It's Tsunade's birthday, and of course EVERYTHING'S been going wrong. Between onbaa troubles and Naruto's constant whining, she was about ready to pull her hair out. And just when she thought it couldn't get worse, Orochimaru shows up. But he doesn't seem bent on destroying the Leaf like he always is; he actually seems…sweet. What's he up to?
Today hadn't exactly gone the way she'd been hoping. All she wanted was a day to herself. It was her birthday, after all, so didn't she deserve it? Apparently not. Why was it that whenever her birthday came around, she was bombarded with tedious odd jobs? She sighed heavily as she looked out her window, longing to go gamble somewhere.
"Lady Tsunade? Have you finished with the file yet?"
"Which one?"
"The one involving the mission to the Village Hidden in the Mist. Tenzo wanted to know if he could borrow it for a while."
"Very well…Come in."
Shizune walked in cautiously and picked the folder up. She looked at Tsunade sorting different files and smiled. "Why don't you take a break? You've been working all day."
"I need to finish this. The Hokage isn't supposed to "take breaks"."
"Since when have you cared about the Hokage's duties? Come on, I know you want to go out there. It's a beautiful day."
"No, Shizune. I need to concentrate."
Shizune looked at her worriedly. Why was she pushing herself so hard? Wasn't today her birthday? "But don't you want to do something special? Today's your birthday! You should go out and have fun!"
"No thanks." She wouldn't look at her, but she knew she was right. She really should do something special for herself…"Shizune."
"Yes, mi lady?"
"Cancel all of my appointments for today. I'm going out."
She walked along the streets of Konoha trying to come up with something to do. She had already spent two hours gambling, and to be honest, it was boring after
a while. Maybe she could go to a hot spring, or see a movie. When was the last time she'd gone to see a show? She sighed. How was she supposed to enjoy her birthday if she had no idea what to do?
"Grandma Tsunade! Hey, Grandma Tsunade!"
She groaned. Of all the people to see on her birthday, she just had to run into Naruto. "What is it?"
"I heard today was your birthday! Is that true?"
"It might be…Why?"
"I got you something!"
"You did?" Huh…What could Naruto possibly get her that would-?
"Onbu."
……………Of course. An onbaa. Lovely.
"What did I tell you about those? I really don't like onbaa, sorry." She rolled her eyes as a flashback of Jiraiya came back. She still remembered the summer he went off into the forest and claimed to have "wrestled an adult onbaa and won". How could he have been so childish? Oh wait, it's Jiraiya. She should've expected it from him. But Orochimaru agreed with Jiraiya! That's what boggled her mind. Why would he-?
"Grandma Tsunade? Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh y-yeah…" Was she seriously just thinking about Orochimaru? What was wrong with her? SHE'S DOING IT AGAIN!!
"Oh…Well I'm going to find Hinata. I wanted to ask her if she'd have ramen with me."
"Uh-huh…"
"…Well see ya!" She shook her head and kept walking. Why was she thinking about him so much? I mean it's not like she has a thing for him! Although he was charming when they were younger…and strong…and smart…and good-looking…GAH!
"Lady Hokage."
"Hmm?" She turned around and saw the village fool…Might Gai. What could he possibly want? "What is it, Gai?"
"I wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday, and to give you this." He held out a thing that looked oddly like…Oh God no…
She took it from him and opened it. Was he serious? She unfolded the jumpsuit and looked at him sheepishly. "Heh…thanks." It came out more of a question, but the idea was passed.
"No problem." He disappeared after flashing one of his signature smiles. She felt yesterday's dumplings slowly crawling up her throat and threatening to pop out for a visit. Which reminded her…she hadn't eaten anything today. Maybe a nice bowl of ramen would take her mind off of…him…
"Oh hello Lady Hokage. What can I get for you?"
"Umm…just a bowl of ramen please…"
"Yes ma'am." Teuchi poured her a bowl and placed it in front of her. "It's on the house."
"Oh thank you." She started stirring the noodles around in her bowl absentmindedly. Random flashbacks of them kept popping into her head; like when they had both gotten bells from Sarutobi-sensei. "What's wrong with me," she said quietly.
After finishing her lunch, she walked into the forest. She really didn't have anything better to do, so why not go for a walk? She thought it'd help clear her head…HAHAHA! No…Now she couldn't think of anything BUT him. She sighed in defeat and sat on a rock formation near a waterfall. Hmm…she could go for a nice swim right about now. She took off her shirt and pants and dove right in. The ice cold water felt perfect against her overheating skin. She swam around for a while, trying to think of something OTHER than-
"Tsunade…"
…Orochimaru. There's no way she could mistake that icy voice. She immediately stood and looked around. "Where are you, Orochimaru?"
He appeared in front of her, but didn't seem angry. He actually looked…uncomfortable. And was she mistaken, or were his cheeks turning pink?
"H-Hello…Long time, no see…"
"What are you doing here?"
To her surprise, he looked away. Okay, there HAD to be something wrong with her…now he looked like he was turning red! What was up with that?
"I umm…I remembered today was your birthday and I…well…" He took something out of his bag and handed it to her. "This is for you…"
"It…It is?" Okay WHY was he giving her a birthday present? Was it going to blow up in her face or something? "Thanks…" She took it from him and shook it a little.
"Don't worry…It isn't anything bad…I know you've wanted it since you were a girl so…"
He remembered something like that? Hmm…now she was intrigued. Slowly, she opened it and revealed a small box. She looked at him and he smiled. A genuine smile. Okay, now she REALLY had to see what it was. Carefully, she opened the box and gasped. "This is…"
"I…I found it while I was travelling…do you…do you like it?"
She looked at him and smiled warmly. "I love it." Was this really the same Orochimaru that had killed the Third Hokage? Their own sensei? He seemed so…gentle…like he was when they were kids. Without giving it a second thought, she softly touched his cheek. "Thank you."
He looked at her wide-eyed, like he was expecting her to hit him or something. His cheeks turned a soft pink and he smiled. "Do you want me to help you put it on?"
"Okay." She turned around and lifted her hair. He took the necklace from her and gently hung it around her neck, clipping the back of it to keep it from falling off. As his fingers brushed the back of her neck, she felt a warm tingling feeling crawl her spine.
Softly, he said, "Okay, I'm done."
She turned back around to face him and looked down at the heart-shaped locket that was now hanging daintily around her neck. Her fingers felt the diamonds that bordered the rim and she turned it over, admiring every part of it. "It's just what I wanted…"
"Th-There's more…"
"There is?"
"Open it…"
She looked at him curiously. "Open it?"
"Read the inscription…"
He had it inscripted? With what? She fumbled to try to open it, but couldn't no matter what she did. "Umm…could you help me out?"
He chuckled. "Sure." Carefully, he popped it open. He looked into her eyes and she swore she saw a sparkle in them. She looked down at the locket and smiled. I love you, Tsunade A tear rolled down her cheek and she looked up at him. "Are you serious?"
He didn't say a word; he just looked into her eyes. Why must he always be so mysterious? And…why did she love that about him? He leaned in towards her and kissed her lips softly.
That surprised her. But for some reason…she liked it. Somehow her arms found their way around his neck, and his arms somehow ended up around her waist. Oh yeah…because standing in front of him wearing nothing but her bra and underwear dripping wet wasn't bad enough, now she was making out with him dripping wet in her bra and underwear!
But she had to admit…this was the best birthday ever.
Author's Note: So? What'd you think? Cute, huh? This is only supposed to be a one-shot, but I may write a sequel. Please R&R!!