Stitched || Kakuzu

Ch. 7 - Troubled Thoughts

In the morning, Nozomi woke up and rubbed her eyes. As she looked around at her surroundings, she remembered that she was in a cave all night and it had been raining. As she stood up, she felt a sharp pain in her wrist and everything from the day before hit her like a ton of bricks.

"You're awake." Kakuzu opened one eye, looking up at her. He stood up and brushed his cloak off. As he did so, the only thing on Nozomi's mind was the fact that she spent the night with him alone. The events were on replay inside her head.

Looking up at the male, Nozomi couldn't even seem to make eye contact with him. She'd never had a boyfriend before, not even her first kiss, yet here she was stuck to a man who had pinned her against a wall just a couple of hours ago. She'd even slept with him. Gasping, she quickly looked herself over.

Kakuzu merely watched her go into a full-on panic mode. Inwardly rolling his eyes, he dragged her along through the damp forest and back to the hotel. His partner seemed to have had the time of his life being alone in the hotel room. When the pair returned, the middle of the room had the Jashin symbol big and bold on the floor and the Jashinist himself was planted right in the middle of it, sacrificing himself as his morning routine.

Nozomi still couldn't get used to the sight of him stabbing himself, so she turned away. Her back hurt from the hard rock wall but overall her night's rest wasn't all that bad. Kakuzu made for a really great pillow.

After Hidan was finished, the trio went on their way to leave Yugakure. Nozomi walked quietly next to Kakuzu as Hidan complained about something non-important to her. She sighed as she thought about the decision she was making regarding her father. Throughout the trip, she wasn't really thinking of her father or her brother and they were the whole reason why she was in the predicament to start with.

The trio had been walking for hours until they reached the border between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire. Hidan stopped walking and looked around for a moment, narrowing his eyes. Kakuzu paused too and Nozomi, who was stuck in her thoughts, was yanked back by Kakuzu.

"Ow!" She glared at Kakuzu. A simple look from him made her shut her mouth instantly.

A group of ninjas jumped down and surrounded the trio. Frowning, Nozomi stepped behind Kakuzu as Hidan grumbled about having to do this again. The silver-haired male brought out his scythe and recklessly started swinging it around, fighting the ninjas.

The fight proceeded and Nozomi was dragged around, just like before, while holding onto Kakuzu for dear life. Hidan, who seemed to care less about anyone else, threw his scythe and it nearly cut Nozomi's head off. Kakuzu, who was already highly annoyed at a disturbance in his bounty hunt, picked up the scythe and threw it back with such force that Hidan flew back a couple meters as he caught it.

"These things must have everything to do with this bitch you're carrying." Hidan grumbled. "Should've killed her a long time ago."

"I don't know who any of them are!" Nozomi narrowed her eyes. She pulled out a kunai from the pouch on her side and held it up in case she would have to use it.

The fight carried on as the group of ninja seemed to have multiplied, one after one just jumping out of hiding to replace a fallen comrade. After a while, clapping in the near area caught the attention of everyone in the fight. Kakuzu looked up to see a ninja sitting on a tree branch, clapping his hands together slowly. What irritated Kakuzu the most, more than the fact that another ninja has appeared, was the fact that it was the same masked ninja that made him attached to his client.

"You look well." The masked ninja spoke for the first time. He jumped down from the tree and walked over to Kakuzu. The other ninja around him moved away, bowing in respect before blocking Hidan from getting to Kakuzu and Nozomi.

Kakuzu stared at the ninja with a blank face as he continued walking. However, Nozomi froze in her tracks and watched the ninjas with wide eyes. That voice... she'd heard it before.

The ninja stopped a few feet in front of the two. "I've been waiting. I knew you would leave home and come straight to the trouble. You've saved me the time of having to go back and get you."

"...Hideki?" The woman said the name in shock, trembling.

"Bingo." The ninja took of the mask, revealing her brother's smiling face behind it. Nozomi's eyes welled up with tears as she looked at her older brother staring directly at her.

Hidan crossed him arms. "Well, that's screwed up."

"Why did you do this?" She asked as she held onto Kakuzu to keep her knees from giving way under her. Her brother's expression darkened.

"I did this? You did this to yourself. I merely helped you." Hideki looked between Kakuzu and his sister. "I'm getting Mom back and Father knows how. Next time when I see you, I'll hear Mom's voice."

Hideki put his mask on and disappeared in a flurry of smoke. The other group of ninja surrounding Hidan jumped away and left. As Hidan put away his scythe, Nozomi dropped down to her knees. The tears she shed fell down into the ground as she sobbed.

"I don't want to do this anymore. I'll pay you for the services. Please just take me back."