Part 2

Author's note:

There will be a couple of time skips in this chapter.

"It is you!" The person said in amusement. "Daiku!" Meera exclaimed. "You look like shit." He commented on her state, disheveled hair, tear stained cheeks and red puffy eyes.

She turned away from him in embarrassment. "What are you doing here?" She asked the man. "I should be the one asking that. Its dangerous out here at night." He said making the woman smirk. "Aww.. are you worried about me Daiku? Dont worry. I am a big girl who can take care of herself." She teased making him snort in annoyance.

The rational side of him was yelling at him to not ask the question whereas the emotional side of him really wants to know what made the woman beside him cry. He observed her carefully to find out any clue as to which clan she belongs but to his dismay she wasnt wearing anything to represent her clan and so was he. While his two personas were having a debate on what to do she spoke. "Do you come here often?" She asked. "No. Only when I feel like it." He replied.

"What about you? You were here the same day last year." He said surprising her. "Umm.. well.. I come here on my birthday every year." She said. "Ah. I see." He said picking up a stone and threw in the river and they both watched it skip to the other side of the river.

"I am a good listener. You can tell me." He said even though his brain screamed at him not to do the same mistake he did as a kid and befriended an enemy. She had no idea why but his words brought tears to her eyes. "My mother died on my birthday when I was 4." She said, her voice cracking.

"We are shinobi afterall. We never know when we might die." He said sitting down on the ground leaving some distance between the two. "Do you think this bloodshed can be stopped?" She asked catching him offguard. It immediately remined him of his ex-best friend who he now considered an enemy.

"I wish there was a way. But it isnt that easy." He replied honestly and truly hoped this unknown woman wasnt like his old idiot friend. "I agree." She replied surprising him. They stayed there talking for a bit. Nothing too serious, just random stuff but it felt nice. "I need to get going Daiku." She said standing up ready to leave.

"Happy birthday Inora." He said confusing her. Thats right. She did say her name was Inora when they met. "Thank you Daiku." She replied with a small smile before she left.

~

It has been over a year and Inora wasnt able to find a cure but she did find a way to slow the disease from spreading rapidly. It wasnt going to save him but it definitely postponed Kenji Yagami's death. Hiroshi still wasnt announced as the clan leader but he took incharge of most of the things.

It was night time and Inora was busy scribbling all her findings in a scroll when she heard some rustling sound. She peaked outside her room to see her brother sneaking away. This has been going on for quite a while. Meera thought that he needed some time alone with all the responsibilities he has begun to shoulder because of his father's illness but something felt odd. So she decided to follow her brother to find out what he was upto.

She couldnt believe her eyes. Roshi was kissing a woman. Why on earth did he not tell her about having a girlfriend? She wasnt able to see the woman properly. She accidentally stepped on a twig alerting her presence to the couple who was making out. "Who is there?" Hiroshi asked in a threatening voice.

Meera came out from behind the tree she was hiding and unmasked her chakra reassuring that she wasnt a threat. As the clouds cleared the sky, moon light shone making it clear to see each other's faces. Meera took in the appearance of the mysterious woman for whom Hiroshi was sneaking out. She looked beautiful but what caught Meera's eyes was her bright red hair making her gasp.

"Meera!" Hiroshi exclaimed. "Are you fucking kidding me? Please dont me what I am thinking is true." She said in absolute horror. Was Hiroshi seriously dating an Uzumaki? Was this some kind of joke? The silence gave her the answer she needed. "You damn fool! Do you have any idea what you are doing?" She spatted in anger pinning her brother against a tree. But what he said made her freeze. "I love her Meera."

She stood there for what felt like hours replaying his words. He fell in love with a woman whose clan killed his own mother. Was he crazy? "What is your name?" She asked the woman who stood there not knowing what to do. "She is.." Hiroshi started only to be interrupted. "Shut your damn mouth. I didnt ask you." "I am Mito Uzumaki." The red haired woman replied quietly.

"Are you seducing my brother to kill him?" Meera asked squinting her eyes at the redhead. "No. I love with all my heart." Mito replied confidently. "What do you think will happen when your clan finds out about this? They will come for Roshi. If something is to happen to him, I wont rest until I kill each one of you." Meera said her eyes sending imaginary daggers. "Meera.." Hiroshi started. "What now?" She spat angrily. "I am planning on sending a ceasefire agreement to the Uzumaki clan." He said making her jaw drop.

She understood where he is coming from. The war only brought too much bloodshed. If both the Yagami and the Uzumaki clan were to become allies with a marriage. It would strengthen them and would be the first step towards the peace her brother always dreamt about. But to her it felt impossible. There was no way that the Uzumaki or the Yagami would agree to this.

"I cant do this without you Meera." Hiroshi said, his voice pleading making her sigh heavily. "I am always with you no matter what Roshi. But you should know this, if there comes a situation where I had to choose between you or the peace you are trying to achieve, I will definitely choose you." She said leaving the couple alone.

~

It has been a year since Meera came to know about Mito. She wasnt that bad. Meera slowly warmed up to the redhead. They met often, more often than Hiroshi. She was going to be 20 in a few months. She met Daiku every year on her birthday and they became good friends.

Kenji's condition became worse. Hiroshi was named the clan leader a few months ago and he has been busy ever since. He has been slowly convincing the clan members for a ceasefire agreement with the Uzumaki.

It has been a few months since Hiroshi met Mito so they decided to meet today at their usual meeting spot. After Hiroshi left, Meera felt something was off. Something didnt feel right so she decided to go check on the couple. But what she saw made her heart drop.

Mito was unconscious and Hiroshi stood infront on her protectively while he was bleeding heavily. They were surrounded by shinobi. Meera recognized them as Hagoromo clan shinobi. Yagami clan never had any conflict with the Hagoromo which means they were here for Mito.

The Hagoromo and the Uchiha were the bitter enemies of the Senju and the Uzumaki. Meera gritted her teeth in anger as soon as she saw her bleeding brother.

"Crystal style: Killing spears."

Golden crystals emerged from the ground piercing all those shinobi who were ready to kill the Yagami clan leader. Her crystals were coated with poison. She jumped in front of her brother and released one of the shinobi from her crystal. She tossed a vial to him. "It contains the antidote. Save your lives." She said in a threatening voice releasing everyone.

One of them charged at her only to fall down bleeding from his mouth before he could reach her. The poison was slowly spreading. "I would go back and find a way to produce more of that antidote if I were you. I wont hesitate to kill you the next time." She said sending shivers through all of them.

They understood she was right and retreated. She immediately got to work in healing her brother. She healed all his severe wounds and checked on Mito. She just hit her head, nothing serious. Suddenly she felt several chakra surrounding them.

"Move away from my daughter this instant or you both die." Meera and Hiroshi heard a voice. It was Arashi Uzumaki, the clan leader and Mito's father. Inora stood defensively gripping her kunai tight only to be stopped by her brother. "Meera dont." He said weakly.

"You think I wouldnt know of your coward schemes to get hold of my daughter?" Arashi spat angrily making her scoff. "You are surrounded. Hand over my daughter." He said sternly. "In case you didnt know, your daughter is alive because of my brother." Meera said making the Uzumaki squint his eyes. "As if I will believe your lies." He said and a few charged at them.

"Crystal style: Golden veins"

Golden crystals wrapped around everyone immobilizing them. But Arashi got free and charged at them only to be stopped by his own daughter. "Dont do this father. I love Hiroshi." She said making everyone gasp. "Dont you think we had enough people dying for revenge and vengeance." Hiroshi spoke.

"As the Yagami clan leader, I sincerely wish to stop all this bloodshed and become allies. We are in love with each other and I would like to ask your daughter's hand in marriage." Hiroshi said surprising the red head clan leader.

"Meera." Hiroshi said and she immediately released her jutsu freeing everyone caught in her crystals. "I still remember you telling your men to kill my mother." Meera said to Arashi and she saw the look of guilt in his eyes. "I was merely a 4 year old but after all these years I wonder how many kids lost their parents in the war. My brother wishes to bring an end to all this bloodshed and I stand by him. If you still want to kill him, you will have to go through me." She said standing infront of the couple protectively.

What Arashi said next surprised everyone. "I, Arashi Uzumaki accept the ceasefire agreement sent by Hiroshi Yagami."

~

Everything after that happened so fast. Within a few months, the Yagami and the Uzumaki became allies. Mito and Hiroshi got married and Meera couldnt be more happy. Kenji was hesitant at first but understood his son's intention and accepted an Uzumaki as his daughter in law.

The news of alliance between the Yagami and the Uzumaki spread like wildfire among the other clans. Nobody dared to attack either of those clans.

Hashirama was amazed to learn the alliance between the Yagami and the Uzumaki but what surprised him the most was to know that the Yagami clan leader Hiroshi Yagami was a man just like him who wanted to end all this war and bloodshed.

Hashirama desperately wanted to meet this man. So he took off with his brother after sending a messenger hawk to the Yagami district to meet Hiroshi Yagami in hopes of an alliance.