When Money Isn't Good Enough (Kakuzu Story)

Chapter 5

When he arrived, however, it wasn't quite how Kakuzu had been expecting.

The place was a bar, set a few minutes outside of a village, and a seedy one at that. The place was dilapidated and shabby, and from the noises inside it didn't sound like the people inside were any better. There was shouting, something crashing, and the sound of glass smashing in what Kakuzu could only guess was a bar brawl. With her reputation and skill, somehow this wouldn't have been the place he imagined her in-she seemed better than that. But knowing he wouldn't find her just by standing outside, he decided to head in, dodging past a guy who stumbled out of the door, cuts on his arms, as he wobbled into the trees and promptly threw up. Rolling his eyes at the image, looking on in disdain, Kakuzu passed through the door and into the heart of the bar, the look not fading as he entered.

He'd left his cloak behind at the hideout-although he doubted anyone would know of the Akatsuki, he didn't want to risk anything happening; not to mention people seemed to steer clear of him upon seeing the stitching that adorned his arms. This was only a good thing, and he continued through alone, having left Hidan behind as well. This woman was a bounty hunter and allied to no one. He didn't want anything to go wrong here, and Hidan would definitely make things worse; so he'd left him at the hideout. Trying to remain as anonymous as possible, Kakuzu skirted the room, spotting several different fights occurring as he did so, and scanned the room for her. With the mass of people in here, it was hard to pick her out, but eventually his eyes alighted on her, and his earlier thought of her being better than this came back into his head.

True, Kakuzu had never actually met her, but he'd spotted you once when crossing paths at a collection office. Her night black hair still hung down to mid torso, swept over her shoulder for the moment, her bangs allowing her to hide her face enough to analyse things without being spotted, but still letting her deep green eyes shine through. The depth and intensity of her gaze was something Kakuzu instantly remembered from seeing her before, and revealed she had not lost any of the stature she had possessed last time-nor any of her beauty. Rolling his shoulders as Kakuzu attempted to push that thought aside, he concentrated back on the whole situation. So she was pretty-so what? It wasn't something he would be able to deny. Though his inner debate dissipated from his mind as he watched her leaning against a nearby table, scanning the room just like he had done, clearly looking for someone as well. That was the reason she was here-not because she wanted to, but because she had business. That explanation, at least, seemed a lot more believable.

Though evidently she didn't spot her target, instead pushing herself to stand and turning to head towards the bar to get a drink. Kakuzu followed at a distance, seeing a few guys sitting at another table look up as she passed, Kakuzu close enough to hear him call her over, offering to arm wrestle. Rolling her eyes, she dismissed him instantly, but halted as he abruptly offered her his 'keys'. What these 'key's were for, Kakuzu had no idea, but they appeared important as she turned back round and walked towards them, asking swiftly for how long. He gave her an answer of 24 hours, and contemplating it, she eventually agreed, going to sit down, narrowing her eyes as he leant up to whisper what he wanted if he won. Unable to hear or see what the guy was saying, Kakuzu gathered it was something she wasn't up for as she pointed out furiously that that wasn't an equivalent exchange-that that was a lot more valuable than the keys. But stating she had already agreed, Kakuzu saw her eyes cloud over with fury, and raising an eyebrow at the look on her face, he couldn't help but smirk at how he felt this would turn out, his expectations fulfilled as she growled lowly,

"You want an arm wrestle? I'll give you an arm wrestle."

With that, she sat down, their hands gripping as they prepared for it. The guy grinned back at her, ready for the game, only as they were told to start, she easily pushed his arm down-only she didn't stop there, continuing to bend his arm until it completely broke in half, his scream now echoing out across the room. Showing no emotion on her face at this, she simply stood, taking the keys and thanking them all, walking away from the group with no one willing to challenge her. Kakuzu's smirk only grew wider at this demonstration, continuing to watch as she finally reached the bar, walking closer to listen in as someone else approached her, asking her to kill the guy who killed his family-that he'd pay her.

"It's not my problem. I'm predominantly a bounty hunter, so therefore I can be picky about other missions I choose or the side contracts I pick," she shot back bluntly in return, waiting for her drink to arrive, the guy still pleading, making her freeze as the guy's name was mentioned. Turning slightly, she pointed across the room, questioning about it, and the guy nodded in return-that was the one who'd killed his family. So stepping back slightly, she put her hands together in a handsign, watching as the guy froze in place, before throwing a kunai towards him, Kakuzu noting it was different than most, realising why as, upon contact with the guy's head, it blew up. Kakuzu couldn't help but chuckle to himself at that, while you dismissed the guy's thanks and took the money he had on him.

Receiving her drink soon after, she turned back round, leaning against the bar, halting once more as she narrowed her eyes at something Kakuzu couldn't spot. But obviously what she was here for had finally arrived, causing her to head for the door, drink in hand. Kakuzu once again followed, hiding in the trees as she stood outside, waiting for whatever she was here for. About ten minutes passed, and Kakuzu was starting to wonder what was going on, when a group of about five guys approached her from the path. For a moment there was silence between them, and eyeing each other up, it was a second longer before she finally spoke up.

"Give me the money, then," She stated bluntly; but tensed as the guys didn't move to do so, complaining that the situation they had had together was unfair. Wondering what had happened, Kakuzu listened in as she protested that she had done what she'd said she'd do: reveal the position of a group of missing nins to the Konoha ninjas passing through, and make a plan involving stealing money from the group, and as they chased her, leading them into an ambush. With that, the guys could head to the hideout and grab the money there-of which she'd get a percentage, along with the reward the Konoha ninja gave her. That was what the guys thought was unfair-that she had earned more money than they did when she was supposed to be working for them; but she remained adamant she deserved the money, and wasn't about to let up.

So it was no surprise they began to attack a moment later.

Sighing at that choice, she quickly began to counter attack, placing her drink to the side as she took down each and every ninja in quick succession. They were no match for her abilities-something Kakuzu wasn't surprised at-and so it didn't take long before they were all corpses on the floor. Now she stepped forward and took the money from the leader's body, picking her drink back up as she counted it all. Kakuzu, chuckling once again at her actions, didn't bother to smother it as he finally revealed his presence, stating softly as he appeared in the light,

"Ryoshi Shokin."