Blood and Crystals

This story takes place almost three months after Return to Konoha.

Chapter 1—Gamble

Tsunade was sitting at a table in Orochimaru's hideout shuffling a deck of cards when she saw him walk by.

"Orochimaru, come here," she called. He stopped and turned back.

"What is it?"

"Come here," she said again, motioning him over to the table. "I'm gonna teach you how to play poker."

Orochimaru sat down across from her. "What makes you think I don't know how to play poker?"

"Because you don't," she said, smirking.

He grinned and sat back in the chair. "Okay. Then after that I'll teach you not to be afraid of blood."

Tsunade's face went white. "Uh, that's… We don't have to play–"

"Tsunade–"

"I'm sure you're busy," she said, talking over him. "I'll just go find Kotone–" She stared to get up but Orochimaru reached across the table and grabbed her wrist.

"Kotone already knows how to play poker, and she's better at it than you," he said but Tsunade was no longer meeting his eyes. He was quiet for a moment. Then he let go of her and picked up the cards.

"It's not poker without stakes. If you win, I won't bring this up again, but if you lose, you let me help you until the problem is gone."

"…You don't even know how to play," Tsunade said.

"I'm the one who named the terms," he answered calmly.

She considered the proposition for a few moments before saying with some confidence,

"All right. Let's play."