Anju had made it back just in time for the birth of Eiko's second child – a son. She stood outside the room, listening to the strong cries of the newborn and smiled. She couldn't be happier for her sister. And better yet, Eiko got to pick the name.

"Would you like to hold him?"

Anju happily obliged and held out her arms for the newborn boy. Her happiness was a façade for the news she had just found out from Akumu, but she couldn't let her sister see it. This was supposed to be a happy moment for her, not one of confusion.

The baby opened his eyes and Anju smiled at him. "Well hello Hisao. Welcome to the world." The bay began to fuss so she handed him back to Eiko. "He must be hungry."

Eiko began to undo her robe, so Anju exited the room. "I'll leave you to feeding him then." Eiko didn't look up at her though as she left. She was too concentrated on her new baby boy and adoring him.

OoO

As the sun rose up in the sky, the Uchiha packed up their camp and prepared for the rest of their journey to the battlegrounds. By noon they should be there around the same time as the Senju and do their ambush as planned. But Madara had a feeling they would be expecting them, so he had to devise something else just in case. However, he needed Izuna to do that, and currently, Izuna was not speaking to him – he wouldn't even look at Madara.

And Madara knew it was his fault his brother felt so much pain and hate. He hated that a women was doing this to them, but he couldn't help that. He felt something for Anju he had never felt for anyone before. Not for a whore, not for any of the women his father tried to set him up with. And he would hold onto it for as long as he could. Izuna would eventually have to come to terms with it. He couldn't be a child forever, no matter how much he hurt. Madara still loved his brother, and he knew deep down under all the emotions Izuna was feeling at the moment, he still loved Madara.

So as they packed up, Madara went to Izuna. His brother didn't acknowledge his presence in the slightest. Madara just felt this coldness and hate radiating from him. "Izuna."

"Don't talk to me." Izuna walked away, his pack on his back. But Madara wouldn't let him get away that easy. He grabbed him, and as he did Izuna pushed him away. His eyes glowed red with the sharingan. "Don't you fucking touch me."

Madara wouldn't be made a fool in front of his own men. He activated his own mangekyou sharingan and placed a hand on the hilt of the sword that rested across his lower back. "Izuna, stop acting like a child that had his toy taken away. This is nonsense."

"Nonsense?" Izuna's stone cold gaze was unwavering. "You stole what was mine!"

Madara dodged his hook and kneed him in the stomach. Izuna grabbed his gut, bent over and in pain. "She was never yours." As he said this, Izuna lunged for him, but never landed a hand on him. A large, fluffy white tail was wrapped around him, keeping him at bay. Another one was behind Madara, but it didn't touch him.

Tajima looked on at them in disappointment. Madara then noticed all the warriors were staring at them. He stood down and tried to calm himself, but adrenaline was running through his veins. He had to take out his feelings on something, but he also couldn't let his men see him in such a way.

Now that Izuna was silent and still, he approached him. Kouzai was holding him in place with one of his tails. "We need to talk battle plans."

"We have one."

He rolled his eyes. "Izuna, you know as well as I that they know we're coming. We need another plan."

Izuna broke himself loose from Kouzai's tail and walked away. "You can make that decision without me."

Izuna's behavior shocked everyone but Madara. But he couldn't wait for Izuna to come around – not when his clan was at a stake. He was left with his counsel – Kizuna, Tajima, Hisen, and Kouzai. He turned to them, but not before glaring at his gawking men and yelling, "Stop staring and follow Izuna!" That stopped the gawking.

Madara started to speak, but stopped when he saw the concerned look on Kouzai's face. "What's wrong?"

Kouzai looked to Hisen, who looked at Madara. "It's Anju. Something feels wrong."

That sickening feeling in his gut got stronger as they said something. "What's wrong? What's going on?" Then, he looked to Tajima. "You told them about us?"

"Just listen to them."

Madara turned back to Kouzai and Hisen. "What's wrong with her? Tell me what's wrong!"

Kouzai shook his head. "I don't know what's wrong, but something feels off. Usually I can feel her chakra, but it has disappeared a few times for hours on end. I'm concerned what's going on over there."

Great. He was miles away from the clan – from Anju – and things were going wrong. Something was wrong with Anju, and there was nothing he could do. "You have to have some idea."

Kouzai hesitated for a moment, then spoke. "Usually when one's chakra disappears like this, it's because they've died." His stomach dropped. He tried to feel her chakra, but she was too far away. He couldn't feel anything. But he would feel if she was in danger, wouldn't he?

"I would like to send you back to the clan to check, as I can't feel her now."

"That would take days! We don't have days."

With a chuckle, Kouzai gestured to a circle on the ground behind him. "We don't need days. Stand in the circle."

"What are you doing?"

"You are going to teleport to the clan. I already have a circle drawn there, I did it before we left."

Madara stood in the circle. "You can do that?"

Kouzai rolled his eyes. "Just copy Hisen's hand signs and you'll be there in no time."

"How do I know you're not going to just send me somewhere else?"

Madara began to copy Hisen's hand signs as Kouzai spoke. "Just trust me, Madara."

OoO

'I will not answer any more questions for you. Now go away you pest.'

Anju growled and spun around from the beast. "Fine. Go back into your hole."

She reappeared from the black abyss into her room, the staff in her lap and no longer glowing bright red. She sighed and placed it back in the corner. She lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She was exhausted from going into the realm of the beast and trying to speak with it, to learn more about what it was, what Kouzai was, and what Tajima knew. But it was the same every time so far – it wanted to be set free, and she wouldn't set it free.

As she drifted off into sleep, she felt a presence in her room and then a pressure on the other side of the bed. She shot up and looked over. She froze when she saw who it was. "Madara? What are you doing here?"

He placed a hand on her face and let out a sigh of relief. "You're alright."

She placed her hand over his and smiled. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Kouzai said he couldn't feel you anymore, like you were dead," he placed his other hand on the other side of her face and gave her a sweet kiss, "but you're alright."

Anju leaned into his arms, inhaling his scent and letting herself become comfortable in his arms. He wrapped her up and put her in his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a deep kiss. He pushed back against her and pushed her down onto the bed. He hovered over her with a dangerous smirk on his face. She pushed up against him with a smile on her face. "Happy to see me, Madara Uchiha?"

Madara seemed surprised by her behavior, but smiled nonetheless and held her hands over her head before she could bring his shirt up anymore. "You are one frisky young woman, aren't you Lady Uchiha?"

She didn't know where her behavior was coming from, but she didn't really care. She liked the look of surprise on his face. Maybe this behavior was always there, and only now that she was with Madara she could let it out. Maybe he just brought it out of her. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

She giggled and blew a strand of hair out of her face. "I suppose I'm just happy to see you. This was an unexpected surprise."

As he leaned down, she remembered what she had to tell Madara about Tajima. "Madara…I…have…important…news…" She tried to speak between kisses but she barely got the words out. He shushed her with a swift kiss on the lips and bit her lower lip rather hard. She gasped at the pain and pulled away. Madara's lips were coated in a bright red liquid, blood from her lips. He licked his lips and sucked back on her lip. She couldn't help the little noises that left her mouth as he did so.

"You news can wait."

"But-"

Madara bit down on her neck and she gasped. "It can wait, Lady Uchiha."

OoO

Madara smirked as he stared over at Anju, who was wrapped under the covers with a pleased look on her face as she stared up at him. "You are full of surprises, Madara Uchiha. Where did that come from?"

He chuckled and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "I was holding back the first two times. This is how it'll be from now on."

Anju giggled and her cheeks turned pink. "I could get used to this."

Madara kissed her again and rolled on top of her, skin to skin against each other. He groaned and parted from her lips. He had already been gone for too long. It would be noon in a couple hours and he needed to be there to inform his warriors of the new plan. As much as he wanted to stay here and lay with Anju and have sex with the woman of his dreams, that wasn't in the cards today.

He slipped out of the bed and looked around the room for his clothes. Anju was quiet as he got dressed, but eyed him like a piece of candy, ogling him. When he was done he turned back to her and found her at the edge of the bed, just the sheets covered her bare body. He stood in front of her and crouched down a little to be eye level with the small Uchiha woman. She looked concerned, and then she asked, "How is Izuna?"

Madara kissed her forehead and then leaned his forehead against hers. "As can be expected."

Anju sighed and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Be careful, Madara Uchiha."

Madara squeezed her hand as he stood and held it for as long as he could as he walked to the doorway of the room and stood there, staring at Anju as she smiled at him. "You be careful, Anju. I mean it."

He performed the hand signs to return him to Kouzai and poofed into air. When he reappeared, he was pulled to the side, a kunai just barely missing his head. They were in the middle of a battle with both Senju warriors and the Kage's men. Madara dodged another kunai and jumped behind a tree, where he was joined by Hisen. "They came out of nowhere. They ambushed us."

Madara growled under his breath. He was gone maybe two hours – they weren't even close to the battle site yet! The Senju must not have camped out overnight, and instead continued their journey closer to them.

Madara looked around until his eyes landed on Kouzai, who was protecting an injured Uchiha, and then he looked to his brother, who was fighting Tobirama. Then, Izuna fired a fireball from his mouth and Tobirama a gush of water. They were surrounded by steam and he couldn't see anything. They were fighting blind.