Two days later...

"Tsunade! If I beat Orochimaru this time, go out with me!" Jiraiya pointed a finger at his teammate who was sitting down on the grass and reading. "Stand up and fight me!"

Orochimaru barely glanced up from his book as Jiraiya made the same request for the hundredth time. You'd think by now he'd get a clue that Tsunade was more likely to win the lottery than go on a date with him. Also, it was way too early in the morning for him to be this obnoxiously loud. "Weren't you supposed to be meditating?" Orochimaru drawled, lazily flipping to the next page of his book.

Tsunade was plopped down on the grass on her stomach beside her friend. She yawned and picked at the petals of a wildflower. "Jiraiya, we both know that for one, Orochimaru always wins. Secondly, I'm not interested."

"But-"

The three looked up when a pigeon flapped their way down towards them. Sitting up, she held out an arm and untied the note from its leg before letting it take flight once more. Unrolling it, she said, "Sarutobi-sensei is busy with meetings. He told us to train on our own today or just have a day off." Her lips spread into a wide grin. "Hey hey, Orochi." When he eyed her from the top of his book, she said, "Let's-"

"No thank you, hime." He continued reading.

"But I didn't even tell you what I wanted to do."

Orochimaru made a sound of annoyance in the back of his throat. With her, if it's not gambling, it's going for sweets or ice cream. Quite frankly, he was sure that the amount of sugar she was feeding him was slowly rotting away his intestines and clogging up his arteries.

Jiraiya piped up eagerly. "I'll go with you Tsunade! Oh oh, I'll even pay too."

Tsunade huffed at him. "Who asked you, pervy no brain?"

Wearing a wide grin, Jiraiya posed and held his arm straight out. "It's a bet!"

"A bet for what?" retorted Tsunade.

"If I beat snake face, go out with me. If I lose, I'll give you my month's allowance to go gambling." Jiraiya could see she was sorely tempted and he rubbed his hands together mischievously, knowing that she had taken the bait. Next, he had to take care of the cocky genius. "Let's go, Orochimaru!"

"Not interested," said Orochimaru, continuing to read. He saw no point of getting involved their squabble. It usually ended up with Tsunade sending Jiraiya flying anyways, so why should he bother.

Jiraiya whispered, "If you agree to this challenge, I'll buy you any book you want."

Orochimaru perked up slightly. "I highly doubt you'll be able to afford what I want," he said slowly.

Jiraiya scoffed at him. "Please, the great Jiraiya has been saving up." He whipped out a froggy coin pouch and said, "I've been saving the money to take Tsunade out on a date. It's enough for a fancy pants dinner for two. I can totally afford whatever boring ass book you want."

"Hmph. Alright, I accept." But in the next three second, he pulled out a white flag. "I surrender. Now buy me-"

"NO!" Tsunade shook her friend. "How could you do this to me, Orochimaru?!"

He said emotionlessly, "We both know you'll just knock him out for something stupid he'll say. The date probably won't even last five minutes."

"I refuse!" She stood up and stomped her feet, sending cracks through the ground. "You absolutely and most positively have to win." When it looked like he still had no interest at all in the bet, she decided to switch tactics and copy Jiraiya's bribing. "If you win so that I can get Jiraiya's gambling money and not have to go on a date with him, I..." She pursed her lips in thought before eyeing Jiraiya and saying loudly, "Then I'll ask you out on a date and pay for you! Be it dinner or whatever."

"What the hell!" Jiraiya pointed at Orochimaru. "What kind of man would even let a woman pay for them on dates?! You're not gonna agree right-"

"Fine with me," Orochimaru replied. He wasn't going to complain about being financially covered.

"Yay! You can do this Orochi!"

"Augh! Whatever, I'm still going to win," Jiraiya growled as he walked over to an empty part of the training ground. Cracking his fingers, he said, "Ready whenever you are." As Orochimaru stepped into position, Jiraiya cackled and said evilly, "Get ready for a world of pain!" He wiggled his fingers and laughed manically.

Orochimaru said blankly, "You know you look incredibly stupid right?"

"That's it!" Jiraiya pushed his two index fingers together and charged.

Ten minutes later...

Orochimaru smirked as he turned his back on his defeated opponent. In his usual mellow and silky voice, he said, "I'm not exactly sure what you were trying to do by running around my back with the hand seal of the tiger. But that was probably a new record for our matches, idiot."

Jiraiya internally cried. Damn it! He was so close to using his secret new technique, One Thousand Years of Death! If it had landed, there was no way he would have lost. Sitting up, he shook the leaves out of his hair. "Shut it! Next time, I will kick your ass Orochimaru!" He hit the grass in a dramatic fashion. "Why must you always be in my way to be Tsunade's boyfriend?"

Laughing, Tsunade leaned over and said with a wide smile, "If I was to have a boyfriend, I'd choose Orochimaru over a pervy no brain like you." Behind her, Orochimaru wore an expression that was half amusement and half satisfaction at her words. She walked over to the pale genin and hooked arms with him. "Let's go Orochi!" She stuck her tongue out at Jiraiya. "Just come by my house and drop off the money. One of the servants will grab it."

Orochimaru chuckled slightly as he looked back as well. "I'll go see if the bookstore still has my book in stock before I ask you to go buy it."

Jiraiya wailed as Tsunade leaned her head against Orochimaru's shoulder and walked off with him. "I'll master my secret awesome technique if it's the last thing I do, you girly snake!"

At the village...

"Hey hey Orochi, what do you want to do?" asked Tsunade, hanging onto his arm as they strolled around.

His lips curved. "You're the one who asked me out, Tsunade-hime. Shouldn't you be the one leading?"

Tsunade pouted slightly. "You're sooooo unromantic."

"I believe I am rather young to be romanticcccc." He tilted his head, letting a few strand of his black hair move away from his golden eyes. "Well, what will it be?"

She paused in thought before her mouth opened into an o in surprise. Immediately, her eyes sparkled brightly and she said happily, "I just remember! Orochimaru, guess what!? My mom is pregnant!"

"Oh?" His eyes widened slightly. He had once wished for a younger sibling before his parents passed away. So to hear that Tsunade was going to have a little brother or sister actually made him quite happy for her. "Tsunade," he started, getting a bright idea about the news she just told him. "I have an idea for our date. Come."

"Eh?" Tsunade looked around at the herb shop he had taken her too. The dark wooden store smelled like a forest of plants and herbs. Pots of plants hung up on the ceiling and some more flowers and herbs grew in pots near the window. Tall shelves lined the wooden walls, full of jars and containers that were filled to the brim with dry herbs. Around on the floor was huge baskets of seeds, dried mushrooms, and dried plants, carefully placed against walls or shelves.

Orochimaru closed the door behind him and walked over to the counter with a nonchalant expression. He gently tapped at the bell and they waited patiently till an old lady wearing a plain forest green kimono with a faded yellow ribbon belt came out. "Oh, if it isn't my favorite customer." She adjusted her wide-rimmed glasses and laughed. "And you brought a friend?"

"Granny Tsvio," Orochimaru said politely, making the introductions. "This is my friend, Tsunade Senju."

"We're on a date," Tsunade chirped.

"Ahaha! Is that so? How adorable," laughed Tsvio, her cheeks crinkling with cheery wrinkles. It was cute that the two kids were going on a date even though they probably knew nothing about how dates actually worked. It was like seeing kids play pretend weddings. She shook hand with Tsunade before asking, "So what will it be this time, little one? Did you want to try some new tea leaves that just came in?"

He shook his head. "Not here for tea today. I just wanted to let you know it'll be a large delivery so you can get some boxes ready."

She waved a hand at him. "Alright, call if you need me. I'll be in the back as usual."

Orochimaru tilted his head and stroked the white cat that landed on his shoulder. It had jumped onto him from one of the shelves and he said, "This is Snowball, her cat."

Tsunade grinned as she rubbed its back. "So you're a regular?"

"My mother liked the tea leaves here," Orochimaru explained as he moved towards one of the shelves with the cat still on his shoulder. "When I was little, I would sit with her for her tea ceremonies and being here reminds me of her."

Tsunade gushed to hear the affection he still held for his parents. It was one of the best things about him besides his hard work ethics that had made her want to befriend him from the start. She looked around and peered down at a basket of red beans. "This is a really nice store. There's a good variety of stuff here."

"I didn't take you here to sight see, hime." He stood on his tippy toes and reached for a jar that was high up. Bringing it down, he examined it carefully before saying, "Pregnancy is a heavy strain on a woman's body. I hope to see both your mother and baby sibling well so I'm taking you here to teach you herbalism. That way, you can watch out for them for the next nine months."

Tsunade was immensely touched by how thoughtful he was. "Wow... I... I don't know what to say." Her cheeks turned pink and she said shyly, "Thank you, Orochimaru."

He nodded briefly in recognition. "Listen carefully, Tsunade. I dislike having to repeat myself. Use ginseng in tea to help with morning sickness. Eucommia bark is helpful for lower back pain in the later stages." They moved around the store for the next hour, with him pointing to various herbs and plants and teaching her on their uses and correct dosage. She was amazed by how much he knew and she drank up the knowledge like a sponge.

"You have all of that memorized?" he asked curtly.

"Yep!" Tsunade gave him the thumbs up.

He smiled and said, "Good. Because I really am not repeating myself." Walking back over to the counter, he rang the bell and Granny Tsvio came out. "I'm ready with my order." The cat leaped off his shoulder as he reached for a pencil and paper. Out a few minutes of scribbling in his usual neat writing, he rolled it up and handed it over to her. "I have the address listed as well. Tsunade here will be paying."

She handed over the money with a smile. It was definitely money well spent and she was happy with the purchase.

"It'll be delivered in two days, sweetie," said the old lady. She then gave the two healthy fruit candies and waved goodbye to them.

Orochimaru nodded in thanks and they left the shop to see that it was mid afternoon. Tsunade hooked her arm back with his and smiled happily. "Let's get lunch! How about ramen? Or udon? Or maybe BBQ?" She paused when she saw a sad look cross Orochimaru's face. "What's wrong?"

His eyes grew doleful as he looked at a passing family of five who were all happily chatting to each other. "I wished... I had a younger brother or sister. It's lonely at home."

Tsunade remembered how he had once told her she was only reminding him how barren his home was when she and her grandfather had dinner at his house. Sometimes, she thought about him being in that house all alone and it pained her. Everyone else had a family to go back to except for him. All that waited for him at home was silence. She peeked over to see the sea of sorrow that was hidden in his eyes, the same thing she had glimpsed the first time they met. It was spellbindingly sad, incredibly human and a reason why his eyes had always been so beautiful to her. Her grip tightened on his arm slightly. "Come over for dinner tonight, Orochi. You haven't seen my grandmother in a while. She misses you drinking tea with her." She then gave him a pretty smile. "Oh, and maybe you'll sleep over? We haven't had one of those in awhile after all."

He looked at her in appreciation. "I do miss her and your parents. I'll come for dinner but I need to head home to take care of my chores. The house is getting grungy."

"Hehe." Tsunade grinned, hugging his arm. "Anything you want to eat, the servant will make."

"You really should learn how to cook eventually," he sighed as they continued walking. They finally decided to go for street food in the end. Tsunade ended up getting grilled squid and takoyaki (ball-shaped pancakes with octopus at the center and topped with mayonnaise and fermented fish flakes). As for him, he went for Yaki Imo (baked sweet potatoes) and they were happily munching away on their lunches at the park. He had picked a quiet and deserted area and they ate in comfortable silence, watching the ducks swim around in the large pond. But then...

Orochimaru blinked and swallowed a mouthful of his potato when he saw Sarutobi-sensei running towards them. Tsunade stared and said, "Eh? Sensei?"

"Have you two seen Jiraiya?"

Their teacher looked like he's been through hell. He was half flustered and half exasperated, and he smelled like he even ran through the sewers for Jiraiya. That, and there was a random bruise on his cheek. "Not since this morning after our match," Orochimaru answered.

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "If he's not training, he's probably at the hot springs."

Their teacher shook his head and sighed. "I wished. That was the first place I checked." When the two stared, Sarutobi said, "I was actually searching very hard for Jiraiya, if you're thinking otherwise."

Well, that explains the bruise on his cheek. "What happened?" asked Tsunade, her curiosity piqued now.

Sarutobi stroked his chin and asked, "Do you two know about the summoning technique?"

"It is a powerful space-time ninjutsu that allows one to transport mainly animal summons to a summoner's location for aid," Orochimaru recited from memory. "After signing a contract, one just needs to offer blood as a sacrifice, form the required hand seals and give up the amount of chakra proportional to the strength of the summon they require."

Sarutobi smiled, impressed as always by how knowledgeable his student was. "Very good. That is the technique that Jiraiya has been trying to learn."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "After almost two years and he still hasn't mastered the chakra folding necessary for it?"

Tsunade popped the rest of her grilled squid in her mouth and tossed the stick into the garbage can. "So what does this technique have to do with you searching for Jiraiya, sensei?"

Sarutobi exhaled tiredly and rubbed at his eyes. "He performed the technique without signing a contract first. I have no idea where he is."

"He could be anywhere," said Orochimaru, frowning.

"The scrolls say he would either be teleported to the location of the summon he has an affinity for, or he'd disappear to a place he usually hangs around," Sarutobi said. "I've been looking for him for half the day now. Because of what he's done, he could be confused and disoriented when he reappears."

Tsunade smiled and waved. "Good luck, sensei."

"Tsunade!" he said in exasperation.

She puffed up her cheeks and grouched, "I'm on a date with Orochi!"

Sarutobi's eyes grew as wide as saucers. "WHAT?!" He gaped at the two before saying, "Do you two even know the meaning of the word?"

"It means to hang out with someone you like, right?" Tsunade asked.

"She offered to pay for me," Orochimaru added, chewing on his sweet potato.

Sarutobi muttered under his breath, "To spend time with someone with romantic intentions..." He sighed before waving. "Never mind, let's just go find Jiraiya."

"It can't be helped," Orochimaru said emotionlessly, hopping off the park seat. "We'll have to cut this short, Tsunade."

She cracked her knuckles and followed after him. "Ughhhhhhhhh! I'm gonna beat him up for this."

Before they had even taken ten steps, a scream ripped through the air and Orochimaru looked up in bewilderment as Jiraiya fell from the sky. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

He was used to dodging shurikens, kunai, punches, kicks, explosive seals, and even giant boulders that Tsunade threw his way during training. But nothing had trained him to react to seeing his teammate randomly falling from the heavens. He toppled backward as his teammate crashed into him, his eyes wide in shock as Jiraiya laid on top of him and their lips pressed together. It was like an explosion just happened right in their face and everyone froze like deers, unable to accept or understand what had happened, even though the picture was crystal clear. They stayed like that for about five seconds, before they both pushed at each other and gagged.

"What in the name of my ancestors!" Jiraiya shouted as he stuck out his tongue and wiped furiously at it. "I just kissed Orochimaru?! Ew ew ew!"

Tsunade screamed and pulled on her hair. "You stole Orochimaru's first kiss! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" She began to shake him ferociously.

He didn't quite care about the idea of first kisses. But kissing Jiraiya was ten thousand meters too far into his comfort zone. "I have to wash out my mouth with bleach," Orochimaru coughed as he wiped his mouth, trying to rid himself of the taste. "Did you even brush your teeth this morning?! This is disgusting."

Sarutobi let out a long breath as the three bickered with each other. If he wasn't so tired from running around for the past few hours, he might have found the situation more amusing or been more sympathetic to the two boys for losing their first kiss. After a few minutes, he said, "All of you, be quiet for a moment." When the three looked up at him, he said, "Jiraiya, that was extremely reckless of you. Do you know how long I've been searching for you?"

Jiraiya immediately grinned and jumped up and down. He then began recounting his adventure of how he came to a place called Mount Myoboku. "So I spent the morning climbing a mountain while carrying a giant rock. When I thought back about what Tsunade said about picking Orochimaru as a boyfriend over me, I got super mad and was even more determined to master the summoning technique. I went back to the training ground and after some more meditation, I decided I was ready to try it." He waved his arms frantically. "I then fell from the sky and landed there. There was a waterfall of oil, crazy weird plants everywhere, toad statues, and the frogs were always singing. A big blue snake tried to attack this giant talking toad and I saved him. Then, this frog sage said he was expecting me because some Great Elder had a dream about me."

Tsunade stared, alittle lost about the story he was spewing out. "Eh?"

Jiraiya nodded eagerly. "I'll get bestowed with the power of the toads and a prophecy."

"What does this prophecy entail?" asked Orochimaru wryly.

"Don't know, I gotta go back and train in senjutsu or something since I'm the chosen one. Then the prophecy will be revealed." Jiraiya puffed out his chest and grinned proudly.

Orochimaru and Tsunade said in disbelief at the same time, "The chosen one?"

By now, it was starting to sound like Jiraiya was making the biggest fib of his life or he was actually out of his mind, like what their teacher was initially worried about. "I think he's hallucinating," Tsunade said slowly.

"Actually," Sarutobi said with a smile. "There is a place called Mount Myoboku. It is a legendary place and one of the three unexplored sage regions. The location is heavily guarded and few knows how to even get there. If what you said is true, you're very lucky, Jiraiya."

"What does having the power of the toads even mean?" asked Tsunade, flabbergasted.

Sarutobi said thoughtfully, "I would guess at the very basic level, he'll be able to summon toads. It's obvious he has an affinity for them if he landed there."

Jiraiya gasped and stared at Orochimaru. The pale boy noticed and said, "What?"

"If I came back and appeared on top of Orochimaru..."

All four went silent as they realized the meaning of his words. The two boys immediately pointed at each other and yelled, "I do not have an affinity for you!"

Jiraiya stuck his tongue out and said, "I'd rather be alone for all eternity than be with you. I only like real girls. Not a girly looking boy."

Orochimaru replied crossly, "I'd rather lose both arms than be with an idiot like you."

"Same here, I don't want my future sons to look like girls!"

"We can't even have babies together you dork," snapped Orochimaru.

"I'll kick your ass, Orochimaru!"

"Try it. I'll break the record twice in one day."

"Alright, that's enough," Sarutobi said, trying to restore peace as he pushed the two apart.

Tsunade tugged on his pants. "Hey sensei, why didn't you teach me and Orochimaru the summoning technique?" She gave him a death glare. "Did you like Jiraiya more than us?"

"I was going to teach it to you two in preparation for the Chunin Exam," replied their teacher, sweat dropping at her legendary spoiled princess behavior. "You two just happened to be busy with training in other areas. Jiraiya needed an extra edge beside his mastery over fire techniques."

Tsunade switched to her cheerful mood as fast as her grandfather could switch into his depression moods. "Can you teach it to us tomorrow then?"

"Yes, yes I will," said Sarutobi, rubbing her head. Inwardly, he was beginning to realize how badly Hashirama had spoiled his granddaughter.

She then walked back over to Orochimaru and said, "Ok, let's go back to my house and continue the date, Orochi. Wanna play goldish?"

"Hmph."

Jiraiya reached out weakly and said, "But... I'm the chosen one."

Tsunade looked over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at him. "Maybe you're the chosen one of the frogs. But Orochimaru is my chosen one."

"Well you know what?" Jiraiya shot back. "I took his first kiss from you. HAHAHAHAHAHHA!"

Sarutobi sighed as Tsunade and Orochimaru both threw a dozen kunais at him and lodged him to a tree by his clothes. Both were clearly pissed off for different reasons. Looking over at the white hair boy, he said, "I might have to lend you a book on how to talk to girls..."

"How is your training for the Chunin exam, Orochimaru?" asked Tsunade's grandmother as the two kids dined in her room.

The room was even larger than Tsunade's but refined in taste. The floor was a marble green and a large picture of the Uzumaki symbol hung above her bed, with its smoothly weaved headboard. Four large windows were situated on the left wall and the purple canopy curtain around her bed had been pulled to the side so that they could see the moon and enjoy the view of pink cherry blossom trees. She had been feeling ill lately so she had been in bed for the past week. As Tsunade's parents were away at the hospital for a checkup, the two decided to just eat with Mito Uzumaki in her room.

Smiling, she added, "It's also very good to see you again."

"It is an honor, esteemed Lady Mito," Orochimaru said, bowing his head. He balanced the tray of food on his lap gingerly before saying, "We're learning the summoning technique tomorrow. I've also been working on my kenjutsu."

Mito smiled, brushing back a stray lock of red hair that had escaped from one of her double buns. "You're always so hard working," she complimented him. She reached out and patted him on the head. "If only my granddaughter was half as hardworking as you... maybe she'd even be able to cook her own eggs without setting the kitchen on fire."

Tsunade pouted. "Grandma!"

Mito laughed demurely. "Granddaughter dearest, you have to admit it, you have no culinary, sewing or cleaning skills. Perhaps you should ask Orochimaru here for some practice." She gestured at his clothes. "Always so clean, well ironed, and I heard that you can cook very well."

Orochimaru chewed on his grilled eel and swallowed. "It's necessary for someone who lives alone, that is all."

"You're too modest dear," she said lightly. Delicately, she placed some of her shrimp tempura and eels over onto his dish.

"Lady... Mito?" he questioned.

"I don't have much of an appetite these days," she said gently. "Go on dear."

Orochimaru set aside his tray of food and stood up. "I'll go make you some green tea, it'll help."

"That would be much appreciated," she murmured, smiling as he left the room.

"You're so much nicer to Orochi than me, grandma," Tsunade said, pouting.

Her grandmother gently pinched her cheek. "That's because you don't see what I can see, Tsunade."

Tsunade blinked her hazel eyes at her grandmother. "Is it about some weird sense thing you have, grandma?"

Her grandmother stirred. "Who told you?"

"Errrr... grandpa mentioned it once to granduncle Tobirama when I happened to pass them." She fiddled with her chopsticks.

Mito sighed and said wearily, "I have the ability to sense negative emotions. When your friend, Orochimaru first came here, I could literally see the darkness in his heart." Her eyes grew sad. "He hated the world, thinking about how unfair it was."

"What do you mean, unfair?"

Her grandmother leaned back against her pillows. From the talks we've had and from my ability, he grew bitter over the fact that when he asked how his parents died, he was given an answer of 'because we're at war'. To him, the words mean nothing except to show how cold and unfair the world is. With that, he closed off his heart and stopped caring about this world and the people in it. He only wanted to grow stronger to survive against this unreasonable world." Her eyes grew worried. "But the hunger for knowledge, can easily turn and consume oneself."

"Being his friend... helps, right?" Tsunade asked hesitantly.

Her grandmother smiled, putting a hand over her heart, thinking about her husband, Hashirama, and the family she had. It was these bonds and the love she shared with them, that kept the darkness of the Kyuubi at bay and kept it still. But it was also the same bonds that threatened to release the demon fox inside her. Once, during childbirth. Second, when her husband died. It took all of her willpower and heart to focus on the happy memories, instead of the overwhelming sorrow she felt.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and said, "True love endures, no matter what. He can be saved and he can find happiness, Tsunade."

"Hey, grandma," Tsunade said carefully. "If you can sense negative emotions, how is he feeling now?"

At that, her grandmother replied happily, "The darkness I can sense is receding. He's slowly healing." She rubbed her granddaughter on the head. "Thanks to you and the Will of Fire. My sweet little healer."

Tsunade beamed and held her grandma's hand to her cheek. "Hey grandma, I've been thinking lately."

"Hmm?"

"I was thinking about learning medical ninjutsu," she said. "I want to be there to save and help heal my friends. This one time, seeing Orochimaru bleeding so badly in the hospital.. it made me feel terrible. I never want to see him like that again."

Mito said carefully, "You're still too young for it. There is a great deal of chakra control required for medical ninjutsu. One wrong move and you can easily cut apart a heart as you are trying to heal it." When Tsunade pouted in dejection, Mito chuckled. "If you truly wish for something, you will obtain it. I can sense your fear of losing him, hime."

"Grandma..."

"Invite him over more often," she said with a gentle smile. "It will be good for the both of you."

"Thank you for the dinner, Tsunade-hime," Orochimaru said as they stood outside in front of the gates of her mansion, under the starry night sky and cherry blossom trees.

She coughed. "Ahem, what else?"

He gave her a questioning look. "What else is there?"

"The date, silly," Tsunade grouched.

Orochimaru smirked. "And thank you for paying for the date. Goodnight."

"Wait wait," Tsunade said. When Orochimaru stood there patiently, she fiddled with her fingers and muttered, "They say that the boy has to give the girl a kiss on dates."

"Who said that?" asked Orochimaru, arching an eyebrow.

"My books," Tsunade said quietly, her cheeks turning red.

Orochimaru sighed. Maybe if she spent more times reading on techniques instead of those boring romance novel, she'd actually become more decent at ninjutsu. "I really don't want to think about kissing for awhile. It just brings a nasty picture of Jiraiya falling on top of me." His face turned slightly green at the memory. When she reluctantly nodded and put her on her legendary princess pout, he scolded her. "Tsunade, you're going to pout over something like this?"

"I'm totally not pouting, idiot," she grumbled, but obviously still pouting.

He let out a long breath before leaning over and gently kissing her on the forehead. She let out a sound in surprise and he drew back blankly. "Happy now, hime?"

She put her hands to her red cheeks and smiled. Peeking up at him, she couldn't help but admire his fine features. Moonlight skin, silky obsidian hair, and deep golden eyes... he really was handsome, like her teacher would sometimes say. "You know, you didn't have to do that," she said shyly.

Orochimaru smiled slightly and said fondly, "It's a good luck kiss that my mother would give me when my father gave me quizzes to prepare me for the academy. If it makes a friend happy, I don't mind giving you one." His face turned sour. "It was, at least, better than that kiss with Jiraiya." He froze when she hugged him.

"Thank you," she murmured, hugging him tightly. Even though he still missed his parents terribly and still felt lonely, he was working hard in moving forward and enduring the pain. He wasn't one to express any emotions or care about people, and everyone thought he was either scary or mean. But she knew... and believed that deep down, his coldness merely came from the fear of having his heart broken again. To give her such a memorable good luck kiss, something that held so much meaning for him, meant that he truly was healing, just like her grandmother said.

When she still didn't let go after awhile, his pale cheeks turned slightly pink. "What's gotten into you?"

"I can't wait to win it big at the slot machines tomorrow!" she cheered, releasing him.

He sighed. Once again, he felt like he was encouraging her spoiled princess behavior. Drawing back, he waved goodnight and began walking home. "Don't be late for training tomorrow, hime."

"And you don't show up so ridiculously early. Sleeping in an hour or two isn't going to kill you!" she shouted, wearing a big smile on her face.

Up on her balcony, Mito Uzumaki wore a small smile as she watched the two. Laughing to herself softly, she murmured, "They say the white snake is a symbol of rebirth... and good luck. How funny it is that he'd give her a good luck kiss." She touched her heart and closed her eyes. "Hashirama..."

Opening the door to his house, he flicked on the switch and gazed at the empty house with a slightly sad look. Mechanically, he went through the same routine of changing into his pajamas, brushing his teeth, and drinking a glass of warm milk before he headed to bed. As he settled himself down under the blanket and in his futon, he looked over at his parent's picture before his eyes settled on his picture with his teacher and his teammates. Slowly, he closed his eyes and fell asleep with a peaceful expression, feeling less lonely then when he had woken up this morning.

Darkwings13:

-references to ep 127 of Naruto Shippuuden when Tsunade said she'd choose Orochimaru over Jiraiya as a boyfriend, as well as Jiraiya's adventure to Mount Myouboku.

-Mito Uzumaki has the ability to sense negative emotions, mostly hate and killing intentions. Pretty sure Orochimaru hated the world and wanted to gain power so that he wouldn't get screwed over. He has a pessimistic view on the world in general. Ex, Darkness. When everything that you know and love is taken away from you so harshly. All you can think about is anger, hatred and even revenge. And no one can save you. Another example, Hate only gives birth to even more hate. He's a smart cookie but he's pretty bitter. And does anyone know where the first quote comes from? XD

-I just had to have Orochimaru and Jiraiya have their first kiss like Sasuke and Naruto bwahahhahaha. The three pretty much represents the Sannin when they were younger lol.

-Yes Jiraiya was trying to do the One thousand year of death on Orochimaru's ass. XD

-Yes, I've made it so that Orochimaru was actually the one who started off with that kiss of good luck on the forehead thing. Why doesn't Tsunade ever mention it in the canon series? Keep reading to find out. :(

-Yes I drew the cover image. Will upload to deviantart when I have time lol.

Hi JigokuShoujosRevenge! xDDD funny how Jiraiya ended up stalking Orochimaru for the next twenty years or something after he ran away from the village. It's like the same thing when they were kids and care for each other :3 Thanks for reading and reviewing my friend!

Ah no worries ileangie23! I very much appreciated you taking the time to find that info for me. It helped alot with the last chapter. I agree, Orochimaru definitely was rather broken, weary, bitter and sad, but he wasn't evil. His ambition stemmed from wanting the power to face the cruelty of the world and survive, and his malice comes from his belief that since the world was unfair, only those who had strength had any say in things in the first place. He leans very heavily towards 'survival of the fittest' scientific term haha. Sorry I didn't write anything about the Chunin exam for this chapter! But it is coming up xD

Aloha BlackLady777! Good to see you again my friend. Glad you liked the fight scene. I enjoy writing fighting scenes, mainly because I did a bunch of stories for Soul Calibur, a fighting game bwahahhaha. Glad my skills carried over lol. Yes, the three and their teacher must have been close. They're like fifty years old and they still think about each other. Tsunade even started talking about the old time when she was at the bar with Jiraiya in ep 129, and said she couldn't believe he was dead, but then Jiraiya cut her off. Probably didn't want to see her get sad. Thanks again for letting me know how you feel about the story! I'm especially relieved to know that my fight scene was good :D