Disclaimer – I don't own Naruto
A/N – Next installment is here. Thanks to secretsofgray and Soraya the All Speaker for reviewing!
/\/\/\/\/\
"S'alright, don't cry," Jiraiya mumbled, patting Tsunade's back awkwardly, "I mean, he died and battle and stuff. That's pretty – uh – honorable – for a ninja."
Tsunade said nothing, staring blankly at the black, cloth-covered box as it was lowered into the ground, a large gray stone marking its place. The stone was engraved, with the symbol of the Hidden Leaf, and the words:
Tobirama Senju
Nidame Hokage
The Master of Water and Saviour of Konoha
Right next to it lay a twin stone, which had been placed there before:
Hashirama Senju
Shodai Hokage
Master of the Trees and Father of Konoha
Tears streamed down her wide amber eyes, but Tsunade remained silent, quietly mourning a death which had wracked the heart of most of Konoha.
"Least your parents are okay," Jiraiya rambled on in his best attempts to comfort her, "Sakumo's passed away, I heard. And so did Hikari Hyuuga's dad and some of them Uchiha... and honestly, he's in a better place now... so you should stop crying so much and – yeah..."
Tsunade's lips lifted, ever so slightly at this comment; it was, partially true in the fact that Tobirama never wanted to be Hokage. At least now he was spared the paperwork... still, it would be better having a great-uncle grumbling about paperwork than one that was dead.
Tsunade broke down into a fresh wave of tears at the memory, and Orochimaru glared subtly at Jiraiya, who just shrugged, looking bewildered.
"You say something!" Jiraiya mouthed furiously, but Orochimaru shook his head.
"I think we should just leave her alone," he mouthed back.
They didn't though, and Tsunade was still distraught.
"I – I can understand how you feel, Tsunade-hime," Orochimaru ventured, "Both my parents died when I was four."
Tsunade looked at him, briefly, with watery eyes, a little surprised at the news. Orochimaru had never revealed anything about being an orphan. He'd never said anything about his personal life. She felt a wave of sympathy towards him, forgetting her own sorrow for a moment.
"Wait, if both your parents are dead, where do you live?" Jiraiya exclaimed tactlessly.
"Jiraiya!" Tsunade hissed, alarmed, but Orochimaru just shrugged, unaffected.
"Orphanage," he said tonelessly as if it didn't bother him, "Been living there for four years now."
"Oh – is it nice there?" Jiraiya asked uncertainly, and Tsunade elbowed him hard.
"Ow – hey!" Jiraiya glared at her.
"It's boring," Orochimaru supplied dully, before turning away, looking troubled.
Tsunade immediately resolved to invite him over for meals more often. Jiraiya seemed to be thinking along the same lines.
"Hey, if you want you can move in with me!" he suggested brightly, "I mean, you're a prick, but my parents won't mind too much..."
"No thanks, I'm good," Orochimaru said immediately, though the dark expression in his eyes lifted.
Tsunade found the funeral and burial ceremony a tiny bit less depressing – though depressing nonetheless – with her teammates by her side.
/\/\/\/\/\
"Hey, I wonder whose gonna be Hokage now," Jiraiya piped up after the formalities were over, and the trio were heading home (Tsunade's parents and Mito were still at the burial site, so she opted to go with her teammates instead).
Somehow the somber mood couldn't dispel Jiraiya's usual perkiness for long.
"Haven't you guessed?" Tsunade asked, rolling her eyes.
"You mean you know!" Jiraiya almost screeched, "How? How could you know?"
"How could you not know?" Tsunade shot back.
"Well excuse me for not being the Nidaime's grand- sorry," Jiraiya hastily corrected his slip-up after a sharp poke in the ribs from Orochimaru, "I meant – well you always have inside information on this stuff because of your – um – parents!"
Tsunade decided to ignore the accidental mention of her (deceased) family and didn't bother replying.
"It is rather obvious, you know," Orochimaru said.
"What? You know who the new Hokage is too!" Jiraiya was indignant, and rounded on Tsunade, "How could you tell him and not me? Huh, Tsunade-chan?"
"I didn't tell him," Tsunade said exasperatedly, exchanging a look with Orochimaru, "He's just smart enough to figure it out. Honestly, you should have as well."
"Who is it?" Jiraiya whined, "I want to know!"
"Here's a hint," Tsunade said, "You've already met him."
"I have! Really?" Jiraiya seemed excited by this prospect.
"We all have," Orochimaru sounded amused, "On a daily basis at one point of time-"
"Till he was deployed for the war," Tsunade added.
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, pondering this.
"Oh, come on!" Tsunade whacked him on the head, "Tall, with a goatee..."
"Summons monkeys," Orochimaru supplied.
"OH KAMI-SAMA!" Jiraiya clutched at his heart, eyes flashing in recognition, "SARU-SENSEI IS GETTING HOKAGE?"
"Congratulations on finally realizing, Jiraiya-baka," Tsunade said sarcastically.
"I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS! I TOLD YOU OUR SENSEI WAS THE COOLEST! I DID AT THE ACADEMY, DIDN'T I? HAHAHAHA!"
/\/\/\/\/\
Jiraiya basked in Hiruzen's reflected glory for as long as he could, many a time annoying Akako Uchiha by gloating about how "my sensei kicks your sensei's ass, man!"
Of course, following Jiraiya's skewed logic, this also proved that he, Tsunade and Orochimaru were undoubtedly the best of the graduated Genin since they had obviously been given a sensei who was Hokage-in-training for a reason.
"Maybe they just thought morons like you would need extra help!" Akako Uchiha snapped at him once, "Or maybe it was just blatant favouritism since you have Princess Tsunade on your team."
His voice took a bitter note at this, and Jiraiya glowed, though Tsunade was scowling.
"Meh, you're just jealous," he said casually, waving his hand, leaving the Uchiha boy fuming behind him.
Tsunade and Orochimaru were slightly less ebullient (and far more modest) about the news; they'd guessed it all along, though they had congratulated their sensei even before the news had been officially revealed.
"Thank you," Hiruzen had said grimly, "And I do hope I live up to it, and fulfil my sensei's last wish."
Tsunade grew quiet after this, so he had quickly changed the course of their conversation, and inquired about their training.
The Hokage induction ceremony was in a week, after the village had buried and mourned their dead in peace. In the meantime, Hiruzen took the opportunity to train his three Genin rather rigorously, as if making up for the time he had missed with them when fighting the war.
They were usually at the grounds by seven, and other than an hour-long break for lunch, Hiruzen didn't let them out until seven in the evening, for dinner.
Their basics were down pretty well, so he started teaching them elemental manipulation and weapon usage. He taught them individually as well, focusing on their specific strengths and weaknesses. Tsunade was being made to work extra-hard on her taijutsu and chakra control. She found the exercises rather stultifying: she spent hours with her index finger on a leaf, trying to split it in half with chakra only. When she finally managed that, Hiruzen made her do the same exercise on a ball of mud, until it cracked, and then a rock.
Jiraiya was being made to meditate quite often, something which both Orochimaru and Tsunade found funny and required: the boy was hyperactive and loud, and it almost seemed impossible that he would meditate in peace. They wondered what Jiraiya hoped to achieve out of it since there was no way he would indulge in the activity so willingly (and quietly) if he didn't hope to learn some awesome jutsu at the end of it.
Orochimaru, on the other hand, was rather versatile with jutsu of all elemental types. His taijutsu was extremely good, his speed and stamina were high, and instead of focusing on just one particular jutsu or type, like Jiraiya and Tsunade, Hiruzen was helping him learn as many elemental jutsu as possible, which was, of course, Orochimaru's ambition on the first place.
He also made them spar; amongst themselves, and with him. Usually, Hiruzen had to supervise the spars himself. Though Tsunade and Orochimaru fought properly, when Jiraiya was paired with either, it inevitably led to disaster. Tsunade and Jiraiya often ended up accidentally touching one another, which led to screeching accusations of 'pervert' and violent un-ninja-like scuffles which ended in a fuming Tsunade and an injured Jiraiya, clutching at a swollen eye or bleeding lip. When Orochimaru and Jiraiya fought, the result was similar, except for the fact that they would both be injured (Orochimaru to a lesser degree than Jiraiya) and there was less screeching and shrieking, but more cursing and shouting. The profanities were worse when Jiraiya and Orochimaru were involved as well, some of them rather creative.
The day before Hiruzen's induction, he let his exhausted Genin off an hour early; he had an important meeting with Mito and all the clan-heads to attend.
"What're you meeting them now for?" Jiraiya asked, nursing a bruised cheek, "We're not at war and you're already Hokage!"
"The selection of the advisory council," Hiruzen replied.
"The what?" Jiraiya scrunched his nose.
"Two or three members will be chosen as my advisors, to help me make political decisions regarding the governing of this village," Hiruzen explained.
"Oh, that'll be good, right?" Jiraiya asked cheerfully, "People to help do your work for you, so you'll have less of it, and more time to spend teaching us!"
"I suppose – it would be beneficial," Hiruzen nodded, though he sounded unsure, "I'll see you three at the induction tomorrow?"
"Yeah, good luck with your speech, sensei!" Tsunade called.
/\/\/\/\/\
"Training was tough, today," Jiraiya commented.
"Hn," Orochimaru replied neutrally.
"Of course, that could partially be because some people felt the need to cheat," Jiraiya went on, shooting a nasty look at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru scowled.
"Using ninja tools in a ninja fight does not count as cheating," he retorted, his voice even.
"It does if you're fighting an all-taijutsu match!"
"Don't tell me you still don't know that taijutsu includes weaponry, meaning my kodachi was perfectly-"
"You can shove that kodachi right up yours, Oro-teme!"
"Believe I already did, but to you, Jiraiya-baka!"
"HA! YEAH RIGHT YOU GIRLY-"
"Will you both shut it!" Tsunade snapped, "I'm trying to concentrate!"
"Concentrate on what?" Jiraiya shot back, "Hey, what're you doing?"
Tsunade glared at him, returning to her task. She was holding a rather large stone in one hand, the index finger of the other hand pressing into it.
"Don't disturb me!" Tsunade hissed, as they walked along.
"She's been doing that for two hours," Orochimaru observed.
Tsunade ignored him, urging her chakra along her index finger – just a bit more – she could feel the stone weakening...
"But why?" Jiraiya asked, "It looks pretty pointless to me – she could just slam it open with a kunai or something-"
Tsunade ignored him too – concentrate, concentrate!
CRACK!
Suddenly, the heavy stone split into multiple fragments that clattered to the ground.
"Yes!" Tsunade pumped her fist jubilantly, "Got it!"
"Got what?" Jiraiya pulled a face, "You broke a stone, so?"
"Hey, you try breaking a stone with just one finger!" Tsunade rounded on him.
"Why on earth would I want to?"
"It improves chakra control," Tsunade said in an all-knowing voice, "And if I keep going, Hiruzen-sensei says I'll be able to cause cracks in the ground with one punch of my fist one day!"
"Tch, yeah, riiight," Jiraiya laughed, "As if a scrawny little girl could ever-"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Tsunade shrieked, grabbing the collar of his yukata.
"Nothing, nothing!" Jiraiya waved his hands.
"Want me to try that chakra trick on you?" Tsunade asked threateningly, "I'll bet your bones are easier to break than a rock!"
"Just let him be, Tsunade-hime," Orochimaru said lazily, "And Jiraiya, just shut up for once."
Tsunade eventually did let him go, and Jiraiya glowered at her.
"Only reason I didn't hit back is 'cause you're a girl," he muttered, "And my dad says you should always be respectful to women-"
"One day, a female kunoichi is going to have you sooo bad-" Tsunade said.
"Ha! As if!" Jiraiya proclaimed, "As if any stupid girl could ever have anything on the great Jiraiya-"
"I'll punch you all the way to Suna the moment I get my chakra-punching skills right," Tsunade vowed.
"Bet you'll never be able to do that!"
"I don't bet, Jiraiya, I told you-"
"Geez, it's just a phrase, you don't need to be so snobby about it, Princess-"
This time it was Orochimaru who stopped their bickering, by pointing at something in the distance. The tall mountain that bordered the village to be exact. A group of shinobi could be seen standing on the mountainside, with what looked like large kunai and other tools.
"What do you think they're doing?" he asked.
"Oh! I know," Tsunade replied, "Mito-obaa-san told me last night!"
"Show-off," Jiraiya muttered under his breath.
"They're making a monument," Tsunade said, "For – for Hashirama-ojii-san and Tobirama-ojii-san …"
Her voice wavered slightly.
"What kind of monument?" Orochimaru asked quickly.
"I'm not sure, but obaa-san said something about carving their faces onto the mountain," Tsunade said.
"Wow! That'd be pretty cool, you know, having your face on a mountain for the whole village to see!" Jiraiya exclaimed, "Think they'll do it for every Hokage? I wouldn't mind having mine done!"
"No shinobi in his right mind would ever elect you as Hokage," Orochimaru cut in.
"Why not?" Jiraiya demanded, "I'm Saru-sensei's student! And better me than you!"
Orochimaru narrowed his green eyes.
"Or Tsunade," Jiraiya added as an afterthought.
"Hey, I don't even want it, don't bring me into this," Tsunade said quickly.
"Hiruzen-sensei would surely choose me over you," Orochimaru said confidently.
"Yeah, yeah, and I'm a giant toad," Jiraiya dismissed him.
"From a certain angle, you do resemble-"
"Shut up, you freak!"
/\/\/\/\/\
The next day, Jiraiya and Orochimaru arrived an hour early for the induction ceremony, to get good seats. They managed to get them in the front row, along with Tsunade and her family, which was lucky. The front few rows were all reserved: for Senju, Uchiha, Hyuuga, and clan heads of the most prominent clans of Konoha.
Hiruzen had made the three of them (particularly Jiraiya) promise to behave, before the ceremony, and they had solemnly nodded and agreed to this, though Jiraiya had demanded a celebratory lunch thereafter. Hiruzen had smiled, and agreed to that, so everything was in order.
The ceremony began, and went on flawlessly. When Hiruzen emerged in his long robes wearing the white and red Hokage hat, a deafening cheer went up in the audience. Even Orochimaru was clapping loudly, while Tsunade and Jiraiya both shouted at the top of their lungs, "GO SARU-SENSEI!"
It was the first time they'd called him by the nickname in public; some of the Sarutobi clan members seemed rather amused by it, though a young woman with light purple hair tied in a tight bun scowled.
"The hat is silly," Jiraiya snickered, but Tsunade shut him up with a glare.
The speech went off well (with much unnecessary hooting and cheering from Jiraiya which caused several Uchiha, as well as the purple-haired woman to shoot him dirty looks, not that he minded).
"Finally, I'd like to introduce my Advisory Board," Hiruzen announced.
"Oh yeah, he was telling us about them yesterday," Jiraiya muttered.
"First and foremost, we have Hideiki Senju-san, son of late Hokage Hashirama Senju-sama and Mito Senju-sama!"
There was a roar of applause at this, as the red-haired, well-built man walked onto stage.
"Tou-san!" Tsunade gasped, "I didn't know father was getting a position!"
The applause died down, and Tsunade noticed that the Uchiha clan members hadn't been clapping too enthusiastically at her father's name.
"Next, we have Koharu Utatane-san, disciple of late Hokage Tobirama Senju-sama," Hiruzen continued.
There was applause at this, though it was scattered. The stern-faced lady with light-purple hair in a bun walked up, and bowed slightly.
"And last, but not least, the other disciple of Tobirama-sensei, Homura Mitokado-san!"
A sharp-featured man with spiky dark brown hair and glasses walked up and bowed stiffly, before joining Koharu at Hiruzen's side.
"I've seen them, they're sensei's teammates," Tsunade told Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
"Duh, if their Tobirama-sama's students, 'course they are," Jiraiya said, displaying a rare perceptiveness.
/\/\/\/\/\
After the ceremony was over, Jiraiya dragged his teammates to the new Hokage immediately, demanding a lunch. This seemed to shock some of the clan-heads who had come to wish the new Hokage, but Hiruzen just smiled.
"Be patient, Jiraiya-kun," he said, "Why don't you, Orochimaru-kun and Tsunade-chan head on to the new ramen place? I'll meet you there in thirty minutes?"
"Fine, but hurry up!" Jiraiya said petulantly.
"Nice speech, sensei," Orochimaru said.
"Yeah, did you hear us cheering?" Tsunade asked.
"I said thirty minutes, Jiraiya-kun, thank you, Oro-kun, and I most certainly did, and appreciated it, princess. Now run along, you three. I have people to meet," Hiruzen said, eyes twinkling under the wide rim of his hat.
Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru set off, feeling rather important considering they were students of the new Hokage.
"Hey! Hey, Tsunade-chan!" a voice called.
"Kasumi-chan!" Tsunade greeted her friend, "I haven't seen you in so long!"
"Yes, I've been training with my team," Kasumi said breathlessly, pushing her auburn bangs away, "How's your training going?"
"Good," Tsunade replied, "It's really tiring actually. I'm with my team most of the time too, which is why I guess we don't see each other much anymore."
"Yeah," Kasumi nodded fervently, "My sensei works us hard. You know he's really good friends with your sensei, the new Hokage!"
"I suppose you three must be proud," a low voice cut in, "It must be pretty cool having the Hokage as your sensei."
"Sakumo-kun!" Kasumi squealed, "Hi!"
"Hey," Sakumo nodded at her.
"Heck yeah, it's awesome!" Jiraiya yelled in reply to Sakumo's statement.
"You three entering the Chuunin exams?" Sakumo drawled.
"The Chuunin Exams?" Tsunade asked, "Aren't those still a few months from now?"
"Yeah, but haven't you decided if you're entering or not? My team is," Sakumo said, "Mitarashi-sensei just told us yesterday that she's going to enter us."
"Hiruzen-sensei was probably busy with Hokage duties, but I'm sure he'll tell us soon," Jiraiya said, puffing out his chest.
"No wonder he's been working us so hard!" Tsunade murmured to Orochimaru, who nodded.
Sensei had been extra rough on them during training; if he was gearing them up for the exams, it made sense.
Tsunade felt a swoop of excitement in her stomach at the prospect of becoming Chuunin – along with a tinge of nervousness.
"Our sensei hasn't told us yet, though I'm sure Akako will want to enter," Kasumi said, "He's really good, too. He's can blow fireballs, you know!"
"All Uchiha are taught that jutsu at the age of six," Tsunade said dismissively, "No big deal."
"Though I guess Shinji will find it all too much of a bother," Kasumi went on, "You know he fell asleep when sensei was explaining the Kawarimi jutsu to us!"
"Hey! Guys!" another voice announced its arrival.
"Hi, Dan-kun!" Tsunade greeted the blue-haired boy.
He was accompanied by a girl with white eyes and long, straight black hair; his teammate, Hikari Hyuuga.
"Hey, Hikari-chan!" Kasumi said excitedly, "Dan, hi! Guess what, Sakumo-kun's team is being entered in the Chuunin Exam a few months from now! What about yours?"
"I'm not too sure," Hikari said, "Sensei's not mentioned it yet."
"It'd be awesome entering though," Dan said wistfully, "My older sister made Chuunin two years ago, and she's been rubbing it in my face ever since... I hope we're entered!"
"I'm sure Saru-sensei will enter us, you know, the moment all his important Hokage work is done," Jiraiya said again, puffing his chest out.
"Oh yes, congratulations on that," Dan said, looking impressed, "You three must be proud."
"WE ARE!" Jiraiya practically shouted, speaking for all of them.
"Tsunade-hime, Jiraiya, come on," Orochimaru said softly, "Sensei told us to go to the ramen place. Let's get a table."
"Oh, alright," Tsunade smiled, "Bye guys! We'll catch up later!"
"Yeah, our sensei, the Hokage, has invited us out to lunch!" Jiraiya said, beaming.
They walked off, Jiraiya still looking extremely important.
"I nearly forgot how quiet you really are around others, Oro-kun," Tsunade told her green-eyed teammate.
"Yeah, you actually talk around me and Tsunade-chan!" Jiraiya said, "Forgot that you're actually an asocial retard!"
"Shut it, moron," Orochimaru replied, and they bickered the rest of the way to the restaurant.
/\/\/\/\/\
When Hiruzen-sensei, the new Sandaime Hokage joined them for lunch, he wasn't alone. There was a woman with long, light brown hair, wearing similar robes to his own.
"Who's she?" Jiraiya asked, rather impudently, ramen noodles dangling from his mouth.
"Manners, Jiraiya-kun," Hiruzen scolded gently, "This is my wife, Biwako. Biwako-chan, this is Orochimaru-kun, Tsunade-chan, and of course, Jiraiya," he introduced, gesturing to them in turn.
"Hello, Biwako-san," Orochimaru and Tsunade greeted politely.
"Yeah, hi," Jiraiya added, gulping down his noodles, before turning to sensei.
"You didn't tell us you got married!" he said, almost accusingly.
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.
"I wasn't aware my personal life was your business, Jiraiya-kun..."
Biwako, however, laughed, before greeting the three of them.
"Nice to meet you," she said pleasantly, "Of course, I've heard so much about you from Hiruzen, but it's good to finally meet you three in person!"
/\/\/\/\/\
"Sensei," Orochimaru said after awhile (Biwako had left the team to their meal after a few minutes).
"Yes, Oro-kun?" Hiruzen asked.
"Some of the students were talking about the Chuunin Exams taking place, and I was wondering if you were going to enter us."
Hiruzen chuckled.
"As a matter of fact, I was. I was going to tell you about it right now, if you hadn't bought it up yourself! It was decided yesterday evening, but I wasn't able to meet you since I had my Hokage ceremony preparations."
"So we're entering?" Jiraiya looked thrilled, "AWESOME!"
"That's why you've been training us so hard, right?" Tsunade asked.
"Tsunade-chan, if you thought that was hard, you have no idea what I have in store for you the next couple of weeks," Hiruzen said, "Anyways, eat your ramen, it's getting cold. You'll need the strength, starting tomorrow…"
/\/\/\/\/\
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hokage of Konoha, was true to his word when he said training would get tougher. The next few months were practically hell. Tsunade, Orochimaru and Jiraiya would start training at six, and not stop till as late as seven or eight, and a few times, even nine o clock at night. They were usually on the verge of collapsing from utter exhaustion.
Of course, the progress was easily visible. Tsunade's chakra control and strength increased exponentially. After two weeks she could lift enormous boulders with her bare hands (Jiraiya nearly had a heart attack when he saw that). After a month she could punch small craters into the ground. Orochimaru's mastery of jutsu kept expanding, and he had control over all the elements, though he was weakest with wind. Jiraiya, on the other hand, continued with his meditation. Tsunade and Orochimaru didn't see what he was learning, but it seemed like it was something important, though he wouldn't tell them, preferring to keep it a surprise.
They had missions as well, amidst the hectic training schedules; these were mainly D-rank, though they finished these as soon (and as creatively) as possible. Their sensei preferred they used jutsus and skills to complete the tasks than pure manual labor, making them training sessions as well.
Leaves couldn't be raked with rakes; Tsunade would use her super strength to punch a small crater in the ground, Orochimaru would use his improving wind jutsu to funnel all the leaves into the hole, and then Jiraiya would belch flames out of his mouth and incinerate the entire lot.
Similarly, when their team was given the job of helping the workers chiseling the Hokage faces into the mountain (which was now going by the name of Hokage Mountain), Hiruzen didn't allow them to stand on the scaffolding that had been erected. Instead, they had to use chakra, sticking to the rock in whatever position possible. Sometimes this was difficult, for example when Jiraiya had to chisel the underside of Hashirama Senju's nose. The whole process had to be done with him leaning down the bridge of the nose, sticking to the rock with chakra he directed to his thighs, stomach and chest. It was not an easy task, especially when he had to maintain this position for two hours.
De-weeding gardens was no easy task either. Instead of pulling the weeds up by hand, they stood at the fence and aimed at the tiny plants with shuriken to help with target practice. It wasn't easy hitting a small weed nestled among all the grass, so it increased their accuracy greatly after a day or two. And if they accidentally hacked off a few blades of grass, Hiruzen would have them doing sit-ups or push-ups, with one of Enma's monkey-relatives on their stomach or back.
Indeed, even the laughable D-rank missions were tough when attempted the way Team Hiruzen did them. Of course, as Hokage, the village had very high expectations of the team. Hiruzen himself wanted all three of them passing the Chuunin Exam on their first shot, something unlikely which had never occurred in the history of Konoha.
When they finally landed a couple C-rank missions, they were delighted. These were mainly escort missions, and since they were facing post-war peace, they were uneventful, other than the time Jiraiya almost got food-poisoning when he accidentally ate a mushroom that was not meant to be eaten. Most of the injuries that occurred during these missions were as a result of intermittent Orochimaru-Jiraiya scuffles, or Jiraiya managing to annoy Tsunade into punching him.
It was fortunate that Tsunade liked Jiraiya, at least as a teammate. She barely injected one twentieth of her force into the punches.
There was some time for bonding and celebration amidst the packed training and mission schedules. Jiraiya and Orochimaru dined at Tsunade's house at least twice or thrice a week. Her parents approved of both of them; her mother favored Orochimaru who she thought was a perfect, polite little boy, though her father loved Jiraiya's humor and his crazy jokes. Once a week, even Hiruzen would join the dinners, usually on Sundays, along with his wife Biwako. The Sarutobi family had moved into the Hokage Monument, which was pretty much connected to the Senju household, so they were almost like extended family. Mito knew Biwako very well too.
There was also a large celebration at the Uchiha Compound, after the wife of new clan head gave birth to a child. Pretty much every single shinobi family in the village was invited to celebrate baby Fugaku Uchiha's birth. This included the Senju, to Tsunade's surprise – apparently the Uchiha were trying to mend bridges… or maybe they felt it would be too rude if they left out one of the prominent clans, though there weren't many Senju left… perhaps it was due to the Senju's proximity with the Sarutobi family.
All the same, Tsunade found herself in the enormous and lavishly decorated courtyard of the Uchiha compound, wearing a stiff pink kimono, her scruffy ponytail tamed into a bun. She'd been disappointed that Orochimaru and Jiraiya weren't invited. Orochimaru was an orphan, and Jiraiya's parents weren't of a prominent clan, so the rather parochial Uchiha overlooked them.
She did, however, have Kasumi Kurama, Sakumo Hatake, Hikari Hyuuga and some of her other classmates (the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi children) for company. Dan's family hadn't been invited either.
All the Uchiha brats had been there, including Akako Uchiha who, upon seeing Tsunade, took great pleasure in telling her to 'get the hell out of my compound, witch'. Tsunade punched him and broke his jaw. Mito immediately healed it for him with her medical ninjutsu and glared at Tsunade, warning her to behave herself.
Akako Uchiha didn't dare saying anything to her after, though he glowered at her rather sulkily.
Tsunade got a long lecture from her grandmother, and mother after she got home, though her father found it hilarious and just slapped her on the back. Jiraiya found the story pretty funny as well, though the idea that Tsunade could break his face if he annoyed her too much seemed to scare him. She'd never done more than bruise him badly, but it was obvious she was more than capable.
Jiraiya did get injured on their next C-rank mission; this time they were attacked by bandits. The bandits were low-class ninja, not more than Chuunin, and the team had finished them off pretty well. Orochimaru was more or less unscathed. Tsunade was bruised during her taijutsu exchange with one of the bandits, and she'd landed a large welt on her forehead; still these were minor injuries, and creditable for their first mission when they were actually attacked, by ninja that outranked them. Jiraiya, unfortunately, was cut on the arm with a stray shuriken during the scuffle. It wasn't a deep gash, but it was bleeding profusely. Tsunade freaked out slightly at the sight of the wound, but Jiraiya just teased her for it, saying it was a small scratch, and she was being 'silly and girly'. Instead of punching him, Tsunade wrapped up the wound for him, her fingers trembling slightly.
"What, are you scared of blood or something?" Jiraiya asked.
"No!" Tsunade snapped, pulling on the bandage slightly harder than intended, making Jiraiya wince, "I just – don't like it. I wish I could heal you properly!"
"You'd have to learn medical ninjutsu for that," Orochimaru said.
"Tsunade-chan and medical ninjutsu?" Jiraiya looked dubious, "Don't you – um – need to be gentle for that – ouch! Hey!"
"What, you think I'm not gentle?" Tsunade growled.
"Of course you're not! You punch rocks apart, you freak! You're more likely to puncture the poor guy's lungs than heal the-eeeouch! See!" Jiraiya glared, nursing a bruised cheek, as Tsunade tended to his arm.
It was ironic really, how she bandaged him and hurt him at the same time.
"Actually, her chakra control is ideal for medical ninjutsu ," Hiruzen observed, "And Mito-sama is one of the best healers we have, so it's in her genes as well…"
"Really?" Tsunade looked delighted, "You mean, I could actually become a medical ninja? I've always wanted to…"
"You certainly could, but it would require a lot of training," Hiruzen said, "And right now, you're too young anyway. You can only start training for medical ninjutsu after you turn ten, which means you have about one and a half years to wait. In the meanwhile, I'd suggest working on your strength and chakra control. The latter will truly help if you are seriously considering pursuing medical ninjutsu."
Tsunade looked intrigued, gazing off rather dreamily, but Orochimaru interrupted her from her thoughts.
"You have to wait, remember," he said, "Chuunin Exams?"
"Orochimaru is quite right," Hiruzen said, "Right now, you need to focus on passing your exams. We'll discuss medical ninjutsu later."
"Alright," Tsunade sighed, though she was brimming with anticipation.
She simply had to pass the upcoming exams – and live up to the name of Senju and Sarutobi both!
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A/N – Thanks for reading, and please PLEASE review =) pretty please? (Favoriters, I mean you!)
