Yay! I'm so happy! People like this!!! XD -spazzes-Yay for the fun chapter, too! Please enjoy! God I love writing fight scenes! Though I may be building up the expectations of my oh so craved readers too much…and I've been watching waaay too much Excel Saga. -is shot-
Ch. 4
Hidan hadn't improved much overnight. He was determined not to let Kakuzu see it, but there were dark shadows under his purple eyes, and as they leapt past towns, rivers, mountain ranges and all sorts of terrain, his breathing became steadily more ragged. The poison evidently hadn't left yet. Hidan's less-than-perfect health meant more stops, and their journey time lengthened.
Kakuzu had not yet been fooled into complacency by the apparent lack of enemy encounters, and he never let the breaks go on for too long. He knew Hidan needed rest, and if they were drawn into confrontation, the last thing he wanted to worry about was if Hidan could hack it in his weakened state, but they were so close to their destination now. Hidan could sleep all he wanted after they had secured the Bijuu.
The terrain around them was changing again. It became less hilly, and the trees grew further and further apart. Forests shrank to woods; woods dwindled to lone trees, separated by wide spaces of grassland. The sun was setting, turning the sky red. They hadn't lost as much ground as they thought. There, on the horizon, barely visible behind the tall grass, lay Kusagakure. Kakuzu heard Hidan breathe a sigh of relief.
"Don't let your guard down."
Kakuzu could almost fell Hidan's exasperation.
"I know, I know! Every fucking time…"
"And yet, no matter how many times I tell you, you still don't learn."
"Shut up, Stitches."
"That's origina--!"
Kakuzu's words were cut short as a shuriken caught the edge of his mask. He cursed. He had let his own guard down as he had been telling Hidan off for doing so. Hidan slowed down to face the attackers, but Kakuzu yelled over his shoulder at him.
"Keep going! Get to the village!"
Hidan grimaced.
"Tch. Fine."
Hidan leapt after his partner, but to his surprise, three masked ninja burst from the tall grass and landed in front of him. He grinned and swung his scythe straight at them. The shinobi scattered as the scythe slammed hard into the ground. Two headed for Kakuzu. The other landed neatly on Hidan's right, and another stepped out from the undergrowth on his left. Then, Hidan noticed the music note engraved on their headbands and the purple ninja gear.
"Bastards just been on coming, don't ya?"
His red scythe sliced through the air again, aiming for the one on his left. He side-stepped as the scythe whirled past. It continued its journey around to the other younger shinobi, obviously less experienced, who only just avoided it. It cut the cloth of his headband, and it slid off as he leapt away.
Hidan hurriedly flung a pike at the other shinobi to distract him, and jumped after the other, scythe circling and ready to tear through the grass. There was something weird about the other shinobi. He wanted to get rid of this one first before he faced that one. And where was Kakuzu? A rushing sound, and some shouts told him Kakuzu was about 20 yards away. He must have used the Fuuton mask. Hidan wished they hadn't been separated. The Sound bastards would be dead by now.
The grass provided less cover than trees for the unfortunate shinobi, and the second time the scythe came his way he wasn't quick enough to avoid it. The tip of the first blade grazed his cheek, and drew blood. The scythe was whipped back into Hidan's waiting hands.
The shinobi wiped his cheek and drew his shuriken. Hidan's eyes never left him as his tongue travelled down the blade, his foot tracing that all too familiar shape on the ground. The shinobi shivered and the shuriken left his hands.
Hidan laughed and stood in the line of fire. He watched gleefully as the shinobi's expression changed from disbelief to shock as the shuriken struck. Hidan let out a satisfying sigh as the throwing stars pierced his skin. The young shinobi cried out and fell to his knees, clutching the reddening spots on his arms and chest. A snigger escaped Hidan's mouth, and his skin took on its characteristic black and white appearance.
"Feel's good, doesn't it? This is Jashin-sama's gift to humankind. Suffering!"
Slowly, he drew out a pike from his cloak.
"But this pain is nothing compared to the pain before death! And living through it feel even better!"
With a grin, he buried the pike deep into his abdomen. The shinobi watched in horror. His scream of agony travelled far, and even made Kakuzu falter as his Katon mask finished off the last ninja.
The dying shinobi gave a strangled moan and collapsed. Hidan waited in his symbol for his body to stop shaking and the blood flow to lessen a bit. He cast a furtive glance over his shoulder to where the other shinobi was last. He had disappeared. This put Hidan even more on edge, and he looked around quickly, trying to spot him through the endless grass. The light was fading fast, and Kakuzu still hadn't come.
Hidan swallowed, and listened carefully for any tell tale signs of the well-hidden Sound ninja's whereabouts.
"Well well, that certainly is a frightening jutsu."
Hidan spun around as the ninja appeared in a puff of smoke.
"You think so? How'd you like to experience it yourself?!"
He flung his scythe at his enemy with all of his speed and power. He wasn't going easy on this one. The shinobi didn't stir, but caught the scythe in mid air. Hidan frowned and tugged it back.
"Fucker!"
The shinobi smirked.
"Quite a sharp tongue you have there."
He let his own tongue roll around after he said this, creeping Hidan out. It was unnaturally long.
"Who the fuck are you, weirdo?"
The shinobi tutted.
"Such vulgarity to a fellow of the organisation."
Hidan was momentarily thrown for a loop.
"…Wha?"
The ninja chuckled. Hidan blinked than angrily shook his head. It was true that he didn't know much about the others members of Akatsuki, but he was certain he'd never seen this guy with them.
"Lying heathen. Shit, I'm not stupid!"
The scythe whirled around his head, and he launched it in the shinobi's direction again.
The Sound nin laughed and jumped out of the way.
"Don't tell me you're just a one-trick pony."
Hidan cursed and leapt after him, brandishing his scythe and a pike.
…
Orochimaru was enjoying this. He had no idea Hidan would be this affected by his words. He was very easy to play with. His train of thought was interrupted by a pike whizzing past, close to his face. He turned and landed among the branches of a lone tree. The pike buried itself in the dirt below.
"Getting serious now?"
The evidently furious Hidan caught up a second later, stopping under the tree.
"I'll slash that fucking tongue to pieces if you don't keep it in, snakey!"
He tore his pike back out of the ground. Orochimaru smiled and bit his thumb. He pulled up his sleeve to reveal his summoning tattoo.
"'Snakey' has a good ring to it, Hidan-kun."
Dragging his bleeding thumb down his arm, he made the necessary handsigns and slammed his hand on the branch.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
Hidan backflipped as a gigantic snake appeared on the spot where he last stood.
"Holy shit…"
Orochimaru immediately sent the snake after his prey. The missing nin's taijutsu was very impressive. His weapon attack may have been slow and crude, but he certainly wasn't. This was going to be a lot of fun.
…
It took all of Hidan's concentration to keep avoiding the snake. It was huge, but its vast bulk didn't impede it in the least. He was practically bouncing off the ground, landing on the grass and leaping off as soon as he saw the snake preparing to strike again. He searched fervently for an opening, ready to thrust his scythe into its neck at the first opportunity.
That snake guy was starting to really freak him out. Hidan was positive he had never seen him before, so how did he know his name? And who the hell gave him the right to call him '-kun'? He'd barely known this creep ten minutes and he hated his heathen ass already.
The snake was starting to tire. Lightning fast, Hidan jumped straight at it and swung his scythe through the air. It connected with scales and pierced deep, deep into the flesh inside. The snake let out an angry cry. Hidan pulled on the rope and swung himself around to face the shinobi again. The scythe wrenched free of the snake's neck and Hidan whipped it back. The giant snake thrashed around for a few moments, getting dark blood everywhere. It started to fall, head hanging off, and slammed onto the ground, flattening and staining the grass all around. Hidan realised he was panting, and quickly quietened his breathing. That damn poison was still affecting him. He looked up, and to his surprise, his enemy was applauding him.
"Not every S-class criminal can kill a son of Manda in less than a minute. And without a single handsign."
Hidan glared at him.
"What's it to you? Sad I sacrificed your pet?"
Indeed, the dead snake's neck wound was not just a plain cut. Hidan had literally carved Jashin's symbol into it. The shinobi looked at it with interest.
"Hmm. Artistic."
Hidan cocked an eyebrow. What was with this ninja? His yellow, slit pupils eyes locked back onto Hidan's lavender ones.
"I want you all the more now."
The tongue came out again. Hidan gritted his teeth and gripped a pike.
"You want a piece of this? Come down and fight me yourself, you snakey bastard!"
The snake nin laughed infuriatingly. Hidan tensed, ready to launch himself at the shinobi.
"Though the nicknaming has its charm, my real name is Orochimaru, Hidan-kun."
Hidan froze. Orochimaru? This freak of nature was the Orochimaru? He cursed under his breath. Of course, it made sense – he had been told about his summoning creatures, and been given a full description of the Sannin before. How could he have missed that? He was starting to wish he'd paid more attention back then. But if this guy was a Sannin…
To Orochimaru's disbelief, Hidan grinned.
"Orochimaru, huh? Prepare to rejoin your deceased pet!"
Finally, someone who would make a decent sacrifice. Jashin-sama would thank him for this, and as soon as they got back to the hideout, he was going to rub this in Deidara's face.
Orochimaru looked amused.
"I'm afraid I'll be much more of a challenge than that snake, Hidan-kun."
"Stop calling me that!"
Three pikes flew at him, but Orochimaru deflected them with a powerful blast of chakra. Hidan caught one as it fell.
"Temper, temper, Hidan-kun."
Orochimaru raised a hand, and brought it quickly back down. From the high grass all around burst hundreds of shuriken, loaded with wire. Hidan stared at them in surprise.
"What?!"
It was too late to dodge. The shuriken flew past and tangled with each other. The wires wrapped themselves around Hidan tightly. He pulled at them, with no result.
"Shit!"
Orochimaru grinned and started making his required handsigns.
"Hidan!"
A shout made both of them freeze, and Kakuzu burst through the grass a small distance away. He had abandoned his cloak, and two of masks were missing. Orochimaru wasted no time. The last handsign made, his neck extended at an alarming rate and his head raced towards Hidan. There was no time for the soul transfer.
Kakuzu's arm sped towards the figure in the trees. But it was too late.
Hidan saw the laughing white face flying at him and struggled against the wire. The grotesque snake nin's face passed his own a split second later, and drove its pointed canines into Hidan's neck. Hidan cried out. The wires dropped to the ground. He lashed out with his pike at the head as it retreated, but missed. He saw Kakuzu strike Orochimaru, but the snake nin, still laughing, vanished in a puff of smoke.
Then, a wave of pain, unlike anything he had ever felt washed over his body. He dropped to his knees, clutching the bite, clawing at it desperately. He clenched his fists and ground his teeth, trying to block the unnatural pain out. Dimly, he heard Kakuzu run to him and crouch down to his level.
He opened his mouth to tell him he was late, but all that came out was a strangled yell as the pain intensified. The world around him darkened, and he lost his fight for consciousness.
.. .. ..
Why do I make Hidan suffer so much? I don't know, I'm sadistic, maybe? Well he is too. So bleh. XD I stole a lot of this chapter from the actual Naruto, heh heh…ah well.