Sasuke and Itachi were standing at the main entrance. "They might be ruthless but they're also head strong." Itachi explained. "They'll come in groups of two from weakest to strongest. They believe that they are unbeatable. Even after the loss of Sasori Of The Red Sand (T.T)"
Sasuke nodded. Looking at the two men walking towards the village, his village, Sasuke willed himself calm trying to control the demon chakra within him. "Heh Naruto makes this seem easy." Sasuke said his hand going to his left shoulder. Three people marked him there. Curse Mark, Seal, And Now A Mating Mark. But only one mattered. They all gave him power to achieve his goals. The curse mark forced away his humanity and gave him immense power in exchange, the seal gave him the power to fight the curse mark in exchange for immense pain, and the mating mark gave the strength, speed, perception, and chakra of a demon.
Unlike the other two, the mating mark only gave him power when he wanted it but with the echo of Kyuubi in him, the power was getting more and more attractive by the second. The two men immediately went on the attack when they hit the gates. Itachi looked them over as their cloaks were tossed to the wind. "Hidan. Kakuzu." He said with indifference.
"I want the little one." Hidan Said. "Lord Jashin will be more pleased with receiving a young soul."
Sasuke resisted the sudden urge to roll his eyes and just looked on with indifference like his older brother. "He is the little brother of the man who killed the entire Uchiha clan I wouldn't go under estimating him(1)" Kakuzu said unraveling himself not giving Itachi anytime to strike all his hearts in one place.
Sasuke watched the doll like man unravel himself the thread that was his everything spilling out from wherever there was an opening. The other man was holding an amulet to his chest and seemed to be praying. "No point in interrupting him. It's not like it would matter anyway he's almost finished." Itachi said noticing his little brother tense up.
Sasuke relaxed a little. "Fine. I guess it's only respectful to allow a dead man his final prayers."
"Sasuke, Hidan cannot be-" Itachi tried to warn but the thunder spirit was already advancing on him and he had to jump away from his brother.
Sasuke went after Hidan seeing him trade the amulet for a scythe. He could feel the echo of the old fox itching to taste blood. 'Who am I to deny the being that has protected my Dobe-Chan all this time such a simple request?' Sasuke thought. Drawing Kusanagi from its sheath.
Sasuke blocked the scythe easy not letting the blades touch him he had read the reports on the Akatsuki and knew about Hidan's cursing ability. It was something Orochimaru spoke highly of but one of the few Jutsu that even the old snake didn't want to posses dying over and over just to kill your opponent wasn't something Orochimaru wanted to be a part of. Sasuke sent his Chidori current through Kusanagi's blade and through the scythe effectively stunning Hidan.
Sasuke moved quickly thrusting his sword into Hidan's arm. But not fast enough. The paralysis lasted shorter than he expected and Hidan got a strike in one on the blades just grazed his right side drawing blood. Sasuke jumped away holding his injured side in disbelief. 'There's no way he could have gotten through the paralysis so quickly!' Sasuke spat at himself.
Hidan brought the scythe to his lips and stuck out his tongue. But he didn't lick the blood. He just stood there frozen. "Sasuke get that thing away from him!" Shikamaru said fighting against Hidan's movements.
"Thanks Shikamaru." Sasuke said moving quickly to secure the weapon. The weapon came away easy with Shikamaru dousing any resistance. Sasuke used Hidan's own weapon to behead him. The head fell to the ground but the body stayed still, encased in Shikamaru's shadow possession Jutsu (2).
"fucking brats!" Hidan shouted angrily at the loss of his body. "When I get my body back I'll make you pay!"
"Burn the body!" Shikamaru ordered releasing his Jutsu.
Sasuke did the signs at a speed rivaling that of Kakashi. "Fire Style: Black Dragon's Breath Jutsu!"
Green flames sprung from Sasuke's lips turning black when they hit the body. The flesh didn't last two seconds going straight from a solid to a vapor. "Fuck. Remind me to never piss you off." Shikamaru said.
"You fucking brat! How dare you burn my body! First chance I get I'm gonna-" Sasuke sliced Hidan's jaw in half effectively shutting him up. But there was a look in his eye that let Sasuke know that he was still talking shit in his mind.
"Can you use that black fire stuff on the head too? It's kinda creeping me out." Shikamaru said rolling the thing so he couldn't look in his direction.
"No it takes large amounts of chakra. I need to conserve my strength for the next battle." Sasuke said.
"You might be strong but you're not the only ninja here. Even your brother is better at taking help than you are." Shikamaru said. Looking over to Itachi who had already successfully taken down three hearts with the help of Team Asuma.
"He just likes to bark orders." Sasuke said rubbing the back of his head. "But you're right. I'm not alone anymore. I have comrades again." Sasuke smiled a little.
"Oh right, Sakura made you some ninja pills. If you value your life don't eat them."
Itachi was down to just one heart now and ordered his squad to stand by. Kakuzu had not even broken a sweat. "There are more than enough people here to replenish my supply. Hell there are enough here that I could live forever!" Kakuzu said.
Itachi just looked at bored as ever. He was currently moving away from a hail of boulders tossed up by Kakuzu's earth style. Kakuzu stopped dead in his tracks. Itachi smirked 'Gotcha.' He thought never dreaming of letting the word reach his lips. Itachi began to look around ignoring the Kakuzu that fell behind him. "You did it Itachi-sama!" Ino said. Itachi held up a hand to silence her just in time for the shadow clone to disappear from existence. Itachi fell forward under the force of Kakuzu's fist and melted into a small puddle of water. Itachi plunged a kunai into the back of Kakuzu's neck and he crumbled into dust. Itachi was consumed by a lightning blast only to become a flurry of leaves (3) this went on for a few moments before the originals finally got into a fierce taijutsu fight.
Itachi began doing the hand signs with extreme speed but still not as fast as his little brother. He focused the chakra in the palm of his hand he had seen Sasuke do it enough times when teaching Naruto to tell you the exact pattern it would flow when Sasuke summoned it. The Chidori was chirping excitedly in his hand. Itachi took a cleansing breath. The feeling was new to him not only did the chakra give his arm enhanced strength but his entire body was jittering with the chakra speeding him up. He moved swiftly crushing the last heart.
"Two down seven to go." Sasuke said with a little inclination of the head.
1: I Could Just See A Chibi Naruto Jumping Around Going "Don't Underestimate Me!"
2: I Wanted To Make A Big Deal About Getting Rid Of Part Of The Circle Breaking The Curse But As You Can See, I Suck At Fight Scenes.
3: This An Insult To Zabuza-Sama And Kakashi-Sensei Doing The Water Clone Dance
A/N: Orochimaru Is No Lord! When I Read The Little CC While Watching Shippuden I Get Chills When They Say 10rd 0r0chimaru And Not The Good Kind. See I Can't Even Type It.
So Anyway, I Decided To Just Add The Akatsuki As I See Them. So Next Up Seems To Be Tobi And Deidara. My Birthday's Tomorrow And I'd Hoped To Have Something Up For My Wonderful Fans But From The Looks Of It That Won't Be Happening. I Personally Have Already Broken My New Year's Resolution. Damn Cookie Monster! Why Are You So Tasty!
Cookie Monster: Fried Chocolate Chip Cookie With Ice Cream Served At Cheddars®