Already sitting at the dining table and sipping at his sake, Jiraiya couldn't help but watch Orochimaru's latest kid bury her nose in a book. Her brows were furrowed in concentration as she practically absorbed the information right off the pages, while she didn't seem to register anything else around her.
He had been a little surprised by the book on summons having assumed she would take on the snake contract like Anko and Kabuto had done before her. However, it seemed like she truly wanted to go her own way with her training. Smirking at the hairclip still in her hair, Jiraiya wondered what his chances of convincing her to sign the toad contract would be. Orochimaru would try to kill him for that, but it'd be truly hilarious if he got both his own student and Orochimaru's to have the same summon.
Taking a sip, he thought about what summons she could possibly receive. It was rare for people to form contracts on their own, most relying on teachers or family to pass down a contract because of familiarity and not having to go through the trials of being accepted by a summon. Hell, even Orochimaru had told him that the snakes in Ryuuchi Cave would have devoured him if he had failed any of his own trials.
As he watched the little Haruno, Jiraiya wasn't concerned for the girl in the least. If she was anything like her great-grandmother, Reiko, then she would perfectly fine. There were very few civilians Jiraiya's met that have left him speechless, but the head of the Haruno clan was something else. He swore there was something about her that put him on edge, something only elite missing-nin have ever done. Seeing as she was just an older civilian woman, Jiraiya didn't know what made him steer clear of her.
The Haruno clan was extremely nomadic, as was normal with merchants with such a large empire such as theirs. They had parts of their family stay in various places so they could sell their goods, but the other portion of the family would travel and send those goods back home. Normally, merchants would fight tooth and nail to create their own trade routes and a near monopoly on the goods they sold. For example, nobody would dare try to sell decorative glass in the Fire Nation capital in fear of the Uchiha coming after them.
On the other hand, the Haruno never seemed to have that issue. If another merchant family was ever causing an uproar, they either quieted down quickly or were absorbed into the Haruno family. Most saw that as an honor, while others saw what it was: a ploy to grow their power. This was how the clan had ended up looking so diverse, with no two members looking quite like they were from the same family.
When he had began taking over his own spy network, he had learned many things about the Haruno. One being that they were hiding quite a few clans that had once thought to have disappeared long ago. How nobody else had noticed the Uzumaki red in their family tree was a mystery to him, but the myriad of talents should have tipped someone off a long time ago. But, Jiraiya had a feeling he knew why nobody had pointed the obvious out.
The Haruno were damn everywhere, meaning they had ears and eyes everywhere as well. Blackmail was easy to acquire when you had unassuming clan children like Haruno Sakura running around. Just little, innocent children who liked to play in the market, maybe even play close to the ninja kids and hearing something they shouldn't have heard. All they had to do was run home and tell their parents all the juicy gossip they had overheard.
Jiraiya had to wonder how much dirt Haruno Mebuki had gotten on Konoha's shinobi clans over the past decade.
He doubted the woman had deliberately placed her daughter in the Academy to simply spy on the other kids, but no doubt Sakura's dream of being a shinobi had helped them grow their power. No wonder the civilian part of Konoha looked much more grown out than it had a few years ago. A strong civilian clan was right.
While the Haruno clan's symbol wasn't threatening on first glance, anyone who was in the know wouldn't dare turn their back on them. The simple circle could have acted like a target for others, but just like a circle, there was no end to the Haruno clan. They had grown out too far and too long for them to perish. They would survive any kind of destruction, rebirth, or growth. They had created themselves to be endless, and so far, they had achieved that under Haruno Reiko's firm hand.
How old was she anyway?
Doing the math in his mind, Jiraiya was brought out of his thoughts at the sound of bickering growing closer. He and the little Haruno had been the only ones in the dining room, but soon enough, Anko and Kabuto had stumbled in. Waving at them, he wasn't shocked when they barely glanced at him before going back to their squabbling. Kabuto was normally very composed, but there was something about Anko's very presence that caused a vein on his forehead to pop.
The quieter children filled in, with Tenzo smiling at him and Kimimaro ignoring him. Still sore about the whole 'pretend I'm your dad and follow my lead' scheme he had played on the boy when he was younger. It wasn't Jiraiya's fault they had similar colored hair and red markings.
"Oro-kaa-san! Mini-Kabuto's reading at the table!"
And there was the loud one, Jiraiya rolled his eyes fondly. Deidara had been unexpected addition to the family, and while he didn't really blend as well into the family, his almost manic obsession with destruction earned him a seat at the table. He would have thought the boy would have been suited to study under Tsunade rather than Orochimaru, but his teammate had always been able to bring the best out of his students.
"Hatchling! No reading at the dining table," Orochimaru's voiced called from the kitchen. "House rules."
Predictably, she was so drawn into her reading, she hadn't even heard the scolding. Plucking the book out of her tight grip, Jiraiya chuckled at her squawk of indignity.
"Hey! Give it back!"
"Oro-chan has banned everyone but himself from reading at the table," Jiraiya told her cheerfully. Flipping through the book, he narrowed his eyes at the very limited section on frogs and toads. He'd have to change that. "Hmmm. From what I've seen, I think you'll end up with a mouse."
"What?!" Her strangled gasp and horrified look left him laughing outright, with chuckles from the rest of the table joining him.
"I'm joking, little blossom," he smiled at her brightly, patting her head. Handing her back to the book, he could remember Kabuto having the same pout when he had his books taken away at dinner. "Now that you're one of Oro-chan's, I bet you'll have something extremely poisonous."
"That'd be cool," she murmured.
"What about something a little less deadly?" Kakashi poked his head out of the kitchen where Orochimaru had dragged him into, having claimed him as their new cooking assistant. "I think I still have an old wolf contract laying around."
"Wolves are just as deadly, sensei." Sakura raised an eyebrow.
"But cuter!" He insisted.
"Pup!"
"Coming, Orochimaru-sama."
Jiraiya snickered at the sight of Kakashi turning back, tail practically tucked between his legs. How Orochimaru had pulled off adopting the last Hatake when the man was almost thirty was a mystery, but Jiraiya had learned to stop asking questions he didn't quite want the answers to. Hence why he still didn't know how Orochimaru still looked so young. There were some things you just simply let lie.
"Oi! Anyone home?"
In a flash, Jiraiya was on his feet, and was scooping up his three wayward students. They were dressed similarly, the trio never once wanting to be seen separately from each other if they could help it. He was disappointed they had gone with darker colors and not sporting the styles he personally chose.
"Sensei!" Konan huffed. "You're crushing me!"
"And here I thought you'd still be mad," Yahiko chuckled nervously as Jiraiya finally let them go. Nagato sent him an equally guilty looking smile and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Oh, I'm still mad," Jiraiya let his smile drop as he eyed them. Even Konan paled. "I don't know how you three pulled it off, but 'Meet the Author' was not what I needed for my birthday."
"But, don't you want to know who's reading your books?" Nagato asked with the utmost innocence.
"No! The only ones reading my books are all weird creeps who can't find dates and are left reading about romance." Jiraiya swore he heard a pathetic whine from the kitchen, but ignored it glared at his former students. "Do you know how this could affect my image? Now everyone's going to think I'm just some old pervert!"
"Wait, you're not?!" Anko yelped.
"Shut it!" He snapped at the unimpressed looks from all of Orochimaru's spawn. Why did he even bother coming over if he was going to be judged all the time?
"I mean, when you mention your teammates in your books, what are people supposed to think?"
Jiraiya's head whipped around to stare at the youngest in their midst. Body growing cold, he couldn't even form words as he realized that one of Orochimaru's kids had actually succeeded in reading one of his books. And she was twelve! Fuck! Shit! If there was anything that could cause his teammate and friend to kill him, this was it. He should cut his losses and jump out the window right that second.
"Sakura…" Kabuto spoke up. "How do you know this?"
"And which one are you talking about?!" Anko chimed in. "Oro-sensei or Tsuna-ba?"
"Uhhh…" Sakura's face was turning as pink as her hair.
"What's going on?" Orochimaru's voice had everyone's backs straightening and many guilty glances to be shared amongst the room's occupants. "Whatever it is, I'll find out. For now, you three—welcome home. This is my newest apprentice, Haruno Sakura, and your new little sister."
"Calm down, cub," Minato sighed as Naruto ran ahead of him and Kushina. He was exhausted. After Orochimaru's tests, he had assumed the council would finally stop badgering him about making the Sannin take on a student, but no, they were still unhappy with the results. They had wanted him to take on a clan's heir, but the man had obviously known of their intentions and wanted to screw with them. Which, Minato didn't blame him, especially after witnessing Haruno Sakura's test results.
The girl had scored higher than some jonin on the written test, had an impressively high chakra control, and showed the kind of determination any sensei would want to see in their students. While she desperately needed to improve her physical skills, she would thrive underneath Orochimaru.
And, if he was being honest, Minato was pleased that a civilian born child had been chosen. How quickly the council and other shinobi forgot he had been a lowly civilian born orphan before he had become the Fourth Hokage.
"Tou-san, Kaa-san, hurry up!" Naruto whined.
"How does he have so much energy?" Minato asked.
"He's an Uzumaki," Kushina smiled. "It's in our blood to be this excitable, dattebane!"
Chuckling, Minato had to agree. When they had learned Kushina had been expecting, they had agreed that they would let their children carry on the Uzumaki name. Minato had always felt a heartache at knowing that Kushina had lost her home and most of her clan, so when the opportunity arose, he offered her to keep her clan going. Some people had questioned their decision, but he didn't care what others thought. Their son was both of theirs, no matter what his last name was.
Finally, after a lot of running ahead by Naruto, and his parents walking at a leisurely pace to enjoy the evening air, they arrived at the Orochi compound. Kushina didn't bother with formalities, especially not since Orochimaru had practically invited them to live with him once they found out Nagato was her distant cousin. Letting themselves in, Minato was quick to grab Naruto's collar before he raced through the house.
"Remember our manners," he told him seriously.
"No cussing, no eating competitions, ask for permission before touching anything or anyone, and no pranks," Naruto rambled off, chin pushed out defiantly.
"Good, cub, now go meet your cousins."
Not having to be told twice, Naruto bolted away from them, his voice loud as he shouted his greetings. Sharing a fond smile with Kushina, they headed towards the kitchen where they could already smell dinner being prepared. However, when they entered, Minato raised an eyebrow.
"Kakashi?"
"Minato-sensei?"
"Aw! He's wearing Oro's apron!" Kushina crooned and pointed at the apron with a picture of a snake in the shape of a heart. Even though most of his face was covered, Minato could still see the blush on his cheek at being caught in such position. "I didn't know you had wolves now, Oro!"
"Many are welcomed here," was all the Sannin said, too focused on the large pot of curry.
Naruto didn't know why he had to follow so many rules when at Oro-ba-chan's house, but he knew he didn't want to be on the man's bad side. So, when he did break any of the rules, he made sure one of his cousins was with him so they could shoulder some of the blame. They knew exactly what he was doing, but they had yet to tell him no when he brought up a prank. He had even gotten Kimimaro to mess with one of the elders on the council!
Running into the dining room, he had calculated just who he would tackle first. His parents had firmly instilled in him that personal space was very important and needed to be respected, but he had gotten verbal conformation from his cousins and Jiraiya-ji to hug them randomly.
"Ero-Sennin!"
"Stop calling me that, you little brat!"
Jumping into the grumbling man's arm, Naruto was excited to hear his cousins' laughter at his antics. Glancing around the room, he could see Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato waving at him, while Orochimaru's other kids smiled back. But, it was Sakura's hesitant and shy look that had Naruto pulling away from Jiraiya.
"Sakura!" Bounding over to her, Naruto stopped himself before he got too close. "Can I give you a hug?"
"Huh?" She blinked at him. "I guess?"
Not wasting any time, he jumped forward and wrapped his arms around her. He kept it gentle because of how stiff she had gone, but eventually she wrapped her own arms around him.
"I'm sorry for what Teme said to you," he whispered. "And for how I acted. Tou-san said I should have treated you like a proper opponent from the beginning. I just didn't want to hurt you! You're one of my most precious people and I don't want to see you hurt."
Sakura pulled back to stare at him, and Naruto tried to put as much sincerity as he could into his eyes. When he had been told Team Seven would be dissolved, he had been devastated. He had finally gotten a team of his own, proper friends that would be by his side no matter what, and then they were gone. He didn't know what he would do if he lost them for real.
"Thanks, Naruto." Her smile was small, but it sent a wave of relief through him. "You did give me a good fight, and I know you wanted to help me, but…"
"What is it, Sakura?"
"I don't want to be staring at you and Sasuke's backs forever." She said firmly, meeting his eyes and Naruto stared at the pure determination boiling in her.
"I don't want that either," he told her just as fiercely. "I need a lot of strong people at my side if I'm going to be Hokage some day!"
"Hell yeah," Sakura giggled. "The village won't know what hit them!"