War-torn
A/N: I am actively trying to stop myself from writing for this. For some reason, this mess of a "slow burn" has been occupying my mind a lot. Hence, I am updating two-ish weeks after the last one.
Y'all should know that feedback feeds the people-pleaser in me because I need to know if you guys are interested or are enjoying this, also there's no harm in suggesting how to make this better. I may not respond to you individually, but rest assured I always take feedback to heart and hope I've addressed it properly in the next update and/or revisions.
Thanks for reading.
The hermit told her he could bring her back fifteen years into the past. The hermit actually brings her back fifty-five.
All she wanted was to find a sword.
"She says she is from the future."
A wave of confused silence comes over the room. Even Tobirama cannot believe the words that come from his mouth and grimaces at the thought.
He's sure that she's lying.
"But perhaps it makes sense, niisan." Touka is the first to speak, "There is a blockade in her mind, which means–"
But Tobirama shoots her down, definitely not in the mood to entertain her drawn-out hypothesis, "There is no proof. She may likely be under a hypnosis."
Touka scoffs, crosses her arm over her chest, and speaks in a sharp tone, "One that can leave her personality intact?"
"We cannot be sure of her true identity." Tobirama huffed. "She has strung too many lies now."
"Perhaps she is just afraid." She shot back.
Tobirama lowers his voice. "She is protecting someone."
Touka narrows her eyes. "Herself."
The tense exchange happens right in front of Hashirama's eyes, yet he cannot simply butt in their conversation for the sole reason that he is open to the possibility of such a thing. That she comes from the future is an entirely new matter to their world, one which changes everything they know about time and its constant flow. If one could jump into the past, then there is even the slightest chance that one may jump into the future, see the results of their actions and return to the past with the intentions of creating the ideal future. The perfect future.
But he cannot.
"Perhaps..." Hashirama clears his throat. "There is something to be considered in both of your arguments."
He has thought about this ever since he saw the two maps laid side-by-side.
"If she is from the future, then there is much to learn from her."
He notes the stark difference in Touka and Tobirama's expressions.
"If she is not, then we must consider how to go about such a thing, given that Tenbutsu Masamune has already vouched for her."
Touka's confident smile widens while Tobirama's displeased scowl dips deeper.
"Either way, she is going on this journey and we cannot stop her."
"Anija–"
He already knows what Tobirama is about to say, which is why he cuts him off.
"We can only keep a close watch."
The way he looks at Tobirama rather than Touka is telling in itself, and Tobirama doesn't like it at all.
"I will not." Tobirama grounds out, crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes in disapproval.
It reminds Hashirama of when they were younger.
"Just think, niisan." Touka chimes in, "If she was under an Uchiha's control, you'd have exclusive rights to executing them both."
Her morbid sense of humor does nothing to lighten the mood. Instead, it makes it even worse.
"Let's not wish for that, Touka." Hashirama blurts out. "If anything, I hope she really is from the future."
"Why?" She asks, suddenly curious.
"Perhaps we'd be given an idea on how to properly change the world."
Tobirama thinks bitterly about his older brother's optimism and wonders if she is daring to plan an escape.
The night passes and there is no news of such a thing, nor is there any sign of resistance from the foreign prisoner. Still, he cannot help but feel uneasy. She may be resigned to all this, but it may only be a ruse, and she will strike when their guard is at their lowest.
So he orders only two guards to come fetch her and orders the servants in-charge of the bathhouse to leave only a rock for her to use. She is without a weapon and she will use it to attack them, or perhaps she had already fashioned a weapon in her confinement. But nothing of the sort happens.
He knows there are at least twenty-six ways for her to escape, but she does none of them.
He thinks she is just biding her time.
So when her food is to be served, he tells the servants at the kitchens to provide to metal chopsticks. He half-disagrees with the action and thinks that it may look like they're anticipating for her to take the opportunity. But he still goes through with it, believing that anyone desperate enough to escape would do anything to do so. And yet, when the old woman comes out of the room with a tray of empty bowls and plates, he notices that the chopsticks have been left exactly where they had been placed.
"She is mocking us." He hisses.
Half of him thinks that perhaps his siblings are right, yet half of him thinks that the foreigner is just biding her time until she is let go.
Now he considers accepting Hashirama's suggestion from the night before.
"You're the best tracker in the village. If she dares to try and escape, well, there's nowhere in the world she can hide in, right?"
He scowls and watches as the prisoner grovels on her knees as if it was the only thing she knows.
"Pardon my rudeness, but is there not anyone else?"
It doesn't come as a surprise to him that she would ask such a thing. This wasn't part of her plan. She expected them to send a civilian as her guide, a civilian she would take advantage of, either hold for ransom or something else. She didn't expect them to send a shinobi, a high-ranked one at that, with her. She is already planning of ways to get out of this. She must find a way to get out of this.
Yes, he must be right in thinking so.
"It would be too presumptuous of me to have such an important shinobi act as a mere guide."
His anger increases at every word she says.
"I would not want this village to lose such a shinobi, even if only briefly."
She bows her head at these words in embarrassment, but he doesn't think anything of it.
Who knew the samurai would know such cunning and deceitful methods?
He narrows his eyes at her even further and wishes for her to just admit she is lying and that everything is a ruse for her to–
The Uchiha.
Oh, how could he forget? How could any of them forget? If an Uchiha had caught wind of this, or if she wanted to leave so quickly in order to–No. No, he does not entertain the thought any longer. Hashirama wouldn't change his mind about this, he wouldn't be swayed by her mere words. He is better than that, they all are.
"Nonsense!"
He is right. Hashirama believes not a single word she says.
"The village would do just fine on its own."
Of course, it would.
"And it would do my brother good to go out and see the world."
Hashirama's knowing grin makes him realize something and he wants to scold him for it.
He's kicking him out.
And before he could say another word about it, the prisoner speaks monotonously as if she has resigned to her fate and admitted defeat.
"Very well. I look forward to your companionship, Tobirama-dono."
Touka's face breaks into a cheeky smile.
But after, she approaches Hashirama with a question that's been on her mind since last night.
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
Touka, perceptive as she is, cannot help but think that this was all a ploy to get Tobirama off Hashirama's back.
"But I can't blame you, niisan." She shrugs. "We need to get out every once in a while."
And they both know that Tobirama hasn't been out of Konoha's territory in ages, and the furthest any of them have been to was the forest beyond the battlefields of their youth. They have been to the ocean before, but not for leisure or any of the sort, only for battle. The raging waters remind them too much of war, and they wonder if the ocean is ever calm.
"But why him?" She continues to ask, "Why not me, for example?"
Hashirama knows Touka is smart, brilliant, a truly gifted shinobi, but she cannot fight as ruthlessly as Tobirama. She is gifted in the art of genjutsu, a truly renowned master far and wide, but sometimes she becomes too soft, too engrossed in the world that she cannot destroy it. She has come to cherish it so much. They have all seen the horrors of war, but Touka took them and made them her own. She always thought that fighting was a savage art, and that genjutsu was a merciless one.
Touka can fight, but only for so long.
"If it came to it, would you be able to kill her?" Hashirama asked carefully.
Touka had come to sympathize with the foreigner, if only to a certain extent, and that would surely make it difficult for her. Betrayal is something too heavy to bear.
"Samurai live under a code of honor." She spoke plainly. "She would kill herself first."
Hashirama thinks then, if it would have been better to send Touka instead. But Tobirama has no sympathy for the foreigner, and killing her would be like killing all the others.
And he hopes that won't happen.
"I apologize."
The samurai's first words to Tobirama strike like a hot knife and the air outside the prison seem to burn with his displeasure. She wraps her arms around herself as if to hold her steady, fingers stiffening around her arms.
"I did not mean to be such a bother."
He does not think she is cold.
"It is done, now." He answers. "Let's get this over with quickly."
Two guards approach them with a satchel and her two swords. They hand over her things cautiously. If she dares attack any of them, they are ready.
"Thank you." She says quietly.
Her two swords lean against the wall, seemingly forgotten as she shuffles through the inside of the satchel as if in desperate need to find something.
And Tobirama will cut her where she stands as soon as–
It was a hairpin.
She took out a hairpin, a small one with a purple object carved on one end. A small smile appears on her face. She is relieved. And he wonders whatever for, it was a childish-looking thing and–
He remembers that his pity for her might probably be more than his anger.
And he also remembers another thing.
"Here."
He gives her back the ten silver coins. And she is speechless, dumbfounded–
"You waste your money on the unnecessary." He continued.
And she does not answer anything related to it.
"The maps." She says instead. "May I ask for the maps?"
He only gives her the map of their world.
"It seems your destination is far into the uncharted ocean. Be prepared." He warns. "And remember that the slightest sign of betrayal merits your death."
She nods. "To Hakuryou Island, then."
He has not heard of such a place.
"To port, then." He tells her, quick to walk ahead.
"No, we must go north and board a ship from–" She stops, "Kaminari no Kuni."
He disagrees, thinking that this is all part of her plan, but relents.
"Very well."
He is more than ready to face whoever, anyway.
A/N: And it ends there? Just kidding. We've got a long journey ahead of us, folks.