Orochimaru had a severe migraine, and she was strolling right alongside him, completely oblivious of her effect on the snake shinobi. He pinched the bridge of his nose for what seemed like the fourth time in the past ten minutes. The blonde haired annoyance continued to go on about anything and everything. The falling leaves, her favorite foods, the color of the sky, she always found a new topic to fill the silence, that Orochimaru desperately wanted. Even though Orochimaru never offered more than a snide remark or a noncommittal grunt, that seemed to be enough to keep the fox like girl satisfied with continuing her rambling.
As she continued, Orochimaru tried to analyze the woman whom he would, unfortunately, be spending quite a bit of time with. Obviously this girl knew him in some way, with negative connotation no doubt. She was also using her endless stream of words in a futile attempt at concealing the fact that she was deep in thought. It was well practiced from the looks of it. She spoke as if not expecting a response, signs of neglect. Her jinchuriki status had something to do with that, most likely. Although, it was a pointless act, when her expressions contrasted so drastically with what she was talking about. The way her eyes glazed over or her mouth twisted to the side in a puzzling manner were dead giveaways. What she was thinking about, the snake man had no idea. He was intelligent, not a Yamanaka.
Eventually Naruto glanced over at Orochimaru mid rant and took in his appearance. The same Orochimaru, that betrayed Konoha and stole her friend, was walking in stride with her. He had the same features but they held no real hostility (other than mild irritation). He sighed occasionally but actually responded with enough detail that it sounded like he was actually paying attention (or at least half paying attention).
'He may have just been listening for some sort of clue,' Naruto surmised,' I can't be tricked by this se-'
'No, I already said that I wouldn't hold his future self against him' Naruto thought, but that didn't stop her from being wary and finding amusement in all this. It was odd, and a bit funny. She shuddered as she fought a laugh. She declared that she was going to be best friends with Orochimaru. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad! Maybe he had some good qualities back in the day.
'At the very least he hasn't tried to kill me yet. Always a plus when it comes to my friends.' She mused. He kept looking over at her the way Shikamaru looked at a shoji board, particularly when he was frustrated. He reminded her too much of Sasuke. The real Sasuke. The one that raced her during the tree climbing exercise and trained alongside her. The one who took the chunnin exams with her. The one who betrayed her.
She flinched and slowly her one sided conversation drifted off, as her thoughts turned back on Sasuke's final moments of consciousness. She somberly smiled, 'Right now, he probably thinks he's at home. His mother is cooking his favorite meal while his brother returns home from yet another successful mission. He leaves his spot, watching the young Uchiha children playing their third game of tag, to put on his jonin vest and go on patrol, a proud member of the Police force. I can just see his smile as he runs out the door eager to prove himself to everyone in the clan.'
"I wonder…if he even spares a small part of his daydream for me." Naruto unknowingly whispered. Orochimaru shifted his gaze to her face. She had such a sad look of resignation in her smile. She knew the most likely answer.
Orochimaru felt an unfamiliar tug in his chest. Was it pity? Pity for this girl he knew, he glanced at the sun, maybe four hours? He frowned and crossed his arms trying not to look her way. He could imagine her inner dialogue, the fight between what she was supposed to think and what she actually thought. He knew it all too well. She would go on believing that he actually cared whether she lived or died to just find out it was all a ploy, a game. She was just a way to pass the time or a stepping stone to be used once than forgotten. She would give all she had, in her own way, until she realized it was pointless. No one cared the way about her the way she cared about them. She would realize that she was always alone.
Orochimaru cursed his mind for a split second. It had always been his greatest weapon and hindrance at the same time. His thoughts often spiraled out of control often turning a minor issue into a world shattering dilemma or a slight similarity into an entire monologue. It made his already horrible social skills, atrocious. It hadn't been so bad when he had Tsunade as a sounding board it helped. She always talked him through some of his worse paranoid thoughts but Dan passed away and he hadn't seen hide nor hair of her since.
Jiraiya had never been a great listener and it would be a cold day in hell before he asked him for help. Dammit he couldn't console a kunai let alone a kunoichi who-Why was Naruto staring at him with such an odd expression. He widened his eyes as he realized that he had been muttering that momentary frustration. Damn his nervous habit.
Orochimaru began to fume as he quickened his pace with a light flush on his cheeks. This whole situation had thrown everything he thought possible out of line. His stupid habits. This stupid girl. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost missed her reply.
"It's alright you know." She awkwardly chuckled, "I'm no good with people either. I-In a different way that is. You wouldn't believe it" she continued as she caught up with him," But I tend to never shut up when Im nervous or feeling lonely."
"No, really?" he reflexively quipped.
"YEAH! Im a real gabberjaw!" she exclaimed completely missing Orochimaru's sarcasm. "I just got used to everyone ignoring me, so I figured if I kept talking something I said had to stick." She lowered her head towards the last part.
"Why do you care if people listen? Especially if they won't respond anyways."
Naruto shrugged and hmed noncommittally, "I guess it was in the hope that one day they would, or better yet, they would find my words of use to them one day and think of me. I spend a lot of time with my teammates, well not so much anymore, but they should remember some of what I say!"
"You would be surprised…" He finished as he stopped to pull out an old piece of parchment from his shirt.
Naruto turned and flashed the smile that worked on everyone," What can I say? I have a big heart!" She motioned waving her hands in a heart motion.
Orochimaru was unimpressed.
"Isn't that a medical condition?" He muttered through the marker he had in his mouth. He began to flatten out the paper slowly getting more and more irritated by his hair which kept falling on the paper.
Naruto looked on her person and found a hair tie handing it to the serpent ninja. "Maybe. I don't know. Sakura would know something like that."
"A medic nin I'm assuming." He took the tie and ran his fingers through his hair trying to fashion it into a ponytail. He eventually got it to cooperate and began tracing out lines on the heavily written on map.
"Yeah. A darn good one at that. At least she was….Hey what's that?" she pointed to a large mountain range, Orochimaru was circling thoroughly wrinkling the map and messing up his handwriting.
"I still can't believe you don't own a fucking map." He grumbled, "That is the mountain range that separates the northern Land of Snow and the rest of the continent. And it's where we are heading." He tilted his head away from the ever inching forward blonde as she peered over his shoulder.
"Why..again?" she nervously inquired as she exhaustedly rested her head on his shoulder.
Orochimaru fought the urge to push her on her ass and possibly cut off a limb. It wasn't good to maim the only help with current world knowledge, however limited it was. Besides her company was awful, annoying not awful, and it was a new feeling having someone so close to him. Most people avoided physical contact with him, and even when people did slap him on the back or get uncomfortable close Orochimaru normally hated it and shied away. She was an odd exception. It was different but not altogether unpleasant, until she began to inch forward more, pressing further into his back.
Orochimaru abruptly stood up leaving Naruto to ack in response, "We are heading there," he rerolled the map making sure to hold it threateningly in her direction, "Because the last know clan I heard of doing any sort of time manipulating jutsu was from that area, and more than likely their records are stored there. Land of Snow's government is too small to waste time documenting every single clan's research so it should be in the clan's compound. AND, no we aren't going to Konoha first because I already know most of what there is to know from their libraries." Naruto sheepishly looked up with a small smile trying to appease the frustrated snake. "Besides there is no doubt Madara is keeping an eye out for any survivors that would work with you. His first bet would be to keep an eye on Konoha, where you would most likely return."
"I guess you're righ-
"I know I'm right." He interrupted as he motioned for Naruto to get on her feet. She dusted herself off and smiled to herself. 'This definitely beats being alone'
