A/N: Greetings everyone. Like I said in the last chapter, I'm still not dead. Just busy. This update took longer than I thought due to both its length, exams, and the new semester. But it's done now, and while I can't promise more frequent updates, I'll promise my best. Enjoy!

Chapter Seven
First Contact

See. Smell. Taste. Nothing. Smell. Taste. Nothing. Smell. Taste. Something? Something. See. Look. Watch. Movement? Leaf. Movement? Yes.

Heat. Warm. Alive. Move. Muscles. Left. Right. Left. Right. Forward. Closer. Moving. Leaving. Faster. Forward. Faster. See. Open.

Prey. Moving. Faster. Turn. Cut. Up. Around. Over. See. Faster. Catch. Stops. Defense. Rise. Open. Fangs. Strike.

Kill. Eat. Survive.

Kiba came out of his trance a second later, shaking his head. His head thrummed like someone had just hit a massive drum inside, and the echo still rang around in his skull. It almost hurt, but it was already fading by the time he got to his feet.

Of all the animals to use for the jutsu, a general rule, he'd been told, was that the more complex their brain state, the better. Dogs, hawks, falcons… apes were the best, but they weren't exactly widespread as an animal. Mice were lousy due to their perceiving everything as a threat, and normal birds also couldn't focus. On the contrary, predators were… dependant. They never lost their concentration and always concentrated on their prey. So much so, and most were so fixated on their food that to come back into the world of dozens of smells and sights was disorienting.

And snakes, as Kiba had just discovered, were one of the worst for that symptom. Lights flashed in his vision even after he turned back to Shino and Hinata, standing behind him. It was Akamaru's fur on his leg that brought him back to reality.

"There's nothing I could see" Kiba rubbed the hounds ears as he spoke, receiving another nudge of his leg as a thanks. "It's hard to get a clear picture, but there are definitely no people in there".

"Traps are another story" Shino said, inclining his head. It then tilted to the left; he was listening to something. "The insects say they smell only leftover chakras. I can't get a clear picture either".

"Probably some kind of sealing jutsu that Orochimaru left on this place" Kiba nodded, looking back at the buried hideout, which appeared little more than a stairway leading underground at first glance. "Hinata, any luck?".

Her eyes flattened back to their unique state of normalcy as she shook her head. "Whatever's in there, its blocking the byakugan". That was an unusual amount of paranoia, and didn't lend any credibility to the idea that they were alone. Many jutsu couldn't last more than a week or two without a continuous source of chakra to draw from.

"Well we're not going to learn anything standing here" Kiba's hands raised into the ram sign. "Shadow clone jutsu!".

A second Kiba formed with a billow of smoke beside him, then a third. Hinata rushed forward as Kiba's nose dripped blood and he leaned against the tree to his right. He was really run down; no sleep last night compounded with multiple chakra-heavy jutsu was taking a big toll on him, no matter what his cockiness said.

She slid her arm around his back as he leaned on her. His breathing steadied a second later, followed by him letting go of Hinata while the original Akamaru rubbed himself against his master's legs.

"I'm alright" he shook his head, blinking. He wiped his nose clean of "Two clones each should cover enough ground. Just follow in after me".

"Kiba." Shino's voice was stern and hard. "You said two clones. Am I right?".

It took a second for him to get the point. Kiba nodded once before turning to the hideout's entrance, while Hinata and Shino performed their own jutsus. Nothing more was said as they entered the dead hideout; there wasn't a need. The fear was mutual.


Hidan was glad to be out of the mountains, mostly for tactical reasons. He'd already had three holes shot through his head since he'd been there, and wasn't relishing a fourth. The pain wasn't a concern so much as it was an annoyance. Pain not inflicted by the self was just window dressing; like eating tofu instead of real food. It was edible, but barely. Hidan only enjoyed himself when he was the one doing the hurting.

Though as he peeled off another flake of charred, black skin from his forearm, he was in sore need of some enjoyment. Of course Kakuzu, being as he was, wouldn't even let him stop for a water break, let alone hunting down some ninja to torment. It was grating on the few nerves that hadn't been destroyed by his inferno attack, and fast.

The two sped through the trees, heading southwest. Kakuzu took the lead; unspoken and quiet. Hidan toyed with the idea of annoying him, but figured it would only result in more scorched skin.

"Kakuzu".

"What?" he was actually being tolerant. That was a good sign.

"I've been thinking about Leader's plan…"

"I'm in no mood" he gruffly responded.

"You don't even want to hear me out?" Hidan was starting to wonder if he'd ever make Kakuzu lose it.

"If I did, I'd have to rip you to pieces" he spoke calmly with an unchanging pace. "And putting you back together would take too long. We have a mission. We can talk about it or we can do it".

He was about to throw snark back in his partner's face when the wind shifted; north to east. Hidan's nose twitched as that delicious stench he knew all too well invaded his mind. Remotely. Very remotely, actually. He wouldn't have detected it if not for the change in drafts. But it was there. And he recognized it.

Kakuzu was just getting back into the flow of moving when his partner's scythe suddenly cut off his advance. Anger boiled and he whirled. His fists were shaking; Hidan was going to pay for this…

"Wait!" he still held his blade in Kakuzu's path, but wasn't looking at him. He tilted his head upwards, turning a few times, and inhaling the air. The man frowned. Hidan wasn't a tracker ninja by any measure; he'd hedge his bets on a cat tracking a mouse over his partner being able to track anything at all.

"There's blood on the wind" he opened his eyes, and Kakuzu's brow furrowed.

"When did your senses become that acute?" his skepticism here was well-founded, but even he was doubtful of it. Hidan wasn't a compulsive liar, and he knew the consequences if he tried.

"I'm not too good at this shit" Hidan admitted, before stepping past Kakuzu on the forest floor, looking into the endless field of spruces and pines. "But I'd know blood anywhere".

He raised an arm, pointing west. "And it's there. A couple of clicks over."

Kakuzu's doubt resurged. Even if Hidan could track the smell of blood; he couldn't track it from a couple kilometers away, even with the wind in his favour. "Get to the point".

He turned back with a grin that would a shark a run for its money. "They're Leaf ninja".

"And how do you know this?".

The silver-haired ninja took another whiff from the breeze that flowed over him. "Consistency; the thicker the blood, the more heat it carries. Those with viscous blood have usually adapted to survive better in lower temperatures. This is watery; it's used to the heat. That, and a slight tinge in the scent".

Kakuzu's unasked question was answered when Hidan's grin grew ever wider. "They smell like clan blood. And not exactly chump ones either" his eyes closed sensually as more of the undetectable scent entered his nostrils. "Inuzuka".

That caught his attention. The dog clan wasn't as well known as the Uchiha or Senju, and they were third-tier at best, but a man of Kakuzu's age and ears had heard plenty of them. There was no way that them being here could be anything other than intent; there'd be no other reason to use such a valuable asset to track anything else in these woods. The Leaf was hunting them, and they'd pay for that in full.

But he didn't say that; Hidan's head was swollen enough already. "How long do you need?" he asked with a frown.

His partner's only response was a full-toothed grin. "Ten minutes".

"You have six".

That grin widened an instant before he vanished into the trees.


"First, safety. Then, smile. I feel the heat, and I feel the cool. I hear your skin, I smell your body. I hold your tongue across my own and hear you take me in. In to the blades of the beast.".

"The world is quiet Here"

It had been ringing in her head since they arrived; that damned poem was louder than anything else down here. Her mother had told her it was written by the people in the Land of Stone, after a long-dead child's tale. Hinata's lack of much physical ability as a ninja had opened up the door to hone her mind when she was younger. She'd spend a good third of her nights in Father's library, reading about the lands of the world, the old legendary ninja, the mystical famous, and infamous, jutsu…

That one was named "Maw". After a story about a mouse falling in love with a snake. It had ended exactly how you'd expect, she thought darkly.

The corridor she stood in was long; built from cobblestones that had been carefully arranged. Burnt out torch sconces every dozen meters lined the walls, but other than that, it was completely uniform. Like she was being herded into a trap. It wasn't clear how old this place was, but there was no way Orochimaru had built it. He wouldn't have the time or labour, even if he'd used a hundred slaves. He must have found it at least a couple decades after it had been built.

Kiba and Shino's clones stood in front of and beside her, maintaining the illusion of a full team. If any clone dispersed, the others would know instantaneously and come rushing, whereas if a trap was sprung and one was injured, they wouldn't get the whole team with one blow. Shino had thought of it on the way here and both her and Kiba had agreed with him; it was a solid tactic with little flaws. It made her feel absolutely no more comfort.

The air was death here. Not heavy, but stale. Nothing but oxygen that had sat in these tunnels for years. The smell of dust and dry stone was present, one that Hinata would imagine would accompany skeletons. No recycled air meant there were no plants either. She'd seen some old pots and planters while passing through a derelict lab space a ways back, but all that was in them was soil, and cracked stems that had fallen over, white as bleached bone.

The walkway ended, opening into another set of exitways. How the residents of this place had found their way around was beyond her; it was a labyrinth of stone and clay walls. Halls led to more halls, which led to only more paths to choose.

"Do we flip a coin?" Hinata couldn't help but remind herself that it was only Kiba's clone speaking.

"No. We go right" Shino said, and turned. Kiba was about to object, but he saw the sense. Hinata's group had taken the left of three paths when they first entered the base, and by turning right, they kept closer to the centre. Never lose your bearings in a maze, Hinata thought, or else you'd never find your way out.

Four minutes of walking through darkness later, they came to an iron-bound door. Shino stopped them as the duplicated insects crawled from his coat, scurrying under the barrier. There was no sound but the tiny, ever-so-slight scutter of bug legs while they searched for traps. Eventually, they returned to their master's body, and he nodded. Reaching forward, Shino snapped off the rusted handle (there were far too many possibilities of booby-trapping handles) before pushing the door in with little effort.

The four forms stepped into the room slowly. There were no alternate halls branching off from this one. It was shadowed in black, to the point where even the eyes of shinobi, trained to see in the dark, couldn't piece the veil. She formed a couple of signs, ending on the dog seal, before raising her hands. A sphere of crystal blue light formed between them, shining a calm glow over the room.

She wished she hadn't.

She heard Kiba's duplicate wretch and Akamaru whine as the light exposed dozens of bodies. The stench wasn't as bad as it could be, but it was more than noticable. Putrefaction and rotted flesh, one of the worst combinations that could be detected, filled the team's noses. Hinata even thought she saw Shino wince, though it was hard to tell. The corpses were neatly stacked, but a lack of care and abandonment of the room had prompted some of them to fall over, lying on the clay floor in various positions. It was a truly grim sight.

Kiba moved away from the team, feeling the wall. "Here" he said, rapping on metal. Hinata turned to see what appeared to be a ventilation duct. "This place was a cooling unit. For storing bodies".

"Just how many bodies did that madman need?" she wondered aloud.

"Enough to warrant keeping his cellar full of them" Kiba replied. She didn't need to see him to see the grim smirk on his face.

"Quiet" Shino's voice was eerily appropriate. He'd walked over to the counters on the far side of the room, stepping over the corpses like they were nothing. If he'd shown any disgust before, it was gone now.

His fingers scanned the series of open books on the table. "Death records" he stated as he read them over. "They're from all five great villages, including the smaller ones.".

"Why would Orochimaru keep a list of the people he's killed? We already knew he'd killed before, but now we have hard evidence" Kiba didn't catch his partner's meaning, as Shino chimed in a second later.

"He didn't kill them" Shino lifted up one of the books, a blast of dust coming up with it. He tilted the cover. "These are death certificates from every village. Along with a series of cemetary maps. He was graverobbing, not murdering".

Somehow, Hinata thought, that made it worse. Ninja killed on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. Taking lives was no big deal for them. But to desecrate the dead… that only served to show how low the former Sannin had sunk. No matter what village you were from, it was nearly universal in the shinobi world that you had to have some kind of relationship with your squad. Either something as complex as personal relationships to just trusting one another; teams couldn't function without some kind of bond. This was recognized in war, even. During the last Great Ninja War, all sides, with a few exceptions, allowed their opponents to gather and bury their dead as part of simple understanding that shinobi deserve honest burials or pyres. It wasn't written that it was necessary; all sides could sympathize with wanting closure for your comrades.

And Orochimaru had spit on that. Worse, he'd mocked it by turning the bodies into test subjects in a perverse game of faux-godhood. It made them all sick.

"Nothing for it now" Kiba's clone patted his Akamaru. "Let's bag up the books and get out of this pit. We've got a lot of ground to cover".

The other two nodded and Shino began to pack up. Hinata knelt down to inspect one of the bodies, holding her nose and doing her best not to squint. It was a teenage girl, no older than herself, her eyes closed and mouth slightly ajar. The dead woman's hair was cut short into a bob that had unwound with time, and her face, paled from decomposition, was still comprehensible and intact. She'd been smiling when she passed. Hinata wondered how it had happened.

In the back of her head, she wondered if the girl had had someone special like she had Naruto. It had nothing to do with this situation, but the thought came through nonetheless.

Her teammates footsteps prompted her to stand up, pausing only to close the girl's mouth. She looked peaceful now. At rest.

A tingling in the back of her skull ended those thoughts.

Memories flashed in flares of black and white. They were hers, but not. There was no question. Her eyes snapped around, focusing on Shino. She could barely even see his goggles in the artificial light her jutsu had brought, but it was enough to know he understood. Almost like he'd known at the same time she had.

"Kiba…" Her voice trailing off was more than he needed. Shino nodded before raising his hands to the ram seal and disappearing.

Kiba's clone barely knew what was going on before Hinata grabbed his shoulder. "Get out in the open; we're on our way" Hinata said firmly before driving an open-palm thrust into his chest with a healthy dose of chakra. Simultaneously, the sixteen tenketsu points that surrounded his heart sputtered and closed, causing it to stop. Her teammate gasped in brief pain before he was enveloped in smoke.

Hinata was running out the door before the cloud had faded.


The room was orderly, despite its age. A thick layer of dust, one that had festered for months, coated the wood counters and sandstone floors. The light jutsu that Hinata's clone had created wasn't that bright, but it was bright enough for Kiba to see even across the room that they were clouded from the water vapour of… whatever was in them. He didn't care to look.

They'd found the laboratory, likely the main one, a few minutes ago, and were still becoming accustomed to the former resident's fascination with biology. Clearly, becoming immortal wasn't just a matter of creating one simple jutsu. Shino had guessed that, from all the notes that Orochimaru had left, that the jutsu was similar each time it was used, but that every time the Sannin used it, he had to customize it to fit the body he wanted to inhabit. The journals and pages that they found described the dark art in perfect detail. It was bone-chilling.

Kiba picked up more of the leather-bound descriptors of horror and stacked them in the bags they'd brought. The mission still stood, despite the unforeseen complexity of this hideout: pack up anything of note regarding Orochimaru, set the paper bombs and get out. Bury this place underneath hundreds of tons of rock and let the old Sannin's victims rest.

A hand on his shoulder broke his focus. "The tags are set" Shino's monotone rang loud in the mostly-dark room. "and Hinata's searched the antechambers. Nothing worth taking".

Kiba zipped up the pack and threw it on his back. Akamaru came up from behind Shino and stood at his side, looking up at his master. "You two head for the exit. I'll make a final sweep and meet you in the main chamber".

Shino nodded once and turned away. Kiba shot a toothy smile at the hound at his feet, who rubbed him in approval.

He began the rounds again, checking all the tables, shelves, cupboards… any place that would be good to hide things. The bookshelves were lined with ancient tomes on human biology, broken up by interchangeable empty (or full of things he couldn't make out) jars serving as bookends. Hinata's lighting jutsu still flared in the center of the room, but the shadow it cast was strangely foreboding.

Kiba looked back towards the door to make sure Shino was gone before looking back at the center bookshelf. Slitted eyes scanned the names, looking for anything that could give their owner a clue. It would be better if neither Shino or Hinata saw this; they'd only hound him on the way back for giving the knucklehead what he wanted.

A red-bound book caught his eye, and he brought it off the center shelf to look at the cover in the dim light. The cover was a faded ebon with white lettering, and in the center of the cover sat a perfect circle of crimson with three black tomoe in the center.

"A Legendary History of the Sharingan". The title rang clearer than a bell. This is what Naruto had asked him for; any inkling on Sasuke he could find. He emphasized anything. The kid was desperate for something on their lost teammate. Even Kiba, who had all but given up on the lost Uchiha, couldn't deny him this. Almost like Naruto's patented blend of blind, stupid faith and refusal to see the big picture was actually inspiring.

He flipped open to a random page, only to discover a series of old papers. At least a couple years. Kiba stepped past the light, into the center of the room, to see the faded ink. "Kami…" Kiba muttered; his eyes were moving too fast to stop reading. It was all in-depth research into the Sharingan, including… what he'd planned to do to Sasuke. It was vague, and he wouldn't have understood it if not for the past experience this day reading the madman's other notes, but the picture was gruesomely clear enough to catch the meaning.

Akamaru whined, like he could read the disturbing plans himself. Kiba folded up the paper and shook his head, closing the book shut. He'd bring it to Naruto once they got out of this pit. He reached down to rub Akamaru's head, flashing the canine another smile.

Right before every one of Kiba's senses suddenly screamed out danger.

Two new scents hitting his nose. The smell of heavy, wet copper wetting his mouth, reflecting the offhand scent in the air. Hinata's white jacket flashing in front of him as she moved. Her scream of warning coupled with the whistle of steel in the air. Her body crashing into him, throwing him out of the way.

And then the clang of metal on stone again. He couldn't see right away; his vision was flashing from the impact with the ground. Hinata had knocked him aside, three meters away. He was about to ask what it was for when that scent came rushing back. Blood. And a lot of it. Kiba looked up and his slits shrank in shock.

Hinata lay on the ground, on her back, gasping for breath. Above her stood a tall man, with eyes that shone pure violet in the bleak light and silvered hair slicked back into position. In his hands, a massive, triple-bladed weapon was clutched, that had been brought down straight through Hinata's abdomen and dug into the stone beneath. If she'd been a half-second slower, Kiba would have been bisected.

But what caught his eye was the mystery murderer's robes. Black, and decorated with clouds, the same colour of the liquid that leaked from his teammates prone body.

Akatsuki.

"Women" the attacker muttered. "Always getting in the way…" his lip curled before lifting the huge, scythe-like weapon out from Hinata's body. "At least I've got one of you" he grinned before lifting the weapon up. The girl coughed and sputtered before her clone's chakra ran out, and disappeared in a flash of smoke.

The Akatsuki growled. "Ugh… I'm really starting to hate you Leaf ninja" he lowered the blade before turning his head, staring at Kiba. "So you're the Inuzuka." He frowned "You certainly smell the part".

Kiba flipped back onto his palms, doing a clean somersault away from him. "Back off Akatsuki" he drew a kunai and held it no better than a genin. The arrogance practically wafted off this one… no reason to make him think Kiba was a threat.

The man barked out a laugh. "Cute" he raised the three-bladed weapon and pointed it at Kiba. "Why are you here, squirt? What are your buddies up to?".

Kiba shifted left, keeping his movements slow, but obvious. The cloaked man moved as well, spinning his blade. "What do you think?" he'd not played poker in a while, but his face was solid. Kiba grinned, canines on display, spinning the kunai in the same way before drawing a second.

"I think you picked the wrong man to hunt, kid" the two moved, but barely. Kiba gauged his height and speed, and it wasn't hard to see his enemy doing the same. Both were close-range fighters, and the first move could mean death if not executed properly.

He'd need to be quick.

"Akamaru! Now!" Kiba shouted, throwing his knives at the Akatsuki. He dodged with a lean to his right, only to look behind him, spinning for the target. But there was nothing there.

He barely realized that he'd been played before he was hit.

"FANG OVER FANG!" two spinning streams of black and grey struck him dead-on with the force of a mountain slide, crashing all three forms into the roof of the hideout. It didn't stop there; the two that had hit him carved through the earth, battering him over and over and over with scratches and scars. Still they pushed forward, until the resistance stopped.

As one, they burst into daylight above ground. The two streams stopped spinning, the two Kiba's breaking off and landing on tree branches as the enemy crashed onto the grass, leaking blood. Akamaru broke the jutsu, returning to his true form, and landing beside his master, lips curled in a snarl.

Their foe lay still, turning the grass redder than the clouds of his garb. Kiba let out a breath and stepped off the branch to approach the body. Hinata would be on her way by now, although Shino likely was still unaware. He'd need to find…

A flash of red interrupted his thoughts. The lean that allowed him to avoid the scythe slicing at him was closer than close: he'd felt the tingle of air on his stomach when the steel just barely missed him. He turned the lean into a backflip, gaining ground. He heard Akamaru's whine from somewhere at the sight in front of them, and canine slits bulged.

The Akatsuki was getting up. Robes torn, covered in scars and lacerations… yet he was standing. He flashed his teeth in a smile, revealing the red-stained whites.

"So… was that it?" the laugh came next. Kiba's hearing picked it up on frequencies that anyone else would never be able to hear, and that just made it worse. It wasn't deep or intimidating; the pitch was far too high for that. It was closer to a shriek, but it was one of pure mania. What the fuck was this… man?

"Fair's fair, Leaf" the man cracked his neck, taking a step forward. "You drew my blood…" he raised the weapon. "God demands that you repay it in kind".

Kiba was moving almost before he was, dashing left. The steel sliced through nothing, but the whistle of it doing so was eerily audible, overridden only by it's wielders unnerving scream. He turned the dash into a roll and drew a kunai from his belt, throwing it. A clang told him that failed a second later.

One more knife was in each of his hands right before the weapon came back with their owner. He was kneeling on the grass, the scythe coming in from his right, but his hand flew up just in time. Both of them slid between the blades, metal clashing and sparks flying.

Neither gravity nor positioning was on his side. The enemy had the advantage in force and was pressing it; Kiba's strength had been sapped from tunnelling through three meters of solid earth, and he was already exhausted. Even so, he pushed. Those blood-red, curved tips crept closer, and he grunted.

Violet eyes screamed into brown ones. There was no sanity in there. "You're mine…" came the quiet hiss from behind clenched teeth; he was close enough to hear him. Kiba had to be quick here…

Using his push on the kunai, he threw himself backward, using the Akatsuki's own momentum against him. The scythe carved its arc a foot from his belly, and the enemy stumbled forward, leaving him open for a split second. It was all Akamaru needed.

The hound leaped from the trees, crashing onto the Akatsuki's back. The two crashed to the forest floor, but the beast didn't stop there. Akamaru lunged, colossal canine teeth locking around the man's neck and shaking his head. Kiba almost winced at the man's scream of agony. Steaming hot blood splattered Akamaru's face while he attempted to see if teeth alone could rip through someone's head.

The Akatsuki reached up in panic, closing his hands around Akamaru's upper and lower jaw and yanked. Impossible as it seemed, he nearly squealed with effort and pulled the beast off him, turning that grunt into another shout of pain when the teeth left him. He threw Akamaru off, rolling away and looking for Kiba.

This called for something special. He drew a kunai he'd been saving, a gift from his clan's smith, and tied it to a length of wire. The knife was wicked-looking; non-symmetrical and shaped more like a sharp, barbed spearhead than a Akatsuki looked up and saw his opponent hiding in the trees, readying his scythe. He was going to throw it.

He never even came close. Kiba was in the air just after the weapon was, throwing his own unique knife with the wire straight at him. It struck him almost harder than he'd thought, prompting another yell of pain as his weapon buried itself six inches into the enemy's solar plexus. Kiba spotted the hit and smiled as he came back down.

"You fuckin' prick…" his enemy's curse was vehement; he knew what Kiba wanted to do, and the Inuzuka didn't disappoint. Using all his strength, Kiba yanked on the wire, drawing the man forward along with the weapon in his shoulder, both throwing him off balance and hitting him with another deep spike of agony.

"Not so tough now, are you?!" he couldn't help but gloat as he drew another knife from his pelt. Another tug of the wire gave him the perfect shot. Kiba shot forward and stabbed the Akatsuki deep through the heart.

"Come back from this you... freak!" he grunted and shoved the blade in further. The man gasped and sputtered; exhaled blood splattered his uniform. The kunai went in another half-centimeter, and there was another shudder of pain before he finally went still.

Kiba let out a long exhale, still supporting the Akatsuki's corpse on his body. A bird's chirp rang through the silence. Akamaru's breathing overrode it, and he felt his heartbeat slow. That was harder than he'd…

"SURPRISE!".

The scythe came out of nowhere. The sliding of steel cable against skin was all he heard before the weapon flew in from his back-right. He tried to get out of the way, he really did, but the blades were moving way too fast. The first one came close to decapitating him if not for a bare duck, but the second was moving down by then, pulled by the attached cable, and sliced deep into his left shoulder. He screamed. White flashed across his vision, and heat exploded across his back as nerves overloaded. It was sheer pain if he'd ever felt it.

Kiba tasted blood in his mouth and spat, on all fours in front of his enemy. All he could see was sandals, but more of that sickening blood dripped onto them, and Kiba managed to look up.

The man chuckled, looking down at the kunai still embedded in his heart. With one, shaky move, he reached up and yanked the blade from his chest, twirling it around his finger and letting the liquid splatter. Kiba said a brief prayer to Kami… this was impossible. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't human.

"Thanks for the fun, kid" he cracked his neck, raising the scythe now stained with Kiba's blood to his lips. "But I've only got another minute here. Time to end this" he licked the blade once, taking it in. What the hell was-

And that's when he saw his sandals again. They weren't turning red anymore. They were turning black. And… moving. About damn time.

The Akatsuki noticed a second later, looking down at the beetles crawling up his body. He shrieked louder than a cat, which would have made Kiba laugh if his body wasn't searing. He swatted at the bugs, but doing so only made them crawl onto his hands. He flailed, kicking and thrashing in a futile effort to free himself, and Kiba crawled backwards, nursing his injury. No matter how much he tried, the black plague scuttled over his body, only making him scream louder.

Shino stepped out of the trees a second later; the picture of calm. His goggles flashed while the eyes behind them watched their enemy shriek. Kiba knew those bugs all too well; they were feeding on his chakra. Devouring every scrap they could get at, and taking nips out of his flesh to widen his tenketsu points while doing it. It must have been agonizing, yet he felt not a shred of remorse.

The enemy's insect-infested body fell to the ground, still writhing and screaming. "How bad is it?" Shino's head turned towards him as he felt Akamaru slink up behind him, the blood from his shoulder wetting his dog's fur.

He clenched his teeth into a smile, canines gleaming in the morning light. "I've had worse" he really hadn't, but that wasn't important right now. This fight was over.

Shino nodded, and turned back to the Akatsuki, who was now only twitching on the ground. He'd gone past what he should have; his insects had devoured enough chakra to fill half a dozen chunin back in the village. They were sated for now.

He walked across the grass to the enemy's prone form. As he approached, the beetles scuttled off the body, removing the shifting black sheet that covered the man and allowing him to see their target in full. His eyes were lidded and half-open, mouth ajar like it was still trying to scream. His chest moved faintly, but he was barely alive as it was. Just alive enough for transport.

"Hinata will be on her way by now" Shino told his partner. "I'll subdue him, and you get yourself wrapped up".

Kiba nodded, leaning back on Akamaru. Shino leaned down and placed his hand on the Akatsuki's body. Slowly, the bugs that had retreated emerged from the grass, crawling all over his chest. In unison, they began rubbing their legs together, secreting threads of brilliant silk white along the enemy's body. Kiba felt a spike of pain, but kept his eyes open while Shino worked.

When the attack came, he couldn't even get a word off before it struck the Aburame. A ray of lightning, pure as pure could get, shot from the trees and hit him with the force of a falling tree. Shino flew across the clearing, crashing into the dirt a few meters away from Kiba. He managed to get himself forward onto all fours, but the pain from his wound was still too great. Though as the second figure emerged from the trees, that was pushed to the back of his mind.

The newcomer stood a good six feet high, garbed in the same cloak of black-red clouds that flapped in the breeze. On his forehead, he bore a headband emblazoned with the symbol of the Hidden Waterfall village, scratched out; like the pictures of Itachi he'd seen, who had scratched out the Leaf symbol on his headband. His hand was in the midst of lowering when he came into view, still crackling with electric power. But most unnerving were the eyes; a sick green with dark red surrounding them. In the back of his mind, Kiba wondered whether the Akatsuki were all freaks of nature, or if it was just a good percentage of them.

The new enemy grunted in disapproval, looking away from Shino, who was still struggling to get to his feet. He glanced at Kiba briefly before looking at the half-dead one on the ground in front of him. "Six minutes, and you couldn't kill two chunin?" he said to the body.

Kiba should have been surprised when he started talking with barely any resistance, but he wasn't. The thought was mildly depressing. "Just shut up and help me out of this, Kakuzu!".

He ignored his partner, and turned back to Kiba. "You" he inclined his head at the grounded ninja. "What are your orders here?".

He couldn't let him know about the base, for any reason. "We were-" he coughed; half-emphasis, half real. "We were sent to scout the area. Look for your presence".

"And?".

"That's all".

Green eyes narrowed. "You're lying".

Before Kiba could protest, or even blink, the man was in front of him, lifting him up by the throat. Black and white danced across his eyes as he struggled for breath. A loud thud, followed by a whine, told him what happened to Akamaru. The other one had been strong too… but this was absurd. He wasn't even making an effort.

"Again. What are your orders here?" the voice was deeper now. Or maybe he was just passing out; it was hard to tell.

He felt the grip loosen enough so he could speak. "S-scou…" he stuck to his story. Was this really the end?

A hum a second later was his answer. He saw his attacker's head turn to the right, looking for the source of the noise. Shino had gotten to his feet, and was making no secret of his abilities. As one, his swarms hovered around him, buzzing with aggression at the call of their host and master. They flowed from his sleeves, his coat, his hood… it was quite a spectacle, Kiba imagined. He couldn't entirely make it out.

The insects shot towards the Akatsuki, covering him in a cloud of them. Kiba felt the bugs touch his skin, but not a single one of them bit him. He heard a grunt of pain, though wasn't sure whether it was himself or the enemy.

The next thing he knew, he was flying. His lungs sucked down as much oxygen as they could before it was knocked out of him again when he hit the ground, every part of him either aching or burning. Kiba felt his eyes refocus and his vision return just in time to see the swarm beginning to close in on the shadowed form of their enemy.

It didn't last long. He felt his irises shrink and eyes water when light exploded in front of him, a wave of intense heat flowing with it. He could just make out the swarm that had surrounded the Akatsuki vanishing in a ball of flame that enveloped the every single one of the insects. The heat touched his wounds, making him groan aloud, though the sound was muffled by the reverb of the explosion.

When it was over, the Akatsuki stood in the center. The fireball had scorched the earth around, burning the grass to nothing and leaving the very air still shimmering and hazy. Kiba couldn't see Shino, but even he could imagine the shock on his face. Their enemy had wiped out at least half his swarm with a single jutsu, and it didn't even appear to wind him. He thought about praying, but was wondering whose side the gods were on in this scenario.

Kiba tried to get up, but a foot on his back stopped him. "Nuh uh" came the first one's voice. The mocking and condescension in it were infuriating. "I'm not done with you yet" he heard before he felt the scythe blade push him over in a supine position.

The blade hovered over his stomach for a moment before the man pushed down on it, puncturing Kiba's skin. He groaned, feeling his nervous system flare again. The blade disappeared from his sight before he caught the Akatsuki doing the same thing as last time; he licked the blood from his weapon, the expression on his face conveying nothing but pure content. Kiba would have wretched if he had the strength.

It wasn't but a second later that the Akatsuki sheathed his scythe over his back and withdrew some… he couldn't make it out completely, but it was something of a extendable spear. Meant for stabbing. Hardly a useful weapon, Kiba wondered. The scythe would do more damage if he wanted to end him now, so what-

"Let's get this party STARTED!" he laughed with glee, before raising his arm.

"I agree!"

He didn't even have time to turn around before Hinata exploded out of the tree line, Byakugan eyes shining. Her right cross struck him dead on his head, sending their enemy flying across the clearing with a howl of pain. She landed a meter in front of Kiba, skidding to a stop in her clan's stance. Hmmm. Perhaps the gods were on his side.

"Kiba!" she didn't look at him save for a quick glance, keeping her eyes on the enemy. "How bad?".

It was hard not to sputter, but he managed to get the words out. "Not good" he croaked. "Shino-"

"I know" she nodded and turned back to their enemies, both of whom were now standing a few meters away. Their other teammate was not in normal sight, but the byakugan picked him out standing behind her, concealed in the branches of the overgrowth.

The taller one spoke first, though to his ally. "You didn't wonder where the other one was?" he scolded; almost looking like he wanted to slap him.

His partner grumbled. still leaking blood like a fountain without care. "Stuff it. Let's just kill these pieces…" he trailed off, staring at Hinata. "Hold up a sec… those eyes…".

Oh no. Did they-

"Well imagine that, Kakuzu…" the silver-haired one's mouth stretched into a half-goofy, half-predator grin. "She's Itachi's girl… the Hyuga one".

His partner looked her up and down, but his face didn't change. It would seem he was the careful one. "So it would seem".

"I am not anyone's "girl", Akatsuki" she hissed. Her stance stiffened.

"What about the Nine-Tails?" the cocky one asked, that infuriating grin still on his face. "What was it that Deidara called them, Kakuzu? Cute?". His partner didn't respond.

"Hinata…" Kiba groaned. He could almost smell her anger in the air. Being around these guys, even though she'd never met them, was firing her up way too fast. She was going to attack if pushed, and their enemy knew that.

"I wish I could have you, girl, and give Itachi a good stab in the eye, but for now I'll have to make due with your canine teammate over there" he stepped forward (receiving a condemned glare from the other) and placed his foot in the pool of blood that had leaked from him. With purpose, the foot began to move around him, spreading the crimson fluid like painting a cheap picture. Hinata didn't move, scanning his chakra.

He was done a few seconds later. A rudimentary circle, containing a triangle, had been drawn with his blood; some kind of rune, maybe? This was part of a jutsu, that was clear. But Hinata hadn't detected any surge in chakra from him.

"Keep them out of my way, Kakuzu!" he barked with a deliberate grin. "I want dog boy all to myself for this one".

It was his mouth that gave him away before his movements. Shino and Hinata acted as one.

His beetles regenerated, a swarm of insects descended from all sides of the forest, coming down on top of the two Akatsuki. It didn't even make the Waterfall one flinch, but the other hesitated just as his chakra flared.

Hinata was moving forward faster than anyone else could, her hands behind her. An image of Neji flashed in her mind; if there was any time her training could pay off, it was right now. Her control was focused, her mind was sharp, her abilities were honed. She was living in the moment while she sprinted forward. A single moment of clarity. Of perfect timing and perfect accuracy. That was what Neji had taught her, and that was what she would use. Strike- NOW!

The right hand came up first, two fingers striking her enemy's collarbone with no more than a millimeter to spare. "One palm!" she shouted. Her left hand was already moving as the right was drawing back. Again - a hit - now on the lower left abdomen and the middle-center solar plexus. "Two palms!".

"Four palms!". Again, she struck him. "Eight palms!". And again. "Sixteen palms!". Again. "Thirty-two palms!". Again! "Sixty-four palms!".

Hidan screamed. His attackers' hits weren't painful at first, but within an instant after starting they became agonizing. He'd felt pain before, but not this pain. His very chakra was shrieking and flailing as it was blocked, redirected and sealed away. Hurt in ways that he'd never felt. Hurt by someone else. Hurt by something that he couldn't acclimatize himself to. And he hated it.

Her right hand withdrew for the last section. This was it. AGAIN! "One-hundred-twenty-eight palms!".

He went flying. Blood leaked from even more holes in his skin than had before, now making the broken Akatsuki akin to a pincushion of red. His shrieks rang through the forest, every nerve wriggling in pain as no less than a third of his chakra points were sealed off.

There was no time to savour the victory. Even as she leaped into a retreat, another flare of chakra came from the other one, who had been too preoccupied with Shino's bugs. A flash of light came; another fireball. And that was all she needed.

Kiba was leaning on Shino at the treeline when she landed. The two still-viable ones held the canine master as Akamaru bounded from the trees, barking. The fireball was dissipating…

Too late.


Kakuzu's sight began to return, pupils shrinking to readjust to the dawn's light. A buzz in his ear made his hand rise, crunching the beetle there in a fist. He tightened it. That crunch was satisfying.

The air wavered from the remaining heat, but he could see well enough to know the three ninja were gone. He lowered his hands, letting the beetle fall. They wouldn't be back; not after being wounded so heavily. A grunt came from his throat. Another pointless tirade by his partner.

It was only thinking of Hidan that made Kakuzu realize his partner's sounds of pain. Moans and shrieks assaulted his ears and made his eyebrow twitch. Damn, even when beaten down, broken and defeated, he was annoying.

What was that jutsu that the girl had used? He'd heard tell of the Leaf's Hyuga clan, and their kekkai genkai, but he'd never fought a Hyuga, even through all his years. That attack style of hers… very interesting. He made a note to stretch out their next fight; it'd be intriguing to see how it was used.

"KAKUZU!" Hidan was still moaning, and Kakuzu twitched again. "Come on! Help me!".

He counted to ten inside his head. Neither of them could afford another distraction from the mission… "Kakuzu! Hey! That Hyuga bitch did - ARGH! - something to me! My body hurts like a…" another scream cut his words off.

The Waterfall-ninja grunted again before raising his left arm. The hand shot out, as if fired from a canon, bound by the grey strings that bound him together. The limb reached Hidan's fallen weapon and grasped it before the strings pulled hard, retracting it and linking his hand back to his arm.

"Your body hurts?" Kakuzu asked under his breath. Before the momentum from his arm's return had stopped, the scythe flashed above his head and came downwards in a perfect arc of crimson, the top blade connecting with Hidan's neck.

"Problem solved".