Well well well... been a while eh? XD

I'm a weirdo, yes. I went on an insanely long kick for other random shit... and then stumbled back upon this story. Actually, no, I didn't stumble. IT TRIPPED ME. X'D

So, I decided to continue it. Because Orochimaru is awesome, and there aren't enough Kimimaro/OCs to go around. Plus, Kimimaro is too awesome for even any words. JUST SAYIN'~

And I promise, I'll get another chapter of Find Your Love out! I feel bad for leaving all my Naruto stuff for so long, I'm awful lol.

Sooooo, enjoy!

It was a little while before I got a reply back. Probably an hour, during which I listened to the song some more while reading FMLs and laughing at other people's misery. For some reason I was really hoping this guy got back to me; I actually had family in Japan if he was really my mom's brother. My mom had never told me about him. What could she have to hide about him? The way he'd been holding me and smiling in the pictures, it seemed like he would be the perfect uncle.

But finally, something popped up in my inbox. From the same address I'd sent my email to. So I eagerly opened it up.

Indeed I do have a younger sister... and she has one daughter. My sister's name is Akane. Then could you be my little Mae-chan?

I am Orochimaru, and I live in Otogakure.

I absorbed all of this information, and after reading the first line, a smile came to my face. Akane was my mother's first name - and I was an only child. This had to be my uncle! Oh God, this was so exciting. And speaking to him without my mom knowing? That was icing on the cake. So I quickly sent another email back.

That's my mom's name! I must be your "little Mae-chan." I can't believe I'm actually talking to my uncle.

It's so awesome to meet you, even if it's not in person. I have so many questions for you. I don't know what to ask you first... are you married? Do I have an aunt too? LOL! Sorry, I'm really excited.

Waiting for his reply the next time was a little harder for me to handle. Did he even want to talk to me? I couldn't imagine why my mom wouldn't want me talking to him or seeing him. He seemed like a nice person, and he seemed to be just as curious about me as I was about him. He even had a nickname for me. None of my dad's brothers had nicknames for me other than, "Hey, kiddo."

Ah, you must be then. I wonder how old you are now... sixteen? Seventeen? I'm terrible with keeping track of time. My, it's been years since I last saw you and your mother... but it's so wonderful to hear from you.

I have many questions for you too, Mae-chan. Hehe, and to answer, no, I am not married. Unfortunately you only have myself and my associates.

However, I do have an idea. It's quite early over here, and no one but my assistant is awake. My video chat application is likely quite outdated by your standards, but it bears the same address as my email. If you would like, we could speak face to face, at least for a while. I will be waiting, if that's your wish.

I figured, what could it hurt? At least I could finally meet my uncle, in a way, and see what he looked like now; all this typing was getting tedious anyway. I just hoped my mom didn't wake up while we were talking.

Today's my seventeenth birthday, actually. But it was really lame. It's great that I can finally talk to you after not knowing you for so long... :')

That sounds like a really good idea. My computer's old so I probably have the same program. I'll send you a friend request and then we can start a call. I can't wait to see you.

Five minutes later, I had found my uncle's profile and we'd added each other into our contact list. So far he was my only contact except for the customer service contact. After about another minute of deep breathing and preparing myself, I clicked the button for a video call.

For a moment I thought he wasn't even going to accept the call. But my fears subsided when the screen flashed and suddenly, I found myself staring at a white-skinned, black-haired man. The same one in the photos; and he looked almost exactly as he had in the training video.

I leaned forward a little. "Uncle... Uncle Orochimaru? Orochimaru-oji-san?"

He chuckled, and I thought his smile was the most wonderful thing I'd seen in months. "Hello, my little Mae-chan. It's been a while, hasn't it?" He pushed back a long lock of his hair, his smile growing wider. "My, how you've grown."

I squealed in my chair and brought my knees to my chest. "I can't believe it's really you! This is so crazy! I have so much to ask you..."

He nodded patiently, all his attention focused on me. "I understand. I too have quite a bit to ask you, my dear. I haven't seen you since you were a baby. So... how is your mother? I haven't seen my sister in years, ever since she and Jacob left Otogakure."

"Oh, she's fine. Good mom and all that, I guess." I tilted my head to the side. "Where's Otogakure? Kaa-san told me you lived in Japan."

"There are many cities in Japan, Mae. Many regions, too. Otogakure just happens to be one of those regions." He frowned slightly. "Akane-imouto never told you what it is that I do, did she?"

I shook my head, pushing some of my bangs back. "No, she didn't... why?"

"Hehe." His somewhat creepy but awesome grin was back. "My dear... I am a shinobi."

I blinked a few times. "What... What's a shinobi?"

"A ninja."

My eyes widened, and I heard him laugh as I was just staring at the screen. "You're..." I lowered my voice, squealing as much as a whisper would allow. "My uncle's a ninja?!" I swear he just blew my mind.

"Yes," he replied, once I'd stopped freaking out. "I also have a few younger shinobi that I've taken under my tutelage. And Akane-imouto used to be one, as well, before she met Jacob and resigned this life."

"My... My mother was a ninja?!" Mind blown again.

He chuckled, leaning forward a bit. "Clearly my sister never told you anything about this half of your heritage. My... I wonder why not? Surely she couldn't be ashamed of it. She was very talented, and I taught her everything she knows. And as they say, my bark is worse than my bite, after all. I know I could be mean to her sometimes, but I'm not that bad."

"I can't believe she never told me about you." I cupped my hand, resting my cheek there. "This is insane! I mean... you just turned this from the worst birthday in history to the best."

"Ah yes. Happy birthday, Mae-chan. How old did you say you are now?"

"Seventeen. Practically an adult in my own right, and my mom still treats me like a little kid." I sighed, glancing down. "It's like she doesn't get me at all. She won't tell me anything, and she... she told me that the reason my relatives in Japan couldn't be here for my birthday was because they were busy." I glanced back up, blushing a little. "Well, I guess as a ninja you must be pretty busy, so maybe she was right..."

He clasped his hands under his chin, leaning forward. "Mae-chan, I need you to believe me when I say that no matter what, I would never be too busy to visit you, especially on your birthday. I've wanted to see you for so long, and I've missed you very much. The truth is... Akane-imouto left our village almost seventeen years ago, and before she did..." He shook his head. "She and I had a big quarrel. She said she no longer wanted me in your life or hers, and I haven't heard from her since."

All I could do for a minute was just blink at the screen, trying to comprehend what he'd just told me. In some ways that didn't sound like my mother, to just shun her family like that. But in other ways, it sounded just like her; she had a habit of taking things way too far, especially if she got angry, and it wasn't exactly hard to imagine her doing something like that. "I can't believe it..." I glanced toward the door, almost afraid she'd come bursting in at any moment. "She's... been lying to me my whole life..."

"Oh, Mae-chan... please, forget I ever said anything." He sighed heavily, as I turned back to look at him. "I feel like I'm ruining your birthday all over again. I'm so scatterbrained, you must forgive me..."

"No, no, it's... you're not..." I felt tears in my eyes. It was like everything I knew in my entire life was a lie. I didn't know anything, really. What was up? Or down? Left? Right? This was ridiculous... my mother didn't tell me anything. She didn't even trust me to know about her old life, or my uncle.

"Oh, dear, Mae-chan. I can see I've upset you... what's wrong?"

"I hate it here," I choked out. "Kaa-san keeps me in the dark about everything. Dad's never home. I have no friends outside of school because everyone thinks I'm a freak..." I wrapped my arms around myself, taking a deep breath. "I... I don't even wanna be here anymore. I just wanna run away."

There was a moment of quiet, and then Orochimaru spoke up. "Mae-chan, my dear... certainly I'm not encouraging that. I mean, just because your mother and I are no longer close doesn't mean you should resent her. But... just know this: if you ever truly decide to run away from home, you would always have a place with me. Until you were ready to go back."

I looked up, wiping across my eyes with my wrist. "Uncle Orochimaru... do... you really mean that?"

He almost looked shocked that I would even ask. "Why, of course. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."

I stood up. "Then I'm coming. If you can email me your address... I think I've saved up enough money for a ticket. I'll be on the next plane." I leaned back down, to end the call after I finished talking. "It's late, so Kaa-san won't even know. Can you meet me at the airport when I get there?"

A flash of surprise crossed his face, then he smiled. "I'll be waiting for you, my little Mae-chan."

Japanese translations, yay!

-chan = suffix denoting friendship, used mostly for girls and young boys

Kaa-san = Mother/Mom

-oji-san = suffix denoting that the person in question is the speaker's uncle

-imouto = suffix denoting that the person in question is the speaker's younger sister

Lol, Orochimaru is so manipulative! XD Hmm, I think that maybe Mae is not getting the whole story here...

Next chapter, Mae's arrival in Otogakure! AKA the land where she thinks all of her dreams will come true but instead is actually the Land of Rice-For-Every-Meal. She might just meet Orochi next chap, and he'll take her back to his pseudo-Kage pad. Although I may squeeze one or two of the Sound 4 in there... heck, I have no idea, I might just get all of them in. XD

UN-PRE-DICTABLE! :D

Hope you enjoyed, guys!

Thanks for reading! ^^