DISCLAIMER I DONT OWN NARUTO
The Nara Heiress didn't spend much time dwelling on that fleeting feeling she felt, she just nodded at this sort of mysterious White-haired man and turned to follow Sakura. Tobirama stood at the door a bit more because he felt his brother nearby.
"Wow didn't know you were so gallant" Hashirama teased him, but it backfired because, as always, his little brother was unaware of what had transpired.
"What are you talking about?" the albino grunted letting go of the door.
"Never lower your eyes…" Hashi mimicked him and raised an eyebrow, but he was still oblivious "Come on, that was so breath-taking" he said battling his eyelashes
"W-what!?" Tobirama asked feeling uncomfortable. "I was just stating a fact" he explained simply
"Yeah, you were…" the brunette passed next to him and entered the hospital without saying more. It was the first time he left his brother without words, and he felt proud of himself. But something inside him kept bugging him. He felt everybody was moving forward and he felt stuck.
The Albino couldn't understand what his brother meant, but he was surprised he left him without a comeback. 'What has just happened?' he thought, and entered the Hospital following the Hokage.
Sakura was already extracting the poison from Shindo Nara with water, while Yuko stood there, eyes and mouth wide opened in awe. It took the pinkette almost one hour, but she could extract everything. She gave the man an antidote to get him covered until she analysed the venom and did one last check up before sending him to a private room.
"Nara-sama" the pinkette addressed to the kunoichi "He is out of danger, he needs to have a blood transfusion, and I need to give him some fluids to recover quicklier."
"Transfusion?" she asked, this whole medic thing was new to her.
"Yes, your father lost a relatively small amount of blood while my friends took the poisonous object from him" the medic explained "and even though they did it great, he still needs some blood for a better recovery. The procedure is simple, I give him blood from another person whose blood is compatible. It's always better if the person is related, because it's possible to have a similar type. I just put a needle with a vial on the person who gives blood and the other end of the vial, also with a needle, goes to him. Well, it's not that easy, I need to use a small device that pumps the blood from the donor to the receiver."
"So, Can I be this donor?" Yuko asked "Can you figure out if we have the same ehh… blood type?"
"Sure! I just need a drop of your blood from your finger" the Haruno said "You can pinch yourself if you don't trust me"
"Why would I not trust you?" the Nara questioned "You just saved my father. I can clearly see he is better. And I don't tend to be a bad judge of character." She said the last part bluntly as she raised her hand. Sakura was taken aback by her honesty, but smiled gently at her. She did the procedure and everything was okay as expected.
"We're going to take him to a private room and put you next to him so you can give him a little of your blood." The pinkette explained "I'll put fluids on you both so you also recover faster. Giving blood might leave you a little weak, but if you get fluids and eat something you'll be fine in no time" The Kunoichi nodded and left the operating room.
Outside there were Hashirama and Tobirama waiting. Yuko saw the two men and bowed with gratefully.
"Thank you for everything" she said with an emotional voice, but when she stood up again her face was tearless and serious. "Once my father is awake, we will discuss the future" she added "Your friends are waiting for us on our camp and I believe they need to know what is going on, also my people. Is there a way to communicate with them?"
"Yes, we can ask Madara, Izuna's brother" Hashirama answered politely "He's got a falcon he can send. Please get you and your father comfortable and we'll take care. If you want to write something You can give it to me and I'll send it."
"It's okay, just attach this" she looked for a piece of parchment and a pencil and wrote a code. "They will know we're fine with this, they will not trust any other message" she explained
"I kind of like your Clan…" Said Tobirama absentmindly.
"That's why!" Yuko exclaimed punching her hand with her fist.
"What?" the albino asked, he seemed to be asking that a lot again, he might need to improve his social skills to understand better other's ways of communication.
"You're as suspicious as my clansmen." The Nara smirked "That's why we fought at first sight. I felt you similar to them." The shinobi raised his eyebrows.
"I get you don't seem to get along with them" he snorted.
"Of course not!" She smiled "they are a bunch of old chauvinistic men who feel women are weak"
"And you are not weak" The albino observed, that make her cheeks go slightly pink of embarrassment.
"You bet I am not weak!" She answered with the same fierce he said his advice some time ago. "They even said I had poisoned my father to became Clan Leader."
"Please can you tell us what happened that your father ended up this injured?" Hashirama intervened "Izuna didn't say anything on the letter, he was being cautious"
And Yuko told them everything about the Hagoromo clan until Sakura came and told her that everything was settled down for the transfusion and asked her to accompany her. The men excused themselves and went to look for Madara to send the message.
Hashirama could notice Tobirama's demeanour when the Nara Heiress mentioned the Hagoromo clan.
"Otouto…" he called him while they were walking towards the Hokage tower.
"I-I can't speak now" the albino managed to say. He had a lot going on his head. 'Maki-chan…' he thought. Just hearing that clan's name made him go back to his pain.
FLASHBACK
… "The second thing I needed to ask to you is about your relationship with Hashirama-san." Sakura said
"What about it?" the man asked grunting again.
"Have you ever opened and talked to him?" she enquired. He remembered the last month and a half, all the small conversations they had had and remembered one specially. The one they had after he had spoken to Takato.
"I did it once, almost a month ago" he said. "I had spoken with Takato about sibling's relationship and I had the Urge to express some stuff I had inside since I was a child"
"And how did it feel?" The kunoichi asked.
"Lighter" Tobirama resumed.
"Good. That's what I want to work with you" she said "For our next encounter think about your relationship with your family in general, and your elder brother in particular."
"Okay" he nodded.
END OF FLASHBACK
He remembered his first therapy session with Sakura and looked at his brother who was feeling down.
"I am thinking of Maki-chan" Tobirama said out loud and Hashi stopped in his tracks and looked at him "And of Izuna, Toka and Hikari-chan…" his brother nodded "If something happens to them… we sent them on that mission!"
"They will be fine!" The brunette said "You saw the Toad, Hikari has already made her contract. If they are in danger the Toads will help her. They are going to be safe"
"UGH I hate this clan so much!" The albino finally released his anger out loud. His brother approached him and grabbed him by the shoulder.
"I know, me too." He said "But that's part of why we created this village. So, we could unite and protect our precious ones. If Konoha becomes strong, they will not be able to do any harm."
'Create…' the youngest thought
FLASHBACK
"Some people like Hashirama-san or Madara-san tend to overturn their frustrations in something positive, like the idea of the Village, or creating peace from where is always horror and pain, though they fight a lot" her tone was very professional, and he was very impressed by how older she seemed while talking like that. "Takato-san and Toka-san are that way too. They both want to help and protect their precious people. But there are some other types of people like Izuna-san or yourself that bury their pain inside an internal cage and become cold and closed off to people." He was right, she was talking about what happened, she continued "And those are the most dangerous ones" 'SHIT' he thought.
END OF FLASHBACK
"You sure are an inspiration brother" Tobirama said to Hashirama "You've overcome all this pain to protect us. I'm proud of you"
"Oh TOBI!" Hashirama exclaimed all teary and hugged his brother.
"WHAT!? WAIT!" the albino screamed "LEAVE ME ALONE!" He took his brother off him. "That's it! I'm not complimenting you anymore!" and he started disappeared using his Hirashin.
"Wait Tobi!" The Hokage manage to say "Agghh! He's like a wild animal, one needs to be soft with one's movements because he'd fly away" he smiled. "But I am so happy he talked to me!" He sunshined towards the tower too.
The Senju siblings gave Madara the coded note and he sent it with his falcon to Izuna. Takato was sitting next to him, waiting for them to arrive.
"So?" He asked "What happened?"
"Nara-San arrived with his near-to-death father" Hashirama said nonchalantly
"Brother, that sounds so wrong" Tobirama scolded him "The man was still in danger, but what you're saying sounds so... ugh" he couldn't find the words
"Well, his almost near-to-death father" the brunette corrected himself "Anyway" he added when he saw Tobirama was about to say something again "He is okay now and receiving a transfusion from her daughter. They are going to talk about the future when the man is fully recovered."
"Do you have any news about Izuna, Toka and Hikari-chan?" Madara asked
"They seem to be fine" Hashi answered to his friend "Your brother saved Nara san's life and Hikari san called the toads to guide them here, because of that they were able to arrive in time."
"So, she made the contract!" Takato exclaimed
"It seems so" The Senju nodded smiling "When they come back, we'll know better, but for now they are still in the village waiting for the Nara to come back. I think this might delay the mission a little"
"Oh…" the youngest Uchiha said a bit down "well, the most important thing is that they are okay, that is what matters the most" he tried to sound cheery but he looked at Tobirama's demeanour at his words and felt something at the pit of his stomach… 'jealousy? No… It is more like fear' he thought. "What is going on?" he asked moving towards the albino. Who looked at him for a moment, holding his gaze.
"Nara-sama was attacked by the Hagoromo Clan some days prior the team arriving to the village" he said monotone.
His words felt like cold water and they all became silent for a moment. Even Hashirama who already knew the information, it was not the time for being witty or emotional, they needed to get that information sink.
"Hn…" Madara mumbled "I think it is good to be cautious, but that doesn't mean they are going to be attacked again" he reasoned. "There must be Hagoromo clansmen wounded too, and even if they want to attack the camp… Well, if they have the Toads on their side there, they have good allies against them"
Even if what the Uchiha said made sense, the atmosphere was tense. They could not do anything to help them IF they were in danger. Takato thought of his brother, and how much he had improved as a medic and as a person per se, he thought of Toka who was a fierce kunoichi, and then in Hikari, who always surprised him, and the thought of her sort of lit him up, his hope.
"They are going to be fine" he said convinced out loud "They are the best team we could send, and they already managed to accomplish 2/3 of their mission"
"Two thirds?" Tobirama asked confused.
"Yes, they completed the Toad part, and they already convinced the Nara…"
"That is not completely sure…" the albino complained
"They saved the man's life, and they helped him to get here to get a proper treatment." He answered "It's a matter of time, but I am positive they are going to join Konoha very soon" he added and saw Tobirama became contemplative. "What do you think about the Heiress?" Takato asked, he valued the Senju's character judgment, even if sometimes he was extremely suspicious.
That took the man aback a little, he was not expecting that question. 'what do I think of her...' he thougt.
"Well, she is fierce, and a bit hot headed. But seems a good person." He finally answered. "I think they are going to join us too" he added after a bit more of thought.
"Oh, that reminds me" Hashirama gave Madara the piece of parchment "This needs to be sent asap to Izuna"
"Why didn't you started there!?" the Uchiha scolded him.
"We needed to tell you everything fist, ne?" Hashi answered bored "You can also send a note to the team, it's going to take one or two days until this is wrapped"
"Okay I will do it now" Madara grunted taking the paper from his friend's hands and going to his desk to write the note for them.
Takato was still looking at Tobirama, who still felt down.
"Wanna go to the academy now?" he invited him "I have some ideas to implement that may trainings become more efficient". The albino felt this invitation like the Uchiha had caught on his depressing thoughts and felt a tiny hint of gratitude.
"Yeah, lets go" he answered nodding his head and motioning to the door with Takato following him, leaving a smiling Hashirama looking at their backs leaving. He was so happy his brother had found a friend.
Two days passed and Shindo Nara was completely cured, well, he was still weak, but cured. He and his daughter talked about the terms of a possible merging and it actually was a good and quick meeting. The man, according to Nara traditions, was very clever and wise, but also practical. He went straight to the point, they needed a forest for they sacred animals to live in, and that they could maintain their clan's traditions and entity.
The Hokage told him about how the clans had independency in their private affairs but there were some rules that were about them, and answered to Konoha as the biggest entity and authority. He explained that the council was formed equally by the heads of each clan and their second, and that all Villages affairs were discussed by all members.
This information interested the man the most and after discussing it with his daughter he partially agreed to be a part of the Village.
"I need to speak with my people to take full compromise though" he said
"We understand Nara-sama" Hashirama said politely "We'll be waiting for your answer. When do you leave"?
"My daughter here says that tomorrow we can go" Shindo answered "we'll contact the deer again so we can get there quickly, and when I speak to my people, I will send you an answer"
The meeting lasted a few more minutes as the man needed to rest, and Yuko had to look for the ninja animals. So, they paid their honours and left.
"Finally, another ninja clan to join Konoha. Our dream is becoming true one step at a time" Hashirama said to Madara happily-
"Yeah, we are on track" He answered smirking "but you know that not all the ninja clans are going to be joining, do you?"
"Don't be such a party pooper" the Senju answered "Of course I know, but it is important for us to gather more allies, more so when we know that the Hagoromo Clan is lurking"
They weren't aware that they were not the only ones to be lurking at Konoha, more than just a pair of eyes was watching every move.
Author's notes
HAPPY 2023! I'm sorry for the delay. I hope to upload more stuff soon, but they are going to be short chapters, it's easier that way.
Hope you had a great holiday.
Love!
Bella