"A man who cannot uphold his beliefs is pathetic in this world or the next."

Hajime Saito

Yuko felt like she was walking around in circles, everything twisted and curved in a dizzying system, the air was cool but moist, and the ground beneath her feet was soft to the touch. It pressed a few inches with each footstep, Souji and Ahiko stayed ahead while she stayed back with Mikito, she wasn't sure about formations or anything like that so she stayed put. And she was curious, naturally to see where she would be living now, and she wasn't disappointed, Every few feet or so there was home, secluded in the thick wilderness or high in the trees, there were several networks above consisting of homes and small bases, she heard of tree house but this was too literal. There were actual tree houses above, she vaguely wondered how they managed to stay in place. However, this trail was quiet, very much so, but she didn't feel anxious as in the forest before, this was a comforting silence.

This compound was like a labyrinth and maze all put together, unlike the Yuko who were organized, extremely so. There compound was in a grid like formation, and everyone was close by instead of spaced out, it was likely it was a safety measure considering where they lived. Having experienced it for herself she'd go with a similar set up, if that's where she lived, however with that said this compound was a jungle. The houses, what she thought were bushes at one point, were integrated within the environment itself, it really was breathtaking. Where so many others cut down the area and built around it, they built within in it instead of tearing it down they added to it while chipping some away. Like a loose branch or two. The trail they were walking down began to get more and more narrow, and it felt like hours passed. "Are we close?" She asked, looking back at Mikito.

"There's a clearing ahead." Mikito replied with an easy tone. She remembered looking for her sister around here years ago, Souji wasn't nearly as inquisitive as Ahiko was and was more mature in a sense. Not to mention her father had high expectations for him to become clan leader, and thus his days consisted of training and studying, and before that he rarely wandered off preferring to stay by their mother since their father would be away from weeks at a time. Ahiko took it harder than most kids would, but their mother put the emotional girl at ease. "You'll become accustomed soon enough, I know can be a bit confusing." Mikito looked at her with a small apologetic smile.

"So don't go off roaming on your own yet." Souji added, turning to look back at them, Yuko in particular. He wasn't sure what his sister saw in her, he wasn't exactly judgmental but, he could see Yuko had no experience. Her chakra was impressive as he'd expect from an Uchiha, half or full blooded it didn't matter, there was a certain flare to her chakra only Uchiha possessed. But her lack of experience was going to be a drawback, but she did obtain the hyoton scroll so there was more than what meant the eye with this girl. "We don't want to be searching for you for two hours." He looked at Ahiko.

"I was four!" She muttered only loud enough so he could hear, her frown evident as she glared at him.

Mikito stifled a sigh at the two of them, of course Souji being blunt the way he was would bring that up. But, that was one memory Ahiko tried to forget, when she got stuck in the tree and couldn't get down, wouldn't jump down despite her vow to catch her. Yuko nodded just barely, she wasn't planning on walking around alone through the compound anyways. She didn't exactly feel at home, it was unfamiliar, and for a moment she felt disoriented. She was going to be living here now, the thought came, she didn't think Madara would allow it. But, then again Izuna also had his input, though Madara was the ultimate judge. "So try to stick close." Mikito said.

"Right."

They came into a clearing about five minutes later, trees surrounded them, but hidden in the center of the masses was a cottage and a few feet away from the cottage was a huge barn. The cottage looked in good condition there wasn't any cracks or signs of wear and tear from the elements, it was big, not nearly as big as her office building but still big enough to house more than a few people. Ahiko hastened her steps, striding passed Souji and nearing the sliding door to enter, she was fond of the cottage, she'd come here a lot when she was younger, she noticed the barn and area around it was quiet. She'd need to do a quick check in the morning like she usually did. "I'll get the door." She offered.

"About your training." Souji broke the silence looking at Yuko then at Mikito. "It'll start at eight sharp. Tardiness is not tolerated, remember that." His voice firm with his piece said he hastened his own steps, nearing Ahiko as she entered the cottage. "What are you making tonight?"

"You mean you." Ahiko said giving him a bemused stare. "I cooked last night, it's your turn then Mikito's tomorrow."

Souji opened his mouth ready to argue, but stopped seeing that Ahiko wasn't going to back down. And she did have a point, she did cook last night and it was his turn that's how they always did it. "Fine." He said though sounded disappointed he had to cook.

"What's with that tone?"

"Nothing."

Yuko entered the cottage, taking off her sandals and setting them aside. it was spacious and had a room every several feet. It wasn't exquisite but more old fashioned, traditional, homey in a sense. She was lead to the dining room by Mikito as Souji went towards the kitchen area to prepare dinner. She took a seat on the, crossing her legs, she looked around taking in her surroundings. The first thing that caught her eye was what seemed to be portraits and pictures on the high ledges in the corners. She counted seven people in total on the portraits, the other four probably their parents and siblings. Siblings? She questioned silently, she wasn't nosey so she wouldn't pry into the matter, but they had similarities, and Yuko could see features of their mother in both of them. Her eyes dimmed for a moment. Mom...

"I'm getting a book." Ahiko said as she excused herself, walking out of the door swiftly and sliding it shut.

"Yuko." Mikito yanked her from her thoughts, something that was happening a lot. She turned her head looking at her with a slightly blank, but contemplative expression. "Do you know what your other half is?" She was blunt, it was better to be blunt in these type of situations, at least to her. No need to tiptoe around it, and Yuko herself was fully aware, as far as Mikito knew there was never a red haired Uchiha, they were all dark haired, dark eyed, and had pale skinned. She did find it odd at first, seeing Yuko's bright hair and bright eyes, but it made sense now to some degree.

"No." Yuko's voice was above a whisper. She knew she had a mother, a long time ago, but her memories were fuzzy. She knew that she got her hair and eyes from her mother, that much was certain. She has access to the library in the compound, but to sit down and read page after page, scroll after scroll, book after book and not come any closer it was more than discouraging. Although she learned more than a few things that were rather interesting, but aside from bits and pieces she found nothing. And her father never spoke of their mother, anytime she'd ask he'd lash out. "I'd like to know though."

Mikito's eyes softened, and she gave her a good smack on the back, jolting her. "Well, there's always tomorrow." She said encouragingly. "I could look into it, or at the very least have someone look into it." She was curious herself on that matter, though she didn't show it outwardly, few clans possessed red hair that Yuko had, the most notable being the Uzumaki. But it was clear from a physical, and chakra standpoint she didn't have a drop of Uzumaki blood, and her drive to learn and become stronger, no doubt she was Uchiha. "There aren't very many clans that have red hair, so it shouldn't take long to find something out. At the very least get a lead, no matter how small it is." She tapped her chin. "I'll ask Souji when he comes in, he's good with stuff like this.

"R-Really?" Yuko asked, surprised as she looked at the older woman with something akin to wonder. "You could do that?"

"Our archives are massive and Souji studied clans extensively." Mikito replied not mentioning the fact her clan focused on studying as much as training, as her father would so elegantly put it he didn't want dumb shinobi running around. It was no secret shinobi were hardly educated, that lead to many bringing shame to the clan, and he wouldn't have that for a single second. "I know there is something on the clan your mother hailed from. But, I need you to put that aside for now and focus on tomorrow training. For now be at ease."

"Right." Maybe I was too fast to judge, if she's nice the others can't be that bad.

"Back!" Ahiko called from behind the door as she slid it open, a thick book resting under her arm and in her other hand was a cup of hot tea. She carefully shut the door, walking towards her mat before crouching onto it, setting the tea in front of Yuko. She noticed the confused look on Yuko's face, probably because she came in with a cup of tea for her and not them as well. "Souji said to bring it to you." She clarified as she took her spot across from Yuko, opening her book with fond interest, her eyes not leaving the pages as she flipped through them.

It took about a half hour, but Souji was done with their dinner. He made sure to make extras. Ahiko took a tray of Yakitori when Souji entered balancing three on his arms, he didn't look too pleased, cooking wasn't his thing. While women did normally cook, he learned the bare bone basics in case he was out on a mission and need to scrounge something up, there wasn't always an Inn or village nearby where you'd be able to stop in. The other two trays consisted Nikujaga, Tonkatsu, and Yakizahana. He set them length wise on the table, and snatched a skewer biting into the dish.

Yuko looked around, noticing that most of the food consisted of meat, which she didn't mind. She just wasn't used to seeing such foods, normally at the Uchiha compound there were more fish based foods, although there was a fair share of actual meat. She looked around the room, there was small chatter going on mostly between Souji and Mikito, she never experienced something as comforting as this before. Family, for once she felt like she belonged, she stripped a piece of flesh from the grilled fish putting it in her mouth, humming softly. It was tender and melted in her mouth. "This is so good!" She said with a small smile, finishing the the entire piece of fish and grabbing another one.

"Really?" Mikito laughed. "Souji you hear that."

"Yes.." He said with a quiet sigh, stuffing his mouth with more chicken.

Ahiko laughed, waving her hand noticing the confused expression on Yuko's face at her brother's response. It was better than saying his cooking sucked, but he wasn't fond of having to cook. But rules were rules, their father set them in place, and even he cooked at times. She finished two skewers, smiling as she chewed the tender meat. "Souji doesn't like cooking, but we've always taken turns." She explained. Yuko nodded in understanding, well it made sense he wouldn't like cooking, men didn't cook. She'd be surprised if they knew anything aside from a jutsu. Soon the trays were cleared of all food, Yuko was surprised at how much she ate, but also at how much they ate.

"Ah!" Ahiko exclaimed rubbing her stomach fondly. "I'm stuffed!"

"Souji, that reminds me I need to ask you something." Mikito said, her tone calm but serious as she looked him in the eye, he gave a small nod resting his hands on his knees. "You're familiar with clans that had predominately red hair, I was wondering if you could name a few." She noticed the look of confusion on Ahiko's face, the younger sister blinking a few times as she tilted her head. Souji's expression didn't change but his eyes gleamed with realization, they flicked to Yuko for a split second before returning to his hands.

"Well, there's the Uzumaki clan." He said rubbing his chin with his hand. "They all have red hair. There's the Kizoku most of them had red hair, though they've been extinct for sometime now, there's also the Furea clan and Tsuya clan both of them have predominately red hair although the Tsuya have been known to have darker hair and even blue, though that's rare." He knew of the Uzumaki clan, long time allies to the Senju. They were like cockroaches and lived to be fifty some as old as sixty, but he never encountered them since they off the coast and he was more inland, the Kizoku were a dangerous and powerful clan they had a strange ability and several clans joined together to wipe them out, but that had to be at least twenty odd years ago. Then the Furea clan and Tsuya clan were known for having potent chakras, and like the Uzumaki their life force was tenacious.

At least I can narrow it down to just a few clans. Yuko thought with some relief though there was some dread that came along with that. She knew for certain she wasn't an Uzumaki, if she was she would have been killed a long time ago since the Uchiha hated them just as much as the Senju. Child or not she would have been killed before she could even read, so that checked one off. The Furea clan she was certain she wasn't a part of nor the Tsuya clan since they were known for having green eyes, and again her chakra burned like the Uchiha passion in their Katon. So that just left the Kizoku, which was extinct according to Souji. She bowed her head in thanks, unable to find any words at the moment.

"Ahiko, could you show Yuko to her room? It's been a long day." Mikito said. "And remember, be ready at eight."

"Sure, come on Yuko-chan!" Ahiko said, excited that she'd be giving her a small and brief tour of their cottage. She waited for Yuko to stand, then stood to her feet herself keeping her book in hand and leading the red haired girl out of the room animatedly.

"I'm happy to see you two could make it!" The fire damiyo said with a pleased smile adorning his face as several maids lead Hashirama and Syrus to a mat, both of the leaders sitting cross legged turning their full attention to the damiyo as the maids left them alone, the door sliding shut. The fire damiyo was in good standing with the Senju clan, he hired them more often than not, but that didn't mean he was biased and hired the Uchiha as well. He heard of the recent alliance between the Subatsu rumored to be wolves, and the infamous Senju clan, it couldn't happen at a better time considering he was dealing with a skirmish near the outskirts of his territory. "Sake?" He poured himself some in a saucer cup, looking at the two respectively, not missing that ghastly look in Syrus's eyes.

"No thanks." Syrus said. "We came here on business."

"I'll refrain." Hashirama said politely as he raised a hand in an easing motion.

"Right then." The damiyo said as he emptied the cup, setting it down in front of him sighing as he felt the alcohol burn as it went all the way down. "Onto business then. There a couple clans that are causing a skirmish, it is among themselves but it's nearing my territory and I don't need any casualties." He opened his fan with a quick flick, and started to fan himself. "It's been going on for quite some time, I was happy to let them battle among each other as long as they didn't tread near my territory. But the battles have gotten out of hand, and they've been reaching the outskirts."

Syrus folded his arms, leveling a hard look with the damiyo. "So you want us to take out these clans before the fighting can spread into this part." He stated more than asked, seeing the damiyo nod in response he continued on. "Even if it means killing every last member?" His eyes narrowed and he waited for the damiyo's answer which didn't come right away. Hashirama looked at Syrus as if he grew a second head.

"We can't do that!" Hashirama spoke up. "There has to be another way."

"They've been fighting for sometime now and they have showed no signs of stopping. They're even pushing their battle into his territory several people have been injured due to this." Syrus said with firm tone, looking at the younger Senju with his own hard look. He was well aware of the strength Hashirama possessed, it was monstrous if he said so himself. But he was far from scared despite the hard look the leader of the Senju was giving him. To a degree he could understand, Hashirama didn't want to kill women or children, but if that's the measure they had to take, and the damiyo ordered it, he'd have to.

"Still..." Hashirama didn't waver, his fists clenched before he knew it. He couldn't kill children, all he could see when he looked at a child was Itama. That night still haunted him like a bad omen, despite time passing, the wound never healed and he still had nightmares about that very night. He stared right into Syrus's eyes the two of them having a silent argument on what to do next.

"I've already tried to get them to agree on a truce, they've refused." The damiyo spoke, both shinobi tearing their gazes from each other and focusing on him with all intent. He could tell there was an obvious disagreement though these two weren't arguing out loud and instead held stares with each other. "However, I've not had someone like Hashirama to approach the talks, perhaps you could be the voice of reason." He smiled softly, looking at the two of them carefully, Hashirama relaxed slightly at least confident they weren't going to resort to complete genocide. "I want to avoid as many deaths as well, but you both understand..."

Hashirama nodded with vigor. "Thank you!" His tone serious and filled with determination. He wasn't going to kill a child that was innocent, that had yet to be trained in the arts of the shinobi. A truce no matter how small it was, would be the best way to quell things here. Anything besides resorting to genocide, he wasn't sure if he could give that order to his men, despite his love for his clan... He could only go so far. "I'll do my best to make sure this is ended without any further deaths from either side." The damiyo nodded in agreement.

"Syrus-kun?"

"I concede, but if a truce isn't made I'm not going to hold back." He replied not missing the look Hashirama was giving him when he said that. At times he wondered if they would be allies if it wasn't for Tobirama interjecting when his brother was too lost in his thoughts. Syrus was all for a truce, but all that was, was a piece of paper. There was no obligation or duty behind it, you could easily rip it to shreds and there goes that peace. False peace. But he wasn't going to argue about the course of action. He stared at the damiyo, his eyes blazing. "I know you didn't call us, just to take care of this."

"You're right." The damiyo said with a quick nod, a smile on his face as he stopped his fanning. "I'd like you both and your respective clans to give a demonstration, not tonight of course."

"So like a fight." Hashirama said.

"Sounds good. It'd be a waste if we just came for our sole purpose." Syrus said a small smile on his face. He liked where this was going, the demonstration was probably to put on a good show but also show off their skills in combat. It was to give the citizens confidence in their abilities, as well as the damiyo's council and such. Although that was a bit laughable considering the clans they hailed from, but nonetheless it'd be good, and it was sure to raise extra money. He could already see Usagi beaming with excitement about the prospect of being able to showcase her skills. "I agree."

"It should be good." Hashirama nodded in agreement.

"I'll leave the matches up to you two." The damiyo said after a quiet moment, chugging down a few more cups of sake as time passed. "Be sure to have it done however by tomorrow at the latest." His smile grew, as she stood up, the door opening with a few maids rushing in standing at his side and around the room. "I'm looking forward to seeing the famed Senju and Subatsu showcase their prowess."

"We'll put on a great demonstration." Hashirama said with assurance.

"We won't disappoint." Syrus said, his smile growing slightly.

I won't put clarifications in the middle of the story so for those who don't know here it is.

Yakitori- skewered grilled chicken pieces seasoned with salt or sauce. Almost every part of the chicken is used, white and dark meat, gizzards, skin, and other organs.

Tonkatsu- deep fried pork cutlets. Accompanied by shredded lettuce or on top of cooked rice (Katsudon). Also a common dish with Japanese style curry rice.

Yakizahana- grilled fish

Nikujaga- sweet stewed meat with potatoes.