It had been a few weeks since their run in with Sakura and Naruto. They stayed in various caves during the day to protect Tsuki's sensitive skin from the harsh sun's rays. She'd finally regained her strength and her keen senses were back to normal. She often thought back on their first night away from their lair. Why did Orochimaru run from her? He appeared to be avoiding her when possible now.

Tsuki slowly made her way to a nearby waterfall close to the current cave they were camping out in. During her training with Sasuke she'd been distracted trying to figure out why Orochimaru was avoiding her and had fallen in mud while trying to avoid one of his fire attacks. After a quick glance around the dark surrounding forest to make sure she was alone, she stripped from her muddy clothing before stepping into the crystal clear cool water. She shivered at the chill from the night air and the cold water before taking a deep breath and diving into the deeper part of the pool. It was colder the deeper she went, but her body began to adjust after a while.

She used her chakra to stand atop the water after she'd had her fill of swimming so she could stand beneath the waterfall and wash the mud from her hair. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she walked atop the water toward the waterfall. Casting out her senses she tried to scan the area. She sensed two familiar presences hiding in the tree line and rolled her eyes at this. Sasuke was a teenager so his poor behavior was to be expected, but she'd thought Kabuto was mature enough, she'd been mistaken. If Orochimaru caught them peeping they'd regret it.

Pretending not to notice her two voyeurs, she stepped beneath the waterfall as she sensed a third familiar presence drawing near. Orochimaru had probably returned to the cave they were staying in to find everyone else missing. Luckily it appeared he wasn't going to stumble upon Kabuto and Sasuke.

Tsuki heard a rustling in the underbrush on the opposite bank from where Kabuto and Sasuke were hiding, nowhere near the direction Orochimaru was coming from. There was someone else there! She dropped beneath the water's surface to hide her body from view only to scream as she found a man beneath the water's surface. He was a rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist. He made a move to grab her, Tsuki scrambled back atop the water's surface and froze as she saw a dark cloud of blood beneath the water's surface where her assailant had been.

Her colorless eyes flicked to the shoreline. Orochimaru was standing at the shoreline looking livid. She chanced a glance in the direction of where she'd heard the others moving and blanched as she spotted three dead rogue ninja.

"Tsuki." He held his hand out to her.

She scrambled to her feet and dove into his arms. He shielded her body from view as he wrapped his arms around her. He could feel her heart pounding in her chest as her body molded against his.

"Are you alright?"

The starlight girl nodded her dripping wet moonbeam hair soaking the front of his shirt as she buried her face in his chest. She chanced a peek in the direction Sasuke and Kabuto had been hiding, she no longer sensed their presence. There was a single kunai sticking out of the trunk of the tree a fraction of an inch above where the tops of their heads would have been. Orochimaru had seen them.

Upon noticing her clothes were covered in mud, he shrugged out of the white overlaying top that he wore over his plain black pants and long sleeved black shirt. He pulled the white cloth over her head before securing it in place with the purple rope. The white material molded to her soaking wet body defining her every curve in sinful ways. A faint splash of color painted his pale cheeks and he forced himself to look away from her. Tsuki picked up her dirty clothes and scrambled to keep up with his hurried strides as he led the way back to the cave they were staying in.

It was driving her crazy not knowing why he was avoiding her. "Orochimaru-sama?" She called out to him as she struggled to keep up with his determined stride.

He stopped abruptly and Tsuki let out a squeak as she nearly smacked into him from behind. "What is it?" His lethal gaze fell on her as he turned slightly, barely acknowledging her.

Tsuki bit her lip nervously, "Did I do something wrong?"

"What are you talking about?" He sighed as he turned to face her, keeping his gaze trained on her pale face trying to keep from looking at her voluptuous frame and how the fabric of his shirt clung to every delicate curve.

"I feel like you've been avoiding me...ever since..." She held up her hand to show the now grey crescent moon mark. There was sorrow revealed within her colorless eyes laced with guilt.

Orochimaru lightly swept a finger beneath her chin drawing her gaze to his as she bowed her head. "You didn't do anything wrong, Tsuki." He hesitated as he glanced down at his own crescent moon shaped brand. It was wrong of him to have kept her caged all these years, if he'd thought about her well being from the beginning he would have tried to cut all ties with her and let her find someone truly worth her love and affection, someone the complete opposite of him. A single tear slipped from the starlight girl's hold, startling the sannin, "What is it?" His heart ached as he wiped away the single tear.

"What's wrong? You look like you're in pain."

He didn't deserve to have someone as sweet and caring as Tsuki in his life. Not after all he'd done for the sake of science, especially the things he did to her, what he made her go through. Before Tsuki, he didn't think twice about the vile things he did for the sake of his goal. After being bound to the starlight girl and realizing he'd been trapped in her spell, he'd found himself developing a conscience. "It's nothing for you to worry about, Tsuki." Orochimaru attempted to reassure her. He placed a kiss to the top of her head before sweeping her off her feet as she began to shiver in the cool night air.

She snuggled into his arms with a sigh of contentment happy for the warmth his strong arms offered her, "But I love yo-." A squeak escaped her as she realized what she'd just blurted and her cheeks flushed crimson. Tsuki scrambled to cover her burning face with her hands.

Orochimaru faltered and looked down at the blushing girl in his arms. "What was that?" He smirked.

"...I love you..." Tsuki breathed, her voice almost an inaudible squeak.

Orochimaru felt his heart flutter in his chest at her words, "I don't deserve you..." He said after a long moment, his heart stuttered in his chest as Tsuki looked up at him with wide eyes.

"You're always protecting me, you've saved me more times than I can count, even when you didn't need to-."

"I've also caused you a great deal of pain."

"But I cursed you." She sniffled cutely. "And if you didn't conduct your experiments, I'd never know my limits."

Orochimaru stared down at her in awe, she didn't resent him for what he'd done to her. She was far too sweet. Regardless, he wanted to make it up to her, he never wanted to cause her pain ever again. "I'm sorry, Tsuki." He found a small clearing hidden in the trees with a curtain of weeping willows enclosing it. He set her atop a stump and knelt before her capturing her trembling hands in his.

There was something he had to tell her. Something he couldn't believe would ever come out of his mouth. He'd always believed love was a weakness, but perhaps he'd been mistaken. Tsuki made him stronger. If it was for her sake, he had unlimited strength and power.

He tenderly caressed her cheek, "I love you."

A smile lit up her blushing face and before he knew what had happened she dove into his arms tackling him to the plush mossy earth. Their lips met in a passionate kiss. They both broke apart with a gasp as the crescent moon shaped marks on their hands began to burn and shift once more to a lighter shade of grey. Tsuki paled as she looked to the mark on her hand. Had she done something wrong, again?

Orochimaru reached into the pouch strapped to his thigh and retrieved a small book of his compiled notes of the Towa Clan. He'd compiled everything of importance from his research into one book. He extended the book to her.

"What's this?" Tsuki asked curiously as she accepted the book and rolled away from him.

"My research on the Towa Clan." Orochimaru got to his feet and offered her a hand up. "It might put your mind at ease." Or it would just fluster her further which was fine with him as he had to admit she was adorable when she was flustered.

Video- "I Get To Love You" By Ruelle