YES! Finally able to update!
Sadly, I am currently struggling in my math class, so I need to pay attention to my school work more... It's not that the subject is hard, it's just that I didn't have the textbook in the beginning of class so I was behind and got a really low score for my first quiz... so now my grade is a C... TT^TT
Anyways, that's my rant of the day.
Okay! So please remember that there are still a bit of room in the SYOC list so enter in fast if you want a spot! I think I may end this by the time the peace treaty is established, so make sure you enter in if you will regret not entering!
Also, I am on the verge of Izuna's mangekyo ability so fear not! But if you do have ideas, then feel free to suggest it. It might make me change my mind.
Besides all of those, all that is left are scenario requests! Once all this plot stuff is done with, it will mostly be fun time and character/romance development time!~
I hope you enjoy the chapter!~
Two raven-haired young men trek the uneven verdant path as they follow the lead of one dark-haired young woman.
Izuna couldn't be happier with this development.
For one thing, he was traveling with an incredibly beautiful woman. Senju Touka's silky, dark brown hair is tied neatly into a bun on top of her head and the way she moves her body only emphasizes on her tall figure and great muscles. Not only is the woman in front of him very awe-inspiringly beautiful, she is also terrifyingly strong.
Izuna cannot help but get more enticed by the fact.
The younger raven-haired man couldn't help it—he just really loves beautiful, strong women.
Especially, beautiful, strong women who could beat him senseless—something Hikaku very much can never understand about his best friend.
Another thing, Izuna is helping his older brother get the peace he has always wanted—while traveling with the most beautiful woman in the world. As far as Izuna is concerned, that is something to be happy about.
Though for Hikaku, it's a nightmare. The poor ponytailed young man is tense and on guard.
After all, who knows how long it will take before the fearsome Senju woman finally snaps at his best friend for staring at her butt?
Hikaku wishes Izuna would just stop doing that—he really did not want to defend him in case the woman really did break out into a rage. He is not getting paid enough for this.
Then again, he really isn't getting paid at all for this.
The lamenting Uchiha glances to the side at his best friend, his obsidian eye twitches in exasperation. Is he… drooling…?! Yeah, Hikaku was not getting paid enough to deal with all of this.
"Hey,"
Hikaku jolts—he literally flinches at the sudden sound of Senju Touka's voice. Not that the dark-haired woman was paying any attention to him—no, the Senju is staring straight at the raven-haired young man beside him. Cold sweat slides across Hikaku's pale skin as an abrupt chill runs through his skin, causing him to shudder slightly.
"Yes, beautiful?" Izuna inches closer to the woman as he tilts his head.
Touka averts her dark eyes away from the raven-haired boy as she brings her arms to cross in front of her chest. She then glances back at the Uchiha clan head with a newfound determination as she inhales and exhales a breath. "Are you all healed?"
The two Uchiha men blink at the Senju woman. Hikaku glances over Izuna who is gaping, just as shocked by the sudden question as he is. After a few more seconds of silence, though, the Uchiha clan heir's lips twitch up into a smirk. "Yeah," The long-haired Uchiha stretches to show off his dexterity and lean muscles. "Your cousin lives up to his name as a genius—I'm all healed up and raring to go."
Touka's lips quirk up into a smile of her own. "Yeah, Tobirama is great." It was a beautiful, faint smile and, the moment Izuna lays eyes on it, an arrow with a heart-shaped tip shoots through his heart. Hikaku's obsidian eyes narrow impassively at his friend as he groans in his mind at the development.
Izuna is gone with no hope of return.
The ponytailed young man would have groaned out loud if it wouldn't have ruined the whole moment.
He holds back for his best friend, though, and for his own sanity.
How will I ever explain this to Madara-sama…?!
Hikaku's obsidian eyes twitch as he watches his best friend, with his heart eyes, start to follow the tall, dark-haired woman. He could almost see the alert ears and the enthusiastically wagging tail.
Please, Tobirama—let us find you quickly…! I don't think I can deal with this madness any longer!
An abrupt sneeze interrupts the serene journey and energetic conversation between human and dog.
"Bless you!" Yuzuki instinctively sings as Momomaru barks in response to Tobirama's sudden sneeze.
The pearly-haired woman rubs her nose with the back of her hand to get rid of the itch. "Thank you,"
Yuzuki has her hands behind her head as she walks backward in front of Tobirama. "They say that when you sneeze, someone is thinking about you.~"
"That is highly inaccurate superstition." Tobirama scoffs, "Sneezes derive from the lungs as a convulsive expulsion of air that travels through the nose and mouth. It is usually caused by foreign particles irritating the nasal mucosa—"
Yuzuki twirls back around, "Yes, yes—whatever you say!" The curly-haired brunette continues to skip ahead, even as Tobirama and Momomaru don't make an effort to catch up.
It has been two days since the trio has started their journey to escort Tobirama back to Senju lands. Tobirama had calculated beforehand that the trip would take about five days from the Inuzuka estate and had been given the necessary supplies in order to make the five-day trip. Currently, the silver-haired woman, brunette woman, and the German shepherd have traveled about two-fifths of the way—according to Tobirama's mental map—which means they are pleasantly ahead of schedule.
Tobirama gazes up at the sky, finding an orange hue filtering the usually blue sky. A warm nudge to the pearly-haired woman's knee causes Tobirama to tilt her head towards the ground. Her crimson eyes meet the bright brown eyes of Momomaru, who had nuzzled into her knee earlier to warn her that Yuzuki is beginning to stray ahead. A small smile flickers on the silver-haired woman's face as she pets the dog's fluffy head, letting her fingers gloss over Momomaru's ears. Tobirama then releases the dog and motions towards her partner. "Go ahead. Can you tell her that we will be setting up camp?"
Momomaru barks in response before she rushes after her partner. Tobirama watches the German shepherd as she trots over to Yuzuki's side and barks a couple more times, exchanging words with the Inuzuka woman. Tobirama guesses Momomaru must have conveyed her words to Yuzuki as the curly-haired brunette twirls around to shout back at her. "We're going ahead!" The Inuzuka pair wave to the Senju warrior before they charge off into the woods.
Tobirama returns a small wave and watches the other woman and her dog leave. The silver-haired woman stands there for a moment, allowing Yuzuki and Momomaru run ahead of her a good distance before she takes off after them.
With her sensory prowess, Tobirama easily follows the Inuzuka ninja duo no matter how fast they are jumping through the trees. The duo stop at a clearing next to a river and, once the silver-haired genius reaches the location, she finds Yuzuki setting up camp as Momomaru hunts for fish in the stream.
"There's nothing else to do, so just relax!" Yuzuki calls over her shoulder to the approaching silver-haired genius as she spreads the firewood. "Just go take a bath or something!" The curly-haired brunette shoos away the silver-haired woman.
Tobirama glances up at the sky, taking note that the sun has fallen closer to the horizon and the orange tone is more vivid than before. She then turns her gaze back to the camp. Yuzuki seems to be almost finished with the setup and Momomaru has already caught her fifth fish before flinging it to the shore. "I'll take you up on that offer, then."
Tobirama twirls around, picking up a scroll before she walks away from the group, heading downstream.
The silver-haired woman doesn't see the wolfish smirk that crawls up the brunette's lips as she leaves.
The cool water on her pale bare skin feels heavenly to the albino woman.
The heat of the day with the addition of her clothing had caused Tobirama to feel mucky and the cool river water really helps in making the woman feel clean. Then again, just about any water feels almost heavenly to the prominent water style user.
Nevertheless, Tobirama enjoys water. It calls to her, accepts her, embraces her.
The silver-haired woman allows her fingers to glide through the water lazily, letting her mind drift along with the ripples she causes in the river. She lets her hands cup together, feeling the weight of the fluid against every pore in her hand as she gracefully lifts the water up, splashing her face with it. She then glides her smooth hands over cheeks up into her hair, matting the short, spiky damp hair back as the cool grace of the water sinks deeper into her pale skin and hair.
A sudden gasp wakes Tobirama from her water-induced euphoria.
"Y-you're a woman?!" Shrieks a familiar voice as a certain curly-haired brunette jumps out of the bushes in exasperation.
The silver-haired woman shakes her head. She had been wondering how long it would take the clearly ignorant woman to realize. Inuzuka are supposedly trained in smell and other senses, yet the woman with all of her enhanced senses, could not seem to detect the truth. So Yuzuki still believed Tobirama was a man despite the clothing she had been wearing when they had first met and the way her clan head and mates snicker at her obliviousness.
Tobirama arches an eyebrow at her newfound friend, "How were you planning on explaining your actions if I weren't one?"
Yuzuki blinks her big brown eyes, her mouth left agape as she releases a strained groan. "Uhhhh…"
The fire sizzles as the embers fling up into the night. Three figures sit in a circle around the fire, each with their own portion of food.
"What do you think of peace?"
The abrupt question causes Hikaku to choke on his current swallow, the ponytailed man hacking as he feels the object roughly scratch down his esophagus. Izuna reacts more calmly to the question, turning to smile at the focus of his affection.
"What I think of peace?" The smile, however, fades as quickly as it came, metamorphosing into a more grim expression. "It isn't something I've really thought much about, with how our world is and how we grew up—but, Nii-san—he has always been talking about it." Absently, Izuna plays with his food. His clear obsidian eyes are trained on the burning fire. "Most of the time, the scenarios he lays before me feel like a dream… Sometimes, even I yearn for it." He closes his eyes gently, shutting his sight away from the embodiment of warmth. "But, I know that it is merely a fantasy."
Touka focuses on the Uchiha clan heir. She had never expected the happy-go-lucky guy she has been traveling with to react like this. Then again, she couldn't really predict how the man would've reacted in the first place. She herself wouldn't have known how to answer this question despite how she was the one who asked it in the first place. Peace is foreign to this era. Even if she has been hearing Hashirama's ramblings on the concept since her cousin could actively understand the world, Touka still could not answer how she felt on the subject. Like Izuna said, Touka believed peace was unachievable—that it was an impossible dream that Hashirama would need to grow out of. Yet he didn't and here they are today—Senju and Uchiha working together to search for her dear baby cousin.
"Well, at least I did until a few days ago." Izuna's light voice startles the puzzled dark-haired woman. Touka hastily trains her dark eyes on the Uchiha's face as the flame between them flickers. The younger dark-haired man leans back slightly as he tilts his head back to stare at the stars. "After what Tobirama did…" Izuna's lips twitch up into a smile. "... I can't help but believe that there is a chance—" He then brings his focus back on Touka and, with a big grin, he laughs. "—I feel like there is an actual chance we can all achieve peace!"
Mesmerized by the charming smile on the cute man's face, Touka parts her lips slightly, releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding. Hikaku mirrors the woman. The ponytailed Uchiha clansman froze as he stares at his best friend with a slight gape of a mouth.
Silence holds over the group even as the sizzle of the burning fire continues and the cricket's anthem of chirps play in the background.
Laughter breaks the tension.
Touka's laughter is beautiful, like an angel's song to Izuna's ears, even if the beauty was laughing at him. "Tobirama was right, you are an idiot."
Hikaku soon joins along with a chuckle before Izuna can interject with an offended shout. "Hey!"
Unknown to the Tobirama search party, the happy group were under surveillance at that moment.
"I must report this to the clan head, immediately." With a silent jump, the shadow creeps away into the night.
So, how was this chapter? Did you all enjoy it?
I know these past few chapters are a bit filler-ish, but I need to let things ease out!
Now...
Who was that person spying on the Tobirama Search Party?!
I would love to hear your predictions! ^^
Anyways, please remember that the SYOC time is almost up! I'm thinking of ending it once the peace treaty is established, which is soon (I promise).
Also, if you have any suggestions for Izuna's mangekyo, I'm all ears! But, I think I may have it down already! (Though it doesn't hurt to hear more ideas.)
Plus, don't forget those scenario requests!~
Please leave a review before you leave!~
