AN: I'm unnecessarily excited for this chapter because of one thing and one thing only. You'll see why. That is all.

Fun Fact: The idea of Glut and Smidgen came from Dishonored. In it, the White Rat Friend bone charm makes it so white rats are not hostile and there is an ability called Rat Whispers in which you can understand rats. I just liked the idea of rats being friends instead of foes so Glut and Smidgen were based off that idea.

Ilive4cookies: Everything is going to go as it did in canon, so the Uchiha Massacre and Kisame is going join the Akatsuki. Basically, Wasteland is based in that period before Tobi/Obito and Madara were introduced and there was that exposition dump explaining that they were behind anything and everything bad that went on in the world. Seriously, they were behind everything which is kind of ridiculous (and then Danzo, ugh). So, Itachi is going to be solely responsible for the Uchiha Massacre (if I remember correctly, Obito just helped him kill everyone) and as for the Mizukage, let's just say he was a little shit that had a fetish for blood and gore.

Cat Beats: Yay! I'm glad you liked it so much and this chapter is going to be the last one for these original, plot set-ups for awhile. Hope you're staying safe too as is everyone else!

Imjustababywhyareyoudoingthis/Guest: I'm glad to hear you read it in one go. That means it's engaging, haha. As your question: you'll just have to keep reading! (this chapter).

Warning(s): Language (High), Genderbend (High), Original Character(s)

…

Wasteland

The Akatsuki Arc

Chapter 46

Another night that Kakuzu slept like shit. He had spent it insomniac in dread for a call from Ryu telling him Zetsu was a lot worse than original thought or she had turned for the worse overnight. Even as seconds turned to minutes into hours did the matter ebb. It wasn't until the crack of dawn when the Sunday sunlight filtered through his window that did his exhausted brain decide to finally call it quits and he fell into a restless slumber, only to wake with a start a few hours later at midday.

Immediately, he was up and dressed to leave. He had never gotten that call but intercepted Glut to question if he had heard anything, for the off chance the elder had slept through it which the ginger denied. Kakuzu accepted this since the other man had demonstrated a level of care of Zetsu's wellbeing too, so would've come to his partner with any information he may have. Despite this, Kakuzu was apprehensive as he left the mansion. He decided that the smarter thing to do was go to Ryu's house first and if he wasn't home, then it could only be left to presume he was at the hospital instead. He rapped his knuckles on the front door and the next few seconds proceeding it felt like an eternity as he waited for answer.

Finally, after ten seconds (yes, Kakuzu numbered them), the door opened with a bright and bushy-tailed Ryu answering. Once noticing the doctor's cheery demeanor, the anxiety plaguing Kakuzu's five hearts dematerialized as his shoulders fell as if a great weight had been lifted from them.

"Ryu."

"Kakuzu! Come in, come in." The pediatrician ushered his friend inside.

As Kakuzu stepped inside, immediately he spied a lump on the love seat in the middle of the living room, huddling underneath a blanket and brandishing green strands that spilt out on a pillow. It was Zetsu.

"She just fell asleep," Ryu whispered to Kakuzu. "Why don't we talk outside so she can rest? You can see my new garden!"

"Sure."

"I'll make coffee." Ryu walked to the kitchen, sneaking past the couch so not to disturb the napping occupant. Kakuzu tailed him, petting his fingers through the resting girl's hair on the way past.

Halfway through the sitting room, he noticed a bizarre, new detail. The large aquarium that had been positioned against the wall separating the kitchen and living room was mysteriously absent and with it, the Mayfly. Last time he had socialized with Ryu in his home, it had been there but it had been a length of time since then, at least a few months due to construction of said garden and his own hectic schedule, so he guessed that during that period, something had happened to it. Maybe Ryu became enlightened to the insanity that was keeping a bloodline as a pet and deposed of it. However, if he had, how you threw out the physical manifestation of a Kekkei Genkai was a question in itself.

After brewing a pot of coffee and toasting a couple of bagels, Ryu led Kakuzu to this new garden of his that he was so eager to show off. Kakuzu remembered the other's backyard being nothing but cracked cement and weeds so he was pleasantly impressed when he stepped out of the house into…well, a garden.

Gone was the dull cement in favour of polished pebbles and weathered steppingstones which led to a wooden planked central area with a table and an adolescent cherry blossom tree planted in the middle. The exterior was a stream with a functioning waterfall and a handful of colour koi swimming in it. Overheard was a glass pergola draped in veins which kept the patio dry while designed to run the excess water into the waterfall. It was impressive, given how much was done to such a small space.

"This must've been expensive." Kakuzu observed, trying not to judge the other male's spending habits too harshly.

Ryu blushed. "Oh yes. Well, I got a pay raise and decided: why not? It took three months to finish and my neighbours complained about the noise during construction, but I think it was worth every cent. Please, have a seat." Kakuzu accepted his invitation as he sat down on the bench besides the patio door while Ryu pulled one of the chairs from the table to seat himself across from him.

"So, how did it go last night?" Kakuzu asked, chewing on his bagel that was approximately twenty percent bread and eighty percent butter and washed it down with his coffee, black.

"Oh, it went perfect. I got Zetsu in and we immediately ran blood tests, including an enzyme-linked immunoassay and then venom antibody detection assay. The tests did pick up snake venom, but it was the lowest number the test can identify, which approximately 0.5 ng of venom while the antibodies were much higher as was her white blood cell count. So, whatever was given to her was a charm and fast too."

"Great." Kakuzu said, sarcastically. As much as he was glad Zetsu was going to be okay, he hated the thought he had Orochimaru to thank for that after she was the one to cause it.

"So, instead of keeping her overnight, I gave her medicine for the nausea and an antibiotic then brought her back here to watch her. She was up for awhile due to the fever, but no more vomiting and she eventually fell asleep after a bath and hot cocoa."

"So, she'll be okay?"

"Oh yes, she should be peachy in a few day's rest. Just have to watch that nasty head wound but nothing antibiotics shouldn't be able to handle." At this was it that Kakuzu finally let out the breath he had been holding in for the last four days and physically deflated in his seat, something Ryu picked up. "How have you been doing lately, Kakuzu? We haven't had the chance to talk for awhile. How's your partner…Glut, was it?" He inquired, tasting his "coffee", the contents of which was more creamer than coffee.

"Glut isn't dead—yet, and everything was fine until this week, especially yesterday."

"Did it have to do with that meeting last night?"

"Yes," Kakuzu said, straightening himself back up and pushing the rest of his breakfast underneath his bandana, wiping off his fingers on the inside of his old trench coat. "We have a new member."

"Oh no." Ryu sighed since Kakuzu had yet to express anything besides dissatisfaction with the new people joining the organization. "Who is it?"

"Heard of Orochimaru?"

Ryu's eyebrows piqued, causing his oversized glasses fall down his nose. "The Sannin Orochimaru?" Kakuzu nodded to confirm. "Why yes, there isn't a person in Amegakure that hasn't heard of the Sannin, given their past with Hanzō."

"Yes."

It took Ryu a minute to realize what Kakuzu was implying to which he blinked, once, then twice at him in disbelief, pushing his glasses back up. "Wait, the Sannin Orochimaru joined the Akatsuki?"

"Yes."

"Why? Why would a Sannin join a mercenary organization? Especially one centered in Amegakure?"

"I don't fucking know! I don't know what's going in this fucking place anymore!" Kakuzu exploded all-of-sudden, throwing up his hands in exasperation and Ryu shrank back in his chair, clasping his cup to his chest. "I don't want to fucking talk about it. How're you?"

Ryu extracted himself from his chair. "Oh, I'm ok lately. If I'm not working, then I'm busy with my research."

"I can see that." Kakuzu said, eyeballing the white table in the middle of the garden, which was piled with papers and books, including a typewriter, and had stacks of these items littered around it on the ground too. "You still studying the Mayfly?"

"Yes! I've made so much progress in such a short amount of time."

"When's that book coming out then? I expect an autographed, first edition."

"Oh, well, not yet. While I've made a lot of progress on the Mayfly itself, I'm having difficulties on the history of it. It doesn't help it isn't well documented and what is documented is considered myth or fable. While it is obvious that Father Michaelis was the first carrier of the Mayfly, how he got it is a mystery in itself. It was claimed he was given it by the 'Third Son of the Mother God', but who was this 'Third Son'? I cannot find anything on him since every history book says that the Mother God, Princess Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, only had two sons, twins. No mention of a third and this third son has no other mentions outside the mythos of the Mayfly. So, who was this Third Son and why did he give Father Michaelis the Mayfly? How did he have the Mayfly? And where did he go afterward?"

"I don't know." Kakuzu said, trying not to fall asleep as the mustached man blathered on.

"I have a theory though, if I can share?"

"Go for it."

What came next was this outlandish theory in which Ryu hypothesized that the Third Son wasn't the child of God but instead, a demon because of Father Michaelis' well documented atrocities, including hostile takeovers of nations and genocides, which he committed after being gifted the Mayfly. So, it might've been demonic possession—and Kakuzu just blanked, it was so ludicrous. He never took Ryu as the conspiracy theorist and was surprised when he didn't wheel on a whiteboard with pictures taped to it and red string to connect the dots. So, as the other man preached on, Kakuzu decided to fake listening while relishing his caffeine. Or, he would've, if it wasn't for that obnoxious jingling.

At first, he thought it was the windchimes hung around the patio area, but there was no wind to disturb them, so it must've been something else. It was then he felt something bump the inside of his boot and glanced down to find a pink, plastic ball beside it, the type with bells marketed for cats. A moment later, a black foot reached out from underneath the bench he was seated on, batting at the plaything. Kakuzu didn't think he had ever moved so fast in his life as he leapt up like a fire had been lit under his backside.

"What the fuck is that!?"

"Kakuzu, please don't yell! It's sensitive to sound." Ryu sprung from his chair and hunched in front of the bench, fumbling under it. What he pulled out was a…thing. It was huge, black, slimy and at a glance, paralleled the mythical black salamander that Hanzō earned his moniker from. Except, it wasn't a salamander, it wasn't anything of this world by its large, fish-like mouth and lack of eyes. Yet, Ryu casually picked it up into his arms as if he were a child with a teddy bear.

"What the fuck is that?" Strike that, because Kakuzu knew exactly what it was. "Ryu, if that's what I think it is…"

Ryu sheepishly glanced elsewhere from the darkness of his friend's sunglasses, hugging the horror to his chest and it uttered a blech. "Well…"

"You cannot be fucking serious. I told you to quit feeding the fucking thing because it was going to get bigger until it ate you!"

"N-No! It's nothing like that. Skiif is harmless!"

"You named the damn thing?"

"Y-Yes? It felt disrespectful to keep calling it the Mayfly." That confirmed it.

Kakuzu clamped the bridge of his nose between his fingers as he shut his eyes. "Ryu…this thing, it isn't a pet. I don't know what the fuck it is, but Kekkei Genkai don't mutate like this!"

"Yes, I understand that, but that brings up the question: what made this strain of Mayfly mutate like this? I haven't found any evidence or documentation of it doing this before. I may be on a ground-breaking discovery here!" He heaved up the child-sized, ooze creature up as if it was trophy. It uttered a wet fart from its gummed maw.

"How much fucking larger does that damn thing have to get until you learn that?" Kakuzu demanded, jabbing a finger at it.

"Almost, I'm so close! It shouldn't be much longer."

"Then once that happens, get rid of the fucking thing, understand?"

"Yes." Ryu may've said one thing, but Kakuzu spied the way he protectively clenched the Mayfly to his chest.

Kakuzu gave it up, he had said his piece as he had before, and it was obvious Ryu hadn't listened to him and wasn't going to any time soon. He sat back down with his face in his hand while Ryu put the armful of goo down and fetched the bell ball, rolling it away. Skiif dragged itself after the noisy toy with its stubby arms while happily gurgling, disappearing under the table and between masses of paper. There was the telltale sliding of the patio door in the background and both men turned to discover a lethargic Zetsu standing in the doorway.

She blinked at them; eyes crusted from sleep. "Sir?"

"Zetsu." Kakuzu sighed.

"Oh Zetsu-chan, we didn't wake you up, did we?" Ryu asked, worried.

Zetsu shook her head. "No, I just woke up." She walked over to seat herself on the bench beside Kakuzu as he ushered her over. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he pulled her to him, and she laid her head on his shoulder while he pet his fingers through her hair.

"How're you feeling, girl?" Kakuzu asked her, thumbing back the strands of hair from the fresh bandages on her head.

"Better."

"No nausea?" Ryu inquired.

"None."

Kakuzu pressed the back of his hand to one cheek then the other, it was warm but not burning hot as yesterday. "Your fever is breaking too."

She nodded. "I'm feeling a lot better, just weak."

"Oh, that's just grand! Do you think you're well enough to go home?" Ryu asked, imitating his doctor persona with the structure of that question.

"I believe so."

"Then we should leave." Kakuzu interjected, not so much a suggestion as it was a declaration as he personally was prepared to leave. Mainly to get Zetsu back into her own bed, but partly so he could get away from Ryu and his little experimental pet, being quite irked over it.

Zetsu stood up as Kakuzu did to take their leave when something odd caught her eye and she tilted her head at it curiously. "What is that?" She pointed at the object in question.

Both Kakuzu and Ryu looked in the direction of her finger to discover Skiif. It had managed to turn itself around and lugged itself out from under the table in hunt of its favourite toy. Remarkably, without disturbing the precariously stacks of paper surrounding it.

"Oh, that's the—"

"I-It's…a giant salamander!" Ryu interrupted Kakuzu before he could expose his dirty, little secret. He picked Skiif up again under its dwarfed arms, making it rumble in what could be perceived as dislike for having its playtime disrupted. "Its name is Skiif!"

Zetsu had never seen a giant salamander before, so she had no grounding off of which to doubt him. "Skiif?" She quoted, tilting her head the other way. "'to smile'?"

Ryu perked up. "Oh! You can understand Elderspeak? I've been teaching myself it. Where did you learn it?"

'Elderspeak? Is that what that language is?' She shook her head. "I couldn't tell you."

"Dii zuk, vis hi hon nii? Dii zuk daar fun fin aluntiid. Uv him ahnaar hahdrim."My voice, can you hear it? My voice that tells the future. Or your tortured mind.

Zetsu frowned at the question, communicated in this newly labeled Elderspeak which had been asked by a person that obviously wasn't that of Kakuzu or Ryu. She searched for the unknown source until her eyes lastly fell on Skiif. True to its namesake, it knowingly smiled at her.

"Hi piraak aan vahzah. Aan vahzah wah meyz gein do mu. Ful, valokein wah un lein. Das fin skulds wah un olaak fen bex," You have a right. A right to become one of us. So, welcome to our world. Soon the gates to our dimension will open. It said to her, smile expanding with glimmers of white glimpsing from its gums. "Fin nunon zu'u los zu'u. Los hi bek fin nunon hi los hi?" The only me is me. Are you sure the only you is you? The white grew, imparting themselves to be long, straight canines and two yellow eyeballs bubbled up from its head, staring directly at her. It began laughing, a deep, eerie laugher that echoed in her head and pierced what felt like the very depths of her soul.

"What?!"

A heavy hand fell on her shoulder, making Zetsu jump and she blinked up to find Kakuzu staring down at her with an eyebrow piqued over the lens of his sunglasses. "Zetsu, what's wrong?"

"S-Skiif, it was speaking!" She claimed, pointing accusatorily at Skiif.

Kakuzu and Ryu stared at the miscreation which was currently busy making spit bubbles from its salivating mouth. The teeth and eyes were gone.

"I didn't hear anything." Ryu said, disappointed it in fact, hadn't said a thing.

"It's true! I-It was talking and—"

"Girl," Kakuzu intercepted her. "When is the last time you took your medication?"

"I—Umm…since before the mission, b-but—!"

"That explains it then," He dismissed her, obviously chalking it up to her mental illness and located his hand to her back to nudge her towards the door. "Let's get you back."

"Oh well, goodbye and feel better, Zetsu-chan!" Ryu called after them, waving with Kakuzu throwing his hand up in a half-hearted wave back as Zetsu continuing sputtering in an attempt to plead her case all while glancing back disbelieving at Skiif. It smiled at her again.

Once they had gone, Ryu looked down at the Mayfly. "You would tell me if you could talk, right?" It burped in a manner that could be translated into a "yes" if you stretched your imagination. "That's what I thought. Oh, it's lunch time. You must be hungry." It burped again as if in agreement.

Ryu put it down and sat in his chair. From his pocket, he pulled out a brand-new syringe and after biting off the cap, rolled back his sleeve to reveal the inside of his elbow littered in bruised track marks, old and new. Skiif hugged his leg, salivating into his pants in anxious foretaste of its "lunch".

…

That night, Zetsu had a visitor.

She knew who it was, picking up on the noxious chakra wafting through her door, and as much as she didn't want to answer it, she had too. Otherwise, she had the hint the person on the other side wouldn't leave as it was obvious, she was inside the room as her silhouette was cast onto the paper door by the lamp on her desk. So, with an intake of breath, but not too deeply as so not to gag on the overwhelming stench of musk, she opened her bedroom where she confirmed it to be Orochimaru standing on the other side.

"Oh hello, hello," Orochimaru greeted her charmingly, brushing back black strands. "Just came to check up on you. How're you feeling, darling?"

"Better." Zetsu replied, though a sly snappish.

Either Orochimaru didn't notice or ignored it because she smiled sweetly at her, as sweet as rotten fruit. "I just came to apologize. You and I got off on the wrong foot and now that I'm a member of this—Akatsuki, was it—I'd like a fresh start. How about it?"

Oh yes, Kakuzu had informed Zetsu of the little development of Orochimaru's recruitment on the way back and she wasn't none pleased which was to say a lot since it took a great deal to get to earn her dislike. She didn't even dislike Sasori. At this point, she observed her relationship with him being like that of two siblings, so they shared a rivalry if anything. Though, she knew definitely he hated her for being the cause of the loss of his arm and leg. Orochimaru, however, Zetsu could say off the bat she did not like the woman, perhaps even as far as to say she hated her. Especially after learning of the barbarity she had committed against children, not unlike what she experienced due to the Mayfly. It didn't help she had detained and driven her to literal insanity either. This was ignoring the fact she had given Zetsu the cure to her snakes' venom since it had resulted in her barfing up her insides for twelve hours straight. She must've lost at least five pounds from that.

However, Zetsu knew one thing and that was she shouldn't hold a grudge as in the end, it would only be detrimental to her and the Akatsuki as it may impact her performance in the organization or the organization itself. So, Orochimaru was correct in wanting a fresh start. It would be just this once though, as Zetsu was already weary of her. Kakuzu's natural distrust in people was starting to wear off on her, obviously.

Zetsu nodded, trying not to look too displeased with the decision. "Ok, let us have a fresh start."

"Oh joy. Why don't we start from the beginning then?" Orochimaru extended a hand which Zetsu unconsciously stepped back from, despite the innocent gesture. "I am Orochimaru, and you are? I never caught your name, darling."

"Zetsu." Zetsu said, accepting her white hand for a shake.

All of sudden, Orochimaru's hand painfully clamped the teenager's hand, startling Zetsu as she glanced up to find the Sannin's golden gaze upon her, narrowed and dark. "Zetsu, is it?" She said, lowly; but then, just like that, the look disappeared as Orochimaru smiled at her again and her hand slackened its grasp on the smaller woman's hand to shake it. "Well then, I'm flattered to meet you, Zetsu, darling. May we get on from here. Now, I'll leave you be. Good night."

Orochimaru left down the hallway, leaving Zetsu standing in her doorway, hand still wavering from the handshake. She glanced down at it and while she felt the ache from it being crushed, she questioned if what she saw was real or her imagination because her medication hadn't yet kicked in after being off it for so long. Either or, she decided she didn't want to know the answer and skulked back into her bed.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru had made it back to her new bedroom that neighboured Sasori's bedroom and placed a hand on the frame of the door to open it, only to pause. She smirked.

"So, this is where you went off to then, 084?" She chuckled to herself then entered.

…

AN: So yes, you see now why I was so excited for this chapter, it was plot twist galore. But from here, things are going to be crawling in terms of original canon. It'll be sprinkled here and there but not as much until much, much later in the arc when it takes place in pre-Shippuden to Shippuden. Yes, we're going that far into canon with this arc.

Also, I changed Father Mikaerisu to Father Michaelis since it's the romanized version of the name. I had used Mikaerisu to sound more Japanese? I decided I didn't like it though, so I changed it in this chapter. So, Michaelis is Mikaerisu who was mentioned in an earlier chapter. I'll go back and change it when I'm not lazy, heh.

Anyway, from here on out, we're going to get into the meat and bones of this arc. So, character development, mini-arcs, and more members! Yay!

Next Chapter: Distrust.

Until Next Time.