Seated on a low wall in the thicket outside of the main base, the quiet rustling of trees and the distant chirp of birds were the only sounds to register.
Peaceful, almost- granted it was only because his partner had been so absorbed in a sudden, hasty ritual that he hadn’t noticed the old man take his leave. It was good to have the silence back, but he had nothing to count and nobody to kill; that in itself made him uneasy. Conditioning to the life of an S-Rank ruined all of them, he figured, but it was better to have this life than to be face down in a gutter-- rotting.
Twigs snapping brought him out of his mind and into reality. A young, accented voice echoed not too far off; he could recognize it was Deidara by the quirk at the end of the sentence. Hidan’s voice followed, edged with the same malignancy as usual. The third was unfamiliar to him, so he waited a moment before standing and making his approach.
His partner’s eyes caught him first, jerking an accusatory finger in his direction. “There’s the old fuck! What the hell were you doing, prancing around in the woods?” Kakuzu made a point of ignoring him.
❝ Deidara.❞ He greeted the bomber, before realizing who it was standing behind him.
❝ Sasori. ❞