Perplexed and annoyed faces were on the three in the Sound Village Headquarters' heart. They had orders, but there was little sense in them unless they lacked consideration for their own lives. Kabuto told them to keep awake, silent about his presence, and on their guard earlier that day before burrowing underground. Something beyond their knowledge was happening. It'd be tolerable if their leaders weren't being coy and hadn't slipped out through the earth.
"Are they still there?" Suigetsu asked.
Karin groaned. "Yes!"
"The hell are they waiting for?" He lifted a water bottle to his lips. "Not like they're going to get reinforcements here."
"Probably that, just not a sizable amount."
Jugo tapped a finger anxiously against the side of his head. "Why don't we just go out and kill them now?" The looks he got did not deter him.
"...Maybe you should go see Naruto."
"But he told me to stay here." He pouted at the memory of his stare when he protested.
Suigetsu took a few gulps and rolled his eyes. "He gets to sleep and fuck while we're stuck maybe waiting to die."
"That's not how he and Rika are like." Karin would've slapped him if it wouldn't have gotten his body fluid on her hand.
"What else could they be?" He scoffed. "I told you he was bathing her. Didn't sound like the first time either." Raising a finger, he set down the bottle. "And before you say she's blind, I've heard her make her own baths while Naruto was napping, so, unless Jugo or you've been doing it, she can do that herself."
"Rika...reminds Naruto of something precious to him." She felt her heart ache at the thought. "He knows she isn't who he wants her to be, but he can't help himself." A shaky sigh left her lips. "Being around her brings him peace, even if it's for a little while." Her vision blurred.
"Doesn't sound good."
She nodded. "It's not."
"Could be worse," Jugo said, being the best example.
"That still doesn't mean he should keep her around."
"Where else is she going to go?" Suigetsu asked. "A blind girl with no prospects? Lucky she's pretty or she'd be stuck as a beggar for the rest of her life." He squinted at Karin's look. "What fucking wonderland did you grow up in?"
"Just what kind of shithole did you come from?"
"The kind where we made kids looking to get up in the world kill each other." He tilted his high-caste Hozuki head. "Okay, maybe I'm not the best person to talk about this kind of stuff."
Remembering her complete lack of skills outside of her blood and what her kinsman taught her, she did the same. "Me neither."
"Can we go out and kill them?" Jugo asked, black marks spreading across his face. "I want to kill them. You said they were both men, one of them with weird bug-like chakra." He frowned. "I want to kill a woman. Been a while since I've done one." Karin jumping back made him glance a yellow-on-black eye at her "...What?"
Insects, unknowingly to them, crawled around the base. They burrowed into the earth outside, skittered across the floor, and flew past them without care. Several infested their bodies in accordance with their master's orders. When they moved, it would be with every advantage. Failure could not be seen as an option if they wanted to succeed.
Four shadow clones walked through a field of corpses. Both halves eyed each other, taking note of whatever qualities seemed important. Each were too focused to lose their footing on such uneven ground, but it was still a factor to consider. Civilians that were looking for their loved ones among the fallen either ignored them, watched from afar, or cleared out. The dense atmosphere only worsened as they closed the distance between each other.
Laughing in tandem with its fellow clone, the copy held the handle of its scythe with both hands as it did the same. "Le–" It blinked at an illusionary tree encompassing its body. "When?" A lip bite broke it out in time to block a sword swipe from the pink clone aimed at its neck. "Nice!" With a jerk of its scythe's grip, it flung the trapped blade away. "But different weight cla–" The pink copy's fist in its liver cut it off.
"Aww, did that hur–" Three blades swiping through its body reduced it and its knocked away sword to smoke.
"Yeah." It blocked another triple-bladed, albeit whistling, scythe from the side without looking. "You know wind beats lightning, right?" The extremely sharpened cloned metal cut straight through its vibrating twin into the other enemy clone, popping it. "I'd give you points for effort." More than a few kunai missed him by inches thanks to some channeled wind chakra. "But if that's all what half of two of you and a whole of one could do against a third of me, you're not worth much." Looking at its twin, it raised an eyebrow at its twitching, frozen form. "What kind of genjutsu are you in?"
Tenten twitched at the ineffectiveness of her ninja tools. "I hate Wind Style soooo much!" She tried learning it, but her chakra affinity was water, which she still couldn't use.
Sasuke looked up as he created another clone. "Do–"
"Under genjutsu, I know!" She rested a hand on the dadao blades scroll by her hip. "Care if I jump in?!"
"He hasn't used his assassination jutsu yet!" Sakura yelled, following his lead.
Her hand returned to her side. "Right!" Groaning, she shook her head. "Him being a giant asshole doesn't mean you should rush in and get your heart stabbed."
The free clone popped the trapped one, dispersing its ruined scythe copy and receiving some much needed information. "Let me guess." Turning to the approaching figures while keeping its sight below their eyes, it squinted. "You're clones?!" A frown adorned its face at their lack of response. "I know I started this, but can we not?!" Brief hesitation in their steps let it know they were listening. "Trust me, I'd annihilate you in a battle of attrition! It'd just be really boring!"
"Are you seriously trying to negotiate anything after what you've done?!" The Sakura clone yelled.
"Yes," it deadpanned. "Consider this a professional courtesy!"
A half of Sasuke twitched. "You bombed a city!"
"Not like it was one of yours!"
Its casual, friendly tone was more than inappropriate to them. "What the hell is wrong with you!?" The two yelled in unison.
"You mean, like, with my goals in all this or me personally?!" Settling into a stance as they got in mid-range, it scratched its cheek with a finger. "All of you are going to die so…" It shrugged. "I'm reminding the idiots that dwell in this land what world we live in."
Clone Sakura's face scrunched even more. "Because of The Hidden Steam Village's demilitarization?"
"Pretty much."
"Then what was all that religious posturing in your threat?" Clone Sasuke asked.
"I'm a man of faith." It patted the emblem around its neck. "Or at least the shadow clone of one." An honest smile spread across its face. "Have you heard of our lord and savior, Jashin?"
"Who?" Clone Sakura squinted at it. "Is that your god?"
"The one and only, Pinky."
Clone Sasuke scoffed. "What kind of god would condone this?" It gestured toward the bodies.
"I thought shinobi from a land that hadn't lost its balls would understand." Sighing, it shook its head. "We are death and sacrifice. Every single one of us is expendable. Those who cannot mold chakra are just our herd of sheep, the expendable among the expendable." It looked out at the latest in the countless lives the original had taken. "All of us die in the end. What does it matter if it's decades or a few seconds from now? Our collective existences amount to nothing but suffering and despair. Death is salvation and fear of it is the greatest ignorance as well as the worst torture."
"...You're insane." Clone Sakura gaped.
"The enlightened often appear as such to the ignorant."
"Can you just fight already?" Dosu asked, having heard the entire conversation. "He's obviously out of his mind."
Clone Sasuke failed to establish proper eye-contact for its genjutsu to work. "And out of your range."
He looked down at their sensei. "We should jump in to assist: I heard him say he had two clones and now he's down to one." There was still a chance he had help, but it was minimal at that point.
"You shouldn't trust a word that comes out of your enemy's mouth in a confrontation, especially against one like this," Kakashi said.
"Good point, but it really seems like he's acting alone."
"Don't make me repeat myself, Dosu."
He relented as the clones resumed fighting. It wasn't as if Kakashi was against the idea, but their mission was too important to risk in the slightest. All of them were more than on edge. When it was over, they wouldn't have the heart to relax for some time. Everything he heard and witnessed were tragedies beyond his imagination.
Clone Hidan watched the clone girl circle around it while the Uchiha clone charged. It closed its eyes over rolling them. The backdrop of crying, sizzling fire, and screams faded away in favor of their movements. Normally, their strategy would've been a good one. Silent Killing, unfortunately for them, was practically mandatory for anbu. A wind chakra infused scythe swept through its upfront enemy several feet before it was in range and around through the other thanks to its reach-extending cable in the blink of an eye.
"This guy's good!" Sakura formed the shadow clone sign again.
Sasuke followed her lead. "Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and your Kenjutsu are out!"
Tenten observed the clone's scythe with some interest. It was obviously far less effective without wind chakra thanks to the added surface area of the two extra blades. When it was swung, it required chakra to be viable as anything other than a blood-drawing tool. Shinobi, as much as they wanted to, couldn't use more than a single jutsu at a time. Either it was somehow concentrating wind chakra all around its body and through its weapon or it could only do one.
Clone Sasuke took note of the cable. The previous clone could've dodged it by inches, but that would've given away their exact ability. While the scythe was tethered, it could be used like a whip and almost as fast. Severing it as well as the real one was the wisest course of action. Drawing him out would be tricky though.
Hiding its one-handed seals behind its back from the approaching figure, the Sakura Clone looked to its partner. "Trap and dust?"
"Trap and dust." It formed the bird, tiger, and ram signs as it brought a hand down on the earth between corpses.
Their enemy didn't need to see the earth walls aside from the one in front of it to know they were going to restrict its movements. It readied its scythe with wind chakra, leaped over, and realized its folly. A kunai pierced its throat before a super thunderbolt ran through its nerves. No cost-benefit analysis was needed for it to reflexively choose dispersing over enduring.
Far from the palace, the real Hidan clucked his tongue. "Troublesome. The Copy Ninja and The Last Uchiha. I knew he'd hire from one of the greats but still." He tilted his head. "I could just leave the city…" Drifting off, his face scrunched in disgust. "Jashin would never forgive me, and where's the fun in that? Baby Daimyo is going to die." A mewling in his arms caught his attention.
Its blanket was somewhat red with blood. They were from its father and mother, who were laying off to the side of the apartment they were in. Neither wanted to risk its life, but they couldn't leave the city. Like their good neighbor said, they shouldn't have been afraid of the inevitable. What left the looks of horror and despair on their faces was knowing it'd be in his hands.
"Uncle Hideki didn't mean you, Baby Daigo." He tapped his little nose. "You are free of sin and fear. Those ninja, on the other hand…" With a hum, he rocked the baby. "Definitely more than one team: two jonin, two chunin who might qualify for jonin, at least one chunin, and three others I don't know about. Genjutsu, Bukijutsu, and Ninjutsu. They tried rushing me for Taijutsu. I need to either whittle away their defenses or sneak past them, and that's kind of impossible at this point with everyone clear of the palace."
As much as he didn't want to, a battle of attrition was the best option to reach his goal. They could take soldier pills, but that wouldn't save them from his secret weapon. He needed a single drop of blood from an actual person. He never got to test if it worked on the original with shadow clones and now was not the time to: it was better for him if they were overly defensive. Neither the dowager lady or the former daimyo's stooge could inform them because they didn't know either. It'd be almost impossible to win against him even if they knew as long as he kept his position though. Going after them himself would've drastically increased his chances of failure.
"Hold on." He set the baby on the coach before holding his cleaned scythe between his upper arm and side. "Really wish I stored just a bit more explosive tags." Forming the shadow clone jutsu sign, he spawned three other hims into existence.
The Sasuke and Sakura clones sat on top of the open cube the latter formed. While it was intended to have a ceiling, the Hidan clone jumped out before it could be trapped inside. Both originals complimented Tenten's remarkably well-timed throw, something she appreciated very much. All of them were irritated by the lack of immediate movements, but it was to be expected after a repelled assault. His next was, in their minds, supposed to be directed at another side before his clones came into view.
Clone Sakura squinted at them. "I thought you said you didn't want to fight a battle of attrition!"
"What can I say!"
Another clucked its tongue. "You're a pain in the ass!" The original was far more used to quick, one-sided fights and assassinations.
"He's attacking them again," Dosu informed.
Kiba looked to the jonin by him. "Why are we just standing around? Obviously it's just the one guy at this point."
"If we gang up on a few clones, we'll give Hidan and whoever is with him, if he's with anyone to begin with, an opportunity to slip by." Kakashi held up a finger. "We still have no idea how he performs his assassination jutsu." Another joined it. "Even if Guy and Lee manage to kill him, what if he takes one of them or the daimyo with him?" One more made three. "You can either try to live with yourself knowing your rash actions got a comrade killed or after whatever our stressed, overworked Hokage does to us when we tell her we failed…again." Two more left it at five.
"She can't just do whatever she wants with us." His face scrunched as Akamaru, back to his red dog self, barked to affirm his words.
"Would your mother object as long as you were alive and able?" He shot him a look. "Need I remind you Lady Tsunade has remained the world's leading Healing Ninjutsu expert in spite of her absence?"
"...Dammit."
Kakashi's scowl worsened. "Believe me, you aren't the only one who wants to tear him apart."
"Speaking of." Dosu tilted his head at a distant chorus of whirling metal, grunts, and crazed laughter.
A fourth of Hidan was still a dangerous opponent but not beyond the three holding them back. There wasn't much any could do during their sloppier scythe-whip swings save move if they didn't connect. Silent Killing still required focus, so their attacks were even more awkward than they'd normally be, and they stumbled over the corpses. It left them open for many reprisals. Of course, that left their opponents open to reprisals as well and they outnumbered them.
They took blows so they could better give them in turn. Anything crippling or disabling one's overall ability made them immediately disperse and replaced by clones of clones. Being a fraction of a fraction, they were easier to deal with, but that just meant more wasted energy on their part. Some transformed into rats with miniature version of their scythes wrapped around their bodies to skitter by. None could get past Tenten, whose catharsis was almost self-indulgent.
Nearly half an hour of back and forth clone combat passed. While the Leaf clones knew it was unwise to use Ninjutsu, they were forced to on some occasions. Tenten wasn't anywhere close to running out of ninja tools to use and wouldn't be unless their fight lasted for the rest of new years day. One fact throughout that entire time concerned the Sasukes: the Hidans were regaining their chakra and their wounds were healing as fast they got them. Rest was the only way a ninja could regain chakra beyond infusions from someone else, which only a few could do.
"We can't keep going like this," Clone Sasuke, heaving, said.
The nearest clone of Hidan laughed. "You finally get it!" Others joined it in laughter.
"Only a matter of time with those eyes, but a little too late."
Another advanced with its closed and nearly tripped over a body. "I'd tell you we're only here for the kid, but we all know how these things end, don't we?"
"Okay," Dosu said, "we really should jump in now. Something's up with this guy."
"And this could be the moment he or his allies have been waiting for," Kakashi argued.
Kiba gave him a look while Akamaru whined. "I know we can't fuck this up, but we should at least help somehow or do something. We're letting our enemy control this entire situation."
He glanced off to the side before sighing. "...You're right." Looking up, he took a step forward. "Dosu stay here and call for help if you hear movements." A wave of his hand beckoned the others as he started running. "Follow me."
"Let's do this!" He and his pet went after with grins on their faces.
The real Sakura, feeling the sleep deprivation compounded by her gradual loss in chakra, looked to her real partner. "We should use our soldier pills." She fished with her free hand for the tablet in her pouch. "This guy must be on something."
"His chakra and his body are both acting in ways I've never seen before." Sasuke glared at one of the distant clones. "In ways that shouldn't be possible."
"What do you mean?" She asked as Dosu did the same.
"Your liver blow did nothing to one of the first two, wounds to their torso not affecting their spines don't bother them in the least, and they've been regaining their chakra."
Scoffing, she flicked open the tablet with her thumb. "This fucking guy." A jerk of her hand launched the pill into her mouth.
Dosu shook his head. "We have to find and kill the real one."
"He could be anywhere in the city." Clone dispersing due to the sudden change in the original's body, she created another carrying her rejuvenated vigor.
Tenten again threw a kunai into the throat of a Clone Hidan rearing a swipe at the Clone Sasuke. "If Neji were here…" She relieved some frustration by doing the same to another. "Any sensor ninja, really!"
"We'll make do!" Kakashi skidded to a halt by them with Kiba and Akamaru barely a few feet behind. "Sasuke, I need you to man the other side of the palace walls and have clones look for the real enemy. You can follow the real one, Sakura. The fires and the bodies make tracking by scent difficult, if he hasn't erased it, so the three of us are not much use there. Dosu will stay here." Murder sparked in his eyes at the sight of the red-scythe wielding clones. "I'll take care of these."
"Noise is mostly gone, and I know what this guy sounds like: I can probably help," Dosu said.
Kiba frowned. "I want to fight too."
"Really want your heart stabbed?" Kakashi asked, creating his own shadow clone. "Your potential sacrifice will be appreciated yet entirely unnecessary."
Dosu nodded. "Alright. Just do something about your own pounding one." He stared out at the field of corpses on his side.
"Thought learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu would be redundant with Akamaru already in perfect sync with me." Kiba sighed as his dog whimpered.
Kakashi watched his double approach the enemy. "Guess again."
The Hidans took notice of Sasuke's clone half running into the city while the pink one poofed. "Should one of us stop him?" They all looked to each other before the new approaching challenger drew their attention. "Oh shit, Hatake."
"He's hot." One froze at the realization it said that out loud.
Another scoffed. "Suck his dick, why don't you?"
"You were all thinking it!"
"But you sai–" The point of a whistling kunai jutted out its throat.
The closest clone to Kakashi's swung its scythe in response. "When?!" Another kunai from Tenten popped both before the wind-enhanced blades could get near her clone ally.
Clone Kakashi took note of the farthest and densest of the Hidan clones. Its fingers were closing to intersect in slow motion thanks to its Sharingan eye. More than that, it saw wind chakra emitting from its body to ward off ninja tools. That wasn't the perfect defense against them, especially for something with the original's abilities. It drew a copy of a kunai from its ninja tool pouch, streamed fire chakra through its metal, and threw what looked like a smoldering giant arrowhead.
Tenten frowned at it. "He's go–" She blinked as the fire only grew in response to the wind, skewering the clone's throat with ease. "...I need that."
"Idiot!" One of the other clones laughed. "Now we're stro–" Several more fire kunai dispelled it alongside its fellow copies.
Just two were left. They realized immediately Kakashi was less concerned about preserving chakra because of the Uchiha hunting the real one. His ability was more refined than the astonishing rookies' as well. If he didn't know about his odd qualities, he'd find out soon thanks to his own Sharingan. Neither could afford making mistakes or being divided from the other.
Again, the Hidan nearest to Clone Kakashi attacked. "Le–" It was dispersed by Tenten's latest kunai.
"Let's do this," the single clone of Hidan left said, eyes closed. "A half of Jashin's Chosen against a half of The Copy Ninja."
Kakashi's clone glared at it. "I have no idea what that is or means, and I don't care."
"Ease up, tough guy!" Shifting its scythe so the blades were behind it, they nearly ripped into a flickering Clone Kakashi's throat. "I know you're a student of The Yellow Flash but still." It would've glanced behind it if that wouldn't give an opening to the Sharingan's genjutsu.
It drove its last kunai into its wrist and pulled its other arm behind its back. "You didn't disperse yourself, so Sasuke is close to the real you." Shifting its grip to make its footing awkward, it kicked out a faltering leg. "There are conditions!" It grabbed the back of its head before driving its face into the ground between corpses. "For that assassination jutsu of yours."
Really, it was tricking the Kakashi into thinking the real him was close. "Obvious at this point, isn't it?" It gave a cry when its finger broke.
"There's no reason to listen to what a feral dog manages to say."
"You were anbu, weren't you?" It opened its eyes to the dirt. "Way you carry yourself, the caution you've had everyone take, and whatever offense you feel I've made to you personally." Laughing, it nearly looked back at it. "Those kids think I'm out of my mind, but you know exactly what I'm doing; probably did something like this yourself." Another broken finger didn't faze the Hidan. "Different because I wasn't under orders, right? I killed people who didn't need to die? Come on, you know it's bullshit! The villages never needed! They wanted! And when they didn't want more, they threw you away, right!?"
"Shut up." Breaking another of its fingers, it tried to ignore how much those words reminded it of Naruto's.
Clone Hidan groaned at how typical its response was. "You're not an idiot, and you know who I am. Gotta know that lady and the old daimyo hired me for something in the past too." It didn't need to look back to see its stiff expression. "The first thing you all thought when you saw the kid was how someone that young could be a daimyo. Answer to that question is I helped kill the closest successors and staged their deaths as accidents. Everyone else vying for the position after Kisame Hoshigaki's fuckup fell in line." Scoffing, it shook its head. "Wasn't the first time either: the brat's granddad couldn't keep his dick in his pants. Smother one bastard and you've smothered them all."
"You're just lashing out under the guise of doing what needs to be done."
"Believe whatever you want." It shrugged. "Even if you somehow stop me, I'll have accomplished what I set out to."
The Kakashi clone glared. "We have our mission."
"Yeah, I know." With a sharp twist of its body against the hold, Clone Hidan broke its own arm to bite into the surprised Clone Kakashi's cheek.
It sent it down with a slam of its forehead protector against the top of its head. "Desper..ate." The grinning black-skinned and skull-faced Hidan at its feet made it furrow its brow. "...Oh."
Tenten and Kiba squinted at the sudden change in appearance before the clone poofed. "Was that?!"
"Fuck it," the original Hidan, now bearing the same features, said. He set the baby on the couch and used his scythe to sever his own brachial artery. "If this doesn't work, I'll have to find some other way or really leave." With his foot, he drew the symbol around his neck on the floor using the flowing blood.
Numerous clones of Sasuke scoured the city with their Sharingan. Their lack of results disheartened them, but trying and failing was better than doing nothing. All wanted to help those stumbling about trying to prevent more damage. Chances were that'd add to it though. Shinobi were why everything was burning.
Mori Town was almost completely silent at night. If there were new years celebrations, they were already done with. Only faint footsteps on tiles could be heard. Pitch black darkness covered the entire area like a peerless fog. Their former lord decreed shinobi alone to walk out at night for the safety of the citizens, and his successor didn't care enough to change policy.
The night patrol stopped by two vaguely familiar approaching figures once before running from their looks. No guards were outside the lord's house to receive the same treatment. Orochimaru walked up the walls to the rooftop, not needing sleep and waiting to see what was going to happen. His apprentice, not trusting him, went to the only person who stayed behind. She was sleeping in her futon when he entered her room.
Not sure what to do, he just sat down. His thoughts drifted to one person, and the girl near him reminded him of her. Sleep was tempting yet potentially left him open to whoever was after them. It would endanger her too. That was unacceptable.
"...Naruto?"
He nearly jumped. "D-Did I wake you?"
She turned on to her back. "I've been awake for some time. I fell asleep during the evening because it was so quiet." Without looking at him, she made him feel as if she was staring.
"We are pretty loud," he muttered.
"Is everything okay?"
"Rika… Is there anything you want?" He rested his chin on his hand. "To do, to eat, to be?"
"No." There was no need for her to think she never had or was anyone to begin with, like many civilians and unfortunates. "What about you?" She turned to him after a full minute of silence.
Naruto stared off into nothing. "I had it for a moment, and I lost it." He could see little he really cared for waiting at the end of the path he chose. "Now, I just do whatever I feel like. Better this way."
"Best this way!"
"You like helping and protecting people," she said. "You're a good person."
"...Is that really what you think of me?" He would've laughed if it weren't an honest question. It was something he wanted to ask the girl she reminded him of after her words in the practice field. There was no self-doubt left in his mind, but that didn't stop him from wondering how anyone could praise him outside his abilities.
She smiled. "I know it."
"First thing I did when I came here was kill people just wanting to defend it for just getting in my way." He looked up at the dark ceiling. "I took women from their homes and lives to comfort me, even if I didn't sleep with them." Shaking his head, he sighed. "Letting them go back and protecting this place were done off whims. I keep you around for the same reason."
"You were sad and lost; now, you're home."
There was some truth to her words, however optimistic.
AN: Been thinking a lot about the arc after this one. Also, struggling to showcase how Sasuke and Sakura have improved while also showing off how strong Hidan is at the same time. The rest of new Team Guy and Dosu will get a chance to do the same before this is over, mind you. This isn't going to be the Naruto side of the Hunt for Itachi arc where you wonder why the hell they're even bothering.
One thing never really delved into was how normal people dealt with the ninja shenanigans. I can see why. Not really part of the plot and kind of distracting. Except, I, not tied down by editor or publisher demands can veer down that route. You get a hint of it in Canon Wave, but it's disconnected from the theme and plot of the arc.
A lot of people like Hidan. Hard to hate someone so casual and friendly, even while he's trying to kill someone you like. Something disturbingly human about that. World used to be a far worse place and so on. In the kind he lives in, it's not surprising or unbelievable a faith like that or a person like him could exist. Early Gaara was waaaaay worse.
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the form of a review or PM.