A/N: Whoops. Short chapter, I'm afraid.
On a related note, my vacation was fabulous!
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Original Nagato
They both were trained ninjas, and they both were irritated beyond their capacity for restraint. So of course, they both retreated to the same place: the roof.
They used the second-floor rooftop stairway. Konan closed the door behind them while Nagato looked over the front-facing side of the roof. He could easily see the haunted hospital in the distance. Said distance was not very great; however, that meant nothing. Hidan's crime was not risking the safety of the ghostly books - it was doing so without permission.
Konan joined him. She, too, looked along the treetops towards the roof of the hospital. Nagato sighed. "Konan…"
"Yes."
"Then why?"
"I cannot say."
The two siblings continued to stare at the hospital. The demon boy made no appearance. Eventually they turned away, looked over the rear-facing side. From there, they could see most of the backyard. Kakuzu and Deidara were showing Zetsu how to spar. So far, Zetsu was performing poorly. That was not surprising. The two clones were patient, demonstrating the same maneuvers several times.
"This version of Zetsu is a better shinobi than he," Nagato murmured.
"Not better, different," Konan replied.
"How can you forgive him so quickly? Doesn't his lack of consideration worry you?"
"Of course," she replied. "He must learn to consider others. It is vital. But I do not regard it as a crime. Rather, it is a weakness."
Nagato turned to her. "Hidan's reckless disregard for authority and order is not equivalent to a weak grasp of Taijutsu. Skills that are lacking can be improved through training. The soul is not so easily reformed."
Konan did not face him. Her eyes stayed on the clones as they darted and jumped, punched and parried. "I cannot believe that the problem is in his soul."
Nagato watched her face. To anyone else, it was as blank as ever, but he perceived a great sadness lurking beneath. I cannot understand why she defends him, but it would not do to speak harshly. "Very well. As long as we can spare the resources required to clean up after his errors."
"As long as we can," she agreed.
They went back inside. Before they could go very far, a doll found them. It was Solis. He jumped and ran to Nagato's side. Nagato picked him up. "Another reckless troublemaker," he murmured.
"Yet they are more useful that way," Konan said. "Please try to be patient."
Solis wiggled out of Nagato's hands, achieving his favorite position sitting on Nagato's shoulders with his plushy hands somehow holding on to Nagato's hair. Solis did this a lot. At first it had felt threatening, but now it was almost reassuring. Nagato would never admit it, but he was starting to get used to the doll. He glimpsed Konan smiling, just a little, before she turned away.
Original Yahiko found them. He bowed his head and said, "Progress report. As far as my clone can tell, the books are not terribly offended. He sent a message in the group chat to ensure they stay that way, telling everyone that the demon boy has appointed himself as the books' guardian."
"A wise precaution," Nagato replied.
"While he had the group chat open, I looked through all of today's communications. There is no sign of anything unusual."
"If anything unusual were to happen, it would not be mentioned in the group chat," Konan said. "Have Itachi and Clone Hidan finished their experiment?"
"I'm not sure," Yahiko said with a frown. He turned and led them downstairs. At the base of the stairs, Konan put a hand on his wrist to stop him. She took the lead. Clone Hidan's bedroom door was still closed. With one knuckle, she knocked twice before identifying herself and asking for a progress report.
The door opened. Clone Hidan swayed, a slightly glazed look in his eyes. He leaned against the doorframe and muttered, "So… Gods and all that sorta shit seem to be…changing somehow. 'Sonly a matter of time before the change makes a difference."
Itachi joined him. "As you can see, Hidan is still conscious despite lengthy discussion of religious matters. In addition, a new god appeared and immediately attained a position of great power and relevance only a few weeks ago while the demons that we met a long time ago have faded in relevance, all but ceasing to exist. It appears that divine forces are still relevant, but which forces and how are changing."
"With consequences for this version of Hidan," Konan murmured. "A very useful discovery. Are there any others?"
"We may be required to move out on a genuine mission. A traveling-required, conduct-business-far-away sort of mission."
Konan frowned. "Deidara explored that matter earlier. He found compelling reasons to believe that this setting remains as isolated as ever."
Itachi shrugged. "We may not be required to travel beyond our established boundaries. Original Hidan and the dolls have caused great upheaval simply by traveling beyond our established habits."
Nagato frowned. "We are isolated from the world that we are allegedly located in. But if crossing between worlds is now possible…"
"Could be all sorts of exciting travel destinations for us," Clone Hidan mumbled.
"It does little harm to prepare for the possibility," Konan murmured. "Anything else?"
Itachi shook his head. Clone Hidan closed his eyes and groaned. If there was more to discover, they weren't going to find it that day. Yahiko thanked the two clones for their work, then turned to Clone Hidan and said, "We'll leave you to your rest now."
"No, not here," Clone Hidan mumbled. He straightened somewhat. "You know something? I think we ought to have a sickbay."
"It is rather inefficient to isolate injured group members in their bedrooms and attend to them separately," Itachi murmured. "But what room would we use? All public rooms are already spoken for."
"Spoken for, yeah, but how much?" Clone Hidan asked. "Half spoken for, at best. Not at full potential."
"The game room," Itachi and Konan said simultaneously. They nodded respectfully at each other. "It has already been used for therapeutic purposes," Itachi continued.
"And the sunroom is closer to three-quarters spoken for," Konan said. "It cannot take on such a large responsibility."
"Eh…" Clone Hidan looked doubtful. "Maybe in general, that's true, but…"
"It's your favorite room and you are one of the few people who can communicate with the books," Itachi finished. "Of course."
"Lemme get my scythe."
Clone Hidan retrieved his scythe and his cloak. He and Itachi went to the sunroom. Meanwhile, Konan and her comrades retreated to the kitchen. She poured cups of tea, which they all took the time to carefully sip.
Nagato lowered his half-finished cup and sighed. "One version of Hidan provokes conflict with powerful beings for entertainment. The other helpfully suggests we expand our medical capacities. It is hard to believe that they are the same person."
"I see a strong resemblance," Yahiko said. "It's as if they do the same things, but in different ways. They both have good insight into how other people are feeling. Original Hidan uses it offensively, Clone Hidan either defensively or for diplomacy. It looks very different, but it's really the same ability. Even what you said just now about medical capacities - they both have a strong interest in healing. Original Hidan simply keeps it to himself."
"One version is only interested in his own immortality, while the other gives a damn about others. Again, it is difficult to believe they are the same person."
"Nagato…" Yahiko hesitated. "Perhaps it's because I was dead for so long. I don't understand why you use such harshness with him."
"Don't expect to get away with it for much longer," Konan said, her amber eyes glowing ominously. She pointed at Solis, who still sat on Nagato's shoulders. "The clones do not hesitate to attack anything they perceive as hypocrisy."
Nagato stiffened. They are turning on me. Again. The last time this happened, I caused narrative convenience to crumble. Am I about to make a similar mistake? This time, instead of standing his ground, he bowed his head. "My reasons for being harsh with Hidan are…complicated and personal. I recognize the wisdom of treating him more gently, but I cannot make myself do it. That is a weakness of mine."
"He has hurt you before, hasn't he?" Yahiko's tone of voice made it clear that he already knew the answer.
"That is all he has ever done."
"Spend more time with his clone," Konan suggested. "Clone Hidan may help you to see them both in a different light."
"I will try that." Nagato bowed his head again. Secretly, however, he did not acquiesce. I see nothing wrong with the way I treat Original Hidan, and I see no connection between him and his clone. I will ask Clone Hidan's help, for Konan's sake, but I don't truly believe that it will work. There is nothing for him to help me with. Whatever problem exists, it originates from Original Hidan. I have done nothing wrong.
Konan went off to make sure the game room was suitable. Yahiko announced his intention to visit Itachi and check on the group chat, then went off to do so. Nagato was left alone. He finished his tea, put Solis down, then headed toward the backyard to see how the sparring was going.
He met Kakuzu on the way. The stitched-up man had a satisfied gleam in his eyes. "Have Zetsu's skills improved?" Nagato asked.
"Rapidly. Every clone except Sasori experienced a burst of improvement at the start of their training from tapping into our originals' muscle memory. It looks like Zetsu's originals were not martial arts geniuses, but they were capable of holding their own in a fight."
Hmm. Where and why would Zetsu have learned combat abilities? What other abilities does he have that I do not know about? "That is good to hear."
Kakuzu continued to the kitchen. He indicated that he wanted Nagato to accompany him. "Did you recover the book?"
"Yes. Original Hidan was caught in the act of returning it. He is serving out his punishment at this very moment."
Kakuzu got a tall glass from a cabinet. Solis filled it with water for him. "A useful punishment, I hope?"
Nagato tilted his head. "Define that term."
Kakuzu took a long drink before complying. "A punishment that accomplishes something else besides making the punished party feel bad."
"Do you mean to say that enforcing discipline is useless?"
"No. I believe that a punishment which is unconnected to the crime is useless because it does not enforce discipline." Kakuzu shook his head. "But that's getting off topic. In the case of someone like Hidan, any punishment you try had better involve redirecting his energy in a more productive direction. He always needs to be doing something. You can't ask him to quietly sit and reflect."
Nagato's hands curled into fists. "Hidan's crime is thoughtlessness: refusal to take responsibility for his actions or their consequences. Investing my own effort into thinking up productive outlets for him is precisely the wrong thing to do. If he needs to feel useful, then he ought to think of ways to make himself so. That would teach him something."
Kakuzu snorted. "Do you honestly believe that?" He looked amused. As the seconds passed, his amused look faded. "You do honestly believe it."
"What else would I believe?" Nagato asked in a quiet, dangerous voice.
"That he knows exactly what he's doing and exactly what sorts of consequences it will have, and he's accepted them," Kakuzu replied. The older man crossed his arms. "He's not stupid. He knows that trespassing on vampire territory, for example, will piss off the vampires. Pissing off the vampires is simply a risk he's willing to accept. He doesn't need to 'learn' a damn thing. There's nothing wrong; his risk tolerance is simply higher than yours."
"That is wrong," Nagato replied. "Someone who considers endangering his fellows to be an acceptable consequence is someone who cannot be trusted."
"Fine. Don't trust him, then. Assist anybody else who also does not trust him, and stay out of the way of those who do."
Kakuzu spoke like it was so simple. Nagato's jaw clenched. "That is not the way things are."
Kakuzu narrowed his eyes. "I think you'll find that it is. Konan has a higher risk tolerance than you; not coincidentally, she trusts him just fine. Will you ask her to doubt her own senses? In short: stop making your problems everyone else's problems. If you can't trust him, that's on you. It doesn't change how anyone else should treat him, and it doesn't change how he should act."
Nagato briefly saw red. "Konan agrees that his behavior is the problem."
"Does she?" Kakuzu drained his glass of water. He didn't look convinced. "I'd take that claim more seriously if it wasn't coming from someone with a long history of self-deception and irresponsibility."
Nagato felt like he'd been slapped. Did he just...accuse me...of the things that Hidan is guilty of?
Kakuzu huffed. "I know your clone. I know his lifelong struggles with those things. Clones are cut from the same cloth as their originals." He rinsed the glass in the sink, wiped off its rim and put it in a rack to dry. Then he left.
Nagato's hands shook. It is not true. I am not that sort of person. But he knew that Kakuzu was right about his clone. He'd seen his clone display irresponsibility and an almost impressive level of self-deception to support it. And if Kakuzu and Yahiko and Konan all agreed that clones were the same sort of people as their originals...
Perhaps Hidan is not the one who needs to learn.
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A/N: In case anyone's getting frustrated with how long Nagato's character arc is taking to make progress... Me too. Me freakin' too.
*sigh*
