a/n: I'm very sorry for not updating so soon. I am part of the graduating class so have a lot of requirements to finish. I really didn't have ample time to do a chapter. But thankfully, I was able to. Thank you for recognizing my error. I really thank you for that. Anyway, the sin that Oro's mom made will be discussed in the upcoming chapters and the lover of Oro will be discussed in the next chapter. Thank you for the reviews. Anyway, without further ado, I give to you the second chapter…Tada!

Chapter two: Legends are born

I remember it clearly, the day I arrived at the village of the hidden leaf. That day was a bit cloudy and the air was a bit chilly. The golden rays of the sunshine hid behind the dirty white clouds. Despite that fact, I still saw young children like me playing hopscotch. I was so eager to join them that I did not thought of my appearance and I did not hesitate to approach them. But my mentor stopped me and told me to wait while he tries to find me a place to stay permanently. I first I didn't want to and I compelled him to allow me to play. But, I came to realize immediately that he had a purpose and I knew I had to be patient.

Though it took a few hours to find a room for me, we did find one; a small, humble little room that had everything I needed. And coincidentally, that room became the room of the blonde haired boy, namely Uzumaki Naruto, after I left. He too spent his nights alone, just like me. I have feeling that if he had met me, the boy would understand how I felt. But, no, he met Jiraiya…

Anyway, every now and then, I always recollect my childhood. And every time I did, I always find that room lost in my memories. I vividly remember how that room looked like because I have stayed there for almost my life. It had topaz walls and oak furniture. The refrigerator was placed a few meters across the door and the table was closest to the fridge. The bed stood farthest from the window because of my childish fear of monsters. And a tall oak cabinet was beside my bed. The cabinet had every kind of clothing I needed; 7 daytime robes, 7 night attires, a pine green vest, which I received later on in my stay in Konoha, and of course underwear. I was also given a desk to study. This is where I kept my shurikens, kunai, scrolls, explosive tags, and the like.

I call to my mind what happened in my first night in Konohakagure. It was raining hard that night and I was all alone. Sensei was out on another mission so he couldn't accompany me. I hid my small body behind the covers and shut my eyes tight. I could hear the heavy rain and the screaming of the wind. The room was so dark. Only when the lightning flashed was there light. I shivered in fear and in coldness. I was freezing. I was afraid. I became to miss my mother. How I wished she were still alive. I imagined that if she were there with me she would hug me.

I recall one night in the fishing village. It was rain hard, so hard that the waves spanked the seashore and ground the seashells to dust. I remembered that the only brightness in that house was a small candlelight that danced feeble with the storm. My mother protected that small light while she watched out in the window waiting for Oto-san to come home. I watched her as I lay in my futon feeling cold and afraid. I tossed and turned on my bed because I couldn't go to sleep. Oka-san then lied down beside me and hugged me. Soon afterwards, I immediately fell asleep.

That was what I needed during my first night in the village. I needed someone to protect me. I needed someone who would look after me. Apparently, there was none. I was only left to comfort myself. You can image how it felt. Imagine a six-year-old boy was taken away from his parents, brought to a different world, and left to spend his first night alone. I was afraid. But, I got over it somehow. As life continued, I got use to sleeping alone. And I began to appreciate it more than sleeping with somebody.

The days passed quickly without a word from my sensei. I was beginning to worry that he had forgotten about me and found another kid. Still, I was determined to become a ninja. Also, I had nothing to return to if I did want to come back to my hometown.

The days without the shinobi I admired became weeks. The weeks become months. And the months became years. I no longer seek to see nor worry about this man. For after three months I arrived at Konoha, a young female chounin knock at my door and escorted me to the Konoha Ninja Academy; of course, I didn't know what I would be doing there. All I knew was that this was the path of those who wanted to become a shinobi. I enthusiastically obeyed the kunoichi and escorted me to a classroom.

I slowly took my steps as I try to open that door because I knew, though I have no idea what was behind that door, that a new chapter of my life would open. I took a deep breath and hoped that everything would be alright. And thankfully, it did.

When I opened the door, a lot of kids were playing and running around. Some of the kids were familiar faces from the playground who were playing hopscotch. Others were just knew faces to me. But despite the large number of children, somebody stood out. He was a white haired boy about my age. He had small red linings that trailed down his eyes. He was a loud and clumsy boy, I later found out. He was not really that bright. But little did I know that this boy would play a large role in my life. We grew up together and we became the best of friends. He once tried to win me back but failed to. He was a boy that belonged to a very prominent family but he still enjoyed simple things. He grew up to be a talented shinobi but he refused to be a hokage. (I never did understand him.) He was a pervert, still nevertheless is an honorable ninja. He goes by the name of Jiraiya, one of the names I could never forget.

"I'm Jiraiya!" he approached me and offered a handshake.

"Don't come close to that kid." His friends warned him. Nevertheless, he didn't hesitate.

"I'm Orochimaru…" I looked away from him pretending to be cold. He grabbed my hand and forced a handshake.

He smiled. "We're going to be great friends, I can tell."

I replied a half-smile. Looking back more than forty years ago, I can't believe Jiraiya was right. We really did become best friends, though I still don't want to admit it. Even during my betrayal, I never held a grudge against him and still saw him as a best friend, a yes, as brother.

But, of course Jiraiya wasn't the only person that was of importance to me. A certain little girl also became part of my past. She was a girl with high expectations from her elders and everyone around her because she is the eldest grandchild of the first hokage. But, she was a light-hearted girl with a lot of dreams in her life. She had blonde hair and hazel eyes. She grew up to be a talented medical nin and became one of the greatest heroes of the great war along with Jiraiya and me. She had a sad adolescence because of the death of her brother and her lover. Nevertheless, I salute to her for come this far. She enjoyed her childhood teasing me as much as Jiraiya teased her and as much as I criticize Jiraiya.

As a child, we enjoyed playing a game of rock, paper, and scissors. It was a simple game where you can either 'make' a paper (showing your palm), a rock (fist), and scissors (showing only the index finger and middle finger). The objective is simple: win by defeating your opponent by making any of the three figures. Scissors defeats paper. Paper defeats rock. And rock defeats scissors. So, all the three things are of equal power. I spend my spare time playing that game with Jiraiya and Tsunade.

No matter what I do, even up now, I can never win to Tsunade, she can't win to Jiraiya, and Jiraiya can never win to me. Somehow, the three of us balance each other. That was maybe why we were called the legendary sannins. We were a those groups that could never win to another because we were of equal power.

It is much like the snake, frog, and snail. The three of us chose these creatures because probably it resembled us the most. I chose the snake. Jiraiya chose the frog. Tsunade chose the snail. We asked the help of these entities, especially during the Great War. We symbolize those three and we live up to their name and standards, even up to now.

We were around twelve years of age when we graduate from the academy. It had already been nearly seven years since I arrived at Konoha. Jiraiya, Tsunade, and I were assigned under the same group. We were happy to be under the same team. But, our problem was who would be our leader. We didn't want just any leader. We wanted someone talented and skilled. Thankfully, it turned out to be someone who was. Finally, after a long time of not seeing him, I finally saw him again, the same man who rescued me from my regular life as a fisherman. He was my mentor, my sensei, the person I looked up to. He is Sarutobi, who later became the third hokage.

You might think that during childhood I already knew his name. Only did I found out his name was when he introduced himself to us. He did remember me when he saw me. I was somehow relived by that fact. I enjoyed our test which was to steal the bells from him (though we failed at our first attempt). It was funny because that test was the same test given to Sensei by his teacher, to the Yondaime by Jiraiya, to the Yondaime's students by the Fourth, and of course, to Naruto and Sasuke by the son of the white fang who is a student of the Yellow Flash.

I spent those days of my life going on petty missions. As I recall, I only received five class B missions and one class A mission. I enjoyed watching Jiraiya make a fool out of himself as he tries out new techniques and jutsus and listening to Jiraiya laughing at Tsunade. And at the same time, I hated the moments when tsunade teases me for being Mr. Know-it-all. Nevertheless, I can say my childhood was a happy one.

I remember one afternoon while we training, sensei was giving us words of wisdom, if that is what you call it.

"The priority of a ninja is to accomplish a mission. Remember that." He said. "You must not also forget the people you cherish. They are also important to you."

The three of us nodded but I there was something that was puzzling to me.

"Ne sensei," I asked. "What if in order to succeed in a mission, you must lose the person you would cherish most? What would be the right thing to do? Save the person or finish a mission?"

Sensei smiled. "Now, that's thinking…"

I don't really. Coincidence or not, when my team took the chounin exams, that was the same question that was asked. I don't really remember how I answered that question. But, I became a chounin, so did Jiraiya and Tsunade. I received my chounin vest. After that, the three of us became officially known as the legendary sannins. And sadly, we slowly drifted away from each other as we began to follow our own paths.

If you think the story is about to end here, think again. This is just the beginning of the really story behind one of the greatest ninja that ever lived. Yes, my story is just about to begin…

a/n: thanks a lot for reading the fic. Sorry, for the grammar lapses and typo graphical errors. Anyway, I hope you guyz enjoyed this chappie and you look forward to the next one. So, got to go! Tata!

P.S. The concept about the sannins being similar to rock, paper, scissors is from a Naruto website, not from my imagination. The story of the sannins is actually based on a Japanese folktale. So there, I hope I cleared everything up!