"What are you thinking about so deeply?"
Uzumaki Mito asked as she put a cup of green tea on the table, sliding it to Hashirama, who was uncharacteristically silent.
He seemed to be in deep thought.
It was unusual.
Normally, he would goof around, play with Tsunade, and try to run to the casinos. When he wasn't doing that, he would try to teach Tsunade about gambling and tease Tobirama.
Hearing Mito's soft and ethereal voice, Hashirama snapped out of his reverie and gazed blankly at the cup of green tea in front of him.
After a couple of seconds, he cranked his head up.
In front of him was a mature woman with a beautiful face and fiery red hair tied in a twin bun, who had clearly inherited the best of the Uzumaki genes.
It was the same face that he got used to seeing every day in the past thirty or so years. But it was the same face that gave him the strength to fight back, no matter how hard life struck him or how devastated he felt.
When he needed her, she fought with him.
When he was in a wreck, she supported him.
When he felt crestfallen after killing his best friend with his own hand, she stayed beside him like a silent guardian.
When the village was restless about the emergence of the Nine-tails from the seal, she stepped forward to become the human vessel to contain the natural disaster.
Even now, she was sacrificing hours of sleep to find the best medical techniques and Fuinjutsu seals to accelerate his recovery and damaged vitality.
Without her, Hashirama didn't know what he would do.
Now, seeing the same woman, his wife, furrow her brows in worry about him, Hashirama couldn't help but feel his heart warming.
He owed Uzumaki Mito a lot. He didn't know whether he could ever repay her for everything she did for him.
But he was determined to stay with her, listen to her dreams, and make her happy until the day he drew his last breath—a moment that was surely several hundred years away, thanks to Mito's dedication to his treatment and the modern potions.
That was, assuming the world wouldn't face a catastrophic disaster in the near future.
But that was unlikely to happen, right?
The world has been working perfectly fine, at least for the last tens of thousands of years, since the first recorded appearance of ninjas.
What could possibly go wrong in the next few decades or a century?
"Hashi?"
Seeing Hashirama in a daze again, Mito called him again with a concerned look.
Finally, Hashirama set his thoughts aside and emerged from his musings.
He smiled at Mito and said, "Nothing new, Mito."
He grabbed the cup with both of his hands and took a sip.
Ah! Her green tea is as good as ever. Hashirama thought inwardly and gave his wife an imaginary thumbs-up.
Mito pulled a chair and sat beside Hashirama.
She scrutinized his expressions and asked, "Really?"
Hashirama nodded. "Yeah. You know I visited Tobirama a few days ago in the Hokage Office, right?"
Mito thought for a moment before saying, "Oh, that? I remember Tobirama's mood was rather foul that day."
Mito let out a chuckle. "It made me remember how you scowled and frowned practically every day when you were still Hokage."
"Every night, you'd come home and complain about having to deal with piles of documents for hours."
"You said sitting in one place would turn you into a piece of useless wood."
"For someone specializing in Wood Release to say something like that…"
"I laughed so hard that my stomach started hurting."
Remembering the days he had to slave away surrounded by thick stacks of paper, Hashirama immediately grimaced.
Imaginary black lines covered his forehead.
He almost shivered while saying, "Mito, my dear, you have no idea how torturous those days were."
"I'd rather fight the Sage of Six Paths than return to those days."
Mito smirked and mocked, "Don't give me that. Didn't you still slack off most of those days and delegate the majority of the duties and paperwork to Tobirama?"
"No wonder he is still single. He had simply been too busy cleaning up after your mess to date any girl."
"My poor brother-in-law."
At this, Hashirama pouted, but he didn't argue anymore.
After all, that was the truth.
He felt a bit guilty for a few seconds before throwing the thought out of the window.
What's done is done. There's no use dwelling on it.
The milk had already been spilt.
However, there was still a chance for salvation.
Tobirama's lifespan should be at least over 300 years, making him still a rather young man despite his age being in his late 40s.
He could still find someone.
But there was just one little problem.
Like his identity as the Second Hokage.
Most Konoha ninjas revered him. He was also one of the most prominent members of the Senju clan. His standing in Konoha was second only to Hashirama.
Of course, power and prestige were good.
But it also meant that most, if not all, female ninjas (Kunoichi) would see themselves as his subordinate, making it even more difficult for already stoic Tobirama to find someone he could walk his life with.
Second, his duties as the Hokage made it almost impossible to find time to spend quality time with someone with the intention of making her his other half.
And finally, Tobirama, his brother, was more interested in forbidden techniques and corpses to conduct his experiments than in finding love.
Just thinking about that gave Hashirama headaches.
Hashirama didn't want to think about that anymore.
He quickly changed the topic and told Mito about the recent discoveries, the increased frequency of enemy attacks, the Kirigakure's attempt to create secret bases within the Fire Country, and the possibilities of war in less than two years.
Uzumaki Mito listened to all of his concerns with patience.
She held Hashirama's left cheek gently in her right hand. Her eyes were blazing with confidence and determination.
"Don't worry, Hashi."
"We are no longer a single clan."
"We have Konoha. We have hundreds of ninja clans and more than two hundred thousand ninjas supporting us."
"Whatever and whoever comes to threaten our home, we will strike back and make them regret ever eyeing things that they have no right to claim."
"You have already done enough. Now, it's time to trust Tobirama and this new generation of ninjas."
"If they face a danger they can't overcome alone, we will support them and shield them."
"And most importantly…"
Mito smiled, "I will always be here with you. Whatever burden you are bearing, I will share it."
"We will protect our home, together."
Hashirama was moved.
He stared at the woman sitting beside him. He felt like he was falling in love with this woman again.
He leaned in and was about to capture Mito's lips
But at that time…
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The sound of an explosion suddenly interrupted their lovely moment.
Hashirama and Mito exchanged helpless looks before turning their attention to the training ground inside their home.
Mito asked with an amused expression, "That boy's at it again, huh?"
Hashirama gave a wry smile and replied, "Since the day he came back from the mission a few days ago, he has been trying to develop a new Ninjutsu."
"But it looks like it backfired again."
Mito laughed, "How many times had he caused an explosion in the last couple of days?"
Hashirama chuckled as well. "I stopped counting after the 10th explosion."
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Shout-out to Kobe Robertson, Luke, and Timo for joining me on my P@treon. 🎉🎊
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