Chapter 52: Splintering Returns
"Forgive me."
Jiraiya stared into Orochimaru's sharp eyes unflinchingly, tightening his jaw as he nodded at his former teammate. The Toad Sage took a shallow step backward, only enough to let the man across from him know exactly what he was going to do.
Not a damn thing.
Orochimaru's greatest gift was knowing someone's weak points, finding the cracks within the thickest of armors, and using those weaknesses to find a way to come out on top. The man was the perfect personification of a serpent in every way, and Jiraiya was forced to watch yellow eyes shine with triumph at his admitted forfeiture of apprehending the long-time criminal of the Leaf. The only solace of the situation was the lack of audible from Tsunade as she still hung limply from Orochimaru's grip. Her brown eyes were still open, showing every emotion that she would be spouting through her mouth through her eyes in pained silence. He could live with her anger, though. His standing down would keep her alive, so long as it worked out as it all should.
"I am glad to see your growth in person, my old friend. The evolution of a reckless fool to a thoughtful fool is inspiring." Orochimaru let himself fall into a fit of laughter at his own words, though never letting up on his grip of Tsunade or his Kusanagi. When the laughter ended, Orochimaru turned his head slightly, shifting his focus to the men behind him as his eyes stayed on Jiraiya. "Go. We will be following shortly after I get Tsunade here ready for travel."
With no hesitation, the men behind Orochimaru blurred into movement leaving naught but specks of water and mud in their wake. After their audience left, Orochimaru began the slow movements of his arms to hold his sword away from Tsunade as he retracted the woman closer to himself, turning the woman to chuck her onto his shoulder. Jiraiya approached slowly, acknowledging that there was still no room for missteps as he took careful steps forward, mud squelching under each footfall.
"Come, Jiraiya, we have plenty of ground to cover and a clock to beat." Orochimaru nodded ahead of himself, indicating for Jiraiya to take the lead to keep an eye on him, but the Toad Sage wasn't having it. The moment Jiraiya turned his back to Orochimaru a blade would be sticking out his front with hearty chuckles being the last sound he ever heard.
"Don't expect me to go first, I'm not that stupid. I'll follow you or we'll both stand here until Anbu finds us." Jiraiya called to his friend with an emphatic shake of his head. Instead of the expected indignation from his former teammate, Orochimaru only looked at him with thinly veiled amusement. The Kusanagi shrunk in his hand, becoming a short blade that slid in between the Snake Sannin's teeth as Tsunade was situated to blanket his whole back with her arms splayed over his shoulders for better grip. It was more than clear what the man was doing, creating a barrier between himself and Jiraiya to make sure there would be no funny business.
"As you wish, old fool." Jiraiya's eyes narrowed, tightening in the darkness of night to follow every movement of his former teammate. Everything moved in slow motion as the Toad Sage waited, watching as yellow eyes finally turned from him to the northwest in the direction of their supposed destination.
But it was a destination that Jiraiya had no intention of arriving at.
"Forgive me, Tsunade." He pleaded once again within his mind, hoping that she'd understand when this was all said and done. Truly, they have not known each other for far too long, Orochimaru and he, if this was not expected from the Snake Sannin. By the time Tsunade's back was fully to his, covering Orochimaru's own, Jiraiya had already finished the seals he needed to, bringing the final Ram Seal to his mouth.
"Toad Oil Bomb!" A torrent of oil sprung from Jiraiya's mouth, spiraling up through the air to overshadow both Tsunade and Orochimaru's forms in a wave of the liquid. Orochimaru reacted immediately to the words, planting a foot into the ground to push himself to the right, but the oil was already in motion, already flying, and his hands were already shifting. The Ram Seal turned into the Tiger Seal and in an instant the oil caught flame to shroud the immediate area in a swathe of heat and flames.
His target, the pair of bodies before him, had little chance for escape. It wasn't from lack of skill that Orochimaru got caught in such a simple scam, it wasn't the man's lack of prowess that had his form covered in flames in an instant. As always, arrogance was the man's greatest downfall. He thought that he had Jiraiya trapped with Tsunade used as she was being used and underestimated how far the Toad Sage was willing to go. Jiraiya, though, had no intention of harboring Orochimaru to his lands or waiting days to get Tsunade the treatment she needed.
That thought seemed like a backward one as the back of Tsunade was now painted in a blaze from his jutsu as she fell limply off of Orochimaru's back, who also met the ground with flames plastered to his body. Jiraiya wasted no time sprinting to Tsunade and yanking the flaming coat off of her back and into the puddle behind him as he went to work dousing the rest of the burning among her clothes. Her back was bare underneath the coat already, the fire eating through her robe quickly and the evidence of the scorching marred her back as it did on parts of her shoulders and legs. Turning her onto her back on the muddied ground, Jiraiya saw no change in her expression, only her eyes closed tightly underneath him. Jaw muscles tensed as the thought of him causing her such harm stabbed into his conscience but was knocked to the side as he turned to the task at hand.
Eyes focused on the blue diamond that graced the center of his teammate's forehead and his hands made three distinct hand seals before he pressed two fingers to the idle seal that showed the extent of the woman's medical prowess.
"Strength of a Hundred Seal: Release!" In a burst of purple energy, the blue diamond pulsed outward across the woman's skin before fading away slowly. From the spot it once sat, inky black marking danced around Tsunade's face, intertwining together and separating like vines down her face and across her body. The seal's scrawlings crawled about her body to envelope the woman completely in the purple haze entirely, and with that haze came vitality at a rapid rate. The burns that could be seen on her bared shoulders under the scorched remains of her clothes slowly faded into unmarked skin, the cut that was made by the Kusanagi repaired and disappeared along with the sickly purple that already surrounded it, and in a pained gasp Tsunade returned to consciousness.
"Stay down, Tsunade. You're better off taking it easy yet, unless you want what little you still have on to fall off." He said with a hard tone, though he carried a bit of humor in his words. Jiraiya watched brown eyes dart back and forth, searching for something that wasn't found, before turning to him with a harsh glare. Suddenly, an arm that was resting heavily on the muddy ground below her rose up with incredible speed and landed a punch to the base of Jiraiya's chin, her massive strength sending him backward several feet in a heap.
"The nerve of you to throw yourself where you don't belong!" Jiraiya heard immediately when he came to a stop from the sucker punch, Tsunade's voice reverberating through the empty field and over the pouring rain. WIth a groan, and a pounding headache, the Toad Sage rose up to his feet again, wiping the mud that clumped at his arms as he met the fierce gaze of his other former teammate. She didn't take heed of his words, she never did, and so she was forced to hold her arms over her chest to keep the burned remains of her clothes on her body as she stood with her gaze piercing through him. "He was going to leave us and you had to run in, mess it up, and get me cut, poisoned, and burned!"
She was truly mad, as she often was with him. Even the near two decade separation they've had wasn't enough to change that fact, but he paid her no mind. Given enough time she would cool off. Jiraiya, instead of listening to her ranting, stretched his aching neck as he turned his focus to the body of Orochimaru. The body was in a torched heap only a few feet ahead of Tsunade, and as Tsunade continued her complaints, he kneeled over the body and found nothing different than he expected.
The body that would've been the body of the Snake Sannin, or what would have been the remains of most shinobi caught in the attack, was nothing more than a husk of skin. No different than a snake's molting, all that showed proof of Orochimaru being here was the outer shell of his form that was split down the center as if his body was cocooned in a suit of skin. A foul technique of the man's own creation, a chakra intensive technique, but something that almost seemed to guarantee the man's survival. Jiraiya tossed the skin suit away as he turned back to Tsunade, her hand extended and her face expectant.
With a sigh, Jiraiya shed his red sleeveless coat and tossed the dirty and soaked clothing to the woman. Tsunade covered her exposed body with the coat, allowing the pieces of her robe to fall to the ground underneath it as she overlapped its sides and crossed her arms to keep her body covered. It was Jiraiya's turn to look at her expectantly, his gaze idly wandering over the mess that surrounded them, waiting for her to explain what the hell she was doing with Orochimaru in the first place. Reluctantly, she obliged and explained everything that happened here while they tended to the girl that still lay covered in mud on the ground next to an executed pig.
"Shizune's going to be devastated." She had said when they found the pig with a hint of her own sadness within her voice before she returned to her story, depicting the capture, operation, and near-departure of their wayward teammate until Jiraiya's arrival. The picture that was painted was one that didn't sit right with Jiraiya, as was the case with almost anything that surrounded Orochimaru. Questions only compounded the more that Tsunade spoke and the more that was said made him wish that he had more time to linger, but he was on a mission from the Hokage himself.
Once Shizune was gathered, the pig buried, and Tsunade's story told, Jiraiya joined the Slug Sannin in returning back to Tanzaku Quarters for the night. Before he left, though, tags of paper were scattered in a diamond around the entrance to Orochimaru's underground tunnel and with a half-dozen of hand seals, the entrance became hidden to the eye and the camouflaging barrier was put in place. He would follow Tsunade into the gambling city, the two of them relatively silent in the trek back, and he wouldn't bring up his true purpose here, not yet. There was little Tsunade would be acceptable in listening to less than him telling her she was being recalled to the Leaf. So, he would wait through the night and the morning would be the time to bring it up.
Had the circumstances been different, Jiraiya probably would have allowed her to continue on with her life. If she wanted to waste it away gambling and drinking, that was her choice and he thought she'd earned it, but that wasn't a privilege he had right now. The old goat was as good as dead without her, the Hokage would sentence her as a missing-nin, and Naruto would be out of his reach.
So no, he didn't leave when he bid her goodnight outside of her hotel room. Instead, he bit his finger and summoned a shoulder-height, full-plated toad to stand guard of his door as he entered the room directly to the right and waited until he heard the angry yells of the Legendary Sucker outside his room.
"Well played, Jiraiya." The Snake Sannin silently directed at his former teammate in his quick pace to catch up to his generals. He had to give it to the Toad Sage, Orochimaru was sure that Jiraiya wouldn't have the gumption to sacrifice Tsunade's body to stop him. It went against most of what he knew of the fool that he grew up with. Loud mouthed, obnoxious, desperate for attention, and painfully obsessed with Tsunade for as long as they knew each other, Jiraiya was not the one to make the necessary sacrifices. Or rather, he wasn't. Perhaps the man wasn't the sharpest he'd ever met, but give him a few decades and Jiraiya can learn the hard lessons.
That learned lesson almost cost Orochimaru a clean getaway, thoroughly ruined his fun of tormenting his old friends for a couple days longer, and put him even further behind schedule than he needed to be. Orochimaru could only find fortune in the fact that Jiraiya didn't follow through with deposing him after his little attack on his back and preferred to tend to Tsunade right away, despite knowing that he woman's seal would've saved her from much greater lengths of damage than they caused her. Instead of pulling Orochimaru into yet another fight to bring him to justice, the old fool allowed him to use his Body Replacement and head toward his precious cargo.
As his trio of generals became clear in front of him, Orochimaru could only chuckle in a cynical glee at his old team's reunion. He truly meant the words he passed along to Jiraiya, appreciating the fact that the toad didn't let himself become some shell of himself that he couldn't have fun with. There was only one way that their little dance that they've been stepping through would end, and Orochimaru would only accept it if Jiraiya was at his best. What good was killing the weak? Such entertainment is only short-term. The death of someone with true prowess and skill, now that was what got his blood pumping. But before they could complete their dance, Orochimaru still had many pieces to maneuver and several quotas to fill. It was a big responsibility after all, being the Kage of a shinobi village.
Orochimaru met with his men soon after, forcing them to pick up the pace so they could use the cover of darkness and the rain to duck through as many scouts as they could. The little spat with Jiraiya surely didn't go unnoticed, and should they leave the immediate area fast enough, they would bypass those black ops squads that choose to investigate the site. Unlike their travel toward Tanzaku Quarters, Orochimaru didn't give his men any rest. Kimimaro was in need of a proper recovery bed and proper eyes looking over his well-being. If anything happened to the boy on the road, he'd be forced to kill Tsunade and two of his Four Gates that showed so much promise in recent years.
With no small amount of luck, there was only one nosey Anbu squad that needed to be handled in their trek back to the border wall of the Land of Fire. The squad was hidden away with little issues and their little group was once again traveling inside the belly of Hebidai only 17 hours to cross the border into his newly established Land of Sound. With only a few more hours they were at the entrance of the compound they would keep Kimimaro until he fully recovered. It wasn't the small satellite compound they departed from closest to the border, but a much grander base of operations that lay deeper in the Land of Sound amongst the rice fields and below the trading posts. This underground base, though just as unseen as any other, truly showed the might of his Village Hidden in the Sound. Where the other bases were empty, placid, and stone silent, this one was constantly bustling. Shinobi in his purple jackets followed through orders of their superiors, men in their lab coats and carrying their clipboards continued the experiments he couldn't personally oversee, and if one listened hard enough, they would be able to hear the products of his many savage breakthroughs in perfecting the human design.
Yellow eyes could only look at his creations with pride, walking through its walls with his head high as others passed by him full of fear and bowing quickly with reverence. Soon, all would be more perfect when his future body prospects fully develop into what he needs them to be. After depositing Kimimaro on his recovery bed, the only one within the fairly large room that was fitted with all the most developed medical technology to oversee his recuperation to the best extent, a short shudder of excitement trailed up his spine. Eyes trailed over the instrument of his next evolutionary step, the holder of the Kaguya's immensely impressive bloodline that would soon be within his own grasp. A tongue darted out to massage over his lips as he dipped out of the room before he let himself dwell on the prospect too long. The last thing he needed was to become impatient and try to take over a body that was not fully recovered and when his following host was not in his grasp yet.
However, in an almost achingly pleasing stroke of luck, his world became even brighter only days later. The reports within the Leaf were few and far between, as they needed to be. Outside of the extreme or the pertinent, Orochimaru never communicated with his eyes and ears that were planted within the village he loathed so much. His last message was of his tiny little friend that would administer the connection he needed to his future vessel, and it was one that left no expiration date. Orochimaru knew that such a thing couldn't be rushed, that the Cursed Mark could only be properly gifted at the right time, but that right time seemed to be closer than he could've possibly assumed.
Nothing was particularly notable about the day itself, his village working through his wishes as it always did as he still waited on the product of his reunion with Tsunade, but that changed when he felt it. It was just like any other time he connected himself to those he deemed worthy of the Curse Mark, a seal that bound those marked with it to him through his own chakra and the chakra of the world around them. There was a fine balance, one that he could never truly perfect on his, not like his former teammate could to be named a sage. Gathering natural chakra from the world so precisely and joining it with one's internal chakra without causing one's own death was difficult for even the best of shinobi that were masters of their body. Orochimaru was the master of his mind and many other things, but his body hasn't been his for many years. There isn't a way to become one with the nature around you when you technically weren't truly one with the body you inhabited. But, with a seal and a perfectly regulated input and output of chakra? That was an art that tied him to those he deemed worthy and those that were strong enough to handle the marking and survive the seal itself.
When Sasuke Uchiha was connected with him, there was no stopping the pure joy from bubbling past his lips nor the absolute triumph that filled his mind. He could feel the power within the connection to the boy's Cursed Seal of Heaven, the strength that lived deep within the blood of the legendary family line. The images that coursed through his mind, the beautiful artwork laid by Itachi in the young Sasuke's head made it all the more easier to latch his teeth within the boy. Eliminating the nightmare that already sat in his place was the perfect in establishing himself within the boy's mind. A boy that lived his life to kill a man could easily be his when he showed that man's death right away. When he teased that revenge just in front of the boy's face so soon, Orochimaru knew it was only a matter of time before the boy sought him out. It would take time, surely, and patience that he was more than willing to put out, but when the time came, Orochimaru was sure that Sasuke would seek him out himself. There would be no need to shell out forces to procure what was already his.
There was little the Snake Sannin had to do with Sasuke. The boy was damaged enough through Itachi's handiwork to allow the seal itself to only drive the boy's desires forward naturally. To further his greed for strength, fuel his pride to overcome his insecurities, and play with his wrath that boiled just beneath the surface. Soon, the Leaf will be no place for his Uchiha and he will come crawling into his hands. It was all a matter of time.
His mood was elevated so much, his excitement for his lifelong hope of being able to see the world with the eyes of those much more blessed at birth than he, made him stand in welcome to the one that gifted him this new asset. Kabuto approached the entrance to the compound, where Orochimaru stood just outside, wholly alone. Just as he was inserted into the Leaf, all Kabuto had was himself and the skills gifted to him early in his short life. The skill to be a completely blank canvas, not unlike those that Shimura thought he was so clever in creating under the Leaf. Kabuto stopped just yards in front of him, a smug smirk playing on the boy's lips as he fixed his glasses and dusted off his dirty purple attire before falling into a bow.
"I have returned, Lord Orochimaru." The boy said as his face was directed to the ground, the pride not hidden in his voice. Of course, should it have been any other, Orochimaru would've been more than willing to put them in their place, but felt no need here. Kabuto was one of the few that Orochimaru allowed such minor freedoms with, or at least he did many years ago before the boy was sent to the Leaf. Born out of death as an orphan of the Third Great Shinobi War, Orochimaru could spot glimpses of himself in the child, and his talent with medical ninjutsu did well to further his standing. Granted, he was only able to see the ease of the rudimentary lessons that were learned before his departure, but in their infrequent correspondence, the Snake Sannin was able to see how brightly his mind shone.
"Yes you have, young Yakushi, and you've returned with a grand gift. Come rest, recover, and we can begin the next steps for our great village." Kabuto rose at Orochimaru's words, a smirk still cemented on his face as the words seemed to raise even more pride within the boy. With no further conversation, Orochimaru spun on his heel and lowered back into the compound with Kabuto only a step behind him on his right.
Orochimaru was a powerful man, a capable man, but every capable man can benefit from a capable right hand. With the boons Kabuto provided, there was little doubt that Orochimaru just saw to the return of his own right hand and it gave him great pleasure to know that there was one that was more than a brute that he could look to. There was no trust, he'd be foolish to trust a man with more than one face, but a right hand needed not to be trusted, only to function to his will.
When his prize finally came to him and their future was secured, Orochimaru was sure of that very day marking the beginning of it all. Not only will they see the burning of leaves, but the fall of it all. Soon, painfully soon, it will be all of the Elemental Nations that looked to him, and hunger bubbled within him at the very thought.
Despite the late night before, the physically and mentally taxing reunion with her old team, there was no rest to be sought for the Slug Sannin the following morning. After such headaches, she had hoped that there would be a day filled with some level of rest and recuperation. Instead, Tsunade was awoken in the early hours of the morning by an utterly confused and worried Shizune. When her eyes squinted open from the rough shaking her late-fiance's niece initiated on her poor shoulders to wake her up, Tsunade already saw the stickiness of the younger woman's hair as it stuck to her sweaty forehead. Panicked recounting of the day before fluttered out of her mouth before Tsunade had a chance to truly gather herself and no drink was to be had to gather her wits about her.
After briefly calming Shizune enough to extract herself from the soft, plush mattress that they paid so steeply for and began telling the girl all that was missed after Orochimaru snatched them from the streets of Tanzaku Quarters. Even with a night to sleep it off, Tsunade spoke with harsh words that spoke with little light to either of her teammates that decided to throw her in the middle of their feuding once again like they were kids again, making the woman practically tear the red overcoat that she borrow from Jiraiya off of her shoulders as she changed into her own clothes. In her angered explanation, Tsunade forgot the important detail of Shizune not being awake for poor little Tonton's butchering, making Shizune fall into another, more aggressive, bout of hysterics as she began the morning process of her odd pet.
No less than an hour passed before Shizune only looked like she watched the most terrible of tragedies and no longer sounded as if she had. For as much love as Tsunade had for the younger woman, it baffled her the parts of life she chose to linger on. Being a prisoner for Orochimaru, being no more than his pawn for whatever games he played? A simple explanation threw away any worries. The death of her pig that they bought off of some farmer in their travels not four months ago? Rivers of tears and a thoroughly broken heart. Whatever exhaustion and exasperation Tsunade felt from Orochimaru's poisons, Jiraiya's flames, and the brief activation of the seal on her forehead was only compounded after she finally managed to settle Shizune.
All of these things only told her that it just became a perfect day for a drink and a few hands to clear her mind.
After ensuring that Shizune wouldn't burst into another round of tears and sorrow, she made her way to the door, not forgetting to grab the bag of ill-fated winnings from her brief gamblings the previous day. Conveniently, Orochimaru didn't see it necessary to rob them in the midst of his kidnapping and Shizune, in her unconsciousness, held onto the bag the money was in with an iron grip. Walking with a purpose, Tsunade threw the door open with no small amount of force, intent on carrying that energy right out of the hotel, only to be stopped immediately upon the door's opening. It wasn't a welcomingly empty hallway that met her gaze through the open door, but a pair of greenish-yellow eyes that held a pupil that stretched horizontally across its eyeballs. Lumpy, warty skin that took the shade of a vibrant blue mixed with the deep dark accents of green stood frozen as a toad no less than six feet tall blocked Tsunade from any exit of the room. Fury rose in Tsunade's body like a physical phenomenon. Fair skin turned several shades of red, breathing became harsh, sweat lined her hairline and her tightened palms, and only the most violent of thoughts flew through the Slug Sannin's mind.
There was no question that she could simply go past the toad. It was a summoned animal, and the red armor that covered parts of its body or the crossed swords on its back wouldn't change the fact that a strong enough punch from her would make it disappear in a puff of smoke. However, it wasn't the blockade itself that angered her so, but the audacity of the fool that put it there. As if he had any right to continue sticking his nose in whatever the hell she wanted to do.
"Lady Tsunade, why is there–"
"JIRAIYA!" Her loud, booming voice cut off Shizune before her question could fully fall out of her mouth. Only after she knew that the oaf heard her did she remove the blockade put in front of her room and stomp into the hall. In a stroke of perfect timing, the second she turned her head down the hall, intent on catching Jiraiya the second he stepped from his room, the Toad Sage was already facing her with a small smile on his face that served to only jab at her wrath even more.
"Ah, Tsunade, I was just going to come and collect my coat, but it seems you've already put more clothes on." Jiraiya put an exaggerated frown on at the thought of her actually being properly clothed, the perverted fool that she grew up with clearly still alive and strong in his old age. His words incensed her into action, heels stomping down onto the floor with corresponding creaks in the force she put into her strutting. Jiraiya showed no intention to move, which only served Tsunade's goals as she tightened her fist and threw an emphatic haymaker to the man's face. Regrettably, all that her fist connected with was errant hair that extended far from the man's head as he ducked her punch, then the next, and all the following swings that she sent at him. At the end of her flurry of strikes, all that was accomplished was exhausting the woman's own lungs as she now breathed heavily as she met the still smirking gaze Jiraiya. Tsunade refused to acknowledge that this may be further proof of Orochimaru's taunts at her no longer being the Tsunade Senju she once was.
"What the hell are you still doing here, Jiraiya? Orochimaru left, shouldn't you be chasing him? It's about all you're good for nowadays." Her prickly words seemed to have done the trick in removing the man's smile, but his answer didn't do well in bettering her day.
"I never came here for Orochimaru. Now, let's go into my room, have a drink, and then we can talk about why I bothered to show up. Unless you want to start this in front of all these people?" When Jiraiya became serious, Tsunade always felt uncomfortable. In the years they've known each other, she could take his joking, his foolishness, and his perverse comments. Jiraiya being dead serious, however, just wasn't natural.
Leaning her head to the side, the Slug Sannin took note of the patrons that now started to filter into the hallways to see the cause of the noise she wasn't shy in making. Her eyes narrowed back at Jiraiya, her words coming out in no small warning.
"One drink. You tell me what you need to, I tell you to leave, and we go our separate ways." That seemed to set things straight, a goofy smile replacing the seriousness of the Toad Sage's face as he entered the room that they stood outside of, a room that was directly next to her own. With a chuff, Tsunade told Shizune to wait in their room as she followed Jiraiya through his opened door and joined him at the low table at the center of his room. The table was already fashioned with a bottle of sake and a small glass on each side, the man clearly aware of how this morning would go.
Some would say that the early hours of the morning, when the sun had only just begun its ascent in the sky, was too early to begin drinking and partaking in spirits. Tsunade was far away from these some and almost enthusiastically poured the sake into the glass she sat in front of, only to put the alcohol down her gullet quickly and pour another before Jiraiya could properly situate himself on his side of the table.
"Spit it out, why are you here?" She asked gruffly as the second round went down swiftly, her eyes inspecting Jiraiya as he sat still. Not once did he attempt to reach for the bottle she was happily starting for them. There was a short, stale silence that hung from him. Seriousness settled once again on his face and a pit began to form in the woman's stomach.
"You're being recalled, Tsunade. The Hokage sent me to bring you back to the Leaf." She froze. It was only for a passing moment, but she froze all the same. Memories of all that she lost in that village, all the pain she endured, and all the nothing that she got back washed over her mind in a single rush. However, instead of ranting to Jiraiya about all those things, all the things he was there to witness himself, she only snorted at him. The snort was followed by another drink and then grew into a full laugh at the mere thought of going back there.
"So the old goat finally thought it was time for me to come back, did he?" She replied sourly, her distaste thick in her voice. Tsunade was adult enough to acknowledge the massive favor Sarutobi-sensei has granted her all these years. She was no better than any other deserter, but her name in the bingo books was still followed by the Leaf Spiral. To her surprise, though, Jiraiya shook his head in the negative. This time it was he that filled a cup and knocked it back.
"Sarutobi-sensei is on his deathbed, Tsunade. Kakashi told me to bring you back so you can see if there's any hope to pull him back. If you refuse and I go back to the Leaf without you, Kakashi will cut you off. You'll be labeled a missing-nin and that will be it." There was a lot there, too much for some, and Tsunade didn't know where to start. The room was silent as she absorbed the man's words and they passed the bottle between them.
Kakashi Hatake? The masked brat was the Hokage and old man Sarutobi was dying? It was a lot. Most would've been moved at how much they've missed that they would have already agreed to follow Jiraiya back to the village. Tsunade, however, only felt all the more justified. The hat of the Hokage, those that chase it and those that wear it both, was always the cause of death and pain. Her Grandpa and Great-Uncle, the first and second leaders of the Leaf, both met their ends early because of their positions. Minato died far earlier than either of them. While Sarutobi-sensei lived a long life, none could argue the price he paid for the mantle he held. A half-hearted chuckle fell from her lips.
"It's finally caught up to him, has it?" She asked more to herself than to Jiraiya, tapping the base of the cup on the wooden table. She wanted to feel sad and sorrowful over her old teacher, over the man that did more for her than any other, but she wouldn't let herself. She could later, when the sun was below the horizon and she had much more alcohol in her, but not now. Now she had to get herself out of the ultimatum forced on her by the runt of a Hokage. As notorious as she was, facts were facts. If the order comes out that she's no longer of the Leaf, there would be countless mercenaries and many more lost fools that would try and make a name for themselves by coming after her.
That's not even mentioning the ones she owed money to.
"Is he serious about this? Will he do it?" She asked Jiraiya, matching his seriousness with her own. To her heavy distaste, the man across from her didn't slacken his features at all. Instead, more creases deepened as Jiraiya's face tightened further at her question, telling her more than enough.
"Kakashi is more than serious. He doesn't have the liberty to play games right now and he knows that. Too many things are going on out there, Tsunade. If there's a chance for Sarutobi-sensei to live, Kakashi is going to try it, but if you don't listen to him he won't hesitate to remove what he'll see as disobedience." This time, Jiraiya forewent the alcohol, instead choosing to wait for her answer.
She knew what she wanted to say. She wanted to tell Jiraiya, and by extension Kakashi, to fuck off so her world could return to what it was two days ago. However, Orochimaru's intervention was a wake up call. Tsunade Senju wasn't who she once was. She was more the Legendary Sucker than anything else she was once known for, and if she was to be cut off from the Leaf, there was no guarantee that she could protect herself and Shizune from everyone out there. She couldn't even protect a damn pig.
Her jaw clenched along with her fists as she glared across the table to the stone face of her former teammate. Ice formed in her stomach, her veins, and her mind as she prepared to say what she needed to say.
"Fine, I'll come. I'll see what I can do for the old goat. I'll see what that brat wants from me. But, if I do what's asked, all that's asked, I'm walking out of the Leaf without a bounty on my head and a bag of cash to blow in the nearest town." Her finger pointed and jutted at Jiraiya as she laid out her demands for him, demands she knew that he had no way of formally agreeing to. Instead of any true answer back, Tsunade was blinded by a wide smile with glittering teeth as happiness practically flowed off of the man across from her.
In the back of her mind, buried deep within, seeing that smile alone was enough for her to swallow her sorrows.
I just reread this before posting and I gotta say that I'm a fan of how this one turned out. We got Tsunade into the fold here, Sasuke's path with the Curse Mark started last chapter, and next chapter we have Naruto and Tenzo finishing up their schtick. There's some things to settle once this comes together, but when it does settle I'll be pushing the pace here a bit more.