Orochimaru watches, and he listens, and he fails to comprehend more than he cares to admit. He does not believe in gods, precisely, and yet he knows something truly… spiritual… is happening before his very eyes.
He watches his student walk across the Sacred Dragon Spring—Benten-sama's spring—and a feeling of reverence creeps up on him. His ridiculous student doesn't even realize what she is so casually doing should not be possible.
The 'spring' is not water at all, but natural energy in its purest, most concentrated form. The snakes call it Dragon's Blood and a single drop is enough to petrify anyone, and anything, stone dead.
She reaches the albino rat snake enshrined at the small Benten-sha and stops. The natural energy continues to bear her weight, despite being several times lighter than water. He wonders how the snake reached the shrine—for it surely could not have swam across the Dragon's Blood?
They regard each other in silence, and he thinks the snake must be just as awe-struck as he is.
"You are much smaller than I remember."
…
"You're a lot bigger than I remember."
…They act as though they know each other. Curious.
"I suppose so, we did both shed our old skins."
…What?
His student laughs.
"What do I call you here, Mikogami?"
He freezes. Here, as opposed to somewhere else? And mikogami? Why on earth would the snake call her that? Honōka's mother is neither a miko, nor her father a kannushi—not to mention the spiritual practice of the Tamayori-hime has been outlawed in Konoha for decades now.
And yet that is what the snake called her, a mikogami. Literally the child of a miko and a kannushi as part of a sacred rite; figuratively, the child born from the union of a miko and a kami…a pseudo demi-god.
"Tsunemori Honōka-desu."
"Honōka-sama."
Honōka-sama? What on earth? This snake not only acts as though it—he—knows his student personally, but also unflinchingly pays homage to her?
"Just Honōka is fine."
…Just Honōka. Right.
"Honōka-sama," the snake insists. "You may call me as you see fit; for my mother, the venerable Hakuja Sennin, Daitenja-sama, has given you the honor of bequeathing me my first name."
The shirohebi is young. His mother is the White Snake Sage. He is enshrined at the Sacred Dragon Spring. His place in the hierarchy is no doubt very high…and he is asking Honōka to name him.
Orochimaru feels a flicker of ugly jealously welling up in his chest and viciously strangles it.
He is not Honōka, and Honōka is not him. They are two people who have experienced very different traumas that brought them together, no less. And he has only ever hurt himself by allowing his envy to rule him. It's what led him to Danzō in the first place.
And he refuses to allow it a place in his relationship with his student. He takes a deep breath and lets it out—breathes out the ugly feeling until it is gone. He takes another steadying breath.
"Kohaku. Your name is Kohaku."
His student raises her left hand and her snake (for how can he be anything but hers) stretches out, pressing his forehead to the red mark on her jutsu-shiki.
He pulls away and the red formula changes, morphing into the kanji for 'Kohaku'—amber.
"Call for me whenever you are in need. I will answer. Should you require the help of the others I will guide you in calling whoever is most suited to your cause until such a time comes that you learn their names on your own."
Honōka, of course, ruins the solemnity of the statement by stroking his head, gently.
"You sure are reliable, Kohaku."
"…Yes, I suppose I am."
She continues petting him. He flicks his tongue in a way that Orochimaru isn't entirely sure of. Possibly exasperation, possibly contentment.
"…"
"…"
Orochimaru raises an eyebrow at his student. For someone with a supposed aversion to snakes, she certainly doesn't mind coddling them.
"Do you eat rabbits? You look like you could eat a rabbit. I'll catch you one later, if you like. But you seem tired, so I'll leave you to your nap first, okay?"
"…I look forward to our next meeting, Honōka-sama."
She laughs and caresses his spine one last time.
"See you later, Kohaku!"
She turns and jogs back to him. Kohaku drops his head on top of his coiled body. His body flexes in a silent sigh.
Honōka jumps onto the bank next to him and turns to her newest friend.
"I'll summon you soon so you can meet my friend Kakashi! He's terrified of snakes and really fun to tease!"
The snake flicks his tongue, and Orochimaru rolls his eyes. That was obviously a smirk. He wonders if he should warn Kakashi that his student is plotting against him, again.
"By the way, this is my sensei, Orochimaru-sama." She grabs his hand and swings it between them. "Daitenja-sama called him a half-rotten slug, but he's really cool! I'm still working on the stagnating chi issue, but it's hardly noticeable anymore!"
He feels his eye twitch. Is that really what Daitenja calls him behind his back? He will be having private words with them, later.
"…He reminds me of Mother."
His student laughs, loudly.
"Daitenja-sama reminds me of Sensei!"
His student and her snake share a grin, and Orochimaru wonders how his life came to this point.
"Come, Honōka-kun, you have a contract to sign, and I have an assassination to plot."
"Right. Bye-bye, Kohaku!"
He leads her away and she continues swinging their joined hands. She's in a very good mood. He pulls her alongside him in a shunshin and they swiftly arrive in front of Daitenja.
"A favorable first meeting, I take it?"
Honōka lets go of his hand and launches herself at the White Snake Sage. He just about has a heart attack—then she's hugging them about the neck, which is a futile endeavor as her arms are nowhere near long enough to reach around Daitenja's neck.
"Kohaku's the one I was looking for!"
"Kohaku…a most suitable name. You chose well, little hatchling. I am glad for you both."
He crosses his arms.
"We really must hurry things along, Daitenja-sama. We have pressing concerns at the border."
"So impatient, stripling. What happens at some human border hardly concerns me."
"Yes. Unfortunately, it does concern me."
Daitenja chuckles.
"Very well. Jorō, the contract."
Jorō reluctantly comes forward and Honōka jumps down from Daitenja's stone dais.
"Hello," his student greets. "I've never seen a snake like you before. You are very cute."
Jorō tilts her snub nose up and blushes with genjutsu, and rather blatantly enhances her general appearance to highlight the brightness and symmetry of her red saddles.
"Jorō, I am afraid your attempts to seduce Honōka-kun will fail. She's completely blind to genjutsu."
Jorō gasps. "Say it isn't so!"
Honōka squats next to her.
"It's okay. I think you're already very cute, Jorō-san."
"C-chan…! Call me Jorō-chan, please!"
His student giggles and pets Jorō on the head.
"Jorō-chan, then. It's nice to meet you. You can call me Honōka-chan if you like."
Jorō, overwhelmed by the offer of casual familiarity, effects a totally pointless genjutsu of twinkling stars. He rolls his eyes at the daft serpent.
"The contract, Jorō," Daitenja rumbles, amused.
"R-right. Excuse me, Honōka-chan, if you would be so kind as to turn around? Thank you." She regurgitates the summoning contract without an ounce of decorum. "Orochimaru-sama, if you would open the scroll for Honōka-chan? A cute little hatchling shouldn't have to dirty their hands on that old thing."
"This is hardly the dirtiest thing she has handled, Jorō."
"Even so."
Honōka turns back around and waits for him to open the scroll. She's eye-smiling at him, which she obviously learned from Kakashi. He returns to her an unimpressed look and opens the blasted scroll.
She kneels in front of it and just stares for a moment. She traces the previous signature, his, with one finger.
His student has another question, but she does not ask it. He can guess what the question is, easily, but does not answer it. The signature itself should be rather self-explanatory.
She pulls out the unusually shaped kunai from before and cuts her left index finger on the slightly curved point. Then she transforms her finger into a calligraphy brush. He snorts, because of course she would. Honōka signs with deliberate strokes, the form of her signature impeccable.
She transforms—morphs—her finger back into shape and something else catches his eye. The moment before the nick on her finger reappeared, the slight cut was instead a black line, and a drop of shadowy substance leaked out and dissipated into the air. He frowns.
His student finishes with her fingerprints, and hers is the only left-handed signature in the scroll. Not that there are many signatures to begin with.
Daitenja flicks their tongue with a resounding crack, and he and his student look up.
"Our meeting today has been most auspicious, little hatchling," Daitenja announces. "You are not as I expected—but are perhaps more than I expected. The time is coming for you to shed your skin and reveal your true scales. I look forward to seeing you again when you do."
Sage take pity on him and just let him get back to border patrol and the possible murder conspiracy planned for his person. He might even join Kōmori for an honest nap after this. He thinks he needs a solid hour just to make sense of everything again.
"…" Daitenja flicks their tongue again. "Orochimaru, you have done well to raise the hatchling so far. Continue doing so, and you will not fail her."
His mouth goes dry, and he struggles to swallow the lump in his throat. He nods, curtly.
"Thank you, Daitenja-sama."