Fated to Meet You
Author's Note:
Disclaimer: I do not own anything, character or plot, from Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto.
Chapter Twenty-Five: Confession
Tobirama poured his chakra to his feet. The tree branches clapped together from the force he made as he flew through them. "Seia!" He screamed.
The hidden Senju Village was under attack, and the clan itself was forced to move, fight back, and all the while to recover any survivors, but mainly, to leave their former hide-out village. The shinobi clan that attacked them was not their rival clan, the Uchiha Clan, but they had the advantage of surprise on their side. Thus, they were able to harm one of the best shinobi clan's in the world in the way it was right now.
In the light of the moon, he saw her. Laying in a pool of her own blood, Senju Seia's brown locks bathed itself in red. The girl herself hitched her breathing at every second. The white haired Senju flickered to her. "It's gonna be alright." He kneeled down to her. "I'll take you back to-"
A grunt from the girl stopped Tobirama from continuing. "I won't make it." Her dark brown eyes looked up to him. Her hands were gripping at the wound on her shoulder.
Senju Seia wasn't a kunoichi. She was a clan member. The two of them had known each other for years. In fact, as they neared adulthood, Tobirama had it in his mind that Seia was someone he could in fact choose to be his wife. And his father agreed with his decision, which made it all the better for Senju Tobirama to wait until they were of age to ask for her hand.
His red eyes looked to the large wound. The blood flowed slowly out from in between her fingers. "No," He laid his hands on top of hers. "You will."
Seia's breath hitched again. "I wish we had more time, Tobi-kun." Her lips trembled. Her glossy brown eyes looked up the young man she had grown close to. "But I need to go."
As if those words themself were what her body and soul was waiting to speak. The moment they left her mouth, Tobirama could feel her body go limp. He could feel something lift from Seia's body. And when it left, he felt nothing afterwards.
"Seia!" The Senju shook her body. "Stay with me." He picked up the female's body and sped into the direction of the nearest medical ninja he could sense.
Senju Tobirama had always listened to his father. He was the child that knew his place and listened to his elders. The perfect child. What people didn't know about Tobirama was that he chose to be the perfect child. Because in that way, he acted as the balance between his stubborn older brother and stubborn father.
And in this present moment, he chose to let that perfection go. Deep down, behind the layers of reason and logic, The Senju Tobirama wasn't going to let this time get away from him.
What he felt for Uchiha Mai, he had accepted as the same feelings he had for Seia but unique to Mai. As much as he pushed it away, it remained.
He had much more to say than just the name of Mai but nothing would come out of his mouth. Uchiha Mai shut him up by merely telling the truth.
And now, it was his turn to tell his truth. "I enjoy our time together." The conversation cleared his clouded feelings. Uchiha Mai felt the same as him. And that was all he needed.
Mai felt as if she could not breathe. Her lungs were working fine. Her chest was rising and falling. She could feel the air move down her trachea. Still, she had a difficult time.
Now this time, it was red on onyx. "And I know you do as well." For Uchiha Mai, he didn't need any gain from her. He trusted her entirely.
The night wind blew his white and her black locks.
"I want you close to me." Tobirama watched her carefully. "Just how long will it take you to accept you want the same."
"You don't understand." The female in front of him breathed out.
"Why?" Tobirama questioned. "Because societal norms said Uchiha's and Senju's cannot be together? Look at this place, Mai." He gestured to Konoha. "Isn't this already against societal norms."
"Be logical here, Tobirama-san." Mai blurted.
"I am logical, Mai." The Senju said with the utmost confidence. "It won't go away. You and I both know that." He quoted the female.
Mai shook her head. "It can." She took one look at the man before flickering away from the man.
Senju Tobirama let out a steady exhale. He stood there for just a moment longer realizing what had just progressed before casting his chakra in search for his brother. The white haired Senju could sense his brother on his way back with his team of bodyguards before he teleported to him.
Uchiha Mai's mind filled with moments of her most recent conversation with Senju Tobirama. One would think that for such a short conversation, it wouldn't bother someone so much but it had made its mark on Mai. And it consumed her.
She loved a Senju and a Senju loved her. Even if they didn't say those exact words, she could tell what was going on.
A funeral was held for those who had fallen during the Takigakure attack. Walking out of her home clothed in black, she made her way to the Konoha Shinobi Burial Grounds where the funeral was to be held.
The Uchiha Clan stood together, and the moment the crowd saw her, they parted the way for her as they always did the moment she became an Elder's Apprentice. And she found her spot, where she should be, where Elder Mio would stand as well, with the other Elder's and Elder Apprentice's. Even when the Uchiha Clan had no more Council of Elders, everyone still stood where they had always stood during the Warring States Era.
And Mai felt that as much as her clan had progressed to building this village with the Senju Clan, there still stood a foundation that could not be destroyed. This very truth stopped her from being the optimistic self she always was. She believed that the Uchiha Clan would change their mentality after the Warring States Era but everything still pointed to their old ways?
The very worry of her clan not accepting her engulfed her. It had worried her since the moment she realized she loved a Senju.
"Trust them. We are no longer just the Uchiha Clan. We are now Konoha shinobi." Mai heard Elder Mio's words flash through her head.
She turned back to gaze over the crowd of dark haired Uchiha's. Would they still accept me? Her onyx eyes rolled laterally over the familiar faces she had grown accustomed with over the past years.
Her mind replayed for her the significant turn in attack to Konoha's favor when the Uchiha Clan lined together to defend the border to when the Senju's and the rest of Konoha shinobi ran forward with them after the fireballs had turned to ash.
"We are Konoha shinobi…" She whispered Elder Mio's words to herself. The realization stuck itself onto her.
There will be times where you reach a standstill...Keep fighting. Keep loving. Elder Mio's last words and voice rang through her mind. Mai turned back to face forward.
Mai felt as if her brain had relaxed. Her body loosened from it's tense stature. Her onyx eyes landed on the fire flame statue in the distance.
These were the people she was willing to fight and die for. Her eyes scanned the line of coffins to the gray clouded sky above before landing on a head of white at the front of the funeral.
After the funeral, Mai walked home. The sky was still gray. In the distance, she could hear hammer on wood, and she assumed it was people trying to build back the border. She walked very slowly. Her eyes fixed the ground. Mai had made her decision after the longest time.
And she knew where she had to go.
. . .
Mai knew Tobirama was sensing the entire village. She could feel his chakra. Over time with him, she had gotten used to how he sensed and she had yet to find a way to counteract it. Not that she needed to anyway.
Walking into the trees of the Third Training Ground, she made her way into the secluded place she could find at a time like this. Mai slowed her steps before it came to a halt. "I know you're there." The female stated out loud before turning to her head to the left where she was expecting the white haired Senju audience.
Onyx was on red as he flickered into view.
Senju Tobirama watched carefully as she turned her face back forward, took in two deep breaths, looked up to the trees and back down to the grass.
Mai took in one last long inhale followed by a steady exhale. "It won't go away." She turned her body to face the man fully. She opened her mouth to speak more but all the words became stuck in her throat. "I-"
"Then stay beside me." Tobirama pressed again.
She watched the man very carefully. And for just a moment longer, she took in the scene in front of her, knowing exactly what she wanted. "I want to." Mai truthfully told. "I've always wanted to."
Even if the two were to keep these feelings of theirs a secret or for the public to know, nothing was going to go back to normal. And Mai was willing to accept that. Elder Mio may no longer be here for her to seek advising, but the female elder sure did instill memories upon memories of teaching that would forever help her student forge her own path.
Days passed since the Takigakure Attack. The border was repaired. But even words could travel past the highest wall.
It was as if the last attack caused a domino effect on the entire world. Other hidden villages attacked another- or so that was what people were telling others. Konohagakure strengthened its border. More shinobi were placed on watch duty, Mai included. And she could feel the army in the distance. But none had yet to turn towards the village hidden in the leaves.
"Don't you have things to do?" Mai asked, surrounded by shelves of books and scrolls and with one book opened in front of her. Ever since she had confessed to the Senju man, he visited her more often than before.
"I'm fast at what I do." Senju Tobirama stepped out from behind a shelf and made his way to sit at the table the female Uchiha was at. He glanced at the titles of scrolls and books on the table before fully sitting and leaning back in his chair.
"What can I do for you?" The two had decided that her being his second was unprofessional given their situation.
"I didn't know you were the jewelry type." Tobirama changed the topic to his interest.
"I'm not." She shut the book infront of her. "There's just something I found that I want to know the origin of." Mai pushed the book away. "What can I do for you?"
"Do you want to have lunch together?" Senju Tobirama asked.
As Mai opened her mouth to accept the offer, the two sensors in the library sensed unusually weak chakra signatures coming into the village. Closing her mouth, Mai tipped her head to the man beside her, knowing exactly well that lunch was cancelled before Tobirama flickered away.
. . .
"What happened?" The Hokage entered the hospital wing.
"The team was ambushed on their way back from a mission." Tobirama said after walking up to his brother. His face grim. "Two of them were captured."
Senju Hashirama's mouth straightened. "What are the conditions of the shinobi here?"
"One in critical. The other one has minor injuries." Tobirama relayed.
"Any information that we know of." The Senju Hokage continued.
"It was Takigakure." The Hokage's Advisor carefully worded. "They want a tailed beast in exchange for the two shinobi they captured."
"Well then, we have to-"
"Brother," Senju Tobirama cut through to catch his brother's attention. "You need to understand the severity of this situation."
"Tobirama!" Senju Hashirama countered. "These are our men!"
"I'm just saying we shouldn't blindly hand over a tailed beast." The white haired brother kept his cool. This wasn't an argument. This was Senju Tobirama's tactic running the conversation. "They give us the two Konoha shinobi alive and they get a tailed beast."
The Hokage chimed into the air his younger brother was carrying. Senju Hashirama was a passionate one. But it was Tobirama, that Hashirama knew very well, that managed to broker the treaties and allies not only that the Senju Clan had but who Konohagakure had. "And what else?"
"We get their cooperation in case we get attacked. And they will have ours." Tobirama said in his lowest and quietest tone of voice.
"Why would they want that?" The older brother questioned.
"They're a small village, brother. Located at the heart of the battlefield" Tobirama answered. "You've heard the rumors. I've even sensed the battlefields past the Land of Fire. There will be a war. We can't stop it now. We need our allies."
Both the Senju brothers knew of the skill Takigakure possessed. They were a small village, but they had skilled shinobi.
War was inevitable. Both the brothers did not want this outcome. They had seen it all their lives. And they knew first hand, when war could be prevented and when in the timeline when it could not.
Mai sat cross-legged and stared at the jade ring on Elder Mio's desk. Her hands rested on her legs as she peered over and around the ring.
To no avail, Mai was still on first base concerning the ring she had found in Elder Mio's study. It wasn't a typical Uchiha ring. Uchiha jewelry was made of silver and Elder Mio wasn't the jewelry type. So the only reasons left for her teacher to have such a ring was it was either an heirloom or a gift.
But what confused Mai was that Elder Mio was a full-blooded Uchiha kunoichi. So that crossed out heirloom off the list. "So then, it's a gift?" Mai asked herself and squinted her eyes in question. "Right?"
But who would give Elder Mio a gift?
Her research on jade jewelry went nowhere. The librarian was able to obtain some more literature since the construction of the Konoha Library. But the library itself had yet to be completely filled. And the books and scrolls containing jade jewelry or jewellery in general were limited. Most of them just talked about how jade was made and its presence in a daimyō or lord court.
Clapping her hands together, Mai apologized. "I'm sorry, Elder Mio. I'm going to pick up the ring."
As if it was glass, Mai carefully picked up the ring. She let the moon's light gloss over the gold flower.
Knock! Knock!
The ring fell out of her hands and Mai squealed in effort to reach for it. It bounced off her other hand until it fell into the palm of her right hand. Letting out a breath of relief. She remained in her position on all four to regroup herself as she rested her head on the tatami floor. Setting the ring back in its place, the female of the house walked to the entrance.
At the front door, Senju Tobirama waited for her. Confusion casted itself over her face.
"We're heading out with Team Takeshi."
Mai looked past the man to the night sky. "It's dark out now."
"Exactly." Tobirama confirmed. "I'll explain the mission when we group. Let's go."
. . .
The mission was to safely swap a tailed beast for two Konoha captives from Takigakure. And what Mai appreciated of Uchiha Kosei was that he was very good at separating his personal life from his work life. This, in turn, gave Mai some relief when the Uchiha noticed that she and Tobirama were on speaking terms, when he just a while ago was questioning why she had quit being the Hokage Advisor's second.
Mai stood back as the two Konoha captives walked across the small field and as Senju Tobirama walked forward with the jar containing the tailed beast. But while the two Konoha captives weren't in their most pristine condition, Mai couldn't help but notice that the four nature wielding Takigakure shinobi were in more severe conditions.
"The fifth one's missing again." Kosei whispered to the group. They all were lined side by side.
"Keep your senses open." Takeshi ordered. "He could be hiding."
Mai flooded her chakra throughout the area. The only people in the area was them.
"The one that's gone, he was the most confident out of all." Jun relayed to Mai. "He even told us his name. Kakuzu."
"He's not here." Mai informed the group.
"I wonder why he's not here." Kaito questioned.
The mission was a success.
A/N (again)
Leave a favorite, follow, and review.