Author's Note: Welcome back, everyone! I hope those of you who observe it had a wonderful 4th of July!

Disclaimer: Naruto and Inuyasha belong to their respective owners.

Dialogue Legend:

"Unforgivable" – Normal dialogue

'Unforgivable' – character's thoughts/speaking to Inner Demon/Inner Spirit

"Unforgivable" – Jutsu name; Inner Demon/Inner Spirit/Supernatural Being speaking to someone on the physical plane.

'Unforgivable' – Inner Demon/Inner Spirit/Supernatural Being speaking to someone on or from within the mental or spiritual plane.

Chapter 28 – Tsunade's Pride

12:00pm – Tanzaku-gai, Unnamed Restaurant

"Tsunade-sama, why are you in such a hurry to leave?" Shizune asked as she and her master sat down to eat. In an inconceivable stroke of good luck, the last Senju had just cleaned out the largest gambling hall in the bustling town. If she had not been using a Henge to disguise her "normal" appearance, she would have been arrested for cheating by the town watch after they were called by the gambling hall's owner. Since she had concealed her typical appearance, there was no reason to leave when she had hit her first winning streak ever!

"We're leaving because I won so much!" Tsunade responded. "I don't get lucky, ever!" Ever since Dan's death, Tsunade had become convinced that Fate would never stop dealing her a bad hand. If things seemed to be looking up, it was only the prelude to an enormous fall. Tsunade laid a few bills of Ryou on the table as her and Shizune's food arrived. "As soon as we're done eating, I'm taking us as far away from this town as possi –"

"Leaving so soon, Tsunade-chan?" Jiraiya interrupted as he and Sasuke walked toward Tsunade's table.

"Jiraiya, why am I not surprised?" Tsunade sighed.

"Congratulations on your first winning streak ever. Under different circumstances, I'd throw a party for you, but this isn't a social call." Jiraiya's eyes narrowed as he and Sasuke sat down.

"I see you've raised the standards of your spies." Tsunade grunted. Even before she had left the village, Jiraiya had been Konoha's spymaster. "What do you want with me?"

"Orochimaru attacked Konoha and nearly killed Hiruzen-sensei." Jiraiya replied tersely. "We lost a lot of good people during the attack and the old monkey's stepping down to take a more personal approach in training the next generation. He nominated you as his successor."

"Not interested," Tsunade said flatly, "I washed my hands of Konoha years ago. I won't go back now, certainly not to be its next Hokage!"

"Why not, you scared of having some actual responsibility again?" Sasuke cut in.

Shizune gasped as Tsunade turned to meet the Last Uchiha's gaze. "And you are?"

"Sasuke Uchiha," the young man answered.

"Well, Sasuke-kun, life is different than money, it can't be gambled recklessly. Whoever does so is a king of fools!" Tsunade sighed. "To be Hokage is to risk your life for Konoha's sake; I'll have nothing to do such an idiotic job!"

"You've changed, Tsunade." Jiraiya grimaced. "The old you would never have said anything like that." Before Tsunade could respond, Sasuke stood up.

"Let's go home, Jiraiya-san." The Genin sighed. "Tsunade gave you her answer, and I doubt anything you or I can say will change her mind. Even if we dragged her back to Konoha kicking and screaming, she'd be a terrible Hokage. After seeing her, I can say with confidence that I'd rather have Yagura-dono, the blood tyrant of Kiri, as our leader than this worthless hag!"

"That's too far, Sasuke-kun!" Jiraiya reprimanded. "Tsunade's been through Hell, and that changes people in ways you can't possibly –"

"Say that again, I DARE YOU!" Sasuke roared as his Sharingan blazed into existence. In his haste to defend his old friend (and crush), Jiraiya had forgotten about Sasuke's past. After the Toad Sannin closed his mouth, Sasuke resumed his speech.

"Tsunade's an embarrassment to her clan!" Shizune's jaw hit the floor, but Sasuke was far from done. He held up one finger before continuing. "First, you abandon Konoha at the height of the Third Shinobi World War, dooming hundreds – if not thousands – of Shinobi to die that might have otherwise lived due to your medical skills."

Sasuke held up a second finger. "Then, you spend all the time since the war's end crawling from casino to casino gambling your clan's money. If not for the tremendous Senju fortune, you'd have been in unrecoverable debt ages ago! That money may be your inheritance as the last living Senju, but you insult all your ancestors by throwing it away like that!"

"You clearly have no idea who you're talking to, brat!" Tsunade hissed. "I suggest you shut up before you –"

"I know exactly who I'm talking to: a washed-up, pathetic excuse for a Sannin!" Sasuke retorted while raising a third finger. "And now, after hearing that your Sensei nearly died defending Konoha against a former comrade of yours, you refuse his nomination and once again abandon your home in its time of need! My Sensei taught me that those who abandon their comrades are less than trash. Hashirama-sama must be weeping in his grave seeing the complete failure his granddaughter has become!"

In a flash of movement, Tsunade grabbed Sasuke by the scruff of his neck and threw him through the restaurant doors onto the street outside. "Tsunade-sama!" Shizune screamed, but her plea fell on ears deafened by rage. Insults to herself, she could endure, but even after all this time, Tsunade still had her pride as a Senju, and Sasuke had just trampled all over it. She stomped to the restaurant's entrance, trailed closely by Shizune and Jiraiya. For the moment, Jiraiya was willing to let this play out and would only intervene if Sasuke's life was in jeopardy.

The wolf Hanyou was unfazed by Tsunade's attack. She had only used the minimum amount of force needed for the throw and Sasuke's demonic physiology was more than capable of withstanding it. As Tsunade exited the restaurant, Sasuke entered a typical Uchiha fighting stance.

"I'll give you once chance, boy." Tsunade said through gritted teeth. "Take back what you said about my grandfather!"

"My best friend never goes back on his word, and neither do I!" Sasuke refused. "You may have been worthy of the Senju name once, but the woman standing in front of me damn well isn't and never will be again!"

Tsunade cracked her knuckles. "Don't worry, brat; I'll only break half your ribs!" The Slug Sannin lunged at Sasuke at a speed comparable to Lee without his weights. Her smirk died when Sasuke slapped her fist aside and countered with a brutal gut punch! Spit flew from Tsunade's mouth as she was sent flying back nearly a dozen feet.

"Impossible!" Shizune's jaw hit the floor. Though Tsunade's strength had dwindled considerably during her self-imposed exile, a Genin should not be capable of overpowering her, even if she's holding back!

"For most humans, certainly," Jiraiya allowed, "but Sasuke-kun recently became considerably more than human. Even Tsunade will have to take him a little bit seriously if she wants to win this."

"More than human?" Shizune echoed, more out of medical curiosity than revulsion.

"That said, what happened back there isn't his style at all." Jiraiya ignored the question. "The Senju and Uchiha Clans used to be bitter enemies; Sasuke doesn't normally care much for clan honor, but seeing the last living member of one of the few clans the Uchiha ever acknowledged as a worthy foe act like Tsunade did must have offended him greatly. Makes sense, given that Uchiha's reputation is now his to protect and restore."

Shizune looked Sasuke in a new light after hearing this. During their travels, Tsunade and Shizune had heard of the Uchiha Massacre. Though she would never say as much to Tsunade, Shizune knew that her master's actions during the past several years were deplorable, especially for a direct descendant of Hashirama. If Sasuke's insults were meant to appeal to Tsunade's pride, Shizune couldn't think ill of the boy.

"Not bad, kid." Tsunade stood up and slightly calmed down. "Is there more where that came from?"

"Plenty!" Sasuke rushed at Tsunade, who leaped to intercept him with so much force her jump left a crater in the street. With his Sharingan, Sasuke could see that Tsunade was moving nearly twice as fast as before and he barely managed to block her punch. When he impacted the ground, he made a crater three times deeper than the one made from Tsunade's jump.

"You took that well," Tsunade praised, "you're either far tougher than you look or I've really lost my touch."

"A bit of both, if you ask me." Sasuke shakily climbed out of the hole. 'I can't take another hit like that and she's too fast for me to dodge. Chidori and my strongest Katon Jutsu are off the table because I don't want to kill her and my other Jutsu are too weak to make a difference. There's only one thing left to try, even if I haven't mastered it yet!' Sasuke began running toward Tsunade and formed the Rasengan in his right hand.

'That Jutsu!' Tsunade was shocked by the Rasengan's appearance but quickly regained her composure and slammed one finger into the ground, splitting the street in two. Sasuke leaped into the air just before the shattered earth caused him to trip.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Sasuke knew he couldn't maintain the Rasengan's form for more than a few seconds after he increased its power past a certain point, so he didn't try. He abandoned the rotation stage almost entirely, and the Rasengan became a nearly static ball in his hand instead of a spiraling sphere.

"NO!" Jiraiya rushed to Sasuke's position, but it was too late. Without the rotation to guide its immense power and with no spherical shell of Chakra to contain it, the Rasengan was little more than a Chakra bomb that had virtually no fuse. A bomb that now detonated in the instant before Sasuke and Tsunade collided! The Slug Sannin recognized the danger and was able to avoid the explosion, but Sasuke was far less fortunate. The blast sent him flying backward at nearly three times the speed of sound.

"Iyrou Ninjutsu: Ongatsui!" (Medical Ninja Technique: Graceful Fall) Shizune blurred into Sasuke's flight path and exhaled a pale green, translucent mass of liquid that intercepted the Hanyou. The liquid was incredibly viscous and absorbed the full force of Sasuke's impact, embracing him as a mother would an injured child. Sasuke retained consciousness for a few moments after colliding with Shizune's Jutsu, but he blacked out before Jiraiya fished him out of the fluid that had saved his life.

"Hmph! Serves the pompous brat right for trying to use the Yondaime's Ju –" Tsunade's derisive demeanor transmuted into horror as she beheld Sasuke's right forearm. The limb was pulverized and blood was gushing from it like wine juice from a squeezed grape. The bones were miraculously still intact but the forearm's muscles were almost completely crushed.

"N-No!" Tsunade shivered and fell limply to the ground.

"Damn it, she still has her hemophobia!" Jiraiya cursed before he knocked Tsunade unconscious with a neck chop and turned to face Shizune. "No hospital in this town is equipped to treat an injury like this! With Tsunade out of commission, it has to be you!"

"Then we need to get back to the hotel room I share with Tsunade-sama, my medical supplies are all there!" Shizune picked Sasuke up and ran to her inn as quickly as possible without further injuring Sasuke. Jiraiya hoisted Tsunade over his shoulder and followed Shizune.

Thirty Minutes Later

"Damn it, the damage is too much!" Shizune swore. Once they arrived in her room, Jiraiya used a Douton Jutsu to create a makeshift operating table. Tsunade was sleeping in one of the room's two beds. Jiraiya was sitting on the other. He was out of his element now, and all he could do was trust in Shizune. The Jonin had managed to stop the bleeding and was now trying to regenerate Sasuke's devastated muscles, but misused Rasengan had destroyed them so thoroughly that she might as well have been building them from scratch! Like all Jonin, Shizune boasted considerable Chakra reserves, but she was no Senju or Uzumaki; an injury like Sasuke's typically required at least a dozen Medical Ninja working in shifts over hours – or even days – to slowly heal. Shizune was trying to replicate that feat alone, but she didn't have nearly enough Chakra.

If he could do so safely, Jiraiya would gladly have transferred his Chakra to Shizune. The Toad Sage had more Chakra than almost anyone who wasn't a Kage, but a Chakra infusion would disrupt the delicate control that Shizune needed for her Medical Ninjutsu to work. Sweat poured from her forehead as she tried desperately to heal Sasuke, but she soon bowed before the inevitable conclusion and stopped.

"I'm sorry, Jiraiya-sama, but I can't heal him. We have to amputate his arm or he'll bleed out." As soon as Shizune canceled her healing Jutsu, blood began flowing out of Sasuke's arm once more.

Jiraiya nodded grimly, but before he could move to assist Shizune in the amputation, Tsunade stood up.

"Move." Tsunade ordered in a tightly controlled voice. Shizune wordlessly complied; she knew better than to argue when her master spoke in that tone.

"How long?" Jiraiya asked now that he knew Tsunade had been conscious for at least part of the operation.

"Long enough to steel myself." Tsunade answered bluntly after occupying the spot Shizune had just vacated. "It won't last." An enormous amount of light green Chakra flooded out of her hands and into Sasuke's mutilated arm. Seconds later, even more Chakra enveloped his arm like a cocoon. For ten minutes, Tsunade maintained her Jutsu, and her stone-cold glare never left the ravaged limb. The second after the last of those ten minutes ended, as if a light switch had been turned off, Tsunade began shivering like a leaf and her Jutsu shattered.

"Knock her out again, Jiraiya-sama. I can take it from here." Shizune had eaten a food pill after Tsunade took over. With a considerable portion of her Chakra replenished, she could finish the operation. Jiraiya once again ended Tsunade's suffering and placed her back on the bed.

Another hour passed before the operation was complete. Sasuke's arm was restored, and there would be no lasting side effects, but the limb's nerves were now extremely sensitive and he would be in immense pain until they desensitized themselves. The boy was now unconscious, a small mercy. Tsunade was still asleep as well, but her eyelids were twitching rapidly, a sign of intense dreaming.

"She's having a nightmare, isn't she?" Jiraiya asked Shizune.

"Yes, she's had one every time she's had to help me with a surgery since we left Konoha. This was by far the most intensive operation."

"Then thank Kami she has enough steel in her veins to keep her fear under control long enough to allow you to pick up the pieces once she can't handle it anymore." Jiraiya sighed.

Shizune shook her head. "You've got it backwards, Jiraiya-sama. She's never lasted ten minutes before. The longest she's been able to hold out before today was four minutes. Before you ask, she would have needed to last at least eight minutes today for me to have any chance of saving the full use of Sasuke's arm."

Jiraiya's eyes became saucers. "I don't condone Sasuke's insults," he spoke softly, "but from what you just said they seem to have had the desired effect."

"I hope so." Shizune pleaded.

8:00 pm

"So, are going to tell me why you taught that kid a technique he has no business using?!" Tsunade, now mostly recovered from the day's events, glared at Jiraiya. The pair were seated at the same table they'd met at earlier. At first, the restaurant's owner had refused to serve them again, but a "donation" containing half of Tsunade's winnings changed his mind.

"I wouldn't say that; Sasuke-kun mastered the Rasengan's first two stages in a week and is well on his way to mastering the third stage." Jiraiya rebuked. "He knew what would happen if sacrificed rotation for power, but, if I had to guess, I'd say in the heat of the moment he didn't care as long as he got through to you. He also likely had enough confidence in your medical skills and his own body to do something incredibly stupid."

"What do you mean, his body?" Tsunade asked.

Before answering, Jiraiya cast three privacy seals on their booth. "Sasuke-kun's a Hanyou."

"What?! How?" Tsunade hissed.

"It was my godson, Naruto Namikaze." Tsuande's jaw dropped after hearing Jiraiya's answer.

"Minato never breathed a word of it to me, but the Namikaze Clan is descended from one of the most powerful Daiyoukai to ever exist. Minato had next to zero affinity for his progenitor's power, but Naruto has the highest affinity for it in the history of the clan." Jiraiya explained. "Naruto and Sasuke-kun ran into Orochimaru during the Chuunin Exams and the fucking snake put a Cursed Seal on Sasuke-kun. I don't know exactly how he did it, but Naruto turned Sasuke-kun into a Hanyou to destroy the Cursed Seal."

With a single hand seal, Tsunade dispelled Jiraiya's privacy seals as a server approached with their meals. Once the server left, she reapplied them. After downing a glass of sake, the Slug Sannin sighed in annoyance. "Then it's no wonder he felt cocky enough to misuse the Rasengan. Between his superhuman durability and my medical skills, it would have been a fairly safe bet if not for my condition."

Jiraiya nodded. He hadn't told Sasuke about Tsunade's hemophobia. If the Genin had known, he wouldn't have pushed his luck to such an absurd degree. For that reason, Jiraiya felt he had no right to berate Sasuke for his reckless behavior. Not this time, at least.

For the next several minutes, the pair ate in silence.

"After healing Sasuke-kun, I dreamed of Dan." Tsunade resumed the conversation after her plate was empty.

Jiraiya blanched. Only one memory involving Dan would cause Tsunade to have a nightmare.

"I see a little bit of Dan in Sasuke-kun." Tsunade continued. "Both fought for what they felt was right, regardless of personal risk. It's refreshing, to see someone have so much pride for what they believe in."

"You once had a similar amount of passion." Jiraiya replied, his meal also now finished. "Personally, I prefer the old you to the jaded woman I spoke with earlier today." The Toad Sage dispelled the privacy seals again, left a few bills of Ryou on the table to pay for their meals, and left.

"So do I." Before she stood up to follow Jiraiya back to the inn, a single tear fell from Tsunade's face.

When the pair returned to the inn, they were shocked to Sasuke sitting up in his bed, his eyes closed in concentration. The storage scroll holding the balloons needed to master the Rasengan's third stage lay open in his lap, and he held one such balloon in his left hand. Dozens of popped balloons littered the bed and floor. Sasuke's latest attempt popped two seconds after Jiraiya and Tsunade opened the door. Shizune was asleep in the other bed; the day's events had exhausted her both mentally and physically.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" Tsunade roared.

"Learning to use the Rasengan without blasting my arm to Hell." Sasuke groaned. "It passes the time and keeps my mind off the pain."

"I don't think so! You're my patient now, my responsibility! No more training until you're fully recovered!" Tsunade ordered.

"What's the harm?" Sasuke accused. "I'm not using my right arm at all!"

"The harm, idiot, is that your body needs rest!" Tsunade shouted. "You lost a huge amount of blood. Worse, I had to damn-near regrow your arm muscles from scratch, which caused a massive depletion of your vital nutrients. You don't feel it now because the pain is masking it, but you're too weak to even get out of that bed!"

"That may be, but it's also true that Sasuke needs a way to dull his pain." Jiraiya countered. "No healthy dosage of painkillers will help him through this. If continuing his Rasengan training serves as a distraction, it'll do more good than harm in the long run."

A vein throbbed in Tsunade's temple as she thought it over. She knew Jiraiya was right, but the intense training needed for the Rasengan had to be carefully balanced against Sasuke's other medical needs. "You get two hours of training a day, in one-hour increments, and they have to be at least six hours apart." She decreed stiffly. Sasuke nodded, knowing better than to push his luck any further after hearing about his malnutrition.

"Here." Jiraiya handed Tsunade a map of Tanzaku-gai with several buildings circled in red ink. "The marked buildings are twenty-four-hour stores and restaurants. Between them all, you should have no problem buying the food and medicine Sasuke needs."

"Thank you." Tsunade flashed Jiraiya a quick smile before leaving the room.

"You just had that map on hand?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Being Konoha's spymaster has its perks." Jiraiya grinned back.

It took Tsunade an hour and a half to purchase everything she needed. When she returned to the inn, Sasuke and Jiraiya were both asleep. The Toad Sage was on the floor, and Shizune had been moved to the left side of her bed from her original position at the bed's center. Unlike Sasuke's bed, which was twin-size, Shizune's was a full-sized bed. The right-side covers had been unfurled, allowing Tsunade to lie down with minimal interference to Shizune.

'When did the pervert become such a gentleman?' Tsunade pondered as she climbed into bed and fell asleep.

6 Nights Later

Jiraiya and Tsunade were dining in the same restaurant as before. Their meals were eaten and paid for, and now Tsunade looked into Jiraiya's eyes with a gaze of pure steel. "Sasuke-kun still has some stiffness in his right arm, but other than that he's fully recovered. I've decided to return to Konoha, so there's no more reason for us to stay here after tonight."

Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much, Tsunade! You've no idea how glad I am to h –"

"I'm coming back with you, but I can't be Hokage, not yet." Tsunade interrupted. "Konoha deserves a leader who won't freeze at the sight of blood. Before I assume Hiruzen-sensei's role, I must purge myself of this fear completely."

Jiraiya reflected on the past few days before responding. Sasuke had followed Tsunade's orders perfectly, but his wounds had reopened four times. Each time, Tsunade had healed him, and each night afterward, she suffered another nightmare. Jiraiya had stayed awake through the night each time she had a nightmare, ready to intervene if things took a turn for the worst. To his joy, each subsequent nightmare ended faster than its predecessor, and each nightmare seemed less intense than those that came before it. Shizune had also stayed up on those nights and she and Jiraiya were in agreement.

Tsunade was steadily conquering her hemophobia.

"How do you plan to do that?" Jiraiya asked.

"Even now, there must be several Shinobi in intensive care." Tsunade paused long enough for Jiraiya to nod in affirmation. "I will heal them, every last one. Hemophobia be damned!"

"Expose yourself to the sensation so many times that you become desensitized to it?" Jiraiya mused. "Normally, I'd say an approach like that is at least as likely to backfire as it is to work in your favor, but, now that Sasuke-kun's rekindled your Will of Fire, it's just crazy enough to work!"

"Yeah, who'd have thought that what I needed to get over this was the fate of another life in my hands?" Tsunade slammed her fist on the table. "After all, that's what got me here!"

Jiraiya placed his hand over Tsunade's fist. "You're in a tough place now, but it's much better than it's been and it will continue to improve. We can get through this, together."

Tsunade gasped. "Jiraiya, please, I can't. Not after Dan. I can't go through that again!"

Jiraiya's heart bled upon hearing Tsunade's rejection, but he let the matter drop. As much as he'd like to claim that no one in all the Elemental Nations could kill him, he knew some of the Kage were capable of it and the members of the Akatsuki were mostly unknown to him. He knew there were nine members total, but Itachi and Kisame were the only names he had. At his peak, Orochimaru would definitely have made the list and he may still qualify even with his poisoned arms.

With a defeated sigh, Jiraiya let go of Tsunade's hand and stood to leave. "We leave at dawn tomorrow, get as much rest as we can."

Tsunade remained seated for several minutes, fighting back tears. "Damn it, Kami-damn it!" She sobbed.

Jiraiya, Sasuke, Tsunade, and Shizune had made it a few miles back to Konoha before a tremendous surge of killing intent engulfed the area.

"Orochimaru!" Sasuke swore. This murderous aura was not something he'd soon forget.

"Compass formation, now!" Jiraiya ordered. The four Shinobi huddled together, shoulder to shoulder, each facing outward in one of the cardinal directions. Jiraiya faced east, Tsunade north, Shizune west, and Sasuke south. The road they were using was flanked on both sides by a sea of trees. The Uchiha activated his Sharingan and focused his superhuman senses. The scent of snakes was everywhere, hindering his efforts to discern Orochimaru's location. For nearly a minute, the Hanyou sifted through the scents around him. "Tsunade-hime, look out!" His warning was a fraction of a second too late.

Orochimaru's serpentine neck lunged out of the forest faster than Tsunade could react. As Jiraiya feared, she was badly out of practice. Before Orochimaru could sink his fangs into her neck, Jiraiya leaped in front of her and took the bite on his shoulder!

"Tsk! You're nearly as troublesome as Hiruzen-sensei, Jiraiya!" Orochimaru retracted his neck and came into the open, trailed closely by Kabuto. The Toad Sage's entire body shivered, and he fell to one knee.

"What do you think of my venom, old friend? It won't kill you, but manipulating Chakra will be all but impossible until it wears off, and – as you're now experiencing first-hand – your muscles will spasm uncontrollably, making it incredibly difficult to move."

"Difficult? I don't know the meaning of the word!" Jiraiya screamed and hoisted himself off the ground through sheer force of will and weaved a series of hand seals. "Katon: Endan!" (Fire Release: Flame Bullet) A cylindrical fireball streaked toward Orochimaru, but a giant snake emerged from the forest and intercepted the attack. The snake was reduced to ashes, but his master was unharmed.

"Hmph! Quite impressive, but with my venom in your veins you won't be able to last much longer!" Orochimaru smirked. "Kabuto, kill Shizune and capture both Tsunade and Sasuke! I'll deal with Jiraiya myself!" The snake holding the Sword of Kusanagi poked its head out of Orochimaru's mouth and regurgitated the blade, gripping its hilt with his jaws.

"Sasuke-kun, protect Tsunade-sama!" Shizune prepared to fight Kabuto while Sasuke moved in front of Tsunade. When Orochimaru bit into Jiraiya's shoulder, the Slug Sannin saw the blood and was currently fighting off another episode of hemophobia. If she had time to prepare herself, or suspected that she may see blood, she could resist her irrational fear with much more success, but this was too sudden for her mental countermeasures to work. All she could do now was struggle to stay conscious and hope that the episode ran its course before the battle was over.

"Orochimaru warned me about you, Shizune-san." Kabuto grinned. "As Tsunade-dono's apprentice, you're skill as a Medical Ninja is exemplary and you excel in using poison during combat. Too bad for you, I'm quite the Medical-nin myself!" Two Chakra scalpels manifested around Kabuto's hands. "It's a shame I have to kill you; there're not enough of us Medical-nin around, after all. But orders are orders." The gray-haired ninja rushed at Shizune.

"Dokugiri!" (Poison Mist) Shizune exhaled a toxic fog that would instantly kill anyone who inhaled even a small amount. Kabuto was engulfed by the mist but was nowhere to be seen when the fog cleared. The ground beneath Shizune's feet burst open, courtesy of Kabuto's Mogurakagure no Jutsu (Hiding like a Mole Technique) Expecting the tactic, Shizune leaped into the air just before Kabuto emerged and fired a volley of poisoned senbon from her mouth, but they passed right through Kabuto!

'A Bushin, shit!' Shizune swore as the real Kabuto leaped from the ground beneath her and severed her leg tendons.

"That's it? I expected more from an apprentice of Tsunade-dono!" Kabuto glared at Shizune and moved to sever her right carotid artery, but was halted by a stream of fire launched by Sasuke!

"Sorry to interrupt, but I owe Shizune-san my life. I wouldn't be right to just stand here and watch you kill her!" Sasuke smirked. "Jiraiya told me that you were Orochimaru's errand boy, getting rid of you will be excellent payback for what he did to me in the Forest of Death!"

"Ah yes, that reminds me, how did you pull that off, Sasuke-kun? Orochimaru-sama and I are quite curious." Kabuto moved away from Shizune.

"Like I told your team of Genin, it was consumed by this!" Sasuke's Chakra-Youki flared, and his Hanyou features manifested. "Sankon Ensou!" Knowing it would be dangerous to engage Kabuto at close range, Sasuke made several slashing motions with his right claws. Dozens of Youki blades sailed through the air; Kabuto dodged them all but several came very close to hitting him.

'The Chakra in those blades is incredibly potent! How did Sasuke acquire such a powerful transformation?' Kabuto had little time to marvel at the display before Sasuke launched an enormous fireball at him! It exploded on impact and created a huge amount of smoke. Kabuto tried to take advantage of the situation to blindside Sasuke but his right wrist was caught in a bone-crushing grip!

"Didn't you know? The Sharingan can see Chakra. That smokescreen was nowhere near enough to hide you from my eyes!" Sasuke tightened his grip even more, nearly bringing Kabuto to his knees. In desperation, Kabuto lashed out at Sasuke's chest with his left hand, but his Chakra scalpel barely scratched the wolf Hanyou's chest. The deep laceration to Sasuke's heart muscles never materialized.

"An eye for an eye, a chest wound for a chest wound!" Sasuke held out his left hand, and a Rasengan formed flawlessly within it. Sasuke rammed the deadly orb into Kabuto's ribs. The Chakra sphere exploded, and Kabuto was hurled hundreds of feet away. "Damn, you're like a cockroach!" Sasuke swore as Kabuto climbed slowly to his feet as the damage inflicted by the Rasengan healed.

"I'll take that as a compliment. After all, what Orochimaru values most in me is my regenerative capability. Rest assured, Sasuke-kun, I'll be taking you much more seri – " Kabuto's boasting ceased as he puked up a huge amount of blood and fell back to the ground, conscious but barely able to move.

"Ha! Looks like my Rasengan caused too much damage for you to heal before your Chakra ran out." Sasuke laughed. A huge explosion turned his attention to Orochimaru and Jiraiya's battle, but before he could move to intervene a wave of fatigue wracked his entire body!

"I can't blame you, given the circumstances, but you overdid it, Sasuke-kun." Tsunade said through gritted teeth as she pulled herself out of her phobia-induced stupor. "You've been bedridden for an entire week. Intense exercise after a prolonged period of rest exhausts the body very quickly. Thank you for saving Shizune. Just rest while I deal with my traitorous ex-comrade!"

"At your limit already, Jiraiya? I almost had you that time!" Orochimaru's voice echoed all around Jiraiya, but the Snake Sannin was nowhere to be seen. As soon as their fight began in earnest, Orochimaru's skin began constantly altering its color to blend in perfectly with his immediate surroundings. The Sword of Kusanagi couldn't be camouflaged, but Orochimaru solved that problem by keeping the blade in his mouth and only displaying it an instant before he attacked. With his body ravaged by Orochimaru's venom, it was all Jiraiya could do to evade the sword strikes. Several times, the Sword of Kusanagi almost hit a vital organ or blood vessel. The wounds Jiraiya accumulated slowed his movements even more, making it that much harder to survive.

Under normal circumstances, Orochimaru's optical camouflage wouldn't have been much of a hurdle for Jiraiya. Though he wasn't a true sensor-type, he was skilled enough with Yin Release to sense Chakra in his immediate vicinity. The problem was that Orochimaru wasn't using Chakra to camouflage himself. His current technique was derived from his extensive body modifications. The same held true for the venom he used earlier.

"You've certainly prepared well for this fight, considering you can't use hand seals." Jiraiya panted.

"Necessity is the mother of invention." Orochimaru agreed. "These enhancements were meant to be added to my body before I launched my invasion of Konoha. Sadly, the enzymes and genetic material needed to alter my cells weren't quite ready then, but between the time Kabuto needed to track Tsunade down and how long it took for us to travel here, I had plenty of opportunities to undergo the necessary operations."

"You experimented on yourself even when your body's already falling apart? You're more desperate than I thought." Jiraiya barely shifted his body in time to avoid another attack.

"It was a risk, I'll admit, but a necessary one." Orochimaru landed another hit on Jiraiya. For the umpteenth time, the Sword of Kusanagi vanished back into his mouth. "Just stand still and die, you stubborn toad! You're drenched in sweat and blood. It's a miracle that you still have the strength to stand, but a miracle only happens once!"

"A miracle, you say?" Jiraiya grinned while weaving a series of hand seals. "I'll show you that this miracle happens twice! Katon: Baenfu!" (Fire Release: Toad Flame Skin)

Clear oil erupted from Jiraiya's pores and ignited, coating his skin in fiery armor. The flames were so hot that the airspace within several feet of Jiraiya rippled, distorting the light in the affected area enough to reveal Orochimaru's position.

"Impressive, but futile!" The Snake Sannin willed his blade to extend and impaled Jiraiya through his left knee. "Poor Jiraiya, did you forget that the Sword of Kusanagi can cut through almost anything?" Orochimaru cackled after once again swallowing his sword.

"Not at all. In fact, I was counting on it!" Jiraiya smiled back. In the next instant, a tremendous explosion tore through the forest road with Orochimaru as the epicenter. The Snake Sannin barely managed to weave the Chakra necessary for his unique version of the Kawarimi no Jutsu to avoid being reduced to ash. Like a snake shedding its skin, the bulk of Orochimaru's form shriveled away from the blast's point of origin and rematerialized several hundred feet away. His life had been spared, but now Orochimaru dropped to one knee, having lost over a third of his Chakra.

"When I swallowed my sword it had some of that infernal oil on it, which was ignited by the heated blade!" Orochimaru noted. "But how did that tiny amount of oil cause such a grand explosion? Unless?!" Orochimaru's eyes widened as he replayed the fight in his mind. "Damn you! From the very beginning!"

"You figured it out." Jiraiya dragged himself to his feet and put as much weight as possible on his good leg. "When you blocked my first attack with your snake, I took the opportunity to activate Baenfu. The hand seals just now were a sideshow. The 'sweat' you pointed out earlier was my oil, and you've been swallowing it the whole time. Not even your souped-up snakes could tell the difference."

"I commend you for reducing me to such a pitiful state," Orochimaru snarled, "but this is my victory!" The serpentine Shinobi willed his sword to soar through the air, aiming straight for Jiraiya's heart!

"NOT ON MY WATCH!" Tsunade roared as she grabbed the Sword of Kusanagi just before it slammed into Jiraiya. Her herculean strength was more than sufficient to halt the blade's telekinetic movement. She then turned to Orochimaru and poured half her remaining Chakra into her free fist.

'Not good!' Orochimaru swore as Tsunade leaped toward him like a meteor. With all his remaining Chakra, The Snake Sannin willed his blade away from him. The sudden reversal of the blade's trajectory compared to Tsunade's was just enough to let Orochimaru avoid the fatal punch, but its impact on the ground still sent him flying and ravaged his body.

"Neat trick," Tsunade dropped the blade now that she sensed that Orochimaru was powerless, "but it won't save you a second time!" As Tsunade launched herself at Orochimaru once more, dozens of giant snakes emerged from their hiding places within the forests surrounding the road and converged on her!

"NOOOOO!" Tsunade did her best to destroy the massive serpents as quickly as possible and was aided by Sasuke and Shizune, who had healed herself from Kabuto's ambush, but the damage was done. Kabuto had recovered enough to retrieve the Sword of Kusanagi and Shunshin his master to safety.

"DAMN IT!" Tsunade screeched. Before she could vent anymore, Shizune began healing Jiraiya's wounds. The Slug Sannin calmed herself down and joined her apprentice. While the two Medical Ninja tended to Jiraiya, Sasuke summoned four tents from the storage scroll previously used to hold the balloons for the Rasengan's third stage. He didn't know how long it would take for Tsunade and Shizune to stabilize Jiraiya, but he was certain they wouldn't be traveling anymore today.

"We were so close!" Kabuto yelled. He was now moving at a much faster pace than he and Orochimaru had used to travel to Tanzaku-gai. The poison in Orochimaru's arms would surely spread – if it hadn't already due to the fight – but Kabuto needed Otokagure's medical facilities to save Orochimaru.

"Indeed, but this is no cause for alarm, Kabuto." Orochimaru said in a surprisingly content voice, given the day's events. "After all, there's another way for me to restore my arms."

"But without a Cursed Seal, it will be nearly impossible to persuade Sasuke-kun to come your side willingly." Kabuto lamented.

"It matters not. The Sound Four will be mobilized the instant we return home. Even if the worst should pass and I must transfer to another body before Sasuke can be brought to me, contingencies are already in place."

"The prisoners," Kabuto realized, "but none of them are anywhere near a suitable host for you, Orochimaru-sama! Your power will be greatly weakened!"

"For a time, yes, but – as I said – it matters not." Orochimaru shrugged. "After all, three years are but a drop in the ocean that is eternity!"

Chapter End

And THAT'S my take on how Sasuke would handle Tsunade's grief-fueled cynicism! Here's a philosophical question for all of you: it is still "Talk-no-Jutsu" if reverse psychology is involved? Naruto typically invokes the trope by literally beating his mentality into his opponent and only wins the psychological battle after winning the physical battle. Here, Sasuke lost the physical battle but won the psychological battle. Personally, I'd say both losing the physical battle and using a very harsh set of insults to indirectly appeal to Tsunade's pride for her clan disqualifies his "argument" from being a variant of "Talk no Jutsu", but I'd like to know what you all think.

Orochimaru IMO had no good reason not to expand his body modifications to include actual venom at the very least. Yes, technically he can "poison" someone with a Cursed Seal by biting them like he did with Zetsu in the War arc, but if he's converted his entire body into a snake (shown right before he tried possessing Sasuke) then why not go the extra mile and give yourself venomous fangs? In that form, his blood is poisonous, so how much harder could it have been to put venom in his teeth?

Canon-Orochimaru took a gigantic risk summoning Manda during the fight with the other Sannin. Kabuto states that Manda would attack Orochimaru immediately if he knew that Orochimaru's arms were sealed. Here, Orochimaru didn't want to push his luck, so he didn't summon Manda. In canon, Jiraiya and Tsunade only summoned Gamabunta and Katsuyu in response to Orochimaru summoning Manda so here they had no incentive to do so, meaning no epic battle between Kaiju-tier summons in this chapter unfortunately. Instead, Sasuke got to absolutely finesse Kabuto. Since Kabuto didn't have to help Team 7 pass the Forest of Death in this story, he wouldn't necessarily know all of the Sharingan's capabilities unless he obsessed over it like Orochimaru.

Desensitization therapy, also known as exposure therapy, is a real-life treatment used to help patients overcome many types of phobias, including hemophobia. Like any form of therapy, it takes time and dedication. Having Tsunade gradually overcome her fear of blood is much more plausible than her conquering it in an instant like what happened in canon. That was pure plot armor given that Naruto, Jiraiya, and Tsunade would have been fucked eight ways from Sunday if she didn't overcome her hemophobia when she did.

The next 1-2 chapters will involve Tsunade's induction as Hokage (after she puts her hemophobia to bed for good), healing Naruto and some more character development before we move onto the Sasuke Retrieval arc.

Thank you for reading!

Iyrou Ninjutsu: Ongatsui: Medical Ninja Technique: Graceful Fall (B-Rank) – A Jutsu meant to save those falling from precarious heights or moving at unsafe speeds. The user exhales a mass of Chakra that instantly congeals into a highly viscous fluid that absorbs most, if not all, of the impact when a person collides with it. The fluid evaporates on contact with any of the target's mucous membranes, meaning it cannot drown them if ingested or inhaled.

Katon: Baenfu: Fire Release: Toad Flame Skin (S-Rank) – A Jutsu Jiraiya invented after being inspired by the toxic skin shared by many species of toads. A colorless, odorless, and tasteless oil is secreted from his pores. The oil has the appearance and viscosity of sweat. Jiraiya can selectively choose any amount of the oil produced by the Jutsu to spontaneously ignite, typically to shroud himself in a shield of intense flames. With enough time, the oil's benign appearance also allows him to prepare devastating surprise attacks that can be nearly impossible to avoid.