Rise From The Ashes (Kakuzu Story)

Chapter 3.

 She skirted round thecorner of the doorway, hiding Kakuzu from view from the Takigakure ninjas, tohis delight. They now stood in a tiny room, barely bigger than a closet, whichwas obviously used for storage—though it had to be the excess that couldn't fitin the usual storage room. There was no way this place could contain everythingthe bar needed to keep its stock up. But it didn't help to relieve Kakuzu'stension. The ninja were no doubt going to search everywhere if it meant findingwhat they wanted—namely, him. If that was the case, this room was included, andthough they were hidden for now, its not like they had anywhere else to go fromhere, and making their way to another room was impossible now the ninja hadfully come into the bar and were walking around looking, from what Kakuzu couldhear. Only the woman didn't seem bothered in the slightest, ignoring what layoutside of the room as she walked forward and over to the far wall.    

Wondering just what she was doing, and contemplating the idea that there might be some sort of hidden door or trapdoor that they could get out from, Kakuzu quickly looked over the entire room, but as far as he could make out, there was nothing. He was beginning to doubt his decision to go over to her, contemplating why exactly he had chosen to trust a woman he had only just met a few minutes ago, knew nothing about and didn't even know what she looked like. He should have just opted to fight the ninja from the beginning; at least then he would have been in complete control of the situation, he could have analysed his surroundings and counted how many there were specifically, and he wouldn't be confined to a tiny room and backed up against a wall. A scowl appeared on his face as he realised this fact, glaring over at the woman as she busied herself with something while facing the back wall. Maybe Kakuzu should simply go ahead and kill her too.

It was only when he noticed a faint light in front of her that he paused in that consideration, narrowing his eyes and stepping forward slightly to see more of what was going on. Though he couldn't see everything with the lack of space in the room, by looking over her shoulder Kakuzu could see she was drawing symbols on the wall with her finger—symbols that then appeared on the wall in a golden light, albeit at a dim glow. Pondering what this was all for, he then tensed in surprise as she reached the end of her writing, and performing a handsign, the wall abruptly opened up in front of them without a sound, almost like a portal. Taking a small step back, almost unsure whether to believe it, Kakuzu looked beyond the opening to see a tunnel beyond, and glanced to the woman as she now turned around to look him in the eye. Clearly she was silently gesturing the way, but with the sudden appearance of this tunnel—of her revealing more than he could have expected—he was hesitant, and before he did anything Kakuzu narrowed his eyes and questioned accusingly, albeit quietly to avoid being heard by the ninja,

"How do I know I can trust you?"

Her response was simply to roll her eyes and raise her eyebrow, knowing he wanted to follow but was trying to remain defensive, and therefore quipped in return,

"What am I supposed to do to prove it here? Or would you prefer to deal with all of the Takigakure ninja and more when they come?"

Pausing at that question, Kakuzu swiftly made his decision and nodded in agreement to go with her. Like she had said, there was a whole load of Takigakure ninja out there looking for him, and more could arrive if they sent for help. But she was just one woman, and one who would be taking him away from the ninja in question—taking that into account, it was easy to choose, and as such he followed on after her as she turned and headed into the tunnel, leading him onwards through the darkness. He glanced back at the opening as they walked on, seeing it close up behind them, but even with it closed the light didn't totally disappear, and a moment later Kakuzu saw the reason for that—a globe attached to the wall that contained a fire inside, but somehow continued to burn even without anything to keep it going. That was merely another thing that made Kakuzu contemplate his decision. This woman knew so much, opened that tunnel with some unusual power he'd never come across before, and the very way she held herself seemed different than the rest. She might just be one woman compared to a whole group of Takigakure ninjas, but Kakuzu was beginning to get the feeling she was more powerful than all of them combined.

Maybe it was part of the reason he was drawn to her.

Neither of them spoke as they continued on their journey through the tunnel, each with their own thoughts to consider. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, but both of them were curious about one another, and had to wonder about the kind of person they were, at the same time as being strangers. After all, at the same time as Kakuzu was drawn to her, she had been drawn to him. It wasn't every day she spoke up to help someone she'd never met, and for no other reason than feeling that she had to. There was just something about him; it had been evident from the moment he walked in, though what it was she still hadn't quite figured out, and it remained even as they continued along the tunnel. Whether it was because they connected, that they shared something, she didn't know. But it was there, and it meant that she felt compelled to help him, whether telling him who to talk to or in helping him get out of the bar without getting caught by the Takigakure ninjas. The more time she spent with him the more she wanted it to continue, if only to learn more about him and who exactly he was.

Kakuzu knew the feeling, and knew there was something different about her. It certainly fit with him leaving Takigakure; she was nothing like anyone had been there, but he was only glad of it, and it seemed as if she was only helping him in leaving it behind. But he had to wonder where she came from—she didn't seem to be from a ninja village, though her abilities didn't seem like they fit with one anyway. He doubted he'd be able to learn anything about her simply by watching her and making educated guesses. She was mysterious, in a defensive way, not wanting anyone to get close, and hard to read. If he was going to learn anything, it had to be through conversation. But would that ever happen? It wasn't as if he was expecting to be around her very long. And yet Kakuzu almost hesitated at leaving so soon, if the possibility of knowing more was at his fingertips.

They tried to ignore the idea that they wanted to know so much more about each other when they were strangers, getting irritated at the fact it was seemingly bothering them so much, when their thoughts were interrupted. The feeling that they had finally reached the end of the tunnel finally hit her, and as such she straightened and focused more on what was ahead. Kakuzu, in turn, saw her speed up slightly, and though at first he contemplated why she would do it, it occurred to him that they had to reach the end at some point, and gathering this was it, he followed on after as she stopped at a dead end a few moments later, writing symbols as she had done before. Once again an opening appeared where she had written the symbols, and passing through it, Kakuzu saw this time it was through the wall of a cliff, and disappeared just like always once they were through.

However, she didn't stop there, glancing behind her to gesture for him to follow, and as he caught up, she stated simply,

"I can help you out."

Narrowing his eyes in surprise, he said nothing as she explained where they were now they had come out of the tunnel, and where it would be best for him to go in order to get away from Takigakure and avoid notice. Though Kakuzu was unsure why she was doing this, he couldn't help but simply accept the information and go with it, continuing to walk with her as she went through the forest.

At least this way he might sate some of his curiosity...