Mitsuki's Family

When Mitsuki was finally let out of the gigantic tube for the first time, the shinobis in the hideout were bubbling with excitement.

Even though this was the infinite time Orochimaru had produced a 'Mitsuki', this was the perfect one.

"...uh...uhm...?" The 5 year old opened his hazy sleepy eyes just to see 4 pairs of eyes staring back at him.

"......" Everyone were holding their breaths as Mitsuki run his eyes over their faces one by one. The closest one to him had golden eyes, staring at him with great interest. Mitsuki felt a huge amount of emotion pouring from those eyes as a light smile was directed at him.

"He looks kind of dumb. Is he really the perfect one?" Mitsuki turned his head to the other side as his golden orbs collided with sharp purple ones. They were looking lazily at him and with a hint of doubt. Mitsuki blinked at the man's sharp pointed teeth, and he wonders if his teeth were sharp too.

*bonk*

In a blink of Mitsuki's eyes, a fist went right through the head of the purple eyed man. It turned into water though, splashing everywhere and a drop of water dropped on Mitsuki's cheek.

"You idiot! Don't say that in front of him!" Mitsuki reached out for the drop of water with his short hand as he turned his attention to the shouting woman. She had red striking hair and ruby eyes. She also was the one who punched the man. Mitsuki blinked at her fearlessly before he felt a finger wiping away the drop of water on his cheek.

"Karin, don't punch Suigetsu in front of Mitsuki. He's going to get wet." A soft and gentle voice made Mitsuki curious. The voice's owner had short cropped orange spiky hair and orangey-red eyes. He was tall and looked bulky.

"But, Jugo! He deserved it, and Mitsuki needs to learn to stay away from this idiot!" Karin, the red head calmed down a little at the sound of Mitsuki's name, but was still thrashing Suigetsu.

"You crazy woman! It's no wonder Sasuke doesn't like you!" Suigetsu retorted back, earning a menacing glare from Karin.

"Log, you better bring Mitsuki elsewhere." Jugo turned to the adult by his side.

"Hah... Right." Mitsuki watched as Log reached down and bundled him into his arms before leaving the room. Faintly, Mitsuki could hear noisy water splashes from the room he was once in.

"L...Log...?" Mitsuki looked up at the man with a curious face. There was a slight pause in his step before he moved on.

"Yes, that's my name." Mitsuki blinked at the short answer, but nonetheless stayed silent during the whole trip in Log's arms.

"Orochimaru." Mitsuki heard Log call out when he turned into another room.

"So he's awake." A foreign voice to Mitsuki. Turning his head to the side, Mitsuki saw an adult sitting on his knees on the huge cushion surrounded by a humongous white snake. Mitsuki wasn't sure if they were a she or a he, so for the time being, Mitsuki would refer-

"He is Orochimaru. Our parent." Log distrupted Mitsuki's train of thought. Yep. Mitsuki would refer to the adult as his parent.

"Parent?" Mitsuki repeated the word as Log set him down on his two feet. Mitsuki watched as his parent walked down the steps slowly, golden eye slits glowing in the dim room.

"Yes, my child. You are one of us now."

………

"Mitsuki? What are you doing here?" Karin was heading to her room when she popped her head into one of the labs that stored the unborn snakes.

"Karin, what are these?" The young child was looking at the drawers from the tall cupboard. He gently pulled one that is accessible from his height.

"Be careful!" Karin barely reached in time to pull the boy away from the drawer when a white snake jumped at him, with its fangs bared.

"Don't touch them casually. This is the incubation room for the snakes. The mother snakes are especially protective during this incubation period." Karin explained, safely coaxing the snake back into the drawer and closed it securely.

"Incubation?" Mitsuki tilted his head at the word.

"The mother snakes are heating up the eggs so that they would hatch faster." Karin chuckled before explaining, bending down to carry Mitsuki up, placing him on her hip.

"Ohh. But why is it white? Are snakes usually white?" Mitsuki asked curiously, hugging Karin's neck with his short arms.

"No. That snake is an albino. So her whole body is white. They usually don't live for long, but under Orochimaru-sama's modification, these albino snakes have a much longer lifespan than normal wild ones." Karin went around the room, showing Mitsuki the snakes that were less dangerous and not in the incubation period.

"I saw Log playing with some snakes the other day. Do I get to play with them too?" Mitsuki asked, recalling the day when he saw Log wrestling with a giant brown python 2x bigger than himself to the ground, thinking that they were playing.

"I have a feeling Orochimaru-sama is going to expose you to the usage of snakes. So I guess it wouldn't hurt for you to start earlier. You can play with the baby snakes once they are hatched." Karin tapped her chin for a moment before nodding.

"Really? Great! Now I can play like Log too!" Mitsuki's smile made Karin mirror it.

"Log's got a big influence on you, eh?"

………

"Ne, Suigetsu. What are you doing?"

Suigetsu turned his head lazily just to meet innocent golden orbs staring back at him.

"Will you play with me?" Mitsuki asked as he held up a kunai, a gift from Orochimaru.

"Where's Karin?" Suigetsu asked flatly, not impressed at a mere child holding a kunai.

"She was sent out on a mission." Mitsuki replied.

"What about Jugo?" Suigetsu asked again, hand supporting his chin.

"Jugo asked me not to bother him for the next few days." Mitsuki replied instantly.

"Must be something about his nature energy again..." Suigetsu muttered under his breath. When he turned his attention back to the child, Mitsuki was still patiently waiting for Suigetsu to reply him.

"And Log? I'm sure he would rather die than reject spending time with you." Suigetsu asked one last time.

"Log is busy, he said." Mitsuki frowned at the mention of the older man.

"So I have to babysit you?" Suigetsu buried his face in his hands as he sighs in exasperation. On the other hand, Mitsuki seemed oblivious at Suigetsu's attitude and continued to smile innocently.

"Fine. Give me 10 minutes while I finish up this analysis report. Or else Orochimaru-sama will kill me!" Suigetsu said before his fingers fly across the keyboard, typing as fast as he could.

"Okay. I'll wait here." Mitsuki's smile inched a little higher as he climbed up onto an empty patient bed and sat cross legged, rocking himself back and forth with the kunai on his lap.

Contrary to what Suigetsu promised, the man only took 5 minutes.

"Uwah! I'm done!" Suigetsu stretched out his limbs and grabbed his waterbottle on the table, sipping on it contentedly.

"Can we play now?" Suigetsu almost forgot the reason he completed the report in record time was because of Mitsuki.

"Oh right, yes. What do you want to play?" Suigetsu was in a good mood.

"Kunai!" Without warning, Mitsuki pounced at the man with the kunai, moving in ways that a 5 year old can't. Suigetsu, as a battle hardened shinobi that has gone through the Fourth Great Ninja War, defended the blow with an arm, which melted into water upon contact.

"This is what you mean by playing? Why am I not surprised considering you're Orochimaru-sama's child." Suigetsu broke off his 'chopped off' hand and liquefied it, forming a water puddle on the floor.

"My parent said it is the best form of playing." Mitsuki's eyes twinkled as his short legs propelled him for another blow.

"Seems like you only learned taijutsu." Suigetsu noted as the child did not dish out any jutsus.

"Taijutsu?" Mitsuki repeated, tilting his head as he aimed for Suigetsu's head but failed when the man dodged and kept a safe distance from the boy.

"Yeah, this." Suigetsu smirked as he shunshinned behind Mitsuki.

"Hn?" Mitsuki was about to jump away when he realised he couldn't move his leg. Looking down, he saw the water puddle had shifted into the shape of a hand and had locked his ankle in a death grip.

"Don't move." Suigetsu's free hand folded into the shape of a gun and pointed it against Mitsuki's small skull.

"You are good, Suigetsu." Mitsuki praised calmly, as if the man behind him couldn't just headshot him before he would knew it.

"Of course, snakelet." Suigetsu changed his pistol back to his fist and bumped the child's head gently.

"You know what that means?" Mitsuki felt the grip on his ankle disappear and jumped around to face Suigetsu.

"What." Suigetsu had a very bad feeling as Mitsuki gave him a bright smile.

"We're going to play together often."

………

A week passed with Mitsuki harassing Suigetsu to play with him when the others weren't free. Until one day, Jugo came back and found a slightly taller Mitsuki sparring with Suigetsu.

"JUGO! YES! COME HERE!" Suigetsu parried off Mitsuki's blow slightly harder than usual and pushed him back. The white head ran and hid behind Jugo.

"Jugo!" Mitsuki saw the taller man and stopped his assault, standing back straight and walking towards the two older man with a gentle smile on his face.

"Mitsuki. What are you guys doing?" Jugo asked, raising his eyebrow in amusement.

"This child has been harassing me for a fight for the whole week!" Suigetsu complained and stepped out behind Jugo.

"We were having a lot of fun playing." Mitsuki said with a small smile.

"That's his form of playing." Suigetsu eye rolled.

"Take a break, Mitsuki. Follow me." Jugo crouched down and offered Mitsuki his shoulders.

"Okay." Mitsuki's eyes lit up as he gingerly climbed onto Jugo's shoulders and hugged his head for support.

"Thanks, Jugo." Suigetsu sighed dramatically and ushered them out of the laboratory in case Mitsuki changed his mind. That child can be unpredictable at times.

"Where are we going, Jugo?" Mitsuki asked as Jugo continued down the corridor until they exited the hideout.

"Somewhere peaceful." Jugo merely said as he was approached by Yamato.

"Where are you going?" The wood user asked the mandatory question every time someone leaves the hideout.

"Out on a stroll." Jugo eyed Mitsuki wrapped around his head as a message to Yamato.

"I'll have Orochimaru explain." Yamato nodded his head at Jugo and then at Mitsuki. Jugo nodded his thanks and left for the forest.

"Who was that?" Mitsuki asked. This was actually Mitsuki's first time outside the hideout and it made the test tube born child curious.

"Gatekeeper. Don't mind him." Jugo dismissed casually. As he walked deeper into the forest, the birds came to greet him.

"Do you know what this is, Mitsuki?" Jugo held up his finger and showed Mitsuki a bird with bright royal blue feathers perched on it.

"Hmm... A bird?" Even though this was the first time Mitsuki saw a bird, he somehow knew it from his brain dictionary.

"Yes, there are many types of birds in the world. This is a Bluebird. It is named as such because of the colours of its feathers." Jugo explained, touching the bluebird's head with a single finger as the bird chirped pleasantly.

"Wow." Mitsuki marveled as he watched the bird chirping on Jugo's finger.

"Do you want to know more about it?" Jugo asked, lifting his finger further up so that the bird could hop onto his crop of orange hair. The Bluebird nestled itself between the strands with Mitsuki staring at it from a close distance.

"Yes." Mitsuki nodded even though Jugo couldn't see it.

"Do you want to touch it?" Jugo asked again when he felt Mitsuki's hand lifting.

"Can I?" Mitsuki asked politely.

"Stroke down its head to the tail. Don't touch their belly. They don't like it." Jugo said gently, patting a deer which had came closer upon feeling the presence of Jugo.

Mitsuki did as he was told, using two fingers to stroke the Bluebird until the feathery animal ruffled its feathers uncomfortably.

"When a bird grows up, it leaves its nest to create one of its own." Jugo suddenly piped up.

"It's similar to one of humans. We leave our home when we grow up too." Jugo continued, reaching out a hand to the butterflies as they came fluttering around him. Some had even flew up and tickled Mitsuki's nose, making him giggle and sneeze.

"Will I leave home too when I am older?" Mitsuki asked innocently.

"It depends on you, Mitsuki. It's your choice and no one else's." Jugo smiled kindly at one of the cranes that were perched on the rocks in the middle of the lake.

"Did you leave, Jugo?" Mitsuki asked, settling on watching the Bluebird instead of fluffing it up.

"Yes." Jugo nodded, bobbing Mitsuki a little.

"What about Suigetsu and Karin?" Mitsuki asked again, just like a curious child he is.

"They did too, but Karin had no choice."  Jugo whispered the last part of the sentence.

"And Log?" Mitsuki grabbed fistfuls of Jugo's hair as he leant to the side, trying to grab attention from Jugo.

"Mitsuki, did you know that Bluebirds have two broods in a season?" Jugo chuckled before asking, not answering Mitsuki's question directly.

"Nope." Mitsuki shook his head.

"When the Bluebirds have the second brood, there would be a young bluebird from the first brood who would stay behind to take care of the baby birds." Jugo explained walking towards the lake and sat down on the riverbank.

"Really? They're so considerate." Mitsuki commented.

"Yes. They remind me of the both of you, Log and Mitsuki." Jugo laughed lightly.

"How so?" Mitsuki tilted his head in confusion.

"Log is an older version of you, Mitsuki. Just like the Bluebird of the first brood, Log is willing to stay behind the nest and take care of you instead of flying in the free sky." Jugo explained, skipping a stone casually into the lake waters.

"He is?" Mitsuki sucked in a breath lightly.

"Yep. One day, Mitsuki. One day, there will be a time where the both of you will fly freely in the skies beside each other."

………

"Log!" Mitsuki ran on his short legs as soon as he saw the older copy of himself in the corridor.

"Mitsuki!" Log was surprised at the toddler's enthusiasm as he jumped into his arms and Log raised him up to his eye level.

"Where have you been?" Log couldn't help but smile at his little brother.

"With Orochimaru. Look!" Mitsuki held out one of his arm and furrowed his brows, concentrating his chakra. Even though it was only a few seconds, Mitsuki's arm had stretched and bent into a snake-like form before contracting back.

"You learnt Soft Physique Modification already?" Log gasped at the ninjutsu the child had just performed. By human age, Mitsuki should be approaching 6 years.

"Yep. Orochimaru taught me. Although I could not sustain it long enough yet." Mitsuki nodded, a small smile on his face.

Log continued his walk as they chattered along the way.

"That's pretty fast for a child like you." Log praised, ruffling Mitsuki's hair with his other free hand.

"A child like me? What about the other children? What are they like?" Mitsuki asked curiously. In the hideout, Mitsuki never saw anyone close to his age and size. All that he saw were Suigetsu, Karin, Jugo, Log, and Orochimaru. There were a few other people that he had seen but often avoided talking to him.

"Do you want to meet children of the same age?" Log asked, an idea popping inside his brain as he changed his destination.

"Can I?" Mitsuki blinked.

"Of course, Mitsuki. Whatever you want, I will get it for you." Log smiled softly at his little brother as he stepped into the room where a certain red head was in.

"Log? Mitsuki?"