Did anyone tell Obito, I won't be around?

I ended up doing a lot of late shopping. Thankfully some Shinobi shops were still open. Got myself new sets of everything I think I'll need. I'll be using some of Sakumo's sealing scrolls he keeps in his office. I'm sure he won't mind. 

Attaching a sheath to my lower back I slide my tanto into it. Throwing on my new cloak similar to Orochimaru's except mine has a hood.

My outfit prioritized being practical and simple. Compared to some of the outfits worn by my classmates mine was considerably tamer with the only colors being blacks, greys, while my hood is a nice forest green. 

Lastly I put on my headband making sure the straps were tied securely. I felt a little ridiculous given my age. 

Alright, I can't forget the important stuff. Grabbing some seasoning from the kitchen I sealed them away before putting them in my little bag. 

Checking the time I see I still have a few hours before I am expected to be at the village gates. I could get some much needed sleep. I've been up for nearly twenty-four hours or I could cook myself a nice big meal that I may regret later. 

Needless to say, I chose the meal. 

Throwing on my apron over all my gear I began to cook. I am in a weirdly good mood while I cook. I'm about to leave the village in the middle of a war, I am being deployed and yet I couldn't be happier. Maybe I was going a little stir crazy talking to myself all day everyday and am just happy to leave the house.

Who knows?

The food was good and probably the last good meal I'll have for some time so I took my time. 

Once I was done I began making sure everything in the house was ready to be left unattended for some time. Throwing out perishable and making sure nothing that would leave a smell was in the house. Then I spent a good amount of time tidying up the place. Soon enough it was time to leave.

Sliding the door closed i took one last look at home before making my way to the gates.

Arriving at the gates the area was packed with Shinobi and supplies. I received a few looks as I worked my way through the crowds of Shinobi. Eventually I spotted Orochimaru-sensei by the entrance of the gate.

"Yo," I said, giving him a salute.

"Sozo nice of you to join us,"

"Well it's my job unfortunately. Anyways you look busy so I'll just be here,"I said pointing right behind him before taking the said spot. 

Looking around I didn't see anyone else near my age, the closest looked somewhere around sixteen maybe seventeen. He looked quite glum about the whole war thing. 

Returning my attention to Orochimaru who had just turned to me.

"Are you prepared?"

Flashing Orochimaru a smile along with a double thumbs up was all I gave in response. 

And we were off. 

.

.

The walking was uneventful for the most part. It started raining at one point that I easily solved by pulling on my cloaks hood. The same could not be said by those unfortunate to just be wearing the standard outfit i see most senior Shinobi wear. Funny, I no longer have to refer to Shinobi as a separate group from myself.

I found myself getting bored quickly. Sure I was outside the village in a world full of who knows what but it's not like I could just leave and explore for a bit. I had my orders just like everyone else here even if it was pretty much just follow Orochimaru around until he tells me not to.

Orochimaru, now there's a character I want to know more about. He knew who I was. While it may have been by chance that we were in the same place the first time we met. It was not an accident Orochimaru decided to talk to me. He's someone with a lot of authority, now is that because of his power or does he come from a noble background. 

Dose coming from one of the noble clans inherently give you more authority or do individuals from said clans just happen to be the ones in charge? The Uchiha reputation exists for a reason and while it may be a bit of a joke in my class because of Obito, I've seen rankings from others classes because for some reason that shit is open to the public. The Uchiha do tend to rank higher even among other clans. Even Obito already knew fire release. The first time he tried to use it against Kakashi all he managed was a few tiny flames but eventually it got to a point where I had to stop him from using fire release in the first place if I wanted to win, which wasn't hard given his tendency to announce what he was about to do.

Then there was Guy, someone who started at the bottom and worked his way into becoming a threat. I didn't even notice either, one day Guy challenged me and the next thing I knew I was on the ground. Now I may have underestimated him a lot but I still lost. Did it happen again? No, but it didn't mean I could easily disregard Guy in a close up fight like I could with all my other classmates. Which just motivated him even more creating an endless cycle of oh God he's not getting any easier to fight.

And that's it. I have four, maybe five friends, still waiting on Orochimaru to confirm if we are friends or not. Sakumo, who's in a weird place right now and is avoiding me or more accurately everyone. Kakashi, who is in a weird place right now and is avoiding me. Guy who represents all that is good along with his father. Obito the academic dead last who is probably worried about me given I got in trouble then just disappeared. 

Four friends is plenty and yet I feel like I should have more, weird. A small group of friends is normal for me so it's not the size. Its probably because of how disconnected they all are. Sure Kakashi, Obito, and Guy were all in the same place for a bit, we rarely ever did anything all together. Then there's the age difference between Orochimaru and Sakumos with the rest. So I doubt I'd ever see any of them together well with the exception of Kakashi for Sakumo.

Oh God I just had a weird mental image of Orochimaru and Guy hanging out. 

Cutting off that thought process I caught up with Orochimaru figuring we could get to know each other.

"Sensei."

"Yes."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Orochimaru."

"No you know what I mean now tell me who you are."

"Im Orochimaru the snake sannin," was all he said. 

Well that's a bit more info to work with now I just have to figure out what a sannin is.

.

.

Arriving at our destination after a slow and uneventful trip where I cursed myself for forgetting to bring a book of some kind. I did have paper so I did a bit of doodling and origami. Even managed to get another board Shinobi to play pass with a paper shuriken for a bit.

There were a lot more Shinobi here, guessing we are the reinforcements. Looking around Orochimaru was gone so I just helped unload all the supplies we brought. After that was done I set off looking for Orochimaru. Given he was someone important I figured he'd been at the biggest tent I could find. 

Walking into the tent I was met with quite the peculiar sight. Two Orochimaru's talking to each other.

"Sozo-kun, nice to finally meet you in person."

"Huh?" 

The second Orochimaru, the one I've been interacting with all this time, collapses into a pile of snakes.