Naruto: I Became Orochimaru's Apprentice

[2 year timeskip... Nothing much happens in this period as Naruto/Sasuke are still in the academy and doing their earliest missions with group seven.]

"I can't believe it's already two years." Teriyaki muttered.

This body was officialy ten years old, what had gone down in the past 2 years was pretty tame. He had simply done errands for Orochimaru, learnt techniques and studies corpses to learn cell biology.

Considering Orochimaru's lair, where he had to live, was somewhere near the hidden mist village he hadn't really gotten to interact with anyone.

Orichimaru seemed to think he could be his succesor, not just through power but also through brain.

At this age, if he was a normal child he would probably be a genin or a chuunin.

That evening, he went back to the lair and Orochimaru was waiting for him, a rare occurence.

"I'm going to have your participate in the chuunin exams."

"Oh?" Teriyaki looked up, intrigued. "Why, Master?"

"I know you can pass them, after all I gave you my signature jutsus and you have become even stronger in recent months. But I want you to keep an eye on the people on my list."

Teriyaki was handed a list, which had some familiar names.

Anko

Naruto 

Sasuke

Neji

Gaara

"I've given you a fake identity, you are an unknown genin from the hidden mist village. The exams will officially commence in a month. Until then, keep working on yourself, I will pass you more information later."

Orichimaru then used the body flicker technique and instantly vanished.

"The chuunin exams... So I have to participate in them."

Teriyaki took a walk outside the lair, this was normal for him these days. He faced a large tree, wondering just how strong he had gotten in this year under Orichimaru.

The tree was at least 50m tall and had been standing for hundreds of years.

Teriyaki went through his techniques.

"First, I'll use Orochimaru's kinjutsu."

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands." Hissing snakes came out from his sleeve, gnawing at the tree's bark.

"Snake Binding." He released two snakes that launched outward and wrapped around the tree.

"Snake Clone." A perfected version of himself walked towards the tree and began punching it.

"Snake shield." From his hand he released a writhing mass of snakes, he was thinking since it was too hard to control them all they could just act as a shield.

"Soft physique modification." This allowed his already flexibile body to twist even more, allowing him to twist his body further than he could even imagine.

"Next, the water jutsus..."

"Wild water wave."

"Water gun technique."

Then finally the two jutsus which Orichimaru had told him to not rest until he had mastered, each had taken months of training to even become useable.

"Body flicker technique." His figure vanished an appeared 5 meters ahead.

"Rising water slicer." A vertical wave of water struck through the tree, blasting apart all the wood in it's way. 

The tree collapsed, falling to the right.

Although he hadn't learn any A rank jutsus, he figured that considering he was only ten, this should be enough.

However there was one catch to his power. Orochimaru's demands rang out in his mind.

"Don't use kinjutsu unless nessecary otherwise people from Konoha will link you to me, and then the result's won't be pretty."

For the chuunin exams, he wouldn't be allowed to use kinjutsu. In the naruto world, your affinity to an element made it far easier to learn jutsus in your designated affinity, that was why Teriyaki had only learnt water jutsu as learning any others simply took more effort and time for similar results.

During his missions for Orochimaru, it went like this.

3 Months ago, scouting the perimeter of the forest.

Three months ago —The air was thick with mist, rolling low along the forest floor. Teriyaki stepped quietly over the damp earth, his sandals making no sound. Orochimaru had ordered him to scout the perimeter, nothing more, using the stealth technique.

That's when they appeared.

Three shinobi, their headbands bearing no village insignia — rogue ninja, or perhaps mercenaries. They weren't jounin, but they had chuunin headbands, they were all old enough to be experienced chuunin. One carried a spear, the second a short sword, and the third had already begun weaving hand seals.

"Oi, kid," the spear-wielder sneered. "What's a little brat doing this deep in the woods alone? Lost, maybe? You know we can see you, right? With that weak stealth jutsu."

Teriyaki's expression didn't shift. His hands slid into a ready position, fingers curled just slightly — the way Orochimaru had taught him.Observe first.

But they didn't wait."Let's just take him out — can't risk him being a scout," the sword user said. "We're on the run for a reason."

The mist churned, and the three of them rushed him, swinging their weapons wildly.

Teriyaki dodged the spear strike with ease, his flexibility allowing him to bend nearly in half backward. The second attacker's blade whistled toward his neck — but with a simple substitution, a log shattered in his place. He reappeared ten meters away, hands already forming seals.

"Wild Water Wave!"A surging stream erupted from his mouth, forcing his enemies to split apart. It wasn't meant to hit — it was meant to reposition. The pressure from the jutsu cut apart the barks of the trees, and caused them to scatter.

One of them spat. "He's Suiton? Great."

But the third ninja, the one who'd been weaving hand seals, was already prepared."Earth Style: Stone Shrapnel Barrage!"Shards of rock tore through the mist like kunai, forcing Teriyaki to retreat again — Body Flicker snapping him just out of range. His legs felt like they were missing, he needed to master this technique to use it better.

"Fast little rat," the sword user muttered, closing in again. "How did he do that?"