As Jiraiya walked at a steady pace towards the Hokage building, his mind deep in thought, he bumped into someone and sent their grocery bag of snacks falling to the ground.

"Hey! Look at where you're JIRAIYA?!"

Jiraiya first instinct when he saw Tsunade was to cower and put his hands over his head. The memory of her breaking his arms and pummeling him to a pulp was still fresh in his mind and it was an understatement to say that he was traumatized at the sight of her being annoyed or angry at anything. "I'm sorry Tsunade! I-I didn't mean to! I'll buy it all back for you-"

"Stop it," she fumed, pulling him back to his feet as people stared at them. "You're making me look like a terrifying ogre." She fluffed her ponytail and started picking the snacks back up and putting them into the bag. Still grumpy at him for the peeking incident, but at the same time, she felt a little bad for what she did. He was after all, maimed so hard he almost died and it would seem that he has a healthy fear of her temper now. There was no way he'd ever peek on her again. Lastly, she knew that out of all the girls, she was the one he liked most. If only he wasn't a pervert and didn't say stupid things like 'When I grow up, I'll have a harem with you as my queen, Tsunade!' or 'Every women is like a flower, and it's only natural for a male honeybee to love them all', or worst of all, freaking peek on her, then she might have given him a chance. She did adore his good heart after all. But now she was with Orochimaru and she wondered how Jiraiya would take the news. With a sigh, she muttered, "How are you feeling?"

"G-good. Very good," Jiraiya said hastily.

"Stop acting like I'm going to pull your teeth out," Tsunade snapped. Grabbing his arm and hooking it with hers, she pulled her terrified teammate along. "Come on, I'll buy you something. You look like you're starving. Did you rush here or something? If you get sick, I'll be furious with you." She stared at him when a strange dreamy look crossed his face.

"You've never bought me dinner before," he said happily. Maybe if he let her beat him close to death a few more times, they might actually get married.

Tsunade gave him a sort of smile. "Yea.. well, I'll be nicer to you from now. Afterall, I kinda did go overboard with almost killing you." She then poked his chest. "But don't you dare try any more stupid stunts, understand, pervy no brain?" When he bobbed his head rapidly, she grinned and patted his arm. "Anyways, why are you here so early? We weren't expecting you for at least another week." Giggling, she added, "Well, this is alright actually. Our joint birthday this year is on your birthday. It's in like two days so good timing. I and Orochimaru were thinking that maybe we should celebrate somewhere else besides the Chubby Chicken like we did for the last six years." The funny thing about the three of them was that they all liked chicken. Orochimaru and his eggs, her and her chicken breast dishes, and Jiraiya with his fried chicken. So whenever they had their joint birthday or have celebrations, they'd just go there to treat themselves.

At the mention of Orochimaru's name, Jiraiya was reminded of why he had made such haste back to Konoha. Coming to a stop, he said, "I can't believe I'm saying this but I'll have to pass on dinner with you Tsunade. I have to see sensei immediately."

She frowned at him. For him to pass this up, it must be serious. "What's wrong, Jiraiya? "

"I have to talk to Sarutobi-sensei and get Orochimaru quarantined."

For a whole ten seconds she just stared at him, trying to make sense of Orochimaru and the word quarantine being together in the same sentence. Finally, she blurted out, "What the fuck did you just say?"

He shushed her and whispered, "It's a very long story but he's in danger. He needs to be restrained immediately and looked over."

She pulled on his arm and said angrily, "I'm the medic for the team. He just underwent his yearly check-up last week under my watch. There is absolutely nothing wrong with him."

"I don't have time to explain." Jiraiya pulled his arm away from her with a slightly sorrowful look. "I know you're confused, but what I'm doing... I'm doing for his own good."

Tsunade quickly ran to block his path, ignoring the looks some passersby were giving them. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on."

"Fine. He has in his possession an incredibly dangerous kinjutsu," Jiraiya growled. "And what type of harm does most kinjutsus inflict? Self-harm or sacrifice on the user. I am seriously worried about him, Tsunade."

She protested, "Then the effect would be immediate wouldn't it? He's perfectly fine."

"He still needs to be quarantined." Jiraiya lowered his voice an octave. "Being quarantined sounds a hell of alot better than arrested. I'm trying to be as quiet about this as possible."

Tsunade was really beginning to get angry. "You're not making any sense. Arrest him for what? For being boring?"

"Tsunade," he hissed under his breath. "Uzushio was completely right in thinking that we were involved in Goro's death for that mission we have no recollection with. Their demon may have been destroyed, but they can't find any evidence that the kinjutsu is also destroyed."

She said flatly, "They've already checked all three of us. None of us have any memories of what happened, and it'll forever be a mystery. I don't know what happened and I don't want to know. Why can't you just let sleeping dogs lie?!"

"Because I think Orochimaru must have taken it," he replied solemnly, making her freeze. "My toad sages were in battle with me. They remember and told me that I had to fight both you and Orochimaru to try and protect that scroll, before we had to go through a life and death battle with that demon." He chewed on his lips. "They don't have the whole story however. They even thought that Orochimaru died."

It was then that she remembered what Katsuyu had said to her, during the invasion of Uzushiogakure.

Katsuyu's eyestalks wiggled. "Is it related to you helping Lord Orochimaru against Master Jiraiya's protest, my lady?"

Tsunade blinked. "What?"

"You know, when you summoned me to keep guard over Master Jiraiya." Katsuyu then curled in on herself in shame, and the two other clones copied her. "But I failed you, mistress. I'm so sorry."

Now she understood what her slug summon meant and she knew... that Jiraiya was telling the truth. She dragged him into an alleyway and said strickenly, "Jiraiya, you're not going to tell sensei are you?"

"Someone died because of him," Jiraiya fumed. "He needs to answer for what he's done."

Tsunade tugged on his arm, her throat constricting. "Please don't. Jiraiya I'm begging you, don't. Orochimaru has finally begun to heal. He's slowly learning to be truly warm to the village and learning to love." When Jiraiya didn't say anything, Tsunade's eyes welled up with tears and she cried, "He is finally happy."

"Sarutobi-sensei would never make this crime of his public," Jiraiya replied, his heart breaking at the sight of her crying before him. "It would ruin our alliance with Uzushiogakure. He will be jailed and punished in private."

"He will lose his chance entirely to become Hokage," Tsunade said thickly. "There will always be distrust turned against him from now on. Sarutobi-sensei is obligated to tell the council, and any chance Orochimaru has of getting promotions or recognition will be gone. But worst of all, he might lose his father and son relationship with Sarutobi-sensei. After losing his parents, he only has our teacher for any familial love." Her fingers dug into his arm and she felt her tears spill down her cheeks in hot waves. "It's all over and done with. Please, just let it go."

Jiraiya slowly pulled his arm out of her grasp. "It is justice, Tsunade."

"Don't you spew the word justice!" she screeched. "Orochimaru loves you like a brother. He'd do anything for you. If you did something wrong, he'd cover for you and protect you. Can you justify yourself in betraying him?"

"Tsunade," he said, his voice low and angry. "Your loyalty is admirable but you're caring for him in the wrong way. What you're doing is only encouraging him to walk down the wrong path. I don't want to do this either. It gnawed on me the whole way here. But I care about him and I believe that by punishing him and teaching him that he CAN'T have everything he wants, is the right thing to do for his own sake."

Tsunade hiccoughed and slowly crumbled to the ground. "The right thing... to do, is to put all the blame on me instead, Jiraiya."

"It's not your-"

She sobbed and shook her head. "I'm the one he listens to the most. IF anyone had the power to stop him, it would have been me. But from what Katsuyu said, I had a hand in helping him." Tears trailed down her cheeks and she wiped at her eyes with shaky hands. "He is an orphan. He is lonely and broken. He doesn't understand what's right and wrong. I was supposed to have told him no and tried to stop him." She squeezed her eyes shut and bowed over. "He doesn't know... he is innocent. Please blame me."

Jiraiya put a hand to his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut. "I... I will tell the truth. You will not escape punishment, but you will get the amount you deserve, for just wanting to look out for him. When Orochimaru is jailed, I will quit being a Shinobi, and wait till he's released. That is my own punishment for not being strong enough to stop you two."

Looking up at him, she pleaded, "I know that you're set on this. But can it at least be after our joint birthday?" She hiccoughed and wept, "You remember why we've decided to hold joint birthdays, haven't you? We didn't want to see Orochimaru celebrate his all alone, like he's done for years after his parent's deaths. It would break my heart if he had to celebrate it alone in jail this year, the year we all thought we're being promoted to Jonin."

Jiraiya closed his eyes and slowly nodded. Tiredly, he muttered, "Where did it all go wrong?"

Tsunade opened the door to Orochimaru's house and quietly stepped inside. As she had called him ahead of time to let him know that she was coming, he had kept it unlocked for her, just in case he was busy. Seeing him under the serene amber lights, fixing dinner at the table brought a lump to her throat. When will she ever get to experience something so simple but so wonderful with him again?

"That took awhile," Orochimaru commented, untying his pink number one housewife apron and hooking it on the oven door. Leaning against it, he smirked. "Did you purposefully time it so that when you got here, everything would be ready, Tsunade-hime?"

Forcing a smile on her face, she held up a grocery bag. "I bought an appeasement gift, Orochi. Green tea wafers!" Dropping the bag onto the counter, she walked over to him and hugged him, inhaling his scent of comforting green tea, lavender and heady cologne that she had bought for him.

He stroked her head and smiled. It felt so good to be able to be true to his feelings and allow himself to be touched, petted and cared for. He had forgotten what's it like once his parents died. Pulling away from her, he gestured to the meal. "The tomatoes were ripe so I picked them and whipped up roasted tomato soup, to go along with my newly invented recipe for pork ribs. Care to be my test subject tonight?"

"Yea, sure."

Orochimaru tilted his head questioningly. She was unusually docile tonight. He had expected a witty reply or even flirting. Perhaps she was tired? He began slicing into the ribs that were drizzled with a thick intoxicating sauce of honey, butter, and teriyaki. Stabbing a piece with a fork, he popped it into her open mouth as they sat down. "How is it? The sauce took a long time to simmer so I passed the time by reading. I might have overdone it." He looked down and sliced himself a piece, swallowing it whole. One of the sweetest thing she had done for him was telling him that when they were alone, she wanted him to eat without chewing. It was a way of telling him she accepted him and adored him for being who he was, and that touched him immensely. Licking his lips, he sighed. "Overdone. Alittle too much salt as well."

But to her, this dish was simply divine as she could literally taste the effort and feelings he put in for her. Tsunade breathed in deeply, gazing into the molten golden eyes that had captured her attention the first time she saw them. She had to do her best, and let him enjoy these last little moments of happiness as much as possible before Jiraiya told their teacher the truth. It was the least she could do for him. "Really? I find it quite tasty, just like how I think you are tasty, Orochimaru." She moved to sit on his lap, bringing a pretty pink blush to his cheeks.

"Tsunade," he gulped, as she leaned over him.

"Can I stay the night?"

He thought his heart just imploded in on itself. That, or he was suffering from high blood pressure. "I-It's not appropriate. I'm afraid not, Tsuna-" He shut up when she kissed him, her hand going to the back of his head to tangle his long hair. This was not good, thought Orochimaru as sensibility flew out the window and he instinctively returned the kiss. Everything became so much worse when she wiggled on his lap, trying to make herself comfortable. He wanted to take it slow but slow simply doesn't work with a raging passionate fiery woman. But even so, as the man, no especially as the man, he has to be responsible. Breaking the kiss, he panted, "Tsunade no, just no."

She pouted at him. "It is so wrong for me to want to be with you more? And we're both seventeen. Sex is a perfectly normal desire."

"So when you asked if you can stay over, you really were suggesting that we sleep together?" squawked Orochimaru, sounding like someone just hammered in his finger.

Tsunade crossed her arms as she continued sitting on his lap. "I hope you realize that I'm currently the most desirable female in the village. I wasn't suggesting it but I wouldn't mind it. Haven't you been researching on physical intimacy anyways?"

He gave her a blank look. "What?"

"Y'know, reading erotic literature."

The stare grew more intense. "What?"

Fine, if he was too embarrassed to admit it, she'll just drop it, Tsunae thought with a wry smile as she ruffled his hair. "Never mind. But be honest, haven't you thought of sleeping with me?"

He sighed and said in a lecturing voice, "Forgive me but I've never thought about having a relationship in the first place until you confessed to me. Sex was one of the very last thing on my to do list in fact-"

"What was the first?"

"Knowledge and power," he answered without batting an eyelash. "Tsunade, if I cared about sex, I'd just take up Jiraiya's offer to take me to the red light district when I'm of legal age to find a hooker." He froze when she slammed both hands down on the arms of his dining chair and glowered at him.

"If you go there, I'd personally neutered you!"

"Then we wouldn't be able to have sex now would we?"

"Orochimaru, I wanted you for your heart, not for your... your anaconda!"

Orochimaru burst out laughing at the innuendo, his rich throaty tones warming the house. "Then we've come to the same conclusion, haven't we? I am actually a very simple man when it comes to relationship. Just eating a hot meal with you, is enough to make me happy for the day."

Tsunade gave him a wry smile as she looked at the dinner table. Romantic candles, matching place mats and well prepared garnished meals... In a way, she delighted that ever since they got together, he was more open about his feelings and has become so charming. She had always known that he was a very thoughtful young man. Even when it came to visiting his parent's graves, he brought flowers that represented how he currently felt. He believed in shinobis having to lock away their emotions to be strong, but to be true to those he loved, he expressed it through his flowers for his mother and father. Now that he admitted to caring for her, he was trying to be romantic and sensitive to her wants and needs. The genjutsu he performed on their date, was still fresh in her head and she found herself caressing his cheek affectionately. "I... I know you've done alot by accepting this relationship. I know that you're learning and taking it slow, one step at a time. But I just want to cuddle up with you tonight and tomorrow. That's all."

He frowned slightly, unable to help thinking that there seemed to be something wrong with her. "Is something upsetting you, Tsunade?"

She shook her head and said thickly, "I just want to be close to you."

Rubbing her back, he said, "I understand but I don't want people to talk. I can't let your reputation be ruined."

She sighed. He was unbearably shy and she could understand not wanting to publicize their new relationship. Also, the fact that he was clanless, poor, and indebted to the village for having fed and taken care of him, while she was the Senju heiress, would bring about huge disapproval and gossip. He wanted to rise up in rank, reputation, status and earn lots of money so that no one would frown on their relationship. Last but not least, he believed that the more he contributed to the village, he'd be more accepted and the more people would congratulate them in being together, instead of saying things like 'The princess with that freak?' or more crueler things. Her heart went out to him for thinking ahead for her sake. He was so hardworking and now that he was trying to open his heart to the village because of her, she found herself loving him more each and every day. Touching forehead with him, she gave him a pretty smile. "You know you matter much more to me than reputation."

Pondering about the matter, and the strange way she was acting, he reluctantly gave in. "Eat dinner with me and then go home. Let your brother or someone know that you're coming here to do research with me. We've worked on enough projects together that no one will suspect if you're open about it."

"Oki," she chirped happily.

He tweaked her nose. "You'd better not be bringing anything like revealing lingerie to tempt me."

Tilting her head, she batted her eyelashes at him. "That means there is a chance that I can tempt you, isn't there?"

He pushed her off him and wagged a finger at her. "A fair warning. If you bring sexy lingerie, I will go out the next day to buy you a slug onesie."

She stuck her tongue out at him and sashayed over to her chair, walking in a manner that would drag anyone's attention to her curvy hips. "Orochimaru, you do realize that I look sexy in everything I wear. Even a slug onesie."

Sipping his tea, he smirked. "No worries, Tsunade-hime. If I can find obscure techniques that have been lost for decades, I can certainly dress you up in the most untempting outfits imaginable."

Despite the light conversation afterward as they ate, something nagged him at the back of his mind. He knew her best, and he felt that something seemed wrong with her. She was a strong and vibrant woman. The only things that could ever fluster or make her sad, would be related to those she loved. Nawaki was doing excellently in the Academy and her parents just went on vacation two weeks ago. Her grandmother was in fine spirits and had been very pleased to hear that he had taken her advice at Uzushio and were happy that he and Tsunade were together. At the moment, she was the only one who knew they were together.

Mulling over the matter abit more, Orochimaru's frown deepened. If her family was fine, then the only other people she'd worry over was him, Jiraiya and their teacher. Their teacher was perfectly fine, and Jiraiya should be back in Konoha within the week. The only one remaining... was him. But he was in good health, and he was quite sure he didn't do anything wrong to upset her. Granted, he was still new to this relationship thing and after being back home for so long, he sometimes neglected her for his work. Sarutobi-sensei had been so impressed that he had helped Uzushio with the invention of their barrier technique, that he had asked him to make one up for their own village, built up from scratch. Maybe she was acting weird since she really did just missed him. They hadn't seen each other for nearly a week, as she was also tied up with some medical work at the hospital.

"You seem distracted, Orochi."

It was then that he noticed that he had completely cleaned his plate without even noticing. Quickly coming up with an excuse, he said, "Considering the fact that I don't have to chew, of course I'd eat faster. Now hurry up hime, so we can go to bed."

Tsunade felt a strange sort of thrill run up her spine at the words 'so we can go to bed', and felt her stomach flip flop when she saw the slight blush and smile he wore. Half a year ago, she wouldn't have believed that something like this could happen. Despite the short time they have left, she was determined to spend it by making him as happy as possible, and try to show him how much she loved him.

One hour later...

Tsunade knocked on the door lightly, holding a large blue bag of sleepover necessities. When Orochimaru opened it, all the blood rushed to her head and her eyes widened. Wearing a silky midnight blue night robe that showed off a portion of alabaster toned abs, along with long silk pants, he looked divine. His obsidian hair matched perfectly with the color of the robe and she noticed how long and lacy his dark eyelashes was since the white of his skin contrasted with everything else. Damn it all, she should have totally brought sexy lingerie. All she brought was pink pajamas with cute pigs on them. She blurted out, "What the fuck is this?"

He blinked. "Habotai silk. Something wrong with it?"

Something wrong with it? Was he kidding her? She wanted to get naked on it. Holding her bag, she grouched at him as she entered the dark house. "Telling me not to bring something tempting, and you're wearing this?!"

Orochimaru looked at his long sleeves and pants, before adjusting the tied robe. "How is this tempting?" When she pointed at his chest, he said, "It's showing as much skin as a V-neck shirt."

"I know you're not wearing anything underneath, that's why it's tempting."

He smirked and pulled his robe closer to him. He actually preferred to sleep shirtless but with her here, he supposed that it wouldn't be a good idea. Taking her hand, he began leading her to the living room instead of his bedroom. "I prepared a little something that might make you feel abit better. You looked rather sad today." He gave her a small smile. "I admit, I have been alittle neglectful of you. If that upsets you, then I'm sorry."

A lump formed in her throat at the words. "It's not that, Orochimaru." She hugged him and buried her face into his chest, her heart aching at what was to come. Forcing herself to smile, she said, "But it's good that you're going out of your way for me. What's the surprise?"

He stared at her for a moment, doubt written across his face, before standing aside to let her see. The fireplace that he installed just the year before (it was one of the newer pieces of technology in Konoha and as he hated the cold, he allowed himself to splurged on it) was crackling with life and light. He had moved the living room table to set up two puffy white futons right beside each other, with a large comfortable white blanket on top. His three living room sofas remained in place however and formed somewhat of a circle around the futons. His mother's instruments were hung artistically on the walls and on a side table that rested up against the coffee and cream wall. On top of the fireplace were some potted flower and a mini cactus that he had brought back with him from one of his trip to the Sand.

Tsunade smiled as she stood there in the dark room with him, the only source of light being that of the fireplace. "Well, isn't this romantic?" She thought she was just going to sleep in his small bedroom but instead, he had prepared this for her.

"That's not everything," he said with a grin. Going to the middle of the room and picking up a pillow, he handed it over to her. "Smell it."

Walking over, she gingerly took it and sniffed. She gasped as she inhaled the scent of sweet vanilla and fragrant lavender. "This... this smell amazing!"

Orochimaru chuckled and nodded. "Lavender is marvelous for quelling anxiety and promoting relaxation of the body. Same thing for vanilla. I've used them to mix in my shampoo sometimes when I'm stressed. Tonight, I used some of the oil to rub onto the pillows that I've washed and prepared for you. You seemed like you need it."

Tsunade hugged the pillow tightly to her chest. "I... I'm just sick of my terrible schedule at the hospital. Thank you, Orochi." She pecked him on the cheek and handed him the pillow. "I'm going to go change and then we'll go to sleep. I have a pretty early morning shift tomorrow."

"I'll go with you," Orochimaru said. "I need to make a visit to procure some lab notes at the hospital anyways."

She shook her head and said, "It's an early 6am shift so I'd rather you sleep in. But I have an hour lunch break. I'll pick up your notes and bring it to you? Then we can eat together too."

"It's my day off so come over and I'll make lunch." When she nodded and left to go change, he sat down on his futon and stared at the dancing flames of his fireplace. No doubt about it, there was definitely something serious going on. His intuition was sharp and it had never failed him before.

Sitting there and mulling over the situation for another ten minutes, he finally tore his gaze from the fire to look at her as she came back to him, her hair let down and in cute pink pajamas, decorated with baby pigs. His mind turning away from his worries, he began to feel alittle shy as she leaned against him, brushing out her long hair. For the first time, they were going to sleep side by side, alone... and in love with each other. Oh God... Grabbing a pillow, he inhaled deeply to calm himself.

"Orochi," she giggled. "You are so cute when you're flustered." She smiled and turned his chin. "You can neck me. I know you like to, Orochimaru."

"You're really picking up on my snake habits, haven't you?" Pushing his nose against her neck, he reveled in the touch as he caressed her, before licking at the soft skin, hearing her moan in approval. He liked to do this not out of lust or anything, but mere comfort. Snakes liked to be near warmth, and a human's body temperature was just perfect. Also, his tongue, able to both taste and smell, was his most sensitive sensor. By licking her, he could tell her moods at times. Right now, he could taste fear.

Pulling his tongue back into his mouth, he said quietly, "Tsunade... tell me the truth. What is bothering you? Is something wrong with Nawaki? Your family?"

She swallowed and laughed, "You silly snake, where'd that come from? Everything is fine." Patting his cheek, she laid down and waited for him to do the same. When he did so, she took in a deep breath, smelling the lavender and vanilla. Rolling over and into his chest, she felt him hug her and she relaxed, listening to the crackling of the fire and his slow breaths.

This was perfect. The warm room, dancing shadows cast by amber light, laying in the arms of your love and surrounded by the smell of delicate lavender and vanilla. The futon was so soft and puffy too. She pressed herself closer to him, reveling in the solid body against her. Her hand that was behind his back delighted in the silky feel of his hair and robe. If Orochimaru wasn't a Shinobi, she would have loved to see him grow his hair to his ankles. Like his mother, she loved his hair. It never got tangled and it was always so perfect.

Perhaps it was the effect of the lavender and vanilla, but she felt utterly at peace. Kissing his neck, she sighed sweetly and whispered, "I wish morning never comes."

"Then let us dream of an eternal night together," he replied huskily, holding her tight.

After awhile, he could feel her falling asleep as her body relaxed. Even with the scent of vanilla and lavender, he could tell she was restless. Slowly sitting up, ignoring her slight protest at the loss of warmth, he looked at the tattoo on his left arm for a moment before turning his eyes to the venomous black snake that was waiting patiently for him in a corner. Beckoning the serpent over, he crooned, "This better be important, my pet. You're disturbing an intimate moment." The snake that was as thick as forearms, flicked it's tongue a few times to try and gage his mood. Finally, it slithered up his arm to reach his ears. As he listened, his pupils dilated to thin slits.

"You and your sisters can all hear my Kusanagi's return. That means Jiraiya is back." He looked down at the sleeping beauty and thought back on her sorrowful demeanor before his eyes narrowed, guessing the reason for what was bothering her.

Standing up with the snake on his shoulder, he left the warm living room to go to his bedroom. Sliding the Shoji door open, he entered and went over to his bookcase. Digging for the back, he pulled out the forbidden scroll from Uzushiogakure and the journal where he had recorded the mission in its entirety. Not only did he have Manda keep the items safe for him when his memories were erased, he had written down a note of instruction and given it to another one of his pets to give him when he returned to his house, telling his future self to summon Manda immediately when he was safe and back in Konoha. He knew that both Tsunade's Katsuyu and Jiraiya's toads would be able to tell them snippets of the mission. Tsunade loved him, she would have openly talked to him. Jiraiya on the other hand...

"Sssssss."

He stroked his snake on the head with a pale finger. "Thank you for coming to tell me, pet." The snake hissed happily under his touch. He had always had an affinity for snakes and they, in turn, adored him. Only Manda was an exception, only obeying because he bribed him with food. Letting his snake slither off, he slowly swallowed the scroll and journal with a gulp. He stood there and absentmindedly played with one of his earrings for a minute, running over his thoughts.

"Orochimaru."

He tilted his head to see Tsunade opening the Shoji door, looking for him. Coming over to her side, he stared down at her, sensing her anxiousness. He cupped her cheek and said, "My love..." Her eyes widened at the bold term of endearment.

"Orochimaru?"

Kissing her on the forehead, he smiled. "You look positively frightened. What's the matter?"

"I..." She took his hands in hers and said quietly, "I was just afraid that something happened to you. I'm just being silly." For a moment, she almost thought that Jiraiya had broken their agreement and that Orochimaru had been taken from her.

A low laugh rumbled in his throat and he took her hand to lead her back to bed. "I have a little belief about something. If you fear something, a solution is to become even more frightening than it." Licking his lips with his long tongue, he cast her a sideways glance. "Do no worry, Tsunade-hime. Nothing in this world is strong enough to take me away from you." His eyes shimmered ominously. "Fools who try to play with snakes, will face a most agonizing punishment."

Darkwings13:

-Sorry for the late chapter guys! But I have a good reason XD I was working on the Orotsu pic and it's finally finished! You can check it out on my DeviantArt. It's kind of a future outing for them ;D

-What tricks does Orochimaru have to get out of this one? Stay tune.

-I'm being kinda slow but I'm having a ton of fun writing Orotsu moments lol. Hehe, the Habotai silk moment.

d(￣◇￣)b First things first. We've now reached 70 favorites for this story. Seeing all the Orotsu fans warms muh fat dying heart. I'm so thankful for you all coming this far with me and I'm so very thankful. Greetings and appreciation to the newest readers who favorited: rstbm, Sonnarutohatake, LadyMajestic, jurilim17, Khoile, UndyingSavior, and Sienna246!

d(･∀･○) You're right, JigokuShoujosRevenge. Basically, it's abit of the idea of like... punishing a family member and keeping it private. But Orochi's crime definitely cannot go public, otherwise Uzushio might refuse to help Konoha completely.

( ´∀｀) I've tried my best to mix the date with equal amounts of fluff and humor, glad you liked it lumichan! And I'm glad you felt uncertain! I felt it myself while writing :D

(ᗒᗨᗕ) Hello again RushiAei! Funny that you mentioned I update so constantly and then I'm late! I'm so sorry friend! And I like romance as well, but I also like the dash of adventure or some simmering apprehension that goes along with it. Anyways, thanks for loving the last chapter! It's like my baby of this story. I agree, I feel abit bad for Jiraiya as well. I personally think Tsunade always had an inkling that Jiraiya really liked her, but her main problem with him was that he liked other women as well. She is unable to have faith that he'll love her and only her. I can agree with her. If it was me, I'd fear him cheating (he is pretty good looking). Also, she (99% of girls) would probably be very turned off by the whole peeking thing. Especially since she nearly killed him for it lol.

(＾▽＾) Hope you're having a fun time at school hxshigaki76 . And haha with thist story, if something is going really well, expect something ominous to happen. Or weird. Or hilarious. XD As for drawing Oro's parents, I don't think I will. There's something very nice about never showing them, and leaving it up to the fan's imaginations as to what they're like. I try to support my versions with information and try to back it up, but to physically draw them, I feel would limit their image somewhat.

ლ(･ω･*ლ) Cheerios Lord Creator! Ah no worries at all my friend. Life is busy! I'm just happy to hear from you again friend, and happy that you like the date chapter!

ლ(・ヮ・ლ) Thank you xxhebi-himexx! I love writing the more romantic talk and acts between the two too. Especially when it comes to their witty flirting. Reminds me abit of Yennefer and Geralt's banter from Witcher. Hehe, when you wrote 'admitted they're in love with each other', it made me feel kinda tingly. I feel like Orochimaru would feel the same, after being confused and uncertain with his basic emotions for so long.

(^ ω^ ) Hello BlackLady777! Teehee, I feel that with her spoiled princess attitude, she would indeed be a very jealous and possessive kind of woman. I don't think Oro minds though teehee. Especially since most people would rather shy away from him when they know he's kinda scary and ruthless, so he probably likes that of her. I will definitely come up with more witty flirting between the two. It gives me life. Yes! Having Orochimaru kind of having an idea of his feelings ever since that night at the library was invigorating, but to finally have him come to realize those strange sensations is on a whole different level. And yea, I mean the first time I saw Orochimaru, I definitely thought he was scary. When I saw Kisame, I was like... Shark man? Kakashi and Ibiki both kinda shat their pants when they saw Oro. Granted Ibiki was a kid but still lol. There were some touches of discrimination in the anime/manga but Kishi kinda dropped it, which was really unfortunate. Haku was seen as a monster for having a kekei genkai, proving that people have a irrational fear of lost powers (to Orochimaru, it would be kinjutsu). Kushina was bullied as a foreigner. And Jinchuuriki, although they were wanted for being powerful weapons, they were also feared for being who they are. I feel like that's a huge case for Orochi too. Thank you again for the Oro's stats my friend. It's what inspired and supported the use of crazy good genjutsu that Oro can do. I find it amusing that Jiraiya states he can't use genjutsu, even though he's a legendary ninja. And thanks for saying you like my cliff hangers/plots twists. I try to keep everyone and myself on their toes. Now I gotta write how Oro deals with this situation haha. He's so prepared, that's probably why he's still alive after being killed and sealed in an eternal illusion.

(๑•́ω•̀) I agree that I think Oro only seems to have eyes for her, ileangie23. She's the only woman he's ever shown respect to. I think he has very low considerations for her students, especially when he commented that Sakura could have died to Sasuke in that Sarada oneshot. She's revolutionised the medical field and invented two godly great techniques. Shizune followed Tsu for years and couldn't do the One Hundred Seal, and despite the fact that she took care of Tsu, Oro thinks of her as an annoyance and nodded to Kabuto getting rid of her. And Sakura could only copy her, but she never surpassed her. A huge flaw with Sakura is the fact that she just limits herself immensely, never seeking to grow stronger. That is why she'll never be on Naruto and Sasuke's level, as the two always push themselves to surpass their limits. Considering Kishi's complete failure to give girls any good development, it's the reason why I also liked Tsu alot. Although Granny Chiyo was also amazing lol. I feel like being around Tsu is going to give Orochimaru a heart attack sooner or later. Be it from embarrassment or happiness xD And yea, an important theme I wanted to portray with the two is that even if whatever they're doing together isn't perfect, real effort is made. Orochimaru is actually super hardworking and a perfectionist, so I feel like he would really give it his all once he's decided to be with her. And Tsu thinks he's reading erotic literature for the effort too bwahahaha. Yes! I With that kind of tongue, it'd be blasphemous if he wasn't good at kissing. I mean, look at that potential! Ahahahah! And yep, I totally noticed that all the girls associated with Oro were violent tomboys. I think that since he's grown up with Tsu, he admires her for being very intelligent and strong, and would find the more submissive girls boring or weak. He even finds Tayyua's attitude amusing. Last but not least, I also have a headcannon that the two would enjoy combing each other hair immensely. Maybe even go shopping together for hair products since they're so vain. Teehee.