Chapter 8

8.

"I am Ayame."

After treating Kagami and laying him down in a bedroom, she introduced herself to him. They sat across a small dining table facing each other.

"Would you like some tea....?"

"I will just take words."

"Ah, okay."

Ninja does not take foods from others for granted; especially more so from individuals from opposing side. Ayame appeared to have expected such response as she held onto her own half emptied tea cup.

"Why are you here?"

"There's been a lot going on."

"….. Of course."

For second in command of Senju to be in middle of Uchiha village and look after her nephew, Ayame could not fathom what kind of world shocking event could have occurred. On the other hand, Tobirama quickly surveyed the house to examine for any useful tools and escape routes he should take in case of emergency.

"I could have never thought that the 'Tobi' Kagami mentioned was you."

One day her nephew came back from playing out near the river and excitedly told his experience with his new friend. She always wondered who this 'Tobi' might be. She always wanted to meet this friend, but her condition limited her mobility. She even considered sending small snacks and meals for Kagami and his friend to enjoy but…. Then today's meeting might have been even more awkward.

Observing her behavior, Tobirama asked her about the cause of his confusion.

"You are not mad at me."

"Huh? Ah…. Yes. It is strange that Uchiha like me isn't going after you for the kill, isn't it?"

He doubted for a moment if she was acting, but her behavior, posture, and attitude did shown an ounce of malice or ill-intention. If he could use his sensory ability he should be able to tell if she is telling the truth through chakra fluctuation, as Uchiha are very emotional and their chakra are also equally volatile and expressive synched to their emotion. Although it is currently impossible to sense them, based on information gathered through his non-chakra related observation, again, it came to a quite shocking conclusion that this Uchiha before him does not hold any malice or ill-intention toward him. Madara, Hikaku, and Izuna did not torture, brainwash, or cause harm to him yet, but that does not mean that they held no malice or hatred against him. But this woman in front of him….

Tobirama remained silent but Ayame, while gazing down at the half filled tea-cup, felt the gaze of his crimson eyes unlike the sharingan of Uchiha and began to open her mouth.

"It is nothing special or meaningful. I just felt that everything is meaningless."

'Fighting for eternity, and hating the Senju for eternity.'

"Few years ago, I lost my sister, Kagami's mother, to you Senjus."

Tobirama creased his brows for a moment.

'No way'

As if noticing his concern and doubt, she continued,

"It wasn't you."

"....Is that so."

"It was a trap filled with countless weapons. A very well made, meticulously prepared trap in my memory…. And the person who set up that trap was..."

'A child. Senju child.'

"Child about 13-14 years old. Like an illusion my sister died right in front of my eyes, I frantically searched for this accursed perpetrator and I found that kid, glaring straight at me with equally furious eyes."

'As if seeing a sworn mortal enemy. No, must have been a sworn enemy who killed his relatives, parents, or friends. Either me or my sister. There is no other way that that child will glare at me… like that.'

"As soon as I met that hatred filled eyes, I could not believe myself that the boiling anger and the hatred coursing through my brain cooled down instantly as if someone splashed a bucket of ice water on my head."

'How should I explain this… the expression and emotion sipping out of that child and the image of myself reflecting off of the child's iris, like a mirror image. I saw myself from her. 'My family is dead! It's that bastard! I must avenge! Kill for we have been killed!' I acted with these thought as my motivation, but as soon as I found out that other side was the same, my brain just stopped functioning.'

In that moment of realization, the adrenaline and the fiery emotion extinguished and only empty hollowness filled that gap. While Ayame doze off from her enlightenment, the child threw an explosive tag at her and severely injured her leg and gave her a retirement as a kunoichi. It was an early retirement for her age, but she felt a sense of relief because of it. Even if she was not injured, she believed that she will not be able to face the battlefield with same spirit as before.

".... Its ridiculous isn't it? To give up my revenge for such nonsensical excuse."

"No. Not at all."

In fact Tobirama felt extremely surprised in his heart. 'To think that there is an Uchiha who can let go of her hatred like this…'

In his experience, Uchiha clan is special compared to other ninja clans. They are more sensitive to emotion and are strongly affected by them. Love. And the hatred that stems from that great emotion. Uchiha's love is deeper than anyone else, the loss of that love strikes back with even greater emotion, and once that sense of loss transforms into hatred they fall into a deep pit. As he has met numerous Uchiha ninjas, he found Ayame's case very rare and surprising.

Tobirama has a difficult face to read any emotion, but she could not find any sense of mockery in his words. she could only silently blink her eyes in confusion.

"You….. do you not feel anything? While you are here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Here in this Uchiha village, there are full people who hate you, but in other words, this is a place only filled with people you hate the most."

She was first very shocked that Kagami's friend was Senju Tobirama. After all he is the 'White Ghost' who is known for killing most Uchiha to the extreme, but he could interact and befriend her nephew so peacefully.

To her comment, Tobirama slightly wrinkled his eyebrows and replied with low toned voice.

"I shall correct one thing from your comment. ...I have never hated or felt aggrieved about you Uchihas."

"HUH?"

"Fundamentally, I do not hold any personal feelings or ramification for Uchiha."

"What the….."

Tsk! Tobirama clicked his tongue and folded his arms across his chest as Ayame acted as if she was struck with a kunai to the back of her head. 'Why do they think that others also obey and live by their fiery and crazy emotions?'

"I basically think that all ninja and their clans beside Senju are our enemy or potential enemy and I treat them differently based on their threat level. You Uchiha are most precautionary and most dangerous threat and I only acted accordingly.

"How? What? Why? You Senjus also lost a lot of your members to us as equally as you have done to us."

That is right. As much as Tobirama has killed Uchihas, Uchiha also slew equal amount of Senju. For generations the war continued and grudges kept on climbing on top of each other, and hatred fully blossomed on the top of it, and this hatred burned down everything. Tobirama came to this conclusion quite early on and always found this repugnant.

"Such emotions are the most unnecessary thing."

Short and resolute declaration made Ayame rigid with disbelief. Tobirama watched her for few seconds as she slightly moved her mouth to formulate a word in response. In the end she closed her mouth and Tobirama stood up to leave.

"Then I shall take my leave. The conversation was interesting."

"Ah, ah – Okay. Good…bye."

As Ayame sent him off, recalling the laundry he left next to the stream he tried to head back. However, as soon as he turned around, he was greeted by Madara and Hikaku with expression hard to describe in words.

'These guys …. When, no why are they here dazing off like this.'

"...."

"....You."

"....I still have work to finish so I shall leave."

Tobirama tried to ignore them and hurried his footstep while thinking that he should try to recover his sensory abilities as soon as he can.