Surprisingly enough, I wrote my end of the bargain in one sitting of procrastination, with only two cups of coffee at my disposal. We can't say that we like the final product of this chapter. I certainly do think that I could have written my parts better. But this is what a half-dead University student, who's neck-deep in deadlines, can give you. :))
So, again, I am terribly sorry for the quality.
But, on the brighter note, Happy Early Christmas to all of you! I do hope you will have a nice Christmas season with your loved ones!
Burn it all down to the ground
I have to make it…
I have to make it.
I have to make it!
Madara clamped his eyes shut as he religiously reiterated these words like a mantra. The muscles in his legs tightened and bitterly burned, but the adrenaline that was suffusing in his veins were far greater for him to even realise that he was breaking his body apart. He continued to bolt through the woods –– desperate to intercept the enemy's attack.
He leapt and leapt past tree branches, and dashed through fields and tributaries. The journey was painstakingly long –– and endless. His feet sturdily landed on the ground before he bolted forth through the icy ground. As he looked up at the sky, he noticed that the black nimbus which previously encompassed the area had finally been tamed.
Does that mean it was finally over?
The Uchiha internally shook his head. It wasn't over until he got to his clan –– to his brother. As Izuna's face projected in his thoughts, he couldn't help but grit his teeth in bitterness. If anything were to happen to his only brother…..
No. He shouldn't think things like that.
Izuna was strong.
"Madara!" Tsunade suddenly called, not far from him.
He looked over his shoulder, not wanting to halt. "What is it?"
"We have company," she said simply, not batting an eyelash.
His sharingan flicked to life, twin tomoes languidly rotating in position in its pool of blood. "Front or back?" he asked, fingers already agitated around the handle of his rapier. If he can execute his attack fast enough, he would be able to cut through the first enemy.
"They're coming in fast; in front of us."
Madara smirked, unleashing his weapon from its case. "That's even better." His dominant foot sank into the soil as he pumped his feet with enough chakra to catapult him several metres towards their target, already anticipating their defence.
He dashed out of the wooded area, and onto the long stretch of barren land –– two miles from where his clansmen reside. For the first time, Madara's stiffened posture turned lax as his chest rapidly expanded to garner the oxygen his body needed.
Something was odd.
There was no one about.
Tsunade landed beside him, deeply perturbed by the empty stretch of land. "Where are they?" she huffed, regaining her breath.
Madara's sharingan tightened as he quickly surveyed the terrain, not quite convinced that their presence had just morphed into nothingness. "Tsunade…." he whispered, "….run and make sure everyone is alright. And please protect Izuna for me."
She looked ahead and nodded. "I'll do my best."
He smirked momentarily before he angled his sword and readied himself into his fighting stance, eyes glinting with deadly precision. "Go, Tsunade!"
The blonde proceeded to run into the dark. However, she had to suddenly jump back when a pair of kunai tried to shoot at her feet. She stumbled back, completely rid of breath. They were here, after all. They were just concealing their chakra, so they could catch them off guard. She would have applauded their canniness had this been a different situation.
However, this matter was not a joke. Time was of the essence. The lives of dozens were her burden to bear.
Three cloaked figures appeared languidly from the darkness. Judging by their physical appearance alone, they were not from the Land of Fire. No. Tsunade's eyes tightened as she drank in her enemies: dark-skinned, muscular, tall, with an eccentric red paint over their faces. "They're from the Land of Lightning…" she murmured, jumping further back again to reinstate a safe distance from them.
The teen in the middle approached closer, smug-faced. "Excellent guess, pretty girl." His thick accent dripped from his tongue. "But you cannot pass this place."
"And why not?" It was Madara who inquired this.
The tanned boy's demeanour changed when his charcoal eyes met the infamous scarlet eyes. "An Uchiha, huh." He was quick to lash out his large sword along with the two people beside him. His eyes flicked back to Tsunade with interest. "But she doesn't look like an Uchiha."
Madara stepped closer. "That's none of your business."
"I didn't expect to see a wandering Uchiha with a commoner quite late at night." The ends of his thick lips tugged into a mischievous smile. "What's this, young forbidden love?" His eyes creased upwards when Madara's face wrinkled with scorn.
Tsunade overlooked his ludicrous conclusion and scanned for an opening she could seize. Damn it, she mentally swore. These ninjas were touted across the nations to be extremely agile; a single move could prove to be lethal. She balled her hands tightly together and continued to knead chakra in the back of her legs, waiting for the opportunity they would ease up.
The heir stepped closer towards the trio, sharingan glowering in the misty night. "Let us go and we'll forget this ever happened." The tone of his voice was eerily calm, but the fire in the depths of his glare burned with intensity. Like every other Uchiha, his emotions spoke volumes within the redness of his orbs.
"He has the sharingan, Aniki," the other boy at the left announced. "We must execute our duty."
"Ah," Aniki responded, easing into his fighting stance. "Just don't do anything reckless that will damage his eyes. They're our objective."
Madara flinched. "Objective?"
Once again, it was the boy in the middle who grinned at his inquiry. "There have been rumours across the lands that the redness of the Uchiha's eyes is the purest scarlet hue to ever exist." His tongue lapped over his lips. "There is market for those eyes, and we have been hired to collect them."
"That means…." Madara's mouth was left hanging.
They were after his family, after all.
At that very moment, their fixation latched around Madara only. This was Tsunade's chance! She released all of her accumulated chakra and jolted forward, hoping to get through the easement provided by the trio. However, shackles of razor sharp steel chains latched around her wrist and prominently bit into her skin, keeping her from fleeing from the scene.
Madara's eyes widened, and his body automatically dashed to her aid, but was stopped by the two boys. He gritted his teeth, frustrated by the obstacle which obstructed him from her. "Tsunade!" He called.
"I'm fine!" She shouted back, fixating at the blood drawing out from her skin.
"What do we do with her, Aniki?" The third cloaked member asked.
"She's not an Uchiha, but she's definitely an ally of them." He sighed, rolling his shoulders back. "What a shame. I really didn't want to do this to such a cute looking girl." After he ruffled his hair, his lax attitude suddenly transitioned to a cold demeanour of an assassin. "Kill her. Or do whatever you please."
It was at that moment that Tajima's words echoed in his son's mind.
"Since she isn't an Uchiha –– or anyone special –– they will just mentally ruin her, and violate her until her sanity has disappeared."
An icy shiver reverberated down his spine as the clutches of fear befell on his consciousness. This was what his father was referring to. Their enemies were unpredictable creatures –– they could be as feral and animalistic as the depths of Hell.
"You're not going anywhere, girl." The teen who had leashed her wrist grinned, tugging at it, to further embed its claws into her skin. "I'm going to make you come to me."
Tsunade's body relaxed as her lips tugged into a coy smile. "Not unless I make you come to me first." It was clear that these teenage boys underestimated her potential –– Madara, included. And she could utilise their naïveté to her advantage. Her hazel eyes glowered into a molten golden tint as she managed to coat enough chakra around her wrist to prevent further damage on her skin.
He cocked his head to the side, deeply amused. "And how are you going to do that young lady?"
The sharpness of her smirk was enough indication to Madara that she was pissed –– insanely pissed.
Her chakra spiked in the atmosphere before she grappled around the chains and forcibly yanked at it, surprising the teen with her barbaric strength. "W-Wh-at in the Devil?!" he managed to voice before his feet gave in. His body was dragged mid-air, and he was wrung in a ball of confusion at how someone like her could have so much strength.
"You bastard!" Tsunade vociferated, connecting her knuckles into his cheek. A distinct crack of bones was heard before her raw power blasted throughout the barren place.
The force was powerful enough to create shockwaves to make the ground at her feet crumble. Suffice to say, that the third member's body was flung several meters back like a broken rag doll, hitting several tree trunks before crashing down into the ground.
Whilst the enemies were still aghast by her raw power, Madara managed to engage with the remaining two enemies. "Go now, Tsunade!" He ordered, weaving several hand seals for a fire release. "I shall keep them busy here."
"Don't die," she said quickly before she used Body Flicker to disappear into the woods.
His lips slanted into a grin. "Of course I won't."
"I'm not letting you escape! You're going to pay, you bitch!" Aniki growled, activating his lightning armour to blitz for the blonde. However, his path was obscured when he had to take a step back from the roaring fire ball which was catapulted his way.
Madara flickered in front of them, purposely blocking them from the forest. He took a calm breather before he glared daggers into their existence. "I don't care why you're here. I don't care about your status." His narrowed eyes widened when his chakra reserves blasted out into the desolate area, animosity lacing his aura. "But you have created a war with my family. And I will not forgive you for this."
His face ominously darkened.
Both Aniki and his teammate froze with fear at the magnitude of his presence. This boy was lethal. He didn't seem like it before, but he certainly exuded with it now. That deathly accent on his features spelt an unsightly future for them.
"Keep your water release under your sleeve. I shall take the lead." As Aniki gave out his command, a cold sweat ambled down from his forehead.
Madara grinned a darkly grin before he unleashed his menacing nature.
"Come. I'll make you dance."
As Tsunade neared toward their makeshift village, her pessimism wasn't eased. If anything, it had spiked into a dangerous zone. She was familiar with this heart-wrenching feeling in the pit of her stomach. The sickening motion of her stomach tying into knots was repulsive enough to overthrow her sensory concentration.
It was needless to say that she had a strong intuition of misfortune.
And this pressing feeling didn't ease her pain.
In pure haste, her feet sploshed into the puddles, and she dashed through the arboraceous area. Particles of both rain and mud splattered onto her skin and clothing, but it wasn't enough to hinder her fixated mind from arriving into the possible warzone.
As she came closer and closer, she couldn't help but take notice of the pungent smell of melted paint and scorched wood.
Finally, she arrived at the scene.
The faintest glimmer of hope she clung onto through her journey was cruelly thrown into the pits of the inferno which engulfed the entire landscape.
"Oh god…." She couldn't help but gasp.
Her wet porcelain skin reflected the abomination of both gold and ember licks of flames roaring like a mad dragon, hungry for more. The nascent fire splayed like a cloak, completely engulfing the entire village from inside out.
Almost as soon as the lightning had scraped over the entire landscape, the world they knew became illuminated. The once vibrant landscape was encapsulated with charcoal plumes of darkness and misery. Their wooden homes began to collapse into heaps of burning trash, fuelling the flames rampage further.
As Tsunade stepped closer into the blaze, she felt her frozen skin melt against the intensity of the fire. However, her steps ceased when she caught a glimpse of the endless lines of bodies which had become disfigured –– and completely unrecognizable.
Their flesh as black as the smoke which enveloped around her, and their faces already mangled and torn by the greedy flames. The piles of charred flesh which filtered the entire village was scarring to the heart, even to someone who was a veteran like herself.
Despite being in the most violent war, she still could never steel her heart from bleeding for these victims of war.
This was not just a fire. This was Death. It was a giant wave, a fire storm, rolling on itself, undulating like some grotesque creature hell-burnt on the Uchiha's massacre.
Tsunade looked about through the catastrophe, lungs suffusing with the suffocating particles from the smoke. She'll never see any survivors at this rate. Without thinking much further, she weaved the needed hand seals for a water release, and leapt up into the air.
"Water style: Water dragon bullet!"
"Goddamn it! Why didn't we see this coming?!"
"Where's Tajima-sama?!"
"We need to leave!"
"They're not backing down!"
Izuna's half-lidden greyed eyes snapped wide open as his consciousness seeped back into his system. His pupils darted left and right, and his mouth quivered as shock began to settle onto him. He tried to reconnect with his limbs one at a time. His fingers twitched for a second and he was able to dig his fingers into the wet mud.
"Ma…" he croaked, throat as dry as a sandpaper. He paused when he registered to the rancid taste of iron that indicated stale blood around his mouth. "Nii…." he tried again but faltered when his throat constricted.
As he attempted to get his legs to function, an acute pain of agony struck him and made him yelp in pain. A jagged piece of wood from the scaffolding had punctured through his bone and muscles, keeping him in place as its tip settled into the ground.
Izuna could feel his eyes sting with tears as he helpless tried to shift his leg out. The splintered edges of the material had punctured particular areas of his muscles that grabbing it out was easier said than done.
He tried to scream, but with the blanket of discord and pandemonium, his call for help was rendered mute. Izuna grunted as he tried to push the remains of the scaffolding off of his body, finally escaping from the heap of broken wood.
The young Uchiha crawled through the sludge of mud, water and blood, numbed from the infinite slides of flames and of the deceased. What mattered the most was surviving this, he thought. He was the son of the Head Clan; he refused to die here like a pig.
He dragged himself to a corner and propped himself in a sitting position. He looked at the state of his upper leg and saw a small drift of wood completely jammed in with the coils of his muscles. He took a deep breath and contemplated how he could possibly tackle this.
Izuna removed his shirt and bit into it. The fear the clung over him increased exponentially as shrivelled screams rang from the other side with clashes of metal. He had to do this! He promised to protect his clan!
He clutched onto the protruding material and contemplated for a moment.
Do it… he said.
But he laid frozen.
Do it, he pressed.
But his hand trembled.
Do it! He internally screamed through intense hyperventilation.
With the help of adrenaline, he tightly closed his eyes and ripped it right off. Crying because of the intense pain of the friction that burned through him, Izuna screamed into his shirt and let his impending tears carelessly roll down his cheeks.
As the blood continued to meander out of his open flesh, Izuna acted quickly and wrapped his shirt around his wound, applying a tight knot to great pressure so his blood wouldn't profusely leak out. He grunted as he got back up on his feet, not feeling stable enough to run, let alone walk continuously. He unsheathed his sword and stabbed it into the ground, using it as his leverage to carefully manoeuvre about.
As he limped across the area he once called home, his jaw visibly clenched as his onyx eyes hardened. With every step he took, he saw the bodies from his clan pile up, completely scattered along the ground. Their faces were as pale as snow with lines of frustration etching their features, showing their unquenched desire to protect the clan.
Men. Women. Children.
They were all on display.
They were disgraced to oblivion.
Izuna's demeanour was unlike before; he didn't feel any confidence spurring him on. He felt empty and cold. It was as if something had been taken from him, and now he was left with a gaping hole. He clenched at his fishnet shirt and gritted his teeth, eyes glinting with burning frustration.
Had he warned them sooner, things wouldn't have ended this grotesque. They wouldn't have been so blindsided by the barrage of attacks the enemy casted on them.
This was all his fault.
His wetted locks stuck painfully ontp his face as he shamefully dragged himself to safety, walking through countless of dutiful soldiers whose faces were buried in the mud. This was the epitome of condemnation for their clan. Was this because of their recent success as a clan? Or were the gods from above damning all of them to Hell?
There was a burning sensation overwhelming his senses: a heavy sense of grief. Though the flame he felt in his mind was mild, it was flickering so strongly he couldn't help but feel some sort of hope through this all.
The Uchiha will rise from this.
They had always risen above expectations. That's why they're the strongest clan in the world!
"Izuna-nii!"
The Uchiha snapped from his musing and looked ahead. It was one of the children from earlier on, but he was all alone –– battered and bruised. Izuna pushed himself to walk faster toward the child, finally taking his hand to guide him into safety. "Where are the others, Kaori?" he croaked, limping ahead of the child.
"T-T-They…. They're around the corner," the boy gestured to the left.
"Let's gather all of you up. And we'll get out of this place." Just as he was about to go around the corner, he felt his shirt being pulled back. He stopped and looked over his shoulder. "What is it?"
Kaori's lips thinned before he looked up at Izuna. "W-What's happening? I-I don't…"
Izuna's gave the boy an empathetic look. "Never mind that. Just think about getting out of here."
"O-Okay…"
"Lead me to them."
He nodded and rushed to the other corner. "This way, Izuna-nii."
Streaks of vibrant lightning crackled through the desolate part of the woods, eradicating anything in its path. Both Lightning ninjas worked in sync to overwhelm the lone Uchiha, using their raw destructive power and speed to their advantage. Madara was warped in a composition of well calculated barrage of attacks, leaving him little to no room to retaliate.
The Uchiha's body was finally slung onto the ground. Both the enemies regained their breaths as their lightning cloaks dimmed slightly. There was no doubt about it, they had beaten the Uchiha into oblivion –– he wasn't even moving.
"Did we do it, Aniki?" He huffed, wiping the sweat which ambled down from his temple.
Aniki straightened his posture and grinned victoriously. "I think we did."
"We just need to get his sharingan and we'll be out of here. Imagine how Father will treat us when he finds out we managed to get a sharingan!" The younger teammate celebrated, eager to get his reward.
Aniki slid his slender dagger out from his pouch and carefully approach the Uchiha. "We'll finally become acknowledged by him. Wouldn't that feel great?" He looked over his shoulder and smiled at his fellow teammate. "We'll finally get the glory we deserve."
"Glory, you say?" Madara snarled, rising from the ground. He spat the blood from his mouth and smirked tauntingly. "I expected more from your attacks. That lightning coat would have been something –– had you utilised it correctly."
Aniki narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean by that?"
"I could anticipate it all: your movements, your jutsu." His hypnotic scarlet jewel shone in the blackness of the night. "With my sharingan, I was able to play with the both of you. Before you could even land a hit of me, I had already protected myself with a sufficient amount of chakra." He clicked his neck back before he resumed. "Not that your punches were strong enough to overwhelm me, anyway."
"What was that?!" Aniki growled.
Madara drew his sword out and approached them. "That jutsu is incomplete –– at least, at the hands of incompetent ninjas, it is. Your chakra has been leaking ever since you activated that jutsu. Your speed and power has been decreasing from the very start."
"Aniki….." one whispered, backing away. "W-What do we do?"
Before anyone could talk, Aniki had already teleported to Madara. His fist managed to dig into his skin, but the momentum he packed in his punch wasn't enough to have much effect on Madara. "W-What!?" he bellowed out of disbelief, not wanting to accept his cruel reality.
"Is that all you have?" Madara asked mockingly. "You have to do better than that. Your punch isn't even half of the strength of someone I know. You'll need much more than that to take someone like me down."
"Shit!"
Both Lightning ninjas regrouped and lashed out their own set of rapiers. "We'll just have to cut him down this time!" Aniki growled, bolting forward to deliver the first strike as the other concealed their chakra to hit Madara at his blindspot.
Madara easily deflected Aniki's attack before he dodged the second set of lashes from the other unknown ninja. He sighed and lowered his weapon for a moment. "You're both too weak to fight me."
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" They both growled, as they used their remained chakra to enable them to flicker to Madara. One had his front, the other had his back. They had him cornered now. Their swords darted forward towards his vital organs; Aniki went for the heart whilst the other went for his kidney.
Madara flinched, but didn't have enough time to react. "W-What?!" His eyes widened at their unexpected attack. "Your chakra should have––!" His sharingan deactivated as the edges of their sword firmly embedded themselves inside of his body. His mouth quivered with pain and his face became whiter than snow. "….You bastards…" he growled.
Aniki gave a faint smile. "That's what you get for being so cocky, Uchiha."
The other also smiled. "Never underestimate us again."
Madara's sword slipped from his grasp and he continued to yelp out in agony as they twisted the sword inside of his torso. Blood slowly meandered from his mouth as he felt his body begin to shut down. However, as his lifespan began to fade, his lips gave a crooked smile. "There won't be a next time."
Aniki grinned. "Exactly. That's because you're now dead….!"
Thu-Thump.
A cold shiver ran down their spines as their lips trembled before they regurgitated blood out from their own mouths. That's when they realized it –– they had impaled each other. Aniki had already killed his teammate before he had even noticed.
His eyes darted around and saw Madara calmly standing beside them with a void look on his face. Not a smidgen of pride of victory, or gloat for their loss.
He simply stared.
"You're the one who's dead," he calmly said, deactivating his sharingan.
"B-But how….?" Aniki weakly asked.
"You came after the sharingan without knowing its true abilities. Our eyes are not objects meant to be put on display. They are not just anaesthetics. These eyes' potential is more inconceivable than you can possibly imagine."
The dying shinobi helpless looked into the depths of the sharingan Madara displayed once more.
"Marvel at these eyes. I had you at checkmate at the very start. I became your reality." He tipped Aniki's head slightly and glowered down at him. "I made you dance like the fool you are."
Thu-Thump!
Aniki's last breath drew and his heart stopped working. Finally, their bodies slumped together on the ground, with their swords lodged into each other.
Madara casually looked ahead into the woods.
"Izuna.…"
This wasn't supposed to happen.
Goddamn it!
Izuna's face fell after he saw bodies of dead children proliferating the entire road. Their pain and agony were still evident on their lifeless faces, as if they were crying for their survival till the very end.
"Wh-What's happened here….?" The older Uchiha whispered, lips quivering with both anger and helplessness. His eyes scanned through every single face he could see. The pain in his heart only worsened, as did with the flames in his brain.
"Nagami! Inanami!" The boy rushed to their dead bodies and he began to shake their bodies furiously. "T-They were alright a minute ago! I-I swear, Izuna-nii." Young tears ambled down his rosy cheeks as he wept over his deceased friends' corpses, refusing to be tugged away by Izuna. "No!" He screamed. "They're still alive, I know it! Tsunade-Tsunade can help! Wh-Where is she?!"
Izuna pursed his lips and shook his head. "I do not know. But we need to get out of here." He held him by his shoulder. "Listen to me."
"I-I can't just…." he sniffed, still not making eye contact. "I can't leave them here."
Izuna leaned onto his muddied sword and knelt down. He placed his hand over the deceased's eyes and slowly closed them. "Do you want to die?" He finally asked.
The boy shook his head.
"Then come with me. We'll get help. We might even run into Tsunade along the way. She'll be able to help you."
He dried his tears and nodded sulkily. "O-Okay…"
Izuna get a faint smile. "Let's go."
Kaori stuttered and knelt back down. "One second."
Izuna hobbled up back on his feet and nodded understandably. "Alright. We can spare a second."
But that second was more crucial than they had expected. In had all happened in a blink of an eye –– faster, even. In a distorted mess, Izuna found himself grappled onto and hurled like a worthless dog.
"Izuna-nii!" The boy shrieked, completely aghast at how things had escalated so quickly.
Izuna lifted his face off from the ground and gritted his teeth. "Run." He grunted and tried to find his footing again. "Run!" He skimmed his dishevelled hair back and spun out his substitute dagger.
At this point, death was palpable in the air.
Uchiha were dying left and right.
And they were next on the list.
A hulk of a silhouette flickered in front of them, but soon came into light when he stepped closer. His muscular body was bulging out from his black outfit and the dark locks of his hair was slicked back. His poised attitude alone made Izuna's blood boil with irrefutable hatred. He looked bored from this whole ordeal of other people's woe.
To him, this seemed like an easy mission of picking off the underlings.
If only he could wipe that smirk clean from that man's face. But judging from the man's stature and chakra signature, he was a force to be reckoned with. If anything, Izuna could feel his inferiority against the daunting man.
The Lightning ninja clicked his head back and sighed. "It doesn't look like any of you possess the legendary sharingan." He rolled his arms back and straightened his posture, revealing that he must just be shy of being six foot six. "And I haven't even killed any adults yet. These children were hindering my way; I had to deal with it somehow."
Before Izuna could open his mouth, he saw the kid's face etch with rage he hadn't seen before. "You killed them."
It wasn't a question.
"H-Hey, quit screwing around!" Izuna spat at the child. "Get out of here!"
Kaori gritted his teeth and let his aura spew out upon impulse. The tendrils of his hair spiked up and revealed newly festered sharingan brimming through his tears. "If you don't even have the sense of pride to stand up, Izuna-nii, then I will!" He grabbed Izuna's sword and hurdled forward, rage blinding common sense.
Izuna tried to move but his wound prevented him from getting far. He faltered shamefully back onto the ground; his pride was wounded for the thousandth time. "Don't go near him!" He screamed. "Don't be an idiot!"
The Lightning ninja clicked his neck and grinned. "Here it is. The sharingan." He balled his hand closed and activated his lightning cloak on. "What beautiful eyes you have there, boy!"
Both combatants clashed midway and a mild shockwave blasted through the area. Izuna covered his eyes with his forearm and clicked his teeth in frustration. The debris was too thick for him to see the final result of their clash.
Did the sharingan protect Kaori?
When the grey cloud cleared, Izuna's throat dried.
"Your eyes aren't sharp enough to see my speed, boy." His lips arched into a cynical smile of victory. "So these are the sharingan, eh?" The man lifted his limp body up from the ground whilst his hand was still firmly entrenched into his fragile chest. Their eyes met. "They're pretty pathetic." He snorted.
The bloodied boy clung onto his wrist and struggled in his hold. "T-The… Uc-Uchiha…." He murmured.
"Huh? I can't hear you; stop mumbling!"
"The Uchiha will kill all of you!" Kaori vociferated.
"Well said, child!" Another presence appeared in the midst of the rings of perpetual Hell.
Izuna craned his neck up. "F-Father!" He gasped.
The brown-haired man looked over his shoulder and pulled a face. "Who the 'ell are you, huh?"
Tajima lashed his sword out and looked at his opponent evenly. "Despite our difference, our unwavering rivalry throughout the past few generations, the Senju showed our clan the decency to spare our innocent children." He said in a calm manner.
"Well, we do things differently in the Land of Lightning."
"I can see that," he snarled. "You are nothing but wild dogs that need to be put down!"
An icy pause filtered the deadly atmosphere.
"The Senju would never do anything unhanded like this." His eyes grazed over the dozen bodies of children which stained the ground. "But you didn't even hesitate to treat these children like sport. I won't forgive you, you mongrel….." He glared up at his enemy, the hue of his eyes deepening to mirror his inner rage.
The man ripped his hand off the boy and directed his attention to the Head of the clan. "Entertain me then, Uchiha. Show me that you're actually worth our time."
"Izuna," Tajima spoke, "get that boy out of here. Just keep running forward and you'll see the survivors. That's the most you can do."
"But Father––!"
Tajima met his eyes with blinded rage. "Don't defy my orders!"
Izuna nodded quietly and slowly jogged to the boy's body, picking him up before dashing off from the fight.
"No more distractions," the man mused with a slanted grin.
Tajima steadied himself into his fighting stance. "No more distractions."
"Show me the real power of the sharingan then, Uchiha!"
The finest sharingan sprang into action –– the three wheels came full circle in the depths of the blood-hued orbs. The lines on Tajima's face darkened slightly as he tightened his clasp around his weapon.
"Come to me. I'll hack that grin right off your face."
Izuna jumped from tree branch to tree branch, desperate to see the makeshift base his father told him about. The pain ebbing in his leg didn't matter. In fact, it was irrelevant. This was, indeed, the most he could do. From the very beginning, he couldn't do anything. He hasn't saved anyone or defeated anyone.
He was the one who was saved.
By this boy.
This boy who was but an innocent child. Innocent he may be, but he was able to unlock the gates of the Uchiha's true power before he could. He reached a feat Izuna could only dream of reaching –– and he was just a junior.
He shook his head and continued to search for the other survivors.
"I-Izuna-nii….." The boy spluttered, gurgling on his own blood. He clung onto the older Uchiha and let out a whimper of helplessness –– of the fear of death. "P-Please…," he wheezed and began to choke grotesquely in his arms.
Izuna landed softly on the ground and let him down. "We are so close," he whispered soothing. "Just hang on for a couple more minutes. Can you do that?"
He shook his head vigorously.
"I-I don't….." his tears rolled down his young, rosy cheeks. "I don't want to… die." His face contorted as he continued to cough up his own blood.
Stained red covering his youthful complexion, spelling the fate of death over him
"You're not going to." Izuna held his hand and forced a small smile. "You'll be fine."
Kaori managed to smile back, as he believed every single reassurance Izuna gave him.
Judging by his wound alone, Izuna knew that his chance of survival was slim. But still! This was not the cue to give up. He bitterly looked away and clicked his tongue in irritation. He should have intervened. But that would have spelt certain death for him.
A shiver slithered down his spine at that realization.
It was his fear that disabled him from moving at the most crucial moment. Yes. It wasn't because of his injury that stopped him from saving Kaori. It was because of his cowardice that a gifted Uchiha was going to die tonight.
Despite the odds, Izuna firmly believed that this boy needed to live. He has awakened the sharingan –– the ultimate weapon. He is of great importance now.
"I'll keep you––!" Izuna's voice cracked.
The boy's spirit had since left his body.
His young obsidian eyes dulled into a faded grey, but his youthful faced still wrought in agony.
"Oi…." Izuna shook him lightly. "Stop kidding around. We need to go get help. Come on. You're an Uchiha, this wound isn't anything." His feigned optimism cracked and he became forlorn. "Hey…. Wake up. S-Stop ki-kidding around. Hey!"
Kaori's weak pulse had disappeared.
A corpse was a corpse. Izuna had seen hundreds of dead bodies –– friendly and foe. But this was his tipping point. The nerve pathways in his brain seemed to have sizzled with intense electricity, and his eyes burned with hot tears.
He lifted his hand which was stained with the boy's blood and sniffed. Warriors do not cry, he tried to remind himself. But it hurt, he thought. With each second he denied himself from feeling agony, his chest tightened around his lungs and deprived him from sufficient oxygen. He rasped out and slammed his hands onto the ground.
"Damn it!" He cried, letting his tears finally fall.
His screams of wallow and ire screeched throughout the wooded area.
"Tsunade!" Madara landed beside her with another Uchiha survivor in his arms. "Are you alright?" he asked, specifically eyeing how shallow her breathing had become since he last saw her. Her outfit was deeply dishevelled, suggesting that she had been caught in a struggle before. The smidgen of blood and mud on her skin attested to how violent her experience must have been.
It hadn't stopped her from treating the injured, however.
"What injury does he have?" she asked, still in deep concentration at closing the laceration another Uchiha member had on their abdomen. She wiped her sweat away and let out a soft sigh upon completing her work. She wrapped two layers of bandages around the man's wound and pinned it together before she stood up from her crouched position.
"He didn't sustain any physical injury," Madara observed, quite relieved.
Tsunade stumbled to a nearby tree and leaned against it. "Good," she said dimly before she sank onto the ground. She didn't want to admit it, but she was already at her limit. With her given body and capabilities, she does not have the capacity to store as much of chakra as she did before. Therefore, healing several patients without assistance from any other medics was incredibly taxing on her chakra gauge.
Madara took his kimono off before he knelt at her feet. He delicately reached out and angled her face to the side. "You once told me that you didn't like the feeling of blood on your skin because it's unhygienic." He softly swiped off the stain from her skin and faintly smiled. "Thank you for all of your efforts, Tsunade."
She softly smirked in amusement. "I never thought the Madara Uchiha could have such a soft side."
"Hn," he responded blandly, defeated. "I am merely stating the facts and acting according to them. You have been generous to our clan, especially during our times of need. Wiping off smidgens of blood and dirt from your skin is trivial compared to what you have done for us."
Tsunade remained quiet and lightly smiled, appreciating his kind touch on her skin. "W-Where's Izuna?" She asked finally, looking about for his presence but found none. When she looked at Madara's expression, she frowned. "Shouldn't we look for him?"
When she struggled to stand up, Madara softly pushed her back on the ground. "He's with father. So he should be fine." He gazed up at her leg, noticing that she was also bleeding. "H-Hey. Aren't you going to heal yourself?"
Tsunade took his shirt from him and tied it around her leg, completely unfazed. "I need as much chakra as I can possibly get. There may be more survivors who'll need my immediate attention; if I lack chakra, they will be a lost cause." Their gazes met again. "Don't worry about me."
Madara placed his hands on his hips and took a breather. "Alright. I'll take your word for it; you are the medic, after all."
"Exactly. It would be unwise to correct me," she bit back in a softer manner.
He then placed his hand on top of her head. "But you cannot fool me, Tsunade. You have passed your limit a long time ago. Your chakra has been strained for quite some time now." His eyes tightened at her haggard form. "You cannot heal another person, Tsunade."
"Do not underestimate me, Madara." Her voice still radiated with tongues of flames, so much so that it was becoming tangible around him. Even though her odds were against her, she was still gambling her luck away. And by the looks of it, while that gleam in her hazel eyes still glowed, she was never going to heed his word of giving up.
She was becoming even more interesting as the days went on by.
Madara rubbed his hands together and sat beside her. "We'll wait for father."
"And then what?"
"We'll go on his command." He gripped onto his weapon. "It will be his decision. We'll abide."
"Right."
The minutes felt like agonising hours for Madara as he laid in wait under the canopy of the trees, anticipating for his father's silhouette appearing through the thick shrouds of the woods. The faint orange glow of their fallen camp was still visible from where they were, and he couldn't help but wonder if his father had fallen into the pits of hell, along with their ruined buildings.
He gripped longingly onto his sword and heeded his father's command: to lie and wait for him.
There was a sudden rustle and Madara jolted up on his feet. Tajima had rushed into their circle with Izuna on his back and the enemy's head in his other hand. He threw the decapitated head into the fire pit before he let Izuna drop back onto the ground.
Tsunade was the first one to react, to tend to Izuna's wounds. As she worked to disinfect the open cut on his leg, she heard him sniffle and choke back his despair. She looked up at Madara who shared a soft look with his brother.
"I-I couldn't do anything, brother….." Izuna sobbed, hoping to find sympathy from Madara.
The other Uchiha knelt down beside him and kissed him on the forehead. "Get some rest, Izuna."
"I'm going to kill them," he promised. "We will hunt them down. And when we do, I will kill them."
Madara nodded and clasped his hand. "As will I, brother. As will I."
Their ultimatum was as palpable as the smell of blood in the air.
Tajima placed his hands on his hips, still at a lost at how the event quickly transpired. He tried to avoid any eye contact from the desperate Uchiha who had fallen to the shackles of tears and helpless, but he directly looked into those who had eyes of flames –– of hatred.
They were waiting for him to say it.
To give out his command.
To slaughter those bastards who dared to cross their clan.
Even his sons reeked with putrid hate.
"We will regroup with the other Uchiha members. And we will block off the bridges that will lead out of the Land of Fire. We won't let them retreat."
A moment of silence.
Tajima revealed his sharingan to his entire clan, as his lips were downcast with disdain.
"We will kill every single one of them –– be it their children, their women. We will wipe their existence from this world." He pulled out his sword and stabbed it into the dampened soil. "They have raised a war against the Uchiha. And we won't let them win."
All the wounded soldiers got up on their feet with a look of determination radiating within them. Tajima's words were enough to repair their damaged honour and pride. His sharingan alone gave them the assurance that this new war was theirs for the taking.
Pairs of sharingan –– mostly newly bred –– shone just like small candelights in the dark.
Madara aided Izuna up on his feet, his sharingan was also as blood-thirsty.
"They wanted the sharingan," Tajima smirked, "so we'll give them the power of it."
"B-But… what about the children?" One woman asked, clutching at his bloodied robe. "And the other dead bodies?"
Tajima crouched down and touched the woman's frail face. "We shall give them the burial they deserve. I'll make sure of it." His hand left her face and he stood back up. "We shall honour the deaths of our comrades: we'll grieve and we'll have a feast to commemorate their accomplishments in this clan. Once we are finished, we are leaving all of our grief with them, and we will find those responsible for their deaths."
The Head of the clan turned his back on his clansmen. "That will be all."
Even though the other members didn't see it, Tsuande saw the pain in Tajima's eyes at the loss of faithful comrades. He covered his eyes with his hand and quietly grieved for the children of his clan, as if they were his own.
Tsunade's eyes softened.
She hasn't seen such a ruthless Uchiha weep so brokenly until now.
She looked up at the dark sky, knowing well that this was just the beginning.
Little did their enemies know, they had just awakened a power far greater than they could handle.
A power akin to the Gods.
The sharingan.
"Even without the sharingan, Kakashi is still very perceptive." Hashirama couldn't help but take notice as he watched him spar with Toka. He looked at his younger brother who hasn't said a word since his humiliation from their father. "Tobirama––"
"Stop talking," he hissed, more agitated than ever. "I'm trying to get a feel of Kakashi's movements."
Hashirama cocked his head slightly. "Why?"
"So I can synchronize with his movements when we fight father," he said matter-of-factly, penning the silver-haired boy's movements. He glanced up again, taking note that Kakashi was currently weight weights around his ankles and wrists. "Toka wasn't joking when she said she was going to work Kakashi to the bone."
"I know," the First said in a sympathetic tone. "She would haul Kakashi out of bed at five in the morning so they could climb the mountain. After that, before the poor thing could catch a breather, she forces him to spar with her."
"But it's working," Tobirama quietly said. "Kakashi has improved immensely –– his speed, his fighting technique, and his stamina has been increasing tremendously."
Kakashi deflected Toka's attack before he brought his knee into her stomach. However, Toka had already seen this coming. She caught his attack and head-butted him to the ground. The Hatake lost his footing and fell flat on the ground.
She huffed. "Get up, Kakashi. That was nothing."
Kakashi sighed out with exasperation as he wiped his sweat-slicked hair back. He then jumped on his feet and crouched back down into his fighting style. "This is mostly unfair Toka-san; I have weights and you don't."
"Whine later." She had already dashed at his side. "Try and defeat me now, Kakashi."
He shook his head in dismay. She truly reminded him of Tsunade. And that was more of a problem than a blessing.
Tobirama continued to pen down his characteristics in battle, and had simulations already running in his mind.
"It just might work," he suddenly mused.
Hashirama perked up and raised a confused brow. "What might?"
Tobirama suddenly flickered from him and reappeared in between Toka and Kakakshi. "Come with me," he gestured to Kakashi. "We're going to train."
Kakashi lowered his arm and let out a groan. "I'm already training, Tobirama-san."
"You're going to help me defeat my father. And in order to do that, we'll have to learn to fight effectively together." He looked at Toka. "You don't have any qualms with that, do you?"
She shrugged and shook her head, not caring less. "You will clear up my entire schedule."
Kakashi's eyes narrowed. She was intending to grill him to the bone for the entire day. These Senju members were nothing but closet sadists who relish in other people's struggle.
"What do you have in mind?" she asked.
"I was thinking of using the genjutsu you helped me develop."
She seemed flabbergasted for a moment. "You don't mean…!"
He nodded in return. "I'll use the Bringer of Darkness technique."
Kakashi's eyes widened. He's seen this jutsu before –– back when the Third was assassinated, when both the First and Second were brought back to life. This was the jutsu that blinds the opponent for an indefinite amount of time. Not even the Third could dispel it.
He looked at the Second. "You want to hone my other senses, don't you?"
"Precisely," Tobirama replied. "And by doing this, you won't have to rely on your sharingan as much anymore. This will also mean that you will have more chakra at your disposal. I will accentuate your sensory skills, as well as train you to use your chakra as your 'radar'."
Toka crossed her arms. "You will have Kakashi on the brink of exhaustion."
"I'm sure if you've done your job right, Kakashi will have just enough chakra for this exercise."
Toka gripped Tobirama by his head. "Don't belittle me, Tobi. I'm still far stronger than you."
"Exactly," he blandly replied. "But if my hypothesis is right, after this training, I will have caught up with you."
Hashirama was heard gasping in the background.
"You seem confident about that."
"I am." He looked up at her. "But you will have to help me."
"Help you surpass me?" She wanted to laugh. "Why would I want to do that?"
"Because it's in your nature."
Toka huffed and rolled her shoulders back in defeat. "Since you put it that way, I don't think I can deny a little brother's request."
"I'm not your little brother," Tobirama snapped.
She ruffled his hair. "Well, you're still family."
Tobirama hid his blushes with a pout and spun around to Kakashi. "Meet me at our usual training area in an hour."
Before Kakashi could respond, the Senju had already flickered out from the training hall.
"R-Right…." He huffed, completely rid of exhaustion.
Hashirama placed his hand on his shoulder and grinned. "Make sure you're well hydrated, Kakashi. Knowing Tobirama, he will keep on pushing you until you drop."
Toka giggled. "And you will start seeing that I'm not half bad."
Kakashi palmed his face.
To be entirely honest, every Senju was just as terrible as the next.
xox and Exciled3