Long post warning for Gaiâs new backstory. Honestly this AU began with that one image of Gai with his katana above in the trees and then I kept trying to bend canon to fit that image
I kept wondering why Gai might leave, and then I thought honestly the village sucks. Why wouldnât he? But what might drive him to that point? Maybe seeing people he knows should be respected treated like dirt?
At this point I hc that the villagers are influenced by certain shinobi who slander the Maitos, and the Hatake clan. But why would villagers even dare to stand up to powerful ninja??? I hc this as a guerilla campaign by Danzo to âstrengthenâ the village.
Hereâs why: undermine the weaker clans like the Maitos, so that they leave. And ostracize people like Sakumo (old clans capable of rallying against/fighting ROOT). And isolate powerful, socially unfit shinobi (like certain sannin) so they can be used âproperlyâ by ROOTâŠ
Except the script flips here for me. Orochimaru, still only on the cusp of becoming ROOT sees this ostracised kid defending everybody (even those outside of his family) the village hates - Hatake Sakumo (hated in death even), his son, and sometimes - even Orochimaru himself? Kakashi tries to warn Gai away from Orochimaru (bc heâs a Rules boy now), but Gai has had enough people warn him away from Kakashi at this point, so he doesnât listen.
Orochimaru is not entirely pleased by this. I hc that Orochimaru is also contemplating leaving the village at this point, but is being held back by hazy promises of Danzo offering him knowledge. And by a small boy dogging his heels in admiration. Kakashi also hangs back but at a respectful distance, mostly bc he thinks Orochimaru will eat Gai or sthg.
The final blow comes when Maito Dai passes (also I have no idea where that is in the timeline, but Kishi didnât care so ÂŻ\_(ă)_/ÂŻ ).
Gai canât believe this, his father who gave his life for the village - who was so powerful - is still not respected even in death. You know Dai wouldnât even be a footnote in history for Konoha. To that, add Kakashiâs own ostracisation, people calling him Cold blooded Kakashi. Gai wants to believe in the village, but he really canât anymore can he? They wonât even let him learn his fatherâs legacy, the suicide jutsu - bc itâs âforbiddenâ.
Orochimaru finds him in the dead of the night, trying ineffectually to escape while Kakashiâs on an ANBU mission. Gai forestalls what he thinks might be a lecture, telling Oro that the village sucks, that it has stripped all the nobility of being a protector of the village. That all they do is fight for money and power. Orochimaru, who has confirmed that Danzo wants to use him, but also that the Sandaime is as bad as Danzo is - had been thinking of running for Hokage to change the village to be more open to clans like his. (You know the village basically hates his clan bc theyâre snakey okay).
But he looks at this teenaged boy, and he knows that (a) the boy is right, and the village wonât change. Wonât even accept him as hokage, even Sarutobi sensei doesnât believe in him. And (b) this foolish boy will die in the forest.
SO. Guess who gets a new sensei with Orochimaru studying in a forest lab?
Iâm not saying Orochimaru becomes GOOD MAN, he doesnât. But the experiments on children donât happen, bc training a genin is time consuming, and Orochimaru has someone who might judge his actions (like Jiraiya & Tsunade used to, when they werenât being drunk or absent). Someone who might be a moral compass. Two people who are the last of their clans, clans hated or ridiculed by Konoha.
The 8 Gates fascinates Orochimaru though, and he does go on to become a snake sage. And Gai? Gai becomes a fierce swordsman, and a terrifying shinobi. He never scratches the leaf symbol on his headband (which he hides behind his scarf) though, because he believes in the idea of the headband. Not what the headband has come to be. (more rambling in tags)
romaincrisis
blakekathryn
turnnoffyourmind
stormborns
gummygunk
tangentwithtanner
