asoiaf!naruto. set after chapter 2 of keep me up all night...

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uchiha izuna never liked praying to the sage. i do not trust him, she told him once with a hushed voice so their nephews didn't hear. he looks like he's going to eat us alive.

he wasn't religious either; he had knelt in the sage's shrine and before the scorched tree just for the sake of formality. but tonight, if bending his knee to any deity would allow him to talk to izuna once more, he would do it at once. the remnants of her chakra gnawed at his guilt since the raven brought the news of her death.

he had an apology to deliver.

the sage of six path's carved face gazed down to the cold body of izuna upon a raised platform. she wore her broken armor. her sword, covered with dried blood, was laid upon her body. the scent of incense and various flowers masked the corpse's actual smell.

a white cloth draped over her face. the candles didn't show any broken shapes underneath. he lifted his hand, reaching. this is his last chance to see her face before her funeral.

"i wouldn't do that if i were you."

senju tobirama turned, his dark cloak whipped around his body. a figure approached from the corner of the shrine. he was sure he was alone here. he stepped down from the platform, surprise hidden by his bow as he realized who the other person was.

"your majesty."

emperor madara looked at his brother in law with the same disdainful stare. he suddenly stopped within an arm's reach, his fiery chakra blazing all of a sudden. glowing red eyes glared in the dark.

"why do you have her chakra...?" madara snarled at him.

tobirama clutched his left side protectively. "dragon's mark."

"hers?"

"hers." the nobleman looked away.

madara's face contorted in anger. he grabbed the younger man's collar. "just because you have my sister's mark don't ever think i will forgive you for sending her to her demise."

a reply formed itself on tobirama's tongue, but he swallowed it back. fighting was prohibited within the sacred ground. instead he stared into madara's sharingan, defiant. the emperor wasn't the only one grieving tonight.

besides, tobirama hadn't forgiven him for marking his sister either.

unable to rile him up, madara let him go and left the shrine. tobirama waited, then molded his chakra again. after making sure he was the only one in the shrine, he lifted the cloth over her face.

izuna's eyes were gone.