Naruto Fic: "Akatsuki Dreams" 3/10 (PG-13) - Akatsuki, Kakuzu
Title: "Akatsuki Dreams" 3/10 
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Kakuzu, Hidan
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,000
Spoilers/Warnings: Spoilers through Chapter 342.
Summary: In their final moments before death, the members of Akatsuki experience one last vision of their past, their present, and what could be. This chapter: Kakuzu.
Akatsuki Dreams
by Kantayra
Chapter Three - Kakuzu Dreams
All around, the walls were solid gold.
Kakuzu turned in a circle, looking upward. High above, he could see where the walls ended and the sunlight streamed in. The light radiated down through the hole in the ceiling, gleaming off of gold until it illuminated the place where Kakuzu stood. It was a monumental and breathtaking sight.
Kakuzu held up his hands to watch the light reflect off of them; it looked like his skin itself had turned gold.
That was when he noticed that the sunlight was having an interesting effect on his body. As he watched, the stitches in his wrists wriggled under the sunlight. He frowned, confused, as one-by-one the stitches popped free and slithered up his wrist, down his body, and to the ground.
He was surrounded, in fact, by thousands of tiny stitches, crawling across the ground like snakes, fanning out from his body and to the door on the far wall.
“Better watch it, or you’ll fall to pieces.” Hidan chuckled to himself at his own joke.
Kakuzu glared at where his partner had suddenly appeared, looking bored and insouciant as always, against one of the far walls. The gold was in shadow there, so Kakuzu hadn’t seen him at first amidst the brilliance of the rest of this place.
“Shut up, unless you know what you’re talking about,” he shot back.
Indeed, as he looked down at his hands, the place where the stitches had been wasn’t even scarred, as if his flesh had always been perfect.
“Where the hell are they going, anyway?”
Kakuzu was surprised that Hidan was right; they did seem to have a destination. Kakuzu wasn’t sure where else they’d want to go, though. This was the most wonderful place he’d ever been. Why would anyone leave?
“Come on,” Hidan complained. “There’s nothing here. Let’s go see.”
Kakuzu frowned. As usual, Hidan didn’t understand. He still followed Hidan, though, even though he was loath to leave this sanctuary.
The distance between the center of the room and the walls was further than he would have guessed. With only gold around him, he had no frame of reference. The walk felt endless, but finally he could hear a roaring. He could see now that the door was beneath a waterfall.
The droplets had already soaked the ankles of Hidan’s pants through by the time Kakuzu reached him. “Took you long enough,” Hidan grinned.
Kakuzu watched the water plummet outside the door. “You first.”
Hidan shrugged and plunged through. After a moment, Kakuzu couldn’t see him any more. He waited impatiently for a few minutes before finally concluding that Hidan wasn’t coming back.
It left Kakuzu at a crossroads. He didn’t want to leave his golden sanctuary, but at the same time he couldn’t abandon Hidan to face whatever was out there alone. He hesitated for a moment and then, with a reluctant sigh, stepped into the water. He could always come back later after he’d thoroughly thrashed Hidan for making him get wet like this.
The water parted for him, shockingly cold, and he sputtered and forced his way through it. By the time he emerged from the falls, he was gasping for breath.
“Just like home, huh?”
Kakuzu didn’t say anything. He hadn’t been ‘home’ in so long that the word had lost all meaning for him. Instead, he gazed out at the world outside the golden shrine.
It was a barren wasteland. The ground was pitch-black. At first Kakuzu thought it had been scorched, but when he looked more closely, he realized that the ground was moving, writhing. The entire earth, as far as the eye could see, was covered in black stitches. The overall effect made it look like a nest of worms. The only clean spot was the base of the waterfall.
“You always take us to the nicest places,” Hidan commented wryly.
Even Kakuzu wouldn’t deny that this place was a dump. He looked back to the sanctuary they’d just abandoned, but on the outside it was quite different. The entire mountain was a sickly green color, like mold and tarnished metal. The waterfall looked pristine, but the rest of it reminded him of a trash heap. The most beautiful place he’d ever been was disgusting on the outside.
“What do we do now?” Kakuzu felt disoriented by this revelation, like his entire existence had been twisted inside out.
“Let’s go.” Hidan took a step away from the base of the waterfall. The black stitches squirmed under his foot, but he didn’t let them trip him.
Kakuzu was more hesitant to make that first step. The sight of the black, writhing mass made him nauseous now, even though his stitches had never bothered him in life. Hidan was already ten paces ahead of him, though, and if he didn’t move, he’d be left behind. He wondered for a moment whether he should just spend eternity in the gold room. In the back of his mind, though, he knew that he could never truly be at peace there anymore, not now that he knew about this place’s ghastly exterior.
Kakuzu took a step and, to his surprise, the stitches recoiled from his feet. As he walked, the stitches retreated further. The ground was brown and almost barren around his feet, except for a few tiny sprouting shoots of green that had somehow survived.
Hidan observed this as well. “Great. You can walk ahead of me from now on.”
Kakuzu wondered if the stitches would come back after his feet had passed, but when he reached Hidan, he turned back to look, and there was a clear path, only a couple of feet wide, where the soil was now exposed to the sun above.
It would take a hundred lifetimes to clear the land that Kakuzu could see, but he didn’t have anything else to do now. With Hidan only a step behind him, he headed off into this new world.
Behind his feet, the earth bloomed.
As always, feedback is appreciated, even if it's just to let me know that someone's reading.
Chapter Four - Deidara Dreams
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Kakuzu, Hidan
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,000
Spoilers/Warnings: Spoilers through Chapter 342.
Summary: In their final moments before death, the members of Akatsuki experience one last vision of their past, their present, and what could be. This chapter: Kakuzu.
Akatsuki Dreams
by Kantayra
Chapter Three - Kakuzu Dreams
All around, the walls were solid gold.
Kakuzu turned in a circle, looking upward. High above, he could see where the walls ended and the sunlight streamed in. The light radiated down through the hole in the ceiling, gleaming off of gold until it illuminated the place where Kakuzu stood. It was a monumental and breathtaking sight.
Kakuzu held up his hands to watch the light reflect off of them; it looked like his skin itself had turned gold.
That was when he noticed that the sunlight was having an interesting effect on his body. As he watched, the stitches in his wrists wriggled under the sunlight. He frowned, confused, as one-by-one the stitches popped free and slithered up his wrist, down his body, and to the ground.
He was surrounded, in fact, by thousands of tiny stitches, crawling across the ground like snakes, fanning out from his body and to the door on the far wall.
“Better watch it, or you’ll fall to pieces.” Hidan chuckled to himself at his own joke.
Kakuzu glared at where his partner had suddenly appeared, looking bored and insouciant as always, against one of the far walls. The gold was in shadow there, so Kakuzu hadn’t seen him at first amidst the brilliance of the rest of this place.
“Shut up, unless you know what you’re talking about,” he shot back.
Indeed, as he looked down at his hands, the place where the stitches had been wasn’t even scarred, as if his flesh had always been perfect.
“Where the hell are they going, anyway?”
Kakuzu was surprised that Hidan was right; they did seem to have a destination. Kakuzu wasn’t sure where else they’d want to go, though. This was the most wonderful place he’d ever been. Why would anyone leave?
“Come on,” Hidan complained. “There’s nothing here. Let’s go see.”
Kakuzu frowned. As usual, Hidan didn’t understand. He still followed Hidan, though, even though he was loath to leave this sanctuary.
The distance between the center of the room and the walls was further than he would have guessed. With only gold around him, he had no frame of reference. The walk felt endless, but finally he could hear a roaring. He could see now that the door was beneath a waterfall.
The droplets had already soaked the ankles of Hidan’s pants through by the time Kakuzu reached him. “Took you long enough,” Hidan grinned.
Kakuzu watched the water plummet outside the door. “You first.”
Hidan shrugged and plunged through. After a moment, Kakuzu couldn’t see him any more. He waited impatiently for a few minutes before finally concluding that Hidan wasn’t coming back.
It left Kakuzu at a crossroads. He didn’t want to leave his golden sanctuary, but at the same time he couldn’t abandon Hidan to face whatever was out there alone. He hesitated for a moment and then, with a reluctant sigh, stepped into the water. He could always come back later after he’d thoroughly thrashed Hidan for making him get wet like this.
The water parted for him, shockingly cold, and he sputtered and forced his way through it. By the time he emerged from the falls, he was gasping for breath.
“Just like home, huh?”
Kakuzu didn’t say anything. He hadn’t been ‘home’ in so long that the word had lost all meaning for him. Instead, he gazed out at the world outside the golden shrine.
It was a barren wasteland. The ground was pitch-black. At first Kakuzu thought it had been scorched, but when he looked more closely, he realized that the ground was moving, writhing. The entire earth, as far as the eye could see, was covered in black stitches. The overall effect made it look like a nest of worms. The only clean spot was the base of the waterfall.
“You always take us to the nicest places,” Hidan commented wryly.
Even Kakuzu wouldn’t deny that this place was a dump. He looked back to the sanctuary they’d just abandoned, but on the outside it was quite different. The entire mountain was a sickly green color, like mold and tarnished metal. The waterfall looked pristine, but the rest of it reminded him of a trash heap. The most beautiful place he’d ever been was disgusting on the outside.
“What do we do now?” Kakuzu felt disoriented by this revelation, like his entire existence had been twisted inside out.
“Let’s go.” Hidan took a step away from the base of the waterfall. The black stitches squirmed under his foot, but he didn’t let them trip him.
Kakuzu was more hesitant to make that first step. The sight of the black, writhing mass made him nauseous now, even though his stitches had never bothered him in life. Hidan was already ten paces ahead of him, though, and if he didn’t move, he’d be left behind. He wondered for a moment whether he should just spend eternity in the gold room. In the back of his mind, though, he knew that he could never truly be at peace there anymore, not now that he knew about this place’s ghastly exterior.
Kakuzu took a step and, to his surprise, the stitches recoiled from his feet. As he walked, the stitches retreated further. The ground was brown and almost barren around his feet, except for a few tiny sprouting shoots of green that had somehow survived.
Hidan observed this as well. “Great. You can walk ahead of me from now on.”
Kakuzu wondered if the stitches would come back after his feet had passed, but when he reached Hidan, he turned back to look, and there was a clear path, only a couple of feet wide, where the soil was now exposed to the sun above.
It would take a hundred lifetimes to clear the land that Kakuzu could see, but he didn’t have anything else to do now. With Hidan only a step behind him, he headed off into this new world.
Behind his feet, the earth bloomed.
As always, feedback is appreciated, even if it's just to let me know that someone's reading.
Chapter Four - Deidara Dreams