Pein had argued and fought with the guards for close to fifteen minutes now, but they were still denying him entrance into Oto. He couldn't attack; they had a barrier up. Not even mental jutsu could get through. Pein had tried, and failed, to get through, and had even threatened Orochimaru's life. No one had really bought it, though: as long as the barrier remained up, Pein would remain out. The guards had, however, sent for Orochimaru, but they warned Pein he was quite temperamental, and the man they sent in to notify him of Pein may not even come back. Orochimaru was just like that. He was also quite unpredictable, and it was rumored that the only person who could truly read him was Kabuto.

A rippled murmur went through the crowds. Orochimaru was coming! And he hadn't killed the ninja sent to get him! Pein straightened a bit, rising to his full height and hoping it was enough to be taller than Orochimaru by even the smallest amount. He hated trying to intimidate people, but actually winding up being shorter than them. It was quite obnoxious. Pein crossed his arms over his chest, using the Akatsuki cloak to hide the lower half of his face. He focused his eyes into a deadly glare, and turned down the corners of his pierced lips in a nasty scowl. The crowds in front of him began to split; he could see also the ripple of people bowing to their Kage as he slowly paced through the crowds, making his way towards Pein. The leader of the Akatsuki glared straight at the split in the crowds-any second now…

The last of the crowds parted, sweeping to the sides like the Red Sea for Moses. Orochimaru marched straight down the center, and, as he passed, people bowed low in respect. As Orochimaru passed, the people began to stand up again, crowding closer to Orochimaru to see and hear everything that was going on. Orochimaru walked with the poise and grace of a panther, and the arrogance of the kings of ancient times. He acted as if he was walking out to eat dinner, not at all like he might be approaching his doom.

Orochimaru stopped at the guarded gate.

"Pein," he said slowly, as if the very name disgusted him, "What are you here for?"

Pein's eyes narrowed. "Your insolence, Orochimaru, will someday bring you to your knees," he growled, dodging the question for a moment. "But, on the matter of your insolence, Itachi has spoken with me about. Apparently, you are refusing him something you owe him…?"

Orochimaru gave a disparaging snort. "Your lapdog seeks my dignity, my pride, and my virginity," Orochimaru spat, "none of which I intend to give him."

Pein bristled at the words, but said nothing. While Orochimaru's barbs were sharp enough to stick beneath his skin and provoke him, he had better self-control than that. Besides, the pen was mightier than the sword. "Something else," Pein replied, "Beyond your side affairs."

"Speaking of affairs-"

"Shut up, Kenshin," Orochimaru snapped, slightly in a hushed whisper. He returned his attention to Pein, hoping and praying, for Kenshin's sake, that the old man knew when a good opportunity to keep his mouth shut was. "Now, I would certainly appreciate you keeping Itachi out of my hair-and my genitals, for that matter. If that can be accomplished, which I doubt, I might be willing to make a deal with you regarding your concerns about my past in Akatsuki."

Pein gave Orochimaru the slightest of smirks. "Well, I can't hold Itachi's leash," he replied, "But I'll see if I can convince him to keep out of your private affairs-if there is someone else."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, but he still held himself in check. "That's none of your business. What is your business is the way your little pet made of fire sees it fit to strip me of dignity, self esteem, and all traces of confidence. Honestly, I'm afraid to go to sleep at night. Now, if you can keep him away from me, I might even return that ring you so desire. Does that appeal to you at all?"

Pein had to smile at this. So, Itachi had been getting nasty with Orochimaru, eh? And from the sound of it, rape. Pein could almost be proud of the teen. "I suppose we could work something out," Pein finally said. "But, we can't exactly do that with a fire shield in the way, now can we?"

Orochimaru glared. "I don't trust you," he said flatly. Pein spread his arms in a well, what do you want me to do about that? gesture.

"Well, what would appease your mind?" he asked. "I can offer you a blood contract, but I don't see how that could possible make a difference, seeing as it can't get through the shield-!"

"Okay," Orochimaru said with a sigh. "Leave the cloak and all your weapons out there. We can drain your chakra if we can find Jiroubou."

"He's somewhere around here," Tayuya muttered. The hot-headed red-head had been at the gate when Pein approached, and she was holding one corner of the barrier. "Little shit probably went to raid the fridge, the fatass-"

"Tayuya, language," Orochimaru scolded. "One of you get him. In the meantime…" Orochimaru turned back to Pein, motioning towards the ground with one finger. Pein sighed dramatically and the cloak swished to the ground, revealing what seemed to be hundreds of hidden weapons. There was a murmur of surprise through the crowds, but Orochimaru tried to keep his expression passive, but firm. "Mm-hm," he continued, still motioning towards the ground. The pouches that held weapons fell to the ground next to Pein's cloak, followed by several holsters. "Mm-hm," Orochimaru repeated, and more weapons fell to the ground from hidden locations: behind Pein's neck, on the insides of his ankles, on his hips…Orochimaru could hardly keep track. Pein seemed to hesitate, though, at the food pills. Another "Mm-hm," from Orochimaru prompted the plastic containers to the ground, and Pein finally stood, stripped of weapons and cloak alike, in a half fishnet shirt and dark shinobi pants, in full view of the entire village.

"Happy?"

"Very," Orochimaru said dryly. He still kept his voice flat, his posture relaxed, and his expression passive and slightly bored. "Now, if Jiroubou gets here in reasonable time, we can see about your chakra-"

"Here!"

A panting Jiroubou ran up to Orochimaru, bending over and bracing his hands on his knees. Orochimaru could catch nasty mutterings under the Sound ninja's breath, but decided to ignore them. Jiroubou wasn't exactly in top shape…

"Alright, Jiroubou, just drain his chakra?"

Jiroubou nodded, straightening and giving his Kage a proper bow. He placed one knee on the ground, slamming both fists into the ground. The ground seemed to shake and rumble and a circle of earth seemed to rise up around Pein, as if an animal tunneling underground had raised it up. Orochimaru watched as the circle began to expand upwards, and then form a dome over Pein. Jiroubou began pulling out Pein's chakra through the ground itself, allowing some of it to evaporate into the air. Orochimaru was impressed: Pein contained an inhuman amount of chakra if Jiroubou was allowing even the smallest bit to evaporate. Either that, or he was doing this very quickly.

"Damn, he's got so much chakra," Jiroubou swore, confirming Orochimaru's suspicions. "I can't possible contain all of this. I gotta let some more go."

Orochimaru could hardly believe it; he had never seen any amount of chakra Jiroubou couldn't absorb. But, apparently, it was happening. Jiroubou then stood up, dusting off his hands. Orochimaru was confused; didn't Jiroubou say that Pein had so much chakra that he had to let some go…? Then Orochimaru saw the chakra glowing around Jiroubou's feet. He had kept the connection, but made himself a bit more comfortable. He glanced at Orochimaru, offering, "This might take a while."

Orochimaru gave off a slightly amused snort. "Anything you can do to speed this up?"

Jiroubou gave an ambiguous, one-shouldered shrug. "Kinda-sorta," he offered. "I can make it go faster, but I have to sacrifice a lot of the chakra I normally would have absorbed."

Orochimaru waved him off. "Do it," he said. Jiroubou shrugged again, and more chakra began pouring off into the air.

"This'll also make him substantially weaker, which you will appreciate, and he won't," Jiroubou said wryly. "The faster it goes, the weaker the victim will be when I'm finished with him. As long as he doesn't try to resist, this should go very smoothly."

Orochimaru nodded once, and Jiroubou turned his attention completely away from his master. Jiroubou might be an excellent ninja, but his intellectual capacity was very small. He couldn't concentrate on many things at once, especially when some of the things he was focusing on were difficult-such as draining chakra. Orochimaru waited, trying to be patient. He knew that Pein had an immense amount of chakra, and that Jiroubou was doing everything he could. Even so, time ticked by: fifteen minutes, twenty minutes…

"Done."

Jiroubou stood up straight, heaving a sigh of relief from deep within his chest. The dirt around Pein began to crumble, and dropped to the ground in huge chunks. Pein shook himself a bit, brushing dirt off his shoulders and stomach. He ran a hand through his hair, shook his head, and then approached the gate. The barrier shimmered, and then reluctantly fell. Pein breezed right through, and Orochimaru stepped up to meet him. His heart was racing: he still felt like Pein could kill him in a flash. He knew the ninja was dangerous, but he was without weapons and chakra. He still had his own weapons and chakra…he could at least protect himself. Orochimaru stopped a few feet from Pein, but the Ame-nin didn't stop. He walked right past Orochimaru, grabbing the snake's wrist as he walked past. Orochimaru hesitated, sudden fear lancing its way through his heart. A sharp breath, however, was all he needed to recover. Orochimaru wrenched his wrist out of Pein's grip, dealing him a vicious slap across the face. Pein seemed shocked; surprise was clearly written across his features. Then, the shock was replaced with anger, and Pein lashed out at Orochimaru. A fist was rapidly buried in Orochimaru's stomach, and Orochimaru doubled over in pain. His hands went to his stomach, clutching at what he knew was a broken rib. He took a staggering step back, and Pein's face frosted over to a cold glare. "Don't you dare disrespect your superiors," he said, turning and walking away from Orochimaru, without a second thought.

"You are, by no means, my superior."

Pein paused, turning back to Orochimaru with a slightly bored expression on his face. "You have no idea," he said coolly, "Just what you're getting yourself into. Just come quietly, and we won't have a problem."

"So your goal," Orochimaru grunted, trying to straighten himself out, "Is to simply bully me into everything you want?"

Pein shrugged ambiguously. "Well, since you seem to have it all figured out…"

Orochimaru's right hand, which was still braced around his middle, glowed with green chakra. He straightened out fully, healing the broken rib Pein had caused him. He could sense his ninja milling around, driving themselves to the front of the crowds to defend their lord if need be. Orochimaru healed the rib completely, well aware of the fact that healing himself cost him quite a bit of chakra. He didn't care. "You seem to be under the impression," he began slowly, "that I'm just going to let you do to me whatever you please. I have news for you: it's daytime. Fear has no power over me. Don't you dare think that you can just…manipulate me, abuse me, take over me…that easily. I'm not going to let you."

Pein seemed to be letting Orochimaru's words sink in. He had an unreadable expression on his face, and seemed to be thinking hard. Finally, he just looked at Orochimaru and said:

"Then you are, indeed, a very foolish man."

A huge wave of chakra suddenly rose up from Pein, and he moved at the speed of the Fourth Hokage. Orochimaru felt shock register in his system, and Pein's body was suddenly pressed to his back. How had he kept such an amount of chakra?! A little bit, possible. But not this much! Orochimaru moved a kunai down into his hand, stabbing backwards with the blade reversed along his arm. Pein easily caught the blow, pulling Orochimaru's arm up and digging his elbow into Orochimaru's back, right between his shoulder blades. Orochimaru found himself forced to his knees, with one arm suddenly twisted up behind his back. Orochimaru ignored the pain; he tipped down his free side, using his free hand to brace his body against the ground. Orochimaru kicked up with both feet, but ultimately failed in his attempt to force Pein away. He grazed the shoulder of the Ame-nin, but had no more luck in landing his blow. He wasn't happy about that: if that blow had landed, it would have easily broken Pein's collarbone. Orochimaru tried again, but this time, Pein caught his ankle and shoved him off balance. Orochimaru fell back, landing on his back with his legs off to the side. One arm was still in Pein's grip; the other, Orochimaru was using to keep his balance. Pein's movement was too fast, even without chakra: Orochimaru couldn't keep up with the rapid attacks. The most he could do was defend himself, and try to get out of the situation.

As Orochimaru struggled with Pein, he could see more and more ninja approaching the scene, trying to find a place to attack without harming Orochimaru. "Stay back!" he cried. "Don't get involved! This is my fight; if I didn't want to fight, would not I have asked you to intervene?!"

The ninja around looked astonished, but stayed where they were. Among them, though, was Kabuto. The genin found it almost physical pain to watch the fight, in which his master was clearly beaten already. Kabuto could feel a lump forming in his throat, and willed himself to remain calm, impassive, and uninterested in appearance. He couldn't afford to show Pein that he was the most affected of all the ninja; Pein would know that he was Orochimaru's prime concern and his most avid protector. Orochimaru would also be quite angry with him if he went against his orders and broke into the fight, but Kabuto was having trouble simply standing by. He knew he couldn't even turn away: then, everyone and their mother would know just how much it killed him to watch Orochimaru be pushed around.

"What do you want?!"

Orochimaru seemed to have found a hidden reserve of spirit: he sat up, using Pein's grip on his arm as a crutch to haul himself up. He fisted his other hand in Pein's shirt, holding himself up as he forced his feet underneath him and rose to a standing position. Although slightly shorter than Pein, Orochimaru still held a commanding presence as he stood up for himself against the leader of the entire infamous Akatsuki.

"Why are you even here, harassing me? Why are you so hell bent on hurting me? Sending Itachi here and having him…defile me with his filthy touch…! And then you dare-you dare-!! How you can even show your face here is a wonder in and of itself, but to go so far as to attack me for standing up for myself-? Well, I wouldn't be surprised if you found yourself dying of snake poison, my friend."

Pein allowed a filthy, cocky smirk to grow over his face. "Are you kidding me?" he asked, looking high-and-mighty as he towered over Orochimaru-by two inches. "You can't expect me to submit myself to your pathetic attempts at overpowering me, can you? It's ridiculous, if you expect me to fall for your disgusting attempts at-"

Orochimaru leaned forward, and sank his slavering fangs into Pein's neck.

Orochimaru had been stalling the entire time, using the opportunity to engage a fist fight with Pein to get into close proximity with him. He had then stalled long enough to secrete enough poison to ensure that some got into Pein. And then, he had used the poison only when he needed a shock factor that would throw Pein off balance. Kabuto was impressed. Orochimaru had put his life and reputation on the line to get Pein out of the village.

"You can't be serious," Pein scoffed, voice dripping with sarcasm. Your poison is useless against me-I am a god!"

"In your own right," Orochimaru said coolly, separating himself from Pein's throat, "but you have no idea of my capacity, while you clearly overestimated your own. And just for the record-" Orochimaru flipped his hand over in Pein's grip, making sure that Pein had a firm enough grip on Orochimaru's wrist to ensure that his hand would travel with Orochimaru's. He used the twist to wrap his hand over Pein's, take the Akatsuki's wrist in his own grip, and force it around in a circle. Orochimaru slid his hand up a bit further, applying pressure to a pressure point in Pein's arm and forcing him to relent slightly his forward motions. Pein felt his knees trying to buckle, but refused to crumble under Orochimaru's attack. Orochimaru gave Pein a hard shove in the chest, forcing the missing-nin off balance and then rapidly snapping up his knee and catching Pein in the stomach.

"You suck at taijutsu."

A/N: Whee. Sorry for the late update, but I went to Otakon! : ) Happy woman. Now, review, por favor. It makes me happy.