#ethcria

❃ The blonde slumped, draping himself on Sasori, cheeks puffed out in a pout. “This tracking mission is stupid, hm. We could be somewhere warmer with food but no we’re stuck out here trying to follow some stupid....”  He waved his hands and buried his face into Sasori and groaned. “These missions are so booooring, hm.  When we finally get this over with, can we go somewhere like.. a hot spring or an inn or something, yeah? I wanna eat something nice that I can’t cook properly myself.” 

The day didn’t turn out as she expected. It was a simple mission: gather some herbs for Tsunade around a certain spot in the forest she isn’t too familiar with. And while it is a rather intimidating experience to head out towards unfamiliar territory, she still did, thinking the map Shizune has drawn for her and a compass enough tools to help.

And it were; reaching the end of the footpath where a bridge awaits. But instead, the sight she arrived to is that of a hastily-done signpost ( apologising for inconvenience) and what’s left of the bridge Shizune indicated in the map.

Now, she has to find another route to cross to the other side where the rare plant thrives.

“ Mou, why is that plant so picky...? Why can’t it be simple enough, grow on someone else’s garden... “ Sakura mused to herself as her gaze landed upon a garden full of vegetables and fruit-bearing trees.

She smiled, seeing a man whose back is facing her, repotting a seedling. Not thinking much of it, she kept walking but her eyes still firmly cast upon the man’s familiar form.

Just as she was about to simply walk past him, her eyes widened, as one thing becomes clear:

Suddenly, the sound of a snapping twig caught her attention and she turned back to see the thing that she had been seeing these past few days passing her by in a blur. But due to the much closer distance, she could actually make out a few features: the hair and the crimson eyes glancing her way - and for a moment, she stood frozen in shock. One second was all it took for Hinata to take a look at the face - the face of a past she was still trying to forget! It was Madara Uchiha! Her mind tried processing what she just saw but it didn't make any sense to her! He was dead! A hand went to her forehead before she shook her head! This was impossible! She was just...seeing things. He wasn't real. And with slight relief, she continued on her way back.

But this wasn't the last time she saw him. The same face greeted her two more times: Once in her own yard as she passed it to exit the Hyuga compound and one more time when she came back from a mission in Suna. And it started to worry her! Maybe she should stop going on missions for some time.

Another day passed and she was surprisingly called to the Hokage's office to investigate something similar: Someone had claimed to have seen Madara in Kumogakure and it was speculated that this could be the workings of the Edo Tensei jutsu. This wasn't in any way better than the illusions she's seen or the possibility of Madara being indeed alive or perhaps even Obito in disguise. So the Hokage has requested her to go investigate immediately and while she wasn't very happy on doing this mission, she couldn't just turn it down. So with a bow, she left the office and went home to prepare a bag with necessities. This took about 20 minutes and soon, she was already out of the village, hoping that this mission wasn't what she thought it was and that the person having seen Madara was just as broken from the war as she was.

“Gods-fucking-dammit... COMING!” he yelled as he applied the black eyeliner and fastened the eye patch over his left eye. Doing this outfit well took time. Before exiting the bathroom he took one last look at himself in the mirror. 

Well. Not too shabby. 

ƸӜƷ   “Phantomhive, oi!”        Heels clicked against the cobblestone as the blonde bounded over to the other earl and flung his arms around him, twirling. “Where have you been?!  You’re in one piece too, that’s great!”  He took a step back and rocked back and forth on the soles of his feet humming happily with a grin. “I’ve got good news, can you guess what it is? I bet you can’t guess what it is!” 

✂  “I used to do that when we were kids and you never tried to take my head off...” Miura muttered from the puddle he was in. One visible blue eye looked up at his cousin and he frowned. “You got so much taller than me...”   Then the Hoshigaki pulled himself out of the puddle, standing next to his cousin, only at a height of 5ft and 4inches.  Dressed in black from head to doe, completely drenched from the rain and the puddle he had been in. 

“It’s been a long time, and you pass by my river, of course I am going to say hello to my dear cousin...”  Miura spoke up now, walking in a circle around Kisame. “You’re huge now and you can carry that sword properly.. I stopped growing but..  as you heard that is my river...”  He gestured to the river nearby. “And ..despite everything else I heard about you, it doesn’t change the fact we are family and it’s good to see you again.”