Fated to Meet You
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hello, Friends! OMG! Fated to Meet You has reached over 100 followers and 70 favorites! Yay!
Also, Mai in here says that she's twenty. So I guess you can say there was a timeskip. Although, I wouldn't call it a timeskip because to me the summarization in the beginning of the chapter was basically five years-ish because it doesn't take just a few months for a village to be established. So for clarification: Madara was Clan Leader for three years during the Warring States Period and then the Peace Agreement was settled and Konoha was built, created, and growing for the past two years.
You guessed it, there will be tobiramaxmai moments!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything, character or plot, from Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto.
Chapter Eight: Reunion as Comrades
She could hear the screams of her fellow clan members and of the Senju's around her. News made it to the Uchiha clan that the Senju were hired by the Land of Forest a few days after Mai and Hikaku delivered the scroll to the Land of Fangs. That gave her a few days head start to calm herself, and Mai wanted to say that she did calm down. But actually being in a war battlefield was very different than thinking of it.
She allowed the Senju in front of her to attack her before she blocked his katana with her own and quickly activated her Sharingan- causing the man to stiffen and close his eyes. At that moment, she had an opening, and Mai slashed her katana across his body before retreating a few steps back. The attack was not strong enough to kill the Senju, but it affected him more or less. With her Sharingan, she glanced at the war torn battlefield around her before focusing back on the Senju in front of her. She was still on the side the Uchiha clan had entered through but many Uchiha shinobi had intermixed on the battleground with Senju shinobi. However, around Mai, Uchiha's outnumbered the Senju's.
She couldn't bring up the courage to go further into the battlefield. It was as if the further into the battlefield she stepped, the smaller of the distance she stood from a grim reaper. Bringing her attention back to the Senju in front of her, she brought up her katana into a ready stance.
Mai told herself before the war to not count her number of kills, but she couldn't stop herself. The man was the eighth. And for some unknown reason, she knew a Senju killed equally eight Uchiha's. The war ended in the Land of Fangs' favor after the Council of Elder's secretly assigned a team of Uchiha to assassinate the Land of Forest's Daimyou upon the Land of Fang's Daimyou's request. Many Senju's were retreating quickly- some bringing back their lifeless brethren in tow. The same could be said about the Uchiha Clan. No one attacked each other when war ended. It was kind of a law.
She watched the scene projected before her. So this is war… she thought to herself. The land lay in ruin with kunai knifes and shuriken either pointed into the ground or into a body. Trees were scorched by what she assumed to be Uchiha fire. And the air held a stench she couldn't define mixed with earth and ash. Sheathing her katana, Mai took one last look into the battlefield. In the distance, she recognized a man with white hair on his head. He stood tall as if waiting for the last Senju to pass him ensuring his clan's safely before he left himself. Elder Mio had told her a few months after she became her apprentice that the white haired man she encountered in the Land of Steel was Senju Tobirama, the brother of the Senju Clan Leader, Senju Hashirama. When she finally was placed on missions with Uchiha shinobi, she heard the white haired male's name the second time followed by a few curses and menacing tones by the Uchiha shinobi males. Her onyx eyes blinked away from the man in the distance to take a look at the battlefield before she followed the rest of her Uchiha clan members to wherever they would stop.
. . .
Wars increased for the Uchiha Clan. Parents began to lose their children; for children, their fathers; for wives, their husbands; and for siblings, their brothers. The Council of Elders broke into two factions: one side for the wars and the other side not. And Lord Madara sided with the majority- the pro-war faction.
Mai thanked Elder Mio's tutelage. Because if not for the female elder, she would have died long before her hair grew past her waist. Eventually, Lord Izuna passed from a battle wound he received in battle, and many Uchiha's began to surrender to the Senju's side for their proposal of peace. As time went on, the population in the Uchiha Clan Village steadily decreased. Lord Madara declined the Senju Clan's peace proposal and staged one last battle against them. Rumors spread that Lord Izuna's eyes had disappeared, and distrust for Lord Madara increased. Stories such as Lord Madara stealing Lord Izuna's eyes for his benefit spread throughout the village. It only fueled the hidden dislike many Uchiha's had of Lord Madara due to the passing of their loved ones that could have been prevented with an agreement of peace.
Before all the Uchiha shinobi left were drafted into the last battle, Elder Mio hastily assigned Mai a mission to the Land of Tea. By the time Mai returned, the Uchiha Clan was preparing for the peace agreement. The next thing Mai knew, she was standing behind Elder Mio watching as the peace agreement was officially accepted between the Senju Clan Leader and Lord Madara.
Mai watched the peace agreement from behind Elder Mio, as did all Elder Apprentices. The Senju Clan Leader, a tall man with long straight dark hair, shook hands firmly with Lord Madara. She could feel the passive tension covered by what she assumed relief mixed with anxiety. Ripping her eyes away from the two clan leaders, Mai dared to glance at the Senju side. Skimming her eyes over the crowd of rather heterogeneous population of Senju's compared to Uchiha's who all shared similar traits, her eyes contacted with a man looking at her. The dark haired man's dark eyes were wide in disbelief. Mai let her eyes remain on the bewildered man before ripping them back to Lord Madara and the Senju Clan Leader.
. . .
"Kaito," Takeshi whispered to the called man standing beside him. "Look," he nodded his head to the girl standing behind the renown Uchiha elder, Uchiha Mio.
Kaito trailed his comrade's eyes to the girl behind Uchiha Mio and back to his comrade. "You know her?"
"...That's the girl from the Land of Steel." Takeshi said with a hint of lecture.
"Hmm?…" Kaito took a long look at the girl. "I don't remember seeing her the last time we went."
"Three years ago, Kaito." Takeshi attempted to jog Kaito's memory. "The bodyguard mission."
Kaito let the information process like a train of information. And as it did, the muscles in his face slowly loosened. He took another long look at the girl. Is she the girl that-... Kaito glanced at Lord Tobirama standing a distance away in the crowd. The memory of his team captain bringing back the unconscious female assassin flashed in his head. He glanced back at the Uchiha girl. When his team captain turned her in, Kaito only really took into memory her dark, black hair. "...Hmm…I guess she escaped." His face expressing utter confusion.
Takeshi narrowed his eyes at his friend's comment. How could she have escaped? He heard news that she, Scholar Kihito's assassin, was executed upon the Land of Steel Daimyou's orders.
Jun, who was standing beside the two Senju's, heard the second half of their conversation and decided to curiously follow Takeshi's dark eyes to the Uchiha girl standing behind the Uchiha elder, Elder Uchiha Mio. "Oh!" Jun beside them gasped. "Isn't she?!" He raised his arm to point at the girl in the distance.
Takeshi and Kaito grabbed a hold of the younger male's arm and held it down. "Quiet." Takeshi ordered. The last thing he wanted to do was to make a scene during the peace agreement.
Kaito looked over to their team captain and found the man's red eyes staring, although not on purpose, coldly at the trio. "Team Captain's looking." Kaito whispered crookedly and smiled and waved awkwardly at the white haired Senju.
Takeshi exhaled and loosened his grip on Jun's arm. He glanced at the girl before focusing back to the clan leaders. After the peace agreement ceremony ended, Jun rambled the entire way to the Senju Clan Leader's temporary office.
Tobirama was in his older brother's office in one of the first buildings built on the new settlement. His team was also in there bickering on an issue that he did not want to listen in on. His body felt lighter than usual without the blue armor he always wore in the presence of Uchiha's.
"Team Captain!" Jun shouted from within the room.
Tobirama turned his head to face the young Senju- a tad annoyed at the bickering. "What is it, Jun?"
"The girl!" Jun exclaimed. "Did you see her?! The girl! She looked just like- I mean isn't she-"
Tobirama closed his eyes and his white eyebrows slightly creased. He held his hand up, gesturing for Jun to stop. "I saw her." Tobirama thought back to the girl standing behind Uchiha elder, Uchiha Mio. How she survived didn't affect him nor the clan. That was why he let it go. It did bother him that he did not know who she was when he met her. Tobirama looked over to Takeshi before turning back to his brother behind the only desk in the room.
Hashirama was curious about the situation and was already listening in on the conversation when it was only between the three Senju's behind his brother. Apparently there was a girl who they encountered and thought was dead. "It sounds interesting." Hashirama beamed a smile.
Tobirama curved the corners of his mouth down. "Enough of this brother. It's of no importance."
"You saw her right, Lord Hashirama!" Jun shouted from the other end of the room. Takeshi and Kaito covered his mouth before his loud voice could saw any more other than muffles.
Hashirama raised his dark brows. "Who?"
Tobirama exhaled, his slanted eyes looked even more irritated. But Hashirama knew his brother's patience level was beyond belief no matter how vexed he naturally looked.
The older Senju brother laughed.
"Brother!" Tobirama slammed his hand on the desk causing the laughing dark haired brother to stop. "Are we not here for more important matters." It wasn't a question.
Hashirama stopped laughing and returned to composure.
The Peace Agreement caused the resettlement of both the Senju and Uchiha Clan. It was already a few months after the resettlement, and upon Elder Mio's request, her new home was the exact replica of the old one in the Uchiha Village. It was decided that the Uchiha Clan Village would be turned into a secret piece of land under the Uchiha Clan name. Guarded with an advance genjutsu, the Uchiha Clan Village was unseeable within a dense forest.
Walking with Sumiko through the growing village, Mai took in account the sound of hammers on wood. "What did we need to get?" Mai asked Sumiko.
Sumiko rubbed her swollen stomach. "I kind of want some dango." she said with longing.
Mai looked down at the woman's large stomach. This was her second pregnancy after Kagami, who turned three this year. She looked to her abdomen. Jing! Mai looked up ahead into the road.
"Hm?" Sumiko gently bumped the younger Uchiha's arm with her elbow. "Something wrong, Mai?" She stopped with Mai in the middle of the road.
Someone's chakra just spiked… Mai turned her head to her right where Sumiko was standing with curiosity. Shaking her head slowly before gradually speeding up, she said with a smile, "It's nothing."
"Hmm...okay." Sumiko dropped her curiosity and continued walking.
Mai glanced in the direction of the village that had yet to be cleared of trees. Taking a mental note, Mai turned around and walked back to Elder Mio's home.
Dropping Sumiko and the basket at Elder Mio's home, Mai made an excuse that she forgot to buy something. However, Sumiko wasn't buying it, so Mai promised to bring back a couple dango's for her. Silently rushing to the forested area of the village, Mai cautiously entered. The chakra figure was no longer there, and Mai figured either the person was suppressing theirs or they had left. Either way, she had to be careful. She heard from Elder Mio that a foreign shinobi was captured in the village a few days ago. The person had strong chakra to be able to spike their chakra that fine and high and was well trained enough to keep it sustained to make it "feel" like just a spike but Mai knew it was more than that. She knew shinobi in the village who possessed strong chakra: the Uchiha Elders, Lord Madara, Lord Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama, Sarutobi Sasuke…
The soft sound of metal on skin made Mai straighten her neck. Feeling of the cold sharp edge on her flesh, Mai dared not to turn around. She swore she didn't sense anyone anywhere near her. But she was wrong.
"Who are you?" The man demanded sternly.
"..." The knife felt like the cold night air on Mai's neck. "...Someone who lives here."
"Clan name." He ordered.
"..." Was it right to say her clan name? What if this man wanted her eyes? A hostage? Mai closed her onyx eyes. "...Uchiha…" If the man killed her right now, he wouldn't even come close to the Sharingan. She had to die with it activated. Mai felt the man's eyes dig into her skull before she felt the cold metal weapon leave her neck. Pushing chakra to her feet, Mai turned around and quickly grabbed a kunai knife from under her shirt. Clashing with the man's sword, Mai almost dropped her kunai knife. Her onyx eyes met with red eyes. The moment she had felt death so close to her replayed in a chill throughout her body. She blinked, and blinked again. She looked up to the man's head of white hair. She blinked down to the red markings on the face. And she blinked back the man's red eyes. Senju...
Mai pulled back her kunai knife in response to what seemed like either a surge of chakra the Senju Tobirama sent through his red eyes or just pure will power. She lightly jumped back and blinked again at the man with her onyx eyes slightly widened and filled with astonishment. Was the surge of chakra from him? Mai questioned.
"This part of the village has yet to be cleared." Tobirama scolded and his eyes scowled at the Uchiha in front of him. "It would be deemed suspicious for someone lurking in the area."
Hearing the scold in the man's tone, Mai straightened her back and lowered her head. "My apologies, Senju-san." Mai took a breath. "It's just-" She stopped herself. How could she word it to just be one succinct sentence for him to understand and for her to leave as quickly as possible. "...I felt an unusual chakra in the area and came to check." Was that clear enough? She hoped it was.
Tobirama kept his eyes narrowed at the girl. He was practicing a jutsu in the area and released too much chakra. He knew someone was going to check and was not planning on unsheathing his katana. However, the girl appeared and he felt the need to confront her. Especially since Kaito captured an unknown shinobi just a few days ago. He didn't know the girl belonged to the Uchiha Clan until she turned to face him. She was Uchiha elder, Elder Mio's student. And she was the girl he had turned in to Lord Kihito's daughter years ago.
Mai felt the man's chakra waver. It only wavers like that when- She looked up and scanned the man. Noticing a slight limp in the man's posture, Mai assumed that Senju Tobirama had released too much chakra and temporarily worned out a line of chakra network in his body- like a blasted electrical fuse. She looked to the white haired Senju's eyes again and immediately lowered her head again after receiving the same hard scowl.
"Excuse me, Senju-san." She lowered her head a little lower to make it seem like a bow before turning to leave. Stopping herself for a second, she turned around. Looking at the trees close to her, she said, "Peach Blossom tea…will help chakra flow throughout the chakra network again." She lowered her head again one last time and turned and left with quick stiff legs.
She inhaled and exhaled loudly and picked at the hem of her sleeve. Her brows were furrowed into a line, and Mai slumped into her cross-legged position before quickly straightening her back. Aside from being under Elder Mio's tutelage, Ayaka took it upon herself to teach the girl some common etiquette. It was a rather stressing training compared to Elder Mio's. She was suppose to be meditating with the chirping birds and wind, but Mai's mind was plagued from what happened earlier today.
"Where did you go earlier?" Sumiko slowly planted herself next to Mai on the wooden floor facing the outside. Taking a bite of her dango, she leaned onto a pillar and rubbed circles on her abdomen.
Mai looked at the stick of dango in Sumiko's hand before answering as-a-matter-of-factly, "The dango store that you like."
Sumiko hummed. "Maybe it's just me, but I'm assuming something happened along the way to my favorite dango store that's making you like this."
Mai looked back to the trees. "..." Mai looked at the trees swaying with the wind. "...Did you hear that?"
"Don't change the subject! You know where I was getting at." Sumiko stopped the circular motions on her stomach and adjusted her position.
"Nothing important happened." Mai gave in and looked back at Sumiko before looking back at the trees.
Sumiko exhaled in acceptance. "Okay," she extended the word. "You just look like you saw the grim reaper or something."
Mai laughed. The Grim Reaper. She thought to herself with emphasis on each of the words. "I suppose." She said quietly. She turned to look at Sumiko's pregnant stomach. "Aren't you supposed to be on child leave now?" Although, technically, Sumiko was not working as a maid. Ayaka never put the pregnant women to work unless it was the smaller tasks that needed to be done and there were no extra hands available.
"Next week," Sumiko answered with a smile and gently rubbed circles on her stomach. "Kagami is three, and he really wants to enroll in the new ninja school that's going to open soon." The older Uchiha chuckled. "He really wants to be just like his father. Has his curly hair and everything. I might bring him tomorrow. He loves being with Elder Mio-" Sumiko gasped. "Aren't you supposed to pick up Elder Mio right now?"
The muscles in Mai's face loss their strength in shock. Uchiha Mai looked at the sun. "Oh my-" she rose up quickly. Sumiko's laughing voice could be heard in the background. Mai ran through the home and out of it.
The Council of Elders had a scheduled meeting with Lord Madara, and Elder Mio watched as the once pro-war faction led by Elder Hagetaka spoke against Lord Madara's decision to allow the Uchiha Clan to live freely wherever they chose within the village. The way Hagetaka spoke to the Clan Leader, Mio knew Lord Tajima would not have tolerated. Lord Madara stood his ground with reasons, and Elder Mio intervened. "We need not to be wary of the protection of any Uchiha." Elder Mio's immortal eyes locked with Elder Hagetaka's. "Although I, myself, also fear for each Uchiha's safety. It's time to know that this is a time of peace. Different from what we grew up in. And safer." She looked at Lord Madara, who was different than who he was during the Warring States Period and who she was proud of right now. Although she couldn't shake a feeling like this was a facade. When it came down to choosing who would be Konoha's leader, Hokage, Senju Hashirama was chosen. And Elder Mio just couldn't but feel that something was off about her clan leader.
Elder Hagetaka frowned and crossed his arms. "Living within the same walls as the Senju's and clans that we have called our enemies will have consequences."
Elder Mio closed her eyes and inwardly sighed. "We must show our willingness of co-existing together. Just like many clans have." She heard a scoff within the circle. Bringing her arms up to cross her arms, Elder Mio said, "In fact, I already offered to help the Hokage in resolving the issue happening in the village."
"You what?" Elder Hagetaka scowled at the female elder.
"The concept of hidden villages are spreading throughout the lands. And many have sent their shinobi into our village. As you all know, one spy was taken into custody a few days ago. I merely volunteered my abilities to interrogate the spy." She looked around the circle, reading everyone's faces and landed on Lord Madara's. He shot a small, almost unseeable, glare to the wall to his right that was disguised in an air of agreement.
Mai stood outside behind the door like Elder Mio ordered. She retreated to a wall opposite to where a fellow Konoha shinobi stood. The man cleared his throat. "I never introduced myself." He stood straighter. "I'm Senju Takeshi."
She only knew the man as 'The Senju man who-was-surprise-to-see-me-during-the-peace-agreement.'
"Uchiha Mai." A Senju was standing in front of her, a mere couple meters away from her, and she didn't feel an ounce of threat from the Senju. But being the Uchiha shinobi she is, her guard was still up.
Takeshi slouched slightly in his stance. "It's an honor to meet you."
"...It's an honor to meet you as well." Before the establishment of the village, Mai heard the name Senju Takeshi within the male Uchiha shinobi population. The man made a name for himself within the shinobi world as a well-talented and well-rounded shinobi.
"If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" Takeshi asked. The girl from the Land of Steel and the girl standing in front of him now were different just enough to tell growth.
"Twenty." Mai answered. "And you, Senju-san?"
Takeshi chuckled. "You don't need to be polite, Uchiha-san. You can call me Takeshi-san." Mai reflected a moment of blankness on her face before the man spoke again. "And I'm twenty-four." Takeshi smiled, while within his head he was calculating how hold the girl was when he saw her being carried in by his team captain. The Land of Steel bodyguard mission was around five years ago. That meant that the girl was fifteen at the time. He gave her a mental appreciation clap. At fifteen, she was able to assassinate an entire inner circle of men under their watch. "Is it okay if I call you by your given name?"
Mai gave the man a slow nod. It would be uncomfortable if she was able to call him by his given name and him not being able to to her.
"So, Mai-san, how long have you been Elder Mio's student?" Takeshi asked comfortably and added, "If you don't mind me asking."
"It's been around five years since I became her student." Mai answered- although, she kept a sense of guard behind her answer.
Before Takeshi could ask her another question, the door opened with Elder Mio exiting through it and the Hokage beside her.
"Thank you, Elder Mio, for doing this for us." The black haired Hokage thanked.
Mai took a small step behind her closer into the wall.
"There is no need to thank me." Elder Mio reassured. The female elder turned to her student standing bare inches from the wall and nodded as a gesture to begin leaving. Her student softly nodded back. Turning back to the Hokage, Elder Mio said, "Send word to me if anything goes wrong."
"I will, Elder Mio." The dark haired Hokage nodded. Senju Hashirama watched as the Uchiha elder glanced at the girl standing beside the wall. "Is that your student?" He blinked a few times at her. She looked moderately familiar standing beside Elder Mio.
"Yes," Elder Mio answered and she saw Mai dip her head towards the tall Senju man.
Senju Hashirama smiled at the girl. "What's your name?"
"Uchiha Mai, sir." Mai straightened her back.
"Nice you meet you, Uchiha-san. I hope to work with you soon." Senju Hashirama smiled optimistically at the girl before she nodded all at the same time with her eyes averted. Elder Mio said both their exit before the man, Takeshi, escorted them out.
"Elder Uchiha Mio," Takeshi began as they made their way out of the dark tunnels that led to and away from the room. "Do you mind if I ask you somehting?"
Elder Mio hummed. "Go on."
"Do you have any knowledge of the Land of Tea?" Takeshi asked carefully.
"I would assume you would know about that land more than me." Elder Mio said truthfully. She saw Mai's brows furrow beside her and directed the next sentence to her. "Before the village's establishment, the Land of Tea constantly hired the Senju Clan for their doing."
Mai loosened her brow and nodded in understanding.
"Word in the Senju Clan is that you successfully stole intel from the Land of Tea." Takeshi turned his head slightly to face the female elder. "Some Senju geezers are still mad about that." He jokingly added.
Elder Mio's mouth curved up. "Surprisingly, I was just about the send my student to the Land of Tea." She said, catching the purpose of the conversation, and Mai's eyes perked. Takeshi led the two Uchiha's out of the tunnel into the sun bathed earth. Elder Mio brought her hands together and folded them into each other gently in front of her. "I will have my student send you the information tomorrow." Elder Mio looked up powerfully at the man.
Mai watched on. Her teacher never looked at anyone like that unless it was about urgent business.
In the past five years Mai studied under Elder Mio, the female elder never went against her word. And so when she said that she would send Senju Takeshi the information the next day. She meant that. And here in the present, Mai stood in front of a door inside of the red building, that made her stomach feel like a pitless hole, holding onto the door knob in one hand and a scroll from Elder Mio in the other even after she was given the call to enter. Act natural. She could feel the five chakra figures inside the room. Although, she wasn't as skilled as Elder Mio to know what clan the five people were a part of.
Opening the door, Mai lifted her head to face the five people in the room. Three men, including Takeshi stood in front of the large wooden desk. The desk was in front of a large line of windows that overlooked the village. Mai's view through those windows was blocked by two men standing at the desk: the Lord Hokage and Senju Tobirama.
The Hokage smiled, "Glad you could join us, Uchiha-san."
Senju Tobirama narrowed his eyes at the girl. It was the same girl from the forest as was from the Land of Steel. But who was he to be surprised? He knew Elder Mio was going to send her student with the information and he knew who her student was. Like always, he was prepared.
Mai lowered her head softly at the Hokage as a reply, avoiding a scowl from the man beside him at the same time, and blinked back to the three men. The younger one, who stared at her and almost into her, gasped and pointed with a straight finger. "It's YOU!" Silence spoke for the few long seconds before the man talked again. "You! You know, you! You from the Land of Steel."
Hashirama's eyes clouded with confusion before lighting with curiosity after his mind replayed the memory a year or so ago. And a curve of a smile stretched on his tan face.
A/N
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