Soul-bound

3. The day of the rare rain

I had fallen in love with him on a day a month before that.

It was raining the day it happened. It was unusual in our climate that it rained, so when it happened, we always became incredibly eager, young at heart as we still were.

"We must practice in this!" Hashirama exclaimed.

I frowned.

"Battle?" I was usually all for practicing, but never in rain. "But I thought we'd do something nice! Like foraging in the forest or exploring caves!"

"Everyone thinks like that when it's raining. Think about the upper hand we'll have in a rainy battle the day it happens if we have taken the chance to practice."

That was enough to convince me; the promise of an upper hand, of becoming better than anyone else, was always enough to convince me.

One thing I had always taken pride in was the fact that I was slightly better than Hashirama. I would never admit it made me proud, because that would mean I admitted to his greatness. But in the secrecy of my own mind, I was proud.

He always gave me a harsh fight. But I always won. Always.

That was, until the day I fell in love with him. The day of the rare rain.

Because it turned out that Hashirama was much, much better than me in rain.

"You choose battle style", Hashirama said, collecting his hair in a ponytail. His hair gleamed, even if it was cloudy. "As a treat."

He winked at me. I jerked; he had never winked at me before.

I choose swords. And I wouldn't use my bloodline eyes.

We battled vigorously yet very, very delicately, every millimetre counting as we were without armour. We practiced armour-less sometimes to improve our precision, and our liking for each other entailed that we had developed that skill quickly; so frightened were we to hurt one another.

And I realised I was glad he'd convinced me to practice even if it rained. The rain provided a spectacular effect to our clashing swords. As my metal met his metal, the water flashed around us, causing a beautiful glittering effect. The sensation the wetness of our swords created was so slick, it made my mouth water.

We stepped on top of the water, creating cascades also around our feet. I forced Hashirama to back up, causing me to smirk. Hashirama, however, was a focussed battler, his delicate eyebrows always frowning, his lips set as he concentrated on executing everything to perfection. He was far less dirty than I was, going by the book whereas I hated rules of how best to battle, being too proud to admit they'd been set for a reason after hundreds or even thousands of years of experience.

We clashed for minute after minute, our breaths coming in hot puffs that were framed by the sound of the rain and metal.

After two hours, it happened. The rain increased in force, being so dense it was hard to see. It was the moment my best friend had been waiting for. I even activated my bloodline eyes to be able to see him better even if it was against our rule, but it didn't help me one bit; Hashirama was far, far superior to me in heavy rain.

And he backed me off against the shore, and since I hadn't noticed how close to land we were, I tripped.

With one swift movement of his sword, before I had regained my balance, he caused me to slip on the muddy ground, and I felt in my back.

And before I knew it, he was sitting on top of me.

That was the first time Hashirama had won over me in battle. That was the first time I saw he was smirking in glee. That was the first time his eyes glimmered wildly in pure ecstasy, drowned in adrenaline. That was the first time I felt his weight on top of my groin as he sat on me.

That was the moment I fell in love with him.

I stared up at him, my lips parted. I was drenched, I realised now I was still, my sweat mixing up with the rain on my skin. I would soon begin trembling, I knew, out of cold or out of something else entirely. Hashirama was above me, equally drenched, his ponytail loose due to how furiously he'd fought. He looked so dangerous that I was afraid of him for the first time in my life.

Hashirama woke to his senses when the rain finally ebbed out, and so did the furious glee in his eyes.

"You won", I said softly.

Just then, a few rays of sunshine broke free through a crack in the clouds.

And Hashirama stood up and reached his hand out for me to take.

I took it.

We walked together into the forest to a lake. He created some wood on the ground, and I lit it on fire with a fire technique of my family. Hashirama undressed completely, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. I guess it was the most natural thing in the world. We'd been children together. We'd bathed together a thousand times, completely naked and at ease.

But now, something had changed within me that hadn't changed within him.

"What's up with you?" he asked, turning to me, causing me to snap out of it; he'd noticed something was wrong.

Or right.

I undressed, too, put my clothes close to the fire to dry, sitting down close to the fire

Completely naked.

Incredibly aware of the man who had sat down next to me, who used to be my best friend but now was something else entirely.