The Key To So Many Doors (Hidan Story)

Chapter 21

The moment this thought crossed her mind, that ball of energy inside of her began to grow. It was like it was seeping out, first in tiny strands, but the longer it went on, the more they became thick threads, feeling her chakra radiating through every part of her body. With her eyes closed, she couldn't see Hidan's expression of shock and awe, staring in amazement at what was happening. At how Shima almost began to glow; a sheen of light washing over her skin, feeling the chakra in the air around him and giving him goosebumps. This was the kind of thing he had been expecting when he had heard about Shima's abilities. This was the kind of thing Hidan had always known Shima was capable of, but never let herself consider. He'd had his expectations, true...

But she had far exceeded them.

Shima's body felt different. Her mind felt different. Whether it was internally, externally, mentally, physically or emotionally, Shima felt different. It was as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Like she had been carrying around a burden for her entire life, and it was only now that she was finally being freed of it. She felt lighter than air, and connected to everything. It was almost as if she was at one with the earth, feeling every little thing as a connection in her mind. Realising this, and fully understanding it, a smile appeared on her face. So this was what her abilities could do if she accepted them. If she trained them. Abruptly the idea that she had dismissed them all this time felt so, so wrong. But it wasn't that way anymore.

Now her chakra pooled out through her hands and into the stone of the sanctuary, and a few seconds later Shima felt the stone in front of her slowly move away with a grinding sound. Opening her eyes, she found the sanctuary doors had opened; gradually sliding back to reveal the room inside. Shima found her smile grew into a grin, almost disbelieving at what was occurring in front of her. She'd actually done it! With that thought, a feeling of triumph swelled in her chest—along with a little bit of smugness. She wished all those people who had treated her like dirt could be here to see what she was doing. To understand just what she could do. They were nothing anymore. She could go ahead and forget them without a second glance.

This felt ever more evident as the doors finally reached their destination, coming to a halt with a thud and leaving the sanctuary open for her. Pausing for a moment, allowing everything that had happened to sink in, Shima studied the room in front of her. It wasn't anything special; though there were carvings on the walls, they weren't as many as there were in the main area. Whereas before they were everywhere, decorating every piece of stone you could see, in the sanctuary there were merely a few. But upon taking a step forward; upon actually entering the sanctuary, Shima could see they were a lot more detailed than the rest. All the images they depicted were incredibly intricate, though what exactly they were trying to depict, Shima couldn't tell.

They were of people; but they weren't normal people. Whether they had tattoos on their bodies, natural markings because of something or that they just weren't human, she didn't know, but their skin was decorated. They also seemed to be doing something; removing something from other people or putting it into them. One carving showed a person holding something in their hands; but it wasn't the scroll. It seemed to be as if they were holding chakra in its raw form; like pure energy. There was one image on each wall, awakening Shima's curiosity and wondering just what story they were trying to tell. She contemplated trying to bring about a vision from these—to see if she could find out just what was happening in the pictures—but brushed it aside. That wasn't what she was here for.

Hidan remained outside, coming closer but not fully going inside the sanctuary—though wishing he could.

Although he would be taking the scroll for the Akatsuki, it had been Shima who had been able to open it, and only Shima. It had been locked up for everyone else, and there clearly had to have been a reason for that. As such, he didn't want to go in, in case he wasn't meant to. In case the temple would react and attempt to do something to him in return. True, he was immortal, but he didn't want to risk it. So he stood outside and waited for Shima to pick up the scroll and hand it to him, looking over the carvings himself as best he could. But knowing that Hidan was there, hearing him step forward, Shima shook off her interest in the sanctuary itself and turned to the podium—and ultimately, what was on it.

The scroll, just like the sanctuary, was a simple thing. There was no fancy decorations or colours that hinted that it was something special. It didn't seem to give off any power like that which Shima had been feeling before she stepped up to the sanctuary. There wasn't even any writing on it. To all eyes, it was a plain, boring old scroll that could hold any kind of information in it—it was only because they knew about it—because it was inside this sanctuary—that Shima and Hidan knew it wasn't as boring as it appeared. But shrugging that fact off, not really bothered about the whole thing, Shima went up to the podium, checking quickly for anything that might attack her, before simply picking up the scroll, ready to hand it over to Hidan.

She just hadn't expected the result that came next.

Abruptly the scroll didn't seem so boring anymore as it began to glow, runes appearing along the outside and allowing Shima to finally feel that power that she had sensed upon entering the temple to begin with. Widening her eyes in shock, Shima wanted to drop the scroll; to put it back on the podium to stop it from reacting like this—but it was impossible. Her hand automatically clenched around it, stopping her from being able to let go, and she turned to Hidan instead; she wanted help. He returned her shocked gaze, but when he tried to come forward and help her out, a barrier appeared before him, blocking him from coming any closer, and as such, all he could do was watch as the scene continued.

The scroll suddenly opened, twirling around her as a wind swirled throughout the sanctuary. Shima couldn't make out what was written on the scroll; it was twirling around her too fast. Her heartbeat increased, slamming against her ribcage as she tried to figure out what to do. Every time she thought there was a gap she could slip out through, it was covered a moment later, and she remained trapped in the space between the scroll. What it was doing, Shima had no idea, but she began to feel it was affecting her somehow. Her chakra once again was brought to the surface, swirling through her body, and it was as if the scroll had connected to her. A second later and chakra was slamming into her body from the scroll, trying to get her body to absorb it. If Shima had been able to scream, she would have done, but her voice had disappeared into the depths of her mind. All she could do was stand there, frozen, as the chakra continued to enter her body.

What she couldn't see was her body changing; markings appearing across her skin that resembled bones (think a cross between Day of the Dead images and Hidan's cursed form). But as the pain subsided slightly, Shima steeled herself for whatever else would come, now ready to fight back. She didn't care what this scroll was doing to her, but she was going to control it; she was going to rule it! She hadn't asked for this to happen, and therefore she wouldn't let her get the better of her. After all that had happened, Shima was not about to give up now!

And the chakra slowly caved to her will, Shima finding that the pain quickly began to fade, leaving her no longer with raw chakra that felt as if it was destroying her from the inside out, but instead with utter power. She felt stronger than she had ever done; as if she was ready for anything. The idea that she had been concerned about what people thought of her was a forgotten memory, and Shima simply felt utterly in control of herself as the scroll slowly slowed to a halt, dropping to the ground and leaving her still standing there. Looking down at her hands, she smirked at what she looked like; but it didn't scare her. It excited her. And as she sensed people were there—that it was no longer just Hidan, but instead Kakuzu and a few remaining ninjas as well—

Shima knew she would get the perfect chance to show it.