Chapter 10

A week went by pretty fast.

Madara and Hashirama were beginning to get a hang of their focused chakra control. Hashirama was surpassing Madara in this aspect by a lot. Which Shiori teased Madara about to no end. Madara, however, would get back at her when she had to train with him and his brothers under their father.

Shiori fell back on her arse with Madara grinning victoriously above her. She scowled in dismay.

"Shiori, you need to keep up with Madara's movements." Tajima instructed.

Shiori sighed, but got to her feet again and took her place a few feet away from the smirking boy. "Let's go again."

She burst into action, running towards Madara with chakra boosted speed. Shiori went to throw a punch to his face, but the boy sidestepped her easily. Madara then gave her back a kick and sent her flying into the dirt. She hissed, falling face first into the ground.

"That's enough for today," Tajima sighed. "Good work, Madara. Shiori, you need to be able to sense your opponent's movements. Throwing punches like that can leave you wide open. Try and predict what he's going to do next."

"Yes, Uchiha-san…" She grumbled, dusting herself off.

Madara helped her to her feet with a smug grin. She hit his shoulder, rolling her eyes. "You know I'm gonna make you regret it later."

"Yeah yeah… Hey, I've been practicing that leaf technique you showed us and I think I've got it down."

"Oh really? Show me then."

Madara picked up a stray leaf and balanced the stem on his finger. He sent a little chakra to the tip and let it stick to his hand as he waved it around. Shiori clapped at his achievement.

"Congrats Madabaka, you're now only four steps behind Hashi-chan."

Madara scowled. "I'll catch up to him one day. It's not my fault I have too much chakra."

"Hashi-chan actually has more chakra than you, which means you have no reason to complain." Shiori pointed out, but Madara just shooed at her.

"Whatever. Let's go."

oOo

Once they reached the river, Shiori was ready to relax. Her body ached from the beating Madara had given her during training. She laid on the rocks near the shore, letting the sun beam on her face.

However, her peace was disturbed when Hashirama appeared.

He looked panicked and disturbed. Two emotions Shiori never saw on the happy boy's face. He looked like he was having a mental breakdown when he came to them.

"Hashirama? What's wrong?" Madara asked. Shiori sat up from her spot on the rocks.

"A-Ah it's nothing… Don't worry ab-" "Something's obviously wrong, please tell us." Shiori pressed.

Hashirama flinched before looking at the ground. "M-My brother… He got hurt and.. w-we don't know if he's going to make it." He stuttered, his voice cracking.

Madara looked towards Shiori who had already gotten up from her place on the rocks. "Take me to him." She said.

"Shiori… I don't know if that's a good ide-" "I can heal him. Take me to him." She repeated.

Hashirama and Madara looked concerned. The clothes she wore had the Uchiha symbol on her back. Going into Senju territory in Uchiha clothing wasn't the smartest idea.

But Hashirama was desperate and he knew if anyone could heal his brother, it would be Shiori. So he nodded.

"Madara, I'll be back later. Don't tell Tajima where I'm going, okay?"

"Wait, Shiori, it's not smart to go alon-" "Don't worry, I'll be back by sunset." She assured.

Madara wanted to protest, but after seeing Hashirama's distraught face, he knew he couldn't stop her from going.

"Wear something else, at least." He said.

"We can stop by my old home and grab something. Come on, Hashirama, we need to go fast." She said.

"Y-yes!"

oOo

Shiori didn't realize Hashirama was a Senju until they got to the gates. The compound was much different than the Uchiha compound. It was just as large, but had a warmer feel to the environment than the cold stone walls that surrounded the Uchiha. She was led in straight away, earning a few unsettling looks from the people around her.

"T-Tou-san! This is my friend Shiori. She can help Itama." Hashirama said as they entered a wooden house filled with medics.

Hashirama's father looked at her just like Tajima had when they first met. Cold and distrusting. He scanned her for a moment, making her glad she wore a simple white dress instead of her Uchiha attire.

"Who are you?" He asked with a deeper voice than what she was used to.

"My name is Shiori… And before you ask I have no clan affiliation." She stated.

"Can she really save Itama, Hashirama?" His father asked, a hint of doubt in his voice.

Hashirama nodded vigorously. "Yes! Shiori is amazing, Tou-san!"

Looking past the man, Shiori noticed a very pale young boy, around Ginjiro's age, laying on a mattress on the ground. She pushed past the man and the medics and began analyzing her patient.

He was beaten up pretty bad and was stabbed multiple times in the stomach and upper chest. The medics before her tried to stop the bleeding with bandages, but it didn't seem to be helping at all. She didn't have much time to save the boy.

"Hashirama, please get me clean towels and bandages." She ordered, beginning to peel away the blood soaked bandages from the boy's chest.

She heard Hashirama run off and got to work, sending chakra into her hands. As they glowed a familiar green, she put them to the boy's chest and began working on the largest cut.

It was deep and ran through his body. She thought it must have been a miracle he was still alive. She forced his body to begin the healing process, stitching the skin back together.

Hashirama's father gave a sharp intake noise as he watched her.

"Senju-san, please get a vial of blue flowers from my pack. I need them for-" "Chakra restoration. I know what Caryn flowers are." He spoke bluntly.

"Good," She said, still focusing on the boy's inner muscles that were damaged by the blade. "Because this is going to take a while."

oOo

By the time Shiori had finished healing the third stab wound, the sun was already setting. Shiori was exhausted. She had been working for the past five hours, using Caryn flowers to keep her going.

She wanted to keep pushing herself. She knew she had to keep going. People were counting on her and a boy's life was at stake.

But her body ached and screamed against her continuing. She knew she was close to passing out as her vision began to become blurry.

'If Madara was here, he'd force me to stop.' She thought to herself. Itama was in a stable position for now. The only reminders of his wounds were scars and a fractured rib. She healed three of the four stab wounds and the last one left was not a fatal strike.

Hashirama put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to flinch.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." He said, sitting beside her on the ground.

It was just them in the room with the injured Itama still unconscious. His father and the other medics had left when she healed the second wound, but told Hashirama to stay and watch her. His father had other duties to attend to.

Somehow, Shiori found Hashirama's father to be colder than Tajima. He cared for his son, but didn't stay unlike Tajima. She found it interesting that the Senju could be more cold than the Uchiha.

"It's alright," She breathed, "I'm close to being done."

"You look exhausted," Hashirama frowned. "Madara would kill me if I brought you back half-dead."

Shiori rolled her eyes. "That idiot would just yell at me til morning. I wouldn't have a chance to die without him throwing a fit."

Hashirama chuckled. "How did you meet him anyways?"

Shiori felt a soft smile form on her face. "He saved me. Well, I saved his brother first and then his father kind of tried to force me to heal his mother. Madara stopped him from taking me prisoner. After that, I healed his mother and sort of became part of the family. Madara even saved me from being killed by bandits." She reminisced. Hashirama listened and smiled at her story.

"Before the Uchiha took me in, I was alone. I had no family or friends. I thought I was happy being alone, but I was lying to myself. Madara…" She sighed, "That idiot got through to me and my stubbornness."

Hashirama let out a small laugh. "He does seem to have a tendency to get through to people. I kinda envy him."

"How did you meet?" She asked.

"Well… we were children. We just stumbled upon each other and became friends. We didn't care about who the other person was or that we are at war with each other. We just… began a friendship." He grinned, giving Shiori a small sense of warmth inside. But it quickly faded.

Shiori winced, feeling a sharp pain in the left side of her head. Her palms began to flicker from green to pale blue before dispersing.

She held a hand to her head, trying to push her fatigue away. "Sorry… Just give me a minute and I'll finish the healing."

"No, don't push yourself. You've done more than enough, Shiori." He helped the girl to her feet, but noticed that she was about to fall down immediately. Before she could, he lifted her off the ground and carried her towards the door. She protested, but he ignored her.

"Our medics can heal the minor wounds. Itama isn't going to die anymore, thanks to you. That's more than anything I could ask for." He said. "Thank you, Shiori."

Shiori leaned her head against his shoulder, letting her exhaustion take over. "I wish we could all live in harmony.. like you and Madara…"

She fell asleep and Hashirama didn't mind carrying her. She was extremely light and small compared to the things he was used to carrying. Battle packs and other injured senju.

He explained to his father Itama's condition and excused himself to take the girl home.

"Hashirama," His father called.

He noticed how dark his father's eyes were becoming, which made him worry.

"Keep an eye on her." He said, but it felt more like an order.

Hashirama swallowed roughly, but nodded and left the compound without another word.