Sutures || Kakuzu

Ch. 8 - Let's Make Amends

She was happy.

No, that was understatement.

She was giddy, delighted, content... Despite what they were doing and the situation they were in, the feeling that she was experiencing, she hoped it would never end. Her clothes were damp though and there was a cool draft flowing through the cave system so she hoped she didn't get sick later. Peeking out of the corner of her eye, she watched the tall male beside her. His clothes were damp too, but she was pretty sure he wasn't prone to sickness like she was. Suddenly, he turned his head away from her as he let out a sneeze.

Okay, maybe she stood corrected.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"No reason!" She grinned as she clasped her hands in front of her.

She was so obvious about everything. He sighed to himself as they kept walking. Hopefully Hidan was where they had discussed because he was getting agitated with the scenery. Memories of himself walking these same caves to and from missions flooded his mind and he would be more content if they would just go away.

A familiar chakra signature caught his attention and immediately, he grabbed Nozomi's wrist and pulled her to him as he peeked around the corner of the cave way they were in. Luckily, they were in the shadows so no one could see them. In front of them was an opening to another small lake with a small waterfall running into it. The water was slightly different from the others, having more of a white color versus the normal blue.

"Is this the right place?" A deep voice spoke, one Nozomi automatically recognized. It was the old man with the three-scarred eye from before.

"You calling me a fucking liar?" Another familiar voice, unmistakably Hidan's, spit out. "There's only one fucking place named the Spring of Toyo no Kuni."

Nozomi peeked around the corner as well. It was just the lead scientist, Hifumi, and Hidan's head. Frowning, she wondered where his lackeys were. Surely they didn't leave him and they weren't there when she and Kakuzu found Hidan's body.

Hifumi tossed Hidan's head to the side as he relished in the feeling of sheer glee. This was it. This was the answer to all of his prayers. "At last! I have found the Spring of Immortality! If I can harvest this kind of phenomena as my own..." He rubbed his palms together as he began to imagine the possibilities.

"Watch the rocks, jackass!" Hidan yelled as his head rolled along the cave floor and stopped against the wall. "Hey, fuck shit. There's something I forgot to tell you about that piece of shit waterhole you're standing by."

Hifumi, who was too busy taking samples of the water in tubes, didn't pay the male any mind. Once he collected enough, he immediately started to drink from the fountain, relishing in gulp after gulp.

Nozomi turned back to Kakuzu in awe. "The Spring of Toyo no Kuni? Something like that really exists?"

"The idiot made it up." Kakuzu shook his head.

Looking away from him in embarrassment, she turned her head back to the scene in front of him. A spring of immortality does sound like a fairy tale now that she thought of it. Why was she so gullible? As she watched Hifumi, something didn't seem right as the man dropped to his knees in agonizing pain. Finally, his lackeys started to appear. Nozomi watched in shock as it looked like the man's veins were nearly bulging out of his body.

"Yes... Yes! This is what I was waiting for!" Hifumi started to laugh maniacally. "The power! It's surging through my body!"

"Well, shit... That was unexpected." Hidan whistled lowly. "That was just supposed to be some random ass fountain."