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It was when they lay within tangled limbs and linen that Jiraiya's question came. Orochimaru's eyes blinked open, widened just a fraction. It was... one of the first times that someone bothered to ask about his life before... "Truly, you wish to know?" One glance up at Jiraiya's earnest and open expression was his answer. He had to bury his face in the man's neck for a moment, hiding the small smile that threatened to peak through. "Very well, only if you share one of your's." When he spoke, his lips brushed along the warmed skin before he pulled away and settled his head on a broad chest.
It was a very misty evening, balmy and the crickets were chirping rapidly. He must have fallen asleep on the river's bank sometime ago, for when his eyes opened, they locked onto his mother's gently smiling face. "There's my little viper... What ever are you doing way out here, my love?" Her voice was soft, lilting as her slender fingers combed gently through his hair, soothing. Her eyes reminded him of the henbane blossoms which she meticulously cared for. Bright amber, concentric to a deep purple that hugged the slitted pupils.
Languid with sleep, he crawled up onto her lap and yawned. "Was watching the fireflies." He half mumbled into her pale blue yukata, rubbing his cheek against the cool fabric. She always smelled of the big, purple moon flowers and hojicha. He couldn't help but to breathe in deep and sigh.
"Oh, is that so? What did you find in observing them?" She asked, kissing the top of his head as they both watched the blinking of the fireflies over the running water. The river shown silver from the light of the moon and he was enraptured by it all. The symphony of the crickets, the twinkling of the moon's light dancing on the waters, the light show of the fireflies, and his mother's humming. He really meant to tell her, but he'd fallen asleep, lulled by her very presence.
"My observations, as it were... Were silly. Contrived as one would expect of a three year old." Orochimaru huffed a breathy laugh, his left hand splayed along Jiraiya's chest. "Don't laugh." He demanded, even though he knew Jiraiya would absolutely crow. "But, I had this ridiculous theory that if dragons breathed fire then obviously fireflies came from dragonflies. I was so sure of it then. My mother and father were no help at all... Encouraging that theory..." He held the most wistful of smiles as nostalgia kept him in it's bittersweet grasp, trailing off.
