Stage Twenty Three: Damn It…

I found myself throwing belongings into a spare backpack violently: a portion of the clothes that remained, some money, toiletries, small, seemingly worthless trinkets; things that would make me look like a vagabond. I would portray a woman drifting from country to country, place to place with her companion. We weren't Shinobi. We didn't have a home, and we did small jobs to fund our journey.

I packed several pouches full of weapons to be placed on my person in strategic places. Also, I had to be right handed for the time being. Orochimaru thinks that my being left handed makes it easier to point me out. So, for several weeks, I'm going to be slightly more awkward in handling things, and my writing will be rather messy.

I didn't know what I was going to do with Hidan. He was showering when I got back into the room, and he was taking a long one. Night was falling fast, and tomorrow morning, I would be gone. I didn't know how he would handle that. Hell, I didn't even know how I was going to handle the next eight hours!

"Where are you going in a hurry?" Hidan called from the bathroom doorway. I chanced a glance in his direction. It was a mistake. He stood there, dripping wet and clad only in a towel. His hair was a mess, and there was still steam in the bathroom, which was pouring into the bedroom from behind him.

"Oh, God; Hidan, please go put some clothes on!" I covered my eyes as I turned my head back towards my backpack.

"You hypocritical bitch; I didn't scream at you to get dressed when you got out of the shower wearing nothing but a towel." He folded his arms across a chiselled chest. That man could have been sculpted from marble by Jashin himself, just to tempt women, snaring them into a murderous trap.

"You walked in on me!" I shouted. "I didn't have a choice in the matter."

"Yeah, and you still don't, so quit your bitching." He crossed the room, dropped the towel, and sat on my bed. "You didn't answer my question."

"Get your naked ass off my bed," I growled.

"Too late, I already sat down. The damage is done. What can you do?" he asked, pulling the blanket around himself. It provided only moderate privacy.

"You're getting my bed wet, asshole," I pointed out.

He laughed. "Yeah, I am, but only on my side."

"Your side?" I asked. "Your side; no, you don't have a side. That is my bed, no matter which side you happen to be on. My bed, my pillows, my blankets, my sheets; and you're violating it!" I threw my backpack at him, hoping one of the glass trinkets would break open his skull.

I was satisfied when I heard a solid thud against his forehead. However, the fact that his expression hadn't changed quickly killed that feeling. He caught the bad before it had dropped to the bed below.

"If you won't tell me, your things might." He roughly opened the drawstrings and began pulling everything out.

I quickly made for the bag. I grabbed one of the straps when he grabbed my wrist.

"Let go of me, Hidan." I pulled my wrist away from him.

He held on tighter. "I don't think I will."

I tried pulling away once more, and he only pulled me closer. I felt cornered. All the things I could do wouldn't affect him. He likes pain. He won't die. I felt trapped, and he could see it. I felt more vulnerable knowing that the love for my mother isn't even there to stop him.

There was one thing I could try, without guaranteed success. My right hand slid into my kunai pouch situated very high on my thigh, out of his sight. I kept pulling on my left, making sure his attention was elsewhere. I felt the cold blade in my hand, and drew it to my side. Making sure the blade was concealed by my wrist and hand I brought it to his hand holding onto me with a death grip. My left was going numb.

His howl of pain was enough to tell me I hit my mark. His hand went limp; he no longer had control of it. I severed the tendon in his wrist. Blood was everywhere. I knew he wasn't going to die from it, but there was just so much.

I took my pack out of the range of his spray and left the room. "Heal yourself, Hidan," I muttered. I made the mental note to burn that set of sheets. It caused me to swear; they were my favourite.

LATER

Orochimaru was waiting for me at the Valley of the End. He had taken the liberty of disguising himself already. It was the same disguised form that Sasori had came to me in, only instead of wearing jounin garb he wore dark pants and a long sleeve cotton shirt. His hair was pulled back and high up, leaving strands to frame his younger looking face. He looked softer in this form, less menacing.

He pulled a picture from his pocket. "This is who you will be portraying. Make the change quickly." He tucked the photo away.

"If I don't study it longer, I will be more likely to make a mistake, Sensei."

"Do not call me Sensei on this mission, and likewise, I will not refer to you as I once had. I am no longer your sensei. You are no longer a Shinobi. Make the change."

I began to protest, but he held up a hand.

"If I wanted a perfect copy of her, I would have gotten a better photo, and given it to you last night." He glared at me. "Make the change."

I pulled the hand signs needed and felt my hair change, shooting back into my skull. My eyes felt duller, my vision less sharp. My ears heard less than they had. I felt clumsier, meaning I probably was. I never liked transforming for these reasons. The people I became had lesser senses than me.

Once I looked passably like the girl in the photo; enough to where if someone saw the picture, they'd draw a connection to me, Orochimaru handed me a kunai.

"What's this for?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes. "Your hair; make it shorter."

I pulled my hair back at the base of my skull and ran the kunai through it. It now was extremely short in the back, and angled down to my shoulder in front. I looked into the water and evened it out, ignoring the green eyes staring at me from the reflection.

"Is this satisfactory?"

"Yes," he answered. "You will address me as Hakuja from now until the duration of our mission is over. You will be known as Yukihori from now on. I will simply address you as Yuki, or Yuki-chan. Likewise, you have permission to call me Haku, or Haku-kun. The closer our relation appears the better for us. We will share a room at inns, walk side by side, and in every way be equals. Avoid confrontation at all times, unless necessary for our survival or the success of this mission. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Haku, I understand." I turned to jump from the statue, but he caught me.

"We go the long way," he stated. "A fall like that would kill us, Yuki-chan." The shift in dispositions was alarmingly instantaneous. He was no longer Orochimaru. Haku had taken over, and will be with me… but for how long?"

"Where are we going, Haku?" I back tracked from the statue to the road. This was going to take forever, I just knew it. Where ever we were going would take weeks. That's just getting there. Then there was the mission itself.

"We are going to see an old friend, dear," he answered. A slight smile crossed his lips. "She's in Konohagakure."

So that's it then. We were going to Konoha to scope out the new Hokage. I knew a little about Tsunade from Orochimaru's tales. I'm sure she's changed since she was thirteen, but she was a rough spun spitfire. From what he told me, she and Jirayah never got along.

Konoha: it made sense. We were disguised because everyone would recognize us, either alone or together. It wouldn't matter. I was vivid in everyone's mind, simply because I stood out in a crowd. He was Orochimaru. Celebrity status didn't help on covert missions. Tsunade was the replacement of the man he had murdered. She was also his old team mate. No one would know he was there, and only one person would recognize me.

My heart fell. Neji would know. He could tell everyone, or just one person and the whole operation would be blown. Even if he didn't tell anyone, I would be just as devastated. He has done so much for me already. He would be so disappointed to see me with Orochimaru. After all he offered for me, and I return to the scene of the crime with the criminal who committed it.

The Inn

I managed to slip away from 'Haku,' if only for a moment. He was sorting through papers. To what those papers go to, I have no idea. It appears Orochimaru couldn't leave his work at home.

The inn we stopped at had a hot spring, albeit co-ed. I knew he would be in shortly, after his work was done. Sure as I had thought that, the shoji from the shower room opened.

"Well, Bitch, you're in a mess."

"You're not the person I expected to find here," I admitted. "Why are you following me, Hidan?"

"Sorry I ruined your date. What, I'm too old for you, but a fifty year old man?" He barked a laugh at my expense.

"It's a long story, and one I am unwilling to tell." I ducked under the water and emerged on the other side. Hidan was one step ahead of me.

He stood in front of me, everything in full view. "I'm not asking for your excuses, bitch."

"Damn it, Hidan." I got up and turned from him, walking through the water to the other side. "What do you want?"

"How long do you think I've been here?" he asked. "Do you honestly think I'm clueless? I know what's he's doing."

"Oh, well, that's a giant relief. Glad you're in the loop then."

"Cut the crap, kid; it stinks." He sat down next to me, concealing his self once more. "What's his problem with you?"

I sighed. "I thought you said you were in the loop."

"I haven't been here that long, damn it." He tipped his head back and waved a hand at me. "Go on, kid."

"You had to ask. God, Hidan, you're nosy as hell. You'd have to know him to understand."

He shrugged. "Who says I don't?"

"You know how love is the greatest sin?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I told you that last night. You know, in bed?" He winked at me awkwardly.

"That's something you two have in common. Because of something someone said to spite both Orochimaru and myself, he thinks I've somehow fallen in love with him and is working to prove it."

Hidan just looked at me. "Well, do you?"

"That man is a monster. There's no way I could bring myself to love him. Besides, love isn't my forte."

"I could tell." He rotated his shoulders once. "You don't seem to be the steady dating type," he joked. His laugh rang loud around the spring.

"I'm glad my love life makes you laugh," I sneered.

He held up his hands in surrender. "I never said your love life was sucking, kid. I just said you didn't stick around. Word on the compound is that you're one hell of a lover."

My eyes widened. "Who the hell has been saying that?" I demanded.

"Hey, be chill, kid. It was merely a reference to the guy who blew a crater into the Akatsuki compound. Put him in line with Itachi, and Itachi said something about Sasuke, then there's the Orochimaru rumour you mentioned, and Deidara's obsessed with you having come and gone under his nose. How can rumours not come out about your love life?" He slid lower into the water. "To answer your question, it was Pein. Jack ass; he wants us to hate you for some reason."

I tucked my knees close to my chest. "That shouldn't be too hard for you to accomplish. I'm the offspring of the man who stole your woman, and the woman who double crossed you."

He grinned at me. "You just want to be murdered by my blade, don't you? Keep pushing, bitch."

"Why are you following me, Hidan?" I looked at him.

He looked back at me. "Simple: I have orders. It's best to make the boss man happy, no matter how badly it stinks. You're fuckin' valuable. He wants you, and he wants you alive, despite my 'hobbies and interests.'" He sighed, sinking even lower until the water was up to his ears. "I'm separating you from Orochimaru as soon as I get the chance. Well, sweet heart, I've got the chance. Orochimaru's gonna be busy for quite some time." He smiled at me. "I switched all his files around, and then shuffled them to hell. All the papers are in different folders, and all fucked up."

"So I guess this is it, then?" I stood up and walked towards the shower room doors.

"I can't hear you, wench," Hidan shouted at me. He watched me exit the hot spring, then slid completely under the water.