Madara
We all slept pretty roughly that night. I woke up in the middle of the night with my chest pounding but I couldn't remember why or what dream I'd had to frighten me. Mito was whimpering in her sleep and Hashirama was sitting up with his knees to his chest, stroking her hair trying to calm her down.
We're all insane for running away...
Hashirama glanced at me, noticing that I was awake and offered me a small smile.
But we have to keep going until the journey is truly over... Only problem is, when do we know when it's over?
At that point, I didn't care. All I knew was that I wasn't a coward.
"We're dropping Mito off at the nearest Uzumaki colony." I told Hashirama as he rubbed her back. "And then, we're going home."
He hesitated but, in the end, he nodded. What could he say? She was right. We had no reason to be away from home. If we stayed wandering around any longer, we'd be true cowards. I refused to lose my honor.
When she woke up, we told her our plan. I could see the resistance in her eyes but she said nothing. We continued walking. Hashirama predicted that if we continued walking at the speed we were, we should be there by morning the next day.
We didn't speak to each other for almost an hour of walking. We plowed through the sand desert area. Holding firm against the dry wind, shutting our eyes to just slits as to avoid the flicking sand dust. And suddenly, through all that, Mito opened her mouth.
"This is nice." She said.
I almost thought she'd gone delirious. Hashirama looked confused also. She smiled at us.
"I like our group." She said, airily. "Three is better than two, don't you think?"
"I suppose for dynamics." I responded.
Hashirama nodded.
"It feels a bit more rounded."
"I was thinking in our new village, we should make all ninjas in training perform missions in a three-man rookie group like this." She explained. "Full enough to protect each other but small enough to be like family."
We both nodded.
"That's fine." I said.
It went back to silence again, and then Mito sighed.
"You guys think I'm crazy, don't you?"
"What? No!" Hashirama said. "Of course not!"
"I do." I replied, looking sideways.
"Yeah... Maybe a little bit..." Hashirama admitted.
"Or a lot." I added.
"Yeah... or... a lot..." Hashirama said.
Hashirama and Mito looked at each other and, oddly, began laughing. I could never understand that humor of theirs, always bursting through at awkward moments.
"But don't worry about it." I added, off-handedly. "We're all crazy."
"That's true." Hashirama said grinning. "Madara more than any of us."
Suddenly, he swept his foot out and tripped me. I stumbled, almost falling flat on my face, and turned glaring at him.
"Look at him tripping! He's not even a real ninja." Hashirama joked.
I rolled my eyes.
"Shut-up, jerk-off."
"Loser." He replied.
"Bastard."
"Failure." Hashirama countered.
"Dumbass!" Mito suddenly exclaimed.
We both stared at her blankly.
"...What? I just thought... I could join."
Hashirama burst into laughter. I couldn't help but crack a smile.
"Sorry, Mito. The 'name calling' thing is our thing." Hashirama said.
Oddly, I was grateful for one thing we could call ours and nodded.
About an hour later, we came upon a Tourist Town. Hashirama's face immediately broke out into excitement.
"Yes!" he exclaimed. "It's been so long!"
"So long since what?" Mito asked.
"Hashi, no." I muttered. "We barely have enough money left over to get home, we don't need to make a detour."
"Come on, Mada. Just this one time, pleaaaaaase! I'll be quick!"
Mito continued looking confused. I sighed and crossed my arms.
"Whatever." I muttered.
We entered the town which was bustling with more people than the first Tourist Town we'd went to. While Hashirama poked around, asking people where a card playing house would be, I hung back with Mito watching people play town games for prizes and buy fried food.
"So you mean to tell me, you and Hashi got around stealing money from people?" she asked.
"Him, not me." I said.
"Well, you assisted." She said, slapping her hand to her face. "Don't you guys know how dangerous that is? People could hold a grudge for that!"
"We already got caught by the first guys Hashi scammed. Looks like he didn't learn his lesson." I said as we posted up against the fence. "But it doesn't really matter. We're ninja. Worst comes to worst, we'll just kick their asses."
"Ohhh, someone's so confident." She said, smirking at me.
A man who had been milling about near us looking at some clothes, suddenly advanced on Mito.
"Hey, little girl, I'll give you my whole week's pay for a good time."
Mito didn't even blink. She ignored him, crossing her arms and looking the other direction. He moved back into her line of sight.
"Come on, don't be so rigid. You need money, don't you, baby?" he asked.
I rolled my shirt sleeves up.
"Get your sorry ass out of here before I make you." I said, standing in front of her.
He rolled his eyes and laughed.
"Oh, little tough guy, huh?" he asked, chuckling so loudly people looked over. "What are you? Seven years old? Beat it, punk."
I'm going to kill this guy...
There was a box of wooden bats being used for the prize game next to the fence we were standing against. I picked one of them up. He continued laughing.
"Oh? You gonna hit me? By the time you even try, I'll already have made off with your frilly little girlfriend there and-"
I swung the bat against a pole next to us, cleanly snapping it in two. He immediately stopped speaking. I walked up to him, waving it slowly without saying a single word.
"Okay... Okay... Calm down, kid." He said.
But I continued walking toward him, gripping it as hard as I could and holding the jagged pieces of wood at his neck. He turned, quickly immersing himself in the crowd and getting away as fast as he could.
"Ohhh." Mito said, throwing an arm around my shoulders. "Scary!"
I dropped the bat and rolled my eyes.
"I hate these stupid town men who think they can do whatever they want."
She laughed.
"It's hard to believe you're the same kid who almost got kidnapped by that man!" she exclaimed. "Looks like you've learned the ways of a normal kid, now."
I shrugged out of her grip.
"Yeah, whatever."
"Hey..."
I glanced at her as she looked me up and down.
"Thanks for standing up for me."
I turned away from her so she couldn't see me blushing.
"You're welcome."
We were silent for a while. The noise and excitement from the town picked up. The band began playing music loudly as a procession moved through the town. Mito's eyes widened.
"It looks like the feudal lord is passing through here!" she exclaimed. "Wow! I've never even seen one before!"
I craned my neck as people twice our size stood in our way, blocking our view.
I've never seen one before either...
I glanced at Mito who was jumping up and down trying to see and tapped her shoulder.
"Get on my shoulders." I told her. "You'll be able to see then."
I knelt down so she could pull herself up onto me and then stood up.
"Wow. I can see over everyone!" she exclaimed.
"What does he look like?" I asked from below.
"He's inside of a tent people are carrying. All I can see is his waving hand." She told me. "But he's wearing a red robe. Do you think he's here to stop the wars?"
I laughed cynically.
"Of course not. He's probably just here for women and drinks."
She nodded.
"Yeah... You're probably right."
I bent down again, allowing her to get off me. She accidently kicked my pocket on her way down reminding me of the package I had stored there. They were Tsuyoi's cigarette's, which I'd removed from his pocket when I buried him. I couldn't really grasp myself why I'd taken him. Just that, somehow, it made me feel like that conversation, that whole past he told me about wasn't just something I made up. Mito cocked her head, giving me a pensive look.
"What?"
"You're...being kind of nice lately."
Because of the people cheering and clapping loudly around us, we could barely hear each other, let alone be overheard.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I said, pressing my back against the fence again.
"Mada..."
I slowly turned back to her. Her expression was serious. Her dark eyes gazed into mine as she reached over and slipped her hand into mine.
"I...really like you." She confessed. "You know that, don't you?"
Even to this day, I can't explain the rush I felt then. The heat rushing through my blood stream and getting to particular parts of my body quicker than lightning. She continued grasping my hand tenderly. I had to breathe to clear my head of all the butterflies and bullshit that mixed up in my brain.
"...You like Hashirama." I reminded her.
"I know." She said, nodding. "But often times, I feel like I like you more."
"Are you sure that's not just when you're alone with me?" I pointed out.
She paused, considering it.
"Besides..." I went on.
I recalled Hashirama's words. His confession to me.
"Hashirama likes you." I said, pulling my hand away from hers. "So, just concentrate on him."
"I'm sorry..." she said, tugging on the white skirt she had always worn that, somehow, never seemed to get dirty. "I just thought...you liked me back."
...I do.
"I don't like cowards." I responded, looking away.
She ducked her head shamefully.
"You don't know how sorry I am for what I did..." she whispered. "That's why I can never go back."
"I'd rather live everyday in misery and shame than spend one day as a coward." I told her.
"You don't understand." She said, balling her fists. "I don't want to be a ninja anymore! I don't want anything to do with that life anymore! Because...even if I do go back... There won't be anything to go back to. My parents are dead. My sister... I shudder to think what became of her... There's nothing for me."
Honestly, Mito... You wouldn't believe how similar we really are. At this point... I can relate to you even better than Hashirama. After seeing what happened to Tsuyoi and everyone, I didn't want to be a ninja either. I wanted to erase all ninja off of the planet but...
"This is the life we live, Mito." I told her. "Even if it's painful and depressing and just completely fucking insane, it's...our lives."
I turned looking her fully in the eyes.
"The only thing left for you to go back home to now is your pride. Wear the title of a ninja and don't run away from it. Because..." I thought back to what Hashirama had said. "We, all three of us, are not their kind of people. We're different."
She was silent for a while. She picked at a loose fiber in her white shirt and then turned to me, moving her red hair out of her face as she did. Her cheeks were full and red in a permanent blush that grew deeper since her confession. I fidgeted with my fingers, fighting a strange urge to reach over and stroke her cheek.
"Not their kind of people, huh?" she asked me.
Slowly, she smiled, lips tinted in a warm, pink hue.
"I guess I can try to go home with that in mind."
Now it all makes sense to me. Why she didn't care about coming of age. Why she cared more about losing the ring because of the sentimental value and not because of the power it held. She was probably glad for losing it in a way... So she wouldn't be connected to the ninja world at all.
Even though she had just smiled, the expression washed away quickly and she crossed her arms and brushed her sandals back and forth in the dirt. Half of me felt bad for being so hard on her but if I didn't, no one would. Hashirama was too blinded by her "perfection" to ever tell her anything straight up. I was the only one who could give her the tough love she needed. And what she really needed was to learn how to get a grip and find herself... Or she'd be wandering around town after town all alone for the rest of her life. And... I couldn't let that happen.
But still... I don't think I'll ever meet a girl as pretty as she is again in my entire life...
"Thank you for being honest with me, at least." She said quietly, still awkwardly looking down at the dirt.
I really am an idiot.
"Oi, Oi, Oi..." said a voice.
We both turned and looked up. Most of the crowd had dispersed. The carriage carrying the lord went by and people were returning to their party activities. A single man stood over us carrying a boy over his shoulder. Nanamba.
"What happened to him?!" I exclaimed.
"Shhh." Nanamba said, holding a finger to his lips. "Don't worry. We were playing cards at the house and he had his first drink. It might've been a bit too much for him... The kid fell straight out."
I relaxed. Watching as he patted Hashirama fondly who was slung over his left shoulder.
"That idiot." I muttered. "What the hell possessed him to drink alcohol?"
Nanamba laughed and ran his hand through his white hair.
"Everyone gets curious, I guess."
He turned, walking around and Mito and I stood on his other side. Abruptly, Mito grasped my hand tightly. I glanced down at her.
"What?"
"I don't know..." she whispered. "I feel weird."
We continued following Nanamba who was heading on a path that led out of the town and father in the direction of the forests that had the huge mudslide way at the beginning of our journey. I was distracted, reminiscing about how, even then, Hashirama always felt like it was his responsibility to save me when Mito tugged my hand again.
"I get it now." She said to me.
I looked at her, eyebrows raised. We were deep in the forest by that time. I glanced up at the canopy of leaves overhead. Sunlight was patchy, breaking through some open spots in the canopy and leaves wafted down over us, blowing in the breeze.
"He's a ninja." She told me, just as Nanamba turned around, grin wide and menacing.
"Now..." he said, hiking a limp Hashirama further up onto his shoulder. "What I really came here for..."
Hashirama
This is gonna be so much fun!
I spun away from a sulking Madara and a confused Mito, heading toward the first sketchy-looking tent I could find. I rubbed my hands together anxiously.
I don't even care if I lose money this time. Just playing will be enough...
I edged through the crowd full of people. It was so full. So many people.
And besides, we're going home anyway. I should get one last game before I have to go back, right?
Soon, I stood right in front of a large sign that read in large colors: Bet All You Have Downstairs
Without a second wasted, I rounded the wooden station and found a staircase in the back and made my way downstairs.
At home, everything is so boring and depressing. Just this last time will be enough.
I found myself in front of a large door and pushed it open.
Just this last time.
"Oi, if you think you can win, pull up a-"
The person speaking froze. I froze. My life entire life seemed to have frozen.
Shit! Of all people?! It had to be these guys?
Forcing myself to act, I spun on my heels and ran...but I didn't get very far. I knocked face first into another person.
"Hey!" they exclaimed.
Eyes, wide, I looked up at the man with bluish white hair and oddly lavender colored eyes.
Nanamba.
Chairs rustled behind me, the men were getting up.
"We must have God on our side." Said Kakeru, cracking his knuckles.
Masato sneered a wide-eerie looking grin and the man with no name remained seated but gripped his glass so hard it cracked. The injury from Madara having stabbed him in the leg was still there.
Behind me, Nanamba cocked his head in a confused way.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"You weren't here, idiot, so you don't know." Kakeru said. "That stupid boy and his friend are ninjas! The way they fight... It's obvious!"
Masato edged toward me.
"Well, this one is the one you have to worry about." He said angrily. "The other one isn't as difficult."
"Ninjas?" Nanamba asked.
He walked out in front of me, picking a couple of knives off the table and dirty plates that they'd seemed to have eaten off of.
"Then...what the heck is he doing-"
"It doesn't matter what he's doing! Cause we're going to kill him!"
He lunged for me and jumped back, planning to try to run up the stairs and get out of that town as fast as I could but suddenly, he froze. And then I froze.
Kakeru stared at me, then his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he dropped face down onto the floor with a knife jutting out of the right side of his neck. Masato and I both turned to the direction of the attack but then Masato jerked violently and flipped over the chair, falling to the floor with a knife lodged in his heart. The man with the shaved head struggled to get to his feet, gritting his teeth against the pain, but it didn't matter. A knife was swiftly thrown like a dagger across the room and straight into the center of his forehead, freezing him immediately.
I looked at Nanamba who brushed the cake crumbs from the knives off of his shirt impatiently and sighed.
"Sorry about that." He said. "Those guys are pretty loud."
I stared at him. He whistled softly, continuing to clean his shirt.
"You just killed your friends." I managed to say.
"My friends?" he asked, looking baffled. "Do you really think the way they treat me is the way someone treats a friend?"
I lowered my gaze to the ground, feeling unsure.
"Hell, if that's the case I'd hate to see the way they treat their enemies!"
He walked past me and squatted on the floor.
"Anyway, I was stuck with them against my will." He said. "My father was indebted their Father and to ensure that he paid his debts, I was basically sold to Kakeru and Masato's home as a slave when I was ten. Their father immediately passed me on to them, ordering me to do anything they said and since then, I've just been their plaything."
That's sad.
He got to his feet.
"For a long time now, I've decided that I was going to run away one day and start my own life." He went on. "But I've just been waiting for the perfect opportunity."
He walked back over to me with a glass full of something and handed it to me. I looked at it curiously.
"It'll calm your nerves. You're shaking." He said, smirking. "Really thought you were gonna bag it, yeah?"
I laughed shakily.
"I-I guess..." I lifted the drink to my lips and took a full gulp.
This actually tastes good.
"So, what made this the perfect opportunity?" I asked.
"Well, I needed enough money so that I could escape without having to depend on anyone." He said.
I raised my eyebrows, taking another gulp.
"You got that much money now?" I asked, feeling compelled to sit down. "How?"
"Ransom." He said simply. "They said you and your friend are from ninja clans, right?"
"Yup." I said, drinking again.
He nodded.
"Right. That's perfect for me. Almost the best thing that's ever happened to me. Now, I'll just offer you both to your clans for money."
I blinked slowly.
Why does it feel like this room is getting smaller?
"And your families will definitely give me more than enough to keep me sustained for a very long time. I'm sure your lives will be that important to them."
I found I couldn't concentrate on him. I bounced my legs up and down and took another sip.
What is he even talking about?
"And if your parents don't agree, I guess I'll just have you two work for me, winning money like you do and just giving it all to me."
Why is he even talking? I didn't ask him a question...did I?
"And I guess when I get enough money from your schemes..." He said, crossing his legs as he leaned against the wall. "I'll probably have to kill you both. I can't afford you striking back against me somehow."
Who is that guy, anyway?
My blinks went even slower. I leaned back against the wall, feeling my eyes glaze over as I gazed at him.
And...where am I?
"But I wouldn't expect you to understand a word of what I'm saying anyway." He said, taking my glass from me. "You just drank at cup full of a disorientation elixir that I've been working on for a while. I was actually going to use it against them one day, but now I'll just use it on you and your friend."
I leaned forward, putting my head on the table.
"That's right." He said, leaning over me. "Just go to sleep... Let me worry about what'll happen from now on."
Very abruptly, everything faded to black and the only sounds to be heard were the soft chuckles of Nanamba's voice in the back of my mind. I could only grasp one thing. One final cause for confusion... More important than any other question...
Who...am I?
Madara
"What the hell did you do to Hashirama!?" Mito exclaimed.
Nanamba paused next to a tree and let Hashirama fall against it limply.
"Relax." He said. "He'll probably wake up soon...whether or not he's coherent when he does... I can't say."
"His chakra level is extremely low. Even if he did drink alcohol, it's more like... He's been poisoned." She said.
"Poisoned?" I asked.
My eyes narrowed at him.
"Who are you?"
"You remember me, yeah?" he said. "I'm Nanamba. Nanamba...Hozuki."
Hozuki? From that clan?
I wanted to test him. I darted at him, though I had no ninja tools, I could still use the surroundings to my advantage. I kicked a rock up, grabbed it and threw it at him as swiftly as I could. Just like I thought, it hit the side of his head and went straight through, to the other side causing a big splash of water on the side of his head.
These water users are peculiar... Their bodies can completely decompose into water at will. They all have long, bluish white hair and are genetically predisposed to be Kenjutsu geniuses.
Just like I suspected, he pulled a couple of regular knives out of his pocket. Without taking my eyes off of him, I motioned to Mito.
"Go to Hashi now." I told her. "Try to wake him up. If he doesn't, then just pick him up and run."
She stared at me, eyes wide. Nanamba continued twirling the knives around like a show-off.
"Go!" I yelled to her as I ran at him.
I dodged to the left, smoothly avoided his knife and twirled around, kicking his leg which then shattered into a puddle of water. He dropped down to his one good knee and slashed the knife back toward me, I bent over into a back flip, narrowly avoiding it by the skin of my teeth and brought my legs upward. One of my legs connected fluidly with his head, spraying water everywhere but not affecting him.
How many times do I have to hit him before it works?
I glanced at Mito who was shaking Hashirama animatedly. He roused, blinking slowly and looking around, half dazed.
He doesn't look like he can help fight at all... I'll have to be a distraction so they can get away. But then... Where does that leave me?
He lunged at me again and I kicked upwards, knocking the knife out of his hand. Instead of just his hand turning to water, his entire body exploded, causing waves to wash over the grass. I held my guard, looking around quickly for signs of movement but there were none. The water was still over the knife in the grass.
"Is he waking up?" I asked, not taking my eyes away from the ground.
"Yeah but... He doesn't know who he is."
That caught my attention.
"What?!" I exclaimed.
Hashirama blinked at me dully. I balled my fists.
"Hashi, do I have to come over there and smack the shit out of you!? We don't have time for this!"
Hashirama frowned and looked at Mito.
"Why is that boy yelling at me?" he whimpered.
"Mada, stop yelling at him!" Mito exclaimed, clearly in hysterics. "You're making it worse!"
Well, that's it then... This fight is completely against me now. There's no way Hashirama can fight if he's lost his memory.
I looked around at the still ground, shifting my feet, trying to figure out where he was hiding.
This is the worst opponent I could ever be faced with. He's almost a perfect water style. I'm a fire style. He's a Kenjutsu user. I can't even land a hit with my Taijutsu. If I had something else, Senjutsu or Genjutsu, it'd tip the odds in my favor but like this... I can't win... I can't win here...
"Mito, let's just go, we can't-"
The water suddenly, reformed. The entire time I'd been talking, it was edging toward me but I hadn't noticed. He shot back up into place, trying to uppercut me with the knife in his hand. I just managed to shift my body backwards but I was still hit. He cut me straight up the center of my chest from belt line to collarbone. I fell backwards into the grass, struggling to slide backwards. He threw the knife at me and though I jerked my head left, I was cut again, across the side of my cheek. I jumped up and backwards, landing on my knees. He sank into water again and the puddle moved, flitting back and forth across the water.
Shit... Now I see how he did it. In that water form, he's fast.
He zoomed toward me and I barely rolled to the side as he shot past.
Too fast. My eyes can't keep up.
Blood dripped onto the grass from the gash across my chest. Across from me, Mito was hugging Hashi.
Why didn't they run yet? What the hell is she doing?
I watched her dip her head downward and kiss him softly on the lips.
Why is she...?
"Watching something interesting?" a voice said behind me.
Dammit!
I turned and punched, turning him to water again which quickly zoomed away from me and straight toward Mito and Hashirama. Hashirama was stroking her cheek and hair, whispering something to her. She was nodding hard, agreeing and listening and, strangely, she also began crying.
What the hell are they doing?!
"Run! Mito! He's coming!" I shouted.
Mito got to her feet and faced me. Hashirama raised a finger and pointed at me weakly as he shouted:
"DO IT NOW!"
She got to her feet and, right as Nanamba formed in front of her, knife raised high, she jumped at him and punched. The blow was incredible. I was more than seven meters away from them and I was blown backward by the backlash. When she punched at him, she went through him and down into the dirt. The resulting crater was more than eight feet wide. Water sprayed and splashed everywhere, but began coming back together quickly.
She breathed heavily, fists balled, eyes surveying the area. And then, quickly, she jumped left and punched a tree, splitting it straight in half and knocking it over.
What?! How did she know he was going to form there?
I watched as she jumped all around, punching places that water wasn't even forming and then it hit me.
She can sense him... She can sense chakra...
Slowly, she made her way over to where I knelt.
"This isn't going to help anything." I told her as she squatted next to me. "We can't kill him."
"Weren't you supposed to be thinking of a way to kill him all this time?" she asked me.
My face turned to that of disbelief.
"I didn't realize you were buying time!" I retorted.
She shook her head and pulled her ring off, tossing it at me. I caught it, more so that it didn't hit me in the face than because I actually wanted to.
"I think I can fight without this now." She said to me, grinning. "I feel ready somehow."
I stared at her, eyes bulging.
"Your forehead!" I yelled, pointing as a purple diamond appeared. "You're doing it!"
A grin bigger than one I'd ever seen sprouted on her face as she touched the spot.
"Really?! Wow... I'm finally concentrating and controlling chakra without a medium!"
Suddenly, her head snapped back toward the field. She ran, making a beeline for Hashirama who was struggling to get to his feet.
"Hashirama, jump to your left!" she shouted.
He looked dazed again and he stood shakily. She jumped in the air, tackling him to the ground and rolling a little ways down the slope just as a knife hit the tree he was just standing at. I had been clutching her ring in my fist, adrenaline pumping through veins out of worry.
Suddenly, the ring felt hot.
Like...the first time I had it.
I slipped it onto my finger and it began to feel hotter. I stared at it for a while and then, hearing Mito's scream, I looked up.
Strangely, as I looked toward the field, everything looked like it was moving in slow motion. All of the scattered pieces of water seemed to be glowing bright blue. Even the ring on my finger was glowing bright blue.
What's happening?
I heard Mito's scream again and got to my feet. I ran, moving sufficiently faster than I'd ever remembered moving in my life and as I ran, I saw something flit past me. I turned my head.
I can see him!
Because it had been raining for so many days, he wasn't just hiding in his own water puddles, he was also hiding in the grass, the soil, the trees. Hashirama, who was skilled with earthy jutsu, most likely would've been able to sense him in those places and Mito could sense his chakra and now I, too, could see him...
But how? How am I doing this?
I resolved for figuring it out later and instead, continued sprinting toward Mito and Hashirama. Mito had her arms outstretched in front of him.
That idiot. She's really going to sacrifice herself?
Nanamba reappeared, coming from the tree bark next to him and threw the knife. I quickened my footsteps and even though I was halfway across the field, I got there in less than a second, hand closing around the knife that was inches from Mito's face.
I saw him scurrying back across the grass and ran, beating him to his next hiding spot. He zoomed back over to the place I had just been and I sped up, catching him there, too. He continued navigating around but because I could see him, I was easily faster than him. He was slow. The only thing working for him was his water nature and I had figured that out. Exhausted, he reappeared in the center of the field. I chucked the knife at him which went through his head and out to the other side. He whirled around, turning to look at me and we came face to face.
"Why don't you stop running like a coward?" I asked him, then with hard, cold eyes I ordered: "DON'T MOVE."
He jerked slightly, eyes bulging and fell backwards into the grass. His body did not move. He didn't even blink.
What the hell...?
I stared at him for a while, thinking of everything, trying to piece it all together, but it wouldn't make sense. I couldn't make the connection.
How did I do that?
"What did you do?" Mito called.
I turned as she ran up the slope and came over to me. Then, she stopped, freezing in her tracks.
"Mada... What... What happened...?"
I stared at her.
"What?" I asked.
"Your eyes... You're..." she said, taking a step back. "You're an..."
I slowly touched my face, finally understanding the strained pressure I felt around my eyes.
Sharingan?
Then I quickly turned back to Nanamba still on the ground.
But then that means... I just casted a genjutsu!
I stared at him.
How did I do it...?
Mito suddenly came up behind me and grabbed my hand, pulling her ring from my finger. Almost immediately, the hazy, heightened feeling that I'd had before disappeared and I couldn't see the glowing blue chakra sources anymore.
She looked at the ring in her hand, nodding.
"Looks like you can't do that without a medium to control your chakra."
A medium? That's right... Apart from extreme necessity and a very intense emotion, you also needed a high level of chakra control to unlock the Sharingan, it was prudent to directing one's chakra toward their eyes. Chakra control I hadn't grasped yet...
"But it's true. I've been walking around this entire time with...an Uchiha. ...That's crazy..."
Even though her words sounded like those of awe...and maybe even fear, she didn't look frightened of me at all. Most likely because the ring, which was the source of my transformation, was safely in her grasp. She smiled then, chuckling slightly.
"I never would've guessed..." she said, looking and me wryly. "I mean, you're a jerk but you're not that much of a jerk."
I knelt next to Nanamba, poking him in the face.
"Where's Hashi?" I asked.
"Probably still lying in the grass." She said, pointing. "He's remembered himself but he's going in and out of consciousness. I think he'll be alright though."
How lucky...
"Hey..." I said quietly. "Don't tell him about this, okay?"
"Why not?! He's going to be so pumped when he finds out! He'll be blown straight to-"
"Mito." I said, a deeper tone rising in my voice.
She cocked her head, then, silently giving me a once over.
"So this means... You've both been hiding your clans from each other?"
A cool breeze blew by, I found myself gazing up at the large white clouds floating overhead.
"I have a pretty good idea of what he is." I said, straightening up. "But I don't care to know for sure."
"You think it's going to affect your friendship?" she asked, taking her foot and nudging the rigid Nanamba with it. "I have a pretty good idea of what he is, too, and finding out what you are just now didn't bother me at all... Doesn't that count for something? I mean, you two are best friends."
"Not really." I said solemnly. "...Some things are better left unsaid."
I don't need to find a new reason to hate anyone else. Especially if that person is him.
Finally, she shrugged.
"I trust you." Was all she said before she turned and walked back toward where Hashirama lay.
A couple of minutes later, she reappeared with Hashirama. I had been walking around Nanamba waiting for him to jump up having pretended to listen to my command but he never did. He was frozen solid. I kicked him, jumped on him and even spat in his face and he didn't move. His eyes were wide open, almost like he stuck in time forever.
"That's creepy..." Hashirama said when he came over. "What the hell did you do to him?"
"It wasn't me." I said, offhandedly.
Mito and I avoided each other's eyes.
"Anyway, I'm done looking at him." I said, flipping the knife around in my hand.
Again... I have to become an assassin.
I knelt over him, preparing myself to drive it swiftly through his jugular.
But I refuse to run away from who I am. This...murder...is what we do.
Suddenly, Mito's hand flew in my line of sight, grasping the knife in my hand.
"You can't be serious!" she exclaimed, looking appalled. "I mean... Yeah, he tried to kill us but...that's cruel to kick someone when they're down."
"Not when Mada can't kill him when he's up!" Hashi joked.
I stared at her for a moment then sighed, retracting my knife.
"So what do you want to do?" I asked her.
"Just leave him." She proposed.
You don't get it, do you Mito? Always struggling to be the perfect saint. You still don't get it...
"No." Hashirama spoke up, suddenly serious. "He planned to follow us to our clans and try to bribe money from our families. He's the kind of person who won't quit until he's got what he's wanted. It's too dangerous leaving him here."
"But you yourself said he just wanted to escape, right? Just like us..."
We stared down at him, sunlight beating on our bare skin.
"Sometimes what you want to do and what's smart are like oil and water." Hashirama told her in a monotone voice. "Like we said before...this world is cruel."
Exactly. And we...people like us...are the epitome of that cruelty.
"Go ahead, Mada..." Hashirama said quietly.
I glanced at Mito who frowned at him. She was probably seeing him clearly for the first time.
And this is the side of him that only I know. That ruthlessness. That decisiveness. That cruelty. The inherent similarity to us both is that, at the end of the day, neither of us will hesitate...to sacrifice a soul.
I lifted the knife and bent down, slashing cleanly sideways. Oddly, as I did so, I imagined seeing everything from his perspective.
Unmoving. Unable to get up and run. Seeing the canopy of the light green forest bright over his eyes. The moving white clouds and the bright blue sky. I wonder if, right before everything faded to black, he felt that he'd finally escaped...
Hashirama
I do feel guilty about killing Nanamba. He truly was just like us. But we had no choice.
We all walked with our heads lowered. After Madara bit Mito to heal his wounds, something he was very embarrassed and timid about, we continued on our journey.
That's why I need to go home. That's why I can't run away. Because I'm going to be the one to make a world where we do have a choice.
It was the most frightening thing ever when I had lost my memory. I didn't know who I was or what I was doing or even who Mito and Madara were. But then...
"Hashi, it's me. Remember? Mito!"
After Madara yelled at me, I became slightly more eager to comply with her verbal cues.
"Mi...to?" I repeated.
"Please, Hashi. Please. Remember!"
But nothing was coming to mind. Everything was dark and still in my brain.
"Try to focus."
But it was really hard to focus. She was looking directly at me, but behind her I could see Madara fighting with what looked to me like a flitting water ghost and getting his chest cut to pieces doing it.
"Hey... Who's...Hashi?" I asked her.
And then, she grabbed me firmly on the shoulders, practically hugging me.
"Hashirama! Your name is Hashirama!"
"Hashirama?" I repeated.
Then she leaned forward and kissed me. And that kiss was the gateway.
Kiss? Kiss... Someone had kissed me like this before. I saved her from a well... Well? Where was that well? Right... At the castle... At the castle we stayed at while we were traveling. We? Who's we? Madara, right? Madara... And we're traveling, going, going... Going where? Where? Why? Escaping. We wanted to escape? Escape from what? What? The...war.
And with the world "war" everything else came flooding back in like a waterfall. The gate to my brain had burst open.
War... Fighting... Death... Itama. Itama. Itama.
And my brain spun all the way back to that moment, carrying my baby brother home, Tobirama's accusing glare, Hisa-san's screams, my father's sorrowful song. I gripped my head.
"I'm... Hashirama..." I said between gritted teeth.
But wait... Why am I even escaping? I have something I have to do, don't I? I have a reason... A reason... A reason to remember!
Mito pulled back then and stroked my cheek softly.
"Hashi... Who am I?"
"Mito." I said surely. "You're...the prettiest, smartest, kindest girl I've ever met."
She smiled at me.
"Compliments?" she said wryly. "It really is you!"
I smiled back, but then Madara struggling with Nanamba flashed into my line of sight again.
"We have to run away, Hashi." She said. "Come on."
"No." I told her. "No more running away."
She looked at me, fear inching into her eyes. I reached out and ran my hand over her hair and onto her soft cheek.
"You're strong, Mito." I told her. "You have the strength to help, Mada. You have to distract him long enough so that he can figure out how to beat Nanamba."
She shook her head.
"I can't do something like that... I..."
"What did your mother tell you?" I asked. "When she gave you that ring..."
She looked down at it and then, tears began to crowd, threatening to spill over onto her cheeks.
"She told me to... Fight. Fight and never stop fighting... So that I can become a true Shinobi."
"Mito, the time has come for you to be a true Shinobi." I whispered to her. "Assist Madara. You can do it."
She nodded hard.
"I believe in you."
She got to her feet, continuing to nod.
"Make your mother proud."
Her fists balled, the ring on her finger began to shine.
"DO IT NOW!" I had yelled.
Right... And almost losing myself reminded me of why I need to be who I am.
"That's it, isn't it?" Madara asked.
I looked up. We stood in a valley, looking up at a little village on the top of one of the highest mountains.
"That has to be an Uzumaki Colony." He went on. "It's not even protected by paper bomb or shuriken traps. It has to be a neutral clan."
Mito nodded.
"I can sense familiar chakra signatures." Then, suddenly, her eyes widened. "No way..."
She broke out into a sprint, making her way up the hill. Madara and I exchanged glances and ran after her, following her footsteps, up, up, and up all the way to the gated entrance.
"Who goes down there?" a voice from the watch tower called.
"I'm an Uzumaki!" Mito exclaimed.
"Who can prove this on your behalf?" the guard yelled from a tower behind the gate.
"This is my grandmother's colony! Tell the elderly women my name is Mito! They'll come for me!"
The man nodded and passed the information down.
"You recognized your grandmother's chakra signature?" I asked.
She shook her head.
"Actually, I knew my grandmother would be here." She said, smiling sheepishly. "We used to visit her often when I was a child. I just...didn't think I could face her."
"Do you feel like you can face her now?" I asked.
She held her chest.
"I feel a lot of things...confused, scared, anxious... But I also feel happy. Happier than I've felt in a long time. I think there's someone here that I really want to see."
She began bouncing on the balls of her feet anxiously.
The gate began to open. We stood back a few steps as the walk way slammed down in front of us. A short, old woman shuffled out of the gates and toward the walk-way. She said nothing, only smiled an old, wrinkled smile. The woman had a painful resemblance to Hikari-san and suddenly, it made sense to me why she'd stayed at the castle for so long.
Slowly, a head poked out from behind the woman. A head with a flourish of shoulder length red hair and bright hazel eyes.
"Mito!" the little girl screamed.
That was when she ran, tears streaming, mouth open in a yell.
"Ayumi-chan!" she shouted.
"Mito!" the girl screamed.
She hugged her sister, swinging her around and holding her to her chest. She sobbed hard, shaking with the power of them and it began painfully clear how much she'd truly missed her.
How hard it must've been for her... Thinking her younger sister was dead all this time. This discovery is a tragedy and a blessing.
Because Madara and I were clearly not Uzumaki's we had to wait across the bridge. Mito entered and caught up with all her relatives. A little ways down the hill, we waiting, swinging from trees and sparring for fun. After I had pinned Madara to the dirt for the fourth time, he rolled his eyes and looked back up the hill.
"You think we should just leave?" he asked. "She's clearly happy."
"She'll come back to us. At least to say goodbye." I said, nodding with certainty.
And I was right, less than five minutes later, she was back.
"Turns out my Uncle was my sister's savior. Even though he also was dying from hunger, he hadn't resorted to the extremes my Father had. When he picked Ai-mi up then, he was protecting her, not hurting her. I ran away, paranoid and wouldn't stop even when he called me."
She laughed at her own trifling errors.
"I'm just really happy that they found their way here and met up with grandmother."
Tears began to slip down her cheeks.
"She's so big now... And she's so much stronger than I remember her being." She said. "She said she was waiting for me to come back...so I could give her my ring."
"Well, go ahead and give it to her." Madara said, poking her in the forehead. "You're fine without it, right?"
She nodded, touching the diamond on her forehead, which still hadn't dissipated, fondly.
"Or else I might take it." He added.
She laughed and he joined in.
...What's so funny?
He punched her in the shoulder.
"Hey, our new village isn't going to accept cowards, so the next time I see you, you better be strong." He told her.
She smiled at him and grasped his hand fondly.
"And hopefully, by then, you won't be so much of an asshole."
He scoffed.
"I can't change who I am." He said, turning and walking down the hill.
She stepped up to me.
"I guess this is it, Hashi." She said. "The end of the adventure."
I shook my head.
"It's not over, Mito." I said. "Just keep fighting. Fight as hard as you can to stay alive so that, in the future, we can be together. Don't ever give up again. Do you promise?"
"I promise... I'll never run away again."
"And you'll wait for me?"
She laughed.
"Even if I die an old, virgin woman, I'll still wait. I swear on it."
I laughed in return and hugged her tightly. We pulled back slightly and then I leaned forward kissing her lips. With my face inches from hers, I whispered:
"The next time I see you, I'll never let you go again. That's my promise."
Madara
We continued walking through the last bits of forest until, like a dream. We came upon the river again. It didn't take me long to find the spot I had hidden my skipping stone. But once I grasped it in my hand, it felt strange...like it was too small or something. Instead I dropped it next to the edge of the river where Hashirama sat down next to each other. My pants brushed up against the rubble and I recalled the cigarettes I had again and pulled them out.
There were only two left in the box.
Fitting...
"What is that?"
"Some ninja in the Land of the Earth created it... It calms nerves." I said as I handed him one.
He wordlessly took it and waited for me to strike a match on my pants, similar to the way Tsuyoi-san did, and light it for him and then light my own. Neither of us coughed. I gazed down at my skipping stone and, oddly, felt the urge to get rid of it. So, I did. It plunged into the bottom of the river, mixing in with all the others.
Then we sat there for almost a full hour, saying nothing, smoking until our cigarettes burned out. Watching the sun set. Listening to the river run. The storm was gone. I almost had a strange sense there had never been a storm... And it was just...
The physical manifestation of my own depressing nightmare...following me wherever I go.
But you can't escape the storm. Not until you accept it.
"You know, Mada." Hashirama said, being the first to break the silence. "I'm glad we did this."
"Yeah, me too, even if it did make us look like cowards."
He giggled.
"You know, I think we're finally men now." He said.
"Why?"
I still wasn't able to unlock my Sharingan permanently even though I did discover that I had an interesting ability with my genjutsu castings...
"Because we're not running away anymore."
So, we're finally admitting we were running now?
After a while, he got to his feet.
"Let's go home, Mada." He said. "And let's never look back again, only toward the future."
I gazed at his hand and suddenly remembered the way it had been in the beginning. With him extending a hand, and me making the choice to take it or not. And just like at the beginning of it all, I took his outstretched hand without a second thought... But this time, we parted ways. He began making his way toward the trees and I headed toward the river.
"Oh wait, this whole time I've been wondering..."
I turned and looked at him.
"Why were you always pretending not to like Mito?" he asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" I asked. "Because you liked her."
"Yeah, but she liked both of us, didn't she?" he reminded me. "You could've tried something with her if you really wanted to."
Don't rub it in...
I shook my head.
"You're wrong." I told him. "She liked you. What she felt for me was nothing more or less than pity."
"He might seem crude and callous and uncaring but... I know he has a heart. And for some reason, I want to be the one to find it. I...want to make him happy."
She saw me as a fallen angel. Something that, in a way, resembled her. So, she identified with me. My faults were her faults. My shortcomings were also hers. She wanted to "fix" me because she believed that it would help her fix herself. However, Hashirama...
"Hashirama's such a sweetheart. He's the funniest, kindest guy I've ever met in my life. He's playful but he's also really, really smart. And he's so cute."
He's the one she was really infatuated with. She adored him. That much was obvious to me.
I looked on at the flowing river.
"Anyone can chase after what they want." I began quietly. "But I think it takes a real man to realize that there are just some things in life they just can't have."
Besides, more importantly than that... They belong together. Like puzzles pieces, they make a prettier picture together than I ever could with her.
"Mada... Hey... I'm sorry, you know?"
I rolled my eyes.
"'Tch. Whatever, Hashi. I don't even want to hear that bullshit."
He held his sides and doubled over in laughter.
Just as long as, one day, he marries her and keeps her safe, I'll be fine... I never really pictured myself as the boyfriend type anyway. Like my father said, I don't understand females...
"Hey, by the way..." he said.
I glanced back at him.
"You ever dream about seeing Mito naked again?" he asked.
I rolled my eyes.
"Is that all you think about, you pervert?!" I exclaimed.
He shook with laughter again. I slipped my hands into my pockets and continued walking across the river.
"Well, do you?!" he repeated.
Somehow, I feel like I'm done lying...
I turned back to him and shrugged dramatically.
"All the time!" I admitted.
He grinned at me and I couldn't help but smile back.
"See you later, Mada."
I turned around, waving with my back to him.
"Alright."
I took the long way home, walking down the river just next to the forest. I tossed the empty cigarette box along with the book of matches up and down in my hand, walking up the path, until I got to the empty meadow I identified as the one Itsuya had died in. It was there, that I got on my knees and buried the items. I couldn't really explain what it was with me and burying things, but with my fingers deep into the Earth, cool and wet from the weeks of rain, I somehow felt more at peace than any place else.
The Uchiha Clan Village wasn't far from there. I continued downstream until I took a sharp right into the forest and hopped from tree to tree, limb from limb, in the scattered, multidirectional type of way we'd been taught from birth to do just in case outsiders were watching. The Sun had almost fallen by the time I got to the top of the hill and stepped foot onto my property.
There was a low rustling sound near the side of my home and then my mother rounded the bend, taking a basket of clothes out to the line to hang. I ducked under the wooden fence, seeing me approaching, she paused and waited until I walked up to her.
We appraised each other in absolute silence. Then her light blue eyes flicked over me curiously.
"I see you have all your fingers and toes. Was it a success then?"
Mother... Just as inappropriate as usual.
"If you're asking have I come of age, then no." I said, but I slid my hands into my pockets. "However... the trip wasn't in vain."
"Oh?" she asked, turning back to hang clothes. "And why is that?"
"Because I realized that we, ninja, have a really difficult path to walk in life..." I explained. "But I'm choosing to walk it anyway."
I must walk this path... So that, along with Hashirama, we can change the walk of life for all future ninja forever. We must struggle. And we must sacrifice so that centuries from now, people like us can know the peace that we never knew.
She hung one of Izuna's robes and then looked at me for a moment.
"You know, when your father and I were young and he left the village to go on an expedition, he said something very similar to me when he returned." She told me. "I think it was 'wearing the chains of his duties so that his offspring can be free'...or something like that."
I raised my eyebrows at her as she shrugged, giving up on pondering my Father's old, complex metaphors.
Since when does my mother ever speak about her past?
"There is a point in every human's life when they must decide whether they'll pave their own paths or keep allowing their mother's to set the table for them." She explained to me.
Then she put her hands on her hips.
"So I guess this means you think you don't need me anymore?"
I rolled my eyes.
"Please, Mother..."
"Well, I suppose you still need me for fashion sense. Who on Earth told you those dark blue garbs you're wearing look even slightly attractive?" she asked pretentiously. "Go inside and take those hideous things off, your Uchiha robes are on the hook."
I sighed, turning around.
And here I was just beginning to think she didn't hate me...
"Wait." She said, grabbing my shoulder.
I paused as she reached into her pocket, pulled something out and draped it around my neck all in one swift motion. I looked down at a necklace hanging around my neck. It had black tweed binding and a bright blue crystal piece with matching silver orbs attached to either side of it. I looked up at her curiously and was surprised to see her dip down and deliver a cool kiss to my forehead.
"Welcome Home, Madara."
THE END
Story Lightly Inspired By: Garbage- Not Your Kind Of People (From the Metal Gear Solid 5 Trailer SoundTrack)
Author's Note: If you're a reader that REALLY likes my Hashirama/Madara story plots, then it'll be good news for you to hear that I've finished "American Konoha 2" which is a HashixMada (boyxboy story, that's your warning) and it basically capitalizes on the kind of life Hashirama and Madara would have in the early-mid 1970s America. "American Konoha" is a NarutoxSasuke story set in 2014 America. Do me a solid and check it out!