Recurring Nightmares
A/N- Warning. This chapter gets a little bit.. morbid, toward the end. So uh... yeah. Beware.
-o-
"The tests are inconclusive, Mister Nara. "
"What the hell do you mean 'inconclusive'?"
"We were not able to find a match."
"You're saying that like it's a common occurance."
"My apologies sir, it really is a bit strange, but not impossible. It could belong to an illegal immagrant, possibly. But we have determined that it's most certainly not from an animal."
"So It's human, you just don't know whose."
"Correct."
"Hmm. Well keep me updated on any further information. You have my personal number in the lab. Contact me immediatly with any leads."
There was silence on the other end, then a crackleing, like the woman on the other end was switching the phone to her other ear.
"Mister Nara. My people are swamped already with much more pertinent cases. Quite frankly, blood tests aren't too difficult or time consuming but delving any deeper into a wild goose chase like this is impossible at this point."
Shikamaru was the silent one now.
"We quite simply don't have the time or resources at the moment to be taking personal requests. Perhaps fill out the forms and see if you can turn it into a homicide case, otherwise you will have to do your own research, sir."
The woman was not rude or condescending in any way, and though Shikamaru was irritated at this news, it wasn't her fault. There was a person dying somewhere in this city on a daily basis from a vast number of causes. Not every one of them was reported, but a majority of them were. And most of them were murders. That was what his division of the firm handled, homicides.
"Alright, thanks for your help." He told her, and hung up. It wasn't rude really, well it was, but the lab techs were hung up on all the time. Everyone was always in a hurry around here. Too much to be done, too little time. That sort of thing.
He thought maybe of going in to look through the stack of files undouptedly on his desk. He didn't have a photographic memory, but he would probably recognize anyone he'd interacted with recently.
Yes, he had the feeling the blood belonged to someone that had been around him. It was either that or it was one of the Jashinists' themselves. As far as Sasuke fit into this, his blood would be in the system, they ran off government files, as did all forensics labs, and Sasuke had bounced around from foster home to foster home his whole childhood while his only living blood relitive was serving his time in prison for killing his family. So he undouptedly had a large record.
And besides, Sasuke was not a prime suspect. Shikamaru just didn't have the gut feeling that he was involved at all. He had been wrong before, but not for a few years.
But, going to work on a sunday was always a drag. He was lucky enough to get a normal, constant schedule working in the profession he did. At his old firm he worked whenever they needed him, however long they needed him. He was also one of the higher-ups and there weren't even an eighth as many people employed there as there are here in the city. And partnered with that is the almost non-existant promise that it wouldn't do him any good. He had just about a gazillion other co-workers that did the same thing he did, and whoever it was may have landed on their desk. Or hell, for all he knew the owner of the blood wasn't even a victim of homicide or any other crime!
All of this bundled together literally just made even having the thought not worth the effort. He was at a dead end here.
He paced his livingroom. Sundays were the worst for him. Even though he wasn't hardly lazy at all anymore, he still had that self-imposed label stuck in his head. He didn't like doing unneccesary work, it still rung true. But everything he busied himself with these days was pretty well just that, it needed done.
Right now though... There was nothing. He couldn't think of anything to do, and normally that wouldn't bother him. But the current situation had him concerned. He didn't want more trouble, he had his own inner battles to fight, he didn't need the past coming back to haunt him as well.
So, he suddenly came to a decision. If the lab wasn't going to help, and his stalker wasn't going to reveal themselves, then there was two choices. He could sit and wait for them to make a move, which may rip control of the situation from him, or he needed to come up with a plan.
And to be blunt, he was pretty fucking tired of doing nothing.
-o-
"This is going to suck so hard..." He mumbled to himself, tossing the pocketknife from hand to hand. Damn, he really didn't want to do this, but he honestly didn't see any other way to draw them out. The symbol made it clear that whoever it was is a worshipper of Jashin. And he knew from personal experience that the demon god was pretty much the only thing they care about. There would be no other way to lure them out.
He sighed and looked around, he was back at the park now, though he'd waited until evening so there would be less people. He didn't want anyone except his stalker to see him.
He'd gone back to the clearing where he had done his workout the previous day, and made the small trek across the open grassy stretch of land to the edge of all the foliage where he'd caught a glimpse of the stalker hiding before. It really was nothing more than a border, but the tiny forested area was big enough for him to hide himself in.
There were a few evening joggers running along the sidewalk path far back where he had come in, but other than that he could sense no one else. All he felt was that paranoia that someone was watching him. He briefly wondered if Neji had been feeling this way those last few months he was here. But he pushed the thought from his head. He had to focus.
He let his gaze fall to the grass, he really wasn't even exactly sure how to go about this, and he was quite honestly on the verge of throwing up. He most certianly believed in Jashin, Hidan's power had to have come from somewhere... And this belief was what made him hesitate.
The Nara didn't want some Demon's attention, just the person whose been messing with him. Now that he actually understood someone was tailing him, a lot of strange things he'd noticed but shrugged off previously made sense. Whoever it was, they hadn't made a move quite so bold as the symbol on his tire, though honestly he hadn't paid much attention. Noticing that miniature circle had really just been dumb luck..
Great, now he didn't even wanna go home.
"Okay." He said to jar himself from his thoughts. "Just do it. Let's get it over with."
He could swear he heard a twig snap somewhere far to his left. He noted this but didn't react. Again, they were either really dumb, or wanted him to know they were here.
He put the blade to his palm, biting his bottom lip when it dug into his skin. He watched as he dragged it diaganolly. No, that wouldn't work, it had to be deeper. He needed a circle big enough to sit inside, and this cut wouldn't bleed enough.
/This is so insane.../ He took a few deep breaths and touched the blade back to the wound, looking up and grimacing as he pressed harder and drug it once more. He held back the whimpers that threatened to escape, reminding himself that he was being observed. Shikamaru wasn't a pansy, but he wasn't a damn masochist either. And despite what everyone seemed to thing, the palm was a painful spot. You have more nerves in your hands than anywhere else on the body, except maybe for genitals. Though the skin is also thicker here to hell protect those nerves, it makes it hurt a hell of a lot more when the skin actually gets broken. And doing it yourself isn't as easy as a certain albino psycho had made it look.
He hissed as he removed the blade and looked down, cupping his hand so as not to waste any blood that was quickly pooling there. Damn, that might be a bit /too/ deep. Good thing he brought some first aid supplies, seeing this exact circumstance as a probability.
He crouched down, holding his blood-filled hand just above the ground. His 'this is a bad idea' bells were going off in his head, he had no idea what he could be getting himself into. There were so many millions of different variables that could lead to trillions of scenarios gone horribley wrong.
But, it didn't matter. He had nothing left to protect except his peace of mind. He had to get it back. He couldn't be Shikamaru Nara without it. And besides, omnipitent being didn't just appear and force you into following them just because you did something stupid. Free will would always reign, in any circumstance.
At least... he hoped so.
He twisted his wrist slighty and let the blood trickle onto the grass, he didn't know if it just had to be in a general circle or if it had to be an unbromen connection. He supposed he would find out though. He started turning ever so slowly in a circle, having to keep flexing and massasing to keep it flowing. Really, he didn't want to cause himself permanent damage but this was such a slow process. Though the way Neji had described how Hidan did his ritual, he had to inflict what would be life-threating injuries on himself to get his blood flowing as fast as he did. And he wasn't going to do that. He just needed to be patient, something the zealot never was. He could do this, he could handle it. He was not nieve anymore, he had learned his lesson, he had not made such terrible mistakes since then. Not when facing them had caused him such pain.
He finally managed to finish a visible circle, and now he just had to make the triangle. He started this task immediatly, after gingerly smoothing the knife over his cut to make sure it hadn't started scabbing until he was done.
While he absently massaged his hand and formed the triangle he wondered briefly what to do next. He sure as hell wasn't going to stab himself through the heart., as his 'reference' had done. He supposed he would just sit down and pretend to pray or meditate or whatever they did. And this, this may take awhile. There was no telling how his stalker would react, they could do any number of things. Show themselves, consider him no longer an enemy and leave, or just keep stalking.
He would have to continue being patient, if Hidan was any example for Jashinists then if he sat here long enough they would probably get pissed off and come out from their hiding spot and attack.
It seemed to drag on forever, finishing the stupid triangle, but finally he did, and immediatly he plopped down in the middle of it. This was exhausting, and took more blood than was healthy for a mortal like himself. He took a moment to catch his breath, and resisted the urge to pull out a cigarette. Then studied his circle. It certianly wasn't unbroken, but you could tell it was there. He barely made it big enough to sit in, and was irritated to realize that he was going to have blood stains on his pants and didn't consider this obvious problem when preparing.
Damn. No wonder girls were pissed off during PMS.
He supposed he could wrap his hand now, he'd accidentally wiped some blood on his jacket too. People were either gonna be afraid of him or call the cops when he made the walk home. He definitly needed a shoddy reputation with the local police force in this town. Yeah, that would make life easier. Not.
He took a slow deep breath and reached into his knapsack, (Yes, he wore those.) and pulled out the antiseptic and gauze. His breath hissed in loudly as he cleaned the deep wound, and the cleansing process seemed to increase the bloodflow and he stared at this for a minute considering something.
Quickly, he brought his hand to his mouth and licked a bit of the blood off and began wrapping it up, feeling a bit foolish. He wasn't going to do any sacrificing, but it's not as if it would hurt anything. At least he didn't think it would. He was pretty ignorant to anything Jashin related..
He was ripped from his thoughts by a sudden crack of thunder, so loud that he actually jumped. When the hell had it gotten cloudy?
He jumped again and whipped his head around as he heard what he could only explain as some sort of weird birdcall from his other side. And then again the thunder boomed.
An ominous wind picked up, not a strong one, more of a breeze, but it was so cold that it gave Shikamaru goosebumps.
He had a sinking feeling now. This... this wasn't because of him. It couldn't happen. Good God how many times was he going to have to tell himself that.
But damn, there was no way. There was just no possible way.
He felt a raindrop, so icy that he yelped when it slammed into his forehead despite himself. He shot to his feet then and jumped out of the circle, still trying to keep pressure on his wrapped hand. And just then he heard something that made his stomache drop to his ass and his heart rocket up his throat.
It was a laugh, a familiar laugh. It was the same obnoxious but mezmerizing sound he'd heard just recently in his dreams, as well as those couple years ago.
He turned his head slowly, feeling lime his eyes were about to pop out of his head from how wide they were. He couldn't seem to inhale, and thought his heart had taken residence in his throat it was still about to beat right through his ribcage.
He finally met his stalkers eyes, and once more he wanted to haul off and slap himself. But he couldn't get his body to mind him.
This had to be another nightmare.
It HAD to be.
There he was, standing not 20 feet from him, grinning that damn grin, his eyes sparkling with glee and murderous intent at the same time.
Back from the dead.
It was Hidan.
The rain, as if attuned to the situation, began pouring down all at once. Soaking both men almost instantly and chilling Shimamaru to the core.
Or he thought it was, he didn't know if it was the rain doing that or his brain.
Within seconds his skin was numb and it felt as if he were in a sandstorm of glass shards. And the cut on his hands throbbed, having been abandoned by the warmth and pressure of the other.
He couldn't even process thoughts. All he could do was stare.
"Well don't you look fucking happy to see me." Hidan said. His voice wasn't the same as he remembered, as it had been in the dream. It was, but it wasn't.
Maybe it was the terror, the Nara had really never been so hoplessly horrified by Hidan's presence before. Back then he'd never been much of a threat. He was just the annoying insane neighbor.
"Th-thrilled." Shikamaru forced out, loathing his voice.
What was happening right now. Had he lost it? Did someone slip him some drugs?
Hidan just kept smiling, and it occured to Shikamaru that he was wearing a black trenchcoat, it was open and exposed his bare chest except for the strap that ran diagonally across his torso. Probably holding that damned scythe on his back. But he most certianly wasn't wearing a bandenna. His silver hair was plastered to his skull more than usual from the rain.
It didn't even seem to be affecting him. And damn it all if he didn't still look as good as he used to. He hadn't changed at all but in some way he definitley had.
"You...Is it really you?" He croaked.
"Mmm pineapple head did you miss me so much?" Hidan's grin only grew, and it only lowered Shika's spirits more.
"It is rather hard to escape your own /tomb/. Luckily I had some help so I could come see you faster. How long have you been dreaming of me hmm?"
Shikamaru could not get his voice to work anymore. All that came out was a choking noise.
Hidan sneered. "You still think I'm stupid, don't you?"
He followed with insane, unbound laughter, raising his hands slightly and looking like the evil villian straight out of some cheesy movie.
"You think I'm the stupid one!" He gasped in between fits. "But you have no idea what you've done! You don't have the slightest fucking clue what's going on!"
Suddenly serious, he yanked the scythe from his back and pointed it at Shikamaru.
"You think you found a loophole, fuckwit? Think again, managing to sacrifice another Jashinist's soul is worth ten normal souls. You done fucked yourself, pineapple head."
Shikamaru choked again. What...what did he say? Another Jashinist!? No, nonono he was lieing. This... there was still no way this was real. It had to be a nightmare, but.. but he could feel the rain, his hand was on fire.
He heard himself groan and Hidan chuckled as he realized Shika was accepting it.
All he had done was make a circle and taste a little blood. That couldn't be the all that was needed. There had to be some horrible, fucked up requirement. Cutting off a goats head or eating live kittens, anything!
"Now you're mine, motherfucker." That look was in Hidan's eyes again, it was harder to tell because he wasn't absolutley furious like the last time Shikamaru'd seen it. But it was there. This was for real, Hidan was back, and he fully intended to kill Shikamaru.
But he wasn't going to do it right away. A thought Shikamaru was both thrilled and terrified about.
He couldn't get his feet to move until after the first blow, he stood like an idiot while Hidan, with what only seemed like one step was suddenly right in front of him, drawing back and landing one hell of an uppercut on him. Shikamaru felt himself lift off the ground briefly and in the millisecond it took for him to hit the ground he was back to his senses.
That one was for free. He wanted to say out loud, but didn't dare. He was much too frightened for his life to be arrogant right now.
He flipped back onto his feet and ripped the machete-like object from his knapsack. It was all he could find weapon-wise around his house, and honestly he didn't even know why the hell he had it. But his stomache sank when Hidan beamed at seeing it.
Thoughts flooded his head. Had Hidan planted this? Had he removed every other weapon and left this there? Why a machete? Was it rigged? Would it hold up?
Audibley growling, he shook all the doupts from his mind. There was no time for this. He was about to be put to the test, He suddenly wished he hadn't given Hidan the upper hand by seeing how well he'd improved, but there was nothing to do about it now. He still had a few tricks up his sleeves.
He lunged forward, swinging the blade as he channeled his chakra into it, making the silver blade turn black. Hidan evaded easily and Shikamaru just kept coming at him, he couldn't use that scythe as long as they were in such close proximity. All he had to do was wait for Hidan to slip up just a bit and he could get the upper hand.
"That's right! I wanna see you get pissed!" Hidan shrilled, spinning himself to throw a kick that Shikamaru blocked with his weapon-weilding arm, and then used his other to grab on to Hidan's ankle, that purple-black glow smothering his entire arm. Hidan's eyes widened only a little before Shikamaru heaved and the albino was flung across the tiny clearing and went rolling into the mud.
It was only another second before Hidan was back up again and rushing him with that same speed that had left the Nara speechless the first time he'd seen it.
But he could handle it now. He charged at him and did the same and they exchanged one blocked blow after the other with their weapons, hopping and leaping around in circle only to return to each other and attempt another strike. Shikamaru knew that all Hidan had to do was scratch him. In fact if Hidan was't such an idiot, (Yeah, he was still a moron.) He could have had it all over with and just gotten a bit of his blood off the ground.
But he seemed to want to prolong this battle, like he'd been waiting a long time for it to happen.
And damn this rain, it was getting in his eyes and making the terrain slippery, he had to use precious chakra to force into his feet so he wouldn't loose his footing.
He knocked the scythe away once more, grunting as he put all the strength he had into it, and it had the desired effect. There! Hidan was knocked slightly off balance, he had an opening to do some damage! A rotating disk of black and purple chakra formed in his hand and he slammed it into Hidan's ribcage. But at the same time, just before he collapsed, Hidan swung his leg under him and somehow managed to let himself fall briefly unconcious onto Shikamaru. The machete went right through Hidan's gut as he fell, but within one-thousandth of a millisecond he was awake and grabbed Shikamaru's throat, not even caring that he was impaled and that there was a humongus bruise already forming on his side.
Again shikamaru used his knee to push Hidan into a somersault over his head and he rolled to his feet and immediatly charged again, managing only to rip a slash through the trenchcoat. Hidan swung that giant Scythe and Shikamaru leaped backward, putting his first two fingers to his lips and growling his invocation word. All the shadows shot first to circle around his original shadow before slithering off to circle around Hidan.
The albino was having none of it though. He dodged the shadows, not letting his pathetic one, thanks to the heavy cloud cover, be snagged in the jutsu. And when one of the tangible tentacles sprung up around his foot he those damn pikes came slipping out of his sleeve and he cut the thing in half without expression. As he landed he rocketed forward toward Shikamaru, who's shadows could not keep up, and he was forced to end the jutsu to focus on blocking that Scythe from cleaving his head in two.
Shikamaru had to admit that he was impressed with Hidan for being able to succesfully maneuver the scythe around with one hand and still use that stake in the other. This was getting to be troublesome. Their speed was pretty well even, while Shikamaru's agility seemed to just barely be better than Hidan's, it was proving to be a moot point. Anything Shikamaru managed to do went unregistered by the masochist.
Hidan snarled again as he fianlly threw the pike like a javelin at Shikamaru and then used both hands to put more power behind the arc of the scythe that followed soon after, Thinking Shikamaru couldn't possibley escape both. But he did.
The Nara retracted his arm and swung with all his might, shoving chakra into the machete, concentrating it, and letting it come out in a dark wave that was similar to a wind-techinique that he had altered and made his own. The wave rolled forward, knocking the pike away pushing Hidan several feet before dissipating as he stopped his attack to block it.
He heard Hidan swear and realized that while trying to keep himself upright his feet had slid backward and gotten stuck in the now swamp-like ground. So he took off like a bullet toward him, if he could just cut off the man's head then it would be over. This time, he'd cut Hidan into peices and bury each appendage in it's own little in-escapable hole all around the world.
He swung as he got close and resisted the urge to smile at Hidan's expression. With one chakra enhanced swing of the machete he knocked the Scythe from Hidan's hand, with a second swing he sliced through the retractable cord and it spun through the air, eventually catching itself, blades down, in the earth, abandoned.
Not wasting any time to watch it do that, Shikamaru slashed again with his weapon, putting as much power into it as he can as he aimed for Hidan's throat. The thought snuck into his mind that it had not been much of a fight, but was ripped away from him as the Jashinist pulled another fucking stake our from his other sleeve and blocked the attack, using Shikamaru's dismay against him and successfully shoving the weapon through his thigh.
Shikamaru cried out, He couldn't let Hidan taste the blood. He didn't think he'd be able to withstand the torture the Sadist probably had in mind if he managed to fall victim to that jutsu.
Screaming from the pain, he kicked forward with his impaled leg, catching Hidan off-guard and managed to knock him backward on his back. Also tearing what Shikamaru desperatley hoped was his last weapon from his grip.
He had the chance right now while Hidan was down to jump on top of him and slice his head off, but the pain in his leg was overwhelming and he needed to get this weapon out of it. He pushed off backward with his uninjured leg to put distance between them while Hidan slowly collected himself. Shikamaru didn't let his eyes leave his opponent as he gripped the end of the pike, gritted his teeth, and ripped it out. He couldn't stifle his outcry when it came free of his body, but he quickly tossed it into the air and used his machete baseball-bat style to whack the bloodied weapon and send it flying off into the distance. Dear God he hope he calculated right, there should be some sort of little pond that it would land in if he did it right, contaminating his blood. He couldn't leave that stuff laying around with Hidan on the loose.
Speaking of whom, was currently repositioning his jaw back on his face. Shikamaru involuntarily shuddered at this but did not let his gaze move from Hidans. That was the second time he'd seen the psycho do that.
"I gotta hand it to you Pineapple head. I knew you'd gotten better, but damn, I underestimated you." Took the time to rip off the soggy tenchcoat and toss it to the side. He was wearing plain-old bluejeans underneath, and Shikamaru just about smacked himiself after his gaze lingered a little too long on the rain running off Hidan's chest.
"That's a pretty big word, Hidan. I'm so proud of you."
"Shut the fuck up!" The priest roared, taking off toward his scythe. Shikamaru wouldn't let him though, and he pushed through the immense pain in his leg and darted in the same direction. He couldn't let him get a weapon back, then he would have the upper hand, what with Shikamaru trying to fight through the pain in his thigh.
But he wouldn't make it in time, Hidan had gotten that half-second head start, and he couldn't beat him. He prepared the chakra and let loose another Shadow wave, making it as thin as he could and sending it flying toward Hidan with twice his speed. His opponent saw it too late and his dodge attempt failed, suddenly he was rolling backward and when he finally came to a stop the zealot was convulsing violently on the ground.
Shikamaru kept rushing toward the weapon, he needed to find the other pike too to ensure Hidan would not stumble across it. But that would come in a moment. He could not weild the scythe anywhere near as well as Hidan, and he could not knock it out of reach like he had done with the much smaller weapon earlier. So, doing the only thing he could think of, he grabbed the handle and forced his chakra into it. If Hidan touched it, he would be sent into another seizure like the one he was recovering from now.
"MOTHERFUCKER!" Hidan roared, getting shakily to his feet, "What the hell kinda fucking shit is that? Damn! I think I pissed myself!"
Shikamaru didn't answer, he needed to get this man decapitated and incapacitated as fast as possible, his chakra reserves were running low and his leg was starting to go completley numb, making it incredibley hard to stand, let alone run around and dodge like he needed to to keep up with his opponnent.
"I never doupted that you would be a great Jashinist." Hidan said, panting ever so slightly. "And that kinda sadistic shit right there just proves it."
"Shut up Hidan." He acted as if he wasn't even taking this battle seriously, he was obviously pissed off, but then again he always was. He wasn't absolutly furious like he had been in the battle with Sasuke. It seems the killing intent he'd had in the beginning had dulled significantly.
Suddenly Hidan cried out, something between a moan of joy and yelp of pain. And then he did it again before looking down and realizing what was going on.
Two of Shikamaru's three dimensional shadows had impaled him right through the calves. And two more had themselves firmly wrapped around his ankles.
"Son of a-GAH!" He said again as two more went through his wrists, and yanked him down onto his hands and knees. He looked up into Shikamaru's eyes, who'd stepped up to him and was glaring down at him.
He'd won, he'd done it. He'd beaten Hidan with no more injuries than the one he'd inflicted himself and the one on his leg.
"I think I overestimated you." The Nara said robotically.
Hidan was struggling against the restraints, but he still didn't seem as mad as he should be. This was unsettling to Shikamaru, something wasn't right here.
"Naah." Hidan replied nonchalant, tossing his silver hair out of his face. "I stopped trying to kill you about half way through."
"What?"
Hidan grinned up at him, licking his lips. "This is a pretty fucking submissive position you have me in here... I didn't know you felt that way about me." He laughed. "That's sexy, Pineapple head. Seriously."
"Shut up! Why did you change your mind?" Curiosity killed the cat, the spikey haired man knew all too well. But he had to know. Hidan had come back from the dead and stalked him for God-knows-how-long, and then puts up this sorry, half-assed escuse for a fight? Quite frankly it pissed him off, and humiliated him at the same time. He'd been so fucking scared at first.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Hidan smiled up at him, and then his expression changed as he took a deep breath. Shikamaru stumbled back, and his stomache rolled violently as Hidan jerked upward, shreiking in ecstacy as he ripped himself from the hold of the shadow restraints.
Blood poured, Hidan was howling, and Shikamaru thought he was going to faint.
"OH FUCK ME THAT'S SO GOOD!" Hidan shrilled, then looked at Shikamaru, wobbling where he stood. He sneered, and within a second he suddenly maneuvered Shikamaru's weapon out of his hand, slashed the remaining tentacles on his ankles, and tackled the spikey haired man, holding the blade to his throat as he straddled him.
The blood from Hidan's wrists pattered onto Shikamaru's cheek, and he winced with each drip. The rain washed it away immediatly, but it was still just... just aweful feeling.
There was no way that had really just happened, Hidan was bleeding so heavily now that he would die temporarily of blood loss, but that didn't matter, seeing as Shikamaru was not immortal, and therefore having his throat cut open would not be just a minor setback as it would be for Hidan. How could he have possibley planned for this, How was Hidan even holding the fucking weapon so steadily with half his wrist detached from him.
"It would be really, really fucking nice if Kakuzu were here. Cause this is gonna take a long fucking time to heal on it's own." Hidan said, slurring slightly. He was already light headed, he would 'die' soon and Shikamaru could slice off his head and toss it in a bucket of concrete and then smash it wish a sledgehammer. He just had to keep him talking.
"I-I thought you didn't want to kill me."
Hidan grinned, "Oh no, I still wanna fucking kill you. I just stopped trying. See, I realized that this was some sort of test. Jashin wanted to see if I, his most loyal desciple, could best you. " Hidan's teeth showed through his sneer. "His newest edition."
"You're lieing." Shikamaru immediatly said, still not letting himself beleive it.
"Nope. I'm not. But I figured, I'd see what you could do. Figure out why he sentenced you to death so soon after your conversion."
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed.
"I am NOT a part of your insane cult."
Shikamaru collects every ounce of chakra he can spare and compacts it into the form of energy that he refined especially to cause breif seizures, and he forces it all out through his neck, into the blade and into hidan through all the connecting points. Hidan's body suddenly stiffens momentarily before he once again begins shaking violently and collapses sideways onto the ground. Shikamaru quickly rose shakily to his feet, and ripped his weapon from Hidan's hand. He was about sick of this back and forth powerplay. This was going to end now.
Hidan was gagging and choking and drooling on the ground, in such a humliating state but somehow still aware enough to stare up at his opponent with a grin in his eyes. Blood stained the ground in the four spots around his wrists and calves as he writhed. It was a disheartening sight, even for Shikamaru. He almost felt sorry for him, He almost wanted to help. But he couldn't, and he wouldn't.
"Sucks to not have control of your body, doesn't it?" Shikamaru said, feeling sick as he watched the display. He knew his new jutsu's were morbid and varied on the edge of torture. That latest dose he'd given Hidan should have killed him, But the albino man was resisting as long as he could. He was putting up a good fight, honestly, but it was useless.
"Now you have a small dose of what Neji felt. I'd love to make you feel more, but you're too troublesome. And I'd like to get back to my life."
Hidan finally stopped seizing, and stared gasping at the sky. It almost looked like he was going to drown, but he finally managed to plop his head down sideways, and stared at Shikamaru. He was trying to say something, the Nara knew, but failed. It didn't matter now. The battle was over, and he was the victor, again. He'd be damned if he was ever scared of this sorry excuse for a Jashinist ever again.
He crouched down, lining up the machete with an invisible line on Hidan's throat. Hidan continued staring, how was he concious? Let alone alive.
His violet eyes were still laughing at him. Daring him to do it while simultaneously telling him he couldn't. He didn't have it in him. He stared at him with condescending, slightly cloudy eyes. He still thought he was better, even after he'd lost and suffered this embarrasing defeat, he still thought he was smarter. Like there was something Shikamaru was overlooking.
Jashin.
Oh right. That was troublesome. He was apparently unwillingly devoted to the God of slaughter somehow. So what would it mean, to kill Hidan? Would he be fulfilling Jashin's wishes? Doing exactly what he wanted? What if he spared him, then Hidan was going to kill him, and probably go after Neji too.
He couldn't do that. He had to keep Hidan alive, but submissive.
He lifted the blade up, and an idea popped into his head. It was a longshot, but as unflinchingly devoted as Hidan was, maybe, just maybe it would work.
"Swear your loyalty to me and I won't cut off your head and toss you into the next concrete mixer I see."
The arrogance left Hidan's stare, it was replaced with confusion, disbeleif, and intrest." He laughed, or what Shikamaru was a laugh. It really was more of a gargling, coughing type noise.
"I'm not saying betray your God, but if I serve him too as you keep saying, then you can serve me. I've beaten you, twice now, and you know it will just keep happening. You either do what I say, or you die. You really and truely die this time. I do make sure that you do."
"Ggghh.. Faugggooo."
Shikamaru leaned closer, "You think I won't do it? I'll sacrifice your immortal soul to him, the person you devoted your life to. And I'll laugh as he passes his judgement. You've failed him so miserabley, he's going to be pissed."
This finally registered with Hidan. And after a stareing match that felt like it dragged on for hours, he sighed and closed his eyes, looking back up at the sky. The rain stopped almost instantly at this, signaling that it was over. And Shikamaru almost started crying in releif.
Damn, he really hoped he knew what he was getting himself into.
-o-
A/N-
WHATTT Shika what the fuck are you doing you crazy bastard! Lol, I'm the puppetmaster here and I'm even kind of pissed!
Bahaha, ooh lordy. I keep stumbling randomly onto plots, and this one seemed pretty promising. Okay well, actually it was just the most entertaining. BUT STILL!
Hopefully everything was well explained. I got pretty excited so I'm sure there all kinds of typos and stuff and I apologize but there's no way in hell I'm waiting to put this fucker up.
So enjoy, and REVIEWW!