A Couple Steps Back

Chapter 46

Third person pov

Rasa barreled through the door, his eyes blazing. "That shit actually worked?" Someone asked breathlessly from outside the office, but nobody seemed to care. They were still trying to deal with, and process, Zetsu. Ibiki had slipped away, running off his pale white skin like water off a duck's back, shocking them all. It was like losing a friend. One that had never been there in the first place.

"There!" Raza boomed, thrusting his finger at Zetsu, who was quickly seeping into the floor. The man giggled, earning a growl from the Kazekage. Almost as if it were alive, his golden sand rushed past him, ruffling his hair as it did so. All his rage seemed to be put into the substance as it shot across the room.

Gaara stepped into the room next, his sand forming a corkscrew shape as it spiraled towards Zetsu, who was forced to jump out of the ground to dodge when Rasa's deadly dust slammed into the ground, snapping the floor boards. He grimaced only for a moment before the grin was back on his face. Rasa's hand flew forward, his golden dust twisting it's way around his son's sand. The pillar of grains flew at the man, who dodged at the last second, sliding over the Hokage's desk. The Third stabbed down a kunai, earning a hiss from the enemy.

Orochimaru shoved Kakashi out of the way as he entered, looking homeless but determined. His eyes went to Hidan straightaway, and his golden eyes widened in surprise at the fading man. "Shit." He cursed briefly, his voice still just as smooth as it always had been.. The Hokage looked up, surprise painted all over his face. Zetsu took this chance to push the man away. He pulled the kunai from his flesh.

"Looking ratty as ever, Orochimaru." Sasuke greeted before he was flying at Zetsu, grabbing for his leg. The white man rolled away, hopping to his feet and darting for the window. The Third Hokage stared in gaping shock at his rogue student, who was now crouched by Hidan.

He looked the same, but different too. His long hair was pulled up into a tight bun, and he wore civilian clothes that made him look look like a bum. Moreover, he looked concerned for Hidan as he assessed the damage, his eyes flickering across the man's body. Never had Orochimaru seemed to care for anyone but himself. His selfishness had been his downfall.

"Take that one out. Put pressure on it." Orochimaru demanded, pointing to the one in the upper part of his chest. Shikamaru released his aching, bleeding hands from the wound he'd been holding. Blood began to gush out in an instant, and Orochimaru ripped the kunai out, grimacing at the squelch it made and at the cry Hidan released. He definitely wasn't immortal anymore. Back then, he barely bled. Now he was gushing like a fountain.

"Hidan, you bastard, hold on." The snake man grumbled, doing a few handsigns. "This is going to hurt, but you'll live."

"What th... fuck?" Hidan asked groggily, his speech slurred. Orochimaru pressed his hands to the oozing wound.

"Agh, shit!" Hidan's eyes snapped wide open, and he almost jolted up into a sitting position as Orochimaru burned the wound shut. Shikamaru was quick to push the ex-cultist down, grimacing as he howled in pain. Orochimaru didn't seem affected by the noise. Shikamaru supposed that made sense. He was used to it. He'd done numerous experiments after all.

"Next." Orochimaru muttered, yanking out another kunai. 

On the other side of the room, Naruto had a good hold on Zetsu, who wasn't trying all that hard to sink into the ground again. It was odd. He could have left already, but he hadn't. They supposed it didn't really matter. The man was dangerous, and fighting back against them.

The blonde Uzumaki and his Uchiha friend pulled as hard as they could as a panting Kakashi, who'd been hit quite a few times, recovered. Rasa sent his dust shooting at the pasty creature. He didn't like this pale ass boi.

Zetsu let out a shriek as the dust engulfed him, Gaara's sand twisting around his body and lifting him back out of the ground while his father's dust encased him. The Hokage was in too much shock to help, watching Orochimaru with his mouth agape. The snake man continued to work on Hidan, his eyebrows furrowed with outward concern. Shikamaru was crying, his hands bleeding as he pressed them around the last kunai to try and stop the bleeding. 

"It's going to be okay, Shikamaru. Calm down." The snake man soothed as best he could while Hidan squirmed underneath him, writhing from the pain of it all. It hurt so much he could almost pass out, but the pain wasn't bad enough to be numbing, which sucked. He just wanted to sleep. He knew it would be the end for him, but Shikamaru and the other brats were safe now. They were okay, so he felt that he was too.

The Nara looked away, glaring at Zetsu as he tried to escape. Naruto wasn't letting up, and neither was Sasuke. Gaara let out an angry hiss.

"Die!" The small redhead demanded, his sand forming spikes that rise above his head like the swaying heads of a Hydra. Naruto and Sasuke were forced to move as the pasty creature was impaled. Rasa's dust wasn't far behind, piercing through him with relative ease. Zetsu sputtered in pain as well as surprise.

"Shikamaru, move your hands." Orochimaru demanded, and the Nara did, his whole body shaking. Hidan had saved his life. He had dove in front of danger without a second thought, and now he was paying for it. He was lying on the ground struggling to breath, in pain and unable to speak. It made the Nara so... so mad. 

"W...We got him." Naruto breathed as Zetsu's lifeless body fell to the ground.

"We need to burn the body to make sure." Sasuke grunted. "And there's still an issue... he's here."

The remaining time travelers seemed to darken.