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.

"Emphasis"

characters thinking/a simple narration

AN IMPORTANT PART

"characters speaking"

If you have any confusion, feel free to ask.

Without further ado, let's continue. Enjoy.

CHAPTER 19: Her Welcome

When the pair of Sensei and student left, Hiruzen flicked his wrist. Immediately, 4 people were kneeling in front of him, they were Anbu.

"Keep an eye on the child, she is different. She is too skilled to be a normal child."

"if i may Hokage-sama?" an androgynous voice comes from one of the kneeling Anbu.

"yes, you may, at ease tiger" Hiruzen allows.

"thank you sir, about this child, why do you think she is skilled? the only point worth noting about her is her huge chakra reserve." the voice asked

"Certainly but there are three reasons as to why I am asking an Anbu to keep an eye on her. First and foremost, not anyone can control their emotions at the drop off a hat. it seems as if she has seen too much. her eyes are a tell but it almost seems too easy for her to hide her tells as if she is used to it. Second, and the most important point to note is when she had moved in front of Orochimaru, although done unknowingly in a fit of childish impulses, her steps were too quiet to be just that, an amateur, the way she was acting was flawless but her steps gave away her prodigious talent in shinobi arts that she must be wanting to hide. And third, the way she was talking with Orochimaru, as if they are on an equal footing, which they sure are not, also surprisingly Orochimaru allowed, and she is aware of that too because she perfectly introduced herself to me which shows that she knows the power of ninja authority and considers Orochimaru unworthy.

"...is it okay for her to blatantly disregard one of the sanin?" the voice continued.

Hiruzen paused to think about how to answer the question of his subordinate. His gut instinct is telling him that the girl is no spy and will be a good influence on Orochimaru but being a shinobi entails paranoia to a frightening degree. However, something about her puts Hiruzen on edge. With Orochimaru and her staying together, Hiruzen should have not required extra shinobi to keep an eye on her but seeing his student reacting to the child like that... he was not so sure. Nonetheless, he will only have an eye kept for a minimum amount of time trusting his own student to not bring a spy in village premises.

He cleared his throat and answered "she was not disregarding him, Raven, rather it seemed as if she was treating him as an equal, though childishly...which actually tilts the scale towards her being a normal child and not a spy"

"And why was Orochimaru-sama letting himself be treated like that...no less by a child who does not even reach his waist" he whispered the last part but it was still heard by all the shinobi present in the room. Well Raven was a bit uptight in his real life as well , outside of Anbu that is, so it will certainly itch him that a Sanin is not getting the respect he deserves.

Hiruzen gives him a look and he clamps his mouth shut. "That is for Orochimaru to know and you to find out in your observation of the child...plus Raven, even if she is a child that doesn't mean she will have any less experience in pain, betrayal or grief. You should not be so fast to judge someone just on the basis of their age. Being a shinobi, judge them by their morals and actions and not by their age or the facade that they put up. Always try looking underneath the underneath." Hiruzen taught them harshly but not unkindly and saw all his shinobi straighten and nod.

"Well there are always new things to learn in life everyday. Remeber my advice. Now, back to work you all go, except Raven, you are to keep an eye on the girl for 3 months and report anything unusual." Raven nods and Hiruzen sighs looking mournfully at the stacks of documents on his table.

"i have a lot of paperwork to do. You go and do your own jobs, dismissed." He flicked his wrist and the floor was empty once again.

--

Naruto was having a hard time keeping her memories at bay. She did not have time to be lost in the past (isn't that ironic) and evaluate the faults of the previous generations. Just an encounter with gai-sensei was enough to trigger her.

She was listening to the calls of the dead from her mindscape, begging her to spill blood to avenge them, to be stronger. She embraces the thought of herself being finally able to meet all her loved ones when she realigns this world to what it always should have been. (she does not know if it is selfish or self-sacrificing when by helping the world, she is also fulfilling her own quest). If she does not get stronger fast, they would all die and it will be her fault all over again.

However, she will still have to thank Kurama and Orochimaru for keeping her under control. Her goal for now is to hunt down white zetsu and Madara to prevent worldwide chaos (she scoffs, more like world annihilation), for which she has to gain her previous strength back and also wait for Kurama's chakra to return.

Kurama opens one eye and looks at the darkening and malicious part of her mind. It's been left alone for so long. Once upon a time he would have used all that festering hatred for his own purpose, now he only wants it gone, only for the smile that used to make the sun look dim in comparison to once more adorn his host's face... although, he doesn't have high hopes given the trauma she went through.

Orochimaru watches her with sharp eyes studying the eerily blank expression on Naruto's face and the conscious movements indicating she knows where she is going, and opts to follow her However he cannot let her stay in that childish mind for long-

"Sensei will keep an eye on us for sometime with the war and all going on" Orochimaru predicted and informed the time traveller nonchalantly. (as if he did not just think of bringing her out of her nightmare)

"you mean me not us." She corrected sarcastically "nothing can be done about it" She sighed heavily, shoulders hunched for a bit with the weight of the world upon them and Orochimaru wants to pity her but he does not. Instead he gives her a haughty look that he knows riles her up. As reticent as he is, he doesn't realise that he is speaking without any promt to someone outside of his team.

"Well you will have it easier than all the other people who have their own Anbu spies because you are with me" He continues without missing a beat.

"being with you should have been enough to warrant no spies at all in the first place, and that is also a reason why I didn't protest much for our living situation" She glares at him as if he offended her somehow by providing his apartment for her to live in. (it will always be apartment and never his home because he does not know the difference or maybe he doesn't remember the difference anymore, or maybe he doesn't want to)

"As I said the time period of the observation may be shortened due to you already being under my watch" he continues.

Her eye twitched at his arrogant look but she ignored it.

"Now take me to see Itachi, i didn't see the uchiha compound at the northern boundary of the village"

Orochimaru frowned "Why would one of the founding clans be at the outskirts?"

Naruto suppressed a flinch when he caught her unknown slip of knowledge and cursed under her breath 'ugh great!!! now he will keep pestering me'

"I will tell you later but first take me there." Naruto relented because she just has to check on Itachi, the person who went and sacrificed everything for the village and his brother (Naruto's teammate, her family, her soul brother)

Orochimaru was giving her a stern look that promised he will definitely ask her later about that.

"hmm" he hummed and increased his speed towards the Uchiha compound while analysing hundreds of reasons that could have resulted in the clan's relocation.

...

Since Itachi was a clan heir, they will not be allowed to see him right away. So they opted to hide and spy ..ahem observe him. but they still cannot go through the front gate because of uchiha's freaky eyes so they took another route which Naruto never knew but Orochimaru was aware of.

"Why do you know this route?" Naruto asked with rising suspicion and narrowed eyes.

Orochimaru merely raises an eyebrow (does not want her to suspect him)-

"you know that i am a potential hokage candidate right? how can I not know every possible secret path of my own village?"

Naruto stilled at that, because what? Just the thought of the future treacherous old snake taking hold of that position makes her jaw clench tightly, (more like fall, because she was not expecting that) For her he had always been a traitor, even after apparently switching sides he just can't become hokage after so many atrocities that he committed)

She was struggling to control her rage at his statement because she knew he was not the same Orochimaru that she knew in the future (but their essence was still the same.)

"You can't" she murmured, voice hushed, but with an edge of something dangerous and chilling that the Sanin hadn't heard in a while. (though he can easily recognise the resentment hidden in those 2 words)

Something shuttered in his amber eyes too fast to put a name to the emotion but it did not go unnoticed by Naruto-

With a too cold voice (Naruto didn't know when she started to note the different inflections in Orochimaru's voice)

"you have to understand, even if you are from a different time, you still cannot control the whole world, so i will do what i want and achieve what i want irrespective of your expectations of me"

he was silent for a second staring her down (debating whether to say or not to say...and then) -

"so do not overstay your welcome"

Naruto watches him turn and leave with anger, hurt, regret, (his emotions or mine?) moving towards the red uchiwa fan that she can make out from the distance and clenches her fists, a tiny moment of weakness and then follows him after him silently.

TBC

Signing out

Yuki Race