I wasn't anticipating updating this fic quite so soon, but after reading the new manga chapter this morning, I was inspired.

I'm still making timeline assumptions, so please forgive if anything is off.

-sor

Days after the minor incident with Tsunade, I had still heard no repercussions. True, she had been a bit more subdued than usual during our training sessions with Sandaime and while it didn't effect her performance, it still made me feel as if I were trapped on the outside of some fast shrinking circle of camaraderie that I could never be a part of. I caught looks cast my way, not only from Tsunade, but from Sandaime himself. It was difficult to say if he knew more than he let on or if he simply sensed the air of tension between us. He was always a perceptive old coot, after all.

Still, nothing came of it and for a few more days I was left on my own to ponder just how much I might have hurt my own ambitions by attempting to forge ahead. I became less social, if that could be believed, avoiding all contact with my teammates that was not purely business. That particular day, I had taken refuge above the Hokage monument, perched as near the edge of Shodai-sama's carved head as I could manage. I enjoyed being able to be so high above the village. It was still and quiet, away from all the noise that seemed to permeate every inch of Konoha. This was as much a haven for me as my own rooms.

Was it any wonder then, that Sandaime knew where to find me? I must admit, at the time I never gave much thought to hiding away somewhere where I might not be found. It was rare that anyone sought me out so hiding was a pointless strain. But if I'd been thinking that day, I should have expected him to come looking for me. He was always the only one who could sense my moods as accurately as if he felt them himself.

"You're not reading?" He didn't sound quite as surprised as I might have expected, but I said nothing. It was very obvious I wasn't reading. I might have been on any other day, but today my mind was already too full to attempt piling new jutsu on top of the already immense volume of thought. Not to mention, I had only a few scrolls in my possession worth the trouble of reading and I did not wish to waste them.

Sandaime was trying his best, though, so I opted not to reply bitterly. "I'm thinking."

"Ah." He stepped forward, easing himself down at my side and gazing out at the vista just as I was. Only I was no longer watching the village. My gaze was discretely directed towards him, studying him as if his face alone could tell me the reason he had come. But Sandaime was, after all, the Hokage. He was as skilled as any man at hiding his true thoughts behind that mask that leaders so often had to wear. It was not so much indifference, but something kinder. Or, more accurately, Sandaime could appear indifferent without any hint of cruelty. Nothing the man did could ever be termed as cruel, or even hard.

He really had so many people fooled. He was hard as iron and just as unbreakable.

We sat in silence like that for a long while, him studying the village while I studied him. I don't think at any time he was ever unaware of my gaze, but he allowed me all the time I needed to sort through all the thoughts running through my mind. He understood in a way no one else did, my need to analyze everything from a blade of grass to the Hokage of Konohagakure. So many others had no desire to be studied by my eyes and I appreciated his acceptance.

When I was finally through and my gaze had drifted back to the village, he spoke again, recognizing that I was ready to hear him. "You're progress has been exemplary, Orochimaru. I was right all along when I said you were a genius beyond compare."

I enjoyed the praise. How could I not? However, the fact that he had come all the way up here to tell me something I knew already made me increasingly suspicious. By complimenting me, he was attempting to soften whatever blow he was about to deal me. I knew the old trick. It was a ridiculous notion I hardly believed in, the idiocy of saying something positive to soften the negative. I wasn't about to let him think such a device would ever work on me. "And?"

He smiled then. At least he gave me enough respect that he did not attempt to play his little game any longer. "Tsunade seemed out of sorts yesterday. Regarding you." He paused to gauge my reaction, but when I offered nothing but silence, he pressed on. "I questioned her after you had gone home and she was quite reluctant to say…"

When his voice trailed off again, my suspicion peaked. I tore my eyes away from the village and fixed them upon him, though I showed only the slightest hint of curiosity rather than the seething anger that was already beginning to build inside me. If she had betrayed me to him…

"You know those scrolls are forbidden for a reason. The jutsu are dangerous, even in the hands of the brightest boy to pass through this village in generations. Even in the hands of the Hokage himself, such jutsu could very well destroy the village. There are some things that should not ever be learned, Orochimaru."

Without my knowledge, my expression had shifted, hints of that fury beginning to show. There was tension in my face that had not been there before. It was due to this that he made a quick effort to assuage my emotion. "Now, she didn't tell me this to betray you. She was simply worried that you would attempt to use one of these forbidden jutsu and inadvertently harm the village. I'm sure you can understand that."

"I'm not a fool. I realize the danger involved in kinjutsu." It was insulting to think that the pair of them did not trust me enough to realize my intentions were only to increase my own knowledge, not to turn such destruction on the village. I was as loyal a ninja as Tsunade or Jiraiya. As loyal as even Sandaime. "To know something is not always to use it. It has been my goal for some time to know all I can, to learn every jutsu before my limited human life comes to an end. You even said once yourself that it was an admirable goal."

"And it is admirable." His façade seemed to fade a little and I noticed for the first time that Sandaime was beginning to look a bit older. There were fine lines around his eyes and forehead, created by stress no doubt. He even looked tired, though I had never thought he could ever be exhausted. I had to wonder briefly if it was due to me that he had aged so quickly. So rapt had my attention been to those details, I nearly missed when he began to speak again.

"I understand why you wished to know." Sandaime smiled, albeit faintly. "Believe me, Orochimaru, I know your intentions almost as well as you do, which is why I refuse to assume to worst when you make such a request." He caught the change in me, the hope, even before I did and moved to counter it. "That does not mean, however, I'm granting your request. But," he produced a scroll and offered it to me. It was something I had never seen before and after a quick appraisal of its contents, I had determined it held numerous jutsu I had never even heard of, let alone seen.

He laughed a bit at my eager attention to his gift, but did not give me the time to study it as thoroughly as I might have liked. He was demanding my attention again in that calm way of his. "That is only the beginning of the knowledge Konoha is prepared to offer the newest of its jounin."

So I had been right all along. There was knowledge hidden away for the elite of our village. Knowledge I now had complete access to! I did not celebrate, though. I merely smiled, tucking away Sandaime's gift to be studied later when my mind was again not so full. For now, I could only think that perhaps I had been wrong all along. Perhaps Sandaime did value me above Jiraiya, despite my aversion to spending every waking hour in search of new ways to spy on naked women.

And what was more, this promotion was simply another notch in my belt on my way to becoming Hokage. Becoming jounin at the age of twelve would certainly look good on my resume when the time came for Sandaime to retire. That was a gift more valuable even than the scroll. Sandaime had opened a new road into my future, which was looking brighter by the moment where before it had looked so dim.

Despite my subdued reaction, he knew I was pleased. I liked to think he was pleased as well, or even proud. As much as I had always felt he'd played favorites with his three students, it was nice to know that he could still be proud of me. Proud enough to give me this honor before the other two.

Jiraiya would be furious!

That thought alone caused my smile to grow and prompted me to say something I might never have said otherwise. "With even more knowledge to come when I become Hokage. When someday my face is carved here beside yours." It was a comment I would have expected from someone like Jiraiya, prone to bragging loudly and frequently. But wasn't it my due to say such a thing? I, who had been promoted before Jiraiya. Wasn't I due my moment of glory, small as it was?

Much to my surprise, Sandaime didn't attempt to scold me for such a proclamation as he might have done to Jiraiya. He only continued to smile almost affectionately at me as he rose, preparing to leave me again to my thoughts, knowing he'd provided me enough to keep my mind occupied for some time. "I have no doubt it will be."

It was the first time he had ever given me any indication that my dreams were anything more than simply that. Perhaps it had not been wise for him to spark my ambition again, but I think it pleased him to see me light up in such a way. I think, sometimes, Sandaime wanted very badly to please me. It was always such a challenge to do so. But now he had not only achieved his goal, but he had produced in me a new ambition, not far distant from the old. I wanted to become Hokage not only for the reward of knowledge, but because for the first time, Sandaime had finally acknowledged my true power.