Four
"They are close by. There is a…tailed beast bound by Hashirama's jutsu. Hashirama is far west, Itsuki, look into it. There seems to be no sign of Madara."
Tobirama suddenly opens his eyes, jerking back, lifting his index and middle finger from the ground. Kagami watches, grim. Sasuke signals Hyuga Itsuki, Hiruzen and a medical nin to hurry in the direction of Hashirama.
"What else have you sensed, Tobirama?" Sasuke's voice is grave. Tobirama shakes his head, then answers weakly.
"Lady Mito is advancing rapidly towards the tailed beast."
Tobirama, as he tails Mito, keeps on recalling her large shining eyes, like pebbles on the bottom of a clear pond. A shade such, that thin rice paper soaked repeatedly in violet dye, could not compare to that purple. The cascade of red hair. A bronze pin. The ruffle of a kimono and the lingering scent of smoke and ink.
He was guilty of drifting his hands down below, to soothe the throes of desire that coursed through his body at the thought of her parted moist lips and of her creamy muscled thighs, feet dipped in the tiny pond in the Senju grounds.
He would not allow it. He would not allow Uzumaki Mito to become a vessel for the beast of hatred he thinks, as wind whistles past him and he hears the gentle thumps indicating that Kagami and Sasuke are right behind him, that he will stop her.
He will find her.
"Mito!"
And she whips her head back at him, red hair flying, and she shakes her head.
"Mito, please, no!" Tobirama is begging, he knows he cannot approach her. Kagami and Sasuke stand by, mute, as if they agree with her. The tailed beast roars, the nine tails, an orange fury of sheer power, and it reverberates through their bones. Mito brings her gentle hand down and one, two, three,four, five six, seven, eight, nine, sealing gates drop from the heavens and pin it's nine tails. Another flick of her hand brings a large one, pinning the fox's head.
They witness the Uzumaki power for the first time. Red angry chains of chakra have burst from Mito's body, a barrier is erected around her, supported by the chains.
"The adamantine sealing chains of the Uzumaki." Sasuke mutters, "They are too powerful, we cannot pass this barrier."
Tobirama ignores this. "Mito! Please!"
She pauses, and turns. The beast roars at her, it's pupils constricting, and Mito doesn't flinch. She is covered in a sickly red aura, her hair have come undone and shadows of chakra chains dance on her gentle features. Her eyes look murky, deadly and dark. The chains almost look like… wings.
"Thank you Tobirama. For caring so much. It is because of you I have survived dreary hours." She smiles almost, teasingly. Her voice sounds like it is from underwater. So far away. "Understand that I choose to do this, Tobirama. For Hashirama. For his love. For mine. For the village. "
She glances at the sky. Raises her hand and lets another gate fall. It constricts the fox's whole body.
"To fill oneself with love. .." She says and smiles softly. "Yes. That is what I will do."
And Tobirama's cries are downed by the roar of the fox and the gentle of Mito's smile.
When the dome of red chains fall and the gates of heaven crumble to a fine dust, Mito collapses.
Tobirama rushes forward, ignoring Sasuke's calls for precaution. Kagami threads silently, red Sharingan flicking, hovering over Tobirama, protecting him.
"Mito?" He whispers as he pulls her into his arms. There's the smell of singed flesh and as he turns her over slightly he recognizes a seal, on her belly, from where she has torn open the front of her kimono. Her hair look dull, almost brown, spill all over Tobirama's arm, her pretty eyes are closed, soot and dirt smearing her creamy skin.
Tobirama gingerly puts a hand on the, still hot, seal. He jerks his hand back, and glances at a worrisome Kagami.
"Lady Mito is the first ever jinjurikii of the nine tails." He says calmly.
Tobirama nods, feels as if a slice of breath has been lodged in his throat. He has failed his brother. He has failed Mito. He has failed himself.
"Brother?"
Tobirama, sits by his Hashirama's bedside. His dark eyes, tiredly gaze at Tobirama, his mouth drooping. Hashirama's chest rises and falls with even breathing, finally. "Brother!" Tobirama smiles, he is awake!
Hashirama's condition was bad. Not only had he received fatal wounds and lost a lot of blood, he was hysterical. Kept crying, muttering obscenity which made sense to no one. Had horrible fits of nausea when he was bought back his sword. The Hokage had to be force fed.
"Tobirama." It is his brother's voice that prevents him for calling the medical nin over for another inspection. His voice is scratchy and weary, so unlike his usual thunder and cheerful shouts of joy.
"Yes?" Tobirama sits back down on the dingy stool. He pats his brother's hand awkwardly, he was never the one for affections. But he is more grateful than ever that Hashirama is fine, that his elder brother has survived. He is very grateful.
"Madara…?" Hashirama's voice drops to a whisper, his eyes are glazed over, and he asks as if he wants to cling to hope.
"His body wasn't found after…after your fight." Tobirama is gentle in his answer. Madara was the man who had tried to kill his brother. Every blow was fatal. And yet, his brother wakes up after twelve hours and the first thing he asks is about that traitor? Tobirama instincts tells him to not to press.
But where did Madara go? Was his body washed downstream? The doctor attending to Mito, had reported that the moment she re-gained consciousness she had gasped that Madara was dead. Then...
Tobirama knew he was an able ninja. The only one who could beat up his brother so badly, bring him so close to death. Only Uchiha Madara could do that. But with such fatal wounds, how did he escape? Where did his body go if he was dead. It was very likely that someone had stolen his body to harness his extraordinary eyes. That was the general theory.
"He told me this would hurt." Hashirama shifts a little, swallowing.
Tobrirama's voice hardens as he asks, "What would?"
Twenty heartbeats. Thirty. A ruffle of Hashirama's blanket. More silence. Then,
"Loving him." Hashirama's voice cracks.
Tobirama watches as Hashirama turns his empty eyes to the ceiling. "The fool…" he almost smiles, "Doesn't know he's damned me to hell." He closes his eyes, "Because I always will love him."
Tobirama pauses at Mito's door.
It is a pleasant evening. Should he knock? She's probably resting or outside or- Or should he call her out, it's probably not appropriate…
"Tobirama-sama?"
Tobirama turns around and says slowly. "Hello, Mito."
She's returning from the gardens, he thinks, there is a leaf stuck to her elaborate hair. There are the dull bronze pins. She is cocking her head to a side and smiling. The long sleeves of her white kimono rise as she signals for him to enter, "Please go on, Tobirama-sama, it seems to be that I am particularly stuck at a water style. Perhaps you'd brief me over it and we can have some tea?"
"Ah…of course. Yes." Tobirama makes his resolves and slides the door open., aware fully of how Mito follows him, her lovely nimble feet making no sound at all.
Mito pours him tea while talking rapidly, "Oh, Tobirama-sama I know I'm supposed to concentrate on what I have but I would absolutely love to do something more, you know? I just can't rely on my seals or chakra chains for goodness sake, it's-"
Tobirama smiles. He can hear her talking all day, all night long and would never get tired of it but he is slightly distracted by how Mito's leg brushes his. It never fails to make him utterly speechless and deeply ashamed of himself. Also, isn't there something he wanted to discuss with Mito?
"Mito, please don't call me 'Tobirama-sama', Tobirama is better." He looks at her gently.
"Yes, Tobirama." Mito smiles back and proceeds to tell him of how she needs to acquire new ninjutsu. Tobirama senses the fox's chakra. He pauses in between the sip.
"Mito."
"And I thought-yes?" She looks at him questioningly.
"How are you…adapting to the nine tails?" Tobirama looks her in the eye, concerned. Mito pauses. Then she laughs lightly, "Ah, well." She sets her cup down. "It's an evil, disturbing chakra, that's for sure. I'm okay, I feel very normal, if that's what you're worried about."
"Hm." Tobirama makes no comment and proceeds to drain his cup. There is an awkward silence between them, Tobirama decides to break it and jump straight to the point.
"Mito, what did you see when you reached the Final Valley?"
She does not look at him when she answers, instead her her eyes cast down, pressing her fingers to the table, and making gentle circles.
"I saw… that Hokage loved the late Madara-sama very much. That he had to stain Madara-sama's blood on his hands to protect all of us. You, me, the village. I saw how truly great a man Hokage-sama is. I hope…"
She turns to him. Her eyes calm.
"… that nobody has to go through what Hokage-sama suffered. I saw this too, it is never too late to love. I think Madara-sama realized that. "
Tobirama digests this. She knows? Surely.
"And what about you? Don't you…love Hashirama?" Tobirama feels an indescribable twinge of pain as he says this. He should not, yet he does.
"I do." Mito does not hesitate and Tobirama looks away. "It is impossible not to love such a man."
Tobirama feels a low, ugly sinking feeling in his gut. He knew it all along, and even if he does, why does it matter so much to him anyway? It should not. Tobirama only has the energy to mange a decent, "Good." And he turns to get up, mumbling, "Ah, I 'm afraid I have to leave…"
He stands up and it is then he hears Mito saying, "Tobirama?"
He freezes. It is pathetic how a single human has such an influence on him. Absolutely pathetic. What sort of ninja is he, a nin who is supposed to be in check of exactly how he or she feels. He checks himself. He is pathetic.
She rises and steps in front of him, her deep eyes searching his face without hiding the intention. He hopes he does not hear the erratic beat of his heart, it will surely give his feelings away. She begins in a low, calm tone before Tobirama starts his apology and starts to make an excuse for his rather uncouth exit.
"I dared to think that after marriage, I could hope for an intimate relationship, one that a wife has with her husband. However, I have come to realize that Hokage-sama is someone that no one can truly embrace. Only Madara-sama, and only him. I know this very well too. Madara-sama can love Hashirama-sama and be loved back so privately and closely. I am foolish to think otherwise." She pauses. Tobirama then notices how there is a deep sadness in her eyes, but also, how the pale of her skin is deepening to a light rose.
"What about you, Tobirama? Is there someone you wish to share the bond Madara-sama and Hokage-sama shared?" Her eyes are wide and curious. Almost innocent as she looks up at him.
Tobirama blinks. His mouth goes dry on guessing the notion behind her telling him such things. He does not feel nervous as he raises his hand and feels her cool cheek in his rough hand. "Mito." He breathes.
She leans in into his touch, lips brushing against the skin of his hand, eyes closed. "Tobirama."
She says as if it is a revelation and Tobirama cannot hold back anymore. His body tingles with desire and a sweet heady hum as he leans in and kisses her. Her warm lips open up under his almost immediately and she starts to kiss him back.
That evening, neither of them leave that room. Nor that night, for all that matters.
Tobirama feels a childish joy sort of joy as his shoulder throbs from not moving for a long time, feeling Mito's silky head resting against his bicep. Her hair are longer and silkier than he imagined, fanning around her like a curtain. He fingers some and kisses them, grateful to have her in his arms and they slip through his hands like water. She 'mms' in sleep and presses close to him, he feels her creamy, naked body shift closer and swallows nervousness.
But what's to be nervous of anymore? He smiles like a giddy schoolboy and presses a chaste kiss to Mito's forehead, right on the little purple rhombus.
Tobirama eases his arm out from under her head, replacing it immediately with his pillow. He rises, feeling his clammy, just as naked skin, cool and content against the night's air. It would be dawn soon. He needs to go.
He scans the dimly lit room for his clothes. As he dresses up, he almost starts to feel embarrassed over how they made love three times, for kami's sake. Then he tightens his resolve. No, he will do it. He searches for a piece of paper. He curses as he spills ink over an edge and proceed to scribble a message.
"It is you, Mito."
He thinks it wise not to sign off, she will know. He smiles in the dark.
Tobirama does not see Mito the other day. Or the day after that. Or the day after that. Hahsirama tells him during a late dinner that she has gone to visit her family in her village. Tobirama nods and proceeds to gulp down his soup, scalding his throat in the process, as if he does not quite care.
He sees the flashing red of Mito's hair, before anything else.
"Mito?" Tobirama calls out, hesitantly. He had been studying a document in the dimly lit space of his room. It was dark, almost midnight. What was MIto doing here, now?
He tentatively presses his index and middle finger down on the floorboards. It is Mito. Rising, he calls out, again, "Mito?"
She appears, like a ghost, standing outside the open sliding doors of his room. Her face looks paler than usual, the shadows caused by the lamp's light making her features larger and loom. Her hair are not styled in the usual manner, but tumbling down. She is not wearing her usual kimono as well, but a mustard colored shirt and plain white pants.
Tobirama stands perfectly still, not trusting himself to speak. She raises her hand and wipes her cheek. He realizes she had been crying.
"Tobirama, I-" She stops. When she does not continue, Tobirama walks to her, reaches forward, grabbing her hand and pulling her inside. He then, scans the corridor. There is no one.
Closing the sliding doors, he faces her.
"What it is, Mito?" Has she regretted what happened that evening? Has she come to tell him that they cannot be seen together anymore? What? Tobirama's mind wonders to the note he scribbled. He swallows bitterness and prepares to handle it with dignity.
There is an uncomfortable moment of silence, then,
"Tobirama," Mito takes his hand, yanking him close and rests the palm of his hand on her lower belly. When he looks up at her, questioning, she urges, "Feel."
Tobirama is confused but he concentrates nevertheless. There is a flash, he opens his eyes, not quite feeling anything but the hand on Mito's belly. "You are-"
"I am pregnant. With your child, Tobirama." She says, with strange serenity in her voice. Tobirama let's his hand drop. She continues, "I have told Hokage-sama that you are the father. He has not touched me yet, you should know very well. You are the only one to ever-" She breaks. "The point is, Hokage-sama asked you to see him and he urged me to tell you the news right away. Also, I will not get rid of this child. Is is every bit as mine as it is yours. I don't want you to argue with me on this-"
"I agree." Tobirama's throat constricts with an emotion he had never really experienced before. An overly sweet buzz, pride, humility, and mostly, he feels immensely grateful that it is Mito. She always will be. "We will keep our child. I would never want-"He stops. Looks at her smile.
"Well. Looks like we are going to be parents. You'd make an overly strict father, however." Her smile grows and she pats her abdomen and Tobirama has to look away.
She then, reaches and straddles his face, kissing him squarely on his lips. He barely has time to kiss her back when she pulls back, her eyes, relaxed.
Tobirama stands still as she exits, shutting the door.
He would not be a strict father. He'd not be a father to the baby at all. His child will call his big brother, his or her father.
The decision comes to Tobirama as natural as it is loving Mito.
Hashirama faces the setting sun, the breeze on the Hokage rock tousling his hair. The village which was build on dreams, hopes, and wishes of two children scared of losing their loved ones now, stretches before them.
Tobirama swallows, he then says, "I am sorry brother. I am deeply ashamed that I-" He stops.
Hashirama turns, and he is smiling. "What is there to be sorry for, Tobirama?" He asks, gentle.
"Brother, Mito is your wife."
There is heavy silence. Tobirama stares at his brother. Hashirama wears a black kimono. His dark eyes are kind, as always, only now, he carries a wisp of sadness with him.
"You love Mito, Tobirama. And she seems quite content with carrying your child, she is happier than I have ever seen her. All ends there. You love her. That is all what matters."
Hashirama continues, "What the real issue is, how I must separate from Mito, surely there is no way I can now remain with her. This marriage has brought Mito nothing but pain, she and your child needs to be with you."
"Brother," Tobirama takes a deep breath, "You must not separate from Mito. The Uzumaki will never bear this insult. This is in the best interest for Mito and the village. I will never allow it. I also want the child to not know that I am the father, The child will grow up as you being his or her father and Mito the mother, of course."
Hashirama frowns, "What are you saying, Tobirama? You are the father of this child. How can you possibly do this to Mito and to yourself?"
Tobirama looks over at the sunset. A deep red streaks the skies, as red as the silk of Mito's hair, as red as Madara's one tomoe Sharingan, spinning at the riverbank many moons ago and as red as Itama's blood staining Hashirama's young face.
"I know what I am saying brother. Mito will understand. I am the father, therefore I will do what is in best interest of my child."
Hashirama just turns his back to the village. Tobirama walks tentatively to him, and rests his hand on Hashirama's shoulder.
"Very, well, Tobirama." As if an afterthought, he looks up at the sky, his eyes damp. "If Madara were here, what would he say? Idiot Senju, let his woman be knocked up by his brother. Bah!" Hashirama laughs, not quite feeling it, Tobirama watches pained. How much more must his brother go through?
"I'm sorry." What does Tobirama actually means by this apology, he does not know. But he is witnessing his own brother's heart break, his brother who has wished for nothing for others to love and to love himself, unconditionally and fiercely, chip away like ashes to wind.
Hashirama just shakes his head, "What is there to be sorry for? You are never to be sorry for love."
Together the two brothers watch evening settle upon Konoha, draped over like a dark blanket. Tobirama understands then, that there will always be always pain, there will be always mourn and suffering. But you cannot regret another day. You cannot regret another chance. You simply, cannot regret love.
A/N : AAAND it's a wrap folks! Note that this is what I like to think happened, according to cannon events. If I had it my way, there'd be lot's of lovely sex, sweet evenings and pointless bickers between Madara and Hashirama XD . We seriously need more MadaHashi on this site, they are utter perfection, I tell ya. ( On that lovely note, I will be uploading various one-shots of these two, soon. Yes, about what you just read. Supreme fluff, lil' angst.)
This was mainly, to explore the dynamics between simultaneous TobiMito and MadaHashi. I had fun writing my version of a less-of-a-prick Tobirama ( I still like him very much) and well, just purely imagined Mito.
Much love to Dreaming Of Rocketships! You are legit the first person to provide your views on 'cerise'! Your reviews were indeed a virtual pat on the back! Thank you!
thank you for reading,
-N.
