Disclaimer I do not own Naruto
The Uchiha council was impressed by Kido's tale about Hikari Takishima. Some of them were moved. A little girl left by her parents that were Uchiha deserters descendants, clan less, that had to learn their family dojutsu on her own seemed heartbreaking. Of Course the council Head told them that she was trained by a shinobi that knew her parents and somehow understood how the dojutsu worked because he had fought with them, but still it felt sad. The guilt that had appeared with this new village, with the truce with Senju, by realizing that they could really cohabitate fine and not like enemies but like fellow shinobi was huge for some of them.
Naturally there were some elders that didn't trust Hikari and her friend, for them they were the ones that poisoned their leader's minds and inspired this silliness of Village. But they had to stay silent, because they were a few. They didn't know about the curse of hatred, but they were starting to develop it without noticing.
That small group, led by Majime-san, wanted to get some type of revenge with them so they wanted to invite them to a traditional fancy dinner to make fun of them. They were rude and clearly had no class, and even though they were merciless warriors, they still were a noble clan. Because of their lack of manners they would embarrass themselves in front of their leaders and they would not seem so fond of them anymore.
Of Course Kido-san saw behind this, but when Majime-san said with emphasis that they must show their gratitude to them, the whole council agreed.
"It's settled then" the serious Uchiha said "We shall celebrate a great dinner for them tomorrow, as a Welcome and a Thank you for saving our Young Master Izuna" there was a lot of approval to that statement, but the Council Head intervened.
"I believe that would be great Majime-san" Kido said politely "But we must invite the Senju" everybody remained silent at that and the smirk left the other Uchiha face.
"You want to invite our enemies to a dinner on our compound?" he snapped. It was so easy to ignite his temper the Council head thought. The rest of the group looked surprised at his question, and some of them even showed discomfort.
"Oi Majime-san, you do know we're not enemies anymore, don't you?" he said with a slightly mocking tone. He realized the man was about to snap again so he quickly intervened "If we only invite those ladies here, that might give the wrong Idea to our Senju Comrades. They might even think we have a secret agenda with them". There was a small pause and nobody dared to speak, not even Majime, and there were some realization faces that were nodding agreeing with Kido's words "If we invite the Senju Council and their Clan leaders we will be honoring our truce and also it will be an excuse to know them better so we can cohabitate better".
"I think what Kido-san is saying is true" another Uchiha spoke "We shall celebrate a great dinner to honor the Kunoichi and invite the Senju because they might want to honor them too, and also because we all helped each other in that last battle. We're not enemies anymore, and we can't be the lesser clan. We are proud Uchiha, a Noble Clan, not barbarians, and of course not traitors to our truce."
"Well said Ryosuke san" an Uchiha woman said "We must not put ourselves in a situation that could make our allies doubt about us" the rest of the council nodded and agreed with the council woman.
"Sora-san and Ryosuke-san are right" Kido said "we also need to speak with Madara-san to see if he agrees with this idea".
Speaking of the devil, Madara and his siblings had just entered to the compound. They had been talking about what learning medic ninjutsu would be. He had spaced out a little thinking on a certain pinkette and how he got himself in a student and teacher position. He didn't want to upset her when he talked about her training, but he could see so much potential in her, and when he learned how she had trained it made him respect her more.
"So, tomorrow you'll have to wake at dawn Nii-San" Izuna said to the eldest smirking.
"Why is that?" Madara asked, seeing his brother smiling in an odd way.
"You know Sakura-san starts her training at 6:00 am or so" the youngest said "So be prepared, she seems to be quite a hurricane with her work"
"I've seen her reaction to the loss of a patient" the Clan Leader said "So I know as a fact that she can also be an earthquake too" he smirked.
"So mean…" Takato deadpanned. "And also dark humorous"
"Hey! Don't criticize me, I was only joking" Madara defended himself "She almost kills Hikari-san with a single punch. I spoke to her after that and she sounded so defeated that it hurt. She seems pretty passionate about saving lives" he sighed chuckling subtly.
"Aww Mada Nii-san is in loooove!" Izuna said in a saccharine voice mocking his brother. Madara and Takato froze in place, the latter choking with his saliva and coughing (Or maybe laughing, his siblings thought) hard. The eldest Uchiha became red and speechless, but he looked at his little brother with a look that would send shivers through anybody's spine. A murderous look. Izuna couldn't handle that look and became heavily pale, swallowing hard. "I-I w-was joking Ni-Nii-san!" he stuttered. "It's the same thing I do with Taka-nii and Hikari –san, though in his case he really seems to like her"
This time it was Takato who became read and surrounded by a murderous aura, and Madara felt a bit relieved to be moved from the center of the attention.
"How's Toka San, brother?" the middle brother asked viciously to bother Izuna who was the last one of the three to became red and angry. It was a silent staring war between the three of them, all red, all murderous and breathing heavily, feeling outraged. They started to walk again in silence but looking all the same, and without realizing they reached the council room.
Suddenly the door opened before they could do anything, and Kido San appeared startling them. He looked at them curious one by one, realizing their blushes, their breathing and they demeanor. The elder sighed and the smirked at them.
"Heart issues fighting?" he asked knowingly. The three siblings' eyes widened before they deadpanned at the elder. "Oh, come on, don't mind me! I'm an old man that likes to mess with younglings like you" he laughed wholeheartedly now "I remember when I first fell in love with my wife! I Acted the same as you three…" they were about to say something and he added "Of course, it's not the same situation, you're just three obnoxious siblings that are messing with each other, I'm not actually saying that you are in love…" and he whispered the last phrase more to himself while turning back "But you're on the right path though" and he entered the Council room.
The Uchiha siblings heard that phrase but said anything. Deep in thoughts they entered behind Kido San to face the Council.
"Ah, Madara Sama!" Sora San said kindly "Takato-sama, Izuna-sama welcome. We were going to seek after you" The Patriarch felt curious about that, he had thought that he might have to confront the Council because of Hikari, but everybody seemed in a good mood. Well, everybody except Majime-san, that old bastard was always angry and plotting. Of course Sora san will always be kind to the heirs, she was their mother's best friend, and for her, they were her family.
"Sora-oba- san" He greeted her "How are you doing? What's going on?" His siblings also greeted their adoptive 'aunt'.
"I'm fine, thank you" she answered "Madara –sama, Majime-san has had the greatest idea!" Now the Uchiha leader was lost. 'That old man a great idea?' He thought to himself.
"Oi! I can't wait to learn Medic Ninjutsu" Hashirama walked almost jumping like a little boy. Tobirama was next to him, very embarrassed. Toka had left to her home, she had said something about being too mentally tired, and the Albino thought that was a lame excuse for leaving them. Of course it was better to deal with one silly idiot than two, he thought.
"Stop jumping around like a three year old, you're a grown up man" Tobirama said pretty annoyed and extended his leg so his brother could trip with it. The eldest was so absorbed in his joy that he indeed tripped and fell with his face directly to the ground. That pissed Tobi more. "Agh you're an idiot! You have to stay alert!"
"Ouch, you don't have to be so rude and mean" Hashirama sat on the floor rubbing his face and looking up to his aniki. "Just for once let me feel free, I have you by my side, so there's no need to be worried because you will protect me"
"You're too naïve" he scolded him, but somehow he felt proud of what he had said. "So you should go to bed now, your lessons start way too early for you"
"You know I'm a morning person" Hashirama stood up with a bright smile on his face.
"Yes, but this might be more for a dawn person" Tobirama said smirking "That Haruno-san seems pretty strict" His brother coughed on purpose marking his ´mistake´ and it took him a little to realize what he had said "Okay, Sakura-san" he added "It's strange for me to have familiarities with people and you know that so don't make a fuss about it" he added the last because he could foresee his brother comment.
"Anyway" Hashirama held his snort to himself "Why didn't you want to learn medic Dojutsu?" he asked his brother
"Don't want to" the albino simply said "maybe later, I'm more interested in learn from Ta- I mean Hikari-san." His brother gave him an odd look
"You're interested in Hikari-san?" He raised one eyebrow. Tobirama didn't catch the tone in his voice until he continued "You know that Takato seems to be interested in her right?" Oh Crap the albino thought.
"I-I'm not saying I'm interested in her in that way baka anija!" he exploded "Just saying I'm curious about her techniques and chakra and her use of the Hirashin above all" he explained crossing his arms and looking to the side. The eldest exploded in to laughter this time.
"I'm Sorry! I was joking!" Hashirama said "Of course you would have those kind of interest on a Kunoichi like her!" Tobirama didn't know why, but that hurt him a little. He could develop feelings on a woman if he wanted to, and if he someday found the right one. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize he had blushed a little with all this jokes, but Hashirama didn't fail to notice that.
"It's okay" the albino finally said "I'm used to you getting all wrong" he eyed his brother and after a sigh he said "don't worry, I think She doesn't really like me anyway." They had reached their home "I'm off to sleep then, good night anija" Tobirama entered his room and closed behind him leaving a deep in thought Hashirama.
Next morning came quickly and even though Hikari could have slept a bit longer, she was used to wake up to have breakfast with Sakura. She did that because in that way she would be sure the pinkette had eaten something. It didn't matter she was a doctor, sometimes she left without grabbing a bite of anything.
They were sitting in the kitchen when they felt two familiar chakra signatures before the knock on the door could be heard.
"Good Morning Hikari San!" greeted a beaming Hashirama to the kunoichi when she opened the door. Boy he was a bright morning person. Next to him was a slightly gloomy Madara that seemed to be more normal, he was up, but not that extremely cheery.
"Hn" the Uchiha Nodded.
"Good morning for you too" the Takishima answered "we were just finishing breakfast, Sakura is almost ready, would you want to come in?"
"I don't think it's a proper thing for us to do" Madara said simply. She was clueless of the meaning of his answer so he elaborated "For two men to enter on two single women's home might be considered improper."
"But you're two of the most respectable men in the Village, and the leaders nonetheless" she reasoned "And Sakura is the main doctor, also kind of your sensei now" she said that last part smirking.
"That's true, but I think it would take a while for everybody to acknowledge that. You need to remember we're way too much older than you" The Uchiha answered like he was joking but she got what he implied "until then, we'd prefer to wait outside. Maybe in the near future things change and loose up a little".
"Yeah, you're probably right" she sigh "I am pretty sure that the villagers influence will stiffen down the Clans. They will have to be more sociable anyway" Both Clan leaders snorted at that, and she raised an eyebrow amused.
"Well, you're talking about socialize and actually I was just talking to Madara because the Uchiha Clan had the wonderful idea to celebrate a special dinner to honor both Sakura-san and you" Hashirama explained
"Somebody said my name?" the pinkette appeared through the door, dressed in her casual outfit but there was a slight difference in the Chinese dress this time, this was knee high instead of falling down her ankles. She thought it was better for her movements and also it didn't hang down her med coat.
Her sudden appearance took Madara by surprised. Man, she did look beautiful even in the early morning. Wait, where did that come from? He thought. He coughed hard to get rid of his thoughts and possible embarrassment.
"Hashirama was saying that our Clan is hosting a meal in your honor, and the Senju Clan is also invited." He explained the best casual way he could. The Senju, knowing his friend, knew he was slightly nervous and this time he didn't want to mock him.
"That's why" Hashirama intervened "we laughed when you said the Clans would have to be more social"
"Oh, I see" the Takishima answered amused, she had also noticed that something was off with the Uchiha. She knew her friend seemed to like him, but she hasn't realized yet that he might like her too. This was going to be fun for her… "So Madara-San when do we expect the honor?" she asked
"Next week" he answered "We will officially notice you shortly"
"Very well then," Hikari said "I let you three be. Fortunately for my student, I start training at 8:00" she smirked and bowed the two men, and then added looking at the pinkette "Don't be too harsh on them" she winked and entered their home. Sakura chuckled, and the men sweat dropped.
"So… good morning gentlemen" she smiled at them "Shall we?" she asked gesturing with her hand and leading the way.
They arrived silently at the brand new hospital. It was kind of an awkward silence for the three of them though. Madara had started a conversation with the pinkette about why did they need fish to train, and when she started to explain Hashirama got all excited and as always made everything about him and annoyed the Uchiha. The Senju had stopped his babbling because he saw the look on his friend's face and made him feel unease. Sakura noticed the exchange and smiled softly but remained walking in silence looking forward. She somehow was trying to give them some space. She thought that Hashirama was too Naruto-alike, naïve and dense, but very authentic. Madara reminded her a little of younger Sasuke. Of course he actually didn't remind her of him per sé, but his attitude, all cool and then childish when something annoyed him was similar. She didn't know why but she found that this demeanor suited better the Uchiha leader than the annoying ex 'love of her life'.
'CHAA! I CAN THINK SASUKE IS ANNOYING TOO YOU KNOW?' Inner outed, Sakura smiled inwardly
'You're right Inner, he was really annoying, remind me why we liked him?' she asked her consciousness taking advantage of the silent walking.
'BECAUSE WE WERE YOUNG AND SHALLOW, AND HE SEEMED COOL. BUT HE WAS AN OBNOXIOUS SELFISH LITTLE BRAT'.
'Oh, Come on, you were the one that was screaming and squeaking all over the place'
'I TOLD YOU. WE WERE SHALLOW. I'M ALSO TAKING THE BLAME'
'Whatever…'
'YOU DON'T LIKE MADARA BECAUSE HE REMEMBERS YOU OF SASUKE, YOU KNOW?'
'W-what?' Sakura exclaimed in her head and choked with her saliva making her cough.
"Are you alright Sakura-san?" Hashirama said, the Uchiha stopped his tracks with his friend and looked at her preoccupied.
"I-I'm fine" she managed to say between coughs "I just choked with saliva, I'm sorry" fortunately she could pass her blush for embarrassment of the situation, nobody could actually know what she was really thinking, and seeing Madara all worried about her wasn't making things easier.
'HE IS SO HOT!' inner appeared again. Sakura turned her back to the men and continued walking.
'Shut up Inner! You're making me feel ashamed of myself!'
'THAT'S NOT MY FAULT, IT'S YOURS. WHY DON'T YOU ACCEPT YOUR FEELINGS? IT'S PRETTY EASY YOU KNOW?'
'It's not that easy, I actually don't know what I feel' she paused 'why are you so sure that I don't like Madara because he reminds me of Sasuke?'
'OHHH YOU'RE INTERESTED NOW? HAHAHA PITY WE HAVE ARRIVED TO YOUR WORK! SEE YOU LATER, CHAAA!'
'Damn Inner...' Sakura stopped at the front of the building where Ryuuji was waiting for her leaning on a wall. When the boy saw his sensei and the two Clan leaders he stood up straight and bowed
"Sensei, Uchiha –sama, Senju-sama good morning" he said.
"Ryuuji-san good morning! But please call me Hashirama, since we're going to be classmates" the Senju beamed.
"A-aha…" the boy looked at the man sweat-dropping a little "sure, Hashirama-sama". The mentioned was about to protest on the 'sama' but his friend intervened.
"Good morning, Ryuuji-san" Madara said serious "please, call me Madara-san." The boy thought that this man was cool; he was surprised by his calm yet imposing aura. He felt he wanted to be like him when he grew up.
"Ryuuji-kun?" Sakura asked entertained, being caught staring the boy slightly blushed and answered.
"T-thank you Madara-san" he managed to say. Both men were intimidating in a way.
"Thank you for sharing your sensei with us" the Uchiha sort of smiled politely. Sakura was amused by this exchange. It was cute to see her little student all embarrassed by two of the founders of their village, though she felt a bit uneasy at Madara thanking about sharing her. Before she would get all worked up she spoke.
"Very well then, we're all greeted" she said "let's start working!" she clapped her hands and entered the building. The men and the boy quickly followed her inside.
The morning was pretty busy. They have a lot work because of the minor injuries of the villagers that were building the commercial district. As she had said, Ryuuji was left to supervise her new two students in the nursing work: bandages, disinfecting, and casts. They might have experience in first aid during battle, but it was very rough and the boy had already mastered clean and efficient normal healing work. Madara was impressed by the way he handled the people. He was really into it. Fortunately for him, with the use of his Sharingan he learned everything quickly. He adjusted his methods to the ones the boy showed them and started to attend people by himself efficiently within an hour, leaving a very annoyed Hashirama that complained all the time about him using the Sharingan as an advantage.
"This is not a competition, idiot. We're learning to heal people" The Uchiha said bored. The Senju was about to continue rambling but he heard Ryuuji laughing and realized what silly he had been. Ashamed, he confronted the boy.
"I'm sorry Ryuuji-sempai!" he clapped his hands over his head and bowed.
"W-Why do you call me sempai!?" he stuttered red as a tomato. "S-stop doing that!" he motioned the Senju to stop bowing. Sakura was looking from the other side of the room, 'Boy, he really is shy' she thought.
"Because you're our sempai, you're Sakura-san's oldest student, and you're teaching and supervising us" Hashirama explained brightly as always. "Right Madara?" The Uchiha looked at his friend as if he was crazy, but then read behind his intention.
"Right, you're our sempai Ryuuji-san" his expressionless face made the Senju complain. Ryuuji was more embarrassed than ever.
"Come on Madara! You're scaring him!" he said.
"Shut up idiot, let me continue working!" he answered with emphasis and turned back to continue working. Hashirama sighed defeated, but the Koji boy laughed again. He looked at him curious.
"You really are good friends!" Ryuuji said more relaxed "I thought you were scary, but you're interesting people. I hope someday I can be like you" Madara looked at them over one of his shoulders smirked.
"You have to aim to be better" he simply commented and resumed working. The boy's expression lit up.
"He's very kind when he wants to you know?" Hashirama said to his 'sempai' in a whisper "I think you will be better than us if you work hard" he patted the boy in one shoulder. "Now, please help me, I'm awful at this and I can't let this bastard to beat me, even though this is not a competition" he begged.
"Come on, Hashirama-san, I'll show you from start again" Ryuuji said. Hashirama let the change of Sama-to san pass, but he was really happy.
It was already 8:00 am and Hikari was waiting Megumi at the front of her home.
"Sensei!" the little girl exclaimed as she exited her house "Good Morning!"
"Good morning Megu-chan!" the kunoichi replied. "Are you ready? Did you eat breakfast properly?" The girl nodded vigorously. "Then come on, we're going to start new training today. Follow me"
The two of them walked through the Village until they reached the front gates.
"Umm sensei" Megumi said confused "Why are we here?"
"We're going to start our physical training" she had the need to reproduce a small training that Guy Sensei and Lee did the time she was in Konoha. She used to join them some days and it really had helped to increase her stamina a lot. "We're going to run all along the Konoha wall perimeter"
"WHAT!?" the girl shouted scared.
"Don't worry, today it will be mostly walking and maybe jogging, we need to recognize our path" Hikari explained easily. The little girl felt a little better but anyway she asked worried for the answer.
"How many times a week we're going to do this?" her voice was barely a whisper.
"Oh, we're going to do this every day of course!" the Takishima answered.
"W-what!?" Megumi asked again and paled a little.
The Kunoichi was really enjoying her student expressions. She wasn't in favor of abusive training, but Megumi was starting to feel chakra, she needed to do this in order to increase stamina, and furthermore Chakra too. And this was the best and fastest way to do so.
"It's okay Megumi!" Hikari said "We'll start slow, and then we'll increase the speed and difficulties. For now, let's start walking" The girl nodded weakly and followed her Sensei from the inside side of the wall surrounding the Village. The first part was even ground; it went for almost one kilometer. That was a good workout. Then it got tricky for almost 5 kilometers because of the uneven ground. The worst part was to climb the maybe soon to be Hokage mount.
Once they were reaching the top the run across Tobirama, who was meditating looking the village from the top. He didn't need to open his eyes to know they were there, he had already felt them approaching for a while and instead of leaving, he stayed because he was curious.
Yes. Senju Tobirama was curious. He was already interested on the Takishima's use of jutsu, and also her seal, but when he felt her running and climbing the mount with another presence that had a little amount of chakra that was increasing slowly it intrigued him.
"Come on Megu-chan" he heard the kunoichi shout to the other person "hurry or I'll leave you behind… Oh!" She had turned her back and realized that the Senju was seating there watching her with one eye open and his eyebrow raised. 'Haven't she felt my chakra? She is really lousy about security', Tobirama thought.
"Don't mind me" the albino said serious playing it cool.
"T-Tobirama-san…" she said, she was about to explain something but was interrupted.
"SENSEIIIII you're so mean!" suddenly a little girl appeared breathing hard "Don't leave me behind! I-I…" She stopped on her tracks abruptly when she saw him, stumbled and fell on her face.
Tobirama expected for her to cry, like all kids do at her age. She might be five or six years old so he assumed this was the Takishima's little apprentice. He became pretty surprised when she got up quickly, adjusted her clothing and patted al the dirt from it. She cleaned a bit of blood from her cheek, 'She might hurt herself when she fell' he thought.
"I-I'm sorry sensei, I didn't knew we had company" 'Did she actually apologized to the Takishima for calling her mean?' The Albino thought. She was nervous of his presence there, but she really didn't seem to know who he was.
"It's Okay Megu-chan" Hikari said smiling gently to her, patting her head. The little girl blushed, and Tobirama thought that was sort of a cute scene. Of course he would never think that something was 'cute' but he remembered the way his mother used to be with him and his siblings when they were little. A small knot formed in his throat and he coughed, but the Kunoichi misunderstood that action.
"Oh, I'm sorry Tobirama –san" she bowed a little "This is Koji Megumi, Ryuutaro-san's granddaughter and… my disciple" she said the last part looking to the side a bit embarrassed. It seemed that she wasn't used to be a 'sensei' yet. 'Interesting' he supposed "Megumi, this is Senju Tobirama, one of the founders of this Village and one of the leaders of the Senju Clan, with his brother Hashirama-san." He was impressed by the way she introduced him. It was the first time he didn't feel like he was under his brother shadow and that puzzled him.
Hikari didn't want to introduce him just as Hashirama's brother; she always thought he had his own merit to be reckoned. She used to admire him when she was younger, but when she learned more about the Village true history she disagreed a lot with his believing. They had had a rough beginning in this era but he didn't seem wrong, just maybe a bit too extreme and untrusting. Megumi was more nervous if possible with the new information and she bowed and greeted him.
"G-Good Morning Senju-Sama!" the little girl said. He didn't want to be rude to a child so he got up and bowed to her.
"Good Morning Megumi-san" he said "Please, call me Tobirama" She blushed even harder.
"Y-Yes, Tobirama-sama" she answered. He didn't want to make her feel more aware, so he spoke to the Kunoichi.
"What kind of training are you doing?" he enquired. She was surprised by his sudden change of topic.
"We're working on increasing stamina, so she can sense her chakra and increase it." She explained "It's a bit harsh but it gives you a quick boost on it"
"Just by running and climbing?" he doubted that.
"Well, yes, but one isn't allowed to use chakra." She answered "So when you start using it you find a huge difference on performance."
"You made her climb this mount without any help?" he asked surprised and there were few things that stunned him, but this seemed a day full of surprises. "You really are mean" he said in a plain face, almost deadpanning.
Hikari opened her eyes wide. Was he being funny? That seemed out of character of him, but something on his demeanor made her think that this was the real Tobirama Senju, and she was okay with him. She started to laugh when he looked at her like he thought he had offended her.
"HA HA HA" he was confused "So you really are a fun person" she said when she stopped laughing, with a smirk remaining on her face. He didn't understand if this was an insult or just her joking. "Maybe you didn't realize, but even though you called me mean - she rolled her eyes at him at the mention of it - it was funny".
"I don't understand your concept of fun" he said plainly again, but this was more of a façade, because he was fighting an urge to smirk. It was the first time he had a casual talk with somebody who wasn't his brother, Toka, and somehow now Takato. Because this was what casual talk was for him. Speaking of the Uchiha, he remembered his brother's words about him being interested in the Takishima. He could see why Takato would be interested in her. She seemed smart, strong and openhearted, just like him. Tobirama on his part still didn't get her, but felt she might be okay. He wouldn't mind to get to know her better, and the little girl was interesting too: a civilian that was training to be a shinobi was new to him.
"Okay, now you've lost it" it was the time of Hikari to see him plainly. "You're no fun at all" she crossed her arms and looked away. Now he… snorted? She thought it might be her senses lying, but she could see him smirking now. "I'm sorry we've disturbed your meditation, I had sensed you and somehow I thought you might leave once you've felt us"
"You think very low of me it seems" He was still smirking but he had crossed his arms and looked at her rising his eyebrows. "I don't hate company as much as you might think, just the ones that bother me" he made a pause "and that's mostly everybody except for Hashirama, Toka and sometimes the Uchiha siblings". She laughed at that, and Megumi didn't comprehend the exchange, she was little to understand ironic humor, but she sort of like this white haired man. "I was curious of what was going on. Please, continue your training."
"I'm sorry again, it wasn't my intention to make you feel bad" she said, and he knew she was just playing with him "I think we should stop for a little, rest and eat something, we're near noon, and we need to complete the village's perimeter before my evening shift. Want to eat Megu?"
The little girl didn't need to answer because her stomach growled. She became redder and looked straight to Tobirama, whose eyes widened and his eyebrows went higher. It was only a second of silence and then she started to giggle hard. Tobirama loosened up and laughed with her, Hikari couldn't believe she was actually witnessing the Nidaime laughing.
"Do you mind if we sit here for a break?" she asked the Senju.
"It's okay, I should go to eat something too" he was about to leave but he was interrupted
"T-Tobirama-san!" Megumi called him and he turned back to see her.
"Yes young lady?" he asked utterly out of character for Hikari, but now she was sure he was just like this. Maybe kids were a soft spot for him, like it was with Madara.
"W-would you like to eat with us?" She invited him, and then looked to her sensei who nodded. "Sensei and I have plenty of food for both of us, and we could share" she shyly asked.
It would require a person with ice instead of a heart to say no to Megumi, and even though he thought to be quite a block of ice, he was a gentleman.
"Thank you for your invitation, Megumi-san" he said serious "Is it okay for me to stay, Hikari-san?" The kunoichi was having fun getting to know this brand new side of one of the most terrifying shinobi Konoha will ever have, so she also nodded to him.
"Come on then, let's sit here and enjoy the view while eating" she took a big breath and smiled watching Konoha, her home. At that moment Tobirama looked at her and thought 'it is really an enjoyable view…"
"Okay Gentlemen! Time for lunch!" Sakura exclaimed. Madara and Hashirama stopped their chores and went to the other side of the room where she was, Ryuuji following them close. "We're going to eat in this office next to the practice room in case they need us" she explained and took a scroll where she had sealed food for the four of them.
With all the work the clan leaders were starving and they started to eat like rabid animals, again competing on who would eat more rice balls. Sakura suddenly laughed and Madara chocked with some rice and started to cough. The pinkette stopped laughing and handled him a glass of water.
"Are you alright?" she asked him. He was ashamed of the way he was eating with the idiot of Hashirama. It was his fault; he always wanted to compete with him.
"Y-yes" he swallowed more water and the cough stopped "I heard you laugh and I realized how silly we might look. It's embarrassing"
"Well… yes it kind of was" she said simply "But you have worked hard, so you deserve this. Don't be shy and feel free to eat!"
"Thank you" he answered eyes fixed on hers. He suddenly noticed a faint blush on her cheeks. 'Is she blushing? It can't be…' he thought.
"You better hurry because dummy over there is eating everything" she elbowed him softly in the ribs, and that sent shivers through all his body, but he looked at his idiotic friend and started to fight with him over the food.
"They are really something" she said to Ryuuji, who had watched all the exchange between the Uchiha and his sensei and was lost in thought.
"Uh, yeah" he got back to the real world "They are good people though, and very good friends." The boy smiled.
"How are you doing with chakra? Have you manifested it?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah, I kind of did." He answered smiling proud "I could cast some blue energy between my hands" The pinkette seemed impressed.
"Excellent, then I'll teach the fish technique to the three of you." She said in joy "It's going to be harder for you, I won't lie to you" and he seemed a bit down "But I think that since you are learning to use chakra, you will be perfectly concentrated in the task. They might have more experience, but they have their way to do things that are not the same for medic ninjutsu. That's why not everybody can master it. You are focusing on that, and that is your strength." She explained to him. "Just remember –and she said this part out loud –this is not a competition" and then looked at the elder men who were fighting over the last rice ball ready to use jutsu. Ashamed they lowered their heads and apologized to them.
"Thank you sensei" Ryuuji said "I think I am going to learn a lot!" and Madara, Hashirama and Sakura smiled at the boy.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Thanks for the faves! And for the waiting. I am working on the next four chapters, but I had to finish this first and it was a pain in the back! LOL
I have some drawings of my characters on my DA account:
bellahikari/gallery
Hope you like this chapter. MadaSaku slowburn and maybe… a little of TobixHikari? What do you think?
Read you soon!