Chapter Text
'Kick-starting an invasion is hard.' Orochimaru contemplated to himself. It wasn't as if he didn't have the information necessary to achieve it, but there were far too many variables!
'How much can I even depend on Sand?' Just thinking about it made his head hurt in ways that he hadn't known was possible. At any rate, he was going to start with the bigger details and work his way down.
Guren was exactly what was expected of her; resourceful, had a dry sense of humor, had outstanding leading and following skills and behaviors, etc. As she walked towards the building she was told to meet Orochimaru-Sama, she wondered why she had been summoned for.
'Most likely a mission.'
Knocking at the door of her destination, she was let in by a nin that she didn't know.
"Orochimaru-Sama will see you now." A slightly muffed voice said as she walked towards a set of large doors. She entered.
"Ahh, Guren-Chan right on schedule!" Orochimaru cheerfully greeted her. He was leaning on a desk beside a wall covered in maps, pictures, and string? She blinked a couple of times; this new Orochimaru still was taking some time to get used to...Although, she was pretty sure that this wasn't what would be the new normal.
"....Or well I think you are on time; this place doesn't have windows or a clock for me to check!" He continued on oblivious to the inner turmoil his subordinate was feeling.
Guren took a moment to stare at the strange picture her Kage made; there were stacks of hazardously placed mugs and plates on one corner of the desk that Guren was pretty sure was going to tip over at any moment. The rest of the surface of the desk was covered in layers of papers, and she could see a bottle of sake under one of them.
Orochimaru himself looked just as chaotic; hair in a messy bun, wrinkles on his usually spotless clothing, and large bags underneath his eyes.
"Tell me, how do you feel about being Otokage?"
Guren's froze.
'.....W...What?' Her face must have shown her confusion and distress because Orochimaru hurriedly simplified what he meant.
"Not forever, but if I'm going to be doing this whole invasion thing, there is no way I'm going to be able to be in the spotlight during the Chunin exams since most will be able to recognize my chakra signature unless I use THAT technique. " Here he grimaced, a facial expression that Guren was sure was on her face as well. It had been.....weird for lack of a better word, to watch Orochimaru literally shed a bunch of bodies.
"Well," She started out, "I hope I'm not stepping out of line here, but when was the last time you slept Orochimaru-Sama?"
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, then decided to humor her by replying.
"Two days ago I believe."
"...What day of the week was that?" Guren asked.
"Tuesday?"
"....Orochimaru-Sama, today is Tuesday. You've been up for a whole week!" Guren exclaimed.
"I mean no disrespect here, but you need at least a good seven hours Orochimaru-Sama. Once you do, you might notice that your invasion plans look an awfully like like that conspiracy board that Kihō made while drunk about the possibility of you being a woman."
Orochimaru took a moment to scrutinize his board of invasion information, and he had to admit it did look a lot like a conspiracy board.
"I suppose you are right." Orochimaru finally acknowledged.
"You are dismissed. I will call for you after I have gotten both myself and my plans in order so I can fully explain to you what we need to do."
Guren nodded and left.
Murasakino lifted the brush once again continuing writing a letter. It was tedious work for the squirrel due to his size, but he's making it work. Finally, he was done. taking a moment to survey his work, he reread what he had written. Nodding to himself, he turned to the only other being in the room; a pigeon.
"Thanks again for taking this letter Unazuki-Kun," Murasakino said gratefully.
"No thanks are necessary my friend!" Unazuki responded. "You have helped me plenty of times in the past, now it is my turn to help you! Plus," Here Unazuki's started whispering, "the people of Tea Country tend to have very nice bird feeders!"
Murasakino let out a laugh. "Well then, enjoy yourself!" He tied the letter to Unazuki's leg and took a step back.
"I will!" Unazuki said as he started flying away.
"Orochimaru-Sama!" Yelled out an orange haired girl. she was out of breath,
" Sasame-Chan, while it is nice to see you again, barging into a room that you know is occupied, is terrible in terms of manners," Orochimaru said by way of greeting.
Sasame blushed noticing that there were more than just Orochimaru in the room. There was a large table, with an assortment of Sound nins sitting around it including one of the bosses of her clan Kotohime, who looked at her with an arched eyebrow. Suddenly she remembered why she was in such a rush.
"Orochimaru-Sama! Tsunade Senju has been spotted heading in this direction! At the rate she's going, she'll be here in a little more than two hours!"
A feeling of panic washed over everyone in the room. Well, almost everyone.
"Wow, she sure responded fast. Admittedly, I would have preferred if she just wrote a letter." Responded Murasakino. Orochimaru stared at the squirrel; expression unreadable.
"W...WHAT DID YOU DO?!?" He demanded.
Murasakino answered him unfazed, "I just told her your situation."
Orochimaru looked at him in horror. "Why???"
"We are going to need more heavy hitters if we want this invention to work with the bare minimum of casualties. Plus, this way we can also have a med-nin on board." He replied.
"Orochimaru-Sama, what do we do?" Kotohime panicky asked. Orochimaru sighed.
"We end this meeting for the moment. Should anything happen to me, continue with the plan." He stressed out. He shot Murasakino, who was looking far too smug for his own good, a dirty look and rose from his seat. Two hours weren't a lot of time to get ready for a probably angry Tsunade; no amount of time was.
*Sponge Bob Narrator Voice*: Two Hours Later.....
Tsunade stopped in front of Orochimaru who was sitting on a blanket on the ground with the only thing separating them were two Sake bottles. A staring contest began. Hovering nearby was an anxious Shizune.
Finally, Tsunade spoke, "Was what was in the letter telling the truth?"
"Depends on what was written."
"Don't use that bullshit with me! Were you not in control of your self ?!?"
A sigh. Then a quiet "Yes."
Tsunade dropped down on the blanket. Picking up one of the Sake bottles, she started chugging. Orochimaru did the exact same thing.
"I thought I lost you too." Tsunade chocked out after a while.
"Don't be ridiculous Hime; I literally have lived longer as your teammate then not. Nothing at this point can put a wedge between us, much less the actions of a man who wouldn't accept no for an answer."
Tsunade took his hand and gripped it tightly. Orochimaru gave a small smile. Then they started talking. Tsunade spoke of how hard it was the past years had been, teaching Shizune how to be a medical-nin and her fear of blood.
In turn, Orochimaru talked about the fact that he was literally missing almost twenty years worth of memories, his worries about the fact that his possessed-self had done some awful things, and realizing that there is more to being a Kage then what he realized.
By the time they were done talking, the sun was setting. Getting up, Orochimaru offered Tsunade a hand. She took it with a grin.