After the Rain

by Quill Q

Naruto had never thought she would end up in the past. Not even the one who caused her to go back had anticipated she'd be dragged along for the ride. The Kyūbi had been trying to save himself - not her. She'd once said that the hero always arrive late, but this was quite the opposite. Naruto would be very, very early this time. (Fem Naruto story)

36. Into the Shadows

Chapter Warning: Gore, violence and death up ahead. It's also a very long chapter.

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Chapter Thirty Six – Into the Shadows

"Let's die together." - Inuzuka Kiba

---

They halted in unison, none of them having expected such a call to come this quickly. The stinging continued. Short burst of pain in their shoulder which could only be a desperate and repetitive call for backup from somewhere inside the base.

When the signal ended Kakashi gritted his teeth in bitterness. Anko had noticed his tension but she didn't have the ANBU tattoo, so of course she didn't understand what had happened.

It was the squad members that had gone off with Ibiki when Minato had split them up that had activated his ANBU tattoo. They had called for backup no less than six times, but all Kakashi could tell was the chakra signature which had called for help. It was Kō on his team, but he couldn't pick up the direction, which meant they were too far away for the seal to work properly, or a barrier was hindering the signal.

They could be anywhere by now.

"There was a call for backup." Kakashi signed swiftly, his focus temporarily distracted as he tried to plan out their next move.

Anko didn't react much to the message. Her lips pursed slightly and her eyes narrowed, but otherwise her face was uncharacteristically hard to read. "Then we have to get moving." Was the almost casual reply he got.

Kakashi knew she was right, and without another exchange they continued. The corridor they followed was larger and more comfortable than the previous ones. Unfortunately it was also a perfect place to get attacked, so they were both on high alert to any miniscule sign of an enemy as they made their way through the passage.

He'd already fought two battles, and Kakashi was under no illusion that would be all. ANBU missions were usually pretty clean cut. Two fights during one mission was considered a lot, though it was the level of their opponent that usually made them difficult. So far they'd had the advantage, attacking in relevantly large groups with a varied skill sets that were all combat types. However now it was only him and Anko, and they were a much weaker target without the rest of his comrades.

Though it was hardly unexpected. Kakashi had known going in that this would happen, and now he had to finish the mission while making sure Anko made it out alive.

They moved fast, covering long lengths of ground by pumping chakra through their muscles to keep the speed up. It didn't take long before Kakashi spotted a strange addition to the corridor, and with a short signal they both stopped.

Above them, concealed to lesser eyes than Kakashi's and leveled with the rocky ceiling, was a trapdoor.

They shared a glance while they carefully tried to sense anyone above them. Neither were specialized sensors, but both had enough practice to be useful in situations such as these. Though no matter how much he tried Kakashi didn't get anything at all from the attempt.

It could mean there was no one there, it could mean someone was good at suppressing their chakra, or it could mean something was blocking it instead.

But this was the first trap door Kakashi had spotted in this place. They were deep underground, so Kakashi suspected it was relevant to their mission even if he couldn't recall this from the map they'd received.

Anko took matters into her own hands and jumped. She attached her hands to the ceiling of the passage before heaving her legs up with her abdomen muscles and firmly planted her feet on each side of the trap door. Properly secured she tried to turn the handle, but not surprising to either of them it turned out to be locked. Biting her lip she gave the trapdoor a quick look over before signing. "Permission to summon?"

"Granted." Kakashi replied.

She did the summon hanging upside down from the ceiling. For a moment Kakashi thought she'd failed though. She had barely used any chakra at all, there hadn't even been a puff of smoke and he couldn't see any sort of snake anywhere. But next moment Anko put her hand against the lock, and she seemed to be waiting. Her hand fell away, and she signed again."My smallest summon Hebiko. He's a master at working locks. He's in there right now." She explained and pointed to the lock.

Kakashi arched an eyebrow. Yep. Anko could definitely be an asset to team Ibo. He wondered if all of Orochimaru's student had been taught how to infiltrate to such extents. At least two out of three seemed to have an unusual aptitude for this type of work.

The lock made a soft click, and when Anko tried the handle again it opened with ease. Light streamed into the dimply lit passage and Kakashi repressed the urge to wince at the sound of the door opening, but there was little they could do to prevent it. His nerves were on edge as they prepared to go in. If there were enemies on the other side then they'd just given away their position, which would result in an immediate battle where they would most likely be ambushed.

Subduing any rising apprehension he watched as Anko went in first before Kakashi hurriedly jumped up after her.

Landing on the floor next to the trapdoor he was forced to blink immediately. The room was so much brighter than the dark corridors downstairs. This room was also surprisingly high and narrow.

The interior was so different from anything else they'd come across so far he was momentarily bewildered at what he was seeing.

The room wasn't as narrow as he had first assumed though. They were in a pathway leading between tall bars that ran up to ceiling height on each side. Going up for at least two or three stories in total.

And… On the other side of the bars - imprisoned and chained - were people. More people Kakashi could count in such a short time.

Prisoners. There had to be hundreds of them.

Anko was gaping, her eyes wide as she looked into the closest cell. At least seven people were squeezed into the tiny cell. Granted, the prisoners of that cell didn't look very old. They were all children so they had more room to go on than if they'd been older. But the higher up his eyes travelled, the larger the stacked cells became.

A prison? Where the hell was this in the mission briefing?

Kakashi swallowed. Not sure what the hell he was supposed to do now. This was a cleanup, not a rescue mission. They were supposed to capture or kill anyone they saw, but these people were already locked up.

And they were unnaturally quiet. They must have noticed their entrance, but not one of them had moved forwards. A few had shuffled a bit inside their cell, but not a single one of them had made a sound. Their entrance had gone unacknowledged.

Eventually he looked back at Anko. She was staring back with a question marring her face. It couldn't be more obvious what she wondered.

What the hell do we do now?

After a long pause Kakashi decided. "Leave them. We'll continue."

Though it made him uncomfortable they would have to come back instead. They were not equipped to deal with all these people. Especially since he had no idea if they were friendly or not. The last thing they wanted was to set off a trap upon releasing them. It wasn't unheard off that cells were trapped to prevent the prisoners from escaping. Rather a dead prisoner, than a prisoner that could leak information...

Anko nodded, and Kakashi started walking down the path between the cells. The room was tall and long, more like a hall than anything else, but there was a door at the end of the room which he had set as their destination. His mind still whirling with different questions. Why they were even here, where they came from, and most of all; how this many people could be so quiet.

The door was still far away when Kakashi finally picked up on something, and they never reached the other end. There was a faint pulse from somewhere in the room and Kakashi tensed. A feather light swish came from somewhere above them, and he felt at least two presences from behind.

They were surrounded.

---

Shisui studied the strange machine in worry. His Sharingan examining the weird object with distrust and paranoia. They'd made it here without too much trouble. The room had not been protected and that didn't sit well with him. This object was certainly something to keep tabs on, so it's lack of security made him jumpy by expecting an ambush at any moment. "What is that thing?" Signed ANBU Kani while keeping a distance from the object.

"I believe it is some sort of transmitter." Answered Shisui when no one else seemed to have an answer.

Kani leaned forward in curiosity. "What exactly does it transmit?"

The stone with the proportions of a brick glowed faintly in the dark room. "Chakra…" And though all of them were wearing masks, Shisui could all too easily imagine their raised eyebrows at that reply.

"That doesn't make sense. I can't feel any chakra in the room. Where does it go?"

"This stone isn't normal. It's littered with fuinjutsu. This sign here is for storage." Shisui pointed to the underside of the stone placed in the middle of the strange device. "You can feel chakra coming up this tube if you touch it." He pointed to the pipe leading up from the floor, and the guys dared a few steps closer to see what he was gesturing towards. "And this sign here means communication or travel."

"Why do you think its transmitting chakra though? If anything it sounds like the chakra is coming up to be stored in the stone." Kani's signing was impatient.

Shisui shook his head. "I can't be a hundred percent certain, Minato-sama could, but I'm pretty confident that this stone is storing up chakra, and then sending it to another source. This is space-time ninjutsu. It gathers chakra from wherever that pipe leads, gathering the chakra, and then sends it away to another source through space ninjutsu. This… This is a chakra transmitter." Shisui concluded, growing more assured the more he looked at it.

"Should we take the stone?"

Shisui shook his head forcibly. Stepping away from the stone at once while he signed to the others. "No. That would not be wise at all. There's a reason why so few people dabble with fuinjutsu, and that's because wrong handling of seals usually ends up in disaster. We leave this to be deconstructed when we have more time on our hands. This is complicated fuinjtsu. I'd need days, if not weeks, to get this down." Shisui then gestured helplessly around the shabby room. "And we really don't have that type of time on our hands."

"Fine. Let's head out again then. This place creeps me out." Kani replied with a slight shudder.

---

Minato was beyond furious. The man he'd just defeated was a missing ninja from Kirigakure, and he couldn't believe Danzō had dared bringing him so close to Konoha.

With a harsh tug Minato pulled up the mask that had covered the nose and mouth off his now dead opponent. The man was jōnin, and who knew how long he'd been hiding in this base. From memory Minato thought he'd been listed as a missing nin by Kiri about two years ago, and he'd somehow ended up here. As a guard…

He glanced around the room. There were so many children, but none of them were making a move towards him anymore. Minato knew what they were too; the next generation of Root. A new force Danzō was training up behind Minato's back. He wanted to curse but refrained with some effort. They were probably traumatized enough already. No need to add swearing.

"Stay in this room." Minato ordered them.

None of them actually replied, but a few tried to shuffle further away though it was made impossible thanks to the walls making up this room. It was an underground dojo as far as Minato could tell. "If you go out there's a chance you'll get killed. So stay put."

He was staring into the eyes of a boy who couldn't be more than eight, but probably one of the oldest ones of the crowd. Minato kept the contact until the boy slowly started nodding, and soon half of them were nodding in agreement. Good, the message was received then.

With his senses reaching out for signs of danger Minato backtracked out of the room the way he'd come in.

This part of the base looked different from the rest. The paths were better lit, the construction more refined and there were proper floors and the walls of steel instead of rough stone.

He stepped over the two dead guards that had tried to stop him from entering the room with the children. They were idiots if they thought the two of them were enough to keep him back. Minato hadn't felt like this since the war. He hadn't felt this sort of emotions in years.

It was like waking up. It was like realizing he'd been in a daze for years, only to finally snap awake and realize the dreams weren't reality. He'd gone through his days in a state between sleep and awakening. Well, he certainly was awake now.

Kushina might be dead, but walking through the corridor Minato realized he had more people to protect still. Kakashi was here somewhere, and he deserved a future just as much as all the kids Danzō had stolen from who knows where.

The entire village was his family, and Danzō was risking them by creating enemies through oppression. This wasn't right. He had gone directly against Minato's command, and he had warned the old war hawk of the consequences if he ever were to do so.

Minato was no longer new and inexperienced as Hokage. He had almost five years as the leader of Konoha, and his times of receiving advice from the council in his transition period had now officially come to an end. They might be his elders. They might have information and experience Minato did not, but if they were going to pull crap like this they needed to be shut down.

He would not stand for mutiny. Not when it wasn't even well founded mutiny... What the hell did Danzō know? He knew absolutely nothing, and yet he pretended to be God.

The hallway flashed by as he ran down the corridor, knowing he was running out of time. The other teams should be able to handle it. They hadn't wanted him to continue on his own, but to lure out Danzō it was a lot better that he acted without help. The man might have a lot of flaws, but he was certainly not stupid. He knew if it came to a fight between them they needed Minato alone and on their own turf. They needed home advantage.

He was going to give them that too.

Minato hurried further through the corridor, his eyes narrowed as a door shut with a bang behind him.

So he was finally discovered was he?

The door ahead of him was still not shut and throwing one of his kunai ahead of him and out the door he teleported to its location just as the second door snapped shut behind him.

He was in a large chamber with no way escape now.

A man stood on the other end.

Danzō… He'd been correct. The old war hawk couldn't take orders after all.

"You broke my orders." Minato said quietly. "You undermined my authority and went directly against the commands I set in place. I warned you of the consequences such an act would result in. What is your defense Shimura Danzō?"

Danzō stepped forward, about twenty soldiers on each side, and Minato didn't doubt there were more hiding in the wings. Shimura had come prepared. "That right there, Minato. Your hopeless habit of trying to see the best in people. A true leader would strike at the suspicion of mutiny. And yet here you are, asking for my reasons for doubting your ability to protect Konohagakure."

"You are still using that excuse? What exactly is your plan here? Why this base? Is it to kill me? Then go and kill Hiruzen? You must know we planned this together. So what will it be, Danzō? A coup de etat? Have you finally snapped, or are you really that thirsty for power? That desperate for ultimate control?" He felt a humourless irony in his own words. Danzō performing a coup… The man who in another time line was so adamant on preventing a coup on the village.

He didn't receive a reply, because next moment he was attacked from behind.

---

Shisui swore.

It was a slip, but the words were out before he could stop himself.

They'd made it through a large winding passage, and found themselves standing in a huge room. There was no other way to describe it. He'd never seen anything quite like it before, and for a moment none of them had been able to form words.

He'd seen this on the map. It was one of two identical formed rooms at the heart of the base, but knowing it was there and actually experiencing it were two very different things.

It was quite an adjustment. From the narrow passages with low ceiling and almost no lighting, to a vast industrial hall with sunshine flowing down from the window glass high above them. Casting shadows upon half of the room while illuminating the other part.

The hall had to be several stories high and as wide as several training grounds. The stone walls had large tanks with pipes running up, down and sideways in a pattern Shisui couldn't immediately decipher. A smell stung his nose. Like he was in a hospital, but only so much worse.

Several stone columns held up a platform above them, a stone stage with noisy equipment that created a background buzz that echoed through the hall. Shisui couldn't make any sense of it at first, but he figured it was some sort of processor. Some sort of… something, was being produced in here.

That was not why he swore though.

At first Shisui had looked searchingly through the hall, trying to find out if there was anyone with them, but with the exception of the machines everything was silent.

He searched and searched. Sure there had to be someone there. He could feel it more than sense it.

Shisui walked up one of the stone columns after signing he'd check the platform, disappearing over the edge within a second. The other three continued ahead, keeping aware as they checked behind tanks and corners for any sign of life.

There were none. Everything pointed to them being alone in this waste hall, but Shisui would bet anything they weren't. In some form Shisui was absolutely certain they were being watched.

It was then the doors suddenly shut.

Shisui whirled around, his eyes going to the entrance they had arrived through, but now a door had bolted down, blocking their exit route. The entrance into the other room, the mirror hall to this one, had shut simultaneously, and he heard his squad members hurry up to the second door.

Shisui jumped down from the platform, landing on the harsh floor by cushioning the impact with chakra. His Ibo members were trying to get the door open already, but their first attempt was no success.

Even this had not been enough to make Shisui swear.

He'd ran up to them, his Sharingan blaring to life as he tried to figure out how to get out of this. The door had no handle. It had come down from the ceiling of the passage separating the two halls, and it was now flush with the tall walls of the industrial room. He asked them to step back, and his comrades jumped away as Shisui started going through hand signs.

He'd abruptly stopped though, because he suddenly noticed what he'd missed before. And it had been just too late to, because next moment the first one of his squad members collapsed.

Shisui was sure that to the normal eye it would be impossible to spot, but with his Sharingan activated Shisui could see it clearly.

The air was slowly filling up with gas.

That was when he swore in a very Anko-ish fashion. "Fucking hell!"

The next one gasped, and he fell in a heap on the floor. Acting purely on instinct Shisui flew forward and grabbed the only one still standing and bolted towards the platform. The gas was coming from the ground somewhere and was slowly being released into the room. They had to get up to the platform as soon as possible to prevent more damage. Shisui more or less threw his comrade onto the platform and he hit the ground limply, already affected by the poison, before Shisui hurried back to the two unconscious ones on the floor. He threw both of them over his shoulders, and headed back for the platform again. Though in his haste it took him longer than normal for Shisui notice something very odd.

Why the hell hadn't he fainted too?

---

Anko wondered why on earth she'd agreed to this. It was a suicide mission, and she'd known that from the beginning, yet she'd been downright eager to go. She must have been suffering from temporarily insanity. Or maybe something had been slipped into her tea...

While a lot confused her about their current predicament, there was one thing Anko was pretty sure about; that she would die here. She could smell it in the air. The thick odor of sweat, blood and other bodily fluids of prisoners with limited access to a bathroom. The rotten and heavy air with no draft. It smelled like death.

This room was made for death; this base was for people with no future.

But Anko didn't have any more time to dwell on how royally screwed they were before her mind snapped to attention. Their attackers came swiftly, and Anko and Kakashi acted on instinct.

Snakes erupted from her arm, halting the closest attacker, but the second avoided them easily. Kakashi had hit the palms of his hands to the ground, a doton jutsu raising a solid wall to prevent a fire jutsu from hitting them both.

The caged people were waking up now. Moaning sounds and panicked squeaks starting to emerge as the attacks started.

Anko blocked them out while rapidly growing a tunnel vision, her only focus was the enemy.

Her kunai met a tantō aiming at her chest, the clank of the metals hitting one another echoing through the hall, and distressed shouts erupted around them as she heard the screech of chipping birds from behind her. The room illuminated by the lighting, but Anko didn't look back to see who Kakashi was trying to kill with his chidori. She had more than enough on her plate with her two attackers.

They came at her in pairs, and Anko could only go on the defensive to prevent herself from getting speared by them both. She jumped up to one of the bars, just as Kakashi did the same. They split up; because there was no way in hell they could do this without creating some distance between the attacks raining down on them.

Her two attackers followed as she escaped, and from the corner of her eye she vaguely noticed Kakashi had three opponents to deal with on his own.

She had to fight smart too. In this situation Anko couldn't go all out, because they were still deep in an enemy base and far from the exit. She needed to be efficient. Adrenaline was rapidly making it both harder and easier to attack. It had a habit of making her both reckless and better at thinking simultaneously, but Anko had to focus on the latter in this situation. Recklessness was a sure way to get killed here. By giving everything she had they might win the battle, yet lose the war, because this base was a maze of a battlefield.

Her mind whirled as she fled. She jumped and twirled up the wall while dodging the attacks from behind while she tried to force herself to come up with a plan. Think Anko! Think! The mantra went through her head as she tried to gather her thoughts.

What would Orochimaru do?

She spotted a gap between two of the cells. There was no cover and you could see through the bars. This room was officially the worst type of area for a strategic fight, seeing as it was impossible to hide. There was nowhere to shield behind, and Anko grunted as she ducked out of the way of a lightning jutsu. It went straight past her shoulder and hit one of the cells. Several people screamed. Some in fright, others in agony….

Anko kept running. She had almost reached the ceiling, and she would have to change course. She sprang forwards, her foot meeting the underside of the ceiling and she pushed herself back harshly. Chakra pushing through her leg to shoot her down towards the ground.

Turning sharply, she shot her hand out, the jutsu already prepared as she came face to face with one of her masked attackers. He wasn't fast enough.

The poison hit his face dead on. And her hand gripped his neck as they fell. She twisted it harshly, hearing it snap, and as they landed she propelled herself off the ground. The second one released a water jutsu, but Anko used the body of her downed enemy as a shield. Rolling away while throwing him away carelessly Anko focused on her next opponent.

She vaguely registered that this one was female, and Anko threw out shuriken but they were blocked expertly by the woman's chokuto.

Good aim. This one knew kenjutsu. Anko wasn't sure which of her attackers had used the lightning jutsu earlier, but she hoped it wasn't this one. The woman suddenly changed, her form bleeding out of focus slightly, and Anko almost snorted aloud.

She had been teammate with Shisui and this genjutsu was child play compared to the stuff he had subjected her to during their spars. She dispelled it easily, but detected another one immediately.

A feint. The first genjutsu was a feint to cover up the second one. To her eyes the woman was still in front of her, and Anko raised another set of shuriken, chakra rushing to her head now instead of trying to dispel the genutsu.

She turned sharply and threw.

"Guh." There was a grunt of pain. And the genjutsu collapsed entirely. The illusion she'd seen before disappeared, and the woman sank to her feet in front of her. The shuriken sticking out of her neck.

Huh… A lucky shot. Anko had only followed her chakra enhanced sent to find her, and had shot with only eighty percent accuracy. She was not going to complain though.

Her head snapped towards the other end of the room. Kakashi was fighting two on his own, and hurriedly Anko came to back him up.

Kakashi swung out with his katana, making one of them stumble and fall back while the other dodged. A man and a woman. Their body shapes indicated as much. The third of Kakashi's opponents were unmovable on the floor already.

Anko jumped forward in a kick, but the woman blocked with her arms, the impact sending violent shivers down both of them. Kakashi had her back though, and while Anko retreated he didn't give the unknown woman time to rest. He managed to grab her around the dark cloth covering her face and tugged her forward into his fist.

Anko was focusing on the other one now. He was backing away while preparing a jutsu. He couldn't be allowed to finish it though, and she shot towards him, forcing him to stop the hand signs in favour of blocking her kunai.

He used a kunai too. Which indicated he was a jutsu user. Jutsu users normally preferred the plainest weapons. Kakashi preferred it, Naruto preferred it, Minato preferred it, and even Orochimaru preferred it. It was like a freaking rule or something.

The man jumped up on the bars of one of the cells, and ran in a half circle out of reach of Anko's shuriken, before landing next to the woman. Kakashi jumped back, landing next to Anko as her eyes travelled to the woman.

And then her mind went blank.

The mask covering her face had slipped off and the hood of her cloak was down. Revealing short blonde hair in a pixi haircut and murky green eyes. Her face was heart shaped and her mouth wide and thin lipped. Though the woman was wearing an unrecognizable expression, as if there was no one there behind her emotionless eyes, Anko would still have recognized her anywhere.

"E-Emi?" Asked Anko breathlessly, momentarily freezing as if a thunderbolt had shot through her body. Paralysing her movement from the shock alone.

The woman in front of them, maybe around twenty years old, looked emptily back. "I can't allow you to disrupt Danzō-sama's work." The woman – Emi, she even had her voice - replied monotonously. "You will die for trespassing."

Her hand did a seal, and next moment the floor turned to mud, their feet starting to sink into a substance like liquid glue.

Kakashi shot out wires to link with the bars to the right, and grabbed onto Anko as he pulled them out.

Emi shot out shuriken after them, almost hitting spot on if Anko hadn't snapped out of her shock. She kicked one of the shuriken out of the air, the other one diverted by her own kunai. Next to her she heard Kakashi's own shuriken hit Emi's in a perfect collision.

Kakashi swung them forwards, and they fell towards Emi and the other enemy on the altered terrain. Kakashi's hand erupted in a chidori while he fell on top of the man, impaling him before his feet hit the ground.

Anko fell close to Emi, who already had a fuma shuriken out, and it was flying towards her so fast she could only focus on rolling out of the path of the rotating star.

She was surprised she even had breath to spare as she screamed. "What happened to you?! How did you end up here? You weren't even a ninja!"

Emi's expression didn't falter to her pleas. "Danzō-sama came and gave me strength."

"Stop it Emi!" Anko shouted, but the girl who had once been her best friend didn't react to her words at all. "Don't you remember me? It's Anko!"

Yet there was no reaction.

"I remember you Anko." Emi confirmed, not at all upset. "But you have no value in regards to protecting the village and Danzō-sama. True value is those who protects without cause. Protect without reason. But protects in the name of protection. You lack that."

Kakashi threw a kunai past her shoulder, but Emi dodged by twirling sideways through the air. "Hatake Kakashi… I'll deal with you first."

Something burst inside Anko at Emi's calculating words. She deemed Kakashi the bigger threat of the two of them, as if Anko was just a side thought. It was like Anko was a complete stranger to her. A nobody without value.

But Kakashi was her friend… Emi… she was not allowed to hurt him. No way.

Anko's hand shot out, snakes flying out from the sleeve of her coat towards her ex-friend while she was distracted by Kakashi's advance. They wrapped around her form, strangling her as she fell to the ground.

Kakashi came over, his breath coming out in fast pants.

"Is that who I think it is?" Asked Kakashi and gestured towards the woman struggling to breathe at her feet.

Anko nodded stiffly.

Kakashi looked between them. "Anko… If you don't slacken her restraints you're going to strangle her to death."

Anko felt only fury. By believing it gave her value Emi had become nothing when she'd once been so much. She'd given up everything that made her herself for Danzō's importance, but in the end she was just another dispensable foot soldier in this place.

Look where Emi's value got her now… Anko realized something was seriously wrong with her as she watched Emi's face turn dangerously red. Her eyes bulging. Yet Anko only felt blood lust. There was no regret in her...

"Good."

---

They was so screwed. The hall was eerily silent with the exception of the buzzing machines, but as far as Shisui could tell the presence he had felt earlier was not present anymore. Though he was not sure if that was a good thing or not.

There were large beams running between the columns holding up the ceiling. It was the furthest away from the poison Shisui could get, and in an attempt to save his comrades he had tied them to the beams with ninja wire. He'd put masks over their mouths in hopes it would filter out some of the toxin being pumped into the room, but there was only so much he could do. There was a barrier between the glass window above the hall, so Shisui couldn't break through. They were stuck in every way.

And yet the poison wasn't affecting him, and Shisui had never thanked Orochimaru's crazy experiments more than in that moment.

He was immune, because having the snake Sannin as your sensei made you a lab rat for some of his creations. Poison immunity was one of them.

He'd injected it into Anko and him about three years ago. Shisui remembered being skeptical to the whole ordeal, especially because of Naruto's refusal to even hand over a vial of blood to their sensei. Yet he'd reluctantly gone through with it in the end. So Naruto wasn't immune, but then again she wasn't here either. Something he was immensely relieved about.

His ANBU comrades weren't as lucky though.

Shisui gritted his teeth as he saw the sweat pouring down their faces and he felt sick with worry. What the hell was he supposed to do? How could he help them? How could he do anything?

He could do first aid. He knew how to pop a hip back in place and stabilize broken bones. He could patch up wounds and stop a bleeding.

But poison? An unknown poison at that?

Shisuis swallowed. His feet dangling from each side of the beam as he looked down. Trying but failing to find a weakness that he could use to get them out of here.

His head snapped up as the whole base rumbled. The sound made the beam shake under him, and Shisui couldn't help it as more concern filled him. Deep crashes and a small bang followed before the walls calmed down, and he noticed dust falling down from cracks and holes before floating down towards the floor far, far beneath him.

Helplessly he accepted the silence.

Useless… Right now he was completely useless. They needed to get out of here, but their escape routes were blocked.

Restless he stood up, balancing on the beam as he went over to check on his comrades once again. They were still alive… But it didn't look good. None of them had woken up yet.

Shisui closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. The sound of his exhale and the feeling of the inhale grounded him, and forced a calmness to settle in his chest. There was always a way. There was always a weak spot.

He just had to fucking find it.

---

It was deathly quiet as they continued on. Kakashi still not able to believe Anko had killed Emi so coldly. It didn't really fit. Anko could be a bitch and a lunatic at times, but seeing her kill off her first friend was honestly freaking him out. She was also acting… cold.

Kakashi wasn't sure what Anko was thinking. Her eyes had hardened as they continued deeper into the base. He made sure to be extra aware, not entirely trusting Anko to be completely sane at that moment.

Emi had meant so much to Anko. She'd told Kakashi how Emi was the one who'd taught her about chakra. The only one at the orphanage who'd supported her dream of going to the academy even if she hadn't wanted to go herself.

But this wasn't the place to ask questions. They were skin deep in a base filled with ninjas who'd attack them upon discovery. But if they got out of here alive though he was sure Naruto would have a word or two with her roommate about second chances. Or maybe he himself would have a few advices to spare too.

A rumble went through the base, and Kakashi and Anko threw themselves down with their hands over their heads as the pathway shook. Rocks came loose from the ceiling, and Kakashi forced chakra out of his body to cushion any hard hits.

Fuck. He hated collapsing tunnels. He was not up for this.

It calmed down as quickly as it had came. Squinting, Kakashi took a hesitant peek. He found Anko on the ground next to him, but the air had filled with dust so thick it was hard to see anything without his eyes stinging. Laying down Kakashi realized how tired he had grown. This mission was already straining, and he wasn't sure how much more they could take. They needed to regroup. He needed to find his team. He needed to find Minato. Not knowing if they were okay was eating at his mind. Especially after the stunt Anko just pulled.

Anko was getting to her feet while dusting off rubble and dust, and Kakashi mutely followed suit. He turned towards her and caught her attention before he signed. "We'll pick up the tempo."

She didn't respond in any other way but to face forward and start running, leaving him with little other choice but to follow.

They ran for no more than three minutes before they were forced to stop though. Because the tunnel came to an abrupt dead end.

Anko sighed heavily, but Kakashi uncovered his left eye to use Obito's Sharingan for the first time since entering the base. A few seconds later he pulled down his forehead protector again. Save your chakra. It was a constant mantra inside his head at this point.

"It's a door." Kakashi signed, which Anko was surprised by. "But there's no handle. I'm not sure what to do."

Anko pursed her lips and glanced up and down the door. "I could… try to blow it up?"

Kakashi stared. "What if you bring down the passage too?"

Anko just shrugged in reply and walked forward. Kakashi grabbed her hand before she could touch the door herself. "No. No explosions. That's an order." He hissed so low it was barely audible.

Anko sulked and stepped back, and Kakashi walked forward again. There might be something he could do to get through, but it would take a lot of chakra, and there was no guarantee it would actually work either. He went through jutsus in his head. The one he was thinking about was a fuinjutsu Minato had taught him. It would take time though, and maybe it was better to just back track and continue through a different passage? Who knew what was on the other side of this door, and maybe -

Kakashi's eyes widened as a kunai cut into the door right above where his hand rested against the metal. There was a seal on it, but not one Kakashi recognised at a first glance. He pelted backwards, and saw Anko was already ahead of him. Next moment an ear splitting explosion went off behind him, the warmth hitting his back as he crashed into the ground. If the corridor had been dusty before, it was nothing compared to now.

He glared murderously at Anko.

She gave an innocent grin in reply, before another sound interrupted the rumbling.

A crack.

"Run!" Kakashi barked, and stumbled to his feet. They ran back towards the door as the passage collapsed around them. Thank kami the explosion had worked though, because there was a hole in the door, and Kakashi jumped head first through it with Anko hot on his heel. His arms shot forwards as he cushioned his landing by rolling, with his short sighted comrade landing almost on top of him in their haste.

His ears still ringing from the explosion and feeling like he'd inhaled sand Kakashi looked dazed around. If they got out of this alive Kakashi promised himself he'd get Anko suspended from active duty for that stunt. But before he could give her a piece of his mind his focus was drawn towards the floor in front of him.

Because they'd landed in blood.

His eyes followed the red liquid over the floor until he found a cracked tonbo mask. He then found its owner.

His breath caught in his throat and stunned he studied the pale complexion of Ko. He was drained of all colour and there was blood all around him. Then there were the other bodies. Detached he counted them one after the other.

There were nine corpses.

And half of them were his comrades from team Ro.

---

Anko was too shocked to react at first. The sight of the dead had momentarily knocked all thoughts out of her head. She could only stare numbly at the cut up corpses and the blood bleaching the stone floor red.

It took her therefore a long moment to realize how light the room was. It was also huge.

While Kakashi sat rooted to the spot her eyes travelled over the large tanks around the room, the platform reaching up towards the glass windows high, high above them.

They were in one of the two core rooms of the base. She remembered it from the map. They were mirror rooms. Very distinct because the room reached all the way from the lowest level of the base and up to the surface. About four stories high.

Kakashi released a half swallowed sob, and even such a small sound echoed. He shook his head furiously, and Anko watched as his shoulders sagged. She felt bad for him… She did, but the empathy she knew should have been there remained elusive. Because another sense was trickling her skin, another instinct was overruling her emotions and blocking out everything else. She could feel sorry for Kakashi if they made it out alive, but right now they had other things to worry about.

Because they were being watched.

Kakashi must have sensed it too, because his head tilted up, his body stiff as he raised his forehead protector to reveal Obito's Sharingan.

Anko's hand slowly moved to her pouch, where she fished out the kunai she'd taken from one of their earlier enemies. "Show yourself!" Anko called out harshly, her voice carrying and repeating several times up the hall.

No one replied.

Kakashi got to his feet while his red eye tracked the surfaces of the hall.

"I know you're here. I can feel you." Anko gritted out through her teeth.

"Anko." Kakashi warned, but the girl was already walking forwards, her footsteps loud against the stone floor in the eerie silence.

"Show yourself." Anko sang, her eyes darting between every surface sharply. "Are you hiding in the floor? Or the walls? Please tell me it's not one of the tanks? Whatever you cooked up can't be good for your skin." She drawled haughtily, her anger coming to her defense.

This piece of shit. They would pay for what they'd done. Danzō or whomever of his fucking followers was going to be snake food when she was through with them.

"Ku, ku, ku, ku"

---

Shisui swore again.

He was on the ground and looked frantically for anything that could be an exit, but had so far been unsuccessful. He'd tried fire techniques, he'd tried some seriously damaging seals to knock down the door and even an explosion tag or two, but the door and the wall still stood intact. And just a few moments ago there had been another explosion. This time from the direction Shisui suspected the other twin hall was located.

Swearing to himself - it was the only thing keeping him sane right no - he studied the room he now found himself locked inside.

While his frown was hidden behind his ANBU mask he scouted the walls for any weaknesses. Somewhere the steel frame showed or the reinforcement was visible through worn concrete. Some type of damage to the structure he could take advantage of. There was none though… This base was absolutely secure and reinforced with more than just stone and water. He suspected a very strong fuinjutsu barrier was making sure he couldn't just break through the glass windows on the ceiling too.

But Shisui hadn't given up yet, and his eyes stopped at the pipes.

This room was filled with large tanks and machines running even now. After two earth shaking explosions – that definitely would have alerted the inhabitants of the base to their presence if they already didn't know - this place was still as active as when he'd entered.

Which meant there had to be some sort of ventilation system.

He found it not long after. Laying almost directly under the reinforced glass there were large horizontal air ducts running along the edge, taking out toxins and pollution raising up from the ground. He checked the bottom of the hall too, finding one behind each of the larger tanks.

Now it was just to find out which of them were actually safe to travel through. Experimentally he kicked in the cover of air duct behind one of the tanks and found a passage. Peeking in he saw the air duct twisted in a direction Shisui doubted he wanted to travel, so instead he ran up the wall all the way to the ceiling where the beams connected. These ones were even larger than the ones on ground level, and they were more of them too.

This could work, he just needed to transport his unconscious comrades into the ventilation shaft and then he could get them to help. It would at the very least be a way out. Though he hoped to kami the ducts weren't too heavily polluted with other types of toxins that could be harmful.

Shisui hurried over to his comrades, feeling dizzy with relief at finally having a plan, but the closer he got the more he slowed down.

Silently he stopped a few steps away. His eyes jumping repeatedly between each of them, while thinking over and over again that he hadn't been away for more than four minutes.

Feeling his mind go strangely blank he realized he had been too slow. The empty lightheaded feeling evaporated and was filled with a new emotion. Biting his tongue Shisui strangled the sound about to break free, his vision tearing up.

They were gone. All three of them were already dead.

---

Kakashi felt shivers run down his spine at the sound coming from above him, and whirling around he stared up at the solid concrete wall opposite the door Anko had blown up to get through.

In horror he saw a person emerge from it, but his gut was turning in fear as he recognized just who it was.

Orochimaru's head was emerging from the surface like tree sap coming out of bark. He stared down at them with yellow eyes, his face cast in shadows as he broke the light above him. His shoulders appeared now, then his upper body until he was halfway out. His legs still somehow merged into the wall.

Kakashi took several footsteps backwards, Anko stumbling after him in dumbstruck shock.

"So you can sense me, Anko?" He asked with a curious head tilt. "It took you a long time. I've been watching for a while."

Orochimaru placed his hands on the wall, and used the leverage to push himself entirely out and sitting down on the wall, his eyes half lidded as he kept watching them. His gaze was focused on Kakashi at first, before moving lazily to Anko. "So Minato sent my student in here. Tell me, how did he find this place? I told Danzō it was a bit too close to the village, but then it was also the beauty of the location. It was so close Minato didn't even consider the possibility. The cheer nerve of someone setting up a base so close to Konoha. In between the outer and inner borders of Konohagakure… Oh well, it is just a base. I can always make more."

He let himself fall, landing softly on the ground and making much less noise than their hurried steps had done. Orochimaru straightened up, his hair falling back from his face to rest over his shoulders.

"Who are you?"

It was Anko who asked, and Kakashi sent a worried glance her way. She must have recognised him by now?

"Ku, ku, ku" His smile was like cold venom, his eyes intent on Anko. "Don't be an idiot. I trained you better than that."

"No." Anko whispered weakly, but the sound carried easily for all of them to hear. "No. You're not here. You can't be. You're out of the village, you're not… you're not in on this!"

"If you were watching," Said Kakashi, trying despite himself to keep his fear in check, to keep some control on the situation. Because Orochimaru? They were up against him of all people? Even if they hadn't been tired from their previous battles they still stood no chance here. They were already dead. "Why haven't you killed us yet? We're tearing this place down. Your experiments will be torn apart."

Orochimaru chuckled, the sound echoing up the walls. Kakashi had never noticed just how ominous that sound truly was before that moment. "But my fellow leaf ninja, I don't wish to kill you. Or at least not Anko. You're much more valuable to me alive. I don't enjoy ruining so many hours and days of testing only to destroy my subjects before they reap."

"What did you do?" Asked Kakashi at once, his foot taking shaky steps forwards despite every nerve in his body screamed at him to stay as far away as possible.

Orochimaru pursed his lips, his head tilting again. "Not that much really. I usually tested things already well documented on my students. They even know some of it. Like aversions to poisons, and Anko and Shisui tested well on those, while Naruto - not at all. Even before Naruto became a jinchūriki my substances just seem to flush out of her system. She only got more cranky and rash." He told them pleasantly. As if they were discussing this over a cup of tea in the jōnin lounge.

The Sannin gave a sarcastic smile. "I probably shouldn't have injected those in her during the Kiri mission though. She acted very rash from what I remember – and probably you do too."

Kakashi swallowed a gasp. Just the mention of that mission could usually make him agitated, but right now it was unbearable.

"Then there were the soldier pills… You probably didn't know exactly what I put into those. They were actually to increase stamina and muscle mass. Again, Anko and Shisui responded well to those, while Naruto – not so much. But then after the sensing pills I started putting her in the exemption category. She just isn't a very good test subject." Orochimaru concluded with a small shrug. As if to say; "What can you do about it?"

Anko was trembling uncontrollably, she seemed to want to be swallowed up by the wall, but Kakashi raised a hand that landed on her shoulder. "Calm down, Anko." He tried to say it softly, to reassure her, but how the hell could he?

"Though I guess I should mention that all those substances were made with the approval of the Hokage. Well.. Almost all at least. Testing them on you three while you slept might not have been, but then they never did you any lasting harm, did they? In fact I wanted my students to be exceptional. I didn't wish for you to turn out as weak morons, it would reflect rather badly on me as a person, which was why I injected those into you."

"So you did it for our own good then?" Asked Anko and managed to sound unsure and hopeful at the same time.

"How do you explain what you did here though? All those people locked up… Is this for their own good too?" Kakashi asked quietly.

Orochimaru laughed and shook his head. "No, not at all. This is for my own good."

Gritting his teeth Kakashi saw red for a moment. "So underneath that Sannin façade… this was always going on?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. I changed a lot. I grew and matured. Every day I found new solutions. Every day I saw the hopelessness of those previous solutions. Unfortunately it's the cost of progress to make mistakes."

Kakashi stirred, his frown deepening while he shifted where he stood. Anko looked like she'd never move again. "For a while… Perhaps there was enough to do with my mundane tasks. The village allowed me to do my research, I had three students to train and make sure didn't die on a daily basis. It kept me quite occupied for a while though it did take me away from my life's work."

"You mean this." Asked Anko angrily and gestured to the large tank next to her.

"Yes. This, and so much else."

"You feel no regret then? You never saw how wrong this is?" Kakashi clarified.

Orochimaru shook his head and smiled. "This research facility came up about three years ago and I found my calling in life. I finally saw what the last two wars tried to show me. That no matter how much you try, train and accomplish, death will always take everything away in the end. And yet people are too damn blind to see that truth."

He lowered to so his hands touched the ground and a second too late Kakashi realized what he was about to do, as a puff of smoke erupted from underneath Orochimaru's hands.

Two shapes grew impossible tall and swallowing back a sigh of exasperation Kakashi took in the two overgrown snakes looking down on them. As if Orochimaru himself wasn't way too much to deal with.

It would seem the Sannin wasn't taking any chances….

---

Shisui felt detached while he crawled through the pipe as quietly as he could. Thanks to the large tanks the shafts were ventilating, Shisui fit quite easily, but for every move it made sounds.

He was only half sure he was moving in the right direction. The shaft went in a wide loop through several rooms, and he had already tried and failed with one. This was his second choice after ending up outside instead of in the next room.

He was starting to hear something now though, and he was realizing there was an argument going on far below him. A very loud one… Or maybe it was the echo that reinforced the voices?

Shisui stopped in front of a metal plate where he could make out the edges in the pitch blackness. Hadn't it been for his Sharingan Shisui would be completely lost in the mayhem of shafts leading around the base.

As silently as he could he pried it open, his fingers getting a grip around the edge of the large and long plate. He hoped the whole shaft wouldn't come down from the deconstruction though. Shisui suspected the drop would be quite high.

He heard voices drifting up from the room bellow, and froze mid pull as he recognised his sensei slithering voice and Kakashi's.

Not wanting to believe it he stuck his head through the opening he'd created, and found himself looking down at a mirrored version of the hall he'd just been trapped in. Orochimaru stood on a platform, Kakashi at one end of the room while Anko was pressed up against the wall of the other with two gigantic snakes separating them.

Kakashi's voice was easily heard even from the different ends of the vast drop. That was saying something, seeing as Kakashi almost never raised his voice. "Why are you of all people doing this? What did you gain from this?"

"Ku, ku… Funnily enough I had this conversation with Naruto just yesterday. I'm not interested in a repetition."

"Naru…?" Asked Anko, and even from such a long distance Shisui could see her skin grow paler.

"Where the hell is she!" Shouted Kakashi.

Shisui swallowed. Naruto was here? But Naruto was on a mission. But then technically so was Orochimaru supposed to be. And Rin and Ensui? If Naruto was here at the base then where were they?

"Oh, out of reach." Orochimar replied simply.

"Don't you dare!" Shouted Anko, snapping out of her stupor as she grabbed for something in her pouch. "Don't you dare lie to me, sensei! What the hell are you trying to say?"

"I'm not lying. I'm just pointing out that she will not be coming to your rescue. With her on your side you might have stood a chance against me. After all, she's grown into quite a heavy hitter, hasn't she? I'm pleased with all of your developments. Anko – you have potential still, you have already inherited many of my jutsu, and you should know what an honour that is. Naruto is a wild card, but she's at least not blinded by the system like most of you are. Unfortunately it means I myself have some problems controlling her, but all experiments usually have a crucial point in their development. Yours and Naruto's are happening right now Anko. While Shisui…. Ah, he is coming along splendidly."

Kakashi looked as sick as Shisui felt, he hadn't noticed his hand had started shaking.

"Now… What do you say? I could go into detail, but seeing as you've so kindly come to see me in my lab there's no need to beat around the bush. Believe it or not but this conversation is not merely for pleasantries. You have all seen and experienced the short comings of the system in Konoha, and seeing as I won't be staying for much longer I think it's only fitting to extend an invitation to join me. You both have potential, though I'm pretty sure I know Hatake's response already, but I don't wish to be impolite, you know?

Shisui was struck dumb. Did he just…? Was this real? Was this really happening?

Anko took a step back. "What? To… join you? To betray Konoha?"

"You'd stay with you best friend, Anko. And me. What else is actually binding you to the village?"

"Shut up!" Kakashi growled. "You will never convince me Naruto is okay with what you've done here. He's a liar, Anko. Look around you. He's kept this secret for years. He already consider you an experiment, not become one willingly too!"

Shisui looked from Kakashi to Orochimaru, his brow furrowed at having barged in halfway through this confrontation.

"You are a traitor, Orochimaru. We cannot allow you to continue." The echo of Kakashi's low voice made the words hard to hear, but Shisui made them out anyway.

The reply was short. "I see."

And then the snakes shot forwards, crashing into a column that made the whole room vibrate. Orochimaru jumped up on the head of one of the snakes.

The snake spun around, it's tail rotating and taking Kakashi with it on impact. It was luckily a grazing shot, and Kakashi had jumped up the wall to get away, Anko mirroring him across the hall.

"You stand no chance against me, stop this foolishness." Orochimaru answered eventually, though Shisui imagined there was a slight hesitation in his tone. "You should realize that I've evolved from the simple minded stage you linger at. I've cast away these bonds you think makes up the meaning of life. It's not a betrayal if I don't see the alliances between people the same way you do. I am no more a traitor than the Hokage is. My means to protect the village is simply just different than holier-than-thou Namikaze."

Shisui gripped the panel harshly, dragging it off its hinges in one go and crawled through it until he stood upside down to the underside of the shaft.

They'd heard the sound, and three people and two snakes looked up confused.

His Sharingan glared back at Orochimaru as their eyes met. A silent fury bubbling under his skin and lashing out. Wanting to roam free and attack this man who he'd lost faith in.

He was attacking his student.

He was betraying Konoha.

He had shed his humanity.

This was not the man who had trained them. This wasn't a man at all. It was a snake lashing out when their backs had been turned.

With lightning fast movements fire roared from his mouth, shooting towards Orochimaru with scorching intensity as Kakashi took advantage of the distraction to run up the back of the snake. His katana was out, and he stabbed it with swift blows and making it royally pissed off. The scales were hard though, and he made little progress as Shisui's fire followed Orochimaru's flight from the heat.

Orochimaru was backed away from his friends, and Shisui stopped his assault as Kakashi jumped away from the snake.

Anko hadn't moved at all. Her eyes bore into Orochimaru as if still not believing what she'd seen and heard. Shisui dropped all the way from the ceiling and down, chakra pumping through his body so he would survive the landing, and ended up next to her. Orochimaru smiled.

"And Shisui…. My, so another student of mine is here. Though I think you might be my favourite. You should appreciate how blessed you are for being born with the Sharingan." He said in a high, amused tone.

Kakashi came up behind them and placed a hand on Anko's shoulder, whispering for her to calm down. Vaguely surprised Shisui noticed that she did.

"Sensei..." Shisui breathed, too furious to string a whole sentence together. How could he have done this? It seemed unfathomable. This went far above anything Shisui had imagined when it came to human experimenting.

It was cruel. Only someone without a consciousness could possibly inflict this much suffering on others for their own gain.

He was doing it even now. Anko was simply crushed. She couldn't stop crying.

Biting his lip Shisui considered his options. This situation was beyond their level. They couldn't go all out, because the base could collapse on them and take hundreds of lives with it. That ruled out some of his more destructive ninjutsu. Orochimaru understood this himself if his goading was anything to go by.

But their sensei was not someone to take lightly. From what he'd overheard this was not some misunderstanding, and Orochiamru would not come calmly with them to the TIF for an explanation. Yet they couldn't allow him to get away… With sinking realization Shisui saw that most likely one or more of them would die in here.

"I have finally seen. There might have been a time where I still valued those feeble bonds Naruto talks about all the time, but look, even in the end it's caused her nothing but pain. It's a new level of idiocy. Why risk oneself for others? Only when you've truly broken all ties will you ever achieve true strength."

He was talking crazy… There were no other words for it, and yet his thoughts kept circling back to the possible results of the upcoming battle. Because there would be a battle. There was no way out of that. The floor was already covered in blood of their fallen comrades, and Orochimaru couldn't get away with that. But the idea of Anko getting killed by their sensei was such a horrid thought he desperately steered away from it. He didn't want that… He didn't even want Kakashi to get hurt by Orochimaru. Was there a way they could all make it out of here alive? Was there a way they could even hope to win this fight? And if there was, was it possible to take Orochimaru alive?

The immediate answer was no.

But… there was hope… Shisui would need to act precisely for this.

Shisui and Kakashi reacted simultaneously as Orochimaru was about to attack. Without preamble they pelted across the room. Kakashi to the left of him as they tag teamed.

Shisui was faster, reaching Orochimaru he slashed at his sensei with deadly precision. His tantō had been caught by a snake slithering out from the Sannin's sleeve. The metal surface reflecting the sharp fangs locking it in place. Kakashi's chidori chirped as he aimed at Orochimaru, but the Sannin twisted away, still keeping Shisui's blade trapped, as his knee shot out and hit Kakashi hard in the stomach. The older ANBU got his wind blown out of him, but twisted out of the way as Orochimaru's free hand shot out. Elongating to an impossible length as Shisui jumped and twisted around, his hand still holding onto the tantō as the snake's head was snapped by the violent rotation.

Orochimaru hurriedly dodged Kakashi's fist, just as Shisui's now free tantō was aimed as his legs. They forced him backwards, but then the giant snakes in the hall made themselves known. Orochimaru jumped backwards, and Shisui dragged Kakashi away just in time to avoid a swinging tail.

They landed hard on the ground and rolled away as the second snake came from the other side.

Kakashi had just enough time to shoot a fire jutsu that would have the Uchiha stamp of approval straight into the second snake's face. The great beast hissed furiously, twisting out of the way as Shisui got to his feet.

"I got the other one." Anko finally joined them, her eyes red and wet in a devastating resolve. She was doing signs with one hand while she raised the sleeve of her coat, revealing a black seal inked into her skin.

"Good thinking!" Shisui shouted as he realized what she was about to do. Orochimaru understood too, and his attention was forced towards Anko. He didn't wait to see what their old sensei would do to prevent Anko from getting to the huge snake, and instead threw himself in his line of sight while blocking Anko to give her time.

Shisui cast his first genjutsu with his left hand, then another with his right. He knew Orochimaru had caught them both - how could he not? Shisui hands hand moved a bit too obviously and had drawn Orochimru's attention at once. But he hopefully didn't notice the one he cast with his mouth. It was a tricky piece of sound genjutsu that could be cast through your breath. By whispers on the wind.

It bought them just enough time, while Shisui took up the Sannin's attention Anko had made her way onto the first snake, and just as her hand reached the scales her seal activated. In a large pop of smoke the snake was promptly reversed summoned from where it came from.

Thank kami she was here. She could not hope to fight against the snakes Orochimaru was able to summon, she'd never been able to summon even one of such a massive size yet, however she could reverse summon them thanks to being signed to the same contract.

While they'd been distracted Kakashi had made good work of taking on the second beast all on his own. His katana had been pierced through the second snake's eye, and it gave a ferocious hiss as its head swung back and forth. Its attacker was balancing on top of its head while trying not to get thrown off the gigantic snake.

Orohimaru raised his arm, it was aiming towards Kakashi, but as dozens of smaller snakes shot from his arm they were intercepted by the exact same technique from Anko. They crashed midair from the side, throwing them off target and were pushed to the floor in a battle of hisses and snaps as snakes attacked snakes.

Shisui was not staying on the ground much longer. The place was gradually turning into the most grotesque snake pit.

Anko charged ahead, well past reckless and turning desperate, coming heads to heads with Orochimaru with a wild fury that had her chakra bursting out of her.

Her kick was blocked with his elbow while Shisui had a split second to figure out which one to help. Concluding that his former teammate had a much harder opponent than Kakashi he hurried to catch up with her, but as Anko twirled around, her fist gaining speed from the spin, Orochimaru's hand caught her elbow in an iron grip, his feet spread to gain balance, and with force picked the girl up and flipped her over his head, smashing her body into the concrete floor so hard it cracked underneath Anko.

As Orochimaru straightened up he was met with Shisui's foot to the jaw, kicking him straight across the hall from the force. While still in the air Shisui threw the only weapon at his immediate disposition, and his tanto flew after the Sannin before he'd even hit the floor yet. But Orochimaru was all too fast for that. As he rolled away from the tantō Shisui had just enough time to dodge out of a poison attack that hit the wall behind him. He was morbidly fascinated to see the wall start melting. Whatever that was it was highly acid.

Kakashi had downed the second snake. It laid dead, the body separated from its head in a chunky puddle of blood against one of the columns holding up the platform. Kakashi was sporting some slimy green substance all over his uniform that Shisui didn't need to know the origin of.

Kakashi looked a bit off balance though, and he was grimacing in pain from a wound to his ribs. Their eyes met, and with a small nod from Kakashi they charged again. Kakashi was closer to Orochimaru than Shisui, but instead of getting close he threw a kunai at Orohimaru that went off in a shower of deafening explosions. With the wall behind him Orochimaru was forced towards them to get out of the blast zone. It gave him just enough time for Shisui to hit the palm of his hands against the ground. "Doton: Stone Plate Coffin!"

Large sections of the ground raised like walls on each side of Orochimaru, they arched around him, blocking off the exits as they closed in on him at high speed. With a rumbling collision they engulfed him inside with an echoing crash.

For a moment everything turned silent, the tremors running up the walls the only thing registering through Shisui's steel focus.

"Did you get him...?" Kakashi trailed off doubtfully, and Shisui also felt pessimistic. There was no way Orochimaru of the Sannin was taken down that easily.

But there were no movements, and from between the gap of the earth plates blood was seeping out.

The silence continued, only to be broken by a pained moan from Anko.

Kakashi walked backwards, but he didn't take his eyes off the boulders for a second while backtracking to where Anko was still laying on the ground.

Shisui allowed the ANBU captain to sort out Anko while he kept his attention ahead. There was chakra there… But the signature was so much smaller than before. Was he weakened? Had they really hit him? Had Orochimaru been weakened before the fight started? There were bodies scattered around the hall, so there had clearly been fights already.

Did they just get incredibly lucky?

Something made Shisui peek over his shoulder. Kakashi was helping Anko sit up. He was going to secure her to a safer location, and Shisui was relieved to see her eyes were open, though she was bloody and completely boneless as she leaned against Kakashi's side. It looked like she had multiple fractures and probably a very serious concussion from a short glance. Not to mention the many bruises marring her face.

He supported Anko by keeping a secure hold around her waist while her arm was slung over his shoulder. Her feet only partly cooperating with her as she tried to stand on her own. The hit had been brutal, and Anko had been too direct in her attack. Normally she knew better, and yet Shisui couldn't blame her for losing her head this once. It could have been a lot worse. At least she wasn't dead.

Yet.

The ground broke from underneath Kakashi and Anko, and the blurry shape of Orochimaru shot up together with most of the floor. Rock spears erupted at all sides, and Shisui had barely enough time to jump blind straight up to avoid getting a spear straight through his leg.

The floor was transformed from a half crumbled snake pit to a rocky crater of spikes reaching up higher than Shisui was tall. There were crashes on all sides as the many tanks blew to pieces. Lilac liquid poured out and drenching Kakashi and Anko. The platform in the middle of the room crumbled above him, and Shisui could only focus on jumping from spike to spike in an attempt to get away from the falling boulders of concrete and metal.

He heard Anko scream from somewhere in the chaos as Shisui made it to the wall and started running upwards at once. Staying on the ground was absolutely not an option anymore, and once safely away from the collapse he glanced back to see the destruction.

Anko lay mangled between spikes, half burred underneath concrete, and if that wasn't worrying enough then Orochimaru had his hand wrapped around Kakashi's throat.

The Sannin only looked slightly dusted up from the explosion, while Kakashi was drenched in the weird lilac liquid, mud, snake fluids and what could only be freshly pouring blood.

It took Shisui a moment to see where the blood came from, but gasped as he noticed what Orochimaru had done. He was holding Shisui's tantō, and it stood pierced through Kakashi's stomach.

Orochimaru turned his head so their eyes met. His hand still gripped around Kakashi's throat, making the ANBU make strangled sounds and fight desperately against both the lack of air and the loss of blood.

A shout escaped between Shisui's lips as the Sannin twisted the blade.

All caution left him.

Shisui sprang towards them, not sure he'd ever run as fast as he had in that moment. With wild fury he body tackled Orochimaru to the ground, Kakashi being released by the brute force of the collision.

They rolled in a heap of limbs across the floor. Shisui kicking and punching anything he perceived as not himself while hacking with the shuriken in his hand instead of throwing it. His mind focused solely on getting Orochimaru away from the other two.

They untangled, Orochimaru struggling away but not before sporting several new cuts and bruises from the wild brawling Shisui had just forced him into. It was a far shot from the dignified academy style or the countless hours of proper taijutsu training Orochimaru had drilled into him. It had been wild, completely randomized and improvised moves, but damn if it hadn't been effective. Shisui also found a sick pleasure in the fact that it was everything Orochimaru would find completely useless too.

His breath was coming in pants, but so was Orochimaru's, though he didn't like the gleam in the Sannin's eyes.

The platform had collapsed on top of the spears, creating a half demolished floor for them to stand on without the spears to hinder their sight lines. The air stung his nose from the chemicals, and the dust had yet to set properly from the tank explosions and the fallen columns. Shisui wondered how many of the bodies had gotten trapped underneath the concrete, and hoped to kami that if they had that they'd been dead before the implosion.

"It looks like you're on your own." Orochimaru said silkily. The faint show of exhaustion from before was absent as he spoke, and his eyes trailed to something behind him. Shisui wouldn't look, but he knew Orochimaru was at least telling the truth this time.

"I won't let you get away with this." Shisui spat. Annoyed at how heavy his breath was coming out compared to Orochimaru. He was getting worked up, and never had it been more important that he kept his cool. Just looking at his sensei was enough to get his blood pressure rising though, and he struggled to calm himself down. Shisui watched him like a hawk as Orochimaru's tongue come out to stretch to the top of his cheekbone and lick away blood from one of his new cuts. Shisui was pretty confident it was his shuriken that had inflicted that wound in their fresh brawl.

It looked deep and rugged, and he hoped to kami it hurt.

Orochimaru sighed and leaned back on his feet, the picture of confidence as he looked at Shisui through half lidded eyes. A satisfied sort of aura projecting through his stand. "I don't wish to kill you Shisui. Do reconsider. All you will achieve by continuing this is your death."

"Then so be it." Shisui replied coldly.

"If you join me… I won't touch them. I'll even save them." Orochimaru replied, and gestured towards the bodies behind Shisui. "Kakashi doesn't have long. He has not only ben stabbed but poisoned too, and unlike you and Anko he won't survive long without an antidote. Anko is half buried. We can stand here and chat, or we can continue fighting, but how long do you think it will be until they both bleed out?"

Shisui shifted, but forced himself to keep his focus ahead. To not look back. Cold sweat was gathering at his neck, but he couldn't listen to Orochimaru. It was the Sannin that taught him the value of pushing the right buttons. He knew very well that Shisui would go to extreme lengths for his friends. Just like Anko and Kakashi would. This was a feint. This was Orochimaru tricking him. Like he'd been doing all along. Everything he said was poison.

Shisui kept repeating this to himself. Otherwise he might actually do something stupid. Like take his eyes off the enemy.

"You could have been great." Shisui told him, and he was surprised how calm his voice came out. "Now you're just a perverse result of your own experiments… a failure. I remember the first time you took me to your lab with Anko. You had been experimenting with chakra infusion into animals, but the cat you'd been working on was showing troubling side effects. Anko had named him Mister Backtrack, because most people usually stayed away the times he managed to escape his cage. It had been disfigured from the transfusion. It showed erratic and illogical behaviour. It was uncontrollable and had to be kept locked up in a very solid cage because the experiment had gone wrong. You told me to give it a swift and merciful death because it was a failed experiment, and you had no patience for failures. Maybe you should look in the mirror and see what your experiments has done to you."

Orochimaru chuckled and shook his head. "I am not a failure. I have evolved from mere humanity. This is progress, Shisui."

Shisui gave a mock smile in return, his feet itching further apart as he readied himself for the attack he knew was coming any second. "I guess that's a matter of opinion, Orochimaru, but since your judgement is deteriorating with every passing hour I'll do my best to follow the procedure of your other failed experiments, and like with Mister Backtrack, give you a quick and merciful death."

Orochimaru eyes met Shisui's with an eager and triumphing gleam.

Next moment the room felt so heavy it was suffocating. His mind screamed at him to get the hell away. To run, to hide and don't even consider this ridiculous battle.

The killing intent coming from Orochimaru was on a level Shisui had never truly felt before. He had never been on the receiving end on something of this magnitude.

He realized that there was no way they would win, because Orochiamru was much more experienced and dangerous. He was terrifyingly ruthless and what were they in comparison? What could they possibly achieve by dying at his hand?

---

Danzō coughed up blood. His body twitching on the floor of the dark lab.

"Are you trying to prove me wrong, Minato?" He croaked as the Yondaime walked slowly towards him with a long katana he'd picked off from one of his dead Root agents. "P-prove you h-have what it takes to be Hokage?"

Minato didn't reply. He walked up to the destroyed body of the council member. Danzō was tough but far from the worst Minato had fought. The main problem had been the cheer number of attackers while preventing Danzō from escaping when it became clear Minato was winning despite the poor odds. "No."

Danzō sneered, his fist clenching on the floor, but he could no longer get up. Minato had cut his spinal cord and sealed off his chakra, there would be no getting back up for Shimura. "Why else… would you b-be executing me? It's to s-show me you're not as soft as I c-claim is it not?"

Minato came to a stop in front of him. "I'm not proving anything Danzō, I'm showing you what I've always known. You sneak in and kill half blind in the dark, but unlike you I have the power to attack while looking my victim in the eye and see the whole picture. I'm showing you that to strike when necessary is not the same as striking too late. It's just on time." Minato told him quietly, looking down at him with a dismissive expression.

"It makes me think… Is it too much for you to realize what you've done Shimura? Do you kill your emotions so the pain of your actions won't destroy you? Because that's what a true leader needs to be able to. They need to know what it feels like to lose what is most important to you in order to know how your victim's loved ones will react. There's more to warfare than how many lives or dies, it's the aftermath of those deaths that determines the future. The son who lost his father. The sister who lost her brother… a man who lost his wife. Don't you see that your actions would have the world void of life with only yourself left to prevent retaliation?"

Minato exhaled deeply. "So at the end of the day which one of us is the soft one Danzō? You - who buried your emotions until there was only a shell of your old self… Or me? Who's mastered the agony and still have strength to protect?"

Danzō twitched, his brows furrowing as he looked up at him.

"You say I'm too soft because I give people a chance to explain themselves… to allow doubt into my heart… but in the end every death caused by a ninja of Konoha is blood on my hands. On my orders. What sort of leader would I be if I were you? You say you protect from the shadows… And maybe at one point you truly did. But the truth is that now you hide in the shadows, and from your hole in the ground you send your underlings up to kill without giving them explanation or reason. Too cowardly to even know who you doom to death…"

"To eliminate one if it means s-saving a thousand… t-then I don't n-need to know who they were."

Bending down while resting an arm on his knee and the other over the katana Minato studied Danzō closely. "Which shows I'm clearly not you. I will know who I'm killing and why I'm doing it. Because I'm just that powerful not just as a ninja, but as a person too. A power you evidently lack."

Danzō's eyes were wide as he stared up at him, his lips quivering from pain. "So speak now Shimura. Tell me all you've done and I will be your rightful judge. I will be your salvation if innocent and your executer if guilty."

The bleeding man didn't answer. His eyes saying enough, but Minato still wanted to know. Wanted to hear how he justified his actions. "If not… You will force my hand and your death will be a meaningless one."

"I only ever protected K-Konoha..." Danzō wheezed.

"I already know that. But I want to hear why you did what you did in the name of Konoha."

Not entirely unexpected Danzō refused to reply. He was tough physically, and the excruciating pain he must have been in didn't make him spill any of the secrets he'd crafted.

Minato guessed something though. "Do you still believe me inadequate, Danzō?"

"No..." Danzō whispered quietly.

Minato looked at him for a moment, reading the strange shine in his eyes. "...you are lying."

Danzō chuckled and blood spurted from his mouth onto the floor. Not once had Minato ever seen anything close to mirth on the war hawk's face.

Strangely enough - despite the gore and violence traced over his body – the smile suited him.

Minato got to his feet slowly and raised the katana so it hovered over Danzō's still beating heart.

This was not something done lightly. This death was not easy on any level. Minato had to kill someone who had sacrificed so much for Konoha, and it went against his instincts to destroy someone who genuinely only wished for his village's protection.

Maybe if Naruto had been here she could have made him see reason. Maybe she could have made Danzō remember his humanity. If anyone could make someone feel than it was her.

But she was not here, and Minato was not Naruto.

"Shimura Danzō... You served this village with your whole life, and for that Konoha owes you a debt." Minato said quietly. "The debt will be repaid through a swift death for the crimes against the village you swore to protect, and I will also make sure your betrayal is kept quiet. To Konoha and to the world… You will not be recalled for your crimes, but for the dedication you put into protecting the village."

Minato raised the katana, aiming precisely as Danzō's eyes closed. "Your duty to Konoha has come to a completion, Shimaru Danzō. I will protect the village in your stead."

The katana cut through Danzō's heart.

---

Shisui fell to his knees. His hands the only thing keeping him from collapsing onto the floor.

There were no way this intent was human though - what had Orochimaru done to himself? What could create this type of killing intent? It felt like… It felt like that night. The bijū's intent that flowed over the fields of Kiri years ago. But now it was centered and it was focused and blowing straight at him.

It was too much, Shisui wanted to throw up but his body had locked down completely, and even the act of emptying his stomach was too terrifying for the action to come through. He was knocking at walls of his own mind. Desperate to get away but forced in place by the killing intent of the man he'd always looked up to.

How could this be happening? How the hell would he get away? Why did the others have to be unconscious? Why couldn't Naruto be here? She always turned the tables around when all hope was gone.

But she wasn't here. Naruto wouldn't come. Shisui had to fix this himself this time, and stop walking in her shadow. Fuck, he would have to do a Naruto. Act brashly and completely disregard all danger.

And in that moment Shisui realized just how much that took. Even without the crushing killing intent it went against every instinct in his body. To leave all thought of self-preservation and survival behind and fight without constraint. Because to take on someone like Orochimaru you couldn't think of your own safety. If you played it safe he would die before he could blink.

Even the Kiri base had seemed less scary and daunting, but until she almost got herself killed Naruto had been there with them. From the beginning she had always given him courage. And not just her, they had been in it together and he hadn't been so terribly alone. This time he would have to fight all on his own. He had to fix it alone.

Orochimaru sprang forward, and with a scream Shisui threw himself sideways. Every inch of his body was against it. The killing intent was still thick in the air and he was heavily disorientated. But it was just enough, because he'd dodged out of Orochimaru's first attack, and now he just had to continue.

Focus on what he could see, not what he could feel. Focus on the target, and not his sensei. Focus on the actions instead of the consequences.

With effort Shisui sunshin over to Kakashi, picking up his katana as his tantō was still lodged in Kakashi's stomach. He turned back towards his sensei, who disappeared just as Shisui sunshin again.

They circled the room, both of them pushing their speed to the limit as they tried to get at each other. The killing intent never faulted, but Shisui was pushing through. He was getting out of the endless dark tunnel at last.

Orochimaru was fast, but Shisui was faster. They were moving at blinding speed all across the hall. Probably covering every surface in less than a second. Zigzagging between spears, columns, boulders and walls they hunted each other in a sick game of cat and mouse, Shisui unsure who was prey and who was the predator.

The Uchiha was gaining in on him though, and unlike Orochimaru Shisui could see. The Sharingan was a huge advantage when moving at such a blurring speed. It was the most common mistake the users of the sunshin that they had no idea where they were going because of the speed, and people could kill themselves if they hit an unexpected surface too hard.

Orochimaru had taught him that.

Pushing the fleeting thought away Shisui's feet connected with the underside of a beam along the ceiling just as Orochimaru took a sharp turn far below on the ground, jumping from the destroyed platform and straight up towards him. Shisui pushed down off from the beam, meeting Orochimaru head on.

Orochimaru's eyes widen in surprise, not expecting Shisui to meet him midair. The Uchiha sent fire up and down the katana, probably rendering it useless after that, but needing the extra power. He could see Orochimaru was trying to turn out of the collision, to sidestep him.

He wasn't going to get away.

Shisui twisted and his arm slashed downwards. He felt his blade connect, but Orochimaru had managed to bend out of the lethal shot so it connected with his shoulder instead of his chest. Orochimaru's uninjured arm was aiming towards his throat, but with lightning fast reflexes Shisui ducked under his unnaturally stretching hand.

He caught every detail as they blurred past each other, Shisui landing on the tip of a spear as he turned back to see where Orochimaru had ended up. The Sannin was standing upside down on the beam Shisui had attacked from. His arm was half torn off, and blood dripped down towards the ground.

"I might not have your experience or your powers, but don't underestimate the Sharingan, sensei." Hissed Shisui. "Our dōjutsu makes the Uchiha Konoha's strongest clan. I can see you."

Orochimaru chin jutted out while his head tilted as he held a hand over his bleeding shoulder. Shisui had almost cut his arm clean off. "Well, it was about time wasn't it, Shisui?" Orochimaru hummed. Shisui teeth gritted together as he noticed the chakra building up in Orochimaru's hands.

Leaving behind the roasted remains of Kakashi's Katana he flashed forwards, escaping the jutsu just on time. But he wasn't out of danger, Orochimaru was forcing him into defense, the jutsus were flashing at him at blinding speed and all he could do was dodge and run. Orochimaru had hellish chakra reserves, which to Shisui's credit he had never been stupid enough to believe was naturally inherited.

Suddenly pain shot through his leg, and Shisui couldn't muffle the grunt of pain as his leg gave in. A clean cut ran down the length of his shin, and panting Shisui looked up. Orochimaru had landed a safe distance in front of him. A small smirk on his snake like face that made his blood boil.

Orochimaru had targeted his legs. Of course he would. He realized Shisui had grown faster than him, so it was only natural he would take away that advantage.

"Mah, look at how you've grown Shisui. Trying to kill your sensei and everything. And you who were always such a good little boy too. Always following my instructions to a T."

Shisui's hand tightened into fists as the killing intent from Orochimaru grew. He was getting dizzy now.

It wasn't over yet though. If he chose to he could get up. His bone was still intact, even if the rest of his shin was oozing blood everywhere. He carefully forced chakra into his right leg, trying to stop himself from bleeding too fast.

But maybe…

If Orochimaru thought him unable to fight… Maybe… If he fell for it… with a bit of luck… he just might win.

Shisui stopped the flow of chakra, and immediately he felt his blood start flowing again. He let himself collapse to the ground, but couldn't make himself lay down completely. He kept himself propped up on his forearms and reluctantly allowed his Sharingan to fade.

Orochimaru huffed, his brow arching as he stepped closer.

Was it working?

Shisui continued to breathe heavy, not bothering to mask up his exertion as he would have in any other situation. Against any other opponent. Orochimaru was a predator, and right now Shisui was his prey.

At least he would let him think so.

Orochimaru slowly walked towards him, his smile growing as he came to a stop only a few steps away.

Holy shit, it was working. Shisui had severely underestimated the art of bluffing until now. That was not a mistake he would repeat.

Shisui looked down as if in defeat. Just a little closer… "What a disappointment. You were doing so well earlier too. I thought there was more in you, I honestly did." Orochimaru mused.

Shisui wasn't listening though. He was focusing on the movements, listening to Orochimaru's breathing while estimating exactly how fast it would be for Orochimaru to make a killing blow. A fraction of a second. Maybe a bit more, but Shisui could be faster. It all depended on if Orochimaru wanted to play with his food. Orochimaru might know almost everything about Shisui, but not all.

There was one thing he'd kept hidden. He had even hid it from his father, because the ability was too filled with guilt. A burning resentment for his own power which had made him tongue tied every time the subject came up.

Shisui glared up, black meeting yellow, and Orochimaru looked impassively back. He didn't have the Sharingan activated, so he would have to rely on his normal eyesight for this to work. To trick his old sensei, because who in their right mind deactivate their Sharingan on purpose against someone like him?

The Sannin's fingers twitched, and taking that as his que Shisui's hand smacked together while going through seals so fast the movements blurred to his normal sight. Orochimaru was coming towards him so fast - too fast - and as Shisui's left hand grabbed around the elbow of his outstretched right arm he hadn't even been able to finish the thought before the seal activated.

There was a blinding flash of green light before the black kanji encircled his victim. Chakra was draining out of him fast, but he had enough. Shisui had to have enough, and if not... he was dead.

Orochimaru was less than a step away when the cage activated, and Shisui exhaled shakily as he realized just how close he'd been from losing. A fraction of a second… It might have been less... The Sannin was frozen in place, and despite fighting the lock put on him Shisui knew it would take more than a bijū to break free from this.

It was why Minato had taught it to him in the first place. He was an Uchiha and Naruto's teammate; it was his responsibility to keep the Kyūbi down if everything went wrong one day. And as such, he'd been drilled in a lot of different sealing techniques. Both from the Uchiha clan repertoire and the Yondaime.

"Gah." Orochimaru wheezed, and Shisui was surprised he could even make a sound, indistinguishable though it was. The effort was starting to make him tremble, because the seal was one of a few that could hold back a bijū, though as an Uchiha it was by far not the most chakra saving technique for that task.

But then again; this was just a feint. This was just to keep Orochimaru frozen and in place.

The man was panicking. Shisui could see the sweat forming on his brow and the flush on his neck. The Sannin wouldn't even be able to clench a muscle in this state. It was a complete immobilization of chakra in all states. As long as there was even a trace of chakra in his muscles it would paralyze him. It was a technique Minato had invented in memory of Kushina about two years ago, and it had never been tested out in combat before now. At least he would point out to the Hokage that it was a technique better used at full strength instead of after hours of battling if he made it out of here alive.

"Damn you, sensei." Shisui muttered, hating what he was about to do more than he hated Orochimaru himself.

Lifting his arm he tilted the Sannin's chin up. To Shisui it was easy. It was only the prisoner himself that could feel crushing depth of fuinjutsu. He held his chin in a firm hold, forcing Orochimaru to stare straight into his eyes as a cold resolution calmed the storm of emotions rushing through his head.

There was a process involved. It wasn't something he could throw out without preparation, and thanks to Orochimaru's current paralyzed state he was given that time. His mind worked furiously, pushed to the limits of what he ever believed himself capable of, his control latching out as Shisui extracted all the chakra he could. It rushed up to his brain. It pulsed against his eyes as they morphed into the Mangekyō Sharingan.

He had two options now… But what would Orochimaru wish? To die fighting for what he believed in? Or live under someone else's will?

Orochimaru's skin turned deathly pale.

In the end this would all be on him. This was his revenge. And resolved Shisui spoke the name aloud for the first time, until now having only been a whisper inside his mind that had been known to him as easily as an infant knew how to breathe.

"Kotoamatsukami."

.

.

.

To be continued...

---

Author Note: Thank you so very much for reading! The chapter was beta'd by the wonderful AnjoRemix!

A whole chapter with no Naruto… that's a first, but we'll catch up with her in the next chapter. This one was solely for Kakashi, Anko and Shisui… and a little Minato of course. And Shisui gets to shine a bit here, because let's face it; Naruto has stolen a lot of the prime light so far. And in canon neither Kakashi or Anko has ever been a match against Orochimaru, but like Itachi, Shisui has one hell of a jutsu to fall back on when all else fails.

For those of you who don't know or don't remember this, "Kotoamatsukami" is Shisui's unique dōjutsu power from canon which only his unique Mangekyō Sharingan can do.

I have waited for this for soooo long, and been impatient to get here since I started writing this hellishly over long story. Shisui was always going to put Orochimaru through his brainwashing powers. It was half the fun with putting Naruto and Shisui on the Snake Sannin's team to begin with, and I wonder if anyone saw it coming?

Orochimaru is such a complex character, but I wanted him to be trustworthy, though I don't believe him capable of that. In canon Naruto was never able to affect Orochimaru at all - instead Sasuke was. Though Orochimaru does have a soft spot for Naruto here in After the Rain. He always respects strength, and he can see that Naruto got that despite their complete opposite views, which was highlighted in the previous chapter. What he said wasn't a lie either, and his character is still developing.

He has always been one to question everything and turn every stone. It's his strength, but also what makes him unreliable to a military system such as Konoha. Which is why Shisui's Kotoamatsukami comes into play. Just know Orochimaru's role is far from over in After the Rain.

ANBU masks translations;

Kani - crab

Tonbo – Dragonfly

Until next time!