Chapter nine: Sasuke's Ambition, The immortal duo
"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled as he ran in the door.
Kin, who had just sat down, shot to her feet, "Sasuke-kun? What's wrong?" she asked.
He acknowledged her before activating his Sharingan and looking around the house, "I need to find Naruto and Sakura, we have an urgent mission." He said before cursing as he noticed Sakura's chakra signature wasn't in the house.
Kin frowned in worry, "She said she was going to see Ayame for lunch since Ayame had some sort of gossip. I was invited but I'm far too tired." Kin explained.
Sasuke nodded and went to move out the door before hesitating. He walked over to Kin and pulled her into a kiss.
She melted into the kiss with a smile, but he suddenly stepped away, causing her to blink in confusion as he held her face, staring into her eyes seriously as his Sharingan revolved, "I love you Kin-chan. No matter what happens to me, remember that." He said as he faded from existence, his warm hands being the last thing to leave her.
She blinked in confusion before worry overtook her, 'Sasuke-kun….?'
#######
Sasuke appeared at Uchi-raku ramen and was about to burst in when Sakura stepped out with a smile on her face, "Oh! You're back!" she said before hugging him.
She was shocked when he almost pushed her off of him, "Sakura-chan, I need you to listen to me." He said.
Sakura nodded in confusion while he talked, "Naruto is out training somewhere, I felt his chakra when Ero-sensei and I came back. I need you to find him and meet me at the gate for a battle mission. We're going after Itachi." Sasuke said.
Sakura's eyes widened before her expression turned hard, "Hai Sasuke-kun." She said before her earrings and lower legs began glowing rainbow as Sasuke closed his eyes.
He opened them as a breeze moved past him, 'She'll find him in ten seconds, explained in twenty, meet at the gate in another twenty.' He thought as he turned back to his and the girls' house and moved there near instantly with his Mirage shunshin.
He appeared in his room and reached under the bed, pulling out the scrolls on the Mangekyou Sharingan and the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.
He stood tall as he held the scrolls to his left thigh, letting them fall into the storage seal he had there.
His eyes flashed open, his Sharingan blazing as he vowed, "Brother. I am coming for you." he said as he felt a chakra pulse and glanced to his left.
*FLASH*
Naruto and Sakura stood slightly behind Sasuke to his left, Naruto's hand on the seal Sasuke had on his right shoulder blade, "Where to aniki?" Naruto asked seriously.
Sasuke smirked darkly, "Land of Earth, we will have to traverse the rest of the way on foot. He is at my father's secret Uchiha hideout." Sasuke said.
Naruto nodded, "So the fastest way would be the multi-village train system right? It moves slightly faster than the average ninja's speed and it'll travel continuously throughout the three nights travel." He said.
Sasuke nodded, "Then the next train it is." He said.
*FLASH*
#######
"Jiraiya said it was two men from the Akatsuki known as the 'Immortal Duo.' And one of the two is someone you have a past with." Tsunade said as she held out the scroll.
Asuma took the scroll, "Not me," he said before looking to his right with a serious smile, "Shikamaru."
Tsunade looked over the reunited Team Ten, the second Ino-Shika-Cho unit, "You are to catch up with the two Chunnin in the area, Izumo and Kotetsu, and assist them in catching the Akatsuki. We only really want them alive, it is not priority." She said seriously.
Asuma nodded, as did his disciples, "Hai Hokage-sama!" they announced.
"Move out!"
########
"Three to the Hidden Stone Village." Sasuke said to the teller at the Konoha Travel station, one of the only six trains that leaves the village in a wide circle that starts at Konoha, travels up to Iwa then around through Suna then the Land of Waves before coming back to Konoha.
The teller nodded, "Business or personal?" he asked seeing their headbands.
Sasuke was unsure of what the man meant, so Naruto spoke up, "Business, are we able to jump the train when we cross into the land of Earth?" Naruto asked.
The man printed the three tickets and nodded, "Ya can I guess, but you should probably tell someone. And you can only pay for the full trip." He said as he held the tickets out to the three of them, "Well, I guess you get half price anyway since it's for a mission…" he thought out loud with a shrug.
Sasuke took the tickets, "Thanks," and walked up onto the platform. He scowled as he looked around, noticing that there was no train.
He turned to ask Naruto why the train wasn't there when Sakura read from the timetable out loud, "The next one come in ten minutes and is a chakra force train. Apparently they travel faster." She said before turning to Sasuke.
Sasuke quickly did the mental math before sighing and walking over to Naruto and sitting on the bench next to him, "It'll be about eight hours faster than running and we'll be rested up if we go this way. But damn it's infuriating just sitting here." Sasuke growled.
Sakura sat on his lap and hugged him, "It's ok Sasuke, try to think practically. Do you remember or know any other details about his whereabouts? Maybe we should start strategising." She said with a smile.
Sasuke took a deep breath to calm himself and nodded, he looked up when he heard a metallic noise.
"Huh, the trains early I guess." Naruto said as he stood.
The other two got up with him and a few minutes later, the chakra powered train began moving.
Sasuke looked out the window as Sakura and Naruto talked strategy, 'Soon Itachi. I will avenge our clan.' He thought darkly as he began to drown in the thirst for vengeance.
#######
"Damn that Kakuzu, why does he gotta take so long with this shit?" Hidan of the Akatsuki said angrily from his place lying across the top stair.
He looked back at the outpost before sighing, "Fuck this." He grumbled before getting to his feet and walking down the stairs, out towards the clearing in front of the building.
He stretched, holding his scythe up in the air before he heard some movement, he looked left, not seeing anything. He looked right, then behind him only for the same result, 'Huh, weird.' He thought before turning back towards the outpost.
*SHLINK!*
"AH DAMMIT THAT HURTS!" Hidan yelled in pain and shock.
Izumo and Kotetsu stood on either side of Hidan, holding a sword each that they had stabbed straight through the immortal man's torso.
Kotetsu looked up in shock, "Wha-what the hell? How is he still alive?" he asked.
Hidan yelled out in frustration and used the close quarters to punch them both off of him, "You damn heathens! What the fuck was that about!" Hidan yelled as he pulled the swords from his body one at a time.
He turned to throw one of the swords at Izumo when he suddenly stopped in his movements.
"SHADOW BIND JUTSU!"
"What the fuck?!" Hidan yelled in annoyance as he looked out of the corner of his eye to see Shikamaru standing in the shadow of the building.
He looked forward as Asuma appeared mid swing, "WIND STYLE: ABSOLUTE SLASH!" he yelled as his wind chakra appeared around his blade.
*SCHLING*
*Thump*
Asuma looked down at the back of Hidan's head with a smirk, "Good work! That's one down, now set up the trap for-"
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS YOU CUNTS?! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?! WHY THE HELL DID YOU CUT OFF MY HEAD?!"
Everyone, including Ino and Choji who had stepped out from hiding, stared in shock as Hidan's head continued to yell and glare at them.
The door slammed open and Shikamaru looked to his right, "Guys!" he yelled.
Everyone turned to take a defensive position, but the man they were looking at just sighed, "Another battle? I have meetings to attend and places to be. I don't have time for this." Kakuzu said as he stepped into the light before raising a brow at Hidan's decapitation, "What did I say about letting your guard down Hidan?" he asked rhetorically.
Shikamaru's eyes widened as he saw the profile of Kakuzu, 'It's him! The one who helped us at the ninja market!' Shikamaru thought in shock.
Kakuzu's experience let him feel someone's resolve to catch him falter, so he looked to his left to take advantage of that weakness, only to see Shikamaru. 'Shika?...so he is ok.' he thought with a hidden smirk, 'I can't blow my cover. Jiraiya-san won't pay me if I bail out early….looks like we'll have to drive them off for a moment so that we can leave.' He thought, not wanting to kill Shikamaru.
Kakuzu turned back to look over the crowd, just in time to see Ino finish her hand seals, "MIND DESTRUCTION JUTSU!" she yelled as she pushed her chakra forward.
Kakuzu leapt forward, moving at high speed but ducking only as necessary to dodge the jutsu as he approached Hidan and Asuma.
Asuma swung a punch forward at Kakuzu, who caught the man's wrist with seemingly no trouble before kicking Asuma hard, launching him towards Izumo and Kotetsu.
"ABOUT DAMN TIME YOU HEATHEN! GET ME MY BODY!" Hidan demanded.
Kakuzu sighed as he and Hidan's two body pieces were surrounded, he glanced around before calmly kneeling down and picking up Hidan's head by his hair.
"WHAT THE FUCK KAKUZU!? BRING MY BODY TO ME YOU INCONSIDERATE ASSHOLE!" Hidan yelled as Kakuzu took the few necessary steps towards Hidan's body.
With a sigh, he calmly kneeled and used a small tendril that appeared from the inside of his sleeve to sew Hidan's head back onto his body, just at the moment Asuma had realised their plan.
"No! Stop him now!" Asuma yelled as he formed hand seals while Izumo and Kotetsu did the same on either side of him.
Kakuzu suddenly froze as Shikamaru's shadow latched onto him and Hidan, causing Kakuzu to chuckle, "So what if I can't move?" he asked rhetorically as his skin and clothing took on a darker hue.
""FIRE STYLE: FIRE BALL JUTSU!" Izumo and Kotetsu yelled as they launched their jutsus in front of Asuma on a slight angle.
Asuma's cheeks bulged, "WIND STYLE: VACCUUM WAVE!"
Asuma's wind jutsu sucked in the fire balls and the three techniques exploded towards Kakuzu and Hidan.
**BOOOOM**
Asuma smirked, "They didn't dodge, and they had no time to form any techniques, we got them!" he yelled in victory.
The bearded man waved to his left, "Choji! Capture them!" he ordered.
Choji nodded and his arms expanded, reaching into the smoke.
Everyone relaxed as Choji moved to capture the two Akatsuki members, but Choji gasped, "They're not there!" he yelled.
From the ground in front of Asuma, Hidan burst forth, mid-swing with his scythe and wicked grin on his face.
Asuma barely leant back to avoid the strike, but earned himself a kick to the chest as a reward.
Everyone moved to attack Hidan when Kakuzu burst forth in front of Izumo and threw him into Kotetsu, knocking them both towards Shikamaru, who barely caught them in time.
Asuma stood nervously, with Hidan on one side and Kakuzu on the other, 'Shit! How the hell am I gonna get out of-'
"PARTIAL EXPANSION JUTSU!"
All three ninjas looked to the side to see Choji's huge fist slam into Kakuzu and launch him way out of the clearing, the moment of shock allowed Asuma a chance to attack Hidan.
He leapt back and spat forth his signature fire jutsu, "FIRE STYLE: BURNING ASH!"
Hidan reacted and threw his scythe forward, time seemed to slow down for Asuma as his mind went into calculations.
'By the angle he threw the scythe, it will stab into my stomach. The three blades would almost definitely kill me but Ino's medical jutsu will keep me stable until we can return to the village where I can get some true help. But if my jutsu hits, he'll be burned to a crisp, even if he's immortal his nerves would be fried and he would no longer be able to move.' Asuma's eyes flashed as he made his decision, 'I can't stop my jutsu! This is the chance to rid the world of one of the Akatsuki!' Asuma thought as he risked his life and channelled extra chakra into his lungs before he spewed forth the black ash cloud that moved over the scythe.
The ash surrounded Hidan and the last thing Asuma saw of him was a smirk.
Asuma moved to click his blades and ignite the ash, when Hidan pulled upwards on the unseen metal cable connected to his scythe. The scythe moved from its course and tore upwards through the air, bypassing Asuma's blades and cutting off his right hand from the knuckle upwards, thus making sure the two blades don't clash and make the ignition spark.
Shikamaru looked up with wide eyes as Asuma's plan was ruined and Hidan began to charge Asuma, pulling his scythe back through the air thanks to the hidden metal cable even while he was covered in more of the ash, the shadow user quickly took action, "SHADOW PORT!"
Within a second, Shikamaru had stood from Hidan's shadow and wedged his tanto into the immortal man's lower spine.
"AAHH FUUUUCK!" Hidan yelled in pain as he fell onto his face, his lower body paralysed from the blow.
Shikamaru stepped off of Hidan's back , taking his blade with him, and jumped at Asuma, pulling the man from the area as he threw down an explosive tag.
Hidan smirked as he grasped his scythe, watching the blood on it flow. His smirk dropped as Shikamaru's explosive note landed, "Oh shit." He said before using his upper body strength to push himself a metre or so into the air.
**BOOOOM**
The explosion ignited the ash, destroying the area in a huge burst of flames. Hidan landed on his broken feet next to Kakuzu, who had barely managed to pull the zombie to safety with his elongated arm.
Within a few seconds, Kakuzu's tendrils had entered Hidan's body and fixed his spine rather forcefully, causing Hidan to twitch in pain with each movement.
Izumo, Kotetsu, Choji and the newly reawakened Ino stood guard in front of Asuma and Shikamaru.
Hidan turned to Kakuzu, "So…plan?" the grey haired man asked.
Kakuzu raised a brow, "You have Asuma Sarutobi's blood."
Hidan looked down at his scythe and grinned.
"So…plan?" Choji asked Shikamaru, trying not to freak out at his sensei losing most of one of his hands.
Shikamaru raised a brow, "Ino, you're a medic. Choji, take backup. Izumo, Kotetsu, with me for the attack." Shikamaru said as he stood to his feet.
A moment later found Shikamaru frowning as he watched the immortal duo.
Kotetsu raised a brow as well, "What the hell happened to that guy?" he asked.
Hidan had just finished drawing something in the dirt with his feet, he grinned as he licked the blood from his scythe and his skin changed to hold the image of a skeleton.
Shikamaru formed hand seals, "DARK STYLE: SHADOW BALL!" he yelled as from his hands shot a ball of shadow energy.
Kakuzu stepped forwards and held his arm forward, "FIRE STYLE: INTELLIGENT HARD WORK!" he yelled.
From Kakuzu's sleeve shot forth the flaming jutsu, it collided with the shadow ball and caused an explosion.
Behind Kakuzu, Hidan had pulled out a small retractable spear, which he held in front of his chest while laughing maniacally, "CURSE TECHNIQUE: DEATH CONTROLLING POSSESSED BLOOD!"
"GAH!" Asuma let out as he coughed up blood.
Everyone except Kakuzu looked at Asuma in shock as he coughed up more blood. He fell to his knees and held his chest in pain while Hidan's psychotic laughter echoed around the clearing, spear still stabbed right through his left lung.
"ASUMA!" Shikamaru yelled as he ran back to defend his sensei.
Kotetsu yelled out as his partner spat a fire jutsu at the immortal duo, intent on holding them off, "Shikamaru! We must retreat so that Ino can focus all of her efforts on healing him! We have to go now!" Kotetsu shouted as Izumo's jutsu supposedly caught the duo in flames, though that was hardly believable since Hidan's laughter still echoed.
Shikamaru sat shaking as he watched Asuma suddenly be covered in burns and cough up more blood, until Ino slapped him, "Shika!" she yelled.
He snapped out of his daze and held out his arms, allowing everyone to grab a hold of him as he held Asuma's shoulder, "SHADOW WARP: DISTANCE!" Shikamaru yelled as the six Konoha ninjas disappeared.
Hidan stopped his laughing as Kakuzu looked up, "Leader-sama?" Kakuzu asked before the two were called away to seal off the Four-Tails…
#### Two Days later ####
"Have you been up all night Aniki?" Naruto asked before yawning as the sun rose through their window.
Sakura slept against Sasuke's side, using his body to block the light. Sasuke turned to Naruto with his tired Sharingan eyes.
"Yes."
Naruto frowned, "Don't go all 'I-Won't-Speak-More-Than-One-Word' on me. Tell me what's on your mind." Naruto said.
Sasuke frowned slightly and looked down at his lap, "Sorry…it's just that…this is it." Sasuke said before swallowing with intense emotion.
Naruto nodded, "This is what you wanted right? That's good, imagine what you get to do after this Sasuke." He said with a smile.
Sasuke nodded and closed his eyes, 'My clan can really begin to start anew…but what if I lose?' he thought.
"No way we'll lose."
Sasuke looked up at Naruto, seeing the guy's eyes become slitted, "I won't let you lose Aniki, no matter what he does I will heal you right back to full strength and toss you back in there with another of your weapons." He said seriously.
Sasuke smirked, "Y'know, I hope you'll do more than just heal me and throw me away." He said, letting the serious atmosphere dissipate a little.
Naruto smiled, "What you want me and Sakura-chan to actually fight with you?" he asked rhetorically.
"Yes. If I need it." Sasuke said.
Naruto blinked in shock, "Huh? For real?" he asked.
Sasuke looked out the window again, "I want to show Itachi that no matter how strong a single person is," he said before turning back to Naruto with a grin, "A family is always stronger when together." He said.
The two boys looked down at Sakura, who was giggling quietly.
Naruto poked her forehead, "What's so funny Sakura-nee?"
She looked up at Naruto before turning to Sasuke and grinning, "That was so damn corny, I swear it's like you're a soap opera actress sometimes." She said before laughing openly.
Naruto laughed along with her while Sasuke smirked with a chuckle, suddenly, the booth's inner speakerphone came on.
"Room Seven, this is your notice. We will be entering the Land Earth in two hours, we have organised for you to use the emergency exit on the staff carriage at that time. Please reply." The Conductor's voice said through the cone shaped speakerphone.
Sasuke hit the green button next to the phone as he and Sakura stood, "Thank you very much. We will be there." Sasuke said into the telecom like system of sound funnels.
"Confirmed. We wish you luck on you mission Uchiha-san, be safe all of you." the voice said once again before it was gone.
Naruto stood and did a few stretches before reaching behind his back and readjusting Samehada Bocho's sheathe, "So, which strategy have we decided on?" Naruto asked.
Sakura looked to Sasuke who smirked as his Sharingan activated, "Naruto, you will double check that Itachi is actually there. Then I will go in first by myself. If I need it, you will be my supporters. That means defence attacks and distractions only. I must be the one to finish him." Sasuke said with a nod.
Sakura smiled, "Guess it's time to do this then." She said before opening their door.
Sasuke and Naruto followed out behind her before the three of them walked to the next carriage for some quick breakfast before they had to head off to fulfil Sasuke's ambition.
#######
"I am going Dad."
Shikaku merely looked up from his breakfast and nodded, "One moment Shikamaru." He said as he stood.
He walked around the table and placed a hand on his son's shoulder, "As you know, the Naara clan hold the mind in high regard and as such we follow our thoughts and plans down to the last point." He said seriously.
Shikamaru nodded and glanced over his shoulder, "Don't worry, I won't lose my cool. I have many plans at my disposal." Shikamaru said dangerously as he went to step away.
Shikaku's grip tightened, forcing Shikamaru to hold still, "That is why I am worried son."
Shikamaru turned in confusion towards his father and caught his punch, "What the hell Dad?" he asked in shock as the man pulled back his fist.
Shikaku smirked, "Did you ever calculate that I would attack you?" he asked, only to receive a confused look in return, "Then how did you catch my punch?" he asked.
Shikamaru frowned, "I just acted, instinct." He said in confusion before his eyes lit up in realisation as Shikaku's words sunk in.
Shikaku once again placed his hand on his son's shoulder, "Lead with your mind, but trust in your gut as well. If an instinct is telling you one thing, trust it, especially if your life depends on it." Shikaku said seriously before taking his hand away.
Shikamaru nodded, absorbing the odd piece of information into his mind as he walked out the front of his house and turned right, meeting up with Ino and Choji before continuing to the gate.
Shikamaru glanced to his left, "Ino?" he asked.
"From the information I gathered, they are on their way here. They are searching for Naruto so logically this is the first place they would go." She said seriously.
Shikamaru nodded, "Where they coming from?"
"And why does that matter to you three hm?"
The three stopped in their walk and looked up at Tsunade, "I cannot and will not allow three mere Chunnin to go out after Akatsuki without a leader. Especially since you are all blinded by rage over your sensei's death." She said seriously, making all three ninjas twitch as she said 'death'.
Choji's teeth ground together, "Then what are we supposed to do?!" he yelled in anger.
Tsunade frowned, "Go home, go train. Whatever you need to do to keep yourselves busy. I have chosen Kakashi to select an elite team and go after the supposed immortal duo. He will succeed." She said seriously.
"Ohayo Hokage-sama." Kakashi said with a wave as he, Sai and Pikkon approached the group.
Team ten turned to Kakashi but Tsunade spoke first, "Get going Kakashi, you still need to complete your team correct?" she asked.
Kakashi eye smiled and walked up to team ten, "I have all six of them right here. I am sure we'll be more than enough to safely handle them." he said while placing a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder.
Tsunade frowned as team ten grinned in victory, "Are you sure Kakashi?" she asked.
Kakashi eye smiled again, "You told me to look for those who would have the highest chance of taking down these two zombies. And these three have the best reason to put their all into it so of course I was going to pick them." he said, giving her a solid unarguable reason behind his choice.
Tsunade sighed, but relented, "Fine. Be safe all of you." she said seriously.
Kakashi nodded before disappearing in a shunshin, followed by his team who followed in the same way.
Tsunade turned to look towards the gate, where she caught a glimpse of them rushing off to the forest of dead trees, 'Please…be careful.' She thought before walking back to her office.
#######
The two Akatsuki members walked into a clearing in the forest of dead trees as Hidan continued yelling, "This Akatsuki shit goes completely against my religion, Jashin-sama would be furious except that I am one of Jashin-sama's best followers!"
Kakuzu merely kept walking, as he had been for the past two hours, 'I think this is the first time I have ever agreed with him. I am growing tired of being one of the Akatsuki.' Kakuzu thought before something to his left caught his eye.
He quickly leapt high into the air as a large amount of kunai stabbed into the area around where he last stood, the explosive tags on them exploded, burning Hidan severely and causing him great pain which he didn't hesitate to complain about.
"WHAT THE FUCK KAKUZU?! WHERE WAS THE WARNING?! WHICH HEATHENS ATTACKED ME HUUUUH?!" the silver haired man screamed as he rolled around on the floor to put out the flames on his cloak.
Kakuzu formed a hand seal, "FIRE STYLE: INTELLIGENT HARD WORK!"
"WATER STYLE: WATER DRAGON JUTSU!" Kakashi yelled as he threw forth his jutsu.
The two techniques collided, creating a steam cloud that dispersed to show Kakashi, Pikkon, Sai and Ino facing down Hidan and Kakuzu.
Hidan stood to his feet as his cloak stopped burning, leaving the right side of his torso bare, "Who the fuck are you?!" he screamed in rage.
The four ninjas just took battle positions, but Kakuzu's keen eye for a bounty flashed in recognition and he answered Hidan's question, "Kakashi the Copy Ninja and Pikkon the Elemental Swordsman." He said with a smile that even crinkled his mask.
Hidan grinned, "So! A strong sacrifice for Jashin-sama!" he yelled before recklessly charging the group head on.
Kakashi stepped forward, pulling out his chakra sabre and clashing with Hidan's scythe, the two stood in a struggle for power as Kakashi yelled out orders.
"Sai! Do it now! Ino, Pikkon, hold off the Heart Stealer!" Kakashi yelled before he channelled his white chakra into his blade.
Hidan stumbled as the small tanto cleanly cut through his scythe, leaving him with only two blades, but he didn't have time to complain as Kakashi used a substitution jutsu to switch with an ink clone of Sai that grabbed Hidan tightly.
"Get the fuck off you damn heathen!" Hidan screamed as he used his one free arm to swing his scythe around to stab through the clone and into his own chest.
The clone leapt into the air the moment before it was stabbed, causing it to drop into papers in front of the midair Hidan. Who grinned before realising the papers left over were in fact paper bombs.
Sai held the tora hand seal, "KATSU!"
**BOOOOM**
The explosion launched the screaming in pain Hidan off to the left of the group.
"PARTIAL EXPANSION JUTSU!"
*CRACK*
Kakuzu raised a brow in curiosity as a huge arm reached up from behind a nearby tree trunk and slammed Hidan down to the ground painfully, cracking a rock with his back that luckily still had his scythe sticking through it, thus taking the hit of impact for him.
Kakuzu frowned as he saw the four paper lions charging him, with an opponent on each one, 'Well, this will be interesting to say the least.' Kakuzu thought as he turned his focus away from Hidan.
"EARTH STYLE: MUD SHOT!" Pikkon yelled as he leant sideways on his lion and stabbed the ground with his main blade.
Kakuzu flexed and a slightly grey sheen grew over him, letting the attack hit him harmlessly while Ino launched her jutsu.
"WIND STYLE: GREAT BREAKTHROUGH!" she yelled, creating a solid wall of wind that blew towards Kakuzu as they cleared the final portion of the distance.
Kakuzu's skin returned to normal as he waved one arm while forming four seals with the other, "WIND STYLE: WIND SLASH!" he yelled, creating a long blade of wind that cut a horizontal slit in Ino's area technique.
Kakuzu easily dove through the small gap his slash made, letting Ino's jutsu rip his cloak off completely while his jutsu cut through the four lions of ink, forcing the ninjas to leap off as he rolled to his feet and held his arms wide.
"COMBINATION: MASK BLAST FLAMES!" he yelled as two masks appeared on his palms.
Kakashi leapt forward as his hands crackled, attacking the flame ball head on as he thrust his hands forward together holding a purple rasengan, "RAI-SENGAN!" he yelled.
To Kakuzu's shock, Kakashi's attack dispersed the flame ball before releasing a bolt of lightning towards Kakuzu.
The attack hit him directly in the shoulder, cutting off his arm in one move. But his charge didn't falter as he kicked the charging Sai away and threw his remaining arm upwards as it turned grey again to block Pikkon's attack.
Pikkon went to slash with his other blade when Ino tackled him out of the way of a fireball that spewed forth from Kakuzu's disembodied arm.
Kakuzu leapt back as his arm reattached with him momentarily, before he leant forward, "I don't really want to kill any of you, but I guess you don't really leave me any choice." He said before tendrils burst forth from his back and formed four masked beings behind him.
Kakashi frowned as he regrouped with Pikkon, Ino and Sai, "I was definitely not expecting this." He said quietly.
#########
*CRACK*
"FOR FUCKS SAKE STOP IT!" Hidan yelled as he pulled himself to his feet, seemingly unharmed as his skull somehow moved back into place.
"NINJA ART: SHADOW POSSESSION JUTSU!"
From behind Hidan, Shikamaru stepped out of the shadows as his own shadow connected with Hidan's.
The silver haired immortal glared over his shoulder, "You're that fucker who made me lose my head a few days ago! I'll kill you!" Hidan yelled as his body shook, trying to make it move according to his will.
Shikamaru smirked darkly as Choji landed next to him, "You got him Shika?" Choji asked.
Shikamaru nodded, "Go help the others. I've got this one." Shikamaru said before turning and walking away, forcing Hidan to follow after him as they moved towards the living forest merely five hundred or so metres away.
Hidan scowled, "What exactly is your damn plan then huh? Got some people who are gonna take turns killing me? Cause that won't stop me from performing Jashin-sama's will!" Hidan said.
Shikamaru nodded, "Don't worry. I'm just taking us to a place where we will have some privacy." He said, not even glancing back towards Hidan.
Hidan raised a brow, "Privacy?" he asked.
This time, Shikamaru did glance over his shoulder, "You killed my Sensei. I will have my revenge." He said before turning to face away once more.
Hidan grinned and began laughing, "HAHAHA! Fantastic! Jashin-sama! Watch me show this heathen the beauty of suffering!" Hidan screamed in laughter as he and Shikamaru disappeared amongst the trees.
########
*CLANG*
"Goodluck you three!" one of the train workers yelled from the hatch on the train's roof.
Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto stood on the roof using their chakra as they were buffeted by the strong winds. Sasuke nodded to the worker who grinned before re-entering and closing the hatch behind him.
"Woah! I didn't realising we were moving so fast!" Sakura yelled with a smile as she welcomed the 150 kilometre per hour winds.
Sasuke nodded before activating his Sharingan as Naruto yelled out, "Where to Aniki?!"
Sasuke pointed off to the train's left, prompting his teammates to turn in that direction. Sakura activated her Scouter Sight, "I can see a couple of threat levels over that way, but nothing too major. Are you sure Sasuke-kun?!" she yelled.
Sasuke frowned, "As I recall, we are approximately three hours from the hideout. We should be able to see it from here!" Sasuke yelled in return.
Naruto closed his right eye and channelled his chakra to his sight enhancement seal which surrounded his left, which Sasuke had multiplied immensely over the years.
"Aniki! Is it a building in the side of a small mountain?! Pretty much entirely grey?!" Naruto yelled out.
Sasuke turned to him and nodded, prompting Naruto to smirk and turn to Sakura, "My eleven o'clock. Bout the distance of most of the Konoha forest away!" he yelled.
Sakura's glasses began to glow slightly pink, leaving a line through the air following her movements, "I can see a large threat level there! It must be him!" she yelled.
Sasuke nodded, "We take our high speed reverse arrowhead formation! Naruto in lead while Sakura ensures we have no interruptions!" he yelled as he leapt high into the air while disappearing in a poof of smoke.
Sakura leapt forward as well while her legs began to glow rainbow.
Naruto merely jumped much farther than the two, his simple manoeuvre seeming extremely understated in comparison to the massive output of strength needed to make the huge leap.
Within moments, Sakura was sprinting across the ground in a blurr while scanning their path to ensure that they ran across no one, while Naruto flew a small distance behind her, pulling along Sasuke by his chain while he was hovering on his board.
Within seconds, the three blurred towards the hideout at speeds almost no one could catch them at.
#######
"COMBINATION: MASK BLAST FLAMES!" Kakuzu yelled as his two masks shot their elemental blasts towards the group of four ninjas.
They dodged to the sides, just as Kakuzu wanted, "Go!" he yelled, sending his Masks after each ninja.
His wind mask shot blasts at Ino continuously, pushing her further away from the group as she was forced to focus on dodging.
The fire mask focussed on Sai, burning through all of his paper attacks with seemingly no effort at all.
His water mask moved at Pikkon at high speeds, creating small sharp bursts of water that forced Pikkon to use his own blades to destroy the attacks or else be cut.
Kakashi was using his Sharingan to get a read on the lightning bolts raining down at him from above, doing his best not to be hit by them.
Kakuzu sighed as he calmly pulled out a normal kunai, "I will deliver swift deaths to them. After all, my employer has told me to do whatever is needed to keep my cover…I guess he didn't take this possibility into account." Kakuzu muttered as he calmly approached Kakashi.
#######
"This is it." Shikamaru said as he walked into a small clearing.
Hidan smirked, "So, your final battle aye? Don't worry, I'll make sure your soul is given directly to a higher power!" Hidan said with a chuckle.
Shikamaru smirked, "You mean this 'Jashin' don't you? I've read about that thing…bloody stupid if you ask me." Shikamaru said as he retracted his shadow.
Hidan's eyes burned with rage as he lifted his now two bladed scythe and swung at Shikamaru, "DIE FUCKER!" he yelled.
Shikamaru became serious as Hidan swung the two bladed scythe, 'Time to see if my training was truly worth it.' Shikamaru thought as he moulded his chakra to take the form of the Dark element.
Shikamaru lifted his arm up, his shadow curling into a physical line that Hidan's scythe clashed against. Shikamaru then dropped and performed a sweep kick that Hidan leapt over, directly into a wall of darkness that sprouted from Shikamaru's back.
Shika flung out his arms, expanding the darkness and throwing Hidan away before he placed his hands together, "DARK STYLE: PURSUIT!" he yelled as he punched into his own shadow.
Shikamaru's fist came out of Hidan's shadow and grabbed the handle of the immortal man's Scythe and brought his momentum to a sudden stop, dislocating Hidan's shoulder with a shout of pain as shadows gathered on Shikamaru's opposite hand.
"SHADOW PUNCH!"
*BAM*
Hidan was slammed into a tree, shouting a shock and pain at Shikamaru's attack.
'What the fuck? How is this kid doing this?' Hidan thought as he forced his arm back into place and looked up at Shikamaru. Hidan raised a brow as he watched the Chunnin take sharp, haggard breaths with his eyes closed.
Hidan stood to his feet, "Do you see now? Whatever you do is useless! I won't die from any damage you deal to me!" Hidan yelled with a grin of insanity.
"That's what I'm counting on."
Hidan stopped his laughter and raised a brow, "Counting on? What the fuck are ya talking about?"
Shikamaru opened his eyes, showing the tears that poured down his face and the rage burning deeply within him, "You killed my sensei. You caused our whole team and his whole family so much pain!" he yelled as he took a grip of his shadow and pulled it off of him.
"I will have to return the favour." Shikamaru said before lashing out with his shadow at Hidan.
Hidan rose his scythe and blocked the hit, finding it surprisingly weak, 'That's all the rage he can muster? How patheti-'
*SHLICK*
Hidan gasped as a spear of shadow tore cleanly through his stomach, making him realise the danger as he began to focus all his efforts on dodging and blocking the shadow weapons that were appearing around him.
Shikamaru kneeled with his hands buried in darkness, which reached out to the shadow of every one of the surrounding trees. The shadow of each branch became solid and morphed into many weapons that Shikamaru used his chakra to launch and slash at the immortal man.
"Know our pain! More than anything you've witnessed! Feel it ALL!" Shikamaru yelled as he focussed his shadow into forming barbed wire which wrapped around Hidan's heels.
Hidan fell onto his back, grunting in pain that he could easily relish in, 'He thinks his pain amounts to so much?! Ha! I've died infinitely in my life! No pain actually harms me!' Hidan thought with a smile as he was stabbed through the palms, pinning him to the ground.
Shikamaru clenched his fist and watched as the barbed wire slowly dug into Hidan's Achilles tendon and wedged under his toe nails, 'Ino's pain.' Shikamaru thought as he began pulling his arms apart.
Hidan began to actually breathe heavily while he tried to block out the pain of his toenails being forcefully cracked and torn from his toes, "This is nothing!" Hidan yelled out loud as he ripped his hands free from the ground in a bloody display and pulled out his retractable spear from inside what remained of his cloak.
He went to throw his spear at Shikamaru but hesitated as the barbed wire of shadows wrapped above and below his knee cap.
'Choji's pain.' Shikamaru thought as he grunted in exertion.
The shadows stabbed into Hidan's tendons and muscles and slowly ripped them open, causing Hidan to shout in pain as his bone was scratched and shown to the open air in a way he had never felt before.
Hidan felt tears in his eyes for the first time in years as he tried to focus his aim. He threw his mini spear forward at Shikamaru, causing him to drop his technique and dodge.
Hidan quickly went to move and instinctively tried to flex his muscles in his legs to get to his feet, causing him to scream in pain as the flaps of cut off flesh rubbed against his nerves and the ground.
Hidan bit back the scream and reached for his scythe, "Kakuzu will fix me up afterwards. Jashin-sama will keep me alive. I will not give in!" Hidan screamed to himself as Shikamaru snuck up to him.
Shikamaru's rage was obvious as he channelled his chakra, 'My pain!'
"DARK STYLE: CRUNCH!" Shikamaru yelled as his shadow rose off of his body and surrounded his head.
Hidan turned around to come face-to-face with the head of a large animal made of darkness that bit into his calf and knee, ripping the remaining flesh from and scarring the bone in a horrific display that caused Hidan to give a blood curdling scream.
Hidan naturally lashed out with his scythe, slashing into the shadow that was covering Shikamaru's head and knocking the shadow ninja back into a tree.
Hidan stopped his yelling an writhing as he looked at his blade in success, seeing blood on it. He looked over at Shikamaru, who was holding the side of his head in pain that was covered in blood.
Hidan rolled onto his front and used the handle of his scythe to draw a circle with a triangle in it before he felt Shikamaru stomp his bare bone, cracking it cleanly in half.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" Hidan yelled in pain before glaring over his shoulder at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru leapt up into the air and began forming hand seals, letting Hidan quickly pull himself into the pattern and roll onto his back.
Hidan smirked as Shikamaru finished his seals.
"DARK STYLE: NIGHT SLASH!"
Hidan had raised the scythe to his mouth and was mere millimetres from licking the blood from the blade before Shikamaru's small blades of darkness cut off his tongue and cut up his entire torso with little paper cuts.
Hidan cursed as he rolled to the side and spat out his mouthful of blood, but unfortunately for him, he had already ingested some of it.
Shikamaru smirked as he fell towards Hidan, watching the man's body take the appearance of his Curse Jutsu, "KURENAI'S PAIN!" Shikamaru yelled as he fell at Hidan.
Flashback
*Knock Knock*
A few moments later, a very pregnant Kurenai opened the door, "Oh! Hello Shikamaru, how have you been?" she asked with a kind smile.
Shikamaru didn't know what to say, his expression shattered and he fell to his knees as tears poured from his eyes.
In a second, Kurenai was in front of him, holding him softly as he cried, "Shikamaru! What's wrong? Are you ok?" Kurenai asked.
Shikamaru lifted his head and made eye contact, "Asuma-sensei…he…" Shikamaru barely managed to say before trying not to cry again.
He saw the realisation hit her, he saw the light in her eyes die, he watched as she clenched at her chest as if her heart was in pain. Kurenai closed her eyes as a single tear fell.
"I-It's my fault! I'm so sorry! I-i.." Shikamaru ranted while the tears poured.
Kurenai just leant forward and hugged Shikamaru, "It's okay." She said softly before kissing his forehead and standing up.
Shikamaru looked up in shock as Kurenai walked back into her house calmly, he was frozen in shock at her simple acceptance of her husband's death.
He stood to his own shaky feet and left the property, tears pouring all the way.
"ASUMAAAAAA!"
Shikamaru felt his sobs build as Kurenai's pain filled scream echoed throughout the whole street.
Shikamaru wiped some tears from his eyes and looked up with determination, 'I will not let him die in vain. Don't worry Kurenai, your husband died a hero. And I will make sure that's known to everyone.' Shikamaru thought before leaping towards his clan house.
Flashback end
Hidan turned up at Shikamaru in shock as he felt his body come under his own Jashinist technique, 'No!' he thought as Shikamaru pulled something out from his pocket.
*SLASH*
Blood flew into Shikamaru's face as he plunged one of Asuma's blades into Hidan's heart, all while remembering the woman's pain filled eyes as she clenched at her heart.
Shikamaru moved back from Hidan's body and went to continue fighting, only to realise that Hidan was no longer moving.
Shikamaru watched as the black and white skeleton colouring on Hidan's skin became inverted and then disappeared as Hidan let out one last breath.
Shikamaru stood beside Hidan's corpse and knelt, sealing the corpse and the scythe away before he stood and turned back towards Kakuzu's fight, the fire in his eyes done burning as he let the last of his tears fall.
#######
**BOOOM**
Pikkon stood with a smirk before falling to his knee, "One down!" he announced tiredly before yanking his blade free from the heart of the water mask.
He span and lifted his swords into his now signature move as he faced the nearly worn down Kakashi and his two opponents, the lightning mask and Kakuzu himself.
Kakashi stood panting, his right arm dripping with blood as he held a stare off with Kakuzu, whose wind mask stood behind him building up chakra, 'Dammit! I may be good, but an S-ranked nin like him is too much for me when he fights with that mask!' Kakashi thought as he analysed everything in the area with his Sharingan.
He grinned as he saw Pikkon's low stance behind Kakuzu, 'Yes!' Kakashi thought as he formed hand seals and slammed his hands on the ground.
Kakuzu frowned as he recognised Kakashi's technique, 'But I am not attacking him, so that means-'
"EARTH STYLE: EARTH SHORE RETURN!" Kakashi yelled as a slab of earth flipped up to protect him.
"SWORD ART: ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT POUND CANNON!"
His instincts told him to kick it into high gear, so Kakuzu dove to his left as fast as he could and still felt the pressure of the fast attack pass by his body.
Kakuzu rolled to his feet and grunted as he felt another heart die, 'This swordsman is much more than I anticipated.' Kakuzu thought with a frown.
The lightning mask fell to the ground in pieces as Pikkon landed next to Kakashi, "Are you okay Kakashi-sempai?" Pikkon asked glancing at Kakashi's bloody arm.
Kakashi nodded, "He snuck up on me with a kunai, I almost didn't notice. He could've killed me straight away." Kakashi thought out loud.
Pikkon frowned, "You mean he hesitated?" Pikkon asked.
Realisation struck Kakashi, 'He did hesitate, but why?' Kakashi thought.
"AAAAAHHH!"
The three men looked over towards the wind mask, which was pulling away from Choji, whose back was just sliced up by a group of wind blades as he protected Ino.
Choji spun around and using his enlarged fist, backhanded the wind mask straight at Kakuzu.
Choji fell forward into Ino's grasp and she began healing him as the bulk of tendrils slammed into Kakuzu and knocked him back.
Kakuzu flipped onto his feet and let his mask get assimilated back into his body before standing tall, "COME!" he yelled.
His fire mask pulled away from Sai after spitting one last fireball at the ninja, who used a substitution to dodge. It assimilated back alongside the wind mask and Kakuzu began shaking.
Sai, Kakashi and Pikkon leapt over to Choji and Ino, who was done being healed.
"Pikkon and I are the most skilled out of all of us, so we'll take Ninjutsu defences and attacks. Sai, barrage him with as many paper animals as you can and we'll hope to take him off guard. Choji, we need you on physical attack and defence." Kakashi ordered.
Everyone nodded except Ino, "What about me?" she asked.
Kakashi turned to her, "Isn't it obvious? We're giving you the opportunity to get inside his head." Kakashi said.
"MASK BLAST FLAMES!"
The group turned back to Kakuzu as Kakashi formed hand seals and Pikkon swung his swords.
"WIND STYLE: VACCUM SLASH!"
"WATER STYLE: TEARING TOORENT!"
**KSSHHHH**
The resulting explosion of steam separated forced everyone to move from the battlefield or risk being steam boiled. As the field cleared, the Konoha ninjas were shocked to see the transformed Kakuzu with a huge amount of tendrils growing from his body in multiple directions while his masks were visible on top of either of his shoulders.
Everyone stood in combat positions as Sai spoke the obvious, "We may be in trouble." He said with a weird smile.
Kakuzu spun and launched a large group of tendril spikes towards the Konoha ninjas.
Pikkon stepped forward and slashed with his three blades, 'ELEMENTAL SWORDS: TRI ATTACK!' he thought as from his blades shot a burst of water, lightning and fire.
The attack didn't move far, but it managed to destroy or render useless most of the spikes, the others were deflected by Kakashi and his chakra sabre before turning to his team, "Now Sai!"
Kakuzu was about to launch another attack when he was forced to fight off a barrage of paper birds made with explosive tags. After a few moments of defending, he just launched a large burst of wind which drove off the birds and forced them to explode in midair.
Kakashi smirked under his mask as he picked up Kakuzu covering his eyes from the explosion, "Go Choji!"
Using the smoke cloud as cover, Choji leapt into it as he held a hand seal, "SPIKED HUMAN BOULDER JUTSU!" he yelled as he became a large ball of spiky destruction.
Kakuzu was caught off guard by the straight on approach, but he reacted quickly.
"FIRE STYLE: MULTI-BURST FLAMES!" Kakuzu yelled as he launched a cluster of six flame bullets at Choji to stop him.
"WATER STYLE: WATER DRAGON JUTSU!"
Kakashi's water dragon rose up and swallowed Choji, giving him cover from the fire balls which evaporated it's face, before it's body caught up and pushed the spiky ball at higher speeds towards Kakuzu.
The usually logical and practical man began to panic as he used his threads to push him further backwards in hopes of avoiding Choji, Kakashi was unsure of what to do, but luckily the other Jonin had an idea.
Pikkon yelled, "Sai! The trap! EARTH STYLE: DEVASTATION!"
Pikkon's jutsu tore the two trees Kakuzu was using as support and many of his thicker tendrils, causing Kakuzu to lose control of where he was going and fall to the ground.
Sai pulsed his chakra and brought to life the paper snakes he had hidden under ground when they first arrived at the battlefield, "NINJA ART: PAPER PYTHON PRISON!"
The snakes came up over Kakuzu's limbs and bit their own tails, tying down Kakuzu as Choji bore down on him.
"VAROOOOM!" Choji yelled as he slammed into Kakuzu, digging him into the ground continuously for almost a solid minute.
Choji's chakra diminished and he pushed off of Kakuzu, only to be hit in the face by the man's grey tinged hand.
Choji landed with a grunt on Sai's bird as Kakuzu got to his feet, "S-Sai? That didn't work! He seems fine!" Choji yelled in disbelief as Sai dropped him off with the rest of the team.
"Not exactly Choji," Kakashi said as he pointed, "I think we've got him."
Choji looked over to see a heavily panting Kakuzu kneeling as his fire heart shattered on the ground from Choji's onslaught. And Choji's eyes widened further as he finally noticed that Ino was also up in the air on Sai's bird, the two of them now nose diving towards Kakuzu.
Kakuzu quickly looked upwards, "WIND STYLE: VACUUM SPHERE!" Kakuzu yelled as he launched the technique at Sai's bird.
Ino dove head first at the attack, making everyone gasp as Sai pulled away.
She clapped her hands in front of her just before the attack hit, "WIND STYLE: MOTION SICKNESS!"
He chakra clap made a small vacuum of wind right at her fingertips, thus causing a gap in Kakuzu's jutsu that she dove through harmlessly before she flipped around.
Kakuzu had assumed his jutsu would gain him a few seconds to prepare, so he was caught completely off guard when Ino's feet slammed into his stomach, knocking him onto his back once more as she fell ontop of him.
She placed a hand on kakuzu's forehead as she used one of her newer techniques, "NINJA ART: SHOUTING SECRETS!" she yelled as her chakra entered his mind.
Kakuzu's eyes widened as he felt what was happening, Ino was delving deep into his mind and broadcasting his deepest thoughts and fears to everyone in the battlefield.
Ino's technique is used to find the person's weak spot and exploit it, but to her and everyone else's shock, they found things much more interesting.
After a minute of everyone hearing Kakuzu's thoughts, Ino leapt back and was caught by Sai, who carried her back to the group on his bird.
Kakuzu rolled to his feet, scowling as he took his final mask back into his body. He glared across the clearing as Kakashi walked forward.
"So, Jiraiya-sama's informant and the mysterious man that tracked all of Shikamaru's actions over the past three years…I think your cover is blown." Kakashi said with an eye smile.
######
"He's in the throne room." Naruto said as he landed next to Sasuke and Sakura.
Sasuke nodded and stood, "Please, stay outside. Sakura can watch my vitals with her Scouter Sight and signal you to do something about it if something goes wrong, okay Naruto?" Sasuke said before swallowing deeply.
Naruto nodded and passed one of his kunai to Sasuke, "If you need me." Was all Naruto said.
Sakura grabbed Sasuke's hand and turned him to her, they shared a long kiss before she hugged him, "Remember, you said you'll give us the signal for when we can help okay?" she reminded him.
Sasuke nodded, "I know. Do you still have the scrolls?" he asked.
Sakura nodded, "I have them. By the end of this everything will be in place for you." she said with a soft smile.
Sasuke returned the smile, "For us." he corrected before kissing her one more time.
Naruto grasped both of their shoulders, as his Wood Style: Sage Mode fell, "He's awake now." Naruto said with a frown.
Sasuke nodded, "Good. I want him to feel my punishment before I'm done." Sasuke said as he glanced at Naruto once more, "Do you feel a storm brewing?" he asked before taking a few steps towards the door.
He glanced over his shoulder to see a worried Sakura and a cheery Naruto giving him a thumbs up as the blonde flew up into the air, Sasuke smirked his classic smirk, "I'll be back soon." He said before he faded into his Mirage Shunshin.
#######
Chapter end.
YEW!
It took me up until this very moment to finish this chapter, I'm seriously having a writer's block but I'll keep trying to do my best, though honestly it's getting harder. Give me motivation if you want more to come!
Also, please vote on the Poll on my profile. :D love you all! Please R&R