Fated to Meet You

Author's Note:

Sorry ya'll, life happened. I wanted this chapter to have more but I just couldn't get it to have more without confusing myself and I wanted to release something to you all.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, character or plot, from Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto.

Chapter Twenty: Boundaries

Mai had never sat this straight in a long time. But she knew the day would come when Miss Ayaka would visit unannounced. The young woman could feel the tatami mat beneath her press lines into her knees. In front of her, the former head maid herself unboxed a tan wooden box and gently pushed the box to reveal its contents to the kunoichi. "Elder Mio said I should save it for you when you got older."

Mai looked from the box to the head maid and repeated the action three times.

"I think you can make use of this now." The older woman finished and looked up at the kunoichi. It had just been seven years since her mistress had taken in the child. And now the child has grown to be an exceptional shinobi.

Mai's eyes stopped and stared at the box's contents. In it, folded securely, was a deep purple over shirt with the Uchiha crest openly present.

"That is if you want to." Ayaka added. The young woman in front of her was never fond of wearing the Uchiha symbol openly. And it was Elder Mio who informed the former head maid that it was for a reason. Ayaka knew now the child in front of her no longer had a reason to not wear the Uchiha symbol proud and open on her back.

Mai reached her hands out to touch the box's frame gently. "I can't accept this, Miss Ayaka. It's not-"

"It's yours." The older female cut in. "Elder Mio knew sooner or later you would need it. That's if you want to wear it." Ayaka didn't forget to add the last sentence again.

Mai let her fingers rest on the wooden frame a little longer. "Thank you, Miss Ayaka." She knew for a long time, Miss Ayaka was sewing something. She just didn't know what other than the fact that it was a deep dark purple mirror to, if not the exact replica as, the fabric in the box.

What Mai didn't expect when she became Senju Tobirama's second was the sheer amount of time the man spent building and protecting the village. And that correlated to the amount of time she spent with the white haired Senju or running errands for him.

For months, the two of them travelled within the village and beyond to meet representatives or follow leads that all consisted of building or protecting the village. Mai never accompanied Senju Tobirama when he travelled with the Hokage. Tobirama's reason was that he needed someone like her in the village when he and the Hokage were not there. But even if they were not in close proximity with each other, Mai was still working per his orders.

Senju Tobirama was a man of utmost professionality. His boundaries between his personal life and all else were harsh and distinct. He kept everyone at more than an arm's length away other than a handful, one of whom was his older brother. And he thought he could uphold professionality with Uchiha Mai.

And it was like that at first. For him, Uchiha Mai was labelled, "Female. Second. Feelings: neutral." But the more time he spent with her, the more times than not, he found himself looking at her. And it wasn't a simple "I see seaweed in your teeth" look. Rather he began to notice things about her. How the delicate smooth features of her face contrasted greatly with the eternal look in her eyes. How the color of her skin seem to glow and almost shine in the sun's light like glass. All these things he noticed started small.

And then it got bigger.

He began to look at how her smile curved up almost perfectly to her when her eyes would light up just a mere millisecond before she smiled.

Senju Tobirama knew this was not normal. And it was not professional. It wasn't like he could bring it up to Uchiha Mai that he was looking at her too much and let her go as his second. That was unprofessional. At the same time, he did not want Uchiha Mai to not be his second. The more he worked with her, the more he found they worked well together. She never questioned his decisions until she felt the white haired man was too radical. And when she did question, Senju Tobirama felt it had logical reasons behind it. Unlike his brother, who was more passionate than logical.

So, Senju Tobirama concluded, he just needed to build a larger boundary. As a result, he sent his second on more individual errands. Which worked perfectly because Takeshi's team became his eyes outside of the village, and the Hokage Advisor-Hokage Advisor's Second duo rarely left the village walls.

. . .

If Uchiha Mai had known that it was going to be this time consuming, Mai thought to herself that maybe she should have accepted Hikaku's offer way early one before it became an inside joke and way of communication between Hikaku and her. Missions as Senju Tobirama's second were to Mai's liking. She enjoyed the fact that there was a balance between missions and errands to personal time. She didn't mind that she had to be stuck beside the white haired Senju. She had become comfortable with the man. But as time progressed, things changed. Rather than missions outside the village, it became more within the village. And it was no longer her with him but rather her on her own with a list of errands to do before reporting to him at the end of the day.

And today was the same thing. Senju Tobirama sent her a list of errands to and from the Hokage's Office and the Konoha Archives before she left home for the day.

"I'm a paper pusher." Mai answered Uchiha Hikaku's question. He had come to visit her only to find her sitting in the back porch area facing the field.

"Really?" The Uchiha Clan Leader sat down beside his friend and let his legs hang over the ledge of the home.

"It's like I'm his apprentice now." Mai reminisced to her Elder Mio apprentice days but also slightly complained.

"I'm sure it's slightly different." Uchiha Hikaku reassured her. "In a good way."

Mai let out a controlled, steady exhale as she stared into the field.

Hikaku looked at the box in front of the female. In it was what looked like a traditional Uchiha overcoat, the deep purple fabric brought out the Uchiha crest stitched into it. "Who gave you that?"

"Miss Ayaka and Elder Mio." Mai moved her eyes back to the box, where they initially were before her friend came to visit. It wasn't that she didn't like the gift. And it wasn't that she wasn't uncomfortable wearing the overcoat. She no longer had to hide the fact that she was an Uchiha nor fear death as an Uchiha. Mai has always wanted to wear the Uchiha symbol on her back. She was an Uchiha afterall. And even though she didn't show it, Mai was proud to be one.

Uchiha Hikaku had known his friend for a long while. Long enough to know what she was thinking at times. And he knew, right now, as he was watching her face expression fall and rise at every thought she was having, he knew what to say. "I think you know whether or not you want to wear it. Don't make excuses for yourself because they're contradicting what you believe in."

Mai leaned back into her hips. The man always knew what she was thinking about. And he always had the wisest advice. Senju Tobirama wouldn't think of her as any different as she was before. Hikaku's right. Mai knew that the white haired Senju was cautious. He had fought against the Uchiha Clan for the majority of his life to date. It wasn't that Senju Tobirama hated Uchiha's. It was that he was cautious of Uchiha's. Right? Mai asked herself. Senju Tobirama doesn't hate Uchiha's. He's cautious…But why?

Flipping her hair that was hanging over her shoulder back, Mai snapped out of her thoughts. "Anyway," Mai began. "What can I do for you?"

"Just dropping by to see how you're doing as Senju Tobirama's second. It's already been a few months since you became his second."

"I'm a paper pusher." Mai uncrossed her legs to recross them again with the other leg over another.

Uchiha Hikaku smirked. "You know, if you had accepted my offer a long time ago," He began but didn't continue.

"I know. I know." Mai laughed and laid her hand onto the wooden panels to lean her weight on it.

No matter what changed in her position now, she still enjoyed it. Uchiha Mai had become accustomed to Senju Tobirama in his entire entirety. Whenever she did meet with Senju Tobirama to sum the day, it was with her a fish cake on a stick and him a shioyaki (salted fish on a stick). No matter what changed, that stayed the same. And Mai looked forward to that everytime she met with Senju Tobirama.

Even though the mission to capture the tailed beasts was over, the team was still very close. The Uzumaki team had gone home months ago but it was like whenever the remaining members of the team would

"We went to the Land of Hot Water and Kaito thought it was a good idea to take a break at a very very warm river - like it was steaming, Mai. But the moment, Kaito jumped in, he jumped right out red as a tomato." Senju Jun laughed. "You should've seen it, Mai!"

Senju Tobirama was leaning against the wall beside the closed hospital room door. His arms crossed in front of him and his lips slightly curved upon hearing the incident. Everyone knew the Land of Hot Water was named that for a reason. That land was famous for its natural hot springs. He watched as the Uchiha woman's lips stretched wide and curved. Tobirama rolled his eyes to look at Senju Kaito laying in the hospital bed with bandages wrapped all over his body.

Through the laughs of Jun and Takeshi and the smiles of Kosei and her, the bandaged Senju Kaito glared at Jun. Then he moved his eyes to the male Uchiha, who was leaning on the window ledge smiling as well - although not as large as his female Uchiha counterpart. Times like these were hard to come by now that the team was no longer one no more. But they all still were the same as the last time they met.

At least, that was what Senju Tobirama wanted to think.

. . .

"Enter!" Senju Tobirama responded to the knock on his office door. Similar to his older brother's, the Hokage's, office that overlooked the village, his overlooked the village as well - although it wasn't as large of an overlook compared to the Hokage's.

The white haired Senju looked up from his desk. "Elder Hikotoshi, what can I do for you?"

The Senju elder walked further into the office room. "You were always the easiest to find out of all your brothers."

"That's because I stayed where I was supposed to be." Senju Tobirama put down the sheet of paper in his hand. Out of all Senju elders, Senju Tobirama had the utmost respect for the particular one standing in front of him. When he was younger, it was Senju Hikotoshi who taught him what he knew other than his father.

The elder put a scroll onto the Hokage Advisor's desk before backing away. "In there you said it was like each shinobi wielded a form of advanced nature transformation." Senju Hikotoshi referred to the scroll he had just set down. The Hokage Advisor had relayed the scroll to him a few days ago. "I remember a rumor a few decades ago before even Hashirama was born." The Senju elder's eyes gazed out the window that was behind the Hokage's Advisor before continuing. "A rumor about a group of shinobi banding together to gain probably one of the strongest abilities of each nature transformation."

Senju Tobirama narrowed his eyes. He didn't like where this was going.

"It was said that these people gained their power from obtaining the hearts of the shinobi who mastered one nature transformation." The elder paused before continuing. "And each successor who wielded these hearts would grow more powerful than its predecessor. The stronger the heart being passed down from predecessor to successor, the stronger the successor."

"It was said?" As unbelievable as it sounds, Tobirama knew better than to not believe a rumor. Even if the entire rumor was a lie, there was always one part that wasn't. He just needed to know what was the truth. "Could they take a kekkei-genkai by simply taking the person's heart?"

"That, I don't know." the Senju elder answered.

"If they could and what you say is true, they could take the Hokage's wood kekkei genkai." Senju Tobirama thought further. "And then they could gain control over the tailed beasts."

"That means they would need the Hokage's heart." The Senju Elder reminded. "And that's almost impossible."

"Almost impossible, Elder Hikotoshi." Senju Tobirama emphasized. "The world may have coined my brother as the God of Shinobi, but he is still mortal in flesh and blood."

"You think this small village will pull a stunt like that in Konoha? Take the Hokage's heart?"

"Takeshi and his team came back with intel that suggested they were planning a full scale attack. We just don't know where." The white haired Senju leaned forward towards his desk. "And I'm not taking any chances whether or not they will be attacking Konoha."

Elder Hikotoshi straightened his back. This was Senju Tobirama. This little white haired boy he raised and taught was still the same. Quick and calculated. But sometimes, Hikotoshi admitted, sometimes Senju Tobirama would think too far. But was this too far of a thought? The Senju Elder agreed - there was nothing too far when an attack was evident.

. . .

After his conversation with the Senju elder, Tobirama set out to speak with his brother. The Hokage did not like remaining in one room for the entire day. Senju Tobirama would know because he always kept tabs on him. One hour Hashirama would be in his office, the next he would be with his son walking down one of the main streets of Konoha.

"Enter!" He heard his older brother from the other side of the door. Opening the door, the Hokage's Advisor walked up to the desk.

"Do you remember when I told you about the shinobi that captured Kosei." Tobirama started. "I spoke to Elder Hikotoshi and-"

"You're second has been running to and from this building to the archives all day today." The Hokage cut in as he started outside the windows.

Senju Tobirama's mouth straightened. "Brother, this is important."

"You don't think I'm noticing what you're doing, Tobirama." The older brother turned to face his younger one.

"I don't know what you're trying to convey." The white haired brother answered.

Hashirama kept his face straight and used his elbows to fully face his younger brother. "If you don't want Uchiha Mai as your second anymore, I'm sure she would appreciate it if you spoke with her about it."

"It's not that I don't want her as my second anymore." Tobirama spoke. "She's a good shinobi."

"Then what is it about her that you're making her push paper around. For lack of better words." The Hokage had noticed this trend for a couple months now. He knew his younger brother. And his younger brother would never waste a good shinobi's ability, especially since it was Senju Tobirama that wanted Uchiha Mai as his second. The job his second has been doing for the last two months was a job a genin could do.

Tobirama let out a controlled and silent breath. "There are urgent matters that we have to talk about." He diverted the topic of the conversation.

Senju Hashirama had seen this behavior before. His younger brother was pushing Uchiha Mai away. And although he didn't know why, Hashirama could guess why. "I don't have a say in how you create your boundaries, Tobirama. But the last time-"

"Brother." Senju Tobirama stopped his brother from speaking. It was usual for the younger brother to interject in when his older brother was speaking too passionately. But it was unusual for him to cut in, in this way and in this tone. A tone that had a mix of emotion that Tobirama would never let anyone hear other than his older brother. "I know what happened last time. You don't need to remind me."

Senju Hashirama let out a sigh and like that the tension in the room dissipated. "I'm worried about you, younger brother."

Tobirama looked forward to Hashirama but his head was lost in thought. "This isn't the same as with Seia."

The older brother blinked at his younger brethren. He knew in his gut his younger brother was lying to himself. And he'd seen it in his eyes when his younger brother would sit on a bench with his second, a shioyaki in his hand and a fishcake in Uchiha Mai's hand.

Senju Tobirama was falling in love with Uchiha Mai.

A/N (again)

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