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The first time Senju Kawarama saw his soulmate is at the edge of a battlefield after cutting down an opponent thrice his age. The tall man falls backwards with a gurgle, giving Kawarama a direct line of sight to his intended.
It wasn’t really a surprise to meet his soulmate on a battlefield. It wasn’t very common for a shinobi to have a civilian soulmate, so most of the shinobi ended up discovering their soulmates on the field; very unfortunate, as it was usually followed by the death of one or both of them due to the on-going battle.
No, finding his soulmate staring at him from across the battlefield wasn’t surprising. What was surprising, however, was undoubtedly the Uchiha features he sported, especially when the current enemy their platoon was engaging wasn’t even part of their clan. The Uchiha boy was crouching next to a rock at the tree-line was observing the battle, not engaging, so he was most likely a scout.
The Uchiha’s dark eyes swept the battlefield until they got to him, and when Kawarama’s eyes met the Uchiha’s, he felt a strange thrum through his body, as if there had been a drum inside him and someone had just given it a hit.
He took a startled breath and a single step forward, intending, perhaps foolishly, to go meet with a boy whom he could never truly bond with, not with the Senju and the Uchiha at constant odds when a sharp pain bit his left side.
Kawarama saw the boy’s eyes widen and looked down, first to the sword digging into his side and then to the woman who had stepped in to avenger her comrade. She sneered at him and tugged her sword out, lifting the blade into a finishing blow when she was suddenly engaged by Marimi, one of Kawarama’s cousins, who forced the Hagoromo woman away from him.
Kawarama pressed his hand down to the wound, his clothes and hand quickly getting soaked in blood. Feeling lightheaded and short of breath, he looked back up toward his intended, blinking in surprise when the eyes he met were no longer dark but red with the familiar glow of the famed Uchiha bloodline limit, the dark tomoe whirring rapidly as the boy looked at him in horror, shaking his head in denial.
Taking a single step forward, Kawarama felt his knees buckle and lost the sight of his soulmate as he fell forward, landing next to the Hagoromo man he’d killed moments before. Kawarama felt disconnected, his ears ringing as he gasped for breath. Craning his head, he managed to find the Uchiha boy once more, but he wasn’t alone any longer, instead visibly arguing with someone, although the sound of their argument didn’t carry across the field. Kawarama saw the taller man glance at him, looking troubled, before pressing his lips together in a familiar expression of frustration and disappointment. They said something which caused the boy to glance at Kawarama, desperation visible in his expression, visibly crying out in denial as the man grabbed a hold of his soulmate and dragged him away.
Something inside Kawarama lurched painfully as he lost sight of his intended without completing the bond, but he didn’t have time to dwell on the feeling for long as he found himself being turned over, cousin Arata’s worried eyes taking in the damage. Kawarama’s sight dimmed from around the edges as Arata fussed over him, healing chakra invading his body and bringing with it a strange warmth which soon soothed Kawarama to sleep.
——————————————————
The next time Kawarama saw his soulmate, their positions were nearly reversed. He was running a message to his father’s squad but when he came across them, they were engaged in battle. Looking around the battlefield to see if it was safe to wait it out or if they needed him to step in, Kawarama felt the same thrum in his body as he met the desperate red eyes of his soulmate.
Kawarama didn’t think, he didn’t even take a single breath before he formed the seal his brother had taught him only a month ago and switched places with his intended, finding himself meeting blades with his befuddled father.
“W-What?!” his father visibly blanched at the sight of him, his other hand rising in a seal to break a nonexistent genjutsu. Butsuma stepped back in shock when nothing changed and had to abruptly defend himself from the irate Uchiha clan head who had clearly not appreciated the attempt to kill one of the children under his command, leaving Kawarama to scramble on his feet and join the battle that he’d already crashed into.
Looking back to the treeline where he’d been standing before his unexpected interference, Kawarama saw no trace of his soulmate and bit back a pang of disappointment at another missed opportunity.
——————————————————
“Niichan?”
Kawarama looked up from his mission report with a hum of interest.
“Do you think we can find our soulmates one day, like Mama and Otou-sama?” Itama asked, playing with one of Daikoku’s ears. The large wolf twitched it but wasn’t bothered when the boy didn’t let it go, already more than used to the human pups’ habits. “Touka said she didn’t think she even wanted to find hers but isn’t that weird?”
“Touka probably doesn’t want to find them just to lose them; you know it’s very likely to happen,” Kawarama shrugged. “She’d rather not know and just choose for herself I guess.”
“Oh… but what do you think?” Itama insisted. “Do you think we’ll find ours?”
Thinking back to the wide, surprised features of his own soulmate, Kawarama found himself smiling softly.
“Yeah, I do. You might find them in the most surprising moment, and they might not be… as you would expect, but… if you just keep trying and don’t give up, then… yes, I think you might find them.”
Itama scrunched his nose in apparent confusion.
“… why are you saying I will? What about you?”
“I…” Kawarama hesitated for a moment. “I already did.”
“… oh,” Itama looked at him with wide eyes. “Is… how are they? I mean… are they… do they- do you like them? Do they like you?”
“I don’t know,” Kawarama admitted with a sheepish smile. “I’ve seen them twice, but both times it was mid-battle and we didn’t have time to talk… I’m hoping we will, sometime soon though. Maybe we’ll run into each other elsewhere…”
“That’s dumb,” Itama sighed. “I hope you will. You’ll introduce us, right?”
“I… well, if the occasion allows,” Kawarama dodged, relieved when Itama went back to tormenting Daikoku’s poor ears and dropped the subject.
How was he supposed to tell his family his soulmate was an Uchiha? They were at war! It wasn’t like he could just drag the boy home, cheerfully announce their bond to the family and expect them to welcome him with open arms.
Sighing, Kawarama went back to his mission report, attempting to put the issue out of his mind for the moment.
——————————————————
The stories, legends, of soulmates never told of the absolute pain in the ass it was to meet them. Oh, finding them was difficult? Yeah, sure, Kawarama had no doubt it was, to some, but to him, the most difficult part was actually truly meeting his.
The first time he had laid his eyes on his soulmate was on a battlefield when he had been seven years old.
Now, considering Kawarama was a Senju and his intended was an Uchiha, you’d think, with the clans in constant war, that they would eventually at least cross blades, right?
But, no, they didn’t, not once, and what was worse, there were so many children on the field no one could even reliably tell Kawarama the boy’s name even if they had crossed blades with him.
While Kawarama was certainly grateful that his soulmate was still alive for him to at least attempt to finally complete their bond, but for the love of all the gods the Senju prayed to, — and the Uchiha gods for good measure — , what had they done to deserve being kept apart like this?!
Kawarama was incensed enough about the issue that when he caught sight of his soulmate on the battlefield again, this time on the receiving end of his elder brother’s ire, Kawarama was absolutely and irreparably done with the universe’s shit.
Pulling his hand up into a familiar seal as he watched his brother prepare to activate his fancy teleportation technique with the intention to cut down Kawarama’s elusive soulmate, Kawarama activated the technique and switched places, — this time with his brother, not with his soulmate — , and ended up bowling the surprised Uchiha over, meeting stunned, whirling red eyes and feeling the by now irritably familiar thrum of the bond inside him once more.
Finally!
“Hi!” Kawarama grinned, feeling delighted laughter bubbling from his chest. “I’m Kawarama, what’s your name?”
“I-Izuna…” the Uchiha blinked up at him. “Uhm… thanks… I think you just saved my life… again?”
Inside him, Kawarama felt another thrum and pleasant warmth spread through his body as the soul bond was finally satisfied that their meeting had been appropriately completed.
“No problem- oh!” Kawarama twisted, bringing his sword up to parry his brother’s kunai. “Tobi-nii could you not?”
“Kawarama, what the hell are you-” Tobirama seethed, visibly bristling as he stalked over. “I almost had him! Do you have any idea-”
“Look Tobi-nii, I realise you have issues, but I’ve waited for this moment for eighteen years, so could you just give us a minute?” Kawarama pleaded with a strained grin. “And maybe like, try to decide not to kill your future brother-in-law while you wait us out?”
“Excuse me?” Tobirama’s eyes widened, and he looked between them before blanching. “Kawarama… no. Please don’t tell me it’s him? Do you even know who he is?”
“Kawarama, yes,” Kawarama chuckled. “And… uh, Uchiha Izuna, I think, we just about had time for introductions- wait-”
Kawarama looked down at his soulmate who was glancing between them warily, stuck under his weight and unable to go for his weapons beyond his doujutsu.
“Izuna? As in-?” Kawarama raised his brows.
“As in Madara’s younger brother, Uchiha clan heir and a thorn in my heel for over a decade already,” Tobirama growled.
Izuna met Kawarama’s gaze and he could see the dread mounting in his red eyes.
“… wow,” Kawarama blinked. “Huh, I guess this’ll make Hashi-nii really happy then.”
“What?” Tobirama frowned. “Kawarama-”
“How many times has he told us not to kill Madara’s brothers?” Kawarama glowered at his elder brother. “And what does he want, more than anything in the world?”
“Kawarama-” Tobirama’s tone turned from confusion to dread.
“Marriage would make a great alliance!” Kawarama grinned, looking down at his stunned soulmate. “What do you say, Izuna? I know we technically just met, but I’ve been trying to meet you properly for eighteen years so I’m pretty sure we can skip the courting, right?”
“U-Uh…” Izuna blinked up at him, visibly trying to come up with a reasonable answer that wouldn’t make his situation worse, only for it to not be up to him at all when Kawarama and Tobirama were suddenly blown off of him.
“Izuna!” Madara looked visibly spooked as he landed next to his brother and pulled him up from the ground, patting him down for wounds. “Are you hurt?”
“… no, Niisan, I’m… fine,” Izuna managed, brushing off his brother’s hands and getting to his feet. “Thank you… but also if you kill them I swear I will drown you in your pond.”
“What?” Madara blinked in surprise, glancing between them in confusion. “Izuna-”
“Ah, Madara!” Hashirama exclaimed cheerfully as he landed between Kawarama and Tobirama, patting their shoulders briefly. “So this is where you went. Did you want to go home for the day?”
“What- no, I- don’t-” Madara bristled.
“Hashi-nii!” Kawarama grinned. “Perfect timing!”
“Kawarama, no, don’t- please-” Tobirama pleaded.
“I finally did it!” Kawarama laughed, ignoring Tobirama’s protests as he pointed at Izuna. “That’s him, that’s my soulmate! He finally told me his name, it’s Izuna! Have you fought him before? Tobirama said he’s Madara’s brother. I already asked him to marry me, but he didn’t say yet…”
Kawarama blinked as a thought occurred to him.
“Oh, do you think I’ll have to ask Madara for his hand first? I didn’t think of that…”
He watched as both Izuna and Madara’s eyes widened in shock while Hashirama’s widened only briefly before a bright grin appeared on his lips.
“My little brother… and yours?” Hashirama beamed at Madara. “Oh, this is the perfect way, Madara! It’s a tradition to form alliances through marriage!”
“Please don’t bring tradition into this, Anija,” Tobirama groaned. “We don’t share any traditions with the Uchiha; our only tradition involving Uchiha is killing as many of them as we can… and speaking of which, could we get back to that?”
“No,” Hashirama shot him down with a bright grin. “And what have I told you about targeting Madara’s brothers, Tobirama?”
Kawarama laughed at the uncomfortable silence radiating from Tobirama and met Izuna’s eyes while Madara was too busy gaping at them.
“I’m so glad to finally meet you, Izuna… I’ve been waiting for this for so long,” Kawarama bit his lip, looking at the other man pleadingly, hoping desperately that Izuna had been as frustrated with their lack of contact as he had been.
Izuna gazed at him, glancing at his brothers, Madara and his brothers again before finally returning his gaze to Kawarama.
“Me too. I didn’t expect… this though,” Izuna glanced at their company again. “I knew you were a Senju, but… did- did you call them your brothers? Are you really…?”
“Technically an heir to Senju,” Kawarama shrugged. “I mean, I’m the second youngest of four… but I’m still somewhere in the inheritance order so it wouldn’t even be a bad match, right?”
“… right,” Izuna agreed with a surprisingly soft if slightly hesitant smile.
Glancing at their brothers, Kawarama took in Madara and Tobirama’s infuriated glovers and Hashirama’s bright grin, feeling something ease inside him.
Turning his attention to Madara, Kawarama matched his brother’s brilliant smile.
“So, Madara-niisama, may I have your blessing to marry your brother? I promise we’ve saved each other’s lives enough times over the last eighteen years for it to have counted as courting!”
The massive chakra spike Madara let out in response brought the battles across the field into a standstill as Senju and Uchiha alike turned to see what the matter was.
The sound of silence and lack of movement around them was the perfect example of what was to come out of the future alliance and it made Hashirama grin even wider, while Tobirama sighed and looked up in resignation, visibly dooming himself for a lifetime of Uchiha in-laws.
Kawarama and Izuna smiled at each other already knowing that once Madara was done seething, he’d do anything to make his brother happy.
The wait might’ve been excruciating, but apparently, good thing came to those who waited.
Patience was a virtue after all.