Orochimaru decided that it wasn't all that bad in Akatsuki. There was free food, a matching cloak, free room with a private bathroom, and he got to do whatever he really wanted to do. He didn't really get why they had to paint their nails though.

A little gurgle was heard from the bed and the black-haired man got up from his seat at the wooden desk. He sighed when she giggled at him. She had figured out that he was the one who had her food and attention. When he wasn't there, or she couldn't see him, she'd cry louder than Tsunade when she was mad at Jiraiya.

He poked her belly playfully and received a giggle from that. It was too easy to make her laugh or smile.

Her eyes were a light brown with golden flecks and her smiling lips were a light pink. A rosy dust covered her chubby cheeks and honestly, she looked adorable enough to make Pein take a double much to the Sannin's delight.

Orochimaru shook his head and got rid of the smirk he had been wearing. His gaze fell on a clock he had bought and repeated the similar routine he had been following for days.

Usually, routines were bad and could be the end of a ninja's career, but that changed with the arrival of Keiko who woke up in the middle of the night and took naps in the daytime. It screwed him over the first few nights but after a few more days, he decided that those pregnancy books were gifts from the gods.

Carefully, he made some formula for her and tested the temperature on his wrist just as the books told him to do. When he deemed it safe for her to drink, he picked her up and sighed wearily when she began to be fussy.

"Now, now," he reprimanded her, "Be good Keiko-chan. You can't be fed if you're fussy."

Sometimes, he wondered if the baby could understand him at times as she slowly simmered down and became quiet for him. A satisfied smile grew on his face and he began feeding her. During these times, it was when his thoughts seemed to run wildly. With Keiko sucking on her pink bottle with flower designs, the only sound in the room was her drinking her meal and the ticking of the clock.

It was strange really; Orochimaru never thought that he would be taking care of a newborn, much less taking care of a child that was supposed to be Tsunade's and Dan's. He wondered what he would've been doing if he hadn't thought of this crazy idea almost twenty years ago. Would he be half mad and delving deeper and deeper into the dark side of human nature? Perhaps he would be dead and lying six feet under?

He wasn't sure what to make with such dark thoughts, but he couldn't see himself as a happy man living his life out to the fullest. Didn't he think about marrying the perfect woman someday?

A small scoff followed that naïve thought. He and Jiraiya had briefly fought over Tsunade when they were younger, but once they became teens, he lost interest in fighting for his teammate's affections and focused on bettering Konoha.

He stopped his train of thought when he heard a small whimper. He winced and whispered a small apology for shoving the bottle in her mouth a bit too much. That probably wasn't very comfortable...

With a small sigh, he looked around his room once more. It was plain and yet it was full of his scrolls lying on the ground without a care. It didn't bother him though, his room was sealed with enough silencing and privacy seals to make Jiraiya dizzy. If anyone came into his room uninvited, they would get a nasty shock when they tried to open the door.

Keiko let out a brief sigh, signaling him that she was full and happy. The Snake Sannin set her bottle beside him and brought her up to his shoulder, making sure to support her neck. He patted her back, listening for a burp. His nose detected her soft scent and he wondered why she smelt so sweet and warm. She had a specific scent just like any other person, but for him, it was different. It was as though he could specify which scent would be hers and which wasn't.

When she burped, he nodded in satisfaction until he noticed that his shoulder was also wet. He paled slightly and sighed wearily. She had added an extra "gift" for him.

"Keiko-chan..." She responded with a tired giggle. He got the message and set her down on the makeshift crib he created with pools of blankets. It was decided that he'd buy her a crib when he was alone; it was too risky to buy it if he was with his partner. He turned to his new stain and hurried to wash it out. The small blonde cried out and whimpered like a lost puppy when he disappeared briefly and he leaned out of the bathroom doorway to show her he was still there. A damp towel was currently being applied to his off-white shirt and he looked over with a curious look, almost as if he was asking her if she was happy now that she had seen him.

A few hours of silence passed where he spent looking at his scrolls, trying to decide where to go after this. He had a few labs hidden away in each country where he could live and hide in. No one, not even Jiraiya knew where they were all located, something he was proud of. His old friend was exceptionally good when it came to finding him whenever he wanted to have a reunion.

He turned his head before he heard a knock on his door. Meeting time.

A clone was made to watch over Keiko and keep thinking about what to do while he left his room with the signature Akatsuki robe. Opening the door, he found the hunched over figure of his partner, Sasori of the Red Sand. The man was impatient and spoke little about his puppets. It mattered little though, Orochimaru already heard what the man was talented for.

"Where shall we be heading today, Sasori?" He didn't bother with a suffix; people rarely added a suffix of any sort in Akatsuki.

"The Tsuchikage has paid for us to dispose of missing-nin for him," was the blunt reply he got. Sometimes, Orochimaru wondered if he should give the title of Apathetic King to Sasori, the man probably was a puppet anyway.

"How many?"

"Five."

"Does he need their heads?"

"Yes."

"Time?"

"A week."

The older man mentally sighed in exasperation. Konoha would be so proud of his "teamwork" and "bonding". Sasori had been a man of few words and no heart. Orochimaru wasn't even sure if the man had blood flowing through him. He wasn't exactly sure he wanted to know how there'd be no blood anyways.

His thoughts briefly fell on Keiko and he wondered if his clone could last that long. He had a few sealed up just in case, but he'd rather not use them unless necessary.

As he stepped out into the bright sunlight, he mused silently as the feeling of parental separation appeared, that Keiko would enjoy looking at the differently colored leaves in autumn. The bright oranges and reds contrasting with the blue sky and the cold, nipping wind, signaling winter's approach, it truly was like poetry. He could imagine her small hands trying to grasp for the bright leaves and putting them in her mouth much to his ire.

"It is like a piece of art, isn't it?" he mused aloud as he and Sasori began on their trek. His mind froze and he quickly berated himself when he saw his partner become...passionate.

"Art is forever. It will last for all eternity." Oh dear kami-sama, Orochimaru sighed and tuned out his partner's long, long, lecture about the beauty of eternal art. He wondered briefly if this was karma's way of getting back at him. It wouldn't surprise him or anything though, karma and the gods seemed to like screwing him over in life.

"I thought art was a blast?" Orochimaru commented offhandedly, not really noticing the shocked silence Sasori went into. "I went to an art exhibit once and it was a blast. The people were generous and the art was good."

The Sannin paused when he noticed his partner had fallen behind. "Sasori?"

The man in question seemed to be chanting something along the lines of, "Art is eternal," and the black-haired man wondered if he'd broken the other man. Suddenly, Sasori's head shot up, his eyes narrowed, "Fine art is eternal, everlasting! It will never be a blast."

Orochimaru could feel his shoulders droop as the man ranted about how eternal art was better than a blast of art. His mind wondered how Keiko-chan was and he truly wondered if he was doing the right thing. She really should've been with Tsunade and her apprentice, Shizune, not with him.

He hoped the mission wouldn't last too long, he didn't want to listen to the art lecture anymore.

Hello!

I would like to thank you all for reading this! As a thank you, I suppose I'll update with a much longer chapter next time!

S.R.457: So, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "the good parts", do you mean large time skips or skipping to things that show up in the show? Hmm, I was actually thinking about having him stay in the back since that seemed more like his thing, but I'll think about that possibility.

I wish I knew who you were too Guest, but I'll just say thanks? Haha, I hope it's not too horribly morbid though, there shouldn't be too much after these first few…hopefully. If there are, I'll change the rating.

Ahem, I suppose this is also where I apologize for Sasori fans. *bows* I'm very sorry for making him so OOC, but this chapter needed something silly and this was the best I could think of...

Anyway! It seems that I'll be doing lots of chapters about the members of Akatsuki and their interactions with Orochimaru and Keiko, so look forward to that!

Well, thank you and I hope you're having a great day! Happy reading to all of you!

See ya!