Fated to Meet You
Author's Note:
Disclaimer: I do not own anything, character or plot, from Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto.
Chapter Eighteen: Rescue Mission
The Hokage was able to persuade the leaders of four hidden villages to meet. These four hidden villages along with Konoha were considered the first five hidden villages in the world. Each of them residing in the five great lands.
The meeting itself created a great buzz in Konoha. Many residents were anxious. Could they finally put the thought of potential attacks out of their minds? Could they finally be able to walk in the streets at night without the second thought that there could be a spy in their homes? Their questions were answered when the Hokage returned and said there will be peace.
Mai was informed that the tailed beasts they captured will be distributed to four hidden villages in exchange for peace. But not all of the tailed beasts were to be given away. The seven-tailed beast remained in Konoha's possession. And Mai didn't know where the nine-tailed beast was. But she didn't ask. Wherever it was, the Hokage knew. She had felt the beast's chakra dwindle during the battle between the Hokage and Lord Madara.
And so with nothing else, here she sat in the Uchiha Headquarters waiting for Lord Hikaku for a meeting that he had scheduled. But he was nowhere to be found in the Uchiha neighborhood.
Mai flickered her eyes up to the pile of scrolls she had set on the table. Some were from Elder Mio's collection and others were from the Konoha Library that had just opened. Lord Hikaku requested a few of Elder Mio's scrolls. The female kunoichi didn't mind lending the Uchiha Clan Leader her teacher's scrolls. But she was always more cautious of the ones that held the Uchiha Clan history. Those kinds of scrolls were sealed and safely hidden and Uchiha Mai was the only person alive to know where they were. Rarely did she ever take them out. If she did, she would arrange a separate, more secret meeting for that kind of exchange.
Uchiha Mai heard the chair beside her slid against the wooden floor. "Hello, Senju-san." She lowered the scroll she was reading in her hands to look up at the Hokage Advisor.
"Is Lord Hikaku not in today?" Senju Tobirama sat himself down at the square table.
"I've been hearing Lady Misaki is in labor right now." Lady Misaki was Lord Hikaku's wife. Mai relayed the constant chatter that had been going on around her. "Lord Hikaku is probably at the hospital."
Senju Tobirama moved his eyes to the stack of scrolls. "The Legend of the Sage of Six Paths." He read the title of one of the scrolls out loud. "It's a good read."
"Is it?" Mai asked. Her onyx eyes glossing over the book she had checked out of the Konoha Library.
"I used to read it as a child." Senju Tobirama answered.
"So, it's a children's story?" Mai asked, her onyx eyes still on the scroll.
"It's for all ages." Tobirama said after moving his red eyes to the female.
Mai hummed before dropping her arm to rest on the table. Glancing to her side where the white haired Senju sat, Mai glanced at the man's black kimono shirt.
"You never read it as a child?" He was surprised. Almost all shinobi read the Legend of the Sage of Six Paths at least once in their childhood life.
Mai shook her head. "No," She answered. "I wasn't really into books as a child."
"But you are now?" Tobirama questioned, his chin lowered and he rose one white brow down at the Uchiha woman sitting beside him.
"Well, there hasn't been much to do." Mai answered carefully as not to insult the Hokage's advisor for not assigning her any work. "And why are you here, Senju-san?" She changed the subject.
"I was scheduled to speak with Lord Hikaku." Senju Tobirama leaned back in his chair. He turned his head to the side, expecting someone to appear.
"Mai-san, Senju-san," A male Uchiha shinobi appeared in front of the two. "Lord Hikaku sends his apologies. Lady Misaki is currently in the hospital right now and he is urgently needed."
Mai nodded at the messenger, and she saw the Senju beside her do the same.
"Lord Hikaku will reschedule with the two of you soon." The Uchiha shinobi said before flickering away.
Inhaling, Mai reached forward to grab her scrolls.
Senju Tobirama watched the female before asking, "Are you hungry, Mai?"
. . .
"I assumed you got the scroll from the Konoha Library." Tobirama asked.
"Hm." Mai answered while she slurped up her udon noodles. The two of them had gotten rather comfortable with each other over time. "I did." She sat up and said clearly after swallowing. "But the library is still pretty empty."
Tobirama swirled his chopsticks in his bowl of noodles. It was true. He had aided in building the Konoha library. But like what the Konoha Library Librarian said to him, the world wasn't ready for authors yet. Peace had just been achieved. And no one was willing to share writing just yet.
"You're very fond of the Sage of Six Paths story scroll, aren't you, Senju-san." Mai stated. This was the second time he had mentioned it.
"I used to read it with my brothers." The Senju lifted a few strands of noodles up to his mouth nonchalantly.
Mai stared just a little longer at the white haired Senju. "I'm sorry." She knew the tone he was using. He had lost his brothers, just as she had lost Elder Mio.
"It was a different time then." Tobirama stated as he lifted his head and set his chopsticks down.
"Still," Mai was in the midst of wrapping thick udon noodles around her utensil. "The feeling of losing loved ones then is the same as losing loved ones now."
"Speaking from experience." Tobirama noted the ever comfortability between the two of them.
Mai hummed. She lifted her onyx eyes to look at the man sitting in front of her. "I'm sure you miss them just like I miss Elder Mio. But what can we do, when the memory of them lives on." Lifting her noodles out of the bowl, she changed the subject, "Anyway, I think they would be happy seeing the world right now."
Senju Tobirama watched as the Uchiha proceeded to slurp her udon noodles. "And you?" He asked. "Are you happy with the world right now?"
"That's a big question, Senju-san." Uchiha Mai leaned back after she swallowed her food. "But I am. I do like what Konoha represents right now." She looked outside her window. "I appreciate what it has given to us. And I know what we should give to it."
The wind blew through the open windows. Senju Tobirama watched as it carried Uchiha Mai's ebony hairs back. She was someone he could trust. He knew that. In fact, he knew that months ago. But today, he admitted it.
"I don't mean to be rude," Mai turned her head to the white haired Senju sitting beside her. "But why are you here?" For the past hour, she spent her time alone at a bench until Senju Tobirama decided to plot himself down beside her to do the same thing she was doing: read.
"I was wondering when you were going to say something." The Hokage Advisor rolled his scroll shut. "It was getting close to ten minutes."
Uchiha Mai mentally brushed his last comment aside. "And you are here because, Senju-san?"
"I have a mission for you." Senju Tobirama put his hands onto the bench area beside him and leaned back.
"I'm a little busy." Mai answered. She was still currently slightly put off by the man for ruining her alone time.
"Didn't I just hear you yesterday that there hasn't been much to do in the village?" He rebutted.
If Mai could explain what she was feeling, it was as if someone dropped a bag of bricks onto her shoulders. Caught in her lie, she gave in, "Where to?"
Senju Tobirama had been scanning the area since he sat down next to her. "We have intel that there is a small shinobi village planning an attack against us."
Mai processed the information. Sure there was peace, but only between the main five shinobi hidden villages. No one knew how many smaller ones were alive in the world.
"Takeshi, Kaito, Jun, and Kosei were sent on a mission there." Tobirama answered. "They were attacked. And Kosei was captured."
Mai's breath caught itself in her throat. Kosei captured? That was impossible in Mai's mind. There was no way the Uchiha Clan's best swordsman could get captured.
"This mission will only include us." Senju Tobirama crossed his arms and nodded. "Rumor has it, this hidden village produces skilled jōnin."
"And you think sending in two Konoha shinobi will be able to retrieve a Konoha shinobi compared to sending in four?" Mai asked.
"It's not the numbers I'm looking at here, Mai." Senju Tobirama turned his face to look at Uchiha Mai. "We don't need numbers to rescue a comrade."
The particular hidden village resided in a rocky forested land with rivers winding through them. Due to its elevation, the land had many waterfalls. Mai knew this because she could hear the falling water crash onto itself.
Senju Tobirama looked back at the Uchiha woman behind him. Her onyx eyes looked up and around the large trees and terrain. "You look new to this land." He commented.
"I am." Mai answered, while still looking around. "I was never sent here on missions before."
Jing!
Tobirama stopped in his tracks. "Well be on guard, Mai." He whispered. "Starting now."
Even though Mai couldn't see the white haired man's face, she could feel the man's scowl. It was never geared towards her anymore. And she liked it that way.
"WHAAATTT?!"
If Senju Takeshi was literal, it felt as if the entire village could hear its Hokage's voice.
"I specifically told him to not go until further notice!" The Hokage shrunk into his chair. Another thing about his younger brother was that he was almost rash. As calculating as Senju Tobirama was, he was still rash when it came to things he cherished. Leaning over his desk, Senju Hashirama reiterated, "Tobirama went to the hidden shinobi village northwest of here."
Senju Takeshi nodded.
"With Uchiha Mai." The Hokage went on.
Senju Takeshi nodded.
"Because you told him that this hidden village's shinobi captured Uchiha Kosei." Senju Hashirama had his hands on the edge of his desk as he leaned forward even more.
Senju Takeshi nodded again. But this time, it was slower. And he awkwardly smiled with embarrassment. This wasn't the first time his Team Captain went and did something like this, but it was rare.
The First Hokage's forehead met with his wooden desk.
"H-Hokage-sama?" Senju Takeshi called out for his and his village's leader. This was a usual sight. His team captain will go out and do something without notifying the Senju Clan Leader. And his Senju Clan Leader's forehead would meet with a wooden table.
Senju Hashirama was not worried about his brother. And as long as Uchiha Mai was with his brother, he knew she would be safe too. Rather, this was his usual reaction to his brother's rash but calculating actions. Whenever Tobirama did something like this, Hashirama was not worried about the implications of his brother's actions. He knew his brother would do anything to save the ones he cared for at the same time. It was the very fact that his brother left without informing him that caused this reaction.
The two sensors looked at where Uchiha Kosei was being held.
"How did you know?" Mai asked, referring to how the white haired Senju knew where the hideout was. She stared at the large waterfall in the distance.
"Jun circled back when Uchiha Kosei was captured." Senju Tobirama informed. "It took Kaito's and Takeshi's every strength to bring Jun back to Konoha for back up."
"That was what the screaming was for…" Mai commented on Jun's voice in the Konoha Hospital.
"You heard him?" Tobirama could literally hear Jun's voice play back in his head.
"I'm pretty sure the entire hospital heard him." Mai said as she brought chakra up to her eyes to activate her Sharingan.
Jing!
The two sensors looked at each other. The hideout was behind a waterfall. Mai could feel and see six chakra figures. Five surrounding one. Kosei is doing something. Mai thought to herself. The Uchiha looked over to the Senju beside her.
Senju Tobirama lifted his hand and signalled for the two of them to move forward.
The two sped forward and entered the waterfall through each side. Throwing her kunai knife, Mai bent low and gathered her chakra into the palm of her hand before expelling it out at the enemy.
Conjuring hand signs, Mai aimed at another enemy. "Implode." Her last enemy flew into the rocks that made the hideout.
Taking a look at her Uchiha friend, Mai looked over the blood that ran down the side of his head.
"Let's get out of here." Tobirama un-tied Uchiha Kosei. Helping the Uchiha man up, the white haired Senju let Kosei lean on him as they walked out of the hideout. "We have to get to the border before the others come for us."
"Team Captain," Uchiha Kosei breathed out. "They're planning something."
"Save your energy." Tobirama lectured. "We will get back to Konohagakure."
Mai was following behind the two males. But it wasn't long before she felt five foreign chakra signatures coming towards them. "Senju-san." Mai began.
"I know." Senju Tobirama stopped to put Uchiha Kosei down next to a tree. "You stay here with Kosei."
Mai nodded. She looked down at her friend before looking back to Tobirama.
"Is Tobirama-san not coming today?" Uzumaki Mito asked, her voice soft. Usually on this day of the week, her white haired brother-in-law would visit. But the red haired matriarch had yet to see him.
"He went on a mission." Senju Hashirama said, almost with a pout.
Mito had become used to her husband's conversational methods to tell how he was feeling with what tone he was using. Sitting down in front of her Senju husband, Mito smiled and said, "I'm sure he means well."
Senju Hashirama looked at his wife. His face softened the slightest at his wife's comment. "I think so too." The Senju Hokage said with praise. Who could think that his younger brother, Senju Tobirama, would go rescue an Uchiha team member with another Uchiha team member to help him. Maybe his brother was changing.
"You need to go help him, Mai." Uchiha Kosei managed to say.
Mai knelt down to face him. "What do you mean?"
"They're strong..." Kosei looked at the female in front of him. "Team Leader is strong but he may need help... I've never seen their techniques before."
Mai furrowed her brow. "But what about you?"
"Hmph." Kosei smirked weakly. "I know two of Konoha's greatest sensors won't let anyone near me."
Mai blinked and then smiled at her friend. "We won't."
With that, Uchiha Mai sped towards the direction of Senju Tobirama. She found him surrounded by five foreign shinobi. "Lightning Release: Jibashi." Mai poured her the lightning into the ground.
"I told you to stay with Kosei." Senju Tobirama turned his head to the side to lecture her the moment Mai reached to his side.
"Kosei-san said something about you needing back up." Mai answered.
Tobirama glared in the direction of the enemy. "They have an odd technique." The white haired Senju lifted his katana. "Be ready."
The five foreign shinobi made their way through the broken earth. And they were odd. Each of them seem to be surrounded with a specific nature transformation. This was just like what Senju Takeshi told him. Five shinobi men, masters in each of the five main chakra nature transformations. The wind one was conjuring hand signs. Tobirama had already memorized this jutsu from this particular shinobi. "Run!" Senju Tobirama told his teammate.
Mai could hear the trees behind her break and fall as she ran. She heard the crackling of lightning and jumped to avoid it. The ground broke below her and she fell with it. Mai felt the rocks hit her as she rolled down the rocky terrain.
Tobirama saw Mai fall. Changing his direction, he ran after her as she rolled down the broken earth. Ahead, he knew there was a drop. He could hear the falling water closing in. Reaching his hands out, he grabbed a hold of hers.
Her body bounced the moment Tobirama caught her hand. And she could feel her joints barely staying together. Senju Tobirama was literally holding Mai's life in his hands. But she could feel her hands slipping as well as the enemy nearing. She looked down at the ground hundreds of meters beneath her.
"I'll catch you." Tobirama whispered. "I promise."
Mai looked up at the white haired Senju. His red eyes pouring more emotion that she had ever seen him have before. Uchiha Mai knew at that moment that this man was telling the truth. She couldn't explain it. Loosening her grip, she let her body fall.
Senju Tobirama stood up. At any moment, the foreign shinobi were going to be in front of him. But he didn't have time to wait for them to reach him. Instead, he flickered forward towards the enemy's direction. They had separated but were still headed in the same direction: towards him.
Senju Tobirama threw a marked kunai at the foreign shinobi. The shinobi turned slightly to let the kunai fly past him.
Unsheathing his katana, he aimed directly at the enemy that was coming. Senju Tobirama transported in front of the enemy. "Hiraishingiri!"
. . .
Mai fell. She could feel the wind try to push her body up but also down. But she knew at any moment before she hit the ground that Senju Tobirama was going to be there to catch her. She glanced at her hand that held onto his. She knew- rather, she was confident in what was going to happen in the next coming minutes.
And there he was, in front of her line of sight with everything standing still around her.
"Get ready." Tobirama said sharply. She almost expected him to say that.
Sliding out of the white haired Senju's arms, Mai activated her sharingan. She let the pulse of chakra from her eyes palpate through the surrounding area. "Their chakra is decreasing." By the minute, she could see the vibrancy and the speed of chakra within their bodies diminish and slow.
. . .
Mai managed to fatally wound one of the enemies before another one flooded the area with water. Her body went underwater, but she could feel the remaining two enemies leave in the direction they came from. She felt her back hit a tree. Grabbing a hold of it, the kunoichi pushed herself above the water and climbed to the branches.
Panting hard, she sat herself down on the tree branch. Mai watched as the water flowed away and the dirt ground became see-able.
"Let's head back to Kosei." Senju Tobirama walked up to the tree Uchiha Mai was in. He too was drenched in water.
The three Konoha shinobi returned to their home village. Mai took one last look at the Konoha Hospital, where they had left her friend in their care. Of all people, Uchiha Kosei was the last person she could think of to be captured. Kosei rarely made mistakes. He was one of the Uchiha Clan's best - always calculating and ahead of his enemy.
The female Uchiha listened to the sound of armor walk toward her. It went with the blurred image of Senju Tobirama walking from the hospital exit to her.
"You're confused." The white haired Senju read her expression out loud.
Mai took one last look at the 医 (Medicine) symbol imprinted on the hospital before rolling her eyes to the Senju. "I am." They had been travelling with minimal sleep for the past three days. "...Thank you, Senju-san."
Tobirama knew what she was talking about. He rarely planted the hiraishin no jutsu formula onto people, and most weren't used to transporting that fast. Even his brother wasn't used to it at first. But Uchiha Mai, in his eyes, adapted quickly to it. Although, he didn't want to tell her that the formula could not be undone. Once the seal was on someone or something, it remained. As long as he didn't use it often, he didn't have to tell her. "Tobirama." He said.
The Uchiha female blinked and her face had the word question written all over it.
"You can call me Tobirama." Senju Tobirama continued.
Mai could feel her face muscles lose their strength. She blinked at the man then to the ground then to the green grass in the distance then back to the white haired man. And then she nodded while currently still in shock. Senju Tobirama really gave her permission to call him by his name.
Senju Tobirama turned back to look at the Konoha Hospital and Mai followed her eyes to the building once more. The two almost inherently stepped to the side and walked out of the hospital gates.
The sun was still high in the sky. Uchiha Mai turned her head to face the white haired Senju. "Are you hungry, Tobirama-san?"
A/N (again)
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