Title: Your Strong Glass Princess
Author: Tuliharja
Summary: Mito has a unique condition that she hasn't yet told Hashirama about. One morning, however, changes everything. One-shot.
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I'm merely writing fanfiction about it. I don't either own the cover art of this.
Author's note: Thank you Pyrite for betaing this!
.:Your Strong Glass Princess:.
Mito had been careless. She had seen the telltale signs, yet she had ignored those. She had reassured herself it would be all right…that it wouldn't be so bad this time. She had been careful during the entire day. She had stayed indoors and made sure she hadn't done anything too heavy. She had paid attention to not staying in one place too long, to ensure her flexibility. Everything had been fine, and the day had been wonderful. It had been full of laughter and happiness, but now all that was gone.
Mito felt awful. She should have taken the medicine and not just gone to the bed next to her husband. If she had, she wouldn't now be awake in the early morning hours. It was too early to get up and start a new day, but it was already too late to get the medicine before she should get up. The only thing she could do now was just to listen to her husband's loud snoring and hope the sweeping pain would lessen by the time she should get up.
Dull pain pulsed inside her wrists and ankles, while her left knee hurt each time, she would move it the slightest. Her lower back felt like it was on fire while pounding pain hammered the insides of her head. She felt like she was over a hundred-years-old as her whole body ached in pain. Battle wounds or any cuts paled compared to this pain as healing jutsu could easily sweep away those pain, yet the pain that she felt would hurt if it lasted. The medicine would only make the pain a bit duller, but it would be there. Drumming all over her body, reminding her life could be cruel in many ways. Especially during winters when the weather would be flicker.
Sighing quietly, Mito gazed at the filtered light that came behind the curtains. The light's color was already warmer than the mid-winter sun's cold light. They were slowly going to the summer and warmer days. While summers were a bit better when it came to her aching pains, the sudden weather changes were still there. But the worst time of the year was during the spring. While she loved the fact everything started to turn the greener in the middle of snow and how the snow sparkled when it started to melt, the spring could easily back down and the next moment everything would freeze over again. The weather would then in the next moment turn warmer and start to melt everything, starting the cycle once again. It would go back and forth, sparking the pains in Mito's body.
Mild or unchanging weather was the best for her. It wouldn't trigger her condition. At Uzushiogakure. her family had joked Mito could tell when the big weather changes would come since she would feel the pain come before each change. In her worst days, she would just lay on her bed while trying to meditate. She would try to shift her focus away from her pains just so it would go away faster. While she knew rationally it wasn't possible, at least it wouldn't feel so bad when she was like this. All kinds of healers had come to see her, yet none of them had been able to help her. Even she, had tried to use her self-made seal, but against this pain, it was useless.
Closing her eyes, Mito tried to shift her focus. She tried to think about yesterday and how fun it had been. Usually thinking positive thoughts seemed to lessen the pain while negative ones made it worse. She thought how Hashirama had used his mokuten to make her flowers, the sweet kisses they had shared. A gentle smile tugged at her lips before she let out a small hiss. Her focus shattered fully as Hashirama was pulling her into his embrace. While Mito usually enjoyed her husband's embrace a lot, now it felt awful. Hashirama felt too heavy and overbearing. She felt suffocated as she resisted her urge to push Hashirama away from herself. Yet she knew if she would do that, it would wake him up. While Hashirama wasn't at all a light sleeper, even he would wake up from pushing.
A sharp pain pierced Mito's left wrist, making her bite down on her lower lip. Shutting her eyes tightly, she tried to focus on Hashirama's breathing to calm herself. To her mild surprise, she realized Hashirama's breathing had turned lighter, and he wasn't anymore snoring.
Opening her eyes, Mito turned ever so slightly her head toward her husband who stared back at her. Brows knitted together, Hashirama stared at his wife worriedly. It was obvious she wasn't all right.
"Hashirama," Mito breathed out a bit shakily, ready to reassure her husband, yet she went quiet as Hashirama's look turned a bit firmer.
"Mito, what's the matter?" He questioned her. Mito tried to rack her brain to come up with a white lie as she hadn't told Hashirama about her unique condition. She didn't want to appear weak in front of her husband, yet she didn't want to either lie to him.
Hashirama then gently placed his forehead against his wife's, making Mito shiver a bit. They were extremely close, making it harder to stay quiet. "It…hurts…" she finally confessed, feeling embarrassed. Shifting her gaze somewhere to Hashirama's chest, Mito scooped herself slightly away from her husband. She wished a hole would appear and it would swallow her up.
She knew there would be a storm of loud and worried questions. It would only make her headache worse and make her feel worse from not telling. To her surprise, the next thing Mito felt was Hashirama's warm chakra wrapping around herself. While it did little to lessen the pain she felt in her joints, the gesture itself was truly kind. A small hiccup escaped from Mito's lips as she lifted her look to her husband who gazed softly down to her.
Gently, Hashirama cupped Mito's cheek and just watched her. His gaze was firm and reassuring, that they would get through this together. It made a sniff escape from Mito as she thought back to the days when she had just been a little child and her mother had reassured her someday, she would find someone to reassure her, to make the pain more bearable to endure.
"Thank you," Mito whispered softly, truly meaning it. While the pain was still there, aching and pulsing through her, she felt like it had turned a bit duller.
"Anything for you," Hashirama told back to Mito, making her feel a bit giddy.
They stayed like this until Mito's eyelids become heavier and her breathing slowed down. Once Mito fell into a peaceful sleep, only then did Hashirama pull slowly away from his wife. Tenderly, he made sure Mito would lie comfortable manner before he placed a blanket up to her chin. He then slowly got up and away from the bed. He was going to find Tobirama to talk about Mito's condition as he could sense a disturbance in his wife's chakra. Hashirama wasn't sure what was exactly wrong with Mito, but he was determined to help her.
Slowly, Hashirama made his way out from their shared bedroom and dressed. It was still too early to start the day's work which meant his baby brother was probably in his lab. The thought soured Hashirama's mood as he hoped he was wrong and Tobirama was sleeping, but he knew he was being too optimistic. His younger brother had insomnia and because of that, he rarely slept. It needed special circumstances to get the younger Senju to sleep when he would sleep. Otherwise, he would work his experiments on his lab or train his students or otherwise work papers concerning Konoha.
Hashirama stepped outside of his and Mito's house before he quickly rushed across the sleepy streets of Konoha. Hashirama himself wasn't at all a morning person, but because of the constant fighting in the past, he had had his fair share of early morning. He had come to appreciate the quietness of early morning hours and the little movement he saw. As he moved hastily, he could see some shopkeepers were already opening their shops. Politely, he greeted them yet didn't linger. He had a mission after all.
Keeping his steady, quick pace, Hashirama quickly reached the top of a small hill where Tobirama's house stood. He was glad he hadn't slipped on the road since the snow had melted and frozen during the night. Knocking on the door, he hoped his brother would be sleeping instead of in his lab. Hashirama realized how contradictory he was at the moment. On one hand, he hoped Tobirama was soundly sleeping while on the other hand, he wished he wasn't. Shaking his head, Hashirama grimaced at his own stupidness. He could have waited a couple more hours and it wouldn't have changed anything, yet instead calmly thinking the situation over he had all but barked into Tobirama's house.
The door suddenly flew open, revealing a mop of black, messy hair and very annoyed-looking Uchiha. Blinking his eyes, Hashirama's mouth opened just to close like a fish on dry land. He hadn't seen this coming!
"What the hell Hashirama? Do you know how ear…"?
"Are you screwing my brother?" Hashirama blurted out, without thinking a second as he said that. He watched how shock and then sheer embarrassment crossed his best friend's face which was turning into a deep red.
"S-s-shut up! We're just doing stuff," Madara answered back, waving his arms comically. Before Hashirama could continue, he watched how Madara slumped down slightly, turning into goo. He was then met by his baby brother's very annoyed look.
Pushing his reading glasses, Tobirama clicked his tongue to Hashirama who realized Tobirama had poked Madara in a place that had made his whole body relaxed as the Uchiha was now sitting on a floor.
"Tobirama, you-...!"
"Aniki, what I do with my stuff isn't none of your business!" Tobirama told sharply to Hashirama who couldn't help but hang his head down in shame. He couldn't believe his baby brother and his best friend were so intimate!
"What you're even doing in here? It's too early for you to be up and around," Tobirama continued in a suspicious tone, making Hashirama remember his original reason why he had come to meet his brother.
"Tobirama, it's about Mito! Something is wrong with her," he told him, trying to keep his voice even and not overly dramatic. He knew how much Tobirama despised it when he was acting 'overly dramatic' as Tobirama put it.
"What's wrong with Mito?" Madara asked, bouncing back from the floor.
As Hashirama eyed the pair, he could see they both were at least wearing clothes, though it was obvious those were nightwear. Hashirama was fairly sure both had slept as Madara had his telltale bed hair and Tobirama's complex looked a bit better than usual. Maybe dating Madara wasn't such a bad thing if it meant Tobirama got a bit more sleep than usual.
"Um, I'm not sure, but her chakra was fluctuating, and she seems to be in a lot of pain. I tried to use my healing chakra, but it didn't do anything to her, so I just wrapped her around my chakra, until she fell asleep again," Hashirama explained, watching how Madara tilted his head in confusion while Tobirama's look turned into a thoughtful one.
The younger Senju slowly took his glasses away then bit at the earpiece of his glasses. His look morphed into a more thoughtful one, making Hashirama wonder what he was thinking. Tobirama had a bad habit of biting things when he got lost in a thought, like his glasses' earpiece.
"Tobi…"
"Hush, aniki," Tobirama scolded his older brother, obviously racking his brain. The younger one then turned on his way and walked back inside, leaving Madara and Hashirama awkwardly at the doorway.
"So…how long have you and Tobi been…umm…" Hashirama hummed, trying to place his words carefully unlike earlier. This only made Madara huff and gesture Hashirama to step inside the house.
"Don't try to select your words carefully around me, Hashirama. It feels too weird," Madara told his best friend who started to smile at him happily. This made the Uchiha merely scoff to Hashirama and then dodge to the side from Hashirama's tackle-hug attack.
Hashirama crashed straight into Tobirama's flowerpot table, making the poor flower fall to the floor.
"Oh no!" Hashirama whined, gently scooping the flower into his hands. He had given the flower to Tobirama as a Christmas gift.
"I'll go get it a new pot," Madara muttered, making Hashirama nod his head to this. Only after Madara had disappeared somewhere further inside of the house, did Hashirama realize what Madara had said. If Madara knew where Tobirama was holding his extra flowerpots, it meant they had dated at least more than a month! No, even more as it had taken him two months to find the dining hall at Mito's place when they had started to date, and he had stayed at Uzushiogakure. The realization made Hashirama let out a small sniff as he looked at the flower in his hands that was starting to droop.
"Oh no, I'm not mad at you little one, please don't be sad. If anyone's to blame, it's I…" Hashirama spoke to the flower, watching how it lifted its pretty face toward him slowly.
"Hashirama, why you're talking to the flower?" Madara questioned from behind him, making Hashirama turn to his best friend.
"Because flowers are living beings and can understand humans," Hashirama replied, as if it was obvious. Yet he merely received a look from his best friend as if he was out of his mind. This made Hashirama huff to Madara, who gave him the extra flowerpot.
"Once things have been solved with Mito, we'll discuss," Hashirama told him, trying to sound threatening and failing to. He didn't exactly look menacing when he was carefully planting the flower then adding soil into the flowerpot. Once he had planted the flower, he lifted it to the top of the table.
"There you go little one!" Hashirama told the flower, beaming to it happily as he then turned to Madara who was cleaning up the floor where there was still a little bit of dirt left on it, thanks to Hashirama's mess. The Uchiha didn't spare him even a glance as he kept his focus on the task in hand.
Huffing, Hashirama placed his hands to his waist and was about to start his cross-examination when he saw his baby brother return. He noticed Tobirama was now wearing his usual black, civilian clothes instead of nightwear.
"I think I have a hunch what's wrong with aneue," Tobirama told, dipping his head forward. The little gesture was a bit worrisome as Hashirama knew it was Tobirama's way of telling he would tell something unpleasant.
Gently, Hashirama placed his hand on Tobirama's shoulder in a reassuring manner. No matter how bad Tobirama's deduction would be, he still wanted to hear it.
"What it's, Tobirama?" Hashirama questioned, using Tobirama's full name to show how serious he was being. The younger one let out a soft sigh before he faced his older brother.
"Aniki, my theory might be wrong, but I'm only going by what you told me, and even that is very little, but I believe she might have fibrositis." Tobirama said, making Hashirama tilt his head.
"What?" Hashirama questioned in a puzzled manner. He hadn't ever heard about such a disease!
"It's a medical condition that has just been recently recognized." Tobirama started as he crossed his arms in front of himself. "There isn't yet much information about it, but as far as I know, it's chronic widespread pain and usually the person who has it, has heightened pain response to weather, temperature, pressure, and touch. There are also other symptoms to it such as tiredness that affects normal daily activities."
"And you think Mito, has it? On what basis?" Hashirama questioned, making the younger one look away.
"What I've observed about aneue, she has always gotten moodier when weather and temperature have changed more rapidly," Tobirama started, avoiding Hashirama's look that was starting to get sharper. "Not to mention, in some days she seems more tired than usually and as far as I know…she usually gets enough sleep."
By now Tobirama was inching slowly away from Hashirama whose chakra was spilling over. It made Tobirama's skin crawl a bit as he knew Hashirama was slowly getting angry. Not to Tobirama, but himself as he was obviously blaming himself for not noticing sooner Mito's agony.
"As far as I'm aware, aniki, it's genetic and you can't really 'heal' it…your nerves are just more tuned into pain," Tobirama breathed out softly, knowing all too well what it meant when one's nerves were so fine-tuned.
Letting out a deep breath, Hashirama seemed to slump inside of himself as he hung his head down. He couldn't help but feel like a failure as a husband as he should have noticed sooner Mito's condition. After all, he had a brother who was Fire Country's best sensor! With it, came a lot of packages that weren't that pleasant.
"Wait, Tobi, does that mean?" Hashirama started, lifting his look up to Tobirama as a sudden realization came to him. The paler Senju shook his head.
"I don't believe I've it," Tobirama started, the unsaid 'but' hanging in the air. Narrowing his eyes, Hashirama took a step toward Tobirama, just to stop, and shook his head.
"But you've something similar? I mean, you've always been very…sensitive, Tobi." Hashirama stated softly, making the other one shrug his shoulder. While many people viewed Tobirama as a ruthless, uncaring demon…Hashirama knew the truth. Tobirama was extremely observant, kind, and felt at times too much. Even more than him which made him vulnerable. When they had been children, Hashirama hadn't realized it. Only later when there was just the both of them had he realized how much Tobirama felt. The depth of his emotions had almost drowned Hashirama.
"Oi, oi." Madara suddenly cut, wrapping his arms around Tobirama loosely. "Tobirama has you, I, and Mito. He also has his students supporting him. He isn't made of glass, and neither is Mito, so stop making them so…weak."
"But I'm not," Hashirama argued back, but got a glare from Madara. It made him gulp down as somewhere back of his mind he couldn't but agree to Madara's words. After all, he had wanted to shield Tobirama from the world and he had already thought that about Mito…until the possible revelation had come. It made Hashirama feel shame as he had witnessed both Tobirama and Mito in action. They both were so strong it had left Hashirama breathless. At the same time, though, they could be weak without making them any less bad. Just like now as his baby brother was nuzzling his nose against the crook of Madara's neck. He was obviously seeking comfort from Madara and thanking him at the same time.
A proud smile made its way to Hashirama's face, yet he quickly hides it. He still had to grill his best friend about dating his younger brother!
"Tobiii!" Hashirama squealed, jumping toward Tobirama who got pulled away from the tackle-hug attack by Madara.
"Stop that! It's disgusting, Hashirama!" Madara roared to Hashirama who sheepishly rubbed his neck as he slowly got up from the floor. Nodding his head, he gave them both a wave of his hand.
"I'll go see if Mito is awake, but I'll be back and when I am…" Hashirama started yet left the rest of his words hanging in the air as he then rushed out from the house, leaving embarrassed Madara and somewhat annoyed Tobirama behind himself. He wanted to be there when Mito would wake up and when she would, he would then talk with her. He would do his everything to lessen Mito's pain, if possible, but to do so, he needed to talk with her properly. He just hoped his wife would be ready to talk with him and accept his help as Hashirama knew how proud Mito could be when she wanted to. No matter what, he wouldn't give up as once he had decided something he would see it through!
Soon, Hashirama arrived back at their home. Trying to be as quiet as possible, Hashirama started to take off his outdoor clothes just to freeze. Slowly, he glanced down to the hallway just to see Mito standing in there. She was still wearing her nightwear but otherwise appeared fine. Gently, Hashirama stretched his chakra toward his wife, meeting hers. Her chakra was still flickering ever so slightly, but there wasn't any more than a painfilled cold edge to it. A sigh escaped from Hashirama's lips he hadn't even realized he had to hold it.
Quietly, Mito walked up to her husband, touching his cheek affectionate manner.
"Welcome back," she greeted him softly. Hashirama answered this greeting with an affectionate cheek kiss. "Will you tell me where you were so early in the morning?"
"I went to see Tobi," Hashirama answered in an honest manner, earning a hum from Mito. He watched how his wife pulled away and started to head toward the kitchen. A soft click was audible in the otherwise quiet house before he could hear how Mito started to make breakfast. Swiftly, Hashirama took last of his outdoor clothes away before he walked to the kitchen. He watched from the doorway how Mito cooked since they had given the servants off-day today.
He noticed how his wife's movements were a bit more sluggish than usual and how she made as little noise as possible. Despite the fact it felt like Mito was moving in slow-motion, Hashirama could see there wasn't any hesitation in her movements.
Letting out a deep breath, he joined his wife. They quickly made breakfast together. Once the breakfast was ready, they settled in front of the table to eat. Hashirama decided now would be the right time to talk. Yet his wife beat him in it.
"I'm sorry, for not telling you." She apologized softly, not meeting his gaze. It broke something inside of Hashirama as his wife was bowing her head, like asking forgiveness when there wasn't anything to forgive. If anything, he should be the one to apologize. Rising to his feet, Hashirama dropped himself next to Mito and gently placed his arms around her. He then pulled her into his lap, earning a puzzled look from her.
"Mito. I'm not the most perceiving person in some things, so I would be extremely grateful if in the future you would tell me when I'm not," He started, leaning his head tenderly against her shoulder. "I'm not mad at you. If I'm mad to someone…it's to myself for not noticing sooner."
"Hashirama…" Mito breathed, gently placing her hands on her husband's shoulders.
"Mito, I love you. I love you so much…" Hashirama whispered, lifting his gaze into hers. For a moment, the two of them merely gazed into each other eyes. Mutual understanding settled between themselves.
"I'm not sure what's wrong with me, but this thing has always happened to me in certain times," Mito started, leaning her head now against her husband's broad chest. "Each time weather would change rapidly or the temperature, I would feel this pain in my joints. At times the pain would be so bad, I could barely get up from the bed or my all joints would stiffen. Many healers came to see me, yet none of them could help me…even when I came up with my seal, I couldn't remove this thing. Only pain medicine can lessen it a bit, but otherwise…the only way for it to go away is to wait. Days like those, I feel so tired and my head hurts."
A soft sigh escaped from Mito's lips as she smiled gladly. She had finally managed to tell the whole truth to Hashirama. She felt a bit surprised how well her husband took all this and more as Hashirama told her what Tobirama had told to him. A hum escaped from her throat as Mito mused this. What Tobirama had assumed seemed to be spot-on. It also made sense why he would know about such a condition because he was interested in medical articles and was extremely sensitive as well. It also explained why Hashirama had by now calmed down as he probably compared Mito's condition to Tobirama's. It was ironic…they both were so sensitive.
"And? What do you think about me now?" Mito breathed out the question she had been fearing to ask.
"I think you're strong, like a diamond." Hashirama answered, kissing the top of Mito's head.
Laughter escaped from Mito's lips as she pulled lightly away from her husband and faced him. "But at times I feel like I could shatter like a glass." She responded, making Hashirama shake his head to her.
"Yet you don't. You keep going on despite your condition, not allowing it to deter you. You, my love, are very strong," Hashirama stated.
"Even stronger than God of Shinobi?" She questioned teasingly, making Hashirama chuckle at this. He then leaned to give her a quick kiss on the lips.
"Of course. After all, you managed to wrap your finger around this God of Shinobi." He said back, smiling his radiant smile.
Shaking her head, Mito patted Hashirama's shoulders. "But in all honestly, Hashirama…I don't think I'll get better from this. I'll have worse days and even in better ones, this condition will linger…" Mito started, yet stopped as Hashirama placed a finger to her lips.
"We're NOT going there, Mito. In your worse days, I'll wrap my chakra around you like a blanket, hold you in a more careful manner and do everything to distract you from the pain. And in better days, I'll still hold you gently and distract you with all kinds of things as you deserve happiness and love. Mito, let me be your rock when you need it," Hashirama told Mito whose eyes widened from this declaration. Shaking her head, she grabbed his finger and pulled it away just to kiss her husband on the lips lovingly. The kiss lasted only a few minutes but was extremely tender and loving. Pulling slowly away from her husband, Mito gazed him in the eyes.
"Silly husband," she breathed lovingly, making Hashirama make a big silly face. Hashirama then pulled Mito into another kiss and yet another one when they parted to catch their breaths, the morning turning around a bit softer.