Perfection. The quality of being free from flaws. Faultless and infallible in every way possible.
It had been her dream since she was a child. Every moment of her young adulthood had been used in the pursuit of reaching perfection. Of being flawless. Of being unable to commit any fault. Her dream had turned into a goal that had turned into the burning ambition that fueled her to this day.
She had traveled the world in her pursuit of knowledge. She had betrayed the village that took her in and raised her into the shinobi she was today. She had killed, tortured, experimented and done all sorts of unspeakable things to innocent people. All in the pursuit of perfection. She wouldn't allow anything, not even moral law, and ethics, to stop her.
But now, staring down at the young babe sleeping soundlessly in the hospital crib, she felt none of that passion. That drive that had kept her afloat for so many years had dwindled into a barely felt spark. The small tuft of blond hair and the whisker-marked cheeks brought out something different from her. She felt her heart jump and tighten as she reached down to trace the swirling seal on the babe's stomach.
"Warm…" She thought to herself as her flesh met his flesh. For something that had been born only hours ago, the child radiated an intense heat. The warmth from his body intermingled with that of her own, sending goose bumps shooting up along her body. A gasp almost left her lips when she felt the baby shift beneath her touch. She quickly retracted her arm, unknowingly bringing the child out of its slumber. Her breath caught in her throat when the boy emitted a long yawn, futilely attempting to stretch out his pudgy limbs during the process, before slowly opening his eyes.
"Perfection." Her facial expression matched her thoughts as she met eyes with the baby. The breath that she didn't know she was holding came out slow and shaky when the child flashed her a smile. It was a smile full of innocence and ignorance. It was a smile that filled her with joy that had been unfelt. She found herself unknowingly returning the smile as she descended her hand back down towards him. Her movement was much slower this time as she was aimed for his face. The babe's cerulean eyes followed the movement of her hand with an unconfined amount of curiosity. When her hand met his cheek, her heart froze because at that very same moment the blond child erupted into laughter.
The sound was beautiful. So beautiful. It made her heart want to leap out of her chest. It made her want to sing along to its harmonious chords. It filled her with such an instantaneous love that she found herself overwhelmed. Her body craved more and it found itself moving in accordance to that want. Her head leaned down close to the child's, allowing her a deep inhale of his scent. Surprisingly, he smelled of burnt wood and smoke. Yet, even those smell couldn't overpower his natural scent. It was intoxicated and she wanted more. She leaned her head further down into the crib to receive more but froze when she heard the door to the room creak open.
"Orochimaru…" The woman slowly brought her head up from the crib at the sound of her former sensei's voice. Her eyes briefly met Hiruzen's before the man broke eye contact to glance at the corners of the room where the unmoving body of several ANBU laid. The frown that had been present on the old man's face deepened as he returned his focus onto Orochimaru who still remained overtop of Naruto's crib.
"What have you done?" Orochimaru broke eye contact with her sensei to look back down at the baby. Hiruzen watched as the woman become transfixed on the sight of the blonde baby.
"I found it, sensei." The woman's voice was slow, almost trance-like. Hiruzen inched forward towards her form when he saw her shift slightly. "Perfection."
Hiruzen wasted no time in dashing across the room when he saw Orochimaru reaching down towards the blond babe. By the time he reached her, a bo staff was in his hands and was already half way through its downward journey towards Orochimaru's skull. The woman showed her training by easily avoiding the hit by jumping backward. As she landed, the smile that had once been clearly present on her face was gone. In its place was a skewed frown as she stared at her sensei. The man had purposely placed himself in between herself and her perfection. His bo staff was held out far in front of him and his face was set in a grim mask as he kept his eyes locked on her form.
"The ANBU have been alerted. Within seconds they will be here and you will have to not only face me but them as well. Choose wisely, Orochimaru." The frown on Orochimaru's face grew at his words. A quick glance past the man revealed to her that her blonde babe had fallen asleep. She had no doubt that any sudden noises or movement of his body would send the boy into a terror-filled cry. With the joy that his laughter brought, she didn't quite know if she could emotionally handle hearing his cry. Not yet. Not just now.
"No harm will come to him, Hiruzen. You protect that child. Because, if you do not, a peaceful death will be the least of your worries. I will raze the village you hold so precious if you allow any harm to come to my child.
"Orochimaru, I-" The Sarutobi didn't manage to get another word out before the woman promptly disappeared from the room in the smoke of a shunshin. When she didn't show her presence several seconds later, he allowed his arms to drop to his sides. A heavy sigh left his mouth the same moment that several members of his ANBU appeared next to him in the room.
"Hiru- I mean … Hokage-Sama. Have you managed to apprehend Orochimaru."
"No…" The man's voice was weary as he turned to face the group of five. Owl, ferret, eagle, dog and cat. Even with their training, he could sense the worry radiating off of them as they stole glances at the baby.
"Should we pursuit?" Cat questioned. Hiruzen gave a negative shake of his head while he moved his attention down to the sleeping babe.
"No. We have already suffered enough for the day. It will only be a waste. Run a search of the village to ensure she didn't leave any surprises for us." Each of the five nodded before disappearing from the room, leaving their leader alone once more. With his agents gone, Hiruzen allowed his full attention to rest on the small child.
"Not even a day old and you're causing me a headache," Hiruzen said out loud. Surprisingly, the child seemed to respond to his words by waking up once again. At the sight of the older male, the blonde erupted into a fit of laughter. The old man found himself smiling along to the child's laughter as it managed to fill the entirety of the hospital room.
"You'll do great things, child. I can feel it." Hiruzen's comment was drowned out by the laughter of the child. On the day of his parent's death, the child managed to express such joy. He could only feel his heart grow weak at the thought of the emotional hell the boy will face when he is older and learns of his parents' death.
But for now, the old man could do nothing but smile and chuckle along with the child. With Konoha burning outside the room's window and the now cold body of his successor being treated by medical-nin, the man could only laugh.
AN: Going to be completely honest with you all, this was typed in under two hours and was inspired by a disgruntled comment in a discord chat from Monkey Knight. This may remain as a one-shot or it could further develop into a full blown story. I'm also hoping that this pushes me to write a new chapter for my Naruto fic.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this random chapter. Going back to working on a new chapter for my Naruto/DxD and Naruto/RWBY crossfic. Have a wonderful rest of the night. Review or PM me with any questions, concerns, comments, etc.