~ Chapter Eleven ~
~ Afternoon ~ Sakuya's Lake ~
Feeling a rather intense stare, Sakuya looks up, her comforting aria halted. Across from her favorite place at this lakeside orchard, she notices a man.
His skin is pale as her own, but his wild, mane of black hair and equally intense dark eyes...
They couldn't be further in contrast to her moonlight silver-colored eyes and the blood moon blonde of her hair.
'An Uchiha? I see, perhaps a distant cousin of ours." Sakuya deduced. 'Our eyes are hardly a secret, I suppose it was inevitable an envoy from Fire would seek answers.'
Rising, from the assembled collection of cushions and silken blankets from which she was resting, Sakuya bows halfway.
Her greeting was deferential so as not to give off any mistaken impression of hostility.
Her left hand over her chest, as she straightens her shoulders upright, Sakuya is pleased. 'My brothers will be proud.'
'If there must be conflict, I won't be at fault.' She spoke out, addressing her visitor with all the grace and diplomatic poise she could muster.
"Good afternoon sir, may I help you with something?" The Wellspring Maiden asked kindly. To Madara Uchiha, the sound of her dewdrop voice up close, it's even more overwhelming and enticing than last night.
' I see, so I was right. The space between us in the audience and Sakuya on stage was a deliberate buffer. Fascinating but such observations can wait.'
'Oh she's looking at me. A lot of expectation here. My, this pause is awkward. This really isn't like me, my elocution lessons have never failed before.'
"Forgive me for my intrusion." He managed not to stutter.
"I... My name is Madara. Madara Uchiha, as heir to my clan, I hoped to introduce myself in person."
~
From their hiding space in Kamui, Sakuya's older brothers are taking things in a remarkably lackadaisical manner.
Though they weren't expecting Madara to make contact with Sakuya, (Not this soon) neither brother is upset.
"Wow, he's "really" bombing isn't he Shiro?"
"Yeah, I'm not gonna lie Reiji, with all due respect, I expected better from "THE" Madara Uchiha. I know he's technically a different man from the one you "collaborated" with before, but he isn't suave or infallible at all."
"That's very true Shiro, but to your point, this is also a man who hasn't been systematically destroyed by my hand. Why in our original world, I went out of my way to attack everything he held dear.
" For Mother's sake, I left Indra's reincarnation alone and vulnerable on a spiritual level. Here Madara is doing just fine. Mostly. "I see our lack of interference didn't save his other siblings, eh whatever. He has Izuna."
"True, we absorbed our counterparts in time." Shiro murmured. "Now with the three-tail beast assimilated within our bodies, we can finish Four then move on to the Five-Tail."
"Ideally without incident, but I think we've learned better than to presume."
"Precisely Reiji, that monkey isn't exactly "dissipating" without a fight. He knows something is wrong and I can confidently assume the Gobi will be just as resistant to "fading away". Shiro offered.
As the brothers continue observing, the admittedly pathetic display above them, between plotting, Sakuya's expression catches Shiroyuki's attention.
"My, my, what's this?" Shiro's Sharingan zeroing in on the scene above them all the more closely, he pipes in.
"Oh wait, it was faint but I'm sure I saw it! A flicker of approval in our dear sister's eye! She finds this endearing. Perhaps he has a chance?"
"Let's hope so Brother, Madara was a worthy collaborator before. I'm looking forward to "working" with him again." Said Reiji energetically, his eager, charming face was nearly beautiful as Sakuya's.