Akatsuki High

No one can possibly understand another’s life, unless they have walked a mile in their shoes. Even though Hidan was surrounded by friends he suffered when he was by himself. No matter what, he couldn’t stop the pain from resurfacing. Alone, he felt hopeless and sad.

Even though Hidan put on a tough front he was a wreck inside. When he was young his sister had been raped and murdered. At the time he didn’t understand it, but when he got older the information sunk in and he fell into a depression for a while. He couldn’t believe there were people who did those things for fun or simply because they wanted to. For a while, he would cry every day and his sad feelings manifested into rage. He blamed himself, if only he had been stronger and older then maybe he could have saved his sister.

Hidan remembered Juliet and how kind she had been. How her smile could light up a room and make everything better. She was the kindest person he had ever known. On many occasions she had comforted Hidan and made him see the world in a brighter way. Her outlook on life was positive and Hidan could not remember a time when she had been pessimistic.

Today happened to be Juliet’s birthday, and Hidan was hurting inside because of this fact. He sat in his room and tried to remain calm, but his heart began to race and he let out a sob. Tears spilled down his eyes and he shook a little. His hands were clenched against his side. A fat tear slid down his face and landed on his pant leg. Hidan was a wreck and when he heard his phone buzz, he jumped. Wiping his face, he reached for it and looked at it.

“Hey Hidan, I know it’s your sister’s birthday today, are you ok?”

The message was from Kakuzu. He smiled faintly and replied back. “I’m not doing so hot, it really hurts today.”

Hidan let out a deep breath and lay down on his bed. A minute later his phone buzzed again.
“I know you probably don’t want company today, but I’m coming over. I want to make sure you’re okay. Oh and I’m bringing Itachi with me.”

Hidan was thankful for the gesture, but he didn’t know if he could hold himself together on a day like today. None the less, he knew he couldn’t mope all day.

“Okay, but I might not be able to keep myself from crying. Are you okay with that?” He sent.

A moment later he received, “That’s okay and what are friends for?”

Hidan smiled, he had such great friends. Not everyone was as lucky as him.

Hidan heard a knock on his door ten minutes later. He opened his door and saw Kakuzu along with Itachi.

Kakuzu put a hand on Hidan’s shoulder, “It’s going to be okay man.”

Hidan began to tear up again. He put his head on Kakuzu’s right shoulder and sobbed out, “How do you know? You don’t know how much this hurts!”

Itachi let out a low sigh, “We might not know Hidan, but we do know how pain from the heart feels. Hell, both Kakuzu and I have felt pain from the heart more than we can count.”

Kakuzu nodded, “Itachi’s right. Don’t think you’re alone, because you have us.”

Hidan raised his head and smiled softly, “Thanks guys.”

“Why don’t we go to the mall man?”

Hidan scrunched up his face, “I don’t like shopping much.”

Itachi nodded, “Yes but we know you like Ino a lot.”

Hidan glanced at Itachi and frowned. “So?”

“Girls love to go shopping, I’m positive Ino will be at the mall. You can work your magic on her,” Itachi said smirking.

“Yeah man, show her what a great guy you are,” Kakuzu added.

Hidan blushed and laughed nervously. “Okay you guys win. Let’s go!”

When the three guys arrived at the mall, they headed for the food court. Sitting at a table was Ino. The only problem was Ino was with a guy. The thing was Hidan knew him. His name was Sai. Hidan’s heart broke at the sight of her with him. Itachi frowned, “I’m sure they’re just friends.”

At that moment Ino reached over and hugged him. It wasn’t a friend hug, more like a hug you give to a crush.

“I can’t believe this!” Hidan said, walking off in a huff.

Kakuzu went after Hidan. “Wait up man,” he said.

Itachi stayed, however. His curiosity was getting the better of him. Why was Ino with a guy? Itachi had heard from Sasuke that Ino was into Hidan. So what was going on?

“Sai, I think you’re a great guy, but there’s someone else I like,” Itachi heard Ino say.

Itachi’s eyebrow arched. He listened some more. Sai groaned, “You like someone else?”

Ino nodded, “He’s really sweet and I think he’s nice. I would love to go out with him.”

Sai frowned, “Oh. Well this is awkward. I should go.”

He got up and left the table. Itachi approached Ino, “Hey Ino.”

Ino looked up, “Who are you?”

Itachi could have smacked himself. Hidan had said Ino didn’t know who The Akatsuki were. “I’m in The Akatsuki with Hidan. Sorry, I should have introduced myself.”

Ino smiled at the sound of Hidan’s name. That proved that Ino really liked Hidan. “So why did you hug that guy?”

Ino frowned then said, “Oh. Sai was having a bad day. I was trying to cheer him up.”

“Ah, that explains things,” he said.

“Did something happen?” Ino questioned.

Itachi shrugged, “Hidan saw you with Sai and he got the wrong idea.”

Ino gaped at him, “Oh no! Don’t tell me he thinks Sai and I are an item!”

“Actually that’s exactly what he thought,” Itachi replied.

Ino sighed, “Can you take me to him? I’ll explain what was going on.”

Itachi nodded and headed in the direction Hidan and Kakuzu had gone.

Hidan and Kakuzu were sitting on a bench and the moment Ino and Itachi approached them Hidan narrowed his eyes and looked away.

“Look Hidan, what you saw wasn’t the truth,” Itachi said.

Hidan snarled, “How do you know?”

“Tell him Ino,” Itachi said looking over at her.

Ino nodded and explained. When she was done Hidan looked relieved. “Oh, okay that makes sense. Man I feel like an ass now,” he replied.

Ino shook her head, “No it’s okay. I would have thought the same thing if that happened to me.”

Hidan nodded, “So do you want to go out? I think you’re pretty and it would be fun.” Hidan added a wink at the end.

Ino giggled, “Sure I’d love to!”

Hidan grinned and Itachi could tell he was feeling better.

Hidan was glad that Ino and that guy weren’t together. If they had been, Hidan would have been depressed even further. Instead he was going out with Ino next Saturday. He could hardly wait he was so excited about it.