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Tobirama lazily opened her eyes at the gentle touch to her bare back. She didn’t remember falling asleep after swimming, only laying down after putting her fundoshi back on, but the soft heat of the afternoon sun must have lulled her into a light doze. It had been an unusually cold spring in the newly named Konoha and at the first hint of warm enough temperatures, Tobirama took a rarely used day off to laze about, swimming in a calm section of the Naka River. She specifically looked for a bend in the river with no one around, so the touch at her back could only have been from a handful of people if his senses didn’t alert her.
She groaned lightly as the touch grew firmer, kneading the muscles in her shoulders and back until she was putty.
“You’re going to make me fall back asleep.” She said, drawing a chuckle from the body above her.
“Maybe you should,” Madara murmured, still running her hands up and down Tobirama’s back. She knew the other woman, always fascinated by them, was tracing the seals tattooed into her skin. “Today was the first day off you’ve taken in how many months? Hashirama thought you had been kidnapped until I got there to reason with him.”
“Anija thinks I’ve been kidnapped if I’m late to family dinner.”
“That’s Mito’s problem to deal with.”
“It could be your problem…” Tobirama mumbled, glad she was facing away from Madara. She could feel her face growing hotter as Madara’s hands stilled. She always flushed so easily around the other woman. “You could be there. For family dinner, that is.”
“…I’ve been to family dinner before? Hashirama has probably managed to drag just about everyone to dinner at least once.” Madara said, slightly confused.
Tobirama sighed.
If it wasn’t related to a mission, Madara couldn’t catch subtlety unless it blew up in her face. That was a seduction attempt Tobirama was glad she wouldn’t have to repeat. Well, she wouldn’t mind repeating the result. She shoved that memory aside along with her embarrassment.
“I was hoping you would come to family dinner with me. Not as a friend.”
“You want to tell Hashirama we’re together?” Madara asked, surprise coloring her voice. They had been dating in secret since the dinner after their onsen rendezvous. Not because they were ashamed or worried about any backlash, but because they wouldn’t be left alone once their families found out. Madara could imagine the headache caused by Hashirama’s crying. No one knew about them except for Mito, who found out by accident, and Madara’s great aunt Suzuna, who just knew. Madara was convinced she was a witch. She was broken out of her thoughts as Tobirama grumbled something.
“Come again?”
Tobirama’s flush was back even stronger as it reached the tips of her ears.
“Yes, I would like to tell everyone we are together.” Tobirama said again. She moved to get up and Madara shifted off her so they could sit side by side. She smirked lightly as Madara’s eyes flashed down to her exposed chest and back up to her face. Tobirama had never been body shy, most of the Senju weren’t, and it was cute that Madara still got as flustered as that first time in the onsen.
“Not that I’m opposed,” Madara said slowly, trying to focus on the conversation. “But why now?”
Tobirama grew shy again, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
“The village is basically complete,” she started. Be practical, lay out the facts. “Almost everyone has moved from their temporary residences to their permanent homes. Anija and Aneue have officially moved into the Senju clan head’s home.”
“Ok?”
“Izuna said your homes have just been finished as well, but he will be moving into his own residence instead of living with you.”
“Yes,” Madara said with a pout, “the brat said he wants some independence and that I won’t be able to “mother hen” him if we don’t live together.”
“I highly doubt that will stop you,” Tobirama said with a small smile, ignoring her partner’s exaggerated look of affront. For all her rough demeanor and hot temper, Madara was a caretaker at heart. It had been a surprise the first time the older woman brought her a bento while working in the makeshift administrative building.
“I know you didn’t eat breakfast, and you were probably going to skip lunch,” Tobirama remembers her saying, the scowl on her face mismatched with the gentle way she wrapped Tobirama’s hands around the lacquered box.
“Ok, ok, what does this have to do with us?” Madara said, drawing Tobirama’s attention again.
She took a breath. This was a logical solution to both of their problems. She could do this.
“Izuna was worried about you living alone,” she said, plucking out a petal that had stuck to the older woman’s hair. “I will not be living with Anija and Aneue in the clan head’s residence.”
Madara looked at her in confusion for a moment before her eyes widened.
“You want to live together?”
She sounded so surprised. Tobirama could feel how hot her face was. She almost wanted to hiraishin away, feeling silly for even suggesting it.
Madara grabbed her wrist, probably predicting her thought process, thumb stroking over her racing pulse. The Uchiha looked at her with piercing eyes, as if trying to read her mind. Tobirama tried not to shy away from the eye-contact.
“Do you want to live together just because it’s convenient?” The older woman asked softly. Madara was a smart woman when she wanted to be. Tobirama was sure Madara already knew the answer to that question and the demand for a clear answer grated on her already fraying courage.
The grip on her wrist tugged and she squeaked as she was suddenly hoisted into Madara’s lap.
“Why are you so nervous? What happened to the woman who boldly seduced me in a hot spring?” Madara said with a grin, stroking Tobirama’s bare thighs. She shivered despite the warmth of the day.
Logic and facts were easy. Emotions were always the difficult part, but Madara deserved this. How did she explain the way she’s feeling though?
“Fucking someone is easy,” she started, flicking the other woman on the forehead at her raised eyebrow. She may tease Tobirama and call her a pillow princess, but it’s not like Madara wasn’t getting exactly what she wanted with their dynamic.
“I didn’t think I would have a real relationship. I’m not good with people. I’m blunt, impatient, obsessed with my work, and I don’t know what to do with other people’s emotions. I’m not exactly partner material.” She could see Madara frowning, gearing up to say something, but she continued on, eyes down. “But we’ve been together for months now. Successfully. And I care for you. A lot.”
Why could she talk so eloquently about plumbing infrastructure but not something actually important?
“I think we work well together. We compliment each other.”
She could do this. Just spit it out. Madara’s hands were still on her thighs.
Tobirama took a deep breath.
“I want to live with you. I want to eat breakfast with you before we go to work. I want to drink tea on the engawa while you read those trashy romance novels you pretend aren’t yours. I want to braid your hair at night and wake up with it still somehow in my mouth. I want to go to tea houses with you and not explain why we went together. I want to call you my partner.”
Just a bit more.
“I don’t want to live with you because it’s convenient. I want to live with you because I love you.”
She looked up, fingers flexing where they rested on the older woman’s shoulders. Madara’s eyes were wide, sharingan spinning. Tobirama wasn’t even sure she was aware she had activated it. She began to grow nervous the longer Madara stared at her in silence, mouth agape.
Before she could make a move to get off the other woman’s lap, Madara pulled her in tight, head tucked into her neck.
“Geez, warn a woman next time,” she said with a watery laugh. Tobirama pulled back in concern, brushing a thumb against her damp cheeks. Had she messed everything up? She had made the other woman cry!
“I love you too,” Madara smiled, pressing a light kiss to Tobirama’s frown, then up to her furrowed brow, her nose, each cheek, each eye. The Senju’s flustered blush returned with vengeance. “I want to live with you too.” Her pulse, fluttering in her neck, the hollow of her throat.
“Really?” Tobirama said, dazed, as Madara sucked lightly on her collarbone.
“Really,” she looked up, eyes black again, and tucked an errant curl behind Tobirama’s ear. “I would like nothing more than to wake up beside you for the rest of my life.”
This woman, Tobirama thought, heart squeezing. She surged forward, toppling the two backwards, and sealed her lips to the other woman’s.
Madara relaxed back into the grass as Tobirama licked into her mouth, running her hands up soft, tattooed skin to hold onto the younger woman’s hips. She used the hold to grind the other woman against her thigh, causing Tobirama to gasp and break the kiss.
“We’re out in the open,” She whimpered as Madara latched onto her neck.
“Alright, yes, you’re right,” Madara said, allowing Tobirama to sit up again but gazing hungrily at her bare chest and hardening nipples. The two sat in heavy silence for a moment.
Tobirama bit her lip and squirmed slightly.
“…We could test out the bed in the new house?”
“Yes, please,” Tobirama groaned, rushing to gather her clothes.
It may have been mortifying at times, but today’s mission was certainly successful. In multiple ways.