This chapter has been reviewed for better quality purposes, happy reading! :)

The Adversity of The Warring States

Two Year's Later

Uzushiogakure had indeed benefitted from the union of Hashirama and Mito as things began to change. Neighboring clans had extended invitations to align with the Senju and Uzumaki vision of peace. However, there were also various clan's who felt threatened by this union of power and pushed forth to retain their solidarity based on their own reservations.

The Senju army had been split into various battalions to divide the effectivity of them along with their advancement. A few combat battalions had been sent to Uzushiogakure for joint military exercises. Numerous soldiers who were sworn to Senju alliance, now temporarily resided in Uzushiogakure, including Tobirama's battalion.

Much had changed in the short period of time since Mito's betrothal to Hashirama. Tobirama, a junior to Mito by three years, and five years senior to Mirai had achieved general-ship in the Senju army. His sensory and combat abilities became the pride of the Senju army. His stoic behavior could've used some work as his once humorous side was nearly replaced with seriousness. He was by far, the most disciplined man anyone had come to face.

Mirai, who had been a perky teenager had no doubt transformed and matured for the better, only to have gained various talents along the way. after Mito had left, the Uzumaki focus lay solely on her and her development. One day, she would share the fate of her sister, and for that, she would need to be properly trained to the standards of the Uzumaki. She was professionally educated in the liberal arts consisting of historical knowledge, philosophy, and religion. Her personality was groomed to be a firm individual who was not phased by everyday troubles. She held a record for witty comebacks as she was barely a match for anyone in Uzushiogakure's political cabinet and elders council. She was a decorated member of the Uzumaki council. Her uncertainty had definitely turned into fierceness.

She had further honed her taijutsu skills, and was able to use her Uzumaki blood to her advantage when it came to summoning jutsu using her vast chakra reserves. However, she had little battle experience. Over the years, she had gained a natural affinity towards healing which qualified her to volunteer as a medic-nin in soldier camps across the Uzushio plain.

As with any heiress, she had definitely peaked the interest of many clans as a future matriarch. Her father had been approached on various occasions for her hand in marriage. However, Ashina Uzumaki remained hesitant on the matter as she was the only Uzumaki pureblood nobility left after him. In case the clan required a regent if something were to happen to him, she was next in line.

Little was known about her attraction to Tobirama Senju. This detail could have landed her clan in a difficult position of choosing their interests over her sentiments because that is what they had done in the past. Heiresses did not chose their companions, the alliances and councils did. It was a sacrifice given for the sake of carrying on their Uzumaki heritage through those alliances.

Life at Uzushio was stable and redundant for Mirai. Nothing special had taken place since the big event of Mito's betrothal.

Her routine consisted of being woken by her lady in waiting, and proceeding to get ready for breakfast. Usually, her morning were spent alone with a silent breakfast and warm meal. She would then head over to the medical unit and volunteer in the medic-nin tents that served the Uzumaki and Senju bridged army exercises. During the evenings, she volunteered in the Uzumaki council and always had something to say when old granny Kin tried to shut her down. She had grown fond of the Elder panel in comparison to her earlier years and similarly, they treated her with respect in return.

Ashina Uzumaki had considerably aged in appearance after Mito's wedding. His broad stature seemed to have started to deteriorate due to old age, but he continued to lead the clan without fault. Ever since Mito had left for the Senju settlement, not once had she visited Uzushiogakure due to weight of the pressuring duties upon her. She would periodically write to them once a month, explaining how apologetic she was to ignore her only family, but in her role, it was a regular occurrence to be active and occupied. the Senju made her work and travel with Hashirama as a delegate for the Senju. All the while, she was also pressured to conceive soon because two years had passed since her marriage and she still bore no fruit.

At the Uzushiogakure Medic-nin Unit

An injured soldier sat opposite to Mirai as she attempted to wipe the sweat off her brow with her elbow and observed the bloodied wound. It was during a joint military exercise that his carelessness had cost him. The Uzumaki shinobi had looked away only for a second before he his shoulder was hacked with a Katana. Mirai carefully began stitching the gash on his shoulder, all the while, lending him her life force to keep conscious. She could feel the shinobi twitch every time the needle pricked his hardened flesh. Apparently receiving an anesthetic would have been a hard blow to his manliness.

"Hold still, only a few more stitches to go…" she said concentratedly as she tied knots with her needle.

Her Uzumaki blood had helped her unlock her overwhelming life force and chakra reserves some time ago, but lately, she had been honing her skills by using her life force to heal those around her. Ofcourse, having medical knowledge and chakra was beneficial, but even healing took its time and wasn't magic.

She could hear a shuffle at the entrance of the medic-nin tent but fought her concentration to finish the last few stiches on the shoulder of the shinobi before looking up to see who it was. Tobirama slowly made his way into the tent, observing the scene before him. The young shinobi was a combatant on his team, so he came to check if the wound had been taken care of.

She smiled at him coyly, before instructing the shinobi on caring for his wound. She had grown fond of him since the time he had arrived to Uzushiogakure. He had changed so much, from his softer self, he had become the tough general of the Senju Army. She still held the same sentiments for him over the years. She knew he was a hard individual with solid fundamental but he was also genuine and caring in many ways.

Over the course of the last two years, they would meet every two weeks or so in informal settings with the elders or clan families, but never had they sat in seclusion together to avoid the already rampant speculations of the common folk. By now, both individuals knew the impact of their presences on each other but had kept silent on the matter to avoid any unnecessary tension.

Tobirama walked over to the injured shinobi, making sure he would be alright before turning to her and thanking her for a job well done to which she returned the favor by calling him Senju-sama and bowing her head lightly. He noticed her use of honorifics towards him.

She quickly proceeded to pack her supplies because her shift for the day was done. Lately, she had felt that Tobirama had been avoiding her at family gatherings, making it obvious that he hated loosing to her during a game of shogi. He waited for the shinobi to exit the tent before looking at her questioningly. "Well, if it isn't the great Senju-sama whose been cowering in fear now that I've beaten him at a shogi after he challenged me, and can't muster up the courage to treat me to my prize." she called out slyly with the corners of her mouth twitching upwards.

Tobirama looked to her and chuckled, "Firstly, I fear no one. Secondly, you seem to be a very bad medic since you could not diagnose your own issue. I certainly do not remember you beating me, and thirdly, you can drop the honorifics and call me Tobirama, Mirai." He said jokingly while emphasizing the last part.

Her teasing nature irked him but at the same time, it was entertaining.

"So, you don't like the respect I give you, hmmmm, okay… so, I'll resort to calling you TOTO-san from now on?" she pretended to frown as she feigned a contemplative face while ignoring the first part of his argument.

His eyes darkened in annoyance, and a stress mark appeared on his temple as is lips twitched. There she went again, calling him by the ludicrous childhood name he so hated. 'So, that's how it was going to roll…'he thought. Tobirama walked up to her and looked at her with an urgent expression. Signaling with his fingers for her to huddle closer so that he could tell her something secretive, or atleast that is what it seemed to her. Without her noticing, he infused his chakra into his fingers, and as soon as she drew her head closer to his, he flicked her forehead. Hard.

So hard that it sent her conscience flying to the ends of the world.

"Tobiramaaaaaa!... aackgh" she grabbed her head in agony. "THAT IS GOING TO LEAVE A MARK!"

She looked up to see the flap of the entrance of her tent moving from the impact of his speedy exit.

"I swear Tobirama! That is the last time you do that to mee! COME BACK!" she yelled out of scorn for him.

"Tsk Tsk, so lady like for Mimi-chan whose screaming at the top of her lungs like a goat. But wait…if you want to get back at me, you will have to catch me first" he replied half yelling and half laughing. It was in this one rare occasion that he let him self feel easy. She was the only one he could do this with.

"Seriously Tobirama…SERIOUSLY!? YOU OWE ME DUMPPLINGS FOR THIS!"

How obnoxious of him, she rolled her eyes and chased after him. He had this notorious habit of flicking her and then running away when she would resort to teasing him for far too long. In previous times, she have never pursued him because of his inhuman speed, but this time, she resorted to sprinting after him.

You are so dead Tobirama Senju! She thought to herself.

Both sprinted out of the medic's area, passing the battling grounds and headed towards the outskirts of the village.

The Uzushio village layout consisted of three different circular layers. The innermost core consisted of the stronghold building, council quarters, and noble estates. The second tier was the largest section where the residential sections with market places were located. Towards the end of the housing sectors, came the third tier. It supported a dense forest for many miles, and also carried large battle grounds. At the end of the forest, came rocky terrains which mixed into the Uzushio whirlpools which was one of Mirai's favorite spots to meditate.

Currently Mirai chased Tobirama ferociously through the dense forest in the third tier for what seemed to be quite a long time. She eventually started jogging as she could still see Tobirama's white hair in the distance. She stopped to pick up a huge rock she found on the ground in front of. If she was not going to beat him with speed, she would need to beat him with wit. She had always had a knack for a perfect aim, grabbing the stone, she threw it at him with such precision that it hit him square on the back of his head which caused him to yelp. It was an unexpected move on her part and she deviously rejoiced inwardly as a creepy smile made its way onto her face from one ear to the other.

Tobirama on the other hand had fallen face down. His body had gone completely still.

Mirai couldn't stop laughing as she closed the distance between her and Tobirama and bent down closer to him. " I told you not to mess with with me Tobirama," she chuckled.

The rock had left a minor bump on the back of his head, but 'it was nothing too serious to have made him pass out cold,' she thought strangely.

"Listen you, stop pretending… you owe me dumplings, so you can get up now." She rolled her eyes. Tobirama's body didn't move at all to her threat. She nudged his shoulder with her sandaled foot, and watched for any movements to her prodding.

"IF this is a joke, I'm leaving…" She tried to reason.

Being a medic-nin, she drew chakra into her hand which started to glow green and ran her hand over his back. To her shock, his heartbeat was giving off a receding function with extremely low beats which begin to register panic in her mind. She was familiar with this type of heart rhythm on the battlefield after injury where shinobi would pass out and would need to be stabilized. Although she was level headed than most, she began to panic. Her hands started shaking and she quickly drew deep breaths. 'Such a stupid move on her part could land her in such a stupid situation. What had she done…' she thought.

She quickly turned him over on his back with difficulty and opened his haori from the front by pulling on his sash. She needed to position her hands to frame his heart and send chakra signals to give his chest a raise and the sudden jolt would push blood into his atriums. 'What the hell Tobirama,' She thought, feeling immensely sorry. Her trembling hands made their way onto his chest and she felt his warmth on her finger tips. closing her eyes and in her mind, she counted backwards from 3….2….1…..

"Pfffffttttt"

Mirai opened her eyes and stared at a taunting Tobirama as if she had seen an apparition. "If you wanted to take my haori off, you could've just said so … ne Mimi-chan?" he said while shaking his eyebrows and laughing.

Mirai stared at him startled. Visibly upset at his little charade. She almost thought that she had seriously hurt him, "Tobirama… that was not funny. I seriously thought you -"

He interrupted her, "You think your tiny pebble could've killed me? For Kami's sake, I battle on the front lines for my clan and army. I break bones and bleed day in, day out. Besides, that was a wimpy throw." He said as he kept laughing while hoisting himself up with his elbows.

Mirai bunched her hand into a fist and got ready to give him a taste of his own medicine. She infused chakra into her palm and was ready to punch him in the head for real when suddenly, he twisted his body and grabbed her hand while pulling her wrist to his side, neutralizing her actions. Her upper half and head now directly hung above him.

'Oh kami,' her heart whispered.

She stared at his creased white eyebrows and beads of sweat forming on his forehead. His mesmerizing, transparent crimson eyes, she was definitely in a trance.

She could feel his heavy breath on her face, and hers 'quickening with his. He stared into her stark blue eyes and after what seemed like an eternity, pulled her wrist further on the side towards the ground to bring her face closer to his. This was the first time their faces had been in such close proximity. They had always maintained low profiles around each other but had waited long enough for this moment to appear. This was not to be a chase anymore, he decided, not thinking about the consequences of his actions which would come to haunt them in the future.

Before she could even fully comprehend the situation, his soft lips were on hers and her eyes bulged out from shock as his closed. His lips tenderly prodded her lips with small and gentle kisses pulling on her bottom lip between his as their breaths mingled. He could have never imagined doing this to due to his usually reserved nature, but he allowed himself to get carried away today without putting much thought into the fact that she was his sister in-laws kid sister. Mirai could feel jolts of adrenaline as she slowly closed her eyes, relaxing into the feeling.

Tobirama Senju had taken her first kiss.

Tobirama's hand on her wrist slowly travelled up her arm as he leaned on his elbow with his free arm. In an instant, he fully twisted his body over and Mirai's head now lay on the lush grass while his body bent over hers.

How the tables had turned. For her, this felt like a figment of her imagination. She would wake up any minute now from her dream, but failed to do so.

He paused and looked into her eyes and she stared up into his eyes, her vision clouded as her lips begged for more. This kiss held a deeper significance for them, it was a feeling of acceptance for each others long held feelings. As if understanding her pleas, Tobirama drew his lips against hers with a gentle push. His hands gently rubbed her sides as she drew her palms up against his chest. She returned his soft kisses and began to feel the heat course through her body as they made out with each other. Slowly, his lips trailed down her jaw and further down her long neck. He gently sucked on the junction of her neck and collarbone drawing out a moan from the amateur.

Mirai couldn't believe she had moaned. 'Of all the situations to be in… with him…' she thought.

As if being hit in the face with a sudden chakra presence, Tobirama halted his actions and looked beyond the forest. His sensory abilities had caught onto someone roaming in the forest with high agility resembling Senju chakra.

He softly cursed under his breath before standing up and outstretching his hand for Mirai to take. By this time, her cheeks were tinged red as she took his hand and stood up. Brushing her white Kimono of the grass and dirt that was stuck to her. He seemed seemed a bit too concerned with the sudden presence of a Senju messenger in the vicinity. She looked to his face for a reaction, but he seemed adamant about leaving, "we should head back to the stronghold. Somethings not right..." he said distractedly. She nodded at his request and followed him through the forest. Initially, he had been holding her hand and guiding her through the uneven forest terrain. However, he let her hand go before reaching the end of the forest.

Uzumaki Stronghold

During their trek back to the stronghold, Tobirama was able to explain that he had sensed a a highly agile Senju messenger on Uzumaki soil which was uncommon. Such messengers were only used for missions of urgency. Tobirama and Mirai headed to her fathers private study, which was usually occupied by Ashina Uzumaki on the regular. Upon entering the room, she could see her stressed father contemplating news in the face of Senju messenger leaning over him. Ashina Uzumaki's face creased at the contents of such news. Upon seeing Tobirama enter the room, the messenger bowed in his direction.

"Tobirama-sama, it is with deep regret that I have been ordered to announce the death of your father, our honorable Butsuma Senju. You are asked to return to the Senju Estates as of immediately as ordered by Hashirama-sama."

"Such a calamity in the face of peace," Ashina Uzumaki regretted. The soldier was dismissed as Ashina rubbed his temples, stressed by the chain of events. The Senju messenger had conveyed other details to him before Tobirama and Mirai had made their way to the study. "Butsuma and Tajima are no longer in this world," he stated, still in disbelief.

"Uchiha Tajima?" Tobirama's eyes hardened as he confirmed the identity. "I have only been graced with the basic information and have yet to know the circumstances, but we should be leaving for the Senju Estates immediately. Your father was involved in an altercation with the Uchiha." Tobirama clenched his jaw to the news. "Let us pay our respects to your honorable father, he had fought for Shinobi peace, as we always will." Ashina Uzumaki left the premises to prepare for their travel. Tobirama stood quietly as he stared at the window in the study. Someone as strong and rigid as his father had passed on. He could not describe how he felt as all the emotions were trapped within him, along with the memories of losing his brothers in the past. He could not utter a single word.

Mirai looked to him worriedly. Unable to think of a way to console him. "Tobirama, we have yet to find out what happened. I know it is hard to ask of you but please keep strong for those looking to you, and for Hashirama-sama's sake." Tobirama acknowledged her words with a curt bow of his head. He then left her for his descent home.

Mirai could tell, this was going to turn everything upside down. Altercation with the Uchiha meant war.

At the Uchiha stronghold

It was a peaceful afternoon as villagers had gone about their daily duties.

Izuna Uchiha, the second in command of the Uchiha, and also the youngest child of Tajima Uchiha patiently waited for a key reconnaissance team to return from their mission. Madara was leading the mission, along with their father acting as the regent. Izuna had spent the last three days working profusely on battle strategies and reviewing resource trade propositions to the Kaguya clan who sided against the Uzumaki and Senju because of the famous marital alliance.

He was a prodigy just like Madara, he had aligned with his brother to attain inhuman strength as he activated his Sharingan at a young age. Subsequently, because of his strength and skill, he was made second in command of the Uchiha army as well as the leader in the absence of Tajima and Madara. There were many siblings at first, but no one had survived the wars. Madara and Izuna had been the last two left of the litter. Despite his siblings limited survival, the Uchiha clan had flourished under their fathers leadership and Madara's ruthless strength.

Three nights ago, Madara and his team of six elite shinobi, plus their father had gone to perform a reconnaissance at the Uchiha borders. Oddly enough, they had still not returned on the scheduled time. Izuna, had felt strangely alert but tried to pass it off as a minor delay caused by minor reasons. 'Perhaps they stopped due to an encounter or for recouping,' he thought to himself. Izuna slowly walked out of his study and closed the door behind him. He had been there for the whole morning, and now it was afternoon. He was headed to the kitchens to grab a meal before he heard the sound of loud and impetuous footsteps. He turned the hallway to see what the commotion was about. He could see one of the six shinobi assigned to the the recon mission earlier. The shinobi ran towards his direction, tripping and trembling in the way. Bowing to him, he conveyed such devastating news, causing Izuna to wish that he had been buried beneath the ground before he would have had a chance to hear it.

"I-I-Izuna-sama! L-lord Tajima was gravely injured in an altercation at the borders with Butsuma S-senju." he trembled, taking a pause before saying. "He is no longer among the living." Izuna felt the floor beneath him rattle as he regulated his chakra. He grit his teeth and pushed the shinobi out of his away as he sprinted to the entrance of the stronghold.

This could not have been true.

His heart hammered in his chest as the sun beat down on long his raven hair. He could feel the adrenaline kick in as he saw a glint of red armor emerging from the crowd of somber people. Behind Madara stood the best combatants of the Uchiha army, and on their shoulders was a stretcher carrying the body of Tajima Uchiha. Izuna stood frozen. He had lost brothers in war, but this was different.

This was their backbone.

"Mada-" His breath caught in his throat. through his tear blurred vision, he looked to his older brother.

There were distinct scratches on his pale cheeks, with blood matted in his long mane. His armor was cracked in several places, missing a few plates all over. Madara dragged his gunbai behind him with a gravely serious expression. His tall form staggered past past Izuna, touching his shoulder in the process. The shinobi followed suit behind him with the deceased body of Uchiha Tajima, the patriarch and savior of the Uchiha. Upon entering the stronghold, they were greeted by distant Uchiha relatives, and one of the most important people on Uchiha grounds besides Madara. Rei Uchiha, their grandmother, advisor, and companion.

She could only look onto Tajima's bloodied body in pain and suffering. He was the last of her children to survive her.

Senju Estates

As Butsuma Senju's body burned on the pyre, Mirai could only hear the cries of agony around her from the civilians around them. She could smell the scent of burnt flesh and sandalwood mixed into one which was repulsive. Hashirama stood in front of the funeral pyre as tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. Mito stood behind the Senju brothers, looking and feeling sick to the core. Tobirama stood behind his brother with a sullen look on his face. 'This was not how it was supposed to be, those filthy Uchiha dared land a hand on his family.' He vowed to destroy them.

After the funeral processions, the Senju council was able to have a word with the Hashirama and Tobirama. The Senju and Uchiha had an ongoing ceasefire agreement in place for the last two years. However, it was breached when the Senju had unlawfully crossed onto the Uchiha side of the border while chasing a suspicious shinobi. Both clans were on a zero tolerance policy with each other and a battle had ensued between the Uchiha and Senju because of the misunderstanding.

According to a witness shinobi, Hashirama and Madara aimed jutsu after jutsu at each other as their fathers fought synonymous with them. Tajima Uchiha recovered from a jump and steadied himself before he made seals to use his fire-style on Butsuma Senju. Butsuma Senju turned to stab him with his ken-jutsu before Tajima weaved his hands into his famous freestyle. In the midst of attacking and defending, Butsuma Senju failed to dodge his rivals fire attack and acquired serious burns around his body, but in the process, he was able stab his opponent in a vital chakra point.

Within minutes, Tajima Uchiha was on on his knees with Butsuma Senju's sword through his abdomen, withering as he struggled to breathe. The cut taken by Tajima resembled seppuku, except that he was stabbed by someone else. He knew he would bleed to death regardless of all the help he could get as his vision blurred before he collapsed to the ground.

Madara who was engaged in battle with Hashirama saw his father fall in battle to Butsuma Senju. Causing him to loose himself in the heat of batter and going berserk. Meteor like fireballs rained down from the heavens towards all inhabitants in the area plus the shinobi fighting. If it had not been a battle, one would have assumed the destruction of earth with a thousand comets shooting towards the ground. They could hear Madara roar in rage as he unleash his fury. Hashirama taking the signal moved to evacuate his men, whilst carrying his fathers body on his shoulders which was burnt beyond recognition. Madara with his Sharingan glinting with malice, rushed to his fathers side.

The Senju's immediately retreated at the scene, trying to put as much space in between them as possible.

A momentary flaw in judgement for both clans had led to such a calamity. The Senju clan was officially under mourning along with the Uzumaki Clan who served as their allies. So far, Mirai had stayed at the stronghold for around two weeks while everyone was preoccupied by the situation, and Hashirama had just taken an oath to serve as the clan leader the day before at his inauguration ceremony. Every person was stressed now that there was a new young leader. They would have to re-organize as per Hashirama's wishes for which the Senju council lacked respect for because of his weak ideals of peace. Tobirama was promoted to second in command of the stronghold and as a general for the Senju army.

For the last little while, Mirai had been staying in Mito's quarters for the duration of her visit because Hashirama had been so occupied, He had not been able to return to his chambers for a few weeks because of delegations to other clans where he had to leave the Estates for a longer period of time. Hashirama's promotion to clan leader had caused a considerable strain on the couples marriage, and on Mito's health. After the funeral processions, Hashirama had left for his longer trip to the neighboring villages to seek alliances between them before the Uchiha's got to them. It was strange to see Mito look so pale and nauseated. Earlier, the Senju matriarch slipped through her consciousness and fallen down the steps of the prayer alter at the Senju shrine causing panic amongst everyone. The medic-nin was called in to observe Mito, only to find out that Mito was expecting her first child with Hashirama. She was only a shy two months into her first term, supporting a barely noticeable bump.

'This was perhaps a trade off between a loss of life and life gained,' thought Mirai.

A lot had transpired in the last two weeks. She couldn't help think about the circumstances for the Uchiha's as well. After all, they had lost their patriarch.