"Are you all right?" A woman's voice asked him. A cool palm was pressed to his forehead, and a warm, tingly chakra began to tend to his wounds.
He opened his eyes and saw a woman smiling at him. A flicker of fear flashed across her face as she looked into his eyes.
"A-Are you okay?" she asked, still tending to his wounds.
When she was finished, he sat up. "Yes, I am now. Thank you."
She smiled again, a real smile, surprisingly. "You must've been in a very nasty battle," she said. She began to look him over again for any other problems.
He observed the woman as she checked on him. She had pale blonde hair, and clear bluish-colored eyes. She was dressed in expensive-looking clothing.
"Senju. . ." he said softly, menacingly.
She froze for a split second. But then again, what Senju wouldn't be afraid of the great Madara Uchiha? But after her pause, she continued.
"Y-yes, I am a member of the Senju clan," she said eventually. "I am Senju Kajuko."
"I am Madara Uchiha."
"I-I know," she said, quietly. It seemed that she had finished looking him over.
He stood and brushed himself off. He smiled slightly, it was almost a smirk. He bowed at her. "Thank you for healing me, Kajuko-chan," he said. With that, he left, leaving behind a very confused woman.
A few days later, Kajuko's brother spoke with her.
"Kajuko, I have something to ask of you." he told her.
"What is it, Hashirama?" she asked.
"We have decided to open peace talks with the Uchiha clan."
"W-what?!" she said, shocked. She quickly regained her composure. An image flashed in her mind of the terrifying Uchiha she had healed. She didn't tell either of her brothers about the incident. She forced a smile. "I think it's for the best."
There were a few moments of silence before Kajuko spoke again. "You want me to go, don't you?"
He usually sent her to negotiate with the clans that they led, and she was always successful. So, she thought, why not the Uchihas, too?
He nodded. "You are a very skilled peacemaker, Kajuko."
Kajuko agreed, she pretty much had to.
"You can leave today, if you wish."
She nodded and left, knowing that to be an order.
She was dressed- with some assistance- into one of her finest kimonos. It was a furisode, light blue, and cloud designs swirled around on it. The obi was a yellow color.
So with her costume fully outfitted, and her mission further explained to her, she carefully traveled to the Uchiha's lands, making sure not to muss up her appearance. She hoped fervently that it didn't rain. She traveled alone, it was not too far away, and besides, bringing guards was just going to cause problems.
At the gates to the main compound stood a few sentries. They both turned to her, Sharingan activated.
Those eyes always unnerve me. . . she thought, They're so frightening.
"What are you doing here?" one demanded.
She bowed respectfully. "I-I am Senju Kajuko, and I am here to make peace."
The other sentry laughed coldly. "Peace? You know, a Senju killed my father, then my brother. I'll show you peace."
The first sentry held him back, but he wrenched himself away.
She took a few shaky steps back, but he continued to approach her.
"Stop." The command stopped the Uchiha dead in his tracks.
"Madara-sama," the ninja said, "This Senju-" he spat, "scum is attempting to enter our lands."
"Let her," he said, "She will not try anything." Madara gestured for her to follow him.
She unconsciously shuddered but followed him regardless. What an intimidating man.
"So, Kajuko-chan, I had not been expecting to see you again so soon." he said to her, glancing at her for a moment.
"Hashirama wants peace for us," she said simply.
"Is it really peace he wants?" he asked, cryptically.
"I-I don't know, Uchiha-sama," she told him honestly.
They came to a large, ornate home. It was far bigger than the main Senju home. It was a beautiful home.
"Would you like to come in, so we are more comfortable?" Madara asked, "No-one is allowed here, so you will remain safe."
"I-If you would like to, Uchiha-sama."
He led her to a room on the first floor, a tea room with tatami floors and a low table in the center. "Please, sit. I will return shortly."
She sat down at the table, on a cushion that was there. She began to fidget. To take her mind off of her fear, she studied the room. There was the symbol for the Uchiha clan, a large paper fan, hanging on the far side of the room. There were a few bonsai placed around the room. There was a sakura bonsai on the table.
She hoped that what Madara said was true, and that no other Uchihas were going to barge in and kill her. She wouldn't last a minute. She wasn't a fighter, her brothers had trained her to be a healer, and she was fantastic at that. She was also skilled at tracking, that was how she had found Madara in the first place, following the signs of a battle.
She had no clue that it was an Uchiha that she had found, not until his eyes opened. No one else but an Uchiha could have eyes like that, she surmised. Black as a swath of the night sky, except there was no moon or twinkling stars to take away from the dark.
She didn't hate the Uchihas, only feared them because they hated her. Her brothers disliked them and feared them, too, she could tell. Even though they wanted peace.
Her mother had always called her soft-hearted and forgiving, and her brother Tobirama would always tease her about it. She didn't mind though, she loved her brothers anyway.
Madara's return interrupted her thoughts. He was now wearing formal clothes, a black kimono and hakama patterned with red clouds. He sat across from her. "That kimono makes you look very beautiful." He looked her over, his eyes resting on her necklace. It was the companion to Hashirama's necklace, a beautiful crystal pendant.
She felt a blush creep up her face, and he half-smiled. "T-Thank you," she said.
"Now, you said your brother would like to form a truce. . . ?" he said, still smiling.
She nodded. This man. . . I don't know about him. . . . "Yes. Hashirama has an idea. . . to create a country with the Uchiha clan and your allies."
He blinked, then nodded. "Hm, this is an intriguing idea."
A woman entered, and Kajuko tensed. It was just a woman carrying a tea tray, so she relaxed. She came and placed a cup of tea in front of Kajuko, then Madara took one.
"Thank you." she said quietly to the woman as she left.
"To peace and prosperity," he said, taking a sip.
"Yes, to peace and prosperity," she agreed, taking a sip as well. It was a sweet herbal tea, there was no poison or anything sinister in it.
"Yes," Madara said after the woman had left, "to be honest, I grow tired of all this fighting. After all, aren't we descended from brothers?"
She nodded. "We are. Uchihas and Senjus should be together as equals, without all this fighting. It is destroying us."
There was a few minutes of silence as they continued to drink the tea. "I am glad your brother sent you," Madara said unexpectedly, "I need to properly thank you for healing me."
She blushed again and looked down at the tea. "There's n-no need to thank me, Uchiha-sama."
"I think I do." His tone left no room for declining. "I would like to keep seeing you, Kajuko-chan."
"O-Okay. . . " she mumbled, still looking down.
"Would you like to go for a walk with me?" he asked, with an amused tone.
She weakly nodded.
He stood up, and gestured for her to follow. She stood up on shaky legs and walked after him to a set of gardens outside.
"So tell me, Kajuko-chan," he asked, "What else does your brother plan?" He was taking her through the gardens. They were exceedingly beautiful.
"He would like to found a country, as I said earlier." she said, "He would like the main village to be in between our lands, where the mountain rises from the forest."
"How interesting, where would our clans fit into this?"
"We would live in the village, and. . ." she trailed off for a moment. "And the elders from all the clans would pick the leader of the village."
"Is that how you would have it?" he asked.
"N-no, not really." she said, "I would have i-it where the elders themselves would lead. But it is what Hashirama thinks is best, Uchiha-sama."
He looked at her with his unreadable gaze. "If you trust him, that will be enough for us."
"I do trust him, Uchiha-sama."
"Please, call me Madara."
A few weeks passed. Even though she wasn't particularly fond of it, she went to the Uchiha's lands twice a week. Her brothers congratulated her for completing a seemingly impossible task: getting the Uchihas to begin opening up.
Madara was nothing but civil to her, and she began to felt a sense of friendship for him. She stopped being afraid of him and she stopped dreading the visits to the Uchiha's lands. Kajuko also discovered that most of the Uchiha clan despised the fighting as well, and they also clamored for peace.
There was to be a huge meeting, where the Senju and their allies, and the Uchiha and their allies were to meet. They met on the proposed site of the village, where the mountain rose above the trees.
Before the meeting, Madara came up to her. "Would you mind if I needed to talk to you, Kajuko-chan?" he asked.
"No, Madara-san, I wouldn't mind at all." She smiled at him and followed him to a secluded place in the forest.
"What is it that you'd like to talk about, Madara-san?" she asked him, curious.
"Do you know your brother's real intentions?" he asked her, deathly serious.
"N-no, Madara-san. All I know is that he wants peace." she said, unnerved by his expression.
"I am sorry, Kajuko-chan," he said simply, before pulling out a kunai and stabbing her with it in her stomach.
She fell over and coughed up blood. "W-why?" she asked. He had pierced a major artery, she knew that she had little time. It hurt, and she was becoming lightheaded. She let out a shaky breath and let her world go black, her last thought was of her brothers smiling at her, and Madara behind them.
Madara watched her die in front of him, a smirk on his face. She was a very pretty woman, she would've made a nice wife. But she was a Senju, and he knew that she would betray him one day unless he did this. He would rather remember her this way, beautiful and pure.
Besides, Madara had planned this from the very beginning. It was laughable that a few Senju could have knocked him, the great Madara Uchiha, out. Now to collect what he had came for in the very beginning.
He slipped her necklace off of her, frowning when he realized that her eyes didn't have that light in them anymore. Mindless of the blood, he straightened her body out, so it almost looked as if she were sleeping.
No one ever figured out who had killed Kajuko, some speculated that it was a Uchiha insurgent of some sort. No one suspected Madara because he had a copy of himself present during the time he was gone.
A few months later, after the city of Konohagakure was founded and built, his fear was realized: Hashirama was to be the First Hokage.
Madara found out that Kajuko's necklace was similar to Hashirama's when it came to the tailed beasts, and so Madara used it to control the Kyuubi.
But at the valley of the end, even the Eternal Sharingan and the Kyuubi could not win him this battle.
Now it was time for his ace, his original plan. He had planned to use it later, after he had won, but now he used it to distract Hashirama to the point of error.
He pulled the necklace from his neck and tossed it at the Senju.
He dodged it, but then, realizing what it was, Hashirama's expression changed to shock, then anger. He picked it up off of the ground, his hands shaking from rage. "Where did you get this, you bastard?!"
Madara stood there, a full smirk on his face. "She gave it to me."
Yes, she gave it to him, like his brother agreed to give Madara his eyes.
But he still loses. Ah well.
I'm sure there's someone out there shocked that I pretty much kept him in character.
Also, a few notes:
It may be a mistake in the dub, but Jiraya says that there were only two crystal necklaces in the world. So this even kind of fits into the canon.
This story was loosely inspired by the song 'Deer Dance' by System of a Down. Very loosely.