Chapter 10

Silence filled the air as the chakra ball disintegrated along with the thousands of dead bodies filling the crater. The rolling thunder died down and the lightning faded in the sky, however the dark clouds stayed planted in their positions. Nozomi's body laid limp and face down in the middle of the crater, her short, sandy blond hair sprawled messily around her head. The open wound in her wrist where the stitches had been pulled out was still actively bleeding. Touma looked in the direction of the body, feeling that the jutsu was complete. Now, all he had to do was wait for his wife to get up and greet him how she always did.

Suddenly feeling a pain in his chest, Touma dropped to one knee, grunting as he grabbed at his chest. Hideki immediately stepped away from Kakuzu and jumped to his father's aid. "Don't worry about me. Take care of the open wound. We don't need any complications for your mother's arrival," his father ordered. As Hideki moved away, Hidan appeared beside Kakuzu and examined the male. Kakuzu wasn't dead, was he? Usually he got up by now. The pain in his ass always said it would take more than one time to kill him.

"Where am I?" Nozomi thought to herself. She was floating in a dark abyss. Which way was up and which way was down; she couldn't seem to figure it out. A bright light abruptly interrupted the darkness and the female groaned as she shielded her eyes with her arms. It felt like she was being sucked in somewhere, much like when she was being sucked into that chakra ball. Was she still in there?

Once she could see again, she was standing on something, but she was in another dark abyss. Little bubbles passed her by and she tilted her head curiously as she held her hand out to grab one of the bubbles. The one she chose showcased herself around age five when she still lived in Konoha. Her father had come home from a mission and she happily ran to the door to greet him with Hideki. Her mother came to their side and hugged her father before ushering everyone to the table so they could eat dinner.

Letting go of the bubble, Nozomi walked around and started looking at other bubbles. So, these were what her memories looked like? She noticed the memory where she was six and Konoha was under attack. Ninjas quickly ran through the village, evacuating civilians. Nozomi was running with her mother when she tripped over a fallen light pole, twisting her ankle in the process. Seeing that the Nine Tails was headed in their direction, her mother scooped her up and kept moving, but they couldn't outrun the beast. Her mother set her down and pushed her in the direction of a nearby ninja before she was caught in the crossfire and crushed under the Nine Tails' paw.

Tears flooded her eyes as Nozomi ripped her focus away from the horrid memory. It was her fault; it was all her fault that her family was like this now. The other memories passed her by as she crouched down in defeat. She deserved to die.

"Die now or die later."

Nozomi's eyes widened as she quickly looked up. That voice was familiar. "Kakuzu-san?" She found herself staring at a bubble that was floating in front of her. She watched Kakuzu held a kunai to her wrist and she watched herself react in shock and tell him that she didn't want to die. Other memories of her and Kakuzu passed by her - her initial meeting with the male, her active pursuit of him, and their travels together.

Kakuzu was a very stern male that was driven by goals. He was analytical and headstrong. Although they were stuck together, he didn't complain and he even protected her - granted it was most likely because she was his client. Wiping at her eyes, she turned her head to see another bubble next to her - one that projected her night in the cave with him. He was kind and gentle with her when she was scared and even answered some of her questions. She had a deep respect and admiration for him as he had qualities she could never attain.

Her memories continued to move forward and she began to realize the severity of her situation, especially the fact that she didn't know whether she was dead or not, however it seemed as though Kakuzu was. The darkness opened up and all of a sudden, she was on the very battlefield she disappeared from. Kakuzu was laying on the ground and his partner was at his side, whereas her father seemed to be in pain and Hideki was tending to her body. She was… outside her body?

"Kakuzu-san!" She ran over to his body and dropped to her knees. There was a puddle of blood under his body as a sword impaled him through the chest. This wasn't what she wanted. "Kakuzu-san, please get up!" As she reached out to touch him, her hands went right through him. Shocked, she looked at her hands then down at her body as it registered how transparent she was. Was this what death looked like?

Kakuzu's fingers twitched as he began to feel his limbs once more. That paralysis genjutsu was a trick he hadn't anticipated; a very clever one indeed. Had it not been for the trap, he would've gotten up a lot sooner as he never lost consciousness. He grunted in pain for a moment as one of the masks on his back shattered, indicating that one of his hearts was no longer functioning. The fact that the little brat managed that much pissed him off, but luckily he could get a replacement heart - a fitting compensation, if he would say so himself.

"Damn Kakuzu, you scared me." Hidan sighed as the latter male sat up and assessed his wounds, removing the Akatsuki cloak before it could receive anymore damage. Regardless, he was going to have to get a new one after this. "My man, I thought you fucking died."

The tanned male didn't respond to him, but rather looked at his opponents. The crater was empty besides he, Hidan, Touma, Hideki, and… the girl. His eyes focused on the limp body that Hideki was sewing up and narrowed at the sight. He had failed at his bounty. The mission was now absolute. After all of his years of living and countless kills, he had grown accustomed to unfortunate events, but for some reason, this one seemed to be the most unsettling. What was this feeling that was building up inside of him?

Nozomi sighed with relief once Kakuzu sat up. Thank goodness he was alright. She wouldn't have known what to do if he had actually been killed because of her. As he took off his robe, she was shocked at the amount of stitches that decorated his body. She remembered seeing his arm when she helped repair it in the cave, but she hadn't anticipated that they would be all over his body. Another thing that peaked her interest were the three masks on his back and the shattered one that was on the ground behind him. Just what was he?

"So what are we going to do now?" Hidan continued to squat next to his partner as he glanced over at Touma and Hideki. He'd already made plenty of sacrifices to Jashin with the ninja he killed previously, however the two in front of him would be an amazing special offer to his god, especially after what they'd done to their own blood - after he asked for permission from Lord Jashin, of course. Although the female was quite annoying, she was a change of pace that he enjoyed - partly because she didn't know who they were and partly because he knew she'd be a temporary annoyance.

Kakuzu stood up, stepping outside of his puddle of blood and frowned. He was tired of entertaining this bounty. Since the mission was absolute, he saw no reason to hold back any longer. His days of vengeance were far behind him, however he would make an exception this time. Anger bubbled inside of him as he looked away from Nozomi and back at Hideki and Touma; she didn't deserve to die. "We won't be doing anything. I'll take care of this. If you get in my way, I won't hesitate to kill you."

Hidan groaned and sat back on the ground, folding his legs Indian-style and planting his scythe down beside him. Missing out on the bloodshed that was about to go down was such a let down for him, however he would let Kakuzu have his way this time. He'd get back at him later for his anyway.

The look in his eyes changed. In her time with Kakuzu, his eyes were always stoic and unwavering, no matter what they were up against. In a flash, much rather a literal blink of an eye, she could see a painful glare. That pain, however, was quickly replaced with anger and she could only watch as he lunged for Hideki at a swift speed. Her brother, who was too preoccupied with her body, was caught off guard and barely managed to escape as he abandoned her. As she monitored the fight, a bright light caught her attention and she held her hand up to block the rays from blinding her. A bright light had engulfed her body, but it seemed as if no one could see it but her.

"You were supposed to be dead!" Hideki seethed as he engaged in taijutsu with Kakuzu. His opponent didn't respond and showed no restraint either. Without Nozomi on his side, his body felt lighter. He'd gotten used to her being stuck to his side so the missing weight was evident in his mind. Beforehand, Kakuzu was only fighting him with one hand, however this fight was proving to be more difficult. Seeing that only using taijutsu would result in a losing battle, Hideki jumped back, resorting to use a ninjutsu technique as he formed hand signs. Anticipating that he would try to run away, Kakuzu extended his arm and grabbed the younger male's leg, slamming him down into the solid rock before he could finish.

Hideki sat up, wiping the blood that was spilling out of his mouth as he was sure that he had broken some ribs during the impact. The rest was short-lived as Kakuzu appeared in front of him and landed a punch on his cheek, causing him to fly into the crater wall with high impact. How could his strength have increased so much from the previous battle? That was impossible! Regaining the use of one arm shouldn't have widened the gap this much. Was he taking it easy on him earlier?

Pulling himself out of the crater, Hideki narrowed his eyes as he looked at the monster standing a few yards away from him. The stitchings were seeping out of him like tentacles. Behind him, his father was made his way to Nozomi and was yelling at him to finish the man off. Honestly, he didn't have to remind him to do that. Perhaps it was because he was still alive that his mother hadn't woken up just yet. He guessed he would just have to complete the ritual for a second time. Forming hand signs once more, he decided to end it all with his next move. Puffing up his cheeks, he took in a deep breath of air before blowing a large blast of water from his mouth at Kakuzu, much like a cannon.

The kid was ambitious, he would give him that. With the mask that gave him control over water chakra nature attacks broken, Kakuzu decided to take the attack head on. He had noticed during their previous encounter that the male used up a considerable amount of chakra with his genjutsu mist technique and the invisible sword, so he was most like putting all of his chakra into this last attack. Kakuzu, on the other hand, hadn't used up nearly as much chakra. One of his masks ripped off his back and the mouth opened.

"Fire Style: Searing Migraine."

A large beam of fire erupted from the mask's mouth, colliding with Hideki's attack. The two attacks pushed back and forth against each other, causing a huge riff in the air from the immense power flowing from the moves. Hidan watched in silent confidence that his partner would come out victorious in this battle as it was inevitable. Touma urged his son to kill the beast, which pushed Hideki to will himself to push past his limits. His water attack pushed harder against the fire, allowing him to gain an upper hand through sheer force.

"Hmmph." Kakuzu watched as the male struggled to push through. It was a waste of effort on his part, however he let him do as he pleased since it would only make collecting his heart easier. Letting the power struggle play out, the Akatsuki member finally decided to put the child out of his misery as another mask emerged from his back.

"Wind Release: Pressure Damage."

Combined with the fire style, defeat was definitive as the overwhelming attack annihilated Hideki's water style and knocked the male back into the crater, the impact nearly knocking the male unconscious. Kakuzu instantly appeared in front of the male and squatted down in front of him. "Your heart is mine." As Kakuzu choked the male, Hideki's eyes widened as Kakuzu's stitched reached into his body and ripped out his heart. Standing up, the stitchings sucked the new heart into his body and a new mask was formed on his back. Turning around, he eyed his next victim - Touma Shidou, who stared in the male in horror.

Nozomi shook as she witnessed the brutal death of her brother. Her eyes watered, however no tears fell. As much as she tried, she couldn't seem to cry for her brother. The feelings that manifested inside of her weren't ones of sorrow, but more like relief. Why was she content with her elder sibling being dead? Was she going crazy? This revelation seemed to put her mind at ease. As she watched Kakuzu focus in on her father, she enjoyed the look of fear that her father presented. It seemed as if the only thing that would make this moment better was if she could kill him herself. The thought nearly scared her as she tried to stop shaking. Was her hatred for the father that strong? Before, she had been so afraid, but now she feared as if she was losing her humanity. Did that matter though? She was accepting her death so she wasn't human anymore.

The bright light from her body started to dim and Nozomi walked over from where Hidan was to try and get a better look at what was going on. She couldn't contain her shock once she reached her destination as her body's fingers started to twitch. Looking at her own fingers, she could tell that she was not connected to her body anymore. Her body started breathing again and a small groan escaped from their lips as they started to sit up. Stepping back out of fear, Nozomi couldn't contain herself as she couldn't even recognize the body anymore. Instead of looking at her body, she could only see her mother. The worst part was that her mother was making direct eye contact with her.