For Nobara

Chapter 2: Stranger, Stranger

"Five million ryō," the accountant confirms the amount stacked in the silver briefcase. It takes a while before Ginji nods curtly, cocking his head to the other men to take the case away for safekeeping together with the rest of Akatsuki's money.

At the side of his table, his cigarettes remain untouched. For a heavy smoker like Ginji, it seems like a way for him to pay his respects to his client. Or perhaps, he just fears Kakuzu enough to not thread on thin ice. But today, his curiosity make him gamble the odds just a bit.

"That child... Kigura, is it?"

Outside, the said child amuses herself by staring at the passersby in the hallway while relatively remaining well-behaved just like she promised Kakuzu. From the window of his office, she looks quite the harmless little thing, but...

Ginji looks wary of her. "Word has already gotten out..."

Or at least, to those who know of them.

Kakuzu already knows well what his banker is talking about. After all, it isn't common to recruit children among their kind, especially one a lot younger than that juvenile bomber Deidara who had been recruited to be Sasori's partner a year ago.

He and Sasori have been against their partners in the beginning, and even until now perhaps Sasori still is. But Kakuzu...

"It's none of their business," the green-eyed man says harshly, seemingly provoked that Ginji immediately backs off.

It's only natural to assume that Kigura isn't really a child herself, let alone even from the fairer gender considering what she is. But what do they know?

Kakuzu is disgruntled when he leaves the building.

Kigura has always been a timid little child, like she is always considering him in every thing she does. As if mindful not to displease him. Always seeking for his approval.

To anyone, she might have looked like a slave he bought in the black market—quiet, loyal, and obedient after being beaten to submission. But that thought only irritates Kakuzu enough that as he pushes open the door to one of the old small buildings in the area, he almost breaks it.

The door chimes rattle the dusty silence. Under the dying light bulb in the middle of the room, the small enclosure is barely lit and is casted by shadows in its corners.

The shelves are hardly holding the weight of the books they carry as dust lines every surface within the small bookshop, but it's where Kakuzu buys most of his collection.

There is only a trembling old man that greets them from the cashier table as Kakuzu decides to ignore Kigura to have a peace of mind. But the child only seems concerned at his dismissal that she secretly follows him for a while, watching him between the book gaps.

It has become a bad habit difficult to get rid of—to observe him from a distance. Oftentimes, she'd trip on the books scattered on the floor, too lost in stalking her ill-tempered companion. But today, as she tries to follow Kakuzu who walks to another corner, she rams her face into a wall. No, a man.

Instantaneously, she's knocked off her feet and finds herself a bit disoriented. The stranger hardly even budged as he blinks at her, dumbfounded.

"Sorry—" he says but stops short when he looks at her.

Looking up beneath her messy hair, she observes the man's gray hair. But with just his mask and Leaf hitai-ate, she easily recognizes him from Kakuzu's black book.