Chapter 8: Tsunade Explains It All

Shikaku woke up and looked at the clock. Shit! Late. Best not to keep Tsunade waiting. He scrounged around in a drawer for a clean shirt and realized they were all worn and strewn around the room, some more worse for the wear than others.

Shit. They were seriously going to have to do some laundry soon. Well, Inoichi and Chouza weren't back yet. He'd pilfer what he could. Wandering into Inoichi's room, he yanked a (hopefully) clean black t-shirt out of the drawer. No time for breakfast, he sprinted on over to the lab.

Now he was sitting on the same stool he'd tumbled off of last night when Jiraiya and Orochimaru showed up and Tsunade was explaining the significance of the pills the two of them had brought her last night. And Shikaku was leaning with one elbow propped up on the acid-resistant countertop, his chin resting on his hand and his eyes drooping.

"Shikaku! Are you listening to me?" Tsunade's voice was sharp. He sat up straight, stifling a yawn.

"Yes, umm… so they're like soldier pills?" he asked hopefully, seeming to recall that she'd said something about that a little bit ago.

She stood with her hands on her hips like she had last night only this time she was facing him, glaring at him. She took a deep breath in exasperation and he really should have appreciated the gesture more but he was just too tired.

"No! They are not like soldier pills! There's a world of difference…I…did you have any breakfast?" Her voice softened just a little bit then, seeing how he was looking at her with his eyes wide open almost as if he was afraid that if he blinked he'd fall asleep.

Shikaku wave his hand, "S'all right, I'll get something later."

"No, you'll get something now. Come on, you need to eat." And with a firm grasp on his elbow that brooked no negotiation, she got him up off the stool and steered him out the door.

A little bit later, they were finishing up the last bites of breakfast and tea at a shop in the village. Shikaku had to admit that the caffeine had done wonders. He wondered if there was a coffee-maker in the few remaining boxes of equipment yet to be unpacked. If not, he might need to pick one up and bring it in. Especially if she was going to be having him keep the same schedule they'd been running at so far.

They were just about to leave when Jiraiya showed up. "Kid, you lucky devil, you must have done something right if you've got her buying you breakfast," he joked good-naturedly as he slid into the booth next to Shikaku, effectively trapping him.

Tsunade held her tea cup to her lips with both hands, peering at Jiraiya over the top of it like a hawk. The ragged fingernail was glaring to Shikaku, reminding him that this was serious and that he really should try to keep it together.

"What are you doing here, baka!" she snapped.

"Ah, Hime-sensei, I didn't want to miss your lesson this morning. I showed up at the lab but you weren't there. Imagine my surprise to find you two breakfasting together." Jiraiya spoke softly now, toning down the bombastic comments Shikaku had heard from him so far. The white-haired sannin reached up and gently took Tsunade's right hand, the one with the torn nail and coaxed it down from the cup. He held her hand in his, stroking the back with his thumb.

Then with a playful, upturned smirk Jiraiya had added, "Guess I should have known after last night, sensei."

Almost, Shikaku noted, it had almost worked. He'd seen her eyes go so soft when Jiraiya took her hand. Then the big goof had to go and throw that zinger at her, at his expense, too, he might add. And bam! Her eyes had gone from soft to steel in nothing flat. She'd jerked her hand away so fast she'd nearly spilled her tea. But why had he done it on purpose?

"Bastard!" she hissed under her breath. A couple of the patrons in the booth next to them still turned their heads in their direction. "You know there's nobody but Dan."

"Oh, really Hime?" He smiled and brushed one hand against Shikaku's shoulder where a wayward strand of long blond hair lay.

"Wait… No… Shit… Hey, this is Inoichi's shirt!" Shikaku spluttered. "I was just borrowing it! I haven't had time to do laundry!"

Jiraiya clapped his shoulder in a friendly fashion. "No need to explain to me, kid." Tsunade just rolled her eyes and muttered something into her tea cup.

"Okay, Jiraiya, you've had your fun, now seriously what brings you here this morning."

"Seriously, Tsunade, I came to hear your explanation to your…assistant."

"But you already know…"

"I know," he replied, leaning back against the booth. "I just want to hear what you tell him." His gaze with hers was level, steady when he added, "and what you don't."

Tsunade sighed. "Fine. Come on, let's get going."

The three of them made it back to the lab. Shikaku felt he would never understand what was going on between the two sannin. One minute they were cutting up with each other, calling each other names like last night when they were behaving like him and his two teammates. Then this morning there seemed to be all sorts of unresolved sexual tension between the two of them (completely UNLIKE anything between him, Inoichi and Chouza he added hastily to himself.)

Back in the lab, Tsunade got down to business. Now that he had some caffeine in his system and his blood sugar wasn't plummetting, Shikaku was able to pay attention to what she was saying.

The pills were like soldier pills only in that they provided a boost of sorts, but not to chakra in general. They were targeted to enhance specifically the chakra and those brain centers most closely involved in genjutsu. The pills appeared to be able to provide basic genjutsu performance levels to those shinobi who previously had exhibited no predispostion for genjutsu at all. For those who were already genjutsu adept they could provide an incredible amount of power.

Tsunade paused in her explanation at that point and looked at Jiraiya almost as if she were expecting him to contradict her. "Jiraiya? Did you have anything to add?"

He shrugged, "I told you, I just came to listen."

Tsunade looked uncomfortable but continued on. "Yes, well, for experienced genjutus users, the power boost appears to be off the charts, surreal, almost…" she floundered and looked again at Jiraiya.

"Poor man's Tsukyomi," Jiraiya added softly.

Shikaku straightened up, watching Tsunade's reaction. She looked down at the floor, unable to meet Jiraiya's eyes. When she finally did look up at them again, her eyes were haunted, scared. Of what? Shit. Tsukyomi. He'd heard of that but for the life of him couldn't remember what the fuck it was. He'd have to ask Inoichi whenever the blonde finally hauled his ass back into Konoha.

Then a chill ran down his back as he remembered Inoichi and his ANBU spook. And just where had Tsunade and Jiraiya gotten their information about what these pills were capable of?

"So that's the gist of it then – a soldier pill type of boost for genjutsu users?" he ventured to ask.

"Well, there is one other difference…," Jiraiya offered.

"They're addictive." Tsunade said flatly. "Soldier pills aren't. People might develop a bad habit of using soldier pills, but all in all the downside after the rush wears off and the chakra depletion sets in a day or two later is usually enough to even prevent that from happening. I've seen a couple of cases of soldier pill habit, but for the vast majority of shinobi they only use them when they really need them and only for their intended purpose." She shook her head and poked at one of the little pills. "These things are addictive – physiological dependence. And once you start it appears that you have to keep it up or…you die."

"Where do they come from?" Shikaku asked.

"That's what we're here for – to find out who's producing them. And possibly come up with a way to interfere with the physiological characteristics while…" her voice trailed off, "still preserving the genjutsu-psycho-pharmacological attributes." Her voice had trailed off and her gaze had trailed away to the side of the room opposite Jiraiya.

The white-haired man sat very still, studying his teammate quietly for a few minutes. He cleared his throat and asked, "Are you, um, are you done, Hime?"

"Yes," she answered very softly.

"Okay, well, then, I guess that wraps up the lesson for today, sensei," Jiraiya said, rising to his feet, the good-natured tone in his voice sounding false and hollow to Shikaku's ears this time. "See you 'round kid."

Jiraiya had made his way to the door when Tsunade's soft voice stopped him, "Jiraiya, I'll…I'll see you later, okay?"

Shikaku sat very still observing the two, Tsunade never looked up from the floor and Jiraiya never turned from the door, his back to her, his hand on the doorknob.

"Yeah, sure, Hime, you know where you can find me," he said without once turning around.

Shikaku had no idea why, but it seemed like he had just witnessed the saddest thing he'd ever seen in his entire life.