The trees always looked particularly beautiful at sunset. Big red and yellow leaves floating down to the ground with every small burst of wind as small rodents and birds hopped about on the forest floor. Their little steps crunched leaves with every movement as they picked and plucked the insects from underneath. Matsu squinted his eyes as a small ray of sun broke through the trees directly into his face. Lifting up his hand to block the offending light, Matsu closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His heart beat steadily in his chest, and if he concentrated he could feel his body pulse with it.

"I'm bored," a familiar voice whined, breaking Matsu's concentration. Not even bothering to sigh, Matsu let his arm drop and sat up on the rock he was laying on. His twin brother watched him with a pout, and Matsu gave his brother a small smile.

"Good. If you weren't, that would be bad," Matsu hummed, only to gasp as he was tackled by a heavy body that knocked the air out of his chest. The boys rolled around in the leaves, their laughter scaring off the rodents and drawing the attention of the birds. Matsu tried to force his brother off, but failed as he was rolled onto his back and his brother sat on him.

"I win again, little brother!" the boy slapped a hand down on the center of Matsu's back, smirking when it got a yelp out of his little brother.

"Quit it, Iku!" Matsu twisted up his face, trying to make his voice serious, but started laughing again as Iku's finger danced over his ribcage. It was nice, to just relax and play with his brother. A stern voice in the back of his mind, one that sounded vaguely like their father, reminded him that he was not supposed to be having fun. Tapping out, Matsu admitted defeat. Iku jumped off him, grinning so widely he almost looked like he was faking it. It was always interesting to see how many more genuine expressions Iku could make. Even though they had the same appearance, Matsu wondered if something was wrong with the muscles in his face because he could not make half the faces Iku could.

"What are you two doing?" A voice cracked at their backs like a whip, and the twins jumped up and stood up straight, shoulders touching. The voice belonged to their squad leader, Kinpu. He crossed his arms over his chest as he glared down at the two boys before him. Matsu resisted the urge to look away or fidget. Kinpu considered it bad manners.

"Heavens help us if they're the future of the clan," the woman behind Kinpu drawled, not particularly caring, "Can't even complete a simple patrol without getting distracted." She yawned, scratching the back of her head. Mitsu could feel the heat spreading over his face all the way up to his ears, his fingers started twitching automatically and he wished he had something to fiddle with. A warm hand brushed against Mitsu's and he instantly felt calm, Iku was there. Iku would always be there.

"Honestly, I expected better from Lord Tajima's children." Kinpu's nose flared and deep, ugly lines appeared on his face. Matsu did not feel anxious this time though, and both boys quietly watched the older man as he took a deep breath and walked past them. "We'll be returning to the compound now, and I'm going to have a talk with your father."

"Fun," Iku muttered, and the two boys jumped into the trees, trying to keep the hard pace Kipu set. Shocks of pain shot up Matu's leg when he landed particularly hard on one branch, but he did not have time to think about it. His breathing was getting faster and faster, the legs in his muscles felt tight under the skin. Glancing over, he felt a bit of jealously at the absolutely elated smile on Iku's face as he easily soared from branch to branch, long dark blue hair snapping in the wind. Matsu squinted his eyes a bit a pushed off harder. He was falling behind. The woman checked behind her and saw Mitsu struggling, but she said nothing and kept going. Mitsu was not surprised. He was at that age where the adults no longer gave him any mercy. They would push him hard on these patrol missions to build up his strength for when he was sent out to a battlefield for the first time. His heart started to burn in his chest, and he could feel it pumping blood as best it could. They weren't much further now, when he breathed in he could smell something that reminded him of home. A mixture of burning wood and vegetables, and he found the strength to push a bit harder and fully catch up with the others right before they descended to the ground.

A large, imposing stone gate towered over them, and Matsu had to keep his mouth from dropping open every time he looked at it. Even though he had been going on patrols for almost two years now, he always found the outside of the gate to be a spectacular sight. On the inside, the wall was white and lined with weeds and flowers on the inside. He and his brothers would race along the side, using the cracks as finish lines. On the outside, the gate was covered with dirt and scorched black in different areas. There were obviously damaged holes that were freshly filled in, and on the opening was a large black flag with an Uchiha crest in the center.

Kinpu waved at the guards up top, and the gate doors opened just enough for them to pass though. The woman bowed to Kinpu, gave a small wave to the boys and disappeared before their eyes. As soon as she left, Kinpu turned and gave a report to one of the guards. While he was distracted Iku intertwined his fingers in Matsu's and gave his little brother a wink before slowly backing away from Kinpu. There were no trees here; Matsu's footsteps were almost silent of the bare dirt as he let his brother pull him backwards. Then all of a sudden, Iku spun him around and grabbed his wrist tightly. Iku's eyes twinkled as he started running into the nearest street, and Matsu could not help but smile back at him as he heard Kinpu scream at them.

"This way!" Iku laughed, letting Matsu's wrist go as he darted down an alley. They stopped, and Matsu leaned against a wooden stall, his chest rising and falling quickly as he let himself sink to the ground. Iku peaked around the side and nodded in satisfaction when he was sure Kinpu was not going to try to follow them.

"He's still gonna tell Father, you know?" Matsu squeezed his eyes shut trying to catch his breath. He did not know how his brother had so much energy.

"Tell Father, what?" Matsu jumped to his feet. He was really starting to regret not spending more time working on his sensory abilities. In front of him, the twins second oldest brother, Izuna was staring at them with big curious eyes. "You guys didn't upset Kinpu again did you?"

"Well," Matsu stuttered out, but stopped when Izuna frowned and put his hands on his hips, poking his finger in Matsu's face.

"You're supposed to take these patrol's seriously. Just because Kinpu is there with you doesn't mean you can goof off, an enemy could come out from anywhere."

"But patrols are so boring, Izuna!" Iku whined, his shoulders slumping forward as he slowly went to Matsu's side. The two boys felt most comfortable within two feet of each other. When they walked down the streets they could hear the whispers of the adults saying they were too old to still be so attached, but they did not mind. Matsu and Iku were best friends and brothers; it was the best thing in the world, why would they not spend all their time together?

"Yeah, when do we get to go out on cool missions like you and Inaba and Madara?" Matsu jutted his lip out just a bit, crossing his tiny arms over his chest. Izuna sighed and bopped them both on the head, smiling when it got indignant protest from his younger brothers. Matsu smoothed out his hair as Iku started loudly complaining.

"Hopefully, not for a long time." Izuna still had a smile on his face, but Matsu could see the way his shoulders slumped as he said it. He looked tired as he listened to Iku rant and rave about how he wanted to prove himself against the Senju too. Feeling the autumn winds brushing across his face, Matsu looked back towards the street. There weren't many men out today, mostly older women with young children on their hip or toddling behind them. He could not remember if there was a meeting today, he rarely remembered since he was still too young to participate, so there must have be some other big mission going on.

"Stupid, don't ignore me!" Iku screamed in Matsu's ear. Slapping his hand over the abused ear, Matsu swatted at Iku's arm with an annoyed grunt. Reaching over, Izuna grabbed both boys by the wrist and pulled them on separate sides of him before another scrimmage could break out and dragged them home, promising to tell them a story about his last mission if they behaved.

Izuna dragged them back home, they opened the door to their father, Tajima, Lord of the Uchiha Clan, sitting across from a smug looking Kinpu. When he turned to look at them, the twins shamelessly hid behind Izuna, their father's second favorite child, in the hopes that he would not punish them too harshly.

Tajima Uchiha was not an unreasonable man, but he had five young boys running around his home and only two of them appeared to be competent in any useful way so he was quickly growing tired of the other three. Inaba said it was because Tajima did not understand how such dedicated and serious people such as himself and his wife could produce three naughty boys who were often more trouble than what it cost to feed them. Inaba actually used other words to describe their parents, but Madara cuffed him upside the head and forbid the twins from ever even thinking of those words.

"Iku, Matsu, come here now." Tajima spoke slowly, his deep voice rumbling in this chest as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. Matsu's feet began to move before Tajima even finished the command, Iku shuffled behind him as they approached their father and peeved patrol leader. Turning back to Kinpu, Tajima sighed, "Matsu, stop hiding behind Iku and stand up straight."

The twins said nothing when their eyes met, best not to say something that might be interpreted as disrespectful. Iku moved to stand next to Matsu, brushing his pony tail over his shoulder in the hopes that their father would notice that he was not Matsu. If Tajima did notice, he did not let on.

"I hate to do this Lord Tajima, but I can't have them on my patrol if they're going to be goofing off. I need to think about the other members of our team who could get hurt if the twins aren't paying attention and an enemy manages to slip past them, or worse, kills them." Kinpu stared Tajima right in the eye as he said it, as confident and cold as ever.

"I understand completely, Captain. Thank you for working with them as long as you did." Tajima folded his hands in his lap and nodded his dismissal. With that, Kinpu stood up, bowed at his waist and quickly left, not even looking at Matsu or Iku. As the door closed behind him, the room was silent. Matsu could hear his heart beat again, thundering quickly in his ribcage, and wondered if Iku's was beating just as fast. Probably not.

"Father," Izuna started but stopped when Tajima slammed his fist into the floor. Gulping, Matsu instinctively moved a bit closer to Iku, feeling his father's chakra radiating out like an angry whip. It was moments like this when he was thankful he did not pay much thought to devolving his sensory abilities, imagine if he could feel the full force of his father's stinging chakra.

"Izuna," Tajima's voice was low, bitter, "Leave." There was nothing Izuna could do for Matsu and Iku now, they would have to face their father's wrath without him. The door slid shut behind Izuna, and the twins were now alone with their father. Matsu's heart was beating so fast it almost hurt and his fingers silently tapped against his legs. Swallowing thickly, Iku stood up a bit taller as Tajima closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Neither twin wanted to break the silence, but Matsu had read in one of Madara's scrolls that a preemptive strike was better than waiting for the enemy to gather their forces.

"We're sorry, Lord Father. We know,"

"Silence, boy." Tajima snapped, cutting off Matsu with a snarl as he stood up and marched over to tower over his children, "Do you two find it amusing to humiliate me like this?"

"Well maybe if you let us go on real missions, we wouldn't be so bored all the time!" Iku crossed his arms over his chest and stared directly into his father's black eyes that were so much deeper than his own. A crack echoed against the walls, the force of Tajima's smack throwing Iku to the ground. Gasping, Matsu dropped to his knees and grabbed his brother's shoulder, being as gentle as possible as he looked over Iku's fresh wound. The eldest twin had his eyes scrunched closed as he brought a hand up to gently touch the area, flinching at the instant stream of pain.

"You are far too old to act so immaturely. You're nine years old and you two still can't complete a basic patrol mission. If I was to send you out to the field now, I have no doubt in my mind you'd both be killed before you could even draw your swords." Tajima hissed, balling the hand he used to strike Iku into a fist. It must have been frustrating for him, Matsu imagined, having two nine year old sons who were still unfit for combat. He knew that would not have usually stopped Tajima from sending them out into the field, if for no other reason than to scare the twins to take their training seriously. However, Tajima's heir and favorite child, Madara convinced him to give the twins more time to develop. It was only because of Madara's intervention and the lack of young boys being born lately that allowed the twins to survive this long. There were only twelve or so children younger than them right now, with three more on the way.

"We're sorry, Lord Father," Matsu could feel the stutter in his voice and hated it, "We'll do better next time, we won't disappoint you again." Matsu bowed his head, trying at appease Tajima, hoping their father would have something else he needed to do.

"This is not something a simple apology can fix," Tajima turned away from them, walking back to his seat and settling down. "I can not allow insubordination to be forgiven so easily, and even if I could, I have very little interest in subjecting another one of my Captains to your childish behavior." Iku opened his eyes but kept them on the floor, his hand pressed gently to his cheek as Matsu pulled him up so they were standing again. Tajima watched them quietly.

"We understand, we'll take any punishment you see fit." The words stung his throat like acid, but he forced them out anyway. Matsu had better manners, so he talked to father. Iku had better, well, assertive skills so he talked to everyone else.

"If it was up to me, I'd split you two up. I feel like that would solve many problems." The twins flinched, eyes wide as they felt a drop of real fear, "However, knowing you two it would completely backfire. Instead, you'll be removed from patrol duty and be in charge of cleaning and reorganizing the library. You'll also be confined to the compound for the next month. I won't waste my time training either of you, I'll find a suitable teacher." Tajima stood up and walked out of the room, his long coat fluttering behind him. When the boys were alone, Iku stomped his foot, letting out a small frustrated cry.

"Not so loud!" Matsu whined, eyes shifting back to the door, praying it didn't slam open. "We got off easy. That could have been worse."

"What's worse than being stuck in the compound like a bunch of civilians?" Iku snapped, tugging lightly on his pony tail, his teeth bared as he looked at the ground in frustration.

"Iku?" Matsu prompted, reaching out to touch his twin's shoulder, but Iku twisted away.

"He said we're a waste of time." Even though he could no longer see his twin's face, Matsu could hear the tears in Iku's voice. Dropping his hand, Matsu stared at the space where their father was previously sitting as his brother cried. Iku hated it when Matsu saw him crying, it made him feel like less of a big brother. Iku wanted nothing more in the world than to win the approval of his father, but he couldn't. His father valued talent and streangth, which is something he had, but not as much as his older brothers. Madara and Izuna were his father's favorite children, and Iku and Matsu knew they would never be able to match up to their natural talents.

It was not like they did not try. Iku would train from sun up to sun down if no one stopped him, his breathing harsh and soaked in sweat when Matsu dragged them both home at the end of the day. With every punch thrown, Iku's eyes burned with determination and excitement, with a dash of frustration. No matter how many seconds he could hold his own against Madara or Izuna, their father was never pleased, because Iku would always lose. If Matsu hated his father for anything, it would be the way he sighed and walked away every time Iku was defeated.

"I'm sorry, Iku." Matsu knew better than to tell his brother not to listen to their father, it was better to just let him blow off steam during a spar, "Do you want to go out to the training fields?"

"Nah, besides, I know you're still tired from the trip back," Matsu wiped his face and gave Matsu a bright smile. "Lets go find Izuna and wash up, you stink."

"You stink!"

When they found Izuna, they also found Madara and Inaba, and pestered them until they came to the bathhouse too. After cleaning up, the boys decided to take the long way back around the edges of the compound. Matsu combed his fingers through his hair, blinking rapidly when little flecks of water were flicked onto his face. He hatd having his hair long, but Iku loved the way it looked when he was fighting, so they kept it. It wasn't so bad, at least they're hair was straight like their mother's and not spikey and thick like their father's and brother's hair.

"I can't wait to get home and sleep, I'm so tired." Inaba yawned, his hands laced together behind his head as he slowly walked behind the twins. The official middle child had his eyes looking up at the sky. The moon was out now, and the air was growing colder by the second. It was nice.

"Don't forget we have the clan meeting tonight." Madara glanced back at his brothers over his shoulder, "Father wants the three of us to be there."

"And don't think of skipping out either," Izuna stuck his tongue out at him, "I won't cover for you this time."

"Shut up, I know!" Inaba stuck his tongue out too, and Izuna started to make funny faces. Madara grunted as a weight slammed into his back but did not fall. Instead he just allowed Iku to climb all over him for a moment before shrugging him off. Inaba paused in his competition with Izuna for a moment, "Come on, Madara, don't be so rough with Mitsu."

"I'm Mitsu," Mitsu narrowed his eyes as Iku laughed and went back to Mitsu's side, his eyes blazing with despicable satisfaction. He loved it when people could not tell them apart, it made him feel closer to Mitsu. Inaba's face turned red and he muttered an apology, more so to Mitsu than to Iku. The youngest brother, Mitsu, did not mind being confused for Iku, unless it was by his other brothers.

"It can just be really hard to tell you guys apart when your hair is down," Trying to explain himself, Inaba looked to Madara and Izuna for help, but Izuna's wide grin and Madara's blank face told him that he was on his own. Mitsu gingerly touched his hair, huffed, and started braiding the section that was in the ponytail.

"There," Mitsu was noticeably irritated, so Madara turned around and pat him on the head.

"Don't make that face, Inaba's an idiot, he can't help it." Madara smiled when Inaba screeched in protest and a shy smile broke out on Mitsu and Iku's faces. Madara stopped walking, and Iku nearly bumped into him. A man kneeled before Madara and Izuna, his eyes closed as he held out a white scroll sealed with a bright red spot of wax. Even from here, Mitsu knew it was from Father.

"Young Lord, your Father has requested the presence of you and Izuna in the council building." The man's voice was gravelly, as if he smoked for many years. Mitsu did not recognize him at all, which was odd because he thought he familiar with at least the majority of the clans fighters. Madara and Izuna exchanged looks, but Mitsu was unsure of what they were thinking. They both looked serious, far more serious than they did only moments before when they were laughing together. Iku moved closer to Mitsu, their hands brushed together as Inaba placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

"What about Inaba? Has the general meeting for tonight been moved?" Madara spoke for all of them, but none of them would have had it any other way. The man bowed his head a bit deeper, and Inaba's fingers dug a bit deeper into Mitsu's shoulder.

"Lord Tajima only requested Lord Madara and Izuna. The general meeting has been canceled, your father requires your presence ugently." Madara nodded to the man, and the brothers were alone again. Dread hung over them, and the moment of peace and laughter was gone, Mitsu almost wanted to cry. They were becoming rarer and rarer everyday now. Turning back to face his youngest brothers, Madara sighed, scratching the back of his head before making eye contact with Inaba.

"Inaba, take the twins home." Inaba stood up ramrod straight as Madara's voice turned serious. Iku raised an eyebrow at Mitsu, but Mitsu only shook his head. He did not know either.

"Is something going on?" Iku demanded an answer, look around at all his brothers with an adorable pout on his face.

"Can we help?" Mitsu added, staring directly at Madara. The eldest brother shook his head, and patted Mitsu on the head one more time.

"Everything is fine, just go home with Inaba."

"We'll see you in the morning," Izuna promised, "Don't get in any more trouble!"

"More trouble?" Madara lifted an eyebrow and looked directly at Iku, who only smiled innocently and grabbed Mitsu's wrist. With a spark in his eye, Iku took off dragging Mitsu behind him. Inaba shrugged at Madara and went off to chase them through the compound.

Watching them go, Madara hesitated before turning to look back at Izuna. They jumped, and disappeared.