Rise From The Ashes (Kakuzu Story)

Chapter 15.

Upon arriving at the village, Kakuzu and Suzaku approached slowly and carefully.

They kept their guards up and constantly looked around them for anything that might reveal one of the group hanging about the village. If they played their cards right, they could make their way around and ask some questions relatively easily without getting caught. The group might have known about the Akatsuki, but finding out details about an organization that hid so much in shadows was going to be hard, and Suzaku doubted they'd been able to get details on all the members. Not to mention they hadn't been in the village very long before, so the group wouldn't have been able to get that good a look at them—take away their Akatsuki cloaks and it would take them a little while to figure it out, and 'a while' was more than enough for them to be able to find out the information they needed. Along with the fact that the group had chased them out of the village, even if they hadn't caught them, it made sense that if the Akatsuki knew they were around the village and generally nearby, they wouldn't come anywhere near it again. Of course, that wasn't quite the case, but they didn't need to know that.

As such, Kakuzu and Suzaku continued through the gates as casually as they could, constantly glancing around in the meantime. It seemed with all the factors taken into account, the group had pulled back from the village for the time being, not feeling a need to keep an eye on it with what had happened, and meaning they themselves could get out of sight, meaning Suzaku could concentrate on gathering information. The villagers had no problem with her—or the group for that matter—so they wouldn't be looking out for her. By having Kakuzu around as Suzaku asked questions, they'd get used to seeing him, too, and that would only work out in the long run. Looking around for a good target, Suzaku eventually chose a group of people, approaching them and nonchalantly worming her way into the conversation and asking a question here and there. That in itself impressed Kakuzu, as no one there hesitated in talking to her, or even wondered whether or not they should be answering her questions or not. They were entirely relaxed around her, and Kakuzu got the feeling it wasn't just because the villagers didn't mind Suzaku being around. It was a talent Kakuzu was bewildered by; in the same way he was, Suzaku remained distant from people, her connection to humanity fading over the years, and yet she was still able to manipulate others so easily.

They gathered what they could, talking as they made their way around the village, and when they finally left, found that the group themselves hadn't been here very long; though they came through every now and again, it was generally a place to stop off before they moved on. Suzaku hadn't kept an eye on it considering she had arrived not too long ago as well, and in the same way, she moved from place to place, and therefore didn't note wherever she saw them and when. It's not as if they had ever stood out to her—just one ninja group in a long line of others. The exact location of the main hideout wasn't something that the villagers knew, but then that had been expected—it wasn't the kind of information the group would have simply thrown around casually. Still, the villagers had pointed out the direction the majority of ninjas headed off in, giving Kakuzu and Suzaku a vague idea of what area of forest they should be looking around. But knowing they had gotten all they could, they headed back to the hideout, talking over the mission in the meantime, noting that connection that had been evident from the beginning and trying as hard as they could to push it aside while they were working.

It wasn't an easy task, however, and it returned often as they mission continued and they went on spending time together, though neither Kakuzu nor Suzaku focused on it, attempting to simply brush it aside for the time being. They didn't hang out in the same way most people would consider it, anyway, ending up talking about their private lives and intimate details the more relaxed they got around each other—they weren't those kind of people. As Kakuzu had noted before, as time had gone by their connection to humanity had lessened, but it was that fact in itself that they shared, and almost stopped it from being the case with one another. It was merely as they dealt with the mission that they ended up spending time with each other, talking about the experiences they'd gone through with the amount of time they'd been alive. They couldn't help but remain conversing as they finished the tasks to do with the mission, finding themselves automatically relaxing around one another with their mutual interests and events throughout their lives.

It's not as if Kakuzu could do the same with Hidan.

Things weren't helped with their curiosity in one another. Suzaku still wanted to know more about him—to see what he could do, even if she did know about Earth Grudge Fear, and understand more about his situation—about why Kakuzu was the way he was. All those years ago he had given her an abbreviated version of why he had defected, and Suzaku had her theories, but a few hints weren't enough to sate her curiosity and hadn't been even then. Kakuzu, in return, wanted to break through this aura of mystery that surrounded Suzaku wherever she went. The Akatsuki themselves felt it when first meeting her, and it hadn't exactly gone away—not even for Kakuzu. From the moment he'd met her she had managed to figure out things about him without him having to say a word—but he didn't get much in return. There was still so much he didn't know about her, including her abilities, and for once he wanted to find out. So far throughout the mission there had only been so much either of them had been able to find out, and it became something that, in their own way—with how detached they each were in their personalities—they teased each other with.

It wouldn't have ever been something that they would have described as 'flirting', as their aim wasn't to flatter the other, but with their desire to find out more about each other, it only continued. Ultimately, it had only served to draw them in closer to one another and bring that connection even more to the surface. At first it had been something that both Kakuzu and Suzaku had dismissed, not wanting to fully think about the idea they had such a connection with each other, having never liked the concept of getting close to people in the same way so many others did, only for it to end badly. But as they went on with the mission, it was something both of them realised there was no point in fighting. It was there—they could only accept it. It didn't affect the mission, how they acted or what they did, and abruptly it became a lot easier to deal with.

But having accepted that connection, it only increased the desire to know more.

If anything, it was beginning to make Kakuzu annoyed. Even if Suzaku didn't know the full details of his life, whether what he'd done or how he'd defected from Takigakure, she knew the basics. She knew how Earth Grudge Fear worked, even if she had never actually seen it in action. Yet in return, Kakuzu had seen or heard nothing about Suzaku. He knew of her abilities when it came down to those runes; creating doors, creating protective barriers, even transporting his cloak. But there was more to Suzaku's power than just that, and she had never shown it or mentioned it. Not only that, but as to her life and history, Kakuzu knew nothing, and with the fact she knew more about him than he did of her, and Kakuzu was starting to get pissed off. It made him feel as if she had the upper hand in this situation, and it wasn't a position he liked to be in—he wanted to know something, at least.

It was something Suzaku had gradually sensed as the mission went on, noting his attitude and the things he said, sometimes starting to glare at her if she changed the subject and moved it away from her. But knowing he was just about to snap and lose his temper with her, Suzaku figured it was about time she stopped teasing him—even if it was fun to see him get all riled up. As such, when they sat down in his room together, having been discussing the mission, Suzaku found her gaze drifting to the stitches adorning his body. It wasn't the first time—Kakuzu had observed her doing the same several other times, remembering she had even mentioned them during their first meeting, and therefore blurted out, not bothering with technicalities,

"What is it? What is it about my stitches you're so interested in?"

And knowing he wanted an answer to more than just that—to delve into her past in a way she had never let him before, Suzaku inwardly sighed, not bothering to fight anymore, glancing up into his eyes to respond matter-of-factly,

"I suppose it's about time I told you."