Chapter 13
An older woman with faded purple hair, shrunken by age turned her head to the doorway and as soon as she laid her eyes on Kakashi she went rabid. "The White Fang…. The White Fang of the Leaf!" The little old lady leaped through the air and readied a kick aimed at Kakashi's gut.
Ide's Sharingan was still active from the journey so he saw this attack coming a mile away but as he reached for the hilt of his sword Naruto stepped out in front of the attack and created a shadow clone before Ide could even unsheathe his katana. Naruto's incredible reaction had Ide taken aback to the point where he didn't even finish retrieving his weapon before the old woman's kick made contact.
Naruto's clone parried the kick and his real body caught a follow-up punch and tossed the old woman backward. "Hey!" Naruto called back as he and his clone took a defensive stance in front of his sensei. "What the hell do you think you're doing trying to attack us out of nowhere like that?"
"At long last, the White Fang of the Leaf…." The old woman ignored Naruto, her gaze fixated on Kakashi. "At last I can avenge my children!" Before the woman could move to attack another dinosaur again, an old man with an abnormally large forehead and skin loosened by age, making his eyes appear sunken and dark.
"Sister!" The old man called out in his raspy weathered voice that got the old woman to stop. "Take a closer look. That's not the White Fang, the White Fang has been dead for years."
"Huh?..." The woman took a step back and got a second look at Kakashi's face realizing she was mistaken, she immediately changed her tune. "Hahaha! I knew that! I knew that all along, I was just joking!"
"Everyone shut up!" Sakura roared back to get the room to quiet it down as she got to work healing Kankuro. She looked over the Sand Ninja's body, the poison had progressed to a point where his body had stopped moving aside from a stray twitch now and then to prove he was alive. It didn't take much more than a single look from Sakura for her to realize the severity of the boy's condition. "Oh no…. This is bad…."
She wasn't wrong, as he and the other on-lookers took a seat on a bench at the back of the emergency room, Ide got a look at Kankuro through the lens of his Sharingan and could see that the poison had even begun affecting the flow of chakra in his body. During the war, Ide had seen ninjas who fought on the front lines, return to the village in similar states but one thing he'd never seen someone poisoned to this extent recover.
"He's dying…" Ide muttered thoughtlessly as he found himself caught up in the moment and by the time he realized what he'd let slip from his mouth he was met by many uneasy looks along with a pair of glares from Naruto and Sakura. In response, he decided to deactivate his Sharingan to keep himself from blurting out anything else unnecessarily. In doing so it left him open for a slug to the shoulder from Naruto in retaliation. "...ow."
"Kankuro!" Temari called out as she ran up and put her hands down on the hospital bed. "Sakura!" She immediately turned to the medical ninja for reassurance. "You can do something about this right?! He's not going to die is he?!"
"Uh, I'll try…" She muttered in response before turning around to shoot Ide another quick glare for the added pressure. Sakura tied her hair up into a ponytail before taking a look at what we had to work with. "Is this all the medicine you have at your disposal?" Sakura asked the staff on hand.
"Yes ma'am!" They answered quickly making Sakura furrow her brow slightly but this was gesture enough to further worry Temari.
"The toxin is spreading towards his heart quickly and we don't have anything to slow the spread." She explained making Temari's worry evolve into a near panic but Sakura wasn't about to give up. "I need to move quickly, fill a bowl with warm water, now!"
The medical staff moved without another word and quickly retrieved what she'd asked for. Using her Chakra, Sakura manipulated the water and she began to move it across Kankuro's chest. When the water initially touched his chest the sand ninja abruptly sat up in pain but he was quickly calmed by the medical attendants and Sakura could continue her treatment.
By passing the water over Kakuro's chest in rhythm with his heartbeat, Sakura was able to catch the poison as it pumped through his body without damaging his vital organs through invasive surgery. Every time Sakura caught a significant amount of the poison she'd have to switch out the water for a clean batch to not risk reintroducing the poison to his body.
Ide and the others in the audience watched with bated breath as Sakura and the medical aides did their best to remain in sync emptying, refilling, and replacing bowls of water. The frantic movement of the treatment and lack of a commentary from Sakura had Ide desperately curious as to whether or not the treatment was working. More than anything he wanted to use his Sharingan to see whether or not Kankuro's Chakra flow had stabilized.
Sweat beads began to form on Ide's face as he could feel his self-control fading but before he could activate his Dojutsu, Kakashi stuck his arm out in front of Ide's chest to stop him. "It's working." Kakashi confirmed as Ide looked back to see that his team leader had cracked first and unveiled his own Sharingan. For the first time since they entered the Hidden Sand Temari was able to let out a sigh of relief.
(Later)
After Kankuro's recovery, the Team Kakashi and the Available Sand Ninjas shared the information they had available to them and the Leaf Ninjas were granted quarters to rest for the night. When the boys arrived at their accommodations Naruto immediately realized an issue.
"Huh?! There are only two beds!" Naruto exclaimed. He then turned back to Kakashi and Ide who were both standing in the doorway behind him, then using his finger he counted and confirmed there were three of them. "Okay, only one way to solve this! Rock-Paper-Scissors, the winner gets their own bed, and the losers have to share!"
"Nobody is going to need to share." Kakashi explained to Naruto as he and Ide pushed past the blonde ninja into the room. "Do you know where you're going?"
"Yeah, I got a heading from Kankuro and a few other Sand Ninjas who were in pursuit." Ide confirmed as he checked his ninja tools to make sure he was well enough equipped. "Looks like I'm good to go."
"Go? Go where?" Naruto asked, confused by the strange interaction between Ide and Kakashi.
"Here." Kakashi Ignored Naruto and pulled a white marker pen out of his bag. "When you pick up the Akatsuki's trail I want you to leave a trail of markings for us to follow behind you." Ide took the pen and pocketed it with a nod, meanwhile being left out of the loop had begun eating away at Naruto.
"Hey! What are you guys talking about, where is he going?!" Naruto called back as his patience reached its end.
"I'm going out to pursue the Akatsuki and Lord Kazekage." Ide explained succinctly as he double-checked the sharpness of his blade. "We can't waste time and risk letting their trail run cold."
"What?" Naruto immediately turned back to his sensei and began airing his grievances with this plan. "That's what I was telling you Kakashi Sensei! But you said we needed to rest while we had the chance!"
"We do need to rest, meaning you, Sakura, and myself." Kakashi defended himself. "We also can't risk the Akatsuki slipping out of our grasp while we sleep. A team of our size has the luxury of flexibility, we can afford to send someone ahead to follow our enemy's tracks while most of our combat force rests and recuperates their strength."
"Well, why does HE get to be the one who goes?!" Naruto argued back. "Gaara is MY friend, I should be the one who's chasing after him!"
"Naruto, do you really believe that you'd be able to effectively tail the Akatsuki? Would you be able to keep your distance and keep yourself from charging in and attacking recklessly?" Kakashi's question managed to get Naruto to quiet down. "I'd go myself if I wasn't the team lead on such a dangerous mission. Currently, Ide is the second-best Sensor Type in our group and his eyes are even better than my own, he's the obvious choice for this mission."
"My mission is just to get an eye on our enemy and leave tracks that are easy for you to follow." Ide explained to the sulking Naruto. "If you're not ready to engage them with your full strength then we'll never be able to rescue the Kazekage." This managed to convince Naruto to stop his protest and just in time, Ide looked out the window to see the sun was just about to finish setting indicating it was time for him to go.
Before he could leave the room Kakashi stepped in between Ide and the door to deliver some parting words. "Hey, do me a favor and try not to get yourself killed. This is Team Kakashi's very first mission and I don't want to set a bad precedent."
Ide paused for a moment before smirking and hitting Kakashi a sly, "No promises," before slipping past the team leader and going off on his mission.
(Later)
Ide dashed across the desert through the night, the akatsuki still had a significant lead that'd be difficult for him to make up especially considering all the information he had to go off of was a general direction but on the bright side, the terrain was to his advantage. The barrenness of the desert made it easier for Ide to track the movements of the Akatsuki as their chakra signature, however faint was still detectable given the lack of life.
Another advantage Ide had was his Sharingan allowed him to move at high speeds without worrying about tunnel vision, he was confident he was moving faster than his targets. It was only a matter of time before he caught up with them as long as nothing unexpected got in his way.
Eventually, the Akasuki's trail would bring Ide to the edge of the desert. "Damn it…" Ide muttered as he stood on the edge of the sand and stared ahead into a dark wooded area. This was a worst-case scenario as the forest covered up the chakra signature and it wasn't clear which path the enemy had taken.
"This calls for plan B." Ide bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood before smacking his hand down on the ground and creating a web of dark markings across the sand. Suddenly in a puff of smoke, an owl with a round face, cream-colored feathering, and a leaf headband tied around its body appeared. Immediately upon being summoned the owl flapped up and landed on Ide's arm.
"Good to see you Fukuma." Ide smiled as he scratched the top of the bird's head with a single finger before getting back to business. "I need your wings."
The bird silently hopped off of Ide's arm and landed on the ground a few feet in front of him, in response Ide took a seat on the ground across from Fukuma and began performing a series of hand signs. "Seeing-Eye Jutsu!" Ide called out and his right eye immediately closed shut then a moment later the Sharingan pattern appeared on his owl's right eye.
Once the Jutsu had been cast Ide stood up and called Fukuma back to his arm, to facilitate the Jutsu Ide had to keep his right eye closed. "Alright, Fukuma. Stay airborne and give me a heading." Ide swung his arm upwards as a boost and the bird took off into the air and now there was nothing left to do but wait.
Ide's jutsu only allowed him to see through Fukuma's eye, he had no control over the animal's movement so Ide just had to trust that his Summon would get the job done. In the meantime, Ide had an opportunity to rest his feet so he took it, lying all the way down on his back as he scanned the forest through Fukuma's eye.
After around an hour Fukuma came across some movement a few kilometers to the north through the forest and this was enough for Ide to spring back into action. He was quickly back on his feet but before he could rush off into the dark he quickly pulled Kakashi's pen out of his pocket and marked a nearby tree for his comrades coming behind him to follow but as he disappeared into the darkness of the forest an unseen figure followed behind him and cut the tree down with a triple-bladed scythe.
(Later)
It didn't take Ide long to reunite with Fukuma. Ide whistled for the bird who immediately took roost on his arm, after a quick tap on the bird's forehead, the Sharingan pattern faded from Fukuma's right eye and Ide was able to reopen his own. With his task completed, the bird disappeared in a puff of white smoke as Ide noted where his owl had led him.
Ide tried to pick up on the chakra signature from before but in doing so his Sharingan locked in on something unexpected. Ide's eyes went wide before he rolled forward just in knick of time to avoid a swipe from the triple-bladed scythe attached to a long chain
Ide rolled across the ground and landed in a battle stance where he drew his sword from his back as he watched the chained scythe be pulled back into the darkness of the forest before a shadowy silhouette began marching towards him. When he got eyes on his attacker he was met with black robes and red clouds. For a minute his mind tricked him into seeing Itachi but that vision didn't last long. The attacker was a man of average size with shoulder length, slicked back, grey hair, and magenta eyes.
"Hey, nice going!" The scythe-wielding man called out loudly, as he got closer Ide could see a slashed ninja headband under the man's robes, the symbol appearing to be one from the land of hot water. "That was a nice little dodge roll, killing you might be more fun than I thought!"
Ide put a defensive grip on his sword's hilt, his eyes locked on the Akatsuki member. "Not much of a talker huh? Well, that's kinda boring." The cloaked man put the bladed end of his scythe down on the ground and stood the weapon up vertically, clasping his hands together around the bottom of the scythe. "Lord Jashin, grant me a good kill." Once he finished his prayer, he immediately took the offensive.
The grey-haired man bolted forward at high speed and swung his weapon at Ide with both hands but the Sharingan saw this attack coming well in advance. Ide leaped into the air and landed on the flat blade of the scythe. He used the weapon as a springboard, launching him forward so he could deliver a powerful knee to the Akatsuki Member's jaw causing him to stagger backward.
"Hehehe…" The Cloaked Man chuckled as he stumbled back and wiped a bit of blood from his lip. "So you got those fancy eyes too, just like Itachi. You'd make a great disciple of lord Jashin but unfortunately, I'm not here to convert you I'm here to eliminate you!" The man declared as he ripped his robe open, exposing half of his bare chest. "Figured it's only right for you to be properly introduced to the new owner of your eyes. My name is Hidan!" The declaration by Hidan was met by silence from Ide. "... Fine, if you're that ready to die I won't keep you waiting!"
Hidan changed to a one-handed grip as he rushed Ide again, faster this time. The one-handed grip made his attacks quicker and more fluid which made dodging much harder but Ide's visual prowess still let him block the attacks easily. CLANG! CLING! CLANG! Sword met Scythe again and again as Hidan pressed Ide, pushing him until Ide's back was up against a tree.
"Haaaah!" Hidan roared as he reeled back for a more powerful swing and Ide quickly moved his sword to block the attack getting Hidan to smirk. The last second before his attack landed, Hidan twisted his weapon in his hand and caught Ide's sword between the top two blades of his scythe, and in a sudden, powerful movement he used the two blades of his scythe to snap the tip of Ide's sword off.
"Gah!" Ide groaned as he was sent back by the power of Hidan's kinjutsu. He took a second to evaluate the state of his weapon and seemed as though he'd lost the last quarter or so of his sword's blade.
Hidan took advantage of this break in Ide's concentration, putting both hands back on the handle of his scythe and delivering a full-power horizontal swing through both Ide and the tree behind him but Hidan could tell immediately that something was wrong. Even as the tree fell over Ide stood still like nothing had happened until the image of him faded into nothing which made Hidan bite down hard in frustration. "Damn, the body flicker…"
"Wind-Style!" Ide called out from behind Hidan and when the Akatsuki member turned around he saw the boy standing with two fingers held up in front of his lip. "Vacuum Bullet Barrage!" Dozens of balls of hyper-compressed air came shooting out of Ide's mouth.
Hidan began spinning his scythe in front of him at high speeds to block the incoming wind bullets and while it did manage to protect him from most of them, there were just too many and some managed to get through. "Gah!" Hidan had to grit his teeth and bear the pain as the bullets cut through his arm, and his legs, and one even managed to cut a nasty gash into his cheek and that's when he had enough waiting. He hurled his scythe forward, cutting through the Jutsu until the weapon got close enough that Ide had to stop his attack to block the blade with his broken sword.
The strength at which the weapon was thrown forced Ide to support his sword with both hands, his right on the handle but his left he had to put behind his own weapon's blade ad while he successfully blocked the attack, he was forced to endure a bloody scratch on his left hand. Hidan quickly used the chain on his scythe to retrieve his weapon before rushing in for a follow-up attack.
It was another quick, one-handed swipe from Hidan's scythe that Ide intercepted with what remained of his sword but this was just the diversion. As the hand carrying his scythe was knocked away, Hidan threw his other hand forward at Ide's stomach and in that hand, he carried an extendable black spear.
Ide's Sharingan once again picked up on the incoming strike and just as the spear extended outward Ide pushed it away with his left hand, successfully deflecting the spear away but in doing so he got some blood from his injured hand onto the weapon. A twisted grin formed on Hidan's face as he hopped backward to create distance between the two of them. "Haha! Now it's over for you!" He declared with a sadistic laugh as he brought the spear up close to his face and creepily licked Ide's blood off of the weapon.
Once he swallowed Ide's blood his skin began to change, it turned jet black with white markings all across his body. "Now witness the power of Lord Jashin!" Hidan posed powerfully as secured his scythe on his back. He then proceeded to lift up one of his hands and with the other, he aimed his spear at it.
Ide didn't know what kind of Technique Hidan was trying to pull off but he wouldn't just sit back and let it happen and he was done playing around. Ide took a step forward and both eyes began to bleed, soon the light grey flames once again surrounded his body, and just like before the skeletal rib cage formed around his body. This time, however, Ide only summoned the right half of his rib cage and after that, a gigantic skeletal hand formed within his fiery aura and quickly snatched up Hidan and hoisted him into the air before he could impale his hand.
Hidan's eyes went wide with shock as he was lifted nearly four meters above the ground. He struggled, trying with all his might to free himself from Ide's skeletal grasp but it was no use, there was nothing Hidan could do against such a mighty jutsu. "Tell me where you're taking Gaara." These were the first words Ide spoke to Hidan.
Hidan remained defiantly silent, prompting Ide to apply a little pressure to his skeletal grip. "ALRIGHT! Alright!" Hidan eventually gave in. "I can't tell you anything if I pop." He complained. "So you want to know where my associates are taking that Jinchuriki Kazekage huh? Well, it's no real secret. We're taking him straight to Hell! HAHAHA!" Hidan stuck his tongue out in an insane fashion as he cackled like a demon.
Ide's eyes narrowed, clearly this psychopath wouldn't be spilling his organization's plans even if his life depended on it. Since interrogation wasn't an option Ide was left with few other choices so he simply squeezed Hidan's body with his skeletal hand until he was crushed and blood came flying out through every oraface of his face.
Ide let the corpse drop to the ground and he dispelled his Susanoo, immediately after he began to squint as his eyes started to burn. He ripped open his ninja bag fast and grabbed hold of the bottle of Donzo's pills which seemed to be less than half full now, over a year later. He quickly popped one of the pills and the blood stopped pouring from his eyes and almost immediately the pain was relieved.
Ide then went over to inspect Hidan's body but as he got closer his eyes went wide with shock. Wrapped in the Akatsuki robes was not the man he'd fought, rather it was a young ninja with rugged brown hair wearing a Sand Village Headband. "No…" Muttered with disbelief at the innocent man he'd just murdered.
(end)