When Money Isn't Good Enough (Kakuzu Story)

Chapter 17

They didn't want to, that was for sure.

It wasn't like them to act like this—for things to turn out this way. That fact was part of the reason why everyone else was picking up on it! Both Kakuzu and Ryoshi had figured out a long time ago where their priorities lay, and that was the way things had stayed. With the way both their lives had been, they had turned to themselves. They had chosen independence as their way of survival, allowing relationships with other people to fall by the wayside. They no longer mattered. It wouldn't keep them alive in a bad situation, and wouldn't help when something was needed. They got all the extra assistance they needed from money—it could do a lot more than a person could. Not to mention it wouldn't talk back, complicate a situation or make things difficult. After having seen first hand how cruel and harsh the world could be, Ryoshi and Kakuzu had known they could rely on money alone. And as their reputations built up with the work they did, this decision was only backed up. They couldn't get affected now, because all that would happen was that things would go into reverse, and they'd only end back where they started.

They had a mission to concentrate on, after all, and Ryoshi wouldn't be getting paid for it if she didn't focus on what she had to do. The Akatsuki had picked her to do this because they knew she could do what was necessary. But if things changed—if they began to get doubts about her—then things wouldn't turn out so well. Kakuzu had his own issues, too. He worked permanently for the Akatsuki, and if they really thought he was getting that affected by Ryoshi, then they could alter things round. He had gotten to where he was today by focusing on the more important factors. When he had relied on other people the most in Takigakure, they had stabbed him in the back and treated him like shit for doing all he could for them. He sure as hell didn't want the same thing to happen now, and Ryoshi could understand that. If the Akatsuki were noticing the change, then what would happen if they let it go on?

But as they glanced at each other, a sudden feeling of calm came over them.

A feeling that didn't go away as they finished with the break they had for lunch, standing and heading off into the trees once more. This time they fell to the back, and as Kakuzu passed his gaze over the rest of the Akatsuki, he frowned and shook his head at his own thoughts. He had always said he never cared about other people's opinions; that he didn't gave a damn about what people thought of him. He had his own beliefs and views, and his own way of doing things. If they didn't like it, then they could go elsewhere. But now he was on this mission, he was getting obsessed—and it was only now that he was seeing that it wasn't with Ryoshi's opinion. It was the Akatsuki's! It was the idea that they were all pointing out how well they were getting on that got to Kakuzu, not the fact that he was in the first place. He had been standing there considering whether or not whether he was getting too affected by Ryoshi, but now he knew that he wasn't in the slightest.

Yes, his actions were a little unusual to how he usually was—but that was because he didn't get on with anyone else in the Akatsuki like he did with Ryoshi. If there had been someone before, then he would have acted in exactly the same way he was now. In the grand scheme of things, he wasn't acting different to his entire personality; just to the parts of his personality that the Akatsuki only saw. Ryoshi had even more reason to believe this; sure, she had a lot of similarities with Kakuzu, but the Akatsuki didn't know all about her. They didn't truly know her, and in a sense, they didn't truly know Kakuzu either! How could they understand how both of them would react in a specific situation? But it didn't matter anymore, because as they continued on the journey, they both came to an important conclusion:

They didn't care.

Inwardly, Kakuzu and Ryoshi knew their actions weren't completely out of the blue, and they shouldn't have to justify that fact to any of the Akatsuki—and they weren't about to. They were pretty much still strangers to Ryoshi, and Kakuzu didn't really spend time with any of them, and he hated Hidan's guts! He clenched his fists slightly in confirmation of this, the silence no longer feeling oppressive and claustrophobic. His thoughts did hesitate as his gaze passed over Ryoshi, however. Even if she was different from most—even if she was special—it still didn't change anything. Kakuzu hadn't experienced that level of connection to someone in his life before, and half of the things he'd felt and thought over the last couple of days and almost seemed entirely new to him. He wouldn't even have known how he would have reacted if someone had asked him to predict the situation. And true, he was seeing certain things from a different perspective now; yes, he had discovered he was in touch with more emotions than he had previously thought possible...but it hadn't changed who he was. Nothing about his personality had altered, or the way he fought or spoke. In a way, being with Ryoshi had simply developed who he was as a person—though that wasn't something his mind had fully comprehended yet.

Ryoshi wasn't sure she understood it either, but it didn't matter as Kakuzu finally turned back to her and started up another conversation. She had been involved in her own thoughts, but Kakuzu's silence had been one of thoughtfulness, and considering it was right after all that had happened, she hadn't been certain she'd like the outcome. So it was with a strange feeling of relief that she replied, shaking it off the further into the discussion they got. She had said to begin with that she wasn't truly allied to any one group, village or organization, and so although she would follow Pein's orders and do what was necessary for the mission, she didn't have to go by all of their rules. It wasn't her job to fit in and make all of them like her. Why shouldn't she talk to Kakuzu when she got on with him well? She had every right to. Her job was a huge part of her life now, and even if she did value Kakuzu's opinion; even if she did respect him and felt she shared a deeper connection with him than she had done anyone else in her life, Ryoshi wasn't about to let that alter it. She was still doing the same things...but her life had merely adapted to allow Kakuzu into it.

Not that she was about to protest.

Neither of them had ever considered the possibility of this occurring with anyone, anywhere. But now that it was occurring, and they knew it was nothing bad, why not enjoy it? They each understood each other's priorities, and therefore knew neither would get in the way of them. Ryoshi wasn't trying to change who Kakuzu was or how he worked, and it was vice versa for him; they didn't have anything to worry about. So as the journey went on, they continued to talk, and even when the Akatsuki looked round once more, they simply brushed them off this time. They knew they were still probably thinking the same things as before, and yes, parts of it were probably true, in much the same way some of what Hidan had said at the beginning had been. But it didn't matter, because they didn't know the half of it.

Sure, they were getting affected—but it was in a way they had never expected.

In a way they almost liked.

In a way that almost felt good.