Chapter Text
Iruka rolled in the sand, feeling the grains rub against his human form; it clung to him in sloppy clumps since he had just left the water mere minutes ago. He eyed his pelt, only ten feet or so away, stored semi under a large craggy rock. It was untouched. He continued to roam the beach he ended up on in the early morning light, the sun peeking over the horizon in a symphony of pastel pinks and purples. He hummed softly as he relaxed and propped himself up and let the sand dry to him. It was a rare thing for him, to be out in the open, but there was no one around so his pelt was safe. He stayed for hours. Eventually Iruka stood on wobbly legs, unused to walking, he was a selkie after all.
He grabbed his pelt and waded waist deep into the water, glancing back once more before putting it on and leaving the land behind.
When he returned, months later, as soon as he slipped out of his pelt he felt the other’s presence and searched rapidly to find the source of the strong pulse of magic. All he could see was the trees nearby. Iruka tugged his pelt away, and rushed back to the water. As he drifted away he pushed a piece of driftwood in between him and his unknown guest as a sort of buffer. The algae that was growing on it made the wood slimy and slick. Iruka waded even deeper into the water keeping his eyes on the beach. Once he was neck deep he crawled into his pelt and dove away.
The third time Iruka was much more cautious, eyes peeking over the waves and he saw his previous guest, the magic the same as before. The white hair stuck out from the dark warm brown of the trees. Iruka waded closer, trying to judge their reaction, but the man didn’t even seem to notice them yet.
Iruka came closer, still in his pelt. The man noticed the ripple in waved in front of him and firmly place his back against the tree behind him and he grabbed a knife out of its sheath. Iruka saw the metal gleam and the tales his mother told him of vicious fishermen who would hack apart his kind rose to the forefront of his mind. He drifted back away again.
“Reveal yourself!” the stranger command stepping towards the edge of the water. Iruka still was eyeing the weapon and sank under the comforting waves. The currents pushed past him, much like wind and he tried to hear the garbled conversation the stranger was having, was someone else up there? Iruka tentatively float back up. He peeked over the water’s surface and saw another man had joined, with long brown hair that remind Iruka of his mother’s. Most importantly, the knife was gone. He came closer, if only to hear what they were saying,
“There’s someone out there!” the white haired man growled and pointed vaguely into the open water, the other laughed buoyantly. The original guest’s red eyes piercing right through the waters’s safe pressure and directly at Iruka’s core. The other man chuckled after making eye contact with Iruka,
“It’s simply a selkie Tobirama, are you paranoid much? Invite them over to the land,” Tobirama scoffed and said something Iruka couldn’t quite make out but was most likely some colorful words directed at the other. “Hey! Come onto the beach?” the not-Tobirama one yelled into the vast body of water. Iruka swam closer, eventually getting onto the beach a significant distance away from the odd duo, and shed his skin. He could already imagine the lecture his friends were going to give him for listening to others demand software coming onto the land, but he was curious and the second person seemed friendly. The hand that was holding his pelt was shaking and he treaded towards them.
“Hello I’m Hashirama, and this is my brother Tobirama!”
Iruka waved softly, still keeping a good 10 feet away. He could feel the sheer energy coming off of them, they were powerful but Iruka couldn’t tell what they were...until Hashirama merged with a tree. It was like the tree absorbed him, if Iruka didn’t watch the scene happen he would’ve assumed the tree was normal. He had completely vanished into it. Hashirama stepped back out of the tree, that he apparently accidentally passed through if his brother’s complaint was to go by. The piercing red eyes of Tobirama were back on him, much less threatening but still sharp and unnerving. He nodded as a greeting as he assessed Iruka who blanched under the pressure.
Then Hashirama charged at him.
His arms were open and ready to trap Iruka who had punched him in the adam’s apple. Hashirama choked and fell to his knees as Iruka leapt back into the water, to his surprise he heard Tobirama cackling at his brother’s dismay.
“I was trying to hug you! I’m so sorry if scared you-” He rambled on in the background as Iruka focused on his brother. He has a nice laugh he thought numbly, even if it was a little malicious, before returning to the deep water for good.
He came back the next morning, god he was a dumbass. The odd duo piqued his interest, and it’s not often he interacted with land dwellers. He half shed his skin, his appearance not that unlike of a mermaid and waited. He slowly crept towards the edge of the water as the minutes passed. Then he saw Tobirama leaving a tree, when he got close, Iruka swam a little back. So he could escape if need be. Tobirama sat on the sand, carefully far away enough to not get wet but close enough to not have to yell to communicate with Iruka. He had an odd rectangle shaped object and… a sharp pointed thing in his hands.
He looked quizzically at Iruka who pointed at the weird rectangle then asked with a raspy voice,
“What’s that?” Tobirama’s eyebrows raised at the question,
“It’s a notebook, and this is a pen,” at seeing Iruka’s head tilt he continued, “I use it to take notes, to write things down, like a drawing but its words instead of a picture” how do you explain written text to a species that passed information along mainly through song and words, even humming for some of them? Iruka seemed to understand though. He was internally giddy to have an intelligent specimen to research,
“If someone takes your pelt you are forced to be their spouse, bound by magic correct?” Iruka shot him a dirty glare, and spat out an agreement to the statement. Tobirama added a note of resentment in his writings. “What kind of fish do you eat?” Iruka raised an eyebrow,
“Bold of you to assume that it’s fish I eat,” Tobirama was surprised to get an entire sentence out of them and quickly jotted down that his assumptions about intelligence and ability to communicate have been off.
“Well, what do you eat?”
“People who ask too many questions,” Tobirama sighed, of course they would be difficult.
Throughout the rest of Tobiramaa’s light interrogation Iruka gave him half truths and snide remarks. Eventually he had drifted closer though, close enough to see the faint outlines on Tobirama’ skin, Matching the tree he had emerged from, the bark’s pattern replicated on his skin in a faint brown color.
Iruka grew bored of the questions but was drawn to the man’s intoxicating power, he had to remind himself that this man was dangerous, often. Iruka grumbled to himself, he was hungry and Tobirama’s voice had scared off easy prey. When he focused back onto him instead of letting his mind wander on what to eat he saw him growing a small tree. It didn’t seem to be growing that well considering it was on sand but it grew nonetheless. Eventually the tree produced an apple which Tobirama plucked and opened his mouth to eat.
Then he noticed Iruka’s childlike curiosity, and tossed it to him and got his notepad ready, how would he react to fruit? Iruka studied the food for a moment before biting it, mimicking Tobirama’s action. His sturdy fangs going straight through the core.
It was sweet! Iruka stared in amazement at the fruit, it was so very odd, but tasted good. He happily finished it as Tobirama noted that he liked it and that he had a very very sharp teeth and to avoid getting bit. He didn’t realize they kept the teeth in human form.
Iruka could feel his skin drying out, itching and flaky, despite being soaked in water. He shuffled in discomfort before suddenly diving back down and properly putting on his pelt. Groaning in relief before leaving to hunt for a proper meal, already somewhat sated by whatever Tobiramahad offered him. Tobirama watch him leave with a dumbfounded look, god he was fast, and why did he leave? He assumed he had spooked them somehow and remoresed his now damp notebook that got splashed in Iruka’s hasty escape.
When Iruka returned the next morning, Tobirama was already there and holding some cherries, and his notebook and pen. He tossed Iruka two cherries as a greeting, would he like these too? Iruka spat them out so he assumed no, the glare he got was undeserved in his opinion.
Iruka shed his pelt entirely, but stayed in the water clutching it. Tobirama flushed slightly at the other’s nude appearance and made a mental note to bring them clothes tomorrow.
He noticed the scar on his face, he thought it was just an odd coloration at first. Was it a result of humans attacking them or a selkie specific thing? However, Iruka decided to be the interrogator today,
“What are you?” He could lie about what he was Tobirama thought, but went with a half truth instead,
“I’m a forest spirit of sorts, like my brother,” Iruka seemed to contemplate this for a moment before coyly telling him,
“I know your lying, your voice is higher pitched than normal,” Tobirama grunted, how could he forget just how damn sensitive their ears were? Their entire way of communication depended on tones! Alike to a whale's. He jotted that down before responded,
“It’s not a complete lie,” Iruka hummed and cheerily winked at him,
“Still a lie though,” Tobirama rolled his eyes and asked Iruka his daily dose of personal questions that he didn’t quite answer. The following weeks they continued with their banter and daily attempt to get Iruka to eat various plants. Iruka had eventually started sitting next to him, side by side, but kept his pelt on the side away from him. Tobirama struggle to get Iruka to wear anything so he normally threw a blanket on them to keep them decent. Hashirama occasionally joined them but for once someone preferred Tobirama over the much more friendly brother. Apparently Iruka held grudges. Or at least against people he thought were taking his pelt. No matter how many apples they tried to bribe him with.
When winter started to come they saw each other less, Tobirama much more weaker and tired, all the tree’s energy had been sapped away and left him feeling hollow since his power stemmed from them.. The icy wind bite at Iruka’s delicate skin, especially when wet, and he still refused clothes and preferred the natural warmth of his pelt. Forceful and freezing currents of the water left him unbothered with his thick layer of blubber but downright miserable in human form. Eventually, Tobirama began to rest within a sturdy oak tree that was near to his brother to wait out the winter while Iruka stayed in the depths of the water.
The bitter cold was replaced by the warmth of spring and the trees started to bloom once more. Tobirama roused enough to feel his energy return slowly, Hashirama was most likely already on his merry way to bother Madara and his crow summons, passed down through their family. He sighed at his brother’s idiocy and made his way towards the water, perhaps that selkie had returned. Even if they didn’t it would hurt to watch the waves while his power trickled back.
When he checked, he found out that they hadn’t returned.
His shoulders fell as he trudged back into the forest. Weeks passed, he was now back at his full strength again. He decided to check the water again to no avail, he hoped nothing happened to his acquaintance. Later that night he returned to the water, with the moon’s bright reflection on the slow rolling waves and the glimmering of the stars made a beautiful sight.
Then a head peeked over the surface of the water and Tobirama broke out into a grin, they had returned after all! He made an apple for them, then gently tossed it into the water. Even from the distance he was at Tobirama could hear the crunch as the selkie chomped into it and drifted towards him.
“My name is Iruka,” Tobirama was stunned, names were a powerful thing in the world of magical beings. Why his brother gave his out so freely was beyond him. At least he could call him something other than, specimen or selkie.
“Welcome back Iruka,” No reason to be rude he supposed. They smiled at them and their fangs shined brightly in the murky water. Iruka swam until they were directly in front of them, with their pelt bunched up in between their hands, the closest Tobirama has ever gotten to it. They smirked and then rapidly sent a small wave at them while snickering and then they scurried back into the depths.
Tobirama lunged after them. Underneath the waves Iruka had a shocked expression that Tobirama would’ve paid to get a picture of, obviously not expecting Tobirama to follow them into the water. They both swam back to the surface, Tobirama gulping for air while Iruka calming floated nearby.
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Iruka said before kissing his cheek and diving away for the night. All Tobirama could do was try not to drown and stare into the horizon, waiting for his selkie to return.