A/N: Thank you for the people who reviewed "After Dan". It means a lot to me! So… enjoy this story and please R&R!! Ah, and did I mention that I DON'T OWN NARUTO?? Well, now I did.

Video Tape

"Man, this writing stuff drains up all my energy." Jiraiya yawned as he stopped writing. "I guess my 'Icha Icha Paradise!' fans will have to wait longer for the next chapter. I'm watching TV."

Jiraiya hasn't been on action for the past few days. He was getting bored at home. All he did was to write the next chapter of his book that almost everyone in Konoha waited for. Well, he was getting bored with writing that he tried to do something else. While he was searching his video rack, he noticed an unfamiliar video tape stacked along with his collection of rated R films.

"This tape's not in my collection!" he exclaimed. "I've never seen this before. Maybe I'll just watch this."

So, he placed the tape on his player and watched it. When the film rolled, he remembered what was in the video.

"Ah! I remember now!" Jiraiya snickered as he watched. "This was the footage of the Konoha festival when I was still a kid. Oh, I can't forget what I did back there."

(Flashback)

"That's unfair!" Jiraiya turned and crossed his arms. "Why don't I get to do anything for the festival?"

"You're going to assist me, Jiraiya." Master Sarutobi told him. "Since our team's only supposed to do a duet, I chose Orochimaru and Tsunade to do the onstage act. You're going to help me backstage."

"Why does Orochimaru have to get the lead part?" Jiraiya pouted. "I can sing ten times better than him."

"Tell that to me when you're a professional singer." Master Sarutobi glared at him. "Besides, if I'm going to give you Orochimaru's role, you probably wouldn't like it yourself."

"Why's that?" Jiraiya asked him.

"Do you really want to sing with Tsunade?" Master Sarutobi asked him.

"Heck no!" Jiraiya shook his head. "Why should I sing with a girl with a screeching voice??"

"WHO YOU CALLING A GIRL WITH A SCREECHING VOICE!?" Tsunade yelled at him as she punched him in the face. "For your information, I've started my singing career when I was 6."

"Actually, Tsunade and I starred in one of the productions when we were still in the singing career." Orochimaru added. "It would be better for our team if we'd do the act, right Master Sarutobi?"

"Exactly my point, Orochimaru." Master Sarutobi nodded. "Now, is everything clear with you Jiraiya?"

"Yes, Master Sarutobi." Jiraiya sighed.

"Good!" Master Sarutobi smiled. "Tomorrow's the big day. I expect you're practicing you lines, Tsunade and Orochimaru."

"We're going to make you proud, Master!" Tsunade grinned. "Right, Orochimaru?"

Orochimaru nodded.

"If that's the case, I'll be dismissing you now." Master Sarutobi told them. "See me at the central plaza tomorrow. The festival's going to happen there."

"See you, Master Sarutobi!" the three kids waved him goodbye.

Following their master's orders, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru went home. Tsunade and Orochimaru decided to stop by Jiraiya's house for a while to practice more. Jiraiya wasn't supposed to let them practice at his house, but Tsunade's threats made him agree.

"Geez, can't you find another place to practice?" Jiraiya glared at them."Nothing bad would happen if you guys practice in your own houses, you know."

"We're sorry if we disturbed you." Orochimaru apologized. "It was Tsunade's idea to practice at your house."

"Well, I feel like showing Jiraiya how good I can really sing." Tsunade bragged, "This is what you get for insulting my singing voice!"

"No matter how good you sing, you'll never be beautiful!" Jiraiya snickered.

"Is that so?!" Tsunade clenched her fists. "Let's see about that. Ready Orochimaru?"

"Way ahead of you." Orochimaru nodded.

With that, Orochimaru and Tsunade started their practice. Jiraiya was amazed at their voices, especially Tsunade's. When he heard her sing, he 'instantly fell for her'. He has never heard anyone sing that good. He knew that deep inside him, she was his perfect girl. His heart was beating fast while they were singing. He can't deny it anymore. He can't escape from his feelings now. As for now, he was entrapped by her enchanting voice. He was hypnotized by her.

But wait! He has to stop acting like that. He knew that Tsunade will never like him. They've been fighting and arguing since the day they met. He knows that all of his feelings will end up in disaster. He doesn't want to get hurt. This was one of his weaknesses: To get hurt in the game of love. He was always a player when it comes to the ladies. But now that his heart belongs to that blonde-haired arrogant girl, he's pretty confused. And because of that, he fell in a deep trance and got lost in reality.

When Tsunade noticed that Jiraiya's staring blankly at her, she stopped singing and punched his face again.

"What are you looking at?!" Tsunade held him by the collar.

"Do you really have to punch me?" Jiraiya mumbled as he rubbed his face.

"Calm down, Tsunade." Orochimaru told her. "Besides it's late. Your mother told me to get you home by now."

"Right, thanks." Tsunade said as he dropped Jiraiya on the floor. "Let's go before I kill him."

"Sorry for the trouble, Jiraiya." Orochimaru apologized as they left. "We'll get going now."

"Sure, whatever." Jiraiya closed the door as they left.

The next day, Jiraiya went straight to the central plaza to meet Master Sarutobi. He was surprised that he only saw Master Sarutobi. He went backstage to help him.

"Hey, Master Sarutobi." Jiraiya called him. "Where's Tsunade ans Orochimaru?"

"They'll be here any minute." Master Sarutobi told him. "They must be busy preparing themselves."

Just a minute later, Tsunade came running towards them. She was wearing a pink kimono with flowers all over it. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and she wore natural make-up. Only one word was best to describe her: beautiful.

"What do you think, Master Sarutobi?" Tsunade smiled as she showed of her costume. "Isn't it great?"

"You look beautiful, Tsunade." Master Sarutobi nodded. "Am I right, Jiraiya?"

"Eh? Umm... Ye- I-I mean... A-Are you-kidding me?!" Jiraiya stuttered as he hid his light blush. "Even a scarecrow looks better than her!"

"Why you idiotic brat!?" Tsunade held him in the collar. "YOU'LL LOOK WORSE THAN A SCARECROW WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH YOU!!"

"Stop fighting, you two." Master Sarutobi stopped them. "You're going to mess up everything."

"Hey, where's Orochimaru?" Tsunade asked them as he dropped Jiraiya.

"I'll find him!" Jiraiya volunteered.

"Okay then." Master Sarutobi agreed. "Come back here when you found him."

"Yes Master!" Jiraiya said as he ran off.

He went running to Orochimaru's house to get him to the plaza fast. When he went inside, he saw a note. Noticing that it was for him, he read the note. This is what was written on it:

Jiraiya,

I'm sorry because I can't sing at the festival. My voice got damaged while I was practicing yesterday. Please tell Master Sarutobi and Tsunade that I'm very, very sorry. I'm giving my part to you. Tell that to Master as well. I know that you don't want to sing with Tsunade, but you're my only hope. So I hope you'll do this. I trust your knowledge in singing. I feel confident that you and Tsunade will do a great job.

Again, I'm sorry. Good luck with your presentation and Happy Festival!

Orochimaru

Reading it, he hurriedly rushed back to the plaza and brought the note. He gave it to Master Sarutobi. When his master read it, he had no other choice but to put Jiraiya on the lead. Well, that was his favorite student's request. What else can he do?

"I can't believe this." Master Sarutobi sighed. "Well, you're on lead Jiraiya."

"B-but I—" Jiraiya tried to reason out.

"No buts, Jiraiya." Master Sarutobi told him. "You're going to sing there whether you like it or not."

"But Master, I can sing alone." Tsunade said. "I think I can handle it."

"This is a duet, and it will always be like that." Master Sarutobi told them. "So, you're gonna go out there and sing. You don't want your team to get humiliated at the festival now, right?"

"Yes, Master." Both of them sighed.

"I'll be leaving you two here to practice your number." Master Sarutobi told them as he left. "I'm going to watch your performance. I expect you give your best shot."

As soon as Master Sarutobi left, they stared at each other. They never expected that they're about to sing together in front of many people. It would be a big surprise for all of Konoha, that's for sure.

"I'm very sorry for this, Tsunade." Jiraiya bent his head. "If you really don't want to sing with me then, that's fine. I'll be going now."

"Hold on there." Tsunade stopped him. "I know this ain't easy, but you have to sing with me."

"So... you're not gonna hit me in the face again?" Jiraiya asked him.

"Only this time." Tsunade mumbled as she hid her blush. "But this doesn't mean anything, alright? I'm just doing this for… Umm… Uhh…"

"For the training?" Jiraiya snickered at her.

"Umm… yeah!" Tsunade nodded her head. "For the training. Nothing else!"

"Let's start practicing." Jiraiya told her. "We don't want to make a fool out of ourselves back there now."

"Yeah." Tsunade nodded as she smiled at him. "Let's go!"

They practiced their parts until the festival started. They're the first to perform. So, they went behind the cortains to get ready.

"You ready, Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked him.

"Pretty much." Tsunade smiled.

As soon as their team name was called, they went onstage. They sang the song "At The Beginning". While they were singing, they seemed like they were a perfect couple. Jiraiya would hold Tsunade's hands and she would touch his face. Both of them blushed while they were doing that. And as a matter of fact, they were actually smiling at each other. All of Konoha was surprised of seeing them getting along. They stared at them and never blinked an eye.

(Tsunade)

We were strangers
Starting out on a journey
Never dreaming
What we'd have to go through
Now here we are
And I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you

(Jiraiya)

No one told me
I was going to find you
Unexpected
What you did to my heart
When I lost hope
You were there to remind me
This is the start

(Both)

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

(Tsunade)
I'll be there
When the world stops turning

(Jiraiya)
I'll be there
When the storm is through

(both)
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

(Tsunade)
We were strangers
On a crazy adventure

(Jiraiya)
Never dreaming
How our dreams would come true

(Both)
Now here we stand
Unafraid of the future
At the beginning with you

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

(Tsunade)
I'll be there
When the world stops turning

(Jiraiya)
I'll be there
When the storm is through

(Both)
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

I knew there was somebody somewhere
Like me alone in the dark
Now I know my dream will live on
I've been waiting so long
Nothing's gonna tear us apart

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

(Tsunade)
I'll be there
When the world stops turning

(Jiraiya)
I'll be there
When the storm is through

(Both)
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

Life is a road and I wanna keep going
Love is a river I wanna keep going on...
Starting out on a journey
Life is a road and I wanna going
Love is river I wanna keep flowing
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you.

The presentation ended up with Jiraiya's forehead leaned on Tsunade's as he touched her face. Tsunade held his hand and smiled at him too.

And guess what? They received a standing ovation for their performance!

"Kiss! Kiss!" the audience cheered.

Both of them blushed as they spaced away from each other. Then suddenly, Jiraiya rushed to Tsunade and kissed her in the cheek. Tsunade went red.

"Sorry," Jiraiya scratched his head. "Audience demands."

"I'm not gonna punch you this time." Tsunade turned and crossed her arms as she giggled.

"I thought about that." Jiraiya snickered as he hugged her.

"Don't go that far, idiot!" Tsunade glared at her.

"I won't! I won't!" Jiraiya told her as they left the stage.

(End of Flashback)

"Those were the days, alright." Jiraiya sighed as he continued watching. "I really missed those days."

"I never knew you're watching that kind of shows." a familiar voice said.

"Tsu-Tsunade?" Jiraiya stuttered as he turned off the TV. "W-Why didn't you knock?"

"The door's wide open." Tsunade told him. "Why knock when you can enter right in?"

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" Jiraiya asked her.

"Just paid you a visit." Tsunade snickered. "Well, since you're pretty busy reminiscing, I guess I'll be going now."

Just then, Jiraiya stood up and held Tsunade's hand to stop her. Tsunade was startled and then, Jiraiya pulled her close to him and kissed her on the lips.

"I know it's sudden." Jiraiya scratched his head. "But you have no idea how long I wanted to do that to you."

"Really?" Tsunade snickered. "Well, okay."

"Y-you're not going to punch me like you used to?" Jiraiya asked her in surprise.

"I don't want to destroy the moment." Tsunade smiled at him as she left. "Well, see you later."

Jiraiya nodded as she left. He never felt any happier.

THE END