Tobirama tugged fitfully on the hair that brushed the tips of his ears, a habit he had developed during his eighteenth year when his body had frozen in time and it had stopped growing. If asked how old he was now, Tobirama would answer that he was still eighteen. He had been the same age for fifteen years and whenever he tugged on the hair above his ear it was a surefire sign that something was bothering him. Sometimes it was annoyance over whatever his brother had done this time. Sometimes it was nerves because one of their patrols should have been home three days ago. Right now it was restlessness over having to wait for something he should have been a part of.

Next to him, Hashirama eyed the hair-tugging and smiled, though he said nothing. Hashirama had spent only two years at the age of eighteen before he had begun to age again, though he hadn 't actually met his soulmate until a few years after that. Tobirama often envied him. It must be nice to have someone the way that his brother had Mito, someone to welcome him home and hold him close at night. Tobirama had been waiting for his someone for a long time now. Sometimes he was sure he would never find them, not even if he someday, finally, began to age again. He was aware that re-aging could mean one of two things: either your soulmate had also reached eighteen years old or it meant that they had died before that age.

As his fingers tugged on his locks one more, Hashirama finally turned to him and reached out, stilling his pale hand with a large tanned one and lowering it back to his side.

'Everything will be fine, little brother, ' the Hokage tried to comfort him. Tobirama sighed and crossed his arms.

'I should have been here for the last months of their training, ' he grumbled for what may have been the hundredth time. He was still wearing the clothes he had been wearing when he arrived in the village only hours before. Travel dust clung to every crevice on his body and he couldn 't wait to bathe.

'I needed you in the Land of Lightning, ' Hashirama reiterated from a conversation they 'd already had. 'It was a delicate situation and I needed someone capable of diplomacy. I love Madara like family but he 's not the best at being diplomatic when he disagrees with something. '

Tobirama huffed and muttered, 'I didn 't even get the chance to see them before everything started. I haven 't wished any of them good luck. ' Hashirama shook his head, smiling once again.

'They know you wish them the best, ' was all he offered. Tobirama sighed again.

His two genin teams had grown so much since he had first began their training. Today they were to take the jonin selection exam for the first time and he was certain that almost all of them would pass. Danzo, perhaps, he would hope was held back. There were certain ideals that the boy held which weren 't the healthiest and he hoped to work on them more before the boy was declared fully independent. Hiruzen and Kagami, on the other hand, were the two he was most certain of. If either of them weren 't chosen as jonin he would be demanding explanations from someone.

The exams were private, unlike the chunin selections. As their teacher he should have been allowed to spectate but he had arrived too late. All he could do now was wait here until the six young students he had trained came out to tell him their news. He didn 't notice that his hand had returned to his hair until Hashirama caught it with his own again. He gave his brother an exasperated look when he didn 't let go, then raised an eyebrow when he noticed the older man 's sudden scrutiny.

'What? ' he growled. Hashirama tilted his head like a curious puppy.

'Brother...has your hair grown? ' The hand holding his let go so that it could poke at his white locks.

Tobirama stared at him like he had lost his mind before batting the hand away and snapping, 'Don 't be ridiculous. It hasn 't grown since the day I turned eighteen. ' He frowned when his brother didn 't stop staring, only leaned in to inspect him closer.

'I 'm serious, Tobirama. It looks longer! '

'You 've never been serious a day in your life, ' he murmured absently even as he gripped some of his fringe and pulled it down, eyeing it critically. Was it longer? Heedless of how ridiculous he would look if someone were to walk in right then, he pulled the hair as straight as possible so that it pressed up against his face, gauging it against where he knew it should have ended. His heart skipped a beat when he realized that Hashirama was right. 'It is longer, ' he breathed. 'My hair is growing. '

The two brothers looked at each other, both with their eyebrows raised in surprise. Tobirama had been alive for 36 years and only now did he begin re-aging. Had his soulmate come of age?

'Do you know anyone who turned eighteen recently? ' Hashirama asked as that ridiculously too-large smile of his spread across his face. Tobirama swallowed while he eyes widened in alarm.

'Two of my students, ' he whispered. 'Two of them had birthdays while I was away. '

He was suddenly finding it difficult to draw breath. Hashirama gripped his shoulder bracingly as he stared in to space and tried to process what this meant. Tobirama had been waiting for his soulmate for a very long time. The idea that he might finally find them was both exhilarating and nerve-wracking. He found himself unprepared. He had no idea how to romance someone or how to date. He had no idea how to navigate the traps and pitfalls of a relationship. His only example was his brother and Mito and he was sure that their relationship was not the norm. Hashirama was the most powerful man in all the five elemental lands, yet Mito had the man eating out of her palm and bowing at her feet.

The prospect that it might be one of his students also contributed largely to his sudden anxiety. Only one of the two that had had a birthday was female. The possibility of Koharu as the one he was destined to be with was 'not pleasant to say the least. He was fond of her as a student but he was sure they could not make each other happy romantically. Calming himself with deep breaths, Tobirama told himself that all he could do at the moment was wait and see.

It was yet another hour until the final participant had completed their task for the final exam. Hashirama left him alone and he used that time to calm himself. No one outside of the competition knew what the tasks were and he was looking forward to hearing what they had all been asked to do to prove their worth as elite shinobi. When finally the door opened and young men and women began to file out of the enclosed testing area, Tobirama 's hand automatically sought the hair above his ear again, tugging fitfully without noticing.

The first of his students that appeared was Hiruzen, who headed towards him with a proud grin. Tobirama offered a small smile of his own.

'Well done, ' he said, not needing to hear the words to know that one of his most skilled has passed. Hiruzen bowed respectfully.

'It 's all thanks to you, sensei. We wouldn 't have made it anywhere near as far as we did without you. '

'Damn right! ' Torifu stepped up beside his friend with a smile just as proud and his ever-present bag of snacks in one hand. 'Sensei, check it out! We 're jonin now! '

'Yes, I see that, ' Tobirama indulged him while some of the others wormed their way through the crowd.

He looked up as Danzo arrived, just in time to hear the disgruntled young man growl, 'Something 's different about you. ' It wasn 't that surprising. Trust Danzo, of them all, to notice right away. He 'd always had extremely keen eyes, able to notice small details at a glance. 'Your hair, it 's longer. ' Before he could respond Torifu scoffed.

'Don 't be ridiculous. Sensei 's hair

can 't

grow. ' He rolled his eyes but Koharu, appearing between them, pinched his arm.

'It could if his soulmate reached eighteen, ' she reminded him. They all stopped and gave her a significant look. Koharu cleared her throat and took a deep breath before meeting her sensei 's eyes. It was with a large amount of relief on both sides that they came to the same conclusion: they were not each other 's soulmates. Though they were both of age, there was no pull between them. Koharu sagged with relief. Tobirama did so internally, though he refrained from being obvious about it, and shook his head to inform the others of the good news. It was best to keep their relationship as student and sensei. They would never be closer than that.

The crowd parted to their left and two bodies stumbled in to their small corner gathering. Kagami leaned on Homura with his eyes closed, fanning himself. Homura was bent over taking large gulps of air. The pair of them looked as if they had released a fire jutsu in a broom closet while still standing inside it.

'Alright, jonin promotion or not, I would not recommend pissing off Proctor Ogawa. That was close. ' Kagami straightened up and looked around, frowning when he noticed his teammates staring at him. 'What? I didn 't mean to. ' Most of them shook their head. Koharu grinned in a feral manner.

'Guess what Kagami? Sensei started re-aging, ' she cooed. 'Didn 't you just have a birthday? '

Kagami shrugged and said, 'Yeah a couple months ago but I don 't see what that has to do with Sensei. Although, congrats sensei! Did you find them yet? ' He looked over finally, making eye contact with Tobirama for the first time.

It felt a bit like someone reaching down in to his very core, gripping his soul itself, and pulling hard in one direction. That direction being Kagami. They stared at each other in surprise. Tobirama wondered why he hadn 't even considered this. Probably because Kagami was male and soulmate pairings between two of the same gender simply weren 't as common. They happened of course but it was believed by many that soulmates were supposed to be genetically matched for the perfect offspring. Tobirama had always secretly thought that was utter horseshit. Soulmates were for love.

And his soulmate was his student.

'I think I just did, ' he heard someone say. It sounded like his own voice but he couldn 't remember speaking.

'I knew it! ' Koharu crowed while the others around them gaped in surprise. Kagami and Tobirama continued to stare at one another in silence until Torifu took one of their arms each in his massive, meaty hands.

'This should be private, guys, give them a minute alone! ' With that, Tobirama found himself and his soulmate shoved in to one of the empty rooms off of the meeting area that was still full of people.

The door slammed behind them and he found himself alone with Uchiha Kagami, the soulmate he had been waiting for all his life. He had no idea what to say. Or do. He stared in wonder, taking in everything about Kagami that he noticed a million times before but couldn 't help noticing again.

Like almost everyone in his clan, Kagami had inky black hair and matching eyes. His locks were slightly curly and bounced when he ran. Tobirama happened to know that if he ruffled the young man 's hair the locks would jump back in to place like gently coiled springs. He had the same finely-cut features as anyone from his heritage could expect, although his eyes were gentler than most. He was of average height, standing several inches below Tobirama, just enough that he could bend and tuck his head under the elder 's chin. Tobirama swallowed and looked away, picturing it.

'Are you disappointed, sensei? ' the young man 's quiet voice made his head snap back around.

'Disappointed? ' he repeated, stunned. 'No. Just very surprised. ' A thought came to him and he tugged at the hair that had started everything. 'Are you? '

Kagami shook his head vehemently and exclaimed, 'Not at all! It 's ' ah ' well. Promise you won 't laugh? ' Tobirama nodded once. 'I 've sort of had a crush on you ever since I hit puberty. I used to pretend that you were my soulmate just waiting for me to grow up. The fact that you actually are is 'wow. '

Tobirama stared at him, even more unsure of what to say now. Kagami offered him a sheepish grin and a shrug, entirely unrepentant in the face of his dreams coming true. The Senju wasn 't sure what to do with knowing that someone had thought of him that way. He 'd never seen himself as particularly desirable. His looks were usually described as 'strange ' and his personality as 'cold '. Apparently the universe really did know what it was doing, pairing him with the one person who had ever seen any sort of romantic worth in him.

'I 'm not entirely sure what to do now, ' he finally admitted in a quiet voice. It was a hard thing to admit. He was used to being the sensei, the leader. Now he would need to learn to see Kagami as a partner instead, an equal in all things. When Kagami smiled he noticed for some reason how attractive it was. He 'd never noticed that before.

'Well, I 've got something we could try, ' the Uchiha said. Tobirama made a curious sound.

Instead of answering, Kagami quickly covered the small distance between them and surprised him by landing a kiss directly on his lips, slowing his momentum just in time for the gesture to be soft and tender rather than a spontaneous head butt. When the younger man pulled away Tobirama stared at him with saucer-wide eyes, his brain completely shutting down. To his horror he could feel a magnificent blush rising on his cheeks. He hadn 't blushed since going through puberty at the age of twelve, when he 'd discovered his brother 's stash of magazines.

'Oh my god, sensei! ' Kagami squealed upon seeing his blush.

'Don 't kiss me and call me sensei! ' Tobirama growled, as usual resorting to anger to cover his emotions. Long used to him, Kagami grinned and leaned in for a second kiss. Tobirama made a soft noise of surprise but he managed to kiss back this time, drawing it out until Kagami was the one making noises in the back of his throat. This time when they parted they were both flushed. It was only partly from embarrassment.

Kagami cleared his throat and asked, 'So what do I call you then? ' in a voice that was strangely husky. Tobirama shifted his weight, feeling strange.

'By my name, of course. ' His former student hummed contemplatively. Then he grinned darkly.

'I always called you Tobirama in my dreams, ' he said. The Senju gaped, stuttering through a few half sentences of gibberish as he tried to think of a way to respond. He 'd never imagined that he would be so flustered by all this. Then, of course, his traitor mouth had to open again without his permission.

'What else did you dream about? '

By the glint in Kagami 's eye, he was sure he would regret that question.