The Home I Crave

At the Tea House

You have spent some days on the road now. The landscape changed little by little, so that one day you realized you weren't in a forest anymore, but passing through small groves separated by lands of sandy, thinner soil and rounded ponds instead of large rivers. According to what Tobirama stated once and your own memories about your first travel through those lands, you were now out of Konoha's territory.

You checked your backpack last night and confirmed what you knew to be possible in just a few days: you ran out of your personal provisions, so that you would have to seek for food in the groves from now on. You were aware that you would have to do this sooner or later, because in your hurry to leave the Village you didn't pack your things in anticipation, resulting in not bringing enough food for the journey's extension. The truth was that you were so worried and frustrated about the situation with your sister and your marriage that you didn't take this as seriously as you should; you were hoping that, since you would travel on your own and with minimal pauses, you probably wouldn't need so many things.

Now you were forced to admit that your plan was a failure since the start.

Fortunately, Tobirama didn't make any comments about this or anything else regarding your modus operandi. Unless when you had to decide where to stop and rest and which path to follow to shorten the journey, you barely talked during the travel. Since the scene at Hashirama's house, a sensation of strangeness deeper than the previous one has established between you, so that you were both convinced that you didn't have anything to talk to each other: you already knew the divergent aspects in your points of view, and didn't see how spending time in small talk would help your non existent relationship.

You also weren't willing to question your husband about why he decided to come with you after giving all the signs that he didn't care: he never asked anything about your family's situation, your sister, your relationship with them and anything that would make him understand why you were acting this way or show his preoccupation towards the case, neither you wanted to beg for his attention in this sense. In the end, silence was the best solution for you two.

***

That day was gone and the night came at last, but it came colder than you expected. The air was wetter despite the aridity of the soil in that territory, and the winds were stronger; you couldn't keep a bonfire burning in the open air for any longer. You put the coat you brought with you and a pair of gloves you rarely wore during missions to keep your freezing fingers flexible. Tobirama didn't seem to sense the same cold as you, perhaps because the white fur of his armor was enough to keep him warm.

After walking through trees for a while, you found a glade where you could make a bonfire and spend the night with a bit of comfort. You reunited enough wood to burn in its center and Tobirama used a Katon technique to light the fire. You sat with your back leaning on a tree trunk and opened your backpack to catch some fruits you found during the day. You knew they weren't enough to keep your stomach satisfied until the next morning, but that was the best you could do for now. It was funny that only after sitting on the ground you noticed how tired you were: your legs were aching all the day, but now they were numb; the same happened to your arms; you looked around and sensed your head was spinning. What was going on?

You looked down to your backpack but didn't have the strength to take the things you needed from it. You kept it on your lap and a sensation of sleep took over our body; you fell your head falling on your shoulder while your vision became dark.

***

A sound of something crackling in the fire reached your ears and a scent of fried fish invaded your nostrils before you could open your eyes. So Tobirama decided to seek for fishes in the lake near your spot for dinner. Did he left you there or did he sent a Shadow Clone? The second option was probably the correct one.