Fandoms: Naruto and Bleach
Characters: Rangiku, Tsunade, cameo by Shizune
Summary: Rangiku and Tsunade meet up in a bar and the rest is history.
Pairings: mentions of GinRan
Warnings/Spoilers: only vague spoilers
Timeline: Before Tsunade returns to Konoha; post-Soul Society arc
Author's Note: I just had this really funny image of the two of them meeting up in a bar. It seemed like the next logical step to get it down on paper. So here we are; I give to you my first crossover piece. Look at it as you will.
Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor Bleach.
The tall blonde woman, lavender yukata wrapped tight over generous curves and a slender frame, marched into the seedy bar like she owned the place. Tsunade could appreciate confidence like that, not to mention that she was glad that she was no longer the only one getting the attention of all the drunkards in the bar.
Red and yellow light spilled inside from the tiny, provincial town and Tsunade bit back a sigh. Shizune would be showing up soon to try to drag her back to the inn. Her fun—not that she could really call getting drunk just to get so drunk that she couldn't remember her name all that fun—was always cut off too quickly.
Shizune just had no sense of humor.
"What's with that face?" Tsunade turned her head and met the wide, ice blue eyes of the newcomer, as the other woman flicked a tendril of wavy gold hair back from her face.
She smiled in the sort of way that was kind but devoid of any real happiness, as she went on. "Oh, God, don't tell me the sake's that bad; this is the only bar for miles!"
Tsunade laughed humorlessly. "Trust me, it's not the sake." She raised her saucer to her lips and it was almost immediately refilled by the bartender, who gave a saucer to the other woman and, perhaps sensing their intent, left a bottle between them before zipping off to attend to his other patrons. "The sake is on par. I am just trying to find some amnesia in this saucer—" Her flawless face screwed up momentarily with frustration "—and the alcohol's not doing its job."
Blue eyes rolled in to the back of the woman's head, as long fingers gracefully plucked up the saucer and downed it. "You have my sympathy."
Getting on a roll, Tsunade nodded bracingly, the saucer splintering slightly under her grip. "It's absolutely awful, isn't it? Even when you've drank so much that you can't even remember where you are or who you are, you don't really forget, you know?"
"I know." With a smirk that was eerily reminiscent of one of Tsunade's most fiendish expressions, the taller woman tilted her head and, with an all too sweet voice, put a proposition to her.
"Well, you can't forget, and I can't forget. So how about we do the next best thing?"
"Which would be…"
"We rant."
Tsunade thought about it for a moment, just a moment, and then smiled saucily. "I can get down with that."
.
Sometime after the sun had gone down…
"…And then, you know what the bastard did next? After he'd decided to head off with a traitor, he just looked at me, said "Sorry", and left! Who does that?"
"Who indeed?"
Her companion, Tsunade was beginning to get the impression, had a highly idiotic ex-boyfriend. She wasn't entirely sure of the situation that was being described to her—her newfound drinking buddy was suspiciously mum about the specifics of the circumstances—but the impression she got was that the taller blonde was a kunoichi from another village (no telling which one; Tsunade could not for the life of her place that accent) whose lover had gone missing-nin with a couple of others.
At least, that was what she thought was being said. God only knew what she was actually trying to put across.
It was dark outside now. A new crowd of patrons, not the old men down on their luck and out of work who needed forgetfulness in a bottle, but the younger ones who came for a good time and came to the only place in town where they could get a good time. The bartender was gleefully calculating the fee Tsunade and her friend had accumulated and was not at all shy about continuing to ply the two women, both of whom had an incredible tolerance for sake and were busy drinking everyone else under the table, with sake.
Tsunade wasn't sure how many cups she had had when she tilted the latest one up to her mouth. She didn't care. She was hardly even getting a buzz tonight.
Ah, well.
She had thought it would be polite to let the other woman go first because, in Tsunade's admittedly slightly egotistical view of things, she didn't think anyone could possibly have more problems than her.
The other kunoichi had been more than happy to prove her wrong, and had promptly proceeded to unload. They were careful to keep their voices down since neither of them wanted to be kicked out nor did they really want to attract an audience. Furthermore, if Shizune came looking, which she eventually would, Tsunade didn't want to be immediately noticeable.
With a flick of her wavy hair Tsunade's drinking buddy ceased to talk as she downed her sake saucer—like Tsunade, she wasn't even slurring her words yet—and reached for the bottle.
Tsunade smiled.
Now, it was her turn.
.
"Tsunade-sama?"
Just as the woman beside Rangiku was about to start talking herself, she flinched at the sound of that harried voice from the doorway, and Rangiku turned round to see who it was who had made her shrink in her chair.
A tall teenage girl, probably about fifteen, in a black yukata that made her look vaguely like a crow, was darting around the bar looking for someone. She was almost certainly too young to be in the bar but no one noticed.
Then, her dark eyes fell on the woman next to Rangiku.
"Tsunade-sama!" Her voice was both shaken and exasperated. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"
The woman called Tsunade grimaced and, eyes screwed shut, rubbed her forehead, probably fending off a newfound headache. "Go away, Shizune," she groaned.
"Concerned daughter?" Rangiku quipped.
"What? Oh, God no!" The vehemence of her tone made Shizune flinch; Tsunade didn't notice, but Rangiku did and threw the girl a sympathetic glance. People did tend to lose their sense of propriety when drunk. "Shizune's my apprentice."
The dark-haired girl stood a little straighter. "And right now, I'm taking you back to the inn. We're going to have to walk a long way to get to the next point of civilization in the morning."
"What, no!"
Shizune plainly didn't care, and proceeded to put a hand under the crook of Tsunade's arm with a force belying her slight frame.
She nodded to Rangiku politely. "Sorry, ma'am, but your companion is going to have to leave now."
They left, Tsunade protesting all the time.
Turning back to her drink, Rangiku chuckled under her breath.
Tsunade might not have gotten the opportunity to vent, but she certainly felt a lot better.
Until…
"Hey… Who's going to pay for hers?"
Rangiku groaned.