Chapter 8

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I made the executive decision that the internet needs more Warring States Era content, so I thought I would throw in my two cents! I hope you all like a little bit of the history, I promise that this is all relevant and setting up Sands of Time for its future.

I might be getting ahead of myself, but I know how I want this whole story to pan out ;)

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"Oh, to have someone look at me the way you once did."

~ R. H. Jekyll ~

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Several months had passed since I befriended the brothers. My routine quickly evolved to incorporate them into my otherwise tranquil life, and despite Izuna's relentless begging, I refused to be trained in the shinobi arts.

"Oh come on Kanaaaaa," Izuna whined as he accompanied me to make my delivery of new clothes to the Uchiha Clan's storage, "Just let me train you in the basics. A substitution jutsu and several offensive and defensive techniques."

"Izuna, thank you for the offer but like I've said, I'm not the battle type. My chakra reserve is pathetic. I'm much better with a brush and cotton threads than I am with a kunai and flaming fireballs." I smiled, as the boy slumped in defeat.

"Stubborn." He huffed to which I laughed slightly as we finally reached the storage room.

Having finished my job for the week, Izuna persuaded me to stay for a little bit, baiting me with the promise of delicious food. Grabbing my wrist he half-led, half-dragged me to his favourite stall where the sweet aroma of a familiar dessert wafted into the streets.

Izuna handed me a wrapped daifuku, as he bit into his own to show me the red bean filling inside. I took a bite, and my eyes lit up.

"Oh my God," I mumbled, "This is amazing."

He smiled, as we both ate our delicious buns in several moments of companionable silence, until I saw black smoke rising in the distance.

"Is that a fire?" I asked, and several Uchiha clansmen at the festival started to mobilise towards the central compound, most likely in search of orders and permission to leave.

"Hey Kana-"

"Go." I nodded, and Izuna broke off, handing me the bag filled with the untouched daifuku, and followed his clansmen where they converged in the centre.

Looking up at the setting sun, with its orange rays blocked by the thick black smoke coming from the far edge of the compound. But it wasn't until I properly realised the direction it was in that I felt my face pale, it was in the direction of my cabin, and Granny and I were the only ones residing in that area. My stomach churned, throwing the dessert away as I covered the distance back to our small cabin, a cottage really, in the woods.

I sprinted, miraculously arriving at the site before other members of the Uchiha clan. Despite the scorching heat emanating from the flames, chills crawled up my arms as I confirmed that the source of the flames was none other than my cabin - the same cabin I last saw Granny in.

"GRANNY!" I shouted, desperately searching outside and hoping beyond hope that she wasn't stuck inside the flaming building.

The flames roared like an untamed beast, and I brought a hand up to protect against the heat that stung my face.

An arm grabbed my shoulder and I looked into a pair of blood red eyes, framed by black tomoe… The Sharingan - it was Madara.

"Kana, what happened?" He shouted, pulling me back to a safer distance from the flames.

"Granny is still in there." I cried, voice frantic.

Weaving through a set of seals, Madara turned to the building and summoned a wave of water that was able to temporarily douse a portion of the flames. Without waiting, I dashed in, kicking away rubble as I searched for my grandmother.

"Granny!" I shouted and stilled hoping I could hear her reply over the sound of the crackle and roar of the fire.

"… Kana."

My head whipped, eyes zeroing in on her voice. I ran into what was once my workspace, ignoring the scorched marks on the walls and found her lying in a heap by the wardrobe. Madara followed closely behind, keeping a trained eye on the flame that was slowly starting to recover.

"Granny," I sighed, relieved that her injuries were superficial with very few burn marks. She seemed slightly dazed but I assumed that was to be expected with the smoke that was slowly suffocating us all.

"I've slowed the fire but I haven't stopped it." Madara said, appearing behind me, "Let's go. The building's structure has probably been severely damaged too."

"Can you carry her? I'll follow behind." I said. He nodded, and the young teen lifted up Granny's tiny frame.

"Be quick, but remember to be careful." Madara spoke, carefully stepping over a fallen pillar. "This building's on its last two legs."

As he ducked under the remnants of what was once a doorway, I saw a beam come falling down, blocking off my path to the exit.

"Go! I'll find another way out!" I shouted, remembering a fairly large window to the back of the cabin and hoped that it was unobstructed, and that I could get there in time.

"Kana! Don't-" but tongues of fire started to crawl up once more, definitely cutting me off from the way I came in.

I grabbed my sleeve and used it as a makeshift mask, and ignoring the sting of smoke in my eyes, I backtracked in search of that window to safety.

'Come on, come on.' I searched, but the black smoke had thickened. I was now essentially stumbling through a haze of darkness, preventing me from seeing anything. My ears picked up a loud groan and I looked up in time to see one of the last roof beams sag dangerously low.

'It won't hold.' I thought, as the beam snapped, the wooden object entering free fall down at me.

I jumped back and put my hands up defensively, when I heard the sound of glass breaking, then the roar of more flames flying past me from my back.

My eyes were still blinded, but through the chaos I could feel arms wrapped around me, pushing my head down as the person jumped, and the world disappeared under my feet.

Our landing was less than graceful. Tumbling across the grass at the front of the cabin, its blades leaving small cuts at my neck, wrists and other exposed areas of skin. When we came to a stop, the figure's arms let go of my head and I looked up into a pair of single tomoe eyes.

"Izuna?" I was slightly terrified as I had never seen Izuna as anything other than the clumsy kid who couldn't aim. Yet the boy in front of me didn't look like the same brat, but had the ferocity attributed to warriors of the Uchiha clan. "You have the-"

"That was beyond crazy Kana!" He snapped, arms going to wrap me in a suffocating hold, "You scared me goddamn it!"

I coughed, wiping away some soot from my face as I hugged him back, "Sorry. Thanks for saving me."

He simply nodded, before several other footsteps came closer forcing him to let me go so he could see who was there.

"Granny!" I yelled in relief. I rose to go to her, but felt my mind losing control over my body as the world swayed around me.

The last thing I heard was Madara say something about a 'medic' before the smoke inhalation caught up with me and I blacked out.