Chapter 5
He wasn't sure how it happened, he was just out feeding the koi and minding his own business when the child showed up. He seemed like a happy child, smiling and calling out what he had come to know was a greeting.
He returned the greeting before looking around for the child's parents only to realize he was on his own. He appeared to well dressed to be an orphan, and he didn't look underfed. He also showed no sign of discomfort as he came to sit right beside him. He watched as the little one pulled a handful of berries from his pocket and started dropping them one by one into the pond. The koi went into a bit of a frenzy making the child laugh, bright and clear. Indra's heart ached.
The child had curls that brought to mind Indra's wife, and his eyes were the same shape as hers as well. His nose and ears however were remarkably similar to his and his little brothers. A pang of hurt and longing surged through him. Was this what his child would have looked like?
Would they have smiled so brightly and laughed so freely? Would they have been close to their cousin? Would they have laughed and played and found their fathers old hiding places?
He would never know. Because his chance to be in his child's life was taken from him.
The child's laughter brought him out of his thoughts and he glanced down to see the little black and white koi nibbling at tiny bare toes. A surprised laugh escaped him at the sight and the child looked up at him with a grin.
He babbled excitedly up at him and with what he had been able to learn of the language he knew the child was introducing himself. Hopefully. Who named their child Mirror?
"Ah... Kagami-kun?"
The child, Kagami apparently, nodded. Indra smiled at him and gave a shallow bow before sitting beside him and dipping his toes in thr pond as well.
"*I'm Ootsutsuki Indra. I'm very pleased to meet you."*
It was nice to sit with someone who didn't have any expectations. All the child seemed to want was to feed the fish.
They passed a good hour in silence as they slowly worked through the food they had brought for the koi.
***
He was beginning to think he was wrong and that this wasn't where Ashura was hidden away. He was however beginning to suspect that he'd found where Hashirama liked to hide the bodies of their would be assassins. He recognized the pendant on this particular skeleton. The woman had tried to get close to him during one their festivals. The knife she had hoped to slip between his ribs was instead used to kill her. A shame really, she had been one of Touka's sparring partners. Still, traitors to the clan were not tolerated and he didn't mourn her. Nor did Touka when she realized what had happened.
With a flicker of chakra he let the earth open up and bury her again. This was becoming a pattern. Find a tree with an extra flicker of chakra, convince the ground to open up, examine the skeleton, rebury, find the next tree and repeat. Next time he sparred with his brother he was pulling out his new technique. Hashirama needed to learn not to rely on mokuton so much anyway.
He cast out his senses again, sinking his chakra deeper and feeling, just a few miles away, a stronger pulse of chakra nestled in with the trees. Quickly he abandoned his current hunting ground and ran. He still had time before Hashirama's record passed and he would find the man before that time passed.
He came to a halt infront of a dense cluster of trees and frowned. The trees were so close that some of them were beginning to merge together, the roots and branches of the rest were so tangled it was impossible to tell where one tree ended and another began. This had to be the place.
He jumped into the branches and started making his way deeper, keeping his eyes senses wide open. If he hadn't he would have missed the first seal burned high in the trunk of the next tree over. He moved to examine it before looking carefully for the next, and the one after that until he found the locking seal. This one was easier to break, having had the experience in the cave. And it seemed weaker, perhaps due to the trees growth and being more exposed to the elements. Whatever the case he had won his own personal contest. He'd found where Asura was hidden away and broken the seal, now all he had to do was convince the chakra hiding him in the tree's roots to spit him out.
***
Madara was with Indra and little Kagami, talking about setting up a house for he and his brother, when he felt the chakra spike deep in the forest. It was familiar in a way, similar to Hashirama's. Indra felt it too, if the way his head snapped in that direction was any indication. His eyes were full of a painful hope and a relief so powerful Madara was forcibly reminded of how Indra had come to be there. Kagami watched him with wide worried eyes, small hand slipping into Indra's in a show of support. He was a good kid, and Madara was so proud of him. But Indra needed something more. He needed to see his brother with his own eyes.
"*Shall we go to meet them?*"
Indra was already patting Kagami on the head and moving away. Eyes locked in the direct his brothers chakra had come from. Kagami latched onto Indra's hand and Madara had to smile.
Weather or not Kagami knew it he had just given the man a reason not to push himself any harder than necessary. No one would question a slower pace with a child involved. It was a relief really. Madara knew that Indra was recovering. Quickly even. But he was still worn down and not quite at a healthy level. This would be the farthest Indra had gone since he's been brought to the village.
They made steady progress towards the gates, hearing a fair bit of yelling as the drew near. Kagami looked a bit concerned, but Indra was grinning as the voice reached them
"*There's the brat.*" He sounded fond even though he was short of breath. They came around the corner, in sight of the first set of gates and the gardens beyond them, a place for visitors to rest and look around while it was decided if they would be allowed in the village itself. More importantly, the ponds in the gardens.
The ponds he's more than once seen the Senju eye thoughtfully. As it was he finally found out why as he watched Tobirama hoist the complaining bundle off his shoulder and tossed him, gently, into the nearest pond.
There was a beat of silence as the man pushed himself into a sitting position and stared at his rescuer. A deceptively delicate brow rose in response to the stare and the man sputtered indignantly.
"*I thought you were supposed to respect your ancestors!*"
Tobirama didn't even so much as miss a beat when he replied, "*I just had to pull you out of a tree, three bushes and one very insistent patch of ivy, all because you insisted you could walk. I have no more respect for you.*"
Indra laughed, long and hard, until he ended up leaning on Madara's shoulder for support. Kagami, bless his little heart, laughed along with, bright and happy.
Madara watched them all, his smile was a touch rueful. Things were going to be interesting from here on out. And he still hadn't told his elders that Ashura would be staying with them until a house was made for them.