I don't own Naruto.

Madara wasn't going to kill Tobirama, not like that anyways. It wouldn't have been fair to take out the Senju male that way. He had been defenseless and that was a coward's way of getting rid of their foes. Don't kick a man when he's down, Madara supposed as he looked over the white haired man curiously. The white haired male seemed surprised that he would actually release him of his binds. "Now that I've helped you... You owe me." He said and Tobirama glared up at him. "What could you want my help with?" he ground out and Madara smirked. He wasn't exactly sure what the Senju could help him with as of yet, but he was sure he could figure something out eventually.

"I'll let you know when I think of it." he said and Tobirama furrowed his brow at him. "Now go on, tell your brother I helped you out like a good little Senju." He said and pulled Tobirama to his feet and ushered him out the door. Tobirama spared him one last glance before he took off into the surrounding woods. Madara looked over at the Hyuuga when he entered the house once more. "You let him go?" Neji asked and Madara nodded. "Of course." Madara said and Neji nodded in approval. "You guys find the Uzumaki?" he asked and Neji nodded. Tajima was dragging the older man in and tossed him against the floor. "He's right here." Tajima said and the Uzumaki man looked up at the group nervously.

Madara crouched next to him and smirked visciously. "Now... what good would you Uzumaki have with a senju? You already have Hashirama in Mito's pocket." He said and his eyes spun and changed, the sharingan blaring fiercely at the man. Madara held his chin still so he couldn't look away. "I wonder what it is that you fear." He said and the man began screaming the moment they locked eyes. Madara gagged the man and tossed him over his shoulder, the others in the room watching him as he did so.

"Well come on then, we have set the senju free and now we are free to go play with our bargaining chip." Madara said and received nods from everyone in the room. He was honestly surprised that they all were following him, he supposed that his father should be the leader of the group but it may just be his turn to take over and lead for a while.

:-:-:-:-:

Hinata engulfed him in a hug the moment she saw him. She searched everywhere for any injuries, but other than being roughed up he was ok. He just stared at her, not a word escaping him as she looked him over. A soft pink blush adorned his cheeks but other than that he gave nothing away. "What happened to you?" she asked, turning away from him only to look towards Hashirama who was running up. "Apparently some members of our clan were conspiring with Uchiha and someone from the Uzumaki." He mumbled through Hashirama's tight embrace. She frowned and her brows furred as he struggled to get out of his brother's embrace.

"Let me go you fool!" he ground out and Hashirama deflated but released his younger brother. He crouched on the ground and the sad aura that overtook him made Hinata sigh. She reached over and patted him on the back, only to look up at her with gloomy tear filled eyes. She sighed once more and continued her 'there, there, it will be ok' routine. When he recovered Hinata was trying to get more information out of Tobirama, who had clammed up the moment he said Madara had saved him.

She furrowed her brows at this and couldn't quite understand why Madara would help Tobirama, but she wasn't going to question it further. She was just grateful at this point... she turned to see Butsuma rushing up and he crouched beside his son only to embrace him as well. This was a shock to all of them, they all knew the man had a temper. She was still curious as to why Madara would help him. Her question would have to wait though. Her chakra pulsed and her eyes scanned the area. She furrowed her brows as she saw them coming their way. She supposed it wouldn't have to wait too long after all. She crossed her arms over her chest as the group came into view.

Madara had a haughty smirk on his lips as he approached with the man slung over his shoulder. Butsuma jumped up and grabbed for his blade, but Hashirama held up a hand to stop his father. Butsuma didn't draw his blade, but awaited the moment he could. "What do you have there?" Hashirama asked and Madara threw down the Uzumaki man. Mito made her way up to them to check out the commotion at this point. Her eyes went wide and she crouched next to the man Madara had dropped on the ground.

"Grandfather?" she asked and the man looked up at her with wide eyes. Hinata's gaze never left Madara, and his never left her. Why was he staring at her like that? She curled up her lip in a sneer and he only grinned. "Oh, Hinata-chan, you know you love me. I saved your little boyfriend after all." He said and her lip twitched up in irritation. "You're a fool Madara." She snapped and he tried to make his way closer to her but she pulled her katana and pointed it at him. "One more step and I castrate you." She growled and Butsuma looked over at her now. "Are you alright Hinata?" he asked and she nodded to him. "Yeah, just peachy." She grumbled as she sheathed her blade once more.

She listened carefully to the conversation behind her, but also never let her gaze wander too far from the group in front of her. Butsuma walked up and stood beside her, she watched as he looked over the group before them as well. "What is it that you want, I'm grateful for you saving Tobirama, but I don't trust you lot." He said and she watched as Madara's father adjusted his stance to that of a more relaxed one. She glanced over at Madara and he watched her carefully as well.

"Would a truce, even only temporary be too much to ask?" Tajima said and Hinata looked over to Butsuma who seemed to be contemplating it. Her eyes landed on Hashirama who seemed to be hopeful and then she looked back to Butsuma. He had his lips pursed in thought. "I believe it would be a good idea..." she said and he looked over at her in silence, before sighing and nodding. "I agree to this truce, preferably it would be permanent, but we will have to see about that. Right now, we have bigger issues." Butsuma said and Hashirama nodded in agreement.

"Seems other clans are colluding against us." Tajima said and Butsuma nodded. The two men strolled forwards and their hands reached out to one another and the gripped the others tightly. "I'm doing this to protect my children." Butsuma wanted to make sure that was clear. "As am I. I've been done with this petty rivalry for a long time now." Tajima said and Hinata's gaze softened slightly. She could see just how tired the older man was from his eyes alone. She looked over to Butsuma and the same exhaustion was in his eyes. She understood their feelings, it got exhausting when all you ever did was fight.

Hinata turned to make her way back into the compound but someone hugged her from behind. She looked to see Neji was there and she smiled softly. "Nii-san. Forgive me... I'm exhausted..." she whispered and he released her. She offered him a small smile, but deep down she was still slightly angry that he had left her to fend for herself with the Senju bunch. Don't get her wrong, Hashirama is an amazing person, a little quirky maybe... but his family was damn near intolerable. A smile threatened to crack across her lips at this thought, it couldn't have been much easier to deal with the Uchiha boys in all honesty.

She glanced over to where Madara had knocked Hashirama atop his head and the Senju was now moping on the ground once more. She made her way over and patted him on the shoulder, the 'There, there, It'll be ok' routine coming into play once more. She turned to see Neji giving her an amused glance. Madara was watching her carefully once more. Something didn't feel right about this... this truce felt as if it came a little too easy. Madara was making his way over to her once more and she sighed, crossing her arms over her chest once more. She was going to get fed up with the raven haired man and rapidly.

"Hinata-chan, you look so happy to see me." He said and she scowled at him. A slight frown crossed his lips but she didn't show him that this had upset her slightly. "I'm sorry for what I said when we were younger..." he said and she watched him carefully. She scanned over him and saw that he was genuine in his apology, but she wasn't going to give into hit kicked puppy act so easily. "Well, I suppose we should be off..." he sighed and took one last glance at her.

"If you need me, you know where to find me."

:-:_:-:

Sasuke was busy scanning over the scrolls that had been left to him and he sighed. Hinata spoke of the moment she realized she had fallen in love with Madara and the thought of it made him smile slightly. He looked over to the blonde woman beside him, reading yet another of the scrolls. There had been hundreds of scrolls left by Elderly Hinata and Elderly Neji so he enlisted her help to read through them and see what went wrong. "Look at this." He said and she leaned over his shoulder to read the paragraph he had pointed out to her. She smelled strictly of lavender and peony. He only knew the scent because he had asked her before what the floral smell was that lingered on her all the time.

"Aw... that's so cute though." She said and he nodded. He agreed the sentiment was there, if he had read this two years ago when Hinata had passed away, he probably would have been disgusted. He glanced over at the blonde woman beside him and offered a small smile to her, which she radiated back tenfold. He hadn't known when he had fallen for the blonde's charm, but it happened and he didn't regret it. he looked down and offered a small sincere smile to the scroll in his grasp.

Hinata had realized she had fallen in love with the man when he had brought her a handful of wilted lavender.

He suppressed a small chuckle at this, seeing as though he had recently seen a certain blonde friend of his bring Sakura a handful of nearly destroyed cherry blossoms. She had hit him of course, but had also ended up going on that date with him. He shook his head and continued to read. She often mentioned the proposed truce between Uchiha and the Senju, but due to the fact Itama had died in the attempted rescue, the Senju leader denied all their advances at the truce and had continued their fighting.

She had wanted nothing more than for them to stop their fighting. He skimmed over and saw the part where she talked about how she faked her death. She had jumped in front of an attack for Izuna. He frowned at this and continued reading. She had watched their war from afar, meeting with Neji whenever he could sneak away from them. He kept her updated on all the happenings with everything and he could tell she had been upset as she wrote this part of the scroll. Izuna had still died by Tobirama's hand, her tears stained the parchment here. She had written that she had felt so horribly for faking her death and she wished she could take it back.

He put down that scroll and picked up one from a later date. He scanned over this one and sighed as well, this one was very descriptive when it came to how the village treated Madara. It broke her heart to see him treated so poorly it seemed. She had written that all she had wanted to do was embrace him and tell him everything was going to be ok. He scanned down the scroll and saw where she had detailed the events of the kurama attack and sealing within Mito Uzumaki.

Ino gripped his shoulder softly and he looked over to her. The shock written on her features confused him to no end. He glanced at the scroll and scanned to where Ino was pointing. He found it odd that for once the talkative blonde couldn't actually find anything to say. His eyes went wide as he read the passage, his mouth opening into a kind of silent shock.

'Hinata knows of her fate, not that I ever told Nii-san that I told her. I didn't tell her in great detail what happened, because I don't want her fearing for her life the moment she meets Tobirama. I want her to enjoy her life as she has been for her many years of life already. I just informed her that when she does finally pass away, she will be returned to Madara's time, which is where we actually belong. I told her of my mistakes, and certain things she should be on the lookout for. She is strong enough for this... she just has to succeed where I failed. I made sure to tell her that she should never fake her death, it fixes NOTHING.'

"Hinata knew." He whispered and he looked over to Ino, who was staring back at him with the same shocked expression.

:-:_:-:

Madara sat by the edge of the water, waiting for her return. Praying she would come see him, in all honesty. He had offered to come see her and she told him to kick rocks. He sighed as he skipped a rock clear across the river. He smiled softly to himself as he saw it skitter across the pebbles on the other side. He looked up to the night sky and sighed once more. He frowned and made a move to stand, but he felt her chakra. He turned to see her glowing white eyes watching him from the surrounding woods.

"Are you going to come out of there, or are you going to keep watching me like a stalker?" he mused and watched as she strolled from the woods, her arms still crossed over her chest. "What did you want?" she asked and he fumbled around him for the gift he had for her. He grimaced as he looked back down to the crumpled flowers. "Well shit..." he muttered as he held them out to her awkwardly. She gently took them from his grasp and he fumbled over his words, which was strange for him.

"Uh... yeah my bad..." he said and a laugh escaped her. It was a genuine laugh and he felt his chest swell as her laughter permeated the air around them. "What are the flowers for?" she asked once she stopped laughing. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and tried to think of what to say. "Sorry I suppose. I know I keep saying it... but I mean it." he said and she offered a small smug smile as she looked over the flowers once more. He was jealous inside, but he wouldn't let her see that.

How dare she be so perfect...

He couldn't understand why she was so absolutely perfect to him. He had felt it on the day they met, that shock that coursed through his system the moment her skin made contact with his. He wasn't sure what he did to deserve this torment. He looked up to the sky and glowered at the moon. What kami had decided to play this cruel joke on him? He could feel her eyes watching him and he met her gaze once more. His tongue darted out and wet his drying lips, she was beautiful. Her pale skin and light lavender eyes made her an exotic and unmatched beauty. She seemed to be watching every single move he made as he made his way over to her.

He reached out and offered his hand to her, but she hesitated in returning the gesture. He couldn't help but admire her in the light of the moon, she looked like a goddess to him. He had found her beautiful from the moment he laid eyes on her, but he didn't want to deny it anymore. His mother was sure to blow steam if she found out he had given her crumpled flowers. He sighed and made a move to lower the hand he had extended to her, but her fingertips brushed over his palm and the feeling took the air right out of his lungs.

He blinked at her and swallowed softly. She made him so... awkward. He didn't understand it. He leaned down and pressed his lips to the back side of her hand and a shock coursed through him; he knew she had felt it too because she had jolted. Everything around them seemed to fade out and only the light of the moon remained. His sensory chakra flared and he felt it, that bond... the one most called the 'Red string of fate'. He could feel it as it left him and lead to her. He looked up to meet her gaze once more and he saw that the veins around her eyes where enlarged. He watched as she reached out and tried to touch that thread with her free hand.

Everywhere her fingertips traced, he felt that invisible tie.

The moment she pulled her hand from his, reality faded back in and he sighed deeply. He looked back up to see her walking away from him. A frown graced his lips and he looked down to where one of the lavender flower branches had fallen from the bundle. He looked back up to where she had gone and his eyes softened. He took off after her, the lavender branch in his grasp. When he caught up to her he reached out and tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped and rushed to wipe her eyes with her sleeve.

"Hinata..." he muttered softly and she evaded his gentle touch. "Please... I don't want to be touched right now." She whispered and he nodded. "Forgive me..." he said and offered her the lavender once more. She bit her lip and took it from him, carefully to ensure her fingers didn't brush his. He offered a small smile, to which she gave a small nod to. He watched her vanish into the trees around him and he sighed once more. At least she had taken the flowers... it was a start...

:-:-:-:-:

Hinata looked over his note, trying to decide if she wanted to go meet him or not. Hashirama and Tobirama watched her carefully from beside her on the bed. "I think you should go see him, see what he wants." Hashirama offered kindly and she sighed. "I know what he wants... he wants to flirt with me more and annoy me." she said and he deflated against the wall. "Stop trying to play matchmaker because mito is mad at you." Tobirama grumbled and Hinata looked over to see that Hashirama was sitting in the corner with his knees pulled up to his chest and he was crying.

"Hinata-channnn..." he whimpered and she sighed. "What if Madara is your soul mateeee...." He whined and she resisted the urge to knock him over the head. Tobirama beat her to it and she sighed. "Hashirama... what makes you think he is my soul mate?" she asked and he perked up at this, still nursing a bump on his head. "He can feel a change in your chakra every time you two are near each other." Tobirama sighed and Hinata bit her lip.

She thought back to how mercilessly he had killed people in the war, but then her thoughts drifted to how gently he had also treated her. She then thought about how the older version of her had told her how deeply she had been in love with Madara. Deep down she was scared that no matter what she did he was still going to turn out to be the same evil man she had met. Her eyes softened, she couldn't quite call him evil, he hadn't been doing what he had been doing for personal gain... he had been doing it to give everyone eternal peace once more. He only wanted for everyone to live the lives they dreamed of.

She sighed and stood. "I guess it's decided then." She sighed as she pulled her hair into a low ponytail and made her way out of her room. The brothers' gaze on her back as she left. She made her way to the river they had met at and she bit her lip as she watched him. He was just sitting there staring up at the moon. The light of the moon cast a glow on his pale skin that would make any woman swoon. He looked absolutely ethereal as he sat there, his well defined cheekbones enhanced by the moonlight. She couldn't help the flutter of her heart as he moved to stand, something in his fist falling to the ground. He met her gaze and jumped slightly. She felt the urge to apologize to him for startling him, but she also didn't want to be nice to him right now.

"Are you going to come out of there, or are you going to keep watching me like a stalker?" he asked and she frowned she strolled from the woods, her arms still crossed over her chest. "What did you want?" she asked and he fumbled around him for something, what it was she had no idea, she was just secretly amused with his fumbling. "Well shit..." he muttered and held something out to her. She couldn't help the bit of amusement that flooded her as she looked at the crumpled flowers in his grasp. She reached out and carefully took the abused flowers from his grasp. She brushed her fingertips over the petals of the flowers as he began fumbling with his words. She actually found this somewhat adorable.

"Uh... yeah my bad..." he said and a laugh escaped her. She couldn't help the laugh either, it just felt right. Not to mention she would probably never see him this flustered again. She looked back to him and saw that his cheeks were tinged pink and his eyes swam nervously. "What are the flowers for?" she asked once she finally managed to stop laughing. She couldn't help the amusement that filled her being as she watched him scratch his neck nervously. These mannerisms reminded her of a certain blonde friend of hers. "Sorry I suppose. I know I keep saying it... but I mean it." he said and she offered him a small smug smile as she looked over the flowers once more. She couldn't understand how she had the power to fluster the great and powerful Uchiha but she reveled in it.

She felt his gaze as it burned over her skin, trailing every inch of her face. If she had been the person she was two years ago she would be shaking in her shoes. But she wasn't and she couldn't understand why he was looking over her like that. She looked up to meet his eyes, ripping her gaze from the abused flora in her grasp. He offered a hand to her and she just stared at it for a moment, she was contemplating whether or not to touch it. she remembered the feeling she had gotten the last time she had touched him.

That shock to her system made her uneasy. She watched as his eyes saddened and she realized he was going to pull his hand away. She reached out and carefully placed her hand atop his. Her softer fingers skimming over the callouses on his palms. She assumed that was from training all his life pretty much. He leaned forward and her heart jumped in her chest when he placed his lips atop the backside of her hand. She felt what Hashirama and Tobirama had been talking about. That change in the chakra surrounding them.

She looked over at him and saw he had his eyes closed, but she felt his sensory chakra rolling off of him in waves and she felt it mingling with hers. She activated her byakugan and she looked around them. The band of thin red chakra was floating around them. She reached out and touched it gently, the warmth it held caused her heart to flutter once more. She traced it all the way around them with her free hand, this confused her to end. Why her? Why was she meant to be his soulmate? She looked back to him to see him watching her as she touched that horrid red string of fate.

She gently pulled her hand from his and this seemed to snap him out of his daze. She looked down to the flowers in her grasp as she walked away. She glared up to the sky where she knew the Kami were looking down on her, thinking that this little game they were playing bonding her to him like this was funny. It wasn't funny in the slightest. Her lips trembled as she stumbled forward. Her heart fluttered in her chest and she glared down at the flowers once more as tears fell from over her cheeks and onto the petals.

Why did it have to be her? Why did she have to be the one who had to save the shinobi world? Why did it have to be a matter of the heart? Why did she have to be the one who would fall in love with someone who could turn out to be such a monster? She whimpered as the tears continued to fall. She knew why... she knew exactly why they had chosen her. It was because she couldn't find it in herself to hate him, especially since all of the things he has done, were in the future.

You can't hate someone for something they will do...

She jumped as someone touched her shoulder. She rushed to wipe her eyes of her tears, but she knew he had seen them. "Hinata..." she heard him whisper softly, his tone so kind and caring. She evaded his gentle touch, it wasn't that she didn't want him to touch her it was that she didn't want to feel the cruel curse the kami had placed upon them. "Please... I don't want to be touched right now." She whispered and he nodded. "Forgive me..." he said and her eyes widened slightly as he offered her the lavender once more. She bit her lip and took it from him, carefully to ensure her fingers didn't brush his. Her heart stung as he offered a small smile. She could only give him a small nod to show she had seen it.

She turned and made her way away from him. She looked back to see his sad eyes as she rushed back to the Senju compound. It hurt her to see she had hurt him, she didn't want to hurt him. She just needed space to think things over. She stepped into her room to see the brothers knocked out on her bed. A soft smile crossed her lips as she looked over the three of them. They all snored away so peacefully and she couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips as she climbed into the bed with them. The moment she laid down, they all seemed to gravitate towards her and snuggle closer.

She repressed a laugh as she pictured Neji fuming with Madara and Izuna laying in star formation on the bed with him. She looked to the Hashirama, he was a year older than her, and yet he had the mentality of a child at times. She glanced over to Tobirama, who was the same age as her currently and a small smile crossed her lips. She brushed Itama's bi colored bangs out of his face with a small smile. She looked over them once more and sighed. She felt sorry for the lot of them, they had all been deprived of their childhoods, so she supposed it was ok if they gravitated to her because she allowed them to rest their weary minds around her. She wasn't going to be stern and cold, she wanted them to feel safe, and if it just so happened to be with her then so be it.

Her eyes slipped shut as she snuggled into the group of males that had proclaimed her as their sister. She felt at peace with the group of them, like everything was going to be alright.