Hair Like Snow
A one shot on Hashirama and Tobirama's mother. Tobirama and Itama had to get their white hair gene from somewhere. It's also my attempt to imagine how Tobirama grew to be such a perceptive, reserved and seemingly emotionally unavailable person. A few elements of Asian mythology thrown in.
Hashirama, Tobirama, Pre-Konoha OC
Of all the Senju brothers, none knew their mother better than Tobirama.
Akane Senju was the matriarch of the proud Senju clan. Aside from the Yuki clan in the northern mountains, she was the only non Yuki clan shinobi who could expertly combine wind and water elements to form her own ice release techniques, thus earning her the nickname of the "Snow Maiden" on the battlefield.
Out of the battlefield, to her four sons, she was a loving and stringent mother. To the Senju clan, she was their most respected but enigmatic first lady. To her husband, she was his most trusted advisor and companion. But to Tobirama, she was a haunted and lost soul.
Just like the Hyouton techniques she wielded, Akane had a cool and detached demeanor about her, amplified by her icy appearance. She had snow-white hair, fair skin, and ruby red eyes that lent her an ethereal beauty.
Since he was born, Tobirama remembers how despite being held in his mother's warm embrace, she felt cold and apart, just like how her otherworldly beauty was distinctly separate from the fertile, earthy grounds which the Senju commanded as their own.
"Mother, where are you from?" he asks one day, as he sits idly watching her fill in an order for kunai.
She stops midway through a stroke, ruby eyes settling on her son and betraying a look of surprise. Despite no one having told Tobirama, the innate sensor that he was, he had figured his mother was not originally from the Senju clan based on her chakra signature.
"From the northern mountains of Asahikawa. It's mostly winter and snow where I was born throughout the year, so we always had a fur collar to keep us warm during the unbearably harsh winters," replied Akane, reminiscence and a tinge of sorrow dancing like snowflakes across the tundra of her monotone voice.
She pointed to a silvery-white fur collar she always kept in her drawer, but Tobirama didn't think too much about it until that spring day in February.
Tobirama felt sick. And it was all thanks to the sight of a wiry man, a butcher of sorts, who was busy skinning a couple of foxes that hung limply from the bamboo pole.
Despite being seasoned in war at such a tender age, and being accustomed to the stench of blood, he was still a stranger to the cloying smell of decomposition. Those foxes must have been dead for a couple of days, and he hadn't expected this when he accompanied Akane under civilian disguise to the nearby civilian town to get some medical supplies.
He looks up at Akane, nose scrunched up in disgust and hoping to ask to leave soon, and was muted into silence by what he saw.
Senju Akane was staring at the butcher skinning the foxes, her usually blank and composed face a flurry of emotions: Rage, sorrow, despair and something else Tobirama couldn't quite place.
"Mother…?"
Senju Akane's eyes slid from the butcher to him, and fear pierced his heart as for a fleeting moment, he felt and saw, a murderous look settle upon him from the woman who had given him life. But it was gone as soon as it had come.
"Tobi, do you want me to tell you a story?"
A cold, soft hand caressed his silvery white hair as Akane led him out of the civilian town.
Akane recounts a story of how a wandering shinobi came across a butcher who was about to skin two arctic foxes he had caught in the forests along the border. The shinobi was startled by the unique coats of the foxes. One was silvery white, and the other pure white and spotless as snow.
From what he could tell, the silvery white one was dead whilst the white one was flailing around helplessly, letting out pitiful mewls and cries of help. It was obvious the butcher was going to skin both foxes, and he was about to kill the white fox when the shinobi quickly ordered him to stop.
"Please sir, spare the poor fox! She's such a lovely creature, it would be a pity to kill such a beautiful thing. I'll pay you 50 tokens for her and another 50 for her partner," pleaded the shinobi.
The butcher, pleasantly surprised by the generous offer, agreed and passed both foxes to the shinobi.
The shinobi carried the white fox home, all the while trying his best to soothe her and calm her down, and was surprised to see her shed pearl-like tears as she eyed the bag containing the dead silver-white fox.
Little did he know that the foxes were fox spirits who were greatly weakened by a fearsome battle that left them unable to retain their human form, resulting in the butcher mistaking them for mere arctic foxes he could profit from in the lucrative fur trade. It was only after a few days of nursing that the white fox regained her human form and married the shinobi out of gratitude, promising to bring him and his clan prosperity for his kindness to her.
Tobirama was only eight years old when he saw his mother die before his eyes.
Senju Akane had been severely wounded in battle and lay on the futon, the light from her eyes slowly dimming as her sons curled up beside her, crying in denial of the inevitable.
Her long white hair was loosened from its usual ponytail, and the Senju brothers clung to the snow-white strands, wrapping themselves up in them, hoping that their mother's hair will continue to protect them from the fury and cruelty of battle and the coarse, rough training of the Senju warriors.
Tobirama feels his mother stroke his cheek; he was her favorite amongst all her four sons. He looks up at her, and sees that her eyes settle upon the silver-white fur collar on her dressing table.
"I'll finally get to see him again. Tobi. I'm so happy, I'm finally free," she whispered.
It was as though someone had wrenched a sword through Tobirama's heart when he realized the truth of his mother's identity.
He barely heard Kawarama's wails when their mother drew her final breath and lay still forever. All he felt was the ice and snow of his mother's hair around him as he wondered if his father was both the shinobi and the butcher.
It was as though something had possessed him as he detached himself from his mother's side and grabbed the fur collar from the dressing table. It was soft, strong, and most importantly, warm. Warmer than the snow-white veil of his mother's hair upon him.
Since then, Tobirama kept the fur collar at his side at all times, even wearing it to battle, as a reminder of his mother's admirable determination and ferocity in life, and maybe, just maybe… to satisfy that small selfish part of him that desperately wanted such a passionate and genuine love that transcended lifetimes.
-End-
End Notes:
The name of Akane for Tobirama and Hashirama's mother is inspired by work I saw on Deviantart. You can just google "Akane Senju" and she will turn up!
In it, she is depicted as a she-wolf of sorts, but I decided to take a different spin to it and made her a fox spirit. This is because when I was young, I've read stories of men saving animal spirits from certain death, unaware of their true identities as powerful spirits, and in return, they took on human form to repay their debt to their human saviors.
However, during wartimes in history where women were seen as valuable "breeding livestock" and spoils of war, it was not unusual for victors to massacre an entire clan or village and take beautiful women as wives and concubines. Not that I'm trying to demonize Butsuma, but I wanted to accurately portray the violence and cruelty in those times, especially for women - also the duality of (forced) love and hatred.
I also refuse to believe the Senju clan was as innocent and full of good intentions as Kishi likes to paint them.
Thank you!
Special thanks to all my reviewers so far, especially to satiny-angle for your insightful comments! It's great to know there is a Pre-Konoha fan out there! :) You all make me so happy! :D
