Naruto: Acolyte of Jashin

Draknal: Hey, I'm back for another chapter of this story. Thanks to all of the people who bothered to review. In fact, while on that note I believe I'll start off this chapter with a little rant.

I couldn't believe how fast my story got reviews, or the sheer number of them that I got. However, I noticed something rather interesting…

I got 43 reviews on the first chapter. Know how many story alerts and favorites I got? There were 101 alerts, and 50 favorites! I looked at the number of reviews, then compared them to the other stats. Where is the justice in this? These people had already put forth the effort to sign into their account and click a few checkmarks, but they couldn't leave a few encouraging words? Ah, the world we live in… I'm just saying, there's something not right about this.

Well, that's it for me. Now on to what you people are here for.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, just the plot of this story.

Chapter 1

Traveling with Hidan had proved to be an interesting new experience for Naruto, as he never knew what to expect next from the silver-haired nukenin. Over the course of two days, he had come to discover that the scythe wielder possessed some very… unique, as well as gruesome abilities.

-Flashback-

"Alright kid, what do you-"

"Naruto. My name is Naruto, not kid," the blonde interjected.

"Whatever. Naruto, what do you know about shinobi?" Hidan inquired. If he was going to train him, he'd need to find out what the kid already knew.

The jinchuuriki sat for a moment, scratching his head. What did he know about shinobi? "Um… they come from different villages. And… oh! They can use really cool moves by making hand signs! And, uh- there are different ranked shinobi!"

Hidan could only stare as the young boy gave him a large, idiotic grin. "So basically you don't know shit about shinobi, right?"

Hearing the man curse made the boy's grin falter. Obviously his answers weren't the ones Hidan had been expecting. "Um… no sir."

The scythe wielder let out an exasperated sigh. He really had his work cut out for him. He had come to wonder why he had been made to spare the boy. So far, he had considered that Jashin was simply screwing with him just for his own amusement. There certainly wasn't anything special about Naruto as far as he could see.

"Well, looks like I'm gonna have to start with the basics then. Fan-fucking-tastic…" he muttered. "One of the first things you need to know-"

The nukenin stopped mid-sentence and drew his scythe. Naruto, who had been intently listening to what the man had to say, now found himself frantically looking around the immediate area. If Hidan had taken out his scythe, that meant there were enemies nearby. Or at least, that's what he assumed.

A few seconds later four men seemingly appeared in front of them. Each wore what looked like breathing masks, and their hitai-ate signified that they were from Rain.

"Well, what have we here?" One of them asked. "Silver hair, a scythe with three blades... Hidan, A-rank missing-nin. Current bounty on you is one million ryou. What luck for us," he chuckled.

Hidan could only raise an eyebrow in response. "A-rank? Shit, now that's just insulting."

Not waiting to exchange more words, he leapt forward and swung his weapon at the nearest Rain nin. The man deftly dodged the attack, then responded with his own attack. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A barrage of shuriken flew at the nukenin. Naruto watched in horror as each shuriken dug into the man's flesh. There's no way he could survive that! All of a sudden the man exploded into a cloud of smoke, which after clearing, revealed an impaled log. The blonde wanted nothing more than to cheer at the spectacle.

Hidan had survived! Said man reappeared a moment later next to one of the Rain nin. The man had no chance. Hidan's scythe made quick work of him with a single slash. With one down, the silver-haired nin turned his attention to the other three. A large grin was now plastered on his face.

"Jashin-sama, may this sacrifice be to your liking!" he shouted, before charging at another nin.

The rest of the fight, if it could even be called that, was rather uneventful. Hidan proved that A-rank was definitely not his current level, as he slaughtered the Rain nin with little effort. What really got Naruto's attention was the way in which the silver-haired nukenin dispatched his final opponent.

Out of the four nin that had engaged Hidan, only the leader was left. The two had been locked in martial combat for a few moments, but after Hidan had slashed open the man's right arm, the Rain nin decided it was best to stick to long range combat.

(A/N: For those of you wondering, martial combat means combat with close range weapons.)

Leaping into the air above his scythe wielding enemy, the man pulled out what looked like a large umbrella. Naruto had to resist the urge to laugh, wondering what the desperate shinobi was planning. His attention was quickly drawn to Hidan, however, when he saw him begin forming some sort of strange symbol around himself.

Then the most bizarre thing happened. His skin changed color, from its normal pale white, to a deep shade of obsidian. The only exceptions were the parts that turned an ivory white, showing a pattern that looked strangely like his bone structure. The nukenin's face reminded him of that of a skull of a skeleton, except this one had a sadistic looking grin on it.

Not caring about the transformation his opponent had gone through, the Rain nin hurled the odd umbrella at him. Not a moment later it exploded into a shower of kunai, which were speeding at an alarming rate toward Hidan. Naruto didn't allow himself to worry about what was going to happen. He would just use the log switching trick again, right?

To his chagrin, Hidan made no effort to avoid the attack at all. Not a flinch, no hand signs, nothing. Each kunai hit home, sinking into his flesh. The nukenin didn't cry out in pain, nor did he even wince as he became a human pincushion.

That was more than what could be said for the Rain nin. His shouts and screams filled the air as he rapidly descended towards the ground. It was as if he was being struck by invisible foes, who only sought to increase his torment. He landed with a sickening CRUNCH. Not surprisingly, he did not move again after that.

The young blonde watched as his savior made his way over to him, still grinning all the same. Blood was literally pouring from his wounds, where the kunai were all still lodged. Seeing his companion in such a state was too much for him to handle, and a moment later, he blacked out, fainting at the sight of the sickening scene.

Later, when he had awoken, he found Hidan to be in perfect health, save for a few wounds which were still healing. The nukenin then divulged to the boy why he didn't, or for that matter, couldn't die.

-End Flashback-

Hidan had been very adamant about beginning the boy's training as a ninja. Looking back on the last fight, he noted that the blonde had only sat and watched as he killed the four unfortunate Rain nin. In a fight, he wasn't a hell of a lot of good. How was he supposed to serve Jashin-sama if he couldn't fight?

Letting out an aggravated sigh, Hidan stopped in his tracks. His young companion, too busy staring up at the sky, hadn't taken notice of the halted shinobi, and promptly walked right into him.

A startled "whoa!" made its way out of the boy's mouth as he fell down, landing on his backside. "Why did you stop Hidan-san?"

"Naruto, how many times do I have to tell you, stop adding on that "san" bullshit," he began, giving the boy an irritated glare. "I hate that suffix crap. It's Hidan, justHidan. And the reason we're stopping is because it's time for you to begin your shinobi training."

The blonde's eyes lit up with excitement at the prospect of receiving shinobi training. Hidan had covered the basics with him, like what chakra and jutsus were, but he had yet to get any actual training. "Yatta! What are we going to do Hidan-sa… I mean, Hidan?"

Crossing his arms, the nukenin took a moment to think about exactly what he could teach the boy. "Hmm… I doubt you have enough chakra to perform any justu. And you're too puny to be using a weapon yet… Ah, I got it."

Reaching into the bag he had confiscated from one of the dead Rain nin from the previous day, he pulled out a pouch and tossed it to the seven year old. Opening it up, the boy found it to be filled with kunai. He looked up a Hidan, a questioning look on his face.

"You're gonna learn how to throw a kunai, that way you can actually help the next time we get into a fight," the silver-haired nin elaborated.

Nodding in understanding, the blonde pulled out a few of the pointed projectiles. The last time he had seen the tiny projectiles this close up was when the Chuunin had been chasing him during the Kyuubi festival… Boy wouldn't they be in for a surprise when he starting throwing kunai back at them!

Looking around for a suitable target to practice throwing at, Hidan came to find that there was no proper target. Growling at his misfortune, he started thinking about what alternatives there were that he could make due with.

Calling his blonde apprentice over to him, Hidan instructed the boy on how to throw the kunai properly, and what he would be throwing them at. Moments later, Naruto found himself holding a kunai, taking aim at his designated target.

"B-But Hidan, what if I-"

"Just throw the damned thing!" the nukenin shouted, interrupting the jinchuuriki's stammering.

With an unsure gulp, the boy launched a projectile at his target. He closed his eyes, waiting for the results. He looked only after he heard a THUNK.

"Wow kid, that was pathetic. At least try to aim the fuckin' thing!" Hidan growled out.

Concentrating on his target, Naruto let another kunai fly. He was rewarded with a hit. Not a vital hit, but it landed on the target nonetheless. Realizing how easy this was, the blonde continued to throw until he ran out of kunai.

Looking at the boy's handiwork, Hidan called him over to see how he did. "Not bad for a first time. Sixteen of them hit, and ya missed fourteen."

Gathering the kunai that missed, Hidan laid them in a pile. Pulling a kunai out of his chest, he placed it in a separate pile.

"This pile is for the ones that hit," he explained. Taking a kunai out of his neck, he placed it in a separate pile. "This one is for kunai that hit a vital spot."

The man continued to remove kunai from his body until he reached one that was stuck in his inner thigh. "Kid, I swear to Jashin-sama that if you had hit just a little higher with this, I'd have killed you."

To his credit, Naruto did not flinch or faint this time when he saw all the blood from Hidan's wounds. This had been one of the first things that the nukenin had worked to rectify. There was no such thing as a shinobi who became squeamish at the sight of blood.

(A/N: Far away in a casino somewhere, a certain blonde Sannin sneezed.)

He had told Naruto that in the world of shinobi, it was a matter of either kill or be killed. If you became weak at the sight of blood, or death, then you probably wouldn't live much longer yourself. That had been incentive enough for the blonde to toughen himself up. He was still hesitant when it came to killing, but the blood was no longer an issue.

When the piles of projectiles were all laid out, there was a pile of fourteen, the ones he missed, a pile of twelve, the ones that hit, and a pile of four, the ones that hit a vital point. Considering the kid had never thrown a kunai in his life before, the overall outcome was not that bad. With some practice, he might actually become an asset in a fight.

He continued to act as a target for Naruto until the boy became weary, his strength giving out from having thrown so many projectiles. Deciding that it might be best to stop for the day and set up camp, Hidan gathered the kunai and stored them away for later use. His traveling companion had collapsed, saying he was too tired to continue moving.

The boy's declaration had made the scythe wielder chuckle. All things considered, the boy was a bit rough around the edges, but with a little fine tuning he could make a promising follower of Jashin.

X-X-X-X-X

Naruto was having a great time. Most kids would be whining about wanting to sleep indoors, or eating good food, but this suited him just fine. Laying out under the stars, eating cooked fish, this was a far cry from the abuse that he had to deal with back in Konoha, where he wasn't even allowed in stores or restaurants. And he hadn't been beaten yet. On top of that, he was getting shinobi training!

Electing to use one of Hidan's favorite words, Naruto summed up his thoughts about his old village with the mental shout of, 'Fuck Konoha…'

He looked over to where his silver-haired teacher was sharpening the blades of his scythe. The man was sitting with his back against a tree, his scythe resting on his lap. If it hadn't been for the nukenin coming across him when he did, he probably wouldn't be alive right now…

"Hey Hidan," he called out.

The man looked up from his current task, arching one eyebrow in curiosity. "What is it kid?"

"Um…" crap, he never was good with words. He was only seven for crying out loud! "I uh, wanted to say… thanks, for saving me a few days ago."

With a snort, the man resumed his work, keeping his favorite weapon in top condition. "Whatever, don't sound so grateful. You would have just been another stain on my scythe if Jashin-sama hadn't told me not to."

Well that was slightly disturbing news… but nonetheless it did not change the fact that he had saved him from certain death. For that, he would be eternally thankful for his scythe wielding, death-loving savior.

This led to another thought though. He kept mentioning this Jashin, person. Hidan had explained that his immortality was due to Jashin, and that he followed his… its orders. But he had never seen Jashin. Was Hidan just crazy? No, that couldn't be it, because crazy people weren't as sensible as Hidan was. Well… sensible might not be the best word. He was decent enough.

"Hidan, what is Jashin li-"

"Sama," the man interjected. "Jashin-sama. I may not be a fan of suffixes, but you will show Jashin-sama proper respect," he remarked, pointing his scythe at the boy that sat across from him.

Nodding to show that he understood, the blonde tried again. "Um… what is Jashin-sama like? I've never seen him before, and you haven't told me much about him."

Ah, so the boy was interested in learning about Jashin-sama. "Jashin-sama is the lord of all. It is by his will that we live or die. He rewards his faithful followers, and curses his enemies. To show my loyalty to him, I offer him the sacrifice of heathen shinobi. When he receives the necessary amount of sacrifices, his strength shall be restored and he shall once again walk the earth."

The blonde sat, listening intently. Essentially, Hidan was saying that Jashin-sama was much like Kami-sama, except for the sacrifices part. While that was a little unnerving, it still kept him interested.

"So, you want to become a follower of Jashin-sama?" the nukenin inquired, grinning at the blonde's reaction. He sat with his mouth agape, pointing to himself.

"Me?" he squeaked.

Hidan nodded.

"Would… would I become immortal like you?" he asked, waiting in trepidation for his answer.

"If you are devout and true to Jashin-sama, immortality will be one of your rewards, yes."

"YATTA!" he cried out, jumping up and down in excitement.

"But," the nin threw out. "That will only happen if you can commune with Jashin-sama."

"How do I do that?" the blonde inquired, head tilted to the side in puzzlement.

"I'll show ya later. Get some sleep, we're traveling more tomorrow," Hidan informed his student.

While he was disappointed at the nukenin's answer, he did as he was told and laid down. He began to wonder what they would be doing the next day, and was curious about how he would go about the task of speaking with Jashin-sama. No matter the difficulty, he would do it.

X-X-X-X-X

"Get up kid, it's time to go."

Rubbing at his eyes, Naruto looked around to see what was going on. It was still relatively dark, the sun's first rays only barely making their way over the tree tops.

"Do I have to…?" the blonde groaned, rolling onto his side.

Hidan grunted in response. "Either you get up, or I leave your ass here, simple as that."

Grumbling in protest, Naruto sat up and stretched his tired limbs. His mop of blonde hair was as disheveled as it was the day before. Getting up, the jinchuuriki looked at Hidan expectantly.

"What about breakfast?" he asked, crossing his arms, glaring at the scythe wielder.

'Geez, he's a pretty bold little shit when he's hungry,' Hidan noted.

"You'll get breakfast when we get to a town," he informed the blonde.

"That could take forever!" the boy shouted indignantly.

Shaking his head, Hidan began his trek through the woods, his young companion hot on his heels, still shouting about breakfast. The boy would have to become accustomed to such a routine if he wanted to survive in the shinobi world.

After several minutes of walking and being bitched at, Hidan stopped at the edge of the woods, where it connected with a road. Spinning on his heel he grabbed the blonde boy by his head and pointed it at the road.

"See that?" he asked through gritted teeth. A nod. "You will get breakfast when we reach the town at the end of this road, that way." He jerked the boy's head so that it was pointing in the direction of that the supposed town was in.

"But how long is that going to be?" the boy whimpered, his stomach growling loudly, demanding that it be fed.

"The faster we move, the shorter it will be," came Hidan's simple answer.

He had planned on informing the boy of why they were going to that town in particular, but before he could begin, the blonde had already taken off in a dead run, intent on getting some damn breakfast!

Well… now at least he knew how to get the boy moving. Mention food and he was gone. Taking off after the kid, the nukenin could only wonder what trouble the boy was going to get him in…

Two hours later they found themselves walking through the entrance of a large town. He had to give the kid credit, he had a lot of stamina. He ran practically the whole time, electing to take short breathers occasionally. He had expected the trip to take at least four hours. Well, they were here, and he had promised breakfast.

"Alright, what do want for-?" he stopped when he noticed the glazed over look in the boy's eyes. He had zeroed in on a ramen stand.

Ramen for breakfast? It wasn't an appealing idea, but oh well. He could use a change of pace from his usual morning meal. The two made there way over and took their seats.

Naruto had come to notice that no one seemed to care that Hidan was a missing-nin. No one seemed to care that he was here either. That was a first. No disgusted looks or threats to call a jounin, and no mobs of angry people with blunt or sharp instruments.

"What'll it be?" asked an aged man standing behind the counter of the ramen stand.

"Two pork ramen!" the boy shouted enthusiastically.

"One Miso ramen," Hidan answered, looking at the prices next to the items on the menu. Now, he was no stickler when it came to money, but he wasn't going to go and splurge on unnecessary luxuries.

The two ate their food, but it was in anything but silence. Hidan had made an interesting discovery about the blonde sitting next to him. He was ramen's mortal enemy. The boy practically inhaled the stuff, only pausing to take in the occasional breath.

It was a wonder that he was only on his second… bowl? Wait a minute. If he was eating it that fast, then shouldn't he have finished by now?

It was then that Hidan noticed the rather large stack of empty bowls sitting off to the side of the kid.

'Sweet Jashin-sama! Where the hell does he put it all?!' was the thought that entered the nukenin's mind.

With a clang, Naruto put his bowl off to the side with the others, asking for another. Hidan had to act fast, or he might as well say goodbye to all of his funds. Grabbing his scythe from the strap on his back, he wasted no time in quickly positioning it at the side of the ramen stand owner's neck.

"If you even think about giving him another bowl, you'll be dead before you hit the ground," he growled.

The man nodded, putting his hands in the air to signify that he had no intention of doing that any time soon. Hidan then turned his attention to Naruto, who was giving him a curious look.

"You have had enough. Now get up, and back away from the ramen stand," the nukenin commanded.

"But-"

"NOW!" he roared, pointing away from the stand, cutting off the blonde's protest.

Grumbling, the boy followed his command and waited for Hidan to join him. Laying out the amount that he owed the ramen chef, the scythe wielder re-deposited his weapon on his back, and made a mental note to never allow Naruto near a ramen stand ever again.

Joining the jinchuuriki, Hidan motioned for him to follow. The two then set off through the streets of the relatively quiet town. It would most likely be busy and livelier later on in the day.

They soon found themselves in front of a weapons shop. Walking inside, Naruto was in awe of the various weapons which decorated the walls of the store. Swords, spears, scythes, daggers, kunai, shuriken; it was incredible! He had never seen so many weapons in one place that weren't going to be used to beat him.

Walking up to the front, Hidan un-strapped his scythe and laid it out on the counter. The store owner came out from the back area and looked from the silver-haired man to the three-bladed scythe that was resting on his countertop.

"Can I help you?" he inquired.

"Yeah, I need you to fix this up a bit," Hidan informed the man, pointing to his scythe. "You know, sharpen the blades, fix any damage, that kind of thing."

The man nodded, picking up the weapon. "I can have it done in a few hours."

"Oh, and if you fuck up my weapon in any way or try and cheat me, that scythe will be the last weapon you'll ever see." He wanted to make sure the man understood how importantthis task was. The store owner didn't appear to be phased by this in the least however, probably because he had most likely received such threats before.

Dragging Naruto out of the store proved to be a difficult task for Hidan. Since he couldn't threaten the boy with his scythe, it was harder to get him to be cooperative. Finally, he just seized the boy by the back of his shirt and hauled him out of the shop.

The two left the town and headed back into the nearby wooded area. Handing Naruto the pouch of kunai, they resumed the training that they had been doing the previous day. The results were, predictably, about the same as they had been before. A little over half actually struck Hidan, and only a few of those had hit vital points.

When the blonde began to show disinterest in kunai throwing, Hidan sat him down and told him that they would be working on trying to get him to commune with Jashin-sama.

With a large grin, the boy sat and complied. Hidan sat across from him. "Alright, it helps the first few times if you close your eyes."

The blonde did as he was told and scrunched his eyes shut.

"Good, now try and clear your mind. Just don't think about anything."

The boy's silence served as the indicator that he was doing as he was instructed.

"Now simply concentrate on listening, and feeling. A whisper, a nudge, anything. Tune everything else out," the nukenin commanded. It would be quite a feat if he could do it on the first try.

Naruto tried. He tried as hard as he could, hoping to feel or hear something, anything. But as fate would have it, nothing came. Shaking his head, the blonde began opening his eyes. But then he did feel something. It was a tug, and it was strong. Soon he found himself slipping into darkness.

Opening his eyes, he found himself in what looked like a dark and dank sewer, with water dripping somewhere in the distance. "Hidan!" he called. "Jashin-sama?"

He could feel a light breeze against his face. A breeze meant that there was a way out of this place. So, going on his gut feeling, he began following it, looking for its source.

After what seemed like hours of wandering, he found himself in front of what appeared to be a large cage, with a paper on it that read "seal". Behind the bars was nothing but darkness.

"Hello?" he called out again. "Hidan? Jashin-sama?"

He was answered by what sounded like a snort. A gust of wind forced him back away from the cage. Looking up, he saw two glowing red eyes looking back at him.

"J-Jashin-sama?" he stuttered.

A loud bellow that sounded strangely like a laugh erupted from behind the cage. It quickly died down though. "So… the jailor comes to visit…"

Malevolent red chakra began pouring out of the cell, dimly lighting the surrounding area. Naruto could only watch in terror as the form of a massive fox became visible. Something besides its sheer size made it different from other foxes though. This one had nine tails.

The blonde managed to find his voice, if only for a moment. "A-Are you J-Jashin-sama?"

His response was a grin which showed off the animal's large, pointed fangs. With a roar the beast released a tremendous blast of crimson chakra, forcing the boy backwards, tumbling once again into darkness.

X-X-X-X-X

Hidan watched as the young blonde jerked awake, breathing heavily. His eyes were darting around, as if looking for something.

"What is it?" the nukenin inquired, wondering what had the boy in such a frantic state.

"I-Is Jashin-sama a big fox? And does he live in a sewer?" Before he could say anything else, his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell unconscious.

-End Chapter-

Draknal: There ya have it, the next chapter of my story. Many thanks to the people who decide to leave a review. And a special thanks to my beta reader, B.

Leave a review and me love you long time! I'll update when I get the chance.

P.S- Bitching need not apply.