our laughter rises like birds
It's easy to forget that Mito is still young. Nineteen is well past the average life expectancy during the Clan Wars, but then, the Uzumaki had rarely deigned to fight with other families. They had focused on building Uzushio, the shining city by the sea, and on worshipping their gods. A fisherman's village, Tobirama's father had called it. Hardly worth the attention of the great Senju Clan. But to seal the Kyuubi… only an Uzumaki had the chakra to survive the invasive, corrupting chakra of a bijuu. Tobirama's starting to believe that only an Uzumaki would actually communicate with the monster and call it by name. He feels, ridiculously, like Mito is choosing the Kyuubi over him.
Izuna prods him in the side. "Stop sighing into your yakisoba, Tobirama," he chides. "I know you're lovesick, but can't you take a break from moping?"
"I'm not lovesick," Tobirama argues half-heartedly. He pokes the noodles in front of him with his chopsticks.
"Oh?" Izuna raises an eyebrow. "Then you don't want my help with Mito?"
Tobirama sets his chopsticks down slowly. "I didn't say that," he murmurs.
"Well then," Izuna says, leaning forward, "here's what we're going to do." He smiles, slow and dangerous, and Tobirama knows he's going to regret whatever comes next.
Izuna's plan is complicated and far too extreme – Tobirama vetoes about half of it within the first two minutes, but in the end, he thinks they came to a decent compromise. Hashirama despairs of his younger brother's brief-yet-eventful forays (and failures) in romance, but a picnic under the cherry trees? He and Izuna survey their work, and Tobirama will admit to feeling a bit proud of himself.
As soon as he sees Mito, though, Tobirama knows he's made a mistake. A picnic – or 'romantic evening,' as Izuna calls it – isn't going to erase the things they said, or make anything right. He should have just apologized and let it be. But then Mito walks closer – she doesn't look surprised to see him; Tobirama had assumed that Izuna would have to lie to get her here, but maybe things aren't as bad as he thought – and sits down on the silk cloth. She's a respectable distance from Tobirama, but close enough that maybe she's less angry with him now, and maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. Even Izuna has his bright moments, it seems.
There's a wariness in Mito's eyes that he hasn't seen since her arrival in Konoha. Despite that wariness, and the hurt beneath – hurt, not anger, and how could Tobirama have been so stupid as to think otherwise? – Mito says, softly and calmly, "I'm sorry." He opens his mouth to protest, to say that he is the one who needs to apologize, but Mito holds a hand up to stop him. "I spoke carelessly, Senju-sama. I regret…" She takes a steadying breath and says, softer than before, "I don't think you're a monster." Alarmingly, Tobirama sees tears in her eyes. Still, her words lift a weight off his shoulder.
Tobirama isn't good with tears – years of dealing with Hashirama's dramatics have taught him how to ignore crying, but not how to comfort. "Uzumaki-hime," he begins, then stops, at a loss for words. "Hime," he tries again, "you don't ever need to apologize to me. For any reason. I was… wrong, to criticize you for communicating with the Kyuubi when I have no understanding of you relationship." It's painful, to admit that he is at fault. But losing Mito is too high a price to pay, even to save his pride.
"Thank you," Mito says quietly, surprising him again. He raises an eyebrow at her, and she smiles faintly in response. "I know that it's… difficult. You see Kurama as a monster because of what he's done." She taps a finger against her temple. "It's hard for me to see him like that when he's in my head. I know that I'm not him, but sometimes it's hard to find where I stop and he begins."
"I didn't know," Tobirama admits quietly. He regrets that as much as he regrets fighting with Mito in the first place – he should be looking after her. She's faced so many challenges and changes over the past few months, and he hasn't even thought to ask her how she is adjusting to playing host to the Kyuubi. Of course, he hadn't thought the thing could communicate before Mito had admitted to speaking with it.
"I didn't tell you," Mito says gently. She touches his shoulder, a brief, comforting touch. "Can we stop being angry now? I've missed your company."
All the breath leaves Tobirama's lungs at once. "I have missed you too." He hopes Mito doesn't notice how breathless he sounds, hopes she can't hear that his heart is pounding from her innocent touch, his hands shaking. My god, Tobirama thinks. I'm in love with her.
Note: Did anyone catch my Pride and Prejudice reference last chapter? Tobirama is definitely Mr. Darcy, fight me. Sorry for the long hiatus, btw! Things got crazy, there's a (condensed, detail-free) explanation on my profile buuuuuuuut suffice to say I'm back*! This chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but there's a reason for that. The Angst (TM) begins next chapter and goes on for quite some time. Consider this an interlude. Now that the Kurama/Mito thing has developed a bit, it's time for romance and politics and shit.
Thanks to everyone who read, & extra thanks to those of you who reviewed or favorited or followed. Sorry for making you wait so long! I intend to finish this story, and I have the next... 11? chapters planned out. There's only 18 chapters and I think this is 7 but I'm too lazy to check right now so.
*I'm leaving for university in like 10 days so things will be crazy while I get settled in, but then I'll be back to posting!
