TW Warning. For anyone concerned will include the specific trigger in the AN down the bottom. Thanks yall.
Orochimaru frequents the library now, and Echiko always follows along and spends the trip to and from wondering when she deemed herself fit to obey a pre-schooler. The library attendant, an elderly man with a soft spot for curious children, always makes space for them amidst the still cluttered building.
"We're still only just getting off the ground here," he tells them, hefting a box onto a shelf. "But you're welcome to read anything you'd like." He shifts his glance from side to side before whispering, "And if you see Jiraiya-kun, tell me straight away. He's been trying to prank me for the last week, and my poor back just can't take it."
Sure enough, half way through 'Chakra and its Basic Applications,' Echiko lifts her head, sniffing. "Smells like frogs," she mutters to her friend. He nods sagely, and a tuft of white hair poking through the shelves confirms their suspicions. "We know you're there," she informs him, and grins when he skulks out from behind cover.
"I can't ever sneak up on you two; it's not fair." He kicks a book, and Orochimaru raises an unimpressed eyebrow.
"Maybe you should get better at concealing your chakra then," the raven boy replies mildly, returning to their book.
"Don't go ahead of me," Echiko scolds, palming the book. They bicker, wrongly forgetting their companion until he's crouched an inch from Echiko's face and she shrieks. "Go away!" She pushes him back and he crashes to the floor.
"Ow! That hurt!" He barks back.
The librarian rushes through and upon spotting Jiraiya roars in a way Echiko didn't realise men his age could. "Jiraiya-gaki! I'll send you to Sarutobi-san for this!" He growls, and the boy cowers.
Orochimaru clicks his tongue and prods Echiko. "Finish the page. I have." And he smirks at her, and she can't do anything but sigh fondly and comply as Jiraiya is dragged out by the ear.
A month before she is due to begin the Academy, she is taken to the Inuzuka compound, where her uncle's wife, Tsubaki and her partner greet her.
"Echiko-chan, how would you like to have a partner?" She gestures to Ao and she claps her hands together.
"A puppy?! Do I get a puppy?!" She grasps
Ao chuckles and nuzzles her. "Yes, pup. They'll be your best friend, and you'll be theirs."
Echiko frowns and peers down at the dog. "But, how do I know if they're my best friend?"
Ao and Tsubaki glance at each other and reply in sync.
"You'll know."
"Mitsuko-obasan, look!" She bounds through the door, ball of white fluff in her arms and tattoos lining her cheeks.
Instead of her godmother, Orochimaru looks from his position atop the footstool, stirring the hotpot with interest. She falters; of course Mitsuko isn't around. That is why Orochimaru is stuck making dinner. She hasn't quite been the same since Orochimaru's father fell in battle. Orochimaru himself doesn't seem to care much either way, having never really known his father. He was always on some sort of intelligence gathering mission or another, and left his mother in a state of poverty for as long as he could remember. Echiko somewhat understands how the deep-seeded resentment took root, despite knowing she could never feel that way about her Mum or Mama.
"Is that your ninken partner?" He inquires, and Echiko ignores her pity for jealousy because he simply knows everything about her clan. But she forgets when he leaves his post to lean over the dog and pets it gently. When it licks his finger, he squeaks and Echiko giggles because when was the last time Orochimaru squeaked?
"Mhm! His name is Shiromaru!" Unimaginative on her part, but at least she knew what it meant then. "Isn't he the cutest, Oro?"
He purses his lips and looks away, cheeks tinging pink. Echiko always sympathised with Orochimaru; his pale skin made his rare moments of fluster all the more emphasised. "I suppose so."
Shiromaru yawns and gazes up at Echiko, yipping gently. "This is Oro, Shiromaru. He's my other best friend, so you gotta be nice." Shiromaru ponders following his partner's first orders while he sniffs the boy. He eventually barks at him and while Orochimaru is taken aback, Echiko laughs again. "He likes you."
The boy huffs and returns to the pot. "You're lucky we have bones."
She thinks she had a dog back then too, but she can't recall what or when. It couldn't compare to this bundle of joy, whatever it was. She sits at the table, Shiromaru chewing on her lap and Orochimaru beside her, sneaking curious glances at the dog every now and then.
(It didn't matter if she couldn't remember. Nothing then could compare to now.)
A week before the Academy, Tsunade visits for the first time in what seems an aeon.
"Obaachan's doing really well," she says, wolfing down Orochimaru's onigri. "Tobi-oji said he's still scared of her, so she's gonna be healthy and stay for a long, long, long tme. And your tattoos look so cool, Echiko-chan!" She hears a whine, and looks down at Shiromaru, who gazes pointedly up at her food. "Echiko-chan, you spoil him," she chides, and Echiko stifles a grin because Tsunade-hime is against indulgence?
"Just give it to him, Tsunade-san. He won't shut up if you don't." Orochimaru narrows his eyes down at the pup—he made cooking so difficult even his cuteness wouldn't save him now.
"Don't be so hard on him, he's just a puppy," Echiko hums from the sink scrubbing dishes. "Just give him my plate, it's fine." She finds herself taking on more chores around the house, as Mitsuko closes in further and further. Only Orochimaru can coax her outside the apartment, and the worry for his mother is evident in every furtive glance at 'her' bedroom door. If her Mama was here, she would know what to do, she thinks sadly.
But for now, she simply cleans. She insists on taking on most work, since she is technically older, and lets Orochimaru handle the cooking. She has a distinct memory of burning pasta because she didn't realise it needed water to boil. She's not sure why out of everything that's what she remembers, but it has her sniggering whenever she thinks on it.
She stacks the plates to the side, and jumps off her stool. "I'll go ask Mitsuko-obasan if she wants anything." Orochimaru stands, but Shiromaru leaps onto his lap, leaving him stuck. Echiko giggles and pets him affectionately on her way through the hallway. "Mitsuko-obasan, Oro made lunch. It's super yummy!" She knocks but there is no reply. She hasn't been out in days, and the last time she spoke to either of them was this time yesterday. Enough was enough. "Mitsuko-obasan, I'll come in there!" She warns.
After another minute, she pushes open the door.
She vomits; her nose couldn't take such a vile scent. "O-Obasan…"
She hangs by a makeshift silken rope, fingers purple and blue. Echiko trembles and muffles her shriek. Only Shiromaru hears, but she growls so only he can hear, telling him to stay. She refuses to take in more of the body, refuses to grant the note on the bedside table the time of day. Instead, she dashes to her room, raids the secret stash under her futon and skips out holding it triumphantly.
"Mitsuko-obasan said she'll eat it later, but she gave us money for ice cream!"
And Tsunade rejoices, while Orochimaru sighs and throws their plates in the sink. Shiromaru finds his place atop Echiko's head, nuzzling her lightly. He smells it too, now the door has been opened, and recognises it from his time in the kennels; his younger sister was the runt of the litter and did not make it through their first week, despite the Inuzuka's best efforts.
Echiko finds an Uchiha near the store (she'd been informed by her Mama that they were to be trusted, as they were the Police here), and tugs his arm. Uchiha Nobutada is at first confused by the Inuzuka girl tugging on his arm—he still doesn't quite understand his job since obviously he was much better off actually helping the war effort—but as her lip trembles, he pushes his soreness aside and kneels down to her level.
"M-My Obasan, she, she," she hiccups, but Nobutada sees the way she composes herself when her gaze flickers back to two other children (one being Senju Tsunade no less). "My Obasan tried to fly, I think, and she tripped, so she got her head stuck in a, like a, hole in her rope."
Nobutada's gentle expression freezes and he grips her shoulders as he forces a shaky smile. After a few minutes, he manages to compose himself much like her. "I see. It's going to be okay, kid. How about you show me where you live, and that way I can see if I can help your Obasan?" She shakes her head.
"Can't let Oro see her," she whispers, rubbing her eyes. "His Kaasan." She hands him the dog atop her head, who whimpers in his arms. "Shiromaru show you."
The Uchiha later wonders where a five year old gained the emotional maturity to deal with this so calmly (he's seventeen and can't prevent vomiting when he enters the room even knowing what lie inside).
"Do you have somewhere to go while I help out your Obasan?"
She nods and says he'll be able to find her because Shiromaru is with him and then leaves with a quiet 'thank you.' Nobutada notes her tacked on grin as she tackles her male companion from behind, and sighs.
It's going to be a long day.
Orochimaru is quiet after the funeral. Tsunade clings to him and crushes him in an embrace that would've felled a lesser man. Echiko gives him space until they return to the apartment to collect their things.
Her Mum and Mama had just returned home the day before to be greeted with an emotionally scarred daughter and a new son. Her Mama wraps him in her arms and presses kiss after to kiss to his forehead. Hasami watches Echiko, frightened by the glazed look in her eyes. Because like Mitsuko was for Echiko, Yuri is Orochimaru's godmother and doesn't hesitate in taking him into her home. Her Mum cries, once when she first sees Shiromaru, and twice as she enters her bedroom.
They've a new war to fight already.
Echiko and Orochimaru are packing their room up; a new home in an attempt for a new life.
"Oro."
He doesn't say anything to her still, but she wraps her arms around him.
"You saw," he then rasps.
And how a boy his age can connect the dots together like this, she doesn't know and hugs tighter.
"I'm sorry."
And somehow, then and there, she's enough.
Trigger: Explicit suicide.
Hope yall are okay with this style so far. This story is more of a collection of moments than a flowing ongoing plot most of the time. Please let know what you think. :)