When Money Isn't Good Enough (Kakuzu Story)

Chapter 9

At first the Akatsuki turned to see Kakuzu there, and gave a few nods of recognition at his entrance, nothing more.

It was only as Ryoshi stepped to the side of him that they noticed things were different, and conversation slowly came to a halt as they now stared over at her, blinking in surprise. They hadn't heard about someone joining the group; temporarily or otherwise. So who was she? To begin with, she said nothing to dispel the silence, raising an eyebrow at their reaction. With their reputations and statuses in the world, she had imagined they'd be a little more mature than this—though you doubted the likes of Itachi and Sasori's silence was because they were surprised to see a stranger in the hideout. For a moment Ryoshi glanced over them all, naming them by appearance (she'd seen their entries in the bingo book enough times), glancing at Kakuzu to see him glaring at them all. Clearly he'd been hoping for a better reaction than this, and smirking at that fact, she now decided to introduce herself, stating simply,

"I'm Ryoshi Shokin. I'll be helping with the mission—tracking Ketsu Kusottare? Or have you not even got that far yet?"

But with her words, the effect she had seemed to have placed on them disappeared, and they moved forward to greet her, welcoming her into their group for the time being. True, they hadn't heard of any help being brought in to aid the mission, it didn't exactly matter to them. As long as it got the mission done—and as Pein had allowed it—it didn't bother them in the slightest, and so the same atmosphere returned, albeit including Ryoshi and Kakuzu in it this time. But she did notice his reaction upon one guy coming up to her; a guy with silvery/grey hair and purple/pinkish eyes. Though that didn't make any difference to her at all, she couldn't trust the look on his face and the glint in his eye, and remembering the deal with the Akatsuki, Ryoshi glanced up at Kakuzu to guess casually,

"I'm guessing this is your partner then, Kakuzu."

"Yeah. Hidan," He growled in return, spitting his name in disgust. Raising an eyebrow at how much animosity he seemed to show towards him, she looked back to Hidan as he retorted with a teasing smirk on his face,

"Hey! That's no way to act towards me, Kakuzu! Especially when you're introducing me to your girlfriend!"

It was with that sentence that Ryoshi started to understand why Kakuzu wasn't too keen on the guy.

"Hidan...don't start that again. She's working with us; so spare her the crap that you come out with. We need to concentrate on the mission; so just shut your mouth—or I'll kill you." Kakuzu spat in return, glaring viciously over at Hidan. However, it was clear he was used to it, as he was completely calm, that smirk still on his face, as he rolled his eyes and shot back tauntingly,

"There's a woman present, Kakuzu; don't start on with that again. It's an empty fucking threat and you know it. I'm sorry for making you so fucking touchy when talking about Ryoshi. You'll be spending enough alone time with her as it is. I don't doubt you'll enjoy it."

Looking her up and down with a smile with that comment, Hidan then turned and headed back to the other Akatsuki, Kakuzu clenching his fists as he attempted to keep his anger in check. A glare of her own had formed on Ryoshi's face, though she hadn't said anything out loud. She began to speak and only insults would come out, and considering she'd just been allowed to work with the Akatsuki, she figured it best she didn't get into any arguments just yet. So forcing herself to keep quiet, she kept her eyes on Hidan for a moment longer as she said quietly to Kakuzu,

"I see you're incredibly hostile towards each other...and I can understand why."

"Imagine that every day while trying to do missions and bounty hunts in between. He's like a child," he sighed in return, shaking his head to try and forget about it.

Though knowing the embers of his anger were still present, Ryoshi turned and began talking with him once more—at least this way she might be able to distract him from all Hidan had said. Ultimately the night went on in much the same way, though the conversation topics ranged as she talked with all of the Akatsuki present, understanding a little more of their personalities. She couldn't help but notice with a smile, however, that Kakuzu's presence never faded from her side, as if he was making sure she was okay—and in a way he was. He didn't trust the majority of them when it came down to dealing with other people, and not wanting Ryoshi to have to deal with some uncomfortable situation because of something the others had said, he made sure to keep an eye on them. It gave him a chance to talk to her more, anyway, and she never protested to it; she strangely liked him being there.

But eventually they decided to hit the sack for the night, and taking her back to her room to remind her of the location, and also pointing out where the kitchen was in the meantime, Kakuzu suspiciously eyed up Deidara as he walked past, saying goodnight, saying quietly to Ryoshi as he did so,

"I hope meeting them didn't change your mind about the situation. Most of them are easy to deal with. Others, on the other hand..."

"Don't worry about it; I came here to work with you—well, for you—and I'm not going to let anything get in the way of that. They're fine, for the most part. Yes, Hidan's an ass, but I'm sure I can handle him. Thank you, Kakuzu. Goodnight," Ryoshi said softly in response, smiling in the same way as she slipped inside her room and shut the door.

Kakuzu remained where he was for a moment longer, staring at the spot where she had just been with a smirk. He didn't doubt Ryoshi could handle Hidan; after having seen how she dealt with that guy she was arm wrestling back at the bar a few minutes after first seeing her, it was evident that Hidan would be no match for her. But the smirk became softer; more absentminded as he thought about what she'd said. He preferred the idea of working with her, too—and he couldn't help but think she saw it that way as a good thing. Then shaking his head as he pushed himself off the wall and headed to his own room, a quiet chuckle emitted from his throat as he remembered the soft tone with which she had thanked him with; how she had said goodnight. When was the last time anyone had said something with that tone to him? Considering he spent his time around the Akatsuki, those he killed and bounty officers...it had to have been decades. Had he missed it? Maybe, maybe not. It was Ryoshi that made it different.

Then realising what he was thinking as he went into his room, he frowned and brushed it aside. So she'd thanked him and said goodnight; it wasn't necessarily in a soft tone—he was reading too much into this. Tossing his cloak onto the chair and pulling off his hood and mask to place on the bedside table, Kakuzu laid down, lulling himself into sleep. He didn't want to be thinking about this kind of stuff when he would be working with Ryoshi tomorrow—not noticing a smile drifted onto his face as he fell asleep.

Because it would be with.