No Room for Another Heart (Kakuzu fanfiction)

Goodbyes

Ikari's p.o.v.

The new hideout was colder and secluded but it felt nice. I always loved rain and the feeling of a building being the one thing protecting from the rain. I made my way solemnly to the far right room down the hallway and entered in as the other members went and made themselves at home in their rooms. I sat my items down on the desk before hanging Tobi's drawing up on the wall. The room was empty and quiet save for the rain hitting the side of the metal pipes which surrounded the new hideout. It was calming to hear it and I sat on my bed, pulling the blanket over my shoulders and bundling up. Relaxing wasn't something that felt easy to do right now but this was about as close as I could get. My mind was still in an uproar about what happened to Tobi but what Kakuzu said did help a little bit.

The sky was constantly cloudy here so I couldn't see the setting sun but I could tell it was nearly midnight as we had used the full day to finally reach here. "Do you wanna talk to me about it?" Fukusu hadn't said anything the entire trip so I knew it was only a matter of time. "Do you want to?" I felt Fukushu sigh inside before his voice returned. "I'd like to and I feel you need it," I slowly nodded and shut my eyes, allowing my consciousness to fade inwards. My eyes reopened to find Fukushu's burning image before me at the size of a normal wolf. He made his way over to me slowly before lying down and looking up to me with sad eyes. I gave a half smile before sitting and allowing his head to rest on my lap.

We sat there in silence for a few moments while I petted Fukushu's fur. The warmth radiated off every touch and felt calming to me. "So...how are you holding up?" He turned his head up to me, waiting for my answer. Part of me wanted to comfort his worries and tell him I was fine but the grief got the better of me and I began letting tears roll down my cheeks. The water droplets evaporated instantly as they touched his fur and as he nuzzle his head onto mine it felt like the tears sizzled away. "Its just hard...Kakuzu did a decent job of putting my worries to rest but it still hurts he's gone. I didn't get to know him very well but he was so kind and I think he would have made a great impact on the world."

I felt Fukushu's side heave with a chuckle. "He was a ray of light in the darkness. I'm...I'm sorry I ever doubted him," I shook my head and patted his snout. "Its ok you were just being cautious. Someone was watching us and he was a bit of a wild card and so I understand why you were weary of him." We sat in silence for a bit longer before eventually, I gave Fukushu a big hug. Being in the presence of someone who I could tell genuinely cared helped calm me even with few words spoken between us the entire time. "If you need to talk tell me and I will listen," I nodded before taking a deep breath and opening my eyes once more to my new room. I laid down and wrapped myself in the blanket and found sleep quickly.

Morning came with rain continuing to pound on the side of the hideout and almost immediately, my eyes darted to my door where a knock came from. Kakuzu was standing at my door looking conflicted. "Kakuzu? What can I do for you?" It took the man a moment to respond with anything but finally got his words in order. "I grabbed this from the hideout before we left." He presented the cracked orange swirling mask that once belonged to Tobi. "I uh...well I'm not sure if you'd be interested but I figured maybe you'd like to have a sort of...sending off ceremony for him. I know you've been hit pretty hard with his death and I get it so I figured maybe this could give you some extra form of closure," I smiled down to the mask and traced the crack through it with my fingers before raising my gaze to Kakuzu again. "That would be nice, would you help me with it?" My question seemed to cause discomfort to him as he sighed before nodding slowly. "I can...just...tell me what you need and how you want to do it and I can do my best to help," I backed away and into my room before taking a seat at the desk and placing the orange mask onto it. Kakuzu hesitated at the door before clearing his throat. I turned my head back to him and smiled, waving my hand to welcome him inside.