Whispers
Chapter II: Whispers
Ever since the day Hiruzen met young Orochimaru to deliver the bad news about his parents’ demise, the 3rd Hokage made sure to keep an eye on the child. After all, he was indirectly the reason why the pair were killed, and he made a promise to them that he’ll keep an eye on their only child until he is old enough to protect himself.
“He was in the memorial again, Hokage-sama” One of the ANBU that working for him reported. Hiruzen assigned this man to keep an eye on the boy and make sure that he is well protected. Afterall, the boy was the last living member of the Yashagoro clan. The least that Hiruzen could do for the said clan was to keep the boy safe as the last attempt to save it from complete extinction while hoping that one day it would flourish once again under Orochimaru’s rule.
“I will check on him once I am done with my work. You are dismissed.” The middle-aged man hummed to himself. Aside from the fact that the boy was left under his care, Orochimaru has proven himself to be quite unique and he knew that just like all the members of the Yashagoro clan in the past that the boy will be thriving for greatness. The young orphan is a genius that only comes every decade, and he did not doubt in the slightest that the boy will grow into one of the best shinobi in existence if Orochimaru will choose to follow his late parents’ footsteps.
Upon his arrival to his destination, he can’t help but to feel out of place. Although he made no effort to look at his surroundings or the people within the area, Orochimaru was well aware of the eyes that were looking towards his direction. The pitiful attempt of the adults to coax him to talk to them made him fume but he made sure not to show it to anyone. Afterall, emotion is a hindrance. The heir of the Yashagoro clan has no need for anyone’s pity, his pride will not allow him to grovel for their kindness either. He was taught at young age to trust no one but himself.
“I heard that the Council tried to send him to the orphanage, but the boy downright ignores the order”
“What do you expect from someone whose blood is tainted? The Yashagoro clan were not only famous for producing outstanding ninjas and professionals from their chosen field, but they are also known for not following the rules and will do whatever they like as they see fit.”
“No wonder the clan is as good as dead and with that boy being the last of his clan, I will not be surprised that they will be extinct soon.”
“For the heir of one of the Founding clans to end up in an orphanage, it is understandable why they boy did not want to go”
“Shhhh he might hear us. Poor boy was too young to be orphaned.”
"At least, they left him a huge sum of money for the boy to live comfortably until he is old enough to find work and even if he did not wish to work, all of the properties belonging to his clan will be completely his once he reached the right age."
Orochimaru strides towards his classroom’s direction and completely ignoring the whispers of adults about how pitiful the young boy’s status was in right now or how they felt compelled to speak about the Yashagoro clan that produces the finest ninjas from different generations and mock them at the same time.
Once he entered the classroom, the other children found their seats and they start to talk among their chosen group of friends. Orochimaru ignores them just like how he ignored the adults. To him, they are bunch of sniveling brats, and he never need to be friends with any of them and he doubt that they want to be friends with the remnant of the Yashagoro clan either. As far as he knows, everyone in Konoha sees his clan as an anomaly despite their undying loyalty which almost ended the entire clan and leaving only a sole member as of today.
“Have you heard of the news that Lord Hokage will be taking his very first students from our batch? Isn’t that exciting? Whoever will be assigned to his team will be very lucky. I mean a Hokage as a teacher? That would be a great honor.” A clanless child muttered to her group of friends.
A young blonde kunoichi huffed from her seat at the idea as if finding the entire topic as nothing but foolish. Although she did not voice out her disagreement about the topic, she made no effort to hide her disdain at the idea of having Sarutobi Hiruzen as their teacher. Sure, Saru was kind and powerful. However, he likes to coddle children whenever he could. As a kunoichi, Tsunade has no need to be pampered any longer.
Orochimaru knew almost everything about her. After all, she is very popular because of her blood-relatives. Tsunade, the first grandchild of the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama and the Kyuubi’s jinchūriki, Uzumaki Mito. He was not surprised to know that she was raised to become a pompous brat who will take no for an answer. Although she is very pretty, Orochimaru’s disinterest towards the Senju princess was because she argues with the Uchiha brats in their class during breaktime. As if the bad blood between the two clans has been pass down to the new generations which he finds ridiculous especially when Senju Hashirama was best of friends with Uchiha Madara. Meanwhile, Uchiha Kagami was one of the closest allies of Senju Tobirama.
Tsunade and Orochimaru’s eyes met. The blonde young girl glared at the dark-haired child. Everyone in class is aware that Tsunade hates the idea of only being second best in the class. Heck, everyone was expecting that the academic rivalry will be between the Senju Princess and one of the Uchiha heirs but to everyone’s surprise the Yashagoro heir ended up not just the top of their class, he too was the top of their batch. Meanwhile, Tsunade has no other choice but to end up in the second place. Although she must admit that Orochimaru is no doubt a genius that only comes once every generation, but losing the top spot is a big blow to her pride. Being the Senju princess, she was expected to be the best in everything.