Fever
[X]
The lights in the bar had absolutely no business being that bright. Of that much, at least, Tsunade was certain. Beyond that, however, there was little she could still seem to grasp. The table beneath her, the scent of the warmed sake that had long since gone cold, and the sound of Jiraiya's voice were no longer registering. Which was just as well. He was surely saying something annoying and when had he shown up here anyway…?
[X]
Jiraiya removed the small sake cup from where Tsunade's fingers were still wrapped loosely around it and gently set it aside. He had already spoken with the barkeep and asked him to put Tsunade's bill on Jiraiya's tab – without asking how much it would be. The moment the young man made the comment about how long Tsunade had been there, he shoved all thoughts of numbers and money firmly out of mind and returned to the table Tsunade was lying over.
"All right, come on," he said, pulling her to her feet and dragging her arm over his shoulders to help her stand. He had to lean down to be of any use in supporting her, but she didn't seem to be taking on any of her own weight anyway. He drew her slowly toward the exit, the long cloak she was draped in dragging on the wooden floor, and brought her out into the chilly, late-night silence of the small town street. He couldn't help but notice they were making much slower progress than they'd made together on even the worst nights in their youth, and allowed himself a private chuckle about the drawbacks of getting old as he brought Tsunade over to a bench down a dark side street.
"I didn't think you'd be so careless," he said in a low voice. "This cloak's hardly a disguise. If you wanted to go out that badly, you could have at least transformed." She didn't respond. Jiraiya put his hands on his knees and sighed, shaking his head. "Come on. I'll take you back."
[X]
It hadn't taken long for Jiraiya to give up trying to get Tsunade to walk. He was carrying her when he came down into the hideout, but at the bottom of the entrance stairs he moved to try to set her on her feet again. He could see that she was conscious. Her eyes, half-lidded over pink cheeks, were bright with awareness, but when he lowered her to the floor her legs folded and he stopped himself from letting go so she wouldn't fall.
"Damn, Tsunade," he muttered. Concern sheered the sharp edges off his annoyance as he lifted her again and started into the hideout. "What did you do?" Almost as a reflex, he immediately suspected Orochimaru. Why had Tsunade gone out drinking alone at night? It was unusual for her to go without Kotone. And from the look of things, she'd gone on an exceptionally excessive binge this time around, too. He was just starting to wonder if he should have brought her back here after all when he rounded another corner of the dim passageway and spotted Kotone.
"Jiraiya…?"
He saw her eyes fall with worry on Tsunade and spoke up before she could get too concerned. "She's just a little drunk," he said. "Well… more than a little."
Kotone sighed. "Lady Tsunade… Okay, we should get her to her room I guess."
She led the way through the halls to Orochimaru's and Tsunade's bedroom and opened the door for Jiraiya without bothering to knock.
He must not be around, Jiraiya thought, carrying Tsunade inside and taking her to the bed. For a moment as he put her down, she held on to him – as though she was determined to sit up and was trying to use him for support – but she didn't last long and she sank down into the pillows with a soft groan.
"I'll get some water," Kotone said with another sigh. She went into the hall, leaving the door slightly open and Jiraiya sat heavily on the edge of the bed to wait.
[X]
Jiraiya looked up, catching the slow movement of the door out of the corner of his eye. Orochimaru stepped into the room, probably expecting that no one but Tsunade would be there since his whole air was one of serene calm, his face open, and eyes softer than Jiraiya had ever seen them. Jiraiya whipped back around almost immediately, but the strange image remained fixed behind wide eyes. It felt absolutely childish, like he'd been caught looking at something he shouldn't have been.
When he heard no further movement, he hesitantly glanced back again. Orochimaru's eyes were locked on him now in a sharp, icy glare, scowl firmly in place, and Jiraiya breathed a sigh of audible relief.
"Don't scare me like that!" he exclaimed into the silent room, making Orochimaru twitch. "For a second there I thought you'd gone and gotten a soul!" He paused, a sour look taking over his features as he reconsidered his words and who he was talking to. "I mean… Never mind."
Orochimaru might have stopped listening if he'd ever bothered to start in the first place. Ignoring Jiraiya was second-nature to him, so instead, his mind was busily assembling the pieces of the scene in front of him. Jiraiya followed his gaze to Tsunade briefly before looking back to Orochimaru.
"Just like old times, right?" he sighed. "She'll be all right. I think she just had one too many," he said, tipping an imaginary cup to his lips.
Sharp eyes narrowed and shifted over to Jiraiya again. "Yes, just like old times. You're still a fool."
"Hey, it's not my fault!" he protested immediately. "I wasn't even with her; I just ran into her at the bar!"
"Does it look like she's just had too much to drink?" Orochimaru hissed back, more annoyed than anything.
Jiraiya blinked blankly at him before turning to look at Tsunade again. Her eyes were closed now, her face still flushed, but it also looked like sweat was gathering on her forehead. She looked extremely uncomfortable. Tense. And, was it his imagination or did she seem short of breath as well? Now that he thought about it, Tsunade would normally have clobbered him for being so loud if she'd just been drunk.
Kotone came up to the door, a pitcher of water and an empty glass filling her hands, and stalled slightly. "Oh, Lord Orochimaru…"
He ignored her, which she took as a sign for safe entry, and she edged around him into the room to set the water on the bedside table. She tried to busy herself with filling the glass, but didn't bother with the pretense of trying to hand it off to anyone. She'd seen as soon as she'd entered that the situation had changed. Fortunately, the awkward, tense silence in the room did not last long. Orochimaru strode forward and said in a low, calm voice to Jiraiya, "If you don't know what happened, you should leave."
Jiraiya stared up at him from his seat on the bed for a long moment before making up his mind. "Come on, Kotone," he said, heading for the door.
Having no desire to be left alone with Orochimaru while Tsunade was in the state she was, Kotone hurried after him. As soon as she'd closed the door, she whispered, "What's the deal, Jiraiya? That's not like you to just leave because he says so."
"Tsunade will be all right," he said. "Let's go." He started back down the hallway toward the entrance.
"Go where?" she asked, quickening her steps to keep up with his purposeful stride.
"To find out what happened."
[X]
The sun was just barely beginning to dust the horizon when Jiraiya and Kotone got to the bar. The young man who had been tending the bar a few hours ago was now moving slowly about the empty establishment, cleaning up for closing time. When Jiraiya and Kotone walked in, he said lightly, "We're closed; go home and get some sleep."
"Love to," Kotone muttered under her breath. She had been up all night with Orochimaru, assisting him in the lab, and had only just been dismissed minutes before running into Jiraiya and Tsunade in the hideout.
Jiraiya made his way further into the bar and leaned against a booth near where the man was wiping tables. "Could I ask you some questions before that?" he said.
The bartend looked up. "Oh, it's you. Hey, is your friend okay? She looked damned awful; I was a little worried."
"She's been better," Jiraiya evaded. "Actually, that's what I wanted to ask you about. Was there anyone with her when she came in? Or did anyone join her?"
"No," the man said easily. "But she did look a bit off. Kept her face hidden, but you can just tell, you know? I see enough of it. And she was here for a while but she only ever ordered the one drink."
Jiraiya and Kotone shared glances of mixed shock and concern before Jiraiya thanked the man for his help and they hurried back toward the door. The man waved amiably as they left, telling Jiraiya to come back anytime.
Outside, Jiraiya turned back toward the hideout. "We should get back," he said, but Kotone stopped him.
"We should try to find a hospital or a medical ninja or something," she said.
Jiraiya hesitated. "Kotone… this is Tsunade we're talking about."
"Yeah?" Kotone put her hands on her hips. "And what? You expect her to heal herself? We don't even know what's wrong."
"Uh, no, it's not that," he corrected quickly, raising his hands as if to hold back the dangerous glint in Kotone's eyes. "She's a missing-nin," he explained. "And she's famous. Someone might recognize her and then we'd all be in trouble."
"Ugh, damn…" Kotone muttered, dropping onto a nearby bench and propping her chin in her hand. "Never thought I'd be wishing for Kabuto to be around again. …Even Karin's gone now."
"Karin?" Jiraiya sat down next to her as Kotone nodded.
"She was in charge of a prison hideout I think, and she had special healing abilities. But after, ah…" She glanced at Jiraiya before fixing her gaze on the ground. "After… Lord Orochimaru's last transfer," she said, tactfully avoiding Sasuke's name for Jiraiya's sake. "She went out of control and had to be killed."
Jiraiya's face darkened with a deep-set scowl and his arm moved almost unconsciously to wrap around Kotone's shoulders and draw her closer to his side. "Let's go back," he said again, but his voice was dark with anger. Kotone just sighed and nodded.
[X]
Orochimaru pulled back the corner of the blankets and pushed Tsunade's sleeve up. She was shivering, but he clamped down on her arm with one hand to hold her still as he pressed a needle through her skin. A few quick seconds later, he was setting the syringe aside. Then he slipped his hand under Tsunade's back and eased her gently but insistently up until she was propped against the headboard.
Tsunade thought that she wanted to resist the movement, but another part of her mind that was suddenly beginning to clear told her not to. A glass made its way to her lips and cool water drenched her tongue. It was somehow a relief. No… of course it was a relief… right? Before she could sort out the thought, the glass was taken away and she immediately sank back down into the bed, letting her thoughts mix together in dizzying swirls as the blankets were pulled over her shoulders.
Orochimaru swept Tsunade's sweat-damp bangs back and laid a cool cloth onto her burning skin. The room remained silent but for Tsunade's labored breathing and the muted drips of water whenever he rinsed and rang the cloth in the bowl on the bedside table. He would be patient, he'd decided, because even now he trusted her judgment. The fever would break soon.
[X]
"We have to do something. You said yourself it was obvious she wasn't just drunk and now we've confirmed that. Something else is wrong."
"It's none of your concern."
"How can you be okay with doing nothing? You don't know what happened any more than we do."
"This is none of your business, Jiraiya. You shouldn't even be here. I will take care of Tsunade. Now get out."
"No. How many times do I have to say it? I'm not leaving."
"And how many times have I warned you? I will kill you if you do not stay out of my way."
"I dare you to try it."
"No!" Kotone grabbed onto Jiraiya's arm just as Orochimaru turned back toward him, and the rasengan in his hand flickered away.
"Let go, Kotone. It's about time we finished this."
"Don't be an idiot, Jiraiya; you'll only end up killing each other. I'm not going to let you do that."
Orochimaru stepped right up to Jiraiya, meeting his eyes with an arrogant smirk before looking to Kotone who was still gripping Jiraiya's arm with full force to keep him from lashing out. "Good work, Kotone," he said, unabashedly smug. His eyes flickered back to Jiraiya's again for just a moment before he turned and walked out of the room.
Kotone felt Jiraiya pull away from her, but she tightened her grip and wrenched his arm back again and did not speak until the tension eventually drained from him in the quiet seconds that ticked by in the wake of Orochimaru's departure. When he'd finally relaxed somewhat, she let go of his arm.
"We're leaving for a while," she said. "Come on."
[X]
"I'm feeling much better," Tsunade insisted in spite of the slightly tremulous grasp she had on the glass of water, and the continued pallor of her face. "I hardly have a fever anymore." She paused to take a few quiet breaths. "And I'm actually able to think."
"But not to breathe," Orochimaru commented with a slight edge to his voice. "Tsunade, I'm not completely inept when it comes to medical knowledge, so stop pretending that this is some ordinary illness. Tell me what it really is."
He was taken aback when Tsunade smiled at him. His hand twitched, but he stopped it from moving on its own to check her for a fever again.
"So you've taken at least a little interest… in my work now, huh? About time," she said, still smiling despite her shortness of breath.
As she started to explain, her expression sobered, but Orochimaru felt no less unsettled. "The fever was… incidental," she said. "My body doesn't understand… the signals it's getting. It knows… something is wrong… but it's reading it as an infection… It's just a symptom… but it was getting in the way… I couldn't think…"
"So…?" Orochimaru pressed. "What is it, if not an infection? Why is your body misreading it?"
"Heh…" Tsunade's lips twisted into a wry smirk as she stared down at the blankets. "It's the Genesis Regeneration."
Orochimaru forcefully repressed an encroaching wave of cold and managed to retain the appearance of stoicism as the words quickly took root in his mind. "Can you tell how long you have now?" he asked calmly. "Now that you know it's started?"
Tsunade shrugged. "Can't be long… Heart and lungs took the worse of it… If you've got a plan… it shouldn't wait." She met his eyes with level clarity and he felt his lips form an unbidden smirk as he took her hand and pulled her up out of the bed to stand beside him. She was still shaking, weakened by the fever and the cellular degeneration that was beginning to catch up to her, but she responded to his support, squeezing his hand just as tightly as he was holding hers. Without a word, he led her from the room and down into the darkest depths of the underground labyrinth.
[X]
He kept secrets for her.
The "for" was very important, Tsunade decided. It kept the focus off of the "from" that was also there in this room she hadn't known about, and probably in that huge metal cylinder that he was leading her toward. He hadn't said anything since he'd taken her from their room, and she hadn't asked questions – only kept a sharp eye on her surroundings, and a firm grip on his hand.
They approached the cylinder and Orochimaru reached out to touch the cold metal with the tips of his fingers. When he pulled away, a black seal drew itself from the inside out across the smooth surface.
"Can you stand on your own?" he asked, squeezing her hand subtly. Tsunade nodded, still staring at the cylinder, and Orochimaru let go of her to release the seal. A vertical seam appeared as the black markings vanished, and the metal split open silently to reveal a glass tank of vibrant blue liquid. A light set in the bottom of the massive container made the whole room glow, and floating in the midst of a few lazy streams of bubbles was Karin.
Tsunade swallowed her surprise and nodded again when Orochimaru glanced back for her reaction, her opinion. Her answer.
He kept secrets from her. And this time, it would probably save her life.
[X]
In some ways, seeing Tsunade wake – opening red eyes and sitting up slowly, a hand moving to hold her head and meeting with uneven spikes of red hair – had been easier than Orochimaru expected. Sealing away her original body had been much harder. Having discarded his own body so easily, Orochimaru did not expect the sense of loss he felt now that Tsunade had done the same. But he sat on the floor across from her now, watching her intently as slightly fumbling fingers found the glasses on her face and removed them to squint down at the thick brown frames. The young face scrunched up with an impatience that was pure Tsunade and Orochimaru almost laughed before he caught himself. He'd decided that he didn't want to interrupt her. After all, how often would he get the chance to observe Tsunade discovering herself in a new body?
Tsunade replaced the glasses on her face and her eyes caught on a mark just under her long purple sleeve. She pulled it back and paused for just a moment, staring down at the circular bite marks that covered her entire arm. For the first time since waking, she looked up at Orochimaru.
"This is freaking disturbing," she said flatly – and her voice was her own.
Orochimaru stood and offered his hand to her, pulling her to her feet and steadying her as she adjusted to a different height and weight distribution. She looked down at herself again and sighed.
"As your chakra adapts to the body, you'll begin to take your own form again," Orochimaru explained. "Even the shape of your eyes will change, and your skin will heal, so it won't be an issue." He dusted his fingers over her cheek gently but she took a small step back from him.
"Orochimaru…"
Undaunted, Orochimaru pressed forward again and kissed her, and for a moment, Tsunade forgot her physical state and melted to his touch. But the sensation ended the moment he pulled away and she was left feeling extremely uncomfortable and self-conscious. She took another step back. "Orochimaru–" she started again, but he cut her off.
"It hardly matters to me what you look like, Tsunade," he said. "As long as it's you."
Tsunade blinked dumbly at him for a moment before folding her arms and saying with all her usual attitude, "I think if anyone else tried that line they'd be accused of romantic notions. Somehow from you I think it's just being practical." Orochimaru smirked but did not respond and Tsunade continued. "Still, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather be myself. It should take about a week, right?" she asked, glancing over her hands and arms again.
"It's your first transfer and your chakra isn't as… potent as mine," Orochimaru answered. "Try to be patient if it takes a little longer."
Her lips twisted briefly into a sour grimace, but a moment later she sighed. There wasn't any point to being impatient. It couldn't help anything now. Her thoughts instead turned to how she would distract herself from her still slightly unsettling situation in the meantime, and a realization suddenly struck her.
"Kotone's gonna freak out."
A wicked grin flashed across her borrowed face and she laughed. The next week might actually be a lot of fun.
[X]
Fever – Author's Note
Okay, so that's it! I really doubt there will be anymore Naruto fics outta me (I can actually say that with some confidence since it's been a few years since I finished these and have not been so much as tempted to continue down this line).
If you are into Yu-Gi-Oh!, Ghost Hunt, Sailor Moon, or especially Detective Conan/Case Closed/Magic Kaito I invite you to check out some of my other stories. If not, just thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!
~DS