DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. I ONLY OWN MY OC'S.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Injury
Despite telling herself that she was just going down to the river for the peace and quiet, Izumi knew deep down that she was going because she was intrigued by a certain white-haired Senju. It didn't start out like that first, after she met Tobirama that day she went back the next just because she couldn't stand being at the compound without both of her brothers.
Of course, Izumi just happened to meet Tobirama again. She was still wary about him; after all, he was a Senju. But she was pretty sure that it went both ways. But after meeting him for a week, she slightly put down the walls she built.
Slightly.
"Hello Izumi." She looked up from her usual spot by the overhang and gave Tobirama a small smile.
"Hello Tobirama." She felt him sit next to her and they didn't say anything. This was their usual thing; they would sit next to each other and watch the horizon until it was time to go. But today Izumi brought something with her, she brought riceballs. She unwrapped the cloth around the food to reveal four riceballs, two small and two large. It was almost as if she was going to give some to Tobirama. Izumi picked up the largest one and handed it to Tobirama.
"Do you want it?" She saw Tobirama eyeing it, causing her to laugh. "It's not poisonous if that's what you're wondering."
Tobirama gave her a guilty look and took it from her hand. "Thanks."
"No problem." And with that, they were both enveloped in a comfortable silence.
Second Week
It was getting even hotter and hotter as the days passed by, and Izumi hated it. She liked winter and its freezing temperature; she sure didn't like summer with its heat. But she sucked it up and sneaked out of the compound like usual while she walked through the peaceful forest, carrying a bag of riceballs. This became like a thing for them, Izumi would bring four riceballs, the two small ones for her and the two large ones for him. They would eat it and just stare off into whatever they were looking at and stay silence.
By the time she reached the river, whatever happiness she had earlier was gone. She was drenched with sweat and her hair was plastered onto her face and neck. Maybe she should just chop of her hair; it would sure make her life hell of a lot easier. Izumi looked up to already see Tobirama sitting at their usual spot, looking unfazed by the temperature.
"Tobirama, how are you not hot wearing all of," Izumi motioned her hands up and down his body. "That?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just not hot."
"Lucky." Izumi muttered. She sat down next to Tobirama and stared at him, obviously unnerving the white-haired man.
"Yes…?"
"How old are you?" She suddenly asked.
"I'm 21." He answered.
"Oh, you're three years older than me."
Tobirama looked at her. "You're 18?"
Izumi nodded her head and smiled. "Yup. I turned 18 on February 10th, along with my brother."
"Huh, my birthday is on the 19th of February."
"That's a cool coincidence."
"I guess it is."
Third Week
"I wish I could go swimming in that river." Izumi said and she looked down sadly at the river.
"Why don't you?" Tobirama asked.
Izumi looked at him, incredulous. "Does it look like I have the right clothes to go swimming?"
"Oh, that's true."
"For someone so smart, you have like no common sense." She said, teasingly.
Tobirama shot her a glare. "That's not a very nice thing to say to someone."
Izumi shrugged her shoulders and laughed. "Oh well!" She stood up and walked to the edge of the overhang. "All this water is tempting me. Damn it, I should've brought my swimming clothes!" Taking one last look at the water, she turned around.
But of course, she just had to lose her balance and start falling backwards.
Tobirama quickly shot up and grabbed her arm, but she was already too far back, she ended up pulling Tobirama towards her into the river.
Splash
Izumi felt the sudden shock of cold with the water, but was soon comforted by it. This was home, this feeling of weightlessness, the cold surrounding her body. Izumi could even feel the little bubbles rising all around her from her unexpected plunge.
It's so ironic, she comes from a clan that loves fire, yet she loves the total opposite: water.
She opened her eyes, only to see Tobirama staring at her and then pointing to the surface. As much as she didn't want to leave, she nodded her head and swam up. As her head popped out into the surface, she gasped for air and could hear Tobirama doing the same. She swam to the side of the river to get out, Tobirama following closely behind.
"I'm sorry!" She said as she got out of the river. Izumi mentally cursed, she couldn't go back to the compound wet, it would make people question where she's been.
"It's okay." He looked at Izumi and gave her one of his rare smiles. "I was hot anyways." She laughed and went behind a tree to change. Because it was the summer, her wet clothes would be dry by the time she went home. Of course, she would keep on her undergarments, but her shirt, pants, and shoes could come off.
As Izumi walked out from behind the tree, her eyes widened from what she saw and froze.
Tobirama had his shirt off, revealing a broad shoulder and a slim waist going down to his undergarments in a v shape. His sculpted arms and chest were rippling with every move he made as he wrung the water from his shirt. He sported a six pack with a chest and abdomen that Izumi knew that had to be hard from the years of training to be a shinobi.
She was beyond shocked, she was so embarrassed! Izumi was even surprised at her own reaction; she was acting as if she's never seen a shirtless man before. She always saw men in her own clan shirtless; in fact, she saw it all the time when they trained together. But Izumi never cared; she never got this embarrassed of seeing something like this. Yet, seeing Tobirama without a shirt on caused her to feel some emotions she's never felt before, like butterflies in her stomach.
Tobirama sensed Izumi behind him and turned around, only to be slightly shocked to see her flustered. Her face was flushed with red all the way down to her neck, revealing how embarrassed she was of something. His eyes traveled a little bit lower-
Okay, never mind, his eyes needed to go back up to her face.
"Everything okay Izumi?"
"W-What? Of c-course everything's fine!" Izumi said, her voice more high pitched than usual. She avoided his eyes and after placing her wet clothes on the ground to dry, she quickly jumped into the water.
Tobirama was quite confused, what had just happened?
Fourth Week
Tobirama saw Izumi walking towards him, a happy grin on face.
"Hello Izumi."
"Hey Tobirama-" She suddenly gasped in pain and grasped her abdomen, dropping the bag she was carrying. Tobirama shot up from where he was sitting and ran to her worried.
"Izumi?"
"T-The pain." She said in between the little gasps of pain she was having. What was happening to her?
"Hey, Izumi, what's wrong?"
Izumi was shaking her head. "I d-don't know." The pain suddenly dulled down, now only throbbing. She pulled her shirt up to see if she was cut or anything, but there was nothing. Only her smooth pale skin was showing, no cuts, no bruises, nothing. "Huh, that was weird…"
"Maybe you should go back to your home, you're still in pain right?"
"Yeah but-"
"Go home Izumi, I would feel better if you weren't in pain." Tobirama said, interrupting her. Hearing this, Izumi didn't understand why she was feeling her heart race.
"Oh? Is that a little bit of worry I'm hearing?" Izumi teasingly asked as she poked his cheek. She saw him glare at her, but she knew he didn't really care if she touched him, if he did Tobirama would've have stopped her hand from going anywhere near his face. "If it worries you that much then, I'll go home."
"Thank you." Izumi gave him a smile and walked back down the cliff onto and into the forest. She looked back and saw Tobirama standing in their usual spot, watching her leave. Izumi continued walking into the forest, the dull ache in her stomach confusing her.
The Next Day
Izumi couldn't sleep at all last night, she felt that something was wrong and not to mention the pain in her abdomen was getting worse. At one point it got so bad to where Kazuyo had to take her to the Healer's house.
"Izumi, what did you do?" Kazuyo asked her friend.
She was wincing from the pain. "I didn't do anything, this pain just popped out of nowhere." Her legs suddenly gave out from underneath her as she gasped in pain.
"Goddamn it Izumi, what the hell is wrong with you?" Kazuyo picked Izumi up and rushed her to Etsuko's house.
"Etsuko? Etsuko?!"
"What do you want girl?" The old lady said, her voice rough from sleep.
"Izumi's in pain and we both don't know what's wrong!"
"Alright, follow me and put her where I tell you too." Etsuko opened the door and let Kazuyo (who was carrying Izumi) in and pointed to a couch in her living room. "There."
She nodded and placed her best friend onto the cushions and took a step back, looking at the healer worryingly.
"Let's see what's wrong, now shall we Izumi?" Etsuko kneeled down and pulled up the girl's shirt. She furrowed her eyebrows and started pushing her stomach.
"Does this hurt Izumi?"
"Yes it does! Yes!"
"Hmm… I can't feel anything wrong with it." She concentrated on her hand and in a few seconds there was a green glow surrounding it, revealing iryo-ninjutsu. Etsuko's hand moved over Izumi's entire abdomen.
"Well?" Kazuyo asked, biting her bottom lip.
"There's nothing wrong." She stood up. "I don't know what's happened but I say let her stay here for the night. You're welcomed to stay too." Etsuko walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a small bottle containing liquid. "This'll help her sleep." She walked over to where Izumi lay and opened her mouth to drop a few of the liquid in.
Within a few seconds Izumi was knocked out, fully asleep.
"Izumi, wake up!"
"No…"
"Goddamn it Izumi, get up!" Izumi opened her eyes and saw a worried Connie looking down at her.
"Well, I haven't seen you in years."
"Two to be exact. But we're not here to talk; I need to tell you something." Izumi stood up and looked at the blonde.
"What?"
"I was keeping this from you because I didn't think it was time yet, but with the pain your feeling in your stomach this is too much of a coincidence." Connie walked up to Izumi and placed her hands on her head.
Izumi saw Madara and Izumi fighting the two Senju brothers, Hashirama and Tobirama. Madara was fighting Hashirama, his Mangekyō flashing red while Hashirama managed to keep in par with him. On the other side Izuna was fighting Tobirama and Izumi's eyes widened from what she saw.
Tobirama had stabbed her twin brother.
Madara screamed for Izuna and ran for him, Hashirama forgotten. Izuna was clutching the right side of his stomach, which happened to be the same place that Izumi was feeling pain in.
Izumi pulled away from Connie's hands and looked at her, tears in her eyes. "W-What was that?"
"I just showed you your twin brother's death."
"N-No!"
"Or, what was your brother's death." Connie ran her hand through her short hair. "Something changed; I don't think your brother is dying by Tobirama's hands anymore."
"Wait a second, who says he's dying-"
"Think about it Izumi, the pain in your stomach was the exact place Izuna was stabbed in." Connie rubbed her hands against her eyes. "I don't even know what's canon anymore, I don't know if anything that is supposed to happen will happen anymore."
"Wait, so you're telling me that Izuna's dying? That something happened to him?"
"Yes. I was going to warn you when I thought it would actually happen, but it seems that I'm…wrong."
"Fuck… I need to wake up, I need to get someone o-or go find them."
"Izumi, they're already on their way back already. Your brother's probably alive, but for how long, I don't know."
"I need to wake up Connie, I need to now." Connie looked at her and Izumi could see guilt and sadness in the blonde's eyes.
"Then wake up."
Izumi shot up and looked around to see where she was. The last memory she had was-
"Ah!" Her hand shot to her stomach and she could feel excruciating pain coming from the exact spot from earlier. There was a sudden rustling sound and Izumi looked to her left to see Kazuyo waking up.
"Izumi? Are you okay?"
"N-No, something's wrong with Izuna."
After hearing her fiancé's name, Kazuyo looked more alert. "What do you mean?"
"I mean-"
Gasp
Izumi clutched her stomach in pain. "I m-mean, something's happened to him." She stood up and grabbed Kazuyo's shirt. "Take me to the front gate, please."
"I don't think you should be moving…"
"Just take me there!"
Kazuyo was helping Izumi stand when she heard one of the gate guards start screaming out orders.
"It's Madara-sama! Open the gates!"
"Izuna... Please be safe…" Izumi whispered to herself. She watched the gates slowly open and could see a faint outline of a familiar body. But something looked different…it was as if he was carrying something, or someone.
"Healer! Get Etsuko!" Madara was screaming out. One of the guards heard this and without a second thought he ran off to find the healer.
"Why would Madara need a healer?" Kazuyo asked.
"…It's not for him." Izumi answered, feeling faint. As soon as her brother came running in through the gate, she could tell that Connie had been right.
On her brother's back was Izuna, deathly pale and his face scrunched up in pain.
Madara continued running towards Etsuko's house. He knew that Izumi would follow him, so he wasn't worried when he didn't stop to say something. But what Madara didn't know was that the moment he was out of earshot, Izumi started screaming.
"It hurts, oh Kami it hurts!" She screamed again and passed out.
As Izumi became aware of her surroundings, she could tell that whatever pain she was in earlier was gone. She slowly opened her eyes, only to be shocked by seeing her older brother sitting next to her futon crying.
"Madara?" She asked as she sat up.
"Oh Kami Izumi, I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry." He said over and over again, causing her to worry even more."
"What happened?" He looked at her and Izumi could see that his eyes were bloodshot, probably from all the crying he was doing.
"C-Can you walk?" Izumi was unnerved from hearing her older brother's voice; she's never heard him like this. He seemed so frail…so scared.
She nodded her head and stood up, her brother doing the same. He slide open the door to her room and walked out, Izumi following closely behind. He stopped in front of a door that Izumi knew too well.
It was Izuna's room.
Madara avoided her eyes and slide open the door, revealing her twin brother laying in a futon. She slowly walked into his room, not believing what she saw. Her brother was wrapped in bandages and was pale, too pale to be healthy.
"Etsuko-san said that there's infection setting in where he was stabbed and that this was beyond what she could do, what any of us could do."
Izumi whirled around, tears streaming down her face. "N-No, don't say it…"
"I'm so sorry Izumi… He's going to die."
A/N: I'm so cruel, aren't I? I'm always leaving my chapters with cliffhangers and I don't mean to do them! I swear! I just think that that's the perfect place to end the chapter so I can continue it with the next one! So to clear things up, Tobirama did not kill/injure Izuna; it was a different Senju person.
Just to say, I don't like the way I wrote the bottom half of this chapter, I actually had to rewrite it a bunch of times. But the one written here is actually the best so…
I recommend either Origin, Vitro,or Kalahari which are all written by the same author Jessica Khoury. I put all three books because they're technically a series, but you don't really have to read the first book (Origin) in order to understand the entire story because each book has a new story and a new main character(s). There's only one thing that actually connects the story together, but that's about it.
So there you go! Leave a review and don't forget to follow/fav.!
Until next time!~