Chapter 10

Snap Back To Reality 10

As it turned out, I was incredibly slumped on where to start. It was just seemingly random kanji, lined neatly, almost purposefully in a circle with arrows pointing in a circular motion. I channelled some chakra into it and a book popped out. The Tale of The Gusty Ninja. So basically the book Naruto was going to be named after. Then I started work on decoding it.

It started off as me simply noting down every kanji and its meaning and double meaning after borrowing several books on kanji from the Konoha library. Thankfully, books on literature were open to Genin and so I easily managed to procure some as well as one measly book on the many uses of sealing scrolls. It was a stupidly large book that I had to scour through multiple times to even understand some of the jargon they used.

It was like I was trying to learn backwards. Instead of starting with the basics, I'd been told to break down an established work. Without the basics of Fuinjutsu, or even the concepts behind it explained clearly to me, I was half sure this was an exercise in futility. The only thing keeping me going was just how goddamn stubborn I was. A challenge was something I couldn't back down from.

So I spent the first two days organising a comprehensive list on all the kanji symbolism and trying to derive some sort of pattern to it. The arrows all came around in intervals of 4, proceeded by sub-spaces of 3, and the kanji were grouped together in lines of 12. Maybe this was like a part maths equation, part literacy? I balked at that, suddenly put off by the idea of Fuinjutsu. I was a Biochemist, not a Maths or Language major. I wasn't particularly terrible at either subject, but it certainly wasn't my forte either.

It was by the end of the week, that I was getting desperate. I was working in my room all day, scrolls, books, and my notes sprawled everywhere, when I realised, I just wasn't built to think this way. I'd spent decades of my life learning a specific method of study. I was given material that built upon the next, understanding concepts and jargon before proceeding to break it down to a conceptual level later in my own time. What was given to me was a significantly different task. I wasn't expected to understand jargon, I was just expected to decode a pattern, and break down a concept from this sealing scroll without any foundational knowledge to help guide me.

It wasn't until dad got tired of me becoming a hermit in my room that he kicked me out. I grumbled, grabbing my work, and shovelling it all into a satchel. I had no idea where I could sit down to do this work. Konoha's library wasn't like one from my previous life. All the sections were guarded vehemently, with certain people able to access more than others. The weirdest thing was that there weren't any chairs or tables there. It made sense in a weird kind of way. Ninja were too private to study out in the open, especially where young ones who weren't meant to see their work could peep. Thankfully, I wasn't doing anything secretive. I just wanted to decode a scroll!

"Troublesome Sannin," I grumbled for the hundredth time as I made my way to the outskirts of the village.

I made my way into the clearing and let out a sigh. Training ground 3. It's where Kakashi and Minato often trained. I hadn't heard from the little prodigy in quite a while. Minato was clearly a very strong Shinobi, and they were throwing him front centre into the war, and by association so was Kakashi. It made me worry, and the only thing keeping me from checking in on him constantly being the fact that in the manga I had read, he was alive well past the whole story. I tried not to put too much credence to the old manga I had read, but it was still something I wasn't ready to just throw away.

I groaned slumping down on my back. The clouds looked nice. I was so lost in how fluffy it was that I wondered if this is why Nara liked cloud watching. I personally preferred star gazing, but this was nice too. It just made me a little jealous of those birds flying about, free in the sky. I used to want to be like that. Free. Just in the sky, above the clouds alone and gliding with the wind against my face. My memory decided in that moment to supply to me a movie I had watched in my previous life.

Something about a boy riding an ebony black dragon into the sky, and just how beautiful that scene was. I closed my eyes and hummed the tune I remembered from that movie. I was so caught up in it that I only stopped when I noticed a presence walking my way. I stopped my humming and opened my eyes to see someone frighteningly familiar... and not in a good way. I scrambled up quickly.

Slitted yellow eyes, pale skin, long black hair, a Jounin vest and that smile... Orochimaru. The fuck was he doing here? Oh shit, right! He was working for Danzo right about this time period! He wasn't AWOL as a Nuke-nin yet. First Jiriya and now I was running into Orochimaru?! Was the universe conspiring against me?!

"What's a child like you doing research on Fuinjutsu for?" he asked, giving me a curious look.

I took in a deep breath. I had people who would realise I was missing. It wasn't like I was some no-name orphan he could just whisk away. I also didn't have some crazy bloodline or kekkai genkai. I was just a normal kid with some above average chakra control and a keen mind. Which begged the question why he was even talking to me. Did Jiraiya put him up to this… if so I would take a page of Naruto's book and prank him into submission one day.

"Well I actually stumbled on to your teammate Orochimaru-sama," I said, trying to keep my voice even although it cracked at the end.

"Hmmm Jiriya or Tsunade?"

"The troublesome toad," I huffed, trying to distract my nerves with a petulant childish look. So it wasn't Jiraiya… no, he looked like he knew.

"Don't try to put on an act. It's unbecoming."

I froze and then narrowed my eyes at the Sannin. Wow, so he saw through my act huh. He probably saw how nervous I was. Fuck, did I look as twitchy as I felt?

"What's gotten you so frightened? Not excited to see a Sannin?" Orochimaru asked, circling me like a predator.

Shit, this was escalating too quickly. I didn't even know I would see this crazy fucker ever! What do I do?

Deflect.

I bowed down quickly. "Please teach me Fuinjutsu!"

When I dared glance up at the Sannin, I noticed his face was oddly calculative. He didn't reply much to my displeasure before he continued circling my notes, his slitted yellow eyes scanning my breakdowns with deliberate nods. Was he assessing my work? This was the man who would commit atrocities against humans, experimenting on them without their permission, treating them like common lab rats. It made my skin crawl in righteous anger. That was not science! Science was not meant to make humanity abandon their morality and yet... I had done the same hadn't I? Making medicine at an extortionate price for people who were suffering... so what— so I could be rich? I was no better than this snake apparently and that thought soured me.

"What do you know of the fundamentals of sealing?" Orochimaru asked.

"Nothing actually. Jiraiya-sama just dropped this on me and left. I need to be able to decode it if I want to learn more from him," I said, grumbling my displeasure without needing to act it.

"You did fairly well for someone without the basic concepts down. A keen mind then?"

"Of course," I said rather proudly. Of course my pride seemed to overtake any nerves I had from before. Orochimaru being oddly nice was rather disarming too. I don't know what I expected. Hissing? Maybe non-consensual snake hickeys? I certainly didn't expect the Sannin to just comment on my work like it was something casual. Was I having a casual conversation with Orochimaru of all people? Yes— yes, I was, and I was going to try and not dwell on it. I didn't know the man at all, and what I did know was from a story that may or may not apply to this world. For all I knew in this world Orochimaru was goddamn Mother Theresa. I wasn't going to drop my guard down though. I had no idea if this universe was Naruto manga canon compliant or not, but all that future knowledge couldn't be ignored just because things might be different.

"The basic concepts of Fuinjutsu is as are stated. 1. Every stroke has an intention, direction, and correlation. 2. Values between symbols and strokes are measured in values greater than or less of the sum's parts. 3. Chakra intention is just as, if not as important as symbolic expression."

I gaped at the start and the quickly scrambled to grab a notepad to scroll down the gold mine of information I was receiving. From Orochimaru no less.

"But most of all, all Fuinjutsu is based on an intent of will. Basic seals like exploding tags are used by everyone because they have less than 10 strokes and no more than two layers. The chakra direction needed to activate or create these seals are rudimentary."

"So the harder the seal the more complex the layers and by extension the strokes get. To get a balance in strokes is to calculate the distance, intention, and symbolic expression of the chakra you instil into a seal. Wow, does that mean that chakra is moulded not only by will, but by emotions and personal intention?! Fascinating!" I said excitedly.

I was so lost in the wealth of knowledge I was receiving that for a second, I forgot who it was that I was talking to. I had been tapping my brush on my face and splotched some ink on my face... looking like a complete fool in front of Orochimaru of all people! He didn't look vindictive or angry though. He looked casual, arms crossed, a smirk on his lips as he gave me an odd look. He was hard to read.

"Your thirst for knowledge is a refreshing sight. So often than not, I am welcome with the sight of children squandering away on pointless frivolities."

Wow, he sounded like a stuck-up, self-important prick…

He hummed to himself for a second as if lost in thought. I took that moment to study this man. He didn't look interested in me, at least not in a way that intoned me ending up dissected on a table. He just seemed like a guy who valued knowledge and who was surprisingly willing to part with it. A man of science, my brain supplied much to my irritation. I tried not to think about how morally bankrupt of a person I was to have almost dismissed all the evil he had supposedly done or will do, because he helped me with some pointers.

"Thank you, Orochimaru-sama. I mean, I've tried getting more information but it's hard when everything's hidden away. This is going to set me ahead! I think I can understand the seal now."

"Already child? Humour me. What have you deduced?"

I pulled open the scrolling seal and looked at it with a keen eye, taking in the 3 rules of sealing now. It made perfect sense! It was kind of like programming now that I thought about it. Everything had meaning, a command and an execution programmed. In this case the intention, spacing and circular motion of the sealing was overlayed by 5 layers of kanji. So a sum of more than its part.

"This seal holds the kanji for 'open', 'sphere', 'weight'— but in the form that also opens it for interpretation as the symbolic representation of the word heavy, which isn't related to a unit of measurement but something of an emotional sense. The circular pattern I assume is to aid in the continuation of the sealed object to come in and out of the pocket space that is represented by the kanji for 'sphere' overlayed with the kanji for 'open'. I only unsealed a book from this scroll, but I suspect that when Jiraiya-sama made it, he decided a way to trigger the chakra channel, so it was only a 1-part chakra pulse. The vagueness of the words I assume also help with using it easily, as it doesn't hinder the intent of the chakra any user inputs."

Essentially this was a pretty complicated seal with an easy trigger so anyone could use it, but not anyone could make it. Also the chakra in every stroke was just— well it was of excellent quality. Even I could see the blood mixed into it. No amount of copying on my part could produce something this chakra potent.

I finally caught Orochimaru's eyes and I gulped nervously. Kami, this man was both creepy and oddly charismatic. His yellow snake like eyes screamed both danger and intelligence, and his posture was angled in a way that made him look both relaxed and ready to strike. He looked a hundred times more like a Sannin than the pervert I had met not a week ago. Beautiful, intelligent, and dangerous.

I need to be that.

"A keen mind indeed. How old are you?"

"U-um six," I said nervously. Kami, don't ask a kid for their age! It's just plain creepy. To my dismay Orochimaru practically purred at that information. I felt my skin prickle in goose bumps as alarm bells rang in my head. Ohmygoshhadijusttalkedtoapedophile?!

"So young and already so much knowledge," he said in a suddenly very silky voice, getting too close as his long fingers twirled my green hair.

I just remained frozen in place in utter shock and fear as the Sannin looked at me in a whole new way.

"Which clan do you belong to?"

"I-I don't have a clan. My parents are civilians."

There was a bit of surprise on his face before it schooled into a thoughtful smile. Much to my relief he pulled his fingers from my hair and stepped back. He suddenly seemed much less interested in me, going back to that calm more instructive stance he took before.

"Impressive. I didn't come from a clan myself, but knowledge is given to those who search. You are willing and so a Clan is not necessary."

I nodded in agreement. I didn't need a Clan. Sure it would be easier to get to places with a Clan's backing, and 90 percent of the Shinobi who made Jounin had a Clan backing, but Minato was just some orphan kid, and so was Jiriya and they would make it far. Orochimaru, despite going wayward in his quest for power would also be incredibly strong.

"Thank you, Orochimaru-sama. Now I just have to rub it into that troublesome man's face!"

Orochimaru gave me a nod of approval at that, before abruptly leaving. Huh... what an unexpected encounter. I hoped he wouldn't remember me in the future though. I quite liked not being roped into inhumane experiments and dubiously moral situations if I could help it. Now I just needed to find Jiraiya.

Wait how exactly was I meant to find him?

Dammit!

I spent the whole day running to every hot spring house in Konoha, scouting the area and startling a lot of people with my intense focus. I needed to find that stupid sage and rub it into his face! Then I could get some more direction from him because I would never go to Orochimaru for something if I could help it. I also doubted I would be welcomed by the snake-man if I ever decided to just 'drop on by'. The talk he had with me was probably and hopefully just a one of thing. Jiraiya however, I was very sure would not kill me or experiment on my body without my permission, so I decided it was ok to bother him.

Hmm... maybe he went back out on a mission? He was a spy master, so it was kind of stupid of me to assume he was still around. This was war time; he was probably extremely busy right now. This was my last day of my supposed vacation and I was hunting around a perverted idiot who could level a whole mountain if he wanted to! What was my life coming to? I'd have better luck pinning down Minato to learn Fuinjutsu. His wife was an Uzumaki too. If I remembered correctly, the Uzumaki were born to do Fuinjutsu.

I sighed as I slumped down on a tree branch, squatting on it and pouting. Kami, I was being pathetic. I was only a 6-year-old genin, not a Clan kid, definitely not an important Jinchuriki with important parents. Of course Jiriya wouldn't care about that one message he left me a week ago while we were in the middle of war. It was stupid of me to overestimate anyone's obligations to me. Even Shikaku, Hanami and Gaku barely had time for me unless they were assigned to for their jobs. And my family— well I preferred not to think about them.

I let out a loud sigh through my nose, before looking back up at the sky, at the birds that flew on by. This life was stupidly lonely. I was constantly surrounded by people and it felt like they weren't even there. I wanted, briefly, to go back to my previous life where my parents loved me, where my job didn't risk my death, where information was free and open and where Cat was still there to pull me into her embrace at the end of the day… to wholly belong to one person who never left my side.

I was a 35-year-old bio-chemist named Joanne Linus. I am a 6-year-old Genin named Suzuki Hina. I was and am both, and it was confusing and tiring and altogether a mess. I usually had training or the threat of my immanent death to pull me away from these depressing thoughts, but right now I didn't have either. I just had the sinking feeling of loneliness creeping through my bones, settling into my heart with a cold chill that froze over the thoughts and feelings that usually combated my darker prospects.

I knew logically I wasn't alone. Dad still loved me. Taichi, while being apprehensive, was too meek and kind-hearted to ever hate me. Hanami and Shikaku only saw me as little as they did because they had no other choice in the matter. Gaku-sensei loved me and treated me as a previous Kohai.

I let out a growl of frustration, jumping back down to the wall where I had first met Jiriya. I folded a note which detailed my findings and left it there. If he found it then it was good, if he didn't, I could live with that. It was my stupid idea to set a time limit to a challenge that he issued indefinitely. It was my stupid idea to leave him instead of demanding a lesson then and there, in nothing but a towel or not.

I huffed in anger, mostly at myself as I stalked to the Academy. I wanted to talk to Guy. It was impossible to be sad around his immeasurable optimism, and screw not training. I needed to get my head out of my ass. This week off was meant to be relaxing, not stress inducing. I snuck in through the wall and ambushed Guy in his lunchtime run.

"HINA-CHAN, WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE?"

"I was bored," I shrugged looking away.

"Do you want to train with me! I was meaning to find you today, so this is the most opportune coincidence!"

"Oh really, what for?" I asked curiously.

Guy's face turned red and he began to stutter in embarrassment before he deflected my question. I quirked a brow, watching him run of to get his bag. He was normally the type to find skipping class un-youthful. I wondered why he was agreeing so freely. He came sprinting back not a moment later, throwing his backpack on. It was a comical sight for sure and it continued when I had to throw him over the Academy wall because he didn't know how to walk up it. I jumped down like a particularly agile cat, next to his fallen form as he jumped up with extra fervour.

"Yosh! Let's go!"

"To the river?" I asked, hopefully.

"To the river!" Guy agreed.

We ran there, in a silent competition which I lost much to my irritation. Guy was a speed demon that even I couldn't beat. I was close though and I vowed to surpass him. We were eternal rivals after all! I felt vindictively happy that I took that title from Kakashi.

"You are getting really fast Hina-chan!" Guy exclaimed with a bright smile.

"That's coming from you. Speed demon," I huffed, tucking my bangs behind my ear.

"T-Thank you! I will prove myself worthy of such a title!"

"Oh— hahaha, it's ok Guy. Beating me is enough proof isn't it? You wanted to give me something right?" I asked changing the subject quickly.

Why was Guy acting so weird? I'd never seen him act so flustered before, not even when the other kids teased him incessantly for not being able to use jutsu. I watched him fumble through his bag and pull out a dark green box with a blue ribbon on it. He jerked the box at me shyly. Honestly, what the heck had gotten into the kid? I took it quickly from his hands just to spare him more embarrassment.

"Ah, what's this for?" I asked curiously.

"W- well you threw me a birthday party and we couldn't celebrate yours as you were on a most youthful mission for Konoha! So I got you a birthday present!"

"Thanks Guy, that's sweet," I said with a genuine smile.

I opened the box to find two silver hair pins. On each end was a flower studded with emeralds. My eyes widened. Geeze this looked expensive! Guy must have used up his entire savings on this. I gaped at him eyes wide. I expected like a friendship bracelet or something. He was only six. This was just... wow.

"Wow— thanks! This is— this is amazing!"

"It's for your bangs! I know they get in the way during training sometimes! You always tuck them behind your ears!"

"Oh, you noticed," I said in disbelief.

"Come, on try them on!"

"Ok!"

I clipped my bangs behind my ears and giggled. I didn't often giggle, but every time I felt that odd and foreign feeling of being girly it just came out of my mouth. It was actually kind of nice.

"How do I look?" I asked, sticking a goofy pose.

"Cute."

Huh? Guy hadn't screamed that out. He just whispered it with that goofy smile on his face before he realised what he had done. Huh?

"I-um! I d-d-didn't mean! Uh! I like you Hina-chan!"

"Oh, I like you too Guy," I said, fixing the clip.

"Y-you do?"

I looked back at the kid. His face was very red. He looked about ready to pass out. His normally assured body posture looked embarrassed, flustered and totally unsure.

Ohh.

OHHHHH! I felt the heat rise to my cheeks too as I stared wide eyed and gaping at him. I opened my mouth to say anything, anything at all, but nothing came out. I closed it, opened it again and decided I had no idea what I was meant to say.

He was just a kid! Oh Kami, am I a pedo? Oh no, he asked me out. I just have to let him down. But he looks so embarrassed and cute, I can't just break his heart! He's barely even lived a decade so he could get over a rejection, right? What did kids even consider dating? The worst would be holding hands and looking awkward around each other, right?

Oh Kami, what do I say?

"We sure are the best of friends! I like you a lot too!"

Yes, just like that Hina. Play it off. Play it cool, like you didn't understand it. You can deal with rejecting a little kid and breaking their heart later. You wouldn't even think of dating until you are twenty!

I kept urging myself in my head to calm down. I just didn't expect anyone to fall for me here. I looked— well I wasn't that cute. In fact, in my normal clothes, I looked like a little boy. My eyes had sunken in bags, and they looked kind of dull from constant lack of sleep and I had kind of a slumped posture outside of sparring. I just wasn't someone you would fall for. It made this unexpected surprise all the more surprising.

"O-oh..."

Damn I made Guy sad. I wanted to hug him, and pat his head like I normally did, but it suddenly seemed very inappropriate. So instead I decided to distract him with the next best thing.

"Why don't we test out the hair pins? Let's spar Guy!"

"Yosh! I will do my best!" he exclaimed, perking up slowly.

I grinned at him. He was a cute kid, and a treasured friend. A silly boy crush would never change that, and I was sure he'd get his eyesight back and get over me soon enough. In the end he had thoroughly distracted me from more depressing thoughts.

A/N

I swear there's a future chapter explaining why Orochimaru even bothered talking to her. It didn't just happen out of the blue, nor was it a coincidence. Also Guy has a totally innocent crush on Hina, and at that age he's probably thinking that holding hands is like the ultimate relationship goal, but Hina's a good person so she won't be accepting his (or anyone's) love until they're well over 18.

Review responses:

Amatsumi- You know what, I was so tempted to start of the chapter that way because of your comment! It made me laugh. XD

Immortal Potatoe- Thanks!

RileyBlue00- Us nerds gotta be proud! Also yeah Hina needs some love, because it's during her downtimes that she becomes mildly depressed. Hohohoho, things are going to heat up in the future for her. The next few chapters are like the calm before a slowly building storm. Thanks for your concern, it's heart-warming :') But seriously, I enjoy writing and I enjoy the people in this fandom, so this is all a lot of fun for me.

JaRMie- XD

RandomPasserby96- That's high praise! Yeah it is hidden though, because there's so many Naruto fanfiction stories being put out everyday

Cwrywn- Jiraiya is hands down my favourite Naruto character asides from Lee and Guy, just because he's so out there. There will probably be a Yua perspective in the future, but I haven't written up to it yet so that's just a maybe. There's definitely an Orochimaru and Gaku only perspective chapters too! Thanks for the review

Guest k- I don't make it a habit to issue out warnings for anything other than rape/non-con, self-harm, suicidal themes, or explicit sexual content (because it can be triggering). This is an M rated story, so I'm assuming the people reading this can handle gay characters like any mature person can. So unless gay characters are somehow suddenly triggering to my readers, there won't be any warnings for it.

Chillingbear- Actually Hina is bisexual with a female leaning, and Guy is definitely a contender as a future pairing, even though I'm not sure I'll be doing any romance unless it progresses naturally, and makes sense in the story. Thanks for the review!

Thornewood- Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoy the rest!