Forgiveness and stuff

Orochimaru wasn't happy per se. Most bystanders seeing the Sannin marching through Konoha wouldn't see any difference between his present and usual gait. Seasoned shinobi, who knew him rather well, might risk and tell from his slightly more relaxed frame, that the serpent man just succeeded in some of his more disturbing projects, and was now silently boasting.

However, Orochimaru wasn't in any of this moods. If he had to describe his current frame of mind, what word would he use? The Sannin brushed a lock of silky, ink hair away from his eyes. Just like he said he wasn't happy. He also wasn't gleeful nor elated. He was simply pleased. He not only managed to find Danzo's old spy rather quickly and persuade her to return to active duty. He also came across a noteworthy boy, whom he could interest the Root's master.

Orochimaru's mouth turned grim. The entire time that old bat very clearly never mentioned Shiori. He was dangling her untouched subject over the Snake Sannin's head, daring him to mutter a word. To say that the tension was unpleasant would be as accurate as naming Jiraiya someone healthy interested in the opposite sex. Luckily recruiting that boy, Kabuto if Orochimaru remembered correctly, could divert the insinuated attention from his child.

Shiori in the Root. Orochimaru had headache just thinking about it.

"I'm not picky. I can eat everything, Mikoto-sama, really. Of course, as long as it isn't any kind of soup or anything too liquid."

Why every time the man saw that miniature devil she had to be eating, demanding to be fed, or at least talk about food? Now, she was standing with her newest pet and his mother at a vegetable stand on the market; poking some tomatoes.

"So, you won't eat a relatively sizeable number of available meals." Commented the Sannin. "It's quite picky if you ask me."

"Hello, Orochimaru-sama." The Uchiha matron lightly bowed her head; a gesture that her son quickly repeated while the little Uzumaki ostentatiously lifted her nose and turned away fuming.

"Shiori-chan," scolded the woman. "Greet Orochimaru-sama. I am so sorry. I do not know what happened to her. She usually is very well-behaved."

Hearing this the Sannin barely restrained a snort. Shiori was many things but being polite for sure wasn't one of them. Nonetheless, the girl's behaviour was odd. She treated many people like nothing more than mere bugs (mainly his co-workers in research department, who she regarded as complete fools – very deservedly so), but she never was like that to him.

"Shiori-chan, be a nice girl and say hello." Mikoto once more attempted to coax the greeting out of the child.

The rose-haired girl's glance flickered for a moment to the man, but seeing he noticed her gaze she quickly shot her eyes back to everything else but him. To more clearly present her displeasure for the world, she crossed her arms with a huff.

"I don't see why I should be nice to someone who was so naughty."

Orochimaru lifted one brow. He might seem to be merely amused but in reality, the naughty comment made the wheels in his brain roll in full speed. What could the child possibly mean? Had she deducted some of his unauthorized experiments, abductions or his other Root's works? Apparently, he wasn't the only one interested in the answer because many of shinobi in the hearing vicinity very carefully weren't paying attention to them.

He knew he shouldn't get too close to anybody – especially to a mere child.

"I am sure you are mistaken. Orochimaru-sama is a great shinobi. One of the greatest Konoha ever had. He couldn't behave so bad." Mikoto said as clearly as thunder on a summer day. She was in a tight spot here. She didn't want to make the girl cry nor insult one of the legendary Sannins. Furthermore, she noticed the unwanted interest, they had gathered. Such attention in ninja world hardly ever ended pretty. Why did Uzumakis always have to bring enormous trouble, even if they were nothing more than pocket-sized, cute brats?

"He could and he was!" insisted the girl, blushing both with anger and shame for her next words, that were muttered much quieter. "He didn't say bye-bye, when he was going on a mission. I didn't know he was gone until Mini-nii and I went to find him. I was worried."

"Excuse me?" the serpent man couldn't believe his own ears. Her each following word was muttered even softer than the previous one, so he had to have misheard her. It couldn't be anything else.

This time Shiori boldly met his eyes. A fierce storm swirling in her golden pools unmistakably showed that the girl was really upset.

"I was worried, ok? I know I've no right to be but I was. You were gone and I couldn't hug and kiss you for good luck, so you would come back in one piece."

"And you truly believe this stupid superstition works?"

It was a very wrong thing to say.

"I was sickly worried". Shiori's tone hadn't belong anymore to a querulous child but to someone who was hurt. "When you're worried for someone you care for, you aren't rational. You are super-duper ninja, Orochimaru-sama, but you aren't immortal. A big war is going on there and many things can go wrong and I have very vivid imagination, like very, very vivid. You might have ended fighting kage or tiled-beast or, or army of demonic, mutated bug-squirrels. And yes, I know my hug wouldn't make you invincible or anything but maybe, just maybe, you would have tried a little harder to get back home, knowing that someone who loves you, is waiting here for you. That's all."

The reborn woman kicked invisible dirt on the ground. This was it. Her utter humiliation. Even with all this manga reincarnation shit, she normally wasn't so out of character from her old self to change into some overemotional, gibbering idiot in the middle of a crowded market. However here she was. One insensitive comment from this ingenious snake fucker and bum - her brain and the last ounce of self-respect were gone. Instead she was going crimson as a beetroot, radiating heat like Mount Doom. Put the one ring on her forehead and it would instantly melt. She wanted the earth to open and swallow her whole. But there was no saving from the shame. It was absolute torture. Absolute humiliation. Absolute…

"Orochimaru-sama, where are you going?" Asked a tiny voice Shiori recognized as her own. Seeing the man leaving without any announcement made her panic. The only person with whom she could openly discuss science, politics and other things requiring more complex words than three-syllabic; was now too ashamed to be even seen with her. She was ruined!

Nonetheless, the snake summoner stopped his gait and shot her one long, hollow glance.

"I've thought asking if you are hungry was pointless. So, are you going or what?"

The girl's mouth fell wide open but Mikoto helped her close it.

"I suppose it is going to be the best I'm sorry, you are going to get." Whispered the woman, nudging Shiori, so the girl would once again start breathing.

Reaching the same conclusions, the five-year-old rushed as fast as she could, only to stop in front of the dark-haired man and lift up her arms in universal sign of carry me, pretty please. A request which Orochimaru unquestioningly fulfilled.

The moment the girl was seated in his arms, she started to vigorously babble about everything she ate and read about during his absence. Stopping only when she noticed the Uchihas were almost out of her sight, exactly in the same place she left them.

"Mikoto-sama, Tachi-chan, what are you doing?! Come on!" Shiori yelled and questioningly looked at the Sannin. "They can go with us, can't they?"

The man didn't even wince only thanks to years of practice in Jiraiya's company. With every passing second, he had more respect for Minato. The man had to be a true saint to endure the two Uzumakis and the Toad Sage this whole time. Or maybe the blond was just some sort of sadomasochistic maniac? However maybe Orochimaru himself was such maniac? Why else would he voluntarily expose himself to those manipulative, golden pools of devotion?

"I wouldn't dare to separate you and your Tachi-chan. Besides with your appetite I'm sure I won't notice any difference in the bill."

And so, the most uncommon group ended in a nearby dango stand, while the sweets formed a convenient bridge over that awkward abyss.

Orochimaru swallowed a dumpling. The situation was odd. He was eating sweets with this child, heir of one of the Konoha Great Clans and mentioned heir's mother. It could imply many political consequences and conclusions if not for the casual atmosphere surrounding them. The man smirked. Danzo was going to flip, and nothing could highlight the Sannin's day more than this ancient ulcer's nasty humour and associated with it gastric indisposition.

A next dumpling was swallowed. Thinking about weird situations, earlier, when Shiori overwhelmed him with her anxiety speech, it was far more offbeat than anything else. The serpent man wasn't surprised by the girl's reaction; Shiori was rather prone to those funny panic attacks of hers. The most peculiar was its reason. She cared for him. No one cared for him in a long time; at least in that innocent, childish way. And any trace of innocence in this diabolic kid was strange and rare but no less precious.

He glanced at her. The Uzumaki had to indeed had some bottomless pit of a stomach, to devour food like that. How on earth she hadn't vomited yet, was completely beyond him. He also couldn't understand why she insisted on bringing the chibi-him everywhere with her. The toy was far too big to fit in her bag, so it was fastened to the bag's strap by a purple ribbon; and just like that was dangling there for everyone to see.

Quite visible was also a boy with a big pack, who just parked himself between the two Uchihas.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to wait until the laundry was done. But here it is - three sets of freshly clean sheets."

"Thank you, Shisui-kun. You're very helpful." Mikoto praised him. "I hope you had no problem finding us."

"Not really. It was a fair guess." He answered glancing at the girl that was still devouring food, then he did a double-take and whispered over Itachi's head. "Ne, Shiori-san, that man looks just like your Orochi-cchi."

Orochimaru experienced a lot of different things in his life. Not many of them could break him. He was known for his cold and imperturbable demeanour. But even such mannerism sometimes had to recognize superiority of circumstances and succumb under their pressure. And because this was one of those rare times the black-haired man choked on the dumpling.

Looking at it objectively the Sannin still was in a better position than an Anbu, who had just fallen from a nearby tree.

"That's Orochimaru-sama." The girl introduced the choking man.

After a whole two seconds an awe on Shisui's face was replaced by astonishment.

"Is there any living legendary leaf-nin you don't know?"

"Probably."

"Orochi-cchin? You named that thing Orochi-cchin?" the evidently aggravated Sannin cut in, managing to catch a breath.

"Yeah, it's a nice name. It's cute."

The man rubbed his temples.

"Why have you even named that thing?"

"I had to. Otherwise it wouldn't be clear if I'm talking about you or him."

"It wouldn't be known whether you're talking about me or some cotton stuffed doll?" He made sure.

Shiori looked at her mentor with pity and resignation.

"We're talking about Kushina-san here, duh."

It was too much. Shiori's duh was the last straw. Mikoto started to shake. It was too hilarious. In the last moment, the woman clamped a hand over her mouth. She couldn't show one of the most notable shinobi in the Village that she was laughing at him; and so she excused herself, asked the Sannin to escort the girl at the fish market in one hour, took the two boys and in the blink of an eye disappeared in the crowd.

Orochimaru's genius often encountered serious difficulties when it came to dealing with other people. He could masterfully manipulate them but staying with someone in the same room without thinking about the person's decapitation was downright impossible. Now he was thinking about decapitation of the whole street.

"How can you stand all those people?"

"The secret lies in the self-suggestion" Mumbled the redhead, munching three dango too much in her mouth. "You just have to believe that their stupidity amuses you. Ok, I'm done. We can go."

But before she climbed onto his tall frame Shiori wasn't bothered to abandon two untouched dango sticks, so she put them in her bag for later.

With a much lighter wallet and arms full of a content Uzumaki, Orochimaru strolled through the Village. Tailing him Anbu apparently decided that the main show was already done and returned to his post.

"If you want to talk about anything sensible, child, I advise you to do it now." Suggested the Sannin.

"Well…" when Orochimaru saw that pink hue returning to her cheeks, he knew something serious was afoot. "I was wondering if you remember our conversation with Hatake-san?"

"Go to the point. That meekness doesn't suit you."

"You can freely fix his sharingan."

One slender, black brow went up.

"You were able to convince Fugaku?"

"He agreed to Hatake-san keeping properly functioning Obi-nii's eye. And because it isn't working as it should be now, so it's obvious it has to be repaired."

"Shiori-chan…"

"I repeated the properly functioning part a few times and I even have a reliable witness. Besides I really doubt that Fugaku-sama will run to the Elders or Hokage complaining that my cute five-year-old self made a fool out of him."

Orochimaru smirked. He knew there was a reason he liked that little gremlin.

Ω

Her own bed! Shiori toppled into it, relieved to rest her tiny body on something softer than a simple futon (exactly on a thick mattress, two fluffy blankets, eighteen colorful pillows and twelve mascots of different sizes - if someone wanted to be specific). She reverently rubbed her cheek against her plushy pillow. Everything was so incredibly thick and irresistibly soft, like a billowing cloud. And no one was going tonight to suck to her like some famished leech. Just simple undisturbed, silent slumber.

Not that staying with the Uchihas was bad. Food was quite tasty and the boys were likable enough, but after a week away from her room and bathroom it was good to be back. Earlier today, after breakfast Kushina came to take Shiori home. Minato also was back, as well as a large group of leaf shinobi, who was send from the frontlines thanks to a recently signed ceasefire.

The Village was in an uproar. Everywhere on the streets reunited families were visible to everybody who managed to unglue themselves from their loved ones. Making a little more effort it was even possible to hear some timid mentions of the end of the war, expressed by the more positive individuals. In truth, it was a long way to go, but at least now there was a right direction.

A knock sounded in the room, announcing a head full of golden curls uneasily peering inside.

"May I come in?"

"Sure, Mini-nii. My heaven is your heaven." She replied somewhere out of the fluffy trenches.

"Great" the man mumbled sheepishly and knocked straight into a lamp standing at the entrance.

Shiori sat.

"Is everything alright?"

"What? Yes, yes of course. Why shouldn't it be?" When he started to laugh scratching his cheek, the girl knew she was subjected to a bullshit.

Whatever he was doing, Minato was having a hard time, so the reborn woman decided that she would let it slide; just this once.

"Okay, so…. Do you need something?"

The jonin took a deep breath and braced himself. For some unfathomable reason Shiori stirred in him more respect than the whole Rock army.

The girl seeing this also sat straighter.

"With Kushina we've been engaged from a very long time and I would like to ask you for permission to actually marry her soon."

Shiori's posture once again slacked.

"I guess it makes sense." She said. "With the end of the war on the horizon you want to finalize it before they'll give you the hat. Then it would be far more difficult with all this establishing of the alliances and the whole rest of the politics. But seriously, Mini-nii, you know you can do way better than Kushina-san, right?"

Minato massaged the bridge of his nose and plopped on the cushion mountain next to the girl. After a moment of silence, he eyed her bashfully.

"You really think they'll make me the next Hokage?"

"Yeap." Such a short and certain reply without a moment's hesitation made him feel warmed as if in summer rays, regardless of the flimsy weather outside. "There is no one else better for the job; so, I'm sorry Mini-nii but you're screwed."

Ok, now he wasn't feeling so warm and mushy anymore.

"Come on, Shiori-chan. It won't be so bad."

"Yeah, right. You know how much work Hokage has? A whole bunch of it. Limitless mountains of paperwork and hordes of eternally dissatisfied nitwits. And when was the last time you saw Third's face. You know, like truly looked at it? It's awful. It's more wrinkled than Hatake-san's pug's muzzle. So, it was nice to meet you, when you were handsome and actually had a life."

The declaration caused a moment of stunned, disbelieving silence, which usually took place after Shiori's comments.

"Alright… now going back to the marriage." the blond man reminded, when all the threatening paperwork and hordes of nitwits moved to the back of his mind. "You don't have anything against it?"

"Only if you're fully conscious and sane and you're sure you don't want anyone else."

"I decided it a long time ago." He assured her.

"Then I'm ok with it."

Minato was glad but at the same time lost some confidence, so the smile he gave her was somehow wooden.

"And you know a few things will change then, right?"

Shiori's face turned pale.

"You want me to move out?"

"WHAT?!" The blond had no idea where this came from. He wanted to stop the girl before drawing other hasty and totally wrong conclusions, but she already started to rant.

"So, I have to give away my room? Start working? Do chores? Pay for my food? I hope it isn't the last one, because it'd be a real drag."

"Of course, not! You don't need to do any of those things."

"Then where's the problem?" She was somehow concerned that she couldn't locate it.

"I'm going to be your legal guardian!"

Two golden pools blinked owlishly.

"Aaaaand?"

"Are you really ok with this?"

"Yeah. Besides to tell the truth I've thought you already are. Thinking about it now it was stupid. There were no legal grounds for it."

It took a second or two for the news to sink into Minato's brain. Then his lips stretched wider into a huge grin. The reborn woman seeing it also gave him a smile. Her was a lot smaller and couldn't feed a nuclear plant, but she was pleased that he was happy. In the following moment, she felt him squeezing his arms around her and plopping a kiss on her forehead.

"Thanks, Shiori-chan."

"No problem, Mini-nii. But I have one request."

The blond man's sapphire eyes looked at her in concern.

"Yes?"

"Make sure that at the wedding there is something more to eat than ramen."

Ω

Later that night when the girl was alone, all she could do was looking at the celling.

Everything was going forward. The war was ending. Minato and Kushina were getting married. Rin's death was just around the corner, and so was Naruto's birth. And the worst was, she hadn't any idea how much time was left to those clusterfucks. But one thing she knew, she had to hurry.

The tiny body rolled off the bed and pulled out one of the children's books from under it. Minato had bought it for her before he realized his mistake. It was a colorful, thick thing about adventures of some sort of donkey or other future sausage. At least it seemed so before it was opened. On vibrant illustrations were squeezed small swirls of black ink, that were a mix of languages the reborn woman knew from her previous life. Additionally, here and there was painted a caricature of some cute pet as a smoke screen.

Someone would probably call it an overkill, but the girl preferred to be safe than sorry. In the end, you couldn't be too careful planning a murder.

OMAKE

Morning; kitchen in Itachi's home

The reborn soul was just finishing her breakfast when Mikoto walked into the room with a storm commonly known as Shiori's cousin in tow.

"Hellow kiddos, and hello to you, Fugaku-san." Greeted the usually over-energetic woman. "I hope you were a good girl, shrimp."

"Shiori-chan is an angel," assured Mikoto. "And Itachi and Shisui simply adore her. Every morning I found them cuddling together. They were so sweet. I have even taken photos."

Shiori's chopsticks stopped a few centimeters before her mouth. Her golden eyes anxiously eyed Kushina, who hungrily snatched a bundle of pictures from Mikoto's hands. It was going to be a pain.

Shisui thought similarly, because he went all red, while Itachi apparently saw nothing wrong with it, finishing his natto with gusto.

The red-haired woman dangled one exceptionally sweet photo before the girl's nose, in which Shiori was tightly flanked by the boys, who were practically sleeping on her.

Shiori knew she had to nip it in the bud or she would never hear the end of this.

"You sly, sly girl, you see what I have here?" Gloated the kunoichi.

"A perfect illustration of a typical herd behavior of young mammals?"

"What?" Kushina once again inspected the picture.

"Is it really normal?" asked Shisui trying to fight off the blush.

"Yes, young mammals are usually nestling together to keep warm. Even Hatake-san's pups are doing it. Sadly, often they're doing it while lying on me. And I'll tell you, they stink." Added the girl wrinkling her nose.

"However, does not it mean that they also want to keep you warm? Maybe they think you are part of their pack?" Inquired Itachi.

"Doesn't it." Shiori as usual corrected the boy. "But that's interesting point of view, Tachi-chan."

"Don't change the subject, shrimp-chan!" Interrupted Kushina.

"Why not? It's a normal photo. We aren't participating in any sexual conduct or anything."

Hearing it Shisui went even more red, bordering now on a deep burgundy. Itachi limited himself to pulling the girl's sleeve.

"Shiori-senpai, what is a sexual conduct?"

Shiori's lips started to form the answer but Kushina's arms prevented it. The woman grabbed her little cousin and laughing like a maniac was heading to the exit.

"I think we'll already go, dattebane. I'll come for her things later. Once more thanks Mikoto, Fugaku-san. Bye-bye." And the two Uzumakis were gone.

Fugaku let out a long, tired sigh. Thank gods, those two already departed. Now everything would calm again. At least he thought so until he encountered the inquiring eyes of his son.

"Oto-sama, can you explain to me what it is?"

It was time for the most commonly used phrase in history of fatherhood.

"Ask your mother."

The next chapter done. Thanks for all your comments/favs/follows. And as always I'm looking forward to the next ones.

And traditionally here I bow before my lovely beta - mrsmiawallace88. She is the best!