Warnings:- Violence, blood, torture.

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They're in the middle of a job, blood up the walls and kunai embedded in the ceiling when the child walks in on them. She's tiny, with golden curls and wide blue eyes like the sky, the perfect stereotype of childish innocence, and they freeze immediately, eyes sliding around to where she stands silhouetted in the doorway.

"Watcha doin'?"

The man he is torturing turns wide, pain-crazed eyes up to Hidan's face and the priest-nin glances down impassively. Over the man's shaking shoulders Kakuzu slowly moves the bloodied kunai he holds deeper into the folds of his robes. Hidan looks from the desperate plea in the man's eyes to Kakuzu's face, turned down and to one side as he watches the girl. From where she stands she cannot see around the counter hiding Hidan and his victim from her view.

"Where's daddy?"

The man kneeling in a pool of his own blood and vomit looses a soft cry and Hidan steps on his fingers, crushing them beneath his heel in warning. The girl child takes a step forward and Kakuzu moves suddenly, swiftly, stepping around the counter to intercept her, pulling the bloodied kunai up behind his back and out of sight.

He kneels in front of her, his other hand reaching up to stroke her curls.

"Daddy's busy, sweetheart," he says, his voice deep and gentle like Hidan has never heard it before.

"What's he doin'?"

"He's talking about shop things. All boring and dull."

The girl watches this large, hulking man with his strange clothes and stranger eyes and looks for moment as though she will push further. Reaching into his cloak, Kakuzu pulls out a single, shining coin and presses it into her tiny palm.

"Here you go, sweetheart. Take this and go buy some sweeties."

She looks down round-eyed at the gift and then nods once, her curls bouncing, before skipping away and back out into the garden. Kakuzu rises smoothly and closes the door behind her, locking it firmly and setting the key down on the windowsill. Turning back he meets Hidan's eyes and returns the priest's amused gaze with calm indifference. They pause for a moment longer until the man at the priest-nin's feet shudders and begins to whimper.

Sniffing, Hidan raises his staff and aims for his victim's heart.