Disclaimer: I do not own anything at all. Seriously.

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Family

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Orochimaru has never really had a family. Even he has no idea where he really came from.

Oh sure, he's had foster parents. He's had a man and a woman who paid for him to live and eat and gave him a roof to live under. He's had people who claimed that he was cared about. He's had some semblance of a "normal" life until they died in battle; though that, too, was considered normal for ninja families.

He always knew, though, that he was different. There was no pretending that the black haired, golden eyed boy belonged to his blonde, blue eyed foster parents.

For that matter, there was no pretending that they looked at him as if he did.

There was no connection there.

Not like there is with these two.

He looks over at his teammates, the village's princess and the oaf. He doesn't know why but those two loud mouths have really made an impression on him.

They watch his back in battle, fighting with him when they can and for him when necessary. They worry about him openly, letting it show on their faces even though it's considered a weakness. They sit up with him when he can't sleep and never ask what nightmare is haunting him because they know he doesn't want to talk about it.

And he returns what he can.

He fights with them and for them, to protect them, even though he can't say it. He worries about them all of the time, even though he can't express it. He sits up with them when they can't sleep and never asks what's haunting them, not because they don't want to talk, but because he can't ask about it.

For all of the things he can't do, though, they never seem to notice or to care.

He resolves to be useful for the things he can do for them.

He resolves to be useful to his team, because to him, they're the only family he's ever really known…

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