Chapter Text
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru are heading back to Konoha after their latest mission, when they feel a spike of unknown energy - similar to Chakra, but…definitely not Chakra.
It's…something else.
Something cold, almost electric, tingling over Orochimaru's skin, making Tsunade stop in her tracks, and strong enough for even Jiraiya to feel it and go stiff.
When they get to the site, they find a giant scorch mark in a relatively-open part of the forest…and a girl in strange clothes lying at the center of it. Black hair that sucks in all the light, and a pale complexion are the first things they all notice, followed by the decidedly weird clothes she's wearing - pants in a strange material and a thick shirt, but they aren't any kind of suit or outfit any of them are familiar with…and there's a strange character on the front, not one any of them recognize. And her arms are covered in strange black markings, the easiest to identify being a triable with a circle inside it and a black line running down the middle on the backs of her hands, followed by a black band of symbols at her wrists.
Then, she groans and sits up, putting one hand to her head as she blinks open eyes as green as emeralds.
Hari groans as she comes to, putting one hand to her head - the last thing she remembers is…that crazy conversation that happened in that white space. A man in a black suit with jet black hair and skin as pale as if he had no blood whatsoever, telling her she was robbed of the life she was supposed to have. Saying perhaps this new world would treat her better. And then he pulled three objects out of his shadow - a stone, her Invisibility Cloak, and what looked like Dumbledore's wand, turned them into balls of energy, and put them in her chest. Ice ran through her veins, followed by a tingling feeling and being lighter than she can ever remember being…and then she blacked out.
When she woke up, she was…wherever here is, head practically splitting apart, and her body still feels weirdly light and tingly.
Well, not the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me, I guess...
And then she hears the sound of grass crunching, and snaps her head over to see…a group of four people. One white-haired kid with red marks on his face that look like…warpaint? A blonde girl who's holding some kind of weird knife in her hands, a boy with pale skin and black hair…and a man with a large staff of some kind strapped to his back.
The white-haired boy says something, but she doesn't understand a word of it. And then the man behind them clears his throat, expression changing as the teens look at him…and Hari decides to make a break for it before he can grab his giant whacking stick and use it on her like Dudley loves to use his Smelting Stick on her. Adults have caused her more than enough trouble in her lifetime, she's not eager to have anything to do with the one carting around something taller than she is that looks like it'll really hurt if he decides to swing it at her head.
As such, she quickly gets her feet under her and runs like Dudley and his gang are chasing her once more.
Orochimaru watches the black-haired girl take in all of them, her gaze sharpening when she stares at their sensei and the quarterstaff on his back, but the look on her face when Jiraiya asks who she is says…she didn't understand a word he said. And…he can't sense a drop of Chakra from her - but, there is something. Something cold, something that makes his own Chakra senses practically tingle at the feeling of it, something most wouldn't be able to sense - something he can't ignore now that he's noticed it.
So, of course, he's eying her when their Sensei clears his throat. He sees her scramble to her feet and take off like her legs are enhanced by Chakra.
Hiruzen Sarutobi nearly chokes on his own tongue when the girl on the ground suddenly gets to her feet and takes off - and she is fast, very fast. Fast like she's spent a lot of time running. Thinking fast as she quickly disappears into the trees, he yells 'Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru - after her! She could be injured or hostile!" Not to mention an attempt at infiltrating Konoha, for that matter.
All three Genin take off after her, Jiraiya yelling "She's fast for not using any Chakra!"
Tsunade throws a Kunai at the fleeing girl, which embeds itself in a tree she passes at just the right moment, and yells "She could be a spy, Jiraiya! Get your head in the fight!"
Orochimaru, meanwhile, is thinking as they chase after her - she had strange black markings on her arms, and they shifted, got darker, when she turned and ran. Almost like a Seal…except they didn't look like any Seal he's ever come across before in his life.
This is, without question, the most interesting thing he's ever come across in his entire life.
Tsunade catches up to the girl first, tackling her to the ground…only to just as quickly get launched into a tree with just as much force as she yells something in a hissing-sound. Much to Tsunade's disbelief, she gets back to her feet almost as quickly as she was knocked down and keeps going.
Jiraiya skids to a halt just as Tsunade pushes herself to her feet, asking "What happened?!"
Orochimaru lands next to them, and says "She threw Tsunade. I felt it happen."
Tsunade flatly says "You felt it."
Orochimaru shrugs, saying "I just did. I can't explain it, but…she's got a presence about her. Not Chakra, but…something."
Tsunade scowls, saying "I didn't feel anything…except the tree, anyway." Orochimaru's the most sensitive to Chakra, has the strongest Sensory abilities, so it isn't entirely impossible that he can feel whatever this girl's abilities are when they can't. Giving Orochimaru a look, she asks "Think you can track her with it?"
Orochimaru closes his eyes for a moment, trying to concentrate on that strange, cold tingling sensation, then nods his head. "Yes, if I can concentrate."
Hari keeps running through the forest, not even daring to look back to see if she's being followed after getting her tackler off her - past experience says that's a good way to trip, hit the ground, and get caught again. She doesn't even have time to get her shrunken Firebolt out of her pocket and hop on it - if she could...well, she's pretty sure none of these people can move 150 miles per hour.
Merlin, I wish I had my Cloak…
And then, all of a sudden, the familiar ever-cool material of her Invisibility Cloak is draped over her shoulders. She doesn't know how, isn't going to pretend to understand how her Invisibility Cloak she lost back in the Department of Mysteries is suddenly around her shoulders like it never left, but she's certainly not complaining.
Thinking quickly, she hastily climbs a tree and pulls her Cloak up over her - nothing can detect this thing when it's completely covering her, not spells or Wards or even the five senses.
Hopefully, the group that's after her for whatever reason will keep going and she can double back and find civilization. Or, at the very least, find a spot where she can rest and Conjure some water to drink before unshrinking her broom and flying off.
Only to see the group of three teens stop in the clearing beneath her tree, the adult that was with them arrive, and they all start speaking gibberish once more.
Alright, no problem, I'll just wait them out.
Something she's always been good at, waiting for the right moment to make her move. Most of Gryffindor - hells, most of Magical Britain - would call her a coward for turning and running, but when did standing her ground ever really work out for her?
Not with Dudley and his gang of thugs, she'd inevitably pay for it twice over - first at their hands, then at Vernon's.
Fighting Voldemort for the Sorcerer's Stone? She was out for days afterwards, and he wouldn't have been able to get it anyway according to Dumbledore.
Fighting the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets? Bitten by said Basilisk.
100 Dementors? Nearly had her soul sucked out of her.
The Triwizard Tournament? She was ostracized by the entire student population, plus the foreign visitors, Cursed, Hexed, and Jinxed at every opportunity with zero consequences for anyone involved, nearly died multiple times that year, got kidnapped, and used as part of some ritual that gave the homicidal madman back his body.
And she and all the Death Eaters she remembers being in the Department of Secrets played a great game of cat and mouse, her using everything possible as distractions to avoid getting taken to Voldemort.
Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade all stop in a clearing, and Orochimaru says "Here. It's strongest here, she's close." Where, he can't quite pinpoint, but it's almost as strong as when they first found her.
Jiraiya looks around, saying "I don't see anything. You think she disguised herself with a Jutsu?"
Tsunade growls, still sore about getting tossed into a tree. Hiruzen arrives, takes a look at all three of them - particularly Tsunade, covered in leaves, twigs, and dirt as she is - and says "Report, what happened?"
Tsunade growls out "She threw me off and into a tree. I didn't see where she went after that."
"And she has just…vanished? No Chakra signature? No Jutsus?"
Orochimaru shakes his head, saying "Not exactly. What she's using isn't Chakra, but…I can sense it, somewhat."
Hiruzen raises an eyebrow, asking "You can…sense it. Like a Sensory technique?"
Jiraiya shakes his head, saying "No, we can't feel it. Whatever it is…only Orochimaru can pick up on it."
Tsunade adds "And she's left no footprints, no scent, no heat signature…it's like she's a ghost, except she felt perfectly solid when I tackled her to the ground before."
Orochimaru tries to block out Tsunade's angry grumbling and Jiraiya's comments, trying to focus more on that cool, electric tingling sensation, trying to find its source.
After a long minute spent trying to pinpoint it, he opens his eyes and points towards some bushes while saying "She climbed up a tree, it's coming from above us. The only question is, is she still there or has she moved on already after leaving a decoy."
Tsunade raises an eyebrow, asking "What are you doing, then?"
Orochimaru says "Based on her expression when Jiraiya asked her name, she can't understand what we're saying. So," he gestures around in a wide arc, "we're all going to act like we're splitting up. One of us goes up the tree that she climbed, the others double back and hide nearby."
Tsunade crosses her arms in irritation, saying "Let me guess…you're going to be the one to go up there."
Orochimaru points in a random direction, saying "I'm the only one that can find her, Tsunade. I also haven't threatened her with a Kunai, tackled her to the ground, or gotten a look like she decided I was the biggest threat." No, that was Sarutobi-Sensei, for some reason. "I'm also patient enough to wait her out."
Jiraiya rolls his eyes, saying "You just want to figure out how she threw Tsunade."
"That would require her to willingly come out in the first place, you know. And your overly-enthusiastic approach to everything that interests you will likely result in you getting a concussion and her running again."
Tsunade just shakes her head, saying "Well, don't be surprised if she hisses at you and you go flying to."
Orochimaru blinks, asking "What do you mean hissing at me?"
Tsunade snaps "She hissed something at me and I went flying, alright?! Hissed like a snake, and bam, I've just hit a tree."
As if she wasn't already interesting enough…