Chapter Text
The wind on the dark night whipped around her pale face. She was infinitely grateful that she remembered to pull her ink black hair into an intricate braid to keep it from blowing into her face and coal eyes. Standing on the bridge over the river she admired the way the lights from the city around her reflected on the water below her.
Sensing someone walking up the bridge, she did her best to keep focused and not look at them. Feeling a strange sensation creep up along her spine had her stiffening. The weight of the gun on her hip helped keep her from panicking. She was a highly trained sniper; before she could do anything else her father had made sure she knew her purpose was to be his assassin.
Pretending to keep her head forward, eyes slanted under her bangs, she slid her eyes to see who was coming up by her. As soon as she sees the man, a sharp winding pain was happening on her left arm. It felt as if a band of fire was searing her skin. Burning up the skin, tissue, muscle, blood and bone. It was excruciating, and she knew pain.
Gasping she wrenched back from the guard rail and dragged up her sleeve of her coat. She had to inspect the damage. As soon as the skin of her arm she stopped breathing.
From her wrist to the crease of her elbow was an intricate design. It was a solid oak tree with winding vines in place of roots. It was a fairly large soul mark. And that terrifies her. It means her soulmate was more than likely someone powerful, or holds a high position of power.
A deep baritone voice let out a strangled sound to her right. Snapping her head to him, she froze. In front of her was the newly elected Hokage of the largest continent. His impressive 6 foot height was doubled over, grasping his own arm. His long dark brown hair covered his face. But she knew his skin was dark caramel and eyes a warm chocolate.
Need to get out of here, she thought quickly.
Forcing her spine straight, she went to run the opposite direction. A warm hand on her elbow stopped her dead in her tracks. She shook her head to keep her bangs in her face. With thousands of people in this country it would be nearly impossible to find her.
"Wait, please look at me." His baritone voice was pleading. She shook her head even more. "Please you have to know who we are to each other. I don't want to miss our chance." As he spoke his voice became more firm.
She heard the sound of thumping footsteps. Stiffening, she knew it had to be his security team. Resigning herself to a single look and to run, she raised her head.
"So beautiful." He kept a tight hand on her elbow and lifted his other hand to cup her face; running a thumb over her cheekbone. Gripping her face tighter, he pulled her close and kissed her instantly.
As cliche as it sounds, white hot sparks exploded. Her vision blurred and her knees buckled. Using his grip on her elbow, he pulled her flush against his body. Releasing her for a moment to wrap his muscled arm around her waist. The hand on her face titled it up to get a better angle. Both moaned and enjoyed the moment.
Part of her wanted so badly to stay here. For the first time in her life, she wanted to think about herself rather than everyone else she was in charge of. Her sister and cousin were both younger than her and she was the guardian. Everyone dreamed of a soul bond with someone. Even she did, in the deep part of her mind. Hoping maybe one day she could meet the person whose soul was a perfect fit for hers… damaged as it was.
However just like every moment in her life, the cynical and logical side of her mind kicked in. She knew without a doubt that he would never accept her. Who could? Her father had killed her mother and took the three children and fled. He was a terrorist, wanting more and more power. He trained them, molded them to be what he wanted. And he wanted her, as the oldest, to the killer. She has more blood on her hands than most military soldiers.
Using the strength that surprised most men, she used both hands to shove against his chest. Shocked he stumbled back, the kiss and its effects broken. Chocolate eyes widened and looked at her. She stared for a moment and took a breath.
“I’m sorry. You deserve someone so much better.” Her voice was quiet and firm. Hashirama was shocked into silence and immobility. Using it as her chance, she shot off like a bullet. One thing to her advantage was she was fast, unnaturally so.
“WAIT!” His voice was loud and stuttering. “Touka, stop her!”
Deciding to really lose them, she ducked into an alcove just off to the side of the bridge. Pressing against the cool stone wall she tried to melt into the shadows. She really didn’t want to end up hurting them. They weren’t after her to harm her. They weren’t the enemy, if she were any other person, she could see getting to know them personally and hopefully becoming friends.
Holding her breath as they ran by her shouting that she couldn’t have gotten far, she was shocked to see Hashirama was with them. He kept pace easily, effortlessly. A complete contrast to what she thought.
“Please tell me you can find her,” he pleaded with a woman next to him.
From where Madara was standing she could make out a few details of the woman. They stood under a street lamp in the park across the way. She looked to be almost as tall as Hashirama, and that was annoying, since Madara was only 5’6”. Her brown/black hair was pulled back into what looked like a painfully tight top knot. Her skin was on the fairer side and she had gray eyes. She wore a black shirt and cargo pants to match. As she shifted Madara caught sight of the gun on her hip and the radio on the other.
“We are working on it. There are cameras around and Aika snapped a picture of her while you had a grip on her.” The woman, Touka, paused for a moment. “But we need to get you home. You have appearances tomorrow. And you need to look your best cousin.”
Madara was sure her heart stopped. They had a picture… fuck. Just one more thing she has to worry about. Sighing quietly, she turned and kept running away from them. Away from the one person she wished she was selfish enough to stay by.
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Hashirama couldn’t believe his luck. He finally found his soulmate, only to have her run and manage to escape his entire security team. That pissed him off. They were supposed to be highly trained and one single woman managed to escape. Blowing out a breath as he walked back to his home.
He was going to the children’s hospital tomorrow and was feeling restless, so he decided to take a walk. The best decision he ever made, he finally found the soul that was meant to be with his. A surge of anger came again. Clenching his fists, he ground his teeth. How could she think that, let alone say it? She was perfect for him, he could easily tell. If the mark on his left arm wasn’t enough, the kiss they shared was more than cementing.
As he continued to walk the mostly silent streets of Konoha he glanced down on his arm and rolled up the sleeve. It was a strange design in of itself, but for a petite woman such as she, even more curious. It was a gun and a knife overlapping with the edges tinted in what looked like flames. Destructive and dangerous. But he couldn’t be more proud, if she was as strong as the mark depicted.
“Welcome back brother.” The sound of his younger brother’s voice was to the left. Hashirama glanced over. Standing proud at 6’1” he was the complete opposite in looks to Hashirama. He had pale skin and silver hair while the deep ruby red eyes provided contrast. He had three red lines on his face. Two on his cheeks and one on his chin. The tattoos represented the two brothers who were assassinated and the last one on his chin was representative of Hashirama, his last brother. “Touka called me and had me go through the cameras surrounding the bridge and park. I found a small section when slowed down to frame by frame.”
Tobirama motioned for Hashirama to follow him further into their family home. It was a mansion style, the leading family lived lavish their parents said. Marble floors glistened in the dim light from the ceiling chandelier. They walked through the foyer up the winding staircase to the next level. The long hallway was lined with original works of art and family portraits. The third door on the right was still open and light spilled out. Tobirama walked through it and Hashirama followed. The far side of the room was lined with monitors surveying the entire city he lived in. One in the middle was a frozen shot of the mystery woman running. Her ink black hair flowed behind her in the braid as she ran like a cheetah.
“She must have some form of special training. She figured out where the cameras were and most of her face was obscured by that mane of hair.” His brother’s voice interrupted Hashirama’s admiration staring. “However because of Aika we got a fairly decent shot of her face.” He moved to press a few buttons on the keyboard below the screens. The image came up of Hashirama holding her arm and face. “I will say this, she is beautiful. Father would be glad you have someone both beautiful and apparently very talented as your mate.”
Hashirama hummed in agreement. He imagined their children. And yes, he wanted that with her. He wanted so much he felt his body heat up. The brand on his arm heated up, responding to his thoughts. It was common for marks to flare until the relationship is finalized. He wanted that done as soon as possible. There were dangers being the head of the largest continent and if his enemies found out who his soulmate was first, she would be in more danger than she ever realized.
“Do you have a name?” he finally asked. His eyes going from the mark on his arm to the screen once again.
“Not quite yet. I am running it through different databases,” Tobirama hummed. Turning to fully look at his elder brother. “Go get some sleep. You don’t want to scare the sick children tomorrow. And if you go in with bags under your eyes, the kids are likely to get scared and scream.” He snickered as his brother gave him a deadpan look.
With one last glance at the moment on the screen, Hashirama aquisised and went to his room. Stopping at the door way he turned his head back and moved his hair out of his eyes. “I don’t care the time Tobirama. You get a name, I want it immediately.”
Tobirama nodded his head. He knew his brother, despite being a powerful person, he was a bit of a hopeless romantic… deep, deep, deep down.
“Good night elder brother.”
“Good night Tobirama.”
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Madara groaned as she walked into the hospital the next morning. Her eyes burned, they always did after the ocular surgery she was forced into as a child. She was exhausted, tossing and turning all night as the mark on his arm burned. This was going to be more difficult to ignore than she thought. She had the last couple days off and took it to enjoy some peace and quiet. However she received the worst news possible. Tajima was spotted in the surrounding city. Madara thought all three of them were finally safe after all everything.
“Put it aside for today. Focus on the kids Madara,” she muttered under her breath. She worked in a children’s hospital. And shockingly enough it was a passion. She loved knowing she was able to help the children, either heal or help make them as comfortable as possible.
The swooshing of the automatic doors brought her attention back to the here and now. Countless staff was rushing around, their voices mingling together. It was unusual for so many people to be running around this early in the morning; as it was only 7AM.
“Madara!” Turning her head to the voice. She saw a couple other nurses hudled at the round table that was the front nurses station. “Come over! We have guests today and they are going to be here any minute.”
Madara walked up and slipped her purse off. Pulling out her desk key from her pocket she locked it up in the metal drawer. She slipped the key back into her navy blue scrubs. Pulling her hair back she tied it up and looked around.
The mark on her arm started burning in force. The pain kept increasing until there were almost tears in her eyes. Blinking them back she walked with the others to the front part. The director of the hospital was standing at the front.
He was an elderly man in his mid-sixties. His blonde hair was starting to gray. The charcoal suit he wore was tailored just for him. He turned to address his staff. He made sure that only the best of the best were working today. It wasn’t everyday you got a visit from the ruling family and the Hokage himself. It was unprecedented.
“Alright everyone, listen up.” He waited until the buzzing stopped. “We have some very important guests. I personally made sure to have only my best working today. Everyone better be on their best behavior.” Catching Madara’s eyes he motioned her forward. Squeezing in between the people she went to stand next to him. “Alright nurses, get your assignments from Madara as usual here.”
Madara was fairly new here, but her knowledge of field medicine helped ingratiate her with all the right people. She was promoted to head nurse fairly quick. And the nurses were much more organized after.
The doors opening behind them caught all their attention. Everyone turned to greet the special guests. As they walked in Madara’s eyes widened. He was easy to spot. The tallest of the group and his eyes alight with interest.
She held her breath as their eyes connected. It caused the soul mark to burn excruciatingly. Her whole body was rigid and he walked up to her. Her mind kept telling her to run, but she knew it would be useless. His security team was behind him and she knew she wouldn’t get far.
“So you have been here under my nose the entire time love?” Hashirama asked in a deep tone. She met his eyes defiantly. She would be damned if she turned submissive, even to him. He smiled and reached out to grab her hand. Shackling her wrist to him his smile turned a little devious. “You won’t be getting away again.”
The click was deafening in the silence of the room. She looked down, he had handcuffed her to him. She was truly stuck to his side.
“Fuck,” she muttered.