iv.

chapter four - kick me like a stray
:-:-: theme; used to the darkness by des rocs :-:-:

His name was Clement.

The name of Griffyth's savior that is. It was also the first thing he had decided to share with the teen, when he finally woke up from his drugged sleep.

Clement, who Griffyth liked to refer to as Cement, was an old army veteran. He specialized as a combat medic at the time, but was discharged after taking a near-fatal injury to his head. Clement liked to boast about the more than likely traumatic experience— saying he was made for tougher things, and that it wasn't just fate that let him get away with just a blind eye, but pure, unadulterated skill.

Yes, his reason for surviving was because he was just that good.

Needless to say, Griffyth had remained blank-faced throughout the whole tale, before asking Clement to pass the maple syrup. It would be only one of many stories he would hear through the years, not that he knew that at the time. At that moment, the only thing that had been on Griffyth's mind was retaliation on the brutes that had tried to kill him.

Can you believe that? The audacity of it all… He was the killer, not the person getting killed. It wasn't supposed to work like that! The shifted power dynamic was really taking a toll on him, as well as the aching pain in his side.

Yeah, Griffyth was mad. That much was obvious to… anyone really. He was practically glaring at the undercooked pancakes on his plate, oh— not to mention the fact that he was furiously stabbing Clement's handcrafted wood table over and over again with his fork.

"Okay, stop that," the moustached man had said, staring at the offending hand.

Griffyth paused in his tantrum to give the old man before him a deadend stare. "What? You gonna take my pancakes if I don't?"

"No, but I'll shoot you in the face." Clement then promptly pulled out a revolver from under the table, and aimed it directly between Griffyth's eyes. The safety clicked—the bullet in the chamber and ready to be let loose.

Griffyth tilted his head slightly, tongue in his cheek. 'Huh, that wasn't expected.'

"Okay." The teen goes back to his breakfast. Clement put the gun away. Nothing unusual here.

"Found you in the junkyard bleedin' out. That normal for you?"

"Not really, junkyards aren't really my scene."

Clement stared. Griffyth caved with a roll of his eyes.

"Okay, Cement. I'm homeless— got mugged. Nothing too exciting. I should be asking you why I'm not at a hospital right now." Though really, Griffyth was relieved to not be in one. He didn't want to be put in a position where he would have to provide information about himself.

"Homeless? How old are you?"

"Eighteen. You didn't answer my question."

"I don't trust no place that makes ya pay for their help. What's your name?"

"I don't see how that's relevant. I'll be on my way—" Griffyth made to get up, but faltered when his side ached painfully. "—as soon as I'm fully healed up. You know how it is on the streets, you can't show any sign of weakness or you'll get eaten alive." He grinned impishly, though Clement didn't seem the least impressed.

"You could stay with me."

Griffyth blinked. Once, and then again.

"Huh?"

Clement cleared his throat, standing to wash the plate he had just used. "I know it's not much." He gestures with his free hand to the small, run-down looking shack. Griffyth's nose scrunched up in obvious agreement— but a roof over your head was indeed a roof. So, he wasn't picky at the state of the small home. "But a kid like you shouldn't be on his own out there. I was there for a while after I got discharged, but an ol' buddy of mine helped me out. Think of this as me returning the favor."

Griffyth remained silent, his face pensive as he brushed through the pros and cons of the arrangement. So far, Clement didn't seem like he'd get in the way of his hobbies. In fact, he hadn't asked too many invasive questions… Also, if Griffyth had to go back to the streets, he'd be starting with absolutely nothing once again. He didn't really look forward to that.

"So? You gonna tell me your name, kid?"

"Hm… If I stay, can you help me with something?"

"Depends, what is it?"

"I want you to teach me everything you know about medicine and anatomy."

"Heh, you fixin' to be a nurse, boy? Sure, I don't see why not."

"Then, my name's Griffyth. Thanks for taking me in, Cement."

"It's Clement, you little shit."

Returning back to our camp, Hidan and I thankfully find everything to still be where we left it. Including the bloody and mutilated corpse.

From there, we prepare to cut up and carry the body to the Valley of Hell. I find this process to be tedious, yet enjoyable. There's just this calming and satisfying feeling that comes with delicately cutting away someone's limbs. Blood gets everywhere, bodily fluids get everywhere, guts get everywhere… Definitely a messy activity, but an enjoyable one nonetheless.

Hidan has a bit more of a time with it. I figure this will be a good way to teach him where and how to cut, but, oddly, he doesn't take to it as quickly as I thought he would.

"This is fucking gross."

"Huh." I frown "I thought you'd be into this kinda thing."

Before Hidan can ask why I would think that, I list off all the acts of violence he's committed. Highlighting the one where he nearly beat a child to death (though, really, he did that because that kid had almost killed me, but he wasn't smart enough to argue).

"Okay, but that's different. I didn't slice them up into pieces like a meat chef!"

"A butcher."

"Yeah! If I'm gonna kill someone, I'm gonna kill them. I don't care about messin' with their dumb, dead bodies. I stab 'em, make 'em suffer— but clean up isn't my thing."

More than over listening to Hidan whine in my ear, I relent and let him sit aside while I finish preparing the body. He continues to watch, though, head in his hand as I organize the body parts and organs by weight.

It doesn't take me too long, though I'm not as fast as I used to be. My body is weaker than my previous one, and my tools aren't as nice. Either way, I get the job done and soon have Hidan helping me put the parts in bags so we can lug them back to Hell.

We take as much as we can, but it's clear that we'll definitely have to take at least one more trip. The man was fucking large, after all. On the way there, conversation is sparse aside from Hidan's usual complaints. However, after one bout of silence, Hidan decides to be curious.

"So, otōto…" Hidan pauses, expecting me to answer. I don't, and he clicks his tongue. "Otōto, are you listening?"

Sighing, I tell him I am. As much as I wish I was deaf in that moment, I was.

Hidan pointedly ignores my comment, and continues "How do you know all this stuff?"

"What stuff?" I ask innocently.

"Killing stuff. Y'know, you killed a guy twice your size. You're not even in the Academy, and I know I never taught ya how to do it." I shrug, but Hidan continues. "And you knew what to do afterwards. Didn't even have to think about it."

"I don't know. Just do. Don't you ever just know things? How do you know how to breathe?"

Just like that, Hidan's mind is distracted and we continue the rest of the way without much excitement. Not counting the several times we have to stop because Hidan is unconsciously holding his breath, seemingly forgetting how to breathe now that he's aware of it.

'Only I would get stuck with a dumbass like this.'

xxx

A couple weeks go by without incident, and Hidan and I return to focusing on our daily lives. He would attend the Academy, come home and whine about his day. I would thread through the streets, making lifts as I slithered past people before coming back to camp to work on my own set of training. Then, once Hidan got back and finished whining, he would teach me a little about what he learned today.

I thought things would continue to go on as normal, but during my walk through the village today, I couldn't help but overhear a lot of talk from the civilians. The conversation centered around a specific grocery store and it's manager; apparently, he had gone missing and his wife is in a flurry of panic.

Clearly, this is a problem.

It seems that stupid old man's existence was noticed by other people, which is unfortunate because I was hoping he would just fade away from people's minds. Also, this means people will continue to talk and grow curious. Curious enough to most likely want answers, and even go looking for them.

Eventually, someone will say they last saw the man slip off to the village outskirts— That's when things will get very, very sticky and irritating.

Sighing, I sit down across from Hidan. He's currently whittling, a hobby I didn't know he had. He's horrible at it, but, still, I didn't even think he knew such a thing existed.

"We have to move."

Hidan stops, a confused expression on his face that I'm very used to seeing. "Huh? The fuck you mean we have to move?"

"I meant what I said, moron," I reply instantly with a roll of my eyes. Hidan doesn't look impressed, so I pout and huff before continuing in a lowered voice. "People are talkin' about that man I killed." Hidan is instantly at attention, and I'm silently proud that he can see how serious this is.

"So…" he whispers back to me, looking around the area as if someone could jump out at us at any moment. "What does that mean for us? Do we have to run away? Should we start packing now?"

"No, no. If we could leave the village, I would've planned on that forever ago." I frown to myself, mumbling, "We're too weak right now." Sighing again, I regain focus on the issue at hand. "Anyway, it just means we need to get out of here before they know to look here."

"Where are we gonna go then?"

I shrug, kicking at the dirt. "I don't know, but I'll figure it out. You just focus on the Academy."

Hidan frowns, but nods his head in acceptance. Which is surprising. I expected him to huff, or maybe whine about having to completely demolish our campsite that we had worked so hard on. Maybe he's maturing...?

'Or maybe he's hiding something… Nah, he's too stupid to be sneaky.'

"Wanna train?" I ask, and Hidan's pensive look is replaced with a bloodthirsty grin.

"You know it, otōto!"

The next day, while Hidan is at the Academy, I decide to slink around the village. I'm hoping to find a new spot for Hidan and I to lie low. I thought of places like abandoned buildings, or forgotten parts of the town. Maybe I would even stumble across where the homeless community resides… That would certainly give me a sense of déjà vu.

All-in-all, my eyes are wide open— along with my mind in case I need to get creative. I remember all the temporary shelters I went through in my past life; behind dumpsters, inside storm drains outside of cities, inside people's attics… I took what I could get, and I never let go.

After a few hours of wandering around though, it's pretty clear I'm just not having any luck today. Just as I'm about to throw in the towel and return to our camp, I stumble across a pretty decent sized building in one of the nicer parts of the village. It's near the front of the village, where the head ninja has strategically placed the more eye-catching businesses and amenities.

It's a library.

There is a shinobi near the front entrance, sitting casually and reading a book. He glances at me from the corner of his eye, but nevertheless pays no special attention to me. It's the civilian librarian that gives me trouble.

The middle-aged woman greets my small, dirty form with a sneer. My hands twitch with the urge to strangle her, but other than that I walk away unbothered.

I explore the building for a bit, before finally stumbling across a section that isn't just boring storybooks. This section, from what I can tell, holds a lot of informative texts and instructional books. It's probably meant for Academy students, or freshly-minted genin. I am neither of those things, but no one is stopping me from pulling several books off the shelf.

I find a couple that catch my interest; a book on chakra and chakra control, one about weapons and proper handling techniques, and one about medical chakra.

I spend a good hour scanning through all of them, though the one I decide to focus on the most is the book on chakra and chakra control. The other two can wait until I am comfortable enough with our supposed life force for me to tackle them.

The book goes on to explain chakra a bit better than the brief explanation Hidan gave me before, and talks about other ways you can work on your chakra control and increase the amount of chakra you actually have. I'm still essentially a baby, so I'll have to wait a bit longer before I can train my chakra reserves. Even then, according to the book, some people are born with naturally small ones. So, I'll have no way of officially knowing until I'm fully grown— it won't stop me from trying until then.

After reading through a few more chapters, and learning there are tree-walking and water-walking techniques, I decide to take the books and head back to the campsite for further experimentation.

Only, as soon as I make it to the front of the library, the woman who sneered at me before abruptly stops me with a firm hand to my shoulder.

"You can't take books out of the library."

'In general, or me, specifically, I wonder.'

"Okay," I say simply, a tooth-rotting smile on my face.

Turning away, I return to the area where I came from. I can hear the woman hum smugly to herself, but no time to get irritated about that! She'll definitely be dead by the week's end, anyway. Unless someone beats me to it, of course.

Slinking to the back of the library, I find a window to pry open before sliding through it— books in hand.

"As if, you dumb bitch."

Rather than go straight back to the camp, I zig-zagged around the village on the off-chance that the ninja "standing guard" at the library was following me. After an hour of doing so, it's clear they don't care enough— or more likely, they hadn't even noticed I slipped off with the stolen books.

The security around here is definitely lacking in both presence and in skill, but maybe that was normal for a small hidden village? I'm not sure, seeing as I had never been outside of it.

Once I make it back to our home of sorts, I instantly get to work on studying the book some more. As I read, I practice some of the suggested exercises. There's a highlighted one that apparently originated in Konohagakure, that involves holding a leaf to one's forehead. It seems simple enough, so I try to copy it, but with thicker materials to challenge myself.

Holding something to your forehead is a bit different than holding something on your arm, so, of course, the fucking stick I was using refused to stay glued to my forehead for more than a couple seconds. I had better luck on other parts of my body, but my head? Impossible.

"Fucking irritating," I grumble to myself as I try to focus on the stick once more. It has only been about thirty minutes, but I'm already losing my patience. Surely, this is supposed to be easier? I'm smart enough to pick up on things fast, so what's the hold up?

'So stupid. Isn't it dangerous to forcefully channel chakra to your head like this? What if my brain explodes?'

After a few more tries, and a lot of deep breaths, I finally get the stick to stay on my forehead for longer than five minutes. Just as I'm about to beat that record by hitting ten minutes, I lose focus and the stick falls into my lap.

"Fuck!"

I pick up the stick and hurl it into the river—with chakra, apparently, going by the large bowling-ball splash it makes before splintering into pieces.

"Oh… Cool." I stare down at my hands and smile at this discovery. "Cutting through bones will be easier."

Sitting up, I decide to put my books away before Hidan comes back and accidentally destroys them somehow. I have good timing, because not a second later Hidan is running into the campsite as if he's being chased.

I'm pleased to see that Hidan isn't out of breath from the intense run. His stamina training is seriously showing some progress.

"Where's the fire?" I ask.

"What?" Hidan replies with a confused expression.

I roll my eyes, forgetting that I'm speaking to an idiot. "Nothing. What's wrong? You were running as if you were rushing to get here." A part of me is on edge, on the off chance Hidan had a run in with some shinobi and they were on the way here right now.

"Oh, yeah—" Hidan's grin pushes away my fears, and replaces them with a new one… "I found a place for us to stay!"

"...You did?" I ask carefully. "Where?"

"It's near where we used to live with Okaa-san. Not our place, but another one. It's an actual house though, like, with a roof and everything!"

"Mhmm…" Clearly, I'm skeptical, because it's Hidan. Someone who has proven to not be reliable in a lot of ways, because, unlike me, he's a normal kid.

"Yeah." Calming down a little from his excitement, Hidan begins to look a little bashful I want to say. It's not a normal expression on him —flushed cheeks and averting of the eyes— but it kind of looks cute in an amusing way. "You're always doin' shit for me, and I'm your aniki! I should be taking care of you." He sniffs, kicking at the ground in his… well, I don't really know what he's feeling. Insecure as an older brother? Embarrassed to even be admitting that I'm toting him around like he's a bag of rocks?

Either way I decide to take pity on him.

"Thanks, nii-san…" I mumble before wrapping my arms around Hidan. Hugging is still a new concept for me, but they're surprisingly warm and relaxing. Who knew human contact could be anything other than disgusting?

Hidan can't hold back a childish giggle and eagerly squeezes me back, lifting up my small body for a second before putting me down. If he hadn't, I'd have probably bitten his ear off.

"Let's go! I'll show it to ya!"

xxx

Hidan leads me to the home we used to share with Maemi. Walking through the streets, taking turn after turn, I begin to vaguely recognize the more rundown area of town.

Hidan has a tight hold on my hand as he guides me, and has a small smile on his face— I wonder if he even knows it's there. No doubt, he's feeling proud right now as a big brother, but, honestly, his hand is sweaty and I feel nauseous at the sticky feeling— but the weight of his hand doesn't bother me, surprisingly.

I study his face as I squeeze his hand back; his smile widens.

'Pft, so easy to please.' I smirk to myself.

My brother begins to slow his fast pace when we arrive at our destination. I examine the building carefully. Oddly, it has to be the best looking building in this district. On the outside, it looks like a quaint tea shop— there's no sign to be found, so I'm left to my assumptions.. Though, looking at the suspicious people loitering around it… It probably isn't your normal run-of-the-mill "tea shop".

"Hidan…" I begin, inching a bit closer to the boy as I speak, my eyes still wary of the people around us. "Where did you hear about this place?"

"Huh?" Hidan says distractedly. He looks like he's looking for someone, and would have probably attempted to go inside if I wasn't glued to him. "Um, this pretty lady said she knew Okaa-san. She said— Oh, that's her! Hey, lady!"

Hidan begins to wave excitedly at a woman who has just stepped out of the tea shop. She's dressed formally, in a revealing kind of way. Her dark hair is pinned up with fancy pins, and she's indeed pretty as Hidan had described her. Before he had called out to her, it looked like she was seeing someone out.

The man who is accompanying her barely glances our way, his entire focus on her. He has a dopey smile, a rumpled appearance, and leaves the woman with a handful of ryō before departing.

I groan, shoving my face into Hidan's side and startling him.

"Hidan, what the fuck?"

"What?"

Before I can scold him, the woman he called out to finally approaches. She adjusts her kimono's sleeves from where they had slipped down to reveal her shoulders; I scowl at the action— the damn thing is probably stretched out, or meant to reveal her skin.

"Hidan-kun, I'm glad you decided to take me up on my offer."

"Yeah—"

"No," I interrupt, putting myself slightly in front of Hidan. Not out of protection, but to indicate I'm the one making the decisions here. "That's not why we're here." The woman eyes me with amusement, grey eyes shining.

"Oh?" She says, tilting her head just a bit. "You must be, Kaoru-kun! Hidan spoke a lot about you— I never did get to meet you. For some reason Maemi never brought you around like she did with Hidan-kun. You look adorable!" She goes to run her hands through my hair, but I recoil quickly and slap her hand away.

Hidan frowns at the exchange, and anxiously pulls me back to be at his side. "Oi, don't touch him! He doesn't like it!"

The lady laughs coyly, covering her mouth with practised ease. "My apologies, Kaoru-kun. Ah, where are my manners? My name is Kagura Akadō. A pleasure to meet you, finally."

When I make no move to return the greeting, Hidan takes it upon himself to speak up. "Karou wanted to see the place."

Kagura's eyebrows rise as she stands. "Is that so? Well, then allow me to give you a tour."

She turns to lead us inside. Hidan follows after, but pauses when I make no move to follow him. "C'mon! The fuck are you doing? You wanted to see the place, so let's go!"

"I'm not going inside that cesspool."

"What? No, this is a tea shop." Hidan tries to grab my arm, but I forcefully pull away. "What the fuck, you're gonna piss me off!"

"Hidan," I ground out. "This place isn't a fucking tea shop. It's a brothel, you fucking idiot."

"Huh?" Hidan begins to look around, and, probably for the first time, picks up on the signs of what the establishment truly is. "Oh."

"Yeah." I kindly don't add: you dumb fuck.

"Oh," Hidan repeats again to himself. "She did tell me she worked with Okaa-san. Kinda forgot she was a whore... and this place looks too nice to be a bitch shack!"

"Looks can be deceiving, nii-san," I say patronizingly.

Hidan glares at me. "Shut up. Whatever— we're here now, so let's just go and take a look at least. We've gotta find somewhere to crash!"

My whole body cringes at the thought of so much as setting my foot on the steps of the establishment.

"Fuck that, we'll find somewhere else. Those places are dirty, Hidan. They're not meant for children to be hanging around. Let's go."

I go to walk away, but once again Hidan grabs at me. "Kaoru, stop being a fuckin' bitch!"

"Let go!" I fight his hold, pulling against his grip with all my might. He's shockingly stronger than me, and that only makes me become more frantic in my attempts to get away. "Hidan, stop!" I yell, and in my frustration I can feel my eyes begin to tear up.

That catches Hidan off guard, and he immediately stops fighting me. Great, but the abrupt change sends me falling backwards and into some drunken fool.

"Oi, you dumb brat!" The man goes to grab me by the collar, but a manicured hand quickly intervenes. Kagura smiles down at the seedy man, her eyes shining and her teeth sharp. "Ah, there you are! We've been expecting you. Please, allow my dear nee-san to show you the way." Kagura gestures to another worker of the brothel— a woman with blonde hair and dark eyes, who is just as beautiful and flawless looking as she is.

The man doesn't have to be told twice, and he's soon stumbling up the few steps to be escorted inside by the blonde woman.

Kagura turns back to us, her painted smile still on her face. "No worries, Ena will handle him for us." I quickly wipe at my eyes, pointedly ignoring the worried look Hidan sends me. "I came back out here when I noticed you weren't behind me. Are you both ready for the tour now?"

Hidan looks lost and unsure, a frown on his face as he looks from me to Kagura. Slowly, he shakes his head. "No, we're—"

"Yes." My voice cracks, so I clear my throat before continuing. "We'll have a look inside." I sniff, and pointedly look away when Hidan looks at me with a surprised expression.

"Otōto, but—"

"Lead the way, Akadō-san."

Kagura looks between the two of us with an impish smile before nodding, "Right this way, and do be sure to keep up this time." At that, she giggles coyly like she had before.

Hidan continues to eye me strangely, but nevertheless follows when Kagura begins to walk away. He sets pace beside, saying nothing as he grabs my hand and threads our fingers together. I stiffen, but don't pull away.

"Sorry," Hidan whispers.

I say nothing, but when I squeeze his hand, Hidan's goofy smile makes a return.

author's note: build up build up and more build up ! thanks for tuning in for another chapter ;* i'll probably be forced back to work soon so yeah,, no more free time and probs longer waits between chapters again but what can ya do.

this chapter was beta'd by fortheloveofb, my berry best friend! thank you for the hard word :]

story rec: "driving out the darkness" by claamchowder