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.

19. Sleep well my love

"And I don't know what breaks my heart more. that people never change, or that they do."

It was a daunting prospect, on the one had the two ninja knew that every man amid the masses wanted their heads. They could not simply avoid the danger either, they had to try make a deal, they had to do the impossible and stop thousands with their words alone. With every step they took they grew weary, they had no optimism, returning to the city and preparing for battle seemingly now a better option. However not trying would result in the confirmation of total war, something neither ninja wanted to have to deal with again. They donned black cloaks which they drew tightly over their heads as they attempted to remain unidentified. They had decided they would talk to Asuma, it was Kakashi's choice, the Sannin didn't feel comfortable but he had seen just how deeply the other Jonin cared for his friend. They had decided to ask Asuma to deliver the message to the Riakage, for if the leader saw the rogues he may simply order their death. Asuma would do no such thing as alerting everyone would mean Kakashi would also be staring death in the face. Orochimaru drew close to his lovers side, his nerves were rattled and his breathing was only calm by his last grasp at composure. The copy ninja took the lead to reassure the other ninja, he walked unnoticed amid the crowds until finally Asuma had slipped slightly behind the other leaders, both rogues advanced.

Orochimaru glanced up, a few feet above the army Deidara and Sasuke rode atop their birds. They seemed to be speaking although it was very clear it was not friendly conversation. They drifted to the back as they debated something, the Sannin knew the blond hated any sharigan wielder. When he looked ahead again he realized they were upon the leaf Jonin, he turned his eyes to them and once he had glanced under their hoods he caught his own breath. He didn't even seem angry to see the snake, he was more relieved to see the copy ninja.

"You're alive," he said. He truly had attempted to convince the Riakage to spare Kakashi, although at the time the man didn't take it well. And it was only natural, he didn't care for his own life as much as he did for the serpents, it was a meaningless show of kindness.

"If I wish to remain alive then you have to promise to not alert anyone," Kakashi said. "Please, we have news that could stop a war from ever needing to take place."

Cautiously the man glanced between both ninja he slowed his pace so that he drifted even further behind the leaders. No one paid them any attention, after all Asuma had made sure he was now to the side of the group walking near him. The two rogues could not be identified beneath their cloaks in the rain, the bad weather did them a great justice.

"Talk quickly Hatake. I won't call you out but I can't speak for anyone else," Asuma said with concern ringing true.

"I know," Kakashi said. "The NWs have requested a peace treaty. They will release all the ninja if we agree to never cross paths again. No one has to die, that is the way a ninja should want it. Revenge is surely not our goal, it's returning what is ours along with order."

The taller man contemplated it briefly, he then shook his head almost as if he were about to laugh.

"No. They're afraid of us," Asuma said. "I don't think they deserve a second chance. We should eradicate them. We failed to do so last time and it resulted in them coming back once they had rebuilt."

"That's not true," Orochimaru said softly, he knew the other didn't value his opinion but he felt compelled to say it anyway. "We killed one of their major cities. That was not the end of the war, it was the beginning and we only now reach the closing point. We cannot be targeted by their technology it is not as big a risk. Before we thought only to kill them off, we had no idea it was not the entire civilization. We have spoken to the Superior, he has agreed, he knows he cannot beat us."

"That is the only reason he wants to speak of peace now," Asuma said bitterly. "If the tables were turned they would make no such offer."

"They had bad leaders, but they are not all bad," Kakashi said. "We cannot kill innocent men and women because of what may have happened. It was always out of their control, it will always be out of their control. Now that we have the choice should we not make the moral one?"

"It's not up to me," Asuma finally said. "How do you want me to go about this? If I tell the Riakage he will know I've spoken to you."

"We wanted to speak to you in person in case we needed to elaborate," Orochimaru said, he drew a scroll from his sleeve and handed it to the man. "But for the sake of our lie simply hand them that letter and say one of our summonings brought it here."

Asuma took it when no one was looking so that he truly could pretend. The two rogues stayed to hear the answer still blending in with the crowd. Orochimaru for the sake of the act summoned a small messenger snake discretely and allowed it to be seen once he had moved away from it. The eyes that noticed it assumed as planned that Asuma had retrieved the scroll from the serpent. One man from the army stamped his foot at the reptile and it hissed and turned to smoke.

"What was that for idiot?" a woman snapped. She looked at Asuma, she was one of the leading shinobi it appeared and she analysed his expression. He pretended to scan the letter over as quickly as he could only glancing at keywords as he did so. He then called to the Riakage. Kakashi and Orochimaru had drifted further back as they attempted to both see and not be seen themselves. The Cloud leader read it and then in a haunting moment he singed the paper with a blast of blue.

"A mockery to the deaths they've already caused," he said aloud.

"They won't listen," Orochimaru whispered to the copy ninja. Asuma nodded.

"So we reject their offer?" Asuma asked to make sure the Sannin and Kakashi both knew for certain.

"I won't stop until every building lays in ruin," the leader said. And that was that, when Asuma looked back in to the crowd the two lovers were gone their figures haven disappeared as seamlessly as they had arrived. Orochimaru and Kakashi leapt ahead of the army as they were not traveling in a large group and could quicken their pace without worrying about leaving members behind.

"This is a disaster," Kakashi said.

"I knew it would be so," Orochimaru muttered.

"We need to get back before them," Kakashi said.

"At the rate they move it'll take them about an hour or less," the Sannin said with an edge of worry.

"Then we have to be faster," Kakashi said. They were not traveling too much quicker than the army, they would only make it there a few minutes earlier. In war that was not good enough, the city needed to be warned of it for nothing more than to brace themselves.

"Then that's what we shall do," Orochimaru said as he lifted his hand to his fanged mouth before slicing his own finger with his teeth. He used the small trickled of blood and ran it down his arm before stopping to place a hand on the ground. Seals snaked across the earth before a great mass of smoke arrived around a colossal serpent.

Manda looked at his summoner with a questioning eye, he would have only just recently been released. His anger should still have been fresh but he remained fixed on his caller.

"We need to get back to the city as quickly as possible," Orochimaru said. The copy ninja was always weary of the purple giant. He seemed unreliable and stubborn. Regardless the Sannin appeared to have an endless amount of trust in all his summons. The emerald eyed monster opened his mouth to reveal his giant fangs, the ninja army had certainly seen the snake, he was large and he crushed half the trees nearby. It didn't matter, they didn't plan on staying long and they were all going to the same place. Being seen would make no difference. The rogues took refuge in the serpents mouth and he burrowed beneath the surface of the land as he tunnelled to the city. He was incredibly fast and it was only moments before they arrived at the gates where the guards looked slightly nervous to see the giant. The summoning met eyes with the men, the men who had detained him. Orochimaru placed a grateful hand on the beast and it hissed down at him. Although everyone else took it as a threatening display the Sannin found a different meaning.

"Say what you will Manda," Orochimaru said as if he understood the hiss. "You are not as cold as you try to be. Thank you."

"Will you stand against the village boy?" Manda asked his large eye moving backwards to look at the approaching threat.

"I have no choice," Orochimaru said.

"Then I will stay, for old times sake," Manda said. "May this war end better than the last we fought."

"I have no means of getting you sacrifices when this is over," Orochimaru said with amused eyes. He used to reward the summoning with countless men's lives, that was no longer an option since the copy ninja frowned upon him doing such things.

"Then you should be even more grateful for my help child," Manda hissed a smile spread across his long muzzle. Orochimaru took his hand off the creatures large face, he needed to send word to the Imperial. It was the last thing he could do now before they were forced to engage. He looked at the city, there were so many still panicking in the streets, they would all die, he could almost assure them that. They left the snake at the gate as he would not fit in the village without destroying it. Satoru was waiting for them with hopeful eyes, upon meeting their dark ones he shifted uncomfortably.

"They said no?" Satoru asked.

"They will be here soon," Kakashi admitted.

"Only some of our citizens are safe," Satoru said.

"We have an hour at best but let us see what we can do to assist you," Orochimaru said as he turned for the city, they would have to aid the less fortunate.

"We have no more space to house them," Nya said coming in morbidly. "We made sure all the ninja were placed away but we prepared shelters only for our men. Since much of that room was used for captured ninja not all of our people have a place to hide."

"Then that is their fate," Satoru said with a distressed face. "We have nothing else to do but wait for the ninja to come."

"What will happen if the ninja win?" Saura asked as he approached them.

"They want us all dead. I assume they will only stop fighting once that is accomplished," Satoru said, they hadn't seen him so grim. The NW had been foolish when they thought they could utilize the ninja. They had thought that eventually with enough time they would successfully tame the savage breed of human. It had now been proven a childish ideal. They would pay for it dearly. Kakashi watched them dejectedly, they had done wrong yes, and of course those who had willingly been involved in the crimes deserved what they got when the tables turned. But many were simply following orders and listening to those they were forced to listen to. There were those who opened their doors to help the ninja out the cold, who hid them when they needed refuge and taught them how to work in the complex new world. There were children who had no yet lived and adults who were not yet done living. They did not deserve to be killed when the option of them surviving was so attainable. The NW had requested an unconditional surrender, they would agree to drop everything and revert to a peaceful way of being. The ninja felt they were owed something for the wrongs committed against them. Kakashi wished it was not blood they sought.

"What can we do?" Saura asked not seeing the hopeless situation as over. Not because he was brave but quite the opposite. He was too afraid to admit it was how it was.

"We fight," Nya said. "We do as much damage as we can and leave the offer of peace on the table. Hopefully they will see it as too much of a loss and agree to the terms."

"We will fight on your side defending your men," Kakashi said. "However we will not help with the killing of anyone."

"It's all we ask of you," Satoru said, there were screams echoing the area. The group fell silent, war had come with death following closely behind. Manda screeched as he saw the army, he was enticed with the battle as he didn't know how to fear. The army did not take long and soon many ninja descended through holes in the dome as Deidara bombed it relentlessly with the aid of others equipped to do such mass damage. Orochimaru had wanted to call the blond when they had approached Asuma but he had been by Sasuke, that would have gotten them caught.

"Fate be with you ninja," Satoru said. "Fare well in this fight."

"As to you Imperial, Lieutenant," Orochimaru said, Nya saluted him as if he was one of her own soldiers, or more so as if he was one of the Imperials. She then gave the same level of respect to the copy ninja before she turned to get on to a chopper one hand resting on her gun. The two rogues turned to the swarms entering the city. It would be a truly devastating battle.

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Screams had died down, the citizens who were alive were a deathly silent as they huddled with the few survivors who remained. If there had ever been hope it had long since been buried by tragedy. Orochimaru held his blade in his hand, they wouldn't stop, they wouldn't try and reason. It was the darkest hours he had ever seen. Kakashi stayed by his side a hint of being lost tracing his eyes. They watched as ninja slit the throats of soldiers, and as soldier put bullets through the shinobi. The two ninja could not glance around without seeing masses of blood. They had tried to simply defend the city, but the ninja would not allow it. Soon enough the two rogues had ended up engaging in the battle as well, not because they were targeting anyone of any nation but simply because many would group up and attempt to kill them. Snakes slipped back in to the Sannins sleeve as he looked over at Kakashi, the man was locked on to Manda who snapped his giant jaws at the shinobi who tried to enter the dome, they kept coming, they never ended. The two rogues stood by a frightened group of NW citizens, they begged and pleaded, they prayed and wept. It was all they could do as the Sannin and copy ninja stood guard. They had done this for many NWs and they waited until a helicopter arrived and moved the people away. It wasn't clear if they were crying for relief or if the tragedy was something they would never let go.

Once the innocent group was gone the two ninja moved off, buildings erupted in to smoke as their great forms were brought down. At some point both of the ninja had thought about destroying the city, they had used it as motivation to break free, the actual event itself made them realize they were mistaken to have ever thought they'd enjoy it. The colossal serpent in the background was taking damage and Orochimaru did not want to see it be so any more.

"I'm going to Manda. He is not doing anything but getting hurt and this is not his battle," Orochimaru said as the sound of the serpents screeches sounded in the distance. Kakashi nodded.

"I will look for more citizens," Kakashi said. "Once Manda is gone come find me."

"Watch yourself," Orochimaru said, he moved to his lover and pecked him before turning away. He didn't say it, but it was an impossible fight and they had sided with the losing party. It may very well be their last kiss and so he had stolen the memory to keep. He liked to collect things, he had a habit of not being good at letting them go. It was why death had frightened him, it was why war had always made him revert back to a shell of himself. Humans were too fragile, everything was too fragile. The copy ninja was left behind and the Sannin evaded ninja, he didn't want to kill them despite being capable of it. He leapt out the way as a nearby building was brought down, the city was crumbling rather literally. As he made his way to his summoning he heard someone call to him.

"Oro-chan," The voice was defeated and yet calm, the Sannin halted as he threw his golden eyes back. In the rain it was hard to see who was calling to him, as he made his way closer he realized the said person was stuck. Orochimaru skidded down the side of a building them paused when he saw what lay in front of him.

"My god, don't move," he ordered as he rushed to the mans side, Saura was stuck under one of the fallen pillars, whatever part of him was beneath the brick was likely nothing more than a blood stain now. The Sannin tried his best not to look like he knew there was nothing to do, the mans lower body was gone, along with half his arm and a bit of his shoulder.

"It won't make a difference," Saura said. "I'm not that stupid, I won't make it and I'm not going to try to."

"Don't be a fool," Orochimaru said, he was harsh, he was harsh because he didn't want the other to say what he knew to be true. "We just need to heal you- we just-"

"There's nothing to heal Oro-chan," Saura said. "Tell Kakashi I'm sorry, I didn't get to do it myself. Tell the Superior I hate him, and tell Satoru I see him as a brother- when I'm gone ask Kakashi to tell you what I always wanted to say but even now can't manage to."

"What are you talking about Saura, I won't let you die," Orochimaru said as he looked around rain beating down harshly even in the others pain, nature stopped for no one. It would consume the corpse once it was over and nothing more.

"If it were in your hands then maybe not," Saura said. He smiled as blood traced some of his face. He wasn't a good man the Sannin acknowledged, he wasn't selfless he wasn't merciful and he was far from perfect. That was what made him so tragically human. He deserved every right to live, he deserved to exist imperfect. He was no good man but he was more human than the ninja who had harmed him could ever hope to be.

"Ninja don't give up, you want to be a ninja don't you," Orochimaru said again trying his best to make the man keep a will to live. Once he thought it to be over it was, there would be nothing the Sannin or any other mortal could do.

"More than anything," Saura said his eye were fading but he seemed content with his final moments. The Sannin couldn't grasp it, no final moments could be worth it. One life was all anyone got, only so many times did they circle the sun on the small almost unimportant planet they called home.

"Then don't stop trying to live," Orochimaru said, he was beside the man as the rain washed blood from under the rubble and pillar out and on to the Sannin's clothes. Saura wasn't buying it, he was dying and the serpent could do nothing but watch. He had been here too many times, nothing. That was what he could do. That was the extent of him. Even now, he stood a legend, an elite among the legions of ninja, and he could do nothing. Being a Genin was no different from being the status of a Kage when he could still only watch everyone pass around him.

"I hope this war comes to an end, I hope you find a way out," Saura said, he was almost rambling as death closed its cold hands around him. Orochimaru forced himself to accept the fact, he could not change it, he never could.

"You died a true shinobi," Orochimaru said his eyes holding little emotion which in itself told the man he would at the very least be missed. "A ninja is not judged on how he lived, but on what he died for."

That was what his teacher had taught him, it was the lesson Jiraiya had always carried close. Perhaps the Sannin said it to console the man, to let him die satisfied and fulfilled. He didn't know if he believed the words to be true himself, did it matter what others thought of you when you were dead? He didn't think so. When they were alive at least they could get something from others judgements, when they were dead it meant nothing. Regardless, he wanted to console the dying, it was not the serpents moment to be sad, that would come after. Orochimaru realized that the man had tried to respond but time had not been so kind to him, it had cut him off, it had made his eyes dull and his mouth hang slightly open in confirmation of his passing. The Sannin stayed there for a few moments, he didn't think of anything as nothing seemed to make him grasp the gravity of what had happened. He got to his feet as if another force was making him do so. He hadn't processed everything yet, it was all reminding him too much of when he was in all his other wars. The horrors of the past flashed back and he held on to a broken building. He got up with Saura's blood staining his clothes as he headed for what he had originally been aiming for. It seemed all too pointless when he had been coldly reminded of what death had actually brought upon the two worlds. A shinobi aimed his blade at a soldier in the distance. Orochimaru hissed as he raised his sword and countered the man.

"Bastard," he said as the metal of his weapon sliced a clean cut instantly killing the man. The corpse fell down and the soldier took a few moments to get up afterwards, he seemed defeated, as if although he was grateful to not have died in that moment he knew it would only be a matter of time. He yelled a thank you as he joined the rest of his crew in stopping the terror the shinobi had brought forth that day. Manda screamed out again in fury and pain forcing the Sannin to realize he was getting distracted.

Humans are fragile.

It was the same words he had been plagued with by the last war, they seemed to always come up when he witnessed death of someone he knew. They seemed to be waiting in the shadows of his haunted mind, they tried to consume him waiting to corrupt his morals further. They did their best to remind him that it was all meaningless and at the same time everything that you may think did matter would surely be over soon anyway. Useless. Everything was useless.

"Orochimaru," the voice called to him softly, he turned around to see the copy ninja watching him with concern marring his features. He took a step forwards, the serpent realized he hadn't moved away from the corpse, he was frozen in his own inability to grasp war once more. He had thought that after all these years he had become somewhat immune, he bragged about not feeling, he stood out as a talented shinobi for being able to look such horrors in the eyes and walk on.

He had thought being older and more accustomed would make it easier. He had been greatly mistaken, it had served to make it worse, it had worn him down and the predator running him in circles could finally sink its teeth into his throat and finish him off. A long never ending cycle of turmoil and grief, how arrogant the serpent was too assume he could out run what no man ever did.

"What's wrong," Kakashi placed a hand on his lovers shoulder before slipping it down to the small of his back to draw him in. He was more than worried, the Sannin could feel it in his body, the tension, the obvious sign of being petrified for the one he loved. The serpent hadn't said a word, his eyes could barely remain fixed on the man holding him. He had gone mute in his moment of utter weakness, he didn't like admitting he was breaking down and so he almost denied himself the right, instead falling into an abyss of doing nothing at all.

"He's sorry," the Sannin finally said abruptly. "I don't know what for, but he's sorry."

"Who is?" Kakashi asked gently meeting his partners shaken golden eyes, their intensity returned.

"I'm fighting them," Orochimaru said, it felt as if he was more confirming something in his own head.

"Tell me what happened," Kakashi said trying to make sense of it.

"The ninja, those bastards, those hypocrites," he hissed. "He's dead, and all he did was help them. I'm born a ninja but I don't owe them anything, and now I'll show them that."

The copy ninja tried to work it out for himself, there was only one person he could think of who had both helped and been betrayed by the shinobi. That same person may very well have muttered his apologies in his dying breath.

"He died a true shinobi," Kakashi said his dark eyes dropping for a moment as he processed the fact that someone he knew had died. It didn't matter that he did not like the man, it was always strange when death brought about a change.

"He died," Orochimaru hissed. "That's the extent of it. He is a true shinobi for the moment we say it, after that he is rotting beneath a building. No one remembers any of the true shinobi we title in the moment of death. It's sick, it's sick to make men die for a useless string of words that mean nothing at all. They trick us, that's what we are taught. To value everyone above ourselves, to sacrifice everything we love for the sake of the greater good. There is no greater good when it requires sacrifice."

"It's all right," Kakashi said he hugged the smaller males shaking form, it could have been the raw anger inside him, it sounded that way, at the same time the copy ninja knew it was the grief mixed in to it. He didn't know how to handle grief and so he handled it badly. "It's sick, it's wrong and yes perhaps they tricked us all. But we can accomplish a greater good if we are not ourselves blinded by an emotion."

He didn't know if he thought the shinobi nations tricked their youth in to going out to die, maybe he was still just brainwashed. Either way he was willing to say anything to get the snake to calm down, he was irrational and he didn't want him getting hurt over what could not be changed. The shaking of the other stopped as he steadied his breathing, golden eyes looked up into calmer black ones.

"We have to stop them," Orochimaru said, he had a new found determination the spark of an idea glinting in his still slightly glazed eyes. "I have a plan."

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Gasps echoed the city when the mighty sight revealed itself. No one knew what side the mysterious beast belonged to. An eight headed serpent, one many had seen before, but there was something different now. Blue see through armour coated it, a mask covering its long face making it that much more battle worthy, the transparent armour allowed for the fighter to meet eyes with the white serpents elegant features beneath the blue glow. The armour covered the entire hydra, spiral like patterns marking certain areas where the armour was bound together. Giant angelic wings came up behind the beast in the same transparent blue colouring, they moved rythmatically to the serpents breathing as eight heads assessed the now small looking city. Kakashi sat on one of the hydras heads maintaining the blue armour with his sharigan, he had never thought of combining the two, but now that the two elite shinobi had they were a sight to be seen. The feathery like wings marking the sign of an angel, the snake like eyes reminding them of the devil within. The blue of the Susanoo was scary alone, it was now that much more fearsome. Orochimaru hissed gently, Manda turned to look at the larger figure. He had never seen his summoner transform and he had never known a serpent bigger than he. He was injured and one of the nearer heads of the hydra looked over at the loyal summon to signal he did not have to stay any longer.

The large white tail coated in blue swished back and forth lightly as it avoided smashing what lay around it. Ninja held their breath as did the soldiers of the city. Of course the shinobi thought they had more to fear, they had been the ones who had attempted to kill the two rogues. They had been the ones to banish them without fair trial. The golden eyes did not look angered, they seemed calm. The ninja could only hope the two were not thinking of eliminating them, since they were afraid they reacted badly. Ninja engaged once again, some aiming for the hydra. Although there were many they did not seem to be harming the armoured snake which was protected by his lovers unique ability. The blue sent out lightening of the same colour which stretched across the plain to target ninja who tried to kill the NWs. At the same time eight massive heads broke up battles between the soldiers. It had only been moments before that the shinobi had an outright victory, now it seemed as if the odds were greatly out of their favour. It had taken everyone who was present a few seconds to remember they were in the middle of war, the fight continued but they had changed in energy, it was once defeated now hope was restored as was adrenalin and fury. There was a new shift to the battle and even the ninja had been made more blood lusted from it, Deidara swooped down from his bird, he hadn't seen his friend but now he had. He couldn't fathom why he was blocking the ninja off at every turn.

"Orochimaru what are you doing?!" The blond yelled as his bird hovered beside one of the great heads. A large eye snapped towards him when the serpent recognized the voice.

"The ninja are not fighting for their freedom anymore, they are fighting for revenge. Hate only breeds more hate," the raspy hiss echoed the skies. The blond rogue wasn't understanding the complexity of his statement, he was unaware of the proposal that had been coldly rejected.

"You're one of us not them," he tried again.

"I'm neither one of you or them," the voice said again with the over laying sound of a snakes hiss still making it different to the Sannins usual voice. His large tail banged down beside ninja to force them away from a group of soldiers. "The NW have called for an unconditional surrender. The ninja have ignored the request, we could have our worlds restored to normal without the need for more blood, but revenge corrupts these shinobi, they will not let it be so."

"When was the proposal made?" Deidara asked angrily, he hated being misinformed and tricked.

"Before you entered the city," Orochimaru hissed as his head snapped a shinobi out the sky as he attempted to use one of the given clay birds to harm the snakes face.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? I would have never let them enter the dome!" Deidara said, he wasn't angry with the Sannin but it ended up being directed at him inadvertently.

"They wanted me dead," the hiss was low as slitted eyes reverted to the men fighting below.

"What is the plan then?" The blond asked no longer allowing his bombs to go off, the birds rejected those who tried to mount them and they spiralled in to the sky before detonating, rendering their radius ineffective and causing no damage.

The rain cascaded down the hydra as it did the buildings that stood. Kakashi moved from the one large head to the next as he maintained the blue powerful glow.

"We will drive the ninja out, make them realize this fight it not worth it," Kakashi said as he came up. "If they come to their sense we can finally accept the unconditional surrender."

"Then let me help you speed things along hm," the blond said as he turned his bird around. He circled the skies as he divided the NW and ninja. It would have been idealistic to simply split the fighting parties without any casualties. The best the trio could do was cause as little damage as possible. Ninja were injured and they were being pushed back before they knew it, they had been over confident during the fight when they had the upper hand, however now they faced a monstrous problem. Kakashi directed the Sannin from the top, he kept his eyes on the field as he played strategist. He commanded each head separately by hopping on to the one he chose to command, it was difficult and tiring but he had little other way of communicating with the giant hydra. It wasn't long before the ninja were realizing their own mistake of turning on the rogues as powerful as they were. They were fearsome alone, when they combined their strengths they were near indestructible. One army could never hope to beat them.

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"Can you see it?" The Superior asked as he gazed out from his elaborate mansion, many had requested he go to a safer place far from the battle, but he refused out of pure arrogance. He wanted to witness his men either live or die, he didn't believe his forces could lose.

"Yes Lord Superior," Satoru said, he needed answers, he needed the mans okay on his next advance, it was a pity he didn't take matters as seriously as he should have.

"That is Orochimaru and Kakashi correct? The ones on our side?" The Superior asked. The Imperial looked at his father worriedly, he dared to say it was true, but he was equally as fearful to withhold the information.

"Yes Lord Superior," Satoru said reluctantly.

"Well then, since our surrender was rejected I suppose it's finally our time to show the ninja why they should not be so proud," the Superior said. He could see his men were winning, he could see the ninja were unable to combat the giant hydra shielded by the mighty Susanoo. He was unaware of Deidara being an ally, but the effects of his aid were showing blatantly. They watched for what felt so short but in actuality took a few hours. The Imperial watched his father more than he did the battle, he was afraid of what the man would say. As it stood he realized he knew the man too well. He was going to cancel the proposal.

"We cannot withdraw our statement, Orochimaru and Kakashi are only aiding us for so long as we are fighting for peace," Satoru said hoping the other would understand the fact that it was no simple loophole.

"They do not know we are not going to bring our soldiers back to order. Let them slaughter all the ninja, we will spare our two and allow them to live with us. After all there will be no one left," the Superior had not grasped the complexity of the matter. The Imperial bit his lip in frustration, he wanted to call his men to a halt.

He could if he wished it, they listened to him more than they did to the man they never looked in the eyes. Nya herself loved to bring it up, a rebellion, an uprise. But that was not something he wanted, he wanted to obey his father. He simply wished the man had more sense to assess such situations rather than riding off his own self confidence.

"Lord Superior, with all respect. I think the two ninja will side against us if we do not call our men to a standstill," Satoru said. "The shinobi army is no longer offensive but is merely acting out defensively. If we stop so will they. Then we can work on the agreement of peace as planned."

Disappointed eyes were thrown down at the younger man, they then changed to insulted ones as he seemed to snub his sons existence for a few brief seconds.

"My order is my order," the Superior said. "See to it that the ninja are eradicated. They are dangerous, they rejected our offer of peace. I'm not doing this because it was my first choice, but them ignoring the offer was a show of character. I'm sorry Satoru, do not feel bad. They are too wild too tame and so we must get rid of them."

"As you wish Lord Superior," Satoru said his eyes averting from the other man.

"Imperial sir?" The voice buzzed beside the man as he lifted his speaker to his mouth.

"Lieutenant," Satoru said with an edge of unsureness. "Lead the fight on."

"I'm sorry sir?" She didn't believe the words.

"Our soldiers will not turn around until they are all dead," Satoru issued the next sentence with more command, silence echoed in the speaker until finally an angered voice shook back.

"Understood sir."

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The ninja gave up their fight when it became impossible, Sasuke had attempted to bring the Sannin and copy ninja down but he was soon forced away by three allying rogues. Deidara, Kisame and Hidan could see the main threat was the Uchiha, and so they drove him out the village with bombs, water and madness. He was not subdued but he was stuck on the wrong side of the dome as he tried to get around the three powerful ninja. He was out the way for the blue shielded hydra and soon the battle had to come to a close. Golden eyes looked at the soldiers, he had a moment of hope when he thought that at the very least they may not fail. The prospect of peace could finally become a reality. He had been wrong to assume such luck would fall upon them. He felt the copy ninja shift uneasily above him and large slitted eyes looked up to see what was distressing him so.

"Kakashi," he hissed softly.

"They're not stopping," Kakashi said worriedly. "The fight should be ending, they shouldn't be advancing. They are sending out more men, more drones, they're going to kill the ninja if they do that."

"Perhaps they have no yet realized the fight no longer needs to commence," Orochimaru offered, he moved his large head across the landscape. Two large balls of fire shot in to the sky, they were not ninjas doing but the aftermath of failed bombs sent by soldiers. Two more went off, and then another three. It forced the hydra to look at the spot they emerged from.

Either one of their machines had gone haywire or someone wished to get their attention. He lowered one of his giant heads to the spot the smaller being stood, it was a single woman but she held the strength of many behind her hardened stare surrounded by burned skin.

"Nya," the snake hissed, she didn't seem nervous about his presence, but she did seem worried to part with the knowledge she evidently had.

"Our men have been told to carry out the fight until the end," she stated.

"What of the proposal?" He asked, he made sure not to show his anger, he didn't know if it would threaten her when he was in such an intimidating form.

"I don't know," she said honestly. "I must get back to my squad ninja. I don't know what you will make of this information, but you are an ally, you deserve to know what we know."

The hydra appreciated the sentiment, she would have never uttered those words days ago. He lifted his giant head slightly to look at the soldiers who still targeted the ninja.

"We will defend the ninja," he hissed. "We will force your army to stop as we did them. If the ninja choose to fight once we have spared them as we did your men then we will revert back to helping the soldiers."

"It could be an endless cycle," Nya said.

"Then so be it," Orochimaru said, he had already told Kakashi of the new plan, the copy ninja sat on the hydras head tiredly. Keeping up the form was hard, controlling the lightening which seeped out to defend was no easier.

As it turned out, a never ending cycle was exactly what it played out as. The hydra and copy ninja helped the shinobi get their footing again, but once they had they went back to attacking the NW. Without the blue shielded hydra on their side the NW army was falling, when that happened the two rogues went back to defending them. It never stopped, no side ever saw what they were blindly doing. The cycle of power, a physical manifestation. Whoever was winning forgot their morality, forgot the meaning of innocent, forget the meaning of loss, and how they were only creating a higher body count. Soon it became known to both sides that the hydra was a safety net, it would kill no one and it would defend whoever was falling down. They used the two rogues mercilessly though out the battle. Kakashi and Orochimaru soon found out the hard way that defending was more tiresome and energy draining than fighting. Helping everyone was impossible and yet it was their only plan. It wasn't working.

"What are we doing?" Orochimaru panted breathlessly his serpentine head shaking off ninja as they continued to use him to get around, he wouldn't kill them but they were not looking out for his safety. The blue shield had taken damage, it had cracks and large chunks now broke off defeatedly exposing white scales which soon seeped out with red blood.

"I don't know," Kakashi said back thorough equally laboured breaths. He didn't even try to pretend he was thinking of a plan. It was hard enough trying to keep an eye out for all the shinobi and soldiers.

"We aren't their enemy anymore, but we are no ones ally," Orochimaru said angrily. They were now their own army, the wall between two heated forces. They were taking damage accordingly.

Two hydra heads circled inside one another to create a blockade for those who merely wanted to hide. He shielded them from the bombs and the jutsu that ran rampant. The copy ninja was at a loss for words, that and it was hard to both breathe and talk. He had sustained injury on top of his efforts as more than once someone had been agitated by the hydra saving their target; more blue fell from the giants face. Orochimaru screeched as the blue cracked and a plane lost control exploding in to him. He hissed in pain and threw his eyes at the source, it was a ninja who had done brought the chopper down and he knew well that it had harmed the same serpent that had saved him moments before. He could have killed the man, it was so easy to snap him up. He shook away the agony his large head drooping down slightly in exhaustion. They were using the two for all they were worth and it was killing them.

"Stay with me," Kakashi said. He was equally as tired, he took a knock when his armour cracked, it was breaking down slowly but surely given the fact that they now faced two armies. One army had never managed to dent the great combined beast, but two was doing the job. It was obvious that it was due to the blue shielded hydra not fighting back. The odds would have turned if it did. But that would bring about nothing in terms of the two ninjas goal, they wanted peace, they did not want to wipe out ninja and NW kind. The hydra pined in an animalistic manner before he saw something writhing in the buildings. He would have over looked it had he not recognized the scent.

Serpents had keen senses and he had those heightened by thousands given his size. He watched Asuma try in vain to get away from the crushing clutches of a fallen building. He looked much like Saura, wedged and injured. He was not quite in the same state, he could be freed if the building was moved. He was not crushed, he was stuck tightly, but he was not broken beneath it. He was panicked regardless. His group was with him as they tried to help him move, when they saw the NW soldiers approaching they backed away. The serpent could see what Asuma was saying, he was asking them to stay and fight, he did not want to die. He wanted to live out his days, but as it stood he was trapped and the predators had found his still fresh body. Kakashi could not see it, he could not sense the distress amid all the chaos. He had no means of knowing someone he considered a good friend was about to take his final breaths. That was if the hydra had nothing to say about it. He could turn a blind eye, he had sentenced the two of them to death. He had brought this upon Saura, the man shared a similar fate strapped painfully below heavy weights until he ran out of blood. He had killed someone the Sannin cared about, he had done if before the Sannin had even been able to realize he saw the man as a friend. He didn't have many, and he found as time went on death generally made his list that much shorter. He hissed in anger and then felt Kakashi call to him in reassurance.

But it would not be his loss if the man died. It would mean he had chosen to let the copy ninja feel the same pain he had when he saw someone he cared about die. Asuma would have killed the serpent, he didn't doubt that. They had become closer after the first war, in fact Asuma had once saved him. He didn't know how the battle the second time around had brought about such a shift, how it had somehow made them all revert back to their old selves filled with hate. For a brief moment the snake remembered living with Kakashi before the second war came about. He remembered Asuma trying his best to act casual despite the fact that truly didn't like the Sannin. But he had tried, that was something the serpent would give him. The snake knew he was not perfect by any means. He had given the man reason to hate him he supposed, although he wished it would be different he would be a hypocrite to save all the ninja except for him due to personal reasons. It was a lesson Kakashi had taught him, the copy ninja had imparted much moral wisdom. The Sannin knew how the world affected everyone, but the copy ninja knew how everyone affected the world. The men raised their guns they were sent backwards as a large head smashed down near to them, they stumbled away as for a brief moment they thought the snake had lost it and wanted to kill them. They ran and the hydra made no move to chase after them despite being large enough to simply swallow them whole.

Asuma met his large golden eye with as much fear as he had the gun, he swallowed hard to compose himself.

"You're here to kill me," he said. "It's only fair. I challenged you first."

The hydra did not reply even though he had the ability to. He didn't know what he would say so instead he spoke with actions. He used his large muzzle to prop the building up as he slowly lifted it to ensure no falling pieces would kill the Jonin. The man took a moment as he had sworn the giant mouth was coming to eat him. He scrambled out from the trap until he was far from the sites hold where he turned to look up at the hydra, they met eyes, beast and man never once using words until the serpent flicked his gaze elsewhere before issuing a warning hiss to an approaching helicopter in the distance.

"Thank you," Asuma said, but the snake was gone from earshot as he had swept his large head off the floor to engage in an air fight. He would not allow the machine to shoot at ninja from the skies. Kakashi moved on to the head next to the one he had just been resting on, he still had no idea the Sannin had even seen his friend.

"You're losing too much blood," Kakashi said as he caught his lovers attention.

"I can do nothing about that," Orochimaru said honestly. Eight large heads restlessly defended whoever needed it. If he turned back to human there would be a blood bath and no one would come out the victor. The copy ninja knew it too, but he didn't think it safe to progress as they were.

"We can't let you carry on like this," Kakashi said, he was speaking big but as it stood he too was in bad shape. Both physically and mentally the duo was drained to the brink of their lives. Orochimaru was about to reply when he was smashed in to, fighting had led to more buildings plummeting and those large structures crashed on top of the hydra. He wriggled to get them off but the glass that made the windows and walls sliced in to his unguarded flesh. The copy ninja tried to make more of his blue shield but he was losing chakara at far too great a rate. He was letting the snake down he thought panicked, he needed him to stop the world from physically damaging him, but he was not doing so when he had too little chakara to fix his guard.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi shot as he tried to make the blue grow stronger. They hydra didn't hear him, he was being swallowed by buildings and bombs, glass raked his sides and created large gashes in his once pure white scales. At times the shards even managed to tear out chunks of his flesh. He writhed as he escaped them, he could shake them off but he could not stop them from falling. The armies needed to stop fighting, they were not aiming at they hydra but in their attempts to kill one another they were doing a good job of it. The shinobi and soldiers knew well what their actions effects on the Sannin and copy ninja were, but they paid it no attention as their priority was winning the battle.

It was hopeless as one of the great heads fell down to the floor in a mighty bang, dust and rubble shifting out hurriedly in its wake. Then another head fell, they were no longer able to defend as one by one the mighty creature was brought to its knees. The hydra whimpered out in a distressed high pitched hiss. He heard the copy ninja yell to him, he heard his voice hinging on insanity as he tried to do what he could to revive the serpent. But he was only one man, and he had nothing in his power to help his lover. The words were not easy to make out when the hydras senses were blurred and a loud ringing was filling his ears. He couldn't help but feel at peace, he could not feel his injuries any longer. It was unknown to him whether that was something to be happy about or worried over. Darkness faded in as he could only see directly in front of him for the briefest of moments. He didn't know what was passing over him but he fought nothing, if it was sleep he would wake up to a world in ruin, if it were death he would let it take his mind into nonexistence or perhaps a life that never ended. Golden eyes shut as rain ran down his serpentine nose falling into a mixture of quickly dying flames and blood. He had never thought he would be subdued by death, but the world was a cruel place and he had grown tired.

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The ninja and soldiers had paused their fighting, the dying sound of the hydra echoed in their minds long after it faded from the skies. They watched as the blue guard fell away the wings beating desperately as if trying to lift the fallen beast back up. Eventually the blue separated from the hydra to form a large male like figure, the blue wings still held to his back. He held a giant sword in his hand as his armoured appearance hovered above the serpent which took shallow breaths that faded with every passing minute. Ninja watched the angel like monster drop to its knees as Kakashi did, it was his energy and the blue magnitude copied his movements exactly. The wings lowered in turmoil beside the eight headed giant. No one could see the copy ninja himself as he rested a hand on the giant snakes face. He begged and pleaded for him to wake up as the rain pounded against him in mockery. No one could see him, but they knew what he was doing as the blue Susanoo mimicked him, the sadness in its posture alone, the wilting form of the mighty looking divine soldier. He could feel tears in his eyes, he didn't cry often but he would do so now that he watched his lover die.

He was dying for something the copy ninja had taught him, he had told him to be a true shinobi, he had taught him to show mercy. He slammed a hand on the ground and yelled out, that yell of agony could be heard by some who were closer. He yelled he was sorry again and again.

"Wake up!"

"What do you want?" Kakashi asked.

"To live without war and to exist without judgement," Orochimaru said. "But ultimately to see you no longer bound by your own guilt. You can't be perfect, if you let someone down it is not to say you didn't do all you could. Do what's best at the time my love, don't let others hold you hostage by using your kind nature against you."

But he had, he had let him down. He was not kind he thought, he was foolish. He had tried pleasing the world and he had sacrificed his lover to do so. He was a fool. Nothing more, not a great man, not a kind man and not a true shinobi. Still he pleaded with the gods to spare his lover, pleaded with the Sannin to defy the odds of death. He had done so many times, how could it be different now. The blue shuddered as he lost focus of his own ability, blue lightning struck the ground dangerously as he got lost in grief. He had no one to call, they had no one to call. The serpent was dying because he wished to save others, he had wanted to try the will of the fire nation once more. He had carried the flag of the shinobi race on his back and they had let him die. They had used him until he could be used no more. Blood poured from many injuries on the copy ninjas own form, but the pain of those wounds could not even dream to compare to the stabbing feeling of despair he felt. He yelled for the snake to get up again. He was immortal, he was unable to be killed. He could not end this way, he could not die before his time.

"Please-please don't go."

"It's a big step to victory," Kakashi said, he hugged the smaller ninja to him and met his stare. "But I don't want to win this war alone. You've got to promise me you'll be careful, you've got to promise me you'll make it out alive."

"I promise," Orochimaru said with an amused smile. "I'm immortal. I can't die."

The copy ninja wished it was true but he watched as death circled the hydra, as it threatened to consume the man who dared say it could not do so. Every moment of anger he had ever felt, every fight, every wasted moment with the Sannin had the copy ninja whimper in defeat. There was so much he wished he could undo, so much he wished he could redo. He had risked the others life many times for his own morals, and then he had accused the male many times and even questioned his acts, his humanity. He was more human than anyone he had ever met, so disastrously human.

"I don't do it for my image, I do it because it is right." Kakashi snapped back.
"Is that so?" Orochimaru replied, "well my last few days here have been rather rough, so excuse me for being a little bit pissed that you chose to spare some kid on the streets life, which in a typical twist of fate means I must be stuck here again. To endure hell knows what for the next few months before low and behold we get given another opportunity you may very well squander again."
"Next time you can run off on your own then. If I'm such a burden when I try to do what ninja were trained to do." Kakashi snapped again, "we weren't trained for self gain, we were trained to save lives."

"I'm sorry- I was wrong," he could not say anything else as the old words spoken tried to finish him off. Guilt was overriding his every other emotion, he could not even notice the fact that the battle had taken a moment of silence. The hydra had been an ally to no one and yet it had been a saviour to them all. They could not help but feel something looking at its lifeless form, looking at the sight of a lover loose what made him fight the hardest, his ability to love had made him fight and now it had broken him. They could not raise their weapons, it would be the utmost of disrespect to his death. The sound of rain was the only thing that dared unsettle the tense and morbid scene. Once the bad memories had flooded the copy ninjas mind he remembered all the good ones. He now had all the things he knew he'd regret at the surface of his mind, as if that was not enough, grief gave him all the memories of the things he would miss. The serpent did not open up to anyone, he was so closed and passive. Emotionless, yet he had opened up to the copy ninja, he had put himself on the line. He did not trust but he trusted the Jonin, he did not love, but he had loved.

"You going in there?" Orochimaru asked, his partner followed his gesture and saw the haunted house.

"Why, too afraid to go in alone?" Kakashi asked, knowing full well that the odds were his lover was more brave than he could ever be. Demons and the darkest halls was where Orochimaru had once made his home. Orochimaru shoved his partner lightly with an amused smile before he faked a frightened tone.

"Oh but of course my love." His voice rasped, "what would I ever do with out you by my side."

He would be alive, the copy ninja thought. That's what he would be, he would have likely found his goal of living forever. All the copy ninja ever managed to do was let the people he cared about the most die, he let them down time and time again. His hand slipped off the serpents face. The breath of the serpent was slowing and soon it was hard to tell it was breathing at all. The silence was in itself a representation of the moments lack of movement, anyone who thought themselves able to fight on withered away as they all looked around. Avoidable. That's what it was. They did not have to fight, and the two ninja had given them many times to choose that path. They had offered it until one of them took their final breaths. It was in that moment that they realized they were not different. None of them thought themselves superior, they felt like monsters, like savages. They all felt themselves on equal grounds for once in their lives, they were not different. They then realized something they wished they had realized sooner, should their differences have even mattered? They were equally as capable of harming others, of killing, of forgetting right from wrong. They were no different. They were all human. The voice shattered the air as the wings of the angelic being crumbled.

There were so many things he wanted to scream at him, he wanted to do it loudly so that even in the faraway place of whatever realm the Sannin ended up in he could hear what he had to say. "You're human-" He choked, for all the times people said he wasn't. "We'll meet again I swear it-" he said, for all the times people said he would go to hell. Then his voice dropped into a broken silence as he spoke again.

"I love you- god I love you-"

Authors note- this is the second last chapter, I hope everyone is ready for the end that has come. Thank you to those who have reviewed, I love all of them, they really help to keep me motivated. Vampiredoll666 you rock and don't you forget it! Also FMA Yaoi Addict you rock too! Thanks for all the kind words lately everyone.