"You paid the wrong amount. It's a hundred ryo short," Kakuzu said slowly.
"...Damn it! What are those idiots even good for? Please don't worry, Lord Black-Faced Buckle Ghost. You're already on your way out, right? How about this: I'll send you another ten thousand ryo as a cash gift. No, a hundred thousand. Then we won't have to trouble you to come back, all right?" The Kazekage was on the verge of cursing.
"All right, then I won't come back," Kakuzu said, raising an eyebrow. This Kazekage really knew how to play along.
Then Kakuzu hung up, accepted the money, and grinned happily.
But... beneath the fishnet stockings, that grin looked especially hideous and terrifying... and drool trickled out through them...
Dave shook his head speechlessly, straightened the covering over his face, and tugged at the white stockings on his head.
As members of the Akatsuki, they had to have something that identified them, after all. Kakuzu wore fishnets on his head, Dave wore white stockings, Madara wore black stockings, Hashirama wore blue stockings with garters, Izuna wore gray mid-calf stockings, and Tobirama wore lace stockings. Oh, and there was Zetsu, the new member Dave had recruited into the Akatsuki two days earlier. Zetsu's identifying accessory was mesh socks.
The Akatsuki now had seven members, all of whom wore stockings on their heads as symbols of their identities...
Originally, Dave had suggested making rings with names like Big Dipper and Jade Maiden, but Kakuzu had objected. Compared with rings, stockings cost less to manufacture. Well, stockings it was, then.
Dave still remembered handing stockings to Tobirama, his old father... his old father had thought they were meant to be worn on his legs... lace-clad Tobirama...
Even now, remembering that sight sent shivers through Dave... and his uncle, too... he