"Well, this is great; just great!"

Tayuya had taken the lead only a few minutes ago, Kabuto slightly behind her, and Orochimaru behind Kabuto. Tayuya pulled to a halt, gathering Panda into stride and stopping him. "Shit, this sucks…"

"Tayuya, language," Kabuto reminded her. He stopped just after her and looked at the large tree that had fallen across their path. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Three options: one, go back and find a way around. Two, try to move it. Three, and probably the best one, jump it. I know the horses are all capable; but can every here make that jump and stay on? That's a good two and a half, three feet there."

Orochimaru shrugged. "I know I can make it," he said. "And Tayuya probably could, too. Kidomaru…probably. Sakon is working with Ukon, so if they grip tight enough with their legs and stay off Moose's back, he'll be okay. She jumps round. Jiroubou and Midori should be okay, and Kimimaro and Brise will be fine. That's everyone…oh, the dogs?"

Kabuto nodded. "They're fine."

Orochimaru shrugged. "Then what are we waiting for?"

He kicked Noirceur forward, catapulting towards the tree. Noirceur cleared it easily, and Kabuto moved after him. Tayuya was close behind Kabuto, followed by Sakon, then Kidomaru, then Kimimaro, and finally Jiroubou.

"Nice," Tayuya panted, breathing slightly from the adrenaline. "Real nice one, here," she said, patting Panda's neck. The horse shook his head, pawing at the ground.

"Aw, he wants to go again," she cooed, leaning over and hugging the horse. Kidomaru gaped.

"Tayuya…has a soft side…!"

"I'm a sucker for cute animals," Tayuya confessed. "And this one has

Kabuto sighed. "Alright, let's go. We're all alive, right?"

"Barely," Jiroubou muttered. "I'm starting to lose the barbecue that I call lunch!"

Tayuya snorted. "Stay downwind," she said dryly. "No one wants to smell it!"

Jiroubou glared, but said nothing. "Back of the line, loser," Tayuya said, smirking. "Nobody wants to smell it!"

Jiroubou sighed but complied-with a bit of grumbling. Tayuya grinned and took off again, calling over her shoulder, "Let's go, slowpokes!"

Orochimaru felt s small smile work its way over his face as he kicked Noirceur forward again. The stallion darted ahead, eager to be going, and Kabuto followed. The dogs ran at his heels, panting and shaking their fur. Kidomaru sighed and followed Kabuto, leaving Jiroubou and Sakon behind. Sakon gave no reaction, simply asking his horse to follow the rest. Jiroubou was in a foul mood and just let his massive horse follow his friends. Tayuya and Panda were going flat-out: Orochimaru had trouble keeping up until she slowed to a canter.

"Everybody slow down for a second!"

Orochimaru pulled up again, glancing over his shoulder. "wehat? I don't see anything-"

"I smell smoke."

Kabuto sniffed at the air. "Come to think of it, I smell it, too…wanna go back?"

Tayuya shook her head. "It's up ahead."

"Exactly," Orochimaru said. "We can't go through it, can we?"

Tayuya grinned and twisted in her saddle. "Oi, fatass! Come back up here!!"

Jiroubou caught up to Tayuya, glowering. "What, potty mouth?"

"See if you can mud-cannonball the fire up ahead out of the way when we come to it."

Jiroubou shrugged. "Only if you admit I'm not fat."

"Admit?" Tayuya laughed. "More like lie-"

"Just get out of the way!" Kabuto snapped. Jiroubou sighed and took the lead, looking around warily. Kabuto and Tayuya edged ahead of Orochimaru, keeping him in the middle of the pack. The dogs stuck close to Kabuto, and a hawk was circling overhead.

Sakon heard the pounding hooves and started.

"Kabuto…we have company!"

Kabuto swore almost as badly as Tayuya and dropped back to Sakon. "What?"

"Someone's coming; I combined Ukon's hearing with mine, and I think Sasuke's onto us!"

Kabuto swore again and began forming the signs for a jutsu. Sakon watched with interest as Kabuto finished the jutsu and held the hand sign, initiating a genjutsu.

"It's like a zebra's stripes," he explained. "It'll make it hard for Sasuke to pinpoint one of us-he'll be shooting half-blind. Of course, he might get lucky, but this should make it harder for him to get one of us, or at least, Orochimaru-sama."

Sakon nodded. "Any way I can help?"

Kabuto sighed and released the hand sign. "Just be ready to fight," he said quietly. "I can't let Orochimaru-sama go; not again. He can't handle it, either. So please…be ready."
Sakon nodded. "Ukon-bitch, you hear that? No sleeping for much longer, and you have to help me!"

"Yeah, yeah…"

Kabuto nodded once and moved up again, staying next to Orochimaru. Neither spoke a word; none were needed. Kabuto sometimes suspected that Orochimaru could read minds; or at least, his. The sannin always seemed to know what he was thinking, or just what to say to him at just the right time-

"Kabuto…"

Orochimaru's golden eyes were absent, as if he were lost somewhere else. "If something happens…what are we going to do? Sasuke probably planned everything-we're just running blindly…if he catches us, what are we going to do?"

Kabuto exhaled as slowly as he could, turning this over in his mind. Orochimaru trusted him-he couldn't betray that trust, he just couldn't! "Well, we fight. It's nothing we can control at this point…it's not up to me to decide who attacks when, or how, and who makes it…and who doesn't. It's nothing we can control anymore. We just have to hope, and see what happens."

Orochimaru looked down seemingly deep in thought. "Here," he finally said, pulling a scroll out of his kunai pouch and shoving it into Kabuto's hands. Kabuto glance down at it, confused.

"It's a summoning…for the snakes. Just summon one, sign the contract, and tattoo the summoning on your arm. They prefer left, but you can use right."

Kabuto smiled. "I will…thank you."

Orochimaru took a deep breath and glanced up. "Well, then," he said slowly. "It seems we have to deal with a few problems before we can go any further…pull up!"

Tayuya slid to a halt the second before Orochimaru issued the order to halt. Jiroubou had fallen back again, probably out of fright, and was now slightly behind Orochimaru. Kimimaro had remained silent the whole time, but now a low, gravelly growl rose in his throat, not unlike the ones rising in the dogs' throats as they stopped near Kabuto. Their fur was rising, hackles coming up, and teeth bared. Kabuto sighed and strengthened the genjutsu as they rounded the last corner.

In front of them was a roaring fire, and in front of that, was Uchiha Sasuke, seated on a gray stallion, with legions of Otonin behind him.

Kabuto sighed. "Always has to overdo it…you and Orochimaru-sama both. Probably something you learned from him."

"Don't lecture me, brat," Sasuke snapped. "I have to kill you to gain access to a certain power I need to defeat Itachi."

Kabuto snorted. "I can't really see how you see me as your closest friend. You certainly don't treat me like it, so I can't quite return the favor."

Sasuke chuckled. "Come on, I'm only using you as an excuse! Surely you're not that stupid?!"

"The jutsu won't work unless the love is true."

Kabuto turned around to stare at Orochimaru. "How do you know?"

Orochimaru shrugged. "I did a little research."

Sasuke smiled. "Well, then, I have to thank Orochimaru for being so stupid as to let me know that," Sasuke said. "Now I get to kill him!"

Kabuto sighed. "Sasuke, you're reckless," he said slowly, shaking his head. "I never imagined this day would come…the day I actually had to use

Orochimaru's eyes widened. "Kabuto, don't-"

Kabuto ignored him, reaching behind his back to wrap his hand around a syringe. "Orochimaru-sama, are you doing this or not?"

Orochimaru sighed. "Might as well…someone hold the horses. This is gonna scare the crap out of them…"

Tayuya took the two horses Kabuto and Orochimaru handed her and sighed. "Jiroubou, can you form a little…cave, or something, were we can put them?"

Jiroubou sighed. "One minute she loves me, the next minute she hates me," he muttered as he formed a half-way-formed dome; a wall of earth in a circle around the horses. The rest of the Sounds jumped off and stood behind Orochimaru and Kabuto.

"Well?"

Orochimaru sighed and extended his arm. Kabuto handed him the syringe and pulled out an identical one, which he pushed into a vein in his arm. Orochimaru did the same, and Kabuto waited for him to finish before pulling out a scroll and forming hand signs around it. Orochimaru flinched, seemingly in pain, but did nothing. Kabuto finished his jutsu and unrolled the scroll, glancing at Orochimaru. The sannin formed a single hand sign and nodded to Kabuto. Kabuto spread the scroll and smeared his blood on it.

The earth began to shake.

"Snake style: Merge of Hearts!"

Kabuto could feel Orochimaru's heart beginning to skip to meet with his own. He was trying to be as gentle as possible, but it was hard…finally, their hearts were synched, and Kabuto reached out, clasping hands with Orochimaru-

An explosion of chakra flattened the forest for a mile around them.

Orochimaru drove himself further into Kabuto's jutsu than he ever had-they had never taken it to this level before. He moved even closer, binding their lives and allowing Kabuto to control him by a mere thought.

"Go!"

Orochimaru sprang forward, Kusanji in his hands, and attacked Sasuke with more ferocity than ever before. Kabuto's hands moved in accordance with his own, moving Orochimaru like a puppet with no strings.

"Puppet Master Imitation!"

Kabuto moved again, this time putting Orochimaru right in front of Sasuke. The Uchiha growled and jumped off his horse, whipping out his katana and beginning a duel with Orochimaru.

Jiroubou slammed his hands into the earth, pulling them up again with a huge orb of pure earth in his hands. "Heads up!" he called. "I'm dealing with the rest of them!"

Tayuya whipped out a flute and a scroll. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Three hulking Doki appeared, each blinded in some way and holding enormous weapons. Tayuya's level one seal appeared, spreading and allowing her to take control of the Doki. Sakon and Ukon had long since gone level two and split, each heading for Sasuke from a different direction. Kidomaru was shooting spiders, arrows, and kunai at random, aiming for the enemy in general. Sasuke and Orochimaru were locked in combat, Kabuto using Orochimaru as a puppet. The genin was struggling to keep up with Sasuke's speed, but he knew it was only way to ensure Orochimaru wasn't injured. If Orochimaru was struck, since his and Kabuto's lives were semi-linked, Orochimaru would heal any wound he had-so long as Kabuto could. And in return, Kabuto could use all of Orochimaru's skills-including the Fuushi Tensei. They could use each other as puppets, and they could use each other's skills. They could borrow strength from each other, and chakra. But there was one drawback.

If one was injured, so was the other.

Fortunately, Kabuto's healing abilities protected both from most of the damage. But if someone were to get a hold of one and not the other…there was a release, but it was long and complex. Most of the time, you simply waited for the effects to wear off in about an hour. Kabuto had devised a safety measure; a catch of sorts, that would immediately release the jutsu, but it was a true last resort, as it took all of the chakra you had left and momentarily stunned you.

Kabuto moved Orochimaru out of the way of an exploding kunai and moved again for Tayuya's Doki. The one with the club swung forward, reaching out to smash Sasuke. The Uchiha cursed and jumped in the other direction, away from Orochimaru. Kabuto initiated a fire jutsu, Orochimaru doing the same. He had switched back to movement imitation, and now there was double the fire pouring down on Sasuke.

As Kabuto and Orochimaru tapered off the flame, Kabuto couldn't help but wonder how long this battle would go on, and who would live-and who would not.

A/N: Review, please. No flames.