Hillo!!! Sorry I haven't updated lately! Job, school and everything in between has been getting in the way. Funny thing is that I have had this chapter dome for a while….. Just forgot to update it. ^^' Let's get to the story! Hold on for the ride…
Oh before I forget, Akane is not a Mary Sue!!!! She is gonna get her assed kicked around a bit, k?
Disclaimer…..I know the TRUE owner of Naruto wished he had thought of Akane. Psh loser.
A pilfer of sand bolted through the air at Akane with hungry speed as she managed to flip off the top of the tower and onto the safety of a nearby building. The sand however gave up its chase and spun towards the distracted Kakashi who desperately flipped and spun away from the raging grains that tried to swallow him. Blindly, Akane jumped through the dark night to what she hoped to be a different building while tossing three kunais with explosive notes at the sand and barely managing to land on the wall without sliding down. Piercing grey eyes looked out from under her bangs in time to see Gaara appear behind Kakashi to aim a deadly blow but luckily the demon carrier underestimated the 26 year old shinobi who disappeared; leaving a nicely hidden paper bomb in his wake. Just as Kakashi was out of range, the explosion was set off with sand being shot through the air followed by the roar of flames and smoke. The building shook slightly from the detonation before Akane leapt back to land beside Kakashi who panted faintly as he watched the smoke dissolve in the crisp air to reveal a shell of sand that shielded Gaara.
Bit by bit the grains melted around him to reveal red hair, impassive stare and arms crossed over his chest indifferently. Yes this evening started with a mission. A simple assassination mission. The plan was simple, but the mission turned to be anything but. What started out as an assassination turned to be just a way to attract attention. Here Akane and Kakashi had arranged to attack the Kazekage--not to actually kill him--and start the inevitable rumor to spread of Hatake Kakashi truly becoming a rogue and attacking his former village's ally. Having been nearly an hour later and still no real progress—though they weren't really trying to kill anyone—this was starting to become a troublesome situation.
"So how long are we going to fight him before we leave?" she asked in a low whisper so only Kakashi would hear.
"Long enough to make it believable," Kakashi replied with his eyes watching the sand carefully. This obviously wasn't the answer she was looking for as she scowled, both playfulness and tease absent from previous jokes. Both stood as serious as ever watching the indescribable sand whip through the air around the red haired shinobi in violent threats and cracks. So much sand and being in the middle of a desert was Gaara's home field. Even with Kakashi and Akane, the odds were uneven when put against a Demon. Still they pushed all thought aside and focused entirely on the task at hand.
"I would advise you to return to Konoha before you regret your stupid decisions," Gaara warned although in all honesty his sand was having the hardest time keeping up with Kakashi's speed. For one thing, Gaara wasn't a fool to believe Kakashi was actually trying. A gennin would know the white-haired man was holding back. But that didn't change the fact that Gaara didn't want to hurt the Konoha ninja though if that meant putting the village in danger then so be it; Kakashi would end up in the hospital and Naruto would be contacted to take him back. Simple.
Kakashi though said nothing as he charged once again, making Gaara's eyes widen at the speed. He would have to start moving and dodging more if he wanted to stay untouched though even with using Shukaku it was proving to be a challenge. Through the fight he wasn't sure what was the real Kakashi and what wasn't. He would hit one and it would turn to a clone while the real one, he assumed would appear behind him; an illusion of sorts which wasn't his best, let alone was it easy on his temper. Safe to say that when he actually had the real Kakashi in his grasp then that annoying woman would interfere. For some reason she knew exactly which one was the real Kakashi and which were fake and at this point, that particular skill was envied by the Kazekage. But none the less, if he took her out then he would be able to capture Hatake. She did seem weaker and not nearly as fast so it would make it the easiest plan.
With a plan forming to end the useless kunoichi's existence, the Kage launched his own attack towards Kakashi, willing to distract the man long enough for Gaara's real form to take the annoying woman by surprise.
Using speed that only a demon, or Lee, could possess, he shot straight towards her, sending debris of the rooftop into the air behind him and the rushing of the wind leaving him deaf, all while the woman watched in complete shock as he grew closer in amazing speed. She couldn't move from pure fear and thundering chakra raining over her shoulders, keeping her in suspense until she was suddenly swept aside by an abrupt force and into the air.
Gaara slid to a stop merely feet away and narrowed his eyes at the pair in the air, Kakashi holding the woman to him protectively as they landed on the next building where he set her down on her feet. He hadn't even sensed Kakashi coming…. Was this an illusion? It just had to be. Looking back at what he thought was the real Kakashi turned to be a clone which added more frustration to the Kage's shoulders. It was now more than obvious that Kakashi knew of his plan. This made everything much more difficult.
Kakashi watched from where he stood with Akane catching her breath next to him. If she hadn't been holding back then she wouldn't have gotten stuck from the pressure of the chakra, this she knew, though there was a risk and a very well thought out reason for her NOT using her full speed and chakra levels. There was only so much control she had and the risk of her killing Gaara was too much for her to chance.
"Don't underestimate him," Kakashi directed towards her while she tossed a glare his way.
"I'm fine…"
For the first time in the last 30 minutes, he turned his missed matched eyes to her but said nothing. Perhaps it was just a slip up, after all. He would have the same mistakes in fights as well…. None the less it wasn't something that he was willing to risk if she had gotten hurt. Obviously Gaara didn't want to hurt him…..The same couldn't be said for Akane.
"Ready for round three?" Kakashi asked with an eye crinkle. If there was one thing he learned about the woman, it was that she worked best when there wasn't so much pressure.
Akane's scowl lightened and she shrugged. "Faster we finish this the faster we can get food."
"Are you buying?"
"Why not?"
Kakashi gave a quick nod but before he could respond he was forced to jump out of the way just as another wave of sand crashed into the building where he had stood and Akane still was. Realizing that she hadn't moved, his heart skipped a beat and his eyes went wide. "Akane!"
The sand retracted from the building, leaving it to crumble and cave it a few levels with Akane's limp form in the middle of the debris. Finally, Gaara thought at the sight of her body. Just then it disappeared in a poof of smoke leaving an empty building; making it clear that it was a shadow clone
Kakashi blinked while he scanned the many buildings for the kunoichi only to land his sights on her just in time to see Akane appear over the rooftop behind Gaara who hadn't sensed her. Just as she sent a round house kick to his back, the sand erupted into a blockade, guarding Gaara just in time. "You," Gaara started as he spun around to face her, but she was gone in a flash and appeared on the other side, sending a punch hard into the sand, but instead of blocking her like it had before, it wrapped around her wrist, sending her grey eyes wide before tossing her into the air, crashing straight into a different building. Before the sand could recover, Kakashi charged low and fast towards Gaara, managing to catch a punch to the Kage's chin, sending him to the ground. The whipping of the sand crashed over Gaara in a shield but Kakashi was already in position under the roof where he thrust a hand through and gripped Gaara's leg to pull him under…. However what was once an ankle soon dissolved into sand between his fingers.
At that point, everything slowed. With Gaara still between the shell of Shikaku's sand and the roof where Kakashi was, the strange sound of wind waved through all previous thoughts and everything seemed to still…… Even Kakashi had seemed to hear it as he paused.
Out of the corner of his eye, the sand shifted from a hole the size of a quarter until what looked like a spider pushed through with four black eyes watching Gaara………….
"Kai!"
BOOOM!!!
The Kage Tower rooftop shook violently as Kakashi was pushed two levels down and Gaara was thrown into a scrambling heap across the building.
"Looks like we're late, hm," announced a deep voice from above Gaara as he slowly gained control over what had just happened. Pain stretched over his left arm that was clearly broken as well as a large gash to his forehead where blood pooled by his hand as he pushed himself up to a painful stand.
The sound of the man's voice was the first to reach his ears that had a god awful ring vibrating through. Then followed the sound of scraping wood and the same whooshing of wind.
With his right eye's vision returning, he looked towards the source of his interruption to find two black cloaks with crimson clouds.
Akatsuki.
"You're…. the one that attacked two weeks ago," Gaara mused aloud earning a bright grin from the blonde.
"That's right, un. But we aren't going to leave empty handed this time," he boasted proudly.
Sasori didn't say anything but instead looked over his shoulder to see the hole in the rooftop from his partner's bomb where the former Konoha ninja climbed out to join the three. "Hatake, Kakashi," Sasori announced in a heavy tone. Suddenly a blur appeared next to the white-haired ninja with black vapor dispersing to reveal the kunoichi. "And Nori, Akane."
"See?" Deidara shook his head shamefully. "This is what we get for being fashionably late, yeah."
"Don't start," Sasori warned in an exasperated voice. "Your diabolical creation made too much noise making it easy for the guards to find us."
A scowl etched its way on the blonde's features. "It isn't diabolical! It's real art, un."
"I'm to assume you are here for the Kazekage," Kakashi interrupted.
Both Akatsuki turned their gazes to Kakashi and Akane while Gaara tried to gain a grasp on the situation with his mind still blurry. "No, un. We're here for vacation."
"Oh, that's good," Akane shot back sarcastically with a wave of her hand in the air. "If you were here for Gaara then we would have had a problem."
"Tsh, watch your mouth and don't get in the way, kunoichi," Sasori dismissed.
This played a tricky hand for Kakashi and Akane. Everything had now become much more difficult. Akatsuki were here to take Gaara. Kakashi and Akane were here to (so call) kill Gaara. Gaara was the Kazekage, a friend to Kakashi and Konoha, as well as an ally, not to mention that Kakashi was in no position to protect Gaara from Akatsuki because the MAIN mission was to get inside of Akatsuki. Now he was stuck between two choices. Kill Gaara, or let Akatsuki have him. If he did the latter then Akatsuki would gain more power over Konoha and Suna though he would have an easier time joining the organization-Not to mention, Gaara would die. If Kakashi killed the kage, then Akatsuki wouldn't be able to complete their plan and wouldn't think Kakashi was worthy of joining seeing as he messed their arrangement up. But neither of these plans were something that he wanted….
"We were here first. I see no reason for you to have full rights to a mission when you were too late," Akane argued.
"It's not your concern. If you want to interfere then we won't stop you. We won't let you live either," Sasori explained coolly.
"Well I hope you are ready for a fight because I can promise you that much." To prove her point, she bent her knees into a fighting position and clenched her fists.
"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked while Sasori and Deidara sized the two Konoha ninja up.
"Playing it off. If we try to keep Gaara as our mission then we keep him safe from Akatsuki. We just have to do this until Sand-shinobi come to help Gaara."
"I doubt it will be that easy," Kakashi debated but didn't argue. It was a plan that would keep them busy until he could ponder something else. Both turned back to the Akatsuki but before another word could be ushered, Deidara dove his clay bird to the half blind Gaara whose sand shot up to grab the attacker. Kakashi shot off the ground, intersecting the small bomb that Deidara tossed while he rode higher into the air.
Akane unsheathed her sword before she dispersed in a black vapor and appeared behind Sasori's wooden form only for a scorpion 9ft tail to block her katana. Not taking a chance to see what the liquid at the sharp point at the end was, she leapt out of reach a safe distance away. Slowly Sasori turned to face his opponent, letting his tail wrap through the air behind him threateningly. "If you interfere, I'll kill you."
"….." Akane tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. Why would he care unless he needed her alive? "Are you one of those noble types that don't want to fight a girl?"
"Don't get your hopes up. I have other reasons and fighting you would only be a waste of my time."
At this Akane's eye twitched and her smirk fell to a mock pout. "It's true. You Akatsuki are mean."
"You aren't funny."
"You just don't have a sense of humor."
"You and Deidara constantly talk." he stated bordly. "…. I have things to do," and with that, his mouth opened to shoot poisoned senbons straight towards Akane who threw her hands into a few signs before thrusting them to the ground. With a whoosh of wind, a square blockade shot from the ground and deflected the weapons to land one by one onto the ground.
Before she could stand up to return an attack, there was a gust of wind and a blur behind her where she instinctively jumped into the air and out of the reach, but again the tail rose high enough to slam her thin frame into the ground with a crater crushing under her from the force. A deep gasp left her and all the air squeezed from her lungs while black specs freckled her vision. Before she could regain her breath, a cold wooden hand wrapped around her ankle followed by him picking her up and slamming her onto the ground one more time. Her head slammed hard into the ground, causing blood to run into her eye while she shakily sat up before falling back, trying to catch her breath. This holding back idea was not going to fly for very long……
Kakashi jumped high into the air with the crackle of his Chigori whistling through the night as he struck through one of the hovering bombs ready to drop onto Gaara who struggled against a clone of Kakashi and his sand blocked and swallowed smaller bombs. Landing hard on the ground, Kakashi caught sight of Sasori bringing a poisoned laced sword down on Akane who twisted from his grip and kicked him hard on the chin, causing his head to roll of to reveal locks of red and a younger new face. "….the hell?!" Akane asked tentatively. "Who are you?"
"Introductions are a bore but if you must know, I am Sasori of the Red Sands," he smirked while he stepped out of the puppet. "You won't make another lucky shock like that."
Kakashi turned back in time to see a bomb diving towards him where he flipped away and onto the side of a building. The bird pursued at deadly speed while Kakashi ran hard and fast around the walls. Seeing that Kakashi was gaining distance away from Gaara, leaving him open for attacks by Deidara, Akane folded her hands together, narrowly dodging one of Sasori's puppets, before activating her jutsu. "Wind Style: Ookami cyclone."
The air shifted and grew in sudden speed that surrounded Sasori and his weapon, growing faster with the sand taking form as a wolf's head before rearing up and crashing down on the wooden duo.
Taking this time to help Gaara, she spun on her heels and darted to the struggling Kazekage. Kakashi was further away as he jumped to another building, sending a fireball straight to one clay bird, but missing the second by inches. As for Deidara, he stuffed his hand deeper into his pocket before tossing two strange creatures to limp their ways towards the distracted Gaara who managed to duck under one clay figure then the through the other with a blade of his sand. Unfortunately, the clay multiplied and again made an attack to the tiring Kage.
"Damn it," Akane cursed and sent a wave of chakra straight across the roof, sending the clay figures to be pushed away, leaving a few to detonate while the others stood up and charged back to Gaara who regained his composure and the seconds of bought time. As Akane continued to run towards him, she caught sight of Deidara flipping down onto the roof, oblivious of her presence. Just as he stood to his feet while pulled a few kunais out, Akane pushed her palm out towards his direction, sending another gust of wind right at him in a narrowed attack, but a shock of black iron sand intercepted, keeping Deidara safe as Sasori appeared along side him. Sliding to a stop, she spun to look at what she assumed to had been the real Sasori with her wolf jutsu. Sadly she had misinterpreted and had attacked a shadow clone. These men weren't joking around. She was suddenly bleeding profusely while they had not a scratch on them…… That was the last straw. No more holding back. Time to control the puppet master.
Gritting her teeth, she glanced above her shoulder to see Kakashi flipping down the building, setting off the last bomb that followed him while he landed between Gaara and Deidara. With one long glance at Kakashi, she turned back to Sasori who twitched his fingers, forming the iron sand to a new shape that started to spin dangerously.
"Meh," she brushed off with a wry smirk as she pulled her fingers together into a release signal. "Time to stop acting weak I suppose…."
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes as the iron block spun faster and faster. "Fool," Sasori murmured irritably and thrust his hand forward, sending the sand straight towards her. Opening her eyes, she forced her chakra straight to Sasori as the invisible line shot and dodged straight to him, hitting into his core and attacking the only part that made him still human. But it wasn't enough. Her chakra was only selected into the cylinder that he held in his chest and immobile. There was no control over him…….. cursing she jumped away from the weapon of sand that slammed into the ground, forcing her to skid on her back until she was able to flip back to the balls of her feet.
Kakashi could only spare a glance while dodging a punch from Deidara before both had to split up from Gaara's wave of sand that threatened to spill across from them. Akane though was too busy watching Sasori's smirk grow as the bulk of sand shifted and pulled from the ground. "What were you trying to do? If I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to control me."
So he knew? Just how much did he know about her? Suddenly it hit her. He knew her name and wasn't surprised Kakashi was there…. Was it that they knew about Kakashi being a missing-nin already? And what about her? Obviously they caught Akatsuki's attention but that wasn't to say it was very helpful. After all she didn't know just how much they knew about her.
"Trying to control the puppet master is very humorous, I admit," Sasori chuckled to himself. "Never have I fought someone crazy enough to try. I doubt you even know how to use my techniques with chakra strings, though."
"You're wrong," Akane smirked back and stood to her feet while wiping some blood from her eye; letting her black hair fall back to her wet forehead. "I don't use string to control. This technique is something," she started as she clenched and unclenched her fingers, "a little more raw…"
"Raw?" his brow rose questioningly. "I am far from raw. My old body is long gone and now I have this wooden masterpiece that is far from controllable for someone as yourself. Only I have control." His tone wasn't boastful, merely matter of fact.
"That makes sense now. You are a puppet yourself….." No wonder why she wouldn't control him. She needed her chakra to enter their blood stream and organs in order to control a person. He had neither of these. "Kakashi! Switch me!"
Deidara blinked from the sudden outburst of the kunoichi, earning him a stab through the arm from Kakashi's kunai before the white-haired shinobi flickered to Akane's side just as an arm of sand tried to grab him. "What do you have in mind?" he asked between pants, trying to keep his eyes off her deep gash in her temple.
"I can gain control over them. It'll take a lot of energy, but I can hold them off while you focus on Sasori." She turned to him with a sense of worry. "He's tricky and I think he knows something we don't."
"What exactly would he know?"
"I have a feeling he knew we were going to be here…. And the way he was talking…. Something's not right."
Before anything could be discussed, a bomb detonated along side of Gaara who had started to take to the air by his sand, sending him crashing hard to the ground. Seeing that Deidara was diving low and fast to make the pickup of the Kage, she sprinted in their direction, sliding across the ceiling and loose sand while throwing her hands towards Deidara, barely managing to get enough chakra to enter his blood system and throw him off course and back into the sky with a jerk of her arms.
"What the hell, un?" he asked while pulling his hand to his sweaty forehead. A strange sense of nausea crashed over him, but he shook his head, trying to get rid of it. It was obviously something the kunoichi did seeing as Kakashi was too busy fighting Sasori who looked to be struggling a bit with Hatake. And with Gaara starting to wake up, it wasn't going to end well….
But just then out of the corner of his eye, two new figures made their way to the same building. "About time, un."
Akane watched as Gaara struggled to his hands and knees, however she didn't make a move towards him. Instead she stepped between him and Dediara watching as the blonde flying above her grinned sadistically.
Why wasn't he doing anything? And Gaara was starting to be too out of it to fight for much longer. Fighting Deidara and Kakashi for nearly two hours was going to take a lot of strength from you whether you had a Demon on your side or not.
Kakashi though, aware that there wasn't a bomb in site, only assumed Akane had full control over Deidara and Gaara. With his entire focus on Sasori, he sent a rampant earth jutsu to collapse the rooftop under Sasori, effectively knocking the ninja off balance while Kakashi appeared behind him, getting a firm grip around the wooden body and spinning his straight to the balcony below, effectively crashing Sasori's head into a large crater. With the puppet master motionless, Kakashi stepped back, took a few deep breaths….. Slash!!! A short yell escape him as the searing pain entered his ribs from an intensely sharp blade.
Jumping a safe distance away, he was met with a dark opened cloak, revealing a broad pale chest and a silver necklace displayed proudly, while the once thought, knocked out puppet master shifted to a stand and spun his head right side on as both Akatsuki faced the breathless Kakashi.
Meanwhile, Akane jumped under the giant bomb, kicking it hard in the stomach and sending it flying into opposite direction and into a far off building. Deidara was too busy to notice as he dove through the streets, alleys and anything to lose the charging sand while his bird ducked and soared through the night air. "Where is he?" Akane asked Gaara, thankful that the Kage wasn't interested in fighting her at the moment.
"I'm not sure," he murmured while holding a hand to his throbbing temple. The blood wasn't letting up and Akane knew it would be a matter of time before he passed out.
"Shit. This is bad."
"Right you are," said a dark voice behind her. Before Akane could even look over her shoulder, she was slammed hard and lifted by something into the air with her black hair whipping in her face and cold night wind burned at her chapped lips before she was suddenly dropped from the sky. "Aaahhhh!!!!" she screamed, all while trying to toss her chakra to the black and white creature with bat like wings that had dropped her, but it was too late as it was out of range and charging to Gaara.
Trying to gain some control of her fall, she flipped, desperately reaching out for a building but it was out of reach and the ground was rising up to meet her but luck was on her side as something leapt right above her, managing to grip her shirt as they both landed hard onto the concrete sidewalk, rolling to a stop. The impact was enough to scuff up her arms and cheek but not enough to break any bones, as she shakily pushed herself up to her stomach. Glancing up to who had caught her, she blinked when it wasn't Kakashi.
"Aki?" she struggled out.
Her wolf gave one heave of effort to stand to his feet before turning back to Akane; the city lights casting an ominous shadow around his battered form. Grey eyes went wide in shock at sight of his bent, limp left ear and the gashes on top of gashes from his neck to his belly. Blood matted and caked to his once lushes fur and saliva dripped eerily from his fangs. Carefully he limped towards her with his shoulders hunched and head low. "Aki!" she pushed herself to her feet and rushed to him where he braced himself for her much needed hug. "What happened?! Who did this?!" Never had he been in this shape before and not any one could do it.
"Akatsuki," he growled. "First there were two…. Then four. I tried to keep them away but one with a scythe caught me.…"
"Damn it! You need to go back home and rest---I still need to help Kakashi—"
"Two of you can't take on four Akatsuki. There's only two now, but wait till the other pair arrive."
"They already have," Akane said gravely. She rubbed Aki's uninjured ear and gave him a quick kiss.
"But you don't understand—"
"No Aki. I can handle this. You go home." With that, she sprinted up the Hokage tower to help Kakashi and Gaara.
Aki watched sadly as Akane disappeared, knowing that he would never be able to get enough strength to follow her. …. "But the other two Akatsuki aren't here yet…."
Kakashi leapt from the back of Deidara's bird, erupting it into an explosion of clay, soot, and fire; successfully tricking one of the strange black creatures into the detonation. Hidan was the next to meet Kakashi in midair as they flipped and dodged each other's attacks until Kakashi landed vertically on the wall, managing to flip upwards and kick Hidan in the side, hard enough to send him flying.
A bomb, however erupted behind him, sending the wall to crumble beneath his feet as another creature of Kakuzu's flew at him. Just in time, Kakashi jumped away, leaving the creature to fly straight into the wall.
"Behind you!" came a female voice, turning his attention over his shoulder at Hidan who had returned with his Scythe read to cut into Kakashi, but the Jashin worshiper froze suddenly, his face going blank, then was slammed into the ground by an invisible force once, twice, and again for good measure while Gaara blocked another three of Kakuzu's summonings with his sand, effectively crushing them.
"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked Akane and both panted heavily.
"This is a five star vacation, sparky! Of course I'm alright," she teased.
"Sad thing is, that when you stop your use of sarcasm then I know there truly is something wrong."
"That's one way to look at it," she admitted.
Though this was not the time or place for it, Kakashi had to let a small smirk play under his mask, but it was soon gone once a trail of ants made itself known as they scurried straight to the two Konoha ninja.
"Who can you take?" Kakashi asked as they jumped away before the clay could go off.
"I'll take Hidan, Deidara and whatever I can for Kakuzu's sci-fi animals."
"Perfect. Gaara's on our side--"
"Figured that much." With that, they leapt straight back into the game. Again a few more creatures dived down towards Kakashi and Akane, both flipping and dodging but still keeping up with each other easily. Ahead of them on two buildings away, Gaara fought hard with Sasori and three of his puppets but it was the second Akatsuki member that had Akane and Kakashi worried. Above Gaara, Deidara was making a long centipede that shot through the air straight to the oblivious kage. Gritting his teeth, Kakashi pushed one hand downwards with his other gripping his wrist.
"We aren't going to make it," Akane said urgently as both sprinted harder.
"Leave it to me," Kakashi replied while summoning chakra to his hand, lighting it in brilliant blue and white lightning. The firecracker sound woke the air as his Chigori grew however before he was able to dart ahead, Hidan appeared in front of them, charging at full speed with his scythe out to the side.
"I got him," Akane yelled out and ran in front of Kakashi as defense. Thrusting her hands in front of her, her chakra entered Hidan's body. Once sure there was enough, she pulled her hands past her waist and as if an invisible string was attached to Hidan's shoulders, he fell hard to the ground with Kakashi leaping over him and straight to Gaara's aid.
"Fuck!!" Hidan yelled and pushed himself up to a sitting position.
Akane watched her opponent as he wiped some blood from his mouth. Looking to the back of his hand and seeing the crimson liquid, a sinister grin curled his lips and a laugh erupted from him. "Fuck! I'm gonna play with you! Screw the Hatake prick!" He stood to his feet while Akane bent low in a defense stance. "We'll have some fun together bitch."
"Your offer is generous but I must decline," she replied flatly.
"Now don't go fucking weak on me now," he grinned while spinning his scythe around and stepping forward.
"Don't misunderstand me. I'll don't plan on this lasting long because I'll kill you on the spot."
"Those are some big words from a slut like you." He paused and a thoughtful look passes his features. "How about this? I'll give you a fucking free shot. Anywhere you damn well please and as much shitty blood as you want." He pulled his cloak open more to reveal his chest. "Fuck, what are you waiting for?"
Akane didn't move, though she knew she would have to do it sooner or later. And the fact that it was her enemy didn't relieve the guilt she would have if she went through with it.
"Hurry the fuck up!"
Akane flinched lightly but still didn't move. This only made Hidan scowl as he dropped his hands from his cloak. "Fine. If you won't do it, I will!" And with that, he charged at her with blinding speed.
With her grey eyes shooting wide, she ducked under his scythe and spun away from a kick followed by a block of her kunai against his blade and a few flips to get away but he only followed, not letting her get out of range for a swing of his scythe or a punch.
Barely keeping up with his speed, she jumped to the side, nicking her ankle on a cobblestone. With a quick stumble, she caught herself just before she fell but Hidan had already taken advantage of her. Jumping into the air, he tossed his scythe hard at her, but she barely managed to spin out of the way, losing her sleeve in the process. But the onslaught wasn't over. Again he used an upward sweep with the giant blade, sending dirt and shatters into her face. Within a second he had swung again, catching her across the abdomen.
"Damn," she cursed and stumbled again. Hidan finally paused in his attacks, taking a lick off his scythe's blade, tasting her blood with his grin growing.
"You're fucking fast, I'll give you that."
"Thanks," she replied dryly. Out of all the guys she could have fought, she had to say this one was a good choice. He was really pissing her off and the temptation to use her chakra in this battle was become too good to be true.
Before anything could be done, she felt a strange tickle on her shoulder where she looked to find a small butterfly but it was too late.
"Kai!"
Boom!
The explosion shook the building, making Hidan take a few steps to the side as pieces of and rocks flew at him. "Fuck you little bastard!!" he yelled at Dediara who watched the cloud of soot rise towards him. A satisfied grin pulled at his lips but was short lived as Akane appeared through the smoke with a kunai in hand. It was too late for Deidara to dodge as she stabbed him through the shoulder, the force knocking both of them off the giant clay bird. Keeping Deidara under her, she twisted in the air before slamming her leg across Deidara's stomach, condemning the man into a deep crater in the roof top a few yards from Hidan who laughed humorously at the situation.
"Damn you, un," he murmured breathlessly. "You'll regret that."
Akane didn't stay long by Deidara's body as she leapt a safe distance away before throwing her hands into a series of signals. "Yuumei No Ame!"
Just as Deidara stood up and tossed another creation at her, she released her jutsu, throwing Hidan and Deidara into what looked like a blacker night with the outlines of the building in white and sudden rain falling hard on their heads.
"Hahaha," Deidara laughed. His clay was taking on too much water as it struggled towards Akane but it didn't make it as it stumbled to a heap. "This illusion won't work, yeah," he informed and adjusted his metal eye piece. The click signaled he was ready and his sight through his single eye could see through the jutsu while Akane watched to see what he did next. With his hands in the release sign he ordered, "Kai."
And just like that, the illusion was lifted.
"Fuck! That was it?" Hidan asked. "What a weak jutsu."
"I didn't even activate it fully," she informed. "I only needed rain to dampen Deidara's clay."
"You used up a lot of chakra doing that which wasn't a smart thing to do, un," he grinned cockily.
Akane smirked. Did they think she was that reckless? "It was worth it. Not only was your creation destroyed but you can't use your clay in your pouch either."
Deidara rolled his eyes at her ignorance but shrugged it off, making it the first time that Akane noticed that one of his arms were missing. "I can fight in rain just fine with my clay. It'll dry within seconds, hm."
"Don't get ahead of yourself, bomber," she smiled. "That jutsu will keep your clay dry for three straight hours. Not a single drying jutsu will help you now."
"So step aside, transvestite and let me handle this," Hidan snickered as he pushed past a disgruntled Deidara.
With his eye twitching, he kicked Hidan in the ass, making him fall face first on the ground.
"Fuck!"
"You wanna call me that again, un?!" Deidara yelled as he stepped on Hidan's back to prove his point.
Hidan stood up, pushing Deidara's foot off and spun around with his scythe. Deidara ducked under it easily and stuck out his tongue.
Akane took this chance to look over at Kakashi who seemed to be getting a good handle against Sasori and Kakuzu. All she had to do was take care of Hidan and then she could help Kakashi. Nothing to it. "Oi! You two! Do us all a favor and grow a pair. I'm waiting—"
Before she could finish, Hidan shot off the ground at her as she watched him come in closer by each second. Twitching her fingers much like Sasori had to in order to control his puppets, she pushed her hands forward, releasing her chakra fully. In what was much like a howl, her chakra swirled in a vibrant scarlet around her, reflecting eerily from her gunmetal grey eyes. Hidan's grin turned darker as he forced his own chakra into his speed. It was quiet within that moment with only the sound of her heart beat in her ears as she clenched her fists, freezing Hidan to the spot. A look of utter confusion and shock passed over his face like a shadow before the sickening sound of thick gushing liquid gurgled from his throat. Blood leaked from his eyes and nose to mix with the saliva from his mouth.
Breath. Breath. Breath Breath. Inhale. Exhale, she told herself while closing her eyes from the sight. Releasing her hands from their fist form, she dropped her arms to her side and turned her back to Hidan just as the sudden limp thump of his lifeless body hit the ground. Nausea welded up inside of her and there was no fighting it as she fell to her knees, vomiting both stomach acid and blood from overuse. More blood trickled from her nose that she quickly wiped away, all too aware of the gaping blonde bomber behind her.
"W-what the….. Shit! What the hell was that, un?" he asked at the sight of Hidan's lifeless body.
Akane spat out some extra spit, trying to get rid of the horrid taste while standing up. She didn't turn around, didn't say a word….. didn't look back. Instead she started to make her way towards Kakashi and Gaara three buildings away, leaving the gaping Iwa ninja behind.
But like a crack of thunder vibrating through her, a sudden dark laughter started through a thick gurgle before it cleared and the laughter grew. Tensing, she froze. Did she really want to turn around? Wasn't he dead? She just sent her chakra into him and destroyed his organs….. What was this?
With her pulse becoming erratic and her heart beat drumming in her ears, she turned slowly to face Hidan who was already to his feet, licking the blood from his lips. "Nice magic trick. But I can't fucking die!"
"Y-you mean—" she stuttered and took a step back .
"It means that it's my damn turn!" As he darted at her again, a rush of sand intercepted him with Gaara and Kakashi running across the bridge like sand and away from two puppets and three black creatures. Though he was out of usable clay, that didn't mean he couldn't fight. With that he jumped after Kakashi and Gaara, determined to get the demon before anyone else. Seeing Deidara leave after Kakashi, Sasori and Gaara, Akane ducked under Hidan's scythe before flickering in between Kakashi and Kakuzu.
"Watch yourself Akane," Kakashi warned as Kakuzu tossed his hands out with tentacles spurting straight at her.
Flipping onto her hands, she cart wheeled to the side only to roll on the ground as one of the flying animal summons soared down to grab her. Jumping up, she sent explosive notes in Hidan's direction but he only ran straight through them. Missing one of the tentacles, it wrapped around her ankle before throwing her towards the ground, but she luckily cut herself free in time to land her feet on the side of a wall before pushing off into a dizzying spin. Slamming her fist into the ground, a crater formed with sparks lighting through the cracks.
A yell from behind her alerted Akane to Gaara being knocked backwards into the ground by Deidara. Kakashi was struggling to keep Sasori occupied long enough for him to get to Gaara's limp form. Seeing this, Akane used what was left of her chakra and ran straight to Kakashi, spinning on her feet to deflect an attack from Hidan and Kakuzu who both struggled to keep up with her speed now that she wasn't holding back.
"Behind you!!" she yelled behind Kakashi as Kakuzu's summonings swept Gaara up into the air. Growling she jumped with a spin and tossed her hands in front of her; gaining control of both animals. With one hand, she sent it spiraling into the city floor while the other forced the animal holding Gaara to set the Kage to the rooftop carefully before it too was thrown to the ground. Behind her, Hidan hit the back of her head with the end of the scythe, making her vision fail momentarily while he dragged her to her feet by her hair.
"Ever think about worshiping Jashin?" he questioned. "The benefits are fucking amazing!"
Before she could answer, he punched her in the stomach, making her grit her teeth that were layered in blood.
But luckily her savor came at last as Kakashi kicked Hidan in the head, making it roll off while his body dropped Akane. Kakashi kneeled next to her while she gasped. "Come on, now. I thought you had more spunk then that," he tried to encourage which worked as it brought a smile to her face.
"I told you that I could handle everything. It just takes a longer than usual for my chakra reserves to build up again."
Kakashi's eyes softened before he sent one last glance at Gaara. "I'm out of ideas."
"I can last longer without a problem."
"But Gaara is out of it. We can't fight and babysit at the same time."
"Then what do you propose?"
Before the answer could come, Kakashi pushed her out of the way as he threw his hands into his fire signals. Sasori had released his weapon in his hand, shooting a laser of fire straight at the Konoha ninja which Kakashi countered with his own fire ball. That was all that was needed as Akane took control over Hidan's body suddenly, making him turn and fight Kakuzu.
"Hidan?! I'll kill you, I swear, if you don't stop fooling around," Kakuzu ordered disgruntled.
"Fuck you! I'm not doing shit!" He swung, narrowly missing Kakuzu's thigh. "It's that fucking cunt that's doing it! Kill her!"
Kakuzu watched as Akane moved her hands around in fast repetition, each move and speed controlling Hidan. It was like watching her dance almost to the rhythm of the fight, but he knew it had to end. Hidan was moving faster then he was capable of doing and his scythe was almost weightless which was a deadly combo.
With his focus on the woman and his partner, he sent what was left of his summoning straight to the unaware kunoichi. With one sweeping in behind her, she spun only to be knocked off the rooftop of the Hokage tower and down into the air. "Kakashi!!!!" she screamed.
Her partner was by now racing after her, already seeing the summoning sneak behind her. As he took a dive from the tower, another black creature tackled him from in front, taking him higher into the sky…. Away from the falling Akane and straight into a building.
Dust and sand crumbled around him and pain was intense through every muscle, but too numb for him to realize it. With blackness searching out his mind, he tried to stay conscious as the animal let go of him and flew back to the sky. All Kakashi's thoughts lingered on Akane…. Too late to try and save her.
Only pray that she was able to catch the side of a building, but no building was that close from the Kage tower and he knew it.
But she had to be alright. After all, it would take more then that to kill her. She had survived through his chigori from point blank…
Unaware that he was making his body move, he gathered enough strength to leap back to the kage roof top, hoping to make his way to the streets below to find Akane alright. But by the time his sandals landed against the roof, his knees buckled and it was then he realized just how tired he was. After using his Magekenkyo once, he was just as exhausted as Akane and the other Akatsuki who they had fought.
Looking from beneath his white locks, he saw that he was placed right between Gaara and the six Akatsuki…….
Six…..
Not four….
Closing his black eye he counted again. Sure enough. There were two new comers; one caring a giant sword on his back. The other holding the unconscious kunoichi who he was grateful was alright. But that was his entire focus. The other five could have fallen off the face of the earth and he would not have noticed. His attention lay on the man holding Akane.
"Uchiha, Itachi," Kakashi commenced. "All of you came here for Gaara?"
Itachi looked from Kakashi to the bleeding kunoichi in his arms, wondering just what it was that brought those three together but nonetheless answered. "Of course not."
"Fuck we came from a bet with Deidara and Sasori to see who could get the fucking emo demon first!" Hidan boasted. "Itachi and Kisame are here for their own fucking ass mission."
"Being what?" Kakashi pondered, trying to think of a way to get Akane from the Uchiha. Nothing mattered more then to get back his partner…
"I have a proposition for you…." Itachi started before dropping his gaze down to the woman. "And the kunoichi."
"Take this little meeting somewhere else, un," Deidara snorted and would have crossed his arms if one wasn't missing from Kakashi's Magenkyo. "Our mission is to get the demon."
"And the demon's unconscious!" Kisame shot back. "What's taking you so long to get him, Dei?"
"Tsh, shut up, yeah!"
"Don't gotta."
It was then that the bad luck turned worse as Suna Anbu teams arrived all across the rooftop, surrounding Akatsuki and Kakashi.
"Looks like our time is up," Itachi mused aloud with a knowing smirk.
Kakashi narrowed his eye and looked around once. He could still get away with an easy fight, but he refused to leave without Akane. He needed her in this mission and the fact that Itachi had her now just didn't set well with him.
Not to mention that there was no hope of saving Gaara now. The Anbu wouldn't be able to keep him safe and if Kakashi tried to protect the kage himself then there was no way Akatsuki would think he was truly a missing-nin.
The question was what to do with this information….
"A trade Kakashi?" Itachi asked, knowing he was running out of time. "A trade for the kunoichi and the kage. Not to mention that I guarantee to meet up with you in a few days."
"And what would we need to discuss?" As if he didn't already know.
Pause. Itachi blinked slowly and stepped forward. "A deal or not?" he asked, ignoring the question.
"You are not to do any such thing! You are under arrest and if you resist you will be killed!" yelled out one of the Anbu squad leaders.
"Fucking ignorant pricks," Hidan mumbled and pulled his scythe over his shoulder while he picked at his teeth. "They think they're so tough…"
"It's annoying after a while," Kisame agreed though he always enjoyed cutting people like them down.
"Fine," Kakashi agreed suddenly and stepped away from Gaara.
Itachi smirked and walked forward with Kisame following until Itachi was right in front of Kakashi. Kisame continued past, picked up Gaara and nodded back to Itachi who handed Akane over to Kakashi. "Two days, I'll come back for an answer," Itachi said quietly. "Are you willing to pledge your loyalty to Akatsuki?"
With that, he activated his Sharringan, instantly catching Kakashi off guard and leaving him to fall unconscious with Akane onto the ground and vulnerable for Anbu. Both the Copy-cat Ninja and the Voodoo Kunoichi.
Sorry if it's a bit rushed but obviously a lot happened!!! That and any/all mistakes are only due because of my new laptop. I'm still getting used to it!!
Please REVIEW!!!