Chakra burst out around Tsunade's hands and she charged forward, fingers curled under in a fist and raised.
"Cover me!" she shouted to Kakashi. The jounin wordlessly obeyed, darting after her and reflecting all attacks launched back upon the user.
"Kisame! Left and go!" Itachi yelled.
"Right!" Kisame swung back his massive sword and charged like a mad bull, fully prepared to chop Kakashi in half. Kakashi turned and slashed at the sword with a kunai.
Without warning, an arm fastened around Kakashi's neck. His own arms were suddenly pinned to his sides, and someone seemed hell bent on keeping it that way. Kakashi froze, unsure of what to do.
"Nobody move!"
The entire battle stopped cold and looked around, trying to see where their teammates were.
"Lady, away from Deidara."
Tsunade's chakra openly flared, then died down as she took several steps back.
"No matter what happens, do not move. Or I will snap his neck like a twig."
Tsunade was shaking with rage as Hidan, Sasori, and Deidara came up on her sides.
"Dude, is she gonna, like, kill me if I touch her, un?"
"No, Deidara, she'll just roast you like a French fry," Sasori replied sarcastically.
"No, no! Not at all!" Hidan protested. "She's gonna pummel you into pudding!"
Tsunade's face spread into a wicked grin. "I like pudding."
"No, she's just gonna kill me, un. But I bet she'll stab me-"
"What are you doing?!" Tsunade shouted. "Are you doing anything, or are you just letting me screw you?"
"Ummmmm…"
Tsunade sighed. "This is so not what was supposed to happen."
"You're right," Zetsu said plainly. "So while the Three Stooges are entertaining us, I'll just move things along according to our plan." Zetsu yanked Tsunade's wrists behind her back and tied her. Tsunade's face twisted into a grimace of pain as the coarse ropes bit into her flesh.
"You must really want your money's worth, huh?" she grunted, arching her back. There was a sharp crack of flesh hitting flesh, enough to make Kakashi cringe for Tsunade as a palm was thrown across her face. Tsunade spat on Hidan, apparently the person who had slapped her.
"Very ladylike," he drawled, wiping the spit out of his eye. He drew back his hand again, ready to hit her harder this time.
"Hidan!"
Hidan slowly turned, carefully lowering his fist. "Yasu-sama?" he asked, perplexed.
"Let her go," Yasu said flatly. "Itachi can deal with her."
Hidan hesitated. "Okay, then" he said slowly. "If you say so." He, Deidara, Sasori, and Zetsu slowly backed away from the hot-tempered Kage. Itachi shoved Kakashi at them without batting an eye and seized Tsunade's upper arms.
"Where to?"
"Anywhere," Yasu said dismissively. She noticed Deidara moving towards a trembling Kakashi and smoothly stepped in front of him. She took Kakashi into her own arms and held him against her chest. The jounin begrudgingly allowed her, knowing that he had to keep her happy. "Screw her, pass her off to Orochimaru, let Kabuto use her, I don't care. As long as she's learning a lesson and she's not dead." Itachi nodded and turned back to Tsunade.
She wasn't there.
"Itachi!" Hidan shouted. "Behind you!"
"You're late, Uchiha!"
A fist pounded into Itachi's back with enough force to break a stone wall. No way! Then how did she-? Blood spurted from Itachi's mouth as he fell to the ground, unconscious.
Tsunade stood, legs spread, glaring at Yasu with burning brown eyes.
"You have six seconds to let him go and get ten feet away from him."
Yasu tightened her grip on Kakashi, much to the jounin's dismay, immediately on her guard. "And if I don't?"
"If you don't I will pound you into the ground six feet deep."
Chakra began to flame along Tsunade's hands, blue glow growing and growing until it illuminated Tsunade's entire body.
"Time to play can opener!"
There was no time to react; within the second, Tsunade had disappeared into thin air, leaving behind only a faint aura of chakra. Yasu looked around frantically. The Body Flicker-?
Yasu felt vital muscle cleanly severed as the side of a palm hit her squarely between the shoulder blades. Blood spilled from the wound, staining Tsunade's hands a deep crimson. Yasu's body began to shake, and Kakashi felt her grip begin to loosen at last. He waited until she had completely given out to free himself from her oppressive grip.
"Just for the record," he shouted. "I'll die another day!"
Tsunade swung around, chakra vapors flying off of her body, and charged, on a direct collision course with Deidara. The blonde missing-nin looked around for an exit-
-And found none.
Desperate, he hurled several kunai at Tsunade. The kunai only hit a log, and Deidara instinctively looked up. A substitution! Tsunade plummeted down, three kunai in her hand, aiming for Deidara's back. At the corner of her eye, Tsunade saw blue lightning suddenly unleashed in the fury of the Raikiri. She kept going, chakra blazing.
Pain exploded in Tsunade's stomach.
For the barest instant, she had taken her attention from Deidara and focused it on Kakashi, and now she had paid the price. At least seven kunai were embedded in her stomach, and already Tsunade could feel herself falling unconscious.
Time itself slowed down for the late Hokage of the Leaf.
"Tsunade!"
Was that Kakashi? Or was it Shizune, hiding with the rest of the Konoha ninja she had brought along? It might even be Itachi, who had simply lost it in the moment. Or maybe it was no one at all, and Tsunade was already dying. It could also be the Nine-tails kid, Naruto-the one who claimed to be Hokage after her.
Naruto…Tsunade could hear her own heart…
I guess I'll die another day
I guess I'll
just die another day
I guess I'll die another day
I guess
I'll just die another day
Presences sprang up around the sannin, but she barely felt them. Instead, her hands shook as she tried one last time to prove herself to her village.
I think
I'll find another way
There's so much more to know
I guess
I'll die another day
It's not my time to go
Naruto had saved her once…but she couldn't leave him alone in that village! With only Jiraiya as company…ouch.
Her hands continued to shake as she pressed them into the sign of the tiger.
For every sin I'll have to pay
I've come to
work, I've come to play
I think I'll find another way
It's
not my time to go
"Genesis…Res…ur…rection…!"
The tiny purple seal on Tsunade's forehead began to flame and swirl. Tendrils snaked from the original mark, sending out bursts of light. The kunai fell from Tsunade's body, wounds hissing and smoking. The cuts closed over, and Tsunade slowly pushed herself to her feet.
"I'm not finished with you punks yet."
I guess I'll die another day
I guess I'll
just die another day
I guess I'll die another day
I guess
I'll just die another day
"De…nied…"
The Akatsuki began to turn in circles, bewildered and panicking at Tsunade's newly revealed power.
"What, you think I'm Hokage for nothing?!!" she screeched. "Well, here's a trick I was meaning to play on Jiraiya…but here's a sneak preview!"
A ring of Konoha ninja dropped down around the Akatsuki; ANBU black ops, red ops, jounin, the Elite Twelve- each and every one of the ninja Tsunade had summoned at the beginning of the setup.
"It's on."
A/N: Sorry this is kinda short. We just got my grandma back into the house, back from the hospital, so things have been a little hectic around here. But hey, she's back!!! Thanks for everyone who showed concern, and thanks for being so patient. The song lyrics are part of "Die Another day" by Madonna. I found it on Youtube and thought it was such a Tsunade song and it was great for this scene. (Disclaimer-I don't own it.) Thanks for reading everyone, and please review!!!