Number two: crystal

…about opaque crystal of the moon and someone's turbid and faded hopes.

The Inuzuka have broken the agreement. The one who has to deal with this is, of course, Madara.

The Hyuga have ambushed them again. The one who must gather a squad to retaliate is Madara, and if possible — to head it as well.

The Kamizuru have come down from their mountains once again and are unhurriedly testing the waters: to prey on other's goods, no doubt. And Madara is the only way out here; does it really matter that the algorithm of actions was worked out long ago, so Yuno or at least Nagisa has to do it if they have a clan head? Let him do the job then.

Madara is tired. Father has been just recently killed — he must seek vengeance or else it won't make sense to people; there's no point in just killing Senju, due to the traditions of blood feuds he should get to Senju Butsuma or else it won't be proper; they can also expropriate something from their warehouses, preferably everything they'll see there, especially if they stumble upon healing ointments the clan needs so much.

Madara pretends that he's able to do anything, that the caravan of food robbed by the Hatake means nothing as the six consequences of the last confrontation with the Sabaku has been just burned. Another seven didn't leave anything of themselves to be burnt.

Madara wants to hide in a corner and cut down anyone who dares to disturb him. Tajima-otou-sama at the age of nineteen had been leading the clan for two years, two thirds of children live that long at best, yet Madara feels like a five-year-old.

All this… As if it has conspired against him, and somebody who can easily bring the tip of their katana to his chest better be found soon, but no such luck. Even Hashirama isn't able to deathly wound the Uchiha leader.

Maybe, he just doesn't want to. Maybe, he still considers him his friend. Maybe, he's a real idiot.

The more of an idiot is only Madara.

Madara beats himself up and feels angry: he is weak, his thoughts are shameful for a shinobi, Madara can't face even himself, how he would manage to face his enemies in this state? Izuna sees, Izuna understands, Izuna scowls and almost growls at the servants, subordinates and close relatives, sorts out reports, conducts clan's affairs, leaving only the strike team to his brother.

"Rest, brother. A little more, and clansmen won't stand your killer intent." Izuna pats him on the shoulder, smoothly pushing his brother towards the temporary camp, then focuses on Hikaku who has come up to him with a report and immediately — without any delay — guides a few morons that are sitting nearby as he finds tasks for them.

Izuna would have made a great clan head — not Madara. Izuna doesn't feel the pressure of responsibilities on his shoulders, Izuna is incredulous and is able to compel with words anything he pleases, Izuna is perfect — Madara wasn't created for this. Madara is ready to die at any given moment.

He snaps, leaves in the morning and returns tired, beaten up, still furious as hell by the evening, then he goes to sleep.

This continues for a week.

Izuna doesn't address the subject of his brother's state.

"...that's why Itami shouldn't be sent to the village, any merchant would rob him blind." Madara is listening absent-mindedly.

For some reason Izuna isn't trying to stir his brother. Even Madara finds this strange: he of all people should have been alarmed the first.

"Naka is freaking out. You know what his last stunt cost us, he's way out of his line. He's gonna get killed if this continues, though he has a potential." Yet he goes on and on about the clan, especially about some of them.

Eventually Baru and Rai are admitted to be quite the pair of intellectuals. The boys are sixteen years old, not little kids anymore as they have passed the age of twelve (the age of the highest mortality), but Izuna is still scared for them: they have no sense of self-preservation whatsoever. They brought a live Senju to the children for a lesson, well, good for them. But what if he escaped and leaked the location and the description of the compound?

In addition to excelling individuals, there are Naori and Naka, one of the most troublesome tandems. Fourteen-year-olds, only one brain for the two of them, lazy Naori's, Naka, on the other hand, is force, a short temper and a complete lack of something resembling intellect.

And all these people are more important to Izuna than his brother's state?

The answer is found soon. Izuna slips himself.

"Well, maybe, morals are low, but everything will change when Obito arrives."

Madara sits on the tatami near the desk where Izuna usually works and starts thinking. Just thinking.

In five years Obito has been to the compound only once. He returned, gave out presents, brought money to content Tajima and stayed for a few days.

At that time Izuna was boasting about his genious brother and his Senju scheme, even though it had been three years ago, while Obito was watching with narrowed eyes, then he pursed his lips and said he had other things to do.

Obito either judged Madara or understood more than what had been said. He failed to find out: they didn't have a chance to meet again for the rest of the day, and then it was too late.

Madara almost hisses at bewildered Izuna and buries himself in work once more. He needs to approximately estimate next month's finances, count this month's costs, choose a few missions for the brats so they won't even dare to get killed, gather dispersed groups in one place and coordinate an attack on the Senju compound.

Madara isn't sure why he begins to count days and live in expectation he can't comprehend. He tells himself that he is just waiting for the most large-scale battle with their sworn enemies; he understands that he just misses fool Obito who never has enough freedom, who has exchanged the clan for solitude and independence over it. But he hasn't seen his infuriating patronising grin, heard strange and inside-out, yet familiar stories for so long.

It's peaceful with Obito. All problems resolve themselves or don't seem that important anymore, and he doesn't want to even talk, like he did with Hashirama: Obito will say everything himself, briefly ruffle his hair the way his father did, so you'll start certainly believing everything is going to be alright. He just needs to figure out how to achieve this, and everything surely is going to be alright. Really, really.

Until then Madara checks the stockpile of kunai and explosive tags, sends shinobi on missions and trainings, consults with Izuna that is still arguing with the elders council.

Madara keeps delaying the operation until the very last.

Not for eternity, of course, but at least he's trying. His actions don't make any sense because even Izuna comes to discuss with brother the exact date of the operation, and Madara orders through gritted teeth to march out.

He has difficulties understanding what he was waiting for, he has fallen into deep waters of doubts and the maddening fear for something…

Something…

Only then, in the middle of the battle Obito appears. As usual — with fanfare and unintended pathos: someone's kusarigama almost slices in half Hashirama's face. Only the reflexes trained for years save Senju. The sickle is yanked back by the chain, and Madara has no trouble noticing how Hashirama flinches because of the newcomer's appearance.

Obito could have been easily mistaken for Madara if not for the scar on the right half of his face.

He asks to leave. In fact, almost orders because shinobi are ready to flee this instant. The only thing stopping them is Madara.

The clan head.

The taicho of the group and the whole operation.

Madara looks at Hashirama, frozen Senju, dead Butsuma.

And doesn't see a reason to refuse.

Madara admits: maybe, now it will be a bit better, a bit easier. He will feel a bit less like crushing someone's skull in a fit of hysterical aggression. He allows himself to hope for something light. Something kind.

But Obito is practically running — away from him or out of habit, who the hell knows — around the compound for two days while Madara has to deal with the deceased, yell at the council and hiss with wild rage at Izuna.

Madara finds Obito only at the bloody moment he is about to leave.

Again.

Madara has managed to have a few words with him at best, but Obito is already almost gone, Obito is slipping through his fingers like a bonfire haze, there's no way you can catch it.

"Don't leave." The clan head shouldn't be pleading and groveling; Obito is only a scum, a nobody, a bastard from the branch family that miraculously acquired the power of the Mangekyou.

Madara doesn't consider himself a clan head. And never did. A leader in the battles — maybe. A commander out in the field — yes. The one responsible for a bunch of relatives who are trying to survive and earn a living — no doubt.

Madara is only a human. With his own irrational feelings, values defined by time, situation and habits. He's ashamed of whining and trying with all his power to keep to himself another's sun, another's laughter, another's smile — but it's so tempting to accomplish the impossible.

So tempting to drown in his glowing eyes and to spit on the routine, blood, obligations, to stop swinging from "shitty" to "shittier" in his futile attempts to find the best solution out of existing.

It's peaceful with Obito. When he's around, the paranoia howling deep inside falls asleep and the intuition doesn't whisper about backstabs with a senbon-kunai-katana. Obito is a wretch, but a wretch that he understands, is familiar and close with. Comfortable with.

And that isn't his.

"Please, stay." Madara's voice sounds hoarse, almost howling, canine, lost. Madara relies on Obito with his last ounce of strength since he can't survive here on his own, he will die without the assistance of Senju or somebody else, it's easier for him to sink the blade in his own chest than plunge into the Hell. Again.

Obito looks with regret — his ugly scar disgustingly distorts under the red moonlight, and the shuriken-like Mangekyou shines with scarlet — and somewhat embarrassedly laughs, shaking his head.

Obito leaves without a word, vanishes in the Mangekyou technique Kamui, probably not wishing to answer.

And Madara is choking again, he is clawing at his throat with fingernails amidst all this, amidst tired and dead people as he returns to weariness, rings under the eyes and permanent hatred for everything around him.

And who knows — really, there are no defined confines, all of a sudden everything is as translucent as a mist — how much time has passed. Izuna counts, but Madara doesn't care, it's all the same to him,

doesn'tcare-doesn'tcare-

(damnitall)

-doesn'tcare.

Sometimes Izuna slips something about five years, then says bitterly:

"…if only otou-sama hadn't made a mistake, we wouldn't have get out of… No need to repeat, you know it yourself. But six years is too much in our situation. We are losing, brother."

During this time Izuna has lost weight, become peaky and started grumbling less about Tobirama, Butsuma's second bastard, Hashirama's albino brother. While at first he was swearing to murder him, then he started analyzing thoroughly his actions and later the techniques created by the boy, now the only thing you can draw from Izuna is gratuitous insults.

Like before.

Not that Madara dislikes this tendency it just gives rise to doubt and a (thousandth) reason to panic.

Something is clearly wrong with Izuna, he has made up his mind about something or learnt something important. But he, obviously, won't tell: he will carry the burden of responsibility for this mystery, this secret because he is mature, independent and all stuff like that.

Anyway, if Madara decides to crack his brother, he completes this objective, and after a few days Izuna gives up.

"That red-eyed freak came up with the idea to form an alliance with the Hyuga through the marriage with the clan head's daughter." The alliance with the Hyuga is bad. One of the most powerful clans after the Senju and Uchiha clans that is, upon request, obliged to aid "their fellow men" in military actions which are mainly waged against the Uchiha.

Not only Izuna wants to gratuitously insult Tobirama now, though Madara restraines himself.

Still, what a sly bitc-

"Unless, of course, this was indeed his idea," halts Madara and voices the same thing to his brother. Izuna dismisses it:

"Then who? Who has enough wits and will make enough efforts to achieve this? What, Hashirama or that stupid Touka?"

Madara prefers to know and assume nothing about Senju Touka (he once walked past the half-dead body, disdainful of finishing her off, it turns out he should have). However, Izuna is wrong about Hashirama.

Hashirama prefers to stay low. He became a clan leader later than Madara, he's a good fighter, and yes, perhaps no one is discussed as much as Hashirama's genious brother, Tobirama. And while Madara believes in the created techniques — Hashirama is just on another level, he doesn't need such crutches — some of his ideas reek of risk that cold-blooded Senju would hardly ever take. If the situation was more desperate, maybe, but not in this scenario.

So — as Madara thinks — the Senju doesn't require the Hyuga's power. And their attempt — exactly an attempt because you can't calculate everything regarding these snobs — to form an alliance looks like a simply unnecessary risk. So Hashirama is definitely involved in this.

(though he surely dumped the execution of this idea on Tobirama, no need to think about that one)

Time goes, the Hyuga were messing about, and the Senju clan got really angry with them for some reason. Some were talking about the stained honour, others were pursing their lips at the mention of the Senju.

Luckily, the Uchiha clan wasn't affected by those games.

Madara deals with the duties, leads shinobi groups in the field, buries his nephews and other distant relatives. He has made a habit of never pondering about anything and pretends to be an almighty leader that the young shinobi look up to and that is appealing to the girls from the beginning of their puberty and to their death.

Madara would agree to die at any given moment if somebody asked him.

In the end, the one who dies is Izuna.

Izuna is twenty-four. Black hair, scrawny face and the absence of blind eyes with the Mangekyou, the eyes the clan head now is looking at his brother with.

Izuna is dying.

Madara damns everyone. Mother, father, brothers, Hashirama with his sick brother, fucking Obito who doesn't care about anything, except for himself. Madara is tired of blaming himself so he blames others. It's not like he feels much easier, but it's significantly simpler to justify himself.

Madara is enraged while his brother is wheezing and writhing. Yes, he looks at the world with Izuna's eyes, but to see his death is more than he can possibly handle.

Madara disgracefully runs into the forest.

And when he returns, Izuna is sitting near Obito and ordering around excited clan members, from time to time coughing, from time to time complaining about dumb relatives that can't be left unsupervised due to a valid reason (death) for a couple of days.

Obito is peacefully sleeping near the extinguished bonfire. The circles under his eyes visible even now, the kimono dirty, the soles of his sandals worn almost to holes. He has just returned and seems to be terribly tired.

And deathly wounded Izuna is alive.

"Brother, people from the borders with Branch provin…ugh, now Branch country are complaining about bugs. Looks like the daimyo hired the Aburame. Our lady," Izuna grimaces as he mentions the daimyo that applied to the Uchiha clan, "is concerned. We have to check. Wanna do it?"

Madara abruptly nods without a second thought and enters the tent to grab the equipment: you must prepare to the attack on the Aburame carefully as ever.

The sunset of the day is awfully red.

As Madara gathers the squad in the evening, he glances at still shamelessly sleeping Obito and Izuna who is leaning on him.

(and there's no forgiveness for you, Obito, you wretch, because, to Madara's great regret, you can only be forgiven for brother's timely rescue)

When he comes back — after two weeks — Obito is absent again. There's no mention of him, apart from completely healthy Izuna and a sachet with different sweets in Madara's room.

Madara would say something like "I'm not a child anymore", but there's no one he could grumble at, so he leisurely eats all his sweets in front of drooling Izuna with his raging sweet tooth — he ate his own share long ago, so he better quit drooling over other's goods — and when he wakes up one night, he stares for a long time at the faded red moon surrounded by the maroon clouds.

Izuna — back then, in distant childhood — was wrong: sometimes the moon truly seems as transparent as crystal.