Orochimaru woke up feeling crushed.
He sat up slowly, wincing at the sudden, sharp pain in his head. "Kabuto?"
The boy was sitting at the end of the bed he was lying in, and he was smirking. "Good morning, Orochimaru-sama. A little sore?"
Orochimaru groaned and blindly kicked at Kabuto. "You did this on purpose?"
"No, actually, I didn't. I think my chakra hit a nerve ending while I was replacing your clan information. It's very interesting-"
Orochimaru kicked again, and Kabuto ducked, laughing. "Stop kicking like a horse and you might actually land something!" Orochimaru at exactly that moment gave Kabuto a firm and well-placed kick in the head, knocking the genin over and onto the floor.
"Shut your mouth," he snapped, and Kabuto gave a whine of complaint. "And get up."
Kabuto gave another whine, this time one of defiance, but he slowly crawled to his feet and sat down next to Orochimaru. The sannin fell back against the pillows Kabuto had stacked behind him, still exhausted.
Kabuto placed a gentle, soothing hand in Orochimaru's hair and stroked it back from his face. "No, really, are you okay? Can you remember everything?"
Orochimaru closed his eyes. "I think so…"
"Some things may have surfaced as well," Kabuto said. "Things you may not have been able to remember before might come back. I overturned a bit of your memory as well, so old trauma may come back as well…"
"Like what?" Orochimaru asked, feeling Kabuto's hand begin to move in his hair.
"Has anything…horrible, happened to you in your lifetime?"
Orochimaru thought back. "When I was young…just a boy…my-never mind, just…I was hurt, badly, by another person. That's all you need to know."
Kabuto sat back, and the comforting hand left Orochimaru's body. "In what way?"
Orochimaru lowered his head. "I was nine or ten…" His voice lowered even more, and Kabuto only caught some of what Orochimaru was saying. "…Repeatedly struck around the head…"
Kabuto reached for Orochimaru. "What?"
Orochimaru recoiled from Kabuto's touch. Kabuto, confused, pulled back. "What's wrong? You've never-"
"Don't talk; just don't talk right now…"
Kabuto shrank back at the sannin's biting words. "If you didn't want me to touch you, you could have just said so."
Orochimaru shook his head. "That's not it. Were you listening to a word I just said?"
Kabuto thought back for a moment. "Repeatedly struck around the head…that's the trauma I was talking about. A past experience that you thought you had gotten over has come back to haunt you…" Kabuto put his face in his hands. "Orochimaru-sama, I'm so sorry, I can take it from you if you want-"
Orochimaru shook his head and looked away. "I don't even know. How bad is it? Can you tell?"
"How bad was it initially?" Kabuto asked.
"Horrible," Orochimaru said. "Everything was a blur…I ran away a few days later, but no one could touch me for days. Except one person…Sarutobi…he was…I just trusted him…eventually I blossomed into the shinobi I am today…but I was so badly traumatized no one thought I could ever be a shinobi. But I used that fear to my advantage…and I rose above even my teammates."
Kabuto reached out to Orochimaru's shoulder, and the sannin shot backwards. "I told you," he said, voice shaking, "No one could touch me."
Kabuto exhaled. "I have to hide this again. I'll stay with you until you fall asleep again, then I'll go in and hide this."
Orochimaru nodded. "Thank you."
Kabuto sighed again and moved in front of Orochimaru. "I saw, when I was returning your memory, a flash of…someone, he looked almost…familiar…"
Orochimaru exhaled. "I'll-I'll tell you…some other time…but I can tell you that he was very familiar to you…"
Kabuto sighed. "…It's Sasori…isn't it?"
Orochimaru froze up, then slowly nodded. "How do you know-?"
Kabuto glared. "He was once my enslaver. I think I would remember him, don't you?"
Orochimaru nodded. "Of course. I'm sorry."
Kabuto cocked his head curiously. "You aren't acting very traumatized…"
"Only when someone tried to touch me did I lose my mind. Any other time…I was fine, for some reason. For the longest time I associated people with fear and pain…and Sarutobi…"
Kabuto nodded. "Okay, I'm going to go into the next room. I'll wait until you fall asleep again, then I'll come back in and hide this."
Orochimaru nodded. "This shouldn't take long."
OOOOOOOOOO
It didn't take long at all; Kabuto checked again in five minutes, and Orochimaru was sound asleep. Kabuto sat down silently and slid into Orochimaru's mind.
Memories immediately flooded Kabuto's senses, and he saw Orochimaru's dream pattern. Kabuto watched with curiosity; Orochimaru as a child…only…nine or ten…
Kabuto gasped and moved for the part of Orochimaru's memory that contained this. He had to completely wipe it; fast!
Kabuto hesitated to so, though; if he messed up, Orochimaru would never be the same, ever. No matter what he did. Retreating, Kabuto knew that he couldn't do anything while Orochimaru was dreaming, otherwise he would disrupt Orochimaru's thought pattern permanently. He settled back, waiting. The second the dream ended and Orochimaru went into a lighter phase of sleep he could remove the memory.
A man towered over Orochimaru, who was huddled in a corner, looking frightened. Orochimaru's hair was in his face, not long enough yet to be tucked back or pushed over his shoulder, and it gave him a very innocent look. But at the time, he probably was.
Kabuto watched as Orochimaru slid back farther, trying to make himself as small as possible. Whoever it was kept smacking Orochimaru, and Kabuto could see the welts left by the other's hands. Orochimaru was screaming now, and he was trying to get out from the corner he was backed into. However, this only earned him a harsh kick to the sides. Kabuto could see the marks on Orochimaru's eyes beginning to spread-What?! He has a bloodline??
Orochimaru's purple markings were all over his body now, and he pulled a small kunai from his ankle; clever little brat, even as a child. Purple chakra began to glow around Orochimaru's body, and snakes began rushing forwards. As his sleeves blew up with the chakra, Kabuto could see the swirling tattoo on his arm. He could summon…at the mere age of ten?! What…what kind of ninja was he?
Kabuto watched as Orochimaru took off, galloping towards the man in front of him, barreling right through him, and continuing out of the house. Orochimaru ran for miles, finally collapsing and bloodline receding as he fell in front of two huge gates: the gates of Konoha. One of the jounin on watch picked him up and carried him to the Hokage's Tower, where Sarutobi accepted the child and took him back to his own house. And from then on, Orochimaru was the cold, cruel, monster he had been for as Kabuto could remember, and more.
The dream ended, and Kabuto quickly overturned Orochimaru's mind. Retreating from Orochimaru's mind, Kabuto gently shook the sannin to wake him.
OOOOOOOOO
Orochimaru awoke in Kabuto's lap.
Twisting until he was comfortable, he braced his head against Kabuto and waited for Kabuto to speak first.
"I succeeded in overturning your memory. I did not wipe anything, I did not touch anything else, but I did see the dream you were having…you may or may not remember it…"
Orochimaru shook his head. "I remember. You only hid the trauma, right?"
Kabuto nodded and began stroking Orochimaru's hair again. "I'm sorry."
Orochimaru shrugged. "I have a bloodline. My father practically beat me to death. I ran away from home after killing him. He killed my mother, and she was nice to me. Sarutobi knew I was different, and did nothing about it. Kabuto, emotions have no place in my heart anymore."
Kabuto felt tears rising to the surface and caught Orochimaru's wrist as he rose from Kabuto's lap and went to leave. "Just because one person in your life was a total moron doesn't mean everyone else is!" he cried. "Come on, admit it, you have a place in your heart for me! I may be the only one, but Orochimaru, you do release your emotions for me. You and I both know it!"
Orochimaru froze, trembling, and then yanked his hand from Kabuto's. "What do you know about me?" he whispered, challenging Kabuto.
"I know that you and I are the same," Kabuto replied, and reached for Orochimaru again. "We were both abused, and we ran away from it all. We both found refuge in a Kage, and we both bled out hearts onto the ground, then crushed them underfoot for another. Orochimaru, don't deny this. I took this from you, and I returned it. That's how I know you don't hate me."
Orochimaru's hands were shaking uncontrollably as Kabuto spoke. "Kabuto, stop! I get it!"
"No you don't! And you neglect, on a regular basis, like me, to think before you act or speak! Orochimaru, we're both headstrong and sometimes stupid. We act without thinking, but we don't care, and our genius ninja skills more than make up for it."
Orochimaru's legs gave out, and Kabuto caught him as he fell. "And our pasts continue to haunt us," he whispered, stroking Orochimaru and pulling him back with him to the bed. Kabuto sat down and settled Orochimaru in his lap.
"Please, Orochimaru, just accept this."
"What happened to 'Orochimaru-sama'?"
Kabuto shrugged. "We're too alike for that anymore."
"Do that in front of other people and you will die where you stand."
Kabuto smiled and chased tears from his eyes. Orochimaru really was hurt, badly. Itachi had been relentless with Orochimaru, and Kabuto knew the sannin was still traumatized. Tsukiyomi was what had drawn so much of this up, not Kabuto. And Kabuto had tried to fix that, but had run out of time on the first try. That was why Orochimaru had been so clingy; he was traumatized. Kabuto knew now that Orochimaru really was him; a horrible past, a horrible present, and one thing that complicated everything…
"Orochimaru…"
The sannin opened his eyes and lifted his head from Kabuto's shoulder. "Hai?"
Kabuto exhaled softly. "I've…I have a confession to make…"
"…So tell me."
Orochimaru sat back on his heels, across from Kabuto. His hair fell into his face when he cocked his head curiously. Kabuto smiled and brushed it back.
"You look way too innocent," he murmured, and pushed it back over Orochimaru's shoulder. "I wish Kimi hadn't taken those bones out…"
Orochimaru shrugged, and Kabuto felt his heart wrench. Where did that go…? "I've been hiding something from you…as well." Kabuto murmured. He took a deep breath before continuing,
"I, too…have a bloodline…"
A/N: Wheeeeeeee! Orochi cuteness!!! It isn't his fault he lost his cute, sweet innocence…it happens to us all as we grow up. He just grew up…wrong. Anyway, please review, and no flames…