The Path of a Shinobi (Reader x various)

The Brothers

~One Year Later~

Spring, summer, fall, and winter had gone by in the blink of an eye.

The trees and flowers were vibrantly blossoming once again after the cold winter. I was sitting on the ground with my back resting against a cherry blossom tree with the wind lightly blowing my long (h/c) hair.

"I'm tired," I mumbled to myself. Indra had continued to work me to the bone throughout the year, but learned to be lenient with me when it came to training and other stuff.

It was lonely without Ashura and the only one who could be here for me was Indra.

I still waited for Ashura to come back, but a year had passed and I wondered if he truly did forfeit and planned on not coming back for the sake of his older brother.

I sighed at the thought of it and watched as a few petals descended to the ground with one landing on top of my head.

I grabbed it from the top of my head and quietly gazed at the pink petal, before I dropped it on my lap.

"(Y/n)!"

One of Hagoromo's pupils came running up to me out of breath and the words that were blurted from his mouth were ones I longed to hear for awhile.

"Master Ashura has returned!"

I immediately shot up from the ground and a large smile appeared on my face as I ran on over to the gate and I saw Ashura walking in with Taizo and a group of people, but what caught my eye the most was that he brought along a woman.... and she was the only woman in the group.

The woman was fair skinned and slender who was of average height. She was pretty and had grey eyes and dark blue hair and wore a kimono.

I furrowed my brows, but nonetheless rushed up to Ashura and engulfed him in a hug.

"Took you forever to come back," I said and I warily looked at the woman who stood near him and she looked surprised yet remained calm as I eyed her.

"It took some time to get things done," he chuckled as he pulled away, but I remained gazing into his eyes and he cleared his throat.

"I have to go change and see my father. I'll see you in there," he patted my shoulder and walked on ahead while the rest of us gathered in the assembly room.

I was seated with the rest on the right side of the room. It had taken a few minutes for Ashura to make his appearance in the room and addressed his father first, "Father, I've returned."

"You've become very dignified, Ashura."

"We got tired waiting for you," chuckled Indra as Ashura apologized and explained the reason for his late arrival and seated himself next to him at the front of the room.

"Who are these people?" Asked Hagoromo as she motioned to the group in the back.

"Oh yes. These are some of the villagers," introduced Ashura. "They all helped me. And are now valuable friends."

"We heard about this village and we wanted to see it, so we accompanied Master Ashura," spoke the dark blue haired woman.

"I see. Welcome then, good of you to come. Now Ashura, let me hear your story," spoke Hagoromo with a grin on his face as he turned to his son.

Ashura told us about his issue regarding the Divine Tree and how he resolved the issue in the village.

"So the Ninshu that you spread has saved many lives," concluded Hagoromo.

"Yes!" Proudly exclaimed Ashura and he looked over his shoulder and smiled at the dark blue haired girl who was named Kanna, and she cheerfully returned the smile.