Rise From The Ashes (Kakuzu Story)

Chapter 23

The Akatsuki had heard all of the noise, though at first they had dismissed it. After all, Pein himself had said they were destroying the building, and considering all their abilities, it wasn't likely it was going to be silent. But then when it came to an abrupt halt, and nothing happened, everyone became slightly nervous, knowing something wasn't right—especially considering the solar eclipse that had started moments earlier. Still, the Akatsuki had let it be, gathering that something had changed, but even with that being the case, it was unlikely it was anything they couldn't handle. When the noise started up again, however, this time more aggressive, uncontrolled and wild than any of what had come before it, and the Akatsuki began to think otherwise. Though to begin with they merely talked among themselves, questioning as to what it could be, eventually they opted to head over and join Pein. They hadn't seen any other ninjas from the group since they had started attacking, and something just didn't feel right about it all, and they didn't hesitate much longer before heading off.

But clearly their intuition had been right, as the noise doubled as they travelled towards the building, obviously something big going on in the meantime, before it abruptly fell into an eerie silence that seemed more wrong than the excess amount of noise. As such the remaining Akatsuki continued on, absentmindedly preparing themselves for battle without even realising they were doing it. There had to be some sort of confrontation going on for this to occur, after all—even though the group were weaker than all of them, not to mention the fact it had been Pein and Kakuzu going in the first place, maybe something had gone wrong. Maybe there were more ninjas than they had expected, or they had an ace up their sleeves that had thrown the battle in their advantage. But still, none of the Akatsuki could imagine them being taken down by the group, not when Pein was the most powerful one out of all of them. It just wasn't possible. So what was the problem? What had changed? Though they would soon find out, as the building became visible through the trees ahead, and they sped up, slowing to a halt a moment later as they spotted Pein standing there.

Spinning round to face them, Pein didn't chastise them for turning up when he had told them they weren't needed, gathering no other ninjas from the group had appeared in their direction, and that they had sensed something was wrong with the noise and the silence that had followed. But with the situation being what it was, Pein didn't know how to greet them, or just what he should say to explain everything that had happened, meaning he remained silent as they finally reached him, before simply turning back to Kakuzu. The others soon followed suit, halting as their gazes went from Kakuzu and the tumultuous look in his eyes to Suzaku's body lying on the floor. Though just like both Pein and Kakuzu, nobody knew what they should say. Of all things they had expected to happen during the confrontation, it hadn't been this. With everything Kakuzu had said—with what they had seen from her—it didn't seem like a group of that level would be able to defeat her, so what had gone on here?

"Leader-sama...what happened, un?" Deidara's voice seemed to echo in the silence, and for a moment Pein said nothing in return, unsure about Kakuzu and what he should say. But knowing they needed an explanation, a minute later Pein gave in, replying softly,

"The solar eclipse. Her power lies in fire and everything connected to it—the solar eclipse affected it, and took away her abilities completely. But they all knew it was going to happen—they'd been waiting for it all along. Suzaku was their target from the start, and it caught us off guard...she couldn't fight back."

Murmuring their disbelief and surprise at the situation, no one truly responded to Pein's explanation, their attention instead transferring to Kakuzu, knowing how close he had been to Suzaku and how this must be affecting him. Kakuzu knew it, and continued staring down at her body, not wanting to look up and see the expressions on their faces. He couldn't deny it was affecting him, true, but he didn't want to deal with them staring at him in pity. He wasn't in the mood. But the feeling grew, constantly feeling their eyes focused on him—expecting him to speak? To do something? Kakuzu didn't know—but he'd had enough, and as such he simply turned around and took a few steps back towards the remaining shell of the hideout. Ever since Takigakure he'd given up on the human race. He didn't care about anyone; he didn't need anyone—only money. He'd spent years on his own, his humanity slipping away from him all the while. But not with Suzaku.

Ever since Kakuzu had first met her she'd managed to cut through every defence he had, but he'd never really cared. All those years afterwards when he hadn't seen her and Kakuzu had thought about her, even if he pushed everyone else away from memory. He had wanted to meet her again, to see how she was doing. It had annoyed him to think it wouldn't ever happen again. Only Suzaku had turned up once more, and that connection he'd sensed at the beginning was real, their similarities and the things they had in common...it was all there, just like he'd thought. Like Suzaku had done at the start, she cut through every defence...and made him want more. She made him care. What had occurred between them never would have happened otherwise. But the moment it did, and it was taken away from him. This was exactly why Kakuzu didn't care about people anymore—it only ended in anger, disappointment and sadness.

It still didn't make it any easier to let go.

A sudden glare appearing on his face, Kakuzu turned his gaze to the solar eclipse once more, his anger building all over again at the idea it was because of it that all this had happened. It had only begun a few minutes ago, and it wouldn't last much longer, but in that short space of time it had managed to do so much damage. A part of him still wanted to be angry, regardless of who or what it was—anger was what he was used to, and what he knew how to deal with. But after killing the group and destroying the building like he had, Kakuzu's anger had faded to nothing. He might be frustrated at all that had gone on, but it never came to anything. All Kakuzu felt he could do was stand there and glare at the solar eclipse, unsure how things would go from here. He hadn't been certain after all that had happened between him and Suzaku, but now...there didn't appear to be any solution. True, Kakuzu hadn't come to any full conclusion, but back then he'd had time to make a decision. Now that time had run out, and he doubted he'd be able to come to a conclusion anymore.

Kakuzu didn't want to have to deal with the rest of the Akatsuki, either. They were already looking at him in pity, and he didn't want it to continue. The idea of working with Hidan on missions after this was not welcoming, especially as Kakuzu doubted he'd be able to simply shake this off and move on as normal within a day. Kakuzu was beginning to feel that pushing everybody away and dismissing his humanity had only made this situation worse. It had taken a lot for Suzaku to truly get that close to him to the point where he truly cared about her, which ultimately meant that it meant so much more to him in a way it might not have done back in the day—and he hated it. Kakuzu didn't want to have to feel like it, and he couldn't let himself. But no matter how hard he tried that feeling remained hovering in the back of his mind, and as he stared at the eclipse above him, Kakuzu was adamant that it would stay that way. He wouldn't let it affect him.

However, as he was turned to face the building, his gaze focused up on the sky, Kakuzu didn't see any of what the others did. Though at first none of them noticed it either, more interested in Kakuzu's reaction than anything else. Hidan, on the other hand, continued watching Suzaku, and though to begin with he had thought it was a mere trick of the light, soon he couldn't dismiss it anymore, taking a step towards Suzaku's body and murmuring in disbelief, the others starting to follow suit, until Hidan called out quietly,

"Hey, Kakuzu? You might wanna see this."