Bound to You (Naruto)

Chapter Twenty Four

Tsuki sat perched atop a thick branch in a tree near a not so well-known path beneath the starry sky skimming through Orochimaru's research on her clan. Kabuto and Sasuke had gone off on their own to oversee something for Orochimaru that they all thought to keep her out of, which meant it probably wasn't anything good. Orochimaru had gone to investigate something nearby and told her to wait for him and keep herself hidden in the tree until he returned.

Someone knocked on the base of the tree she was sitting in startling her from her reading. Her colorless eyes peered downward and widened as she spotted a familiar white haired sannin. It was Jiraiya, one of the legendary sannin, and the old friend of Orochimaru who had threatened her life the last time she'd met him.

"I didn't think Tsuki-chan could get any lovelier, but I stand corrected." He smiled up at her. It had been a few years since she'd last met him though he hadn't changed in the slightest.

"What do you want?" Tsuki asked him coolly as she snapped the book shut in her hands before tucking it into a small pouch at her waist. She jumped as he vanished from sight only to reappear atop the branch next to her, he was pretty quick for a pervy old sage.

"I was hoping to have a chat with my old friend. Is he nearby?" Jiraiya had an easy going smile in place.

Tsuki sensed the presence of another leaf shinobi in the surrounding forest, "And was this going to be a cordial chat or were you planning an ambush with your pal you think I don't know about?" She asked briskly uncomfortable in his presence. The last time they'd met he'd tried to take her life to kill Orochimaru, they may have been friends in the past but she felt he was no friend to him now. He made her anxious.

Jiraiya's smile turned somewhat somber at the girl's cold behavior. He hoped Orochimaru hadn't corrupted the pure hearted girl, it was her purity that helped him overcome the regret of not killing Orochimaru when he had the chance. His gaze flicked to the palm of her hand and widened as he spotted the crescent moon shaped mark, it was no longer black but a pale grey in color. What did that mean?

Tsuki balled her hand into a fist to hide her mark, "You didn't answer my question, Master Jiraiya."

"Cordial." He smiled and reached out to caress her pale cheek but paused as she instinctively flinched and shied away from his touch. "I am sorry about the last time we met, Tsuki-chan."

Tsuki inched away from him, "I know...but I cannot trust you...you were ready to kill me, though I'd done nothing wrong..."

"At the time, I thought it would be for the greater good." Jiraiya made no move to get any closer to her and let her put more space between them.

"And now?" The pale young woman who looked to be born of starlight asked him curiously her colorless eyes meeting his gaze, staring into the very depths of his soul. Eyes that were blinded in sunlight, yet saw everything at night.

"I'm still uncertain..." He admitted honestly almost transfixed in her hypnotic gaze, he shook his head and forced himself to look away. Was this why the Towa Clan was often referred to as the vampire clan? They could beguile anyone and make them admit things they sometimes couldn't admit to themselves.

"Naruto and Sakura think highly of you and I'd feel bad if something bad were to happen to you but please understand, I will not let you attempt to harm Orochimaru-sama again." Tsuki's voice shook unsteadily as she tried to keep a brave face. He was a sannin, like Orochimaru, she wasn't so sure she could defeat him, especially with his hidden friend nearby.