There was death and the smell of blood lingered in the air. He was in pain. So much pain he could feel his chest struggling to expand for breath. Every muscle burning and twitching; he knew he was bruised. He tried to move his body to confirm his worst nightmare. Pain. Nothing but horrible pain. Everything was fading and becoming black. His chakra was depleted and he knew that he could not move. Madara Uchiha was defeated.

A man feared for his skull. A man born into a powerful clan. A man battered and bruised from his fight. There was only the sound of silence with a darkening sky above. When danger was near, everything would become silent. His heart was beating hard against his chest. His body was trying to recover fast, but something kept his chakra from recovering.

Madara could feel his muscles twitch. His chest hurt from every breath. This was not possible. He could never be defeated.

'You fear something.'

A figure stood before him. Staring down at him with twin blades ready to kill. Madara was not a man to cower or show fear to his enemy. He would die with dignity before he died being a coward. It was not the type of man he was. Madara would stare death straight in the face and laugh. This shinobi staring at him showed no emotion on his face. There was something strange about him.

'I do not fear death or man.' Madara spat in retaliation. The blind shinobi frowned in disappointment. Pacing back and forth like an animal, he kicked the Uchiha clan leader hard against his jaw. Madara felt the pain coarse through him.

This is not real. He thought to himself. But the pain in his jaw was saying other wise. How dare this shinobi treat the leader of the Uchiha clan this way. Madara growled under his breath baring his teeth. The shinobi was not fazed by such an act from an animal.

'Let me fight you without you resorting to cheating.' Madara was getting angry.

Madara tried to move his body but felt that he could not. His body was not responding to his brain. The shinobi's image was blurry to his eyes. Madara tried to activate his sharingan, but something shocked him. His chakra was too low. Damn!

'Men fear many things. You think yourself above them? You think you are not mortal?' A second image of the shinobi kneeled next to him. His presence was strong, demanding as one of his blades were placed against his neck. Madara's muscles were aching from his chest down to his feet. This was not good. His instincts were telling him to fight.

Madara sneered like an animal backed into a corner. He wanted to claw at this shinobi, kill him with his hands.

The shinobi looked to the side with a smirk placed upon his lips. 'Your clan will die. You'll brother will die. The woman you will declare your love to will die. You will have nothing and only hatred will feed off you. Madara Uchiha will be a name only heard in stories.' Madara clenched his jaw and despite the pain coursing through his body, threw a strong punch against the clone near him.

'Spare me the lecture. You do not see the future. My clan will thrive for many generations. My brother- if you lay a hand in him I will make it so the Gods will not give you a peaceful afterlife.' No one threatens his clan or brother… but the woman? Tsubaki?

The clone disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Madara Uchiha. The strongest shinobi in these lands claims his clan will thrive. You know nothing." The real shinobi raised both his blades and struck down hard with clean precision. Madara had no time to react and saw blood on the blades. His own blood dripping to the ground and into the soil.

'You are destined for something far greater.' Madara looked to the shinobi with hatred in his eyes. Whatever was left of his chakra activated the sharingan to see that it was an illusion. The shinobi faded and before the Uchiha clan leader was someone he knew well… Hashirama.

...

He opened his eyes quickly with sweat rolling down his forehead. His heart was racing and his muscles twitched uncontrollably. This feeling he had, was it fear? No. That could not be possible. Madara was not one to fear someone, especially a shinobi who caught him off guard. It was not real. Everything that shinobi said was just an haunting image of what Madara did not want to see. His mind was playing tricks on him. There was no possible way for the shinobi to conjure an image of Hashirama.

Did he fear death?

What was happening to him? His hands were clenched tight to the sheets. He could not be scared of what he saw in his dream. Madara was never scared. He was a shinobi with pride. Madara was the clan leader of a very powerful group. But why did he have that dream?

He placed his hand over his eyes to keep himself calm. His anger was rising from the dream. He was helpless out in the battlefield. Madara was skilled and deadly, by all means he was not weak! He was capable of defeating that shinobi, but in the dream it was something different. The way he spoke was calm. His voice was different from the ones Madara was used too. There was an accent in his words. His eyes!

Madara felt a sharp pain go through his skull thinking about the shinobi's eyes. Ghostly, clouded, He was blind. The pain went away after a few seconds. Madara moves his hand away from his eyes. A blind shinobi bested me. It is of no wonder my sharingan could not predict his movements. How could I look into a blind man's eyes?

He took in a deep breath feeling his lungs expand with the rise of his bandaged chest. He was not in much pain but still tender in that area. The wrapping around him was secured, but not as tight as before. He sat up, noticing his brother sleeping on a mat not to far from him. It was best of Izuna did not wake up and seeing him in such a state. Madara did not feel the need to answer to him about his strange dream. That shinobi said disturbing things. Was it a sign? Could it happen? Madara wasn't sure and it angered him deeply. He swung his legs and placed his feet on the ground. Whether Izuna was awake or not was up to suspicion and Madara did not dare want to know. He walked towards the door and opened it.

Almost running into someone, he looked down to see that it was the old healer with a smile on her face.

"Lord Uchiha, good morning." She said with a light bow.

Madara acknowledged her with a small gruff from his throat, but found it to be rude to do it. He closed the door behind him. He wanted to be alone, to gather his thoughts and a battle plan to track the shinobi. He was a threat to not only Madara but to his clan… possibly to Tsubaki.

The woman I will proclaim my love too? He thought to himself. Madara shook those thoughts out of his head. The dream was making him paranoid now. Madara has to come back to his senses. There was a war, he was supposed to come to an agreement with Koga, and having to think about proclaiming his love for a healer woman he just met. It wasn't even close to such a thing. Maybe admiration at best because she was talented with herbal medicines.

He was giving himself a headache.

"Lord Uchiha, this may not be my place to ask, but something bothers you." Tokiko said.

Madara sighed heavily. "I do not wish to say. I will take a walk outside and if my brother wants to know where I am tell him. We are to leave later in the day."

Tokiko nodded her head and watch the Uchiha clan leader walk pass her. His internal battle would leave him scarred for the rest of his life. He was a seasoned shinobi that was bested in a fight by his wounds. Madara was a prideful man who did not take losing as an option. Poor soul. His distraught would ruin that perfect face.

'Tsubaki gets lucky with handsome patients.' Speaking of Tsubaki, She should be waking up soon.


She woke up before the morning sun and the roosters. She breathed in heavily feeling the warmth of her blanket smothering her body. Tsubaki did not want to leave the comfort and warmth of her mattress. She wanted to stay in her bed to sleep away all her troubles, but that was not Tsubaki. She was a woman who got herself up early to do her chores, check on her patients, and tend to the garden.

When Tsubaki felt the need to sleep away the day, she would remember those days many years ago of Tokiko kicking her out of bed. Cold water would be splashed on her head and it would not be in small amounts. Tsubaki had learned the hard way in many things since she has been in the village. Many mistakes and chances was something in life she had to take.

She changed into some clean clothes, tied her hair up, and walked out of her room. All was quiet and Tsubaki knew she was not the only one awake at this ungodly hour. Tokiko was seen walking in and out of rooms making sure the wounded were taken cared of. She was also soon to make food for the patients and for the healers. Tokiko made good that always smelled delightful. Ami saw Tsubaki and smiled at the healer woman as she passed by with a bucket of water in her grasp.

"Good morning Lady Tsubaki." Ami said.

"Good morning Ami. Do you need help with that?" Tsubaki asked as she could see the young woman having trouble holding the heavy bucket.

"I can carry this. It is going to be heated up for a patient's soup I am preparing. It should be done in an hour." Tsubaki smiled looking at Ami. She reminded Tsubaki of herself when she was first learning how to make herbal soup. At first it is difficult because in an herbal soup, you have to be cautious about what herbs needed to be used. Add to much and the patient is poisoned and add too little, the patient will not recover enough. Tsubaki would taste the soup herself when she was not sure if it would work.

The many times I have made myself sick. Tsubaki thought with a tremble.

"Be on your way then Ami. Make sure to taste it before giving the soup to your patient." Tsubaki warrned which Ami took to consideration.

Walking past her, Tsubaki could feel her daily routines going back to how they once were before Madara came to their village for recovery. The young healer began to open windows to let in the cool crisp air. The smell of the outside bringing a smile to her face and she could see the sun rising behind the hill.

Her smile faded when her eyes looking to mounds of dirt that made their home in the hill. The graves of the dead shinobi. She thought. I should bring them flowers for their souls.

Tsubaki walked back into her room to get the flowers she had purchased yesterday. Placed in vases near her window, she picked the flowers that were more suited for her journey up the hill near the village. She left a few flowers in the case for later, but there was one flower she knew would mean the most to her.


She placed dark crimson roses on each grave above a hill near the village. Each grave she knew to be shinobi that were once her patients. They met their fate here in the village were she tried effortlessly to save them. Her knowledge of her healing in the past is what sent these men to their graves and she blamed herself for killing them.

Tokiko told her that she will not be perfect in her healing arts. It is not the fault of her own knowledge. Some wounds cannot heal and are to deep to save lives. Tsubaki went to her knees and closed her eyes to pray for their souls. She wondered if the dead shinobi blamed her in the afterlife for not trying hard enough to save them. She could only hope that they found peace somewhere and they are with loved one's.

Tsubaki wanted what was best for the dead. She would pray that the shinobi were happy somewhere in the heavens. War took lives of very young men. Villages would be burned, many people dead because of the conflict, and Tsubaki could only thank her lucky stars that she did not have to endure the harshness of war again.

"Your stronger then this Tsubaki."

She was not aware that she was alone on the hill. He watched her praying silently to the graves before her. Madara has followed her here out of his own curiosity. To Madara, Tsubaki was a confusing woman to him. The pain in his chest no longer lingering and it became easier to breath. He could feel his heart beating faster without intention. Why was She doing this him? She was a simple healer and not the woman he will proclaim his love too (if there was a woman worth that emotion). Why think of love when war is what you know? Do you plan on something more for this woman?

He wanted to knock all thought of her from his mind. He wanted Tsubaki for her healing capabilities. The Uchiha clan can prosper from her knowledge and the wealth of the village she comes from. Her ties here will be finished, but could he force the young healer to come with him? It was something he will have to do with time. For the moment, he and Izuna had to return to their clan. There was much to be discussed involving this village and the shinobi that wounded him.

It was time to come out of the shadows.

"How often do you come here?" She opened her eyes to the familiar voice she had come to know well.

"No one has claimed these poor men's body and some have no name." She stood up from her place and covered herself tightly in her cloak. She wondered how long Madara was there. Thoigh, it did not matter. Tsubaki had someone to talk to, even though he may not care or understand why she was here. "They need peace in death and someone must come here to give them a crimson flower to show that I am grieving for their deaths. The sorrow that I feel for them because they could not return home."

She turned around to see Madara looking to each individual grave with a crimson rose placed on top. A large rock made a mark for those graves and he wondered to himself why Tsubaki would do this. It might have been the sorrow and grief as she has stated, but could it be something deeper?

"You did not know these men. There is no reason to come to graves of the unknown." Madara could see a small smile on her lips. He did not understand how deep those scars went on this woman. She was here for her own sanity, for her own good, and to seek peace for herself.

She did not expect for Madara to understand or if he did, he was just going to judge her for her acts. Why was it a bad thing?

"I come here to make sure they are at peace and to know they are not forgotten. These were my patients many years ago when I was still learning about healing. I made many mistakes back then and knowing what I know now, I could have saved them." She looked behind her to the graves of the shinobi.

Madara could feel the sorrow within her voice. Tsubaki cared about all living things and it showed with her gentle nature to her patients. The things she had seen and the wounds that could not heal may have had a toll on her like a shinobi who knew only the days of war. She turned her attention back to him with her eyes ready to cry.

Madara had known many strong women within his life and even though some woman only saw him as a means to an end, Tsubaki was different. She never gave up on helping those who needed her and surprisingly, she did not give up on him. He walked towards her which Tsubaki found was off and out of character of him.

Madara may not have understood why he was so close to her, but he could see that she was confused. There was a reason for his behavior. "Thank you, Lady Tsubaki."

Tsubaki's eyes widened at his soft words. He turned around and walked down the hill away from her. Tsubaki's heart raced and her smile grew as she felt proud for his kindness. Madara was one patient She did not give up on. He survived through all the odds and surely, he will not be her last patient. Though, she felt her heart tearing itself apart at the thought that he was to leave.

You are going to miss him. But life goes on and a healers job never stops.

Her stomach growled loudly ruining the moment. No healer can work on an empty stomach.


AN: sorry for not updating the story. It's been a busy week on my end.

Thanks you to those that placed my story on their favorites lists and alerts. Your awesome!

Katara Tojiro: I hope the blind shinobi becomes an interesting character in general. We are going to see more of him as the story continues.

Happy holidays to everyone. Be safe, don't do anything I wouldn't do, and everyone have a safe trip if you are going to visit families. I will see you in the new year!