| Chapter 5 |

Incandescent in the feeble moonlight, clad in only the white long-sleeved slip that had been provided for her, Satomi kneeled in front of the window. Her ashen lips moved noiselessly, mumbling words that would not find ears to fall upon, wishing, with her hands clutching each other, that what was reality was in fact a wild dream she had concocted. Whenever she cracked open her eyes, however, the same scene swam into her vision. The same dark-coloured drapes, the Uchiha clan insignia, everything. She was not home. She was not in the company of friendly and familiar faces. She was alone.

The curtains were not drawn for one mere reason: she liked to study the night sky. From the darkening corners, the streaks of navy amongst the pronounced blackness, the twinkling of diminutive silver stars that were so far away – it reminded her of a time in her life in which she was content and surrounded with people she adored.

Ever since her father's death, her family unit had dwindled dramatically. Once upon a time she had actually had two elder sisters, but over time both had died in battle, henceforth why her father refused her the opportunity to become a Shinobi. He trained her in taijutsu and kenjutsu, but allowed nothing else and she was barred from having any other tutor. Both of his sons had died, one before Satomi was even born, and his wife had died giving birth to a stillborn child. She became a medic for the sole purpose to ensuring other women had their beloved returned to them. At least, as many of them as she could help return.

Now she was entrapped by a clan where emotions were unwanted weaknesses, apologetic words were nonexistent, and she was in danger from being killed for the mere blood in her veins. Not only that – but she was a woman, a member of the weaker sex and property of whomever owned her. She had no right to anything.

Brushing strands of her hair out of her eyes, Satomi breathed in through her mouth and then out. She must remain calm if she was to escape and return home to Tobirama. There was no existing 'if she could', but rather 'she would' return. Lying down would only prove her meek and malleable for whatever the Uchiha leader, Madara, had planned. If she was to be an aide to her clan, then she had to escape the Uchiha. There was no other alternative, no other hope, because she was not a Shinobi, nor was she a high-ranking medic in any sense. She was a girl, alone and friendless, in a foreign world so unlike her own. The Uchiha was the polar opposite to the Senju, and the differences were almost unforgiving.

She prayed to the Gods that her stay was only short, and not as long as Madara predicted. If it was, then the opportunity to escape would surely decline. The better the enemy knew her, the less chances she could get away.

Night gave way to day as the colours glowing in the sky changed. Pearly white clouds drifted above the stronghold, contrasting pleasantly with a pastel blue. The heavy hues of night had long since vanished when Satomi awoke, to find Izuna lounging in a chair in the corner of her room.

Wait, since when was the room hers? Did she now intend to stay?

"I see you are awake," remarked Izuna, knocking Satomi out of her thoughts. He was looking at her apathetically, no traces of amusement or smugness lurking in his black eyes.

"Yes, Izuna-sama. Good morning."

"Good morning indeed, Senju," She didn't miss the underlying tone as he said her clan's name. His expression became falsely positive. "My brother wishes to talk with you again. But not now," he added, as she shifted in her bed to get out. "No, later on today. Meanwhile, I have the ... privilege," Izuna looked like he was struggling for a moment, "to watch over you. How kind of him."

"Mm," Satomi didn't dare something anything else.

Izuna sighed and looked out of the window, in his hand was a kunai. He played with it absent-mindedly. "I wonder how they are faring ..." he muttered to himself. For a moment, Satomi wondered if Izuna meant his brother had gone to fight another war, but faint yells and cries awoke her to the idea that—most probably—they were training nearby somewhere. "Have you ever trained for battle?" Izuna asked suddenly.

Satomi blinked and hesitated to answer. "Err – n-no, not really."

Izuna's eyes hadn't left the window. "No, I do not suppose you would be. You do not have the physique." It was the fact that he had dismissed her so coolly, as though talking about a trivial little matter, that irked Satomi's temper.

Sniffing, she turned her head and glared at the other wall. Izuna may not have glanced at her, but he knew he had managed to annoy her – so he smirked. If he was stuck with that damn Senju's whore, then he was going to make it as much Hell for her as it was for him.

"Is something troubling you, Senju?"

Satomi pursed her lips in irritation. Once again Izuna asked himself what Tobirama found so attractive in this woman – she was demure, small and unpleasing. How could a woman like her satisfy any man at all?

"There is nothing on my mind, Izuna-sama, nothing at all."

Raising an eyebrow at the curt—and obviously strained—reply, Izuna muttered, "How very insightful," sarcastically under his breath. Satomi twitched amongst her bedcovers, but otherwise remained glowering solidly at the wall. Tiring of her quickly, Izuna soon turned back to the window and peered at two birds gliding through the air outside. Madara's favourite activity was falconry, but neither of the birds looked like the ones his brother kept. They must be wild, common too.

"You should get dressed," he called over to her suddenly. "If someone was to enter and see you still in your nightclothes with me present, people would start talking."

"Does your reputation mean that much to you?" bit out Satomi unthinkingly. When she realised what she said, she slapped her hands over her mouth and looked horrified at her bed sheets. Frozen in place, she waited for Izuna to snap at her, threaten her once more – do something. But instead he—

"I was thinking more about Tobirama and what he would think of you if he ever thought you had been bedded by another man," A wicked gleam lit his eyes as bright as a hellfire; his smirk sharpened by her response. "But if he is not the first reason to your mind, I can only wonder if you are truly in love with him like you claim."

Holding in her gasp, Satomi whirled around, out of her covers and crossed the room to glower at Izuna as close as she dared. "Tobirama is more honourable than you depict him to be! And he knows that if I am ever bedded by another—which Gods forbid!—that I would not choose to be so!"

Izuna wore his smirk blatantly, staring unblinkingly into Satomi's eyes. All of a sudden, his eyes dyed scarlet and three tomoes spun lazily, hypnotising her. Genjutsu was a basic for any Uchiha Shinobi; it was one of their many battle fortes. Creating a dreamscape unique to the victim, on the other hand, was challenging. The only thing Izuna knew about the Senju woman was that she was Tobirama's whore; he knew nothing of her family (if she had one still) or life within the Senju clan other than that.

Watching the men train, battling each other with weapons, jutsus and cunning, Madara could not shake the ill-feeling that squirmed in his muscled abdomen. Perhaps it was a mistake to order Izuna to guard the Senju. His brother was hardly the most ... sympathetic, could he say? Izuna hated the Senju clan, as they had been bred to hate the Senju, and did not know that some Senju clansmen could be innocent of murdering their clansmen.

Glimpsing two birds fluttering in the sky, one chasing the other, Madara wondered exactly what Izuna could be doing to the woman. He would not be able to honestly admit that Izuna torturing her had not crossed his mind – because it had, and frequently so.

While the men were practising their kenjutsu, Madara summoned a hawk to check on Izuna and the Senju via the window. When the hawk returned to report its findings, Madara was perplexed. Why was Izuna carrying her unconscious body back to her bed? Had he cast a genjutsu on her to keep her quiet and peaceful? That was the most likely reason.

In the sky above him, the pursuing bird was gaining on the other.

Cups resting untouched on the low oak table in the middle of the room, both Hashirama and Tobirama entertained themselves with their private thoughts; both pondering on how to persuade the council of Elders that Satomi was valuable to the clan.

The only argument they had so far was that she was Tobirama's betrothed, although they had yet to announce their engagement officially, she had consented to marry him several days prior to her kidnapping. That had lead them to another problem, the most pressing one: why had she been kidnapped? There was no doubt in their minds, at first, that it was due to her connection to Tobirama that had tempted Madara to steal her away to spite him, but then when they received word of her exchange for refusing to defend the daimyo of the Earth Country, that theory went up in smoke.

"What are we going to do? If we are to make the deal, we would need the backing of the Elders, proof that she is valuable to the clan and the support of the clan." Tobirama stated, his eyes hardened flints of burgundy. He faced his brother, who looked equally torn. "Not everyone knows Satomi, they only know of her. The Elders are convinced I could do better and that her death would be of no consequence to anyone. I thought they respected Ryosei-san. Why are they not trying to rescue his daughter, if that is the case?"

"As did I think so, too," mumbled Hashirama, his head falling back to rest against the wooden wall behind him. "It seems not. She is his only surviving child, but they would rather condemn her to death than save her."

"Can you not ask the Uzumaki for assistance?"

Hashirama shook his head sadly. "No, Uzumaki-sama cannot become involved. Their clan is fighting the Sarutobi, and the Shimura after them. Gods help him if he is pitted against Sarutobi Sasuke."

"Well, providing that the Uzumaki are fighting the Sarutobi clan, I would say it is a pretty strong possibility that he will come across Sasuke on the battlefield, brother." Tobirama quipped irritably, frowning at the oak table in thought. "Now, we need to focus on Satomi—"

"Madara will not let her be killed, Tobirama, I have his word on that." Hashirama assured him, though unsmiling. "Madara will not turn back on his word."

"He is an Uchiha, part of a clan that believes a five-on-one fight is fair – or have you forgotten what happened to Itama?" retorted Tobirama snappishly, reaching for his cup to inhale the scented steam. "The Uchiha clan is full of darkness; mercy does not exist to them."

"Again, I question you: how can you be sure if all you have ever done is fight against the Uchiha, Tobirama?" challenged Hashirama, frowning. "Madara has lost brothers too. Every Uchiha Shinobi has lost someone dear to them, just like the Senju. We are all the same in this senseless war."

"We are not cursed!"

"Again with that?" snapped Hashirama, with a scowl that matched Tobirama's grimace. "The Uchiha are not born cursed to love too deeply, for Heaven's sake! Stop over-thinking things!"

"I am not over-thinking – I am telling you that the Curse of Hatred lurks in that clan because they love too dearly, too acutely are they attached, that when their beloved is killed, all they seek is revenge with their own sword! It is an endless cycle, brother!"

"I have had enough, Tobirama," steamed Hashirama, all traces of kindness washed away from his friendly face. "We will seek a truce of some kind and hopefully—when that happens—you can see for yourself that is there no curse." Hashirama sighed, allowing a silence to dawn upon them. His eyes never wavered from his brother's glower. Soon Tobirama looked away, his cup residing on the table again.

"Is Mito fighting the Sarutobi?"

Hashirama was thrown by the sudden, off-topic question, but answered nonetheless; "Err – yes, she is fighting alongside Hiromi. Those two seem to balance each other out."

Tobirama only nodded.

I just wanted to say another big thank you! to Blink-Dream, dante 911, xGuiltyXGigglesx03 and crazyuser! ;) Your reviews mean a lot! Thank you!

Another note to add: I might have to change the rating soon, but only because of adult themes.

Thank you once again! :) Ciao!