Orochimaru never talked about his private life outside of training, so it was purely by accident that Tsunade had discovered his issues with money- precisely, his lack of it. With the village barely repaired after the last scrimmage with the Rain, decent paying missions were difficult to come by. More often than not, she, Jiraiya and Orochimaru found themselves taking on meaningless missions for less than a quarter of the usual pay.
Of course, as the First's granddaughter, Tsunade was more financially well-off than either of her two teammates, and while she would shake her head when Jiraiya complained of having to live on nothing more than ramen and the occasional sushi, it was Orochimaru who caught her eye.
He had been slinking off after their usual training sessions even faster than usual, disappearing in the blink of an eye. So one day, having no other errands to run, Tsunade decided to follow him, suppressing her chakra and trailing behind. His quick, soft steps stopped outside a recently renovated building and she heard the creak as he pushed the door open.
It was the Konoha tavern.
Orochimaru was the last person she would ever expect to find gracing the well-known bar. True, most shinobi would probably admit to having swung by after some gruesome mission; even the younger shinobi, under the guise of some henge, surely have patronized the small building as well. But Orochimaru was not like that- he fervently refused to taste the contents of the small bottles Jiraiya sometimes offered him (after some convincing on Tsunade's part) after their most dangerous missions.
She was stumped, unable to come up with any plausible explanations. Part of her wondered if this was a devious plot from Orochimaru. Had he detected her and created a clone to trick her? But from the hurried way he walked, and the wary glances he had cast in both directions before disappearing behind the doors, she doubted it.
One of Tsunade's greatest flaws was her tenacity, her inability to let go of a puzzle she could not solve. Sarutobi had commented on it on more than one occasion after being plagued by too many of her questions. Heck, even the ever stubborn Jiraiya once drawled, "Come on Tsunade-chan, just let it go." (He ended up nursing his black eye for the next few days before she had finally relented and healed him.) So as she stood there, outside the Konoha tavern, Tsunade knew with absolute certainty that she would not be able to contain her curiosity.
Taking a deep breath, and well aware of her underaged appearance at just thirteen years of age, Tsunade pushed the door open.
The sight that greeted her was not what she had expected. At all.
It was still relatively early in the evening, so the bar was not entirely filled. Even so, at least ten pairs of eyes turned to her, pinning her down. But the eyes of those older, faceless men had no effect on her whatsoever. No, it was the look in those golden eyes that rooted her feet in place.
Orochimaru had clearly been in the middle of serving sake to a table when he heard her enter, and now he too stood frozen as he gazed at her. In all the years of training, of fighting, of being together, she had never seen him look the way he did now. To most, his face was as impassive and emotionless as ever, but Tsunade knew him better.
Anger. Annoyance. They lurked on the surface of the golden orbs. But looking deeper, Tsunade could see something else, emotions she never thought Orochimaru could feel.
Embarrassment. Shame. And was that…resignation?
It hit her then, and for the first time, Tsunade could see clearly what Orochimaru was thinking. He was expectant, waiting for her to make the first move, waiting to make some comment regarding his choice of work and the fact that he even had to scurry around wearing a ridiculously feminine outfit and endure the touches of strangers to make ends meet. He was waiting for her to smile and gloat in the fact that she was basically royalty and had never known the want of money.
He was waiting for her…to act as she usually would.
Tsunade wanted to protest, to explain to Orochimaru that she had not meant to embarrass him and to reassure him that she would not lower her opinion of him. But it would do no good in the moment and she felt horrible for it.
So Tsunade did what she thought was best. Keeping her gaze on the floor, she turned and fled.
Orochimaru arrived slightly late the next morning. His feet dragged more than usual; his fingers lacked their usual dexterity and twice, he fumbled his shurikan. And throughout the entire training session, he tacitly avoided Tsunade's eyes. Jiraiya may not have been the most observant of people, especially compared to his two teammates, but he was no idiot. Once they stopped for lunch, he slung one arm around Tsunade and the other around a stiffened Orochimaru, grinning.
"So," he said, "what were you guys up to last night, huh? Having fun without me."
If Tsunade could smite a person with her glare, she would have unleashed it right then and there. As it was, she could only nudge Jiraiya hard and pray that he kept his large mouth shut. But that would be wishing for too much.
"Come on," Jiraiya continued, now practically jumping with glee, "there's no need to be secretive around me. Although I must say I am ever so heartbroken, Tsunade-chan, that you went with that bastard instead of me. Where did you go? Swimming in the moonlight? Singing beneath the stars? Making rounds at the old training grounds?"
For the first time, Orochimaru looked at both of them, his eyebrow (not enough that anybody who didn't see him every day could tell) raised in utter indignation. Though he did not speak as Jiraiya and Tsunade argued, it seemed that whatever it was he had been feeling was broken, and he proceeded to destroy both of them in their afternoon spar.
That night, Tsunade treated Jiraiya to dinner and silently begged him not to ask. Jiraiya pretended not to notice, but he chattered on about topics ranging from 'when are they rebuilding the bathhouses' to 'our next mission better not be locating some little kid again' before he finished eating with a happy sigh. As they stood to leave, Jiraiya pulled her in, saying in an uncharacteristically serious voice, "if you won't tell me, I won't ask," and bounded away without another word.
Their next mission, as Jiraiya had hoped for, was not to find some little lost child, but an A-ranked mission that took them into the depths of the mountains to take down the base of some rebels. By the time they reached the area, word of their impending arrival had been leaked and they were greeted by less-than-welcoming hosts. It took two entire days before the well hidden base was thoroughly obliterated courtesy of a combination of Tsunade's rage, Jiraiya's foolishness and Orochimaru's impatience.
But the aftermath was not pretty.
Popping the last of her Chakra pills into her mouth, Tsunade made a dull mental note to complain to the makers about how amazingly little their pills did. They had been running for the last hour, and while that normally would be a walk in the park, lack of chakra made it increasingly more difficult to navigate the unfamiliar terrain.
As far as they could tell, all the enemy nin had been laid to rest for good, but one could never be sure of what to expect so far away from their country. One misstep, and it would be all too easy to evoke the wrath of the Iwa nin. Orochimaru had instructed them to travel for at least a few hours before stopping, but glancing at her two teammates, Tsunade wondered for the hundredth time whether or not they would make it, a concern she was too scared to voice aloud for fear of what the answer might be. Jiraiya had sustained some abrasions, a few broken bones, a concussion and was panting as he tried to focus the last of his chakra into his legs. In front of him, Orochimaru seemed to leap from rock to rock with ease, but every few steps he would hiss and press his arm against his stomach where the blood was sluggishly oozing out from. His face, if possible, seemed even paler, and beads of sweat slipped down his porcelain skin.
Staggering, they pushed onwards for what seemed like an eternity until Jiraiya dropped to his knees and groaned, "Are we far away enough?"
Tsunade landed (more like crashed) down beside him, gasping for air. She stared into Orochimaru's back, waiting for his command out of habit. Despite their squabbling during training, at times like these, if Orochimaru made the signal to continue, they would obey without question. He seemed to consider it, but eventually turned around with a small nod.
Jiraiya let out a relieved breath and promptly passed out on the ground. Tsunade yelped as his head landed near her feet, and immediately began drawing on a nearly nonexistent chakra reserve to treat his worst injuries. Meanwhile, Orochimaru watched for a only few seconds before taking three steps away, evidently ready to head off.
"Where," Tsunade shot out in between heavy breathing, "are you going?"
"We need to set a few traps," Orochimaru answered tonelessly. Really, it was what he did not say that scared her the most.
"What do you sense?" she asked quietly. You're too badly hurt. Don't go out there alone.
"Nothing at the moment." I will not go far. With one more quick, "take care of Jiraiya," he was gone.
As he promised, Orochimaru did not go too far and was back just as she had finished with Jiraiya. With so little chakra despite the adrenaline pumping into her veins, Tsunade had only managed to ensure that his ribs would not puncture his lungs.
A rustle. Hearing him before she sensed his presence, Tsunade whipped around, kunai in hand, to see Orochimaru, his white shirt soaked in blood.
"Orochi-"
Wide-eyed, Tsunade witnessed Orochimaru crumpling for the first time, his entire body shaking with exhaustion and blood loss. Only then did she notice a new gaping wound in his thigh and his arm now dangling uselessly by his side.
"Only two," Orochimaru muttered faintly. "Took them out, but was too slow to react."
"You idiot," Tsunade said, more harshly than she felt. Her fingers were already glowing, but in the corners of her sight, she was seeing black spots. Please no. Please let me treat him. Please let me have enough chakra to stem the blood flow. Please let us survive. She begged to a god she did not believe in.
In the end it was enough, but just barely. With Orochimaru down and Jiraiya still unconscious, Tsunade spent the rest of the night caught between reality and the sweet relief of dreaming, all the while praying that they would remain undiscovered.
Jiraiya was the first one up the next morning, blearily sitting up and ignoring the throbbing of his muscles. Seeing the still figures of Tsunade and Orochimaru, the situation hit him like a wave of cold water, and he was awake instantly, scanning their nearby surroundings. Nothing. No enemy nin. It was all clear.
Frowning, he finally examined his two teammates. Amazingly, and perhaps a testament to her incredible willpower, Tsunade had awoken from her semi-conscious stupor and was sitting up, doing exactly what Jiraiya himself had been doing a minute earlier. Reaching the same conclusion, she shook her head, pushing away the fogginess that came with chakra depletion and too little sleep.
"How is he?" Jiraiya asked, his voice low and steady. Tsunade did not have to hear any audible hints - she knew how worried he was as a friend, even if the shinobi Jiraiya would never admit it.
"I did my best to stop the bleeding, but his wounds are serious. There was some internal bleeding as well, and it was putting pressure on the organs around his abdomen." She took a deep breath and stared at Jiraiya straight in the eyes, all the while convincing herself not to panic. "We need to get him back, and fast."
"A summoning would be the fastest," Jiraiya said. He winced as he stood. The life-threatening injuries were healed, but still a large portion of his body felt sore and broken, pain flaring with every contraction of his muscles.
"We don't have enough chakra. If either of us attempted it and failed, we'll use up what we have and risk our lives as well as effectively leaving no possibility of getting out of here. It's impossible."
"For you maybe."
Tsunade wanted to reach up and punch his face, if only she did not feel so tired and helpless. "For both of us, Jiraiya. Don't lie to me. I know how much chakra you have left."
Jiraiya shook his head. "You said it yourself. We need to either get away, or get help." His eyes flashed, and he suddenly appeared much older than fourteen. "I will not let him die."
There was a small gasp, and both looked down. At some point during their argument, Orochimaru had woken up as well. Jiraiya was hopeless at medical ninjutsu, but his teammate's condition was unbearably obvious. Through shallow, labored breaths, Orochimaru said, "Go."
They exchanged wide-eyed stares, shocked into silence until Tsunade finally stuttered out, "A-and leave you here?"
"Go," Orochimaru urged again, more impatiently this time.
Jiraiya beat her to answer. "No fucking way, bastard, so don't you dare suggest that again. I'll summon Kosuke. He can get back to Konoha faster than us and alert sensei. It's the only option we have, Tsunade."
She opened her mouth to protest, but there was nothing much she could say. Her brain had stopped providing her with any semblance of logic, and all she could do was repeat over and over again: don't let him die, don't let him die, don't…
Orochimaru seemed to accept it too, because as his eyes began to shut, he managed to say to Jiraiya, "Take my hand."
Confused, Jiraiya complied. Two seconds later, he yanked his hand away as if he had been electrocuted.
"What?"
Jiraiya seemed to melt under her gaze. "He…he transferred his remaining chakra to me…"
The next few hours passed in a blur. Jiraiya remembered sitting with Tsunade in silent vigilance as they watched their fallen teammate fighting a losing battle, and how it felt like an eternity passed between each subsequent inhale. He remembered Tsunade shaking, how tears began to fall when she could do nothing more than wrap herself around Orochimaru in an attempt to keep his body temperature high enough to sustain life. He remembered the sound of many footsteps approaching and how he reached for his kunai blindly, his heart in his throat, until he caught a glimpse of a familiar symbol etched in their headbands and how he began to laugh and cry all at the same time.
Then there was the welcome relief of darkness.
Unlike most, Jiraiya did not wake up disoriented and blinking as the garish light of hospital rooms pierced down into his eyes like needles. In fact, it was nighttime and an eerie silence enveloped him. He craned his neck, searching for any presence, but his room was completely deserted.
That in and of itself, scared him more than any enemy nin ever could.
He took two moments to stretch and warm up. Konoha medics were renowned for a reason, however, and soon Jiraiya found himself walking to the door with nearly no discomfort at all. It hit him that he had no idea where either teammate was, but the thought did not detain him. He stepped out into the spotless hallway, made a wild guess and turned towards the left.
"Jiraiya."
A commanding tone stopped him in his tracks. Jiraiya whipped around and found himself facing Sarutobi-sensei. Or a ghost that looked like Sarutobi-sensei. There were dark circles beneath his eyes and a stubble (besides his goatee) had spread like a rash. To put it bluntly, their sensei appeared as if he had been the one on the mission and not Jiraiya.
"Where are they?" Jiraiya demanded, loudly. Sarutobi sighed, and bile rose up in his throat. "Sensei…they're not…"
"They are alive," said Sarutobi, with a smile that looked more like a grimace. "I was just talking to Tsunade right before I came to check up on you. She woke up earlier than you and has already been given permission to leave. It seems that she only had a few minor injuries, excluding her dangerously low level of chakra. Most shinobi should have stopped functioning at that point, but it seems she was able to fight off the usual symptoms. They aren't quite sure what to make of it, to be honest."
He was avoiding a certain topic, a certain person, and Jiraiya had never been known for being one to beat around the bushes. "Sensei, I want to go see Orochimaru."
Sarutobi's smile wavered, but all he said was, "I think you should go talk to Tsunade first. She needs you, Jiraiya."
Tsunade felt Jiraiya hesitate before entering. He paused for just a few seconds before bursting in because Jiraiya never knocked. On his face was a jubilant smile, one she was positive he had spent those precious seconds constructing. It did make her a bit better that Jiraiya was still Jiraiya and that he cared.
"Tsunade-hime, you have no idea how relieved I am to hear of your speedy recovery. There I was lying in bed worrying about you, especially knowing how attached you are to me. Rest assured, I am all better and here by your side once more." Jiraiya did a little twirl and would have ended up in her lap had Tsunade not scooted away.
He flinched, anticipating her wrath, but it did not come. Tsunade only cast her eyes downwards at her hands. Jiraiya straightened, all jokes cast aside. "How is he?"
"Sleeping. They're keeping him in an induced coma for now. It seems there were some other injuries that I missed. I only thought to stop the bleeding, you know, but his heartbeat was erratic and they found that an enemy must have used some technique to create a blockage near his heart. If they had arrived any later, he would have…he would have…" She buried her face into her hands, "It's all my fault. I can't believe I missed it."
"It's not your fault," Jiraiya comforted her.
"But it is. We were that close to losing him forever, Jiraiya. All because I made an elementary mistake. What kind of medic am I?"
"The best kind." Jiraiya was smiling. She could see it through the moisture in her eyes. It was not the hyperactive uncontrollable grin he often wore, but a smaller, genuine smile.
"H-how can you say that?"
Jiraiya gripped both of her shoulders hard. "Because we're still alive, Tsunade. And once that bastard wakes up, he will agree with me."
Tsunade only stared as he released her and sauntered to the door cheerily. "I'm going to go take a peek at that snake-boy, but sensei says you should go home. They won't let me out of here for another day, damn paranoid nurses, so if you get a chance, drop by his place and grab some of his stuff like his books or something. Sensei says it'll help wake him up if we read to him. See ya."
With that, Jiraiya disappeared. He continued his bouncy steps until he was pretty sure he was out of her hearing range. It was better that way. She would never have to see her white-haired teammate, head down, make the journey towards the other room, nor would she have to watch his fingers pressing against the glass until they are numb.
It was not hard to locate Orochimaru's apartment complex, despite it being located in the one area of Konoha Tsunade rarely visited. She had seen the building before once, in passing, back when her mother had dragged her along to see the uglier and decrepit side of Konoha. The region had mostly been reduced to rubble during the First War, and the few buildings that weren't had taken plenty of damage as well. With the rest of Konoha having been rebuilt, it was no wonder the area was referred to as the Northern Slums.
She knew his address- had known for a long time- but she had never actually been inside his home. It made her feel uneasy now, walking in without permission. In many ways, she felt as if she was barging in unwelcomed into some part of his life that he desperately tried to cover up. Well, their sensei was the one who suggested it, so Tsunade gave a quick scan and then scaled the wall.
Opening the window was not very difficult. Disarming all of Orochimaru's carefully placed traps took much longer, and by the time she was through with the fifth one, Tsunade was panting. She straightened and examined the room. It was impeccably neat, unsurprisingly, with very few belongings or furniture. A single bookshelf was full of scrolls and old books; the small cabinet held various spare weapons and medical kits. Everything in the tiny room was put away neatly- even the blanket and sheets were folded on the futon.
Tsunade wondered what it was that prompted Orochimaru to set up five different traps. It felt incredibly excessive given the lack of valuables in his home. For all intents and purposes, a simple jutsu should have been sufficient.
As she continued poking around, looking for anything suitable to bring to the hospital should he awaken, there was a loud banging on the flimsy door, shaking the entire frame. It was accompanied by a voice roughened through years of smoking. "Listen up, you brat! It's the end of the month so pay up or else I'll be throwing you out of here sooner than you can say 'shinobi'. This ain't a charity house and you better not so much as think of skimping out on your rent. Don't think I'm gonna go easy on you just 'cause you're the Hokage's student, you worthless monster."
In her head, Tsunade counted to ten slowly, her hands already clenched in a fist. She practically yanked the door off its hinges, enjoying the horror that spread on the large, middle-aged man's face as he spotted her mid-knock.
"May I help you?" she asked in her sweetest tone, all the while flexing her fingers.
He turned a strange shade of green. "Tsunade-hime…it's…I mean I…"
"You're here to collect Orochimaru's rent, is that right?" she inquired.
"Yes, I am the landlord here," the man said, nodding furiously. He dared not meet her eyes.
"How much is it?"
"What?"
Tsunade's patience was wearing thin. "I said, How. Much. Is. It?"
"Uh…it's 200,000 ryo per month, Tsunade-hime."
She might not pay attention to housing prices, but that rent, even if it was amongst the cheapest in Konoha, was highway robbery for such a rundown apartment. Growling, she reached into her purse and pulled out enough for two months. Tsunade shoved the coins into the landlord's hands.
"T-thank you, Tsunade-hime."
Without another word, Tsunade slammed the door in his face.
Orochimaru woke up a week later and was released soon after under strict admonishments to stay away from missions for at least another two. If he paid any heed to the fact that a few of his belongings had mysteriously appeared on his bedside table, he did not express it. As Orochimaru changed out of his hospital gown into a white robe Tsunade had procured from his closet, Jiraiya proposed a Game Night.
It became a tradition of theirs for many years to come. A morbid kind of celebration when any one of them was discharged from the hospital after an especially close call.
That night, they gathered at Jiraiya's home, staying up hours past his supposed bedtime (not that it had ever applied to him since graduating from the Academy at the age of 7) to sneak a few sips of sake that Jiraiya had managed to steal from his brother. As it was, only Jiraiya ended up drinking in excess. The games began innocently enough, and by the fifth sip, morphed into gambling dice games.
Jiraiya laughed. Tsunade banged the table. Orochimaru simply sat quietly at the side and watched it all. The fourth game rolled around, and to the surprise of his two teammates, Orochimaru murmured, "I am in too."
He wound up losing to Tsunade, a feat so impressive Jiraiya had to stop mid-drink to gape openly at him. Orochimaru stood, pulling a small pouch out and placing it in front of Tsunade. Giving both curt nods, he leapt away through the open window, blending into the night.
Tsunade did not have to count the money to know. The coins amounted exactly to 400,000 ryo.
Author's Note
I found this, and a few other Sannin-centered drabbles on my drive, presumably written many years ago (so long ago that I'd almost forgotten about them). While I didn't ever intend on publishing them, the stories are also not doing much good languishing where they are.
Please leave a review and let me know what you think.
*Note on currency: for comparison, a D-rank mission pays about 5,000 ryo.
