A/N: Hey there! It's AverageApple with a new story, and this one is shorter than the last one.
It's about Orochimaru as a child, before he became a power-hungry lunatic.
I hope you enjoy it, and if you don't, give me some constructive criticism so that I can improve!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden or the characters in it.
Rain. It was raining. No wait, it wasn't raining, it was pouring.
Orochimaru stood there, in front of his parent's graves, looking up at the sky. The clouds were steel grey and the sun appeared to be hiding. Maybe it was afraid of lightning storms?
Clash! Boom!
Lightning flashed in the sky and the thunder roared soon after. Orochimaru liked watching storms, they had always fascinated him.
He sighed and looked back down.
Confusion. That's the emotion he was feeling. Death. That's what had happened to his parents. They had died. When he asked how they had died, people would tell him that they had died like a true shinobi, that they had died with honor. But what did that mean to him? He didn't care if they had died 'with honor'. Were they murdered? Did they drown? There were so many ways that they could have died. 'Dying with honor' meant nothing.
Death fascinated the young boy. But not like storms fascinated him, oh no. It was a much different type of fascination, in fact, it was more like a fear than anything. He knew that there were hundreds of ways that people could die. They could die of old age, of sickness, of murder. They could even kill themselves. Orochimaru never understood suicide. Life was too great to just throw away.
His parents had been dead for months, but Orochimaru still came to visit them, every single day. He loved them, he missed them, he wanted them alive. A man named Hiruzen Sarutobi had been taking care of him since his parents had died, but Orochimaru didn't want Hiruzen, he wanted his mommy and daddy.
Clash! Boom!
Clash! Boom!
Orochimaru looked up at the sky once more. Despite his sadness, storms had always had a way of calming him down. It was almost like an oxymoron. Something so loud and disruptive quelled the distress of a young child.
After staring at the sky for a few minutes, Orochimaru looked back down.
"Mama, papa, can you hear me?"
Clash! Boom!
Startled, the boy stepped away from the graves. The lightning and thunder almost seemed like an answer from his parents. After gaining back some of his courage, Orochimaru stepped forward, reaching out his hand and resting it on one of the wet stones.
"So, you can hear me? Are you watching me right now?"
Silence greeted him. He tried asking another question.
"Do you miss me?"
There was no answer.
This dissappointed him. His shoulders slumped down, and he hung his head. Tears began to fill up in his eyes.
He didn't want to cry, he hated crying! But before he knew it, warm tears began to slip down his cheeks and a loud sob escaped his mouth. Trembles quaked throughout his body, and as much as he tried to stop, he was unable to.
He fell to his knees, splashing mud everywhere. His face was now soaked with a mixture of salty tears and rain. Pounding the ground with his little hands clenched into fists, he began to bawl, not caring if anybody heard him. Even the loud thunder and bright lightning was unable to calm him down.
After crying for what felt like hours, Orochimaru was finally able to stop. Swiping the tears away from his face, he pushed himself up from the ground.
"I-I should probably go home now..." He mumbled to the graves, trying as hard as he possibly could to keep himself from breaking down again.
Just as he was about to turn around and leave, something caught his eye. Bending down to get a closer look, he saw that it was a little snake. For some reason, he felt connected to the creature.
"Hey, little guy. Are you lost?"
The snake hissed in response, causing Orochimaru to tilt his head to the side.
"Where are your parents?"
The snake didn't hiss that time, instead, it slithered closer to Orochimaru. Intrigued, he put his hand out, and watched in delight as the snake slid into his palm.
Clash! Boom!
Clash! Boom!
Clash! Boom!
Alarmed, Orochimaru leaped back up, the snake still resting in his hand.
"The storm seems to be getting worse. Maybe I should go home now."
Looking at the serpent resting in his hand, he decided to keep it. They could be friends! With that decision made, Orochimaru walked forward, feeling a little better than he had felt when he arrived.
Looking up at the dark sky once more, Orochimaru smiled.
That's it! I wanted it to be longer, but I couldn't think of anything else to write!
By the way, Orochimaru was supposed to be around six or seven years old in this story.
-AverageApple