Chapter Text
Izuna was bored. Sure, the girl that he was with, Sora, was definitely a looker with long, blond hair and large, blue eyes, but she wasn’t very talkative. She wouldn’t speak to him on their way to the overpriced restaurant that she wanted to go to. He was already getting a bit weary of her and was starting to believe that she was going to end up being more high-maintenance than anything else.
He looked down at her and saw that she was staring straight ahead, her stance rigid as though she was uncomfortable. He had a sneaking suspicion that she didn’t really want to be there. Part of him was offended, mostly because he considered himself to be a pretty good-looking guy and a great conversationalist. She should have been thrilled that he had asked her out.
“Is everything alright?” he found himself asking. Maybe there was something wrong that was on her mind.
“I’m fine,” she said, turning toward him. She gave him a reassuring smile, but there was something forced about it. He wanted to press further on the issue but just let it go. He didn’t want to push her away anymore than she already seemed to be. This was a date, which was supposed to be fun. There would be no fun if she was going to be this awkward the entire time. He would just have to get her to loosen up when they got to the restaurant.
The streets got busier as they made it to the market district. Shop keepers were shouting at them to stop by and try their products, but Izuna and Sora kept walking past. They were about halfway through when they were forced to stop, workers were trying to push a large convoy of carts across the pathway. Something told him to look to his right.
His eyes widened as he saw a female shinobi standing with her back to him. Her long brown hair was hanging down, almost reaching her waist…and what a lovely waist it was, narrow before it rounded into wide hips and a very plush bottom. His mouth went dry for a moment before an overflow of saliva took over. He felt a small bit of drool at the corner of his lip and that was when he jumped, and hurriedly looked away.
It was too late, however.
As soon as he looked back at Sora and saw that she was looking directly at him, he knew he’d screwed up. Her blue eyes practically had flames raging in them as she looked up at him in unadulterated disgust. “I knew it!” she screamed. Izuna jumped back, startled by the outburst. She pointed an accusing finger at him. “My friends told me that you were nothing but a total pig! We’re on a date, and you’re looking at other women!”
“Maybe if you’d actually talk to me, I might not have been looking around!” Izuna snapped back defensively. “Besides, it’s not my fault that she has a nice ass!”
“You pervert!” she screeched.
Izuna saw the hand flying forward, and could have dodged it, but he just stood there and took the slap to the face. Partially because he probably deserved it and partially because he figured that it would probably cause even more of a scene if he did move out of the way.
His head snapped to the side when she connected. He shut his eyes in defeat as he slowly turned back to look at her. She was already turning away and he just watched her walk off resignedly.
He looked away after she had disappeared through the crowed and saw that most people nearby had turned and looked at him, including the woman that he had gotten in trouble for staring at. His mouth dropped open as him and the woman locked eyes. It was Toka Senju. He immediately looked away from the woman and saw, with no small amount of relief, that the carts had cleared out. He quickly took off down the street, putting as much space between him and Toka as he could.
He was nearly out of the market area when he saw a familiar head of fluffy, white hair. He wanted to bypass the other man completely. He had just been caught gawking at the other man’s cousin, and he wasn’t sure if he was feeling guilty over that or not. Normally, he had no shame in his game, but he worked with Toka, and she was his best friend’s cousin. Did it count that he didn’t know that it had been Toka that he had been looking at? He didn’t think that it did.
Tobirama hadn’t seen him yet. He could get away with not stopping by….
If you see Tobirama, could you give him a message for me? He remembered that Madara had asked him to pass something on to his soulmate earlier that day. He shut his eyes and sighed in defeat. He was going to have to talk to him now. He had promised Madara that he would, and he would feel bad about it if he didn’t.
He schooled his expression before perking up, pretending that absolutely nothing was wrong as he bounded forward. As he got closer, he saw that Hashirama was there as well. “Hey, guys!” he shouted, making sure that his voice was loud enough to carry through the sizable crowd. Both men turned around and searched for a moment before locating him. Izuna power walked toward them, crossing the distance quickly.
“Hey Izuna!” Hashirama greeted him in his usual cheery manner. There was a bag of some sort on his wrist and it swung from side to side as he waved at him. “What’s up?”
“I was actually on my way to a date,” he admitted sheepishly. There was no point in lying about that.
“Then why are you stopping to talk to us?” Tobirama asked him, suspicious as always. His eyes were already narrowed as though he was searching for whatever it was that Izuna was trying to hide. Izuna had to fight back the urge to get defensive.
He smiled guiltily at them. “She, uh…well, she caught me staring at someone else and got pissed,” he sighed. His hand came up to the back of his head and he rubbed the spot as he shrugged, as though silently asking what can you do. Tobirama’s eyebrow rose, as though he had a few comments about that, but he seemed to decide to keep those opinions silent. “She dumped me and ran home.”
“Who were you staring at?” Hashirama asked. Izuna saw his Hokage lean forward like an old woman trying to get her hands on a juicy bit of gossip. He supposed—despite the obvious flaws in the other’s personality—that he at least acted right when the situation called for it.
“Not important,” he said immediately, shutting down that direction of conversation before it could ever start. He turned and looked at Tobirama and said, “Big brother is looking for you. He said something about needing to give you something. You might want to stop by his house after you finish shopping.”
The suspicious expression that he had been wearing before shifted to a curious frown. Apparently, whatever it was that Madara wanted to give the other man wasn’t something that Tobirama knew about. That was curious in itself, but it was also a conversation to be had on a later date.
Sadly, the other man was only hung up on this for a moment. After that, he was right back to the previous subject. Izuna.
“Don’t change the subject, Izuna,” Tobirama told him. Izuna watched in horror as his friend’s lips began twitching in one corner. He was trying to fight off a smile. He was enjoying this! “Who is she?”
“Who said that it’s a she?” Izuna demanded, grasping at anything that might throw them off their questioning. Pretending to be indignant and offended might work out just fine. He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at them, faking a hurt expression.
“We didn’t mean to be so presumptuous!” Hashirama shouted quickly, waving his arms around in the air.
Bingo.
Hashirama really was too easy. “Of course, I don’t care if it’s a man or a woman as long as you’re happy, and you both—”
“Don’t panic, fool,” Tobirama cut his brother off. Of course, he would be so much more difficult to throw off. “Of course, it’s a woman. Izuna has never expressed any interest in men before and has turned down countless offers from different men around the village, some of them the most desirable and attractive that Konoha has to offer. So, Izuna…who is she, and why are you being so secretive about it?”
Izuna looked from side to side helplessly. He was out of options and felt like a cornered animal. This is what Madara has in store for him as a soulmate…poor bastard. Better him than me, I suppose. Suddenly, a light exploded in his mind as he saw a pathetic excuse as a way out.
“You know what,” Izuna said slowly, taking a small step back. He would have to make a run for it before he could be stopped and called out on his bullshit. “I think I left a couple of kunai back at the guard post. I really should go and get them before they disappear. They’re really not that cheap to replace, and all that.”
He quickly spun around and took off back into the crowd, disappearing from them before either one of them could call out to him.
That was close, and he figured that this wouldn’t be over. He had acted way too suspicious for his own good.
He knew that he was going in the opposite direction of his house, but if he didn’t go to the guard posts, then Tobirama would know if he bothered checking…that was depending on how invested he was on the whole thing, but he figured that it was better safe than sorry. He dragged his feet there, not bothering to be in a hurry. He had nothing better to do with his day. He would probably just train for the rest of the afternoon.
He was frustrated as he practiced throwing kunai. It was such a distracting feeling that he missed the target more times than a genin would. He didn’t even have it in himself to be ashamed of it. He would probably force himself to come out and attempt to remaster the basics of being a ninja some other time.
Why was it always him that had the shittiest luck with women? All he wanted was a woman that appreciated him properly. It wasn’t as though he was looking for one that worshipped him, but was it too much to ask for him to have one that wasn’t expecting the worst out of him every single moment that they were together?
He didn’t even know where the rumor that he was a total man-whore had come from, but it was really starting to piss him off. Sure, he dated a lot of girls, but it wasn’t like he slept with every woman that he was with. A lot of the time stupid things happened—today was a great example—way before he was close to that step. His reputation was completely ruined, and he knew that he was never going to be able to settle down. He wanted kids someday, and it was never going to happen if he couldn’t find a woman that trusted him enough for them to have a serious relationship together.
He cursed and stopped, giving up when one of his kunai pierced into a neighboring tree rather than going onto the target. He wasn’t getting anywhere with this exercise, and it was just putting him into an even worse mood when he missed.
“Sounds like you’re having a really rough day,” a woman’s voice called from behind him. Toka Senju walked forward slowly, one of his kunai in her hand. She was twirling it around her index finger effortlessly. That show of skill made his heart race. He had always thought that powerful and capable women was a turn on and was now wondering how he hadn’t realized exactly how sexy Toka was.
“That woman you were with earlier was a bit of a bitch,” she informed him as she walked over and handed him his weapon back. “You might want to go after some that are a little less catty.”
Izuna breathed out a laugh as he grabbed the handle of the kunai and placed it back in his weapon’s pouch. “No kidding,” he agreed. “I didn’t realize that she was psycho, or I would never have asked her out.”
“Well, here’s some dating advice for you,” she said as she backed away from him and leaned against one of the trees in the clearing. “Why don’t you get to know the woman before you ask her out? You’d be surprised how many bullets you’d dodge.”
“You might be right,” Izuna allowed. “I might actually have to take you up on that idea. I’m getting pretty sick of being screamed at all the time like I’m some sort of sick pervert, anyway.”
“It’d also help if you weren’t staring at someone’s ass while you’re out on a date,” Toka informed him. “I probably would have broken a bone for that one.”
Izuna had to fight back a sigh of relief. Toka hadn’t realized that it had been her ass that he’d been staring at before. That might have been the first good thing that had happened to him that day.
“That’s why I mostly date civilian women,” Izuna informed her. “They’re tough, but they’ve got nothing on shinobi.”
“I always thought that you liked powerful chicks,” Toka said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not saying that a civilian woman can’t be powerful, but you said it yourself, shinobi women are on a completely different level.”
“They are,” Izuna agreed. “I would love to date a kunoichi, but it’s just that I haven’t found the right one yet.” He smiled and said, “They’re very special ladies, and I respect them more than damn near anyone. I would have to feel very strongly about one to ask them out.”
“Enough of that mushy bullshit,” Toka said, obviously sick of the subject at hand. “It’s obvious that you’re here to get your mind off things. Fight me.”
Izuna blinked uncomprehendingly and Toka pushed herself off the tree trunk and said, “Come on, Uchiha. Let’s spar. I’m in the mood to throw down, and I’m sure that you are too.”
Izuna smiled at her and said, “Alright, Senju. Let’s see if you’ve softened up since the last mission we were on together.”
They danced around each other at first, each trying to land soft blows on the other, but they weren’t able to make contact. Both of them were much too skilled for either to go easy on. It only took Izuna a few minutes to realize this.
“Okay,” he said as he dodged a weakly thrown kick. “If you stop holding back, then I will too. We’re not going to have any fun like this.”
Toka grinned at him; a maniacal light began shining in her eyes. “I’ll stop going easy on you if you promise to do the same for me.”
“Deal,” Izuna nodded. They both backed up and began circling the other. “Let’s make it interesting. Taijutsu only. First one on their back loses.”
“Prepared to get knocked on your ass,” Toka advised him before she sprang forward.
He blocked her first kick with his forearm and grabbed at her ankle, slinging the rest of her body toward him as he tried to knock out her other foot and make her lose balance. She jumped up before he could and swung a braced forearm at his head. He ducked forward to dodge it and had to let her go before she could wrap herself around him like a koala and use her weight to wrestle him down. He quickly backed away with a grin on his face, becoming more and more intrigued as the seconds ticked by.
“You’re good…for a Senju,” Izuna informed her.
“Both of my cousins could kick your ass,” Toka replied smartly. Her voice was humorous, and Izuna knew that she didn’t mean anything by the comment.
Before he could come up with a cocky reply, she was back on him. He quickly forgot about the short conversation in favor of concentrating on blocking and countering her moves. One wrong step and he would be the loser.
They fought for what felt like hours and were evenly matched throughout the entire thing. It had to have been a while, however, because the sun was beginning to sink down. He was winded as he finally called out a truce. “We’re both good,” he said as they finally stopped fighting. He grinned at her as he wiped sweat off his forehead and watched as she did the same. “I’m almost certain that you could kick your cousins’ asses.”
She laughed at that and shrugged. “We trained together when we were younger. You have to train really hard to keep up with a pair of such talented and powerful boys.”
Izuna nodded in agreement. He knew all about having to give it your all just to try and keep up with a prodigy. He had done the same with his older brother, the star of the Uchiha clan. A lowly glinting object caught his eye and he turned to see one of his kunai sticking out of the dirt. He slowly walked over to it and listened as Toka said, “You’re really good, Uchiha. I don’t think I’ve had a workout like that in a while.”
He turned his head and grinned at her as he leaned down to grab the knife.
“I’m going to be sore in the morning,” she continued, her back bowing forward as she stretched. “Hell, I’m a bit sore now.”
He couldn’t look away as she leaned forward, as though she was attempting to touch her toes, obviously trying to stretch out a sore muscle in her back. He wasn’t trying to think of the reason that she had done that, however. He was too busy looking at the peripheral view of her ass…such a nice ass.
Ouch! His palm had come down on the blade of the knife and the sharp edge had sliced into the skin deep. He could already feel blood welling around the cut.
“Dammit!” Toka cursed, straightening back up at the same time that he’d cut himself. She was gripping her right hand in her left one and holding both of them up to her ample bosom. “I swear, my soulmate is a klutz! He’s always cutting or hurting himself! How does an idiot hurt their own palm?!”
Izuna promptly felt the blood run out of his face as panic began to settle at the pit of his stomach. Before he could make an ass out of himself, and that damn Uchiha family trait of blurting out words while under duress came back at him with full-force, he quickly shouted, “I’ve gotta go!” before turning around and dashing out of the forest.
He didn’t care if he had acted suspicious or if she thought that he was an uncaring prick. He was moments away from freaking out as an unsettling realization was finally making its way to his mind.
She’s my soulmate…there’s no way that’s a coincidence.
He quickly began rushing toward Madara's house. He really needed to speak to an adult, and Madara was the only one that he could think of in his moment of need. His brother would be able to help him. His big brother would make everything alright.