Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.
A/N: Remember when Jasper kept calling Steven by his mother's name? That's where I got the idea. Also, because Sarada asks Mitsuki if Orochimaru is his mother or father. I'll try to elaborate some more on the gem differences from this universe and those that are canon. It's an AU so what the hell, right?
Un'beta'd
Orochimaru isn't his father but he isn't his mother, either. He wasn't born from a womb like the other children or harvested from a Kindergarten like the other gems. Mitsuki knows this for a fact because he asked. He'd been told the mechanics and even examined the notes that helped create him. He should hate being an abomination but he can't bring himself to hate Orochimaru. He's seen the lengths the other underwent to produce him from his own gem that it makes him feel special. He holds a piece of his maker, embedded with strength and love.
How could he hate something so meaningful?
-o-
The gems and humans of Konoha whisper behind his back, say things that hurt at times, but he tries not to care. While many don't know him personally, it doesn't stop them from speculating what he might become. After all, no one has birthed or harvested a Lepidolite in decades and the last of their make had been Orochimaru.
It's rare for words to cut deep but when they do it tears at him. There are feelings - anger, resentment, hostility – that bubble up and threaten to spill out. His father tells him they're lingering thoughts from before he was created. They're feelings that are burrowed so far down that they cannot be removed unless he's shattered and regrown. Orochimaru says he can do it without killing his self but Mitsuki vows to never remove his father from his gem.