Autumn settled in quickly after they were back in the compound. Usually by this time, the battles stopped and the shinobi focused on completing more missions to stock up for the winter. But the Uzumaki's slaughter was still fresh in the minds of the Senju, and they weren't backing down in the slightest. Some of the Uzumaki women had joined their ranks, and even that Mito girl after a few weeks appeared on the battlefield. She was clearly more calm and collected, and she fought bravely, but she was still left in the back as support only. Haruka knew that after the winter, she might have to face a strong opponent. A small part of her told her to get rid of the girl before she became too dangerous, but she shut it down quickly.
In the last few years, she had started to define herself more and make the rules she followed on her own. She was an Uchiha, but she was also a doctor. A doctor that once swore to do no harm, and yet did anyway. In this life, she followed that oath. She had to, if she wanted to keep preaching to the others about peace and a better world. She took her role very seriously, always cheering Madara up and keeping him focused on his goals. Izuna was a tougher nut to crack, because of his distrust of the Senju that was taught to him since birth. She did her best to help him, Hikaku, and all the other youth that were in on their real goal, cut through the web of lies, hate and mistrust they were thrust into by their elders, and start thinking for themselves.
So far a lot of the Uchiha had stopped seeing the rest of the world as their enemy, and were more accepting of the idea that peace can come through means other than obliterating all their enemies. Their new friendship with the Hyuga had helped them see that there was nothing wrong with opening yourself to the others, even if you don't agree on everything with them. They were starting to get a taste for friendship and bonds outside the clan.
So on a cold autumn day, as she stood with the rest of her squad at the edge of the clearing where the final battle of the season will be held, she kept repeating the oath to herself.
The Senju were facing them, clearly as tense as they were. Butsuma and Tajima gave the signal at the same time and rushed to meet each other first. She watched as her teammates tore through shinobi, making their way to their rivals who were doing the exact same thing. She didn't go in with them because she was waiting with the rest of the medical team to spot the first wounded. Some of her subordinates started bolting towards different places and either giving emergency help on the spot or coming back empty handed, with blood on their hands. A body was flung a few meters from her and she went to take a look. An Uchiha who was still breathing. She got to work immediately.
She was in the middle of stopping a heavy bleeding when she felt a small presence behind her. Turning around, she was met with the sight of a seven years old child in a Senju armor. He looked a lot like Touka, but had none of her presence. His hand, that was holding the sword he was trying to stab her with, was shaking, and once he met her Sharingan he froze, not knowing what to do next. Touka, who was apparently keeping an eye on him while facing Hikaku not very far from them, screamed at him: " Kotaro, get the hell away from her! You're no match, go back next to Mito."
She was a bit too late in her warning because Haruka noticed that Tajima's second in command had seen them, and was coming to give her a hand with her small attacker. The asshole was from the faction that had no qualms about killing kids in a gruesome way, and the Uchiha had a rule that medic-nins must be kept protected as much as possible on the battlefield. He was coming towards the Kotaro kid with his huge hammer like sword, ready to shatter his head, and Touka had clearly seen that her supposed brother was surrounded by two menaces.
She gave a tormented howl when a senbon lodged itself in the middle of the kid's neck and he fell instantly next to Haruka, face into the ground, body motionless with a bit of blood trickling down his neck. Haruka gave Tajima's second in command a small smile and a wave saying, "Thanks for trying to help, but I got it. There's enough poison on that senbon to neutralize a grown man let alone him. Just leave him there, there's no way they could find an antidote for that." The older man gave her a heavy nod and bolted to find his next victim, and she just calmly went back to work on her patient.
Touka's anguished cries kept coming as she had clearly heard what Haruka said. The rest of her team members brought their fights closer. The colors left their faces when they understood who the body next to her belonged to, but none of them could extract themselves long enough to come close to it, and even Itama was held back by Natsuki.
But they were clearly distraught. Tobirama's anger made him make some pretty obvious mistakes, and if Izuna had any of his earlier dispositions left, he would have killed him more than four times by the time the retreat was ordered. Touka was in no shape to fight, and Itama was juggling both fighting Natsuki and backing her up. The worst was Hashirama. He kept staring at the body of Kotaro and then at Haruka who was calmly working right next to it. As if she hadn't done this. As if she hadn't put a poison coated senbon in the neck of a child. Madara had landed a few good kicks, and if it wasn't for the Senju's freakish healing abilities, he would already be dead.
Clearly the state of their main squad was affecting the rest of the Senju troops, because they had lost the fire that was animating them in the beginning. They were forced back to the edge of the clearing away from where Haruka had just finished her job. When the retreat signal was given, Haruka barely managed to spot which place their rivals chose to take off from. Touka in tears looked like she wanted to comeback for the body of her brother, but the rest of her squad kept pushing her away, knowing that it was too dangerous to go in the middle of the Uchiha troupes.
Haruka's squad came looking for her. They were going back too, the cleanup and collecting the wounded who had been treated was always left to lesser ranked shinobi. When she knew that no one else was able to see or hear her, she summoned Takai and picked the body of the Kotaro kid. Madara raised an eyebrow at her. She just chuckled and told him. "You guys wait for me somewhere in the forest. I don't want Tajima to get suspicious if we don't all come back at the same time. I will be quick."
Madara just nodded as he helped her mount Takai and settle the other motionless body. He asked anyway, "You're sure you don't want back up? They seemed pretty pissed at you. They will attack you."
She just grinned at him before taking off. "Nah, I'm good. Just dropping off a package." And with that Takai took off.
Haruka pointed him towards the place where she suspected the Senju squad was, and they flew over a large perimeter before they could locate them. They had separated from the rest of their clan, and were still in the middle of the forest. Touka was sitting on a tree stump crying in her hands. Itama had a comforting hand on her shoulder. Hashirama was leaning on a tree trunk not too far away, eyes unfocused. And the forever angry Tobirama had his arms crossed in front of him, glaring at anything that caught his attention.
The freakish sensor had to be the first want to notice her presence on Takai, because faster than she could blink, he got out a kunai and threw it in their direction. He would have hit if Haruka wasn't prepared, and had already cloaked Takai with Raiton Chakra to enhance his speed. All the others attention was immediately on her as Takai slowly lowered to the ground. Before they reached it however, Tobirama was already preparing a Suiton jutsu, and Haruka felt a slight disturbance in her chakra. She shouted at them. "Seriously, enough with the genjutsu, Touka. We already established that it doesn't work on me. And you, frowny-face, before you try to murder me again, use your ability to clearly sound the environment. You'll get why I am here."
And with that Takai landed safely. Touka was immediately on her feet trying to jump her, but Hashirama was quicker and he stopped her dead in her track with one of his branches, while protectively standing in front of his group, facing her with a look full of anger, hate, and mostly disappointment. He said, "What do you want, Uchiha? Haven't you already done enough?"
Haruka just gave him the sugary smile she used when displeased. " That look really doesn't suit you. I much prefer dealing with starry eyed Hashirama."
This time it was Touka's turn to hatefully spit. "You bitch! How dare you come to us after what you have done and smile at us like that! Just you wait, I will rip that smirk of your face, even if it is the last thing I do!"
To everybody's surprise, it was Tobirama who interjected. "Anija, Touka-san, you might want to pace yourselves. I think we go it all wrong.".
Haruka smirked sarcastically at him. "You think? Well, at least one of you is actually good at something, even if I had to give him pointers first."
While the rest were frowning, Takai lowered himself a bit more, and they were finally able to spot the small body still laying on him. Touka gasped and her tears started overflowing again. Hashirama just frowned. "You came to give us his body? How kind and generous of you!".
Haruka paid him no mind as she slid the body to her embrace, put his feet on the ground, and adjusted him in a standing position held by one her hands, while the other went to carefully dislodge the senbon from his neck, making sure not to puncture anything that shouldn't be. Once she was done, she checked the boy's vital signs while saying. "The anesthetic should wear off in around six hours. It's pretty strong stuff, so his heartbeat will be shallow for the next three hours, and he might be disoriented at first when he wakes up. Keep him hydrated, well fed and warm, and he should be in good shape in not time."
And with that she pushed the still asleep kid towards his sister who rushed to catch him, her expression as confused as the rest of her team. Itama came to check, while Hashirma just stared at her. "What?"
She just shrugged. "The doctor heard me loud and clear, so I won't repeat myself. It's pretty standard procedure."
Tobirama was more to the point than his brother. "Why?".
Again with a shrug and a tired look. "I already told your brother once: He's just a kid in a world run by stupid adults, he shouldn't have to pay for it with his life. Although, this one particular kid seems to be pretty stupid himself. Somebody should teach him to pick opponents his size, not everybody is as nice as me. And also Madara would be pretty pissed at me if I had let him die under my watch."
Hashirama was still pretty shaken by everything that had transpired, but she trusted that he had gotten the message not well hidden in her words: We are still working on that dream with you, so don't give up.
She mounted Takai once again and before departing, she said, "Oh and do me a favor, I was never here. The story is: you went back for the body, found him still alive, and Itama had a stroke of genius and found the cure on the spot. Do you understand?" She had directed her question at Tobirama, who she knew was the smartest and most efficient of the group. Once she received his nod, Takai didn't need a signal to fly away.
Once they were high in the sky, Takai said, "You know you're the weirdest human I've ever met, right?"
She chuckled. "Because you meet a lot of humans where you live?" His response was to take a sudden dive that almost threw her off. She just laughed and the two of them continued talking on their way back to her squad.
***
In the forest, Touka was still crying while holding the body of her brother. But this time they were tears of joy. Itama had assured all of them that it was true, that Kotaro was unharmed and just sleeping. Tobirama was the first to speak. "Well, that was unexpected. I still can't believe that an Uchiha would help us in such a fashion."
Hashirama was about to scold him, when Itama spoke up. " Unexpected, yes, but not unbelievable. In my work at the clinic I became familiar with her style. You know, she rarely kills anyone, and never people under the age of eighteen. Her punches shatter bones and cripple, sometimes for life, but they rarely are meant to kill. I've wanted to say something before, but aunt's glare shut me up. Even when she faced Mito, she spared her life intentionally. I even felt residues of medical chakra with Haruka signature when I examined her."
Tobirama's eyebrows rose higher, while Hashirama's smile only got bigger. He made a mental note of straightening things out with his aunt and Mito later, but for now he was just happy.
This was his sign, the sign that he was looking for all this time. The sign that they still all shared a dream, and that he wasn't working on changing his clan for nothing. The sign that they still had fighting chance, even after all the blood, sweat and tears.
He felt reinvigorated, stronger than he had ever been before. Determination shone through his eyes as he looked at his team and excitedly told them. " Let's go! They are still waiting for us back in the compound. And we have a lot of things to do. From now on, no one rests. We need to work harder to achieve peace faster, and build our dream village."
Tobirama felt a head ache coming. He knew his brother was back to his naïve attitude and wouldn't let any of them off the hook. But this time, something in him told him that maybe Hashirama wasn't as naïve as he initially thought. Maybe the Uchiha had some good in them. Despite the curse of hatred that plagued them.
He put a hand on his brother's shoulder and said, "Anija, why don't we settle on bringing back Kotaro and resting for the rest of today. You can go back to harassing people with your hopes and dreams starting tomorrow." Hashirama pouted a little bit at his brother's choice of words, but he let it slide. Tomorrow would be a new day.
As they run back to the compound, he couldn't help but smile as the image of a certain someone's slightly mocking yet reassuring smile, and her beautiful deep black eyes, kept popping into his head.