21.

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
Bloodstream © Hurlstien

LURKING IN THE STEAM

(show your teeth)

"Ah," Kioshi sighed, eyeing up the man who had broken through his wall, before casting his gaze back to Hidan. "You're right on time, old friend." His words were met with a steely glare.

Kakuzu looked at his partner with a subtle eye roll before approaching Hezā, keenly aware of the eight chakra's pulsing throughout the room. He stopped by her side, their eyes meeting for a moment before Hidan joined them. And though their relationship was strained at the best of times, all three- though, they would never admit it -felt infinitely better to be reunited. Confidence flooded Hezā's veins and delight bloomed in her chest as Kakuzu's steadfast mountain of chakra and Hidan's fiery energy made her feel truly safe for the first time since the ambush.

'That was only five or six hours ago,' she thought.

"Nice of you to join us," Sasori said and Kakuzu grunted as the puppet turned back to Kioshi. "Now we have our man back, are you still unwilling to negotiate terms of service?"

Kioshi kept his silence, his grey eyes snapping back to Hidan and staying there. Then, with a solemn, cold look, he lifted a hand out in front of him and said: "Leave the priest to me… kill the others."

All at once the eight chakra signatures advanced, revealing themselves and the Akatsuki sprang into action. Sasori leapt to the back of the room, poisonous senbon exploding from his mouth, spraying three clones and almost hitting the original shinobi as they blocked and dodged towards him.

Kakuzu moved to cover Hezā's back and ripped off his cloak to unleash his masks. They bulged and strained, stitches ripping free from skin and their cloying chakra leaked, thickening the air like smog.

The girl could feel them seethe and writhe behind her as she threw a kunai, hitting a clone square in the chest, then swept up her left arm to block a returning knife, batting it from the air.

Kakuzu's masks poured from his back and the lightening and water creatures darted after their own targets, releasing a series of destructive combos and driving four of the eight shinobi back. The hall shook from the force, the sound deafening.

Hezā watched, in awe of the exploding water bombs laced with deadly current. So well timed and complimentary to each other, the four shinobi struggled just to evade them. She almost jumped when she felt the warmth of the fire monster looming over her right shoulder, but found comfort in its presence. She gaped up at it, amazed at the power it radiated, before sensing the ninja closing in on her left.

She dropped her center of gravity and threw up her left arm, blocking the short sword that came sweeping down for her head. Fast as lightening her metal fist slid up the blade and gripped the man's wrists to the point of breaking. Pulling him closer, she held him there and watched fear pool in his eyes at the sight of the porcelain mask that loomed over him and opened its jaws with a 'crack!' His screams were drowned in the stream of fire that swallowed him. With her metal hand, Hezā kept hold of his wrists, the familiar stench of singed hair and burnt flesh wafting over her. She grit her teeth and ignored it, only letting go once the tell-tale wisps of ash danced up from the flames.

Across the room, Hidan made a beeline for Kioshi. The five men surrounding the table drew their blades and with a running leap, the priest engaged them, taking on all five at once as he wielded the stolen sword like he'd owned it all his life. The blade bit through flesh and bone, and cries of anguish erupted as one by one they fell to his ferocious skill. Blood sprayed beautifully through the violent dance, like fireworks in the night. By the time he was done Hidan was breathing hard, but not from effort. He inhaled oxygen and exhaled fury. Excitement sparked through his veins, setting his nerves alight. He was high on slaughter, drunk on rage. And Kioshi was the very edge he was steaming towards full speed.

Hidan straightened, a breathy laugh escaping him, and pointed his sword at Kioshi across the table. "Your turn."

"I think not."

Sensing the incoming chakra, Hidan spun, slashing his sword out to deflect Yudokuna Kyosuke's tanto. He continued the spin and swept smoothly into a backwards roundhouse, forcing the man away. Seizing the opportunity, Hidan launched himself across the table, his sword swinging and slicing Kioshi down the middle. But instead of the hot blood spray he expected, Kioshi's body fell into smoke. Dark grey and heavy, the smog curled to the floor and dissipated, leaving the priest to curse, then spin to block another attack from Kyosuke.

Looking into his attacker's bloodshot eyes, Hidan smirked. He pushed against him and forced the man back, proving he was stronger. Now Hidan was a man who needed no confirmation of strength -it didn't matter to him; his speed and skill with his scythe was often more than enough to take on anyone in his way- but knowing he was stronger just made him want to fuck around.

With his ferocious attack style, Hidan gained the upper hand, cackling with mirth all the way. His unpredictable and wild onslaught beat the Yudokuna back with ease until Hezā body flickered behind the man, trapping him between them. A mad grin split Hidan's face as he slashed from the left while his subordinate's metal fist came flying in from the right. The pincer move pierced Kyosuke's body, but a poof of smoke engulfed him and left the two staring at each other.

Sticking out a foot to stop from falling her superior, Hezā cursed. "Clone."

"Tch! I know, Dipshit," Hidan spat, his eyes flying around the room for Kioshi. But he needn't have bothered. At the last second he ducked beneath the broad blade of the man's Naginata as it stabbed past his head.

Seizing the opportunity of such close range, Hidan swept up his sword, but again, his weapon sank through Kioshi's form, smoke curling after his blade like waves from a boat. Kioshi smirked as his body solidified once more. But before Hidan could try again, Hezā's fist careened into the village leader's jaw and he was sent flying back, skidding over the surface of the table and off the other end.

The girl looked as shocked as Hidan felt. "I didn't… Why'd that work?"

Hidan stared at his old team mate rising a shaky stand, then it twigged. "That smoke jutsu… it only works for a short time - a few seconds, maybe," he said, "After that he's flesh and blood again."

A wicked grin slid into place and he advanced on his target. The hand sign he weaved was a blur, unseen to the naked eye, as he hopped up onto the table to stare down at Kioshi, meeting the man's withering glare with a mad grin.

"You ready?" Hidan asked, before leaping at his opponent and trading blows. It wasn't long before he landed a hit, slashing he man down the middle. As predicted, Kioshi's body broke down into wisps of smoke, before reforming and spinning to strike at Hidan's exposed side. The priest twisted, his sword blocking the attack with an almighty clash of metal on metal.

Hidan grinned at Kioshi, whose face full of strain grimaced back. But in the blink of an eye, it slackened and Hidan fought back a laugh at the familiar sound of punctured skin. A clone of Hidan stood behind Kioshi, a kunai buried in the man's lower back.

The village leader turned to look over his shoulder into another set of gleaming violet eyes… before a smirk slipped onto his face and he lashed out with his naginata, catching the original Hidan in the stomach and scratching a long red line up his chest.

Hidan stumbled back, staring in shock as Kioshi drew the blade up to his lips and swept his tongue along it, lapping up the blood. Slowly, Hidan shook his head, his jaw locked, teeth clamped together and expression hard. Fury boiled in the priest's stomach and disbelief clenched his heart as he watched Kioshi's skin turn black as coal, bone white markings burning through, like scars. Hidan's clone pulled out the knife from Kioshi's back and tossed it over to the original before exploding from existence. He snatched it from the air, wasting no time in licking off the blood and entering his own ritual state, the black and white markings seeping through his skin as he felt his chakra flare in response to the tang of iron.

Shaking with rage, Hidan raised his sword to point at his old team mate. "How… Just how the fuck… did a chicken shit like you get chosen by Jashin-sama?"

Kioshi stayed silent, his smirk only pushing Hidan over the edge.

"Huh?… TELL ME!"

After watching Hidan leap after the village leader, Hezā had no time to think as she spun into an attack, her metal arm blocking the tanto wielded by her uncle. His strength pushed her back, feet sliding over the marble floor and she squeezed one eye shut from the strain, the other staring into the man's bloodshot ones. His eyes were almost entirely red now, contrasting even more with his paper white skin and she could hear the rasping of his lungs as he breathed.

'Is he… paler?'

She gripped her metal wrist with her other hand, vying for more stability, then watched, agape, as his mouth opened and spit came vaulting for her eyes. At the last second she tilted her head, the saliva landing on her cheek where it hissed and smoked.

'Acid?'

Squatting to drop her center of gravity, Hezā pushed up, forcing Kyosuke into a weaker position to push down from. Feeling his strength waver, she swept the tanto away with her metal arm. His balance compromised, the man fell forwards enough to put him in range of her jab. Her knuckles connected solidly with his jaw, knocking him back. Pain shot through her hand, but she didn't hesitate. She followed with an uppercut to the ribs, keeping her body weight behind the attack, metal fist driving the air from his lungs. She felt bones crack under the force. A pulse of chakra shot to her feet and she jumped, throwing her knee forwards to smash into her opponent's cheek. Kyosuke flew back, landing and sliding into the wall.

Having gained a moment to breathe, Hezā wiped at her cheek with her cloak sleeve and her suspicions were confirmed as the spit burned a hole through the material.

"You're good." Hezā snapped her head up. "The clan's blood runs strong through you."

Her heart sank. He was behind her. And the clone she'd been fighting exploded.

'Fuck!'

He kicked the back of her knee, buckling it, and forced her to the ground. Her face smacked the marble hard and her vision blurred. Both her wrists were gripped and held in a lock behind her back, where a heavy knee anchored itself in her kidney.

"I don't want to kill you," he said, planting a hand on the back of her head.

"Could'a… fooled me," she slurred, face pressed into the floor as she felt an odd sensation build beneath her skin. Like pressure rising and rising, until all at once, it dissipated and she heard Kyosuke sniff.

"An admirable attempt," he said, "But, as I'm sure you know by know… our Kekkei Genkai doesn't work very well on each other."

'I released poison?'

"You can't control it properly yet," he said. "I can tell from your chakra; it's n-not-" he stopped to cough, spluttering to the side, before regaining himself "-concentrated enough…" He cleared his throat. "You didn't even realise you where doing it." His grip on her wrists tightened. "Like I said, I don't want to kill you, but you must understa-"

Another wet cough cut him off and Hezā flinched as something hot and watery sprayed the back of her neck. His grip on her arm disappeared and she felt his weight on her back teeter. Pushing up hard from the ground, Hezā twisted, throwing him off and into the wall where her metal fist coiled in his collar. But her resolve wavered when she looked at his face and, for the first time, truly saw him; pale and slack, blood dribbling from his lips and nose. His eyes, bloodshot and watery, gazed at her and her hand that had been reaching for a kunai, stopped. She stared at him, confused and conflicted.

His eyes wondered to find Kioshi locked in battle across the room and he seemed to deflate. "… Now?" He asked. Then looked into the hesitant face of his niece. His jaw tightened and he swallowed. Voice strained with pain, he said: "You knew this would happen… eventually."

Hezā's eyes narrowed, then her face slackened as realisation dawned on her. As if it had burned her, she released his collar and leaned away. It was his blood. Their blood. The curse of the clan had finally caught up with him.

He smiled at her, a twisted, regret-filled smile with affection bleeding between the gaps, and poked her cheek, leaving a smeared fingerprint of blood. "I'm sorry, I-" his eyes spaced out for a quick second, then climbed up to meet hers once more as he rasped: "I should've done more…"

"It's alright," Hezā found herself saying. Her right hand found and coiled around his, squeezing gently.

His smile slipped away leaving a solemn expression. He swallowed and Hezā could hear the wet sucking of too much blood in his throat. "You… look like her-" He convulsed, blood gouting from his lips and splashing over his clothes while specks of it flecked across Hezā's face. She didn't flinch. "Doh-don't... be her."

The room shook violently as Kakuzu's masks let off another combo attack. Hezā felt pieces of ceiling crumble to the floor behind her but she didn't move. She remained rooted to the spot where she knelt before her uncle, hand still gripping his as she felt him slip away.

She couldn't for the life of her decipher why such a sudden sadness overcame her. The lump swelling in her throat made it harder and harder for her to breathe while her stomach opened up to reveal a cavernous drop she couldn't help but fall into. A tear rolled from the corner of each eye, trickling down her cheeks and soaking in the blood that dried there. She swallowed hard and reached out a hand to close Kyosuke's red eyes- now a deeper crimson, darkened with death.

"TELL ME!"

The roar of Hidan jolted Hezā from her grieving and, now no longer fighting, she took the time to get a read of the room. Kakuzu had recalled his masks while he took on one last opponent. Sasori was nowhere to be seen, though she thought she'd spotted him take his fight out into the corridor earlier. She found it odd how the great hall had gotten so quiet so quickly, proving just how easily Akatsuki could clean shit up.

Searching for Hidan, she twisted her body to see two men, both with skin as black as night and patterned with polar white markings, facing off at the far end of the room. She knew one of them to be Hidan, but the other…?

'The village leader?… A Jashinist?'

Hezā had heard much of Jashinism from Hidan's rambling throughout their journeys together. Not much of it had sunk in, but she did recall him saying he was the first - and only - follower to ever be blessed with immortality.

'If this guy can do the Ritual jutsu, then… could he be immortal too?'

Something didn't feel right. There was a deep sense of dread pooling beneath her heart. But she knew getting between the two wouldn't end well, and likely wouldn't solve anything. And in the depths of her mind she began to realise that trusting your team was the best and often hardest thing to do.

At Hidan's outburst, Kioshi could only smile. "Ever since the day you left I've been dedicated to destroying you, brother," he said, lifting his naginata and slitting his palm. Blood poured forth and trickled to the ground where Kioshi used his foot to draw the familiar symbol around him. Growling, Hidan followed suit. "I wanted to go after you, drag you back to face justice, but the council wouldn't allow it. Said I'd get myself killed. Instead, my father employed Akatsuki to get rid of you." The man's face twisted. "But of course, we both now know how that turned out.

"I only learned you were alive earlier this year… yet my father and the council thought nothing of it, said that so long as you weren't causing trouble anymore, it didn't matter. So I left. I followed in your footsteps and found myself stood outside the great temple of Jashin to the south. The priests there told me of you, of your devotion and how you became the first true prophet of Jashin.

"I stayed at the temple a while, learnt the ways of Jashin and in time came to realise that life is nothing but suffering… only death can break you from it and release you from your sins." Kioshi completed his symbol and waited for Hidan to do the same. "Did they ever tell you how to die, brother?"

Hidan's lip curled.

He nodded. "They told me… you must have a fellow priest perform the ritual on you," Kioshi said, his eyes growing wide with excitement and anticipation. "And in your death that fellow priest will also die, as payment for destroying one of Lord Jashin's creations… They said they had tried numerous times to create another like you, but no one survived. They wanted another immortal so that, should the day ever come where you beg for death, you would have the chance to choose. And that's when I knew it was the only way… I had to follow you, to become an immortal prophet of Jashin so I could bring you to justice," Kioshi's smile widened.

"After, I returned to Yugakure and took my father's place as leader. I set about gathering strong shinobi to my side to replace Akatsuki and help me hunt you down…" he tilted his head, "The odd tourist goes missing around here every so often, but other than that, I'm pretty discreet," he said. "But I didn't think you would play so easily into my grasp," Kioshi finished with a laugh. "I would never have imagined you'd have the gall to come back here. To my village!"

Hidan's face had become sullen. The calm eye in Kioshi's passion storm for his death.

"What's wrong?" Kioshi pouted. "Don't feel special anymore?" He raised his naginata, pointing it at Hidan and growled: "Killing you is the only thing I've cared about these last few years… and even if it means dying," he shut his eyes and tilted his head back, "I will do what is right for the village… for their memory."

Hidan closed his eyes. No matter which way this went, he would die… and he didn't know how to feel about that… Perhaps, at long last, he'd found the death a part of him had been longing for. Perhaps it was finally time to meet his God. But a small voice in the back of his head kept asking: am I ready?

His jaw set and he opened his eyes in a determined glare and raised his sword, bloodstained and blunted tip hovering above his heart. "You done?"

Kioshi scoffed and turned his blade on himself, the pointed edge pressing at his skin through the cloth. "This is where it ends, brother."

At once, the pair plunged their blades into their chests. And almost immediately, Hidan pulled his out, allowing the blood to splutter free, barely flinching and enjoying the hot, wet sensation seeping and dribbling down his stomach. Not as used to the pain, Kioshi grit his teeth and slowly pulled the naginata from his torso. As soon as he had, blood erupted from his lips, cascading down to join the claret at his ribs.

Hidan blinked hard, then felt a smile tug at his lips. But before the rush of victory could hurricane in his heart, he felt nausea sweep through his stomach. Colourless clouds misted the corners of his vision and he dropped the sword, letting it hit the ground with a clatter, shattering the silence.

In front of him, Kisohi fell to his knees, eyes wide, staring into space. With blood dribbling from his mouth, Hidan watched him as he fell forwards, face hitting the floor with a wet smack.

"Hidan."

The priest tore his gaze from Kioshi's prone body to see Hezā, paralysed and unsure, across the room. Her eyes wide, one arm half reached out as if to stop what was happening, to try to help. The room had settled to silence, the eight shinobi felled, save for the last one struggling in Kakuzu's iron grasp. Sasori was nowhere to be seen.

Losing all sense of balance, Hidan didn't stop himself when he fell and landed flat on his back with a thud.

"Hidan!" Hezā was fast, leaping over the table to land beside her superior.

Kakuzu watched her go and, after feeling the man in his grasp lose conciousness, followed her to find his partner, prone and dead-eyed on the floor behind the table. The pair watched in silence, waiting for the man to blink or breathe.

"Is 'e dead?" Hezā asked from her position kneeling beside Hidan's head.

Kakuzu sighed. "I hope so."

A wet cough erupted from Hidan's mouth, bloody spittle flying. "Fuck you, Kakuzu."

"Of course," he said, "I'm not that lucky."

Fighting a smile Hezā leaned away to give the priest some space as he sat up. "How did you…?"

Hidan gave a half shrug. "Lord Jashin chose me," he said. "He was testing me. My lord is all knowing; he knew I'd face Kioshi one day. By blessing that bastard with immortality he would see if I truly had the guts to be willing to die, to put all faith in him." Hidan fingered the bloody slit in his chest, a habit Hezā didn't know how he could stomach. A smile grew on his face before evolving into a psychotic grin. "And I passed - now I am all the more blessed by Jashin! And if going up against a fellow immortal couldn't kill me, then nothing and no one ever will!" He beamed up at his partner and pointed. "Not even you, Kakuzu!"

"I was waiting for that," Kakuzu sighed. "You're even more insufferable than before."

Hidan scoffed as his partner turned and made his way back to the man he'd been strangling earlier.

Hezā stood and followed him, her gaze lingering on the corpse of her uncle, still leaning against the wall to the side of the room.

"I see you put your training to good use," Kakuzu said as he stopped before the unconscious man. "The knee to the face was particularly entertaining."

"Didn't know I was bein' checked out while fightin' f'my life." And only once the words had come out of her mouth did she realise how they'd sounded. Her cheeks flared, but Kakuzu made no comment or reaction to show he'd noticed her choice of words.

"You're getting better," he said, picking up the man by the throat and flattening his other palm, a steely black pigment crawling over his skin.

Pride bloomed her heart like a flower and her cheeks burned ever brighter. And even though he wasn't facing her, not a bit of her reaction was lost on Kakuzu. But the warmth in her chest sank away when her superior drove his flattened hand through his victims chest.

Immediately the man in Kakuzu's grasp shot back to conciousness and his pained groans filled the room, echoing and reverberating back into Hezā's ears. She felt her stomach churn as she watched, the red of her cheeks quickly being replaced with a pale green. Blood splashed to the ground as the man weakly moaned 'no' over and over again to ears that would not listen. His sweat slicked hands gripped Kakuzu's forearm, slipping from his own blood, but he had no more strength left to fight him. An odd, hollow clicking sounded and the man cried out, tears streaming down his paling cheeks.

Finding it increasingly hard to breathe, Hezā's vision misted and her hearing faded.

With one final tug, Kakuzu ripped the heart from it's cavity before he heard something fall to the floor behind him. He turned to find Hezā doubled over and breathing hard. The corpse in his grasp was thrown to the ground and he was by her side within seconds. He crouched beside her, frown in place as he took in her pallid complexion pressed against her metal forearm, then the hand cradling her stomach. The frown disappeared, replaced by a softer expression.

"After everything you've seen, watching that affects you," he mused, feeling that rare bubble of laughter try to fight its way up from his chest. He wrestled it back down again.

Her shoulders jerked in a half-attempted shrug. "Everyone's got a limit," she whispered.

"Didn't think this would be yours." He said, letting his threads take the heart and assimilate it into his body.

"Did… Didn't think it would be so… terrible t'watch."

Kakuzu's hand twitched, desperately seeking to rest itself on the young woman's back. But he resisted. He knew it was natural for men to be protective over the women they cared for, something to do with evolution. But the only women he'd ever felt the need to to protect had been his old team mate and Akina. And in the end, he'd failed them both.

"The fuck's up with her?" Hidan's voice reached them as he finally hauled himself to a stand from behind the table.

"Nothing," Kakuzu replied, his tone dismissive, body suddenly tense as he stood. "She'll be fine."

Faint yelling reached them and the Akatsuki duo looked back to the double entrance doors of the hall. The yelling grew louder and Hidan hopped over the table to join his partner.

"I think it's time we disappeared," Kakuzu said. And for once, instead of arguing to stay and fight, Hidan agreed with him.

But before any of them could move, a rumbling echoed up from the foundations of the building, the floor shivering beneath their sandals. Looking down, then back up at each other, Hidan and Kakuzu shared a look before they were almost shaken from their feet as another great rumble ricocheted through the building. A loud crack sounded and the ceiling gave way. Slabs of brick and tile crashed to the floor, dragging with them pillars and causing more of the ceiling to follow suit.

From her position on the floor, Hezā felt a thick arm swoop under her stomach and another catch her behind the knees. And before she knew it she was pressed against Kakuzu's chest as he and Hidan leapt into action. The floor cracked and gave way under the pressure as more vibrations detonated and rippled through the building. But the Akatsuki were swift as they darted between the falling chunks of debris.

Hezā's metal arm reached up to curl tight around Kakuzu's neck and she buried her face into his mask.

Dust and rubble blasted around them and an unexplainable heat billowed up from below as they descended, searching desperately for the ground. Flames plumed up, threatening to swallow them whole. Hidan's angry curse cried out through the cacophony of sound and Kakuzu snapped his head round, only to find no sight of his partner through the blistering fire and rain of mortar.

Growling in irritation, Kakuzu landed hard and Hezā looked up only to wish she hadn't. She buried her face back into her superior's chest at the sight of a huge slab of ceiling blotting out the early morning light as it cascaded down upon them.

Ah, listing to Christmas tunes while writing Hidan and Kakuzu is just a little bit hilarious to me.

Blood is fallin', all around me,
killers slayin', having fun,
it's the season, for visceral stabbing,
Merry Christmas Everyone!

Here's to the last chapter of 2019!
Merry Christmas everyone! And I wish you all a very happy New Year!

Thank you for reading