A/N: Okay, so I decided to make this a drabble series. I never expected this, but it seems like the story is enjoyed, and I don't want to abandon it. Still, with one massive fic already on my shoulders, and real life obligations… carrying another full-fledged story is a daunting idea. Buuuuut… tossing a few lines (sometimes more, sometimes less) in the direction of these three is not so scary.
I always detested sickness. The idea of being bedridden, weak and unable to muster even the most meager amount of dignity never appealed to me. I always strived to avoid such a state.
Alas, no one is perfect, least of all I.
-Shadow-
She slept for what felt like an eternity.
To Madara it was a thousand years of agony, a million hours in the constant presence of Hashirama's simpering companionship. He swore by all the kami up in heaven that if he were to hear his friend sigh and whine once more time, he, Uchiha Madara, will personally end him.
And yet, when night fell upon the war camp and the shinobi were all huddled in their futons, he creeped like a shadow inside her tent and gazed at her too pale face. They left her hair unbound, cascading around her small face like a crimson river.
Chakra exhaustion, her companion, Kou, said. It seemed that even the bottomless chakra reserves of the Uzumaki had their limits... and Mito's limit was sending a powerful beast-demon in… another dimension? He was unsure of the seal's workings, but from what Kou had explained, she had done just that. Right before she collapsed, her entire being glowed with power, her chakra blinding him. Yet as she fell, Madara thought that she felt so fragile in his arms. A slip of a girl that barely reached his chin, with hair as crimson as his Sharingan.
It was strange to see her like that, in bed. She was a dignified… girl, woman? Laying lifeless on a bed did not suit her, and he could tell that without even knowing her. So he came there each night, under the cover of darkness, like a shadow creeping into her tent to look at her and wonder…
"When will you wake?"