[One week after discovering Sakura had the Mokuton]
Orochimaru walked inside his home and carefully shut the door behind him. He slid off his sandals and set them carefully aside. He looked up and smiled at the mug of tea that was in front of him. He took it from Kabuto and took a careful sip. Wonderful. "You are a delightful child." He murmured.
Kabuto grinned. "Thank you. Welcome home. Anko went out with friends. Sakura has eaten, bathed, had a story read and is now sound asleep." He raised his voice. "And Nii-san has some information for you. I'll be in my room." Kabuto bowed and walked away. Before he left the room, he sang out "Good night Nii-san."
Orochimaru restrained his smile at the silent fuming that came from Tenzo. He crossed the room and curled up in his chair. He took another sip of tea and gazed at his oldest son. "You look less stressed. Good sleep in a real bed does wonders, doesn't it?"
"Yes. It does." Tenzo gave a tentative smile. "But you don't. You look more tired today than you did a week ago. Is there something wrong?"
Orochimaru waved a hand lightly dismissing Tenzo's question. "We've been dealing with preparing for the Chuunin exams, so not only are we dealing with domestic idiots but we're dealing with foreign ones as well." He took a sip of tea and sighed. "We have no idea how Sensei did this for so long."
"Not to change the subject, but have you discovered which Senju Sakura is related to?"
"Not yet. It takes time and the testing is being done when they have time to do so. It's not necessary that we know but it will be helpful."
"What about records concerning the mokuton?"
"The Senju were careless in their recordkeeping." Orochimaru was greatly offended by this, Tenzo could tell. He knew from experience that the Sannin strongly believed in thorough and accurate records. "Fortunately, the Uchiha have their own records. Even though it's second-hand information, at least it's more than what the Senju recorded."
"Observations from those in the field."
"Yes. The Uchiha Archivist was very kind in copying what they had." Orochimaru leaned back. "What do you have for me about Sakura's mokuton?"
Tenzo leaned back in his own chair and organized his thoughts before he spoke. "When the initial incident occurred, the branches where as big as my index finger. I'm theorizing that they were that size because of her fear. What she has produced since then have only been the size of her index finger. And they are more vine-like than branch-like."
"Do you think she'd be able to restrain a jinchuuriki?"
"Now? No. There's no way. Later, when she's matured into her talent?" Tenzo shrugged. "It's far too early to tell. And it's not something she should be pushed into." He looked into Orochimaru's eyes as he said that.
Orochimaru held Tenzo's gaze then inclined his head in approval.
Tenzo, to his surprise, felt a thrill of pleasure about that. He continued on with his report. "Sakura has been working with her mokuton at the Academy with the teachers there. Mostly being able to turn it on and off when she wants." He smiled. "Ino-chan has been encouraging her to make flowers. But we've been using the Uchiha Training Grounds along with the other Clan children that Sakura's been playing with after school is out. Itachi and Shisui have been there along with some off-duty Uchiha kunoichi, Saori-san and Misa-san, who had heard about Sakura's mokuton. They wanted to see it in action and felt that extra supervision was needed with something that was so…rare."
"Was the extra help needed?"
"Not really. They did a lot of laughing. But there were a few times they were needed."
"Go on."
"As I said, Sakura's mokuton is more vine-like than my own and a bit fragile. So it was suggested that she use it to trip people, wrap the vines around their ankles. Use it to bind a hand. She caught on quickly. Her vines break when someone pulls too hard but as a sneak attack by a 5-year-old against other 5-year-olds, they weren't too bad.
"She did manage to capture Kiba with some flowering vines. And the smell from the flowers made him throw up. Naruto got a little close and the smell made him nauseous too but when he was pulled out of the scent range, he was fine."
"How did Sakura react?"
"Typical for a little girl. Vomit is apparently gross. The boys thought it was funny though. Saori-san hosed him off and got him into dry clothes. Ino is encouraging Sakura to learn how to make more 'stinky flowers'"
Orochimaru smiled. "I admit that it's been a while since I was 5 but I seem to remember making someone throw up is vastly more entertaining than someone keeling over dead. But if she's able to make flowers like that then eventually she might be able to make poison flowers."
Tenzo wasn't surprised that the Snake Sannin would think like that. "I think that can wait a few years, don't you?"
Orochimaru smiled. "Gods willing, there will be plenty of time for her to grow up and learn what it's like to be a shinobi." He raised an eyebrow at Tenzo. "Did the children practice against only against each other?"
"No, since I was supervising Sakura's training that went to Itachi and Shisui. They played janken. The loser getting to be the enemy. Shisui lost. Apparently, this was the millionth time he's been the enemy." Tenzo paused. "Itachi cheated."
Orochimaru gave him a serene smile. "And he does it quite well. Thank the Gods Fugaku is dead. He damned near destroyed that boy."
Tenzo raised an eyebrow at that. Orochimaru nodded. "Talk to your Captain Hound. See if he'll let you read the ANBU reports. That's all I can tell you."
Tenzo nodded. Then took a deep breath. "Why did you experiment on me and the others?"
Orochimaru gazed at him steadily. "I have no excuse to give you. Other than pure hubris." Orochimaru took his own deep breath. "What I did to you…and to the others…was inexcusable. And I'm sorry for that. And I meant what I said the other day…I'm very proud of you."
Tenzo couldn't speak but he nodded.
"I want you to be my son. I will not change my mind about that. But, let's take it one day at a time, shall we."
"Yes…Orochimaru."
"It's a start, my son, it's a start."