@9sik / @empresssof said: “rulers make bad lovers.”
ENSCONCED BENEATH the leafy canopy of a towering tree at the foot of the thrashing river that cut through Uzushio, Hashirama had asked of Mito her honest opinion on the murmurings of their respective people. the pressure of duty seemed to suffocate their brief meetings nowadays, unable to be seen together in the public eye without the necessity of their union for the benefit of either clan being forcefully insinuated. it embarrassed and irritated him, each instance infuriating him more that the last not only for the interruption of their sparse visits for the sake of ambition but because he thought of Mito as more than a pawn caught in the continuous power struggle he had inherited. she was a dear friend and ally, someone he respected for her great skill and intellectual prowess.
had she not also a mind, a heart, and a voice of her own with which to speak ? the fact this affair seemed more a matter of when he would decide to marry than if she would even entertain the thought did not sit well with him at all. he remembers how his own mother’s wedding bed had become her eventual grave, marriage to a man as ruthless as Senju Butsuma more a death sentence than a privilege. though he made a point to diverge completely from the monster his father had been, he did not want Mito to submit to a life she did not ask for. thus, he understands the flicker of distaste that steels her sharp eyes before her apprehensive response is given. it even makes him laugh, the sound of it too boisterous; a disruption of the easy silence they had previously adopted.
‘ that’s a fair assessment. ’ voice softens, laced still with the faint remnants of his good humor. silky strands of hair melt against the tree bark as his head presses back, knees drawing up against broad chest round which dark palms clasp. ‘ i’ll be the first to admit that i know more about overseeing a clan and commandeering an army than the fundamentals of romantic love. ’
