"Wake up big brother!" Madara opened his eyes only to find Izuna shaking him persistently. "We will be late to the assembly!"

In a swift motion Madara got up and started dressing himself. Seeing that his brother was up and going, Izuna started getting playful.

"What's up big bro? Did Aiya squeeze out every ounce of your energy last night?" Izuna joked at him, slightly narrowing his eyes.

"What…? How did you…? Son of a…" Madara glared at him but Izuna noticed the slightest hint of blushing on his brother's cheeks. He was not one to share his personal business with others.

"Oh come on! My room is across yours and she is not exactly the silent type either" Izuna persisted "God she is…uh...something else. Wish our wives will be like that".

"You sure are talkative first thing in the morning." Madara told him as he fastened the last clasp of his battle armor "make sure you are as jumpy as now on today's mission."

"You bet big bro" answered Izuna with a smile "they won't know where it came from."

"I wonder…" he said under his breath as the two brothers headed out to meet their father.

The sun was just rising and a big commotion was being made out of the infirmary. Armor clanking, shouting and people going up and down. It was clear that the clan was preparing for battle. The noise was enough to also wake Touka up from her slumber. The first thing she witnessed was Hanami who was tending to her wounds as careful as ever.

"The paste really did wonders!" Hanami said as she saw her sister waking up "I think that in the end it was all worth it."

"What was worth it?" Touka asked tiredly. Even though her condition had stabilized, the way to recovery was still long.

"Nothing, just talking to myself, big sister" Hanami smiled.

"Hana, what is happening outside? Are they assembling for a battle?"

"Yes, the Uchiha will probably attack today."

Touka was mortified. What had happened while she was out?

"Shit! I must get going then! Hashirama is not here and they have Madara! The previous time he was preoccupied looking for him but now he won't be playing games. He is not stupid; he will attack full power."

As she prepared to get up, a sharp pain overcame her, immediately immobilizing her.

"Move as much as a meter away from your bed, and I will put you down personally." Hanami glared at her menacingly. She really had started to resemble their mother a lot.

Touka collected herself. Not only was she not able to move with ease after Izuna's slash, but Hanami wouldn't let her go until she had made sure she was completely out of danger. However, the notion that everyone was away fighting while she was bedridden, burdened her greatly.

"Hanami, you don't understand. I can't just simply stay back while everyone is giving their life away. Please do something, I need to go to the front lines."

"Don't make me repeat myself." Hanami raised her tone. "It is a miracle you are still alive. Just look at what that man did to you. Look! I closed you up, but he missed slashing your vital organs by a few millimeters."

Her sister directed her gaze toward her slash wound. From the way her sister had sutured and treated it, it must have been deep. The pain was no joke either.

"Don't be selfish." Hanami finished her sentence while preparing a fresh round of bandages to wrap her with. Touka looked at her sister whose eyes had started watering up. It must have been difficult for her as well, she thought.

The compound's noises had started progressively ceasing…the battle would be beginning soon.

Hanami started gathering all of the necessary supplies. She would be needing them soon enough.

The morning daylight had started to shine through the leaves of the dense forest, a place so serene that one could get lost in thoughts for eternity. This very same peace though, was being disrupted by hundreds of steps splattering on the mud and the constant sound of bodies grazing through the shrubbery. It was the Uchiha force passing through. Leader of the pack was no other than Uchiha Tajima, with his two sons on either side escorting him. Their target was the nearest Senju base which was now approximately 2 miles north of their current location.

As Tajima was pressing forward, he felt a slight breeze on his side only to be punched abruptly, effectively cutting his path short. He managed to maneuver himself to land on the grass below, with Butsuma Senju coming from above, attacking with his sword. Effectively blowing off the incoming strike, he activated his Sharingan. How had the Senju managed to intercept the team so effectively? As if they had appeared out of nowhere. It was at that moment that he realized that a full on battle had ensued with Tobirama Senju clashing midair with his younger son, a sight all too familiar. Senju shinobi had started popping out of nowhere attacking all parts of the charging group.

Madara smirked, activating his ocular powers.

"That little wench has gone and done it. Now come." And without a second thought he started slashing with his scythe any soldier that came in front of him. When he achieved a sizeable distance from his comrades, he jumped above the forest and started weaving signs.

"Hiding in the forest like rats and waiting for an ambush" he glared with his red eyes below "now come out little vermin. Katon: Magestic Demolisher Flame!" and the trees in below started getting engulfed in flames.

"Now come out in the open" Madara thought and just like that he turned for the valley that lied northeast of the battle's location.

"Senju, the people of the forest" that label was not without reason. It was a fact that the Senju seemed well tuned with the surrounding nature and seemed to prefer their battles carried out in the woods as they had ample sources to utilize their techniques with greater ease. Now though that he had set the forest ablaze they would have to move to a more open area if not counter the surrounding inferno, while those already entangled in battle would be lured out in the open by his clansmen. Madara seemed to notice menial attempts at countering his fire release technique which he deemed pathetic.

Hanami was treating all the patients in the infirmary, recovering from their previous battle. She did not want to imagine how bad the situation was bound to be in a few hours though. As she raised her head from healing one wounded boy, she saw smoke coming from the forest.

"It has begun…" she thought to herself. She realized that she was not very far from the battlefield. The thought of the Uchiha, Uchiha Madara especially, being that close to the base was something that terrified her. Breaking into the base would be extremely tricky, however. She knew that even without Hashirama, they must be madmen to be planning on attacking the Senju compound head on.

Vague shinobi war cry and explosion sounds could be heard easily by the people in the infirmary's location, being clear proof for the events unfolding. Touka was lying on her futon quietly, fully aware of the events entangling.

"You see now why I was so adamant on going, little sister?" she directed her gaze towards Hanami.

"I see, that is precisely I would never let you." Hanami answered back piercingly

As she raised her eyes toward the window, she saw the forest burning up. The smoke had started to make its way into the compound, and another healer abruptly closed the windows. It was evident that the Uchiha had easily managed to come very close to the Senju base.

…..

As Madara had planned, the battle was transferred into the valley. It was a small detour from the team's planned destination; however, it had been decided that it would pay off in the long run. The first enemy combatants started making their way towards the valley.

The battle was slowly getting transferred to the plains as the Uchiha had intended. Butsuma Senju and Tajima Uchiha were clashing as always, so was his brother with Tobirama. A group of Senju ninja started attacking him in combinations.

"Let's dance" Madara smirked, gracefully moving in between them, like a flowing air current. One by one the soldiers perished.

"Weak" he muttered and made his way towards Butsuma Senju.

"Father" Madara exclaimed loudly "this is getting bothersome" swinging his gunbai, he targeted Butsuma.

"Let's finish this man off together" he declared.

Tajima was not very pleased to hear this. Butsuma had been his lifelong rival and his little runt, now all grown up had butted in in his business, however he had to be pragmatic about the situation. War was war and the Senju had already suffered plenty of casualties already. Madara had made sure of that. Getting rid of the leader would be the final nail in the coffin.

"Bring it on Tajima." Butsuma said. Madara's attack hadn't managed to do much damage. The Senju clan leader had a lot of fighting experience to boot, something that the younger generation did not seem to possess as much, in spite of the sheer talent. Amidst the smoke and the ashes, Butsuma started clashing with father and son.

**Poof**

The abrupt sound accompanied by a thick cloud of smoke startled everyone.

"A summoning?" Izuna wondered "No…".

Tobirama whose sword was up against Izuna started laughing "He is back."

The smoke started clearing up revealing a bulky shadow. On top there was a figure standing gracefully with long, straight flowing hair. It was Hashirama. He had literally appeared out of thin air.

Madara could not hide his bloodlust. His eyes widened and his lips curved towards a menacing smile.

"FINALLY!" he started shouting "I was wondering how many of those fools I would have to butcher until you would appear Hashirama!"

"Sorry for being late, everyone" was Hashirama's only answer "sorry Madara, this will take a while". He merged both of his hands and the wooden figure – a buddha like statue- he was on top of released a huge wave of water. Madara was amazed. Hashirama had released a massive amount of water in a place with no lakes or rivers situated in proximity. He was ready to use his new technique to counter only to realize that Hashirama's purpose was not to attack, but rather to put out the fire that the Uchiha had previously started in the forest.

"That bastard" Madara muttered "he has been training". Hashirama's face had markings on him that Madara had never seen on him before. The trip to the forest had not been for vacation. Hashirama was now a Sage.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Madara." Hashirama landed in front of him "Let's fight."

"You are different" Madara smiled at him "but you are not the only one with new techniques up his sleeve". His eyes this time had a different pattern, one Hashirama had not seen before in another Sharingan.

"Madara, you have roughed our side this time pretty good. I am tired of all this fighting. Let's have have both our troops retreat and fight a one on one battle to decide the winner." Hashirama told him almost pleadingly.

"I am afraid not Hashirama. I had been waiting for you, you had your chances. This has been planned from the beginning."

Hashirama admitted to himself that he had made a mistake. With his newly acquired Sennin mode he was able to sense that the odds were terribly against them. Many of his comrades' life forces were fading. Just how strong had Madara gotten? He looked at Madara who was beaming with excitement and then turned to Tobirama who was still engaged in combat with Izuna. There was only one way to save his friends before their troops would be annihilated and that was to get medics into the battlefield.

"Tobirama!" he shouted at his brother "do it!". Madara raised an eyebrow at Hashirama averting his attention away from him once again, but not for long as Hashirama threw himself at his opponent.

Without a second thought, Tobirama vanished from everyone's sight, leaving for once more Izuna be.

"Tsk, again?" Izuna said annoyed but still alert in case his opponent would pop out of somewhere unexpected.

This had been the second time the Senju had used this strange technique and he had to make sense of it, for it potentially could be his end.

"HASHIRAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

"MADARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

Τhe characteristic battle cries of his brother and his rival resounded across the ashy terrain.

**Author's Comments**

Guess whos back y'all! Hashirama!

I saw this post on Tumblr which said that Madara has vindictive ex vibes and omg it's true.

On another note, I had always thought that the Senju were more of hippies, living in the forest etc, making them more free spirited than the Uchiha who are more militaristic and uptight. This is the vibe I am going with. In my headcanon, the Senju are super duper into nature and such, so the burning up of the forest is like stripping them away of their lifeline.

Meanwhile, since Hashirama and Madara are supposedly 19 yrs old here, I figured that their battle prowess has truly began to shine through and their clans rely on each of them respectively to get the job done, therefore if one is not there and the other one were to go rampant, the opposing side would be in deep shit. That was the Uchiha plan, to kill off as many soldiers as possible using Madara, while Hashirama-who usually stalls him- is away. I also imagined that the Senju base had lots of booby traps (curtesy of the Uzumaki cousins) which the Uchiha are pretty aware of, that is why Hanami figured that they would be crazy to attack the Senju base directly.

See you in the next chapter! Dare to guess what happens next?

xoxo, CS