Chapter Text
As the legend goes, they were born at precisely the same time during the worst storm to ever rage across the landscape. Lightning rippled up and down the countryside, making relays across the grassy plains, leaving burning trees in its wake. Sheets of rain thick enough to drench a man in seconds came and went in spurts. Walking into a rain spell was akin to a bucket splash in the face. It was the middle of the night, lit with a steady, large half moon that allowed the eye to see everything, but only just.
The legend wasn’t quite true, of course; they were born about an hour apart, but it was close enough that the midwife had one hell of a time. Or so it was said. Touka’s mother had a wild heart; she was wandering, alone, when Touka’s mighty kick to the womb insisted it was time. Her mother managed to get to the edge of camp, screaming bloody murder and threatening bodily harm to whoever came near if they chose not to help her. Wise men stayed far away. Wiser men told even wiser women. One thing led to another, and Touka’s mother was brought into where Tobirama’s mother was already panting and taking deep, gasping breaths. She was more sensible, safely tucked into a warm featherbed and watched over by several of Butsuma’s best men and her husband himself.
“What the…” Butsuma began as she was dragged in behind two very harassed looking soldiers.
“One word and I cut your tongue out,” she snarled through a grimace of pain. Her white knuckle grip on the supporting arms tightened even further. The men at her sides hissed and cringed with pain. She panted and shot him an evil glare, sweat dribbling between her eyes.
Butsuma held his hands up in surrender, eyes flying wide.
The midwife’s eyes darted between Butsuma’s wife and the new arrival. “Oh, hell,” she grumbled. A loud snap of thunder rattled the walls. She waved her hands impatiently. “Set her down somewhere comfortable and I’ll do what I can.” She heaved an exasperated sigh and turned back to Butsuma’s wife.
The two pregnant women made eye contact, grudging comrades for the night. Half sisters, and not very close. Touka’s mother was a wild thing. Her sister’s demeanor was opposite: cool, composed, conservative. Tobirama’s mother made not a sound beyond the sharp intake of breath and slow, shuddering exhalations. She held her husband’s hand and stayed as strong as he expected. This was not her first child, and would not be her last. She was a warrior, too, with a solid bearing that served her just as well in childbirth as it had on the battlefront.
Touka’s mother handled it differently. She was feral, enigmatic, and always had been. She didn’t know who Touka’s father was and wasn’t bothered by it. She, too, was a warrior. One who preferred the frontlines. Aggressive but intelligent. Crass, but compassionate. It was no wonder that she and her sister had never gotten along. So when the midwife stepped aside to attend to her sister, she shrieked and shouted and acted as if she was dying. If anyone tried to offer comfort, she stabbed them through the heart with the force of her iron death glare. And when the pain of labor struck her, she unleashed a string of obscenities that made Butsuma blush and mutter prayers.
Either way, they produced the same results. Touka entered the world first, and her mother crowed with triumph, as if it were a race. “I win, you daft cowbag,” she breathed tiredly in her sister’s direction as she yet labored on.
“She needs a name,” hollered the midwife, back at work with Touka’s aunt.
“Hadn’t thought about it,” the woman muttered. “What will you name your daughter?” she asked her sister, completely ignoring her trials of the birthing bed.
“Touka,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Sounds good enough to me. What’s it mean?”
She hissed in a deep breath, then answered, “Peach Flower.”
The other mother frowned. “Sounds rather… weak.” Abruptly she grinned like an animal. “It will toughen her up. Touka it is.”
“Hey!” yelped her sister. “That was for my daughter!”
“Yeah but your baby’s late, so I snagged it. Besides, I have a feeling you’re going to be cursed with nothing but boys.”
An hour later, she was, in fact, cursed with another boy. They named him Tobirama.