It had been two days since Hidan had left the young Jinchuriki alone in the catacombs of the temple. While the man was a sadist and enjoyed his own servings of pain just as much, the thought of having the child die in his care didn't sit right. Perhaps it was the way that the villagers of Konoha had demanded the child's life, with pure malice in their eyes simply over what the boy contained within. One should never blame the scroll for the weapon held within; if that were the case the storage scrolls would be outlawed for the many dangers they could hide. With a scoff at his own musings the immortal sighed and looked up at the sky. Naruto being a Jinchuriki had put his plans on hold until he could find something to keep the Kyuubi from tainting the gift of Jashin he wanted to bless the boy with. Hidan silently swore that when he returned to the temple he would sift through the old scrolls held in the temple library; perhaps they would hold the key to blocking the Kyuubi or removing it from the boy to be put in another vessel. Ame had been even less than welcoming to the immortal holy man ever since he killed the young man for attacking him and Naruto, while some would give him their scraps of food; others would scoff and slam the door in his face. Over two days Hidan had managed to get a decent pair of pants and shoes for Naruto as well as a light cloak with a hood. A deep sigh sounded as Hidan knew he would he would once again have to resort to theft or else the boy would starve, Hidan only ate when he needed to; yet he had a feeling the boy wouldn't eat without him.
'Why in the fucking name of Kami did I think this would be easy?' Hidan thought before he put the clothes in a storage scroll.
The villagers of Ame watched as the immortal walked through the village with the swagger of a man on a mission, however deranged the man was; a few of the villagers were surprised he had even bothered with the boy. Once he was away from the village gates of Ame the rain begin to lighten, Hidan couldn't help but silently thank Kami. As much as the rain was vital to hiding Ame from the rest of the world, it was also quite cold at times and left Hidan's skin nearly prickling cold. With scythe in hand, Hidan took off at a jogger's sprint down one of the know trade routes into Ame. If he was lucky he would run into a light caravan that was unguarded and take what goods he needed, and hopefully a prisoner to use in a prayer of forgiveness. Hidan knew that as bloodthirsty as Jashin was, it was still a sin to steal; be it stealing from others or claiming a kill that wasn't his to take. The villagers may not have understood that even with his bold and at many times crude way of doing things, but in his heart he knew that he was simply living by his faith. He liked to think that it was what we walked the earth to do, at least until someone found a way to send him to Kami. That however was a fool's gambit, he knew it was nearly impossible to kill him; yet he welcomed those who tried.
"It gives me some fucking exercise…And clears out those damn faithless shit-bags." Hidan sneered to himself before he paused for a moment.
Hidan nearly got down to his knees and thanked Jashin at the sight he saw. A few miles down the road was a young couple; they looked to be merchants since the man was the one carrying their merchandise. Hidan could help but smirk as he put his scythe away and began a slow jog to the pair; in the back of his mind he had hoped that he could convince the couple to part with a few things without having to kill anyone over it. The closer he got to the pair the most he noticed the man slowing down; glancing to the woman he couldn't help but pause for a moment. The woman was holding her stomach in a way that gave her condition away, cursing himself Hidan knew he'd have to either have to kill the man and take the woman or kill them both if they wouldn't part with what he needed. Shaking his thoughts from his head, Hidan jogged to the couple before stopping over half-way to them and crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't have to wait long for the couple to reach him before the man tipped his head to the immortal,
"Good day, sir. Do you know the way to Suna?" The man asked, "My wife and I got lost and may have taken a bad route along Otogakure."
Hidan tilted his head to the side with a light frown.
"Otogakure? Never fucking heard of it." Hidan mused, the couple flinched at his language, "If you two are looking for Suna, you guys sure are fucking lost."
The young woman looked at Hidan with a curious eye before spying his pendant and backing away lightly.
"You have an odd pendant…" She began slowly, "You are a holy man?" She asked quietly.
Hidan raised a brow before nodding, the scythe on his back shifted lightly as he let his arms drop. To his surprise the woman had moved to the back of the caravan before returning with what looked like a small bundle of four storage scrolls. Her husband's eyes widened faintly before looking between his wife and Hidan, he looked to Hidan before he gave a faint smile.
"Otogakure is near Konoha…" The man said lightly, "We heard rumors of a holy man that took a child from the village."
Hidan flinched at the mention of Konoha and Naruto before the woman walked to him with the scrolls, she offered them to the stunned immortal. Hidan took them before setting them in a pocket he had stitched on the inside of his cloak. When he asked why the two would freely give him the scrolls the couple gave him a simple response, the couple had heard of the troubles in Konoha after the Kyuubi had attacked. Yet when they expressed pity for the young Jinchuriki to they were driven out of the village with haste. Hidan bit his tongue back before he bowed his head lightly and chuckled, though his crude language didn't go away; he had given the couple decent directions to Suna. The couple gave him their thanks and to Hidan's own surprise he couldn't help but give a faint smile watching the couple turn around and leave Ame behind them. Turning on his heel, Hidan pulled out the storage scrolls to see what was in them. To his surprise the couple had given him more than enough to see both Naruto and himself through the next two months. Putting the scrolls away Hidan had silently vowed to take someone into the temple and give a prayer of gratitude to his Kami for the gifts of kindness.
"Now to get back to the gaki." Hidan said before he took off in a sprint.
X ~~{- X
Within the temple Naruto was still sitting by the fire where Hidan had left him. Naruto wasn't sure if the immortal what the immortal wanted with him, but he didn't want to be abandoned by the only person who seemed to care about him. Even at a young age Naruto knew that there was a chance that Hidan could easily kill him or leave him to the mercy of the villagers. The mere thought of being left to the villagers of Ame scared him more than those of Konoha. In Konoha he knew the villages alley ways like the back of his hand and could hide in the trees if he needed to, in Ame he knew almost nothing about the village. Not knowing what to expect from the villagers had scared him as well. The boy ran his hands through his long red hair, half-expecting the villagers to storm the temple and try to end his life. Hidan had left him with the metal pike, yet his hands trembled when holding it, it was the first weapon he had ever been given.
"Even if Father put enough faith in me to give me a weapon, my hands shake." Naruto murmured out loud.
He hung his head and knew that if he didn't comply with what Hidan had asked of him the immortal would either scoff at him or give him a lecture on why he was given the weapon. In the deep recesses of Naruto's mind, the Kyuubi paced within its cage and snarled lowly, the Bijuu did not like the fact that the immortal was giving Naruto a small bit of hope. The demon fed off of Naruto's misery and pain like a drug, it kept the Kyuubi satisfied, but never fulfilled. The very fiber of the demon's Chakra coils demanded it to be the cause of bloodshed and pain, yet its will to live kept it from killing Naruto to be reborn. The seal used by the Yondaime had been stronger than originally thought, but no one thought to look through the older scrolls of religions like Jashinism. There were old rituals and seals that had been banned from many Hidden Villages, certain rituals were said to be able to cancel out seals used to keep Bijuu within their prisons and place them into containers they saw fit. Such rituals had caused drastic shifts in power, Hidden Villages would find themselves with Jinchuriki freed of their fate with their Bijuu sealed in animals roaming the wild or artifacts hidden away from their grasp. On rare occasions Jinchuriki would be found with their Bijuu sealed inside of weapons, feeding off their emotions and changing in ways to fit the nature of the Bijuu. The seals too strong to risk the life of the container by fully separating the two, but the demon stable enough to dwell in weapons crafted to channel their Chakra. The Kyuubi was too proud a Bijuu to be forced into a mere piece of metal, with a growl the fox splayed its tails and summoned memories from Naruto's childhood.
Through each memory of pain the Kyuubi couldn't help but flinch whenever the child had cried out asking why he was forced to endure such treatment. From the moment Naruto could speak he asked himself and others around him why. From being forced to live off food unfit for dogs in the orphanage to attempts of rape and murder out on the streets. The feeling of bitter guilt boiled in the Kyuubi's veins, if it hadn't been so foolish as to try and attack the hidden village for sport it would not have ended up trapped in the body of a child. It was far easier to blame the child for being born and to rage from within the sealed cage than to admit defeat. There was far too much pride and wrath raging in the Kyuubi for it to remain still within its prison, there was nothing more shameful for a Bijuu than to be caught and bound. With a snarl the demon charged the cage, fueled by a new torrent of rage and resentment that the seal reacted violently and threw the beast to the other end of the cage. The impact made the Kyuubi's eyes narrow with a pained warble before it shifted to lay down, it's lips peeled back in a silent snarl as it's tails violently swished behind it.
"I will have my freedom again, even if I have to kill myself to have it." The Kyuubi snarled from within Naruto.
The snarl had echoed through Naruto making him shiver, his grip on the pike tightening before he stiffened hearing wet slaps on the ground. The sound made Naruto freeze before he heard the doors of the temple creek open and close. Naruto's eyes narrowed as his grip on the pike tightened, had it been Hidan he would have thrown the door's open and slammed the shut. The child had also noted the lack of swearing that seemed to follow the immortal holy man where ever had may be. The constant cursing had puzzled Naruto but he took it with grains of salt, for now it was the lack of cursing that worried him. The hushed murmurs echoed through the catacombs, whoever entered the temple of Jashin was looking for something. With soft pitter-patters, Naruto tucked himself in the space behind the door. Should the door to the room be opened Naruto had hoped that the door would be big enough to hide him.
"You are a truly a weaker vessel than most ningen." The Kyuubi snarled in disdain.
Naruto bit his lip in light frustration; he knew the fox was baiting him to face the stranger head-on should they enter. The Kyuubi wanted to be free, but knew that it would need to die and return to its own realm for that to happen. Once the Bijuu died, they would be forced to return to their respective realms until they had fully recovered their strengths or were trapped and forced to wait for a rift to open between the realms. Naruto however had no intention of dying. Things may have been rough on the streets of Konoha, but he had been plucked from that place by Hidan. The immortal had been an enigma to Naruto, claiming that he was a holy man yet being treated as though he was something vile. Hidan didn't show that they're words had bothered him, if they did he retaliated with an acid tongue or they ended up dead; from what Naruto had seen in Ame it was more often than not both. As the footsteps passed Naruto gave a sigh of relief before a lowly rat skittered over his feet making him yelp, the young boy slapped his hands over his mouth before flinching as the metal pike clattered to the stone ground.
"What was that?" A slurred voice grumbled.
Naruto cursed himself, crawling away from the door and grabbing the pike in both hands. The Kyuubi howled in laughter watching the blonde scrambled back. The demon fox had not expected the rat, nor had it expected Naruto to alert the intruder by his own actions. Naruto's heart jumped into his chest before he saw the door open, in an instant Naruto had made up his mind.
With his hair in his face and the pike held tightly in white knuckled hands, the young boy charged with a cry. Naruto had squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out what he was doing and trying to ignore the Kyuubi's barking laughter. Opening his eyes, Naruto was able to see the pike go into the man's chest as the pike was thrust forward. Naruto had truly hoped it would've merely stabbed him and forced the man back. Blood hit Naruto's cheeks as the man coughed harshly, the pike tearing a hole in his lung as Naruto panicked; dragging the pike down.
"It would seem even a coward like you can bring down a man." The Kyuubi sneered as Naruto drew the pike back.
The man fell to the ground, clutching his chest as he violently coughed. Naruto backed away and hit the doorway, his face paling as he watched the man cough up blood and bits of his lung. The pike had hit the center of his lung and tore a hole in the center. Functioning on only one lung as the other filled with blood, the man gasped for air, clutching at the wound in his chest as he rolled onto his back. Bile rose up Naruto's throat listening to the wet, heaving breaths as the man's lung now tried to push both blood and oxygen out as blood gurgled up the man's throat and out of his mouth. The rich red color had reminded Naruto of his own hair color as he sat against the wall, shaking with the pike tightly gripped in both hands.
"What the hell! Damn bastard went the wrong fucking way!" A surprised yet furious voice growled out.
Naruto didn't notice the temple door opening or the familiar figure of Hidan walking in covered in blood. Naruto was far too stunned to focus on anything but the dying man before him, blood now oozing from the man's mouth and chest. The immortal seemed to be surprised himself, he had meant for the poor bastard to end up in one of the cells. Naruto must've been startled and the man went to open the door, Hidan grit his teeth and glared down at the man. The man was a villager who thought Naruto was a girl, Hidan had brought the man under the pretense that the man may have gotten his hands on the young red-head. Not that Hidan actually condoned such actions upon children; ironically it was against the will of Jashin to harm a child. It had just been a way to get another sacrifice, though this one seemed to go to Naruto; if the boy had the gall to finish it.
Hidan backed off to see what the young boy would do, to his surprise Naruto's grip on the pike tightened. The man wasn't dead yet and made it known as he tried to get up; slowly succeeding before glaring at Naruto. Words formed on the man's lips but the words were lost under sputters of blood, the man glared at Naruto with murder in his eyes. Hidan tensed up before growling softly, he wanted to see if the boy had the capability to kill a man but he was ready to step in if needed. The young red head had a firm grip on the pike; that was one thing for sure. Hidan had little doubt that he was going to have to pry it from the child's hand before the night was done.
"Damn brat." The man gargled.
Naruto bit his lip roughly, splitting the skin before he lightly licked his lips lightly. Hidan couldn't help but smirk seeing the faint blush creep over Naruto's face. The Kyuubi was purring at the taste of its jailor's blood in the air, the demon's hunger was roused as it sent a wave of Chakra through the young boy. The corrosive Chakra ate its way throughout the boy's Chakra network, pumping the demon's malice through Naruto's very being.
Hidan had been watching with narrowed eyes, he felt a change in the air around his ward. Naruto's head slumped forward as the man before him got to his feet. Hidan readied his scythe in case he needed to stop the man from harming Naruto too much, he wasn't going to let the child think Hidan wouldn't leave him to a gruesome fate to avoid looking soft. A faint, childish laughter floating from the child's lips as fingers flexed before gripping the pike with an almost playful manner. Naruto slowly got to his feet, his long red hair bristling almost like fur as his canines grew to touch the bottom of his lower lip. Looking at the child's hand, Hidan could see the blunt nails had turned to small claws, they may not be able to rend flesh but they looked like they would certainly cause some pain. The air even felt different; there was a heavy feeling of deep seeded malice rolling from the child still laughing lightly.
"Humans…" A voice floated from Naruto's lips making Hidan shutter. "So weak and yet so unwilling to die."
Hidan's lip twitched as if resisting the urge to form a sneer. The voice wasn't human; the deep ethereal echo riding the child's soft voice belonged to something else. Something ancient, it was then that Hidan remember that the villagers of Ame. They had called the boy a Jinchuriki, a living sacrifice used to house a Bijuu, a great and terrible beast whose power in the mortal realm was marked by the number of tails it bore. The man who was standing before Naruto had grown pale, either from blood loss or the voice that seemed to purr to him with promises of death.
A/N: I think I'll leave off here. Sorry for this long Hiatus, I'm helping out at my folk's place since my mom's health is going downhill and also going through and rewriting Silent Hill's Executioner and Outcast on paper. I've noticed that SHEO's plot has a lot of plot holes and that Siren is very much a Sue character and I want to change that as well as the sequel bit accordingly so please don't kill me once you see chapters changing a bit. Also, in the near future and sequel to The One to Hold You Up. Till then, Read and Enjoy.