Ch.6

Decisions

The next day it rained, all four of them stood their eyes down cast at the clearing on the outskirts of the village where the young girl had been buried. Tsunade dropped some wildflowers on her grave and stood next to Sarutobi as the others paid their respects to the girl who had fought in her own way to save her life. Sarutobi glanced at his team and then sighed, their first mission and it had to end up like this…it wasn't good for them…they were still kids and he knew that a few years meant nothing if you weren't ready for them.

Orochimaru dropped a lilac he had found behind the village, a dried up lilac but still a dusty purple…he thought it appropriate, for like the woman this flower had tried to stay alive as well but in the end…he had hacked its lifeline and gave it to her. Sarutobi watched him give her the flower and sighed motioning to them to come for they had a long journey back home to report to the fourth, what had transpired here. Tsunade walked behind them all, not speaking, not getting angry about the long walk just…there, a big hole in existence. "Tsunade" Jiraiya whispered and tried everything he could to get her to notice him, even resorting to rude jokes which only got him a grumpy sigh.

Orochimaru walked in front of Jiraiya behind Sarutobi keeping quiet as well but occasionally glancing back at the obviously depressed girl and then focused again on his own thoughts, " he knew that she knew everything, she was a person he could not pull the wool over and then he also knew that what he had done had hurt her the most…the blood, the betrayal and the girl…she was a casualty in his plan he had not expected, however Tsunade had intrigued him by keeping her mouth shut, curious."

Sarutobi was the one who suddenly ripped the blanket that had enveloped them in their own minds and stole away their speech, they looked up.

It was getting late now, the sun slinking behind the receding tree line, a ninja in its own right and concealing them in the deep dark shadows of the night.

They had not really noticed they just knew they had been running non stop for quite a while and were tired both physically and emotionally. " Well, I have to apologize for this mission…it turned out unexpectedly and it affected you three quite a bit" he eyed the three tired teens and shrugged bringing out three round black pills from the pouch at his waist. " These are food pills…they will give you enough energy to get the rest of the way home, its dangerous to be out at night " watching as they all took them and then turning on his heel ran off in the general direction that would lead them back to Konoha.

As the sun went to sleep under the hills, leaving the lake that bordered the Uchiha clan washed blood red. They were home, well as home went for Orochimaru but it was enough, there had been enough of his past pried open for the world to see where they shouldn't have that he was actually feeling very vulnerable. Sarutobi reluctantly left the children alone to go their separate ways, as worried as he was about the three they were strong enough to deal with their personal demons. The three of them walked together under a star less sky still cloudy from the rain from the morning, it was cool and calm here and it hadn't been where they had come from. "Tsunade" a voice spoke quietly…Orochimaru's

She looked up, her brown eyes desperately trying to climb back to their own selves "yes?" Jiraiya looked at the two and sighed, "FINALLY! He grumbled at the startled two "someone had to break that awkward silence! "He smiled "it was giving me a head ache…" he rubbed the red streaks painted under his eyes trying to mask the fact that he had started to cry.

Orochimaru looked at the boy in the darkness and suddenly realized all this time he had thought of Jiraiya as only a disposable team member, but now he strangely realized that the he had been wrong. He smiled.

Jiraiya and Tsunade started as they reached the part in the road where their paths became separate and were even more startled when Orochimaru's white hands appeared on their shoulders and watched him smile almost genuinely which was very disturbing and funny in a way.

" Tsunade…Jiraiya…" he whispered as a sudden gust of wind blew through the streets of Konoha coming with the closing of doors and the turning off of lights, leaving them completely submerged in nights great cloak. Orochimaru smiled eerily "my good friends…" he hissed lingering on the 'S' and then without another word he walked off towards his home leaving his two team mates very confused.

After a while Tsunade said goodnight to Jiraiya and they went their separate ways, each of them hoping that the next day they would have woken to find it had been only one big nightmare…just a dream.

Orochimaru unlocked his door and ripped the exploding note from the back of it assuring that he really never needed a lock. He sighed and flopped down on his bed not even having bothered to remove his shoes. He had gotten revenge for his clan…he had never expected to do that but he had…he had killed again.

He smiled remembering how his two 'friends' had not spoken up about how many he had slaughtered that day…perhaps he found himself pondering…I could have friends after all. He sighed and almost immediately was fast asleep.

"AAAHHHHH!" a frightened squeal echoed from the top level of a cream building complex causing sleepy heads to pop out of windows and inquire who had killed the pig, glancing up and then noticing with a few grumbles that it came from Tsunade's room…typical. Jiraiya used to immediately jumping up with a weapon in his hand when such a freaky noise occurred groaned and slogged out of bed opening his window a crack and wincing as the light streamed in. " AHH MY EYES!" someone in the room below him laughed.

He looked up long enough to see Tsunade's window being opened by her mother smiling with her little new born boy in her arms no doubt comforting an upset Tsunade, he wouldn't blame her after last night which unfortunately hadn't been a nightmare but, he shrugged "had one anyway" he sighed as he went back in his room to go eat breakfast having heard his fathers grunting from the other side of the slider.

Tsunade sighed heavily and drank the milk that her mother had brought with the help of her chubby little brother of course, she let a hesitant smile glow on her face and got up "thanks mom…dad…is he not going to come home again?"

Her mother looked sad and then shrugged " maybe not…" she smirked and waved as she went downstairs " but that doesn't mean your going to get to skip out of making Shogayaki (note: pork fried in ginger) " she sang and then was gone leaving Tsunade feeling much better staring out the window into a bright new sunny day.

Tsunade, strangely was the first out of the whole team to make it to Sarutobi who was happy to see them all well and served them some tea to warm their recovering souls "I informed the Fourth of what happened to you three, according to your story Orochimaru… he is impressed he says and saddened by the fact that you guys had to see such travesties." Orochimaru drank his tea slowly, savoring it and rolling it on his tongue which felt oddly heavy today, he shrugged and raised his golden eyes to meet his Sensei's " and do we have a new mission yet?" Jiraiya and Tsunade both were surprised at his strong front, he had been in the middle of that whole thing yesterday and was still able to get over the fact that even though Sarutobi didn't know and they did…that he had killed all those people himself in self defense, had seen so much blood and pain…and was unscathed by it.

Sarutobi looked up as the fourth came in and smiled at Jiraiya who chuckled "well its nice to see you are all in good health" Orochimaru blinked, the Hokage himself had come to see how they were doing despite all of the work he must have had…all of the uh…important stuff he had to accomplish…he was indeed…a kid.

Yondaime smiled at Tsunade noticing that she out of the rest of them sat silent trying to hide behind her tea cup, "are you ok?" he asked. She went red faced and Jiraiya was about to become slightly jealous until she set her tea down and crossed her arms back to her own self " Of course! " she grinned " talk to this pervert here" she laughed slapping Jiraiya on the back and causing the fourth to laugh. Orochimaru allowed himself a small grin. "I don't think I will assign you a mission today because of your previous one but you can help me sort papers if you want he chuckled and walked out on his own business.

Sarutobi told them to have lunch which surprisingly had creped up on them un aware and they looked at each other and Jiraiya shrugged and took off the forehead protector that marked him as a ninja of Konoha and grinning from ear to ear took a meal ticket which had been taped to the back, "AWSOME!" he laughed as he ran off to town leaving two baffled ninja in his wake.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and his golden irises slid her way and she didn't feel as if she should shiver away from him anymore. " Would you eat lunch with me this time?" he sneered remembering the last time they had been together at lunch time ultimately causing Tsunade to smile and rub her neck, " yeah sure."

Orochimaru had bought them both a bowl of ramen and they sat down with it and started to eat, the food was strange and tasteless to him, he started to wonder about his tongue and he stuck it out just to make sure and chuckled as Tsunande nearly choked on her bit of egg as she spied him doing so.

"Hey Tsunade" he said staring at a steaming stream of ramen on his chopsticks and then glancing over at her "why didn't you tell Sarutobi…that I had killed that girl…you knew didn't you? You know how she died as well "he mumbled slurping up the hot noodles and then drinking some of the broth still watching her face over the rim of the bowl. She set her chopsticks down having finished her bowl and then looked at him, anger, hurt, and trust welling up in her eyes meeting his own with her fearlessness "did you? Did you really do it?"

He raised one eyebrow and then looked down retreating for once from someone else's gaze "I did not mean to kill her Tsunade…" then as she thought for once she had heard his heart in his words, in his eyes, the mirrors returned and again she was blocked out of his world where nothing made sense to her.

Tsunade silently had made her decision and nothing would change it.

He had meant that then…he hadn't meant to kill that girl.

He got up, paid for the ramen and then without saying a word left her there to stew in the thoughts he has snaked into her mind, he stared at his hands which had previously been saturated with blood and grimaced. He had once said he could never trust anyone ever again…maybe he couldn't but he would let them believe they had him…it would lead them to hate him eventually…he needed them to.

He made sure not to run into any of the three from his team, especially Sarutobi and found that he had walked somewhere far from where he had walked before and took his time to look around, he now stood in a shaded brook which as he followed it with his eyes emptied itself into the lake, the same lake as he remembered had been that beautiful red color when they had come back the night before, He frowned and then the sound of a door opening caught his attention and he turned his head and found his gaze met with some slightly dark and curious burgundy ones.

Orochimaru now surprised himself turned fully around to face the boy who had come out of a hut concealed behind a copse of trees that he had not cared to look at. "Uchiha Itachi…if I remember correctly" he purred running one hand through his long black hair. Itachi stood there for a minute In the doorway and then setting a long black cloak that he had been holding down upon the gate next to the door " and you" he spoke in a cool tone " are Orochimaru…I remember as well " he did not smile but stood there " why are you here?"

Orochimaru looked amused but was slightly irked "am I not allowed to be wherever I please in the village I grew up?" he hissed.

Itachi stepped forward and Orochimaru realized that the man was about two inches taller than himself but would not be backed down "well?" he mumbled.

Itachi shrugged and then glanced to the hut as if he had heard a noise from inside and then sighed " I have said I was busy before and I am still…I am surprised that you found me in such a place but…" he looked at Orochimaru with those calculating red eyes of his the wrinkles underneath them only magnifying their shadows and then blinked " come back…if your heart tells you to do so…" and then with that he snatched the cloak he had been holding closely when he had opened the door and as he vanished, he glimpsed a flash of some design on the garment…a red cloud…the symbol of chaos.

Orochimaru more interested than scared turned on his heel and ran from the place back to his house where he could be alone with his thoughts for it seemed everyone lately was reading them.

He threw himself upon his bed and instantly snatched up the fourth's book and then with a breath watched it flicker and be eaten away by flame…the Hokage…he would become a better one than any of them…the most powerful…but they were all old…why? To learn all the Jitsu in the world…you would need longer than a life time "You would need to be immortal"

He whispered and threw the book from him. Leaving him alone in the darkness that had come to consume him.

Sarutobi was worried again, he had watched the boy walk off from lunch with a strange look on his face…he didn't like it…he seemed to have become more unstable lately than he had when he had first come to Konoha. Even though he had sent ninja from the village just to find out the strange boys past all he had come up with was the dead body of the person who had brought him to the village and a very rusty dagger which in its wooden handle deep grooves were carved down the length of it…tally marks. But for what, he wondered but as he watched the boy he began to put the puzzle that was Orochimaru, and it wasn't turning out good.

Tsunade was at a clearing she had made for herself and put up a dummy set on a log so that she could practice and she did, she punched her frustrations into it, pummeled it with all she had until she became so furious with herself for not being able to be honest with herself that she twirled around and split the log and the dummy in two. She huffed now out of breath and sweating as she flopped down upon the soft grass and stared up at the sky, the light hitting a necklace she wore underneath her robes which had in her exercising come out to wink in the sun casting splashes of rainbows on her flushed face.

After a few minutes she slowly pressed her two hands together at her breast and then mumbled something and closed her eyes as her chakra took care of her fatigue. But even as she did so she could not get her mind off Orochimaru's strange behavior and she turned over on her side and refused herself to the things her traitorous heart whispered to her about how evil he was.

Jiraiya was practicing in the back with Yondaime, the boy and he had been together since they were…smaller and had trained each other, and each other their student and they were fine with that. Yondaime looked wondrously at the burning blue ball of chakra he had managed to form in his left hand and he smiled as Jiraiya had concentrated so much that his face had gone purple while trying to grow his hair into something he could used as a cloak, which he soon gave up on and rested in a chair.

Yondaime shirking his paper work as usual sat down with his friend and then looked up at the open sky of the arena which wouldn't be used for quite some time yet and sighed "so Jiraiya…tell me about your new friends…especially about that one…what was his name again?" he questioned one of his sapphire eyes resting on him. Jiraiya sighed and then shrugged "Orochimaru…just Orochimaru."

It had gotten late and as he finished off his dinner Sarutobi grabbed his cloak for it was getting to be chilly around this season and as he opened the door he was nearly shocked as he noticed that standing on his doorstep was a very beat up looking Orochimaru. "Orochimaru?" he coughed and then hurriedly brought him inside having other ideas of going out now " what are you doing…and your hands " he looked at the boys pale hands which were now severely burned somehow, but as he stared he recognized these burns…chakra made those " What were you trying to do Orochimaru?"

He glanced anxiously at the boys face which was hidden under a curtain of hair " make me the Hokage" he hissed at Sarutobi, withdrawing his scared up hands and looking up one of his eyes visible under the curtain a dull bronze so unlike his normal bright eyes, " then I can fulfill my dream…"

Sarutobi looked stunned, the boy who stood in front of him was not only completely serious but the chakra force that seeped from his body had made even the hairs on his neck stand on end…something had happened to his apprentice during the few hours he had been back and it defiantly wasn't for the best. It was true, he believed though it was against his law as a teacher to judge but he knew that Orochimaru was much different than the other two he taught…they each had their specialties but his were far more …"disturbing" he briefly remembered the bruise on the girls throat that he also knew had come from this child who really, was only around the age of 16 or so.

"No" he barked at the boy causing another shiver to run down his spine but also Orochimaru's as well "I can't let you become the Hokage…you don't have it in you to become it yet Orochimaru…I'm sorry."

Orochimaru stood there for a moment and then looked up again and shook his head blinking as if he hadn't been in his own mind and then looked genuinely surprised " Sa-ru-tobi…Sensei…what am I doing here? " he raised his hands and then grimaced as he always did and Sarutobi narrowed his eyes.

This was very strange…very strange indeed, he had seemed so absorbed in his dream that he had become a puppet to his mind until he had voiced it…genjitsu…whatever jitsu he had tried had taken effect…he just hoped it wasn't to late to find out what was wrong with him.

Other wise, he feared as he sat his now very suspicious looking student in a chair and then locked the door and turned on him, the boy would be lost to him. "Tell me what you were doing Orochimaru…what happened to you…your hands."

The boy looked up and then his voice dark began to speak.