It was the dry spells she hated the most. The bartender had given her free drinks after roughing up the thugs who were beating the bouncer but his gratitude had started showing limits after the third cup of sake. She liked the location of the bar, it was classy and in the center of town, which put her in an interesting position. On the north side of town was a loan shark she owed money to, and on the south side was a casino that she had lost all of his money at.
"Hey Shizune, get me some kizami tobacco." The girl Shizune would have trouble buying the tobacco if she looked her age; it was as good a test of her henge jutsu as any she could think at the moment, and the girl needed practice. Pulling a kiseru pipe from a hidden pocket in her robe, she tapped out a few leftover ashes that were left from the last time she had smoked. It wasn't often she smoked but nostalgia got the best of her at times and she wanted to remember that smell that was so heavy on Sarutobi Sensei's robes and think of home.
With a fiery glance she managed to scare the bartender into giving her one more warm sake. It would soon be time to leave town, running from yakuza goons, nights under the open sky, not picking a new destination until the gambling itch drove her to the next city. She felt burned out, tired; nothing about this life she chose was going the way she wanted.
"It's not the drink you're craving tonight, is it?" A man's voice called from her side. His tone was even and cool, deep and mature. Turning to her side she immediately noticed his dark skin and bright green eyes. His face was half recognizable; something about him seemed hidden in the soft gleam of her light intoxication. Or perhaps it was the mask he wore over his mouth which obscured his identity.
"No, it's not. The sake isn't even that good here." The insult made the bartender mad to the point where he threw his towel onto the bar before calling to the back for his assistant to come to the front.
"I've been in enough bars to see the difference in the patrons." The assistant stood across from them, looking interested in the conversation. "There are those who drink to have a good time and those who drink to forget. You don't fit either of those."
Setting the cup down on the bar, she turned in her stool to face him. "And what is it you think I'm doing?"
"You… are trying to remember something… Tsunade-Hime."
"For you to know who I am that either means you are someone familiar with the hidden villages or you are a collector for someone I owe money to." Placing her elbow on the bar she held her face in her hand and playfully looked at him. "So which are you?"
"More of the first than the second. But in truth, I heard you were in town and I wanted to meet you."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, I have a rather interesting proposal for you."
Getting up from the bar, Tsunade nodded for him to follow as she went upstairs to the room she shared with Shizune. The girl kept things tidy, which was impressive given that they had been in town for a week and Tsunade had a way of making hotel rooms feel like home by messing them up.
After grabbing a book on the shelf, she pulled out a mat and lay on her side looking at the man standing in her doorway. Only now did she notice the briefcase he was carrying. A fairly modified attaché case, it was the case of a money courier.
"You invite a man into your room without even asking his name. That's the sort of confidence one expects of one of the Legendary Sannin. To be honest, I am somewhat intimidated."
"Are you now?" Flipping through the pages of her book, she found the page she was looking for. "Close the door behind you and let's get to business, Kakuzu."
"Remembered my features from the old bingo book? It's been near fifty years since I was first in one; I'm actually flattered they still put an old man like me in them."
"You seem surprisingly well aged for a man in his seventies. I've always heard you used some interesting jutsu to keep in such good shape, I am genuinely curious."
"Then our feelings are mutual." Sitting down on the floor across from her, he opened the case and revealed a small fortune of money. "We are both Shinobi, we know how this game is played. Strength of arms is nothing against strength of mind - knowledge. You possess unique seals and genetics which make you valuable beyond mere money." Closing the case, he tossed it over to a corner of the room behind her. From his sleeve he pulled a deck of cards. "This is what I propose, a game of curiosity."
"I'm listening." Taking the cards from his hand she began shuffling the deck.
"You ever play strip poker?" Tsunade nodded. "The rules are similar, only instead of articles of clothing, we reveal secrets. The game stops when one of us wants it to. We set boundaries with each round, saying what we want from the other before starting."
"And the limits?" Placing the deck in front of him she motioned for him to cut the cards.
"Like I said, you can stop the game whenever you feel uncomfortable with the stakes."
At the door, Shizune knocked and came in with a packet of tobacco. She was surprised at the visitor, but not at the sight of the case of money and the deck of cards.
"Get me my medical kit from the closet and leave. You have the night off Shizune." Doing as she was told, the girl left, seeming relieved to be out of the atmosphere of the room.
As she readied her medical kit, she noticed that Kakuzu had a rather similar one set up next to him. Smiling, Tsunade felt the tension in the air; it was like the excitement a warrior feels before battle. Is that what this was?
"A skin sample." Tsunade began with something simple. She had heard that skin from those who used Doton: Domu was altered.
"A lock of your hair." Kakuzu's request did not seem at all odd to her. Hair was a valuable source of genetic material, and could be used in advanced surgery to mend serious wounds.
To her surprise, her three jacks beat his ace high, though he was one card off of a flush. Pulling back his sleeve, Kakuzu held out his arm which seemed stitched together - a sure sign of Jiongu, the kinjutsu of Takigakure. Scraping off dead skin flakes into a bag; she then made a shallow incision and sliced off a thin layer of living skin onto a dish with seals that would preserve it.
She lost the next hand, though when he asked for a blood sample she did it herself, choosing not to trust his instruments. The sight of blood was hard on her, but she was able to keep her calm despite the pressure. Quickly healing the wound, she dealt the next hand.
Winning with two pair she asked for a sample of his black thread. Nodding that he lost the round, he pulled half a meter of the black chord-like material from his arm. Placing the sample on a sealing scroll, it disappeared in a cloud of smoke as she sent it to a storage scroll in Shizune's possession.
The next hands passed by in a blur, Kakuzu won a bone marrow sample to go with the blood he had won, and Tsunade in return collected a sample of his blood plasma.
"I'd like to perform a bone scan of you." Tsunade decided her next move.
"And I would like to examine your muscular system." Kakuzu stated with a calculating quality to his voice
Losing to his full house, Tsunade shrugged and looked at him. "So how do you want to do this?"
"Hold out your arm." Tsunade did so and his hand touched hers for a moment before he scooted forward. Gently he massaged her hand and wrist before moving on to the forearm. His hands were strong, and as he seemed to be studying her nerves and muscles he was relieving the internal pressure that he found. Raising her arm, he lowered his other arm to her waist and said, "Turn around." She felt his hand begin to loosen her waistband, as she moved her arm to protest he took her hand, "We're both adults and doctors here."
Turning her around, he removed her waistband and slipped her dress from off her shoulder. Staying on guard, she checked her arm that he had examined to determine if he had done anything to weaken her strength but was surprised that she actually felt stronger after his massage. The realization helped ease the shock she felt when he placed his hands on her bare back and began to feel her skin, tracing the lines of her bones, tapping her veins and kneading her muscles.
Any layman would think he was simply giving a massage, but she knew better. Professional masseurs often have as much medical knowledge about muscles and nerves as doctors. And as calculating and cool as Kakuzu presented himself, his hands were so warm. "What I wouldn't give to be a Hyuuga and see how your chakra system connects to your muscles. You have beautiful muscle tone."
Nervous sweat began to bead on her back from the compliment, "Are you done?" As good as his hands felt, she knew she had to pull away. Feeling his hands off her back, she pulled her dress back up and retied her belt before facing him again.
"What's your bet? I'd like to examine your Yin seal." Kakuzu said bluntly. His expression was cold, his face still hard to read with his mask.
"Before that, quick game of high card. I want you to take off your mask." Drawing a ten, she beat his six and he took off his mask and cowl. His face seemed so much like a stitched doll. His eyes, looked down – a sign of vulnerability?
"I'm still interested in your bone structure." Tsunade declared and won the hand, the rate at which she was winning was starting to surprise her. Taking off his vest, Kakuzu lied down on the ground and spread his arms wide. Moving to sit by his side, she felt that his internal systems were very different from normal humans. The separations in his forearms in particular intrigued her. "Do you mind?" She said as she touched the joint. Pulling his left arm apart at the seam she was amazed to see how each jiongu thread acted as internal structure similar in strength to bone but flexible as muscles at the same time. She would have to further study her sample later, but putting his arm back together she sat on top of his chest to examine his ribs, sternum and spine.
Bending forward she felt his neck and found the spinal column was intact, though the spinal discs felt very different. As she breathed she could not help but notice his strong, earthy smell. Like the earth and the trees. For someone who was, in all honesty a curiosity of nature, he smelled so natural. His ribs and sternum checked out, and Tsunade got off him and let him up. Choosing not to redress, Kakuzu dealt the next hand.
"We've had ourselves a fun game until now Tsunade, what say you to a final round with different stakes; a 'winner takes all' sort of bet?"
"And the stakes?"
"Name your prize after the hand is played, not before. No limits."
"No limits you say?" Raising her eyebrow, Tsunade deal the cards. Breathing heavily, she loosened her belt and felt her vest loosen around her bust; she smirked at seeing Kakuzu's eyes wander from his cards to her. Taking two more cards, let out a sigh of defeat when she saw all she had was an ace high, but Kakuzu's smile spread into a laugh when he laid down his king high.
"Looks like I finally found someone who is a worse gambler than I am." Eyeing him up and down, Tsunade wondered what more she was interested in learning about from the rogue Nin.
"Well, what's the stake Hime-sama?"
"Take off your pants Kakuzu." Tsunade said with a devious glimmer in her eyes. Cracking her knuckles, she knew the examination was only just starting.