Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor the characters in Naruto. I just manipulate them like my own personal voodoo dolls.

Shards

Chapter Fifteen: Affection

Hidan woke up, this time alone.

Sitting up, the immortal scratched his head.

Man, he was hungry.

Tilting his head from side to side he grinned when it gave a satisfying crack.

Looking over to where his partner had sat earlier, he noted that the chair was empty.

It seemed as though the miser had retired for the night.

At least, Hidan assumed that it was the evening.

Why else wouldn't Kakuzu be here?

There were no valid reasons as to why he would not be here unless it was the evening and he, the fucking pussy, had gone to bed.

Either way, it was time for a midnight snack.

If it were indeed evening, which he was assuming because a. it was dark and b. the usual noises of activity in the organisation such as explosions, clunking puppets and cursing were absent, it meant all but Zetsu would be asleep.

Zetsu never slept, so it wasn't too much of a big deal.

That meant no one would bother him if he nipped out for a quick bite to eat.

Hidan hadn't eaten in forever. He didn't even know how long he had actually been out cold for.

The immortal pulled back the sheets and quietly maneuvered out of the bed.

It was harder than it sounded.

Hidan was still exhausted, and there were all these little wires and cords going into him, some with blood, others with this odd clear liquid.

The zealot tore them out quickly before skulking out the door towards the kitchen.

Kakuzu left the bathroom, feeling significantly relieved.

Returning to his bedside vigil, he lowered his aching body into the chair. He had been sitting there for days now.

Hidan really had done his absolute best to die.

The miser was about to give up hope when Hidan had finally opened his eyes. While weak and confused, it was still his partner.

Except for the shit that had spilled forth from his lips.

I'm so happy to see you…

The young zealot's words circled in his head.

It was so uncharacteristic of him, but perhaps it was a glimpse into the twisted mind of the young immortal.

Hidan had not spoken of his pain.

Kakuzu couldn't understand how he was able to hold his tongue, for him to be so mentally unstable and not to breathe a word of it.

Usually the miser wouldn't have heard the end of it.

But it seemed that Hidan's behaviour had been less that usual of late.

Why he hadn't done anything about it was still beyond him.

They all knew that the zealot was acting up, but none of them had done anything about it. If it was anyone's responsibility it was his, as Hidan's partner.

It was all so fucked up.

Glancing down to where Hidan slept Kakuzu finally realized that he was, in fact, not actually there.

One of his hearts leapt into his throat as fear constricted his lungs.

Where the hell had he gone?

A crash came from the general direction of the kitchen, followed by a curse from Hidan.

"Hidan…" he breathed his tone murderous.

This time he was actually going to kill him. First for being an annoying bastard, secondly for leaving without a word, and finally for making him worry. Again.

Kakuzu leapt to his feet, stalking out of the room.

"What do you think you are doing?" came a voice from the general direction of the door.

Kakuzu.

The zealot turned to face his partner. For some reason he didn't look all that happy. He'd also neglected to replace his face thingy.

Hidan vaguely remembered Kakuzu telling him why, but at the moment he was focused on something thoroughly more important.

Decimating all the food in the kitchen.

Hidan's face broke into a smile.

"Kakuzu!" he exclaimed, genuinely happy to see him.

Kakuzu's expression was murderous.

"You're dripping over the floor." he snarled, motioning to the blood dripping down the immortal's torso and arms.

Hidan put down the carton of orange juice and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh, yeah. I pulled out these fucking annoying wires and-"

Kakuzu cut across him.

"Those fucking annoying wires cost a fortune." he murmured, his face twisted into a mask of rage.

Hidan simply shrugged, picking up his super sandwich.

"…you also broke your plate." he added, motioning towards the floor.

"Uhm… sorry?" offered the immortal, before taking another bite of the meat sandwich that he completed moments before.

Essentially Hidan had piled any and all meat he had found between two slices of bread.

The fact that his jaw wasn't big enough to physically fit it in his mouth wasn't about to stop him.

Kakuzu stalked towards him, his face dark.

Hidan swallowed hard.

Hopefully Kakuzu wasn't still mad about that whole argument that they'd had before when he may or may not have gone way too far.

Ensuring that his sandwich was placed in a safe place i.e. the table, Hidan prepared himself for his partner's onslaught.

Closing his eyes he waited for the first blow to land.

Nothing happened.

Instead, the older shinobi wrapped his arms around the zealot and pulled him into a tight embrace.

Opening his eyes in shock, he waited for the catch.

"Don't ever do that to me again you bastard." growled Kakuzu, his voice oddly emotional.

After a few seconds of high awkwardness, he patted his partner on the back.

"Sure." he replied, somewhat creeped out. "I'm sorry about... well, what I said."

Kakuzu let go of him, his eyes narrowed.

Had he said the wrong thing? Again?

[EndChapterFifteen]