After a month and a half wait, I present to you guys chapter 19! It's a really long chapter. Coming out to roughly 13K words, 24 pages. Think of it as an apology for making you guys wait so long! So without further ado, please enjoy. Also, thank you to those who have reviewed, it makes my day!
Disclaimer: Nothing is owned but Akane & Uchiha/Senju OC's, Masashi Kishimoto ©
Chapter 19
Sweat seeped through open pores, his unruly mane pulled up onto the top of his head into a messy ponytail; loose strands sticking to his neck and forehead like glue. Madara barely slept the night before, if the dark circles under his eyes, drooping low and heavy, were any indication. He had hoped that soaking in the bathhouse would help him clear his head that was burdened with worries and uncertainties; but it only managed to drop him deeper into his thoughts. The topic, or should he say, person, who was the root of all the turmoil surrounding the young leader's thoughts was none other than the medic who was about to go on her first mission… without him.
At first, he hadn't thought too deeply into her departure. He had many things on his mind regarding his clan and his other duties, but upon seeing the feeble woman in a state of panic and anxiety on multiple occasions; she had become a nagging fly in the back of his head. Would she really be okay? He had utmost faith in his second in command, and he knew that Akane was in good hands in regards to her training; but her mental state worried him. She was a fragile woman who grew up within a village with no war, and although she had her own demons; they were hardly the same as walking straight into the fire of battle. Gnawing at his lower lip, Madara barely notice the subtle footsteps tapping on wooden floorboards just behind him.
"Good Morning, brother; you're up earlier than usual." Tired charcoal eyes flickered in the direction of the newcomer. Izuna stood at the edge of the pool, standing in nothing but a white towel. His hair pulled up into a messy bun on the top of his head, bangs framing his face.
"I could say the same for you…" Madara responded, watching the water sloshed upon Izuna's entrance. For once, Madara embraced the company while he soaked. Normally he wouldn't have wanted his peace to be disturbed, but with the deafening silence, and his mind racing chaotically, Izuna's presence was actually desirable. Sighing in bliss, Izuna sunk lower into the steamy water, taking a seat beside his brother, discarding his towel before sitting.
"Yeah, well, I have a mission." Izuna stated, lowering himself so only his head was above water. A brief look of recollection flashed over the elder brother's face, all of which went unnoticed by the younger whose eyes were now closed.
"Right, I forgot."
"Tsk, I'm offended, how could you forgot about your little brother's important mission?" Madara rolled his eyes, his head also following the motion, sucking his teeth in annoyance. He took it back, Izuna's presence in the morning was never desirable; he simply didn't have the energy to deal with him.
"Must you always be so melodramatic, even this early in the morning? Of all the traits you could have taken from mother, you got the most annoying one." Madara sneered. Izuna threw his head back in laughter, lifting his hand from under the water, he tugged at a loose strand of Madara's hair, playfully.
"Don't act like you're not dramatic, brother; we both share that trait." A cheeky smile spread across his lips.
"Psh, hardly." Madara denied, crossing his arms over his chest. The smile left Izuna's face almost immediately, his eyes now open and staring hard at the side of his brother's face. Madara refused to meet his gaze, instead he looked away his lower lip just barely jutting out into a pout.
"The fact that you're… weirdly pouting, proves that your denial is bullshit." Izuna pointed out, extending his index finger to poke his brother's cheek. Madara slapped his hand away, focusing a glare on something on the other side of the room.
"Whatever." Izuna shook his head fondly, he was right to believe that Madara was in one of his 'moods,' but it was a bit worrisome that he had forgotten about his mission. Something like that, normally would never slip Madara's mind. Facing forward, the second in command decided that he'd do a little digging into his brother's thoughts.
"You look like shit." Izuna mumbled bluntly.
"Gee, thanks. You look pleasantly rested." Madara scoffed bitterly, lips falling into a frown.
"Yeah, I slept like a baby." Izuna confirmed teasingly, grinning in mockery. The Uchiha leader clicked his tongue again.
"Good for you."
"I'm just saying, did you not sleep well?"
"No."
"That's a shame, sleeping is important brother; especially for you." Izuna nodded, popping some bubbles on the surface of the water. Madara dragged his hand over his face, tilting his head to the side, he narrowed his eyes at the side of his brother's face.
"Is that so?"
"Yep~" Izuna replied cheerfully, flashing his brother a toothy grin. A low, nasally growl rumbled from Madara, his nostrils flaring with irritation; which just widened his brother's grin.
"You're annoying, you know that?" Madara sneered. Izuna chuckled, waving his hand flippantly.
"Oh, I know; it takes years of practice."
"It didn't take you years to become annoying, you were born that way." Madara declared, lifting a single hand to flick his brother's forehead.
"Ow. The violence wasn't necessary." Izuna hissed in pain, rubbing the now red spot between his eyebrows.
"Eh…" Madara waved his hand, before crossing his arms over his chest once more. It was silent between the two of them for a few moments. The Uchiha leader gazed into nothingness, while Izuna tried to decipher the look his brother was making. There were too many emotions, and none of them were his usual 'bored at best' look, which worried the second in command even more.
"So…how long have you been here?" Izuna asked, ebony eyes glanced over the pink tint of his elder brother's skin, to his face that was flushed even darker. Madara sighed heavily, lowering his crossed arms back into the water, his dark gaze meeting his brother's watchful eye.
"What do you want, Izuna? You know I hate it when you beat around the bush." Izuna shrugged, nonchalantly, an innocent smile lifting at the corners of his mouth.
"Nothing in particular, I just wanna know what's got my brother so deep in thought that he'd forget his own brother's mission." Madara lowered himself further into the water, copying his brother in submerging all but his head. Izuna blinked at his brother's silence, wondering what could have him so hesitant.
"Brother?"
"How was Akane's training, do you think it benefited her in any way?"
"Aaaahh, Aka-chan, huh? Can't say that I blame you." Izuna chuckled, allowing his thoughts to shift towards their medic.
"Cut the crap, Izuna; I'm not in the mood." Madara chided, glaring at his brother now. Raising his hands in surrender, Izuna shifted a couple inches away from the now irritated man.
"Okay, okay, sheesh, no need to get so prickly." Izuna pouted. Madara grunted in response, but didn't remove his gaze from his brother's face.
"In regards to your question, yes; I think it was beneficial in more ways than one." Izuna nodded.
"Yeah? How so? What did you teach her?" Madara's eyebrows furrowed at the low snickering. Izuna covered his mouth with the back of his hand, grinning ear to ear in pure amusement.
"To be honest, absolutely nothing." He informed gleefully, sending his brother a quick wink. Madara's features turned grim, his nose wrinkling and his eyes narrowing into a deadly stare. Even so, Izuna's grin never faltered, the twinkle in his eye at his brother's reaction, showed how much he was enjoying himself.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Madara asked, his voice low but dangerously ominous. Izuna shrugged, wiping the beading sweat from his brow.
"Exactly what I said, I didn't really teach her anything. Her nature type is Earth, therefore I was preeeeetty much useless." Izuna stating, sighing in exaggeration. Madara pinched the bridge of his nose, doing all he could to stay perfectly calm. His brother was clearly irritating him on purpose, he always did this. Underneath that kind and friendly smile, was the rendition of Satan himself. Not many noticed it at first glance, but Izuna was anything but innocent; from the moment the younger brother could walk; he was biggest pain in the ass.
"Then care to explain what were the two of you doing all this time?" asked Madara, clenching this teeth.
"Oh, Aka-chan was definitely still training, just not always by me." Izuna responded vaguely, ignoring the murderous aura that flared around his brother.
"Explain in detail, Izuna; must I repeat that I'm not in the mood for your games?"
"I mean, you kind of already did…"
"Izuna!" The second in command chuckled to himself. He ducked under the water, quickly dodging the punch that was aimed straight for his head. Resurfacing, the second in command held up a hand in defeat. As much as he loved being the biggest shit in the world, he definitely didn't want to put his brother into a permanent bad mood for the day.
"At first, we worked on sharpening her tai-jutsu. She's still a little rough around the edges; but she's improved, I know for a fact that she can at least defend herself well enough to at least get herself into a position to flee," Izuna paused, watching his brother's shoulders slump and his glare softened. He continued.
"Considering she excels in controlling her chakra, I figured maybe she could learn some sort of jutsu to better defend herself with. Like I said before, Aka-chan is an Earth style user, great for defense, but I can't help with that."
"So what did you do?"
"That's where Kazo comes in." Izuna pointed out.
"Kazo? The medic that she's been training? What was he doing there?" Madara questioned dumbfounded.
"Well, he's also an Earth-style user…" Izuna grumbled with a small pout, crossing his arms over his chest. Madara raised an eyebrow at his brother's sudden change of attitude, the corner of his lips twitching upwards. He didn't have the chance to comment on his brother's behavior when he continued talking.
"So, he demonstrated a rock wall, the most basic of defenses; so Aka-chan was practicing that for basically the rest of the time. She managed to make a wall about half her height, not perfect but it's something." Madara hummed in thought, bringing a hand to his chin.
"So if she was focused on that, why hadn't you returned to your duties as my second in command?" Madara questioned, narrowing his eyes once again.
"Ha, yeah right." Izuna held up one hand, "Option one: Some-what training with Aka-chan." He mumbled, holding up his other hand, "Option two: Sit in on boring meetings with old people and my brother." Izuna teetered his hands like a scale, lowering his hand that symbolized Akane's training.
"Need I say more?" he teased, a wicked grin pulled at the corners of his lips. Izuna barely managed to dodge another well aimed punch, this time jumping out of the pool all together. Madara stood as well, glaring daggers at the other Uchiha who was quickly covering his privates with his forgotten towel.
"You little fuck!" Madara cursed, clenching his fist tightly at his side. Izuna laughed, enjoying the thrill that came with pissing off his brother.
"Oh come now brother, I was just weighing my options, and Aka-chan seemed like the better option!" Madara's face flushed redder, and it wasn't from the steaming water he was currently boiling in. He grabbed the nearby bucket that held freshly cleaned towels, chucking the entire thing right at his grinning brother. The second in command let out a high pitched yelp, just barely dodging the bucket. Izuna would have teased a bit longer, but when his brother flashed him with his menacing Sharingan, there was absolutely no more room for games. Madara was pissed, which meant he should hightail out of there and fast.
"It was about time for me to leave anyway, I'll see you later bro!" Izuna sang, turning on his heel and quickly descending the way he came. Madara huffed, his chest rising and falling with rage. The fuck would never see another vacation day again.
Akane scrambled around her room, all of her belongings littered the floor, her hair damp and messy. She had only just returned to her room from the night before. At some point, she had fallen asleep, using the second in command's shoulder as her makeshift pillow. Normally she would wake up in her bed the next morning, with the assumption that Izuna had carried her back, but that hadn't been the case this time. Instead they were both roughly shaken awake at nearly four in the morning by a panicked Sadaharu. Apparently, the frantic Uchiha had somehow forgotten to explain to her where she had to go to meet up for their departure; and with Akane concentrating on her training, it had completely slipped her mind to ask.
Groaning in discomfort, the brunette rubbed her backside. Izuna had been comfortable enough to sleep against, but the grass hardly had enough cushion for her behind. Eying the clock on the wall, she had about thirty minutes before she needed to be at the front gate of the Uchiha compound. Throwing on a pair of black shorts, Akane took a moment to run her fingers over the back of her shirt that Sadaharu had given to her early that morning. The Uchiha's symbol embroidered the back of the navy blue fabric. Slipping it on, she admired herself in the full body mirror. It was the first time she'd ever be wearing their prided symbol that represented being a part of their clan. Her clan.
Absentmindedly, she lightly gripped the same symbol that hung around her neck. Taking a deep breath, her arm fell to the holder that held her twin daggers on her hip. Although Madara and Izuna weren't going to physically be there with her, with their last minute tokens, she felt like a part of them were still with her, protecting her.
"Ok, you can do this." She said to herself. With one last look in the mirror, Akane nodded, leaving her room. Stepping into the hall, the brunette turned, to lock her door; pulling her key out of her pocket. Humming a little tune to herself, she rotated but immediately stopped in her place. Standing ahead of her was none other than her leader himself. He stood in a white robe tied tightly around his waist. His usual pale skin flushed pink, and his long, damp hair cascading down his back.
"You seem a little too relaxed for a woman who's about to go out to war." Madara pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest. Smiling coyly, Akane closed the distance between them; lifting her head up to meet his gaze. She shrugged, running her fingers through her hair that was loosely pulled up into a high ponytail.
"Isn't that good?" she questioned, tilting her head slightly to the side. Madara gave her a once over, noticing how she stood up straight, the look in her eye had changed, from hallow and full of fear to dare he say… excitement? The change in her demeanor was so drastic, it was almost like she was a different person.
"I'd say it's odd… you were a scared little kitten just two days ago." Akane waved her hand, a joking smile in replace of the coy.
"That was two days ago Madara, I feel much better now."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I'm still a bit nervous, but I just have to go out there and do what I'm good at." Nodding to herself, her hand subconsciously rose to around her neck again; tracing the curvature of the Uchiha symbol. Madara's eyes followed her gesture, only to narrow at the piece of jewelry that hung around her neck.
"Where'd you get that?" he asked. Akane blinked in confusion, only to notice he was referring to the necklace.
"Oh, Izu gave it to me… I guess as a form of protection." She giggled quietly, dropping her hand to her side, hazel eyes darting off to the corner of the hall. She continued: "It's silly because it won't actually protect me from anything; but it makes me feel like it can." Madara watched the balls of her cheeks glowing a soft pink, and he couldn't help but roll his eyes; a burning irritation growing in his chest at the mention of his brother. It hadn't been long ago since he saw his bothersome brother, and wasn't exactly too keen on a conversation about him either.
"That means a lot to him, don't lose it woman." Murmured the Uchiha. He swallowed, his throat suddenly growing dry.
"I wouldn't lose it, what do you take me for?" Akane frowned, instinctively striking his arm with frustration. Onyx eyes glanced down at his arm before flickering his gaze up at the brunette. Her punch wasn't hard… at all, but Madara was more surprised that she had the gall to hit him to begin with. It would seem the medic was changing more and more each time he saw her; or maybe her true personality was seeping through as she became more comfortable.
"Clumsy, absentminded, forgetful, idiotic at times, naïve, among other things, need I go on woman?" Tired eyes glistened in a rare amusement upon the flash of anger that struck through the brunette's facial features, but it was gone the moment it appeared. Her lips puckered into a sour frown, arms crossing under her chest.
"Okay, now you're just being mean; I wouldn't lose something this important."
"Ehhh." Madara shrugged his shoulders, patting her head. "You should get going." He reminded, much to the brunette's appreciation; time went by so fast when she spoke to her leader.
"Oh! Right! Try and enjoy the rest of your day, Madara." Akane called out cheerfully, offering him a short wave. Taking a step to the side, her hand pressed against his forearm, squeezing tightly as she walked passed him.
"Oh and-" she started, hazel eyes stared at the back of his untamed mane. Madara turned to look at her, onyx irises streaked with curiosity. "Don't worry, I'll definitely come back." Grunting in response, he offered her a minuscule smile, waving his hand urging her to leave. Grinning, she turned her back on him.
His smile fell immediately, replacing with a bleak frown. He wordlessly watched her descend down the hall until he could no longer see her. The fact that she was full of smiles was enough to ease the worry he felt, but oddly enough the tightening in his chest hadn't disappeared with it. Instead, his chest clenched with an emotion that he wasn't particularly familiar with; he just knew he wasn't too fond of it. A callused hand slid open the door, he took a single step, but paused to glance down the hall one more time.
"Good luck…" he murmured to deaf ears, stepping inside the confines of his room.
Exiting the main building, a gust of cool and crisp wind, whipping her brown trestles in multiple directions, temporarily blinding her view of the dirt path ahead of her. The leaves rustled in the wind, creating a calm and soothing atmosphere that mirrored her current state of mind. She walked quickly, kicking up dust and rocks with each step. She was grateful for the current peace and had hoped that her thoughts will stay tranquil even after she entered the battlefield. She had to be calm, observant and perceptive, there was no time for dilly-dallying and there definitely wasn't any room for distractions.
The front gate came into view, along with a bunch of blue, black and white shirts all embracing the Uchiha symbol on their backs. Her eyes quickly found Sadaharu, he stood off to the side, eyes wide and wild, talking to a calm as ever Izuna. As she approached them, Sadaharu's expression changed from worry to relief all in one motion.
"Oh, good! You're here!" Sadaharu squeaked, gently grasping her shoulder. Akane blinked in confusion; casting a look towards the second in command. Izuna snickered in his hand, shrugging his shoulders, a look that stated he hadn't been paying attention to Sadaharu's babbling.
"Yes? Why wouldn't I be here?" Akane asked. Sadaharu clears his throat, swiping back his dark locks off his forehead.
"You're always late, so I was worried you'd be late today." Akane scoffed, annoyance clear on her face.
"I'm on time, thank you."
"For once." Izuna cut in, grinning teasingly. Hazel eyes narrowed in his direction, lips pulled into a frown.
"Your input isn't needed Izu, and you're hardly one to speak on lateness; Mr. I-Can't-Be-Bothered-to-Even-Show-Up-To-Meetings." She sassed back, jabbing a finger in his chest. Izuna's grin only widened.
"We're not talking about me, Aka-chan we're talking about you." Izuna chuckles when she ignored his comment, waving him off flippantly, only to cast her gaze on Sadaharu apologetically.
"I'm sorry to worry you Sadaharu-kun; I may show up late sometimes, but not on important days like today." At her comment Sadaharu nodded, the tension in his shoulders vanishing.
"Good, glad to know you're at least that responsible; unlike some people." He murmured out, curtly glancing at his senior.
"I show up when I need to." Izuna said with a pout, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms childishly. Both Akane and Sadaharu shared an uncertain look but chose not to comment further.
"So, when are we leaving Sadaharu-kun?" Akane asked, fiddling with the sleeves of her shirt, failing at hiding the upturn of her lips upon Izuna's huff in the corner.
"In a few minutes…" Akane nodded. "Also…" Sadaharu started again, grasping her shoulder again.
"Yeah?" Akane tilted her head.
"I know you're not comfortable with honorifics, but just so we don't cause any problems among the rest of the clan's members try and refer to me as commander." Sadaharu murmured, giving her shoulder a gently squeeze.
"Okay."
"Okay?" The brunette nodded, shrugging her shoulders without care.
"Yeah, it's not like I can't, I just prefer not to; and I don't wanna cause you or myself any trouble, so honorifics it is! Sadaharu-taichou-kun!" Akane laughed. Sadaharu rolled his eyes fondly, patting her head. He gazed over the men behind him, all talking amongst themselves, to the sun that was slowly beginning to rise above the horizon.
"Say goodbye to Izuna-sama, we're leaving now." He said, bowing respectfully towards his senior.
"Okay, Taichou." Turning towards the second in command, her lips curved up into a smile. Izuna returned her smile, enclosing his hand around her long ponytail, gliding his fingers through until the final strand slipped from his fingertips. They made eye contact, the silence stretching for a few seconds. Izuna studied her face, trying to pick up any doubts, any nerves, anything that may be distracting her; but there was nothing. For once, she looked completely fine.
"Be careful and come back safe." He murmured, his gaze soft and encouraging.
"Of course, you be careful too." Izuna chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.
"I'll try, but no promises." Akane shook her head, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Reaching forward, she clenched his hand in hers, holding it just long enough for him to squeeze back.
"At least make it back so I can heal you." She said without any real worry in her voice. Izuna nodded.
"Deal." Humming in approval, Akane turned around, offering the second in command a short wave before joining the men she'd be putting all of her effort into protecting.
Footsteps, silent and swift, thudded against the sturdy branches in the forest of oak trees. The leaves were beginning to change, from a once lively green to a now shriveled, red, orange and yellow. With the change of the season, it made it hard for the white, blue and black shirts to blend in with the natural colors that came with autumn. In order to combat this, the pack of Uchiha moved together as one, jumping and landing together in an attempt to stay undetected. Akane moved with them, dead center of their group, hidden directly behind Sadaharu. They boxed her in, so everyone could keep a close eye on her; to protect her as if she were a precious and rare gem.
Akane was pleased with herself, as she managed to keep up with them rather easily; and her footsteps that were once as loud as earthquakes were just as stealthy and gentle as theirs. She was kind of surprised at just how… at ease she still felt. Her heart wasn't pounding in her chest, her mind wasn't wandering or getting distracted by all the 'what if' scenarios as it had originally. She felt, oddly confident that today would end well for everyone. Well… maybe not the Senju, but she wasn't so much concerned about them. Glancing ahead of her again, hazel eyes stared at the back of her commander's shirt, a question suddenly itching at the back of her throat.
"Sadaharu-ku- er- taichou." She called out, just loud enough for him to hear. Sadaharu's shoulders jumped at his name; his head tilting slightly to the side to glance at her from the corner of his eye.
"What's up?"
"Can I ask you something?" Sadaharu nodded, slowing his pace so he was jumping beside her, his dark eyes bored into hers; every so often flicking up to watch where he was going.
"What's on your mind? Getting nerves?" Akane shook her head, offering him a comforting smile.
"No, not really; but I am curious…." He tilted his head again silently gesturing with his eyes for her to continue. "What was your first mission like?"
"My first mission?" He hummed, placing a hand on his chin, a far off look in his eye. He soon chuckled, shaking his head.
"I was a nervous wreck! It was my first time seeing Madara-sama in combat. I was assigned to basically 'shadow' him, and watching him fight is about just as nerve-wrecking as being in the fight yourself!" Akane laughed quietly in her hand, she expected nothing less from Sadaharu. The first time she met him, he was overprotective and fidgety the entire time. She wasn't surprised in the least to hear that he had been nervous.
"To be expected… considering you almost broke my wrist the first time you met me." Akane teased, sending him a wink. The smile that sported his face quickly fell into a sideways frown. His eyes holding remorse and possibly even a bit of regret.
"We don't need to bring that up again, Akane… I'm embarrassed by how foolish I acted in front of you." Akane's eyes softened at his confession.
"No worries Sadaharu-kun, I mean- taichou, you were just trying to protect your leader; I don't hold anything against you." The Uchiha let out a long sigh in relief, nodding his head.
"It seems that you're doing alright, that's good." Akane nodded, taking a moment to glance ahead at the upcoming branches. She had no idea how they moved so effortlessly through the trees while barely looking at where they stepped. She could only imagine it was from repetition; as they've probably jumped through these trees hundreds of times before.
"What's this mission about?" she asked, realizing that she didn't know the details.
"You weren't informed?" he questioned, furrowing his brow, her silence answered his question. He shook his head, running his fingers through his darks locks, before he began explaining.
"It's simple really. There's a crew of traveling merchants from a neighboring country, we were hired by this country's feudal lord to "drive them out" to say the least."
"Why?" Sadaharu shrugged.
"Apparently, there's some beef between the feudal lord of this country and the feudal lord of the neighboring… the Uchiha don't really care too much in the politics; we simply do what we're hired for."
"Seems kinda pointless… and stupid but okaaay." Akane mumbled, rolling her eyes. Sadaharu chuckled, nodding his head.
"Yeah, well, the Uchiha survive off these 'pointless' and 'stupid' missions, as we get paid to do them. Much like the Senju who were hired to defend the merchants we're instructed to drive out."
"How do you know it's the Senju?" Sadaharu laughed as if her question was the funniest thing he heard in a while. Akane frowned in confusion, staring at him expectantly. He blinked, at the curiosity in her doe eyes, only then noticing that she had been seriously asking.
"Who the hell else is strong enough to fight against us?" Sadaharu stated matter-of-factly. Akane blinked, her lips thinning out, her brow twitching in a hint of annoyance, sensing that he might have been low-key calling her stupid.
"I don't know… have you forgotten that I'm not a ninja?" His expression changed, from bafflement to realization almost instantly.
"Right… well, just know that no matter what, we'll always be facing Senju." He informed, facing ahead again. Akane nodded, also facing ahead allowing her thoughts to drift for a second. She hadn't actually thought about why the Senju were always their opponents, but after hearing Sadaharu's explanation it made total sense. Her stomach suddenly churned, and a subtle wave of nausea flew over her the more she thought about it. She knew the Senju were strong, but she hadn't realized that they were the only clan that could face up against the Uchiha.
She thought back to her time in the clinic. She recalled all the blood, all the tears, the sleepless nights she had endured to assist the seemingly endless body count that entered through the clinic doors. Akane didn't know what she had been thinking before, but it finally sunk in that those injures were inflicted by the Senju, and the Senju alone. These men around her were about to head onto a minefield of uncertain death, and she was the only one who had the ability to prevent that. A cold sweat ran down her spine, as her nerves ever so slightly began to pool back into the pit of her stomach.
Hazel eyes caught sight of Sadaharu who suddenly raised his hand, signaling everyone to stop. At some point he had sprinted ahead of her again, returning to his previous position in their formation once their conversation had come to an end. Akane immediately landed on the next branch, squatting to stay low. Up ahead of her there was a river that divided them from an array of tents and caravan. A couple fires were lit, surrounded by groggy men who seemed to have only recently woken up.
Sitting amongst the merchants were two Senju who easily blended in safe for their clan symbol carved into the shoulder pads of their armor. Along the river bank stood four more, several meters apart from each other, guarding the pack as lookout, there being six in total. Swallowing hard, Akane clenched her fist tightly; her nails digging into the palms of her hand. She almost gasped in surprise when a body landed mutely to her right. Glancing to the side, her lip cracked into a forced smile upon noticing who it was.
"Hey, Akane-the-outsider."
"Kenji-san! I didn't know you were going on this mission." She spoke lowly, tilting her head forward into a tiny bow in greeting. The Uchiha shrugged, rubbing his hands together to fight the chilly breeze.
"Eh, I go on most missions when Sadaharu-taichou is leading them. If we make it out of here alive, you'll be seeing me quite often." He grinned. Akane laughed quietly and awkwardly, fiddling with her fingers nervously. He had clearly meant it as a joke, but all it did was build the sudden nausea that was beginning to climb up the steps in her throat. Kenji's grin faded almost immediately when noticing the strained expression on her face; her smile nowhere near reaching her eyes, and her shoulders ever so slightly trembled.
"Hey-" he started, but was cut off when their commander began to speak.
"Alright." Sadaharu started, his voice just over a whisper. "I don't know about you guys, but I'd like to complete this mission as quickly as possible; so we can get the hell back home." A few grunts in agreement were heard, but otherwise they all stayed quiet. Akane glanced at the Uchiha men, huddled around her, they were a group with a total of seven people, including herself. It was much smaller than she had originally thought, which meant she didn't have too many people to look after. At least that was a plus she found in this equation full of negatives.
"There seems to only be six of them, which puts us as a slight advantage. It also seems like they're only now waking up, so let's take advantage of this stroke of luck, with an old fashion ambush, yes?" Again, a few grunts in approval, along with a bunch of nods; but they all otherwise remained stoic. The look in their eyes clearly stated that they trusted their commander completely; holding no room for hesitation or second thoughts. They were there for one thing, and one thing only; annihilate all the Senju. Akane could feel the tension in the air that could be cut with a butter knife; and it did nothing to ease the bile that threatened to erupt from her mouth explosively.
"Good, now, lucky for us, we have Akane here with us today and she's got all of our backs, if and when we sustain injures. She's a bit of a noob, but she's capable, however please protect her like you'd protect any of your men. Outsider or not, she's one of us." Sadaharu stated sternly, his dark eyes casting towards the brunette briefly, a smidge of a smile adoring his lips. Sadaharu's comment eased her nerves just a bit and when a hand that belonged to Kenji fell on her shoulder; offering her a reassuring squeeze, she managed to swallow the bile in her throat. The fluttering butterflies in her stomach were quickly replaced with the warmth of a sudden comradery that had been bestowed upon her like no other. Taking a deep breath, she let it out nodding at the group of men around her, who all seemed to sense her unspoken nerves.
"Okay, on my mark, we go ape-shit on them." Sadaharu stated, grinning wickedly.
"Aye, Aye, Captain." Kenji joked along, allowing that light mood to flood throughout everyone in their group.
"Shut up and act your age, Kenji-san." The Uchiha to his right, going by the name of Kenichi, said with a roll of his eyes. Kenichi was the youngest in their group, at the ripe age of eighteen, still a baby, in Akane's opinion. However, at this point in time, Akane knew better than to trick herself into believing that these men hadn't been fighting since they probably learned how to walk. Kenji rolled his eyes as well, poking the youngin' in the forehead.
"How about you take your own advice, Kenichi-chan." The other three men, Niji, Sango and Dashi, wisely ignored the duo's antics; the look on their faces clearly stating that conversations like this happened quite often. Akane wanted to laugh, but the cold glint in Sadaharu's eye as he glared at the bickering duo had her as quiet as a mouse. It didn't take long for the two men to calm down, cowering slightly at the intense gaze their captain pointed at them. Sadaharu turned his attention back to the camp sight and just like that, the light moment was gone and they were back to business.
"Okay, get ready…" Everyone nodded, Akane flipped open the tab on the holder of her twin blades, her hand clenching the jewelry around her neck, before tucking it under her shirt.
"Five... Four… Three…"
"Gaahh!" Nobody saw it coming, one moment Sango was leaning forward, his red eyes of the Sharingan glaring at his chosen target by the riverbank; the next, a kunai was wedged into his shoulder, knocking him clear out of the tree. Sango managed to catch his footing on another branch, where he quickly ran and hide behind the base of a tree, his face scrunched in pain, eyes flickering quick left to right.
"Shit, they expected us!" Sadaharu yelled out, ducking when another wild kunai just narrowly missed his forehead. Several more kunai continued to fly in their direction, drawing the Uchiha pack out of their poor hiding spot among the multi-colored trees. The bile began to resurface, and panic started setting in; Akane was on autopilot dodging kunai, while at the same time trying to spot where Sango had fallen. The brunette noticed how her comrades were quick to disperse, heading right into the battle as if their plan hadn't just completely fallen apart. She barely heard Sadaharu scream at her to "Be on your guard" before he too was out of her immediate eyesight.
Forcing herself to concentrate, Akane quickly ran down the side of the tree that Sango had fallen from. She noticed him immediately, his back pressed against the trunk. Landing in front of him, Akane face palmed watching as his hand wrapped around the handle of the kunai, roughly ripping the metal out and dropping it all in one motion.
"Fuck. That shit hurt." He cursed, embracing the gentle hand of the medic who began to heal his wound.
"Yeah, you pulling it out like that didn't exactly save you from any pain either." Akane muttered sarcastically, rolling her eyes at his ruggedness. She didn't have the chance to think about what she had impulsively said, because he snorted in amusement; a strained smirk plastered on his face.
"I deserve that…" he nodded. Akane just smiled in response, removing her hand from his wound after she stopped the bleeding. Sango shifted as if to get up again, but Akane pressed her hand gently against his chest, bumping him back against the tree.
"Let me wrap it up really quickly." She stated, long strips of white already in her hand. Sango didn't refuse, dancing his red eye around in every direction. Akane barely managed to wrap it twice before she was suddenly shoved.
"Move out the way!" Sango shouts, pushing her away with his good arm. Gasping in surprise, Akane lost her footing on the branch, falling right out of tree, but not before witnessing Sango and another Senju clashing their kunais against each other's.
Falling into a heap of multi-colored leaves, she ignored the nicks and scratches she acquired from twigs and rocks that hid within the leaf pile. She was quick to gather herself, jumping to her feet, the once peaceful campsite, had been transformed into a warzone. Left to right, in the air, on the river, around the campsite, men fought for their lives in an attempt to take the others. Akane didn't have more than a second to process the landscape before her, when a Senju with long brown hair pulled up into a high ponytail came hacking at her with a sword in hand. The medic dodges each of his attacks fairly easily, shifting side to side swiftly and precisely dodging all his slices.
Akane hopped a few times backwards, putting some much needed distance between her and the Senju. Pulling out one of the daggers, gifted to her by her beloved leader; she held it tightly in front of her, knuckles turning white. Again, the Senju came at her; his sword clinking against her dagger, back and forth, Akane was surprised at just how well she was doing. Of course, karma had a funny way of showing itself; when her right foot rolled on a pile of gathered acorns. Probably by some squirrel who just knew that she'd be there to trip over them. She had managed to keep herself up straight, but her stumble hadn't stopped the Senju from lunging his sword at her. She just barely managed to dodge most of his attack, safe for a clean slice into the side of her leg.
"Fuck." Akane cursed, subconsciously grabbing at the injury with one hand. With a loose grip, she lifted her dagger up to block another slash at her, only for it to be knocked right out of her hand. Fuuuck. Futilely attempting to back up only ended with her falling onto her butt, pathetically looking up at her attacker. The Senju took menacing steps towards her, smirk in place as he raised his blade. Having forgotten about her second dagger, but still desperate to live, Akane patted the ground for anything of use. Wrapping slender fingers around the pile of acorns she slipped on, she tossed all of them at the Senju, several of them pelting him in the face. The damage was minimal, and if he had a life bar, he's probably have lost maybe half a HP. Instead, he just looked more annoyed than hurt.
"Tch, pathetic bitch, die!" The Senju shouted out. Just as Akane thought her life had been over, a wave of fire rushed in front of her, causing the Senju to jump back and out of the fire-zone. An arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her to her feet in which she noticed belonged to Niji.
"Get a hold of yourself, girl! Who the hell is gonna heal us if you're dead?" Niji called out to her, before proceeding to charge towards the armed Senju. Right, he was absolutely right, she was doing exactly what she told herself she wouldn't do. She had to do better than this, not just for her sake but for her comrades that were fighting alongside her.
Breathing heavily, Akane gave herself a few quick slaps to her cheeks in every effort to get a grip of the situation. Retrieving her fallen dagger she held it close as she focused on slowing her breathing. She was still very overwhelmed by the current battlefield, but she could feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins making her now hyper alert.
"Just do your job!" she snapped at herself, "Support… heal… don't fucking die." With that in mind, hazel eyes once more scanned the battlefield for someone in need. There was so much chaos she could barely focus on one thing, but when her eyes landed on Kenji fighting defensively on the river, she rushes towards him. Both holding swords, Kenji and the Senju clashed in the middle. Where Kenji was getting overpowered by the beefy Senju whose muscles were so big they could rival some tree trunks. Neither of the two were particularly paying attention to her, which Akane took to her advantage. Grabbing a kunai from her other pouch, she perfectly aimed it at the enemies head. The Senju jump back and out of the way.
"Kenji-san! Don't worry I got your back!" Akane called out to him, jumping onto the surface of the moving water.
"Hmph, alright then; let's see what you can do." Kenji replied, returning his crimson eye back towards the Senju across from him.
"Tsk, how annoying..." Beefy-Senju mutters, holding his hands up to make a sign. With a poof of smoke, a perfect clone of himself was formed and they both start running towards Akane and Kenji. Running at him as well, the four trade blows.
Klang
Dodge
Kick
Punch. Back and forth they're attacking each other, but seem to be getting nowhere.
"I can't tell which one is real and which is fake!" Akane complained, dodging a punch that was aimed at her face. Kenji chuckles at the brunette's frustration, coolly roundhouse kicking the Senju Akane had been fighting only for it to 'poof' into a cloud of smoke.
"You can't, but I can." He grinned triumphantly, whipping his head around to face her. His grin was short lived. "Look out!" He screamed almost immediately after, not giving Akane a chance to respond. Pulling her behind him, Kenji weaved a few hand signs shooting out a huge fireball right at the Senju. In retaliation, weaving through his own set of hand signs, the Senju spat out a huge wave of water from his mouth, neutralizing the fireball into a thick cloud of steam.
Flying straight into the steam, cutting through with his sword, Kenji lands a nasty blow to the Senju's shoulder, Just as Kenji goes for the finishing blow, a woman who's hair was tied in a top-knot on her head, and lips as red as Marika's fingernails jumps right into the fray, launching several kunai, three of which wedge right into Kenji's torso and back.
"Kenji-san!" Akane called out, sprinting towards him, only to be stopped when the knot-headed woman lands before her, blocking her way. Cackling wickedly, the Senju-woman grins cynically at the medic, glancing over her shoulder at Kenji who was now heavily bleeding on his hands and knees.
"Two against one doesn't seem fair!" She calls out, shamelessly swinging her kunai in an attempt to end Kenji's life. The woman gasped in surprise when her kunai was suddenly stuck in a rock wall that shot out from under the water, separating the two of them and proving her attack to be useless. Whipping her head in shock, the Senju woman glared at Akane who was now huffing and puffing, her hands slammed down on the surface of the water. The brunette internally praised herself for a very short second; but refused to think too long on her small victory; she needed to figure out how she was going to get to Kenji, and fast.
"Tsk, who's this little bitch?" knot-head questioned, baring her teeth into an ugly snarl. The Senju Kenji and Akane had been attacking just before, jumped in front of the woman, glaring daggers at the medic who was annoyingly persistent.
"I'll take care of her, Touka-taichou!" He declared, water shot back as he darted swiftly straight towards Akane. Grabbing at her dagger again, Akane stood her ground, ready to defend herself; when her vision of the Senju was suddenly replaced with that of the Uchiha symbol embroidered on a blue back. Blood seeped into the water beneath the pair of feet and the Senju was pushed aside, his body slipping right off the blade of Sadaharu's sword.
"Sadaharu-taichou!" Akane called out in surprise, a wave of relief suddenly falling over her. Sadaharu took a comment to glance over Akane's state, pleased to see that she wasn't too banged up. Turning back around, he casted a crimson eye in 'Touka's' direction, glaring coldly at her.
"You're right, two against one isn't fair; so how about we make it three." He spat, extending the length of his sword at the Senju woman. "Akane, let me deal with her, you heal Kenji!"
"Right!" Akane called out.
"Like I'd let you!" Touka cried out, taking another step in front of the injured Uchiha, who barely had enough strength to look up at the gruesome woman. Touka leaped into the air in order to jump over the rock wall that came up to just under her chest. Sadaharu was fast, skating across the water in seconds, he punched the Senju woman dead center of her chest; knocking her down on the surface of the water; now standing on top of Akane's rock wall.
"Go now, Akane!" he yelled, glaring down at woman.
"Right!" Akane screamed back, dashing to Kenji's side. Touka scoffed, climbing to her feet, staring up at Sadaharu in annoyance. Her brown eyes caught a glimpse of Akane who was now ducked behind the rock wall and out of her sight.
"What a coincidence, she must be that medic Tobirama-sama told me about." Touka stated off-handedly, narrowing her eyes into slits. Although she couldn't see the woman, Akane could definitely still hear her; and when that particular name left her red lips, it had the brunette freeze. Many things were running through Akane's head, but what really worried her was the thought that Tobirama may have revealed her actual identity to the rest of the Senju clan.
"Tobirama?" Akane gasped out, swallowing hard, her fingers trembling. Sadaharu noticed Akane's sudden reaction to the Senju general's name and he jumped down from the wall; extending his sword at the Senju woman once again.
"Don't listen to a word she says Akane, just get Kenji out of here!" he ordered, his gaze never leaving the sneaky woman ahead of him. Akane nodded, practically dragging Kenji off the water and onto the edge of the river. For a second, Akane's gaze fell off to the side, where she could peak through one of the tents on the campsite. Inside the merchants huddled together, sobbing and afraid. If she had the time, she would have gave them another glance, but with Kenji bleeding in her arms, she was quick to start tending to his wounds. Pulling out the kunai, Kenji hissed in pain, coughing up blood in the process.
"D-Don't worry about me, I'll be okay, it's not that serious." He said lowly. Akane wrinkled her nose at his 'tough guy' act.
"Shut the hell up, you're lucky it didn't puncture a lung or hit you in the spine that was almost too close!" She yelled at him, lightly bopping him on the head, while she focused on stopping the bleeding. Kenji's face flushed, casting his gaze elsewhere.
"Agh, shit. This is embarrassing, this is the second time you're healing me." He chuckled, clenching his fist around a patch of grass to help him ignore the pain.
"No need to be embarrassed, this is what I'm here for; everyone can get hurt." She reassured him, they made eye contact for a brief second, before all her attention was once again on his wounds. Kenji smiled slightly, nodding his head.
"You were pretty good back there…" he complimented. Akane glanced at him again, letting out a short, but soft laugh.
"Thanks, even though I almost died just prior."
"Well, then just thank whatever God or guardian angel you have protecting you and keep moving on forward! That's what I do!" Kenji pipped out, grinning weakly. Akane huffed out a laugh, a bead of sweat sliding down the side of her face, only for her eyes to widen in worry. Her hand shot around her neck, only to sigh in relief, at the braided necklace, to the tiny metal fan, that was still intact. Kenji watched her pull out the little pendant from behind her shirt, just long enough for her to squeeze it tight to her chest, before replacing it right back.
"What's that?" He asked curiously. Akane pulled out long strips of white wrapping, and began to firmly bandage him up. She glanced at him for a second, her lips upturned into a gentle smile.
"My protection."
Long, black hair, pulled back into a low ponytail blew, in the wind. He stood on a tree's arm, his hand resting on the body. His equally dark eyes gazed upon the 'hidden' tree-dome that could only be found if you were skilled enough to decipher the complicated gen-jutsu that was cast on it and the surrounded area. The forest connected to a nearby village that Uchiha refugee stayed free of cost, in return of the village's protection. Izuna had yet to visit the village, he wanted to check-up on their spy that lived on the outskirts, first. However, when Izuna showed up to a not so hidden tree-dome and no gen-jutsu to decipher; it was safe to say he was a little worried about the well-being of his clansman that was supposed to be inside.
Izuna surveyed the area, reading for any signs of struggle, any disarray in the surrounding forest to help him paint a picture of what could have happened; but there was nothing. The tree-dome was spotless, the trees were all intact, and not even so much as a chipped leaf or broken twig could be spotted. If it weren't for the malicious tension in the air, and an eerie silence fell over the forest; he wouldn't have questioned anything. However, it was just a bit too still, too quiet, for nothing to have happened. There were no birds chirping, no animals scurrying around on the ground, not even the buzzing of insects could be heard. There was absolutely no 'life' in a forest full of living things.
Jumping onto the wooden deck of the tree-dome, Izuna cautiously and silently scaled towards the entrance of the domain. He didn't bother knocking, for he wasn't expecting a warm greeting from anyone; and it was taking his entire being to keep his emotions under control. The doorknob was stiff, but the door was open; and with a gentle push it creaked and squeaked as if he were entering some haunted house. Inside, the house's apparel was the complete opposite of that of outside.
Izuna scrunched his nose, pulling the sleeve of his long shirt up to his face, covering his nose from the foul smell of rotting flesh and death. Whoever was dead, had been dead for quite a while now. Large amounts of blood soaked the beige carpet, and trails leading towards the back of the house that couldn't be seen from the doorway. Taking a step in, his dark eyes scanned the surrounding area. Kunai and shuriken littered the furniture, the glass coffee table was toppled over and shattered into pieces. Izuna didn't spend too much time looking around at all the damage, instead he wanted to hurry and find a body so he could get out of that shithole before he choked and gagged on his own barf. Even now, having seen much death in his life; there was no way he'd ever get used to its stench.
Following the blood trail, it soon split off into three different directions, straight, left and right. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he felt the bubbling rage begin to build in his stomach. To think that even the Senju had bastards that turned a murder scene into a fucking game of hide and seek. Kicking open the door to his right, he noticed it was the bathroom. Sitting up against the side of the, otherwise clean bathtub, was an Uchiha that he couldn't recognize. His skin was beginning to rot, and decay, but what Izuna had noticed were his empty eye sockets that were neatly carved out. Flies buzzed around his bloodied carcass, crawling in and out of the holes in his face, having claimed it as their home.
Forcing his gaze off the ugly sight, Izuna kicked open the left door, only to see another Uchiha in a similar fashion. The second in command didn't take nearly as much time studying his fallen comrade's condition as he did the first, instead he simply stomped down the end of the hall, and threw open the door. There was a small clicking noise, and then the sound of burning paper. Dark eyes widened for a split second, eyeing his final comrade that was wrapped up in barbwire, and paper bombs that matted his upper torso.
"Shit!" Izuna cursed, turning quickly on his heel, he bolted towards the end of the short hall. He managed to make it to the other room; where he leaped towards one of the windows when the tree-dome was engulfed in flames and exploding, sending his body flying in the process. His eyes morphed in the last moment into three straight bars; stretching out from his surprised, enlarged pupils. Izuna covered his face with his arms, while his entire body was being protected by a skeleton ribcage, glowing a turquoise aura. Crashing through the glass of the window, he flew right into the base of a nearby tree, slamming his back into it hard. Falling, he managed to grab onto one of the tree branches, hoisting himself up, where he sat straddling the tree's limb. Blood trickled down the side of his face, but he could only stare at the wild flames that engulfed the tree-dome.
Debris showered around him, as he watched the dramatic scene continue. His Sharingan deactivated without his knowledge; leaving his now dark eyes in a confused daze, thoughts flowing into his head faster than he would have liked. Remorse and regret filling his heart. As the tree-dome burned, his hatred for the Senju only burned deeper. Clenching his fists, he tried to recall his conversation he had with Akane just a few weeks ago. Her words still rang in his head at times.
"No, Izuna, you and Madara are not gods, you cannot be in more than one place at a time. You are human, you can only do your very best, and sometimes even your best can't save everyone…."
He remembered how her words had comforted him at the time, but now without her being there; he couldn't seem to shake the feelings of all of this being his fault whether it was or not. Izuna stared until the fire subsided, feeling defeated in the slightest, but he still had a duty to complete. He had to check up on the village before reporting back to his clan. It was safe to say that he wouldn't find any Uchiha refugees. Despite the rage that boiled in the pit of his stomach, he couldn't bring his face to replicate it. Instead, his eyes stared cold and hallow at the now blackened wood. Pulling his sleeve up to his face, he covered his nose once more; turning in the direction of the village. The only stench he hated more than rotting flesh, was burning, rotting flesh.
The woman who's hair was pulled up into a tight knot on the top of her head, sat patiently in a meeting room; alone. Her red painted lips formed into an annoyed scowl, as she drummed her fingers on the wooden table before her. Touka was a bit surprised when she was asked by Tobirama to meet him there out of the blue; it wasn't like him to call upon her too often unless it was important. What was even more surprising was the fact that he called upon her, without Hashirama being present. Their leader once again went on another solo mission, one that she didn't even know the details of.
Her annoyance only grew with the ticking of the analog clock that hung just above the sliding doors. She wasn't so much annoyed with the fact that she was waiting, but with the fact that she showed up when he asked, just for him to be so unfashionably late. The Senju General was tired and sore from her last outing with the damned Uchiha. She wanted nothing more than to soak in a hot bath, and catch up on a few hours of sleep before she had to move onto the next blood bath.
Seconds later, the door slid open Touka's back straightened immediately, only for her to slouch once more in complete disappointment, when a man with dark shaggy hair and baby blue eyes, entered the room. He nodded towards her in greeting, which had her roll her eyes staring off at a different section of the room.
"What are you doing here, Kaname?" She questioned, back to drumming her fingers against the table. The man sat at the other end of the table, formally sitting on his knees and placed his hands in his lap.
"Tobirama-sama asked me to be here; but I guess he hasn't shown up yet. I wasn't expecting you, Touka-san." He replied politely, casting his gaze to his hands. The woman scoffed slightly, running her fingers through her long bang that fell over half her face.
"You're always by Tobirama-sama's side, I'm surprised you don't know his whereabouts." She chastised.
"I could say the same for you and Hashirama-sama, Touka-san. You are his right hand-woman." Kaname stated, refusing to allow her to have the satisfaction of being rude. From the moment he had joined the Senju years ago, when he was but a teenager, he had sensed that Touka among other Senju didn't quite trust, or like him for that matter. Even more so as he gained the respect of their leaders and managed to climb the ladder of their society as to be announced a lieutenant general by Tobirama himself. Kaname wasn't surprised, for he was technically an outsider; but he gained his status through hard and vigorous work. He refused to believe that Tobirama would have given him such a high status, because the man had a 'soft spot' for him.
"You little shit... just who the hell do you think you even are?" Touka snapped, slamming her pale hand on the table top. Kaname met her nasty glare with calm and collectiveness, which only seemed to further her anger. He opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly cut off when the sliding doors opened once more; revealing the man they had been waiting for. Tobirama glanced between the two, his fuchsia orbs immediately finding the gaze of his lieutenant general.
"Hello, Tobirama-sama." Kaname greeted, with a short bow of his head but otherwise regarding Touka's current glare impassively. A low growl left the woman's throat, but she dropped her deadly glare and turned a cold eye towards Tobirama now.
"Took you long enough, Tobirama-sama; I could be asleep right now." She stated, allowing her current mood to be clear. There were few that could talk to Tobirama in any which way, especially if you hadn't gained his respect. Although Tobirama was particularly fond of her, not many woman in their time showed as much prowess as her, which alone had her earn the second in commands respect. Sighing, pale fingers ran though his snow-white hair, snagging and ripping through the kinks. He lowered himself into a seated position beside Kaname.
"It's much too early for you to be snippy, Touka." Tobirama informed, crossing his arms; his hands hiding within the long sleeves of his casual yukata.
"I wouldn't be snippy if you had just showed up on time-" She responded back, her dark eyes flickering towards Kaname. "-and I had been graced with better company." Tobirama rolled his eyes, ignoring her comment.
"Why had you called us here, Tobirama-sama; and without Hashirama-sama's knowledge." Kaname asked, cutting straight to the chase. Touka's demeanor changed at the question, her posture straightening up and all her attention on her leader now.
"Hashirama wouldn't approve of what I'm about to ask of you, but I believe that it is important; and my brother is foolish for allowing things to go unhandled. Kaname, as you are aware of; the Uchiha managed to get their hands on a medic." Kaname clenched his hands together at the mention of his 'sister' offering Tobirama a single nod.
"So? She's just one medic, of what importance does one medic mean to us?" Touka asked, mimicking her senior in crossing her arms over her chest.
"She's a very skilled and knowledgeable medic, her being with the Uchiha could very well change the tides of this war. We absolutely cannot have that." Touka raised an eyebrow at her commander's reasoning. To her his answer seemed incomplete, or rather an excuse to hide the real reason he wanted her.
"You speak as if you know her. Is she really that powerful, that it has even you fear the Uchiha, Tobirama-sama?" the woman asked, digging for more information. Tobirama's jaw clenched, his eye twitching and his nostrils flared. It was times like these, where he couldn't stand that the woman before him had such a sharp tongue. She knew exactly what to say to get under his skin.
"This has nothing to do with me, this has everything to do with our clan. We cannot allow the Uchiha to suddenly gain momentum in a war that they have ultimately been losing. I believe this girl has the ability to put them on a high horse. The Uchiha are already arrogant. There's nothing more annoying than fighting against, a not only arrogant, but confident Uchiha." Tobirama stated irately.
"So, what are you saying? You want us to target her?" she asked, returning her hand to the table, back to tapping her fingernail against the surface.
"Indeed. If you should ever encounter her, if possible, try and capture her, alive. This goes for the both of you." Tobirama said, his red eyes narrowing ever so slightly at Kaname. Touka clicked her tongue, following Tobirama's gaze to the lieutenant general. The way he looked so unfazed by Tobirama's request made it clear to her that he knew exactly the reasoning behind Tobirama's sudden interest in the Uchiha medic. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was envious of how much her leaders trusted this man, who wasn't even their kin. Returning her gaze on the man with snowy locks, she sighed leaning back.
"Okay, fine, tell me what you know about her."
Sadaharu huffed, wiping the sweat from his brow and the soot from the corner of his lips caused by his fireball jutsu. Touka who was also a bit winded, raked back her long bangs revealing her forehead for mere seconds, before it fell back in place. Her brown eyes glared at him intensely, holding two kunai in either of her hands. Charging at each other again, Sadaharu swiped his long sword for her neck; in which she pushed back, knocking his sword away with one of the kunai. Touka grunted at the sharp pain that spiked through her wrist. Even though she managed to deflect his attack, the strength difference between the two of them, allowed Sadaharu to easily overpower her. Wide open, Touka wasn't able to block the decent punch to her face, and busting her lower lip open.
"How ungentlemanly, you dare hit a lady?" Touka scoffed, holding her face spitting out a wad of blood that sunk into the river water.
"Funny, if it weren't for the, rather unimpressive, bumps on your chest; I'd thought you were a man." Sadaharu insulted; finding joy in the way a flustered rage washed over her face.
"I'm wearing armor, you fuck!" She defended, whipping her kunai straight for his face. Sadaharu effortlessly shifted his head to the right just a few inches, dodging the attack. Sadaharu shrugged, allowing a tantalizing smirk to spread across his lips.
"If that's what you wanna tell people." Fuming, Touka screamed in frustration, charging at him again. Throwing heavy kicks and punches, but with the Sharingan, Sadaharu was able to evade them easily. She pushed him into Akane's rock wall, his back hitting the solid surface. However, her futile attempt at cornering him failed as he slipped right out of the way, Touka punched, breaking the wall, causing some of its pieces to sink into the water.
Sadaharu had been watching her for the last few minutes, her movements weren't like how he remembered her last. She was stiff and sloppy, and it was clear to him, that all her attention wasn't on their fight. At first he didn't know what was causing her distraction, but when he caught her brown eyes staring off in the direction behind him a few times he quickly pieced together what, or rather who; the woman was looking for. Akane. It reminded him of when both he and Madara had first been trying to bring Akane back to their clan, how the Senju fought with them in an attempt to capture their newly recruited medic. It had been Tobirama at the time, and it was made obvious that the Senju's second in command extended that mission on to his subordinates as well.
Breaking the Uchiha general from his thoughts, Touka ran up in his face, throwing more punches, in an attempt to force him back; but Sadaharu held his ground. Each time she came at him in a feeble attempt at getting closer to Akane, he made it a point to jump in her way, hindering her sight of the medic every chance he got. Sending a ferocious kick to her chest, Sadaharu was almost surprised he managed to connect, knocking her back and into the rest of Akane's now crumbled wall.
"Get the fuck out of my way!" Touka groaned in pain, now holding her ribcage, leaning against the rubble as support. No doubt in her mind that he may have cracked a few of her bones. Lowering his sword just a bit, Sadaharu tilted his head, as if her question confused him.
"What, and just let you take our medic away? Why would I do that?" he quizzed, making it known that he knew her intent very well. Touka scoffed, gritting her teeth; the gears in her head turning. A shout behind them, caused both Touka and Sadaharu to turn and look. Jumping off one of the tall trees was Kenichi, landing beside Akane who looked to be just about done with Kenji's injures. Long white wrapping held in her hands. Touka cursed, the presence of another Uchiha lowering her chances of getting to her target further; even more so when Kenichi stood guard while Akane finished.
"What exactly does Tobirama want with our medic anyway?" Sadaharu pressed, drawing the distracted woman's attention back on him. She laughed maniacally, forcing herself up onto her two feet, grunting in pain as she did so.
"Who knows, he seems to think she's of a threat to our clan; and judging by how fast she healed that idiot over there; she may very well be. Especially since you fools seem so dead set on protecting her." She sneered.
"Of course, like we'd let her fall into the hands of the filthy Senju!" Sadaharu spat back, emphasizing his statement by waving his hand to the side in defiance.
"Well see about that." Touka responded, drawing two more kunai from her holder; ready to square off once again. Neither of the two had the chance to advance towards the other when both their attention was on two Senju that burst through the trees, landing in front of the knot-headed woman. Following their lead, both Sango and Dashi landed in front of Sadaharu; flaring their Sharingan, ready to engage in more combat if necessary.
"Ren, Koji what's going on?" Touka called out, addressing the men in confusion, furrowing her brows. Each of the Senju were battered and bruised, holding parts of their body that were either bleeding or possibly suffering some sort of internal injury. It didn't take a genius to tell that both weren't in much of any condition to continue fighting.
"Touka-taichou, I think we should retreat." One of the men said, never taking his eyes off their enemy before them.
"Retreat? Koji, what happened to the others!?" She shouted, gnawing at her bottom lip. Both men grew quiet, grim expressions painted on their faces, defeat in their eyes.
"Dying." Sango answered for them, not even bothering to hide the smirk that flew to his lips.
"Or already dead." Dashi quickly added on, shrugging his shoulders, tilting his head back as if to peer down at them. Touka snarled, staring among the two Uchiha in disgust. It was exactly as Tobirama had stated, this was the girls doing. This was the arrogance and confidence that her commander spoke of among the Uchiha; and Touka definitely had to agree that it was annoying.
"I've never seen them fight like this before, they're a completely different clan." Koji said, coughing what sounded more like a wheeze into his hand. Ren nodded, his kunai rattled in his trembling grip. Touka scoffed again, but this time directed at her men. It disgusted her to see her people acting so pathetic, but even she could tell that their odds were not good. Even if they managed to take out the three in front of them; they still had two other Uchiha, and a medic to deal with. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, Niji came flying from the tree tops, landing gracefully on the water behind them. Scratch that, they had three other Uchiha to deal with, along with their medic. As much as Touka hated to admit it, this was not a battle they could fight and win.
Craning her neck just a bit, dark brown eyes focused her attention on her target once more. She caught the disgustingly, innocent, hazel eyes of the medic; her petite body heavily guarded now by both Kenichi and Kenji who made it back to his feet. Her vision was once again skewed by none other than Sadaharu, who had long since replaced his sword back in his sheath on his waist.
"It's over, Touka." Sadaharu exclaimed, arms crossed. Sango and Dashi took a step forward, which in turn had the two Senju men take an instinctive step back. The knot-headed woman clicked her tongue, reaching her hand into her pouch.
"For now…" she replied, throwing down a couple smoke bombs. Once the smoke cleared, the area the Senju trio had been standing was now bare of their presence. Signifying the end of their battle, leaving the Uchiha in victory. The tension in the air dropped immediately. Swords were sheathed, shoulders sagged, and sighs left the lips of most of the men. Akane blinked, looking side to side, expecting another ambush of some sort, another Senju to pop out of the forest, or possibly some sort of aerial attack, but nothing happened.
"Did we just win?" Akane called out, shock flooding every word. Kenji shoved her gently, while Kenichi formed a scowl, taking offense to her comment.
"Don't sound so surprised, did you expect us to lose?" Sadaharu inquired, eyebrows raised. Akane laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head, shaking it apologetically.
"No, no, no; I didn't mean it like that! I just…" she frowned, "I guess, I'm just kind of shocked that I managed to not die."
"Courtesy of me." Niji put out there, walking up to join the group. He grinned, jabbing himself in the chest with his thumb, to show emphasis. Several unimpressed pairs of eyes landed on him, causing the man's grin to quickly fall into a pout.
"Right, says the guy who was the last to show up." Dashi jumped in, waving him off.
"I mean… he's right. Come to think of it you're always the last to arrive. What the hell were you even doing?" Sango asked, throwing a pointed look at the Uchiha. Niji shrugged, unsure how to answer the question.
"I… I don't know! I was running back!" He roared, stomping his foot like a child.
"Heh, right and you somehow saved Akane-chan, I'll believe it when I see it~" Sango teased, dismissing him.
"For real." Kenichi added in, his lips pulled into a straight line. Kenji let out a boisterous laugh, slapping the youngest Uchiha on his back a few times, shouting loudly something along the lines of 'Finally he's loosening up!' The action only made Kenichi glare at his senior, but otherwise ignore him.
Niji scoffed, muttering under his breath a quick "But, it's true" before crossing his arms. Akane giggled quietly in her hand, it amazed her how just before this fight, the tension was so high and they were mostly stone faced. Now, after the fight, the tension was completely gone, and they managed to find the ability to grin and joke with each other.
"We're all alive and well thanks to you, Akane. You did an excellent job." Sadaharu complimented, offering her a smile. The brunette's cheeks flushed red, suddenly feeling embarrassed.
"Thank you, but I hardly did anything…" She denied, waving her hands.
"Oh stop, I'm alive because of you! We did so well today because we knew you had our backs!" Kenji immediately shut her denial down. Although his comment was meant to make the brunette feel better; none of the men there today could really deny the accuracy of his words.
"Alright, enough dilly dallying, I wanna go home!" Sadaharu called out, clapping his hands. "Let's take a moment to search the area; be back in fifteen minutes." He instructed, cutting off all other conversation. With quick nods, each of the men scattered into the forest once more. Sadaharu turned towards the campgrounds, upon noticing the winners of the battle, the merchants long since hightailed out of there, but left all their things. The commander thought it'd be a waste to just leave perfectly good stuff behind without at least checking to see if any of it was useful.
"What should I do, Sadaharu-kun? Oh! I mean taichou… shit, sorry I'm so bad at these formalities." Akane rambled, grinning innocently up at the man. Sadaharu chuckled, lowering his hand on top of her head.
"It's fine, the mission is over anyway. You go take a minute to relax; we'll head back once everyone else returns. I'm going to check on the campsite." Akane nodded, watching as he disappeared inside one of the two tents. The brunette turned on her heel, strolling a short distance down the riverbank and up towards one of the trees that had a few kunai wedged in it's bark.
"Sorry tree, I assure you we didn't mean to hurt you." She apologized, removing the kunai and gently stroking the small hole. She stared at the tree for a few seconds longer; but the longer she looked the more it seemed to look a bit weird to her. Was the bark… moving? Blinking and rubbing her eyes, Akane turned away, passing it off as her being tired and her brain playing tricks on her. It wasn't until an unfamiliar voice cut through the air lowly just behind her.
"Wow, I've never met anyone else who apologized to the trees… so you really are my sister." Jumping in surprise, she whipped back around, her mouth gaping wide. Unlike last time a body began to slowly yet surely emerge from the tree's bark. A man she recognized, but having never officially met before.
Senju, Hashirama.