Amaterasu53 I felt so good after knowing that you are excited! Thank you for the review. It lifts up my spirit to continue writing. Do tell me how you feel about the plot twist in this new chapter.

A/N: I present my first ever attempt at writing. It is not canon compliant and will be AU since I will be manipulating the timeline as i wish. English is not my first language. Constructive criticism is welcomed but don't be rude. I am writing for fun and hope you enjoy as well.

I don't own Naruto and never will.

"Emphsis"

characters thinking/a simple narration

AN IMPORTANT PART

"characters speaking"

Pay attention to the chapter names as they sometimes signify a deeper meaning...

I updated 2 chapters in a row because i thought maybe the previous chapter was a bit lacking. So here is another installment. Enjoy.

Chapter 9: A Step towards a better future

Orochimaru's POV

In the whole leaf village, only training ground 44, the forest of death can truly be considered his home turf. So imagine his surprise when he stepped in the village after 6 months of engaging the enemies on the frontlines in this stupid war he went to the forest and sensed someone's distress through their Chakra, as if they had no control over it. Or it could be a trap his mind whispered

When he reached the person, he was reeling with the possibility of that idiotic Namikaze trying another jutsu. The brat henged himself into a little girl-

But no the girl's eyes were different, a bit darker than jiraya's student as if she held a pain of the world getting destroyed right before her very eyes.

He did not continue that train of thought instead now that he knows that it definitely is not a trap, he sent a summon to take her blood sample, because sage only knows how and why this little girl has Kage-level chakra reserve, it was more than even him. (he was wrong he could not sense the chakra masked underneath, it was 90 times more than that of a Kage, one tail of a beast holds twice the chakra that a Kage has, only merging with the 9-tails she had 18 times that of a Kage, now there seems to be no limit when she had all her 9 friend's chakra*) and admittedly, he was also a little curious, if that child is really related to the Namikaze brat because gods she is like his female clone or something. And how does a little girl survive sleeping in the middle of this forest without any means of protection and zero chakra control. (He could tell her Chakra control was bare minimum because emotions are not supposed to be present in Chakra when you have control over it)

He got stunned when her eyes shot open as soon as his summon got within a certain range of her and she addressed the snake as if she knew it was a summon. He was both impressed and offended at the same time. Impressed, because of her sensory ability and the command and authority with which she told the snake to poof away (he had a sneaking suspicion that she was used to giving orders and being obeyed and that she did not know she used that voice on his summon) and offended because, she addressed it at as if someone else could summon snakes in this world.

His jaw dropped when he heard "toads" and saw her preparing for summoning jutsu as if it was natural and with a speed that could rival his own. So before this child managed to poof away, and land herself in some unknown realm with her stupidly trying the summoning jutsu, Orochimaru intervened. (Oh he did not do that out of the goodness in his heart but out of curiosity at how a mere child can form hand seals so fast as if they had practiced for a decade and to get some answers.)

And he was sent reeling again when he realized that the girl recognized his Chakra signature, (which he was suppressing he might add although not by much but still) and had the audacity to say he shall be holed up in his lab as well as comment on his attire. Oh he got irritated and but his curiosity also doubled. So he asked all the questions that were on the forefront of his mind after what he heard her say and he filed rest of the information for later investigation.

He noticed that the girl was not getting scared of him rather she was getting irritated by his presence. What a surprise, he thought, a child not running away screaming in his presence. And when he reached her and asked all his questions, (maybe she really is Anko's friend but i have never seen her before in this village, well i don't know every kid, but a child with such reserves is definitely worth to keep an eye on, maybe she is a spy, no she cannot be with her emotions all over the place) she took a breath as if to wash away her irritations and looked up directly in his eyes to answer...but she snapped her mouth shut and he noticed her eyes darkened a bit as if in silent grief. (She remembered she is in the past with no one on her side)

He expected her to take a battle stance but as soon as she took it, he felt sour emotion rise in him again, which frankly rises every time a villager crosses his paths, he doesn't know why he is feeling like this, so he curses those feelings that makes him human and thus a mortal. He wants to achieve immortality and be invincible so feelings are a waste anyway.

So he carefully notices her stance, and is surprised once again when he saw that although her stance is full of holes but if she was taller than it would have been perfect to fight him. He also notices something familiar in her stance that he cannot quite put a finger on, as if he has fought with someone with a similar stance; so files away that information to interrogate the child at a later date. As it is now, he will win in this fight in a second.

"What will you do if I don't answer your questions?" He can see that she is trying to cover up whatever she had said but a look in her eyes tells him she is trained and will not hesitate to even fight a Sanin such as himself.

After some consideration, he reaches a decision, that is, he will take this prodigy of a child for himself and keep Danzo's grubby hands away from what can be a powerful and interesting tool for him to wield as he sees fit. He smiles and steps forwards.

"Then i will take you to the Hokage, report you as a spy, because you clearly do not belong here," she suppresses a flinch at that, he doesn't notice "-and have someone mind-walk you to know all those answers for myself anyway." he shrugged as if it was unimportant.

"So the choice is yours child, either answer me or answer to the Hokage" he glared at her when he saw she was about to choose the second option, "which i will also get to know mind you one way or another" he finished.

At that she became closed her mouth with a click and tsked.

While she was mulling over his words, he took a good look at his surroundings and felt his eyes widen when he realized that the flora was much richer in this area than any other part of the forest. He whipped his head to look at the girl and found her staring at him in contemplation, her eyes looking at him as if they were judging his very soul, every right and wrong act he had committed in his entire life. (She was thinking about the possibilities her decision may bring, and how far gone Orochimaru was at that moment) He froze for a millisecond under the heaviness of her stare.

"Well, did you think it through?" he asked stoically feeling uncomfortable on the inside.

She nodded slowly as if not sure if she could trust a fellow leaf citizen or is it just him? (He does not know he no longer a fellow leaf citizen in her life)

"So your answer?" He asked impatiently when she didn't say anything else.

She nodded to herself as if reaching a decision. (She read his emotions and found a big ball of malice, but not yet big enough for him to have started experimenting on children. and decided then and there that she will spare Ero-Sannin the pain and the sting of betrayal that he will suffer through Orochimaru, and become Orochimaru's anchor in this village itself.)

"I will tell you everything slowly and surely in the future if and only if you agree to train me" She said with a surprisingly calm and smooth voice. Her aura suddenly became inviting and he instinctively took a step towards her. (Even he cannot fight against his instincts)

He was surprised when she came up with the same thing he wanted to do and immediately became suspicious (maybe this was a trap after all, his shinobi instinct whispered)

"Why do you think i will agree to train you and not throw you into T?" he enquired genuinely curious and a bit suspicious

"Because Orochimaru-" she stepped forward, took a deep breath and relaxed her stance "- you are feeling immensely curious, you want to know why my stance was familiar to Jiraya, why can i say so easily that i can summon toads, how was i able to recognize your Chakra and that of your summon and lastly what is my relation to Minato Namikaze"

There are other questions but they will get to those eventually.

Something like a light bulb switched on his head so that was why it felt familiar because it was the frog kata that Jiraya uses against me in spars. Amazing! she mixed it with different styles and made it her own. Also he was right about her being related to the Namikaze.

He looked at her as if he wanted to dissect her brain right there and then, the creepy smile and the overflowing curiosity were also becoming uncomfortable fast.

"Answer me this, if you really are related to the Namikaze, why don't you go to him for training?" not that he will allow her to go to him obviously.

"I don't want him to know of our relation" and i can't go to Tsunade because she has left the village and i will not be able to control a mental breakdown in front of Jiraya. She answered truthfully giving him ammunition to hold over her in case she goes astray.

And it really was the truth he knows because he can see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice, the sincerity of her statement and the trust she decided to place upon him.

He smirks inwardly, well it is good he found her first when she is so easy to mold.

He takes a step forward and speaks "from today onwards you will call me Orochimaru-sensei" he didn't comment on it but the lack of honorifics from a mere child rubbed him off the wrong way.

The girl bounces to him with a genuine smile which he finds a bit refreshing but brushes the feeling off as if he was burned by it. The girl reaches for his arm so fast that he doesn't have time to remove form her grasp before she herself removes it after shaking on it as if making a deal.

"Okay Orochimaru-Sensei. My name is Uzunami Hina and I will become Hokage dattebayo" she chirps and both of them cringe at the speech impediment and their eyes widen when one panics and the other recognizes the similarity in that word with a certain red-haired kunoichi.

He doesn't know that he has just unleashed a monster on himself and the future him thinks that if time travel was possible he will surely stop that little devil from entering his life but alas it is not! Or is it?

TBC…

Explanation:

*one tail Shukaku has 2 times more Chakra than a Kage, similarly 2 tails Matatabi has 4 times than that of a Kage, therefore Naruto has 2+4+6+8+10+12+14+16+18=90 times and post-war Naruto on her own as an Uzumaki already has Kage level chakra reserves.

A/N: So how was it? Did you expect this? Answer me in the comment sections.

Signing out

Yuki Race