Little White Lines

The New and the Old

Mila awoke unusually late. The sun was already well in the sky when she rolled out of bed, eyes still heavy with sleep. She stretched tiredly, finding her muscles still held the last remaining traces of soreness from her journey to the Leaf, and went to get dressed for the day. Perhaps she would explore the village a little, she should bring Aroka too, lest the girl get bored all alone in this unfamiliar place. Yes, that was a good idea.

Soon, Mila emerged from her room and approached her friend's which was conveniently across the hall.

"Aroka? Are you awake?" She knocked lightly.

After receiving no response, she called out twice more before slowly opening the door and peeking inside.

Empty.

"I wonder where she could have gone..."

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Heads turned and whispers spread abound as Aroka passed through the courtyard. She couldn't quite make out what was being said but nevertheless paid it no mind. Her cloudy eyes searched attentively through the crowded map of lines, though the one she was looking for still evaded her. Surely he couldn't be th-

"Ouch!" she hissed as she walked right into a stone bench. She cursed under her breath, rubbing right below her knee where she had hit the damn thing.

Regaining her composure after a brief pity party, she continued towards her as-of-yet unknown destination. As unfortunate as it was, running into things was a frequent reality when she couldn't see. She should consider herself fortunate today, really, that was her first collision so far, maybe she was getting better at-

"Ouch!" She had hit another bench in the exact same place. This time she had to squat down from the pain and rub furiously at her soon-to-be bruised shin, muttering broken strings of curses as she reevaluated every decision she had ever made.

"What are you doing here?"

Aroka paused her profanity to look up at the voice, she grinned and popped up so quickly her mind went dizzy for a second.

"Izuna, perfect! I'm glad I found you!"

"How did you get in here?"

"The guards at the entrance weren't looking, I think, but never mind that! I need you to bring me to Madara."

Izuna raised an eyebrow, his brother didn't mention he had a meeting this morning. Besides, what business would those two have to meet privately for?

"Why?" he asked dubiously.

"I can't say right now, but please help me out, it's important." she clasped her hands together, pleading.

"Fine," he sighed; if she said it was important he would believe her. He was sure he'd find out eventually, anyways.

"Great!" she beamed, quickly linking her arm with his, "Lead the way!"

Izuna sighed again reluctantly started towards his home deeper inside the Uchiha compound.

A number of surrounding clansmen had stopped to witness the peculiar sight and, little did the pair know, rumors were already spreading.

Upon reaching the home of the Uchiha clan head, they wove through the complex halls until finally stopping in front of a large screen door. After two soft knocks they heard a low "come in" from the other side.

Izuna slid open the door and stepped into the large, ornate office. Madara's eyes rose to meet his before shifting towards Aroka, still latched onto his arm. The younger Uchiha quickly separated himself from the woman and cleared his throat.