Chapter four – Whiteout

Whiteout occurs when the sky and snow assume a uniform whiteness, making the horizon indistinguishable and eliminating the contrast between visible objects both near and far. The observer loses all sense of perspective.

Hashirama corrected her grip and showed Naruto for a fourth time how she was supposed to throw the rock so it would skip over the creek. "See, if you just ease your wrist a little it will cross. You're not throwing a shuriken you know." He said teasingly.

As if he'd done it all his life, he skipped the stone over the water surface until it was caught by Madara who stood on the other side.

"Nice throw." He said cheekily studying the stone's shape and weight. Looking at it for a little while longer, he grasped it firmly before sending it back across the water, Naruto catching it after the fourth skip.

"That's a good stone. It's made for water skipping." He said smiling back at them, one hand resting on his hip while he waited for her to try again.

"Okay, I'll definitely get it this time..." Said Naruto as she concentrated on doing the wrist movement as Hashirama had just demonstrated. The Senju moved backwards and gave her an encouraging smile while she got ready.

Aiming towards Madara, not too low so it would pummel into the water, she tried to flick it.

It skipped once, twice, thrice and four times before it landed in the spot Madara's foot had been a moment earlier.

"Yatta!" She shouted and did a victory jump on the spot. Hashirama laughed while Madara snorted at her ecstatic behaviour while he bent down to pick up her rock.

"Good job, Naruto! Now try it again, it would be cool if we all could throw it so the one on the other side can catch it!" Exclaimed Hashirama as he handed her another stone at the same time as he caught the previous one Madara had just sent back. They continued throwing stones, and after a couple of misses Naruto didn't mess up anymore.

Eventually Madara grew bored and bullied the others into sparring instead.

Hashirama and Madara had realised when it came to taijutsu they were on an even footing with Naruto.

While she could do a lot of fancy ninjutsu, her taijutsu style reminded them of an angry cat sometimes. Not a lot of planning which was compensated with good instinctive movements and a huge amount of dedication.

The boys were sparring while Naruto did chakra exercises instead, watching the guys while they tried their hardest to knock the other unconscious. It reminded her of herself and Sasuke once upon a time. Except these two didn't actually want to kill each other. Not yet at any rate.

Naruto couldn't comprehend how two such good friends were avoiding telling each other their real name out of fear it would all go up in smoke. Like every ninja in all the five nations they only introduced themselves by their first names and no family name.

Hashirama had to realise that she knew who he was, but still hadn't said a word about it. That was probably just because Madara was always around to overhear though.

Sighing she got up when they both managed to hit the underside of their jaws at the exact same time, both falling backwards with a grunt.

"Alright, who's ready to get their ass kicked next?" She exclaimed while they both shot her an annoyed glare.

Looking at the village Naruto couldn't make up her own mind. Was it stressful, bad or simply depressing?

The buildings were composed of plain wooden facades with small square windows, and the people were unusually quiet around here. Naruto wondered why she had that opinion, it was just a feeling even though the streets looked busy enough.

The civilians walked at a steady pace doing their errands, and there was the sound of sellers shouting out to them to buy fish, dango or similar things.

Listening closer she realised what it was; there was a lack of humming. That buzzing sound that occurred when a lot of people talk at once in the background. Everyone seemed set on their course here. With one goal and purpose without sidetracking for small talk.

There was also no children. At all.

For a moment Naruto wondered if there simply was a very high percentage of adults, or they simply let them stay at home while shopping.

'Such a nice atmosphere…' Naruto thought sarcastically.

Karonichi village must at some point in time have been quite a charming place to live. They had a lot of beautiful nature here. Trees growing along the streets and gardens which today lacked care.

She could imagine what it was supposed to be though, and it wasn't this.

Walking aimlessly for a few steps, she contacted Kurama. 'Anything?' Naruto asked the two Kuramas within her mindscape.

He had stayed merged for a long while now. A hole month and was getting more used to the yang overload. Now however he needed a break, which led her to be a little confused when she talked to him like this. Not sure if she should refer him as one, or two.

'No… Nothing so far. But that's not unexpected is it?' Said the largest.

'I guess not… Where should I head towards? We've been through the resident district already. Should we just go into every store and see if something feels off?'

The two Kuramas looked at each other, the smallest and lighter one turned to Naruto and grumbled. 'Might as well, but maybe you should make some clones again, to speed up the process.'

Coming back to herself again she hid behind some buildings to do the Kage Bunshin. Naruto had already done the mistake before of preforming the clone technique in the open within a civilian village.

The result had been absolute pandemonium. Ninja were in general very low on their wish-list of visitors in most civilian areas.

Her clones Henged into different people, all of them people she'd once met, like Omoi from Kumo, or Temari from Suna. But never those she'd known the best. Naruto had problems seeing them walking around knowing they were just her own clones mocking their absence.

Seeing Karin and Genma walk into the first two stores, Naruto took the third while the rest scattered out after her.

After an hour of looking through the village with the use of fifty clones, Naruto decided she had searched thoroughly enough. Black Zetsu was definitely not in Karonichi Village. At least not right now.

It's not like she had suspected him to be there. It was just tiring to keep this up without results. If Black Zetsu was around then she would feel his evil intentions even if she wasn't in biju mode. She just needed to be close enough for him to register.

Being faced with Kurama's chakra for so long with an open seal, had made her better at sensing than she'd ever been in her previous time line. It might also have something to do with the fact that she was growing up again. Growing while mixing her chakra constantly with Kurama's in small doses.

At least that's what the fox thought. Naruto had never been good at understanding that sort of stuff.

'We have to move soon. Black Zetsu is not in these areas. Sooner rather than later we'll have to leave the Land of Fire again. I'd vote for right now, but I'm guessing you're not going to agree to that.' The fox said as they headed towards the exit.

She didn't like the idea, but she knew he was telling the truth, they had to search more efficiently. The way they'd been working before running into Itama. 'I know… We've been combing the areas around the Senju and Uchiha village all the way up to Karonichi Village for ages. Still… I can't leave, I said I was going to become their friend, and friends don't leave without a warning you know.'

The largest fox rolled his eyes, while the smaller one grumbled in annoyance. 'Why not? I swear you humans are too damned emotional, even the stoic ones who usually turn out to be the worst of them all. Go back to the river and say bye to the boys.'

'I'm not leaving right now! I said I had to make sure Madara's brother stayed alive, didn't I?'

'So you're going to abandon the search for Black Zetsu to babysit a brat? Seriously Naruto. Get a fucking grip. There's only so much you can do. We'll come back as soon as we capture Black Zetsu.' Kurama growled as she passed through the entrance gates.

'I'll have to say goodbye first. I can't just disappear. You know, I think this might be the reason some of your siblings have a problem with you. I'd be pissed if my brother just took off without a word.'

Kurama snorted loudly, clearly disagreeing with that theory and still looked as undeterred as ever. 'Fine brat, but it'll have to be soon. We have yet to find a trace of that ink blotch.'

Madara walked home from the creek after his meeting with Hashirama. It was late afternoon and they'd spent a long time skipping rocks to one another. Naruto hadn't showed up today either, she'd been gone for a few days now.

Hashirama had been teaching Naruto how to skip stones lately, and the girl had gotten good at it quickly. The boy with the idiotic haircut was a better teacher than Naruto by miles.

Madara smiled as he reminisced about the day, after skipping rocks and understanding that Naruto wasn't going to show up, Hashirama and he had done a lot training before finishing the day with a spar. It had been a tie, both knocking out the other. Sore and bruised again, but in high spirits Madara chuckled as he thought of their rivalry.

For some reason it had intensified after Naruto showed up, both stressing to catch up with her, which led to them both getting stronger in record time. He had improved in leaps with his Wind element, the leaf having finally severed earlier that day. Madara just wished Naruto had been there so he could have rubbed in how good he was.

It felt like an entirely different world down by the stream, like that Tsuki no Me Naruto had told them about. Where things just went like they themselves desired it to.

He chuckled to himself at the idea, but then turned sad at the thought of Hashirama and Naruto not being real. He wondered when he'd become such an emotional pantsy. He must have been spending too much time around Hashirama and his constantly switching mood.

"Big bro." Came a voice of his little brother from in front of him.

"Oh, Izuna. What's u-" He trailed off at the serious gleam in his brother's eyes.

"Um, just… Do you want to go home together?"

Hashirama left the house after his father dismissed him.

He was at an utter loss for what to do.

They knew… They knew about Madara… And Madara was an Uchiha. According to his father he was one of the people who'd killed his clansmen.

Not sure if he should crumble into a ball and sulk, cry or be furious he looked around. What was he supposed to do now? Spy on Madara as his father had commanded?

Kill him?

There was no way he could do that. And Naruto… They didn't know about her.

When Tobirama was spying on them he must have been there one of the last few days, when she'd been absent. If only it had been Madara instead….

He took out the stone he still carried from earlier in the afternoon.

He was intending to throw it as hard as possible, he just wanted to break something. There was so much anger inside him. Madara was an Uchiha, a damned Uchiha!

Why couldn't he have been of the Hagaromo clan?! They at least weren't the Senju's archenemy!

Desperation gripped him, and for a moment he was blinded by white hate as he clutched the stone.

Then he thought of Madara again, and he was so very sorry. Sorry that he would have to betray his best friend. He couldn't go against his family, they had a right to be angry just as much as the Uchiha was. But Hashirama still felt like some part of him was crumbling.

Gripping the stone hard, hoping it would crush just to ease some of his tension, he felt himself calm down. This was a perfect stone… Madara had called it made for skipping.

Maybe… Maybe he could do something about this, even if his dad and Tobirama went with him tomorrow he might just be able to warn Madara without being caught.

Standing on the opposite shore Madara met Hashirama's eyes. The brown haired boy seemed tense as he looked back at him, it didn't help when he smiled uncertainly and waved.

"Hi Madara, you know what? Catch this." He said and took out a stone from the inside of his pocket strapped around his leg, it was something both of them had picked up from Naruto's strange fashion sense.

Hashirama looked from side to side. Was he looking for Naruto?

"Just hang on, let me find a stone to skip over too." Answered Madara and looked around for a suitable stone, the perfect stone he'd found last week that Naruto had lost amongst the rocks in the river during one of her failed attempts.

Grabbing after one that looked flat and smooth he leaned up again and grinned back at Hashirama, pondering why he still looked like something had been stuck up his ass.

"You know, this would be a good way to greet each other." Said Madara throwing the rock in the air a few times to test the weight and form while Hashirama looked on silently.

Both of them wondering where Naruto was, and Hashirama was praying she wouldn't show up today. This was a big enough mess with only Madara involved.

"Sure." Answered Hashirama and they got their respective stones ready to be skipped. With trained persistence the stones flew across the water, passed each other in the middle, and Madara and Hashirama skillfully caught the other's stone on the opposite side.

Madara looked down at the smooth rock in his hand, it had something scribbled on it. Curiously he wondered what it said and suddenly felt his blood run cold.

'Leave now, it's a trap.' Was scraped into the surface of the stone. He clutched it tightly and met Hashirma's eyes which he suddenly realised weren't stiff, but scared.

'It was a trap? What was it? Someone was attacking? Why wasn't Hashirama saying anything? Why had he scribbled it on a stone?'

Madara felt his stomach twist as the meaning sank in. 'It meant he couldn't talk… It meant they were here...'

"You know, I just remembered I have stuff to do, see you another time, Hashirama." Said Madara and turned on the spot. Hashirama copied it him and with a strained expression. "Sure, I don't want to keep you!" He shouted, at the same moment they leapt away from each other. Madara's mind raising in confusion and fear.

At that moment he felt movements behind him, someone was running after him across the water.

Looking over his shoulder he saw them, two Senju and Hashirama in the back looking horrified back at them.

Recognising Senju Butsuma catching up to him with his chokutō raised, Madara did the only thing he could think off, he ducked.

Rolling sideways as the blade sank into the soft soil next to his head, he heard Hashirama shout at them to stop.

Madara was on the ground and Butsuma had already his weapon ready to strike again. With speed he started preparing a wind ninjutsu he'd mastered the evening before, it was the only thing that came to mind. The attack never fired though, since out of nowhere Naruto stood right in between them.

Fast as lightning she grabbed a hold of Butsuma's wrist, twitching it in an awkward angle that made him stagger backwards.

The young boy at Butsama's heel prepared to strike, but before he could do much more than hold his blade threateningly, Hashirama had grabbed him from behind, dragging him backwards away from Naruto.

"Leave." Said Naruto with ice in her words. She wasn't holding any weapons, and Madara had no idea why Butsuma looked scared.

Hashirama was sweating bullets as he held the spiky haired boy away from them. Madara wasn't sure if Hashirama was protecting himself or the boy.

Looking up at the back of Naruto's head he got to his feet, dusting off the sand from the shore while trying to figure out what was happening.

Clearly these guys were after him. He was an Uchiha and they were Senju. It didn't explain Hashirama knowing about it though.

Naruto was protecting him, and they seemed afraid of going up against her. They had never shown mercy towards other shinobi who sided with the Uchiha in the past. So why did they completely ignore Hashirama and look hesitant to attack Naruto?

Looking from the armor clad Senju man over to Hashirama he started feeling sick. 'It couldn't be… That Hashirama... was…'

"I said leave!" Growled Naruto so coldly Madara was taken aback. Naruto was one of the two cheeriest people he'd ever met. He'd never imagined she could make such a sound.

Butsuma got a grip on himself and had his sword prepared to strike again. This time at Naruto.

"DAD! Stop it! Naruto has never done anything! She saved Itama!" Hashirama shouted desperately from behind him.

Madara swallowed looking back at Hashirama.

No… No… Please, no...

Madara was completely defenceless. He had no weapons on him. Only ninjutsu to protect himself against one of the most feared Senju and a small blonde girl who for some reason seemed to scare the living daylight out of the Senju.

"Naruto? This is Namikaze Naruto? Why the hell is she protecting the Uchiha brat? Itama said she had no hesitation striking them down that night." Muttered Butsuma with a deep stern voice, not taking his eyes of Naruto and Madara.

"She didn't know… Neither of us ever told her our last name." Muttered Hashirama dejectedly while the boy in his clutches struggled even more. "Let go brother! We have to help father!" He growled angrily.

"What are you?" Asked Butsuma confused.

This was not the question Madara was expecting at all. Naruto was plainly a girl. True there was few girls with such talent as she did. But still, Madara had seen plenty of kunoichi in the Senju clan…

There had to be something Naruto had done to set them off like that.

"I'm Naruto, and I'm also the one who's going to prevent anyone getting killed here." She answered calming down and going emotionless. She looked back at Madara and he felt his voice choke in his throat.

Her eyes was blazing red with pitch black slits where her once sky blue eyes had been. She gave him a short glance. "Run, Madara."

The whisker marks on her chins seemed to have intensified, becoming more rugged and wild looking. Madara found himself thinking the same thing Senju Butsuma had done.

'What are you?'

"Big bro!" Shouted suddenly a high pitched voice from the bushed behind him. In horror Madara saw Izuna coming running towards him.

"No! Stay away! Go back, Izuna!" Shouted Madara becoming panicked. This was potentially a deadly situation. Izuna could get hurt, he could get killed!

Who was on his side? Naruto seemed to be for the time being. But she had saved a Senju, Hashirama's younger brother. Maybe the brat he was keeping away from them. Apparently at the cost of the Uchiha. Hashirama was Senju Butsuma's son, but seemed unwilling to side with either of them.

Izuna didn't listen and came up to him with a stony face, a chokutō ready and all the killing intent he could muster.

Madara felt so confused. He was skipping rocks just a few minutes ago. How could things have changed so drastically in such a short amount of time?

"I was going to thank you for your deed when I met you, but clearly I see your loyalty must have changed." Said Butsuma but still didn't attack.

"We're three on three, we can beat them." Said the kid wrestling with his older brother.

"No!" Shouted Hashirama. "Naruto is a lot stronger than me!"

Madara nodded, it was true, but could she beat a seasoned Senju soldier?

"We'll take them down, big bro. You're Tobirama, right?" Said Izuna looking at the boy who finally got loose from his brothers grasp.

"And you're Izuna." Spat the kid named Tobirama, looking annoyed back at his brother instead of Izuna.

"There will be no fighting!" Growled Naruto and pointed threateningly at the Senju. "I told you all the get the hell away. I have a lot of tricks I never showed Hashirama and Madara. You do not want me to get pissed off, dattebayo!" Exclaimed Naruto, now standing more in between them then covering Madara and Izuna.

"Shame… You could have made a good ally to the Senju..." Muttered Butsuma. "But unfortunately I will have to kill you as well. Even if you did save my son."

"I'm not an ally of either clans! I'm Hashirama, Itama and Madara's friend. I don't give a damn where they were born! You just plotted to assassinate your son's twelve year old friend! I won't allow it!" She said and looked hard at Hashirama who seemed at a loss for what to do.

Madara sympathized.

"Don't dad… We'll… we can't… You owe Naruto this… She saved Itama..." Whispered Hashirama.

"She's not lying, she'll protect, Madara. Naruto always keeps her word." He stated insistently. His father halted, looking thoughtful and sighed. It looked like he was going to agree.

"You're a Senju…" Said Madara looking torn over at Hashirama, finding his voice at last. Hashirama nodded looking hard back at Madara.

"Then it was just an illusion after all..." Muttered Madara.

Shifting from foot to foot Naruto turned her head towards Madara instead. Her odd eyes unnerved him, he couldn't look at them; they made her look like some sort of demon.

"I guess we were just fooling ourselves. Konoha is just the Tsuki no Me. Just a child's dream." He added looking down at his feet. He was seeing his mother getting stabbed over and over again inside his head. Butsuma looked so much like his brother it was painful. Both had that emotionless face.

His face twisted in worry as Hashirama gesturing wildly with his hands while shouting; "No! You can't give up!"

"Madara..." Naruto said with trepidation.

"I… Can't forget… I won't forgive… The Senju is the worst of them all..." Madara muttered through gritted teeth. He felt his eyes burn, like they were about to catch on fire. His hands was clutched into fists so tightly his knuckles was going white while he tried to stop the fire from hurting, to calm himself down.

Slowly he looked up, and Hashirama's mouth opened in shock as Madara's eyes turned from black to blood red right in front of them.

"The next time we meet Hashirama, it will be on the battlefield. And then you will address me as Uchiha Madara!" He shouted furiously.

"No..." Said Naruto looking afraid for the first time, her eyes trailing from Madara to Hashirama.

"Your eyes… Brother, your eyes are the Sharingan!" Exclaimed Izuna looking up at him.

"Stop it Madara… You said you were in." Said Naruto, clearly getting angry again.

"I was wrong." Answered Madara and finally looked her in the eyes. "You dream of a place where Senju and Uchiha get along. Did you know? Did you know who we were? Was that why you tried to manipulate us?!" He said getting angry at her instead.

"I never made you do anything! You were friends long before I came into the picture!" Naruto shouted back.

He looked swiftly away from her unnerving eyes, she didn't look like Naruto when she had those. Just another hateful red glare. Madara had enough of those at home.

"You can go wherever you want. You have no one to tie you down. You will never understand the pain like we do. Can you imagine trying to be friends with the ones who destroyed your village? Killed your friends and family? I'm not seeing you make much of an effort to be friends with them!" He said pointing at Naruto accusingly.

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about." Answered Naruto so furiously Madara stepped backwards. Her eyes seemed to blaze even harder than before.

"Does this mean you're on our side?" Asked Butsuma looking amusingly at the blonde.

Naruto's head whirled around to the oldest Senju, and Madara was suddenly scared.

What had he just said? Of course Naruto knew what it felt like to lose someone. He just made his only ally angry with him… This was Naruto, of course she didn't manipulate — she was just being her usual self. Trying to grasp at hope. Continuing the now dead dream.

"No! I'm not taking either side! Whomever attacks will get knocked unconscious!" She said frustrated.

Butsuma smiled sceptically, he looked like he didn't take her seriously any more. Madara was also uncertain Naruto wasn't just boasting to scare everyone. Her eyes didn't seem to do more than confirm how pissed off she was.

"Well then..." He said and raised his sword again, pointing it at Madara without emotion. "I'll deal with this myself."

A pop was heard from the other shore. Everyone looked over in the direction of the sound where a cloud of dust was swirling. As if a Kage Bunshin had just evaporated, and then they looked back to the blonde again.

Unnerved, they all watched as Naruto's eyes transformed into a new form.

Going from slits to a thick horizontal line.

The glowing red turned into yellow, and suddenly she was gone and Butsuma lay unconscious on the ground.

The movement had been so fast Madara barely managed to track it with his eyes, and even with the Sharingan he hadn't caught half of it.

The remaining four people tensed up as she looked away from the unconscious Senju to Madara.

"I suggest you leave, Madara." She stated harshly, sounding more like an order than a request.

These eyes weren't as terrifying as the last ones, but something about them screamed power. He could see it with his Sharingan. The air around her eyes seemed to tremble, and red markings had appeared on her eyelids.

Not answering, just nodding and grabbing Izuna, Madara left at a sprint.

Pissed out of her mind Naruto watched Madara's retreating back. This was so not how she wanted to say goodbye to him.

She let go of the strap of Butsuma's armor so he fell gently to the ground while releasing her senjutsu. This was something she still struggled greatly with, not as much as the Kyūbi chakra, but still enough to make her sore all over. It had been necessary to take down Hashirama's father without anyone else getting hurt though.

Hashirama came slowly forwards while little Tobirama was looking open mouthed at her with scared eyes.

It was so odd to see the boy who later became the second Hokage tremble in fear.

Hashirama didn't say anything as he looked down at his father, only relieved to see he was only knocked out.

"What did you do?" he asked while bending over his father to see what had made him black out.

"I just hit his neck. It's enough to knock anyone out for a little while. He should be awake in no time." She said looking back at him. Hashirama was glad to see her eyes had turned blue again.

"What will you do now? I'm sorry for this… I didn't know Madara was an Uchiha," He said with worry.

"Does it matter that he is an Uchiha? Isn't this what we talked about? Members across clans getting along, being best friends without any hate?" She said ignoring his first question.

"I know… But now… You just made yourself very unpopular amongst my clan." He said peeking up at Tobirama who had collected himself as he listened.

"I know, but it was necessary. I'll be going away now, anyway. I was actually coming here to say goodbye to you both."

"What?! No, you said. You said you would never give up!" He exclaimed as Naruto started turning away.

She halted and looked back at her friends with a determined expression. "I haven't, I will do everything I can to stop this. But right now… There's nothing I can do... I need to grow stronger. Madara will, and you too Hashirama. You'll forever be one of my precious people. You do your part, and I'll do mine. But before I go there's one thing..." She said and lowered her voice so only Hashirama heard her.

"Madara loves his brother… Make sure he doesn't get killed, or Madara will never come around. He loves his brother more than anything, and you've heard of the Uchiha curse of hatred, right? Will you do as I ask?" She asked silently.

Hashirama nodded dejectedly while Naruto put her hand on his shoulder. "You'll be great Senju Hashirama, and we'll build Konoha like we dreamed. It might just be a little later then we wanted."

"Be safe, Naruto. Come back soon, okay?" Hashirama said sadly, his eyes glazed as he looked back at her, Naruto chuckled when he for once didn't crumble into a ball since he didn't get his way.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, Hashirama. Keep your family safe, and we'll knock some sense back into Madara one of these days. Say hi to Itama from me, okay?" She said and smiled widely.

Hashirama couldn't help but feel his spirit rise again, while a tear escaped from the corner of his right eye. "Yeah. I might just do the whole job before you come back, in fact, I'll start the next time I see him."

Naruto laughed loudly, and with a nod towards Tobirama, and a small, "Thank you." to Hashirama, she disappeared as fast as she'd arrived.

Madara was walking as fast as he could without actually running, which meant that Izuna who was both shorter in heigh had to jog to keep up. It wasn't the tempo he was worried about though.

"Big bro! Why aren't we running? He's down, we should run before he can wake up!" Izuna exclaimed as they moved over a large stub inside the forest, slowly gaining more and more distance from the shore. Madara was thinking too hard to listen to him.

Hashirama was a Senju, and Naruto had attacked the Uchiha at least once. Still neither had wanted them hurt. That was something at the very least...

"What were you doing there, Izuna? You were hiding in the bushes!" Madara snapped and looked hard at his little brother. It was unfortunate that Izuna was here, since that meant there was no one else Madara could be angry with.

Izuna looked worriedly up at his older sibling, his eyes still having that serious gleam. "Dad told me to trail you, you've been out so much lately, big bro! He wanted to make sure that Naruto girl who borrowed our book was safe, so I went to spy on you yesterday and today. We were trying to figure out who the other boy was… I guess we know now." He finished uncertainly as his brother's eyes went hard.

"Spy? Shit… Am I in trouble Izuna?" He asked looking away as they started moving through the thicker part of the forest.

Izuna was unsure how the situation was now, he couldn't imagine Madara being punished for not knowing the name of who he was sparring with, but he had still been spending a lot of time with their number one enemy.

"I don't know..."

Tobirama had always been the best at strategies amongst the Senju brothers.

He'd proven this very early when he'd led the younger shinobi of the clan to victory against four Uchiha at the age of nine. It had been thanks to his keen observation skills more than his ninjutsu abilities that had saved the six children's lives, all of them younger then himself.

This was also why he was studying his brother's every move today. They were heading towards the mountain pass south east of their lands, where they already knew the Uchiha were waiting at full force.

He knew now—since his brother had told him everything— that Madara was going to be a problem.

He would definitely be there if what his brother had told him about his skills were true. Hell, Itama was going with them for crying out loud. Their youngest brother had been just as upset about what occurred at the creek as Hashirama was, and furious at his brother for not telling him beforehand.

Itama just couldn't imagine Naruto going against his father.

Now however Tobirama was more worried about his older brother. There was no way Madara wouldn't stand with his clan.

It would be a black day. He already knew it, and Hashirama had asked him to protect Itama, while Hashirama protected him. Who would protect Hashirama hadn't come up, but Tobirama idly wondered if not Naruto would show up again.

She had infuriated him that day months ago during the confrontation with the Uchiha leader's family. Looking back now he respected her. She was exactly the same type of person his brother was. Refusing to let them attack each other.

Wasn't that what Hashirama wanted as well? He always talked about sheltering the youngest from the horrors of the war. Not wanting them to go through what he and Tobirama had to deal with growing up.

At the time however, he couldn't believe he was being held down by his own brother while they argued, far less that Naruto had knocked down his dad in less than a second. Butsuma was still highly embarrassed by that.

Tobirama sighed as the mountain pass came into view, and behind them a wall of Uchiha members. Carefully he made sure not to look at their red stares. Meeting the eyes of an Uchiha was a sure defeat.

He heard his brother's breath shudder, and knew he must have spotted Madara. He searched the row for a younger member with long spiky hair, there was quite a few of them.

Eventually he spotted him next to Izuna. Frowning he looked back at Hashirama. His brother's face had gone hard as they marched towards battle, all fifty-one of them.

He wondered how many would return.

"I'll protect you." Said Hashirama suddenly.

"Look after yourself, brother." Answered Tobirma, but knew it would fall on empty ears while loving him all the more for it.

"He's an enemy now, our clan comes first." Said Tobirama, he knew it wasn't necessary, even if his father was still a little in doubt.

"I know." His brother said with a steady voice.

Hashirama looked across the distance to Madara's blank emotionless face. He wondered for a moment if Madara even recognised him. He seemed as alien to him as any of the other members of the clan. The air was filled with killing intent.

Uchiha versus Senju.

Friend against friend.

Brothers fighting brothers.

This was the thoughts running through Hashirama's head as he ignored every warning his father had drilled into him and met Madara's empty, red eyes. The eyes of his bleeding heart.

He thought of Naruto's story, how the brothers were reborn through their respective descendants. Had she been talking about them? Was Madara, in a sense, his brother? A brother not in blood, but in spirit?

Feeling his heart beat hard in his chest, he wondered if she hadn't been right. Maybe… It wasn't just a story. Indra and Ashura… Brothers fighting each other again and again. Dying and coming back to life, living through hatred... Repeat.

The circle of hatred.

Madara jumped back while throwing his last shuriken at Hashirama's head. He dodged it and came at him with his chokutō raised. With a loud clash the metal met each other.

"Stop." Said Hashirama through gritted teeth. "I won't give up, Madara. You can't beat me."

Madara was using all his strength, but again… They were equal.

"I won't forget." He hissed back as they both jumped from each other. Running through hand signs while Hashirama clapped his hands together, they both shouted.

"Katon: Great fireball Technique!"

"Mokuton!"

Madara couldn't quench the shock that escaped as a gasp through his throat at the sight of the massive roots that clashed against his fireball.

Several of his clansman shouted in astonishment at the unheard of technique.

The wood broke and the fire died out. Madara and Hashirama stared at each other. Both more determined than ever in their convictions.

"You will never beat me." Hashirama stated with clenched teeth.

"What the- What is that?" He hissed back.

"My bloodline, Madara."

And then hundreds of roots came rushing up from the ground, circling in on Madara who panicked and shouted on pure survival instinct: "Katon: Phoenix sage fire technique!"

The flaming balls of heat hit everywhere around him, halting the roots approach while Madara continued.

"Katon: Blast wave wild dance!"

The spiralling flames clashed against the roots and crumbled them to ash.

"I won't ever forget! I'll take you down, Hashirama!"

"Then remember our dream, and come to your senses!"

Author note: Thank you for reading, you're the absolute best!

This was another difficult chapter to write, mostly because a lot of what was going to happen here, I put into the previous chapter instead. I also discovered I made a very big error when I first wrote it. The breaking of their friendship happened very close to cannon in the original draft. I realised reading it over that Naruto has messed up time enough for things to happen differently.

So I had to rewrite the whole thing…. Oh well, at least I'm happier with how things are coming together for the story's part.

Edited 04.16: This chapter has been beta'd by Jayden-the-Jaded who does a wonderful job every time. Thank you!