Sooo… its been 3 years, how ya doing?

A lot has happened over the past 3 years, I've been interning and am writing the last compulsory exam of my career right now. Lots and lots of procrastination time.

I'm really, really sorry for not updating but I've hit a bit of a roadblock – I haven't watched Naruto in sooo long, I'm not sure if this chapter was written with the correct mind-set. Let me know your thoughts.

It seems this chapter didn't upload correctly last night. Apologies for that.

Many years ago, the Uzushio Clans held a coming of age ceremony for the heirs of each clan. Most of these traditions were lost over time but at least one remained constant. The Maelstrom Ritual – known by many within Uzushio as the 'sunset maelstrom', was held each year on the 10th of October, a day that would later be put down in history as a day of miracles and an international holiday of thanks-giving and prayer. No outsider was privileged with the observation or participation of this ritual but it was rumoured by many to be the source of Uzushio's longevity and prosperity.

The people of Uzushiogakure, though friendly and accommodating, did not trust easily. Outsiders were only welcome on diplomatic missions and an alliance with Konohagakure was formed only due to the marriage of the first Hokage with one Mito Uzumaki, sister to the Uzumaki Clan head and leader of the village.

Mito narrowed her eyes at the young man standing before her.

"You are to escort us?"

"Hai, Uzumaki-sama." His silky hair fell forward as he bowed.

"What will you do if my life is in danger by a superior shinobi?" Mito looked at him sceptically.

The man, to his credit, did not blink, "I will defend you with my life."

"What is my life worth to you?"

"While on this mission, it is worth more than my own."

"And what is your own life worth?"

"Everything."

The Hokage sighed, "Mito-sama, will you not take my word when I say he is the best? He is my student."

Mito frowned, "If I suffer a heart attack, will you perform mouth to mouth?"

Orochimaru lost his composure as he looked at her wrinkled mouth with bright pink lipstick that became her as a youth but not so much now. "Well… that is… I have basic medical training…?"

"Do you?"

"…yes."

"Why do you look like a girl?"

"I'm-"

"Is your tongue that long because of a jutsu?"

"It's a Kek-"

"Does it hamper your abilities to eat?"

"It-"

"Do you salivate more than normal people do?"

"I-"

"Are you one of those people that can eat a lot but still stay thin?"

"How is that relev-?!"

"I hate you already." Mito turned her nose up and refused to acknowledge him thereafter.

The Hokage groaned, "It's already been decided Mito-sama, none of my other students are available."

"If it must be so, it must be so. Do not cause any trouble Rochi."

"Rochi?" Orochimaru looked horrified.

"I like Rochi-san", Kushina smiled up at him, "he reminds me of a snake."

Orochimaru smiled in relieve at Kushina's openly friendly face looking up at him, "Do you like snakes, little one?"

Kushina nodded eagerly, "They're my second favourite."

"They are my favourite." Orochimaru humoured the girl.

"Then you'll love Uzushio," Kushina nodded thoughtfully. "Especially at this time of the year. This is when the Maelstrom Ritual will take place."

Orochimaru's eyes gleamed in interest, "Are snakes incorporated in the ritual." He tried not to show too much interest under Mito's suspicious gaze.

Kushina grinned her pointy teeth at him, "Well it's not the main part of the ritual- that's reserved for ramen- but it makes an excellent starter."

"Kushina!" Mito chided, "Don't scare him… stress hormones give me indigestions."

Kushina ceased her torment on the future Sanin with a pout.

Orochimaru was strangely absent during meal times on the road to Uzushio.

##

"Hey! Hey! Rochi-san?" Naruto tugged on his robes on their way to Uzushio.

Orochimaru turned to face him, "What is it, Naruto-kun?"

"You once told me to come seek you if I want power and revenge, and then you hid really well. I looked behind every tree every day. I found you now, so can I hide while you seek? It's my turn now."

Minato quickly pulled Naruto away, "I'll play with you Naruto-chan."

Kushina stood protectively in front of Naruto, her canines elongating.

"Better watch out for this one," Mito muttered.

Shizuka's voice was oddly high-pitched as she said, "We cannot make assumptions here until we know what exactly he did."

"What?" Orochimaru frowned, wondering if the chance to witness the Maelstrom Ritual was really worth it.

"He makes me uncomfortable," Minato shuddered.

"Does he even wash his hair," Mito sneered.

"Why is he wearing a purple rope around his waist, doesn't he have a belt?" Minato continued.

"That eye-shadow is sooo last season," Mito meshed her pink lipstick.

"Hey, Rochi-san." Kushina blinked up at him innocently – then grinned manically, "will you help me feed Maru-kun?" She held up a disfigured doll with long black hair and purple eyeshadow. Its face was wrinkled and it seemed to be hunched over with age, a twig served as a makeshift walking stick. Orochimaru felt sick to his stomach.

After this point, Orochimaru was only seen when there was fear of an attack.

##

The group travelled quickly, made up of individuals with high stamina and only rested on the second day after their departure from Konoha.

Shizuka frowned in concentration as she observed her surroundings. She scrutinised her map and her frowned deepened.

"I think we might have taken a wrong turn."

Mito shrugged, "We're Uzumaki's – that's expected."

"Orochimaru-san!" Shizuka called.

The future sanin materialised before them, "Hai, Shizuka-sama?"

"Do you know where we are?"

"Approximately 1,500 km north-west of Konoha."

"Hmm…" Shizuka pondered, "seems about right."

Mito frowned, "Something is strange here, the chakra concentration levels seem too high for a less densely populated area."

Orochimaru reached for a kunai, shifting into a defensive stance.

Out of a void a voice was heard and Minato and Kushina stood defensively before Naruto – Shizuka in front of them – shiruken in each hand.

"There is no point hiding," the voice boomed, "we have been found."

A vortex of sand formed before the battle-ready group and before them towered a massive village with looming towers – each impending column rose high into the sky. Orbs of light illuminated the entire village shining from each tower – like brightly lit stars.

"Welcome travellers," The air shimmered and a tall man stood before them, "you have travelled a long way." The ends of his long grey beard touched the ground as he looked at them with his intense black eyes. His stare zeroed in on Naruto, "…A very long way. We will speak to you before you continue with your journey."

"We?" Mito raised an eyebrow – not pleased by his commanding attitude.

The man's gaze did not shift, "Yes. We welcome you to the village hidden in time." He stepped aside and the gates shifted open – the bustling noise of an active village reached them where they stood in awe.

##

Everything was too neat and organised for Mito's tastes – she could feel Shizuka, Kushina's and Naruto's restlessness where they were told to sit before the screen. Only Minato and Orochimaru remained still.

Orochimaru was tensed, ready to intercept an impending attack from these new unknowns.

Mito sighed for the nth time, observing once again the constellations depicted on the screen before them. Each star was charted and seemed to correlate with the stars in the sky above, on closer observation she noted that the constellations were moving and flickering. It was hardly noticeable but she was certain of it. The whole village seemed to be under some strange sort of jutsu and she had not the patience to try and figure out what it was. Harshirama was the one to assess and analyse – she liked things to be straight-forward and to the point.

She shifted once more when she felt a chakra presence behind the screen and she spoke immediately, "What do you want? It's quite rude of you to keep an old woman waiting!"

The woman behind the screen, for it was undeniably a woman, chuckled. "Your reputation precedes you, Mito-sama."

Mito frowned when she didn't receive an answer to her question, "If you don't answer my question you will get to see my reputation that didn't precede me."

The woman chuckled again and Mito's frowned deepened at not being taken seriously.

"We mean you no harm," the voice assured Mito, "we are just a little…concerned…about the impact that your little time-travelling friend has on our well-being."

Shizuka glanced at Mito nervously "What do you mean?" She spoke up.

"Our village currently holds the monopoly on time-travelling – we know how to deal with situations and events that impact the future without destroying the past. Our little guest has messed up the dynamics of our system and caused great uncertainty and imbalance in our village. You understand our concerns, no?"

Mito scoffed, "Why should we trust you? I don't trust anyone I can't see."

"Fair enough," the woman sighed, "You may call me Hoshi – that is not my real name, as I am sure you can tell, however there is a reason for my anonymity."

Mito crossed her arms petulantly.

"Our village has been kept safe and unexploited for many, many years because of our abilities. We are time travellers – besides the stars, we are the only time travellers in existence."

"The stars?" Minato questioned.

"Nevermind, child," Mito chided, "What do you want from us?"

"We want certainty and order in the world," Hoshi said passionately.

"You're deluded," Mito answered back and blew a raspberry for good measure, "All that time travelling addled your brain. I have no patience to deal with your OCD."

"Our well-being is dependent on a predictable future," Hoshi's voice started to lose its composure in her irritation. "We will not be able to travel if we are uncertain of where we will land, what era we will land in and how future wars and conflict will effect us. Not to mention the foundations on which we lived our lives to be so utterly shaken by sudden change."

"Why don't you just not travel at all?" Mito shot back.

"Because of our abilities, if we do not travel we risk being found and exploited. Possibly even destroyed out of fear of our abilities! Just like Uz-" Hoshi abruptly stopped and Mito narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"I propose a deal," Hoshi continued, "This is a very generous offer considering we could just go back and prevent Kushina-chan's summons."

Mito considered this, "Why didn't you?"

"We do not dare disrespect the saviour."

Mito's eyes widened, and she leaned forward – her expression sharp, "We can end our journey here then if you will let me know if Jiraiya's choice was the correct one."

Orochimaru leaned forward in interest, not sure about the change in topic and how his friend fit into this.

"…it was," Hoshi spoke hesitantly, "We do not know how the current situation might have impacted the future."

Mito groaned, "What if we go back and pretend this didn't happen. What if we erase everyone's memory."

Minato and Kushina looked sharply at Mito. Naruto looked nervously between his parents and Mito.

"I'm afraid that wouldn't help," Hoshi stated grimly, "Naruto-sama's mere presence created a butterfly effect. There is no knowing how this will impact the future. We will not take the risk and see for ourselves – especially if the prophecy did not work for the benefit of the shinobi worlds and the saviour is aware of our existence."

Mito glanced at Naruto's wide eyes. He remained silent- sensing the mood in the room.

"Yet you took the risk of revealing your presence now?" Mito asked exasperated.

"This was the risk we were willing to take, to fix the situation for the good of the shinobi world."

"Again," Mito raised her head up defiantly, "Why should we trust you?"

Hoshi sighed, "You will trust the Oracle of Uzushio. Speak to her first and we will await your return. We will depend on her advise as well – and only then will we meet Naruto-sama face-to-face to create a future that will unite the shinobi world once more."

Mito looked at Naruto uncertainly – he looked back, expectantly, not quite understanding what was happening but knowing enough to know that it involved him.

"Mito-shama," His innocent cerulean blue eyes softened her own, "I like Hoshi-san."

That decided it - Kushina, Minato and Shizuka now trusted Hoshi and she felt herself falling under the spell of his innocently hypnotic eyes as well.

Mito blinked and looked away. "There is no agreement until we speak to the Oracle." She spoke with finality.

She heard Hoshi nod behind the screen, "Fair enough, this will be in your favour. This will not be our end."

Mito found her choice of words strange.