Chapter three – Boiling Frog
The boiling frog is an anecdote describing a frog slowly being boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. The story is often used as a metaphor for the inability or unwillingness of people to react to or be aware of threats that occur gradually.
Stepping in through the front door of his house, Hashirama was greeted by his younger brother Tobirama. Itama was the youngest of the three brothers, Tobirama was four years older than him and Hashirama was a little under two years older than Tobirama. Currently Tobirama was standing in fluffy slippers, a pink apron and a baking bowl in his hand while he waved the wooden spoon still full of bread dough in greeting.
Hashirama wondered what they would do without Tobi sometimes. He was only ten, but still better at keeping the household together then even their father. Tobirama was tall for his age just like Hashirama, but unlike Hashirama's flat dark, hair his was light grey and spiky. He also had inherited their mother's pale skin and red eyes while Hashirama and Itama had gotten theirs from their dad.
Many of the civilians who met them couldn't believe they were related; they looked so different and behaved completely contradictory to each other. Ironically it was Tobirama who had the most sense and acted the oldest.
"Late much? Dinner was over hours ago. We were considering going out to find you." Muttered Tobirama scornfully. He rolled his eyes at Hashirama when his shoulders slumped and his head bowed forwards in depression.
"Forgive me."
"That doesn't work on me anymore, Hashirama! Dad's in there, he probably wants to see you're alive." Said the middle brother of the family, pointing towards the door behind him with the spoon and marched into the kitchen.
Straightening up and nodding to the back of his brother's head, Hashirama walked into the lounge. "I'm home." He sang as he spotted his father and youngest brother Itama playing cards.
"Where were you? You're usually not this late," his father Butsuma queried as he laid out a card on the floor.
His father was a compactly built man with slightly thinner dark brown hair than Hashirama. He was very stern, but that wasn't that strange since he had to keep track of three sons all under the age of thirteen alone. Their mother had died a few years ago. One day when she was out in the forest picking herbs she had been attacked by the Uchiha; she had been seven months pregnant.
Half a year ago their brother Kawarama had been killed as well during one of the larger battles between the two clans. He had only been seven.
"Em… Just out, did some training and lost track of time." Answered Hashirama. He wasn't sure why he didn't tell them about Madara but the idea didn't sit well with him. It was a very real possibility his father wouldn't approve of him having friends outside of the clan.
"Can you train with me tomorrow, brother? I want to try the Kage Bunshin Naruto-chan taught me! I still can't do it properly, but today I made some smoke appear, and I think I saw some of my hair in the dust!" Itama exclaimed, ignoring his father who was waiting for him to make his move.
"I don't like you doing experimental ninjutsu alone, Itama! That technique sounds dangerous." Said Tobirama loudly from the kitchen.
"It's not dangerous! Naruto-chan made a sea of clones! I think there was like a hundred of her running around taking down the Uchiha!" Exclaimed Itama back.
"Don't shout in the house Itama." Said Butsuma sternly. Hashirama smiled and nodded to his younger brother.
"I agree with Tobi. You shouldn't do that stuff alone, so I'll help you tomorrow." He said and sat down next to them, ruffing up Itama's two toned hair as he decided he didn't have anything better to do than to go to sleep.
"Really? That would be awesome, brother! I haven't seen you around much lately." Itama said and finally went back to concentrating on the game when his father gave him an annoyed look.
Tobirama came in, apron free but still patched with flour and looked down at his older brother. "Yes, you haven't been around lately. Even before Itama returned you were absent for a lot of the time. Where do you go?" Asked the only white haired boy in the room.
"Around. Today I went up on the mountain..." He trailed off considering if he should mention that he'd run into Naruto. But then they might start asking questions, or worse, meet up to see her. If they saw Madara…
"Which one? They're pretty far away. You shouldn't wander off like that, son. You might be the oldest, but that doesn't mean you can't lose. You never know where you'll run into an Uchiha." Said Butsuma and looked up from his stack of cards.
"I went to the one westwards. You know, the funny one which looks like it has been cut down one of the sides." Hashirama answered feeling bad about not telling them why he'd ended up there. "It's really nice there. The view is truly great."
"At least it's not in the direction of the Uchiha." Muttered his father as he laid down another card.
Tobirama had just noticed how much flour was on his clothes and started dusting it off while talking to Hashirama. "Don't forget you have a mission tomorrow brother."
"I won't, but that's in the afternoon, and anyway I'll be going with you. If I know you at all then you'll make sure I'm on time."
The next few weeks there was an increased number of visits to the clearing in the forest. Hashirama had not failed to notice that ever since Madara and he had ran into the cheery girl, things had been even better than they used to.
The trio sat cross legged on the shore next to the calm creek when Naruto had come up with the term; 'genin' for junior ninja in their village. They had already been discussing for a while, and was now calling the village Konoha.
Hashirama hadn't liked the term genin any better than he had liked the name Konoha, but Madara did. "Genin team. Yeah, that sounds plausible to me. It's definitely a better name than 'Ninja academy student graduates from the pre-training system squads' anyway." He said and gave an exasperated look towards Hashirama.
The boy instantly knelt down with his hands around his legs with his head towards his knees, the depressing aura looming around him.
"Stop being so damn emotional, Hashirama! Seriously! I still can't figure out if you're being serious or not!" Shouted Madara while pointing at the moody boy.
While Hashirama and Madara was definitely the closest friends, it was Hashirama and Naruto who got along the best.
Madara could have sworn, if it wasn't for the fact that they looked nothing alike, that they were long lost twins or something. Madara and Naruto bickered more than Hashirama did with either of them, mostly because he was so good at manipulating them when he didn't get his way.
Naruto however was a believer in meeting opposition head on and Madara was the same. They had given each other more bruises and scratches in a week, than Hashirama and Madara had gotten from each other in all the two months they'd been sparring combined.
To both boys bad luck, it seemed Naruto was the type of person who talked better through her fists than her mouth. She seemed like a natural fighter, had very high pain tolerance and never seemed to grow tired.
Hashirama guessed she had to be tough to survive on her own in these war filled times. Her lack of schooling was to be expected by someone who'd lost everyone she'd ever known when she was six years old, and never gotten an education.
"So if there's three genin in each team… Then we're sort of the first team of Konoha aren't we?" Said Madara and laughed. Hashirama smiled while Naruto looked wistful.
"Yeah! We totally are. Team one of Konoha!" Exclaimed Hashirama, tolerating the name since he was outvoted.
"I still think I'm at least chunin level." Added Madara and grinned crookedly but actually meaning it. He felt he was far above a rookie ninja by now.
"Well, if you're chunin and have yet to beat me, then does that make me a jounin?" Grinned Naruto excited about the idea. She'd never been promoted from genin and took some enjoyment from this.
"As if, you've just been lucky! I'll beat you soon. You're not organised enough to be a jounin though. I can't see you leading a team yourself yet, you seem to have more than enough with yourself." Stated Madara with a challenging look at Naruto.
"I could lead a team! Heck, I could lead an army, dattebayo! I just lack one." She grumbled, letting her chin rest on the palm of her hand as she glared nastily at the Uchiha.
"That's your own fault, you could probably get into a clan if you wished. You have some talent after all." Teased Hashirama and got to his feet. They had been planning to do some exercises before they had to go home.
"Of course I could if I wanted to. But most clans these days seem happier to shoot at you than listen." She said following the Senju's lead along with Madara.
"Oh that reminds me." Mumbled Madara. He stood opposite the curious blonde girl and reached out his hand clutching a small book. "Here. It's a book about shinobi in the fire country. It will give you a better understanding of where you have to stay away from."
He had brought it from home after hearing how clueless the girl was on the situation in the country. She knew a lot of funny facts about the other nations Hashirama and Madara had never heard of, but when it came to home turf she was pretty lost. He had even asked his father, and after he'd questioned Madara about the girl he had agreed to loan it to her.
Naruto looked wide eyed down at it and took a peek at the cover. 'Clan Dictionary' was written with bold black letters over a picture of a flame. "I can't believe you've never heard of the Hudanea. Seriously, they live like a few miles away. How the hell have you survived this long?" asked the Uchiha as Naruto studied the cover of the book.
For a long silent moment she stared at it while Hashirama looked curiously over her shoulder. In front of them Madara had a superior look plastered on his face.
Without warning, and taking both boys by surprise, Naruto looked teary eyed up and croaked. "Thank you!" And then proceeded to throw her hands around Madara's shoulders and hug him tightly.
Madara was caught so off guard he staggered and blushed at the girl's display of emotions. "Wha- You can let go now." He grunted and gave her an awkward pat on the head.
"You are so sweet for being concerned for me, Madara." She said smiling brightly while stepping back.
"I'm not concerned, idiot!" He shouted back, getting very flustered.
Hashirama was laughing and took the book out of Naruto's hand. "I haven't seen this before." He said and looked curiously at the cover.
"Well… It's mine, so it's not that surprising," Madara groused crossing his arms in front of him.
"She desperately needs it though. If not she might wander into a Hagaromo and get herself killed." He said annoyed.
"Eh? You mean the Sage of the Six Paths?" Naruto asked, startled.
Both boys looked just as lost at her reply. "Sage of the Six Paths? What the hell? No, I was talking about the Hagaromo clan. What on earth do they have to do with the Sage of the six Paths?" Madara asked, baffled as to how she could have made that conclusion.
'You idiotic, brat! His name is Hagoromo, not Hagaromo you talking monkey!' Kurama growled, enraged inside her mindscape.
"Oh sorry… I thought you meant Hagoromo..." Naruto mumbled, looking put out.
"And who is that?" Asked Hashirama with one eyebrow raised.
"The Sage of the Six Paths..." Answered Naruto uncertainly.
The boys' eyebrows raised to their hairline at this piece of trivia. "The Sage of the Six Paths was named Hagoromo?" Asked Hashirama incredulously. The fact that a girl who didn't know the placement of the nearest civilian village, but somehow knew the name of theSage of the Six Paths was a little incomprehensible. "Why do you think that?"
"Em… I just know. Was told the story you know. How else do you learn?" She asked, smiling while trying to figure out how to get out of the conversation. Kurama was still very insulted that she'd forgotten his father's name.
"I've never heard he had a name. They just called him the Sage of the Six Paths, or the founder of ninjutsu." Madara stated stubbornly, doubting whatever she'd heard was actually correct.
"Hey! It's true! And he wasn't the founder of ninjutsu, he was the founder of ninshū, dattebayo! You shouldn't talk about things you don't know!" Naruto exclaimed getting insulted by his tone.
"Ninshū? And what is that?" Hashirama wondered aloud.
Rubbing the back of her head, Naruto tried to think of how to answer. She was still a little uncertain exactly what ninshū was herself.
The boys started losing interest.
"You're just pulling our leg aren't you?" Madara griped.
"No, damn it! Sit down and let me think, why don't you? In fact, I'll tell you everything I know. I think you two should know this story." She said realising the truth of her own words.
After Naruto's outburst at the boys, she'd ordered them to listen despite Madara's many protests. He wanted to do something more productive than storytelling. Naruto had insistent though, and after a quick taijutsu match which ended in a tie, she had started telling the story despite Madara's taunts.
It hadn't taken the boy long to get sucked in though.
He had heard his own version of these stories as a child. But nothing quite this detailed. Wherever she had come from, they must have been very interested in the origins of shinobi. Since what she told him was both contradicting their own version, but also made more sense in its own unbelievable self.
As she told the story she became different, more serious and mature with such dedication, Hashirama half the time had the impression the girl had been there herself.
She told them about the Rabbit Goddess, Kaguya, eating the chakra fruit and how she became a tyrant and slave to her own powers and about her two sons. The first two to be born with chakra. Who eventually had been forced to seal their own mother away for the sake of the people.
How one of the twin brothers, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, had become the first jinchuriki of the Ten Tails and at his death had separated the Ten Tails into nine individual bijū. He was afraid of what would happen if the Ten Tails ever was released again, since he had foreseen that this would be the end of the world.
She told them of his legacy, which she specified had never been ninjutsu, but ninshū. A way of people sharing chakra between themselves and working together to protect one another. Ninjutsu was a tool of war misunderstood and abused from its origin, Ninshū.
On their next meeting, they decided to do balance training. Naruto told them of Hagoromo's two sons: Indra and Ashura. They had found some very sharp rocks up the stream and was balancing on top of them on Naruto's instructions while she also continued the story.
"Indra was the oldest. He was the talented one, and had inherited his father's visual power. Which made his eyes and mind powerful, while his younger brother Ashura was the opposite. He needed all the help he could get and had to practise a lot more. However he had inherited his father's life force, which meant he lived long and was much more indestructible physically than Ashura.
The two brothers lived peacefully together at first, but they were as different as night and day, or more accurately like Yin and Yang.
When Hogoromo knew his life was coming to an end he decided he needed an heir to continue his legacy. Looking at his two sons' abilities, he favoured his second son's approach to peace over Indra. Ashura who had started out badly, had grown strong through friends and loved ones, making people love him as he loved them. Believing this was the route to peace, he let Ashura become the next leader of Ninshū.
Indra was a born genius and preferred solitude. Their father's decision became Indra's weakness, since he became jealous.
Black Zetsu, a being who'd survived the sealing of his creator and mother Kaguya, went to Indra and started his manipulation. Black Zetsu was no Rabbit Goddess, but still had his own twisted manipulation skills. He made Indra hate his brother for making their father choose him. And as a result the Brother War started.
Even after they both had died, and both had loved each other more than anything, they became the bane of each other's existence.
Their views have been passed down through their descendants. Black Zetsu following close behind making sure there's never rest between them. And it is said that the brothers' soul are reincarnated time and time again, through members of their respective descendants, forever attempting to finish the sibling war that started hundreds of years ago." Naruto explained, balancing on top of a very thin rock, using only one toe.
The stone was very pointy, and if she became unsteady she would tumble into the river. Madara and Hashirama had fallen in a handful of times already, but Naruto was still as dry as when she'd started.
"Wait, you mean that Indra and Ashura are being reborn again and again, as their own descendants?" Asked Hashirama as he staggered on his own pointy rock. Naruto nodded but kept her eyes shut.
Madara was studying her skills, she was surprisingly good at standing so still. Naruto normally couldn't stay in one place for more than a few second. By nature she was so restless. Almost untamed... It seemed against her nature to be this calm and collocated.
"Yes, and can you guess who their descendants might be? I myself have a few guesses." Replied Naruto as she glanced at Hashirama through her lashes. The boy scratched his head but shook it after a few minutes.
"No… Should I?" Asked Hashirama.
"Well… Maybe, I think Indra's descendants are the Uchiha."
Madara pummeled into the water in shock. Coming up for air Hashirama stood laughing at him while Naruto giggled. "Uchiha? Because of their eye powers? But the Hyūga have that too!" Stated Madara while tilting his head sideways.
Naruto opened both eyes and looked back at him, she kept her smile wide as she nodded. "True, but they are the descendants of Hagoromo's twin brother Hamura." She explained. Madara thought back on her many stories. She had a point. Hagoromo had the Rinnegan while Hamura had the Byakugan.
"What about Ashura..." He trailed off while his eyes widened. "You think it's the Senju, don't you?" Madara exclaimed, surprised at his own words.
"Yes… The Senju have—if they aren't killed in battle—long lives. They are a powerful clan with a memory that reaches far back, just like the Uchiha and Hyūga. But there is also the Uzumaki clan, who are known for their strong life force and large chakra reserves. Very similar to the Senju. The clan lives far away from the Uchiha compared to the Senju, so their rivalry with their kin clan aren't as intense. But I think the direct line goes through these three clans." She replied and closed her eyes again.
Madara and Hashirama looked at each other. Hashirama had finally managed to get up on the rock but had gone quiet, thinking hard about Naruto's theory.
"What about this Black Zetsu?" He asked going just as still as Naruto. "How can he make sure there is chaos between the clans? Wouldn't they notice him?"
"I don't know entirely. Black Zetsu operates in the shadows, he can move through earth and hear through walls. He never rests, always wanting his mother back, hating Ashura and Indra's parentage as he waits to find a victim that fits his standards. He can feel the brothers' souls, and waits for the day one of them can be manipulated through grief or anger to do his bidding.
Which in simple terms means the Tsuki no Me. The end of the world. Only someone who can awaken the Rinnegan can achieve this. The person would have had to have extreme potential, and hate deeply for them to awaken. Who knows, these Clan Wars are really the perfect stage. The hate has never been so tangible between the Uchiha and Senju as it is at this point in time… Maybe… But as I said, the plan is madness… To gather the nine bijū and reawaken the Ten Tails. Do you know we see it almost every day?" She said and looked at both of the other boys in turn.
"What? We see the Ten Tails every day?" Asked Hashirama sounding alarmed.
"Almost… Hagoromo and Hamura sealed the Gedo statue into the moon. The nine bijū are always the most restless at full moon." She closed her eyes again and breathed deeply.
Madara couldn't keep his eyes off her as he stood knee deep in the river. Hashirama seemed to have gained a new sense of relaxation as he mimicked Naruto, both showing no sign of losing their balance.
"The Tsuki no Me will be the end of the world. When the moon turns red and the people will fall into an eternal genjutsu so powerful they will never wake up again. In their dreams they will see what they want. They will be perfectly happy you could say. The world going the way they desire it to. But Kaguya wants her chakra back. And she will suck out their wills and chakra until there is nothing but a zombie bent to her will left. Then there will be no one left but the Rabbit Goddess, the Ten Tails left to roam the earth." She finished and they all stood silently in thought.
Madara wondered how she could sound so sure of herself. It all sounded a little too far-fetched to him. "Who… Who told you this?" Asked Hashirama after a few minutes.
"From many sources… Some more reliable than others. The legends fascinates me. And I've seen him. I've seen Black Zetsu. Pitch dark with round yellow eyes. He has the shape of a human, but other than that there is only the eyes that distinguish him from a black shadow." She took a calming breath as her balance started to go a little off.
"And the Senju and Uchiha… were once brothers?" Asked Madara crossing his arms.
"Yes… It's what makes the war so much more painful. They are kin, even if they can't remember it anymore." Naruto then opened her eyes and grinned wildly down at Madara, the boy felt his cheeks heat up a bit at the look she gave him. She was just so warm.
Jumping down into the water in front of him she exclaimed. "I won't rest until the war between the Senju and Uchiha is over. I'll do everything I can to make sure Kaguya never gains strength, or Black Zetsu can manipulate another of Indra's descendants. I'll stop this circle of hatred, dattebayo!" She promised.
Madara had the distinct feeling she was talking to him more than Hashirama, as if she knew… Really knew he was an Uchiha. His cheeks turned redder then before when he heard Hashirama land next to Naruto.
"I'm in too, Naruto. The war has gone on for too long." He said excitedly while Naruto turned and beamed at him with the same toothy grin.
Madara nodded, "I'm in too. I want to protect my brother and Konoha, if we ever achieve it, would be a very good start." He said quietly to his two hyperactive friends.
She smiled so wide he actually had to look away as to not end up resembling a tomato. What the hell was wrong with him? His stomach felt warm, and his heart was beating rapidly in his chest. Seriously… He had to get a grip on himself.
"Then we'll have to grow strong, dattebayo! No one will ever listen to children, even if the grown-ups are acting stupid." She said, and with a jump was on top of the spiky rock again.
Sitting outside his house in the Uchiha village, Madara found himself looking forward to going back to the river in a three days' time. Today however he had a mission, and was waiting for Izuna and Katsu to arrive. He wondered idly what Hashirama and Naruto was up to. Were they racing in the forest? Or failing at casting a genjutsu?
Both of them were absolutely hopeless at it and needed all the practise they could get.
Madara was waiting for the other two as expected. Izuna had tutoring until two, while Katsu was three years older than Madara and never showed up early even if free dango was in the picture.
His younger brother was shaping up steadily these days, he seemed to be almost as talented as himself. Madara was very aware of his superior fighting talent, always had been. He was very competitive, and that might have been the key factor as to why he bothered with Hashirana. And Naruto of course.
Both put up a very good fight and he found it strange that he ran into these two so suddenly. Naruto had taught them, after a lot of stumbling, the Kage Bunshin. Naruto and Hashirama could make a lot of them. And by a lot, he meant that Naruto could make a mind blowing amount, while Hashirama had no problems making twenty. He himself almost fainted after making five. After he'd made the five clones two had evaporated in two seconds, and then he had to sit down for over an hour before stumbling back home, going to bed at six in the evening while his father thought he was sick.
Again he started thinking about the weird similarities between the two; they were the same, but not really. They couldn't do the same techniques, except what they had started teaching each other. But when they fought it was a blast to watch, both were unpredictable, both instinctive fighters who used their guts rather than their heads.
They both used chakra exhausting techniques without having to suffer from exhaustion, not the way Madara did. And then there was also their personalities. Naruto was a little denser than Hashirama, definitely, but both were just as... Kind.
He then overheard the conversation of a couple of Uchiha passing by. "...No, those wretched Senju you know. Got stabbed by one a few weeks ago, I would sorely like to repay her in kind. Still hurts like a bitch." Uchiha Hikaku said to his companion as they walked past, not noticing him.
Instantly Madara felt angry again. Senju… Senju, Senju, Senju… The last fucking clan he wanted to have his mind on right now.
They were the worst people he could imagine. And so annoyingly equal to the Uchiha. He remembered clearly the faces of those who'd been killed at the hands of the members of that clan.
His brothers, his mother, everyone Madara's age had gone down to them as well. He was the only twelve year old left in the Uchiha village now. Many of the children had been the first to go, like his youngest brothers.
The autumn when Madara was five, the Senju had attacked their village while most of them was away. He was at home with his mother and his two younger brothers when they had come over the boarders at night, plundering them to the very last apple.
His mother had woken up at night and gone into their bedroom to see if they were alright. She had stood between the Senju and her sons to save them, resulting in her getting killed right in front of them.
Kichiro had only been two… And still he'd been killed in the crossfire. The Senju didn't bat an eyelash as he'd fallen dead, pierced to the brink with shuriken. Madara would never forget the face of Senju Souma to the day he died.
On pure survival instinct Madara had grabbed Izuna and jumped through the window. Only thinking off running as far away as he could manage, dragging his brother behind him. Both barefoot and just in their pyjamas in the cold autumn night.
"Yo, Madara."
Madara was shaken out of his dark memories by the sound of Katsu's voice.
"Hi Katsu, ready to start already? Didn't think you'd show up before five minutes after. You're on time for once." He said and got to his feet.
"Nah, Mum is nagging me about cleaning my room, I'd rather be here than wash the underside of my bed." Katsu answered, earning him a chuckle from Madara.
Katsu's mother was a very stern woman who demanded the men in her household to do as much of the chores as she herself did. She was also a very talented kunoichi who had to look after Katsu's younger sister these days instead of fighting. It was good to have some good fighters patrolling the village, disguised as harmless mothers. They could have needed more of them actually.
"Your mother is a piece of work, eh? We just have to wait for Izuna now, he should be here any moment." Madara said and looked in the direction of the library. Izuna was going through the Uchiha history these days. But not the version Naruto had told him and Hashirama.
"Where have you been lately? I hardly see you outside of missions these days." Katsu asked and shifted his eight over to his left leg.
"Met a good sparring partner outside the village. Clan less and refuses to become part of the war. Can actually hold up for quite a time." Madara said vaguely.
"Hn... So it is true, I heard rumours of that. You sure he is what he says though? The Senju can be sly as fuck when they put their mind to it."
"No, Naruto isn't a Senju but a Namikaze, and it's a she, not a he. Doesn't look like any of them. Her village was destroyed when she was young and now she avoids the battles like the plague. Shame really, if I could convince her she'd make a good soldier for us."
"A girl? Is she pretty?" Asked Katsu and laughed when Madara flushed.
"Doesn't matter." Madara answered, trying to give Katsu as little ground to manoeuvre on with his teasing. Naruto was in fact very pretty, especially her smile. But she was also the least girlish girl he'd ever met, and that included Katsu's mum.
"Naruto? Isn't that the thing you have in Ramen?" Asked Katsu after a few moments.
"What I thought so as well." Answered Madara.
"But she must be really good, I hate to admit it but you are one stubborn opponent, and really good. I didn't think anyone your age could give you a run for your money." Replied Ketso.
Well, these days there's two who can do that. Thought Madara but only nodded to Katsu since he had finally spotted Izuna amongst the people hanging around in the streets.
"Big bro! I'm ready for the mission! History is so boring! I wish we didn't have to go through everything, I keep wanting to fall asleep!" Moaned Madara's younger brother as he came closer.
"Don't let father hear you say that, Izuna. Come on, we're heading out."
Could there be no peace? Wondered Hashirama looking down at the five caskets being buried by his clansmen. Looking over at Itama he couldn't help but feel grateful it wasn't him in one of those boxes.
He'd just come home from a mission, bringing supplies in from Karonichi Village together with Tobirama and his uncle. It had been easy of course, but this certainly was a bad way for the day to end. Five dead… After losing six the day Itama disappeared, he'd been the only survivor that day, and only because of Naruto. Itama was crying, his friend was in one of those boxes, a girl a year older than Itama.
Sighing, he turned and walked away. He couldn't deal with this anymore. He wanted Konoha, their vision, to be happening right now.
"Hashirama?" Asked Tobirama as he disappeared behind the trees. "Brother, we should stay until the burial is over." He said to his retreating back.
"I need some distance." Was all he answered and no one stopped him as he walked away. It would be him on the line tonight, he who was going in to try and take down some of the Uchiha who'd been spotted around the boarders of their land. They might try to infiltrate again.
He was going with father and Kyo. He was a friend of Tobirama who was older than both of them. Strict but very good at genjutsu. Hashirama was glad his brothers could sit this one out.
Itama and Tobirama came over half an hour later to the forest river he'd lately spent some time at. He knew this water ran into the creek where Madara, Naruto and he met up. He liked to follow it sometimes along the way when he went there. It's how he'd discovered it in the first place.
Years ago when his best friend had been killed and they'd both just been six.
He'd walked to the spot he was now standing after the burial, just like now. And walking aimlessly he had followed it all the winding path down to the bigger creek.
There he'd sat down and felt his sorrow lighten a little. He'd cried, but the tears and the water seemed connected, and for each tear that slid down his face he imagined that it would join the stream and remove his agony, one tear at a time.
After a while he went there just to clear his thought, and then he'd met Madara. He wondered if maybe the stream really did remove his pain. Maybe the stream sent him Madara. And together with Naruto the three of them would end the war, somehow.
He had been training very hard lately. He'd already mastered his Earth element and Tobirama was helping him with Water, since he was a natural at it from the beginning.
Hashirama had found Earth a lot more difficult than Tobirama had found Water. He just wasn't as talented at elemental ninjutsu as his brother was. But now he was getting quite good, especially since he started training with water. He wasn't entirely sure why that was, according to father it was two completely different elements that had to be mastered separately.
It's like trying to mix bark and salt, both has their uses in their respective settings but doesn't add anything to each other when mixed. Hashirama thought it was not entirely true. From his own experience elemental transformation was getting easier by the day, both Water and Earth, ever since he tried mixing them up a little.
It had been Naruto's idea. A lot of things was Naruto's idea.
Konoha… Konohagakure… Genin, chunin and jounin… Many strange names Hashirama didn't particularly like, it wasn't fancy enough. But maybe their dream was so big you needed the everyday terms to simplify the whole process a little.
He tried to place himself in the ranks they'd thought of. He was probably a chunin, if not a high genin. You needed experience and lead a troop. His father was a jounin, someone who led a squad but still had abilities above and beyond the standard. Itama was still a genin, someone who helped the team, could run errands and protect himself if the challenge wasn't too hard. Still too young to take on the hardship of responsibilities. No, he was definitely a chunin. But someday, hopefully not too far into the future he'd make jounin. All three of them would if they kept training together.
Naruto had taught Madara how to start with Wind element training, something she already had mastered herself somehow. She had mentioned someone named Kakashi.
Madara still hadn't been able to cut the leaf all the way through, but last meeting he'd made a small cut in the top corner. He had to be very determined, he'd done it in only a couple of weeks. It had taken Hashirama three months to really crumble the stone he'd been practising with when he first started Earth elemental training. And the stone had stayed intact for over a month before any visible change had appeared at all.
Moving his hand over the water, Hashirama concentrated on bending the water upwards, out of the water stream. If only he could make it move like Tobirama, he could create water out of the moisture in the air where there was no water. Not a lot, certainly not enough to harm anyone, but where there was water he was the best in the entire clan, and he was only ten years old, only a little less than two years younger than himself.
Slowly the water attached itself to the palm of his hand. Concentrating, he lifted his hand, the water followed as he lifted his hand higher and higher. It stayed.
He tried to lift more water, making the water thread thicker. It was thick as a branch by now. His eyes were fixed on the water as he tried to move his hand from side to side. The water made a funny S-shape, and he moved backwards, wanting to move the water further from the stream.
And tripped.
His concentration broke as he stumbled on something behind his right leg, and was soaked with the water he'd just been moving about.
"Gyahaha! Brother, you have to be more aware of your surroundings!" Laughed Itama from somewhere behind him. Looking for what he'd stumbled over Hashirama saw a thick root sticking up from the ground. "Where did that come from?" He wondered aloud, he couldn't remember seeing it earlier…
"Itama is right Hashirama, but good work! You're getting better really fast now. Last week you only got it up to your chest, brother." Said Tobirama.
Hashirama had noticed them coming, but for the life of him he hadn't noticed the rather thick root sticking up from the ground. Had he done that? He'd tried to use some of the earth tricks just now to stabilize the water. Earth was all about solidness, Water was about flow. His dad could use Earth, Water and a little Wind, but he'd never seen him make roots appear before.
Wondering if anything like that had happened before with people who used both Earth and Water element he decided he had to be mistaken, Madara did call him a klutz every time they met after all.
"You're right, Tobi. I should watch where I'm going more closely."
Madara was getting very tired, they'd ran all the way from the Uchiha village to the boarders of Senju land.
Now they had to put up exploding tags around the trees and boulders and wait for the Senju. Hopefully it would be one of the members who was going to Karonichi Village on some errand or another. It was a few hours away, but the Senju made sure the Uchiha couldn't do any business with them.
They had constant watch around that civilian village so the Uchiha had to run a whole day to get to the closest village they could trade with instead. There once had been a village only an hour away, Itaka or something like that, but that had burned to the ground years ago.
Attaching his twenty third exploding tag to the underside of some funny looking roots he looked to where Izuna and Katsu had headed to. His brother was attaching them to the underside of a boulder while Katsu was high up one of the branches in case they went through the trees.
Izuna looked over at him, and Madara signed for him to come over. Katsu followed when he noticed Izuna moving away.
When they were huddled together Madara continued signing his orders. He might not be the oldest, or have activated his Sharingan, but he was the strongest, and therefore team leader for this mission.
'We'll hide now. By the stream, it's far enough away and we'll keep watch from there.'
'What if they follow the stream?' Signed Katsu.
'Doubt it. It's not a straight stream, it bends back and forth and trees grow in tight water. It's a good place to hide.' Madara signed back. The two others nodded, and all of them disappeared as they pelted towards the stream.
They'd done this before of course. The trick was to hide their chakra signature enough and camouflage themselves best they could, so they wouldn't be noticed. Hopefully the Senju wouldn't see the tags before the explosion went off, and they got killed or wounded enough for them to be easy targets.
It was risky to the extreme. The Senju sent out sensors many times a day to avoid traps like this. But usually in the morning, noon, and evening. His father was also distracting the Senju by the western borders while they were in the south. Hopefully most of the sensors would head that way while they took out a few Senju here.
He wondered who'd be the unlucky one today. A child? A brother?
Trying to shake of the guilt ridden thoughts he sat down to watch. Avoiding the water since they could end up staying here for a while, and the nights could get chilly if you got wet.
Sending Madara, Izuna and Katsu was of course because all three were good at hiding. Katsu was good at suppressing his chakra, so good in fact he could touch you and you'd still not notice his signature. Madara and Izuna were above average in hiding their chakra, but most of all they were small enough to hide effectively.
Hidden behind moss and branches, crouching on rocks that was big enough to stick out of the stream Madara took the first watch.
All of them had to stay awake of course, but one was always assigned as the dog watch.
The dog watch was the person who had to concentrate the most, keep all other thoughts out of his head for a certain amount of time. You were not allowed to think about anything but what was happening around you. If a snail moved twenty feet away, you weresupposed to notice it, and inform the others.
Keeping this up was actually quite tiring, so every hour they swapped. Izuna was next after Madara, and when Katsu took over after that they still hadn't seen anyone. Maybe all of them had gone to take out the threat by the western border. They had to stay until someone came close enough no matter what. Even if it was the sensors. They would notice the tags at once of course.
That's why they had to make a circle of exploding tags around them. Far enough away that it wouldn't hurt them, but still enough to make the Senju weary to approach.
Madara sat with his shoulder meeting Katsu's right and Izuna's left. They sat in a triangle to watch all directions. Madara was steadily growing bored.
Wondering what Hashirama and Naruto were doing. Probably at home sleeping like they should have been as well. He wondered where Naruto stayed, she'd never told them where she went after their meetings.
Hashirama said he'd have to go home. He had at least one brother, maybe more for all Madara knew, and most likely a mother and a father. Naruto said she was alone. Did she live in a village? Or did she mean completely alone?
In a tent somewhere around here for example. Probably not here though. The Senju would have chased the girl off if they noticed strangers in their lands. They were just as weary of outsiders as the Uchiha was.
That thought calmed him a little. It would have been horrible if Naruto came running through here and got caught in the blast. Hashirama would be with his own clan, or family. Probably family. There was some smaller families of shinobi next to Uchiha and Senju lands. They were lesser these days.
Some had fled because they'd been forced to take sides in the war between the Senju and Uchiha. But a few lived just far enough away to have been spared the ordeal, those had stayed, while the rest had taken sides. They had all been killed at this point.
The Senju were lethal, and only members of the Uchiha could stand against them for so many years. The poor shinobi families hadn't stood a chance against their opponents. The last who died who'd sided with the Uchiha had been a seasoned shinobi named Umuna Kato. He had started hating the Senju as much as the Uchiha after losing his two sons, his daughter and his wife in battles. He had gone down only last year, and the Uchiha had honoured him by burring him and his family together with their own fallen Uchiha members in their graveyard. In a place of honour as thanks for their sacrifice.
Madara had liked Kato, he was strong and knew many of the more difficult fire jutsu, which he had learned from one of his friends amongst the Uchiha when he was a kid. He had taught Madara and Izuna when they were little how to do those when everyone else was busy or out in battle. Madara had actually cried when he learned that he was dead, but only when he was safely in his room alone.
Suddenly Katsu tensed up, both Madara and Izuna looked instantly towards him. Without moving his gaze away he swiftly he started signing. 'Two o'clock. Three Senju.'
Looking in the described direction Madara saw them. Two on the ground, one up in the trees. They didn't look like sensors. They were moving too fast for that.
'On my signal.' Signed Madara, and the other two nodded. They wanted them to be surrounded by the explosion tags before they released them, that way there would be less chance of escaping, more chance of getting blown apart.
Twenty-four, Twenty-three, twenty-two. One of them looked around, while the one up of the tree hurried a little, wanting to stay closer to the guys on the ground. Perfect.
Nineteen, eighteen—
BOOOOM!
For a moment Madara didn't understand what on earth had happened. But all three of them looked in horror as the explosion went off prematurely.
Shit! They had to get out of here, they'd been discovered! How the hell had they managed to set them off?
Madara didn't need to sign that they were going to retreat, all three of them bolted as quickly as they could in the opposite direction. Hell bent on fleeing.
"OVER THERE!" Shouted one of the Senju, a boy or something, but Madara didn't turn to investigate. Keeping their heads low and running as fast as they could, they heard another small explosion going off somewhere further to the west.
What was going on? They hadn't put up anything there.
And then another explosion went off from the east.
"What…?" Madara heard Katsu say from a little ahead of him. Madara had to run slower than normal even though his instinct was telling him to hurry the hell up, but above all else he had to make sure Izuna who was the slowest stayed safe.
Explosion after explosion lit up the forest from every direction. But so far they hadn't been hit. Yet.
Someone else must have put them up. They must have been seen or... or something. Expected them to run in a different direction. What did he know? And right now Madara had little time to ponder the idea.
An explosion went off behind them, in the spot they'd just run past, missing them by a hair, but luckily the explosion efficiently cut off their pursuers.
This… This was…
He didn't know… Were they trying to take them down, or the Senju? Whomever was setting off explosions seemed to be doing it blindly. His ears was by now ringing from the noise. Hell, they had to hear this all the way to the Uchiha village.
Another explosion went off right behind them. Madara felt the back of his sandals melt from the heat but kept going. Now half dragging his brother as they ran.
But then the explosion that didn't hit them made sure the Senju were losing distance. It was working to their favour.
Madara stopped caring about what the hell was going on, intent on nothing but getting the furthest away from here as humanly possible.
Naruto watched as Madara, his little brother and the third guy disappeared in the distance. She had been tracking them for a while after she'd felt Madara's signature close to her hideout around nightfall. At first she thought he had noticed her as well, but when she looked out from the cave it was only to see him running away with two others.
Following at a distance she had eventually seen them stopping by the boarders of Senju land, and Naruto instantly knew they were on a dirty mission. Understanding what would happen when they started putting up exploding tags she'd started setting up her own traps. Hoping it would be enough to prevent anyone getting killed.
She understood that Madara wouldn't refuse his mission.
He was a shinobi, and even if he wasn't the evil, insane, ancient bastard she'd first met he was still a soldier in a war — one who would never betray his family. It still didn't stop her from being disappointed. He wanted a better world too.
Killing the Senju wouldn't do that, quite the opposite.
On the other hand, Hashirama wasn't doing much better. He still killed to save his family. Their mentality still soaked in the blood of their dead family members. They could both see the light but in these times being a ninja you had to be the strongest bully on the playground to stay alive.
She watched as the Senju gave up their pursuit, when the oldest one of them fell face first after tripping on one of her ninja wire traps. Naruto was pleased with the confusion she'd created and that no one seemed to have recognised each other.
Hashirama came running over to the old man with the third person as another explosion went off.
The Senju thought it was the Uchiha, while Uchiha thought it was the Senju.
Maybe that wasn't so great but at least no one was killed. Deciding she had ruined enough of the scenery she stopped activating the seals. Her Senju friend was still in sight, dusting off his clothes while one of the others swore loudly about their rivalling clan.
Now all she had to do was sneak away without being discovered. Talk about being sidetracked. She'd just wanted to eat her dinner and go to bed.
Author note: Thanks for reading!
This is a looong chapter for me, with a lot of rambling. I couldn't decide where to cut it. 8 500 words in fact. I felt there was too little action at first, so cutting it would make it… Don't know… incomplete? At least it was a difficult one to write. I've gone back a lot of times deleting and adding stuff.
Thank you to those who has commented or is following the story. It makes me really happy!
Edited 04.16: Thank you so much Jayden-the-Jaded, for betaing this chapter and the others.