Next chapter of Three Pawns, Naruto, Jiraiya, and Dosu look for Tsunade on the hopes that they will be able to convince her to return to Konoha and heal Sarutobi's wounds. However, there are problems aboard and at Konoha as there are those who still distrust the newest Leaf Ninjas of Konoha.

Disclaimer: If I was Kishimoto, I think I'd be able to write better stuff than he has.

"This is it," The one eyed ninja said shaking his head. "This is how we're going to die." He said solemnly looking over to his two companions who panted as all three were exhausted. They had been fighting and running all night.

"I can't believe this is how it ends…damn it!" Zaku said cursing. But even he knew they were outmatched and outgunned here and they'd be dead before the dawn. People were looking for them and they would likely soon find them.

"Quiet!" Kin said to him but she knew it was in vain. They were going to die here, it was only a matter of time before they were found by the hundreds of men who were looking for them. The place they were at they were hiding in, but all three knew that they would be discovered soon and then they would die.

Dosu sat down on the floor and shook his head, he could not believe this had happened. That all his training and skills weren't enough, that he and his teammates would die here. No one would care that they were dead, Orochimaru wouldn't nor would anyone else in Sound. At best they might be amused that they had been killed in action.

He looked over at Zaku who was ready to go down fighting and take as many of them with him before he died. He looked over at Kin and noticed pain in her eyes, not only from her injuries but from the inevitable. She didn't want to die, he could see it clearly.

"Zaku, Kin, I know we haven't been exactly what is called the best of friends since we became a team." He said to them. "But since we're about to die we might as well hear each other's life stories." He said surprising them. "Gives us something to talk about until we…" He didn't finish that sentence but they knew what meant.

Zaku and Kin looked at each other and back at him a bit surprised. Their past neither member really cared about or egged them about it.

"We got nothing better to do, might as well." He said to them.

"…Why the hell not, it's not like my life has been great or anything." Kin said.

"I guess I'll start." Zaku muttered.

"So who is it that we're looking after again?" The Blonde said as the group walked through the city.

"Focus Naruto," Dosu chastised him a bit. "You should know who she is, she's Tsunade The Third of the Sannin Trio. The Slug Queen and legendary Medic."

"Honestly Gaki you should have at least heard of her, didn't you read anything at all during your academy days?" Jiraiya said to him. The boy was clueless, not even having heard of him when they first met or of his teammates. It reminded him the next time he was meeting a Daimyo not to bring the kid along.

"You impudent brat! You would dare act such a way towards me?!" The Daimyo shouted at Naruto. "Is this how The Leaf acts?! I expected to come here for an important meeting with you Jiraiya and this vulgar child behaves in such a manner towards me!"

"Now Daimyo please calm down," Jiraiya said to him.

"No! From now on our countries shall be at war! Tell The Leaf they shall face destruction for what they have done this day!" The Daimyo yelled and turned and exited the room.

Jiraiya nearly pulled his hair out in disbelief at what just happened and glared at Naruto who was confused.

"All I did was offer a High Five." Naruto responded.

Jiraiya shook his head getting that image out of his head, he somehow wouldn't be surprised if that did happen and heard Naruto's voice bringing him back to the present.

"Hey I didn't get the chance to go the library when I was young, they didn't have comic books or anything else there just a bunch of boring fifty pound books!" He claimed and the two rolled their eyes at him.

It had been two days ever since the group had began their quest to find Tsunade. Trying to find her and get her to come to Konoha so she can heal Sarutobi who needed her aid as she was the only who had a shot at doing so. Tsunade was the only one who was capable of undoing the damage that Orochimaru had done but their time was limited. They had to find her before it was too late.

Jiraiya looked on at the current city they were in. A rather small city but it had a casino so the chances of her being here were in their favor considering she enjoyed gambling. The Legendary Sucker, that was her other nickname considering how much she lost and the debts she racked up.

Though a part of him wondered why their third companion had shown up. They hadn't seen Dosu for a while when just they were apart to leave he had shown up and asked to join them. Naruto had accepted without no hesitation but a part of Jiraiya wondered what the Bandaged covered Shinobi had in mind as he had just shown up unexpectedly right when they were going.

He had a feeling that the Ex Sound Ninja and current Leaf Ninja had his own agenda for going with them and wanted to see what it was he had planned.

The trio continued on walking throughout the city.

"How long do you think we have?" Naruto asked all of a sudden.

"Don't know," Jiraiya mentioned. "It just depends on how quick The Council makes its decision, we could have a week, we could have within the hour." He said as they knew what he was talking about, The Council possibly taking Sarutobi off life support. They were to have a meeting to decide what to do as some of them believed he should be taken off it as his wounds were too deep.

"If Politics are anything like I've seen and heard they'll spend most of their time arguing about how stiff their seats are than making the decision whether to end his life or not." Dosu replied and Jiraiya snickered sensing he was trying to lighten the mood between them.

"Is Tsunade really as good as you say she is Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked The Toad Sannin.

"Of course she is," Jiraiya confirmed. "I've seen her do stuff that I wouldn't have thought possible before, she's restored even the most fatal wounds from people who were seconds away from Deaths' door. If anyone can heal him, its her." He told the two, but the problem of course would be getting her to go back to Konoha. She hadn't gone back, not since The Yondaime died. Having left Konoha seemingly never to return. All Three Sannin had split after the disaster that had happened. Orochimaru falling into madness, Tsunade leaving and wondering the land, and Jiraiya working on his spy network. For the first time he had seen the person who he had once considered a brother in over a decade in person and now he had to find the missing piece of Team Sarutobi.

"This should be a good place to look around." Jiraiya said to the two who looked at him. "Let's look around here for her, there's a casino nearby and odds are if she's here she's likely there. Let's take a look around and if lucks on our side, she'll be here so we can convince her to come him."

Dosu and Naruto nodded as they went to look around for her.

At Konoha…

"This feels wonderful," Sakura Haruno said as she sank into the water a towel wrapped around her frame. The pinkette smiled as she relaxed in the springs.

Sakura and Kin were at the Spa having taken their weekly trip to it. Sakura smiled as she sat in the Hot Springs feeling the warm water heating up her body. The two unlikely friends enjoying their time there as Kin allowed her long hair to float in the water as she laid against the side of it and wiggled her feet.

"Haven't seen Naruto lately, who knows where he went with Jiraiya." Sakura mentioned running a hand through her pink hair.

"Who knows? Knowing that lecher he's probably taking him to a geisha house." Kin muttered and Sakura blushed a bit embarrassed by her blunt words.

"I saw Ino the other day, she was heading towards the Hospital and had a bouquet of Flowers in her hand. I think she was finally going to see her dad." Sakura mentioned outloud.

"Finally, about time she did." Kin responded remembering their argument over how she didn't go see her Father when he was injured during the attack. She had apparently smacked some sense into the blonde over how uncaring she had been towards her family. Grasping her nose she then took a deep breath and dove under the water letting her whole body be submerged under the water.

Her thoughts were of what had happened recently, as well as Dosu disappearing and going off after them as it was uncharacteristic for him to be so rash. He was a thinker, he always planned things ahead for them hence why The Sound Trio managed to succeed in many of their missions. She sure as hell wouldn't trust Zaku with strategies' that's for certain. It was unlike him to be so bold and do something without planning ahead.

She rose up out of the water and wiped her soaking face as the water dripped from her hair and she spotted that company had appeared.

"Hinata? Surprised to see you hear." Sakura said as The Hyuga heir a towel around her small body was standing there at the entrance.

"Um, h-hello S-Sakura, are you b-busy? I'll j-just come later." Hinata said stuttering and went to leave.

"No that's alright Hinata, you can come in and join us we don't mind." Sakura said to her.

"O-Okay." Hinata said and stepped forward and got into the water and sat down and began bathing. The heir to the Hyuga clan kept to the side not saying anything, then again Hinata never was one for words.

"Maybe we can get Ino and TenTen to join us all next time, a girls' night out." Sakura said trying to break the silence after a few minutes had passed trying to bring up conversation between the three girls. Her interaction with Hinata before wasn't much, she spoke with her politely the few times she had seen her in town. But aside from that she rarely saw The Hyuga Heiress.

"If you want," Kin said running her hand through her hair as if it didn't matter to her.

The three sat and bathed in the spring quietly not talking much as the only sound was their hands moving through the water.

Kin noticed out of the corner of her eye that the short blue haired heir would occasionally glance over at her as if thinking she wasn't being noticed. She would look at her examining her with her eyes for a brief moment and then turn her head away.

Hinata turned her head away to glance over at the fence and then after a minute had passed turned her head again towards Kins' direction looking at her with her light purple eyes.

Kin frowned in annoyance as she believed she wasn't being noticed what she was doing.

"Stop that," Kin said in irritation and disgust surprising the girl. "Seriously, your stalking me?" She said looking at her a bored look in her eyes. "What you think I'm going to turn into a demon and eat you?" She said with a scoff to Hinata. "I have no vendetta against you or even care who you are, so quit hovering around me expecting me to do something already." Kin said with a scoff to her as she glared at Hinata.

"E-Excuse me?" Hinata said a bit alarmed.

"Yeah I did some things I'm not proud of back there but that doesn't mean you and others can look at me like I'm under a microscope expecting me to do something." She said to her an upset tone in her voice. "I get looks of suspicion even when I'm walking around this place and the last thing I need is to get it here." She said anger growing in her voice at Hinata who stuttered trying to say something but unable to form words.

"I d-didn't mean t-to-" Hinata said to her but was cut off.

"What? You think I'm planning on killing you? Is that why your doing that?" Kin said to her as she and the others had received stares of mistrust and hatred even after they had proven themselves still from some people in Konoha.

"Kin," Sakura said realizing that she was getting upset with how Hinata had been looking at her and knew she had to intervene before something broke out here. "Calm down, she didn't mean anything by it." She said

"I'm going home," Kin said coolly and left leaving the two.

As Kin got dressed and left she thought of a day a while back…

"And that's basically my life, getting beat from one area to the next." Zaku said finishing his tale how he was an orphan who was beaten when he was caught stealing food until Orochimaru discovered him liking the look in his eyes. The lonely child Zaku had been having never known affection or love had immediately followed him after hearing his offer, the first person to ever look at him like he wasn't trash.

"That's rough," Dosu said as Zaku had endured a hard life, a life of isolation as his parents had been killed when he was just four years old and nobody in his home town had looked out for him not even the local orphanage. As far as they were concerned he was just a flea they couldn't bother to swat so he turned to thievery, stealing and taking what he wanted in order to survive despite how many times he had been beaten.

"I guess I'll go next." Kin said seated on her knees. She then began to tell her tale and her past with her mother.

"Zaku if you have nothing to do, I can have you help me look after Konohamaru." Ebisu said to the boy who was slouching about a bored look on his face.

"No thanks, I hate kids and there's nothing going on anyway. Naruto and Dosu the bastards ran off without saying anything with that Lecher and Kin's in one of her moods I can tell." Zaku Abumi said to the Jonin who looked on at him with a frown as how he was lazing about.

"Work with your summons then, you don't have a summoning scroll just to play catch with." Ebisu said to him. "Don't use them and they'll remove your contract with them."

"Benjiro ran out on me back with Gaara." Zaku replied recalling what happened. The Rooster chickening out and running away back to his realm instead of helping him against Gaara.

"That doesn't mean you should stop using him and your summons to help increase your strength and improve yourself as a Ninja." Ebisu responded to him. "The others maybe doing their own things now but that does not give you the excuse to become complacent and wait for things to happen for you."

"I've not just been seated here," Zaku replied to the shades wearing Jonin. "I've got a lot on my mind, more than you can guess." He said to him.

Ebisu looked on at Zaku knowing what was going through his head. He was still thinking about what had happened in the Preliminaries in his fight a month ago. Still gnawing at him the recent events.

Zaku's animosity with Shino Aburame was clear as night with Ebisu, but anger was a hindrance. It was what lead you to making mistakes and having tunnel vision. Zaku was letting it get to him, letting what had happened at the Exams still consume him.

An image of an younger boy entered his mind, the boy having been beaten decisively. He had fought well but it wasn't enough as he was overwhelmed by his opponents superior techniques and had been bested with one of his legs badly injured with a deep cut on them. Weakly he tried to say he could continue it but the Proctor had ordered the fight to stop and gave the match to his opponent ending his chance at advancing. He still remembered that day clearly; a day that had consumed his every thought over what had happened. Remembering his opponents nonchalant face over his victory against him and turned and headed back to join his team while he was carted out of the Arena as his role in the Exams had come to an end.

Ebisu had spent many weeks and months in anger over that day, feeling he should've been stronger. That the fight shouldn't have ended that way, that if he had done something else he may've won instead of being the loser of the fight in front of his team and his peers. He had wanted revenge for how his opponent had decimated him and nearly took away his ability to walk almost ending his career as a ninja.

But as time passed he learned to let go of such grudges and come to accept what had happened despite how much it turned his stomach initially to accept what had transpired. The ninja he had fought at that time, Asuma Sarutobi would later become one of his friends and companions after they made up.

The question remained though if Zaku would be able to let go of what had happened against Shino or if he would continue to let it consume and grow within him. He had seen him interacting with Gai's student, the bun haired girl TenTen who also suffered a bad defeat at the hands of the Suna kunoichi Temari but she had recovered from it and brushed it off. Ebisu did not want to see Zaku get overwhelmed and consumed with the thought of revenge over what had happened between him and Shino, it would only lead down a bitter path for both Zaku and Shino if it happened.

"If you need some help with your Air Cutters, I can give you some exercises you can use to channel your Chakra as well as focus on your element." He said to him.

"It's not like you're a source of great wisdom or powerful techniques." Zaku replied and his Ebisu's brows narrowed at his remark though he hide his annoyance behind his shades.

"Ahem," Ebisu said clearing his throat. "You do realize that I was part of the graduating class that included Might Gai, Kakashi, Asuma, as well as many other revered ninjas here?" He said reminding him that while he didn't have fancy nickname or established reputation he was still a threat on the battlefield not to be trifled with.

"Yeah but from what I've heard you compared to them are basically Fodder when standing next to Kakashi, That Bushy Browed moron's older brother, and other Jonins here." Zaku replied dryly.

The shades wearing ninja face faulted to the ground after hearing that.

"No respect," Ebisu muttered as Zaku walked away and he looked up at the clouds from the ground. "I get no respect."

Elsewhere…

"Hmph, that was too easy." Sakon The Leader of The Sound Four said. "Hardly worth the damn effort of coming to this place." He said as he looked over to his brother, Jirobo, and Kidomaru.

The group had been sent by Orochimaru to deal with and suppress a rebellion, after his failure at Konoha the prisoners at one of his bases had rioted and rebelled and he had sent them there to deal with it. They had killed them all, sparing none of them as well as killing The Sound Nins placed there as well for their failure as numerous dead bodies were around the area that had been killed by the group. Sending a message that Orochimaru was still in charge.

"Now what?" Jirobo asked placing his arms across his chest.

"Let's head back to Otogakure, got nothing else to do." The spider like Kidomaru said to them.

"No," Sakon said surprising them a bit. "We're not going back there yet," He said and smiled darkly. "We're heading to Konoha." He said to them who looked at him confused

"What do you got planned?" Ukon his brother asked him.

"We'll deal with the traitors ourselves, those three maggots that betrayed Orochimaru-sama." He said to them. "We'll go there kill them and bring back their heads, Orochimaru-sama will be most pleased afterwards." He said and chuckled darkly.

"Shouldn't we get Tayuya, we all work together as a whole unit?" Jirobo asked him as although none of the Sound Four really liked each other and often contemplated the others' demise, as a team they were nearly unstoppable.

"Who needs her?" Sakon said with a smirk. "In case you hadn't noticed she's on the outs with Orochimaru-sama, we'll succeed where she failed and kill them." He said to them.

"If we do that, her view in his eyes will fall even further, he might even decide to get rid of her and use her as a sacrifice." Kidomaru mentioned but was grinning. "You got a twisted mind Sakon." He accused and Sakon laughed.

"We'll deal with those Three Pawns who ruined our masters plan and humiliated us at Konoha, they'll die for what they've done betraying our master." Sakon said to the group. "Let's go."

The group then went on their way heading towards The Hidden Leaf Village.

Elsewhere…

A blond woman took a sip of her sake as she was seated on a bench in the large casino. With her was a younger girl who watched as she stirred her drink and looked around the large casino which hosted numerous slot machines and events with prizes being given out on a daily basis.

"Don't bother with the blackjack or automatic card dealing games. Most likely rigged. The slots might be okay." She said to her as she looked around as people gambled and blew their Ryo on the games. Years of experience and playing in casinos gave her insight on what was most likely to sucker you into losing and which ones gave you the best chance of winning. "I'd doubt that craps user is using fair dice, most likely he's got a loaded pair to use as well as roulette to make sure nobody gets a real big jackpot." She said and took another drink from her glass.

"Tsunade-sama, should we head back to the hotel? We've been here for a few hours." Her apprentice Shizune said to her.

"Not yet, I still want to try my luck on some of these." The Slug Sannin said to her and she nodded knowing she wouldn't be able to dissuade her once she set her mind on it.

Tsunade turned around and looked at the built in fountain behind her that the casino had. Many coins had been tossed it no doubt people had thrown them in wishing for luck in the casino.

Aimlessly she stood up and faced it and got out a coin and tossed it into the fountain, couldn't hurt to try. She watched as the coin splashed in the water and looked on at her reflection in it. She stared at it watching the water run through it and at her reflection. She let out a long sigh and brought a hand up to her head feeling the alcohol inside of her. Pretty much the same thing for over the past decade or so is was she would do. She'd go to a town and waste and gamble away her money and racking up debts (though fortunately Shizune was able to win the money back) and going to the next place. Over and over again she had done it ever since she had left Konoha leaving her home and not going back to it after all she had witnessed and experienced there.

She looked at her reflection and for a moment she thought her eyes were playing a trick on her as she saw standing next to her a man with white hair with a red and green outfit smirking at her and wearing an hitai-ate with kanji for Oil on it. She shook her head as she must've had too much sake to drink.

"Hi Tsunade," The person said to her and she turned her head and saw that Jiraiya was in fact standing beside her.

"Jiraiya?" She said in confusion and looked at him surprise in her eyes not expecting to see him here. "What in the world?"

"I see your as ravishing and beautiful as ever." He said a lecherous grin on his face as he leaned forward staring at the "mounds" on her chest. Tsunade scowled and lashed out at him and he avoided her punch which would've knocked some of his teeth out.

"What are you doing here Jiraiya?" She said frowning at him as it was the first time in many a year that the two had seen one another.

"This the kind of reunion I get from my former teammate?" He asked with a smirk to her folding his arms across him. "I've been looking for you, trying to find you." He said to her and she frowned at him.

"If it's about your next issue, I'll force feed you the damn book." She said to him recalling his "Work."

Jiraiya chuckled but soon returned to being serious which was rare for her to see him as. "Listen, let's get out of here. There's someone I want you to meet. And something I want to discuss with you about as well. It involves Sarutobi…" He said and Tsunade looked at him a bit confused as he had piqued her curiosity by mentioning their Sensei.

"Lead the way." She said but a part of her in the back of her mind had a feeling she was going to regret going with him.

Naruto and Dosu waited in the Hotel Room by themselves, they hadn't been allowed to go with Jiraiya since the Casino had an age limit. They waited quietly by themselves for Jiraiya to return and hopefully with the woman he had spotted.

The door opened and the two turned their heads and saw Jiraiya enter with two women.

"Tsunade, allow me to introduce you to my pupil: Naruto Uzumaki allow me to introduce you to my teammate when I was younger." Jiraiya said as he introduced the two to one another.

"She's the one?" Naruto said looking at Jiraiya and back to Tsunade who stared at him with her amber eyes. "She can really do it?" He asked him who nodded his head smirking at Naruto with confidence.

Tsunade stared at Naruto not saying a word in the matter as she looked at his glowing blue eyes filled with passion and determination. The eyes reminding her of The Yondaime.

"Jiraiya why did you bring me here?" She asked turning to look at The Toad.

"Well you better sit down, it's a long story." Jiraiya said to her.

He told her everything. Everything that had happened the past month. The discovery of Orochimaru's plot. The unexpected new Leaf Ninjas who had defected from him and gave them the info to stop what Orochimaru was planning as well as the aftermath of the attack and Sarutobi's condition. "I can't believe it." Tsunade said shock in her voice at what she had heard happened between her former teammate and sensei. "I know Orochimaru had gone off the deep end but I never thought he would actually try to destroy Konoha." She said as she had seen his downfall from the once potential Hokage Candidate to the man he had become.

"He has become consumed by his madness," Dosu said to her. "Destruction is the only thing that matters to him anymore. He didn't want to kill The Hokage, Sarutobi-sama and take his place and Rule The Hidden Leaf, he wanted to wipe Konoha off the map and make it so it would be nothing more than a crater." He said. "He was willing to use me and others as a sacrifice to do so." He mentioned and Shizune looked at him with pity in her eyes.

"You can thank Dosu, Zaku, and Kin that didn't happen." Naruto said speaking up. "If it weren't for them who knows what could've happened if they hadn't told us what was going on and we were able to stop that from happening." He said and clapped the Bandaged covered ninja on the back who waved him away.

"Sarutobi," Tsunade said. "What is his condition?"

"…Not good I'm afraid." Jiraiya said in a solemn voice. "He has little chance of surviving the wounds inflicted upon him from his battle with Orochimaru. Orochimaru wounded him and cut him badly with that blade of his. He just was able to block enough of it to prevent it from killing him on contact but…" He then steeled himself for the next words which he was reluctant to say. "The wounds too deep and its fatal. Only Life Support is that is the reason he's still alive I'm afraid. Nothing can be done for him in Konoha. I'm afraid there's not much hope for him." He said and Naruto looked sad as well remembering the state he was in. How pale and lifeless he appeared to be, a shadow of his former self and glory The Sandaime was. There was nothing that could be done for him there.

"Tsunade you've got to return to Konoha," Jiraiya said to her and she looked at him. "You have got to come back and heal him. You're the only hope he has left as nothing the Medics at Konoha will be able to heal him. They can just delay the inevitable and keep him alive, if you can call it living as he's little more than a vegetable. You've got to come back and heal his wounds." He told her and stared her in the eyes. "He needs you." He said and Tsunade looked away unable to match his gaze.

"…I." She said but shook her head

"Tsunade-hime you know that Sarutobi in his age and with his health he won't last long on the road. You've got to come back to Konoha so you can heal him. I know it holds unhappy memories for you there but you've got to go there." He said to her.

"C'mon," Naruto said standing up. "What kind of medic are you if you don't heal people? That's a medics job ain't it? To get rid of people's wounds and illness and Sarutobi needs your help! You can't just abandon him, I don't care what excuses you've got." He said to her frowning that she wasn't immediately agreeing to help them like she should. "You must do something! A lot worse things will happen if you just stay here, whatever happened before can't be all that bad." He said and Tsunade whipped her head around to glare at him and his choice of words he had said to her. How ignorant was this kid? He just thinks that she can act like what happened before doesn't bother her?

"You know nothing what I've been through kid," Tsunade said to him narrowing her eyes and held up a finger. "With this one finger I've killed more people than you'll ever will in your life. I've seen blood flowing from more people than I can remember, the dead bodies of comrade and enemy alike, even the ones that I-" She then stopped herself from continuing as it brought back terrible memories from the past as images of two people filled her mind. Jiraiya immediately knew what she was talking about and sympathy appeared in his eyes as she still suffered from their deaths. "Just go away."

"So you've experienced heartache?" Naruto asked her. "You should consider yourself fortunate then, I've never known what its like to be in love or be in the arms of a person I want to spend my future with. Yet your avoiding it and running away because of accidents that happened and refusing to move over it. You should be happy you actually got to know them and what its like to be loved!" He said angrily at her and she glared at him.

"Naruto, I'm warning you one more time. Shut Up." She said glaring at him refraining from slamming her fist into his face over his words.

Naruto glared back at her not backing down or caring that she was a living legend who could crush his skull without breaking a sweat if she wanted too.

Dosu also frowned at her underneath his bandages as well. "Apparently the tales about The Legendary Sannin are just Tales." He mused silently and shook his head. Tsunade shot him a harsh look at his words.

"Easy," Jiraiya said and stepped in between them before he had to scrap The Gaki off the floor after what Tsunade would do to him. "Listen, we can argue with you all do about what you should do and came to no conclusion." He said to her. "But instead of that how about we have a game?" He said with a smirk which confused Naruto wondering what he was getting at. "We play a hand of Poker, with the stakes you coming to Konoha. You and The Gaki can play a hand and if he wins you come back to Konoha and heal Sarutobi." He said to her.

"Fine…if it'll get you perv out of my hair." She said to him agreeing to it.

"Good then," Jiraiya said with a smile. "Wait right here." He mentioned and exited and soon returned with a deck of cards. "Take a seat." He ordered the two mentioning to the table in the center of the room and they did so. To Naruto's surprise Dosu pulled up and took a seat as well.

"I'm going to play as well." He said as he sat beside Naruto.

"This was suppose to be one on one." Tsuande responded with a frown.

"Surely you're not afraid of losing to a Gaki and a disfigured person are you?" Dosu replied snidely to her. "You can always back out if you want." He said to Tsunade who huffed.

"Fine, go ahead and deal and let's get this damn thing over with." She grumbled in irritation.

"Shizune my darling," Jiraiya said with a flirty smile to her which made her blush while Tsunade rolled her eyes at his antics. "Would you so kindly cut the cards and deal for them?" He asked her.

"O-Okay." She responded and took them and began doing so.

The Three sat at the table and Shizune dealt the cards for the group. Silently they took the five cards while Jiraiya looked on in amusement at what was happening and watched as they each picked them up and glanced at them. Tsunade held her hands to her eyes looking at them with a detailed eye he noticed, while Naruto scratched the back of his head as he examined his hand. Jiraiya watched as the three looked at their cards trying to determine the best course of action and what to keep and what to discard.

"Give me two cards," Naruto said as he discarded and dealt a new pair of cards.

Naruto smirked but kept it hidden on his face not to give it away as he had a good hand. Two pairs of Jacks and Tens, that was a good deal and he had a good chance of winning. Dosu was silent and thanks to his bandages had an excellent poker face as only his right eye in its normal stoic look which looked at his cards and silently took three while Tsunade took one.

"Read them and weep, Full House." Tsunade said suddenly with a smirk as she laid down the cards revealing her perfect hand.

"Aw man!" Naruto said in disbelief as his hand was nothing compared to that.

"Goodbye then," Tsunade said getting ready to getup and leave.

"Wait, you can't just-" Naruto started to say

"You lost Gaki, now quit bothering me." Tsunade said to him.

"Hold on," Dosu spoke up to her. "You have no intention of ever going back to Konoha?"

"I told you before, there's nothing you can do that can make me." She replied to him.

"Wanna bet?" He asked her.

"That's a sucker bet." Tsunade said in annoyance.

"Yeah, your the sucker." Dosu said as he laid down his hand revealing a Straight Flush and the sound of Tsunade's jaw hitting the table was heard.

"Awesome! Way to go Dosu!" Naruto said grinning as he had the winning hand.

Tsunade looked on shocked at what had just happened, that she had been beaten by a kid.

"Well Tsunade since we won that means you've got to come back with us to Konoha." Jiraiya said with a smug grin and Tsunade scowled at him at how smug he appeared. "Deal's a Deal." He said to her and she wanted nothing more than to tear his lips off his face at how he was right now.

"Fine," She said angrily. "I'll meet you all tomorrow after I get everything finished here!" She said and got up from the table and left with Shizune who hastily followed after her.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Don't worry, she always acts that way whenever she loses." He said to the two as this wasn't the first tantrum he'd seen her thrown when she lost at gambling. "She'll meet us tomorrow and then we'll head back to Konoha."

"So Sarutobi is going to be alright?" Naruto asked hopefully and he nodded his head at the Blonde. "Yes!" Naruto shouted pumping a fist into the air and Jiraiya laughed as well and Dosu let out a rare chuckle.

"She'd likely come along anyway, I could tell she was going to. This just made things go faster." Jiraiya said to them. "I'm going to get some dinner, come along and let's feast." He said and left going on ahead.

"Looks like we did it eh Dosu?" Naruto said to his companion his arms stretching behind his head with a grin on his face.

"It appears so," Dosu replied

"A straight flush though, ain't that nearly impossible to get on a hand?" Naruto asked him and Dosu smirked underneath his bandages and revealed a pair of Aces up his sleeve and Naruto seeing them laughed as he had outsmarted her as he had used his sleeves to hid them up to ensure he'd get a winning hand.

"She'll likely kill you if she finds out you did that to her." Naruto said with a grin.

Unknown to them however, Tayuya having spied on them left and went to report to the person who had sent her out to spy.

"Report," Orochimaru said seated as he had a cup of tea in his hands. Kabuto stood by his side at the place they were using as a base of operations.

"As you expected Orochimaru-sama, The Leaf Bastards did come looking for Tsunade like you anticipated." She said to him in a kneeling state her head down. "They met her and Jiraiya, A blond kid, and one of the damn Traitors were there meeting her. I watched on as they talked with one another." Tayuya said to him.

Orochimaru had been looking for her as well, he knew Jiraiya, he would no doubt try to find her so she could heal Hiruzen and so The Sandaime would be back. He knew he had to find his former teammate first and stop that from happening as that was the last thing he wanted was for Sarutobi to be healed. He, Kabuto, and Tayuya had went to find her and had discovered her but before he could do anything or formulate a plan the damn Toad had shown up.

"And?" Orochimaru ordered her demanding to know what else happened. "Look at me…" He ordered with a hiss to her forcing Tayuya to look him in the eyes and his paralyzing snake glare that she couldn't turn away from.

"She will go to Konoha, and heal Sarutobi like you feared." Tayuya said doing her best not to show fear.

Orochimaru's jaw trembled for a moment as his eyes narrowed as his killing intent filled the entire room and the building they was at. Anyone nearby would've felt it as it encompassed the entire building. Tayuya winced as she had felt it before but every time he unleashed it she felt all strength leave her with how powerful The Snake Sannin was.

Orochimaru's face twisted into a scowl as his fangs were showing as a mad look appeared on his face.

"Arghh! I can't have this happen!" Orochimaru said fury and rage in his eyes at the prospect of Tsunade healing Sarutobi. "Damn it all to hell!" He shouted and smashed the cup of tea in his hand shattering it to pieces. "If she restores him back to life I'll never be able to destroy Konoha as long as they are there!" He snarled in fury standing up and Tayuya backed away fearfully expecting him to hit her again.

"Orochimaru-sama please calm down." Kabuto said to him daringly stepping close to him. If it weren't for how much value he had, Kabuto most likely would've been killed right now due to how furious Orochimaru was at the moment at how recent events had transpired. "We'll have to stop that from happening, either killing Sarutobi before she can or preventing her from getting to Konoha."

Orochimaru shook his head. "Trying to assassinate Sarutobi would be impossible, no one would be able to get a hundred yards near him as he'll be surrounded by guards at all time I'd reckon." He said bitterly lamenting that he wasn't able to kill him when he had the chance. How he wished Kimimaro hadn't been ill, then he would not only have had a perfect vessel to use as a body but also they might've won and destroyed Konoha if he hadn't been diagnosed with his illness.

"No, I must prevent Tsunade from going to Konoha, she must not heal him!" He said with a hiss as that was the last thing he wanted. "I shall meet with her and stop her from doing so," Orochimaru said and stood up. "I believe there maybe a way to convince her not to do so." He said and walked out of the room an idea forming in his mind.

"I'd perform better if I was you," Kabuto said to Tayuya who turned and glared at him. "Orochimaru-sama has been most displeased with you as of late and the reason he sent and brought you was for you to redeem yourself over what you failed to do in Konoha." He said and smirked at the redhead.

"Go to hell." She spat out at him and his smirk grew.

"Continue your path and you may find yourself used by him as a sacrifice for Edo Tensei. You know what happens to those pawns who fail him or that he has no further use for. That which was suppose to happen to Kin and the others shall happen to you." He said and left.

Tayuya all alone in the room gritted her teeth in anger over the recent events.

(I can't let him believe I'm worthless, I've got to kill that blonde kid or Dosu to redeem myself!) Tayuya thought to herself knowing she had to do something to restore his faith in her.

Later that night…

"Tsunade's going to meet us at the exit tomorrow morning and then we'll head back to Konoha." Jiraiya said to Dosu and Naruto in the room. "Let's get some rest as we'll be leaving in the morning early on." He said to them. "Don't worry about her she won't leave or run off as she always keeps her word."

(Hang in there Old Man,) Naruto thought to himself. (We'll be there soon!) He thought with a smile thinking of Sarutobi. (Credit goes to Dosu though, if he hadn't come she might've not come back after all. I owe him one for helping out like this) He mused looking over at Dosu.

"Let's get some rest, I'll see you all in the morning." Jiraiya said and went to go to his room and get some sleep.

"Night Dosu, I'll see you tomorrow." Naruto said and left as well leaving him there.

The hunched over figure stood there for a long moment, not saying anything as it was just him by himself in the room. Dosu was silent and closed his eye as he brought his hand up to his face and thought of a day

"And that's all I have to say about my life." Kin said stroking her long hair as she finished her own tale. Retelling her past to them

"Damn." Zaku said looking at her not knowing she had lived with such a woman. "Dosu, I guess you're next." He said to the bandanged ninja. Ever since they started talking they had almost forgotten about the peril they were in and the fact that men were after them and would likely going to kill them.

Dosu was silent for a long moment his eye closed. Kin and Zaku looked at each other and back at him.

"Hey we told our stories now it's your turn." Kin said to him.

Dosu silently started to reach up to his bandages and slowly began to unravel them making both ninjas eyes widen as this was the first time he had ever done so. He undid and removed the bandages that covered the majority of his face.

As they watched slowly their eyes widened from shock, to horror, to disbelief at what they saw for the very first time as part of his face was revealed. Just enough to show some of what he had hid.

"This is what happened to me, this is what he did to my face."

A/N: That's it for this chapter. Review please.