Chapter Text
The girl in the inn was not a typical beauty. She was tall and slender, with long dark hair and eyes. Her legs were crossed at the knees, ankles hooked around the leg of the stool she sat on.
She was young, he noted. Very young. Nonetheless, he could track the muscles under her smooth tanned skin, those of an athlete. Or a kunoichi.
To be fair, she wasn't the only nin in the room pretending to be a civilian, but she was by far the most interesting. He looked closer, cataloging details and their meanings, and shortly came to a conclusion.
Konoha.
And of course, that ape shit Hidan had to be off chasing tail at a time like this.
Oh well. More fun for me, Kakuzu thought, and got up.
xXx
Back when they were still in chuunin groups, her friends had despaired and, being the friends that they were, they were blunt.
Tenten, no. You can’t play bait. You can barely run a honeypot mission. You’d punch a guy, or girl, the moment they said something crass. That one time doesn’t count; the man was a masochist and you were already in a scene.
They were right. For some reason or other back then, she could never quite pull off the normal towns-folk look. The civvies picked up in the clues she knew she wasn’t covering and, more often than not, another kunoichi had to step in.
Several years later, now several of them had made it to jounin, and with it came fine-tuning of skills. In the end, while her masked trainer had sworn up and down on her reputation that Tenten would never fool another nin, she would at least fool a civilian.
She still had her doubts.
Then again, the side eyes she was receiving were mostly from the other nin and military spies. So, maybe sensei did know what she was talking about.
Thankfully, the target this week was a normal banker who had been deep in the pockets of the local yakuza gang. So unless her fellow plainclothes lurkers were after either her or the target, they’d have no issues.
Today was all about staking out the area. No confrontations, no reveals, no ripples. They had been given intel on where the man had been last seen, but that had been days old. Fresh eyes on the target and info on where the gang was hiding him.
Sipping at her wine, Tenten sighed. Her night had been dull, long, and, so far, unfruitful. I suppose that’s a good thing, considering … Considering that one of the bigger nin in civvie clothes had been giving her a keen twice over and was now standing.
Why didn’t I take Ino up on that offer of extra training? On a good day, her friend could fool even Hatake.
The man walked over to the bar right next to her, literally just out of her immediate reach. “Sake, the house brew,” he said to the bartender, not even looking at her. She didn't for a moment think it was all some strange coincidence, though. She wasn't stupid.
This was further confirmed when he spoke. “What's a kid like you doing out here?”
Raising a brow, she glanced at the nearest shiny surface and winced internally when their eyes met in the reflection. “Taking in the sights,” she said mildly, as she let her ankles slip loose from the rungs.
“Yeah, and I'm a goddamn martyr,” he drawled. “It's gotta be something specific to Edina, something your princess would be interested in. Something recent. So who in the local yakuza are you waiting for?”
If only the other nin would leave her alone or weren’t after her or her target. That was her earlier wish and she had possibly cursed herself and this mission. Does it count if I knock his head against the wood counter? Yeah, it would, but it would start a brawl most of the bar wouldn’t even see.
On one hand, the night was no longer dull and she was now glad her target hadn’t walked in. It was possible she had the wrong district completely. The banker may have just been passing through as the gang was rampant throughout half the city.
On the other… this nin was really being pushy. As well as rude.
She cut him an irked look as he broke off from casing the room again. “Just the sights,” she repeated. “That’s it. And if you have an issue with that, that’s fine. I’m leaving.”
He shrugged, acid green eyes watching her closely now. Behind the mask, she couldn't tell what expression he was wearing. “Next time, try something you're better at. Or at the very least interested in.”
“Practice,” she replied with a small shrug. Very rude. Who was he to give advice? They shouldn’t even be looking at each other if he had no business with her! “Enjoy your night.”
The last of her wine was abandoned and she gave him a nod before heading for the bathroom.
It was incredibly off-putting to shunshin out from the back hall where it stank of piss, but her sensei had yelled at her the last time she simply walked out the door. Standards, ugh .
xXx
The next time Kakuzu ran into the woman - with Hidan off again doing fuck-knows-what - he was unfortunately bathing. At least he was wearing pants. And there she was, wide eyes taking him in. Inanely, he wondered if this was karma in the works.
“Well? Don't just stare. Scream or something,” he bit out after a long moment.
Somewhat disappointingly, the girl didn’t scream. She did let out a rather muffled yelp and vanished straight back into the undergrowth.
Kakuzu sighed. He darted after her. Surprisingly, she lead him on a satisfyingly hard chase before his clone caught her around the waist, and he himself grabbed her by the throat and shoved her down on the rock. “Unlucky girl.”
Steel sliding in through the threads of his stomach made him want to smile though and she bared her teeth as she slipped a blade into the clone. Must have bit her tongue on the way down too.
“Bye,” was all the warning he had before a getting a face full of fire.
Kakuzu switched with his clone, but still got a singed arm for his trouble. Good girl , he thought, and didn't check his grin. His weapons were parried midair, her reaction time was phenomenal… The next time he was within reach of her, he initiated a brief taijutsu spar. Toned body , he finished his mental assessment, and hard hits.
“I was wrong.” He spun her and put her in a headlock. They both froze for a moment, breaths heaving. Finally, “You are interested, just not in what I thought.”
“Wha--” There was a stutter in her chakra and then she drove a wakizashi through his arm. Not that it did much, but at this point, she was probably stalling. “There’s no bounty on me! So why?!”
Of course she was lying. For every mundane ninja there was a bounty. Not very often a decent one for him to go out of his way of the more profitable ones, but she had essentially offered herself up. A minor bounty with an amusing show. She was fun.
He didn't bother addressing the bounty issue for the moment, though. “Information is valuable,” he said instead. “You're Konoha, young Jounin. Recently?”
“Apparently,” she muttered. There wasn’t much to deny. She was on a solo mission and, while she wasn’t wearing her hiate, she had an accent and a style that narrowed down the possibilities.
Also, she may not have realized this was their second encounter, but he certainly had.
“Do you have a name?” he demanded.
For a moment she twisted the blade in his forearm, but when he didn’t deign to twitch, she dragged in a shuddering breath. Aah, the situation had finally sunk in then. The fight didn’t completely leave her, as she wasn’t a crying mess, but she was pulling in her chakra. Hmm.
“You’ll kill me if I tell you anything,” she said. “Intel is only valuable to the carrier if it’s not told to hostiles.”
He lifted a brow. “That is true, hence all the scroll fetching nin do these days.” Here he lifted her, jerking her to her feet. “But tell me anyway. Your name.”
Blood trickled down from her shoulder and over his arm, splattered on the sun-warmed rocks. Her fists clenched. “Wei.”
Nicely done. He actually couldn't tell if that was lie or truth. She'd gotten better. “Good enough. Now, Wei. I assume you want to live, so how about you listen to a little… Business arrangement?”
“Not… not betraying Konoha.” Well, that was predictable. Wei was now swaying just slightly, the blood loss catching up with her. This would either speed things up or cause a rather annoying delay.
He considered that. “I don't think it would technically be considered a betrayal,” he mused. “I'm not a Konoha nukenin. I'm not even associated with Akatsuki anymore.” Let her chew on that bit of info.
“Still hostile... “ She had the nerve to glare at him. “Very hostile.”
“Yes, for the moment.” He gave her another once over. “And you don't have very many options. Ego or not, you're bleeding and I'm the only one around for miles.” Besides that idiot partner of his, but he wasn't going to mention that.
The pretty glare wavered for a moment before she huffed. “What do you want to know?” she asked, doing a fine job of otherwise ignoring her injuries. “I may not have the answer anyway.” Or give it, he was sure.
Good girl. “As I said, it's a business proposition. You and I can make a lot of money. But first, your wound.” He pulled her away from the rock outcropping finally. “Run, and you'll get 13 steps.”
“If I shunshin, I’ll get further,” she groused. When he gave her a flat look, she sighed. “And fall on my face.”
“Good to know you can be taught,” he drawled. “You'll need that for what's in store.” He released her. “Back to the river.”
For a moment she stood still, waver or not, and she glanced at the trail going back out of the mountains. “Horrible man,” she muttered, and stalked toward the ravine. It was amusing to watch her hesitate every few steps just to regain her flagging balance.
Shortly, he directed her to sit next to the river, and grabbed his fucking shirt. He hated being this exposed. Two steps, and he was pulling a small med kit out of his carry pouch. “Show me the injury.”
In an interesting show of… trust (Practicality? Plain suicide?) the girl shrugged off her vest and pulled open the neckline of her folded top. In the end, he was left looking at the stiff back of a young woman, with a rather ragged slash running from the ball of her left shoulder down the plane of the scapula. Of course, she had left her breast bindings on.
As he approached, she began unwinding the fabric from her arms, rotating her wrists in turn. “You were going soft on me,” she said grudgingly.
“If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have bothered with any of this,” he agreed, and wet a spare cloth. He began to carefully wipe around the wound. After, he assessed the need for stitches, determining she would need a few. “Hold still.”
She stiffened. “I hate stitches,” she hissed, remarkably reading the situation. Then again, Wei had to know how deep the gash was, and what other choice was there?
“Tough,” he replied, and started spreading a topical anaesthetic. Then he began stitching. Carefully. Evenly.
Other than the occasional shudder, she was the model patient: no chatter, no fidgeting. Most likely, she was debating on what to do once the stitches were in.
Shortly, he was tying the last stitch in place. “I'm not a medic, but those will hold.” He gently washed the blood away with a wet rag and she sagged.
“Thank you,” Wei muttered, rubbing her hands up and down her thighs. She waited until he had laid on the cover bandages, before tentatively testing her shoulder’s limitations.
He huffed and watched as she tugged her under-shirt back on. “Don't thank me. This is mutually beneficial. You can't play bait if you're bleeding all over the place.”
“Oh?” She held up the beige fabric top she’d been wearing, the left sleeve was half soaked in red.
Kakuzu wasn't convinced by the casual act, but he didn't bother pointing it out. “My question is, have you gotten any better at playing honey pot?” He doubted it.
“How would you--” She cut herself off as she let the shirt drop onto the rock next to her. “I’m fine at it, just not suited for it.” Twisting around to look at him, she frowned. “What are you getting at?”
Of course not. “You're going to have to learn, then.”
Someone needed to tell her that her glare was the least intimidating expression in her arsenal. He certainly wasn’t going to. “Why?”
“Like I said, you're going to play bait for me. I'm running low on funds,” which was a lie, “so I'm going bounty hunting. And you've got the right kind of doe-eyed innocence going. You'll make perfect bait.”
“I’m on a mission,” she said flatly, not even blinking at the innocent comment. “How long is this going to take?”
“About two weeks, including travel time. I have two targets in mind.” He scanned her thoughtfully. “What's your mission?”
Swinging her legs around to face him properly, Wei frowned at him. “I can’t tell you that. And two weeks? What if I told you I was heading home now?” She winced. “Or was anyway.”
Kakuzu considered it. “You aren't,” he decided. She was still relatively rested, and didn't carry anything extraneous. “Regardless, you have no choice. I can make you cooperate, but I'd prefer not to.”
“I figured,” she said, sighing. “Two weeks, hmm? Where?”
“To the Land of Tea,” he replied. “I have it under good authority that both my marks happen to be hiding out there.” He paused. “Now, it'll be more expedient to take care of your mission first, while we're in the area anyway. That way, you're focused.”
“Right.” Grimacing, Wei started to rewrap her arms. “You’re going to follow me around Jungle country,” she said in disbelief. “The whole time?”
He shrugged. “Yes.”
One arm done, she moved on to the other. They sat in silence until she finished tying it off. “Info gathering,” she said, eyes rising to meet his. “I could be here for months.”
That was promising. “That depends on what you're gathering information on.”
“I--” She frowned at him. “Right. I suppose you would assist since you want to start hunting soon.” Shaking her head, Wei pursed her lips. “I know I can blend in, but can you?” And oh so helpfully, she gestured at him.
“Henge,” he replied flatly.
Wei scowled at him. “You move like a hulking powerhouse, is what I mean. No one would believe that you’re a tourist never mind a native.”
Kakuzu smiled at her, and it was almost pleasant. “I have quite an extensive information network.”
“You could… stay with them while I work?” Even while saying that, Wei didn’t look too optimistic. Still, there was that spark of hope.
“No, not really,” he answered in amusement as that little light in her eyes snuffed out.
Rubbing fingers carefully over her shoulder, Wei huffed. “Alright. You’ll follow me anyway, I realize that. You’re also implicating that if I ask, you’ll offer the information I’m looking for.” She straightened her back. “You know I can’t simply believe anything from you, right? I’d have to verify everything.”
He shrugged. “It would be smart to do regardless of the source.”
Standing, but not without a little wobble, Wei dragged her shirt up with her. “Fine. Just… I’m gonna go wash this, then I’ll be ready to go.”
“Hm.” He waved her off. “Don't run.”
xXx
Hinata heard him returning before she saw him. “Goddamn asshole…. Can't fucking believe his ass… leaving me in the middle of fucking nowhere… Hina! You still around?!”
Carefully letting go of the trap wires, Hinata hummed in response. With her chakra held down low to avoid detection, he would have to rely on sound. “What happened?”
“My bastard partner abandoned me,” he complained, coming to a stop. “Just fucking left.”
Smiling, she tossed him a water canteen. “Isn’t that what you did to him?” Sure, Hidan was grousing, but he didn’t look all that surprised or upset. If his partner was the same as him, these impromptu breaks from each other were probably a welcome diversion.
“Yeah but,” he took a swallow of the water, pausing a beat. Then, “he's not supposed to do it too. He's supposed to be the fucking reliable one.” He smiled at her then, a cocky twist to his mouth. “Then again, I guess it's not so bad.”
Raising her brow, Hinata let out a short chuckle. “Good thing I haven’t been recalled yet,” she said, and smiled wider. “Come give me a kiss?”
He grinned and stepped over, careful of where he moved, and tugged her up against him. His mouth descended hungrily and eagerly. As always, Hidan wasn't one to dawdle.
Humming at the feel of his hands smoothing over her ribs, Hinata pressed closer and smiled as she felt him shudder. For all that they’d been seeing each other occasionally over a year and a half, it was still new enough to thrill them both.
Stifling a yelp as one of his wandering hands slid up under her shirts and traced the underside of her bindings, Hinata laughed. “I’ve got a bed in the tent, you beast.” She leaned back and playfully trapped his hand between her stomach and crossed arms. “Come on.”
“Yes, yes,” he purred, and stole another kiss, brief and biting. “Fucking hell yes. We'll give Him a show.”
The first few times Hidan invoked his god’s name, Hinata had blinked, but now, it was just part of their encounters. She couldn’t fault him for keeping his god so close, Jashin was why Hidan was still around at all.
Pulling him with her, Hinata ducked under his chin and bit at his ear before murmuring, “Then take me to bed, Hidan.”
xXx