Naruto, Madara is my girl.

"Mito?"

"Mm!"

Her answer came so quickly it broke through the tension in the room, like she'd been waiting years just to hear her name called aloud again.

Akira didn't know what he had expected. He knew the timeline, he knew the faces, but knowing and feeling were not the same thing. The decade that had passed left too much distance between memory and reality. He stood there, eyes on her face, watching how the child he remembered had grown into the woman clinging tightly to him right now.

When he turned, her silhouette overlapped with hazy memories of the girl she once was. It disoriented him, the blend of who she'd been and who she is now muddling his thoughts as if he'd stepped into someone else's dream.

"That…"

He barely managed to form the word before her arms locked around his waist again. Her cheek pressed to his chest. The heat of her skin-her breath-anchored him harder than anything else could've done.

Akira brought his hands up slowly. Her body was warm in his hold-solid-not some fading illusion from the past. He tilted his head down and caught the scent of her hair, faint but familiar.

"...I'm sorry."

"Hush."

Her tone was firm enough that it shut him up without hesitation. She gripped tighter, as if afraid letting go would send him away again.

Had she always been this forceful? He couldn't remember her being this direct before. He cradled her closer without thinking. Letting go didn't feel possible right now anyway.

"Wait… what is this?"

Akira's thoughts stumbled over themselves. Just hugging, sure, that's fine… but this? This felt different. He hadn't anticipated this kind of closeness. Especially not considering how it might be interpreted if Madara walked in on them now.

He knew for certain that Madara wouldn't be gentle if she misunderstood what was happening right now. The blast radius wouldn't spare anyone.

Before he could sort it out, he heard it. A faint rhythm in her breathing, slow and even.

She had fallen asleep in his arms. Just like that.

Akira stared down at her-completely unsure of how to handle the situation now. Wake her? Clarify their relationship? Back away?

Instead, he sighed and lowered them both to the floor. She deserved to rest properly after everything that had happened. He tapped lightly against her shoulder with chakra before shifting his own weight. A clean blanket slid from his storage seal and settled over her shoulders.

Just like before, years ago, when things had been simpler.

⋯

Night settled across the Senju estate with little fanfare.

Mito stirred softly in his lap, eyes fluttering open beneath dim candlelight. She looked up lazily, still wrapped in warmth, before mumbling sleepily through half-lidded eyes.

"It's great that I dreamed of Brother Akira again…"

Akira opened his mouth to say her name, but froze when she leaned up and kissed him square on the lips.

"Hehe… it's just a dream anyway…"

His stunned expression said everything, he hadn't seen it coming at fucking ALL. She nuzzled back into his arms with casual comfort and closed her eyes again, but only for another second before-

"Wait… this feels too…"

Her hands began to roam on instinct. She poked at his face first, then grabbed lightly where the rough texture of his body betrayed the signs of Impure World Reincarnation. Her fingers dug playfully into his nose, and that seemed to be enough to knock the sense back into her head in one violent snap of realization.

Wham-

Mito's body tensed and flushed immediately from jaw to brow as she remembered everything at once. Reality burned through embarrassment until her entire face turned crimson red and steam practically rolled off her scalp.

She buried herself deeper into Akira's chest like she could become invisible there, which was impossible given how hard she was trembling.

"You're awake."

Akira smiled-but there was clearly amusement behind it and Mito honestly wanted to disappear on the spot from shame alone.

There was clearly no avoiding what had already happened, but Akira knew they needed to talk soon anyway. He reached toward her side without warning, his fingers slipping just under her arm-

Click click…

Her shoulders tightened, but when she refused to react, he attacked from both sides.

"W-wait-!"

Mito's whole body jerked as Akira tickled beneath both arms at once, fingers dragging against her ribs until tremors shook down her spine fast enough that she couldn't stay silent any longer.

"Hahaha! Stop-stop! I hate this-I hate you-I swear I'm gonna kick you-hahaha!"

Her laughter rocked them both across the floor until she collapsed breathless against him again, red-faced and gasping for air between giggles that refused to stop entirely even as she tried composing herself again.

"It's too much…"

Akira started to shift away to speak, but Mito clung quicker than expected and pulled herself back into position against his chest with tears pooling in her eyes from emotion now rather than laughter.

"I thought I'd lost you forever…"

She whispered it so clearly this time that Akira froze completely, his hand falling gently to stroke along the back of her head again instead of moving away this time.

"I'm back now," he said softly.

"Mm…"

She nodded against him before whispering through another breath-

"Don't leave me again."

"Y-yeah?"

Akira answered without thinking-and then froze stiff as his mind finally caught up with what she'd just said.

Wait… wait just one second-

'Mito is supposed to be Hashirama's wife… isn't she?! What the hell is happening right now?'

"Um, Mito… you and me-I just-I think we should talk about-"

His words staggered out with uncertainty as he sat up slowly and looked toward her again with clear panic setting in behind his eyes.

Mito simply tilted her headn as if watching him struggle made things even funnier, and then laughed outright before finally answering him clearly.

"We're already married, you know? No reason to act so awkward."

Her words were confident, but her eyes flicked away at the last moment-and the slight shake in her hands betrayed the nervousness bubbling just beneath her surface calm.

"Huh?"

Akira couldn't process those words worth shit right now. Did she just say they were…?

No-wait-

"Resurrection isn't time travel," he thought desperately, but then their eyes met again and whatever resistance he had melted away for one long second of eye contact where neither of them said anything at first.

Mito looked down shyly, then glanced back once again with tiny flickers of hope peeking behind each glance-

By then, she had already curled back into his arms without permission or care for what anyone else might say about it now.

Akira stared at nothing for several seconds-

His thoughts: scattered. Disorganized. Completely fucked to hell by now as he pieced together everything that led to this moment.

'So I didn't overthink it… I underthought it.'

Fuck me sideways… (╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻

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