"Minato-sensei, this, all of this...This entire world...I don't care about it anymore."
Obito Uchiha
His brother often called him an idiot, and recently he was more and more inclined to completely agree with him even if did make him sulk. He failed royally at any semblance of a chance with Mikito, to say his words would fall on deaf ears wasn't even fitting. She didn't trust him. Didn't trust Tobirama. Didn't trust any single Senju that was breathing and well, that didn't mean she hated him or any other Senju, though.
Despite working together there was clear tension between all of them. Madara refused to even look in his direction. Mikito miles well not even exist because she was paying him no mind at all, and making sure Ahiko didn't even glance in his direction. Disuke though detached most of the time was glaring at the both of them, and if looks could kill. He was of the older generation, and in many ways shared his father's belief's.
He couldn't guess how much time passed by, but they were making tremendous progress so it must have been well over an hour if not two. He did what he could, speaking the most out of everyone besides Mito. Mikito and Ahiko worked on creating the pathways, moving tons, if not mega tons of earth without even forming a single hand seal, Disuke pretty much guided the pathways to ensure they were stable and wouldn't collapse in on them when it came time to travel, Madara pummeled walls with fire that were too tough, and Mito was just in the middle.
It was a pleasant situation, but there was so much tension surrounding them the vibe of teamwork and friendship was completely tossed, stomped, and then trampled before being thrown down a million mile cliff.. They were working together just fine, despite not even trading more than a handful of words between each other several minutes at a time, and despite the fact they had been at each other's throats not even seventy two hours ago.
However, he could feel something was about to erupt between all of them. His clan and the Uchiha were bitter enemies, and while there wasn't an enmity between his clan and the Domou-they were the most ferocious foes he had to confront, even worse than the Uchiha if that was possible. Being this close to each other without attacking was severely grating, and while it didn't annoy him, it did put him on edge.
He really pondered how much chakra Mikito had inside that body of her's, they had been at this for a good while now and she was showing no signs of tiring-to be fair he wasn't either, but Mikito and Disuke were really covering a lot of heavy load. She was clearly keeping her chakra under wraps, but the steady vibration of it couldn't be missed-he could feel just how potent and powerful it was, and that wasn't including her life force either. She was brimming with power and vitality-no wonder people called her a witch.
He busied himself with stabilizing any loose ground.
"Why don't you take a picture." Mikito stated frostily, shooting a death glare at Disuke, looking him dead in the eyes. She faced off with him many times, he was a slippery man, but on more than one occasion she beat him down and broke his bones. Leveling those Senju without any effort must have left a bad taste in his prune, priggish mouth.
The tension increased a thousand fold, and there was an overbearing pressure that wished to squash him like a bug. It was all Hashirama could do to remain standing and not fly face first onto the ground and break his neck in the process.
What monstrous killing intent! Hashirama realized with genuine fear. She wasn't even exuding any chakra, all of this pressure was coming from sheer killing intent.
"Witch." Disuke spat venomously. "You and your sister are both witches."
"That's not very nice!" Ahiko looked annoyed at being called such a thing.
"I'll rip off your face and your tongue, Senju pig." Mikito's voice was calm, but her expression was pure ghastly. "You even look at my little sister the wrong way and I promise you..." Her wild and powerful chakra began to leak all on its own, her restraints slipping to rage, causing the surrounding walls to shake, and Hashirama to make his way over before she brought down an avalanche of dirt.
"The fuck did you just say!?" Madara snarled, eyes burning crimson as he rounded on Disuke. Mikito's retort was more than enough, but he wasn't going to let this filthy Senju call her a witch, or call Ahiko a witch, or spit their name with so much disdain. Mikito and Ahiko were the furthest thing from witches, "I should kill where you stand, you fucking Senju."
"Madara!" Hashirama shouted to no avail.
"Shut the fuck up!" Madara immediately rounded on Hashirama like a panther about to lunge.
"Fighting is going to get us nowhere!" Hashirama shouted right back.
"I said shut the fuck up." Madara snarled. "You jabbering idiot."
"Don't speak to Hashirama-sama like that." Disuke growled, taking a step forward.
"I don't worship the motherfucker like you and the rest of the world do." Mikito stepped right up to Disuke, forcing him to step back. Madara's blistering eyes were more than enough to get the point across, but she did more than just glare with murderous intent. "god of shinobi, you Senju truly are hubris. Does it make you mad I don't give a fuck about Hashirama?" Mikito tilted her head. She normally didn't swear, but the fact this clown was called 'god of shinobi' pissed her off. He was a human like her. "Make a move Disuke, I'll rip you to pieces without even breaking a nail. The fact remains you Senju are hubris."
"Mikito, back up." Hashirama stepped between the two of them before Mikito fully carried out with that threat. She very well could rip Disuke apart without any effort, and give him a severe beating in the process. "Stop leaking your chakra before you bury us alive."
Mikito smirked and only exerted more of it.
"Get the fuck away from my wife!" Madara snarled, shoving Hashirama back.
"I'll rip out your throat, Hashirama." Mikito didn't back up at all, stepping right up to Hashirama and shoving him back when her chest met his as he wiped the spit from between his eyes. "Don't fuck around with me. The Senju aren't shit to me, I don't fear any single one of you and never will. I know Butsuma warned you well enough. He was my meat punching bag and if wasn't for Disuke I would have punched all of his organs right out of his filthy, dogmatic, and hateful mouth of his. I can't tell you how easy it was for me to grab him by his turkey neck and punch him until I could hear his ribs crack and break and blood pour out from his mouth. You even say the wrong word to my sister and you will end up in a ditch along with your brother and every other Senju that's present."
"I'd love to see that." Disuke growled.
"Fuck you." Mikito spat. "I'll kill you all without any effort, Senju pigs. I could have slaughtered the whole lot of you five years ago if I wanted to. Butsuma wouldn't have been able to do a thing about it, or any of you, including you Hashirama."
"Mikito..." Hashirama tensed, setting his jaw firmly.
Madara shoved himself right into Hashirama's and Disuke's faces, he didn't say a word, but the way his eyes were absolutely blistering and his teeth clenched was more than enough.
"Are you threatening Hashirama-sama." Disuke refused to back down, hand going for the hilt of his sword.
"I don't make threats, little Senju." Mikito spat, hand going right for the hilt of her sword. She exposed just a tenth of her blade, but with someone of her caliber, that was more than enough for a threat. "I'd kill you in a flash. In One draw. And, I'll twist off your glib leader's head right from his shoulders. I'm warning you, keep trying my patience and you will not live to tell another soul what I do to you. And, if you have any brains, Hashirama, you'll get the fuck out of my reach right now before I spill your brains all over this place!"
"How dare you, woman!" Disuke looked livid.
Mikito was on him in the next second, a loud crunch sounding off as her fist collided with the side of his face.
"Get out of my way, Madara!" Hashirama shouted, watching with shock as she smashed her fist right on the bridge of Disuke's nose and blood gush out like a stream.
She wasn't holding back at all!
"Why don't you try and make me." Madara's hand clasped the hilt of his sword.
"She's going to cave his face in!" Hashirama shouted.
"He'll be lucky if that's all she does to him." Madara grated out, setting his jaw and glaring daggers. Crimson against brown. Uchiha against Senju. Mikito didn't tolerate any form of disrespect-calling her woman miles well have been a death sentence.
"I said get out of my way, Madara!"
Madara only narrowed his eyes-resisting the desire to activate his Mangekyo and let his chakra reign gloriously. "Make me, Hashirama."
"Mikito!" Mito was quick and managed to wrap both arms around her waist before hauling her back, barely. She wasn't going to get in the middle of it by any means, it was clearly their problem to work out among themselves, and Disuke spoke at Ahiko with such disdain and called her a witch, which was a huge mistake since Mikito would crush him and anyone else for doing such a thing. Ahiko was completely off limits, if anyone tried anything with her...They'd suffer her wrath and Souji's.
But, if working it out meant that Disuke was going to be just a pile of mush with a caved in face, and Hashirama getting a severe beating before Mikito snapped his neck, or Madara trying to take off his head, she would intervene and move things forward before there was bloodshed. "Beating him within a inch of his life won't do anything at this point!"
"I guess you make a good point." Mikito conceded, stomping on Disuke's hand, grinding her foot down until he screamed in pain. "You call my little sister a witch and my foot will be on your throat. And, I will crush it. Do not fuck with me."
"Hashirama, Disuke...Go over there." Mito waved her hand a few meters. "You guys work on this spot, we'll fill in the gaps."
"Sounds fine to me." Madara sneered at both Senju before turning his back to them and walking away. He was about to explode.
"Sister." Ahiko grabbed Mikito's hand meeting her dark and furious gaze without flinching, it wasn't directed at her of course, so she didn't worry too much about. It was ghastly, but it was all for her sake. But, whenever Mikito got like this there was no way to stop her until she vented all of that rage, and if she had to be honest it scared her. She gently tugged on her hand, bringing Mikito's focus back onto her, and keeping it away from the hilt of her sword. "Let's finish this. Please don't get so upset, you know it's bad for your health."
"I'm not going to let anyone let alone a Senju speak of you like that!" Mikito refused to let it go. "If everyone else were here!"
"Miki-chan, please..." Ahiko tugged on her sleeve, looking into her eyes pleadingly. That was a thought she didn't want to entertain.
"O...Okay." Mikito said softly, taking a deep breath and exhaling glaring at Hashirama before allowing Ahiko to drag her off towards Madara. She wouldn't fight against her sister in the slightest, if Ahiko wanted her to calm down and not rip them apart she would do just that. She'd give it her best effort, but containing this much rage and fury wasn't easily done.
So, like everyone else she focused on the task at hand and pushed down the impulse to crush Disuke's and Hashirama's skulls with her bare hands.
These fucking Senju...Just think they can do and say whatever they want. No wonder the Uchiha hated them so much-they just wanted to be left alone, but the Senju always persist and antagonize.
Priggish little fuckers.
Madara's shoulders were shaking as she made her way back to his side and his eyes were still blistering like before. He didn't speak a word, he only turned to glance at her before he looked away, folding his arms across his broad chest and glaring even more intensely. Clearly he was upset, if not more, as she was with this whole thing, and wanted to beat Disuke to an inch of his life before stomping the rest of it out. It may not be for the same reasons, but in the end they wanted the same thing.
She took a deep breath before kneading her chakra and letting it flow through the soles of her feet into the ground.
Ahiko followed her lead, her chakra calming her sister almost instantly.
"And, he wants to create a village...That's the only thing he goes on about. " Madara growled, several long minutes later, glancing at Mikito from the corner of his eye, seeing her nod despite her focus being pointed forward and chakra rolling off in subtle waves. It was smooth and almost lucid, nothing like when she deliberately flares it.
"What a load of bullshit. Like you said, everyone worships him. There'd be no place for me or the Uchiha in that village he's always going on about. We're the Senju's greatest enemies. He'd be worshiped and I'd be rejected, my clan would be rejected, and the worse part is I believe my clan would reject Izuna and I and our words will have fallen on deaf ears." He continued, bitterness creeping into his tone.
He hated to admit it, but Hashirama's proposal of peace was fluttering the strings of many people's hearts.
Hashirama would take away what he and Izuna, were giving their lives to protect.
No...Hashirama wouldn't have taken them away. They will have willingly turned their backs to him and Izuna, and reject them in the same way the village rejects them.
And, he'd be damned if he didn't burn the whole damn village down after that happened. Nothing less that total annihilation will satiate him.
"Tobirama would make sure of it." Mikito agreed. While she did try to see the silver lining in things, there was no silver lining in this, and Madara didn't want her using flowery words. Hashirama would become the leader of the village, he'd be worshiped like he is now but even more, Tobirama would have pulled strings to get him into that seat of power and then the prick would eventually become the leader, and when that happened the Uchiha's demise would follow shortly after-or generations down the line.
"The more I think about it the more I get angry. Tobirama is a huge problem and will continue to be a problem as long as he's breathing, and I just can't stand Hashirama. I can't stand the Senju. They're supposed to be leaving us alone since we gave them that special scroll so long ago, but here they are...Two faced snakes. I thought they would have learned the first time what it means to incite the wrath of the Domou."
"Special scroll?" Madara raised an eyebrow, he was interested in that.
"Indeed, it's a jutsu, and it's an overwhelming one. It taxes the user's chakra as well as their life force-more over the user needs to have both in gargantuan amounts in order to use to its full potential." Mikito nodded. If she could, she'd rub her chin with her fingers, but she didn't want to bring the whole place down, both literally and figuratively.
"Centuries ago, the Domou and Senju went to war. The Senju provoked it all by coming onto our land. The Senju took very heavy losses, between us and the landscape itself, some of them were dying from dehydration and heat stroke. Others were eaten by the natural predators and killed by the prey-more often than not trampled to death by the prey. In the end, they wanted a ceasefire, but the leader of the Domou at that time gave them a special scroll under the premise and demand that the Senju stay away, and the Senju swore from that point on they'd steer clear of us."
"However, the jutsu in that scroll is inferior to its predecessor, which is still in our possession, and what was used to create that jutsu in the first place. I would hate to think that any single one of them are using that to battle against me and my kinsmen." Mikito's tone dropped a bit. "It's bad enough they're trying to battle us once again, but if one of them are using that jutsu too I may just need to wipe out the entire compound and the surrounding area."
Madara nodded quickly. His wife may very well be a bleeding heart, but when it came to those two and the Senju her heart was as cold as ice. She didn't hesitate to go after either of them and cut down Senju in the process, she didn't even give out her usual one time warning before she went on her rampage. It was a rampage from the very start and any Senju that was dumb enough to charge at her, which was a lot, were ripped to pieces, literally. His wife had been drenched head to toe in blood and the bodies around her were too mutilated to even recognize.
Mikito was a mystery wrapped inside of an enigma herself; but when it came to matters like this she always kept thing simple.
If the Senju are supposed to leave her and the Domou alone, then she'd hold them to that. They gave those tree huggers a special scroll containing a special jutsu, and now the Senju weren't holding up their end of the deal. Figures.
"Maybe we could-"
"Don't you even say it." Mikito cut Ahiko off, sending her a very light, if it could even be called a glare to get her point across. "You know as well as I do a truce between our clan and the Senju will never happen. They can not be trusted and you already know this, we've been warned since we were children. They are the silent oppressors. I'm surprised Syrus and the Subatsu's alliance with them lasted as long as it did, because like us they were warned as children."
"I was going to say we could create our own village." Ahiko said with a pout, glaring lightly at Mikito for rushing to such conclusions. She couldn't blame her sister for coming to that conclusion, after all she did propose that they ally with the Senju when the previous leader died in battle.
"Now, there is an idea." Mikito smiled widely at the suggestion. "It can be in our homeland. There is no pompous damiyos or anything of that sort in our land. There's only us, the Subatsu, the summonings, and nature itself."
Madara remained silent, but didn't have any objections on the matter. Somewhere, he wanted to...Hoped he could create the village with Hashirama, but the more he thought about it and seen his actions, Tobirama's actions, and the Senju at large it was becoming agonizingly clear that it just wasn't possible...He couldn't risk his clan being oppressed and subjugated.
Eventually they'd be discriminated against, kept out of village politics, and then ostracized from the village itself and forced into the outskirts. Then they'd be snuffed out, because eventually they'd revolt against the Senju rule...It was only natural, and then there was the risk of all out civil war-and other villages attacking, there'd only be one solution to the problem. Genocide. He had a sneaking feeling it'd be by the hands of an Uchiha.
If he could form a village with Mikito and Ahiko, if they went through with their idea...Maybe the Uchiha would be well off, he wouldn't need to worry about them being suppressed and oppressed.
"So, Madara have you-"
"If this about your farce of a village, just shut your mouth." Mikito cut Hashirama off before he caught his stride. Madara had visibly tensed when Hashirama spoke his name, and that wasn't good.
Hashirama frowned at that, as did Mito. He was pretty certain Madara hadn't told her about the time they spent with each other as kids, it was something the Uchiha would never speak of-let alone acknowledge. Mikito did have the prowess to piece it altogether, his peace attempts went as far as sending a ceasefire to her, so by all means she would know of his intentions or the base notions of them. "It's not a farce."
"Oh?" Mikito raised an eyebrow. "Humor me. Because, the way I see it, it is nothing but a farce full of incongruities. You think joining together with the Uchiha and my clan will be enough, you are a naive and foolish man if you believe that Hashirama. The damiyos would never give up their power so easily, do you intend to make a pact with the pompous fools of some sort? If that's the case you're nothing more than a puppet-a dog of the damiyo. You rely on the damiyo, and continue to take missions to sustain the village-and then you come into conflict with other villages. You only further the paradox and the fucked up mentality."
"Of course we'd make a pact with the Fire damiyo, and then we'd welcome clans into our village. The idea would catch on, eventually. We're shinobi, we have to take missions-"
"And, that is the problem and my point, you really are an idiot." Mikito spat with derision, cutting the young Senju off before he could catch his stride again. She never spoke with disdain normally, but this would be one of those rare times when she very much did so and put some venom into her tone. "You continue to be a dog of the damiyo and rely on the damiyo instead of being independent. We're shinobi, we have to take missions, and next you'll say we just live for the mission. That we should care about the village more than our own flesh and blood. Sell out our families for a little village. You are only furthering the paradox, Hashirama."
"Even if there's peace for just a little while it's better than how it is now." Hashirama said a bit defensively, the flaws of his village-Mikito stating them dug deep inside of him. "You speak of having all the power and not sharing any of it. Basing things on merit, skill, and strength." He couldn't agree with such a thing, if the damiyo were threatened they'd take action-then it'd be shinobi vs damiyo.
"No, it is not better, you only further the paradox. You never changed the mentality. You don't pick and choose, Hashirama. You either find a solution and implement it, or you fail and cause more problems down the line." Mikito took a deep breath, exhaling as slow as she could. This man was truly infuriating, she could understand completely why Madara wanted to swipe his head off with his sickle. Hashirama only sees what he wants too. Dogmatic. Just like his father. "We shinobi only care about merit, strength, and skill. Titles and honorifics mean nothing to us."
"Mikito you can't..." Hashirama bit his lips.
"You only see what you want to see, I realize this now. You are dogmatic, just like your father. What you speak of is shinobi going from caring about merit and strength to caring about titles and honorifics. Inflated egos and sheer hubris." She suppressed a snarl. If that happened, most of the shinobi clans now would either be lost with time, or subjugated by these villages. Either way it wasn't good. "Besides, I know you want to join hands with Madara and the Uchiha. But, your farce is just that, a farce. The Uchiha have always been the Senju's greatest enemies and their polar opposite, you think someone like Sasuke and the Sarutobi will welcome the Uchiha in the village? You think people won't discriminate the Uchiha? You don't think Tobirama will try to marginalize them?"
Despite being fierce enemies, the Sarutobi and Senju were very similar. They had strong wills and often used love and peace to hide behind.
The Shimura were more like her clan, the Uchiha, and the Subatsu. They were extremely powerful and didn't hide behind ideology.
"Well, of course not. But, that's down the board." Hashirama stressed. He couldn't even argue back or answer the last two questions. Tobirama would always be wary and he'd implement something to keep the Uchiha under control and out of the village affairs. He'd marginalize them, but as long as he drew breath he wouldn't let that happen to the Uchiha or any clan within the village. "I won't let my brother do that to the Uchiha, or any other clan."
"It'd just be the Uchiha, and you're not convincing me in the slightest." Mikito said bluntly. The Sharingan, the devil eyes, the eyes of blood, the eyes of emotion. Whatever moniker one wished to use about it, the Sharingan was as revered as it was feared, treasured as it was reviled, and most sought after as it was shunned. The crimson eyes promised a swift death, promised to drive one to insanity with a simple glance. The curse of hatred, as Izuna put it was a direct product of the Sharingan. She never believed in such things-everyone had a choice to make in the end.
"I also know you'd be appointed leader of the village."
"I would wish for Madara to be the leader, and I be his right hand." Hashirama admitted.
"That's a unilateral decision, something Tobirama wouldn't accept or allow, and you know I'm right. It'd tear your farce of a village apart in a heartbeat, and people would view as a tyrant, contrary you'd be anything but a tyrant. It's not like you're executing them by the boat load." Mikito was quick to put the brakes on that, even if it could put her husband in a bad light. Madara being the leader just wouldn't happen. "He would implement a democratic vote for lack of a better term with all of the clan heads, and if you make the absurd decision of allowing civilians to have a say in shinobi affairs, the head of whatever that would be called, would vote as well."
And, in short Tobirama would have put Hashirama in a seat of power, and without a doubt he'd be Hashirama's successor and then likely one of their students would take the mantle after he passed.
Rotten and filled to the core with nepotism.
"We can't keep the civilians out of the discussion. They live in the village as well, they should rightfully have a say." Hashirama's tone became more stern, as did his expression. He wasn't going to exclude any one person or group from having a say in the village's affairs. He needed to hear the voice and opinions of everyone, not just a select few.
"A civilian has no knowledge of what goes on within the shinobi circle, thus they have no place in our affairs. Period. They should be grateful that they can live with a false sense of peace in a farce of a village, and not worry about some rogue or ronin running their sword through them. They don't need to concern themselves with anything else. Now, if they train, and become shinobi themselves, then by all means they will have a say because than they'll understand and not be ignorant as they were before."
"I disagree." Hashirama's tone dropped. "What you speak of is a meritocracy. The average person will be cast to the wayside."
"That's fine if you do disagree with me, but you still know that I'm right. Your village is a farce, and the Uchiha wouldn't have a place in it." Mikito laughed softly, watching his eyes narrow a bit more. Clearly, he didn't like what she was saying-the truth she was stabbing into his chest with every single word. He tried to argue his points, but he couldn't get out more than a few words at a time. "The average person won't be cast to the wayside, there's no need to be so dramatic. They will have a home, a sanctuary where they can live the rest of their days out until they die of old age surrounded by their family or die in their sleep. But, if they wish to get involved in our affairs they will need to resolve themselves and train."
"Training is mandatory within the Domou clan and starts at the age of three, there are no civilians in my clan." She could almost feel Hashirama's apprehension as she spoke her last piece, having enough of this. It was the reason a Domou at the age of thirteen and even younger could kill adults from other clans, including the Senju, without any trouble. They had more than decade of rigorous and pain staking training under their belt.
"I will tell you this, if and when you form such a village...Somehow you get my husband to agree with such a farce, as doubtful as that is...The Domou will not become a part of it. And, if you even think about making a move, or your successors think of making a move against my clan or come onto my land, I'll reduce your village to a smoking crater. There won't even be a piece of debris left to ever let anyone know it was a village in the first place."
"You tread on thin ice, Senju." Mikito said lowly. "Hypothermia is real, and even shinobi succumb to it. Don't try to tell me this farce of a village is anything less than that, there are many to go to war...It's only a trap so you can oppress the Uchiha."
"I guess we have nothing left to discuss." Hashirama scowled, turning his head away from her. He couldn't argue against her points even if he tried, so he just shut his mouth.
"It was never a discussion. I am right, and you are wrong. You are a short sighted and dogmatic fool just like your father. Your methods are wrong, and so is your mentality. There was never anything to discuss...You represent the endless cycle of this world."
Silence.
"So, I hear you medical ninjutsu is second to none, Ahiko-chan." Hashirama grinned slightly as he walked towards her, trying to strike up a conversation with Ahiko after silence reigned around them for too long after his dispute with Mikito. Aside from the earth being excavated and routed one could hear a pin drop it was quiet. He wasn't the smartest person, but the silence was starting to eat away at him, and he did hear stories about her prowess in healing, though she was just as deadly on the battlefield.
"I guess." Ahiko shrugged, she was always humble. "I have a garden of herbs-"
"Don't speak to her so casually you stupid ass, and don't you ever use the honorific chan to address her either." Mikito snarled, punching a rather huge rock wall and sending it crashing to the ground. Smoke and dust were kicked up in copious amounts along with debris.
"Mikito, he didn't mean any harm." Mito tried to pacify the irate woman before she punched down another wall.
There were very few things that could really make her blood boil, someone speaking to Ahiko in such a manner was a sure fire way to make her blood boil, and Hashirama speaking like he actually knows Ahiko in addition to adding the affectionate honorific of chan...He was already on thin ice and he was about to fall through it and sink all the way to the bottom.
"Mito, stay out of it!" Mikito snapped, rounding on the Uzumaki with clenched fists. She may not go to war with the Uzumaki clan, but she would punch Mito right in the mouth if she even thought of getting involved in this. "Ahiko is my little sister not yours! She's married! This glib fool of a clan leader is trying to talk her up. I won't go to war with the Uzumaki, but if you even try to get involved in this..." Her eyes immediately flew to Hashirama. "And as for you! Keep running your mouth and I'm going to rip out your tongue."
"I had no idea!" Hashirama said, immediately bowing his head apologetically. He was raised with enough home training not to even speak so friendly with a married woman, thank Rikudo for his mother, because his father couldn't care less as long as he served the clan and was powerful.
"Mikito, he couldn't have known Ahiko was married." Mito said a bit defensively. One wouldn't consider Ahiko was married since the way she acted most of the time, but in the same aspect a bundle of love and cheer like Ahiko had to be married since she was exuding such happiness. Of course, Hashirama couldn't pick up on this in the slightest and it went completely over his head. "It was a simple misunderstanding."
"If you put in your two cents again, Mito...I promise you...Will regret it." Mikito growled, eyes widening with pure and distilled fury. She gave the woman a warning, the next time she even thinks about opening her mouth she was going to shove her fist right down her throat and make her choke on it. Mito was going to side with Hashirama in the end, and she already knew this, they were after all distantly related. "Hashirama. Get the fuck away from my sister before I lose what little patience I have left with you!"
"I'm sorry!" Hashirama cried, already starting to sulk.
"I don't care! Get away from her." Mikito screamed. "Now!"
Hashirama looked completely defeated. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out, finally he looked at Ahiko who didn't look on with pity, but she really wanted to say something to him. He let his eyes rest on the ground.
"I told you to get away-!"
Madara carefully wrapped his arms around Mikito waist and hefted her up off of her feet before she took a lunge for Hashirama. He didn't want her flying into a rage like in the Grass village, he walked away with bruised ribs that day luckily enough, and Izuna wasn't here this time around to haul her off before she went on a rampage. Feeling her get tense and ready he buried his face into the side of her neck, keeping his nose and mouth pressed against her hot skin-didn't need to risk getting those broken too.
"Mikito, as much as watching you go on a rampage entertains and excites me...And, they way you broke that Senju's hand." Madara whispered against her neck, feeling her entire body tremble from the action, he held her even tighter refusing to let go, even if she did elbow him in the ribs. "If you go on one now you'll bury us all alive. Just stay by my side."
Mikito didn't feel inclined to listen to Madara, even if he was right, and was her husband. She really wanted to just pulverize Hashirama where he stood at this very moment. Hashirama thought he could do just whatever the hell he wanted, could say whatever the hell he wanted, and it wasn't any better with Tobirama and the rest of the Senju!
She was tired of them trying to dictate everything, trying to influence everyone and everything, and lastly tired of how hubris they are. But, here was Madara trying to calm her down and bring her back to even, who more often than not was even quicker to fly off the handle than her.
"Fine." Mikito breathed out, sounding incredibly strained.
Satisfied, Madara set her back down on the ground. If he hadn't hauled her up the way he had there was no doubt in his mind she would have went right for Hashirama and plow through Disuke in the process, as much as he enjoyed fighting Hashirama and killing priggish Senju he wasn't going to be trapped thousands of feet underground with those same exact Senju. "We're just about done, anyways. The only thing we have left to do is gathering everyone and leading the way back to this point, if all is well we should be at the bottom of the damiyo's castle."
"I'm more worried about what's going on back there..." Ahiko muttered, glancing back in the direction where everyone was bound to be waiting for them. The thought of her brother, Izuna, Tobirama, and the rest of the Senju being together all at once was a daunting one. Souji would do as Mikito accepted, but if those Senju or Tobirama stepped out of line, Souji would raise hell and start dropping people. Izuna would be right by his side. "Brother hates Tobirama, and Izuna is in the same boat as Souji. Tobirama is antagonistic as well as pugnacious, I don't doubt he's pissed one or both of them off."
Of course that also meant the Senju were backing Tobirama.
"I really hope not." Hashirama spoke up, keeping a respectful distance from Ahiko as he made his way over to them, he had no desire to suffer Mikito's wrath again. "We should hurry back."
"I think I'll drag my feet." Mikito concluded. "Let your brother get what's coming to him."
Good idea." Madara agreed, not taking his long and quick strides as usual.
Hashirama narrowed his eyes while picking up his pace.
Everyone was gathered up in what seemed to be record time. Men, women, children, women with children, and soldiers were all in a neat order. It wasn't quite a straight single file line, but it was organized and orderly as opposed to just a mob like it had been before. Some were waiting patiently, while others were completely restless and had no semblance of what waiting meant or patience.
Most of the trepidation was coming from the fact two damiyos were present from opposing sides. Many were bracing for the implosion that turned into a war.
Souji couldn't care less though since he completed his task alongside Tobirama and Izuna, despite the priggish bastard shooting him a ferocious glare every few seconds whenever he got the chance. Tobirama, the little sniveling shit. Breaking his nose more than five times still wasn't enough to get the point across, maybe he was going to need crack that fat head wide open and let his life blood flow right out of him or snap his chicken neck.
"The fuck are you looking at?" Souji growled when the same pair of ruby eyes flicked onto him for the umpteenth time.
"Domou." Tobirama hissed.
"You Senju pig." Souji spat with venom. He didn't care if the entirety of the Senju force was just behind him, they were all weaker than him anyways and wouldn't hope to hold a candle to him. The only person that could prove to be entertaining-Tobirama, must have felt pretty confident with roughly four hundred or so Senju backing him up.
"What'd you just say?" A Senju kunoichi demanded.
"Shut up, bitch."
"You'd better watch your mouth." Tobirama snarled.
"Shut up, bitch."
"Who are you calling a bitch!?" A few Senju shinobi barked, one looked particularly outraged.
"He's calling that wench a bitch." Izuna interjected, stepping right up to Souji's side and leveling a hateful glare with all of them. "Or maybe he's calling of you bitches, doesn't change the fact you're all bitches."
"I'm calling all of you bitches." Souji said darkly, eyeing up each and every Senju present. None of them were impressive, and even Tobirama looked more mundane than anything despite his powerful chakra and life force. "The fuck are you going to do about it? You're not a stupid person Tobirama, though you like to put up your fronts. You can't be in a straight up one on one fight, and you sure as hell can't beat me and Izuna together. Even pathetic little Senju have their limits. Contrary to how you all act, you are not gods."
"You've gone too far now." Tobirama growled.
"How hubris of you." Souji spat.
Souji found himself punching the Senju kunoichi across the mouth-she darted right for him, followed by a rather tall man. Izuna sprung into action flooring several more in rapid succession as they swarmed both of them with Tobirama leading the charge. He shot towards the bastard snarling once his hand connected with Tobirama's neck and powered forward, slamming him into the nearest wall and bracing as Souji began slamming thunderous punch after thunderous punch into the Senju's stomach while Tobirama and the tall Senju returned fire.
Souji grabbed the tall Senju by the side of his face and started hammering his fist into his face.
"Souji!"
"Izuna!"
"Tobirama! Hachiro!"
The trio were broken from their irate flurry from the equally irate shouts erupting from their respective siblings.
Hashirama immediately ran to Tobirama's side as he hit the ground coughing out handfuls of blood and nursing his torso. He flicked his eyes onto the Senju who had yet to get up from what he could only assume was Souji's and Izuna's strikes. There wasn't any rivers of blood, so not a single sword had been drawn. That was a relief at least. "I thought I told you to help the best you can!" Hashirama couldn't contain his anger. "I expected better."
"It was them, Hashirama-sama. They were speaking ill of our clan!" Hachiro snarled, glaring at Souji and Izuna.
"Cry me a river." Izuna spat.
"You shut your mouth!" Madara snapped.
Izuna's glare was lethal.
"They started it!" Tobirama hissed, eyes glowering at Hashirama as he nursed his torso. "You damn Domou and Uchiha..."
"Oh yeah, like my brother is going to try and pound your organs out for no reason." Mikito spat, highly unimpressed with Tobirama's little defense. Yeah, two men are going to start trouble with one man and about four hundred others roughly? Yeah, fat chance of that happening, even if Souji did hate him, he wasn't going to start anything, he was going to finish it if anything. "Take responsibility for provoking this shit in the first place. We all know it was you behind the whole thing, you little brat."
"I will as soon as they take responsibility for what they've done!" Tobirama retorted angrily, not liking the fact she called him a brat.
"Tobirama, that's enough..." Hashirama's voice dropped a few tones.
"I take responsibility for beating your ass and beating all your cronies' asses." Souji said, smirking just slightly as the grounded Senju glared at him along with Tobirama. Clearly they didn't like being knocked from their high horse and forced to eat mud face first, but it was going to continue happening, and there wasn't a thing they could do about it. "I also take responsibility for almost breaking, if not breaking three of your ribs. Have fun healing that you brat."
"As do I take responsibility for putting you all in your place." Izuna spat, glaring at Madara for a few seconds.
"You want to push?" Madara leveled a glare with Izuna. "You better knock your shit off!"
"Shut up, Madara." Izuna hissed.
"Want to repeat that?"
"Shut the fuck up."
"Put me in my place!?" A Senju shinobi demanded, cutting between the brother's dispute.
"You're damn right, how's the ground taste? I hope it tastes good, because you're all going to be very familiar with it from this point on. If you keep it up I'll put you all in a ditch, ASAP." Mikito growled, watching with a strange sense of pleasure as all of the Senju present-including Hashirama and Tobirama bristled from her statement and narrowed their eyes. Clearly, they didn't like losing or being knocked down from their high horse. "You are not gods by any means, you are human. You can bleed."
"Our strength surpasses that of a mere mortal!" Hachiro snarled.
"So if I crush your windpipe you'll survive?" Mikito laughed softly, brushing some dust from her shoulder. "You foolish little Senju man, not even Hashirama could heal a crushed windpipe. You Senju really are hubris and priggish, to the point you can't even see the writing on the wall. But, I'm positive your Council will tear you a new one when you return."
"It's time we go." Hashirama said decisively, looking at Mikito long and hard before turning his eyes onto Madara. The Uchiha was content on just watching Mikito while glaring murderously at him and the rest of his kinsmen-Izuna and Souji were even worse and if looks could kill.
"Get the fuck out of here." Souji growled. "You Senju have an awful stench."
"We will meet again." Tobirama, Hachiro, and a few Senju muttered threateningly.
"And, it will be the last time we meet face to face." Mikito said with finality, cutting it to the quick. Senju were more fond of retorts and battling with words instead of battling with wills and chakra like her clan, the Uchiha, and the vast majority of clans. She was never fond of talking in a long winded manner. Senju love to battle with words and ideals. "Don't bite off more than you can chew. The Senju have provoked a war with the Domou in the past and have suffered the Domou's wrath as a result, we mowed you all down and beat you into submission."
Hachiro whirled around on her, eyes glowering as he clenched his fists at his sides. "I won't let you get away with saying that!"
"Hachiro, stop!" Hashirama ordered.
Hachiro drew his kunai, and lunged at Mikito.
Mikito sent his head flying, a fresh eruption of crimson splattering onto the ground as her sword glinted in the darkness.
"Hachiro!" Hashirama clenched his teeth, watching the headless body thud onto the ground. Hachiro provoked it, had he not drawn his kunai ready to attack, Mikito wouldn't have attacked so swiftly. But, regardless of all of that he was still one of his kinsmen, and seeing him cut down without any shred of remorse put anger in the pit of his belly. She could have knocked him out, but instead cut off his head.
"It will be the same result every time." Mikito said coldly, ignoring the several cries of shock as she turned, swiping her sword to the side ridding it of the blood. "I will send your heads flying, whether it's one of you or a million, now get the fuck out of here. Learn to keep your little cronies in check, you incompetent fool."
"Mikito, you..." Hashirama set his jaw.
"If I have to repeat myself, you will wish you've never been born." Mikito stated.
Souji, Izuna, and Madara drew their swords.
"Leave, or we will send your heads flying just like Hachiro's." Izuna said coldly, pointing his blade forward. These damn Senju really didn't know their place. "She's been too merciful with you Senju for my taste, I'm not going to show such mercy."
They glared at each other.
Senju.
Uchiha and Domou.
The battle lines were now drawn. They were already there, but now it was without any doubt.
But, everyone could plainly see that the Senju were at a severe disadvantage against the Uchiha and Domou-two to one. They were alone while the Domou and Uchiha were unified together.
It was beyond clear to Tobirama.
Drastic times.
Drastic measures.
As the saying goes.