Chapter 7

Nozomi looked in awe as she saw the lush greenery in front of her. If that wasn't enough, there was a beautiful, majestic waterfall that flowed over the side of the cliff. When the sun caught the water droplets just right, a rainbow became visible "There's really a hidden village in there? You must have traveled here before, huh?"

Kakuzu didn't answer, which caused her to raise an eyebrow in confusion. Rather, he started walking again and Nozomi followed behind. There was a secret passageway behind the main waterfall that they entered, but instead of being greeted with darkness, there were lit torches along the walls.

"Wow, this is so cool. Is it like a maze or something?" Nozomi glanced around at their surroundings. "What's the name of the village? Are we going to visit?"

"Just focus on keeping up." He didn't look at her. "You're asking a lot of questions."

Nozomi tilted her head. "Isn't it normal to ask questions about a place you've never been before?"

The two turned a couple of corners in silence, Kakuzu looking for something and Nozomi simply in tow. Each hallway seemed to look exactly the same as the previous and, frankly, Nozomi was starting to get lost. It was good that Kakuzu seemed to know where he was going, but that also made her a little uneasy. He's been really quiet and he refuses to say anything about the village.

"Kakuzu-san… Is this place your home village?"

Kakuzu stopped walking and glanced over at Nozomi. Although his gaze was still as impassive as ever, she could feel a hint of animosity towards her. Hopefully it was all just her imagination. Maybe it was to get her to stop talking, but the gears in her brain were already turning.

"I-I, uh… I was just thinking because you've been really quiet and purposefully not answering my questions about the village… But you don't have to tell me if you don't want to!" Nozomi started to ramble as she laughed off her nervousness. Because it was hard to figure out what Kakuzu was thinking, she didn't want to piss him off.

"Yes."

The female's eyes widened as she didn't expect for him to answer her. "Huh?"

"The name of this place is Takigakure and the only way to enter the village is through this cave system behind the waterfall." Kakuzu told her. "I lived here my entire life before I eventually left."

Nozomi felt a mix of emotions. On one hand, she was happy that Kakuzu was opening up to her. Judging by his demeanor, he probably didn't share his private life with others, so it made her giddy that he trusted her enough to tell her himself. On the other hand, however, her questions weren't going to stop there. What was his life like in the village? What was his family like? Does he still have family there? Did he have any close friends?

"...Why did you end up leaving?" She decided to push the envelope and get straight to the point. "Does it have something to do with what you told me before? That if you don't follow directions, then you're wrong?"

"I'm not obligated to answer your questions." Kakuzu's voice was harsh as started walking again. "You're the one that's in debt, not me."

Nozomi puffed out her cheeks in annoyance from his tone, but she held back her comments. Whatever happened, it was clear that he didn't want to talk about it and she didn't want to push him anymore than she already had. As she followed behind him, she strayed closer to the wall as she tried to make connections of his personal life in her head. Taking another step, part of the path shifted underneath her foot and a hatch opened in the wall. Smoke blew out of the opening and Nozomi was able to inhale a bit of it out of surprise before Kakuzu pulled her away. Immediately, she fell unconscious in Kakuzu's arms.

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They'd been walking for some time now and she was running a fever. Kakuzu frowned as he carried Nozomi over his shoulder. Since he had last been here, he knew the village had traps that were set to subdue outsiders so he should've been more careful. If the traps were the same, he knew how to fix the issue but he would need to do so quickly.

Kakuzu came across an underground waterfall in a small cavern. All of the water systems here were connected so this was perfect. Setting Nozomi's body down against the cave wall by the water, he turned away to figure out how to get her to drink the water. Once she woke up, he could just order her to drink it; it's not like she could tell him no anyway.

The sound of Nozomi stirring caused Kakuzu to focus his attention back onto her. Slowly, she opened her eyes, however they were shrouded in a daze. Her face was red from her increasing body heat, but the moment her eyes met his… It was as if she had seen a ghost. Nozomi immediately stood up and scurried away from a confused Kakuzu, running away from the water and deeper into the caves.

"Get away from me!" She screamed.

The male was taken aback by her sudden outburst before snapping out of it and following after her. Did the smoke mix up her thoughts? Who did she think he was? "Where are you going?"

"I said get back! I know your true identity!" Nozomi reached into her pouch and threw an explosive kunai at him, with very accurate aim if he might add - another perk from their training. Of course, it wasn't anything he couldn't dodge completely unscathed. Seeing as her attack was futile, she turned around a corner and kept moving. "You said that you would kill me! I heard you say it!"

"And who do you think I am?" He could've caught her easily, but he was intrigued now. Clearly, she wasn't in her right mind, so she must be hallucinating.

"I know who you are! You're the weird plant person!" Nozomi looked around to see where she could evade him next. It was as if his voice was surrounding her as it echoed off the cave walls. When she looked back, she didn't see him anymore, but that may have been because he could disappear in the ground like the last time she saw him. Memories of their previous interaction flooded her mind and she thought of the voices she could hear while she was unconscious during that time.

Not watching where she was going, Nozomi ran into a couple of Takigakure jonin who were surveilling the area. "Please help me! He's trying to kill me!" Seeing the woman in hysterics, the men were highly puzzled by her actions, especially because they didn't see anyone else there.

"Ma'am, please calm down." One of the shinobi spoke. "How did you get in here?"

"You can't let him get me!" Nozomi tried to catch her breath. "Kakuzu-san is going to come save me."

The two jonin exchanged looks of bewilderment. "Kakuzu? You mean the Kaku-"

Before the two could finish talking, tentacles shot out and impaled the two shinobi, instantly killing them. Kakuzu appeared behind Nozomi and the female turned around, looking up at the man in horror. Even though she was hallucinating, he felt a sense of discomfort from her gaze. Mentally shaking away his thoughts, he slung her over his shoulder and headed back to the waterfall.

"Let go of me!" She beat her fists against his back. "Kakuzu-san!"

"You're loud and I'm right here."

"You can't fool me again. I know you're the weird plant guy."

Kakuzu didn't answer her as he kept walking. The sooner he fixed this problem, the sooner they could meet up with Hidan and get out of here. It wouldn't be long before someone noticed those two shinobi were unresponsive.

"How are you and Kakuzu-san connected? He's nothing like you." Nozomi continued to talk. "I don't know who this Akatsuki person is or what they do, but I would never intentionally screw him over. I owe Kakuzu-san my life and I'll do anything for him." So she could hear everything when she was unconscious…

Suddenly, Kakuzu stopped walking. "You really believe in him that much?"

"He's never done anything to make me not trust him." Nozomi answered firmly.

Kakuzu smirked to himself in amusement from her answer. Despite her hallucinations, some things never change. "You need to drink this water now. Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

Nozomi tried to push off of him. "The only way I'm drinking it is if Kakuzu-san told me to."

The hard way it is. In one movement, he tossed her in the lake and Nozomi started to flail in the water. "Help! You have to- Help!" She was moving erratically but nothing was keeping her afloat. Her head bobbed in and out of the water before she completely disappeared. As she started to sink, she felt her last breaths leaving her body.

Seeing as she hadn't resurfaced, Kakuzu immediately jumped into the lake and pulled Nozomi out. Shit… How was he supposed to know she couldn't swim? She wasn't moving, which was very unsettling. He was trying to keep her by his side, yet every action he took seemed to do nothing but push her away. She couldn't have drank that much water, so maybe she would be okay.

Laying her on her back, he pulled his mask off and pressed his lips against hers. One round of resuscitation turned into two, but she wasn't responding. She couldn't give up; she had to live. After everything they had done together, he couldn't be the reason why she was no longer here. Especially considering what she was to him. Leaning towards her a third time, their lips connected once more. Please, Nozomi…

Nozomi's eyes opened and the sight in front of her was enough for her to consider passing out again. Kakuzu's lips were against hers and, once realization hit, she gave in and kissed him back. The male immediately pulled away from her, shocked by her actions but grateful that she was alive. Nozomi, on the other hand, sat up and started coughing up the remnants of water in her lungs. The heat gathering in her cheeks had already given her away.

"How long were you awake?" Kakuzu asked, as he put his mask back on. Just like that, he was back to his usual self, but it was obvious he was trying to hide his own face.

Nozomi looked away from him once she was okay, knowing he wasn't going to like her answer. "The whole time…"

The male's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "So you faked it?" When she didn't answer, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. "I thought you said you weren't going to 'screw me over'?"

"I-I was just giving you a taste of your own medicine!" Nozomi cleared her throat, trying to sound more confident than she actually was. He was trying to have a serious conversation but they were just kissing moments ago. Something like that wasn't going to leave her brain anytime soon. "This doesn't gloss over the fact that you still tried to kill me!"

"You're still alive."

"I nearly drowned though! I can't swim."

"You look fine to me. How can you not swim, but you used to live in a place surrounded by water?"

"You're the one in the wrong, not me!"

Kakuzu let go of Nozomi and stood up. His clothes were soaked, but it wasn't all for naught. The lingering feeling of her soft lips against his was a memory he would hold onto, as well as something he wouldn't mind repeating. Still annoyed by her actions, he made sure his voice showed her that. "We're leaving."

"Kakuzu-san…" Nozomi stood up, wringing out the ends of her shorts and shirt. "Would you ever intentionally kill me? I remember hearing your voice saying if I did anything suspicious, you wouldn't hesitate to kill me… I don't know what more I can do or say to show you how much I owe you and that I would never-"

"Don't bother asking a question like that. You're worth more to me than just your debt, Nozomi Shidou."