Out of the hole (rewritten)

Chapter Twenty one

Kakuzu shoved a man against a wall. The man's nose bending against the wood of an unimportant building. "My wallets in my back, left pocket." He said calmly, his sweaty hands resting against the wall, maybe he had been in this position before? The higher ups only put care into the touristy nature of Hidans native village, there wasn't much effort being placed into anything else. Not many ninja were doing anything outside of missions. No one wanting to scare off potential tourists. "Stay glued to that fucking wall for two minutes." Kakuzu ordered, slipping the wallet out of the man's pocket and leaving the isolated alleyway.

Hidan stood at the vanity, gazing into the mirror, his eyes had finally properly healed. His face was heavier since the last time he was able to see himself. His dressings were still itching against his infected skin. His hair had gotten it's shine back, though it was still long as ever. He fidgeted with the strings of his hair, clicking his tongue in a rhythmic pattern.

"Oi, old bag?" He called out the open bathroom door. "Don't ya fucking call me that, you dumbass!" Her voice grew closer, her stomps closing in from down the hall. Her wrinkled face popped through the doors frame soon after, a glare sewn to it. "Fuck ya want, dumbass brat?" She growled, showing her gums. Her eyebrows touching her eyelashes.

Hidan  turned to her, picked up his lengthy silver strands, a few fluttering down from his finger tips. "I don't fucking like it." He shook his head, then made eye contact with himself again. Akaris face lit up, a smile large enough to see her molars, spread on her sun belched face. "Fucking finally, let's get that fucking mop off ya!"

Kakuzu knocked on the door, fiddling with the coins in his pocket. Everything was covered in a warm, humid blanket of fog. Dew droplets rested their petite, clear, round bodies on the ground. Little pools of blue sky peeked from behind thick, grey clouds. The monstrous trees towered from the ground. Their branches pointing downwards, leaves drooped sadly, flicking with each water drop that slid down their stems.

Kakuzus mouth felt dry. Despite the wetness the air collected, he was dehydrated. He was cold and felt the tip of being tired tickling against him. Akari lived a few kilometers away from the main village. As he understood, most followers of Jashin don't tend to live close by, due to the hatred held towards them.

Finally the door creaked open, Akari looked up at him. A odd look in her oak eyes, something similar to a crook in a empty house full of gold. A thing he learned about the younger woman was that she had quite a bizarre splash to her personality. He quickly learned that it might not have been the cult that had imprinted such a mark on Hidan.

"Ah, you're back! Safe and sound, I see." The curliness that curled in her irises had dissolved like salt in water. Her mischievous grin had melted into a soft smile. "Come in. Me and Hidan were fixing something up. He's in the shower right now." She let out an airy chuckle, making Kakuzu worry.

He pulled of his jacket, setting it by the window so it could somewhat dry by the next day. He sat on the ugly couch, noticing the running water coming from the bathroom behind the wall he rested his head on.

Akari sat back in her rocking chair. The brunette wondered if she had ever sat anywhere else in the house. She always seemed comfortably perched in her wooden, swaying thrown. After a long wait in silence, she spoke up. "So, you two were in the Akatsuki, huh? What was that like?" Her voice was like a gentle, dim light, just barely there, but it makes its presences known. Kakuzu inhaled. "Not much I should share." She pouted. "Well, could you at least tell me how you meet Hidan?" She pressed, her foot tittering her chair back and forth. "I was sent on a mission to recruit him into the Akatsuki. When I first met him I thought he was boisterous and loud. He tried to kill us, so I threw him to the ground." Akari interrupted the story with an exaggerated cackle. "Oh I wish I was there to see that." She snickered. "After that, he joined, happy to kill more and we unfortunately became partners." He finished. "Romantic." She smirked.

She sat up straight, her back pressed against the wooden rods of the chair. She closed her lively eyes, it looked like she was trying to sleep. "Thank you, for taking care of him... I wish I could be immortal with him, but Jashin will be taking me to the great beyond pretty soon." She stopped rocking. "Please, just keep him out of too much trouble."

She opened her eyes to the sound of the water stopping. The pitter of wet feet going from one room to another. Kakuzu looked at the entrance to the hallway, waiting to see the pink eyed lunatic. He didn't have to sit for long. Hidan rushed out, with probably the most goofy smile Kakuzus seen. The most surprising thing was his hair, or the shortening of it. It was a much more familiar end of his neck length rather then going down to the waist. With all of the hair out of the way, you were able to see how much more 'Hidan' Hidan looked. He was no longer skeletal, though it was still thin. His eyes were no longer lost in the caves of his eye sockets. His teeth got their slight pink tint.

"Whaddaya think?" He cheerfully asked, arms opened wide, as if his moving them into such a position would make his hair more noticeable. "You look good." Was all Kakuzu needed to say for Hidan to have the cockiness back in his eyes. He was starting to go back to being normal.