That was perfect.

Great ending to a great character. When I read the other one shot epilouge this morning I was a bit confused, but this was definatly an amazing ending.

Good.

And here you captured the new and improved (?) Kakuzu perfectly. Would have loved to read the fight but the ending fits the story very well. Thank you writing an epilogue for Kakuzu too.

Beautiful ! Just so damn beautiful !
Best attempt st writing kakuzu period!
Good job man

this made me tear up the whole time, knowing kakuzu was fading with history but refusing to go down like that :( but this was awesome! I really enjoyed reading about how the other former members of Akatsuki went about their separate ways, even more surprised when Kisame decided to take back Kiri to make it a better place, Sasori having a blonde puppet with the explosive technique.. yeah I totally get the hint ;p but this was still a great read to pass the time and I'll be getting to the next story you wrote for this piece as well :D

Great stuff. Gonna go read your Zetsu one now!

You, dear writer, have given us what is with absolute certainty the best portrayal of Kakuzu as a character, taking Kishimoto's blueprint and molding it into something wonderful.

You have my thanks, you magnificent S.O.B.

This was so awesome but so sad, Kakuzu definitely deserved to go out with a bang rather than slowly fade into obscurity. Kinda sad what happened to Hidan and Deidara though :/

A good ending to kakuzu's legacy and life.

Sweet fucking Jesus the feels. This story brought me very close to shedding a single tear, which is no mean feat I can assure you. Though it was quite melancholy, like many other readers pointed out, this end was appropriate and did Kakuzu more justice then canon ever did. Even though I'm saddened that we are officially done with "The Cost of Living" it has been quite a read and I am glad to have done it. This, I shall always hold in higher regard then canon.

I bid thee good day.

*Sniff* Im really going to miss Kakuzu... I really liked how you portrayed him...

As satisfying and poetic as this was it was rather depressing. The mentions of hidan and diedara were pretty sad. And obviously the ending was pretty melancholy. But it was still really well written and nice to have.

I shed a tear. One tear, as more tears would be a waste of resources. This was such an awesome story - I have never thought I would care about Kakuzu at all, but he became one of my favourite characters just from this fanfic.

This was a nice closure to "The Cost of Living". It was interesting to see how Kakazu had changed after everything they had been through. I think you portrayed him well in that even with a change in ideals, you managed to maintain his personality. In short, his growth felt natural and not a complete 360 like some people write.

I feel sort of bad for Hidan and Deidara (mostly the former), their destructive tendencies aside. In the case of Hidan, I had grown to like him after he became a fourth party member to Kakuzu, Fu, and Naruto. But for peace, you've got to do what it takes. I'm glad that Sasori is still alive and doing well, not that I'm biased or anything. It would have been nice to have seen or heard from Fu, but as you said, this one-shot was about Kakazu.

Before I wrap this up, I just wanted to point out that Kakazu's dream (a world where shinobi are respected and appreciated for doing their duty) reminds me of that of Big Boss' from the Metal Gear series. That is, a haven for soldiers. Anyway, thanks again for having written "The Cost of Living" and "Checkmate". As I've said before, you've really shown me Kakazu in a new light and I've come to respect the Akatsuki member more than ever.