The Last Goodbye:
(Jiraya POV)
You hated this place… the mournful silence, the ever downpour of rain as if the gods themselves are weeping for the souls of this place. The dead were going to walk the very earth, and have nothing but the mud, the water, and the clouds to greet them.
Those children you mentored… they were not children anymore… and they were not the children you mentored. They were consumed by violence, and death.
Why? That was the only question that mattered to you.
Why would she come here?
Hopefully, soon, you would find out. And bring her home.
The sounds of footsteps behind you put you on edge, but the smell of snake both relived you from the worry of an ambush and infuriated you. "What are you doing here Orochimaru?" You asked.
"This is a team affair." He stated, his voice somehow calmer than before. Angrier.
"And you didn't bring Sensei?" You questioned.
"The old man deserves to be with his wife, for what little time he has left," Orochimaru stated. "I didn't want to trouble him with this news."
"I thought you said you didn't want to come? That it was a waste of time?" You replied.
Orochimaru sighed. "We were there for her through all her troubles." The image of Dan, and Nawaki flashed through your mind. "We'd be shoddy teammates if we weren't there for her now."
He walked up to you and placed a hand on your shoulder. "Now come on Jiraya."
"You know… I always suspected you would be the one who would defect, on your quest for immortality." You stated.
Orochimaru gave a smile. "Shut up Jiraya… It seems the village has far more to offer me than it did under Sarutobi… Plus with Danzo gone, there's no more threat of dying."
"For that, I think we can both agree." You stated.
You both started walking towards the Rain village. "Remember when we used to blame Danzo for everything that went wrong during my pranks?"
"How could I forget… funniest time we ever spent time together." Orochimaru stated. "That, and seeing you getting the shit kicked out of by hundreds of women."
"They don't understand the true literature I write!" You complained. "And how I am lovingly describing their bodies with my prose."
"Keep telling yourself that."
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Tsunade was waiting for you, along with Shizune… a battered and tortured Shizune.
Your eyes narrowed and you felt the wrongness of this situation. The wrongness and the evil that reeked from this wretched place just kept reminding you of Hanzo, and his near-unstoppable onslaught.
You hated this place… and what it turned people into.
There was a person standing beside her, but cloaked in shadow, and hiding beneath a hat, it was impossible to tell. Though he looked like an old man… and while you didn't want to make an assumption on a traitor… it wouldn't be wise at this moment.
"Tsunade," you stated your teammate's name firmly. "What the hell have you done?"
Tsunade looked terrible. The genjutsu that she always wore, a mirror of beauty and strength had faded, showing how old she had become. She looked so old… so tired of everything that had destroyed her life. Her hair grey as mist, her eyes sunken, her skin, covered in scars.
She said nothing, but she looked down at Shizune. "Take her home Jiraya. She doesn't want to be here." Her voice sounded robotic, like the life was gone from it, sucked away, as she finally snapped, and cursed the world for keeping her alive.
Orochimaru was silent, but he walked forward and scooped the girl up. She was shivering and you could see the wounds that she suffered, healed… but not by Tsunade. She would need a medic to be sure she was not infected.
"What happened to you Tsunade?" You asked.
The man must have said something, as she sighed and looked back to him. "Be quiet. The only reason I haven't killed you is because Pain forbade it."
She turned back and looked at you. "I'm tired Jiraya. I'm tired of this world taking things away from me. I'm tired of seeing the same damn thing happen, over and over again."
"Than just stop… come home, and just… stop. There is nothing scary about taking a rest when you feel you've done enough."You replied empathetically. You knew what she was talking about.
"I can't…" she paused, and tears fell from her face, mixing with the rain. "They can bring them back… these people can bring back Dan, and Nawaki from the dead, and make them stay alive. And for them, I can't leave. They can finally see a world at peace. Grandfathers dream will be a reality."
You were floored. It was impossible. "Tsunade… they are lying to you, what they promise is impossible. "
Orochimaru seemed intrigued, but instead, he just said this. "It requires sacrifice Tsunade. Nothing comes in this life for free. You may lose a part of yourself… a part you cannot get back."
Wait… when did Orochimaru gain a conscience? Who was this person and what have you done to your snake bro?
"You think I don't know that Oro? Are you so blinded by your own mission for immortality that you don't care about anything but yourself?" She stated.
"No… I merely realized the risks I would have to take in order to achieve it." Orochimaru stood up straight. "And you Tsunade… you were the best of us… a person who is far better then she believes. You are not a person willing to kill, murder and destroy to get what she wants. You are not that person."
Tsunade sighed before she nodded. "Maybe you don't know what person I am, and neither do I." Her choice was clear. "Leave… this is your final warning before I come and kill you both."
You frowned… before you saw the necklace in her hand. "Hand over the necklace then."
Her eyes widened. "What?"
"If you don't believe in your grandfather's dream or legacy… stop holding onto his legacy." You stated.
The pain flashed in her face, and her face morphed through anger, sadness, and finally regret. The necklace flew across the sky and you caught it. "Leave."
You nodded. "Very well."
Orochimaru followed beside you as you both walked.
"I didn't think she had it in her to defect." He stated. He was sad… maybe… you couldn't read him right now.
"I didn't think she would either… guess things changed more than we both thought." You stated.
AN: Enjoy my drunken writing that may somehow fit into canon. Maybe... I'm tired.
