Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Much like the Hatake had back in the day, the Orochi clan, what little there had been of them, had settled on the outskirts of Konoha.

The snake clan had built their home against the rocky cliffside, on the other side of the village from the Hatake compound. Hidden in the shadows of trees and rock, distanced far enough from the other few houses in the area by a winding dirt path.

It was a short, small house. On the surface, anyways. But Kakashi's keen eye focused on the way that the wooden walls fit into the rock walls it was backed against. Of how several suspicious indents on the rock wall may have been disguised windows. Almost like the house expanded into the cliff itself, rooms carved into rock.

'Like a real snake's burrow.' Kakashi thought, a little impressed despite himself as he admired what he was pretty sure was a house built to be much larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside.

The garden too, was a pretty thing. A little overgrown, but in a way that felt purposeful. Vines twisting up the short wooden fence surrounding the yard, and many tall, largely unfamiliar plants dotted at seemingly random across a lawn decorated by a winding stone path.

Kakashi took a step forward, unlatching the little wooden gate blocking off Orochimaru's yard— only for an unpleasant shock of chakra to shoot up his legs the second he passed by the gate.

Kakashi flinched, jerking back as he shot the ground with a wide eyed, disbelieving look. A plain stone path stared back at him, no explanation for the sudden numbness in his legs to find.

Kakashi stumbled as the familiar shhk of  shuriken slicing through the air sent him into high alert. His legs were numb from the shock of chakra, meaning he couldn't dodge properly, leaving him only one option— falling to the floor in a roll.

Shuriken flew right past where his head had been as Kakashi hit the grass— avoiding the stones that may or may not have caused the numbness in his legs.

The boy rolled as more shuriken flew his way, being deployed from trees overhead, slamming into the floor where he'd just been .

His tingling legs were beginning to regain some sensation, though that may have just been the adrenaline. Even so, he couldn't get them to obey his commands enough to stand . Leaving Kakashi to instead twist into a handstand, pushing himself up on the ground in a flip that forced him to land on his feet.

The sudden thud of landing back upright sent a pang through his legs, shocking them back into some sense of cooperation. Not that it was enough, his steps still feeling clumsy and uncoordinated as Kakashi darted forward, aiming for Orochimaru's front door.

But the boy took no more than three steps before something tangled around him.

A net—!

Kakashi collapsed back to the grass, twisting to soften his unpleasant landing as best as he could. Still, his arm ached as the hard landing sent a rough tremor coursing through him.

More shuriken flew down from above, and Kakashi kicked wildly at the net, trying to get it off as he was forced to once again roll to escape the weapons.

His roll may have saved him from being stabbed, but it only further tangled him in the net— leaving him even more defenseless to the shuriken that continued to fall on his head.

"Oh dear."

Kakashi jerked as a voice appeared from seemingly nowhere. A hand reached out to pluck the tangled chunin out from his doom, a bemused Orochimaru looking down at the wide eyed and panicked boy.

"I thought I had forgotten something."

"Why would you booby trap your own yard?" Kakashi couldn't help but yelp, feeling personally offended.

"Pest control." Orochimaru said flatly, and Kakashi blinked.

"Do you have a wild animal problem?"

Kakashi could relate somewhat— every so often, some animal would find its way into his clan compound and start tearing things up. Usually, Tou-san would chase them off— either with traps, or by sending his wolves after them. Kakashi was not looking forward to having to deal with that problem alone whenever it came for him in the future. 

With Orochimaru also living so close to the edge of Konoha's woods, it'd make sense if he dealt with similar issues.

"Hmm, yes. Rodents." An off putting smile tugged at Orochimaru's lips. "They've been bolder than usual lately."

Rodents...?

Kakashi looked at the net he was still wrapped up in.

It seemed way too big for any sort of normal sized rat. It was already on the bigger side for Kakashi himself, with plenty of extra room to get ridiculously tangled in it with all of his struggling.

...Whatever 'infestation' Orochimaru was dealing with... It probably wasn't really an animal problem, was it?

Wisely, Kakashi kept his mouth shut.

"I'm almost impressed you made it to the nets." Orochimaru hummed, picking at said net with pinched fingers, giving Kakashi the opportunity to finally wiggle out of it. "Of course, the trap itself is fairly harmless. Just a little deterrent."

Harmless?! It hadn't felt harmless! Kakashi had nearly gotten skewered five times over!

"A simple chakra discharge seal to shock the legs to numbness, and some pointy things to fall on them when they stumble."

Orochimaru waved a careless hand towards the stone path, and Kakashi felt a bolt of smugness to learn he'd been right to avoid them after his first shock. He couldn't imagine how bad it could have gone if he'd fallen onto the stones, stunning his whole body and leaving him defenseless when the shuriken fell.

He couldn't see any seals on the rocks, but they were probably just upside down.

... He wondered if Orochimaru would let him borrow one or two. For research purposes, of course.

Orochimaru turned as Kakashi kicked the net off, finally fully free from its tangle.

"Come along then. The day is already passing us, and this little distraction is already more than I'd planned to spend away from my lab."

Was... Was the 'little distraction' here the fact that Kakashi had tripped his traps, or was it Kakashi himself?

He... really couldn't tell. And also probably didn't want to know, honestly.

Kakashi hesitantly followed Orochimaru as the man led him into his house— pausing to stare with undisguised curiosity at the rooms that greeted him.

Kakashi had been right about his suspicions, as beyond the rather average looking entree room, the house began to expand into what was very clearly some sort of cave system kitted out for living.

Wood smoothed out seamlessly into stone walls, with high ceilings that retained their natural, sharp rock pattern. Not very friendly for much wall walking.

In the center of the living room was an indent in the floor absolutely filled with pillows. A large, circular skylight right above it allowing sunlight to shine down on the heaps of colored pillows.

It was like a special little bed for sunbathing. Only not really little at all, certainly big enough to hold more than a few full grown adults.

It looked cozy, Kakashi thought. Not at all what he'd expect from the dreaded snake sannin.

It was also warm in here. Not warm enough for discomfort, but warm enough that it surprised Kakashi.

Snakes were cold blooded, weren't they? Suddenly, Kakashi wondered if Orochimaru was too.

"You'll be helping test a few things for me." Orochimaru didn't look back, nor did he comment on Kakashi's curious stares. "A simple enough job, even a child should find it impossible to mess up."

Clearly, Orochimaru had never met Obito.

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." Kakashi replied, eager to see whatever work the snake sannin had in store for him.

"O-Oh! Also—!" Suddenly remembering half of what he'd been so excited about earlier, Kakashi paused to dig through his bag. Proudly emerging with one of the bento boxes he'd so carefully prepared.

Orochimaru looked first at Kakashi, then at the offering.

"You've... brought a gift I see." The man said slowly, very clearly not expecting much of whatever Kakashi had cooked up.

Kakashi did his best not to let his nerves show. Drawing on his shinobi training to keep his face as still as possible.

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama. To thank you for your time."

"Hm. Give it here."

Kakashi swallowed nervously as he handed the box over to the man.

Orochimaru had to bend down slightly to receive it, something that struck the snake sannin as almost funny.

As soon as the box touched Orochimaru's palm, Kakashi was suddenly struck with the horrifying realization that it had been in his bag when he'd been rolling all over the place dodging knives in the yard—!

Oh sage, what if it was totally ruined now!? But— But— It was so tightly packed, and it was only rice and fish, so it'd be fine! Right?? Even if it was smooshed, it'd still taste good!

But... Orochimaru seemed like the kind of man who'd find appearances important, so—!

Suddenly so much more nervous , Kakashi had to physically stop himself from fidgeting as Orochimaru slowly cracked open the lid. Staring up at the much taller man with a nervous intensity.

The walk there had been short, and the fish was still warm and smelled fresh. The aroma hitting Kakashi's nose with surprising strength as soon as the lid was moved.

Kakashi's nerves shot straight up through the roof when Orochimaru paused at the smell. The sanin's nose twitched, a movement so small that Kakashi nearly missed it.

"Hm."

Was that a good hm or a bad hm??? Kakashi couldn't tell!

Orochimaru tilted his head just a few degrees past what felt natural, peering at the offering. Slowly, he tilted his head the other way, just as oddly angled as he now looked at Kakashi.

Kakashi held very, very still.

"You made this yourself?"

Kakashi nodded, unable to find any words where he was pinned in place by the snake sanin's gaze.

Abruptly, Orochimaru closed the lid. The bento box shut with a click that made Kakashi jump, snapping him out of his stillness and filling him with dread.

"Have you eaten yet?” 

“N-No, Orochimaru-sama,” Kakashi jolted out of his frozen state with a stammer. “Not yet.” 

“Mm. I suppose I did lose track of time earlier in the lab,” Orochimaru hummed, mostly talking to himself. “Alright. We eat, and then we work. No use putting you to work if you'll have to pause halfway through anyways.” 

So then— That meant that the bento box had been accepted?! It did, right? It had to! 

Kakashi tried not to look too nervous. Or too eager. 

Orochimaru lead him to a brightly lit kitchen that smelled of cleaning chemicals. 

Now that Kakashi thought about it, most of the house smelled of a similar, if slightly more muted, cleaning product. The rooms he'd seen so far too had been incredibly tidy— much more than his own home, or even Sensei’s admittedly very well put together apartment.

Orochimaru approached one of the sinks— one of , because there were two of them. One sink looking perfectly normal and the other decorated by a little technical monstrosity of pipes and gauges was attached directly to the faucet. 

“The filtration system is of my own design.” Orochimaru wrinkled his nose. “Improved off of what they use in Kiri.” 

Kakashi stared at the device with open curiosity. “Do you not like tap water?” 

“I don't trust it.” Orochimaru said simply.

‘I don't trust it’ as in he thought it was dirty, or ‘I don't trust it’ as in her thought someone was going to poison his tap water? Kakashi was too scared to ask. 

“It's a luxury I can afford, and so I do.” Orochimaru waved a careless hand, setting down two now filled cups of water on the counter. 

“Sit, then,” Orochimaru prodded, and Kakashi jolted before scrambling to take a seat at the counter. “Let us eat quickly, to get to work.” 

Kakashi had to take a second to climb up the tall barstools, kicking his feet in the air for balance as he struggled into place.

Orochimaru didn't comment on his little scramble to get into his seat. Averting his eyes and trying not to look too amused— not wanting Kakashi to think he was being made fun of. 

Kakashi glanced the man's way when he finally found his place on the seat, embarrassed by how long it had taken and relieved at the fact that it seemed Orochimaru had missed his struggle. 

How embarrassing of a first day at work would that be? 

Kakashi was very proud to place his little bento boxes into the counter in front of him. Stacked one on top of another, cheap, plain black plastic he'd “borrowed” from his Sensei's house just for this. 

He separated the boxes, keeping one for himself and very shyly pushing the other one Orochimaru's way. Peeking up at the snake sannin with poorly hidden, meek excitement. 

Once again, Orochimaru stared down at the bento presented to him. “You made this yourself, you said?” 

A crack appeared in Kakashi's excitement. The boy tried not to feel too worried. “I did.” 

Orochimaru poked at the contents with his chopsticks. “It looks well made.” 

Instantly, Kakashi puffed up, glowing with pride at the praise. 

“Obviously. It's not like it's that hard.” 

Orochimaru snorted. “Some would disagree.”

‘Some people are idiots.’ Kakashi did not say, because he was trying to make a good impression. Even though he was totally right though. To be clear. 

Kakashi held his breath, watching intently as Orochimaru took the first bite. Orochimaru meanwhile pulled on a serious face, both amused and well used to this sort of bated breath, ‘what will he think’ reaction. 

One of the effects of being a famously powerful ninja; You will one day be used to the stares and expectations of others, whether you want to or not. 

Though it had been a while since he'd experienced this specific brand of expectation. After all, all the ugly rumors about him had turned most of the admiring stares he once received into something much more volatile. Nowadays, he was much more likely to receive looks of fear or even just distrust from his fellow Konoha shinobi 

Something he insisted he was fine with. After all, he was used to that sort of treatment, after coming off of the battlefield. Even if it had felt off putting, to come home and find that his allies slowly began to look at him with the same wary eyes as his enemies.

 But sitting here now with this once familiar stare of admiration directed his way…

It… wasn't bad. 

Orochimaru took his bite of the meal Kakashi had prepared for him, too distracted by his thoughts to register the taste at first. 

And then he paused. Staring down at the bento box with a suddenly bewildered look. 

It tasted… familiar? 

The man ran his tongue over his teeth, trying to place the taste but drawing up blank. 

Had Sakumo fed him this before? No, Orochimaru would certainly remember if he'd made him some homemade meal. 

But then, it wasn't like cooked fish was rare for him to eat, and the meal itself looked simple enough. He could easily have just eaten something similar before. 

But it didn't feel like that sort of familiarity. Instead it rang with a certain nostalgia , almost like… 

Without even meaning to, Orochimaru took another bite. 

“Do you like it?” Kakashi finally blurted out, unable to hold the question in anymore. 

“Hm? Oh, yes.” Orochimaru glanced up at the child from his third bite, having completely forgotten about him for a moment. “You're quite the tiny chef, aren't you? Tell me, where did you get this recipe?” 

Kakashi tried very hard not to explode out of the sheer joy brought on by the snake sannin's compliment. 

“It's a family recipe!” He declared, all too proud to announce the fact. Both because it had apparently been good enough to impress the older shinobi, and simply because it was a Hatake clan recipe that Kakashi actually knew.

Haruka… Kakashi may have never met his grandmother, but even from beyond the grave, the recipe she'd approved of was helping him make a good impression on one of the most powerful nin in Konoha. Wasn't that worth something? The warm glow in his chest insisted that it must.

Orochimaru hummed. He might have tried to say more, but was too busy with his fourth bite to bother. 

Was the food really that good, or was he just hungrier than he'd realized? Orochimaru honestly couldn't tell.

Their little lunch break passed by in a blink, both shinobi quick to devour their meals. 

Till suddenly, Orochimaru was blinking down at his mysteriously empty bento box. The tips of his chopsticks tapping together rhythmically, no fish or rice left to pick at. 

Orochimaru stared down at the bento box a little blankly. 

When was the last time he'd eaten a full meal so quickly? Usually he had to try and convince himself to finish all of his food.

Orochimaru set down his chopsticks with a click , still feeling rather off kilter. 

Kakashi, still with some food left in his own box, glanced up at the noise— jaw dropping to find Orochimaru had already finished. 

“Woah, you really were hungry.” The boy blurted out, sounding incredibly pleased. 

“I… suppose I was.” He still felt rather surprised by that fact. “Thank you for the meal then, Kakashi.” 

“Um—!” Kakashi flushed, making a hasty little bow in his seat. “Thank you for the opportunity to learn under you, Orochimaru-sama!” 

Orochimaru snorted. “Save your thanks for once we've actually begun.”  

“R-Right!” Kakashi stammered, and quickly shoved another bite of his food into his mouth. 

It was almost fun to watch the boy eat. Instead of pulling down his mask, he’d instead pull the bottom half of the mask away from his face. Pushing his chopsticks under his mask from below, and keeping his face hidden from view. 

It looked a bit awkward, to be honest. But he did it with the quick, practiced movements of someone who'd been doing it for some time. 

Waiting for the child to finish his food, Orochimaru began to grow rapidly bored. He debated simply returning to his lab with a command for Kakashi to follow when finished, but it probably wasn't best to leave him unattended. 

“You're Namikaze's student, aren't you?” Orochimaru finally asked with a vague goal of at least finding something to distract him from his boredom. 

Kakashi paused.

“Yes…?” 

“Tell me about him.” 

“Um. Well.” Did he want, like, a mission report? Or—?

Orochimaru waited patiently, head propped up on his hand as Kakashi visibly thought through how to reply. 

“He’s kind of loud sometimes. And he's always worrying about dumb things, like how much I'm eating or when I'm going to bed. And he's nosy too, I mean, he's always asking about me and what I'm doing and how I'm feeling, and—” 

He was rambling now, stay on topic Kakashi.   

“—And I mean, um, he's really strong. Super strong. But you probably know that already.”

Kakashi squirmed, unsure what Orochimaru wanted to hear from him but feeling compelled to tell the truth. 

“He cares a lot. Which is dumb, but… nice… sometimes.” 

Kakashi blushed, suddenly feeling overly exposed. The boy shoveled some more rice into his mouth in an attempt to shut himself up, staring down at the counter with a now furiously red face.

Orochimaru couldn't help but let out a small huff of what might have been the edge of a laugh. “You make him sound like hime-chan.” 

Almost immediately, he regretted his own words. 

Kakashi glanced back up at him with a surprised expression. “You mean Tsunade-hime?” 

“That’s right.”

Kakashi fiddled with his chopsticks, looking suddenly unsure. 

“People have been saying that she should come back any day now, right?”

Orochimaru just barely hid his scoff.

“They’ve been saying that for some time now.” If she was planning on ever returning, she hadn’t told Orochimaru. Not that she’d tried to stay in contact at all, since she’d left. “I truly doubt she’ll come back, not after Dan.”

“Tou-san’s blue friend? He’s her boyfriend, right?”

“Fiance.” Orochimaru corrected, gaze turning distant. “They were engaged. Me and Jiriya were still arguing over who would get to be her best man. I’m fairly sure Dan was planning on approaching Sakumo as his.”

“Oh.” 

Kakashi picked at his food a little slower now. Their sudden change in topic hanging in the air like a dark cloud over the both of them.

“I’m surprised you didn't know. After all, Hime-chan is your godmother, isn’t she?”

Kakashi stared down at his bento.

“I guess.”

“You guess.” Orochimaru tilted his head, pushing past some of his own melancholy with sudden curiosity. “Has she contacted you at all, since Sakumo?” 

Kakashi didn’t answer. Which was, in itself, answer enough.

Well. At least Orochimaru wasn’t alone in those Tsunade had left behind her. 

Almost feeling bad for the question he’d posed, Orochimaru sighed, looking away. “It hasn’t been long since he passed. She may not have gotten the news yet.”

“It’s just—” Kakashi crossed his arms, hunching in on himself. “It’s just a title. It doesn't really mean anything.” 

Orochimaru opened his mouth, hesitating for a moment. Till finally, in surprisingly stilted words, he spoke. 

"It's normal to feel..." The sannin visibly paused, something odd flitting across his face before it was carefully reburied. "Betrayed. Abandoned."

Kakashi let out a sniff, somewhere between haughty and hurt. “That’d mean I'd have to care first.” 

Now it was Orochimaru’s turn to stay quiet.

“Fill these.” 

Orochimaru dumped a box on the table in front of Kakashi. The boy peered into it curiously, unsure what to do with the pile of round, wooden beads that filled it.

Seeing his confusion, Orochimaru sighed.

“They’re chakra beads. Fill them with your chakra, consider it a chakra exercise. Do well enough, and I’ll tell you what I plan on using them for later.” 

Kakashi reached out, picking up one of the beads. They were about as big as the small palms of his hand, sanded down, simple beads. When he looked at them closer, he could see a seal pattern carved into its wooden surface. Faint enough that it blended in with the natural wood grain. 

Tentatively, he tried injecting his chakra into one much like he would a seal. It felt kind of like he was trying to activate a seal— only he kept going and going, pushing his chakra into the bead without any reaction. It felt kind of weird to just keep channeling it in without pause. Kakashi could see why this would make for a good chakra exercise. Was it supposed to help him with his focus? With maintaining a jutsu or seal? Whatever the outcome of this exercise was, he was sure Orochimaru had his reasons to give him this task.

“Tch.” Orochimaru reached out to tap at the surface of the bead, eyes narrowing as he checked Kakashi’s work. “Good, but not with that chakra. Use the other signature you have— The white kind. I saw you using it before, didn’t I?”

“O-Oh!” 

Kakashi frowned, looking down at the bead. Had he used his white chakra in front of Orochimaru before? Wait, no, he’d put some into the seals he’d been playing— err, studying —before, hadn’t he? 

Kakashi concentrated, reaching just a little bit deeper in his chest to push his white chakra out into the bead.

Unlike with his normal electrical chakra, he could feel the strain beginning to pull at him after a few moments of channeling his white chakra. He wasn’t too used to using it in general, and certainly not for too long.

Huh. He’d never really thought about the difference in how it felt to use his chakra types. Clearly, Orochimaru really did know what he was doing with this kind of training— Apparently, Kakashi needed it.

Orochimaru hummed as he rechecked the bead. “Good. You’ll be able to feel when the bead is full, do not press more chakra into it once you feel any sort of pushback. Continue till we break for lunch.” 

With that, Orochimaru left Kakashi to his own devices. Taking his seat at his desk and shuffling through the many stacks of paper scattered across it. 

Kakashi watched him out of the corner of his eye for a moment, before focusing solely on the task he'd been given. It was easy enough to just go through the motions, but surprisingly hard to keep up his pace. Even still, he did his best. Slowly filling up one bead at a time.

Time began to pass quicker, man and boy working on their own tasks in a comfortable silence. 

Eventually, the sky began to darken outside— neither Kakashi nor Orochinaru aware of how much time had slipped by where they remained in the snake sannin's brightly lit lab.  

At some point, Orochimaru found himself watching Kakashi as the boy worked. 

He was a quiet child. Obedient and agreeable. Even if he did have traces of an attitude, it was yet to be fully directed Orochimaru's way, so he could give it a pass. For now, at least.

Having him in the lab, as silent and focused as he was… Orochimaru didn't hate it. 

Orochimaru's head rest in his hand as he observed Kakashi, tapping his finger against his lip as he thought. The boy remained comoletley unaware of his gaze, brows scrunched as he stared determidly down at the chakra bead he was filling. 

He was moving through them rather quickly— Orochimaru hadn't actually expected him to fill all of them, but if Kakashi kept up that speed he just might. It'd be all the better for Orochimaru if he did, of course, but he may have to worry about chakra exhaustion if he got to that point. 

Hm.

“Show me your arm.” 

Eyes sharp but not asking why, Kakashi stretched out his arm, allowing Orochimaru to take it in hand. 

Deciding to reward his blind obedience, Orochimaru explained himself as he pressed a hand to Kakashi's wrist.

“I'm checking your chakra levels.” 

Kakashi glanced from the fingers pressed to his pulse point, to the chakra bead he held in his other hand. 

“I can keep going.” 

“I'll be the judge of that.” 

Kakashi hunched in on himself just a tad, but clearly knew better than to argue. 

His chakra reserves weren't bad. Not the largest Orochimaru had ever seen, but he was aware of his own biases— having a very impressive chakra pool himself, and having been on a team with Senju Tsunade. 

In comparison to Hime-chan, even his own chakra pools looked like a drop in a bucket. 

Orochimaru glanced back at the rather sizable pile of remaining chakra beads he'd given Kakashi, releasing his hand. The boy rubbed absentmindedly at his wrist, still watching Orochimaru curiously. 

…At his age, it really was best not to strain himself. Chakra exercises were meant to be taken slowly, a gradual push against the boundaries of what was comfortable to avoid damaging the delicate, still developing chakra coils. 

Orochimaru reached out, sweeping a number of the beads into a nearby box and kicking it under the table. Leaving Kakashi with only so many left to fill. 

“Hey—”  

“You may continue.” Orochimaru ignored the upset huff of air that escaped Kakashi as his workload was suddenly halved.

Still, Kakashi knew better than to voice his displeasure out loud. Returning to his work with only a pout to mark his upset. 

Orochimaru watched him for a moment more, before turning back to his own work. 

… Yes, Kakashi was an agreeable child. Orochimaru didn't hate this arrangement. 

It was late, when they were finished with their work. Or, well, when Kakashi had finished with the task he’d been given. 

A pile of chakra beads beside him, the boy left feeling just as tired and drained as he might have after his hardest training sessions. Filling in so many beads with his chakra… it took way more out of him than he thought it would. 

It left his chest feeling oddly sore, like he had been stretching a muscle he hadn’t known he had. It felt different from what  he knew chakra exhaustion to feel like— what few, unfortunate brushes he’d had with it in the past. Possibly because all the chakra he’d been using was his special clan chakra, and not the typical plain electric kind he used for everything. 

Leaving the lab, Orochimaru cast a considered glance towards the skylight— no longer letting in sunlight but now the faintest hint of moonbeams —before looking back Kakashi's way.

"Your work today has been... adequate." Orochimaru said slowly.

Kakashi tried his best not to let the pride that shot through his system shine on his face. Judging by the mildly amused upwards twitch of Orochimaru's eyebrow, he didn't do a very good job of it.

"Stay the night, if you wish. Or walk home, I don't care. Consider it your reward for the day."

"O-Orochimaru-sama—?" Kakashi stammered, taken off guard by the sudden offer.

"If you stay, I'll expect you to do more work for me tomorrow, then leave at noon. You will return next week for the same hours."

A— A real working schedule—!

It was suddenly so much harder not to let his pride and excitement show on his face. Hard enough that Kakashi gave up trying all together.

"I'll—! I'll do my best, Orochimaru-sama! I'll work hard!"

"Of course."