Sunset Shimmer: Kunoichi

by RIPoste

Prologue

Orochimaru was a scientist, first and foremost. Twenty-four hours a day, one would easily find him standing in one of his labs, working on one project or another. An obsession, his old master would say, back before he had denounced Orochimaru as a traitor to Konohagakure.

Still, today was not one of those days, as Orochimaru found himself wandering the streets of a village near the borders of Kumogakure, dressed as if he were a rich wandering merchant. A standard get-up that he donned wherever he needed to work in the open. After all, while he had a vast following of underlings, a certain aspect of him prefer to handle his machinations himself, after all, there were no surer way of ensuring things go exactly as one plans other than to accomplish it himself.

Besides, if he wanted new subjects, he would much prefer to pick his choices out from the dregs of the village by himself.

“Stop, thief!”

The sudden shout had Orochimaru’s attention for a split second, and would have him disinterested in the next, if not for what he saw in that small timeframe. A small girl, who definitely was not more than ten years in age, sprinted along the road. That in itself was hardly interesting at all. What caught his attention was how he found his attention instantly slipping wherever he attempted to focus on the child.

Sometimes, he would catch a head full of flame-colored hair. Others, he would see emerald eyes. At other times, a pair of emerald eyes. Others, a body covered in rags. Still, even as he found himself focusing on a certain part of the child, the other descriptions somehow faded away from his mind, almost as if they never existed.

Genjutsu, and it was not a light one in any case and to be able to bypass his defense... Let it be said that to be able to affect one of the legendary Sannin to this degree was not an easy task at all… Orochimaru concentrated, sending a pulse into his chakra veins. That would normally be enough to dispel any Genjutsu placed upon him.

But it didn’t. Orochimaru smiled, his interests had been piqued.

Follow. Capture. He signed with his finger, the gesture undetectable unless one was actively looking for it. Orochimaru may consider himself a peerless shinobi, but even he was not foolish enough to wander about without at least one or two escorts. After all, they were supposed to handle the more menial tasks such as this.

He felt the presence near him disappear, and Orochimaru allowed himself a rare smile. Looks like he would soon have a new pet project. With that thought in mind, he turned and walked, though one who had been paying attention may find that his pace had quickened.

---

~1 week later~

It was disappointing, to say the least, and Orochimaru had been looking forward to the results from his experiments on this particular subject.

Unlike most of his other subjects, he had kept the child, a girl, comatose and in a relatively healthy state as he proceeded with his work. After all, she was his only available guinea pig for figuring out that particular Genjutsu that she had used only last week.

Still, what he found was nothing out of the ordinary. Normal chakra veins, a normal body, no outstanding organs. Nothing that could suggest how she had managed Genjutsu on that level.

“Mmmmh…” Orochimaru mumbled in thought. “Perhaps in her neural activity?” He said as he maneuvered his scalpel to her scalp.

---

~1 Month Later~

The girl had attempted a breakout.

Orochimaru grinned. His experiments that day had not borne any fruit, but he still harbored hope that the child still retained the abilities that she had shown him on that one fateful day. As such, once the child had fully recovered, he had the shinobi that captured her toss her into a cell and placed under constant duress. A monitored one, where Orochimaru could see her every move.

Like he was doing so right now.

He replayed the recordings before him. A trio depicted the prison cell, the corridor that led to it and the room after that, all playing the scenes of the red-haired girl attempting to make her way out of compound past the guards that he had stationed there.

Seven others showed the faces of the guards, playing back the recording of their descriptions of what had transpired throughout the breakout. All gave different descriptions, but what they said remained roughly the same.

The child had retained the ability. But as far as he knows, it had nothing to do with her neural activity, her chakra lines, or even her physical attributes. Eliminating each of these possibilities, there were only a few possibilities left, some less… desired than others.

Perhaps, a change in tactics was in order.

“Amachi,” He said, pressing a button in the intercoms before him. “Have Ume moved to the same cell as that child. She will know what to do.” Ume was a kunoichi who like most of his other underlings, were expendable, but was not without a valued skill set. From what he had observed in the past few days, not only was the child illiterate, but she also lacked most of the general knowledge. Ume would gain the child’s trust, but also teach her. It would smoothen communication when the time comes.

Especially since he would learning that child’s secrets with the much-desired Sharingan that he would have acquired by then…

---

~1 year later~

“Orochimaru-sama!” The head scientist Amachi quickly dropped to his knees. “Forgive me, I did not know that you would be here!”

No one would, in fact, considering that the Sannin came here on a whim. He had been brooding as of late, to be honest, especially since he had failed to take the Sharingan from Uchiha Itachi. That had forced him to leave that organization, and he had spent the last few months shaking off his pursuers. It was not when he was merely passing by this particular hideout when he had remembered the small pet project that he had running here on this little island

“How was the girl?”

“Which one are you referring to, Orochimaru-sama?” Amachi asked.

“The red one.” He clarified.

“Ah.” The head scientist quickly turned to bark a series of orders at one of his assistants, who quickly sped out of the room, before returning with a stack of files. Taking one from the stack, Orochimaru quickly scanned the contents before moving on to the next one.

Apparently, the child had taken well to her new ‘inmate’, and had been learning studiously under her. According to Amachi, her learning capacity was staggering, capable of mastering not only the entire alphabet, but also the literary arts within months despite the fact that all Ume was provided to use to teach her was a single charcoal pen.

Still, the child was crazy. Land of ponies? Equestria? Another world? The words were so foreign that even Orochimaru found it ridiculous. In the end, it was concluded that the child was delusional, desperately clinging onto a fairytale to preserve her sanity. A conclusion that Orochimaru found himself agreeing with.

However, despite her delusions, the child had seemed completely rational. Not an unusual case, considering that she had been living in a harsh environment when she was found, and subjects that had survived in terrible conditions were often shown to have developed eccentricities to help them cope.

Perhaps it would be time to pick the fruit. After all, Orochimaru was simply dying to learn the secrets behind that particular ability. He sat down on a nearby chair, and began to formulate a plan…

---

~The next day~

Orochimaru stood watching the cameras, watching the events play out. In multiple cameras, clamorous fighting erupted as his own underlings engaged in intense, but non-lethal combat. However, his eyes were focused on one in particular.

A child was pushing herself against the wall, trying to distance herself from a man and a beaten woman on the ground. The woman was no longer moving, probably due to the two long knives buried in her chest. Not that he would care, after all, he was merely waiting for the opportune moment.

He watched as the flame haired girl pushed herself off the wall and the man staggered as though struck. He smirked, it seems that her innate power was still as strong as ever. Still, a malnourished girl was no match for a trained Shinobi, no matter how incompetent one he was, and the soon fell to the ground, a couple of what looked like kunais buried in her legs.

That was his cue.

In a burst of speed provided by the body flicker technique, Orochimaru left the surveillance room and charged down the myriad corridors. It took about a full minute before he arrived outside the cell where he had placed the girl and Ume.

He could still hear the guard threatening the child, as he had instructed, striking fear and despair into the heart of the child. However, he did not deign to tell the guard the whole plan, though one had to be understandable, considering what he was about to do next.

He stopped behind the guard, and before the other man could even register his presence, Orochimaru buried a kunai in the guard’s neck, killing him instantly. Smiling inwardly, Orochimaru kept his face passive as he walked up to the child.

“Are you okay?” He asked the child warmly, who fixed him with wide, terrified eyes.

“Are you okay?” He asked again, carefully controlling his facial features to portray that of a concerned adult. The child tearfully nodded in response. Reaching out with a hand, he smiled.

“Come.”

The girl looked at the hand fearfully. Suppressing the rising feeling of irritation, Orochimaru chuckled warmly.

“Come with me, I’ll make sure that you are safe.”

That seemed to do the trick, as the child visibly gulped before reaching out with her small hands to grip his own.

The hard part was finally over. Orochimaru smiled, genuinely this time.

Author's Note:

Heya, so this is a story that I had in my mind for quite some time and I must say that it was just a relief to get it out for my head. To think it all started with a simple question: What if Sakura was Orochimaru's agent?

So one thing led to another and here you go, a "What if Sunset Shimmer took over Sakura's role and was Orochimaru's agent?"

Yep. Well. That's enough from me to be honest. So I won't keep you from reading the first chapter.

Regards,
Riposte

P.S. I really hoped I got Orochimaru's personality down. It's been ages since I last watched Naruto, and while I am starting to binge watch him, Orochimaru was still one of the few characters that I dind that I'm still having trouble with.

Comments

[AxelFones]

It’s a good start. I appreciate showcasing how Orochimaru got her loyalty but only stuck to the main points instead of getting bogged down in multiple chapters of set up lol. Man, having her only friend die after months of learning from her must have been awful. Simple but effective way to gain her loyalty and adoration by ‘saving’ Sunset in the aftermath.

[Sollys]

I kinda like this, take it slow though seems rushed.

[redandready45]

Orochimaru has got one mighty weapon. Someone with power and cunning.

[Creus]

I usually don't touch the crossovers with Naruto but I like this one.

[Sylica telca]

Ooo this is fascinating. I'm sad to see her only friend died infront of her

[RDDash]

Is this Naruto?