Quick warning: I do not know where this angst suddenly came from, but it's here. It's not here to stay, this is (hopefully) a theme that will only be touched on this one chapter and never again! For all Tsunade fans, brace yourselves. Tobirama does not take any shit from those that abandon their homes. For Tsunade haters, don't get no ideas now. I love this bitch. But the story needed this... I think... Not sure... Maybe?

..~..~..

Kankuro stayed in Konoha for a rather long time. By the time Kiba had realized just how long he'd been around, more than a month had passed. But it seemed that his father had no immediate need for him back home and allowed him to stay for far longer. Kiba had no idea if the man even knew why his son was staying in Konoha in the first place. But he highly doubted that Kankuro would have flat out told him about the soulmate situation he currently found himself in.

"Turns out he and I both like hamburger steak." The older teenager grunted as he threw a kunai at the training dummies, then turned to look at Kiba. "Isn't that a bit weird?"

As he thought about how it really wasn't all that odd, Kiba threw his own kunai, hitting his mark perfectly. Really, neither of them needed to take part in target practice. But they'd been driven out of Kiba's house by Hana telling them to do something productive and Team 8 wasn't set to arrive at the training grounds for another hour. So they were just practicing an already perfected skill as they talked.

"Not really. My soulmate and I both share in our favorite foods. Although we don't always agree on which one's the best."

From the way Kankuro suddenly stopped, Kiba could tell he wasn't too pleased with the answer. But when he turned to the older boy to see what was up, he only found him frowning thoughtfully.

"What'd I do?"

"You talk a lot about your soulmate; always seem so proud of him and like he's the best person in the world... Yet you don't even tell your friends who he is." Kankuro didn't really sound angry, or even annoyed. Just confused... And maybe... Somewhat worried?

Kiba knew that Tobirama wouldn't throw a fit if he told his friends who the man truly was to him. The man would accept that he told them that they were soulmates, even though Kiba was sure the man wouldn't like it.

The Second Hokage. One of the strongest shinobi to ever live. Soulmate to a regular Inuzuka who was only a tiny bit above average in his ninja training because the Second Hokage himself had drilled education into him.

"It's..." Kiba tried, but found that he couldn't find the right words to explain himself. "... Complicated?"

With a huff, a roll of his eyes, and a shake of his head, Kankuro scoffed out, "Could never be as complicated as me and my soulmate."

The words made Kiba's heart clench and he immediately felt bad for not manning up and telling his friend who his soulmate actually was. But, really, how would telling Kankuro who Tobirama really was to Kiba help the puppeteer? He'd just see that even though they were so different, they still had a pretty good relationship. And that really wouldn't help him in any way.

~/~

Tobirama had known that his grandniece was still alive ever since he had been brought back to life. Hiruzen had made sure to inform him of the last of the Senju line as soon as he had been able to.

But his grandniece had left the village to find herself after heartbreak had destroyed her.

When she had still been a child, Tsunade had been the apple of his eye. So innocent yet intelligent and sharp... He had known that she would get far in life. There was no doubt in his mind that this child would become one of the strongest, bravest, most feared kunoichi to ever walk the world.

In a way, he had been right... But, in a way, he could not be bring himself to be proud of her.

She had abandoned her village. The home her grandfathers had worked so hard to build, her family and friends had worked so hard to protect.

Tobirama knew that he was not being fair to her. Hiruzen had explained to him that Tsunade had only left after experiencing two heart breaks that had broken her. Both her brother and her lover. And she truly believed that it had been her fault that they had died. But he had not known those two males in her life, could not identify with the loss that had driven her from her home. And he could not identify at all with the lover, seeing how they had not even been soulmates.

He had lost his own brothers. He'd seen kids he had grown up with, played on the sparse nights of peace, shared a life with, die. He'd seen them fall before his very eyes. But he had not abandoned his Clan. Instead he had continued to fight to make sure that no other child would ever have to lose their life on the cruel battlefields bred by war.

Orochimaru, even after everything that had devastated him, had stayed in Konoha. He had taught a group of genin and tried his best to keep his home safe. Of the three that had made up his genin team, he had been the one to stay the longest.

Tsunade could have stayed with him and helped. She could have helped and kept so many tragedies from occurring. She could have stopped Orochimaru the second he turned his love for Konoha into hatred.

But she had left.

"Lord Senju?"

The white haired boy he had once known was no more. In his stead was a man much older than Tobirama should have been able to meet with a frown he would have once believed impossible to find on his once cheery face.

"Your old friend, Orochimaru, played a hand in bringing me back to life." Tobirama answered the unasked question coldly, keeping his tone polite but impersonal.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Hiruzen's quirked eyebrow. But at the moment, Tobirama could not be bothered to try and act as if he was happy to be here. Because, in reality, he wasn't.

In the weeks after he had come back from his impromptu vacation with Kiba, things had been rocky. Kankuro was always in need of someone to talk to, someone to help him deal with the stresses that now affected him. So he and Kiba had done their best to be there for him whenever they were needed. Kiba more than Tobirama, seeing how Kiba was the one that did all the talking. But Tobirama was the one that helped Kiba know exactly what to say and do.

Aside from that, he had also been helping improve the Academy, seeing how test scores had begun to drop ever since Orochimaru's attack on the village. Morale had been low for quite some time now, but had reached an underwhelming plateau that he had decided to begin to address now that he wasn't focused on Team 8's training.

And just to keep himself busy, he had also begun to help the Inuzuka care for some of the stray dogs left abandoned around the village. So his days were always busy.

Normally, he enjoyed his days being so full. But sometimes all he truly wanted was to take a breather with a steaming mug of tea in one hand, a book in the other, and Kiba curled up against him as he did his best to stay still for a few minutes.

Tonight's plans had been to do just that... Until the wayward Jiraiya decided to come crashing in, bringing along the prodigal grandniece just for the heck of it.

"G-granduncle?"

For a second, Tobirama felt his cold heart warm at Tsunade's disbelieving tone. But then it hardened once more, remembering everything she had done to forsake her village. So he merely nodded stiffly.

"Now why is it that I am here?"

~/~

"I could always tell them... Tobirama wouldn't mind... He's said so many times before."

Akamaru groaned lowly as he craned his neck to reach Kiba's cheek, then began to lick at it.

Currently, both members of the Inuzuka Clan found themselves inside of Tobirama's apartment. They lay on his bed, Kiba laid out on Akamaru's stomach. He was hidden beneath the covers, seeing how winter was making itself felt rather harshly. And he had been reading a book, a fantastical novel about witches, warlocks, and wolfmen, but he'd found that, after every few words, his mind refused to allow him to read.

Kankuro was currently visiting Orochimaru once more. Even though it was late at night, Ibiki and the Hokage permitted the puppeteer to visit him as long as Ibiki stayed close enough to watch over them.

The older teen didn't like the fact that he was watched whenever he visited his soulmate. But, at the same time, he was grateful for it. Ibiki's very presence there was enough to keep him grounded, stopped him from saying or doing anything too stupid.

"What do you think, boy? Should we finally tell our friends who Tobirama really is to me?" Kiba asked softly, turning onto his side to look Akamaru in the eyes.

The dog had not understood why Kiba had not taken the first chance he had been given to tell them the truth. But he respected Kiba's decision and hadn't judged him too harshly.

'Do you really want to?'

"I'm not sure, boy."

'Then it's not the right time.'

Kiba huffed at Akamaru's answer, turning onto his back once more.

His side was beginning to burn, but not in the comforting, pleasant way he had become accustomed to. Instead it began to tingle uncomfortably, then grew into an irritating glow that had Kiba wincing.

"Wonder what's bothering Tobirama..."

His chest was tight now too... Whatever was affecting Tobirama, was affecting Kiba too.

"Let's go check on him."

~/~

"He should be killed."

"That's not your decision to make, Tsunade."

The blonde winced at Tobirama's words, but then the man turned to look at Jiraiya. Of the two, the younger male had been the one most adamant and insistent about Orochimaru's death sentence.

"He is not getting killed. As the Hokage, Hiruzen has already made his decision." His eyes narrowed as he spoke, "And no temper tantrum will change that."

With a frown of his own, Jiraiya wisely avoided answering the accusation of his childish actions. Instead he looked at his old teacher, "You know how dangerous he is. He escaped from you once, he'll be able to do it again. Just because he found his soulmate, it does not mean he should be pardoned for his actions."

Tobirama tensed immediately at his words, but took a deep breath in to calm himself.

Anger had no use in this situation. Disappointment, though, was a harder feeling to get rid of. It festered within him, making him regret having placed so many of his hopes on a child as young as Tsunade.

Maybe, if he hadn't pushed her so hard, she wouldn't have tried so hard... Then, maybe, she would not have left the village when she felt that she had lost everything important to her.

"The matter of Orochimaru's soulmate is not up for discussion, Jiraiya." Hiruzen puffed out a few rings of smoke after he had said this, deep in thought. "Instead, what is up for discussion is which jail he will be confined to for the rest of his life. Killing him will solve nothing. Instead, it will only cause more pain."

"How could killing someone as vile as Orochimaru possibly hurt anyone?" Tsunade grunted out, "He tried to kill you, Sensei!"

"And he would have, if not for the Second Hokage escaping his jutsu to lend me aid." Sarutobi nodded in agreement, then turned his aged eyes on the man that had once been older than him. "What is your take on this, Tobirama Sensei?"

With his arms crossed decisively over his chest, Tobirama answered, "Killing him will win us nothing. A life spent asking for forgiveness is worth more than an immediate death decided on vengeance."

Suddenly, the tightness that had been constricting Tobirama's body began to unwind itself. Slowly but surely, he began to feel calmer, much less tensed than before. And when he reached out with his senses, he understood why.

Kiba had gotten much better at hiding his chakra level.

~/~

Kiba entered the Hokage's office with as much grace as he could. He knew that there was some big meeting going on, but he also knew that his soulmate was in trouble.

And if Tobirama felt bad, there was nothing he wouldn't do to make the evil go away.

The two people that stood by Tobirama were famous, he was sure. Sannin, like Orochimaru. He'd heard his mother speaking about them before, praising them one second, then cursing them the next.

His plan was to just stay quiet and unseen until Tobirama decided to leave. Then he'd go after the man and comfort him to the best of his abilities.

But then he'd heard Tobirama speaking up against killing Orochimaru, even when the two others in the room insisted he should have been killed.

He was proud Tobirama cared enough about Kankuro to keep the snake alive.

"If he escapes again,"

"Which he won't."

The blonde woman glared at Tobirama with an intensity that Kiba had only ever seen used by the man himself. And Tobirama, much to his surprise, didn't glare back at all. If anything... The man looked saddened.

"Granduncle, what I'm saying is that this is a risk that is not worth taking."

"Is ripping a soulmate away from another is a risk you would take?" Tobirama questioned, eyes finally filling with the fire Kiba had come to admire. "Because if you decide that taking away a person's soulmate just because of revenge is a reasonable action, then all of my work in raising you was for nothing."

Granduncle... This chick was Tobirama's family... The last of the Senju?

The harshness of his words made the woman pause for a second. Then, with utter confusion shining through, she asked, "Since when have soulmates been important to you? You were born without one. The idea of separating soulmates never bothered you before."

~/~

In his other past life, Tobirama would not have faltered over executing Orochimaru for his war crimes.

But in his past life, Tobirama had not had a soulmate waiting for him in his apartment. In that past life, he had not been touched by the hopefulness that Kiba Inuzuka innately held within himself. And in a past life, he had not understood how much it truly would have hurt to lose one's soulmate.

If he allowed himself, he would have many regrets over people killed in that past life. But he refused to do so, knowing that he had been a different person surrounded by different circumstances.

In this life, though, he had a soulmate. And the very thought of losing him made Tobirama's knees weak and his heart stutter.

"Desertion," He began, voice cold, "Is a crime punishable by death in Konoha. Desertion is when an active shinobi leaves their village without any form of communication to keep track of them. By your insistence on executing Orochimaru, I would be led to believe you would be alright with being punished yourself."

"Hey, that's kind of harsh, Tobirama."

Kiba walked into the light with Akamaru close to him, making his way towards Tobirama with distress clear on his face.

The boy had only ever seen snatches of how truly cold and ruthless he could be on the battlefield. Undoubtedly, he'd be caught off guard by suddenly seeing that battlefield persona turned onto allies. But Tobirama could not bare the thought of Kiba being taken away from him. So how could he bare the thought of Orochimaru being taken from Kankuro?

For a second, both Tsunade and Jiraiya remained silent. Kiba merely walked up to Tobirama to look him up in the eyes, brown eyes swimming with worry and dozens of different questions.

Tobirama did not like the way Kiba was looking at him now. There was barely any warmth in his stare.

How he wanted the warmth to come back...

"Who's the brat?"

~/~

Kiba had never seen Tobirama fly off the handle before. And, quite frankly, he never wanted to see it again.

The woman's question was completely expected. Kiba had appeared out of nowhere, unfelt by anyone in the room other than his soulmate, and had tried to defuse the situation without knowing anything about it. He didn't blame her for acting a bit like a bitch. She had all the reason to like act one, really, for her plans of seeing Orochimaru dead were being stopped by the one person she must have expected to back her up.

The first thing Tobirama had done was snarl at her to never call Kiba a brat ever again. A simpe statement that, while a bit surprising, Kiba could understand. His soulmate was on edge and no one liked to hear their other half insulted.

But the woman had taken insult badly. So she'd quickly questioned just who the hell this snot nosed kid could have been to him to make him so angry, and Tobirama had not taken well to that.

Kiba had only ever seen one person in his life as scary as Tobirama when he shouted. And that had been his mother when she'd found out that their father had abandoned them because he could not stand the pressures of being her lover anymore.

But while her mother had been a storm unleashed, Tobirama had been a storm kept bottled within. He hadn't shouted, but his words had been said to cut, and cut deep.

Kiba had not understood just what half of the things the man had said had meant. But he knew that by the end of his tirade, the woman was staring at him with tears flowing freely from her eyes and a mouth so agape that it looked like her jaw was about to unhinge and hit the floor.

"Tobirama..." Kiba whispered out, his own eyes wide after having heard the man say such ruthless things about traitors.

Suddenly, his hand was snatched into the man's own. And without a single word to any of the stunned people in the Hokage's office, the red eyed man marched them out.

Kiba remained silent as Tobirama stomped all the way from the Hokage's office to his apartment. And when the man threw his door open, sending it crashing into the wall behind, Kiba tried to not wince. But the sound was so sudden and so loud that he couldn't help himself.

The man's once bruising grip softened. And then Kiba found himself being pulled into Tobirama's body, hugged tightly.

"She had no right to call you a brat..."

Kiba, much too stunned by the man's sudden actions, fumbled for what to do. But quickly he wrapped his own arms around the man's waist, hugging him tightly to show him that he was there for him.

"But... You had no reason to say such things about her either..."

~/~

Tobirama had never wanted to hurt his family. Not even as a child, ostracized and ridiculed for being different, had he ever wanted to hurt them.

For the first time in his life, after Tsunade had insulted Kiba, Tobirama found himself feeling something he had never felt before. Hate for his family. And he could not bring himself to try and explain why. Or stop himself from feeling it.

Instead of trying to keep it inside, he'd exploded.

Some sick voice within him told him that he'd be happy to see Tsunade sad. But all he had felt as he called her out on her traitorous actions had been disgust with himself and anger for his own stupidity.

"I know..." Tobirama breathed out, eyes closed tight as tears pricked at them.

He didn't know how much time they spent standing there, hugging one another. But by the time Tobirama retracted his arms from Kiba, he could tell that the teenager was on the brink of falling asleep.

"All my life, I fought to create a village worth living in."

Kiba jumped slightly when Tobirama began to speak, but didn't interrupt. Instead he just leaned his body against Tobirama, head cradled on the man's chest. And Tobirama allowed him to stay there, then snaked his arms around the teen's waist as he continued to speak.

"Years of violent bloodshed and unnecessary war left my brother, Hashirama, and I hoping to create a safe place where kids would be able to live and play without having to worry about dying. And I gave my life to that dream, in the hopes that one day I would not have to worry about my Clan members dying prematurely."

Even with how tired the boy was, he still managed to raised his hands to rest them on top of Tobirama's, rubbing soothing circles onto each with his thumbs.

"In my lifetime, I was able to see a part of my dream realized. My brother was able to have children. And those children, their own." The man allowed a small smile to take over his features as he remembered a young Tsunade promising to never be a kunoichi, but to be a shinobi. "I had high hopes for Tsunade; believed that she could be Hokage material even in a time when kunoichi weren't really considered for posts of such high power."

He stopped talking then, a lump forming in his throat.

"Now you find out that the little girl you hoped would become Hokage actually wound up leaving her village and, at the same time, leaving her teammates behind... You've always emphasized teamwork, Tobirama..."

"Because Clan affiliations can only get you so far..." Tobirama repeated sourly, remembering the words he had said many times before to try and help build a mindful Konoha. "It's teamwork and loyalty that will win a fight. No matter if there are blood relations or not."

"You feel like she disrespected you by abandoning the village. Spit on your legacy and everything you had ever accomplished."

Kiba was so right it hurt.

No further words were said after that. Tobirama just held his soulmate well into the night, remaining silent. And for the first time since he had known the boy, Kiba did not fidget at all as he remained in his embrace. He stood there with Tobirama, offering what comfort he could by just being there.

..~..~..

Tsunade is a character that I love. Don't get me wrong, please. This may seem like bashing, but it's not! Really! I swear! Just look at it in Tobirama's point of view: All he can see is a grandniece he loved leaving the village he created over heartache. Heartache which he had kind of experienced himself, minus the lover bit. But he'd lost brothers, friends, and family. He stayed though. Why couldn't Tsunade?

Please review!