Post-drabble 3!
Konoha wasn't too bad. That is if it were being compared to Kiri, and Kisame was doing exactly that even as he watched Orochimaru scowl blankly at the redheaded woman clinging to his arm. "You treat sensei right, you hear me? I'll mess you up properly if you hurt him, y'know!" she snarled, waving a kunai at Kisame threateningly before pouting as Orochimaru snatches it out of her hand.
"Kushina enough," hisses the Sannin as he shakes his arm free, fierce golden eyes narrowing into threatening slits before rolling in exasperation when an offended squawk erupts from nowhere. The Hoshigaki turns in time to see a violet-haired blur streak by and ram into Orochimaru, a little girl – most likely a genin – looks up at Orochimaru with wide, wounded eyes and a hurt voice quivers as she speaks.
"How could you, sensei, you said you wouldn't help Kushina with her training anymore now that you've got me!"
Laughing at his soulmate's expression of utterly aggravated defeat, the swordsman pushes up from his seat to pull Orochimaru out from between the two kunoichi and lets the snake step behind him for shelter. "Who are you?" the girl demands, rounding on the shark-like man and standing her ground even as he grins at her – all teeth but no warning. "Sensei, you said you would help teach me more poisons, why are you hiding-?"
"That's sensei's soulmate, Anko, how could you have not heard? Pretty boy fainted when he heard about it." Kushina cuts in, grabbing Anko's shoulders with a bloodthirsty grin, adding, "I could teach her a few things you taught me, sensei, if you want to spend some time with Blueberry."
This gets a cackle from Anko, and a dubious blink from Kisame as Orochimaru sighs heavily. "In other words, you're going to teach her even if I say otherwise. I'll make extra batches of antidote for the collateral damage, now get out of here." the Sannin orders, stepping out from behind Kisame as his two students grin at each other – running off without looking back.
"Blueberry?" Kisame asks in confusion and Orochimaru gives him a pitying glance.
"Kushina finds ridiculous things to call people. She calls me 'Slinky' most of the time if it helps?"
It does – just enough – and the Hoshigaki snorts, returning to his task of carefully wiping down Samehada. The two of them had been in the middle of a conversation about swords when Kushina had arrived, but for the life of him, Kisame couldn't remember where they had been. "I apologize about my students, Mikoto is the only one who isn't as rambunctious as Kushina and Anko." Orochimaru borderline groaned sliding back into his seat with was seemed to be a great deal of relief. Kisame grins at his soulmate in response, reassuring that it was fine before their conversation switched back to their previous one until the sun began to set.
"Do you not need to head back to Kiri?" the snake summoner asked suddenly, sounding concerned. "I would think the Mizukage would like to know where her top Jounin is."
Did he seriously forget to mention it? Kisame looks up, his hands freezing in the middle of wrapping Samehada up again. "The Mizukage and Hokage agreed to allow me to be a shinobi for both Konoha and Kiri," he says, and Orochimaru blinks in surprise. "I need to spend a maximum of half a year in Konoha before heading back to Kiri."
"So, do you have a place to stay in Konoha?"
"Not quite…" he'd gotten distracted with talking with Orochimaru, meaning he had completely forgotten about finding a place to stay. He didn't think it mattered too much yet; a cheap hotel room would be fi-
"I have a spare room if you'd like." Orochimaru offers, entirely catching Kisame off guard – because even after a bare minimum of three months he knew how sacred Orochimaru's home was to him. The swordsman blinks, looking at his soulmate curiously, and the Sannin tellingly doesn't look at him, though he can still see the color tingeing high cheekbones. Chuckling softly at the other's blush, the shark-like nin accepts the offer with a hum – if Orochimaru made the offer in the first place, he clearly felt comfortable enough to have Kisame in his home – before standing up while slinging Samehada over his shoulder.
Orochimaru stands with him, flush now down to a hardly visible tint, carefully falling into step with Kisame as he guides him with a few soft comments. It's not quite surprising to Kisame when they head out of the village slightly, following a road lined heavily with trees and bushes. There are houses out here, he realizes as the area thins out a bit more, houses and gardens and plenty of well maintained, shaded sitting areas. It would easily fool a civilian, or even a genin if someone were to wander across this place, but it doesn't fool a shinobi like Kisame.
The area is abandoned, devoid of any human chakra signatures, and he remembers overhearing Tsunade talk about how it wasn't healthy for Orochimaru to live alone the way he did. This had to be the snake summoner's clan lands, all but empty now that he was the only remaining survivor. "This way," murmurs Orochimaru, turning down a different road as he brushes his hand over a huge snake that was lounging on a stonewall. "I hope you don't mind the snakes, they usually keep to themselves."
"I don't mind at all," Kisame reassures, grinning a little.
Orochimaru nods slightly, stepping onto a porch and forming a single hand sign before he reaches for the door. Next thing Kisame knows he's looking around the living room as Orochimaru makes tea in the kitchen. There's a photograph on one of the many bookshelves of a man and a woman – Orochimaru's parents most likely – sitting on the porch together, smiling and leaning against each other with a small child just barely visible in the window. Orochimaru takes more after his mother, Kisame realizes, studying the woman's long black hair and pale skin before shifting his gaze to Orochimaru's father – who had spiky brown hair, average skin, and familiar vibrant golden eyes.
It's purely coincidence that he spots the other picture frame – tucked sideways between the books – but he carefully pulls it out to look at it. A photo of Orochimaru – young and smiling with a light in his eyes that Kisame hadn't seen before – in the middle of his parents, but also in front of an elderly gentleman. "So that's where that went," Orochimaru says from beside the swordsman, smirking when Kisame jumps a little. "I've been looking for that picture."
A little sheepishly, Kisame offers it to his soulmate in exchange for the tea in his hand. The Sannin's smirk changes to a soft smile, his thin fingers trailing across the frame of the picture as Kisame watches him. "Who is he?" he asks, trusting Orochimaru to understand.
"My grandfather," the smaller male whispers, his tone nostalgic, setting the photo next to the one of his parents. "He lived with us until he died. The Nidaime was great friends with him, it's because of that friendship that my clan was able to work out a way to get around needing immense amounts of chakra to do many A-rank or even S-rank jutsu."
Kisame watches Orochimaru, curious and intrigued by the gentle expression his soulmate wore before smiling when golden eyes flickered up to his face. Orochimaru flushed slightly, looking away and mumbling something about dinner as he made for the kitchen once again. This makes him chuckle, just faintly, before the swordsman decides to call out an offer to help. Nearly two hours later, Kisame finds himself watching Orochimaru in a way that was very nearly fond as the Sannin slept in one of the chairs in the living room.
Certainly, that couldn't be comfortable. The Hoshigaki tilts his head a little as he wipes a stray droplet of water off his cheek, finding it amusing that his soulmate had fallen asleep so quickly. He hadn't been in the shower that long, had he? Either way, he steps forward quietly, wondering if it would be better to just wake Orochimaru or carry him to his room. The latter would be easier, Kisame decides as he carefully slides his arms underneath the other's sleeping form, lifting him up against his chest.
If he finds the small whine Orochimaru makes in his sleep cute, no one needed to know. He finds Orochimaru's room easily – it's the only other room with a bed in it – and it's even easier to lay the Sannin down before leaving without waking him. Kisame grins to himself – feeling smugly victorious – walking back down the hall towards his room, sitting on the mattress, as he gets ready to lie down.
Just as he's about to, he catches sight of his wrist and freezes as he reads the words written on his skin.
'Thank you, Kisame, sleep well.'
The swordsman smiles at the message, tracing his finger over the neatly looping hand – entirely unsurprised that he didn't see the message on Orochimaru's skin.
I have no idea where this went, but I really just rolled with it lol! KisaOro is unknown and underappreciated, meaning I'll drag it out of the shadows for the world to see! Hope you enjoyed~!