Kakuzu
After informing Deidara of Yahiko's actions and subsequently being hung up on, Kakuzu had a split millisecond in which to wonder how they were going to defeat the succubus now before a very large set of teeth clamped onto his leg and started pulling. He groaned and stood up. Samehada released his leg long enough to let out a sorrowful whine.
Damnit. I was the one that told that airhead about Dei's idea. I suppose it could be construed as my fault that the shark's so unhappy now. I'd better do something so Kisame doesn't feed me to the rest of the tank alive. He crouched down and patted Samehada's head. "Don't worry, I was exaggerating. I was just annoyed that Deidara had such a stupid idea and that Yahiko thought it was good." Samehada continued whining hysterically. "I lied," Kakuzu barked. Samehada stopped. Finally. "If I thought he was really in danger, I'd be chasing after him myself. I don't believe in death as punishment for childish stupidity."
Samehada wagged his body nervously and let out a questioning growl. Kakuzu sighed. "We'll go up front and wait for them. That demon kid owns that property. It's not our place to interfere." The shark reluctantly accepted this. Here's hoping they get back quickly, or else he's going to panic again. Lord knew the last thing Kakuzu wanted was a panicky shark.
A full five minutes later, Samehada was wriggling his way out of Kakuzu's arms as Kakuzu tried to keep him from leaping out onto the street. Damnit, where are they? Kakuzu had to admit that he had been lying when he said he lied. Even saying he'd exaggerated was exaggerating. Truthfully, he was maybe about 60% sure that Konan had the self control to keep from hurting Yahiko too badly. Kakuzu was closer to 90% sure that she had the self control to keep from killing him, but he had no idea what shape Yahiko would end up in. He ignored his heartbeat and tried again to get a grip on Samehada. Samehada let out a cry and bit down, hard, into Kakuzu's hand. Shit. Seeing what he'd seen of Samehada's gentleness over the past couple of days, Kakuzu interpreted that as Samehada being halfway to a heart attack.
"Nah, only 20%. He's a fighter!" chirped a high-pitched voice above Kakuzu.
They both glanced up to see a little boy in dark clothes perched horizontally out from the side of the building above the front entrance. The boy looked at Kakuzu and winked. Kakuzu narrowed his eyes. What was he here for? And, if he was here, what had happened to Konan and Yahiko?
The boy raised a hand to wave. "Nah, they're fine. I sent them in to take a tour of my people zoo, since Lambchop hasn't seen it before, so they're busy now with seeing the ghosts. I'll go back and finish my surprises in a little." Then somehow he was on the ground next to them, petting Samehada. "Don't worry, Sammy. She wasn't going to kill him, and I gave her a deer so she wouldn't hurt him either. They're all fine now. He'll be sleeping when they get back, but she'll be in a good mood to play with you, okay?"
Samehada made a "Hah?" sound. This boy smelled like nothing, absolutely nothing. If Samehada couldn't see or hear him, he would not have known the boy was here. Cautiously he licked at the unfamiliar hand. It tasted of nothing, and made Samehada's tongue go numb and taste nothing too. He snatched his tongue back in a hurry.
Kakuzu sheltered the shark with his arms. "You're really here just to tell him that?" he questioned. Yeah right. The boy looked up with a wounded expression on his face. Kakuzu gave his best withering stare in return.
The boy crossed his arms and huffed defiantly. "Yeah!"
"Why?"
"It was important."
Kakuzu raised both eyebrows. The boy elaborated, "I told you what mood she'd be in when she got back, right? I couldn't explain to you why it was important if I wanted to."
Superior knowledge does not grant someone the right to be an asshole. But before Kakuzu could think of anything else the boy sprouted wings, zoomed straight up into the air, and set off down the street fast enough to create a sonic boom. They could do nothing but settle back down to wait.
20 minutes later, Kakuzu shook his head and tried to blink the vision away. He did not succeed. Does that mean I'm not hallucinating? That seemed unlikely. He had two options: either he was hallucinating, or Konan was carrying Yahiko back to the hotel gently, as if she cared greatly about him. Occam's Razor dictated that he had to be hallucinating.
Konan paused as she came up to Kakuzu. Shifting Yahiko's weight toward the paper straps she had on her back, Konan stared at Kakuzu. "How have you two been?" she asked, before resuming her walk into the base. Samehada followed her in almost at her heel. Kakuzu stayed back to hold the door open for her mysterious paper bundle, then followed.
She went to the right hallway and turned right into the sunroom. Kakuzu noticed the knocked-over chair for the first time and stood it upright. The paper straps came in handy for handling Yahiko as she laid him softly onto the chair, because even if she was strong enough to carry his weight, he was still bigger and bulkier than her. The paper bundle floated in, settled to the ground, and merged onto the floor before disappearing. Kakuzu raised his eyes at the miniature treasure chest first, then looked at the rest. A stuffed tiger - Hidan would go crazy and hyper for that. Several sheets of paper stapled together like a children's school project - okay. The mysterious disc-shaped thing was the most perplexing. But never mind that.
Samehada reared up as Kisame had mentioned, and put the side of his head against Yahiko's chest. He let out a very relieved growl and licked Yahiko's face afterwards. It seemed the demon boy hadn't been lying after all. Yahiko did not appear to have a single mark on him, though a really small injury could have been concealed beneath the bizare streaks of red all over the front of his body. But if something had happened, Kakuzu did not think Konan would have left small marks.
Speaking of… He turned and addressed her cautiously. "You seem to be in a good mood."
Konan smiled gently and reached out to smooth Yahiko's hair back. "I am. Look at him. He's healthy, but entirely unconscious. He looks so harmless in this state."
Kakuzu looked between her and Yahiko several times. Harmless? Another piece of the puzzle was made clear in his mind, though how it fit with everything he'd seen before was impossible to determine. "Is he usually not harmless?"
Konan's face went blank again. "Yes." She did not elaborate. "Do not open the treasure box. The instruction booklet was a gift of some kind left for me, and the others were left with Yahiko. I have a feeling from the way he reacted that it was meant to stay with him, where the others are possibly for other people. He wouldn't want you to open it."
Kakuzu cursed her blankness. She dislikes him because he's dangerous? But to who? He can't possibly be dangerous to her. In fact he dislikes fighting at all. What kind of dangerous does she mean? And what is chasing after or avoiding him supposed to do about it?
He did not reveal this boiling mass of questions out loud, and Konan did not answer them. Instead she scooped up Samehada. Before he knew it, the shark found himself in her arms. He stiffened. Her chakra smelled less harsh than usual. Samehada thought she seemed to be in a good mood. Before he could make up his mind whether or not to be afraid, Konan asked, "What have you seen of training so far?"
Samehada let out a questioning growl. She smiled. "Well then…" she murmured, looking to Kakuzu. Dammit. "It's time you saw, isn't it?"
It was almost exactly what Kakuzu had thought of that morning when he told Kisame that this setup was perfect. It might be perfect, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Still he followed her out to the backyard, leaving Yahiko to doze peacefully on the soft chair.
Sasori
"What do you mean by that?" Sasori asked. He was beginning to think they were better off disconnecting phone service entirely. Every time they called back to the base today, some news came along that wrecked his good mood.
Deidara tried to breathe deeply. "No, it - it might be okay, yeah. Kakuzu said that Yahiko thought my idea sounded good, so he went to talk to the demon kid himself, and then Konan chased after him. Hidan didn't make it sound like we should be terrified of the kid, right? And Konan wouldn't do anything serious, like put him in the hospital or kill him or anything, yeah. It'll be okay."
Laurie's eyes darted around. "Who are those people?"
"Others in the club," Sasori answered. "Konan's the one who broke into my house, and Yahiko and Kakuzu are two other guys she recruited the same day as me. She has some problems with Yahiko."
"Hidan's trustworthy," Deidara continued. "He told us about the demon boy down the street, and I'll take his word for it if he says the demon boy isn't something to worry ourselves to death about, yeah."
Sasori's eye twitched. He stood up, caught their attention, and asked Deidara to turn his phone all the way off, smash it if need be, just don't talk with anyone back there from now on. Deidara opened his mouth, closed it, and complied. They both had seen Sasori's eye twitch again as he said this, so all argument was halted.
Sasori watched Deidara turn his phone all the way off and disconnected the landline from its line. Only then did he let out a sigh and sit back down. I'm going to have a headache later. "Whatever happens back there, they can deal with," he proclaimed. "I'm not going to allow it to intrude on my business here."
Deidara nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. So… We should do something completely different then, yeah?" His eyes fell on Laurie. "So what do you two do here, hm?"
Laurie blushed. "Not much," she whispered. "I get yelled at all day, for the most part. This is like the first good day I've had since I started working here. I know I should stand up for myself more, I know. I...don't know why I can't."
Dei hadn't expected to get into such personal stuff. Thank goodness for Sasori, who walked up to stand beside her. "There has to be a point to it, maybe," Sasori surmised. "Dei keeps telling me I should stand up for my rights too, report him for keeping us past normal working hours and things like that. I don't because I don't consider that to be a worthwhile cause. You seem nice, like a lot of workers I've read about who take too much abuse. Maybe you need to have some reason besides your own comfort to do it."
Laurie chewed her lip. "Well, but, I'm not a doormat or anything. I know how to say what I want. I just…"
"Don't care quite enough," Sasori finished. "That's fine. It's not doormat-like."
She looked up to meet his eyes. "You think so?"
Pretty sure I'm squishing the definition of doormat a lot to get it to not include that, but it won't help her to think bad things about herself. "Yeah. And some good has come out of this. I've got many hours of audio recordings of his beautiful voice that I could edit together and post to comedy websites. I could never gather that material myself because he knows yelling doesn't work on me. That's not nothing."
Laurie stared open-mouthed at him. "That's...you...does he know?"
"No." Sasori continued to use only his flattest tone of voice. "You're a very good participant. I wouldn't include any parts where you spoke because that'd be irrelevant, but there aren't any such parts. Thank you for leaving it all unspoiled. Do you mind if I post it to Youtube when I'm done editing it together?"
Laurie's open mouth was stretched upward as she started to laugh. "That would be pretty...wow. No identifying details, okay?" She shook her head no as she spoke and waved at him to go on.
"Of course not." Sasori allowed himself a smile. She was laughing hard enough for tears to come out of her eyes, now. I did that. Nice to know someone appreciates my sense of humor. And to think that just a couple minutes ago she'd been ready to shrink into herself with self-doubt. Sasori felt a strange warmth, cousin to the warmth he felt upon completing a project, spread in his chest. Is this a worthy cause? To get him to stop…
Deidara looked around the room again and shuffled his feet. He was reminded strongly of his own past. He knew that there were some things that, when people went through them together, could make instant bonds out of strangers. He'd thought that military life was special for having those experiences. Perhaps not. He was very conscious of not belonging.
Sasori stepped back. Oh… He doesn't really know our boss, does he? He walked over to Deidara next. "She works the front desk, usually. It's the way you came in. My space is the other way, down there." He pointed out the door, to the left. "I assume you wanted to know for some kind of group bonding?"
"Oh...yeah," Deidara answered. "I thought that was better than going over all the other stuff, hm. So, I met Sasori after he kind of saved my life, hm. My car exploded. I was, um, being kind of stupid there. I had explosives in the seat next to me, and they were pretty unstable, so when I had an accident they went off. It was really cool!" His eyes glittered with remembered joy. "Or, well, I thought it was then."
Sasori interjected, "He was a really dumb kid back then."
"Hey! ...Actually, I kind of was. I had no idea how to make it properly so it would only go off when I wanted, hm. But yeah, so, my car was hit and went spinning sideways like this, and I jumped out and went down the side of the road like an action movie star, and then I saw Sasori running towards me just before it all went off, yeah, and he covered me and took most of the blast wave. He's actually really heroic, yeah!"
Laurie looked between them. "Seriously?"
Sasori nodded. "Yes. That happened. I was thinking before that of why I was at that park, and I thought maybe I was hoping for something interesting to happen. That wasn't quite what I had in mind."
Deidara elbowed him and snickered. Laurie looked at her new friend with respect. "That really is heroic. How have I never heard about this?"
Sasori shook his head. "I confirmed it happened. I never said I was a hero. I'd rather not have that sort of life."
"You don't have to suck the fun out of everything, hm." Deidara elbowed him again. "I get you don't like screaming crowds or anything, but you can enjoy people talking about it here, yeah."
Sasori shrugged. "I just don't want people expecting everything of me. I don't know why I left the bench, and I don't think I'll do it again. I'm pretty sure we're in some kind of fantasy story, but I'm not the main character. I've always felt bad for those poor kids in those stories. Leave me out of this."
Laurie came over and thumped him on the shoulder. "I still say you saved someone, and that's heroic. You don't have to be that kind of character to do something heroic, if you don't want."
"So, Deidara, any interesting war stories you feel like sharing?" Sasori conspicuously deflected.
"War stories?"
"Yeah, after I got out of school I joined the military, hm." Deidara scratched his head. His smile was fading despite his best attempts to keep it up. "I, uh, mentioned my interest in explosives and got into the unit that dealt with those. It was...4 years. Then I got sent home. I don't make explosives in my spare time anymore," he finished quietly.
Laurie hadn't expected to get into such personal stuff. "Oh."
"I did learn how to. Know the enemy and all that." He looked down at nothing in particular. "It was...I don't know. I like blasting, when... " He traced a circle on the back of one hand. "My feelings about blasting are still mixed. I saw some stuff, so they shouldn't be. I think they should be all bad, after that kind of thing. I'm kind of glad to be here." He looked back up at Laurie. "I never actually got discharged, hm. I think I just freaked out some people so they pulled strings to get me sent back home. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be asked back."
Sasori put a hand on his shoulder and said nothing. That seemed like a good thing to do, but he had a completely different kind of relationship with Deidara, and Laurie didn't think she could pull off that kind of steadiness anyway. She floundered for something appropriate to say or do. "That sounds good. I mean, you don't sound like you want to, so it must be good, right? At least it wasn't...crap, I mean…"
Deidara chuckled. "Konan told us about our originals, hm. If my original was there he probably would've gotten a dishonorable discharge, definitely. But I wouldn't have no matter what. I'm not crazy like that."
"Yeah, um…" She waved her hand around lamely. "How's it like to be home? Good?"
"Weird, hm." Dei looked down again. "It's okay, yeah."
Silence descended. Sasori lowered his hand and, after several seconds, opened the door as quietly as he could and went back to his little window to see if any more wheeled customers had shown up. I can't believe I'm thinking about this. There was nothing. He came back. Deidara had taken the water bottle, but didn't drink from it. He held it horizontally and pushed it back and forth, watching the water splash against each end.
"Hey Deidara, speaking of our originals, remember what she said about mine?" They both looked at him, relieved. "She said mine used puppets, and controlled them with strings." Deidara nodded. "Guess what that means for my hand to hand fighting?"
Deidara smirked. "Well, if your hands are all tied up, it doesn't sound very good."
Sasori narrowed his eyes. "No, Dei. It means I am utter crap at fighting with my hands. You have to be better, at least a little. Come on. You challenge her. I will give you an entire bottle of soda that I bought earlier today if you are miles ahead of me already."
Neither Deidara nor Laurie could identify what it was in Sasori's voice that made what he said so funny, but there had to be something to make them both laugh. Deidara agreed. Sasori stepped back and sat on the desk, watching. Now there's two people who appreciate my sense of humor. He swung his legs and wondered idly when was the last time he had felt such peace.
Hidan
A bird chirped sweetly, its song adding to the air saturated with sunshine and the flowers. A group of butterflies joined in, flitting around the bird where it stood on the large rock behind Hidan. A second bird joined. Hidan knew they were both blue without looking. He was most productive in such an atmosphere. One arm was completely covered with writing already, and he was making good progress down the other one.
Okay, so… Hidan paused and considered what else could be useful. He started writing again. He began to get worried when his second arm was three quarters covered. His smile lifted in anticipation, and then he dropped the pen. That hand contracted into a fist which he pumped up and down. "Yes!" The very last words just barely fit within his field of view of his own body. He looked up at the birds and grinned in victory. They continued to sing.
He looked down at all he had written, checking and double checking. Yeah! This is what I need for her! He could envision himself and Konan, her looking so joyful with her eyes aglow as they stayed up, laughing and working and breathing together, just the two of them. Yeah. She's the only one… He knew he could steer her as she needed him to, as he wanted to, as he was going to. I like making people happy. I'm going to make her so fucking happy.
He went back to his little space and picked up the last few things of his from where he had left them. It was mostly just spare clothing. Hidan had left his cloak back in his room at the base, so he was free to put on two spare shirts. He wondered about the spare pants, socks, and the other pair of shoes.
The little dip he had settled in before Konan's arrival was now in shadow. Hidan looked up at the sun where its light stuck out around the side of a tree trunk. I should wait til later. He picked up the pants and shoes and went back to the rock, but the birds and butterflies were gone.
That was the last thing he remembered clearly before finding himself at the back door, blinking away the descending darkness.
Konan
Kakuzu was the most decent training partner of them all so far. But that wasn't far enough. Konan pressed him harder, maximizing her advantage over him in speed and agility. They fought with kunais in hand now, no longer simple hand to hand. Kakuzu was playing a defensive game, hedging his bets since he didn't know exactly what either of them were capable of. Konan grew very annoyed at that and summoned her paper to form weapons of her own devising. Kakuzu's eyes went wider, took in more of his surroundings. He increased his speed, got even more defensive. Konan was further irritated, and the cycle started again.
It got to the point where any judge taking down points in any examination held in her old world would have been slackjawed at the kind of maneuvers he was pulling. Kakuzu dodged a paper pike thrust, a wide kunai slash, and twisted away from a brutal kick all at the same moment. She felt like ripping him limb from limb. Sure, he could be considered the most decent sparring partner of them all, but that was only if he fought back.
She remembered that this version of him would only have one heart since he had never taken any more, and discovered a heroic strength within herself. Her energy was limitless in battle, but finite outside of it. Konan almost cried out in pain. Tears squeezed from her eyes and she got suddenly light-headed as she used up some of her last reserves of energy to back away from him to the other side of the backyard. Even there, the battle continued as she further held herself back from rejoining the fight and tried to calm down. It was exhausting, and her attention was too weak to hold any thoughts that could help her restrain herself, if indeed she had anything to think about that would help. She was on her own.
Kakuzu meanwhile sat heavily on the ground, leaning to one side in a very unbalanced way. He got the sudden impression that if he could have talked with his original, they would have found much to agree on. He thought of the things he was discovering about his original's fighting style. It seemed so far that he was good at - had spent the most time training - the skills he most needed and preferred. Kakuzu thought that perhaps some of his stitches were for actual wounds. He was covered with scratches. He did not have the trained reflexes to avoid all harm, but when he knew he needed to he could avoid major damage. That was what he most wanted.
Konan felt her battle urge subsiding somewhat, but she still growled under her breath. When Kakuzu's breathing had slowed to normal she exploded. "Your movements are counterproductive and pissing me off. Are you even interesting in actual training?"
Kakuzu wiped blood from a scratch above his eye and looked at her quizzically. "Yes. What the hell do you mean, 'counterproductive?' I had no idea I was that good at- "
"You demonstrate no attack skill whatsoever," Konan retorted. "If I wanted to scratch up something that would never hit back, I'd set up a training dummy. It angers me that you don't fight back. Dodging is excellent, of course. But did I ever specify what I wanted to train you in this time?"
"No, you didn't."
"That's right, I didn't. Of course I want something interesting then, not a demonstration of your best pussyfooting." Konan knew she was being unreasonable. It seemed like too much effort to care.
Kakuzu raced to decipher what she meant. "So, if you aren't training some particular skill, we should assume you're fighting to entertain yourself?"
That got her to stop and think. Is that what I mean? There was no other possible interpretation of her demand for something interesting. "Well, hmm. I...think so." I should have told him then, before getting angry.
"And entertaining you means attacking. So when you don't say you're training anything specific, we should assume you're looking for attack skills." Kakuzu wanted to make sure he had all this laid out and agreed to so she couldn't come up with any surprises.
"Yes." Konan felt rather foolish now. "My apologies. I should have said that beforehand."
Kakuzu looked at her closely. These periodic bursts of sanity were really throwing him for a loop, but he thought he was adjusting to better take advantage of them. "I'll tell everyone else. Anything more about your training style we should know about?"
Konan thought of past sparring sessions and how they went. "If you do not show your abilities in what I wish to train, I seem to get quite angry. If you do, I get very excited and eager to fight. In either case the force and speed of my attacks increases as a session goes on, and I can't imagine any way to stop this short of taking a break."
Kakuzu stopped himself from saying something rude at the last minute. "So you're saying that if I dodge instead of attacking like you want, I have to dodge harder, but I would have to do that anyway if I did attack like you want? Doesn't sound like much benefit to me."
"Well," Konan tried to explain, "if the increased pace is because I'm excited it's much easier to stop or slow down if I see or am told that the pace is too much. It would not increase at the same rate or in the same way, either."
Kakuzu knew he could have understood this if he was not irritated by the seeming hypocrisy, but it was hard to at this time. "Fine. Let's go, then. I'll see what I can do and I'll see for myself what the difference is."
Hoo boy, was it a difference. Kakuzu thought to harden his skin this time against slashing attacks, but Konan did not use so many slashing attacks. As he flew at her, she beat him away with cudgels and poles of paper that formed out of nowhere. Once she caught his body in paper wings and threw him backwards. When she pressed him in return, she came at him with more of the same. Kakuzu was forced to drop the skin hardening technique, but only took a few scratches from the kunai she still held and the occasional paper shuriken. For the first time he realized that, like her thinking and general acting, her fighting was also very different between when she was not in her full senses and when she was. When she was, she was much less determined to claw him to shreds.
He stepped back to recover, and she allowed him to. He nodded. "I see what you meant. You keep more of a distance and use blunter methods like this."
"Yes." Konan was relieved for more than one reason. Even she hadn't realized how different it felt. She'd been worried. "Thank you." Kakuzu asked what she was thankful for. He hadn't noticed that she considered him the best to fight with. His reaction puzzled her. Is he pleased or worried? I really can't tell.
Kakuzu squinted suddenly. "Sun's getting low. It's shining right into my eyes." He pulled out his phone. "Damn. We've been out here for a long time. Hours."
Konan looked at the sun to check. Yes indeed, some time had passed. The shadows were noticeably longer than when they had started. She wondered about that. It seemed like only one hour, or less. I'm losing track of time again. She thought of her first day in this world when she had thought the same thing. It seemed like eons, not days. That many eons ago… The road. It's slick. She remembered, too, the road. The car. The image she had seen in her mind's eye of the car turning over. It almost didn't seem as if that had been her who'd stood there and wondered if she had that control. Then again, when she'd been wondering about what this strange new world was she hadn't felt very connected to her own past self immediately after Yahiko died. Konan now recalled just what that had been like and felt very connected to her past self from after Yahiko died. Oh gods. I… What about her? She couldn't finish that sentence.
She wondered what that turning over felt like. Did it hurt? How much? For she now saw everything that had changed within the last couple of days, and knew for certain the answer to that earlier question. No, she did not have that control. She was very certain now that she would lose her way and be destroyed. Her heart beat fast, but it didn't feel as much like fear as it should have. That's been coming for a while.
Samehada had gone to sleep while she and Kakuzu rested. Now Samehada erupted into wild growls and squeals that jerked Konan out of her reverie. She turned and saw Kakuzu rolling his eyes, but not so secretly enjoying the shark's attempt at wild applause. He went inside and Samehada followed, an adoring fan. Konan brought up the rear.
By the time she had sat down in the kitchen to think some more, she no longer remembered exactly what she had been thinking about. It had something to do with cars. I wonder who that man was that cut his hand on the door of his? "I'm going to go get the fridge from my place," Kakuzu mentioned.
"Yes, of course." That man...he reminded me of Hidan with his vocabulary… Where was Hidan? Konan realized she hadn't seen him all day. She wondered if he was safe. Perhaps he was out getting supplies or making some sort of plan. Either way she had no doubt he would return. Hidan… This version of him was certainly very loyal, and had a much more constant level of sensibility. I can see myself following him, helping him, and he doing the same for me. Her shoulders relaxed and heartbeat slowed. He's a solution to a great many things.
Her thoughts wandered from there. She wondered about the laptop, but wandered away from that too before she could seriously consider getting it. Training programs. Especially for Yahiko. How to teach jutsus of different elements? I don't know many of them. The instruction booklet. The tiger. The blanket. Blanket? Where did he get those? Are they real? They have to be real; we've left the demon's domain and they still exist. They must be made of real materials, not his darkness. I should check on Yahiko. The feeling of warmth and tenderness helped fix her thoughts on that. She went to check on him, hoping that he was still asleep.
Yahiko seemed to be in normal sleep now. His eyes twitched back and forth. Konan gently lifted him so she could sit with him. His head nestled in her lap. He had a smile fixed on his face. Konan wondered what was in the chest. Whatever it was, it had made Yahiko very uncomfortable. And very possessive. She thought back to what she remembered of his original. What would Yahiko have held strongly to, but keep as a secret? Something nobody else saw. Konan remembered. Not nobody. I was the only woman around, and we were lovers. He trusted me with some things I don't think he would have ever told Nagato about. One of those things stood out in particular. The chest wasn't large enough to hold that, but she could think of some related products that would fit. Konan sighed. No matter how beautiful he was now, she hadn't seen it in him before, and hadn't treated him that well before. He wouldn't take it well if she told him she knew. She'd have to earn his trust over again.
Unseen by her, Yahiko's eyes stopped twitching for a second. Then a couple of seconds. The back of his neck prickled. The warmth of her leg and the feel of her hands absentmindedly running through his hair beckoned. His eyes blinked open. Both sensations were absolutely foreign to him. "Huh?" he whispered.
Konan looked down and met his eyes looking up. They stared at each other for a couple seconds while Yahiko realized where he was and what she was doing and Konan realized that he wasn't looking so harmless anymore. Her heart beat faster with some faint anxiety. I'm pretty sure it's just anxiety, at least if he stays lying down like this. Yahiko opened his mouth but said nothing. He looked from side to side. "W-what?"
Konan ran her hands through his hair deliberately to keep him still. "You fell unconscious after getting out the door. I took you and our prizes home. They're right there on the floor beneath your head."
Yahiko couldn't look that far. "W-why are you petting me?"
Konan stopped and lifted him up so she could get away. "Nobody has looked in the chest. It's meant to be yours, correct?"
Yahiko sat up worried. "Yeah, but- I'm sorry, I didn't mean...If you want to pet me, I don't mind, exactly…"
Now that he was active she did not. "You won a commendation for your bravery. It's in the disc you retrieved."
He saw how futile it was to try to talk and sighed, looking down at the prizes. He picked up the disc and read the note inside it. "Why is he making all these lamb references? I'm not going to get sacrificed, am I?" Then Yahiko fell off the chair, curling into the fetal position and gasping for breath, heedless of the pain from hitting his shoulder on the chest. The wave of overwhelming feeling coming from Konan was too strong. He felt as if he was going to drown in it. He bit back a scream. Then a wall slammed down, blocking it all off. He let all his breath out, surprised not to see it in the air since he felt so cold. He pushed himself up with shaking arms and sat back on the chair, panting. Konan was still the whole time. Too still.
Eventually his concern that he was having a heart attack diminished. "Okay, bad thing to talk about," Yahiko murmured. "So...who's the other stuff for? The chest is for me, and the instructions were for you, and I thought Hidan would like the tiger. That leaves the blanket."
Konan was silent for a while before she was able to speak. "I don't know." Why? Why sacrifice?
Yahiko fiddled with his hair. "I guess we should just offer it up to whoever wants it, then."
Konan nodded. "Purpose. Each item is meant for something. Why was that the top prize?" With all the ornamentation around that doorway, there could be no doubt that it was. But what could a blanket do?
Yahiko held the blanket. "It's really soft. And it smells like mint. I don't know anyone here who likes mint. But it's not like we've talked about things like that."
Which of those is important? Is the blanket important at all? No, it has to be. But to who? And when? The boy delights in short term pleasures, if Hidan's comments are anything to go by. What is it going to do in a few days, at most? Or is it to be used for something? Her mind spun. Everything she was thinking about seemed tremendously important and also not important in the slightest. What do lambs have to do with sacrifice, and why would that boy say that?
Yahiko picked up the chest and held it close. "I'm, um, going to find a place to put this in my room." He looked back at her as he left, wondering what he had said and why she had reacted like that.
Konan praised her restraint and wondered where it had come from. The inner wall was still in place. She dared not move. Sacrifice… Maybe her restraint wasn't praiseworthy just yet.
There was the sound of distant knocking. A few seconds later, it was followed by a loud yell that echoed through the halls. The wall was no longer necessary; Konan was able to move safely once more. Hidan was back!
He was fast enough to disappear into his room and throw on his cloak before they got there. He emerged straight into the arms of a very happy Yahiko. "Aw, I missed you too, Sunshine," he mumbled as he hugged Yahiko back.
Yahiko drew away. "Where have you been? Nagato made it sound like something bad was happening. Are you okay?"
"Well, he was kinda right," Hidan started. "I wasn't ready so Konan's feelings swamped me earlier and it wasn't a good idea to be around her. But!" He pushed back just enough of his sleeve to show he had something written on his arm. "I got lists. That should keep us both on track for what I wanted to do later. And now I have you. You're sane, right?"
Yahiko nodded. Konan winced. It wasn't a good idea to be around me? It'd been bad enough to be nearly taken over by her own feelings. For Hidan… Gods above. I'm sorry.
Hidan turned next and wrapped her in a hug. This was more than just simple affection; this close, it was also a demonstration of trust. She froze, then hesitantly allowed herself to hug him back. Something flared inside, and she fought to keep it under wraps. Hidan squeezed the breath out of her for a second. "No, I hate that shit. It's my job to handle shit like this. Not yours to hold back. Don't." She let whatever it was come and was surprised to find it was a fierce joy that had her squeezing his ribs painfully in turn. He clutched his arms around himself and breathed a little shakily when they parted, but gave her a thumbs up.
Yahiko's eyes lit up and he dashed off in the meantime. Shortly after Konan and Hidan parted, he returned with the stuffed tiger. "Hey, we went to visit the demon kid down the street, and he gave us presents for some reason. I thought you would like this. It was in a room of cat toys." He held out the stuffed tiger to Hidan.
Hidan's eyes grew wide and glazed over. "That smell…" He took the tiger and held it close to his nose. "Catnip! Is there...any…?" He discovered a small pocket on the tiger, found the zipper for it and was rewarded with a few leaves. He reflex purred while chewing them. When he eventually swallowed the leaves he resembled Yahiko in the way his face shone clear of concern. He hugged the tiger next, squeezing it to his chest and rocking it back and forth. "I love it! Hey little guy. I am going to love you and squeeze you and call you Hobbes."
Kakuzu snorted. He stretched his fingers, grateful in some ways for the reasonable excuse Hidan had provided for him to put down the small refrigerator to see what was happening. "How original."
"I think it's a great name!" Yahiko exclaimed. He walked over to Hidan and looked hopeful. Hidan nodded. Yahiko absorbed himself in petting the toy tiger's head.
"Hey, Hobbes was awesome. Just my sort of guy!" Hidan replied. "Even all that lovey-dovey shit. I've been known to do that sometimes myself. That's his name and I'm sticking to it."
"Who is Hobbes?" asked Konan.
Hidan explained, "He's this awesome tiger in a comic strip I've read where this kid and his stuffed tiger have adventures, and he's always funny and makes jokes about the kid yet he's really smart too. Just like me!"
Kakuzu's indrawn breath was audible. That was the golden opportunity that almost every member of the group who wasn't here yet would have killed to have. Kakuzu knew he would have to take it up for all of them or risk a gauntlet of angry glares later. "Citation needed," he grumbled. That would have to do on such short notice.
"Hey!" Hidan took it in exactly the way Kakuzu had been weakly aiming for. "I have too shown I can be smart! Do you see anyone else making up supplies and plans for the training rooms? Who else is...um…"
Kakuzu started laughing. Hidan found something he could use. "-persuading people to do something this weird? Yeah, I know, Konan was, but she'd be sunk for most of you if I hadn't said anything, and we all know it. I am pretty awesome," he concluded.
"Yeah, yeah." Kakuzu was glad he'd have something to report. "I just had to say it, because you know I would have been crucified if anyone found out I'd let such an opportunity pass."
"Fuck yeah," Hidan raised his hand in a fist bump. "That was some upper shelf shit for last minute notice. Glad to help."
Konan looked between them, furiously taking mental notes. "Is group mockery and joke-making some kind of bonding ritual in this world?"
They all backed up and stared. Yahiko was the first to ask, "I...don't really think that's world specific. Where did you grow up in your world? I thought finding something to laugh about together was universal." Hidan nodded.
"Well, I never had a lot of other people around me until I was almost fully grown," she started. Wait, why am I telling them all this? They don't need to know such personal details. "But never mind that. Even so, I had- " A lightbulb went off behind her eyes. "Ah, I see. I was just going to say, I did play fight with my companions a lot in training. Perhaps the verbal equivalent works just as well."
Kakuzu tilted his head, tried to see the world from that point of view. Her comparison did make a kind of sense, from a certain angle. "Meow," Hidan agreed, swiping at Konan's ear. She ducked her head and tapped him on the nose. Yahiko was staggered at the amount of everything Hidan's presence took off his shoulders. The mood was lighter, Konan's attention was lighter, everything was lighter. He looked at Kakuzu, pointing back to Hidan, then to Konan. Kakuzu nodded and looked thoughtful.
Hidan then told them all about this awesome rock he knew of in the woods, and how peaceful it was (with special emphasis on how "the Disney prince" would like it, which caused Yahiko to redden slightly), and what he'd been up to all day. "And I have no fucking idea where to stop, so I'm not gonna," he declared. "Hey chestnut!"
"What? A fridge? How…?" came a low voice back up the hall. Kakuzu went back to finish his work, taking the heavy insulated box from the ground before Deidara's amazed eyes. "Oookay." Before Deidara quite finished reacting to that, Hidan was punching him in the arm.
"I said hey, dickface."
"I'm not a chestnut," Deidara replied lamely. Then he shook his head. "But I am sent here kind of in advance, yeah. We've had all phones turned off for half the day since every time we called someone back here, there was some kind of disaster that ruined Sasori's good mood. He asked me to go ahead and find out if there's anything new, hm."
Hidan got a confused look on his face. "Nobody's hurt bad, Yahiko visited the demon down the street and got a bunch of presents, and Kakuzu finally got us a place to put food. What bad news was that?"
Kakuzu dropped the fridge in the corner with a clunk and left it there. "I can't believe it just occurred to me," he said, while glaring at Hidan as if to say he knew exactly whose fault it was, "but how did the quest go? Did you ask him how to kill others of his kind?" The last was directed down the hall to Yahiko.
"Actually," Yahiko said in a quiet voice, "He's lonely. He doesn't think that there are any others of his kind anywhere around. They might all be called demons, but he said he's a real one, and the others were all made up by people or something, so nobody is like him. But he still didn't tell me how to defeat a succubus. Said it was more fun not to."
"Others?" Deidara asked.
"Oh, yeah… He said there are a lot of those kinds of demons. They like to hang out at the bar, which he calls the Hive," Yahiko explained. He wondered if he was being helpful, or overly so. Should he have not said all that? How much was too much?
"That's the kind of bad news I was sent here to handle before they could ruin Sasori's day, hm." Kakuzu was suspicious when he saw how the blonde did not seem to care about the news beyond that. Maybe he was just saving it for later. "Any other news like that?"
"There's been a lot of news I haven't mentioned over the phone," Kakuzu said, "but not any further life shattering revelations that I know of." Yahiko shook his head no. Deidara didn't think there was too much Konan could have come up with by herself, so he left to go tell Sasori the good news and one piece of bad.
Meanwhile, other people came back. Itachi held up his hand when they tried to tell him things. "You and Kakuzu have spent the entire day helping Konan learn more about a possible enemy that nobody knew anything about last night," he reminded Yahiko. "Save it for some larger meeting. It's too much."
Hidan settled for showing everyone his present and chatting about how Hobbes was so nice, he'd even brought catnip, etc. In this way nobody noticed time passing before Kisame returned. He was breathing a little fast, which made sense, considering he must have raced through things to get back this early. Samehada wriggled into his arms making all kinds of cheerful noises, and he relaxed somewhat. He pushed through them to interrogate Kakuzu about how the day had gone, but before he could Konan spoke up.
"Everyone, go to the sunroom, now. Itachi was right, what we've learned should be shared with all at once. It's a lot." Kisame opened his mouth to point out the obvious, but Kakuzu elbowed him in the ribs and backed her up.
That meeting was...eventful. It was the first time anyone had mentioned to Konan that it felt wrong to think of a demon that detected and took advantage of something so private and personal. And to be separated based on that? Nagato hoped his heartbeat wasn't obvious against his pale skin, but luckily nobody asked why the proposed groups were set up the way they were. The room was filled with grumbles. Hidan settled them somewhat when he pointed out that he would be completely useless so he'd be kicked out of the fight entirely. Nagato felt heat rise in his face. Better it rise there than elsewhere, he thought.
Then Kisame asked what Kakuzu had kept him from asking earlier. "Shouldn't we have waited to talk about this until everyone was present?" Nagato shook his head and Kakuzu shot him a glare. Yahiko looked very uncomfortable, and Hidan saw all this and combined it with some other things he knew to come to the ultimate conclusion.
"How bad are things with you and Sasori?" he asked Konan. "I couldn't feel them like usual but I did feel that there was a burst of bad feelings from his general direction this morning, and now he wants advance warning just to step foot in this place. What happened?"
Konan considered. If I downplay its importance, they could either accept that or be angered that I don't care. If I act very apologetic, it could increase the amount of blame I deserve and heighten the importance in their minds, but an apology is in order to prevent them from thinking I'm a complete monster. So...downplay, but not too much, and act just slightly apologetic as if I wish to leave the subject behind because I know how awful it is… Then she had to make her best attempt to convey that all in a sentence or two.
"I was rather overstimulated by the beginnings of our research in the library last night, " she began, "so I made the very bad decision to break into his house and borrow his laptop when the library closed. The laptop's come to no harm, but he naturally takes offense to the general principle. Kakuzu told him this morning. He's had all day to think."
The silence was so deep they could have heard a pin drop. The sunroom was so deeply carpeted that Hidan sank a little into it, making this more of an accomplishment than it would have been in any other room. Nagato sighed.
Kisame was on high alert now. "And what does that mean for the rest of us?" he cautiously asked while holding Samehada tighter against himself.
Konan tried to come up with something reassuring, and failed. She tried to move past her block by thinking of something completely not reassuring, but also failed, to her confusion. "I will try to invest my energy in other things, and stay near other people," she said while reaching for Hidan's hand, "but aside from that I have no control over anyone else's actions, so I can't say."
Nobody was forthcoming with their reactions at this time. The sound of an engine cut through the silence. Konan rose, only now thought to pick up the disc with the red blanket, and left the room.
The red blanket was somewhat soothing as she waited by the kitchen door, but she knew it was not meant for her. Kakuzu crept out to go back to his room and retrieve the laptop. Konan waited. Her heart beat faster. It did not feel like fear. Her foot tapped against the floor as her mind raced through scenarios. What will he say or do? What will I? She couldn't wait to find out.
Deidara and Sasori walked in together. Konan looked at Deidara first and pointed to her left. "We just had a briefing. They can tell you all about it." He went across the hall to do so, with a worried glance back at Sasori. The engineer himself stood still, silent. He waited.
Konan waited too. It was only a few seconds before Kakuzu came back and handed Sasori his laptop. He said nothing during this exchange either, just tucked it under his arm and return to looking blankly at Konan. Kakuzu went back into the sunroom, where a hushed discussion could be heard starting, leaving them alone. Konan felt the urge to fiddle with her hands in the stillness, and remembered the blanket. She held it out as an offering. Can the demon boy predict how we react with such accuracy as to foresee this? I hope so.
Sasori took the blanket. For the first time his expression changed as he held it. A strange sadness came into his eyes. He walked away to the lobby.
The lobby was dark. Night had almost fully settled, though a faint gleam of orange still lurked behind the trees. Sasori put his laptop down onto the desk and ran his other hand through the cloth. It was so very soft. Though his hands were toughened, they responded just as much as a baby's might have. Sasori touched his cheek with the soft cloth. It was uniquely soothing. He held it in his hands and looked at the dark fabric in the fading light. How could Konan have known that the sense which affected him the most was touch?
Just by resting there it soothed him. It did not just rest there; he ran his thumbs over it. Tension left his shoulders. A faint smell of mint reached his nose. He remembered his grandmother's house clearly. She had a few things which smelled like that. He held the blanket close to his chest, almost protectively.
Konan lost the war with herself and walked out. He clutched the blanket tighter upon hearing her steps. She stopped at the very entrance to the lobby, leaving the desk and some distance between them. The wall came down inside, and she flattened and stood still. Stillness was preferable in the darkness.
"I'm sorry," she finally said. "But it's all right." She stared out into the darkness, into the fading orange glow. "It shouldn't be. I should be agonizing now over the consequences of my actions, which are likely to cause some breakup in the group I wanted to gather. That should cause me pain now. But it does not."
Sasori listened. "I agonized before, when I still did not know anything of the world I found myself in. I agonized over the likelihood of convincing anyone of something so unlikely as magic powers. Then a thought occurred to me, which banished all doubt. It said that even if everything fell to pieces, I would still blaze onward. I was pushed forward, forward, and nothing, not even fear, was strong enough to stop me.
"That wasn't quite right. I have more need than most for other people, even just one other person. I know that the pain this feeling helps me avoid now will come back with reinforcements later, when I succeed and the people I want around leave. It doesn't make any sense to know that, and do this anyway. I'm not talking about my original sin; at the time, I had forgotten the possibility that you would be angry. I'm talking about now, and how I want to think of something persuasive, but I don't. I can't."
She moved up to get a clearer look at the fading light. "I was frightened when I first saw the road leading into town. It was so smooth. It demanded speed, and with speed comes a need for control. I saw in my mind's eye an image of a car I saw going by tumbling off the road, crashing into pieces. I'm not frightened. That seems like it would hurt, but- " she lifted her hand with the closed wounds from earlier, "pain sounds great now. Refreshing, like something I need. I could have a lot of fun."
She turned back the way she came. "So do whatever you want. I'm not about to pretend I'm a dictator and police your actions now. I'm not even in the mood to police my own. Look out for the succubus and stay safe, whatever happens." She stopped in the doorway. "Oh, right. I just now remembered you haven't heard yet. I spent all of last night on Wikipedia on your laptop. I found a description that matched everything I've heard of that woman's abilities. It seems that she was a succubus, a kind of demon that changes its sex. What this demon does is identify what sex its target is vulnerable to, and changes into the appropriate form. The demon has powerful hypnotic powers based in lust, so when the target sees it they will lose all resistance. By extensive physical contact like intercourse, it steals the target's soul."
Sasori froze. His arms dropped to his sides and hung loosely. Konan was not in position to see this and went on. "Since this group is mostly male and mostly heterosexual, there's very few people available who would be able to act if she appears in female form. The best I can do is divide the group in two, though that's unwieldy. The demon can't steal more than one person's soul at a time, but its hypnotic aura will work on any amount of people that it can. You might want to find a partner. Be safe." She didn't remember anything else he urgently needed to know, and left.
Sasori
Dei sad I was a hero for saving his life. A hero, just because I was looking. They said I was allowed to do heroic things, even if I didn't want to be one. And now...I'm the only one...I'm the strongest here. I could be that for everyone.
He turned back to look in the way Konan had gone, and the last of the tranquil darkness fell to snuff out the harsh light.
------------
Support me on Patreon.com and leave a comment on this chapter if you like it or not. It will be more motivation for me.
And let me know if there are errors or mistakes.
You can read the advance chapters here : patreon.com/Vigilante04