A/N: With holidays and things coming up, I don't know how often I'll be writing. Updates could get more frequent, or they could stop all together. I'll try my best to make it the former, however.
Also, I'm pretty sure 1 million ryo is $100, so that's how the money will be working here.
Anyway, Happy Hanukkah to all those celebrating, and onto the chapter!
No one's Perspective, The Fire Temple:
Two men dressed in black and red cloaks were standing outside the gate of the Fire Temple.
"A temple? Are you sure this is the place?" Hidan questioned.
"We'll see," Kakuzu muttered, getting ready to punch down the gate. "This is no ordinary temple, so the odds are good."
The knocked down gate revealed monks in panic, running around like their lives were on the line– which, to be fair, was quite accurate.
"They don't look very willing to convert to the way of Jashin," Hidan commented as the monks assembled in rows.
A monk stepped forward until he was meters away from them.
"Ah, another virtuous sort," Hidan said, staring at the monk.
"Not just virtuous. His name is Chiriku, and according to our Bingo Book, his head's worth 30 million!" Kakuzu said.
"Hey, we aren't here to collect a bounty. Killing a monk for worldly gain is a ticket straight to damnation," Hidan said, turning to face his partner.
"I don't know what you want, but turn around and go home!" Chiriku demanded, drawing the two men's attention back to him.
"Not going to kill us without a cause, huh? That's not one of my beliefs, though." Hidan said, his fingers moving towards his red scythe.
"This temple is a famed temple within the Fire Country. It's said that all monks hold the ability of The Gift of the Holy Folk. Especially this man, who's worth 30 million. He's an elite shinobi that was once in the Guardian Shinobi Twelve." Kakuzu said. "Be careful, Hidan."
"Enough, Kakuzu!" Hidan exclaimed, running towards the monk.
Hanara's Perspective, the Hokage Tower:
'B-rank, huh. The Wind Daimyo needs his son to be escorted to the Sand Village, where the Sand shinobi will then take him to his home. Alright, that'll be okay.'
"I'll take that mission, Lady Tsunade." Hanara said.
"Good. Send him in."
Hanara opened the door, finding an extremely posh looking thirty-year-old on the other end.
"A little girl?" the man questioned, walking inside. "Surely you can find someone else more qualified, Princess? I heard that Hatake is free nowadays, what about him?"
"Kakashi-sensei is a bit busy, actually. You'll find that I'm more than qualified for this mission, however." Hanara said, more than used to clients judging her by her age and gender.
'I take that back. I should've realized he's one of those clients...'
Three days in and Hanara was wondering why the mission wasn't a C-rank. Sure, the Wind Daimyo's son was bound to have ninja after him, but they hadn't run into anyone. Her client, whose name she soon found was Aito, was very uncooperative. He complained every few minutes about his feet or that he was thirsty or that she should 'jutsu him a carriage,' whatever that meant.
Needless to say, when she handed him over to some Sand Chunin, she was very relieved.
'Still... running into no one on the way... that's a bit odd. He was an important noble. Did someone scare off the bandits? In any case, it's best to stay alert... Maybe I'm getting paranoid but I have a bad feeling about this.'
As Hanara got closer and closer to the Fire Country border, she saw something that made her panic.
Asuma-sensei was fighting Hidan. An immortal being. Although she was sure Asuma knew that, she sped up, running as fast as she could to catch up.
Hanara watched intently as Izumo and Kotetsu used Asuma-sensei's kunai and shuriken as a distraction in order to get close to Hidan and let Shikamaru use that as a distraction to trap the Jashinist.
'Apparently they don't know... I guess Tsunade hasn't given them pictures...?'
As she got a bit closer, she watched them converse, and saw her sensei and Shikamaru slowly realize who they were. On the other end of the clearing, however, Hidan's partner, who ended up being Kakuzu, punched Shikamaru and forced him to release his shadow.
'Shit. I was too late.' she thought as she finally was close enough to hear what was going on.
She studied her opponents as she slowed to a stop, hidden in the bushes.
'Five hearts? And they all have different chakra natures!'
"Kotetsu! Izumo! Retreat!" Asuma-sensei ordered.
Izumo and Kotetsu complied, but they left their weapons inside Hidan's side.
'All of them are close ranged shinobi... This isn't good. Both Hidan and Kakuzu are best suited to fighting close ranged opponents...'
"The fellow in the front... for once you've struck gold, Hidan." Kakuzu said, walking next to his partner.
'Asuma-sensei's bounty?'
"Kakuzu, stay out of this." Hidan demanded. "I want them for my ritual."
"Fine..." Kakuzu sighed. "Be careful or I'll kill you."
"Would you quit it?! I wish someone would kill me, but that isn't really possible, is it?" Hidan exclaimed, drawing a symbol on the ground.
'What was it that Father used to always say? Ah yes, "Assume that your opponent is smarter than you and never wastes a single move." If he's right, then what I should do is destroy that symbol and prevent him from making another one. Regardless, out of the two of them, I have a better idea on how to kill Kakuzu. Five hearts? Just destroy all five of 'em. Hidan on the other hand... not so much.'
"I'm going in. Find a way to trap Mr. Immortal with your Shadow Stitching Jutsu, even if it's only for a moment. That's all the time I'll need to chop his head off," Asuma-sensei said.
"The risk is too high," Shikamaru commented, looking a bit nervous. "It's not like you."
"Don't you understand? This is the best shot we've got!" Asuma-sensei exclaimed. "They're stronger than even me!"
'You really do feel helpless, don't you, sensei... I guess it's time for me to go for Hidan.'
Hanara sent invisible chakra threads towards Hidan, but Kakuzu warned him, and he dodged.
"Tch. You think that after all the time I spent with Sasori, I wouldn't hear it if a chakra thread came at my partner? Come out," Kakuzu demanded.
'Nah, I like staying hidden, thanks.' Hanara thought.
She made a few water clones and scattered them around the bushes, transforming them to look like generic Leaf shinobi in case they were found.
Hanara saw Shikamaru, Asuma, Izumo, and Kotetsu's faces light up with realization and smirked.
'Now my allies are in the know and my enemies have no clue what's going to happen. Just the way I like my battles to go.'
She threw kunai and shuriken with explosive tags on them with all her clones, making it impossible for the two Akatsukis to block the chakra threads that real her sent their way. However, she saw Kakuzu Body-Flickering behind each of her clones and slicing them quicker than her reflexes allowed her clones to block.
'Dammit, he's smart. Focusing on the kunais while he can and calculating where I am based on that.'
Hanara Body-Flickered beside Asuma-sensei and his squad.
"Weren't you on a mission?" Shikamaru asked.
"Nothing happened. Fairly easy. It left me on edge so on the way back, I was on high alert. And good thing, too." Hanara responded keeping her eyes constantly scanning their surroundings. "Kakuzu's immortal. Five hearts and all with different chakra natures. They're not gonna be easy to beat."
"All five?" Kotetsu asked incredulously.
"As far as I can tell." Hanara confirmed. "Besides Hidan's devotion to Jashin, I don't know anything about him."
The smoke cleared as she finished her sentence, and it revealed an annoyed Hidan, pulling various weapons out of his body.
"Oww..." he groaned. "Jabbing me here and there... such pests you are. The gods shall punish those who don't understand the pain of others."
"Hidan, are you sure you don't want me to interfere?" Kakuzu asked, appearing beside his partner. "She's the one who killed Sasori and Deidara. The Hidden Rain Village has a bounty on her as well. Only 5 million ryo, but money is money."
Hanara blanched, shocked at the new information.
'The Hidden Rain? Didn't one of the members have a Hidden Rain headband? No... two actually. Is Hanzo connected with the Akatsuki somehow?'
"Stay out of it, Kakuzu." Hidan growled.
"I'm going in," Asuma-sensei repeated himself. "Shikamaru, trap Hidan."
"Sensei, a long-ranged battle would be better–" Hanara protested.
"Hanara, you're the only long-ranged fighter out of the five of us. You wouldn't be able to hold them off, even with them at a disadvantage." Asuma-sensei said bluntly.
She bit her lip, knowing he was right.
"Izumo, Kotetsu, assist Hanara in fighting the other Akatsuki," Asuma-sensei continued.
"We ought to retreat and formulate a plan..." Kotetsu said.
"You think they'll let us?" Asuma asked rhetorically. "If we don't stand and fight now, not only will we be slaughtered, but the Leaf will be at greater risk. We have no choice but to fight. We're 'the vanguard penetrating the enemy camp.' Once in a while you have to be able to make such a move."
"The role of a climbing silver doesn't suit you, Asuma..." Shikamaru murmured, still looking nervous.
"I won't be a simple sacrificial piece– not with you by my side." he said confidently.
The Leaf shinobi prepared themselves for the intense battle seconds away...
And so, it began.
