"So that's where Takigakure hides," Hidan muttered, lips curling. "Tucked away like a coward."
After the Rain shinobi vanished into the mist, the silver-haired man leaned lazily against the cliffside. His violet-red eyes glinted with amusement as he glanced at his partner.
"Hey, Kakuzu. Didn't you come from this place originally?" He grinned wider. "Looks decent enough. Maybe I'll offer everyone here to Jashin-sama. A proper ceremony."
"Don't do anything unnecessary," Kakuzu replied without looking up from the bounty ledger in his hands.
"Unnecessary?" Hidan snapped, brandishing his scythe. "Sacrifice is sacred, you bastard."
Kakuzu ignored him.
Hidan clicked his tongue and leaned closer. "What, getting sentimental? Seeing your hometown again stir something inside?"
"There's nothing here worth remembering," Kakuzu said flatly. His eyes never left the page. Names and numbers mattered more than land ever had.
"Our task is simple," he added. "Make sure the coup succeeds. Until then, we stay out of sight."
He glanced sideways. "If you want to disobey the leader, go ahead. I won't stop you."
Hidan froze.
"Right. Disobey means getting kicked out," he muttered, counting on his fingers. "Kicked out means hunted. Hunted means… no time for rituals."
His face went pale. He dropped to his knees and began an earnest, incoherent prayer, hands tracing strange patterns in the air.
Kakuzu turned away.
After a while, Hidan popped back up. "Hey. I heard Takigakure has this thing called Hero Water. Drink it and your chakra explodes. True?"
Kakuzu finally closed the ledger.
His gaze lifted, distant. "Once, the man known as the God of Shinobi nearly fell to me."
Hidan stared. "Oi. I asked about the water, not your bedtime story with the First Hokage."
Kakuzu scowled. "Hmph."
"You know," Hidan continued, squinting, "last time you said it was a draw. Before that, you just said you fought him. Now he 'nearly lost'? Your story keeps changing."
Silence.
"Memory fades," Kakuzu said stiffly. "It's been decades."
"Ah," Hidan nodded. "Senile."
"Idiot."
Hidan laughed and leaned back in. "So? Hero Water."
"It boosts chakra," Kakuzu said at last. "The effect varies. And it takes payment afterward."
"Payment?"
"Your lifespan. Your body."
Hidan's grin widened. "So you might die. Sounds fun. I've never tried that."
He tilted his head. "You drank it, didn't you?"
Kakuzu's eyes darkened. He didn't answer.
Hidan whistled. "Yeah. Figured."
Without another word, Kakuzu turned and walked away.
"That's the wrong direction!" Hidan shouted, scrambling after him. "We're supposed to go to Takigakure!"
Kakuzu didn't slow. He reopened the bounty ledger as he walked.
"…You're heading to a bounty station?" Hidan gaped. "The leader said no side jobs during missions!"
"We aren't needed yet," Kakuzu said calmly. "Use the time. Or stand there if you prefer."
Hidan stared after him, then hurried to catch up.
Sunlight filtered through the forest canopy at the northwestern edge of the Land of Fire.
Sakura moved carefully, her pace measured, eyes alert.
This was their fourth C-rank mission.
Escort Shibuki, the young leader of Takigakure, safely home.
On paper, it was simple. Too simple.
She glanced back.
The black-haired boy walked behind them, shoulders tense, eyes darting at every sound. He looked more nervous than she felt.
This is their leader? Sakura thought. Really?
Takigakure wasn't a great village, but it wasn't nothing either. A village head was still a village head.
And yet there were no guards. No elite escorts. Just Team Seven.
They had left the day before. By now, they were close to the border. A few more hours and they would enter the Land of Waterfalls itself.
Sakura exhaled softly.
Something felt wrong.