Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Last Airbender.
Bodyguard of Azula
Chapter 63: Ambushed and Being too late
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Bijū/spirit talking"
"Bijū/spirit thinking"
(Location: Naruto & Bee)
"And here we be at Unraikyō." Bee announced as they climbed up the last few steps. "I hope you'll enjoy your brief stay here, Naruto." They stepped up onto a wide circular plateau that had another set of stairs at the other end. Aside from that, they had quite the view of the surrounding area.
"It's a nice place, Bee." Naruto assured him, meaning every word of what he said. All around them were mountains that were cloaked or partially covered by clouds. Aside from a few paths below them, the rest of the valley floor was covered in water (idly, he wondered how cold the water was down below). But for some reason, he had a niggling feeling of discomfort in the back of his head. "But did we have to leave the others behind at Kumo?"
"When my brother says go, we must obey. Besides, I want some time alone with you, is that okay?" He replied.
The blonde made a face at him. "First off, I don't swing that way. Second, I have a girlfriend." That part bugged him a little. Once they had left the training ground after the last fight and went to the Raikage, he immediately ordered them to head to Unraikyō and wait (that last part didn't make sense to Naruto but he wasn't going to push it). The only problem was they had to leave at that exact minute. When Naruto tried to protest this, he was literally dragged out of the room by Bee.
The Kumo shinobi made a face back at him. "That wasn't funny, ya fool. It wasn't even cool."
"Do you see me laughing?" Naruto asked him in deadpan. They held the other's gaze before they both broke into grins and chuckled at the ridiculousness of it. In the two days it took to get to Unraikyō (not at shinobi speed, mind you. There was no rush), the two shinobi had gotten to know each other better. It wasn't a master-student bond by any means. It was more like an easy comradely (mostly due to the fact that they both had a Bijū inside themselves). "So where are we camping out while we supposedly 'wait' here?" The blonde asked, looking around, that niggling feeling still itching the back of his head.
"We'll be living up there." Bee pointed up past the next set of stairs. "My crib is up those stairs, where it's nice, cool and the dark eases your cares."
"…You live in a cave." Naruto summarized. It sounded like that to him. "But I'm not one to judge. I once spent three months living in a trench network for a siege that was supposed to only have taken a week." Ironically enough, he remembered those months fondly. He had met some decent people in those trenches.
"What was that like?" He asked. Throughout his entire career as a shinobi, he had never been in a trench (then again, he didn't need to be in a trench). So he was a little interested. "You must have some killer stories about those days and nights."
"There were a few. One of the things you learned quickly there was when someone said we had 'rocky weather' that either meant the trebuchets were going or the Earthbenders were up and about. Either way, it meant you had to keep your head down and move quickly." He smiled as he remembered something. "But there was always that one guy who would find a good spot to watch and give us a running commentary. He was so good, some of the higher-ups thought there was an earthquake going on, but actually it was just the entire trench network laughing our asses off."
"The man was really that good?"
"It was just the way he spoke during the entire thing. It's hard to imitate him without cracking up myself." He admitted. "Believe me, I've tried."
Bee let out an impressive whistle. That was truly a story was worth listening to later. But currently, he wanted to get to work. "Let's get going so I don't end boiling. We may not be able to do much here, but I want to be sure you'll get clear." He told Naruto before he started making his way over to the next set of stairs.
"Clear of what?" Naruto asked him. He didn't answer, making the blonde roll his eyes and go after him. As he walked, that feeling he had started to get worse. He could almost swear that there were eyes watching both him and his fellow Jinchūriki. "Bee, stop for a moment." He told the other shinobi.
He did and turned around to look at the blonde. "What is it? Fool, ya fool." He asked.
"Just hold on." He knelt down, closed his eyes, slammed his fist into the earth and felt the vibrations that were all around him. "I thought so." He said after a minute of kneeling like that, standing back up.
"What is it?" Bee asked, already on edge and ready to move or attack.
"We're not alone here."
(Location: Team Paragon)
"How close are we now?" Sokka asked as they made their way across a mountain pass. They had found out about Naruto leaving about a half a day after he did and they had left immediately.
"I'd say maybe three, four hours away." Jiraiya answered as he led the way, looking briefly at the map. The path was wide enough for two caravans to pass side-by-side. It was a bit hemmed in by the two mountains looming over them, but it was nothing really to worry about. According to Mabui, this part of the trail was safe from possible avalanches (it was about a day away from the village when the younger members of the team remembered that they should've asked which spots weren't safe).
"Good, because Naruto and I are going to have a talk," Azula said with an annoyed scowl.
"Still annoyed he left without telling you, huh?" June asked from atop Nyla. The shirshu was helping the Toad Sage find the path Naruto took (or as the bounty hunter had put it, "He's looking for his target practice.").
"Would it have hurt to at least leave a note?" She asked back. That much wouldn't have killed him.
"Trust me. That idea doesn't always work." Jiraiya told her without turning his head to look at her. "I made that mistake once and I was forced to spend the next five years hiding in another country because of one incredibly clingy lady." He suppressed a shudder as those memoires resurfaced. That was one scary lady.
"If I didn't know your track record with women and what happened in during that one month in Ba Sing Se, I might've felt pity for you, F.S.-sensei." Sokka told him in a dry tone. It was hard (really hard) to feel pity for the shameless super-pervert when it came to the opposite sex.
This time, he did look back. "That's easy for you to say, Sokka. You managed to find love when you were young." His tone was almost resentful, like he was jealous of what the Tribesman had. But there was something else there as well. There was a touch of sorrow in his voice.
However, only June noticed the sorrow. "Are you regretting something by any chance, Jiraiya?" She asked, half playful and half curious. "A past flame, by any chance?"
"That would be none of your business." He told her shortly. She took the hint and didn't push it.
They continued to make their way through the pass, the sounds of their feet echoing back and forth between the two mountains. It was a somewhat hurried pace as they wanted to hurry and reach Naruto before he disappeared on them again. But as they came to a turn, they saw someone that they didn't want to see. "Hello." Tobi casually greeted them. He stood in their path, along with another member of the Akatsuki.
The team instantly went on their guard. "What are you doing here?" Sokka demanded as he drew his Zanpakutō. Akela was at his side with his fangs bared and hackles raised.
"We're standing in the middle of the road, dipshit." The other Akatsuki member told him, hefting the red, triple-bladed scythe he carried onto his shoulder.
"Now, now, Hidan, they weren't asking us about that." Tobi admonished him. "To answer your question, we are here to stall you."
"What?" Suki asked, confused.
"You heard me. The Akatsuki are well aware that the Jinchūriki of the Hachibi and the Kyūbi are out of Kumo. And since we can't have you going to there to keep them safe at the moment, you need to be stalled." He explained, being a little insulting while he spoke.
But what he said alarmed them. "They sent someone after Naruto and Bee!" They all realized. "Move aside." Azula ordered, slipping into a Firebending stance.
"Did you not just hear what I said?" The masked shinobi asked her. "You need to be stalled. Why would we move aside?"
"So you're going to fight us?" June asked as she uncoiled her whip and Nyla hissed, readying his tongue.
A chuckle that infuriated them came from behind the mask. "Me? Oh no, I have much more important things to worry about then fighting you people. No, Hidan here will be taking care of that." He pointed to the other Akatsuki member. "I was just here to make sure you all realized the situation. Bye." The air around the hole in his mask began to swirl and distort. Within the second, Tobi had been drawn into the hole and disappeared.
Despite that, Sokka couldn't help but be impressed. "That's a neat trick." He stated. "I wonder how he does that."
"Not the time, Sokka." Jiraiya told him. "We need to get to Naruto and Bee!"
"You'll have to get past me first, morons." Hidan said with a smirk, taking his scythe off of his shoulder. "But before we do, I must pray." He reached into his cloak and pulled out a set of prayer beads. At the end of the beads was a symbol of a triangle inside a circle.
"The cult of Jashin!" exclaimed Jiraiya when he saw the symbol, his eyes going wide in surprise and anger. "I thought that cult was destroyed!"
"You thought wrong, old man." He sneered before closing his eyes and lifting the prayer beads. Sokka didn't waste any time. When he saw Hidan's eyes close, he lunged forward and plunged his Zanpakutō into the Akatsuki's chest, stabbing the heart.
"Let's go!" He told the others as he pulled his Zanpakutō out of Hidan's chest. They all quickly moved past the body, intent on getting to Naruto. But when they heard the sounds of something moving, they turned around and saw the Akatsuki stand back up.
"Ow, that hurt." He told them with a bored expression, even as the wound in his chest still leaked blood. "Didn't you know it's quite rude to attack someone when they're in the midst of praying?"
(Location: Naruto & Bee)
"Whoever's out there had better show themselves right now!" Naruto shouted aloud, his voice echoing throughout the valley. Both he and Bee were on their guard, waiting for any attacks. Bee kept looking around while Naruto focused on where he felt the vibrations tell there were people.
Then all of a sudden, those people, seven in total, appeared in front of them. "Impressive." One of the seven said. He looked almost exactly like five of the other six. They all had orange hair (at least five of them did, one was bald). Black piercings decorated their faces and ears. Their skin was pale and their eyes were a deep purple with a black, ripple-like sclera. The one way the one who was speaking stood was his short, spiky hair. "I had thought we would be undetected."
"I remember you." Bee declared, looking at the seventh person. "You were there at the Chūnin Exams and everyone thought you were there to take my Bijū."
"My name is Konan, in case you've forgotten." The blue-haired woman told him without batting an eyelash. She stood slightly apart from the other six, giving them more room.
"Then who are they?" Naruto asked, looking at the other six.
"We are Pain." The one who spoke before answered simply. "And we have come for you both." Without saying anything else, four of the six lookalikes charged forward while Konan and the other two held back. Naruto and Bee leapt to different sides, both throwing kunai at them. The one who spoke raised his hands and whispered "Shinra Tensei (Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God)." A barrier of sorts appeared around them and repelled the kunai, sending them spiraling back at the people who threw them.
"What the hell? How can he do that?" Naruto silently demanded as he ducked to avoid the kunai coming at him. "I've never seen the jutsu like that before."
"I have." The Kyūbi told him. There was nothing that indicated to Naruto that the fox was joking. If anything, he sounded stunned and shocked. "And I know those eyes."
"Are you sure?" He had figured out that they were akin to the Sharingan and the Byakugan, but that was about it.
"Of course I'm sure!" The Bijū snapped at him. "That's the Rinnegan and the last person I knew who had it was the Sage of the Six Paths."
Had he not been in combat, he would've stopped. "How deep of a shit are we here?" He finally asked after a minute.
"If you make a mistake, you're dead." The fox told him shortly.
"Is anything way you could help us out here? You're the one who told me repeatedly to gather information on your opponent." He pointed out.
"It's also been quite some time since I saw the Rinnegan in action, kit. I'll try to remember what I can, but I'm not the only Bijū here."
"Oh right!" He made his way over to Bee, deflecting strikes from the bald one (who threw some fairly good punches. If he wasn't careful, one of his arms might've been shattered). He drew the bald one's attention away with a flick of his hand and then directed a kick at his head with enough force behind to send it flying. And it would've worked, had he suddenly ducked his head down. Naruto would've paid more attention to it, had he not been trying to get Bee. The second the head ducked, he was over towards the Kumo shinobi. "Bee, pump the Hachibi for info." He told him. "They know those eyes."
"The kid's right." The Hachibi agreed. He started filling his Jinchūriki in, creating a small distraction.
And that small distraction was the one who spoke needed. "Banshō Ten'in (Heavenly Attraction of All of Creation)." He intoned, raising his hands. Suddenly, something that felt like a cold hand grabbed hold of them and started dragging the two towards him.
"Not good! Not good! Not good!" Naruto chanted as he tried to drag his feet and slow down. In the end, he pulled out a kunai with wire rope attached to the hilt and threw it behind him. When he heard the kunai strike the ground and felt the wire robe tightened up in his hands, he held onto the rope with all he could. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Bee was pretty much doing the same thing, only with his swords instead of a kunai.
They steadied themselves once they felt the grip disappeared. Naruto hissed in pain as he let go of the wire rope, as it had bitten into his skin. But he now knew something about that one. "So, you can attract something with a jutsu or repel something with a different jutsu." He thought to himself. "But can you stop another jutsu?" He flashed through the handseals. "Fūton: Daitoppa!" He inhaled and breathed the jutsu straight at the one who spoke. But instead of hitting him, the pudgy one landed in front of him and held out his hands. A white barrier appeared in front of him and when the jutsu hit the barrier, it was seemingly sucked into it."What the hell?" Naruto thought in surprise.
Bee took advantage of what Naruto tried to do. He had leapt into the air and aimed towards the four who had attacked him and Naruto, holding four of his swords. He would've been successful in lopping their heads off, had they not all stepped out of the way. He landed in the middle of them, but quickly realized his mistake and dropped a smoke bomb. As the four who were caught in the smoke stumbled around, he got out safely.
The pudgy one came out of the smoke, seemingly chasing blindingly after Bee. But although Bee still had his back turned, Naruto saw him come out and reacted instantly. He rushed the pudgy one, remembering not use any jutsu, and deflected the clumsy throw, grabbing the offending arm and flipping the pudgy one onto the ground, snapping the arm and then snapping his neck right after that. He immediately backed off when he saw that the smoke was beginning to dissipate and the other three were staring at them. "Very impressive," The spiky-haired one told them. "Not any one can kill one of us, even for a short time."
"What does that mean 'even for a short time'?" The blonde asked himself. "Why are you talking in the plural?" He asked aloud.
"Because we are Pain, all six of us," The one with the high ponytail answered, using the same voice as the spiky-haired one. "That's all you need to know."
"That may be all we need to know about you. But you still ain't taking our Bijū." Bee declared, charging forward and channeling his chakra into his swords. He tried to avoid to the spiky-haired Pain and instead, went for the high ponytailed Pain, moving fast enough a civilian couldn't see him.
But his target, as well as the other three, weren't civilians. The ponytailed Pain didn't even move, but the spiky-haired Pain raised his hand directly at Bee and said "Shinra Tensei."
"Bee!" shouted Naruto in horror as he watch the Kumo shinobi sail over the edge of the plateau and down into the valley. The faint sound of splashing indicated that he had hit the water. The ponytailed Pain went for the edge of the plateau after hearing that sound. Naruto tried to stop him but the bald Pain stood in his path, allowing the ponytailed to leap off the edge. As he disappeared from sight, smoke floating up over the edge and the lowing of an animal (probably a bull) was heard.
"Get out of my way!" The blonde snarled at the bald Pain. He slipped into an Airbending stance, ducked under his opponent's arm and placed his hand on the center of his back. With his other hand, he pulled back and delivered a punch that would've sent the head flying off of his shoulders (which the blonde can attest to, having done it several times during the war). It would've happened, if the target didn't suddenly duck and tried to shove his foot into Naruto's midsection. The blonde stepped to the side of the kick, grabbed the leg, and with a twist, tossed him back at the spiky-haired Pain. When he saw the spiky hair jump out of the way of the bald Pain, he threw a kunai at him. The spiky-haired Pain deflected it with his jutsu, but when Naruto threw a shuriken at him, he just twisted out of the way. "Well, that's interesting." The blonde noted. "But how in the name of Kami did that bald one see that punch coming? He couldn't even see me!"
"That's because they can all see what one sees!" The Kyūbi exclaimed, like he had just remembered that piece of information (which he probably did).
"What does even that mean?" He demanded.
"When Bee tried to attack from above, the four he was aiming for couldn't see him and yet, they were able to avoid his attacks." The fox explained.
"I remember that part."
"That's because those other two standing next to the blue haired woman saw him. And since the first four could see what the other two could see, they saw him coming down and promptly avoided the attack. The same goes when you tried to take the bald Pain's head off, the other Pains saw it and therefore, the bald Pain saw it too."
"And when the pudgy one came out of the smoke, he was all but blinded and the other five were either inside the smoke or couldn't see past it!" He realized. "I need to force them apart and fight them one-on-one, that'll beat these Pain guys!"
"You think you can sic a bull on me?" Bee's voice (which sounded a bit deeper than usual) echoed up from the valley behind him. "Ya fool! The bull is Killer Bee!" The sounds of large amounts of water moving as well as something being slammed into one of the mountains filled the air.
(Location: Team Paragon)
"What in the name of the Spirits?" June asked as they all stared at Hidan and the wound in his chest. "He should be dead!"
When he heard that, Hidan scoffed. "You can't kill me. I am Lord Jashin's divine instrument on Earth. You are just his sacrifices for this battle. Now just stay still and die!" He charged forward with a manic grin on his face.
"Nyla, knock him down!" barked June. The shirshu instantly lashed out his tongue and tried to sting the Akatsuki member, only to have his tongue knocked aside by the scythe. Hidan ignored both the bounty hunter and the shirshu. He jumped over Akela when the wolf tried to go for his leg and swung his scythe at Jiraiya. The Toad Sage rolled out of the way of the scythe and swung his hair at Hidan, the hair itself lengthening and sharping. It managed to tear a chunk of skin off of the Akatsuki member, but he paid it no mind. Instead, he still went after Jiraiya.
Both Sokka and Suki stood in his way, his Zanpakutō and her fans at the ready. "Fans?" asked Hidan as he looked at her. "You're trying to stop me with fucking fans?! I'm almost insulted!" He swung the scythe down, separating them. Suki closed her fans and went for the hand that held the scythe. Two quick strikes on the hand made Hidan hiss and release the scythe's handle. But when he released the handle, they all saw that there was a cable attached to the end of it that went up his sleeve.
Sokka gripped his Zanpakutō with both hands and swung down, intent on separating the scythe from the cable. Seeing what he was about to do, Hidan grabbed hold of the cable and yanked back on it. The scythe, which was on the ground, went back up into the air and into hand, allowing Sokka's swing to hit nothing but the ground. Hidan, wearing a grin again, raised the scythe. But that was as far as he got. Suddenly, he couldn't move the arm. "What the fucking hell?" He demanded, looking up at his arm. He saw a whip wrapped around it and was held taunt, preventing it from moving. He followed the whip and saw that June was holding the other end of it.
"Gotcha," She said with a smirk before turning serious. "Any time now, Azula!" She shouted as the sound of lightning being generated was heard. Hidan turned to look at where the sound was coming from and saw Azula holding lightning in her fingertips. She pointed it at him and let it fly. As June release the whip (she didn't want to get hit by the lightning), the lightning bolt went right through the wound over Hidan's heart and out the other end, hitting the mountain behind the Akatsuki member.
As the lightning died, Hidan fell to the ground face first. "Please tell me that got him." Azula said. Sokka decided to answer her question by carefully making his way over to the body. He once again raised his Zanpakutō, ready to swing down. But as it came down, Hidan moved. He leapt up, swinging the scythe as well. Sokka jerked back but the scythe cut into his cheek, blood spraying onto the blades.
With a triumphant look, Hidan jumped back. "I told you already, you can't kill me." He told them as he stood in the puddle of blood caused by the stab wound Sokka had originally given him. "But now, I can kill you with exquisite pain." Using his foot, he began to draw the symbol on his pendent with the blood on the ground. Akela charged him as he drew, fangs bared and mouth agape. Unperturbed by the charging wolf as he finished the symbol, Hidan lifted the scythe and licked the blood off of the blades. Completely calm, he didn't do anything as Akela lunged and grabbed hold of his leg, biting down hard. If anything, he shuddered in pleasure.
Sokka, on the other hand, suddenly shouted in pain and went down onto one knee, blood leaking through his clothes. "What the…?" Suki asked in horror as she saw the blood. Akela had heard Sokka's pained shout and immediately released Hidan's leg, going back to Sokka's side.
"Hurts, doesn't it?" Hidan asked, turning the attention back to him. His skin had turned completely black. The only other color on his skin was white that gave him the appearance of a skeleton of sorts. He still held the scythe in one hand, but in the other hand he held what looked like a black stake. "But it's the best kind of pain. It's the kind that'll make you meet the gods. And now since I've cursed you, you can feel the pain again and again." With a flick of the stake, he opened the front of his cloak, revealing that he wore no shirt. He lightly trailed the stake across his chest, drawing blood and moaning with delight. But while he moaned, Sokka hissed as a line of blood began to seep into his shirt.
"Is this…Bloodbending?" The Tribesman asked through gritted teeth, remembering the nightmare that was Hama and her monstrous ability.
"Bloodbending?" repeated Hidan with a derisive snort. "I don't know what that is. But this is something much more pure. This is the ultimate jutsu of the cult of Jashin!" He raised the stake once more. "Now die in beautiful agony!" He brought the stake down, aiming for his own torso.
They didn't know what he was trying to hit, as Suki immediately rushed and tackled him, knocking him out of the symbol on the ground and changing his skin back to normal. She immediately got off, which allowed Azula to move in with Firebending and force him away from the symbol. This was tempered by her attempts to avoid being cut by the scythe. Hidan fought back, using both the scythe and the cable it was attached to. It turned out that the cable was able to extend to a length that it made a flexible shield protecting Hidan. However, since she was a skilled Firebending with pinpoint accuracy, that didn't mean much to Azula. The tradeoff was that the scythe was just as flexible, forcing her to watch her back.
June and Nyla tried to join the fight, but the cable shield negated both June's whip and Nyla's tongue. The scythe also kept them at bay, mostly because they couldn't keep track of it and neither of them wanted to get hit by it. Suki, realizing that Azula was fighting Hidan alone, quickly came to her side. "I'm gonna barrow these!" She told Azula as she yanked the daggers out of their sheaths. Properly armed, she started cutting through the cable, making the shield slowly disappear.
"Hey, stop that, bitch!" Hidan shouted at her, annoyed at the loss of cable. He grabbed hold of the scythe before one of them could kick it away from. Armed with both scythe and stake, he attacked both of them with renewed vigor. They retaliated, while also avoiding his strikes. They managed to give him some gashes, cuts, and burns, but he looked like he didn't care. "COME ON!" He screamed at them. "IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE!?"
They paid him no heed; they just focused on attacking him. Jiraiya, having bandaged Sokka's leg, gave them support by throwing both kunai and shuriken at Hidan while occasionally using his hair to force the Akatsuki member back. "Sokka, can you stand?" He asked the Tribesman, having joined the fight right after he had bandaged the leg.
"Yeah, I can." Sokka answered as he stood up, slightly favoring one leg over the other. "Thankfully, Akela didn't bite down too hard on that bastard's leg." The wolf-in-question lowered his ears when he heard that. "I'm not blaming you." Sokka assured him when he saw the ears.
"Can you fight?" The Toad Sage asked him, bringing his attention back to the battle.
"Not with Suki and Azula going against him." He answered with a small shake of his head. "I'd just be in the way."
"Then use your brain and figure out what that jutsu does." He ordered as he swung his hair at Hidan, making the man lean back to avoid it. He didn't manage to avoid all of it, the hair managed to take off a chunk of skin.
"I thought you knew what it does. You're the one who knew he was a part of a cult!"
"That's all I knew! I was led to believe that the cult of Jashin was destroyed during the First Shinobi World War!"
"Hey, less talking and more analyzing please!" June shouted at the two of them. Both she and Nyla had decided to join the fight now that the cable was gone. But they still kept their distance, due to the stake and the scythe.
"Okay, okay." Sokka took a breath to steady himself. "Obviously, the symbol he drew was an important part of whatever that jutsu did." He said, mostly talking to himself. "When Akela went for him and his leg, he didn't even move. His skin also did that weird thing when he was inside the symbol and changed back when Suki knocked him out of it. But how does that coincide with me having the exact same wounds he did?" He asked himself. "Wait! Once that scythe of his nicked me, he drew back onto the symbol. His skin turned after he licked my blood. Guys, keep him away from that symbol!" He shouted at the girls. "He can only use that jutsu of his when he's tasted someone's blood and is standing that symbol!"
"So the damn brat figured it out." Hidan thought to himself in irritation. "You could do that." He said aloud. "But then again, you're assuming that I can only use one at a time." With the surprised everyone, he managed to cut both Azula and Suki with the stake and scythe. He knocked them down and took a few steps back. Slicing open the back of his hand, he let the blood pool beneath him and started drawing the symbol, licking the blood off the scythe in the process. "Now then," He said as he finished the symbol and his skin turned back with the white skeletal image. "Let's try finding the pain again."
(Location: Naruto)
He carefully eyed the remaining Pains as the sounds of a fight went on behind him. He didn't dare look behind him, lest one of the Pains try to attack him. All he could see was from the corner of his eye, and that told him Bee had become something large, brown, and had tentacles. "So, who do I try to take out first?" He asked himself.
"Go for the one you already know most." The Kyūbi told him, indicating the spiky-haired Pain. "You already know that he uses two jutsus that can either repeal or attract an object and you know he can't use it constantly."
"He can't?" The blonde asked before remembering the shuriken. "Right, he can't. But the question is: how is there a delay between uses?"
"Well, why don't you find out?" The fox couldn't help but inject sarcasm into the question. It kinda demanded it. "And be careful. Remember, they can all see what one sees. Also, I think one of them can do something with the dead."
"You're telling me this now?!" He almost shouted at the Bijū. But rather than rant, he created a clone to sic on the bald Pain and then threw a kunai at the spiky-haired Pain with one hand and threw a smoke bomb with the other. The bomb flew overhead and landed in front of Konan and the last Pains, exploding in their faces and obscuring their vision.
"Shinra Tensei." The spiky-haired Pain said as the kunai got closer, lifting his hand in its direction. The kunai was repelled, but Naruto threw another kunai at him. This time, he dodged it. Naruto instantly threw a shuriken at him.
"One...two…three…four…five…" The blonde silently counted down as the shuriken sailed through the air toward its target. When he had reached five, the spiky-haired Pain lifted his hand and repelled the shuriken. "So five seconds is the limit. Talk about close calls." Not wanting to hear the fox lecture him (which he had done several times before, even in the middle of a battle), he immediately charged forward at the spiky-haired Pain, slipping into an Airbending stance.
The spiky-haired Pain manifested a black rod from within his sleeve and tried to pierce Naruto with it. But the blonde slipped past the strike and stood behind him. The spiky-haired Pain swung around and raised his hand. "Shinra Tensei!" He barked, trying to blast Naruto away. But the blonde stayed behind him, thus avoiding the blast. In the clear, he swept Pain's feet out from under him, sending him to the ground.
With a sense of triumph, Naruto reached down to snap the spiky-haired Pain's neck, taking two out of the fight. But just as his fingers were about to grasp the neck, he had to jerk them away as a shuriken tried to take them off. "What in the name of…?" He started to swear, only to stop when he looked at the shuriken. "Is that paper?" The shuriken was indeed made of paper, carefully folded into the appearance of one, like origami.
However, he realized that his quick observation of the paper shuriken had cost him precious time. He tried to reach for the spiky-haired Pain's neck again, but it was too late. "Shinra Tensei." The blonde was sent flying was the jutsu caught hold of him. "I thought I told you beforehand that I would be able to handle this, Konan." The spiky-haired Pain said as he stood back up.
"My apologies," Konan replied. The smoke covering her view of the battle had dissipated enough for her to see what was about to happen and reacted on instinct. She didn't regret it, as it had saved his life.
"See that you don't do it again." The bald Pain told her as he fought Naruto's clone. It looked like the clone was holding his own against his opponent. "I grow tired of this." The bald Pain suddenly declared. The side of his cloak ripped open as another arm appeared and grabbed the clone by the neck. Before either the clone or Naruto himself could do anything, another arm ripped another hole in the cloak and tore it off. It turns out that the bald Pain had a serrated blade for a tail, not to mention the two other arms and hands he had along with the other four that were already shown. Without preamble, the bald Pain shoved the blade-tail into the clone, making it disappear.
"What in the name of Kami is he supposed to be?!" Naruto silently demanded as he watched the bald Pain somehow form two more faces, one on each side of his original face. "Is he some kind puppet?"
"I don't know." The fox answered honestly, looking at the bald Pain himself (on a side note, he noted that if the bald Pain was a puppet, Kankurō would probably start drooling at the sight of him before trying to take it for himself).
"Weren't you the one who had information on these guys?"
"I forgot some stuff, okay?" He retorted, somewhat defensive. "It was a long time, I was a kit, and I wasn't really paying attention."
The blonde mentally rolled his eyes at that. "I hope the Hachibi doesn't have that same excuse for Bee." He focused on the bald Pain, trying to figure out the best way to fight him. His target and the spiky-haired Pain did nothing, they just waited in silence. "Those extra arms and faces are going to give me some trouble." Naruto noted, thinking fast. "And that tail will give him a good deal of offense and defense." He began to rapidly look through his options, trying to figure out which fighting style would be most effective against the bald Pain. However, he soon dismissed them all. "None of the Bending styles or any of the mixed styles would do much good against a six-armed, three-faced person who can see through all three faces. I'd need to do something different. Something he'd probably not expect." There was such an option available, the Kyūbi's chakra. But even though he was willing to learn how to properly use it, he was still unsure about. "It's a risk I have to take. He won't expect it and it'll give me an advantage." He told himself as he mentally prepared himself for it. "Kyūbi, give me some of your chakra."
"I'm sorry? What did you just say?" The fox asked him, not believing he had heard.
"You heard me. I need some of your chakra. Just keep it at one tail for now." He knew for a certainty that if he kept his focus on his target, he could control himself whist using the fox's chakra.
"Are you sure? You're the one who kept refusing to use it."
"I know that, okay? But these guys wouldn't be expecting it and that should give me an advantage over them. Plus, with those calming tips Bee gave me last night, I should be able to control myself during the fight. Now, give me that chakra." He ordered.
"It's coming." The fox replied. Naruto could already feel it coursing through, giving him power. As the cloak engulfed him, he went down onto all fours, sending a snarl at his target. He remained calm and made sure that he was in control of himself.
"Interesting," The bald Pain said as they all watched what happened to the blonde. "I had not expected to see that happen. But still, it does not matter." He charged forward and Naruto did the same. They clashed together, each one going for the midsection. Naruto managed to avoid the bald Pain's strike but couldn't hit him either. The blade-tail forced him back, acting like the tail of a scorpion (which it was probably modeled after).
The blonde snarled in frustration at the weapon. It was keeping him away from his intended target. But he wasn't going to let that stop him. When the tail came at him again, he instead attacked it with a hand engulfed in chakra that was shaped like a claw. He wasn't able to cut it off (which had been his intent) but he did leave a gouge in it. One of the faces on the bald Pain eyed the gouge on the blade-tail, but that was it. One of the arms on one side reached out and grabbed an arm from the other side. The bald Pain pulled and the hand that was being gripped separated from the arm. It turned out that the arm and the hand were connected by a cable. Attached to the cable were clusters of cylindrical objects that had rounded tops. If Naruto had to guess, they were some kind of explosives.
He turned out to be correct when the explosives detached themselves from the cable and flew at him, sailing through the air with the help of some sort of thruster at the bottom. The first two hit the ground in front of Naruto, forcing the blonde to leap back away from them. The explosives still came after him, forcing him to run around to stay out of their path. The smoke from the explosives hitting the ground almost looked like he was leaving a dust trail behind him (albeit a dark one). When they finally stopped, he did as well and glared at the bald Pain, who said nothing in return. He just kept wearing that blank smile he had had on his face since they showed themselves.
That smile only infuriated Naruto. It was like the thing itself was taunting him. His anger began to bubble over, but he caught himself and clamped it down. He had to stay in control. If he lost that control and acted like an enraged beast, it would be over for him. And if it was over for him, they'd go for Bee (who still sounded like he was going strong, if what the blonde heard was anything to go by).
He charged forward again, ready for round two with the bald Pain. The tail-blade came for him again, but this time he wasn't slowing down. Instead, he went under the thing and got in close to the bald Pain, too close for him to properly use the tail-blade. The arms still tried to hit the blonde, but they could never actually hit him. The best they got was hitting the chakra engulfing him. But he didn't exactly have the advantage either. He had to keep track of all six arms as well as the feet as the two fought each other.
When two of the arms managed to grab his shoulders, Naruto saw an opportunity. He grabbed them in return and yanked them out of their sockets. Holding them by the ends, he began to savagely beat the bald Pain, swinging the arms like clubs. The bald Pain tried to fight back, but the blows were coming too fast and too hard. The three faces began to get really bruised and bloody. The bald Pain's defense soon began to weaken, allowing the blond to hammer him more viciously. He finally knocked him down with a brutal one-two combo. Seeing a chance to finish him off, the blonde threw the arms away and grabbed the tail-blade as passed him when the bald Pain fell. Using both his own strength and the fox's chakra, he tore the blade off with a piercing, squealing sound. Holding it over his head, he swung it down, intent on piercing the bald Pain's chest.
But even before the tail-blade even went past his nose, he went shock-still. "What…?" He thought in surprise and shock, caught off guard by the fact he was frozen in place. "Why is the fox's chakra being drained?" He could see the chakra diminishing before his eyes and feel it leaving him. He struggled to look behind him and see if the cause was there, only to have his eyes widened. Standing behind him, with the same neutral expression he wore before, was the pudgy Pain. "That's impossible!" He mentally screamed. "I snapped his neck!" As he tried to figure out how that was possible, both the words of the spiky-haired Pain and Kyūbi came back to him.
"Not any one can kill one of us, even for a short time."
"I think one of them can do something with the dead."
Moving his eyes back to the front, he saw one of the two Pains who didn't join the fight, the stocky one, standing beside…something that looked somewhat humanoid. All he could really say that it had the Rinnegan for eyes, the bottom was wreathed in purple fire, and it had a very large mouth. "He can revive the dead?!" Naruto asked himself. By that time, the chakra of the Kyūbi had disappeared. Most, he found out afterwards, had been recovered by the fox. But the rest had been absorbed by the pudgy Pain. Dazed and weaken, he was still determined to put up a fight. But when he tried to go for the pudgy Pain, he suddenly found himself sailing over the edge of the plateau. The last conscious thought he had was "Why is the earth upside down?"
(Location: Team Paragon)
"Get ready to suffer pain for Lord Jashin!" Hidan screamed as he brought the stake up over his head. He was ready to send the heathen whores to meet his god. He would enjoy both the pain they all would receive and the looks of horror, shock, defeat, and sheer of dying they would have on their faces when they were dead.
As he brought the stake down, aiming for his heart, Sokka suddenly moved forward. "NO!" The Tribesman shouted, holding his Zanpakutō. "Defend your kingdom of snow-covered forests, Kuroga!" The Zanpakutō split into two, Sokka swung them both upwards, catching the stake between the two.
"How dare you, you fucking maggot?!" Hidan demanded, enraged by the fact someone would dare try to interrupt him when he was trying to send people to Jashin (which was one of the reasons he would take pleasure in seeing the brown-haired whore die). "You blaspheme, you filthy heathen!"
"Fuck you and your god! I don't worship him!" Sokka shouted at him as he held the stake in place. The pain in his leg was shaking his focus and made his arms start to shake. Hidan saw this and pressed his weight down on the stake, slowly bringing it further down.
"For that insult, I will send to Jashin once I'm done with them!" The Akatsuki member told him with a manic smile, the stake breaking through the guard and sending the two blades into the ground, making cuts as Sokka pulled them out. The Water Paragon then proceeded to try to get Hidan out of the symbol, but the Akatsuki member wasn't really going to budge. He had both the stake and the scythe to cause maximum injury. Sokka, on the other hand, had the bite-wound on his leg and a reluctance to actually harm his opponent. He also didn't know if he would still be harmed if he wounded Hidan.
But he still fought. Again and again, his blades crashed against the stake and the scythe. Neither one of them had moved since the fight started, while the others just watched in silence. Sokka's face was pulled into a frown of concentration as he weaved his swords in a dance. Hidan, on the other hand, had a manic look that seemed to get more and more insane as the fight went on and Sokka was wounded even more.
"Why don't you just give yourself up to Lord Jashin? It'll be less painful that." The Akatsuki member said to the Tribesman as he brought the scythe down into an overhead cut and the stake up from below.
"Because somehow, I know you're lying." Sokka replied as he deflected both scythe and stake, knocking them both to the ground and scratching the earth.
The grin on Hidan's face grew wider. "You'd be right! Sending you to Lord Jashin would be even more painful than normal because you are a blasphemous heathen who is afraid of death!"
"I'm not afraid of death. I just don't want to die from you." He retorted.
"Well too bad! Because once I've killed those whores, I'll kill you next!" He saw a brief opening in the Tribesman's defense and took advantage of it by kicking him square in the stomach. He laughed as Sokka flew backwards and crashed into the ground. "Are the two of you ready?" He asked Suki and Azula. "If not, oh well!" He raised the stake and drove into his heart. The sound of the stake hitting filled the air. It was followed by Hidan's long moan of pleasure, which disturbed the others there (but what disturbed them even more was because his cloak was open, they could all tell he was quite aroused). "Ahh, that feels so good." He thought to himself as he relished in the pain, eyes closed. "Two have been given to Lord Jashin, and now there are only three more waiting. And I know to offer up as a sacrifice first." He opened his eyes, ready to begin the slaughter, only to see that Azula and Suki had not moved from where they stood.
"I'm sorry, were you doing something?" Azula asked him with a voice that was equal parts sarcasm and contempt.
"Impossible! The two of you should be dead on the ground!" He screamed, shocked at this turn of events. It was blasphemy of the highest level. "How are you alive?!" His arousal couldn't have dropped faster.
"Look at your precious symbol, genius." Sokka told him. He did and saw that it was riddled with cuts, disconnecting the blood. "You need the blood to be fully connected for it to work, right?" The Tribesman rhetorically asked him. "You really should've paid attention to where everything was going in that little tussle of ours. But it's too late." He shifted the grip he had on his Zanpakutō, loosening it. "Kuikku kiba (Quick Fang)!" He threw the blades in Hidan's general direction. They spun through the air and flew straight at him, slicing off his arms. As they fell to the ground, the arms of Azula and Suki stayed attached. Instead of flying straight on, the blades curved upwards and flew back to Sokka. He caught them with ease as Hidan's screams filled the air. Not even the sounds of the scythe and stake crashing onto the earth could block out the screams.
"You son of a bitch!" screamed the Akatsuki member as the pain overflowed within him. He hated it when someone wasn't sharing the pain with him. It was the only way he could enjoy. "You fucking bastard, you offspring of a whore, you'll pay for that, three times over! You think I need my arms to kill you? I'll just use my feet and kick you all to death! Hell, I won't even need to use my feet, I'll kill you with my teeth! I'll tear out your throat! I'll–"
"Shut. Up." The Tribesman told him, the words coming out separately but with an authority that made the Akatsuki member stopped in mid-rant. After saying those words, Sokka crouched down slightly, flipped his blades into a reverse-grip and held them low to the ground. "Saigo kiba (Last Fang)." He intoned.
All of suddenly, everything around Hidan disappeared. All that was left was the black wolf standing before him. He wanted to look away, but the wolf's gaze held his. He felt trapped, like prey caught by predator. When the wolf bared its fangs and charged straight at him, he couldn't help but scream in fear. The scream continued after Sokka appeared rushed past him and separated his head with one stroke.
The body fell to the ground as the head sail upwards into the air, still screaming. Seeing the airborne head, June urged Nyla forward and the shirshu obeyed. Once in range, he shot out his tongue and stung the head. The screaming died away, but the face was in a state of shock as it hit the ground. The bounty hunter wasted no time. She got off Nyla, pulled out a bag and two pieces of cloth. With expert movements, she wrapped the cloth around his eyes and his mouth and then dropped him into the bag.
Once she saw the body hit the ground, Azula walked up to it and set afire, along with the stake and the scythe. By the time someone else would find it, there would be nothing but ashes and slag left. "He's taken care of." She declared. "Now let's move!" Everyone wordlessly agreed with what she said. "How long would it take us to get there again, Jiraiya?" She asked as June helped Sokka get up onto Nyla's saddle.
"Three, four hours away if we kept to the pace we were going before." He answered. "But if we book it, we can cut that in half, maybe more."
"Then let's book it!" She ran down the path and the others followed her, ignoring the burning body. As they all ran (or in the case of Sokka and June, rode), they all prayed that they would get there in time; that they weren't already too late.
(Location: Naruto)
He slowly came to, groaning as he did. His entire body felt like it had gone a training session with Jiraiya, a fight with Bee, and the whipping he got in prison, all rolled into one. He almost wished he was unconscious again, if only to be ignorant of the pain. As he cracked opened his eyes, the light from the sun pierced them, making him close them. The second time he opened them, it was better, but he wished he hadn't. "I see that you are awake." Tobi noted as he stood over the blonde. As his senses came back to him, Naruto discovered that he was lying against a rock wall. Later, he would guess that he landed in the water and Bee put him there to keep him safe (and if the slight chill he had was anything to go by, that water was cold).
He tried to move his body but it wouldn't obey him. When he looked around to see where he was, he saw a horrible sight. Bee's unconscious body lay on the ground and standing over it was the spiky-haired Pain and Konan. "Bee…" He whispered, groaning the word.
When he said that, Tobi looked back at the unconscious Kumo shinobi. "Ah, yes, the Jinchūriki of the Hachibi." He noted. "Apparently, he put up quite the fight."
"He tried to fight all six of us." The spiky-haired Pain spoke. "He put up a decent attempt, but we eventually overpowered him. His downfall came when he tried to protect you from us."
"So, in a way, you are responsible for his capture." Tobi said, making it sound like he was talking about the weather. "Congratulations, Naruto."
"Bastard…" The blonde spat at him, sending him a weak glare as well.
"Bastard?" repeated the masked shinobi. "I thought you could do so much better than that, Naruto. I guess I was wrong."
"Lord Madara, we should go." The spiky-haired Pain told Tobi. Apparently, he believed the lie the masked shinobi had tried to feed Naruto and Kakashi back in the capital.
"Indeed. Hidan's probably been taken care of by now. Best take our spoils and leave." He turned around and started walking towards the other two.
"Why…?" Naruto asked almost feebly. The question was almost inaudible and yet, the masked member of the Akatsuki seemed to have heard it, as he turned back to face the weakened blonde.
"Why?" He repeated. "What do you mean 'why'? You must try to speak in complete sentences, Naruto." He told the blonde, sounding like a teacher lecturing him. "Are you asking why we're doing this?" He asked, only to answer before the blonde could. "No, you already know that. Are you asking why we're taking the Jinchūriki of the Hachibi?" He shook his head. "No. You already know why for that one as well." The proverbial light bulb went off over his head. "Ah! Are you asking why we're not trying to take you as well? The answer to that is quite simple really."
"Why…?" The blonde repeated the question, again sending the masked shinobi a glare.
"Why? Why, it's quite simple. Pain and Konan were against it initially, but I was able to convince them." He walked over to the blonde and knelt down so that they were almost face-to-face (or at least, face-to-mask). "We're not taking you is because I want you to remember this. I want you to remember how helpless you felt as I held your life in my hand and gave it back to you because I could. I want you to remember how utterly useless you were as we took the man who could've taught you how to control your Bijū."
"How…could…know…?" He tried to ask, only for his voice to fail him.
"How could we know that was what he would do?" Tobi finished his question for him. "Did you really think that we wouldn't know about it? We've been expecting it the whole time. I told you, Naruto, you've been dancing to my tune all the time. But you're not the only dancer."
"Lord Madara, his teammates are likely on their way here." Konan said, silently urging him to hurry up.
"Very well, we shall leave." He stood up, turned around, and walked towards her and the spiky-haired Pain. As he did, the spiky-haired Pain picked up Bee's unconscious body and casually hefted him over his shoulder. "Goodbye, Naruto." Tobi said to the blonde as he stood in between Konan and Pain. "The next time we'll meet will be the one where you give us yourself voluntarily."
"No…" The blonde tried to protest, weakly lifting a hand. But there was nothing he could do as the space around the hole in the mask began to distort, first drawing both Konan and Pain, along with their package, and then finally Tobi himself. The distortion disappeared, leaving Naruto alone in Unraikyō.
Although he could feel his strength slowly coming back to him, there was still nothing he could do. He just laid there, as helpless as a newborn baby. Tobi was right, of course. It had been his fault that Bee had been captured. If he had paid more attention during his fight with the Pains, he would've been able to win and help out Bee with his fight. Instead, he was sent flying over the edge of the plateau and into an unconscious state. "It's all my fault." He thought to himself, tears welling up in his eyes and leaking out. "It's all my fault. I'm sorry, Bee." Those two thoughts kept echoing in his head, even when his team finally found him and took him away. He truly felt that it was his fault. He had failed to protect his fellow Jinchūriki, his could-have-been family.
End
Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you've sent me.
If you think that having the Raikage send Bee and Naruto to Unraikyō just like that was a bit hurried, there's a good reason for that. Personally, I think that A is a bit impatient (why else would he be dropkicking and Iron Clawing Bee all the time?). That, plus the fact he doesn't like shinobi from other villages in Kumo, kinda gives him incentive to get Naruto out.
If you're annoyed that I didn't use the proper terms for the Pains, please remember that this is the first time Naruto ran into them. He wouldn't know them. But to be fair, it did get a little confusing during the writing. I had to double check about which Pain I was writing about.
Let's face it, Hidan's a masochist. It's really obvious. So I think it's safe to say that he would get off on making others feel his pain. It's something nobody needs to really know about: a bad guy with a libido. Because you just know it's going to be weird.
And yes, I took a few liberties with his jutsu. They never really discussed what would happen if the symbol was damaged or what would happening if he tasted multiple blood samples (unless that happened in one of the anime filer arcs. I tend to skip those on principle). So I took my own initiative and went with it.
As for Naruto, Bee, and his supposed training to control the Kyūbi's chakra: did you really think I would make it that easy for him?
I'll see you all next chapter!