Riptide (Sequel to DwL)

Chapter Nineteen

"I found them!" Hoshino announced, landing on a branch, "They're coming from the north east at two o'clock. If we spread out, we'll meet them in about ten minutes."

Everyone else nodded in response and leapt to their positions.

Hoshino reached for his bo staff, gripping the pole in his hand tightly as he and his team lay in wait for the Akatsuki members, his heart pounding his chest.

After roughly ten minutes, he could feel their chakra signatures approaching and signaled to Shikamaru.

In turn, the Nara activated his Shadow Possession Jutsu, causing a shadow to creep closer to a silver haired man in the Akatsuki robe.

"Hidan!" His companion warned.

"What the fuck do you want?" The now named Hidan asked back. Hoshino blinked.

This guy has a vulgar vocabulary... Hoshino mused to himself as he watched the two interact.

Hidan's partner never got the chance to respond, because an explosion suddenly went off, causing the pair to jump away in order to avoid the blast.

"What the fuck?!" Hidan yelled.

"Watch out for the shadows!"

"Those little shitheads keep coming back!"

"Above us!"

Hidan looked up to see Ino diving down towards them. He unleashed a volley of kunai tied with explosion tags down towards the two. Instinctively, the two dodged the volley and braced themselves for the explosion that will never come.

"Success!" Shikamaru's voice yelled.

Hidan then looked down to see Shikamaru's shadow pooled around his feet. He was caught. He swore excessively at the top of his lungs.

Shikamaru then moved his hand to manipulate the silver haired man, making him grab his scythe. Hidan ran towards his partner, but not before shouting, "Kakuzu, duck!"

With the warning, Kakuzu was able to dodge every attack Hidan sent his way.

"How?!" Shikamaru demanded, his eyes wide and his voice disbelieving.

"Don't get distracted!" Hoshino called out.

Due to his yelling, he had given away his position. His eyes widened before he got into a battle stance.

"Hey! Isn't that the kid that the boss told us about?" Hidan asked, looking the blue haired boy up and down, causing him to flinch back a bit in response.

"Long blue hair in a ponytail and sky blue eyes. Lightning birthmarks. This is definitely the one from the description." Kakuzu confirmed with a nod.

He suddenly gasped and looked down to Sasuke's hand sticking out through his chest, bright flashes of lightning buzzed around him.

"You're weak against my Lightning Style. Now you'll die." Sasuke stated with a growl.

Hoshino's eyes widened. Kakuzu's life force wasn't even flickering. "Sasuke! Get away from him! He's not dead yet!" He shouted in warning.

His shout gave Sasuke the time to dodge the kick thrown his way shortly after.

"This guy already seems to know how my body works. He's worth recruiting..." Kakuzu mused.

"Screw that! Let's kill these shitheads!" Hidan yelled angrily.

"Agreed."

Hoshino and the others watched in horror as Kakuzu's back suddenly began to bubble up, the skin swelling into horrific lumps. It ripped open to reveal four monsters, all attached to Kakuzu by some sort of string.