Orochimaru took a deep breath and released it. He enjoyed the relaxed feeling of his body after the massage he'd just had. Tsunade had insisted that he get one at least once a week. He might argue with her over a variety of things as a matter of principal but when it came to his physical health, he had never argued with her. It wasn't worth wasting his breath.

Orochimaru was glad that Hiruzen had abandoned secrecy in favor of revealing everything Danzo had done and to whom. There was no need for the man to continue poisoning the village. And that meant that he didn't have to deal with as many suspicious glances and mutters that would grate on his nerves and cause him to do something that he would regret.

He didn't remember much about his first week back in Konoha. He did remember weeping in Sensei's arms. Other than that, much of that time he spent sleeping. He had blurred memories of people gently shaking him awake and spoons of liquids and soft foods placed in his mouth. He normally didn't like being impaired like that but Tsunade and Sensei didn't give him a choice.

The second week still had him confined to the hospital bed but he was kept distracted by his interviews with Inoichi and Ibiki. Then Tsunade got sneaky, she assigned a genin team to be his legs and to fetch him things from the Hokage's office and from the Archives. Orochimaru laughed softly to himself about Sensei and Tsunade giving him paperwork to do. But reading the multitude of reports and writing summaries had helped him catch up on the situation in the village. Gentle questioning of the genin had also helped since most of the children hadn't developed a filter yet that would prevent them from spilling secrets.

During that time, he'd surprised his apprentices by formally adopting them. He had been a bit worried about naming Kabuto as Heir since Anko was older but she told him that she didn't mind, she didn't want to be tied down that way and she would be more than happy to be Kabuto's muscle. Kabuto had rolled his eyes and said there wasn't enough Clan TO muscle.

He was glad that the pair were content being in the village. Both had been tested and had received rare field promotions to chuunin. Anko was assigned to Ibiki and the bloodthirsty child was enjoying herself. Fortunately, Ibiki had no complaints. Kabuto was at the hospital, and according to rumor, the Head Medic and the Head of R & D were almost to the point of kunai at dawn as to which department was going to have the boy.

And his most recent acquisition, Sakura, was getting better. Tsunade and Kabuto had made sure she was completely healed physically. Orochimaru found a Uchiha therapist that was working with her; showing her the difference between hitting someone and hurting them. Orochimaru realized that shinobi tread a fine line of hypocrisy in regards to that but Sakura needed to learn that difference. The therapist said she was making strides and that being around Mikoto's youngest two, like she was currently, was helping since the two boys fought each other at the drop of a hat.

He made a mental note to himself to make sure Sakura was properly immunized against perverts like he immunized Anko. Mikoto's youngest had a look about him that reminded him of Jiraiya.

"Orochimaru-sama!" He stopped and looked towards the high-pitched voices. It was Team 2. The genin team that had been assigned to him the most. All three were civilian children and probably were quietly being guided into administrative positions. They ran up to him, talking all at once. He raised a hand and they became silent. "Kimiko, what is it?"

The young kunoichi bowed "Orochimaru-sama, the archivists sent us to get you. Jiraiya-sama is in the Archives and is yelling!"

Her teammate, Itsuro, nodded vigorously "He's making a mess of the Archives too!"

Daisuke, the third team member added "He threatened to burn the Archives and the archivists along with it!"

Orochimaru sighed. He had an idea of what Jiraiya was looking for and he couldn't believe the idiot wasn't using his head. "Who has pen and paper?" Three pairs of hands dove into pouches and produced three sets of the desired items. Orochimaru took one set and wrote two quick notes. He returned the pen and paper then folded the notes in half and Sealed them shut. He handed the two notes to Kimiko. "Take these notes. There are two place I want you to go. First is to ANBU headquarters." He nearly smiled at the three pairs of eyes that bulged out of their heads. Of course, the "ANBU headquarters" that these children knew of wasn't the real one but it would suffice. "The other note is for Uchiha Mikoto-sama. If Mikoto-sama doesn't give you anything to do, then you are to report to your sensei and tell her that you've completed two D Ranks for me. Now off with you! I require speed."

Team 2 bowed to him then ran off.

Orochimaru wasn't about to use the roofs, regardless of what Jiraiya was threatening to do, it wasn't worth Tsunade's punishment but he did begin to run for the Archive.

When he arrived, he was pleased to note that he was only a little bit out of breath. He straightened his robes and entered the building. With a displeasure, he saw that the children were right. Jiraiya had thrown scrolls and files all over the floor. Pieces of paper from the files littered the floor. Junior archivists scurried around retrieving the papers; some were weeping – in frustration and anger, Orochimaru was sure, at the idea of trying to get them reorganized and shelved. The Head Archivist was standing on a chair, nose to nose with Jiraiya and they were shouting at each other.

Orochimaru listened to Jiraiya's ranting for a moment then silently slid behind him and swept his feet out from underneath him. Jiraiya hit the floor with a crash and before he could open his mouth, Orochimaru hissed "Senile old fool! You should remember that there is more than one Archive in the village!" Jiraiya gaped like a fish. Orochimaru ignored him and turned to the Head Archivist. "My apologies for this idiot pervert. Please keep an exact account of how long and how many people it takes to clean this up and send the report to the Hokage. He or Tsunade will make sure Jiraiya pays for it."

Unsaid was in more ways than one.

Orochimaru glared at his teammate. "Get on your feet, fool. I don't have all day." He gave a curt bow to the Archivist. As he swept out of the room, he heard Jiraiya babbling an apology then the noisy clack of geta catching up to him. From the corner of his eye, he could see Jiraiya at his side but he still didn't look. "Idiot! As if they'd keep Minato-kun's notes where anyone could get to them."

Jiraiya groaned. "I didn't think about it. After all, they have Tobirama's files there."

Orochimaru snorted. "Edited files. There are still some things that Tobirama did and created that shouldn't be known by just anyone."

Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head and wisely kept his mouth shut.

The two men walked down a side street and came to a nondescript door. Orochimaru knocked lightly and waited. After a few moments, the door slid open and the two men walked in. They paused for a moment to allow their eyes to adjust and looked around. In front of them was a man who had the look of an Aburame. He was missing one leg and part of a hand but he bowed to the two Sannin. "I am the ANBU Archivist. Welcome. Please follow me."

They followed and Orochimaru spoke. "Thank you for allowing us in even though neither one of us have ever been ANBU."

The Archivist looked over his shoulder and smile. "But you are the Sannin and the Fourth Hokage was Jiraiya-sama's student. You out of anyone have the right to view his work." The Archivist stopped before a door. A guilty look came over his face. "I must admit that the Fourth's papers were gathered together after his death but nothing been gone through." Both Orochimaru and Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at that. "I know, I know but quite honestly after the Attack nearly five years ago there was so much to do, to reorganize and having to take care of current reports…" the man raised his hands helplessly. "There just hasn't been the time."

Jiraiya laid a hand on the man's shoulder "And there hasn't been anyone who could probably understand what Minato was doing either."

The Archivist smiled "That too." He unsealed the door and motioned the two Sannin inside. While it wasn't an overly large room, the shelves along the walls were jammed packed with scrolls, files and pieces of paper.

Jiraiya groaned. It looked like they had taken every book, scroll, file and loose bit of paper from Minato's house. "This is going to take a while."

Orochimaru looked at the Archivist. "We're going to need a table for the two of us as well as chairs. We will also need another table to sort upon and boxes to sort papers into. I think after a while, we'll be able to determine what should be kept here, what should be considered for the Main Archive and what is purely trash."

The Archivist nodded. "I'll have someone bring those items right away." He bowed to the two Sannin and left the room.

Orochimaru and Jiraiya stood shoulder to shoulder.

"Once more into the breach, my friend. Once more."

"Idiot."