nightmares anymore or hear the Monster."
"Then it's for the best." He said, nodding his head as he stared down at her uniform, continuing to get the creases out.
"Mmmhmm…maybe I'll go back one day and…meet Mother…"
"Who?" He asked but he didn't get a reply because when he looked over, Zetsu had fallen asleep.
Kakuzu set the cloak to the side, pushing himself up from his chair and walking over to the napping girl. He petted her hair then tucked her deeper into the blanket and walked quietly back to his desk to do paperwork while she slept.
He never remembered to ask who "Mother" was.
…
"You're looking so much better, Nagato." Konan smiled, wetting the washcloth in the bucket of soapy water then dabbing it over her ill friend's skin-and-bone face for his daily sponge bath. She noticed his pale skin had a bit of colour to it these days which was noticeable in the inkiness of the basement.
"Yes, I'm feeling…much better…and I've been sleeping better too." Nagato wheezed in rhythm breathing machine pumping his lungs, shutting his purple-hued eyes so she didn't have to be worried about getting any of the soap in them. "How is…Zetsu doing?"
All of a sudden, her smile declined into a frown as she pulled her hand back like it was burnt. "Zetsu has been diagnosed with schizophrenia."
He opened his eyes, looking at her, wrinkled lips downturned into a frown to match hers. "I'm…sorry to hear that…Konan. I didn't mean…to panic you before."
"No, no, no, it's ok, Nagato," Konan comforted him, going back to washing the skin that wasn't obscured by machinery. "If you hadn't mentioned something, I would've never realized how bad these nightmares were with Zetsu."
"I've never…connected with a living person…so I was taken aback by the…hallucinations…they felt so real…and hearing that voice…"
"Voice?" She inquired, glimpsing up from his emaciated chest was scrubbing.
"Yes…it said such…terrible things to me…like it…hated me…" He uttered, staring off into the darkness of the chamber as he said this. "It said…it would kill me…and bring back "her", but I…do not know who "her" is…" He shook his head, coughing and she wiped away the spittle from his chin. "It could've been…garbage…
"I'm sorry." She said, pressing her hand to his chin and he blinked out of his stupor, staring down at her. "But, now that she's medicated and diagnosed, you both should be ok now."
"Yes." He agreed, nodding which caused a nuzzling motion in her palm that might've been done a little on purpose.
Her smile came back, blinding him with its brightness, and she leant up, supplying an amiable kiss on his bony cheekbone that powdered it pink. "I'll take care of you both and not let anything happen to either of you."
He accepted her promise but inside, something told him that this wasn't over; that something was going to happen; a cataclysm in waiting. He tried pushing the feeling down, but it remained, gnawing at him. He tried forgetting the chant the voice whispered to him in a dead tongue, but they echoed within the depths of his head like a hymn with perfect clarity.
No one can escape the fate that was chosen for them.
All that remains is the end, where you will all perish.
Eternal greatness exists only within myself.
Sing a song of sorrow in a world where time has vanished.
…
AN: Yesss. We're done, we're finally finished with the Red Dawn arc! It's been a great twenty chapters, and this was my favourite arc because a lot of character development and I got to introduce Sasori who is going to be my resident punching bag between the bodily harm and Orochimaru. This chapter was fun to write because it was just background on the Mayfly which hinted at a lot that is going to happen without giving anything away in my opinion.
So, I'm just letting you all know that the next chapter is going to take awhile to come out because I've got to plan the first part of the new arc since it's going to be big. I've got twenty years to write out, haha. So, please excuse the hiatus this fanfic may fall into it. It won't be permanent; I promise you that and maybe I'll think of another story to start writing alongside this one so you the readers are never without content. I'll hafta think hard since I'll my creative juices are going into this one, haha.
Thank you to everyone which has reviewed, favourited and followed this story. Your generosity and kindness has encouraged me to take this fanfic this far and to the end! Thank you, thank you!
NEXT ARC—AKATSUKI ARC: the terrorist organization Akatsuki is established.
Until Next Time.