Ignorance Is Bliss

by Lixx22

Because the moment you wish for you innocence back, is the moment innocence truly becomes unattainable. The story of a girl forgotten by time. MadaraOC

Uchiha Kazehana

There was rain. Kazehana was running as fast as she could. She had to get there in time. She had to. She was a member of the famed Uchiha clan. She will get there on time.

#~#~#~#

Age 2

"Okaa-sama (Mother)?"

"Yes, musume (Daughter)?"

"Why do the servants only have one name?" an exotic two year old girl asked her currently heavily pregnant mother.

"It is because they aren't an Uchiha."

"Then why do they stay here. Did not…" A glare from her mother is all it takes for her to rephrase her question. Uncertainty was weakness. "Otou-sama (Father) once said that our home is only for Uchiha."

"The servants do not truly live here. They are only here to serve, in exchange for protection. Remember, Kazehana, never treat a servant as an equal. Treating them as an equal would blur the lines between master and servant. They would only become even bolder if they thought themselves as our equal."

"Yes, Okaa-sama." Okaa-sama is correct, as Okaa-sama is an Uchiha and Uchiha are always right. "That is why they aren't allowed to wear the clan's crest."

"Yes." Phrasing a question as a statement is okay apparently, good to know, Otou-sama was a lot less forgiving than Okaa-sama.

"What about me? Why can't I? Okaa-sama is an Uchiha. That means that I am one too." The little girl was too proud for figuring it out to notice that she had unknowingly disobeyed her Okaa-sama.

"That is because you haven't had your ceremony yet." The elder woman explained, "The ceremony is where you are taught your first technique, the Great Fireball. Only when you have mastered the technique and proven yourself worthy, only then will you be able to wear the clan's crest and call yourself a true Uchiha. The other option is marriage, but you're too young for that."

"So when is my ceremony?" Marriage sounded too icky to the girl.

"That is for your Otou-sama and me to decide."

"May I request to have my ceremony soon?" The little girl was determined to prove herself.

"And what makes you think you are ready?" the woman raised a skeptical eyebrow. The girl was barely a toddler, hardly ready to become an adult in the eyes of the clan.

"I am an Uchiha by blood. I may not have had the ceremony yet, but a mere ceremony is not what makes me an Uchiha," replied the girl, her eyes filled with determination.

"Go ask your Aniki (Older Brother) to train you. You will have two weeks to prepare for it." A smirk was on the woman's face for a second before it reverted back to the emotionless façade it was before. Perhaps having a daughter instead of a son would not endanger the chances of pride and glory being brought to her family. There was still marriage if all else fails after all.

"Thank you, Okaa-sama for the honor." The girl bowed in respect before she left. Uchihas must always be polite to fellow clan members, the first lesson she had from Okaa-sama, followed by Aniki's lesson on how it is impolite to lie, so be as blunt as she wanted to be -Aniki was slapped by Okaa-sama after saying that- whatever blunt meant in that context. She was mature, despite the small matter concerning her age, but she had no idea what the bluntness of a blade had to do with politeness. Maybe using a blunt blade was considered impolite?

"Do not fail me, child."

Two weeks later, Kazehana was officially deemed Uchiha Kazehana.

The clan name before her own, signifying that the clan will always come before oneself.

It was only months later that she found out that she had her ceremony early, six years earlier than the majority of the clan's children and had thus attracted the attention of the Clan Head.

It would be years later before she realized that her Okaa-sama had manipulated her to gain the favor of the Clan Head.

#~#~#~#

"My lady, you should not be running in your condition!" shouted one of her guards, Yoshiro hysterically, no doubt imagining the punishment he would be given for allowing his lady to roam freely despite her condition.

He was right, she really shouldn't be running in her state, but she had to get there in time, before it was too late. It didn't matter that it was raining (The rain was just annoying, it's the Land of Fire not the Land of Water, it's not supposed to rain this heavily), it didn't matter that an entire team of elite Uchiha shinobi (Ninja) were chasing her (They really should have caught up to her by now, in her condition. Perhaps after all this was over, she'd ask Madara if she could take up their training. They were Uchiha elite after all), it didn't matter that she was supposed to go into labor at any second (One of the greater woes of pregnancy, you'll never know when the baby will come out, she really hope her future child would be considerate of his Kaa-chan (Mother)). All that mattered was that she was a kunoichi on a mission.

#~#~#~#

Age 2

"Otou-sama, what is a kunoichi? Why does the Clan Head want to train me to become one?" asked the girl just mere months after her ceremony. She had long failed her resolution to stop asking questions, there was just too much to ask. Besides asking questions didn't count as uncertainty, it was just curiosity, she hoped at least.

"A kunoichi is a female shinobi, a ninja. Shinobi are the hands and shield of the clan, they are the ones who take missions from other clans and are tasked with protecting the clan. Being chosen to become one is quite an honor, especially on a request by the Clan Head himself. As for why Tajima-dono wants to train you," the man paused to think over her question. "It may be because you are close to the ages of two of his sons and have already had your ceremony. But there can be many reasons. From the information I have given you, I want you to list at least three by the time we reach the dojo."

"Yes, Otou-sama," was all she said before her mind started whirling a thousand miles a second. She was called a genius, a prodigy by the clan and she would not shame the clan by disappointing them.

"A bodyguard, the two sons are two of the possible heirs of the clan and thus their safety is of the upmost importance."

No confirmation, just be confident that you are right.

"Loyalty, if my training is successful, Tajima-dono would have a strong kunoichi bounded not only by the clan expectations, but personal loyalty to him."

"Um…"

"Erase that word from your vocabulary, child." A glare was sent her way. Hesitation and uncertainty was a sin, but together, they were a weakness left to be exploited by enemies.

"Connections, the young lords would sooner or later be meeting other children, but Tajima-dono would not want the young lords to be associating with weak people, so the most suitable solution would be to handpick someone their age instead."

"Your answers are adequate, but a few more seconds and your time would be up," her father said sternly before opening the doors to the dojo to reveal a stoic looking man and two boys around the little girl's age.

"Tajima-dono, Madara-sama, Izuna-sama," greeted the father-daughter pair while bowing.

"Rise, Kenta, you may leave your daughter here to carry on your duties in the council," said the clan head before inviting the girl in.

Kazehana became an official kunoichi of the Uchiha Clan after five years of intense training. 10 hours a day, every single day, with no breaks except for food, for exactly one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five days, eighteen thousand two hundred and fifty hours, filled with blood, sweat and intense headaches created by trying to remember basic knowledge every kunoichi must know. (Man, Tajima really was a slave driver…Does this count as child abuse?)

Her first mission, at the tender age of eight, was to interrogate and exterminate a traitor within her clan, which lead to her first massacre.

It was the beginning of the end of her innocence, but she wouldn't have it any other way, because she was an Uchiha.

#~#~#~#

Kazehana looked down at a flash of red only to grimace at the sight of her kimono being covered with blood stains. She never did get over that disagreeable feeling she always associated with killing and blood, but she had learnt to live with it.

Besides, that Senju man deserved it for trying to kill her while she was asleep. Although, the man was forgiven for his crimes as he was the sole reason why Kazehana even knew about the battle, and for that, he was dead instead of living the life of a prisoner.

He was a good fighter though, Kazehana admitted to herself, she only escaped because of pure luck.

#~#~#~#

Age 6

Kazehana knew she was lucky, and she was pretty sure a lot of people thought so too, but she never did realize just how lucky she was until an incident that occurred when she was six.

A girl had slapped her.

A girl had freaking slapped her.

And now the girl was being dragged off into one of the Uchiha underground dungeons by the Uchiha shinobi that always followed Kazehana around, leaving her alone with Madara and another random Uchiha, who were still walking as if a girl being dragged away by a six foot shinobi was normal.

"What's going on?" the six year old, and very confused, girl asked her sort of friend. It was useless asking the older man. The shinobi following Madara always ignored everyone, except Tajima-dono and Akemi-sama, the patriarch and matriarch of the clan.

"You don't have a concussion do you?" Madara asked, curious but not worried about the girl. Usually if someone hit her she'd hit them back, but the shinobi had taken the girl away before Kazehana could hit her. Maybe she wanted vengeance for her cheek? He had heard of stories with Uchiha swearing revenge for smaller things. The Uchiha were notorious for their vengeful ways, part of the reason why they were so feared in the Land of Fire. "You can't get a concussion from a slap, can you?"

"I do not have a concussion," Kazehana stated, rolling her eyes, the girl didn't even hit that hard. She was most likely civilian, training to be a perfect wife, like most of the girls that were Kazehana's age. "I'm just curious as to why she's being dragged away like a lamb to the slaughter."

"For her punishment of course, they can't just hit people like us and expect to get away with it," the older boy said haughtily in true Uchiha fashion.

"So that man who dragged her away…"

"Your guard of course," he stated as if it was an obvious conclusion.

"Oh," Kazehana said, catching up to her friend, pretending that having a guard, when she wasn't a member of the main house, was completely normal. (It wasn't)

Even at a young age Kazehana knew what having her own guard meant. The Uchiha clan was at constant war with other clans, they couldn't afford to take competent shinobi out of the battlefield to protect a nameless kid like Kazehana. It didn't matter if her father was a part of the council, because only members of the main house had guards, people like Tajima-dono, Akemi-sama, Madara and Izuna. For Kazehana to have one, her own guard, was a huge statement. Kazehana also didn't miss the words 'like us' Madara had used.

Alone, these two factors may have been mere coincidence, but together, they give a deeper meaning.

It meant that Kazehana was important enough to warrant a guard. It meant that she held a higher standing in the clan than she originally thought. It meant that she was to be more than just Madara and Izuna's companion. It meant that she held almost as much power as Madara, the heir after his Aniki had died the year before, and Izuna, the heir if something were to ever happen to Madara. It meant that she wasn't going to just be a trusted advisor like her parents had hoped her to be, because only main house members had guards and Kazehana wasn't of the main house, yet.

And the only way for an outsider like Kazehana to become a part of the main family of the Uchiha clan was to marry into it.

If anything, Kazehana was lucky, because the chances of her living into her teens were significantly higher than it was five minutes ago.

#~#~#~#

She was almost there, in just a few more minutes, she would reach her destination, and she could already sense them, even with her chaotic chakra, which was both a blessing and a curse, as it meant that she was close, but also meant that she could already feel the two opposing forces readying themselves for a fight.

#~#~#~#

Age 8

Kazehana wondered how was it her that always got the weirdest luck. Tajima-dono had given her the mission a week before. It was supposed to be simple. Track down the traitor who dare kidnap Uchiha children and make sure they do not repeat their mistake again, which unfortunately for Kazehana, meant to kill them. Easy and simple! Except for the killing part.

Uchiha were notoriously protective of their children, either that or their kekkei genkai (Bloodline Limit), Kazehana could never tell.

Although it was most likely a mix of both, the Uchiha were a possessive bunch and the Sharingan (Copy Wheel Eye); one of the Legendary Three Great Dōjutsu (Eye Techniques) was the pride and joy of the Uchiha Clan.

It wasn't surprising that some people wanted the Sharingan for themselves. It wasn't odd that these people managed to kidnapped a few Uchiha children, there were dozens of foiled kidnappings each year, and despite the fact that the Uchiha were the most powerful clan in the Land of Fire (It was either them or the Senju, they could never tell), the defense for the Uchiha compounds weren't perfect, they weren't the Uzumaki, who used their fuinjutsu (Sealing Techniques) to guard their island, Uzushiogakure (Village of the Whirling Tides) or the Senju, who rumored had trees to guard their compounds, how did that work Kazehana did not know, but it might be one of the Uzumaki seals. They were allies after all and the Uzumaki were rumored to be eccentric enough to do something like that. It could also be the young Senju heir, who was said to have had discovered Wood Release, but there is no way the heir could be that strong at such a young age.

The Uchiha Clan did not have seal masters at their disposals, it was an unfair advantage for the Uzumaki, and maybe Senju, but they made do with what they did have, it wasn't perfect, but it was as close to it as possible.

What was surprising was the fact that it was a traitorous Uchiha who helped with the kidnapping. The Uchiha were a loyal bunch. they had to be, in an era like the Warring States, where it was basically every clan for themselves. Why an Uchiha would betray their own clan and face the outside world without the backing of a clan, which just was another prolonged death sentence, was a mystery to Kazehana.

The Uchiha traitor had been interrogated and eliminated, easily in fact, so why was Kazehana tied up in a dark room? Because she flinched when she killed the traitor of course. Tajima-dono decided that her little sign of weakness for her first kill was a sign of future weakness and hesitance for killing and decided to have an Uchiha disguise himself as the traitor (A simple thing to do as Uchiha tend to have disturbingly similar looks), knock out Kazehana, tie her up and delivered her to the Kurama Clan, who were apparently the people who the traitor gave the Uchiha children to, with the orders to give the Kurama Clan a little wakeup call on who was the top genjutsu (Illusionary Techniques) using clan. It wasn't her fault that she didn't like killing, or blood, mostly the blood, so why did she have to massacre an entire clan, single handedly? NOT easy!

Well, maybe not single handedly, Kazehana thought, looking at the boy who looked to be around her age, or maybe one or two years older, next to her. The boy had been glaring at her since the moment Kazehana got thrown into the room, as if Kazehana had done something to personally offend him, his parents, his siblings, his clan and even maybe his dog, if he had one.

From the features Kazehana could see in the dark room- which was pretty much everything, as although she hadn't activated her Sharingan yet, she did have the above average eyesight practically all Uchiha were born with- Kazehana could tell he'd grow up into quite a handsome man, with his albino-like white hair and crimson eyes, which bore a disturbing likeliness to a Sharingan without tomoes. Well, he'd be even more handsome if he would ever stop glaring at her.

"Please stop glaring at me." Although his white hair said otherwise, there was still a slight chance that he was an Uchiha under a transformation with his odd eyes, (Okaa-sama never did let that incident go, how was she supposed to know that the man had put an genjutsu on himself?) so Okaa-sama's rule about being polite to fellow clan members still held merit.

"Why should I, Uchiha scum?" So he wasn't an Uchiha after all.

"Because I said please, idiot," Kazehana answered, as if it was a perfectly good reason, which it actually was as she was only allowed to say that word once a month, or else she'd become 'soft', according to Tajima-dono, and she had just used up this month's quota on the pint-sized pest, never mind that he was a few inches taller than Kazehana herself.

He blinked at her for a few seconds in confusion before he resumed glaring. At least he had stopped glaring for a few seconds. All that glaring can't be good for him.

"It's none of your business on how much I glare." Apparently she had talked out loud. She would have to make sure to never do that again, it could be dangerous if she had said the wrong thing on accident.

"Considering that you're glaring at me like I killed your favorite messenger bird, I think it counts as my business too," the eight year old girl replied haughtily, exactly the way she was taught (Yes, she had a sensei to teach her how to act haughty, and any other Uchiha personality traits too).

It was quiet for some time before Kazehana turned away- as well as she could with her limbs bound tight with chakra-resistant rope- assuming that their conversation had ended, only to be proven wrong when the boy whispered out his reply. "You didn't kill my messenger hawk…You killed two of my Aniki."

"Apologies, but I didn't. I only killed one man in my life, and that's a traitor of my own clan. Unless your two Aniki was actually one Aniki and you're actually an Uchiha, nope, I didn't kill them."

"Your right, you didn't, but your clan did," he spat out the word clan like it was a dirty curse word.

"So you condemn me for the actions of my clan?" Kazehana asked, truly curious. Is that how things worked outside the clan compound? She was unsure as this was her first time she was outside the main compound without an adult escort, and her first time conversing with an outsider now that she thought of it.

"Your clan condemned them for the actions of my clan," the boy said, still glaring.

"But I am not my clan."

"It's still your fault."

"Is not," Kazehana said, in one of her rare fits of childishness.

"Is too," he replied.

"Who are you? You know my clan name. It's only fair that I know your name." Kazehana decided to ignore their current argument as it was going nowhere.

"Senju Tobirama." That name sounded a little familiar, where had she heard it before…

"You're the Senju spare heir!"

"Excuse me?" It looked like she had hit a nerve with that term, but Kazehana ignored it because he should be used to the term by now, unless he planned to assassinate his own Aniki and become the heir himself.

"Oh you know, the heir if your Aniki, whatever his name is, died, or if you killed him." It was actually a very disturbing commodity in this era. Kazehana couldn't imagine Madara killing Izuna. The younger boy practically worshiped the ground the older brother walked, while the elder was particularly protective of his younger sibling, caused by trauma from the early death of their other siblings, Kazehana presumed. It was common for a family to have at least a few dead members due to various reasons. Kazehana herself was fortunately part of the low minority to have both her parents and all her siblings alive and well.

"I would never kill my Aniki for power!" He gritted out in anger but somehow still keeping his composure, almost as well as an Uchiha adult. A complete contrast to what the girl had expected him to be like. The only reason Kazehana even knew that he was angry was because of the pure hate emitting from his crimson eyes, something she had learnt to identify from a young age due to the constant stoicism present in most, if not all, Uchiha adults.

The Uchiha may be blunt with their words but never with their expressions. Something that she had once heard her Aniki mumble in the brief moments he was back from a mission.

"Good for your Aniki then," Kazehana replied flippantly, not actually caring about Senju politics. As long as they were there for the Uchiha to defeat, they could become a circus clan for all she cared.

"You're not going to try to convince me to kill my Aniki?" The boy asked, confused.

"Why would I?" Kazehana asked, confused too. "I don't actually care about who the heir is."

"Wouldn't a weak heir be better for your clan than a strong one?"

"Of course, but I don't even know who the heir is. For all I know, he could be weaker than you."

"You know my Aniki, he's Senju Hashirama." The boy deadpanned, giving the name of the current eleven year old heir, who was already making a name for himself on the battlefield, already famous for his Wood Release, and being the only known person with it. It might be a new kekkei genkai, but the Uchiha hoped that it wasn't, despite being flammable, wood would be quite hard to battle in a place like the Land of Fire, where forests were literally everywhere.

"It's true, I have heard of him, but I do not know him. Strength in the battlefield differs from strength in war tactics and politics." She added the last part once she realized the boy was still confused.

"You are odd."

"You are too, I mean, from what I hear, Senju are all over-energetic, emotionally-driven fools, willing to sacrifice anything for their precious people," Kazehana said, quoting one of her Senseis (Teacher) at the end.

"Some Senju give others a bad name," Tobirama replied, rolling his eyes as if knew quite a few Senju like that. "I was under the impression that Uchiha were all arrogant fools who would sell their souls for the good of the clan and do anything to see the Senju fall."

"Well, most of us are arrogant, some of us are fools. I know quite a few fellow clan members who would sell their souls for the good of the clan, but every clan has people like that, I think. But no, you got the last part wrong." Kazehana said, turning back to face Tobirama with a slight smirk in her face. Uchiha do not smile.

"So the Uchiha Clan does not want to see the Senju fall?" the boy asked with a raised eyebrow, not quite believing the girl.

"The Uchiha want to be the strongest clan in the Land of Fire and as much as it pains the elders to admit, the Senju just so happens to be our biggest competitor for that tittle. I'm pretty sure the Senju are of a similar mindset," the young Uchiha girl said, knowing what she said to be the truth as she had once asked Tajima-dono the same question a few years back, and what would he gain from lying to a five year old?

"Sort of, the clan just wants to thrive as well as we can and the Uchiha do steal quite a few missions from us," the boy said, remembering a quite few rants about Uchiha thieves from one particularly annoying elder.

"Senju do the same thing to us Uchiha," she replied, no point denying the truth. "Why are you here anyway? I expected only Uchiha children to be here and shouldn't a child of the Senju Clan Head have better protection?"

Kazehana had good protection too, but good protection doesn't count when the person who usually authorized said protection was the one who ordered her to be knocked out and sent to the Kurama's like a gift wrapped present, only instead of a soft ribbon, she got rough and itchy rope.

"I was out in the forest…alone…" He trailed off, looking away with a faint blush in his face, as if embarrassed that he was caught doing something he shouldn't.

"My clan head knocked me out with orders to massacre the Kurama clan," Kazehana said instead of reprimanding him.

"That's harsh," he said, surprised that the Uchiha Clan was that sadistic, there was no way a kid like her could massacre an entire clan. The rope was thicker than her wrist for Kami's (God's) sake!

"I deserve it," she shrugged.

"What did you do?" he asked, too curious to notice that he was having an almost pleasant conversation with an Uchiha, the enemy.

"Flinched when I killed the traitor," she muttered, ashamed for her moment of weakness.

"That was your first kill," he reassured her.

"It was an honor." When she realized that Tobirama was still confused, she quoted Tajima-dono. "Look directly into their eyes, see the life fading away from those two orbs. Feel no remorse. Know that by killing them, you are protecting the clan. Know that for every second you delay, is another second another clan member may die, that you may be the next one to die. Know this, feel no remorse, no hesitation. For the clan, embrace your legacy as a kunoichi, be the swords and shield of your clan. Protect it, for only the clan comes first."

"So that's how they manipulate you to sell your soul for the clan," Tobirama murmured absentmindedly, making a reference to his previous statement.

She shrugged, neither denying nor agreeing.

"You'll die you know," he said, knowing it to be the truth.

"Damned if I do, damned if I don't," she said in reply to his blunt statement. "I prefer to go out fighting."

"I'll help you," he said. In reply to her incredulous stare he elaborated on his statement, "I'll be damned too if I don't, you know."

"Temporary allies," because if by the slight chance they live after this, she knew that was all they could be.

"Temporary allies," he agreed, not completely knowing the repercussions of that statement.

"What is your name anyway?" The boy asked his, temporary, ally once he realized that he still didn't know her name.

"Kazehana, my name is Kazehana."

#~#~#~#

If asked how they did it later, Kazehana would just answer with pure luck. Actually it was a combination of a lot things, they had surprise on their side (Who would expect kids, no older than eleven to help massacre a clan?), the children held in captivity were healthy enough to be able to fight back once they were released from their cells (Healthy and swearing vengeance for the Uchiha kids), the Kurama apparently relied too much on genjutsu (These are Uchiha children, idiots! They have the Sharingan, which can see pass illusions, and of course they know how to dispel a genjutsu!), they were horrible at taijutsu (Body Techniques), Senju kids were, for some reason, really good at taijutsu (They were kidnapped too apparently), Kazehana had activated her Sharingan from the trauma of one particular horrifying genjutsu that she couldn't dispel in time(On the bright side, she now had bragging rights over Madara, who still hasn't gotten it yet), Tobirama was stupidly good at Water Release (Like really good, he could practically water bend), her chakra, which was apparently very chaotic and volatile, when injected into someone's body through hand contact could scramble their chakra and cause them to either go unconscious or die depending on where she touched due to intense chakra poisoning(Which she found out while panicking when a particularly strong Kurama had her in a choke hold. On a side note, he looked like he was being electrocuted) and the Kurama compound was made entirely out of wood, without fire resistance seals (Who would kidnap mini-pyromaniacs, who's rite of passage to sort-of-adulthood included blowing fire out of thin air, without fireproofing their own houses first?). So they were lucky, really, really lucky.

But once was luck, twice was a coincidence, three times and something was either really wrong or really right. So many factors came into play that day that couldn't be a mere coincidence.

Perhaps, Kazehana thought, Tajima-dono wasn't sending her to her death when he sent her on this mission. In fact, her situation right now kind of reminded her of one of her many lessons (rants) with Tajima-dono.

'In theory, human capabilities are only limited to our imagination and desperation, but that's only in theory. It can be rumored that kekkei genkai were created, not because of a mishap in genes, but because it was a necessity. They say that you only see a shinobi's true potential with his life on the line.' Was he trying to see Kazehana's full potential? But now wasn't the time to mull on such thoughts.

#~#~#~#

"The truce between our clans end here," said Kazehana, almost a little wistful, it was fun fighting alongside Senju, although she'd rather die that admit it out loud.

"Right," Tobirama said with a smirk and a wink before running towards the direction of his clan, which was the opposite of where Kazehana was going.

Kazehana turned away with a smirk too, because she, unlike the other Uchiha children knew what Tobirama was trying to convey.

The Senju-Uchiha alliance may end here, but the Tobi-Kaze alliance still runs strong.

Idiot, it's the Kaze-Tobi alliance, she thought out to her new ally before turning away to join the other Uchiha children. Tajima-dono would have a heart attack if he ever found out what happened on this day.

I wonder what Akemi-sama would think about Tajima-dono sending a kid unconscious to known enemy territory. The lady was always fond of Kazehana, for some odd reason and Kazehana was a kid, a kid who wasn't above being a tattletale. She still hasn't forgiven Tajima-dono for his abrupt life threatening lesson, if what she suspected was right.

#~#~#~#

Fire and water worked together for the first time that day. The Fates cackled at what they knew was to come.

#~#~#~#

Kazehana felt her stomach cramp up, she knew she wasn't supposed to use her chakra at this stage, but she continued jumping from tree to tree. The poor baby would suffer a fate worse than death if Kazehana failed her self-employed mission.

Another jolt of agonistic pain made Kazehana curse her own inability to use her medical chakra. It wasn't from lack of trying though. Her chakra was just too volatile to produce the green glow needed for healing, unlike the blue of normal chakra.

The faint rustle of leaves, when there definitely wasn't any wind, notified Kazehana on the incoming company of three.

#~#~#~#

Age 9

"No you imbecile! There's not even a green tint in it!" yelled Izumi-sensei, who currently held the title of Head Medic in the clan, clawing at her hair in frustration at her student's inability to produce the green glow of medical chakra, even after five weeks of practice.

"Let me try again," said the girl, for what must have been the fiftieth time that day. Kazehana was once again thankful for her higher than normal chakra level, she would have long passed out by now if she had the standard amount of chakra for Uchiha girls, which was just a little more than two thirds of an average Uchiha male.

"No! It's not going to work no matter how hard you force it to. You may have good control, but your chakra is just too volatile for medical jutsu," the woman yelled, knowing what she said to be true. She let out another huff and marched out of the room, a surprisingly strong display of emotion for an adult Uchiha.

Kazehana didn't get it, she knew how it worked in theory, heck, she's seen how it was supposed to work with her Sharingan, but no matter what she did, no matter how much she mediate, her chakra just wouldn't calm down from the raging waterfall it usually was, to the calm pond most medical nin had.

Kazehana didn't get it, she could produce genjutsu just fine, so why not medical chakra?

Kazehana wasn't actually interested in medical jutsu the first time she heard of them, in fact she didn't even wanted to learn them once she realized how much reading was actually involved in the process of learning it. (Way too much)

It was at the insistence of Tajima-dono that she even tried it. She failed the first time, and the second time, and the third, and by the time she got to the tenth time, she was interested.

Although Kazehana wasn't exactly a prodigy or a genius, compared to Madara she sure as hell wasn't, she did find learning new things easy. If she couldn't grasp something the first time, she could usually get it by the third try. It was rare that she would find something truly challenging and even rarer that she was completely incompetent at something.

Kazehana was incompetent at medical jutsu. And she loath the fact that her perfect record for learning everything taught was tarnished, which is why she picked up the beginner's book on poison that Izumi-sensei left on the table.

Izumi-sensei said that she could never use medical chakra, so she would just have to focus on the non-chakra using aspects of healing then. Poisons were just a part of the learning process. After all, you have to learn how to break something before you can learn to fix it. Kazehana wondered if Tajima-dono would mind if she tried some poisons on Izumi-sensei, for practice of course.

#~#~#~#

She glance down at her replacement flute, her original flute was inside the Uchiha vault and she didn't have enough time to crack it without destroying a few important documents and artifacts. It would have to do. She once again thanked Uchiha Bride Training for teaching her how to fight in a kimono, because her three, non-Uchiha stalkers were in front of her now.

Another jolt of pain interrupted her train of thought to her stomach. She was thankful that she had training in fighting with unbearable pain, because her stomach cramp was toeing the line between bearable and unbearable.

Now all she had to do was distract them long enough for her guards to catch up.

They really were taking a long time.

#~#~#~#

Age 10

Kazehana did not know why she had to learn how to play the flute. It was a useless talent for a kunoichi.

She glanced down at her kimono, unpractical. She hated it. It was heavy, uncomfortable and it was hell to put on and take off.

In short, Uchiha Kazehana was miserable.

The reason why Kazehana was suffering? The horrifying Uchiha Bride Training.

Why Akemi-sama insisted that she take part in it she'd never know. She was a kunoichi. She was trained to be the sword and shield of the clan, not a baby maker. She didn't even like babies, they were annoying little twits. She knew it very well, she had younger siblings.

Kazehana thought that she had managed to escape the nightmare, as an average Uchiha female would start training from the age of six to whenever the teacher deemed them proper Uchiha ladies. Kazehana was ten, four years over the admittance age.

Another glance at her kimono and flute showed her that, no, she did not escape the Uchiha treachery and no, it wasn't a horrible nightmare.

Whoever told Akemi-sama that she had not had her bride training was going to pay- Kazehana sent a glare at her itchy kimono- with their life!

Fifteen minutes later, Kazehana was playing the boring tune the teacher had insisted that the class learn. She was bored. It was something that both Madara and Izuna would usually try their best to prevent. Kazehana plus boredom equals crazy ideas to elevate said boredom, even five year olds could figure it out. Madara did at that age at least.

Now normally, Madara and Izuna would be here to either prevent it or convince her to forget the plan. Too bad they were both on a mission and wouldn't be back until at least four more days.

A mission Kazehana would be on if she didn't poison her Uchiha Bride Training sensei, Kazehana remembered bitterly. It wasn't her fault that the poisonous flower was just sitting there waiting for Kazehana to use. It also wasn't her fault that she was banned from using the koto, a string instrument. Apparently the increased strength she gained from her shinobi training meant that the fragile, to her at least, koto strings would break each time she tried playing it. No matter how gentle she was. (No, she could not just turn her abnormal strength off! No matter how many times her Bride Training sensei told her to)

So she couldn't use the relatively heavy koto to enact her revenge and the flute was just out of the question, the most that could happen with using it as a weapon was a few bruises, a mild concussion if she was lucky.

So, only the flower was left. Good thing it was poisonous!

In fact, Kazehana was actually quite proud for being able to bring out and increase the poisonous properties of the plant with just her chakra. All she had to do was inject the flower with her chakra and her volatile chakra did the rest of the work.

From what she could figure out so far, since it was her volatile chakra being injected, she essentially destroyed the plant cells useless to her, bringing out the poison already present in the flower and mixing it with her chakra, essentially mutating it. So her sensei wasn't just poisoned by some normal plant, but a mutated plant along with chakra poisoning. She still didn't get why she was punished for discovering a new way to make poisons, exclusively for her like a kekkei genkai, her brain supplied.

Madara had his giant Gunbai Uchiwa (Army Arrangement Fan; A Type of War Fan) and Izuna had his jutsu inventing, although some of the jutsu he invented were a lot better than others. Tajima-dono practically fainted when he realized Izuna had figured out a way to stick leaves on a part of his body when he was supposed to invent a new fire jutsu. It would've been a good camouflaging technique if the control needed to stick leaves on a body part wasn't so much, the Uchiha shinobi could barely use a basic fire jutsu when using his new technique. Tajima-dono would've outright banned the technique in his clan if it didn't mean acknowledging its existence.

It was only fair that Kazehana had something to call her own.

And after a few experiments, unknowingly tested by the other Uchiha Bride Training sensei and students of course, Kazehana concluded that when adding chakra to non-poisonous plants, all that would happen was a stronger taste. This meant that her chakra could only enhance the poisons of plants which already contained poison in the first place, and that if there wasn't poison within the plant, Kazehana's chakra would just enhance the strongest reactive substance within the plant, leading to a stronger taste.

On a side note, Kazehana found out that cooking was very similar to poison making. Precision was the key to both arts.

The chakra poisoning aspect of her new poison-making method reminded her of how the Kuramas reacted when she injected her chakra into them. It's been a while since she did that, the last time being during the massacre. It just didn't feel right fighting like that.

Kazehana wasn't a short-range fighter. She was long-ranged, preferring to use ninjutsu (Ninja Techniques) and genjutsu on her opponents rather than taijutsu. She was good at taijutsu, but the amount of injuries she risked sustaining wasn't worth it when she could still use genjutsu and ninjutsu, which had a significantly lower injury risk.

The poison incident showed Kazehana that the chakra didn't had to be injected via contact, that the chakra was still harmful when away from Kazehana's direct contact, which gave Kazehana an idea. What if she injected her chakra into her flute and used it to direct it like she would a genjutsu?

Genjutsu usually either affected only one person or had a mass effect, which didn't really matter for her clan because of the Sharingan. Only the strongest of genjutsu users, something Kazehana aspired to be, were able to affect only certain people with their genjutsu, as the control needed to hold the same genjutsu against multiple people, making sure not to ensnare a fellow clan member at the same time, was tremendous. Kazehana would need a guide or medium for her chakra instead, like the poisonous flower, guiding her chakra to make sure she didn't harm any of her allies. It was the role her flute would play, Kazehana decided.

Now all that's left was to test her theory, Kazehana hoped it would prove sound because the Uchiha Bride Training was boring her to death.

Five minutes later, Kazehana got her answer in the form of screams of agony from the room of Uchiha Bride trainees Kazehana was sitting outside of. The sensei inside still understandably wary of her after being poisoned and had her stay outside of the class. Revenge was never sweeter.

Maybe learning how to play the flute wouldn't be so bad after all…

#~#~#~#

Apparently, hell hath no fury like a woman's scorned but a pregnant woman's scorned makes hell seem like a tea party, because her three stalkers were sending her guards, when they finally caught up, thankful glances of all things.

Oh well, they were her guard's problem now, she thought, before jumping away.

#~#~#~#

Age 12

Kazehana was currently not a happy Uchiha, the exact opposite really. The day had started out normal, with a mission to escort the heiress of a merchant clan to the Uchiha Clan Compound, where her parents were discussing business with Tajima-dono and Akemi-sama. Tajima-dono was horrid at politics and any other businesses that did not include shinobi.

The Suzukis were a clan of merchants spread all over the Land of Fire who specialized in practically everything civilian, which was why the Uchiha, as a shinobi-mercenary clan who were essentially clueless about civilian jobs, relied on them heavily. This was also the reason why Kazehana refrained from killing the heiress of said clan when she insisted that she be allowed to shop in every stall in every village they passed, which extended the trip from the original one hour needed to eight hours.

The same heiress who was currently excessively wearing the color pink, like she wanted to prove something in some form of teenage rebellion, which Kazehana heard was relatively common with children from civilian clan.

This was also why Kazehana stopped herself from throwing the girl (She was actually a few years older than Kazehana but Kazehana was infinitely more mature than her, so she was a girl in Kazehana's eyes) off a cliff when she complained about her feet being sore and her hands cramping up, because she was the one who turned a one hour trip into eight hours and bought at least one article of clothing at every stall they passed. Kazehana was already developing a twitch in her left eye from overexposure to the pink harpy, and they still had two more hours to go.

But when enemy shinobi came to kidnap her, and she was still shopping despite Kazehana's multiple warnings, buying what seemed like the hundredth tacky pink kimono of all things, a kimono with a distinct tag, Kazehana snapped.

Kazehana threw the stuck up heiress over her shoulders, ignoring the bags she dropped on the floor, and ran towards the Clan Compound. She would've taken out the enemy shinobi but she was under explicit orders to not fight in front of the heiress in fear of 'traumatizing' her (Oh please, she was traumatizing enough) and with the time wasted with warning her, the enemy shinobi was already a few miles away from them, which wasn't a lot in shinobi terms.

Besides, she was doing the enemy shinobi a favor by not allowing them to kidnap that pink menace. (Seriously, they should thank her. Preferably not face to face though)

What she was expecting when they finally reached the clan compound was to finally be rid of the pink beast, easy right? She wasn't greedy. All she wanted was to never see her again. Instead, she got to spend an extra ten minutes of hearing her Royal Pinkie rant to her parents about how 'rude' and 'uncouth' (Does she even know what uncouth means?) Kazehana was to her and how the heiress was 'manhandled' by Kazehana.

"Otou-sama! Do something!" The pink pest actually stomped her foot like a child, that has to be against some proper lady etiquette rule.

"I asked you to give me a trustworthy shinobi to protect my darling musume, and this, is the results I get?" The Suzuki Clan Head asked pointing at Kazehana.

"Kazehana, apologize," Tajima-dono said in his usual monotone voice, either trying to placate his fellow clan head or get the Pink Monster to finally shut the hell up! Kazehana was betting on the second option, Tajima-dono wasn't one to placate others, no matter their status.

Kazehana was an Uchiha. She would be the better person. The overly pink girl was a naïve idiot, not even worthy of someone like her, with her noble bloodline, to bother with. The only reason Tajima-dono hasn't had the shinobi on guard duty kick her out was because of the treaty the Uchiha clan had with the Suzuki clan. Kazehana could-

"Yeah, are you an idiot or something? Apologize to me now, you little servant-brat."

-not stand for such an insult to her Uchiha pride!

She barely heard Izuna say something about Hurricane Kazehana to his brother before she exploded, calmly…

"I apologize then," Kazehana said, with a perfectly pleasant and un-Uchiha like smile on her face before her smile turned murderous, exactly like how Akemi-sama taught her. "I apologize for showing your naïve daughter the truth, that the world does not revolve around her overly pink being, I apologize for preventing your daughter's future death with irate shinobi, I apologize for saving your daughter from a life as a crippled, because she would've been one if she stayed there any longer, acting like that!" Kazehana pointed at the heiress, whose face was starting to turn a very unattractive shade of pink. Good, it matches her kimono!

"I apologize for my prevention of your clan's demise because of an obnoxious heiress who would rather spend money buying clothes instead of saving her own pitiful life. I apologize for saving your daughter from an explosive tag planted in the kimono she bought. I apologize for all of these things and for you bleak future, with a daughter like this. Because, they were my entire fault, as because you wanted me to apologize, means that you want your daughter to have a life like that. You want your daughter to die young or become a cripple, right? Wait, of course you do, you asked me to apologize for my mistake!"

It was quiet for a second before…

"And the hurricane has left the building, leaving a surprisingly mild injury count of one very wounded pride and a matriarch who looks just about ready to burst," Izuna whispered dramatically, low enough so the civilians within the room wouldn't hear him.

"How dare you-," the Suzuki Matriarch spat out before she was cut off by her husband.

"Quiet, Tsukiko!" That was unexpected.

"I apologize, kunoichi-san, as it seems that we were in a misunderstanding." The Suzuki Clan Head gave his daughter a stern glare, realizing that she had twisted the story to her favor as she never mentioned anything about enemy shinobi or an explosive tag, before giving Kazehana a brief bow in apology.

"Otou-sama-"

"Fumio-"

"Enough you two, it is our fault that we tried to shelter Mei for so long, despite the warnings of our other family members," the man said to his family, before turning to give Kazehana a brief bow. "I and my family apologize to you, kunoichi-san, for our unjustified accusation. Mei should've known better than to have went against a trained kunoichi's warnings."

"You and your family are forgiven, Suzuki-dono." Kazehana gave a short bow at the end as despite the Uchiha Clan's high standing, a Clan Head was still a Clan Head.

"If we are done here, Tajima-dono, my family and I would like to retire to our lodgings. It has been a very tiring day for all of us."

"Of course, Fumio-dono," Tajima-dono replied before motioning to a servant. "Hikari will show you the way."

"You did well with the circumstances you were presented, Kazehana-chan," reassured Akemi-sama once the family of three was out of hearing.

"You do realize that if you lost your temper earlier we wouldn't have had to hear that brat's rant," Tajima-dono bluntly stated.

"I was under the impression that Uchiha do not give them lower beings the time of day, much less show anger at them," Kazehana replied, referring to one of the lessons Tajima-dono had given her.

"We don't, we just get really annoyed at their foolishness," Akemi-sama added jokingly.

#~#~#~#

Thinking about her guard's tardiness made Kazehana think of Akemi-sama. Kazehana couldn't help but hope that Akemi-sama was alright down in the hidden room. She should've insisted that Akemi-sama stationed a few of her guards at the outside of the shrine instead of rushing out to find Madara.

She dearly hoped that the older woman was safe, because deep down, Kazehana knew that she was even more of a mother to her than her own mother ever was. If anything were to ever happen to the older woman, Kazehana didn't know what she would do.

#~#~#~#

Age 13

"I hate getting stabbed," Kazehana grumbled out while limping down the steps of the shrine.

The Naka no Jinja(Shinto Shrine of the Southern Joy), or more widely known as the Naka Shrine, was a wedding gift from one of the past Clan Head to his wife, who was rumored to be a firm believer of the Shinto (The Way of the Gods) gods. It was situated in the heart of the Uchiha compound, right next to the rooms of the main family. Only the main family, and whoever they occasionally invited, was allowed in. Even the servants who cleaned the shrine weekly had to have explicit permission from the Clan Head himself before they were allowed in.

"Doesn't everyone?" asked Madara, who was walking beside the girl in case she fell, the stubborn girl refused to allow him to help her walk.

Kazehana just rolled her eyes in reply and instead asked the question that has been plaguing her since Tajima-dono ordered the entire family, which apparently included her too, to the Naka Shrine. "What are we doing in the Naka Shrine of all places?"

Kazehana knew that although Tajima-dono respected the Shinto gods, he wasn't as religious as to order his entire family to have a joint prayer. But Kazehana still couldn't believe that she was included.

It was most likely an important family meeting then, in the legendary meeting place of the Uchiha, another main family secret that, by right, Kazehana should not have been privy to. Kazehana should not be here. She should not be treated like a main house member, because the repercussions of them doing this would seal Kazehana's fate forever.

"Otou-sama called a meeting," Madara said, stating what Kazehana had already concluded moments before.

"Yes, let me rephrase my question then. What am I doing in a meeting of main house members?" Kazehana replied, putting emphasis on the word 'I'.

"Kazehana, no matter how much you try to believe otherwise, you've been treated as a main family member since the moment you started training with Izuna and I," said Madara, in an uncharacteristically comforting tone, knowing that Kazehana too wasn't looking forward to her future responsibilities, but she had to accept it. "Your future position has already been all but confirmed, the clan members have already started treating you as their future matriarch. It is time to accept it, because unless you do something worthy of an execution, the position is rightly yours."

"Arigato, Madara," Kazehana said, her eyes misty. "Perhaps…I needed someone to say it out loud to make it seem real."

It seems like her life would forever be bound to the Uchiha Clan and their main family.

"No thanks needed, you'd be stuck with me forever. I think an apology in advance would be needed," Madara said jokingly. A side of him he only ever showed to Izuna and Kazehana. "Come, Otou-sama told me to show you how to get into the hidden room in case of an emergency."

"It's the seventh tatami from the far right within the main hall," Madara said, moving the tatami mat in question to the side. "The hand seals to open it are the ones every Uchiha must know."

"The seals for the Great Fireball," the two said in unison while making the familiar hand seals.

"Make sure you channel the chakra to your feet instead of your mouth, we don't need a fire in the Naka Shrine." The boy said as an afterthought, as if a fire in a sacred shrine was just a mild nuisance.

"Fuinjutsu," Kazehana said in surprise, pointing to the seals carved on the floor, which were currently glowing blue with chakra.

"Exactly, it had cost quite a lot to have it drawn. Good thing the sealing master didn't live long enough for us to have to pay him. Now, let's go," Madara said going down the staircase which had appeared where the floor once was after Kazehana, making sure to the hole with the tatami mat. "To close it, you have to make the seals again but this time, channel the chakra to your hands. We can open it again later by doing the same thing."

#~#~#~#

"Madara, what have you done?" was the grave voice which met them at the bottom of the staircase. Trust the Uchiha Clan Head to forgo proper etiquette when it wasn't required.

"Otou-sama? What did I do?" Madara asked confused on what he had done.

"You were fraternizing with the enemy," the man spat out.

"Madara?" asked Kazehana. "Is it true?"

Kazehana half expected herself to be the one who was accused of fraternizing with the enemy, because she was. The Kaze-Tobi alliance still held true, and was as strong as ever. Although the two were constantly bumping into each other during missions at opposite sides, the two had manage to treat whatever battles between the two as spars instead of battles to the death, unlike normal Uchiha versus Senju fights, allowing their comrades to be the ones to choose which side won instead. Of course neither held back when fighting other Senju and Uchiha, it would be suspicious if they did.

They even occasionally arranged so they had missions around the same time allowing them time to meet up without having to pretend to kill each other. Kazehana didn't exactly think of Tobirama her best friend, but she can acknowledge that the two were relatively good friends

So when Tajima-dono accused Madara of fraternizing with the Senju heir, Kazehana was surprised. What were the odds that both Kazehana and Madara were friends with a Senju, brothers in fact? Apparently they were high enough to be true.

"Kazehana," Tajima said, almost giving Kazehana a heart attack. Did he know? Kazehana wasn't the Uchiha heir, so was she going to be killed?

"You are in charge while the boys and I go deal with those pesky Senju," he said. It was then that she remembered hearing Madara say that he and Hashirama, the Senju Heir, were to meet later the day, by the Naka River a few miles away from the compound.

"What about Akemi-sama? Shouldn't she be in charge?" Kazehana asked it was normally the matriarch that ran the clan while the Clan Head was away.

"Perhaps it is time that the younger generations start taking some responsibilities." Kazehana knew that he was insinuating that if the Senju Heir could meet with Madara alone by the Naka River frequently, meant that the Senju compound was close and the chances of a fight between the two clans would significantly increase in the coming days, now that the Uchiha know. Which meant a higher chance of death, Tajima-dono was preparing Kazehana for her future role.

"Hai (Okay)," Kazehana said, bowing down as he left with the boys.

"Congratulations, Kazehana-chan," said Akemi-sama, pride and sadness in her eyes. It seems like Akemi-sama knew too what Tajima-dono leaving Kazehana in charge of the clan meant.

"Arigato, Akemi-sama," Kazehana said, bowing as the current Clan Matriarch too left the hidden room, feeling ashamed of what she was going to do.

#~#~#~#

Be careful, were the only words written in the piece of paper she had a messenger bird, one that did not bear the Uchiha Clan crest, send to Tobirama.

She wondered why Madara never told her about Hashirama, she knew it was hypocritical of her to assume that he trust her with such treasonous information when she herself didn't tell him of her truce with Tobirama, but Madara should've known that she'd help him keep it a secret.

It was then that realization hit her. How could she be so oblivious? Madara had used her to keep his outings with Hashirama a secret. She could vaguely remember various trips out of the compound, all of which Madara had insisted on, and meeting an odd boy during them. Madara did tell her in his own odd way, he knew that she was too engrossed in her books during the outings to notice that the very eccentric boy was the Senju Heir, who at that time, Kazehana had never met face-to-face. She only recognized the boy as the Senju Heir now because of the vague description Tajima-dono gave her a few months before.

She would've face-palmed if it wasn't such a un-Uchiha like thing to do. Then again, she'd never imagine the weird and emotional boy, which for some odd reason Madara was friends with, was the Senju Heir. He was the exact opposite of Tobirama, and not just appearance-wise.

She suddenly didn't feel as guilty as before for warning Tobirama, that boy, no matter how powerful he was, was an idiot. She pitied Tobirama for having to deal with him daily.

She was doing the clan a favor by making sure the idiot lived long enough to become Clan Head. Although he was well-meaning and powerful, he was too emotional and idiotic to be a good Clan Head. It would be better for him to be engrossed in paperwork instead of the battlefield like most Clan Heads were.

"Caw,"was the noise of a messenger bird that could only belong to Tobirama, which interrupted her musings. Another reason she was an oblivious fool, messages to and from Tobirama came and went too quick for the Senju Compound to be far away.

'Take Care,' were the only words on the piece of paper attached to the messenger bird.

It was a confusing phrase for anyone that weren't privy to Kazehana's friendship with Tobirama, but to Kazehana, it said a lot.

It meant that Tobirama hadn't gotten her message yet. It meant that the Uchiha trio was most likely going to be fighting more than just the Senju Heir. It meant that Tobirama held her in high enough regard to warn her about the attack. It meant that Tobirama trusted her as much as she did him.

An outsider looking in would assume that the Uchiha Clan's future Matriarch was in a particularly good mood that day, most likely because Tajima-dono had trusted her enough to leave the clan in her capable hands during his absence.

Only Kazehana knew the truth, and she planned on it staying that way for some time.

#~#~#~#

What were the odds that the two Clan Heads were peacefully talking it out instead of declaring war? Kazehana wondered when she noticed that the two Clan Heads were still talking.

Then Kazehana remembered, Madara, hopeless in politics, Hashirama, idiot. Never mind, there's no way those two can solve a problem without were most likely stalling.

#~#~#~#

Age 16

Kazehana was annoyed, and covered in blood. She had just returned from a particularly pesky mission, pesky not grueling, so she was understandably irritated. The fact that she returned to an unfamiliar compound did not help her irritation at all.

She still didn't like the new main compound, even after living in it for two years. It didn't feel like home without Tajima-dono, who had died in a Senju ambush a few years back.

Fortunately, the alliance she had with Tobirama was not weakened by Tajima-dono's death. Tobirama had warned her, but she and Madara were out on a mission when she received his message. By the time they reached the compound, Tajima-dono was long dead.

Rumor has it that the Senju Clan Head too had died from the wounds he sustained from the battle, so both Madara and Hashirama were now the heads of their respective clans. As unlikely as it seemed, the two biggest clans in the Land of Fire were now run by idiots.

It wasn't long after the ambush that the main family moved compounds, realizing that living near the enemy was just another death sentence waiting to happen.

"Kazehana-sama, Madara-dono requests your presence," a servant meekly said outside her room.

"Tell that lazy oaf to do his own paperwork," Kazehana grumbled out, she couldn't wait for the long soak she rightfully earned. And no amount of paperwork, that wasn't even hers, was going to change her mind.

"Madara-sama is discussing business with the," was all Kazehana heard before she rushed to Madara's office. That idiot could not be trusted with anything that had nothing to do with shinobi life.

Kazehana knew who he got that trait from- Tajima-dono, who too was hopeless at anything non-shinobi related. Akemi-sama was the one in charge of, quoting the Clan Matriarch, 'making sure he didn't sell the entire clan treasury for a dancing monkey' during his time as Clan Head.

Kazehana did not know where the elder lady got that example from but she wasn't in any hurry to see Madara unknowingly sign away the amount an average shinobi would earn in his entire lifetime for a crate of rotten apples, like he almost did last time.

"Don't you dare sign anything, Madara!" Kazehana yelled as she stomped in. Why was she the more overworked one? Madara was the Clan Head! Not her!

"Don't worry, I learnt my lesson last time, which is why I had Miyo fetch you," said the clearly overworked Clan Head, who's desk was currently full of paper.

"Kazehana, meet the Hayashi Clan Head."

'The current bane of my existence,' was left unsaid by Madara, but based on his current expression he was certainly thinking it.

He then gestured to the Hayashi Clan Head, who was currently being surrounded by tall, giant and buff bodyguards. Civilian then, only civilians would be dumb enough to hire bodyguards based on how intimidating they look.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hayashi-dono," Kazehana said, with a brief bow at the end.

"Likewise," said the Clan Head with his nose scrunched up in disgust, most likely because of the blood Kazehana was coated in, while his bodyguards fidgeted nervously at the sight.

"Hayashi-dono here has requested that the contract between the two of our contracts be remedied with these terms," Madara droned on. The man was most likely bored himself.

"Excuse me, Hayashi-dono, but you seem to be implying that there was something wrong with our previous contract," Kazehana stated politely, already looking through the contract Madara had handed her.

"No, no. It's just that the harvest this year was plentiful and I wish to enlarge our contract," the Clan Head said, unknowingly displaying obvious signs of nervousness to Kazehana's unflinching gaze.

The man could be intimidated by the blood, or hiding something, Kazehana internally concluded. The Hayashi clan was well known for its dealings with shinobi clans, it was unlikely that this was his first time working with shinobi coated in blood, a major hazard of the job. After all, contracts were traditionally discussed and signed face to face to show trust between the two parties. So unless the Hayashi Clan had recently changed Clan Heads, unlikely because of the man's age and Kazehana's lack of knowledge of it, the man was nervous because of another reason. Another reason which most likely was that he was trying to cheat the Uchiha Clan.

It would also explain the increase number of bodyguards, which was normally three to five, depending on how long the clans in question have been working together. To bring the amount Hayashi-dono had brought would mean that he was expecting conflict, especially since the Hayashi Clan has been working with the Uchiha Clan for a few years.

"Hayashi-dono, I am disappointed on how blatantly you are trying to lie to us. Did you forget the debt your clan owes us?" Kazehana asked, referring to how the Uchiha Clan had helped the Hayashi Clan escape death from a rivaling clan. The Uchiha Clan had arrived just in the nick of time to prevent the hired mercenaries from massacring the entire clan. Massacres, unfortunately, were quite a common occurrence in the Warring States Era. The Clan Head at the time had been so thankful that he proposed a trade between the two clans, supplies at a lowered price in exchange for protection, a trade which Tajima-dono had readily agreed to.

"Of course we haven't forgotten. But, Uchiha-san, you should keep in mind that an increase in supplies would mean a higher price," the Clan Head tried to explain.

"Of course an increase of supplies would mean an average tripled price for everything," said Kazehana sarcastically, making Madara raise his head from the papers he was reading through with a twitching eye, most likely irritated that all the work he had been put through for the contract were now void.

"Yes, I can do basic math, Hayashi-dono." Kazehana rolled her eyes at the man's shocked gaze.

"There must be a mistake-," the man started before Kazehana interrupted him.

"Of course there's a mistake, you imbecile! You tried to sell us persimmon in the middle of summer!" Kazehana gritted out, "When we both know that persimmons are cultivated during late autumn to winter."

"You tried to sell us rotten fruit triple the original price?" Madara's left eye was now noticeably twitchier than it was five seconds ago, enough for a civilian like Hayashi-dono to notice. He had a grudge against being tricked into buying rotten fruit since the 'incident'.

"It was a mistake?" the man tried weakly.

"Get out!" Kazehana said, pointing to the shoji (Paper Sliding Door) door. "Expect for any and all contracts the Hayashi Clan have with the Uchiha Clan to be immediately terminated."

"Now, you shouldn't be so hasty-"

The man was interrupted by Madara releasing his signature paperwork burning fire jutsu on all the papers on his table, exactly like the paperwork hating pyromaniac he was. It was a good thing the table had fire-proof seals, like most furniture and some of the buildings within the compound.

"Never mind," the man gulped out, before immediately shoving his bodyguards away from the door so he could leave first.

"If only all my contracts ended with this," Madara sighed, referring to him being allowed to burn all the paperwork instead of having to read through all of them.

"The Uchiha Clan would have no supplies if that were to happen," Kazehana stated bluntly, before adding halfheartedly. "That better only be the Hayashi papers you burnt."

"Oops," the Clan Head shrugged mischievously. "Looks like I'm done with the paperwork for the day."

Kazehana sighed. This was the leader of the famed Uchiha Clan.

#~#~#~#

A look at Kazehana's ring finger was that was needed for Kazehana to realize that she had married an idiot. Kazehana sighed. Time to make sure her husband didn't do something he'd regret forever while stopping a war at the same time. This was way above her pay grade.

The world was full of idiots, Kazehana concluded, before intercepting the two attacks that would've plunged the two clans into an even bigger war.

#~#~#~#

Age 18

"Stop fidgeting," Madara hissed out.

"Sorry," Kazehana whispered sarcastically. "It's not as if it's practically tradition that an ambush occurs in the middle of an Uchiha Wedding, where might I add is place where weapons aren't allowed! The white is going to stain so badly."

"Tradition's tradition, we can change it once I officially become Clan Head." Because apparently, Madara wasn't officially Clan Head until he was married. As Clan Heir, he was allowed to make choices for the clan if the current Clan Head was absent, or in this case dead, but changing rules and other important things had to be done by an official Clan Head, which Madara recently found out he technically wasn't until after he was married.

The reason why the two had to arrange for a new Naka Shrine to be built in the compound in the first place…

Kazehana was glad she decided to become a shinobi instead of an architect. The amount of planning and schematics needed in the process of building a shrine, which was supposed to be a replica of the original Naka Shrine, would make any veteran scholar proud.

Kazehana as the unwilling bride chosen for the position of Clan Matriarch was, of course, was wearing a watabōshi (White and Silk Bridal Headdress) instead of a tsunokakushi (Bridal Headgear; Shows a bride's resolve to be an obedient and patient wife), there was no way she was ever going to be a gentle and obedient wife, along with the traditional white kimono, which had the Uchiha Clan crest at the back of course.

On the other hand, Madara, the lucky oaf, was wearing a less stainable black kimono, with the Clan crest embroidered at the back.

Both were going against their shinobi instincts by wearing multiple layers underneath their kimono. Of course the extra layers would most likely weaken any strike to them, but it was still hell to fight in them.

The no weapons rule was annoying the two, and from the looks of things, a lot of Uchiha shinobi to no end. Even Kazehana's flute wasn't spared from the elders' meticulous weapon search. As the flute could apparently be taken apart to form an impromptu knife, even Madara didn't know of the little tidbit and he was the one who gave her the flute. It would've been a useful fact to know during more than a few life threatening situations.

The worst part was that the two didn't even get to finish exchanging nuptial cups before Kazehana's prediction came true.

"We are so changing tradition the moment you become Clan Head!" Kazehana yelled while snatching a flute from one of the hired musicians.

"Alright, alright," the Clan Head yelled back, doing the Uchiha pout, which was basically glaring at whatever in sight, while smashing one of the cups into one of the intruder's head, breaking it into hundreds of tiny pieces. How that worked, Kazehana did not know, the cup was supposed to be made of pure gold for Kami's sake. Kazehana would have to have a word with the merchant who they got the cups from soon.

"Aw, your first fight as husband as wife," awed Akemi-sama, while stabbing an intruder that tried sneaking behind her in the eye with one of her extra sharp metal hairpins. (Ouch!)

"Technically not married yet," the two in questioned chorused.

"No! That's the paper the marriage vow is on!"

"What? You imbecile! That's an Uchiha family heirloom," the Uchiha Matriarch yelled, doing a complete one-eighty, turning to the poor mercenary who had the misfortune of being the one who spilled blood on the paper.

The fight ended five minutes later, with the intruders who haven't already been caught by the Uchiha shinobi running out, with their tails between their legs due to a very irate Clan Matriarch. Kazehana didn't even have time to play a single note with her flute.

"Does anyone have a jutsu to remove bloodstains?" asked the priest, who was actually Izuna, staring at the paper as if the bloodstain would disappear if he just looked hard enough.

The pin drop silence was his answer.

"Please tell me at least one of you memorized the vows," Akemi-sama pleaded, only to be met with further silence. "This is a clan of Sharingan users for Kami's sake!"

It seems like no one ever bothered to activate their Sharingan when reading the marriage vows, allowing them to memorize it instantly, because it was still quiet. The silence was actually expected by Kazehana as there was another pesky rule regarding Sharingan usage during weddings.

"You!" The desperate Clan Matriarch turned to the Izuna, pointing at him. He was her last hope. "You're a priest! Surely you've memorized them by now."

"In my defense, the vows are really long, and I'm not actually a priest, Okaa-sama" the man said with his hands up, trying to placate his terrifying mother.

"Weddings are usually officiated by the Clan Head, and since Otou-sama is dead and I can't officiated my own wedding…" Madara said in response to the Clan Matriarch's betrayed look.

Izuna shrugged, "I was the closest they could get in such a short notice."

"This marriage is doomed!" The woman wailed in despair.

"Can't we just improvise?" Kazehana cried out, throwing her hands up in frustration, annoyed with all the troublesome traditions that was needed for a wedding she didn't even technically want.

"I'm good with that," Madara shrugged, not really caring as long as he could finally make the clan elders retire. The job tittle may imply elders, but being stuck in a room filled with old coots, who constantly ranted on the old days was getting old, no pun intended.

"That can work," the sort-of-but-not-really-priest said scratching the back of his head, hoping he was right, or else his Okaa-sama would massacre him.

Uchiha Akemi may not have had shinobi training in her younger years, but having to take care of multiple reckless pint-sized shinobi, Kazehana included, an idiotic husband and constant assassination attempts made her adapt to shinobi life, quickly and meticulously. And at the age of thirty-eight, the woman had long gained the instincts of a veteran shinobi, despite never stepping a foot on the battlefield. The woman also had a terrifying tendency of going from a terrifying kunoichi on a rampage to dotting mother in seconds.

"It still counts as official right?" asked the Matriarch. "There are no rules against that right?"

There was a slight murmuring between the crowd of slightly rumpled looking spectators before a collective shake of heads was given.

"Carry on then," the woman said calmly, turning back to find her seat.

"You're technically the priest, you start first," the bride and groom deadpanned in unison.

A whispering squeal of, "Told you they were perfect for each other," was heard before Izuna started improvising, which was actually harder than improvising during a war due to the hard stares being drilled into him, making him break out into cold sweat. This was the first time he officiated a wedding for Kami's sake. If this was how pressured priests are during weddings, he was thankful he was born into a shinobi family instead of a religious one.

"Here before me I have two people, a man, Uchiha Madara, and a woman, Uchiha Kazehana who love each other, and who wish to bring their love to the next level, to love each other as husband as wife," Izuna started before pausing to think carefully on what to say next. It was hard to think up something perfect and romantic enough for his overbearing Okaa-sama. He didn't want to die yet! He was only sixteen!

Izuna is so dramatic. Bring our love to the next level, Kazehana internally rolled her eyes. Yeah right, there's no way I can love that idiotic moron that way, I mean sure I love him, but only as a-

Kazehana paused, how did she love Madara? She knew she loved him. It was hard not to love someone when you've literally been together every day since your toddler days. But she knew the love she felt for Madara differed from the affection she held for Izuna, who she thought of as a younger brother. Just thinking of Madara as a brother was just odd, and felt wrong.

If it was possible to glare at oneself, Kazehana would be. She better not have a big revelation like finding out she actually loved Madara in a non-platonic way right now! She was marrying the man right now for Kami's sake!

"Right here in the new Naka no Jinja which was built specifically for this day, we wish to bind these two people in front of me, in holy matrimony with the blessing of the Kami and our forefathers. It is time we hear their marriage vows." Izuna unintentionally interrupted Kazehana's erratic thought, while holding out a candle to them for another slightly odd Uchiha tradition.

"I love you, Uchiha Kazehana. Through eternity and more," said Madara, putting a bloody thumb print on the candle, all the while giving Kazehana a familiar look, which made Kazehana realize something.

It didn't matter what kind of love she held for Madara, because they were stuck together, whether they like it or not. Madara made her happy, and deep down Kazehana knew she could never imagine marrying anyone but him, because it was always him, and only him.

"I love you, Uchiha Madara. Always and only you," Kazehana said, because deep down, she knew it to be true. She didn't even hesitated before she too placed her bloody thumb on the candle.

"May our death just be another obstacle to overcome," he continued.

"May our souls be bound together in each of our reincarnated forms," because Kazehana knew that she could never imagine a life without him, because he was always there. To have him gone would be the same as losing the moon and stars. Life would still go on, but nights would be bleak and full of darkness, as cheesy as it sounded.

"May our love be timeless," Madara said, ignoring the looks of confusion being sent to him. Were they trying to make their vows as long as the original one?

"Because a timeless love never ends," Kazehana stated, because right now, right at this moment, for some mystical reason, Kazehana knew that she was right. Kazehana absentmindedly noted a glowing form, standing in the place of her soon to be brother-in-law in her peripheral vision, before she blinked and it disappeared. Must be a trick of the light, she concluded.

"With the blood-coated fingerprints on this candle, may the flame it produces symbolize their love, and the water in this grail, placed in this shrine for three days and three nights, symbolize the obstacle that is to come. May their love be eternal as the sun, the moon, the stars and the land we walk," Izuna interrupted before Madara could spew up even more mushy nonsense, dipping the candle into the golden jewel-encrusted Uchiha family heirloom, with the top part with the flame facing the water, careful to not touch the bloody finger prints on the candle.

Once submerged, the flame was still alight and the grail glowed faintly.

#~#~#~#

"Oh, Izuna you almost gave me a heart attack back there," the now retired Clan Matriarch said to her son.

"Why? Didn't all the past candles stay alight?" her son asked, referring to the age old Uchiha marriage tradition of dipping a candle with the bloody fingerprints of the bride and groom into the legendary Holy Grail. Legend has it that if the flame stayed alighted the love was to be able to withstand any obstacles that may come its way. And as far as he knew, all the candles stayed alight even after being dipped into water in the grail.

"Of course, but it was only because of good chakra control all the previous priest had," the woman mused. "I just realize just before you dipped the candle in the water that I had to tell you that you had to use your chakra to keep the flame alight because it was your first time, but fortunately, it seems like you do know."

"You have to use chakra to keep the flame alight?" Izuna asked his eyes wide in shock and horror.

"You mean you didn't-," the former matriarch was cut off by Izuna's shaking head.

"But that means…" the woman trailed off, eyes wide open in shock.

#~#~#~#

"Sister," one of the Fates said after a pause, trying to process what she had just seen in the mortal realm. "Has the Goddess of Love been created yet?"

"Just a few minutes ago," her sister said absentmindedly, pointing to the new string that was glowing with immortality. The string was hot pink, of all colors. "Why?"

"No reason," the goddess said, shaking her head hysterically in denial. It can't be true, it can't be! There was no way it could be! There was no way!

#~#~#~#

Pain, agonistic pain, everywhere. That basically explained what Kazehana was currently feeling.

"Hana!" Yelled the Uchiha Clan Head, shocked that his, pregnant, wife, who should have been resting, had taken, not one but two lethal attacks.

"Idiots," Kazehana said, weakly. "The…both…of you, do…you have…any idea…what you almost did?"

It hurts, so much, everywhere! She couldn't get air into her lungs fast enough.

"Plunged both of our clans into eternal warfare?" Tobirama, who had apparently until then been fighting an Uchiha, added unhelpfully.

The weak glare Kazehana sent him was enough for him to know that he should've stopped the two idiots earlier.

He shrugged in response, immediately rushing to her side in concern, trying to stop the rapid blood flow from her wounds. "I tried everything I could, the only thing I could do was stall."

So Tobirama was the reason Kazehana felt the two clans talking instead of fighting to the death before. She knew it couldn't be because of the idiot duo.

"Tobirama? Are you…helping an Uchiha?" The Senju Head asked his supposedly anti-Uchiha brother, his shock apparent to Kazehana's well-trained eyes. He was just standing there! He can't be that shocked!

"Oh, please, why else did you think that I agreed to helping you send messages to the Uchiha Head like a glorified messenger bird?" The younger man asked rhetorically, trying his best to slow the blood flow and remain calm at the same time. He was a decent healer, but this was way out of his capabilities! Now if only the two Clan Heads could get over their shock within the next decade and come help him!

#~#~#~#

Age 18

Uchiha Kazehana was one of the strongest kunoichi in the history of the Uchiha Clan. Uchiha Kazehana, famed to be able to decimate armies with just one note from her flute, a role model for kunoichi far and wide, the revered Clan Matriarch of the legendary Uchiha Clan, one of the strongest Clan in the Land of Fire. Uchiha Kazehana, one of the few women in her clan who had managed to activate the Sharingan and mastered it.

So why was she acting as a glorified messenger bird for her Clan Head right now? Because Izuna would kill whichever Senju he met before he remembered that he was supposed to give the message to the Senju shinobi of course, and because Madara apparently was a paranoid fool, who didn't trust his own freaking clan members!

So, to prevent Madara from having to kill any of his own men in fear of his secret being leaked, and because apparently messenger birds weren't secure enough, Kazehana was going to have to play postwoman for her husband. This was not a part of her contract, the one which she didn't receive about her agreement to an arrange marriage. She may kind of love the fool, but the fact she was politely forced to marry him, was a fact she would never let go.

Kazehana didn't get why Madara didn't just use good old fashion messenger birds with combustion seals, which would combust immediately if the parchment the message was on came in contact with anyone whose chakra signature it didn't identify.

Chakra signatures were unique to everyone, just like fingerprints, even twins had slightly different chakra signatures if you looked hard enough. The Uzumaki who invented the seal was a genius, a delicious roasted bird (With seasoning!) and a destroyed message at the same time, pure genius.

Then again, the combustion seals were designed and made by the Uzumaki Clan. Kazehana herself didn't even know about it until Tobirama told her. It was more than likely Madara didn't know about it himself.

But that didn't excuse the Senju Clan Head's idiocy, as the Senju Clan Head, whose wife was rumored to be the Uzumaki Princess herself, and whose clan was allies with the Uzumaki, by right, the man should've had an unlimited amount of the seals available to him.

"What a coincidence, playing a messenger for your Clan Head too?" came a distinctly male voice directly behind Kazehana, shocking her in her perch on the tree. Shinobi of the Land of Fire were rarely seen on the ground when there were trees to hide in, something Kazehana had plenty of experience doing, so the person interrupting her was obviously not an amateur or a foreigner.

"Tobirama," Kazehana gave said man a nod, inwardly thinking that feeling as comfortable as she was around him, enough for her instincts to disregard his familiar presence, may prove hazardous in the future. "It seems like both of our Clan Heads are paranoid fools."

"So, who are you to the Clan Head? Important enough that he trusts you with something like this over his own flesh and blood brother," asked Tobirama, now standing beside Kazehana in the tree. Fortunately, it was a rather big tree so it wasn't too crowded for the two of them.

"I'm his wife as of two months ago," Kazehana stated bluntly.

"Congratulations," said the man, not at all surprised that Kazehana kept it from him for such a long time. Although they were close, there would always be a barrier between the two, because they both knew if given a choice between their friendship and their clan, they would always choose their clan.

"Besides, it's not a matter of which of us he trusts more, it's a matter of who wouldn't ruin all the work they had put in for the ceasefire treaty," Kazehana said, referring to the tentative treaty created between the two clans not long after the deaths of the two esteemed Clan Heads. A treaty who everyone knew was only temporary, long enough for both of the clans to recover sufficiently from the loss of their respective clan heads. The fact that it lasted the four years it did was already a miracle and a half.

"We are only trying to delay the inevitable. As long as both clans exist, there will always be war between our clans," Tobirama mused, staring intently at a falling leave. Is that what happens when we die? Do we just become another fallen leaf in the tree of life? Will we just become another small, insignificant leaf that, with time, no one would even be able to remember?

"We've wasted enough time, our Clan Heads would become suspicious of the amount of time we've taken no matter how much they trust us." Kazehana tossed the scroll containing Madara's message to Tobirama, knowing that without a doubt that he would be able to catch it despite the speed.

"Expect our reply in four days' time by the Naka River. We'll meet at the same time." Tobirama turned away before pausing to say, "Hashirama probably thinks that I've killed the Uchiha envoy by now."

"Imagine his face if he ever found out about our truce," Kazehana mused with a slight smirk, imagining a boy with a bowl-cut hairstyle with bug eyes and a hanging mouth, before adding as an afterthought. "Does he still have that silly bowl cut?"

"No," her ally said fondly while turning away, back to a life where he had to pretend that he despised all Uchiha. Back to a brother who thought that he'd rather chop off his tongue than have a civil conversation with an Uchiha.

Ironic that he was the one who had befriended an Uchiha first.

#~#~#~#

"Now, do you mind healing her? Because in case you haven't noticed, the lady's dying." Tobirama said sarcastically, sarcasm was easy to fall back on at a time like this. His words, fortunately, managed to shock the two Clan Heads into action. Madara, who was almost as terrible at healing as Kazehana, was busying himself in lecturing Kazehana for ditching her guards and using chakra to go to a known battleground, while pregnant, all the while showing a surprising amount of trust in the Senju Clan Head in allowing him to heal his wife back to health.

The lack of battle sounds from the other clansmen told Kazehana that the Senju and Uchiha had stopped fighting too.

The Uchiha, most likely because of seeing their Clan Matriarch, rumored to be pregnant with the future heir, lethally injured. While the Senju were probably shocked at seeing their Clan Head and his brother not attacking the Uchiha while they were distracted but helping them instead, particularly the younger brother, who was supposed to despise any and all Uchiha.

If Kazehana didn't live pass this day, at least she could die happily knowing that she was the cause of this legendary moment, a moment where Senju and Uchiha were on the same battlefield without trying to massacre each other, a moment where the two Clan Heads were, for once, working together for the same cause. A moment where two best friends, because it was obvious to Kazehana that they were, didn't have to pretend that they hated each other in front of their own family. Kazehana could die happily indeed.

"You were pregnant?" Senju Clan Head asked, a man who was rumored to be one of the strongest healers in the Land of Fire, maybe in the entire Shinobi Nations. (Ironic, considering his main profession)

"Wait…'were'?" Madara yelled hysterically, his calm façade cracking with the prospect of both of his wife and unborn son dying. If he wasn't already panicking before, he certainly was now. Although, he inwardly berated himself, he should've expected at least miscarriage with two lethal wounds in her stomach area.

Kaa-chan is sorry, Kazuki-chan.

#~#~#~#

Age 18

"Well?" asked a particular stubborn elder. "Is she pregnant? Or is it just another common cold."

A glare was sent to Kazehana, as if it was her fault that she had gotten a cold a few months before.

All the while Madara was inwardly wondering why he kept forgetting to fire this particular elder. It definitely had nothing to do with the elder's obsession with Kazehana producing the future Uchiha Heir, despite the fact that Madara was particularly anxious to become a father. It had definitely nothing to do with that at all.

"It's not my fault I had an allergic reaction to the herbs you gave-," Kazehana started, before she was interrupted by the medic.

"Congratulations! You're pregnant!" The medic said, practically jumping at where she stood, excited that she was the one who got to announce the birth of the future Clan Heir.

There was a moment of shocked silence, a moment which Kazehana ended abruptly with her words.

"I want an abortion!"

"Why you-"

"Uh…We'll leave you to discuss this alone," the medic said dragging the now rampaging elder out before he broke something important while blinded by his rage. Kazehana inwardly complimented the medic on having the guts to dare to lay a hand on an elder.

Then again, only a medic would dare to treat an elder like that. Uchiha Medics were famed for their stubbornness and their intimidation, a skill honed from having to deal with grumbling, injured shinobi daily, all of who keep trying to escape the healing ward. It wasn't an uncommon sight to see a medic chasing an injured shinobi with a tranquilizer. The medics did that to all uncooperative patients, no matter their status in the clan, even the Clan Head wasn't spared from their wraith.

"Why would you ever want an abortion, Hana? You love kids, I've seen how you treat your younger siblings," the Clan Head asked after a deep breath, trying hard to act like the adult he was, because his wife just said that she wanted an abortion, for their unborn child.

"Madara, a war was started not even a few months ago with the Senju. I don't want to have my child grow up in an environment like that," Kazehana murmured, guiltily palming her stomach. The very idea that there was a living being in her, relying solely on her, was unfathomable. "Besides, I can't afford to be weak at a time like this. You're needed here in the compound and-"

"You should trust the clan and me to do our best to protect both you and the child," Madara interrupted. "Besides, you know the dangers of an abortion. There's a high chance that you would become infertile after the abortion. The clan needs its heir, Hana, especially at a dangerous time like this."

"I'm sorry, Madara. I can't," Kazehana said, looking down at Madara's hand over hers on her stomach sadly. She really wanted a child to call her own, but, her eyes grew misty at the thought. "You remembered how devastated my Okaa-sama was after my Aniki's death. I don't want to ever feel like that."

Kazehana still remembered the once strong woman wither away into a broken shell after her Aniki's death. It wasn't long before her depression killed her. Kazehana's Okaa-sama may have acted indifferent most of the time, but the incident finally showed Kazehana why, the woman was afraid of loving her children and losing them.

She didn't dare to raise her concerns to the stranger that was her husband, another arranged marriage, in fear of his anger. So she did the only thing she could, act like she didn't love them, in hopes that if she lied enough, her lies would become the truth. It obviously didn't work.

Kazehana knew Madara wouldn't force her to keep the child, he was better than that, but Kazehana wasn't as blind as to not realize that Madara wanted a child of his own.

"There will always be risks, Hana. You're a kunoichi, you should know that," the Clan Head said after a brief pause. "You can't just decide to not have children because you're afraid of his future. Everyone worries; it's a key part in caring for someone. You shouldn't let fear cloud your judgment. I know you're afraid of ending up like your Okaa-sama, but the situation is different right now. This baby, when he is born, is going to be the future Clan Heir. He will be the most protected baby in all of the Land of Fire, this, I can assure you, us Uchiha are possessive creatures after all."

When Madara noticed the indecision in Kazehana's face, he cautiously added, "Me and Hashirama are currently discussing plans on a permanent alliance between our clans. If all goes well, the baby would be born in a world where Senju and Uchiha are allies. Your better at politics than me, but I'm pretty sure the other clans would fight for a place in this alliance. I certainly would if two of the strongest clans decided to join up."

"Who says it's going to be a boy?" Kazehana raised an eyebrow. The baby was too young to even think about finding out its gender.

Kazehana's question was all the confirmation Madara needed. He was having a child! Well, technically, Kazehana was, but still.

"Every single child born to the main family has been male for as long as we can remember. Trust me. It's going to be a boy," the man said cheekily, ecstatic that he was going to have a child!

"Fine, but I still want to have a female name, just in case it really is a girl."

"Fine, you can pick," Madara said rolling his eyes, knowing that he was terrible at naming things, much less a baby. Now that he thought of it, he still hasn't gotten Kazehana to agree to a name for his paperwork burning jutsu.

After a dramatic pause, Kazehana stated her choices. "Kazuki if it's a boy and Kazumi if it's a girl."

Both named after a young boy she failed. A boy who died before his time was up. It was never supposed to happen. It was supposed to be easy. It was her first taste of failure as a leader, a wound which stills claws at her heart in the dark of the night.

"Peaceful hope and beautiful harmony," Madara said with a raised eyebrow. "You really are taking this peace thing between our clans seriously."

"I want to see our child live pass his fifth birthday," Kazehana stated bluntly.

"Ouch, such a low blow," Madara said dramatically. One of his Aniki had died at the age of four. Madara wasn't even born at that time so it didn't actually bother him that Kazehana had used him as an example. It was the implicit meaning that had Madara's attention.

Our child better be able to live pass his toddler years, or else.

#~#~#~#

She wanted peace. That was all she ever wanted for her child. She never wanted to ever see another heartbroken child being told that a parent or sibling wouldn't be coming back. Her poor Imoto (Younger Sister) and Otouto (Younger Brother), who were at that time, old enough to understand that Okaa-sama and Aniki aren't coming back, but not old enough to understand why not.

Their innocently wondering faces would forever haunt her.

#~#~#~#

"Alliance…Madara," Kazehana pleaded, tears in her eyes. "Please… no… more…" Please, our child's gone, but there are still other children, still suffering.

#~#~#~#

A memory of the face of a rambunctious boy, barely ten, it was a distant memory, long buried under years of pain and sorrow. The boy who never came home from a mission, a mission which never should have turned sour, into a mission he never should have known of, much less taken part in. A boy she failed.

Young Kazuki-kun, a boy who will never be able to grow up because of her failure, the echoes of his cries still haunts her now.

#~#~#~#

She was doing it for them, and all the other children that should never have lived a broken childhood in a world like this, always wondering who would die the next day, because someone always did.

"Okay, okay. We'll start writing the contract for it immediately." Madara whispered, wiping the tears away from her face. "Just hang on."

"Just a few more minutes and you'll be out of the danger zone," Tobirama consoled.

#~#~#~#

Age 11

"Aniki? What are you doing out this late? Don't you have a mission tomorrow?"

"What about you? You need sleep too."

"Couldn't sleep, and don't you dare change the subject."

"I had a bad feeling that's all."

A pause.

"Imoto, how old are you now?"

"What a caring Aniki you are, forgetting your darling Imoto's age."

"Just humor me."

"Eleven."

"Eleven years sure flies by fast. Well, time for bed, Hana-chan."

"Sleep early Aniki."

"Alright, alright. Go on now. Love you, little Hana."

"I'm eleven! I'm not little! ...Love you too, Aniki."

There was a moment of stony silence, before she heard the words that changed her in more ways that she'd ever know.

"Eleven years of fear, wondering when she'd be next one to mourn, wondering when the last time I'd ever hear voice will be. Just what kind of sick world are we living in?"

She shouldn't have heard the last part. She would still be blissfully unaware if she never heard him say that.

It would be the last time she saw her Aniki.

But he was just the first pillar to fall, a domino effect that opened her eyes.

#~#~#~#

She never killed a child under twelve in cold blood after that.

Harm a child? Yes.

Killed a child in cold blood? Never, she'd rather die.

But, a mercy killing, a child who begged to be killed? She never had a choice.

The world made sure of it.

#~#~#~#

"Too…" she took a deep breath. "…much…blood…lost…love…you…Madara…"

#~#~#~#

Uchiha Kazehana had a miscarriage at the age of nineteen.

Uchiha Kazehana died at the age of nineteen after being hit by two lethal attacks on accident, one from her own husband.

Uchiha Kazehana died at the age of nineteen with a smile on her face, thinking that she had finally achieved her dream of peace.

#~#~#~#

What is peace? Is it a world without war? Is it a world where a child can grow up happily? Is it a world without hate? Is it a world where people won't die? In the end true peace is impossible to achieve, humans are greedy creatures, and we'll always want more.

#~#~#~#

In this world, where there is light, there must also be shadows. As long as the concept of winners exists, there must also be losers. The selfish desire to maintain peace causes wars. This is how hatred is born. Because when there's love, there must also be hate. And when there is hate, war would always be in the horizon.

#~#~#~#

A few months after

"How is the village fairing?" a noticeably no longer pregnant Kazehana asked.

"Hashirama is more of a dreamer than realist, he's not much aware on how to run a village. I'm surprised the Senju Clan hasn't fallen earlier," the man answered, looking around the room, he couldn't remember how he got there.

"The same way the village isn't going to fall," the woman replied flicking through her book, "trusted advisors, you and his brother, if I'm not mistaken. Although, I'm not too sure how capable you are in politics. And from what I've seen, Hashirama has contributed to a lot too, with his Wood Release. Half of the village has already been build, although I'm not sure how smart having all the buildings made of flammable wood in a village with a clan of pyromaniacs is."

"Remind me to ask Mito-sama, Hashirama's wife, to make a few fireproof seals. And as for politics, you and I both know I'm horrible at it. My job is to just stand there and look intimidating. Tobirama is much better at politics, you on the other hand…" the man trailed off, noticing for the first time that the room they were in was in fact familiar, it was just at the tip of his tongue.

"You know why I can't," the woman said, looking wistfully at her husband.

He knew, but he couldn't remember why. Just like he couldn't remember why the room looked so familiar.

"What was the name decided for the village?"

"Konohagakure no Sato," something was amiss.

"Naming a village surrounded by trees Village Hidden in the Leaves? Not the most creative name I heard, or the most intimidating," the woman said raising her eyebrow before returning to the book she held in her hand, the History of Hn.

It almost made him laugh. The Uchiha were notorious for their clipped answers when in the company of outsiders, 'hn' being a clan favorite. There was no telling if the person who wrote the book was serious or playing a prank.

But the view of her reading the book was familiar too somehow.

"What about the symbol of the village? Have they decided yet?"

"Yes, it's going to be the Uzumaki swirl, symbolizing our alliance with them, with a triangle at the side of it, for a leaf," Madara said.

"This is why you weren't allowed to name the baby, Madara," Kazehana stated.

"How did you know I was the one who named the village and created the symbol?" he asked, before realization hit him, that book, the reason why he found it familiar. It was sitting in their old room collecting dust, the room which bore a disturbing likeliness to the room they were in now. The room which no one had set foot in for months, not because of moving to a new village, although it was part of the reason, but because of her death. His wife, Uchiha Kazehana, who was sitting right in front of him, was dead.

"It was nice seeing you again, Madara," was all he heard before his surroundings started blurring.

It was all just a dream…

#~#~#~#

Was this the end, she wondered, floating in the middle of darkness? Nowhere to go, no one to talk to, nothing to see, just floating, just existing until she was forgotten in the passage of time.

#~#~#~#

"Your story has just begun, my dear," the Fates cackled.

#~#~#~#

Years later

Senju Reina, daughter of Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage, and Uzumaki Mito, the Uzumaki Princess, heiress of the esteemed Senju clan, opened her eyes for the first time to a world of relative peace, which everyone knew wouldn't last.

#~#~#~#

Author's Note: Make sure to let me know if you like it or hate it so I can decide if I want to write the SEQUEL!