Onoki bowed, if only just. "Your visit is rather early Magojiro-dono." He said. "The spectator open portion of the exam is nearly two months away as of yet."
"We're competing." Orochimaru chose to speak up dropping the subtle illusion, his pale face morphing out of the shadow of the genjutsu.
The Jounin flinched, Onoki's face grew severe, hard as chiseled stone. "You." He growled.
-0-
Kuro-chan! That's Orochimaru of the sannin!"
"No way. Can't be." She narrowed her eyes. "Grandpa would kill him if it was.
"It is!" Akatsuchi insisted. "Mebuki sensei said he was all pale like a ghost and had black hair."
"There are probably plenty of people in Konoha like that!" She countered, knowing that her grandfather, the strongest ninja in the whole village would wipe the floor with the Sannin if he ever came here and didn't hide like he was so famous for.
-0-
The Sannin plastered on the sickening smile that still haunted the nightmares of Iwa veterans. "Me." He laughed. "Me. Me. Me. Remind me, what was that splendid name your brave elites gave me after the night raids of Rice fields? It does me so good to hear it from time to time. It brings back the memory of their screams." He turned his eyes toward one of the Jounin, the youngest one.
A gleam of serpentine eyes and a potent, focused killing intent had the man break out in a cold sweat, a visible shudder running up his spine.
His smile grew a bit. "Ahhh yes that was it...the Death dealer."
"Enough!" Onoki cut his hand through the air in a sharp gesture, and the suffocating illusion was lifted from the younger man.
"I agree." The Daimyo rumbled. "We've come to enter your team into the exams Oro-kun. Not to have you goading Ryoutenbin's men in the streets!"
"You actually have a team?" Onoki raised an eyebrow.
He'd heard rumors but the thought of this twisted creature with students was beyond his belief.
The sannin turned to look over his shoulder. "Your eyes must be going in your old age Ryoutenbin." He stepped aside, allowing the elder man the full view of the three kids.
Onoki ignored the insult and took one look.
Then he froze, his face contorted in a seething fury.
Naruto felt the killing intent slam into him like a physical blow. He was almost caught off guard by it. Though there had been some hostility when they first met in his own time, it was a bucket of water compared to this ocean that was leveled out before him.
Then he remembered that it'd only been seven years or so since the end of the war.
It'd been sixteen by the time he met the man the first time.
Sixteen years is time enough for tempers to cool and memories to dull.
Seven, evidently was a whole different story.
Onoki took one step forward and Orochimaru was there, blocking his path and his line of sight again, smiling glibly though his limbs were tensed for an attack.
"You..." The words were such a seething mass of loathing Orochimaru could almost feel the acid burning the back of the Kage's throat.
"Me!" He laughed again.
-0-
"Holy crap that was intense" Ryoko breathed a little easier as soon as the killing intent let up.
"What in the world happened there?" Kyofu shuddered. "That...that wasn't just some random prejudice. It couldn't have been."
Naruto frowned, droning them out, already hearing the escalating voices between Onoki, Orochi and the Daimyo, watching how the ninja around the gate tensed and the samurai at their backs did the same.
It couldn't go like this.
He didn't know Onoki well.
But he knew Iwa ninja.
He knew them, fought with them, bled with them and watched friends die beside them. Just like before the prejudice was here it was just...fresher in their minds. If he could overcome it before he could overcome it now. But he couldn't just let this whole thing spiral out of control with Orochimaru goading the man into a conversation that would leave Onoki frothing at the mouth for a chance to kill them again.
It couldn't go like this.
Without any warning he stepped forward and moved to march around the serpent.
"What are you doing!?" Ryoko hissed moving to grab him before he darted out of her reach and peeked his body around Orochimaru's leg to look at Onoki who was staring up at the two men.
Instantly, in the most childlike voice he could muster which was rather easy all things considered, he spoke clearly and loudly.
"Hi!" He smiled. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Wanna be friends?"
It was rather amazing, to be standing at the cusp of a city, surrounded by more than a hundred people, and yet have it so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
-0-
"Hey who's that kid?"
"What did he say?" Kurotsuchi asked.
"Don't know...he's smaller than us."
"Everyone's smaller than you."
-0-
Onoki swiveled his head around, giving him the most incredulous look anyone had ever seen on the man's face.
"You...what?!" He balked.
Naruto stepped around Orochimaru's leg fully, standing nearly at eye level with the Kage
"Well, I'm friends with Saru-Jiji and he's the Hokage! You're another Kage too so you wanna be friends too?" He smiled the megawatt bright smile
Onoki's face still hadn't changed from that gobsmacked look as though his brain was still trying to process the original query and just kept finding a hitch of logic or an error along the way.
Finally he seemed to snap to his senses, features growing stern again, though the killing intent was far less than it had been before. "No!"
.
.
.
‼️If you want to access to more than 400 advanced chapters, wait no more and subscribe to my Ko-Fi, where you can buy books in completely downloadable PDF format.‼️
☕️ko-fi.com/skyarc☕️