"You learned to run from what you feel, and that's why you have nightmares. To deny is to invite madness. To accept is to control."
It had started to rain around the prison the snake had purposefully placed himself in. Orochimaru saw the lights of an approaching car and he held his breath praying it would be Saura. The car passed by however without hesitating by the phone booth and the Sannin realized it was unfortunately no one he knew. He leant against the cold glass of the booth again, certainly not unaware of the many eyes fixed onto his slim form protected by the thin glass case. One man eventually came to the booth and knocked on it, the Sannin was now cold towards any strangers haven been given many reasons to be suspicious, he looked up at the man.
"You okay?" The man asked, his eyes didn't seem to be untrustworthy, but the snake was now far too fearful of humans to let one in its den.
"I'm fine." He replied shortly. The man nodded, as if he felt awkward about matters. The man had a waterproof hood pulled over most of his head, but the heavy rain managed to soak some of his hair regardless. At the same time the phone booth had become slightly flooded, as the floors were not perfectly made and allowed water to seep in from the outside.
Orochimaru didn't mind the water too much, he would rather be safe than comfortable. The man didn't move from the booth and eventually one of his friends came up.
"Hey, um- are you waiting for someone?" The man asked, once again he was not in anyway revealing a darker side. These men may well have been the better half of the NW citizens. However the snake was still untrusting.
"I am, he'll be here soon." Orochimaru replied.
"That's not going to keep you dry, um- we're going to the bar down the street. Why don't you come wait in there? You can use my cellphone." The man offered.
"I'm fine." Orochimaru repeated, perhaps a bit too harshly. These men had done him no harm, but since all the men before them had he found himself saying things with slightly more hateful intent than required. It appeared as if the men could sense the Sannin hadn't said the words out of ungrateful hatred, but rather nervous untrust. They didn't leave for a few moments.
"Alright, well we are inside if you need us." The man said, they then entered the bar they were originally heading towards. The Sannin watched them go with fixed golden eyes and made sure they went where they had said they were going. Why it even mattered was beyond him when his eyes finally landed on the pooling water in the booth.
It would only be a little longer he reassured himself, then he would be safe and back with the others. Back with Kakashi, and Tsukiko. Back with his friends who would take a bullet for him, rather than men that wanted to shoot him. It was a relief to finally have someone, one person, who he could trust, who he didn't question, and in return, who didn't question him. He used that hopeful ending to get him through the cold and wet hours that passed until finally another set of headlights came into view. The car was driving slow, as if the person was looking for someone, and that in itself gave the Sannin hope that it was Saura again. The car came to a stop by the booth and Orochimaru instantly recognised the fancy vehicle, its headlights slanted like angered eyes that penetrated the darkness and illuminated the rain. The serpent opened the phone booth and trotted out , he could see the men who had offered him help earlier looking out the bars window. They looked slightly relieved to see him finally leave the cold booth and moved from the window, seemingly haven only sat there to watch out for the snake. Saura jumped out the car and helped Orochimaru into his seat before running back to the drivers side. As soon as he was in he locked the doors with the haunting click, which would forever remind the snake of when he had tried to escape the haunted house thugs.
Saura looked at the Sannin worriedly and traced his form with his eyes to see all the small cuts and bruises, the struggle marks which to the ninja, were nothing more than pitiful pieces of evidence reminding him that he had failed in the fight. Wounds of such minor implications hardly got any notice from the snake, he was almost unaware he was injured at all.
"How in hells name did you get so far out of town ninja?" Saura asked, he pulled a blanket out from the back seat and handed it to the slightly shaking Sannin. He had gotten over the events, no longer shaken by them, but the cold always numbed the serpent. He was always the first to fall victim to the icy temperatures. Orochimaru accepted the blanket to warm his small form.
"It's a long story, and it's not the most interesting." Orochimaru said, he hated explaining sob stories of weakness. He hated weakness in himself.
"I think after a three hour drive I've earned the right to get a little more detail." Saura said with a light smile.
Orochimaru sighed internally, he felt as if he did owe the man that much, and he hated feeling as if he owed anyone at all. He relayed the story in the briefest of detail, and he excluded whatever he could get away with excluding. However Saura was what one would call a good listener, and he engaged in the story fully asking at every given opportunity a question which would force the snake to go into detail. Finally, Orochimaru had concluded and Saura had run out of questions.
"I can get the police to find those men." Saura offered, "It's Halloween, there are lots of cults around at this time, guess they count a ninja like they would a black cat. Easy target and full of made up superstition. Either way, we can make those men pay."
As much as revenge was a part of the Sannin's usual day life, he decided against it. As an escapee from the proposal he hardly wanted to go grant them any further information about himself. A trip to the police station for a second time would only increase his chances of being found. The cost didn't add up. He decided he would rather simply return home.
"That won't be necessary. It was bad luck, not something which will pester me again." Orochimaru replied calmly, Saura watched his almost bored expression. The car carried on smoothly down the wet road, which they were forced to drive slightly slower on as it had become a hazard during the rain storm. Saura seemed to contemplate something momentarily before addressing the Sannin.
"What were you as a ninja?" He asked.
"I'm sorry?" Orochimaru said confused, his golden eyes landing on the NW. No NW had ever asked him about his past life, what being a ninja was about. However the NW struggled to form his question and the ninja struggled to interpret it.
"I heard there are… ranks of skill?" Saura continued, "What were you ranked?"
Finally the question made sense and the snake was willing to answer the man freely. He had never met an NW who cared about the ninja, as people, not as creatures to be used.
"Do you know what the ranks are called?" Orochimaru asked.
"No, I heard the name Jounin once." Saura said honestly.
"There are many ranks, Jounin is a high one." Orochimaru said, "The lowest would be genin, usually only children are genin however. Then there is the next rank which is Chunin, which is younger ninja, or else weaker or less confrontational ninja."
Saura seemed to absorb the names like a sponge as he listened to the names the raven haired male spoke of. The system was complicated for first timers, all its detail a bit too far out for a NW to grasp fully in one lesson. Orochimaru decided to leave out ranks such as ANBU, and the difference between fighters and medics. He would leave out the different fighters of taijutsu, genjutsu and ninjutsu. It was information the man didn't need.
"Then after that we have our Jounin, high levelled ninja skilled in what they do." Orochimaru said, "Some surpass even that, and then there is one individual who takes the title of Kage. He who has that title is far beyond normal ninja, and leads whatever village he is a part of."
"So what level are you?" Saura asked.
"Me and my team surpassed Jounin, so we were named Sannin." Orochimaru said.
"Your team?" Saura asked.
"We train in teams of three, then go out on missions individually when we are ready, however teams tend to stick together for the most part throughout their life." Orochimaru said, the rain pounded at the glass of the car window and the street formed insidious shadows as the headlights played with the darkness.
"So you must miss your team." Saura said.
"I'm not on the best of terms with my team members." Orochimaru said honestly, his golden eyes flicking to the window.
"Why not?" Saura asked, the Sannin wasn't having fun thinking about his past any longer. The questions were becoming too personal.
"One of them is dead firstly." Orochimaru said honestly, "The other… we just don't talk much."
"We could find him if you want, go on a search. Would be fun." Saura offered.
"She." Orochimaru corrected.
"She, are males and females on the same team?" Saura asked.
The question was less personal again, the Sannin was happier to answer.
"Yes, typically one girl two boys." Orochimaru said, "What do NW's do in their childhood?"
The Sannin finally realized he had no idea what the NW's did at all, they must have been making technology, or learning about it.
"NW's?" Saura asked.
"What are your people called, you flash the letters NW around. It's the name ninja call you." Orochimaru said.
"Oh NW, haha. That stands for New World. It's a military group, nothing to do with us civilians." Saura said, "well, almost nothing. They fight for what we want to change, or they protect us from threats. Much like what you ninja do, except unlike you we are majority citizens, minority military. Ninja seem to be minority citizens and majority fighters."
It all made sense, only certain men and women flashed the badge of NW, and they tended to be more dominant characters, conditioned to fighting.
"So what are you?" Orochimaru asked.
"Nothing, human." Saura said.
"You create inhuman things." Orochimaru argued.
"You could make the same things we have, no magic there." Saura said, "You on the other hand, your people seem to wield magic."
"It's jutsu, a skill. It has nothing to do with magic." Orochimaru said, almost slightly offended, Saura laughed.
"Alright, well we use guns." He said, "Nothing special about that. Anyone can make one, anyone can use one."
The car came to a stop at a red light and the Sannin finally realized morning was approaching. Kakashi must have been worrying sick, or else running around town looking for him. It was hard to tell it was morning with the dark rainy skies. It appeared as if it were still midnight. The town came into view and Saura slowed the vehicle down when they exited the highway. They carried on with their questions and answers, explaining their different ways of living, which when broken down, were not so different after; all minus their battle styles. The car came to a pause by a large door, and when Saura clicked a button that large door opened and the car entered. It wasn't the motel.
"Where are we?" Orochimaru asked, the first question which had no relation to ninja or NW customs.
"My house. I can take you to the motel in a moment, but last I checked you don't have a first aid kit with you." Saura said, he didn't get out the car until he saw the Sannin seemed alright with the decision.
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The group of ninja watched as the copy ninja lost whatever sanity he had, he was asking any NW nearby how to go about certain matters. He had even started using the foreign object called a phone. Asuma had to stop him from running out into the rain and looking for the Sannin by foot. Tsukiko pined and whimpered as he followed the copy ninjas erratic movements. Kakashi was at a dead end, there was nothing left for him to try except run around the city looking with little luck. He was close to trying it.
"What else can we do?" Hidan finally asked, although he knew if someone had the answer they would have presented it.
"I'm going out to look." Kakashi finally said.
"With what hope?" Asuma asked, "They have cars."
"We have time." Kakashi said back.
"Actually, that of all things we don't have." Asuma said.
"What are you saying? We give the hell up?" Kakashi snapped, the other Jounin paused, he hadn't heard the man angry at him before. Not to the degree he was now.
"No, but what you are doing is wasting time. Not helping." Asuma said.
"What else can I do!?" Kakashi snapped again, he wasn't asking the question expecting an answer, he was simply saying it to show that their options had run out. Deidara slumped onto the chair and ran his fingers through his blond hair as his head dropped into his lap. The phone provided by the motel started violently ringing and the ninja all jumped at the unexpected noise. Tsukiko started barking and howling in warning and Hidan grabbed the phone irritably. It took him a moment to figure out how to pick up properly.
"What?" He snapped.
"Hidan?" The voice echoed.
"… Yeah, who is- Orochimaru!" He exclaimed, "Where are you?"
"I'm fine, I'll be home soon. Is Kakashi with you?" Orochimaru asked, he sounded tired, and it was to be expected.
"yeah he is here!- Kakashi, this weird talking box managed to contact Orochimaru." Hidan said excitedly as he tossed the phone over. Unaware of how the phone actually worked the wire was ripped from the wall as it was thrown. Kakashi held it to his ear with urgency but it was silent.
"Hello?" He asked, however nothing came up. Hidan snatched it back.
"It broke." He said irritably.
"More accurately, you broke it." Asuma said, "What did he say before you threw the phone?"
"Said he was coming home now, wanted to know if his beloved over there was alright." Hidan said easily. Deidara and Tsukiko watched hopefully, the dog with a bit more confusion in his eyes his head cocked to the side.
"How is he? Did he sound okay?" Kakashi asked, slightly irritated he hadn't picked up the phone himself.
"No he sounded fine, a bit tired at best. Probably killed those assholes." Hidan chuckled, "He had a knife."
"Thank the gods he did." Deidara said, he pet Tsukiko who wagged his tail politely.
"Did he say how far he was from here?" Asuma asked.
"No, just said he would be home soon." Hidan said.
Soon was a lot less soon than the copy ninja had hoped, an hour passed before the copy ninja saw a car approach. He was leaning on the motel wall waiting for his lover, as waiting in the motel would mean waiting for the Sannin to walk the stairs. The car pulled up and Kakashi eyed it wearily, he couldn't see through the glasses tinted windows, finally the man hopped out from the driver's seat and opened the passenger's side up. Orochimaru got out with the man's help before they hugged goodbye. Or more accurately before the man hugged the ninja goodbye. Kakashi hastily made his way to his lovers side, he passed the man who greeted him respectfully.
"Saura." The NW said extending a hand in the rain.
"Kakashi." The ninja replied slightly coldly, he wasn't sure of the man yet, but his attention immediately snapped back to his lover, "I'm so glad you're safe."
"Did you have doubts?" Orochimaru asked impishly before letting his slim arms loop around the others neck in their embrace.
"yes, but I shouldn't have." Kakashi laughed, in that moment, he loved his partners die hard attitude, his immortal luck at living through the impossible.
"Thank you again, for everything. Will I see you tomorrow then?" Orochimaru said throwing his lit up eyes at the NW.
"Of course, if you need a lift just call." Saura said, "Goodbye."
The two ninja said their farewells to the man as he got back into his car and they got back under the motel roof. When they were back inside Kakashi asked his lover what had happened, although he also wanted to know who the man was, he decided to rather ask the Sannin about the nights events.
Already haven relayed the story once, Orochimaru was reluctant, but he never kept things from the copy ninja, and he wasn't about to do so now. He retold the story as they walked up the stairs, drenched and cold yet happy to be in one another's company again.
The Sannin kept details out, as they weren't important, and the copy ninja didn't ask many questions, as he knew anything of relevance the snake would have mentioned. They got to the room as Kakashi finally decided it was an appropriate time to ask the obvious.
"Who was he?" Kakashi asked, the Sannin flashed curios eyes.
"The man who dropped me off?" Orochimaru asked, "Saura, he introduced himself to you minutes ago."
"I have a name. Why did you call him in the booth?" Kakashi asked.
"He had a car and a phone, I wasn't sure of our motel number." Orochimaru answered.
"Then how did you call us earlier?" Kakashi said trying to make sense of the evasive words. Evasive only because the Sannin was used to being that way, stuck in old ways of being a certain nature. In no way did Kakashi feel his lover was hiding anything, they trusted one another fully.
"Saura found it somehow, he looked it up on his phone. I don't know how, but he managed it." Orochimaru said, "So I called you on his phone afterwards as soon as I could."
"…Why did you have his number?" Kakashi asked, he could see the golden eyed male was done with talking, they clicked the door open.
"I met him during an odd job and he gave me his numb-" Orochimaru was cut off as Tsukiko barrelled into him upon opening the door. The dog cried and whinnied in excitement his entire body worming around and spinning in tight uncontrollable circles in his mad hurry to greet his returned friend.
Once the dog had calmed down ever so slightly, Orochimaru dropped to one knee to address the dog more warmly.
"He lived." Hidan laughed, "No surprise there ey?"
"Good." Deidara said, "Did you kill them?"
"Who?" Orochimaru asked.
"The men who attacked you." Hidan answered.
"No, but they were hopefully eaten by the wild of the NW woods." Orochimaru said casually, as if he hadn't been kidnapped and almost killed.
Kakashi and Asuma found it all to be rather frightening a situation, a concerning matter which would be made a deal of. However the rogues were far to use to their harder and more on the run life style, as long as you lived, the incident was a story, not a tragedy. Kakashi wasn't finished asking about the NW named Saura but he let things go for the time being. They had other matters to address anyhow. One for that matter being attending to the obvious wounds the Sannin had most certainly acquired on his adventure into the heart of NW territory. Kakashi placed a gentle hand on his lovers waist to guide him closer and gain his attention.
"We have bandages." Kakashi said, "The guy at the desk came to drop more off when I asked him to refill the medical kit."
"I've already patched myself up love." Orochimaru said with a small smile, he knew how the copy ninja cared for his wellbeing. It was something the snake Sannin had never known or experienced before he met the Jounin. It was something that was hard to trust at first, but then even harder to distrust once you had fallen prey to believing the person was generally interested in the safety of another.
"Who patched you up, that Saura guy?" Kakashi asked, the Sannin watched his partner curiously.
"Yes." Orochimaru answered honestly.
Kakashi hid it well, but he already hated this man. Hated him even though he had been the one to save his lover from danger and then supply him with what he needed to get better quicker, to stay more comfortable during the healing process. It was jealousy, and Kakashi was no fool, he would not lie to himself. He had envy that this man was more capable than he was, was more able to help the person the copy ninja was supposed to in fact help. Orochimaru had called the NW, and perhaps only because of the circumstance that the Sannin had no means to contact his partner, but either way. It made the Jounin feel weak, feel incompetent. He would never let the snake see that, he knew Orochimaru would not tolerate such childish antics.
"What would you rather me do? You couldn't help me then, and that doesn't mean you're weak. What's weak is feeling pity on yourself because you're pride took a blow."
He could hear his lover chastising him even mentally, he knew the serpent too well by now.
"Saura asked if we would all like to go over to him tomorrow. I thought it would be a good chance to get a better understanding of things around the city." Orochimaru said breaking the silence.
"Saura?" Deidara asked.
"The man who helped him." Kakashi said.
"And the one who keeps throwing money at us." Orochimaru said.
"Is he safe? We don't want another Yiara." Kakashi said, the Sannin's golden eyes fixed onto him.
"No, he is not the same as that man." Orochimaru said, "Yiara was far too blatant with his tactics. If anything I'd watch Saura more closely. He is less likely to overlook us as mere animals, he knows we are more dangerous than that."
"So he is more dangerous then, you take too many risks. Why in hells name would we trust that?" Asuma snapped, the Sannin wasn't in the mood for the man's tone, the tone he was almost always subject too when the man spoke to him. The serpent hissed in annoyance, the sound low and soft but blatantly obvious in its agitated meaning.
"You do not trust me Asuma, yet we can stand in the same room." Orochimaru said, "You do not need to trust the man, I'm not asking you to do anything that puts our lives in his hands."
Kakashi watched the slitted eyes which were now locked onto the man who had spoken out when the snake was already on edge. The copy ninja mentally thought of a hundred things to say, but he didn't say anything. If he told Asuma to calm down he would be choosing his lover over his friend. If he told the serpent to settle he would be putting the other Jounin over his partner. There was no real way to win, yet Deidara and Hidan made no move to end the feud before it started.
"Watch how you talk to people snake." Asuma said, "You have no right to be snappy."
"He has as much right as you." Deidara defended, Kakashi sighed, he didn't want Asuma to be ganged up on, and as it stood the snake was most certainly on the side with more allies. Both rogues more familiar with the legendary Sannin than they were with the Konoha Jounin. Tsukiko came to lean on the Sannin's legs defensively.
"No one should be snapping at anyone, I agree it sounds too risky, but we need to calm down we have bigger problems." Kakashi said, trying his best to not outright stand against the serpent.
"Those problems will never be sorted if we can't even handle the problems in our own home." Orochimaru said, "Believe me, my last team didn't do well ignoring our issues."
"Issues? You were the Sannin's biggest bloody issue." Asuma said, "If it wasn't for you team Hiruzen would still be together, and they'd still have their leader."
"How would you know what the problem of team Hiruzen was?" Orochimaru snapped, "Me was it? Funny, it couldn't possibly have been the fact that Jiraiya stayed behind against to raise war orphans which predictably became Konoha's biggest threat, nor could it be the fact that Tsunade lost her fiancé on Hiruzen's orders. Your father wasn't a saint, you only saw the good, and I'm there was lots of it. But believe me there is a dark side to the moon and there was a dark side to that man. Whatever you don't know about him I could fill in the blanks, although I'm sure you wouldn't want me to taint your precious fathers honour."
"Fuck you." Asuma snapped.
"Ah, a wonderfully intelligent response." Orochimaru said, "You know what, you don't need me to tell you the bad parts about your father, you're a spitting image of him."
"That's enough!" Kakashi said pulling his lover away from the man, his initial fear was that Asuma may indeed attack the serpent. After all the snake was far from able to defend himself without jutsu.
"Calm Asuma down. He started this." Deidara snapped shoving Kakashi away from his friend. Kakashi glared at the smaller blond ninja, due to his rash temper he had made it look as if Kakashi was acting against the serpent rather than breaking up a fight. He could see the slight betrayal echoing behind the more visible anger in his partners eyes. Orochimaru brushed hair away from his face gently and placed a reassuring hand on Tsukiko, who had remained silent despite the fur on the back of his neck bristling up.
Hidan started laughing hysterically as he walked away, evidently not seeing the matter as compromising but rather more as hilarious. The sound of two voices neared the door and soon a light knock bounced into the room. Asuma moved to the door quickly and opened it as if he knew who the people were, which after a few moments the snake realized the man truly did. Shikamaru and Ino entered the dingy motel and met eyes with the serpent.
"You're here." Shikamaru said, the Sannin respected the Nara. He was un-judgmental, probably due to his laziness, but if it was one thing, the Chunin never assumed things about people. He did not listen to stories, what he did not understand he would not jump to conclusions about. Same went for the Sannin, he did not know the snake summoners story, notably no one did, and because of that he reserved his judgment for the day he finally did.
"And what a pleasure it's been." Orochimaru said, his evident sarcasm drenching his words, he moved off to his and Deidara's room, Tsukiko and the blond ninja both doing the same. The door closed behind them in an evident display of warning others to keep out. Hidan exited the kitchen with some sort of drink in his hand and leant against the wall.
"You're in relationship crises now my friend." He said looking at Kakashi.
"Yeah thanks for the help back there by the way." Kakashi said, how much easier it would have been if Hidan had chosen to break up the fight.
"I left it to you, believe me, he would have been equally as pissed off if you had stood idly by not supporting him." Hidan said, "Notably standing against him was far worse, but still, I tried man."
"Kakashi doesn't have to support him if he is wrong. That's not how a relationship works." Asuma defended.
"But he wasn't wrong, maybe he wasn't entirely right, but you initiated the fight he was just defending himself." Hidan said, "Meaning Kakashi unintentionally chose you, even though you were wrong and started the whole thing to begin with."
"Bullshit." Asuma said, "You rogues have your own messed up ways of viewing things. Due to his past decisions he has no ground to stand on. Doesn't matter who started it at that moment, he started it when he chose to kill the innocent."
"The fuck does that mean?" Hidan laughed, "So what? Because I killed a guy once, who in your mind was innocent, I now don't get any rights?"
"That's how the law works isn't it." Asuma snapped.
"This isn't important." Kakashi said trying to stop the fight once more.
"What do you mean it isn't important?" Hidan chuckled, "I have no fucking rights now?"
"No one said that." Kakashi said.
"Asuma just did." Hidan said.
"What the hell happened?" Ino snapped she seemed annoyed at the arguing she couldn't engage in.
"Nothing, leave it. The people from Konoha have little to no sense. If you don't mind I start work today, I'll leave you lot to sort your own petty differences out." Hidan said as he moved to the door, he brushed his short white hair back into place to make it look slightly more neat before shutting the door behind him. Kakashi shook his head and walked away from the scene to stand by the window gazing out at the city below. Ino and Shikamaru stayed by their teachers side, seeing as he was evidently also out of character, visibly showing signs of his anger. He calmed down almost instantly when he met eyes with his two students. The light sound of Deidara and Orochimaru murmuring could be heard, their words were not audible but they sounded annoyed, and Kakashi could easily pick out his lovers voice from the blonds. He sounded less angry now, more soft, even despondent. He knew that was a bad thing, he knew the serpent would withdraw into himself when he was let down.
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Hidan had been asked to stay a later shift than he had expected, he had called the house to let them all know he wasn't dying in some ditch but rather earning a bit of extra money, and that the group could thank him later. Asuma had once more returned home unsuccessful and without luck of finding a job. Orochimaru had helped Deidara search for a possible job, but they only found a temporary one. It was a good start for while the ninja waited to find a more secure position. Orochimaru had ignored the copy ninja all day, and Kakashi hadn't been keen on engaging in conversation with the snake. Shikamaru told the team he had found some lowly job not far from the motel, while Ino stated she was in the same boat as Asuma.
It was late in the afternoon and the two feminine rogues exited their room. They ignored the other ninja mostly out of being too wrapped up in their conversation. They were both smiling Kakashi noted, evidently Deidara had managed to cheer the snake up when they were out looking for work.
When they got to the door, Tsukiko loyally right beside them, Kakashi decided he would have to ask the two where they thought they would go when it was getting dark again outside.
"Where are you going?" Kakashi asked, he wasn't in a good mood and he struggled to hide the mild irritation in his voice. However snakes were sensitive creatures by nature, small sounds boomed, no hiding place was out of sight, no scent hard to dissect from another and most of all any energy projected would ricochet through their entire beings.
"To Saura." Orochimaru said disinterestedly.
"Alone?" Kakashi asked.
"He will pick us up. We won't be walking in the streets if that's what you mean." Orochimaru replied.
"That's not what I mean." Kakashi said, "You're entering an NW's house alone?"
"No. Deidara is accompanying me." Orochimaru said.
"What's he going to bring to a fight?" Asuma snapped.
"Ah see, therein lies the difference. We don't plan on fighting anyone, unlike some people in this room we can control our tempers." Orochimaru said with a fake smile, his notion of mocking the larger man once again blatant.
"And how do you know the other people in the room can control themselves?" Kakashi asked.
"Leave them." Asuma said, "Some people have to make the same mistake ten times before they learn."
"Evidently." Orochimaru said his eyes locked onto the two larger ninja, "Enjoy your night stagnating here, we are going to learn more about what we are up against."
The two ninja exited the motel room, their long hair once again competing as it swished behind them gracefully. Dark against light for once working harmoniously. They got to the street and a car soon pulled up beside them, the familiar machine still seemingly angry with its slanted headlights. Orochimaru slipped in the back seat beside Deidara to ensure the blond didn't feel alone. Naturally Deidara wasn't the type to feel over whelmed in new places. It was then that the sudden thought occurred to the Sannin. Rogues just seemed to work better alongside each other than they did with the ninja who chose to stay in their home towns.
Authors note- Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Huge thank you's to those who comment. I love hearing what you have to say about the story and its progression. Wish me luck with the next chapter, I really need to stay on time with these things…
~Hourglass8
