The next day, Aroka awoke early, or at least she assumed it was early as most people seemed to be asleep.
She gazed over the clusters of little white lines before focusing on the area around her own.
The day wouldn't be very eventful. Much like most, she wouldn't be leaving her room today. In just a while, Mila's line would wake up and she would take her usual position outside the door. She'd be sent on a few errands later, though Aroka didn't yet know what they would be. The only line other line that would come close to hers that day would be Tobirama's; it seems they'd only speak for a short while, though. She wondered what it would be about.
Aroka stood and padded over to the door, sliding it open with a soft squeak. She took a deep breath as the cool morning air flowed in.
The young woman settled behind the small table and stared into the formless space that lay beyond her open door. She liked to keep it open whenever possible, even though she couldn't see past the doorframe.
Reaching underneath the little table, she brought out a rather faded book and opened it to where she'd left off. She didn't really need to read the book to know what it said, after all she had gone through it so many times before.
The thin book was titled "Yura Imada" and was bound by three discolored, faded strings.
Yura had lived nearly a century ago, born to the main family of the time. She lived a comfortable life, never having to labor in the fields or the silk shops. She had smooth brown hair that she'd kept short most her life and she was said to have been kind and soft-spoken.
But what about her would warrant a book detailing her life?
Only one thing, really. Yura was a seer.
Indeed, Yura Imada was the eighth seer born of her clan, a girl whose arrival was long awaited. Much like Aroka, Yura was born blind, her deep brown eyes developing a milky coat as she grew older.
Yura was taught to make use of her peculiar abilities by the elders of the clan, abilities that were particularly useful seeing as the Imada were in the middle of a decade-long war that was no longer in their favor.
The tides of the war changed quickly as Yura began to understand the meaning in the tangled mess of lines that lay behind her eyes. Under her advisement, the Imada shinobi eliminated spies, avoided traps, took out key leaders, burned supply lines, and ultimately won the war, against all odds. This was an enormous victory for the silkmakers, as their enemy had been a far more powerful clan, and with the resources gained from the ransom of a captured general, the Imada were able to expand and improve their small army which was already notably larger than its modern counterpart. This victory did not come without consequences, however. Due to excessive Detailing, Yura-
"Good morning Miss."
"Oh, good morning Mila." she looked up from the book and smiled.
"You know, I don't think I've ever actually seen you sleeping. How long have you been up?"
"Not too long, I slept rather well last night."
"You must have been tired from wandering around the compound for so long, I'm glad you could get some rest."
"I haven't been able to fall asleep so quickly in a long time. Maybe I should get lost more often." Aroka chuckled.
"The compound is certainly big enough for that." she grinned. "By the way, last night Senju-sama requested to speak to you as soon as you awoke, should I bring him here?"
"Not yet. I need find out a few things before we speak again, please close the door and send him away when he comes looking for me."
"Of course, Miss."
And with a quiet rustle, the door slid shut.
"Is she finished?" Tobirama asked with arms crossed.
"I'm afraid not, though I'm sure she won't be much longer." Mila bowed apologetically.
"That's what you said the last two times." he sighed, turning away yet again. "Just find me when she's ready."
It was already past noon and he had still not seen Aroka, having been sent away each time he'd approached her room. What could possibly be taking her so long?
Irritably pushing the thought from his mind, he occupied himself with a different task: finding Agari and the other medics.
Recalling the path to the medics' room that Samaru had shown him last time, he made his way through the maze-like corridors and soon found the women waiting for him.
"Tobirama-sama, please come in." Agari greeted warmly, ushering the shinobi into the room.
Scanning the room, he noted that the women all held troubled frowns on their faces.
"We have some peculiar news regarding the patient." Kimi stated reluctantly. "We've done many tests in our time here and the results are rather... strange. She doesn't have any genetic issues that would cause blindness, nor is the milkyness of her eyes significant enough to cause vision loss. Her eyes are able to move normally and react to light very well, the muscles around them also show no sign of weakness or degradation."
"So?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Well, if she was really born completely blind as we've been told, it's incredibly unlikely we would have seen these results."
"Are you suggesting they have not been truthful about her condition?" he questioned.
Agari shook her head in apparent discomfort.
"It's possible but it's clear that they're desperate for a cure, they have no reason to lie to us. We've run the tests many times to ensure it wasn't a fluke, but the results are always the same. We don't know what to make of it, but according to the tests and everything else we've seen... Miss Aroka should be able to see just fine."
"Is she finished?" Tobirama asked for the fourth time that day. By then the sun was already touching the horizon.
Surprisingly, the answer was different this time.
"Yes, Miss Aroka is waiting for you." Mila bowed respectfully and slid the door open, stepping aside to let him pass.
Crossing into the room, he could feel the heavy chakra presence all around, though it was not quite touching him.
"Tobirama! What have you been up to all day?" Aroka grinned childishly up at him.
"I could ask you the same thing." he stated blandly, taking a seat in front of her.
"Oh don't be so serious all the time, I just had to be sure of a few things before we spoke." she explained. "Turns out you really don't have much to worry about for the next few weeks, the Uchiha attacks will die down and the war should carry on as it had. Things are going quite well as it currently stands and I don't believe that will change anytime soon. As long as you and Hashirama keep doing what you're doing, an alliance will be here in no time." Aroka smiled.
"It's that simple?" he asked incredulously.
"Well, on your part, yes."
"What does that mean?"
"Don't worry about it, just focus on yourself and everything else will fall into place."
"I certainly hope you're right."
"The lines don't lie."
"Hn."
"Now that's all out of the way, let's talk about something fun." she grinned, leaning forwards, chin resting on top of her hands. "What's the Senju village like?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I want to know what your home looks like."
"It's just like every other village."
"I haven't seen any other villages."
"You haven't seen any villages at all."
"Oh come on, you know what I meant."
"I can't say I do."
"You're a real prick, you know that?"
"Hn."
Aroka sighed, though a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
"Fine, but you have to tell me something about yourself."
"What do you want to know?"
"Who else in your family has red eyes?"
Tobirama raised an eyebrow; what is it with this girl and eyes?
"No one."
"Then where'd you get it from?"
"How should I know?"
"Hmm…" Aroka tapped her chin, trying to think of something else to ask. "What do you look like?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"What? You never let my chakra touch you so I can't see what you look like."
"You've seen me before."
"Only when we first met and that was months ago."
"I refuse to discuss such a pointless topic."
"Rude."
"Now it's my turn to ask a question."
"What? You haven't answered any of mine yet!"
"Have you ever been able to use your eyes?"
"Hmph. If you mean have I ever been able to see, then no."
"You open your eyes instinctively, people who are born blind don't."
"I suppose being able to see with chakra imitates normal sight."
"It takes years to learn to use chakra, the natural tendency to keep your eyes closed would have already become habit by then."
She paused, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
"What are you implying?" she asked, tone sharper than before.
"Have you been hiding anything from me?"
She hesitated for a fraction of a second.
"No."
He clearly didn't believe her.
"What haven't you told me?" he demanded.
A long, stiff silence fell between them as they each stared the other down.
"I think it's time for you to leave." Aroka stated, a thin mask of calmness over her features.
"I want the truth."
The chakra in the room became heavier.
"Get out."
The two glared at each other for a long moment before Tobirama finally turned away. Scoffing, he stood and strode out of the room, opening the door with a harsh thud.
His footsteps faded down the hall.
Mila, having jumped at the man's sudden, swift exit, glanced back at her friend in concern.
"What happened? Are you ok?" she asked, surprised.
Aroka stared at the empty void beyond the door and, had it not been for a small scoff, Mila would have thought she hadn't heard her.
"Close the door, please." she said.
Now even more confused, Mila hesitated for a moment but, after another few concerned glances, reluctantly slid the door shut.
Aroka's eyes didn't move from the door for what felt like hours. A scattered train of thought circled endlessly in her head, over and over, again and again.
She stared at the lines that lay before her, looking for an answer, any answer.
It was never that easy.
She'd find an answer, just not now.
But she had to figure out what to do.
This wasn't good, it wasn't good at all.
Aroka pulled out a small book from under her desk along with a pen and a bottle of ink. She flipped it open to where she had last left off and began to scribble. Ramblings, mostly, but she had to write them down anyways.
Time became obsolete as the jumble of thoughts flowed into the paper. Everything else, including the white web and outlines of her room, blurred out of focus.
Mila glanced back at the closed door every so often, worried about what had happened. She had never seen Aroka look so… troubled. And Tobirama certainly didn't seem too happy when he left.
She sighed anxiously; she would ask her about it tomorrow, hopefully this wouldn't cause a rift between those two.
After another hour or so of silent concern, the light had almost completely disappeared and it was getting darker by the minute. This was Mila's cue to retire for the day.
Sighing and glancing back at the door one more time, the young woman started off towards her room that waited a hall away.
Something stirred Tobirama from his sleep that night.
Tiredly, he blinked a few times before scanning the room out of habit. Nothing was out of place.
He listened for any peculiar sounds but there were none either.
Strange, he didn't usually wake up during such odd hours.
It was another second before his eyes widened and he leapt to his feet. He threw open the door and stepped outside, how did he not notice it sooner?
It was the air.
The air was filled with smoke.
'Aroka.'
He didn't know why she was the first thing that came to mind and he didn't take the time to wonder, instead he sped down the hall and around the corner, making a beeline for the seer's room.
As he turned down the next hall, a plume of smoke came into view; it was rising from just behind the courtyard walls, a flickering glow near the bottom of the dark cloud. He had to cover his mouth and nose as the smoke around him grew thicker.
It only took a second to reach the familiar door. Throwing it open, he watched as a still-awake Aroka jumped in surprise, dropping the pen in her hand.
"What the- Tobirama? What are you-?"
"Get up, let's go!" he yelled, rushing towards her and pulling her up.
"What? Why?" she asked frantically as she stumbled out the door.
"The fire! Can't you smell it?"
He glanced around and quickly decided that the quickest way out was across the rooves.
Stepping into the courtyard, he put a hand around her waist and leapt onto the nearest roof. He dashed away from the growing cloud of smoke, tiles clinking underfoot each time they landed.
"Hey!" she gasped as they zipped through the air, clinging to him tightly. "What's happening? Where are we going?"
"Shut up!" he shouted, silencing her.
Just a moment later, the two made it to the edge of the compound near the entrance. There were already at least a dozen people gathered a distance away with more emerging from within the compound.
As they landed back on the ground, Tobirama set her down and glanced towards the fire that was blazing larger by the second.
He sighed in relief and turned his attention back to Aroka.
"Why didn't you get out earlier?" he demanded with brows drawn. "The fire was right across from your room!"
Aroka, who was still clinging onto him for dear life, didn't respond, her eyes darted around wildly as she tightened her grip on him.
"Aroka!" a voice called loudly. "Aroka! Are you ok?" Toru asked frantically as he ran up to the pair.
As he reached them, he stretched out a hand to comfort her only for her to jump and back away.
"Hey, hey, calm down. It's just me." he said with hands raised, taking a careful step towards her.
"Toru?" she asked, eyes still searching for something unseen. "What's happening?"
"I'll explain, just come with me, ok?" he said soothingly, putting a hand on her back and slowly guiding her away from the gathering crowd.
Tobirama stared at their retreating backs, puzzled. Why was she so confused?
What was going on?
A few hours had passed and everything had calmed down a bit, the fire had been put out quickly, though the smoke still lingered in the air. Tobirama sat on a bench in a nearby garden as no one had been allowed back inside the compound yet. The sky was still pitch black with only the moon to offer any sort light. The stars were nowhere to be seen.
The crunching of footsteps made him look up and he was able to make out two approaching figures, both of which he recognized rather easily.
"Thanks Mila, I'll be fine from here."
"Ok, please be careful, Miss."
As one of the figures turned and walked away, the other reached out a hand to feel for the bench in front of her and slowly took a seat.
A long silence fell between them.
"There's something I need to tell you." Aroka said finally. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "Earlier you asked me if I was hiding anything, and the truth is I was, though it's not what you think."
Tobirama raised an eyebrow at the sudden confession.
She sighed before speaking again.
"A long time ago, the Imada were a clan of shinobi, struggling to survive in a war-torn land. We weren't the strongest clan by any means, we lost many battles and many more men, but one day a little girl, no more than ten years old, told the chief that if he left with his army tomorrow, he would be the only one to return. As it turns out, the girl was right; the entire army was slaughtered in an ambush and only the chief managed to escape. Of course, he was shocked as to how the girl could have known this and went to speak with her.
"The girl's name was Hayako and she was born blind. The chief later found out that Hayako was essentially able to predict the future, it took a while but he soon discovered a way to use this ability to not only know the future, but change it as well. With Hayako's predictions, the Imada were able to turn the war in their favor and eventually won it altogether. After this, she was praised and worshiped like a goddess, everyone thought she had been sent by the heavens as a blessing to them. They might have been right, but blessings always come with a condition. You see, much like mine, the timeline Hayako saw only included people's locations, she could tell when people crossed paths and when they died, but that was about it. However, she soon discovered that there was a way to see more than just these. She called it Detailing. With it she could hear any conversation she wanted to, know the location of any person at any time, and even see alternate timelines. This was how she helped her clan win the war, but it was all for a price. She eventually realized that every time she Detailed, she lost a little bit of her sense of taste. Once her taste was completely gone, Detailing would weaken her smell. After that, her feeling. After that, her hearing.
"By the time she realized the severity of this, it was already too late. She had overused her abilities and quickly lost all her senses, just a few years after the war she became unresponsive after losing the last of her hearing." Aroka's eyes were downcast. "She was only sixteen."
Tobirama was quiet for a long moment, brows drawn in concentration.
"...you're also able to 'Detail.'"
"Yep."
"Your senses also weaken because of it."
"Yep."
"You've been Detailing to help us."
"Yep."
He paused again before asking the one question he really didn't want to know the answer to.
"How many have you lost?"
Aroka smiled sadly.
"My taste faded away six years ago. My smell, only a few months before we met. That's why I didn't notice the smoke."
He remained silent.
"It really isn't as bad as it seems, compared to some of the seers before me I'm actually doing quite well. It should be a few years before I have to worry about losing my sense of touch and even longer before I-"
"Are you stupid?" he stood up suddenly, eyes narrowing in anger.
Aroka was taken aback.
"Tobirama-"
"Why would you keep doing it if it's killing you?" he demanded.
"No, you don't understand-"
"I never should have asked for you help. I will not allow you to harm yourself just to further Hashirama's foolish dream." he stated coldly before turning his back to her. "We don't need your help. This is the last time we will meet."
"Wait! Tobirama!" she called desperately, jumping up from her seat.
But there was no response.
She knew he was already gone.
