AN: sigh. i'm back, my lovelies.. i have finally finished my residency, and now i am here to take this bull by its horns.
lezzgo!
Shibui(adj) (Japanese): Particular aesthetic of simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty
"The white chrysanthemum
Is disguised by the first frost
If I wanted to pick one
I could find it only by chance."
― Oshikochi No Mitsune
Tsunade met Orochimaru at a little bakery shop, where she took one look at him and could not stop herself from giggling.
'Oh Oro…', she sighed. While it might not have been visible to a passing acquaintance, Orochimaru was practically mooning at the dango behind the glass. His hands were bunched up in his Sakura-tree printed white kimono and were folded demurely to stop what Tsunade liked to call his "grabby hands."
"Tsuna", He barely acknowledged her, his eyes were glued to the Ikanari dango for good reason; sweet potatoes were not native to the fire country. This type of dango took slices of yellow sweet potato and a layer of red bean paste, wrapped them in flour dough and subsequently steamed them. Tsunade suddenly snorted.
"Give us a plate, please," she called, when she spotted an attendant at the back and pointed to the delicacy, "And two cups of tea!"
The woman in a flowery apron behind the counter, bowed demurely. "Yes, Princess."
Tsunade huffed at the subservient behaviour but could not be bothered to actually call her out on it. Instead, she pulled Orochimaru with her to a seat.
"Patience, Oro," she admonished, causing Orochimaru to snap his head towards her and visibly take a deep breath.
"There is no need for patience, it is Ikinari!"
"Yeah.. yeah.." Tsunade huffed, even as the lady served it to them, absolutely hot and fresh.
She popped one into her mouth. Ikinari was not traditionally served on a stick, making them easier to pilfer off of- Tsunade rolled her eyes, when she predictably spotted Orochimaru glowering at her for taking what was his. He was not as uncouth to yell out "mine!", but that was all that was left in his temper tantrum.
"You are behaving like my brother," she informed him.
"Keep your hands to yourself," Orochimaru lamented at her, quite obnoxiously, if she may add.
"It is a good thing the war's come to a close," she noted. "It will be easier for you to obtain your Ikinari Dango." Sweet Potatoes were grown close to volcanoes after all.
Orochimaru's behaviour did not really change but she knew he understood when his eyes twinkled under the sunlight. The brat would never find out that it made her day.
"Finish your food." she said roughly and sat back in her chair to sip her tea.
Orochimaru finished his treat with relish. Not that he would ever deign to show anybody else this side of him; Tsunade was an exception.
And the oaf. His brain provided helpfully and unceremoniously. Though he was not back from his pilgrimage, as of yet. Orochimaru scowled languidly at his last dango, his appetite diminished abruptly.
That idiotic Toad could not even have the decency of sharing a nice sunny day with us. He looked towards Tsunade who had raised an eyebrow at him. How long had it been? That the three or even the four of us had the time to while away the day like this? Sensei still had reasons, but Jiraiya..?!
No, Orochimaru would never understand Jiraiya's penchant for helping absolute strangers.
That way Tsunade and him were similar. They were picky and coveted the eccentric and the quirky, but when they decided that a person was theirs, they would stop at nothing to protect them, care for them… kill for them.
"Come," he said impetuously, standing abruptly and offering her his arm as a silent apology.
She took it, not saying anything. They meandered, carefully circumventing the insects- the civilians. Orochimaru saw Tsunade steeling glances at him from the corner of his eye, but decided not to comment on it.
"...Jiraiya?" Came Tsunade's soft questioning voice, tempered against the loud marketplace. There it was. Orochimaru almost melted against her, nodding. He knew there was a reason he kept her around. She just understood.
Perhaps, not about everything but.. still.
A few minutes later, Orochimaru realised quite abruptly that he was being carefully frogmarched to the training grounds. And while this was laughable by itself, Tsunade's look of concentration while doing so was far more hilarious. So, he obviously resorted to staring at her quizzically, instead of saying anything.
Obviously.
Tsunade grumbled in a way that he had to strain to hear her.
"That guy you got from wave is here," Orochimaru looked at her incredulously.
"Oh, do not look at me like that! He's been talked about all over town! All the ruddy aunties' are mesmerised by how big his junk is!"
Orochimaru looked at her gobsmacked all for a second.
"How on earth do they know that?! And why are you so interested?" He accused.
Tsunade just smirked at him and pulled him a little faster to their destination, tugging his hand into a chakra- powered jump so that they stood on a branch to look down at a clearing.
A tiny jerk of a head with a mop of silver hair and a subsequent nod told him that Sakumo had tracked and noticed them. He then disregarded them almost immediately and folded his arms over his chest to focus on his charges again.
He had them working hard, Orochimaru noticed.
The civilian girl seemed to be building her stamina by running up and down a large Hashirama tree. She obviously required it, considering her pitiful chakra reserves. She, however, did seem to have a determined air about her as she went about her task, sweating profusely. I wonder what has her motivated so?
He extended his next perusal to the raven haired Uchiha (whose name he had already forgotten.) He was going about the standard sequence of the great fireball jutsu (expanding his reserves, Orochimaru presumed) over the expanse of a lake. At least, Jiraiya's prodigy was far more amusing. Orochimaru approved.
Maybe.
Kind of.
He finally eyed the last two boys appraisingly. They were sparring quite well for a freshly minted genin and an entity that did not know he had the ability to do so, until a few months ago. Sakumo had restricted their abilities, Orochimaru noted. It was a Taijutsu only fight and… was that the basic three?
The basic three were the jutsu's taught at the academy. The Kawarami, the henge, and the clone technique. Both boys seemed to be using these judiciously. Although, these seemed to be sprinkled with shunshins and some Space-Time warping element that Voldemo-san was using.
Orochimaru shrugged his hand out of Tsunade's to crouch down and inspect the fight carefully. The bend between space and time for Voldemo-san were between the steps taken, from one to the next. It was smooth, seamless, and elegantly executed. And even though he sure as hell did not know the intricacies of the technique, Orochimaru was aware about it enough to be able to tell that it was masterfully executed.
His hand nestled under his chin to further deconstruct Voldemo-san's fighting style. Voldemo-san had evidently improved far more than what he had thought possible from the first time that he had met him. His speed was easily at par with that of a low chunin. Orochimaru suddenly gauged with sudden clarity. The sheer amount growth here, Orochimaru marvelled, was incredible.
The growth was not completely isolated to speed either. Voldemo-san's kicks may not be as great (yet), but his punches were far better developed. Voldemo-san had definitely put in the work. Orochimaru was not prone to delivering compliments but this increase in form, endurance and strength spoke of Voldemo-san being part of exquisite lineage. He was clearly a masterful student, or a quick learner. This had to be the result of some sort body experimentation, or it might just be a combination of it all. As evidenced by his rippling trapezius-
"Oh. My. God," a shrill whisper reached his ears, as if on cue.
"He is shirtless and he is hot," Tsuna continued, completely oblivious to his focussed evaluation and critical deconstruction.
Orochimaru could only hum at this plebian way of thinking.
"What?!" Tsuna demanded, spinning to face him. "Look at him, Oro.. Looked at him!" She half whispered and half shouted, shaking him bodily around his shoulders.
"-Pardon me, madam" Came Voldemo san's voice.
So polite, Orochimaru mused internally, quirking an eyebrow.
Tsunade stilled, spooked, quite hilariously, and turned around slowly to face him. And then, predictably, proceeded to bluster down into the clearing.
She stood before him, a tiny thing, confident, arms folded defensively across her chest. The only thing that betrayed her was the pink on her cheeks.
She then took Voldemo-san in, eyes slowly drinking him in, from the tip of his toes to his face. Brusquely, Orochimaru shunshinned to stand next to her.
"Oh. It's you..." Voldemo-san uttered simply, and sized him up almost similar to what Tsuna did to him. Orochimaru then had the odd sensation that he had just had a nice full meal, and that there were mice running in his stomach.
"Voldemo-san." Orochimaru nodded. "And Jiraiya's tadpoles."
The Namikaze child squawked with indignation.
"I see you have improved" He added curiously, tilting his head.
But Voldemo-san scoffed. "Barely." He flicked a hand. "I could not spar with you seriously, not yet anyway."
But Tsunade interrupted incredulously. "But you were but a mere civilian, just a few-"
"I was never a mere civilian." Voldemo-san's eyes flashed red. The mice in his stomach ran a little bit faster.
Perhaps, he had indigestion?
"Maybe," Orochimaru heard himself say as if from a distance.
"Maybe you can practise with me.. a spar? Sometime?"
What in Kami's name was wrong with him?
Voldemo-san looked at him in surprise. Hell, the entire clearing had turned to face in various degrees of shock.
"Orochimaru…" Tsunade spelled out his name slowly. " Uh… he... you know he will not really compare.. I mean.." She flushed, turning to raise her hands at Voldemo-san. "You said it yourself!" She defended.
Voldemo-san's blank expression was a little off-putting. Orochimaru thought, admiringly.
"We can spar now." rang his commanding voice.
"What? There's no need-" Sakumo started.
But was almost instantly quelled by Voldemo's look like a drowned puppy.
Before he could question the sanity of his current decision, Orochimaru found himself making the seal of confrontation to Tom Marvolo Riddle, while the rest of the audience stood as spectators further away under the shade of the trees.
What am I doing? He avoided a kick to his chest, a rapid punch to his face. Cute. He smirked at the attack. But nowhere close to enough.
But even as he thought it, Voldemo used his wands to wordlessly lift boulders to hurl them at him.
Yesss… Let us turn this into a Ninjutsu fight! He shunshinned back quickly to create space and blasted the boulders with water, knocking them off course. He sped through the sequence for a particularly nasty lightning jutsu. "Let us see how you fare with this?"
But Voldemo smirked at him, as if he knew what he was thinking and redirected the lightening coming from the heavens into an adjoining tree, which charred until it turned black, until it collapsed into dust. Orochimaru looked at the brunette suspiciously. Is he reading my mind? He seemed ready for that, a split second before I had even decided to do it..
Orochimaru watched with trepidation as Voldemo's grin grew bigger. This might be tougher than I anticipated. Time to end it. What followed was a series of apparitions and shunshins that were too fast for a normal eye to follow, and Orochimaru tried to get close enough to Voldemo to just knock him out.
"My Orochimaru san..." Voldemo smirked at him when they hit a lull. Voldemo's tone made him feel a trickle of irritation slide down his spine. "I did not know we were playing a game of tag."
Oh that's it. Orochimaru thought. "You're like a particularly persistent insect." He spat with vitriol.
And saying so, he brought forth from his arsenal the means to cow his opponent.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu" he hissed.
Manda had always been particularly frightening to his opponents, towering over mountains, purple and very venomous looking, he had black rings running down intervals on his body. He also had massive fangs, green eyes and four horn-like protrusions on his head.
There was an eerie silence where Manda looked at Voldemo-san with interest. "He smells of snake." he hissed to Orochimaru.
It started almost inaudibly. But soon a full throated, masculine laughter echoed through the grounds, rumbling in echoes.
Orochimaru looked down at the speck that was Voldemo-san to catch his manic gaze.
"He speaks, and is bonded to you," he uttered when he was calm enough. And before Orochimaru could chivalrously offer to step down, considering the scale of his offense, Voldemo-san continued. "My turn."
He waved his wand once.
"Serpensortia"
There was a rumble of pressure that could make his ears pop and eyes roll back in their sockets if he were not careful, and when Orochimaru opened his eyes again he felt his throat go dry.
"Zamarada…" His opponent said lovingly. "Do not kill with your ssight" Came Voldemo's voice in his head, almost like it reverberated through his skull.
It was a serpent unlike one he had ever seen before. Armoured green scales, and yellow lids, and a venomous set of fangs; the snake was smaller than Manda, but did not look any less deadly.
"Think you could win this one?" Orochimaru asked Manda mildly.
But before he could reply-
"Enough!" a booming voice called out.
They all turned to face a fuming Sakumo. His three students and Tsunade stood slack-jawed amidst the destruction of their … spar?
"That is quite enough," Sakumo growled out, as if it took every lick of his patience to not lash out. Orochimaru felt as if the very air was punched out of his lungs. Yes, this had gone too far.
His eyes sought out his opponent's. Voldemo-san blinked at him.
A stalemate.
He simply nodded to Manda who vanished, blessedly quiet for once, in a puff of smoke. He followed the exit of the remaining serpent curiously. Orochimaru then made a concentrated effort to avoid the rest of the spectators' stares.
A whooshing presence beside him caught his interest, though, and before his mind caught up with his body, he heard himself saying, "Do you want to grab some lunch?"
Before anyone could contest this idea, the man besides him touched his arm lightly. A shock went through him..
They had disapparated.
A teary-eyed girl stood against the wall, eavesdropping on the voices coming from inside the old and unused classroom.
"Where is he?" Cried a hoarse voice.
"It has been months!"
"Maybe he ran for it, the coward-"
"You shut the hell up, Nott! You do not know what you are saying."
"Well, have a look at the facts, why don't you! A girl is murdered, and Tom's disappeared-"
"Oh, Nott!"
"-And who's left to clean the mess? US! You hear me? There I said it!-"
"We don't know what happened-"
Nott scoffed.
The girl's attention was diverted to a movement in front of her, provoking her to lift her head.
"Shhh," Albus Dumbledore hushed to crying girl, leading her away.
"Where is he, professor?" Minerva hiccupped.
The professor said nothing, and continued rubbing her back in a consoling manner.
He did not know…
But he would find out what happened to Tom Morvolo Riddle, even if it killed him.
AN: *cackles in serpent*