Shifting Sands Chapter 10

The feel of the soil beneath him, the soft pine scent, the frosty dip of dew in the morning—it was a sensation to be appreciated. Orochimaru was growing tired of the smell of blood and gore, of rotting flesh and decaying bones. The odour of decomposition mixed with sterilisation was etched so deeply into him that it hadn't left in the two weeks of his current sabbatical. But here in the woods, he was reminded of a rare moment of calm from his childhood marked otherwise in death, death, death. Nature was indeed healing. He wanted to consume it, carry it, bend it to his will. It remained ever so stubbornly as is. The stagnation was the only feeling that sent his mind into a frenzy. There was so little time on this world to remain stagnant, his mind supplied treacherously. Then the woods would whistle a calm tune in the wind, and he would be sated in his stillness again.

He picked up firewood as he watched his little student train. She was small, two years older than he had been when he graduated at the age of six. He was certain he was smaller than her at her age though. She was tall for her age. This was a good sign. Longer reach could be the difference between life and death. So could hard work and talent. But most importantly was a Shinobi's ability to calculate risks and benefits in battle. That was an innate talent she did not possess.

Suzuki Hina was an odd child. Completely civilian born except an evasive aunty that bore her same name and face lost in the Second Shinobi War. It was not auspicious to name a child after a dead Shinobi, but he supposed her family of civilians didn't know that little bit of Shinobi superstition well.

Regardless of her substandard breeding, she was unconventionally prodigious. It took very little to see how sharp her tenketsu system was, how she expended the smallest amount of chakra possible leaving little room for any waste. Her reserves were barely above average, nothing to look at, but the way she rationed it was a work of art. Then there was her endless stream of curiosity—not childlike wonder, but a need to break down everything to its cause and effect, like she needed to know how the world ticked. She asked questions like he didn't have answers to run out of, but if there was one trait, he liked to encourage it was a desire for more knowledge, more power. He was happy to give it, because even if he had never wanted a student, she was here. He had no way of getting rid of her without Hiruzen's careful scrutiny. If he was going to be stuck with a student, he refused for her to be anything but the best.

"Come here Suzuki," he said.

She stopped her meditation to scramble over to him. He gestured for her to sit opposite him by the firewood. She did so quietly, looking at him with anticipation for orders—direction. Eager to learn. He supposed she was tolerable as far as students went.

"Have you tested out your chakra nature?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I wasn't able to afford chakra paper."

"You won't have to pay for this one," he said, holding it out to her.

She had already heard of it. The girl did her work to read ahead and ensure she was at least aware of her next steps. He could respect the forethought. So he didn't bother explaining what she should do as she eagerly took the paper, channelling her chakra into it. He watched as the paper cut in half and then crumpled into itself, finally turning a little wet.

"Earth, water, and wind? Aren't they diametrically opposed?" she asked in surprise.

"Earth and wind are. It is an unusual combination," Orochimaru agreed.

Had she been with an average Jounin instructor, she would have been out of luck. There were very few scrolls on water nature jutsu, and even fewer to accommodate using wind and earth in tandem. He had a few ideas already formulating on a fighting style when he noticed the look of disappointment on her face.

"You're unhappy with your nature?" he asked.

She huffed. "Not unhappy. Just disappointed. Does this mean I can't master the other elements and become the avatar?"

Orochimaru raised a brow, and she looked sheepishly down, mumbling something about no one understanding her references. Perhaps she read a lot of fantasy novels. He decided to bring them back to the topic at hand.

"My nature was earth, fire, and lightning. However I am capable of using the other elements. It comes down to practice and chakra control. Some natures are more easily accessible, other combination types are locked behind bloodlines, but you will be able to master them all one day should you have the talent for Ninjutsu."

"Should I have the talent… that means there's a possibility I can't," she noted.

He nodded. "There is a reason mastering all the elements is a notable feat. Having three chakra natures is still a good step towards your goals. Many only possess one and are lucky if they have two."

That seemed to please her. She was an expressive student, wearing every little bit of emotion on her face—unless she was scared or angry. Then her face smoothed out to something more forcibly neutral, like she was trying to be polite. It wasn't a very good poker face if it still conveyed her apprehension through the passivity.

"Are you going to teach me any nature transformation jutsu?" she asked.

"Just one for now. The Earth Tunnelling Jutsu. It is a D rank often used to transport goods in hidden locations. Many Shinobi with Earth release utilise it during war and you will be asked to do so eventually."

"Gotta start somewhere," she said, angling forward. "But I thought we would be focusing on Genjutsu."

"If you cannot learn multiple things at the same time, then you are not cut out to be my student," he said plainly.

Instead of getting annoyed, it seemed to stoke a fire of competition in her. She grinned his way, brows furrowing at his challenge.

"Oh, I'll learn. Give me a week and I'll get both the Mist Servant Genjutsu and Earth Tunnelling down."

Orochimaru smiled. He didn't doubt her ability. Her chakra control was beyond her age. She seemed hyper aware of where she pushed her chakra at any given time. For someone who he had learnt had activated it at an incredibly early age, he hadn't expected her to treat her chakra like a foreign object at every given moment. Usually Shinobi subconsciously moved their chakra around, expending more than needed, but Hina wouldn't use a single drop without conscious permission. It was incredibly unusual. He wondered if she was the first of her line to spawn a kekkai genkai, something specifically to do with chakra control, or if she was simply an anomaly. He wanted to study her tenketsu system, cut her open and track her chakra pathways.

Unfortunately he couldn't simply do that to an adopted Nara Clan child, and his personal student, without someone noticing. He would have to spend his time observing her. Maybe that level of control was the final piece to unlocking the artificial Sage Mode he was trying to perfect. It would be almost a divine blessing if that were the case.

Training under Orochimaru involved a lot less studying than she thought. Instead of outright telling her what to do, he pushed her to think for herself, be more aware of her surroundings. For a man obsessed with the human body, and immortality, he also knew a lot about nature. How to tell which side the moss grew on trees, what berries were safe to forage, and general tells on how to create a camp without disturbing nature. Murdering innocents in the name of science was fine but leaving rubbish behind in a campsite—that's where he drew his line.

Orochimaru was a hard man to pin down. She couldn't tell if this silent, but easy going and driven man, was his true self. Had he perhaps devolved into mania in the coming years, his obsession overruling his humanity? She considered after a week of camping with him, if perhaps he was redeemable. Maybe she could change him. Drill some ethical scientific conduct into his brain. Surely, he could achieve immortality without resorting to the methods he was currently using.

But right now she needed him to teach her. So she stayed professional, keeping any personal questions out of her lips. For now he wasn't Orochimaru the mad scientist and traitor, but Orochimaru the Sannin, Konoha's war hero and her sensei. He was teaching her how to hunt, how to forage, how to set up camp, and in-between all that giving her lessons on basic Genjutsu techniques and improving her tactical combat.

Sparring with him was the highlight of her day. He was so overwhelmingly powerful, so efficient and graceful. Hina had always been a little bull-headed in her fights, and he liked to point it out. She wanted to change, she wanted to be strong like him. But once again as she threw a punch, he simply side stepped and pushed her from behind. She fell to the ground panting. They'd been at it for an hour and her stamina wasn't low, it was non-existent now. She felt exhausted.

"Your footwork is improving, but your reaction time is lacking. You don't possess the innate instincts to react, so you must think instead," he said.

Hina coughed weakly, wheezing as she pulled herself back up on trembling limbs. Orochimaru walked towards her, and she expected to be slapped away again, but instead he was in front of her, and she felt something sweet pushed into her mouth. She blinked owlishly at him, savouring the treat he had just fed her. What was this? Was he treating her like a dog? Then she felt a surge of energy rush through her like a whirlwind, sending jolts of pinprick needles through her briefly numb body.

"What was that?" she asked, suddenly more alert and jittery.

"A soldier pill," he said.

She balked. "Isn't that expensive? We're just training!"

Orochimaru looked amused. "I am a Sannin. You forget I'm not tight on money. The reason I fed it to you is because your body is very young. You need to build a tolerance to chakra spikes since you will be going on missions with me. Most likely in the next hour or two you will develop a fever."

"How severe?" Hina asked, unable to stop the almost sugar high response of her body to move, move, move.

"Not enough to kill you. I will mitigate the effects. It won't be pleasant, but best to get it out of the way now than during a mission."

She nodded. That was a fair point. But a warning would have been nice.

"What should I do in the meantime?"

"Chakra control exercises. Ensure your jutsu is working well despite the spike. Try the Mist Servant Technique we have been working on," Orochimaru instructed.

"Hai," she nodded, before going through the hand signs.

She had been able to conjure two measly genjutsu illusions before. It wasn't as easy as a standard clone, considering she had to get creative and make it come in and out of the ground. To make an illusion feel real, the user needed to have an in-depth understanding of movement and shadows. There had been some art classes in the Shinobi Academy to supplement their observational skills. Hina hadn't been the best at it, but she was improving. Right now she could barely create anything at all. Her chakra felt unnatural in her, too hot and chaotic to control. Too much, she thought with frustration. She cleared her mind, trying again.

An illusionary clone fizzled out of the ground. It was brief, but she'd managed to hold it for a second. She glanced towards Orochimaru to gauge his reaction. He was as infuriatingly blank as ever, watching her and her work critically without much comment.

"Good. Keep trying. Do not exhaust your chakra or you really will die."

She paled. Well that wasn't good. She decided to listen to the professional as she continued her attempts at the Mist Servant Technique. Her attempts went well for another hour. It was frustrating to suddenly be bad at her best quality. Controlling this surge of chakra inside of her felt like controlling the waves of an ocean and instead being swept up in the current.

Wait... that was it.

She could control the ocean as much as Nero could, but she could ride the waves like a surfer. She remembered the feel of the salty ocean hair, the way the waves ebbed and flowed, curling in on itself. That golden moment her past-self had been able to glide in-between the crystal-clear water, fingers touching the cool clear liquid. She tried following the waves of her chakra instead of trying to will it into obedience like before. When she expelled it this time, she was surprised to see three eerie illusions of her ebbing in and out of the ground. She whooped before collapsing onto the ground in a hot fever.

"Well damn..."

Her vision was blurry, but she saw slitted yellow eyes looking down at her. Orochimaru. She felt incredibly vulnerable in her position. She knew logically she had been just as exposed before she was at full stamina as she was now. The Sannin could have as easily killed her then as he could now. But at least before she could attempt to run or to do something. When he picked her up and put her over his shoulders all she could do was groan pitifully.

"Go to sleep. Do not expend any more energy."

Orochimaru was dangerous... but he hadn't hurt her so far. She couldn't stop him from killing her in her position anyway. So she decided to listen, closing her tired eyes, and letting herself go.

The next day was spent in a hot cold daze of pin prick pain. It was a familiar pain, the kind she used to get when her tenketsu system flared with too much spiritual energy for her small body to contain. When the experience of two souls collides into one barely developed child's body. Every time it had happened Hina had remembered more and more snippets of her life.

She remembered her childhood, holed up in her room with a box TV and dozens of DVDs around her. She had wrapped herself in her blankets like she had her self-loathing as she watched anime until sunset. She remembered the age-old stink of an unopened room, the begging of her parents to come out, the worried warm eyes of a boy she couldn't place.

Then she remembered herself older, prettier, more well accomplished but just as depressed. A whole life lived in pursuit of honouring someone's memory she couldn't even remember. All she could remember about them was their warm eyes, their beautiful smile, their soft voice... then their blood on her hands, head smashed in the pavement. Hina hated not knowing who they were. What was the point of remembering every single textbook she'd read on the human anatomy, and every episode of Naruto she watched, if she couldn't even remember the faces of her family?

Was this some sick cosmic joke?

The vague impressions of them were more than enough to make her feel the heartache of loss. There had been so many people she should have held dear to her heart, taken away in the span of a day. Her mother and father and brother. She even had impressions of grey eyes like a sparkling star in the night sky, long platinum blonde hair that tickled her face, the feel of fingers tracing her skin reverently. A lover.

Images of them came in teasing flashes, impressions vague enough to leave a great deal to the imagination, but enough to keep her wanting more. She wanted to know why she had pursued medicine like a lifeline, why she had spent her childhood stuck in her room watching anime and withering away, and most importantly that middle area that changed her. What had caused her previous self to go from a failure in societies eyes to a successful scientist?

More importantly where was all this guilt coming from? It was a suffocating kind of guilt. Like she'd failed someone dearly and was paying for it. She wondered if maybe that's why she reincarnated instead of dying. Or maybe Hinduism was right, and her amma was correct in assuming souls would find where they needed to go, to fulfill their Dharma. A concept predicated on fulfilling ones station in life. What exactly was hers?

Then the splattered blood on the tarred road came to mind and Hina would wake up before she could catch the face of the person who died. She would always wake up with a shuddered breath, reaching out to someone who didn't exist anymore. Not here anyway.

"You've pulled through. Good. Drink some water. There's also food by the fire. Once you wash up try and find me," Orochimaru instructed.

Hina groaned. Here goes more tracking lessons…

His student was coming along well. She learnt fast, grasping concepts easily, but struggled to execute them in battle. A large pit-fall by Shinobi standards. It didn't matter how good one was at chakra control, if they didn't have that battle instinct that separated the living from the dead. Hina had all the knowledge and skill, but none of the instinct. She would do well given the chance to think and plan, but in the heat of battle there was scarcely time for that.

However she did learn.

Maybe she didn't have a natural instinct for battle, but now he was curious if it could be taught. The age-old question of nature verses nurture. Orochimaru hummed pleasantly as he watched her run through the forest blindfolded, trying to dodge his snakes and the occasional kunai he threw at her. So far, she was doing poorly. Snakes were hard to escape. They could slither up trees and change direction quickly. Hina was blind folded and working off her weaker senses alone. She had been so focused on her Genjutsu that she had somewhat neglected the other technique he had also taught her. He waited for a few minutes, watching her struggle until she realised what she should do.

Her hands went through the seals clumsily, unused to the jutsu. Then she hit her hands to the ground to make the elemental transformation easier to handle. The Earth Split between her feet and she fell into the ditch, closing it up behind her. The snake that had been sent after her missed its chance to strike. He smiled. She was learning.

He smiled…

Orochimaru caught himself and did a double take. No, that didn't sound right. Was this actually enjoyable? Was it watching the little girl struggle, or was it analysing a new specimen? He narrowed his eyes and felt a tight sort of irritation overtake his pleasant mood. Orochimaru had watched many people die useless, pitiful deaths. Meaningless was the word. Death was simply the waste of potential. He remembered Tsunade's face, the broken horror in her eyes as she stumbled away from Dan's cold corpse. She too had been made useless by death. There had been a time when the pain hit him too, when he felt death as much as any person.

Now he was simply cold to it. Above it even.

This girl, she was fleeting like the rest, like every other insignificant pitiful corpse that ever was or has been. Immortality was his, and of that he had no doubt. Faith was insignificant a factor as skill, and he had both skill and talent in spades. Suzuki Hina was just some no-name clanless child who lucked out on a few small aspects of her short life.

So training her should not have been so gratifying. It rankled him when Hiruzen's knowing smirk crossed his mind. His sensei would no doubt express to him some kind of idiotic ramblings about the importance of fostering the next generation of fodder to send to war. Then he'd prattle on about bonds, and the will of fire like it actually meant something other than propaganda to keep the masses united and patriotic during wartime. Their lives were as useful as the kunai they wielded.

No, he was just finding this fun because it felt like any interesting project of his. He wondered when he'd get bored of her, when she'd lose whatever hold she had on his interest and be discarded. But he was never one to deny his desires. For now he was curious where she would go. Maybe it was the sharp green of her eyes, or the way she knew things without needing explanation, things no Genin should know even if they were little prodigies. She was a mystery packaged in a tiny body. Orochimaru knew greatness, he had been trained by greatness, and forged alliances with powerful people.

Suzuki Hina, he was sure would grow up to be one.

If she survived long enough…

AN

Oh god, I love, love, LOVE writing Orochimaru. Hands down my favourite character in Naruto outside of Guy and Kakashi. Best villain too until Kishimoto ruined him in Shippuden and he lost to Sasuke out of all people (cause fuck Uchiha plot armour). I'm this close to nerfing the Sharingan abilities, just because I hate how wonky the power scaling gets in later Naruto. But for now, we have ground level Shinobi doing reasonable feats and not kamehamaeing everywhere.

Sorry for the wait. I try to keep writing 5 chapters ahead of schedule, in case I need to go back and make minor changes. However I'm having a bit of a writers block on a chapter in the future, which is putting me back on my update schedule. Writers block sucks.