I had this lying around for a while and thought I'd post it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

1. Companion

Eternity got lonely after about three months, when he had killed everyone who meant anything to him, including other Jashinists.

He remembered the day he met his companion as if it had happened just a few seconds ago; he had finished ridding a small village near the borders of Wind Country of its atheists and heathens and was deeply engaged in prayer, lying on the dry, rocky ground as the last rays of hot sunlight dried the blood on his scarlet kimono when all of a sudden, a tall figure blocked the sunlight, casting a long shadow over him.

“You’re Hidan.”

Not a question; a fact.

“You’re an asshole.”

Not an insult; a fact.

He killed him and was killed in turn. He killed him a second time and got killed a second time. He killed him a third time and got his head knocked right off of him. And as he stared up at the man in his black cloak with red clouds on it, he realized that maybe he wouldn’t have to be lonely much longer.

He would follow him. If it meant that he’d have to join that stupid organisation the clouds stood for, then he would. If it meant that he would have to put up with stupid bounty hunts, he would. Even if it meant he would be ridiculed for his religion by that stupid atheist cocksucker – he would.

Because he was sure that he understood. He understood what outliving those you cared for was like; he understood the thrill of killing and outliving his enemies, he understood his thirst for blood.

Even though their interests differed – even though their personalities clashed – Hidan was sure that Kakuzu was the only person who would ever even come close to understanding him.

And he was set on learning to understand Kakuzu. After all, he had an eternity for that.

2. Contradictions

Hidan contradicted himself quite often, which made it hard for others to keep up with his moods.

He was concerned about smelling bad, but he didn’t give a damn about walking around with a burnt cloak and dirt coating his skin for days. He enjoyed inflicting pain on himself when he was in his reaper form, but he got angry when anyone else dared to hurt him. He constantly tried to exclude his partner from fights (for no other reason than his selfish lust for battle), but he demanded that Kakuzu treated him as his equal partner. He continued maintaining his immorality, but he said he wished to die.

He loved his partner ridiculously much, but he hated him so much that sometimes, it actually physically hurt.

3. Akatsuki

The only organisation Hidan wanted to be part of was the religion of Jashin, but when he met Kakuzu, he knew he needed to become part of that organisation – if not to be close to him, then to be able to slaughter as many people as possible.

They mocked his religion, he knew, and he knew as well as they did that he would be the weakest man in the organisation, but he didn’t care. If he had to put his pride aside, then so be it; in the end, he was sure they’d let him in because of his unique traits and large chakra reserves which they needed for the bijuu extraction.

He knew what they thought of them; Zetsu had made his opinion obvious by mocking his religion, and for the Leader he was only a tool. Konan thought he was despicable for acting disrespectful towards Leader, Itachi considered him rude and unintelligent – annoying, even. Deidara thought he understood him and approached him sometimes, but Hidan could care less about what that stupid blond twat said.

Nobody understood him. Nobody but Kakuzu, and people who claimed they did were liars and would be punished by Jashin-sama.

Sasori had been a loner and Hidan had only met him once anyway; he barely got to know Tobi, but that dumbfuck’s opinion didn’t matter in the first place. Kisame was probably the only one who wasn’t hostile towards Hidan; quite the contrary, he found him amusing. They both shared a love for combat.

What Kakuzu thought, though, he didn’t know. There were rare moments when the older nin opened up a little to him – shared a story or two about a battle long ago, a piece of advice, and he always watched out for him. But then there were those times where he cold-bloodedly watched Hidan get “killed” by his enemy, the mocking of Hidan’s religion and all the cynical comments he was never quite able to hold back.

It was especially annoying because Kakuzu’s opinion was the only one that mattered to Hidan beside Jashin-sama’s.