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Nana didn't really know all that much about Orochimaru-sama. By which she meant that there weren't many notes on him in her notebook.

In addition to not knowing much about the missing-nin's history, Nana could never quite remember his face either.

When she thought of Orochimaru, she thought of long dark hair, flowing robes, and an unnatural, elegant, smoothness to the way he moved.

As of now, Orochimaru was the only person she could actually recognise. Which was where Byakujutsu usually came in and told her the names of people she met. That way, she could keep a neat list in her notebook and include important information about said person.

Being a reanimation sure did have its downsides.

—

Unbeknownst to Nana, the little girl had always struggled with recognizing faces.

Orochimaru had learned about this many years ago when he was assigned as her sensei.

—

"More students?" Orochimaru questioned his former sensei.

"Yes," the wan nodded, pipe in hand as usual, "Though it's only one this time. Not a full team. I think she could be good for you. I've seen you less and less in the village recently, Orochimaru-kun."

"You're concern is of no need, sensei. I'm fine."

"I know you've been struggling since the death of your previous genin-"

"That was six years ago."

Hiruzen gave him his disappointed sensei look, "Healing from loss is not a linear progress and I know you haven't been taking any time off" He sighed and his face softened. "You have always been bad at processing grief. Even as a child. Take Nana on as a student. I think she'll be a great help in getting out of your own head a little."

Had Orochimaru been anyone else, they might have stopped his foot indignantly (Tsunade) or pouted petulantly (Jiraiya) but alas, he simply inclined his head with narrowed eyes before disappearing from the office.

Sensei didn't know what he was talking about.

—

And he didn't. Not really.

First of all, Orochimaru was doing just fine mentally. At least compared to where he was now.

But most importantly, Orochimaru hadn't been alone. There had been someone at his side almost every day.

At first he had thought of it as annoying but eventually the persistent jounin had wormed his way into the snake sanin's heart.

For better or for worse.

—

The first time Orochimaru met Hatake Sakumo was the year in which he found an infant in the Forest of Death.

(He never quite figured out how she had gotten there in the first place.)

On his way through the village to bring the child to the orphanage he was nearly run over by a group of dogs.

He turned to the shinobi following them, sure it must be an Inuzuka, but hesitated when he found a tall silver-haired man instead.

"Ah, sorry Orochimaru-san," the man apologized, "Takeo got a bit carried away and where he goes, the others follow," he chuckled.

Orochimaru blinked, "You're the White Fang."

"Was it the hair or the wolves?" the man laughed.

"Pardon?"

"What gave me away?"

Orochimaru looked from the dogs–wolves–to the spiky silver hair of the man in front of him.

"The wolves," he replied.

(The man didn't have to know that he simply remembered Jiraiya sharing drunken adventures with this man. His friend really was very good at describing people's appearances.)

This was when the man saw the infant hidden in Orochimaru's loose robes.

"Oh! Congratulations Orochimaru-san!"

Orochimaru looked down at the child, "You're mistaken. I found it in the forest."

"You found a baby in the forest?"

"The Forest of Death, to be precise."

"You found a baby in the Forest of Death?"

"Yes," Orochimaru was getting annoyed at these questions, "Now, if you would excuse me."

He made to walk past the silver-haired shinobi.

Said shinobi stood still for a moment longer before seeming to shake himself out of it, "Right."

Orochimaru proceeded on his way for a little while before coming to a stop again.

"You are following me."

"I am."

"Why?"

The White Fang grinned, showing off a set of sharp canine teeth, "Just because."

Slitted golden eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Alright, maybe I have hidden motives…"

He knew it.

"...I had been trying to find a way to approach you for a while. Seems like my summons did the work for me," he chuckled wryly.

"You wanted to meet me? Why?"

"Just because. Jiraiya says you're a great friend."

Orochimaru highly doubted the toad summoner had said anything of the sort. Then again, he did tend to get quite sappy at times. He supposed he could let the explanation pass.

"Fine then. You may proceed."

Orochimaru continued on his way, his shadow close behind him.

"I'm Hatake Sakumo, by the way. Don't think I actually introduced myself."

"Yes, I know who you are. Most Leaf shinobi do."

"Right."

"And Jiraiya really does talk a lot."

Sakumo laughed, "That he does."

—

That was the first time he met the famous shinobi. And unbeknownst to them at the time, also the first time he met Nana.

Orochimaru hadn't seen the child again until she became his student.

—

Orochimaru looked at his new student. She was all of six years old with big purple eyes and hair a similar shade to that of a certain Hatake.

"I am Orochimaru and I expect you to be diligent in your studies."

The girl looked up at him, "I'll do my best Orochimaru-sensei."

"I expect nothing less." Orochimaru had replied and then proceeded to run Nana through different skill assessment tests.

He saw now why Sensei had given her to him. The girl had potential.

Aside from being excellent at taijutsu, she also had the basics of kinjutsu down and would no doubt make a good swordsman with the right training–training that Orochimaru would have no problem to provide.

She also apparently had an affinity for iryojutsu, the likes of which he had last seen in Tsunade when she was a similar age.

All-in-all, this was a student Orochimaru could work with very well.

The only downside to his otherwise near perfect student was that she apparently couldn't remember him.

"Sorry, who are you again."

Orochimaru, not sure if the otherwise serious kunoichi was playing a trick on them, narrowed their eyes before replying, "Orochimaru. Your sensei."

"Oh, right! Nice to see you again, Orochimaru-sensei. What are we doing today?"

Similar instances happened all week before Orochimaru decided to investigate. Nana's files stated she had grown up in Konoha's orphanage so it only made sense that they would know something about this.

He got a hold of the orphanage's headmaster, a man by the name of Taigen.

"I had been wondering when Nana's new teacher would visit me." the man said in reply to Orochimaru's query.

They raised a questioning brow, wordlessly asking the man to continue.

Taigen clasped his hands together in front of him, "Nana has… problems remembering faces. It's not that she forgets you but rather, how do I put this? She lacks the ability to put together facial features in a way in which it would let her recognize people. Don't worry, as long as you don't change things like your hairstyle, she will come to recognize you."

"I don't cut my hair."

"Then she will recognize you by it. Her… face blindness does not impact her skills as a shinobi.

"Of course not."

She was his student after all.

—

Eventually, Orochimaru had started to wear a purple band around his wrist where Nana could see it.

While he never did change his actual appearance drastically, it was more practical if he could still be recognized by his student while under a henge.

(And while he would never admit it, the simple purple ribbon might have been the precursor for the purple rope he now tied around his waist. It wasn't like anyone would ever know.)