DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS/PLOTS. I ONLY OWN MY OC'S AND MY PLOTS.
"Stars, too, are time travelers. How many of those ancient points of light were the last echoes of suns now dead? How many had been born but their light not yet come this far? If all the suns but ours collapsed tonight, how many lifetimes would it take for us to realize that we were alone? I had always known the sky was full of mysteries- but not until now had I realized how full of them the earth was."
Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Konoha
February 10
10:30 A.M.
Izumi walked down the path of stands selling an assortment of things; it went from decorations for houses to sake for adults. Children from both the Senju and Uchiha clans ran around and past her, screaming with joy as they played games children would play together. This new generation of children wouldn't know the hardships of the battlefield, of war.
And in all honesty? Izumi didn't know how to feel about this.
Of course she was happy about this; she always thought it was a cruel thing, sending out children to battle only to watch them die. She had seen countless of them die, many of them too young to even know the taste of sake, too young to know the warmth of a first kiss, a first love.
But Izumi was also conflicted. In her generation -and the one right below hers- they had to grow up early, never to know the innocence of being a child. No one would survive a battle if they hesitated. No matter what age, you had to be able to thrust that sword if you wanted to live, if you wanted to survive long enough to see the light of the next day.
That, was how most learned.
The one's who didn't learn it that way were dead.
That's why seeing these children running around free without the burden of their decisions on their shoulders caused Izumi to not know how to feel.
And Madara didn't even want all of this. The peace that came with no battles, the happiness of knowing that a loved one would come home alive and not as some...weapon or identification tag. Izumi knew that deep down Madara wasn't happy, but then again, being forced to sign a peace treaty with someone you hated would do that to someone. Despite all the forced smiles and fake talks about how he's finally happy, Izumi couldn't help but feel sorry for Madara. The choices he made were always for the good of the Uchiha Clan, no matter how cruel or cold-hearted it would look to someone. Not to mention the warning that Connie had given her a year ago, it still was fresh in her mind. The panic in her face, the fear in her eyes. This alone had scared Izumi.
She had listened to Connie and watched her brother for something off, but in the past few months he had not changed, the only thing different was that Madara was more stressed than ever because of meetings and paperwork for Konohagakure.
Konohagakure -or Konoha for short- was what they called the new village. Village Hidden in the Leaves... She thought that it was an ideal name for the village. After all, the place that many called their new home was surrounded by a large forest while only one section of the village wasn't. That was where the large cliff was and this wouldn't be just a cliff for long. It was already in the process, a large carving of Senju Hashirama face was being created for being the Hokage, the village's leader.
"Izumi-sama?" A voice startled Izumi out of her thoughts. She looked down and saw a little girl giving her a shy smile.
"Hello." She gave the girl a smile and bend down to her height. "What's your name?" She asked.
"I-I'm Akane."
"Well Akane-chan, what can I do for you?" She asked. Akane suddenly moved her hands from her back.
"I p-picked a flower for you!" She handed Izumi a daisy with a large smile on her face. "I thought you might l-like it Izumi-sama."
Izumi took the small daisy from the little girl's hand and laughed. "Thank you, it's very pretty."
"Y-You're welcome." Akane started fidgeting, suddenly becoming nervous in front of the Uchiha Matriarch.
"I'm going to tell you a secret." Her eyes widened.
"R-Really?"
Izumi nodded her head and placed her hand on Akane's head. "Today's my birthday." She ruffled the girl's hair. "This beautiful flower is the first gift I have received today."
"R-Really? Doesn't that mean it's also Izuna-sama's birthday today too?"
A flash of pain- a different kind compared to her current headache -went through Izumi but she hid it from the girl, there was no point in showing her something that she may experience in the near future. "Yes, it would have been his birthday today too." She stood up and gave one last smile to Akane.
"H-Happy birthday!"
"Thank you Akane-chan. I have to go now but I hope I will meet you soon." Izumi tucked the daisy behind her ear and moved to walk away, but was immediately stopped when Akane gave her a hug.
"I hope you have a great day Izumi-sama!" The girl pulled away and ran off, probably to where her friends were. Smiling in that direction she turned around and continued walking to her destination.
Izumi walked past the Naka Shrine only to stop when she saw her older brother walking into it. The shrine was barely used; the only people to use it were Madara and the Elders as a meeting place for consulting Clan matters. If Izumi thought about it, the shrine itself was actually new, the only thing that was actually old was the stone that contained undecipherable carvings on it. That thing was ancient.
But what was Madara doing, going in their alone? If Izumi remembered correctly, the meetings Madara and the Elders had were held only three times a week and she knew for sure that today was not that day.
So what was Madara doing?
Izumi concealed her chakra and followed her brother into the shrine. She personally had never set foot in there so she didn't know the layout of it. That's why she was confused to see the place empty, showing no signs that her brother was just here.
"What the hell..." She looked around and saw nothing out of place, there was no window or door that would let Madara leave the shrine.
Wait, Izumi saw something off along the tatami flooring. One of them wasn't fitting where it was supposed to. It was slightly...open? With light and quiet footsteps that only a trained shinobi could have, she walked over to it and lifted up the mat. Just like she thought, it was a secret passage.
But to what?
Izumi could sense her brother's chakra down where this passage probably leads too. Should she...follow? But what would happen if she didn't like what she saw? 'Connie? If you're listening I could really use your help.' She asked to herself. This idea may not work by a long-shot but what else could Izumi do? It's not like she had anyone to ask because if you haven't noticed, she's all alone.
There was a few second of silence before Izumi heard a familiar voice in her mind. 'Well, this is a first.' A flash of actual pain in her head startled her when Connie answered.
'Connie!' She tightened her grip on the tatami mat. 'Should I go down the passage? I remember you telling me that I need to watch for weird things and I think this is probably the weirdest thing so far.'
'Go. You may be able to stop Madara from before he even starts.' Placing the mat on the floor next to the entrance she dropped down quietly and started walking. 'I'll be here the whole time.'
The passage was actually a really short one and it led to another entrance on the floor. But this entrance led to where Madara was, Izumi could tell because her brother's chakra was strongest right below her. Also, she could hear her brother talking, but with what?
Well, here goes nothing.
Quietly dropping down in the hole, Izumi took a step back from shock. "M-Madara?"
Her older brother whirled around, along with a black humanoid creature next to him. Madara's eyes widened and for some reason, his Eternal Mangekyō was activated. "What are you doing here Izumi?"
"That should be my question." Taking out the kunai she always kept with her, Izumi pointed to the...black thing next to Madara. 'That thing is Zetsu! That's what I wanted you to be careful about!'
'Kinda busy at the moment Connie.'
"What is that thing?"
"Madara-sama, she has seen me." The black thing- Zetsu -spoke in a taut voice. That thing's didn't sound right, it was too rough.
It just wasn't human.
"She cannot know what we are doing."
Sensing a threat, Izumi didn't hesitate to activate her Sharingan. "Brother, what is happening?"
"Madara-sama, you must wipe her memories of the past hour."
"What?! I cannot do that to my own sibling Zetsu!" Izumi was actually becoming...scared. She was no match against her brother, Sharingan or not, and if that thing was going to help, she was screwed to the moon and back.
"You must."
'Izumi, get away from here! You must not let your brother wipe your memory!'
Taking one last look at the two in front of her she looked up and summoned her chakra to jump up, back into the passage and out of the shrine.
"Madara, I'm sorry-"
Hands were suddenly on her shoulders and making her look into a face that she would know anywhere. "No Izumi, I'm sorry." Madara's Mangekyō flashing, she made the mistake of looking straight into them. The last thing she could hear was a voice screaming in her mind.
Izumi suddenly went limp. Madara quickly caught his sister and laid her on the ground gently. "This was the right thing to do Madara-sama." Zetsu said.
"How?" He looked at the black creature. "I just used my Sharingan on my sister to wipe her memory."
"For the right thing." Zetsu walked over to the stone monument and placed his hands on it. "This will save the world Madara-sama."
While the two talked, Izumi's eyes fluttered open. 'Where...am I?' Sensing something was off Izumi stayed where she was, assessing her location by looking around.
'Izumi, do you remember what happened in the past hour?'
'...Connie?'
'I'm going to take that as a no then. It doesn't matter, you need to go back to sleep Izumi.'
'But-'
'Sleep, I'll explain everything later.' For some reason Izumi couldn't help but follow the orders Connie made. Closing her eyes, she let herself fall back into the clutches of unconsciousness.
Izumi's eyes shot open and she quickly sat up, only for her to wince because of the headache she still wasn't used too. She fell back onto her bed-
Her bed? How did she get back to her bed? The last thing she remembered was walking down the marketplace. Pushing the blanket off of her she stood up and looked outside to see the sun still high up in the sky. It was noon.
"Izumi?" She heard a voice in her living room. Pushing a hand against the side of her head she walked out.
"Tobirama? What are you doing here?" She asked as she pulled out a cup.
He walked over to the kitchen and near her. "Hashirama was asking for you."
"I'll...be there." Izumi raised the cup of water to her lips, trying to ignore the pulses of pain in her head.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm...fine-"
Crash
Izumi fell to the ground, her cup of water falling onto the ground and shattering. "Izumi!" Tobirama shot forward and carefully picked Izumi up. She was moaning with what he thought was pain. Could it be because of her head? He remembered her telling him that she got headaches a lot and had a dull ache in her head everyday.
Tobirama used his Hiraishin to teleport to his brother, sure that there was no one there.
"Ah, Tobirama-" Hashirama's eyes widened and he quickly stood up from his chair in the Hokage tower. "What's wrong?"
"I went to get her like you asked but she suddenly fainted." Hashirama walked over to where he was carrying Izumi. "Please do something!"
Tobirama was known throughout the Shinobi Nations for being cold, unemotional in battle. He was one of the best shinobi's of his generation. He was composed, he kept his emotions in check, he never letting them get the best of him. Hashirama has never seen Tobirama act the way he was at the moment. His brother was...scared.
He was scared because of a girl, not a battle, not death. A girl.
"Tobirama, let me see her." Tobirama placed her on the couch and took a step back. Looking at her, Hashirama knew that the cause of her pain was because of her head. He placed his hand on her head and flowed the iryo-ninjutsu into her head and brain to soothe the overacting nerves. Immediately Izumi's face and body relaxed, the pain gone. "She should be fine now."
Tobirama let out a relieved sigh and sat down on the extra chair next to the couch. "Thank Kami."
Hashirama sat back down in his chair behind his desk. "Are you okay Tobirama?"
"Yes Brother, I'm fine now."
"You were worried for her, weren't you?"
Tobirama looked up at him. "Of course Brother! I..."
"You what?" Hashirama questioned.
"I...care for her greatly." His little brother answered quietly. "No one knows about us besides you Brother. You can't tell anyone. I'm surprised no one questioned the both of us after the fall."
"Don't worry Tobirama. Your secret's safe with me. It has been for the past two years after all."
Izumi groaned and forced her eyes to open. Blue skies and soft grass welcomed her, slightly confusing her before she realized where she was. "Connie?"
"I'm...right here." Izumi pulled herself up from the ground and walked over to where the blonde was sitting. "You don't remember what happened."
She shook her head. "What do you mean?"
"Tell me what's happened to you today."
"Okay?" Izumi recalled her day, stopping when she realized she had a blank space in-between her stopping in front of the Naka Shrine and her seeing Tobirama-
"I fainted! Tobirama was in my house and then-"
"You're fine. I need to show you what happened between that blank hour." Connie stood up and placed her hands on Izumi's head. "I'm sorry but this one's going to hurt."
"Wait-"
White hot pain shot through her mind as she saw images of her brother and Zetsu next to him. She saw images of her brother erasing her memory.
"Are you okay?"
Izumi numbingly nodded her head, shocked that her brother would do something like that. And for what? Just because she saw him looking at that dumb stone?
Who the hell does something like that to their own sibling?
"Can I go back? I need time to...think about it."
"You can't confront your brother about this. You have to act just like normal around him." Connie looked into her eyes. "Promise?"
"Yeah." Giving her a smile, Izumi closed her eyes and woke up.
The first thing she realized was that she wasn't at her house anymore. She was lying on something too hard, too uncomfortable. Izumi opened her eyes and slowly sat up, shocked to see Hashirama.
"Hashirama?"
"Ah, Izumi-chan! How are you?"
Taken back, she looked around and realized that she was in the Hokage office. "I'm...fine. My head doesn't hurt right now."
"Good." Hashirama continued reading papers on his desk. "What happened?"
"There was just this...pain in my head." She lied smoothly. "The last thing I remembered was seeing Tobirama in my house."
"Really?" Hashirama slammed his hands on the desk. "I don't like being lied to Izumi."
"I don't know what-"
"I found traces of your brother's chakra while I healed you. Why?" Izumi was taken aback from the force behind his question.
"W-Why?" She couldn't help but feel a little afraid since he was after all, quite scary.
"Because I actually happen to like you and your brother." Hashirama sighed and rubbed his head, breaking his calm facade. "Izumi, Madara has been neglecting his duties lately and I want to know why."
Hearing this Izumi quickly stood up, ignoring her body's protest. "What?!"
"Wait, you didn't know?"
She shook her head. "No, I didn't. How long has this been going on?"
Hashirama leaned back in his chair and thought for a few seconds. "About five months."
"Five months- Oh Kami, why wasn't I paying better attention?" Izumi asked herself. She had been watching him for the past year and she didn't see anything out of the ordinary!
'Are you sure? Look at the little details, one that usually won't stand out.'
She remembered her memories of seeing her brother and that was when Izumi realized that she had not been paying too much attention like she had told herself she was. There were little things like arriving late to meetings, looking tired and being skinnier than before. Being more irritable and twitchy.
"Do you know why Izumi?"
She shook her head. "I can't think of any reason to why he would be doing any of this." Well Izumi actually did know why but she didn't actually want to tell Hashirama.
"Well, going back to the earlier conversation-"
"Izumi!" The door to the office suddenly slammed open, revealing an out of breath Madara.
"Madara?" Both Hashirama and Izumi asked.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
"Let's go back home then." Madara walked over to here and grabbed her shoulders.
"Madara-"
"If you excuse us Hashirama."
"Don't forget the meeting with the Sarutobi tomorrow at eight!"
Madara quickly lead them out of the building, ignoring Izumi's protests until they reached her house.
"Goddamn it Madara let me go!" Izumi finally pulled away from her brother's grip and glared at him. "What is your problem?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't know that I wasn't allowed to worry for my sister."
"Hashirama healed me, you didn't have to treat him as if he had interrogated me!"
"I was worried okay?" Madara sighed and that was when Izumi fully realized how tired he seemed. He was too pale and dark bags under his eyes.
"He told me that you weren't going to meetings and that you were neglecting your duties." Izumi softened her tone. "Is something going on Madara?"
He shook his head. "Everything's fine. Well it seems like you're fine so I'll be taking my leave."
"Wait-" Her protest fell on deaf ears. Her brother quickly shunshined out of her house, leaving her alone to her own thoughts.
11 P.M.
Izumi's legs dangled over the cliff that overlooked the village. Two sake cups were on the ground next to her, one full and another empty.
"Happy birthday to us Izuna." She whispered into the wind. Her hair was down, letting her feel the coldness of the air brush against her scalp. Refilling the empty cup, she picked it up and lifted it up. "Cheers." Quickly downing the sake for the second time, she placed the cup back next to the filled one. "You've missed another again little brother." Izumi let out a dark laugh before turning her head up to stare at the moon and the stars. "You would have been 20 today."
They were so old for shinobi standards. Both Izumi and her twin had survived the standard age for death. Her brother had outlived it by six years until his death while she outlived it by eight years (and counting).
12, that was the standard age. 12 was when most died, that was too young. Too young.
Izumi felt tears falling from her eyes but she didn't care. She thought she had the right to be emotional today, if Izuna was alive he would be next to her celebrating their 20th birthday together.
She closed her eyes and let the wind calm her down. Many minutes went by until Izumi felt a slight shift in the air behind her.
"Hello Tobirama."
"What are you doing here alone in the middle of the night?"
Izumi grabbed the empty cup and showed it to Tobirama. "I'm celebrating my birthday."
"That was what I figured you were doing." He sat down next to her.
"I'm finally 20." She whispered, looking down at her hands. "Most people are happy about surviving until this age. They say that they survived, that they've accomplished something." She clenched her kimono in her hands. "It doesn't feel like an accomplishment to me. Not when the person I share my birthday with is dead."
Tobirama couldn't stand the awkward silence that came after what she said, so he grabbed Izumi's hand and pulled her up. For some reason Tobirama always changed in front of her. He became more social, more...human -or so his brother put it.
"What are you doing Tobirama?"
"We're going to dance. Do you know how to?" He asked with a cocky grin.
"Of course I do!" Izumi spluttered. "Besides, there's nothing to dance too."
"Well that's why you just imagine it." She let him lead them in something similar to a slow dance but it was very awkward at first.
"This isn't working Tobirama!" She said, amusement in her voice.
"Well we just have to make it more fun then don't we?" He picked Izumi up into the air, causing her to place her hands on his shoulders while they both turned in a circle. Her hair fell across his face but he didn't care,
As long as there was a smile on Izumi's face.
Tobirama carefully set her back down on the ground, Izumi was laughing the whole time and her mood seemed to happier.
While they were dancing, Tobirama's older brother happened to be spying on them. It was only because he was worried for his brother. But as he watched them dance under the moonlight and the stars, he realized that what they had was real. A type of love that he still hasn't had the privilege of having. Hashirama didn't stay for long, he actually left when he felt a change in the air.
Within the few minutes he wasn't paying attention, Izumi had gotten closer to Tobirama; her head was under Tobirama's chin while his arms had wrapped around her body. They were moving to a song that only the two lovers could hear. Taking one last look, Hashirama left with a smile on his face.
"Happy birthday Izumi."
Izumi looked up at Tobirama, she gave him a loving smile. "You're the second person to say that to me today."
"Really?"
"Yeah, not even my brother said happy birthday to me." She said quite forlorn.
"Who beat me to it then?"
Izumi laughed and pulled out a slightly crushed daisy from the inside of her kimono. "A little girl by the name of Akane." She rested her head against Tobirama's chest. "She was so cute Tobirama."
"Do you like children?"
"I've always loved them. They're so cute and small, the littlest thing can make them happy." Izumi smiled to herself. "I want children of my own one day though. Then, I would've lived a full life." She knew that this was a dangerous topic to go into, especially with Tobirama, but she just felt like telling him. He didn't say anything though, but the fast beating of his heart and the tightening of his arms gave Izumi enough of an answer.
A/N: NO MORE SCHOOL PEOPLE! YES! That means more writing! I'm quite happy with that because I have so much planned for this story and I just can't wait to write about it!
I think I've passed the stage of leaving cliffhangers at the end of chapters. I've realized that I like to end chapters with fluff! Go me! But it's not going to stay that way for long because *dun dun duhhhhh* Madara, the Kyuubi, and Hashirama fighting will come up soon! Not in the next chapter but idk soon.
I can't believe how many followers, favorites, and reviews this story has gotten! It makes me so so happy I don't know how I can show it! If I could meet with every single one of you guys I would hug you and kiss you right on the spot!
So for some reason I always imagine Tobirama kinda being a cocky, confident guy, is that only me? Idk but I think that makes him like, stronger for some reason. *shrugs* Oh well.
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher is the recommendation. I know that it was quite a big deal in my school during Middle School, you had to ask to hold it if you wanted to read it! But this book was really deep and made me, personally, think. It gave me a shocking sense of reality. But hey, I think you should go read it.
Please leave a review and a follow/fav. if you haven't already!
Until next time!~
[It might be a little confusing and choppy so please forgive me!]