Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto

I have decided to re-write every signal one of the one-shots I have with the Akatsuki members and Hyuga Hinata, and place it in one story so I don't have one-shots crawling all over the place.

One-Shot Number - One

Couple - Kakuzu and Hyuga Hinata

Tea

Tea can do many things just like women - Anonymous

He could count his lucky money that his head was still connected to his large torso however his left leg had been ripped off his body carelessly and seemed to have landed on a small mountain of rock. His right arm was a few many feet away from his torso and he couldn't locate his other arm anywhere; naturally, his limbs were able to sew themselves back on with little trouble except now that only one of his hearts remained so his limbs couldn't return by themselves. A sickening coughing fit raked his body and he grimaced when he felt more of his blood gash from his wounds. A pool of crimson liquid had formed beneath his torso, the smell would be attracting wild animals soon and he couldn't help the snarl that escaped him as he thought about his defeat.

He had been sent on a solo mission to collect money for the criminal organization he had been forced to join and ended up like this. A middle aged woman by the name of Akira Hyuga was the most wanted woman alive with an impossibly huge amount of cash atop her head and worth even more alive. Every hidden village was after her newly formed and improved bloodline limit – a better Byakugan. She and one other person were the only ones with this new bloodline limit. It was rumored that this bloodline limit was more powerful than the Sharingan and the Rinnegan.

The woman had put up a long and hard battle to keep her life; she had won. She kept shouting something about not being a proper mother and was on the search for her daughter's soul mate. After she was done ripping his limbs off with her tiny hands blazing with chakra, she looked down at him with a pleased smile and a proud look in her grey eyes then patted his cheek later and muttered –

"Bye bye now, my future son-in-law."

That Hyuga was out of her mind! He was old enough to be the woman's grandfather not only that but he was pretty sure, mothers-in-laws did not rip their son-in-law's arms and one leg off with an expression of crazy and delusional person. The woman had turned around, leaned on something invisible to the eye and babbled on about having floating grandchildren as she left him to die.

What a way to die...

Quickly the wounded man's temper began to flare as his patience ran thin and his bruised pride kept returning to his mind. His building temper caused another coughing fit and soon he passed out from lack of blood.

The skin along his arm darkened, strengthening and he pulled it back slightly then punched the chakra bearing object resting at his side. No scavenger was going to make a meal of him! The creature cried out in unexpected pain and was launched backwards a few metres. He listened as it rolled several times before coming to a halt and choked out loud coughs of pain...coughs? Animals didn't cough...did they?

He opened his jade eye slowly, his brows knitted together in confusion and he blinked a few times trying to get the focus back in his lens. His body clenched in pain as he sat up with much difficulty, the skin going around his shoulders and armpits pulled causing the skin to throb. The skin circling his thigh on his leg also pulled making it throb and he felt weak. His head felt light and his body suddenly felt heavier than it usually did. He narrowed his eyes searching for chakra being he had wacked a few moments ago and slowly ascended from the ground.

...How?

He moved around in a small circle checking the limbs that had been ripped off and magically placed back on. He wiggled his fingers and twisted his wrists in two different directions then flexed his arms as if he were stretching. His gaze lowered to his leg, the pant leg had been rolled up to reveal slightly blood stained bandages securely wrapped around his thigh. He didn't need to move his leg to know that it too had been magically placed on. There was pain every time he moved his mended limbs but they were back in place.

His body jerked in surprise only to cause a shiver of pain to go throughout his body and glared; a young girl had suddenly appeared and was...holding out a flask of...tea – he could tell by the aroma of herbs. He attentively reached out and took the object from her, watching her carefully. He frowned at a large red mark – that was quickly turning purple – on her pale cheek and glanced into her eyes. A bolt of electricity sped up his spine; doe lavender eyes bore into him.

...It was like she was staring into soul and seeing all the bad things he had done over his long years. The precious and fragile hearts he stole from his enemies' chests. The innocent lives he mercilessly killed with a simple flick of his wrist and the way his love for money consumed his mind. The bodies he carried upon his board shoulder to bargain for cash instead of placing them in a grave beneath the ground he walked on. She seemed to see all the evil he had done and yet gazed up at him with compassion and curiosity.

"Drink this please. It will make the pain go."

His jade eyes glanced down at the liquid for a moment with uncertainty; she had healed him. He swallowed the tea in one gulp...he grimaced at the horrid taste and lifted his chin to yell at the girl...his eyebrows knitted together; she was gone.

Growling low under his breath, he couldn't understand why he suddenly became upset that she had left without another word. Shaking his head from his thoughts, he moved in the direction of the organization he worked for and...felt no pain. The horrible liquid she had given him made feel better.

...

Most people would have left him for dead.

For the first time in many years, a genuine smile crossed his stitched lips.

...It felt good to be cared for.

"Where did you get that?" He demanded with an angry snarl, at the moment he had a hand locked around his partner's throat making it hard for the man to breathe not that he could die and his other tanned hand held up a flask of tea. The tea had a very familiar scent to it.

"What the fuck, Kakuzu! The fucking tea?!" His partner managed to exclaim despite his lack of air. His hand around the man's neck tightened making him choke, his jade coloured eyes narrowed further and a threatening growl was heard, "Fuck! Okay, Okay. This fucking beautiful girl gave it to me after she fixed up!"

"You didn't call her bitch?"

"No fucking way man! She fucking fixed me!"

Kakuzu studied the man; the chest wound he had given his partner was fully healed without the use of stitches and the stomach wound the man had given himself was healed too. He could sense the faint traces of the girl's chakra on the healed wounds also a faint scent of herbs and female...he smiled stretched on his stitched lips. It was that same girl that had saved him a while back-a frown crossed his face and his body tensed. His skin darkened and tightened around the man's neck even more than before. Rage swept over him making his blood boil.

"You sacrifice the girl, Hidan?"

"Fuck no!"

He would have calmed down but the idea of someone hurting that girl only made his rage boil further so he decided the best thing to do was take it out on his partner.

Only hours later did he gather his partner's body parts and stitch them back together.

Jade eyes and crayola eyes stared at the shattered flask on the ground below; the herbal liquid that it had contained was being soaked up by the dry land beneath their feet.

They failed to notice a crowd had formed around them stilled and watched on with waiting anticipation. The crowd had been watching them for an hour as they had argued about a flask of tea and tugged it continuously between the two of them. Some of the villagers had even taken bets as to who would win the foolish and childish agreement – anything concerning a ninja was exciting. Most civilians looked to ninja like they were gods for the amazing abilities they had and their strange ways of doing things in life.

Civilian children were raised to see ninja as gods for their powers and strange ways however they weren't taught that not all ninja lived for defending the lives of others. This tiny village soon learnt that not all ninja were good or considerate of those weaker than themselves when every signal building was destroyed and more than half of the villagers were killed during the fight of Kakuzu of Takigakure – Village Hidden by a Waterfall – and Hidan of Yugakure – Village of Hot Water – over a flask of spilled tea.

The revolting odor of blood and decaying flesh was heavy in the air making it difficult to breathe; male corpses lay scattered all around the wooden floors and puddles of dark liquid – blood – pooled all about the room like water in the rainy season. His gag reflex was triggered when he walked particularly close to a rotting corpse; maggots crawled around on the corpse, some crawling out the corpse and he could see small lumps moving beneath the body's flesh, flies decorated the body too. He glanced away from the floor to see female corpses hanging on the wall by chains dressed in nothing, only a few wore rags yet the rags bearing covered them and insects littered these bodies as well. Dried blood stains were splattered on the grey stone walls and a few weapons of torture lay on a table in one of the room's corners.

He struggled to walk forward and continue his mission- not wanting see more.

A chilling screamed rang through the air and his hesitation was quickly forgotten as he rushed to the door on the other side of the room. His arm reared back, darkening and pushed forward breaking through the door to reveal the girl being whipped by his target. She was dressed in thin rags that barely covered her body, the rag was soaked crimson with her blood and she looked close to death. She had slashes leaking of red liquid all over her frame, her features were screwed up with pain and transparent liquid trailed from her eyes down her bloodied cheeks – tears.

His shoulders hunched as all the muscles in his body tightening and dark rage raced through every vein in his body. His sharp vision faded to red and his skin became an indestructible layer of armor. He launched himself forward and gripped the man's skull within his large hand. His squeezed the man's head tightly seeking vengeance for the harm he had done the girl-

"D-don't..." A weak voice managed to rasp, his raged filled eyes glanced up into those lavender eyes he remembered too well. He could see that she was struggling to keep consciousness and her body was trembling violently. He stared into her lavender eyes...

He sighed and knocked the man unconscious, vowing to take the man's life one day. He marched up to her trembling figure, slightly annoyed with her and crushed the chains holding her from the floor. He caught her before her body hit the floor and cradled her. Her head rolled, leaning in his chest and he blinked in shock when she smiled at him before losing consciousness. Panic arose however faded when he watched her chest moved with her shallow breathing and he kicked the man's body on his way out. He needed to get her medical attention and fast.

The closest village was Konohagakure –Village Hidden in Leaves.

He moved with urgency and nervousness, careful not to disturb the girl in his arms. The image of her tears and bleeding wounds burning fresh in his mind.

He glared and it glared back.

"Mutt." He muttered lowly, it simply growled bearing its canine fangs at him and its hackles was raised, fur standing at end. His eyes narrowed further when it opened its maw and began barking loudly in his face; he didn't move an inch. A scowl formed on his face though it was hidden behind his mask when he couldn't decide what to do. He knew that the others would approach to see what the thing was making a noise about...hurting the thing was an option...right?

But...he wasn't in the mood to see more blood at the moment.

"Akamaru! Wha-"

Kakuzu slowly turned to see a group of people staring at him with shock which slowly changed to rage and the boy that had been calling the beast took a step toward him but was stopped by the Hokage, herself. Her amber eyes were hard and her features stern as she took him in. He stood, ignoring the animal for the time being and faced the sannin, his posture straight and shoulders square. The crowd watched with apprehension and animated patience. Their leader and the Akatsuki member gaze's were locked tight – unwavering.

"Kakuzu of the Akatsuki, you are not welcome here." The woman stated simply, her body was tense ready for a fight as were the group of ninja standing behind her. He knew that ANBU had surrounded the building – the hospital – ready to capture him if he were to leave the building however he knew that he'd still be able to escape. The group of ninja behind her didn't know this like she did; she also knew that many would be harmed if they were to capture him.

"I'll leave once I've seen the girl." He replied, he widened his stance and crossed his arms – a sign, he was ready to fight.

"Last room to the right." She said, he nodded and walked off in the direction the girl was to be. The group behind her began to protest; none of them confronted him so he ignored them and continued to ignore the beast that had challenged him earlier. He couldn't care less to what happened to the group at the moment, their lives weren't important to him...the girl's life was important to him. For some reason he had to see that her chest still rose with each breathe she took and those lavender eyes still full of life.

He hadn't expected her to be there; when he heard that scream, he couldn't stand being there a second longer and wanted to get his mission over as soon as possible. He also didn't expect himself to care for the girl even after she had saved him...he had been planning on repaying her kindness just...without caring what happened to her next or to feel any kind of emotion toward her.

The only emotions normally expressed was anger or annoyance...not happiness or content.

...This young female drew emotions from him that he hadn't felt in a very long time.

It was strange; her presence was comforting and pleasant much like other females he's been around – more comforting than his mother's had been, well of what he remembered anyway. Nor had he ever seen anyone's eyes so compassionate and gentle. This girl...was different from anyone he had ever met.

It took three days for his temper to finally explode along with his thinning patience.

Kakuzu the back of the boy's neck as he marched in the door and shoved the blond male in the direction of the window, a pleased smirk graced his tanned face as he listened to the scream. He walked forward the window, hoping to see a mangled and lifeless body on the ground. The blond deserved it for touching the girl's hand while she was unconscious and screaming in her ear since she had been rescued. What made it worse was that it was rumoured among these Konohagakure ninja that the girl had feelings for the nine tail's vessel. He didn't know why that rumour annoyed him but it just did.

Pein, the leader of Akatsuki was also on his case.

The ginger haired man demanded that he finish the mission and bring the girl along with him, her bloodline limit would be useful to the criminal organization. He wouldn't have minded have the girl there yet his mind always wondered back to the rest of the group – a bunch of males. He knew that every signal one of those men were woman deprived; sure, there was Konan but their leader had made it very clear that she was the ginger haired man's. The girl's feelings wouldn't matter to them.

...Well, her feelings about this village didn't matter to him, he could always kidnap the girl...it was just the men that were stopping him.

Blinking from his thoughts, he was disappointed to see that the boy had survived however he managed to land on a stern...male – the figure didn't have a feminine voice. Kakuzu felt himself tense when he noted the male's eyes; they were like the girl's only grey. This man was related to the girl in some way, her sibling perhaps? His tanned hands suddenly clenched into fists, he feared this man would take the girl.

"A-Akatsuki-sama..."

A chuckle escaped him and he turned his head to see that the girl had finally woken up. Her lavender eyes studying him with confusion, her pales hands gripping her sheets as she struggled to sit up and he silently moved to help her. His examined how his large his hand was on her petite frame, if he had to curl his fingers they would rest on her ribs. He reluctantly pulled his hand back although he refused to remove from his place next to her.

"Call me Kakuzu, girl."

He frowned with displeasure when her lavender gaze moved from him to analyse her surroundings.

"K-Kakuzu..."

His displeasure was shoved slightly when he heard her whisper his name on her lips, like she was slowly savoring the way his name sounded.

He grabbed a chair from one of the four walls she was stuck in to sit upon while she gathered her thoughts, he also waited for that young relative and blond to show soon. He watched her eyes take in her surroundings, her confused expression brightened when it fell upon a vase of flowers by her bedside and she reached a trembling hand to brush one of the petals. She placed her hand back at her side, frustrated and he couldn't help but snort. Her eyes narrowed and glanced at him in the corner of her eyes – daring him. He coughed to cover his surprise.

"There's a note, it's from a blond girl. Would you like me to read it?"

"Yes, p-please."

He reached to pick it up only to have her shove his arm away and snatch the note before he could take it. A distressed expression was on her face as she clutched the note with a deep flush across her cheeks and he noted that her bloodline limit was activated. He stared at the veins alongside her temples, fascinated and curious. He quickly forgot about the note – and his place in the world- and flexed his arm so he could trace the veins crawling on her temples.

"Hinata-chan!"

The girl could only watch with helplessness as the skin on the arm close to her face darkened and pushed forward in the direction the blonde's face was.

Poor Naruto-kun...

Ah, so that's the girl's name.

Yamanka Ino, one and only offspring of the leader of the Yamanka clan wasn't sure what to feel much less consider of the scene unfolding.

One of her eyes twitched...

That Akatsuki member that had refused to leave her friend's side was wearing the Hyuga's baggy jacket as a mask to cover his face and had placed his own mask around the Hyuga's shoulders. The white material sagged over the girl's face and the black piece of the mask covered her chest as well as her upper stomach.

...It was cute.

...Also a little disturbing.

He placed a large hand on the girl's head and ruffled the dark mob of hair there. His eyes wrinkled at the corners giving them a small piece of evidence of his amusement and happiness. The female blond smirked slyly when she noted his hand lingered longer than necessary and resisted the urge to squeal with delight.

"See you around, girl."

He turned his back to them and walked.

The blond didn't miss the tear sliding down the Hyuga's face.

The sky was littered with reds, pinks, oranges and...purples. It reminded him of those lavender eyes belonging to a person he hadn't brought along with him, he grunted turning away from the sky to glare at the flower garden he had a clear view of and the person taking care of plants growing there. The carnivore loved to garden as much as he loved to eat the remains of enemy ninja.

"You're acting strange and more depressed than usual." An aloof and solemn voice spoke of beside him, the voice of Uchiha Itachi. The tanned man grunted, saying nothing and moved a hand to fidget with the jacket around his head. When the Uchiha first started working with them, they grew confused at the boy's strange obsession to bring peace and relaxation to them. Later, Kakuzu learnt that the boy was trying to give them what he could never get back.

"You wear a female article of clothing around your head. Could you not find your mask or was it the cheapest article in the store?" The boy asked somewhat dryly, you could hardly hear it yet it was still there - humour. The boy found amusement in the strange gift the girl had offered him...amusing.

The Uchiha couldn't decide what was more amusing; the fact that the girl offered him her jacket as a gift or the fact that the male actually accepted the gift.

"There's an ache in my chest and it feels as if something's missing...no, it's not my room." The older ninja grumbled, his jade eyes narrowing at the boy – it was rare for the boy to act so. Uchiha's were never known for being funny. The boy coughed, a flush crossing his cheeks and quickly tried to gather his usual seriousness back.

Pein had ordered the Jashin priest, Hidan to destroy his room in punishment for not returning with the girl and nine tails. If he decided the money was worth it than he wouldn't be sleeping on the couch anymore.

"You simply miss the female that gave you that gift."

...He didn't argue knowing that the boy was the one who would know the most.

None of the criminals in the organization dared open their mouth to ask.

Kakuzu could feel the Uchiha's eyes on his back as he cradled the girl as they walked back toward Amegakure – Village Hidden by Rain – where their home awaited their return. He had already wrapped and bandaged the girl's wound after collecting her from where she had lain in the dirt. He was glad that it was just her shoulder, he still felt like she shouldn't have been punished despite her foolish move to free the nine tail's vessel. At the moment, the blue skinned man of Akatsuki carried the blond boy over his shoulder. The vessel was alive although not for long.

His smile of pleasure and happiness remained hidden behind the jacket he wore around his head.

That ache was gone.

He glared at the wooden door – the barrier.

The only person that went in there was the Uchiha, always walking in there with some kind of gift.

The Uchiha paused as he stepped out the door and slowly closed it behind him, watching the older ninja in the organization. The tanned man's back was slouched, his shoulders were hunched and he was staring at him with a droopy kind of look in his jade eyes as he glared.

The Uchiha sighed and spoke.

"Patience is virtue, try doing things that will make her life easier."

Hours later only Konan, Pein, Itachi and Kakuzu were the ones that remained in the building, Itachi didn't need to be a genius to know how the Akatsuki members had mysteriously vanished.

The one day he forced his way into her room with a cup of poorly made tea in his hand and a bunch of roses in his other hand which he stole from Zetsu's garden.

She had no choice but to exit the room when the carnivore appeared in the door with a knife and fork in his hands – a starving look on his face.

The Uchiha became her best friend and Kakuzu became her almost constant companion.

...And Zetsu became the thing she avoided most.

It was months before the girl became comfortable to move around and wasn't as depressed that she was the only one that had survived the Akatsuki invasion on Konohagakure. They never told her about the nine's tails or of his vessel.

...Well, she was as comfortable as she could be in a building full of men.

She didn't flinch when the door opened and her best friend walked in, pretending to be shocked to see her sitting in bath. She didn't need to look up to know that he was using the Uchiha bloodline limit to stare at her naked frame. Her annoyance made her blush deepen yet she didn't dare move a muscle in fear of showing him something so she sat glaring at the yellow duck that floated on the water's surface. Her body was tense but it seemed it grow even tenser when she heard his sandals move toward on the white tiles of the bathroom.

She screamed.

The tiles cracked under his weight as he landed heavily and slowly rose from his crouching position.

The Uchiha fled.

And a furious Kakuzu followed.

The same happened over the past following days.

However this time when she was expecting the Uchiha to appear in the bathroom doorway, it was Kakuzu. She squeaked loudly when he roughly pulled her from the water, dressed her in one of his shirts and dragged her into the cold streets of Amegakure. She blushed, tugging at the hem of the shirt to keep villagers from seeing the top of her thighs and struggled to keep up with the man.

He paused before a huge house on the outskirts of the village and crossed his arms, his jade eyes were pleading with her.

She was naive and maybe a little slow however she wasn't blind. She knew what he was presenting to her and she could say that she would happily accept the deal he was proposing.

"You also have to make that awful tea."

She huffed, opening the door and walking in with him following closely behind.

A smile present on both of their faces.

...

...To think it all started with one crazy woman and some horrible tasting tea.

A/N

I really think people should write more Kakuzu x Hinata, there are a few and are quite good but...the world just really needs more Kakuzu x Hinata. I understand people don't like this couple like they don't like Neji x Hinata but people remember anything is possible in fiction.