"You should have told me."

She barely turned around, shielding the girl with her body.

"Would it have stopped you?"

No. It would not have; nothing would have stopped him.

She began to walk away but stopped. The child was standing closer now, this time attempting to get a peek behind her mother.

"Stay away from her, Orochimaru."

Finally, she began walking away. Doing what he did, only this time it was her doing the leaving.

Before they disappeared, the girl finally stuck her head around her mother's figure.

His heart stopped. She looked like him.

He wasn't sure why he went there that night, but he knew he wanted to see her again, if only for a moment.

She still lived in the same small house, still maintained the small garden outside her bedroom. He stood there feeling quite out of place. Eleven years ago this was a spot he frequented. This was where they'd been at peace.

The moon must have cast his shadow through the thin walls as something moved inside her bedroom. The sound of feet pattering from the bedroom came, followed by the sound of the door sliding open.

She was tiny, much smaller than he had been at ten years old, but she wasn't thin as he had been. She was more muscular, healthier than he had looked as a child. She looked up at him with her mother's eyes - byakugan eyes. Around those eyes was his markings - purple linings. Her skin almost glowed in the moonlight, yet her skin was a few shades darker than his.

"Are you my father?"

The question hung in the air, and for a moment he wanted to turn around and leave.

"Yes."

She didn't waste any time, and shot out another question. "Why are you here?"

He looked at her then, and he didn't know how to feel about his daughter. About her lack of fear of him despite what she'd probably heard. About her sharp attitude that reminded him so much of her mother.

"I came to see you," he paused, thinking about his next words. "I also came to give you something."

He reached into his pocket, and took out a scroll. Her eyes immediately locked onto it with recognition. She knew what it was. Smart girl.

"I want you to sign a contract with snakes."

"But why?"

"For your protection."

This confused her. Her father, who she'd never met before...was concerned about her safety? Her father who'd abandoned her mother. Why did he care?

"Why is my protection a matter of concern to you?"

She looked fierce, as passionate as her mother was when she'd addressed him eleven years ago.

"You are my child."

Again, she looked annoyed. "If I were, you would have been here for mother and I."

He didn't say anything. Just observed her. He looked odd, like he wasn't expecting that kind of response, like he wasn't expecting her to be as fiery as she was. But then again, she was his child.

"What is that mark upon your head?"

She looked up at him, confused. "This? This is my seal."

"Seal?"

"Did you not know about Hyūga politics?"

She sighed. "I am not of the head household of the family. I have a seal on me. For control."

At this he looked… angry? And quite a bit scary. He said nothing though, and just stood there.

The door slid open at that moment, and Satomi came out through the door. She was dressed in her night clothes with her hair free of the braids she always wore. "Go back to bed, Aya."

Her quiet voice rung out through the garden.

Aya. So that was her name.

She turned and looked at him, like she was memorizing every detail as if she'd never see him again. To be honest, she probably never would.

Satomi turned away from her, and faced him. "I thought I told you to stay away from her."

She was clearly annoyed with him and challenged him with the glare on her face.

"I wanted to give her the contract."

"She doesn't need your summon. She has the byakugan. She has our way of defending herself."

He was quiet again, and brought up the very same subject from earlier that day.

"You should have told me."

This very clearly made her angry, because the handle of the bench she was sitting on was becoming rather… crushed.

"Like I said, would that have mattered? Would you have stayed? Married me? Settled down? Don't make me laugh, Orochimaru."

She was right. He knew it. But for some odd reason it made him feel annoyed. Angry. Angry that his child was missing from his life. Despite everything he did, he deserved to know.

She knew what he was going to say, and like all those years ago, shot him down. "You don't deserve anything. You have done nothing but hurt all those who cared about you. You don't have my sympathy."

She wasn't looking at him. Her emotions were controlling her. So when she turned around to face him, he was gone.

Yes, I'm starting a new story...

With the amounts of WIP I have in my head, I figured it wasabout time to release one out into the wild...

Much thanks to Jiemae, Sunny, Nera, Pyro, Sibi and Sage (and all my talented friends) for helping me edit this!