Free Time
Shikamaru and Neji stalked around the building, using the shadows to move freely and silently through the halls.
"His office is the last door in the hall, to the right." Akira said over the headset.
"Rodger that." Shikamaru replied quietly and nodded to Neji. Both men moved farther down the hall and stopped at the required door. Neji took a hold of the knob and turned it slightly; it was unlocked. Shikamaru didn't sense anyone in the room and nodded again. Neji slipped in first, Shikamaru followed suit and quietly closed the door.
"We're in." Neji spoke and glanced around the room.
"I'm by the window." Sakura said into her headset and looked around. "You know, for a Daimyo…his security is pretty shoddy." She said as the window opened.
"I've noticed that too, but we have a mission to carry out." Shikamaru said as he hoisted her into the room. "Alright, you know what you're looking for. Neji, stand guard, I'll help Sakura with the files."
"Yes sir." Neji and Sakura said as they moved around the room.
"I think I hit the jackpot." Sakura said as she hefted a large stack of papers and scanned the first few. "Yeah, this is it." She whispered, turning towards the window.
"We're on our way back. Sakura found what we needed." Shikamaru said into his headset.
"Very good, I'm awaiting your arrival." Akira said and turned away from his desk. Within minutes, the team had returned and Temari closed the window after them. She had been standing guard while the rest went into the Daimyo's office.
"Alright, we'll each take a small stack and sift through them. Even though this all too troublesome…we have to find out all we can to help Midori-sama." Shikamaru informed as the group sat down around the coffee table and grabbed a small stack.
Unbeknownst to the team, a figure stood outside the window. His mission was to watch the Daimyo but he couldn't pass up on the juice morsels the group had yet to discover for him.
~xxx~
Midori and Hidan sat in their room, idly talking about anything that sprang to mind.
"I have an idea!" Hidan exclaimed as he hopped off the bed and grabbed his cloak.
"Ouch!" Midori cried as Hidan tossed her back on the bed when she tried to get up.
"You stay here, I'll be right back." He smirked. Midori couldn't tell if she was going to like his idea or not, but she sat there all the same. When he returned, Hidan brought with him a tray, of what Midori didn't know.
He placed the tray on the nightstand and proceeded to draw the Jashin circle on the floor with his blood. Midori watched with interest as Hidan completed the circle and turned to her.
"Come, you're going to help me with my ritual." He said as he held out his hand to her. She took it without hesitation and was pulled to her feet as they stood in the center of the circle. Hidan walked over and grabbed the tray and set it on the flood then sat down. He patted the spot in front of him, motioning for Midori to kneel.
"So, what do you want me to do?" she asked, eyeing the covered tray to her right. Hidan pulled the red cloth off the tray to reveal an assortment of daggers.
"You, my dear, are going to cause as much pain as possible. The more pain you inflict, the stronger my connection to Jashin-sama will become." He said as he grabbed a dagger and handed it to her. "He may even appear this time." Hidan smiled as Midori took the dagger with both hands.
"Then start chanting. We wouldn't want to keep Lord Jashin waiting, would we?" she said as she scooped up his hand and brought the dagger up over her head. "Is there anything I need to say before I stab you?" Midori asked as she looked Hidan in the eyes.
He grinned at her. "'Hear my prayers, Jashin-sama'." He said as he closed his eyes and began to chant in incoherent mumbles. Midori nodded and tightened her grip on the dagger.
"Hear my prayers, Jashin-sama." She spoke clearly then brought the dagger down quickly, stabbing his flesh and twisting the blade to cause the maximum amount of pain possible. She picked up another dagger and repeated the process, this time she stabbed him in his thigh. Hidan winced but never broke his chant.
Now, she was on the seventh and final dagger; one in each of his legs, his right hand, another in his abdomen, and one in each shoulder blade. Each of which caused a serious amount of pain. The last one she saved of his chest. With a harsh thrust and twist, the last dagger was embedded in his sternum.
Hidan began to shake; his chanting becoming quieter with every passing second. Midori wasn't afraid though. She had watched him long enough to know that this was normal. Well, it was normal for Akatsuki standers. Suddenly, Midori found herself engulfed by a white light. She closed her eyes to shield them against the brightness.
"Open your eyes my dear." A smooth, baritone voice whispered into her ear.
Midori slowly opened her eyes and gasped. She bowed politely to the tall, white-haired man towering over her. "It's an honor to meet you Jashin-sama."
~xxx~
Sakura and Temari sat by the fireplace, flipping through the documents they had stolen from the Daimyo's office. Neji and Shikamaru took the love seat and foot stool while Akira sat at his desk. Nothing so far and it didn't seem like they were going to find anything.
Most of the papers seemed to deal with recent treaties the Daimyo put in place to protect his family but a lot of them seemed one-sided.
"Jeez, some of this stuff is just financial diplomacy. I don't see anything that deals with Midori at all." Temari growled as she flipped through another page.
"As troublesome at it is we have to keep…" Shikamaru cut himself off as his eyes caught Midori's name. He read a little more and looked up at Akira.
"What is it?" Akira asked as he stood.
"Midori's mother was a native to the Mist village and was married to the Mizukage before she came here. It says here that the Mizukage was assassinated a month before she came to the fire country." Shikamaru turned his eyes back to the document and frowned.
"When's Midori's birthday?" Sakura asked from the other side of the room.
"Um…September 27th. What does that have to do with the situation?" Akira asked as he tossed another piece of paper aside.
"What was the date of the assassination?" she asked as she stood and walked over to Shikamaru.
"Let me see…" he paused as he scanned the document. "He was assassinated on February 5th, the year of Midori's birth." Sakura stiffened. As the apprentice of the Hokage, Sakura knew about diplomatic immunity…this did not look good for Midori.
"We have a big problem." Sakura whispered as she leaned against Akira's desk.
"Whatever do you mean?" Akira ventured as he stood from his desk and moved around to sit next to Neji.
"The title of Mizukage is an inherited title, like the Kazikage of Suna. Midori is the only child of the Mizukage…with that title, Lord Takeda can force Midori to do as he sees fit. All shinobi of the Mist village would be under his control." Sakura said with a frown.
Akira bowed his head; the implications of the Daimyo's actions finally hitting him like a ton of bricks.
"So, our marriage was set up to get her back into the water country without implying his true intentions." He said, his voice was weak…almost guilty. Suddenly, Akira's head shot up. "He was planning on starting a war to get rid of the Leaf village. That way he could control all of the fire country and still have connections to the Mist."
It all became clear to them; even the dark figure outside the window knew the magnitude of the situation.
"Wait, what about the Akatsuki? What happens if the Daimyo doesn't pay his half?" Temari asked the group. "What about the bounty on her head?"
"I believe I have the answer for that question." Neji said, holding a yellowing sheet of paper. The group turned to him and waited for the answer.
The dark figure's yellow eyes turned to the Hyuuga genius. 'Tell me boy. This is going to make a juicy report for Leader-sama.' He thought as he stepped closer to the window.
"The bounty is in place to start the war. He planed to kill her to trick the Mist village into to going to war with us." The room went silent.
~xxx~
Jashin smiled down at her. She was not his follower yet she still treated him with the utmost respect. A shiny glint caught his eye as bent down to look her in the eyes. Around her neck was the Jashin trademark pendent.
"So…it seems that Hidan has chosen you." The almighty Jashin smiled as he patted her head. Midori looked up at him and smiled.
"It's true my lord…we love each other very much." She answered with a tiny smile. Midori looked around for a moment and found the Hidan wasn't there.
"Don't worry, he'll join us soon. I wanted to speak to you first." Jashin said as he sat in a chair the appeared out of thin air. "Please, have a seat. The floor doesn't suit you." He waved his hand at his side and another chair appeared.
"What is it that you wish to talk about, my lord?" Midori asked after she was seated.
"Hidan speaks so highly of you in his prayers to me. He seeks to make you immortal as well. Did you know that?" Jashin asked as he crossed his legs.
"No, I was not aware of his intentions." She answered honestly.
"Does it bother you to know that you will get old and die while Hidan will stay forever young as long as he worships me?" the deity asked as he leaned towards her.
Midori swallowed the lump in her throat. "I try not to think about it, it's too sad to give it much thought."
"What would you say if I were to give you immortality?" he asked as he watched her closely.
"At what price?" she shot back with a glare. Jashin chuckled at her then patted her arm.
"All I ask is that you stay with Hidan. He's more focused than he used to be." Was his simple reply, Midori was taken aback by his words. She stared at him in disbelief.
"Are you sure that's all you want? I'm willing to do whatever you ask…as long as it means I can be with Hidan." She said as she leaned towards the almighty deity.
"No, that's all I require from you." Jashin-sama with a grin, Midori couldn't help but notice certain similarities between the deity and her lover (and now immortal life partner).
"So, how does this work? I'm not too knowledgeable about immortality." Midori said as she fixed her gaze to the bright white ground under her feet. Jashin stood and moved to stand behind her. He placed his hands on her shoulders.
"You will only be immortal as long as you ware the pendent…until you are officially anointed as a priestess. Just hold still, this will only take a minute."
"You summoned me, Jashin-sama?" Hidan said as he appeared before them, kneeling in front of Midori's chair.
"Ah, my faithful servant, bare witness for this is my gift to you for serving my will to its fullest." Jashin practically purred as his hands combed through Midori's hair.
Jashin's hands started to glow as he swept them over her head and shoulders. The light transferred from his hands to her body, a brilliant blue glow before turning red and collecting around the pendent. The light dissipated a moment later and Jashin stepped away, as if to admire his handy-work.
"Praise Jashin," Hidan exclaimed as he bowed to his master.
~xxx~
"Please tell me you're kidding." Akira said as he looked at Neji.
Neji shook his head and handed Akira his findings. "Look for yourself. He has it carefully planned out. Every detail is listed in these documents."
Akira eagerly looked over the papers with a growing frown. "So, all of this was a ruse to get his hands on Mist shinobi?" he sighed. "Midori's kidnapping just delayed the inevitable."
"Actually," Shikamaru started and he cupped his chin in his hand. "They may have just saved her life. If Lord Takeda doesn't pay, they'll keep her."
"No, they won't. The orange-haired man said if we didn't pay they will kill her." Akira snapped; the situation was just too much for him as he crumpled the paper in his hands.
The wheels in Shikamaru's head began to spin, churning and working to formulate a plan of action. A heavy sigh left his lips; he had nothing.
"We'll have to wait until the money has been delivered. We'll watch the exchange and regroup when we return."
A/N: Sorry, this one is a little short. Yosh! In the next chapter, the gloves are off as the day finally comes. Would you like a small preview? I knew you would.
(Pre) Midori stood before Lord Takeda and Akira, dressed in her kimono. Little did they know she had no intention of going back…nor could she; not with what Itachi had done to her and the recent information they'd received.
"Hidan, cut this damn obi, I don't have the time to untie it." She spat as she glared daggers at her 'father'.
Dun, dun, dunn… there you go. Just wait and see. Don't miss the final chapter "Freedom".