Finding home

Mai looked at her and asked, “are you comfortable with me examining you?” As she said that she pulled a divider out to give them a semblance of privacy for the exam.

“Yes Mai-san, of course.”

Mai turned to Kagami and addressed him, “I need to examine Tobira now, why don't you go sit up front and wait for us to be done.”

Kagami nodded, then went over and hugged Tobirama's good leg, “mom will make you feel all better! Then maybe you can teach me how to use a bow like you did! That was so amazing!”

Tobirama couldn’t help but smile down at him, “I would love to.”

Once they were alone again Tobirama couldn’t help but tense a little. She had never liked the healers in her own clan, often choosing to heal herself or have Hashirama help her. She wasn’t looking forward to having someone touching her body again. Not even a woman.

“Do you have any wounds I should know about other than your ankle?” Mai asked with a sincerely kind look on her face.

Tobirama debated lying to prevent having to take off her shirt, but in the end the risk of infection wasn’t worth it.

Sighing, she answered, “yes, I have a cut on my side going to my back.” With that Tobirama opened her haori revealing her blood soaked top.

Mai gasped when she saw the amount of blood on her, looking up at Tobirama she asked, “can I take off your shirt?”

Tobirama hesitated a moment before reaching down for the edge of her shirt and pulling it up over her head, and took a deep breath waiting for Mai’s reaction to the bruises on her body.

The reaction was instant as Mai’s hands immediately went to cover her mouth in shock. Tobirama had dark and yellowing hand prints on her shoulders, arms and hips, along with numerous still dark bite marks, even with almost a week to heal she knew they still looked bad. She knew her body spoke a damning story.

“What happened to you? Who did this?” Mai asked with horror clearly written on her face.

Tobirama honestly didn’t want to share her story with anyone else. It was bad enough Madara was aware. But it wasn’t like she would be able to keep it a secret from the medic who could clearly see the story written on her body.

Taking a breath Tobirama decided to speak, “The Senju clan head decided he wanted me to be the mother to one of his strongest men and he left me with a group of them to ensure I would become pregnant.”

“Like Hashirama and the White Demon?” Mai asked with horror and disgust warring in her voice.

“No!” Denied Tobirama vehemently. “They would never abuse someone like that! Hashirama is a good man!”

“Do you know him well then?” Mai asked, trying to keep the suspicion out of her voice. Had her son's rescuer been a Senju? Close enough to know their heir? What on earth was she doing here? Why would Madara leave a Senju alone with them!

“No, but I’ve had a few interactions with him since being brought into the Senju compound, and he is well known by my clan.”

“So you’re not a Senju?”

“No, my grandmother is the Alpha of the Hatake clan. It's my hope to get back to her, Madara-Sama said he would help me get back to them.” Tobirama hates lying to people, especially someone who was helping her, but this was for her safety.

“I’m sure Madara will help you get back to them. I always knew the Senju were dangerous, but I didn’t realize their clan head condoned rape and kidnapping. I’m so sorry for what happened to you. I can't do anything for all of the bruising, but let me treat this cut and your ankle. Do you have any other injuries that need to be addressed?”

“No just those two. I hope you are right. I just want to be back with the Hatake where I can be safe again.”

“You will be safe here! No one here would ever treat a woman like that, Tajima-Sama has very strict laws against those types of attacks.”

This surprised her, not that her clan was full of rapists, but she had never heard of anyone ever getting in trouble for it. It was just one of those things people didn’t really talk about. It made her wonder what the Hatake do in cases like this, it had never come up, but they were a matriarch run clan, which made her think perhaps they would be more like the Uchiha than the Senju in this case. She didn’t want to comment further in case it proved her lack of knowledge about Hatake traditions.

“Thank you Mai, I hope you are right.”

They didn’t speak further as Mai began to treat her cut first with a salve smelling strongly of eucalyptus, then she began to stitch the wound closed. Tobirama didn’t so much as flinch. Physical pain like this? That was nothing to her, she had been steeling herself against things like this her whole life.

Once her cut was cleaned, stitched and bandaged Mai addressed her again, “do you have another shirt in your backpack or do you need me to send Kagami to get a spare shirt from home?”

“I do, if you wouldn’t mind handing it to me my pack I can get one out of there.” Tobirama asked, reaching down towards her pack.

Mai handed her up the pack and Tobirama grabbed another shirt. Giving it a quick sniff, she hadn’t had a chance to clean any of her clothes in the last week, deciding it didn’t stink so she pulled it over her head once again covering her bruised body. Once she was dressed again she felt much better. She was afraid of someone else coming in and seeing her body.

“Okay let's get this ankle looked at,” Mai spoke as she pulled Tobirama's pant leg up and felt around to get an idea of how bad the break was. Letting out a whistle she said “Oh that's a bad break, it's going to take at least six weeks to heal. And it will probably be a couple of months before you can do any strenuous activity on it.”

Tobirama knew that was probably the case but she was still disappointed to have her fear confirmed. There was no way she was getting back to the Hatake before winter was over. She prayed the chakra seal would last that long.

“I understand, do you have any crutches I might use until I am able to walk on my own again?”

“Yes of course, I will get you all set up. Let me just set this break and get it wrapped tight to prevent any movement.”

Again she endured having her break set and wrapped without so much as a flinch.

Tobirama opened her mouth to thank Mai but quickly closed it as she heard multiple sets of deliberate footsteps approaching them. When she looked over to the doorway she saw Tajima followed by both of his sons.

He was just as imposing as she has always found him. It took everything in her not to flinch from him as the commanding aura he gave off reminded her of her father. She was instantly on guard as she reminded herself, no matter how kind everyone had been so far this was an enemy compound, and everything she had ever heard of this man painted him as just as much of a cruel warhawk as her father had been.

“Tobira-San, my son here has appraised me of your situation, and first I would like to thank you for your assistance in the rescue of my clansman. Second, I will personally write your grandmother and let her know of your recovery and assure her you will be safe with us until you can be sent back home. If you would like to write your own letter to go along with it, I will be sending it by hawk in the morning, so you will have a little time to get that done. Finally as a member of that Hatake main family I would like to offer you similar accommodations by having you stay in the main house with my family.” Tajima spoke with a kinder voice than his face would have suggested.

Tobirama tried to keep the fear off her face, the idea of being forced to live with three men left her terrified.

Bowing as low as she could while seated on the bed she answered, “ Thank you Tajima-sama, it is an honor to be treated so well. I thank you for your hospitality. If there is anything I can do to further relations between our clans please tell me.”

“I’m sure we will be able to come to an agreement. However I do have questions for you that I’m going to need you to answer.”

This was what Tobirama had feared. She knew they were going to ask her questions about her clan, and though she never wanted to go back, she didn’t think she could betray them. They had never treated her the best, but there were still some she was close to and she wouldn’t want them hurt. Not to mention she could never betray her brother. She only hoped she could find a balance between seeming to give information on a clan that she had no reason to protect and her need to protect her brother.

“Of course, what would you like to know?”

“Madara told me you spoke of Butsuma, what do you know of him?”

“I know he is the clan head, he is a cruel man. I only interacted with him a couple times.”

“Tell me about those times?”

Tobirama had to force herself to answer, apparently she was going to be telling everyone about what happened to her at her fathers request. Madara already knew enough so it wasn’t like she could make up something else.

“He came to me to inform me I would be getting pregnant by some of his men, and then after they were finishes he got me and brought me to my room.”

Tajima let clear anger cross his face and spat out, “I will kill him for that, no man should ever arrange such a thing, it is just as bad as the men who perpetrated such an assault.”

He spoke with such conviction Tobirama was floored. This was this man she had never met before and here he was vowing to kill someone for her. Clearly everything she heard about this man was wrong. She was starting to believe everything they had ever been told about the Uchiha clan was wrong. So far everyone she had met had been kind and protective. They weren’t the monsters she had grown up believing them to be.

The shock and disbelief must be clear on her face because Tajima smiled softly at her, “we don't condone that behavior here, as long as I am alive I will never let attacks like that go unpunished. You will be safe among with Uchiha. I promise you that.”

“I don't know what to say. Thank you Tajima-sama.”

“It's my honor. I have more questions though. Tell me what you can tell me about the setup of the Senju compound.”

“I don't have a lot to tell you, but that clan heads home is in the center of the compound. Hashirama and the White Demon both live there with Butsuma.”

“Tell me about the White Demon, do you know who he is?”

She watched as Izuna clearly reacted to that question. Physically standing straighter with sneer on his face.

Tobirama was going to have to get creative with this to try and keep it true enough that they didn’t see it as a lie.

“I know he always wears the mask, even around the compound. I know he follows Hashirama-sama more than he does Butsuma. He helped me escape and he protects women and children.”

Izuna scoffed at her answer. The hatred read easily across his face. Not that she blamed him, had the situation been different she would have reacted the same to him, they had been rivals since they were children.

“Hmmm. ” Tajima clearly disagreed with her assessment. “And what of Hashirama?”

This is where Madara reacted, he seemed to hold his breath in anticipation of her answer. Was he afraid she was going to tell him something negative about his one time friend, or was he hoping for some advantage in their next fight? Either way she would betray nothing that could harm him.

“He was always very kind to me, he wasn’t there when everything happened. I fully believe he would have protected me if he had been at the compound.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“I know he is on a mission.” Tobirama responded while being careful to give half truths.

“What can you tell me about the men that assaulted you, can you describe them to me? Do you know their positions in the Senju forces?

“I know they are important, Butsuma said they were his strongest men.” Then taking a deep breath she gave the three Uchiha descriptions of the men who assaulted her. She did so knowing that because she did, they will likely be targeted by the Uchiha, she is likely going to cause their death. Which she wasn’t opposed to, in fact she wanted to kill them herself. But it felt different to know that she was basically sending men to their death at the hands of Tajima and his sons.

“Thank you,” Tajima said as he looked at his sons, clearly communicating with them silently.

“Can you tell me why you were chosen?”

“It is due to my heritage and strong blood.”

“What can you tell me about their patrol routes, do you know anything about those?”

“I know the White Demon was in charge of security outside the compound.”

“How do you know that?” Tajima asked, suspicion in his voice.

Shit Tobirama cursed herself. Now it looks like she was hiding something since she didn’t tell him that when he asked about the White Demon the first time. Why did she even say that! She could have just said no, she had no idea. That would have been smarter. She was too exhausted for this, and so emotionally exhausted too. But it's fine she could salvage this, just play innocent victim. A role she had never played in her life but she has seen her mother beaten down enough she felt she could emulate that.

“He told me when he told me how to avoid patrols to escape and head this way.”

Tajima just nodded. “You must be tired and hungry.” Turning to address Mai he asked, “ is she cleared to leave?”

Mai nodded, “Yes I have attended all of her injuries, I just need to get some crutches so she can move around, she cant put weight on her leg for at least 6 weeks.”

“Thank you Mai, your skill as a healer is always appreciated.” Mai smiled back at him.

“Of course Tajima-sama.”

Through the entire experience her eyes kept glancing over at Madara, almost like a moth to the flame she couldn't keep her eyes off him. Though she tried very hard to maintain eye contact with Tajima so as not to offend him.

**************

Madara had watched Tobira carefully as his father questioned her. While he did believe her, and to his sharingan she seemed to be telling the truth there was a part of him that was certain there was something she wasn’t saying, though whether that was just because she wanted to keep the details of her assault to herself or if there was something else he couldn’t tell.

What he did know was that he would protect her. Her reactions hadn’t been faked, those men had truly hurt her. And that when given the choice she put her life into the way of dangerous men again to protect a random child. That more than anything told him she was a good person.

He couldn’t help but admire her strength. It took a strong person to look his father in his eyes as they were being questioned. She was not only strong, but she was beautiful, her long white hair, though wild and knotted from the fight, spilling over shoulder and down her back. He found himself wanting to touch her fey like face, to wipe some of the dirt marring her cheeks. It took everything in him to stay still at his fathers back and stay silent.

I wonder what she will look like after a bath and a goodnight sleep. He thought to himself. And then instantly cursed himself again for his own thoughts. He was not some teenage boy to fall over himself at the sight of a pretty girl. He was 21 damnit! He was better than that. There was just something about her that drew him in. He thought of the way her eyes kept coming back to him. That had to mean something right? Was she as drawn to him as he was to her? He couldn't help but hope so.

“Come let us show you our home and get you settled in a guest room, dinner should be ready for us shortly.” He heard his father say, jolting him back into the moment and off his contemplation of Tobira.

He saw Mai hand her some crutches and wondered when she had gone to get them? Was he truly so focused on Tobira’s face that he hadn’t noticed? He felt himself blush in silent embarrassment, at least no one knew what he was thinking. He saw movement to his right and saw Izuna was clearly laughing silently at him. So it hadn’t gone as unnoticed as he had hoped.

He thought back to the conversation he had with his father and brother when he explained how Tobira had come to be with them and his brother had told him he sounded smitten. He wasn’t doing a good job proving that wrong was he.

As Tobira started to climb down she put some weight on her foot and winced and Madara without thinking grabbed her arm to help steady her, but she instantly jerked back knocking back into the bed she had just climbed off.

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have grabbed you, I was just trying to help.” Madara cursed himself silently. What was he thinking grabbing her like that! He knew how she had been hurt, hell they had just talked about it!

“It’s fine, I know you meant no harm.” Tobira gave him a slight smile. Clearly trying to comfort him. Which was just wrong, he should be comforting her not the other way around.

“Next time I will ask before touching you, I apologize, I don't know how the Hatake are but we tend to be a physically affectionate clan. I will do my best to reign that in with you.”

Izuna snorted and elbowed him, “Yeah Madara in particular is very touchy, I wouldn't count on him being able to hold himself back. By the way I’m Izuna, I’m sorry we are meeting under such circumstances, but I’m thankful you were able to save my student.”

Tobira looked surprised. “Oh, I wouldn’t have expected one of the heirs to have students.”

Izuna smirked at her, “why wouldn’t we have our best shinobi training our most promising young shinobi?”

“I’m sorry Izuna-sama if that was insulting. I was just surprised.”

“Do the Hatake not train like that?”

“The Hatake do, but they are a much smaller clan and not in a war, so the way they train their young is very different.”

There it went again, that nagging feeling that something was off. But what was it about what she said that sounded so wrong. It definitely didn’t feel like a lie, but there was something off about it. He looked at both his brother and father but neither seemed to find anything odd about what she said. Maybe it was just him reading into things. But if not he would figure it out.

“Typically we do have dedicated trainers who focus on teaching children shinobi arts, but sometimes for one reason or another a child needs more personalized training. At that point it's up to the parents to find a trainer for them. Kagami is particularly energetic and finds it difficult to learn in a class. I asked Izuna to help him and he was kind enough to say yes,” interrupted Mai.

“Ah that makes a lot of sense.”

“But Kagami has become something of a little brother to Madara and I, so we take time to help him, more myself than Madara though.” Izuna said.

“How exactly did he end up outside of the compound walls then? And so far away?”

At this point Tajima spoke up, “yes I’d like to hear that as well.”

They all turned to the door as they heard a noise. There stood Kagami, clearly eavesdropping.

“Ah I was just about to ask your mother where you were. We’d like to hear how you ended up out of the compound and so far away.” Tajima asked, this time his voice was very stern, taking on his role as clan head once again.

“Well….. You see, I didn’t mean to. Jiro and I were playing and we heard Izuna-sensei say that when he was 8 he had his first mission, and we weren't even allowed out of the compound! So we were talking and I told him I could totally go on a mission on my own and he said I couldn’t! But I totally could! So I knew my mom needed some more plants for medicine and we agreed that would count as a mission! So we decided to go on our own mission, and we planned to meet back before dinner. But I got lost and I couldn’t remember if I was supposed to walk towards the sun to get home or away from it. So I guessed but I must have guessed wrong because nothing seemed familiar, and then it was nighttime and I didn’t know what to do so I found somewhere to sleep and when I woke up I kept walking trying to find home but then those men found me and chased me and that's when Tobira found me!” Kagami said, barely taking a breath for the entire thing with a smile on his face.

“You are entirely too proud of the fact that you almost died, that you caused countless shinobi to spend two days looking for you, and you almost got her killed.” Stated Izuna

That instantly caused Kagami to droop. “Sorry Izuna-sensei I didn’t mean to cause problems, I just wanted to prove I was ready to be a shinobi.”

“Well you aren’t,” Madara said with a stern voice. “There is a reason we don't send children under the age of 12 on missions any more, it's because far too often it ended up with them dying, like you almost did.”

“I’m sorry Madara, I shouldn’t have done it, I won't do it again until you say I’m old enough to leave the compound.”

“Good,” Tajima said, “learning from your mistakes is the most important thing you can do as a child, I’m glad to hear you won't do it again but there will be consequences, I will leave those to your mother to decide though.” Then turning his attention to Mai, “I have full confidence you will find a proper punishment.”

Clapping his hands together he addressed them all again, “ okay now let us actually get Tobria-san settled, she looks exhausted.”