After the Rain

Chapter 13: Kunai and Chains

Chapter Thirteen – Kunai and Chains

"I don't know if there is justice in the Ninja world. We fight believing in our own justice. But if the enemy is doing the same, who is right?" - Uchiha Shisui

Naruto thought long and hard over Shisui's arguments for the rest of the day while considering if his words had some merit. She noted that Anko was trying to act civil, maybe it was for the sake of the mission, but some of the tension had finally been resolved too.

As she went to sleep Naruto realized she might be a little bias when it came to Orochimaru. He was her first true enemy. The first one who had posed a real life altering threat and had continued to get the better of her since their first meeting. Never had a word Naruto said affected him, unlike with most people there was just no middle ground between them.

It was frustrating having to listen to her teammates sleeping while her head refused to shut down and continued spinning with possibilities. What if she could get through to Orochimaru after all? She was trying to stop a lot of different conflicts from occurring but had no idea how to proceed. Why not start with the one right in front of her? Orochimaru was the one available to her, and so far she'd simply been plotting his murder, but there was another possibility; Give him a chance. An opportunity to explain himself.

Naruto grimaced at the mere thought, and yet the idea stuck with her. She had somehow understood Nagato even though he'd been the one to murder Jiraiya. Orochimaru had killed her Jiji, he'd taken away Sasuke and when she'd seen him again he was barely recognizable.

A person who could spread so much evil was unredeemable in Naruto's mind. But maybe that was her own subjective view on things. Hadn't Zabuza killed a whole classroom of children? Hadn't Pein evened Konoha with the ground? Hadn't she forgiven so many people for their past crimes? Could she try to do the same with Orochimaru?

No immediate answer came to her. Naruto was still troubled, but she swore she would test out the waters with Orochimaru. Try to hold less of a grudge from now on, no matter how hard it would be. She'd never been the vindictive type. Not for anyone except him.

It was curious why that was, and she was quite certain the answer was Sasuke. What had happened to him was inexcusable on so many levels, but if you looked at the whole picture Orochimaru played a very small part. Still, she couldn't help but blame him… The fact he oozed of "bad guy" didn't help either.

Naruto kicked impatiently at Hebimei's tail. The snake was tickling her foot and she was having enough trouble sleeping as it was. The snake was indifferent to Naruto's opinion about Orochimaru. In fact she had some bad words for the man herself. But apparently most snakes had problems with their summoners. Hebimei called it a way of showing affection, which meant she probably was under the illusion Naruto cared deeply for Orochimaru.

She cared deeply alright. She cared deeply about her utter contempt for him.

Naruto groaned and turned to her other side in an attempt at getting some sleep before it was her turn to sit guard again. Hebimei hissed as her head was squeezed into the futon and hit her ankle with the tip of her tail.

Only two hours until it was time to get up. Great…

The fourth day, the day of Choza's and Orochimaru's estimated return, saw no change in the weather, and as the morning passed into afternoon the two teams were growing restless. They hadn't heard anything at all. The summon hadn't returned, which in itself was concerning, though no one dared say it out loud.

Naruto found herself sitting with Anko during dinner time. Their food supply was dangerously low and all they had enough for was half a bowl of watery soup. They had boiled snow and used the water to thin out the soup. It didn't really fill their stomach, but it was the illusion of food.