"What the fuck are we doing here?" Hidan asked through chattering teeth, wrapping his arms around his torso. The sky had opened up in rain, and everything was faded, gray, and completely soaked. Hidan's hair was splattered against his cheeks, Kakuzu's mask was dripping.
"We're waiting for Pein," Kakuzu replied shortly, staring unblinkingly at the fort up ahead. Bodies littered the ground around them, blood washed away by the unending rain. The grass was bent over, and the field was almost empty, except for the fort up ahead.
Hidan shifted from one foot to the other, pushing his dripping hair away from his sparkling lavender eyes. "But I wanna go fucking fight, dammit! It's not fair at Mr-Stick-Up-The-Ass Pein gets all the fun."
"Deal with it. He told us that he would deal with Orochimaru. He doesn't need our help right now."
"But it's fucking pouring out!" Hidan yelled, waving his arms. His sleeves, heavy with water, slide down his arms, revealing clammy, pale skin, streaked with rain. "If he's fine, let's just leave, dammit."
"No."
"And why in the seven hells not?" Hidan asked, his voice thin and high. "He doesn't need us, because he'll be fine, like you said! So why the fuck are we here?!"
"Because if re-enforcements arrive, we'll have to deal with them." Kakuzu's answer was short. The rain was affecting him too, as much as he would try to deny it.
"But Pein's fucking strong. He can handle anything." Hidan's head was hurting. Too much to think about, with too little information for it all to make sense.
"Well then. Then he's told us to wait because if he dies, someone'll have to tell the Akatsuki," Kakuzu said listlessly, even though his stomach churned at the thought.
"He's not going to die," Hidan scoffed, but it sounded like it was an excuse. A lie made of glass, which was soon going to shatter. "Pein's one of the best ninjas alive, for Jashin's sake."
"But he's fighting Orochimaru, and even I had trouble with him. We should not be surprised if he comes out injured, or worse."
Hidan didn't reply, and merely turned his own gaze back to the fort ahead, the logs and stone walls streaked with rain. Droplets on water hit Hidan's clammy cheeks, sliding down slowly, like he was already crying.
Or maybe the sky wanted him to. Maybe it, the sun, the clouds, knew what was going to happen and were already in mourning. Maybe it wasn't crying for what was about to happen, but for some other tragic event.
Or maybe it wasn't even crying. Maybe the sky didn't know what was happening, what had happened, what would happen.
Maybe it was simply raining.
Who knows if the sky can think and feel, after all?
His breathing was harsh as he dashed through the hallways, opening doors at random. Almost all of the rooms were completely empty; dimmed, with dust and cobwebs settling thickly.
In one room, however, a sword was hung on the wall directly across from the door. The auburn haired man hesitated a moment before entering the room slowly, taking the sword down and turning it over in his hands, pulling the blade out.
The sword was sharp, very thin and light. A dragon was engraved into the side of the blade, the hilt designed to be held with two hands. A tassel hung off the end. It was incredibly balanced, and Pein slashed the air with it, before nodding and sliding it back into the sheath.
He took a deep breath to steady himself as he stepped back out into the hall, sword in hand. He raked a hand through his unruly auburn hair, tangling his fingers in the untamed strands.
Pein knew as well as anyone, maybe better, that he might not live through this mission.
Because he was going to kill Orochimaru, then himself. Time to stop running, at long last.
Orochimaru examined his sword with narrowed eyes. He knew wasn't going to live to see the end of the day, better than anyone did.
The sword was a work of art; snakes twisted halfway up the blade, and it was long, four feet of glistening, sharpened steel. It caught the faint traces of light leaking in from the hallway easily, shining them back into Orochimaru's pale face.
He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself.
He would die, Pein would die....the whole world would go down in flames...but he sure didn't care, at least not right now.
Soft footsteps from behind him. Orochimaru tensed, before his face split in a sad smile. His eyes were unusually dull.
"About time you arrived, Pein."
"Greetings, Orochimaru."
A loud crack of thunder, the pattering of rain somewhere overhead. Soft footsteps, the hiss of a sword being drawn. The almost silent breathing, harsh, low, and fast.
Orochimaru drew another deep breath before turning around slowly.
It's finally time....
Author's Comment: I'm SO SORRY, ONII-CHAN! It took so long to finish this....but my dad forgot to unblock dA today...so I finished something....
