Eyes of the Predator

Ch 1

He let his yellow reptilian eyes survey the woman next to him. Her long black hair laid draped over the curves of her body, and made an abrupt stop at the small bulge in her belly. She had shared his bed for a little over a year now and his child would be due any day now.

It was easy to play the role of the dutiful shinobi, the enthralled lover, he doubted it would be much of a stretch for him to expand his repertoire to include doting father… or perhaps stern father? He had yet to decide the persona he would adapt to turn his future child into a powerful and fear-inspiring shinobi.

The child would be inheriting a Sharingan Kekkei Genkai after all. He licked his lips in anticipation.

The black haired woman gave a slight shiver, so he pulled the covers up over her and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. She smiled in her sleep and continued to rest with a contented gaze affixed to her face. The role of the loving husband was almost too easy.

Two years ago he had begun his plan for this woman to carry his child, and with it create an heir which could pass on those magnificent eyes. It had been a slow burn, but when she professed her love for him one day and he told her that "alas, but our love can never be! For you are an established member of the Uchiha, and they will marry you off so that they can keep themselves 'pure'" It had to have been some grade A romantic shit out of one of Jiraiya's romance novels, because she told him that she "didn't want to be with anyone else, and that she would rather abandon her clan than spend the rest of her days without him." Oh she was good at this, there was no doubt.

He had convinced her to run away from the Uchiha compound to a small cabin outside of Konoha hidden in the forest by both camouflage and a mild genjutsu that would make the small clearing to look just like any other part of the forest. He had dutifully gone out to see her as often as he could (using the Anbu and Root access tunnels to make easy escapes out of Konoha). Seven months ago when he arrived at their small cabin she ran up to meet him and told her that she was almost positive that she was pregnant.

Ever the dutiful husband, he picked her up and cheered and told her how happy he was and yelled "I'm gonna have a baby" to the heavens. Honestly, the loving husband routine was almost too easy. He had been extra careful to be careful around her, to keep her mood up and satisfy whatever it was her insane pregnant mind had decided it wanted. Pickles dipped in mayonnaise? Alright. Ramen with Honey Mustard? No Problem. Candy covered in melted cheese? Harder than it you would think. The Sandaime had gotten so confused with Orochimaru's purchasing habits that she thought he might be pregnant.

But all that was almost over now, pretty soon her water will break and she would give birth… in the middle of the forest… with no midwife… shit. If that wasn't bad enough, the goddamn Sandaime was poking around his research lab, and if found some of his more… unique experiments, he would surely have to flee from Konoha, even when he was so close to receiving his prize.

She couldn't travel any meaningful distance away from Konoha in her current condition and he had days at best before they found his research labs, which meant that he would have to leave the child he had worked so hard for in the inept hands of Konoha. DAMN IT!

The next morning he told his dear, dear wife that he would be required to go on a mission soon, and that he would not be abler to be present for the birth of their beautiful baby. He told her that if she began to feel contractions she should move as close to the walls of Konoha as she could and yell, the regular patrols would no doubt find her and take her immediately to an emergency room. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes and told him that she understood, that she would take care of their little baby in his absence, and to come home safely as quickly as he could. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and pressed his lips to her forehead. "Of course I will." He lied.

He ran back to the city, leaving his wife with tears in her eyes.

2 weeks later

Medical Report on Unknown Civilian (herein after referred to as Jane Doe)

Jane Doe came into our care at precisely 9:18 am on July 2nd, after having gone into labor outside the city walls. Jane Doe appeared to be in a severe state of duress, but refused to communicate with us either her name or someone we would be able to contact to be there to keep her company. She was in labor for approximately 8 hours before giving birth to a healthy baby girl. Due to complications, a few minutes after giving birth to the little girl she decided to name "Hiraki," Jane Doe passed away. Hospital policy dictates that I refer to you in terms of what we should do with the child.

Sarutobi looked down at the letter and sighed. Poor kid, she's born into this world with no one to help her. As sad as it was, children being orphaned occurred much more often than he would like, but that was life in a hidden village. I don't really have a family that I feel like I can put this poor girl into, but being in an orphanage from the cradle isn't how I want this poor girl to start out her life here. He spent a full hour in his office before deciding that it would be easier to decide a home for the poor thing if he could see her. His Anbu guards offered to escort him to the hospital.

Sarutobi bristled, "I am not so old, that I require an escort to visit a small child in my own city!" They hesitated before bowing to the former Hokage's wishes. Ha! I can always play the old man card to make these younglings uncomfortable. He had to suppress a snicker as he exited his office. He quickly made his way down the street taking in the sights of Konoha at night. Despite how hard he tried to think on the task at hand, his mind continued to drift towards his wayward apprentice and the horrible experiments he had been running right under their noses.

He could still see him, experimenting on the still warm corpse of one of the villagers, OUR VILLAGERS, as he laughed and hummed, as if he were doing something entirely wholesome and justifiable. But Sarutobi had just watched as his apprentice slipped out of his grasp. He was a failure. He had created a monster, and then let it run free.

His heart was heavy as he walked his way into the nursery and searched for the little name tag that gave would tell him where Konoha's most recent arrival, "Hiraki." I always find it so peaceful in here, being able to see the embodiment of Konoha's future has always made it so that even on my darkest days, I still have hope. Because every one of these children are my family, and I would rather die one thousand times over then for Orochimaru to get his hands on even a single one of them.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Wrapped around Hiraki's small, delicate arm, was a thin snake. A dark green snake with purple diamonds leading the way from its head to the tip of its tail. His mind raced as he saw the excessively poisonous snake lean its way up to the infants face and… snuggle? SNUGGLING SNAKES? His mouth was agape as he saw Hiraki's right arm move to tap the snake on its head, as if she were trying to pet it, but hadn't really understood the motions she was trying to make. It was then the he saw the Kanji written on the back of those tiny hands said "Mamoru." Protector? Well this didn't make even a little bit of sense. These types of snakes weren't even indigenous to Konoha, this was a dessert dwelling snake, and there wasn't dessert for miles in any direction.

Alright Sarutobi, you are going to need to think. There is a highly poisonous snake cuddling with a newborn in the hospital. As old as you are, this is still a first. We can't exactly separate the two of them, the snake has coiled itself around the child's arm, nor can we kill it, without risking the baby.

The snake looked up from its small prize and leveled its head at the aged shinobi. "Can I asssissst you?"

Oh good, it's just a summons… Wait, no that doesn't really help at all, but better to keep it talking than to have it start killing. "Ah, yes," his voice came out with a slight wheeze despite his best efforts "I would prefer if you disentangled yourself from that infant."

"No."

Well I had a feeling it wasn't gonna be that easy. "Snake-san, with all due respect-"

"With all due respect," the snake said with… IS THAT CONTEMPT? GOD SNAKES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ASSHOLES BUT STILL YOU'D THINK HE'D TRY TO MEET ME HALF WAY HERE "you were not the one who summoned me to protect this infant… she did." He said nodding his head to the infant who was still tapping the back of the snakes head.

"Hiraki summoned you? The baby? The baby with no knowledge of ninjutsu, fuinjutsu, genjutsu, or any other type of jutsu, pulled you away from the summons world and brought you here to protect her." The snake merely nodded his head at this. Sarutobi brought his hand to the bridge of his nose, already beginning to feel the onset of a stress headache. Oh kami, sometimes being an advisor to the hokage is just the worst, as if it weren't already going to be hard enough to find a family for a regular little one, but now she has a talking snake bodyguard. That's weird even by ninja standards.

"Would you like to hold her?" the snake intoned, "It is my understanding that human children were sssupposssed to be sssshown affection, but the nursssesss here sssemed to be disssheartened at her presssence."

"Are you going to remove yourself from her arm?"

"No."

"Are you going to bite me?" He said as he narrowed his eyes at the STILL VERY VENOMOUS snake.

"Do you intend her harm?"

"Of course not! She is a child of Konoha, and as such she is my family and responsibility." Sarutobi said with more anger in his tone than he had probably intended.

The snake turned its head back to the smiling infant and laid its reptilian head across her chest. "Then you have nothing to worry about from me." The snake flicked its tongue out contentedly as Hikari finally got down just how the petting motion was supposed to work out.

Sarutobi slowly and tentatively lifted Hikari out from her nursery crib and lifted her up in order to get his first good look at the child who was doubtlessly going to be a little bundle of trouble for him and Minato. Her skin was very pale, and despite the baby fat, she had very defined cheekbones, and a little button of a nose. The child's smile crinkled the skin around her eyes as she gurgled happily. And that was when he saw her eyes, deep pools of black and on the very outskirts a small tinge of gold… no, it was yellow. Her eyes became very focused, as if she were thinking incredibly critically and attempting to come up with a solution to a very big problem that lay right in front of her.

She extended her hand, face straining with effort to reach for Sarutobi's face and lightly pushed in his nose. Hikari began to gurgle happily, and Mamoru did what Sarutobi assumed was the reptilian equivalent of a chuckle. Even Sarutobi couldn't help but have a smile spread across his face. I have never seen a child's eyes so singularly focused. The pale skin, the snake, the defined cheekbones, the yellow tint in the outskirts of her eyes, she's the spitting image of Orochimaru, but that just can't be. He didn't particularly display interest in women, how could this be?

He would have to keep a very close eye on this little one. If she was anything like her father. Sarutobi let out an involuntary shudder as he cradled the fragile head of what might be his next huge mistake. He slowly placed the child back into her crib and bid goodbye to Mamoru and explained to the nurses on duty that there was a talking snake in the nursery, but not to freak out because it was protecting Hikari.

One of the nurses passed out.

I suppose that she is probably going to end up at the orphanage, but I still should inform Minato of this immediately.

Hikari looked at the wrinkled face in front of her and began creating solutions to who this individual was here. Is mama? She posited the question to the creature that had spoken to her mind only moments ago about things she didn't even begin understand.

No, the old man is not your nest mother, I am afraid that she is gone, but I am still here to protect and nurture you. The creature who had introduced himself as Mamoru said directly depositing the information into her mind.

Can touch? She began to lift her hand out in a very concentrated effort, but she wouldn't do it unless he gave her the ok. Mamoru knows everything?

I suppose you may touch him, he seems to have good intentions, even if he is a bit easily flustered. Mamoru proposed, knowing full well how much the hatchling had wanted to poke.

She excitedly poked at the protrusion on the man's face and let out an excited gurgle. Did touch! She exclaimed proudly. When the old man gently placed her back into her resting place, she contentedly lay her hand across the Mamoru's head and began to slowly stroke it back and forth. Is good?

Mamoru flickered his tongue out happily. Yes, very. But you must sleep. You will need energy for growth. We will talk more later.

Ok, Mamoru! She said with a smile

Call me Mamoru-kun, it is important to use the proper honorifics when addressing someone directly, we will work more on it later. He told her kindly. As her heavy eye lids began to flutter shut, she realized that she had endured a rather wonderful first day of consciousness.

While they were in the hospital, Mamoru began to teach her letters, the proper way to address individuals, how she should behave while in public, and all the general rules of living within a shinobi village. Of course, even though she was a fast learner, she was hardly even one month old before she was released to an orphanage. So she really couldn't utilize any of this knowledge, but a lot of time alone together meant that she was able to extend her vocabulary extensively. She could eat and kinda, almost barely lift her head when she tried really hard. Her knowledge of how to move just did not seem to compute with her body being able to comply with her, which was beyond frustrating.

By the end of the third month, she was talking to Mamoru in (mostly) complete sentences. Anything that came out of her mouth was pretty much just mindless baby talk, but she was working on articulating so that the women who worked in the nursery of the orphanage she was living in could understand that she wanted food. Granted, it didn't work, but she was making progress, and she was happy about that. She was able to sit up, with Mamoru's careful support of course, and finally get a bit of an understanding of her surroundings, the room was quite sizable and held several other small persons as well. She tried counting the way that Mamoru had taught her, she had forgotten the number 8, but had gone all the way to 13. Mamoru informed her that she had forgotten a number, so he made her memorize EVEN MORE of the things.

It wasn't until the end of the end of her fifth month that she got control of most of her motion. She couldn't stand, but she could crawl around during play times. Most of her play time Mamoru utilized so that she could learn how to read. Which she took to with a gusto that even Mamoru hadn't expected. He would teach her the words as they went, and she would read the book to him. It was slow and a bit frustrating at times, but he was excited to note that by the end of the year she had read everything in the child area from "One Ninja, Two Ninja, Red Ninja, Blue Ninja" to "Gamabunta the Big Red Frog" (Mamoru snickered at the fact that they referred to him as a frog).

The nursery workers did not exactly understand the girl with the overprotective snake bodyguard… thing, and they were definitely ill at ease with her presence, but they fed her regularly with food that might not be considered good, but was at least digestible. Mamoru found a thriving rat community in the area (which he was both pleased and disconcerted with). He would only ever leave Hikari's side to hunt, and even then he was not gone for very long. To the casual observer, she was just a quiet baby girl that had a really creepy sentient pet… even by shinobi standards it was weird, but definitely not the craziest thing in existence… she hoped.

By her eighth month, she had finally gotten the enunciating part of speaking down and decided that her first words spoken to the world would be "brother snake." Although he was inordinately happy that she had chosen her first words to be about him, he noticed that the staff seemed to be almost terrified of the development. She didn't really care though, and decided that she didn't really like talking that much anyways. She was perfectly content with her days spent reading, coloring, and even learning some of the more basic math.

By the end of her first year she had already read everything in the orphanage so many times that she felt that she could recite them from memory. Although they were helpful during her developmental stages, they were boring, and she wanted to read things that had more than an illustration followed immediately by 2 lines of text telling her what was in the illustration. Life at the orphanage grew boring, she wasn't entertained by her other drooling compatriots.

Hey, Mamoru-Kun, do you think you can get us some better books? I'm itching to learn new things, and if I read about how big Gamabunta is one more time I think I'm gonna snap. Hikari pleaded.

How do you expect me to carry a book for us to read? I do not have arms. You will have to ask them to bring you more books.

But talking to people is just the WORST. My stupid mouth doesn't say things right, and they act like everything I do is in some way scary. Hikari huffed after she said it, hoping that maybe that would have gotten her point across, she doubted it though.

You'll never improve your speech if you refuse to talk to people. Go ask them if you could speak to the Hokage, he probably has access to good books.

She slowly and carefully rose herself from her sitting position and wobbled her way across the room ,with a little bit of a push from Mamoru now and then to help expedite the process. When she reached the tall black-haired young woman, she lightly pulled on her pants leg. When she looked down at the pale little snake girl, which was what she was often referred to when they thought she didn't hear or understand them, she panicked, but made sure not to make any movement that would offend her. Hikari gestured for her to lean over and pick her up, and the young woman hesitantly lifted her up and placed her on her hip. When she was hefted onto the ladies hip, she cupped her hand to the ladies ear and said somewhat brokenly but entirely understandably. "Lady-sama, would you please take us to go see Hokage-Sama." And proceeded to pull her head away a little bit to smile at her a bit too enthusiastically for the young woman to be very comfortable.

You need to work on your smiles, show less teeth, you are intimidating her. After she had made a few of her corrections the woman seemed to calm, if only slightly. See, we are improving our social interactions, we will get this down.

"uhhh, sure…" she replied hesitantly, face nearly as pale as Hikari's. "We will go visit him as soon as you'd like." She attempted to smile reassuringly, but was so terrified she expelled what sounded more like something someone would call a "meep."

Mamoru-Kun, she is still scared. We need to get a better smile.

We will work on that later, give her a hug and say thank you first, she has agreed to assist us and as such deserves recompense. Hikari quickly obliged and that seemed to make most of the fear drain itself from the young woman's face. She still made very careful steps to avoid the three foot long and extraordinarily venomous snake that hovered around the little girl.

"What is your name, Lady-Sama?" Hiraki inquired, if she was going to try to make new friends, she might as well just go all out with it.

"Oh, Kimichi Uchiha." She replied as she walked them out of the orphanage and into the busy streets of Konoha. Hikari had never seen so many people, walking around the dusty road that ran down the length of Konoha. Their expressions people had as they walked varied from determined to lazy. Such a wide range of human emotion, she didn't know how she would memorize them all.

Oh kami, Mamoru, do I have to interact with all of these? There's so many people here! Do I have to interact with all of them? She whined as she put her head into Kimichi's shoulder. The crowd seemed to part before them as the snake lead its way towards Hokage Tower.

Hikari, I think we should work towards a couple of smaller goals before we try to introduce ourselves to the entire village. He paused for a moment before continuing. Perhaps we should try something a bit smaller. For example, let's try to be on our best behavior for the Hokage. We should make a good first impression.

Hai. They entered the tower where the Fourth Hokage was residing. They walked up to the reception area where Kimichi informed the front desk that she had someone that the Hokage would like to be introduced to. After showing him her identification and having it verified, the ninja behind the front desk took them up the stairs to the small area outside of the Hokage's offce and told them to wait there for the next available time that he was available.

They had to wait for about fifteen minutes in the curved hallway before the Hokage had an available time slot in order to meet with his unexpected guest. A muffled "Come on in" emanated from the door and Kimichi opened the door to let Hikari walk in on her own.

Minato heaved a bit of a sigh. Oh god, why did I ever think being Hokage would be fun? He looked over at the mountain of paperwork he still needed to get finished. Well, I might as well get this next meeting over with quickly. "Come on in."

He looked over to see a baby girl standing in his doorway, she was small, with very pale skin and high cheekbones, her eyes seemed sharp and intelligent taking careful but not exactly confident steps forward before she stopped a small ways in front of his desk and attempted to give him a small bow before she fell forward and landed on her belly. There was an audible smack as Mamoru connected his tail with his forehead and began slowly shaking his head back and forth Oh kami, that's adorable. Minato tried to suppress a grin, but couldn't help himself.

"Sorry, Hokage-sama." She said trying to keep herself from turning red. "I was hoping to make a request."

Minato eyed her quizzically. How old is this little one? She seems to have just recently gotten down walking, but she doesn't seem sure footed. However, her sentence structure and enunciation are much better than would be expected from a child her size. "You may do so at your leisure." His intense eyes did not waver from her while he waited for her to begin speaking.

"We were hoping to have more books to read." She met his gaze and waited for his response.

"We?" He tore his gaze from the pale girl and moved it to the Uchiha. "You and your teacher here? I thought the orphanage had several children's books."

"No, Hokage-sama." Hikari replied quickly. "Me and Mamoru were hoping for something that could be more useful for teaching. We've already read all the books that the orphanage has to offer."

Mamoru and I…

Shut up, I'm trying to get us something to read. She turned her head to glare at Mamoru who had coiled himself behind her.

"Who is Mamoru?" Minato looked around the room, but since the only other thing there was the three foot long snake; he had assumed he was just another child at the orphanage who was also inordinately intelligent.

"That'sss me." Mamoru uncoiled himself and slithered his way up Hikari to lie on her shoulders. "It'sss a pleasssure to meet you. Hokage-Sama."

If Minato was surprised by this he made an excellent job of not showing it. "I see, this is very interesting to say the least." Minato paused for a moment sizing up the interaction that had just taken place in front of him. He folded his hands and placed them in front of his mouth. "I suppose we could send some other stories, is there anything in particular you'd like?"

"Math and history stuff please." Hikari gave him the biggest grin she could possibly summon.

"I'll throw in some paper and pencils for you to use so you can practice. I am expecting great things from you. You seem to be extraordinarily bright. Come by when you need more texts, and if you come across a problem I'm sure your caretaker here will be more than happy to help."

"Hai." Both of them said simultaneously

"Thank you so much Hokage-sama, I'll work extra hard." Hikari thought about trying to bow again, but then didn't really want to embarrass herself in front of the Hokage again, so instead she nodded as respectfully as she could.

Minato got up from his seat, picked up Hikari, and held her to his side. "I will return with you to the orphanage. This has been the most interesting part of my day so far, and I'd much rather continue talking to you, Hikari, than do that paperwork over there." He turned his head to her and when he looked she seemed to have a very intense look on her face. As if she were contemplating doing something very important.

Can touch?

I probably wouldn't. I realize you like to "boop" people's noses to show friendship, but let's not push our luck. Actually, I don't recall ever teaching you that that was how we made friends.

Hikari laughed, and together they made their way from the Hokage Tower to the orphanage. It was the most she had ever spoken in her entire life.

I like Hokage-Sama, he is nice, and he isn't afraid of snakes, and he has spiky hair, and he is cool, and he let us have books, and he and he walked us home, and-

I understand child, you can stop now. I know very well how much you like the man. I like him too, I hope he stays in power for a long time coming.

Over the next few months, she poured over her studies. Receiving scrolls and books for every topic from mathematics to chakra theory. As such a young child, her chakra coils were not developed enough that she could channel it, but she got in practice with meditating, and memorizing the location of all 361 tenketsu points on the human body. Any time that was not devoted to her books or to sleep, she devoted to getting stronger. Little exercises she used in order to not stunt her growth, but also make it so that she didn't wobble around the room when she tried to move from place to place.

Mamoru grew as well, when he and Hikari were first introduced he was little more than a foot in length, but he now stretched to a whopping 5 feet in length, but he was still rather thin, only about 6-7 inches in diameter at the base of his head. Hikari couldn't even come close to carrying him anymore, but everyone at the orphanage knew that he wouldn't hurt them. That being said they still gave him a pretty severely wide berth.

One night, when she was just a little more than a year old, Mamoru woke her up in the dead of night, the air tastes wrong, bad things are happening. Something very dangerous is headed this way.

As if on cue, the entire building began to shake, and Hikari began to taste what it was that Mamoru was talking about. It tasted like death and ozone, like the very air itself was rejecting the presence of something unnatural.

The tremors began to grow more and more severe, and they were being forced to evacuate the area. She ran, ran as fast as she could from whatever monster was creating impact tremors with the very earth. Until, she heard the creaking sound of splintering wood and turned to see a house lean forwards, as if it were trying to consume her.

And then she saw no more.

Hikari opened her eyes, but all she saw was a deep and opressive darkness.

But she wasn't being squashed like a pancake. I mean, I'm not complaining here that we haven't been crushed to death Mamoru… but I'd like to know where we are. This place doesn't taste like Konoha. The air here was warm but stale, but without a single light, it was impossible for her to ascertain her location. She was laying down on some form of relatively smooth stone, but other than that, she was at a loss for stimuli.

I took us from a place where death was inevitable to a place where it is merely very likely that we will die.

Oh, well aren't you just a saint. She replied with only a hint of bitterness to her tone.

I don't remember teaching you sarcasm.

Oh please, you don't teach people sarcasm. It is ingrained into our very souls. She replied giggling just a little bittoo enthusiastically.

We have to remain completely quiet otherwise He might notice we are here. Mamoru said, the fear he held was palpable.

"Who have you brought into my domain?" posited a voice that was as deep as it was terrifying.

Oh shit.

Language Mamoru-Kun. That is one of the naughty words.

Suddenly, the sconces along the walls of the chamber they had found themselves roared to life. They were in a clearing of rock, Hikari assumed that they were underground. That would explain the staleness of the air. The clearing that they found themselves in was massive. This was not really what caught her attention however, because they were not alone. In front of her was the largest snake that Hikari had seen in her entire life… no, not just the largest snake, the largest thing! He was monolithic in size, purple with a solid black underbelly, as well as black bands going down the length of his body.

"WOW!" Hikari said in absolute awe of this gargantuan creature. "YOU'RE EVEN BIGGER THAN GAMABUNTA THE BIG RED FROG! YOU'RE EVEN PURPLE INSTEAD OF THAT UGLY WARTY RED THAT HE WAS. YOU'VE GOT TO BE THE BIGGEST AND BESTEST THING EVER!" She stared up excitedly at him with a twinkle in her and her fists clenched in front of her, like she was ready to get up and start dancing. "YOU MUST BE THE BOSS SNAKE! DOES THAT MAKE YOU THE KING OF ALL SNAKES? I'M SORRY! I SHOULD BE BOWING IF THAT'S THE CASE!" Hikari immediately got down on her knees and planted her face to the ground. It was obvious that she was trying very hard (but failing) to contain herself.

There was an audible slap as Mamoru connected his face with the end of his tail while he tried to make himself look as small as possible.

It looked like the giant snake didn't even know how to respond to her outburst. Was she not afraid? She looked like she'd just witness the greatest entity in the universe, obviously Manda thought this was a foregone conclusion, he was uncontestably the best thing in the universe, but most people who saw him wet themselves in fear. Still, it was nice to be reminded of the fact that his presence demanded respect and admiration.

Seconds pass as he stares at her. The silence is so intense you could hear a pin drop.

"Mamoru, why have you brought me this hatchling?" He turned his head away from the little girl who had just finished praising him to the snake that was coiled at her feet. "I do not recall us signing a summoning contract with a child, and I do not appreciate surprises. You are lucky that I have eaten recently or else I would consume the both of you for your impudence."

Mamoru attempted to sputter out a reply "well… uh… umm… You sssee, Tousssan… Manda the Great, I believe ssshe isss sssnake-kin, because ssshe sssummoned me to her to protect her when ssshe had barely even been alive for 8 hoursss, and has maintained my sssummoning for a little over a year."

Manda seemed to consider this for a moment. "Snake-kin you say? So the two of you were mentally bound at the time of her birth?" Mamoru nodded vigorously. "There has not been a snake-kin for almost 250 years… show me her seal." Hikari lifted up her head and stood before Manda before she turned the back of her right hand to him showing the kanji that declared Mamoru her partner and smiled. He moved his face very close to Hiraki's position, so close she could almost reach out and touch his enormous scaly head.

Can touch?

Absolutely not, he will kill us both where we stand if we touch him without his express approval.

You don't stand Mamoru-Kun, dont be silly. Papa Manda is not a hugger. I can appreciate that, he is still really cool.

"Very well, if she is our kin, then I do not see why we shouldn't sign a contract with the hatchling. She shows very excellent taste aesthetic taste, Gamabunta is repulsive." He added with what can only be described as the snake equivalent of a smirk. "I will accept you into our contract." A massive scroll that was almost as wide as she was appeared before her of the other snake summoners who had signed before her. The scroll must have been ancient, it smelled a bit like the cave, but it was pristinely clean. "Write your name in your blood and then press your fingers down at the bottom." She cautiously began writing out her name in her blood

"Excuse me, Manda-Sama the Great? I do not think I have a last name… I'm an orphan." She said as she looked down sullenly. It almost looked like there was the beginning of tears in her eyes.

"You said yourself that you were snake-kin did you not?" She nodded, but didn't look up. "Then you will have my clan's family name. It is Hebi." She looked up with him tears of joy welling up in her eyes, threatening to spill over. "I do not have all day, my time is precious hatchling. Get on with it."

Hikari excitedly wrote down her now complete name. When she place her fingerprints at the bottom of the page she looked up at him once again. "May I ask you one final question?" Her eyes were so full of excitement and hope, and her body language almost made her look like she was spring loaded

Manda looked agitated, but nodded his consent. "If Mamoru is my serpentine-Oniisan, does that make you my serpentine-Tousan?"

Manda was quiet long enough for Mamoru to smack himself in the face with his tail again. Manda immediately erupted into raucous laughter, reverberating the very cave around them with the intensity of his voice. "I will allow it, hatchling. So long as you never forget my greatness."

"I wouldn't be able to, you're like the best thing in the history of forever!" she said hopping excitedly

"Thank you for being so patient and understanding with us." Mamoru bowed his head in respect and wrapped his way up Hikari until he lounged comfortably over her shoulder. Let us leave, we would not want to overstay our welcome more than we have already.

I think he likes me. Hikari couldn't stop smiling. This is such a great day, I got a summoning contract, a last name, and a serpentine-Tousan. I think this totally wins for best day of our collective lives. Eh, Mamoru-Kun?

She felt herself being torn back to their original position in Konoha. Eager to return home and tell Hokage-Sama everything that had happened. She looked around to see Konoha, burning and in shambles.