Emergence

by HourGlass8

A sequel to the story Captured. The ninja had thought they had defeated the NW army, they had thought the self proclaimed superior imperials had all be tended to. However the ninja were gravely mistaken. They had not taken out the entire NW population, but merely a main city inside of a much larger state. The society run purely off technology has emerged again, only now prepared.

11. The Log House

"You are stuck with me till the world falls to pieces, and if we're not still standing even then we'll still find a way to be together…"

Nya looked at the Sannin with nothing more than hatred. Her face was still a charred mess, her arms equally as sickening to look at. She hadn't lost her confidence despite the horrific appearance, if anything she used it to strike more fear into the hearts of those she tormented.
"We know you have it." Nya said her patience entirely dissolved.
Orochimaru met her with weak eyes, many NW citizens were watching, circling around the soldiers and Lieutenant in scared fascination. Many ninja also watched, the dark night sky being banished under the street light the snake summoner was beneath. His entire chest felt hollowed and pained, it felt as if he was being pumped with air and his insides were soon about to explode. He panted, his head lowered while his bloodied and matted hair hung around his face. She was wrong, he did not have the device. The other ninja had made off with it. But they were fools if they thought he would ever tell the truth. He would withstand the pain and brutality he was subject to. He would ignore the eyes who watched him like a predator that had been caught in the village.

"Do not hold your tongue for prides sake my dear." Satoru said from the background, he was leaning on a wall his arms casually crossed over his broad chest. He stared at his men as they attempted to cause the Sannin enough pain to give up. They weren't succeeding in their attempts. Nya shook her head in frustration, they had been trying for an hour, they had electrocuted him, they had hit him with batons, they had tried drowning him only allowing his head to surface when he was minutes from dying, but nothing had worked. The female leader was far from out of ideas however. The crowd grew larger, while others eventually found the torture unbearable to watch. When the Sannin was close to death, his injuries far too severe for him to live, they would give him space to regenerate. He would do so without fail, as pain got to even the greatest of warriors and in his agonized state he would obey to get away from the cruel sensation. However if he dared do anything other than regenerate Satoru would appear and ram the same sharp knife like object into him. It would momentarily stun his chakara and he would be unable to use any jutsu for the next ten minutes.

Nya said something inaudible to a soldier, they were doing their job beside a gas station and all the passing cars stopped to look out their windows. Some even attempted to drive towards the crowd to separate them, in order to get a better look. They had made a show out of his detainment. Perhaps they hoped he would simply hand over the device to escape the amused and disturbed eyes. One man from the crowd threw a rock he found on the sidewalk and it hit the Sannin. It only took moments for the harmed skin to turn a dark shade of blue chipped with a trickle of red blood. The military did not stop the man and soon he threw another one. Then someone else joined in and the snake had little hope of getting away from the pained stoning. The soldiers laughed, some people yelled for the unruly civilians to stop, Satoru watched on passively. Finally he held up a hand and requested the men in the crowd to stop. He had their ultimate respect and it stopped the minute his hand was raised. He was giving the Sannin a chance to regenerate, but this time he did not.
"No chakara left?" Satoru asked, "then I suggest you hand over the device quickly."

A little girl was heard crying in the crowd when silence echoed the public area. She was only three and she couldn't fathom how the ninja was any different from the NW citizens. All she knew was one person was being hurt, and that the person had no chance of escaping. She knew that the victim wanted them to stop hurting him, but that they were not. She spoke the truth and her mother hushed her in embarrassment.
"They're not good men." The child choked out through sobs, "they're hurting her."
Her mother placed a hand over her mouth to silence her again, ashamed her child had insulted the soldiers and defended the ninja. But the girl thought it was her place to speak since no one else was.
"That's not a girl." Her mother snapped. The child ignored her mother's last point. What did gender matter? What did any physical difference matter? It didn't, it never did to an innocent child. The girl thought her mother's argument was invalid so she spoke again.
"She wants them to stop!" The girl said angrily in her young and broken voice. She could barely pronounce the words properly, but she was determined on formulating them.

The mother dragged the girl away, took her elsewhere to avoid her saying more that may have agitated the soldiers. More people started to leave, most due to realizing how horrible they may have been in the eyes of someone more pure. Watching for some sick kind of interest. Nya watched the mother leave her eye falling onto the child hatefully. Many ninja were muttering in disapproval, but nobody stepped in. Orochimaru never expected them to, they had never truly liked him. They had tolerated him, they always had. But someone wanted to prove him wrong. Another rock was thrown but this time it was not aimed at the Sannin. It hit Nya on the shoulder and she cussed before turning around sharply. She could not find who had thrown the offensive rock however so she simply glared at the crowd.
"If that wasn't some idiot missing his target, you can be sure that you will suffer for this." She snapped, Satoru passed her agitated eyes.
"Do not speak to our citizens like that Nya." He reprimanded, she flashed somewhat sheepish eyes at him. What he did not know was that it was not a citizen who had chosen to be angry at the situation. It was a ninja, a Konoha ninja who had lost his headband due to the NW army.
"This is taking too long. We need more extreme measures." She said.
"Do what you will." Satoru said.

Nya picked up a device which the Sannin knew would send harsh circuits of electricity into him. She then dropped it upon passing something she found to be more beneficial. She took a pump off the wall, the said pump linked to the gasoline tank beside it, Satoru watched curiously, the crowd started chattering nervously. Orochimaru did not know what toxic liquid lay inside that pump. He watched her apprehensively, but he did not know the gravity of the situation.
"Hold him won't you." Nya said to a group of nearby soldiers. They grabbed the ninja and pulled him to his feet pinning his thin wrists behind his back. He had no strength to fight them with but a low hiss entered the area sending chills down the spines of everyone watching. He struggled against them despite his weak attempts and they irritably crushed his arms bones to remind him who was in charge. Nya pushed him slightly backwards into the large soldiers chest, it felt as if he was being shoved into two uneven walls, but perhaps it was their armour rather than muscle.

He wasn't expecting the burning pain that ran through him next. He acted out like a snake that had been pulled from its den as he struggled and writhed in their deathly grip. He tried to pull away as the Lieutenant poured the toxins into his body. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't even cry out in pain as his entire insides felt as if they were going to burn him alive. Gasps were heard from the crowd and many people had their phones out, either recording or taking pictures. The Sannin didn't notice any of them. He was desperately trying to free himself, he pulled and pushed but he couldn't get away. Satoru watched for the first few seconds but then intervened.
"Careful, he'll die if he ingests too much." He warned, "in fact, I'm pretty sure he is already passed his limit."
The Sannin was released and fell to the floor holding his chest, his black hair bounced as he choked uncontrollably. He couldn't breathe and his head, chest and throat burned like he had just eaten lava. His eyes were clasped shut, but he had no idea what to do. He was distressed wondering if he would ever be able to breathe again. He felt as if he was burning from the inside out, the reverse of being set on fire. He was forced to his feet.
"I barely poured anything down his bloody throat." She defended.

Satoru gestured for his men to circle around a group of ninja. They looked panicked and begged them to leave, but the military men only took orders from their own.
"I am not blind. One of you threw a rock at my Lieutenant. That is an offense." Satoru said, "punishable by death."
The ninja looked on with an even greater fear now, they let their eyes drop to one of their known strongest shinobi. He writhed and struggled to withstand the pain and they could see his will to fight was sinking.
"Perhaps though," Satoru said, "you would like to rather spare them? When the device is in our hands, I will order my men to stop. But until then."
He gestured for his soldiers to move over to the ninja in the crowd. They cried out in fear, they backed away but could not get any great distance between themselves and the enemy. Some pleaded with the Sannin, despite his throat being half on fire due to the toxins he choked out his reply to the imperial.
"I don't have it-" he tried.
A ninja was shot in the back of the head.
"I gave it away-" Orochimaru stressed again through choked replies.
Another ninja fell limp to the floor.
"By the gods, I'll prove it- stop!"

Ninja fell as the serpent tried his best to splutter out an explanation, but the ninja dying cursed him. They, similar to the soldiers, did not believe his words to be true.
"No one should ever have defended a monster!" One yelled.
"Once a monster always a monster!" Another yelled, he was shot moments after. Orochimaru closed his eyes for the brief second blood splattered from the falling ninjas face.
"Satoru I don't have it- stop killing them-" Orochimaru fell into a violent fit of coughs, he was straining his damaged throat and he could feel it, but what was he to do? He had earned these men's trust and in an unfair moment of vulnerability he had lost it all the same. Would he ever flee his reputation? Somehow it always caught up to him again, but nonetheless, perhaps the ninja would always look for a reason to call him a disgrace. It was easier to hate him than to accept him. He heard the final three gunshots before standby ninja who were not involved started to mourn who they had lost.
"Put him in the cage. We will try extracting it at the base." Satoru said, "clearly pain and the death of his own is not enough."
The Sannin hissed, but it hurt to do so. He was pulled forwards but he had become fed up with what had happened. He attacked, and he instantly regretted it when two bullets cracked into the sky before piercing his lower torso. He fell to the floor and coughed up blood shaking in a defeated mess.
"Let's try that again." Satoru said calmly.

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Kakashi watched the men surround his lover. He could have run over to kill them, but undoubtedly they would have shot and killed him. So he waited for the exact right moment. There would be no use trying to save his lover a few extra hits when it would result in them both simply being exterminated. He witnessed them pour some foreign looking liquid down his partners throat, and he watched them shoot ninja in the crowd. It sickened him and he clenched his fist and bit his tongue to refrain from racing down to try and stop the cruelty. However many years of experience had taught him not to be foolish. Not to act out on impulse. He wouldn't be able to save the ninja even if he tried. Even if he died for them. It didn't make it any easier a decision. But he waited, bid his time until finally the opportunity presented itself. They got into the car so he slipped into the shadows. The crowd dispersed and avoided tramping on the ninja corpses in the road; that was someone else's duty to clean up. Most likely, it would be some hired ninja, forced to clean up the corpses of people that show cased how futile it was for ninja to challenge authority.

Kakashi darted close by the trees before blue lightning circled around his hand, it was going to be a dangerous thing to pull off, but he had little choice. The large military vehicle drummed past unsuspectingly until it made a loud banging sound. It exploded near the front of the engine and the men hastily got out. They had not seen the copy ninja; he had been too fast and evasive. They had seen the unnatural blue lightning but they assumed it was the fault of their technology. Two soldiers went around too check the apparent spark while the rest exited the vehicle apprehending the Sannin. Satoru and Nya stood side by side discussing the inconvenience of recent technology advances. Kakashi did not even look at them; his eyes were pinned to his half dying lover. Blood ran down his mouth, stained his top and dripped from his hair. He was gasping for air; his eyes were dimmed and barely able to stay open. The soldiers noticed his inability to stand and allowed him to sit by a tree on the edge of the road. It was perfect the copy ninja realized and he headed towards them. He quietly summoned one of his hounds, he removed its headband and jacket, to make it appear to be a normal dog.

The grey canine raced over to the car causing a scene, he was perfectly capable of speaking English and yet he utilized his appearance and acted as a regular dog may have. He whined and barked, spun in circles and wagged his tail the way a distressed dog may have. Satoru and Nya looked at the dog curiously.
"Say, didn't the Sannin lose his dog?" Satoru said, "perhaps this is the one Saura went on about."
"I think this dog is just a runaway Imperial." Nya replied boredly, "I believe the Saura described that other mutt differently."
In the distraction Kakashi had killed the two men by his lover. Orochimaru was so in pain he didn't even realize the men were dead. The copy ninja placed their bodies behind the trees and lightly helped his lover up. This caught the Sannin's attention, at first he tensed and tried to obey, assuming it was a soldier. But he recognized the gentle and helpful arms wrapped around him. His golden eyes, pained and dimmed now lit up. He seemed almost in disbelief. As if he wasn't sure whether it was Kakashi, or whether he was going delusional with pain. The copy ninja realized the Sannin was hardly in the position to even walk.

There was no way he could run to hide in the forest in such a state, so the Jonin picked him up in his arms and held him to his chest. His summoned dog caused havoc and eventually Satoru raised a gun and shot at the floor to scare him off. The summoning, intelligent enough to know when the man was faking and serious, pushed on. He gave his summoner enough time to pick up the small ninja and get away. Kakashi leapt through the trees his arms still tightly holding the other ninja to him. Orochimaru was dazed, and the hurried speeds made his hazy mind no better, he swore it was more the gasoline getting to his brain than it was his wounds. The toxin was causing havoc inside of him. Even in his semi unaware state he felt safer held closely to the other man, his slim arms looped around his lovers neck weakly. It was his only means of holding on to the other, his last attempt to make sure he would not slip away again. His hair covered his lowered face which he buried into the warmth of his partners jacket. There was nothing he could do in the situation, and he was dependent on the other. He was glad however that in one of his weakest hours, it was Kakashi who had found him.

Satoru was getting fed up with the dog which erratically bounced around, the highly intelligent animal found it easy avoiding any threats while distracting them all the same. It was going smooth until he slipped up when a soldier, with no real care for animals, raised his gun and shot six bullets one after the other. This time it was not a mock attack and the bullets narrowly missed the canine that yelped and backed off. When the man did not lay off him he accidentally slipped with his act of being a regular dog.
"I'm leaving!" He yapped, but that in itself had stunned the soldier into stopping.
"He is a ninja hound." Satoru said, the attempt at convincing them otherwise was unlikely, so he chose to rather evaporate into smoke. It was another thing he tactically speaking should not have done.

"He is a summoning." Nya retorted, she ordered her men to mobilize before looking over at the Sannin. Her eyes narrowed and she cussed as she saw her two guards missing and her prisoner vanished.
"I've contacted the base, they'll send more men." Satoru said calmly, he took a gun from the back of the car and strapped it to his belt hidden under his cape. He then entered the forest personally as he decided he and his men would border off the area.
The soldiers knew there was only so far the ninja could go, choppers and cars within in mere seconds had entered the scene and bordered off the entire forest. The ninja may have been lost somewhere in the thick terrain, but they were still trapped inside the circled off area. They could only hope to hide as running had become a hopeless option.

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Late night had fallen and the stars were blanketed out by the trees, Kakashi had gotten a hold of fallen branches and flammable roots but he was hesitant on using his flame technique to light them. He was concerned the flames would draw attention, the only light in the thick forest, the smoke would undoubtedly be seen if anyone passed them. However, still semi-unconscious Orochimaru was shaking from the cold. Kakashi tried to think of ways to stop the smoke from going into the sky, but that would only serve in trapping them in a smoky mess. Since they still needed oxygen he put two and two together and noted there was no real way to stop the flames from making them visible. He sat close by to his lover trying to share his body heat, at the same time, he could see the serpent was becoming weaker, and he was finding it harder to breath. His breaths were immensely shallow now and he seemed to be in a great deal of physical pain. He had blood on his shirt, practically changing its colour to a blackish red. Kakashi was no medic, he dared not remove the fabric stuck to the wounds. After all, he had no bandages or fabric suitable to act as a means to stop him from bleeding out.

The copy ninja was praying his partner would find the strength to regenerate but it seemed as if he was fighting an unfair battle against the toxin ingested and the multiple sever wounds inflicted. Kakashi gently wiped blood away from his eye as he brushed black strands out of his partners face. He had a few gashes only a breaths distance from his golden eyes, and the copy ninja could only be thankful none of it had blinded him. Orochimaru would attempt to talk to the man holding him, but he would end up choking violently, or simply rambling something which made no sense. He had never been one to fall to poison, but even poison was natural. The chemical in the toxin he had been subjected to was far different, perhaps however, he would still be immune to it killing him, that was all the copy ninja could hope for now.
Kakashi tried to keep his partner as warm as possible, he was eventually unsure if the male was cold or simply shaking from his injuries. Blood had now stained the Konoha Jonins top, transferring from the ninja he held onto his own body. The only reason Kakashi even noticed it was the fact that it meant the smaller ninja was losing blood quicker than he should have.

He couldn't summon anything of use, he couldn't heal, he didn't even have any supplies to help the wounds natural healing process. What was worse was that he was alone with his dying lover, helpless and surrounded. He could not even look for the nearest hospital. He was stuck in the enemies fortress watching someone he cared about suffer. If he could have taken every injury on the other ninjas body he would have without thinking. He was pretty sure it would hurt him less to feel the physical wounds that it was to watch someone he loved endure them instead. He ran his fingers through his dark hair in attempts to bring some kind of small reassurance.

Being the proud ninja that he was, the Sannin kept trying to force himself up, to force himself to talk, to tell the other man he was fine, and that he wouldn't die here, he wouldn't die ever. It never worked out that way, he would simply show that he was too weak to even defy the situation with words. In return the copy ninja would gently hush him, and his calm voice would manage to settle the serpents pride. Kakashi stared at the dense woods ahead, the pitch blackness only a few meters in front of them. He didn't know if there were animals in these man made forests, but he was sure there were. They had after all simply taken a piece of land and covered it. Undoubtedly some natural inhabitants had been trapped along with their society.

He decided finally that perhaps he should keep walking, although he was exhausted from out running the soldiers, the military had taken its own break, seeing as they figured the ninja were trapped anyhow. Kakashi got to his feet with the smaller ninja still held in his arms, Orochimaru, even half dead was rather unamused that he had to be carried like some damsel, but he supposed at the very least, he was glad it was once again the only man he would allow to see him so weakened. They carried on for what seemed like hours, until finally, in the distance was a single light. He knew for a fact that whoever had chosen to live out in the forest most likely did so to avoid the city dramas. In other words they would be blissfully unaware of the fact that ninja were lose with chakara. He went up to the door to see many other log cabins around, they did not have any lights on outside, which made Kakashi believe they were vacant. He knocked on the door as best he could before moving backwards slightly as the door slammed open. Orochimaru was asleep but he startled awake when the loud bang of the door caught his sleeping sense off guard.
"Hello." The man who opened said, he looked down at the serpent and his eyes seemed to be shocked on many levels. Kakashi passed it off as the fact that the man had not expected to see a half dying ninja in his arms.
"He needs help, I was wondering if you had a first aid kit." Kakashi said honestly.
"He needs the hospital." The man said, he was shoved over as another man came to the door.

This time Orochimaru recognized his setting, it was the same men he had escaped before. On the night of the haunted house, he had run away from his kidnappers to end up saved by one of the men in the log house, however it turned out to be nothing more than another ploy. They had their own intentions with the ninja, but they failed when he ran from them. Now he somehow fatefully ended up back in their house. They allowed Kakashi to enter, but the Sannin tried his best to tell his partner to turn around and leave. Once again however, the white haired male innocently hushed him, in attempts to make him save his strength. He couldn't formulate words, he could only choke, and it hurt to choke, as it would pull on his injured body. He was shaking, and that made talking no easier. He tried in vain, but Kakashi was notably not happy with his efforts. He was under the impression that the Sannin was starting to go a bit delusional with pain.
It was the same group of men, the snake recognized all of them expect for two new faces. He had run out of breath so he stopped his complaints to attempt to regain some oxygen.

The men got out bandages before telling Kakashi they had no way of contacting the hospital to report the need of aid. The copy ninja did not find this suspicious, the serpent knew it was a lie but could not reveal it to his lover. If anything, the Jonin was happy the man could not call for aid. It meant they could not tell the military where they were either, but it was still just a lie, none the less the only possible benefit to meeting up with the barbaric men was the fact that they did indeed have no knowledge of outside affairs. They brought out their first aid kit and Kakashi sat his lover down on the couch where he tried to get back into the larger mans arms. The copy ninja found it weird but assumed it hurt to be lay down. He reassured the pale ninja unaware of what he was desperately trying to convey. The men idly stood around, some looking rather sleepy and still not quite awake while others seemed to have been fully woken and we're now more than keen to be a part of the action. Saura had said they most likely would have wanted to kill him when they first caught him, or perhaps even something slightly more sinister, but it was all cult related he had said. After all, it was Halloween and all the bored people of the world tended to go for the darker side of moon. They thought themselves important, they would sacrifice black cats, or now days, even ninja. They probably had many weird ideas of rituals.

Saura has insisted it was due to them being bored and uneducated, or that they were a bunch of men with no luck in the real world, so they got together to form their own little twisted group where they found unity in madness. He said they were the types of people that needed to be shot rather than to get psychological help. He was evidently never a man for mercy, and in all honesty, at the time, Orochimaru had respected that. He supposed all was fair in love and war. He did not hate the man for ratting him out, for getting him stuck in this situation, he didn't expect Saura to care for him. If it had been Kakashi it would have shattered his every fibre, but since it was merely an over attached enemy, the serpent did not hold grudges. He knew where the man stood now, and that to him was almost better than their previous relationship.
He winced as Kakashi tended to his wounds, removing the bullets was probably one of the most painful parts as they were deep in his body and had been moved around in his escape already. His less severe wounds, the ones inflicted form stones and batons where simply cleaned up. There was no need to tend to them.

The men were clearly adjusted to injury, and that was supposedly normal as they lived with nature, and that came with many dangers. They had more medical equipment than the average household and allowed Kakashi to even stitch up his wounds. By the end of it, Orochimaru found his entire lower torso was bandaged tightly, his one arm was also tightly wrapped and he wore more bandages on his head as one may have a headband. He felt as if he had survived one of the great wars. It scared him to think of what may happen to their men dare they lose. He swore his wrist was broken, he had tried to cover his face when the men had hit him with their batons. But he couldn't tell the copy ninja that, thankfully his lover had picked up on it himself and had made a makeshift cast out of bandage and a piece of card board wrapped inside it for support.
"What happened to him?" One man asked. Kakashi glanced up at him passively before returning to tending his lovers more minor wounds.
"We were caught in the middle of a gang fight." He lied, "we had nothing to do with it, wrong place wrong time."
"How did you end up here?" A man said trying to put it together.
"Well the men in the fight were your citizens, we were ninja." Kakashi said, "the gang blamed it on us so we had to flee the cops. The forest seemed like the best place to hide but we got lost."

"Ninja have it rough." One man laughed, the laughter wasn't fitting, it may have been a joke to him, but to the ninja it was hardly amusing. Kakashi didn't allow it to irritate him, he owed them anyhow.
"Tell me, the toxin that runs your cars-" Kakashi started.
"You mean gasoline." One man informed him.
"Yes that." The Jonin said, "if you ingest some of it, can it kill you?"
"Yeah most likely, if left untreated." One man said, "depends how much, but usually you can survive it. I mean as long as you didn't drink a glass of the stuff."
"Why?" One man questioned, "did you stumble into that somehow too?"
"Same situation," Kakashi said, "they took their attack to a new extreme. How do you treat gasoline?"
"I don't know." One man laughed, "never drunken the stuff myself."
"Could treat it like other poisons." One man offered.
"Nah man it's different, all poisons are different." One man chided.

"You're supposed to remove any clothing touched by the stuff, he mustn't breathe it in at all." One man said, "and if he is able to drink water on his own he must do so. If he can't drink it on his own don't give him anything or he will just choke."
"Where are you pulling this out from?" One man laughed.
"I swallowed the stuff once when I was a kid." The man said hesitantly, his friends scoffed at him, so he swopped topics, "the choking is very dangerous by the way. He may be choking because of other injuries or because he keeps trying to talk, but if he chokes he can get the stuff into his lungs. That could be the only reason he could potentially die, or else cause permanent respiratory issues."
"I think he should manage to drink water, will that help?" Kakashi asked leaning his lover up after all his wounds were seen to. The only item of clothing touched by the gasoline was his shirt, which he had lost anyhow due to the amount of blood.
"Yeah it helps. Gasoline attacks the chest and lungs, that's the only real threat if he didn't ingest a large amount." The man said, "do you know how much he swallowed?"
"Less than a glass." Kakashi said as he recalled the memory.
"Then he just needs to drink water, stop talking and rest." The man said.

Kakashi nodded and thanked the man as he brought a glass of water. Orochimaru wasn't keen on putting anything down his throat after the gasoline. The mere thought of it made him greatly uneasy, he didn't fight Kakashi when he helped him drink the water however. It was obvious he was uncomfortable with doing it, but he was not objecting it with the man he trusted. When he was done he couldn't say he felt a great deal better, but his throat felt less inflamed than it had.
"He can go sleep in my room." The man said, "he will need to stay in bed for a few days to recover from his injuries."
Kakashi picked his partner up and followed the man inside, being bandaged certainly was more comfortable than bleeding out, but he was most unsettled being in the dark room with men he knew were not as kind as they pretended to be. The man told Kakashi he should wash the blood and gasoline out of his own shirt and the copy ninja agreed as he followed him out the room. He lightly kissed his fallen partners forehead as he left him in the warm sheets. He was fearless, as he felt he was perfectly capable of defending them now that he had his jutsu back. And supposedly the Sannin decided that perhaps that was true, Kakashi could use all his abilities, there was no likeliness that he was going to killed.

Orochimaru despite being drained in every physical and mental sense of the word, found it impossible to sleep. He could hear his lover across the hall talking to the men, politely making conversation and thanking them for their help. They were equally as chipper in nature and offered him a drink which it sounded as if the copy ninja refused once but then finally surrendered and took one. The Sannin allowed himself to try and drift off, but the sound of boots on the wooden floors destroyed that chance. His voice was still gone, and he wondered if he would ever be able to speak again, perhaps only once he had regenerated. The door opened allowing a thin beam of light to sneak across the floor. Orochimaru's golden eyes watched the man entering, his heart sunk when it was not the copy ninja. He lay on his side, the sheets covering most of him. Yet, just with his upper chest and arms revealed he still felt rather naked around the man. After all, he didn't have a shirt on and the man was a stranger, what was more he was pretty unable to move. Or even scream for that matter. The man hadn't entered looking at him thankfully, he had merely entered and analysed the room, appearing to be looking for something inanimate.

However moments later another man entered, he instantly looked from his friend to the serpent. The Sannin felt like a defanged cobra, so mesmerizing for those watching. Something that was generally a spectacle from a far due to its ability to kill, but now, in its defenceless position, it became something so curiously satisfying. They could see him for what he was with the mask of power now gone. Then again, he was fragile and feminine in appearance, slim and with a pale porcelain complexion. He must have always seemed weak to them, they did not know of his past. The persona he had worked so hard to create, to make his small form an aura to be feared. It was what snakes did best, they were small and delicate, yet no larger predator would tamper with one. They knew of the dangers.
"We disturb you princess." The man said as he noticed his friend enter and the ninja stir.
"Look at his eyes ey?" The friend who had entered second said in an odd accent. The first man to enter looked between the other male who spoke then back at the snake summoner.
"Like a cat." He said.
"I'd say snake." The other replied, he came closer. Orochimaru sat up, he regretted it immensely. His entire body felt an agonized shooting of pain and he tried his best to hide the uneasy discomfort in his eyes. The man laughed.

"Don't be scared." The second man to enter said, his words created the opposite outcome to what he said, although, perhaps that was his intention. Orochimaru wanted to speak, but he knew it would result in nothingness coming out. If he even got that far. He didn't notice he was putting pressure on his wrist, he simply willed he would get more chakara. However he wasn't sure when he would be able to create more. Satoru had stabbed him with that strange sword like device, and it had terminated whatever chakara he had made in the time he was free. Since then, he had no luck with creating more chakara, and he had used it all when they had tortured him. The other man simply watched his friend out the corner of his eye, he made no move to intervene as he returned to looking for something.
"What's that?" The man said curiously as he picked up the half seated Sannin's hand. Orochimaru pulled away and tried to tell him to back off. He ended up coughing again and his slim form fell slightly forwards, his hair shielding his face. The man clucked his tongue and tried to help the ninja as he coughed by placing a hand on his back. It didn't make him feel any better. Thankfully, the sound of his lovers struggled breath had brought Kakashi straight into the room. His questioning eyes met the man who laughed in amusement.

"You ninja are paranoid huh?" He joked mockingly, "calm down, I just wanted to check out his tattoo. He didn't seem like the type for a tattoo. It have meaning?"
Kakashi moved to his partners side, he knew the snake was probably disgusted at the foreign man's touch. The latter of which moved so that the copy ninja could get closer. He soon realized the tattoo the man spoke of was in fact the ninjas summoning tattoo. Kakashi traced the familiar pattern with his eyes before he sat next to Orochimaru, who evidently seemed rather grateful for the interruption.
"It's not a tattoo exactly." Kakashi said, he seemed fine being honest, perhaps it was only the Sannin who felt it necessary to hide every detail as it had become second nature to him, "it's a summoning mark. Ninja get them when they sign a contract with another creature."
"Heard about that. Thought it was bullshit." The man who had been searching for something said, he had a shirt in his hand before he tossed it at Kakashi, "you can borrow that, ya know for while your shirt dries."
"What creature were you signed up to beautiful?" The man still a bit too close for the copy ninjas liking said. The name beautiful also seemed to agitate the Jonin who passed a warning glance over before he spoke.
"Snakes." He replied, "I think we should let him rest though."

"Just came for the shirt." The first man said leaving the room casually, his friend was less eager to leave he looked at the Sannin one last time.
"Snakes... Had to choose something as creepy as snakes huh?" He muttered as he exited the room. Kakashi looked down at the Sannin and pecked him lightly on the head again.
"Sorry for leaving you alone with them. I didn't realize he was entering your room." He apologized, knowing full well that it had probably caused the ninja some stress. He knew his lover well by now, knew how anxious he truly was, or rather, how untrusting. Orochimaru nodded as if to say he was fine, because he knew bothering with words was pointless.
"Your shirts clean, it just needs to dry... Full of holes though." Kakashi admitted, "just one or two minor ones from the bullets and whatever Satoru was wielding."
Orochimaru didn't much care what state his shirt was in, he was simply happy Kakashi was beside him again. Since he didn't have any ability to talk he expressed his want for the others company by moving closer and settling into the man's chest, Kakashi laughed as he caught the hint.
"I'll go wash my top, you can't be around more gasoline." Kakashi said, "then I'll come right back."
Orochimaru watched him warningly, he could just about hear what the snake summoner was thinking as his golden eyes were pinned to him, "you better come back-fast."

"I will be as quick as I can." Kakashi said as he helped the Sannin get comfortable, he tried to lie him down, but the snake summoner made it clear that he was only going to lay when the other lay beside him, until then, he would sit and wait. It was the stubbornness the copy ninja both loved and hated. He got up and exited the room, making sure to close the door so that the Sannin felt slightly safer. Unlike most people, the Jonin knew the serpent felt safe alone. For as long he knew it would stay that way. He exited the room in hopes of making his words true, he didn't want to keep the serpent up, he wanted him to rest, even if that meant lying beside him. Orochimaru felt his throat starting to ache again, and he wished he could rather simply rip the pain out even if it cost him his life. It was starting to become unbearable and he had no medication to numb the cruel sensations. He lifted his unbroken hand to lightly guide hair out of his face, when he was looking up again there was a figure in the doorway. The light from the hall was blinding now that he had adjusted to the darkness of his room. He squinted slightly before trying to check if it was Kakashi, but it wasn't.

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Kakashi soaked the last of his lovers blood from the shirt he would wear again when dried. His head started to get a bit dizzy, he blamed it on all the washing and over working he had been doing. Red ran down the drain mixed with some black from the gasoline which turned out to be harder to remove than the blood. He frustratedly tried his best to completely eradicate any trace of the toxin but it would only be rendered into a light grey colour, it was a stain, but the toxins were long gone from the fabric. This settled his mind and he was edgy to get back to the Sannin so he decided it was good enough. He hung it up where he had placed the other ninjas shirt but he was then half bashed into a man who wore a green jacket.
"Woah." The man said, "you okay? You look kind of pale."
"I feel fine." Kakashi lied, was he getting sick he wondered? He couldn't keep up the lie for long since his next step was a rather clumsy one and the man in the green jacket was forced to help him regain his balance.
"You sure about that?" The man tried again, "sit down for a second."
Kakashi wasn't planning on sitting anywhere other than where his lover was, but it didn't work out that way, he was moved to the small lounge.

"I'm honestly fine." Kakashi said, but it was a weak attempt, after all, his legs were no longer even trying to support him, and his mind felt as if it were looping around. The man in the green jacket watched him before slightly forcefully pushing him onto the couch.
"Nah man, sit down for a second." He said as another man came to talk to him. Kakashi looked at the time, it was two in the morning, and he had already promised his lover he would return. He didn't want to take longer than necessary. However when he tried to sit he couldn't. He was sent into mild panic when he realized his body was completely ignoring his every command. His jutsu was not working, nor his legs, arms or even hearing eventually. He started to slightly freak out even despite trying his best to remain calm. One of the men laughed when they saw him fight whatever was controlling him. He couldn't figure out what exactly was happening, they hadn't attacked him with anything. No odd devices lay around to bind his chakara, and even if they had why was he unable to move. He was falling unconscious and eventually his eyes shut themselves. He could hear the muffled laughter before another man spoke.
"Never taken anyone that long to go down." He said, "I almost thought we'd have to drug him again."
"You never know with ninja." The laughing man said, "they know how to fight."

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Orochimaru watched the man wearily, he didn't want to act alarmed before he had done anything. After all, if a fake confidence was all he had he may as well try use it. The man shut the door behind them, which was the first alarming thing he did. Then he heard a man laughing inside, an almost sadistic laugh which did not fit the air it formed in. Orochimaru's eyes darted from the noise to the approaching man. He sat down on the bed with a glass in his hand. He offered it to the Sannin.
"Its water, you should drink more." He said. The snake summoner didn't want to take it, for his instincts told him not to. He was used to his usual paranoid self, but he was still inclined to trust his instincts. The only issue was he was unable to speak and that made matters harder as there was no polite way to decline. He could not use his talents in manipulating the human language now that he had no way of utilizing his own vocal box. Another man entered in a rush.

"What's the point in taking this one?" He said, "Look how injured he is, won't stand the first round."

"Don't be an idiot." The man holding the glass said, "Look at him, he doesn't have a single uninjured piece of flesh yet he isn't down and out. What better odds in a fight than a ninja who can't be put down."

"He looks small… I still think we should go for the bigger ninja." The man stated hesitantly.

"That's why all the ninja you pick up die in the first round." The man said trying to get the Sannin to drink, now that they were speaking oddly the serpent was completely unprepared to listen, "Bigger doesn't mean better in the ninja world. It's all about how they use their skills. A kid can kill an adult if he is smart enough; I figure these two must have some kind of shot if they survived guns with no chakara."

"If you say so. I'm not betting on him though. The other one seems reliable, competent even." The man said leaning in the doorframe, "I mean I get they don't have to be the biggest ninja around, but this one is like pitting a cat against a dog. I don't care how skilled the cat is. In a serious fight it's going to get torn to shreds."

The man offering the water smiled, he seemed to find something amusing about the scenario presented. The Sannin hardly found it to be. Orochimaru wanted to get up and run, wanted to go and find Kakashi who he hoped was still alright. He had no way of running, still far to plagued by injury.

That wasn't going to stop him from trying, he made for his feet but the man swiftly stopped him with a rough hand. It hurt to be pushed back when his body was still so early in the recovery process. He winced and a small whimper half escaped his pained throat. The man looked irritated.

"Drink this you dumb bitch." He said finally fed up, he was met with narrowed slitted eyes which were the lightest thing in the room, casting away the darkness as a cat's eye might.

The water was once again shoved towards him but the Sannin struggled and half of it fell onto the bed which caused the man to cuss.

"Fuck now look." He said irritably, Orochimaru hardly felt apologetic for the mess. The men would be damned if they thought another being was going to force something else down his throat in the same chaotic day. He fought the man off but it eventually caused him too much fatigue and his wrist and flesh wounds started to object. He backed off for a moment with his struggles but it was all the man needed to become fed up, so he roughly grabbed the ninja's broken hand and dragged him away from the bed towards the man by the door. Orochimaru was distracted by the pain that shot up his arm and didn't give much of a fight when the second man detained him. The Sannin tried to call for Kakashi but he started choking once more.

It was all fruitless in the end and he soon found he had been forced to drink whatever was in the glass, although it appeared to be water he knew it had to be something else. Or perhaps it was poisoned, or drugged. He didn't know which but he knew it was slowly making him lose the ability to control his own body. He was now only supported by the man that held him before he was cast in utter darkness.

Authors note: Hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter. A gigantic thank you to Vampirdoll666for the constant lovely support, always such a pleasure reading your comments. So a very large thank you!

I am away at the moment, but I'll try stay up to date, I hope to hear from everyone reading, have a good week everyone~