She watched from her chair as the wooden walls of Club Toad dissolved and became pink, fleshy ridges that extended to transform the ceiling and floor as well. Within a matter of seconds, she was no longer sitting on a chair but on what must have been a bump in the Shop Toad's stomach, walls of flesh surrounding her and no way out. Despite the apparent danger of her situation, the kunoichi did not move from her spot, did not draw her kunai, nor did she prepare her own jutsu; she simply sat and for the first time really looked at the man who had been hunting her for the past several weeks.

The first thing that struck her was that he was tall, maybe a full head taller than her with his spiky white hair and geta sandals adding several more inches to his height. His hair framed his broad face in jagged columns before hanging below his waist in a pony tail that looked more like the tail of a beast than that of any horse. He wore a simple leaf green kimono top and pants with a red haori vest. Two pale yellow circles sat at his shoulders, possibly clan symbols but if so they were from a clan that she had never heard of. The mesh armor that was typical of village shinobi peeked out from his wrists and ankles and metal plates covered the backs of his hands. His face was broad and friendly, with a red line, almost a tear trail, trailing from the outer edge of each of his black eyes down to just under the edge of his jaw. In place of the typical hitai-ate, his forehead was covered by a horned metal plate with the kanji for oil. Judged purely from outward appearances he could be mistaken for someone's' eccentric uncle or a kabuki actor, but when you added in the pure confidence and power that radiated from him, you knew that you were dealing with no ordinary being.

She was drawn from her observations when the man shifted his weight and lowered his hands back to his sides, apparently the jutsu had been completed. He looked down at her and she looked up at him, neither moving or saying anything. The kunoichi was reminded of another stand off that she had had, long ago when her days were peaceful and she had others to look after her. But this stare down was not that one, looking away wouldn't merely be a loss in a child's game, here it would mean submission to the will of another, and a surrender of one's pride. Just as she was about to shift into a more comfortable position, the man gave a frustrated and crossed his arms.

"Do you always greet people with a stare or do you just not know how to say hello?" The kunoichi jumped at his words and briefly looked away before meeting his eyes once again.

"I believe it is customary for the captor to begin the conversation in situations like this." Her voice was soft and controlled, but she couldn't hold back a slight grimace when she felt a tickle of a cough beginning to build up.

"Here," she jumped when a hand appeared in front of her face, it opened to reveal a small vial. "It's cough medicine. It won't get rid of your cold but it should allow us to hold a conversation and conduct some business."

"Business?" she asked while taking a surreptitious sniff of the medicine. It didn't smell like poison but you could never really be sure...

"Yes, business and that isn't poison. If I wanted you dead you'd be dead already right?" The man ended with a throaty chuckle, his eyes closed in mirth. She looked down at the vial again, contemplating the thick purplish liquid, before giving a slight shrug and swallowing the vial's contents in one go. The liquid tasted horribly medicinal and was most definitely NOT poison.

"So what business brings you to trap innocent travelers may I ask?"

"Innocent?"

"Do I not look innocent?" The kunoichi widened her eyes and stared up at the man with a slight pout. She hated doing this but it had gotten her out of a few tight spots before.

Jiraiya struggled not to give in to the face that the kunoichi had turned towards him. He had always loved styling himself as a gallant hero who swooped in to save the damsel in distress and right now the girl in front of him looked just like one of the helpless maidens on the covers of his books. Her blue eyes were wide and bright, like reflected pools of liquid sapphires, and here pale face practically shone against the dark silhouette of her midnight hair. She looked like she was practically drowning in the large blanket that he had wrapped in, almost like a bedraggled kitten. But he could also see a coolness to her, a cunning glint in her eyes that spoke of plans to escape or stab him the second his guard went down.

"No, I'm afraid you don't look very innocent," he grunted. He watched as her pupils went from wide, innocent black pools to thin slits, transforming the kunoichi from a cute kitten to a coiled cobra, complete with bared fangs. Jiraiya gave a start and stepped back when the kunoichi hissed at him, thin, inch-long fangs that he swore hadn't been there a second ago protruding from the roof of her mouth. He had only ever known of one shinobi who had fangs before and, stupidly, he blurted out, "are you sure that you are female?"

"WHAT!?" The girl was now on her feet, the blanket pooled around her ankles. "I've heard some odd questions before but this one takes the cake. What do you mean am I sure that I'm female? What kind of perverted fuck are you? How the HELL does me having fangs relate to my sex?" Jiraiya held up his hands in a placating gesture and backed away slightly.

"My apologies but I've only ever known one other person who has fangs. I thought that you might be him in disguise." His apology only got him a venomous glare, but at least the fangs were no longer on show.

"And who is this other fanged shinobi?"

"Orochimaru."

"Orochi...oh," the girl watched him cautiously. Jiraiya noticed that she no longer seemed to be on the attack but was shifting her weight to her heels, ready to flee. "Wh-who is this Orochimaru to you?" She was definitely not looking at him now.

"Who says that he is anything to me?"

"I would assume that if you would ask someone if they are him that you would be looking for him."

"He's just a former acquaintance of mine."

"Define acquaintance."

"Can't we just start this conversation over?"

"No."

"Ahh come on. No need to be so scared."

"Stay away from me and answer the question!"

"Come onnn"

"No!"

SMACK!

Jiraiya stood stunned with a hand holding his stinging cheek. The kunoichi was on the other side of the toad's stomach, panting heavily and trembling slightly. "Just tell me what that monster is to you," she hissed. He stared at her, at how her cheeks were flushed and a fire flared in her eyes. Jiraiya now knew two things for sure about the Rogue Kunoichi:

she was deathly ill and

at some point in her life, his former teammate had done something terrible to her.