Itachi jumped back and away from Hidan with Lyle in one arm. Itachi glanced over at Sakura and nudged his head towards Lyle. Sakura frowned but nodded, taking Lyle from him in both hands. Both Gaara and Itachi now stood in front of Sakura defensively as she held Lyle who was just now trying to move his arms and legs, discovering quickly that his whole nervous system had basically reset on him.
"Please be still Lyle, you can't help in this battle," she pleaded softly as Lyle started getting fussy and was on the verge of an uncontrolled crying tantrum.
Naruto took a step towards Hidan when a mirror solidified from within the mist right in front of him. Naruto turned toward Shirei again, who only shook her head in response, looking as if she'd seen a ghost. Naruto looked back at the mirror and saw a masculine dark haired ninja, he realized it was the one he'd seen tear open the underground. His face was hidden behind a mask that looked remarkably similar to Haku's, except the figure behind the mask was taller, and far less effeminate. He was wearing what looked like an armor made of glass and as he stepped forward he came out of the mirror. Naruto took a cautious step back. Ikana looked over at Shirei, who was without her mask, her hair was much longer, and when she had had her mask, it had been significantly different. Ikana stared at Shirei and slowly took off his own mask. He looked like a man of less than 30, his features were all sharp or crisp, his jaw was strong cut and his eyes dark and penetrating. Slowly he smiled, not near as creepy as Itachi, but still enough to send shivers down Naruto's spine. "Can it be, Shiara?"
Shirei snapped from her reverie and her face finally resolved. "No, my aunt is dead grandpa, my mother before her, and my sister, and her son, we are the last of the Mizuryu Clan"
Ikana's smile finally broke, and he sighed in disappointment. "That's distressing, then come with me-" he paused in thought as he concentrated on Shirei for a moment- "Shirei," he said without certainty.
Shirei sighed, "I cannot, I stand against Akatsuki, and Pein, and his false idolship."
"That's too bad, I find him useful for the moment."
"I will fight you- and this boy here, he is like me, we are both Jinchuuriki, and you would do well not to underestimate us."
"You should be older," Ikana realized aloud.
"The method of making me a Jinchuuriki made me an infant again."
"Ah, well, I suppose we should get this fighting over with, Hidan has his mission, and seems to be enjoying it, well I have mine."
"Which is," Naruto asks.
"So the boy can speak," Ikana chuckled, "Keep the Biju busy, and apparently the man named Itachi, but it looks like they're content to stand defensively with the infant, the new Jinchuuriki I assume?"
"You're not here to capture us?"
Ikana laughed, "Pein doesn't have that much trust for me yet, and I suspect in numbers I might actually loose a drawn out contest." He rose a hand and a blade of ice formed in it.
Naruto took another step back towards Shirei and spoke in hushed tones, "I take it this guy is strong?"
"He's my grandfather, he was the leader of our clan until a mob captured him, we thought they had killed him, it was then that we all went into hiding to conceal our bloodlimit."
"Then he's- more knowledgeable in your technique?"
"That blade and the armor, I can do the sword, but not as efficiently as him, and I haven't mastered the armor."
"Muttering strategy," Ikana asked innocently.
"Not yet," Naruto mused calmly.
"Ah, asking what to expect then, well, I'll tell you right now you can't beat me as you are, in time perhaps, unlike that weak man who released me, you have strong spirits, and a will to win, you just lack the skill and preparation needed… and I don't really want to let you gain that just yet."
Dozens of mirrors appeared like the one that was in front of Naruto. Ikana stepped back into the mirror.
Shirei touched Naruto's shoulder and leaned in to speak in his ear. "How did you defeat Haku?"
"I ah- lost control, I don't remember all of it."
Shirei sighed and walked over to one of the mirrors and stepped into it as well. "Then stay out of my way," she said forcefully.
Naruto was better than he had been back then, his eyes at least could follow the blurs, though he body couldn't hope to move that fast as he watched Shirei and Ikana crossing blades. The two moved from mirror to mirror several times within the span of an eyeblink. Shirei dropped down after one of their exchanges, holding her arm with a bloody gash in it. Ikana's armor had been torn open, and he was cut in several places, but he didn't look to be bleeding.
hiHIhiHIhi
Hidan was almost disappointed that Itachi hadn't tried to interfere, none of the resistors had provided any resistance, a few managed to escape deeper into the tunnels, and he was starting to hunt them down now. Hidan was covered in blood, a mix of his own and all of the resistors he had killed. His god would be pleased with the slaughter he was wreaking in his name.
Itachi watched for any signs that Hidan would come his way. It hurt to watch, but the leader had entrusted Lyle under his care, the whole resistance formed to create what Lyle was now, and none of them would forgive him if something happened to Lyle while he tried to save them. Hidan glanced towards Itachi and smirked as he ducked into a small cavern three resistors had fled into when Hidan first arrived. His warped and skeletal pattern was unseen under the red blood and his smile and wicked eyes looked like a rabid Cheshire Cat as he prowled the caverns for escapees.
naNAnaNAna
Naruto rushed to Shirei's side as she clutched her arm and sucked in a pain-stricken breath. "Back away!" Shirei warned.
Ikana shot from a mirror toward them both, Shirei managed to bring up her sword to parry even as she pushed Naruto aside with her feet. Ikana's blade pushed Shirei's against her. She grunted and heaved, pushing back enough to get at her second katana sheathed on her back. She slashed at him with it and he seemed unphased despite the chunk of ice armor that came free and the gaping slash in his chest that should have been bleeding freely. Ikana looked down and only then seemed to notice the gash. "Hmm, HIDAN are you finished," he yelled in Hidan's directly as he stepped back.
A pair of resistors came fleeing out the cavern Hidan had chased them down screaming in terror- one of them was silenced as Hidan pounced on them like a wild beast, blood spraying in all directions, even covering the other runner who let out a blood-curdling scream of terror.
"Almost," Hidan smirked.
Ikana formed a small mirror and reached his hand inside of it. The last runner let out a gurgling gasp as his chest convulsed and he vomited blood, dying instantly. Ikana pulled his hand back, now covered in blood and holding flecks of what must have been the man's heart.
"We're done," Ikana told Hidan.
Hidan looked up at Ikana and glared; he picked up the last dead man by his shirt and started wiping the blood from his scythe on it. Hidan left first, while Ikana turned back towards Naruto and Shirei.
"For what it's worth, you fight even better than Shiara," Ikana smirked, "And I can tell it's not just from being a Jinchuuriki." Ikana took a step back, then into one of his mirrors and vanished.
"Sakura!" Naruto called over. Sakura looked around at all the dead bodies before she seemed to realize Naruto had called him. Itachi came over and reached to take Lyle back from her. She frowned and looked down at Lyle, and forced herself to smile again before letting Itachi take him. She hustled over to Naruto after that. "Sakura, Shirei's been hurt."
ikIKikIKik
Ikana sat beside Hidan who was standing and leaning against a post, waiting for Pein to return from his mission that had kept him from the battle. Ikana was examining his body to account all the damage he had taken in fighting. He began some basic medical jutsu's and as he did so, blood began flowing from his wounds and into the various bandages he wrapped himself in.
Hidan smirked, "So you can be hurt."
Ikana managed to smile back, "My jutsu's aren't perfect, they only delay my body's responses to the damage. I see you worship-"
"Don't you dare speak his name!"
Ikana scoffed, "I would never give myself over to such a god," he sneered the word as he spoke, then sighed and amended, "No offense to you of course, you're welcome to your own path, but it's not the path for me."
"I should kill you for speaking such blasphemies, except frankly I like your attitude, in time of course I'll have to kill you anyway, but for now I'm content to save you for last."
"I thought that was my privilege?" Pein mused despite the emotionless face as he stepped into the room, Kohan behind him and to the left.
Hidan chuckled, "You both can be last, when all the rest of world is devoured you can have the privilege of being slain by my god himself."
"When gods fight," Ikana joked.
"You don't believe in my divinity," Pein asked.
"I find it hard to swallow, but I haven't ruled it out as a possibility. Afterall, what defines a god beyond his followers, and your followers believe you to be a god, who's to say they're wrong as long as they believe."
Pein actually smiled. "So what do you think of the Jinchuuriki?"
"One of them is my kin, my granddaughter actually. She will grow to be strong, nothing will stop that."
"Not even killing her to remove the Biju," Kohan mused.
Ikana smiled, "You best hurry then…"
"We have a full Akatsuki, I've sent members to monitor the six-tail and the seven-tail, another group to investigate rumors that the four and five-tail had met and were working together. All that aside, yes, it is about time to start collecting the Biju, the hard part of course will be separating them, the Nine-tail- the blonde you met, has been gathering the other Jinchuuriki, he now has four. But my own investigation told me the one tail is about to be married, which of course means he will soon be alone with his bride, we can strike then.
Ikana nodded, "Who will go?"
"I would send Suigetsu and Sasuke, but I fear at this point Sasuke is too likely to seek out Itachi for his little vendetta."