Chapter Text
PROLOGUE
His steps, albeit quick in pace, felt like they grow heavier and heavier as the sannin made the dreaded sprint back to his old village. He did not expect to be... so outrageous, not after so many years, so many experiences and so many...
Changes...
His gaze wandered down to the biggest change in his whole existence, as if to check he's still there, protected in his embrace. Protected... His blood began to boil and signs of regret etched itself into his golden orbs as he took in Mitsuki's, his boy's, already fair skin color getting paler and paler by the second, creating an ugly contrast to the gash on his abdomen and the long burn mark across his chest. If only he was there sooner... If only he spent more time with him... Naturally, there were the times he sneaked into the village just to check on the boy. He should give it to him, that young man, Naruto was actually a decent person, he did let him see Mitsuki from time to time...
It had not been enough.
Feelings like he never experienced before threatened to overcome him as he looked at his son's eyes... his eyes. Mitsuki was glancing carefully up at him, and it literally hurt the sannin to see the light slowly fading from his irises. When his boy was little, Orochimaru liked to compare their eyes. His own was more like the cold, imposing gold, while Mitsuki... his eyes were warm and bright, like... the sun. It gave him physical pain, the thought that his sun might go out...
His hold tightened only slightly and a new vigour hastened his pace. He would get him the necessary help. And then... there will be consequences.
He felt a faint grip on the front of his shirt, and through the suddenly very still air, a weak whisper reached his ears. "Father..."
He immediately looked down. Mitsuki blinked slowly once, trying to maintain his hold as his hands shook. Orochimaru felt his heart skip a beat, but he tried to keep his calm. "Preserve your strength. We are almost at the border."
The blue haired boy parted his lips slightly once again, and his father had to lean a bit over him to hear him properly. "Please... spare... the village..."
Orochimaru drew back slightly, taken aback by the words. "What...?"
"Please... promise..." Mitsuki murmured, the words coming more strained as his breathing hitched. "Not their... fault..."
He had his doubts about that. He wished to tell him that they were going to pay. They were going to pay dearly for putting his boy right in the middle of danger, not even thinking twice. He wanted to say that he would snuff the fire of will from Konoha, just like how they made his sun sink.
Looking into those eyes, though, the words simply did not form. Instead, his fury drowning in the compassion he felt for his child now, he found himself whispering. "I will leave them be. I promise."
He felt Mitsuki relax in his arms as a very small smile lifted the corners of his lips gently. His next word was so faint that Orochimaru wasn't sure if it was a trick of the wind. "Thanks..."
Pale fingers slid from the shirt as the young boy completely slacked against his father. The sannin watched, horrified, as the sun set with a sigh of breath.
"Mitsuki...?" he whispered, unable to comprehend what was happening in front of him, and the world came to a standstill. "Mitsuki!!!"