Acid - KakuHida

SUMMARY: For three weeks now, Hidan has been avoiding food as if it was the plague.  Kakuzu has noticed - and decided to call him on it.

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Kakuzu had lived a long time.

He had suffered, he'd killed, given and taken, written and read, spoken and been spoken to - but over all of those, he'd hated.   He'd hated himself, his village, and sometimes, even his money. But there was one thing Kakuzu could never hate.

His name - Hidan.

The name brought several words to the surface of Kakuzu's mind, but one conquered them all - perfect. Though Kakuzu tried to deny his own feelings, he had noticed how he could not close his eyes without an image of the zealot floating to the exterior of his brain, could not have a dream without him in it, could never rest unless he knew Hidan was safe - with him.

This same word formed on his lips, his multi-colored eyes locking on the bowed head of silver hair. "Hidan."

The hair ruffled itself a bit as violet eyes lifted themselves from the dish in front of them, met the miser's gaze, then quickly flit away. "What?"

Kakuzu nodded towards his plate, eyes resting on the small portion of leafy salad on the dish. "Eat."

Hidan looked down, eyes locking in the same spot Kakuzu's were fixed on. "I'm not hungry."

Irritably, Kakuzu transferred his gaze so it rested on the Jashinist once more. He rubbed tan fingers against his temples, growling, "Yeah? Unless you've got a secret stash somewhere, I'd say you're pretty damn hungry. You haven't eaten in days - and you know that can kill you. Besides... I paid for that."

"Didn't ask you to," Hidan grumbled, sliding a small piece of lettuce atop his fork. Then, he set the fork down, meeting Kakuzu's eyes. "Do I have to?"

The miser sighed. "Yes, Hidan."

Hidan returned the sigh, resting his chin on the back of his hand, his face a whirlpool of conflicting emotions - question, doubt, disgust. Then he shifted positions again, once more stabbing the piece of lettuce. He lifted it to his lips, teasing them, then set it back down, his upper lip pulled up in a grimace.

Kakuzu nodded towards the small salad. "It's your favorite."

"I fucking know. I'm not hungry."

The miser's eyes narrowed into a glare. "You're going to end up slowing down the mission, Hidan."

The zealot waved his right hand dismissively, still not meeting Kakuzu's eyes. "Fine, fine." The miser leaned forward, watching the albino's eating patterns with a burning gaze.

First, he stirred the salad a bit, brushing it over to one side of his plate, then back again. Second, he lifted his glass of water to his lips - and took three long gulps, nearly emptying the glass. Lastly, he once again lifted that forkful of lettuce - and was quick to shove it into his mouth when he finally noticed Kakuzu's scrutinizing glare. Still, it was not enough to impress Kakuzu, and he glared at him.

"Costs. Money."

"I know, dumbass! I didn't ask for dinner! I just wanted to go to sleep!"

Hidan lifted the glass of water again, but Kakuzu pushed his hand down. "What the fuck, Kakuzu? I'm thirsty."

"No more, Hidan. Eat, or no more water."

"I'll drink this if I want."

"Hidan."

"Kakuzu."

"I paid for it. Put it down."

Hidan struggled with Kakuzu a bit, trying to pull the glass away and failing - in fact, the only thing he succeeded in was drawing several strange glances from the neighbors around them.

"Mind your own business," Hidan snapped at them, and they all looked away quickly, able to tell from the odd duo that they were shinobi - and not very friendly ones, at that.

"Don't talk like that. You're teaching my kid bad manners," a particularly brave - and particularly stupid - woman scolded Hidan.

The zealot glared at her after leaning across the table to try to snatch the glass from Kakuzu and failing miserably. "Then plug his ears with your shit, woman."

She returned his glare, but after a moment of clashing gazes, she looked away, turning back to her food.

Hidan, too, returned his attention to Kakuzu. "Give me. Please."

"No. Eat and you'll get it back. Rather, eat or I'll shove it down your throat."

"Waiter," Hidan called, ignoring Kakuzu. "Can I please get some more water?"

"No," Kakuzu snapped at him, for once in his life glad that he appeared intimidating. He nodded towards Hidan's untouched food, and the waiter's eyes followed, then flashed with understanding.

"Bill then, sir?"

"No. Not yet."

The man's eyes drifted to meet Kakuzu's, but he didn't seemed at all fazed by the multi-colored orbs. "I see. Please, do call me if you need anything else." And then he was gone.

"The Hell?" Hidan hissed once the waiter was safely out of earshot. "I would've paid for it."

"It's free. You've had three glasses of water so far, though, and no food." It worries me.

"Whatever."

"Tell you what. Eat half of that and I'll get you a water and we can go back to the hotel and get some sleep."

"Joy..."

But ten minutes later, Hidan had eaten three bites of his salad - half of the tiny portion, and Kakuzu had pulled out his checkbook, satisfied.

"'Kuzu..." Hidan said quietly, catching the miser's attention. The zealot had used one of his very rare time-to-tell-you tones, and Kakuzu looked up, then looked back down.

"What?"

"I--" Hidan paused for a long while, and the miser frowned, practically hearing the gears turning in his head. "Uh, nevermind. It doesn't matter, really... forget I ever said anything..."

Kakuzu looked back up, staring at the albino. His head was bowed, and he was staring at the floor, pale fingers lightly scratching at the grains of the table. "What were you going to say?"

"Nothing. Hey, I'm going to use the bathroom, all right?"

Kakuzu's frown deepened. "Why?"

"Why do you think, douchebag?"

"Well..."

Hidan sighed, cutting him off. "I drank three glasses of water. I need to spell it out for you?"

Kakuzu rolled his eyes. "Go."

Hidan rose, and was gone two seconds later, Kakuzu's eyes following his every move.

Why?

Why do you think, douchebag?

Well... I think you have an eating disorder.