When Money Isn't Good Enough (Kakuzu Story)

Chapter 6

Although he had revealed himself like that, Kakuzu was still cautious.

Like Ryoshi had said to that guy in the bar, because she was mostly a bounty hunter, she could be picky about any other missions she took on. Therefore he would need to be careful what he said when describing the mission and attempting to persuade her; he didn't want it to come across like some sort of threat or blackmail issue. It would be better for both sides if she agreed willingly, and so Kakuzu was treading carefully for the time being, needing to see how she would react off of him in order to figure out how to approach the subject from there. The moment Kakuzu had spoken Ryoshi had turned round, but even he had not been expecting her gaze to show no hostility, suspicion or aggression in the slightest—and he had especially not been expecting her to breathe softly as she saw him,

"Kakuzu..."

From there, there was a moment of silence between the both of them, unable to tear their gazes away from each other. As Ryoshi stared back into Kakuzu's eyes, she was utterly intoxicated by them; they were so unusual...but they were almost hypnotic, and she didn't want to turn away, drinking in the effect they had on her. Kakuzu had been looking over her eyes before in the bar, but now that Ryoshi's gaze was focused on him, and him alone, abruptly they became so much more powerful. They were such a deep green, with hidden depths making her eyes seem bottomless, drawing him in completely. There was so much behind them to know about and understand, and for a second they felt a connection; a silent understanding that they shared something between them, even if they didn't quite know what it was yet. But his mind coming back to him enough for him to remember what Ryoshi had said, he said softly,

"Have...we spoken before and I just haven't remembered?"

Though he doubted that was the case—now he was facing Ryoshi and taking everything in about her appearance, there was no way he could have forgotten her if they had met before—he would have remembered. But shaking her head slightly, the memory of when she had seen him rose within her mind as she responded just as softly as Kakuzu himself had done,

"No; but I've seen you before. It's hard to forget your eyes."

Once again they both fell into silence as you stared for a few moments more into their eyes; before Ryoshi forced herself to look away, snapping the trance they had both been under. Blinking a few times, they eventually turned back to each other, making sure they concentrated on the situation at hand instead of looking each other over. In the same way he had spotted her in that collection office, she had spotted him. Right away he had caught Ryoshi's attention; with the mask and hood it gave him a sense of mystery, and with the only thing revealed being his eyes, it merely heightened her curiosity. He was muscled and broad-shouldered; the stitches scattered up and down his arms interesting to her, and somehow made her want to touch them. He appeared tense—though she gathered it was more of a natural thing for him to do—and immediately connected with that fact. Kakuzu noted it as well, taking in your muscular, spry figure; though still...womanly—or so he tried to tell himself. But remembering how he had had to break off the trance Ryoshi had held over him twice now, he gritted his teeth and focused on what he was here to do, beginning simply,

"I need your assistance. I'm after this guy's bounty; Ketsu Kusottare."

"Wait; I know how strong you are as a ninja; I wouldn't think you'd need my help in order to get a bounty," Ryoshi cut in, and attempting to ignore the slight feeling of pride that erupted in his chest upon hearing that from her, he replied bluntly,

"Maybe not—if I could actually catch the guy. He knows I'm after him, and so he keeps disappearing every time I try."

Smirking slightly at the irritation she could see in his eyes, his muscles rippling with the anger that radiated from his body as he clenched his fists, she shot back playfully, a glint in her eye,

"Well, the cloaks you usually wear normally give it away."

Halfway between a smirk and narrowing his eyes at her words, Kakuzu shook off the hesitation at what she'd said, replying dryly,

"Why does that not surprise me as much as it should do?"

"As a bounty hunter, I travel; I work with a lot of people. I hear, see, and meet things...and overall that means I know a lot. But if the cloaks are what's affecting this... evidently you're all after him—and he knows it."

"We need information off of him—and I want his bounty as much as I want the mission completed," Kakuzu growled in return as the memory of how Ketsu had gotten away from him flashed back up into his mind. Laughing quietly at how fierce he was getting about this, guessing this guy had done something to really piss him off, Ryoshi responded with a smirk,

"Yeah; I don't doubt that. But...you want me to help?" and as Kakuzu nodded in return to that, she continued,

"How much do you want me to do?"

"Track him; travel with us until we find him, get the information we need and kill him, and then we'll pay you...and you're done." Kakuzu retorted bluntly, having figured all this out already.

Ryoshi nodded along with this information, and was almost ready to just agree right now. It sounded like quite an interesting mission overall, working with the Akatsuki would be nothing but good, and she was curious about Kakuzu. All in all it sounded pretty good. Kakuzu added that she'd most likely have to fight during the mission, but shrugging, Ryoshi dismissed that fact. Fighting and killing was what she did; why would it bother her? The idea of fighting with the Akatsuki would also be interesting; she'd heard of their abilities, but never seen them in action. It would get contacts, too, if she could get them on her good side. Yes; she was up for this, and pretty sure she'd agree.

"But now the most important part...the money," Kakuzu abruptly cut in, and remembering that, Ryoshi replied calmly,

"Listen; I'm not going to try and get every Ryou out of you and refuse to do anything unless you pay me more. But I will ask for more money if any extras come up that weren't included in the job description; but even then it's not going to be a million per extra. How far the tracking will be will influence it, though...You know what, I'll do a basic tracking, then give you a minimum and

go from there."

Raising an eyebrow at the way she was saying all of this, Kakuzu held back a smirk at what it sounded like she was doing, but said slowly,

"I gather you'll help us then," only for her to shoot back with a smirk,

"Why not? It sounds interesting."