• Shikamaru arrived without Mitsuko, as Hadin expected. The man squatted on the edge of the pit and stared down at the head in the depths of the earth.

    "Mitsuko begged me to come here and talk to you, so what did you want?" he asked gruffly.

    Hadin was surprised that the girl begged her father for him. "At first, I wanted to die. That's when your daughter convinced me that there was more to this life inside this hole. To make it short, I want to get out of here and start a new life."

    Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "How should I know that you won't kill again?"

    "My power is eternal but, I promise that I won't use my power to kill again. I have no reason to anymore."

    "I want you to apologize for killing Asuma-sensei and beg for my forgiveness in front of the whole village. If you can do that, I will allow Mitsuko to help you get back on your feet. She seems to have taken a liking to you," Shikamaru smirked.

    Hadin was speechless. He thought that Shikamaru would turn him down and leave but he was allowing him a second chance. "I'll do it," he replied, glad that he was given this opportunity. Mitsuko was so right.

    "I'll get things set up and I'll send Mitsuko to get you," with that, Shikarmaru leaped up into the trees and disappeared.

    "What is there left to like about me?" Hadin asked himself outloud with a calm face.

    Mitsuko approached the plaza, carrying Hidan's head in her arms. He did not like it one bit and had grumbled to himself the whole trip from the forest to the village. Having to be carried by a girl, pressed against her chest; it was humiliating for Hidan.

    He stared out at the crowd and could feel the grudges against him. A lot of people wore angry faces while some cried and others showed no emotion at all. It made Hidan irritated.

    Shikamaru stepped forward from his place by the Hokage. Surprisingly, he wasn't smoking a cigarette at the time. He didn't make eye contact with Hidan, instead, he was gazing at his daughter, asking her if she was making the right decision. He came up beside her and turned to meet the crowd. "This is Hidan, the man who killed my sensei, Asuma Sarutobi. My daughter found him where I buried him and she wished to help him. All he asks for is your forgiveness, my forgiveness," her father announced to the crowd.

    "I am sorry for killing Asuma Sarutobi," Hidan followed Shikamaru in the speech. He did not feel the least bit sincere about it but tried to make it sound convincing. He wanted out of that hell hole.

    The crowd was silent for the longest time until the Hokage nodded and raised his hand, signaling for everyone to depart.

    As the crowd dispersed and the Hokage left, Shikamaru lit a cigarette and took a long drag. He seemed distressed and Mitsuko was worried.

    "Well, dad?" she chimed as she held to severed head in her hands.

    "The Hokage forgives him but Hidan will have to earn my forgiveness. There will still be hatred towards him with some of the villagers. He can stay with us, if he likes and you can fix him up. He's not my problem," he told her before he began to walk away.

    Mitsuko looked down at Hidan's silver, slicked back hair with a sad look in her face. "Well, Hidan? How about you?" she asked him.

    He gazed out at the village landscape, wondering what he was going to do. The wind blew past them, blowing leaves about. "I guess I will lean on you for awhile, if you allow me to. At least until I can get sewn back together and on my way," he replied, staring blanky.

    "Alright," she said complaisantly before carrying him home.

    Over the next few days, Mitsuko would bring home bags of Hidan's body parts that she had found in the hole and sew them back onto him. It was a painful ordeal for everyone as Hidan screamed profanities when Mitsuko would poke him with the needle.

    He was slowly becoming whole again as he laid on the futon with an arm and a torso. Mitusko sat beside him, feeding him warm rice like a baby. At least no one was watching, he decided.

    "Your eyes seem to be coming to life," Mitsuko commented when she caught a glimpse of his eyes. Over the past couple days, they had slowly changed from gray to a pale violet.

    Hidan munched on some rice but didn't reply. Instead, he looked out of the corner of his eye at the shadow at the door. Shikamaru was spying on them.

    Mitsuko frowned and placed the bowl aside and reached for the bag of body parts. She pulled out a case from the pouch on her leg and began to thread the needle. Hidan watched blankly as she pulled an arm out of the bag and began to sew it onto his shoulder. He kept his mouth shut this time even though the pain was nearly like that of a papercut. He had been sewn up so much in the past few days, he was numb of pain and began to look like Kakuzu.

    "Is this a finger?" Mitsuko asked as she held up a large digit, bigger than a giant's thumb. Hidan stared in horror while the shadow at the door bursted out laughing and had to run off.

    "No... uh... I'll sew it back on myself later," Hidan took it out of her hand and threw it back into the back. She looked at him, clueless.

    "That was a large finger, are you sure?" she asked him knowing the struggle she had to go through to sew a finger of his back on.

    "Yeah," Hidan blushed with a smile.

    Mitsuko continued working on Hidan's arm. In and out, under and over. A repitative motion like a sewing machine.

    "Mitsuko, I really want to thank you for going through all this trouble."

    "Oh? Sure thing," she turned away to hide her face.

    "No, really. I really appreciate it. If it wasn't for you, I'd still be down in that hole."

    Mitsuko smiled but didn't look into his violet eyes, as much as she wanted too.

    "You were like my light at the end of the tunnel, you know?" he chuckled and laid his head back on the pillow. "Instead of Jashin, I saw you."

    Mitsuko saw him close his eyes and place his hand on his chest. He had passed out. She finished up and quickly left with the bowl of rice in her hand.

    As Mitsuko washed the dishes at the sink, her father sat with her old brother at the table playing a game of cards. He ocassionally took a drag of his cigarette and tapped it against the ash tray while folding out his cards.

    "Papa, who is Jashin?" Mitsuko asked loudly over the rush of water in the sink.

    "Hadin's stupid god that he worships," her father replied as he casually laid a bill out on the table. His bet. His son eyed it with amazement and then smirked.

    "Oh," Mitsuko felt relieved and turned off the water. She gazed out the window as she leaned on the counter.

    "Don't believe anything he says, Mitsuko. He'll do anything to get a willing sacrifice for his cult deity," her father said to her, placing another bill on the table.

    "I'll watch myself, father," she turned around and saw the two of them gambling. "Watch yourself, nii-chan. Papa has a notorious game face," she warned her brother before heading back to Hidan's room.

    To be continued....