Naruto and related characters (c) Kishy

Naruto is in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it seems to be right.

Warning: character death - it happens (differently) in canon but I figured I should have a warning regardless.

Naruto, in all honesty, shouldn't have been in the forest to even sense the weak spike of chakra. Nobody knew where he was and if something where to happen, such as being sprung by Itachi and Kisame, he would have been in quite the spot of bother. As it was he wasn't too far from Konoha, perhaps a four hour run. He liked getting out of the village to train sometimes, but now Naruto knew he needed to be heading back. The sky was still black – the only time he could sneak over the walls of the village without getting caught – and it needed to be dark for him to remain unseen as he re-entered Konoha. But Naruto sensed a sudden spike of familiar chakra to the southeast. It was the opposite direction of home but there was no way he wasn't going to check it out. The familiarity of the pulse of energy…he knew that signature. Was it Sasuke..?

As he drew carefully closer it was becoming increasingly clear that the pulse of chakra was weak. A fight maybe, Naruto thought, and this ninja was left to die..? Or perhaps it was a not altogether skilled shinobi attempting to hide their chakra signature. Or even a trap. Naruto couldn't be sure, so he approached quietly and undetected despite his unease and concern that it could be Sasuke.

He pinpointed where the signature was coming from and scaled a tall tree to scope out the clearing it looked over, thankful of the dim light the moon provided. Naruto squinted in to the gloom at a shadow on the ground beneath his lookout, determining swiftly that there was indeed only a single ninja and that they appeared to be seriously injured. Naruto couldn't see the other nin's features from this angle or distance, but it was definitely not Sasuke. He was both relieved and disappointed at that. This led to the train of thought as to who exactly it was. Their chakra was incredibly familiar but Naruto was hesitant to reveal himself. He could recognise enemy signatures; Itachi and Kisame's for one when they didn't feel like hiding their presence. However, even if this injured nin was an enemy, Naruto could see even at this distance that they were in no condition to defend or attack. They had clearly been left to die slowly.

Naruto abruptly came to a decision. It may have been foolish but he wasn't one to second guess his actions, and released the technique suppressing his own chakra signature. The reaction was immediate. The nin lying on the ground jerked at the unexpected realisation that they had company, though did little else. Naruto strained his ears when the other said something. He was too far away to hear the words but he recognised the voice instantly, despite sounding heavy with blood and pain. Naruto leapt from his vantage point, a kunai drawn just in case as he landed six feet from Orochimaru, remaining crouched to study the man.

"Ah," he said, voice barely a whisper, blood colouring the edges of his too pale lips. "I thought it was you."

Naruto's eyes widened as he stared at the Sannin. "Orochimaru."

It was more of a question, asking what, why and who. Even though Naruto knew he was an enemy, he still felt the stirring of seeing someone in pain, the need to help. He kept that in check.

Orochimaru chuckled a little wetly at the implied query in to his current state, though didn't answer. He closed his eyes and Naruto's hands spasmed as he tried to keep them from reaching out, thinking the man had died. To remain still Naruto looked at the older ninja, taking note of the man's position. He was not quite lying on his back and not quite lying on his side, a hand curled in front of his face almost childlike while the other was pressing what Naruto could only assume was a wound considering the blood. He wondered if the man was using a medical jutsu, but couldn't see the telltale green glow of healing chakra. His long hair fanned behind him and over his shoulder, showing his face fully. Naruto was a little startled to realise Orochimaru was a good-looking, if pale, man. He frowned at the thought and looked to the other's injuries instead. The only obvious wound was the one the Sannin was applying pressure to, though this appeared to be fatal enough considering the amount of blood loss. The wound struck Naruto as odd. It was a stomach injury to be sure, but they were easily treatable. And, it pained him to admit it but, Orochimaru was an extremely skilful shinobi…that sort of injury must have been inflicted by an even better ninja. Naruto scanned the immediate surroundings warily. The situation may have been more dangerous than he realised.

"What are you doing, Naruto Uzumaki…out by yourself?"

His eyes darted back to lock with slitted hazel.

"Akatsuki are still pursuing the demon powers no doubt," the Sannin continued, his voice low and breathing slightly irregular. "Not a wise thing, wandering outside the village at night."

"Training," he replied shortly as he sat down, more relieved than he wanted to admit that the man wasn't dead.

"Ah…I should have known."

Naruto almost smiled, though the urge died swiftly.

"What happened?" he asked, his senses on high alert and kunai still drawn in preparation of lingering danger.

Orochimaru chuckled, but the sound was far from joyful. Naruto was certain it had a bitter, angry edge.

"My subordinate was loyal indeed…to himself it seems. I always suspected it of course."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Sasuke?"

The older ninja looked confused at the suggestion for a moment before smirking. "I haven't seen Sasuke Uchiha for at least a year. Prior to dismissing him I did some background research on the Sharingan, and I discovered a secret that threw a kunai in the works, so to speak."

Naruto could only listen, speechless, as the man continued.

"It will eventually blind the user. That isn't something that is particularly useful to me, and I feared it might progress much more swiftly in a body that wasn't naturally of Uchiha descent."

"But," Naruto found himself saying bizarrely, "Kakashi-sensei has the Sharingan and he's fine."

"Yes," Orochimaru coughed suddenly, bringing more specks of blood to his lips. "Yes, I considered that. But I think the different circumstances of how the eyes would be acquired would affect their reasonable longevity. I wasn't willing to risk my eyesight in any case, considering Itachi is barely in his second decade of life and his sight is failing alarmingly."

Naruto sort of wanted to know how Orochimaru came across that information, but was much too relieved that Sasuke was no longer in danger…well, kind of. A fight to the death with his older brother was bound to be a tad hazardous and, if what the Sannin said was true – and Naruto had no need to doubt him at this stage – the younger Uchiha was going to end up blind if he kept activating his kekkai genkai.

"So," Naruto asked, his tone coloured by disbelief, "you let Sasuke go?"

Orochimaru closed his eyes for a moment with a slight sigh, likely realising that even on his deathbed with Uzumaki as his only company, a conversation about Sasuke was one hundred percent certain and unavoidable.

"He was never a prisoner. Of course I had him supervised but he stayed because he needed the power I had. However, after I researched the Sharingan and found that it wasn't quite what I was after, there was no motivation for me to train him further and no need for him to stay. He left in search of Itachi."

"Do you know where Sasuke is?"

Orochimaru snorted at the hope shining in blue eyes. "I told you, I haven't seen him for at least a year."

Naruto cocked his head to the side, thinking aloud. "So…it wasn't Sasuke who did this to you. Was it…Kabuto?"

Naruto knew he was right when the other shinobi's eyes hardened in to a glare and shot to the left somewhere. The boy had always thought there was something not quite right about Orochimaru's spy, but he never imagined the medic-nin would turn on his superior.

"Seems Kabuto has plans of his own," the Sannin muttered, hand pressing more firmly to his injury. "Why they needed me dead I'm not altogether sure."

Naruto felt an unwanted stab of sympathy for the man with the news of Kabuto's betrayal. Friend or foe, it was a nasty and hurtful surprise when someone deemed as loyal showed their true colours.

Naruto frowned, an earlier observation confusing him. "Kabuto's a good ninja but, well…you're…um, so how..?"

He really, really didn't want to praise his enemy by pointing out that Orochimaru was a much more accomplished shinobi, so how had the spy managed to injure him to such an extent. The man smirked slightly, understanding.

"He was always underhanded, being a spy after all. I assume he slipped several poisons in to my meal considering my body is weak and I am unable to access my chakra. Lacking the ability to kill him or defend myself, he easily dealt me a fatal injury."

"Why didn't he just, you know, kill you?" Naruto asked, his infrequent intelligence shining through. "He's a medic-nin so he would've known that your wound would kill you, just not immediately."

Orochimaru's brow rose imperceptibly at the sharp question, not answering straight away due to the death rattle in his chest. Naruto moved forward, pulling out his field medikit from his hip pouch.

"Let me look at it."

"We both know I'm going to die," the Sannin didn't decline or appear surprised by the offer.

Naruto didn't say anything as he pushed the man's hand away to slit open the fabric covering the stomach wound. He cleaned the blood away carefully to reveal a deep messy hole from a sword. Yes, he knew Orochimaru was going to die, but his sense of morality told him the Sannin was unfairly dying. He at least wanted the man to be more comfortable. He covered the wound with a thick square bandage, using medical tape to hold it in place. Naruto could feel the other shinobi's eyes on him as he worked. Orochimaru rolled to lie on his back when Naruto finished, wincing slightly as he moved.

"Why did you take other people's bodies?" Naruto asked, gaze on the other though the Sannin stared at the sky.

"I don't want to die."

He wasn't sure if Orochimaru was answering the question or not, but the reply chilled him regardless. He could relate to that statement. The man was taken over by a violent spasm of pain that caused him to shift to his side, closer to Naruto. The boy stared at his enemy's face as more blood spilt over his lips, something gripping his heart at the other shinobi's expression.

"I don't want to die," but this time it was a choked, bloody sob and Naruto didn't know what to say.

He reached out. He didn't know why. Maybe to just settle the man or maybe to make him lie down on his back again. Naruto didn't know. But the dying Sannin reached out as well and grabbed Naruto's hand, pulling it to his chest and Naruto in to a kneeling position beside him. Orochimaru's hand was slippery and warm with his own blood but the boy didn't notice this. The man was crying.

"Sarutobi said I could see them again," he said, voice low and even despite his wet eyes. "That in a thousand years they would be reincarnated, and I could see them again. So I couldn't die. I don't want to die."

Naruto's eyes widened at the words that spilt from the man's lips. Orochimaru had dead family?

"I…I lost my original purpose. But it made sense that my body needed to be stronger to live longer. I just…had to see them."

"You will," Naruto heard himself saying.

He wasn't sure who Orochimaru was referring to, a lover, mother, father, brother?

"Of course you'll see them again," he said again when the Sannin looked at him. "Where do you think they are waiting for you? They know you're coming, and they're waiting."

What was he saying, what was he saying?! But the man was dying and crying, and he wasn't an enemy right now. He was alone and no one else cared, and death was closing in. Naruto could sense it.

"Waiting..?"

Naruto nodded, startled when his hand was squeezed and Orochimaru smiled. It was a smile that looked out of place since Naruto had never seen it before. It was small and true, but gone when the Sannin's body jerked in pain. The man gripped his hand tightly and he feared what was happening, but the boy gripped his hand just as tightly and whispered that it was okay, he was going to see them. Orochimaru nodded slightly. He said thank you. He said sorry. And he was still.

Naruto didn't move for a long while. In his life he had seen a few people die, and every one affected him. Eventually he leaned forward, untying and pocketing the two hitaite that were attached to the Sannin's belt. One with the Sound symbol and the other with a Leaf symbol, a single line etched across it. He didn't know why he took them, to remember perhaps.

Not wanting to leave the body there for animals to desecrate Naruto lifted the body in to his arms, carrying it to a river he could hear to his left. He waded in until the water lapped at his waist before letting go of the dead man, watching him float for a moment before moving. On the river's edge Naruto tightened his headband and adjusted his weapons pouch before leaping in to the trees.

He still had to get home before light.

Huh. I finally wrote something about my favourite character. I was surprised when yonks ago in the manga, or was it the anime...I don't remember, Sarutobi talks to young Orochi about that reincarnation stuff (I don't remember it exactly and would love it if someone could tell me what manga chapter or episode it was in) and I thought, holy crap...that's what started off Orochi's body-nicking habit. I suppose it snowballed from there but I found it very naive and childlike that his quest for longevity/immortality perhaps began as something like wanting to see his parents again.