Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Sakumo politely trying to hide his laughter behind his hand. "Sakumo." The white hair boy met his eyes and he gestured to the exit. "I would like a word with you before our match starts."

"Oh. Alright," said Sakumo, looking alittle hesitant.

"Hey! But Tsunade's match is starting," Jiraiya protested. "Where are you going?"

"It'll only be a minute," reassured Orochimaru as he left. Down the empty and quiet hallway, Orochimaru leaned back against the wall and let out a long breath.

"Looks like you have something very troubling on your mind," Sakumo noted. He couldn't help but add with a chuckle, "Is it perhaps about Tsunade?"

"It's just a date with Jiraiya. I'm sure it'll end with him flying like usual," he replied, not understanding why Sakumo was shaking his head and laughing. Orochimaru made an uncomfortable sound in the back of his throat. "But no, I called you out here to discuss something important." Slowly, he lifted up his glowing golden eyes and said quietly, "I owe you a debt back in the second stage of the exam. I've decided... if you want me to, I'll forfeit our match."

Sakumo reacted sharply to the news. "You'll forfeit?"

He replied evenly, "I don't like to owe people. Without your help, Tsunade and Jiraiya might have died. I see no other way of repaying you-"

"No." Sakumo shook his head, his low white ponytail trailing off his shoulder. "I tipped you off to thank you, remember? You don't owe me." He pressed his lips together firmly. "Truth be told, I am eager to test my skills against yours. Especially since I've heard that you're also a practitioner of kenjutsu. Don't throw in the match."

"Fine," Orochimaru said, crossing his arms. "But I still insist on repayment. My companions' lives, are worth much more than those scrolls I inadvertently helped you with."

"Alright..." He paused and said thoughtfully, "Since I saved your two friends, promise me that in the future, you'll spare the lives of those close to me."

The words made Orochimaru's lips curve. "You worded it in a rather peculiar way," he said, his eyes gleaming golden. "I see. You went back there and checked to see 'the piece' I left behind in the forest, didn't you?"

"I was glad I went alone. Momo might have gotten nightmares," Sakumo replied uneasily. "I have respect for your strength and your bonds with your teammate, Orochimaru. But I also know that to ask you to spare feelings for anyone else, would be as silly as trying to drain the ocean."

Orochimaru said lightly, "You don't ask a snake to protect you, you can only ask it to not bite you. I am impressed by your insight."

"Is that really the type of person you are?" Sakumo questioned, wondering if it really was his true nature, of if he just forced himself to be that way to protect himself. It was well known back at the Academy, that Orochimaru was an orphan. With his ghost-like white skin, scary eyes and solemn air, few people liked him and Sakumo had to admit, that even he tried to steer clear of Orochimaru, especially since he heard that he knocked out three kids on his first day. He never paid much attention to him until Tsunade shocked their class by starting to hang out with him. It was only then, that some actually did some research and found out about his situation. He remembered quite sadly, how some had gossiped and made fun of him being poor, and saying that he was only studying so hard to stay out of the orphanage (as if there was anything wrong with that in the first place). A few others even implied that Tsunade just befriended him so that she could get help with homework since she was so lazy, and mocked their friendship. It was at times like this, that he wondered if he should have spoken up instead of just standing on the sideline.

Orochimaru gave him a weary smile. "Are we born a certain way, or is it life that molds us. Who knows. I can't give you a straight answer. The only thing I do know is that I'm different. Most people... don't like those who are different. I've ceased to care."

"Isn't it lonely?" Sakumo asked.

"It used to be. But now I have my team and Sarutobi-sensei." He held out a hand towards him. "Protect those you care about, Sakumo Hatake. You don't want to have eyes like mine."

Sakumo gripped the pale hand and shook it quietly. "What do you mean by that?"

"You know what I mean," he answered, the darkness of tragic loss swimming deep in his golden orbs.

"And the winner is Tsunade Senju!"

Tsunade cheered and hopped up and down. "Mom! Dad! Grandma! Sensei! I won! I won!"

Sarutobi chuckled and said quietly, "Lord First and Second would be so proud..." She had done amazingly well with her taijutsu and had even managed to set up traps amongst the trees and ground while chasing down Juro. Though... the boy did seem oddly fearful of her before the fight even started.

Tsunade ran over and jumped back up to the waiting room, just as excited as Jiraiya was when he won his match. "Did you two see me?!"

Jiraiya pointed to his black eye. "Out of one eye, yea. But anyways, you did do pretty good, Tsunade."

Orochimaru smiled. "You did well, hime. Your taijutsu has improved much more than I expected."

"Oh, so you were underestimating me?" she asked imperiously. Tsunade fluffed her ponytail, trying to hide how happy she was to hear his praise. She knew he liked it when she was strong, and she was sorta glad she did put in extra training hours. But right now, she was still mad at him for setting her up on a date with Jiraiya.

He just smirked and walked past her, used to her temper tantrums. Gracefully, he leaped down with Sakumo to battle. As they walked to the center and face off each other, he quickly glanced around their battlefield. Craters everywhere... thanks to Tsunade. Some of the trees were heavily charred from Jiraiya's fireballs. A quarter of the field had also turned into sludge, due to Juro's water techniques.

"Get ready... start!"

Right off the bat, he and Sakumo jumped back to put space between each other. His topaz colored eyes narrowed at the boy with his white hair tied into a low ponytail, with his head protector holding back his bangs. His legs in his long blue pants were tense, probably debating between charging or dodging. His hands hovered towards the inside of his grey vest, reaching towards his dark blue long sleeved shirt. Soon enough, two shurikens were thrown in his direction, just as Orochimaru expected. He quickly sidestepped them and reached for the inside of his sleeve for a scroll. At the same time, Sakumo drew out a short sword that glowed white hot.

"Not a chance." Unraveling it, he sent a barrage of shurikens and kunais he stored in them the night before. As Sakumo batted away the projectiles, he unrolled his scroll alittle more and pulled out his own slim sword. Throwing away the now empty scroll, he hastily raised it up to block the downward slash aimed at his head. Pushing it aside, he lunged forward and elbowed Sakumo in the chest. Following up the attack, he jumped and rolled through the air and landed neatly behind him, flicking away the blood on his blade. He smirked as blood spilled from Sakumo's cut shoulder and he turned around, lazily twirling the blade once in his hand. "That's it?"

"Far from it," Sakumo said, grinning as he dashed right back in. As Orochimaru landed in the middle of one of the crater to dodge, Sakumo slid down the slope and skated forward with his sword thrust out.

"You!" Orochimaru made a sound of anger as part of his long black hair was cut from the stroke. Flipping backwards and out of the hole for safety, he touched the damaged ends on his right side, noting that it only reached his shoulder now. "You will have to pay for cutting my precious hair, Sakumo. My apologies," Orochimaru said lowly, letting go of his beloved hair. From his sleeve, he threw a smoke bomb at Sakumo's feet and swiftly charged back in. "Leaf style: Deep Fang!" With a powerful upward slash, he cut deeply into Sakumo's left arm and followed up with a low upward kick to the jaw, sending Sakumo reeling backwards. Seizing his chance, he raised his left hand and sent his snakes to attack. "Shadow snake hands!" But Sakumo cut their heads off and proceeded to throw another few shurikens at him.

Catching one, he stabbed his sword into the ground, threw the shuriken right back and performed five hand seals. "Shuriken Shadow Clone technique!" The single shuriken multiplied into fifty, earning loud gasps of admiration and shock from the crowd at the incredible amount. From his seat, Sarutobi smiled in delight to see how well Orochimaru had performed the technique he had invented.

But Sakumo's skill with a sword was incredible as he parried away every single one of them heading towards him, no matter how fast or how many came at him. His sword's movement was so fast, it was only a blur to the eyes.

Orochimaru hastily formed another set of hand seals. "Wind Release: Condemning Screams!" The wind spun violently around Sakumo and began cutting at him. At the intense speed, it really did seem like the very air was literally screaming in rage.

With a grunt, Sakumo raised up his sword and made a single hand seal with one hand. "Lightning Release: Disrupting Charges!"

"Not bad," Orochimaru replied as the lightning cut through the weak points of the whirlwind.

Jiraiya gaped as Orochimaru took his sword back in hand and the two continued to clash swords after his storm of cutting wind was dispelled. "Why isn't he using more of his techniques?" asked Jiraiya.

"Sakumo is too fast. He doesn't have time to make hand seals before that sword comes at his neck," replied Tsunade. Her eyes widened as Sakumo elbowed Orochimaru in the chest and smashed the hilt of his blade into his head, making him fall to the ground. Quickly rolling away for safety, he tried to get back on his feet but in the next second, he buckled and went down on one knee. "Orochimaru!" She watched as he clutched at his chest, slowly opening his mouth and letting a mouthful of blood spill out onto the ground.

Jiraiya panicked. "What's wrong with him?"

"He hasn't fully recovered from his surgeries. It's still fragile there," she said, putting her hands over her cheeks fearfully.

She then pointed at her friend's sword. "His sword is also cracking. It won't last long at this rate."

Jiraiya squinted and gasped. "You're right! What the heck! That sword isn't cheap either."

Tsunade took a critical look at Sakumo's own blade and explained, "See how the other sword is glowing white? It's made of a special metal that physically manipulates a wielder's natural chakra. From what I can see, it looks like Sakumo's chakra nature is lightning." She shook Jiraiya as Orochimaru was sent flying with a kick to the stomach. "If he doesn't come up with something fast, this is going to be really bad!"

Orochimaru rolled to the side to avoid the downward stroke that Sakumo delivered. Scrambling to his feet, he hastily blocked the next three attacks before leaping over his head and throwing two shurikens at him. As he backtracked, he knew that his sword would only last about three more hits. Not only that, it was starting to hurt to breathe. If he didn't do something soon, it was all over.

His eyes moved upwards to see Tsunade and Jiraiya shouting encouragements at him. Even Sarutobi-sensei had gotten up from his seat and was leaning over the handrails with a worried expression for him. His attention returned to battle as Sakumo leaped down at him. Orochimaru raised his sword and blocked the strike but his knees buckled under the force. He grinded on his teeth as he forced Sakumo back. Charging forward, he slammed the butt of his sword into his chest and grabbed onto his arm. With a grunt, he rolled him over his shoulder, slammed him into the ground and jumped backwards three times. Running his hand down his cracked sword, he made a hand sign with one hand as well, and the edge of the blade was sharpened by the wind. Raising his hand back, he threw the sword with all his might at Sakumo.

A powerful explosion of wind reached the audience as Sakumo blocked it with his own lightning infused blade, and metal pieces flew everywhere as Orochimaru's sword crumbled.

As the wind buffetted him and held him back, Orochimaru tossed back his head and opened his mouth wide. From it, a purple scroll slowly appeared and he pulled it out with an audible wet sound. Throwing it up into the air, he made the release sign. "Behold one of the legendary imperial treasures... Sword of Kusanagi!" The scroll exploded in a shower of bright light as Orochimaru released the seal binding it. It glowed a brilliant blue, even brighter than Sakumo's own sword and it hovered in the air with an air of regality and power. "Split and divide!" He slashed at the air with his hand and the sword divided into six identical copies. He pointed at Sakumo and they all flew at him at a terrifying speed. As the swords distracted him, he whipped out seven sealing paper in different colors. Taking the red seal, he pushed his chakra into it to activate it. "I call on the power of hellfire." It glowed and flew to one of the sword, making the blade shine blood red and fire ran down the sharp blade.

Sakumo gritted his teeth as he slashed away at the now glowing red sword, feeling the great heat as it passed him.

Orochimaru moved onto the next sealing tag. "I call on the waters of this world." The seal did the same as the previous one, attaching itself to the handle of another Kusanagi sword and merging into it.

"Wow! Wow wow wow!" cried Tsunade, dazzled by the swords lighting up so brilliantly. The rest of the crowd was also gushing and ahhing at the display before them.

Sarutobi was practically beaming with pride and he realized how talented Orochimaru was at summoning. Beside him, even his former teammates were watching with wide eyes. But he noticed that even with Orochimaru's amazing display of power, Sakumo's sword dance was unparalleled in magnificence as he ducked, slashed, thrust and countered every single sword. His acrobatics and swordsmanship was breathtakingly beautiful and deadly, his own different skill on par with Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's brows furrowed in concentration as he ran his hand along three seal tags at once. "I call upon the song of the wind, the fury of lightning, and life of the earth!" As they morphed with the swords, he held up his last two seals and closed his eyes. Biting his thumbs, he smeared blood on them. "These are the last ones. I call on the darkness of deep yang, the light of brilliant ying, the source of heaven and hell, and everything in between!" The two tags combined together on one sword, unleashing the Sword of Kusanagi's true powers and a sign of the yin and yang symbol appeared on the hilt of all six swords. As he took the sword in hand, he ran forward, his eyes burning with determination. "I've activated all of its nature release! This sword can now cut through anything!" he said, making a hand sign. The five other swords cut down into the ground to form a circle around them. From the ground, a water geyser, eruption of fire, sharp stalagmite, cutting winds and lightning struck the ground, welcoming the grand sword of legend back onto the stage of history.

Sakumo forced the rest of his remaining to his blade, making it glow so brightly that it even hurt his own eyes to hold it. "Even if you have a legendary sword, it means nothing if the wielder is lacking."

Orochimaru put both hands on his blade and raised it up. "I'll see if you're really worth unsealing my greatest weapon for, Sakumo Hatake!" The two blades struck against each other, and the sound ricochet through the air in deafening waves. Everyone's sight was blinded by the intense light and when it finally died down, Sakumo's sword was broken clean in half and Orochimaru was bleeding from the shoulder to the waist. Both of them were flat on their back and breathing hard. After some time, it was obvious neither of them had the strength to continue.

"This is a draw!" announced the jonin, and thunderous applause soon followed.

"Orochimaru!"

"Sakumo!"

He looked over as Tsunade and Jiraiya ran towards him while Sakumo's own team ran over to him. His entire body hurt and he groaned as they helped him sit up. Jiraiya said worriedly, "Hey snake face, you ok?"

"My entire body hurts, my clothes are ruined and my hair is lopsided. What do you think?" croaked Orochimaru.

Tsunade beamed and said reassuringly, "I still think you're pretty." She giggled when he blushed. With Jiraiya's help, they helped him stand up. Everyone's attention turned to Sarutobi as he said loudly, "We've witnessed a great show of skills and talents today. Perhaps the greatest in history. But alas, it's now the end of the Chunin exam and I will announce the names of those we've deemed strong enough to become Chunin. Those selected not only showed intellect and strength but an unbreakable willpower. They've endured, persevere, and never gave up on the path to becoming a true ninja of this village. Let's hear it for Sakumo Hatake, Tsunade Senju, Jiraiya-"

Jiraiya screamed in delight, went into his Kabuki pose and began making another long winded speech. As he did so, Orochimaru almost completely missed his own name being called out. But he caught it at the end anyways, and he smiled, happy that all of his hard work had paid off. Looking over at Sakumo, he smiled slightly and nodded with him, recognizing each other's strength and the good battle they had.

"Hey Orochi, where did you get that sword?" Tsunade peeked down at the sword in his hand. "You said... one of the imperial treasures. Is that true?"

He nodded. "The Yata Mirror, known as the eight span mirror, the Yasakani Jewel, known as the eight shaku curved jewel, and this sword, are the three imperial treasures, hime. I don't know how, but my father managed to obtain it during his travels and now it's mine."

She blinked and said thoughtfully, "You used seven seals... but the other two treasures are called-"

"I know," he said, pleased by how quickly she caught on. "I am the eighth seal."

"EHHHHHH?!" Tsunade's jaw dropped. "How are you the eighth seal?!"

"As long as I live, this sword will always be mine," he replied, eyeing the sharp blade. Opening his mouth, he slowly lowered it and swallowed it whole with a gulp.

Soon enough, Jiraiya's family and Tsunade's family ran out to congratulate and gush over them. Knowing his place, he stood back politely to let their families celebrate and he let the medical ninjas strip off the top half of his clothes to bandage him in the meanwhile. When they finished bandaging him up, he hovered at the edge uncertainly, before wondering if he should just leave and head home to let them celebrate with their families in peace.

"Congratulations, Orochimaru."

"Sensei..." His eyes widening to see him come down all the way from his seat.

Sarutobi bent down to his height and hugged him, ignoring the looks and whispers by everyone around them. He smiled in content and burrowed his face into his teacher's chest. Chuckling, Sarutobi murmured, "You were excellent out there, Orochimaru."

"I wanted to make you proud," Orochimaru admitted. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest as Jiraiya yelled.

"Yahoo!" cheered Jiraiya, running around them in circles. "We did it! We're Chunin!"

Tsunade clapped her hands in delight as confetti exploded over the arena and rained down on them. "We did it! We did it!"

"Hmph." His lips curved into a genuine smile, his eyes sweet like honey as he looked up at the falling confetti. "Yes... we did it."

Sarutobi chuckled at his three kids. Even with all of his accomplishments, nothing, not even the day he became Hokage, could compare to this moment.

"I was supposed to have dinner with Sarutobi-sensei tomorrow to celebrate. He was also curious about my sword and wanted to ask me questions," Orochimaru said blankly, sipping his cup of tea as Tsunade stood outside his front door in the middle of the night. He was surprised she still had the energy to come see him this late, after going through such a long day.

She huffed and turned her nose up at him. "I don't care. You have to be the chaperone for my date," she put a heavy emphasis on the word as if it had just burned her entire collection of stuffed animals, "cuz it's all your fault."

Orochimaru sighed and leaned against the doorway. "First, chaperones are supposed to be adults. Secondly, hime, you're overreacting-"

"Do you want another knee to the crotch?"

He inwardly sweat dropped and decided to be more careful about his next words. Gingerly, he said, "I can't possibly break my word with Sarutobi-sensei."

Tsunade giggled. "No worries, I already told him that you won't be able to make it because I'm dragging you out to chaperon my date. He didn't seem to mind and said it was probably for the best for Jiraiya's well-being, and that he'll reschedule your dinner for the following day after."

"Oh." It sort of made sense. If he was there, he'd be able to stop Jiraiya from doing anything perverted that would result in Tsunade possibly breaking every bone in the his body. But still, he could think of a thousand other things he'd rather do than watch over what would probably be a very awkward and maybe violent date. "Even so, I don't want to," he said as he sipped on his tea.

"You owe me remember?" When he seemed confused, she pointed to her necklace. "Remember? If I win, you're not only going to have to be my friend, you're going to have to do something extra because I added my necklace into the gamble."

The familiar words jogged his memory and he realized that she was right. He did owe her a favor when he agreed to fight her with in their first year at the Academy together. He winced slightly as the deep cut he sustained stung. She seemed to notice his discomfort as she lowered her tone with him. "Does it still hurt?"

"I can handle a little pain, hime."

"What about your chest? Is it ok? What did the medical ninjas say about that?" she pestered.

Orochimaru held up his tea. "They told me to keep taking my medications. I was just drinking it down before you came."

She fiddled with her necklace and said softly, "You know... never mind, you should just stay home and rest, Orochi. And go out with sensei to celebrate. I can just knock Jiraiya out if he tries anything funny."

He was slightly touched by her thoughtfulness. Despite the fact that she was spoiled, she had a good heart. He'd never forget that it was because of her heart that they ended up being friends.

I think you're amazing. You may be cold, but I've never seen someone so hardworking, intelligent, strong, and capable of such a deep love for his family. At first I thought you were just really cool and the sadness for your parents deaths made me want to reach out to you. But now, I see that there's so much more to you and I just really really like what I've seen. I really like you, Orochimaru.

Tsunade tilted her head, confused on why Orochimaru was suddenly smiling at her. "What's so funny?"

He sipped his tea and looked at her over the rim of his cup. "I was just reminiscing." After he swallowed, he said, "Jiraiya will be coming over at seven, correct? I'll come over at five so you can tell me ahead of time, how you'd like me to 'chaperone' your date."

She squealed in joy. "Really Orochi? You mean it? Wait are you sure you'll ok? It still hurts ri-"

"For you, I can bear it," he replied. It was after all, his fault why she was stuck on this date in the first place. He should at least take responsibility and supervise it if she really wanted him too.

"Eeeeek!" He didn't quite understand why she put her hands to her reddening cheeks, turned her back to him and squealed. "I knew I was right to have gambled on wanting to be friends with you," she gushed. "You're probably the one too!"

"The one?" he asked, even more confused.

"Never mind, see you tomorrow Orochi!" She quickly hugged him before she ran off, looking ridiculously happy for some reason. With a sigh, he muttered, "I can never tell if it's a girl thing or if it's just her sometimes."

Just as he predicted, the 'date' started off horribly. When Jiraiya arrived to pick Tsunade up, he was not very happy to know that he was accompanying them as a chaperone. That was the nice way to say it. The more accurate version was 'Jiraiya was completely pissed off at him for being an annoying third wheel'. He himself was not too happy about being dragged out into public since his hair was now ugly and lopsided. He could use a transformation technique, but he was still tired from that match with Sakumo and he had no idea how long this date was supposed to last. So instead, he went for a simple black cloak to cover himself.

However, he did looked alittle creepy as he tailed after Tsunade and Jiraiya, looking like some kind of weird stalker. But he didn't have much of a choice as he had to enforce the 'etiquette and manners suitable for a respectable date for the Senju princess'. Tsunade's list for this was so long, it covered half of her floor as she had read it out to him earlier. He summarized the whole thing in three words. 'Jiraiya can't touch her'. Obviously, this made Jiraiya even more annoyed. But for some reason, he directed this irritation at him instead of Tsunade, who was the one who made the rules in the first place.

Two hours later...

It would be an understatement to say that he was literally bored out of his mind. Jiraiya had decided to go for a romantic walk in the park with Tsunade. The bridge over a singing small river, fireflies dancing around flowers and bushes, swimming ducks and cute bunnies were only nice for viewing maybe two or three times. But they had cycle through the damn park like twenty times and he was starting to wonder if this was some kind of time paradox. Their conversation wasn't very interesting either. Jiraiya was saying something about how he was thinking of writing a story, and he was doing some sort of interview with Tsunade, saying he'd like her to be the heroine. Surprisingly enough, Tsunade agreed and giggled that she did like to be the centre of attention and that he'd better make her look pretty in the book.

Things sort of got better when Jiraiya announced that he wanted to take her to watch a play for the last hour. The good part was that they could finally leave the park. He was sick of swatting at mosquitoes and looking at the same scenery over and over again. The bad part was that now he had to wait outside the building where the play took place, since Jiraiya obviously only got tickets for him and Tsunade. It wasn't really bad news to him, but Tsunade was not very happy.

"What's the point of a chaperon if they're not even there!" she protested as they waited in line to be let into the theatre, after getting their tickets checked.

Jiraiya glared at Orochimaru. "Chaperons are outdated."

"It's only an hour-long play," he said tiredly, rubbing his nose. "It'll be fine, hime." When she continued pouting, he said, "Fine. If something goes wrong, yell for me. I'll come in and take you home immediately."

Tsunade perked up when he said that. "Oki," she chirped. She then pointed at Jiraiya warningly. "Keep in mind that even if Orochimaru can't get in, I'll send you flying."

Jiraiya put on a fake hurt expression. "Tsunade, haven't I been a complete gentleman so far? The great Jiraiya has promised a great date, and a great date it shall be."

Orochimaru watched blankly as the two went inside, before looking around, and seeing where he should sit down and wait. It was then that he noticed a nearby vendor, with a few kids and adults at some tables. They were all given white sculptures and paintbrushes to color them, under the light of the lanterns on the table. One was already halfway done with a rooster sculpture. He couldn't help but be reminded of his few snake sculptures at him. Granted, those were made of emerald and fine gems, but coloring one himself would be nice. It would also be a good task to do to kill time until the play was over.

Walking over, he said politely, "How much does it cost to paint a sculpture?"

The young man with short brown hair smiled down at him. "We have small, medium and large kiddo. It's 500, 800, and 1000 ryo depending on which size you want."

Orochimaru leaned over to see the table full of unpainted sculptures. "I'll take the small snake please."

When he was given a paintbrush, a set of acrylic paints and the sculpture depicting a snake curled up to sleep, but with its head tilted in curiosity, he chose the table furthest away from everyone and sat there alone to paint. He made sure the snake was pure white by painting it over once with a thick coat of snow white paint, before tapping gently into the grey paint to draw scales on it.

Time flew after that, and when he finished painting its eyes a golden yellow, he leaned back and looked it over. "White snake of rebirth and fortune..." he murmured. He then perked up slightly. What if he gave this to Sarutobi-sensei? He was sure he'd like it. It would be a way to thank him for everything he's done for him as well. As he waited patiently for it dry, the doors to the theatre across the street opened and people began exiting. Before he could think that the date went well, he heard, "OROCHIMARU!"

He quickly blew on the last bit of drying paint before picking up his sculpture as carefully as possibly and running over to the doors. He jumped when Tsunade ran out, snarling in rage. Quickly stowing his sculpture under his cloak before she could see, he asked, "What happened?"

She put a hand on her hip and fumed. "I don't know what the hell he was reaching for but he grabbed my thigh. So I broke his fingers."

As usual, she was always so violent. Orochimaru subconsciously squeezed his legs together at the unpleasant memory from yesterday before saying, "I suppose I'll take you home then?"

She nodded and hooked arms with him as they walked away. "Augh, I knew things wouldn't go well once we entered that theatre without you. He kept trying to put his arm over me! I only have so much patience." He nodded silently, looking slightly nervous and she peeked down at the bulge in his cloak. "What's that?"

"Nothing."

Tsunade said calmly, "Orochi, you know you can't lie to me. Come on, spill it." Before he could answer, a gust of wind picked up part of his cloak and she gasped. "It's so pretty! Did you make that?!"

Orochimaru sighed and pulled his cloak back over his white snake sculpture. "I just painted it. I'll add on more touches later, and give it to sensei."

"That's wonderful! Why are you so good at everything?" Tsunade said in delight, switching into her happy mode as fast as her grandfather used to switch into his depression mode "Hey hey, get me one too Orochi! But I want a slug." She didn't understand why he just smirked and stayed silent. "So is that a yes or a no?"

"Hmph."

"That's not a legitimate answer," she said with a pout.

Orochimaru chuckled and looked at her with amusement. "Hime, if there's something you want, and if it's something I can afford, I would get it for you. You should know that by now." He didn't really understand why she made that same squealing sound from last night and rubbed her cheek into his shoulder, looking overly happy again. She was his best friend, wasn't it obvious he'd get her a gift she wanted?

"You know Orochi," she said in content. "It's nice that I managed to crack through the hard outer shell to reach the soft part."

He arched an eyebrow at her. "What?"

She giggled and held on to his arm alittle tighter. "You're so stupid sometimes. It's cute."

"But... you called me stupid yesterday and knee me in the crotch," Orochimaru said slowly. When she just laughed in reply, he smiled. "You are strange, Tsunade-hime."

Six months later... August 9

It was literally 3am in the morning when Orochimaru had to scramble out of his futon and dress himself as fast as he could in the darkness after he got a distressed call from Tsunade that her mother was in labor. He wasn't quite sure if something was wrong, but he had replied without a second thought, "I'll be at the hospital in ten minutes."

Right after he burst out of his house, he nearly fell over as someone bumped into him. Turning around, he squinted and asked, "Jiraiya?"

"Yo! You got the call from Tsunade too?" Jiraiya got up from the ground and wiped at the dirt on his butt when his friend nodded. "I thought you did so I went over to get you. Come on let's hurry!"

He nodded and they ran towards the hospital.

Darkwings13:

-The Sword of Kusanagi is said to have been found inside the monstrous eight headed serpent when he was defeated. The sword, the holy mirror and sacred jewel is said to be the three imperial treasures of Japan. :) I've actually wondered sometimes, if Tsunade's necklace was actually a part of the jewel or something, especially since it has the power to help Hashirama use his wood powers to control tailed beasts.

- I know alot of you guys wanted to see the battle with Tsunade and Juro. It won't be in this chapter, but in a future chapter where reminescing will take place. Sorry for the wait dear readers, but I have a reason. ( • ̀ω•́ )✧

-I tried to give hints as to why Sakumo would rather sacrifice the mission than his teammates, and how he might have taught Kakashi to not stand on the sideline when he sees injustice. Like how he rescued Guy when they're kids. :D

-First, I need to thank the newest 11 people who favorited this story. Lord Erebos, mjstimpson, Taicho3lis, Vectori, CynicalJinx, hxshigaki76, helljumper141, Makou133, Water1556, and Wyle23.

d(￣◇￣)b I'm not worthyyyyyyyy. Thank you all so much for putting my story into your favorites. I'll keep doing my best!

-Also, everyone (in the reviews) seems to be of a similar opinion that Orochi suffering a kick to the crotch was funny. Huehuehue I've got nothing to say but yep, I snorted water when I was typing that part. Glad everyone else thinks it's funny xD

（⌒▽⌒）JigokuShoujosRevenge! I had alot of fun putting Danzo in his place as Sarutobi got serious. Glad you enjoyed that as well as their little group huggles my friend.

(*´∀｀）Oooh another new reader. Hello Carolina. Thank you! I try to be a good writer, but I still got a long ways to go. Much happiness, much joy that you love my story.

v(≧∇≦v) Lord Creator, wow last chapter was your favorite? That's so lovely to hear and I'm happy you also felt the feels. Rewatching that episode with Sarutobi visiting the grave with Orochi, made me so sad too. I'm relieved I managed to convey the emotions from that episode in my story. And I agree with you my friend. The Chunin exam before Orochi attacked, was such a good arc with so much suspense and everything. Anyways, glad to hear from you as always and thanks for your kindness. Cheerios! *holds up glass of malbec*

(ღ˘⌣˘ღ) Hi BlackLady777. Now that you mentioned it, I actually dug around for a fic with Sarutobi and Orochimaru. Sad but I almost found nothing about the affection he always had for his favorite student. A pity since Sarutobi clearly loves him so much, even when he ran from the village. And I also despised Danzo for the most part too, and can imagine how rebuking Sarutobi would be if he tried to take his favorite from him haha. And I'm happy you enjoyed both the warmth and humor I've put into last chapter. Also much grateful, much appreciate that you would look for information for me in the first place. Thanks again my friend.

(つ´∀｀)つ omg same for me ileangie23! I so want to hug kid Oro. He's just so cute back then. That scene with the white snake skin is just so wonderfully done in the anime/manga, I had to do my best for it in my fic. Teehee and yes, he is really so clever for trying to motivate Jiraiya with the one thing he's been asking for for ages. I wanted to drop a hint as well, how good he is at knowing people's mind with that too. Huehuehue of course... his family's jewels had to take some damage for that bwahahah.

(ᗒᗨᗕ) thank you greatly sagar hussain!

(ˆ⌣ˆԅ) ooh another new reader. Greetings imi. You're too kind friend. Glad you're loving the story. Sorry for making you teary eyes x'D There will be alot more feels in future chapters.

(〃´∀｀) Hi again hxshigaki76! Haha indeed, the little cute funny genius is much adorabes. Happy that you like the interaction with Team Hiruzen and it warms my heart to know my readers laugh at the humor I try to put into my story.

As always everyone, I'm grateful to all of you who reading, favoriting this story, and if you write me a review, I will always always reply and address you as a way to thank you for taking the time to even write to this weird author (me).

NOTE: I MIGHT UPDATE AGAIN ON SATURDAY. KEEP AN EYE OUT |´∀｀●)