Age Seventeen (continued)
The Third War had been raging for six months, and I was tired.
Not the kind of tired that sleep could fix. The deeper kind—the kind that settled into your bones and made you wonder if any of it was worth it. I had killed more people than I could count. Saved more than I could remember. But the war kept going, and the bodies kept piling up, and I kept asking myself the same question: When does it end?
Tsunade was the only thing that made sense.
We had been dancing around each other for years—letters, glances, moments on rooftops. But we had never said the words. Never made it official. There was always a war, always a crisis, always a reason to wait.
But tonight, sitting on the roof of the Konoha hospital, watching the stars, I decided I was done waiting.
"Tsunade," I said.
"Hmm?"
"I love you."
She went very still. The night wind tugged at her hair, and I saw her hands tighten on the edge of the roof.
"You've known that for a while," I continued. "I've known it for a while. But I've never said it out loud. Because I was scared. Scared of losing you. Scared of you not feeling the same way. Scared of the war taking you away."
"Ren—"
"Let me finish." I took a breath. "I'm not scared anymore. I've watched too many people die. I've held too many hands as they went cold. I don't want to look back and wish I had said something. So I'm saying it. I love you, Tsunade Senju. I want to be with you. Not just as friends. Not just as allies. As partners. As whatever you'll let me be."
She was quiet for a long time.
I started to worry. Maybe I had misread everything. Maybe she didn't feel the same way. Maybe I had just ruined the most important friendship of my life.
Then she punched my shoulder.
"That's for making me wait so long," she said.
And then she kissed me.
It wasn't like the first kiss—brief, tentative, barely a press of lips. This was real. Her hands in my hair, my arms around her waist, her body pressed against mine. The world fell away. The war, the pain, the fear—none of it mattered. There was only her.
When we finally pulled apart, she was smiling. A real smile. The kind I had seen on her face only a handful of times.
"You're an idiot," she said.
"So I've been told."
"But you're my idiot now."
"Does that mean—"
"Yes, Ren. It means yes. I love you too. I've loved you since we were ten years old, sitting on this same roof, watching the stars. I was just too scared to say it."
"Why were you scared?"
She looked down at her hands. "Because everyone I love dies. My grandfather. My grandmother. Nawaki. I thought if I loved you, you would die too."
"I'm not going to die."
"You don't know that."
"I know that I'm stubborn. And I know that I have you. That's enough."
She leaned her head on my shoulder. "Okay. Then we'll do this together."
"Together."
We sat on the roof until dawn, holding hands, watching the stars fade and the sun rise. For the first time in years, I felt something like peace.
---
The next morning, I told Kushina.
She was in the training yard, practicing her chakra control. At thirteen, she was already one of the most powerful shinobi in Konoha—her Uzumaki blood giving her reserves that dwarfed most jounin. But she was still my little sister, and I still worried about her.
"Kushina," I said. "I need to tell you something."
She stopped her training and looked at me, her blue eyes curious. "What is it?"
"Tsunade and I are together now. Officially."
She stared at me for a moment. Then she grinned.
"Finally! I've been waiting for years!"
"You have?"
"Everyone has! Even the Hokage has a betting pool on when you two would get together. I think Jiraiya put money on last year."
"Jiraiya has a betting pool?"
"Had. It's closed now. I think I win." She bounced on her heels. "I'm so happy for you, big brother! Tsunade is perfect for you. She's strong and smart and she doesn't put up with your nonsense."
"I don't have nonsense."
"You have so much nonsense. But she loves you anyway." She hugged me. "Just promise me one thing."
"What?"
"Don't wait too long to get married. I want to be the flower girl."
I laughed. "We're seventeen, Kushina. We're not getting married anytime soon."
"You will. I can see it. The threads or whatever."
I blinked. "You can see threads?"
"No. But you can. And I'm sure you've already looked at the thread where you marry her."
I had. I wasn't going to admit that.
"Go back to training," I said.
"You're blushing!"
"I'm not blushing. I'm flushed from the morning air."
"You're a bad liar, big brother."
"So I've been told."