002. orochimaru: chance

.

They are small.

They are smaller than he thought they would be, standing before him like so. Two dark heads and one bright one, young faces upturned to look at him, eager little children awaiting his next word 'they are

so small

, he could

break

them with nary an effort. Were they all so small? He can scarcely remember being this young; it 's been so long since Team Hiruzen that the memory is but a dream now. Tsunade is long gone and Jiraiya is out there wandering the nomad 's path 'but once upon a time '

Orochimaru sighs at himself. He had known that this would happen; he had expected it. And yet he had agreed to take them. A genin unit, of all things, and at this point in his career.

The old man is pleased with himself, of course. Who better to handle Konoha 's jinchuuriki than the second strongest, most accomplished shinobi in the whole village? Who better than one-third of a legend? Or, as it 's being whispered in some circles, let a fellow monster handle the other monster 'though gazing upon Namikaze 's little brat now, it 's hard to think of him as a monster. He 's a child, nothing more and nothing less.

Ground 5 is sufficiently deserted at this time of day, as he had intended for their activity. He waits for the three of them to settle before him; they totter about, clumsy on their feet like newborn fawns, grabbing at each other to steady themselves on the landing. Namikaze 's brat seems to have already formed an attachment to the little Uchiha, how curious. He had wondered, when he first heard of the assignments, who among the three would form the first dynamic. Strange that the Uchiha should attach first; most of them tend to work best alone.

'Alright, ' he says softly, catching their full attention with one word. Good. He does not want to be yelling at little children for the rest of the year. After all, he is not their parent and they are no longer children. 'Here we shall have our first exercise. This is designed to give me an immediate overview of your capacities. It is an assessment, that is all; I do not expect you to succeed. You will fail. But I still want you to try your very, very best. '

It is also a measurement of their tenacity. Being ordered to a futile endeavor is a common predicament to any shinobi.

'What are we doing? ' Namikaze 's brat asks.

'Using any and every means at your disposal, you will attempt to touch me, ' Orochimaru tells them. 'You may come at me all at once; you may use any of your weapons; you may use any jutsu. I encourage you to use your jutsu. Show me what you already know. '

They stare at him in varying degrees of disbelief. And then, as if on cue, the three of them exchange considering looks, before the little Uchiha leaps back a couple feet. Nara follows suit. Namikaze 's brat stays put, scratching his head.

'Sooo, ' Uzumaki Naruto says, 'we just gotta touch you and that 's it? '

Orochimaru nods.

The boy reaches forward with a hand.

Incredulous, Orochimaru almost forgets to avoid him, but steps back at the last minute, such that the boy ends up grasping at thin air.

'Oi, Naruto! ' Nara Shikamaru barks. 'That 's not gonna work! Of course he 's gonna avoid you if you try to just 'are you

dumb

or what? '

But Naruto takes another step forward to grab at him, and then another, and then another, which Orochimaru matches step for step as he retreats away from the boy 's clumsy grasping. He 's so amused with Naruto that he almost misses how the little Uchiha edges into his blind spot before lunging at him from behind and beside; deftly, he sidesteps such that the two of them stumble into each other. Naruto loses his balance and tips forward; the little Uchiha uses him as a springboard and leaps forward again, hands outstretched for Orochimaru.

Shikamaru comes in from the side; Orochimaru sidesteps them both again, and from there it escalates as Sasuke throws the first kunai. Attempting to herd him a certain direction, it seems. Transparent, but logical. Shikamaru 's rope lashes out; Orochimaru ducks underneath it. Naruto lunges for his legs, still with grasping hands; Orochimaru steps on his back and kicks him face-first into the dirt.

'Oomf, ' Naruto says.

'Does it count if we hit you with a weapon? ' Sasuke asks.

'No; you must touch me or land a blow with your limbs. '

'Yeah, I didn 't think so either, ' Shikamaru remarks, calm as you please even as he pulls back his rope and lashes it out again. Naruto throws in some explosive tags, though none of them stick. Sasuke braves the fray and ducks back in, perhaps instinctively knowing his strength as he begins to attempt to land a blow.

An Uchiha through and through, this boy. Orochimaru is pleased even as he is made to dodge a rapid flurry of jabs and kicks. Sasuke is certainly well above average in taijutsu, an adaptable fighter with a very flexible form. Not perfect, not yet 'but Orochimaru knows raw talent when he sees it. He begins to alter the way he dodges in order to cue Sasuke towards basic progressions beyond the textbook forms. A point to work on, he notes, even as a slew of colorful explosions separate them.

It 's Naruto who breaks out the first jutsu. Between one moment and the next, there are twenty-or-so bunshins all clamoring for a piece of Orochimaru 'no, not just ordinary bunshins. These are

kage

bunshins. He leaps up, above and away from them, impressed.

'How the fuck do you know that? ' Shikamaru grunts, palms slamming down for a Doton that fractures the earth beneath Orochimaru 's feet.

Orochimaru sprints away from the fissures as they open, but nobody has a chance to respond to Shikamaru when a bright hot bloom of fire presses down from above them. Sasuke blows a strong, fulminant Katon at him, herding Orochimaru back towards where the kage bunshin can swarm him.

Naruto makes him work as hard as Sasuke did, dodging around two dozen bunshins who are all baying for one hit.

Very well

, he thinks, pulling out a kunai,

let us up the difficulty.

He steps forward, foot cracking earth, slashing wide, arms outstretched. The force of his swing sends a shockwave arching outwards as he eliminates seven kage bunshins with one blow. All three of them, his little genin, leap away and stand at a distance, wary once more, weighing their options.

Orochimaru smirks. 'I am, of course, allowed to retaliate. '

'Damn, ' Sasuke mutters.

'Question: does it count if we hit you but you block it? ' Shikamaru asks, as always thinking fast.

'No; it must be a clean blow or an unhindered touch. '

'Second question: do we have a time limit? '

'You have all afternoon, if you like. '

'Right, ' Shikamaru nods, easing his stance. 'You two, c 'mere for a bit. '

Shikamaru retreats towards the edge of the trees, far enough away that they won 't be overheard. Sasuke follows, taking Naruto along. Orochimaru watches them bend their little heads together with growing satisfaction. They are learning 'and quickly.

He settles to wait.

At the end of the day, of course, they fail. Orochimaru stands over the three of them, on the ground in various poses of defeat and panting for dear breath. He is amused despite himself. They did try their best, just as he bid. One day, their best will be quite terrifying: he can already see it. But today, it 's not yet enough.

'I commend you for lasting as long as you did, ' Orochimaru tells them, 'though I am sure you can tell by now how much there is you still need to learn. '

Shikamaru grumbles something inarticulate.

'We shall meet at seven sharp tomorrow, on the banks of the Naka river where it bends around a willow tree near the East Gates. Bring enough food for the whole day; you will not be going home until late. Eat plenty tonight and rest. Be sure to take a hot bath to loosen your muscles and prevent injury. '

'Do we bring our full arsenal again tomorrow, sensei? ' Naruto asks.

'A shinobi always brings his full arsenal wherever he goes, Naruto. If the shinobi wants to stay alive for long, that is. '

'Yes, sensei, sorry, sensei, ' Naruto mumbles, chastised.

'Well done, the three of you, ' Orochimaru bids them. 'Seven sharp tomorrow. ' After a chorus of affirmatives, he disappears from their sight in a whirl of leaves, concealing himself not far away in the heavy branches of a tall tree. As soon as they are convinced he is gone, all three of them collapse on their backs with universal groans.

'We didn 't even touch his clothes, ' Sasuke sighs mournfully after some silence.

'We weren 't going to anyway, ' Shikamaru points out, 'at least not today. That was

Orochimaru

, you know. '

'I don 't, ' Naruto quips. 'Who 's he supposed to be? '

'I was hoping you didn 't really sleep through History, but I see I 'm mistaken, ' says Shikamaru, tone dry as bone. 'He 's one of the Legendary Sannin. Hora, the Hokage was his jonin sensei when they were genin. '

Sasuke's eyes go wide. 'No way. '

'Yes way, ' Shikamaru sighs. 'Did you just realize that? '

Sasuke looks away. 'I 'm not good at names."

You're not good at people

, Orochimaru surmises with amusement, noting that the little Uchiha's responses tend to be calculated and therefore delayed. Perhaps not enough social stimulation within the confines of that clan.

But Naruto is now grasping said Uchiha by the shoulders, the two of them pressed almost nose to nose. "Sasukeeee! It came true! Hokage-jiji is our jonin sensei's jonin sensei! Isn't that

so cooooool

!"

Orochimaru sets a mental reminder to do something about this child's volume. At this rate, it'll get him killed, or worse, captured.

"O-Oh, you're right," Sasuke responds, seemingly unfazed by the other boy yelling in his face. Orochimaru watches as Naruto's excitement spreads from one to three, sinking even into Shikaku's lackadaisical son if the bright sheen in those black eyes is to be believed. It seems that Namikaze's brat will become the team's heart.

"Well, I don't know 'bout the two of you, but I'ma go home. I'm hungry and I wanna take a bath," Shikamaru declares, tottering as he gets to his feet.

"Can you make it home?" Sasuke snorts.

"I'll crawl if I have to," the other boy grumbles, swaying in his steps. "Mom's making tonjiru tonight."

"Aw, man, that's nice," Naruto flops back on the ground, arms star-fished about his head. "I'm just gonna have ramen tonight."

"Why do I have a feeling that one of these days we really

will

crawl home?" Shikamaru mutters as he leaves the training grounds, one hand scratching at the back of his neck. The challenge will be to encourage this one to give his all, Orochimaru knows. A Nara will always be a Nara, no matter where they are put.

Left to their own devices, Naruto and Sasuke hang around for a while, sitting together in silence. Naruto appears to be watching the orange skies; Sasuke is arranging his senbon into a neat bough.

"Doncha have to go home soon?" Naruto asks after a while, looking over to where the little Uchiha is hunched over an arsenal of blades.

"Not really," Sasuke shrugs, "hahaue is on an away mission and chichiue never gets back before late."

"What about your aniki?"

"Aniki doesn't live at home anymore. He has his own place now." A wistful note lingers around those words;

ah, yes, this is the Uchiha genius' little brother. The 'ordinary' one.

"Well, that sucks," Naruto sighs. "You'd be all alone for dinner."

Orochimaru watches them hover around each other for a moment until Sasuke gathers enough courage to say the words.

"D'you wanna come with me? I know how to make food, you can eat at our house..." he trails into silence, losing steam halfway through. "...or not, if you have somewhere else to be, I mean, you don't have to."

But Naruto is already sitting upright, bright blue eyes once again alight with excitement. "Really?! You wouldn't 'I mean, is it okay for me to 'I mean '"

Sasuke ducks his head but smiles, a small and almost invisible lift of his lips from this distance. The two boys pack up quickly after that, tucking their weapons away and jostling each other as they head towards the Uchiha compound. Orochimaru watches them until they are no more, sinking into the lengthening shadows as the sun finally sets over the horizon.

Certainly it makes sense, the lonely orphan and the inconsequential second son finding common ground. Orochimaru could taste their loneliness, their quiet desperation, from the moment he met them. It might not, however, sit well with the Uchiha clan that one of their own, never mind how ordinary, is gamboling about with the Kyuubi's host. Well, they can 't do much about it now; the boys are a team.

He rises from his perch and gathers his chakra around him, disappearing once again in a flurry of leaves. The boys have given him much to consider tonight, and he intends to be prepared for them in the morning.

tbc

first draft: 2018.05.11

last edited: 2021.12.16

NOTES & TRANSLATIONS

(1)

I tried to minimize the amount of Japanese terms within the narrative, but sometimes the Japanese word just sounds better than the English translation. For whatever inconvenience that causes you, I do apologize. Look on the bright side: you 're learning another language! (I think that for most of you, this will be a non-issue; ask questions if anything doesn 't make sense.)

(2)

I forgot to include this in the last chapter. Sasuke uses a

ninjato

, which is a short straight sword sometimes referred to as

ninjaken

or

shinobigatana

. In popular media, it is often portrayed as a preferred weapon of ninjutsu users, but there is no actual historical evidence of this weapon ever existing before the 20th century.

Later on, he will move on to a

katana

, which is the conventional curved blade used by samurai as you see portrayed in most media. Apart from lengthening his reach, they will make for more efficient weapons; the curved blade cuts cleaner and stronger than a straight blade.

They will also learn to use different types of kunai, which are the short hand-held blades canon show them wielding.