Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, yatta yatta yatta… I don't own Michael Bolton's song "Love Cuts Deep", which I borrowed a line from to fit Jiraiya.
Author's Notes: On one of my sites we participated in something called "Love Week" which basically speaks for itself. I wrote some drabbles for my favorite pairings in Naruto. This 'story' will be a collection of the amazing couple of Jiraiya and Tsunade. Please read my other collection of drabbles.
The Little Things/An Unrequited Love
Every so often it's the little things that get her, the little things that captivate her. Whether it's the children playing outside as she gazes out her window, or the way Shizune smiles at the mention of Iruka. But the biggest little thing, she liked the most were his kisses on her cheek. Whenever he did this, she knew he was doing it just because they were friends and basically family. However, to her, they were so much more; in her mind, they signified what could be. The way he kissed her reminded her of the way her father used to kiss her mother in the mornings. The way a couple would express their love for another.
Senju Tsunade admitted it; she was completely and undeniably in love with him. She promised herself after Dan, that she would never love again, but he was the exception to the rule; he always was. She never killed him, when she said she would and she said she'd never fall in love with him, despite his attempts at making her fall for him. Boy, was that a lie; perhaps the biggest lie she ever told. She fell in love with him all right, and has constantly tried to suppress her emotions toward him. However, to no avail.
'I wish these feelings would go away, but I know they never will…'
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He loved to fell the softness of her skin against his lips and never tired of it. At first she used to slap him or hit him, but over time she got accustomed to it. She allowed it, and he enjoyed every fleeting second of it, knowing deep inside he could never kiss her where he wanted to: her soft, pink lips. She told him she'd never fall in love, but she did and he ended up hurting her in the worst way possible; by dying on her. He would never allow himself to die on her, not now and not ever. He tried making her fall in love with him for a time, but with no result. She wasn't throwing herself at him and she acted no different around him.
Jiraiya has been in love with her for the longest time. When he first laid eyes on her he knew he was in love, as clichéd as that sounds. She would never accept him as her own; they'd never be a couple no matter how much they acted like an 'old married couple'. He loved her with all his being and loved the, though minimal, contact she allowed him. He kissed her at least once a day, more often two times a day; in the morning to get his day going and in the later part of the afternoon or the evening. He looked forward to those kisses and missed them terribly when he was on missions.
' I remember the words you whispered to me. Like a knife, those words just cut right through me…'
Fin