The medics were set up in a fairly large beige tent. With my wounded shoulder, I reluctantly escorted myself slowly to the area that smelt faintly like death. I stopped in my tracks a few feet away from the entrance and grimaced deeply. Fuck, she's in there. Of course she's in there; she's a fucking doctor. Hana had her long black hair tied back in a frizzy braid to keep it out of the way during her intense surgery. Her medic clothes were heavily stained with blood and other bodily fluids making her look a hot mess. Even though she looked over worked and greasy, she was attractive and I hated her for that. How am I supposed to be faithful to my wife for a year when I have this tramp tempting me at every turn?

I placed my hand over my shoulder hiding the gash under my palm. It doesn't hurt that bad, it doesn't need to get treated. There were several men lying on mats moaning out in pain, unable to move due to severe mortal wounds. Look at them, they need doctors not me. It's just a flesh wound. I tried to convince myself, although from battle experience I knew this was more than that. I'm good at sewing up wounds though, I'll just go in my tent and deal with it on my own. I don't need a nurse. I turned my back to the tent set on a course away from the medics but I was still in good view of Hana. If she only lifted her chin from her amputee victim she'd see me. God, please don't let her see me.

"Madara, are you hurt?!" Hana caught me.

Fuck!

She disregarded her patient who was screaming in pain and ran to my side. "Move your hand, let me see." She pulled at my stiff arm that laid on top of my shoulder.

I grumbled bitterly under my breath. "Fuck you, God. Just, fuck you," and moved my hand weakly away from the fiercely bleeding slash. Hana gasped childishly, as if a dozen years of medical experience had withered away and she was just an apprentice again.

She grabbed my hand and tugged me inside the tent as if it were a grand parade. "Move it," she shoved a head trauma victim aside in her fit. She sat me down on an empty mat and went immediately to work on my shoulder. "I hope he looks worse." The idealistic nurse mused. I contained my enthusiasm, as much as I'd love to boast about my tie with Hashirama, speaking to her was only going to lead to bad things.

I broke my solemn vow of silence as she hit a nerve with her needle. "Fuck, Hana!" I snapped.

Unfazed by my outburst she continued prodding the cut. "It's hard to get to the wound; you're shirts in the way. Take it off." Her ulterior motives were obvious but I was too exhausted and sore to fight her. I gave up and shrugged off the torn and blood soaked shirt to the ground disregarding grace in the action.

I sensed Hana take a sharp breath in as she admired my shirtless form. I rolled my eyes at the unprofessional doctor, "Stop gawking, sew me up." I barked at the slow woman.

"Sorry," She muttered and went back to work. "It's been awhile since I've seen your body. I miss it."

I'm married, I'm married, I'm married, I'm married. I closed my eyes and thought at that moment about my wife, a topic never too far from my mind. I hate lightening.

Hana slowed down her pace and looked down sadly at me with her deep brown eyes. "You're thinking about her."

"Who."

"Your wife." My lips made a firm line. "I knew it, whenever you think about her your breathing slows and you close your eyes. It's like you fall asleep or something."

Do I really? "What's it to you."

She shrugged, "I met her the other day. I can see why you married her, she's beautiful."

The snow colored hair and bursting sun gold eyes illuminated the dark shadows in my mind. "She is." I had married her out of a selfish whim to hold my dreams in reality, I hadn't realized all the repercussions it would have. She'd be the death of me for sure.

"Do you miss her?" Hana cut the string that mended my wound together and put the dirtied needle in a jar of anti-septic. I hadn't said anything yet she flinched as if I did. "She's kind, graceful, and has an air of peace that engulfs her, who wouldn't miss her? Now, she's even carrying your baby… Although I heard that she's not doing so well. Pre-clampsia if you ask me, Jonathan will eventually come to the same conclusion." I bowed my head down in defeat and took the abuse. Great, I can't imagine what she said to her. Typically I would have back handed any woman who talked to me in such a casual tone, but to hear her talking about Bella's health, it paralyzed me. "All beauty ends with an ache and a knife. You could have saved yourself the pain if you just settled with me."

"I don't settle for mediocre."

"Ouch." Her sarcasm pooled around us.

I stood up from the mat, feeling a cloud come over my head now. "Thank you," I politely bid her for the work she had done and walked away. Although, Hana wasn't the one to let goodbyes be the end.

"I'll see you tonight." She smiled and gave me a sly wink that put a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach. I never thought I'd say this, but when will the war end?

I need someone to talk to, where's Izuna?

The battle raged on and this annoying brat wasn't going down. "Your brother trained you well."

The ebony haired boy smiled, "dido." He replied attempting to bring me down to his incompetent level. It was true my brother trained me, but I had made my own way in many ways unlike Izuna Uchiha who merely sucked the glory off of his older brother.

A bone chilling clash of swords stopped Izuna and I mid-step, we turned our attentions to the battle going on adjacent to us. My father and his were fighting fiercely, in a fashion I had never seen either of them fight before. I wasn't about to admit there was an ideal way of doing war, but if there were they would definitely be violating proper etiquette.

"Tajima, you coward! How low have you sunk!" My father took a side step around Tajima and thrusted his sword upwards piercing the Uchiha leader in the heart with the sharp steel sword.

"Father!" Izuna shouted and ran towards his old man's aid. I grabbed the kid by she elbow and pulled him back. "What are you doing, let me go!" he whined fighting against my grip fiercely.

I shook my head at the naïve boy, putting aside our differences for now to allow a moment of respect for the fallen man. Izuna watched cautiously and slowly realized what I was doing. He ceased his struggling and stood by my side solemnly.

As I released his elbow we watched my father take back his sword from the mortally wounded man. Izuna knew no matter how fast he could rush his father to the medics that it would all be futile; the wound was fatal. The most mature thing a son could do is let the man die on the battle ground with honor.

My father knelt to the ground next to the man. "You've been crazed for nearly twenty years, Tajima. We use to battle each other as equals, now it's come to this." He shook his head in disappointment as Tajima spat blood in my father's face.

"Fucking Senju," the dying Shinobi hissed.

With grace he disregarded it, "we raised our sons on the same battlefield and seasoned them against one another. Even if you are a 'fucking Uchiha' I was as close to you as an enemy could be. Was it Tara, is that why you went bad? Was Tara's death what made you rabid enough to let your clan fall from its graces."

"DON'T SAY HER NAME!"

My father sighed, "Our clans were once equal, now the Uchiha are second place at best. All because you disregarded the rules and allowed your priorities to become disorganized."

Izuna sensed the death in the air and cringed as his father's head limply turned in his direction, "Son, don't believe a fucking word this dog has to say. Don't allow the Senju to win, they are all rotten liars. These are my last words to you." The boy nodded holding back tears fiercely and bowed his head in shame as he found himself incapable of keeping his emotions at bay.

The light faded out of Tajima's eyes and my father stood from the ground and came to my side. Izuna ran to the corpse and rushed it off the battlefield quickly. So there will be a new clan leader now, no doubt it will be Madara. I wonder how far he will sink this already capsized clan.

My father rested a heavy hand on the top of my head, belittling me in the middle of the warring scene. "Son," he sighed. "I believe it is time for me to retire from war now. Do you think Hashirama's ready to rank up?"

I nodded, "Yeah. Even though he's an idiot, I'm sure he's ready." With my brother and Madara in power there are only two ways this can end, peace or Guerilla warfare.

I heard the clan running about outside my tent, probably bringing in more wounded. I laid my head back on the cot and closed my eyes again attempting to get rest once again. Although, an usual worry plagued my system. What if Izuna is among the wounded? I threw the sheets to the ground angrily and stomped out the tent to investigate. As I had thought, they were running in the wounded and a few dead from the field. It was dark, only the moon to highlight the scene of chaos. I spotted Izuna running in from the field with my father limp in his arms.

I felt my heart stop, seeing him in such a vulnerable condition was highly unusual. "Madara, help!" Izuna roared above the shouting men. I ran to his side and helped him with our heavy father.

I held my breath as I realized the old man was as stiff as a rock. "…No." I was stuck midsentence, incapable of finishing it. He's dead?

The man slouched out of Izuna and I's embrace and fell to the ground with a loud *thump.* I knelt down beside him and took his pulse and just as I had feared, the man was dead. Izuna shoved his face into my shoulder and weakly cried out for his father. "I-I saw him die."

A few heads turned in our direction and a mass of Uchiha men huddled in a circle around the dead leader. I tussled my little brothers hair in attempt to console him in the only way I knew how to as a sibling. "Quit whining, he died with honor. Hopefully one day you and I will die in the same fashion." Izuna looked sourly at me and sneered at my inconsiderate speech.

It would appear as if I didn't even feel my father's death, but in truth it shook me completely. I hadn't expected this outcome, and I wasn't a man who welcomed a change in plan. I thought I'd have at least a year to prepare for this, but fate decided to thrust me into position accordingly.

Hana pushed herself through the crowd and looked down at my father. "He's dead?... So who's our leader?" She said unsympathetically. rude

I felt all the eyes of the Uchiha turn to me in one harmonic movement. "Send word to the Elders immediately."

"What are you doing here?" A man dressed in a purple floor length robe and long white hair addressed me. There were two men in the elders temple, both wore identical robes but one had long white hair and the other short.

I bowed before the elders and smiled, "I'm sorry it took me so long to introduce myself. My husband's been hiding me. I'm Bella, and you are Haruko and Grayson. I'm glad to make your acquaintance-"

"- you talk too much." The man with short hair narrowed his eyes at me. "Skip the sugar coated pleasantries, I'm diabetic. What the hell do you want?"

My face had slacked slightly, but I pinned it back to its former glowing smile. "You're Haruko then, I heard you were cranky." The wrinkles around his mouth sagged further as he frowned at me in displeasure. "I was hoping I could ask you a few questions regarding the history of this clan."

The long haired man I assumed to be Grayson suddenly went into good spirits. "Oh!" He exclaimed. "That's wonderful, sit child- where would you like to start?"

Haruko suddenly reached out and punched the Grayson in his brittle shoulder. "You idiot, don't just invite a wolf into a chicken coop!"

I sat down while the too bickered and pulled out my note pad full of questions. I clicked my pen and smiled up at the man on the platform like a diligent student. "I was hoping to focus the topic on how the Uchiha got in this condition. When did the Uchiha become impoverished?"

Haruko dropped Grayson's collar and pointed at me accusingly, "What a rude question from a vulgar mouth!"

"Shush, Haruko." Grayson fixed his hair behind his shoulders and took his seat back at the Shogi board. His partner reluctantly found his seat on the opposite side and glowered down at me. "You're just a baby, why are you wondering such questions?"

Baby, hardly. Can they really call me a baby when I'm carrying one? "I'd like to make a better future, and the best way to do that is to learn from the past." I said simply.

The short haired elder crossed his arms and reverted his gaze to the ground as if he were suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the air. "The only lesson that needs to be learned is to never trust a Senju. That is all."

I raised my brow and pondered the comment and quickly wrote it down in the notebook.

Trust+Senju=impoverished home(=?) May Senju

I looked back up at the confused men, "Oh no, continue, I'm just taking notes." I laughed it off.

Grayson let out a heavy sigh and postulated himself. "What Haruko means, is our clans destruction started with a Senju woman. Her name was May Senju, beautiful girl. Strange though, she looked similar to you."

I knew it, she is mixed in this.

Grayson's glare at the floor intensified. "Except orange eyes," it appeared he was in a deep memory. "Just like you but with orange eyes. I wonder why that is…" He looked up with concern plastered across his wrinkled mug. "I heard of you fathers affair, who was your mother?"

I shrugged, Madara's already tried going there. All I had was a name and a picture, nothing else to remember her by. "Her name was Ivy, I don't have a last name."

"That's not helpful." He hissed.

"Tell me about it." I too wanted to know who she was. I smiled at the man hoping that it would deteriorate his scowl, but it appeared my happiness, no matter how false, angered him.

Grayson took the situation by the reigns again and stirred it back on path. "Yutaku brought the woman back with him from an espionage mission he was on. He had apparently grown 'attached.'" Grayson made eerie air quotations. "Beautiful girl, like you, a bit older though. He wed the Senju woman which caused the most frightening uproar. Our people called for his head, but he ignored them."

"Bewitched." Haruko spat.

"We all have our theories." Grayson recovered. "Yutaku was our leader at the time and was in charge of keeping the place established, although he found himself… forgetting his duties. May ended up doing everything for him, and a power struggle ensued. The elders at the time didn't want Senju hands making decisions for our clan, but our leader wouldn't take charge. Nobody knows exactly what happened, but one day May just disappeared and Yutaku refused to make any effort to lead the Uchiha clan. He married another woman and had Tajima and Tajima took the clan at 16. He was such a young leader though and lacked the authority and experience to effectively lead, and his predecessors didn't help him any. That's basically that catastrophe in a snapshot."

There were no flashbacks invading my mind for once, which gave me the feeling that what he was saying wasn't the truth. Usually facts would trigger an image, but nothing, not even a sound was breeching my mind. My suspicion was confirmed in Haruko's silent scoffs. Something had been covered up that even Grayson didn't know about.

As I was about to further my interrogation a man ran in the room breathlessly with a scroll marked with a red seal. He held it out in front of him as he lowered his head, "I'm," he breathed in heavily. "sorry to impede your conversation. It's urgent." He looked up and I recognized him.

"Blade, what's wrong?" His face was pale but sweaty, as if he were in shock.

He bowed to me briefly, "Lady Uchiha!" He said in sudden realization. "Your husband wanted me to give this scroll to specifically you." Lady, when did they start calling me that?

All feeling in my body left me as the man pulled a separate scroll out of his back pocket and laid in front of me as an offering. I suppressed an internal groan and took the scroll to be polite. I had every intention to light it on fire, but as the elders watched me in curiosity I found no other option but to read it.

Bell,

I'm sorry. How many times do I have to say it?

Your Husband, (don't forget it.)

Grayson waited for a report, "He's just being an idiot."

Blade offered the red sealed scroll to Haruko who took it rudely. He opened it up with a keen lack of sophistication. He let his eyes wander the scroll quickly and with complete absesene of emotion he announced, "So Tajima finally croaked."

Both the elders appeared as if they had known the entire time this was to come. My eyes grew wide in shock and sudden dismay. My first instinct was to be there for Madara, but he wasn't here. I went on to feeling self-blame, but there was no way this could have been my fault. Instantly my emotions did a 360 and I felt slightly pleased that I would no longer have to hear his rude chatter and then guilt took over my body for feeling happiness at a time like this.

My emotions were apparently showing on my face as Blade watched from a far keeping track of every emotion with a finger on his hand. "Wow, women are strange. You went through 6 emotions in like ten seconds."

"This is why nobody likes you , Blade." I hissed at the man. I hated people who watched me. He lowered his head and gave a silent apology.

Haruko looked to Grayson and nodded, "Let democracy have its way, tell the captains to issue a vote for the next leader." Blade nodded and bolted out of the room with fever. I was left sitting in complete confusion.

"You say vote, but by the way you all looked… It appears it's already been decided."

Grayson gave me the first genuine smile all day, "Of course. Whether you believe it or not, your husbands a favorite by the clan."

"You're right, I don't believe it."

"Madara, the elders want us to do a vote." Blade threw himself into the strategy tent. His long black hair was damp with sweat from his quick journey.

"Only 12 hours, that's a record. How's my wife, did you give her my message?" The image of my furious Goddess ripping apart the house flashed in my mind.

The man nodded, "Yes, about that. I gave Lady Uchiha the message."

"And…?"

"She looked annoyed and said you're stupid."

"…of course." I hung my head as Izuna chuckled to my side.

Blade waivered on his feet, appearing to be on his last leg. "May I be relieved, I'm close to passing out."

There were several men in the room, all of them watching me like a hawk. I seated myself at the table and signaled to Blade that he was relieved. The man hobbled out of the room tiredly as I contemplated my next move. "What will we do, Madara?" Izuna sat beside me.

I shrugged, "take the vote, I guess. You and Ro go gather the Uchiha and come back with the verdict."

Izuna stood up and walked out of the tent with Ro, but stopped just short. "I can't believe Dad's gone…."

I grazed my hand through my mess of black hair, "me either."

N/A: Sorry it's been so long. Happy Easter.