~0~0~0~0~
“… for three bloody years! Honestly - why the fuck would
anyone vow silence for three
years? I mean – what’s the point? What a cretin religion…”
Kakuzu raised the map higher in front of his face, as an inadequate barrier between himself and Hidan’s ranting. Not that it helped to close out any of the nonsense coming out of the priest’s mouth.
“… while Jashin – sama’s regulations…”
One thing was sure – Hidan wouldn’t be able to stand three
seconds of silence. Kakuzu didn’t know why he had been afraid that the brat would become unbearable after they fucked. He never had been bearable to begin with…
“…you as well. You’d make an excellent priest with your abilities… Are you paying any attention at all?”
“Hmm.”
“Could you be an even more indifferent old prick than this?
“Hidan…” Kakuzu glared at him over the edge of his map. The zealot stood in front of him with legs slightly astride, chin held high, fists curled next to his side… his usual let’s-have-a-quarrel-with-Kakuzu pose. The sun had just started to rise, they hadn’t even eaten their breakfast yet, but Hidan was ready for another futile argument. The older man couldn’t comprehend where he was taking the energy from. Kakuzu was not a morning person. At an hour so unholy like this all he craved for was a cup of hot tea and a slow waking up.
But they didn’t have any tea leaves, not any boiling water and in the end the slow waking up was made impossible by some intruders and not only by Hidan’s ranting. The voice that alerted them was so distant that they rather felt than heard it. Hidan shut up at once and looked around. Kakuzu stood up and quickly and soundlessly kicked sand over the smoldering ashes of their campfire and picked up their belongings. Silently as ghosts they advanced on the intruders.
That they found – once again – Hidden Cloud shinobi nearby didn’t even surprise Kakuzu. He and Hidan hid in the canopy as two three man group met under them.
“Azetsu,” one of them was saying “I get that my message reached you as you are here.”
“It did, Tsama. Though I can hardly believe that Amana-san was defeated. She was one of our most excellent Jounins.”
“I know. But that’s not all, unfortunately. As we left town we found the remains of what had to be Tonka’s team. All three of them were slaughtered. I can understand why Yugakure wants this monster to be finished off. Though I have the feeling that Hidden Cloud isn’t paid well enough for this job.”
“Well, that’s up to the Raikage to decide, isn’t it? What we can do is to capture him to end the mission successfully. I have to say though that after what he’d done I’d very much like to finish off this monster for my own amusement as well.”
Denkou Tsama. Kakuzu’s fingers actually itched as he kept himself back from pulling out the Bingo book and check. But no – if he moved the group below them would surely notice their presence. Anyway he was sure without any further verification that the man was him. He had seen countless times his picture and read his name. The man was worth thirty-five million Ryo. What an unexpectedly wonderful surprise to have Cloud send such a wanted man after Hidan. That would at least partially make up for all the extra costs he had to spend on the priest so far.
The shinobi under them seemed to come to a decision in the meantime. Agreeing to stay in touch one team went ahead on the road – the same way the two Akatsuki members were originally heading. Denkou and his two subordinates however detoured from the road to the direction where they had spent the night.
“So Kakuzu, what should we do?” Hidan resisted saying a word until they were out of earshot, which was a small miracle. “Should we get around these fuckheads on the road or is it faster if we cut our way through them?”
“We go after the other team.”
“Huh? What for?”
Kakuzu pulled out the Bingo book and searched for his victim-to-be. He was proud that he even remembered the page number correctly. He showed the picture to his partner, who just stared blankly at it for a moment before putting two and two together.
“Don’t fuck with me Kakuzu! We had enough of your private jobs already.”
“Headhunting is not simply a private job. I increase the income of the Akatsuki as well. And I am the only one who bothers with that. You brats think that money grows on trees and all you know is how to spend it…”
Hidan just shrugged his shoulders muttering something about sacrifices to Jashin and followed him. They caught up with the enemy at the spot they camped the night before. Denkou was crouched next to the remains of their campfire, while the other two ninjas were scrutinizing the surrounding woods. Kakuzu didn’t think it likely that they would have a hard time beating them down.
Denkou straightened up and turned towards them although he couldn’t see them yet.
“I know you are there,” he challenged “show yourself!”
Kakuzu slowly walked out to the clearing, Hidan at his heels. He saw the Cloud nins taking in his appearance – the Akatsuki uniform, his covered up face, his eyes – and also noticed how their attention focused on Hidan instead. He smirked under his mask – if they were stupid enough to think Hidan the more dangerous of them that only made his job easier.
“We have no qualms with you, stranger,” Denkou addressed him. “However your partner will be taken to Yugakure to make him pay for his crimes.”
“Will he? What did he commit?”
“Are you not aware that he is a monster responsible for the death of innumerous people? He massacred dozens of innocents just within his own village, his own relatives and associates among them. He needs to face judgment now.”
Pompous imbecile, Kakuzu snorted hearing that speech.
“Idiots!” Hidan shouted. “Only Jashin – sama can judge me! But why would he,” he cackled “when I just carry out his commands. I’ll send you to him as well and you will understand it then. Kakuzu – don’t interfere, I’ll show these heathen assholes the true power of my god!”
“Don’t drag it out,” Kakuzu warned him. “And the garrulous guy at the middle should remain recognizable.”
“He belongs to Jashin now, Kakuzu! You can’t decide what happens to him.”
“He belongs to the black market now. If I can’t exchange his body, you will pay.”
“Shut your ugly gob Kakuzu, or I’ll finish you off as well afterwards!”
“Just do it already,” the masked man snarled at him, and Hidan finally charged. Since they had become partners he fought considerably less. The zealot demanded all battles to himself so Kakuzu usually only had to lift a finger if his idiotic comrade was losing a fight. Which didn’t happen as much as the ex - Takigakure shinobi would have expected. He considered the priest’s tactics – if you can call them that at all – very simple, but most ninjas were even more of a nitwit and couldn’t see through them.
Kakuzu sometimes wondered if he had been just as stupid as a kid (and most of their enemies were just that, compared to him). Probably he was, he admitted, but he couldn’t really recall what he had been like seventy years ago. That someone had been a completely different person, full of misplaced ambition, pride and meaningless ideas. Someone who hadn’t realized yet how cold and cruel place the world was, where you can only rely on your own strength to stay alive and money to get what you need.
Hidan’s battle shout dragged Kakuzu back to the present. The priest already immobilized one of his opponents, but Denkou proved be more of a challenge. The black haired jounin kept dodging the scythe with ease. He was either very cautious or he was prepared and knew what the priest was capable of, but he was very careful not to let his blood be drawn. The third shinobi was also on her feet still and kept interrupting Hidan’s finishing moves. Kakuzu rolled his eyes – Hidan should have taken down the woman before attacking Denkou, as he was without doubt the most dangerous of the trio.
Hidan seemed to realize his mistake when a Lightning technique coming from the woman almost cut him in half. He managed to roll out of the fire line, but his hair and cloak got scorched still. He leaped at the woman, but before he could reach her a massive stone wall erupted from the earth. He changed directions again, swearing loudly.
“Haven’t I told you not to drag it out?” Kakuzu asked impatiently. “Do you want the other three to hear the racket and attack us as well?”
“Fuck you, Kakuzu! I’m doing it as fast as I can,” Hidan shouted back as he sprung up in the air to avoid the joined attack of the Cloud nins.
In the end Kakuzu had to join the fight. As he anticipated the other enemy team came to assist his target. Still, they stood no chance against the joined forces of the Akatsuki pair, even though they were stronger than the previous hunters Kumogakure had sent after them.
Kakuzu suppressed a wince as his monsters –his hearts- returned to his body. Letting them out was quite unpleasant, the main reason he tried to avoid doing so if it wasn’t necessary. They were vital parts of him after all, living organs, blood vessels and sinews after a fashion, so to part with them was never easy. Still that pain was nothing compared to the one when they returned, stretching and pushing at his still human parts until they were settled. He frowned through the last twitches – the Lightning heart always took more time to settle down than the other three, though he could never figure out why – then did up the stiches on his back.
Picking up his cloak from the ground he noted it was almost completely torn in half, so he didn’t put it back on. Simple sewing wouldn’t help here any longer. They both became rather tattered in the past few days.
“They are very determined to get hold of you,” he said to his partner thoughtfully. “I wonder how much your hometown is willing to pay for you.”
The priest raised his head from the ground and glared at him angrily. He was still sprawled in his ridiculous god’s symbol while their last still living opponent took his last ragged breathes a few steps away from him.
“I sincerely hope you are not thinking what I think you are thinking! Trading the bodies of your enemies is disgusting enough. You wouldn’t do the same with your buddy’s, would you?”
“Hmm,” not dignifying that with a response Kakuzu went over to examine Denkou’s corpse that was luckily more or less in one piece. He didn’t have an answer to that anyway. There would be a rich enough offer for what he would be willing to trade Hidan for, he was sure – but he also had the creeping suspicion that amount would be higher than anyone would be willing to pay for the idiot. But he didn’t need to know that.
“I hope there’s an exchange point nearby,” Hidan stepped up next to him with a disgruntled expression on his face and poked the body with the toes of his shoes. His cloak was also torn and bloody as well, despite having it unbuttoned till his navel before starting the ritual. The whole left side of his chest was covered in drying blood. Without giving it a conscious thought, Kakuzu reached out to wipe off a bigger spot. The priest’s skin was burning hot under his touch but the wound was hardly visible any longer. Hidan grabbed his wrist as he started to pull his hand back and licked his own blood from his fingers.
“Why haven’t you stayed out of the fight Kakuzu?”
“You could hardly handle the first three, not to mention the reinforcement.”
“You always underestimate me,” Hidan was still grasping his wrist and was close enough for their bodies to almost touch. Kakuzu had to force himself to stay still and not close that space. Even like this he felt his body responding to the other man’s presence. He thought that the previous night satisfied his lust for the brat, but nothing was ever simple if it came to Hidan.
“It’s not that I underestimate you. I simply never saw you proving yourself.”
“Fuck you Kakuzu!” Hidan snarled. “Would I want to, I could send you to hell easily!” the violet eyes darkened in fury when his partner laughed at that. Predictably he attacked in the next instant.
“Your moves are too basic! Anyone willing to use their brain can see right through them. And you are over confident,” Hidan ended up on his back in no time. Kakuzu grabbed his throat and pushed him down while kneeling next to him. “You’ll never be able to defeat me.” He wondered why he was making the effort of educating the priest, who evidently never learned. Hidan glared at him angrily, face flushed. Few strands of his hair got loose and clang to his forehead with sweat. There was a small trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth.
He looks good enough to eat. Kakuzu shifted his weight as he started to get hard, carefully keeping his face blank. The last thing he needed was Hidan to realize the effect he was having on him. The priest’s lips were moving and Kakuzu eased his grasp a bit so he could talk.
“You forget about something, you arrogant dick! I could defeat you, as I already know what your weak point is!”
“Is that so? And what do you think it is?” Kakuzu asked skeptically. In the next instant he felt the sacrificial pike pressing against his side, uncomfortably close to his spare hearts.
“It’s me,” Hidan sniggered. Grabbing his nape he pulled his head down and bit his lower lip though the mask.
Snarling angrily Kakuzu knocked the pike out of Hidan’s hand. The worst thing was that the priest was right. After so many decades he made the mistake of letting someone close to him – someone who was an unpredictable, unstable lunatic to make it even worse.
Hidan ripped his mask off – it was nothing more than a tattered piece of cloth at this point – and burst out laughing at seeing his expression. Kakuzu started to rise up in anger, but Hidan kicked his legs out from under him and pulled him back. He rolled on top of him and the older man let him. It was really troublesome to fight against him constantly. Especially as he wasn’t sure that he wanted to fight him. Not when it came to this, anyway.
The brat straddled his waist and grinned in satisfaction when he felt his hardening erection pushing against his ass.
“Admit I’m right, old man. I’m too good to be resisted.”
“You should learn when to shut up Hidan.”
“Why don’t you make me, Kakuzu?” The insolent way he looked at him didn’t left him any other choice than to do just that.
He pulled the silvery head down and Hidan kissed him, if the aggressive way he tried to bit though his lips could be called that. Kakuzu pushed not his tongue but a few of his threads into his mouth and kept his head in place as he tried to pull back. The priest’s whole body shivered with disgust or desire he couldn’t tell, nor did he care. Hidan fought against the thin tentacles, trying to push them back with his tongue, but when Kakuzu actually started to pull them away he bit down on them to keep them in. When the pressure of sharp teeth became too much, Kakuzu pushed his fingers into Hidan’s mouth and opened his jaw by force. Hidan bit his digits as well.
“Tell me you want me,” he whispered against his lips, but Kakuzu of course didn’t do such a thing. Hidan seemed to forget about it a moment later anyway as he slid lower, white teeth now nibbling the long row of stiches bellow his collarbone. He seemed determined to get them open and Kakuzu wondered why he was so obsessed with that. Maybe he just wanted to take a peek inside to satisfy some morbid curiosity. In the end he humored him, opening the seam just enough that Hidan could slip his clever pink tongue in, licking the mass of threads he found underneath. It was a disturbingly strange yet pleasant sensation.
Kakuzu suddenly felt uneasy, finding this act way too intimate – much more so than their actual coupling the day before. He reached under Hidan’s open cloak and raked his nails up his spine from tailbone to nape. It had the desired effect of Hidan gasping and raising his head and Kakuzu quickly did up his stiches. The clearing had been a battlefield just minutes ago, he reasoned with himself when he actually felt a pang of loss. Plus they were in the joyful company of six bloodied corpses. They had to hurry up.
He quickly dragged off Hidan’s clothing, while the priest worked on his trousers. A few strokes and Kakuzu was hard as rock. Hidan smeared his pre-cum and spit over the shaft before guiding it to his own entrance and sinking down on it oh-so-slowly, wincing in pain as Kakuzu’s girth stretched his once again virgin tight opening. Kakuzu had to use all his willpower not to grab the slim hips and slam his length in.
It started out slow, with Hidan riding him gasping and cursing under his breath. Kakuzu let him dictate the pace for a while before grabbing his back and thighs and turning their positions so Hidan was on his back and Kakuzu pounding into him from above. The priest clutched his waist with his legs, fingers going to his back to once again scrape nails over the stiches. When he actually pinched of them and pulled, like he wanted to tear it out from his skin, Kakuzu grabbed his wrists in one hand and pinned them to the ground above his head.
His free hand went between their bodies, grabbing the priest’s erection and tugging at it roughly. Hidan soon came with a shout and Kakuzu did as well after a few more hard thrusts.
Ignoring the fleeting wish to linger, he rolled off from the other man and quickly dressed up. When Hidan didn’t move he irritably grabbed his arms and dragged him up by force.
“You could give me a few minutes rests after fucking my brain out,” the brat protested.
“We need to get moving. We have a body to collect bounty for and a Jinchuuriki to hunt down, so get yourself ready.” He already had the feeling that their progress would be slower than ever.
Hidan grumbled something rude under his breath but did as he was told. Kakuzu’s mouth twitched into a small smile but he made sure the expression was gone by the time the priest turned back to him.
~0~0~0~0~
“Are you sure the exchange point is around here somewhere? You are carrying that corpse with you for over three days now and honestly, it’s getting very disgusting. I can’t get why we have to drag it along for so long just to get a few bloody banknotes for it! You should show more respect towards death, Kakuzu…”
Hidan sighed when predictably enough no reply came from his partner. Some things just never changed he noted. Not that he
expected him to change… Kakuzu was as stubborn as he was miserly and old… All right, maybe he did expect him to change just a bit and be a little more… not nicer but a bit more open. At least he could have pretended to listen when Hidan was talking to him.
Unfortunately however the masked bastard continued to be absolutely uninterested in Jashinism or anything else the priest wanted to talk about. He could speak until his mouth started to bleed but all he got in exchange was silence or sarcastic retorts.
Then there was this thing with the corpses. It was one thing to think of Death as something you can buy and trade when it was the most sacred thing in the eye of Jashin –sama. Hidan even endured (with some difficulty) that they carried the decaying bodies with them to get the money Kakuzu so craved for. What really infuriated him was the way the old miser wasn’t even willing to get farther than arm length from the carcass even when they were resting at night.
Hidan wasn’t squeamish by any means, but to see and smell a few days old corpse right under his nose did turn off his libido like nothing else.
By the time they reached the exchange point the body started to became unrecognizable.
“Denkou Tsama?” the man running the place was an ugly little old guy. He was eying the battered corpse critically. “Well I guess it
could be him. It’s hard to tell…”
“It’s him,” Hidan saw that Kakuzu was angry, though he kept his voice in check.
“Well, height and hair color is all right… skin tone… ugh, that’s impossible to tell now. Hmm… Listen mister. The risk that this is not the wanted person is about fifty percent. So I’m willing to pay half of the price for him.”
“You what?!” Kakuzu growled. Hidan had to give credit for the little guy as he didn’t bat an eye.
“This is a hazardous business…”
“I’m a regular deliverer for your network. If you think you can offer me such a ridiculous amount…”
Hidan went out of the smelly building, shaking his head in disgust when Kakuzu started to haggle with the man. When, after about half an hour the miser finally emerged Hidan could tell he got the money he wanted in the end. After all the building wasn’t a smoking ruin yet, what was bound to happen when someone tried to cheat Kakuzu.
“So we’re off to get that Jinchuuriki now?”
“I’ll need to take the money somewhere secure first.”
“Pein-chan won’t be happy with you Ka-ku-zu,” Hidan teased him in a sing-song voice “if we’re not rushing off to do what he ordered.”
“This is just as important! I’m the only one in this organization who…”
“I know, I know. By the way half of that money should be mine, we killed that guy together,” he could have sworn that Kakuzu almost clutched the suitcase to his chest at that.
“Half of this money
maybe covers what I have spent on you already! As you never pay for your own accommodation this is the least…”
They continued on, arguing avidly. Some things really never changed, Hidan had to acknowledge, fuming silently. Kakuzu would be a hopelessly heathen mercenary till the end of his days.
Jashin, why do you punish your faithful servant with him? They spent the night at an inn. It was the usual cheap, raunchy type, but finally they could wash the smell of decay that clang to them for the last few days. When Hidan stepped out of the bathroom, Kakuzu grabbed him, thrown him down on the bed and fucked him his though the creaking mattress. That pretty much made him forget all his resentment.
All right, so Jashin do love me after all. He remained as he was on his stomach for a long time afterwards, lying in a wet spot of his own spunk, Kakuzu’s dripping out of his ass but feeling too boneless to move. He was shivering slightly as the sweat cooled on his back. He would need to wash his lower regions again… but that could wait until he managed to find the strength to actually stand up. Kakuzu was sitting next to him, back propped up against the headboard, naked expect for a blanket flung across his lap. He was reading one of his boring old books. Hidan peered at the title, but couldn’t make it out without raising his head and it wasn’t worth the effort.
“I notice you rented a room with a double bed,” he muttered just to draw attention to himself.
“It was cheaper this way.”
“Hmpf…”
“I thought you wouldn’t mind.”
“I didn’t say I mind. Kakuzu… throw that cover over me, I’m freezing.”
“It’s right there.”
“I can’t move. Come on Kakuzu…”
The older man leaned down but instead of covering him up just swatted his ass.
“Go and wash yourself first.”
“You are a sadist you know that, right?”
“You can’t sleep like this; we are sharing a bed after all. You’ve already made a mess…”
Some things he
must try to change, Hidan decided as he continued to lay there uncovered
and sticky. All right, he stood no chance at trying to convert Kakuzu to his religion, but he could start with smaller steps. He really should stop ordering Hidan around all the time for example. Their two-man team didn’t have an officially appointed leader after all, so Kakuzu had no reason for not treating him as an equal.
He would start to show his competency more often he decided. Hidan reluctantly admitted to himself that he relied too much on his immortality in battles. Not to mention on the knowledge that Kakuzu would save his hide if he got into serious trouble. That just wouldn’t do if Hidan wanted to be acknowledged as an equal to the old man.
And he needed to be acknowledged as such. Otherwise Kakuzu would never let Hidan fuck him – and that was a top priority thing on the priest’s imaginary to-do list.
~0~0~0~0~
Last chapter coming up next!
