With the crinkled wrapper in one hand and the blue ice in the other, Hidetada leaned against the railing to watch the sun dip below the jagged silhouette of the horizon. A sudden, silence claimed the air the moment his words left his lips. The twilight deepened, casting long, bruised shadows across the water's surface as the last vestiges of daylight flickered between the leaves of the overhanging trees.
He channeled a sharp pulse of fire chakra through his fingertips, and the paper wrapper disintegrated into a cloud of minute, gray ash that vanished into the evening. With his hand now free, he brought it up to grasp the second stick. A clean, sharp snap rang through the air as he fractured the ice directly down the middle, the sound echoing off the aged timber of the bridge. The sudden rustling of the willow trees, their long branches dipping low to brush against the gurgling stream below, drew him out of the trance into which he had accidentally fallen.
The peace lasted only a few heartbeats before the rhythmic thud of ninja sandals against the wooden floorboards broke the spell. Hidetada turned, and the sight of the Uchiha girl filled his vision. Mikoto stood there, her black hair swaying hypnotically as a sudden wind rushed past them, carrying the familiar, sharp scent of fresh pine and damp earth. Her eyes flitted from his face to the darkening sky, a slight flush creeping across her cheeks at the realization that she had been caught actively spying on the Heir of the Senju Clan.
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"Here, catch," Hidetada said, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth as he tossed the second half of the popsicle toward her. Mikoto caught the frozen treat mid-air with practiced, instinctive ease, as he had expected from her.
She shot him a glance thick with confusion but continued walking along the bridge until she stood before him. Hidetada leaned back, resting one arm on the railing for support as he brought the ice to his lips. He savored the classic, crisp flavor of ramune, the cold sweetness a sharp contrast to the humid air of the heated summer season.
By now, the girl looked utterly baffled by his attitude. She had not expected him to act this way when he had caught her spying on him. Shouldn't he be angry at someone trying to intrude into his private life?
Hidetada raised an eyebrow at her, his tone colored with amusement, "It would be for the best if you finished that now. It's going to start melting soon enough, considering this heat." Having said his piece, he returned his focus to his own popsicle.
Mikoto eyed the blue ice suspiciously before looking back at him. She opened her delicate lips as if to demand an answer, but the heat of the evening made the decision for her. Her pink tongue darted out to take a tentative lick, the soda flavor cooling her expression.
They ate in a shared, comfortable silence, at least from his side, the Uchiha on the other hand, looked awkward and out of place.
Mikoto continued to send him sideways glances, her brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of the situation in which she had found herself. Hidetada, however, remained focused on the task at hand.
'Can't she tell that this popsicle is more important than any sort of conversation with a random person?' He couldn't help but think with a shake of his head. The ice would melt soon enough and he would be left with nothing; the conversation, however, could be had later.
With a few more vigorous bites, Hidetada finished his half of the ice treat while Mikoto was still struggling through her first few bites.
He stared up at the sky, his expression bored, and folded his arms across his chest while leaning back against the railing of the bridge. With nothing else to occupy his hands, he channeled a concentrated thread of fire chakra into the wooden stick. It did not burst into a bright flame but simply turned to charred dust that the wind snatched away, scattering it into the dark.
It was a foremost and the most basic application of nature transformation, the very first step of the ladder, yet the look on Mikoto's face suggested she found the casual display of control far more impressive than he did. He offered a small shrug and waited patiently for her to finish. After a few more minutes, she finally consumed the last of the ice and wiped the corners of her mouth with the back of her hand, the confusion in her eyes finally giving way to curiosity.
The cool evening air blew against them as they stood opposite to each other; unconsciously, he rubbed his forearm to stave off the cold wind. Mikoto tucked her hands behind the back of her dark shirt, her fingers lacing together in a gesture that mirrored Hidetada's own composed stance.
Her eyes scanned his face with an analytical intensity before finally settling on his own. She parted her soft lips to offer her defense. "I would like to start by apologizing," she began, her voice steady but colored with a hint of formal regret. "Such behavior does not befit the heir of a clan–"
"Bah, bah, I get it. And I don't really care," Hidetada interrupted, flashing her a smirk as he waved his hands in the air. He stared into the dark, obsidian depths of her eyes, leaning slightly into her space. "Actually, that reminds me, I should be the one apologizing for spying on you at the Academy first."
Mikoto seemed lost for words, her poised exterior flickering for a moment. A look of pure confusion crossed her features as she furrowed her delicate brows in thought. For a girl raised in the rigid traditions of the Uchiha, she found herself suddenly out of her depth.
"I... see." She closed her mouth, her pink lips pressing together briefly before she opened them again, tilting her head with a curious, bird-like grace that flicked a hair onto her face before she drew it back behind her ear, "How did you manage to sense me? I thought I was doing quite well." The moment the question left her, she realized the absurdity of it and berated herself internally. No shinobi was ever expected to share the secrets of their personal techniques with a random stranger they met just a few minutes ago.
Mikoto felt the heat return to her cheeks and began wringing her hands nervously behind her back, her gaze breaking away with quite some effort from his warm eyes to look at the wooden boards of the bridge.
"Hmm... It's a trade secret," Hidetada let out a low chuckle. "Do not fret, however. You were able to suppress your chakra pretty well. Had it been someone else, they likely wouldn't have been able to distinguish your presence from that of a common civilian. Your blending-in skills aren't half as bad either."
He turned his gaze upward then, looking toward the heavens. The sky had surrendered its bruised reds and golds for a deep, velvet indigo that blended together all shades of blue. It was a dreamy, expansive canopy where the numerous stars twinkled merrily, serving as a stark contrast to the dark background. The Milky Way—or what looked similar to it—was pale and luminous against the black of the night sky, a river of silver starlight flowing through the infinite void.
He turned his attention back to her, the starlight reflecting in his eyes. "Say, you live in the Uchiha district, no?" He waited for her to offer a small, hesitant nod before continuing. "How about I drop you there? It's getting late anyway, and the Senju compound falls near it."
Mikoto pursed her lips in thought, her tongue darting out for a second to moisten the curve of her lower lip as she thought. From what she had gauged in their brief time together, he seemed like a kind, if not charming, person. She took one last glance at his pleasing face and his gentle smile, and her decision was made.
"Sure," she said, her voice ringing out against the silence of the night, "I don't see why not."
While she knew her father would likely have a heart attack seeing her walk home with a boy, let alone the Heir of the Senju Clan, she also knew the old man didn't have it in his heart to stay angry at her for more than an hour. She hid a smile at the thought of his inevitable blustering, then looked up to see Hidetada beckoning her to follow him with a casual wave of his hand.
Hurrying her footsteps, she moved quickly to walk beside him. They walked off the other side of the bridge to head towards the Uchiha District. The streets here were quieter, the yellow glow of lanterns beginning to flicker to life outside the wooden homes. Though Mikoto had never been to this specific part of the village, she decided to trust Hidetada's sense of direction. Stealing a glance at his relaxed face, she couldn't help but realize—even though her chakra-sensing skills without the Sharingan were nearly non-existent—she could still feel the grounded presence of his chakra. The amount of it was nearly absurd; Mikoto had never come across a person with such a vast chakra pool, even in her own clan.
Was this what it meant to be a Senju?
Shaking her head at the thought, she asked him curiously, "What were you doing in the Academy?" Hidetada tilted his head toward the side to look at her before focusing back on the road. A few more seconds of comfortable silence lasted before it was broken by his soft-spoken reply, "Do you know me?"
Mikoto raised an eyebrow at the redirection of the question as she clasped her hands behind her. What kind of question was that? Was it supposed to have a hidden meaning? Not finding any, she decided to answer his question truthfully, "I suppose? Well, to be honest no one really believed or knew that you existed until a few months ago. Before that, all the information about you was in the form of rumors."
Keeping her eyes on the road as Mikoto listened to the steady rhythm of her ninja sandals and his geta footwear, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Whatever she had said had been true; until around a year ago, almost nothing was known about the supposed Senju Heir who possessed Mokuton—perhaps her father would have known, but he hadn't said anything to her—then, following the start of the Second Shinobi World War, information about his existence had begun leaking out. The main reason why she was interested in his existence was because he served as her counterpart. Her, an Heir of the Uchiha Clan, and him as an Heir of the Senju Clan.
Even then, Mikoto hadn't really known what he looked like until she had spotted him standing on the rooftop of the Academy's building. Spotting the Senju Crest embedded on his clothing, along with the fact of how similar he looked to the photos of the First Hokage, she had reached the obvious conclusion. It was not particularly difficult to find him after that, as he was not trying to avoid being spotted. Plus, he was pretty recognizable in a crowd.
The sound of Hidetada's amused voice drew her out of her thoughts, "That's because my existence was a secret that only the Hokage and the clan heads knew about." He paused and smiled slightly, "It was mostly to ensure my safety, so I can't say I hold it against them. Due to that, I was never really allowed to wander freely and train along with my peers. So I was curious to see what the Academy would look like."
Mikoto nodded her head at the answer; it made sense, though she did sort of feel bad for him not being able to interact with people freely.
"What about you, however? How's the academy for you?" Hidetada said, throwing her a glance as he folded his arms. The Uchiha girl mused silently as she thought about the question before replying, "It's boring," Mikoto began, her derision obvious in her voice as she curled her lips, "Everything they have to teach, I already know. I would have tried to graduate early, but my father wouldn't let me, something about it not being safe, especially at this point in time."
Her eye twitched at the thought of spending even more of her time in the academy because of her father. Why was he always so goddamned worried about her?
Hidetada snorted at her answer as they continued walking. If Mikoto were to graduate early, they would still not allow her anywhere too far from the village, especially due to the war. It was just the way the world worked, he supposed; most clan heirs wouldn't be allowed to go to the front lines of the war until their parents were confident in them. It was mostly the Chunin who were suffering the full brunt of the war for now, as Genin couldn't be trusted to perform anything too dangerous and Jonin were too valuable to be killed. His mood soured slightly at the thought of the war; this was the current situation for now, but it could easily worsen soon enough, especially if he wasn't allowed to fight for his own village.
Lost in her thoughts, Mikoto didn't realize when they had paused. Blinking, she discovered that she was standing right in front of the gates of the Uchiha District. The iconic fan symbol of her clan was carved into the heavy stone pillars, illuminated by the flickering orange light of the nearby streetlamps. The guards on either side of the wall looked suspiciously at Hidetada as they realized who she was with. A sense of melancholy enveloped her as she realized that their conversation was over.
"Well, looks like we have reached." Hidetada stared at the sky, realizing that it was quite late now, "It's been a pleasure talking to you Mikoto, but... I am gonna get my ass beat by grandma if I don't go home quickly." A sense of urgency beat in his heart as he realized that; nervously scratching the back of his head, he grinned at her, "So... see ya?"
With those last muttered words, Hidetada was gone with a Body Flicker, leaving only a swirl of wind and a few stray leaves in his place.
Staring at the spot where he had disappeared, Mikoto realized that she hadn't even asked for his name.
The air had grown much cooler, and the bustle of the village had faded into the background hum of the night.
Stepping through the gates of the Uchiha District, she made her way to her house nervously, passing the dark silhouettes of the other traditional homes neatly arranged next to each other.
"Mikoto! For God's sake, you better have a good reason for being SO LATE!"
She realized that she was kinda fucked as well.
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Word Count: 2535.