Erasing Impossibility 18: Metathesiophobia

You asked for shorter chapters, here comes shorter chapter. Bc it's shorter, it may not seem like anything is going on in the fic, but things are happening, if not then there wouldn't be anything for me to write, geez. There is always plot development in each chapter. The last chapter's focus is Kishimoto, okay. I'm tired of writing long chapters with perfectly placed climax in each chapter so bear with it okay? Also I'm curious as to why you keep on saying Oro-tan-san… when it's Oro-chan-san lmao.

Anyway, here. Enough about me being salty as fuck.

Here, a new chapter.

Warnings: Oro-chan-san feels, a possible start of slash pairing

It takes me quite awhile to manage to find time and guts to face Orochimaru again. With more and more D-ranks and training and sparring sessions piling upon one another especially with the impending C-rank that shall befall upon us (soon, Minato-sensei said. It is after all, better to experience C-rank at least once before trying out the Chuunin Exams, no matter if it's an isolated one because of the war), it's hard to find a leisure time with people other than my teammates and their immediate family or close relatives.

And such, to find a perfect time (and courage) to face the ever so evasive Orochimaru is a bit of a challenge.

Plus, I keep on getting new things to learn from Kishimoto-sensei—he insists I need to learn to make chakra scalpels on my body than only using my hands for combat purposes—and I've started on basic sealing with Kushina.

Sealing is fun to learn, even though the calligraphy sometimes hurt my eyes and my brain, but perhaps because Kushina is such an energetic but gentle person—really, she doesn't babble like Naruto unless she gets too excited—I find it immensely enjoyable to learn from her.

The Uzumaki has promised me to teach me more about stasis seals, which would be immensely useful to keep either corpses or important body parts or even fresh blood for transfusion. That, and also many other stuff. She does tell me I need to be creative; because that's the bane of fuuinjutsu. Other than the obvious calligraphy and knowledge of sealing as well as its properties, of course.

Minato-sensei has taken to teaching fuuinjutsu to Kakashi, now that Kushina has 'claimed' me as hers to teach. He doesn't seem to dare taking me under his wings for fear of Kushina's possessive streak that is very sexy, in my humble opinion. Kakashi does lend me the books Minato gave him after he's done with it though. I am forever baffled on how quick Kakashi can learn about something. Sealing is complicated for me, way more than genjutsu, so to see Kakashi going through books after books is a bit dazzling.

(Perhaps I'm a bit jealous on how he progresses so easily, but then again, he is a genius, isn't he?)

(I just smile at him; because jealousy is unbecoming and largely unnecessary).

Obito, although curious, ends up not learning fuuinjutsu sans the very basics like storage and exploding seals. Not that he can't learn it; he just seems to not have the interest for it. However, he does have lessons with Mikoto-sensei who is probably bored beyond belief now that she is no longer in active duty. Despite his dead last moniker, Mikoto-sensei's gentle but sometimes passive aggressive way of teaching seems to work on him quite well, considering he has managed to produce some more variants of Katon jutsu.

Let it be known that he is no longer allowed to be near the Yamanaka's flower garden ever again.

(He still pouts over that, the cutie).

(It's not his fault that he accidentally set almost half of the garden on fire during a spar, he said).

Right now though, I am not with Obito, or Kakashi, or Minato-sensei or even anyone else. I am in front of Orochimaru's lab, eyes glancing hesitantly to the glass window on the door, which shows me that the lights inside are on, which indicates that Orochimaru is inside.

He doesn't come outside nor does he invite me to come inside, however.

("What are you doing, standing there all day," Orochimaru says, staring down at me as I give him a sheepish grin.

"I haven't been here all day, Oro-chan-san!" I say, because I just have to counter him on that one, like the suicidal fool that I am. The man does love his dramatics sometimes, and it includes hyperboles, it seems. "It's probably been three minutes. How do you know I'm outside?"

"There's something called chakra sensing, child, perhaps you should look it up," he drawls, looking impatient. I grin at him, a bit awkward now that I realized I should keep on practicing on my stupid chakra sensing skills. "Now what do you want?"

"Oh, well," I pause, "I heard it's your birthday!" I say then, breaking out into a smile. I take out a bracelet the shape of a small green-grey colored snake from my back pocket, presenting it to him with both of my palms. "It can work as a small blade too!" It's hard to get hold of it, in all honesty. I had to ask Mikoto-sensei for pointers of where people sell nice blades—because I couldn't think of anything else Orochimaru might appreciate; he'll probably complain if I try to give him books, books that he probably already has read or worse, has zero interest in—and she, quite predictably, sent me to an Uchiha blacksmith near the corner of the clan grounds.

I had to request a specific design that is largely inspired by something I found on the internet Back Then, and it kinda cost me more than it would've if I just had given him a pack of kunai, but the result is really good and I'd like to think Orochimaru will appreciate it somehow.

When I look at him, his face is unreadable. Totally blank, and for a moment, I fear for the worst.

"Oro-chan-san?"

His hand reaches out to touch the bracelet, taking it out of my grasp. He looks over the thing for a little while, before his eyes soften a little bit. If I haven't been looking for it, I wouldn't have seen it. But I do, and I allow myself to relax.

"Do you like it?" I say quite eagerly, seeing a flash of reluctant amusement in his yellow eyes as he scoffs, turning around to enter the lab without much word, obviously not wanting to answer my question.

The door is left ajar, however.

I grin. It's an invitation to get inside as much as any.)

My fingers twitch beside me, and I find myself licking my own lips in anticipation. Last time, it took Orochimaru three minutes to get out of the room and inquire me about my presence. I don't know how long I've been standing here, but surely it must've been longer than three minutes somehow.

Is he ignoring me? I feel something heavy sink in my stomach, and I have to bite the bottom of my lip to prevent a frustrated sigh to go out.

I… Kishimoto-sensei did warn me to stay away from Orochimaru. But he had been the normal hissing older man I've grown accustomed to the last time I met him and—and—

And I'm just a little bit attached. A little bit. It's perhaps a huge mistake on my part, to let myself be attached to the grumpy (lonely and hurting and lost) Snake Sannin, but now, when threatened by a possibility of losing him to his insanity and power hungry tendencies, I finally find it very hard to imagine a world where I don't annoy Orochimaru at least once a week.

I… really have to make sure, to really see it for myself, to determine and to judge. Rinny will be there to help me to be as objective as I can, and if Kishimoto-sensei is really only influenced by the rumors (but why now? Why now, when the rumors must have been circulating around for years?) and not because he finds something odd with Orochimaru, then I can be relieved.

Steeling my resolve, I nod decisively to myself and firmly knocks on the door before twisting the knob open, peeking inside.

"Oro-chan-san?"

Orochimaru is there, his body facing away from me while his head is turned toward me. For a moment, I think that his posture looks a little bit defensive, and when I look at his face, I very nearly falter.

His expression is near flat, eyes guarded and mouth pressed into a thin line. No other expression like the usual exasperation or reluctant amusement that he usually shows around me; just a pure, blank canvas.

It's a face he shows when he's facing scared, gossiping civilians.

My eyebrows furrow, and ignoring the hurt at his sudden change in attitude towards me, I step forward. "Oro-chan-san, are you busy?"

He is silent for a moment.

"I am," he says, then, voice a bit raspy.

My shoulders sag, "Oh."

Silence.

Is he really avoiding me? I peer up at him, a little bit hesitant, and he looks back steadily, not saying anything, not showing anything.

…Perhaps he's waiting for something? But what is he waiting for? For me to walk out? To talk to him about something? To start singing a random song?

I do not know what to say, in all honesty, but I have never been one with much filter anyways, not with the people I care about at the very least. Therefore, when I open my mouth next, what comes out from me is pure, blatant truth.

"You know, Kishimoto-sensei told me to stay away from you."

His expression doesn't change. "I see."

"But I won't!" I add hastily, "Really." I bit my lip, perhaps having unconsciously stepped closer to the man while I was too focused in my anxiety. "Did you have a fight with Kishimoto-sensei, Oro-chan-san?"

He looks at me, and perhaps I'm imagining it, but his gaze looks kinder.

Rinny, somehow, through all this, doesn't say a thing.

"Your sensei told me to stay away from me, and you're going to keep on meeting me, anyway?"

My eyebrows furrow, and I say, "Who I interact with outside of training hours is none of his business, actually." Seeing surprise flash in his eyes, I continue on talking, "and he's just my teacher for iryo-ninjutsu; my official sensei is Minato-sensei, you know? And Minato-sensei never seems to mind when I say that I hang out with you sometimes, Oro-chan-san, and you're my friend!" I tack on in the end, "Friends hang out with each other, right? So".

I look up at Orochimaru, hopeful, and to my immense relief, the man finally sighs after a few moments of silence, a twitch of his lips and the usual reluctant amusement (relief, Rinny says to me, he's relieved, too) apparent in his eyes.

"What an annoying, stubborn brat," he mutters.

I take the kind insult as it is. That doesn't stop me from pouting though. "Oro-chan-san, that's mean!"

He rolls his eyes, giving me a gentle tap on top of my head. "What do you want," he seems to still have the ability to ask a question while sounding like he's making a statement instead of a question. He and Kakashi are both similar in that way.

I brighten, though, at the thought of Orochimaru indulging me and my whims once again. "Can we eat dinner together?" I ask, making sure to put my best puppy eyes ever.

Orochimaru's eyebrow twitch in irritation at that pathetic attempt to suck him up, looks at the clock, pulls a face at the 6.30 pm that stares back at him, and finally sighs in defeat.

"Fine."

"Yay!"

"Rin?" Kakashi's voice manages to make me jolt in surprise as I walk side by side with Orochimaru, who is standing to my left, the both of us walking in the food district to find an appealing place for us to eat in. I have been too focused on telling Orochimaru about the D-rank missions I have gone through (he seems to be particularly amused by the Cat Catching Mission) that I failed to register Kakashi's and Sakumo's presence a few meters away from the both of us.

Kakashi looks surprised himself, though perhaps by seeing Orochimaru's presence near me than anything. Sakumo looks a bit surprised (though I myself am surprised; Sakumo has been going outside for a few minutes once a day now to familiarize himself once again with something other than the Hatake Compound walls, but this district is far from the compound. Has he gotten comfortable enough with himself?) But he looks more weary and tired and guilty more than anything.

I can't help but narrow my eyes at that. Did something happen?

"What's up, Kakashi?" I say, waving, before literally gets in front of Sakumo to chirp, "and hi, Sakumo-san!"

Sakumo chuckles good naturedly, some of his weariness seeping off of him, "Hello, Rin-chan," he ruffles my hair, his grey eyes finding Orochimaru's and he inclines his head. "Orochimaru."

"Hatake," Orochimaru replies evenly. "It is good to see you out of the Compound."

"Ah…. Yes," Sakumo trails off, looking a bit hesitant thanks to the unsubtle jab Orochimaru just threw at him. I am tempted to stomp on Orochimaru's feet a little bit, because that was rude, Oro-chan-san! "I'm afraid we've run out of groceries, so Kakashi and I thought of eating take outs, you see."

"Oh!" I exclaim, smiling, "Same! Oro-chan-san and I," Sakumo raises an eyebrow at the nickname, flicking an amused glance toward Orochimaru who looks a little bit longsuffering, "are gonna eat in a restaurant too! How about if we go eat together?"

Kakashi mumbles something.

"Huh?"

He huffs, letting out a bitter, "We can't. Nobody allows dad to eat inside."

Silence. Sakumo looks to the side, avoiding my startled gaze.

(Behind me, Orochimaru stares at Sakumo, at his hunched shoulders, the darkness in his eyes, the downward pull of his lips and thinks—

Ah.

He knows how this feels, doesn't he?)

I feel a surge of rage inside of me, and looking at Kakashi's eyes, I'm sure he must have the same opinion as I.

Those fucking, self absorbed, gossiping bastards.

I hate them.

Forcefully calming myself down, because blowing up here won't do anyone any good other than embarrassing myself, I settle with sighing. "Well, we're going to the Akimichi's BBQ place," I say, staring at Sakumo's eyes. "I'm sure they're not that stupid to turn you away, Sakumo-san."

Sakumo's smile seems a bit strained. "It's okay, Rin-chan, we can just—"

"Sure," Kakashi cuts him off, hands in his pockets. He blinks at Sakumo's startled look, cocking his head. "…What? I want some BBQ. And… It doesn't hurt to try."

Sakumo hesitates. "I… guess."

"C'mon," I grab Kakashi's hand, leading him forward. I cackle, ignoring his startled shout. "The last one there pays for all of us!"

Kakashi makes a face. "No way in hell."

"Hatake," Orochimaru calls again, inclining his head. Beside him, Sakumo tears his amused gaze away from the bickering children and inclines his head in return.

"Orochimaru. I did not know you're that close to Rin-chan."

Orochimaru hums. He won't say that they're particularly close. Despite meeting rather frequently than most—than even his old teammates and his own teacher—they don't really know each other inside out like how he knows (knew) his teammates.

But Rin is kind, fierce and loyal, determinedly so, if how she stubbornly decides that Orochimaru is still worth hanging out with is any indication.

Orochimaru won't say it, but he's relieved, perhaps, that this bright young girl who tackles him and calls him with a cutesy nickname not fit with his reputation thinks he's worth hanging out with, that he's worth spending time with, with no strings attached, with no other ulterior motives behind it.

That Rin, who reminds him of Tsunade and Jiraiya in equal measures (don't compare her to them, his mind hisses, if she's the same as them, she'll leave. She's not the same as them, she's not she's not she'snotshesnot—), who cares and cares and cares is still bright and there, smiling up at him and trusting him and—

Even after Kishimoto, after him telling her to stay away—

("I see a monster," he said, and it rings inside of his head for days and days to come. Sometimes it will be Kishimoto, and civilians, and fellow shinobi.)

(Other times, he thinks he hears her).

("Monster," he'll hear her say. "Monster, monster, monstermonstermonster—")

She chooses to stay.

She chooses him.

("You're my friend").

Orochimaru's gaze softens, his hand reaching toward his left wrist decorated with a snake-shaped bracelet. "She's more like a nuisance than anything, honestly," he says, expertly ignoring how Sakumo's lips curves into a knowing smile, walking alongside the former legend as they watch the children, in which Kakashi has somehow find it necessary to smack Rin's head, the latter letting out an exaggerated whine. "You don't seem to mind her, yourself."

"Ah?" Sakumo blinks, "Well, she is my son's best friend."

"I see."

Orochimaru glances at him, the person who is almost as popular as Orochimaru when it comes to nasty gossips, with whispers and talks about how he's a traitor, a shameful man, a failure of a shinobi and so on and so forth. With one failure, they easily forgets the White Fang's contribution to the village, forgets his sacrifices and his many triumphs, his many successful missions that brought forth many good things for the village.

Just one failure, and now he's nothing but a village trash.

Perhaps he can say that it will get better, only that it's a lie and it's not like he cares about it, really.

(Perhaps he should feel guilty for the satisfaction rushing in his veins at the thought of someone else bearing the same treatment as him. Perhaps he should feel guilty for feeling glad that he's not the only one in this god damned village to bear that sort of hate and scrutiny.

Perhaps.

But Orochimaru isn't really one for guilt, is he?)

"She saved me," Sakumo's voice brings him back to reality, and Orochimaru blinks slowly. The White Fang murmurs, "I thought I would have no one left. My own son turned against me and it was only thanks to her that he forgave me for my mistakes." He shifts his gaze toward the Snake Sannin, his eyes knowing, "She's a very special girl, isn't she?"

Orochimaru thinks of her eyes. Her knowing and patient eyes, how she assesses him and perhaps finding something in him that allows her to smile at him, her eyes that sometimes look too kind, too understanding, too old, too old for her age—

"An old soul," he says. And then, as if in an attempt to amend for something, continues with a mutter, "Still a huge brat".

Sakumo stares at him for a moment longer, slightly wide eyes blinking a few times before a chuckle breaks out from his lips, his eyes crinkling and dimples appearing as he smiles wide and—

Oh.

Oh.

That smile reminds him of Rin, too.

(Did she learn it from him?)

"I'd say Rin-chan is very talented and smart for her own age," Sakumo chuckles, "but an old soul works too."

Orochimaru rolls his eyes.

"I think Rin-chan said once that you're apparently very dramatic," the tone is teasing, and Orochimaru wonders for a moment since when has the man beside him decide he's good enough to be this familiar with him.

(But Rin did this too, didn't she?)

(This overly familiar approach, this easy smiles and teases).

(Isn't that why he likes her?)

"Watch your mouth, Hatake," Orochimaru drawls out, "I will not hesitate to show you just how dramatic I can be."

The Hatake raises his arms, "I apologize," he smiles softly, and Orochimaru once again wonders how many gestures the girl has unconsciously learned from her best friend's father. "I did not mean to offend you."

Orochimaru doesn't grace him with a reply, and at that moment Rin chooses to shout.

"Oro-chan-saaaaaaaan! Sakumo-san! Hurry! I'm hungry!"

He exhales sharply, striding forward to flick the girl sharply with his finger.

"Ow! What was that for, Oro-chan-san?!"

"For yelling in the middle of the street."

"But—" He steps into the restaurant, ignoring her.

The sound of Sakumo's snickers and Rin's whines are like bells to his ears.

So.

The Orochimaru angst fest is done. Sort of. He has found an established foundation in Rin's circle of friends now—he mostlikely won't doubt her loyalty to him until much later on when things get messy (coughspoilerscough)—and his trust in her is immense. He knows she won't betray him unless he gives her a reason to. (In which, I'm sure we all know what the reason could be).

Also, I'm thinking of doing SakuOro, but it's still a plan; it might end up as this close friendship between two shunned legendary shinobi, or it might end up with kisses, idk. Tell me what you think about it.

Also, did you notice Rin internally calls Obito cute a lot of times nowadays? ;)

If you don't, it's okay because she doesn't notice it either.

Next chapter, we're going to have more genin children bickering and having fun with each other!

We're getting closer to their first C-rank, so wait for it!

Review please!

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