Tsunade and Jiraiya never understood why he liked waking up early. Well one, they knew he liked to get up early to get things done. But secondly... he enjoyed the stillness, silence and beautifully colored skies that early morning brought with it. It was a way to temporarily pull away from the real world that was ruled by greed and hate, and just let his mind drift. As he pushed aside the cloak and looked outside, he took in a quiet breath of cool fresh air and admired the cool blue, ethereal purple, streaks of gentle pink and soft light of a rising sun, gorgeously painted up above and finished with speckles of stars that could still be seen.

At this time, where there was nothing but peaceful order and tranquility, he didn't have to remember that he was an orphan that was supported by the village only because they cared about his skills. His parents were good ninjas, but they weren't heroes or anything. The amount of money compensated for their deaths was laughable at best and an insult at worst. His brows furrowed slightly and he tried to regain focus on the scene before him, trying to be at peace again. Nonetheless, a part of his mind was still bogged down with the Chunin exam. For Tsunade and Jiraiya, failure was not an option. He had to find the scroll they need and take out as many of the competition as possible. Even if they disagreed or worried about his safety, this had to be done.

Unconsciously, his hand went to the necklace Tsunade had given him and he made a small sound in the back of his throat. He truly had gotten very attached to them. It scared him sometimes, to know how much he cared about them. Sarutobi-sensei, Jiraiya, and Tsunade made him laugh, stayed with him, believed in him and they did it all while expecting nothing in return. He knew he was sometimes cold but they continued reaching out for him. His parents loved him selflessly, and now his team was there for him without question. They... were the only ones that made him want to leave this early morning tranquility and return to the real world. All of a sudden, the cloak entrance rustled from a loud sound of released gas.

"WHAT THE HELL!? JIRAIYA! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"Ouch! So-sorry! I'm asleep! It was an accident ahhhhh!"

In the next second, he held a hand to his nose as he realized that Jiraiya had just farted. Well, there goes the whole wanting to leave the early morning tranquility thing. Jiraiya couldn't have shattered serenity and peace any harder even if he tried. With a roll of his eyes, he leaped up to a tree and headed out.

Midday...

Orochimaru tossed aside another burning scroll and walked off, not bothering to give the three opponents he had just defeated even one last glance. They were decent but far too unskilled to become Chunin. It was honestly a waste of time for both him and them. Perhaps with three more years of training, they'd actually be capable.

He had already obtained a heaven scroll and burned another earth scroll today, which was actually really good progress. Still, there was still plenty of time left. He should take out one more team if it was possible. His sandals disturbed the dusty ground as he walked and he kept his senses sharp, searching for new targets. All of a sudden, he paused when he saw a giant carcass of a wild bear, laid out and bleeding into the air. It had been bisected and its intestines spilled out in a gory river. The smell of coppery blood was dense and he could already see the bugs feasting on it. Soon, perhaps a giant snake or some other predators might make it over to eat. He narrowed his eyes and took a few steps closer. From the shurikens and kunai lodged in its body, and from the way it was killed, it was definitely the work of ninjas.

His hand moved to the inside of his white yukata when he heard the bushes rustle. Before he could throw a shuriken, he paused as two large black eyes peeked out at him. He instantly realized that it was a baby bear. Carefully, he made his way over and moved aside the green foliage to see the bear lying flat on its stomach, staring at its dead parent with sad eyes, tears streaming down its furry cheeks. It didn't even seem scared of him, as it was so overcome with sadness.

His expression softened. Hesitantly, he reached out and picked it up, settling it on his lap. The bear was round like a large ball and it continued crying silently as he hugged it around the middle. He closed his eyes and said sadly, "Humans are quite evil." He rubbed its head as it blinked up at his voice. "At least, your mother died to protect and hide you. My parents died... because it's war," he said, repeating the words that had been given him when he had asked why his parents died. They died unfairly, that was the truth. They were assigned a simple delivery mission, and instead... merely got caught in a crossfire. Just like this bear and its mother from this Chunin exam.

The chubby cub slumped over his arm and continued crying silently as if to shed the tears he couldn't shed anymore. "Come," he said quietly, standing up and carrying it. He held it carefully as it rested its head on his shoulder, sympathizing for it since it was exactly like him.

Tsunade turned her fish stick over the simmering fire and looked up at the orange sky with a weary expression. "He should be back by now. We can only ever cook in the early morning or now."

Jiraiya ripped off a thick piece of cooked meat off his own stick and said, "I saved two fishes for him but he might have to eat it cold if he doesn't come back soon."

"Do you..." She paused. "Do you think he managed to find the other scroll?"

"Tsunade, I'm not a fortune teller," Jiraiya said with a roll of his eyes. "Did he find it today? I don't know. Will he find it by the end of seven days? Absolutely," he said firmly, his eyes full of belief in his friend's capabilities. "He'll come back to us just fine."

She was heartened to hear that and she took in a deep breath, letting the wind caress her face and sing past her. She could feel her heart calm from the support and refreshing air and a small smile cross her face. "I can hear it," she said quietly, lifting her face up alittle more.

"Hear what?" Jiraiya asked, confused as to why she seemed so soft all of a sudden. Her face was practically glowing under the light of the sunset. When she just laughed and shook her head, he sighed. "Looks like I still don't get alot of things about girls."

About half an hour later, Orochimaru returned. "I'm back," he said as he stepped out from the trees. His heart grew warm to see them both look over at him in relief and delight.

"Just in time for dinner," Jiraiya said with a grin. "How'd it go?"

"Welcome back!" Tsunade said in delight, standing up and running over to him. "Are you alright? Did you find the heaven scroll?"

He shook his head. "I'll be going out to look again tomorrow, unfortunately. But I did bring back something else..." When the two looked at him questioningly, he turned his back and showed them the baby bear that was clinging on to him.

Tsunade let out a cry of adoration at the baby animal. "It's so cute! Look at those eyes!" As if responding to her words, the bear's eyes grew even larger.

Orochimaru said, "When it stopped crying, I realized it has an incredibly derpy expression. It constantly looks like it's just daydreaming." He held still as Tsunade pulled it off him and hugged it.

Jiraiya rubbed its head before saying, "Why did you pick up a baby bear though?"

"It has nowhere to go. I found its mother killed by one of our Genins," Orochimaru answered, his expression slightly sad. "It's an orphan."

"Well, it can stay with us," Jiraiya said, putting an arm around his two friends. He grinned. "Plenty of room in that tree!"

Orochimaru laid a hand on the cub's head and murmured, "I... wonder if I did the right thing." When they both gave him questioning looks, he said, "We can't take it with us after the exam is over. We'll have to leave it behind and it will probably suffer and die. I feel like I'm being cruel by giving it hope when all that awaits it is disappointment."

"Stop it." Jiraiya fumed. "You're too pessimistic. I'm going to teach it how to hunt and survive in the next few days. It can use our tree home too."

"I'm being realistic," Orochimaru replied. "Jiraiya, what you're saying is impossible-"

"If it can't learn how to hunt fast enough, I'll gather nuts and berries and fish and create a super giant storage for it," said Jiraiya vehemently. When Orochimaru sighed and continued to look doubtful, he said, "If you didn't think that it had a chance of surviving, you wouldn't have picked it up and brought it back here, right?"

Orochimaru's cheeks colored slightly and he turned his head away, knowing that Jiraiya had hit the nail on the head. "I don't want it to die. But we're in the middle of an exam and we-"

Jiraiya yawned. "Not like me and Tsunade are doing much of anything while you're running off and doing most of the work for us. Just leave it to us."

"Hmph." He looked over at Tsunade. "What do you think?"

She chewed on her thumbnail and looked over at the baby bear snuggled against her. "I think we should at least try. If it dies, it'll die. If not, then we at least gave it everything we had."

Orochimaru finally nodded in reluctance. He paused in surprise when the baby bear reached out back for him, and he gingerly scooped it back into his arms. He scowled when Jiraiya grinned widely at him. "What?"

"You're a big softie."

"Do you want another snake up your pants?"

Jiraiya stuck his tongue out at him before noticing the necklace that the bear was playing with. "Hey, isn't that Tsunade's necklace?"

"I gave it to him so that if he gets lonely out there, he can look at that and be reminded of me," Tsunade answered.

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at Orochimaru. "I'll beat you yet! This rivalry will end with my victory!"

Orochimaru gave him a blank look. "You're spouting gibberish again, idiot." He adjusted the bear in his arm before saying, "I actually did some research on the stone when Tsunade first told me this was worth three mountains of gold."

Jiraiya nearly had a heart attack. "THREE MOUNTAINS OF GOLD?!"

Tsunade punched him in the face. "Shut up! Do you want people to come running?"

While Jiraiya was rubbing at his bruised cheek, he continued. "I actually asked your grandmother about it, Tsunade. She said the stone helped augmented your grandfather's powers over 'tailed beasts' and that it blesses those destined to be Kages and their dreams."

She perked up in surprise. "To those who will be Kages? How come my grandfather never mentioned that?"

Orochimaru shrugged. "Your grandmother said he was goofing off at the ceremony where he received it and missed out on the details. All he did hear was how expensive it was and told you about it."

Her cheeks turned pink. "So... did it bring you good luck today?"

He thought about the three teams he had managed to take out, along with finding the baby bear in his arm and he nodded. "It did. Although..." He touched his forehead and smiled. "Something else also gave me good luck too."

Tsunade was delighted "And with your white snakeskin at home as your amulet for good luck and rebirth, you're totally protected." She put a hand to her heart, looking rather relieved as she added it all up. "You'll be ok... going out there. We'll wait and trust in you."

Jiraiya was happy to see both of them in such good spirit and he grinned. "Destined to be Kage huh? Guess that means you will become Hokage, smartass." He jabbed a finger at his chest. "I'll be your top ninja and go on super cool missions for you while traveling the world and meeting new hot girls."

Tsunade jumped in enthusiastically. "And I'll be your advisor! I already have some idea since my grandpa and granduncle were Hokages."

He chuckled slightly. "We all need to be Chunin first and then Jonin, before I can become Hokage, you become my top ninja and you become my advisor."

Jiraiya stuck out his fist. "Then we all gotta pass this stage and this exam. Are we all in this or what?" Tsunade nodded eagerly and put her hand on top of his. Orochimaru smirked and added his on top. But what was really funny was when the bear added his paw. They looked at each other and burst out laughing, their hearts light and eager for the future.

For the few days, while Orochimaru went off to hunt for the scroll, she and Jiraiya stayed at their tree home and played with the bear. They tried to teach him how to hunt but the bear seemed more interested in playing around in the water with them. The one time it did manage to catch something was out of pure luck, as the fish just happened to jump right into its mouth. She was worried about it though. It never made any sound and would only look at them with its expressive large eyes to communicate its feelings when it had to. For most of the other time, it liked to laze out on a rock and just stare off into space. Orochimaru was right in saying that it looked like it was constantly daydreaming. But she couldn't help but grow fond of its adorably derpy cuteness.

The bear helped killed the time when she and Jiraiya had to wait for their friend. But all in all, three of them missed him. To help ease their longing for him, Jiraiya began a series of artwork on the inside of their tree. He would carve pictures of what they usually did or their most memorable events and then write out the story underneath (with her help because his writing really was quite horrendous). The bear seemed to enjoy the activity and it looked like it sorta understood when they read the story to it. When he returned to them that evening, Orochimaru was charmed when they showed him the finished work (it took nearly three days and during that time, Jiraiya used his cloaking skill to hide it).

"This is..." He moved his hand over their hard work and he turned to give them a warm smile. "Jiraiya, do you know why I enjoy reading?"

Jiraiya blinked at the random question. "Uhhhhh... because you have no life?" he joked.

"It's because words are eternal." Orochimaru turned back to the words and pictures. "The author may have died hundreds or thousands of years ago, but their knowledge and wisdom lives on in their writings." He smiled sadly. "We'll all die one day. Question is, who'll go first. It would be somewhat comforting to have something to remember each other by, for those left behind."

Jiraiya stroked his chin and said in a dramatic voice, "Now that you mention it, I was planning on writing a book about my awesomeness. It'll be, The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja Jiraiya!"

Orochimaru, in a rare moment of indignity, snorted. "With that kind of title, I doubt it will sell."

Tsunade laughed with him and Jiraiya stuck his tongue out at them before saying, "You know how you said everyone dies right? Well... dying isn't such a bad thing. It just means it's the end of a story. And like all books, the end is what matters most. Whether a story turns out to be good or not, it all depends on that final ending."

Orochimaru folded his hand behind his back, his lips still curved. "Although I don't agree with you, I admit, it's probably the deepest thing you've ever said, Jiraiya."

Tsunade adjusted the baby bear in her arm and looked up at him. "What do you think then, Orochimaru?"

"Death means the end of dreams, the end to everything we have and may come to have." He lifted his head up slightly. "It also means leaving behind those you care and hurting them. Therefore, I believe that death is for the weak. I will fight against that with everything I have."

Jiraiya shrugged. "Nothing we can do to stop that. Let's at least try to die due to old age." He glanced over at Tsunade. "What do you think, Tsunade?"

Tsunade lowered her head and murmured, "I just hate knowing that the people I love will die. I don't think dying would hurt as much as that."

They all turned as the baby bear reached out for Orochimaru, as it usually did when he returned. Without another word, he scooped it back into his arms and said, "One more day left and we can head to the Tower."

"What are we going to do about..." Tsunade stroked the bear's head. "I decided to name him Berry, since he liked eating them so much."

Orochimaru slowly shook his head. To name something was to claim ownership and to cement a bond. She was making it even harder for them to part from it.

"Orochimaru," she began hesitantly. "Tomorrow is the sixth day. Can you... hurry and find the heaven scroll and come back so we can all spend more day with Berry together?"

Jiraiya sighed. "After all this time, and you seriously can't find that scroll? Maybe I should come with you and speed things up."

Little did they know, he had burned six earth scroll, five heaven scrolls and kept one to himself. There was a total of eighteen teams, with nine team each having either one of the scrolls. That meant that there was only three earth scrolls, and three heaven scrolls left. His team possessed one set, so four was still wandering out there. This meant that at a maximum, only three teams are now able to pass. He had... accomplished his mission so why not? He hugged the baby alittle tighter, and said, "I promise I'll be back by noon at latest with a heaven scroll. Alright?"

Tsunade cheered and Jiraiya grinned. "If you don't, I'll kick your ass!"

"Hmph." He smiled and nodded. "Let's get some sleep then."

The next morning, he woke up especially early and headed out with a bounce in his leaps. Embarrassing to say, but he was even smiling as he bounded from tree to tree. As it was their last day, and the single day he could spend with Berry and his teammates, he wanted to make it special. He wracked his mind, wondering what he should do. Nothing really came to his mind for the next hour and for once he wanted to trade just a smidge of his intelligence for creativity. He also only had till noon to get back, so he'd better come up with something fast.

"Hey there."

Orochimaru stopped and whirled around, his hand reaching into his sleeve for a kunai when he realized who it was. "Sakumo Hatake." He eyed the boy with his white hair tied into a low ponytail with interest. He wore his head protector over his forehead and used it to control some of his bangs. From the looks of his ripped long blue pants, grey vest covering a darker blue long sleeved shirt, it looked like he was definitely lacking in sleep.

Sakumo said in an impressed tone of voice, "Even after seven days, you're looking impeccable."

Orochimaru gave him a wry smile. "I doubt you came after me to exchange pleasantries, Sakumo. What is it?"

"Your coldness is definitely legendary," Sakumo said with an arched eyebrow.

"If I was cold, I would have struck you down. As you are after all, competition." Orochimaru straightened up. "But I remember that you helped me two years ago so I am going to be cordial. Now please hurry, I have things to do."

"Like burning scrolls?"

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly. "What about it?"

Sakumo sighed and said, "My team took forever to find another team with an earth scroll. We came across one team who was leaving the forest because you burned their scroll. It didn't take me long to figure out why we couldn't find anyone. You were the one going around eliminating everyone."

"There was nothing against the rules that said we couldn't do that," Orochimaru replied.

"You did that all by yourself, however." Sakumo leaned back against a tree and said questioningly, "Why?"

He looked away uncomfortably. "If my teammates knew, they would have tried to stop me." He grew slightly irritated. "Jiraiya is too moralistic and cares too much about people. He wouldn't have liked me doing this, even if he knows that it would help all three of us advance easier." Orochimaru let out a long breath. The idiot would have said something like how alittle difficulty was worth it if more people could pass.

"And Tsunade?"

He glanced over at him from the corner of his eyes. "I know her best. She would have stopped me for more private reasons."

"None of my business right?" he asked when the pale genin did not elaborate. Sakumo sighed and straightened up. "You may have made it harder for my team to acquire a scroll. But at the same time, you've made it much easier for us as well. Few people attacked us for our scroll and for sure, we won't have to worry about the next stage being too hard with only a handful of participants left."

"There will only be nine people max, who will pass this stage. I am a very thorough person, Sakumo."

"It would seem someone is much more so," commented Sakumo. His expression darkened. "I don't believe it's your work but I've come across ten dead bodies."

Orochimaru's made a small sound of surprise before remembering the death that occurred on the very first day. "They're still out there. They're the last team," he realized out loud.

"You'd best hurry and camp near the Tower. My team is there and I've set up a powerful barrier and we'll let you use it with us, as a way to thank you." Sakumo said worriedly, "I don't even think they're hunting for scrolls. But your team is in danger. Since you've wiped out everyone else from the competition, we're the only ones left they can target."

Orochimaru said in a strained voice, "Did you face them?"

"I did." He opened his vest and rolled up his shirt to reveal a heavily bandaged torso. Even now, blood was seeping out and dying the bandages red. He slowly rolled it back down and said, "They were aiming to kill. We barely managed to escape."

"Tell me everything about them. What kind of abilities did they have?" Orochimaru asked, his heart slowly beginning to race.

"One of them was a Hyuga with an awakened Byakugan. Another was a master at poison and hidden weapons. The last was skilled with the blade and is a sensor," answered Sakumo with a solemn expression.

"We'll be there in three hours." He paused before he made to run off. "You have my respect. Few people would consider doing this for an enemy."

"I am merely grateful."

Orochimaru laughed coldly, sending a chill up his spine. "Don't say it so lightly. Most of the world are ingrates. Our village included." He jumped past him and added, "That's why... my respect is so difficult to earn. Keep that in mind, it might just save you one day."

"And you swipe like this!" Tsunade slashed at the water and picked up a fish with a grin. "Got it, Berry?" The baby bear was lying on its stomach, basking in the warmth of the sun by the banks. The only indication that it even heard her was when it blinked its large eyes at her. She sighed and pouted. "You're even lazier than me..." She walked over to it and gave it the fish she had caught. It seemed to be smiling at her in thanks as it dug in hungrily.

Jiraiya was washing out his weapons and he looked over with a grin. "You're going to make Berry fat. Feed it more berries instead."

Before she could reply, they cringed when a nearby explosion sent a pillar of smoke up into the air. Her eyes widened as she realized someone had set off one of Orochimaru's traps. Jiraiya stood up and he ran over to her side. "Looks like someone finally realized we're here."

She unconsciously touched the scroll at the inside of her outfit at her waist. "Well they picked the wrong day. Not only will Orochimaru be back soon, I've also added even more traps to his." She picked up the baby bear and ran inside their tree home, placing it down on the soft bedding. "Stay here Berry." She patted it on the head and ran back outside with Jiraiya. "Keep quiet pervert. I need to sense them." She closed her eyes and readied a hand seal. As she stayed still and focused, she smiled slightly as a cool gust of wind blew past her and she knew Orochimaru was close. Was this the power of bonds, that her grandfather would sometimes tell her? Well, this windmill was done with waiting. The wind was coming, and it was now time to spin. Her amber eyes snapped open as she could sense three incoming presence and she shouted, "Found you!" She activated her hand seal to release her Sealed Bomb Square Release.

Jiraiya watched as another loud explosion, this one three times even bigger than the last one, detonated near their right. It was so strong, he could smell smoke and charred trees from the blowing wind. "Did you get them?"

"No, they got out of it somehow," Tsunade said in irritation.

"We'll just finish them off ourselves then," Jiraiya said confidently.

They waited with baited breath and Tsunade inched her hand towards the inside of her robe. She could tell from the dense chakra, that these guys were strong. No, these guys weren't only strong, they were the same ones from the first day. "Jiraiya, ready your smoke bombs and go with the plan we agreed on. They're close."

"Readied."

She kept her eyes locked straight ahead and when she saw three figures running towards them she shouted, "Now!" Jiraiya threw five of his smoke bombs, creating a dense wall of red mist and fog and she punched the ground hard, sending cracks forwards and she knew that the area where they were standing had collapsed into a deep pit.

"Needle hair senbon!" Jiraiya lowered his head and shot out a barrage of sharp needles, making sure they can't avoid the pit.

There was no way they could have escaped that trap, thought Tsunade as she waited anxiously with Jiraiya.

"That was quite good. But not good enough."

When the dust settled, Tsunade's jaw dropped as a field of blue dissipated and revealed the three. They had managed to avoid the pit by moving away from it and then the Byakugan user had used Eight Trigrams Palm Revolving Heaven. She had read that this was the Hyuga's clan method for defence. Few things could hope to pass through it.

"Looks like you know this move. As expected from the granddaughter of the First Hokage. Your library must be as impressive as rumours says," said the Byakugan user, understanding the look on her face.

Jiraiya looked at them apprehensively. All of them were dressed in black with small alterations in their clothing. The guy with the white eyes had hair as long as Orochimaru but it was a dull brown. His outfit looked like a yukata covered by a darker skirt in his opinion. The one in the middle was covered from head to toe in a black cloak with a hood, his purple hair the only trace of color that could be found on his body. The last one on the left wielded a sharp katana, had his black hair tied up into a high ponytail and wore a mask over his face that only showed his eyes. His outfit stemmed from an open v-necked yukata that was at the waist with a grey ribbon and he wore pants underneath, slipped into tightly wounded boots. All of the looked to be about ten or twelve but the air around them seemed to belong to someone much older. Just from the look in their eyes, he could feel as if they've seen hell and lived through it.

"So... you've been camping out in that tree all this time," noted the Byakugan user who seemed slightly impressed. "The cloaking technique and chakra used to hide it is very well done."

"Not good enough now that we're discovered," Jiraiya said with a forced grin. "How did you find us anyway?"

"We just recorded and took note of the general direction your friend took everyday," whispered the one in the hood. "He was cautious, of course. Not only would he take different routes, sometimes he even laid traps in his footsteps. The amount of clever tricks he used... delayed us quite abit."

The sword wielder cut in. "We've wasted enough time. Where is your earth scroll?"

Tsunade felt a smile cross her face. "So then, you must have the heaven scroll. Hand it over before I break every bone in your body."

"Two against three?" The hooded one asked in a wispy (and rather creepy) voice.

"I can go one against three if I needed!" Tsunade shouted, charging forward with Jiraiya following close behind her.

Time passed in a blur after that. She exchanged strikes, punches and kicks and even used shadow clones to help with the fight. Trees toppled over, boulders flew and she pounded enough holes into the ground to make it an extreme health hazard. But the Byakugan was skilled in taijutsu and did well against her clones. She couldn't afford to get near him, knowing that if he even struck one vital point, then she was finished. As for the one with the blade, he was also skilled and cut down plenty of her clones. Thankfully, both their sensory skills could not detect the real her thanks to her granduncle amazing technique.

She sometimes would look over at Jiraiya to see if he needed any help. His hair technique was good for offense that would counter that weird guy's weapons that he would throw out from his seals at an alarming rate. But his hair was also good for defence as it would wrap around him like a wall and prevent anything from striking him. It was extremely important that he kept his defence up since she could see poison dripping from the sharp edges of all his enemy's weapons.

"You're open."

Her eyes went wide and as gasped as a kick sent her flying. She hit the ground hard and arched her back in pain, feeling wet blood coming out from a wound. Did he have knives strapped to his boot or something? On the other side, Jiraiya went down as a small senbon scratched his hand, turning it green and inflaming it. The poison spread quickly and he fell backwards, convulsing in pain. "I can't feel my arm," he groaned.

"Jiraiya!" She screamed, struggling to get up. She stilled when the blade was pressed to her neck and she glowered up at him. "I will punch through your guts before you can take me down, bastard!"

His eyes were emotionless and dead as he pressed his sword closer to her neck, drawing a thin line of blood. "The chances of that happening is next to none. Now tell me, where is your other friend?"

"Go shove that katana up your ass," shouted Jiraiya nearby, his body curled up in pain. "We're not telling you anything!"

Tsunade couldn't help but be slightly confused. Why didn't they search her and Jiraiya for the scroll before trying to find Orochimaru? It didn't seem like getting the scroll was their purpose at all.

"You see anything?"

The Byagukan user scanned the area and shook his head. "He's not here. But he'll probably come back by night, like usual."

"We don't have much time left," said the swordsman darkly. "Our leader is already displeased we're taking so long."

The hooded man turned towards the tree that they had been using as a home for the past week. It was the largest tree there, which was the reason why they had chosen it. He muttered, "I suppose a big enough fire or explosion should draw him here faster. He's actually probably already running this way because of the traps we've set off. Best to be sure though."

Tsunade and Jiraiya felt their blood run cold. "Berry! Berry get out of there!" screamed Tsunade as he readied his hand seals.

Jiraiya struggled to his knees but it was all futile as he collapsed back down. "Get up... get up dammit!" he shouted in frustration, clutching at his arm.

"Stop! Stop it! Don't do it! I'll give you the scroll!" Tsunade reached into her outfit and pulled it out for them. "Take the scroll and leave us alone!"

"We will take both your scroll and your lives," replied the hooded boy, turning to look at her from under his hood. He finished his hand seals and said, "Exploding Flame Shot."

"No! No don't do it!" She cried as the baby bear peeked out fearfully. "STOP IT!"

From his hands, multiple balls of fire formed and he launched it at the tree. Digging out three kunai with explosive tags, he threw it in afterwards and they all watched as the tree burst into a shower of exploding wood and fire. It was so blinding that she lost all of her sight for the next minute and she screamed until it felt like her throat would internally bleed. "I'll kill you!" she screamed. "I'll kill you all!"

"Summoning Technique!"

She blinked away her tears and looked up as Orochimaru stood beside his snake, Manda. From both of his hands, snakes had erupted forth from his sleeves and it had wrapped around the swordsman who was pressing his sword to her neck, and entwined tightly around the Hyuga who was standing over Jiraiya. His eyes had never gleamed brighter and she was frozen by the killing intent in them. Gone was any trace of warmth. Instead, they were flat and cold as ice, the yellow color looking like the strongest poison one could ever cook up and his handsome face was distorted with rage.

"What do you need me for?" hissed Manda, rising up with its fangs dripping with venom.

"You help me fight, and you can devour all three of them afterwards," said Orochimaru. Tugging on his right arm, he pulled it with all his might and they heard the snapping sound of bones as he broke the swordsman's neck. His eyes flashed as he looked over to the Hyuga. "You can see alot of things with those eyes right? I'll let you see your own death as I rip them out of your sockets and hold them over your body."

The white-eyed boy released a large volume of chakra and pushed the snakes off him. But before he could grab at Jiraiya, the snakes pulled Jiraiya out of harm's way and over to his side. Tsunade had also run over to him and she looked at him tearfully. "They killed Berry," she sobbed.

"And they hurt you two," he said as his snakes disappeared back into his sleeves. He moved his hand to her neck, where blood still trickled down from the wound and he bit down so hard, he could taste blood in his mouth. Taking the earth scroll from her hand, he held it up and said, "You want our scroll and our lives right?" He opened his mouth and tilted his head back before lowering the scroll towards it.

Tsunade watched with wide eyes as it disappeared, inch by inch, into his mouth. When it was all the way inside, he swallowed with an audible gulp that sent a slight chill down her spine. She knew that he had a lot of techniques that would probably be considered weird or scary by other people. The very first time she saw him extend his neck, she almost screamed. But there was something incredibly ominous and frightening about what he just did. It didn't just look like he was swallowing the scroll... it looked like he was devouring it entirely.

Orochimaru slowly moved his hand to his left eye as he finished. "Then let's begin this fight over our scrolls..." He looked over at Tsunade from the gaps in his fingers, remembering her words to him.

While you risk your heart, I will risk my own. I'm going to gamble on this with everything I've got, Orochimaru.

I want to become friends with someone who has so much love for his parents and is working so hard. That's why I gambled everything to reach out to you.

He slowly pulled on the bottom of his eye, revealing the golden darkness within. He had been terrified for friends as he ran back for them. Now, he would give their enemies a taste of the fear that they made him go through without mercy. His eyes flashed hungrily as he said, "By putting our lives on the line."

For his dark pure love, he would risk it all.

Darkwings13:

-reference to episode 28 of Naruto where Orochimaru did the exact same thing of swallowing the scroll and saying those words to Sasuke and Sakura. Also, it was also an earth scroll that he swallowed :D I found it funny that Tsunade also said, "From here on, I'll also risk my life," in episode 95 when she faced Orochimaru. I think there's relation there :)

-I've noticed that all those who wore the necklace and were completely fine (Hashirama, Naruto, Tsunade) were all Hokages. And I wanted to show how Tsunade got the idea that the necklace and its relation to being Hokage. Uhhhhhh yea, Orochimaru did become Kage, even if it's not Hokage. He became Otokage, head of his own village, so he didn't get cursed by the necklace. He certainly is a lucky white snake xD

-This whole baby bear thing *cries* I wanted to use as to inspire why Orochimaru was so empty and pessimistic about the Ame orphans. He wanted to kill them since he thought it was more 'humane'. He didn't want to do it because he thought they were a bother. In his own way, he felt pity and had a a heart.

-I also tried to give Jiraiya the inspiration as to why he'd want to be a writer in the future, and why he thought it was how a Shinobi died that would give his life meaning.

-Hi JigokuShoujosRevenge! Omg you're always first to review xD I have to thank you actually. It was when you said 'she had to think it was good luck before she started handing it out to loved ones right?' that made me think really hard about it and I came up with how to write about it in this chapter. With it blessing those to become Kage! So thank you for that and for your support in reading as always friend. :'( Yea... Oro sorta did become dead inside. Not as psycho and dead as Sasuke though thank god xD Whew that was all freaky when he tried to kill Kakashi and Sakura. And I was like wtf Naruto? You still want to save this loser? Lol

-Haiii ileangie23! Haha you're never late my friend. ^_^ I like that you enjoyed the relations to Oro and Tsunade's development and research into regeneration. They are like two sides to one coin. Yin yang, male and female, etc. She maintains her youthful looks without hurting anyone, he does it in the most harmful way possible to others. He created a technique where he can continue his rebirths and live on forever for himself, and she created the Creation Rebirth technique so that she would never die only in battle and be there for her comrades. She probably has little to no interest in living forever, as her life is tied closely to those she loves. With her lifespan shortened, in a way, she moves closer to dying and being with her loved ones as they don't have Uzumaki/Senju blood to keep them alive for so long. It's probably what she subconsciously wants. :') I'd cry buckets if somehow she and Oro died at the same time. DX

XD oh yea the man period was inspired by a friend. I'm always so amused when he tells me he's having a man period and is craving food. And I'm glad you like the strange mix of atmosphere in the last chapter. Thank you for the reassurance and reviews :D Hehe, yep, the legendary forehead kiss of good luck. 3

Last but not least, BlackLady777! Indeed, what Orochimaru did was right in my opinion. He has no obligations to others, only to his team. After all, it was the three of them who signed up together. They should focus only on themselves and advance. But he knows that Jiraiya and Tsunade are kind and it was this kindness that helped keep him from falling into the darkness. So while he thinks it's a weakness, he can't bring himself to extinguish their lights. In a way, it's like a parent who'd steal the bread but stop their kids from stealing since they know it's wrong. Quite noble and I can never call that evil. What Oro thought up is probably considered rare, as in the anime, we see everyone just moving to take only the scroll they needed. :D But I do love that you pointed it out in my chapter so I can elaborate like this my friend. Haha, I was super amused too when I found out that apparently Oro doesn't sweat. And yep! Well... I'm trying to elaborate and help make his windmill speech somewhat understandable. In the anime I was totally like O_O whut you smoking Oro? Hope it's ok so far. X/D Glad you liked it friend.

Until next time everyone! :) Omg this is my longest chapter for this story lol