Chapter six - Kalla Kadal

Kalla kadal is a Malayalam word having literal meaning of 'sea thief'. The word kalla kadal was used by local fishermen. Geographically, it refers to phenomenon when the sea water creeps in during good weather like a thief arriving unannounced.


"Namikaze Naruto-san has willingly submitted to and passed the traitor test. She has asked to meet with the council with urgent news of potentially vital information." Said the ever stoic Naoki and bowed to the five people behind the table placed in the middle of the room.

All of the Uzu guards sat down on their knees, and understanding she should follow their example, Naruto hurriedly mimicked their action.

"Welcome Namikaze Naruto-san. I am Uzumaki Ashina, the leader of Uzushigakure. We allowed you to enter our village since you passed the traitor test, if your information is proven correct and useful, we might consider letting you stay for a certain amount of time. It depends on what you have to tell us. If you are a danger to Uzu you will be banned from the village immediately, friend or no." Said the man in the middle of the row. He was in his sixties, with long white hair and beard. He had small wrinkles around his mouth and eyes, which were dark brown.

Naruto only nodded in reply. What on earth was she supposed to say to such a statement anyway?

"You will have to use the traitor test while we talk Namikaze-san. Naoki." He said and addressed the guard sitting to her right. He got out the scroll again, and activated it in front of Naruto. She didn't have to get up since the seal was wide enough for her to fit inside its boarder. So she just remained kneeling where she already was.

"Tell us why you have come." Ashina said when the seal glowed white. Naruto got the impression Ashina usually got whatever he wanted, he had that self assured awareness, that only confidence and assurance could give to your tone of voice.

"Thank you for accepting my entrance, and that you took the time to see me on such a short notice. I am a wanderer. I'm also a ninja, and I've spent most of my life in solitude even if that was never by choice. I have entered most of the larger villages, except the Uchiha and Senju village in the fire country since I didn't want to get involved in their war." She explained, telling them what she had practised in the last months for whenever this conversation would take place.

A few of the council members moved forwards in their chairs and looked at her with interest. "I see. We've then established where you came from, but you have some information for us as well. Do tell." Ashina said leaning back in his chair again.

"Yes… There's a few different reasons I'm here. The first is to tell you of a… well, a spy you could say. I know him as black Zetsu. He's not human, he's a creature who has lived for a very long time, dattebayo. He can take a.. em... a black humanoid like shape with two yellow glowing eyes, he can travel through grounds and walls since he can reshape himself, become a fluid substance that can move through cracks and openings. The creature is extremely hard to kill, I'm not sure he can be killed to be honest, since he can latch himself onto other living things, dattebayo! A hurt or weak human for example.

The only sure way to get rid of him is though sealing. I've been hunting him for a very long time. Years in fact, and the last time I sensed him was not very far from here, a few miles west towards the land of water. That was three months ago, and since I haven't found him." She said and tried to judge their expressions. Trying to figure out if what she was telling them made any sort of impression. They looked mutely back.

"Black Zetsu has a goal, and part of that is to make as much difficulty between certain clans as possible, especially the Uchiha. He is extremely good at manipulating, even the strongest minds can be fooled by him, I've seen it myself." Naruto explained and scratched the back of her head in discomfort, they were staring very intently at her while she talked with the traitor seal glowing underneath her, and it made her uneasy.

"So now that I've explained that black Zetsu is good at creating chaos, and while I can't be a hundred present certain, I think he's plotting against you through the means of the Yuki clan in the land of water. Which is not very far from here, only the ocean that parts you to the west.

The Yuki clan, as I think you might know, has a gekai kenkai witch makes them able to use ice release, and have a very feared reputation. The unfriendliness between you have been going on for a while as I understand, but it has grown worse after the biju crossed your path three months ago.

When you chased the sanbi away from your village it went straight across the ocean for them. Their village was completely ruined, and not only theirs, but also the Terumī and Hōzuki clan suffered severe losses. They have grown very angry as of late, especially the Yuki clan.

What I'm saying is that they are gathering forces, they tried to seal the sanbi but was unsuccessful, and all their seal experts was killed in one go. You are known for your fuinjutsu skills and they think you sent the biju to them as an attack on them, dattebayo." She paused and took a deep breath, every eye in the room was so concentrated on her, that she felt sooo awkward.

"This sudden grow of hatred for Uzu, and the fact that the sanbi four months ago was high up in stone country with no intention of leaving his water to wander all the way to Uzushiogakure, makes me almost certain that black Zetsu chased him here, or lured him. I sensed him up there a few days before the sanbi suddenly started moving south. I might not know how he did it, but if it's one thing he can, then it's making trouble for others." She said while looking straight into Ashina's eyes as she spoke. Everything she was telling was perfectly true.

In the last year she'd come across black Zetsu's tail four whole times, the second to last time far up in stone country where she soon had seen the sanbi hurry southwards without any explainable reason. She had been unable to catch up to him, since he neither needed sleep nor rest as he headed further south. It was amazing how quickly that torturous could move. He'd rolled himself into his shell and wheeled across the terrain at top speed.

She'd arrived back in Uzushiogakure only to see the Uzu chase him away.

Naruto couldn't be sure if this had happened in the original time line, what she had found out from Kurama was that it wasn't before the second shinobi war that Uzushiogakure had fallen. However, she was someone who couldn't stand standing on the sidelines while people was being attacked and killed left, right and centre. This was also a situation she could prevent from getting too much worse, and could maybe be resolved peacefully if she played her cards right.

"I see…" He said without making any indication if she was telling them something they already knew or not. A few of the people behind the desk shifted in their chair, but all seemed to have mastered the skill of hiding their reactions. Kurou hadn't though. From the corner of her eye she saw his worried face look up at the village leader.

"Anything else we should know about the circumstances?" Ashina enquired her further.

The blonde racked her brain for what she'd seen and heard while passing through lightning country. Kurou next to her was shifting in his position, almost fidgeting. "Eh'…" She started up nervously. "The sanbi is far out at sea now, I talked to him when I finally managed to catch up, that's why he stopped attacking even more of the villages. You could say I have some abilities that makes them actually listen."

Ashina nodded while continuing gazing hard into her blue eyes. She concentrated on appearing as sincere as possible, it was all true, but they only had her word and this traitor test to prove it. For a moment Naruto was sure he had come to a conclusion as he blinked slowly once. The old man leaned over his desk and collected chakra to the tip of his fingers, before he activated something on his desk that Naruto couldn't see from her low position on the floor.

A rushing sound went through the room and a spike of chakra, and whatever noise from behind the desk disappeared.

A privacy seal.

They discussed for over fifteen minutes while the other four in the room sat silently next to each other. Naruto noticed that Naoki had started getting nervous as well. Maybe they hadn't known after all. Finally they deactivated the privacy seal and came with their conclusion.

"We will have to confirm this information Namikaze-san. It can take some time though, meanwhile we are considering letting you stay within Uzu. We do have some more questions for you before we can agree to this though. Mito." He said and addressed the young woman Naruto had been talking to earlier.

Startled at the name, Naruto looked at the kind young woman who'd been given her a small tour just half an hour earlier. She seemed just as good at hiding her emotions as the council.

"Gather your squad, you are going to head for the country of water and find out if Namikaze-san's claim is accurate, or if she's been fooled." He told her. "I know you just got off a shift but this is urgent if proven correct. Do you accept the mission?" He said not consulting with anyone else in the room.

"Yes grandfather." She answered, got up and left the room at once.

Looking at her retreating back Naruto wondered if she was the girl Hashirama had wed.

Probably… She was the village leaders granddaughter it seemed, had red hair and was named Mito.

Probably Uzumaki Mito.


Madara was sharpening his shurikens with the utmost care. It was never good to let any of his tools be left untended or forgotten, but today it was absolutely no excuse not to have them in tip top shape.

As he worked, using the sharpening stone against the cutting end of his weapon, he was reminded of the small inn named the 'blunt kunai' from when he was very young. It had been located in Itanika before it's fall, and had been known far beyond the lands for it's sake selection. It also happened to be where his parents had held the reception of their wedding. Which had been a shot-gun wedding with only their closest friends and relatives present. Eight in total.

His father had kept denying it was because he'd knocked his mother up, but Madara was pretty sure he was lying through his teeth. His oldest brother had after all been born a little over five months later.

The blunt kunai had been the only place they had ran into Senjus back then. It was an unspoken rule that the inn was a place of peace, and maybe that's why they had decided to celebrate their wedding there. Uninvited guests had a habit of putting their noses into larger events, even back then.

He sighed as his minds drifted to their current situation. Everyone was buzzing around, all thirty of them. It would be a very long and hard day.


"So then we have to find out where you go next Namikaze-san. We wonder why you have come to us. You clearly stated earlier you had no interest in getting involved with the Senju - Uchiha war, and being alone for so long we have to assume you have avoided every other clan in the five nations to stay out of battle." Ashina continued while searching her expressions.

"Why would you side with us. I have never heard of any Namikaze. I have never heard the name Naruto before, and the council find it odd that you would come to our aid."

Naruto swallowed as he asked her that question. She was prepared for this, but still felt nervous about what their reaction would be. "I… There's many reasons I've come here, Ashina-dono. I am a believer of peace. And my goal in life is to achieve this, not just for myself but for everyone. I have lost everything, and knows the pain of war and hate. I came here not to rush you into war. But to plead with you to resolve this matter as peacefully as possible, for both sides. I know that sounds naive, and I guess in a way I am naive. I came here to aid you with my power… I… I can scare them away… But only if everything else fails. I won't kill anyone, I refuse unless I'm forced and no other options is left to me. I do not want to force anyone to submit. Only through alliances and friendship will any lasting peace be achieved, dattebayo!" She said, her voice growing more secure as she spoke.

"You could scare them? What is this ability? And why haven't you already done so, I understand your belief, it is certainly naive, but still admirable. What could you do that would make our attackers scared enough to run away?" He said looking ten years older.

"Can I stand?" She asked in reply. The village leader looked confused but nodded. Getting to her feet she spiked her chakra and raised the hem of her top so everyone saw the seal on her stomach.

You could have heard a pin drop in the room as every eye was turned to the black patterns burned into her skin.

"This seal was used to seal a biju inside me on the day of my birth. I am what is called a jinchuriki, a human sacrifice. However this seal is useless now. I opened it years ago since I and the kyubi have become friends through our struggles.

He stays inside me of his own free will, and is today my partner you could say, my comrade, and has chosen to aid me. Together we want to try and make a better future for both human and the biju, dattebayo. They're hunted and treated as mindless tools. Their animosity is a result of their sensor abilities. They can feel everything a human or animal feels. Absorbs it and becomes affected by the constant attack on them.

Wouldn't you yourself become resentful if you continuously was attacked and attempted to be imprisoned time and time again? If you felt the despair of every human battling and dealing with war all at once, day after day? We live in a brutal time Ashina-dono. The nine biju can feel all the anger simultaneously. It took me a very long time to understand him, I wasn't even aware of his imprisonment inside me before I was twelve, the seal was so powerful I couldn't sense him at all. Someone had to actually tell me.

We where prisoner and jailer at first, he wanted to break free, while I held him back. After a while I came to understand his pain a little better, I felt pity for his circumstances when I saw the faces of prisoners of war, and he grew to respect my resolve and determination for wanting to end the fighting. If he thinks I'm about to die he will act to save me. And he's still stubborn as hell, but in the end we share the same dream. He wants to see the world his father dreamed off. A world where there was harmony between all humans and demons. The biju's was meant as the force of order and stability, what maintained peace amongst us humans. At first they loved humans, and the humans loved in return. Betrayal broke that bond a very long tome ago, dattebayo."

She paused realising everyone in the room was now leaning towards her spellbound by her words.

"Do you want me to prove it? That we are partners?" She asked standing steadily within the glowing seal.

Ashina didn't answer, only nodded.

With a blaze of light she was surrounded in Kuramas chakra mixed with her own. The whole room which had until now been dimly lit, brighting as if the sun was inside. Everyone inside warmed up. Her chakra was so comfortable and full of life, they felt like their hearts lightened.

There was astounded sounds from all of them when the wooden table suddenly started blooming with flowers and leaves. "Oh! Sorry! I forgot to mention that. The kyubi's chakra is filled with life force… It makes everything.. eh.. Grow..." Naruto explained awkwardly to the dumbfounded spectators.

The light disappeared as she cut her connection to Kurama's chakra and the room turned dark again.

"Eh." Was all Ashina was able to say.

"There is another reason I came her too..." She said once she realised no one was going to continue the conversation for a little while longer.

"My mum… She was an Uzumaki, at least that was the name I was given. I changed it to my dad's family name when I started my journeys, since it was safer when I was six. No one has heard the name Namikaze before, so I've introduced myself as that since." She said to the eerily silent crowd.

"Uzumaki?" Said Ashina looking confused. "You think… You have family here?" He said looking bewildered at the other council members. Kurou shifted next to her, and Naoki mumbled. "Impossible.."

"I believe so, but I can't prove it. It was my mum's name. That's all I've been told. Logically I assumed that meant she was from Uzushigakure." Naruto explained, very aware of the truth seal glowing by her feet.

"What was her name?" Asked one of the other men behind the desk. Shit… She couldn't lie could she now…

"Kushina." The silence that followed was a bewildered one.

"The only Kushina we know of is Kushina Uzuni. She's your age. I doubt she had a child when she was an infant." He continued looking sceptical. He was the oldest person on the council by a bit. With short snow white hair and eyes so sunken she could barely glimpse the black of his eyes. He had a snort written on his wrinkly face as he looked stubbornly back at her.

"We can find out easily enough." Came the voice of Kurou from her left. "We can use a blood seal. If she has half Uzumaki blood as she claims, there should be a reaction."

"If she is a member of the main family she should have red hair. The gene is dominant. It's probably just some civilian who took the name somewhere." Said the only woman on the council. Ashina seemed reluctant but nodded to Kurou.

"It is definitely worth checking. Your seal… It looks like one of our own… Not entirely, it looks altered, but I recognise our own signature amongst the signs." He said searching her face. She didn't look like any of them. Tanned, fair haired, blue eyes. Still… Her face, it had the same shape and smile as his own daughter.

Kurou left the room while the discussion continued.

"But she's a jinchuriki, what if the biju leaves? What if she looses control? The nine tails!" the woman said looking scared over at Naruto. Naoki had silently moved away, and in general everyone seemed to regret having allowed her into the village. Except Ashina.

His deep dark eyes was staring intently into her own. Maybe he was trying to find the truth there. Maybe similarities to himself. Naruto couldn't tell.

Kurou came in again and walked up to Naruto, placing a scroll open on the floor while Naoki deactivated the traitor test and the younger boy started explaining.

"You have to cut some of your blood and let it drip within this circle. When it's been absorbed and disappeared you have to infuse chakra from the middle. Give it a good push, not a long flow of chakra, but one short blast if you understand.

Make it move downwards and then to the sides. Envision you want your chakra to fill an entire circle starting from the middle and pouring out to fill every edge of the circle. If you've done it correctly the seal will change. This scroll has many keys you could say, you have to unlock all of them before you reach the content that we've locked away, but we only want to test if you're an Uzumaki from our clan, so you're only going to try and open the first key which is the blood seal that only Uzumaki blood can open. Do you understand?" He asked patiently.

Naruto nodded, surprised that for once she actually did. She never understood anything of the chakra things Kakashi-sensei had lectured her in without a few repeats.

Kurou moved away while Naruto bent down. Biting the tip of her thumb she let a couple of drops of blood sink into the circle inked into the paper. For a few moments the seal glowed and the blood started seeping into the paper, before it was left as blank as it started. Moving her fingers in the same position as Kurou had instructed she attempted to do give on quick but powerful chakra wave through her fingertips. Envisioning the circled pattern she wanted her chakra to fill.

For a moment the inked seal glowed red, then faded into black before repeating the change. Five times it glowed lazily, each time turning more and more blood red, the abruptly it changed and turned into a different seal.

Naruto looked at Kurou's serious face. He met her eyes and his lip curved slowly upwards.

"It looks like you were right." Said Ashina gravelly from behind the desk. "You must be at least half Uzumaki… It would explain your seal… But I have no idea how this could have happened..." He said looking at the baffled faces of the other council members.

"You've certainly given us a lot to consider Naruto-san… I can't let you stay in the village tonight though. But I will allow you to stay in one of the houses on mainland while we come to a decision. I'll call for someone to show you the way." He said and started to get up. Naruto didn't miss the sudden use of her first name instead of family name.

"Grandfather, I'll show her the way if you please." Kurou suggested.

"Hmm…. As you wish, you know where it is. She can use the Maelstrom house." Ashina answered, and Naruto could have sworn his eye glinted slightly as he walked past them.


Guarding the Senju village was a dreary but necessary job. The task was rotated between every single shinobi within the clan and in the last year the delegation of tasks had been taken over by Senju Tobirama. He was young but efficient and had a reputation for always keeping everything under control.

In fact, both of the two oldest Senju brothers had growing respect within the village, especially Hashirama.

Unlike in the Uchiha clan where the leader inherited the leadership role of the clan, where the first son took over after his father, amongst the Senju it was earned. It didn't matter if you had been born as the first son to five generations of Senju leaders. If you weren't the strongest than you would not gain that title. That was why most of the Senju was convinced that it was only a matter of time before Hashirama would take over for his uncle. Especially if he continued growing stronger as he had done in the last four years.

After unlocking his kekkai genkai and refined his control of the wood release, it had made a real change in their chances. As more and more of their older and more skilled ninjas fell in battle, people started relying more on Hashirama then even his uncle, Senju Suoma.

It was refreshing with his hopeful conviction and motivating spirit amongst them in dark times like these. Hashirama also proved very skilled in strategies, at least the ones during tight spots. Such as when things changed abruptly and the original strategy wouldn't suffice any more in the middle of a battle.

It was therefore not unexpected that he had been given a lot of responsibilities as of late, was asked to do the most shifts, and most of the time was looked as the leader during an attack.

But this Thursday afternoon it was Tobirama who was in charge. Of the brothers he was by far the best at using his head ahead of time.

"How many shuriken does a ninja have on him?" Asked Hibiki eagerly.

"Ugh… I don't know, it varies with their style." Replied Tobirama exasperatedly.

"None! They're all on you! Get it?" Exclaimed the sandy blonde ninja who was ten years older then Tobirama himself.

"Ha. ha." Muttered Tobirama, leaning against a tree while scouting the area.

Hibiki was one of the cheery members of the clan. In a way a lot like his older brother but in a more childish way. He also had a lot of terrible jokes he loved telling everyone. Unfortunately for Tobirama at the moment, he was the only one close enough for him to pester right now.

"Maybe you should consecrate a little more Hibiki-san? We haven't been in a single fight with the Uchiha for over four months now. They're bound to have recovered by now." Muttered Tobirama. It was perfectly true, but it was also an excuse to get him to stop his charade of puns.

"Of course! You know I have the eyes of an owl and ears like a wolf. Nothing will escape my notice, Tobirama-sama."

The middle Senju brother wasn't sure if he wanted him to be wrong or not. While Tobirama dealt with a lot of idiocy at home, this dude just made the cake. It was good he was such a skilled shinobi. He annoyed a lot of people.

It was then they spotted Hashirama coming towards them, he was keeping his eyes searching over the forest while he moved towards them. Coming to a stop in front of the two other guards he sighted frustratingly.

"We'll swap Tobirama, you take my spot. Father wants to go over the hour report with you. I don't know… It feels like something isn't right tonight..." Muttered Hashirama and looked over at his brother. "You don't happen to have some water do you? I'm pretty thirsty. I forgot my container at home." He added, a small grin growing on his face.

"Oy, Hashirama-sama! What is a ninja's favourite drink?" Shot Hibiki in. Hashirama looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Not sure, but I myself love apple juice." He said and chuckled lightly.

"Kara-tea! Get it?" Answered the blond eagerly.

When Hashirama bellowed with laugher, Tobirama considered once again if he might not have been adopted.

Nodding to Hashirama and leaving as quickly as possible, Tobirama went to his new post. His father was there, keeping close watch without greeting him. Butsuma was that way. When he was at work there was no room for emotions.

Tobirama agreed to this, it made things a lot easier to deal with. In his life as a ninja he had killed children the same age as himself and some had been younger. If you stopped and took that in during a battle you were as good as dead.

The fact that Hashirama hadn't been killed yet was some form of miracle to Tobirama sometimes. Out of all of them he was the most compassionate, and had a lot of problems distancing himself.

He blamed a lot of this on Uchiha Madara though. Just about every single battle they'd been in since that day four years ago, they had ended up fighting each other during the clans many clashes.

While Madara seemed to have forgotten everything about Hashirama, the oldest Senju brother hadn't forgotten about him. And had never missed an opportunity to remind him of that fact. Even in the middle of a bomb zone he'd tried to talk sense into Madara once. Tobirama was still annoyed the Uchiha hadn't been killed that day.

It was less frequent these days. Even Hashirama's spirit wasn't unmovable. He too felt the horrors of war and it effected him even if he tried to hide it, convincing himself and anyone who would listen that the result of this war shouldn't be to eliminate every single Uchiha, but to become allies.

This was actually something Tobirama agreed with.

He didn't like the Uchiha, in fact he despised them, but it definitely was a better option then this endless killing. As his older brother said; what would happen after this war was over? When one of the clans emerged victorious, but so harmed and weakened that they would be easy prey for the next opponents?

The other clans would be like vultures, picking up the sick and hurt survivors after the carnivores had already done most of the damage.

Sighting as he scouted on while he heard his father go over the hour report. This was done every hour to make sure everything was in order, it also had a password hidden within it. The password was given before the mission started and changed everyday. The one struggling the most with that was Hibiki who had an endless memory for bad jokes, but none for anything useful. As a rule Tobirama became more suspicious if he actually got one right.

"Do you feel that?" Asked Butsuma looking over at Tobirama. Not answering, just listening to the silence of the late evening Tobirama concentrated.

"Yes…" He muttered eventually. "Brother said something about feeling something too. What is it?"

"I don't know… " Heis father answered, and in silence they continued their watch.


Hibiki was Senju Hashirama's second cousin once removed on his father's side.

It was a large family, and even though the relatives that connected them was mostly dead by now, it didn't stop him from being on a friendly term with the young man. As a person who took pride in his kenjutsu skills, not to mention his reputation for being the best within the clan with taijutsu, he felt it was his duty to look after his somewhat far distant relatives. Especially because he agreed wholeheartedly with Hashirama's ideals.

He had once been very taken with an Uchiha girl he'd met at the 'blunt kunai' in Itanika village as a child. It was before the real animosity broke out, and the clans could still somewhat tolerate each other. Not much, but enough to live only a day's distance from one another.

Today he was pretty sure the girl was dead. Hibiki hadn't seen her in the last ten years, but hearing Hashirama's story from his youngest brother Itama had struck a chord with him. Three friends with a naive dream for the future.

It was both tragic and endearing at the same time. Not to mention the fact that Hashirama had yet to give up on the dream of Konoha.

Hibiki had been told the vision many times and had fallen in love with the idea, even if he was sceptical if it would actually ever happen. He would love for his one year old daughter to not have to grow up the way Hashirama had been forced to. Konoha was exactly the kind of place he would have liked her to live in.

Gesturing towards the forest he tried to lift his friends mood. He liked Hashirama quite a bit, he always kept everyone's spirit up, and for one Hibiki believed he was a born leader. Only disguised as a clumsy slightly eccentric, happy young man. Hashirama was only sixteen but had already been forced to bear responsibilities people twice his age never had.

"You know I heard it's haunted the other day?" he said smiling broadly to Hashirama.

"Oh? Anyone we know?" Answered Hashirama and smiled crookedly. Hibiki rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"I wish! But no, I heard it's the spirit of the rabbit goddess. Haunting the earth and attacking those who posses chakra." He said in his most dramatic voice, attempting to get the worried glint in Hashirama's eyes to lessen some.

The younger man looked curiously at him as Hibiki continued, pleased with his audience. "Because the humans once stole her chakra, and fathers passed it on to the next generation. She is always hungry, furious at humans for stealing her power, and wants it back!" He said dramatically.

"I heard a similar story once, but that said she was sealed and had her servant haunting the earth for the right descendant to free her of her prison." Answered Hashirama with a half hearted smile, combing his hair back as he looked down at the ground.

"Hah, I never heard that one. I think my version is scarier though. But I have no problem imagining this forest being haunted, isn't it quiet tonight? Like all the animals is asleep at the same time." He said and Hashirama looked back into the trees.

Hashirama agreed with Hibiki a little too much. It was silent, eerily so. He had been having breakouts of goosebumps for over half an hour now. It was as if he could feel something looming out there.

Hibiki didn't seem nearly as worried, since not half a minute later he turned to Hashirama and came up with another joke. "Are ninjas scared of ghost?" He exclaimed, making Hashirama chuckle while his eyes still trailed the branches around them.

"I give, are ninjas afraid of ghosts?" He said while twisting towards a spot far out.

Had he seen something move? An animal maybe?

"No, he makes them! Get i-" But before he could finish, Hashirama was struck with an unexplainable fear and threw himself on the ground. Grabbing at Hibiki's hand to make him follow.

He hadn't seen anything, had no idea why he had the urge to duck so suddenly, but everything in his body screamed for cover. Next to him Hibiki fell dead to the ground while Hashirama still clutched at his hand, two shurikens pierced deep into his throat.

The blood went everywhere.

"ATTACK! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" He screamed, his voice coming from somewhere far away. His eyes unable to move from the smile still plastered on Hibiki's blood covered face.


"Fuck, you missed!" Hissed Tajima looking over at Madara.

"He ducked, the other one went down, didn't he?" Snapped Madara back at his father.

Their cover was blown now, the fight had already started when Hashirama had survived the assassination attempt and bellowed so loudly they probably heard it all the way up to the village.

Next thing they heard was the alarm bell going off a little further away. Oh well, they might as well have knocked on the front door now.

His father's plan had been to attack and kill the Senju guards simultaneously, both at each post by striking them down at the same time.

The best shuriken throwers was to kill them all, hopefully, before they could truly raise the alarm. The rest of the Uchiha soldiers was to remain far behind so the Senju guards wouldn't pick up on their chakra signatures. The only ones that had come within range of the boarders was the snipers, like Madara, who was experts at staying hidden and could hit a nut a hundred metres off in the dark if they had the mind to.

If everyone of their enemies were killed, there would be no one to notify the rest or the people in the village which was located around ten miles away. They knew there was a guard house somewhere further down in the terrain where there were backup soldiers. But the idea had been to kill them all before they knew what was happening, and ambush them inside the house.

Looking around to the other posts he noticed a few dead bodies while others was crawling away. Staying low to avoid getting hit by flying shuriken being thrown from every possible direction.

Clearly quite a few had not hit their target. It was probably the signal that had made Hashirama duck so suddenly.

He'd been smiling only moments before as far as Madara could see. Their signal had been a very small burst of chakra. They had hoped their position was too far away for them to notice, and while it hadn't been unexpected that they might take notice, it still annoyed Madara.

"Get ready son, before they have time to send down the rest of them." Muttered Tajima and looked over his shoulder.

Grabbing for his chokutō Madara got to his feet, his fully developed Sharingan swirling lazily as he took in their enemies movements.

Hashirama was on his legs again, ducking and jumping around the shuriken being aimed at him. Idiots, that Senju wouldn't get killed by a small piece of flying metal, he'd known it from the start. It was Madara who was going to kill him personally face to face. He'd promised them all he would do it, and when Madara made up his mind about something there was just about nothing that could deteriorate it.

His father had always called him too stubborn for his own good.

"GO!" Shouted Tajima and everyone hiding far behind them roared, Madara included.

It was time for the battle to begin.


Author note: Thank you for reading!

The Uchiha attacks the Senju village. Yelp… I'll warn you now, the next chapter will be violent.

English is not my native language, so please forgive any grammar mistakes.