A/N: Well, for those of you who wanted it, I have now made this into a multi-chapter story. God help us all. I'm not sure how much of this I can take. Writing Jiraiya is hard. He's pervvy, not a little concieted, and frankly, I would probably fall head over heels for him if he were a real guy. Therefore, I'm having a hard time not writing him. It's hard to be objective about this when I keep having him do warm and fuzzy things with Tsunade. She's tough to write, too. I think I have the evil part down, but her sensitive side will take some doing. Yeah, this chapter's short. Sue me. I have papers to write, then I can figure out their plan. Oh, Oh! I introduce a new character in this chapter: Hatake Sakumo, later in life known as the White Fang of Konoha. Here, he's a recently promoted jounin.

Legal Stuffiness: I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters in it.

It seemed unusually cold when Tsunade woke. Her eyes opened, and looked around the bedroom, watching the way the sun lit the walls. Contentment had settled over her from the instant she regained consciousness, and she smiled. There were sounds coming from the front of her apartment. Was someone here? It seemed that someone had come in as she slept. Quietly slipping from the bed, she wrapped the sheet around herself, and dug her fingers under the mattress, finding the little bag of kunai and shiruken she kept there for emergencies.

Her mind was not quite panicked, but she still wasn't sure what was going on. If she had been more awake, she probably wouldn't have done what she planned. Crouching low, she made her way to the kitchen, and peeked around the door frame. The angle was bad. She couldn't see them. Forcing herself not to make a noise of annoyance, she silently entered the kitchen swiftly, and threw a kunai at the intruder. Only too late, she saw who it was.

Jiraiya, thank goodness, had his reflexes with him even now. He sidled out of the way, and the kunai embedded itself in the wall. The jounin turned, and handed her a cup of tea. "Good morning to you, too." Her former teammate bent down and kissed her cheek. "I hope that isn't how you always say good morning, Tsunade. Your wall will suffer."

She was speechless. The memories of the night before were just coming back to her, and she blushed. Damn him. Why was she always so unsettled around him? But then again, Tsunade didn't really feel that unsettled. There was a peaceful feeling right at the center of where all her pain seemed to reside, making it easier to bear. Snorting in laughter, she poked his chest, then reached up to take hold of a handful of his hair, pulling him down to look her in the eyes. "No, baka." As she leaned closer to him, she heard a small sigh come from him. How can such a large man make such a very small sound? Her lips brushed against his in the hint of a whisper of a kiss. "That's how I say good morning."

He smiled. "I like that much better than the kunai. Breakfast?"

"Yes, please."

He set about the kitchen, making a late breakfast. Tsunade looked at the clock on the wall to see just how very late it was. Late, but she didn't have any missions for the next week. Not after the last one. That had been hell. Trying not to think about it wasn't really helping. Faces floated in her mind, just beyond sight, but they all seemed to lead to the one she could see. A small twinge of pain in the back of her mind came at the thought of that pale, sickly face. "Jiraiya, your research…"

"I can't tell you, Tsunade. You know—"

"It's about Orochimaru, isn't it?" Her question interrupted him. She was staring at the kunai embedded in the wall over the stove, the way the light from the fluorescent fixture glinted dully on the black metal. Even though she wasn't looking at his face, even though his back was turned, she knew he was frowning. He turned to her, and Tsunade looked up at him, her brown eyes just as troubled as his black ones.

"What happened?" Jiraiya's voice was suddenly alarmed. "If…if he did something to you—" The hand that wasn't holding the spatula half reached out to her, then stopped.

"No, he hasn't done anything to me. Not to me. But I'm afraid. He's become so distant. So many people are dying, and he seems so unconcerned. It's disturbing. How can you watch people dying all around you, and not even care?" A cold feeling had settled itself into the pit of her stomach, like a lump of ice. "I can't be sure, but I think he might be involved. The look in his eyes when he sees death…" She couldn't finish. There was too much danger in voicing suspicions about Orochimaru. He seemed to be able to read her thoughts at times, and there was the old superstition that if you said something bad, it would come true. Deep inside her, she did not want to believe that he was capable of such things.

Jiraiya nodded, taking in this new information. "I may need your help." Tsunade's eyes widened.

"I don't know that I can." She had begun backing away from him. At that, he set the spatula onto the counter, and caught her in his arms.

"He scares me too, Tsunade. That's why we have to stop him." She knew he was right, but she couldn't keep control of that cold fear in her stomach. He seemed to sense this. "The two of us together, we can either help him to overcome his hunger for death, or we can stop him for good. Don't worry. We can do this. I won't let him hurt you." The panic that had been rising in her, clawing to gain voice in her throat, suddenly died a quiet death. Jiraiya would never let anything happen to her. She took a deep breath, feeling her strength return. If she had anything to do with this, she wouldn't let anything happen to him either.

Taking double handfuls of the front of his kimono, Tsunade buried her face in his chest, taking in his scent, and sighed. He was the most gut-wrenchingly annoying person in the world, but she wouldn't have him be any other way. It just wouldn't be Jiraiya, and it wouldn't have been anywhere near as wonderful to be with him like this. She could feel his heartbeat, his breathing, and his hands as they alternately stroked her hair and her back. Pulling away, she smiled up at him. "I'll go get dressed. Can't wear a sheet all day."

"Why not?" He asked, an innocent smile on his face (as innocent as any smile Jiraiya can have, anyway). "I think it's a great look on you." He was trying not to smile now, she knew he was. Damn him. Even if she wanted to, she really couldn't be angry with him right now. She reached around him and plucked the blade from the wall, poking him lightly with it.

"Don't get any ideas, baka. We have work to do. I think we should talk to the Sandaime about this."

His eyes widened, and he shook his head. "No, Tsunade. That is the worst possible thing we could do. I have to lay low. He can't know I'm here, either. Sarutobi-san has always favored Orochimaru, and if we were to say anything against him, even if he should suspect something, it could be disasterous."

"So we're on our own?" She was having a hard time understanding why he didn't want help. If it was about that stupid rivalry he and Orochimaru had when they were kids…no. That couldn't possibly be it. Tsunade was absolutely sure of that. There simply was no way that Jiraiya would be that childish concerning something like this. Annoying he was, and perverted, definitely, but he was not an idiot. The proof that he wasn't an idiot was in his eyes at the moment, when she looked at him, and he was obviously thinking about this very hard.

"What about the Hatake kid?" Jiraiya's pensive expression showed that he was serious.

"Sakumo? Hm. That's an idea. Something of a loose cannon, though, isn't he? Sandaime had had to talk to him multiple times for insubordination." Tsunade frowned at the thought. She wasn't even sure why he'd referred to Hatake Sakumo as a kid. He was only a few years younger than they were.

Jiraiya just smiled. "That's exactly why I want him. He won't feel the need to go running to the Hokage. In fact, I can almost guarantee that he won't. That guy's trying to make a name for himself. If he can do it by taking out one of the biggest threats to Konoha, all the better for him."

"I was thinking he could just get information for us." Tsunade laughed, Jiraiya's overzealous nature causing ripples of amusement to float through her. Her brow creased with a sudden thought. "How do you plan on doing research on him if you can't approach him?"

He just smiled.

Tsunade's eyes widened. "Oh, no. I'm not going near him. He knows he gives me the creeps, and he takes full advantage of it. Our last mission was an exercise in how revolting he is. That is not something I want to repeat." Then, she realized that really, she didn't have a choice. If there was a chance that their old teammate was involved in the disappearances and murders, she owed it to Konoha to stop him, even if it killed her. Sighing, she said, "What do I have to do?"

A/N: Ok. I know it's short. But like I said, I got papers! Gets the ball rolling in the right direction, though, ne? Anyway, it may be a week or so until I can come up with anything else. Not only do I have papers and other assignments, I have to do volunteer work (writing scripts for stupid little kids) and I'm gonna be busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest. TTFN