Title: Demons

Rating: T for Hidan's foul-mouth.

Summary: If everything you knew was right, you wouldn't be sitting here right now. You wouldn't be staring into my eyes and wishing things had gone differently. His words rang inside Kakuzu's head, distracting him as he walked along.

Genres: I suppose I should put this under general and angst. I can't think of anything else to classify this as.

Pairings: This could very well be seen as KakuHida but it's up to you, darlings.

A/N: The only thing I have to mention is that I hope I managed to keep them in character considering what this story holds. Oh, and I must ask you to review, please.

Now, enjoy. :D

Hidan sat on the end of his bed at the inn, staring hard at the floor while Kakuzu slept on. He knew that he should be sleeping as well but he'd been tossing and turning for too long and he just couldn't stand to lie there anymore. So he sat there thinking instead. At first, it was just random flashbacks to the mission he and Kakuzu had recently finished and then a little bit of battle strategies. But the more he thought, the more his thoughts drifted toward his sleeping partner.

Honestly, they weren't nice thoughts. They were mostly criticizing and strategies to piss him off. Hidan glanced at the other bed, his brow furrowed. He stared at the other man for a few minutes and found himself wondering if Kakuzu had been such an angry miser his entire life. An ache formed deep within his chest so he forced himself to look away. Of course not, he thought with a slightly angry tone in his thoughts. Of course he wasn't always like this. I wasn't. Jashin…

That's when his train of thought went in a completely different direction. It spiraled into several "what if" theories about Kakuzu. After awhile, Hidan became frustrated and confused. He didn't like thinking of Kakuzu like that. It made him feel weak in a sense. He reached inside his robe and pulled out one of the only three kunai he owned. Angrily, he started stabbing himself in the arm. Of course, the pain released some of his frustrations but brought new ones because he couldn't keep quiet. He loved the pleasure of the pain and Kakuzu did not. Hidan whispered a frantic prayer to Jashin, trying to enjoy the moment before his partner ruined it.

"What are you doing?" Kakuzu hissed from his bed. Knife still in his arm, Hidan turned his head in an uninterested way to look at him. As predicted, the pain was momentarily forgotten. His rushed ritual was now interrupted.

"What does it look like?" he retorted easily. He didn't want Kakuzu to be awake yet. He'd been having fun.

Kakuzu scoffed in disgust. "Do you really have to be doing that in here? You're going to stain the sheets and floor and I hope they don't try to hunt us down for it."

"So we leave now and let them try and find us," Hidan replied, liking the idea of a chase. Kakuzu made some sort of annoyed sound. "Anyway, you look a little disheveled there, Kakuzu."

"I just woke up. What did you expect?" Kakuzu asked sarcastically. "Get ready; we're leaving soon." He sat up and moved to go to the bathroom.

Hidan made a face. "Why are you like this?" His eyes widened and he looked away. He hadn't meant to say that. It had slipped off his tongue before he could stop it and now he was letting loose a soft stream of profanities.

"Like what?" Kakuzu barked, pausing at the bathroom door to glare back at the Jashinist. "Why am I angry right now? Because I don't like you nor do I like to spend time with you. The sooner we get back to our base, the better."

Again, the words slipped out before he could stop them, "No, why are you always so angry?" He started cussing himself out again, even holding a fist up as if warning himself.

Kakuzu paused, not really knowing how to answer that. "Wouldn't you like to know? It doesn't matter, Hidan. It's just how it is and how it is, is good."

Hidan looked up and their eyes met for a moment.

If everything you knew was right, you wouldn't be sitting here right now. You wouldn't be staring into my eyes and wishing things had gone differently. His words rang inside Kakuzu's head, distracting him as he walked along. Hidan wandered along behind him, abnormally quiet. He didn't want to listen to those words over and over. He wanted to ignore them and make it seem like Hidan hadn't bothered him. But the words echoed continuously. It was like a stream of the same two sentences running together annoyingly, only breaking when he mentioned to himself how much he despised what his partner had said to him.

"Why'd you say that?" Kakuzu finally ground out, ignoring how badly he wanted to stay quiet.

Hidan snickered, knowing exactly where Kakuzu's thoughts were. He'd said words that he knew would stick in his head, hoping for a reaction. He hadn't disappointed him yet. Ever since they'd left the inn that morning, Kakuzu had been tense all day; he would suddenly bring himself up short, pausing for a moment, and then carrying on. Hidan had been watching him with utter amusement all day. "Because I knew it would bug you," he finally responded, trying to hide the enthusiasm behind his words.

Kakuzu spun, angry. "That can't be all. There's no way you could come up with such a profound thing to say without having a real reason. Did that minute brain of yours actually think for once?"

"Hey!" Hidan snapped, successfully pissed off. They stood face to face, sharing contempt for each other that they couldn't hide in their eyes. "Yeah, I thought about it. I figured that it would get to you."

"How did you figure?" Kakuzu muttered after a moment's pause. His voice was icy and his expression could kill.

Hidan smirked haughtily. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He put his hands on his hips and laughed loudly. Kakuzu punched him square in the jaw, popping his knuckles in the process and smiling in pleasure as Hidan started cursing loudly. "What the fuck was that for?" he screamed angrily, pissed again.

"In fact, I would like to know where you pulled that brilliance from considering what you said is concerning me," Kakuzu snarled, pulling his hand back and rubbing his knuckles. He was hoping to get another chance to punch him.

Hidan snorted. "I didn't just pull it out of nowhere. I'm not the idiot you make me out to be, you know? I've been paying a little attention to you and…" He paused, infuriated again as he noticed Kakuzu's expression. "What's that look for?"

"Carry on," Kakuzu encouraged instead of answering. Despite himself, he was curious as to where Hidan was going with this.

Hidan's expression was rather unwilling as he contemplated his partner's last expression before he'd composed himself. "Anyway, and I noticed some things. Like how you're so easy to piss off…" He paused again, unhappy with the next expression that crossed his face. "What now?"

"It took you how long to notice that I'm easily angered?" Kakuzu questioned, amused now.

"No, I'm just stating facts here," Hidan replied. He was really angry now. Here he was trying to get his point across – the one Kakuzu had asked for – and he couldn't even finish a sentence. "Can I finish now?" Kakuzu nodded but Hidan was still wary. "Anyway, my point is that I know something's still messing with you and I figured that if I thought about it hard enough, I could find something that would really crawl under your skin. But the best part is, I knew that if my words were chosen right, you wouldn't be able to get too mad at me for them because I'd be right." He winked happily. "And I am."

Kakuzu snorted. "So I was right. You pushed your miniscule brain to the edge and came out with just a few random words?"

Hidan frowned, annoyed and honestly slightly confused. He knew that Kakuzu wouldn't be so angry if he hadn't been so right but here he was acting like his words had had no meaning. "Don't lie, Kakuzu. Everyone in the Akastuki has their demons to deal with. That's why we're so ruthless."

"Shut-up, Hidan!" he snapped, turning away. Hidan saw one of his hands twitch as if to form a fist but unable to.

"Hey, when I'm right, I'm right," he replied easily and walked ahead of the other. "Try to contain yourself and not stab me in my sleep, please. It just means more work for you in the end." Again, he knew he was right because Kakuzu cursed loudly.

"What if I didn't sew you back up and I let you sit there and rot?" Kakuzu asked, infuriated. "What would you do then?"

Hidan paused. "Fuck!" he screeched angrily. "If you went back to Leader-sama without me, you'd be in trouble. He'd make you come back and get me."

Kakuzu cursed again. "I hate you, Hidan."

"Then it's mutual," he replied sourly.

A hand ended up on his shoulder, forcing him to stop and look behind him. Kakuzu was still standing where he'd been before with an unreadable expression on his face. His wires were extended to hold his hand on Hidan's shoulder. "That's a lie, you know." Hidan made a face, angry. "If that were the case, you wouldn't have thought so much and said such words."

"You think I'm so stupid that it's a compliment that I think about you?" Hidan hissed, hand going toward his scythe. Kakuzu retracted his hand in anticipation. "Fuck you, Kakuzu. I'm not dumb. I think a lot – just don't really bother to think aloud because you always shoot me down. You're the idiotic heathen if you think I've got such a minute brain!"

Kakuzu shook his head. "Why do you care so much, Hidan?"

This question took Hidan off guard and it showed on his face. "What do you mean?" he hissed dangerously.

"Why do you care what I think?" Kakuzu replied earnestly, wanting another opportunity to hurt Hidan because his physical attack had failed and Hidan was being dodgy about his reasons.

Pausing, Hidan looked away. His face was an indecipherable mask that Kakuzu couldn't understand. "Everyone in Akatsuki has their demons to deal with, Kakuzu," he whispered simply.