Chapter 37

Soon enough he made it to the training grounds where already he could see the students working diligently on their chakra manipulation, with Naruto and Ryoko conversing, perhaps helping eachother. They had forsaken splitting a leaf, having already done that and had now been thrown head first into the deep end with Orochimaru demanding of them to split a fist sized rock, judging by the number of said stones scattered around them with gouges of varying length and depth carved into their surfaces.

The eldest, Kyofu was practicing a set of hand-seals Sarutobi recognized as the Gokakyuu technique, one of the earliest and easiest fire techniques to wield.

He found Orochimaru reading nearby.

It was Ryoko that noticed him first, whatever focus she had on splitting the rock abandoning her in the moment of surprise and splitting the air with the sound of grinding stone before she pulled her hand back to reveal several deep scratches to go with the thin coating of rock dust now on her hand.

"Hokage-sama!" She gasped, bringing Naruto and Kyofu's attention back around towards him.

"Hokage-sama."

"Jiji-ack!" The blond got a smack on the back of his head.

Orochimaru smiled.

Sarutobi smiled at the children. "I've just come to borrow your sensei for a moment. We have some...issues to discuss."

The sannin rolled up his scroll stood and began to march towards him, that ever present smile still on his face. "None of you are on break, keep practicing." He demanded before marching up to Sarutobi's side.

The old man turned and walked without a word.

They were quite a distance away when Sarutobi finally came to a stop in a random place in the training grounds he deemed sufficiently isolated.

"You know." He began, speaking softly, eyes closed, mouth set in a grim, thin line. "I don't set a great deal of rules here, especially not for you and Tsunade. I have a tendency to play favorites That's always been one of my biggest problems."

"Oh, I nev-"

"Be. Quiet." The word was such a deadly hiss Orochimaru's mouth immediately snapped shut, and the ever present grin fell off his features.

"Given that fact, maybe I was wrong in my thinking-" Saru continued "-but I believe that when the time comes that I do give you an order, make a demand, even a request; its not entirely unreasonable to expect that order to be followed distasteful as you might find it."

He turned and looked at him for the first time in the conversation. "Tell me. Is that an unreasonable expectation Orochimaru?"

"No...it isn't."

"Evidently you've become rather apt at lying." The words were a growl, but Sarutobi's features never shifted from stern indifference.

The younger man had nothing to say to that.

There was a heavy silence between the two of them, and Sarutobi stared into Orochimaru's eyes, disapproval shining through every fiber of his being as he looked on the man with eyes the man could barely recognize, let alone stomach now that they were directed at him.

Disappointment.

"You have your nomination." He drawled. "You get to go to Iwa with the Daimyo's delegation when they arrive."

His voice never rose, it never seethed or hissed. But they were reverberating through him like a thunderstorm.

"If you never believe a single word I tell you, believe this. If anything, happens to those children. If we lose any of them as Shinobi. I'm holding you fully responsible. I'll strip you of your rank, and lock you into a cell for the next ten years as a start."

The sannin tilted his head to the side a bit the smile returning and staying there. "And if they win?"

The disgust that decorated the older man's face was like a punch to the gut. "That's all that ever matters to you isn't it? Winning. Being better than everyone. That's not how the world works!"

"Its always been how it works." He defended. "We won the second and third wars by being better. We've remained the strongest of the five by being better. By winning. We lost Jiraiya because Hanzo was better than us! Individual strength is what carries a Shinobi to his rank, his reputation his prestige and his survival. It is how this world works. Its best that they learn that."

"And yet here you are standing on the shoulders of children to give some boost to your own. You're putting their lives at risk, and risking open war if something happens to the Daimyo, to serve your ego. And its sickening!" The last word was said with palpable fury.

"Sickening or not." He shrugged. "We're going."

The old man squared his shoulders, lips pursed. "For my part I hope you find it worth it. You don't have to develop some complex about people not trusting you. Because I'll tell you flatly that I don't trust you anymore. You've lost that privilege."

The serpent blinked.

"Let me not waste any more of your precious time. You have three gennin to get ready for an exam after all." To a passerby, those words were not laced with venom. To Orochimaru, they were dripping with it.

Then he turned and began marching away, back towards his office.

-0-

"You know- now that we're practicing jutsu that are meant to be used as a team to overwhelm the opposition we're going to have to start practicing some team formations." Kyofu said, gathering some of the Ichiraku noodles on her sticks.

"Doesn't that need practice opponents?" Ryoko asked as she noisilly slurped down her own mouthful.

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