Akano's eyes darkened and his knuckles cracked. "So you remember."

Orochimaru's smile grew wider. Of course, he'd remember. It was thanks to Akano that eight years ago, he had lost months of missions and money, got ambushed by his two teammates and nearly lost his friendship with Tsunade and Jiraiya. The only consolation was that according to rumors, the arm he had twisted never recovered properly. "So how's your arm these days? Is it still holding you back or is it just your lack of talents?" Orochimaru asked mockingly.

"How dare you," Akano said as he grinded on his teeth.

"Older than me and a Uchiha, yet you are what, still a Genin? How many times have you taken the Chunin exam?" Orochimaru chortled. When he saw the rigid look of fury on the Uchiha's face, he put on a fake expression of sorrow. "People always say I can be rather insensitive. I suppose that I should be giving my sympathies instead." His lips curled into a cruel smile. "Your teammates... that girl with a mongrel of a dog and boy, didn't they die last month? I heard it was a terrible ambush. Their bodies weren't even recognizable when they were found."

"Go to hell Orochimaru!"

Before Akano could even move, Orochimaru appeared behind him in a blur and a low laugh rumbled in the back of his throat. "You're much too slow to dance with me." An audible cracking of bones pierced the air as Akano's hand was twisted backwards. In agonizing pain, he dropped to his knees and cried out as he clutched at his inflamed and bloody hand. Looking down at him, Orochimaru said silkily, "I'm in a pleasant mood, that injury is still fixable. Beg and grovel before me, and I might even let you go with just that."

"I'll kill you! If it wasn't for you breaking my arm, I could have been strong enough to protect them! I could have gone on that mission with them! It's all your fault!"

"You only have yourself to blame. Not only were you weak, but you were arrogant. You ruined my presents to my team that day and couldn't even apologize. Thanks to you, I got scolded by my teacher and my team, and lost so much money since I was banned from missions. I couldn't even afford to buy my monthly offerings for my parents. You deserved every bit of misfortune that came at you." Wickedly, he added, "To think a failure like you would try to crash a party to come at me, for your pathetic teammates' deaths is hilarious. The weak dies, simple as that. Don't try to throw your self hate at your own weakness and that of your team, onto my shoulders."

Akano spat, "That can be applied to your own parents who died and left you as an orphan. They were weaklings too!"

The words hit a nerve and his eyes darkened to a nightmarish greenish-yellow. "A worm like you has no right to talk about my parents. I will teach you the true meaning of what it means to be weak!" He dodged when Akano threw a kunai at him and kneed him in the face, knocking him flat on his back. Bringing his leg up, he forced a rush of chakra into it and brought it down with all his might, aiming at one knee. "I'm going to finish what I started years ago," he snarled. With this attack, Akano will never ever walk again. Not even Tsunade and all of the medic ninjas in the village can repair what he was about to do.

Golden chains suddenly lashed out and dragged Akano out of range and to safety, making his leg hit the ground with a crash, denting a huge hole into the ground. If he hadn't sealed the sound waves around the perimeter, the whole party would have been alerted to what he was doing.

"Orochimaru."

He froze at the sound of Tsunade's grandmother's voice. His heart thudded in his chest as she came to his side, wearing a serene expression on her old wise face and held her usual dignified and elegant pose, her arms neatly tucked into opposite sleeves of her radiant gold and pink kimono that highlighted her now dull red hair. "Quite a powerful seal. One that traps sound waves within a specific perimeter," she commented. "Even though I am proficient in fuinjutsu, this is impressive."

"I suppose things might have looked rather puzzling from your angle if you didn't overhear the conversation then, my lady," Orochimaru said carefully. It was then he realized that she had subtly dispelled his technique around herself. Such precise chakra control... it was incredible.

"I heard, but don't be fearful my dear. You were just dealing with someone who was not invited to my grandson's birthday. To think he'd come here armed and upstairs so close to Nawaki, is very troubling." She looked down at the Uchiha and said icily, "But as it is my grandson's birthday, I don't want to spoil the mood. Go. If I hear a fuss, I will speak to your clan leader myself."

Getting to his feet, Akano grinded on his teeth. "Mark my words, you will pay, Orochimaru. If I can't go head on, I will strike from the shadows." With that, he left in a flash of smoke.

When he was gone, Orochimaru gave Tsunade's grandmother a half bow. "I am sorry to have bothered you with this incident, Lady Mito."

She smiled. "You are... an interesting lad, Orochimaru. You've been a family guest and best friends with Tsunade for years. I am also quite fond of you." She turned her wise eyes on him. "But I can also see all of your negative emotions. Sarutobi and your team, especially my granddaughter care about you. But they need to start realizing that they are caring for you in the wrong way. They're too optimistic and are only enabling your darkness to grow."

"Hmph." He was slightly irked by her words. "If being ruthless gets me where I need to be, then I see nothing wrong with it, my lady. I am still loyal to my village, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Sarutobi-sensei."

"Darkness will always corrupts. All it needs is time to corrode at all of your bonds, dear Orochimaru," Mito said softly. She laid a grandmotherly hand on his shoulder. "You are going to head off to Uzushiogakure soon. While you're there, do something for me. It will help you heal."

He scoffed and avoided her eyes. "Lady Mito, I don't need healing. I don't see why I should change who I am, especially when I'm needed to do what no one else dares. Being ruthless gets me where I want to be."

"Do it for Tsunade's sake." Her hand touched her heart and she said, "I was at her age once. I know how she feels about you and I can see that you care deeply for her too. The way you are now however, might destroy this blossoming relationship. You are heading towards an end that you do not want to be."

At those words, he stilled and remained silent, hesitating since Tsunade would be involved if he did decide to be with her. They both looked over as Tsunade headed up the stairs and he subtly canceled his technique.

"Grandma! Come on, we have to take pictures. Nawaki is eager to get it out of the way so he can go play."

Mito laughed demurely behind her sleeve. "I'm coming sweetheart." As she passed him, she whispered, "Please consider, Orochimaru."

When she swept away, Tsunade looked over at Orochimaru and paused when she saw the look on his face. It seemed almost... torn. Coming to his side, she asked, "Orochimaru, are you alright? You look paler than normal." It was then that she noticed the hole in the floor. "What happened?!"

"It's nothing. I just used too much force in getting rid of a rat."

Peering up at him, she could tell that he was hiding something. He had a habit of pressing his lips together into a thin line when something bothered him. "You know you can't lie to me. Spill it," she said in an authoritative tone.

"It's none of your business."

He made to head back down but she caught his wrist. Angrily, she said, "It is my business. There's a friggin hole in my floor."

Orochimaru said flatly, "Then I'll send payment to get it repaired. Are we done now?"

Tsunade said in frustration, "Is it so hard to let me get close? You're not only my teammate, my best friend, and... you're..."

"Don't." He pulled his arm away. "Not right now and not here."

Tsunade said crossly, "Fine, disregard that. But either you tell me what happened here, or I beat your ass. I'm not above pounding you into the ground even if I like you, Orochimaru."

He replied solemnly, "Foolish of the windmill to think it can keep the wind."

Tsunade braced herself as Orochimaru disappeared in a whirlwind and the window down the end of the hallway flew open from a powerful gust of wind. She looked from side to side but he was truly gone. On the inside, she almost wanted to scream. Why did he always do things like this? Why can't he ever explain and let her and Jiraiya understand him? Not only that, this was her brother's birthday! How can he disappear like this when he knew how much his presence meant to her little brother? She hoped that he was leaving her and not the party itself, otherwise she'd never forgive him.

Up on the roof, Orochimaru let out a long breath, knowing exactly how she'd react and how hurt she'd be. But right now, he just wanted some time alone. If... he was heading towards an end that he did not want, it was wrong to take Tsunade with him. The thought was another weight on his reluctance in accepting Tsunade's affections. First, he didn't believe that he could be capable of loving her in that way. He wasn't even sure how he was supposed to act when one was in love and he'd rather eat cold food for a month than ask Jiraiya on the topic of romance. Secondly, he was afraid of caring for her even more and moving her from best friend to a lover. Loving someone was a vulnerability. He was terrified at the idea that if they were together and he lost her, he might not ever recover again. The death of his parents was enough to make him into the way he was. To experience that pain again might kill him.

Orochimaru put his face into his hands tiredly. Ninjas can't afford compassion. Mercy to an enemy was cruelty to oneself. One had to be strong and ruthless to survive. He never questioned that ideology and he never regretted any of his actions. He did his best in everything he did. But now... he suddenly wasn't so sure. Were there unforeseen consequences with the path he was walking? If so, would Tsunade be hurt if she was with him?

"Hey Oro! Found you!"

It was Jiraiya. He straightened up and said tonelessly, "You escaped from Biwako?"

"I had to flash my abs to shock her enough to let go." Jiraiya laughed boisterously as he sat down beside his friend.

Orochimaru couldn't help it when his lips twitched in amusement. "So you've managed to scar Biwako's eyes and probably a bunch of other little girls. At this rate, your reputation is probably unsalvagable."

"You're one to speak. You know that you're so scary that some of the older kids tell their siblings that you'll eat them if they misbehave right?" Jiraiya guffawed at his friend's own laughable reputation. "Actually, even Tsunade has a pretty bad reputation. She's being called the 'The Legendary Sucker' due to her horrible luck at gambling." He was confused when his friend's shoulder sagged and his eyes grew distant when they switched to talking to Tsunade.

"Hmph."

Jiraiya asked, "Why so moody all of a sudden?"

"I just got alittle tired of the noise and crowd," Orochimaru replied despondently, laying back and looking up at the clouds. They stayed like that for awhile until he said, "Sometimes, I don't want to care anymore. Everything would be so much easier."

Even for Orochimaru, that was depressing. What's gotten into him? When his friend didn't elaborate, Jiraiya shrugged. "Like how living is harder than being dead. Caring about goals or people is hard, but it's better than being an apathetic rock in my opinion."

"That so?" Orochimaru asked quietly.

Jiraiya added solemnly, "No one wants to be alone but you have to put efforts into being with people. Even if people get mad or don't understand each other, on the inside, giving up relationships is a last resort, Oro."

Orochimaru closed his eyes and said quietly, "Like how you still pursue Tsunade, even after all these years of rejections?" His stomach felt queasy all of a sudden and he asked, "Why?"

Jiraiya made a sound in the back of his throat. "She's special. I do want to be with her so I'm not afraid of how hard and how long it'll take to win her over. I'm never giving up."

"Never?"

Jiraiya laughed in good humor, "Unless I know she's with someone who will make her happy. If she's happy, I'm happy."

Orochimaru watched the clouds continue to drift by and he asked, "So by loving someone, you don't need to be with them?"

"If you love someone, you just want what's best for them," affirmed Jiraiya. "You don't necessarily have to have them."

"I see," he murmured, once again, slightly impressed by how naive and yet golden Jiraiya's heart was.

Jiraiya stared. Wait a minute, why was Orochimaru talking about love anyways? The most interest he had ever expressed for romance was asking him what the heck was a love bug when they were kids, and if it was actually real. Back then, Jiraiya had laughed so hard at how stupid the great genius was that milk flew out of his nose and hit Tsunade in the face. Yea... something was definitely off, thought Jiraiya as he stroked his chin. "Who are you and what have you done to Orochimaru?" asked Jiraiya. When his pale teammate arched a slender eyebrow at the comment, he said, "Orochimaru being curious about love is like Tsunade winning the lottery. Either you're a fake or... you're in love?!"

Orochimaru flushed red. "Don't be stupid. I was thinking that love was irrational and wondering why romance books were so popular when I was shopping at the bookstore last week," he lied, trying to sound annoyed but somehow he ended up sounding petrified. Trying to escape before he fumbled anymore, he made the excuse, "I have to go to the bathroom."

Jiraiya stared as Orochimaru jumped off the roof and ran off. Tapping on his chin, he said, "Is he sick or something?"

Hours later...

"Sister." Nawaki tugged on the sleeves of his sister, who was sitting at one of the tables that were placed in the courtyard. She was stirring her miso soup with a blank expression and he tugged harder. "Sister, where's Orochimaru?"

She stirred and gave him a weak smile, looking away from the starry sky. "He's... I think he's unwell and might have left early."

"Why? You're a medic. Couldn't you have healed him?" Nawaki asked, looking devastated.

Tsunade shook her head and murmured, "It seems that there are some things even I can't heal." She sighed and pulled her brother onto her lap when he sniffed. Rubbing his head, she tried to put some cheer into her voice. "Anyways, cake is blown and cut. Wanna open presents now or let the guests continue with dinner and dessert some more?"

Nawaki slumped down in her arms and blinked up at the starry night sky. "Later. Don't feel like it right now."

"Hey Tsunade, have you seen Orochimaru?" asked Jiraiya as he sat down with a plate full of cake.

Tsunade immediately glared at him as she spooned in some cake into her own mouth. Right now, she did not want to think about their dark hair teammate. "No."

Oblivious to the look, Jiraiya said, "Last time I saw him, he ran off to the bathroom. Unless he's constipated, he should have been done by now."

Tsunade and Nawaki both choked on their cake at his use of word. Drinking a glass of water, she swallowed and said, "Must you talk about the bathroom while we're in the middle of eating, pervy no brain?"

In the next second, Sarutobi showed up. "Tsunade, Jiraiya, where's Orochimaru? Is he still watching a horror movie?"

Nawaki piped up, "Jiraiya said he's being constipated in the bathroom. So I guess that explains why sister said she can't heal him." Tsunade started to choke on her piece of cake again. Spluttering and downing a glass of water, she said irritably, "Nawaki."

"Is Orochimaru being constipated a bad thing to say while eating cake?" Nawaki asked innocently.

"Who said I was constipated?" An annoyed Orochimaru suddenly popped up and Tsunade sprayed water across their table, making everyone look over from their own tables.

"You're still here?" she asked in surprise.

"You're still here!" cheered Nawaki.

Sarutobi was confused. "Why wouldn't he be here?"

"I thought you were constipated in the bathroom," Jiraiya added last. He nudged him. "You were gone so long what else could you be doing besides 'boom boom'."

A vein throbbed on Orochimaru's forehead. "Idiot, you're much too old to be using secret words." Boom boom was his fancy words for going to take a dump and their clients, nearby villagers or whoever happened to be around them, would just look confused at the request when a hyperactive white hair kid would ask 'Can I go boom boom, sensei?" Quite frankly, Orochimaru always thought that sounded more like someone asking for permission to fart and he never quite understood why Jiraiya couldn't just ask to go to the bathroom like normal people. Then again, he did hold the title of 'The Village's Madness'.

It was quite obvious that their teacher still remembered what it meant as he tried to pass off his laughs as coughs.

Oblivious, Jiraiya said, "What do you want me to say? That you had to take a cra-"

Orochimaru said in irritation, "I was nowhere near the bathroom and can we move on and just start opening the presents now?"

Tsunade knew better than to push the matter and ask why he'd ran away and avoided her for the past hours. So she just joined her brother and clapped along with all the guests as he opened his presents one by one, until he reacher her and that of her teammates. She had handpicked out a brand new outfit for him, Jiraiya had bought him a full series of manga about some hero ninja, Sarutobi-sensei got him a set of brand new shurikens and kunai that was custom made to be lighter and sharper than normal. But Nawaki was most pleased by the gift that Orochimaru had given him. It was a notebook, written in his neat handwriting, of all the techniques that an Academy student should know with advice on chakra control, positions and speed of the hand seals as well as battle tactics and positioning. If an Academy teacher could get their hands on this, their entire class would probably graduate with flying colors, thought Tsunade as she skimmed through it with her brother. Alot of effort had went in to making this. He had even added little details such as how to set up a tent and find edible food in a forest when travelling for missions.

She watched him out of the corner of her eyes as he answered Nawaki's questions about the notebook and she couldn't help but smile. He really was soft on the inside and she felt guilty for being angry with him. She liked him for who he was, even if he was sometimes difficult. If she was going to be with him, she understood that no matter how frustrated they could be with each other, they would never truly be separated. Inwardly, she giggled and was reminded of his windmill and wind metaphor.

"I have one last thing for you, Nawaki." Orochimaru reached into his sleeve and pulled out a vial of sparkling gold powder. "I missed you blowing out your cake and making a wish for a reason. I've got you something else that will help with making your wish come true."

Nawaki's mouth opened in an o in surprise before he asked, "But why this year? And not the other years for my birthday."

"Because you're taking your first step to becoming a shinobi this year. As shinobis, we will see many sorrows and face much difficulties. Wishing is the first step to giving yourself a goal, a motivation, and an inspiration for you to stay strong and survive this way of life."

She and everyone else there was stunned and touched by his uncharacteristic words, thinking of their own experiences and the struggles they've also gone through over the years. They looked at the little kids around them, thinking about how soon, the little ones will have to take up the mantle and also face the same things that they've also gone through. She watched as he uncorked the vial and threw the glittering powder out, creating a golden arc that fell down around them. "When you catch one, you can make a wish."

"Huh?" Nawaki and all of them were confused.

He just smirked as he took out his flute and played on it. The music was soothing, serene, and he played incredibly well. The wind carried the sweet scent of the powder and music of his flute all around the courtyard under the sparkling night sky. Audible gasps emitted from their mouths as they all suddenly heard a woman singing. Her voice was incredibly beautiful and goosebumps ran down Tsunade's arms as she listened. The words were not from their language but the emotions in them was so powerful that she could still understand. It spoke of hope, dreams and endless possibilities. Tsunade slowly realized that the singing was part of Orochimaru's genjutsu as he played on his flute and she was awed at how well he could cast it. Auditory genjutsu was the hardest to cast but also the hardest for a victim to escape from. By now, she should have known better but once again, he had managed to impress her. She held out her hands to the cool wind caressing them and she smiled as the singing and his flute wrapped around her, touching her very soul.

It couldn't get any better but it did. Fireflies... fireflies in all directions headed their way and she stared, frozen in place at the sight. Orochimaru continued playing and he nudged Jiraiya, his eyes darting to the candles on the tables.

"Right up," Jiraiya chuckled, forming two hand seals and using the wind to blow out all of the light so that only the fireflies lit up the place.

The kids around them squealed in delight and ran around trying to catch the 'dancing lights'. Tsunade held out a hand and smiled as one landed in her hand, like a glittering star. Closing her eyes, she whispered, "I wish Orochimaru will say yes and let me heal his heart." Opening her hand, she let her firefly fly away to be amongst the beautiful stars and she shyly looked over at her crush as the beautiful bright lights danced around him. At this moment, the wind brushed back his silky long black hair to reveal a rare, peaceful expression on his face that made her stomach flip flop. But then she fumed when she saw all the girls siddling up to Orochimaru and gushing over him. Beside her, Jiraiya scowled. "He's taking all the hotties."

Orochimaru finished off with a beautiful crescendo that was accentuated by the singing wind around them before he struggled to get away from his 'fangirls'. When he finally managed to pull away and came over to them, he asked, "Did you make a wish?"

Nawaki nodded and waved his hands. "I want to-"

Orochimaru held up a hand and said solemnly, "Don't tell me. Show me, understood? Make your wish a reality. Dreams can only come so far."

A smile spread across Nawaki's face and he nodded. "I will. I will show you, and everyone."

"Good." Orochimaru reached out and caught a firefly. He stared at it for a moment before freeing it and letting it fly upwards.

"You've grown," Sarutobi commented warmly, patting his favorite student on the head as if he was still six.

A ghost of a smile crossed his lips and he replied, "If I don't grow, the only other path is stagnation, sensei." He looked down at the silver flute that belonged to his mother.

"That genjutsu..." Tsunade started hesitantly.

"My mother's singing as I remembered it," he answered. His golden eyes seemed to twinkle as he spoke about the woman he loved most in the world. "She always had a way with words in her songs. As long as I live, I'll keep her songs eternal."

Jiraiya nudged him and said with good humor, "I thought it'd be another boring year of watching horror movies. I'm surprised you could come up with this kind of thing."

"A long time ago, Tsunade asked me to catch her a hundred fireflies if I lost a bet with her. I was curious as to why and so I looked it up." He smirked at her. "When you catch a firefly, you're supposed to make a wish. If it flies away, the wish comes true. If it doesn't fly away and lands nearby, your wish won't come true. Considering her terrible luck, she probably asked for a hundred to boost her chances."

At that, both Sarutobi and Jiraiya laughed out loud as their princess turned red and huffed in annoyance. Orochimaru chuckled and walked off to try some of the cake and avoid the fuming princess who was looking a tad too likely to sock someone in the eye. Which turned out to be Jiraiya as he added oil to the fire by saying, "Well it is true Tsu. You're even known as the Legendary Sucker amongst the debt collectors and the gambling dens."

Tsunade said crossly, "You know what... I'll prove that my luck isn't as godawful as you people are making it out to be."

Jiraiya rubbed his hands together with a perverted grin on his face. "You're finally going to accept my challenge in playing strip poker?" He fell backwards with a broken bloody nose as she punched him in the face.

"Ahem." Tsunade coughed and put her hands on her hips. "I'll bet that we can make it to Uzushiogakure early and that our journey there will be the most relaxing and fun thing ever."

At the cake table, all of the blood in Orochimaru's face drained away, making his already pale skin turn sheet white as he heard from afar what she just said. Sarutobi was clutching at his heart and murmuring something that sounded like he needed to go pray at the temple if his poor precious students were to avert this catastrophe. While spitting out blood and frantic words, Jiraiya was asking if he could forfeit the mission since he didn't want to die a virgin. Last but not least, Nawaki said quietly, "Please be careful, sister."

And so... that was the start of the worst journey ever.

On the very first day...

"Can you idiots stop being so twitchy?" Tsunade grouched as Jiraiya periodically doubled back every fifteen minutes to see if anyone was following after them to kill them, and Orochimaru had sent out so many snake scout summons that half of the birds, rabbits and squirrels in the forest got eaten. After passing another fat and happy looking snake that had a turtle shaped bulge in its stomach, she was starting to get really annoyed.

"It's almost lunch time," Orochimaru commented emotionlessly as they continued leaping through the trees.

"Since nothing has happened, whatever is coming up might just kill us. Should I send out toad summons to scout too?" asked Jiraiya as they ignored their female teammate.

"My snakes will just end up eating your frogs."

Tsunade looked back at the two boys and snapped, "Knock it off assholes. We've been fine the whole time, and we're making great progress. It's like you guys want bad luck to strike us."

Jiraiya sighed and said, "Tsunade, your bad luck is absolutely notorious."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Not all the time! Remember, I won that bet for the bell test when we were kids. Also, Orochimaru is my good luck charm. I always win a ton of money when he's nearby."

"Tsunade," Orochimaru interrupted. "I wasn't there beside you when you made the bet. Which means none of my luck was there to cancel your bad luck."

"You were ten steps away. Nothing is going to-"

"I'M DYING! HELP AHHHHHH!"

They all stopped when they heard a woman screaming. Jiraiya was the first to follow after the voice and he narrowed his eyes, ready to attack if it was a trap. But what met them on the ground was...

Tsunade gasped, "She's... she's going into a labor."

Jiraiya inwardly whimpered and squeaked, "Are you sure it's not just a stomachache?"

"A pregnant woman going into labor in the middle of the forest," Orochimaru said, raising both hands up in exasperation. "The odds are one in a million."

"Ahhhhh IT HURTS! I HATE MEN!" screamed the poor woman, clutching at her stomach.

Bending down, Tsunade quickly tied the woman's brown hair into a bun and reached for her medical instruments. She looked like some farmer's wife who had gone around to collect herbs and wild potatoes to help add to the table but then this happened. "Orochimaru, Jiraiya, grabbed your blankets and cover us. The baby is coming out any minute now."

Three hours later...

Orochimaru had to question Tsunade's sense of time when her 'it's coming out any minute now' turned into a full on three hours. He felt sorry for the woman who had been screaming for three hours straight and was sweating like a waterfall to give birth to new life and even thought about his own mother having to carry him while travelling before also going through the same torturous ordeal. But losing the feelings from the vice-like grip on his hand, his ears going deaf and burning under a hot sun was starting to eat away at his patience.

"Hang on," gasped Tsunade, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. "Ok PUSH!"

The woman gave her loudest scream yet and pulled on Jiraiya's hand.

"He-hey what's-" Jiraiya also screamed as she bit into his hand. "Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!"

While the woman and Jiraiya were both screaming and crying, Orochimaru asked, "Hime, are you even qualified for this?"

She shot him a look so poisonous that it would have made Manda proud. "If I can shove your guts back into your body, I can make a woman pop out a baby."

"Point taken," he said monotonously. "But this is taking forever and quite frankly, I'm holding onto a woman who's not my wife and waiting for some baby I'm not going to care about to pop out for way too long. That, and Jiraiya is getting his hand chewed off. So hurry up."

"I'm doing my best you ass. PUSH!"

One hour later...

Finally, a healthy baby boy with big chocolate eyes emerged, much to the joy of four very tired people. Luckily for them as well, the woman's husband showed up with his brother and they helped took care of the baby and woman. After suffering through that, they went for a wash, set up camp, and then proceeded to sleep off the very traumatic day.

Too bad the next day turned out to be almost as bad.

"Well... it's the dry season after all," Tsunade said sheepishly as she, Jiraiya and Orochimaru stood there and stared at the huge line of fire that was devouring the forest in the distance.

Orochimaru said dryly, "There's no way we can get past that." The line of fire literally stretched all the way from east to west as far as the eyes could see. Not even his water techniques could put that out. Also, with their bad luck, lightning would probably just strike and create another fire.

"That's the biggest forest fire in the history of forest fires," Jiraiya said with wide eyes.

With the forest fire fiasco, they doubled back for an alternate route which consisted of a hanging solid wooden bridge swinging over a large chasm. Jiraiya peeked down at the darkness below and said what they were all thinking of. "If this bridge breaks, we're going to die."

Tsunade rolled her eyes and tapped on it. "This thing is solid and relatively new. It's not going to-"

Orochimaru held up a hand, "Please don't jinx us any further, Tsunade-hime."

"Oh my..." Jiriaya's jaw dropped and he pointed up at the bright blue sky. Tsunade and Orochimaru both looked up as well and he said, "Run?"

"Run," affirmed Orochimaru. The three ran for it as a meteor fell down from the heaven and broke the bridge, created an even bigger chasm than before and caused a giant dust storm that blocked out the sunlight for three days within a 10km radius. Inside the safe stomach of Jiraiya's toad summon, sitting in saliva and frog juice, Orochimaru blinked. "If a falling meteor doesn't convince you of your downright ridiculous bad luck, I'm not sure if anything can, hime."

"Argh!" In frustration, Tsunade knocked out Jiraiya. "No it's not! It's not! We're going to be absolutely-" He covered her mouth before something like a random pit could swallow them the next day. Little did he know, it turned to be much worse than that.

All of them came down with insomnia for some odd reason for the next three days. Due to the lack of sleep, their travelling speed was reduced by nearly forty percent. No matter how hard they tried, none of them could fall asleep for more than one or two hours. The very first night, Jiraiya woke up screaming and he and Tsunade rushed over to see what was wrong. Pulling on his white hair, he cried, "It was awful! The most horrible thing ever!" He wiped away the sweat on his head. "I dreamed that all the females in the world were either grannies or kids, and that Orochimaru was the closest thing to a real girl and we made out!"

Orochimaru immediately turned around and barfed into a bush while Tsunade raged. "You pervert!" Reeling her fist backwards, she socked Jiraiya in the eye.

On the next night, Tsunade woke up thrashing and breathing heavily at the horrible nightmare she had. "I dreamed I was an ugly granny with a million slugs as my only source of companionship!" She put her hands to her cheeks and screeched. "And I was still flat!"

Jiraiya couldn't help but laugh. "So instead of a cat lady, you're a slug lady? What'd you do, make a bet that you'd have a happily ever after, oh legendary sucker?" He cried out as she socked him in the other eye. Stumbling back, he blinked at her with his black eyes and said sheepishly, "I was kidding! I bet that in my next dream, maybe we'll get married. You won't be alone forever with just slugs!"

Tsunade hurled a boulder at his words and Orochimaru sighed as Jiraiya was crushed under the rock. "To be honest Tsunade-hime, I'd rather Jiraiya dream he was marrying you than making out with me." He flew backwards when she upperward punched him in the jaw and he landed into the lake with a large splash.

Tsunade fumed and shouted, "You're so stupid!" What kind of idiot tells the girl who likes him he wouldn't mind seeing another marry her?! Ok granted maybe it sort of made sense he'd prefer that instead of making out with Jiraiya but it was still not right!

The third night...

"AUGHHHHHH!"

As they both couldn't sleep anyways, Jiraiya and Tsunade's eyes flew open and they turned to Orochimaru who was screaming his head off between them. "Yo Oro what did you dream of?" asked Jiraiya.

Huffing and breathing hard, Orochimaru said, "I dreamed that somehow, Manda managed to eat me."

"That's it?" asked Tsunade.

"I dreamed that sensei picked Jiraiya to be Hokage, I started balding, everyone in the village became stupid, Tsunade-hime dated cannon fodder material, and..." He gulped. "I also dreamed that I had a twin sister who ended up marrying idiot here and seeing them make out was the scariest thing I've ever seen." His pale face turned green and he covered his mouth, trying not to vomit.

Jiraiya shuddered before pausing. "Wait... but she's a real girl." A mischievous look sparked in his eyes and he whispered, "Hey Oro, remember how you said we can't even make babies after we accidentally kissed each other when we were eight? Maybe you'll dream of little babies that me and a female version of you..."

At the suggestive implication, Orochimaru turned even greener and proceeded to barf all over Jiraiya.

After a ridiculously long travelling time...

"Oh my god... we're here. WE'RE HERE!" Jiraiya dropped to his knees on the water they were standing on and raised his hands up to the heavens. "WE MADE IT! Tsunade's curse has ended!"

By now, Tsunade was too tired to comment on her immense bad luck and just dumbly blinked.

"We're two weeks late," Orochimaru said blearily.

With a slightly crazed look in his eyes from suffering all sorts of random and wacky hardships on this journey, including a traumatizing boat ride that sprung a leak during their trip to the island known as Land of Whirlpools, Jiraiya cheered. "Hurry up and release the seal Oro!"

Standing before the waterfall that led to Uzushiogakure, Orochimaru pulled out the release seal and threw it up. "Release!" The waterfall rumbled and slowly, the waters parted to reveal the passageway that had been sealed by the village to keep intruders from coming. As if to end their journey with one final mockery, a rain of fishes landed randomly on them from the rumbling falls.

Darkwings13:

-I have nothing to say besides the fact that I enjoyed torturing them on this trip. Bwahahhahahaha

-The Land of Whirlpools is an island.

-Tsunade asked for fireflies in chapter 6

-Orochimaru and Jiraiya accidentally kissed in chapter 10

(*≧∀≦) Thank you hxshigaki76. What aspect of intereaction between Orochi and Nawaki did you like best friend? Just curious lol. And oh yea, I like to add in calm, fluffy cute moments of life before I wack people with the feels squishy hammer. Teehee.

（っ・∀・）っThank you LuckyLefty77! Hope you'll like this chapter as well friend.

（*´▽`*) It's usually difficult to confess you have affections for someone, especially since Orochimaru is doubtful about bonds and relationships in the first place. Including the fact that he's more interested in research than romance, I tried to be realistic in showing the difficulty in breaching the subject with him and Tsunade. And Tsu kinda understands that he was extremely romantically blind as a kid. Whereas Jiraiya knows kinda way too much on male and female relationships and is a pervert lol. Sorry if I disappointed you JigokuShoujosRevenge, there will be a fight later with that Uchiha.; )

o(^▽^)o I'm glad you enjoyed that confused and slightly vulnerable part of Orochimaru on how these feelings are so alien to him BlackLady777. To be honest I had alot of fun writing it, along with Tsunade finally getting fed up and having the courage to confess. Confessions on this matter is always hard and I tried to show how difficult it was for her and yet she was resolute on it. As to how it will develop, I'll do my best so it won't disappoint :) Yay you like the interaction with Nawaki and Oro too! I was worried I might have made Oro a tad bit nonchalant with Tsu's little brother but I thought that since he didn't care to spoil Tsunade, he wouldn't spoil Nawaki either. And yep I love writing Oro's switch from patient and even friendly but sarcastic to those he's close with, and being absolutely cruel to others. Just like he sacrificed his subordinates during the fight with Sarutobi for edo tensei, or not givng a damn about Kimimaro dying besides lameting that it was a waste. I was actually surprised he seemed slightly sad when he got revived by Sasuke and looked at Kabuto. Based off his deep love for his parents and sons, I just wrote him to be quite caring to those he's managed to bond with and not giving a fig/being ruthless towards others. (´w｀*) yesssss, he's so beautiful in the Boruto generation. Also, the time at Uzushiogakure will definitely be packed with action and feels. Hint for you my lovely BlackLady, for always being so supportive. Jiraiya's sage mode ;D

( ⊙‿⊙) Lol would have been pretty funny if Nawaki did discover them, ileangie23. I thought about it but I wasn't sure how I'd follow that. Oro might have to jump out the window LOL. I totally agree and wish we could have seen more of the Sannin. They were so adorabes as kids. I do think that Tsunade is better than Sakura absolutely. At least Tsu would have stabbed out Obito's eye and not let Madara screw over the world in that one episode where Sakura took forever to stab an eye. And yay I'm glad you like that Tsu was attracted to Oro because of his hardwork, geniuses, love for his parents, and complex heart. From the way she fell for Dan, who to be honest, was pretty lame and mediocre compared to her whose a Sannin, she didn't judge from 'coolness' but for people's heart. I can at least give Danny boy a compliment that he has a noble goal for wanting to be Kage, even if he'd realistically never get it since there was Oro, Jiraiya and Sakumo who are way better canidates and wouldn't die like cheese pie like him. Kushina is great! I can't wait to write about her and I hope I'll deliver. And I actually sometimes have more fun writing the interaction with Jiraiya and Oro together. They constantly pull on each other's hair but they care. When I do draw that picture, I'll be sure to let you know!