The clacking of poker chips and the whirring of computers marked the heart of Tanzaku Castle. Here the dreams and hopes of various players echoed through the heavens, striking the ground as they met with harsh reality. Here, a few chosen won.

"YES!" Fū threw her hand up in the air.

The dials whirled rapidly.

Sevens appeared on the screen of the machine.

Fū dragged her chips over to the counter. "I need to change these out for money, please," she remarked.

"Wow. Big winner. Congratulations." The clerk smiled as she ran the poker chips through the machine.

Fū smiled. She kept her head down. Cracking this place will take a lot of time.

The chips shook. Several chips fell off the table.

Fū's eyes widened. Eh? What's that?

The attendant glanced toward the door.

A loud crash echoed through the castle.

"Can I get cashed out a little quicker?"

"My shift is about to end a little earlier," the clerk replied, her face turning nervous as she studied the shaking of the castle.

History

The crashed castle walls glimmered, stones crumbling around the scales of the serpent. The white sky darkened, pressure blasting downward. A heavy weight fell on the shoulders of the pair.

Orochimaru and Kabuto stared at Tsunade and Shizune. The pairs remained still.

"It's been a while, Orochimaru." Tsunade's voice was cold.

"You move quickly," Orochimaru replied, his voice calm. "It's not as though I can take time out of my schedule to chase you down. I trust I am not the reason."

"What are you doing here? The old days are past—don't waste my time with reminiscing." Tsunade looked with chilled eyes at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru smiled slightly. "I require your assistance, Tsunade-hime." His bandaged arms twitched. Reaching upward, he unwound the bandages from his arm rapidly. The revealed arm, darkened by some form of sickness, glimmered in the light.

Tsunade said nothing for a moment. Her eyes narrowed. Erratic heartbeat. Pale face—not that that's much of a change for Orochimaru, but still. Exhaustion set in for a time, and that arm can't have been caused by normal circumstances.

"You doubtless see my problem." Orochimaru continued to smile.

"You can look for someone else to do it. I'm no doctor anymore." Tsunade frowned, turning away. "Besides, I heard that you attacked the Leaf."

"Heh." Orochimaru smiled. He looked downward. "Well, it's not the same as your experience." He paused. "You began trying to work out that immortality of the Kuroi family, didn't you?"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "And if I did, what business is it of yours?"

"I possess the same blood presently. The trouble is that I cannot command it, shall we say?" Orochimaru questioned, his head tilting to one side.

Tsunade giggled. "You are most unfortunate, aren't you? You must have inserted it without testing it first."

Orochimaru lowered his hand. The veins darkened. "It is indeed true. I took excessive risks, you see."

Tsunade's eyes widened.

"I do notice that this body of mine hasn't aged or corrupted as most do. In return for this boon, I sacrificed a great deal." Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. "Well, everything dies eventually. Even this blood kills away that which does not favor it. You would know about that. Someone like you, who has lost those they care about most, should understand this."

Tsunade's forehead darkened. A vein throbbed.

Shizune reached downward. She drew out a dart, glimmering green, from her pouch.

"That weakness to blood you have arose from that, didn't it? Shouldn't you be thankful that I helped to oppose that man?"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "Continue talking. I'll beat you to death. I already told you that I'm not interested in reliving such old histories, or reminiscing about the past. What has already happened has already happened."

Kabuto tensed.

Shizune hurled the dart forward, aiming toward Orochimaru's neck.

Kabuto ducked downward. His arm reached sideways, hurling the Hidden Leaf headband toward the target.

The dart fell to the ground.

Shizune gritted her teeth.

"I would advise you to allow Orochimaru-sama to finish speaking," Kabuto remarked, his face calm. As it is, though, there's a strong chance we may have made a mistake.

History

The forest shivered. Snakes crawled along the trees, a bright green meshing with the forest's leaves. Several overturned trees blocked the vision into the forest's darkness.

Itachi stared at the pair of Sannin. His brows furrowed as he studied the pair.

"Why aren't we attacking yet?"

"I'm quite curious regarding that attack."

"We already have someone from that family to speak with!" Kisame growled. "We should strike now!"

"With respect, Kisame-san, that is not the waiting I refer to." Itachi's eyes narrowed. "I'm curious how Orochimaru-san alone could have drawn Unmei-san's blood."

Kisame frowned. Now that he mentions it, it's pretty weird.

History

"I can bring them back." Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. "You said something about not wanting to hear about the past, or that history. But how would it be if I could revive it?"

Tsunade's eyes widened.

History

Itachi's hand shook on the grass.

Kisame blinked.

"Change in plans. We should attempt to collect that technique." Itachi's eyes glinted in the light. "This Edo Tensei could prove quite useful to Leader's plans." He stepped forward, his foot pressing against the grass.

History

"Do we have a deal? It seems you haven't begun beating me yet."

Tsunade silently stared at Orochimaru.

"What's your answer?" Orochimaru asked, calm.

Tsunade paused. She fell silent. A tear appeared in her eye.

"You can't! Don't listen to the offers of these people! Even if these people could be resurrected, do you think they would want to be brought back by this means? Your dreams, your hopes, Tsunade-sama—have you forgotten these, too?" Shizune demanded fiercely, her voice sorrowful. "You can't have forgotten everything about your—"

"Shut up, Shizune-san!" Tsunade ordered. Harshly, she stared at Orochimaru. "Get out."

"We'll be returning in a week to hear your answer." Orochimaru turned around, waving one arm.

"If you return, I'll kill you!"

Orochimaru walked away.

Kabuto, with a parting nod to the pair, hurried away.

History

Itachi glanced toward Kisame. "You're going to need to use that technique when he's been weakened. If Tsunade-san decides to follow a different path, everything will be taken care of." He nodded quietly. "The time isn't right yet. We must wait for Orochimaru-san to become more vulnerable."

Kisame inclined his head reluctantly. "As long as we get to go after him sooner rather than later."

History

The streets of the village darkened with clouds above. The high mountain grew steadily brighter, sun striking the side of the mountain. The white clouds blocked out the sun, leaving a half-light on the ground.

Naruto clasped his newly refilled purse to his cheek. Beautiful. I love you when you're full of coins, Gama-chan.

Jiraiya glanced sideways at his student. He frowned as he looked at the purse. Great luck—even if his ninjutsu is pathetic. He must be quite skilled at gambling. Still frowning, he ascended the steps towards the mountain. "Tsunade-hime must be close. We might see her from up there."

Kōju looked sideways. "Wow." I'll have to try to take it when he's asleep again!

Sasuke looked across the valley. Her eyes narrowed. Weird. The forest is damaged.

"YES!" Naruto shouted, thrusting his fist in the air.

History

The restaurant roared with activity, shouting, debating, harsh arguments over drunken tales and victory. Many people sat in the aisles, shouting. In some places ale flowed over the edges of the glass.

When Tsunade was tired, she resorted to drink. Burping loudly, Tsunade raised her hand.

A fresh-faced server in a black suit bowed. "And for you, madam?"

Tsunade burped again. "Another beer," she mumbled in a slurred voice.

Tsunade-sama?Shizune questioned. She sighed as she looked out the window. Her eyes widened. What?! Him, here?! "Er, Tsunade-sama, we should move. Soon."

Tsunade scowled. "I ain't goin' anywhere..."

History

"We'll eat dinner here," Jiraiya stated, stopping outside the door of the pub.

Sasuke scowled. She looked to one side. "Tch." I was hoping to find more information about whatever damaged that forest first. Her hands stuffed into her pockets. On the other hand, I am somewhat hungry.

Kōju clapped her hands together. "Yay! They'll have bacon and things!" She thrust her small fist into the air.

"You think we'll find Tsunade-obā-chan here?" Naruto inquired suspiciously. He stuffed Gama-chan into his pocket.

"No. But frankly I'm too tired and hungry to really focus on what I should be finding—" Jiraiya stopped mid-sentence as he stared at the person in the booth across from the door.

Tsunade stopped in the middle of her drink. She looked back at Jiraiya with shock. "Jiraiya-san?" she queried with concern.

"SHIZUNE-SAN!" Naruto ran forward, his arms extended.

Shizune sighed wearily. "Naruto-kun." She shook her head from side to side, her eyebrows furrowing. "You really shouldn't be here."

Naruto wrapped Shizune up in a hug.

Kōju's cheeks flared with anger. "Naruto-san, shouldn't you hug your teammates first?"

"Eh?" Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, this is Shizune-nee-chan. She's really quite awesome. She took care of me when I was a kid."

Sasuke grasped her shoulder. A sudden ache rushed through her body. What is this feeling? She scowled.

"Tsunade-hime?" Jiraiya asked, surprised. He scratched his chin. "You're as young-looking as I recall you."

"And you've grown old. Why are you here?" Tsunade asked finally. She set down the bottle and regarded Jiraiya with faint dread.

She's the one we're looking for? But she looks so young. Naruto put aside his worries and sat down in the booth.

Kōju sat down. She glared at Shizune steadily. I don't see you being so impressive, either. What's so good about you?

Shizune winced. Her eyes glanced to one side, avoiding Kōju's gaze.

Sasuke sat down at the table. Her fingers folded together. "By the way, neither of you ran into Orochimaru, did you?" she asked clearly.

Tsunade flinched.

Shizune's eyes widened.

"Seems you did."

"How did you know?" Shizune questioned.

Tsunade shot Shizune a dirty look.

Shizune glared back at Tsunade. "They have every right to know, Tsunade-sama!"

Kōju blinked. Hm. I'll give her that she's strong willed.

"On the way over, I saw a snake in the woods."

"As expected, the Uchiha's eyes are the best in the group." Tsunade scowled. "We met, yes. He merely wanted to say hello."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Why are you here, Jiraiya-san?"

Jiraiya cleared his throat. "The Third Hokage, our mentor, Sarutobi Hiruzen, has died."

Tsunade dropped the glass. The glass shattered on the floor. "No way. How?"

"We theorized poison, but there's no evidence of that." Jiraiya sighed. "It seems he died of a heart attack in his sleep."

Tsunade cleared her throat. "Who caused that?" she asked, reaching forward to her plate.

"No one. I believe he passed away of old age."

"..." Tsunade stared at Jiraiya. For a moment, her face looked older, though there were no lines on her face. The exhaustion and experience of a much older woman appeared on her face.

I guess she could be as old as ero-sennin. Naruto frowned, his face growing stern.

"So you'll take up the position, right, Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade raised her hand.

A server walked over to the table. One gathered up the pieces of the broken glass. Another brought a full glass of ale.

Tsunade accepted the glass thankfully. She swallowed, her face growing slightly redder. She set down the glass. "No," she stated firmly.