A Tranquil Moment
Jiraiya
walked around outside with a silly grin on his face and his cheeks flushed red.
They weren't flushed from the heat of the sun, but rather from a pleasant
encounter he had involving a public bath house. On the other hand, the ending
turned out to be equally unpleasant, but it was all worth it as far as the
Great Pervert Hermit was concerned. "This is going to be great stuff for
the next volume of Icha Icha
Paradise! Eheh..." He stopped in his steps as he
noticed a familiar person sitting on the grass off to the side of the road. The
woman had her arms around her knees and was looking off into the distance with
a nostalgic expression. "Hm?"
A mischievous idea popped
into his head, causing his a wide smirk to cross his mouth. He crept up from
behind the woman, hands making grabbing motions in anticipation of his next
move, but then caught a glimpse of her expression more closely. Her eyes were
tired with a soft undertone of sadness. That surprised him, for he knew the
woman well. His less than moral thoughts soon vanished and he decided on a
different approach.
"Yo."
The woman looked up,
surprised and a bit apprehensive to be found, but her features soon relaxed as
she realized who it was. "Oh. Hi Jiraiya."
Jiraiya sat down next to her. "So
what's up? How's life as the Queen of Konoha?"
The woman continued to
stare off into the distance and replied in a flat tone, "Fine..."
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at her answer.
His eyes softened and his expression appeared serious. "Something wrong Tsunade?"
Tsunade didn't reply
immediately, her eyes still sad and tired. "Oh, nothing...it's
just..."
"You can tell
me."
"...It's just...I'm so
tired of this life Jiraiya. I'm tired of being
Hokage, tired of making decisions that could cost people's lives or cause a
war, tired of being relied upon by everyone...I'm just tired," she said,
sounding almost frustrated as she let it all out. "Jiraiya...why didn't you become Hokage instead? Why
did you have to push all of this on to me?" She didn't look at him, but
simply continued to stare out into the scenery with a distant gaze.
Jiraiya blinked, surprised by the
confession. He looked at Tsunade carefully. He watched her hair blow in the
wind and her lips quivering as the crisp air clung to her skin, causing goosebumps. Her eyes were indeed tired with small lines
under her eyes, both from the passage of time and an overwhelming stress.
'Beautiful...' came the thought into Jiraiya's mind.
He shook his head and
finally looked away, a small grin on his face. "Heh,
what are you talking about Tsunade-hime? Me, Hokage? You know I'm not the type. I'd probably just use
all that power to make rule that would say 'Hokage is allowed access to all
public baths, male and female.'" Despite herself, her
lips quirked upwards slightly into a ghost of a smile. Jiraiya continued. "No, you'll always be a much better
Hokage than me. After all, you were a medic. You used to make life or death
decisions everyday. Nothing's changed now that you're Hokage, you're still
saving lives."
Tsunade didn't respond.
On impulse, he wrapped his
coat around her, then plopped back onto the grass
casually to stare up at the clouds. "Silly girl, don't think about it too
much. It's not like you to worry so much."
Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya, surprised, but he had closed his eyes and was
letting the peaceful environment pull him in. Tsunade spoke while he lay in the
grass.
"Silly
girl? I'm over
fifty you know."
Jiraiya replied with his eyes still closed,
but a grin on his face, "You'll always be the stupid flat-chested girl to me."
"Hey!"
They shared a small laugh.
The laughter died out quickly and a peaceful silence overtook them. They sat
together, Jiraiya lounging back in the grass, hands
behind his head and eyes closed, and Tsunade staring out into the mesmorizing forest, chin on her knees.
Tsunade spoke again after a
while. "When did you start calling me Tsunade-hime
and not the 'stupid flat-chested girl' you
oh-so-affectionately named me?"
Jiraiya didn't reply immediately. "When I tried asking you out."
The answer stunned Tsunade
and an awkward air passed briefly.
He chuckled to himself, but
it came out sounding almost forced. "You just laughed at me but I probably
deserved it. I was a snot-nosed little brat back then."
There was a silence again. Jiraiya heard some shuffling and was surprised when he
suddenly felt the weight of another body on his chest. Jiraiya
opened his eyes to see Tsunade resting on him, eyes shut, using his chest as a
pillow. Before he could say anything, Tsunade clung to the fabric of his shirt
and said, "Let me rest here for a bit. I have to go back to the office
soon."
It took a second, but then
he just nodded, and closed his eyes again. The two let nature embrace them. In
their quiet serenity, they heard the whisper of the wind, the rustle of the
leaves, and the songs of the birds. The melody of nature eased their nerves and
their worries washed away, letting them relax. He wrapped his arms around her.
The two lay there in the grass, content smiles on both their faces.
For just that moment, they
were the only two people in the world
A/N: Jiraiya called Tsunade "stupid flat-chested girl" when they were kids in the anime during
a flashback.