Hm, the Tsunade singing 'Who lives, who dies, who tells your story' seems interesting, may I request that please?
absolutely!! i love your writing and i'm so glad you wanted to request something of mine!!
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who tells your story
ao3
words: 1.6k
angst, mention of canon death, war era
***
Despite the intense battles surrounding her, she was unable to move. It really did seem like he was there, right in front of her. Was she dying? Was this heaven? If it was, she had no complaints. No one could ever accuse her of not doing her part on behalf of the village. She deserved to rest after the hells she had seen and been through, and if this was it, she would welcome it.
And then his touch was so real, and it was him, and she could feel the pain in her body that told her she was awake and alive but god if he wasn’t, too.
***
“Who’s that, dattebayo?” Naruto asked, nudging Chouza and gesturing toward the pair.
He allowed a grim smile, fond memories overpowering the knowledge that this reunion would be temporary.
“Lady Tsunade’s fiancé. That’s Dan Kato. One of the finest shinobi the Leaf ever had, and one of the biggest pains in the administration’s ass I had the honor of knowing.”
Before Naruto could interject with any other questions, Kakashi stepped forward and held him back with a hand on his shoulder.
“Listen. Let me tell you what we all wished we had known when we were your age, fighting in our first war.” The serious tone he maintained was enough to keep the antsy shinobi at attention. “You want to be in all these cool fights, and everyone wants to die a hero, but at the end of the day, what makes you a hero in history is who tells your story.”
He swallowed hard, surprising himself with the emotion that had suddenly forced itself to the surface. “Remember when we talked about the White Fang on the way back from Suna last year?”
Naruto nodded, uncertain where the conversation was going.
“He did great things for the village, and he died, and to some people, he’s a hero. To some people, he isn’t. The difference is in who’s talking about him. What happened is fact, and that can’t be changed. But his story can only be told by whoever lives.”
“Yeah, and you told us that he was a hero, and you took us to his grave that one time, remember?” Naruto thought back to that first day on the training grounds where his sensei had brought them to the memorial stone and explained the significance of the names engraved in its marble surface. “What’s that got to do with him?” he asked, pointing firmly at the man in front of the Hokage.
Kakashi took a beat before responding. “He died, Naruto. And for a long time, we didn’t get to know his story because there wasn’t someone who could tell it.” He focused in on Tsunade’s face, seeing the shock, confusion, and love displayed like a bakery shelf. “It’s only been in the last few years that his story has been explored.”
***
Tsunade shook, her mouth slightly agape. “It’s really… Dan?”
He smiled, rushing forward to hold her. They embraced, her covered in dirt, sweat, and blood, and him bathed in a warm glow. She continued to shake, her body wracked with emotion.
“Were you—did Kabuto—”
“Don’t worry, love,” he reassured her, brushing her hair behind her ear over and over. “Just focus on the moment, okay? I don’t know how much longer I can maintain the jutsu.”
She agreed, letting herself sink into his body. It had been so long, and yet he still felt like a home she had always been trying to find since she had had to move away.
After a few beats, Dan pulled himself back slightly to ask the question that refused to leave his head.
“Chouza—he said you became Hokage? Is that true? I was able to watch over you for the first few years after I—you know. I thought you left the village with Shizune. Traveled, healed others, caused lots of trouble. Tsuna, you came back to the Leaf?”
She took a couple of steps back, wiped the tears off her face, and stood tall.
“I put myself back in the narrative, Dan. I got a reminder of what you, what we were fighting for, and I stopped wasting time and got my ass in gear.” She flipped her ponytail off her shoulder, feeling it settle in the middle of her back. Her confidence returned to her along with her smile as she explained.
“I led some late-stage recovery efforts to find bodies lost in the war that still hadn’t come back to us. They’re almost all back now, we’re missing less than a dozen fallen shinobi. And the work you did on getting one medic on every team of four—we’re almost there. My four youngest teams on the battlefield today, two of them have medics that trained directly with me. You’d be proud of Sakura, Dan.
You really wrote so many grant applications and proposals to change our shinobi education system. It took me a while to get through them, but I’m putting everything in place now. You really did write like you knew you wouldn’t have long to get it all on paper,” she finished, feeling the bittersweet sting set in.
She cleared her throat and continued. “I rely so much on Shizune. She’s led efforts in telling the stories of shinobi who fell in the Third Great War so that no one will be forgotten. She visits your grave almost as often as Kakashi visits his old teammates. She actually just got done fighting with the caretaker to make sure she has the burial plot next to yours. I don’t have any idea what I would do without her, honestly. When I needed her most, she was right on time.”
“There’s more,” Tsunade brushed another stray tear away. “I ask myself all the time what you would do if you had lived, if you had had more time. Thinking about that is how I get my best ideas. Like fundraising for the memorial stone—the Leaf had just been mourning all these fallen comrades, and building the tribute to them gave more hope in the shinobi population that they would be remembered and respected, no matter what. That someone would tell their story.”
“Tsunade—that’s incredible,” Dan began, crossing over to wrap her in a hug again. “I can’t believe you’re making all these changes we wanted to see in the village! The next generation will benefit so much—”
“I know, I know, but have I done enough? Can I ever do enough? There are so many tragedies in the Leaf, and I’m only one person, Dan. I don’t have you.” She leaned in to his embrace, feeling the tears begin to choke her throat again. He again tucked her hair away, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head.
After a moment, she pulled back. “Can I tell you what I’m proudest of, out of all that?”
He nodded immediately. “You can tell me anything, Tsuna.”
Her face softened in a way he had never quite seen it before. She seemed to be drinking in his expression, trying to save his coming reaction in her memory forever.
“I established the first orphanage in Konohagakure.”
Dan’s jaw audibly popped as it fell open.
“It’s only a couple of years old, and Shizune and I researched the staff there so thoroughly it’s a wonder they accepted the position, but it’s a real orphanage. I visit as often as I can. I’m helping to raise all these children, and they’re growing up, and I can see Nawaki in them, and you, Dan, I see you every time I see the will of fire in their eyes, there’s this little one who talks about being Hokage—”
She was cut off by Dan crushing her into a hug. “Thank you, Tsuna,” he whispered into her shoulder. “Thank you.”
His presence flickered, and she grabbed on to him tighter, trying to anchor him. Tears began to roll down his lean face as he gave her a squeeze and leaned back, not letting go.
“I can’t hold the jutsu much longer, love. But you need to stay here—you’ve got so many amazing and beautiful things to do here, for the village, for us.”
She worked her fingers into his hair, croaking through a choked voice “It’s only a matter of time before I’ll see you again, right?”
Dan brought her back into the hug, pressing the side of his face against hers. “I can’t wait to see you again, Tsuna. It’s only a matter of time.”
He seemed to fade and flicker again, and they wasted no time in speaking, opting instead to cling to each other and look into the eyes they had missed for so long. When Dan knew his hold on the jutsu had only another moment, he brought himself closer and pulled his fiancée into a last kiss, for now.
Then he was fading, and floating, and Tsunade could at last feel the warmth of him watching over her.
“For you, my love,” she whispered, reaching for the necklace she had given away. Then she caught sight of its recipient, standing on a small hill nearby, and for a moment, she saw Nawaki in his place. He grinned and she felt her heart catch, then she brought her hand back to her side.
“Let’s go, Naruto,” she called out. “We’ve got stories to tell.”
