Sober (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)
By Bashfulglowfly
Orochimaru stood by the bedside of the blonde woman who was attempting to twist and turn against the leather straps that were holding her down. He reached down and tightened one even further.
"Orochimaru-sama?"
He didn't turn around and look at the nurse. "I want someone in the room with her at all times. Even though she's strapped down, I want you to make sure that she doesn't pull out the IV drip. And check the gag every couple of hours. I don't want it chafing her." He reached out and smoothed the blonde hair. He hated the fact that he had to gag her, but it wasn't to keep her silent but to keep her from swallowing her tongue as the alcohol left her body.
"Her withdrawal should only take a week but make sure that she's bathed and turned. I don't want her to develop bedsores."
"Yes, sir." The nurse hesitated but continued to speak. "Her strength…will it be an issue? Just so I can let everyone know."
Orochimaru turned and looked at her. "Spread the word, she won't be able to break the straps and kill any of you. I've put chakra suppression seals on her and the only other people who would be able to break them are dead, in Konoha or running around trying to peek in the women's section of bath houses and hot springs claiming it's research."
He concealed his smile at the nurse's snarl of rage. Clearly she'd had some sort of encounter with Jiraiya at some point. He inclined his head in response to her thanks. He took one last look and left Tsunade in the care of his staff during this point of her withdrawal.
He had research to do. Even if she hated him for the rest of her life and would never speak to him in this lifetime, he was going to make sure she would never be able to do this to herself again.
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The first thing Tsunade noticed was that her mouth tasted absolutely foul. Like something that had been dead and buried for three weeks had been dug up and deposited in her mouth.
The second thing she noticed was that she couldn't move.
She opened her eyes and after blinking rapidly to clear them, she looked around. She was alarmed to see that she was strapped down in a hospital bed.
She reached for her chakra.
Fear crashed through her.
She couldn't access her chakra.
"Tsunade-sama?"
Tsunade looked to her right. There was a woman there dressed like a nurse. "Water." Tsunade croaked.
"Of course." The nurse poured water into a cup, placed a straw inside then held the straw to Tsunade's lips. Tsunade eagerly sucked the water into her mouth. The dried tissues inside revived with the flood. But she could still taste the foulness inside. She swished a mouthful inside her mouth for a moment and looked up at the nurse. The nurse smiled in understanding and held out a small, kidney-shaped dish. "Here, spit in this."
Tsunade spit. Not very elegantly because she was strapped down, but the nurse calmly wiped up the dribbles. Tsunade coughed, clearing her throat. "Where am I and unstrap me."
The nurse looked her in the eye then bowed deeply. "I'm sorry Tsunade-sama, I cannot release you. But you are safe. I swear that to you. Give me a moment and I will get the one who will tell you everything."
She bowed again and before Tsunade could speak, the nurse left the room, closing the door behind her.
Tsunade looked around trying to figure out exactly where she was but there were no windows in the stereotypical hospital room. She turned her head to the door as she heard footsteps echoing down the hallway. Something about the rhythm in the steps tickled her memory.
The door opened.
"Orochimaru…"
"Tsunade."
The two Sannin stared at each other.
"Where am I?"
Orochimaru walked across the room and sat down in the chair next to the bed. "You are in my facility. It's somewhat near Hidden Mist."
"You're working for Mist?"
"Great Gods, no."
Tsunade changed the subject. "Do I look as bad as my mouth tastes?"
Orochimaru gave her a familiar half-smile. "No, you look fine. Other than the fact you've spent the last week detoxing."
"I don't want to be sober."
Her teammate looked down his nose at her. "Too bad. You're going to remain that way and we're going home."
"What did you do to me? And fuck you, I'm not going back to Konoha."
"I placed a seal on your tongue. It will prevent you from drinking. And fuck you too, Tsunade. We're needed."
"You asshole! How in the hell did you make a seal like that?"
"Not gonna tell you!" Orochimaru's taunt was sing-songed like a five-year-old school child. "Are you going to let Shimura win and continue to stay away from Konoha?"
"What does Shimura have to do with anything?"
Orochimaru's golden eyes opened wide in shock. "Have you heard any of the recent news out of Konoha?"
"Just Hiruzen's letter that he was going to give my lands to a child named Naruto if I didn't return to Konoha by the time the next Hokage takes the Hat."
"Goddesses of my mother…" breathed Orochimaru. "You don't know what happened." He stood up and released the straps from Tsunade's arms and legs. He raised the back of the bed and helped Tsunade adjust her position.
Tsunade narrowed her brown eyes at him. "You're stalling."
"I'm organizing my thoughts." Came the waspish reply. Orochimaru sat back down and looked at her. "It all started when Shimura committed suicide with thirty-seven stab wounds in his back…"
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Hiruzen was taking a break from his paperwork. He carefully tamped down the tobacco in his pipe and lit it.
An Anbu appeared at his side. "Sir, Orochimaru and Tsunade are less than 2 kilometers from the gates. They have a group of about fifty people with them."
"Let them in."
"Sir." The Anbu disappeared.
Hiruzen puffed contentedly on his pipe with a small smile on his lips.