AN: This is an AU fic started long before chaps 280 etc were out. Hence plot skews from canona little.

I have raised Tayuya, Kidoumaru and Jiroubou from the dead because if Neji and Chouji can come back from seeming death, so can the cooler characters!

I have no idea what calendar the Naruto-verse uses, so it's made up. This is set just after the time-skip.

For SilencedLambs who requested an "Armistice piece" akin to the Christmas day football that purportedlytook place during WWI. In memory of all those brave souls.

Heroes and Generals

In the year 670, known also as the Year of Tears in many circles, the second of the Great Shinobi Wars began. It had started out in such a simple way, as these things so often do. On the third of March, 669, four agents of Konoha made contact with a double agent working deep in the heart of the Sound hierarchy. This contact, one Yakushi Kabuto, delivered information on the whereabouts and activities of his master Orochimaru and the missing Konoha nin, Uchiha Sasuke, to the agents of Konoha in exchange for his own life. He continued to provide details for a further six months until discovery of his activities by Uchiha Sasuke lead to his flight from Sound and subsequent allegiance with the country of Stone.

Upon the discovery of the Yakushi's whereabouts, the Council of Sand demanded that the traitor who had been complicit in the murder of their former Kazekage, be immediately handed over to them for trial. The country of Stone refused. In the same year, the Village of Sound, in allegiance with organisations unknown, began a frontal assault upon the country of Fire.

Thus began the Second Great Shinobi War.

oOo

The war had dragged on for almost three years now.

In the beginning, the predictions had been optimistic, with many influential figures stating publicly that the war would be over by the following spring. Even then, the idea had sounded foolishly optimistic to Genma's ears. Even if the war were to last but a few months, half a year at most, the fighting would still have to carry on through the winter. Dark months that would be cold, miserable and filled with the killing bite of snow.

Raidou had simply pursed his lips and shrugged unhappily when the two had fallen to discussing the news. In his eyes, the most they could do was hope for the best and deal with things as they came up. It was, he had said, the only real way of coping with war. Genma had laughed bleakly and invited his best friend out to sushi. After all, what more could they do?

That had been three years ago now and since that time there had been little to smile about. Raidou no longer served with Genma on the wavering front lines. The exploding chakra tag that had taken off his left arm and broken half his ribs had rendered him unfit for fighting and even now, a year later, he still had difficulty breathing. It simply meant that there was a Stone nin out there for whom Genma had put aside his sharpest kunai.

These days Raidou ran messages back and forth between the frontlines and the mobile HQ unit, wherever it was currently located. Now that the country of Lightning had leant its support to Sound, Konoha was fighting a war along almost the entirety of its northern border and the frontline was forever changing.

In this, the end of the second year of war and the beginning of the third, they had already weathered two winters and were halfway through their third. Existence was a grim, bitter struggle against an enemy that wore many faces. The enemy nin were lean and fast, and some of them bore with them the memories of another time. There were those on each side of the war who fought with the shades of the long dead hovering at their shoulders.

And for this war, each country turned out their most fearsome and exotic jutsus. Genma had heard tell of giant rock creatures that had come lumbering out of the plains of Grass to stalk the region that had fallen to Stone's forces. The sky to the northeast was a constant shadow of storm-darkened clouds and there were rumours of a woman from Sound whose music was so enticing that it could raise the fallen and send them forward to continue fighting even in death. It made Genma sick to think of it.

But the enemies of Konoha were more than the warriors of Stone and Lightning and Sound. The winter was a harsh and cruel mistress whose embrace stole away the lives of those too sick from battle fatigue or weakened from their wounds. The number of dead this year was made ever greater by the onset of the cold. The bitter chill sapped at the strength of all those forced to endure it and stole away at the will that kept them alive.

Genma slapped his gloved hands together, rubbing them furiously and breathing into the leather of the gloves in an attempt to alleviate the pain of frozen extremities. The soft skip of footsteps over the snow brought his attention up and around and after a split-second's visual confirmation, he nodded a greeting to the figure that approached. The other nin leapt lightly down into the concealed shelter, head low to avoid attracting foreign kunai.

"Message from third division. Code delta-four-zero. Priority four," the newcomer said. "Should give us enough time to catch our breath before we have to move out."

Genma nodded and took the proffered scroll from the other's grasp, unfurling it and skimming his eyes down over the details to the Hokage's seal at the base. At his side the other nin pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one with a carefully practiced movement. Genma glanced to the side and frowned. "The medics said those things aren't good for you anymore."

Raidou laughed mirthlessly. "They were never good for me in the first place. Here."

Genma accepted the proffered cigarette and lit it with the lighter that Raidou offered.

"How's it going back there?"

Raidou shrugged and breathed out a plume of grey smoke.

"They've got the kids fighting on the northern line. The Kyuubi is at the front causing havoc amongst the Stone. Someone got word that the Uchiha was out that way somewhere and he and the Haruno were up there like a shot. Haven't heard much else since. We're losing ground in the East. Ibiki lost two thirds of his force last week and had to withdraw as far as the second sector. Bastard Cloud."

Raidou paused for breath and took another drag on his cigarette before continuing.

"Grass has got word out that they need help. Apparently Stone has been trashing civilian villages up and down the country and only keeping the ones where they have troops stationed. It's disgusting. But the Hokage says there's not a lot we can do."

Genma shook his head and flicked ash into the frozen mud at his feet. "What about Mist?" he asked.

Raidou made a sour face. "Still claiming neutrality," he replied.

"Until they can figure out who's winning," Genma finished for him.

They stood in dour silence after that, finishing their cigarettes and bracing themselves for the fight to come. After a while, Genma nodded to his once-partner and the pair left the shelter, heads low. One heading back to base, the other to gather his troops for the attack.

oOo

Kidoumaru sat in the highest branches of the tree, his back against the trunk and pulled the scarf a little higher over his nose. Beneath the thick wool he shivered. After all this time he thought he'd at least be used to the cold; but this year, this year, the frost had come early and the chill had been deep and bitter. It had been the worst winter the youth had ever experienced.

Miserably he scratched at the bandage on his arm. The deep slash beneath was a throbbing, itching mass of aggravation and it was driving him insane. One of the medic nins had purged the poison from the wound – even with Tayuya glaring down over the woman's shoulder he hadn't been able to keep in the hiss of pain her jutsu elicited – and now it was non-toxic, but still incredibly tender. Kidoumaru knew from experience that given enough time the cold numbed all feeling. He deeply wished it would numb his arm.

The wound was from last night's attack, when the forces from Leaf had come swooping soundlessly down from the forest canopy and fallen onto the main camp like vengeful ghosts. The attack had been so utterly soundless that it had taken a few, vital moments for it to register that there were enemies in the camp before anyone had mobilised. By that point the outer circle was completely broken and the Leaf nin had been in amongst the main body of the camp. One of their number had taken down the alarm jutsu set up around the perimeter which said immediately to Kidoumaru that the senbon-spitting commander had been with them. He hadn't seen him amongst the shadows of flashing steel and sulphur, but he knew from past experience that the troublesome man was highly proficient at disarming almost any combination of alarm weaves that the Sound nin used. It could only have been him. Kidoumaru hoped desperately that it had been, he couldn't cope with another one with such skill out there.

He chewed thoughtfully at the inside of the scarf, musing over figures and skim-read reports from this morning, assessing and predicting. Working through the numbers and coming out again and again at the same conclusion.

The Leaf did not so much have the advantage here, (home ground for them this may have been, but the forces from Stone and Sound had been here long enough that they could very nearly call this place home themselves), as they had no-where else to go. If they backed up any further, they'd risk Kokori Genji's phalanx of Stone nin sweeping in from the sides and cutting them off from their main route home.

Kidoumaru didn't like Genji. The Stone nin commander was silent and contemptuous and stung to the core that he was forced through reasons of politic to take orders from a deformed freak like Kidoumaru. It made the Sound nin grin to think of it. Tayuya didn't like him either and that suited Kidoumaru just fine too.

Genji's first mistake had been sneering at Kidoumaru's exotic physique. His second had been to then smile charmingly at Tayuya. After that, things had simply gone downhill for the Stone nin.

There was the barest of sounds at the base of the tree and he glanced downwards warily. The cloaked figure standing in the snow was peering upwards intently, one hand shielding its eyes from the drifting snow. Tendrils of red hair poked out around the pale, frowning face and Kidoumaru grinned behind the scarf and waved down at the kunoichi.

He scooted across as she landed on the branch beside him and settled at his side, back against the trunk. She sat on his right, her blind side to him and dumped a flask and a canvas sack in his lap.

"Jiroubou sends his love," she said dryly and Kidoumaru laughed. The sack contained meat and cereal bars and fruit, fruit, and he stuffed an apple in his mouth as he pulled out sandwiches and passed them across to Tayuya.

"There's soup in the flask too," she said, picking it up and unscrewing the lid. The spicy, aromatic scent of beef floated out and made Kidoumaru's mouth water.

They sat in silence as they ate and watched the snow fall softly. Finally Kidoumaru leant back with a satisfied sigh and slipped the scarf back into place around his nose. Beside him, Tayuya drained her cup of soup and then tilted her head back to finish off the last dregs from the flask. Carefully, he watched her from the corner of his eye. The left side of her face bore a red and puckered scar that ran from her left temple, across her ruined eye and down her cheek, ending at the corner of her mouth where it pulled her lips into a deceptive permanent half-smile. A remnant of their brush with death so long ago. The horrific time that none of them, by silent unspoken understanding, ever mentioned.

Tayuya looked tired. It was in the subdued pulse of her chakra, the paleness of her skin and the bags under her eyes. But mostly it was in the wariness of her expression. The caged look of someone who has seen the inevitable and yet sees no way to escape it. Kidoumaru suspected that he wore much the same expression on his own features. Letting out a deep breath, he turned his gaze back on the forest. "So, how's it going down there?" he asked eventually.

He heard her sigh softly, her hands turning the flask in her lap round and round. It was a long time before she replied, and when she did her voice was low and quiet.

"They're tired. They're cold. They're sick. Never better."

Once she would have sworn at him and cursed his stupidity for even having to ask the question. Stop being so fucking stupid, how do you think it's going? But that was a long time ago, and although her temperament was as abrasive and unforgiving as ever, there had grown up a tolerance between them that came from surviving so much, so often, together. Going out to die and yet remarkably, miraculously, coming back time and time again. It gave them a certain understanding of each other.

Kidoumaru pressed his head back against the rough bark and breathed out slowly. Around them the flakes of snow continued to fall, spiralling lazily downwards uncaring and unknowing, untouched by the knowledge of their lethality. His eyes picked out a single flake and followed its path until it became lost amidst the white blanketing the forest floor.

"Just a few more months now," he replied, and Tayuya's gaze found his face and lingered there, good eye narrowed in what might have been contempt, might have been irritation and might, if it had not disappeared so quickly, have been despair.

oOo

They had a board set up in the base camp upon which was an ongoing game of shogi. It was open to anyone to play, and they marked whose turn it was by whether the tin cup set beside it was upside down or not. That evening, with the flames from an oil lamp making their shadows leap and flicker on the canvas walls of the tent, Genma faced Raidou across the board. In the corner of the tent, lying limp and dead to the world was the figure of an ANBU. They hadn't taken his mask off. Once he delivered his message they simply caught him as he fell and carried him over to the bench along one wall to sleep. Raidou had pulled a blanket over him and Genma had bunched a shirt under his head as a makeshift pillow.

The usually crowded mess tent was devoid of other shinobi. They had cleared out at Genma's glare to give their commander room to hear the message in privacy. Usually they would have used the commander's tent for the meeting, but during the night attack a few days back, it had acquired a ragged tear across its roof that let in the wind and the snow and as yet no-one had had the energy to fix it. Genma figured that for that oversight the other shinobi could push off back to their own tents for the duration.

"Your turn, you know," he said. Raidou made a small noise but didn't take his eyes off the sleeping ANBU.

"Makes me wonder what the hell's happened since I came that way if he's turned up in this state," he replied. Genma grunted and took a sip from his canteen.

"Don't think about it."

Raidou turned to his friend with a look of incredulity on his face. "Easy for you to say, you don't have to head back that way in a few days' time."

The light of the lantern reflected in Genma's eyes made it hard to see where he was looking, but Raidou understood from the sudden stillness of the other nin that he was only too aware of the situation. Both Raidou and Genma had worked stints in the ANBU, Raidou's much shorter that Genma's, and both understood the significance of an operative that turned up half-dead to deliver a message.

It was common knowledge that since both Grass and Waterfall had fallen to Stone, the forces of the Southern Union had been stretched to their limit. Fire had never really recovered from Sand's misinformed attack all those years ago, and even now, standing allied with both Wind, Tea, Rain and River countries, they maintained their position primarily through sheer dogged determination. That and the remarkable number of heroes the country possessed. The Kyuubi, Haruno-sama, the Copy Nin, Jiraiya-sama. The list went on.

Raidou picked up the remaining silver general, turning it in his fingers before setting it down with a click on the board. It captured a pawn with the movement and directly threatened three more, turning what had been a long, drawn-out stand into a rout almost immediately. Just like a hero, he thought. And unlike a hero, it was right here in front of him.

"You know," he said suddenly and then stopped. Genma, sitting with arms folded and leant against the table, looked up after a few seconds and frowned. "Know what?"

"Heroes."

"What about them?"

"It's why we play shogi."

"You think."

"Yeah. Heroes."

Genma regarded his friend over the board and the senbon in his mouth flicked up and down. When no further comment was forthcoming, he picked up a knight and shifted it across the board. Raidou frowned down at the move and pushed a pawn forward to block the attack.

"It's the only real access we have to control in a situation like this. Because we're out here on the front line, starving and freezing our arses off and spilling out our blood and guts so that our heroes can do what it is they do and get here in time to save the day. We're all pawns, every single one of us, waiting for the knights and the generals to step forward from the back ranks and do their thing. Save the day. There's no control in this for us. There's just the enemy closing in on all sides."

You've been a shinobi for how long and it's taken you until now to come up with this? Genma thought to himself. Out loud he said, "Cheerful tonight then."

Raidou smiled tightly as his pawn was pushed aside by Genma's rook. "But that's just it you see. We hold here, in limbo, until the heroes turn up. Our heroes or theirs, whichever. Of course, we hope it's ours, because you know, that way we stand a better chance of living. But either way, it's definitive when they do."

Genma's senbon flicked to the other side of his mouth. "And you think that's why we play shogi, do you?"

"Yeah, I do. It's a way of taking back control."

The senbon bobbed and dipped. "Personally you know, I just play it for something to do while we're waiting."

Raidou grinned and raised an eyebrow in amusement. A gust of cold wind made the lantern flicker and they both glanced across at the door flap. It wavered slightly, caught by the breath of bitter wind from outside. Across the way, the corner of the tent lay empty. The blanket was folded and the shirt had been placed neatly on top of it, but the ANBU operative was gone.

Genma shook his head and sighed. "Your move," he said. "I'll go and tell the others they can come back in."

"Don't forget to tell them the good news," Raidou replied dryly. Genma grunted something unintelligible in return and pulled a cloak around his shoulders before ducking outside. Raidou picked up the canteen and took a swig whilst he considered the board. It was a difficult situation. His jewelled general was being threatened on two sides, three if Genma had seen the other opening on the right hand side.

But he had plenty of time to decide his next move. The ANBU's message had been quite clear. Hold position and make no additional advancements until further notice was given. Raidou sighed. Decisions, decisions. Perhaps he'd ask some of the others to give him a hand.

oOo

Kidoumaru was scratching designs into the frost coating the tree trunk when Tayuya found him. His face was pulled into a scowl of concentration and the stick he was using looked to have been broken many times in order to sharpen its point enough to draw.

"Use a kunai, you prat," she said.

"Can't. Threw 'em all at the Leaf."

Tayuya huffed and settled herself gingerly on the branch next to his. "What are you doing anyway?"

"Designing a new alarm seal. I'm sick of that bastard undoing all the regular ones."

The design he was scratching into the ice was complex. It looked like a jumble of knotted thread and kanji, too intricate for her eyes to easily follow from this distance. Instead, with his attention fixed upon his etching, she ran her gaze over his hunched form. A thick cloak hid most of his body from her view, but she knew from rare, brief glances in the base that he had lost a startling amount of weight. She suspected that he was ill, but had never found a way to ask that wouldn't sound stupid and motherly to her ears.

Kidoumaru's face was haggard, made more so by the expression of concentration pulling at it, and there were dark bags under his eyes. His gaze itself was bright however; too bright she thought personally. It was a heightened, fevered version of the enthusiasm of old, before those kids had turned everything to shit. Before the mission, and the deaths, and the silence.

Before Uchiha bloody Sasuke.

If it hadn't been for that bastard twisting the ear of Orochimaru-sama, they'd still be back at Sound rather than freezing their arses off out here.

Tayuya had started out life not caring for the rest of the Sound nin. She hadn't even cared that much, if at all, about her closest workmates – hell, one of them would have been only too glad to see her dead if it meant more attention from their Lord. But three long years of association and leadership and responsibility had taken their toll. These days, she cared. When one of her subordinates was injured by the Leaf, it angered her. When one of them died by the hand of the enemy, she was enraged. When they looked to her, loyal, expecting her to provide solutions, know the answer, take away the pain and the cold and the hurt, it mattered.

They were hers in all their twisted, vicious, backstabbing glory and she was failing them because she had all of the responsibility and none of the answers. Because unlike the mad-eyed Uchiha with his fire and his curse-seal, she was nothing. Not a hero, not a lord. Just a burnt-out shell of what she'd once been.

Tayuya frowned and her fist tightened in the folds of her cloak.

"It's not that bad is it? I'll set it up myself anyway so no-one will need showing how."

Kidoumaru's voice was amused as he threw a glance over his shoulder. "I'm sick to death of that bastard creeping around and undoing everything I set up. I don't know how he's doing it, we must have read the same textbooks or something. Hey…are you okay?"

Was she okay? How could he ask such a thing. Aghast, she stared at him. The world was going to hell around them and all he could do was fiddle with some stupid alarm seal that was just about the extent of the sealing he could still support with his burnt-out chakra reserves, even as around them their forces slowly gave in and succumbed to despair.

Tayuya stared into the over-bright eyes of her friend and saw that he knew only too well what was going on. He was a commander, just as she was, and he saw the situation just as clearly. Her eyes fell on the seal etched into the tree trunk and when she spoke, her voice was subdued and low.

"They need you. You have to come back down and be with them."

Kidoumaru looked down and to the side, his eyes settling on the ground somewhere below. A small, bitter smile pulled at his lips and for a moment she thought that he was going to refuse. And then he brightened, and the smile turned to a shadow of that boyish grin he used to wear.

"Yeah, sure."

Once Kidoumaru had scraped away all traces of his etching, it did not take them long to make their way back through the coiling snow. It was bitterly cold and the air stole the breath from their lungs with its chill. What small trace they left behind was quickly covered by fresh snow. Kidoumaru nodded to the outer sentries and stepped carefully over the lines of their seal crafting, following Tayuya's lead.

They could smell the camp long before it came in sight. Smoke from the fires crept through the air no matter how well concealed or dampened with jutsus. The issue had long ago ceased to be of top concern; the Leaf knew that the forces of Sound and Stone were out there and there were only so many places fit to set up a main camp. In much the same way the Sound forces had the general idea of where their enemies had pitched their own base. Such was the way of this war.

As they entered the circle of the main camp Kidoumaru took a long, hard look around. It had been a long time now since he had stayed any length of time within the base, these days he preferred the solitude of the outer sentry duty. That had left Tayuya on her own in charge of both her division and the majority of the daily dealings of his own.

As he looked around, he winced. He hadn't noticed much before, too caught up in his own gloom, but the camp had split itself very much into two distinct factions. Weasel-eyed Kokori Genji's Stone nin on the ground, and his own and Tayuya's Sound nin camping out in the branches of the trees themselves. He glanced up and noticed sadly that they had been here long enough for his forces to set up a kind of permanent tree-village of stretched canvas and branches. It was untidy and crude, but it looked sturdy enough. Several faces were peering down over the edge of one branch at them both and Kidoumaru realised that he was staring. He turned the gloom he could feel in his expression into a cheerful grin and waved casually up at his subordinates. They looked briefly surprised and then waved back with varying amounts of startled enthusiasm.

"Tea, sir?" one of them called down to him. Kidoumaru looked up at the row of thin, hopeful faces and felt ill. No shinobi should be that young and that desperately expectant, as though everything rode on the approval of one superior. He hoped to God that he had never looked that way and forcefully pushed down the tiny voice that said quite clearly that he had been once, and worse.

Beside him, Tayuya huffed and gave him a sideways glance.

"Come on then," Kidoumaru said to her through still lips, and then up to the other shinobi, "Good idea! Brew us both one!"

The tea was bitter and foul-tasting, but they drank it anyway. As they sipped, Kidoumaru encouraged the other shinobi to talk to him with careful questions and a ready grin. Tayuya sat at his side, her eyes on the interwoven branches and nodded along with their words. Encouraged by this, the younger shinobi began to speak more freely.

Kidoumaru could feel his grin begin to slip as he listened to the need and the despair in the voices of his subordinates. The year had not been kind to any of them. Death, injury, sickness, cold, hunger; all took their toll. A shinobi was trained to be a weapon and feel no remorse. Kidoumaru firmly believed that anybody who gave credit to that idea was a damned fool and had never done a day's honest shinobi work in their entire life.

Night fell and with it came more snow. The little group gathered around the stove began to swell in numbers as other shinobi crept out of the darkness and the surrounding branches began to fill with shadowy forms. As the main speakers became more confidant, Kidoumaru knew that talk would inevitably work its way around to the subject of the Sound Five. Even with the events so many years ago, the legend of the Sound Five lived on; overgrown, out of proportion and almost completely inaccurate. But somehow, the topic never came up. When Kidoumaru met the eyes of the small shinobi handing him another cup of tea, he saw there respect and a secret kept. And a heavy dose of hero-worship that almost made him shake his head. Instead he took a drink and was surprised at the sweet, spicy taste.

"Wha-what is this?" he asked in surprise as the small shinobi handed around more of his brew. The other man smiled and nodded and didn't answer. One of the kunoichi, a tall dark-haired woman, leant over and answered for him.

"It's special, for tonight. He makes it himself."

Kidoumaru didn't want to ask what made tonight special and from the nodding he could feel coming from the shadows around them, he had the distinct feeling that he really ought to already know. Tayuya stepped in and saved him.

"New Year's Eve," she said quietly, sipping at the tea. "That's a good blend, Atai."

The slight shinobi's answering grin put Kidoumaru to shame. He hadn't even known his name. The handle of the mug bit into his fingers as he gripped it and closed his eyes. Around him he could hear the soft murmuring of voices and occasionally a brief burst of muffled laughter. Too short, too little. New Year's Eve. Already. How had he lost count?

A sudden thought struck him and a smile pulled at the edges of his mouth. Tayuya would no doubt kill him for this one.

"Tayuya," he said, and she glanced sideways at him. "Have you still got your flute?"

Her glance sharpened to a glare that said you know damned well I have, and her mouth tightened. Around them the other shinobi's interest sharpened. They had all heard of Tayuya's legendary flute, though few had ever heard her play. Kidoumaru suspected that he may be the only one present to have witnessed it firsthand.

He knew, as did Jiroubou, that Tayuya could no longer access her curse seal. None of them could, not after the abuse they had put their bodies through during that chase all those years ago. Some things just never healed. But Tayuya, Tayuya still carried her flute, and she still brought it out on occasion to play when it was just the three of them and no-one else there to judge.

For a long time they locked gazes, and around them, sensing that something was afoot, the gathered shinobi fell silent. Tayuya's glare had hardened to pure steel and Kidoumaru began to wonder why on earth he'd said anything. But stubborn to the end, he pushed on.

"After all, it's New Year's Eve. We can't have New Year's without some music to celebrate. Everyone loves music, Tayuya. And, we are Sound..."

Slowly, Tayuya shook her head and the barest of smiles touched her lips. Breaking gazes with him she glanced around at the expectant faces and made a soft sound of irritation.

"Someone go get Jiroubou," she said gruffly. "I can't be playing without him, he'll get arsey and we need him to cook."

There was muffled laughter and two people got up, hesitated and then grinning, began a race down the side of he tree in the direction of the command tent. Kidoumaru watched them go and winced at the kunai that appeared in their hands. Some things never changed.

From a pocket in her sleeve, Tayuya removed a slender silver flute. It was new, or old, whichever way you looked at it, Kidoumaru mused. A gift from him in the long days of recovery they had endured back at Sound, under Kabuto's dubious care. It had been a risk even back then, and when she had first held the thin case in her bandaged hands he had thought she was furious. For a long time she had set it aside before one day it vanished and he realised that she had started to carry it with her.

Pushing the cowl of her cloak back a little, Tayuya raised the flute to her lips and began to play. The melody was simple and pure in the breathless silence that greeted it. It was an old song, delightful in its rhythm and tumbling with notes that made it seem like the laughter of the flute embodied. Sometime during the first melody, a tall, dark shape shifted at the edge of the group and the gathered shinobi moved quickly aside to accommodate Jiroubou. The huge nin loomed at the back of the group, his arms folded and a strange, wistful smile on his wide features. Kidoumaru nodded to him in the gloom and grinned broadly.

The rhythm of the melody changed to another song, and there were nods and exclamations as people recognised the tune and smiled. Someone at the back of the crowd pulled out another flute and joined his playing to Tayuya's.

Kidoumaru looked around at the gathered Sound nin and took a long draught of his tea. Down below he could see faces beginning to poke out of tents as the Stone forces looked up to find the source of the excitement. Raising his cup to them in salute he spoke loudly across the flautists.

"Play something we can all sing along to, you two!"

The look that Tayuya gave him over her flute was one of amused respect and a plan acknowledged and he grinned broadly at her. You asked me back here to do this for them, he thought silently as she nodded to the other flautist and led the way into an old Rice Country song. Around him, the Sound nin raised their voices in song and draining the last of his tea, Kidoumaru set down his cup and joined them.

oOo

"Checkmate."

Genma peered down at the board closely and the two others stood at his shoulder leaned over to take a look.

"Yep," one of them said. "He's got you."

The senbon flicked sharply from side to side, and then with a gruff sigh Genma tossed two cigarettes over the table in Raidou's direction. He scooped them up and grinned. "Anyone else want to play the master?"

There were loud guffaws from all around the tent and Raidou rose to his feet in mock protest. "Hey, hey knock it off! It's not my fault some of us are getting on a bit."

Genma's eyebrows shot up and he laughed, "You can bloody talk!"

"Not round all these cigs I can't," Raidou grinned in return. "I would offer you one but, huh…what's that?"

The gathered shinobi fell silent immediately as their sharp ears picked up the sounds from the forest. Raidou and Genma glanced at one another as around them, kunai were slipped from their holsters and shinobi half-rose from their seats. Slipping from his place behind the rickety table, Genma slung his cloak around his shoulders and pushed his way out of the tent.

Outside the night was still and calm, the only movement the soft spiralling of snowflakes. From between the trees in the direction of the front line, there came a ghostly sound. A singing, as of a choir. It was eerie, unearthly; captivating in its uncanny beauty.

Raidou, a step behind Genma, straightened up and matched a frown with his friend's.

"Sound," he said darkly.

Around them, the rest of the camp was rousing and people were leaving their tents to listen. Some had already cast up dispelling jutsus against the vocally woven genjutsus that Sound were so famous for, but their faces were confused as the jutsus failed to find anything to dispel. Genma glanced at Raidou thoughtfully and scratched his chin.

"Listen to that," he said. "Don't you recognise it?"

From off to one side someone made a noise of acknowledgment. "Yeah, I know that one. My mother used to sing it to me when I was a kid."

"She still bloody does, Yamaka-kun!" said the shinobi next to him, much to the amusement of the others.

"New Year's songs," said Raidou softly. "Is it New Year?"

"Sounds about right," replied Genma thoughtfully.

"Yes," said a kunoichi to his left. "Tonight, sir. New Year's Eve."

The shinobi of the Leaf looked at one another bemusedly, unsure what to make of the situation. After a while, one of the older men reached inside his tent and brought out a stool which he placed beside a burnt-out campfire and settled himself down. His team-mate set kindling in the fire and producing a kettle and tripod began to prepare tea. Raidou glanced over and raised an eyebrow. Beside him Genma shoved his hands in his pockets and wandered over to crouch beside the flames.

"Put some on for me too will you?"

Sat beside the small fire sipping tea from a chipped mug with a cartoon cat on one side, Genma had to admit that it was strangely relaxing. The voices of the Sound nin were legendary and their singing justified all the awe and myth that surrounded them. The harmonics and casual complexities of their songs were astounding as they echoed through the trees and he shook his head sadly. That such beauty concealed such danger.

Beside him, the older shinobi was humming along with the melody and Genma realised that he recognised it. Knew the words even. Could have sung along had he wanted to.

From behind them came a sudden melody and he turned to look over his shoulder. One of the kunoichi had acquired a battered guitar from somewhere and was softly strumming an accompaniment to the song. Looking around he could see that other shinobi had come out of their tents and settled themselves around hastily stoked fires, bringing out rations and cigarettes. More than a few voices were raised to accompany the familiar songs and a pair of the younger shinobi were setting up some kind of stew over a fire.

Thoughtfully, Genma unhooked the canteen from his belt and tossed it to the shinobi beside him. "Here, fill that up with tea."

The other man caught it and watched surprised as Genma disappeared back into the command tent. He reappeared a minute later with the chess board stowed under one arm. Picking up the filled canteen with a nod of thanks, Genma set out across the snow in the direction of the front line.

"Hey…" Raidou called after him. "Hey! Genma! Where are you going?"

The other shinobi didn't stop. Instead he called back over one shoulder.

"Come on. We're going to celebrate. Bring your cigarettes, we'll need them. Yuki-chan, bring that guitar along too."

The shinobi of the Leaf looked at one another nonplussed. And then Raidou grinned and shook his head, rising to his feet.

"Well come on then, you lot. Look lively, the man gave you an order!"

Laughing, he set off after his friend.

oOo

As is the way with ninja myth, it is difficult to differentiate the truth from the half-truth, and what is told may be only a parable for that which actually occurred. But it is said by those who were present on New Year's Eve of the year 672, that upon that night, somewhere along the eastern edge of the frontline, a remarkable thing occurred.

The story goes that on that night, the forces of Sound and Stone and Leaf lay down their weapons and called a temporary truce. The event is spoken of in whispers and with much amused shaking of heads, for there is tell that two of the greatest generals of the time, one from Leaf, one from Sound, sat down in the space between their two camps and played a game of shogi well into the night.

Tales are told of the beautiful woman with flame-red hair and the grace of the gods about her who played such sweet music upon a flute she had conjured from starlight that the very snowflakes began to dance to the melodies she wove. And whilst she played the general of the forces of Stone was moved to tears.

That night the forest witnessed the skill of the warriors of Stone who led the dancing with those with whom they had fought the most deadly battles but hours before. And as they danced and the Leaf charmed the trees to produce from their boughs fruit even in the midst of deepest winter, all enmities were for one night forgotten.

So goes the story.

oOo

The breath burned in his lungs as he ran and the icy bite of the air stole the feeling from his hands and feet and cheeks. The branches were slick with ice and treacherous underfoot, but he was certain of his ability and need drove him onwards.

The enemy nin were close behind him and he could hear them calling to one another in their drawling Stone dialect. Suddenly there were sharp cries of alarm and Raidou grinned as he heard the Leaf shinobi cut his pursuers off and drive them back with exploding chakra tagged kunai.

Almost, he could smell the smoke but the wind was in the wrong direction. He could do with a cigarette, but he'd given them all to Genma last night to gamble away. All he had left were the foreign brand that huge mountain of a man had given him whilst they had been drinking his soup. He'd made a good soup. Good enough for Raidou to forget the first time they'd met so long ago and what had come of that.

It would, he reflected, be a good if unlikely thing, if they were never to meet in battle again. Leaping swiftly from branch to branch, the sounds of battle fading behind him, Raidou headed back to Konoha.