Orochimaru felt chakara erupt through out his body, the anger of being stopped by someone he considered and ally inconceivable. Kisame looked at the smaller ninja irritably, while Kakuzu and Zetsu merely stepped back the two giant auras intimidating even for ninja their rank. Dark purple and ocean blue lit up the field in its over bearing radiance, the two rogues chakara frenzied yet controlled at the same time.
Orochimaru knew he was not at his best, his chakara only just returning. He would have to use it wisely, but as his nature was, that was no large task. He could make a lot out of a little while the shark tended to throw his best punches then retreat. Kisame drew the large sword from his back, he left the bandages on it to ensure he did less damage. As was the Sharks nature however, he was willing to do more harm to get what he wanted. Golden eyes scanned the man and his sword, his chakara was still to weakened to allow for him to draw Kusangi.
He jumped several feet back and did a few hand signs, wind strong enough to cut through trees erupted and slashed at the approaching ninja. Kisame leapt away using his sword to cut through the harsh winds. By the time he had successfully avoided it all the Sannin had disappeared from his line of sight. The difference in rank was already apparent the two stand by rogues noted. To many underestimated the Sannin due to his passive nature. Orochimaru hardly ever went all out in a fight, and only fought seriously when he was set on a specific task.
Sensing the Sannin coming Kisame moved quickly to avoid a potential hit. He was surprised to see Kusangi drawn and glinting in the light. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed the forest as Two blades made contact. Kusangi effortlessly slicing the bandages clean off as if they were never there, and then still going as far as to scuff up the shiny tooth like scales running along Kisame's blade. Kisame used his brute force to smash the Sannin backwards, but in only served to momentarily stagger the pale ninja. Orochimaru was quick to maintain his balance and use the break to his own advantage dashing around the large clumsy fashioned sword. When he was behind the shark he slashed his sword at his exposed flesh, still keeping his attacks at minimal damage. He didn't want to hurt the other ninja, after all he didn't hate him or see him as an enemy in anyway. But Kisame was stopping him from getting where he had to. He and Kakashi had sworn they would free the ninja, in his honor. The head band he wore around his neck moving with him, the Konoha metallic carving glinting in the light. Orochimaru made contact as he knew he would but slipped his blade away before doing any real damage. He then retreated a few steps. Kisame grunted at the pain of cold metal running through his flesh. He spun around and sheathed his sword, doing a few hand signs sharks made of nothing but water hurtled towards the other rogue. Orochimaru hopped around them and sliced the water elementals down their centers. The Sharks split down their centers but then reformed and spun around to return to their attacks tactics. Orochimaru hopped around them and did his own hand signs, once again sending knife sharp winds at the sharks. The aquatic creatures were dispelled by the pressure, but with their distraction Kisame had appeared behind Orochimaru. Strong arms pinned the Sannin to a nearby tree, with a slamming force successfully rendering the Sannin immobile.
"Your too weak to fight me. Save us the trouble." Kisame snapped.
"You underestimate me." Orochimaru said coldly, no emotion present in his voice. The body turned to thousands of smaller brown snakes who went into smoke upon appearing. Shadow clone.
Kisame turned around to relocate the Sannin, he was mistaken if he thought injury would prevent the other male from his victory.
"Orochimaru." Kisame warned, he looked around still unsure of where the other ninja was. The ground shook and a large serpent appeared out the ground hissing and thrashing its large tail. Its green eyes locking onto Kisame. Still despite the summoning, Orochimaru was no where to be seen. Kisame rushed the snake but its slim body slipped out the way and it slammed its thick tail into the shark ninja, Kisame unsheathed his sword once more and exchanged blows with the serpent. After several minutes Zetsu shook his head in annoyance.
"Kisame! Orochimaru is gone!" Zetsu snapped. Kisame paused and looked around he hadn't expected the Sannin to simply run off.
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The sound of great wings echoed the skies, Deidara's large white birds gliding down to the Sand villages floor. Kakashi felt his heart jump in his chest. Had Deidara returned with Orochimaru? Kakashi pushed past the ninja in his way and ran for the bird. Deidara was helping someone. Kakashi picked up his pace. He was met with disappointment.
"Kakashi. They have come bearing news about the NW." Deidara said, "me and Kisame split ways. You needed to hear this urgently."
"Iruka, Temari." Kakashi greeted.
"We need to get to the city. They are going to use the Jinchuuriki." Temari said urgently, slightly breathless.
"Use them?" Kakashi questioned.
"To lower their cities." Iruka added, "if they succeed they will have enough power to run their city... and more. They can use this to expand, create a larger empire."
"We have to stop them! It's already been far to long to waste another second." Temari said hurriedly, almost jittering as she spoke. Her care for her brother evident in her hasty approach and her impatience to get back to the hell zone.
"We can't let them do that." Shikaku interjected solemnly, "it's early Kakashi, but we will have to make an advance."
"Will our men be ready? We have gathered almost no one." Kakashi said, they had hundreds of ninja, all escapees during the retaliation made by Orochimaru, Deidara and Kisame under Balear. Would that be enough to dent the Military. They more than tripled the ninja in volume, in fact one could say they were ten times if not more.
"We have little choice." Shikaku said, "we risk them getting stronger and simply detaining us once more."
"Right now though? Surely if we attack and free the Jinchuuriki all we will achieve is freeing the Jinchuuriki. They will know we have made an army, they will locate us and destroy us later on." Sasori warned.
"What did Orochimaru say?" Iruka asked Temari, the name caught the copy ninja's attention.
"Orochimaru? Did you see him?" Kakashi asked, he noticed how he inherited Temari's haste.
"...yes... He said we should shut down the power supplies, that it will disadvantage the NW." Iruka said relocating the Sannins words.
"The power is by Gaara and Naruto. If we reach them we can shut down the power, destroy the NW like that." Temari said eagerly, noting how Kakashi seemed more set on the plan.
"Of course." Shikaku said, "then size isn't as important. It's simply how effectively we use our men."
"Where is Orochimaru now?" Kakashi asked, Sasori gave him an irritated look.
"The City. He told us to wait for him but didn't return for days. We left in fear of being found." Temari admitted.
"He was terribly wounded. I'm not sure he survived the city." Iruka admitted.
"I doubt he died." Temari said, "he didn't act slowed down by his wounds."
"He is alive." Kakashi repeated.
"I knew it yeah." Deidara said, his birds wings flapping in sync with his excitement. Sand blew up in a chaotic mess and Deidara hushed the seemingly inanimate bird.
"Then we march?" Shikaku asked.
"Gather the men. We will leave today." Kakashi ordered. He gazed across the land, where the soldiers were taking a break. They wouldn't rest for long, they never did. Most had wives, brothers, sisters or friends back in the city. Most had loved ones who were victims to the NW's, all had the motivation to fight.
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Orochimaru dashed through the trees, he felt bad for running from Kisame. He knew the other rogue was merely trying to help. Which in essence he had. Kakuzu had stitched him up and Orochimaru already felt back to himself. Well almost. He wasn't bleeding out anymore and considering he spent most of his days loosing blood lately, he felt rather good. His chakara had also returned, and with a vengeance he might add. It hardly allowed him to contain it, black and purple flaring around his blurred out body, blurred due to his speed as he rushed the city. How long he fought to get out of that city only to return on several occasions. He didn't let trivial matters bother him. He needed to get to the main power plant, that could take days to find. He knew for a fact that the NW were toying around with the idea of using the ninja to power their city. That at least left room for Orochimaru to find their plant. Many civilians were freaking out over the idea, still the fear of the unknown leading most to their choice of being anti something. Orochimaru played with the idea in his head, in all respects if the NW did use the two demons as power they would gain a great deal. In fact, since the Sannin had done extensive research on the demons he knew for a fact that harnessing their energy would have no side effects. Of course the NW did not have enough information on the two children and feared the domino effect of messing with nature. Not that they proved too concerned with nature as their city encroached on the forests habitat.
The walls of the great city came into view and once again the snake found himself confined there. He ducked behind buildings, deciding this time he should avoid the darker parts, after all they would most likely be bombed. The middle class was more guarded but he knew how to get around unnoticed. A few hand signs later and Orochimaru was in the form of small white snake, he would take the form of a human later on, but a random unrecognizable civilian wondering the streets in search of something screamed ninja in disguise. After all it was what most ninja had done in attempts to escape. The NW were now aware of the ninja's tricks and had long since brought in an ID system. If you failed to have the passport or your passport was found to be a fake you were killed on the spot. Orochimaru wasn't going to risk it. Instead he took on his infamous form of a small white garden snake. His colour may have been a poor choice for camouflage in the wild, but amidst the unnatural white of the many buildings, houses and fences it fit in rather well. Speed wasn't a concern either, he was rather mobile and didn't have much concern for weary eyes. He could get around quickly enough unnoticed. Which was all he asked for.
He slipped through people's gardens, through busy streets and even busier parks. He wasn't really sure where he would find the power source. But as he had learnt over time, all details came with enough looking. So he kept moving, and when he passed people he listened to their conversations for mere moments. If something caught his interest he would listen some more, if not he would move on.
He had been traveling for about three days when the next morning two woman caught his interest. They both held newspapers in their hands.
"what do you think about it?" The blond asked pushing a loosely hung scarf back into place.
"We need power. I don't see how it could go wrong." The darker haired woman explained.
"I'll tell you how it could go wrong. These things are monsters. What if we set them free by accident? What if they out do us, use our power instead? What if their power isn't electricity generating, they could fry the city." The blond said in mild panic, "it's ludicrous to try."
"We won't have enough power for ever, we only have one power plant for the entire city." The darker haired one stated, " if we used them to power our city maybe we will have more energy and will be able to open more plants. Maybe the price for electricity will drop."
"We only need one, we run fine on it. It's not worth it for the simple drop in price." The blond reasoned, "personally I think it's playing with dangerous elements."
"Nonsense, either way, whether they do or don't I couldn't care a less." The darker haired woman said, "it's not up to us, its governments job."
It's our choice though isn't it? Do you think the will simply do it with out our consent? This is democracy they can't do such a thing." The blond said.
"They have done worse with out telling us. Knowing them they'll probably only tell us later on in some apology speech once alls shot to hell." The darker haired woman laughed, the blond didn't follow her humor, but soon their conversation diverted into politics and the Sannin abandoned them. At least he now knew there was only one source of power. Meaning if he found it then it would be the end. Taking a logical guess it also meant it was most likely in the centre of the city. Since everyone relied on it, it had to be centered. He slipped into a small shrub and left the woman's space completely. Knowing it was in the middle of the city helped, but he didn't exactly know where he was. He could be close to the border or already in the middle. Being of small size made it hard. He needed a distraction.
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Kakashi walked in the lead with Shikaku and Deidara at his side just mere steps behind. The army walked in an orderly and calm march, all dedicated and determined. The city was close, they had just entered the forest. The cool night air gave them the strength they needed to put foot in front of foot. The city lit up like the night sky, the lights from the buildings looking like a cluster of stars. As beautiful a sight as it may have been Kakashi couldn't help but notice how the many lights casted a glare which caused the stars in the sky to become fewer. In the desert the stars were far more visible. There were thousands clouding the sky in their brilliance, but now, the man made lights destroyed that same brilliance. Replaced it with something that was the same yet different, similar but not equal.
The ninja were silent despite their numbers. They walked with unnatural calmness, as if they had been born for that very day, that very fight. No one spoke to one another, not even the smallest of mutterings could be heard. The city finally came into view and they entered the walls with as much silence as they had marched with. The eerie soundless army sent chills down the NW soldiers who stood outside the gate watching . They had of course seen the ninja coming from a few miles away, it did them no good. The had little time to prepare a fort block, nothing could stop the infiltration. Instead they had vacated their citizens. The Military stood at the front gates mere steps from the entrance all armed and ready, choppers lifted to the sky, tanks rolled onto the field. The ninja went up in smoke.
Once again, the NW failed to comprehend the ninja's intellect. Once again they failed to acknowledge them as equal. It would cost them. The army of shadow clones left nothing behind and by the time the Military had realized what had happened the ninja had already entered the great walls. The soldiers from the NW turned around and headed back into their city, but it was a tough battle to fight. Shadow clones made it hard to identify who was who and it made their small army four times the size. Bombs were sent crashing into the city as Deidara flew ahead with other weapon specialists equipped with his flying clay creations. The Military was over whelmed it appeared, and the ninja marched effortlessly though the forces open fire.
As they marched of course they gained men, more ninja who were trapped in the struggle came to join the retaliation. Kakashi found many strong and powerful ninja run to his aid. At Sand they had poison specialists work on an antidote for the chakara killing toxins and as they marched any ninja found along the way was treated. One by one their numbers grew. The further they got through the city the more familiar faces Kakashi found. The Kage's being a significant one. Tsunade had decided her expertise lay with the medics, and chose to rather not fight but run around with the support teams to heal fallen ninja. Her regeneration abilities allowing fast healing.
The Military however, held their ground, they had hundreds of bullets per ninja and never seemed to run out. Their machines did a good job of holding their defenses. It was equal now as the Military finally got the hang of the ninja's games and tactics. Kakashi started to worry. It was far easier for the NW soldier to simply shoot a ninja down rather than for a ninja to reach the armed NW. The armor the NW wore was equipped for bullets, making kunai and jutsu rather useless. Deidara eventually swooped down to Kakashi's level.
"We are struggling." He said, "we can not reach the power either, we can't locate it. There is far to much chaos!"
"We have to keep fighting, find another tactic." Kakashi said. But what?
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Orochimaru had asked the gods for many things in the past and had gotten fairly little divine assistance. For once however his prayers were answered. Out of no where as if sent by the gods themselves an unnamed ninja army entered the city. They caused enough havoc to allow Orochimaru to return to his human form and search the city. He watched in mild curiosity as his friend bombed from the sky, a determination he had missed seeing. He wanted to greet his friend, it had been so long. But he knew better than to divert for such trivial matters.
He ran towards the centre of the city, once he had reached it he passed building after building in search of the power plant. He had to dodge many fights, avoiding joining any, although every now and then he had to stop to help a ninja close to death. The ninja thanked him, then returned to fighting. The feeling of gratitude somehow uplifting the Sannin. Was it acceptance? He didn't let himself dwell in it, he almost cursed himself for delving into a trivial emotion at all. But he couldn't deny he felt much happier being a part of the other ninja. He had lived his life from early childhood being ostracized from humanity. Always being referred to as a monster or demon. With the divide he had somewhere along the line been promoted to human. He was yet to see another ninja meet him with condescending eyes. He was grateful for that much.
Orochimaru soon found himself outside a large building, the heading written in big letters at the top. The building held a sinister quality and upon focusing on it he could sense the Jinchuuriki inside it.
Got you.
Orochimaru smirked at the small victory, he rushed into the building and foud to no surprise the place was almost vacant. The NW posted there evidently fighting the ninja or hiding from the fight. He darted down the halls and headed for the Jinchuuriki. He located them with minimum difficulty and entered the dark room. The sound of banging was heard and soon a high pitched voice echoed the halls.
"Get back here!" He screamed, "where are they going?!"
Naruto no doubt Orochimaru smiled, he didn't know why the over active blond reassured him, perhaps because his spirits were no less than when they last met. Orochimaru entered the room which was dimly lit. The two demon ninja snapped curious glances at the luminous golden eyes. Orochimaru wasted no time explaining issuing a simple command.
"Get back."
The two Jinchuuriki stumbled backwards to avoid getting hit and as swiftly as he came the bars in the holding cells were slit down the middle by unimaginable winds. The two ninja blinked at the Sannin with questioning eyes.
"Come on." Orochimaru muttered, gesturing for them to follow. He bolted down the hall and they didn't hesitate to pursue him. He kept his pace slower as the chakara less ninja following already displayed trouble catching up. Orochimaru was confident in his direction choice although he had no idea where anything was being kept. He entered room after room still trying in vein to find something that looked like it held power. Finally when he was on the bottom floor, or more correctly called, the basement, large light blue tanks filled the walls. Orochimaru told the two younger ninja to wait upstairs for him and entered the dark and eerie basement alone. There were no lights, the only reason the snake could see being the blue tanks which lit up in a unnatural light. Orochimaru inspected them cautiously then decided there was one swift and efficient way to expose of them.
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In a great bang the cities lights struck out. The NW soldiers froze as light left them, but the ninja of course hardly faltered. They were equipped with fighting at night, they utilized the darkness treating it like a cloak. Kakashi was startled at first but in a low buzz he heard systems nearby shut down and die. There was an almost insidious silence left in the absence, the entire city now a curtain of black the stars now fully visible in their mass. Lights suddenly appeared in large circles, although they didn't reveal much. It was the choppers ahead which flashed torch like lights down onto the field. However try as they might there was still far to much darkness to hide in and the ninja were now at the advantage. The soldiers couldn't guard themselves against the invisible enemy and now their armor, the only thing stopping the ninja from reaching their flesh was useless. There were weak spots in any suit, and although they had been trained to defend themselves in these vulnerable areas they could no longer see the kunai aimed at them. They could no longer see the superior hunter summonings, dogs, dragons, birds. Anything the ninja summoned was a sufficient hunter and they made good work of taking down the soldiers. Once again it appeared the tables had turned. Kakashi was grateful. He didn't know who had shut down the power, who had found it and put the odds in the ninja's favor. He didn't ask questions, he simply ran at soldier after soldier. His hounds were by his side and they crept around the battle field surrounding unsuspecting but fearful NW. The last thing the enemy would hear was a low growl before they were savagely mauled by the pack.
Kakashi headed through the field, both killing and saving. He wanted the number of ninja lost in combat to be as small as possible. He didn't want it to be a great loss when they had already lost far to many. Kakashi hopped out the way as a nearby NW opened fire on an area of darkness. The choppers tried to light up the field as best they could, tried to regain control. They however were also blind in the night and Deidara and his men made full use of this. Birds made no sound and hardly disettled the wind as they circled the planes. In mere moments the pilots found themselves hurtling to the floor their lights exploding and vanishing from the field. There were many choppers, but it did them no good and they were rendered useless. Soon the night sky was empty and Deidara turned his focus onto the men below, aiming at the heavy duty tanks which were the only other threat down below.
It was a relief to watch his team go, Kakashi thought, no ninja seemed incapable or stuck. He hardly had to help anyone out from a tight situation. If a ninja felt they needed medical help they were generally fine enough to seek it themselves.
There was a crash behind the copy ninja and he hopped a few feet away to get a better view, his sharigan fully out and ready. His crimson eye made contact with the area the noise came from. It was an NW running, trying to get out of the city. Kakashi almost left him, almost allowed him to escape with his life. But then he saw who it was.
Yiara felt a sharp cold metal pressed against his throat and he stopped mid stride. Why hadn't the ninja killed him if he had been seen? Trying to glance back at who was firmly behind him, strong arms binding him from his retreat, he made eye contact with a deep red. A mask shielded his captors mouth and nose, but the eyes never changed, the eyes remained far to familiar.
"Ka-Kakashi." Yiara stuttered with fake politeness.
"Yiara." Kakashi said back stoically. He shifted the knife closer drawing a thin line of blood from the self proclaimed Imperial. Why he hadn't fled with the citizens Kakashi didn't know. He certainly wasn't fit to be on the battle field.
"A familiar face, it's good to see you." Yiara muttered, "unhand me ninja, you and I both know how many times I forgave you for betrayal."
"I don't recall any." Kakashi said, "I only recall you convincing me Orochimaru committed a crime he was free from."
"Ah, so that little snitch Asuma informed you then." Yiara muttered, "no matter."
"Asuma? No. I found out myself." Kakashi said, "but I suppose you're right. Nothing much matters to a dead man."
"Now now, no need for such violence ninja." Yiara said quickly. Kakashi hesitated, only because he didn't think such a simple death was justice. A mere and quick slice at his neck would put him out in no time at all... And where would the revenge be in that?revenge. Something he taught his students and followers to never extract, he said it was petty, said it got no one anywhere and that it only left room for more pain. An unnecessary risk. But where was the risk when revenge was so close to his grasp, right in front of him. There was no risk in it now, and was it revenge or justice. He left that up to the gods to decide. He tossed the NW forward and watched him stumble to his feet in fear. Yiara mistook the action as mercy. He ran. Pain ripped through his body as jaws sunk into his limbs, every one of them. He fell to the ground as new weights dragged him aided by gravity. He screamed as his flesh tore, he flashed terrified eyes at Kakashi who hadn't moved yet. The hounds snarled and thrashed their heads from side to side, wondering if the copy ninja wanted them to kill him, rip him to shreds, or if he wanted the honor himself. They passed feral eyes at one another still tossing their head as if they were playing a game of tug of war. Kakashi took a step towards the show master, the beast master, the house master, the what ever title of imperious deceit he could attain. Master of everything and anything he could get his hands on, anything money could buy. His money meant nothing in the eyes of the hounds of course.
"Please!" Yiara screamed in frenzied panic, probably unable to even feel pain with the amount of fear he was pumped with. Kakashi watched the man struggle for mere moments before deciding he wasn't the type of person to enjoy revenge in the slightest. It left him with a sick feeling and he hated to admit he had been corrupted by hate so easily. He issued a silent command and the hounds finished what their summoner chose he couldn't. It only took seconds for the hounds to demolish the body, to silence his screams and beating heart. How Yiara had reveled in watching things fight Kakashi didn't know, he had dog fights back at the show, even going as far as to pin the kyubi and hydra later on. Such a sinister man. It didn't matter now as the sinister presence exited the world .
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The NW were losing, to the ninja, it was almost as if the NW had already lost. It made them even more eager to fight, kept them more motivated and encouraged. The amount of ninja alive now doubled the amount of Military soldiers, which only stood to prove how far in the lead the ninja were. They came in as the minority and made themselves the majority. They came in prepared.
There was a loud thundering roar, the sound of gravel being crushed echoing the city walls. It had chills running down the ninja's spines. It sounded like large metallic feet being dragged across the roads. Buildings fell simultaneously and the ninja watched in horror to see what had entered the city. Dark red lights flashed to life, their positioning making them appear like two fox like eyes. The machine hauled itself forwards, it's size and weight making it slow moving. As it got to the field its design was made clearer. It mimicked the Kyubi and Shukaku. More so the fox than the sand demon however. It was a large tank presumably, but the Kyubi resemblance made the ninja fearful. For some it brought back bad memories, for others it simply had a sinister message. The large jaws clamped together, their metallic framing making them slightly more shark like in nature. In a slow gradual manner the large jawed mouth shifted open making an alarmingly sinister scratching sound. When it's mouth was parted, wide enough to consume a shinobi whole, it stopped moving.
Then there was bang.
Blue and red lights circled inside the metallic foxes mouth before being shot at great speeds toward the ninja, the latter of which darting out the way as the bomb like substance moved forwards. The creature shot repetitively, and there was limited space for the ninja to run, it was turning into a massacre. The remaining NW soldiers were also getting shot down and the higher ups had no issues watching the last of their men fall. Screams filled the city and everyone struggled to avoid the impossibly powerful blasts. Kakashi raced to help who he could but found he had a tough time simply focusing on himself. The machine shifted from spot to spot, it's red eyes never landing on anything. It's inanimate stare holding a sinister quality despite its lack of life. Kakashi couldn't understand how the NW higher ups had managed to replicate the energy the Kyubi and Shukaku produced. It was almost surreal as the ninja stared into the beasts crimson sheeted eyes. Almost. The loud screams and thundering sounds brought them back to the realization of how physical the tank was.
Authors note- Second last chapter! Sorry for the late late post but I have been swamped with work -_- Thank you to all those who have reviewed, as usual a thanks to VampireDoll666, you're the best! And also a thanks a guest who posted a lovely review, since you don't have an account I can't reply to your review but thanks for the lovely words! Hope everyone has enjoyed the story so far!