Chapter 06 | The Bandits of Kurata I
Morning was filled with silence as Izuna stepped into the verandah stretching both arms over his head. The sun barely peeked over the horizon, dying the gray sky a pale yellow. His eyes strained to adjust to the sudden brightness as he yawned, but he enjoyed the sunlight on his skin.
Today marked the beginning of a new job, the first in which he, Mio and Madara would participate in as a team, mostly to ensure the safe transfer of a feudal lord's daughter back to her country. A rise in bandits and rogue shinobi targeting the young daughters and sons of important figureheads brought together several shinobi clans into another power struggle. Shortly, rumors of the Senju clan's involvement fueled the Uchihas desire to participate in another war, although most of the shinobi deployed on the missions were grunts from the Uchiha compound that had yet to return from their venture into the Wave Country.
Madara ordered Mio to the Wave Country to dismiss the rumors, but she refused, as she did with most of the requests that came out of his elder brother's mouth. Sachiyo cut them off as the tension levels rose and agreed that confirming whether or not the Senju were involved was important. Mio retracted her refusal and left that same evening, kicking Madara on the way out of the room.
Mio returned last night after nearly a week of absence and reported her finds in everyone's presence. Although, the Senju had been sighted, she could neither agree nor disagree with the wealth of rumors. The bit of useful information she manage was delivered to the Uchiha compound through a hawk in the wee hours of that morning by Sachiyo.
Izuna leaned over the railing, looking across the swaying tall grass to the wooden dummies by the target range. He took another deep breath and decided to drop by the barn out back to visit the animals and wake Madara and Mio, who were bearing with their most recent punishment.
Last night, Sachiyo saw Madara pay Mio back for the kick she gave him five days ago and kicked them out of the manor, forcing them to sleep in the barn for an entire week. She exasperatedly admitted that she thought after five years they would be on friendlier terms, but even Izuna found that puzzling. Madara and Mio getting along would be as if the sky decided it wanted to be half-day and half-night—impossible. They weren't made for that sort of thing. They were like oil and water in and out of missions, so he was usually Mio's partner for grueling requests. The only time he has seen them play nicely was while they ate because they could do no wrong, besides that, they're always waging war on each other and there wasn't a punishment in the entire world that could stop them. Sachiyo tried them all and as she ran out of ideas, her new penances threaded terribly close to humiliation.
Izuna abandoned the verandah and rounded the manor. He took a thin dirt-packed road to the backyard where the grunts of the pigs and neighs of horses reached his ears. He glanced around and found pair of horses tied to the wooden fence as they were being brushed by the groomer who greeted him. He waved back and sprinted along the remainder of the path.
The barn that housed most of the animals stood a couple feet from where the tiny road branched off into a grassy slope. A couple of sheep escaped their confines as the door sat wide open. Birds fluttered in and out, picking through stacks of hay for seeds. The noise emitting from inside made him feel the slightest bit guilty about sleeping in his comfortable futon in complete utter peace while his older brother and Mio spent their nights surrounded by noise and barn animals.
The stench of hay, gruel, and animal stung in his nostrils long before he made it past the threshold and into the square of sunlight. He looked from one end to the next, looking from the clucking chickens speeding out of the barn and the row of cows munching on their food. He spotted the llama pen on the far right and headed in its direction, remembering how Mio announced that she was taking the llama's pen to Madara's (unexpected) chagrin. He didn't hear the conclusion of the argument, but he imagined the rest was stupider than the beginning.
Instead of finding Mio cozied up to a llama as he imagined, he found her in an empty pen using her arms as a pillow. Across her in the other pen was Madara covered in hay. He suppressed the urge to laugh as he started retracing his footsteps. They were sleeping comfortably, through the smell and the noise. Disturbing them now felt wrong, so he walked right out of the barn and returned to the manor for a bath.
The next time Izuna saw Madara or Mio was through his bedroom window as he dried his hair with a towel. His grandmother sent someone to get them up and they left the barn one after the other, sleep deprived and as angry as yesterday night.
"You reek!" complained Sachiyo, her voice reaching him. "Get to a bath this instance! The both of you! Stop making those pitiful expressions and go!"
Their barely conscious figures followed orders and wobbled into bathrooms on opposite sides of the house.
He didn't see them again until breakfast. Mio took the seat beside him and across Madara with Sachiyo to his left as Kana laid out the breakfast platters.
"Morning," he greeted, amused.
Madara picked up his rice bowl and chopsticks, ignoring all human life.
Mio inclined her head in response, starting with her miso soup. She left her hair down so it fell like a curtain across her periphery, hiding the dark circles from his line of vision. He imagined her face looked as terrible as his brother's. He disguised a rogue snicker as a sudden cough. He shouldn't laugh at others misfortunes, but after a while, Madara and Mio's fights stop being misfortunes.
Sachiyo observed their sluggish movements throughout breakfast. "So, how did you sleep?"
"He snores," replied Mio softly, setting her bowl of soup on the table.
"You grind your teeth," retorted Madara.
Izuna watched the grip on her chopsticks tighten. Never a good sign.
"You snored the entire night," she said, a bit forcefully.
"I'm surprised you still have teeth with all the grinding you did!"
Sachiyo harrumphed. "You best have learned your lesson before I decide to kick you both out of my house permanently," she threatened. "I will not deal with any more of your nonsense."
"Obviously not, if you expect us to stay in the barn another six days," remarked Madara.
"You shouldn't have picked a fight with Mio," said Izuna easily.
"Stay out of it, Izuna. She doesn't need you defending her."
Mio finished what remained of her food and stood, smiling kindly at his older brother. "Then you should just learn your place, Madara-sama."
Not an ounce of respect lingered in those words; they dripped of all her ill will and sarcasm.
Mio shut the door as Madara hurled a plate at her head. It smashed into the wall, the pieces scattering across the tatami. People were normally taken aback by his disagreeable behavior. He reduced them to sniveling messes when he started smashing plates into the walls from across the room, but that was the thing about Mio. No matter what form his wrath took she was never afraid of it. She faced it head on, no matter the consequences.
Izuna assumed Sachiyo kept her around for that reason, simply because there was another person in the world that wasn't afraid of his outbursts or capabilities.
.
.
The thing about Mio that everyone failed to acknowledge was that she had a conscious. Izuna realized it early on and tried convincing anyone who would listen, which sadly, wasn't many. So far, the only humans capable of understanding were Kana and Taiga, his usually absent instructor, who seemed to enjoy the humor in their woes.
Izuna expected Mio to approach Madara sooner or later and it so happened to be as they were on standby awaiting further instructions before their departure time. She thrust a platter of snacks into Madara's hands when she usually addressed Izuna before anyone else. Madara didn't consider it an honest gesture unless it was shouted at the top of one's lungs where there was an echo to scream it right back. He took the platter wordlessly and handed it to his brother's expectant hands.
"We leave in an hour," she announced, checking the skies for warning signs. "You need your energy."
Madara took something off the plate and tossed it into his mouth, staring at her back.
Her conscious was probably saying sorry for kicking him on her way out that door, for subjecting them to sleep in a barn together knowing they would grate on each other's nerves, for her sheer lack of disrespect during breakfast—
Madara spat out whatever he was chewing, coughing violently besides him.
"This has roe in it!" he shouted, leaving his seat in pursuit of Mio's walking form. "You did this on purpose!"
Forget I said anything. Izuna ate quietly, not having the energy to stop them. The howling wind carried their voices to him as the grassy field swayed back and forth. He kept an eye on them to make sure neither one of them pulled a kunai.
Mio whirled around, walking backwards through the tall grass. She reached out to touch the corner of Madara's mouth, a swift wiping motion. "You had a bit of roe left."
He smacked her hand away, irritated. "Don't you have something better to do?"
"Always."
"Then go do it and stop wasting my time!"
"If anything, I'm wasting mine," she admitted with a sad shake of her head.
Izuna glanced down at the platter after finishing his fifth snack. There was roe in everything. She did it on purpose, but he kept his discovery under wraps.
At least, Mio had some sense of conscious. She remembered Madara hated roe.
Madara returned from the field empty handed, wiping his cheek furiously. He stopped mid-walk turning to Mio as she ran into the forest. "Your kisses mean nothing to me!" he yelled, the wind whispering loudly. He turned away, grumbling. "She got away."
"At least she likes you enough to kiss you," Izuna said easily, wiping the corner of his mouth. He saw her kiss Madara's cheek before sprinting away to scout as their grandmother asked her. "She's just apologizing for kicking you."
"Well she should have apologized five days ago!"
Izuna shrugged, eating away at his snacks.
"I had a thought," he said suddenly. "If you did manage to catch her, what would you do with her?"
There was a long silence between his question and his brother's answer as Madara returned to the verandah.
"Strangle her."
Izuna finished everything on the platter, disposing of the evidence, and stood. "Liar."
.
.
Sachiyo walked out with them an hour later to bid them luck.
"Remember, the contract is annulled if the girl is in any way harmed," she repeated for the umpteenth time. "Use Mio to guide you through Kurata and the Wave Country."
Before they left, she gave Madara a stern look. "No fighting amongst yourselves."
"I'll keep a look out," said Izuna, to ease her worries.
Once they disappeared inside the surrounding forest, Izuna looked from Madara's back to Mio's in anxious worry. Would he survive another assignment together with them? The first and last time they were deployed as a trio, Madara and Mio nearly killed each other in the middle of a disagreement with the Yūki clan.
It happened three years ago as Mio adjusted to talking on a daily basis. Her training had come along nicely and Sachiyo felt she could do with a bit more exposure. Since they were the youngest Uchiha present at the scene, their elders belittled them, so Mio asked them to remove the rods from their asses and concentrate. Madara reprimanded her and she offered him the same suggestion, going as far as asking him if he needed help.
And before anyone could stop them, Madara was trying to strangle her and Mio stabbed him in the back the instant he wrapped his hands around her neck. She called it a reflex, same as he did with the bruises he left on her face.
It took three adult shinobi to pull them off each other and another two to break the news to both of them. Sachiyo wasn't pleased when they were sent back to her for disrupting the mission and locked them both in dark closets for two weeks straight, followed with scrubbing all the floors and pulling weeds from the gardens, baking under the summer sun.
Izuna shook his head, tossing the dreadful thoughts into a far corner of his mind. This mission would be different. He would make that difference.
Although, it did amaze him how easily they exchanged directions.
Mio pointed northwest. "If we cut through here it's a shorter walk, but it's popular and draws a lot of unnecessary attention."
"What's faster and emptier?" asked Madara, taking the lead.
"They're not faster than this path, but they are emptier." She pointed a couple kilometers off course. "If we go through here we'll have to travel through an extra village, but it takes eight hours to arrive. We won't make it before nightfall."
"We have time to kill. We can rest there." Madara turned to face his brother. "What do you think?"
Izuna blinked, completely enthralled by the lack of obscenities and taunts. "Whatever's better."
"Let's go that way then," Madara decided, leading the way.
Izuna and Mio followed suit and waited for his command.
They traveled in complete silence for miles until Madara decided on a twenty-minute break to look over their map once more. They settled their luggage on the soft earth. Izuna took in the sight of cluttered trees and the sounds of scampering animals.
Mio looked around the area and scaled the tallest tree to discern their exact location. Izuna watched in amazement. She moved swiftly, quietly matching her movements to those of the surrounding animals. If necessary, he assumed she could slip up a tree without making a sound.
Izuna fished out his water pouch and took a couple sips. "So, what's the deal with you and Mio?"
Madara spared him a scathing glance. "Nothing."
"Well, I assumed something," admitted Izuna, "you are never this nice to each other."
"It's only a matter of time before she does or says something stupid," he grumbled in response.
He took another sip of water, eyes focused on his brother's inscrutable expression. "…So, why do you hate her?"
"I don't like stupid people."
"Hmm, but Mio isn't stupid. She's clever."
"Then that's the problem."
"Ahh, I get it," Izuna announced, earning a skeptical look from his brother.
Madara stepped away from him as Mio landed on the ground nearby. He stretched out the map so she could see and she made a line across the forest area. "There is a river near here, one mile north."
Izuna actually didn't "get" it at all. He assumed if he did, Madara might admit something incredible, something with the ability of dispelling all rumors as to why he disliked Mio as much as he did. No one just woke up one morning and decided to hate another. As easy a feat it sounded for his brother, it required too much energy, which Madara would be unwilling to give up. So why was it that they spent the last five years trying to murder each other?
Why would anyone do that to themselves?
He tried asking Mio, but she's been a perfect liar since she was five. The whole "I just enjoy watching him revert to his primitive ancestry" story only revealed that she was amused by it, not why she did it.
Oh! It just hit him. What if they just enjoy being punished by Sachiyo? He shook his head, disappointed in the thought. He reprimanded himself, the idea itself was too farfetched. That's just crazy! Who would do that?
"…and also, you're holding the map upside down, Madara."
Izuna heard the map crumble between them and watched as his brother tossed it over his shoulder, self-assured.
"We're leaving, Izuna," he ordered crisply.
Madara walked on ahead. Izuna approached her knowingly, snatching up the crumpled map from the floor as he went. "I'm keeping an eye on you two."
"He wasn't holding it upside down," she admitted, bright eyed and trembling with laughter. "Look how angry he is."
"This is our only map, Mio, and he just crumbled it up."
"I already know the way. I've gone to Kurata before." Mio looked at the patches of sky from the thick frondescence. "I'm just worried about the weather. Storm clouds are forming."
.
.
The remainder of the route was traveled in complete silence. The air between Madara and Mio was as tense and awkward as always. They were back to square one and Izuna could do nothing about it, no matter how many times he swore he would figure something out.
They arrived in a small town, a merchant area, home to a couple inns. Izuna set his sights on an onsen, considering the sudden chill in the air. He figured a dip in the hot springs might do them well.
Madara refused immediately, not listening to his protests. "We are not on a vacation," he said sternly. "We can only afford one overnight stop from the manor to Kurata." He looked at him straight in the eyes and said, "Don't complain."
"Hot springs are quite beneficial," started Mio simply.
Madara walked past her. "Don't start."
Izuna glanced in her direction as she shrugged her shoulders in automatic defeat. "I tried."
"I wouldn't call that trying," he replied. "You gave up too easily."
Mio frowned, fixing her eyes on Madara's retreating form through the crowd of people and to Izuna's pleading expression. "Do you want me to convince him?"
"We won't get another chance, you know how grandmother is about hot springs," he admitted lowly. "If it starts raining we'll just get stuck in some run down shack outside the village because he's such a cheapskate. So it all comes down to whether you want to sleep in a single futon with both of us, freezing your ass off because we all know Madara will hog the blanket or have your own, warm, fluffy futon in a single room? Decide."
Mio sprinted through the crowd faster than he had anticipated. He stalked off in her direction, cutting through a crowd of traveling merchants depositing boxes of fresh produce from some other part in the country. He reached his traveling companions in front of a shoddy inn having a serious conversation. He caught on a few snippets of Mio's argument of hot springs' benefits in their bustling backdrop.
"…flow of oxygen-rich blood…" He heard distantly. Mio's voice was soft and easily lost in the quick prattling of two reminiscent old women seated in a wooden bench outside an udon shop. "Thus, improves the nourishment to vital organs and tissues."
Lanterns were lit one by one as the sky grew darker and within seconds the wide street was flooded with light, casting shadows along their faces.
Madara shook his head. "Forget it."
"If we're attacked by rogue shinobi in the morning and Izuna dies, it's your fault because thermal waters could do wonders on sleep deprivation."
Izuna grimaced at the sudden mention of his death. He was always the dead one in these negotiations.
Madara did not budge. He said no and meant it.
A portion of her counterargument was lost in the shrill laughter of children frolicking across the street. "…include simulation of the immune system and provides physical and mental relaxation," she finished. "And even if you feel fine now, you'll feel a dozen times better after a soak in the hot springs."
"No, so stop aggravating me!" he snapped.
Mio sighed; regaining a smidgen of lost composure, and straightened her back to stand at her full height. At the moment, she was only an inch shorter than his brother was, but due to her slouching she always looked shorter. "Okay," she conceded. "Then, we can find some shack out in the woods with a ceiling full of holes sandwiched together under the same blanket as the storm passes."
She spotted Izuna in the crowd and started towards him. "We should start looking for abandoned property. I think there's a cabin somewhere, but it's missing half a ceiling."
Madara met up with them, angry. "Fine. We can stay in the onsen, but if you do anything stupid, we're leaving."
"Why am I the only one with a warning?" asked Mio, eyebrows creased.
"You're the only one that needs it."
Izuna quickly led the way, too excited to heed his brother's warnings himself as he rented a single room for three at the counter. Once the waitress led the trio to their accommodations, Mio checked the menu and ordered a healthy dinner as Madara slid open the shoji screens to the adjacent room. The stuttering girl, who had taken one look at the brothers and turned to jelly, excused herself after informing them about the onsen hours, completely forgetting Mio's existence.
Mio organized their things into a closet with the exception of their concealed weapons. She handed similarly pattern robes to Izuna and Madara as soon as he reappeared in the main area.
"This is a single," he said, looking to his brother for an explanation to this mess.
Mio was the first to look at the ceiling as the pitter-patter of rain reached her ears, then reverted her attention to the wide room. "We should fit nicely."
Izuna wasn't listening. He pulled on the robe as quickly as possible and headed out the room, excited about the onsen. He didn't bother inviting either of them. They looked too busy to care if he snuck out.
"Damnit Izuna!"
"The onsen stays open for another two hours," said Mio, picking up his brother's discarded clothes and folding them neatly. "Perhaps, you should join Izuna and relax."
Madara snatched his brother's robes from her arms and scattered them. "Don't pick up his clothes, you're not his maid."
.
.
Izuna washed up quickly before slipping into the hot spring. The hot water did wonders on sore muscles and the longer he sat submerged in the onsen, the smarter it seemed to suggest they start frequenting them. Madara joined him half an hour later, announcing that Mio stayed behind.
"She picked up your mess as well," he mentioned, seating himself near his brother, "even after I told her not to."
Izuna laughed. "She is too nice."
"She's not your maid."
"Never!"
"She's not your mother either, so stop letting her coddle you."
"Don't be jealous, brother, you already spend too much time with her. I barely get a few hours before you pick fights with her. All the emotional warfare going on is going to kill you."
Madara grimaced. He only stayed ten minutes before returning to the room.
Izuna remained in the water a bit longer, thinking about their strange amicability. He was almost positive they were forcing themselves into some sort of unspoken treaty, or was it to impress the feudal lord with the safe delivery of his daughter. Surely, if the job went well, they would find better jobs in the Wave Country. There were many politics involved and plenty of skirmishes building up into war that currently constructed the shinobi world. Most wars were started from rival clans, always at battle with one another until they crossed someone else's territory and dragged them into the skirmish. There were lords in need of protection that hired famous clans to do their dirty work and it became the cause of rivalry with clans from other countries. Regardless, the endless fighting brought them money. To get more, they needed better jobs.
This mission was riding on that possibility. So whatever Madara and Mio had going on put him on edge.
He decided not to overthink it as he left the hot water.
Izuna returned to the room to find Madara on his own, staring at the mounds of food scattered across the table. "So, did she poison them with roe again?"
"No, the waitress just brought it," answered Madara, unhappy with the remembrance. "Mio left to the onsen."
He slid the door shut and took his seat across his brother, picking up chopsticks to dig into his share of food. He shattered the silence as he started asking questions about the feudal lord's daughter, most of which Madara couldn't answer.
Mio slipping into the room in the middle of dinner and took the empty seat next to Izuna. She had three bites before excusing herself to sleep, looking a bit green. He wanted to ask if something happened while she was at the hot springs, but thought it might be inappropriate.
Madara stayed out the longest after Izuna slipped into bed, taking the futon by the closet. Mio was sleeping comfortably under the window where she could listen to the rainfall.
Somewhere between dreams, Izuna opened his eyes to the hushed voices of Madara and Mio. He strained to listen, unable to believe his ears.
"…found a target here," whispered Mio.
"And?" responded Madara.
"…"
"Mio?"
"What do you think?" she remarked, voice dripping with sarcasm. "We had tea by an open fire and discussed vegetables?"
"Don't be cheeky."
Izuna breathed deeply, exhaustion easing him into slumber.
"Stop shouting, you'll wake Izuna," she hissed.
"Nobody is shouting, idiot," he retorted.
He was practically shouting.
Izuna shifted in his futon, twisting under the blankets as Mio shushed his brother. "Did grandmother threaten you both? Like separately?"
Through the sheen of moonlight, Madara and Mio exchange a questioning look before facing him once more. Mio buried under her blankets, facing away.
"Go back to sleep," urged Madara as he dropped onto bed, facing away from him too.
Now, he really wanted to know what was going on between them. The way they reacted to his sudden outburst was too suspicious.
"Hey," he called into the darkness. "What are you two hiding from me?"
Silence greeted him on both ends.
"I'd know if you were sleeping, you're lousy sleepers."
Mio started grinding her teeth, dismissing herself as an option, but Izuna knew better.
"Will you stop grinding your goddamned teeth?" shouted Madara, tossing a pillow at the back of her head.
Izuna prepared himself to prevent any violent outbursts, looking up to Mio. He saw her reach over her shoulder for the pillow his brother tossed at her.
"Thanks for the extra pillow," she said, stuffing it under her blanket.
Madara cursed under his breath as he reached her futon, swiping the pillow from under her head. She hit the floor hard, grumbling in displeasure. She glared at him as he returned to his bed with her pillow, a look of complete hatred in her eyes.
"I could choke you in your sleep," she growled.
"I could kill you in my sleep," he retorted.
Izuna watched them helplessly. They were fighting over each other's pillows. There were more in the closet. There was an entire stack of comfortable pillows waiting for a guest to lay claim on them in there. It was then that he realized he wouldn't be able to sleep in the same room with them together and thought back to the two sleeping in the barn. How did they fall asleep? They were probably arguing over hay or claiming llamas until they chased them out of their pens.
"We're supposed to be getting along," started Izuna, the voice of reason. "You were doing great, so why are you fighting all over again?"
"Because your stupid—"
"Take that back, you—"
"—brother is stupid, stupid."
"—bitch."
He caught the insults, nothing more, and sighed. Izuna left his comfort. He took his futon, his pillow and himself out of the room. As unlikely as it sounded, they were starting to annoy him. He wanted to shout at them to make up their minds. He didn't want to wake up the next morning wondering if they were going to hate each other throughout the day or work without insulting each other. Whatever it was, he didn't care. He just wanted to sleep comfortably and stay out of their business.
He didn't care to know what they were hiding anymore.
"You're so stupid."
"Don't make me cut your tongue out."
"Oh, are we making threats?"
There was an alarming nonchalance in her voice, the sort people immediately regretted, but not exactly the type to put Mio on Madara's last nerve. Izuna has seen it happen before and it has never a pretty sight. His most prominent memories of these situations involved Madara proudly declaring himself the winner and Mio bawling into Sachiyo's skirts. Sachiyo berated her for picking fights she couldn't win, saying, "If only you weren't such a crybaby."
It was true. Mio was a crybaby. She cried about everything—making mistakes, being shouted at for not grasping a technique anyone considered easy, being hit too hard by Madara, and the little things. In fact, remembering this amazed him that she hadn't cried somewhere along the trip.
Self-control, he acknowledged mentally. She probably realized how troublesome it was to cry about everything in a battlefield. That or Sachiyo found a way to solve the problem. Someone taught her self-control.
"As if you could threaten me," replied Madara snidely.
"I'm telling Sachiyo-sama that you were m—unf!"
There was a loud clatter in the adjacent room.
"Go. To. Sleep. Mio."
Izuna opened his eyes to mere slits, looking over his shoulder to the shut door. There was a worrying quality about his brother's voice, the sort that came accompanied by a sharp knife.
…Suddenly, there was silence.
I hope he didn't kill her.
The sound of her sniffling reassured him.
"I didn't even hit you!"
"You hurt my feelings," she said in a little voice.
Izuna could feel the roll of his brother's eyes when the silence between them set and sighed. One of them needs to go.
The following morning was plagued with last night's tension. Madara and Mio chose to be silent partners and nothing he said willed either of them to say a word. At least, it relieved him to see they were back to normal, as normal as that was to them. Regardless, they travelled swiftly, taking minor intervals of rest along the way before arriving to the snow-toppled mountains that housed Kurata. Kurata was a union between three common villages and a lord's territory that functioned under the protection of a dangerous shinobi clan.
"We need to be careful, this is Kuronuma territory," Mio announced, taking the lead up the mountain road.
"The Demon clan?" questioned Madara with a bit of humor. "I do wonder how they would par with three Uchihas."
"Easily if you rely on your Sharingan," she remarked.
"What's that mean?" asked Izuna, clenching his teeth to avoid succumbing to the powerful waves of wintry air.
Why is it even cold here? We're in the middle of the rainy season!
The terrain beneath his feet was brittle and the road sat between wide pools of sizzling black substance. Residents from the last village warned them about touching the black water, they said many people had died upon making contact because it burned the flesh right off their bones.
Mio wrapped her arms around her body, cursing her mistake early on when she told them not to worry about the possibility of a snowstorm. "You should pay better attention to the reports. Sachiyo-sama always shows them to you, doesn't she?"
"Just get to the point," Madara grumbled.
"They're physically strong and are in possession of a Kekkei Genkai that can annul all genjutsu," she explained. "And they don't use hand gestures, or so they say."
"That sounds like we should proceed carefully," replied Izuna in acknowledgment, noticing the road twisting around the mountain as the dark waters sank out of sight. He shot a glance over the ledge to the dangerous fall. Everything beneath was shrouded in darkness. "How far down do you think it is?"
Mio shuddered as she glanced down. "Far enough to kill you before you hit the ground."
"That's a pretty fast death. You won't feel it."
"How much of it is true?" asked Madara in complete disbelief, reverting to the initial conversation. "Most word of the Kuronuma is made up of rumors."
"Perhaps, the idea is that you shouldn't take them lightly," she replied warningly. "If we make one wrong move on our way to the girl, we can find ourselves face to face with them."
"Well aren't you superstitious."
"I'll make sure to toss your ashes at your stupid birds," she said tonelessly. "I'm sure they would appreciate the gesture."
"Ah, you finally killed him off," said Izuna, amused. He was so used to being the dead one. This was a good change, but just as good as it was, it was suspicious.
Mio adopted consideration for the ancient Kuronuma clan, taking the lead whenever Madara did something that could be labeled a complete disrespect to the unknown shinobi. They avoided detours and breaks. Instead, they headed straight for the castle situated deep within the mountainous area, surrounded by high walls and protected by dozens of soldiers.
The trio paused a meter outside the gargantuan gate under the direct scrutiny of guardsmen outside.
"Shinobi."
The word was passed around the armor-clad quartet, each taking particular precaution in case they were the diversion before an invasion. Their whispers were drowned out by the whistling wind, but they had the advantage of possessing the Sharingan. A portion of the conversation involved the fact that there were enough soldiers behind the tall walls with remarkable capabilities that could easily dispose of three shinobi and the other half was the matter of the feudal lord's daughter.
"We're here for the latter," announced Mio, shortly after Izuna finished reading the conversation with his dōjutsu. "We're from the Uchiha clan, hired by the Wave Country's feudal lord to deliver his daughter, Chika-sama, into the safety of his stronghold."
A note of skepticism clouded their expressions.
Madara produced a scroll from his bag and tossed it in their direction. "Those are our direct orders."
The taller soldier caught the small scroll midair, moving back to his place as he opened it, keeping his eyes on them.
"Mind you, if we suspect your holding the daimyō's daughter hostage we are allowed to attack you," added Izuna lightly, though he received a bothered look from his companions.
"You may enter," called one of the soldiers as two pushed opened the heavy gates and the third shouted orders to the rest inside. "I will escort you to meet the lord and retrieve the princess. Once you have entered our territory, it is in our right to attack you if any one of you puts one foot out of line. Understood?"
"Yes," answered Madara seriously, leading the way ahead.
Izuna walked together with Mio.
"So frightening," commented Mio beneath her breath.
"If you say anything to provoke them, I'll have you flayed," threatened Madara lowly.
Mio only got as far as the gate, stopping inches from stepping into the castle's dominion and earned suspicious glances from the surrounding soldiers.
Their self-appointed escort looked to Madara and Izuna. "Is she coming along?"
"Did you read the agreement?" asked Madara, shooting a glance to the scroll in the man's hand. "We would enter the Northern Castle without the company of spies for the safety of your lord's secrets."
"I see…"
Izuna faced her. "Make sure we have a clear path for when we get the princess."
Mio gave a small nod and vanished from their sight to scout the surrounding area for signs of trouble.
If the neighboring countries were peaceful, chances were that no shinobi would be allowed to set foot into the castle. Since the job required finding a path to avoid conflict when it came down to escorting high status individuals from place to place was the sort of duty only a skilled shinobi could manage. Normally, jobs like these went straight to the compound as Sachiyo refused to waste their talents on anything considered useless, but she insisted the trio traveled together and escort the princess home safely.
The male soldier quickly introduced himself as Sen. He explained the circumstances in which they acquired temporary custody of the young woman as he led them over a stone path aligned with soldiers in their army, each greeting Sen as their superior.
"…regrettably our young lord passed away before her arrival and it caused uproar with the Kuronuma clan, so they refused to offer Chika-sama the protection she needed through the valleys," explained Sen, as the towering castle came into view.
Izuna tried hard not to grow bored. There were too many politics involved. He wanted nothing more than to be back at their manor in the middle of the rainy season training with Madara and spending his free time with Mio in her closet room. He figured he at least got something good out of the mission. They needed to visit that onsen once they were on better terms so he wouldn't have to deal with all the tense silence and late night disagreements.
Sending them together as a trio made Izuna wonder what his grandmother was thinking. Was this just another method to make Madara and Mio get along? They had their moments. He learned from observing them and saw that they were professional. Apart from earlier interferences, they seemed to know when it was appropriate to annoy each other.
"You have ties with the Kuronuma clan?" questioned Madara.
Izuna's attention snapped back to their objective.
"Once," replied Sen darkly. "The Kuronuma clan's methods were questioned by the new lord and so they cut ties with the castle. Our army is banned from crossing into their territory. If the agreement hadn't fallen through, we could have just asked to return the princess as a favor from them."
"If your lord passed, you should have taken up their first offer and sent her home immediately," said Madara crisply. "There isn't room for royalty in this world. I'm surprised there are still castles remaining."
Sen ignored the disagreeable comment and continued, "Our alliance to the Kuronuma clan kept the rouges from destroying the castle when the raids happened. They built nearly impenetrable walls and turned the land into a frosty wasteland to weed out the weaklings up the mountain path."
"Oh, so it's always this cold up here?" Izuna asked curiously.
Sen nodded. "The entire year."
"Can they do that?"
Izuna looked to Madara for answers, but he merely shrugged in response.
Sen led them beyond the grand entrance to a dimly lit hall covered in ancient decorations. He took them to the depths of the castle, down crisscrossing hallways and walls covered in oil paintings and wall scrolls. There were secrets hidden within them and the boxes situated beneath them on thin tables. Izuna imagined if Mio had entered along with them, she would have already learned the contents of every so-called treasure.
Sachiyo instructed them to leave Mio outside the castle walls. She was particularly strict about it, saying that it was of the utmost importance.
They paused in front of a door. Sen announced their arrival as he approached, giving the door a light rasp with his knuckles.
"You may enter," called a deep voice from beyond the door.
The shoji screens slid open to reveal a gargantuan room decorated in lavish golden vases and exotic flowers. Sitting in the center of the room was an older, wrinkled male with slicked back graying hair and a powerful gaze. Beside him was the girl he assumed to be Chika. She was dressed elegantly with sleek blond hair and wide, gray eyes.
"Would you care for tea?" asked the older man, the lord of the castle.
"It's an appreciated gesture, but unnecessary, we're here to pick up the girl and deliver her to safety," said Madara. "The best way to do that is by getting things done quickly. So, if you will."
The lord chuckled in amusement. "Then there is no reason to keep you. Chika-san, your escorts have arrived."
The blond nodded, looking up to both with frightened eyes. "Thank you for accepting my father's offer."
"Let's go," announced Madara. "Mio should already be outside."
Sen blinked. "But you just left her…?"
"Mio works fast."
As expected, Madara gave Chika and her attendants no time to thank the lord properly for his hospitality and a reiteration of condolences for the loss of his nephew. The young girl and her entourage rushed behind them awkwardly, not used to the presence of shinobi, but not entirely ungrateful. They knew their place.
Madara did nothing to accommodate them and set the atmosphere for what it would be the rest of the trip.
Izuna pitied the frightened girl and approached her with a benign smile. "I'm Izuna," he greeted lowly, calling the attention of her three attendants. He pointed to his brother. "Madara is my older brother and Mio—" Chika immediately looked over her shoulder, expecting to see someone there. Izuna snorted, snapping her attention back at him. "Mio didn't come in, she's outside."
Chika blinked curiously. "Why did she not enter?"
"Not allowed."
"Did she do something?"
"No, she's just a—"
"Izuna." Madara's voice was dangerously low and his gaze intense.
"She's awkward," he finished with a frown.
Sen bid them farewell at the gates and they exited the lord's territory to the wide stretch of snow-covered land expecting to find Mio.
"That's interesting, she's usually here by now," said Izuna aloud.
"She can catch up," stated Madara, starting down the same path that brought them up the mountain area at a pace to accommodate their new companions.
"What if something happened to her?" questioned Izuna, concerned.
"Mio's good at avoiding trouble. She'll be fine."
Izuna nodded in agreement and fell behind the group, hoping Mio returned quickly. There was no sense in worrying about her. What Madara said was true. Mio was adept in avoiding conflict and if challenged, he was certain she could hold her own. His grandmother trained her personally; it'd be shameful if she couldn't stand her ground. Mio wouldn't allow that.
Even so, the uneasiness steadily filled him.
Maybe she got lost…?
xl note: Izuna never fails to amuse me and Madara and Mio have the strangest relationship. I love 'em all.