"Thief! Thief!" A short, fat man shouted as he ran after a small girl clutching a loaf of bread almost as large as she was to her chest. A mob of fellow merchants soon joined in the chase. They too had been suffering losses at the hands of this street urchin. They shouted at her to stop, to face the consequences of her crimes. She ignored their cries and ran as fast as her short legs could carry her. If she had the choice, she would be sprinting away on all fours. But she couldn't, not if she wanted to eat tonight.
The thief skidded to a stop in front of an alley and ducked in. She planned on using it to cross into a more crowded area. Her heart jumped into her throat. There was a tall, chain link fence blocking her escape. The sound of dark chuckles and cracking knuckles prompted the trapped child to turn around, gazing up at her pursuers in fear.
"AAAAAAAHH!" Her scream rang out over the Tamanegi village, accompanied by the sounds of a vicious beating.
Orochimaru paused just outside the gates of the small, insignificant village. His mission was to destroy it and all those within. The owner of the land the village sat on owed a debt to the Akatsuki and offered the village up as collateral. Unfortunately for the villagers, the landowner was late on his payments again.
The snake Sannin did not wear his usual black and red cloak. Instead, he wore a simple gray and blue kimono. His plans were to stay at the village that night, using the next day to search for fitting subjects for his experiments. With a grin to himself, Orochimaru strolled into the village. The bland storefronts were painted red and orange by the setting sun. Only a handful of people were still out and about at this time of day, finishing last minute errands. They took no notice of the snake-like eyes scanning over them, utterly bored by the monotony of their appearances. No one in the village looked unique to him. They all wore the same neutral colored clothes, with maybe a splash of pastel tones.
The monotony of the village was broken when he heard sobs coming from a dark alleyway. Orochimaru tilted his head in curiosity. Cautiously, he stepped into the shadows of the tall buildings, carefully picking his way over discarded trash. To his surprise, there were spots of dried blood on the ground. Following the trail, he soon found the source of the blood, and noise.
A girl no older then six or seven sat with her back against the cold wall of a building, legs curled into her chest. She cried into her arms, shaking horribly with each sob. She did not notice him walk up to her, nor did she notice him crouch down in front of her. She only realized his presence when she lifted her head slightly, and he placed his cold hand on her face.
Her blue-green eyes shot open in fear. She looked at the man kneeling in front of her, terrified by his cruel eyes.
"Shh, there's no need to cry," The man admonished, wiping away a tear with his thumb. He took a moment to scan the girl's odd facial markings. Three large black dots followed the curve of her lower eye socket. A thick black triangle shape with rounded edges swooped out from the outer corners of her eyes, while thick, teardrop shaped markings defined either side of her nose. Her face was covered in bruises and scrapes, and pieces of her unruly dull black hair were matted together with blood. He returned his attention to her eyes. The girl's irises were abnormally large, leaving only a sliver of her sclera visible. What surprised him was the shape of her pupils. They were not dissimilar to his own, though they were rounder and did not span all of her iris.
"What is your name, child?" The man asked softly.
"I-I don't have one. The villagers all call me 'thief', though," The girl pulled her legs closer to her.
"You don't have one? Then were are your parents?" He asked with fake concern, though he was already certain of the answer.
"I don't know," The tears began anew.
Orochimaru stood up, letting go of the girl's face. He offered his hand to her.
"Would you like something to eat?" He asked, smiling down at her, though it did not reach his eyes.
The girl stared up at him in wonder before shakily accepting his hand. It did not take much effort for him to pull her to her feet. With her small, pink hand in his white one, he lead her out of the dark alley and into the streets, shooting cold glares at anyone who stared for too long. As they walked, he noticed that the girl was limping, favoring her right leg. Soon they came upon an inn. The bedraggled child glanced around nervously. She disliked being inside, because it limited her paths of escape.
"One room, please," Orochimaru requested of the innkeeper.
"Alright, that'll be- wait, what's she doing here?" The middle-aged man asked, reaching under the reception counter for a switch of wood. Just as his fingers touched the thin branch, he felt a bone-breaking grip on his wrist.
"Gah, what the?" He forced out between his teeth.
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you,"
With an exclamation, the innkeeper realized that his customer was no longer on the opposite side of the counter, but directly behind him. Orochimaru tightened his grip.
"Now, are you going to give me a room, or will I have to find lodging elsewhere?" He hissed.
"The keys are in that cupboard. Take your pick, but please, don't hurt me!"
"See? Was that so hard?" Orochimaru queried, turning away from the man - but not losing his grip- and plucking a set of keys from the cupboard.
In a flash he was back on the other side of the counter, keys in one hand and the girl in another. He shot the innkeeper a menacing smirk, and turned away, child in tow.
"What's your name?" The little girl asked as the man dabbed at her face with a wet cloth.
"Orochimaru," He answered shortly.
"I wish I had a name," She sighed.
"Wishing never got anyone anywhere," Orochimaru asserted, pressing the cloth harder into a cut.
"Ow! That hurts," She whined.
"Well? What would you like to be called?"
"Hmm," She hummed, deep in thought, "I think Junko is a pretty name," The girl nodded.
"It suits you, dearest Junko,"
Junko smiled and sat up straight. She had a name! In all of her life, she had only been called 'thief' or 'girl' or 'urchin'. But now, she had a name. A real name!
The moment was broken by her stomach growling. Orochimaru blew air out of his nose in a silent laugh.
"I've drawn you a bath. You can eat after you are clean," He stood up and began to walk out of the room.
"Wait!" Junko cried, reaching after him. He stopped and looked over his shoulder.
"Thank you, mister Orochimaru."
Junko laid down on the large, firm hotel mattress, dressed in a simple white nightgown. For the first time in her life, she was completely clean and her stomach was full and she was warm. Orochimaru sat on the bed next to her, stroking her hair. She drifted off quickly, exhausted by the events of the day, leaving Orochimaru to ponder her.
He wondered about her appearance. She was quite different from all the other villagers, in appearance and mannerisms. He wondered if she was left over from some extinct clan. His musing were interrupted when she began to squirm and mewl, in the midst of a nightmare. He watched with a sick fascination as her nails turned black and lengthened to points. Junko gripped the sheets, tearing them with her claws.
What an interesting child. The Sannin thought to himself.