Up above, everyone was panicking, while Madara and the three Hokage attempted to keep them calm. After Bethany and Madara's combination jutsu had died down, the others had swarmed their attackers just as planned and had been able to wipe most of them out, only leaving three alive and captured to await their leaders decision. Now though, Bethany had disappeared, dragged underground somewhere and everyone was worried. Makoto had been brought up and used her Byakugan to assess the situation, only for her range to fall slightly short of locating the woman. Hashirama was slightly worried, but he believed in his student. Tobirama knew how smart the girl was so he was sure that she could find a way out. Minato was worried as well but knew that Bethany wouldn't give up until her very last breath. Suddenly a flash of brown appeared and the woman they were all just thinking about appeared next to Madara. The boy was slightly shocked but got over it quickly. He was just glad that she was okay.
"Bethany, thank god you're alright!" he exclaimed, hugging her tightly. Bethany sighed, "yeah, I'm fine, Yue was the one who led the other children to the government, he let them be tortured all for revenge on me" she said through gritted teeth. Everyone was shocked, "so, what happened to him?" Hashirama asked quietly. Bethany looked at her teacher, "he's dead" was all she said, or rather all she needed to say. They were all silent for a while, before the brown-haired woman smiled slightly, "so, how'd it go on your end?" she asked.
ŚŅŸ
After everything was said and done, they managed to forge a peace agreement with the enemy leaders, which the others had captured. Although it took a lot of promises on Bethany's part to 'keep a tight rein on your people' and some persuasive hypnosis Genjutsu on Madara's part to convince them that they wouldn't attack unless attacked themselves. But in the end the peace treaty was made, and their former enemies left. Unfortunately Bethany was forced to dispose of the children that had been brainwashed as she knew they'd never be able to function as normal human beings again, and would only suffer from their lives. Now there was lots of celebrating to be done, and the cheerful atmosphere lasted for days- finally the long war was over, finally they could live without fear of being attacked.
Bethany and Madara sat next to each other as the festivities went on around them. They turned to face each other and smiled happily. Finally their dream could become a reality. "Bethany," a familiar voice called. The woman looked up and smiled at Hashirama. The man had done so much for her, she was more than grateful. He smiled back, "would you come with me for a moment, I want to talk to you" he said softly, but still loud enough to be heard above the excited chatter and happy conversations among the other warriors. Bethany nodded, and turned to face Madara, "I'll be back in a minute Madara-Kun" she said as she stood up. The Uchiha nodded and watched as she walked off with her teacher.
ŚŅŸ
The two walked to Bethany's bedroom so that they could have some privacy. After closing the door and activating the silencing seals set around the room, the woman turned to her Sensei. What she didn't expect was to immediately be enveloped into a secure but gentle hug. The girl gasped, while Hashirama just closed his eyes, "Bethany-Chan, you've made me more than proud over the last five years, you truly do posses a strong will of fire" he said, his voice showing just how proud he was. Bethany was stunned for a moment, before she smiled and hugged her Sensei back, "arigato, Hashirama-Sensei, it's all thanks to you and the others that I came so far, thank you for believing in me, even when I failed" she replied, as a few tears of happiness fell from her eyes.
After another minute, the Shodamine pulled back and looked his student over, "you've really grown Bethany-Chan- even if you're not much taller than you were before," he teased, causing the girl to scowl and punch him in the arm lightly. Hashirama chuckled at her expression, "even so, I'm glad to call you my student" he said with a smile. Bethany was silent for a moment until she smiled again and a single tear fell down her cheek, "thank you" she said happily. After that the two of them returned to the party, and spent time with the others. That night, Bethany had a full nights rest for the first time in a long time, while dreaming about living together with everyone and their families in their new village.
ŚŅŸ
About a week later, Bethany was going over plans for the village with Madara, while also looking forward to the official signing of the peace treaty between them and their former enemies that would occur in half a month- the time it would take to create the treaty itself, they would discuss the conditions that had been made and agree on them or suggest others that would be fair to both sides. "So, the first thing that will need to be built are houses for everyone to live in while construction is going on" Bethany said, writing that down on a notepad that she was holding. Madara nodded, "right, but we also need a place for farms so we have some food while we're getting everything sorted" he said. Bethany smiled, "good thinking, where should we put them, do you think?" she asked, holding the side of her face in her hand.
"Well, they should defiantly be near the houses for easy access, and we need hardy plants that can thrive all year long- despite it's usefulness, we can't rely on Hashirama-Sama or you to feed us with your Mokuton forever," Madara said thoughtfully. "Right, so we'll grow the plants first, then we'll pick them and store them somewhere, after we've eaten them, we can use the seeds to plant new ones, so we'll also need a food storehouse" she said, scribbling on her notepad. "Another thing we're going to need is some place to keep the weapons and armour, aside from our own of course" Bethany said thoughtfully, to which the Uchiha nodded, "that's a good idea, besides, we wouldn't want just anyone to be able to grab a weapon, so a weapons storehouse as well," he said. The three Hokage watched the two with smiles on their face's, even Tobirama had a small smile. "What else do you think we'll need Madara-Kun?" Bethany asked. Madara thought for a moment, "well, I can't really think of anything else we'd really need to get started- I mean we can build anything else later, but that's pretty much it for now" he replied.
The Senju nodded, "so, we'll plan the actual structure of the village when we've settled in and have a few more people" she said, placing the notepad in a storage seal that she had on her arm. She grinned, "and we'll build it in that forest at the bottom of the cliff, it'll be near the ocean as well, so we can catch fish for food too" Madara let out a small laugh, "heh, I'm guessing to want to turn the cliff into the new Hokage Monument" he said, causing Bethany to blush slightly, "who said I was going to call the leader Hokage?" she asked, a little flustered. Madara rolled his eyes, "oh please, what with how much you respect your teachers, we all knew that you were going to call the leader the Hokage Bethany" he said sounding bored, but with a smirk on his face. Bethany became depressed, "am I really that easy to read?" she asked. Madara's smirk became a smile, "you are to me" he said softly.
The young woman looked up at him, "Madara-Kun," she said, remembering that neither of them had told the other their true feelings yet. "Madara-Kun, I have to tell you something important," she said with a serious though still slightly worried look on her face. Madara nodded, already having an idea of what she was going to say. "I- I, I love you!" she said, slightly louder than she'd intended, with a blush on her face. The black-haired boy was silent, so she continued, "I've loved you since the moment we met, I just didn't know it at the time- but slowly our relationship deepened and grew until I couldn't deny it any longer," Bethany placed her hand on his cheek, the one hidden by his fringe, "I love you Madara Uchiha, always have and always will- and I would be the happiest person in the world if you would stay with me, Madara-Kun" she whispered the last part and removed her hand, looking down to await the man's answer. "I love you too Bethany, since the day we met, I've thought you were beautiful, but also kind, caring, strong, determined and not afraid to stand up for what's right and protect the people precious to you, I love you now and forever- and I would be the happiest person in the world if you would be my one and only" he too, whispered the last part.
Bethany's eyes were shining both with happiness and with unshed tears of joy. "Yes, yes, yes!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him on the lips. Madara had to catch the girl as she was smaller than him, but he didn't mind, he was just glad that the girl he loved loved him back. Meanwhile, Hashirama, Tobirama and Minato all had their own reactions. Hashirama was crying loudly at the 'beautiful scene', Tobirama had his eyes closed with a small smile of happiness for his student and Minato was just happy that they got to be together. Soon enough though, the white-haired Hokage got sick of his older brothers over-enthusiastic emotions, "will you just cut it out already Anija!" he growled in annoyance. This caused Hashirama to slouch over in a state of depression. "I'm just happy that they can be together, what's wrong with that?" he moaned. "It's annoying, that's what wrong with it!" Tobirama snapped.
And so, Bethany and Madara went on happily discussing different things for the rest of the day, knowing that when the treaty was signed, things would begin changing for the better.