~1~

Death was her devil. Tsunade leaned her head back against the brick of the building, lazily watching the street lights flicker out as dawn broke the horizon. She didn't mind the long hours of her job or the stress that came with having lives in her hands… it was that damnable death though that masked reaper that could pick and chose at random. She hated him, and hated more that an hour ago she'd lost another to his cold embrace.

"Rough night?"

She rolled her eyes to the side and smirked. If the devil had an admirer, it was this man. "You should know; the kid I lost is hanging out in your freezer with the rest of the poor bastards you keep company with."

Orochimaru ahhhed and reached into his pocket for his smokes. He didn't mind his job. The human body was fascinating after all and all the ways those organs could and eventually would stop working even more so. He didn't care if it made him morbid; the knowledge gained alone was worth it. That wasn't to say he didn't admire Tsunade or even see the value in her work… he just preferred his own.

"For a man who deals with death all day, you're winging your way to it faster with those cancer sticks."

White teeth gleamed at her before he closed his mouth around said stick and lit up; taking his time to pull in those needed bits of nicotine before replying. "You wound me Doctor Senju."

"Bah, you'll think I'm wounding you, when I have you on my table fixing what've broken in yourself."

He only laughed and took another drag. In truth, he was quitting this small vice, and this lone stick was his last of the pack. The doctor of the dead wouldn't speak of it though; he liked hearing her berate him. "A chance to have you lovely hands on me, perish the thought my dear. I may swoon with anticipation."

Tsunade huffed and walked forward, crowding his space as she pulled the smoke from his hands and took a deep pull of the nicotine herself before handing it back. "You're being an ass… and my break's over."

He waited until she was nearly back in the building before calling to her. "Doctor Senju, I can only assume by your actions, you want my hands on you as well."

The Taunt ended with a laugh even as the esteemed Tsunade cursed at him and stalked through the automatic doors back to her personal bedlam.

~2~

The bar was a noisy one, and so far from his normal venue Orochimaru wondered how he even wound up here. A side glance at his morgue tech chatting up a nurse or feeling up the nurse he wasn't sure… only added to his confusion. He normally didn't let himself get talked into things like this. Quiet was a craving he seeked.

"So Doctor Dead how's tricks?"

"Dr. Senju my dear as much as I adore your colorful language, you are more than welcome to call me by my name."

The blonde grinned and pressed a noisy kiss to his cheek before lifting her mug for another round. She had thought of him, even after swearing no good could come from it. The man was as cold as his patients, but even so, he had the hands of a pianist.

"So… Orochimaru nothing interesting happen in the basement this week?"

He didn't answer immediately, but instead lifted his mug for a sip of the beer he didn't care for. If he'd thought Tsunade was a force while working, all grim faced and focused as she ran to ambulances, healing those who crossed her path- it was nothing to the off duty woman beside him. She was less of a candle and more of a beacon, spilling sensuality across the bar unwittingly.

"Simply the usual, I played a rousing game of which drug cocktail killed this celebrity yesterday. Won fifty dollars off a lab tech on it, so all in all it was a normal week."

She shouldn't laugh. It didn't bode well to find humor in the dead. Tsunade laughed anyway, chuckling and chalking it up to the beer before she leaned against him to clink their bugs together.

"Here's to Doctors saving lives and finding COD all under one roof."

~3~

She looked like a war victim. Orochimaru watched her walk to her car and drop the keys twice before finally fitting them into the lock. It had been three weeks since the bar and he could still close his eyes and feel the press of her lips against his cheek. She was such a peculiar woman, too proud to say she was exhausted but too smart to attempt to drive home. He watched her drop her seat back and disappear from sight before crushing the cigarette off a new pack he'd swore would be his last three packs ago.

His knuckles rapped on the window. "Princess of the ER… why are you sleeping in your carriage?"

Tsunade groaned at the sound. She was beyond tired, the caffeine pill she'd taken to get through her last patient had long since worn off whilst she'd tackled paperwork. Even her bones felt sleepy and the nap she wanted to take in the quiet of her car was of course being interrupted.

"- what" the words were spoken in a slur. "Orochimaru I'm just taking a nap before I drive home."

Of course she was, he wasn't an idiot and only a fool wouldn't understand her need to rest. "My dear, it's starting to snow. You'll be frozen solid and as beholden to your looks that I am, I'd prefer not to see them on one of my slabs."

She grumbled and rolled to face away from the window. Orochimaru was lifting his hand to rap again and at least try to get her back into the hospital, when the seat rose and Tsunade reached for the door handle.

"Bah, if it means so much to you I'll go back inside."

He granted her a rare smile. "Thank you."

~4~

She brought him coffee. Orochimaru looked up from the medical report he was filling out to see, well to see cleavage and piping hot coffee being set down. His gaze rose before focusing on her face and the lips that were moving, moving meant speaking and he hadn't a clue what she said or how long she'd been saying it.

"Of course" That seemed a reasonable response. Surely she'd said something he should agree with. The answering smile proved his accuracy and shoulders he didn't remember tensing relaxed.

"It's a date then." Tsunade replied. She didn't think he'd have gone for it. Charity functions were always horribly boring, but she was one the board for this one and attendance was mandatory, as was a date.

"Here's the address of the Gala. It's black tie and I'll meet you at the door. I have to make sure everything gets set up right, so we can't go in together. Thank you so much for this. You're a life saver." Another press of lips to his cheek and she was out the door.

The dark haired man, the scholar of death, the proclaimed Doctor of Death by half the staff had a date with the esteemed Doctor Senju. He reached for his ever present pack of smokes and lit one up, only to put it in his ashtray unsmoked.

Black tie

Charity gala

What the devil had he just agreed too?