Nearly two months had passed since the incident at the Imada compound.
The day Tobirama had returned, Hashirama noticed he was in a bad mood, even more so than usual. With a bit of pestering, he had gotten him to relay what had happened during his visit to the silkmakers' and, needless to say, Hashirama wasn't too happy to hear the news.
Aroka's condition, for lack of a better word, certainly came as a surprise and he worried that seeking out her help had caused her even more damage. He'd decided to visit her again as soon as possible but Tobirama vehemently refused to return, thus resulting in two months having passed without word from the seer.
Hashirama sighed, glancing out the window as he rested his head on his hands. Along with the news about Aroka, there had been developments in the war as well. He had taken her advice and refrained from any retaliation against the Uchihas for their recent ambushes. True to her word, the attacks had dwindled significantly and it had now been over two weeks since the last one.
Battles against the Uchiha have also, for some reason, become fewer in these past months. He'd been racking his brain as to why this would be before Madara approached him just a few days ago and demanded to know why he'd been receiving assistance from a seer. Tobirama had mentioned something about Aroka having spoken to the Uchiha leader, though he still wondered how exactly he knew about her. Regardless of this, he told him the truth; they'd been looking for a way to form a treaty between the their clans.
At first, Madara was skeptical and merely scoffed at the response, but after a back and forth insisting that he was telling the truth, the Uchiha just… well, disappeared. Hashirama hadn't heard from him since and he was getting more anxious by the day.
A knock came at his door, pulling him from his thoughts.
"Come in." he called, leaning back in his chair.
"I'm back." Tobirama announced, stepping into the office, still donning his battle armor.
"How'd it go?"
"As expected. We were able to help the Sarutobi clan expand their territory North about three miles, now it's up to them to keep it that way."
"So all went well? That's good news." he nodded thoughtfully.
"Something odd did happen. As we were returning to the village, we encountered around a dozen Uchiha shinobi just beyond our boarders. We were prepared to draw our weapons but they stopped and retreated back into their territory before we could attack." he recounted.
Hashirama hummed and nodded slowly, tapping his chin in contemplation.
"Hikaku had a similar experience during his patrol rounds. I thought it might just have been a coincidence that they left without a fight but now…" his brows furrowed. "What if Madara is actually considering my idea?"
Tobirama nearly rolled his eyes; not this again.
"Brother-"
"Hear me out!" he interrupted, standing up with a wide grin on his face. "Aroka said Madara would come around soon enough and we've been careful to follow all her advice, maybe this is it! I spoke to him a days ago so maybe he's finally taking the idea of peace seriously!"
"Or both encounters happened by chance and he's still trying to kill us like he always has been."
"Either way we need to pay Aroka another visit, maybe there's something we can do to make sure he finally agrees to a treaty this time!"
"No. I've already told you I'm not going back there."
"Come on Tobirama, this is what we've been working for! We could have peace for the first time in decades!"
"My answer is final."
Hashirama sighed and crossed his arms.
"Look, I don't want Aroka to have to hurt herself to help us either but if she was willing to do it then it must have known it would be important! I don't know if something happened between you two to make you so upset, but this could be the last time we ever have to trouble her, surely you can put it aside for the sake of our clan." he reasoned, half pleading.
Tobirama closed his eyes and turned back towards the door.
"I won't change my mind." he stated before stepping out of the room and disappearing into the hallway.
Hashirama sighed, shaking his head in disappointment and falling backwards into his chair, letting out a heavy breath.
'I guess I'll have to go alone.'
Tobirama slammed the door behind him and furiously took a seat behind his desk, both hands curled into fists.
Why do they need her help? Why does Hashirama insist on going back there again? What does he think he'll learn?
It's been two months since he'd last seen her yet he still couldn't make himself forget about that night. She couldn't smell the smoke. That's why she told him about that first seer, talked about losing her senses like it was nothing important. How could she possibly think it was ok?
They didn't need her help. She'd said it herself, when they first met she said the Senju and Uchiha would make peace in three years. She didn't have to help them, she didn't have to deplete her senses just to speed up something that was already going to happen. So why did she? Why did she have to agree to help? Why did he have to meet her?
Crack!
He looked down to see that a large dent had split the wooden surface of his desk where his hand had been.
Taking a deep breath and clearing his thoughts, he shook the anger from his head and stepped out of his office.
"Careful boys! Bring it over here!" A gray-bearded man waved as a group of shinobi carried two large crates through the hall. "That's the Imada silk you've got in there! I don't want a single speck of dust on those boxes!" he hollered.
As the procession passed by, the bearded man spotted Tobirama and shuffled over to him, bowing deeply.
"Lord Tobirama! We have just received the shipment of silk products from the Imada clan this morning, they are being brought to the guarded storage rooms to be kept until the auction tomorrow."
Tobirama glanced down at the man and scoffed.
"Don't concern me with such irrelevant matters, deal with it as you will." he said, waving a hand dismissively.
The old man hesitated at his harsh tone, as if contemplating whether or not to continue.
"...but my Lord, we received something else in addition to the usual shipment." he managed, waving over one of the men who, instead of lifting one the large crates, carried what appeared to be a flat, modestly sized, square silk-wrapped box.
The older man took the box from him and held it out to Tobirama.
"It came with this note attached to it." he explained, gesturing towards a slip of parchment bound to the silk by a string.
This package is only to be given to Tobirama Senju.
"What is it?" he asked with veiled interest.
"We have not opened it yet. The guards who received it were quite certain that nothing harmful was inside, so I thought it best to bring it to you."
"Hn, very well. If that's all, you're dismissed."
The old man bowed respectfully and continued off in the direction the others had headed.
Stepping back into his office, Tobirama set the box down and scanned it carefully.
The flat box was wrapped with a length of pitch black silk that bore scattered images of white and blue feathers across it, a thick red string secured the silk around the package with another of the same kind attaching the parchment.
Glancing at the note once more, he had a feeling he knew who was responsible for sending it, after all, there was only one person who found use in this chakra-infused ink.
As he pulled at the string, both it and the silk fell away easily to reveal a simple wooden box. It was rather heavy, made of dark wood with a gleaming finish, though there was nothing much remarkable about it. Raising up the top of the latchless box, he was met with the image of a rolling wave.
Intrigued, Tobirama lifted the object from its confinement to get a better look at it. With a soft swish, the silken piece unravelled to reveal the full scale of its beauty.
In his hands he held a light creme kimono that displayed the likeness of an ocean across its faces: lofty tides stretched across the lower half of the sleeves, impressive waves dominated the body of the kimono, and a fine spray splashed all the way up to the collar. A scattering of seabirds could even be spotted flying high above the water's brilliant surface.
All of this captured in immense detail, it was clear that the creator of this piece had toiled over it for many days, many weeks, far longer than one person should ever have the patience for.
It was a splendid thing indeed, now the only question was what it was for.
Glancing back down, he noticed a folded piece of parchment lying at the bottom of the otherwise empty box. Carefully setting the kimono aside, he picked up the paper and unfolded it.
Dear Tobirama,
Long time no see!
I know you might not want to hear from me right now but I didn't want to leave things as they were that night. You may still be upset with me for what I said or you may have forgotten all about it, but either way, I feel like I should explain myself.
I knew that you and Hashirama were good people before I ever met you. I saw the kind of future you two would build, the unprecedented things that you were meant to achieve, so I couldn't just sit back and hide when you came looking for me. But I knew that you, especially, were already hesitant to accept my help so I didn't want to give you any more reason to doubt me. I thought it would be best if you didn't know how my abilities really worked, that way you might become more willing to listen to my advice. It might sound odd, but it made sense at the time. I never intended to lie to you and I'm sorry I did, but I hope now you can see my reasoning behind it.
I sent this gift as an apology of sorts. I know you said you weren't interested in this kind of thing but I really couldn't think of anything else. I overheard someone saying that your chakra nature is water, whatever that means, so I asked the silkmakers to make something special for you. I don't know what it looks like but I hope you like it.
It would be great to see you again.
Regards,
Aroka
Tobirama read the letter twice before lowering himself into the chair behind him.
Sighing, he glanced over the letter once more as he leaned his head on one hand, contemplating what he should do.
Come to think of it, why had he been so upset in the first place? She hadn't done anything wrong, necessarily, and she had been quite helpful regardless. But there was just something about her knowingly harming herself that he didn't like, even just thinking about it made his blood rise.
But why did it bother him?
He couldn't say.
Aroka leaned against her desk lazily as her eyes dragged across the words on the page in front of her. A small vase of little blue flowers sat on one side of the table, vibrant and lively, having just been plucked earlier that day.
"Miss, you have visitors." Mila called from just outside the door.
"Let them in." she answered promptly, closing her book and tucking it away.
The door slid open quietly and she watched as the two lines approached hers, just barely brushing it as the men sat down across from her.
"You're not nearly as comfortable around my chakra as your brother." she observed amusedly, eyes locking with those of the younger man.
"I'm not used to it is all." Izuna replied. Though his tone was polite, he was clearly on edge from being surrounded by such prominent, foreign chakra.
"Well anyways, it's nice to meet you. My name is Aroka, though I'm sure you already knew that."
"My brother has told me about you." he confirmed.
"In that case I'll skip the explanation. Now what can I help you two with?" she inquired, leaning forward with interest.
"I want to know exactly what would happen if I were to accept Hashirama's treaty." Madara stated directly.
Aroka hummed and tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"That's far too complicated to cover in one day... How about this, I'll tell you what would happen if you don't." she smiled. "Unfortunately, if the war keeps going as it has, your clan will die out in just a few years."
Both brothers tensed at this.
"Impossible." Madara narrowed his eyes. "Why should I believe you?"
"Believe me or not, we both know things haven't been going so well for you. Too many of your men are dying, not to mention the war is taking its toll on everyone in your clan, not just the shinobi. It might not be an easy thought, but things aren't always going to go the way you want them to." Aroka explained sympathetically. "I'm not going to tell you how to lead your clan, but I do recommend that you make peace with the Senju as soon as possible."
Madara frowned, remaining silent for a moment.
"You can see the future, so tell me, will a treaty be made or not?"
"No, no, that's not how it works." Aroka shook her head. "You have to make that decision on your own."
"And why is that?"
"Because I've seen the possibilities and the timelines in which I tell you what to do doesn't end nearly as well as the ones in which I don't."
"How many 'timelines' can you see?"
"As many as exist."
"How could you possibly manage an infinite number like that?"
"Well first off, they don't appear unless I look for them. Secondly, you really seem to doubt my abilities." she observed, unimpressed.
"If that was the case, I wouldn't be here." Madara scoffed. "I need to know what you can and can't predict if you're going to be helping us."
"Who said I'm going to be helping you?"
"You just did."
Aroka huffed and shook her head, though an amused smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
"Is that all you came to talk about? Because I know a certain Senju leader is anxiously awaiting your decision…"
Madara tsked and stood up in one silent motion, his brother following suit.
"We'll be seeing each other again soon." he stated plainly.
"Can't wait." she waved with a smile as the two disappeared in a puff of smoke.
