A/N: Warning, there's some content that some people may find a bit disturbing or distressing... just wanted to give everyone a heads up...

Over the years, Orochimaru continued on with his goal, researching the mark and the Towa clan in his spare time. He kept the girl, imprisoned on a remote island, in a prison below ground under 24-hour surveillance. Occasionally, if the girl were under stress he'd get a faint fleeting feeling, but so long as she wasn't in life threatening danger, it would subside. According to Towa Clan legend the mark was to identify soulmates, which was completely laughable to him. However, the fact that his life was tied to that weak child, was not a laughing matter.

In his time researching, he'd gained many loyal followers, but also a few enemies along the way, the girl was a constant risk and their bond was unbreakable. He'd hoped that once he found a vessel to try his body transfer jutsu on that the mark would stay with his old body, but once he'd completed the first transfer, the mark seared onto the hand of his new body.

As he was working in his lab, he felt his stomach churn uneasily, something was wrong with the child. He could feel her terror all around him and his heart started to race inside his chest. Was she in danger? Was the remote island discovered by one of his enemies? Her breathing was being restricted. There was pain, so much pain, something was terribly wrong. Swearing under his breath he dropped what he was doing and took off. After about ten minutes, his body returned to normal, but he sensed a disturbance with the child and continued on his way. Something was terribly wrong. Her psyche had been broken, she was in physical and psychological agony. The island wasn't safe for her anymore.

It was normally a week's journey to get to the island, but he could make it there in as little as two days if he was determined. On the second day of the journey, he knew something was wrong with the girl, his body felt oddly sluggish and weak as he arrived at the prison.

"Lord Orochimaru!" He was greeted by one of his subordinates, Orion, the man he'd left in charge of the prison, a young man of twenty and three whose powerful earth style jutsu helped create the island fortress. "What a surpri-."

"Where's the child I left here eight years ago?" Orochimaru hissed.

The young man seemed taken aback by the directness but thought better than to question his clearly agitated superior. "Same place you left her. Would you like to res-?"

"Take me to her." Orochimaru glared causing the young man to pale and jump to action leading the way through the maze-like fortress.

They twisted and wound their way deep into the ground through the underground tunnels before stopping at a small guard's station to get the key to her cell from the guard on duty. When they stopped in the guard's station Orochimaru noticed the guard on duty had a few scratches on his face and appeared to be nursing a black eye and a deep wound to his chest. It looked deep and was still bleeding, though he suspected it wasn't a fresh wound.

"What the hell happened to you?" Orion asked in awe as he looked to his subordinate.

"That stupid, bitch. She's crazy!" The guard growled before turning to face them he paled when he spotted the shinobi with the straight black as night hair and the leering eyes. "Ah, Lord Orochimaru." He bowed politely.

"Tsuki, did that?" Orochimaru asked skeptically, the docile whimpering child he'd left here eight years ago wasn't capable of such damage.

"She's refusing her sedatives now." The guard grumbled, "And seems to have awoken an affinity for wind style."

"Sedatives?"

"It's the only way we can get her to sleep." Orion replied morosely, "We thought she'd keel over, she hadn't slept for nearly a week once you left her, it was making her sick, so we have to sedate her to get her to sleep." He turned his gaze to the guard, "But no one informed me she was refusing them now, when did this happen?"

"Two nights ago?" Orochimaru surmised, whenever that incident was where she was in danger, and from the look of the healing patterns on the scratches on the guard's face, the same night he'd been scratched.

"Y-yeah." The guard bowed his head, his fists were clenched nervously at his sides. He was responsible somehow.

"Give me the key." Orochimaru growled causing the man to jump and fumble for the key at his waist. He reluctantly handed it over and Orochimaru turned down the corridor to her cell.

The tunnels were dimly lit with flaming sconces. It was deafeningly quiet down here and he had a fleeting thought that if the girl were to scream from her cell, that no one would be able to hear her back at the guard's station. He reached the door to her cell and once the key slid into the lock he heard a scream from within and looked up in alarm as the wall shook as if something from within the cell had struck it with a great force.

Orochimaru gently pushed the door of the cell open only for it to slam shut with a powerful gust of wind. So, she had awoken an affinity for wind style after all. Deciding he'd had enough, he threw the cell door open and stepped into the small cell. The smell of fresh and dried blood hit him first as he stepped into the small cell. His gaze flit to the corner of the cell on the broken form of a frail girl of fifteen. Her long silvery white hair fell around her bony frame like a cloak, her wrists were bound, to a kunai puncturing the wall above her and there was a blindfold tied tightly over her eyes. One look at her fingers and the dried blood beneath her nails and he knew she was the one who had scratched the guard. Her arms were littered in bruises, her lip was busted and most worrisome of all was the dry and fresh blood clinging to the inside of her thighs.

Rage welled up inside of him as he took in her broken and bound appearance and he knew in an instant what had happened, why he'd felt her terror a few nights before. As he took a step toward her, he saw her frail body tense, she struggled uselessly against her bonds and let out another desperate scream causing a strong gust of wind to rip through the small cell.

"Tsuki, that's enough." He said softly as he knelt beside her and removed the blindfold.

Tears welled in her colorless eyes as she met his terrifying gaze. He reached for her bound hands and hesitated as she flinched and shrank away from his touch. Once he cut her hands loose, she curled into a ball, making herself as small as she possibly could, cowering away from him. The small makeshift hospital like gown hanging off her bony frame was in tatters. After a quick glance, Orochimaru realized there was nothing here for her aside from a small cot without a blanket and a small prison like bathroom tucked around the corner.

"Let's go." He got to his feet and looked down at the broken girl expectantly, but frowned when she stayed in her tightly coiled ball trembling in fear. "Tsuki, come."

She didn't move.

Sighing, he bent down and swept the girl into his arms, cringing as she let out a cry and started to flail in his arms. She fought so violently and so suddenly, he almost lost his hold on her.

"NO!" Tsuki screamed in a panic as she felt arms encircle her, before relaxing as she felt herself being cradled gently. Her colorless eyes met his, the man who was both her savior and her executioner, the man who'd left her in this cell when she was just a child.

He carried her from the cell in silence, they passed the guard's station and continued through the twisting maze of tunnels until they made it to the ground floor, just as the sun began to set. Tsuki cringed once they made it into the daylight shielding her face with her hands. She jumped as she was gently set down on the sandy beach and watched in awe as Orochimaru summoned a giant purple snake with black stripes and piercing green eyes. It was the biggest creature she had ever seen, the size of a small mountain range.

"What do you want?!" The snake roared angrily, "It better be good for you to summon, The Great Manda." His voice made the entire island quake.

"Destroy the island, leave none alive." Orochimaru said simply before turning and gathering up the broken girl in his arms.

The colossal serpent seemed delighted at this and enjoyed tearing down the fortress and eating any who escaped the destruction. Tsuki stared in wonder as the giant serpent decimated the entire island in a few short minutes. She was unphased as the few escapees screamed in terror and were devoured by the colossal snake. Deep down she felt a small sense of satisfaction that those who had hurt her over the years and those who stood idly by and let it happen, were meeting such a cruel end. Once the serpent ceased its destruction, it slithered to where Orochimaru stood on the beach.

"That wasn't nearly satisfying enough, I'll still expect some human sacrifices." The snake hissed, before its piercing green gaze fell on the frail girl staring at him with wide colorless eyes. "What's wrong with that puny thing? Why is she staring?"

Orochimaru looked down to the girl in his arms wondering if the talking mountain sized snake was too much for her to process after what she'd been through.

"Manda-sama is amazing." She said in awe causing the colossal serpent to straighten himself up with pride.

"That's more like it." The colossal serpent said smugly, "Since this child is so charming, you can forego the sacrifices this once." It glared in Orochimaru's direction before turning back to the girl. "I shall bestow you with a great honor, little one. Hold out your arm."

Tsuki hesitated and reached toward the snake. She jumped as its great forked tongue shot forward and coiled around her arm causing it to sear for a moment. Manda retracted his tongue leaving a strange snake-like black mark coiled around the girl's arm. It vanished from view after a few moments before Manda too disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Let's go." Orochimaru sighed before looking down to the broken girl in his arms, only to stare in disbelief as he noticed she was sound asleep with her head resting on his shoulder.

Video- "Blood, Tears, Dust" By Lacuna Coil