Chapter Text
(Just me as FemOrochimaru)
Name: Akiyama Orochimaru, later Sarutobi Orochimaru
Short name: Maru or Chi (Jiraiya calls her that)
Parents: mother named Akiyama Yoriko (of the clan of Shinobi scientists with a special Kekkei Genkai of space-time distortion) and father named Ogawa Kenji (of the assassin Shinobi clan, former member of the Akatsuki Order)
Foster family: Sarutobi Hiruzen aka Third Hokage, Sarutobi Biwako and Sarutobi Asuma
Chakra nature: Fire
Original Kekkei Genkai: Space-time distortion
Distinctive features: Hyperthymesia and Savantism, can calculate large numbers in her mind
Combat partner: Manda, in this version he is loyal, but still very arrogant
Love interests: Hasegawa Michi (original male character) and Jiraya (later becomes her husband)
Children: Log (from Michi), Mitsuki and Toshiko (both children of her and Jiraiya, but Toshiko is only mentioned here when in the end of the story Maru meets her future pregnant self)
Maru's greatest dream is not only to live forever and learn every possible jutsu, but also to find the 'Key' and go back in time to save her parents. Eventually she and her resurrected foster father Sarutobi Hiruzen return to the past, but to the point where he's still the Hokage and Orochimaru is forteen years old girl. But they remember everything and decide to start anew. Turning the time was the only possible option to save the world.
&Play the soundtrack while reading the next episode
Incoming thunderstorm will be strong, I heard the warnings. So far it's just the beginning: the approaching frowning clouds, thunderous rumbles in the distance, the sun is no longer visible, the wind becomes stronger. I love these moments, no birds singing, the air is hot despite the cool impending hurricane. These quiet moments before thunderstorms are always special. And not many people remain indifferent.
Emotions... emotions... All of them mean nothing. They make it difficult to think rationally. My head is always full of thoughts and if add feelings to each, then... I don't know, one can just possible go crazy. Actually, it already happened to me, so to speak. Jiraiya, my... my former childhood friend and team member, often said that I think too much instead of just living. He may be right, but unlike him it's hard for me to stop thinking. I just... don't know how to do it. Sometimes I can, but it happens very rare.
A zigzag lightning strikes the ground on the horizon, and a few seconds later a loud clap reaches my ears. The distance is four and seventy-seven hundredths of a kilometer, I mentally note, spreading my arms out to the sides, inhaling the thunderstorm air and closing my eyes. The wind pleasantly ruffles my long hair gathered in a ponytail, pulls the long cloak... I want to jump and reach the sky, fly high and far, maybe I can find out... understand what is happening around...
My name is Orochimaru. There used to be a clan name as well - Sarutobi... The name of my adoptive father and my teacher at the same time, the Third Hokage of Konoha, the Hidden leaf Village in the Land of Fire... Now, when I became part of the Akatsuki order, I no longer belong to that clan... I only have a name now. Yes, unusual, maybe a strange one for someone, but what to do, I didn't choose it for myself, like everything else: pale skin color, long black hair below the waist, snake-like golden eyes with vertical pupils, high growth, small tits... many teased me for them at young age. Yes. I also didn't choose my innate Shinobi superpowers... and the fate of my own family... Everything else yes, decisions that led to the current events are already completely mine. Do I regret? No. Not really ... Well, maybe a little. Or maybe a lot...
The day I ran there was also a thunderstorm... How many years have passed, but I still remember everything in great detail. This is my curse: to remember all, in my mind I can calculate large numbers in seconds, easily absorb information and anticipate events... And yes, as you can guess, I'm a mnemonist - a person who never forgets anything, the one who remembers all the events that happened to them in life till the most accurate details from birth. Hyperthymesia - a super-memory so to say. Someone calls it genius, but for me it is... Anything but a gift.
I 'fly' through the dark forest, almost not touching the branches of trees. They are close. They will not allow me to leave so easily... The old man Sarutobi is angry... understandable. However, I am no less angry: because of their intervention, I will have to start all over again in a new place. All my research... Everything that I have achieved now... Wasted!!! I had to leave long ago, and not run now like a coward.
A kunai whistled in front of my nose and hit a tree. I only managed to stop and jump to the ground. There he is, in front of me: Sarutobi Hiruzen aka the Third Hokage, and a detachment of six elite ANBU ninjas alongside with him, former colleagues. It takes me less than a second to assess the situation, but even then it doesn't get any easier. Theoretically, they can be defeated, only... here's all your attitude, 'daddy'.
"Orochimaru, don't do it! This is not a game! Stop before it's too late." He practically begs. Fool, you had a chance... and more than one. I trusted you, but you... you never understood me. Never.
"Too late, Sarutobi-sensei," I reply emotionlessly, mentally happy that the rain is heavy, so 'father' doesn't see my tears. You wanted me to become the next Hokage in the future, and my main goal was to find a way to ensure that people would never lose the ones they care about... I loved you... 'dad'...
I throw a smoke bomb under their feet and quickly form my hands with seals, first fraudulent to confuse, and then the real ones. Ushi-Saru-Ne-Tori-Ushi-Uma-Tora-Tatsu-Tori ...
They cough and choke, fall to the ground, a veil of fog covers everything around. They are alive, but paralyzed. A fireball flies into me, but I instantly use a substitution jutsu, and appear on the sidelines, and my double disappears as soon as the fire reaches the target. Of course, HE can resist, especially against such a sluggish attack. A smoke bomb, it's just a toy for children! Which takes the entire ANBU out of standing. Wimps. Or did he tell them to attack only by his order? Which he didn't give.
"Orochimaru!" he calls.
Hiding behind a tree I throw a shuriken in his direction, perform a combination handsings, and one jagged quickly spinning metal object quickly turns into ten... But the former teacher kicks them off so easily with a kunai-knife... Like when we trained, I was a little girl back then... A sudden memory knocks me off balance, I lose control of myself, rush at my enemy with a scream, taking out my own kunai-knife. He blocks it with his own... For a while we fight under the thunderstorm just like ordinary people, waving metal tips and completely forgetting about the ninjutsu and genjutsu techniques. I more attack and he fights back, for some reasons the sensei hesitates. Why? He's the Hokage, the Shadow of Fire, he can defeat me... and I understand that. During the next attack, the teacher blocks my kunai with his own, and grabs my forearm with his other hand and squeezes it... not hurt, but strong as if it was an appeal to the raging child to calm down.
"Maru, I... don't want to hurt you!"
"You already have!" I yell, waving my free hand. He dodges at the same time letting me go, makes a cut, I jump and rolls somersault to the side, this makes the hair bun on my head loose, and the hairpin-stick with a small flower falls to the ground.
I froze sharply, looking at the fallen hairpin, my long black hair randomly scattered over my shoulders and back. Sarutobi Hiruzen also doesn't move, trying to understand what just happened. This hairpin was presented to me by his wife, my adoptive mother - Biwako-san - the day when they took me to their family... I often twisted my hair with this thing. Now I can't even pick it up, because it will mean... No! This is a sign - there is no turning back. This is a dead end.
"Maru..."
I shudder sharply, feeling the approach of two more ANBU search teams at once, seven people in each. Need to leave... And as soon as possible. With a heavy sigh, I put the kunai-knife into the scabbard on my right thigh and turn my back to my adoptive father, realizing that he will not do anything to me at this moment.
"Next time strike without hesitation," I say through gritted teeth, tearing off my forehead the ninja headbrand with the symbol of the Hidden Leaf, "because I will." Not waiting for an answer I perform a combination of handsings and teleport from the battlefield to a distance of a kilometer, after that I continue my path, again jumping through centuries-old trees. Phaeton and Michi said they would wait for me at the appointed place... which still needed to be reached. And for now it's too early to exhale, I'm not safe yet, they can find me. Let them try, I'm the best of the Hidden Leaf Ninjas, he taught me himself...
When did I become the way I am now? Many people assumed that the Third Shinobi War especially changed my character... But they are wrong, everything happened much... much more earlier. Would I be like this if not for... that event? One fatal spring evening... A second ago everything was fine, and then al collapsed in an instant. They came... to our house.
&Play the soundtrack while reading the next episode
I didn't know who they were, I only remember that they needed something, some kind of stone... an artifact. I was only five years old, what a small child could understand, except that trouble came. They appeared unexpectedly, they threatened us, one of them grabbed me, put a kunai-knife to my neck and said to my mother: "Hand over the artifact, or the little brat is dead!" Then something pierced the skin on the left side of my neck, I cried out in pain... Mom was ready about to agree to their terms, but then dad suddenly appeared... Several identical dads. They freed mother and me from the bandits and then evaporated. There was only one dad left, the real one.
"Kenji!"
"Yori! Take Maru and run! I will delay them!"
Mom grabbed me by the waist, everything went dark for a second, and here we were rushing through the trees through a dense dark forest. Explosions and ringing of metal heard behind. I could feel someone chasing us. I was scared. They need something... for which these people wouldn't afraid to kill.
Something knocked mom down, we fell, I hit the ground painfully. Masked strangers appeared again.
"Maru... Maru, listen to me..." she grabbed my hand, only now I noticed a trickle of blood near the left corner of her mouth, and something sharp sticking out in her back? "You have to run. No matter what happens. When I say, run as fast as you can, just don't look back."
"Mom..." I won't go anywhere without her. They are closer now.
"Run, baby..." with her trembling hands mother performed several handsings and hit the ground with her right palm. Everything began shaking. "Run!!! I love you, Maru..."
Still crying I rushed away not turning around as she asked. Heard cracks of breaking trees and someone's screams behind my back, and then a brutal roar. Although my mother told me not to look, I still couldn't resist. Somewhere behind a fire raged brightly illuminating the night forest, and something that seemed to be like a giant snake rising above the trees... I screamed, tripped and... fell into a ravine.
I could still hear terrible sounds, crackling and painful cries, and then... then everything calmed down. Crouching in a lump and squinting I laid in the ravine afraid to even breathe. I was all wet because of the rain, felt cold and scary, but I knew that if I even move, they could find me. Let them leave... Let them leave, please... then I can find mom and dad. Can't do it yet... Each breath was hard to make, only one thought beat in my head: not to make a noise. And that meant not moving at all, not talking, not crying... They might still be here. They can find me.
"Check there."
"What happened here?"
"I'm afraid to think..."
I could hear steps, jumping, moving. Getting closer. It's them... No, get back! No get back! Leave!!!
"What is it?"
"It seems that there is someone in the ravine. God, it's a child!"
Someone jumped right next to me. I gritted my teeth and held my breath, a large trembling beat my whole body. The metal pierces the skin on my neck... it hurts... Don't do it again... Don't!!!
"Hey?.." someone touched my right hand, I started. "Are you alive?" asked the surprised male's voice.
"So what is it, Danzo?" another man wonderedd from somewhere above.
Shaking like an aspen leaf I looked up, again expecting to see sharp shiny metal before my eyes, but instead I saw a man's face in the dark. Gray eyes, disheveled dark hair, a cross-shaped scar on his chin, a ninja headband depicting a spiral and a triangle on the left on his forehead, the symbol looks like a snail. When our eyes met, the man's face tightened, and then his eyes softened.
"Don't be afraid, little one, no one will hurt you," he ran his left hand through my hair and lifted me up in his arms. "How did you even get here..."
"Danzo, what are you stuck in there?" his comrade called again.
"It's a little girl, Torifu!"
"What?" the partner was surprised.
One leap and the man holding me jumped out of the deep ravine and landed next to his comrade. Chubby, dark-haired, looks a little childish, the headband is similar to the one's who held me.
"Wow..." he was surprised, leaning closer. "Where did you come from, girl? What's your name? Wow, these eyes!"
"Step aside, you scare her," Danzo took a step back. "Come on, let's find the others. Hokage-sama will decide what to do with her."
All those few minutes that we jumped through the trees, I made no sound. It's them or not? Those people who... What do they want, and where are we going? Will I see mom and dad?
"I swear it was Manda. I felt this powerful chakra."
"We all felt it. Whatever happened here, we arrived too late. There are no survivors."
"There is one," Danzo said, jumping off the tree with me. On the newly formed wasteland stood few more people: three men and two women. Everyone immediately turned their heads to us. "We found this girl not far from here in the ravine. I suppose she might know what happened."
We were immediately surrounded by these people unknown to me. They were all dressed alike: black suits, green vests, white and black scabbards on each right leg, headbands with a metal element, which depicts the same spiral with a triangle. Out of fear I pressed against the man by the name of Danzo holding me, and buried myself in his chest.
"Hello," the brown-haired man smiled to me, he looked a little like Danzo, only this man had brown eyes with short black arrows in the corners, and a small beard. He looked more friendly. "Don't be scared, baby, we are no threat." I looked at him, the man froze, his eyes glazed, his breath caught. Was he scared? Did he realize something? Or is it just a surprise? A pity? What?
"Hiruzen-sama?" someone asked.
"Uh... yes." He shook his head. "Yes-yes."
Danzo put me down on the nearest fallen tree, I kept trying to understand what they needed. I wanted to scream, but my voice seemed to completely abandoned me.
"Who are you?" one of the women knelt down and took my hand. "What's your name?"
Out of fear I even forgot my own name and only sacredly glanced at the strangers around me. Where... where are dad and mom? Where are they?
"Everything will be fine," the brown-haired man with a beard smiled. "There's nothing to fear."
Don't hurt them... My mom and dad are out there somewhere... They need help. Why? Why don't you hear me??? They really do not, but not because they don't want to, it's... I just can't say anything out loud. These people look different, not like the ones we were running away from.
"She seems to be in shock," the woman with shoulder-length hair concluded, "maybe she saw what happened, but she's so scared that she can't squeeze out a word."
"What do we do then?" Danzo put his hands on his waist. "We don't know what the hell happened here, and this may be the only witness!"
"Calm down, friend, calm down," asked the one that looked like him.
"You yourself said not to scare her," the chubby reminded him. Danzo only grunted in response. A tall blond man stepped forward:
"I can try to read her mind while we are here, we need to find out as much as possible... What do you think, Hiruzen?" The latter question was addressed to a man with a beard and arrows near his eyes. Everyone else was waiting for his decision. Is he... their leader?
"I don't like it..." he muttered in reply, and then nodded: "Okay, make it fast. After that we return to Konoha, the girl needs medical help and not telepathy sessions.
The fair-haired man sat on his knees in front of me and pulled his hands to my head, I reflexively recoiled. He froze in confusion:
"No-no, don't be scared. I won't do anything bad to you."
I shook my head and closed my face with my hands.
"Kid," their leader, the brown-haired man with arrows at his eyes and a beard, crouched in front of me and took my hands in his own, "I understand that you are scared, but believe me, there are no threats to you anymore, none of us will harm you. We just need to find out what happened. Will you help us?"
Help them? And then they will help me find my mom and dad? Clinging to this thought, I nodded several times. The leader smiled and with a movement of his head pointed the blond man at me. He carefully placed his fingers on my temples.
"Relax, breathe calmly," he asked, "you won't feel anything."
Everything began to blur before my eyes...
Play the soundtrack while reading the next episode
I see myself with mom and dad, we walk along the shore of the lake, I sit on my dad's neck ...
*Flash*
Dad shows me how to make handsings. For now he was able to teach me only one technique ...
*flash*
I help mom in the garden.
*Flash*
They threat us... They need something ... Dad tells us to run... Mom and I 'fly' through the forest... Someone's chasing us. I run away, I see reflections, behind my back and hear scary sounds, I turn around... There is a shadow of a huge snake... I fall into a ravine...
Sharp pain hit my temples, I cried out soundlessly, a red flash appeared before my eyes, and next that man was already lying on his back a few meters from me, two comrades hurried to help him.
"Inoichi, you okay?" the short-haired woman asked excitedly.
"I guess..." he managed, looking at me in dismay, I answered him the same way. He said it won't hurt! But it was... It was hurt!
"What happened?"
"Seems like some kind of special mental defense. This girl is not an ordinary person. She is one of 'us'."
"That's obvious," the short-haired woman put in.
"What did you see?" asked Danzo impatiently.
"Scraps, I was unable to penetrate deep inside her mind..." the blond man stood up, still looking intensely in my direction. "I saw someone chased her and her mother, the unknowns needed some kind of artifact, and then..."
"Enough," their leader interrupted. "We will discuss this when we return home. Did you manage to find out the girl's name?"
"Orochimaru," he said, and this made me startle sharply. Yes that's it! My name. "The girl is five years old and her name is Orochimaru."
"Orochimaru," the brown-haired man repeated slowly, squatting beside me. For some reason in his presence I was a little less scared. "A beautiful name, and very rare... Listen, Orochimaru, we have to go." He leaned forward, took me in his arms and straightened. "We will go to a safe place, nobody will do anything bad to you there. Alright, team," he said to the others, "let's move out." And holding me he jumped from the ground to a thick branch of a tall tree, then another, and more... And now we are already rushing somewhere through a thick dark forest, six other ninjas are 'flying' behind us.
Where? Where are we heading to?! No!!! Come back, I mentally cried, do not take me away! Mom! Dad! I want to go to them!!! Where... I want to see my mom!!! My Mom...
Further I remember only fragments. Bright light hit my eyes, blurry figures, snatches of conversations. Angry voices, someone is arguing with someone, a kind of strange echo and white noise in my ears...
"...few bruises and abrasions, a slight concussion... This puncture on her neck, however, is a completely different story."
"Whoever did this, they knew where to press so that the blood loss was minimal, but the pain - severe."
"Was she tortured?"
"Perhaps..."
The white room, I don't understand what is happening, I can't move, I really want to sleep... Muffled voices are somewhere not so far away...
"... read her mind again. She might know."
"We won't discuss it here."
"But ..."
"Danzo, her parents are dead! What do you want to get from her?"
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Mom? Dad? What?!! No! No! Someone's hands grab me, I feel a point pain in my right shoulder, and then darkness...
"Where is the artifact?! Speak!!!"
"Run!"
"Mom!!!"
Sharp metal pierces my neck, I am drowning in something red, choking, suffocating... falling into the unknown... I am surrounded by rings of a long scaly body... The eyes of a snake look out of the dark.
"S-s-so, you are the new Keeper? We'll s-s-see..." the snake opens its mouth and swallows me...
With a soundless cry, I woke up and sat up abruptly, unable to stop sobbing. Also silently. I can't... I can't speak. I want but I cannot. I'm afraid These people... I don't know them. Are they along with those who... Who? I do not know...
&Play the soundtrack while reading the next episode
A bright room, a white bed I lay in dressed in white pajamas, a bedside table on the right, a large window on the left, a table and two chairs next to it. And nobody around. What kind of place is it? It's not our home... Suddenly, I remembered the events of last night in the brightest details. The attack... chase... escape... fire... a huge snake... unknown people in the forest...
"...her parents are dead!"
Dad and mom? They are what?! I... I won't see them again?.. No! No, no, no...
The door opens and a pretty young woman in a white coat appears on the threshold. From under the bonnet, also white, I could see golden curls of hair. She holds a tray in her hands with a plate and a glass with a clear liquid on it.
"Hello, Maru." She enters the room and puts the tray on the bedside table next to the bed. On a plate there are rice balls, two chopsticks to take them, and a glass of milk. "Did you cry, baby?" The woman sits next to me and wipes the tears from my cheeks. "Bad dream? It's just a bad dream, baby, everything is fine," her hands are closing on my back, "everything is fine."
Maru... This is my name, yes. Full name is Orochimaru, as I already said. I understand it sounds strange, but if you think about it, quite a lot of names sound like that, maybe even yours. Mom said that my eyes were very unusual, like eyes of a cobra, so they decided to call me that.
"Do you remember anything? Remember how you got here? Do you know where you are?"
I clasped my fingers. I remember... scraps. Everything I saw. Just don't understand what that means. I don't know... I asked them not to take me away, but they didn't listen. Where am I now? Who are you? Where are mom and dad? They can't... Really?
"Maru. That's your name, right? Orochimaru?"
I blinked. I don't remember telling anyone my name, those strange ninjas figured it out by themselves. Someone named Inoichi... He looked into my eyes and it caused a flash of memory in my head... I ran... I heard screams... it hurts... Mom's voice, she affectionately calls me Maru, and dad: 'Orochimaru, hide!' And then Shadows... But I was already too scared to cry again, all tears ran out during the escape. When my vision returned, the man said that my name was Orochimaru, I was five years old, and... and...
"Hey, big-eyes... Tshhhh..." the woman stroked my head. "It's okay, little one, everything is fine."
No, it is not, I wanted to say, but instead I just looked at her with a sad look. She doesn't know. Yesterday she, like many others, was resting peacefully at home. We too, until...
"Your hair is so beautiful," she said suddenly, patting my head. She went to the bedside table and pulled out a comb from there. "You mind?" the woman smiled. "Turn around, I'll comb your hair." I didn't budge, and she had to get up to gain access to my hair. The woman slowly began to move the comb over my hair and stroking it with her hand. The feeling is pleasant... and at the same time it is not. I don't like people touching me. Only mom and dad could do it... "What a wonderful hair you have," she said, "it's beautiful".
It is black, long just below the waist, and thick. Combined with pale skin and yellow eyes it probably looked unusual... to others, but completely natural to me. In addition, my hair never tangled, what the warlocks are I heard only from moms of other girls. My mother had the same hair, and the length was almost to her knees. And I also always wanted that. The woman continuing to comb my hair, said that we were in the Central Hospital of Konoha, the Village Hidden in Leaf. I was found in the forest by the ANBU search squad, and they brought me here. There was no one else nearby. Totally. So mom and dad... No...
Having finished playing with my hair, the woman in white left, but before that she asked me to eat again, and I ignored it. Sometime later two men in white coats came and led me somewhere. The white corridors weren't empty, I saw several people white coats along the way, someone wore the same white pajamas as mine, there were also children... This is really a hospital, I had to understand from the beginning...
Then they took some blood from me with a syringe, I didn't cry, only a startled in fright when I saw a sharp needle...
"Run!"
"Mom!!!"
The opened windows in the treatment room slammed sharply and crashed, causing three people besides me to scream in place. One man darted to see what was happening.
"If someone threw stones, I..."
"I don't think it were stones, rather the wind."
"So strong?"
"Scared?" the nurse taking my blood, stroked my hand. I blinked slowly, making it clear that I can heard her, but that's all. Then they took me to another room. I remember myself lying on the table under bright lamps, and the doctors were looking at something on the computer screens, talking to each other.
"Look at this... the energy level is off the charts!"
"That's impossible... The testimony is exactly correct?"
"We checked everything several times. No one has ever had such a powerful chakra yet. Especially a child." With lateral vision I see how everyone turned their heads to me. "Who is she?" Pause. Then again the voices:
"Probably one of some very powerful Shinobi."
"If this girl is a human at all..."
After long examinations they took me back, and some time later the same sweet blonde nurse appeared again and brought lunch, but I didn't want to eat, I was tired, I wanted to be left alone. Outside the sun shone brightly, but I didn't care. There is no joy, and will be no more. I can't even tell anyone anything, something stops me from doing it. I'm afraid of them... and of those who may come for me...
Pulling my knees to chest, I laid my head on them and wrapped my arms around legs. I had a bad feeling about all of it from the beginning, but didn't want to believe it. I often managed to guess things, but now... How I wanted to be wrong... I don't know how long I sat like that, but by the time the sun started to decline, voices heard outside the door reached my ears:
"...and still refuses to eat at all."
"Did she say anything?"
"No, Sandaime-sama, the poor thing is too scared. This morning Nurse Mariko came to see her and found the girl in tears."
Someone knock on the door, and then an elderly woman in a white coat, whom I had already seen today, looked into the room.
"Maru, you have a visitor," she said softly, completely opening the door and letting someone in, after that she entered herself. I didn't raise my head, didn't even look at them, I didn't care. These are not the people I would like to see anyway. An old doctor and a man approached the bed, she squinted at the food nearby and sighed. "Haven't eaten all day." She took the tray. "You have to eat, Maru. If you continue to ignore food, we will have to feed you intravenously. Do you know what that is?"
"I think it's not the time, Sato-san," a man's voice asked. "Would you let us talk in private?"
"Of course, just be careful with her, apparently..." she turned to a whisper, and I couldn't make out any words. And it doesn't matter, I don't care. Then she left, only me and one guest remained in the room. A few seconds of silence, then he coughed uncertainly, pulled a chair to the right of the bed and sat down slowly.
"Hello, Orochimaru," he said softly, "do you mind if I sit next to you?" He's already sitting next to me, so what's the difference. "My name is Sarutobi Hiruzen, we've already met yesterday... do you remember?"
I slowly turned my head in his direction and again stared at my knees. Yes, I remember... I remember this tall young man with a thick hair, black arrows under his eyes and a small beard. I remember him... I just haven't figured out the name. It was him, the one who took me from there, it was him whom I mentally prayed not to take me away. Now he was dressed in a brown kimono, and there was no headband with a symbol of elite ninja on his forehead, and his whole appearance was much less serious and more friendly.
"I just decided to visit you," the man broke the silence again, "last time we didn't even have a chance to talk. How are you feeling?"
Like a child who has lost something most precious in the world - my family. But I can't say this, again the desire to transmit verbal information came across a barrier, and so I just said nothing. What if I speak, they will hear and come again?
"You're a very brave girl, you know that? I can't even imagine what you had to go through... But the menace is passed, Orochimaru..."
"Orochimaru, where are you? Where is my little Maru?" I hear mother's voice and freeze as I inhale. I sit in the bushes and watch with a smile as she searches for me in the garden. It's a game, a funny game. Mom and dad both said that I have all the makings of a Shinobi, and we often played hide and seek, I imagined myself to be a real ninja.
Mom passes by, continuing the search, I sneak behind her, intending to jump and hug her from the back, but then...
"Rrrrarrr!!! Ay!!!
"Hey!" Dad catches and lifts me in the air. "Look, Yori, here she is, our brave ninja!" He starts to tickle me, I laugh and fight back. Mom watches us with a smile, then dad puts me on his neck, the sunlight hits my eyes...
...sunlight dazzles for a moment, and hospital walls appear again around me. Was it real? Am I seeing things? The same person sits nearby and says something, but the thread of the conversation is already lost. My eyes slowly fill with tears, I sob quietly and start to cry. All this wasn't real... It was not...
"Orochimaru?" the man asked alarmed. "Orochimaru, it's alright..." He sits on the bed and hugs me with his strong arms. I cling to his clothes again, I bury my head in his chest and sob soundlessly. "It's okay, it's okay, just cry... Don't keep it to yourself." He hugs me tighter. For some reasons I feel much safer with him.
I can't calm down for a long time. I cry until the tears end, and then I just start to breathe hard, gasping for air greedily.
"Hush, hush, breathe with me," the man says, I feel his chest slowly rising and falling, "breathe in, breathe out, in and out," he repeats, clutching me to himself, "breathe with me, breathe." I begin to do, what he says, panic gasps slowly recedes. He strokes my head. "Yes, that's it, just breathe." In his arms I gradually calm down and eventually fall asleep...
...I dream of something strange. Thunderstorm, desert area, dressed the combat armor I stand in front of a giant, incredibly huge lizard, ready for battle. The wind ruffles my long hair gathered in a high ponytail, a cloak flutters behind my back. Two more people stand next to me: a blond man and a fair-haired woman in exactly the same armor, both of them have a ninja headband on their foreheads, I suspect I have one too. I don't know them, but feel we are all together here. One team...
"Densetsu no Sannin, students of the Sandaime Hokage..."
I jump sharply on the bed and look around wildly. If I could scream, then someone would hear me and certainly run to my yelling. But nobody is around, and I convince myself again that it was only a dream. Just a dream. I didn't sleep until morning, and spend the next day after another part of examinations just sitting on the bed with my knees tightened and looking nowhere. The memories are good, but the terrible thing ahead is unknown suspense. I didn't eat anything again, didn't go out, didn't speak to anyone... And in the evening that man named Sarutobi Hiruzen came again. He sat with me for a while, and then left, promising to return tomorrow.
I can't imagine what he wants, but for some reason I like his presence. He just talks to me about something, I don't know what, just listen to the tone of his voice. He reminds me of my dad in some ways, he is also a strong and powerful Shinobi, at least I could feel it. With my dad I felt safe, with my mom I felt loved. They were both experienced ninjas, but it didn't save any of them.
On the third day Sarutobi Hiruzen came not alone, there was a woman with him. When they appeared I was standing at the window lost in my thoughts. The sun was shining, birds were chirping outside the window, a branch of blossoming sakura stretches into it. It's probably good outside now. People are walking in the yard, two little boys playing catch-up. I sighed. I wonder how they feel? Probably the same as I did, playing with my dad. I could never get along with other children, but was very close with my father, we constantly went somewhere together, I especially liked hiking in the forest or on the seashore. Overnight in a tent, bedtime stories at the campfire... Is it true that none of this will happen again?
"...still refuses to eat and drink, and this is not good at all." The same old doctor grumbled behind the door. "If she won't start tomorrow, we'll have to transfer it to the intravenous. But at least she began to walk, and not just sit in one place and look at the wall, this is already good."
"You said she tried to escape?" asked a worried female voice.
"Not escape, no. Most likely, she just became curious. And then we look for her throughout the hospital. And where do you think we found her? Climbed into the basement, little researcher, can you imagine?
"Yes, quite," the familiar male voice grinned.
&Play the soundtrack while reading the next episode
The door opened again, and all three of them entered the room: the doctor, Sarutobi Hiruzen and a woman whom I haven't seen before. Hiruzen's companion looked very nice, dressed in a pink kimono with red flowers, her hair was shoulder length and loose, a beautiful red flower above her right ear, in her hands she held some sort of basket with... something. Hiruzen was dressed in a dark kimono, only sleeves with white fringings.
"There she is," the doctor announced, "Orochimaru, you have guests." And already addressed to those who came: "Well then, I will leave you to it. Just make sure that she won't run away, as we realized, the shock state is gradually receding, and who knows what the girl can do."
"We understand, thanks for the warning, Sato-san," Hiruzen smiled and nodded gratefully. The doctor stepped over the threshold, but suddenly turned to him: "They'll bring her dinner soon, maybe she will eat something in your presence, Sandaime-sama, I really wouldn't want to stick needles in her arms, you understand."
"Yes, of course." He smiled and closed the door behind her.
And so the three of us were left. Hiruzen Sarutobi, his companion and me. I looked at them for a few seconds and... again stared out the window, not because of bad manners, but because I had no idea what to do. In theory I would invite guests to the house, call my parents and quietly leave to my room or on the street, so not to interfere with the adult conversation. And now... I don't have a home, I don't have a family either, there are only these guests... and I didn't ask them to come.
"Hello again, Maru," he waved to me.
"Hello," the woman smiled and put her basket, which contained a lot of fruit, on the bedside table near the bed. "My name is Sarutobi Biwako, and you... You must be Orochimaru, right? Hiruzen told me a lot about you."
I wanted to surprise, but apparently it didn't work out. What could he tell her about me? He doesn't know me at all, and I don't know him either. Who is she? His wife? If so, they look good together. Like my mom and dad.
"Yes ..." he scratched the top of his head. "Told her how we met and how brave you are."
I'm not brave, I'm a coward, I wanted to object and only turned away.
"She is very modest," Hiruzen grinned kindly. "Many Shinobi from ANBU could learn such stamina."
What is Anbu? For some reason I remembered those ninja who found me. Is he one of them too? They all obeyed him, although some of them looked older. If I could then, I would definitely ask how it turned out that they were in that place at that time...
"...and you are right, my husband," she smiled at him, and then to me: "She has very beautiful eyes."
This again... The statements about my eyes are no longer a compliment, but something everyday, like the weather outside: the sun is shining, the grass is green, my eyes are unusual... Everything is according to the scenario. Previously, I always smiled so as not to upset mom and dad, but now... there is nobody to upset, only myself.
"We brought you something," Biwako took a green apple from a basket and handed it to me. "Do you like apples? Take it, do not be afraid."
I looked in surprise at the fruit in my hands. Why do I need an apple? What should be done with this?
"Please eat," Biwako asked, "it's not dangerous, see?" She took another apple from the basket and took a bite. Following her example, I did the same and grimaced at a pleasant sweet and sour taste.
"Okay, that's good," the man watching me approved. He came up to me from the other side, pulled a beautiful black-haired doll in a black-green ninja costume from the left sleeve of his kimono and handed it to me, "Here, this is for you. Do you like it?"
With a stone look I turned the doll in my hands. I had a similar one. Only it had another outfit, and the face was also different. If I could, I would now thank them for this gift, but... no, I can't. And it made me feel ashamed.
Also, the guests brought me coloring and felt-tip pens, but now I didn't have much desire to draw. In addition, in their presence I simply... felt shy. A few minutes later, the already familiar nurse came and brought a tray with a bowl of rice and a glass of milk. Biwako thanked her and said that she can go, since they both are here. The young woman didn't argue and quickly left the room.
After one apple I felt hunger in my stomach, which I couldn't just ignore. I should have refused the treat... I should have. Now what?
"Come on, eat," Biwako took me to the table and put a bowl of rice and a glass of milk in front of my nose and gave me the chopsticks. Her husband was watching us, leaning against the wall, next to the window.
With uncertainty I took the chopsticks in my right hand, somehow was able to cope with the trembling. I picked up a rice ball and sent it into my mouth. Then another one... and one more... Further my left hand reached for the glass. I don't like milk, but there's nothing more, and I suddenly really wanted to drink. Strange, there was no thirst at all before. The strange life-giving sensation spreading over my body made me uneasy. How much did I not eat? I don't remember... since we ran. But until that moment there was no famine at all, and now...
"Yes, yes, very good," Biwako squeezed my left shoulder. Her husband looked at us with a smile on his face. What's going on, I thought. The feeling of emptiness temporarily receded. Temporarily.
After some time they said that it was time for them to leave, which made me suddenly very sad. Strange, huh? Before that I wanted to be left alone, but now I don't mentally want to let them go. But these people have their own lives, I don't understand why they decided to see me. It would be so easy for me to leave this place, I don't want to be here anymore...
"See you tomorrow," Biwako-san smiled, and went out the door along with her husband.
&Play the soundtrack while reading the next episode
For a few seconds I silently stared at the closed door. See me tomorrow? What did she mean? And why did they even come? The very question that began to ripen in my head is what will happen next? Can I... can I leave? Today's sortie showed that in theory I can run away, no one will look for me for a while. Need to think. I don't want to be here anymore.
Looking out the window I saw the couple walking through the yard to the gate. They are so kind and... happy, if these two have children, then they are very, very lucky. My eyes pinched again, and tears rolled down my cheeks. When they reached the gate, Hiruzen-san and Biwako-san suddenly stopped and turned right to my window, I immediately dropped down, hiding from the view. Were they able to see me or not. I don't know.
In any case, it's time to leave this place. I heard nurses say they were going to send me to a local orphanage. No... no-no-no, a place where children live without families, abandoned or lost... I don't want... I don't want to be officially ranked as one of them. Gotta leave. Only where...
I took the doll that Hiruzen-san presented to me, turned the toy in my hands again and sat on the bed, staring at it thoughtfully. Can this toy be my friend now? Or not... As I said, I had a similar doll, I called her Rei, short for Reiko, but she was left at home... I didn't even have time to take her when we ran... How should I call this one? Kasumi, suddenly came to mind. Fog... Fog of loneliness.
Looking at the doll, I wanted to call her by name, but... as you already understood, didn't make a single sound. Ka-su-mi... Three simple syllables, despite the fact that my name consists of five, but I can't pronounce them. How ironic, I started talking earlier than my peers, and now I can't say a word. I am a hopeless case, a five-year-old girl with unusual eyes, and now with mental abnormalities. I understand everything, but can't tell anyone about it. Or maybe the voice disappeared, because I have nothing more to say to the world? Maybe the world has nothing more to say to me? For what... Alone... Mute... Lost...
Soundtracks (with chapter episodes):
1) Ulf Söderberg - Vindarnas Hus; (Maru observes the thunderstorm)
2) Beyond- Two Souls OST - The Infraworld; (strangers attack)
3) Dreamfall OST – Reza's Apartment; (the hospital)
4) Mass Effect 3 DLC Leviathan OST - The Artifact; (Maru's dream)
5) Mass Effect 3 OST - Squad Selection; (the next day)
6) Kick-Ass 2 Score - Fatherly Sacrifice; (Hokage and his wife visit Maru)
7) Naruto-Shippuuden OST- Despair. (Maru alone again)