𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐎 (𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐒)

Alternate Ending to " Regrets, for she has many"

         Tsunade was desperate with a capital D.
Desperately trying to walk upright in the fading light. She had gotten drunk again, this much she remembered. But she was unsure of exactly sure how she had gotten to the park in the middle of Konohagakure, but she was comfortable so she wasn't going to complain. The summer evening was dripping in caramel colored light, flowing over the buildings of the city she had grown to love so much. Absent of what she thought she needed. With the Akatsuki fast approaching she shouldn't really be getting this drunk, but she needed to relieve some stress.
A large warm hand clapped her on the shoulder and another weight sank down on the bench next to her. The hand slid off her shoulder as she turned to look at the person beside her. His long white hair flowed over his shoulders, his wizened face turned towards the peaches and cream sunset. A smile graced her features as she stared at him. He was her constant, always there. Like the water under a boat, or the wind under a birds wings, he lifted her. Carried her on his shoulders, and saw right through every lie she had ever made like she was sculpted of glass.
"I should be heading out soon Tsunade," his deep voice rumbled, and a bitter chuckle slipped in, "Can't keep the Akatsuki waiting for me."
    She wished she could press her face into that warm broad chest and feel his war worn arms wrap around her shoulders. She wished she could keep him here. Protect him from his fate, from his inevitable death when he faces his former student. She wished she could tell him the truth, but she couldn't afford to hurt her heart another time.
"You don't have to go. You could stay," when had she started crying? Tears flowing steadily down her face as she looked up at him. Blonde hair ruffling in the breeze, his lips parted and he sighed.
"As flattered as I am Tsunade, I have a duty to this village. A duty to protect it," He smiled warmly at her, eyes crinkling with mirth but filled with unfathomable sorrow and want.
"Besides, someone's gotta do your job right? And if it isn't you, then it's got to be me."
    That was her breaking point.
"It's got to be you?! Why does it have to be you?!" She was yelling at this point, angry tears streaming down her face as she stood in front of him and clutched his wide shoulders with red painted fingernails.
"It doesn't have to be you! You can walk away! Leave it all behind! I won't hold it against you! I'll send out some other shinobi to find out! It doesn't matter to me so long as it. Isn't. You."
    She bent over, sobbing into his shoulder, her tears staining his clothes. He gripped her chin firmly in his right hand, and tilted her face to look at him.
"Tsunade." He sighed, breaking to study each and every curve and edge of her face, "Who will you send? Kakashi? You can't afford to lose him, he's too important to Naruto. Asuma is the son of a former Hokage, and any other open shinobi are nowhere near powerful enough. I would say at this point, the only leaf shinobi you could send, left the village for our former teammate."
Here he broke again, releasing her chin and standing up so they were chest to chest(More like face to chest, in Tsunade's case).
"I've got to be going, I can't put this off any longer."
     At this she did the last thing either of them expected. She grabbed the front of his kimono, and pulled down and forward. Tilting her head and leaning forward to meet his lips halfway. It was an utterly mind numbing kiss. Sure, Jiraiya had written about many kisses in his book series, and had experienced a fair amount himself. They were plain in comparison to the way her lips melted against his, and how her hands pulled at his hair in just the right way. She pressed herself to his front, pulling him as close as possible. She broke from his lips, panting slightly, rather self-mortified at her actions. She released him from her hold and pointedly avoided his gaze.
"Ah. Tsunade. Why do you do this to me?" His expression was pained, and he gently reached out a hand to tilt her face back to him.
"I know you don't love me in the same way you loved him, so why must you always hurt me so? You pull me in, and then you always let go. But I come running back every time." He sighed, releasing her face when he got no answer.
"I've got to go." He turned and walked away from her at a relaxed pace, like a boat on a river slowing drifting towards a waterfall counting the rushing seconds till it tumbles over the edge and is crushed to death by the sharp rocks at the bottom.
"Jiraiya," He froze when she spoke his name. Turning to look over his shoulder,
"Yes Hime?"
"I n-need you to k-know," She was stammering over her words, unsure why she was so afraid to tell him how she felt. She knew he loved her, he wasn't subtle about it, and she wanted him to stay. He turned to face her fully with an eyebrow raised. She looked him in the eyes and stood up tall and straight walking the couple dozen feet to stand directly before him.
"I love you," she whispered the words, closing her eyes as the evening breeze swept over her tearstained face, gracing her skin with the whispers of her ancestors. The whispering of the trees, and she finally heard what they had been saying the whole time.
"I need you to stay. Here. With me. I can't have you leaving. You mean too much to me to lose. I can't let you go, I lost someone once and I promised myself never again. So you have to stay, we can find another way around this. But for now we need to find another bottle of sake because I only finished two at the bar and need at least one more to get in bed with you."
Her words ended in a teasing lilt, but she knew he could hear the sincerity behind them. His mouth ran dry at her words, and he flushed with embarrassment. He cleared his throat, searching her eyes, and extended his hand to her.
"Come on Hime, lets go get drunk."