Two years after the Kyubi attack
If an outsider traveled to Konoha, he or she wouldn't be able to tell of the catastrophe that hit the village two years ago, caused so much property damage and took away many lives.
The reconstruction efforts were already over. Most people had already stopped mourning their lost ones and continued with their lives. Unfortunately, that didn't mean that Konoha's inhabitants were more accepting of little Naruto. People would often scatter whenever one of his three caretakers would take him on a walk through the village, often between murmurs.
While nobody was stupid enough to risk the wrath of the Sannin by speaking their opinions of the blond toddler out loud, they couldn't be forced to show sympathy to him either. While the Toad Sage and the Slug Princess were outraged upon learning through Shizune that they're seen as Naruto's jailers rather than his foster parents, they had to admit it wasn't something illogical or stupid to think. Both Sannin spend many of their late night drinking sessions discussing ways on how to make the population stop fearing Naruto.
Speaking of Naruto, taking care of him became an even harder task once the little Jinchuriki learned how to walk. Despite his short, chubby legs, the kid was insanely fast, always running from one room to another, never taking a moment to stop. They tried to keep him at bay with a baby fence, but he somehow ended up escaping. The only way to make him stay still for a prolonged time was for somebody to play with him. And said person would end up utterly exhausted after an hour or so.
Despite this, there was always somebody willing to play with Naruto. The kid had a talent to bright the mood of anybody who spend more than a few minutes with him, and the few times in which the three adults were present at the same time were always the most fun and pleasant, and the only ones in which Naruto would be the one to fall asleep first.
And today was going to be one of those days. After ending her shift at the hospital, Tsunade headed home with a smile on her lips. Shizune had recently returned from a mission outside the village, and Jiraiya wasn't scheduled to meet one of his spies until tomorrow. The whole family would be together.
She then stopped in her tracks after realizing the implications of what she was thinking.
"Wait...I am actually happy to think that Jiraiya will be at home waiting for me? And I'm thinking of him as family?"
During the time they lived together, the two Sannin not only managed to repair their broken relationship, but they became even closer than when they were teammates. The nights they spend drinking and talking about their issues not only was a good way to vent some steam, but to get better acquitted with one another. She was starting to grow fond of the white haired pervert. Hell, he had been good on his word and hardly did anything perverted anymore. At least in her presence.
But that didn't mean that she was developing feelings for Jiraiya, right?
Tsunade pushed those thoughts aside the moment her house came into view. It was time for a fun afternoon with Naruto!
"Hey everybody, I'm home!" Tsunade said as she entered the house and walked into the living room.
"Oh, good. We were waiting for you," said Jiraiya's voice.
Tsunade was surprised to see that Jiraiya wasn't with Shizune and Naruto as she had expected –the young kunoichi and the blond baby were playing with some toys at the other side of the living room. Jiraiya, meanwhile, was alongside two small toads wearing black cloaks: one was green, had gray bushy eyebrows and a goatee of the same color, while the other was greenish yellow, had a bulbous purple head, and thick purple lips.
"I believe you already know Fukasaku and Shima, the Two Great Sage Toads," Jiraiya said as he motioned to the toads.
"It's good to see you again after so many years, Tsunade-chan," Fukasaku said.
"You turned into a quite lovely lady, don't you?" Shima added.
"Fukasaku-sama, Shima-sama, it's an honor to meet you again," Tsunade said solemnly as she bowed her head. "May I ask what is the reason for your visit?"
"The Great Toad Sage had requested to see both you and Jiraiya-chan. Now that you finally came, we must head to Mount Myoboku immediately," Shima answered.
"We'll travel there via reverse summoning," Fukasaku added.
"Wait a minute, I don't have a Toad Summoning Contract! How are you going to bring me there?" the Slug Sannin asked.
"Don't worry, we have a solution for that. Please give me your hand," Fukasaku said.
Tsunade walked towards the old toad, and did as she was told. Fukasaku placed his hand on Tsunade's hand, closed his eyes, and focused his chakra.
"Sage Art: Seal of the Toads!" Fukasaku said as his hand glowed blue.
Tsunade felt something tingling the palm of her hand. When the toad's jutsu was over, the kanji for "Oil", which represented Mount Myoboku –and was the kanji on Jiriaya's forehead protector–, was engraved on her hand.
"That's a special seal that will allow you to be reverse summoned by the toads, as well as to summon any toad you want. It will only last one day before it fades, but for our current endeavor it will be more than enough," Fukasaku explained.
"Okay, we're ready to go!" Shima said as she and her husband started the reverse summoning process.
In less than a second, Jiraiya and Tsunade were no longer inside their house's living room, and found themselves in the middle of Mount Myoboku. While Jiraiya had been there quite a few times, Tsunade spend some minutes exploring the immediate surroundings, marveling at the natural beauty of the toads' home.
The place was filled with gigantic plants and mushrooms. Beautiful flowers that she had never seen before, nor knew they existed. Multiple rivers and streams flowed through the mountains. There were also many statues of toads scattered around the place. Yet for some reason, Tsunade found the place oddly familiar.
The Slug Sannin then realized what was Jiraiya's inspiration to decorate Naruto's bedroom.
"So, what do you think of our home, Tsunade-chan?" Shima asked.
"It's...amazing. The natural energy from this place is simply overwhelming. There's so much life..."
"Would you say it's better than Shikkotsu Forest?"
"Ma, don't ask her such a thing! Don't you see you're putting her in a predicament?" Fukasaku said angrily.
"Oh can it, Pa! It's not that we invite a non-Toad Summoner to our place that often, and I just want to compare!"
"Err...'better' or 'worse' aren't words that I'd use to compare both places. Guess that the word would be...'different'," Tsunade said, hoping that her answer wouldn't upset the Toads. However, she wasn't going to badmouth the Slugs behind their backs just to appease their current hosts.
"So...you said that the Great Toad Sage wanted to see us?" Jiraiya said, trying to get back to their current business.
"Oh, yes you're right. Come on, let's not make Gamamaru-sama wait any longer," Fukasaku said as he lead the way.
"Like that senile old geezer won't forget that he wanted to speak with the kids in the first place!" Shima scoffed.
While they headed to see the spiritual leader of the Toads, Fukasaku thought it was a good chance to bring up certain topic regarding their only summoner. He hopped onto the white haired man's shoulder.
"Jiraiya-chan, since you're here again, have you thought that it might be a good chance to complete your Senjutsu training?"
"Eh...maybe another time," Jiraiya replied uneasily. "I'm kind of busy right now."
"Always with that excuse..."
"Hey, I am taking care of a baby right now, so cut me some slack!"
"Were you taking care of a baby during the past ten years as well?"
"I don't need it. I already mastered Senjutsu."
Fukasaku scoffed in return. "Then you and I have a very different idea of what 'mastering Senjutsu' means. You need both Ma and I to enter and maintain Sage Mode. Plus your control of nature chakra has plenty of room for improvement."
"Listen, I will finish my training, okay? Just...just not now. I need to focus on Naruto first and foremost."
"I understand, Jiraiya-chan. But try not to delay it for much longer. The difference between incomplete and complete Sage Mode could mean the difference between life and death."
After a short trip, the two small toads and the two Sannin were in front of Gamamaru, the Great Toad Sage, who was sitting on a shallow pool. Tsunade eyed at the large red toad in front of her. Judging by the amount of wrinkles, warts, and near closed eyes, it was obvious that Gamamaru was very old. Some said that he was so old, he even had met and advised the Sage of the Six Paths himself, thought they were mostly rumors.
"Gamamaru-sama, Jiraiya-chan and Tsunade-chan are here, just like you requested," Fukasaku announced.
"Honorable Sage," both Sannin said at the same time as they bowed before him.
"Ahhh, I see. Good. There is much we need to talk," Gamamaru said, each word coming out of his mouth at a rather slow pace.
Jiraiya and Tsunade waited expectantly about what was what the Gamamaru wanted to tell them. They waited for a few minutes, but the old, large toad didn't say anything else.
"Gamamaru-sama?" Fugakasu asked.
"Zzzzzzzz..."
Jiraiya and Tsunade sweatdropped.
"WAKE UP YOU OLD GEEZER!" Shima screeched, startling Jiraiya, Tsunade and Fukasaku, but apparently waking up Gamamaru.
"Uh? It's lunchtime already?" Gamamaru asked, disoriented as he slowly looked around.
"Gamamaru-sama, you wanted to talk with Jiraiya-chan and Tsunade-chan, remember?" Fukasaku said once again, hoping to get everything back on track.
"Ahhhhh, yes. Listen up young ones, because there is a turbulent future ahead, both for of you, and the little tadpole under your care," Gamamaru said.
Tsunade's worry spiked upon hearing those words. "I don't care what happens to me, is something bad going to happen to Naruto?"
"Young Naruto will have a hard road ahead of him. He will do great things...and will meet terrible enemies. You will need to protect him from said enemies as long as he can't take care of himself."
"We will, Great Sage," Jiraiya stated with determination. Tsunade nodded as well.
"I have seen...Konoha on fire. Divided against itself. Friends will turn into enemies. Sons will fight their fathers. And behind the fire...a one-eyed demon. Be aware of him, said demon will go after Naruto. You must protect him at all costs.
"I have nothing more to say. Return now to your home, and meditate on my words," Gammaru said, before falling asleep once again.
Jiraiya and Tsunade looked at each other, as their brains processed Gamamaru's ominous predictions., and what they could do to make sure everything was alright.
…
Half an hour later, Jiraiya and Tsunade were send back to their home. Much to their surprise, they found Naruto crying his eyes out while Shizune tried to comfort him in vain.
"What's going on here? Naruto, why are you crying?" Jiraiya asked, and frowned.
Upon hearing his voice, Naruto turned his head around, and looked at him. He stopped crying, and his sad grimace turned into the brightest smile they ever saw. He wiped his tears, jumped from Shizune's lap, and rushed to hug them.
"You back!" Naruto said as he was scooped by Jiraiya.
"What's going on, Shizune?" Tsunade asked, placing her hands on her hips.
"He saw you disappearing in a cloud of smoke, and thought that you were gone for good. I've been trying to explain him that you would be back soon, but he didn't believe me," the young kunoichi replied.
"Oh, my poor kid! Of course he thought that, we left without even telling him goodbye!" Tsunade said as she took Naruto from Jiraiya's arms. "Forgive me, sweetheart, I promise we will never do that again, okay?"
"Okay!" Naruto said, wrapping his little arms around Tsunade's neck.
"Alright, enough of that, who's up for our Game Night?" Jiraiya said, and everybody cheered in return.
…
After a fun and lively game night, Shizune and Naruto went to sleep. Jiraiya and Tsunade tried to, but they couldn't. Both of them couldn't stop thinking about Gamamaru's warnings regarding not just Naruto, but the world in general. Like usual, they were in the living room, with a couple bottles of sake.
"So, Naruto is in danger from a 'one-eyed demon'. Does that mean that we should be aware of any one-eyed people we run into? Because losing eyes is quite common in our line of work," Jiraiya commented as he emptied his cup of sake. "My first choice would be Danzo, the leader or ROOT."
"The only person with one eye that I know is Kakashi. Maybe he was talking about him?" Tsunade said.
"Kakashi has two eyes, even if he only uses one most of the time. Plus he's a nice kid, he wouldn't harm Naruto. He was Minato's student, after all."
"And a huge fan of your books."
"And a huge fan of my books, yes. But I'm not defending him because of that, Hime."
"I know, I was just teasing you. Couldn't that old frog could have been a bit more specific about this one-eyed demon? Some more hints could have been useful besides lacking an eye."
"First, Gamamaru is a toad, not a frog. Never call frog a toad, they don't take it very good. And second, Gamamaru doesn't have the context of the visions he gets, so all he can do is interpret them to the best of his ability."
"Well, that vision of his got me on the edge. He told us that Naruto is in danger, but didn't specify about what kind of danger, and we can't protect him from everything. I mean, it's not that we can lock him down in his room or something."
"Even if you did, he'll find a way out. He always does," Jiraiya mentioned, causing Tsunade to chuckle. "But then again, that's nothing new. His parents, especially Minato, had a lot of enemies that would love to get revenge through Naruto. And he already has yet another bullseye on his back due to being the Kyubi Jinchuriki."
"Even worse then."
"What also worried me was the part about Konoha being on fire. Do you think that somebody is planning to attack us?"
"I wouldn't rule that out. We're still recovering from the Kyubi attack, which made a number on our forces. I'm hoping our presence here serves as a deterrent for any village who might want to invade Konoha."
"I hope so. We may not be the Yellow Flash, but the name of the Sannin still can inspire fear among our enemies."
"And that part about 'friend turning enemies'...do you think that we may be betrayed by one of our allies?"
"From what I know, our current allied village is Suna, but even with our recent losses, they still lack the numbers and power to wage war against us. At least on their own. Maybe they can ally with one of the other three great villages, but I find that unlikely."
"Even then, maybe it would be a good idea to try to strengthen our ties with them. Pay them a visit, mail some sake to the Kazekage, stuff like that."
"Sake seems to be your answer to everything."
"Because it works! I mean, remember when we returned here, how we couldn't spend five minutes without yelling at each other?"
"Actually, it was you who did most of the yelling," Jiraiya said with a cheeky grin as he poured more sake on his empty cup.
"Yet when we started to have this late night drinks, everything became far smoother. Now I'm even happy to see that you're home when I get back from work! If that's not enough proof of sake's miraculous conciliatory powers...Oh! Oh! OHHHH! Of course!" Tsunade said in realization as a huge smile formed in her face.
"What?"
"That's how we can make everybody accept Naruto! He only needs to go drinking with every villager here!"
"Wow, even in my wasted state, I still can see how much that idea sucks."
Tsunade's smile disappeared, and was replaced by an angry frown. "And why is that, smartass?"
"Well, I might not know much about babies, but isn't alcohol like, very toxic to them? We still have to wait about sixteen years until he can do that. And even then...he'll have to drink a lot in order to befriend the entire village."
"Dammit, I haven't thought that," Tsunade said, as she slumped on her chair, and drank from her cup again. "Oh well, I'm sure I can think something. I just need more...inspiration, hehe."
"Hey, Hime...don't you think we had enough? Maybe we should go to bed!"
"I will decide when I had enough! Now come on, keep the sake going! I have to forget that damned prediction from that damned frog! "
"Toad."
"Whatever!"
…
"Tsunade-sama! Are you awake? Come on you need to get up, you're going to be late for the hospital!"
Shizune's voice awakened the blonde Sannin. The sunlight coming through the window felt into her eyes like being stabbed with burning hot daggers. Which didn't do any good to alleviate the massive hangover she was starting to notice. She could swear her head would explode at any moment.
"Yes, I'm awake," Tsunade said in a barely audible grumble. "And stop yelling so much!"
The Slug Princess tried to get out of the bed, but she couldn't. There was something that was keeping her from moving. Further inspection revealed that it was a rather large, and definitely male looking arm. She followed the arm with her eyes, and just as she feared said arm was attached to a man. A naked man. A man with white hair she knew very well. While asleep, there was a very wide grin on his face.
Taking into account the fact that Tsunade was also naked, it didn't take a genius to realize what happened last night, even if she didn't remember it. Nor she wanted to remember, anyway.
She wanted to scream, but her extremely dried throat could only produce a cough.
Just how much did I drink last night? The blonde Sannin asked herself in horror.
Covering her naked body with the blanket, Tsunade tried to push the Toad Sage awake.
"Jiraiya. Jiraiya. Jiraiya!" Tsunade said as she rocked the white haired man, each time with more force.
Jiraiya opened his eyes slowly, blinking several times until they accustomed to the current light. He groaned, rubbing his head with one hand, effectively being victim of a hangover just as bad as his drinking buddy. He then looked at Tsunade, and his mouth formed a smile.
"Good morning, Hime," Jiraiya said absentmindedly. Then, slowly but surely, the more aggravating elements of the situation started to sink in. Upon realizing what was going on, he looked at Tsunade's barely naked form with his eyes wide opened as his face turned red. "WHOA! What the hell!? What happened-"
"Trust me, I feel the same. We can talk about that later –and make no mistake, we will talk about it, – now get out of here before somebody sees us!" Tsunade said, panicked.
"R-right!" Jiraiya babbled as he hastily started to pick his clothes from the bedroom's floor and got dressed. Tsunade proceeded to do the same.
"Tsunade-sama, get out of the bed already!" Shizune's voice said from the other side of the door. "Even back in Konoha, I still have to be the responsible one."
"I'm awake! I still need a few minutes to get ready! Just don't come in!"
"And what is taking you so long...?" Shizune asked as she opened the door and came into the room, only to be greeted with an image of her mentor and Jiraiya half naked, trying to get dressed as half as possible. Both Sannin smiled at her sheepishly. Shizune let out an "EEP!" and quickly left, slamming the door shut. "It's okay, it's okay! I didn't see anything! Just...take all the time you need!"
…
To say that breakfast time that morning was awkward would be a massive understatement. They all ate their breakfast without uttering a word, Shizune feeding Naruto while she actively avoided looking at the two Sannin in front of her. Tsunade, however, couldn't bear the silence anymore, and opened her mouth to speak.
"Shizune, what you just saw-"
"None of my business," Shizune said matter-o-factly. "We're all adults here. Just...tell me beforehand so we don't run into more...unfortunate situations," the young kunoichi said, without turning her head to look at her mentor.
This time it was Jiraiya who tried to speak.
"Listen Shizune, Tsunade-hime and I aren't-"
"Do you think we should talk about that in front of Naruto?" Shizune interrupted again.
Both Sannin looked at the blonde toddler, happily enjoying his food and ignoring the conversation that was going on in front of him. They could pretty much be talking about Minato and Kushina and he'd pay as much attention. But then again, they had to admit Shizune had a point, that wasn't something to discuss in front of a little kid.
"Now, if you excuse me, today I have gate duty," Shizune said once she had finished feeding Naruto and eating her own breakfast, and left.
"Err...I think that I'll get going too. I don't want to keep my contact waiting. Hopefully I'll get some more hints on the Kyubi attack," Jiraiya said, clearly dying to get out of that house. "Will you take care of Naruto?"
"Uh, yeah. I'll leave him in the hospital's daycare," Tsunade replied. "So...see you later?"
"Alright then...goodbye."
…
Shizune was hoping that if she focused on work, maybe she'll remove the image of Tsunade and Jiraiya naked sharing the same bed, but gate duty was so boring and uneventful that she couldn't distract her mind with something else.
Over the two years that Tsunade and her had been living under the same roof as Jiraiya, Shizune had noticed that their relationship became smoother little by little. During the first few weeks they used to argue a lot, and tried to avoid each other as much as possible. If Jiraiya was in the living room, Tsunade wouldn't go there until the Toad Sage left first. If Tsunade and her were having dinner in the dinning room, Jiraiya would wait until they were finished before he would have dinner himself. The only time the two of them were together was when they spent time with Naruto.
Then, the arguments became less and less frequent until they disappeared completely. Tsunade and Jiraiya were able to have civilized conversations, and seemed to tolerate each other enough so they stopped avoiding each other, as if they were finally getting used to each other's constant presence, and even enjoying it.
One day that the medic ninja apprentice couldn't sleep, she heard voices coming from the living room, which she instantly recognized as the two Sannin. She then learned that whenever the two of them couldn't sleep, they would get up, have a drink and talk. Then this became a tradition, with both staying awake until late in the night regardless if they were suffering from insomnia or not, drinking and talking with each other.
But even with how much their relationship improved, Shizune could never guessed in a million years that they would end up...sleeping together.
After her uncle Dan had died, Shizune never saw her master showing the barest of interest in the opposite gender again. Due to her beauty and...generous pair of assets, Tsunade attracted many men, which she ended up rebuffing sometimes without even looking at them first. Those who took her rejection badly ended up in the hospital.
"Alright, your papers seem to be in order. I hope you enjoy your stay at Konoha!" Shizune said to a merchant who had just crossed the gates. She then returned to her initial track of thoughts.
Shizune had ambivalent feeling towards this morning's...shocking developments. On one side, she wanted to shake that image from her mind. Tsunade was the closest thing she had to a mother, and nobody wants to think about their parents having sex. But on the other hand...she was feeling happy that apparently somebody was able to tear down the emotional barriers the blonde Sannin erected around her heart for years. She deserved to be happy.
"Ahem, excuse me," a voice said that snapped Shizune out of her trance. She blinked, and saw a Konoha Jonin looking at her. He had dark brown hair tied into a ponytail, and a goatee.
"Oh, sorry, what I can I do for you?" Shizune asked the Jonin.
"My name is Yuki Minazuki, Jonin-sensei of Team 2. My team is about to take its first mission out of the village," the Jonin explained.
"Alright," Shizune said as she wrote down everything Yuki said. "I'll need the names of your Genin, please."
"Sure. They're Shinko Inari, Tenma Izumo and Itachi Uchiha."
Shizune was taken aback when she heard the last name. She then looked at the Genin that were waiting a few meters behind their sensei. She saw a boy that was about ten or eleven years old with gray, spiky hair, wearing a dull blue shirt and black pants. Besides him was a girl of a similar age with the same hair color, styled into two pigtails that curved upwards, and was wearing a maroon t-shirt that exposed her belly, dark blue shorts, and a cap on her head. And lastly, there was another kid, much younger than the other two, whom Shizune identified at the kid she first met on a grocery store a year ago, and saw a few more times whenever she went on a walk.
"Itachi-kun? Is that you?" Shizune asked.
"Oh, hi, Shizune-san," Itachi said as he waved at her.
"Are you a genin already?" Shizune asked, her eyes wide open. Itachi just nodded. "But...how old are you?"
"Seven and a half."
"But...you're so young!"
"Well, Itachi is quite talented," Yuki spoke up. "I was quite surprised when they told me he was the Rookie of the Year of his promotion."
Shizune was left speechless. Not only this kid graduated five years before the average Genin, but doing so as the best of his class was something beyond amazing. Granted, she knew that both Tsunade and Jiraiya had graduated academy when they were just six, but she never expected to meet another prodigy of the same caliber.
"We're going on our first C-rank mission, it isn't great?" Itachi said, beaming.
"Now, if everything is in order, I'd like to continue with our mission, please," Yuki said.
"Oh, yes, of course. Good luck out there. You'll tell me how it went when you get back, Itachi-kun." Shizune said as she waved at Itachi and his team.
"Thank you, Shizune-san. And yeah, I will," Itachi said, waving back.
"Guess that they weren't exaggerating when they talked about the prowess of the Uchiha. Hmmm...wonder if under the tutelage of Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama Naruto-kun will be able to become a Genin that soon..." Shizune mused to herself.
…
Night fell over Konoha once again. While Shizune and Naruto were asleep once again, Jiraiya and Tsunade were having their usual late night drinking session. Except there were two key differences: the first one was that they were sitting at the opposite ends of the living room's couch, in an awkward attempt to put as much space between each other as possible. And second, there was no sake. Despite both Sannin undying adoration of the burning brew, they weren't going to take any chances after what happened the previous night.
Jiraiya cleared his throat. "So...how was your day, hime?"
"...good. Today came a pregnant woman who gave birth to triplets," Tsunade answered, without looking at him.
"Oh, triplets. You don't see that every day," Jiraiya replied. "And...how's your hemophobia going?"
"Good too. Therapy is working fine. I'm making some progress, even if it's at a slow pace. My therapist says I will be able to perform surgery again in two years."
"That's...that's something great to hear."
"And...what about you? How was your meeting with that spy?"
"Good I guess. He shared with me some information about a new mercenary group that seems to be interested in the Tailed Beasts. I'll have to investigate that in the future."
"It's good to know that we're getting closer to-OH SCREW THIS!" Tsunade shouted, throwing her hands in the air. Fortunately, she didn't wake up the two youths sleeping upstairs.
"...it is something I said?"
"No. It's...this! I mean, we're in our forties and here we are, acting like a couple of emotionally disabled teenagers! Having some small talk in a pathetic attempt at ignoring what we did last night!"
"You wanna talk about it?"
"Like hell I do. But before we talk," Tsunade said as she walked towards the drinks cabinet and grabbed two cups and a few sake bottles. "Let's have a drink."
Tsuande poured the sake on the two cups, and both Sannin drank them in one go.
"So, do you feel better?" Tsunade asked.
"Yeah, I guess, but I could do with another cup," Jiraiya said. Tsunade obliged and poured him more sake.
"Alright Jiraiya, now I want you to answer me this honestly, no lies. Do you still like me?"
Jiraiya sighed as he gulped down the second cup of sake. Tsunade would expect a yes/no answer, but not even the Toad Sannin knew the extent of his feelings towards his former teammate.
"I...I don't know...I guess."
"You guess? Come on Jiraiya, try a bit harder. Take another drink if you need it."
"I know I used to like you, and I tried to get over my feelings for you since I knew we weren't mean to be together, and I thought that I moved on. Then...plenty of shit happened, and suddenly I'm raising a kid with you. I thought that taking care of Naruto would be like doing a mission, but seeing you every day, our late night talks, being Naruto's parents...I think they rekindled those feelings."
"I see..."
"What about you, Tsunade? Did you find yourself attracted to me all of sudden? Because I know that there's no man on this world who can trick you, much less force you, to share a bed with him."
"I...I'm not sure. But guess that I'd be an hypocrite if I didn't give you a specific answer after I forced you to give me one. I don't know when it happened, but suddenly I started growing more fond of you with each passing day. I didn't know if it was just fondness or if it was...something more? To be honest, I've been an emotional mess since I left Konoha."
Jiraiya chuckled. "Heh, I can relate to that."
"Jiraiya, the rules I established when we started living together..."
"What about them? Did I break any?"
"No, and that's what surprised me the most. You didn't do any of your 'research' or any other perverted stuff I was expecting you to do. Were you hoping to win some points with me by sticking to my rules?"
"No. Listen, Tsunade, what happened yesterday surprised me as much as it did surprise you."
"Then why did you decide to follow those rules then?"
"I might not had been trying to woo you anymore, but I never stopped caring about you. I know I'm not the easiest person to live with, that's why I had been trying to suppress my least admirable traits in order to give you an easy time. You deserved as much as that."
"I...well, thank you for that. I know I hadn't been the easiest housemate either. Looking back, I was a total bitch to you when we first moved here. You know, you could have set some rules for me as well."
"Eh, it's okay. I didn't find it necessary."
"Really? Wasn't there anything I did but you wanted for me to stop?"
"A couple things, but minor enough not to warrant something like a rule. Plus those offenses aren't hard to ignore when the offender is so easy to the eyes," Jiraiya said with a wide grin, as he shot Tsunade a devious look.
Tsunade scowled and punched him in the shoulder. "See? That's what I was talking about. You were doing so good, and you had to ruin it."
"Come on, you wouldn't like me if I changed everything about me, right?"
"I like you better when you're not a pervert."
"AHA! You admitted to like me at last!"
Tsunade opened her eyes wide, stunned. "I did...?" after a few seconds of silence she let a small smile to from on her face "I guess I do. There's no point in denying it."
"So...what do we do now? Do we go on a date or something...?"
"Actually...let's take this slow, okay? I might have admitted that I have some feelings for you, but still need to put my thoughts in order before we can take this any further."
"It's okay. I've been dreaming for this moment for decades. I can wait a little more."
"Good to know that. As for now, we might not go on a date, but there are a couple bottles of sake that have on a date with our livers," Tsunade said as she poured more sake on her and Jiraiya's cups.
They spent the rest of the night casually chatting while drinking, resembling what they usually did during the previous nights.
…
Shizune woke up next morning as usual. After getting dressed, she walked towards Tsunade's bedroom.
"Tsunade-sama, are you awake? It's time to get up," Shizune said after knocking the door, but there was no answer. She knocked the door again. "Tsunade-sama?"
Fearing for the worst, the young Chunin opened the door slowly, and after working up some courage, she dared to peek inside. But much to her surprise, the room was empty, and the bed was made. Weird. Tsunade never wakes up earlier than her.
"Oh well, guess that there's a first time for everything," Shizune said as she went downstairs.
However, upon reaching the living room, she saw something way worse than the image of the previous morning, which also made her realize why the bed was made. Tsunade didn't sleep in her room at all.
"OH DEAR KAMI!" Shizune shouted in horror as she rushed back upstairs. "THAT'S THE ONLY COUCH WE HAVE!"