When Orochimaru left Konoha some 15 years ago, he left something behind. A woman held his heart hostage and he never took it back. Thus, there was still some humanity left in him that night he went away. For that woman, he was willing to let a small part of him to feel.
The only time he returned was the week after the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. He wanted to make sure that she survived.
He found her name clearly etched in the memorial, mocking him for leaving her. That night, Orochimaru lost his heart. He learned to live without a soul.
What Orochimaru did not know was that the woman lived. Or rather, the blood of his woman lived in a small child; A child who carried the demon fox; A child who was often mistaken to belong to a certain Hokage with sun-kissed hair and clear sky eyes. However, in the child's vein ran not the blood of Konoha's savior but rather its traitor.
So when the cursed child crossed his path for the first time, Orochimaru never acknowledged him as his own. How could he? He never knew he left two people in Konoha. He wanted this boy to die because the kid was a stumbling block in his path of conquest. He never saw his beloved in this kid, never recognized that the face he was sneering belonged to him.
But when he finally saw the secrets the kid – no, young man – held, he already made an unforgivable mistake. His leering smile slowly gave way to a confused stare, his eyes scanning the young man's stunned expression. Orochimaru's hand lost its grip on the Kusanagi as he backed away from the fox child. There was a tug at his heart; an unexplainable emotion of joy and sadness washed over him.
The demon child was not making any move. Blood was trickling at his mouth. He was staring at Orochimaru openly as if an epiphany dawned on him at his final seconds. And then he smiled as he slowly crumbled to the ground.
This time, Orochimaru came running back to his heart.
As he held the missing piece of his soul, withering away at his arms, he profusely apologized. I didn't know, I didn't know, forgive me, forgive me. Orochimaru wanted to stop the bleeding. The life of his boy was ebbing away and Orochimaru's hand was not strong enough to make it stop. But it won't. It's too late.
"Father…"
With tears in his eyes, Orochimaru found his humanity but lost it again at once. Nevertheless, before he succumbed to darkness, he would say the word both he and his child needed to hear.
"Son."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I tend to be cryptic with my stories, aren't I? What a phase I'm going through right now. Just like before, details are purposedly left out. And why is this a separate part than being another chapter of the first story? I believe the content of this story would not fit the title of the first one. Crazy reasoning, huh?