Unearthing

"Ow. Ow. Ow!" Hisanna hissed as Keito pressed a cold cloth to the swelling lump on the side of her face. Both girls where sitting on the floor of the room Hisanna was sharing with Tobirama.

"You're very lucky. She could've frozen you." Keito muttered, pressing the damp cloth especially vigorously to Hisanna's head.

"I could've- ow! I could've easily fended her off." Hisanna snapped.

"So why didn't you? Now she thinks you're easy prey." Keito replied, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"I don't want to make enemies."

"Well it's a bit late for that," Keito giggled. "We need to make a plan to get Toku to leave you alone, we need to make you inconspicuous."

"Inconspiracy what now?" Hisanna questioned, looking confused. Laughing as she stood up, Keito extended a hand to Hisanna.

"Inconspicuous. It means blend in, not stand out." Keito explained.

"Oh." Hisanna tugged at one strand of purple hair. "I think that's easier said than done."

"Well, what else can we do?" Keito stated, shrugging.

"Yeah you're right."

"So. Whenever you see Toku, you'll turn away, ignore her. If she comes up to you, don't speak to her; she tries to hurt you, get Tobirama-san on her." Keito mock whispered the plan. Hisanna threw her a questioning glance.

"Why get Tobirama-san?"

"Oh my goodness, Hisanna. Have you seen Toku's pride? If she get's told off by Tobirama-san, she'll never come near you again, in case of wrecking her 'perfect' relationship with him." Keito rolled her eyes.

"Why don't we frame her then?" Hisanna asked.

Keito laughed. "Didn't think of tha'." Hisanna beckoned, and began telling Keito her plan. Just as Keito was about to leave, Hisanna grabbed her hand.

"Wait. I need you to meet my dragons first, you'll be seeing a lot of them."

"Um...ok?" Keito answered, unsure or what to make of the situation.

"Well...This is Niko." Niko momentarily detached himself from Hisanna, waved in the air, then settled down again. "This is Saya, Mochiko, Saeko, Kaede, Hiro and Mako." Each dragon following Niko's example. A small silence stilled the air; Hisanna waited for Keito's reaction. Suddenly, a huge smile broke out across Keito's face.

"Hisanna-chan, you just keep getting cooler!" She exclaimed. "Now, tomorrow we'll launch Operation Vendetta, got it?" And with that, Keito was gone, and Hisanna stood there with a goofy smile on her face.

Tobirama entered the room, his hands full with kunai. As he set them down on his desk, he did a double take at Hisanna's expression.

"Someone's had a good day, I take it?" He asked smoothly.

"Quite the opposite actually." Hisanna replied slowly, turning so the giant bruise was visible to Tobirama.

"That's quite an impressive bruise." Tobirama stated, raising an eyebrow as he began to polish his knives.

"Courtesy of Toku." Hisanna replied as she walked to the cupboard, hauled out the extra futon and set it on the floor. "You can have your bed back tonight."

"How did you know the futon was in there?" Tobirama questioned.

"Because I'm m-a-g-i-c-a-l..."

"Damn it Hisanna-sama! Do you want Toku to hate you? For goodness sakes, you don't need to flirt with him!" Saya and Hiro shouted inside Hisanna's mind. Tobirama, on the contrary, said nothing.

A slightly awkward silence settle in the room; nothing but the sound of the metal knives rubbing against the cloth in Tobirama's hands echoed of the wooden walls. The silence was broken by Hashirama, calling to them both for dinner. Hisanna glanced at Tobirama, who set down his kunai. He stood up, and walked out the door, saying nothing.

At the dinner table, no one mentioned the bruise on Hisanna's face. Instead, the three boys where busy gulping down their plain rice. When they had finished, Hisanna had only eaten a third of her rice. "Don't your mum or dad eat dinner with you?" Hisanna questioned, looking at the empty seats at the table.

"Father is too busy to eat with us in the evenings and mother died when Kawarama was a baby." Hashirama explained.

"Oh," Hisanna looked down at her rice. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be!" Hashirama exclaimed cheerfully. "How where you supposed to know? Besides, she was a great mother, yes I miss her, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't talk about her." Abruptly, Tobirama got up and stormed outside, slamming the door behind him.

"Don't look so worried Hisanna-onechan. Tobirama was very close to mother before she died, he can't stand talking about her." Itama said, smiling gently.

"Please excuse me." Hisanna whispered as she stood up. She placed her bowl in the sink and went upstairs. She undressed till she was only in her white shift, and slipped under the covers on the futon on the floor. Hisanna blew out the candle, but did not go to sleep, but let her mind wonder. She was brought back to the present as the door opened and a beam of light cut across the room. Hearing the rustle of fabric, she assumed Tobirama was undressing; she squeezed her eyes shut. 

"I know you're still awake." Tobirama murmured from his bed. The candle flickered gently as Hisanna rolled over.

"I'm sorry Tobir-"

"What was your family like?" Tobirama cut her off, not turning towards Hisanna, but remaining to look at the ceiling. Hisanna turned onto her back.

"Well...I have a twin sister called Hana and an older sister called Rei. My mum died giving birth to me and Hana, so I never even knew what she looked like. Rei said she was very beautiful. My dad remarried, to a woman called Satchiko. She had a son called Takashi. Both of them treated me and my sisters like slaves, and my dad was oblivious to it." Hisanna said slowly, as if remembering for the first time.

Tobirama smiled slightly, but Hisanna couldn't see it. "It seems we have something in common then." He leaned over and blew the candle out. "Goodnight, Hisanna-chan."

Hisanna hesitated for a second. "Goodnight." She paused. "May I call you Tobirama-kun?" She asked hesitantly. It was Tobirama's turn to hesitate, but he smiled again, one Hisanna couldn't see.

"Sure." He said turning over, easing into a blissful sleep. Hisanna did not turn over, but for the first time in weeks, she slept well.