"Is that it?"
The Third Hokage lowered his pipe, looking half-skeptical, half-impressed.
"What do you think?" Hidan shot back, rolling his eyes. "You want me to add special effects too? Lightning crackling, explosions all over my body? Tch."
Sarutobi chuckled softly but didn't answer.
"Alright. Come back with me. If Fū truly dies as you said, then I'll allow you to join the Anbu."
With that, his hands blurred into a seal, and he vanished in a flicker of movement.
Hidan stood alone for a second, covered in blood, his clothes torn and ragged.
"…Every damn ritual. Always ends the same. Blood everywhere, holes in my clothes, looking like some beggar that just crawled out of a ditch. What a pain."
It wasn't that his ability wasn't strong, on the contrary, the curse technique was terrifying but it was messy, crude, and bloody.
And worst of all, it destroyed his clothes every time. Unless he stripped beforehand (which the enemy definitely wouldn't allow mid-battle), there was no way to look cool while using it.
Still muttering, Hidan slung his scythe over his shoulder and jogged after the Hokage. No complaints.
The faster I get into the Anbu, the faster I can start pulling strings. Especially that little task Danzō has floating around… heh, that one's mine.
By the time they returned, Hidan was grinning like a kid at a festival.
"How's that, old man? Told you I wasn't lying!" he crowed, plopping down in the Hokage's office chair opposite Sarutobi.
The Third Hokage didn't answer immediately. His wrinkled hands gripped a sealed scroll tightly, his eyes shadowed with thought.
To his students, he had always shown kindness.
To his village, wisdom. But right now, his heart was restless.
If what I just witnessed is real… Tsunade has unknowingly sent me a weapon unlike any other. Immortality, curses through blood… in the right or wrong hands, this ability could shake nations.
Hiruzen exhaled slowly. Even the thought made his skin prickle. If Hidan could obtain the blood of a Hokage, of a Kage, then in theory...even they could be cursed.
It was a terrifying possibility. And yet… precisely the kind of ability that fit perfectly in the Anbu.
"Kakashi."
At his soft call, a masked figure appeared silently in the corner of the room. Silver hair, animal mask, the faint weight of killing intent behind calm posture.
Hidan's eyes lit up. Finally, the real deal. Hatake Kakashi. The Copy Ninja. The guy who'll one day lead Team 7.
Behind that mask was a genius, creator of the A-rank Chidori, wielder of Obito's Sharingan, the man destined to walk the line between light and shadow.
Right now, he was still buried in Anbu, but his reputation already carried weight.
"Kakashi," Hiruzen said warmly, "this boy, Hidan, will be under your care. Assign him alongside Itachi."
"Yes," Kakashi replied simply, stepping closer to Hidan.
The Hokage's gaze softened as it fell on the boy once more. "Do your best to stay true to yourself. Once you step into Anbu, I cannot help you much. It is a place where kindness fades quickly."
Hidan nodded, uncharacteristically serious for a moment. "Got it, old man."
And deep inside, he wondered...if Orochimaru really does attack one day, could I change the outcome? Could I keep this old man alive?
Of course, the reason was simple...once he became strong enough, he could turn Hiruzen into his puppet Hokage.
Besides, the old man had always treated him kindly. Still, one step at a time. The future is never certain, after all.
"Then go," Sarutobi said with finality. But just as Kakashi bowed, he paused, rummaging in a drawer.
"…Wait. Take this." He tossed a small scroll across the desk.
Hidan caught it, blinking. "What's this supposed to be?"
"This is a meeting gift. If you didn't have such a… special body, I'd never hand it out. But for you, it might prove useful."
Understanding dawned, and Hidan's eyes gleamed. So it's that kind of scroll… tch, this old man really does know how to earn favor.
He bowed deeply. "Thanks, old geezer."
Sarutobi watched them leave, his gaze lingering. For all his doubts, his instincts told him...he hadn't chosen wrong.
The Anbu's underground compound was as cold and lightless as rumor claimed.
"As a member of Anbu," Kakashi explained flatly,
"from this day forward you will no longer move with your true name or face. You will wear a mask at all times."
"If captured, you will destroy yourself before being taken alive. This is the principle of Anbu."
The words dropped like steel on stone.
"Yes," Hidan answered without hesitation.
"Yes," another voice echoed beside him.
Hidan turned and almost froze. Standing there was Uchiha Itachi.
Still young, dressed in the dark gear of Anbu, a short tantō strapped to his back, expression calm yet distant. Even in silence, he radiated an aura that said clearly: keep away.
Ah yes, the legendary filial son...Itachi Uchiha.
The only man who looked at his family dinner table and thought: 'this would be way better… without the family.'
Took "eliminate distractions" to heart...except the distractions were his parents.
Obito was like "join me," and Itachi was like "say less, I already cleared my household."
Sasuke: nii-san, play with me
Itachi: bet, let's play 'trauma simulator 2000'.
The only big brother who said "I'll protect you"… by giving you enough PTSD to last three filler arcs.
You wanna know Itachi's real Kekkei Genkai? Bad decisions. The man awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, but couldn't awaken common sense.
He didn't just kill his clan...he killed the idea that the Uchiha were ever smart in the first place.
Itachi did it for the village? All he really did was hand Danzo free Sharingan and turn Sasuke into a lifelong revenge project.
Hidan kept his face blank, but in his heart he was roasting Itachi nonstop. The genius had no idea he was already being torn apart by Hidan's inner complaints.
Kakashi's voice cut in again. "From now on, the two of you are a squad. You'll work together, train together, and in a few days, you'll receive your first mission."
Both Hidan and Itachi blinked in surprise.
Hidan because...Wait, wait. This is definitely a divergence. In the story, Itachi always worked alone. When the hell did he ever get a teammate?
And Itachi because, for the first time, someone was actually being placed at his side. Why? I've always been trusted to operate alone.
Why now?
The two exchanged a brief glance. Silence stretched, uneasy but charged. Neither knew what to make of it yet.
But like it or not, under the shadows of Konoha, the silver-haired heretic and the prodigy of the Uchiha clan had just been bound together.
A new Anbu squad had been born.
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