naruto (c) masashi kishimoto, no profit gained from this fic
mild gore ahead
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their eyes spoke of betrayal. his was expected, hers unforeseen.
"you..." he growled, knees barely able to support his weight and plates of steel that made up his defense. "what the hell did you do?"
"you said I'm too naive," the hokage whispered, louder than the roaring waterfall behind them. her face was as stiff as a wooden mask. "you said I ought to suspect people, even the ones closest to me."
his susano'o flickered, dying. its owner immobilized, muscles and bones gripped by an unseen force of nature, preventing him from taking another step, from making another seal. the blue giant swung his sword before it was gone in smoke, a last attempt to attack but easily deflected by her wooden dome.
"the hell you did to me, hashirama!?"
she climbed up the cliff, facing her opponent-and-rival-and-enemy-and-friend-and-so much more. "I let my seeds grow, that is all."
"how-" his question swallowed by a choke. his shoulder plate cracked, showing a tree sapling growing slow but strong. its leaves drenched with blood.
"how long we've been living together?" she asked back, her sword fell from her calloused hand with a clatter. "how many days I started with seeing you lying by my side? I did everything I could to make you happy. but you fell anyway, madara, so I have to take precautions to defend my village."
his teeth gritted, his breath getting heavier. his sharingan reactivated; a brutal roar escaped his mouth as he mustered the last of his strength and charged towards her. the hokage closed her eyes, one hand formed a half seal, and his movement once more halted.
she closed the distance between them until their foreheads met. more little trees grew from his skin, drinking his chakra rapidly. she placed her arms on his shoulders, her fingers intertwined into a snake seal behind madara's head.
"I will not let you destroy konoha."
as blood bathed forest bloomed from his body, hashirama broke the first rule of fighting an uchiha:
she looked into his eyes.