Ehehe, sorry for taking so long to post this. This was mostly written ages ago, but I had the document on another computer and then I forgot about it. Well, I found it again and finally finished it today, so here it is! Hope you can enjoy~
In the early hours of the morning Izuna has reached the outskirts of their camp. His feet, one with sandal and the other with a bloody sole, silently carry him down a path among the trees, little specs of light sprinkling the warm earth.
The other Uchiha do not pay him much attention as he passes them, save for a few closer relatives who politely greet him and bow their head.
Within less than a minute Izuna has located his tent and strips off the slightly battered plates of armor Madara-nii insisted he'd wear. The younger brother distastes the armor that slows him down and restricts his movements, but he sees Madara-nii's good intentions. For Madara-nii, Izuna's armor is like an extension of himself. When he is not there to protect him, the armor is.
The pride that Izuna has, despite the awful things he's done that should have him stripped of any pride and dignity, is a little bruised, however he will never not be grateful for anything Madara-nii does for him. He is a good brother and appreciates Madara-nii's subtle gestures of brotherly affection and concern.
Though, these days Izuna is more concerned about Madara-nii than the other way round.
Madara-nii thinks he hides it well, but he forgets that his younger brother too possesses the Sharingan and can see right through him.
Really, sometimes Madara-nii does not give him enough credit.
Without paying much attention to any of his wounds and without a second of rest, the younger Uchiha brother leaves his tent in order to hunt down Madara-nii, a trace of bloody footprints following him.
He finds his precious brother in a heap on the ground of his own tent because once upon a time Izuna had felt rebellious and refused to room with his brother any longer like he had as a young child who clutched kunai in trembling hands and cried when the thunder rumbled.
"Madara-nii" Izuna calls out experimentally to check whether this is just his brother lying down and deep in thought, or him actually sleeping for once. No response comes from him and a relieved sigh escapes Izuna. He had been worried that Madara-nii would forsake rest for yet another night and had thus hurried back to force him to sleep if necessary, stopping just once at a lake to wash away the awful taste lingering on his lips with the clear water.
It was no use, the taste of salt persistently clings to his lips.
Izuna jumped into the water and let the cold element swallow him, bathed in the flood because he has never felt quite this dirty before.
Considering the unusual pattern of his Sharingan and the best friend's ashes, this is saying something.
While Madara-nii slumbers peacefully, his brother bends down and picks up the many scrolls and maps littering the ground. Madara-nii did not fall asleep, he passed out while assigning a few men to a squad for an important mission, though nowadays, as their supplies run dangerously low, which mission is not important?
The image of a burning village flashes through his mind, and then ruby red eyes.
A report catches his eye and under normal circumstances, he would have refrained from reading it. The fewer people ever get to see these texts, the better. However, under normal circumstances, Madara-nii is the big brother and can take care of himself and doesn't slowly drive himself into insanity.
Izuna holds his breath as he scans the report, hoping Madara-nii does not wake and realize that his younger brother has been nosing around, as he does not take kindly to that these days. Whenever somebody does the smallest thing that suggests that their clan leader can no longer carry the burden of leadership all by himself, he lashes out.
He rejects any help, and it's worrying and it pains Izuna to watch his brother slowly crumble as their clan falls apart. (Madara-nii only has his shadow, only his brother now.)
Three men defected on that mission according to the report and Izuna's heart sinks in his chest and his proud old blood boils in anger.
Within seconds he has convinced himself that their clan does not need scum like that anyway, that such maggots have no right to carry the same name and symbol as the proud Uchiha warriors like Madara-nii and do not deserve the privilege to fight alongside them.
In this one moment that Izuna lowered his guard, Madara-nii strikes. A violent cough wracks his frame and Izuna whirls around, still clutching reports and a scroll in his hands and something inside his chest constricts painfully.
His older brother still coughs, now fully awake and tries to muffle it, when he notices Izuna staring at him. His eyes narrow.
"Get out."
Under normal circumstances Izuna would have complied without much of a complaint, but today is different and he remains rooted to the spot as his brother rises to his feet to appear less pathetic.
It does not work.
Izuna wants to cover his eyes and pretend he did not see this, but alas, he does not have this option so he instead does his best to see right through his brother.
As a little child, he had looked up to this person and had seen a divine creature, something so glorious and wonderful that he could never reach it.
By now Izuna knows that his brother is still human.
Humans are, sadly, rather flawed products though.
This here though is not even a human anymore.
Izuna let this go on for too long, failed to step in when he should have, like back then.
Then, it had been for Madara-nii's sake, he had followed him and had reported to their father he was meeting with a Senju.
Because Madara-nii does not always know what's best for him, he's too caught up in emotions to see the bigger picture, unlike Izuna.
Well, now the younger brother failed, fialed to look out for his brother like he'd vowed he would.
"No" he retorts eventually, voice firm and even to his ears the sound is harsh, harsher than it would have been months ago, when their stomachs were full and their ranks not full of empty spaces. "Go back to sleep. You have a battle to win tomorrow and there is no way we will stand a chance against the Senju when our leader is ill and unable to fight."
Izuna does not see the anger flashing in Madara-nii's eyes, but he can sense it. He wonders if his older brother will be reasonable this time and listen to him, consider the advice.
"Brat", spats his older brother, and the word lacks the old affectionate edge from when they were still small and Izuna pestered his Anija about training with him.
A caustic wave of anger washes through him, burning in his veins, because is it not him who is taking care of Madara-nii now? Isn't it him who is carry both of them now? And this, this is the gratitude his brother shows him?
But the wave ebbs away, and it's difficult to swallow, because how dare he think like that?
"Please", Izuna tries again, his tone more subdued now and foreign to even himself as he speaks the unfamiliar word. He locks gazes with Madara-nii, and he waits, waits for his brother to be reasonable, for him to just listen to him.
Madara-nii sighs and runs a hand through his ill-kempt hair, fingers getting stuck on the tangles.
"I want the report from your mission ready by the time I wake", relents Madara-nii, and Izuna suppresses a smile of victory. He knows when it's better not to test his limits.
He waits outside his brother's tent for a short while until he is sure his brother is asleep before he leaves his brother to rest and recover.
It's only when he sits down to write his report that the exhaustion of the last night catches up with him, filling his limbs with lead, dragging him down. There's an unpleasant buzzing in the back of his skull, and his eyes sting with weariness.
He finishes his report quickly, the strokes of his brush for once shaky.
Technically he should mention his encounter with Tobirama; that sneaky Senju bastard has already invaded their sector and it might be an important detail, that little advantage they need for the battle that's waiting just on the horizon, but somehow
he isn't sure he wants to mention it.
It's not because he wishes for his clansmen to fall to the blades of Senju dogs, the gods know that Izuna wants nothing more than to turn the tides of this war to his clan's favor, but that encounter, everything that transpired between himself and Tobirama, that's nothing he wants to share.
If he knows, then that's more than enough, is it not?
Even if he were to leave out details in his report, it would feel wrong to share, when this is such a new, exhilarating level to their games, their games that are just between the two of them.
Nobody needs to know about it, nobody should know.
It's just theirs.
Izuna's lips curl upwards in a grin quite lacking mirth as he contemplates what move Tobirama will make next, and as he licks his lips again, the tang of salt still persistently clings to them.
Apparently the Senju has already managed to taint that for him.
Oh well, Izuna merely takes it as a reminder that he might end up dead just as well, and that threat makes it taste just a little bit sweeter.
(But he also knows that he cannot drag this game out quite as much as he'd like to, because with each day his clan is dying a little more, and with each day, Madara-nii works a little closer to his death.
Tobirama will have to die soon.
He'll see to it, oh, he'll see to it.)