Little White Lines

Befriending the Enemy

Nearly two months had passed since the incident at the Imada compound.

The day Tobirama had returned, Hashirama noticed he was in a bad mood, even more so than usual. With a bit of pestering, he had gotten him to relay what had happened during his visit to the silkmakers' and, needless to say, Hashirama wasn't too happy to hear the news.

Aroka's condition, for lack of a better word, certainly came as a surprise and he worried that seeking out her help had caused her even more damage. He'd decided to visit her again as soon as possible but Tobirama vehemently refused to return, thus resulting in two months having passed without word from the seer.

Hashirama sighed, glancing out the window as he rested his head on his hands. Along with the news about Aroka, there had been developments in the war as well. He had taken her advice and refrained from any retaliation against the Uchihas for their recent ambushes. True to her word, the attacks had dwindled significantly and it had now been over two weeks since the last one.

Battles against the Uchiha have also, for some reason, become fewer in these past months. He'd been racking his brain as to why this would be before Madara approached him just a few days ago and demanded to know why he'd been receiving assistance from a seer. Tobirama had mentioned something about Aroka having spoken to the Uchiha leader, though he still wondered how exactly he knew about her. Regardless of this, he told him the truth; they'd been looking for a way to form a treaty between the their clans.

At first, Madara was skeptical and merely scoffed at the response, but after a back and forth insisting that he was telling the truth, the Uchiha just... well, disappeared. Hashirama hadn't heard from him since and he was getting more anxious by the day.

A knock came at his door, pulling him from his thoughts.

"Come in." he called, leaning back in his chair.

"I'm back." Tobirama announced, stepping into the office, still donning his battle armor.

"How'd it go?"

"As expected. We were able to help the Sarutobi clan expand their territory North about three miles, now it's up to them to keep it that way."

"So all went well? That's good news." he nodded thoughtfully.

"Something odd did happen. As we were returning to the village, we encountered around a dozen Uchiha shinobi just beyond our boarders. We were prepared to draw our weapons but they stopped and retreated back into their territory before we could attack." he recounted.

Hashirama hummed and nodded slowly, tapping his chin in contemplation.

"Hikaku had a similar experience during his patrol rounds. I thought it might just have been a coincidence that they left without a fight but now..." his brows furrowed. "What if Madara is actually considering my idea?"

Tobirama nearly rolled his eyes; not this again.

"Brother-"

"Hear me out!" he interrupted, standing up with a wide grin on his face. "Aroka said Madara would come around soon enough and we've been careful to follow all her advice, maybe this is it! I spoke to him a days ago so maybe he's finally taking the idea of peace seriously!"

"Or both encounters happened by chance and he's still trying to kill us like he always has been."

"Either way we need to pay Aroka another visit, maybe there's something we can do to make sure he finally agrees to a treaty this time!"

"No. I've already told you I'm not going back there."

"Come on Tobirama, this is what we've been working for! We could have peace for the first time in decades!"