Soul-bound

5. Brothers

Izuna shunned me like the plague the entire morning after.

It was unbearable. It would be one thing if he had been mean to me; that, I believed I could handle. But he avoided me. I didn't even see him. He kept himself in his room, coming out for meals and to shower when I was in mine.

I couldn't stand it, so the morning after our fight, I left for the Nakano river.

It was beautiful in the morning light, the dew drops providing a gentle surface of glitter.

I was surprised to see Tobirama was standing there, looking at the view.

Tobirama was known to be a natural sensory type, so of course he must have felt me approach from the moment I left my home. I had never spoken to the man before. I knew his hatred for my clan was out of this world, yet he was oddly drawn-back and closed-up, mostly keeping to himself. I knew he was a madly skilled warrior and quite the athlete, yet I knew nothing else about the man.

"Hi", he said when I walked towards him over the wet grass. He didn't turn around.

"Hi", I said.

I sat down next to him while he was still standing up, a token from my side that I was friendly.

"What's troubling you?" he asked.

I turned to him and raised an eyebrow. Was it that obvious?

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Something has changed in your energy directed at my brother. It worries me." He looked at me sideways. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

I looked out at the view.

"I don't think I want to."

I felt Tobirama's soft smile next to me. It surprised me, that gentle display from his side.

"I'm curious", he said. "What is your opinion about our clans?"

I thought for a bit, but Tobirama wasn't having it.

"Speak your thoughts", he said. "I'm curious."

"I was all for our battles before. But now..." I sighed, thinking about Izuna and our fragile brotherhood. "It just doesn't seem that important anymore. Maybe..." I smiled. "I finally grew up."

Tobirama was quiet. I continued.

"Also, I'm worried about my little brother," Tobirama turned to me, and I could feel a soft curiosity radiating from him. "He used to be the strongest in our clan, second to me, and he still is. But the only Senju that were stronger than him were Hashirama and yourself. Now, however, a few others in your clan are getting stronger and..." I gritted my teeth. "I'm worried about my little brother. I can't lose him." Maybe, you already have...

A soft wind ruffled Tobirama's hair, then mine, causing us to touch indirectly. The thought made me shiver.

"Izuna won't be harmed", Tobirama said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I won't allow it."

I remained silent. Whatever I had expected, this wasn't it.

Tobirama came and sat right next to me, and leaned his head on my shoulder. I leaned my head back on his head. It was very pleasant.

"Do you like Izuna?" I asked.

"I care about Izuna", he said, avoiding my question. "I have made sure he doesn't come to harm."

"Haven't you been frightened someone in your clan will notice?"

"No", he said, a smile in his voice. "I can be discrete. And even if they notice, what can they do? Kill me?" I admired him for what he'd just said, which basically was that he didn't care. "But I agree with you. It's getting too much. Soon, Hashirama will be the leader of our clan, and you will be the leader of yours. God knows I pray that will entail better times."

We sat quietly together for a while, enjoying the morning sun. He didn't move his head from my shoulder. I didn't move mine.

We gathered some energy from one another then, breathing rhythmically, comforting each other without words.

When we left the dewy grass, I wanted to believe that both of us felt slightly better than when we had arrived. 

That night, I woke up after only an hour or so of sleep.

At first, I didn't know what had woken me. But then, after I had pulled myself out of the depths of sleep to resurface into the cold night sipping through my open window, I realised that I had been woken by a soft crying.

I lay awake and listened to it. It was beautifully sad, really, tugging at my heart the way a sad melody would. I forced myself to listen for a while, torturing myself.

Then, I stepped out of my bed and tip-toed into Izuna's room.

I lifted off his blanket and crept into bed with my crying little brother whom I loved so fiercely. I wasn't afraid of rejection; I knew he would accept me.

And he did.

I put my arms around him and held him close, and he clung to me with all his might, crying against my chest, doing his best to do so quietly so as not to wake anyone else in the house. I felt the cold wetness from his tears drenching me through my light shirt, my skin absorbing their salt to make his tears part of my soul.

"It's okay", I murmured into his hair. "It's okay. I love you. It's okay."

I kissed him on his head. He turned his face towards me, wanting kisses there as well, and I provided them; on his cheeks, on his forehead, on his eyelids, and lightly on his lips.

"Go to sleep. We'll speak in the morning."

Izuna fell asleep slowly in my arms, his little body, protected by Tobirama Senju in battle, rising and falling softly in pace with his lungs.