Sapira thought she heard screaming when she entered the tower, but the sound abruptly subsided, and she brushed it off as wind. She ran her hands over the shelves, not a speck of dust on them. Then, she heard footsteps descending the stairs. She gasped, and turned to see Hidan wiping down his scythe.
"Sapira?" he asked. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes," she said nervously. "You are taking very good care of this tower."
"Well, it means a lot to me, as I know it does Ryukmaru," said Hidan. He set down his scythe on the table. "Is he still out on that mission?"
"Yes," said Sapira. Ryukmaru had been put in charge of the genin that Hidan had abandoned. They'd since become chunin, and Ryukmaru was gone for more and more extended periods of time with them, leaving Sapira alone.
"Let's have a drink," said Hidan. "I have some blood in the fridge."
"Oh, yes, thank you," said Sapira. She sighed and followed him into the kitchen. "When I first came to this tower, I thought it was the most magnificent thing I'd ever seen."
"It is, isn't it?" asked Hidan. "I am jealous of you sometimes. By marrying into the clan, you get to inherit this."
"Yeah, though you currently spend more time here than we do," said Sapira, accepting a glass of blood.
"I'm sure Jashin will bless you with a child some day," said Hidan.
Sapira laughed. "Jashin is Death! He does not grant children, Hidan. You know that."
He smiled. "You know your scriptures."
"Like the back of my hand," said Sapira. "Though I could certainly use a fertility god about now."
"I'll let you know if I ever meet one," Hidan said, trying to keep the conversation light.
Sapira raised her glass to that, then sighed again. "The doctors say we may not be able to conceive."
Hidan hadn't heard this. "Oh, I'm so sorry," said Hidan.
"But I must!" Sapira burst. "It would mean the end of the clan if I do not."
"Is that what this is? All things must come to an end, Sapira," said Hidan. "Ryukmaru didn't marry you just so the Kuro clan would have an heir."
"We haven't tried much, at any rate," said Sapira. "After his parents died, it all became too much. I take my fertility herbs, of course, but you know what they say. Sometimes two people just don't go together."
"Whatever happens, I'm sure it will be fine," said Hidan.
Sapira finished her blood and looked Hidan directly in the eyes. "What if you got me pregnant?"
Hidan pushed his chair backwards in shock. "Sapira! I…"
"You are as much a Kuro as Ryukmaru," she said. "If not in blood, then definitely in spirit. And who has been head of the Jashinists since Sogiya died?"
"Ryukmaru is!"
"In title only!" Sapira shot back. "All the major decisions have been yours, Hidan. Ryukmaru simply spoke them. And you've performed way more sacrifices than he has."
"He's been busy with his new team," stammered Hidan, but her words were ringing true.
Sapira took his hand. "I've watched both of you for years now. Ryukmaru is Jashin's chosen by blood, but you...you are Jashin's chosen by choice."
"I can't do this to Ryukmaru," said Hidan. "He's my best friend. I'm sorry."
"Ryukmaru wants a son," said Sapira. "Why not give him one? It would be a gift! A gift to the clan, and a gift to Jashin!"
"Go, Sapira," said Hidan. "I can't do what you are asking. I am sorry."
Lord Jiro assembled all the jonin and chunin to the capitol. Ryukmaru and his team had returned from their mission.
"As many of you have probably heard, our allies the Hidden Sand are preparing for war. They have asked us to join them in this endeavor," said Lord Jiro. Murmurs of assent throughout the room. Hidan caught Ryukmaru's eye and nodded. "However," said Lord Jiro, "as you know, our numbers are small. Our nation is booming with success as a vacation resort. Therefore, I have informed them that Yugakure will not take part in this war. We have a duty to not only the citizens of this country, but also our guests. Our presence will not be missed on the global stage. From now on, our priority as shinobi will be in keeping peace at home."
Sighs of relief and further murmurs rippled through the room. Hidan stood up. "Jiro, this is madness! We can't disrespect our allies by refusing their request! And now all of the world will believe we are weak!"
"Hidan," said Lord Jiro, ringing his hands, "if I send you all to battle, and you all die, then we truly will be weak. Worse, there will be no more Yugakare, and our nation would then be dissolved into the Land of Wind. Is that what you want, Hidan?"
"I want to serve my purpose as a shinobi, and shinobi are warriors. We were made to fight, and to die, and to kill," said Hidan. "If it's numbers you worry about, then don't send us all. Send me alone, for I cannot die!"
"What, what, what's this? You can't die?" Lord Jiro laughed. "Hidan, you have grown more arrogant each time I've seen you, but to claim immortality-"
Hidan whipped out his spear and thrust it through his heart. They all shrieked, but Hidan spread his arms and laughed. "My body heals itself. I've practiced my art so much, that I do not even need to think of it. It's automatic. I lost an arm once." Everyone gasped. "It was an accident with my scythe. I got distracted when I was pulling it back to me, and I lost an arm. Sliced clear off my body. I picked it up, and healed myself. I have cut my throat, severed my spine, sliced every major artery, I have been burned, mangled, and yet here I stand, my heart still pumping blood through my veins even though it is impaled. I have not been sick, not so much as a cough, since I was a child. So yes, Lord Jiro, I think it is pretty safe to say, that I am immortal. I will still be here on this shithole of a planet when all of you are long in your graves." Hidan removed the spear, sending a splatter of blood across the table. Much like his involuntary self-healing, tears were involuntarily falling from his eyes. "I beg you, Lord Jiro, if I cannot receive the gift of death, let me live a purposeful life. Let me go to war, and let me lead any who feel the same into war. I am, at my heart, a medical ninja. I will make sure as many as possible come home alive."
Everyone sat in stunned silence.
"Well," stuttered Lord Jiro, "does anybody else...want to go to war?"
Everyone looked at each other and murmured, but nobody stirred.
"Ryukmaru?" Hidan asked.
Ryukmaru shook his head. "I want peace, Hidan."
"You forget who you are!" Hidan bellowed, and he stormed out.
He ran to the top of the Kuro tower, and he allowed tears to gush from his eyes. He fell to his knees, and he shouted, "JASHIN!" The shout echoed down the empty spiral staircase, and through the abandoned rooms. "Jashin, I know You hear me. If there were any time to reveal Yourself and speak, that time would be now. I need Your guidance, Jashin. I am scared. I live in a world that is deaf to Your reason and wisdom. Even Your own chosen clan, they have been reduced to indifference and complacency. This is a world where civilians take life on a whim, and warriors must seek permission to do the same. And now I fear I will have to endure this world for all eternity, until You come down and destroy us all, to end the madness, and even then, I fear I might still be here. How is it that I, Your most devoted servant, cannot receive Your gift? And now I am condemned to watch this world burn and suffer for their sins. Is this punishment for taking the life of my mother? Are You punishing me, Jashin? Have I not been a good servant? Have I not taught Your commandments across the land? Have I not performed countless sacrifices in Your name? Why must I then bear this burden? What is Your game? Where the fuck are You? Where is my relief?" He pounded the ground in frustration, causing his knuckles to bleed, and watched as the skin immediately healed itself. "When You walked this planet, and You saw a problem, You fixed it," Hidan said, more thinking aloud now than praying to his god. "Could it really be, that even You cannot fix me? Or is it that I am supposed to fix myself? Would Ryukmaru end my suffering? But he couldn't, could he? It would be against the commandments, would it not? I am neither terminally sick, nor otherwise incapacitated, nor will I ever be." He laughed out loud. "And that means...that means I have...I have cheated Death! Perhaps You can't even hear me! Perhaps that's how far above You I have now become! Perhaps...perhaps I am..." And then a sinful thought entered Hidan's brain. "No, no, that's blasphemy, that cannot be," he mused. "And yet, my very existence is a blasphemy, for it is written that everything and everyone must die. So if I cannot die...then I must be as a god on earth!" He stood up. "Well, why shouldn't it be so? Jashin did it, did he not? So why not Hidan? Why not..." He looked up. "Why not fix the problem that is humanity? That is the problem, after all. Jashin gave his word to a mortal man when He became Death, and He entrusted them to carry it out. But what happens when the people don't do what they're asked? What happens when even the chosen people are content to compromise their own convictions? Then it is up to the god to intervene." He laughed happily and clapped his hands. "Oh, Jashin! Everything in my life has brought me here! I am Your new chosen! I will walk the earth for all eternity in Your name, and I will put an end to all who defy You! This is my purpose! My burden is Your new gift, and I shall bring Your gift to all the world! From henceforth, call me not Hidan, but Jashin, for now He and I are one!" He scrambled to find a blank scroll and some ink. "The era of the Kuros is over. The era of Hidan begins today! Here I shall record my gospel. Here shall be the new Way."
Hidan had scribbled all through the night and was awakened by a knock on the door.
"Hidan?" came the sweet female voice.
"Sapira...," Hidan whispered, and the lust of a god flowed through him. He strutted to the door and cracked it open. "Yes, my dear?" he asked.
"Hidan? Do you have a sacrifice in there?" she asked.
"No," he said. "Come in, come in."
"Ryukmaru sent me to check on you," she said, entering. "He said you kinda freaked out at a meeting with Lord Jiro yesterday."
"I'm fine, I'm fine," said Hidan. "I was just frustrated, is all. Have you heard this new decree from Lord Jiro?"
"That he's not going to send any of our shinobi into war? Yes," she said.
"And what do you think of it?" he asked.
"Truly, I think it makes sense," said Sapira. "Although, I worry the Sand will resent us."
"Shinobi are warriors," said Hidan. "And war is sanctioned by Jashin to maintain balance between human populations."
"Ryukmaru says we are called to protect our own. That running off to foreign wars is folly, and a violation of the commandment against killing for pleasure," said Sapira.
"He would think that," said Hidan bitterly. "Why are so many religions so set on minimizing pleasure?"
"Well, Jashin does not prohibit all pleasures," said Sapira.
"Indeed not," said Hidan. "Sapira, have you given any more thought to your proposal?"
"My proposal?" she asked, then blushed. "Oh, that," she said. "Well, I remain barren, at any rate."
"I thought about it a lot, after you left that night. Took it to Jashin in prayer," he said.
"And did Jashin answer you?" she asked, pace quickening.
"He did," said Hidan.
"And?" she asked, approaching him.
Hidan wrapped his arm around her waist. "He said I shall be the progenitor of a new era of his chosen clan."
She searched his face, and saw that he was sincere. Tentatively, she placed her hands on his shoulders, his bare chest. "I must confess, I have desired this, for more than just the sake of a child," she whispered. "You have so much power, so much confidence, I couldn't help but..."
"Shhhhh," he scolded. "Your husband doesn't understand what he has in you. You are too smart for him, too pious for him, and far, far, too lovely for him. You shall be the mother of gods."
"Oh, Hidan!" she exclaimed, and brought her lips to his. He fell backwards in shock of her power, and stumbled to clear off the table he'd been writing on, as her lips traveled down his neck and over his torso. She pulled off her dress and sat on the table, pulling him into her.
Perhaps I am mortal after all, he thought.