Ch.3

Team work

After a while Orochimaru freed himself and knelt beside Tsunade staring for a minute before shaking his head and then placing two fingers upon her cold forehead he whispered the releasing seal "Kai!"

Tsunade's eyes flickered open and then she sat up, grabbing his shirt with both her hands and growling "where are the snakes?"

Orochimaru raised one eyebrow and set one of his pale hands upon hers, loosening her grip a little "there are no snakes here Tsunade…you were spelled by the thirds genjitsu "

Tsunade was silent for a minute and then sighed and released him and stood up brushing her cloths off of the dirt and picking leaves out of her hair, she looked over her shoulder "he had helped her…

It was true…there were no snakes in Konoha…only him.

A touch on her other shoulder made her flinch as she turned a little and looked into his deep golden eyes " we should get going back now…we cannot get a bell, it is past twelve " he sighed, shielded his eyes and looked up at the sun...a rainbow halo around the golden light…he smiled slowly and stood there a minute, as if he were basking in the sun and then he again slowly began walking back to the black rock marker where surly Sarutobi and perhaps the little toad Jiraiya would be waiting.

" Well!" exclaimed Sarutobi as he spotted the two jump from the tree tops above and land near the rock where Sarutobi sat eating an onigiri and teasing a very unhappy looking Jiraiya who was tied to one of three poles that had been driven in to the ground.

Orochimaru sneered and Tsunade began to laugh " well that's what happens to cheaters!" she began laughing again only to be interrupted by the roar of her stomach, Orochimaru looked strangely at her and then suddenly realized that he too was hungry.

Sarutobi motioned to the two remaining bento boxes and smiled "all yours" the two sighed happily and Jiraiya screeched "what about me?"

As the two sat down to eat at the rock each on the other side of the tied up Jiraiya, Sarutobi got up from his seat and stood in front of them, " you did surprisingly well for a first time…I'm proud of you…but as for you " he glanced over at Jiraiya who shrunk as far against the wooden stave he was tied to as possible " you went in without thinking of team work at all and then you tried to see a way around it instead of trying to get the bells with the other two you gave up." Jiraiya looked as if he had just swallowed some very bitter tea.

Sarutobi turned " when you have finished eating ill come back to get you…however " he turned " you two are not to feed Jiraiya or else…you will not pass this test and remain genins"

Tsunade nearly choked and Jiraiya looked as if he had never felt lower.

Orochimaru said nothing, did nothing, just stared and then continued eating.

When Sarutobi had left, Jiraiya, his head hung glanced at Tsunade "don't worry, I don't need food, really I'm-"his stomach grumbled "ok ok I'm not fine…"

Orochimaru sighed, the first noise that had come out of him in a while and setting his chopsticks down he offered the rest of his lunch to Jiraiya who stared open mouthed at him " are you serious…you heard what he said didn't you?" Tsunade waited a moment and then sighed and offered her own as well "as much as I don't like you "Jiraiya hung his head again "we need you on the team…we cant let you go hungry as well…and you were helping whether sensei knew it or not.." she hissed "Now hurry up and eat it before he comes back or were all in deep trouble"

"I think" Orochimaru smiled "that he needs you to feed it to him…"

Tsunade made an "Oh my god you cant be serious "face and then shaking, she picked up her chopsticks and glowered at Jiraiya "NEVER again will I do this for you…understand?" Jiraiya grinned from ear to ear "of course.

Orochimaru finished his lunch and was watching as Tsunade fed Jirya when the air suddenly changed and out of nowhere Sondaime appeared, his face a print of fury "in front of me you disobey MY rules?" seals flew by as his hands moved, the three genins with terrified looks on their faces plastered against the three wooden staves watched and waited for something terrible to happen.

"ARE YOU READY TO RECEIVE YOUR PUNISHMENT?"

Jiraiya was the first to speak out kicking his legs in frustration " B-but they were helping me! I couldn't have fought with an empty stomach! "

"Yeah!" Tsunade stood up, her fists ready in front of her "we are a three man team and nothing can break us if we work together!"

Orochimaru just stood and smirked

Jiraiya looked at both of them and bellowed "yes yes yes! We are a three man team!"

Sarutobi paused for a minute and then smiled "is that so?"

Well…then accept your fate "the three looked at him confused as he bent down and made a peace sign "you pass."

"HUUUUUH?"

Now it was Orochimaru's time to gape along with the others

"We passed?" he whispered "but we didn't get a bell…"

Sondaime hopped from the top of the black rock and rested his hand lovingly on it "to be a ninja you need to work with another, team work…this is the answer…without it things would just break apart, you have learned the answer for yourselves" he slowly walked over and cut Jiraiya free and then turned around "your missions start tomorrow."

Orochimaru smiled a sharp fanged smile and then following behind his exited team mates he took the time to again look upon the sun in the sky, still the rainbow halo shone around the sun.

"Snake weather" he whispered to himself and then continued walking back to the village where he was sure more surprises and people of Konoha would reveal themselves to him.

Having been left alone after Sondaime had released them from their duties for the day Orochimaru sighed and brought forth a book he was reading over called " the great book of Jitsu " by the Forth…he thought it amusing but it DID have some tips in it and as much as he hated to do so referred to it often.

He was so intent upon the book that he nearly bumped in to a boy walking the other way…he snapped the book shut and narrowed

his eyes to see who could have gotten in his way and was mildly taken back as his golden eyes stared into dark red ones marked with two strange dots. The boy stepped back and looked at him strangely and then slowly nodded his head "I apologize for startling you, I cannot see properly…the sunlight got in my eyes " he smiled an odd smile and Orochimaru smiled strangely back, this boy standing near as tall as himself had as he noticed before dark red eyes and long black hair tied behind him in a loose pony tail, he wore simple black cloths with the symbol of a fan on the front and a small pack at his side. " my name is Orochimaru, and you are?"

The boy rubbed his eyes which went back to a straight black and then he looked back up at Orochimaru " I am Uchiha Itachi…pleased to meet you, but now I must be going…" he walked past Orochimaru and as they passed one another the tension between the two cracked like a whip " we will meet again then " chuckled Orochimaru as he watched the boy passing…and then suddenly remembering that he had to be somewhere as well he flickered his jitsu and vanished from the spot, still thinking about the odd boy he had bumped in to.

"Uchiha Itachi huh?"

He shoved the book inside the fold of his shirt and sighed sneering as

He appeared on the roof of a hovel on the outskirts of the dead woods "curious…ill have to ask him next time." he murmured as he walked into the small hut "how he does that with his eyes."

Orochimaru took off his shirt and dropped it on the chair next to his bed, set his weapon pouch after it and then flopped down on his bed, his arm shielding his eyes in thought. " Tomorrow morning…eh?" he took a deep breath the muscles on his chest rippling strangely and rolled over his hair spilling over his shoulder as he nestled into the pillow and closing his eyes, looking for all the world just like an innocent (but still strange) sleeping child. And so he slept.

A beam of sunlight warmed his shoulders and then as the dun came up in the sky it lengthened hitting the back of his eyelids and causing him to groan and open one eye, the gold reflecting in the sunlight and making it molten amber. He got up and got dressed; eating a simple bowl of rice and leftover fish and then remembering to wash his hair in the sink and dry it he stepped outside to his first mission of being a Konoha ninja.

After meeting up with a fussy Tsunade and a giggling Jiraiya he found himself standing with Sarutobi and the others in front of a stern looking young man with a mess of spiky blonde hair and deep blue eyes. "So this" murmured Orochimaru with a slight sneer "was the fourth Hokage…how curious that Sarutobi would have picked such a…"kid" as the fourth, but he shrugged it off, Hokage were a mere source for more knowledge and nothing else, and it was slightly annoying to him after all that he had studied the Hokage were always the ones with the answers he sought, he cursed them.

He stood staring at the Fourth for a long time, waiting for him the blonde man to say something so he could set upon him, apparently as had happened with Sarutobi his eyes weren't working on him. Tsunade looked strangely at him and then realizing who he was bowed and then forced the stupefied Jiraiya into a bow as well.

Orochimaru just stood and narrowed his eyes "so, what is our mission?"

The Fourth raised one eyebrow and then smiled "and you must be Orochimaru…Sarutobi has told me much about you..."

Orochimaru sneered "all bad I suppose "the Fourth looked at him hard "not at all…" Sarutobi looked at the Fourth and sighed "Im sorry Yondaime…he really is a wonderful student"

The one called Yondaime smiled and brought forth a scroll from his robes " im sure he is Sarutobi…im sure he is…oh and this is your mission team…it is a rank C mission…you think you can take it?"

He smiled again and Orochimaru frowned and snatched it from Yondaime's open hand turning on his heel "with pleasure..." and walked off.

"Geez!" exclaimed a red faced Tsunade, crossing her arms and sighing "that guy sure is strange…I don't know whether to trust him or to kill him." Jiraiya looked at her and then shrugged "blah, I don't know…he's smart, he's strong and he keeps to himself…even though he may not be as…sexy as me he's ok "he grinned and got a nice big lump on his head.

Orochimaru sat upon a bench outside the Hokage's office and unceremoniously ripped the wax seal from the scroll and un-rolled it reading the mission he had been given, "protect a train of travelers through snake…snake…" he hissed as he hurriedly read the rest and then shoved the scroll away from him as if it has suddenly turned poisonous "why" he hissed, his hands covering his face "why Snake Mountain?"

Sarutobi watched the boy flinch away from the scroll after reading it and sighed " what type of mission would scare this boy so much?" he moved slightly and then halted when a kunai thunked in to the tree he was hiding behind, just inches from his face.

"Come out Sarutobi Sensei…I know its you" Sarutobi sighed and stepped out walking to the boy and sitting opposite him on the bench " so" he murmured to the dark looking boy who was studying him with those eyes of his " what is the mission?"

The boy made no facial expression but inside his soul shrank away "nothing important…lets go."

The four of them had packed their bags with all the essentials and had left in the early morning so that they would at least get to Snake mountain by night fall to meet a certain man they were supposed to protect who had apparently survived some sort of massacre and needed to get to a certain destination without commoners attacking him for mistaking him as the enemy.

As they moved on through the forest which was as Sarutobi had said it " a hell of a shortcut " Tsunade was often ranting at Jiraiya for making stupid faces and trying to lighten up the atmosphere, which was rapidly freezing thanks to a dark and gloomily serious Orochimaru who apparently had his mind on other things.

They got there as promised by nightfall and stood at a cracked tree in the middle of a clearing in the mountains south face, Orochimaru sat on a rock and breathed rather strangely as if he were having a hard time of it. A rustle came from the bushes and nearly everyone drew a weapon out of their pouch which rapidly was lowered when a disheveled and wary looking man crawled out of them and came up to them as the team stood.

Sarutobi walked up and met the man "are you Tokiru san?" the man nodded and looked at Tsunade and Jiraiya and looked back at Sarutobi " this is your team?" he asked and then Sarutobi looked back and sighed " no ones over there…Orochimaru " he huffed as the boy slid out of the shadows as if that was his living element and regarded the man with a cold serenity " I will protect you in any way you can " and as he spoke a sneer seeped into his voice and the man shrank away his face almost as white as Orochimaru's own.

"You are…"he whispered and then looked at Sarutobi as if speaking danger to him without opening his mouth and then motioning down the mountain path "I need to go that way…just…protect me…and do NOT stab me in the back…" he whispered and started walking down the path "there was an old village that was massacred and burned to the ground…we should be able to find some shelter there at least…since the locals wont come anywhere near it now."