Naruto: Acolyte of Jashin
Draknal: It has certainly been long enough, so I owe my readers a new chapter of Naruto: Acolyte of Jashin. Not much to say here.
Oh yeah, except this of course. Just to clear some things up… Naruto is not going to be invincible. His regeneration factor, courtesy of the fox, is not instantaneous healing. It takes time. Skin is easily healed, while muscles and organs and whatnot take much longer, which is why he didn't continue the fight with Zabuza in the last chapter.
And for all of you looking for perfection and complete accuracy in techniques and knowledge of the Naruto world in this story, please for the love of God get off it. I even said at the beginning of my first chapter, this is my first Naruto story. And not just that, but I really haven't dedicated myself to knowing everything about the Naruto world, not like I've done for other animes or games. Geez… I am writing this for fun. Some of you people are just impossible…
Now, for some of you, this might piss you off, but I've decided to take this route. Hidan, to me, seems like the kind of person that would have Earth specialization. So, due to his lack of techniques in the anime/manga, I will be supplementing him in that manner. So if he starts using any earth-based ones, back off. We don't know his chakra nature, so I have picked one for him. Who knows, he might have another one alongside this one.
Oh, and as far as pairings are concerned, because of some of you fans, I have actually started considering throwing in someone else as well. Note the italicized word, considering. That doesn't mean it will happen, so don't you dare hold me to that! Gah… on with the show.
Disclaimer: I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, just the plot of this story.
Chapter 4
"Urgh… what the hell?"
A weary Hidan slowly blinked a few times, his vision blurry. Sitting up on the bed he was in, he took notice of his surroundings. He was in a room with two beds, a dresser, and a few chairs. The place was lightly furnished; probably a hotel. Judging by the light coming through the room's windows, it was some time in the early afternoon most likely.
The sound of a door opening drew his attention to the right, where a shirtless Naruto entered, drying his shaggy blonde locks with a towel.
"Oh, finally awake huh? About time," he remarked ever so casually.
The silver-haired nin grunted in response, before getting to his feet. "How long was I out brat?"
He grimaced when a sting of pain shot through his neck. "And why the fuck is my neck so sore?" he muttered.
"You've been sleeping for a day and a half," came the response. "Oh, and you got nailed in the neck with some senbon, if you're wondering."
Making his way over to the room's only dresser, Naruto opened one of its many drawers and donned a fishnet shirt and his usual jacket. "He got you pretty good too. You dropped like a sack of shit, and I got stuck carrying your ass back here. You're heavy, by the way."
He neglected to mention his encounter with the sound shinobi. After all, what point was there in mentioning such a fight, err… slaughter. Hidan would probably just shrug and not bother making a comment, so why waste breath explaining the event?
The nin made a rude hand gesture in return. "Bite me brat. I'm not heavy, you're just weak."
"Phft, I'm ten! And you're how old? You've had longer to get in shape!"
In all the time he had known the scythe wielder, Naruto had never found out his true age. He was immortal, so he had probably been around for a while. As to what effects the immortality had, he had no idea. Sure, he couldn't be killed, but did it mean that he wouldn't physically age either? Such a detail didn't seem to matter at the time because of how focused they had been on more important things.
Hidan had never mentioned whether or not the village he had most recently left was his first one or not. Shinobi defected from their villages and joined others all the time. Who's to say that his previous one hadn't just been another stop along the line?
"Whatever," answered the nukenin, clearly uninterested in what the blonde had said.
Glancing around the room, he failed to locate something that should have been there. So rather than continuing his fruitless attempt to find the missing item, he instead directed his attention back to his accomplice.
The Kyuubi container must have felt the gaze of his teacher of sorts, and he glanced over his shoulder. The man's rose hued glare was slightly unsettling.
"What?" he asked, clueless as to what he could want.
"Where is it?" the older shinobi inquired, his tone very direct and without mirth.
The blonde cocked his head to the side, before scratching his chin in a thoughtful manner. "Where is what?"
"My scythe," growled the silver-haired killer. The boy's game of innocence was starting to get irritating.
"Huh… you must have dropped it when you got knocked out, so… it's probably back in the forest somewhere," Naruto supplied. "Wow, that kinda sucks."
"And you left it there? You had better be joking you little bastard, or I swear to Jashin-sama that I will find a way to kill you."
Laughing, the ten year-old pulled out a scroll from one of his jacket pockets. Biting his finger, he swiped a bit of blood over the seal. In a poof of smoke, Hidan's three-bladed scythe appeared.
With a sigh of irritation, the weapon's owner stalked over to the blonde and seized it from him, looking the item over with careful detail and scrutiny. No scratches and no blood that shouldn't be there. It seemed fine.
"What, no 'thank you'?" interrupted the blonde.
In one swift the motion, the nin swung his scythe around and stabbed Naruto with two of its three blades, before pulling the weapon away and securing it on his back.
"What the fuck Hidan?!" shouted the Kyuubi container, looking over his newly acquired chest injuries. "That was totally uncalled for!"
"Then don't piss me off next time and just give me my damn scythe," the man deadpanned.
The younger fugitive groaned, glancing down at his jacket and fishnet shirt. "And I just got this stuff cleaned too… great."
"You've got bigger concerns, brat."
Making sure that nothing else of his was missing, Hidan took a moment to stretch out his stiff limbs. Now that he knew what had happened, it was only a matter of finding out where they were and how to proceed from there.
Walking over to one of the windows, he studied the outside surroundings. He could see several large residential apartments, various shops, and a large bustling market filled with numerous stalls and persons.
"Where the hell are we anyway?" inquired the scythe user, nodding towards the window.
Naruto, who was busy trying to prevent any more blood from getting on his outfit, waved the man off. "Eh, some town near the border of Fire and Sound. I think it was called Chemizansu, or something like that."
Frankly, the older nin could care less about the name of the village. Its location was all he needed to know. Near the border of Fire and Sound huh? Well that meant they'd have to travel west. The two certainly had no true goals in mind, other than to wander and serve Jashin as best they could. They weren't like the shinobi of the great villages, whose jobs were to bring glory to said village, or to further its power, both economically and politically.
There was no grand quest, no ulterior motives, and definitely not a need to become famous. As for why, Hidan had summed it up the best by saying, "Why waste time doing any of that shit? There's too much involved in it, and it's not like we'll get anything out of it."
However, Hidan had already gained quite the reputation, whether he knew it or not…
Outside one of windows, on a tree branch some distance away sat two cloaked figures.
"Is Leader-sama sure about this?" asked one of them, looking in at the two previously arguing shinobi.
The other opted not to say anything, instead just nodding his head in reply.
x-x-X-x-x
In Otogakure…
Orochimaru was one of the three legendary Sannin, and in his own opinion, the most powerful of the three. However, through all of his years, and all of his missions, he had never faced a foe so menacing as this.
Paperwork…
Oh how he loathed it! Why did being the ruler of a major village have to involve so much freaking paperwork?! The snake often found himself wondering, 'How does the old man deal with this?'
Hearing a knock at his door was a welcome relief from dealing with this nefarious foe.
"Enter."
The door opened, and Kabuto, his ever faithful spy, entered. Behind him was one of the genin he had so recently "recruited," Tayuya if he wasn't mistaken.
"It seems that there has been an incident with one of our patrols," informed Kabuto. Taking a bag that was strapped to his waist, the medic-nin placed it on his master's desk.
Opening the sack, the serpent sannin was slightly surprised to find six bloodstained hitai-ates, each one bearing a music note.
"Explain," the Otokage ordered. He could feel his patience wearing thin. If most of his patrol ended up dead, then that meant one of several things, none of them good. It could be anything from a simple scouting group to an invasion by another village. However, since there had been a survivor from the group, it was obviously not the latter of the two.
The spy adjusted his glasses, before giving his report. "Apparently they encountered hostile shinobi near the border of Fire Country. Tayuya here is the only survivor, and can give you a better idea of the situation."
The snake nodded. This certainly put a damper on things. He couldn't maintain a smooth schedule if his shinobi kept getting killed off left and right, and if there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was when his plans were disrupted. "I see. Kabuto, you are dismissed."
The silver-haired nin bowed, before turning and exiting the room, leaving Tayuya alone with the Otokage.
With his subordinate gone, he turned his serpentine gaze on the only remaining person. "Now, Tayuya-chan. Why don't you tell me what happened."
The redhead tried her best to keep the nervousness out of her voice. This guy may have been her leader, but that didn't mean that he didn't still creep her out. Orochimaru listened intently as the flute player went over the details of the encounter.
After finishing her tale, Tayuya watched carefully for some sort of reaction from the sannin. Soon, however, she wished that he had simply remained indifferent to the situation, as one of his evil genius smiles slowly formed.
"Kukuku… so you say it was a young boy who killed the rest of your team?" he inquired, his voice filled with genuine curiosity.
"Yes."
The snake summoner chuckled darkly. Had he been wringing his hands together in glee, it would have been the perfect picture of a madman or an evil scientist. A young boy, and a nukenin no less. How fortuitous! It was easiest to sway or shape a person's mind at a young age. If he could gain his allegiance, then he might make quite the valuable tool.
Judging from what he had heard, the boy's true strength was probably far greater than he had let on, as he had dispatched the Sound patrol with ease. Such power would be useful in crushing his foes, and it would only continue to grow…
"And do you remember what this boy looked like?" asked the serpent.
The redhead nodded. "Short, blonde hair, blue eyes," she found herself quickly becoming irritated as an image of the boy seemed to appear in her mind with each characteristic she named. "Weird marks on his face that looked like whiskers, black and red jacket, uses a naginata."
There he stood, weapon laying across his shoulders, one hand holding it, the other outstretched in a "thumbs up" pose. And he had that shit eating grin on his face…
The popping sound of her knuckles drew her attention back to the present. The sannin noticed how tightly her hands had clenched during the description of the nin. She most likely had a vendetta against the blonde, for showing her up and easily decimating her team.
But wait, she had said whisker marks?
"What symbol did he have on his hitai-ate?" he asked, not bothering to hold back the eagerness or impatience in his voice. If it was what he thought it was…
"A leaf, I think," answered the genjutsu user, uncertainly.
The Otokage tilted his head back allowed himself to indulge in dark maniacal laughter. A leaf! So he was from Konoha. How fortuitous indeed. If he was from Konoha, and bore the mark of a nukenin, it was obvious that he had cut his ties with the village. Perhaps he was looking for some revenge? If so, that would make it all the easier to persuade him to join his cause.
Not only that, but it confirmed his thoughts on the identity of the boy. So that was where he had been all this time… the Kyuubi container. With such a powerful tool at his disposal, Oto could become an unstoppable force!
But he had disappeared three years ago. At the time that would have made him seven, certainly too young to have attended or graduated from the shinobi academy. But if that was the case, then how did he obtain a hitae-ate? Could he have stolen it? Or even better, did he kill a Leaf shinobi to get it?
The snake allowed himself another bout of gleeful laughter, imagining all the possibilities. It was apparent the boy had weapons training, and shinobi training as well. He would think on that later, but for now he had other things to attend to. However, the Kyuubi brat had just been added to his list of things "to do."
"Orochimaru-sama?" inquired Tayuya. Oh how she hated using bullshit formalities…
"What you encountered was not a nukenin."
The redhead eyed him questioningly.
"He did not attend a shinobi academy, and therefore could not have become an official ninja of Konoha. But he is far more than a simple criminal… kukuku…" the pale man trailed off.
His curiosity sated, there was no need for him to keep the genin around any longer. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed her.
Not wanting to stick around any longer than necessary, the redhead bowed, turned on her heel, and made her way to the door. "Fucking freak…" she growled quietly as she exited.
x-x-X-x-x
The busy streets of Chemizansu proved difficult to navigate with so many people running about. But nonetheless, Hidan and Naruto continued their trek through the massive crowd.
"Look, all I'm saying is that maybe we should spend a few more days here. I mean, it's not that bad," called out Naruto, having to raise his voice above the loud background noises of the market area.
The man beside him was in the middle of massaging his temples. "Kid, I'm getting a headache just from thinking about that. We're leaving today."
"But we don't need to be anywhere any time soon!" protested the jinchuuriki. They moved around far too much for his tastes, and in his opinion, they needed to take some time to actually get to know certain regions of the lands they were traveling.
"That doesn't mean I want to sit around in this shit hole!" retorted Hidan. "The sooner we get going the…"
The blonde looked over at his companion, wondering why he had stopped mid-sentence. "Something up?"
"You mean you didn't notice?"
The boy scratched at his head, wondering what the hell he was talking about. "Notice what?"
"We have some guests. They've been following us since we left the inn," he remarked, slowly changing their heading, instead moving them towards the thicker crowds deeper within the market district.
Naruto turned to look behind them, hoping to get some idea of exactly who was tailing them. Before he could get his head turned half-way, he received a smack to the back of his skull.
"Don't look back you dumbass! Do you want them to know we're aware of their presence?"
The ten year-old was now rubbing the back of his head, nursing the injury. "You could have just said, 'don't look back' ya know. I could have done without the hitting…"
While neither one looked back at their pursuers, they did increase their pace slightly. This did not go unnoticed by the ones behind them.
"Heh, looks like they finally noticed," chuckled the first, glancing out of the corner of his straw hat to his partner.
"Hmm, it would seem so. Remember, make no moves against them yet," advised the other one.
While leaving the town would have been ideal, because they would be less restricted in movement and not having to worry about civilians getting in the way, Hidan instead elected to attempt to lose the persons after them by continuing to delve deeper into the city. However, if they remained persistent, he would just have to sacrifice them to Jashin…
Taking a turn into a back alley, the two Jashin worshippers listened as two other pairs of feet followed them. Coming to a dead end, the two turned to face the ones who had been just a few yards behind them. They were similar in appearance, as both wore a straw hat and a black cloak adorned with red clouds.
However, physically they were both very different. One looked like a normal person, with an average height and build. The other though… was rather large, and appeared to be hunched over. He wore a bandana around his face, hiding his lower features. His eyes were so determined looking though, so set and serious.
"There something you want, or are you just following us for fun?" inquired Hidan, leaning back on the wall behind him.
"You are the one called Hidan?" asked the larger of the two, directing his never-failing gaze to the older shinobi.
He scoffed in reply. "And if I am? Who the fuck is asking?"
The other cloak-garbed shinobi chuckled. "He's got quite the mouth on him, yeah."
"We come representing our Leader," began the hunched over pursuer. "He has taken an interest in you. In both of you, actually."
"We're flattered," spoke up Naruto, not wanting to be left out.
The two turned their eyes towards the jinchuuriki, who was now fidgeting slightly. His first thought was to draw his weapon scroll, but since Hidan hadn't taken any action yet, he would just follow his example.
"And what does your "Leader" want from us?" asked Hidan, making quotation signs in the air to go along with his inquiry.
"He's sending you an invitation to join a group of elite nukenin, known as Akatsuki, yeah. We're looking for a new member, or in this case, members. It'd be wise to accept this offer, yeah," elaborated the more normal looking of the two.
Naruto immediately grabbed Hidan's arm and brought him down to his level. "No way! I don't trust these guys any farther than I could throw them!" he whispered, fiercely against such a thing.
Jerking his arm free from the blonde, Hidan retaliated by hitting him atop his head with a closed fist. "Shut it brat. I'm thinking."
"Come on! How the fuck stupid do you have to be to see that this is not a good idea?!" shouted the blonde, all the while rubbing at the sore spot on top of his head.
The two other shinobi, both aware of the fact that they were now being ignored, turned and gave each other questioning looks. Was their Leader serious about these two?
"How much does it pay?" inquired the scythe wielder, glancing between the two nukenin opposite of him.
The shorter one answered his question, his voice still as monotone and patient as it had first been. "Financial matters will never be a concern for you again."
"I see." Hidan rubbed his chin in thought. "Will I have the freedom to kill who or where I wish?"
The normal looking cloaked shinobi was slightly surprised. 'Doesn't he even care about what our goals are? This guy's a weird one, yeah.'
"Our organization relies upon secrecy. You will only kill if instructed to by our leader, or if you have to in order to reach a target or accomplish a mission," said the hunched over nin.
This immediately caught Hidan's attention. "Wait, what? Hmph, well then fuck that. The only master I have is Jashin-sama, and he lets me kill who I wish, how I wish, where I wish."
"You might wanna rethink that, yeah," suggested the first man. He then calmly reached into his cloak and unzipped a pouch strapped to his thigh.
"If he wants us to join that bad, he can come himself, instead of sending two flunkies like you," laughed Naruto, enjoying the reactions he got from the two.
The shorter of the two seemed indifferent to the remark, but the other one instantly went into a rage.
"Do you know who you're talking to brat?!" shouted the nukenin, before removing his hat. "I am Deidara, master of the art of clay, yeah!"
With his hat gone, it could be noted that the man was in fact a blonde, like Naruto. His hair, while long, was tied up in a pony tail, with his bangs covering his left eye.
The other chose not to reveal any more about his physical appearance, opting to keep his hat on. He did however, give them an introduction. "And I am Sasori of the Red Sand."
Hidan felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. These guys were strong, which meant Jashin would be quite pleased to receive them. "I've heard of you," he said, inclining his head toward the one who referred to himself as Sasori. "So I know that you're dangerous."
"But not you," he continued, looking at Deidara.
This only seemed to irk the man even more, as he was now being discredited as a powerful shinobi. "I'll show you…" he growled, reaching into his pouch to pull out whatever he kept in it.
He was stopped when his partner took a firm hold of his wrist, preventing him from acting. He glared at Sasori, but did not verbally protest. "Whether or not you join makes no difference to us. However…"
The short, hulking man looked over at Naruto. "The Kyuubi will be coming with us, by force if necessary."
Hidan reached back and drew his scythe, which to the two men in front of him, was a rather imposing looking weapon. "Sorry, but you shits aren't taking him with ya."
The blonde grinned smugly, happy to have his teacher-of-sorts stick up for him.
"Don't get the wrong idea brat. I'm not doing this for you." Naruto felt himself sweatdrop. "Jashin-sama will not give up one of his own, so it looks like we have to take care of them."
Naruto couldn't help but mentally scream 'Yes!', as it meant he would get a chance to fight once again. Whipping out his scroll, he immediately unsealed his weapon, his naginata appearing a second later.
"So be it," muttered Sasori, preparing for a fight.
An alley being too small to fight in, Naruto and Hidan both took to the rooftops with a quick shunshin. The two Akatsuki members followed them, each going after their own target.
x-x-X-x-x
Naruto stood with his naginata at the ready, looking around for any signs of his opponent. He could come from anywhere, including…
He dared to glance upward for a moment, and was shocked by what he saw. There, floating above him, was a large bird that seemed to be made of… clay? And on top of it stood the blonde loudmouth from the alley, Deidara.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to spot me, yeah," he laughed, extending his right arm towards the jinchuuriki. Was that a mouth on his hand? What kind of freak was this guy?
"I'll give you one chance to surrender kid. If you don't I'll have to take you out, yeah."
The opposing blonde simply replied by giving the man on the bird, "the bird." Coarse laughter soon echoed from the man. "I was hoping you'd say that!" he shouted, as the mouth on his hand opened and launched a smaller clay bird at him.
Naruto easily evaded the clay creation, the bird smashing into the roof behind him. "You better have some stronger techniques than that! Cause if that's the best you've got then-"
BOOM!
The ten year-old was launched across the rooftop from the force of the explosion. His body skidding to a halt, he shook his head and looked over to where the explosion had gone off. A massive, gaping hole was left, around thirty feet in diameter.
'That was… from that little clay bird?' thought the Kyuubi container with disdain. He would have to be a lot more careful around this guy than he had originally thought.
The flying nukenin released another attack, only this time it consisted of a small fleet of clay birds, which rather than just flying in a straight line, were actually flying towards their target. The pole arm user dodged around the initial attack, only to have them circle around and try for another pass.
Backpeddling as the birds pursued him once again, he pulled out a shuriken from the pouch on his hip. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
A barrage of projectiles pelted the flying clay animals, causing many of them to detonate. To any onlooker, it would have seemed as though death was raining down upon the town. People in the streets were screaming and pointing up at the two shinobi that were engaged in combat. Others were busy running for their lives hoping not to get caught in the crossfire.
Deidara was enjoying himself far too much. From high above he watched as the younger blonde made several attempts to outsmart his clay creations. "So what do you think now brat? Isn't art a bang!? Ha ha ha!"
Applying chakra to his feet, Naruto began scaling the wall of a much taller building, adjacent to the one he had been running on. If he could get close enough to the large clay bird…
Creating a cross sign with his fingers, a dozen Kage Bunshin popped up around him. One by one, they threw themselves into the path of the exploding clay birds that were in pursuit, making sure the original Naruto was not injured by them.
Upon reaching the highest point on the building, the Kyuubi container leapt off, heading towards the Akatsuki nin at top speed. He seemed to be expecting this, as his monstrous bird flew higher to put more distance between them.
The ten year-old flipped through several hand signs, before finishing with a grin. "Futon: Daitoppa!"
That, Deidara had not been expecting. Powerful gales assaulted his clay creation, causing one of its wings to tear and fall away. Without both wings, the creature became unstable and incapable of maintaining flight. Moments later, it plummeted towards the ground.
Landing near the downed work of art, Naruto wasted no time in charging towards it, hoping to catch its creator off guard. But before he could reach it, several clay snakes slithered out from the wreckage, and they were moving fast.
Jumping to avoid the first few, he killed off many with well aimed kunai. As soon as his feet touched ground again, one of the slithering menaces he hadn't seen constricted around his body and, a moment later, exploded.
It was fortunate that he had managed to use Kawarimi with some rubble left from the destroyed buildings nearby.
'Gah, this is no good. I can't kill those clay creatures with my naginata. I'll be too close when those things go off! What am I gonna do?' he wondered, trying to think of anything that might give him an advantage. 'I have to get to the guy in control of them!'
"Not bad kid, yeah. But let's see how you do against these little guys," called out an overzealous Deidara. 'I haven't had this much fun in a while!'
Naruto would have inquired as to what he meant, but soon found out as what looked like swarms of clay grasshoppers soon launched themselves in his direction. "Shit!" he cried, dashing inside one of the nearby buildings that hadn't been annihilated yet.
The tiny explosives were hot on his trail, but unlike the clay birds, they didn't detonate upon impact with hard surfaces, and they were far too small to hit with kunai or other projectiles. He did everything to lose them, from slamming doors behind him to block them, to throwing furniture in the way. Still they persisted.
For three floors it went this way, him running for his life while the tiny annoyances gave chase. Making a last ditch effort, he leapt out a window. He failed to notice the bug that had managed to cling onto his back however.
BANG!
The jinchuuriki was blown towards the ground with extreme force. Being unable to correct his trajectory, he slammed into the earth on his back, his head smacking against the rocky street, making everything go dark.
x-x-X-x-x
Splitting up from his ally, Hidan wasted no time in taking to the offensive. His opponent, Sasori simply sat in waiting. From what he knew of his foe, he was a master in the art of using combat puppets. It was even rumored that he made his puppets out of the bodies of his defeated enemies. Such a thought made him grin with grim satisfaction. This guy was almost as twisted as he was!
He had yet to summon a puppet to his aid, and from what he could see he had drawn no weapons to attack or defend himself with. This man was either very cocky or very good.
'Looks like it's time to find out which,' smirked Hidan, drawing his weapon back for an attack.
Charging his enemy, the silver-haired nukenin dashed around his unmoving opponent rather than attacking head-on. Striking at the Akatsuki's unprotected back, he wasn't in the least surprised when a lightning-fast, metallic tail intercepted his attack.
Ducking under a strike from the spear-like end of the appendage, Hidan put some distance between himself and his foe. He shouldered his weapon for a moment, watching as the cloak-wearing nin turned to face him. "You know, I'm actually glad that didn't work. It'd be pretty sad if you died from only the first attack."
"I could say the same of you," the hunchbacked man replied. "Few people can evade a surprise strike from my tail like that…"
The scythe wielder launched himself at his S-ranked opponent once more, blocking a strike from the serpentine-like tail with one of the blades of his weapon as he did so. His attack was dodged, Sasori leaping to the side to do so. It was hard to believe that such a large person could move so quickly.
Before he could attempt another strike, he found the tail of his enemy coming for him. A metallic clang!sounded out as he once more blocked with his scythe. The weapon, however, was intent on impaling him, as it circled around and tried again.
Stabbing his weapon blade first into the roof of the building he was on, he freed his hands for a moment to flash through some seals. "Doton: Doryuuheki!"
Expelling a thin layer of mud from his mouth on the area in front of him, a wall of earth rose immediately afterwards, blocking the incoming attack from Sasori. This only helped to prove how dangerous the nukenin's tail was, as a moment later the metallic appendage annihilated the wall, sending earth and rock scattering in every direction, along with a cloud of dust.
Glancing around the rooftop, the puppet-user could see no sign of his foe, or the weapon he had put aside to engage in his jutsu. With caution he approached the remains of the earth wall, his tail hovering in front of him, moving side to side like a cobra waiting to strike. Without warning another wall of earth shot up in front of the nukenin, cutting through the building itself to do so. This wall was several times thicker than the first, which meant that it was probably less easily shattered than its predecessor.
He had leapt away, in case it was some sort of trap. A rumbling sound alerted him to the summoning of yet another wall, only behind him this time. Two more shot up in succession, enclosing the area in a square of rock and dirt. Now all that he could see was the shingling of the roof under him, the walls around him, and the sky above, where there was fortunately no ceiling.
The man had to be in area still. There was no way he could perform such jutsu with such precision if he wasn't. He was proved right when one of the large rocks from the first destroyed earth wall began moving towards him. The image of the rock disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced an instant later by a grinning Hidan.
'He used Henge to look like a rock. Interesting…'
"You have sealed your own fate with this enclosed ring," he commented, preparing to strike once more with his deadly tail.
The opposing nukenin shrugged, seemingly not caring in the least about whether or not what he had done should be considered smart or not. He knew what he was doing, after all.
Breaking into a run, Hidan raised his scythe with one hand, and drew a kunai with the other. Tossing the projectile, he watched with satisfaction as the tail blocked the weapon, as expected.
Said tail swept around and attempted to spear the incoming shinobi, only to jerk to the side at the last moment, allowing the scythe-user to make a successful attack on his enemy.
The sound of metal on metal screeched out around them. Sasori jumped back, his cloak now shredded and useless. Hidan raised an eyebrow as he looked over the fully revealed form of his foe. It had a large metal left arm, a normal looking right one, a weird emotionless face, and what looked like an enormous mask was strapped to its back, the tail extending out of the mouth. This was no person… it was-
'A puppet? He's been using one this whole time?' Looking to the blades of his scythe confirmed this, as there wasn't a single drop of fresh blood on them. That meant he couldn't use his body mirroring technique, which meant this would most likely make the fight a very drawn out one.
Different thoughts were going through Sasori's mind. 'How did my attack miss? There was no way…'
It was then that he noticed the faint blue glow coming from his tail. Following the stream of blue, he noticed how it trailed from his tail to Hidan's hand.
He pieced the clues together, now understanding what had happened. "A chakra string… clever. You were able to manipulate my tail right before it reached you. Your control is that of a novice at best. The only reason a puppet master like myself didn't notice right away was due to the element of surprise. I find it hard to believe that a non-puppet user is capable of such a feat."
"It makes things interesting," laughed Hidan. "It's amazing what you can learn from people after a few hours of torturing them. And let's just say that little trick isn't as hard as you think it is."
After all, if both he and the brat could use it, if only at a basic level, it still meant that it wasn't as advanced a technique as what the rumors might state. Just because you could use chakra strings didn't mean you had to become a puppet-user.
Breaking the link between the chakra string and his tail, Sasori continued by summoning up some of his own chakra.
"Bunshin no Jutsu," mumbled the Askatsuki member.
Three exact replicas of the battle puppet appeared, each with its own tail weaving and trailing around in the air.
'Well shit, this might make things a little more difficult,' thought Hidan, severely disliking the situation.
Assuming that the puppet only moved its tail and remained stationary otherwise, it would make it very difficult to tell which was the real one, and which ones were only harmless illusions.
A moment later he found himself dodging and feinting to avoid the attacks of the mechanized weapons. There were several close calls, but none ever made contact with him, either missing or being deflected by his scythe.
'I'll never get a strike in this way…' groused the silver-haired nin.
He flashed through several hand signs, ending with a shout of "Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Like phantoms, several dopplegangers of Hidan emerged from the walls of rock and earth that created the enclosure surrounding the combatants, each with their own scythe, and a psychotic grin to match.
A fierce exchange of blows occurred in the seconds that followed. Each of the illusionary Sasori's faded out of existence, being on the receiving end of a physical attack. However, Hidan's clones also paid a price, several being smashed back into chunks of earth, the unrelenting attack of Sasori's main weapon evening out the playing field.
Several of the remaining clones converged on the nukenin, hoping to take advantage of his tail's ability to only skewer one at a time. The ex-Suna shinobi proved that he had more than a few tricks up his sleeve, when the mouth of the puppet opened up and released a hail of high velocity metal shards. The clones were shredded in a matter of seconds, crumbling back into the element they had come from.
He turned back to the creator of the annoyances. "So you enjoy surprises do you?" he asked, before burrowing his tail into the roof of the structure they were fighting upon.
Hidan frowned, knowing what was going to happen next. 'Great, now I have no clue where that damn thing is going to pop up.'
He could hear the metal appendage demolishing walls down below, moving through the building, in an attempt to get to him. The floor under him would occasionally shudder, the building protesting the rampant destruction that was occurring within it.
Everything suddenly went very quiet…
That meant that something was about to happen. Not wanting to wait to find out what, Hidan charged his foe once again. The rumbling resumed, which meant it was coming.
He had expected the attack to come from behind, where he couldn't see it. Rather, he was shocked when the metal instrument of death erupted from the ground directly in front of him.
The silver-haired man rolled to the side, only to have that section of roof give out from underneath him! As he fell through the upper two floors of the building, he saw the ever-pursuing tail shoot downwards through the wreckage after him.
Freefalling battle was not something Hidan was even remotely familiar with. His strengths in combat were best when he was on the ground. He made due though, blocking and attacking the appendage as best he could.
Darting around the scythe user, the tail struck from behind, skewering the man through his back and out the front of his chest, where it then slammed him into a nearby wall.
Rather than struggling against the maneuverable weapon, which now pinned him to the wall, he let a grin come to his face as he looked over his shoulder.
"Doton: Tsuchi Supaiku no Jutsu."
A massive stalagmite burst from the ground, shooting up through the building, tearing anything in its path to pieces. It ripped through the tail of Sasori's puppet like it was made out of paper, which was a testament to the strength of the technique. If such a strong metal was decimated by such an attack, then one could only imagine what it would do to a human body.
Applying chakra to his feet, Hidan pushed off from the wall, forcefully pulling himself off of the remains of the tail which had held him in place. Looking down at the gaping wound, he could only find annoyance in such a trivial thing. "Fuck. That's going to take a while to heal."
A loud thumping noise alerted him to his enemy's approach. Sure enough, there sat Sasori, less than a few feet away from him. "What an inconvenience," remarked the missing nin, looking at the severed tail section of his battle puppet. "However, it served its purpose."
"What are you talking about? Without that piece of shit to protect you I'm gonna rip you to shreds," threatened Hidan, bringing up his weapon.
"Oh I don't think so. Can't you feel it? Or has it simply not taken affect yet?" inquired Sasori, smugness, and a bit of curiosity in his voice.
"What- urgh…" he suddenly fell to a knee, one of his arms grasping at his open wound.
A chuckle came from within the puppet. "I forgot to mention that all of my weapons are coated with a very unique poison. It will incapacitate my victims, and eventually kill them. There is no antidote," he added, sounding very proud of himself.
x-x-X-x-x
Naruto awoke to the feeling of water dripping on his face. Looking around, he found that he was for the second time in his life, in the sewer that contained the very reason he was hated.
"Damn it, what an inconvenience," he mumbled, looking for an exit of some sort. "You stupid fox, I don't have time for this!"
Running down the dim sewer tunnels, he found himself going nowhere fast. That was, until he reached the oh-so-familiar bars that had the small piece of paper, labeled "seal," on them.
"Where are you fox?" he called into the cell.
A massive glowing eye soon opened from deep within the room, glaring at the boy. It did nothing to acknowledge him, however.
"Come on you lazy sack of fur, get up!"
A set of claws came flying between the bars a moment later. They stopped mere inches away from the blonde's face, but he didn't flinch.
"Choose your words carefully when speaking to me, human…" growled the large creature.
"Why did you bring me here? I'm busy fighting some jackass out in the real world at the moment, in case ya didn't notice!" fumed the short boy, not caring in the least that he was shouting at the most powerful of all the bijou.
The beast snorted in response. "I did not bring you here. It was your own doing. Now leave me."
"I'm not joking around here! Send me out of here or I'm gonna end up a stain on the street!"
The fox, clearly irritated by its host's persistence, stood up to its full height and approached the bars of its prison. "Time in here passes differently than in the real world. In here, days can pass while only mere seconds do on the outside."
It eyed the boy carefully, making sure this was the same child that had stumbled upon its sanctuary only three years before. He was different now. He had the scent of blood about him. Of course, he knew about everything that had happened on the outside. He could see everything the boy could, and knew everything that he did. It was pleased to see that Naruto was no longer the weak child from before. After all, it couldn't have a weak host, could it?
The fox's information seemed to calm the blonde down slightly, seeing as how he wasn't going to be blown to bits within the next few seconds. But that still didn't solve the inevitable problem of facing a fiery non-existence.
"Can't you do anything to help me out there?" inquired Naruto.
"I have no reason to aid you," came the swift reply.
"I'm your host, so you owe me!"
A bark-like laugh came from within the cage. "A prisoner owes his jailor nothing."
The fox was proving to be very stubborn, more so than he himself was. "Hey, if I die, then so do you!"
"Your pact with this… Jashin, grants you the power of immortality. You will never die, which means neither will I. My existence is assured. I have no reason to help you," elaborated the fox, calling Naruto's bluff.
For a moment, the creature shuddered, growling as it did so. After shaking its head a few times, it redirected its attention to the human in front of it.
"What the hell was that?" asked a rather amused jinchuuriki.
"The whispering… the incessant clawing at my mind. The tormenting voices… I would kill you for what you have done, but these bars…" mumbled the kitsune.
Whispering? Ah, like when he first made contact with his master, Jashin. Perhaps he had taken an interest in the fox?
"I have two reasons for you to help me," stated a smug looking Naruto, arms crossed and a grin on his face.
The Kyuubi seemed to tilt its head toward the boy, listening to what he had to say. Whether he was genuinely interested or not, the blonde wasn't sure.
"I can ask Jashin-sama to leave you alone. And, if you don't help me, my body will most likely get blown to hell by that clay loving fucknut. No body means no seal, and no seal means we go our separate ways. In this case, I'd still be alive I guess, just in nothingness. But you, well, without the seal… you're fucked."
It was in that moment that the fox came to a grim realization. He was right. Without the seal, he would be separated from the boy, and that meant that his existence would be extinguished. He only had the luxury of immortality thanks to Naruto and his sworn allegiance to Jashin.
"So what do you say fox? You going to help me or not?"
"You will make the voices stop… and if you do not, then you shall never again have my assistance," the fox managed to get out through gritted teeth. It did not like having to admit defeat.
"Deal!" exclaimed an ecstatic Naruto. "Now hurry up and get me on my way!"
"Very well boy. You desire my aid? Then you shall have it!" roared the kitsune, the room around it exploding in a burst of crimson chakra.
The blonde's world erupted in color as he returned to consciousness.
x-x-X-x-x
The group of clay grasshoppers falling towards the unconscious blonde detonated, filling the area with fire and smoke.
"Shit, I might have overdone it, yeah," remarked Deidara, as he approached the aftermath of the destructive technique.
He was stopped dead in his tracks when a waved of chakra seemed to wash over him. It felt like pure evil… hatred, malice, and power wrapped all into one. As the smoke cleared, he could make out a figure standing there, a coat of blood red chakra wisping off of him.
The jinchuuriki looked up at the man that had dared come near him. Deidara found a lump forming in his throat. The kid had changed…
His once cerulean colored eyes were now a haunting bloody color, with slits for pupils. His whisker marks were now more bold and defined. The boy's canines had grown longer, more animalistic looking. And his fingers may have as well been claws at this point in time. He stood hunched over in a bestial-like manner, his murderous gaze focused on the only person near him.
"I'm going to make sure you die slowly," declared the Kyuubi container, his voice coming out in a low rasp.
"Shit…" mumbled the opposing blonde. He had just tapped into the fox's power.
-Chapter End-
Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu- Earth Clone Technique
Doton: Tsuchi Supaiku no Jutsu- Earth Style: Earth Spike Technique
Draknal: Surprised that it wasn't Itachi and Kisame? They'll show up later, don't worry. Wow, that was actually a bit more than I had been hoping for. Hopefully this long chapter will make up for any complaints my readers might have against having to wait so long for me to get this out.
Please leave me a review on your way out to let me know what you think. Again, as I said in the beginning, I am not trying to achieve perfection here, so please keep that in mind. This is for fun, so take it as such. Thanks!
Thank you to all my readers, and everyone who decides to leave me a review. I wouldn't have gotten this far without all of you!
And a very special thanks to my beta reader, B!