Chapter 30

Chapter 30

I had no idea what made Tsunade decide to play a game of poker with me for help with a cure for Kimimaro's autoimmune disease, but I certainly wasn't going to pass it up. Especially since the woman herself won games of chance so little that she took winning as a sign on oncoming disaster. Was she counting on that for her victory? If she won she'd actually take it as a sign of something bad being about to happen and she should run for it? I couldn't say.

What I could say though was that I had no bad intentions towards her and the whole exchange would be nothing but advantageous for her. Even if she didn't truly have magic bad luck powers I was a decent hand at poker and had a major advantage. Tsunade tended to bet big on hands that weren't that great, while I could play it safe and win. So long as I kept at least a bit of chips back and never went all in, I could stay in the game until I won.

"So we going to do this here?" Tsunade asked, gesturing around us at the restaurant.

"Sure. Though try not to break any more of their tables." I chided as I pulled out scroll. In moments the scroll released a small pile of poker chips I had sealed in their earlier.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at me.

"I was coming after you. I had a fair bet that gambling would be involved somehow." I stated simply, to which Tsunade gave a shrug of acknowledgment.

"Alright, we're playing Hold Em'. No Jokers. Ace high." Tsunade stated as she pulled out an unopened deck of cards. "I'll deal the first hand."Read latest chapters at novelhall.com Only

"I think not." I stated swiftly. "We are ninja. Far too easy for us to cheat when dealing and shuffling."

Tsunade rolled her eyes and let out a sound of frustration, but did nothing further. A sign she conceded the point, but wanted me to provide the solution.

The man that shouted for us to not break any more tables caught my eye and in moments he found himself with a deck of cards in one hand, a ten thousand ryo in the other, and a general sense of bewilderment as he handed out the cards.

The first hand passed in near silence. Tsunade sat across from me staring with more intensity than the desert sun. I let her have her silent moment and picked up my two cards then looked at the table. The three card on the table didn't really do much for me, so I put a measly amount of chips into the center of the table. Tsunade copied a moment later. The chips clicking into the table seemed to almost echo in the room as all the other patrons tried to act as if they weren't staring in wonder at what was occurring. That is, if they hadn't already left due to a well used sense of self-preservation.

The pot stayed small as the next two cards went onto the tablew with a round of betting for each. I got two pairs across the both of them. Not the worst hand, but not great either. I stayed in for now. Tsunade was looking for something and she'd get the calm first hand she was looking for.

Finally, the hand ended, I won with two pair and Tsunade had nothing.

I took the measly amount of chips and put them to the side. The deck was shuffled again and everything was passed out again. But this time, I went on the attack.

"You know, I really don't understand how it is that you always have money problems." I stated as I glanced at my cards.

"Huh?" Tsunade asked in surprise.

"Your money problems with debtors." I stated simply, throwing in a handful of ryo. More than previously, but nothing substantial. "You gamble big, run up a tab, and disappear. Only keeping people off you by occasionally letting some rich person pay way too much for your services in order to get some of them off your back."

"I really don't need you preaching to me about bad choices." Tsunade shot back as she threw a hand full of chips into the pile, at least twice mine. "Raise."

I glanced at my hand. I had nothing now, but Tsunade might have nothing either. She did tend to bet aggressively even on nothing. The next card hit the table and I knew that it didn't really matter what the next card was. I wouldn't have better than a single pair.

"I'm not getting on to you about your bad choices. I'm actually saying you could do your bad choices better. There is no reason that you should ever pay for your drinks or gamble with your own money. Fold." I stated as I passed my cards to the dealer, who was still looking at us more nervously, but seemed to be getting into the dealing.

Tsunade scoffed. "And what? Bat my eyes at some guy and let him pay for everything? Please. I have more pride than that. Raise." She tossed in an even larger amount of money this time.

The next hand was passed out swiftly, and with a slight flourish. A smile tugged at the corner of my lips as I noticed a few people's tables had been scooted just a bit closer.

"I'm not asking you to lead anyone on Tsunade." I said with a dismissive wave. "If you just acted aloof you'd still never have to pay for a drink and men would pass you chips. You just have to turn down the aura of barely contained violence."

"Barely contained violence? Please." She stated dismissively. "I don't want to hear that coming from someone with your solution to orphans in war-torn regions. Raise." The woman put a hefty chunk of change into the center.

I didn't let my grimace reach my face. One of the bleaker moments in the war I remember advocating to kill starving children as a mercy, and smiling while I did it. Never mind that one of those times it probably WOULD have been better for the world for us to have just offed them.

I glanced at my hand. I had a straight if any of the next cards were a three or an eight. I matched Tsunade's bet. "Call. I'm a changed woman now though. I admit that I was a terrible person before, but that doesn't make my advice wrong."

"My life is perfectly fine. I'll keep on living it my way, you keep on being a liar and traitor." Tsunade said with stone cold seriousness. "Raise." She stated as she added chips to the table.

"Cut the bullshit. What's your point? You're saying you aren't him but are using his name as a shield?" Tsunade pressed.

"That's one possibility," I stated simply, "Or it could be that in the process of trying to rise myself beyond the confines of my mere flesh I experimented on myself and in that process gained a new lease on life as my brain's chemical makeup changed, giving rise to new personality and new emotions. I don't throw away my former name and reputation, but do wish to rebrand based on what I feel is the new me."

"Or you could be full of shit and it's none of those things. This is just some manipulation I'm not seeing." Tsunade shot back.

The last card was placed on the table. A nine of spades. There were now four cards for a straight flush on the table. If Tsunade had a king of spades or an eight of spades, I'd be done. However, the likely hood she had one of those two cards out of the forty-five cards that I didn't know was small. My chances were damn good.

"True. Everything I said could be a lie. However, the real question here isn't who I am. The question this all is based on is if who you THINK I am is going to prevent you from saving someone's life." I stated firmly as I grabbed almost half my chips and put them in the middle of the table. "Raise."

Tsunade stared at me in consideration. The hostility there was gone. This wasn't combative. It was assessing. Then she seemed to come to a conclusion.

She swiped her arm on her side of the table and pushed ever single chip she had to the middle of the table. "All in." She announced in lieu of responding to me.

My eyes widened. My hand was good. It was damn good in fact. I had a solid chance of winning. Tsunade had a bit more in the pot than me, but the Sannin had always ruled when playing poker that one All In from one player was as good as another's regardless of chip count. It kept the game interesting and they had long served the tradition. I was a few short, but she'd accept my all in matching. But there remained the possibility of losing. I'd have to go all in to keep up too or fold. Bet it all on something solid, or fold to have an uphill climb to win the game?

But it wasn't just a game.

It might be to Tsunade, but for me, I was betting on a life. If Tsunade once again had the lucky card to pull out a victory, Kimimaro would probably die. Was his life worth the chance? Even if it was a fifteen percent chance?

No. This wasn't a mission. This wouldn't be a life spent for a gamble. It would be a life wasted for a gamble. I can go again until I can chip her down. If I have more than her and she goes All In, I can just match with money to spare. The All In being as good as another only really matters if you do it first. It was a rule to prevent people from winning just because they had the most money and they could make their hand not matter anymore.

I'd take the long road that a sure victory.

"Fold." I stated as I grabbed my cards and began to hand them back to the dealer to-

Tsunade's hand clamped onto my wrist and the cards were pulled from my hand. She held them up to her face, saw what I had, then gave me a look of smug satisfaction.

"That is quite against good etiquette to-"

"You're not him." She cut in confidently.

I came up short.

"He'd never pass up this bet for something he wanted. You aren't Orochimaru, and there isn't a damn thing you can say to convince me otherwise."

"Oh, come now, I said earlier that-" I started.

"Nope. I don't give a shit. You can put out all kinds of shit about experiments or religious experiences or whatever the hell you want. You aren't him in the ways that matter. Maybe you found his diary. Maybe he fucked something up bad enough that you got left behind. Maybe the gods decided this was funny. Doesn't matter. You're not him."

The air grew tense and I stared at her. She was entirely correct. It was also still inconvenient to me for people to know that for sure.

"Then I must ask, is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" I asked.

A smile crossed her face. "Doesn't really matter. You haven't won the game yet."

I let out a slow breath and leaned back in my chair.

"True. But suddenly, I feel very lucky." I said as I forced a smile on my face and tried to suppress the nervousness in my stomach.

It was a good thing that most all of my plans were already falling into place, but for the first time in months, someone knew. Someone could convince others that I wasn't so dangerous. That I was weak now and it was the opportune time to strike. They could also convince people that I wasn't so bad, and that an alliance wasn't likely to end with being stabbed in the back.

And I just wasn't sure how to feel about that.