Chapter 13—Clash

Tsunade's eyes were open but it was suddenly too dark to see. All she could tell was that she was in a tightly enclosed space, so small she could hardly move. Then, as if a curtain had been pulled back, the stars were there and she could see the sky and move freely again. She took a step back and saw Jiraiya standing between her and Orochimaru, his hair shirking back to normal after protecting them all from the blast.

Inside the cave, Deidara turned to Kakuzu. "Would you look at that, Kakuzu? A complete set. I bet that'll fetch a nice price. Hm."

"Don't get cocky, Deidara," Kakuzu said, watching the three outside the cave. "This won't be easy."

Tsunade stared up at Jiraiya. "How did you–?"

"I saw explosions," he said. "Thought it was a pretty good bet you were here. Good thing I don't lose all my bets like you, huh?" he added, nudging her playfully with his elbow.

"Never mind that," Orochimaru cut in. "Look."

He was pointing to the ground in front of the cave. The explosion had thrown rocks and debris everywhere, even past the spiders.

"But the bombs…" Tsunade muttered.

"I think the boy was bluffing," Orochimaru said with a grin. "He's better at it than you, Tsunade," he quipped.

"All right, that's enough out of both of y– Orochimaru! What are you doing!?"

Orochimaru ran into the cave and attacked Deidara, sending dozens of snakes at him, each with a sword protruding from its mouth, but before they could reach him, they were engulfed in flame and fell to the floor as little more than smoldering ashes. Orochimaru followed the direction of the attack and saw Kakuzu completing the jutsu, and Hidan sitting off to the side behind him, looking bored.

Tsunade and Jiraiya ran up beside Orochimaru.

"So it's three-on-three," Jiraiya said, glancing around the cave.

"It wasn't supposed to be," Tsunade said through gritted teeth as she glared at Orochimaru. "Whatever information you were going off of, it was almost completely wrong."

"It just took us too long to get here," Orochimaru countered. "If we had been quicker he might have still been alone and crippled."

"Well guess who was the one slowing us down," Tsunade snapped back.

"Guys, guys, come on. Can't we all just get along?" Jiraiya said. Orochimaru and Tsunade both glared at him. "I guess not. Never mind."

"Oi, Kakuzu!" Hidan suddenly shouted. "These cocksuckers are annoying. Can't I just kill 'em all?"

"Stay out of this," Deidara said irritably. "I won't have you stealing my thunder."

"Leave it alone, Hidan," Kakuzu added. "Deidara and I have an agreement."

As Hidan broke into a string of profanities, Tsunade attempted to fill Jiraiya in on the situation.

"The blonde there, Deidara," she said quietly. "He's the only one we have information on. He's a long-range fighter, so the plan is to have Orochimaru distract him so one of us can get in close and take him down. But we didn't count on more enemies…"

"I got it," Jiraiya said. "It sounds like you and Orochimaru have this all worked out. I'll take care of the spare."

Tsunade thought he'd sounded a little insulted, maybe even slightly hurt by the situation. She expected no less. "Jiraiya…"

"Don't worry about it," he said, already walking away from them and toward Kakuzu. "It's a good plan. Just focus on your part."

Tsunade watched him go, but Orochimaru pulled her focus back to Deidara. He was keeping his distance, standing off near the back of the cave, already working new clay in each of his hands.

"I don't know what you're doing here really," he said. "But this should be a lot of fun. Hm." He opened his hands to reveal two four-winged birds and sent them flying at Orochimaru and Tsunade. Tsunade tensed, prepared to dodge, but a large brown snake suddenly rose up and caught the birds, swallowing them whole. A moment later, the snake exploded, pieces of it flying in every direction as Orochimaru laughed.

"Gross!" Jiraiya shouted as he and Kakuzu were showered with bits of charred reptile, but neither backed down as each tried to overpower and push the other back, their kunai sparking against each other.

Orochimaru had a look of great satisfaction on his face as Deidara started yelling as well. "You ruined it! My explosions are masterpieces and you turned it into a rain of snake guts! Ah!" Deidara bent back into a bridge, just barely dodging Tsunade's fist. He tried to kick her as he flipped up into a handstand to right himself, but she caught his foot instead and he was lifted off of the ground.

Tsunade spun sharply and flung Deidara at the cave wall. He was able to recover enough to minimize the damage, but the second his feet were on the floor again a sword stabbed through the sleeve of his cloak, pinning it to the stone behind him. The snake on the end of the sword slid off of the hilt and darted up to Deidara's neck so fast he didn't have time to catch it. It constricted around his throat, tightening even as he tried to pull it loose, but a moment later it didn't matter. Tsunade ran up to him and plunged her fist into his stomach. The stone behind him cracked and the one eye Tsunade could see rolled back. Then there was a dull pop and all that was left was a splatter of distorted clay on the cave wall.

"Rrgh, a clone," Tsunade muttered.

On the other side of the cave, Jiraiya and Kakuzu were using only kunai as they tried to get a feel for how the other fought, but Jiraiya was getting impatient. He knew Kakuzu was hiding his abilities, and trying to figure out exactly what he was dealing with was enough of a distraction to provide Kakuzu with an opening. He ducked under one of Jiraiya's attacks and slashed with his blade in a wide arc. Jiraiya just barely managed to jump out of the way and then dodged around Kakuzu to get behind him. He stabbed with his kunai, confident Kakuzu would not be able to completely avoid the attack at such close range. The blade found its mark, but instead of digging into Kakuzu's hand, it only struck against it as though it had hit stone instead of flesh.

Some kind of earth-style jutsu, Jiraiya thought.

Kakuzu grabbed the blade with his hardened hand and broke it, catching Jiraiya off guard enough to jab his elbow into his ribs and throw him back. But before he even hit the ground, Jiraiya vanished. The damage Kakuzu dealt had released the clone jutsu.

The real Jiraiya ran up behind Kakuzu, a rasengan spinning fiercely in his hand. Kakuzu turned toward the attack. He performed his hand signs quickly, calling forth wind chakra from one of his stolen hearts and firing off several large bullets of air. Jiraiya could hardly see them coming but he charged forward and the rasengan collided head on with one of them. The resulting backfire sent Jiraiya flying. He landed flat on his back several yards away and rolled onto his side, trying to get back to his feet, but the air had been knocked from his lungs. He managed to get to his hands and knees as he gasped for breath.

Fire… earth… wind… Just what the hell is with this guy?

Meanwhile, Orochimaru and Tsunade were scanning the cave, trying to locate Deidara after discovering the clay clone. Deidara took the chance to sneak up behind Orochimaru, a miniature clay centipede in his hand. He let it go and it grew instantly to over eight feet and charged at him. Orochimaru spun around, his hand outstretched, and an equally large snake shot forth. The two creatures collided, wrapping around each other as if each was trying to crush the other.

Orochimaru jumped back a little ways, expecting an explosion from the centipede, but none came and Tsunade saw why. The centipede was a distraction, diverting attention away from the little spider that was creeping up onto Orochimaru's shoulder. Tsunade picked up a piece of rock blown loose by a previous explosion and threw it at Orochimaru as hard as she could. It whizzed past his head, hitting the spider with enough force to carry it a safe distance away from him before it exploded from the impact.

Tsunade ran up to Orochimaru. "We need to pin him down somehow. If I could just get a hold of him…"

"Try if you want but we have more to worry about than just Deidara now," he said.

Jiraiya's and Kakuzu's fight was getting much more widespread as Kakuzu began using larger attacks in response to Jiraiya's rasengan. Orochimaru had barely finished speaking when Jiraiya was forced back toward him and Tsunade by a sprawling lightning attack. It just missed him as he came up next to his teammates, and the centipede and snake that were still grappling nearby were caught in the attack. They both crashed to the ground, unmoving.

Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade all moved to stand back to back as Deidara and Kakuzu closed in on them from either side. Deidara had created six small birds and released them to flutter around him, a few of them landing gently on each of his shoulders. Kakuzu noticed this and narrowed his eyes.

"Remember our deal, Deidara," he said, watching the many birds.

"Yeah, I remember. Keep the bodies recognizable, right? But it seems to me all you really need are the heads. Don't worry. I don't miss. Hm."

"So what now?" Jiraiya asked in a low voice. "Any more plans?"

Orochimaru smirked. Then he tilted his head back slightly and opened his mouth wide. A hilt slowly emerged from his throat and he grabbed it, pulling out a sword and testing his hold on it with a few experimental swings. "An all out attack?" he said, grinning.

Tsunade smiled. "Heh. Yeah, I like it– Agh!"

Kakuzu's hand shot out, long grey cables stretching between it and his body, and his fingers closed around Tsunade's throat, lifting her off of the ground.

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya shouted.

Orochimaru turned and brought his sword down on the cables in one fluid motion but the blade could not damage them. Tsunade clawed at the hand gripping her neck but she could not pry it loose; the hold was too tight.

Jiraiya grabbed onto the cables with his left hand and formed the rasengan in his right. At the same time, Orochimaru targeted Kakuzu's body, gripping the sword a little tighter as he ran at him.

He didn't get far. There was a cracking sound and more cables emerged from just under the surface of the cave floor. They twisted around Orochimaru's legs, bringing him to his knees. Then a hand holding a kunai burst forth from underground on the end of the cables and blood splashed across the cave floor as the blade tore through Orochimaru's right arm, leaving a deep cut that reached almost to his shoulder. He could not keep hold of the sword and it clattered onto the stone.

At the same time, Deidara, who had taken to the air on the back of his giant clay bird, swooped down past Jiraiya. A kunai in hand, he also proceeded to dig the blade into Jiraiya's right arm and dragged it down to his wrist, blood spraying from the wound. Jiraiya could not maintain the rasengan and the swirling chakra dispersed harmlessly before it could find its mark.

Tsunade was beginning to lose consciousness. Her vision was darkening and she could not get a strong enough grip on Kakuzu's hand to pry it free. Desperately, she clawed at the fingers until her nails sank into his skin, digging all the way down to the bone. With this, she finally gained enough leverage to put her strength to use, and wrenched the fingers back. There were several sharp snaps and she felt the pressure around her neck lift. Tsunade dropped to the ground but she could not seem to get her legs to work right and hit the stone harder than she had expected. She stayed down, coughing and gasping on the cave floor.

Kakuzu slowly retracted the mangled hand and Jiraiya ran to Tsunade. He knelt beside her and helped her to sit up but his attention was divided as he tried to keep an eye on Deidara who was circling high above. When he glanced at Tsunade again he saw that she wasn't just holding her throat, but trying to heal it, the faint green glow of chakra just barely visible between her hands and neck.

He wasn't just suffocating her, Jiraiya thought. He must have partially crushed her windpipes. He could have broken her neck.

"That was a little too close, wasn't it?" he said softly as he checked on Deidara's position again.

"I'm… okay," she replied, her voice raspy. "What about you?"

"Fine."

"Orochimaru…" she said as her vision began to clear.

Orochimaru was still caught in Kakuzu's cables, unable to untangle them from around his legs.

"Deidara," Kakuzu called. "Finish this one while I've got him tied down."

"It'll be my pleasure. Hm."

He glided a little lower over his target, but before he could do anything Orochimaru suddenly slipped free of his bonds and headed back toward his teammates, gliding over the stone with eerie fluidity. When he stopped beside Tsunade and Jiraiya they saw why. His legs were gone, replaced with the tail of a snake. Once he reached the others he released the jutsu and his legs returned to normal.

"Heh, too slow," he said, grinning.

The fighting began again in earnest, the Sannin splitting off in three different directions as they searched for openings in the midst of attack and counter-attack.

No one noticed Hidan wander away from his corner to where there was blood streaked across the stone. He crouched and ran his fingers over it, bringing it up close to his face and breathing in the warm scent. His shoulders shook with silent laughter as he looked over at the fighting then back at the blood. He could no longer contain himself.

"I don't even know who this'll kill!" he shouted gleefully. "Whooeee, this is so exciting! Let's see who Lord Jashin has chosen!"

He slid his tongue over his bloody fingertips and the ritual markings darkened his skin. He dragged his foot through the blood on the ground and drew the seal as he slowly pulled out the retractable pike from his cloak. As he extended it, holding it at arm's length, the point hovering above his heart, his laughter escalated. The sound echoed off the cave walls and drew the attention of the others.

"Hidan," Kakuzu said sharply. "What are you doing?"

Orochimaru and Deidara slid away from each other. Orochimaru had finally managed to land a hit on him, tearing off the scope over his left eye and leaving three long bloody gashes along that side of his face. They both stopped then and looked at Hidan.

"What is that?" Orochimaru muttered with some interest.

Hidan's laughter grew wild and he plunged the pike into his own chest. Blood glided over his hands and rose in his throat, and a serene smile settled on his face as he savored the pain. Then the markings faded and he slowly pulled the pike out of the wound.

Tsunade stared, fine tremors running through her. "What… What was–?"

She stopped short when she saw it. Orochimaru was hunched over. He was clutching at his chest.

"Ghk… wh-what–?" he gasped, but blood rose to his mouth and he fell to his knees before collapsing onto the stone.

"Hey, he killed one!" Deidara complained. "That wasn't part of the deal!"

"At least he left the body intact," Kakuzu said mildly.

Tsunade and Jiraiya stared at Orochimaru. He wasn't moving. He wasn't breathing. "No," Tsunade whispered. "No. No."

Jiraiya pulled his attention back to Hidan. H-How… How is this possible? That didn't just happen. It has to be a genjutsu… Something–

"Orochimaru!" Tsunade ran to him and fell at his side. She blinked back tears as she tried to heal him, but it seemed to have no effect.

Not again. Not again. I have to be able to save him. Why can't I save him?! "Dammit!" She punched the ground but there was no strength behind it. Her hands were trembling.

"At least this makes things easier," Kakuzu said. He raised his good hand and it shot out from his body at Tsunade. A second later, Jiraiya was between them, and this time his rasengan found its mark. The cables in Kakuzu's arm twisted until some of them snapped and the hand fell, twitching on the cave floor, as mangled as the hand Tsunade had broken. Kakuzu retracted it slowly, his eyes fierce and fixed on Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"Jiraiya," Tsunade said steadily. "Give me one of your kunai." She held out her hand and Jiraiya reached back to give her the blade, keeping his eyes on their opponents.

"What are you planning?" he asked quietly.

"Something brutal, sadistic, and violent."

But before she could put this plan into action, a slight movement caught her attention. She thought she had imagined it at first, but it came again. Orochimaru's body shuddered. Then, slowly, the mouth was pried open by white hands. It stretched wider until Orochimaru crawled out and lay still for a moment, breathing deeply on the cool stone. He got to his hands and knees but Tsunade stopped him before he could move any further.

"Orochimaru!" she said, her voice full of relief as she helped him to sit up.

"What did I tell you about using that wretched medical jutsu on me?" Orochimaru scolded. He was smirking at her again.

"Shut up, you jerk!" she shouted, and she threw her arms around him, hiding her face in his hair as tears welled in her eyes again.

"What is this shit?!" Hidan shouted. "Why the fuck aren't you dead?! What the hell are you?!"

Deidara was laughing so hard he had to lean on his clay bird.

"Shut your goddamn hole, Deidara!" Hidan said hysterically. "That little shit should be dead! I don't know how the fuck he did that, but I bet it won't happen again!"

"It won't be that easy, Hidan," Kakuzu said. "He's made himself a new body and this one's not bleeding. We did all the work for you last time."

Tsunade pulled away from Orochimaru and glanced back at Kakuzu. "Not bleeding…?" she muttered. She looked more closely at where Hidan was standing. "Some kind of ritual?"

"Screw you!" Hidan shouted at Kakuzu. "It's not my fault that creepy bastard could do something like that!"

"Heh, 'creepy bastard' huh?" Deidara muttered to himself. "You're one to talk. Hm."

"Fuck that shit," Hidan continued. "I'll pick a different target."

"Whoa, whoa. Hold on a second," Deidara shouted. "You're supposed to be staying out of this!"

Hidan ignored him and ran at Jiraiya, swinging his scythe and laughing wildly. Jiraiya dodged, at the same time leading him away from Orochimaru and Tsunade. They clashed blades a few times, Jiraiya fending Hidan off with only a kunai until he saw an opening. For a moment, Hidan lost sight of him and Jiraiya was able to grab the handle of the scythe, twisting it back on Hidan's arm and levering it at an awkward angle. Then he grabbed Hidan's wrist, hooked his own foot around the end of the long handle and pulled. The leverage snapped the bones in Hidan's forearm.

Hidan was still at first, staring at the odd angle his arm now formed, but a second later he was grinning at the pain. Jiraiya backed away immediately but Hidan reached out and grabbed hold of Jiraiya's injured arm. His grip tightened and blood ran over his fingers. For just a second, Hidan met Jiraiya's eyes. "Game over, shithead," he said. Then he let him go and ran back toward the seal.

He was only a few feet away when the ground buckled, knocking him over and cracking the seal he had drawn with Orochimaru's blood. Tsunade ran up to him and stepped on his chest before he could get back up. Then she grabbed his arm and, with one swift tug, tore it off at the shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing you crazy bitch!" Hidan screamed.

"If you think I'll just stand by and watch that happen again, you're the crazy one, you bastard," Tsunade said. She flung the arm out of the cave and it landed with a small splash in the river.

"What the fuck?! Kakuzu! My arm! We gotta get it back!"

Deidara was laughing so hard he could barely stand. "No way!" he said. "How do you like it, huh?! Now just sit and wait like we told you. Hm."

"Deidara,"

Deidara looked back to Kakuzu. "Hm?"

"I think it's time we finish this." He was looking at the cave wall and Deidara followed his gaze. The cracks Tsunade had made in the floor were spreading quickly, creeping up and across the walls of the cave.

Deidara smirked. "No problem. I've got the perfect finale. Hm. You and Hidan get out."

Kakuzu did not question it. "Come on, Hidan. We're leaving."

Deidara climbed back onto the giant bird and flew to the cave entrance. There he made a clone and left it standing in the mouth of the cave. When Hidan realized what Deidara was planning he scrambled to his feet and ran out of the cave after Kakuzu. Then the clone began to expand.

Tsunade backed away from the entrance toward Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

"He's going to explode," Jiraiya said. "The whole cave will come down – it's falling apart already."

The cracks in the walls had become serious enough that rocks were already falling in the mouth of the cave.

"We'll never get through there," Tsunade said. "Orochimaru can hardly stand."

Jiraiya hadn't realized the seriousness of Orochimaru's condition. Between the rejection of his host body and the enormous amount of chakra required for the body shedding technique, he had been left very weak.

"We've got to do something," Jiraiya said. "We could make it. Let's–"

"Too late."

Their attention snapped to the clone in the entranceway. He grinned before his face distorted, swelling with volatile chakra. Then white-hot light filled the cave.

"Art… is an explosion!"