Ok, before anyone loses interest in what I have to say here, I want to dedicate this chapter to Kyra213, who has posted the most reviews to my story so far! Thank you! That isn't to say I don't appreciated everyone's reviews, they are my motivation juice.
And… Holy crap. You would not believe how excited I was on Friday night. The fight begins!!
This one's kind of short… Well, the next chapter's better anyhoo.
Enjoy!
Ch.11
It was morning, and the first rays of sunlight hit Kakuzu and Sasori full on as they raced after Hidan. Zetsu had left more than enough clues for them to follow, placed in strategic areas so as to make the most of the time used. Every minute Hidan got closer to Otogakure, and every second counted as they did their best to intercept him. They were travelling by foot from Rice Country onwards, as Hidan had, so as not to miss any of his trail.
The two of them had gone most of the journey in silence. This was a new experience for both members, as their usual partners normally kept up an almost constant stream of idle chatter.
The golden silence was broken only when either partner wanted to stop or pass a comment on Zetsu's choice of trail marker. These ranged from simple arrows etched onto trees or into the dirt, crudely shaped sticks, disembodied limbs to the odd scrap of black cloth.
Something was nagging at Sasori this morning however, and after a couple of hours' steady travelling, he felt compelled to voice it.
"Kakuzu-"
The Taki missing-nin turned his head.
"-Why didn't Hidan use teleportation to get to Otogakure? Travelling on foot…it's almost as if he wanted us to follow him. A back up plan?"
Kakuzu shook his head promptly.
"You give him too much credit. He doesn't teleport unless he has to, and the idiot probably thinks it's better to dramatically go 'chasing after his prey' than saving time. As for using us…he's not that intelligent."
"I see…and of course if we teleport, we miss any detours he might have taken."
Kakuzu scowled.
"Yes... He makes this more difficult for us, albeit unintentionally."
"Stupid bastard."
"Exactly."
Without warning, Hiruko's head snapped back towards the horizon.
"There's something up ahead."
The two shinobi sped up, and reached the outskirts of the burned village, now nothing more than cold ash. Kakuzu took a quick look round, while Sasori waited for Pein to contact them. Among the ruins, Kakuzu found a couple of charred, limb-less skeletons.
"That explains the limbs..."
A small distance away, the ground had been recently disturbed. Upon closer inspection, he could just make out the faint, bloody outline of Jashin's symbol. Zetsu had cleared away most of it, but Kakuzu's keen eyes had spotted their next clue.
He looked back at Sasori's distant figure. Hiruko stared stonily back. Glancing back at the mark, Kakuzu distinguished an arrow drawn in the smoothed soil, in the centre of Hidan's ritual territory. It pointed north-east. It was fresh, not more than five hours old, and Kakuzu mentally praised their swift pace. They were at the curve of the continent already. It shouldn't be more than half a day's journey to Otogakure.
He turned to Sasori again, just in time to see the Suna missing-nin give a start. He started talking briskly, though the air around him was devoid of life. It was Pein. Kakuzu ran over.
…
There it was. He recognised every rock, as if he'd been living here his whole life, not only visited once. Hidan felt his mouth twitch in excitement, and his heart rate increase. Sweet, satisfying slaughter was only across the rocky landscape. He sped up; forcing his fatigued legs onwards, his delirious agitation lending him strength.
That schizo spy must not have raised the alarm yet, idiot.
He cast a wary eye over his shoulder. He didn't trust Zetsu as far as he could throw him. He could be watching him right now, with that annoying expressionless face of his.
Hidan shook his head. He was creeping himself out now. So what if Akatsuki were following him?
There was no way they could catch up to him now. He was on the home stretch, the final lap, the climax…you get the idea.
He bounded over the rocks with ease, scythe swinging in time with his footsteps. He was approaching the edge of the village, and he slowed. While it was still his full intent to take the village off the map, Orochimaru came first. He'd admit he was reckless, but he wasn't an idiot.
And at that precise moment, two things happened.
Hidan suddenly realised something vitally important: he didn't know where Orochimaru's base was.
And-
A familiar but unwelcome voice called to him.
'Hidan!'
Hidan gaped as he recognised the speaker, and also, where the voice came from.
"Pein? Shit, you took your sweet time. Where's all your concern for your 'asset' gone? I'm hurt, seriously."
But Pein wasn't about to play along.
'I know where you are, and I swear if you take another step towards that person, I'll personally see you die along with him."
Hidan gave the air an obscene gesture.
"Like you could pull it off, O mighty Kami-sama. You sound like that money obsessed asshole."
'Listen to me Hidan-'
Pein's voice grew dangerously quiet.
'-You may think you've outsmarted me, but I'm the head of this organisation, and I didn't get there by kissing up to you fools and bending to your every whim.'
Hidan fidgeted with his rosary, eyes trained on the village ahead.
"Yeah yeah, get to the point asswipe."
Pein chose to ignore this.
'In a few hours, two of your fellows will catch up to you, because you will be in the exact same spot as you are now.'
Hidan tched.
'Like hell I will. I'll be done here by the time they're halfway."
'Not likely.'
A vein throbbed in Hidan's temple.
"Hey! Listen motherfucker, you're miles away from me. I'm making the decisions here, and there's no way I'm going to wait here and be brought back to that fucking cave!"
'This isn't your choice, Hidan. It's my obligation.'
Suddenly, Hidan felt a pulse of chakra.
"What?!"
Was Pein channelling chakra through his telepathy?
Hidan gasped – then his gasp turned sour and he clutched at his shoulder, groaning. The curse mark was activating again.
"What the hell are you doing?!" shouted Hidan, but Pein's evidently furious tone freed him from blame.
'Damn it! Control that curse mark!'
Pein was then silenced, and for a few moments, Hidan was only aware of the curse marks slowly battling their way across his body, and those strange waves of chakra trying to force them back. The experience of the unknown chakra and the burning marks competing for possession left Hidan weak and breathless.
"What…the fuck?"
He wanted it to end, for the two forces to leave him in peace, but he knew whichever won, he lost.
He ground his teeth; the weird chakra was winning, the marks were crawling back the way they came.
Pein's voice echoed round his head again.
'You evaded Zetsu, I'll give you credit for that. But your little adventure ends here.'
Hidan felt it again, that unfamiliar chakra. It snaked round his body and froze it, numbing his mind.
As he toppled backwards, he summoned his last bit of strength to say,
"Fucking…son of a …bitch..."
A second later, he was out cold.
…
Kakuzu waited impatiently for Sasori to finish up his conversation. He didn't have to wait long; true to form, Sasori wrapped it up quickly. After two minutes, Hiruko grew silent, and faced Kakuzu.
"Pein got him," he said bluntly.
Kakuzu arched his eyebrows.
"Pein? So what was the point in sending us out?"
Had Pein sent them on a wild goose chase? On purpose? Kakuzu infamous rage stirred in him, adding a wild look to his eyes. Sasori noticed this, but remained calm.
"To collect him."
Kakuzu's eyes narrowed. Hiruko's dead ones never left his.
"Pein disabled him through his telepathy. We were taking too long, apparently."
Kakuzu made a small noise of disgust. Sasori continued.
"Hidan is lying unconscious somewhere outside Otogakure."
Kakuzu stifled his anger, turning it into calm determination. He was going to beat that idiotic immortal senseless when he reached him, unconscious or not. Hidan had put him through hell during the past two months. Kakuzu would pay it back in five minutes.
"What are we waiting for?"
Surprised at the energy in Kakuzu's voice, Sasori hesitated. Kakuzu paid him no heed.
"Let's go."
And they were gone, two blurred figures, travelling faster than ever on their last lap.
.. .. ..
Zomgclichenessandablankspacecosiforgotwhatiwasgoingtosay. 0-o
Oh right…I'm promise, this is the last time Hidan falls unconscious. I'm sorry, it just seems like the only way to get him to behave for a while. ;) I ran out of creative juice! 0o0