A disturbing occurrence.

Shizune was stunned. Tsunade-san surprised, but later her expression changed to anger. And I was, I don’t know, confused. My hands automatically gripped the sheaths of my swords. The rest of the sceneries seemed to be fine. Only the main structure of the Tanzaku castle seemed to have been utterly destroyed.

Out of the rubble emerged a gigantic snake, it’s width as big as a banyan tree, it’s length longer. On closer inspection, two men were standing on it, smirking for no reason. “Orochimaru…” gasped Tsunade san. Her voice was mixed with hatred, sorrow, and spite. Whoever these guys were, they were not favourable to us.But I did not intervene, as it was their matter, and doing something may even cause any problem to Tsunade-san and Shizune. I decided to observe the situation, and act on need afterwards.

One man, who I guessed was Orochimaru, had long raven-black hair, flowing across his shoulders. He appeared to be weak and shrivelled, but also gave off an aura of intimidation and power. His hands were odd, covered with double layered bandages and completely rotten and dead. His eyes were like that of a snake, a deadly predator, yearning for prey. The other, who was apparently Orochimaru’s right-hand man, had sharp ash-grey hair, tied in a ponytail. His most prominent feature was his round circular glasses, something sentimental, perhaps. He wore a forehead protector with the mark of music symbol (I do not know it’s name), and a high collar dark purple t-shirt with a white shirt underneath.

Both of them were tough, I decided from their body language and gesture. The snake slowly slithered over the rubble, all while they both were standing on it, tall above us, almost blotting out the sun. As the snake came over the stone walls, it disappeared, and the two of them jumped high and landed in front of us. The huge snake disappeared in a second, and I wondered where it went. “It’s been quite a while since I last saw you, Orochimaru.” Said Tsunade-san. “What do you want? Better not waste my time talking about nostalgic memories and old days after just destroying a historic monument.” He replied carefully, with patience, knowing full well that the wrong choice of words would bring about a harsh end to the conversation, “ Sorry about that, Tsunade. I’ll come straight to the point. I have a favour to ask you, Tsunade.” Tsunade-san answered slowly but clearly, after noticing the bizarre condition of his arm, “ If healing your arm is what you want, I deny it. I have already quit being a doctor,Orochimaru. But why need me when you have a good medical ninja with you, willing to help?” The other guy, whose name was Kabuto, spoke now for the first time, “ The wounds on Orochimaru-sama’s arms are not normal, Tsunade-sama. It cannot be cured by me, nor by any other medical specialist, even of the highest caliber. You, and you alone can cure it, Tsunade-sama. One of the Legendary Sannin, and renowned to be one of the best medical specialists in the world, if not the best, you alone can heal my masters wounds.” “…That wound on your arm is not an ordinary wound. What have you done to it?” “ Oh, this… This is just a little memento from when I killed the Third Hokage.” He replied with reasonable courage, knowing that Tsunade-san might not even consider the deal with the utterance of these words. Tsunade-san and Shizune were suddenly stunned, sweat dripping from their faces. The Third Hokage, whoever he was, was obviously well-known to both of them, perhaps they even loved him. “ You really are a…” Tsunade-san started to curse him, but Orochimaru interrupted hastily, “ Now now, don’t make a scary face like that… Everything created is destined to crumble to the same dust from which it was made. The same applies for people.” He added, with heavy emphasis, “ You too know of this very well… Since you’ve lost two of your most beloved.” Now, Tsunade-san’s eyes narrowed, veins visible in her forehead, her face filled with subdued anger. She didn’t look like a very patient person at that moment. He continued, cruelly, with a tinge of sarcasm, “ those were certainly horrible ways to die, weren’t they? Shizune lunged forward, making a move. She opened her long robe-like sleeves and I saw five wristband projectiles, with the ammo being sharp needles. Most probably poisoned. She pulled the strings back and let go, when five deadly senbons flew toward Orochimaru. Kabuto stepped forward, clearly grabbing them, only just realising that they were tipped with paralysis poison. “ Calm down, Shizune…” said Tsunade-san, her lips tilting as if she was going to smile. “You haven’t changed a bit since I last saw you, Orochimaru.” Shizune turned back, surprised at her reaction just as I was, her face reflecting doubt. “You know how I am, don’t you. Don’t kid around with me… Or else i’ll kill you.” She clenched her fist, her knuckles white, and punched the wall behind her in a furious show of strength and anger. To my complete surprise, the whole wall, approximately seven feet high, made of solid grey rock, came crashing down, creating an uproar of sound. I knew she was strong, but I never would’ve guessed this much. I believed that this was just a fraction of her entire power. Everyone present in the area were stunned, except maybe Shizune and the pig, having already experiencing it firsthand. “Destructive…” remarked Kabuto “ We’re not here to fight. We’re her to negotiate.” “I told you already. Get out of my sight. Now.” Kabuto said, still protecting Orochimaru, “ You’re the only one who can heal his arms. It doesn’t need to be a one way deal. “ Tsunade-san replied, her words getting more and more stressed. “I’ll give you 5 seconds. Get out of my face before then. Or else…” Kabuto continued carefully, while Tsunade-san began counting,(1) “ Please consider. This wont be a bad bargain.”(2) (3)“Calm down, Tsunade-sama…”(4)

“ I can revive your late brother and the man you loved.” Orochimaru spoke now, carrying words of heavy influence along with his voice. “ I can truly accomplish this feat with the new forbidden jutsu I have developed.”