Summary: Orochimaru and Tsunade stay away from each other. Not because they don't like each other, but because on both sides, the pain is sometimes too much to bear.

Age: It changes. Big, to old XD

Category: no, this is n o t a Tsunade/Orochimaru one shot, although my SasuSaku heart thinks that could've been cute if it weren't for Dan and Jiraiya too- this is T E A M. Fluff.

Note: I miss Jiraiya so much :( and I know they did too, whether or not they admitted it.

</ ♡ \>

The team splintered easily once Orochimaru left. Too easily. Orochimaru left thinking that he didn't need them. Tsunade left thinking that maybe the four of them just weren't meant to be happy together. Jiraiya left with a hidden hope that maybe things would be alright eventually- that they would all be together again one day. And Hiruzen stayed wallowing in the guilt, thinking that he'd failed them.

Early on in his life, Orochimaru was hit with the fact that in the ninja world, nothing was permanent. Life would eventually end. People would go away. Success was temporary. Good deeds were forgotten. Times changed, and those who didn't change with it were left behind. Orochimaru refused to be left behind. Ninjutsu was semi-permanent; the powerful ones were remembered and passed down. So Orochimaru studied up on them.

He was always going to leave the village- in his mind, it was never a question of 'if', but of 'when'. Eventually, the village would run out of jutsu for him to learn. He had nothing in that village that compelled him to stay.

But then he was assigned to a genin team with a noisy, obnoxious idiot, a stuck up princess, and a strict sensei, and suddenly Orochimaru was delaying his plans. Little by little, bit by bit, his team wormed their way into his heart. He occasionally felt affection when Tsunade smiled at him, or smirked when Jiraiya fell over. They bonded more during the battle, when they developed jutsu combos together. They traveled as a squad, guarding each other's backs, and saving each other's lives. War instilled a deep seated trust in one's teammates.

The war always hung over their shoulders, so the team of powerhouses couldn't really enjoy themselves, but occasionally they'd sit together in absolute silence (the way Orochimaru liked it) and solid in their companionship. They would listen to the rain fall in momentary peace, before the battles began again, and Orochimaru found that he liked those moments the best.

Then they were named the Legendary Sannin by Hanzo of the Salamander, and they were suddenly celebrities of the war. Orochimaru didn't know how he felt about people recognizing him.

One night, as the three ninja sat in a dry cave with the rain pouring outside, game roasting over the fire, their cloaks and backpacks hanging since they were soaked. All three were snuggled into their sleeping bags, watching the fire dance across the walls of the cave. There was always something mesmerizing about fire, Orochimaru decided.

Orochimaru leaned against the back of the wall, Tsunade's feet on his lap. The girl had no concept of personal space. He was sharpening a kunai, but that didn't seem to bother the girl, who looked ready to fall asleep in an instant. She was resting her head against Jiraiya's knee as Jiraiya wrote in that book of his.

She opened her eyes suddenly, and Orochimaru's were drawn to the movement. She held his for a moment, before her mouth opened. "What are you guys going to do when the war's over?"

"How do we know this war is going to end?" Orochimaru commented morbidly, turning his gaze back to his kunai.

"Well, aren't you optimistic?!" Jiraiya laughed briefly, shaking his head at Orochimaru. "When the war ends, I'm taking you out on a date." He told Tsunade, who shifted her neck so she could glare up at him.

"I'd really rather die."

Orochimaru rolled his eyes, swiping the sharpening stone on his blade, but huffing in amusement. "So dramatic."

Tsunade's aura changed drastically to angry. "What did you say, Orochimaru?"

"Nothing." Orochimaru said, not panicked in the slightest. Jiraiya winced uncomfortably at the memory of one of Tsunade's power packed punches. Orochimaru had no plans to get on the wrong end of those fists.

Tsunade settled again, staring up at the wall of the cave. "Really, though, what will you two do?"

Leave Konoha for good.

Jiraiya thought about it in silence for a couple moments, while Orochimaru thought about his. He was getting restless. Not that his times with his... friends... weren't nice, and sparring with them was self improvement in it's own right, but there were more jutsu out there that he felt he needed to know.

"I want to find my destiny." Jiraiya said aloud, making Tsunade bark a laugh. Jiraiya frowned down at her. "Hey! Don't laugh." He whined, leaning his head back.

Tsunade composed herself, a grin still on her face. "I'm sorry. It's just kinda funny to hear someone talk about something as uncertain as destiny during a war." Orochimaru smirked a little, definitely seeing the humor she found in what Jiraiya said. "Please, do tell us what that entails."

"I'll probably travel. And write books." Jiraiya confessed. "Staying put makes me anxious."

"Me too." Orochimaru agreed, not looking up from the knife so they wouldn't understand what he was thinking. They'd developed uncanny abilities to somehow always know his real thoughts on something regardless of whether he told them or not.

"Right?" Jiraiya pointed at Orochimaru with his pen, pleased that someone agreed with him. "Anyway, I'll try to find the child I'm supposed to train." Jiraiya had told them and Hiruzen about the prophecy in secrecy- a pupil that would cause a great change to the ninja world. Either a great peace or a great destruction. Tsunade scoffed at the thought, not putting much stock in something she can't physically manipulate. Orochimaru didn't care for prophecies either. But the ninja world was full of ridiculous and unexplained things- so it was natural to believe that there was really something out there. Orochimaru just didn't care.

"What about you, Orochimaru?" Tsunade asked curiously, her hazel eyes moving from Jiraiya to him.

Orochimaru's eyebrows raised at the attention, and he lowered his kunai to look at them briefly. "I'll probably want to study some more. Travel. Learn."

"Really, you're such a nerd." Tsunade laughed, chuckling like did with Jiraiya. Orochimaru rolled his eyes again. After all, Tsunade was possibly the greatest medic ninja in her generation, so she had done at least as much studying as Orochimaru, and would probably continue her studies.

"And you, Tsunade? What'll you do?" Jiraiya asked curiously.

"I'm going to get out of Konoha. Go as far away as I can." Tsunade snorted, staring longingly at the ceiling. "The village isn't worth the bad memories I have there."

Jiraiya's eyes widened. "But your grandfather founded the village. Surely you feel some kind of connection to it?"

Tsunade smiled bitterly, tilting her chin back so she could see Jiraiya better. He looked down at her with a puzzled frown on his face. "My grandfather isn't there anymore." She said simply. "There is nothing there for me anymore." Both of her teammates knew she was thinking of Dan, and her beloved otouto, Nawaki. "And if both of you are leaving, like I suspect you are, then I really won't have anyone there."

Tsunade, Orochimaru and Jiraiya sat in silence, all three sitting and watching the rain, the momentary peace loosening their tensed muscles. Tsunade eventually stood up and stretched. "Well, Konoha aside, it's still war. It'll be over when it's over- there's no use complaining. We'll get out in our own times."

Jiraiya nodded in solemn agreement, raising his flask of sake. "I'll drink to that." He declared. Tsunade picked her own up, and bumped her flask against his. Orochimaru, for the spirit of it all, joined them.

Alcoholics, both of them. Orochimaru decided as he watched his teammates throw back their drinks as smoothly as they would if it was water. He sipped his own sake calmly, slowly. Composedly. His teammates could get stupid drunk if they wanted to, but Orochimaru was not cleaning up their mess again. It's bad for their livers, too. They'll die young.

< >

Tsunade honestly hadn't imagined she'd be seeing them again. Orochimaru was a missing-nin, now, and apparently a bad person, and Jiraiya was still searching for his destiny. Yet, oddly enough, on the anniversary of their team passing the bell test, she and Shizune were passing through a town on the border of the Land of Fire, following a gambling train. She stopped and taught Shizune how to heal, every once in a while, so Dan's niece was a formidable medic ninja, and definitely Tsunade's most trusted companion. Tsunade wouldn't trade her for anyone in the world- even though she was annoying about Tsunade's drinking and gambling habits.

Tsunade was staring down a bottle, barely able to focus on the sake sloshing around inside. This was one of the signs that she was getting drunk- her concentration always went before her consciousness, to her irritation. If she had somewhere to be, this was a warning sign to stop drinking.

"Is that you, Tsunade!" Someone asked cheerfully, and Tsunade let out a groan, realizing who it was. It had been years, and the man still recognized her easily. But she turned around in her stool, careful not to fall off, and directed her bleary eyes towards where she heard Jiraiya's voice. "Look at you!" He stomped towards her, big grin, and booming voice and all. "Getting old and drunk, are we?"

"You're getting old, you idiot." Tsunade mumbled in reply, watching Jiraiya take a seat next to hear and almost wanting to shove him off it. She decided against it, because she was too drunk, and would probably end up falling with him.

"Anyway. Guess who I ran into outside?" Jiraiya asked. Tsunade blinked at him, before she felt a presence appear on the stool behind her. She whirled around, rearing to strike, but that same someone caught her fist and smirked at her.

She stopped attacking, and let out an evil smile. "Bastard." She said, and he let go of her fist. "We should kill you and being your body back to the village."

Orochimaru shook his head. "I'm just passing through. Jiraiya found me. I don't intend to stay long."

"That has nothing to do with-"

"Tsunade," Jiraiya interrupted softly. "We all have already betrayed the village once by leaving. Does it matter all that much if we have drinks together one time? It isn't like we're accomplices in Orochimaru's... endeavors. Besides, we're such old friends."

"We left in the good graces of the Hokage. Orochimaru left stealing state secrets and killing our countrymen." Tsunade's eyes narrowed. She might not be in the village, but it was burned in her DNA to be fiercely loyal to her home. "Orochimaru would sell us out in a second if it meant saving his own skin." Tsunade crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him. "And I don't think we should overlook the things he's done."

"Tsunade," Jiraiya pleaded, and Tsunade saw in his eyes that Jiraiya was desperate. She was good at reading people. He had missed his friends more than anything, and just wanted a reunion. He hadn't forgiven Orochimaru either, and after this one drink, he'd be hunting the snake man relentlessly. He just wanted to hang out one last time before they split up for good.

And they would split up for good, that was for sure. It was had been predetermined- practically written in the stars. They were too different, each on their own different path. They were aligned for a little while, but soon they would have nothing in common anymore except the past.

The three of them had gone into their friendship knowing that it wasn't permanent. Maybe that was why it hurt so much for Tsunade to think about.

Tsunade sighed, sitting still in her seat, eyes staring straight ahead. "Alright. But after this, if I see you, I'll whoop your ass and send you back to Konoha in a bag." She said, probably not sounding very threatening as a drunk, but it would've felt wrong if she hadn't said it.

Orochimaru hummed, clearly not too pleased to be here. He'd been dragged by Jiraiya, and didn't want to cause a scene this close to Konoha. Technically, being around his fellow Sannin was protection for him, because whether they liked it or not, they'd defend him if push came to shove. None of them were on great terms with Konoha anymore. Orochimaru ordered a drink, and the three of them sat in familiar, semi-peaceful silence.

"So, what have you two done in eight years?" Tsunade asked Jiraiya and Orochimaru quietly, before throwing her drink back and aggressively ordering another.

Jiraiya placed an order with her, just asking for the whole bottle.

Alcoholics. Orochimaru shook his head, sighing. He ordered some burning sake for himself and sat quietly, drinking it. Both of them.

"Well, before I left I trained a kid named Minato. He's my pride and joy. Maybe the child of prophecy, since those three..." died. Orochimaru sighed again. He'd told Jiraiya to just kill them- now the orphans were dead, and Jiraiya was left with the heartache.

"Cute." Tsunade mused, remembering the blonde kid. "Wasn't he friends with that brat- Kushina, who always hung out with my grandmother?" Tsunade laughed at the memory of the fiery haired girl.

"Yeah. He had a huge crush on her, too." Jiraiya grinned. "It was so cute."

"Aww," Tsunade pursed her lips. "Precious."

Orochimaru listened to that, mouth thinning. He'd heard of Minato Namikaze- the prodigy. He was going to be eighteen, soon. The highest Academy scores anyone had ever seen, and skills to match. People were saying he would be the next Hokage. Jealousy darkened his gaze. The power that little boy would gain...

"I've got a student too." Tsunade interrupted his thoughts, grinning. "Shizune."

"Dan's niece?" Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Good for you!"

"Yeah." Tsunade's lips quirked up in pride. "And you, Orochimaru?" Tsuande asked, turning in her stool to face him, with a rather interested look on her face. 

"Mmm." He mused. "I've taken a pupil as well." He said, thinking about the very young boy that he'd just taken under his wing. "His name is Kabuto. He is very young, but he has a talent for medical ninjutsu. I see great progress in the future." Of course, that was none of their business, but there was something right about telling them what he was up to. Or, at least a little of it. 

"Big plans for the future?" Tsunade asked, tipping sake into her mouth with practiced ease.

Orochimaru did the same with a wicked smirk. "Immortality."

Tsunade gave him a frown. "You know how I feel about that."

"Certainly." Orochimaru replied. As a medic ninja, Tsunade was deeply in tune with human anatomy, and understood that there was no way for a human to live forever. They'd had arguments about it before, and Orochimaru had gotten ideas from the points she made. He got the feeling that he would figure it out a lot quicker with Tsunade helping him. Especially since his former genin teammate had that delicious technique called Mitotic Regeneration.

But after years of working with Tsunade, he knew that no amount of convincing, torture, or orders from higher ups could make her do something she didn't want to do. Tsunade was as stubborn as a pack mule going uphill, and no amount of time would be enough to change that.

Jiraiya wrinkled his nose. "What would you want to live forever for?" He muttered. "You'd have to see everyone you love grow old and die, and not be able to have eternal rest?"

"But then I'd have the power to influence what happens in the world forever. Maybe get that peace you're always complaining about, and then be able to stay around to keep it." Orochimaru pointed out.

"Don't you believe in a peace brought about by the next generation?" Jiraiya asked brows furrowing in mild frustration.

"To get something done right, you have to do it yourself." Orochimaru shrugged. "The next generation could screw things up worse than they already are."

"Or they could fix it for good." Jiraiya said insistently. "You never know."

"And I wouldn't ever know if I was too dead to find out." Orochimaru sneered, throwing back another drink.

"Maybe if we just trusted the next generation, we could train people to rise up and do things the right way." Jiraiya retorted.

Tsunade groaned. "I was here first, boys, so if you're gonna fight, go away. We could fight about this all day, or just drink together in silence like old war buddies."

Orochimaru decided he liked that idea better. He dipped his head at Tsunade, and downed some sake. Jiraiya groaned, but did the same.

"We made it out of the war and are now living miserable, boring lives. Cheers." Tsunade pointed out, raising her glass. Jiraiya knocked his with hers, and for old times' sake, Orochimaru did the same. Finally the three of them drank in silence for a few hours, before parting ways.

All of them could've left a long time ago, but there was something nostalgic about it, as if that would be the last time the three would be together in peace. The premonition they'd all had that they were never meant to be together for very long was coming to pass. Trying to stop it would only be prolonging the inevitable. While none of them had any intentions of attempting to do so, it was still an unsettling feeling that left them each a little down.

They no longer had anything in common. Their friendship by all definitions should've been over long before now, so they'd survived past their life expectancy, but now their chapter was finally coming to a close and all three of them felt it.

There was something unbearably sad about it, that made Tsunade shed a silent tear, or two, but all of the Legendary Sannin were okay with that fact.

Maybe they really just weren't meant to be together in this lifetime.

"You're still wrong, bastard." Jiraiya flashed him a playful grin.

"Whatever, ursuratonkachi."

<>

Tsunade sat in front of the shrine Naruto had made for Jiraiya with a cup of sake, listening to the whistle of the wind in the trees. "You wouldn't believe it." Tsunade told him, because she felt his goofy spirit hanging around. "Naruto saved the village again." She poured a cup for Jiraiya, and left it on his stone. Right beneath the top kunai. She leaned back, using her arms to support her body, setting her own cup of sake beside her. She locked her ankles together, staring at the hastily written kanji, master.

Tsunade had fixed a place for Jiraiya's book and Konan's flowers ages ago. As soon as Naruto told her about the little place he'd cleared out, Tsunade had come with a little cabinet thing that she put beside the rocks that made sure that the belongings wouldn't get wet or stolen.

She was grateful that the boy had made a place where she could come and see her friend. There had been no body to bury- Jiraiya's belonged to the ocean, roaming free. Or so she chose to believe. The reality was much harsher. It would've probably been worn down or eaten by then, but the thought of that made her want to cry at the disrespect of her old friend, so she preferred to think positively.

"He's gonna make a great Hokage." She commented, averting her eyes to stare at the grass. Naruto had confessed to her that he had wanted Jiraiya to see him become Hokage, and Jiraiya had wanted to see him become Hokage with everything in him, and the tragedy of that almost made her break.

How unfair. She thought, still blaming herself a little.

"It's unfair that out of all of us, he was the one to die. The one who most deserved to live."

Her eyes widened, and shoulders tensed. She'd seen him in the village, and knew that Kakashi had brought him in to make some sort of alliance deal, but she hadn't expected him to come find her. She'd seen him walking down the street, long hair tied back. No one appeared to recognize him, because he hadn't been in the village in a long while, and looked quite different. But Tsunade had. She had been walking with Sakura, who was talking about opening a mental health facility for children (a really, really good idea) when her eyes met those snake-like green, and she shivered. But Orochimaru had just kept walking in the direction of the Hokage's office.

She didn't want to talk with him. She really didn't. So she'd spent the day at the hospital with Sakura, and avoided everyone except her and Shizune.

It had hit her like a stone that she hadn't gone and seen Jiraiya in a long time. Orochimaru had been her reminder. So she went, after work, and somehow Orochimaru had found her anyway.

A jolt of pain laced through her as she remembered that Orochimaru had always been the one most skilled at finding Tsunade when she was alone. He knew where to look when she was needed for team missions, and knew what bar she was in when Jiraiya wanted to have a team dinner, no matter what village they were stationed at. And she had always known when he was coming. They all had a little intuition about each other.

They knew when Sarutobi-sensei was going to be late for practice, so they stopped to get something for breakfast. Jiraiya had always- without fail (it was more than a little creepy)- known when she was on her period, and was a supply of pain medicine and chocolate. It was insanely creepy, and she had no idea how he knew, but had never complained, because those little things made her feel better. He could also sense when Orochimaru was having a bad day (i.e. the anniversary of his parents' death) and did little things to cheer him up. Tsunade could tell what Orochimaru was thinking without him having to talk. Tsunade could also easily tell when Jiraiya wanted food, and threw him some kind of apple or food. She had been his favorite teammate because of that. Orochimaru could sense when Jiraiya was in danger at all times. The whole team knew when Jiraiya was depressed. There were no words spoken about these things. It was just common.

Orochimaru took her silence as an invitation of some sort, and took a seat next to her.

He looked down, and saw that she had brought a bottle of sake. His eyebrows raised, and Tsunade looked down to see what had interested him so. There was an empty cup beside hers. One cup on Jiraiya's shrine, one she had drank out of, and an empty one.

Tsunade glared at the cup, because she had obviously grabbed three by mistake. But no- it hadn't been a mistake, had it? She almost remembered doing it, without thinking. Her mind had been busy.

Maybe she'd been unconsciously waiting for Orochimaru to find them.

Tsunade sighed, before picking up the empty one and tossing it to Orochimaru. He caught it easily, and Tsunade poured some for him, and more for her.

"I was just thinking that." She confessed. What Orochimaru had said- it's unfair that out of all of us, he was the one to die. The one who most deserved to live.

"Mmm." Orochimaru hummed, taking a sip of his sake. Tsunade relaxed. She knew her old friend was no longer a threat, but old habits die hard. She'd gotten used to seeing Orochimaru as the enemy.

The two- three- of them sat in silence, the way it used to be. Birds sang, the sun glanced down through the tree's leaves. Wind teased Orochimaru's ponytail and Tsunade's typical pig tails. Tsunade saw that Orochimaru was wearing his old earrings- the ones he used to wear when he was their teammate. Tsunade closed her eyes and felt at peace for the first time in a long time, amongst her old teammates. Even though one was dead, and the other was a homicidal maniac. She laughed a little, then, because it was kind of hilarious.

Orochimaru looked at her weirdly. "You came back to the village," he said, almost awed.

"Yeah."

"I thought you said you had no one here?" Orochimaru asked, eyes widened.

"Well... my grandfather built it, and he created the Will of Fire that runs through Konoha's veins. I lived here when I was a kid. It was Nawaki's home, and Dan's home. And Jiraiya's home. Naruto is here. It's home. You know." Tsunade blushed a little. "Where I belong."

"Yes." Orochimaru murmured, going quiet for a bit. "I've been thinking. Now that I'm old, and still mortal, and officially a neutral party," Orochimaru began, after a few moments of silence. "You think he was right?"

"About what?" Tsunade asked, looking at Orochimaru in confusion.

Orochimaru frowned, as if he didn't really know what he was talking about either. He organized his thoughts a bit, before speaking again. "He was always talking about... letting the next generation find peace. He was only there as a teacher." Orochimaru recalled his beaming face as he spoke of his students so proudly. "He didn't care about the things he would accomplish- he cared about the generation after him- what they would accomplish."

"Aa." Tsunade remembered, one side of her mouth tilting up. "He was always selfless like that, wasn't he?" Orochimaru didn't reply to that. Tsunade delved deep into thought, considering all that she had done in her lifetime, compared to her pride and joy, Sakura Haruno- her second student, and only disciple to master the art of the 100 Healings Seal. She had surpassed Tsunade, and was making her own endeavors in the ninja world. She was a member of the Legendary Team 7- the next generation Legendary Sannin, the group that beat back Kaguya, and saved the world. Sakura was opening up her own new branch of pediatric mental illness, in honor of her teammates, and was preparing to take over for Tsunade as Head Medic Ninja. "Yeah." Tsunade said after a bit of considering. "I think he was right."

"You do?" Orochimaru asked, more curious than sarcastic.

"I know you're a little twisted, but you don't feel even a little bit proud when you think about all the progress Sasuke Uchiha has made?"

The Uchiha was out of the village on his redemption journey, and definitely making a name for himself. He had gone to Suna and Kiri first, and just wandered around there helping people. Where people had hated him before, he was now a sign of hope in those nations. Especially in Kiri, where he saved Lady Mizukage from an assassination attempt. He was currently tracking through Iwa, leaving behind supporters. He was single handedly cleaning up the Uchiha name, and it was extremely respectable. Tsunade was pleased.

Orochimaru's brows furrowed. "It isn't the direction I would've went-"

Tsunade threw up her hands in exasperation. "Oh, for heaven's sake, this isn't a question of what could've happened, it's me asking you if you're proud of what he's done!"

Orochimaru sighed, frowning. "Yes. I am proud."

"Good." Tsunade huffed, nodding her head. "He's a good kid, now."

"Good is a matter of perspective." Orochimaru reminded her, leaning back on his hands the way Tsunade was.

"Oh, shut up." Tsunade rolled her eyes at him.

The two of them sat quietly, missing their white haired friend a little- not that they'd say it, ever (wherever he was, Jiraiya would get a big head). He always knew how to continue a conversation, even if it was about something stupid. Tsunade knew how to talk, just not to her traitor friend. Orochimaru was just a constipated, emo asshole. Tsunade didn't know how Sakura and Naruto did it.

"The older I get, the more I understand what Jiraiya was talking about, I think." Orochimaru commented out of the blue. "What he said about immortality is true. Eternal rest sounds... tempting, now that the ambition has faded a little."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Tsunsde sighed. She'd been feeling it too, but she had a feeling that she wouldn't be going anywhere soon. "Jiraiya must be living it up up there." Tsunade snorted in amusement, imagining their friend running around, disrupting the peace of every innocent dead person.

"What are you going to do now, Tsunade?" Orochimaru asked.

Tsunade blinked in surprise. She was normally the one that asked that question. That was her job. She was always asking, because she never knew where she was going. Not that Jiraiya or Orochimaru needed to know that. Tsunade shrugged, laying back in the grass. "I don't know. I'm going to retire, I know that. Maybe I'll take a page out of the Uchiha's book and travel. Make amends. Pay back the people I owe money to before I die."

Orochimaru raised a skeptical eyebrow at that last part. "No you won't."

Tsunade cracked a grin. "No, I won't."

"If it makes you feel better, though," Orochimaru thought out loud. "I paid a couple of those guys back for you when I saw them."

It had been like a game for him. When he was traveling, he would go up to a gambler, and ask if a woman named Tsunade owed him money. If the answer was yes and he was feeling nice, he payed it for her. If he wasn't, he made a slash in his notebook, and looked back on all the markings and laughed at the sheer amount of people Tsunade owed. He'd started playing it right after he left the village, and it just kept going. A little part of him hadn't let go of his friends, so it was always nice to check up on Tsunade subtly by seeing how many people she owed. Even when he was far, far gone in the darkness, it was amusing.

When Kabuto and Sasuke were traveling with him, both of them thought he was a little crazy, or sentimental, for doing that nice thing for his former teammate, but it was actually more of a hobby, just to pass the time.

"You did? That's nice of you. I might sleep a little easier at night now." Tsunade sat up, laughing a little.

"No, you won't." Orochimaru said knowingly.

"No, I won't." Tsunade agreed. "What are you going to do now, Orochimaru?"

Orochimaru shrugged, not really knowing. "I'll figure it out eventually. Maybe I'll take up knitting."

"See, now that seems like something that suits your personality. Be sure to knit me a sweater when you get the hang of it."

"I'll send you a whole closet." Orochimaru said, amused.

Tsunade bit her lip, looking down. There it was- confirmation that her last teammate wouldn't be staying with her. Not that she expected him to, really, so she didn't know what she was thinking. Maybe she thought he would stay a little longer to honor Jiraiya. Maybe they really weren't meant to be happy together as a team. What a tragedy.

"I can't stay here," Orochimaru murmured, almost comforting, but not quite.

"I know."

"It's not home. It's never been home." He confessed, but Tsunade had known this, deep down, for forever.

"I know." She murmured in reply, before looking up at him. "Where is your home?"

"Right here." Orochimaru said, pointing between Tsunade, and Jiraiya's shrine. "Wherever you two are is where my home is. And I'll come back sometimes, but I can never stay." Tsunade understood that better than anyone. She, herself, went through that phase, traveling around for years and years. Orochimaru had his own thing. An evil thing, but a thing nonetheless. Besides, it didn't look like Orochimaru would be misbehaving any time soon.

Still, his home being a shrine in the outskirts of the village, deep in the forest. Beneath a tree. Tsunade supposed it was fitting.

A small smile grew on Tsunade's face, and she thought she felt a little bit better. "You'll visit for tea, right?"

"Sure." Orochimaru grinned. "You know. Tea." He lifted the bottle of sake, and twirled it around, the hidden message thinly veiled. Tsunade laughed. That was something she liked to hear.

Alcoholics, all three of us. Orochimaru thought, looking down at the drink with a small smile on his face. We'll die young.

Tsunade poured herself and Orochimaru more sake. "We made it over the hill. Cheers." She commented, lifting her cup. She and Orochimaru smiled, because both could almost hear Jiraiya's passionate agreement. "I'll drink to that!"

Orochimaru and her clanked their cups together, before lifting them out toward's Jiraiya's cup, resting on the rock shrine. There was a soft resistance, as if someone was returning the clank, but something told them it was just their old friend up to no good again.

Neither Tsunade nor Orochimaru were very superstitious, but it definitely felt like Jiraiya's goofy presence was either them. There was something even more heart wrenching about this time, as if it was a bittersweet goodbye. Tsunade hurt a little bit, something like hopelessness settling in her stomach. Something really, deeply melancholy was in the air.

Tsunade and Orochimaru would come back, of course, but that might be the last time they felt Jiraiya's presence so strongly. Tears leaked from Tsunade's eyes as she swallowed her alcohol. She hated saying goodbye, though she never cried. It appeared the many goodbyes she'd had to make had eroded through her iron will.

Jiraiya wasn't even there, so she wasn't sure why she felt like she was losing him all over again.

She wiped the tears away when she felt Orochimaru look at her, but he just dipped his head at her as if he knew what she was feeling, but was worse at expressing it. Tsunade had a feeling that was exactly what he was thinking.

She let out all of her feelings in a sigh. One more tear slipped down her cheek, and she sat in silence in the presence of her two teammates. For the first time in years, for the last time until she and Orochimaru meet Jiraiya again.

Orochimaru had thought he didn't need them, but he readily admitted now that he was wrong.

Jiraiya had always hoped that they'd all be together again, one day.

Tsunade had always thought that they weren't meant to be happy together as a team in this life.

But as she thought about it, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura got along well enough. They would be stuck to each other like glue, because they were family.

Unlike Tsunade's team, Sakura's wasn't doomed from the start to fail. They had a chance to be something great together, to be something more than Tsunade's team ever were.

Jiraiya had always said to leave things to the next generation. Maybe the Legendary Sannin should let that be their legacy as well, and have their pupils take it up for them. 

Still, she thought, as she listened to Orochimaru's even breathing and the wind in the trees, it really is a tragedy that we didn't get that chance, too.

After a few hours of companionable silence, when the sun began to set, Orochimaru stood first, offering her a hand. Tsunade took his hand and stood with him, almost not wanting to go, but stooping to pick up the empty bottle of alcohol and the three dishes anyway. She leaned on Orochimaru as the two of them walked back to the village, trying not to fall over.

"Bye, Jiraiya..." she whispered as they walked further and further from the shrine. Orochimaru heard it, but said nothing, a nostalgic smile on his face.

Jiraiya watched them carefully. He listened intently to Tsunade talk to him about Naruto's progress. He watched Orochimaru show up to pay his respects with a proud grin. He jumped up and down with joy when Tsunade and Orochimaru admitted that he was right, and winced when Tsunade started crying. He smiled and laughed at Tsunade and Orochimaru's banter. He wanted more than anything to be down there with them, but it was too late for that.

Instead, he waved goodbye at them from his position in front if his stone, a sad look in his eyes, but a grin on his face. One day they would join him.

As he faded away, his consciousness returning to the Pure Land, Jiraiya couldn't help but agree with Tsunade. Maybe they weren't meant to last. Maybe they had been doomed from the start. But during their few years while as a team, he was, and they were, happy.

Maybe they didn't need to build something that lasted, maybe they only needed something that got them through  the next stages of their life. Maybe what they needed was a shower of good memories for when times were incredibly tough, or experiences gained that they would need in the future. Happiness that was fleeting, but was so real that just the memories were enough to sustain them.

Jiraiya was dead, and yes, he was at peace, but mostly he was happy that he had gotten time with his teammates, even if it hadn't felt like enough. It was okay.

After all, they'd all come back, one day. Until then, the Legendary Sannin shared drinks for the road.