Ch. 21

Kakashi was laying on the branch of a tree reading Ichi Ichi Paradise as he waited for Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura to return. He saw a purple portal start forming out of the corner of his eye and looked down to his left into the open field. After a few seconds, he saw Naruto come out of the portal, then Sakura, then Sasuke. He closed his book and put it in his pouch then jumped down. As he walked towards them he spoke in a relatively relaxed voice, "I trust the mission was a success?" Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura removed their masks before Naruto replied, "Yeah, and I think we got more intel than we bargained for." Naruto tilted his head towards Sasuke. Kakashi turned to Sasuke and let out an inquisitive, "Oh…" Sasuke still looked like he was thinking about the information but nodded in agreement.

Kakashi looked at their uniforms which looked slightly beat up. "Soooo… I'm guessing everything didn't go exactly as planned." Naruto smirked then nodded. "We ran into Sasuke's impersonator..." Kakashi's eyes widened at the news. After a short pause, he put his hand on his chin. "We need to talk to Tsunade…" The three nin nooded in agreement, then the four started heading towards the Hokage's office.

Tsunade looked up as she heard a knock on her office door. "Come in." She was hoping it was Team 7 and smirked as they walked in and proved her suspicions to be correct. "Did you guys get the intel?" Sasuke spoke up, "That and then some."

Tsunade intertwined her fingers as she waited for the new intel. Sasuke crossed his arms as he started, "When we got to the Hidden Rain Village, the mission went smoothly. We had successfully retrieved the information, but upon trying to leave, we found out that my Rinnegan was exhausted." Kakashi slightly squinted his eyes at the news. He knew that using Sasuke's Space-Time Dojutsu was a risky move, but he didn't think it would almost derail their mission. Sasuke was watching his reaction and made sure to address his concern, "Don't worry Kakashi, Naruto gave me some chakra and my visual prowess returned. Unfortunately, that small delay was all it took for us to be spotted."

Tsunade looked over to Kakashi then back to the three. "Do you guys think he identified any of you?" Sakura shook her head no while Sasuke stood with a blank stare. Kakashi turned to him, "Sasuke?..." Sasuke smirked then looked over to Kakashi, "I used my Rinnegan to get rid of him...That might have given away my identity." Kakashi dropped his head as he realized that Sasuke had purposefully let his impersonator know that he was on his radar. Tsunade sighed then turned to Naruto who stood pensive. Tsunade looked over to Naruto, "Naruto?..." After a few seconds, Naruto responded, "I can't be sure, but when I was fighting Sasuke's impersonator, I tried to make some shadow clones so I could lose him… He immediately used his Rinnegan to push a garbage can into my hands so I couldn't do the hand sign. It was almost like he was ready to stop any attempts on my part to make any clones. But how would he know to stop me from making clones? It was my first time fighting him… The only other person I've fought who's ever responded that quickly-"

Sasuke interrupted, "Is me…" Sasuke looked down and fell into a more pensive state than Naruto.

Sakura looked down as she thought to herself. After a few seconds, she said, "Well he did have a Sharingan."

Tsunade and Kakashi quickly looked over to Sakura. Kakashi asked in a voice that showed his slight shock, "He had a Sharingan?"

Sasuke interjected before Sakura could reply, "And a Rinnegan…"

Tsunade stood up and her head quickly swiveled to Sasuke. "What?!"

Naruto nodded, then said, "Yeah, he was wearing a mask, but we could see his eyes. His right eye was a Sharingan and his left eye was a Rinnegan." Kakashi put a hand on his chin as he considered the new information.

After a few moments, Naruto continued, "I still don't think that's why he responded the way he did though… When I tried to make the shadow clones, I could see his eyes. As soon as I started to make the sign, it looked like he realized that was what I was trying to do. Like he somehow knew how dangerous it would be to let me make any clones..."

After a moment of silence, Sasuke spoke up, "He most likely knew who you were. It's probably not a coincidence that he went after you personally….." He let out a small sigh of exasperation, "which means he probably knows I'm aligned with Konoha..."

As the five pondered the information, Sasuke decided to reveal the rest of the intel. "His name is Hikan and he's working with Orochimaru." All four heads swiveled to Sasuke before he continued, "When we were spotted, we fought Hikan and two other shinobi. I was fighting one of them when I noticed the left side of his body transform and his left eye change color. The transformation looked familiar, so I used my Sharingan. It was Jugo." Looks of shock crossed the faces of Naruto, Kakashi and Tsunade.

Naruto turned to Sasuke, "But that's not what Hikan called him." Sasuke replied, "Jugo gave me some intel. They're undercover. After I turned on Orochimaru, Jugo said he started taking certain precautions. So they're basically his backup plan for if Hikan turns on him." Naruto slowly nodded as he took in the information. Kakashi and Tsunade looked at each other as they processed the new development. Naruto turned back to Sasuke, "So the other shinobi?" Sasuke replied, "Suigetsu. They let us take them down…not that we wouldn't have been able to." Naruto nodded as he started to process the information.

After a few moments of silence, Kakashi turned to the three, "Any other interesting developments?" Naruto looked to the other two, "I don't think so." Sasuke and Sakura nodded in agreement.

Kakashi turned to Tsunade, "If that's the case, let's go over the intel you guys got from that computer." Sakura reached into her pouch and pulled out the flash drive, "It's encrypted, but it shouldn't take too long to crack." Tsunade had a laptop resting on her desk. She moved from behind the desk before motioning for Sakura to get to work.

Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke turned to leave as Sakura sat behind the desk and started working. Before they left, Kakashi turned to Tsunade, "Let us know as soon as she's done." Tsunade smiled, "Careful Kakashi, you almost sound like you're the Hokage." Kakashi wore his usual blank expression before replying in a monotone voice, "Not my style." Tsunade smirked as the three left her office.

Hikan sat on a rock at the edge of a forest with his sword resting against the side of the rock. His demeanor was calm and patient, but calculating. As he looked out into the open field, he heard a noise and turned around to see a man slowly walk out of the forest…Orochimaru. He was accompanied by Jugo and Suigetsu. Hikan stood up very quickly and said in an enthusiatic voice, "The man I've been waiting for!"

Orochimaru was taken aback by his enthusiatic welcome. Hikan was many things, but he was NEVER enthusiastic. Orochimaru studied him, then said, "The shinobi I gave you said you wanted to see me."

Hikan smiled as he stepped towards his sword, "Yeah, I did…"

Orochimaru slightly squinted his eyes as he asked, "What's this about?...I'm a busy man."

Hikan smiled as he picked up his sword and started to unsheath it. He continued in a matter of factly type voice, "Not for much longer… I'm afraid our partnership is going to have to come to an abrupt end."

Orochimaru smiled as he turned to his left and looked at Jugo, then to his right at Suigetsu. "Is that little bit of swordplay meant to imply that you're planning on killing me."

Hikan held his sword up straight and ran his finger along the side of it, "You're more perceptive than I gave you credit for..."

Orochimaru smiled as he replied, "What instigated this "abrupt" change?"

Hikan started to hold his sword in a more combative stance, "Let's just say certain events are about to take place. To put it briefly, I have a plan…and you're not in it."

Orochimaru chuckled to himself in a way that showed he was laughing at Hikan's audacity. "Hikan, you don't even have enough power to kill Naruto yet. You still need me, although that ship has sailed due to this little stunt. On top of that, did you really think I would leave myself so open to a betrayal... Jugo. Suigetsu."

Jugo and Suigetsu removed their masks as they prepared for battle. Jugo's left side started changing color while Suigetsu reached towards his back and pulled out his Executioner's Blade from under his robe.

Hikan started laughing to himself before replying to Orochimaru, "Come on, Orochimaru. Those two shinobi you "gave" to me, I knew they couldn't be trusted." He turned serious as he continued, "You've never been the giving type. Not unless you're getting something in return that is. And regarding Naruto, I never said I wanted to kill him…I have different plans for him..."

Orochimaru's face suddenly grew serious as he hissed, "What does that mean?"

Hikan smiled as he took his fighting stance. "I'm afraid you're not going to live long enough to find out…"

Orochimaru's right arm changed into a band of six snakes, "I told you to remember your place Hikan! I made you all that you are and I gave you those eyes you so proudly wear! You're nothing without me!"

As Hikan got ready to make the first move, the smile he was wearing slowly faded from his face as his expression turned into one of disgust, "You see, that's the problem Orochimaru. Ever since the day you gave me these eyes, you thought you owned me. Ever since then, you've been trying to force me to live in your shadow…now you're gonna die in mine's..."

As the tension grew, all four shinobi stood at attention and in a split second, Hikan was on the move.

As he started dashing towards the three shinobi, the band of snakes lurched from Orochimaru's right arm and started violently heading towards Hikan. Hikan used his Sharingan to dodge them with ease, then did a series of hand signs and spit out fire onto them. Three of them got caught and burned while the other three returned to Orochimaru's side. Orochimaru let out an annoyed grunt as he wondered what other jutsu Hikan had picked up using his Sharingan.

Hikan smirked then outstretched his left arm, "Universal Pull!" Orochimaru grounded himself by turning his other arm into snakes and having them dig into the ground. He tilted his head to the side in confusion as he noticed there was no force pulling him. He turned to his right and saw none other than Suigetsu flying towards Hikan. Orochimaru grunted as he realized Hikan was going after his backup. Orochimaru quickly used the snakes on his right arm to grab hold of Suigetsu.

Hikan smiled then pointed his sword towards Suigetsu and funneled lightning through it. The lighting extended straight through Suigetsu. As the lightning hit Suigetsu, he let out a grunt of pain and slowly started to liquify. Orochimaru gritted his teeth in annoyance because he was also being electrocuted due to his snakes being wrapped around Suigetsu. After Suigetsu had fully liquified, Orochimaru detached the electrocuted snakes from his body. The snakes fell to the ground as they twitched from the electricity.

Hikan looked over to Suigetsu's now liquified body, "Downside of being a mole… I know you're weaknesses…"

Orochimaru clenched his jaw in annoyance. Then whispered to Jugo, "Get out of here." Jugo turned to Orochimaru in shock then whispered back, "But he'll kill you!" Orochimaru squinted his eyes, "And if you stay here he'll kill you too. I know what I'm doing. Now go…" Jugo paused for a second, then started running towards the forest.

Hikan watched with a blank expression as Jugo left. "Huh. Guess being a snake in the grass comes back to bite you real hard." Orochimaru let out a slight chuckle, "You have no idea." As soon as he finished his sentence, he opened his mouth wide and hundreds of snakes started rushing towards Hikan. As the snakes slithered towards Hikan, their mouths opened wide and swords started protruding from them. Hikan held his sword steady, then proceeded to use his sword in conjunction with his Sharingan to mow down the snakes.

As Orochimaru started planning his next move, he felt something sharp pierce his chest from behind. All at once, the snakes stopped moving. Orochimaru's eyes widened as he started coughing out blood. He turned around to see Hikan standing there holding the lightning enhanced sword that had just impaled him. Hikan let go of the sword as Orochimaru reeled back and fell to the ground in pain. Orochimaru looked over to the Hikan that his snakes had been rushing towards only to see it disappear. It was a shadow clone.

Hikan kneeled down on one knee by the dying Orochimaru. "You know, Orochimaru, I could've killed you so much quicker than this…but I think it's fitting that you die with a strike from behind. Now you'll die just like the snake you are…"

After a few moments, Orochimaru coughed up one last bit of blood, then his head fell back on the grass of the open field.

Orochimaru was dead.

Hikan stood up then removed his sword from Orochimaru's body and sheathed it. He then turned around and picked up Orochimaru's body. He turned to where the Executioner's Blade and Suigetsu's liquified body had been only to see that it was no longer there. He remained unfazed and simply walked into the forest.

Author's Note

PLEASE feel free to leave reviews on this story. I do enjoy reading reviews and if I see good ideas as to where the story can go, I do listen to them. Reviews are not only very encouraging but they also help me get better. Be sure to drop a follow and a favorite because I will be updating this story consistently. This story will be completed. Believe it!