Chapter 14—Collapse
Dust rose over the pile of rocks that had once been a cave. Deep within the rubble, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru were clustered tightly together in a space barely large enough for three people. Tsunade's back was pressed to the only cave wall still standing and she was holding up a large piece of rock that kept the rest of the debris from collapsing into that space on top of them.
Jiraiya quickly pulled out a scroll and unrolled it over his knee then carefully breathed a small flame onto it. The fire flickered on top of the seal drawn there, perfectly contained as it lit the tiny space. By this light he was able to find a few loose rocks to wedge their support in place and take the burden off of Tsunade. She closed her eyes and sighed, leaning her shoulder against the wall of rubble.
"Is… Is everybody okay?" she asked breathlessly.
"Tsunade…" Jiraiya whispered.
Why does he sound… concerned? Consoling? I must be imagining things. There's no reason he would… Everything's fine. It has to be. All the same, she found she did not want to open her eyes.
"Ts–Tsunade…" Orochimaru said faintly.
Her eyes shot open. They slid down to the ground and found him in the firelight. More than half of his body was caught under the rocks.
"Orochimaru! Just… Just hang on. Maybe we can–" She reached toward him, intending to dig him out.
"Don't!" Jiraiya and Orochimaru both shouted and Orochimaru started coughing, blood spattering the dusty ground. Jiraiya grabbed Tsunade's hand and stopped her.
"We have to be careful," he said quickly. "Or we'll cause a second cave-in."
"Don't be foolish," Orochimaru added weakly. "There's no point even t-trying."
"What do you mean?" Tsunade demanded. She pulled her hand away from Jiraiya.
"You can't help, Tsunade." Orochimaru could only manage to whisper and it took a great deal of effort to keep himself from coughing.
Tsunade stared at him. "You can't be serious. What, do you want us to just leave you here? That's ridiculous–"
"Tsunade…" he said again. "Both of you – just get out. It will be difficult enough… without dragging me along."
"We can't just leave you behind," Jiraiya said.
Orochimaru glanced up at him. "I left you behind easily enough. Left the whole village behind. Heh." He reached out and found Tsunade's hand. "Tsunade… we–we've talked about this before."
"Orochimaru," she whispered.
"Even killing me and never returning to the village would have served Konoha better than what you chose. As Hokage… you should have killed me… and returned."
"That's not the point!" she insisted, her voice breaking.
"Go back to Konoha, Tsunade. What would they think if you gave up…their ambition?"
Her forgotten dream flickered in her mind and she saw once again Nawaki and Dan's names on fire against the black stone. Tears flowing freely, she shut her eyes and tried to nod but her head just hung, her shoulders shaking with quiet sobs.
"…What are we supposed to tell everyone back at the village?" Jiraiya muttered.
Orochimaru laughed softly. "You're the writer," he said. "You come up with a story."
Jiraiya gave him one last glance which he met only briefly before coughing overcame him again.
"Tsunade… there's nothing we can do," Jiraiya said.
Tsunade's hand closed tighter around Orochimaru's. "Don't you tell me that, Jiraiya," she snapped. "You don't know anything. Orochimaru, just hold on. There has to be something–"
"My time is up, Tsunade," Orochimaru whispered. "There's no reversing that. Just go."
"No," she breathed, outraged. "No way."
"Tsunade, come on," Jiraiya said gently. She threw a vicious glare at him in the firelight.
"I'm not leaving."
Orochimaru was staring at her, but his vision was becoming clouded. He could not seem to fill his lungs and the pain in his body was beginning to overwhelm his mind. He wanted her to look at him. He wanted to meet her eyes one last time.
"Tsunade." It was the weakest sound yet, but it gained her full attention. She looked at him immediately and he saw the fear and agony on her face. He closed his eyes.
Orochimaru's weak grasp on Tsunade's hand faded. She felt it slip away and her lips formed his name but her voice failed.
"Tsunade, listen to me," Jiraiya said firmly. "He's gone. We have to get out. Do you understand?" She wasn't looking at him; she did not acknowledge him at all. He grabbed her shoulders. "Tsunade!"
"Get off me, Jiraiya!" she shouted at him. "I understand!"
It took her a few minutes to calm her breathing and stop her tears, then the two of them began carefully shifting the rocks. They created a narrow path and worked their way through it until they were finally free, emerging from the rubble as the sun broke the horizon, leaving Orochimaru in the dark.