To Catch a Shadow
The forest was in chaos.
Izuna caught glimpses of his clansmen fighting their battles, but there were simply too many Kaguya, and he was already bogged down with four of the bastards.
Surrounded on all sides, he thankfully still had enough chakra to kill them without being overwhelmed. The experience he had from yesterday and knowing the weak points in the bone armor was very helpful.
The problem was that this fight was just like the last time - every time he killed a Kaguya, more jumped into place, starting the deadly dance all over again. He could take out a Kaguya, eventually, but there were always more of them.
Four was manageable. If barely.
(If a fifth fighter joined in, though, he would be in trouble. One could only dodge so many bone spears and senbon.)
Izuna took a quick glance around and saw Tori fighting back to back with Akinao. They had worked their way through at least half a dozen Kaguya, judging by the bodies piled around them, with more looking to join their ill-fated clansmen soon.
The Senju siblings were farther away, defending against several enemies at a time. They twisted around every few moments to tag-team and kill one, before going back to defense. Off to the side, Iesue had paired up with the blindfold-Senju. They were pounding a Kaguya toward the dervish of electrified fire that was Aka and the young Senju. That edge of the battle was choked with dry heat and the sound of thunder.
Izuna couldn't see Tobirama, but he hadn't heard any dramatics from the Senju squad, and there were water-drilled Kaguya corpses lying around the clearing, so the Bastard was probably still alive.
(The idiot better be.)
Moments passed as Izuna tied ninja wire onto his shuriken. He kept up the fight, but gradually added in sloppy hits and dodges. His face was fully set in a sneer as the Kaguya around him chuckled.
They circled around him. Languidly. Like a stroll in a garden. He saw Tori and Akinao start to angle their way towards him and hastily cut them off with a hand signal.
"What? Is the little Uchiha giving up?"
(At that, the young Senju, of all people, glanced his way worriedly.)
Izuna didn't answer. He just deflected a bone senbon from behind and barely ducked under the follow-up spear attack. The attacks were predictable. He could afford to cut corners to conserve energy.
He'd only get to surprise the bastards once. It would need to count.
In between one taunt and the next, one of the Kaguya made an ill-timed lunge. Izuna smirked. The man was in perfect position. Izuna saw everything - where the man was going to land, the trajectory he'd take, and exactly where he could hit the minuscule gaps and weaknesses in the bone armor. He threw a flame-charged kunai and watched as the Kaguya fell just so into its path. The kunai burned into the man's eye socket and didn't come out again.
(Izuna carefully avoided thinking about bleeding eyes and failure. His four enemies were now down to three, and he didn't have time.)
Izuna pressed forwards, past the shadow of his new fourth opponent as they dropped in. (Vultures. They reminded him of vultures.) He weaved past the dead Kaguya, who hadn't even had the time to hit the ground yet, and leaped onto a tree branch. The three living Kaguya behind him charged. Izuna threw his shuriken to one side of the Kaguya and body-flickered past to the opposite side.
He pulled the ninja wire tight across the Kaguya's neck. It didn't pierce skin, but it did, however, force the Kaguya back, off-balance - which was exactly what Izuna needed in order to angle his sword down between the Kaguya's shoulder blades. He flickered farther back and up a tree as his remaining opponents charged.
(Two down. Three left. In the corner of his eye, he watched the body finally hit the ground, landing like a broken doll as it was shoved aside.)
Izuna threw a slew of kunai just as the first Kaguya reached him, flickering past while the man was busy blocking the kunai. That left two to deal with as quickly as possible. He channelled more chakra into his Sharingan.
Time moved like molasses as he knifed his way between the slower two Kaguya, his sword angled and aimed at just the right angle to slip into one of the Kaguya's necks. Then, as the other Kaguya turned (Slowly, slowly - It was all so slow to him), Izuna slid the sword out and flickered to their side.
There was a furious scream from the Kaguya as Izuna dodged a bone shard. He ignited his sword with fire chakra and turned to burn a hole up and through the Kaguya's chest, and then immediately jumped back in order to deflect a bone spear. His vision wavered as his chakra dropped to dangerous levels.
Down to one.
Izuna could see Tori and Akinao still fighting. He flickered past the last Kaguya and hamstrung him from behind. Another flick of his sword and the man was dead. Finished. Now onto his clansmen.
He could see Aka and the young Senju burning through the dregs of their chakra supply. The ninjutsu specialists were outnumbered and struggling. Tori and Akinao were too far away to help, Iesue and the one-eyed-Senju had their own bleak situation to deal with, the Senju siblings were still cornered, and Tobirama was still missing.
Izuna dashed in and made quick work of a Kaguya trying to skewer Aka. The rest of the Kaguya faltered. None of them had expected an attack from behind. Aka and the young Senju used the distraction to land fatal hits of their own, evening the odds. Making a split-second decision, Izuna weaved through a thick set of bone spears to cut down a Kaguya trapped between Izuna's group and Iesue and the One-eye-Senju. It was now five against seven, and Izuna could afford to check in on the rest of his squad.
He cursed when he spotted Tori. She was bleeding from her shoulder and fighting one-handed while Akinao desperately warded away bone senbon. The Senju-siblings were nearby too, doing only slightly better in that they were bleeding but hadn't lost the use of any limbs yet. Izuna tag-teamed a Kaguya with Iesue, ordered the rest to carry on, then dashed through the gap and toward Tori and Akinao.
The Kaguya fighting them were more wary of attacks from behind, so Izuna was only able to injure two of his clansmen's opponents in his initial strikes. He ducked around them to take up position as a bone senbon deflector, and herded the group closer and closer to the Senju siblings. When he was finally close enough, he moved to trap a Kaguya between him and one of the siblings.
The Senju took out the enemy and, with a quick glance at Tori and Iesue, shifted to face out toward the rest of the Kaguya.
Then there was a flash of thunder and the body of the shadow-possessed Kaguya was thrown into the clearing, the Shadow-thing already oozing out of the body for a new host. The Kaguya fighting all retreated to surround it even while Tobirama, bloodied, faced off against them. Everyone in the clearing stilled as the Shadow slipped into another Kaguya and, after a moment of wrongness where it had four eyes and more mouths than should be possible, the twanging voice spoke hissed. Then it turned and ran.
Izuna narrowed his eyes and gestured for Tori and Akinao to stand down.
"Meet up with the others. Stop and kill the rest of the Kaguya. The Bastard and I'll take care of the filth."
Tobirama flickered to the possessed Kaguya and stabbed them with a kunai, but he had to retreat, leaving the blade jammed between their bones after spears sprang up to trap him. Izuna nearly cursed at his Rival's stupidity until he looked closer - it was the sealed kunai. Izuna fought off a grin and weaved his way over to his Rival. The Senju didn't even turn to look at him before he started talking.
"You said that you couldn't burn the creature?"
"Yes."
Izuna frowned at the memory, leaping over a group of bone skewers. Tobirama took a deep breath. Hesitant. As if he was expecting bad news.
"...Do you remember the snowflake?"
But what kind of an answer would be a bad one?
"I do. Why?"
Tobirama's eyes widened, then he turned to look fully at Izuna.
"Can you copy it onto a scroll?"
They were driven apart by a wave of bone senbon. Izuna shouted.
"How is it going to help?!"
They met up again and ran parallel towards where the possessed Kaguya was retreating.
"The seal preserves objects in time."
"It was a snowflake, not a seal."
"It was a natural seal, I can explain later."
"You do that. So you're teleporting us in range and we're freezing the shadow in place. Noted. Where's the paper and ink?"
"Here."
Izuna nearly dropped the roll of papers and jar of ink shoved into his arms. He ignored his Rival's questioning look and crouched down. He tried his best to ignore the sound of fighting in the background.
"Give me two minutes."
"Very well."
And so began a feverish round of copying. The brush was too large to be able to make thin lines in any reasonable time, so he scaled the design up. By the time he finished, it filled up the entire scroll. The echo of steel on bone and the low roar of fire and thunder were distant now. Muted.
He handed the rolled-up scroll to Tobirama in passing and readied his sword. He turned back, only to see his Rival staring at the scroll in trepidation.
"Is there something wrong?"
There was a pause. The muted battle noises continued.
"It is larger; it will require more chakra to activate it."
Izuna frowned. They were both low on chakra, though Izuna didn't know exactly how much his Rival had left. How much would the seal take to activate?
"Engage the creature, I will charge the seal. Get away from it when I activate the seal."
Izuna turned back to Tobirama. His Rival had his battle-mask on. He had tied the seal to a kunai.
Izuna would have argued if he thought he could use Amaterasu, but he didn't, and he didn't think he would be able to restart the day either. This was their only chance, and they needed the Shadow-thing contained before it could disappear out of their reach. Izuna grabbed his Rival's arm as Tobirama put his hands into familiar hand signs. Then there was a twist and-
It passed in a flash. He fell into the clearing, but he was still standing, nauseously. (He needed to move!-)
He took a scan of the clearing he found himself in and lunged. There was a job to do. The possessed Kaguya had a snarl on its face as Izuna met it sword to bone-spear. His vision went blurry as he poured chakra into a genjutsu to slow the shadow down - to keep it trapped in place. He felt his stomach rolling even as he deflected hit after hit and his Rival poured chakra into the seal.
Then the Shadow broke the genjutsu and saw the seal. It was the first time Izuna saw it look worried. Funny. It should have been worried earlier.
(Why was it so funny?)
The seal was glowing now, and his Rival was throwing the kunai. Oh. He should get out of range.
(His mind was foggy. Not good.)
But he needed to make sure the shadow was caught.
Izuna threw himself backward, but only after casting one last genjutsu on the shadow. The pleasant dreams one.
He smirked as the shadow froze in place. The seal landed on the ground. It took barely a second for the shadow's confusion to melt into fury. The shadow tried to break the genjutsu or move away, but it was too late for it.
There was a flare of chakra and time froze in front of Izuna. He spent a moment staring at the shadow as it got blurrier and blurrier, feeling lightheaded. Then he slid to the ground, too nauseous and tired to move.
After an unknown period of time spent laying on the ground, Izuna managed to roll over onto his side.
He pulled out his waterskin and a ration bar and forced both down, taking breaks between each bite to make sure they didn't come back up.
He looked up.
The Shadow-thing was frozen in place, snarling at a point near Izuna's head. Up close, Izuna could see small pieces of the Kaguya it had taken over sticking out. A bone shard coming from a pale patch on its arm. One foot still wearing a boot while the other was a vaguely leg-shaped mass of shadow. Nothing in the bubble moved - Izuna could even see where falling leaves and ambient dust and pollen fell onto the bubble and stopped in place. It was creating the beginnings of a dome of detritus and decay. Fitting for the Shadow-thing. There were no flickers of an unstable seal. Tobirama had funneled enough chakra into the seal for it to work.
At that thought, Izuna hazily pulled himself away from watching the Shadow-thing and stumbled over to where he'd last seen Tobirama.
He hissed at what he saw. His Rival was on the forest floor where he fell, unmoving, and if Izuna hadn't been looking for it he wouldn't have seen the slight rise and fall of his Rival's back. Tobirama was breathing, but they were short, shallow breaths. He was shaking very slightly as well, though it looked more and more like he was simply too tired to shiver a normal amount.
A chakra exhaustion-fuelled blackout.
(Not good. In Izuna's experience, people either woke up within a few minutes, or they never would.)
"Hey, Bastard."
(Izuna had woken up from his blackout.)
No response. Only shallower and shallower breaths.
(If Tobirama didn't-)
"Fuck."
(He needed to get his Rival to eat something but the bastard was unconscious-)
Izuna shook Tobirama.
"Oi Senju, wake up. The seal worked."
(He wasn't going to panic. He wasn't.)
(He was just shaking from exhaustion. Definitely.)
Izuna pulled out his remaining ration bars (stale - too hard), his waterskin, and mess kit. He growled.
"We won, you idiot."
Put ration bar in the bowl. Pour water in.
"No one died-"
Izuna glared at Tobirama as he crushed the ration bar up. Would Tobirama be able to swallow it? What if he choked?
"No one is going to die."
Izuna crushed the ration bar a bit too hard and some fell out of the bowl. He cursed.
"...Except that shadow-bastard after we drag our idiot brothers out here to murder it to death. That thing is definitely going to die."
Izuna stopped. How was he going to get the Bastard to eat the ration soup?
(Tobirama needed to wake up.)
(But how can you wake up someone who is comatose?!)
"I am going to tell your cousin that you did a stupid thing if you don't wake up soon."
He poked Tobirama in the shoulder.
"And if she's anything like I think she is, you are going to deeply regret it."
He poked Tobirama in the shoulder again. Harder. (He was not panicking. He was not-) He clenched his teeth. What had the Genjutsu-Senju threatened Tobirama with again?
"Bastard. If you don't wake up in the next minute then I will raid your lab and mix all your scrolls into a giant pile."
No movement from Tobirama. Izuna fought to keep still.
"And then I will set them on fire."
The forest was silent. His Rival still wasn't moving.
Izuna twitched and shook Tobirama's shoulder, glaring.
"Fucking wake up, you idiot! I did not go through all of that just for you to die of stupid chakra-exhaustion."
(Would his Rival have gone unconscious if he had drawn the seal smaller?)
(Would a smaller seal still have caught the Shadow-thing?)
Izuna looked around the clearing. Their clansmen hadn't caught up with them yet, but he had to trust that they could take out the last of the Kaguya. There were eight of them. (Aka was hurt, was she still fighting?-) Tobirama's breathing changed, growing softer, and Izuna leaned in closer.
"If you die now then I'm disowning you as my Rival."
At that, Tobirama shifted, his eyes squinting open. There were a few long seconds where Izuna watched his Rival squint and get his bearings about him.
"Wouldn't that... happen anyway? ...You cannot be rivals with a dead person?"
Izuna blinked. Then narrowed his eyes.
"Shut up, Senju."
Tobirama raised an eyebrow at that, which Izuna pretended not to see.
"Well, since you're awake now."
Izuna shoved the previously forgotten bowl in Tobirama's face.
"Eat this."
"What is it."
Izuna was not impressed.
"Edible, that's what it is."
They looked at the bowl - the water was chalky from crushed ration bar chunks. Tobirama's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"I have doubts."
Izuna glared harder.
"Eat. It. Your clansmen will try to murder me if you die."
His Rival gave him a dour look.
"And then Tori and Akinao are going to freak out."
Silence.
(Tori was going to be alright. Aka could cauterize the wound and the Kaguya were gone.)
Izuna pressed on.
"...Aka and Iesue will be sad."
(There wasn't anything he could do for injuries that his clansmen couldn't.)
The dour look shifted into a glare.
"You don't want to make Iesue sad. He has the worst (or maybe best?) puppy-dog-eyes."
His Rival twitched. Izuna continued.
"It's downright unnatural for anyone above the age of twelve but he pulls it off magnificently."
Izuna paused, then leveled his glare right at his Rival.
"And I am going to keep talking until you eat. The fucking. Soup."
They glared at each other for nearly a minute until Izuna opened his mouth, ready to start rambling again. Before he could start, however, Tobirama finally (finally!) held out his hand for the bowl. With a grimace, his Rival sipped at the ration-soup.
(His Rival may have gagged in the process, but he did manage to swallow, so Izuna would pretend he saw nothing.)
After a brief period of time spent watching his Rival sip at the ration-soup (the overdramatic bastard kept shuddering), Izuna took and resealed the empty bowl. They needed to meet back up with their squads.
Izuna went pale at the sight of Tori. She had gotten impaled sometime after he left to chase the shadow.
She had fought through it, too, judging by the blood on her sword. It looked like Akinao had already cauterized the gash, thankfully, so Tori wasn't bleeding very much; Akinao was wrapping bandages around the burn to try and keep dust from getting into the wound.
Izuna turned to the rest of the squad to see grim faces all around. They all knew how serious Tori's injuries were.
"Aka and Akinao, you're on scouting. Iesue, you'll carry Tori."
They needed to get Tori back to the compound before her condition worsened. Once they were back, they could stitch the wound closed and pray to all the Kami they know of that an infection doesn't set in. The odds were very, very slim. Tori was unhealthily pale from blood loss and there was a hole in her chest; additionally, there was a bone sticking out that they wouldn't dare remove. None of them could tell whether it was a Kaguya bone-skewer or one of her ribs.
The odds were slim, but her odds if they didn't get back to the compound soon were even lower.
Before Iesue picked Tori up, however, he turned to Izuna.
"What about the Senju?"
Izuna froze, then looked over at Tobirama's group.
He frowned.
His Rival was shivering under all his layers, and the Senju twins were both being bandaged in various places by One-Eye-Senju. The young Senju was poking at a splint on his foot with an anxious expression, looking up from his leg every once in a while only to grimace at the bloody clearing. There was only so much blood that the loose detritus could absorb. (And the bodies. There were so many bodies.)
So three out of five Senju were injured, and another had severe chakra exhaustion. Tori needed help as soon as they could move her to it, and Aka was bordering on chakra exhaustion. That left only the One-Eye-Senju, Izuna, Akinao, and Iesue to watch after all the others. Three Uchiha and one Senju.
(If he thought about it, the Senju tended toward earth and water jutsu, and they had the Tree, it made sense that they had less experience than Izuna and his clansmen at getting the fuck away from things coming out of the ground. For once, the Tree was useful - not that Izuna would ever say that out loud.)
An issue with asking for help, though, was that none of the Senju were using his Rival's healing jutsu. It was a bad sign considering Tobirama couldn't use jutsu while chakra exhausted, let alone his healing jutsu.
But anything was better than nothing, and the Senju were known for their healing expertise. Izuna nodded at Iesue.
"Change of plans."
He walked, slowly, over to the other side of the clearing.
"Senju."
Wary eyes from around him.
"Trade. You treat my clansman, and we'll help with the trip back to our lands."
At that, his Rival shifted to look at Izuna's group, where Tori was laid for the moment. He turned slightly green.
"What happened?"
"Bone skewer."
"...Why are there burns?"
"Cauterization."
Izuna watched as the One-Eye-Senju sitting in his peripheral vision sputtered, and Tobirama winced. When Tobirama made a move to stand, One-Eye interrupted, pushing Izuna's Rival back into a sitting position.
"I'll tend to the wound. I still have some chakra left in me."
Izuna frowned through the sudden lightness in his chest. He wouldn't smile at random Senju like that, but it sounded like One-Eye knew at least one healing jutsu.
The One-Eye-Senju set a brisk pace over to Tori. When they were halfway there, Izuna shifted his gaze to the Senju. If the Senju fainted, then...
"I'd recommend not passing out from chakra exhaustion, Senju. There's only so many of you I'm willing to help ferry back."
(Trying to wake Tobirama up was stressful enough already.)
A sharp inhale. Then more spluttering. Izuna watched One-Eye as the older man's fists slowly unclenched. There was confusion in the man's single eye. When the Senju spoke it was with a disbelieving sort of dryness.
"I'll try not to."
Izuna gave a quick nod as they reached his squad.
"Akinao, Iesue, Aka, the Senju are going to help Tori-" He gestured toward Tori's wound - the exposed rib(?) and the ring of red-seared skin around it "-and we will finish escorting them back to Senju lands. Any questions?"
There were none.
One-Eye tentatively crouched down in between Izuna and Akinao, who was shifting uneasily. Izuna relaxed when the old man's hand lit up in green. He and his clansmen watched as the muscle beneath the burn knitted itself together. One-Eye broke out into a sweat as the bone slowly drifted back into Tori's chest - the mystery bone had been one of her ribs, then. Eventually, all there was to watch were muscles rethreading themselves and bloody scraps of detached flesh being cleared away from the wound.
Under the span of an hour, Tori's mortal wound had become a simple burn. Easily recovered from.
(No one is going to die.)
One-Eye spoke up then. He sounded like he'd just sprinted between their compounds. Through a forest fire.
"Apologies. I don't have enough chakra to heal the burn. We could arrange for follow-up treatment, but I don't know-"
Izuna cut him off with a hum. It was a decently-sized burn, but a simple one. Not particularly deep. He had seen overconfident clansmen survive worse with little issue. From his experience, he'd say it would scar over in a few weeks. Tori would be incredibly annoyed at being kept away from missions, but she would survive.
(She would survive!-)
He nodded to One-Eye. "The burn will heal on its own."
The Senju blinked, then rounded on Izuna, his previous exhaustion seemingly gone completely.
"I ...I don't think you understand the severity of this burn. It needs to be treated. There are nerve endings there, and muscles, and what about therapy? Do you have methods for preventing range-of-movement loss?!"
Aka piped up then, frowning.
"We usually just... wait? Burns aren't that bad."
The Senju was openly gaping now.
Izuna spoke up, giving Aka a meaningful look. His voice was dry as he turned to the Senju.
"If burns like that killed us, I don't think many Uchiha would have gotten past ten summers."
Mastering the Great Fireball jutsu was the test of adulthood after all, and it was not known for leaving small burns.
It was also one of the main reasons practice wasn't allowed near buildings.
Aka herself had accidentally set fire to a nearby gazebo on her first successful great fireball. Judging from blush and sheepish expression, she remembered. Tajima had been torn between pride and annoyance at the five-year-old, but settled on stoic exasperation.
Completely oblivious to this all, the Senju plowed on.
"Even so. I would like to be sure your clansman recovers fully. I will not have you accusing me of sabotage."
Izuna nodded.
"...Very well. But let's discuss the specifics after we notify the clan heads and kill the Shadow-thing."
One-Eye sputtered.
"You mean it's not dead?!"
"Jutsus only slow it down, and it can phase into the ground and shadows. We," Izuna gestured toward Tobirama, who was looking at them suspiciously, "couldn't find a way to kill it. But we did seal it."
"..."
"So, we need to leave, and we need to leave now if we want to get back before the seal runs out of chakra. I want that thing dead."
One-Eye gave a slow nod, as if things were starting to make sense, and then stood. He looked between the rest of Izuna's group. His voice was carefully guarded.
"If you could spare someone to help carry my clansman Kagemori, it would make the trip back faster."
The older man had stiffened as he spoke, and his tone took on a reasoning, but sharp edge.
Izuna hummed. He looked between the Senju group and his own. The Senju in question was likely the young one. Izuna could remember him fighting the Kaguya with Aka and Iesue. So maybe...
"Iesue, you will carry the Senju, which I'm assuming is your clansman with the foot splint?"
One-Eye nodded, Iesue nodded, and Izuna turned to Akinao.
"Akinao, you'll carry Tori. Aka you're with me on scouting."
Akinao lifted Tori up, and Aka gathered the rest of their supplies. One-Eye stared blankly until Izuna turned to him, at which point the older man startled and led them back to the Senju group.
Iesue was quick to offer his help, and despite the snarling from the Senju twins, both groups were situated and ready to head back to their compounds. Izuna took point while Aka and One-Eye scanned from the back.
They made good time back, and runners were dispatched to fetch Madara and Hashirama.
Explaining the situation had gone so well up until this point.
Tobirama looked at him.
Then at their brothers.
Back at him.
Then their brothers.
Tobirama's brow furrowed, and Izuna could see his Rival's thought process as it made a terrible decision (in Izuna's humble opinion). Izuna tried to cut him off, but the Bastard must've planned for that. Tobirama turned to Izuna and stared, even as he ruined Izuna's chances of escape.
"...I must note that Izuna can bring people back to the morning before their deaths in order to succeed where they failed the first time."
Izuna glared. That had been a secret!-
The traitor dropped into a formal bow. As if it helped.
"There was not time before, but know that you have my thanks for doing so."
Thanks?! He could thank me by keeping the secret that was so obviously a secret it would take someone of unimaginable stupidity to think it was common knowledge!
The Tree looked between Tobirama and Izuna, then frowned, eyebrows furrowed. "...People?" It took a moment (a very long moment), but the Tree finally fumbled and dashed over to Tobirama, fluttering around him as if the traitor-idiot was about to keel over.
Meanwhile, Madara had gone twenty shades paler. Izuna could see a slight twitch from his brother every now and then. "What?" Madara's voice was void of all emotion. He just stared blankly at Izuna.
"I-"
"Turn off your Sharingan."
Izuna froze, face twisting into a grimace.
His gaze flickered between Madara, Tobirama, and the Tree. Madara was deadly serious. His Rival had his battle mask on. The Tree was confused and concerned and awkwardly trying to blend into the scenery.
It wasn't working.
With gritted teeth, he took a breath, then deactivated his Sharingan.
His breath almost caught in his throat.
There were no colors, only a vague greyish haze. Indistinct (unnerving).
He felt a shift in the wind, and turned to where Madara must have just flickered in. He knew his brother's height - if he focused on glaring at that point, then maybe-
He was engulfed in a hug.
It was a bit too tight to breathe easily, and he couldn't see anything thanks to Madara hugging. He reactivated his Sharingan.
"Brother, let go."
"No."
"Madara-"
"When were you going to tell me?"
Madara's voice cracked. Izuna couldn't respond.
"Were you?"
"No..." Izuna looked down. Then frowned. "But I wasn't planning on using it again, either."
He tried to extricate himself from Madara's hold, but his brother just gripped his shoulders tighter. A glance up showed that Madara's face was nearly as pale as the day he- (Izuna cut the thought off. It wouldn't ever happen again). Madara's voice took on a numb tone.
"Like you used it for the solo patrol?"
Izuna grit his teeth, but it was all the answer Madara needed.
"...How many times?"
Izuna swallowed.
(The kunai. The day he was disemboweled. Losing an arm - or was it both arms? who was Itama? He couldn't save his clansmen - he couldn't save his family - Madara lying on the ground-)
Tobirama cut into the silence.
"While I can understand your concerns, I would recommend postponing this discussion until after the Creature is dealt with."
Madara's attention narrowed in on Tobirama, his eye twitching.
Izuna breathed out slowly. (Saved by the Bastard, but that didn't mean Izuna would forget who got him into the mess.)
(He tried to ignore the periodic looks his brother sent his way.)
"The thing that has been pitting our clans against each other, nearly killed both of you, twice, and takes over people's bodies - it's not dead?!"
Izuna shifted out of his brother's grip. His brother's eye twitched.
"We had to trap it in a seal because it wouldn't die."
"What-?!"
"Amaterasu didn't burn it."
The Tree leaned into the conversation before Madara could react to Izuna using another Mangekyo ability.
"Um, Tobi, who's feeding chakra to the seal to keep it activated?"
Tobirama grimaced.
"No one. Which is why we must hurry."
Madara's eye twitched more severely.
He turned to Izuna. "You are staying here. And we are going to have a nice long talk after I dispose of the filth, Izuna."
Izuna gave a nod. He watched quietly as his brother stalked off with a slightly manic glare. After a minute, there was a shout from the distance.
"Hashiramaaa! We're leaving, Now!"
The Tree, meanwhile, was still fluttering around Tobirama with worried eyes.
"Tobi."
"Don't be an idiot, brother, I am fine."
"But Tobi-"
"HASHIRAMAAA!"
They all collectively winced at the volume.
The Tree's eye twitched.
"MADARA!"
"...What now?"
Izuna looked up at the Traitor.
"We have a scapegoat for our clansmen to blame the feud on..."
He stared. The Traitor stared back.
"Our brothers will be happy for that."
Izuna poured every ounce of dryness he could muster into his gaze. He would exude an aura of "you are dead to me" even if it killed him.
"You are still upset that I brought up your ability."
Izuna stared. Yes, yes he was.
"Such a secret is unhealthy. I regret nothing."
Izuna's eye twitched.
"I hope your lab floods, Bastard."
In the middle of his stewing, Izuna was struck by a revelation.
His face paled. He hadn't thought of it before, but-
"We're probably going to end up doing all the treaty paperwork, aren't we."
His voice was defeated.
Tobirama froze in his meditation, then closed his eyes in resignation.
"Ah."
Yet Another Possibly Canon Scene!
(I just had a fun time writing this. You can take it as part of the story or not, it's up to you.)
Necessary Overkill
Two figures stood side by side, monitoring a steaming crater over half a mile across that had once been a forest. A nearby river had been diverted and was slowly filling the crater, hence the steam. It would take a very, very long time to fill up completely, considering that the crater was more of a gaping, molten pit in places.
A few groups of ninja from various clans had followed to try and spy on the unusual pair that passed through Tanzaku-Gai, but most gave up on any semblance of stealth when they had to scramble clear of the blast zone. Now, the watchers were standing forlornly by the side of the carnage, some looking more lost than others after seeing a forest practically annihilate itself. There were a few civilians as well, stopped in their tracks by the simple fact that there was no more road to travel on. There was no evidence of there even being a road. Only a steadily rising trail of steam and ash around a broken gash in the land, and a tree wall nearly ten times the height of the surrounding forest.
One of the figures turned to look at the audience and then turned back to the other, who was surveying the damage with a rather pleased smirk on his face.
"Madara? ...Do you think we overdid it?"
A pair of Sharingan eyes turned away from the crater. Madara's expression was dry, one eyebrow raised. He looked pointedly down at the pile of ash where a sealing scroll had sat only a few minutes earlier.
"Hn."
And then he turned back to the crater.
(The watchers slowly, steadily left after that. Apparently, the Uchiha and Senju were on speaking terms now, and nothing made sense anymore.)
