Hot breaths pant through quivering lips that parted. Their hearts thumping wildly inside their ribcages, feeling their blood exhilarate as their eyes remained locked together. Both man and woman felt their cheeks burn when they realized what had just occurred, but none of them could move from their place. Obito couldn't find himself the courage to untangle his arms around the woman's slender frame, they became stiff like stone or perhaps they were simply stuck to her skin. The woman herself was stunned at what had transpired: she had kissed him back.

The light from outside the cave poured in like streams of white silk, immersing the two in a strange sense of solitude. Loneliness was stripped away, and hope for passion replaced that whole in their hearts. The light rain from the sky created a solemn yet peaceful atmosphere, harmonizing perfectly with the couple's souls. Obito found himself in what he had the closest bliss of womanly companionship he had--how long has it been since he loved and wanted to love? 

Feeling the woman's gentle touch against his chest, letting her hand travel down to the bumps of his fully formed abs. Obito let Yoshie's hands feel his defined body which brought a sense of silent excitement to the couple. He breathed against her lips as they broke away. Her eyes closed in placidity as Obito's lips caressed her neck and shoulder. Yoshie breathed loudly with the man's hands travel down the crevasse of her spine. The tingling sensation was electrifying. But she stopped him as his hands landed to her hips--before she could strip everything else she had on to become his. 

"We shouldn't do this," her melodious voice whispered, yet there was so much longing in the wisps of her words. She kissed his chest, right where his beating heart was and pulled away, getting up in the process. "This. . this isn't right. This isn't the right time. . to make love." Her heart was pounding like a war drum as she said these words. Every part that Obito caressed yearned more for his touch; they screamed for his teasing gestures. But the new resolute determination in Yoshie's heart burned like fire. If she was to truly love him, the slate had to be cleared and purified for a new space for another man. She expected him to insist on throwing off the rest of their garments and create a monumental moment when he stood up as well. But the shinobi did no such thing.

Instead, Yoshie saw him smile and nod. His gentle fingers intertwine with hers as his lips kissed her forehead. Yoshie felt warm inside. For the first time in a long time, the woman felt the sweet bliss of receiving affection from another. She couldn't remember when was the last time she had to repress her smile.

Without a doubt, Obito was just like Takashi; so gentle and kind. Takashi never forced himself on her even on their wedding night. On their wedding night, Yoshie was ready to give herself to him dutifully, but the man wouldn't have it. "Only when you've come to love me should we make love," he said with a laugh. It was embarrassing because Yoshie was already removing her garments. It took the woman nearly three months before she realized her love for him. But all through all that, Takashi made an effort to win her heart. He had a reputation, living by the name Wandering Wolf of the East the son of the White Wolf. And he was a man who won her heart.

Yoshie dared to lift the man's hand and placed her lips firmly on his knuckles. She shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to see what kind of expression he might make. Unbeknownst, to her, the man merely smiled as his cheeks burned hot. He could hear his heart pounding inside his chest, excited even. Two sides of him fought the other, one restraining the other from embracing Yoshie once more. The man knew Yoshie was conflicted, and he wasn't going to take advantage of her broken heart. But he hoped his words got through her. As for the woman, she knew that the moment she let go of his hand, she knew they both would have to restrain each other's urges of affection from the moment on.

It would be wrong. She was not ready.

"I appreciate your feelings. . Uchiha-san. ." 

"Please call me by my name," Obito blurted out, stunning himself in the process. "I-I-I mean. . if it's fine. . by you."

For a moment, the samurai gawked at him in surprise. But she bit her lip and shook her head. "I. . at this moment. . I cannot. . it's not that I don't like you. You. . I. ." Yoshie's voice trailed off and she shook her head before walking pass Obito without a clear answer. Her hands pick up her clothing, placed them on, and grabbed her swords. "I'll see what we could eat. . Uchiha-san."

The man couldn't even catch Yoshie leaving. As a shinobi would, she disappeared without a trace, leaving only a bit of dust flying in the air. A heavy weight fell upon the man's shoulders, however, the glimpse of hope kept his head up high.

* * * * * * * *

Just like her emotions, her reflection was distorted upon the river's surface. Yoshie didn't know what to think as the incident from early continuously flashed through her mind. She could still feel his soft lips pressing against hers. Instinctively her fingers feel her lower lip, imagining Obito's still kissing hers. It was a surprise for her. The woman samurai never thought she would feel a man's lips against hers ever again and making her feel the chaos of butterflies in her stomach. It was unlike Ieyasu's kiss. Yoshie didn't feel anything.

Hearing the song the water made was refreshing. Yoshie could smell the earthy smell the soil emitted, it still bore the aroma of rain. Bird cries echoed through the mountain; they soared the bright skies clear of rain clouds. Unlike the previous night, the river was far more gentle and serene, the description Yoshie hoped her soul should be. Because at the moment, the samurai needed to fish.

The water was, fortunately, knee deep and allowed Yoshie to fish. Her pants were tied higher than her knees with her straps,  and the same was done to her sleeves, only done all the way to the shoulders. Yoshie stared hard into the water and stayed perfectly still. Salmon were coming her way with no idea what was coming for them. Ignorance allows one to have the upper hand over the other, and in this case, Yoshie would be able to get food for both herself and Obito. Her claws for hands grabbed the fish with ease, throwing them into shore one after the other. At the sixth salmon, Yoshie clumsily held it up with barely enough strength to keep the fish in her hands.

Being alive, it fought for its life. The slippery creature wriggled itself out of Yoshie's fingers, nearly flying into her face. She yelped as it nearly slammed into her face, but the samurai managed to slap it into shore.

Shrewd laughter suddenly tensed Yoshie. The voices belonged to a group of five hooligans or bandits, whichever might describe them best. But the one thing that slowly drew out the dragon inside of Yoshie was seeing them getting their filthy hands on her blades, treating them as if they were some kind of trophies. Their ogling eyes belonged to perverted wolves, hungry to pounce on their prey. The animals! They donned shabby clothes, but the material from afar looked thick and heavy. They were heavily armed as well. They looked like the typical ronin back from her homeland, only that they weren't ronin. They were rogue shinobi.

"Well, well, look what we have here," the man with a kasa hat asked with a snicker, a wry look in his eyes as devious as that of a fox. "Two fine looking katanas and a fine looking woman. Even saved us the trouble of fishing for salmon." His eyes were gleaming as he stared at the fine crafty design of the sheath before flying them back at Yoshie's irritated face. "Mind telling us why you're alone here, honey?"

"If you do not wish to lose a finger or two, you should step back and walk away. Leave my swords and the fish. Pretend our eyes never met," Yoshie responded sternly. But her words went through deaf ears.

"Look, lady, we're not looking for trouble," said the leader, waving his arms cordially at Yoshie. "Especially not with a beautiful lady like yourself. Just wondering if you're lost."

"Clearly I'm not," Yoshie seethed. "Now, drop the swords." The woman walked out of the water and grabbed at her swords, but she gets blocked by the lanky one with a bow and arrows on his back.

"A woman shouldn't carry such heavy things. We'll take them from your shoulders." His hand lands heavily on Yoshie's shoulders, completely opposite of Obito's gestures. The woman sighed heavily and shut her eyes.

Swiftly, she suddenly knocked off the man's hand off her then does a couple of hand signs too fast for any of them to comprehend. Poking the archer's vital points sent him crumpling to his knees. The closest man yelped and Yoshie does the same before, only shoving him off with both her palms slamming into his chest. He crashed into the tree behind the leader who merely stepped aside. It left three still standing but in less than ten seconds, the other two also crumpled as pained groans escaped their mouths. Now Yoshie expected the leader to cower in fear, but he only sighed an exasperated and disappointed huff.

"This I didn't expect," said the man and he began to flash hand signs. Immediately more of him emerged from behind Yoshie with blades in hand. Their presence was obvious, cutting them down with her eyes closed was easy even without her swords. But dealing with water clones was going to be difficult. "You're no match for me, lady. Best back down before your snow white clothes turn red."

He had her swords tied to his hips, bringing Yoshie to blame herself for being irresponsible for her swords. Yoshie could only clench her jaw as she thought of a strategy in her head, but nothing needed to be done. The man slumped, his irises disappearing to the back of his head. Behind him, Obito grinned sheepishly at the samurai. "You were taking too long," he said with a goofy smile.

"I still could've handled him myself," Yoshie hissed as the shinobi tied the vermins up. He dragged them off soon afterward, but where he placed them Yoshie didn't care to know. But she was confident Obito didn't leave them to get harmed, the man was more warm and kind-hearted than he showed himself to be. The moment he came back though, Yoshie couldn't help but avoid his gaze.

"You should be resting," she told him.

Obito was unfazed by her sudden hostility, responding with a smile instead. "What kind of man would I be if I can't protect the woman I care about?" The words that slipped from his lips left a bitter taste at the back of his mouth. A familiar face went through his mind, an ultimate reminder of his failure from many years ago. His sorrow loomed over his face even with the smile; he couldn't hide it from Yoshie. The pang of hurt on his face confused the samurai, who knew nothing of his backstory. That thought of ignorance of the shinobi's past hit Yoshie like a stone wall. He knew so much about her, but she knew nothing about him.

"Let's. . let's just eat," she said more gently, turning her back on Obito. 

The woman wondered if she should be grateful or not for his sudden presence. He did save her, even if Yoshie full well she had the situation under control. It was strange to feel saved--incidents like this didn't happen often. It was nothing Yoshie was used to. But she felt undecided and ended up not saying anything about it and picked up the fish she left on the ground, washing them in the river before carefully placing them on stone. She could still feel his presence, feeling Obito hover over her shoulder, watching how she was treating the fish. Her long fingers were delicate as she removed the gills from the fish, followed by the entrails she ripped off from the fish. It was a messy job, but what could she do without a blade?

"Need a blade?" Obito's gentle voice asked as Yoshie continued to clean the fish.

"A samurai's sword is his soul. I can't use it for culinary purposes," she huffed.

A kunai hovered by her side, making Yoshie's eyes widen. She turned to meet the gentle blackness she couldn't understand. And her emotion was mutual for the shinobi. Seeing her gentle eyes of sunset was unlike the raging blaze Yoshie usually had. It was tamed and Yoshie probably realized it thus the sudden put up walls. But Obito didn't mind the woman's silence, and he smiled widely when she gave in and took his blade. In the end, she did a neat job cleaning the fish and eventually made a hearty meal with simple herbs Obito never knew she was capable of.

For a moment she had disappeared into the forest, soon coming out with herbs in her hands. She stuffed them inside the gilled creatures and tied them with another sort of herb. Obito was made to watch them cook by the fire while Yoshie left again for some reason. Much to the shinobi's surprise, Yoshie was an excellent cook. A sweet aroma permeated the air and the meat was soft and juicy--and Obito expected them to be dry and burnt. He had to admit it, the fish was a little better than what he had in Konohagakure. Unconsciously he imagined Yoshie being his wife, and he'll have the best meals three times a day.

"What is suddenly on your mind, Uchiha-san," Yoshie's voice snapped the shinobi from his wild fantasies. He didn't realize how tomato red his cheeks had turned into.

He shook his head. "N-Nothing. ." Obito stammered. No way would he reveal what suddenly flashed through his mind.

"When we met in Imabi. . you heard Ieyasu and I talking didn't you?" 

Her question threw the shinobi off immediately. It wasn't what the man was expecting, but the better question he might ask would be how she knew that. Obito couldn't imagine lying to her face, so he admitted it. He tried his best to hide the fact of how jealous he felt to see Ieyasu so intimate with her. Yoshie simply nodded with a clear picture of her solemn yet calm demeanor. Her hands had stopped working, letting her ears listen intently to Obito's words.

The long black eyelashes Yoshie had batted slowly after each passing minute. Her eyes of sunset gazed at the fish in her hands, blood dripped and mixed with the river's water. Spots of light shone on her face, creating a quiet ambiance and dreamy atmosphere. Her spot was perfectly picked under a young tree, and with her a possible new beginning. It took more than a moment for her to respond to Obito's confession; she contemplated how to react and what were the right words to say. Then she sighed and placed down the fish before washing her hands clean.

"Perhaps. . I should tell you why men like you need to battle for my hand in the first place," she said this as she turned to face him, "I had an older brother, he was supposed to be the heir to lead the Masashi clan into another span of decades of greatness. But when I was only an eleven-year-old girl. . a war broke out. It was known as the Third Great War to us samurai. The war was against the undead. . it was against Arahabaki the Dead Samurai King."

"Dead Samurai King?" Obito's eyes widened while Yoshie simply nodded. "Is this why you were so pumped on finding the truth about the dead?"

"The story goes back for many years. It's been fifteen years since that war. It seemed so surreal. I never saw it first hand, but we were affected greatly still. They have taken so much from me. I've never seen the Dead Samurai King's face. . but people who fought the war said he was dressed in an armor of raven feathers, black from top to bottom. The crows would caw in his presence and eat the flesh of his fallen enemies. His eyes were those of a demon and he speaks death chants to curse his adversaries. He carries the longest katana known to samurai, he could cute down fifteen men with only one stroke. Blades break against its touch. No one really knows his story. . but I heard of a legend that he goes back to the era of the first empire of the Land of the Rising Sun. And that was era's ago. It said that he was the vengeful spirit of the emperor's son. . but I don't really know it it's true or not.

"When the war happened, the sun disappeared as the skies turned red like the blood lakes that formed. Many countless souls that day, but they are remembered as heroes who laid their lives to protect the Land of the Rising Sun. It was a war when all four clans joined their forces together to fight. In that war. . the heir to the Masashi clan disappeared. People say he was eaten, some say he turned into one of the undead. No one knew what happened. His sword Inazuma was all that was left. I still remember the look on my father's face when he came home with his sword. It was a victory for us, but to my father, it was a battle lost. My brother Saizo was only seventeen at that time. He was dubbed the Slashing Whirlwind for his skills. . . so I took up the ways of the sword and I learned its ways. I wanted to replace my lost brother. And as it turned out. . I was a prodigy.

"For a time, I was my father's pride and joy. The day I defeated him he couldn't dare send me away to some samurai. I was undefeated for four years. ."

Obito knew what would come next. "Until Takashi came. ." he said.

The woman samurai nodded at him. "Indeed. He was the only one. But he was an heir to a small family of samurai whose name forgotten. My father didn't care as much as I had expected, but he was fair. The White Wolf of the East a samurai of lightning. It took me some time to finally love and accept him. It wasn't that I was condescending that he came from an unknown family, but the fact that I was defeated hurt my ego for a time. He was. . a strange yet kind man. Honestly. . he reminded me of my brother. He loved to make me smile. . and now. ." Yoshie turned her gaze towards Obito, "you remind me of him."

A pang of pain reverberated through Obito's chest. He didn't exactly know why. But hearing the woman seeing him as someone else hurt him more than he thought it would. He wanted to hold her hand as Yoshie stood up to leave. He wanted to call her name as her back turned on him. He wanted her to see him and fill the empty hole in his heart.

"I want to love you," Yoshie's voice suddenly broke through his thoughts, "but I would like to set my soul at ease. I want to know. . if you're someone I should love. But just so you know. . I want to keep my clan alive too."

~~~

Number of words: 3487

This chapter is dedicated to everyone who has graciously followed through the book :))) it's about halfway done, haha xx I'm not sure if I'll make the book finish around forty or thirty, but yeah. This was another filler chapter, next chapter we'll finally see them moving on to get their mission done.

Please tell me your thoughts! So Yoshie really did admit her feelings, but now she's torn between her love for a ninja and her love for her samurai clan! What a dilemma for our poor samurai ;;