Chapter 216: I Want Both
On the Hokage Rock. The carved faces of the past leaders stared out stoically over the village.
The evening breeze blew, carrying a hint of coolness as the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in hues of orange and purple.
Tsunade stood near the edge, looking out, but not really seeing. Her thoughts were a whirlwind.
"What are you thinking about?"
Uchiha Akira's voice, calm and close, rang in her ear, pulling her thoughts abruptly back to reality. Back to his hand, still firmly holding hers.
"Nothing."
Tsunade snapped back to attention, her body tensing. She instinctively wanted to pull her hand away, to put distance between them. This... proximity... felt too dangerous. Too intimate.
Akira, however, simply held on tighter. His grip was warm, strong, and utterly inescapable.
"Still trying to run?" he asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.
Tsunade's cheeks instantly flushed a deep, mortified crimson.
"Who... who's trying to run?!"
Tsunade retorted stubbornly, but her voice was already three-tenths weaker than usual. The fight had gone out of her.
"I just... I just feel unaccustomed. To... this."
"You'll get used to it later," Akira stated, not as a suggestion, but as a simple fact.
He pulled her gently towards the very edge of the Hokage Rock—Hashirama's stony head—and sat down directly on the precipice, legs dangling over the village below.
He tugged her down beside him.
The two sat side by side, shoulders almost touching, overlooking the entirety of Konoha as the lights began to twinkle on below.
The atmosphere was silent for a moment, thick with unspoken questions. Only the wind whistled softly in their ears.
Finally, Tsunade broke the silence. She had to know.
"Are you... are you serious?" Her voice was low, barely audible over the wind.
Akira turned his head and looked at Tsunade. Her profile was etched against the twilight sky, her expression conflicted.
"What do you think?" Akira did not answer directly, but instead asked a rhetorical question, his dark eyes searching hers.
"I don't know," Tsunade shook her head, her golden hair dancing lightly in the wind. Her eyes were a little lost, filled with a confusion she hadn't felt in decades.
"I feel like... everything is happening too fast. Too... unreal."
She finally voiced her biggest reservation. "Akira... I'm so much older than you. There's... there's no way... between us..."
"Is age a problem?" Akira directly interrupted her, his voice sharp.
"In the world of shinobi, strength is everything. Age is irrelevant before power."
He held her gaze. "I, the Godaime Hokage of Konoha, undisputed ruler of this village... am I not worthy of Tsunade-hime, one of the Legendary Sannin?"
Tsunade was left speechless. Put like that... it sounded absurd. But...
"But..." Tsunade still hesitated. Her pride was one thing. Her principles were another.
"Kurenai... what about Kurenai? What do you plan to do?"
This was the biggest hurdle in her heart. The real reason she had stormed out.
She could disregard the whispers of others. She could, perhaps, even disregard the age gap.
But she could not accept becoming a third party. She couldn't be the woman who destroyed another's happiness.
Tsunade, despite all her flaws, had her own fierce pride. Her own code.
Akira fell silent for a moment upon hearing Kurenai's name. He turned his gaze back towards the village below.
When he spoke, his voice was calm, steady, and utterly resolute.
"Tsunade, I won't give up on either you... or Kurenai."
Tsunade blinked. "You... what do you mean?"
"It means," Akira's tone was calm and firm, leaving no room for misunderstanding, "Kurenai is my woman."
He turned back to face her, his eyes locking onto hers. "And you, Tsunade... from today onwards, are too."
Tsunade's temper, which had been simmering, flared instantly.
What did she just hear?
This... this scoundrel!
He actually wanted to... both?
Tsunade suddenly stood up, scrambling to her feet on the uneven stone. She pointed a trembling finger at Akira's nose, her entire body shaking with righteous anger.
"WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR?!" she roared, her voice echoing off the stone faces.
"Some... some trinket you can collect?!"
"And you want me to share you with other women?! Like... like some cheap concubine?!"
"DREAM ON!"
"What makes you think," she spat, her voice thick with fury, "that I, Senju Tsunade, would ever agree to such an absurd, insulting request?!"
"Because I, Uchiha Akira, have the ability," Akira replied, his voice still infuriatingly calm.
He slowly stood up, unfolding his tall figure. He cast a long shadow in the setting sun, carrying an invisible, suffocating sense of oppression.
"Tsunade, I admit, I am very greedy."
"But my greed is built upon absolute strength."
He looked down at her, his eyes unwavering. "I have the ability to protect every important woman in my life. I have the power to prevent any harm from coming to you. To either of you."
"This... this is different!" Tsunade argued, though her voice held a hint of helplessness now. He wasn't listening.
"Matters of the heart... they are not something that can be done however one pleases just because one is strong! You can't just command feelings!"
"Then what do you want?" Akira asked, taking a step closer, crowding her near the edge.
"Do you want me to give up Kurenai... for you?"
"Or," his voice dropped slightly, "do you want me to completely push you away... for Kurenai?"
"I..."
Tsunade was stumped. Utterly, completely stumped.
She couldn't bring herself to demand that he give up Kurenai. She had seen the gentle affection between them. She wasn't that cruel.
But the thought of watching Akira completely disappear from her world... of him belonging only to Kurenai... her heart felt an incredibly sharp, unexpected pain.
This was... it was like falling into a dead end. There was no right answer.
Akira looked at Tsunade's conflicted, pained expression. He saw the war raging within her.
He then reached out and, before she could react, pulled her back into his arms.
"Tsunade," he murmured into her hair, "I know it's hard for you to accept this all at once."
"However... I won't give you a choice."
His arms tightened around her. "Because no matter how you choose... I will never let go."
Tsunade stood stiffly in his embrace, her mind reeling. His arrogance was infuriating. His possessiveness was... overwhelming.
And yet...
Her inner resolve, her anger, her pride... it was slowly, bit by bit, disintegrating under the force of his absolute certainty.
"I... I need time," she finally choked out, her voice muffled against his chest. "I need time... to think."
After a long while, Tsunade finally squeezed out this sentence.
This was the biggest concession she could make. It wasn't acceptance. But it wasn't rejection either.
"Alright." Akira loosened his hold slightly.
"I'll give you time."
"You can take as long as you want to think."
"However..."
Akira's hand, which had been resting on her back, began to wander mischievously, slowly tracing the curve of her waist, slipping just beneath the edge of her shirt.
Tsunade gasped, her body jolting.
"Before you make up your mind," Akira whispered near her ear, his breath warm, "you'll have to get used to fulfilling the obligations... of being my woman."
"You... you SCOUNDREL!" Tsunade shrieked, her face instantly turning as red as if it were bleeding. "Your hand! Take your hand OFF!"
On the Hokage Rock, her furious and deeply embarrassed shouts echoed once more into the twilight.
The sunset completely sank below the horizon... the night was deep.
Uchiha Akira's residence was brightly lit, warm light spilling out into the dark courtyard.
When Akira led Tsunade—her face still flushed, her hand held firmly in his—back here, a figure was quietly waiting under the veranda of the courtyard.
Yūhi Kurenai.
Seeing the two return together... especially seeing Akira and Tsunade's tightly clasped hands... a very complex, almost painful, expression flashed in Kurenai's eyes.
But that emotion—sadness? Resignation?—only lasted for a fleeting moment before her expression returned to a calm, gentle acceptance.
Kurenai stood up and smiled slightly at the two of them. It was a genuine, welcoming smile.
"You're back?"
Tsunade's body trembled when she saw Kurenai.
Her face, already flushed, burned hotter. She felt a wave of profound, awkward guilt, revealing a few uneasy expressions.
She struggled for a moment, trying again to pull her hand out of Akira's palm.
Akira, however, held on tighter, refusing to let go.
He pulled Tsunade directly in front of Kurenai.
"Kurenai," Akira said, his voice soft. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
"It's alright," Kurenai shook her head. Her gaze fell on Tsunade, her red eyes clear and kind.
"Lady Tsunade. You're here too."
"I..." Tsunade opened her mouth, momentarily unsure of what to say. What could she say?
What kind of bizarre, impossible situation was this?
"Um... I... I was just... passing by," Tsunade struggled for a long time, coming up with an excuse that even she didn't believe.
Kurenai chuckled upon hearing this. It was a soft, gentle sound.
"Lady Tsunade, you don't have to be so nervous."
Kurenai said, taking a step forward... and naturally, gently, taking Tsunade's other hand.
Now Tsunade stood between them, held by both Akira and Kurenai.
"Akira... he told me everything," Kurenai said quietly.
"What?" Tsunade was startled. Everything?
Kurenai blinked, her eyes saying playfully.
"He said he'd also... brought you back."
Tsunade's face instantly flushed all the way to her ears. She sputtered.
"He... he's talking nonsense! Who... who was brought back by him! I came willingly! Sort of!"
Although Tsunade vehemently retorted, she did not shake off Kurenai's hand. Kurenai's touch was warm, gentle, and... accepting.
Kurenai's smile grew even gentler.
"Come inside first. It's windy out."
She thus led Tsunade, still held by Akira on the other side, into the house.
In the living room.
The three sat facing each other around a low table. Tea had been served.
The atmosphere was... a bit subtle. Awkward. Charged.
Akira cleared his throat, breaking the heavy silence.
"Tsunade."
Tsunade's body trembled slightly. She looked up, bracing herself.
Akira's gaze swept over her, then fell on Kurenai's calm face. Finally, he spoke.
His voice was not loud, but it was firm, carrying the weight of a decree. It clearly reached everyone's ears.
"Today, I've gathered you two for this... 'family meeting'... to announce one thing."
"From today onwards, this home... will have two mistresses."
He looked directly at Tsunade. "Kurenai is. And so are you."
As his words fell...
Tsunade's eyes widened suddenly. She choked on her tea, nearly spitting out a mouthful. Her face was filled with utter disbelief. He actually SAID it?!
Kurenai, on the other hand, was only slightly startled. Then, a knowing, almost bittersweet smile appeared on her face. She nodded gently, accepting his words.
Just as Tsunade's face was flushing red again, ready to slam her hand on the table and stand up, ready to explode...
"WE'RE HOME!"
The paper door was suddenly, loudly, pulled open.
Naruto's energetic voice came barreling in.
Immediately after, Hinata also peeked her small head in, shyly greeting them.
"Teacher... Teacher Kurenai... Lady Tsunade..."
When the two children saw the strange, tense, "three-way" meeting in the living room...
...they instantly froze in place, their eyes wide with confusion.
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