During the walk to the camp Madara made it sure to memorize the way back to the cultivar; he didn't want to pass the opportunity of getting food as easy as that.
He also promised himself to never let the three other who were scouting the frontier with him and Izuna found out about that. And just to make sure that would remain a secret, he put the now finished apple under the roots of a tree and kicked a small stone to hide it better.
His brother was in the edge of the cliff staring to the valley. That view was beautiful, Madara had to admit. The lowlands were sewn with sparkling silver threads of varied thickness (rivers) and extended to east, until the vegetation changed from grass to trees – the Senju territory. To north he could see many small villages, until the plains turned into hills and mountains – the Land of Earth. And, if he looked south, he almost could see his favorite location of their dominion.
If one went a few miles passed the stronghold they'd find a touristic village by the sea shore. Technically, it wasn't their lands, but the place was either surrounded by water or Uchiha, so that never made a lot of difference.
As soon as Izuna noticed his presence he turned around and ran to him, opening his bag and rummaging inside. After a few seconds, he took his hands out as if they were holding something.
"Wow, aniki, thank you!" He exclaimed with a bright smile "It smells delicious!"
And he gave the air a big bite.
"What are you doing, you idiot?" Madara asked frowning
"Why, I'm eating the food you brought! Except you didn't!"
Growling, he hit the back of his brother head.
"Ow – but you have to admit I'm right. Seriously… tease me then don't please me; what kind of human being are you? And to think I believed, even for a moment-"
He was interrupted by another hit in the same spot.
"I got us food."
"You did? Hand it over, then!"
"No, wait" Madara shook his head "I met some peasants a while ago, and they invited us to eat with them."
"Uh, really?" Izuna gave an unsure smile "That seems really suspicious to me. Are you sure we can trust them?"
"Their chakras are too weak and I felt none else nearby. If they try anything funny we kill them and steal their food."
Izuna pursed his lips, but nodded.
"Yeah, I guess we could do that."
The walk back to the orchard took longer, as Madara used the time to explain what had happened. He told about how he tried to get an apple to eat, and the farmer's mad daughter had attacked him, and how the man had invited the two of them to eat, and that he called him "Madara-sama". Of course, he "forgot" to tell how the girl hit his face with an apple and how something in the middle aged man's eyes made him feel uneasy. Those were just details anyway.
When they reached the orchard, there was none there to greet them, not that it was surprising. Madara crossed the field like he knew exactly where he was going.
"Don't you think it's weird to have a plantation right here in the middle of the woods?" Izuna asked, but his brother merely grinned.
"There's a town nearby; you worry too much, Izu-chan."
The boy flinched at the childish nickname.
"Maybe I do. I just wish you had told me that when I said scouting the frontier was a bad idea," Madara frowned at that "but, hey, we always do what you want to do, why would that or this time be any different?"
"Then what do you want to do?" The young man asked visibly irritated
"Whatever you want to do, dear brother of mine."
"Tsc, stop victimizing yourself!"
"Victimizing?" Izuna's eyes widened slightly before he shook his head "Why would I do that? I'd be making a villain of myself."
"Well, then stop doing that!" The other snapped
His brother could have shrugged, but since he had his back to him he wouldn't have seen, so he left it at that.
After a few minutes of wandering, without the faintest idea of where he should go, Madara spotted a house. It was fairly big and old looking, made of dark wood, and he thought it could fall down about any minute, if it weren't for all the plants surrounding the building, as if to give it some form of support. Vines climbed to the ground from the porch, going up the walls until they reached the tall roof covered with straw, but they seemed to have been pruned to avoid the windows and door. The house was surrounded by bushes and trees of all sizes, and, for a moment, he even thought if it was coming from the plants, growing from them like a flower would, but quickly shook that notion away. He really couldn't imagine what kind of person would want to live in a place like that.
As soon he smelled food inside, though, all his doubts vanished, and he kicked off his shoes by the porch and opened the sliding door without ceremonies, with Izuna close behind.
The inside was better than the outside. The house still looked old, but somewhat bigger and much more inviting. It was warm and smelled like an inhabited house should.
Two people were setting the table in the center of the room. Izuna couldn't help but think they wouldn't have made that food if it weren't for the two of them coming over.
"Ah" Katsuro greeted with a smile, and then he turned to the youngest of the brothers with a small bow "Izuna-sama"
The boy nodded, the honorific making him somewhat uncomfortable and even more suspicious. Just like Madara, he thought there was something wrong with the man's eyes, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what.
"Katsuro and Ringo, right?"
The man bowed his head solemnly, while his daughter only gave a short nod.
"You've been protecting the frontiers for how long now?" The farmer asked
"We've been there for two weeks, but I wouldn't say we've been protecting anything" Izuna stated, almost sighing when he saw his brother walking to the table to take a look at what they'd eat, leaving him to do the socializing. Again.
"Not a lot of things to do?" Katsuro offered, solicit
"To say the least… My brother didn't thank you for your hospitality, did he?"
"That's not needed" The man made a small sound that Izuna assumed to be a low chuckle "We're more than happy to help the shinobi of our clan."
"I see…"
He said that while staring at the girl who looked at his older brother as if, if she glared hard enough, he would suddenly burst into flames. Madara apparently hadn't noticed that, as he still had his eyes glued to the food.
"My daughter is defensive of strangers" Katsuro smiled apologetically when he noticed what he was looking at.
"That's actually a good thing" The boy grinned.
"Ah, Rin-chan, you've finished?" The peasant asked and Ringo nodded, setting the last dish in the table "Then we can begin eating!"
"You first" Madara sneered at the girl
"It's not poisoned." She answered looking up at him.
"You be the judge of that."
Not before sending the ninja a hostile glance, she grabbed a piece of sashimi with her fingers and swallowed it.
"…Want me to try the rice too?"
"If you'll be so kind…"
"Alright, we can start eating first!" Katsuro interrupted just when the girl had opened the mouth to reply "If you don't feel you can trust us yet, Madara-sama"
The man kneeled down beside his daughter, and the two started picking up portions of fish, rice and pickled vegetables.
"Itadakimasu" The middle aged man joined his hands and mumbled, while the girl copied his gestures.
They also poured down in two cups a liquid that looked like milk, only slightly yellow.
Once the brother's decided the food was safe to eat they joined the farmers.
"What do you think of the food?" Katsuro asked with a smile
"It's really good" Izuna answered with a similar expression, but then he face became serious again "Say, Katsuro-san… We're far from the ocean… are there any rivers nearby?"
"Yes, there's one just a little more to west. You must've been camping near the ravine, then. There are not good water sources there"
"It shows" Ringo commented cheerfully, while playing with a slice of cucumber "… and smells."
Her father sent her a warning glance, but Izuna merely grinned.
"I guess we killed all the flies of the area on our way here."
The girl looked up surprised, then gave him a small smile and looked back to her food.
"If you want to" Katsuro started "we can show you were the river is. It's not too far. There's also a shortcut to the village."
"That seems very useful" The youngest brother nodded "Though we can't take too long or else the other three shinobi who are scouting the frontier with us will notice we're missing"
That wasn't entirely true, but who cared?
"Ah, I see. You can come back some other day, then."
"Gross…"
The two turned their heads at Ringo. She stared at Madara - who had thrown his head back and was gulping down four slices of sashimi at once - with a mix of amazement and disgust.
"Doesn't that get stuck in your throat?"
"If I'm still breathing it's because it doesn't" He answered after swallowing down the raw fish.
"Can't you eat like a normal person?"
"Can't you be quiet?"
"Hey!"
"Ringo, please" Katsuro interrupted, suddenly looking very tired and old
"Father!" The girl protested "He told me to shut up!"
"I said 'be quiet'" Madara remarked without looking up from his bowl of rice "but that works too."
"Does that matter?"
"Rin, please, I…" The farmer sighed and shook his head "I'm sorry. Madara-sama, Izuna-sama… I'll be honest. There is another reason why I invited the two of you here."
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