Aroka sat with her head resting against her hand, analyzing the all too familiar sight before her.
It was a black, unremarkable space with nothing particular about it. The only thing filling the otherwise empty void was an unfathomable mass of thin white lines which seemed to stretch infinitely forwards and backwards. As she focused on an individual line, a name would form in her mind, the name of the person whom the line belonged to. She could trace the winding trail up and down, left and right, wherever it went.
As she combed through the clutter of threads, she found the one she was looking for, one that she'd been visiting often lately.
Tobirama Senju
He was interesting.
Aroka had, at first, only taken an interest in him because she was fascinated with the thought of his red eyes, it was times like these that made her really wish she could see, but she had found some intriguing facts about his past that made her even more invested in him.
When tracing his line backwards, she learned that he had a number of siblings whose lines ended very early on. She also gathered that he was a particularly skilled shinobi, as he had triumphed over many who were much older than him.
As she followed his trail forwards, she saw that he had crossed paths with many different people in his life, a significant number of whom saw their lines ended upon meeting his. This was one aspect about him that she didn't much appreciate, but she understood that the world wasn't exactly in an ideal state right now.
It was fascinating to see what life was like for him. Ever since she was young, she had always liked tracing lines, especially ones that belonged to people outside her clan. What did they look like? What were their dreams? What was their favorite color? So many things she would never know. It was such a pity, too. People are so interesting, so complex. There was just so much to know and so little time to know it.
"Miss?"
The voice pulled Aroka from her thoughts.
"Yes Mila?"
"I'm going to retire for the day."
"Oh, is it that late already?" She must have lost track of time. "I'll see you tomorrow then, good night."
"Good night, Miss."
As she listened to the padding of footsteps fade away, Aroka smiled to herself. Mila was such an interesting person. They had met when they were young and Aroka had quickly taken an interest in her green eyes. Soon after, when she was told she would be assigned an attendant, she asked for Mila. She wanted to make a new friend and that was exactly what she got.
"Aroka, this is Mila. She will be your attendant starting today. She will help you with anything you need, so just ask." Yuto smiled, patting the young seer on the head before leaving the two alone. Yuto was the Imada clan leader at the time.
"It's an honor to serve you, Aroka-sama." the seven year old Mila squeaked nervously.
"Oh, thanks! It's nice to see you again." Aroka grinned. "Hey, I have a question. Who else has eyes like yours? You know, special eyes." She leaned forwards curiously.
"I-I'm not sure." Mila stuttered, caught off guard by the question. "Um, I think Toru-sama has green eyes, but I've only seen him a few times."
"I know that, who else?"
"I-I think Miss Saya has blue eyes."
"Saya? She's the gardener, right? That's so cool! I have to talk to her!" Aroka jumped to her feet and pulled Mila out the door. " C'mon, let's go find her, I know where she is!"
"B-But Miss!"
Times with Mila were always fun. Aroka learned a lot from her over the years, in fact, she was the one who taught Aroka what colors were.
"Yellow is bright and warm. The sun is yellow, so are flowers." The brunette explained.
The two children were lying in a field just outside the village walls. Aroka's eyes were closed as she listened intently.
"But you said flowers are blue." the young seer remembered.
"They can be yellow too."
"Flowers change colors?"
"No, different flowers have different colors."
"Oh. What color is this one?"
"That one's red."
"Red? What does red look like?"
"Well, it's the color of fire, so it's warm."
"Warmer than yellow?"
"Mhm. And it's the color of your skin when you stay outside too long. Oh! And it's the color of blood too."
"Red doesn't sound like a good color…"
"Colors are all good, there are no bad ones."
"Really? Well, if you say so… Hey, what color are you?"
"What color am I? Well, my skin is kind of peach-colored, between red and yellow, and my hair is brown."
"What about me?"
"We have about the same color skin but your hair is black."
"Oh! You told me about black before!"
"I remember."
"What color are my eyes?"
"They're sort of a cloudy white but they're brown underneath."
"Really? Hmm... I wish I could see."
"But you can see with your chakra right?"
"Kind of, but not in color. Everything's just outlines, plus it's really hard to see outside. Yuto-sama says people are uncomfortable when I touch them with my chakra, so I can only do it inside the house."
"Oh, I didn't know that… I don't think it's uncomfortable."
"Really? Thanks, I just-"
"Aroka! Where have you been! Father's been looking for you!" A boy around ten years old ran up to them frantically.
"I know, I know. We're coming." Aroka sighed and pushed herself up from the grass begrudgingly. "Thanks a lot, Toru."
"Don't blame me when dad gets mad!" The boy stuck out his tongue playfully before dashing ahead.
"Hey! Get back here!" she yelled, chasing after him.
She gazed at the past lines fondly, remembering what it was like when they were younger.
She stifled a yawn, blinking slowly. It must be late, maybe she should go to bed early today.
"You agreed to help them?" Toru asked in disbelief.
"Of course, what they're trying to do is a good thing." Aroka tilted her head in confusion. "Why so surprised?"
"People have come looking for you in the past but you've never revealed yourself to any of them. Not only did you do that for the Senjus, but you want to help them too? What's so special about them?"
"Just trust me, alright? I know what I'm doing." She smiled reassuringly.
Toru sighed and shook his head.
"Just be careful, ok?"
"It's a promise." She winked. "They'll be here in just a minute, I'm sure you have work to get back to."
"Always." He sighed, disheartened. "I'll see you later then?"
"I'll be here." She gave him a thumbs up as he stood and retreated from the room.
Not five minutes later, Aroka sensed two strong chakra sources approaching.
"Miss-"
"Let them in." she called.
The doors slid open and she smiled as her chakra molded around two figures.
"Aroka! It's great to see you again!" Hashirama greeted cheerfully, taking a seat in front of the seer.
"Good to see you too!" She grinned before turning to the other man. "And I didn't forget about you, Tobirama." she sang.
The said man held back a grimace.
"Anyways, I found what you wanted, a way to end the wars quickly. Turns out it wasn't as complicated as I'd thought."
"That's great! What do we need to do?" Hashirama asked eagerly.
"When you return home in three days, you're going to find yourselves in a battle with some Uchiha shinobi. If you want to cozy up to Madara, a good way to start is by not killing his brother." She smiled.
"What? I'm going to kill Izuna?" Hashirama frowned in concern.
"Not you. Him." She pointed a finger at Tobirama.
"If I have the chance, I will kill him." the younger Senju stated firmly.
"Not if you want an alliance you won't."
"You mean all we have to do is keep Izuna alive for peace to happen?" Hashirama asked, as if it were too good to be true.
"For a while, yes. Turns out his brother's death would cause major issues between your clans. Who knew?" She chuckled.
"What's the best way to do it? Should we avoid the battle entirely?"
Aroka paused for a moment, eyes darting around as if looking for something.
"No, doing that will only encourage them to attack again. The best way is probably just to be careful during the battle." she advised, nodding to herself.
"Alright, we'll keep that in mind."
Hashirama paused, seeming to remember something.
"You mentioned we would be going home in three days, we were planning on leaving in just a few hours…"
"Really? Well, sorry to break it to you, but a storm is on its way, seems pretty big too."
Boom
A sharp crack of thunder shook the room.
"You can predict the weather too?" Tobirama asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, but the forecast can." She smiled snidely.
"We did see some heavy clouds earlier, I just didn't think it would be so bad." Hashirama recalled. "Would we be able to stay here until the skies clear up?"
"Of course, we have plenty of spare rooms." She grinned. "Mila, please find our friends somewhere to stay."
The door slid open and the said woman bowed lightly.
"Yes Miss." She stepped aside. "Please follow me, Senju-sama."
"It's getting late, sleep well you two." Aroka waved as the brothers thanked her and followed Mila out the door.
"Your rooms are over here." The brunette said softly as they proceeded down the hall and rounded a corner. "If you need anything, please just call and someone will be with you."
"Thank you." Hashirama grinned. "We'll turn in soon. Good night!"
"Good night, sir." Mila bowed to both men and retreated back down the hall.
Tobirama had trouble sleeping that night. The unfamiliar surroundings put him on guard, not to mention the thunderstorm outside was loud enough to vaporize any chance of sleep he might have had.
He stood from his bed and slid open the door. The rain was coming down like a brick wall, they would certainly have been drenched if they had left as intended. He stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him.
The walkway was dark and damp, only illuminated by the moonlight filtering in from the connected courtyard. The only sound that could be heard above the crashing of the rain was a faint, almost unnoticeable tapping. He rounded the corner and glanced down the hall, where the noise was coming from. He noticed one of the doors was wide open.
As he approached, he realized it was also the room that radiated chakra, the seer's. He stopped a few feet away from the door, briefly wondering what the tapping noise was before it stopped.
"You're going to catch a cold out there." a familiar voice called from inside.
He stepped in front of the open door cautiously. Though the only light in the room was streaming in from outside, he could make out Aroka's form sitting behind the low table, attention turned to the book in her hand.
"You can come in if you ever get tired of standing."
He didn't move, only continued to peer at the woman, as if trying to figure something out.
"I get it." She sighed dramatically, closing her book. "You don't like my chakra touching you, huh? Yea, it makes a the shinobi here uncomfortable too. Just come in, I'll keep it off you." she offered.
Hesitantly, Tobirama took a step into the room and was relieved when the invasive wash of chakra didn't come over him. He approached the table and sat in the same spot he had earlier that day.
"How did you know it was me?" he asked with arms crossed.
"I can see your line, remember?" She quirked an eyebrow in amusement.
"Why was your door open?"
"I like listening to the rain."
"What are you doing up this late?"
"I don't fall asleep easily."
"Did you know I was coming?"
"Of course I did."
"Why did you ask me to come in?"
"You ask a lot of questions." Aroka tilted her head, a small smile on her lips. "But if you must know, I had something to ask you."
He raised an eyebrow, motioning for her to continue.
"What color are these flowers?" She turned to a small vase next to her desk.
Tobirama paused.
Had he heard her right?
"That's your question?" He frowned.
"Is there a problem?"
"...no." he answered slowly. "They're white."
A small smile spread across her face as she gazed at the small bouquet.
"Mila got it for me earlier today, she knows I like flowers. I can't see them though. The flowers around here aren't very strong, so touching them with chakra makes them die pretty quickly."
Tobirama then noticed that, besides himself, the vase was indeed the only thing in the room not covered with the woman's chakra.
"If you can't see them, why do you like them so much?" he asked.
"Because they can be all sorts of colors." Aroka grinned cheerily. "I like colors too. They're interesting, don't you think?"
"Is that why you asked about my eye color?" he inquired, recalling their first meeting.
"You remember that?" She laughed sheepishly. "Sorry if that was strange, Toru always did say it made people uncomfortable."
"Do you know him well? You two were speaking before our last meeting."
Aroka hummed happily.
"We've been friends since we were kids, being from the main branch and all. He visits me often even though his office is across the building."
Tobirama nodded and a silence fell between them.
After a minute, it was Aroka who finally spoke up.
"You still don't trust me." she mused.
"What makes you say that?"
"It doesn't take a seer to know you're not the trusting type, Tobirama." she smiled humorlessly. "Why is that?"
The man narrowed his eyes.
"You tell me." he challenged.
Aroka hummed and paused for a moment.
"Maybe it's because you grew up surrounded by war. In times like those it's only natural to be suspicious of everyone." she thought aloud. "Or maybe it's because you see so many of your own people die, after all, what's the point of getting to know someone who's going to be gone the next day? Maybe it's the pressure of being the second born, always expected to live up to Hashirama's precedent but never being able to. Or maybe it's because of your younger brothers-"
"Enough." he cut her off, standing abruptly, his eyes narrowed. "What are you up to?" he demanded.
The seer only smiled.
"I can't read thoughts, Tobirama, only actions."
"And?" he glared.
"And that means I value honesty more than anything. As good as your intentions might be, I won't work with someone I can't trust to be honest." she explained, almost as if it were a warning.
"I'll be as honest as I need to be." he retorted. "You'll know everything you need to help us end the wars."
Aroka sighed and shook her head.
"That might not be so easy to judge."
"We'll see about that." He frowned, turning towards the door.
Just as he was about to step through the open doorway, Aroka spoke again.
"The future can be unpredictable, you know."
Tobirama glanced back at her but she was looking past him, pale eyes fixed on the rain. Without a word, he turned again and continued out of the room.
Aroka sighed softly and closed her eyes. The invasive padding of raindrops filled the room as she rested her head against her hand. The night air was cold and damp, the only things to keep her company were the cracks of thunder and unrelenting rain. As the storm continued its rage, Aroka lifted her eyes and smiled to herself, index finger tapping against the dark wood table.
