𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 4

A WEEK went by and the two lived their normal lives, or at least what they considered normal.

Haruka continued to rummage around for food like the stray she was and if the guards caught her, she would run to the woods and if Tobirama wasn't there she would go back and make sure it was safe. Sometimes she would get so worried that the guards were waiting inside for her, that she would find another place outside and sleep. The next day she'd be covered in bug bites so she would go down to the water and drench her whole body while also waiting for Tobirama.

Tobirama kept busy on his side of the world. A child stuck in a meaningless war with prejudice growing inside his head each day. He worked hard. He wanted to be on top, he doesn't want to fall behind the rest of the Senju. He also had to keep a keen eye on his brothers. They were all a handful, but he still loves them and would do anything for them. As much as he hated to admit, Haruka plagued his mind. For some odd reason he couldn't push her away to the back of his head. He wanted to. He wanted the short girl out of his mind. Her pink eyes boring into his soul. He frustrated him to no end. He would've ditched her if he could get her away, but he showed up anyway.

He broke through the trees to see none other than the dirty girl rolling around in the water. Her lips were open and curved as she laughed at how the water splashed around her. Her light tan shirt was now a dark brown as it soaked in the water. Her torn shorts were the same. Her tattered shoes laid on the bank of the water.

He cleared his throat causing her to immediately pop out of the water. Her blue was stuck to her hand as she pushed up from her face. She was scared at first, but when their eyes locked, her smile grew once more.

"You came!" She arose from the water. Droplets flew and she ran over to his side. Her arms opened wide for a reunion hug, but Tobirama held up a hand to stop her.

"Please don't touch me."

Her arms went back to her side as she laughed it off, "Sorry." She kicked the water slightly and he had to move so it wouldn't splash him. "What took you so long?"

Haruka's eyes watched his figure shift around for a second. His long pants that hovered slightly over his feet blew gently along with the wind. His silver hair went along with the wind as well. His red eyes only brought out his features more. He was a lot cleaner than Haruka and definitely had more money than her by the look of his clothes. Though he seemed tired and smelled of sweat as if he had been working just a few hours earlier.

"I'm a busy man," Tobirama held his face high. He was trying to show who the dominant one was here as if they were dogs, minus the marking territories part. His eyes looked down at Haruka who seemed unfazed by his stance.

She tilted her head, "Really? What do you do that makes you so busy?"

His arms crossed over his chest, "Seeing as you are a girl, it's not important to you." She opened her mouth to counter him, but he noticed something behind her. A few crackers on the ground that were blanketed by ants. He pointed over to the food. "Is that yours?"

"Huh?" She whipped her head around and threw her arms up in the air. "No! Not again!"

She charged towards the ant covered crackers causing all the water to splash around again. Once the chaos of the water had stilled, Tobirama simply took a step onto the water and calmly walked over to the frantic girl. She didn't even notice that he was now by her side again. She picked up the crackers one by one and was trying to get all the ants off, but then some started to crawl onto her pale skin. She jumped with a little scream and dropped some of the crackers down into the water. Tobirama could've sworn he saw tears well up in her eyes.

He scoffed, "Where'd you even get those? They look old."

"A nice man gave them to me, but then he started acting all creepy so I ran for it," She spoke about it like that's an occasional occurrence. "But now they're all ruined so I'll have to find something else for tonight."

He raised an eyebrow, "Where are you from?"

Her small body plopped down on the ground. Tobirama soon followed her and sat down right next to her. Her cheeks were pink from what he was assuming was embarrassment, "The Hidden Dirt Village."

Tobirama had to hold in a laugh, "That's the name? Are you serious?"

The corner of her eyes watched him, "Sadly. It's a small village that's sure to fall soon. Rich people suck." Her blush was gone as her head held itself high. "But not like you'd know anything about that because you're a boy."

He rolled his eyes, "Don't get upset just because I'm the superior gender."

She glared at him, "Boys smell bad."

"You're the one to talk. You smell horrid!" He got up her face with a glare that matched her's.

"I'll show you horrid!"

Her arms went out first and went for his hair. When his hands latched onto her elbows, her whole body lurched forward. He pulled her forward and then rolled her to the ground. He held her down by her elbows and smirked. She wanted to spit in his face, but held back the urge. Her legs wrapped around his waist and tossed him back around. When he was flat on the ground, she lost balance and the two started to roll down until they fell into the water.

They both splashed around for a second until finally they were both on their backs, staring up at the sky. Tobirama was upset that he had fallen into the water. Was that her plan all along? He turned over to her. She was fighting a smile, but the moment his eyes landed on her, her mouth opened and out came a loud howl of laughter.

He turned away from her with pink cheeks, "Tch. Whatever."

Her melodic laugh continued until it faded away, "I win!"

He rolled up from the water and shook his arm. The water from his arm splat against the water below, "I could drown you right now if I wanted to."

She giggled, "Please don't. I won't live that long, but I would at least like to live my life to its fullest."

He was puzzled by her statement, "What do you mean you know you won't live that long?"

She arose from the water, "Tobirama, have you seen me?" She looked at him as if he were dumb. "I don't get that much food, I live on my own, coming here is the only source of water I have besides a small facet that gives us dirt water instead of clean water. Probably by this winter, I'll starve and die." She stuck her tongue out and closed her eyes as she fell back into the water. When she opened her eyes back up, she laughed again. "It's just the life I was given, but maybe God will take pity on me and make me a rich snob next time."

His face softened while he looked back at her. Her smile fell as did her eyes while they stared up at the sun. He leaned back, "Don't you have someone watching you?"

The look on her face didn't change, "No. My parents died way before I can remember." She paused. "I did have a brother though. He fought in a meaningless war and everytime he would come home his hands would be just like yours. Rough and hard. He died in battle and I didn't even know until three weeks later. They didn't even give him a proper burial. They just threw him on top of a bunch of other dead bodies and burned them."

"That's-"

"Terrible? Horrible? Cruel? Yeah you're about the hundredth person to say that," She rolled her eyes. "Sorry I know I sound mean, but I've heard it so many times that I'm just unphased by now."

A sigh left the pale boy's lips, "I won't let that happen to my brothers. I already lost one to those disgusting Uchihas and I refuse to lose anyone else. I'll kill every last one of those scumbags if I have to." His hand wrapped around a rock. He brought it out of the water and tossed it until it hit the top of the water and sank with a quick force.

She smirked, "You're scary."

He stuck his lips out as his eyes narrowed on the spot where the rock had fell in, "Good."

Before the conversation continued Haruka's stomach decided that it would join in on the fun too. Her face grew red from embarrassment as her hands wrapped around her stomach. She hadn't eaten anything all day and those crackers were now the water and the ant's food. She was starving.

Tobirama snorted, "If you'd like I can bring you food when I come here."

It was as if his whole demeanor changed in a matter of just minutes. Her eyes squinted at him, "You better not be taking pity on me."

He held his hands up, "I'm not! I now know that you don't get a lot of food so I want to help."

She had to debate it for a second. Tobirama being nice was rare. Whenever he would start being nice it was as if the world stopped spinning. Such as the time where he wrapped her wound. Of course they had only just met so maybe she had a wrong opinion on him the whole time.

His hand scratched the back of his neck while a small tint of pink painted his cheeks, "And I don't know...maybe I like your company and I don't want you to die too early."

She giggled as her body leaned forward. She then tackled him back into the water, "So you do like me!"

He groaned loudly as he threw his head back, "Don't make it weird!"