This gentle, blond-haired doctor was Yakushi Nono, currently a medical ninja at Konoha Hospital.
In the future, she would go on to establish an orphanage, take in a child named Kabuto, and even gift him her glasses.
Kabuto would inherit her surname, and carry her glasses until the very end.
But there was more to Nono than met the eye.
She was also an elite intelligence operative of Konoha's secretive Root division.
Root…
Sora's mind turned cautious.
I'm just a nobody, barely a student at the Ninja Academy. Surely I haven't attracted the attention of that schemer Danzo yet…
…Or is it because of my connection to Orochimaru?
No way. I just got out of the Forest of Death. There's no way word spread that fast… right?
Maybe… maybe this really is just a coincidence?
"You children are Konoha's future," Nono said warmly. "Helping you is the least I can do."
She turned to Sora and smiled.
"Sora, let me check your condition again, okay?"
"Thank you, sis."
She walked over with gentle steps, hands glowing faintly with healing chakra as she examined the injuries across his body.
"Sora, how did you get hurt so badly?" she asked with a touch of sadness. He was still just a child.
"I was training. In the Forest of Death," he replied, straightforward.
"…The Forest of Death?!"
Yakushi Nono and Might Duy exclaimed in unison.
"Why on earth would you go to such a dangerous place?! Even full-fledged genin can lose their lives there!" Nono scolded with concern.
"She's right, Sora. That forest is too dangerous!" Duy added, frowning.
"I didn't have a choice," Sora shrugged. "My teacher took me there for training."
"…Your teacher? Since when did you have a teacher?" Guy leaned in with a curious look.
CRASH!
The hospital window suddenly shattered as a white-haired figure crashed in through the frame.
"Who are you?!"
Nono and Duy immediately moved in front of the children, shielding them.
"Hahahaha! Behold, the Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku has arrived!"
Jiraiya landed proudly in the room, striking a dramatic pose.
"Ah, it's just Jiraiya-sama…"
Everyone relaxed.
He strode right up to Sora.
"Sora, you little rascal, you finally made it back from your trial! Do you know how long I've been waiting?!"
"Wait… Sora's teacher is Jiraiya-sama?" Guy blinked in shock.
"Nope. He's Orochimaru's student," Jiraiya said matter-of-factly.
Then he turned back to Sora and grabbed his hand.
"We had a deal, you promised to teach me the essence of writing once I helped you find a teacher!"
"Alright then, I'll share the first secret with you," Sora said solemnly.
Jiraiya pulled out a little notebook, ready to take notes.
"To write a bestselling book, the first and most important thing is… the title. It's the face of the story, your first impression. So I suggest, "
"What? What's the title?!"
Sora paused dramatically.
"Make it: Make-Out Paradise."
"Make-Out Paradise… what a name!"
Jiraiya hurriedly scribbled it down. "And how should I write it?"
Sora scratched his head.
"The content… should draw on your years of field research, turn all your, uh, 'observations' into a single compelling story."
"Field research, huh…"
Jiraiya nodded thoughtfully.
"And how do I… structure it?"
"Well, first you, "
Sora rubbed his temple, mind racing.
How the heck should I know?
I just copied all my stories like 'Ninja Boy and 'lil jim the Kunoichi' from my previous life. I've never written an original one in my life!
BANG!
The door to the hospital room flew off its hinges and slammed into Jiraiya, sending him sprawling.
"WHO DARES ATTACK ME?!"
Jiraiya snarled as he flipped upright, ready to retaliate,
"Jiraiya! So it was you who smashed my hospital window!"
A furious woman stormed into the room.
She had long golden hair, flawless skin, and an impossibly voluptuous figure.
A diamond-shaped seal adorned her forehead.
Tsunade.
"Misunderstanding! It was all a misunderstanding!"
Jiraiya's fury instantly evaporated. His posture crumbled into nervous submission.
"Misunderstanding my ass! You clearly came crashing through that window!" Tsunade roared, fists clenched.
"Yes, that was me, but I had good reason, AH!"
Tsunade's fist connected squarely with Jiraiya's face, smashing him into the wall and leaving a perfect human-shaped dent.
"So it WAS you!"
"TENSHŪKYAKU!"
A flying heel drop followed, slamming into the airborne Jiraiya before he could fall.
"AAAH, "
The four inside the room all covered their faces.
They couldn't bear to look.
Tsunade-sama… is terrifying.
What had once been a pristine, tidy hospital room was now a wreck, with walls missing and windows broken.
Everyone stood in awkward silence as debris fluttered in the wind.
"Sora, are you really Orochimaru-sama's student?"
Guy pulled Sora aside, wide-eyed.
As one of the Legendary Sannin, a hero of the Second Ninja War, and once a contender for the Fourth Hokage, Orochimaru was the pinnacle of the ninja world.
To become his disciple? That was a dream not even most commoner ninja dared entertain.
"Yeah. I spent the past half month training under Orochimaru-sensei."
If you count being thrown into a death trap with zero guidance as 'training', anyway…
"Amazing. You're really the student of one of the Three Legendary Ninja," Duy said in awe.
Yakushi Nono's expression shifted slightly.
She had assumed Sora was just a poor orphan, nothing more.
She hadn't expected him to be Orochimaru's personal student.
That evening, both Sora and Guy were discharged from the hospital.
With the help of medical ninjutsu, even torn muscles and beast scratches healed quickly.
Sora returned alone to his long-empty home.
…Wait. Something's moving.
His instincts, sharpened by his time in the Forest of Death, flared up.
The moment he stepped through the courtyard, he caught the faint rustling of movement.
Eyes narrowing, he pulled out a kunai and dropped into a defensive stance.
From the shadows, a massive gray serpent slithered forward, as thick as his waist.
Sora's breath caught.
Then he remembered, this must be one of Orochimaru's messenger snakes.
The serpent slithered to his feet, opened its mouth, and dropped a saliva-covered bundle on the ground, then vanished in a puff of smoke.
Sora wrinkled his nose.
Seriously, Orochimaru… You look like such a clean freak, but you're always making people or snakes vomit up objects. It's gross.
He opened the bundle.
Inside were scrolls… and several blank white sheets.
"Training materials?"
Even though he complained, Sora couldn't help feeling a trace of warmth.
Orochimaru might be terrifying, but… he hadn't forgotten his student even while out on a mission.
He picked up one of the blank sheets.
Chakra paper.
Used to test chakra nature affinity.
In the world of ninja, chakra was divided into five basic elements, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water, which formed a cycle of strengths and weaknesses:
- Fire > Wind
- Wind > Lightning
- Lightning > Earth
- Earth > Water
- Water > Fire
Sora poured chakra into the slip.
The paper instantly split into four sections:
> One burst into flames,
> One was sliced clean through,
> One turned wrinkled and crumpled,
> The last crumbled into dust.
"Fire… Wind… Lightning… Earth?! I have four elemental affinities?! That's amazing!"
"…But no water. Is that because Devil Fruits are supposed to be weakened by the sea?"
But I already tested that, I don't go limp when I touch water…
Sora frowned in thought.
<150 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter>