When Money Isn't Good Enough (Kakuzu Story)

Chapter 25

"Ryoshi...listen to me, alright? I—I'm sorry."

Hearing Kakuzu's soft voice from behind her, Ryoshi froze. She hadn't been expecting him to show up again—let alone so soon. Not to mention something was different. The times Kakuzu had visited her before he had been hesitant; unsure. The way she had acted had confused him, and she had known that although he was trying to help her, there was still that anger within him. Each time his emotions had flipped from one to the other, and in much the same way she had turned her back to him while talking, he soon did the same as he left. It had been expected, though; although Ryoshi knew what Kakuzu had said, he himself didn't quite know why she was getting like this. She hadn't bothered to explain, because it wouldn't make a difference. Those words were true, and he'd only try and make excuses; say he'd been lying. So she had kept quiet.

But now...now Kakuzu was different. He seemed sure of himself; certain of what he was doing and not about to waver in the slightest. Not only that, but there was no trace of confusion with his feelings; no turmoil of what emotion to show towards her. Somehow he had reached a conclusion when it came down to her actions and what he was planning to do to react to them. What that conclusion was, Ryoshi didn't know, but evidently he had reached one. It was why she didn't do a thing for a moment, simply staring at the wall in front of her, her breathing hitched in her throat. She was torn between wanting to turn around to see why things had altered, and a slight anxiety as to what might happen if she did. But she didn't need to do a thing as Kakuzu continued a second later,

"Whatever you thought about what I said; it's not true. I know what you heard when we went after Ketsu; I know what you think I meant. But it wasn't like that. I don't want your bounty. Ok; I'd like the money—wouldn't you want the amount that's on my head? But I wouldn't go after it. Not considering it would mean killing you."

From the moment Kakuzu began to speak, Ryoshi felt her heart begin to pound in her chest, her breathing rate increasing along with it. A part of her stayed cynical. She had said before that there was no point telling him what had happened in order for her to act like this, because he would only come up with excuses. Why should that fact have changed now? He might have figured it out for himself, but the point still stood. True, she could accept what he'd said and forget about it all; but how could she be sure things wouldn't just go exactly how she'd feared they would? But the part that had remained hopeful—that had still had faith in Kakuzu—abruptly burst into life, and began to balance out the scepticism. She knew he was being genuine; she could sense it. He wasn't trying to say he hadn't meant what he said—but merely that she had seen it in the wrong way. And it made sense. It was true, after all; if someone offered her whatever amount of money was on Kakuzu's head, she'd take it; money was important to her. But not at the expense of his life.

Was it really so hard to imagine he felt the same?

When it came down to it, Ryoshi had never felt there was any façade going on with Kakuzu when they had been doing the mission together. Everything they had done; every time they had hung out and talked had been real and genuine. It was part of the reason what Ryoshi had heard him say had been such a shock; it had been completely against what things had been like between them before. It had been utterly opposite from how he had acted towards her. Could she really sit there and dismiss what he was saying because of her own fears and doubts? If she sat back and looked at things without being biased...it all felt true.

"Kakuzu...you...really?" Ryoshi eventually managed to blurt out, slowly turning to finally look him in the eye. What she saw there only cemented what she had been thinking about only a second before. There was no trace of deceit or trickery. He might have been wearing a mask, but in a way, that made things better. It was easy to change your expression to make it seem like you were happy or upset. But you couldn't change your eyes, and with a slow nod in return, Kakuzu replied,

"Yes, Ryoshi. If I'd have known that's what you thought...I would have told you right away."

Suddenly, a calm came over both of them with those words, and the atmosphere relaxed. Kakuzu had gotten out what he needed to say and made Ryoshi see that what she had thought had been wrong—and it had been easier than he thought it would be. With how Ryoshi had been before, Kakuzu had expected a little more aggression from her. That she would be defensive and keep on pushing him away, refusing to trust him regardless of what he said—it was why he had tried to dismiss any of his frustration at the situation in order not to make things worse. Why he had opted not to hide what he was feeling about the whole thing. That way, he would be able to show that what he was saying was the truth, and that he didn't have anything to hide.

Ryoshi wouldn't have expected herself to accept Kakuzu's words so easily, either. But Kakuzu wasn't one to dodge around the subject and manipulate those around him. He might be aggressive and defensive, but he was confrontational about it. When he did get angry with someone, he would face them head on about it, and tell them just where it would lead if they continued to piss him off. If he'd been planning to go after her bounty once the mission was over, he wouldn't have bothered to keep it secret and hide it from everyone. He never made it a point to hide his intention to kill Hidan a secret. And the other time he'd come to see her in the cell he had said he never normally made any effort with the people around him; so why would he have made an effort to hide what he was planning to do? Now they had accepted it all, everything seemed so much clearer to them both—and as such they brushed aside everything else and finally got to work.

Fully facing him now, Kakuzu saw Ryoshi's expression was calm and ready to go, and as such he stepped closer, hiding a smirk. What was happening merely showed how strong Ryoshi was as a person. Though she had been the one to be aggressive and effectively had the upper hand in the situation, Kakuzu had been able to tell she had been affected by it all. She wasn't exactly the type of person to react like that normally; generally, she brushed it off. She didn't care and never would. So to see her like that...he knew that it was getting to her as much as it was him. But now things had been sorted out...Ryoshi found it so easy to recover. She knew what needed to be done and was firm and certain in herself. She knew things got to her now and again—but she never let them overwhelm her to the point where she couldn't do a thing.

And as it turned out, that had been evident from the moment she'd been captured.

Ryoshi ran through what else she now knew about Ketsu, having been listening in to what others had been saying while she'd been locked up and Ketsu having passed by now and again. And because she'd had nothing else to do but think in her cell—though she'd done a little training—she'd been considering strategies that could help with the mission. She'd held an amount of uncertainty with the Akatsuki, true, but they were trying to take Ketsu down—and Ryoshi was willing to accept that. They spoke for a while, but eventually Kakuzu knew he had to go, the Akatsuki still waiting back at the hideout; as much as he wanted to stay. He hadn't spoken with her about a plan on getting her out—but he'd got the location of the building at least.

Now it was just a matter of breaking her out of there.