To Hell and Back
-xXx-
Chapter 9: Demons
Kakuzu and Hidan could hear something akin to chanting. The bijuu were reciting a spell in an old tongue. Hidan stopped dead, gasping.
"Shit, shit, they're summoning something!"
"What are they saying?" Kakuzu whispered harshly.
Hidan grasped his rosary and closed his eyes. Kakuzu studied his face. Even in the semi-darkness, it was pale, almost glowing.
"The bijuu…they're calling forth two souls…the one we just killed…and something else…"
"Beza," Kakuzu growled.
"Is that what we were really doing, in Akatsuki?" Hidan asked with a look of outrage, "gathering the bijuu…so this fucking demon could show up and rule the world or some shit?"
"Looks that way. I think Madara may have been Beza's puppet all this time. Damn…he basically threw away eighty years of his life…"
"Eighty years, huh? Try devoting yourself to a cult for a hundred. Fucking lies," Hidan spat, ripping off his necklace. The beads spilled off the chain cord and rolled onto the floor. Kakuzu watched the circular pendant as it landed at Hidan's feet. A flash of his strange dream while waiting in the cell came to mind: Beza holding out the beating heart wrapped in Hidan's necklace.
Kakuzu looked up at Hidan, who was biting so hard into his lip that blood was dribbling down his chin, the red appearing black in the dim light.
"Hidan…you believe me?" Kakuzu asked gently, running his finger down the blood and pressing his stained finger to his own lips.
"Yeah, yeah I do. I don't know why the fuck I do, either. Something about you…"
Hidan hugged Kakuzu tightly. Kakuzu rested his chin on Hidan's head.
"I know, nothing makes any sense anymore…nothing. Not even us."
Hidan laughed.
"Ha, just fucking go with the flow, trust your heart, all that shit. The world's ending, might as well have one last fuck before it goes up in flames."
"I really don't want the world to end," Kakuzu whispered, almost sounding scared.
Hidan clutched Kakuzu tighter, running his fingers across the scratches in Kakuzu's back.
"Why not?"
"It needs to roll a little longer…for Konan. For everyone who deserves life. Even for the bastards who took in that Naruto brat."
"You've grown soft, fucker."
"You too," Kakuzu said softly, tilting Hidan's head up and kissing him.
Hidan moaned at the taste of his own blood shared between them. They momentarily forgot that they were standing in the dark with the distant sound of feral growls and demonic chanting. It was just Kakuzu and Hidan, standing in a vacuum that solely belonged to them.
A low, guttural growl rumbled right behind them, and the two broke apart.
"The eye…we need the eye…" Kyuubi snarled.
It was a shadow of its former self, but it was still massive. Tall and bulky as an elephant, all nine tails held high, illuminating the walls and the animal bones scattered about the corners of the chamber. And that's what it was. There were pillars carved out of the very rock, reliefs of grotesque scenes of human sacrifice and dark revels.
Hidan and Kakuzu were frozen, unable to move as the Kyuubi's blood red eyes gleamed, piercing through them like a kunai through a paper fan. Hidan saw a statue in the likeness of an angel, holding a reverted cross high in the air with one hand, a chain ending in a mace marked with the eye of Jashin with the other.
This was it. Hell on Earth. As Hidan gaped in awe at the statue, everything he'd believed in crashing down around him, Kyuubi attacked.
Kakuzu screamed, Hidan reached out to him, blood sprayed, black threads whipped into the air like hair caught in a breeze, and the fiery tails of the Kyuubi disappeared, clutching the rosary…
The monster left behind a dying man and a wounded immortal. Yet…without his faith…Hidan wasn't sure if he was even immortal anymore. He struggled to roll on his side so he could see Kakuzu. The missing Falls nin was slashed in several pieces, his torso lying several feet away from his lower half. Hidan dragged himself over to Kakuzu (his own right leg had been badly gashed, the femur snapped cleanly in half). The ex priest wiped blood and hair out of Kakuzu's face.
His eerily green eyes looked cloudy, his mouth, always caught in a sort of grin, gaping.
"H-Hidan…" Kakuzu choked, shuddering.
"Just pull yourself together, right?" Hidan whispered, pressing his lips to Kakuzu's cheek.
"Nggh…I think…I think this is it," Kakuzu gasped. Hidan's eyes widened. He noticed Kakuzu clutching at his chest. He pried Kakuzu's hand away. His heart…
"No!" Hidan cried, pressing his hand against the wound. There was no heart beat. Kakuzu was already dead.
"Fuck, no!"
"…you…" Kakuzu gagged, coughing up blood, and his body seized up for a moment, and went still, eyes staring up without seeing.
"NOOOO!" Hidan shouted, pounding on Kakuzu's chest.
"No, you can't fucking die now! I won't fucking let you!"
Tears pattered Kakuzu's body as Hidan cried, hands shaking, reaching for the missing rosary as if to say a prayer.
"Fuck that," Hidan hissed hysterically, extending his right hand and taking a deep breath.
"I won't let you die first this time," Hidan whispered to Kakuzu, and struck himself in the chest, digging his fingernails into the flesh.
He spat blood, shaking as he plunged his own hand into his body, snapping through ribs, brushing the lungs and enclosing around his own heart.
Please, please let this work…God…
Hidan carefully removed his own heart from his body, careful not to damage the valves. He'd seen Kakuzu do the same move so many times…
The priest felt his body start to shut down from the lack of blood pumping through his veins. Hidan blinked his eyes rapidly, willing himself to stay conscious as he plucked out Kakuzu's dead heart. He quickly shoved his own back in. It was beating erratically.
'Calm the fuck down,' Hidan thought at it.
He kept his hand around the heart as he closed his eyes and used touch to place the organ in the right location. Hidan felt shadows encroach on his vision, dulling his senses, as if a black curtain was closing in front of him before his final act was over.
"Live, God, please let him live!"
Hidan removed his hand and collapsed on top of Kakuzu. The heart slowed to a steady rhythm, beating in between their bodies like a shared pulse.
"One heart beating for two," Hidan whispered faintly and surrendered to darkness.
-xXx-
Beza eyed the Tengu circling the scorched skies overhead warily, gnawing on a bone. When he felt the arrival of a familiar soul, Beza snickered, getting to his feet.
"Aah…how was your stay on Earth?" the demon asked as Kakuzu stalked up to him.
Without a word, Kakuzu struck Beza in the face, knocking the demon into a cliff wall.
"Who are you?" Kakuzu demanded, pulling Beza up by his few wispy strands of hair. He wrapped his fingers tightly around Beza's throat, making the demon gag.
Kakuzu glared into the demon's ugly face and saw the faint mark of Jashin on Beza's smooth cheek. Kakuzu inwardly cursed. If only he'd noticed that before…
"Oh, I have many names," Beza drawled.
"When I return to Earth, I may just call myself Jashin. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
"You're not going anywhere," Kakuzu growled, "I'm going to squeeze your neck until your head pops off."
"'fraid not, Stitches," Beza said, laughing.
Kakuzu's eyes widened. He could see Beza's scrawny neck through his hand. He was fading, turning transparent like Deidara and Sasori had.
"Looks like your girlfriend still won't give up on you. I may use him when I take over the world," Beza said with a nod.
Kakuzu released the demon. Beza said something else, Kakuzu could see his cracked lips moving, but all he could hear was a rushing in his head, as if he'd held a conch shell to his ear.
"It's nearly time…" a voice spoke above the noise.
Beza and the wastes of Hell faded into blocks of fuzzy colors. Kakuzu felt the ground open up underneath his feet and his stomach jumped into his throat as he plummeted into nothingness.
Someone was repeating his name, over and over and over again…
Kakuzu opened his eyes. He had expected to see Hidan, or Konan…Deidara, anyone. But not the pink haired girl.
"Kakuzu?" she asked.
"Wha…?"
The girl smiled.
"Oh, good. Hey!" Sakura called, turning to someone beyond Kakuzu's limited field of vision, "he's awake!"
"Get out of my fucking way!" a voice snapped.
Pink hair retreated, and pink eyes appeared, shining with unshed tears.
"Fuck, I…oh God, Kakuzu," Hidan nearly moaned, smothering Kakuzu's face with feverish kisses.
"Get off me," Kakuzu growled hoarsely.
"You've been out of it for two fucking days. I only woke up a few hours ago. Lucky this little bitch knows her shit."
"Thanks, I guess," Sakura said darkly.
"We need your opinion," A long haired boy said, his pale purple eyes narrowed at Kakuzu.
"Byakugan," Kakuzu muttered, sitting up. He groaned.
"Not so fast!" Sakura fretted.
"Keep your shirt on, chick, he's fine. Right?" Hidan asked.
"Yeah…" Kakuzu answered, turning back to the Hyuuga.
"What's going on? Did anyone see the Kyuubi?"
Sakura's face fell. Gaara placed his hands on her shoulders, lightly squeezing.
"I can't see what's going on down there. We can…feel it, and hear it, but not even Sharingan could pierce that darkness," Neji said.
"It's awful," Tenten whispered.
"Then he might have already returned," Kakuzu said softly.
"I say we just go down there and crash the fucking party," Hidan announced, squeezing something in his hand and smirking. Kakuzu's eyes widened.
"Is that…?"
"Yeah. The Kyuubi dropped it up here. There's still a little water inside, but I can touch it now. I'm no longer a Jashinist."
"Good," Kakuzu said with a nod, "but it's still dangerous."
"And it's our only hope to end this," Hidan insisted.
A loud, anguished cry, half way between a human wail and a wolf howl carried up from the dark tunnel.
"We have to act now," Kakuzu growled, turning to the others.
"We may have to face all nine bijuu, plus Satan himself down there. Anyone who doesn't want to fight should go back to Hidden Rain."
The shinobi and kunoichi crowded in the chamber looked around at each other. Lee was the first to step forward.
"I'd willingly die in order to protect this world!"
Sakura smiled and nodded.
"I'll fight. For Naruto…for everyone."
Slowly, everyone else stepped forward: Gaara, Neji, Tenten, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru, Shikamaru and Hidan.
"Don't hold anything back," Kakuzu said simply, and he and Hidan led the way down the dark corridor that led to the bijuu lair.
-xXx-
The shinobi broke into a run. The locket in Hidan's hand glowed bright as a torch, lighting their way. It cast strange shadows around them. More crude depictions of satanic ritual adorned the walls and ceiling. Gargoyles flanked the doorways; mouths open in vicious snarls, daring the shinobi to enter.
The snarling of the monsters grew louder, closer as they descended deeper underground. The narrow corridors opened up into a wide chamber. Torches set in brackets high in the walls were scattered at intervals. As one, the ninja stopped. The bijuu's voices had grown quiet.
"W-where are they?" Sakura whispered.
"All around you," a voice hissed, carrying on the air like a cold draft.
The room seemed to burst into blazing light. The King of Hell statue was cast in an orange glow. All nine of its eyes opened, rolling in its sockets. Smoke poured out of the statue's open eyes, each a different color. They formed vague bodies, growing tails.
"Shukaku," Gaara murmured, seeing the form of the Tanuki fall to the ground.
"Aaaaaah, Sabaku no Gaara," it leered, giggling.
Other demons took shape, snickering or growling at the ninja. They were only a third of their original size but their large bodies pressed against the walls of the chamber, crowding it with their multitude of tails. The Kyuubi alone seemed to be missing. There was a soft snicker behind the King of Hell statue, and a man, tall and elegant, stepped forward.
His hair was dark as night, eyes red as blood. For a moment, he looked like an Uchiha, yet he felt inhuman. The man gave off an uneasy feeling; his smile was cold, and his teeth sharp as nails. The sign of Jashin was tattooed on his forehead. With another laugh, he bent down and coal black wings sprouted out of his shoulders. They appeared to be made out of thorns rather than feathers. He sort of drifted off into a corridor branching off of the main chamber, dropping some of the strange dark spines from his wings.
"Fuck, let's go after the bastard!" Hidan screamed. He started to run towards the corridor, following the trail of shed thorns.
"I'm going with you!" Sakura cried, "Naruto could still be alive! I need to get to him!"
Kakuzu and Sakura followed the ex-priest when the Kyuubi emerged from the passage, blocking the way. Hidan slipped past the beast, but Kakuzu and Sakura skidded to a halt. The demon fox bared its fangs, lip curling as it growled, rearing for an attack.
"Hidan!" Kakuzu yelled, hearing his fading footsteps.
Sakura slapped her fist into her palm, and ran at the monster. She struck it so hard it hit the wall, causing debris to rain down on them. Kakuzu started to run towards the corridor and turned back to the young woman.
"Just go!" Sakura cried, grabbing hold of one of the Kyuubi's tails as it lashed them out at her.
She watched Kakuzu retreat and turned her attention back to the Kyuubi. Even in its miniature form, it was immensely powerful. Sakura, however, had trained for years to control Naruto, should his Kyuubi form seep out. The pink haired kunoichi grabbed a firmer hold of the demon fox's tail and snapped it, breaking the bone.
Kyuubi howled in pain and swiped at her with its claws. Sakura dodged the attack and gathered chakra quickly into her hands. When the Kyuubi slashed out at her again, she caught its claw and with a cry she flipped the beast over onto its back, smashing the Nibi in the process.
Shino, who'd been fighting it, turned to Sakura and nodded.
"Let's send these monsters back to Hell!" Sakura yelled.
Lee cheered as he brought his heel down hard on the Sanbi's shell.
"YES!"
Tenten twirled in a graceful spin in the air, sending a shower of deadly weapons down upon the four tailed ox. Black blood splattered the walls of the chamber.
"Urgh, do you have to be so messy about it?" Kiba snapped, flicking a gob of the thick blood off of his arm.
"Kiba, look out!" Tenten screamed as a six giant scorpion tails sped toward him.
Kiba leapt out of the way as they stabbed the ground. The tails wrenched themselves free of the rock, poison dripping from pointed tips.
"Close one," Kiba said, wiping sweat from his brow. Akamaru growled at the six tailed scorpion and snapped at the massive claw swiping at him.
"These bijuu… they're made of pure chakra," Shino said as the five tailed ape he'd been fighting collapsed, its body transforming back into smoke and returning to one of the eyes of the King of Hell statue.
"I see that," Neji said.
"Seems if we weaken them enough, they return to the statue…we just may have a chance of beating them…"
Neji turned to the corridor Hidan and Kakuzu had disappeared through. Now if only they could expel the demon responsible for all this…
-xXx-
A/N: I hope this wasn't too confusing. I figure that when Kakuzu comes to, the Konoha nins had pretty much just gotten there. Please don't bash any characters or pairings in your review (that means behave Kellye! XP), and please tell me what you think!