Aroka trailed her fingers along the wall beside her, feeling the smooth wood grain under her touch as she moved down the walkway. After a few minutes, she paused and turned towards where she believed the garden to be. Sure enough, she found the gap in the railing and carefully descended the few steps to meet the paved stone path.

Aroka's room faced the courtyard, beautiful in its own right, but she enjoyed venturing to the flower garden sometimes, despite it being a bit of a walk.

The cool morning air was refreshing against her skin, the sun not yet having risen enough to shine into the garden. These early hours were ideal for her increasingly rare walks around the compound; during the day Mila always insisted on accompanying her and, though she enjoyed her friend's company, it was relaxing to have a moment alone.

Aroka stretched out her fingers, feeling them brush against the leaves of a small bush. This one, she recalled, should be opening its flowers soon. She gently ran a hand over the tips of its branches when she found what she was looking for: a small, closed bud. Lowering to sit on the heels of her feet, she rested a hand on her knee while the other still admired the flower bud. She could still faintly remember what this place smelled like.

She moved further down the path and came to a grove of trees whose leaves were low enough to brush against her raised hand. These trees were old and strong, they had been here as far back as she could recall, she didn't know what kind they were, though, nor if they ever bore flowers.

Aroka paused again at another patch of flowers. These ones were larger than most others in the garden, their stems long and slim, standing tall enough to reach her waist. Her fingertips found some grasses growing alongside the fully-bloomed flowers whose velvety petals bent under her touch.

"You don't have to stand so far away, you know," she called, blank gaze still lingering on the soft blossoms, "I promise I don't bite."

She watched the line move closer to hers until it stopped just a bit away.

"I didn't mean to intrude, I saw you entering this place and was simply curious," Izuna explained, his tone vaguely apologetic.

Aroka smiled and resumed walking, motioning for him to join her. Obliging, he soon fell into step beside the seer.

"Are you usually up so early?" she inquired, eager to fill the silence. She liked silence when she was alone, not so much with others around.

"There's always work to be done in the village."

"You must be busy, are you taking care of yourself? Are you eating properly?"

Izuna chuckled at her concern, "I am, thank you."

"Good, you shouldn't neglect your health." she hummed, taking a brief pause before turning to him again. "Tell me about Konoha. What's it like?"

Izuna thought about it for a moment, "It's lively, I'd say. The streets are always busy and there seem to be more people by the day."

"Are the clans settling well?"

"As well as can be expected. Fortunately, conflicts have been falling in number recently."

"It must be difficult to handle so many people."

"At times. Though I admit it is quite the sight, even recent enemies have made efforts to maintain civility."

"It sounds like a wonderful place, I can't wait to see it."

"Oh? You plan on visiting soon?"

Her step faltered briefly as she seemed suddenly to recall something.

"Ah! I probably shouldn't have said that, you see-"

"Uchiha."

The young man turned to see his white haired counterpart standing a few paces behind them. In his hand was a small piece of paper, its contents obscured from his position. He motioned for Izuna to follow him.

Izuna excused himself to Aroka before approaching Tobirama, both of them disappearing behind the veil of trees.

Aroka stared after them for a moment before continuing further down the path, a small, excited smile painted on her lips.


"I received that only minutes ago, sent by one of Madara's falcons," Tobirama explained once Izuna had read the message on the folded paper, "They must have sent it no more than a day after we left."

"We must leave now," the raven haired man frowned, standing up quickly.

"Don't be so rash. It's likely the issue has already dealt with. This time, at least."

"What are you suggesting? That we should stand by while the village might be under attack?"

"Of course not. Unlike you, I have the capacity to think past the immediate present." Izuna was about to retort but Tobirama continued before he had the chance, "This will not be a one-time problem. An alliance as massive as Konoha is bound to draw the attention of foreign clans, the perceived threat of the village will move some to join and others to oppose. The men scouting our borders were likely only gathering information this time but it will not be long until they come into conflict with village shinobi. We have enough issues within the village as it is, we cannot risk outside threats so early on. It would save us much trouble to know when enemy shinobi are nearby and which clans they belong to, then we will have time to act accordingly."

Izuna furrowed his brow slightly at what he was implying, "For once we agree on something, but the people here aren't just going to let her leave."

"I will speak to them," Tobirama dismissed.

"Of course, because you're great at negotiating."

Narrowing his eyes sharply and fighting off the urge to break a bone, the young Senju left before he could do anything he might regret. For now, he had to focus on convincing the Imada leaders to let him borrow their most valuable asset.

Surely an easy task.


Izuna turned his thoughts over silently as he made his way towards Aroka's chakra. It didn't take much searching to find it, after all its sheer volume made it painfully obvious where she was at all times. He noticed that she never hid her chakra either, but whether this was due to a lack need or a lack of ability he was unclear. Though he didn't show it, he was violently uncomfortable the first time he had stepped into her chakra-laden room, and had he possessed any less self-control, he would not have been able to hold any half decent conversation under such circumstances. It was strange, to say the least, like nothing he had ever felt. He attributed this peculiar effect to her equally peculiar use of the chakra. Fortunately for him, the discomfort seemed to have waned since then and now the strange sensation was well within tolerance, though he still stayed away from it whenever possible.

As he descended the steps to the garden, Izuna spotted Aroka approaching; arm half outstretched to allow the grasses to guide her down the path. He noticed a small thorn had become embedded in her forearm, though she did not seem to pay it any attention.

"Still alive, I see," she smiled humorously, "Did something come up?"

His eyes remained on the thorn briefly before returning the smile, "Yes, actually. As mentioned yesterday, we've had some trouble with foreign shinobi along our borders, we expect it may only be a matter of time before conflict erupts. We might be able to avoid any losses if you would be willing to stay in Konoha for a while."

Aroka's grin widened pleasantly.

"When do we leave?"


The journey from the Imada compound to the young Leaf Village took much longer than usual. Aroka lacked the speed and stamina of her shinobi companions, something that Tobirama was particularly active in pointing out and something that she was not particularly happy to put up with.

"Hurry up. You're falling behind."

"It's been nearly a day since we last took a break, can't we make camp for the night?"

"No, we're barely halfway there."

"But it's already dark!"

"I didn't think you would be this slow."

"Well maybe you should think harder!"

"Calm down, both of you," Izuna sighed, cutting in before yet another argument broke out. "We should all rest for a while and continue in the morning. A few hours won't make a difference."

"Yes! You're the best, Izuna!" Aroka cheered before dropping down eagerly, stretching her sore legs in an effort to get them to stop burning.

Rolling his eyes, Tobirama sighed and begrudgingly followed suit, refusing to even glance in her direction.

Izuna eyed the two tiredly, eventually concluding that he should be able to go collect firewood without having to worry about them strangling each other. Deciding he would take his chances, he turned and began searching for suitably dry branches, being unnecessarily picky in doing so. He was in no hurry to get back.

By the time he returned, Aroka seemed to have already been asleep for a while, arm folded beneath her head and curled up at the base of a young tree. He set the bundle of wood down silently and lit it with just a blow. Seating himself against the closest tree, he glanced up through the high canopy at the darkened sky.


The guards eyed the unfamiliar woman as she approached the imposing village gates, though considering who the two men beside her were, they kept any questions they might have had to themselves.

Aroka, having retracted her chakra upon nearing the village, tightened her grip on Izuna's arm as she saw the mass of lines growing closer. It seemed so much bigger now that she was really here.

The noises of a lively city became clearer the closer she got, it was certainly an unfamiliar experience but nonetheless exciting. It was only when they reached the large market at the center of the village when it became overwhelming.

Too loud-

She frowned every time someone nearby yelled or laughed or spoke too loudly. She flinched at the ringing of bells and shouts of merchants.

Fortunately enough, this passed quickly and the noise was again bearable. She could tell they were in a building now, climbing up a long flight of stairs. The sounds were muffled by whatever walls surrounded her. Then she heard two knocks and a distant "come in."

"Aroka! What are you doing here?" Hashirama, whose voice was now much clearer, greeted in surprise.

"These two got tired of making the trip to my village so they dragged me back with them," she grinned.

Tobirama scoffed, unamused. "She's here to assist us with the border situation," he stated flatly.

"You're no fun…"

Hashirama laughed cheerfully at the two. "That's wonderful news! It's great to finally have you here, we've been hoping you would visit! How about I show you around? There's this amazing-!"

"You have work to do," Tobirama interrupted, clearly not intending to let his brother worm his way out of paperwork again.

"But-!"

"No. Save the tourism for when you finish," he demanded.

A dark gloom fell over Hashirama as he slumped into his desk.

"B-But there's so much!"

"We should leave you to it, then," Aroka smiled in amusement. "I'll see you later, Hashirama!" she waved before dragging both men out of the office.

As they made it back down the stairs, Izuna mentioned something about speaking to his brother and politely excused himself. Aroka waved cheerfully before his line shot out of sight. She then turned to Tobirama with an expectant smile.

"What?"

"I guess you're the only one left who can show me around the village."

"Why are you suddenly in a good mood?"

"Because unlike you, I'm usually a pleasant person," she smiled, looping her arm through his. "Now come on!"

Pulling him out of the building, she instantly flinched, having forgotten how loud it was. "Where to first?" she half yelled over the bustling street.

"How should I know?" he scoffed.

"If you don't pick a direction, I will!"

Taking that as a sufficient threat, Tobirama begrudgingly started towards some other part of the village. Exactly where didn't much matter, after all it would make no difference to her.

"You weren't kidding when you said Hashirama had brought in a lot of clans…" Aroka hummed, scanning over the hundreds of lines that crowded her mind. "And didn't you say there were others still moving in?"

"Some."

"How's the academy coming along? Have you found enough instructors?"

"Not yet."

"I'm sure you will. I imagine there's plenty of interest in enrollment, huh?"

"Correct."

Aroka glanced over Tobirama's line, noting how it nearly touched hers. She smiled lightly and drew her gaze to the masses around them. She saw members of the Uchiha, Senju, Sarutobi, Asuo, Tanaka, and a dozen other clans she had never heard of. It was like a strange dream, having so many clans all in one space.

She could recall a just few months ago when she had decided to check in on the village's progress, how shocked she had been to see two masses, each woven from hundreds of lines, converging in one spot. They had begun miles apart and had all come to this one spot. That was something she had never seen before, nor, she believed, had any before her.

She knew Hashirama was meant for great things, she had known since the first time she saw his line, when she had followed it in its entirety and understood his destiny. What spectacular things he would do! How immense his impact on the world! She saw this, she knew this, yet she had still been shocked speechless at the convergence of the two massive clans. How must it feel to wield such power? She would have to ask him someday.

"What are you smiling at?" Tobirama's voice pulled her back into reality.

Aroka glanced around and was surprised to see how empty it was: no other lines within a good twenty meters. She must have been so deep in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed how far they had gone. It was quiet too, and those crowds had left an echo in her ear.

"Where are we?"

"The edge of the village."

She hummed, pausing for a moment before chancing a question. "Do you mind if I …"

"Go ahead."

A wide smile swept over Aroka's face before she nodded, spreading her chakra out in one swift motion. Instantly she saw where they were, and even just the rough, vague outlines were enough to fill her with joy.

They stood at the edge of a vast field, the grasses beneath them reaching almost to their knees. Behind them stood a great many trees, tall and strong like ones at the heart of an old forest. She was careful not to stretch her chakra too close to the branches lest she damage any flowers it might bear. In front of them the field sloped downwards dramatically, she was sure the village was somewhere beyond the edge, out of reach.

Aroka tilted her head towards the sky, embracing the warm light of the setting sun.

"What color is the sky?" she asked abruptly.

Tobirama looked down at her, raising an eyebrow, but he didn't question her like he usually would. Instead, he led her to one of the old trees and they both sat at its base.

"The sky is like fire, warm and bright," he explained after a moment.

Aroka closed her eyes and leaned her head on his shoulder, arm still linked with his.

"Are all sunsets like this?"

"No, each is different."

She chuckled, "Sounds like I'm missing out. It must be quite a view."

He glanced at her once more, the vivid orange glow lighting up her soft features. For a moment he might have believed she was asleep, if not for the trace of a smile of her lips.

"Yes, it is."


"Brother," Izuna greeted upon stepping into the spacious office.

Madara glanced up from the scroll in his hand. If anyone else had been so bold as to enter without knocking, they surely would have been met with a sword through the neck.

"Have you gathered any new information?" he asked flatly.

Izuna sat on the other side of the desk, crossing his arms and leaning back.

"She's getting worse, and faster than expected. I suspect she's already lost a considerable amount of feeling."

"And why is that?" the older Uchiha raised an eyebrow, his interest now piqued.

"She had a thorn lodged in her arm and didn't even notice it. I can't be sure about her condition, but sufficed to say she the clock is ticking. We will need to be prepared when time runs out."

"We will be," the corner of his lips drew into a half smirk. "Continue to keep an eye on her. She is still useful for now."