Wow, a month since I last updated. 0 0 I shouldn't be typing this up now either – I've got 6 tests next week! Thank God for mid-term break. XD Thank you to everyone who's still reading, please continue to follow this till the end or I'll get even lazier. Probably. :P
Enjoy the 12th chapter of Tensei! ('Cos the next ones going to be weird…)
Ch. 12
Kakuzu was getting as wound up as Hidan had been as they drew closer to Otogakure. Sasori was hard pressed to keep up. The Sound village sat snugly between the mountains on the horizon, situated in a rocky amphitheatre. The two shinobi leapt over the jagged boulders; ears and eyes open for any sign of life. Hidan would be around here somewhere.
Kakuzu wanted nothing more than to get this whole mess over with. Hidan had caused Akatsuki a mountain of trouble this time, and he hoped he'd be the one to punish him. Lost in his murderous thoughts, it took him a while to realise Sasori was calling him.
"Kakuzu-"
He slowed to let Sasori catch up.
"Pein said he was near here."
"Right."
They agreed it would be quicker to search separately. They'd stay within the rocky area, the area Pein mentioned, and as soon as Hidan was found they would retreat. This was a stealth mission, their goal was to retrieve the lost member and avoid conflict. Orochimaru would be dealt with in time.
The pair immediately split up to comb the megalithic landscape. As they sprang apart, Sasori called over his shoulder to the masked nin.
"Search quietly; we're near his base."
Kakuzu nodded curtly and leapt away. This misadventure would end soon, and as soon as his troublesome partner was found, he'd beat some sense into his thick skull.
…
"Ow…"
Hidan's hoarse, groggy voice gently reverberated off unseen walls and came back to him. He didn't open his eyes, he could tell just by lying there; he was in a cave. The cave.
He grimaced. They must have carried him back, those two Pein sent. How humiliating…
Fucking Pein… He had no idea the Leader was that powerful. He couldn't believe he'd been taken out so easily. Next time he laid eyes on Pein, he was seriously kicking his ass.
Right now, he was content to lie here and contemplate the unfairness of it all. At least, until his head stopped swimming.
He opened one eye lazily and made out the pattern on the nearest wall. Stupid crappy base, who designed this place anyway…?
He paused, and opened his other eye. The Akatsuki base didn't have patterns carved on the walls, he was sure of it. And even if they did, it would be those weird clouds, not those overlapping circles or whatever they were supposed to be.
He blinked a couple of times; maybe it was just a hallucination, a weird chakra-induced dream…
The patterns remained. Hidan frowned. Someone must have put them there to fuck with him. Yeah, that was it. This was all some stupid retarded punishment or something. It was probably Zetsu's idea.
His meagre attempts to rationalise the situation weren't working. Now that his eyes had regained the ability to focus, they were roving his surroundings. It was too dark to see much but he thought he could see some sort of wall scroll away to his left.
The base didn't have them, either.
With a little effort, he turned to look at it properly, and realised he was lying on something soft again. Kakuzu's planned budget made sure there were no decent beds in the base.
…Where the fuck was he?!
On a sudden impulse, he rolled over and threw a hand out to where he scythe should be. His pikes were gone too. After batting his hand around empty space, mattress and floor for a while, he cursed angrily.
"Shit! Where did they put it?"
Speaking of them, who the fuck were they?!
He sat up, cloak hanging off, in time to hear the door creak as pressure was applied to the handle. He clenched his teeth, and leaned forward, trying to discern the doorframe. A thin line of dim light appeared in front of him. He stared, using his most pissed off face as the bar grew wider and brighter.
Silhouettes appeared in the doorway, and Hidan tensed. He heard the hiss of a match being lit, and the small flame broke some of the blackness surrounding the holder's face. The match's flame connected with the wick of a candle. The light grew, dispelling the darkness and the shadows retreated behind the sparse furniture. It illuminated Hidan's and his visitor's faces.
Hidan glared, shaking slightly with suppressed anger, and wished fervently for his scythe.
Orochimaru grinned, taking in every detail of his new host.
"Welcome home, Hidan-kun."
…
The next half an hour of searching was fruitless.
Kakuzu called out his partner's name occasionally, listening vainly for a reply. Hidan was unconscious, Pein had told them that, but looking wasn't getting them anywhere.
Kakuzu cursed as he realised he had wandered from the specified area. As he walked back, dragging his feet, he tossed his head irritably from side to side, searching for black clothes, grey hair, red scythe – anything that would betray his partner's location. He reached Sasori's and his designated meeting spot and passed it, entering Sasori's half. It didn't take him long to locate the puppet master in the distance. He was walking briskly towards him when Sasori called out.
Kakuzu's hearts started racing, and he ran to Sasori's side.
"You found him?"
But Hiruko's head shook. Kakuzu frowned.
"What then?"
"Do you recognise that?"
Hiruko looked down at the ground. Kakuzu's eyes followed the puppet's cold stare.
"That's Hidan's-"
A single black pike lay wedged between two half buried megaliths. Kakuzu pried it out and held it at arm's length.
"This is bad."
Sasori's tone was troubled. Kakuzu raised and eyebrow.
"He probably woke up and kept going. It's a minor setback, but we should-"
"No."
Kakuzu's frown deepened. Sasori edged towards the larger of the boulders before them.
"Hidden under this is an entrance to Orochimaru's base. Hidan must have-"
Kakuzu shook his head furiously.
"No! He wouldn't have – he doesn't even know where-"
He couldn't have. After they had trailed him for this long, he couldn't have gone to Orochimaru. Kakuzu wouldn't accept it.
"Kakuzu, the evidence says otherwise."
Kakuzu glared at Sasori.
"Not quite. Hidan was unconscious, according to Pein. They must have found him before us. There's no way he'd give himself in. He's not like that."
Hiruko looked unconvinced. Or he might have, it was hard to tell with that damned puppet face.
Sasori watched Kakuzu intently. He'd never seen Kakuzu this worked up before. He had every reason to be; if Orochimaru became immortal, he'd become a much bigger problem. But why was he so positive that Hidan hadn't betrayed them all? He had never failed to make his partner out to be a liability before.
"That's possible. The only way to know for sure would be to infiltrate."
Kakuzu strode towards the rock.
"There's no time for that."
Before Sasori could reply, he slammed his fist into the rock and shattered it.
…
A tsunami of anger cascaded through Hidan, making his anger almost tangible in the air. He forgot his contempt for Pein, Kakuzu, anyone else who mattered, and concentrated it on the loathed being in front of him. This man was to blame for everything. It was his man who had poisoned him, his stupid talk about Hidan's death wish that brought him here, he who put that troublesome mark on his neck, his fault Hidan had been locked in that cave and now he thought he had the right to welcome him into his lair and not beg for mercy.
Hidan would have dived at him, if he'd only had a weapon. But right now, hand to hand combat didn't seem too bad a choice.
He was on his feet in a second, breathing hard, and eyes shooting daggers at the snake-nin. His nails were beginning to cut into his palms. Orochimaru continued to gaze evenly back, that triumphant smirk still playing around his lips.
"You must be quivering with anticipation."
Anticipation my ass, Hidan was about to retort – but some tiny part of his mind, not overcome with the desire to hurt something, namely Orochimaru, was telling him to calm down, and doing its best to be heard over the rest of Hidan's crazed consciousness.
And in that moment of silence between the two shinobi, when only the dripping wax and Hidan's breathing could be heard, it got through.
Hidan ad made a plan for this situation. It wasn't to go completely apeshit and risk getting incapacitated by Orochimaru's hundreds of minions. Hidan's eyes flicked towards the open door. Orochimaru may have been the only other person in the room, but he wasn't alone. Realising he wasn't going to get his chance for vengeance just yet, Hidan's anger ebbed, replaced by his usual air of nonchalance.
Time to initiate plan B, said the little part of his mind. Proceed with caution and you get what you came for. It reminded him vaguely of Kakuzu.
Orochimaru was watching every movement he made, eyes never straying far from Hidan's face.
"You're not usually this quiet, Hidan-kun. What's the matter?"
Hidan tched and placed his hands on his hips.
"Well if you'd woken up in a shithole like this one day, you wouldn't feel fucking singing your praises either."
Orochimaru feigned confusion.
"But isn't this where you want to be? We did find you right outside the entrance."
Hidan wasn't ready for that. His eyes widened. The rock he'd been leaning on outside? That hid the entrance? He quickly shook the revelation off.
"Yeah, that explains fuck all, anyway-"
He started walking towards the door.
"I've been idle the past day or so, so if you don't mind I've got to satisfy a certain all powerful someone-"
As he strolled past his visitor, a hand shot out, blocking his way. He started at it with mild annoyance.
"You seriously don't trust me at all do you?"
Orochimaru slowly brought his eyes around to focus on Hidan again.
"I'm afraid you'll have to earn that privilege."
"The privilege to leave the room?" Hidan drawled sarcastically. The silhouettes in the corridor were slightly more definite from this point of view.
"And without the fucking black parade?"
Orochimaru chuckled.
"It might not take as long as you think."
If you think that, you're more retarded than you look. The mini Kakuzu in his head hurriedly whispered 'Play along, damn it!
"What, you want me to 'prove' I'm not just here to kill you right now?"
Orochimaru gave a patient shake of his head, as if he was explaining it to a young child.
"No, nothing as extravagant as that."
He paused. Hidan could have sworn it was just for effect. Drama queen.
"Just tell me the reason you came. Since you came so far, you must have an answer to my offer."
Hidan smirked.
"Oh, that thing."
Hidan left his next line to the mini Kakuzu part of his mind, it seemed to know what it was doing.
"I came to try out your theory, Professor."
.. .. ..
Argh, I hate the next chapter, it's so hard to write! . …I hope this one came out ok, too. The start of Hidan's pov was fun I want to write more bits like that… Kudos to reviewers.