The Harsh Truth

Chapter 2

Orochimaru had brought the team, his team, towards a training ground. He had taken in the seemingly expressions of Naruto slowly turning darker and grimmer by the second, and had been more than right about his leg being stiff because of a cast.

The training ground had a lot of undergrowth, bushes, trees, and was maybe a bit too closer to the outskirts of the village than any other training grounds, but it still wasn't something as bad as the training ground forty-four.

The snake sannin turned around, letting his smirk become evident, at the sight of the three Genins, three naïf, little, whiny, Genins, that he was either going to find something interesting in them, or would send back to the academy without a second thought.

Naruto was interesting, that much, Orochimaru had been certain of since setting his gaze on him. Itachi was interesting too, being an Uchiha, but without the sharingan, he was a bit less worthy of notice. The third was a war orphan, a no-one, and she was scared. He could feel fear, like any snake would, it was the same fear of the mouse standing in front of its predator, and right now, the snake Sannin could actually read, clearly on the girl's face, what her thoughts had to be.

That was what made him grin, maybe he'd keep her around, just to see her scared senseless face, and if not, he could always mentor the two boys and throw the Kunoichi back into the academy, or into one of his latest experiments.

"Present yourself," Orochimaru spoke quietly, crossing his arms over his chest, and letting his back move against the tree's bark.

Itachi raised an eyebrow, as Anko too had no idea what the man was saying, but he was a legendary Sannin, so maybe he was simply saying something too complicated to be understood? Damn, maybe it was some sort of sensei-ish stuff she should have learned at academy? Maybe it wasn't covered by the second hand book she had bought…she gulped, nervously, as Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, Orochimaru-sensei," the boy spoke, sporting a small bitter smile, "I have no interests worthy of notice, and my sole purpose is surviving while seeking the truth," he added, making Anko's face turn perplexed, what truth was there for him to find? Except him making no sense at all when replying to their sensei, who must probably was going to eat him alive, minimum, for saying such nonsense.

Orochimaru simply nodded slightly, before turning his gaze to Itachi, who, following the preset made by Naruto, replied.

"My name is Itachi Uchiha, Orochimaru-sensei," the boy spoke in a polite, and calm manner, his eyes trying to take in the entirety of the snake sannin's presence, "I enjoy visiting Japanese café, and my dream is to bring peace to the shinobi world," as Itachi actually spoke, the frown on Orochimaru's face appeared visibly, making the Uchiha's face puzzled, as it seemed something he had said had made the snake Sannin wince.

"Dreams are fickle," Orochimaru hissed, "Purposes, Objectives, Ambitions, Determinations, Achievements, those are strong things. Ideals, dreams, hopes, those are things for the weak willed. If you seek something, achieve it, if you cannot, then you are not worthy of being a shinobi."

Itachi nodded silently, letting the words echo in his head, trying to make sense of them, what the man was saying was basically that he should simply strive harder, to obtain peace, and not let it be a dream, but an objective to reach.

Finally, Orochimaru's gaze turned to the Kunoichi in the team, who was slightly nervous, as she spoke, in a barely audible whisper.

"My…My name is Mitarashi Anko, Orochimaru-sensei," she said, carefully making sure to say the appellative correctly, "and I like…conducting tea ceremonies," she added, slightly holding her breath in wait for any reaction, that, however, didn't come, from either of the men in front of her. Well, the two young ones didn't know her usually brash attitude at all, and Orochimaru probably didn't care at all, "and my…" don't say dream, don't say dream, "ambi…objective, is to become one of the best Kunoichi of Konoha," she finished, hoping not to have made the man angry.