The new morning had nearly arrived.

Chieko lay curled against Tobirama. Skin was pressed hotly to skin, but they did not wish to pull away from one another. His hand absentmindedly rubbed circles into the top of her head, fingers tangling with her hair.

Taking a deep breath, Chieko inhaled him. Her eyes were shut, but her ears were listening keenly to the steady beat of his strong heart. There was a soft ache between her thighs and as she readjusted herself to lie on her back, Tobirama sat up and lay on his side to splay his hand across her pale stomach.

"Are you feeling alright?" His mouth parted gently as he spoke, ever curious. Chieko remained quiet but reached up to thumb his cheek, humming in affirmation.

He took her hand and kissed it. He couldn't understand what had taken hold of him so forcefully that he didn't want any space to remain between them. At all.

Chieko leaned up to catch his lips with hers, pulling him down over her as she lay back down. He found himself back where they had begun some hours earlier. He began to chuckle,

"I should have known it would be hard to satisfy you."

Her swollen lips spread into a coy smile, revealing several ruptures on her bottom lip where his teeth had their way. "Why? Because I'm an Uchiha?"

"Precisely." He sang into her neck, his teeth finding the right spot to bite down on. He held himself up on his forearms, bracing her with the warmth of his body as she ran her hands through his hair and encouraged him with barely-tangible, breathy sounds of pleasure.

Soon, he was inside her again. It seemed like a never-ending chasm of sensations- pleasure and the bitterness of remembering she was an enemy. Tobirama tried to focus on her form but found that he enjoyed it more when he felt like he was betraying himself.

An hour later, the night was beginning to dispel, the sky diluting into the pale darkness before dawn.

Chieko was silently dressing herself after taking a very cold bath. She shivered and her fingers quivered slightly.

She tugged on a better-fitted black vest he had procured for her earlier, grateful for the warmth it brought to her upper body. Her steely eyes had avoided Tobirama while he watched her dress.

Now, she turned to face him, hands on her hips.

"I need armour and two blades. Also, an unmarked supply pack, a flask of water and a week's worth of bread."

Scratching the back of his neck, he nodded silently. He wanted to protest her leaving, but somehow, his gut told him to let her go.

He placed a hand on her shoulder as he stood, the other went around her waist.

"I'll get everything you need and then we'll get you out of here." He left out everything he really wanted to say.

Chieko shrugged his hand off her shoulder, "I'll wait." He watched her silently, unsure of why she suddenly seemed so allergic to him.

With a flash, Tobirama was gone, and Chieko didn't miss the guarded but injured reproachfulness in his gaze.

A knot tightened in her chest and she angrily fisted her hair in her hands, crouching down to kneel on their bed, resting her forehead on his pillow so she could inhale his scent. His words from last night danced around her mind.

"Chieko, I don't want you to leave."

He had sounded heavy with exhaustion, and she knew it was not from staying up that night.

"I don't have a choice, I can't stay here."

She had held herself together, and as she felt her tears just on the brink, he had wrapped himself around her and burrowed his face into her chest. He had held her to him as if she was his haven.

"You make me feel safe."

His whispered words ghosted through her mind, confined by the harshness of reality, confined by their situation. They would never be safe together.

Chieko wondered if it was possible that she loved him.

In this tent, in the yellow light of the morning, she wiped her tired eyes, assuring herself that this was neither a bad dream, nor was it the absolute summation of her life. They would meet again, perhaps under better circumstances.

Tobirama returned to the tent with a crate of supplies cradled in his arms. His eyes were lined with a feint red, and his lower lip jutted at the sight of her.

"Here's your pack." He dropped the crate and proceeded to toss her a bag. She stared dismally at it. Wanting to avoid looking at her, he busied himself with the contents of the open box.

"These are some arm-guards and here's a chest plate. They should fit you. Here's a robe for you to wear as well, and I found these two katana for you, one's shorter than the other but they've just been sharpened so they should serve you well."

Chieko had tuned out as she watched him carefully take the objects out of the crate for her to put into the pack.

"Chieko?" Her eyes snapped to his rose irises, heat rushing to her cheeks as she was brought back into the present.

"Okay." She replied meekly, wondering if he had asked her a question that she had missed.

Sighing heavily, he stood up. They had resigned to not discuss what had occurred the night before, and he desperately wanted to speak to her about it. Her being so shut off was irritating him.

As he pinched the bridge of his nose, she shoved supplies into the pack and then busied herself with strapping on the black armour. She pulled the robe over her armour and vest and tied it at the waist with a familiar looking white sash. The robe itself was a navy blue with some white-embroidery around the sleeves.

"These are light, they should be fine." She said reassuringly, more to herself than him. She was relieved at the warmth the clothes provided.

She strapped the shorter blade over the top of the pack and kept the other on her belt. With the everything secured, she was ready to leave.

"I should go now." She held out her hand, and he gazed intently at her for a moment. Abruptly, he clasped his hand over her elbow as they whirled into his Hiraishin to the outskirts of Senju territory.

The slow-dancing cadence of autumn leaves was the only disturbance in the early morning.

Chieko felt dizzy and held onto his arms, hands balled into tight fists.

Here the fresh sun broke through the thinning canopy of leaves, and Tobirama felt that this was the only moment where he could tell her what was on his mind, he felt compelled. He waited until she was steady enough to let her go.

"Where will you go?"

Guiltily, Chieko did her best to look like she knew, "That's a secret Tobirama."

The silence lapsed. They enjoyed the sound of the birds and the fresh scent of the chilly morning. Tobirama leaned forward to press his lips to her forehead.

"I will see you again." He whispered, proceeding to press his forehead to hers as he searched her eyes for some reassurance. At her silence, he felt his control slip.

"Promise me, Uchiha. Promise me you'll see me again."

His voice cracked, the melody of repressed grief.

Stunned into silence, she wordlessly pressed her cold lips to his.

She pressed them so hard, she felt the lines of his skin embed themselves into hers. He warmed her in a silken, soft and bare moment of affection.

"I promise, Tobirama. We will meet again."

He tucked her hair behind her ears. Their breaths fogged in the space between them. She nodded at him and then bit her lower lip. He saw it tremble.

He stepped away and disappeared, an odd flash of blue and white. She was glad she hadn't blinked, or she would have missed his vanishing form.

Around her, the forest slowly decayed- leaves browning and damp wood greying. The grass was still a pale green and it twinkled amiably from the dew. She ran her tongue over her lips to taste him again.

"Goodbye." She whispered into the wind, turning on her heel to cross the invisible boundaries of territorial markings.