Somehow, spending the night together had become a regular affair. How Jiraiya had managed to seduce the slug princess into his bed the first time since she had returned to the village was beyond him, but he was thankful for it since it sparked her coming to him to satisfy her needs. And he was more than glad to help.

Their rendezvous were usually situated at Jiraiya's apartment since it had more privacy. It was difficult for Tsunade to get a moment to breathe with Shizune around. She loved her, but boy was she dull. Tsunade wasn't getting any younger and having someone her junior constantly fussing over her was a joy kill and sleeping with her former teammate and pervert of a best friend was just the kind of excitement she needed to spice up her life again. There was a lot of apprehension around having sex with a man who slept around but her fears were laid to rest as she herself inspected for any sexually transmitted infections. Besides, this pervert's experience gave him a delightfully satisfying knowledge of women's erogenous spots.

Now his lips were on hers and his hips thrusting in unison with hers, bringing her closer to that desperately awaited orgasm.

Bathing in the aftermath of their lovemaking, their sweat-covered bodies were pressed together and their chests rising with every laboured breath they took. The white haired Sannin's heartbeat sped up at the thought of what he was about to do, but he knew he had to do it now or forever lose the courage. Besides, they were already pretty old and with their futures so uncertain due to their lives as ninja, why wait any longer? With a kiss pressed against her shoulder, Jiraiya called for attention.

"Tsunade," He murmured against her skin, "This has been going on for a while now and," the man maneuvered them both so they were now sitting face to face on his bed and in his hands he grasped both of hers, resulting in the blanket covering her to fall. His eyes flashed to get a glimpse before he grinned perversely and continued, "Well, you've always known how I felt about you Hime and we're not getting any younger. I know I'm not the person you envisioned to be asking this of you and I won't be able to replace Dan in your heart. I still hope there's some space in there for me, judging by your abundant breasts there should be a substantial amount of room still in there. And hey, you always hear people say 'marry your best friend' and here I am so, you've probably figured out where I'm heading with this so I'll just go ahead with it. "Tsunade, I'm in love with you and always have been. There has been no other woman who even came close to being able to compare with you. You're the only old hag that I wouldn't mind waking up next to. Marry me?"

Now Jiraiya was expecting some hesitance from her, after all nothing with Tsunade came easy, but he did not foresee a violent reaction from her. A punch had him tumbling off the bed and landing against the wall. She held back otherwise he'd be flying straight through said wall. Tsunade scrambled to gather her clothes and redress herself as Jiraiya groaned.

"A no would have sufficed, you know," A strained grumble came from the twisted body that was the toad sennin. In return he received a hiss that vaguely reminded him of his other former teammate, which he quickly shook off. No need to be thinking about him when he was naked and had just proposed.

"You idiot," She hissed once again, almost fully dressed now. "You absolute complete fucking moron. What we had was just fine, now you had to go and add feelings into the mix?!" Reaching for whatever was available, Tsunade took hold of and threw the object directly at Jiraiya's head. This lit candle hit him square in the forehead and the melted wax spilled all over him, resulting in a restrained scream.

"Don't expect me back, Jiraiya," She spat his name with venom that had him confused as to why he was deserving of that treatment. All he did was propose to the woman! You think she'd take it as a compliment. "This is over. We're back to Hokage and confidant, never anything more." With her final words she stormed off, ignoring Jiraiya's calling after her.

The Sannin was left on the floor, nude and with a desperate desire to rewind time.

Finally gathering himself up off the floor after a horrible rejection, he decided a refreshing shower would be best to allow him to get over this large blow to his pride and heart. He lifted his arm and sniffed his underarm. Besides, he was getting a bit ripe. A few quick strides and he was in the bathroom, adjusting the water temperature. He stepped into the hot shower and reveled in the marvelous feeling of the water hitting him.

A knock at the door interrupted his conditioning treatment and he cursed as he stumbled to get out of the shower, turn the water off, cover himself and answer the door. Just as he had entered the living room, the door to the outside swung open. In came Tsunade carrying several bags filled with what appeared to be…clothes?

"It's been hours Jiraiya, have you not picked yourself up yet? I would have expected you to be dressed by now," were the first words to come out of her mouth and rather nonchalant they were, as if the whole argument never occurred. An aroma filled her senses and she nodded to herself, "So I interrupted your shower. Good, at least I know you're clean. Have I ever told you I find that coconut shampoo to smell divine?" With the tip of her heels, she closed the door, grabbed her bags and walked straight past Jiraiya into his bedroom. Placing one on the bed, she opened it up and sure enough it was filled with clothes. She opened one of the drawers and removed the content, replacing it with her own.

"You can find a place for your stuff later. That or we move into a bigger place. I can imagine this will get quite cramped later on." Jiraiya had followed her with a puzzled look and her actions now were not clearing anything up.

"Now just a minute," He bellowed, grabbing her wrist and causing her to turn to him with her own expression filled with question.

"Yes?"

"You created that big spectacle a few hours ago and return like nothing happened? What the hell is going on Tsunade?" She took back her captured hand and waved him off.

"You caught me off guard back there, no big deal." A growl was emitted from the man's chest and Tsunade chuckled in response, "When I got home I realized over the weeks, months, however long it's been that most of my stuff is already here. So I got to thinking that it'd be more of a hassle getting all my things back home from here than to move the rest of my belongings here. And I suppose it wouldn't be so bad waking up to your face everyday, so long I don't find it around any bathhouses. Besides, you're a pretty decent cook and I'd get a lot more freedom and privacy here with you than I do with Shizune," The toad sennin's mouth was hanging ajar and his eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. It took a moment to process before it set in.

This was Tsunade's way of saying 'yes' to his proposal. His face broke out into a goofy grin and one of his arms wrapped around her back and pulled her against his chest while the other hand held the towel up. Tsunade's face held a deep flush and she fought for her release, but his hold was airtight. Until she broke away using force. Despite a spot on his chest being rather sore now, the smile on his face hadn't faded.

"So much for not coming back, huh?" Her fist covered that stupid grin of his as she muttered 'idiot'.

And then she replaced her fist with her lips.