First sacrifice.

This is Hidan's first thought the moment he explodes into the clearing when a white-haired teenage boy catches his eye.

The run had exhilarated him: his heart thunders against his ribcage and a copious amount of sweat had cut thick rivulets through his dirt-streaked skin. The fierce stinging of thorns embedded within multiple areas of his body and the relentless throbbing of his heels from sharp rocks and twigs were nearly unnoticeable beneath the heavy hum of energy lancing throughout his entire being. He releases a maniacal shriek to announce his arrival.

"How is this possible!?" A shout of panicky alarm in response hardly registers on Hidan's radar, and he doesn't even spare a glance at the man who had uttered it as he sweeps past. There's not a single instant of hesitation when he swerves directly toward the teen boy, who sits unawares upon a bench while chugging a bottle of water.

Not my main target, but he'll do.

The boy looks up sharply, alerted by the change in Hidan's path. He bolts upright and reaches back to grip the handle of a huge sword strapped to his back. Sunlight flashes down its side as he unsheathes it, aiming it at Hidan, who grins when he sees this and tenses his scythe-bearing arm in response. It's been ages since he's had a victim that fought back, and this boy looks promising. This'll be fun.

He swings his scythe around as soon as he's in range. The boy meets him halfway – eyeing his weapon with irises as purple as his are pink. He lets out a low, appreciative whistle.

"Nice scythe. I think I may take it from you."

"Just try it."

A small half-smile tugs at one corner of the boy's face. "If you insist."

Hidan is momentarily surprised to see fangs gleaming in the sunlight. "You Kisame's little brother or something?"

The boy's smile widens, revealing more jagged teeth. "I respect Kisame-senpai, but I gotta say – if you're not asking only 'cause I have sharp teeth, then frankly, I'm a bit offended," he says wryly.

Hidan snorts in amusement. Yeah, he'll do just fine. "Nah, you don't really look like a shark. More like...a piranha."

The boy chuckles. "Hey, I like that. Piranhas are cool." There's a short pause as his eyes flicker down, then back up. "...So, uh...are your clothes at the laundromat or something?"

"Heh." Hidan abruptly yanks his scythe away and the boy staggers forward a little at the loss of equilibrium. Spinning on his heel, he allows himself to whirl 160 degrees for momentum, swinging in a wide arc at the boy's midsection. "It's a long story."

To his confusion, the boy just stands there – he's actually smirking, too. Right as the tip of the scythe's top blade touches his purple shirt, that area ripples, and Hidan thinks his eyes are deceiving him as it turns pellucid. He blinks. Genjutsu? Water bursts forth as the scythe slices all the way through his abdomen, severing the boy in half as he remains standing. Confounded, Hidan watches the water gyrate in blobs in midair for a second before floating back to the boy and solidifying once again, no longer translucent.

The boy grins complacently at the priest's stunned expression. "Kisame-senpai couldn't do that, could he?"

So it's not a genjutsu. Then does that mean-? Scowling, Hidan does not respond, instead aiming for the boy's neck this time. Again, his target liquefies. The boy continues to grin at him tauntingly. A single fang on the left side of his mouth juts out farther than the others.

Hidan is vexed. Shit.

"You done yet, Dracula?"

Huh!?

"The hell you calling "Dracula?"" Hidan snaps, then launches a roundhouse kick at the boy in a fit of belligerence, foregoing techniques in favor of reacting out of anger. He knows what's going to happen, yet his temper has gotten the best of him and by now it's too late to halt the attack. His foot swishes through the boy's now watery chest, but as Hidan expects it to complete its route back out, the boy solidifies himself and the priest's transit is interrupted as he flops to the ground in an incredibly awkward position in an equally embarrassing manner.

"Fuck!" he spits, writhing in his struggle to free himself. "Let me go!"

"Yeeahhh, the feeling's mutual." The boy pulls a face and releases Hidan. "I don't really wanna be touching a weird naked dude either, but it was funny while it lasted."

With a soaked foot, Hidan angrily sneers at him as he snatches his scythe off of the ground and stands. "I don't have time for this," he growls, then turns and dashes into the woods leading towards the village without a backwards glance. Sorry, Lord Jashin, he thinks irritably as he leaps through the branches. I'll make one lost sacrifice up to you once I get some of Shadow Brat's blood...

Only a few seconds pass before he senses someone else's chakra keeping pace with him nearby. He glances right and left, up and down, yet sees nothing. He turns forward again with a puzzled frown, and a massive sword slams down a foot from his face, chopping the branch in front of him in two. Splinters spray into the air and almond-shaped lilac eyes find his through the shower of wood.

"Aw, did I embarrass you?" the boy mocks, then swings his sword toward Hidan.

"Tch." Hidan blocks the attack with his scythe but finds he can't shove the boy away with one arm like with most opponents. Damn, he's strong for a kid. Using their locked weapons as balance, he propels himself off of the trunk of the tree he's standing on with a kick instead of striking at the boy. Landing on another branch several yards away, he says, "Fuck off, Piranha Boy. I got stuff I need to do."

The boy leaps after him and Hidan is forced to move again. "No can do, Dracula," he retorts. "That scythe is mine."

Launching away, the priest curls his lip – half irritated at the nickname and half irritated at being delayed from his goal. "Like you could take it from me," he jeers over his shoulder. "And what's with the "Dracula" shit?"

The boy ignores the first remark, following him to the next branch. Hidan eyes him warily, tensed to retaliate another attack, but the boy lowers his sword. His body language drawls "relaxed" as they run side by side. "How about "Nosferatu?""

"How about fucking neither?"

The boy laughs. "Okay, so what's your name?"

"Like I'm telling you," Hidan sniffs.

"Then Dracula it is."

The Jashinist glowers at him. "...Hidan."

"Nice to meet you," the boy says dryly. "I'm Hōzuki Suigetsu. Not like you care," he adds (he's right). "So anyway, Hidan. What sorta "stuff" you gotta do?"

"None of your goddamned business."

"Are you after someone? Can I watch?" He sounds giddy.

Hidan shoots him an aggravated glare. "What is with you? Fuck off already, kid." He abruptly veers to the left in an effort to jettison him. He's like a fucking fly.

Suigetsu halts and frowns at his retreating back. "You can't shake me that easily!" he calls, then darts after him, mimicking the priest's turn and easily resuming his position annoyingly close to Hidan's right shoulder. Seething, Hidan resists the urge to whirl and strike at him again, fully aware that he would gain nothing but further embarrassment from doing so, and tries to ignore his presence.

Too bad I don't know Lightning Release, he muses darkly.

"Mind if I tag along?" Suigetsu queries.

"Yes."

"Don't worry, I won't get in the way. I might steal your scythe if you get distracted, though," he says nonchalantly as if Hidan hasn't spoken. "I'm a prodigy in the art of murder, FYI, so if you wind up failing miserably at killing whoever you're after, I'll jump in and finish the job."

While the jab at his abilities irks him, Hidan can't help but feel intrigued by that prodigy in the art of murder part. He glances in the boy's direction. "Really."

Suigetsu smirks again. "Yep."

Hidan looks away with a noncommittal grunt, secretly waiting for him to elaborate.

"I'm sure Kisame-senpai's talked about me before," Suigetsu continues loftily, undeterred by the priest's apathy. "My favorite move is dismembering my victims before decapitating them. That way they get to witness how awesome I am at wielding my sword before they die, 'cuz it'll be the last thing they see." He sighs dreamily, as if reminiscing about some of his particularly savage past murders, then chirps, "I love cutting things up."

Hidan is silent as he digests this information, though he's only listening with half an ear. So they have a few things in common. As long as he stays the hell outta my way while I kill Shikamaru, I don't give a shit what he does.

The forest grows sparse, the verdure thinning out until gaps of another clearing can be seen on the other side. Hidan drops to the ground and races toward the light. He notices Suigetsu slow his pace, lagging behind a bit as though uncertain to leave the safety of the trees, but doesn't pay him any heed. He's just glad to finally leave him behind. Sissy, he sneers inwardly. Too scared to come out in the open. I bet he was lying about the whole murder thi-

Once he steps into the clearing, something slams into his back, knocking all the air from his lungs and smashing him chin-first into the ground. He'd been so engrossed in finally getting his hands on that Nara bastard that he hadn't even thought to check his surroundings for danger. He skids along the dirt, feeling his skin catch on pebbles and his palms chafed by grit, his scythe sliding several yards away. Groaning, he pushes himself up and rubs his sore chin, his fingers withdrawing sticky with blood. "What the fuck..."

"Gotcha."

A diminutive flash of...fear?...causes his heart to falter mid-beat when he hears Suigetsu's low voice from behind him. Twisting around to stare over his shoulder, he sees the boy saunter over to his abandoned scythe, lean down, and pick it up with goading leisure. He inspects the weapon, turning it over in his hands, then raises his eyes to Hidan – who sports a mixed expression of fury and dismay – and cocks an eyebrow with a grin.

"Mine now."


"Gimme that, you bastard!"

Hidan's roar thunders in the air, so loud that Suigetsu's startled by the intensity; he expects Konoha ninja to come stampeding down the hill any second. The man scrambles to his feet and charges at him like a nettled bull, his mauve eyes wild. Suigetsu allows him to come within a foot or so before he leapfrogs over him, lashing the back of the scythe down to knock Hidan onto his chest again. "Too slow!" he crows.

Hidan spits out a string of vile expletives as he hits the ground, dirt billowing upward. Once he finds his footing, he whips around and – upon seeing Suigetsu fighting to stifle a laugh – releases a livid snarl. "Fucker, this isn't funny!" He launches himself at the Mist ninja a second time, grabbing for the scythe's hilt, but Suigetsu simply raises it above his head; being slightly taller, he laughs in Hidan's face while he struggles to snatch it out of his hand. Hidan finally manages to grip the end of the hilt and yanks it toward him hard. "Give it back!" he screeches.

Suigetsu is perturbed by the man's fierce fervor about the weapon, yet he holds fast. I'm not giving this up so easily. Water floods the muscles in his arms, bulging them out to nearly twice their size, so he's able to easily jerk the scythe away.

"That's is all I have!" Hidan continues in a harsh, frenzied voice as he all but collapses on the Mist ninja in his desperate attempt to reach it. "How am I supposed to kill him if I don't have a weapon!?"

Suigetsu is spooked by his behavior. ""Him?"" he echoes, bewildered. So he is after someone.

"Nara Shikamaru!" Hidan screams in his face. "That piece of shit motherfucker put me in a fucking hole in the middle of the forest where no one could find me for Jashin knows how long. I had to eat fucking bugs and moles so I didn't rot! He blew me apart!" He shakes Suigetsu violently by the shoulders. The Mist ninja stumbles backward with the force, but Hidan crowds him again. "I was buried alive with the rest of my body in the deafening silence and cold mud while those goddamned deer pranced around above me. Kakuzu died, then that ugly freak Zetsu came to tell me I was kicked out of the Akatsuki!"

He pauses to gasp for breath, nearly hyperventilating. His pupils are flared so huge they almost engulf the irises. Sweat rolls down his flushed face, lips twitching and eyes ticking in his hysterics. "And you know what?" He pounds on Suigetsu's chest. "I'm gonna skin that bastard alive! I'm gonna make him scream and beg and cry for mercy! I'm gonna dismember him, starting with his fingers and toes! I'm gonna stab him where it hurts most, I'm gonna play with his guts, I'm gonna bathe in his blood! But I'm not gonna kill him until he faints from the agony! Then I'll cut his fucking head off and wear it around my neck! Fuck him! Fuck that fucking motherfucker, that...that... GRAH!" He utters a frustrated snarl, jerking away from the Mist ninja as if burned.

Suigetsu is stupefied. He has absolutely no idea what the hell this man is yelling about. Yeah, definitely just snorted fifty lines of cocaine, he jokes to himself weakly. While it's blatantly obvious that whatever it is that upset him so badly cuts terribly deep, Suigetsu still assumes that he's just a plain lunatic, because the story he's spewed sounds like a drug-induced hallucination. He stares dumbly for what drags out into a full minute, their eyes locked as Hidan pants, trembles, and breathes in short hisses through his clenched teeth, and notices with a lurch of his heart the stitches encircling the circumference of the man's neck.

...Holy shit.

A faint chill crawls up his body.

He's-!

Smothering the alarming thoughts that immediately begin to swarm his head, he swallows. "Well..." he says tentatively, forcing himself to grin like this was no big deal, "why didn't you just say so?"

And he offers Hidan his scythe.

Hidan eyes his grinning face uneasily for the longest time, a disbelieving frown darkening his gaze. Then he slowly takes it from his outstretched hand without a word.


AUTHOR'S NOTE

DAMN was it nerve-wracking to write Hidan's breakdown. I want them both to have PTSD to an extent, where Hidan's is more severe as he's a bit emotionally unstable. Suigetsu will later deal with his past in Orochimaru's capture while Hidan will deal with his being trapped in the hole for so long.

Speaking of that, do you think I made his predicament underground too lighthearted in the first chapter? I want to try and keep Hidan's suggested borderline insanity canon in this fic, and make his PTSD volatile in which it exhibits itself in violent bouts.

Thoughts? Advice? Corrections? All is welcome!

(Also, I'm so glad this pairing is well-received, even on the other sites I posted it to! Thank you all for being so kind and supportive!)