Five days earlier, Yugao had spotted a familiar white-haired ninja leaving the bedroom of the youngest Uchiha late at night. It was more than a little suspect—she knew Sasuke was Kakashi's student and that student-teacher relationships sometimes happened, but the age difference in this case was ridiculous. Knowing Kakashi, however, Yugao figured it was more of a training session or debriefing than any pedophilic romantic tryst.
"Kakashi!" Yugao called, and the former Anbu member turned to regard her with friendly eyes. Eyes plural, because he hadn't put his headband back over his other eye. Definitely a training session, then.
"Yugao," Kakashi greeted her amicably, landing on a rooftop as light as a cat and waiting for her to catch up. "Hm, I suppose me leaving Sasuke's room at this hour may look odd, but it wasn't actually Sasuke I was visiting. In fact, you might be interested to learn that—"
"Kakashi," Yugao cut him off firmly. "I'm looking for Hayate. He was supposed to be back last night but no one's seen him yet. Have you?"
Her heart was burning in her chest, and she'd had to choke back sobs the entire day as she'd emotionlessly delivered orders to Anbu members. She already knew, deep down. Hayate wouldn't do this to her—he wouldn't make her needlessly worry. The Third had come to see her, and he'd tried to assure her that Hayate could've followed Kabuto to a hideout, but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself just as much as her.
"I haven't, but I'll help you look," Kakashi said immediately. It was nice that someone cared enough to help; all day she'd wanted to scream at her subordinates to look for her lover, but she'd had to make sure the village's perimeter was secure. It was nice, but it didn't make her feel any better.
They spent half the night searching rooftops until Kakashi finally came running at her with a purpose that scared her. He grabbed her by the wrist, stopping her from rounding the corner to another sloped roof. She knew from the look in his eyes, but she was powerless to stop her body from moving forward.
"Yugao, no," Kakashi said sadly, grief plain on his features. She twisted her wrist hard enough that Kakashi would either have to break it or let go, and he finally released her with a sigh that hurt more than anything she'd ever felt in her life.
"It won't help," Kakashi called after her as her feet pounded on the rooftop. Then, quieter: "I'm sorry."
Time stopped for her when she saw what was around the corner. She knew she was moving but it didn't feel like anything was happening. He was there, waiting for her, like he always was. But she was too late. The crows were already on him, pecking and dragging out the soft, loving things that made him who he was.
"Go away," she whimpered at the crows, but they made no move to leave. Her body had to do things on its own again, because her mind still hadn't caught up to what her eyes were seeing. Her sword was in her hand and she was slashing, slashing, slashing at the crows and there was blood, blood, somuchbloodnono.
When the last crow was dead, the sword that Hayate had given her as a gift after she'd 'graduated' from his lessons clattered noisily on the roof's tiles, sliding down them and dropping away into the darkness of the streets. She sank to her knees beside Hayate, ignoring the mess that was the rest of his body and looking only at his face. She heard Kakashi approach from behind, but she couldn't turn away from the scene.
"Hayate," she whispered, pulling his head onto her lap. She wrapped her arms around his beautiful, peaceful face as if she could protect it, and she ran his fingers through his hair the way he'd liked. It had been less than seventy-two hours since she'd done this in bed, the two of them entwined skin-against-skin, whispering and laughing together.
"Hayate," she said again, remembering how he'd always twirl a lock of her hair around one finger and how he'd sometimes pull her close and kiss her mask, joking about how it seemed to be a part of her now so maybe it deserved kisses too. She'd always taken her mask off after that though, and she did so now, setting it beside her so she could look at her lover through her own eyes instead of through the mask's.
Her shoulders trembled as she pressed her face against his, breathing in to try and find his scent. All she could smell was decay, but she'd be fine if he smelled like that all the time, if only he woke up. It seemed to have started raining, and water was leaking down Hayate's face like tears. It would be fine if he cried, if only he woke up. She used two shaking fingers to close Hayate's eyelids, unable to bear the sight of the bloody gouges where the crows had done their work. But even not having eyes, even that would be fine… if only he woke up.
She held him closer, rocking him like a child, and the rain seemed to be pouring as it fell even faster on Hayate's face. Yugao didn't make a sound, not even the slightest whimper, as she clutched her dead lover to her chest like he was her heart and she needed her heart back inside her body.
The rain grew heavier. But it wasn't raining.
Five days later, Orochimaru had trapped himself in a barrier with the Third Hokage, leaving no way in or out. He'd killed the Fourth Kazekage and used the name as a disguise, calling a meeting that ended up with Sarutobi being trapped. Sarutobi was prepared and the majority of the Anbu Black Ops were prepared, but the Leaf Village wasn't.
Kakashi forced his way through crowds of people, searching for his students. He'd gone to Sasuke's apartment first, but the raven-haired Uchiha was nowhere to be found. Next, he'd found Sakura's mother, who told him Sakura had left just before the attack to go see Sasuke. Sai had followed along, but since none of them could be found anywhere, Kakashi figured they must have gotten away to someplace safe. He hoped they had.
His next focus was the Suna genin. One of them was the jinchuuriki of the One-Tails, so he could do even more damage than Orochimaru's giant snakes were doing. On his way towards where the Sand shinobi had been staying, Kakashi saw Yugao fighting a swarm of Suna and Oto shinobi. At some point, the Sand and Sound must've allied so they could take down Konoha together. Kakashi wanted to help Yugao, who was obviously trying to drown her grief in blood, but she was more than holding her own and he didn't have time to soothe emotions. He continued on.
He met up with Might Guy halfway to where Gaara was, and the two of them worked wordlessly together, destroying any enemies they came across with perfect synchronicity. It wasn't enough though—not by a long shot. The snakes were causing too many problems, and the members of the Anbu who should be fighting were taking too much time to save civilians from rock falls. The plan was brilliantly executed, and though some people may have suspected an attack, everyone had thought it would be during the final phase of the Chuunin Exams. This was way too early.
"Kakashi, I don't think we have to worry about that Gaara kid," Guy said at one point. Kakashi only raised an eyebrow, giving his friend a look that said everything. Even if Gaara seemed like a good kid, they still needed to confirm the One-Tails wasn't being used. It could be the end of everything.
But in the end, Kakashi had to concede this point to Guy. Gaara stood with his siblings, hands raised, using sand to trap enemies. Kankuro was using a puppet to knock out the stragglers Gaara didn't initially get, and Temari was at their backs, using her fan to blow away anyone who tried to get near. And the 'enemies' they fought were Sand and Sound shinobi.
"I told you, Kakashi!" Guy cried out in triumph, and Kakashi ignored him. Now that he'd confirmed everything was fine with Gaara, he needed to see if there was any way to help Sarutobi.
"Kakashi, I hate it when you act so cool!" Guy yelled as Kakashi flawlessly switched directions. "Where are we going?"
"Oh, are you still here?" Kakashi asked, just to bug Guy. Even in the direst circumstances, he couldn't help but throw a dig or two in at his old friend. "We're going to see what we can do to help the Third."
Guy nodded gravely and they continued on. It didn't take long to get to the rooftop, but Kakashi knew as soon as he saw the setup that there was no way to get through it. Sarutobi could probably break the barrier from the inside, but he seemed content to take Orochimaru on by himself. Kakashi remembered his chat with Sarutobi about who would make a good Hokage next, and he inwardly cursed himself for not realizing that of course Sarutobi was planning to fight this new threat alone.
"Now what?" Guy asked, narrowing his eyes as he reached the same conclusion as Kakashi. They could only do what was within their abilities. Kakashi turned back to Konoha, watching ninjas slaughter each other and paint the streets in blood. All he'd wanted was to see this village be at peace. Was it so hopeless a dream?
"Now, we fight," Kakashi said grimly. He exchanged a glance with Guy, and he wondered how long he could fight the darkness that always lurked around his heart, threatening to consume him each time something like this happened. It was like fate was trying to chip away at his hope, little by little, until he gave up or died.
"Then let us fight with the power of youth!" Guy cried, getting fired up instead of feeling down. Kakashi felt his bleakness lift just a little at Guy's proclamation, and he snorted as if Guy had just said something completely idiotic. Honestly, this guy, he was ridiculous. Kakashi was beyond grateful.
"Sasuke!" a familiar voice called as Sasuke was watching the village in horror. Sakura and Sai landed beside him, and suddenly he felt way more grounded, his erratic pulse slowing down at the sight of his teammates.
"What's going on? Does this have to do with the people who took Kaze?"
"Someone took Kaze?" Sakura gasped. Sai went pale too, his lips pulling down at the corners as they both stared at Sasuke in horror.
"Yes, someone took him, and I have no idea what the hell is going on!" Sasuke yelled, digging his fingers into his hair. Who were the people who had stolen away with his friend? They had to be related to this attack, right? How had they even known who he was?
"We need to make a decision, then," Sakura said, her voice growing fiercer as she looked back at their home then off into the trees. "Do we go back and fight or do we go after him? With Sai's ink monsters and your Sharingan, we might be able track Kaze down."
Sasuke looked up at Sakura and Sai, who waited for him to tell them what he wanted them to do. He could see in their eyes that they'd do whatever he suggested, that they put absolute faith in him. He thought back to the week he'd spent with Kaze, the way something in his heart had started to thaw, the way he'd sometimes caught Kaze looking at him, as if he were something interesting that needed figuring out. He wanted to figure Kaze out, too. He wanted them to figure out what this bond was, together.
"We have to…"
Sasuke replayed every conversation he'd with Kaze, and he felt a deep pang of sorrow in his heart.
"…help the village."
What Gaara had said, what Kaze had said… the people who had taken Kaze could only be the older siblings Kaze spoke so highly of, the ones he broke his fingers for, the ones who locked him up. It was the puppet master that had given it away, that and the look of profound relief on the woman's face the moment Kaze was in her arms. It hadn't just been the relief of someone getting a tool back. It had been the relief of a sister getting her younger brother back, or maybe even a mother getting her son. Maybe they'd lock Kaze up again and force him into being their soldier, but for now Sasuke didn't think Kaze's life was in danger. And he knew for sure that his village's life was.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke, I know how much he meant to you," Sakura said, briefly resting her hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
"I don't quite understand as much, but I can see you care," Sai offered, laying his hand on Sasuke's other shoulder. The weight of their hands grounded Sasuke once more, and he found himself silently repeating the silly words he'd given Kaze during their meditation.
"Someday, I'll find him again," Sasuke swore, then turned away from the forest to face his village. This was where he was needed, and he'd be damned if he let anyone destroy the place that had built him, that had built the companions he now held so dear.
"Let's go."
Gaara fought for the village that the person he loved most hated, and he put every fiber of his being into it. You should do what you can live with, Naruto had said, and this was what Gaara could live with. Stopping his own village from irreparably severing the bonds that held two villages together was his duty now. Some Suna ninjas stopped and stared at him uncomprehendingly as he attacked, looking shocked and more than a little confused. A few that he'd met in Suna that had started respecting him actually turned on the Sound ninjas. So not everyone shared Rasa's beliefs, then.
"It's like they're all heading this way!" Temari yelled from the back. "My chakra is almost gone. If this keeps up, I don't think I'll be able to hold out!"
"Me neither," Kankuro panted, backing up until he stood right beside Gaara. Gaara himself was nearly out of chakra, but the onslaught kept coming as if they'd come forever. There was no way the three Sand siblings could hold back this tide alone, and it wasn't like they'd made many friends. After all, their village had betrayed the Leaf—not a single Anbu attempted to get near to help out.
Running on fumes, all Gaara could do was hold ninjas off as they kept coming now, and Temari and Kankuro stood close so he could defend them.
"We're finished, I think," Kankuro sighed, and Gaara felt sad that they'd die here in a foreign village, fighting their own comrades. He wondered if his siblings blamed him; he was the one who'd started the defense of Konoha, going directly against Baki's orders. Temari and Kankuro had just went along with him, and now they were going to die because of it. This was all his fault.
"I'm proud of you, little bro," Temari said suddenly, and Gaara felt her back press against his, strong and unyielding.
"Me too. I wish I had half the balls you do—standing up to our own village like this? Without you, I might've been too much of a coward, but right now I feel proud to call myself your brother."
Kankuro pressed into Gaara's side and Gaara felt tears of gratitude rise in his eyes as they prepared to make their last stand. As far as last stands went, this wasn't the worst way to go. They all raised their hands, preparing to perform the last jutsus they could.
"Do not think you are alone, comrades of the Leaf!" a sudden voice called out, and Gaara had never been so happy to see a bushy-browed ninja in an odd green jumpsuit. Rock Lee used a Leaf Hurricane to tear his way through his opponents, and behind him came his other two teammates—Neji and Tenten—wreaking havoc through the crowd as they fought to protect the right flank.
"It's a drag, but if we look less cool than Rock Lee, our reputation will really suck," another familiar voice called, and Gaara saw a huge, wolfish grin on Temari's face as the friend she'd been playing shogi with all week stopped the ninja on the left flank with his shadow technique. His teammates began bowling through them, the plump one who'd lost against Shino Aburame doing a particularly large amount of damage.
"We don't want to look uncool either," a soft voice said, and then there was a huge wave of bugs devouring chakra everywhere from the front flank. Shino walked through the crowd, looking completely unaffected by his surroundings, and behind him was the little Hyuuga girl who should be in the hospital.
"You're still standing?" Neji Hyuuga asked, and for a second Gaara thought he'd have to stop a fight between comrades. But Hinata clenched her fists, looked Neji in the eye, and said with clear strength:
"As long as there's conflict, I'll stay standing. Because using my skills to fight for peace is my nindo—my ninja way!"
Neji stared Hinata down for another minute, but she refused to look away. Finally, Neji bowed his head, turning his attention back to the fight but not before saying, "You are indeed strong, Lady Hinata. Far stronger, perhaps, than any of us realized."
Hinata's face lit up like a star, and her beauty in that moment was almost blinding. Gaara smiled softly, pleased she'd gotten a victory, then reached out a hand to her as she made it through her side of the flank. She took his hand, a flush on her cheeks, and moved to stand in front of him, taking up the stance of the Gentle Fist Art.
"This time, I'll protect you," she said to Gaara, her cheeks flaming. Gaara looked at her back, which was straight and strong, and despite how tiny and shy Hinata was, Gaara did feel protected.
"Kiba was in the hospital when the attack hit and he's too injured to help, but he told me to tell you he'd be here if he could," Shino said as he took up a place in front of Gaara as well and stretched out his hands to release more bugs. Gaara barely had to do a thing; the Leaf ninja protected not only their own, but also their allies.
Naruto, can you see it? he thought at his friend. These people you claim to hate, who you say deserve darkness reaped upon them… Can't you see the Will of Fire in them? Can't you see it burning strong, just as it does in you?
Kimimaro would fight down to his dying breath for Lord Orochimaru—and, in this invasion, it was likely that he'd have to. The Anbu Black Ops were doing a good job of protecting civilians and holding back the majority of the tide, but they had yet to see Orochimaru's secret weapon. Kimimaro reached back, felt the unsettling ripple of his kekkai genkai as it complied to grow him a new weapon, and pulled a sword from his spine. The Anbu closest to him seemed horrified, but they got ready to fight nonetheless.
Kimimaro slaughtered them all with ease and continued his walk through the village. Every time he saw more Anbu members fighting, he'd kill them, leaving only the few that were herding civilians and children since they posed no threat. The Suna and Oto shinobi that had seemed to be wilting under the pressure exerted on them began to perk up each time he joined their battlefield, and soon morale was up to an all-time high, confidence lending even greater strength to everyone's blades. Even though Konoha had seemed slightly prepared, the new eagerness with which their enemies attacked took them by surprise and left hundreds of Leaf ninja dead.
"For Lord Orochimaru!" Kimimaro cried as he rallied yet another militia unit who had been getting wiped out. Still, he hadn't gotten to any of the strong Konoha shinobi who were supposedly wiping out entire units on their own. In the distance, he could see three of them; a pink haired kunoichi with excellent chakra-control, the young Uchiha Orochimaru had wanted using jutsus Kimimaro had never seen, and a pale shinobi who was using scroll after scroll to create monsters that tore through Suna and Oto ninjas. They were so focused on short range, though, that Kimimaro doubted they'd have time to stop a long range attack.
He held out his hand, prepared to fashion bone kunai, when a sudden presence in the air made him dodge to the left and almost fall off the roof he'd been standing on. He whipped back around to see another Anbu member with a katana standing before him, long purple hair rippling in the wind as she faced him.
He made an annoyed sound under his breath and tried to attack her with his bone sword, but her kenjutsu was better than he'd ever seen. She parried with a speed and skill that left no doubt that kenjutsu was her specialty, and then proceeded to attack him with a move he'd never heard of that ended up doing far more damage than he'd expected.
"I won't let you win," Kimimaro panted out, clutching the wound in his side she'd made. His sickness was more advanced than before, due to him using his kekkai genkai and his chakra. Every time he used his chakra now, he could feel it doing more damage to his internal organs. He didn't have long left to live.
"I made a promise to pursue peace, and you're in the way of that," she said, deflecting his blade with a particularly vicious intent. "I will not let you hurt our future!"
Kimimaro had promised to protect Orochimaru too, so he held off the skilled kunoichi for as long as he could. But there was far more to her skills than just kenjutsu, and soon he was falling under her onslaught of kenjutsu mixed with ninjutsu mixed with taijutsu. The combination of styles was simply too much to keep up with.
As he fell from the roof after one particularly brutal series of attacks, he felt something wet his face and he wondered if it was a tear of his own. But no—it had come from above, where the Anbu kunoichi stood watching him fall. He saw water dripping from the bottom of her mask, as if underneath she was crying unendingly. He fell down into the darkness and used the last ounce of his strength for his most potent move—a field of bones for the dead to lie on.
He lay on the ground, looking up at a sky made of bone spikes, which would be his final graveyard. He stretched out his awareness to see if he could feel any dead Leaf shinobi, but he hadn't taken a single life. How was that possible? His eyes widened as the woman he'd been fighting landed easily in a gap between spikes.
"Do you really think I'd let you hurt my comrades?" she asked, her voice muffled through her mask. "As a sensory type, my specialty is feeling the range of attacks. Every Konoha civilian and shinobi within your range was evacuated before I came to fight you."
The Anbu he'd left to take the civilians away—so they'd been more calculating than he'd ever expected. He reached as deep as he could, feeling the remnants of his chakra network blown apart, and he dredged up another ounce of chakra. This would kill him, since he had absolutely no network, but if he could do one final attack to take down this woman—
There was a cold feeling slicing through brain, then, and when he looked up he could only see out of one of his eyes. The other one… the katana was… oh…
The fight between Orochimaru and Sarutobi had come down to this: Sarutobi was using the Reaper Death Seal to pull Orochimaru's soul from his body, and Orochimaru was fighting it while trying to pull a sword through his body. Sarutobi couldn't fail in this—this was his one chance to fix the past mistake he'd made of letting Orochimaru live. For that end, he'd decided to sacrifice his own life even before he'd talked to Kakashi or Yugao. He would die with Orochimaru here, opening up a new, peaceful future for his village!
"Old man!" Orochimaru yelled, now beginning to panic. Sarutobi felt immensely sad that it had come to this, but perhaps this was for the best. Orochimaru had reached the point where he was unredeemable, and now he had to pay for his crimes. Sarutobi thought of Kakashi, of Yugao, of Minato, of Jiraiya, of Sasuke, of Asuma, of Konohamaru, of Konoha…
He pulled with all of his soul, and he could see the dark thing that was Orochimaru's soul start to give. By some blessing of fate, Orochimaru had been weakened in a fight against Naruto Uzumaki, and that put him on equal footing with Sarutobi, who was weakened by age. Naruto didn't know it, but he may have just unwittingly saved the entire village from years of torment.
"You have lost," Sarutobi breathed shakily, and when he cast his glance over Orochimaru's shoulder, his heart burned with love. Kakashi and Guy fought side by side to take down one of Orochimaru's giant snakes, and the duo was winning by miles. Jiraiya fought the other snakes himself, and he barely even had to try. The Anbu Black Ops were escorting the elderly and the very young to the safe spot, and directing them was a sorrowful but still living Yugao. Team 7, whom Sarutobi had feared for due the darkness he'd seen in Sasuke, had made their way to the village entrance and were holding back reinforcements with some of the most exceptional teamwork Sarutobi had ever seen. He couldn't look over his shoulder, but a while back he'd seen the Leaf genin from the Chuunin Exams fighting side by side with the Sand genin. All was not lost. Everyone burned with the Will of Fire, and it leant Sarutobi the strength he needed.
"No!" Orochimaru shrieked, but they both knew that it was too late. The Demon pulled Orochimaru's soul from his body and its katana began to fall.
"We will be locked in this battle for all of eternity," Sarutobi murmured. "But I don't mind. The hell of that world is nothing compared to the hell this world would be if I let my village fall."
Orochimaru locked gazes him, and there was pure hatred in his glare. Sarutobi smiled, seeing past the hatred to the soul of the student he'd once trained. Everything would be all right now. His people would care for each other. The katana severed Orochimaru and Hiruzen Sarutobi's souls, and Sarutobi died with a peaceful smile on his face.
"No," Sasori said calmly as the Sound Four tried to escape. He cut them down with ease, using a puppet for each of them. He'd come back to get the puppets Naruto had referred to as Hira and Hikami, and he'd sealed them inside scrolls with a small sigh of relief. He didn't like losing things that were dear to him.
He approached the scene on the roof where the barriers were rapidly fading from, and he walked through a miniature forest to come upon the bodies of the Third Hokage and his former comrade who had betrayed him. The Third Hokage was truly formidable, worthy of becoming a fantastic human puppet. However…
"You have my thanks," Sasori said, leaning down to place two light fingers on the smiling old man's eyelids, closing them. Out of respect for the old man, Sasori would leave him for his village, so they could have some peace of mind and closure. He already had a Kage anyway, and this one was too old to be beautiful.
"And you…"
Sasori placed his foot on Orochimaru's face, looking down at the man disdainfully. He'd chased this snake for so long that it was almost disappointing to see him get such a mild ending. He knew Orochimaru would hate it if Sasori used him as a puppet, but even that wasn't incentive enough for Sasori to make him one. No, he'd come here for a different purpose entirely.
He took out the fire bombs he'd borrowed from Konan and set them on Orochimaru's body, stepping back and snapping his fingers. The blaze ate away at the dark hair, the pale skin, the snakelike eyes. It lapped against bone, charring the white black, and Sasori thought Orochimaru's insides looking so dark was appropriate. After making sure every last scrap of who Orochimaru was had burned away, Sasori turned away, satisfied.
No one would be bringing his nemesis back with that pesky reanimation jutsu. For Orochimaru, it was over.
