The Scent of Blood

A virgin's blood is an acquired taste. And Hidan had always had a morbid fascination for it.

A/N: I seriously need a BETA reader... Good golly, I updated! And for me nowadays, an update is a miracle! And erm… am too lazy to research the Japanese attack names… D: All I remember about Shikamaru’s attack is “kage” for shadow and that’s about it. D: La dee daa--! Well, here’s to more crack-filled fun! Onto the chapter!

-

“Sakura! What on earth are you doing? Fall back!” Shikamaru yelled in alarm. When Sakura ignored him and instead began to draw more chakra to her clenched fist, preparing to launch another attack at the Akatsuki, he cursed, activating his shadow clone jutsu.

Hidan swiftly jumped, avoiding both Sakura’s punch and the shadow stretching along the ground towards him. Grinning triumphantly and laughing at the younger shinobi, he swung his scythe out by the rope attached to the end of it.

“Sakura! Don’t let him hit you!” shouted Shikamaru warningly, and Sakura was quick to obey, dodging the blades of Hidan’s scythe as he swung it out past her.

He’s going to have to do better than that, Sakura thought smugly, smirking.

Hidan mirrored her smirk rather sadistically and yanked at the rope, and with alarm, Sakura realised that he had thrown the scythe out far behind her so that he could pull it back and successfully slice her.

And she had realised this too late.

“Sakura-chan!” Naruto screamed, as his team mate attempted to dodge the scythe, an ink drawing of Sai’s ninja art hurriedly pushing her out of the way, taking the hit.

Quick in his hand sign making, Yamato pressed his hands together as if in prayer, and wood shot out of the ground near the Akatsuki pair, who dodged the wood hastily before it could succeed in ensnaring them.

“Fucking annoying!” Hidan yelled in aggravation, throwing his scythe out by the rope high into the air, bringing it down on Yamato who swiftly dodged the blades that cut into the ground where the ANBU member had previously been standing in. The blades sunk in the earth, stuck.

Sensing someone in the air behind him, Hidan turned his head, eyes widening at the sight of Sakura, drawing her fist back as she drew chakra to strengthen her punch.

“What the fu—” was all Hidan managed to say as Sakura punched him in the face, sending him sprawling down to the earth. He crashed into the ground, Sakura landing gracefully on her feet a little away from him. “Seriously man,” Hidan grumbled as he pushed himself back up. “Who the fuck are you? And man, that fucking hurts!” he complained, rubbing his jaw as he stood. “Stings like a bitch man! Almost as bad as when that shadow idiot chopped my—hey!” He quickly dodged a few swings at him before pulling roughly at the rope attached to his scythe, successfully yanking it out of the ground. He dodged another punch.

“Stop messing around, Hidan,” Kakuzu said, calm as he observed his partner, who continuously dodged the punches thrown at him, appearing as if he were dancing madly.

“Fucker!” Hidan yelled viciously at him, dodging another swing. “You think I’m messing around? Screw this!” Hidan growled in annoyance, yanking his scythe back, Sakura narrowly avoiding it.

She however, didn’t manage to dodge the punch aimed at her stomach, and the moment that she was stunned by the blow, Hidan, with a wicked and triumphant grin, brought his scythe down across her left shoulder, cutting deeply, crimson blood splattering his face. A cry escaped from Sakura’s lips as she stumbled backward, grabbing her shoulder and pressing down on the wound as she instantly began to heal it.

However, during that whole process, she hadn’t noticed until then that Hidan had stopped moving, his eyes wide as he smelt the air and brought the scythe cautiously to his lips, licking the blood off of the blades.

His actions reminded Sakura of that night in the Hidden Village of Hot Springs once more, feeling sick to her stomach.

“Fuck…” Hidan breathed, smelling the air once more, inhaling deeply as if he were taking in an intoxicating fragrance. “Fuck…” he mumbled again, his eyes falling on the pink-haired, injured kunoichi before him with sudden recognition.

He could not mistake that insanely-scented blood.

“This is not good!” Shikamaru announced through gritted teeth, sweat breaking out on his forehead. “Don’t let him get back to that symbol on the ground! Naruto! Sai! You cover the symbol!” he ordered, determined not to watch another person die as his sensei had.

However, the Jashin worshipper made no move to return to the symbol he had marked earlier on the ground, instead choosing to slowly approach the injured teen who immediately stepped back, shifting into an offensive stance, clenched fists drawn up.

“You…” he mumbled in amazement and disbelief, his crimson eyes seeming to reflect that night six years ago.

And for some reason, it gave Sakura satisfaction to be remembered before she knocked his head clear off, drawing chakra to her right fist as she clenched it, ignoring the searing pain in her left shoulder, still not completely healed.

Noticing this, the silver-haired Akatsuki member swore before swinging his scythe at her, cursing once more as she dodged it, poised to punch him as she approached quickly.

“Yo, Kakuzu!” he shouted, urgently.

With an annoyed grunt, the other Akatsuki member swiftly hardened his hand and ran forward, grabbing the bloodied blades of the scythe that now swung out haphazardly in his direction and yanking at it, pulling Hidan along with it, out of the way of the wounded Sakura.

“Keep him off the symbol!” Shikamaru ordered and Sai hastily drew more of his ninja art, backing up Naruto who charged ahead towards the Akatsuki, as he formed two shadow clones.

“Hurry up and finish this Hidan,” Kakuzu insisted, impatient and annoyed, his hand returning to normal as he released his partner's scythe.

“What do you think I’m doing, idiot?” Hidan yelled, turning and launching himself at a surprised Sakura, who hurriedly drew her fist back to punch him, but was instead forced to duck as his scythe swung across, slicing the air where her head would’ve been.

She straightened up, fist about to be thrown at the silver-haired Akatsuki’s face.

“Forgive me Jashin!” Hidan shouted and Sakura realised with horror that he had swung his scythe at an angle that allowed for it to swing around, the rope wrapping around her neck, her right hand instantly flying up to her throat as the rope slowly strangled her. “Kakuzu!” he yelled urgently.

Sakura heard several people call out her name and fought desperately to be loose of the rope, growling through gritted teeth as she forced her left hand up, her shoulder screaming from the pain, and grabbing the rope around her neck with both hands, summoning her strength to tear it apart.

But the hardened hand of Kakuzu’s fell swiftly on the pressure point on the exposed part of her neck, just beneath the rope and Sakura could not fight the wave of darkness that swept over her, her eyes rolling back into her head as her knees buckled.

Hidan caught her in time, removing the rope from around her neck before he reached into his cloak and flung a handful of kunai at the remaining shocked Konoha shinobi.

“There are exploding notes attached to them! Oi, Tenzo!” Kakashi yelled, throwing an urgent look at Yamato.

“I’ve got it!” the ANBU member replied, clapping his hands together and instantly creating a wooden shell around the Konoha shinobi.

The sound of the kunai hitting the wood was followed by explosions and when sure that they were all gone, Yamato returned the wood to the earth.

Naruto was the first to notice. “Sa-Sakura-chan!” he called, eyes wide in horror. “The Akatsuki are gone! And they’ve taken Sakura!”

-

Cold.

It was cold.

A shiver zipped down Sakura's spine.

Her muscles ached; her shoulder sore and still bleeding, twisted into an uncomfortable position, yet numb from the freezing temperature.

Knees trembling beneath her as she leaned heavily against the wall she was chained against for support, Sakura breathed harshly, the damp and cold air stinging her lungs as she struggled to keep conscious despite not having even opened her eyes yet.

She could hear voices nearby, but could not discern what they spoke of and her groggy mind begged for rest as her body, now feverish, signalled its need to battle off an infection that she could have prevented if she had enough chakra to heal the weeping wound in her shoulder.

If only she had enough strength to wrench her hands free of the chains and heal herself...

Drooping slightly against the wall, Sakura's breathing echoed about her as she gave in and as soon as she did so, sleep claimed her, washing her into a fitful and feverish sleep.

-

There was pain searing through her shoulder and through her body and a scream erupted from her mouth as someone repositioned her against the wall, the shackles and chains chinking and reverberating painfully inside her head as she continued to scream and flinch away from the hands of the person before her.

Beads of sweat trickled down her brow and she murmured feverishly, barely lucid as her body fought off the infection in her shoulder.

"Oi," called a distant voice as Sakura drifted in and out of conscious, murmuring that she wished to be left alone, "you're twisting your arm if you sleep that way, stop fighting me, fuck!"

Another scream echoed about the room as Sakura thrashed violently against the wall, yelling and shouting for the hands to stop touching her, that it was indecent, that she'd rather die than have him touch her.

The fever was speaking, and despite being well aware of this, the Akatsuki member in front of the young Konoha shinobi growled in aggravation before rising to his feet and exiting the cell, too annoyed to remain in there with the ill bubblegum-haired teen.

Shutting the cell door behind himself, Hidan glanced once more at the wounded and flushed Sakura before growling again in annoyance and turning on his heel, pacing quickly out of the room.

-

It had only been an hour or so and yet, the stranger was back again, Sakura's mind had registered that and she struggled against the chains to get away from this person, ignoring the protests in her left shoulder as she did so. She didn't like this person's touch, or the way they handled her so roughly. It was a horrifying familiarity and Sakura, conscious or not, was desperate to fight against it.

Cursing repeatedly, Hidan struggled to maintain hold of Sakura, damning her for being "so fucking feisty!"

"Look! I'm trying to apply some fucking ointment! Now give me a fucking break here!"

"I told you not to bring her here, Hidan," the cool tone of Kakuzu's voice cut in as he stood just outside of the open cell. "She'll die from the cold and the infection, which would be quite unfortunate. She would've had a large bounty on her head in the future."

"Oh fuck off, Kakuzu," Hidan grumbled, holding Sakura against the wall with one arm as he applied an ointment to her wounded shoulder with his free hand.

"You do realise that we do not have time for this Hidan," Kakuzu said, his cold gaze regarding Hidan's actions with disdain. "We're to look for the next Jinchuuriki and cannot remain here any longer, especially with the Konoha shinobi constantly searching for one of their own."

Mumbling a string of choice swear words under his breath, Hidan let go of Sakura and capped the ointment he had risked stealing from a nearby town, pocketing it as he stepped out of the cell, shutting the door behind himself with his foot. "You're a pain in the ass, Kakuzu," Hidan grumbled as he began to head out of the underground room, followed by a calm Kakuzu. As an afterthought, he added as he glanced darkly over at his money-orientated partner, "And don't even think of trying anything funny with her. She's mine."

Kakuzu raised a questioning brow. "The only thing about her that could be remotely interesting to me would be if she had a large sum on her head. But perhaps also," Kakuzu paused and Hidan stopped in his tracks, turning to face his Akatsuki partner, glaring as he dared the masked man to continue, "...her heart may fit nicely in my collection."

Quick as a flash, Hidan whipped out his scythe and Kakuzu hardened his hand in time to block the attack.

"Fuck off! She's a delicacy, not a part of your stock!" Hidan yelled, his voice resounding throughout the cell.

"And claiming her, just to drink her blood, is better than taking her heart out?" Kakuzu asked evenly, staring the foul-mouthed Akatsuki down.

There was a tense moment of silence where the two partners glared at one another before Hidan withdrew his weapon, mouth set into a irritated straight line.

"Che!" The sound left Hidan's mouth as he turned and stormed off, ignoring Kakuzu as he followed.

"The leader will not be pleased Hidan," Kakuzu commented, knowing what to expect as a reply from his short-tempered partner.

"To hell with him! I've caught my Jinchuuriki! It's you who should be worrying!"

"I was not referring to the Jinchuuriki."

"You know what, Kakuzu? Kiss my ass!"

To him, it did not matter how Kakuzu tried to reason, the girl with the insanely-scented blood was there to simply fulfil his desire, after all, a virgin's blood was an acquired taste and he had always had a morbid fascination for it. Now was not the time to let an opportunity such as this to slip by.

Grinning to himself, Hidan walked up the flight of stairs that led out of the underground holding cell and away from the sleeping Sakura.

-

Everyday the stranger would come to her cell and force her against the wall as he applied something cool to her shoulder, his loud and obnoxious voice echoing about her, ringing in her ears, throbbing inside her head until she felt like laying down and sobbing from the pain. It was a continuous pounding in her head, like the bashing of a bass drum, like her head was in place of that bass drum and being beat against mercilessly. Sometimes she could hear another voice rebounding off the cell walls but it was always lower and calmer than the one that belonged to the stranger who pinned her constantly against the wall.

She thrashed and screamed, her throat incessantly raw. When would the nightmare end? Everytime she felt delirious, but mostly, there was the presence of pain and suffering. It burned and froze everywhere on her body.

Huddling, Sakura crawled into a defensive ball as she lay on the ground after the strangers had left, having been freed temporarily of her shackles, and shivered uncontrollably, the pain rendering her defenceless and perhaps insane.

There were voices again and Sakura clamped her hands over her ears, unable to scream from the echoing pain in her head because her throat was too sore from all the screaming she had done previously.

A cloak was sudden thrown carelessly onto her and she felt its strange warmth, as if someone had been wearing it previously. And then there were mumbled words and light, dusty feathers fell gently around her and it was the first time during her entire suffering that Sakura felt a moment of clarity.

That this was a genjutsu being cast on her, and that perhaps, the suffering would end.

The darkness and unconsciousness fell over her and Sakura, ceased to be conscious of the pain.

-

Days could've passed by and by the time Sakura had finally awoken fully from her fever, she could not recall any of the events that had occurred during her illness, nor could she understand the echoing ring that reverberated off the walls and ceiling of her cell.

The sound of dripping resounded throughout the cell that Sakura woke in, and she had woken in a not too comfortable position; her hands were shackled to the top of the wall, apart from each other, and her feet were shackled to a chain that led to the middle of the cell. Her arms felt sore from being held up in that position against the wall and she could slowly feel her right hand gradually become numb, wondering idly if she had injured herself through her excessive use of chakra drawn to that hand.

Not only that, but she still felt the burn of the scythe’s rope on her neck and her head throbbed mercilessly as she continued to listen to the incessant dripping that rung throughout her cell, hoping that if they couldn’t let her return some normal blood flow to the fingers of her right hand, they should at least be considerate enough to fix the leak in the ceiling.

But who was she kidding? They had even taken her shoes and gloves away. The removal of the pouch of ninja tools and her kunai was to be expected, but her shoes? And her feet were freezing, slowly numbing from the cold and damp cell floor that made her cringe when she imagined the slime she could see from the dim light that she had.

Her stomach gave a low rumble and she smiled bitterly at the pathetic sound of it in the situation she was in.

Kidnapped by the Akatsuki, that certainly doesn’t happen everyday, she thought with a grim smile, taking in her surroundings, the small cell, bars closing her off from the door on the other side of the room.

The smile vanished as she strained her hands against the shackles as she had been doing for the past hour or so, her wrists soon to be rubbed raw against the iron with her struggles.

Sakura paused in her futile struggle, scanning the room once more, hoping to see something, anything that could help her escape.

She knew that she would not be able to draw enough chakra to rip the chains from the wall, as from her previous attempts in that hour, she realised that she did not have enough chakra to use and had concluded that the shackles that bound her hands and feet were made specially to drain chakra.

Not only that, but her shoulder was still deeply wounded and she only vaguely felt it because it was numbed from the stinging cold of the room, only feeling the searing pain if she moved her left arm too much.

Gritting her teeth, Sakura squinted in the dim light of the room, hoping that she could find something that would allow an opportunity for an escape.

But in this dim cell, it seemed hopeless and already Sakura felt waves of exhaustion sweep over her and a shiver passed through her as she bowed her head bitterly. She needed to find some way to unchain herself and contact Konoha and to do this she needed to think clearly, yet her head felt too clouded and heavy on her shoulders as she drifted slowly, uneasily out of consciousness.

-

It was that annoyingly loud voice that pulled her out of her sleep.

"Wake up bitch, it's time for breakfast!"

Sakura groaned, cringing at the loud voice, resonating throughout the cell, ringing in her ears as she forced her eyes open groggily, allowing them to slowly become accustomed to the dimly lit cell, the damp and rotting smell of the prison assaulting her nose.

Crimson eyes, silver hair and a grinning mouth, all belonging to the foul-mouthed Akatsuki member, appeared before her alarmed eyes.

"Well, well, so that ointment worked after all. Damn straight it should've. I applied it every fucking day, so be fucking appreciative," the man who's name she recalled to be Hidan spoke, foully enunciating his curses.

Still dishevelled and exhausted from having her chakra constantly drained and having just finished battling an infection and including the fact that she had not eaten for several days, left Sakura miserably weak and unable to completely comprehend her situation as she stared at Hidan dazed, her eyes flickering from his mouth, as if to see the words that they formed and understand them, to the Jashin necklace hanging around his neck.

Suddenly, the gears in Sakura's mind began to turn and she realised that there were no more shackles around her wrists; that the Akatsuki member had temporarily freed her so that she could eat, not knowing that she would instead use this opportunity of freedom for something else. Slowly, but surely, she clenched her right fist and then unclenched it, testing whether she were able to fight in her condition. She understood her situation now that she was completely awake and alert and felt that she had only enough chakra to send him flying once into the cell's metal bars. All she had to do now was summon chakra to her right fist subtly, without alerting the grinning silver-haired Akatsuki member crouching before her.

Without warning a loud growl filled the empty air of the room and Sakura instantly blushed, cursing her stomach for such timing, causing Hidan to throw back his head in laughter. Sakura's eyes widened that Hidan's reaction had made an opening for her and she clenched her fist quickly, drawing it back, sheer will and determination forcing her sore arm muscles up. Now's my chance!

Hidan returned his gaze to her, eyes narrowed and smirk in place. "Don't make me laugh," he said with that wicked smile of his, just as Sakura directed her punch at him. Swiftly, he leaned his head down against his right shoulder before seizing her arm with his left hand and her throat with his right, lifting her up and then driving her back to slam her body against the brick walls behind her, his stare menacing and sneer marring his face. "You think I brought you here for some fun, Haruno?" he asked roughly, tone cold as he glared at her, pinned against the wall, his hand tight against her throat.

Sakura began to choke, her hands flying to the one he used to grip her neck, strangling her. Abruptly, Hidan withdrew his hand and the kunoichi fell to her knees, spluttering as she held her hands to her throat, massaging it.

"You've been drained of too much chakra for you to even attempt to resist me, and also, you have no fucking fuel to drive you," Hidan explained mockingly, kneeling before Sakura as she continued to breathe harshly.

Sakura's eyes narrowed in anger. "Why don't you just sacrifice me then?" Sakura asked through gritted teeth.

Silence fell between them and they both stared at one another until Hidan reached out, his hand placed lightly, yet dangerously, around her throat. "When I sacrifice you, I will fucking sacrifice your virginity," he stated in a harsh matter-of-fact tone, watching in satisfaction as Sakura's eyes widened in horror at his words. "Consider yourself fucking lucky that I'd rather take your body than your life. Consider it lucky that the fucking smell of your blood is enticing enough for me to stay interested in keeping you alive," he said, his hand slowly tightening around her throat. He drew his face closer to hers, close enough that even the slightest breath fanned her face. "Consider yourself lucky, or else I would claim your body now while your defenceless and kill you."

His threatening words rang in Sakura's ears and bounced off of the damp dungeon walls. Her legs suddenly felt like lead beneath her. How would she get out of this alive? She could think of no way of her escaping this immortal man's clutches. He could easily kill her and she wouldn't be able to stop him.

The dilemma was that he could not be killed.

And this fact horrified Sakura, leaving her shaken as she stared back into the eyes of a madman, who only wanted her for her blood, for the scent and taste that she had no attraction to or understanding of.

I... I can't do anything... were the thoughts that ran through her mind, induced by the fear from her current situation.

A sudden image of Konoha and her team mates flashed in her mind.

Sakura bit her lip. No... there is something I can do... She clenched her fists, determined, her mind working logically and rationally once more. I will not show fear. I must be strong and find a way out! I will not allow him to toy with my mind! Boldly, she grabbed the wrist of the hand against her throat and threw it forcefully away from herself, her arm muscles screaming in protest from the strain, and yet, she kept a clenched jaw and determined expression.

"Do what you will, Hidan. But don't think I won't pay you with hell," Sakura said threateningly, fists clenched as if she were prepared to fight to her death.

Hidan's eyes were wide as he regarded her in surprise before he slowly smirked. "Damn, I knew you were feisty from the very start, as soon as you stomped on my face in that field."

Sakura mirrored his smirk. "I'm glad you remember that."

And without warning, Sakura punched Hidan square in the face with all the chakra she could muster, the muscles in her right arm reaching the limit, having not completely recovered from the strain and the draining of chakra. But that one hit had been enough to satisfy Sakura for now as she forced herself to stand on her legs that trembled due to the forced effort, grinning triumphantly as she stood over Hidan who pushed himself back up, cursing her.

"And I hope you remember that too. You're underestimating me," Sakura said coolly, the grinning never leaving her face as she stared at Hidan.

Suddenly, the world began to spin and Sakura's eyes rolled up into her head, her knees buckling before she fell forward, unable to keep herself up anymore having over-exerted herself.

Wiping away the blood from his broken nose and cursing her once more, Hidan moved forward swiftly and caught her before deciding that weakened or not, he had been underestimating the bubblegum-haired kunoichi.

Placing her shackles back on, he positioned her seated and leaning against the cell wall before getting up and leaving the cell, closing the door behind himself, grumbling moodily to himself as he cursed the "feisty bitch" for breaking his nose.

-

End of chapter two.

A/N: Yeah... um... hmm... yeah, please leave a review? (Don't know what else to say... wow, I actually did a chapter two for this story. I guess I should say, hoorah for crack. XD)