Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or World of Warcraft or any of the characters that are not mine, though I am wearing their underwear. Collectively. Impressive, no?
Here's the next installment of The Legend of Uzumaki Naruto!
"I'm fine," Kiba growled. "How's Kurenai-sensei, is she gonna be okay? She's gonna be okay, right?"
Kira nodded as confidently as she could. She pulled away from Kiba, who was resting near the side of the castle, where Shino had placed him earlier, and turned to Kurenai, who lay unconscious next to him, bloodied and bruised. Her hands moved to the woman's stomach, and then up, checking every minute detail of her chest and head with careful precision made slightly clumsy with worry.
"She's fine now," Kira said. "But it's too early to tell."
Kiba was shaking. "She's…her…it's gonna be okay, right?"
Kira glanced at him. "Yes. She should be."
"That ain't good enough!" Kiba cried. "Is her baby gonna be alright or not?"
Akamaru, his head resting on Kiba's thigh, whimpered and licked his partner's limp hand, but either Kiba couldn't feel it, or simply didn't acknowledge it, because he did not turn his desperate eyes away from Kira.
"I don't know!" Kira snapped, her calm seared away by worry and Kiba's own worried anger. "I'm doing my best but I can't do anything right now!"
"You have to get help," Kiba said, his anger dwindling. "Somebody, anybody. I'm gonna go show those bastards who—"
"You're staying here, with her," Kira said. "You're too injured to do anything."
"But—!"
Kira flashed him a look sharpened by anger, which silenced him immediately. She stood, a renewed worry and a bubbling anger welling within her. She knew she had to get help, but when she saw the ruined bodies of the entire Castle Guard, twisted, mangled and in as many pieces as shattered vases, she wondered how much she could get. If she called the rest of the Guard, she might be calling them to their deaths. If these two attackers had slain that many of her most elite soldiers, and had removed two shinobi from action, Kira wondered how much it would take to stop them.
She wished Tyrande were here. But she had seen nothing of the High Priestess in the past few days. She had said she would remain in the city, for at least as long as she thought necessary, just in case Vol'jin's fears did come true. Yet when they had, Tyrande was not there. Kira didn't think that Tyrande had ended up like the slaughtered guards, but at the same time she could not help but worry. There was something wrong with this situation—very wrong.
But she wanted to be here, more than anything. One of them was without a doubt the killer of Magni, and she refused to let him get away. She knew that it was because of Naruto she thought like this. Before, she wouldn't even have considered herself useful in such a battle.
But now, she wanted this battle, as a starving man craved food.
She glanced back at Kiba. "I'm going to leave you here, okay?"
Kiba nodded. "What're you gonna—?"
Kira answered by making a few seals.
'Psyche Messenger'
The air shimmered beside her temple, as if some gaseous substance was leaking out, and it slowly took a shape, barely visible in the night. It resembled a bird, as far as Kiba could tell, and it had no smell at all, other than that slight tickling of chakra. The invisible bird flapped its wings and took off into quickly receding day, vanishing almost instantly.
"The rest of the guard has been notified," said Kira. She made her way towards the entrance. "And hopefully Lady Tyrande, as well."
"Hey!" Kiba shouted. "Where're you going?"
Kira stopped. "To help!" she cried.
"W-what? H-how are you gonna—?"
"I'm not useless," said Kira, calmly. "Believe me. Someone will be here for you and Kurenai very soon, so please just try and stay calm."
"How can you tell me that?" Kiba snapped, trying to move, but failing miserably.
Kira shrugged. "There's nothing else you can do."
"That's a damn lie!" growled Kiba. "Akamaru!"
Akamaru raised his head.
"Go and protect her! I mean it!"
Far less injured than his partner, the dog gave him a miserable whine, but Kiba was adamant and kicked his leg to get Akamaru off of it, and to his feet. The dog growled in annoyance, but moved away, to Kira's side.
"Take him," said Kiba. "And listen to her, okay, Akamaru? And make sure Hinata and Shino are okay."
Akamaru barked in response. Kira gave Kiba a brief smile, and nodded, before taking off towards the castle.
Kakuzu slammed Shino into the wall of the library, but the boy burst apart in a shower of black insects, while Kakuzu's hand punched though the stone as if it were cardboard. The bugs did nothing, however, save irritate him. They crawled over his arms and body, but his skin was as tough as steel, and easily kept the bugs at bay. He turned, this time dodging a sweeping slash from Kylia's daggers, and then stepping forwards to knee the girl as hard as he could in the ribs. He felt them crack beneath him, and she gave a short, pained cry before she was flung back, rolling along the floor, resting on the far side of the room. Then Hinata was there, her fingers quickly jabbing, striking—trying to hit his constantly moving organs and chakra system.
Fool, he thought. His shifting innards were not the result of conscious effort, but purely reactive, as involuntary as a blink. He had trained them like that, unknowingly disproving Kakashi's words to Naruto, long ago, that organs couldn't be trained. Any touch, however light, would make his organs shift away from that area. Even someone who could see their movements couldn't match it.
He swiped at her head with the side of his palm, but she flowed beneath it and struck him a dozen more times in the chest and shoulders—tiny, light taps that couldn't have hurt a child had they not had the burst of chakra within. But each attack did nothing but show Hinata how futile trying to hit this man was, if he even was a man.
Shino was back. The boy raised a hand, covered in bugs. He made a seal.
'Destruction Stinger'
His hand was engulfed in a puff of smoke, and he lunged forwards, driving his arm at Kakuzu's stomach. It wasn't an arm anymore, but a wasp's stinger, shimmering black. Kakuzu took it, moving forwards at the same time, grabbing Shino roughly by the arm he was attacking with, and wrenching it violently to the side. It came off easily, but Shino showed no signs of pain and there was no shower of blood. The stinger became insects again, converging on the very point that they had struck. Shino then pulled down his collar, revealing his face. He opened his mouth and spat something with violent force up at Kakuzu's face.
Fast as he was, Kakuzu couldn't dodge something so quick, like a bullet, at such a close range. It smacked him in the collarbone, and he felt the first flash of pain since the battle had begun.
Stunned, Kakuzu's hand went to the wound, and found the source of the pain—a violently struggling black beetle, no larger than his thumb, trying to bore its way deeper into his body. It had cracked through his steel skin!
He grabbed the beetle and crushed it in his palm. Shino was moving back, pleased with this information.
So, thought Shino. When I concentrate my chakra into one of my bullet beetles, it can break his defense. The bullet beetle was effective because out of all of his insects, devoured the most chakra. It ate voraciously, and even weakened his opponent's use of chakra with a special enzyme it secreted from its jaws. While the other insects had failed, this one had not. That was good. He now had an idea of how to win this.
If he kept his distance, he'd be at an advantage. As fast as he was, Kakuzu needed to be close in order to be effective. He hung still, waiting for Kakuzu to make the first move.
But the giant Akatsuki member's attention was only half on Shino; the other half lay on Hinata and Kylia, to his right. Hinata was helping the other girl up, and was healing her quickly. The fox wasn't visible, but that didn't matter. It could only do minimal damage.
Across the room, another battle was occurring.
"Come on old man, hit me!" Hidan was laughing hideously as he slashed and swung his glittering black scythe, each cut coming within a hair's breadth of slicing into Benedictus' flesh, but never quite reaching the old man, who moved as simply and swiftly as a feather sailing on the wind. He did not attack, merely watching the silver-haired man with his cunning golden eyes.
Hidan snarled. If he didn't at least scratch the man, it'd be useless. For an old-timer, he was quick. He suddenly stopped, and backed away.
"You're no fun," he said, scowling.
Benedictus didn't answer, but his eyes never wavered. This annoyed Hidan, but then again, most things did. He slouched, hefting the scythe onto his shoulder, and glared at the old man silently for a few moments, like a rebellious teenager would to an annoyed parent to annoy them further. He even stuck out his tongue.
"Stupid old bastard," said Hidan. "Are you giving up, like that shitty religion teaches you to?"
"Children who do not understand something should not speak of it," Benedictus said, calmly.
"Not understand?" Hidan laughed. "I understand that you guys are stupid enough to do nothing with your life. You devote yourself to such a stupid cause, something that is just fruitless anyways, because people, no matter how hard you try, will never be good." He grinned, watching Benedictus, though silent, grow ever angrier. He stoked the fire a little more.
"Nothing you guys do ever lasts, anyways. I don't know why you even try. Your religion is complete and utter shit, you know that?"
"Be quiet," said Benedictus, "child."
"That all you got?" the silver-haired man sneered.
Hidan's scythe moved faster than ever before. He swung it off his shoulder and released it in one motion, throwing it perfectly at Benedictus, who dodged, again by only an inch, only to move into Hidan, who after a burst of inhuman speed, was waiting to meet him. Something dark flickered out from Hidan's cloak—a pike, about half as long as his body, as black as the steel of his scythe. It only appeared for a second, long enough to graze Benedictus' shoulder, slicing the golden cloth and piercing his wrinkled flesh, before retracting with a single dollop of blood collected on the end. Hidan leapt back, laughing, though now Benedictus moved forwards, eyes wide, his anger now desperation. He grabbed Hidan's wrist, stopping the pike from moving any further, and then gripped the Jashin priest by the neck, choking him furiously as he attempted to wring the pike from the man's hands.
But Hidan held fast, grinning as he choked, uttering a horrible laugh as he did. With youth on his side, he overpowered Benedictus quickly. He broke the old man's nose with a headbutt and threw him off, before lifting the pike and licking the blood off the end, almost sensuously.
He then produced the dagger again, and slit his own throat.
Blood was released in a gushing spray, coating the floor before Hidan. His face twisted in ecstasy, and he produced a few spluttering sounds like laughs, or maybe moans of pleasure, as he moved into the center of the sanguine pool and dragged his feet through it.
Then Benedictus was on him again, his hands glowing a bright gold. Hidan backed away, sliding across the floor as gracefully as a dancer, as Benedictus pursued. The old man, wheezing, his face twisted in anger, lashed out with his glowing hands, making for Hidan's throat again. His hands grasped wounded flesh, making it hiss as Hidan's skin was broiled by the intensely hot chakra; the wound was cauterized, but it hardly dissuaded Hidan. He grabbed the old man's hand and threw it aside, sliding past him, back towards the largest pool. Benedictus followed, smashing his hands against Hidan's face and chest, desperation tainting every moment, making it far less smooth than before, and far less effective. Hidan did not stop, his eyes filled with glee. Benedictus made a seal, taking in a deep breath, but Hidan was already there, completing with a single step the last of a circle, surrounding a bloody triangle.
"TOO LATE!" Hidan roared, arms spread, eyes wide.
Benedictus released the built up chakra he had, letting the jutsu fail, but even as he did, he rushed at Hidan and threw all his weight into the Jashin priest. He had to get him out of the circle; he had to or else—
It was not one step from reaching Hidan that white-hot, blinding pain erupted into being along Benedictus' thigh, making him stumble, nearly crashing into Hidan, who gripped the man by the throat, and pulled him up, staring straight into his face.
"Hurts, doesn't it?" he, breathing a coppery stench into the man's face, his mouth wide with glee. His face had changed. His face was no longer pale and young, but a mask of black, ageless—his skin was carved of pure darkness, in contrast to the bone-white now painted on his face and neck and chest, visible beneath the cloak; a pattern clearly resembling the bones of the human body, but so intricate and ornate that they could have been the bones themselves visible through the utter blackness of his skin. Hidan had become something every man feared, and no man desired.
But Hidan did not fear it, and desired it enough to become it.
He pulled the dagger from his leg, twisting it violently. Benedictus grit his teeth, and did not cry out, but longed to. It was pain beyond pain, pain beyond what a physical wound could produce. Red covered the front of his robes, appearing down his leg like blossoming flowers.
"That's the best part of the curse," Hidan said. "You can feel even more pain than normal. Pain is amazing, isn't it?" He dragged the blade up his own cheek, but the only blood that was visible was coming from Benedictus' face.
"Pain is the best thing in the world," Hidan continued. He thrust Benedictus away from him. The old man fell to the floor, gasping. "It's something, like death, that you can always count on. It's something eternal, you know? But it also has so many varieties…you know? That's what I love about it. And it can cause so many things. It's the route by which my practice is made true. The evil in the hearts of men is so easily brought out by pain, any kind of it. I mean, just look at you!" Hidan stooped down, staring right into Benedictus' eyes.
"Earlier, when Kakuzu broke the girl's neck, there was such pain in your eyes that it was glorious. I'd heard that you were really powerful, but when clouded by pain, you're not so tough, are you?" He grinned. "Just goes to show how pathetic your religion really is. You don't even seek to embrace that which is strongest in this world. Pain is the most powerful force in existence. Right alongside death, at least." He stood up again, dragging the dagger lazily across his chest, cutting a deep slash straight across it. Benedictus gagged, and twitched violently on the floor, but again, he did not cry out.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kylia caught this situation. She gasped, wanting to rush to the old man's aid, but Kakuzu seized his chance at the girl's distraction.
At the big Akatsuki member's movement, Shino spat another bullet beetle straight towards him. But Kakuzu was quick, and was at Kylia's side in less than a heartbeat, grasped the girl by the neck and began to squeeze. The bullet beetle struck his arm, and another followed a second later, but neither did much to stop Kakuzu's vicious assault. Kylia gagged, going purple, her eyes wide and her mouth open and gasping for air that would not come. Hinata was striking Kakuzu with everything she had, aiming for his head this time. But he was constantly dodging, and putting Kylia in front of her strikes. Hinata was desperate, horrified. The girl would die if she weren't soon freed!
Shino aimed another bullet beetle, but this time, Kakuzu didn't let him. The giant swung his free hand out, and somehow, it leapt from his arms across the room and grasped Shino by the neck, throwing him back into the wall. Then, it also began to squeeze.
Hinata was aghast. Kakuzu's arm now extended the length of the room, attached to his body by a series of black cords as thick as fingers. The discovery of the secret to his shifting organs did nothing, however, but make her realize how desperate this situation was. This man was not human; he couldn't be—so how did she fight him?
-
Hidan twirled his pike, grinning down at Benedictus. "Where should I put it, I wonder? Should I go for the other leg? Or maybe the neck, and with a follow up of the heart? There are so many places to put this," he laughed, and punctured his thigh again. Benedictus gasped, but finally managed to look up at the Jashin priest, his eyes full of golden hate.
"Disgusting," he said aloud. "Disgusting…you…call yourself…human?"
"Who cares?" said Hidan.
"Such…a…putrid…practice…" Benedictus said. "To take…such…joy…in…this."
Hidan's smile failed. "You don't know when to quit, do you? I've one, and you're still knockin' my faith? The fuck's wrong with you?" He lifted the pike, and held its point to his chest, over his heart. "I guess I'll just shut you up right now, you know? Be a hell of a lot easier than listening to you talk."
Kylia couldn't breath. All the energy was gone from her limbs, limp and dead by her sides. Her vision was blurred, darkening, and she knew that she would be dead soon enough. She couldn't stop it. She couldn't fight anymore, and she hated it, because she wouldn't get to see her mistress again, if even just for a second. She found herself mouthing Kira's name, but unable to say it, unable to utter more than a gurgle from her flattened windpipe. Kakuzu would not let go, would not let up, a waterfall of pain, resistant to all changes, ever-flowing, ever producing. She closed her eyes.
And all at once, she could breathe.
There was a vicious growling in her ear—Tsuwabuki was there, her jaws clamped on Kakuzu's arm, her amber eyes wide with rage. Another white animal—a dog, as big as the silver fox—had clamped its mouth around Kakuzu's neck, and was clawing his back, growling against his flesh. Kakuzu had dropped Shino, his extended arm recoiling back, and then falling limp halfway back; he released Kylia, who lay limp for a moment, as feeling rushed back to her limbs and she gathered enough strength to push herself away from the fighting giant. Neither animal would let go, even as Kakuzu swung them around. With his iron skin, they couldn't have been causing much damage, so why was he flinging them around with such force, such desperation? And why wasn't he moving?
Kakuzu's eyes were wide, but with the rest of his face hidden, it was impossible to tell whether from surprise, pain or fear; but his attempts turned frighteningly desperate, even as they slowed and he began to slump, and he managed to sluggishly totter towards the door, hoping to dash the animals off against the wall.
He didn't manage it.
A dozen bullet beetles hit him in the chest. He staggered back; Hinata was instantly before him, in perfect stance, her arms stretched out.
'Kaiten'
There was a rush ofchakra, exploding outwards from Hinata, striking Kakuzu full in the chest. The Akatsuki member flew, striking the wall with such force that it burst beneath him, flying outwards into the darkening sky.
Kakuzu made no sound as he fell out of sight.
-
Hidan stopped. He suddenly couldn't move, couldn't perform the last strike that would finish his enemy. He tried again, tried to thrust it into his heart, but neither the blade, nor his arms, would move. He stared wildly up.
Kira was standing at the edge of the room, near the door, her arms held out, her eyes dead set upon him. They were as clear a violet as the darkening sky, with as much force as Benedictus' furious glare. Hidan grit his teeth, wanting to speak, but unable to.
"Master?" she cried. "Are you alright?"
Benedictus also couldn't speak, or move. She glanced at him once or twice, seeing his body shaking, but he did not move or say anything. She asked again, but again there was no response. Her eyes went back to Hidan. Though he couldn't move, his eyes were broiling with righteous hate, which was swiftly being born to animalistic fury. She could feel his desire to break free, and it grew more intense by the second as she stared into his dark, blood-filled eyes. He looked like a monster, a cruel mockery of even Sylvanas' Forsaken with his bone-like markings and black skin. She had felt hate like it—worse, even, from the Scarlet Crusade—but to have it so focused on her was another thing entirely, and she struggled to keep her grip on Hidan's body. If he were freed, it would take only a second for him to kill Benedictus. She bit her lip. What was she going to do now?
She glanced at Benedictus again, so close to Hidan's feet—there she saw the symbol drawn in blood, which Hidan stood over. Her heart pumped ever louder. She glanced at Hidan, and then at the symbol, and then at Hidan again. His eyes flicked to the ground, for but a fraction of a second, and then back to her.
She moved forwards—not quickly, but not slowly—until she was but a foot away from him. Still holding out one hand, she removed the pike from his hands—it slid as if he had no hold on it. She tossed it away, and then stood full in front of him. She would have only a second, if she were correct. She glanced down at Benedictus.
The golden eyes were shining.
Kira turned back, and then with all of her mind, she pushed.
Hidan was thrown back, out of the circle. Benedictus gasped, and bellowed.
"Finish him, Kira!"
Kira's hands were blurs as she wove the string of hand seals. She thrust them out again.
'Holy Judgment'
Streams of golden light exploded from Kira's body, all around her, as if she were a beacon lighting up in the dark; the streams then converged, in seconds, on a single point—Hidan.
The light blasts did not quite tear him apart. They removed him of both his arms, and riddled his torso with holes, gouging out huge chunks of his blackened skin and spraying the entire room with thick, dark blood. A beam seared his neck almost in two, and then another took his head off completely, while the rest riddle his body so full of holes that it was less a body and more negative space than anything. This remainder dropped in a heap, gushing blood, smoking like a wet fire.
Kira gasped, sagging forwards. Her chakra was nearly spent, with that attack and holding Hidan for so long. She turned around quickly, so as not to stare at what remained of the Akatsuki member.
Benedictus was trying to stand. Kira quickly bent down to help, but he waved her off.
"Stop," he said. His eyes were focused behind her. "Is he dead?"
Kira swallowed. "Does he look it?"
"Quite."
"Then he must be," she said.
Benedictus did nothing—he simply stared past her at the bloody rags and pile of flesh and bones.
"K-Kira…" Kylia coughed from across the room, before attempting to feebly stumble over, and failing miserably. Hinata stopped her fall, and supported her across the room, to where Kira stood.
"Kylia," Kira gasped, touching the girl on the shoulder. She did not ask the girl if she was alright—the purple bruises on her neck, shaped like a hand, told her that. Kira smiled at her, however, and pulled the girl into a half-hug, half-support. She threw a grateful look at Hinata, but no words passed between them.
Shino was resting against the door, Akamaru licking his face and whining. Tsuwabuki was gazing out the hole the Kakuzu had fallen from, and did not move from that spot, even when Kira called her.
"What happened to him?" Kira asked.
"W-we don't know," Kylia said.
"Fools," Benedictus said. "Always confirm whether your enemy is finished or not."
Shino glanced over. "My bugs," he said aloud, "say that he is not where he landed. He is gone."
"Where?" Kira asked.
"To where he came from, perhaps," said Benedictus. Then his eyes widened. "Or perhaps not."
Kira turned. He was standing there, not ten feet from her. She had not heard him once, and he bore no wound other than tears on his sleeves and a few rips on his stomach where Hinata had hit him with the Kaiten.
He clutched something in his hand, which dripped darkness in a constant stream. His eyes were narrowed, black as pits, soulless as machines.
"Good god, you are all such trouble. No wonder he wants you dead," he said, evenly. "Hidan, I told you not to die."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP, KAKUZU!" a voice bellowed from behind the giant. Kira froze. How—?
"Even without a body, you're as loud as ever, Hidan," Kakuzu said, not even bothering to turn to acknowledge the disembodied head by his feet, as he kept his eyes warily on Kira and the two animals. "The poison barbs that silver fox has are impressive, I'll admit. They pierced me before I had even realized I was being attacked." What praise, Kira scoffed. She still couldn't make out what was in the man's hand, dripping like that.
"You take far too long in everything you do, Hidan," Kakuzu said. "Finish this quick. We can't allow it to last any longer."
"Fuck! I know! Just shut the hell up and help me up! This fucking hurts, a lot, you bastard!"
"I thought you enjoyed it." But even as he said that, Kakuzu had raised his hands. The thing he clutched became visible, as he performed a hand seal, using Hidan's severed hand as the second half.
'Blood Resurrection'
The pool around Hidan surged, up, circling Kakuzu in a bloody whirlwind. Benedictus shouted for someone to stop him, and Kira reacted first, raising her hands to perform another jutsu.
But it had ended just as quickly as it had started. Kakuzu emerged from the bloody storm, making straight for Kira. She changed tactics immediately, calling a shield up around her and Benedictus.
But Kakuzu changed too. He swerved past them, swinging at Hinata, who twisted, releasing a burst of chakra as she spun, but not fast enough. Kakuzu's strike was so powerful that she was thrown back, cracking against the wall that Shino rested near, and blacking out immediately. Kylia tried to attack, a pair of glittering knives flickering into her hands, but Kakuzu was too fast. Threads of black burst from beneath his cloak, coiling around her wrists and piercing her skin all the way up her arms. The knives imbedded beneath her skin clattered to the ground, as she screamed in pain and fought to free herself once more.
Kira whirled with Kakuzu's movement, but Benedictus shouted to focus behind her. She turned again, and saw that the blood cloud had vanished, and Hidan was there, fully intact, his teeth glowing white against his terribly black skin.
"Die, heathen!"
The black scythe flew.
-
Akamaru and Tsuwabuki attacked, Shino right behind them. A howling blast hit Kakuzu in the chest, while Akamaru attacked the cords with his fangs and claws; but they were like iron, and did not break no matter how much vicious tearing he did, even as more wrapped around him, and began to invade his skin. He broke off his attack, growling, and then whimpering, as the black cords tore there way through him, moving towards his heart. Tsuwabuki attacked again, but it was as ineffective as the first—it merely ruffled Kakuzu's torn cloak. She snarled, and made for his throat, her silver fur glinting like knife blades. Shino was behind her, his hands out in both directions.
'Kuchiyose no jutsu'
Clouds of smoke exploded from his hands, engulfing him entirely. Kakuzu immediately ignored Tsuwabuki, and detached himself from Kylia and Akamaru, the black cords shrinking back into his body. He flung the girl and dog away, unconscious. A huge black claw emerged from the smoke Shino had created, and a hideous buzzing sound filled the room, so piercing that as unshakable as he seemed, even Kakuzu shrunk away.
A beetle, three times as large as a horse and cart, bent down and snapped Kakuzu up in jaws as long as a man. The jaws could have sliced a normal man in two within half a second, and even with his iron skin, Kakuzu was struggling to free himself, that tinge of desperation returning to his movements.
'Out,' Shino said to his summon, in a manner that only he and the creature could understand—a humming not unlike what the creature was emitting. 'Take him out of here.'
The beetle screeched a response only Shino would understand, and crashed through the wall, into the evening air. It fell two stories, the ground shaking with its landing. Still it clutched Kakuzu in its jaws, buzzing furiously, and still the Akatsuki member struggled making no sound at all.
Shino flung himself from the wall, landing beside his summon on the grassy ground. He wondered how much it would take to remove the iron skin, if it was possible. He had to end it quickly, because experience had shown him that this man was as tenacious as a mosquito seeking nourishment.
And because he would not let the man who had caused his teacher and friends so much pain to live any longer.
He hummed to his insect again. "Kill him. Quickly."
It responded with a buzz, and then Kakuzu began to cry out, as it increased the pressure twofold. Shino could hear a crack somewhere above him, and he had to remove his sunglasses to see properly what it was—Kakuzu had stopped moving. There was no life left in his body—it hung limply in the insect's jaws.
Good, he thought. But, to be sure…
He hummed again. The beetle gave a decisive, final snap, and Kakuzu's body fell in two pieces, spraying thick, deeply black blood. It fell in two thumps on the ground, and Shino saw no more movement from them.
Kira dodged. The scythe swept past her, over Benedictus. She raised her hands, and took a breath.
'Holy Bolt'
She flung out a hand. A shaft of light struck Hidan in the chest, and the ground was coated in blood again, though Hidan didn't fall this time.
Instead, he laughed.
"What are you trying to do, exactly, girl? Kill me?" He snickered. "It's impossible. Totally impossible! You can't kill something that's immortal!"
"He's wrong," said Benedictus. "He is not immortal."
Hidan glanced at him. "Oh?"
"That's his secret, Kira. That is his ritual. It does not only kill the user, but each time he drinks a person's blood, he drains their life force as well. Blood is life, haven't I told you that? Even though it only takes a single drop of blood to do it, he can somehow extend his own life beyond a normal human's. Each drop grants him their life. That is his secret—he steals life from them, shielding his own." Benedictus coughed, and fell back, gasping, completely spent from his revelation. But he was smiling even so. He had said what he had needed to.
Hidan was very quiet, but he was not still. He was walking forwards, staring emotionlessly at the old man. For once, his emotions were nowhere near his sleeve.
Then, he smiled—first grimly, then mockingly, and then manically.
"So you figured it out, huh? Good for you. Doesn't change a thing, you know? Sure, I take life from people I kill, using my ritual. You're pretty smart, old man." He twirled his hand, recalling the scythe, and he kept walking, very slowly. "But you know what? If you're so smart, then you must know what happened to all the other members of my faith, you know? They're all dead, right? Wanna know why that is?" He grinned, his smile like a half-moon against the night sky of his face.
"Because I killed them. With my ritual. Now, tell me what that means, you old geezer?"
Benedictus had gone white. Kira had as well, as she stepped back, trembling, away from the slowly advancing monster.
"That's right. All of those lives they had taken, all of their 'immortality' is now mine. That's thousands—millions, maybe, of lives for me to use, and I can always get more. There's no way you'll be able to kill me that many times, not even in a lifetime. Stupid, did you really think," his red eyes leered at Kira, "that I'd be so easily killed, after all that? So what're you going to do now, huh? What? Just try and stop me—just try! Jashin-sama be praised, I will enlighten these complete fuckers, and bathe in their blood! Let me slaughter them all!"
With this glorious bellow he swung the scythe at Kira's head. She stepped back to dodge, but stumbled, tripping over the black pike she had removed from him earlier, losing precious seconds as the scythe whirled at her, close enough to take her fair head off.
But the scythe did not reach her.
It stopped, or was forced to stop, with its blade a foot from Kira's head. Quivering with the force of the stop and emitting a metallic hum, the weapon hung in mid-air, the topmost blade clutched between two fingers belonging to an exhausted Sakura, who shook with the effort of stopping such a powerful blow.
Hidan's eyes widened. "The hell…?" He hadn't even seen her!
Kira stared at Sakura. "What—?"
"Don't sound too happy," said Sakura, keeping her eyes on Hidan. "I didn't just run up three flights of stairs to save you, or anything."
"Bitch!" Hidan snapped, trying to wrench the blade free, but found that he couldn't at all. How strong was she?
"Shut it," said Sakura, her eyes flashing. "I'm not in the mood." She wrenched the weapon from his hands, with barely a flick of her wrist. She followed it with a bone-breaking punch to Hidan's gut, throwing the man clear across the room and into the altar, which exploded from the contact. Sakura then bent the weapon and tossed it away, her body quivering with effort and exhaustion.
"You don't have to thank me," said Sakura, to Kira, who stood numbly behind her. "I can tell you're grateful." Despite her exhaustion, she was smirking, and it brought Kira back to her senses enough to shiver and then remember the situation they were in.
"Wait," she said, "he's not down, not yet."
Sakura blinked, and looked to the ruined altar. Hidan was up, his chest heaving, his body covered in splinters and oozing blood from a number of orifices; yet not one step wavered as he rushed to give his counterattack, drawing another dagger from the folds of his cloak, his fast twisted in rage.
"Die bitch!"
"Don't let him cut you, not even once!" Kira shouted.
Sakura barely registered the words before she attacked, but they hit just in time to avoid a cruel slice across her chest. She punched Hidan again, this time in the arm, which broke in a vicious crack—but Hidan didn't waver. He spun with the force of the hit and hammered her in the face with his fist, aiming for her nose. The hit struck her cheek instead, and though it was jarring, it drew no blood. Sakura ignored it and struck back, this time in the chest. Hidan flew once more, cracking the wall with his impact.
But again he recovered, as if the fatal strike were no more than a scratch. Sakura stared at him wildly, unable to move from horror. Just what was this guy? How could he—?
"You can't kill him normally," said Kira, gasping. "He has thousands of lives within him—he won't die just like that."
"Then how—?"
"I don't know," said Kira, softly. She glanced back at Benedictus; the old man lay unconscious now, unable to keep himself awake from the effort.
"I just don't know."
Shino looked at the silver fox by his side, whose wise eyes were shifting from him to the remainders of Kakuzu behind him, staining the grass even darker. She seemed edgy, and growled for his attention.
"He's dead," he said.
Tsuwabuki growled again. He turned his attention to the body, and though he told himself it wasn't possible, he thought it best to err on the side of caution, and walked over, very slowly. He met Kakuzu's front half first; one look into the bottomless eyes, wide and staring, told him what he needed to know. But he had to make sure.
He stooped down, reaching to touch the man's chest.
Somewhere above him, he heard a crash. He stopped and glanced back. No. He had to get back, if he didn't, Kira-dono might lose. He stood and hummed to his beetle.
'Up,' he said. 'We must help her.'
Shino leapt onto its back as it scuttled up the wall, moving faster than a creature its size should. He was nearing the top when he heard a sound below—Tsuwabuki's growling, though far louder, and a few frantic barks.
He turned.
There was a blinding flash from below—and suddenly Shino's body seized up, pain flashing through it so quickly and so brutally that he had no time to register where it came from, and then he was falling. He hit the ground on his back, barely registering the pain from it, his body shaking and numb. His heart beat wildly and his thoughts rushed and tripped over each other, and he couldn't think until a dark face loomed over him, so high up it might have been from a mountaintop.
He saw the dark eyes, white against black, staring down at him.
How…?
"Almost, boy," Kakuzu said. "But you should have checked while you had the chance."
Shino's vision was then blotted out—there was a rush of pain, a vicious crack, and then nothing at all.
Above this, Kira's mind raced. There was nothing in front of her, no discernible solution to this problem. They couldn't last much longer, and if Shino failed below, then they might have to deal with the other one as well, and she knew that he would be even worse than Hidan. But how did you stop someone like Hidan? She remembered again, that when he had been torn apart, he had relied on Kakuzu to repair him. Could that be true always? Maybe they only had to disable him, to remove his ability to move, and not kill him?
His head, she thought. If she took off his head, then there would be no way he could move after that.
"His head," she said to Sakura.
The girl gave the barest of nods; evidently, she'd already thought of that.
"My head?" Hidan sneered. "That all you can think of? Not gonna work. I'll just pick it up again, whore."
Kira grit her teeth, unwavering—but she saw that Sakura was having second thoughts.
"Don't doubt it, he's lying," she said. He had to be. There was no way he could control his body when his head was disconnected from it. Right?
Sakura glanced briefly back, but nodded again.
"Your funeral," Hidan said. He twirled his dagger. "But I guess I could end this before you even try, you know?"
He grinned, and lifted the dagger. Both Kira and Sakura tensed, even as he drove the dagger into his chest, and wrenched it down, opening a wound all the way down his chest.
Blood flowed out, not like a stream, but a cloud. It rose up, bulging and pulsing like a hideous worm, growing ever larger as it moved out. Hidan's eyes were wide with ecstasy, but he was screaming in agony. And laughing, and hideous, high-pitched laugh, as the lives flooded from his body.
Kira felt them—a sudden deluge of the most hideous feelings she had ever experienced. Not even the ever-changing emotions of Demetria matched the waves of despair that flooded from Hidan's body, mixing in the air with the feelings of his own pleasure, like two distinctly different flavors combining in a vomit-inducing dish not fit to be served even in the poorest of homes. Thousands upon thousands of people suddenly filled the room, and for Kira, it was almost too much to stand.
The cloud stopped gushing, and now hovered a few feet above Hidan, touching the ceiling, which began to melt at its touch. Hidan was grinning, and held out his hand to the bulging blob. His hand began to hiss when he touched it, but he showed no signs of pain, only pleasure.
"It's all in the blood," he said, softly. "Can you feel it? The pain? Isn't it glorious? This pain will never end, not for any of them. That's what I so love about it." He grinned. "It's so eternal."
He slammed his hands together in a seal.
'Dance of the Dead'
The bloody blob burst, flinging shards of deadly blood across the room. Kira threw up a shield, protecting herself, Sakura and Benedictus, but the caustic rain began to melt through it almost as soon as she did. Her eyes went wide, and she nearly lost her grip on the jutsu.
"Watch out!" Sakura cried.
Hidan was moving again, against the rain, towards them. He brandished his dagger, leering.
"Let me out!" Sakura shouted.
The rain had stopped. Kira dropped the shield.
Hidan laughed. "NO GOOD!"
He raised his hands; a single blob rushed leapt from the ground, attaching itself to Sakura's leg. She bit off a scream, shaking the blood off, but it was gone. It detached itself, and sailed at Hidan, who opened his mouth and devoured the blob. He stopped—and the blood pooled around him, forming a circle with a single triangle within.
"NO!" Kira bellowed.
"DIE!" Hidan roared.
'Psychic Scream'
Hidan dropped his dagger, and his eyes bulged. A soundless scream, worse than a banshee's prophetic cry or a harpy's wrathful screech, exploded throughout the room—but only he could hear it. It was overwhelming, beyond anything he could ever have imagined. A terror that he had not known since his childhood, locked away in those cloistered black walls deep in those dark mountains where he had trained for years, seeped in death and destruction to become both incarnate, exploded into being within him. He cried out, not in pain, but in fear, for the first time since those dark days, where his fragile, finite innocence had been stripped away. Nothing worth having was finite. Nothing. Everything had to be infinite, eternal. Pain. Pain was eternal, he had discovered. Yes, that was it. Pain. And death. Everything died. That was it! Death was unstoppable! He stumbled back, scrambling away from that renewed fear, a fear that had only plagued him as a heathen, a mortal. But it hadn't been fear for long.
How could you fear something you sought to become?
Kira noticed it in a heartbeat. She had not done it, and she looked at Sakura—the girl was standing there, unafraid, her hands still holding the seal. She had no time to wonder how Sakura knew that technique because she knew that it didn't last, especially for those like Hidan, filled with such conviction and zeal.
"Behind him!" she shouted to Sakura. The girl moved, rushing towards the frightened man, who had suddenly realized that he had nothing to be afraid of. He had become his fear. He had mastered it! He snapped from his trance, lifted his dagger, and plunged it into his heart.
'Power Word: Seal'
Kira's hands emitted a bluish glow, as she pushed them to the floor; lines of runic writing flowed from her hands, as clear blue as the afternoon sky, and scuttled across the floor, over Hidan's bloody symbol, and up his legs and thighs, wrapping around his stomach, chest and arms, and then his head. He issued a soundless scream, perhaps because of thejutsu, perhaps because of the simply amazing pain rushing through him.
His eyes were wide with unimaginable pleasure. Another life taken. Another life for his faith.
Then he felt hands on his head, one around his neck, the other wrapped over his forehead. They were soft, effeminate, and small enough to be a child's.
His eyes glanced down, for a fraction of a second. He stood not an inch from his symbol, his foot nearly touching the edge, but still out, still ineffective.
He uttered a curse, but it was lost amidst the sickening tearing sound of his head being twisted from his neck, the spine cracking and breaking and the blood gushing and splattering against Sakura's face and her own snarl of fury as she ended the fight, just like that.
Hidan's body twitched, and slumped back against Sakura, as she stumbled back, dropping the head and gagging against the deluge of blood that had assailed her. Hidan's head rolled a good distance from his body, its eyes closed, its face frozen, covered in glowing blue markings. His black skin faded to normal, as Hidan's curse was sealed away by Kira's jutsu.
Sakura stood, shaking with disgust and adrenaline, staring wide-eyed at Hidan's unmoving body. She then glanced up, at Kira.
The girl was smiling.
She felt relief; the tension flowed from her body, and she nearly joined Hidan on the floor, but just barely managed to keep herself standing, which was good, or else she never would have seen it.
Near the wall, near the hole, a black shadow, suddenly moving. She had no time to shout, no time to move. Kakuzu was suddenly behind Kira, his arms stretching around her head, ready to do what he had intended to do from the start. Sakura caught only a glimpse of his eyes in the darkness, and they would haunt her for years to come.
Then Kakuzu stopped, a second away from snapping Kira's neck. His eyes went wide. Sakura could just see it, glinting from the gap in Kakuzu's cloak: a silvery-white blade.
Kira had seen Sakura's start, and had turned, but by the time she had, it was already over. Kakuzu stumbled back, stunned, and then slumped to the ground, Naruto's sword sticking from his back, the boy himself standing behind the giant, half-obscured by shadows. Black markings faded from the boy's face as he stepped away from Kakuzu, looking at Sakura and then Kira.
"Oi," he said, gasping, "you alright?"
Again, a short chapter, but they'll be shorter from now on. I got a lot of things coming up in the next few weeks—exams mostly, so I am going to have to shorten them considerably if you guys want them. I realize that some of you like longer chapters, but what's the point of longer chapters if you have to read them so far apart? I'll try to get one out in the next week, as well.
Tell me how it went—I particularly like this chapter, though I don't know why.
Also, for those annoyed at Naruto's screen time, don't worry, it'll pick up in the next few chapters. He's got a big fight ahead of him, as you might know…
And what is to become of Hidan? Is it down for the count? Who knows…?
Hope you enjoyed it!
General Grievous
Next Chapter: The Badlands, Blackrock Spire, Stormwind.