Kabuto finally stepped out of the room, holding a stack of papers. He closed the door behind himself, then leaned against the wall and started going through the papers. "I can't believe this," he muttered, skimming the contents. "Just disgusting…"

"What?"

Tayuya was at his shoulder, peering over onto the papers. "What are you talking about?" she asked, trying to read over Kabuto's shoulder.

"Evidence of strong beating, physcological damage, anatomical damage, and rape."

Tayuya shook her head. "Sucks…so…what do we do about it…?"Kabuto sighed and tipped his head back to rest against the wall. "I don't know," he said. "I can't just let him get worse, but every time we get him better, the Akatsuki just destroys any progress we've made! And then there's still Kikyou…her betrayal was quite a blow to Otoga, and it also boosted Akatsuki's power. We need something like that, or at least make Orochimaru-sama powerful enough to take them out."

"Or we just take the entire frickin' village," Tayuya said. "It'll be…what, ten to a thousand?"

"Something like that," Kabuto said slowly. "But if that's the case, we'll have to make them come to us: a trap."

"Something tells me I'm the bait…"

Kabuto tuned around and saw Orochimaru standing behind them, wearing a long, black kimono. His hair was tied back for once, revealing the earrings that were usually half-hidden by his hair. Kabuto's gaze flickered over him for a moment, then a smile broke out across his face.

"Sort of…sort of not…"

OOOOOOOOO

Orochimaru sat quietly on the roof, ponytail blowing in the wind, bangs across his golden eyes. The sannin's legs were drawn up almost to his chest, and his arms were loosely wrapped around them. Sighing daintily, Orochimaru leaned back against the swell of the roof and straightened his legs, arms falling to his thighs and resting there. Orochimaru hardly noticed Kabuto coming, cloak blowing in the winds, but when he did, he glanced up momentarily.

"Orochimaru-sama."

Kabuto sat down next to him, legs crossed and hands together in front of him. "I wanted to talk to you…"

"I know."

Kabuto sighed. "Well, this is awkward," he finally said, turning to Orochimaru. "Well, here's what we came up with-I mean, the Sound Five, Sasuke, and I. We decided that we'll stay around the edges of Akatsuki for a while…until they come out. Then we run, and they'll follow us. A couple of us will stay behind to draw out the remaining members, and we'll bring them all to Oto and then we just…launch an attack as a village."

Orochimaru shrugged. "Fine by me."

Kabuto sighed again and moved closer to his master, setting one hand on his shoulder. "Talk to me," he murmured, sliding closer and kissing Orochimaru. "You don't have to keep it all bottled up-it's much better if you let it out…."

Orochimaru shook his head, and Kabuto gave a small sigh of frustration. "Come on," Kabuto said exasperatedly, "You're going to end up-!"

Orochimaru wordlessly held out his arm.

The brand on it was almost glowing with heat, but Orochimaru seemed to feel nothing. Instead, he pulled his arms back into his body, clutching at his stomach and taking a deep breath. "Kabuto…" he finally whispered, voice quiet and shaking. "Kabuto, promise me this…"

Kabuto reached forward, pulling Orochimaru into his lap and holding the sannin's head to his shoulder. "What?" he asked slowly, stroking Orochimaru's silky ebony locks. Orochimaru leaned into the touches, giving Kabuto a breathy sigh as a reward for holding him.

"Promise me…you won't leave me…"

"Leave you?" Kabuto repeated. "Why would I do that?"

Orochimaru shook his head as best he could with Kabuto's hand on his hair. "I-Every time Itachi comes after me…I feel like I'm alone…and I get this weird feeling…"

"Those are called emotions, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said dryly. "Most people experience them throughout their entire lifetime, starting at birth, but you seemed to be deprived of that experience-"

"Hah-ha," Orochimaru muttered. "Yeah, frickin' hilarious. Are you going to stay with me, or are you just going to dump me like everyone else?"

Kabuto sighed. "Of course I'm going to stay with you," he murmured, leaning over and kissing Orochimaru's forehead. "I would never leave you. Haven't I always come back for you the second I could?"Orochimaru slowly nodded.

"See?" Kabuto said, kissing Orochimaru's again. "Now, come on, we need to get you back inside…it's freezing up here…"

"Kabuto!"

Kabuto glanced up and saw Kimimaro rushing towards the two of them, a heavy cloak over his shoulders, a lighter one under that. "Is he alright?" he asked, dropping to his knees next to Orochimaru. "Oh, you must be freezing-!"

"I was just getting him inside, Kimi," Kabuto said. "Don't worry about it."

"I'll worry about what I want," Kimimaro snapped, pulling off his first cloak. He carefully pulled Orochimaru into a sitting position, wrapping the cloak around his shoulders and releasing him again. "You're going to get sick," he said, as if scolding an insolent preschooler. "And I'm sure none of us want that."

"Whatever," Orochimaru muttered. Despite his words, however, his hands found the edges of the cloak and pulled it tighter around his pale body.

"Come on," Kabuto finally said, standing up an offering Orochimaru a hand. Orochimaru took it, slowly getting to his feet and allowing Kabuto to put one arm over his shoulders and lead him back into the complex. Once inside the heated building, Orochimaru realized just how cold he had been, and pulled Kimimaro's cloak even tighter around himself. Kabuto glanced at him, worried: the brand that Orochimaru had just shown him was livid, and would be truly painful. Kabuto pulled Orochimaru closer to himself, placing a gentle kiss on the sannin's trembling lips.

But why was he trembling?

As Kabuto pulled back, he found himself gazing into Orochimaru's golden eyes, staring deep into his soul and taking its fragile form into his hands. He lovingly cupped Orochimaru's existence in his palms, kissing him and reassuring him he wasn't going to go through any of that torture ever again. Orochimaru accepted Kabuto's promise, leaning against his favorite's shoulder and sighing. Just for the sake of the moment.

"Well?" Kimimaro asked.

"Well what?" Orochimaru murmured, glancing at Kimimaro. "It's not like I'm going to chicken out…"

Kabuto sighed. "Even Orochimaru-sama has his moments…" He placed a small kiss on Orochimaru's pale lips. "I should hope so. Otherwise it might prove the 'inhuman' theory…"

"Funny," Orochimaru said dryly. "So, when are we trying this little stunt?"

"Soon," Kabuto said. "We can't let this go much farther, otherwise we're all toast."

"Let's try leaving in two days," Kimimaro said. "That way everyone has time to get their acts together, and we have time to get anything we need but don't have."

"Fine," Kabuto said. "Orochimaru-sama?"

Orochimaru nodded. "Go ahead," he replied. "Tell Tayuya first and I can assure you that the news will have reached the farthest corners of Otoga by tonight."

Kimimaro gave a small smile. "Well, then, I leave you with Kabuto. I'll find Tayuya and then find a couple others just to speed things up. I'll see you later."

Kabuto nodded and walked with Orochimaru to the sannin's room, softly closing the door behind the two. When he turned around, Orochimaru was still close-

Close enough to kiss him shamelessly.

Kabuto's first reaction was shock; then he realized what had happened and relaxed, wrapping his arms around Orochimaru. He spared a hand to lock the door and guided Orochimaru deeper into the room, never breaking their passionate kiss. Orochimaru let out a soft moan of pleasure, arms finding their way around Kabuto's neck. Kabuto pulled Orochimaru as close as possible, pushing their bodies together in all the right places. Orochimaru gasped and reached down to push Kabuto away; Kabuto caught Orochimaru's hand and stepped back.

"What?" he asked, lacing their fingers together. "Something wrong?"

Orochimaru shook his head, taking a deep breath. "Now just isn't the time," he said softly, taking his own step back. "I-I'm just not sure…"

"It's alright," Kabuto whispered. "I understand. After we get everything together, how about that?"

"Good enough," Orochimaru said, and Kabuto released his hands. "Well…um…"

"Yeah…so…"

Kabuto grabbed the first of the kunai stuck in the walls.

OOOOOOOOOO

Tayuya had gotten word around fast: the second Kimimaro had given her the message, she was off, yelling for Jiroubou to "get your fat ass in here!" Kimimaro smiled and passed along the news to several passing Otonin, then headed to his own room to see what weapons he had left lying around. He found three exploding tags, six shuriken, two kunai, a light bomb, and a 20-foot coil of trap wire. Throwing all that he found in a small bag he had placed on his bed, Kimimaro thought for a moment. He probably wouldn't need half the stuff he found, let alone what was in his weapons inventory to begin with, but he could compromise…

Kimimaro tossed an extra forty feet of trap wire into the bag. Always a nice accessory to have.

OOOOOOOOO

"Okay, between the four of us, we have-!"

"Eighty kunai, one hundred sixty shuriken, one hundred sixty feet of trap wire, eight light bombs, and forty exploding tags," Kidomaru said in response to Tayuya's question. "We might need some extra trap wire. I'm confident about the shuriken; forty each. The kunai, we might need five more each. The light bombs we probably do need more of, and possibly the exploding tags as well."

Tayuya nodded. "When Kimimaro shows up, we can take his extra. He generally takes along half of what we do, if anything at all. His bones are probably better than standard ninja equipment, anyway."

"Can I bring snacks?" Jiroubou asked. Sakon sighed and snatched a bag of chips away from him.

"Soldier pills, Jiroubou, soldier pills!"

Jiroubou shook his head. "No, I need high-energy snacks!"

"Soldier pills," Sakon growled, thrusting the chips back into Jiroubou's arms. "And balance," he said with a grin as Jiroubou tipped over. "Seriously, you oaf-pills. No snacks. And definitely no soda! When you're fighting, it gets shaken up and explodes!"

"That could work for us or against us-"

"People, focus!" Kidomaru cut in. "We'll get the extra stuff from Kimimaro, divide it evenly, and that'll be that. We'll check on Orochimaru-sama and Kabuto in an hour or so, and then we'll leave the day after tomorrow."

Tayuya nodded. "Good plan. So…what now…?"

"Find Kimimaro?" Sakon asked.

Kidomaru shrugged. "Whatever. Divide this evenly, and we'll go from there."

OOOOOOOOO

Kabuto yanked a kunai out of the ceiling, glancing down at Orochimaru. "Did an army invade?" he gasped, panting from the exertion he had used to pull the kunai out. "Seriously, it looks like you either had target practice or fought off assassins!"

"Just the Sound Five," Orochimaru said with a shrug. "Well, only the current four-I never really had a problem with Kimimaro. Not Kidomaru either, really, and Sakon wasn't a regular. But Jiroubou and Tayuya were horrendous! And at four a.m.-!"

"Focus, Orochimaru! Where's your trap wire? Take sixty feet."

Orochimaru nodded and wound up a long coil of wire, stowing it in a small kunai pouch. "I'm surprised that fit," Kabuto said. "But whatever…I'm going to get some soldier pills for everyone; I should be back in about fifteen minutes. Grab all the shuriken you can, and any exploding tags you may find. Light bombs, too. Be right back."

Kabuto headed down to one of his many labs, the one where he kept the drugs. He opened a locked cabinet and took out several bottles, all plastic and rattling with pills. Kabuto stood up, re-locked the cabinet, and went to the next one. Once he had collected all the drugs he needed, including several shady-looking syringes, he locked the lab and headed back upstairs. He opened the door to Orochimaru sitting on the bed, sorting a string of weapons.

"Here," he said. "I'm putting these in smaller glass-and-cork vials, just for easier access and storage. Sort out what you will need personally, and pass the rest around. I'm going to get my own stuff."

"Won't you need anything?" Orochimaru asked, accepting the bottles and syringes. Kabuto stopped at the door, hiding a smile as he stayed turned towards the door.

"No," he said slowly. "I don't believe I'll need anything of that. I have my own stuff…"

Orochimaru shrugged. "Whatever. I'll give these to the Sound Five next."

"Thank you," Kabuto said, and closed the door behind him.

Orochimaru had seen his smirk, and found himself worrying.

A/N: . Uuuuuuuugh, my Internet is retaaaaaaaaaaaaardeeeeeeeeeeeeed!! I couldn't get on at all, so I'm saving stuff to a flash drive and telling my parent it's a school project I'm working on to upload stuff on their computer! Sorry for the lateness and all; should get better over Christmas. Happy holidays, for those of you who aren't Christian, and a Happy New Year to all!!