The morning sun streamed through the planks of the shed, gently attacking Takeshi's eyelids and bringing him back to the conscious world.
The young man yawned and stretched as if he were in his own bed, instinctively fumbling with his hand, searching for the warmth and softness of a body that wasn't there.
His movements stopped as soon as he came to his senses, staring at the empty space where he expected to find sin.
—...
Slowly, he turned around and met the expressionless gaze of his teammate, leaning against a wooden pillar, in the same posture Takeshi remembered seeing last night.
—Are you a Claymore or something?— he blurted out, confusing the Jiongu user.
—Let's move— Kakuzu urged, getting up from his spot and putting on his cloak with a movement impressive to the Yuki's eyes.
—You've used that same line in other chapters, Senpai— Takeshi commented with a low grunt, reluctantly getting up from the dirty blanket and the pile of hay.
Kakuzu gave Takeshi a brief glance, internally wondering why his partner said such strange things all the time.
Both left their temporary shelter, being greeted by a freezing snow squall despite the sun beginning to trace its wide arc in the sky.
But more than the sun and the frankly moving landscape, Takeshi and Kakuzu's attention was focused on the trembling man waiting outside, standing in the snow for who knows how long.
—Good morning, Tanaka-San— Takeshi greeted with a formal smile.
—G-g-good m-morning, travelers— the man replied, more out of fear than cold. —M-my wife p-prepared breakfast.
—...
Kakuzu and Takeshi glanced at each other briefly, the former indifferent and the latter with a shrug.
The man who received them in his home with no option for refusal led them inside the cabin, where everyone sat at the table in tense silence and tasted a poorly seasoned soup with a couple of pieces of meat—meat that was destined only for the Akatsuki members' plates.
Tanaka, an already aged man, nervously glanced between the uninvited guests and his youngest daughter, fearing that the dangerous and immoral shinobi would set their eyes on the girl.
His wife tried to maintain a cordial smile at all times, although the trembling at the corners of her mouth ruined all the effort. And his daughter, barely a couple of years older than Takeshi, couldn't stop blushing every time their eyes met.
—I don't blame her, I'm a charmer— the Yuki thought humbly.
Takeshi picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks, offering it to the brown-haired girl with freckles on her cheeks.
—P-please, young traveler, that meat is for you— Tanaka clarified.
—One piece is enough, Tanaka-San. Your lovely daughter needs it more than I do— Takeshi insisted, causing the girl in question to blush even more.
—No, she doesn't need it— Kakuzu interrupted in a cold voice, standing up without having touched his plate.
Tanaka's chest sank, his wife's expression froze, and the girl continued fantasizing about things only she knew.
—Seriously, Senpai? What's your justification now?— Takeshi questioned with a sigh, gently placing the piece of meat on the daydreaming girl's plate.
—Leaving no loose ends, brat— was Kakuzu's brief reply as he searched for some shuriken in his pouch to dispose of the family.
—That's a poor excuse— Takeshi shook his head, intercepting Kakuzu's wrist with his chopsticks. —I know we're evil and all, but murdering everyone who sees you is a sign of a disturbed mind.
—... Huh?— the girl gasped, her attention finally focused on what was happening before her eyes.
—If you don't want to lose that hand, you had better let go of me— Kakuzu spoke calmly, but his tone flashed danger, and a crushing pressure descended upon those present.
—You couldn't even if you wanted to, Senpai~
—... Let me go— Kakuzu repeated, the pressure increasing and the chakra surging in his body.
—You need to relax, Senpai. Maybe a hot spring would do you good— Takeshi said, finishing his dish and standing up. He turned to the paralyzed family and nodded with satisfaction.
—Thank you for breakfast and for letting us join you. Good luck, Tanaka-San.
After his words, the Yuki patted Kakuzu on the arm and left the house. The man's eyelid twitched, and he turned to follow him, letting the family of farmers live, an experience they would never forget.
The Akatsuki pair set off again, entering the icy territory of the Land of Frost, their destination being the borders between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Lightning with the goal of completing another task for the organization.
The Yuki hadn't bothered to ask what it was about beforehand, and Kakuzu wasn't exactly talkative, so he was more or less going in blind. He didn't care too much.
He was sure his intervention in the Ninja World was minimal, if not irrelevant, so it wouldn't be anything crazy like initiating the Jinchūriki capture.
He preferred to go with the flow for now and deepen his friendship with the walking ragdoll, in order to gain his support as soon as they returned from this job.
*******************************
Days passed, and the two Akatsuki finally reached the borders between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Lightning.
True to his word, Takeshi did not find out what the hell they were doing there until they encountered and assaulted none other than a group of Kumo-Nin with darkened skin, ashy blonde hair, and the faces of people who like to steal.
Interested in stealing some valuables, Takeshi asked Kakuzu to leave the job to him, to which the man surprisingly agreed quickly, with no complaints or rebuttals.
—Is it possible that he already trusts me?— the Yuki had thought with hope in his heart.
Monster or not, Kakuzu was a character who left a great impression on Takeshi when he watched the Anime. Not so much for his strength, but for the strangeness and terrifying nature of his Kinjutsu.
The confrontation with the NPCs was simple: Taijutsu superior to Takeshi's, very dangerous flashing swords, and colossal brute strength that had little to envy of his own, nourished by a unique body with monstrous reserves that should have killed him as a baby but instead integrated harmoniously with his flesh and cells.
But the most important thing was the lightning.
Spheres of lightning, crackling chains, paralyzing touches. Takeshi was able to acquire four new techniques, though he would have to study the seals to replicate them later.
It wasn't that the Meiton allowed him to learn a technique just by absorbing it. Rather, it was a matter of mimicking the chakra pattern of the absorbed Ninjutsu and returning it to the opponent.
The advantage was that if Takeshi knew the seals and remembered the movement pattern of the released Ninjutsu, the missing element in the formula would be the internal chakra movement, which could be inferred from the other two.
But not everything was so easy.
—Senpai, Support, Support, Support!— the Yuki shrieked, running away with his tail between his legs after running into the true objective of the mission: an unknown shinobi with the not-so-strange Storm Release.
Not the one with Hiruko's little clouds, but the cursed lasers that chased the opponent like a cheap imitation of Omega Rays.
The Meiton couldn't absorb that crap, the Kumo-Nin was too fast to be caught by the Dark Release wave meant to siphon his chakra, and Takeshi couldn't get close enough to freeze him.
—All that strength, and this is the best you can do?— the Jiongu user questioned with a disappointed note in his voice.
—Unlike you, fossil, I grew up in the wild, traveling from one place to another without encountering greater threats than bandits and low-ranking shinobi!— Takeshi retorted.
—Then take the opportunity and acquire real experience. This is a perfect environment anyway— Kakuzu pointed out indifferently.
Takeshi stopped at those words, patting the ground and erecting an ice dome that protected him from the relentless attacks of the Kumo-Nin.
—Yes... You are right, Senpai!— the Yuki cheered enthusiastically, turning toward the opponent's direction with a renewed smile.
—This controlled environment is beneficial. Kakuzu will be there to ensure nothing goes wrong. After all, Pain ordered him to watch my back— he thought.
—If he gets killed, I won't have to put up with his crap anymore— Kakuzu thought indifferently.