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The walls were dark; the minuscule amount of light that threatened to peek through the small window affixed to the upper part of the wall was barely enough to brighten the room at all. Everything was still spinning as Kakuzu opened his eyes; nausea coming over him almost immediately.
“What –” he spoke quietly as he pulled his hands up, finding them in shackles. He was still unable to recall where he was, unsure if anyone was watching him.
He quickly noted that he was down to three hearts; the places where the other two used to rest aching in desire to be replaced. His hands moved around his body, attempting to assess any other damages he may have encountered; only being able to find a few gashes across his shoulders, some stitching ripped from his body, and dried blood caked on the remnants of his clothing.
His attention immediately got directed away from himself as he heard footsteps slowly approaching him. The amount of light in the room still not sufficient enough to make out who it was.
Konoha –
He couldn’t recall if he had even made it to the gates; but, he did recall that he was trying to come back to Konoha to finally get revenge on the Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
Just the thought of his name sent anger pulsating through Kakuzu’s body. He wanted him dead, if for no other reason than to feel better about the life that he was living now. It had been many years since the encounter, but he could remember the outcome as it had just been mere hours ago. The way the entire village turned against him because he wasn’t able to kill Hashirama; being tortured at the hands of the men he had worked alongside for years – he would never forgive Hashirama for not killing him when he had the chance, for making him put up with the disappointment of not being able to complete a mission.
He spent weeks after slaughtering the village elders contemplating how he would seek revenge on Hashirama; now years later he finally decided to make his move
“So, you’re awake?” a deep-sultry voice echoed through the room. What Kakuzu could remember of their last fight, that voice sounded nothing like Hashirama’s.
“Where am I?” he spoke quickly; the quicker he figured out what exactly had happened, the quicker he could get back on the road.
“Oh? So, you do know how to talk.” Kakuzu noted the slight teasing in the voice; the small amount of light cascading gently across the fabric of the man’s pants. “You were quiet when we brought you in a few nights ago.” Kakuzu could almost hear the smirk in the man’s voice.
A twinge of panic immediately riddled across him, a few nights ago? How long had he been unconscious? He knew that he needed to leave as quickly as possible; but, the tone of the other man-made his skin crawl – he knew he wasn’t leaving anytime soon.
He found himself watching the dark shadow of the other man carefully, trying to meticulously figure out each step he took – knowing that at any moment he could attack him without warning. The light slowly moved up from his pant legs, cascading across the frame of the man’s body – stopping as it gently rested across the bottom of his face. Kakuzu immediately noted the red line that decorated the man’s chin; he only knew one man who wore that – Tobirama Senju.
“I see I made it to Konoha?” Kakuzu all but spit out; Tobirama let out a laugh as he crouched down in front of him. His red eyes catching the light as they fell across Kakuzu’s face; carefully watching his expression as he leaned further towards him.
“You sure did,” Kakuzu could finally see the smirk that laid prominent across his face, “and what exactly was it that you wanted with the village?”
Kakuzu stayed silent for a moment running over what he should say in his head, deciding that being truthful was likely the best option considering the situation; “Your brother for starters.” He watched Tobirama’s face carefully, expecting any change of expression – but seeing none; the toxic smirk still staying laid across his face.
“Finally seeking vengeance after all of these years?” Tobirama laughed as he stood up, Kakuzu watched as he carefully pulled a kunai from his pouch – dragging it slowly across his index finger as if to check the sharpness.
He slowly nodded his head; with no warning Tobirama quickly pushed himself forward – placing the kunai gently against his throat, holding it there with just enough pressure to cause a twinge of pain to surge through his body; he could feel his heart rate climbing with each passing second.
Tobirama leaned in, keeping the kunai held against his neck, placing his mouth just barely against his ear, his voice rough, “Just because my idiotic older brother let you walk free doesn’t mean I’ll do the same.”
He pulled the kunai off of his throat and stood up in front of him; a laugh escaping his chest.
“Be my guest,” Kakuzu spits out, laughing himself, “I’d love to see you try.”
Even though he was down to three hearts, he was quite certain that the man in front of him couldn’t take him all on his own; though, he didn't quite mind the idea of him trying. He knew that he should’ve died years ago when he fought against Hashirama, but that didn’t happen – leaving him in this state; longing for death, but, unable to die.
“Eager to die?” Tobirama laughed at the tone of his voice, crouching back down towards his face, placing the kunai against Kakuzu’s chin and bouncing it gently against his skin.
“Hardly; more so just curious if the other Senju is capable of doing such horrific things.” He found himself cocking his head to the side, watching the light barely shine against Tobirama’s headpiece – gently showcasing the Hidden Leaf symbol.
“I think you’d be excited to see what I’m capable of.” He smirked as he pulled the kunai up to Kakuzu’s mouth, pushing the blade against his lips – in an attempt to push his mouth open.
He wasn’t able to keep his mouth shut with the pressure that was being placed against it; as soon as his mouth opened, Tobirama dragged the blade across Kakuzu’s tongue. The metallic taste overwhelming his senses, he found himself immediately spitting the blood – the droplets landing across Tobirama’s face.
“What the fuck was that?” Kakuzu spits out; blood once again falling from his mouth – especially as the moments passed and his mouth became more and more numb.
Tobirama’s face lit up; the smirk that was there before remained riddled across his face, only now it seemed more sinister as he dragged his thumb against his face, wiping away the blood that stained his skin. He looked over at Kakuzu with his deep-red eyes before his gaze dropped to his hand; he then returned his gaze to Kakuzu as he slowly moved his thumb towards his mouth. Kakuzu watched in slight horror as Tobirama’s tongued licked up the blood that rested on his thumb, every drop finding its way into his mouth.
“I think part of me wants to shut you up,” He placed the kunai against Kakuzu’s lips, letting it rest gently there as he continued to suck on his thumb, “the other part of me wants to hear whatever pleading you’re going to do to try and get out of this.” He smirked as he tapped the kunai against his lips, wiping the blood that was pooling outside of his mouth with the dull-edge of the blade.
Kakuzu rolled his eyes; the Senju were notably some of the best shinobi in existence – he would be stupid to not acknowledge that – but, after fighting Hashirama he had a hard time imagining that Tobirama was any more lethal than him. All talk, but, no bite.
He kept his gaze on Tobirama, noting the gleam in his eye as he toyed with the blade against his skin.
“Are you going to do something with that blade; or just keep playing with it?” Kakuzu spits out; tired of this game that he felt like he was roped into.
Tobirama scoffed; swiftly pulling the blade down the length of his throat and then cascading the blade across his chest. Barely any pressure was used; just enough to cause the skin to break, causing him to wince with pain.
“I could do something with it, but…” he scoffed, poking the blade into his chest, digging it back and forth, “what would be the fun if things ended so soon?” his voice was low, tantalizingly sinister.
“It would be quite interesting because I simply don’t believe you Senju brothers have it in you to be, hmmm…” He pondered over the words, trying to determine what exactly he wanted to say, “rogue?” He laughed at the thought of the founders of Konoha acting in any way against the typical shinobi code; and torturing a fellow shinobi, rogue or not, wouldn’t be the peaceful shinobi life that Hashirama longed for.
It was quick; the blade quickly fell behind Kakuzu’s back to the heart that rested to the bottom left, a laugh seething to leave Tobirama’s mouth, “You still think I’m just like my brother?” His tone was amused; his eyes falling to Kakuzu’s face which remained unchanging, waiting for something to happen.
“I think you believe you’re stronger than him, but that isn’t true, is it –” Before he could finish the sentence, he felt the knife dig into edges around the mask, his body lurching – wanting to move away from the pain but also having no desire to get his hands dirty – not with Tobirama.
Kakuzu knew that he could easily take him; using jiongu would easily let him leave. He pondered if he could send the deep black threads through the small opening – in any attempt to get himself out of the room. He had no desire to fight. He came here for Hashirama and wanted nothing to do with anyone else.
“Where is Hashirama?” He spits out as the blade dug deeper along the mask; his breath hitching in his throat as the pain grew.
“My brother?” He laughed, pushing the blade deeper into the crevice. “Konoha is no longer his; I’m sworn to protect it now – and you,” He pulled the kunai out and then brought it back to his chest, “You are the one who crossed into my territory. So, I believe that you aren’t the one who should be asking questions.” He quickly flipped the kunai back into its holster on his leg; crouching down in front of Kakuzu.
“You’re scared if you let me out now, the villagers will see you as a weak leader.” Kakuzu spits out, trying anything to get a rise out of him, “And maybe they’re right.” His lips curling into a smirk as he watched Tobirama’s face change five times before settling on the intense glare that made Kakuzu feel a twinge of fear; it was almost intoxicating to him, the feel of fearing for his life.
“A weak leader?” Tobirama all but spat at him; his hand reaching back towards the pouch of ninja tools – hesitating as he drew closer. “And why exactly would that be?”
“Look at you!” Kakuzu was enjoying himself too much; enjoying the feeling of causing the man before him to question his life, “Hesitating to harm an outsider; an outsider that was here to murder your brother.” He laughed as he spoke, trying to elicit some sort of response from Tobirama – and he was, the more he spoke – the more Tobirama began to shake at the hands, his already red eyes becoming more intense by the moment. “I don’t think you could be weaker if you tried.”
Kakuzu was seething to get more words out but he hesitated as he noticed Tobirama reaching towards his back; a sword? He pondered, unknowing of what weapons Tobirama held on him.
Everything happened quickly, the sound of the sword being drawn from the sheath, the sunlight causing a red gleam in his eyes, and a quick push through the heart that he was toying around with earlier.
Kakuzu was barely able to process everything before he was breathless. His body was yearning for another heart; pained even. He looked at Tobirama and pondered if taking his heart would even be worth it; he figured it would cause Hashirama to come out of wherever he was hiding so he could finally seek the vengeance that he came here to do.
“I could kill you – instantly – if I wanted, are you aware of that?” Kakuzu rushed out, still trying to find his breath which was still adjusting to the loss.
“Oh? You think you could kill me?” Tobirama laughed as he crouched down, setting his face inches from Kakuzu’s. “Then what’re you waiting for?” He spoke erratically as he dug the sword deeper into Kakuzu.
He was at a loss for words; what was he waiting for? He couldn’t think straight, his brain still processing the blow to his chest, let alone figure out what was wrong with him that he wasn’t acting upon his desires. He wanted him dead, he needed him dead.
“You aren’t who I came here for,” Kakuzu spoke harshly; he wanted Tobirama to know that he had no interest in him – that to him, he was absolutely nothing.
“Well, you came a few years too late!” He was still in Kakuzu’s face, twisting the blade inside of him – he could hear the slight pain that resonated in Tobirama’s voice as he spoke.
“What do you mean, ‘A few years too late?’” His brain was reeling too fast to keep up with everything that was going on.
“He died years ago,” Tobirama spat out, “so, maybe if you cared so much you would’ve shown up sooner.” He pushed the sword the rest of the way he could; the feeling making Kakuzu lurch over the sword, wanting to grip at his skin, wanting to do anything to try and pull his thoughts back in order. But he couldn’t – Hashirama was dead, and here he was, stuck at the hands of a still-grieving brother.
“Ah yes, because I keep tabs on when people are destined to die.” Kakuzu rolled his eyes, quickly finding himself throwing his head back and shifting forward as quickly as he could; hitting his head against Tobirama’s as hard as he could.
He watched him as he fell back, his grip falling from the sword as his body fell onto the ground. The sword remained in his chest but Kakuzu was becoming more and more used to the feeling by the moment – allowing him to ponder what his next move would be.
He watched Tobirama as he stood back up from the ground; his nose bleeding ever so slightly from where Kakuzu had hit him. His demeanor was darker – more intense – Kakuzu felt tense with the sight of him.
“And to think that Hashirama kept you alive,” He snarled as he brought himself back up to a standing position, “guess I’ll have to change that.” He quickly pulled the sword from Kakuzu’s chest and immediately pierced another heart; Kakuzu was left dizzy, weak – he couldn’t help but wonder if this was going to be it for him; after all this time if a Senju would be the death of him after all.