"Da da!"
Tsunade narrowed her eyes at Orochimaru, who tried to hide his crack of a smile as he sipped on the beef bone broth he had made. It was hearty, delicious, full of roasted small veggies and strips of meat. But even with five-star food, it did little to quell her irked spirit at now being called 'dad'. Feeding the baby a spoonful of beets, she grouched, "Having fun, mum mum?" She felt her heart thump briefly when he threw back his head and laughed silkily, his beautiful hair falling behind him and his eyes crinkled with good humor.
Resting his elbow on the dining table, Orochimaru made a nonchalant gesture. "Tsunade, for our relationship, you knew that one day you'd have to pay the price for throwing all the domestic duties on me."
"But I'm a princess," she argued before adding, "Your princess."
Orochimaru smirked as he rested his chin in the palm of his hand, hiding the pleasant tingle he felt from her declaration that she was his. "I'm sorry Tsunade-hime. If not for the fact that you're vain and take care of your appearance, it would feel like I'm dating a man."
Tsunade's eyebrows dipped straight down, knowing he was hinting at her manly qualities. "And I'm dating the most effeminate guy in the five nations. Funny how things balance out."
"Fate has always had a fickle sense of humor, hime." He closed his eyes for a moment and murmured, "But truthfully, I am grateful."
"Hmmm?" She tilted her head in puzzlement, curious about the sudden soft glow about him.
Orochimaru murmured gently, "What I've lost, has made me bitter towards many things in life. Meeting you was one of the few good things that had ever happened to me."She openly gaped at him, her cheeks heating up as she opened and closed her mouth a few times, seemingly searching for words. Amused by the cute reaction, he said, "I suppose I'm just feeling a tad nostalgic." He gestured to their dining room. "Remember the first meal we ever shared together? When I told you not to get close to me? How the meal we had would only make the days to come much sadder, knowing that I will be eating alone?"
Tsunde looked at him sorrowfully and reached out to take his hand. "Orochi..."
He shook his head and squeezed her hand in return. "Thank you."
"I'm always here," she said reassuringly. "You can always count on me, alright? You don't have to hide in the dark anymore."
His eyes momentarily dimmed. "Some things are too ugly to be seen in the light though, Tsunade Senju."
She froze at the quote, thinking about the secret she too was hiding from him. She was too weak, too scared of telling him the truth about his parents' deaths. It wasn't right that she hid this from him, but it was a truth that may just be too ugly to bear. "Ignorance is bliss," she agreed in a hollow voice.
Half a year later...
Tsunade walked hand in hand with Orochimaru down the streets of the underground village, with the baby snuggled and warm in his stroller happily sucking on his finger. The night market was bustling but not crowded and they made their way around easily enough. By now, Tsunade had gotten used to the people here and though she still didn't trust them, she couldn't quite dislike them as much anymore. They were after all... once human. They retain their sanity, memories, and personality. They had feelings. Other than their looks and advanced body structures (she discovered that they were highly resistant to illness and injuries), there wasn't much difference between them.
"A coin for your thoughts, hime?"
Tsunade turned to smile at her betrothed. During his time here, he had allowed his hair to grow long as there was no missions for it to get in the way with, and he had taken to wearing a formal long light purple yukata with trimmed sleeves and a side sash of deep purple. She had decided to change her hairstyle as well, keeping it in low pigtails (she found out Orochimaru was fond of that hairstyle on her as it made her look younger), now a glamorous gold and blue kimono that showed off a generous portion of her chest, tied with a big pink bow obi. "Just a coin?"
One of his eyebrows quirked up and he said seductively, "Perhaps more later on, if that is what my hime wishes." Just to tease her, he pulled down the collar of his yukata to bare a collarbone, enjoying the flush of red that flashed across her cheeks. "My, that reaction from just seeing more of my neck?"
"Shut it you hot piece of ass." She leaned into him and smiled before saying, "I feel slightly conflicted. I think I'm getting used to this place and the people here."
"That's not unusual," he replied calmly. "You were taught very black and white matters after all. The people here are survivors of a massacre that even wiped out children. The demonic power that the world thinks is so evil gave them salvation where it was denied everywhere else," he paused to point up at the fake but beautiful starry night sky, "And allowed them to live and have families. Like our current one..." Mitsuki chose at this moment, to babble an audible 'mum mum' and Orochimaru reached out to give him a slug of milk. Once the kid was happily sucking away, he reclaimed her hand in his. "What is evil, can be used for good. What is good, can be corrupted."
"But the world will never accept them," Tsunade said, honest about the harsh truth. "They'll be discriminated against. And... they are at risk of losing control and becoming mindless killers obsessed with blood and destruction. The world can't bring themselves to trust them."
"And why they've hidden here. There is a source of chakra here that keeps them content. A remnant of the Great Tree. I do not understand why they persist with the foolish plan of moving back up and risk being wiped out a second time. After all, a lion cannot coexist peacefully with a sheep or deer." He smiled at her. "How are your techniques coming along? Our wedding draws near, we have to leave before then."
She returned his smile and a purple diamond mark appeared briefly on her forehead before it faded away. "I need at least 3 years to keep it there at a constant flow, but it's not so bad right now with half a year. The other technique, though, isn't going to be done anytime soon. I need my lab back at Konoha."
"Mhmmm. I see."
Once they returned home, Tsunade happily carried the baby over to the rocking chair and sat down with him. "Story and then bed time big boy. Excited? It's about a little red hen. You like red hens right?"
"You're spoiling him," Orochimaru commented as he neatly stacked away their shoes.
"Says the dude who knitted a mountain of kid clothes." Tsunade pointed at the pile of knitted baby clothes Orochimaru had knitted during the long six months they were here.
"They were merely for practice." He turned his nose up, his slender eyebrows slightly curved with irritation.
"You've learned gourmet baby food," Tsunade added snidely, wearing a wide grin on her face.
He huffed, "Everything I cook is perfect. I just wanted to experiment with baby food and they turned out well. I am a very curious kind of man after all."
Tsunade giggled as he walked off to get ready for bed. This whole family situation, despite its little problems at times (smelly diapers for example), was fun and she delighted in every moment of it. Even if Orochimaru continued to deny that he was now comfortable with being a dad, she knew that he was happy like her. After all, Mitsuki was a sweet baby and she loved him as much as her little brother. Even though there was some rough patches like sleepless nights...
Flashback...
"The baby isn't sleeping," Tsunade groaned as she and Orochimaru hovered over the crib blearily. It was three in the goddamn morning. THREE! Why wasn't the kid sleeping?!
"That much is obvious," yawned the snake summoner, picking up the baby and rocking him. It seemed to do the trick as the baby stopped crying and slowly babbled in content. After five minutes of this, he seemed to have fallen asleep so Orochimaru carefully lowered him back down. But the moment the rocking stopped, the baby began crying again. After a long time of rocking, he handed it over to her to rock.
"I'm sure we'll have to go through this when we have our own family too," Tsunade yawned.
"I'm sure that would kill us if we're already dying now. Senju babies can blow eardrums with their crying," Orochimaru commented. He then tried to manually shut the kid's eyes. "Can we glue them shut or something?" In response, the baby giggled and opened its eyes wider. "Mum mum!"
"Awwwwwwwwwwwww..."
"This is no time to be awwwwwwwwwwing Tsunade!"
Shaking herself from her thoughts, she looked down at the baby in her arms and began reading to him. With every passing day, she grew more and more attached to him. Funny enough, she could no longer think about returning to Konoha, and returning to a life of a Shinobi. She enjoyed this made up family immensely. To be all alone once more and worry about when her teammates would return, or if they'd be badly injured if they returned to her, suddenly seemed all too dreadful. Why had she considered it a normalcy before? To be away from that life now, she could see with much clearer eyes, how pointless it all seemed. Protecting the village... was watching those she cared about throwing themselves into danger over and over again. Did it really accomplish anything? The sudden memory of her grandmother falling beside herself at the body of her grandfather suddenly flashed before her eyes and she saw herself doing the same thing, crying over Orochimaru's own body.
"Tsunade, what's wrong?"
The baby babbled a bit and reached for her hand, which she grabbed for comfort just as Orochimaru hovered over her and leaned in close, bringing his smell of tea and lavender. "I don't want to go home," she said finally.
His eyes widened. "But your family... Nawaki, Jiraiya and your lab-"
"It's been years of the same bickering and fighting amongst the Shinobi nations," she said, drained. "This peace is an illusion. All of this tension is building up and when it explodes, it's US who have to clean up the mess. They're all idiots. Why do I have to serve such a meaningless task?" She gripped the arm of the rocking chair in sudden rage. "It sucks enough that we have to keep our relationship secret, but now that I've been away for the village for so long, I realize just how inconsequential our lives have been. What did my grandfather even died for? What was the point of stopping the wars of clans and building a village when peace is always being threatened? First by Madara, then the first war, and now maybe even a second war?!" Choked, she looked away and said, "This land is peaceful. I cannot say the same for the world above our heads, even if there's no freedom here."
He gently stroked her cheek, feeling the heat of anger surge from her onto his own cold pale skin. "People only realize what they have, once it is gone. You've finally experienced what peace actually means, compared to the stalemated peace that resulted in the first war. But we cannot stay down here. You are a Senju, you're too precious to be lost from this world and I refuse to let our brilliance be dulled by this darkness of the earth. The world above needs to be changed by people like us, instead of wallowing in their own stupidity of needless fighting while a greater evil threatens out of sight."
She paused. "A greater danger?"
"I cannot tell you right now, I need more information still. But I believe there is a race of people out there who seeks to destroy our world, in order to obtain the chakra we have."
Tsunade stilled from the information. "What?"
His fingers brushed over her cheek with the touch of a butterfly. "But even without a greater evil to threaten this world, we cannot continue to be divided. This world has fought enough pointless wars, that it fed the Great Tree with enough blood for the thing to become a forbidden evil."
Tsunade placed her hand over his that was on her cheek. "What are you planning?"
"I seek to improve the image of your grandfather. He stopped the war of clans by uniting them into a village. He should have gone further and united it all under one rule," Orochimaru said calmly. "There was no man who was stronger than he was. He could have been the ruler of the entire world. If he had, there'd be no wars between the five shinobi nations, would there?" Taking her hands into his, Orochimaru's expression turned solemn. "I have a long way to go, to ever be able to compare myself to your grandfather. I know that. But I will learn every technique and once I do, nothing can stop me."
Tsunade said worriedly, "That would require much death and bloodshed."
"If your grandfather had shed the blood necessary back then, we wouldn't have had to go through one war, and perhaps the second one now. How many more wars must we deal with in one lifetime? Should our children, and then our children's children go through the same curse?" He crossed his arms behind his back. "Being Hokage is not going to change anything. Only a united world under one rule would mean everlasting peace. Especially... if the ruler is immortal." He sighed. "After all... those who do not remember the past are destined to repeat it." They paused when someone knocked on their door. Coming over to answer, he was surprised to see who it was. Tsunade came up behind him, sharing the same expression he had for their uninvited guest.
Arachna, that woman that looked like a spider, had her six eyes moved in all different directions like she was looking over their home. The creepy movement was enough to unsettle her and instinctively, Tsunade leaned closer to her boyfriend and baby protectively. "Hi."
"Greetings, my lord and lady consort," Arachna said politely, her six arms almost posed at one hip while she curtsied.
Orochimaru said coldly, "It's getting rather late. What is it?"
"I am sorry to disturb you, my lord." Arachna bowed lower. "But I have come for the child."
Ignoring Tsunade who stiffened up, he said calmly, "Has a permanent family been found for him?"
"Not yet my lord. He will be returned to you tomorrow but right now, Lord Mother wants him."
Both of their hearts wrung up on itself at the sudden request. He could mask his emotions well, but Tsunade at the moment wore her heart on her sleeve. Even taking a step back from him when he reached for the baby. "Tsunade," he said softly, stopping her steps. Prying the baby out of her arms, he quickly redressed him to keep him warm and then he handed it over. When the baby's white gold eyes teared up and he reached out for the both of them, Orochimaru uncharacteristically leaned forward and ruffled his blonde hair. "It'll be ok. Be a good boy, Mitsuki."
Instead of reassuring her, those words he spoke to their baby only made her panic even more.
"Goodnight, my lord and lady consort." Arachna dipped her head before carrying the baby off.
Quickly closing the door so that Tsunade wouldn't have to look, he said, "Go get some rest. We'll wake early tomorrow."
"I've got a terrible sense about this," Tsunade protested, her amber eyes shining with worry. She was the image of a rustled hen that just had her baby chick taken from her. Her entire body was tensed and strung high with nerves. Now that he thought about it, this was the first time since she's laid eyes on the child, that he was out of her sight and care. All he could do was try to reassure her that Mitsuki would be just fine and make her tea to calm her down.
He should have known a woman's intuitions, especially when it came to their babies, were ridiculously and horribly accurate.
The next day...
The first time she laid eyes on that baby boy, she thought he was as cute as a button. Angelic blonde hair and sparkling gold white eyes, coupled with pinchable baby cheeks and a quirky curiosity for all things around him, he was absolutely adorable. Now, after spending nearly half a year being his mother, she could honestly say she wanted to be a mother for him. Once she gets her baby back, she made up her mind to go speak to the Lord Mother about adopting him. If Orochimaru doesn't want to, then so be it. She'll just be a single parent. Screw reputation as well. Tsunade stared deep into the flames of the fireplace, feeling time tick by ever so slowly, ever so torturously, praying to every deity she knew out there to keep her baby safe.
Her heart thumped when she heard the door open. Quick as a flash, she jumped out of the rocking chair. She could feel her heart settle down immediately when she saw Orochimaru holding the bundled up baby in his arms. But the moment she saw his empty expression, a sudden chill soaked into the core of her bones. Without another word, she rushed to take her baby. Pushing back his covers, her eyes widened at the furry wolf ears that popped out. "Wha... what?"
"He's one of them now."
Seconds and then minutes passed as he watched her stood there, completely immobile as she held the child. To his utter confusion and surprise, she finally hugged the baby close to her heart and murmured faintly, "He's healthy. He's not hurt. That's all I care about."
"But he's..." Orochimaru didn't want to say not human. So he said, "He's not normal anymore."
Tsunade looked up at him, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Nothing's changed. Understand, Orochimaru?"
Orochimaru stared at her. This complete acceptance and affection baffled and confused him, but it also touched a strange chord in his heart. Despite the clear imperfection before them, Tsunade didn't give a single care about it. This was still her baby, her love.
At this moment, the baby woke up and his new ears wiggled. 'Mum mum..." When Tsunade silently hugged him close, Orochimaru stood there and watched for a short while in solemn contemplation and rare compassion before he spoke up.
"I asked."
Tsunade's eyes peeked up at him, over the blonde hair of the baby boy. "Asked?"
"I asked why? He could have died." Orochimaru folded his hands behind his back. "I feel like I must be honest with you. I agreed with what she's done."
Tsunade stared at him, utterly dumbstruck. "You... you what?"
"Those with powers will always be different," he replied, holding up a pale white hand. "And power requires sacrifice. This was a necessary risk for a dying clan."
"How could you say that! He's a baby, this is a wrong! He didn't get to choose!"
Orochimaru showed no reaction to her outburst. "Look at the Aburame clan, one of the noble clan of Konoha. Their babies are raised to become hosts for their special insects. Even they know that their looks are on the verge of 'creepy' and so they all cover their eyes and bodies, yet they subject their young to that fate because the clan requires power. The process isn't exactly pleasant either, turning your body into a bug hive. We also have ROOT, who are allowed to take children from any clan they wish, tear them apart from their families, for the sole purpose of building a strong organization to protect the village."
"Just because something is necessary, doesn't mean it's right!" Tsunade shot back.
"I knew you wouldn't be very pleased about my perspective," he replied. "You have every right to disapprove of it, and the way the world works. I just hope you can appreciate that I'm at least honest with someone I believe I can be real to."
Tsunade let out a long breath, closing her eyes to avoid looking at him. "Maybe I don't know you as well as I thought I do. I never thought you would hold this kind of opinion."
"Perhaps," he replied. "But I believe that there is no point in living when you have no power and you're completely helpless to whatever fate decides to throw your way." He pointed to the child who had begun crying. "Don't forget. His parents are both dead, his clan is hated by the world, and he's completely defenseless by all definition. You've never been in his position and mine, you don't understand how much power would mean to us."
She now realized that he was rationalizing himself in the shoes of the child she was holding. Because of what he had been through, he could not bring himself to accept any life that was weak and helpless. It was too painful, too unfair and too hopeless. If you can't live happy, you might as well not live at all. It was a cruel and cold way of thinking, especially when he considered the life of a mere infant to be inconsequential if power can be obtained, but she could understand why he felt that way, even if it was terribly wrong. "Orochimaru-"
"Just drop it." In a sense, he knew that his thoughts were warped and abnormal. Normal people would be horrified by them. After all, what type of person other than a complete monster would think that it's fine to put a baby's life at risk to obtain power? Yet no matter how hard he tried to consider it wrong, he couldn't.
"Oro-"
He crossed his arms. "I said enough. We're leaving, now."
"What? Now?"
"The child was turned sooner than usual custom. She knows we care for him, and it's to further ensure we'll follow through on her plan. This means our wedding day is even closer than expected." He pointed to Mitsuki. "Now is our chance. She'd never expect us to leave at this moment." He towered over her, his presence dark and his eyes nearly glowing. "I've explored every inch of this place and know the best way for us to leave. At midnight, we're out of here."
Tsunade sighed softly, looking around the warm room, with its fireplace, baby toys on the floor and at the kotatsu table. "Why is it here in this cage, that I was happiest in life?"
Orochimaru glanced sideways at her, half disapproving of her hesitation at such a crucial moment before he relaxed slightly, understanding the sentiment. Quietly, he said, "Because this place, with its cult-like clan, demonic leader and an assortment of curses, is nowhere as corrupted as the world above our heads."
Under the cover of darkness, they swiftly left their little home. She had fed Mitsuki a small dosage of a sleeping formula to make sure everything would proceed smoothly before following after Orochimaru. He was always the more quiet and stealthy ninja on their team, even if Jiraiya was now a spy master. She wasn't as good as her two teammates, but her mastery over chakra control gave her an advantage over sensors in comparison to them, something she was rather proud of.
They made their ways out of the little village, to head upwards towards the top level with the temple, lake and large stone bridge of decorative snake women holding up blazing braziers. To her surprise, he led them along the bottom of the bridge by treading the waters until they came upon a hidden door at the base of the bridge. She looked at him questioningly, wondering where it led.
"There's a species of spiders that can live underwater," he began quietly, "A few specialized people here that took on spider traits, has that talent. They are keeping guard in air sacks, beneath our feet. They're also very nocturnal hunters. However, this door is the only way out for us."
Tsunade nearly gasped, and resisted the urge to look down into the dark depths to look for giant air bubbles with weird spider people in them. "Shouldn't they have discovered us by now?"
"They can sense chakra footprints, and vibrations from the water if there was running or a fight," he replied, taking a vial out from his deep purple sleeve. "We've been here for so long, the chakra around this place has soaked into our very skin. But if we stand on here too long, and especially if we open those doors, they'll come up. They only didn't bother last time because they didn't want to interfere in the fight I had with that girl." He popped the cork and poured in a dark green sludge-like fluid. "This poison will kill them if they come out of their protective air sacs for us. It's not very effective, though, as it breaks down too fast in the waters. The potency swiftly drops with every passing second. Eventually, the alarm will ring. This part is where we run." Once the vial was emptied, he tossed it aside and let it sink like a rock before coming to the door. Biting his finger, he swiped the blood across a symbol on the door. It flashed briefly before recognizing the blood and opening to let them through.
They ran down the cold wet passageway, with hanging stalactites over their heads in the enormous caverns. Icy water occasionally dripped onto their head and the darkness would have been foreboding if it wasn't for Orochimaru who lit the way by forming his usual green fireball in hand. "If the place was attacked, it has to be attacked in descending order," Orochimaru said as they ran. "The first level would be flooded if there was no chance of winning. This passageway is an escape route to head up. The snakehead platform is to head down. Those human enough... they can leave upwards."
Tsunade was surprised to hear that. "They would still care for those that... would perhaps be considered failures in their eyes?"
"Perhaps they hope that in the very least, someone will remember the clan. That it would not be lost entirely to history," he replied as they neared a crossroad in the passageway. "And as long as there's a survivor, there's always a chance for revival. Just like my case for example."
"That is exactly your case."
They came to an abrupt as the Mother and her personal retainer, Arachna appeared. Her long black hair brushed the floor as she took a step towards them and she waved away a fleck of dust on her long trailing sleeves. "I am old. Making me get up at this time... you should both be ashamed of yourselves."
"How did you find out?" Tsunade asked as she slowly adjusted her stance for a fight.
"A mother should know what her children are up to." The pale red lips curved as her dark black eyes zoomed in on the baby cradled up in Tsunade's arms. "All who inherited my curse, will always be connected to me. You can't run away from me." She pointed a thin finger upwards and said darkly, "Now's not the time to be leaving either, children. Trust me."
Tsunade gave her a grimace of a grin. "Sorry but this daughter-in-law just can't live with such an overbearing mother-in-law anymore."
"You haven't seen anything yet."
Orochimaru stepped in front of her and unleashed a dozen of snakes out from his sleeves at the same time the mother did. His white snakes and her black ones lashed onto each other into a deadly tug of war and he dug his heels into the ground for stability.
She said lowly, "You're a smart boy. You know you have no chance of winning against me."
Orochimaru chuckled. "I don't have to win. I just don't have to lose." He looked behind his shoulder at Tsunade and murmured, "No matter what, the wind eventually returns to the windmill."
"What?" Tsunade stumbled backward from the blast of chakra as he blew the snakes away from him and turned towards her to form a set of familiar hand seals. "No... no! Don't you dare-"
"Summoning: Quintuple Rashomon!"
With no choice, she had to run as the great gates of her grandfather was summoned into appearance, shooting forth from the ground with a thunderous crash and their demonic faces grinning at future futile attempts to break through them. When the last one rose up, she stopped and listened hard for him, her heart beating fast. But the gates were too many, too thick. She couldn't hear if the battle continued. She didn't know what was happening to him.
She grinded on her teeth and punched at the gate, feeling the skin split and blood dripped onto the hard metal. "You selfish bastard! What kind of sick joke is this?! Making me a single parent or something you fucker?!" She froze as she could hear the clicking of feet along the ground. Orochimaru may have blocked off the worst threat, but things were far from over. If she lingered, she'd be hunted down by the rest of the people here. This stupid underground place was like a maze, with many connecting routes.
With one more torn look at the gates, she held back a hiccough and ran off with the baby. No matter what, the wind eventually returns to the windmill. Tsunade prayed that he'd keep that promise. Just like him, there was no greater heartbreak than seeing the people you love... die.
Orochimaru fell to his knees, panting hard from the great amount of chakra he had used up all in one go. Hashirama Seju was most certainly legendary if he could continue fighting for a long amount of time after summoning all five great gates. He never thought that he'd be this drained if he used it.
"What was that for?" The Lord Mother walked over to him, her black eyes narrowed. "You have given yourself up for her and the child?" When he didn't answer, she hissed. "You are weak."
At that, a wane smile appeared on his face as he looked up. "I merely chose the best course of action. The child is a liability, and Tsunade would put herself in danger to protect him. Getting them out of the picture was the right thing to do."
The Mother bent down to his level. "And you leave only yourself to face my wrath. How is this sacrifice an intelligent decision?"
"You can't kill me," he replied. "I'm too valuable as the only member left from my father's clan. I can wait until Tsunade comes back for me."
She shook her head and said silkily, "She'll be back, that's true. But when she does, I fear she won't be taking you back. Nor you, her."
"What are you up to?" Orochimaru asked darkly.
Reaching out, she laid a cold hand on his cheek. "Her heritage, the Uzumaki clan... They're the reasons why your parents died, dear boy. In her veins runs the blood of those responsible for that loneliness and pain in your heart."
He stared at her, unmoving and his expression blank. Finally he said, "Nothing's changed."
She ran back up to the world. Ran until she reached burst out of a cave to find the moonlight shining down on her. Not the fake moon she's seen for half a year, but the real actual thing. Her legs continued to pump as she headed for the closest sign of civilization, the plume of smoke rising into the dark night sky from the small snowy town she and Orochimaru had been kidnapped from. The woods were dark and cold but she could feel no fear other than the one for her lover. The sooner she could reach the town and send help, the higher the chances that he would still be in one piece.
She choked on unshed tears. "Why would you do something like that? You promised me that you'd never sacrificed yourself for me. You promised that if we died, we'd die together," she cried as she turned up snow and dirt while running with the baby in her arms.
Her heart ached at the danger he was in, and she tried to force herself to trust him in his decision. He of all people knew how much it hurt when you lose a family member. He'd never make her go through the pain if he could help it. What he did, she had to believe that he had his reasons for staying behind and letting her escape.
She skidded to a stop when a dark cloaked figure leaped down in front of her. Instinctively, she kicked out and her heel connected with the stomach, sending the figure flying into a tree. Holding her baby close, she held up a protective arm and hissed, "Show yourself."
The figure weakly raised up and arm and pulled off the hood to reveal a head of spiky snow white hair. "Don't tell me you don't recognize me, princess."
She gasped. "Jiraiya..."
He smiled and grimaced as he pushed himself to stand up. "Hello to you too, Tsunade. Now, is that my godkid you had when you and snake-eyes ran off to be missing-nins?"
Darkwings13: Ok so first news on updates! I got a full time chem job and that's why you haven't heard from me in two months guys XD I've adapted to the schedule and work so I can return to my writing. Updates won't be as frequent as before, but I'll do my best to try for at least one chapter a month. And holy cow while I was away, we've reached 91 favorites! Thank you so much, new readers who favorited this story. :) klynnhn, Cole1169, thorison1080, Arbitrary Escape, tristk88, AlphaRidley, Punkmiles and, whiteflower122!
(￣▽￣)ゞhaha oh yes he did, KHB123! I swear, Oro has the weirdest sense of humor sometimes, especially with teasing people. And yes the cycle of hatred is often mentioned in the Naruto series, and I too wanted to emphasize it here. No matter how many sacrifices and blood is shed, war and fighting keeps repeating. I still have little faith that Naruto and Sasuke actually changed anything. Once Naruto dies for example, who's to stop anyone from going after the tailed beasts for example? The peace with the 4 villages is also fragile, because bonds can break, as we've seen time and time again even with Hashirama's geniune plea to keep the peace. As for the perspective of evil, I feel like Oro never really believes in the concept as he always finds a way to justify the action. Is it wrong? Perhaps. But is it valid? Now that's the big question ;D
（'◇'）ゞ True that his desire to have everything, is rather tragic Alexa. Because he seeks to have everything, he sometimes fails to realize what's really important and he puts so much at risk just to win/have it all. Then again, I feel like Oro shows a very clear view of human nature. We'll always want more. If we have food, we want a house. If we have a house, we want a nicer house. The desire to have more and more, is truly that of a snake, always going after things much much bigger than it.
(〃´∀｀) yesssss, when I saw the meaning of the name Mitsuki in the manga, I immediately think about Oro's reasoning for that name and it really struck with me, especially since he saved Tsunade and had a change of heart, lumichan. They both struggle with being parents but yea in their hearts, I think they do enjoy it. LOL now Konoha thinks that Oro and Tsu really eloped and became missing-nins! That letter omg XD
ღ(ゝ◡╹)ノ I'm going to say he's a planning type of guy, and he already thought about the name beforehand, my friend BlackLady777. (When does Oro not have a plan for a situation haha). And ohhhhhhh I can't wait to touch upon more of Orochi's insight into Kaguya and the God tree. He probably knew alot more than from what's shown in the anime, especially since he went out of his way to join with the Akatsuki ;) And yes the mother is a really good representative of what he stands for, especially since she's the clan idol. There is always fascination with power, and it's very strong in Oro's case. He may not quite like her, but I think he appreciates her ideology and is comforted in some way, by the logic that she possess since it's similar to his. Totally agree with Kabuto and Sasuke. He's had many students, but some he easily discarded like Anko and even Kimmimaro once he ceased to be useful. I think once upon a time, he would have been touched by Kimi's loyalty, but without his teammates and teacher, his heart had completely frozen over. Like how Sasuke became a pretty terrible person with Naruto and Sakura. And yes, I'm always up for discussion my friend ;D
(ŐωŐ人) I'm glad you enjoy their cute parenthood, ileangie23. And yes I agree that there's not enough parent Orotsu fics, or even Orotsu in general. Them being parents, I just automatically considered Oro to be the maternal role, and Tsu the paternal role because of how much of a tomboy she is haha. And yes, that fear of Tsu losing Oro, this chapter is the tipping stone of it :O (I'm terrible for writing so many cliffhangers. Forgive meeeeee). Hehe yes, I was hinting at Tsunade's secret techniques!I'll definitely give more info on this dark clan in the future chapter or chapters too! Really wish the manga explored that more. Oro's heritage seems quite fascinating.
(ˆ⌣ˆԅ) It's ok BrotherCaptainSheperd! Because I agree with you. Where's the justice if bad guys aren't punished for their crimes, right? Forgiveness is nice, but it should only come to those who actually really feel sorry for their actions. You shouldn't hand it out like candy, like Naruto. Though I feel like Jiraiya is much tougher than his student, because he even threatened to kill Tsu if she helped Oro, and fought against Pein with everything he had to do what was right. Naruto was just like... uhhhhh... Sasuke, you've been a complete douchebag and literally gave me no reasons to even think of you as an acquaintance, but I still think you're a friend and I'll save you. It's a messed up friendship completely. They had very little friend development, whereas Oro and Jiraiya grew up together and had like 20 years together.
( ω ) oh gosh Haenosa. Thank you very much for the kind words! I'm so glad you enjoyed reading my story.