It didn't take long for the team to retell their story to the leader of Cloud. He was attentive at all times and his seriousness on matters reassured the ninja greatly, Deidara immediately requested they go back for the fallen comrades but he was quieted by Asuma and from then on remained sullen and ignored the conversation. He wasn't interested in building the army and he made that clear, once the details were fully explained he requested a room to stay in, and that as soon as they were ready to fight back against the NW city they were to call him. Kisame followed him off, more out of an act of kindness as he knew the blond wasn't fond of being alone despite his somewhat bratty demands to be. They two rogues weren't seen for the next few days as they stuck to one another's side and avoided the team.

Asuma and his two team members focused on helping teach the Jonin about the NW system, they requested Kisame better explain the military but he claimed he had said all he could to the Riakage already. That was the end of that. Sasuke came and left as he pleased heavily distracted by something which tugged on his ever clouded mind. When he was in the village he helped plan attacks or else trained, Ino and Shikamaru were the main ones to interact with the Uchiha and as it turned out they were the only ones he was willing to talk to. Hidan kept to himself and minded his own business often causing grief for Cloud citizens when he attempted to preform rituals to appease his god who he feared was upset with him neglecting his usual dedication. Ino sat beside the black haired teen with her comrade by her side. Shikamaru was silent and enjoying the task which entailed little energy while Sasuke had a fixed stare.
The blond was mindless when she sat as she really had nothing better to do in times of war. After training her job was complete and she had no home or friends to occupy herself with. She noticed Sasuke look over to her so she met his eyes steadily anticipating the question.

"Why did Kakashi go back for Orochimaru?" He asked with no clear emotion.
"Because he loves him." Ino said bluntly, she understood his curiosity after all they were both his teachers at one stage. He never did return to the make shift Konoha after the first NW attack. At least not for long, and he stuck to himself as matters were complicated. He took flight to both Naruto and Sakura's dismay but they were busy helping rebuild and did not have time to indulge his dark motives. At least not until Konoha was established again, perhaps they had gone after the Uchiha later on, the seemingly motiveless Uchiha at that. But it was only weeks after Konoha got back to its feet that the NW army struck it down again. Sasuke looked at her troubled.
"Love?" Sasuke said again. Shikamaru was heard lightly laughing.
"You've missed a lot." He said glancing over his head resting in his arms, "they've been together for a while now."
"That's... Unexpected." Sasuke said for once his composure slightly faulting, "are they happy?"
"Well they aren't married." Ino stated, "if they weren't they'd split ways. But they seem rather content with their relations- you troubled by that?"
"So Kakashi loves him," Sasuke started, "what does Orochimaru get out of their exchange?"
There was a brief silence before Ino replied rather harshly.
"The same thing as Kakashi." She said.
"Is it some kind of alliance... With benefits?" Sasuke asked. The other two watched him carefully.
"No." Ino said flatly. Shikamaru took over the conversation noting how his friend was losing her patience with the others shattering of romance.
"They're like any other relationship." He said, "they care about one another and they've decided to spend their lives side by side."

"Orochimaru doesn't love." Sasuke said as he looked ahead of them, no longer meeting the angered blue eyes of Ino. She bristled like a cat as she settled herself more comfortably into a seated position.
"Well clearly you're wrong about that." Ino said, she couldn't make herself comfortable, not after the last statement so she stood up, "you aren't the only one capable of change- you're not the only one whose actions need to be pardoned."
Sasuke looked at her retreating back and allowed her to walk a few steps away before speaking.
"I didn't mention anything about his past actions or his future sentence. If they are happy that's fine." Sasuke said, "I just think it's unwise to assume Orochimaru loves anyone. Not because he is incapable of it but because like most rogues he has learnt not to trust."
She didn't stop walking but instead picked up her pace to round the village corner faster. Shikamaru sighed and rubbed his head.
"That's going to be troublesome." He muttered rising to his feet. The Uchiha watched him slowly make his way after the wounded female, once they had both vanished from sight they vanished from his mind. He only had so much capacity to dwell on simple things anyhow.

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"How are the troops?" Hidan asked as he slumped down next to Asuma, he was no fan of the man but he was certainly not the type to hold grudges. His lack of care was evident in his general nonchalant nature. The Konoha Jonin looked at the man seated beside him in the training ground.
"They are prepared." He answered, "and that's saying a lot. We have Nara and Cloud specialists working on the strategy and approach on the NW city. We need to free as many ninja as possible to expand our own attack force."
"Sounds promising." Hidan said, "you included us in this right?"
Asuma passed him a questioning stare, he didn't know what the man meant so he answered as best he could.
"In the fight? There is no way to exclude a ninja. You'll march with the rest of them." Asuma said.
"What will you do?" Hidan asked.
"I'll lead with other selected Cloud Jonin." Asuma said steadily, he instantly noticed the mild agitation in the general passive mans eyes. It was a mere flicker and soon his usual composure returned.
"Figures." He replied with a yawn.
"Problem with that arrangement?" Asuma asked.
"Just thought we should all get a say. Kisame has been inside the military's walls and Deidara and I are all far superior to front line Jonin." Hidan said, "but I get it, you don't want rogues in charge."
"I'm glad you understand." Asuma said back, it was evident he didn't care if his honesty was brutal or unkind. He only saw things one way as of late and the immortal was in no mood to change his beliefs. Besides that, he simply wanted to rip throats out from his enemies, he didn't care about opinions.

The Riakage walked up to them, both ninja greeted him respectfully, Hidan in a more casual manner which almost hinted at disrespect. For some reason, one Asuma couldn't get on board with, the rogues behavior did not offend him nor put him on edge. He was rather accepting of their less than civil ways of communicating. Perhaps Cloud was a rowdier bunch than the Hidden Leaf.
"We will send in a small but powerful group." He said, "we aim only to open gates to help as many ninja as possible. We don't wander and search for past allies- we get what ever we can. We don't have the luxury of anything else."
"Understood." Asuma said, "when do we depart?"
"Two days." The Riakage said, "I've picked out our best for the job. Hidan, I've struggled to communicate to Deidara the importance of this mission. We need his aid now more than ever. He will be a main way in and out. I want to repeat something to you which I hope you will stress to him, we cannot wander."
"I'll let him know." Hidan said leaning on his blades handle the edges dug into the soil, "but I'm not his keeper, so don't hold me responsible for anything."
"I wouldn't dream of it." The Riakage replied with a curt nod of acceptance. He left the two there after and Hidan would not see the leader again until he bid them farewell in the two days to come.

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It had been only a week but it felt like years. They fought day and night, they were electrocuted if they dared fuss or struggle and the ninja around them had become brainwashed savages. Kakashi still tried to tell the ninja to stop, gave them many chances to aim their attacks elsewhere, but he was forced to fight them and he won without fail. Orochimaru no longer cared, he would issue one threat, if it was not heeded he would put a quick end to his enemy. They were in separate cages but they could be close enough with the thin bars between them. Kakashi would often settle the Sannin who fussed with Kakashi's wounds. The copy ninja, unlike the snake could not regenerate a perfect form, so every mild injury was brought back with him. It certainly was never anything to worry about, however the Sannin somehow always thought it was.

"I'm fine." Kakashi said as he returned to his cage, he could see his lovers golden eyes bounce up to scan his body for wounds.
"Are you sure?" Orochimaru said coming to the bars closest to the Jonin. Kakashi settled down beside him and nodded.
"Certain." He said with a small chuckle.
"Don't laugh you could get infected." Orochimaru said, "and that isn't the NWs concern either, they'll let you rot away."
"I'll make sure to avoid the unavoidable then." Kakashi said looking over with amused eyes, he was met back with steeled yellow ones.
"You better." Orochimaru replied reaching a slim hand through the bars to straighten his boyfriends shirt collar. Kakashi watched him with loving eyes as he worked to make the copy ninja presentable and neat despite being half coated in other men's blood.

The door slammed open and an NW man entered, he was rather angry looking but equally as scared. Two NW guards in the cell leapt to their feet puzzled.
"What's wrong?" One asked.
"We need to get them out." He said frantically.
"What? Where are we moving?" The other asked, the man started opening all the cages before he informed the men to get out.
"What the fuck?!" Another man asked.
"The military is outside, let the ninja free they'll have us in prison if we are caught with them." The man said as he left the room after opening the back door. The ninja in the cages couldn't have jumped faster and exited past the men. Some were too fearful and kept to their corners wide eyed. The NW men left without looking back the sound of vans kicking to life as they attempted to get as far from their created crime scene as possible. The entire stadium was empty and now so were all the cages and dark hallways with the exception of a few traumatized ninja.

The doors from the far side were kicked in and the two lovers didn't hesitate to run. They had wanted to go to the machine to activate their chakara, but the sound of dogs and soldiers entering had them change their minds. Too much risk. If they got the tightly trapped collars off their chakara would return anyway as they were no longer as effected by the dome.
They fled quickly and made off the opposite way to the crowd. The frantic runaways caused far too much destruction and drew unneeded attention. Kakashi heard the pleasant sound of his partners slightly mad laugher, a soft and amused sound the copy ninja appreciated. He threw questioning eyes at him wondering what fancied his humour.
"And now?" He asked as he held the others hand pulling him forwards, the Sannins black hair elegantly danced behind them as Orochimaru took over the role of leading pulling Kakashi by the hand into the thick forest.

"They're fools." He said as they hid behind a tree, it was then that a loud bang emerged as the military started bombing the area ahead, "but they've just saved us."
"I'm not going to join you on your humour." Kakashi said looking out from the coverage as military tanks trudged past, "but I agree, thank the gods for the distraction."
"If we get these off we are free to use whatever chakara we need." Orochimaru said with a delighted smile, "I'm sure we can cut them off somehow."
The hum of machinery faded and the two ninja stepped out to re-enter the old fighting ring, they headed for the machine but they struggled to reach it after the military had bashed down half the establishment. They climbed over a fallen pillar, Kakashi going over first then turning back to offer the smaller ninja a hand. Orochimaru allowed the Jonin to aid him up and they proceeded over the next few obstacles in a similar fashion. They got to the now broken chakara control panel and attempted to work it. This time Orochimaru took the lead as he messed with buttons, he found their device numbers and attempted to hack the poorly made system. It was far simpler than the military's machinery and was soon available for use. The device worked and then froze repeating that cycle until the Sannin felt like he would lose his mind. Some buttons no longer worked and others were broken clean off. The screen had a crack down the middle and it splintered into shattered glass on the edges. Orochimaru found what he was looking for however it didn't allow him to go further in his efforts. He ended up turning back empty handed to his partner.

"It's unresponsive I'm afraid." He said dismally, "so we will have to make a plan to remove the collars instead."
"Have you turned chakara restrictions off?" Kakashi asked.
"Yes." Orochimaru said, "but it's broken so it isn't doing as it is told."
"And if it's fixed?" Kakashi asked.
"It would work." Orochimaru said simply, "but I assume fixing this will require as much effort as removing our collars. If not more."
Kakashi nodded and turned for the exit again, this time they made quick work of the pillars and walls and got to the road. It was a dusty road and they didn't know which way to head at all. There was one van left behind, a dead man occupying the drivers seat. It wasn't the most pleasant view but both experienced ninja had no issue removing the body. The mans wallet fell out and the Sannin scooped it up. He tossed it at Kakashi.
"Keep that in case we need it." He said and his partner obeyed before looking into the car as the serpent clambered into the drivers seat.

"Do you know how to drive?" Kakashi asked skeptically.
"Not a bloody clue really." Orochimaru answered honestly, he turned the key as he had seen Saura do. He then looked at the gears and shifted them hopefully, no idea which one would help him start. He didn't know which of the three pedals meant go or stop. He certainly didn't know he had put the van in reverse and he mimicked the NW man he had resided with for a short duration. The car jerked and shuddered backwards. It made Kakashi jump out the way anxiously, but Orochimaru seemed rather satisfied.
"Almost right." He said.
"Yeah sure... If you want to reverse all the way home." Kakashi muttered moving away from the unpredictable machine. Orochimaru looked in the side view mirror, unamused eyes reflecting at the copy ninja. Kakashi ducked his head in apology and allowed the prodigy to continue. The car choked out and the Sannin didn't know he was required to remove the key to start over. He wrestled for a few painful minutes before he opted to restart the car properly. It roared to life and the Sannin carried on fidgeting until finally he rolled it forwards. Once he got the hang of going forwards slowly on the first gear he tried he played with the other gears.

Eventually his technical mind had made short work of the van. It would often die or cut out, and there were the odd occasions he would stagger with the functions and clutch but it moved forwards more than it stayed immobile. Kakashi got bored of standing around doing nothing and requested to be shown how it worked. The Sannin enjoyed sharing information and gave a slightly inaccurate account of how a car worked, it was the best to his knowledge however and it was sufficient enough. Kakashi got the hang of the van better than the Sannin, much to his slight bitter disappointment. Orochimaru got over it when they finally got the van straight on the road. After a mile of driving the Sannin praised the copy ninjas ability to work the mechanical beast. To a passerby he would seem fully competent in what he did.

That was if road rules were not taken into account. The lines on the road meant nothing to the ninja, they stopped at red traffic lights only because they had seen others do it, and they moved when it went green because other cars hooted or overtook them when they didn't. It worked out fine for an hour but they eventually realized they had no destination. They also didn't know what to think when a red light flashed indicating they needed to fill their tank.
They didn't know what the sign meant and ignored it until they couldn't anymore. They found themselves in a small city outside their broken down car. They decided to abandon their new find begrudgingly and instead walked down the street the copy ninja protectively looping one arm around the black haired Sannin as he lead him around.

Orochimaru's golden eyes snapped up road names and memorized them easily. It made getting lost harder as the ninjas skill helped them to recognize places. It was eventually nightfall but neither ninja was tired. They were finally beside each other without chains, bars or angry team mates in their way. It was pleasant and the streetlights lit their path. They got to a park and stumbled onto the grass hidden behind the trees. They sat down to merely sort out a plan. They ended up laying beside one another gazing up at the man made sky. They both decided to pretend it was the real one however, as the concept better fit their evening. Some of the serpents long hair cascaded down onto his partner and Kakashi gently played with it.

It wasn't the warmest evening, but with the copy ninja beside him it was not the coldest either. Orochimaru nestled into the others chest and watched the movement of leaves and passing insects, which admittedly were not at all different from the ones they saw in their home town. It made it easier to pretend they were not miles away. The cold was something they were both used to but the Sannin still lightly shuddered in discomfort. He wished they were back in their own bed, beneath the warm sheets swarmed by wagging tails. It reminded the Sannin of something.
"We must find Tsukiko." Orochimaru said looking up at the other, Kakashi looked down at him and pecked his head.
"As soon as we have chakara we can track him." Kakashi said.
"What if he was taken to a shelter." Orochimaru said, "the streets of these cities are dangerous, apparently animals do not walk freely."
"If he entered the streets at all." Kakashi said, "after all he fled into the woods. For all we know he went back to motel looking for us. Dogs have a way of finding their way home. Especially street dogs."
"We found him near the motel to begin with." Orochimaru said, "perhaps he went back there."
As it turned out, they were not far from the town they had begun in. It felt like no matter where they were dragged off too, the city had them bound.

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"What is this?" Saura snapped as he slammed his phone down onto Satoru's desk. The imperial looked up with a hint of annoyance but he answered in a collected manner.
"I didn't let you in here." He said ignoring the video flashing on the other NW's phone. Saura wasn't letting it go, he was rather set on getting an answer. Satoru sighed realizing the other was not going to back away from his purpose of arriving. He looked down at the video and his eyes instantly narrowed.
"How did you get that?" Satoru demanded, he got to his feet his cape angrily swishing behind him, Saura didn't budge.
"You run these ninja into the ground, you do tests on them- that's not the only video I found-" Saura was interrupted by the larger mans dominating voice.
"How did you find them?" He asked, his tone leading to the fact that it was the final time he would ask.
"I hacked the system." Saura said, "I have most passes into this place. But I don't think that's the problem here."
"That's confidential. You are barely related to me or my father and furthermore you are nothing but a man living in a big house." Satoru said harshly, "if you find out too much we may have to get rid of you."

"Because I'm sure you have much more to hide." Saura snapped, "and you're no better than anyone, your cape and title is meaningless to me. I thought you were changing the way ninja saw us, you're giving them more reason to hate us. We aren't bridging the gap we are making it wider. You're turning them into weapons."
"We are turning them into allies." Satoru snapped, "horses run, wolves hunt and ninja fight. We are letting them do what they are designed to do. We just wish to control it."
"Who are we to control them? They are not guns they are intellectual creatures." Saura responded.
"They are intelligent, but not on our level." Satoru said, "besides, we are keeping our own safe not the entire planet. You're either one of them or you're one of us."
"Then you admit it. We aren't trying to merge peacefully with the ninja. We want to slot them in like our drones, machines to be used, not allies- do not call them that. It's false statements, all of what our leaders say nowadays are false claims." Saura said, "at least tell us the truth. Tell them the truth. Do not lock them in white rooms and force them to fight tiresomely."
"Don't be dramatic, we know their limits and we keep within those bounds. They are fed and healed, they are treated with as much respect as they could ask for-" it was the imperials turn to be interrupted.
"Bullshit." Saura said he flicked his phone to another video.

This time it showed a more personal video than before, it showed the Sannin, showed him stuck in a glass tank as the NW soldiers froze the room. It showed his struggle but Satoru did not watch past the first few seconds, he looked back at Saura, he knew the rest of the video and he didn't have the time to rewatch past events.
"What of it? He was defiant, we took action." Satoru answered, he ran his fingers through his hair, "I don't know what you expect me to say, or what you expect to accomplish bringing in hacked videos of the military. Quite honestly you're lucky I'm not putting you behind bars for this."
"I shouldn't have called you." Saura muttered, "he deserved his chakara, deserved his freedom."
"You sound bitter Saura." The Imperial said he walked to the door and opened it gesturing for him to leave, "you miss him. Sorry I took away that little thing you occupied your spare time with, and I know you have so much spare time- too much even."
"Fuck you." Saura said taking his phone as he walked to the door to leave, Satoru chuckled and then replied in a belittling manner.
"Pleasant seeing you, do stop by again won't you." He said, and then when the other passed he added, "oh and be so kind as to delete those videos. If someone else sees them they'll get the punishment you barely escaped from today."

Saura did not reply, he passed Nya who watched him with a smug smile. Since he could see the satisfaction in her face, and since he knew full well she was the darker one of the duo he looked back at her.
"It's a nice look for you." He said, she watched him questioningly, but she knew he referred to her charred face and upper body, "it's always nice when someone reflects who they are on the outside."
Her eyes narrowed but her smile did not change, in fact if anything she seemed to be comfortable in her new flesh.
"Thank you." She said, "and don't worry, when we catch him we'll give him your kind regards."
They watched one another for a moment longer, almost a small stand off, then Saura left, the last remainder of him being the roar of his car. She watched the vehicle slip out the gate at an angry speed and she shook her head with a small smile. War was not for the faint hearted. War held no place for love.

Authors note: sorry for the long gap... I had no time to go online at all. Hope you enjoyed the update, the next few will hopefully be a lot quicker and more on time. Thank you to those who Favourite the sorry and me as an author. Any support means a lot.
A giant thank you to Vampiredoll666 and the lovely reviews that always keep my inspired!