I do not own Naruto. I'm so sorry for not posting last month!


Chapter 12

An Occasion


Spring

"Do you think she has acclimated well to the leaf?" Hashirama asked, glancing up from his reading glasses and away from the petition from one of the clans. He shuffled through some of the papers on his desk, wrinkling his nose in annoyance then quickly clucked his tongue and signed the document in his hands with a flourish. He tossed the pen aside and sighed, leaning his chin in his palm. "Well Tobirama?"

The white haired man shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked at the wall. Truthfully, he wasn't quite sure. He had seen the way she sauntered around the leaf, appearing as if she was perfectly at home, calling out greetings to the vendors she frequented. He had also seen the way she jumped at a sudden noise and flinched when someone made a hand movement she wasn't expecting. He had seen the way she was always on edge, and the way she put on the show to pretend as if everything was fine when it really wasn't.

"I'm not sure. She needs to be observed more," Tobirama reported stoically, meeting his older brother's gaze.

Hashirama's lips quirked upwards and he snorted. "You've been observing her for months. I hear that she has found your affections." His eyes twinkled. "Has the assassin crawled her way into your cold heart, Tobirama?" The man teased.

Tobirama looked away, his cheeks turning red. "I wouldn't say affections. If anything it's business." No, that would be a complete and utter lie. If Hashirama knew what had been going on with her, he would forbid any type of relationship, actual business included.

Hashirama attempted to suppress his grin but failed. "Business? Well my brother, your business is certainly not the business Father taught us."

Cheeks flaming, Tobirama ducked his head and paused. "Business is a fluid term."

Chuckling, Hashirama took off his glasses and laid them on his desk. "Ah, I see. Very fluid it seems."

Tobirama stayed quiet, lifting his head and waited for the scolding but it never came. Instead, Hashirama sighed and laced his fingers together before glancing back up at his younger brother. "Mito trusts the woman with her life, and therefore, so shall I."

The white-haired man paused then nodded. "I trust her with my life too."

Hashirama paused, meeting Tobirama's eyes before nodding his agreement. A foreign emotion to Tobirama flooded his brother's face. "Yet," Hashirama cleared his throat causing Tobirama to bristle. "Her loyalty is not to the leaf."

The white-haired man deflated. No, it was not. It was to Mito and only Mito. As much as he wished it was not so, Mito was the only thing Amaya cared for. Part of him knew that despite her words about his aunt, Mito was the only reason Amaya came to the leaf. But another part of him was slowly coming to the realization that one of the reasons she stayed was because of him, even if she didn't comprehend that yet.

Tobirama took a shaky breath and met his brother's eyes. "No. You're correct." And his heart panged only slightly. Looking at his brother, he tightened his lips while his jaw ticked. "I refuse to play any game you're thinking of, Hashirama."

The Hokage snorted and waved his hand in a dismissal of his brother's idea. "No, while I'm alive, this village will never be run like that." He paused for a few moments before glancing back up at his younger brother, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "Does she have any friends or recurring acquaintances?"

Well, there was one. Tobirama shrugged, his jaw tightening as he remembered the overly friendly relationship between Amaya and Madara. He hated the way they had stared at each other, as if they owed each other the entire fucking world. He knew he was being selfish. He knew that he was being a selfish and controlling bastard but by all the gods in the universe, he felt protective of the assassin. Protective of an assassin of all things. An assassin that could most definitely take care of herself.

Tobirama shrugged, examining the blank wall curiously. "Not really."

Hashirama clicked his tongue and sighed, sending his brother an amused look. "If we drop her into a team, can she function?"

After barely a moment's pause, Tobirama laughed. "No. Not at all." Even when she was paired with him, she worked alone. During missions, she went ahead and by the time he caught up, the deed was done and she was oddly quiet. Even now at the moment she was on a lone mission. He shook his head.

Hashirama nodded to himself. "Then put her in training with the clan shinobi. All of them can learn from each other when they finish squabbling."

Tobirama snorted at the notion of Amaya battling for dominance. He could imagine her sparring with dozens of different shinobi of the leaf, joking with them, going to dinner with her comrades and finding a mutual hatred for their instructor that made them run laps. They would find the truths in themselves on missions, and she would introduce them to him as her comrades. He could imagine her joining his team and sending hidden grins at him during their missions and looking after his back when it was turned, and doing the same for her.

But there was the truth in his gut that knew that she would never let her heart be so open, and that having comrades would take more work than simply putting her in a position to welcome them. She was closed off in a way that even he, after months of getting to know her, was still trying to move past. Despite all that she had told him, despite that her secrets were almost all laid out for him, he still was struggling to figure out who Amaya Mae was.

Hashirama cleared his throat, gaining his brothers attention quickly. "I believe Mito wanted to give you something before she departed for Suna."

Tobirama nodded and stood, running a hand through his cropped hair. "I'll talk to you later tonight with a report on the brats."

Hashirama nodded and smiled. "Not too late, I'll be putting my kids to sleep tonight since Mito will be gone." There was that twinkle in his brother's eyes whenever he spoke of his own children. Tobirama acknowledged Hashirama's words with a grin of his own before disappearing.

Mito was exactly where Tobirama thought she would be.

She was with her toddler, packing her clothes and smiling at her child between every folding. Her maids were absent at the moment, giving the wife of the Hokage the privacy she wished with her youngest son. Thus far, there were two of them, one already learning ninjutsu at ten years old and the other still mastering how to walk.

Mito's smile lit up the entire room, and caused him to giggle. Hashirama was truly the luckiest man on earth. Tobirama was positive of that as Mito laughed aloud, throwing her head back and picking up her son. Her son cooed at her, pulling on her red hair setting a pudgy hand on her shoulder. Mito glanced up at Tobirama, still smiling as she handed the little boy off to one of his many nannies.

For a moment, Tobirama stood still, watching the red-haired woman smile at him, holding onto her son closely, several heads shorter than him and he was struck by how young Mito was. She was only twenty-five, still a child really with youthful features and a still-bright smile. She came to them too young. Was given to Hashirama too young, at only fourteen.

Mito gave him a look, as if reading his thoughts, but then took a few steps forward, brushing her hair a few times with her fingers. It was the rarest sight to see Mito with her hair down and in casual robes. Even rarer to see her smile so easily. Her older child raced past his uncle and disappeared into his parent's bed chambers, shouting out a greeting before disappearing.

"You asked to see me?" Tobirama asked, watching his nephew go with amusement glinting in his eyes.

"I'll be leaving for several weeks, though I don't wish it," Mito told his brother in-law slowly, trace amounts of bitterness lacing her tone. "My husband's advisors see me as a tool for them to use, though my place is with my children and husband." The woman's jaw ticked but she quickly recovered from her anger and turned to fold another piece of cloth and place it in her bag.

Tobirama truly was one of the closest beings to Mito for her to allow herself to show even the slightest amount of anger - of emotion.

And he pitied the people who were using Mito for their own gain, as she was not a woman to sit idly by and allow herself to be used. She was the wife of the Hokage and a kunoichi as well, with enough chakra to pose a threat to anyone, even Tobirama himself.

Mito Uzumaki was nothing but strength - a being so powerful that even the gods would quake under her anger. Many saw her as Hashirama's prize for creating a shaky peace, but Tobirama saw that she was not a thing to be given, but a being so full of life and vitality and raw energy that nothing could control her.

He could only pity the men that tried.

"Amaya is scheduled to return later today, yes?" Mito asked, an inkling of curiously touching her voice. This woman was the picture of perfect - completely controlling how others saw her and allowing the right emotions at the correct times to be shown, thus dominating how the other person reacted to her.

Tobirama nodded lacing his fingers together in front of him. "She checked in a few hours ago and is on track to return home by this afternoon."

Mito hummed for a moment, glancing at the window for a few seconds. "I had hoped that she would be here before I left. Especially today of all days."

Tobirama tilted his head and raised a brow. "Is today special?"

Mito glanced at him with an amused smirk, strands of her vibrant hair falling across her face. "Very special," she replied lightly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "It's her birthday. She's nineteen today."

Tobirama choked on his own spit. Her birthday. He had never really thought on the subject before. He almost had the notion that she didn't have one. Had never mentioned it, even in passing. A birthday. Well then. He turned back to Mito who was watching his reaction carefully, her dark blue eyes trained on his body language. A smirk tugged at the ends of her lips and she reached up her sleeve. The letter she tugged away from the fabric was still warm from her skin and smelled like lotus blossoms. She placed it in Tobirama's hands and sighed.

"Please see that this reaches her hands and no one else's."

The warning was clear in the kunoichi's eyes. She would know if he attempted to read it. The letter was fit into the inside pocket of his casual flak jacket. Her eyes were trained on his hands as he buttoned it into safety. He looked back at her, giving the clear signal that he promised to give it to her.

"I'll be on my way then." Mito turned away, raising her arms to quickly tie up her hair. The effect was instantaneous. The woman was older, more elegant and poised. A prized diplomat full of dignity and humility. She looked back at her brother in-law, her lips pressed together and her brow furrowed in the slightest as she held another robe in her hands.

He gave a noise of encouragement, asking her to continue on with what she was going to say. "Tobirama," She met his gaze pointedly. "Please look after her while I'm gone. No doubt she's begun the countdown today."

The shinobi shifted and raised an eyebrow. "Countdown?"

"The countdown to her clan's massacre."


Tobirama let gravity do most of the work as he let his chakra pool at his feet and dripped down his legs from the reserve in the pit of his stomach. If he had to guess where the pit was, it was right behind his navel, a massive reserve for his aloof chakra. He pushed the energy to the veins in his thighs, the energy tingling wherever it went. When it reached his glutes, all in a moment, he launched himself off the roof of the hokage mansion and was hurdling through the air where the pinpoint of chakra awaited.

She had gone through a minimal effort of suffocating her beast of a chakra, smothering it in the slightest, as if she hadn't really put much thought into it. The grey eyed assassin waited quietly on top of Hashirama's colossal stone head watching the village languidly from her perch.

He was silent when he landed and she only glanced at him for a moment before turning back to the village. She was sullen and pouty, he realized immediately and he found it sickeningly adorable.

"You are the fastest ninja in the world and yet you have still managed to be late."

"Is that anyway for the birthday girl to behave?" He teased quietly, his lips pulling into a small grin that sent a burning intensity through her stomach. "I had a hard time tracking you down after you fled the hokage building after giving your report to Hashirama."

She turned away, willing away the blush that was rising its way to the surface of her cheeks and resisting the urge to wet and bite her lips. "I suppose Mito told you? I hear she had to leave on a delegatory mission for Suna."

Tobirama nodded. "Do you know much about the rising villages?" He groaned as he sat down, the muscles stretching out for the first time that day. He had spent the entire morning at his desk and the sudden intensity of the chakra he just displayed to get up here would leave his legs sore if he didn't massage or stretch them soon.

Amaya let out a flat laugh. "Probably more than you, Senju."

He too snorted at that, more curious than he let on and tentatively leaned against her arm. She returned with pressure on her own. "You're warm," he whispered into her ear.

She nodded against him, accepting his words without mulling them over too much. "You too."

He sat with her in silence, leaning against each other in the middle of the day, looking above the village, their fingers touching against the ground and their bodies molded together. "This is a nice view."

Amaya smiled widely and flicked her eyes to him for a moment, her body shaking with a deep laugh. "It's the only place where the Hokage isn't watching my every move."

Tobirama chuckled besides her. "I should come up here more often to get away from Hashirama."

Amaya laughed deeply at that, tilting her head back and giving a throaty chuckle before settling back down and melting into Tobirama's arm. He made a strange, pleased, noise at the suddenness of her prolonged contact. When he glanced down to her face, he found that her eyes were closed and it was as she reached inside him and squeezed his heart.

"Why?" He whispered against her hair and removing his arm around her to only place it on her shoulder. He held her near, her breath fluttering against his casual shirt. She made a noise from the back of her throat for him to continue, only letting her eyelids rise for a moment before they fell again. His eyes softened and his fingers wrapped tighter around her."Why do you trust me like this? Why do you pretend I'm not dangerous?" He murmured his question, his lips brushing against her hair.

Her giggle sent him vibrating and he glanced down at her with a raised eyebrow. She smirked up at him and raised a hand so her finger could brush against his stubble. Her mouth parted and he only glanced at the pearly whites before he was on his back with Amaya straddling him with a look in her eyes that sent shivers up his spine. The situation would have been much more enjoyable if there wasn't a kunai at his throat.

The blade did not cut him before it disappeared back up her sleeve and she leaned forward on him so their breaths mingled. She smirked again, her lavender hair tickling his cheeks. "Because I'm more dangerous."

The look in his eyes sent waves of heat to all the right places and she only blinked when he thrust her off him and caged her beneath his body and arms. She gasped in air and he took the opportunity to kiss her deeply, his tongue slipping past her lips. They broke apart after a few moments, both breathless and smiling.

"Happy Birthday, Amaya."

She smiled at his words. "Thank you."


"I swear to all that is holy if you don't tell me where we're going, I'm leaving immediately," Amaya grumbled as she jumped lazily through the trees. Tobirama noted she was controlling her chakra perfectly, only pushing the barest amounts of power to launch herself through the forest.

Tobirama gave her a look before watching his footing as he stepped off a branch only to find another. "I've just got to tie up a few loose ends with my kids."

Amaya lost her footing.

"Whose kids?" She asked, grabbing the tree branch and flinging herself to land on a thicker branch on one of the surrounding trees. She gave Tobirama a pointed, wary, look. "Yours?"

Tobirama chuckled and grinned. "The team I'm training. It's something I plan to implement as the norm some day. Train them while they're young so they don't die later on."

Amaya paused, eyeing the man carefully. "And they don't kill?"

Tobirama shook his head, staring straight ahead and continuing to send measured chakra to his feet to jump from tree branch to tree branch. "Not if I can help it."

Amaya remained unimpressed, her grey eyes drifting over the forest as she mulled his words over. Her jaw locked as she glanced back at the white-haired man. "But you train them how to kill."

Tobirama only glanced back at Amaya, his jaw tight as he turned back to watch where he was going. "I'm teaching them how to protect themselves. This is the type of world we're living in, and the other side isn't gonna go easy on them."

Amaya tched but continued to follow the white-haired man, her eyes sharp as she raced through the forest, the pace of the duo increased substantially. It was within minutes that they entered onto the clearing but Amaya had sensed the children's chakras well-before she had laid eyes on them.

There were four of them, all of them with decent sized chakras and around twelve and fourteen. All boys except for a single relatively pretty girl whose hair was done up in a bun. Once the two of the entered the clearing, all four of the children turned quickly to examine the newcomers. One of the boys stepped forward, hands on his hips and chest thrust forward.

"We've been waiting forever Tobirama-sensei," He whined, letting his head fall to his side. Two short lines of black kohl lined his under eye, vertical along his cheek. The other boy stepped closer as well, with tanned skin and wary heavy lidded eyes. He looked over Amaya, furrowing his brow in the slightest.

"Is this her?" He asked gruffly, his voice quieter than she expected. "The hokage's assassin?"

Tobirama glanced at the lavender haired woman, allowing her to answer for herself. Amaya grinned, her canines glistening with saliva, and her grey eyes sharpening. The boy's heartbeat beat quicker for a few second before slowing down.

"Do I meet your standards?" She asked, carefully looking over the young boy, then watching the two other children that stood behind him. The third casually walked over to Tobirama.

The boy did not answer and only glanced away, glancing at Tobirama before watching the other boy scratch his head boredly. He watched Amaya and yawned. "You're an assassin?" He asked bluntly, raising an eyebrow.

Amaya couldn't help the small smile that pulled at her lips. "I sure am."

The boy nodded, taking in the information before continuing. "So you've killed tons of people?"

Tobirama shifted uncomfortably and glanced at Amaya. The other kids focused on Amaya carefully, her answer depending on what they thought of her from now on. "I sure have."

The children stayed quiet, watching the tall woman in awe. Tobirama sighed and then forced a nervous laugh. Amaya lazily broke off the eye contact with the first boy who had spoken to her. Tobirama put his hands on his hips and with a small flare of his chakra, comedired their attention.

"Ok, this is a close friend of mine."

The assassin cleared her throat. "Call me Amaya."

Tobirama nodded, narrowing his eyes for only a moment at how familiar she was acting with the children. First-name basis already. "Yeah, uh. I had things planned for today but we can call all that off because other things have come up."

Hiruzen glanced at Amaya before turning back to his sensei, a wicked grin on him. "Bedroom things with the assassin?"

Tobirama sputtered, turning bright red and making a horrified face at the assassin. "I-I-I have no clue - none whatsoever - at all, no idea what you could ever be talking about. No talking. Not anymore."

The kid cackled and dodged Tobirama's swat, his movements fluid and Amaya's heart panged at how graceful he was. It must have taken him years of intense training to move so agile. He would become a fine ninja. A fine killer.

"I wouldn't mind waiting around," Amaya shrugged, stepping away from the group. "If you need to teach them a few things or whatever, I have nowhere to be."

Tobirama glared at her sharply then sighed. He turned back to the children, waiting only a moment before speaking again, this time with a wide, terrifying, grin on his face. "Fine, we can have Amaya show us a few moves, eh?"

The assassin froze, her glare piercing into his just like her katana would and he swore that she hissed at him. "Fine," Her tone was sharp as she glided forward, "You and I can demonstrate hand to hand combat, eh?"

Tobirama's eyes widened then narrowed before he smirked. "Fine."

The boy that spoke to her first cleared his throat, raising his hand. "Uh, can I stick around for now?"

Tobirama looked at the boy and blinked. "What are you doing here Danzo?"

The youth shrugged. "Nothing, my sensei isn't around and neither are the rest of my teammates and I was bored. Can I stay?"

The white haired man shrugged. "That's fine."

The children hurried back to the edge of the clearing, their eyes bright and focused on the assassin, a woman with rumors surrounding her. Koharu's mouth was wide open her eyes wide as she watched the assassin bend her knees slightly and push up her sleeves. Tobirama faced her, a few of his fingertips on his right hand brushing against the soft grass. His smile was imperceptible to the children, but it drew Amaya in.

"I'm not about to go easy on you because of your kids here, Senju," the assassin taunted.

"I'm sure you won't need to hold yourself back. The rumors about the demon assassin are about to end," Tobirama replied back.

And just as they were about to launch at each other, the world seemed to stop. Chakra filtered over the fern bushes and engulfed the trunks of the trees. It was like mist, this chakra what should have been soft and warm hit Tobirama hard and infiltrated his system. It decimated Amaya, and she was left gasping as the first wave began to ebb away.

She straightened and turned to where the chakra had come from, fingers slack at her sides and her muscles tense. The children looked around, unable to understand what had just happened.

"Amaya," Tobirama said quietly. "Let's go to my brother. He'll know how to handle this."

She growled, deep from the pit of her stomach and only shifted her position slightly to acknowledge Tobirama's words. "It's Mito."

And then she was gone. Her form flickered once before she was racing through the trees, her body nothing but a blur. His heart calmed at the fact that she was headed towards the center of the village, towards the Hokage. He glanced at the kids, ignoring his own panic.

"Go home," He began. "And don't come out until I get you." He too, disappeared into the forest.

He found Amaya in the Hokage's office, her chakra roaring in anger and blazing out behind her. She had left a trail in the forest, one even his kids could have followed. When he finally caught up with her, she was in the Hokage's office. Hashirama was not much different than her, his own chakra pooling out at his feet and his face contorted furiously.

"Going after her like this could cause a war, Amaya. We cannot think recklessly here. We must tread carefully." The Hokage's words were hissed out, as if it were painful for him to say them.

She jolted backwards and her chakra froze like her. Everything was shut down and Tobirama took an involuntary step back, away from the ticking bomb.

"Are you telling me, Lord Hokage," She seethed quietly, her silver eyes sharp enough to slice through skin. No one had ever dared use that kind of tone with Hashirama. "That you are going to let your wife be abused, raped, and then killed because your fear of conflict?" She fixed a stare on him, her chakra leaking out behind her, raising its hackles like a beast and pulsating. "I'll get her myself if you're too much of a coward otherwise."

She was out of the room before Tobirama could even blink, her monster of a chakra leaving massive remnants behind her. He sent one last glance at Hashirama who looked oddly defeated, before hurrying after the assassin.


Please Please Review