"So," Sakura glanced up at Orochimaru, whose face was a perfect mask of serenity and composure. "Is swallowing an egg whole something I have to learn or…?"
"You're as bad as Kabuto," Orochimaru drawled, looking at her unimpressed from the corner of his eye. Sakura couldn't help the cackle of laughter that left her.
After their meeting with the Nara clan, they had headed over to the Aburame compound where Sakura had once been left alone with her old classmate while the clan head and her sensei talked. However, she wasn't complaining—spending time with Shino had been very peaceful. The other boy was quiet, but was pleased to answer all of her questions about his insects, and was doubly surprised when she had willingly let them crawl over her hand. Thank kami Yua had kept her snout away from any of the beetles Shino had shown her.
However, it had been hilarious to see Shino sigh and shake his head when he saw Yua crawling through her hair.
"As someone as intelligent as Orochimaru-sama, I should have known that you were part of the test, little one. Why? Because everyone knows how close he is to his summons."
"You are a kind one, Mushi, but you have a lack of treats in your home," Yua told him, almost as if she was gracing him important advice.
"Mushi?" Shino's eye twitched.
Sakura had to desperately stop herself from snickering at the offended look on Shino's face as Yua advised him on what treats to keep for future meetings with summons, especially reptilian summons. Shino had not been especially impressed.
They had soon left after that, heading to the Yamanaka compound next where Sakura had been bowled over by Ino. Inoichi looked horrified as he tried to rein in his daughter before she caused a political nightmare by attacking Orochimaru's apprentice, but the two girls had only squealed at each other's outfits. Sakura had immediately asked if she could take Ino to the garden, which Orochimaru had waved them away while chuckling at Inoichi's expense.
"I've never seen you so gussied up!" Ino stared at her wide-eyed. She herself was wearing a stunning yukata, a lovely lilac color that suited her perfectly. "How did you get your obi to look like that?"
"Orochimaru-sensei did it for me," Sakura admitted sheepishly. She had never been able to put a kimono on by herself, no matter how times her mother showed her.
"That's so cool!" Ino then pouted. "Asuma-sensei never could do that for me."
"Maybe you'll have to teach him."
"I think I will!" Ino crowed. "But, what'd you want to show me?"
"This," Sakura smiled mischievously, not seeing the shocked look on Ino's face. She had no idea how similar she looked like Anko in that moment. Instead, Sakura grabbed on of the many flowers in the Yamanaka garden, and looked over the bulb that had yet to bloom. Concentrating, Sakura willed the flower to open slowly.
"Sakura!" Ino gasped. Awe spread across her face as she watched the flower open, and its petals grow larger. "How is this possible? You're not some illegitimate Senju, are you?"
"No!" Sakura huffed. "Sensei thinks it's because I have perfect control over water and earth jutsu. The combination allows me to focus on the delicate nature of plants. I'm having the most fun with flowers right now."
"You still have that book on flowers I gave you, right?"
"I had it memorized three days after you gave it to me."
"Stop showing off," Ino scolded, a fond smile on her face. "You should play around with poppies."
"Ino, you're a genius," Sakura gaped. Soon enough, the girls were talking at length about which flowers to use in battle. Roses and their vines became a very intriguing idea that Sakura immediately wanted to play around with.
When Inoichi and Orochimaru found them, they were practically covered in flowers, and the roses bushes having grown out of control.
"What the hell?" Inoichi gasped.
"Seems I should invite your daughter and her teammates over much sooner," Orochimaru smiled wicked at the man. Even though Inoichi worked closely with Anko and Ibiki every day, he felt a shiver of dread go down his spine at that smile. What had just been unleashed on Konaha?
"Bye, Ino!" Sakura hugged her friend one more time before skipping up to Orochimaru's side, and bowed politely. "Apologies for messing with your garden, Inoichi-san. Ino and I were conducting our own research."
"No harm done, Sakura-chan," Inoichi smiled down at her.
"I look forward to our next meeting," Orochimaru nodded, which turned Inoichi's smile into a grimace.
"Of course, Orochimaru-sama."
When they left the compound, Sakura had raised an eyebrow and silently asked what that had been about. Instead, Orochimaru ignored her quiet request and asked her about what she and Ino had been talking about. He thoroughly encouraged her study into using flowers in batt;e, stating people would underestimate her and that would lead to the killing blow.
After that, they had visited the last of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Sakura hadn't expected the Akimichi clan to be so welcoming to them, but Choji's parents had practically smothered Orochimaru in bear hugs and wouldn't let them leave before serving them lunch. This had been the only time Orochimaru had let her stay for his discussion about the matches, but she had been too focused on his eating habits to really pay attention to his critics.
She had seen snakes eat things whole before, but watching her sensei swallow a whole egg had been different. Neither of Choji's parents seemed surprised in the least, which must have been obvious since there were several egg dishes put out.
Choza had been excited to hear the Sakura would be training with the Team Asuma, and Choji had even asked her about her training. She couldn't think back to a time she had a full conversation with the boy, but she was slightly surprised by his polite demeanor and his optimism.
However, once they had left, Sakura had let her mouth act on its own.
"Did you learn how to relax the muscles in your face and throat, or is it natural?" She prodded.
"Practice and a certain jutsu."
"Which jutsu? And why? What's the point of having that skill?"
"So, I can swallow pesky children like you whole," Orochimaru bared his teeth, leaning down to be on her level. His expression would have scared her even a week ago, but now, Sakura could only see the teasing glint in his eyes.
"It's not for anything inappropriate, right?" She asked suspiciously. In a split second, the fearsome look on his face had disappeared to be replaced by a scandalous one. Sakura had to bite her lip so as not to burst out laughing. Adults were so easy to embarrass sometimes. Orochimaru should have known better—he had been the one to give her textbooks on medical jutsu, which covered a lot of different things that most wouldn't find appropriate for a twelve-year old girl.
"My own apprentice suggesting something like that! I must speak to Jiraiya at once," he mumbled that last part to himself. However, the light blush on his cheeks didn't diminish for some time.
Proud of herself, Sakura thought back to all the clans they had visited so far. The Uchiha, Nara, Aburame, Yamanaka, and Akimichi. They had visited them with Orochimaru talking to her old classmates' parents about the matches, and no doubt other things from the hint he had dropped with Inoichi. The day was halfway over, meaning unless they cut certain meetings down, they would not be able to meet with every clan or sensei of the Rookie Twelve.
"Where are we going next?" She asked, already forming a mental map of the village. They were left with the Hyuuga, Inuzuka, the Hokage's family, and Gai-sensei's other two students. "The Hyuuga?"
"Why do you think that?"
"Because they're the closest. The Nara and Aburame both live close to the Nara forest because of their connection with nature, while the Yamanaka are closer to each other and the middle of the village. They both deal with more civilian trading and need to be closer to the markets. Now, we are near the older section of the village which houses the Hyuuga clan. The Inuzuka are on the other side of the village from the Nara Forest because of the space they need for their ninken."
"Very astute." Orochimaru smiled at her proudly. "However, Hyuuga Hiashi has already asked to visit out compound tomorrow with his daughter and nephew. What is your other guess?"
Pursing her lips, Sakura thought. If he was asking that, then there was something she was missing—either because she was overlooking it or didn't have all the information. "How close are we to our next destination?"
She could see the considering expression on his face before he answered. "About a ten minute's walk."
Nodding, Sakura thought back onto the other major clans in Konaha that had not been present during the matches. There had been very few, but they still existed. The head, and only, Senju had not shown up, and neither had any representatives from the Sarutobi or Shimura clans. There were a lot more lesser clans that had not been there, but she knew Orochimaru was using the day to hit all the major players in the village, so they wouldn't bother with them. Thinking back to her map of the village, she calculated how far they were from the last three major clans.
The Senju compound was further away, only leaving the Sarutobi and Shimura compounds, which were right next to each other. But, as she began to think about why they would visit either, she wanted to face palm. She was an idiot. It had been so obvious.
"We're visiting your old sensei."
"Good job, hatchling." He smiled smugly, patting her head. "Sarutobi-sensei only has the one grandson at the moment, so he lives vicariously through myself. He won't admit it, but he always wanted a dozen grandchildren running around."
"Just like you?" She asked innocently, but knew she wasn't fooling him.
"If I don't not receive at least one pink haired grandchild, I will be severely disappointed," he told her gravely.
"I will try my hardest, sensei." She bowed lowly and received a reprimanding tug on her ear for her sass.
Approaching the Sarutobi compound, Sakura couldn't help but glance up at the Hokage Mountain and analyze the Third Hokage. He had retired from his position before she had been born, so she had never seen him in person. In textbooks, he had been described as the "God of Shinobi", and in hindsight, maybe Sakura should feel more nervous meeting him. But, after all the meetings she had gone to with Orochimaru, she had a feeling she didn't have a reason to be intimidated. Especially by someone her own sensei looked up to.
The entrance of the clan's compound was guarded by two, large statues of fearsome monkeys. Their teeth were longer than the kunai Sakura used, while their hands were holding what to be powerful staffs, one of the chosen weapons of the clan. As they walked through the gates, nobody seemed surprised to see them, some even calling out a greeting as they passed.
However, as they approached one of the home set towards the back, a loud shout made her jump.
"Orochi-ji!"
A blur of blue came out of nowhere, latching itself around Orochimaru's middle and clinging for its life. Blinking, Sakura's brain finally snapped back into reality as she realized the blur was in fact, Sarutobi Konohamaru. The boy had a large, toothy grin on his face as he beamed up at the Sannin.
"So energetic, little monkey," Orochimaru chuckled and carded his hands through spiky hair. "How are your studies?"
"Hard!" Konohamaru whined, pushing his head into the hand in his hair. "Why'd you tell Ji-ji to give me more homework?"
"Because we all know you can handle it."
"But I don't wanna! I just wanna hang out with Naruto-nii all day!"
"It is precisely because you spend time performing pranks with Naruto that has caused you to earn so much homework. Think about that next time you two paint the Hokage Mountain in profanity."
The boy pouted as his grip slackened, causing him to slide down the taller man and end up sitting on his. Petulantly, he refused to move as he grumbled about life being so unfair. Orochimaru shared an amused look with her, and Sakura was thankful she had never acted that way with her parents. They would have gone gray by now.
With ease, Orochimaru plucked Konohamaru up and cradled him in his arms as they made their way into the house.
"Ji-ji! Orochi-ji is here!" Konohamaru stopped his pouting long enough to announce them before jumping into telling Orochimaru everything he had done since the Academy had been out for the summer. Simply put, seeing Orochimaru like this was not something she would ever associate with someone so feared, some nations had pulled out of the Shinobi Wars when he had entered the battle field.
But, like this, he was different.
His face was smoothed out in contentment as he walked through the halls with Konohamaru snuggled in his arms and talking a mile a minute. He walked with a type of elegance Sakura had only seen within the daiyamo's palace, and the way he dressed demanded people look at him in awe.
"Kono," an exasperated voice sounded from a room to their left. "Are you talking Orochi's ear off again?"
"No!" The little boy's cheeks puffed out indignantly. Following after the pair, Sakura's eyes landed on the old man sitting at a table, pipe in hand as he smiled at them gently.
"I've been waiting for you to come show me my newest grandchild, Orochi," Sarutobi Hiruzen, the former Third Hokage, teased.
"We've had a few other meetings, sensei," Orochimaru said smoothly before motioning her to follow. There was a tea set already on the table with a few sweets that looked half eaten. As soon as Orochimaru released the boy in his arms, they were swiftly finished off. Sakura giggled at how energetic Konohamaru was about everything. "This is Haruno Sakura, my latest apprentice."
"It's an honor to meet you, Hokage-sama," Sakura bowed lowly.
"Same to you, Sakura-san," Hiruzen smiled kindly at her, reminding her of her great-uncle. "Try to keep some of that attitude, kami knows Anko-chan never had any manners in her."
"If I remember correctly, she did refer to you respectfully," Orochimaru smiled, but Sakura could tell it had a deeper meaning.
"I don't really consider 'Baka-kage' as respectful, Orochi," Hiruzen said flatly. Sakura filed that away to tell Naruto later for when he complained about his own father.
"Semantics," Orochimaru shrugged elegantly.
"Mmhm," the older man hummed. "So, tell me, Sakura-san, what is Orochi going to be teaching you? Both Anko-chan and Kabuto-kun have taken a shine to poisons."
"Well," she glanced at her sensei before straightening up. "I've been told that my chakra control is better than Tsunade-hime's and I wish to explore that ability along with my mokuton."
A greyed eyebrow rose and played with the man's wrinkles as he sent a look towards Orochimaru.
"She's fully a Haruno." He rolled his eyes.
"I'm sure you will learn quite a bit under Orochi, then" Hiruzen smiled. "I have a feeling your are just as smart as Tsuna, and will be a handful for Orochi. I look forward to seeing how much you will grow."
"Thank you," she said sincerely. To have the blessing of a Hokage was truly an honor.
"That being said, why did you choose to become a shinobi?" The man suddenly pinned her with a scrutinizing look that had her almost flinching back at how intense it was. Could he see through her? She didn't know of the Sarutobi clan having any kekkai genkai, but they were notorious for having many geniuses in the clan. Taking a deep breath, she tried to will down the shaking in her hands.
"I want to be able to protect those most precious to me. My goal is to grow stronger so I can accomplish this."
"And what about being a shinobi? It is more than simply protecting those you love and being strong. Are you willing to do what it takes to finish a mission?"
She had a feeling he would have gone into greater detail if his impressionable grandson wasn't sitting with them, watching them like a tennis match from where he was sitting in Orochimaru's lap and munching on a cookie.
"Yes," she said simply, with as much conviction as she could put behind her voice. She knew exactly what he meant—was she willing to kill because she had been told to do so? She had yet to have her first kill, but she wasn't some naïve little girl. Being a shinobi meant that her hands would be coated in blood more often than not, and that was a fact she had come to terms with a long time.
Hiruzen kept her gaze for what felt like an eternity before he finally nodded, turning his attention back onto his pipe. Letting her shoulders sag, she glanced over at Orochimaru and was relieved to see the pride surging through his posture as he looked at her. His former sensei's approval must mean quite a lot to him.