The sun had not yet risen when Madara rode out of the Uchiha fortress, donning full battle armor.
He left on his own – going with a few men would've been too sensible, and he didn't think the matter was important enough to mobilize his entire army – to the nearest meeting point on neutral ground.
A few days before, the leader of the Kigawa had sent him word that he wanted to negotiate a truce. That wouldn't be, of course, because he already knew what the man would propose: The Uchiha would grant them safe passage through their territory, and, in return, the Kigawa wouldn't wage war on them. Most of his kinsman would deem this a fair enough trade, if a little humiliating, and Madara himself wasn't so proud he'd condemn his clan to an unequal fight because of it – if the matter didn't go beyond allowing an army to cross their land.
Madara knew Kigawa Yoshimoto meant to take Kyoto, and that opening the Uchiha's borders would be paramount to handing him the capital (and, consequently, the nation) on a silver platter. Even if the sacrifices were great, he knew they'd have to pay a much direr price later on if the Kigawa were allowed to do as they pleased.
Still, he couldn't outright refuse the invitation, because it provided him with the perfect opportunity to instill undue confidence in the man. That was, after all, what his plan hinged on.
Madara arrived on the designed meeting place (a small fortress located in the junction of a river) hours before he was expected. He dismounted from his horse at the stable doors, and left the animal there, without so much as a word to the men who would tend to it. He normally wasn't this rude, but he also wasn't a good actor, and if he had to pretend to be mad he might as well go with the kind of insanity that best suited his personality.
He climbed the stone stairs leading up to the entrance door, which he opened brusquely, and when a shivering attendant approached him to collect his weapons, he snarled at the man and shoved his belongings against is chest. He had considered refusing to hand them over, but that would be more trouble than it was worth.
"M-my Lord! We weren't expecting you so soon-" The man stammered.
"Then let your superiors know I'm here." He retorted, and stormed down the hall, before stopping and turning around "Are you going to stand around all day?"
The attendant excused himself and ran to enter a hallway to the left. Normally he'd be taken to the room where the meeting would take place, but he had scared the other man so much he forgot to guide him. No matter, Madara had been in the building enough times to know where he was supposed to go.
He unceremoniously entered the room he had been in countless meetings with other local Daimyos, ever since before he even became one. He allowed himself a moment to look through the barred windows and into the wilderness surrounding the fortress as he steeled himself for the next step of his plan.
Making battle plans was easy. Fighting, even more so. Acting, not so much.
Madara spotted a vase on top of a stand by the entrance door and decided that at some point in the meeting he'd break it – it was ugly anyway. He considered destroying a few more decorations, but ended up deciding against it. He knew there would be guards watching from behind the paneled walls, and they'd seize him if they thought he was a threat. He wanted to seem unhinged, not get kicked out of the building.
It wasn't long before two men entered, each having an opposite reaction to his presence. The first, tall and broad-shouldered, frowned at him, while the second, pale, slight, and downright sickly-looking, merely smiled at him in greeting.
"What overcame you to do this?" The first man asked "Didn't you think I might have better things to do than to deal with your caprices?"
"But you are here." He showed his teeth, but it wasn't quite a grin.
"It would be a pity to leave you waiting." The second said, bowing sleepily, but Madara knew better than to think he'd just woken from a nap. Kigawa Yoshimoto's incompetence as a warrior did nothing to harm his skills as a strategist.
"You are the one who called me – this courtesy is the least I expected." He replied, sitting down on the floor, as the other men followed "Let's get this over with."
"As it's my duty to uphold the peace-" The taller man began, and Madara snorted loudly "-in the territories from Owari to Suruga I was quick to arrange this meeting once Lord Kigawa informed me of his resolve. I know Lord Uchiha mustn't be happy about the situation, but I'm glad he accepted my invitation."
Madara crossed his arms and rocked his body back and forth. It was a childish gesture, and one he would never do in other circumstances, but he admitted it was a good representation of his state of mind at the moment.
"All I need is your blessing." Yoshimoto said softly "Allow my army to pass through Owari, and I'll be forever in your debt."
The tall man nodded once, likely approving of the man's choice of words rather than their true meaning, and turned to Madara expectantly.
"I have another proposition." He declared "After I have your head mounted on a pike for trying to cross my territory, then I might allow some of your men to retreat relatively unscathed."
There was the briefest moment of shocked silence before the tall man pinched the bridge of his nose, while the other breathed in deeply.
"Is this why you came? To threaten me?" Yoshimoto asked, all previous traces of civility replaced by a deep frown.
Madara shrugged.
"I thought it would be rude not to announce your imminent death in person."
"This is ridiculous. I will not allow my guests to be insulted so openly."
"Insulted?!" Madara felt his face contort into a horrendous scowl as he stood up in a brusque motion "I've had my men attacked, my allies surrounded and now am expected to sit around and make niceties, and he's the one being insulted?!"
He could almost feel the guards stir behind the walls.
"This is entirely inappropriate." The man spoke "This is a sanctuary for those who seek to maintain the peace between the lands. I am-"
"You are a joke!" Madara all but shouted. He wouldn't have said that if he wasn't trying to be rude, but it wasn't a lie.
"You need to leave. Now."
"Leave it be, Kagemochi." Yoshimoto intervened, giving the other man a weary glance "Cornered animals always thrash the hardest."
He examined Madara's form; his barred teeth and taut muscles, winded up and ready to attack, but his grave expression didn't waver.
"My army outnumbers yours by more than twice its amount, and none of your allies can come to your aid." He noted placidly, almost like an observation and not a threat "If the Uchiha try to take on the Kigawa they will be extinguished."
"So be it!" With a swift motion he had Kigawa Yoshimoto's collar in between his fingers, and in the split second it took for the sentinels to spring from the walls he saw genuine fear in the man's eyes, as if he believed Madara capable of throwing his life away just to get to him.
That was all he needed to see.
He let go of the other man's shirt as the guards accosted him, brusquely pulling him away, and he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, but his eyes still maintained the same murderous glint.
"Uchiha Madara." The host spoke with a level of authority that didn't suit him "You and your clansmen are no longer welcomed here."
"I'll try not to weep over it." Still holding his hands up, Madara walked to the entrance, and took the opportunity to elbow the vase in display, smashing it against the wall and causing the stand to tumble to the ground.
He stomped out of the room, gritting his teeth to keep himself from giggling like a little kid. He really should start considering leaving meetings in a vicious mood and breaking things on his way out more often. It would at least make things less dull.
From that to leaving was just a short trip to the room were the visitor's weapons were stored (and where he shouldn't be) and a stop at the stables. His horse wasn't rested enough to take him straight home, but if he wanted to seem sanguine to a hazardous extent making the trip back to Owari on an exhausted animal would only help. He'd stop in a temple along the way for a break.
Madara got on his mount and left in a mad dash, only slowing down when he was certain he couldn't be seen from the building.
He wasn't torn over being banned from Kagemochi's little "sanctuary". It hadn't been his intention, but he had already achieved his objective there. In truth, a part of him was disgusted by the existence of the place.
Kagemochi sought to avoid battles at all costs, regardless of context, and seemed more interested in making begrudging warlords make peace like misbehaving children than to address what caused the squabble in the first place. It was an infantile tactic that was bound to backfire someday. Perhaps he could say it already had.
Madara was a lot more fatalistic about war. In a world so vast and with so many conflicting interests, it was foolish to think there could be any peace. It was possible that one man would die without knowing of conflict, but the span of a human life was short and ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Everlasting peace was nothing but a pipe dream.
In contrast with the time he had left, Madara arrived just after sunset, and red still outlined the horizon. All the better, as he didn't want just anyone finding out where he'd been.
The entrance gates opened just enough for him and his horse to pass through, and the man behind the door bowed as he approached.
"Hikaku." Madara dismounted his horse and lowered his head in greeting "Has any disaster happened while I was away?"
"None."
"No fires, explosions or mass beheadings?" It was only half a joke. He didn't trust people around him to go on their business peacefully without him breathing down their neck.
"Everything is just as you left it." Hikaku's eyes crinkled in amusement.
"And you haven't let anyone know where I was?"
"Just the people who were supposed to."
Madara nodded in acknowledgement, stringing the horse's reign around his hand to lead it into the stable, and the other man followed him in silence. They had already walked all the way to their destination and he had begun unsaddling his horse when Hikaku spoke again.
"Aa. Also, a letter from Lord Izuna arrived this noon."
Madara's fingers slipped from the seat's cinch, and he lowered his arm to create the illusion that the movement was deliberate.
"Do you have it with you?" He asked, trying to maintain his voice even.
"It's right here." Hikaku patted the breast of his jacket "Would you like to read it now?"
He extended his hand towards the man and released a breath he didn't even know he was holding once he felt the rough texture of paper against his palm. How many months had it been since he had last seen his brother? It couldn't have been less than a year – it felt like it had been forever. If he had a choice in the matter Izuna would be in their fortress, holding a position of honor in his council, not stationed in a far-away camp, but that was what his brother wanted, and Madara was notoriously bad at denying him anything.
He stored the letter inside his own vest, deciding to read it after he reached his room – though he knew he would reach for it as soon as he had locked his horse in a pen.
"Is there anything else I should know?" He questioned, matter-of-factly.
"Everything is ready for your meeting with the generals tomorrow." Hikaku answered, and he nodded in acknowledgment. "And Lady Sakura says she's bored."
Madara frowned. There was so much that bothered him in the other man's statement he had trouble figuring where he should even start.
Hikaku was a warrior and an Uchiha; he shouldn't feel obliged to refer to Sakura as he would a superior, even if Madara hadn't made her his concubine just for the sake of the plan.
That this was the second most relevant thing he had to say was worrisome well. He was expecting a shipment of harquebuses without almost as much excitement as he expected the Kigawa's first attack, and having no news of either was disappointing.
Then there was also the fact that Hikaku seemed to think he'd be interested in that piece of information. All he needed to know was if the girl was able to write letters, everything else was just useless trivia.
"Hikaku, you know of the plan." He stated as he led his mount into one of the pens.
"I do."
"Then you also know that this is none of my concern." He continued "And being bored for a chance might do her some good."
Madara didn't have a good opinion of ladies-in-waiting in general or the practice itself. It only served to fabricate relationships, develop useless skills, and foster dependency among women who aren't used to do things by themselves to begin with. Her life in the Uchiha compound up to that point resumed in playing games and looking pretty; maybe she'd find something useful to do with her newfound free time.
"I'll remember that." Hikaku acquiesced with a smile he couldn't quite place.
Madara locked the horse in and turned around.
"If that's all, you can take your leave."
"Of course, my lord." And with a slight bow he vanished into the shadows.
Good. It wasn't like he had an issue with Hikaku – he entrusted him with more than he would most of his kinsmen, in fact – he hated having people behind his back, and the thought that they could lean in to read something over his shoulder was particularly abhorrent. No, he'd rather be alone for this.
Madara pulled the paper from his coat and hastily unfurled it. He told himself reading his brother's letter now was for the best.
Big brother
Tekka's army was intercepted in the border and they should be back soon after this letter finds you. Some of my scouts managed to get to them before the Uzumaki did.
The bastards are watching our routes to the east and it would be impossible to send a large group of men to Owari, but if we get support from other clans we'll be able to force through. I have a few favors I can cash in. Until then I can send you some of my best men.
Once we amass a large enough army we'll come to help you with the Kigawa. I'll see you then.
I also think it's high time we forget our truce with the Senju, but you know what I always thought about them. They'll come to the Uzumaki's aid as soon as they are called. The best we can do is trade Tōka back for Kagami, or they'll run him through when they get word from the Uzumaki brat. Hashirama might have that air of irreproachable goodness about him, but we both know he isn't trustworthy.
You don't need to worry about me, I'm well and happy. I've been able to do things my way while helping the clan at the same time, but it would be nice to have some time off. Once the Kigawa have been dealt with we should both take a few days to ourselves .I think we deserve it.
And don't overwork yourself!
I'll see you soon.
Izuna
His vicious grip made the paper fray at the edges. He was torn between tearing it into pieces or keeping it, as he did with all of his brother's letters. The Uzumaki had once been a clan of little consequence to him: They had ties with the Senju and their territory was conveniently between the Uchiha's and the Kigawa's, making them a useful bargaining tool. His father had once attempted to use them as such, but the plan had backfired, and that once irrelevant family turned into a genuine threat. Lately the Uzumaki had been playing all their cards right, but he distinctly remembered their young lord being far from a genius. How he managed to set his small forces in such a way to perfectly fit with the Kigawa's was a mystery.
Realistically speaking, it would be nigh impossible to break the trap the two clans had set out for him.
Madara grinned.
He liked those odds.
Trying to write Madara pretending to be crazy was way harder than I thought it'd be. Also no Sakura on this one – Madara probably won't be on the next one either, but if it's as short as I'm thinking it will be it won't take long until we can see them interact again on chapter six. I promise they won't be all about business by then.
Some people expressed disappointment in the length of the second chapter in comparison with the first, but the thing is, in the manner I'm writing this (a character's POV per chapter) it would be very difficult to keep everything at the same length while also not messing up the timeline.
A reply to the users who weren't logged in:
Guest:Is that an order or an observation? xD
Pomme:Yoooooo thank youuuuu~!
I see you're a reader after my own heart ;) Though I'm surprised you mentioned espionage, since I didn't even get the chance to bring in the ninjas.
Also, thank you very much for the compliment to my writing abilities. There are many stories in this site that aren't particularly well written (even if the concept behind them is fascinating) that whenever someone tells me something like "You write good!" I just ASGFAKFGSKGKG
Thanks for reading!
