Our Story: Training

In a clearing, far from the domains of the Senju Clan, Hashi was under the intense sun, having been stuck in the same pose for at least an hour as a bead of sweat dripped from her forehead.

"Try to keep your posture straight." A boy with dark hair and black eyes kicked her leg, making Hashi almost lose her balance.

"Hey, watch it!" Hashi snapped, but her blow-up caused her to lose complete focus, allowing another kick to her leg to cause her to faceplant against the ground.

"Whatever, weak knees! You were the big crybaby, crying about how you wished to grow stronger! Don't waste my efforts!" The boy, Madara, yelled at her, and Hashi couldn't help but pout because, despite his angry tone, he was telling the truth.

After their first surprising encounter, where Hashi may or not have knocked him into next week for calling her a she-demon, the two started to talk, and to her embarrassment, she broke down in tears in front of a stranger, venting all her pent-up aggression. The boy was bewildered by her actions, awkwardness etched on his face, not knowing what to do but to yell at her.

"S-Stop crying! I-If it's bothering you that bad, I'll teach you!" And from there, Hashi gained a new companion. The boy never divulged his last name. With animosity brewing between clans, for safety reasons, it was best not to disclose all information about oneself.

"Tch, you are so rude." Hashi folded her arms underneath her chest as the boy's cheeks turned red when faced with the girl's pouting cheeks.

"That's my line! Now stand on this tree log with one leg." Madara pointed to the log, and Hashi did as he said, yet lifted an eyebrow when she saw the other bouncing a rock in his hand and suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Now, let's work on those reflexes." The two children spent the rest of the day with Madara throwing rocks at the brunette, who clumsily but miraculously dodged all his attacks. It didn't mean she was happy.

"I'm gonna pummel you, Madara!"

The boy retaliated by sticking his tongue out at her. Inside her head, Hashi began rethinking her choice of accepting Madara as her teacher. For weeks, the two continued to meet on neutral grounds, far away from the battlefield and the roaming eyes of their clan.

The two growing children spent most days with Madara giving Hashi new training regimens that left her tired with sore muscles. He even taught her a few ninjutsu techniques and various sword skills, though Madara would always grimace and talk badly about her clumsy swordsmanship.

"You're holding your sword wrong again!" Madara would yell when their swords would clang. Hashi gritted her teeth, enforcing strength into her legs, and refused to be outdone.

Hand it to the competitive spirit that Madara managed to awaken from her. Even though her sword technique was still sloppy, she would like to believe she had come a long way from their first time. Remembering when Madara had easily knocked the sword out of her hand with a single strike.

"I told you time and time again that I fight better with my fist. But you, grouchy-cat, never like to listen to me!" Hashi shouted in his face. The clearing by the riverbank was filled with the sound of their fussing and swords clashing.

Other times, Hashi would be greeted with the sight of a bruised Madara. Fussing over him, she checked for major injuries but let out a sigh of relief when she saw none that were life-threatening. Plopping herself down on the ground with her laps folded, she pointed her eyes at Madara.

"Come here." She patted her lap and was amused by the blush of red that spread from the roots of his hair and down to his feet.

"Idiot woman! Don't you know men and women should keep a distance!?" Hashi could see Madara's imaginary cat tail sticking out straight as he bared his fangs at her.

"Yeah, yeah. Tomatoes and bamboo sticks. Come here, you grumpy cat, so that I can heal your wounds."

Hashi patted her lap again, but Madara was stubborn and embarrassed about sharing such close intimacy with someone of the opposite sex. Remembering the teachings of his father, who once told him a man should only share skin contact with a woman he plans to marry.

He peeked a look at the girl, whose brown eyes were practically teasing him. Madara felt upset and once again felt his heart do summersaults for reasons that were lost on him. He could admit to himself that Hashi was very pretty with her soft brown hair that she tended to wear in an elegant bun pinned at the back of her head or styled in a simple high or low ponytail.

But her temper and openness sometimes unraveled Madara. Recalling the time when the girl caught him peeing in the bushes, instead of squealing in embarrassment like most girls her age, she remained calm and had the nerve to smirk her lips.

"Not bad, but still room for improvement."

Madara marked that moment as the worst day of his life. But there were other times Hashi showed traits of a lady born in a noble household. The man clothes she tended to wear to their training sessions also spoke of good quality not seen in common households. This told Madara she was no ordinary girl, but he tried not to overthink it, fearing where his assumptions may lead.

Hashi also confused him because even if she was a noblewoman, how come her clan kept her hidden at home and not out on the battlefield? Madara had only been training her for a couple of weeks, and even he could see the amount of potential she held dormant.

She had already grasped excellent control of her chakra, having perfect rock climbing and water walking. Even her sword skills were improving, though he would never admit it.

Leaving Madara to conclude three things. One, she was undervalued by her clan because she was a girl and not a man. He was aware that most clans weren't accepting of their women entering the battlefield, unlike the Uchiha Clan.

These clans only saw them as tools to breed future shinobis, a concept and line of thinking that was lost on Madara, believing that if a man could hold a sword and take a punch, then so could a woman.

The other reason was that her family very much treasured her. Not everyone was accepting of their loved ones risking their lives in this bloody war. Madara had lost count of the number of his clan members whose funerals he had attended.

If things were different, he probably would've done the same. Madara cherished his family and couldn't handle it if he lost another.

His third and final reason would be both. That Hashi's family loved and undermined her because of her gender. Again, he called BS because Hashi's gender shouldn't hinder her from doing what she wanted. If she were an Uchiha, she wouldn't be treated in such a way; they valued strong women.

Madara was too busy stuck in his own thoughts that he missed when Hashi called out his name.

"Oi, earth to Madara-chan!"

Madara returned to reality by Hashi snapping her fingers in front of his face.

"I told you those wounds need proper healing before they become infected and something worse happens to you," Hashi told him seriously.

"Butt out of my business, crybaby, and concentrate on improving your terrible taijutsu skills. Even a toddler can do better than you," Madara insulted her, face turned in the opposite direction.

"How dare you compare me to a toddler, you asshole!" Led by her impulsive emotions, Hashi grabbed Madara by his head and slammed it into the ground, forming a crater underneath it. A second ticked by, and she realized what she had done and immediately began apologizing.

"I'm so sorry, Madara-chan! I'll try to get a better handle on my strength! Does it hurt?" Hashi began fussing over him with teary eyes. Madara was in too much pain to respond but felt Hashi's hands gently grasp his head and place it in her lap.

"I'll give you some of my homemade remedies as a token of my apology!" Madara felt a warm hand pulsing with chakra placed against his head and felt his heart about to combust out of his chest.

'Stupid woman! How dare she invade my privacy, and why does she smell like honey and spring?!'

—

Hashi was out in the forest picking herbs. Not too far away were two men, members of the Senju clan and shinobis who her father had assigned to watch over her while he and Tobirama were away from home. Hashi always got worried when Tobirama would leave to assist their father, who still hadn't talked to her after her last outburst.

Crouching down to the ground, Hashi dirtied her hands as she plucked herbs from the ground. In her other hand was a basket she placed them in. She was currently studying the one she had in her hand when a cry of pain drew her attention.

Alerted of danger, Hashi turned around and saw four grown men in dark concealing clothes and black hair. But what made Hashi tremble with fear and rage was those soulless crimson eyes glaring at her, having overheard her brother and father mention only one clan with those eyes.

"Uchihas."

—

Madara was eating a quiet dinner with his father and younger brother, Izuna, when one of their fellow clan members barged inside with panic written all over his face.

"It's urgent, Tajima-sama! Those crazy idiots went and did it. They kidnapped the Senju Clan's treasured princess!"

Madara's and his father's chopsticks hit the table, refusing to believe their clansmen would do something so foolish. From what they knew, the Senju Princess was not a warrior.

She was just a civilian, and despite the two clans' animosity towards each other, shinobis should be pitted against each other. Not against the innocents who could barely defend themselves! Not to mention that by doing this, they invited war to their doorsteps where their wives and children lived.

"Take me to them now. Madara. Izuna. You both follow me."

The two brothers followed their father and were led to a shrine where three of the four men involved in the kidnapping stood proud inside. Madara wanted to smack that proudness off their faces.

"Explain yourselves? Why have you gone and done something so reckless?!"

"We did what you and the others had been too cowardly to do. By holding their princes hostage, we can bring the Senju to their knees. Though I must admit, the intel we retrieved on their princess was inaccurate."

Madara was confused by the way the man standing before him, Taro was his name, looked down at the ground, contemplating something. Madara could tell by his body language that his fellow clansmen were embarrassed by something that had transpired during their kidnapping mission.

"How can a little girl without training take down a fully trained Uchiha shinobi and disarm Masao? She was like a bat out of hell."

Taro's mind flashed to the moment in the forest when the girl threw her basket right in Taiki's face and took this second of distraction to land a punch in his stomach. Taro remembered hearing a sickening crunch from Taiki before he was sent flying a mile back before crashing into a tree branch.

He only jumped into action when the girl managed to stab Masaso in the shoulder with her hairpin and broke his wrist using her foot after she kicked him and stomped on it. He could never forget that look in her eyes that brought forth a chill. S

he was just a child, a young girl at that, but those eyes thirsted for blood and vengeance, making his blood run cold. It was like staring into the face of death.

"Let me see the princess," the head of the Uchiha Clan ordered, and the three men stepped aside.

The moment Madara's eyes landed on the still figure, knocked unconscious, covered in scratches and bruises, time seemed to slow down, eyes flashing from black to red, fighting to keep himself calm, as he immediately recognized the Senju Princess.

'H-Hashi?!'