Snow/Snowed In

(Kelly's P.O.V.)

"What is this?" I asked, picking up a white fur cloak that had been lying on the bed and holding it to my face. "It's like Sesshomaru's tail…" I said.

Orochimaru turned and smiled.

"A family heirloom of sorts…"

"You know, even though the word 'loom' is in heirloom it's not the same loom. It's the Middle English 'lome' meaning tool. Still though, it seems fitting that it would be something woven."

"It was my father's originally."

I looked squarely at him.

"You don't really talk about your family. Your biological one at least." I said.

I had asked about his parents before. He had told me his mother had died when he was 12 and that as far as he was concerned his group of Sound shinobi (the virgin included) were like family to him. I'm guessing that Jiraiya and Tsunade were included in there somewhere but he wasn't ready to admit that yet. Still though, he had never mentioned his father.

"My father passed away when I was young so I never really knew him."

"Passed away or…"

"He was killed on a mission."

I sighed and got up, embracing him.

"It's okay, you don't need to keep talking." I whispered.

That was three days ago. And the cloak had proven handy now that we were in the mountains, nearing the Village Hidden in the Snow. I was huddled against my lover's chest, the cloak was large enough to cover both of us this way, and I was enjoying basking in our shared body heat. As we came over the ridge, we could see the town.

"Hey I know this place!" Hidan said, pointing to the nearest building, "they have a hot spring!"

"Alright!" Jiraiya called, probably excited to do some more 'research'. That particular comment earned him a whack from Tsunade.

"Sounds romantic." I said, smiling up at my lover.

We, as in our entire party comprised of three villages and one dysfunctional band of villains, took up just about every available room in the town. Being a Kage, Orochimaru and I got one of the rooms at the hot springs. I sighed happily and flopped down on the bed, it was nice not having to sleep on the ground, even if I had been using my lover as a pillow most of the time. He didn't mind. But this bed was nice and soft; one of the best and I should know, I traveled a lot as a kid.

"Even stayed at the Ritz once. Best. Bed. Ever."

There was a heavy sigh and Orochimaru lay down next to me, with a whole heck of a lot more grace than I could muster. I peeled my face off the down pillow and looked at him. He had his eyes closed and was pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to stifle an oncoming migraine. Yup, stressed as usual.

"Take off your shirt." I said.

He looked at me curiously.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The shirt. Lose it and turn over."

It took him a second to finally understand what I was going to do and he nodded. I couldn't help but smile as the shirt was discarded and I was able to cast my gaze over his limber form. He wasn't, like, bodybuilder buff, but every inch of his lean frame was muscle, not an ounce of fat on him. I gave my trademark 'Cheshire Cat Grin' and slid myself on top of him so I was straddling his lower back. I brushed his hair out of the way, grabbed his shoulders and squeezed, earning a low groan from him.

"Good reason and logic you're tense," I muttered, "you've got knots on knots here."

"Hrm…being in Konoha is…"

"Difficult for you, I know." I said, pressing down on a particularly tender area.

Orochimaru moaned in satisfaction, I was kneading him into a lovely little puddle.

"You like that?" I purred.

His only response was to sigh happily and sink further into the mattress.

"You've really got to get back into meditating. It's a good thing I'm giving you a massage before we head off to the springs. Right now you're so tense it'd be like doing it with a plank of wood."

Orochimaru chuckled.

"I suppose I could, but I like it better when you do it."

I laughed and leaned down, placing a kiss onto one of the little scars that marred his back. He shivered and my hands moved lower.

I actually had this one sitting around for a while but I wanted to post it with the next chapter but that chapter is giving me problems. *takes deep breath* So yeah. I might have one up by the New Year. Or not. *shrug* It's like that one little hill in the path but there's a Snorlax on top of it and I don't have the poke'flute.