~Itachi's Point of View~
Itachi.
Hey, Itachi.
Itachi.
I jumped up and activated my Sharingan out of reflex. "W-What?"
Hidan let out a small sigh and smiled. "Hey now, no need to kill me. I was just trying to wake you up." He chuckled softly.
I immediately realized how tense I was, so I tried to relax my body. I kept the Sharingan activated; it was the day we would be reaching the Land of Iron, after all. I sighed and placed a hand on my face. "Of course... forgive me."
"Tsk." Hidan leaned closer and placed a gentle peck on my cheek. "I guess you must have been in a pretty deep sleep if I managed to startle you." He gave me another gentle kiss, but this time on the forehead. "I'm the one who should be sorry, so..." Another kiss to the forehead. "Sorry."
I smiled at him. "I'll accept your apology after you kiss me as hard you can. We have to be completely professional after we leave this tree, and I don't think I can go a whole day with just forehead kisses." I raised a brow in challenge.
Hidan looked a little stunned at first, but was soon smirking like a mad man. "Don't have to tell me twice!" He tackled me to the ground and kissed me passionately. It didn't take long for the kiss to turn desperate and needy; it was as if this would be the last one we would ever share. His fingers were laced through my hair and he was gently pulling on it. Hidan reluctantly pulled away once the need for air became too great. He let out a husky sigh. "Will that get you through the day?"
I groaned at the loss of contact, but nodded in reply. "...I think it just might." I thought about it for a moment, and realized that no, it would not get me through the day. I sat up and threw my arms around his neck before locking our lips together in another heated kiss. I laced my fingers through his short, silver locks and pulled him closer. "This is bad...I can't stop myself. Hidan is just so..." I groaned again when Hidan pulled away. I put my forehead against his chest and sighed.
Hidan let out a raspy chuckle and stroked my face with his thumb. "So much for that one kiss getting you through the day." He placed a gentle kiss on the top of my head. "Somehow I thought it'd be me who was the clingy, love-sick man. Not the other way around." He chuckled again.
I let out another sigh. "You're the first person I've been with since I left Konoha, so... I guess it's just made me realize how lonely I've been." I looked up at him and frowned. "One more?"
He giggled and kissed the tip of my nose. "You need help. You're addicted to me." He smirked at my pout and kissed my lips once more. "Okay, come on." Hidan stood up and held his hand out for me.
I put my hand in his and allowed him to help me up. "All right, we can go..."
Hidan smirked. "You don't sound very convincing, y'know."
I sighed as we exited the tree. "Yeah, I know."
As time passed on, we decided it best to travel through the trees rather than on the ground. It wouldn't be likely that the samurai of the Land of Iron would just welcome two members of the Akatsuki into their fortress. I knew we wouldn't have to be quiet until we were nearly at their front door, so Hidan was still chatting about anything he could think of, and telling me jokes that he knew I would laugh at.
After an hour and a half of Hidan's rambling and joke telling, I couldn't take anymore. I sighed. "Hidan, stop talking."
Hidan was cut off mid-sentence, but he didn't object to my commanding tone. He followed behind me in complete silence.
I sighed to myself. "I'm sorry Hidan, you're just too distracting..." I spent the next two hours re-training myself to become a cold-hearted killer. Much to my dismay, it took me that time alone to stop thinking about Hidan. As soon as the samurai fortress was visible, I stopped. I crouched down on one knee and scanned the area below. All three entrances to the fortress were heavily guarded. Each of the openings had seven samurai standing guard.
My eyes darted back and forth as I thought up a possible course of action. The guards weren't close enough to hear what was going on at the other entrances, but they could still see each other. "Hmm, seven guards to each station, twenty-one in total. There would be no need to take out all of them, since we only need to go in one entrance. If we could take them out silently while using my Sharingan to fool the other guards into believing their comrades are unharmed, then maybe—" My eyes went wide as I stared in disbelief. "Hidan!"
~Hidan's Point of View~
I rushed down the cliff side screaming threats and insults towards the samurai. Running at full speed, scythe in hand; I was completely prepared to take out the guards. I could already feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins as I approached the fortress. "Up and at 'em boys! It's time for some fun!"
I stood there waiting; waiting for my prey. I licked my lips in anticipation as I stared them down.
Three samurai ran towards me in a horizontal line; having everything but my back covered. They had their swords out and ready to go, charging me with all their might. They were crying out insults of their own, but none of them were as colorful as my own.
"Akatsuki scum!"
"You filthy criminal!"
"The Akatsuki have no honor!"
I chuckled menacingly as they grew closer and closer. "Honor? What about bravery? You bastards don't have the guts to dish out decent insults. That alone is enough to insult me."
The samurai on the left swung his sword horizontally, aiming for my left side. The samurai on the right mirrored his movement in an attempt to get me from the right side. The third samurai slashed his sword in a downward motion; probably trying to wreck my gorgeous face.
I drew my scythe back in my right hand before swinging it horizontally to the left. The swords of the right and center samurai got caught in the blades of my scythe; causing them to fly to the ground. I continued my horizontal sweep to the left and took out the third samurai. He was left forgotten and buried in the snow. "Alright! Who's next?!"
Another samurai came down from the guard post and they resumed their three-line formation. The guard on the right broke formation and charged straight towards me. The other two stayed behind; ready to back their comrade's attack.
I swung my scythe across to the right this time and managed to take out the samurai. Only, I realized that the other two started to charge me while the scythe was still stuck on the first guard. "Shit!" The guard was stuck on my scythe. Ignoring the idiot stuck on my scythe, I continued my swipe to the right and followed my blade; turning a full 360 just in time to knock the other guards over with the body of the first one.
I let out another menacing chuckle before charging towards them. I swung my scythe at them as hard and as frantically as I could. "Hell yeah! Feast your eyes boys: your armor is no match for my scythe—!" I was suddenly tackled to the ground from behind. "Ah shit! I forgot about the other three!" I was laying face first in the snow, wriggling around like a pathetic and over-sized worm. "Shit, shit, shit! I have six samurai to worry about!"
I could feel some of them holding me down while the other ones tried to pry the scythe from my hands. I'd get a big mouthful of snow every time I'd attempt to curse at them, and I was become extremely cold. They'd just managed to get the scythe from my hands when I heard one of them scream. Followed by another, and another... "What the hell just happened? Huh, oh hey, I can move again!" When I stood up, all six of the samurai were passed out on the ground. But it's what was in front of me that scared me the most.
Itachi was glaring at me with such intensity I thought he might actually kill me. He let out a heavy sigh. "Hidan, what the hell were you thinking? If you had been here alone you would have gotten yourself killed." He crossed his arms over his chest. "You didn't even tell me what you were planning to do. Which, by the way, was completely unnecessary. This is a retrieval mission. There was no need for you to attack the guards like that. It was loud, foolish, and completely reckless. Not to mention—" He furrowed his brows and stopped talking. "What?"
I scratched the side of my face. "Sorry, it's just, you're kind of hot when you get all worked up worrying about me." I couldn't hold back a smirk as Itachi's eyes visibly twitched. I chuckled and put my hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. Uhm, thanks for saving me. So, what were you planning?"
Itachi sighed again. "Never mind that for now, let's just go inside and retrieve the documents already." He turned around and led the way inside the samurai fortress. He silently maneuvered his way through the many corridors of the fortress. Just as he was about to round the corner he stopped dead in his tracks and motioned for me to do so as well. He looked over at me. "Hidan, I need you to bang your scythe against the wall. There is only one guard within hearing distance, and I need him to run over here. I'm going to knock him out with a genjutsu that will activate the moment he sees us."
My eyes lit up; that was actually really smart, and sounded like fun. I happily took my scythe and smashed it into the wall. I watched in awe as the lone samurai ran towards us to investigate and immediately pass out from Itachi's genjutsu. I did make sure to catch him before his armor made a loud clunking noise against the stone floor though. "Sweet, what do we do now? Oh! Maybe I could put on this samurai gear, and take my scythe along as evidence that we took down an Akatsuki member. Meanwhile you conceal yourself and retrieve the documents. 'Cause they gotta be pretty important which means we should find 'em with the boss."
Itachi looked a little stunned. "Well...yes, I think that will work. I'll be able to put whoever is in charge to sleep with a genjutsu while you're talking to them." He turned his head to look in the hallway. "I'll keep watch while you get changed."
I felt proud in that moment; Kakuzu never praised me. Not even as subtly as Itachi just did. I removed my Akatsuki cloak and sealed it away in one of my scrolls. I changed into the samurai's uniform and grunted in discomfort. "Damn, this is too fucking heavy."
Itachi looked over at me and rolled his eyes. "It's armor, Hidan. What did you expect?"
I pouted, not that he could see it though. I did have a helmet on, after all. "Yeah, yeah. Are you able to hide yourself from the samurai without hiding yourself from me?"
Itachi almost looked annoyed by that question, but didn't voice any objections. "Yes, I can do that. It's best we go now, we've wasted enough time talking, and I already have a genjutsu cast outside."
I nodded. "Okay, lead the way!"
~Itachi's Point of View~
It took us a good twenty minutes to reach the leader's room. Multiple guards had stopped Hidan to 'congratulate' him on taking down an Akatsuki member. Luckily it didn't matter that Hidan asked how to get to the leader's room, for they had just switched his office over the day before. So not all of the samurai knew its new location.
Hidan burst into the leader's office and happily threw his scythe on the desk. "Yo! Check it out man, I took down one of the Akatsuki!"
I rolled my eyes and elbowed him. I shook my head at him and glared, hoping he'd realize what I meant.
Hidan suddenly stood up straight, and put his legs and arms close together. "I mean..." He bowed. "Sir, Mifune. I have successfully taken down the Akatsuki member known as Hidan. He was outside trying to break in. He was completely alone and causing quite a riot Not only was it foolish of him, it was completely reckless. He was no match for my unit, sir. He is being delt with as we speak."
Mifune went from being annoyed to looking genuinely pleased. "Well, that is excellent work indeed. But surely you've taken precautions to make sure his partner has been taken care of as well?"
Hidan shook his head. "No sir, that's the other reason it was so reckless of him. He charged down the mountain alone. We scouted the area and were unable to locate anyone else. It seems he wasn't one of the more intelligent ones."
Mifune stood up and stretched his hand outwards. "Well done my young samurai." After shaking Hidan's hand, he reached behind his desk and pulled out several documents. "These are documents pertaining to the Akatsuki and all of the information we have on them. I've organized them according to hidden village. I would like you and your unit to deliver these to each of the corresponding Kage."
I blinked in disbelief. "Those... Those are the documents Pein sent us to retrieve."
Hidan carefully took the documents and bowed again. "Understood sir, I will get my team together and we will set out right away." Hidan started to leave, but then turned around. "Uh, sir?"
Mifune raised a brow. "Yes? What is it?"
"Well you see, there is a girl in a village not too far from here that I've had my eye on...and well, do you think I could take the scythe as a souvenir to show her? I think it would really seal the deal if she knew my comrades and I were strong enough to defeat an Akatsuki member."
Mifune chuckled heartily. "You may take it with you, yes."
Hidan bowed once more. "Thank you, sir!" He picked his scythe back up and exited the room. He led the way back through the many corridors of the fortress. He ran into several samurai who were asking about his reason for keeping the scythe. Many of them were cheering him on and wishing him luck with the girl. He led the way out of the fortress and back into the forest. He kept the samurai disguise on until we reached the hollowed out tree from before. He threw his scythe down on the ground and chuckled. "Man, I can't believe how easy that was! He just gave us the documents!"
I smiled at this cheerfulness for a moment. But I was too exhausted to say anything. I was forced to deactivate my Sharingan; I had used too much of my chakra with all of my genjutsu. "H-Hidan..." I started to fall forwards; I was just too worn out to stop myself.
"Whoa, hey!" Hidan caught me and cradled me against his armored chest. "You look exhausted..." Even behind the samurai mask, I could hear how worried his voice was.
I sighed and leaned into him. "...I used too much chakra. Those genjutsu took a lot out of me, I had too many going at once. It also uses more chakra to conceal myself from certain people while allowing others to see me..."
Hidan held me closer. "Ah, I'm sorry, Itachi. I made you push yourself harder than you needed to. I'll make it up to you with a kiss." He leaned down towards me in an attempt to kiss me.
"Ouch, Hidan!" I rubbed my nose and laughed softly. "You're still wearing the samurai armor."
"Oh, oops." He carefully set me down against the tree trunk and immediately removed the helmet. "Okay, let's try that again." He crawled over top of me and pressed his lips into mine; also pressing gentle kisses all over my face.
I smiled and laughed again. "That's much better, thank you." I sneezed suddenly as a chill ran down my spine. "H-Hidan...Can you change back into your own clothes? I'm cold and I want to go to sleep."
He smiled softly and placed a gentle kiss on my temple. He moved to the other side of the tree and changed back into his own clothes. He crawled back over to me and pulled me against his chest. He tucked me into his Akatsuki cloak and wrapped his arms around me. "Let's get some rest, 'kay?"
I nestled into the crook of his neck and sighed contently. "Okay."
A/N: Okay, here is the next chapter. I tried to make the fighting as detailed as possible, but fight scenes aren't the easiest things to write.
The story will be wrapped up in another chapter or so.
