"Madara, stop it!"
"Ow, you're hurting me, let me go!"
Right now, the female's wrists were in the strong grasp of the clan head. After hearing that Uchiha Clan wipeout nonsense, he just had to drag her off the bed on onto her feet. At this point, the food that she was in the middle of consuming had been spilled on the sheets much to Izuna's displeasure. Truthfully, he wished his brother was a little gentler with fragile creatures like women. Then again, he knew how Madara felt right now. To hear that the clan that he was protecting with all of his might was to be wiped out was like a practical joke. They were one of the – if not the most – most powerful clans around. And with their numbers and their secret eye technique, it was impossible for anyone to even come close to annihilating their entire clan. What puzzled Izuna was the sound of the girl's voice when she spoke of this. He couldn't forget the look in her eyes too. They were sincerely curious, as if what she was saying was an actual fact.
"Silence!" While Izuna was busy thinking – he isn't now, that's for sure – Madara shouted at the girl who refused to stop nagging at him to let her go.
"Here I was, thinking of checking up on you and giving you a chance because Izuna is so fond of you—"
"Brother!"
"—but after spouting nonsense like that, I'm going to make sure you're not getting a chance to be trusted by anyone."
It was safe to say that Madara was offended, and at this point, hated Kiomi's guts. Izuna was a little annoyed at his brother's outbursts too. To tell a girl something like him liking her, even he had his pride. There were more pressing matters at the moment though as Madara dragged her out of the room. There could only be one possible next scenario to take place. An introduction to the clan…
"So what's this about, why'd he call us out?"
"I have no idea. He did announce that it was important."
"Maybe he'll chase out the intruder once and for all." "I don't think so. I heard from Noriko that the brothers are competing again, and this time, used the girl as grounds for their competition."
"Those two are always like that, if they weren't so capable, I wouldn't want them as heads of the clan."
"There are more who are suited." "No, Madara's the best choice. He does make the best decisions."
"It should have been Izuna. He's more peaceful than his older brother."
Needless to say, chatter was going on. There were different topics, but mostly, it was the stuff that was always being discussed within the clan behind the leader's back. Of course, if he heard about some preferring Izuna, it would have been considered treason…and Madara wasn't exactly the kindest leader. Sure he does everything for them, but he was still a force that could wipe them out if he wished.
"Is everyone gathered?" The hall came into murmurs and then a complete silence when Madara finally stepped in along with his younger brother and the mysterious girl. All eye were on the female who wore their traditional clothes, it was very unsightly. They didn't want anyone else wearing their crest, especially if they were strangers. It was like a blasphemy to the clan.
"Everyone seems to be here." Izuna confirmed, his Sharingan activated to keep count of the people that had gathered. Glancing off to the girl, her expression baffled him. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of the ichizoku's entirety. If he could describe it, her paleness, it seemed to have been brought about by seeing ghosts. What was it about her expression that made uneasiness set in?
"Do you see this girl?" Madara finally spoke to the group in accordance to yanking her up front. The mass of people stared at the platform where the three stood; eyes were raking the girl up and down. Her silver orbs caught sight of black eyes mixed in with crimson ones. The feeling made her feel sick. She could not understand what was happening, and now to add to the most of her confusion, she saw countless people possessing the Sharingan. She could never be wrong about those eyes. "She claims to know something about the entirety of the Uchiha Ichizoku being wiped out."
"What?" "Is she crazy?" "She must be, our clan, wiped out?" "Impossible." "Not even the Senjuu can kill us. There's no one strong enough to eradicate the whole clan."
Again, the whispers continued. She was being eyed with criticism now and they were ready to believe that she was indeed one of the enemy. Being a clan of genjutsu users, it would be easy to get information from her.
"But it's true! Ow! Let me the hell go!" She continued on. When she cursed at Madara, and much to his surprise she really did, he twisted her hand behind her more, creating more pain for her. "So how can you explain the entire clan that's looking at you?" The leader asked.
That was a good point actually. She couldn't explain it. "Itachi…" Madara stared at her for a moment. "It was someone named Uchiha Itachi! The man who singlehandedly slaughtered the Uchiha clan!"
Singlehandedly…
The clan head's grip loosened for a moment. A man would singlehandedly bring us down? Impossible. There was no one stronger than him. Even Izuna was only at par with him, and for someone to try and defeat them all alone, that man simply did not exist. When the girl blurted this out, gasps and whispers once again filled the hall. It was simply preposterous.
"Impossible!" Someone from the crowd yelled. "No one would betray the clan!" Another one urged.
"Could this be Hashirama's tactic? Send this girl over to us in order to confuse our flanks?" Even Izuna was in on the suspicions now. He would believe what the girl said if it was a different case. He couldn't possibly side with her when she spoke ill of the clan and its members. Not even something so trivial as love can get him to side with others when their family was at stake. Looking over at his brother, Izuna saw the shock on Madara's face. Unbeknownst to him though, Madara was more concerned about someone being more powerful than him.
"You said Hashirama…" Kiomi spoke, looking at Izuna who nodded with slight suspicion.
"But isn't he dead?" Now that, that one came to the surprise of many. In fact, the question, 'What was she talking about?' was the inquiry that was asked the most.
"Impossible!" That was probably the last draw for the clan's leader.
"No one," He paused only to grab her by the collar of the clothes that she wore. "No one is allowed to defeat Senjuu Hashirama besides myself." Abruptly, she'd push her away, sending her toppling back to the edge of the platform.
"Lock her up in the lower cells. Have someone send a falcon to the Senjuu, by morning we will be returning to them their rat."
:.:.:.:
"It's not like I lied…"
This isn't the first time that I got in trouble for telling the truth, but this is a little too much, even for me.
The dust laden floor was all but kind. She didn't mind that it was cold, but she minded that it was dirty. It wasn't the kind of dirty where there's just dust and bugs running around. When there's a skull at the other side of the cell and bones at the other, well, things were looking so good for the worst.
There were so many things that confused her and among them was the restoration of the Uchiha clan. Someone had gossiped that the man named Itachi was a nonexistent figure which meant that something was really off. Kiomi didn't like the looks of it. Not one bit. Of course, aside from this, the fact that Hashirama was still alive was also a pressing matter. It was just not possible. She had seen documents before in the loab which concerned an experiment using the Shodaime's cells, and it was clearly stated there that they had been gathered when he had died. So it was just impossible for him to be alive.
"Unless…"
An idea was sparked in her head. It could have been during that time. The lass tried her best to remember the events that unfolded when she was still inside her own room. She could remember seeing a scroll and she could remember unsealing the scroll. After that, she was engulfed by a light that was bright enough to blind her and the next thing that she knew…she was with these people.
"Could I have traveled back in time?" She asked herself. "But that's impossible too, right? Although…" She also remembered how Izuna was clueless about Konoha. Considering that it was the village where the Uchiha was and was slaughtered, it was just not possible for them to not know it. Unless of course she traveled back to the time where the villages weren't even established…
"I still don't get it. But if that really is the case, then that would explain why the Uchiha's are still alive."
"What would explain why we're still alive?"
Taken away from her thoughts, Kiomi's head snapped up at the sound of a familiar voice. "Izuna-san…" she mused.
"Where did you get those?" He reinforced his arrival with another question. As his fingers pointed at the beads that gave of a purple glow, Kiomi picked one up and reached her hand outside of the cell. From the looks of it, it looked like she was giving one to him. There was a sense of hesitation on the Uchiha's part as he himself extended his hand just below hers. He even stopped for a while, but when he noticed that his was directly under dainty digits, Kiomi dropped it onto his opened palm.
"I made them."
"They're so cold." He noticed.
"They're made of ice." She explained.
"Come to think of it, when you attacked me two nights ago, you also produced ice shaped senbons. I've never seen anyone with that kind of jutsu before,"
He paused only to crouch down and look at her. "And I've never seen a Jutsu that I cannot copy either, or a person outside of the clan who knows about the Sharingan." He smirked before suddenly activating his Sharingan.
"Ack!" This made Kiomi panick to the point where she grabbed the luminous ice pebbles only to hurl it violently at Izuna. Skilled as he was, those were easily caught. "Goddamnit, don't look at me with those eyes." They're all the same. Every last one of them, past, present or future, they're all walking nightmares!
"I really don't believe that you're one of Hashirama's lackeys." From her curled up position, she glanced the moment that she heard some weight shift on the ground. There she'd saw Izuna sitting down, back pressed against the metal bars while hands were used to cushion his head.
"But weren't you the one who suggested that I was?"
"I was. But after hearing you claim that he's dead, I thought about it." His voice seemed like he was smiling.
"What if I was lying?" She asked in turn.
"I don't think you are."
"Why?"
"You just don't seem like the type of person that would lie about something when you know that it's true." And with this, he turned to her, smiling a most radiant smile. It was enough to make her blush that she had to look away. Unfortunately for her, Izuna noticed this.
"So, this guy who has the Sharingan…this Sasuke guy, is he your lover or something?"
"HELL NO, HE'S NOT!"
Izuna jolted at the sound of her voice and it even made him chuckle that she'd react so violently to it. "You, you're so honest."
"I still want to know though," Once again, Izuna spoke, this time reaching in and dropping the luminous ice down by her. "What would explain why we're still alive?" For them, again, it was back to square one.
:.:.:.:
"What nonsense is that Izuna?" Madara who was sitting down on his chair lofted a brow at his brother. "I thought I told you to get some information from her, not humor her by believing her lies."
"I thought she was lying too. But while I was talking to her, it just felt like she was telling the truth." Izuna reasoned. With a deep sigh, Madara stood up and paced around. His hands were tucked across his chest and every movement was filled with doubt and a lingering sense of worry. "A person that came from the future doesn't seem to be likely unless you have proof that she's telling the truth."
"She knows about the Sharingan, even the Tsukiyomi." Those words alone got Madara to stop. An outside who knew about the Sharingan was unthinkable.
"Will you still return her to Hashirama knowing our secret?"
"We'll dispose of them both at the meeting place. After all, Hashirama already answered our invitation to meet." He replied before producing a letter with the Senjuu seal attached to it.
So it really had to come down to this.