About That Offer...
Lady Moon-Chan
AN: An AU take on another possible reason Tsunade refused Orichimaru's offer just when she seemed poised to accept. Set before ep 92 of Naruto, so spoilers if you haven't seen up to then. Start!
Tsunade walked out of the gambling hall with her fists clenched. She'd just lost all her money. Again.
"Lady Tsunade!" a male voice called form behind her.
And that didn't help. "If that's another Leaf Village envoy..." she muttered under her breath. But when she turned, the cloaked figure before her bore no Leaf Village insignia, or any other shinobi insignia, for that matter. Just that gray-green cloak that covered him from head to toe and left only his hawk-like golden eyes exposed.
"What do you want?" she asked crisply. "I'm a busy woman."
"I won't take too long. I just need to talk to you quickly about a certain offer made to you by Orochimaru: your two most precious people returned to life in exchange for healing his arms."
Tsunade gasped. "How did you-"
He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Come. We'll talk someplace less public."
About ten minutes later they entered a bar, empty accept for the bartender. The cloaked man threw some money on the bar for the bartender to become deaf and blind to anything that transpired.
He led Tsunade over to a corner table. "Well," she said. "You wanted to talk, so start talking. Who are you, and how did you know about that offer?"
He laughed softly. "You can call me Hagane. As for how I know...a little pig told me." Hagane pulled his hood down, and Tsunade felt a jolt of shock right to the core. The person before her, Hagane, was a boy of no more than seventeen, tops.
"And...what did you want to say to me about his offer?" she asked numbly.
"Just that what's dead is dead and can't be truly brought back, even using the most advanced technique or jutsu." Hagane said. He swept his cloak off, revealing that his right arm was made of metal from the shoulder down. "This is the price I had to pay to learn that. I, and my brother as well, tried to play God and resurrect the dead."
"And what about your mother?" Tsunade asked.
"The thing we created trying to resurrect her wasn't even human anymore." Hagane said flatly, putting his cloak back on and standing up to leave. "Trust me, Lady Tsunade. The dead can't be brought back. What Orochimru is offering to pay you with are a pair of total strangers to you, made to look, sound, and act like your lost loved ones. But it wouldn't be the real thing, no matter how much it seemed like it. Could you really be happy with that?"
"No." Tsunade said. "I couldn't." she lowered her eyes. "Thank you."
Hagane smiled sadly and put his hood back up. "I just don't want anyone else to make the same mistake I did. Goodbye, Lady Tsunade." he exited the bar nd walked down the street, disappearing from view.
AN: So there you have it. A short little piece of crap AU about Tsunade's decision not to heal Orochimaru's arms, despite the awesome payment he was offering for doing it. Review please, but do be gentle.
