Updated: Edited and re-uploaded 3/23/2018
The brittle leaves of fall shriveled and fell, the cold wind swinging them back and forth until they landed on the frozen ground. Mounds of leaves collected on the sidewalks, none of which the villagers bothered to clear. The sky grew darker earlier and earlier, the sun quick to disappear once past six in the evening.
Neither Namikaze Eri nor her father noticed the change, however. Both of them stayed barricaded in their warm home, their curtains pulled to conceal the outside world. Eri stuck to her father's side as often as she could, desperate to shield him from anything that could possibly trigger his anxiety attacks. It seemed her caution had been worth it; Minato rarely froze up or snapped, his anxiety shedding bit by bit. His tense aura, previously bundled up into a tight ball, unravelled itself strand by strand as he became adjusted to a non-combatant zone.
On their fifth day isolated from the world, though, it seemed her father had had enough. No amount of Eri's puppy eyes could stop her father from leaving their home.
"I need to check on my team, Eri." His voice was low and soft.
"They're chuunin now. They can take care of themselves," she countered. She pushed against her father as best as she could, blocking his path to the front door.
He reached down to grasp her arms to pull her off of him without hurting her. She dangled in the air from her father's hold on her wrists. "It's because they're chuunin that they need their sensei right now."
"No," she growled. Her father rolled his eyes, and swung her up so he could hold her by his hips with his left arm.
"You can be with me the entire time," he offered, before hesitantly adding. "I'm sure they're worried about me. Kakashi alone has sent me five messages in the past hour, and I really don't think the messenger hawks should be wasted that way during a time of war. Besides, I've already asked them to wait for us at the training compound."
Eri kept silent. It was true that she wasn't the only one concerned about the Yellow Flash, and she knew his students very much had the right to know that he was alive and well. But there were too many risks out there in the real world that Eri couldn't protect her father from.
Minato seemed to take Eri's silence for acceptance, and the couch beside them merged into a whirlpool of colors, mixing with the beige wall and the white ceiling and the blurred window—
And Eri let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Her heart pounded in her chest. (There really was a reason why people needed to practice and train with instantaneous travel, after all!) The Namikaze pair stood on the road extending from the main market to the beginning of the training compounds. The road was surrounded by evergreen trees and rustling grass. The chilly air was filled with a sweet, subtle fragrance that she hadn't smelled since her parents' departure. But more importantly, her head spun and watered from instant travel.
"Oh," her father mumbled. "I'd— I'm sorry, Eri. I just… I'll be careful not to use it with you next time. Are you alright?"
Eri was most certainly not all right. She was having a hard time focusing on the features of her father's face, as though she'd downed several shots of vodka in one go. But if her father knew he'd unintentionally hurt her, he would break into little pieces again, and Eri would be the one who'd have to piece him back together. She forced out her halted breath with one exhale, and gave her father a sweet smile, patting his cheeks with her small, pudgy hands.
"I'm fine!" she exclaimed. "I'm super fine. It was really fun." She clenched her shaking fingers into a tight fist to hide them from her father, her fingers digging into her palm. "Can we use it again when we go home?"
Eri realized her father was still completely out of it when a relieved smile bloomed across his face. His stance relaxed. "Of course," he reassured her. "Whatever you want, hime."
(He was a jounin. He was Namikaze Minato. He should have noticed her shaking hands, should have noticed her unfocused gaze, should have noticed— the only conclusion she came to was that he still had a few screws loose from the war.)
"Sensei!" a familiar voice screeched. "Minato-sensei!"
A bundle of cheer flung itself at Minato's legs, clasping onto them tightly. Minato chuckled, his voice light and steady, before reaching down to pat Obito's soft hair.
"Obito," Minato's voice dripped with fondness. "I'm back."
Eri glanced up from the adorable scene to see Rin staring at her father with wide eyes, her hands covering her mouth. She seemed ready to collapse any second from shock. But still, the brunette managed to trudge on over to the three of them, and join in on the group hug.
When Eri looked up from the heartwarming scene, she was nearly blinded by the reflective teeth of the walking cucumber headed her way. It jumped up and down excitedly as it trailed after a familiar grey-haired boy. All Eri could think as her eyes followed the obnoxiously bright green suit was 'he must be a really good shinobi if he's managed to survive this long in that suit.'
She glanced at Kakashi to see if he also shared her fascination, but paused at the unexpected maze that wash is aura. Kakashi was neither impatient nor annoyed. He was not upset that his sensei had appeared before him three days after his arrival. He was… beyond relieved. Eri had not seen an aura express such grand catharsis since her parents were informed by the Hokage that she would not be turned into a child soldier.
(She wondered if perhaps she had been taking Kakashi's haughty words at too much face value. Perhaps… he was like Orochimaru, who felt the need to dress his words for psychological warfare and use them to defend himself from any potential attack
During her bickering moments with Kakashi, Eri had momentarily forgotten that Kakashi was emotionally and physically a child. He was a kid. He was only eleven years old.)
Eri now saw that Kakashi had done a good job convincing himself into believing he really was a cold, calculating weapon. But it seemed the appearance of his sensei in the flesh was more than enough to interrupt Kakashi's obedience of Shinobi Rule Ten or the other, which stated he be an emotionless, mission-focused and -obsessed robot.
And from her father's reaction from seeing the approaching Kakashi, Eri realized her father already knew about this. The corners of Minato's eyes crinkled as he gave his students a bright, comforting grin. He extended his free arm to the other child.
"I'm home," Minato said, outstretching his arms to the still boy.
Kakashi stood far away, watching cautiously. The boy beside him glanced at him, then at Eri's father. The child apparently came to the right conclusion, as he laid a hand on Kakashi's shoulder, flashed his blinding teeth with a smile, and disappeared down the road to the market. Kakashi took one step and another and another and another until he finally stood before his sensei.
"You're late," the child's voice was small. "Even Obito arrived earlier than you."
Minato laughed, before pulling Kakashi into the group hug. "Sorry about that. But I'm here now, and I'll be taking over the team.."
"So!" Minato returned to his deceptive angelic persona. "Care to fill me in on how you all have been doing?"
Eri was beginning to regret not letting her father meet his team a little earlier than he originally had. After listening to them ramble on about carrier jobs, babysitting trips, message delivery and more, Minato checked on the children's training and gave them some important pointers on how to fix their forms. During this entire session, however, Eri noticed the most prominent change in her father's aura, which returned to its original state: calm, peaceful, analytical and (just a little) sadistic. He regained another part of his identity, a side of him that wasn't all about killing and killing and killing.
(She knew—or she felt like she knew—what it was like to question one's identity after going on a killing spree and destroying towns and villages and...)
His injuries had healed nicely in the following few days, and he met with his team regularly for meetings and training. But Eri still refused to let him out of her sight, which was why she lingered on the Hokage's couch, staring at a map of the various nations on the table without much thought. Her father and his team stood before the Hokage, receiving a new mission. According to the Hokage's instruction, the mission would take less than an entire day, and they'd be back before dinner time.
When her father's aura twitched irritatedly from being assigned such an 'easy' mission, Eri coughed to catch his attention and quirked her eyebrows. He most certainly did not have her permission to go on long, violent missions. In fact, her father should've been thankful that she even allowed him to leave Konoha in the first place. It was apparent Minato caught her message as he laughed under his breath, before waving off the confused looks of his team.
"You need to help the Daimyo's second cousin travel from the capital to Tsurui. From there, Team 4 will take over and complete the journey to Biei-cho. There may be bandits on the way, but since the road you'll be taking is in the center of the Land of Fire, there shouldn't be any foreign nin around," the Hokage explained.
(Eri was thankful the Hokage hadn't explicitly stated the "because you killed so many Iwa nin, they're avoiding this road" part implied in the conversation)
"Hai," the group chorused. Minato tucked the mission scroll into his (ugly and replaced, much to Eri's chagrin) jounin jacket, and turned to Eri.
"I'll be back before dinner time," he promised. "Hokage-sama has allowed you to stay in his office until we come back, so stay here instead of home. I know you'll be good, hime."
"Why not Mikoto-san's house?" Eri pouted. She missed Itachi, and wondered how he was doing.
Minato sent her a funny smile. "We've been intruding on her and her family for too long. It'd be best if you just stayed here. I have to leave now, sweetheart."
Eri gave her father a weak smile. "I love you. Be safe."
He gave her a peck on her forehead. As he ushered his team out of the office, he bellowed over his shoulder, "Make sure Hokage-sama takes proper breaks!"
"Cheeky brat," the Sandaime muttered, but his smile remained in place. He peered around his towers of paperwork to check on Eri. "Sorry, Eri-chan. I can't be much of a host right now, because I'm so busy. I swear to kami, no one in Konoha can do their jobs without my help—"
"Hokage-sama!" a young chuunin burst into the room. "I apologize—but the river near the 3rd post has been poisoned. The civilians who live off the river are sending in numerous complaints—"
The Hokage shot Eri an 'I told you so' look, before shifting his entire attention to the messenger. Eri snorted, and turned back to the map that had preoccupied her thought. Eri figured the map wouldn't be accurate. In fact, in the Narutoverse, most sources of information, like maps or non-fiction books, seemed to be inaccurate or plain misleading.
It made sense, though; in this world, concrete information was a weapon, and a very potent one at that. By veiling fact, nations could exaggerate whatever they wanted as propaganda to instill nationalism within their denizens or inspire soldiers to increase their passion and fighting efficiency. They could also feed false information to their enemies, and without a proper, legitimate source, their enemies would be none the wiser and fall into what would've otherwise been an easy to notice trap.
This was much harder to pull off in her old world. The internet allowed people of diverse backgrounds to share information and helped verify pieces of information as evidence by cross referencing it to the experiences of the involved groups.
Eri sighed, and traced the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass. She knew Kannabi Bridge was somewhere in this area, and that sooner or later, Konoha shinobi had to attack the area to reclaim the upper hand in battle. But her word had no weight in the political and military world here (in her previous life, her surname was enough for men to pause, to listen, to follow orders). If Shikaku was the shrewd general he was revealing himself to be, he wouldn't risk the lives of his men for a three-year-old's plan, no matter how much of a genius she was. Konoha just couldn't afford to use its men so recklessly, especially after the recent failed espionage.
"See something interesting?" a familiar voice called.
Blinking, Eri looked up. "Orocchin!" she yelled as she flung herself at the Snake Sannin. "Why are you here?"
With knowing ease, Orochimaru tucked a hand under her legs to hold her up. "I have a meeting with my sensei. My students are cooperating with each other enough that I can take them out for missions now."
Eri clutched onto Orochimaru's clothes tightly, her lips pursing. (She finally had her father back. She really wasn't ready— really didn't want— to send off another friend, another family member.)
Orochimaru rolled his eyes. "Child, I am not so weak that I require you to worry about me."
Eri didn't ease up on her pouting. It wasn't like she was looking down on him. She knew he was strong; but so was her father, and he returned home in lesser pieces than a box of smashed cookies. Instead of responding to Orochimaru, Eri stared at the Hokage with mild irritation, silently demanding the man assign Orochimaru's team an easy mission. The Hokage merely watched the duo with amusement, even as his right hand danced across the pages of legal documents before him.
"So you're finally willing to calling them your students, eh?" the Sandaime chuckled.
"I do not see how you are permitted to ridicule my decision," Orochimaru snorted. "If I recall correctly, you yourself refused to call Jiraiya, Tsunade, and me your students until the second month of the formation of our team."
"That's because I was forced to pay for the collateral damage of your fights." The Sandaime's eyes glazed with nostalgia. "I think you have to admit those damages were the main financial reasons why I had to wait several years to build my own home. But, yes. Your team has a new mission." He threw a long, sealed scroll across the table, which Orochimaru caught without difficulty.
"The Daimyo's third cousin, Nakamura-sama, is moving to Kitashiobara," Hokage-sama sighed.
"And the reason this is a B class mission?" Orochimaru asked, examining the contents of the scroll.
Eri gaped at the scroll, and turned to give the Hokage her best death glare. How could he send a newly formed genin team on a B rank mission right off the bat? Was he crazy?
"Nakamura-sama is currently residing in Kiso-cho," the Sandaime explained, ignoring Eri's (admittedly pathetic) intimidation attempts.
"That is… quite close to the Iwa borders," Orochimaru quirked his eyebrow.
The Sandaime sighed and leaned back on his chair. "Yes. It appears Nakamura-sama had angered the Daimyo last year, and consequently was forced to live closer to hostile forces. It was only recently that Nakamura was smart enough to realize he was in danger, and successfully won back the Daimyo's favor."
Orochimaru sealed the scroll and hid it in his sleeves. "I understand. But will our team be enough for the trip? Usually these aristocrats have more than their immediate family members travel with them when they make such dramatic moves as these, and I doubt a four member team will be enough to protect the entire entourage."
"About that," the Sandaime cleared his throat. Immediately, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, and his grip on Eri tightened. She patted his hand reassuringly that yes, she also thought the Hokage was being an asshole.
"There will be several other shinobi teams joining you," Hokage-sama explained. He quickly rushed to add, "Danzo has also added some of his recommendations onto the teams. You will— your team and you will be fine."
It was clear Orochimaru was in turmoil. There was something conflicted in him, something that was boiling and reaching its bursting point. But the Snake Sannin somehow managed to repress the concern and anger, and instead, curled the tips of his lips into a sneer.
"I will be fine," he said in the same haughty tone as always. "And my team will be fine. All will be well."
The Hokage's nervous aura relaxed. Eri scrunched her face in confusion. How could the Hokage simply accept Orocchin's words to be the truth, and believe that Orochimaru was OK? Couldn't he see the way his student was stiff, the way his grip on Eri had tensed at the mention of Danzo?
"I know you'll protect them," the Sandaime smiled. "I believe in your abilities as a leader. I know, as you do, that there is a bright future ahead of you. One that I think you truly deserve."
Eri blinked. That sounded awfully like—
"As soon as this war ends," the Hokage continued, "I know you especially will be rewarded for your contribution to Konoha."
Orochimaru turned away from the Hokage, returning Eri back to the couch. She couldn't see his expression, his face completely concealed from both her and the Hokage, but she could see he was more confident in himself now. The Hokage's words invigorated and convinced him that whatever he was going through was worth it.
"The acknowledgement of the Konoha people is all I need," Orochimaru said. The Hokage laughed, but Eri realized Orochimaru was being completely serious. He was doing something upsetting for Konoha, for its people. Eri stared at Orochimaru hard enough to bore a hole in the back of his head.
(He never wanted it from the start. But what was it? Experimentation? Recognition? Acknowledgement?)
"My team will leave tomorrow in the morning then, as per the instructions of the mission," Orochimaru noted.
The Sandaime gave a sharp nod, then paused. "Orochimaru, what do you have planned for the rest of the afternoon?"
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms. "That would depend on what burden you're planning on throwing my way."
The Hokage chuckled. "Well, Eri-chan is supposed to stay in my office until her father's team returns from their mission today. Minato will be back before 8 PM tonight. But I worry that she may die from boredom; I have too much work on my hands to entertain her at the present moment."
Orochimaru chortled, eyeing the never-ending stacks of paper on the Hokage's desk. "Yes, I can see that. If it's Namikaze, I don't mind. I've— She's no trouble."
Eri and the Hokage sniggered, having noticed the Snake Sannin's slip of "I've missed her." Orochimaru rolled his eyes as he headed towards the door. Eri clambered off the couch and trailed on after him. She reached up and clasped onto his hands tightly, and turned to wave at the Hokage, who once again became engrossed in his work.
"I've missed you too, Orocchin," Eri cooed as they made their way down the hallway.
"You're fully capable of discussing the formation and organization of an entire clan's DNA, and yet you still insist on calling me by that annoying pet name," Orochimaru growled. "You are a mystery of a child, Namikaze."
Eri only laughed. She knew if it really bothered Orochimaru, he'd force her to go through discipline training over and over again until just hearing said pet name made her sick. She took his tolerance to be a sign of his acceptance, and he knew she did.
"Is your team going to be at your office?" she asked as the two walked down a familiar set of empty roads.
"No. They've been training hard the past couple of days, so I allowed them a day off with their families," Orochimaru unlocked and opened the door to his office once they reached their destination. "And this way, I have more time to myself to plan formations for the team in accordance to the needs of the mission."
Eri frowned, and found herself pouting again as she draped herself over Orochimaru's couch like she owned it (which, honestly, she did). There was something tight and uncomfortable entangled in her stomach. She didn't like it. It felt like she was trying to bundle up all her frustrations and angst and bury it inside her.
"What is it?" Orochimaru sighed.
"Well, how am I going to know if you're OK or not?" she demanded, surprising herself with the outburst. When Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, she added, "At least with otou-chan, I have a seal to let me know if he's injured or not. With you, I have nothing."
"You should not worry about me too much," Orochimaru argued.
Eri gave him a disbelieving look. "Are you serious?"
"Everyone you're acquainted with is strong by their own right," he continued, ignoring her gaping expression. "It's most illogical to assume they will be seriously injured from taking such unimportant missions."
"Yes, but even superficial injuries make me worried," Eri snapped. "It's the same with okaa-chan, because I forgot to ask her for a seal, and I'm worried sick every day and night and when otou-chan came back home, he was not OK, and I—"
She jerked her head back as tears swelled and fell from her eyes, drops colliding with the skin of her palms and creating a messy, salty mess on her hands. She rubbed her fist against her eyes, but Orochimaru swiftly intervened, and used a handkerchief to gently dry her face.
(Eri wondered if she could go a week without crying and laughed sarcastically at herself. The answer was a clear no.)
"She hasn't sent a letter in weeks," Eri admitted miserably. "I don't know where she is, or what she's doing. I don't know anything. And when otou-chan came home, he was in a really bad state. What if that happens to you?"
Orochimaru used the tips of his index and thumb fingers to throw the handkerchief in the trash, replacing it with tissues. "It won't."
"But what if?" Eri persisted.
"I'm going on a B class mission, hime," Orochimaru reminded her, his voice soothing and calm.
"But things might always turn for the worse, like you taught me and Itachi," she sniffled.
Orochimaru pressed his lips together, before taking a seat beside her. "Alright. I have a solution to your worries."
Orochimaru held a familiar hand sign, and drew his eyebrows close in concentration, gathering his chakra from its core to his fingertips. Immediately, Hanako slid out from his sleeves and clambered down onto his lap. Once the sunset-colored snake realized Eri was also on the same couch, she immediately slid on over to clamber onto Eri's shoulder.
"You can use Hanako to communicate with me," Orochimaru said.
Eri's eyes widened. "What? How?"
"I'm going to teach you how to communicate with snakes," Orochimaru smiled as Eri's gaping expression returned.
"Do I get to sign the summoning pact with them?" Eri asked excitedly.
Orochimaru placed a hand on his chin, frowning. "Not exactly, though that certainly is an option. I'm going to teach you a different method on how to communicate with my snakes. As to whether you sign a summoning contract with the snakes… I would hold up on that. I'm not aware of whether the Namikaze had any special summoning pacts, but I know the Uzumaki did, so you should wait until your parents inform you on the matter."
"Oh," Eri deflated. "OK."
"Now, listen," Orochimaru instructed. "Hanako, introduce yourself to Eri."
The snake raised herself up to Eri's eye level, and hissed incomprehensibly. Eri glanced at Orochimaru questioningly. He rolled his eyes, and reached his hand over to press against Eri's head. Suddenly, the world before Eri became blurred and the room began to vibrate violently in Eri's vision. Orochimaru's left hand snapped out to support Eri's head as the toddler swayed slightly to the side.
"I slightly altered the way your brain's central auditory processing center perceives noise," Orochimaru explained. "It echoes the symptoms of hyperacusis, but it'll wear off in a couple of days." He pushed her up so she could balance her upper body herself.
Eri blinked as she became engulfed in the music of the world around her. She could hear the sound of the wind gently caressing the surface of the window; the heavy steps of the civilians trudging on their way past the building; the light taps of the shinobi landing and departing the building's roof. Her attention returned to Hanako as the snake slithered across Eri's lap and began hissing again.
This time, she could hear slight inconsistencies, breaks, and various tones in what Hanako was trying to say. She turned to Orochimaru with a bright smile. "I can hear a pattern!"
"Yes. I've trained the majority of my snakes to speak in broken sentences. The syllable of their hisses indicate which alphabet letter their word first begins with. The rhythm of the hiss conveys which family of meanings the word is of, and the beat of the entire hiss conveys any connotation of the message," Orochimaru instructed. "You must practice listening to them as frequently as you can to notice the pattern immediately."
Eri's eyes remained on Hanako, who almost seemed to be smiling. "Will you teach me?"
Orochimaru laid his hand on Eri's head. "Luckily for you, hime, I have plenty of time on my hands today."