Adventures
In the
Afterlife
A Tsunade x Jiraiya Tale
By: June
Chapter Nine
I stood warily at the club entrance, debating whether I should go in. The place looked like a madhouse, loud pulsing music pounding from the walls and deafening this close to the speakers outside. No wonder Mito had bowed out of coming with me. Even if Grandfather had gotten worse. People were even gyrating in the street to the rhythm of the pounding beat of the speakers. A heady desire started to rise in my head as I caught a glimpse of the lights and sounds rising temptingly from the entrance below ground, with a staircase leading down. I wore a short new-leaf green dress that only reached 3/4 of the way down to my knees, showing my legs for the first time in years. The thing's frail straps had been dubious to begin with, but at least my breasts would hold the dress in place. The grass green heels I wore added a much needed two inches worth of height to my small frame. The dress also had a plunging neckline, more so than my usual wear. Guys were ogling me left and right. Luckily, all of them knew better than to attempt a come on. I hoped.
Well, hell. Why not go in? Mito had given me the pass after all, even if she had backed out last minute. She had said she had needed one of the the passes for someone else right at last minute, mostly because they had needed it just as badly as me. I didn't really ask questions since she had left me with one. Best not to waste it, I counseled myself. Truth was, I was just starting to be eager for some hell raising like I hadn't done in years. I had also already drunk a copious amount earlier in the day.
I slipped into the front of the line, ignoring the angry cries of those who had been skipped behind me. A sultry smile at the bouncer and a flash of my pass later, and I was in the club. The pounding beat seemed to make something carnal in me thrum to life, a smirk slipping over my face as I beheld, amid the crazy strobe lights, a massive bar and a dance floor full of gyrating bodies. I grinned and slipped right in, easily slipping into the crowd and losing myself in the throbbing, vibrating beat of the heavy rock music.
I gyrated with wild abandon, finally allowing myself to let loose. Ohhhhh, and it felt WONDERFULL. Feeling male and female bodies near my own and just as sweaty as me, something sparked inside me. I hadn't let everything out like this in years; hadn't had this much fun in years either. I danced with wild abandon, not noticing a certain white haired someone starting to move this way. I felt him, however, his taller body gyrating against me from behind. But I was too far gone in the wild dancing frenzy that had seized me to even care. I ground my hips against him, even, and he returned the favor with equal intensity. Arousal rose within me, fiery and hot as ever, but we moved away from each other on that beat. I felt a flicker of disappointment but I was quickly re swallowed by the pounding beat and the gyrating crowd.
I scrambled out of the mosh pit of bodies, used to the rock music by now. My dress' straps had both been ripped off, and I had lost one of my heels in the fray. Taking off my other heel, I grinned as I hung it over my neck. I was also absolutely covered in glitter. My hair was completely down, loose in a cascade of blonde locks. I laughed, smiling as I made my way toward the bar. My head pleasantly buzzed with intoxication, a clear sign I should have stopped a while ago if I wanted to stay conscious, but I wanted more.
The bar keep slung me a strange, electric green vodka shot. I was soused enough to drink it down without a qualm as to what it was. My head was buzzing faintly but I didn't care. I thought I couldn't care about anything when I was this drunk. I giggled just for the fun of it and couldn't seem to quit as I watched the rest of the club through sake blurred eyes. I'm really soused, I thought absently as I slugged back another glass of alcohol. My tolerance must have been heightened when I died. Which should have meant I'd never be drunk again, but my head started to hurt at that point so I refused to think on it further. People danced, ground against one another, made out and more in the corners of the club. Then, my eyes fell on the one someone who I had never thought I would see at a club.
Dan.
His light blue hair loose, he was smiling at some brunette bimbo. Everything about him was as I remembered before the mission that took his life. Sweetly, heartbreakingly real. The man I loved who hadn't sought me out was not five feet from me. I rose a little shakily, fully intending to move over to him, shove the brunette out of the way and hug him. I didn't care that he hadn't sought me out, for whatever reason. I had waited almost fifty years to see him again, and I wasn't about to let a little thing like a cold shoulder stop me. However, what did stop me cold was when the green eyed brunette KISSED Dan.
White hot RAGE boiled up in me. HOW DARE SHE KISS MY SOUL MATE?! HOW DARE SHE?! A red haze began to cloud my vision as I strode over there weaving some on the way. I was going to beat the shit out of that bimbo. Bruise her up then demand an explanation from Dan. Demand it as in take him by the scruff and hold him there until he explained himself.
What stopped me from doing that was the fact that Dan had wrapped his arms around the brunette, fondling her ass.
My heart was crushed in an instant. The world spun, my body swaying as I felt the world fly up and crash right back down on its ears. Dan had betrayed me. He was with someone else. He. . . He had fallen for another woman's charms. Dan was UNFAITHFUL. . . . . This had to be a hallucination. It couldn't be real. My world couldn't be ending right in front of my eyes. The world narrowed to the sight of my love and his new woman making out. Dan slipped a hand under her skirt softly, like he had done with me all those years ago in private, and stroked her outer thigh. Memories of him doing the same things with me that he was doing now with that brunette bimbo flooded my mind.
A dull numbness settled over me, along with a rise of nausea. Mechanically, I turned and walked towards the door. My body, on automatic, shoved the partiers out of the way. I made it out the door without noticing who was following me, frantically trying to catch me before I left. I opened the alley door with a snap and stalked out of the club. The throbbing music was making my growing headache worse. The nausea came to flower, and I leaned over, retching hard. Shaking and wrapped in my pain and sickness, I didn't notice when familiar hands held my hair out of the danger zone and sorrowful black eyes watched over me. When I finished, I nearly collapsed to my knees but for a warm, male arm around my waist. Coughing and gasping, I slapped and hit at the hand, tears beading in my eyes as I relived the memory over and over again. I started to scream in anger and rage, writhing at the arms holding me.
"GET AWAY! GET AWAY FROM ME! GO! GET AWAAY!"
"Tsunade-"
I recognized that voice. Jiraiya. I writhed loose, panting and glaring wildly up into concerned black eyes. This damn concern again. Almost pity. PITY. PITYING ME!
DAMN HIM FOR PITYING ME! I DON'T NEED HIS PITY! I NEVER HAVE AND I NEVER WILL!
"GET AWAY FROM ME! GET AWAY YOU-YOU-!" I howled, rage spilling into my tone.
Jiraiya looked hurt and confused; some inner part of myself was berating my angry side for hurting him so. But the rage was in control now. The rage that Dan hadn't waited for me, like he promised, he had fallen for someone else he had left me left me left me left me. . . My legs were swaying, barely holding me up. I was shaking intensely and hated myself for doing so. It was like an admission that my world was falling to pieces around me. I swore and smacked my legs, intending to stop them shaking. Instead, my legs just fell out from under me, and I would have landed in my own vomit had it not been for Jiraiya's quick intervention again. By now, the tears were pricking at my eyes.
"Tsunade?"
I was coughing, trying to rid my mouth of the suddenly gone foul taste of sake; something had been in my alcohol that shouldn't have been. That had to explain the hallucination of seeing Dan kiss another woman. Make out with another woman. I had to be hallucinating. I straightened, swaying slightly.
"I'm fine, Jiraiya," I said tonelessly.
"Like Hell you're fine!" Jiraiya trailed off, that look of pain that I'd mistaken for pity flickering in those onyx eyes again.
"I. . . I saw it too Hime. Him. . . and her. I was in the club till a minute ago myself, and, well, I saw Dan and. . .her. Either we both are hallucinating or. . . it happened."
My eyes widened. It couldn't be true. It couldn't be true. I looked at him, and his eyes darkened with unspoken feelings. He couldn't lie to me. I knew his cues, what he did when he lied; none of those occurred when he told me that he'd also seen it. Jiraiya wasn't easily duped either, even though he had been an idiot in life. I started to shake as it sunk in.
I had wasted my life waiting for a man who never intended to be faithful. I had been faithful to his memory until the day I died. And he had betrayed me.
Jiraiya's POV
Tsunade-hime looked like her world was coming apart. Well, for her I guess it was. Her eyes were huge and clouded as she looked at me wordlessly, as if asking how I could do this to her. To shatter her illusion of love with that unfaithful son-of-a-whore. I was going to kill Dan all over again for making her like this. For crushing my strong, confusing at times and stubborn most of the time woman like this. Her body seemed all the more doll like as it resumed shaking. As the shaking grew more and more violent, emotions passed through Tsunade's eyes like flashes of lightning. Shock. Disbelief. Thinking. Then, the sorrow set in. As always, the sorrow was quickly hidden behind a cold façade. Too cold. I worriedly wondered what she was thinking of. Then Tsunade turned on her heel and marched right back toward the door.
I knew not to argue with her when I saw the dents in the ground each of her marching, almost stomping steps made.
But, no one ever said I was smart.
I followed her, grabbing her shoulder. Automatically, she swatted my hand away. I winced silently while removing my hand; she had used enough force to crack my hand bones, I was sure of it. I still followed her, ready to get her off Dan if necessary. Only because she might regret it later. And maybe to get a punch in on the bastard myself. I could never tolerate it when someone had done her wrong, even in life.
Tsunade cracked her fists as she muscled her way through the crowd, me following behind. Worry gnawed at me. Tsunade was obviously inebriated. And pissed beyond belief, with reason. She might regret this in the morning. There was no way I could stand seeing her cry (or hit me) AGAIN after all the mixed signals she'd been sending me lately. I should have given up trying to win her heart the day that I died. However, I had seen how she mourned me after the fact.
Tsunade had worn a black wristband every day after my demise, never taking it off, even to sleep. It had made my heart ache to see how she suffered in silence every day, with that grim reminder on her wrist. . . Even in happy events, like Shizune's wedding to Genma (FINALLY!), Tsunade would be alone for just a moment, and a shadow would fall over her face. She would clutch her bound wrist, take a few deep breaths, and then seek out someone to talk to.
She had cried only once in the twenty years she had lived after me; it was the ten year anniversary of my death. Every year on the anniversary, she would torture herself on purpose by visiting the memorial Naruto had made; my last student usually visited me as well, sometimes bringing his family with him. Tsunade still visited Dan's and Nawaki's graves, but that was beside the point. I had no grave because of where I had died, but Tsunade faithfully visited the closest thing she had.
Tsunade would come at sunset, when Naruto was at home with his family. She would look at the small things the children had left and smile a little wanly at some homemade art project or another. Tsunade would stand in silence for a bit, her eyes swimming with memories. Then, she would sit cross-legged a few feet from the memorial, and start to tell me what had been going on lately in her life. Tsunade's favorite topic to talk about was the children of Konoha. Somehow, I felt that they soothed her pains, both physically and mentally. Tsunade would then, in her usual short succinct fashion, catch me up on how the war had been going. Not that I couldn't see what was going on myself, but I liked to hear it from her. Tsunade usually brought a bottle of sake with her, but didn't start drinking until she'd caught me up. When she finished, she would take the bottle out and pour two drinks in her favorite sake cups. . . Actually a birthday gift from me. I honestly hadn't known they were her favorite until the first year when she pulled this.
The two years before had been mostly composed of cussing at me and asking questions even I couldn't answer. And kicking nearby trees and rocks to vent her frustrations; funnily enough, no matter how angry she got, she never hit anywhere near the memorial. Then proceeding to yell at me a while longer until she was spent and then curling up to sleep. I had a feeling she'd gotten really drunk before coming.
Damn. I'm wandering, aren't I? I may have failed my Hime then, but now. . . I knew I had to be there for her. Now, of all times, I couldn't fail her.
Tsunade's POV
I saw him half naked with the girl, his shirt torn off. Rage blurred my vision once more. He dares betray me. . . To betray a Senju means death.
Especially me.
"Dan Kato."
He jumped, having heard the low menace in my tone. Dan immediately started running. Smart. But not smart enough. My finger shot out, slamming into a pressure point, barely a love tap from me but enough to freeze his limbs in place. He gasped, coughing up blood. Memories flashed before me. How he had bled. How he had died. Despite everything I had done in my power to help him, he bled out. How much agony I had suffered through for the rest of my life because of this man. This man-WHORE who didn't return my faithfulness. I snarled in rage when the clone disappeared, the blood an effect added for realism.
"I'M GONNA KILL YOU ALL OVER AGAIN FOR THIS! FUCKING BASTARD!"
Fuck the man. The girl was sniveling and whimpering, in a shaking sobbing heap lest I kill her like her "boyfriend". I kicked her in the ribs contemptuously, uncaring if I seriously damaged her. Her spirit-healing would save her, wouldn't it? I was done. DONE with all the healer shit. I had been healer most of my lifetime: healer, counselor, instructor, leader, guide, friend. . . . I was DONE!
Shinobi are tools for killing, so many of the Leaf's opponents believed. I had believed differently, until now. Everything I knew and loved was eroding away with the faithlessness of my beloved. Strangely, I was dry eyed. Tears had left me when this knife in the back entered my heart. Thunder cracked as if to accentuate my meaning.
I felt an overwhelming urge to run. To flee from this sharp pain in myself. I simply turned on my heel, not even having to school my expression into blankness. Jiraiya, who'd been following me for some time, swore quietly, obviously glancing about the startled crowd to find Dan. His fist was clenched and those onyx eyes were glaring wrathfully, as if to say Where is Dan?! LEMME AT HIM! He's so old fashioned. . . Chivalry isn't dead after all.
I felt a flicker of sorrow for what I was about to do to him. If he followed me this time, I couldn't allow him to stay conscious. I walked out into a pouring rainstorm. Thunder blasted as I walked out, a soaking Jiraiya following me. A warm wet hand grabbed my shoulder and, before I could swat it off, pulled me close. I growled, half-heartedly beating at wherever I could reach. When he cuddled me closer I felt a sense of suffocation. I squinched my eyes shut, hating myself already for what I was going to do to him. Slowly encircling my arms around him, I indulged briefly, taking a lungful of his warm, comforting scent. He stiffened when I pinched a certain nerve through his clothing that would immobilize him for several hours. I supported him back into the club unobtrusively, leaving him in a booth. I smoothed the wet hair from his face, impassive at his shocked and confused eyes.
"Trust me, Jiraiya, you don't want to see me now. I need time alone." My lips curled in a self-deprecating smile. "You'd certainly fall out of 'love' with my image. Although I still can't see why you ever cared about me in the first place."
I silently padded out of the club, the music still dull in my ears. I felt like things had receded in my senses; nothing really mattered with the pain like a ticking time bomb trapped inside my smaller frame. I walked unsteadily through the less and less crowded rainy streets, not seeing where I was going but feeling a growing urge to get away. For not the first time, I started to run. I couldn't go at my normal speed, but it was slowly satisfying the ache of the growing grief blossoming inside me. The man I had loved until the day I died had been with another woman. My heart felt another dizzying stab at the thought, punctuated by a savage flash of lightning and the boom of thunder. I couldn't go on like this. I would crack eventually, I realized distantly as the rain pelted my skin like icy shuriken. My speed increased, albeit my weaving also increasing as I rushed along to only my feet knew where. The ache was growing more insistent, more real. I knew that when it hit I would need privacy. Privacy to fall to pieces all by myself.
I finally slowed to a stop, panting and gasping as I never would have had I not been at the fucking alcohol. I staggered, smacking the whole half of my body on a rain slicked tree. Wincing and more nauseated than ever, I threw up again on the rocky outcrop I stood on. I staggered away from the spot disgustedly, tilting crazily as I did so. Time to let it free. Time to let the damn bomb burst. The pressure was getting unbearable in my frayed from the corners to the middle state of mind.
I was probably several miles from the city, leaving no one to hear me. The time bomb choked my throat a moment, leaving me breathless and dizzy with the pain of holding it all inside. I had held my tongue for all my seventy four years of life. I had never let so much as a scream of pain leave my lips. The best the enemy or the doctor had gotten were hisses, snarls and loud swearing. I had been tortured only the amount of times I could count on one hand; I had never been captured for long with teammates like Jiraiya and Orochimaru. Or, more often than not, Jiraiya was the one in hot water. Rarely if ever did Orochimaru ever get his pale ass into hot water. The thought of my one-time teammate's betrayal of Konoha, betrayal of US and the murder of my sensei when I wasn't there to help him. . . That was what did it.
Finally, on a flash of lightning, the first scream escaped my lips. Once I started, I couldn't stop. I kept screaming on and on and on and on, till my throat was raw and, if I were alive, I would have torn my vocal cords beyond repair. I couldn't do anything BUT scream, it seemed, until I slipped on the rain slicked rock crag. Slamming my head into the solid rock on the way down, I knew no more.
Mito's POV
A sad smile curled over my lips as I spotted my granddaughter in a heap on the rock, the rain sheeting down on my rain gear. A cracked in half tree nearby and several spots where she had thrown up told me her night at the club had not gone as I hoped. I had been walking to check on my match making attempt when I had seen my granddaughter running past me blindly, a look of pain on her face as she flashed past. From there, it was rather easy to track Tsunade. As for my match making attempt, I had given the other pass I had to Jiraiya, in hopes that the two of them would make up after whatever had happened between them. I could see how each of them suffered with the absence of the other, and it hurt to realize my granddaughter was still haunted by her guilt, even in death.
I had gotten to know Jiraiya when I found him asleep by a viewing pond. I checked what he had been looking at lately, and found him to be watching Tsunade as she slept fitfully. Then I remembered him, although quite foggily, as one of Tsunade's teammates when she was very young. At that point, he had stirred and gotten quite flustered that I had caught him watching Tsunade. From how he spoke of her during the talk we had had, and ever afterwards, it was rather obvious how he felt about my granddaughter. With watching my granddaughter during the last twenty years of her life, I also had my own suspicions on how she felt about Jiraiya, even if she didn't know it herself yet. I hoped the pair would find each other. But, if their life was anything to go by, they needed a bit of prodding in the right direction.
"Mito-chan? Where are. . . Oh. You're matchmaking didn't work out as planned then ."
I rolled my eyes fondly, "What blew the secret, Hashi? The fact that Tsu-chan is unconscious out here in the pouring rain? Or was it that the earth around her looks as if she had a drunken temper tantrum?"
"Heh, Mito, be kind. We need to at least get Tsunade out of the rain," my husband said, handing me the umbrella as he knelt to pick up our granddaughter. Easily carrying Tsunade's shorter frame, Hashirama stood up with a soft grunt. I smiled fondly at Hashi. Tsunade had inherited her grandfather's talent at Ninjutsu, if not his diplomatic skills. Her strength and power was all her own, however. Hashi was still puzzling over how our granddaughter had ended up with her incredible muscular strength. It was beyond what just training would acquire, meaning it had to be the bud of some new kekkai genkai. Then again, these are just Hashi's theories. Tobirama still teased Hashi over his deep curiosity about Tsunade's power, this being one of the main squabbles between the two brothers.
"Let's get Tsunade home, Mito," Hashirama said, grinning at me when I raised the umbrella to include them both. Lightning flashed Tsunade stirred faintly, curling a bit tighter in her grandfather's arms. I smiled, feeling that flutter of sadness again. No one should have to go through what Tsunade did, I thought sadly as we walked back into the tree cover.
Hashi must have noticed my melancholy feelings, because with some difficulty he managed to kiss my forehead. I smiled up at him through the storm induced darkness. My husband had always been kind and faithful to me, even if our relationship had started out as an arranged marriage. It had taken the possibility of him dying in battle against Madara and Kurama to make me realize what was there all along; Hashirama loved me deeply, and he would gladly die to protect me along with the beautiful village he had founded. I had been deeply in love with the man ever since. When he died in one of the many wars ravaging our country at the time, I had been devastated. One of my few comforts were my grandchildren and, a little oddly, Kurama, whom I had sealed inside of me during that long ago battle to save my husband.
Kurama had soothed my grief by being with me every moment, either arguing with me to distract me or just. . . Being there, a presence I knew I would never lose. A reminder of why I had to live as long as possible. My grandchildren had comforted me by their ere presence; even when I fell gravely ill, near the end of my life, my precious grandchild Tsunade visited me often. On my worst days, I could count on her to make me smile. Tsunade had talked to me often of Jiraiya, howling her frustration with him to the rooftops. It all too much reminded me of my own relationship with Hashirama before I had realized I loved him. I had tried to coax her to give him a chance; however, stubborn as she was, Tsunade didn't listen to me. Soon after, she met Dan. Dan was a kind man, but not right for her. Soon, Jiraiya and Tsunade had drifted apart over problems incurred over Dan. I died before I could aid them on sorting it out. The two of them seemed to have worked it out after I passed on, however.
I pursed my lips silently as I watched the troubled rise and fall of Tsunade's chest in my husband's arms. I couldn't help but worry for her. She mumbled a name in her sleep that I didn't quite catch, but it made my husband clutch her small frame closer and quietly swear under his breath. I was surprised, even more so when I saw a droplet of water slip from Tsunade's closed eyes. My husband was normally a level headed man who detested cursing, and my granddaughter detested tears. I looked questioningly up at the dark scowl on his face. Hashi's face softened as he saw me, still heading towards our home.
"She said something about Dan. If he made her like this. . . I swear I'll hunt him down. NOBODY makes our granddaughter cry like this," Hashirama growled, clutching his granddaughter and looking extremely upset. Tsunade made an uncomfortable noise and wiggled in his arms. I gently put a soothing hand on his arm.
"Loosen your grip Hashi. You need to watch your strength."
He nodded sheepishly, loosening his grip accordingly. Tsunade relaxed once more. As we arrived at our house, I plucked the key from the string around my neck it usually rested on and unlocked the door. Hashirama carried Tsunade inside, tenderly tucking her into our guest bed and waving a hand over the back of her still bleeding slightly head. The cut sealed instantly. I helpfully got a chair for him, and he slumped down into it, still with a stormy and upset expression in his eyes as he nervously watched Tsunade. I knew nothing or no one would persuade him from Tsunade's side until she was awake again; it was simply my husband's way. I sighed and kissed his forehead.
"Get some rest, Mito."
"As long as you'll get some sleep sometime tonight."
He chuckled, "Don't worry, I'll probably doze off at some point. Go to bed, Mito-chan."
"Alright alright. Good night, Hashi."
"Good night Mito."
Wheeeee! One of my longest updates yet. I can't believe I got a chapter with over 2,000 words! WEEEEEE! This is a major milestone for me ^^ Soooo happyyyyy XDDDD
Now that I got the excitement out, what do you think of this chapter? Dan's betrayal? Jiraiya following Tsunade and yet getting tricked again into immobility? What's your favorite part or the part you really don't like? Any ooc ness is completely a part of the plot, just so you know. Any other questions for me?
I included Mito's pov like you asked, tatsumi-hime. Darkdragonhead and tatsumi-hime, thank you for reviewing! I love it when I get feedback on my stories like this! XD
I hope I will be able to update agin soon, but at least I didn't leave you a nasty cliffie :) Review please!
-June
