Oh boy, it's been a while. I have several things to say; first of which;

1)This year is turning out to be a real fuckery. Pardon me, but there's no way 2020 is going to be remembered as anything but.

2) Second of all, I want to apologize, as mentioned above; this year isn't turning out well for all of us. I had several issues to deal with, and with the lack of inspiration; it kinda just put me off writing completely. Writer's block is weird. Good news though, inspiration just ran me over like a truck, so there's that. That said, I'm itching to get on with the next chapters, my fingers just want to type it out.

The reason this chapter took so long was that I had a complete different scenario in mind, but I also hit a roadblock, so I had to scrap it, I managed to make something decent out of it (I hope) all thanks to my beta who saved my ass. Honestly, if it wasn't for her, this chapter wouldn't be here, fuck, not even this rewrite. So thank you dear 3 You're a life saver.

3)Third of all, I'd like to address the questions I've received:

((kanachan876: I am confuse. sorry but she is 12 years old right. i still dont know anytihing about this mina girl))

No, she is not 12 years old, I repeat, my OC is not a pubescent teen. I don't know where you got that from especially since I've made it clear she was an adult but okay. I'd like to point out for other readers as well, if you skip POVS and then wonder wtf is going on, I don't know what to tell you. This was a recurrent problem in my original fic, therefore, I want to clear it up; each POV is different, one can be the continuation of the other, or one may be occurring at the same time but with a paralleling event. They are not repetitive of each other, each is different and often with new information.

As for the other rather blunt yet fair comment, I already responded to it. I only want to say; whether my fellow skeptical readers want to continue to read my fic, by all means go ahead. I encourage you to form your own opinions and not be so hasty/presumptive. All will be explained in due time.

Yep, that's all, I'm sorry if I prolonged your wait. I just wanted to get this off my chest. And thank you so much for the kudos/comments/bookmarks and most of all, your patience! I found my muse again.

And thanks to my beta for being the brains and working out plot-holes with me.

Chapter 15

Confessions of a Madwoman: Part Two

Madara's POV

"Let's see if I get this right, you—"

Madara chose his words carefully. His forefinger gently tapping the steel blade.

"—you fell straight out of the skies and lo-and-behold, you're lying in the middle of nowhere."

It was in that moment of absolute stillness that Kami tipped the balance in Madara's favor. The winds had died, the leaves outside ceased to rustle, and then silence reigned once more. Like a ticking time bomb, except it wouldn't give way to an explosion of anger, but rather a stifling fit of laughter.

His hearty chuckles were like ripples in a still pond after a stone had been thrown in. Madara tried to suppress them, but couldn't, much to his surprise.

His bellowing laugh caught her off guard, stopping her in her tracks and eliciting a faint gasp from her.

His cup resonated off the table, liquid spattering to the sides.

"Wow," he said, "that just might be the dumbest thing I've heard, it's actually brilliant," he paused, softly doubling over with a gentle pat to his right leg,

A brief outburst of wry laughter quickly brought under control once Madara straightened up.

"You want to try that again?"

His fingers lightly brushing the knife at his side, its cold metal laid against his skin. No longer was the door open, no bright light coming from the hallway. No handle, no way out. Unless he said so. But he didn't, he remained silent, his stoic demeanor returning with a pinch of agitation underneath.

Almond-shaped eyes stared back at him, a mix of shock and restlessness flurrying beneath thick lashes. Mina's pale face betrayed her sense of control. He could tell what she was thinking, that a complete display of passivity would get her out. It was too bad it wasn't.

"I swear to you, I—"

A dagger was flung without a warning, flying narrowly passed her and straight into the door frames seven feet behind her seat.

Madara's aims were second-to-none. Her eyes widened with fear while shoulders hunched together as though she was collapsing within herself. Even her hazy eyes seemed to be attempting to retreat inside her head.

A few unlucky auburn strands sunk to the dining table.

"Wrong answer."

He heard her gulp loudly as her eyes shifted to the side, trying to catch sight of the dagger that was now lodged in the hinges of the entrance to the room, now no one could interrupt them. Madara crossed his arms and waited for her to recall her statements and start over.

Panic struck her.

"But that was the truth!" she shrieked, "Why would I lie to you?!"

Madara gave her a skeptical look, for he thought the answer to her question was more than just obvious. But apparently not to her.

Mina's face fell faster than a corpse in cement boots. In that instant, her already ashen skin became greyed, her mouth hung with lips slightly parted and her eyes were as wide as they could stretch.

"You said you wanted to the truth, this is the truth! Unless you want me to lie to you and pretend that everything's just fine and dandy, that I didn't just drop to my death and straight into this hell hole," she spat, anger bubbling through her.

He eyed her with suspicion.

Madara always had an inkling that she wasn't exactly the sanest person within these vicinities, but her story stretched far beyond what ludicrous imagination could allow. Though she seemed to firmly believe that she was from another world, a world far away and far too advanced.

Just how hard did she hit her head?

However, as though that wasn't enough, her insistence that she remembered nothing about how she woke up in that forest was simply the icing on an already rotten cake. She supposedly fell through some pothole in the midst of a woodland and lost her consciousness, only to open her eyes and find herself stranded naked that fateful day she ran into him, both figuratively and literally.

It seemed that he did understand correctly after all.

Calling it far-fetched was perhaps the understatement of the century.

Mina's hands crept up from beneath the table, taking hold of the few brown strands resting next to her. Fingers curled around the wavy locks, her face contorting into an imperceptible frown.

"What do I gain from lying to you?" she asked, returning to her seemingly unfazed expression, but Madara wasn't fooled.

He crossed his arms and reiterated; "I don't know, you tell me."

"Well, worry not, do you think I wanted any of this?"

Madara didn't really care for what she wanted or what she didn't, but if this was her way of leading him down the road to he answers he was seeking, then he had no issue with letting her speak. He sat silently, observing her intently as he tried to decipher if she really was foolish enough to lie to him after everything he had warned her with.

She raised her head and locked eyes with his own.

"No, I didn't, just in case you think I'm living out my dream."

Her snarky remark didn't go unnoticed by him.

"You have food on the table and a roof over your head, what are you complaining about?" he replied. Though his question was anything but rhetoric. It prompted a wistful, almost sad, smile from her. A despondent gaze staring away from him.

"And I will forever be in your debt for that," her gratitude was sincere, he didn't doubt that, but…

"But this isn't my home, I don't belong here. And I don't want to pretend that it is, it isn't fair to you nor I."

The way she spoke of his home began to irk Madara, as though she spoke of a plague that had befallen her. It was no surprise that her bitter sentiment would eventually annoy him, so much so that it had begun to ooze from his voice. He clenched his jaws and asked;

"I gather it must be quite the horrendous ordeal that you couldn't resist not escaping, right?"

He was sure it wasn't for the lack of trying, or the mere thought of. If it was as horrible a place as she claimed, then he was sure she would have certainly found a way out of here, considering that he hadn't always kept a tight leash on her, and her having the unfortunate luck of wandering into areas she shouldn't be wandering in the first place.

So, what was it?

"Escape and go where?" Mina countered, "I don't have a home, or a family, or anyone here. Who would I run off to?"

Humph.

Madara's hands balled into fists, hidden at his sides.

"Look, I'm not dumb. Staying here is the last thing I want, but if I go out there, I know I wouldn't last very long. You'd think being trapped in this world would teach me a few things, but I…I—"

Mina's voice softened before she trailed off, unable to look him in the eyes. Madara remained quiet, not pushing for more, sensing that she was already on the verge of shutting off completely; he didn't want that.

"I don't know anything, I wouldn't know how to fend for myself," a blush of shame graced her face, spreading from cheek to cheek as she tried to hide away her cowardly temper. Madara almost felt pity for her.

"Madara, it doesn't even matter if I leave. Whether it's within this compound, or outside its walls, I'm still stuck here. Do you know what it's like? Having your own world pulled right from under your feet like a rug isn't as glamorous as it sounds."

Before he could even ask his next question, she answered.

"And no, I really don't remember. If I knew how I got here in the first place, I wouldn't still be here."

She had a point, which was assuming anything she had said so far was the truth.

"Why were you undressed?" he decided to let her explanations slide this time, otherwise, they would only be going in circles, repeating the same things over and over, not once progressing forward.

He could almost predict what she would say next. Judging by her flushed expression and lack of eye contact, he assumed she just didn't know.

"I…"

"Don't know?" he completed her phrase for her. "You don't know why you were stranded nude in the middle of a forest?"

His incredulity would be the least of her problems, she had much more to answer for. Mina seemed hesitant to reply, but he knew better. Madara's dark brows twitched, contemplating whether or not to let this one slide as well.

"I find your lack of knowledge about your whereabouts outstanding," he uttered through clenched teeth, unable to comprehend her, "and yet, somehow you still manage to surprise me with knowledge you shouldn't have."

"Care to explain that?" he offered, but it was far from a choice.

"But I already told you, my reality-"

"I don't care about your reality," he interjected, fed up with the lack of coherency, the paradigms of her contradictions, "I suggest you start making sense of your story lest you test my patience."

Mina grabbed the cut brown tresses in the palms of her hand, as if holding them tightly would grant her the courage to face him head on. He could still notice the terror in her eyes, though it was now tainted with her desperation and pleading.

"Would you even believe me if I told you that you people are nothing but a figment of a man's imagination? That your life was dictated by ink and pieces of paper? Not that I would if I were in your place but still…" she paused, "it doesn't matter anymore," the last few words came out as a hushed whisper, but they were loud enough to fall on Madara's eager ears.

"What do you mean?"

She sighed heavily, like the weight of her own words plagued her mind just as though she carried the burden of the world on her shoulders. Or perhaps he was wrong, perhaps it was a sigh of surrender, maybe she finally decided to give up.

In their stillness, was something palpable. He wasn't sure what it was anymore.

He sat before her, anxiously waiting. Behind him were open doors, leading into the bountiful garden, a garden drenched in the blackness of the cold, glimmering night. Moonlight reflected off his already pale skin, off the clothes on his back, off the bloody curtains that hung at the openings to the deck, a sheen of bright crimson light mingled with the flaming hues of the lamps; bathing the gracious room in a fiery echo. The wind was picking up again, bringing in the chilly breeze of an autumn's midnight. Every lock of hair; auburn and onyx, wavy and spiky; hung without movement, imitating the unwinding of their eerie encounter.

"Your brother's alive," Mina said matter-of-factly, stating the obvious.

"You don't say…" he shot her an annoyed look.

"Well, he shouldn't be."

He still recalled the countless rubbish excuses she recounted time and time again. No matter how many times she repeated herself, he couldn't grasp it completely, and he wouldn't either until she made herself clear.

"Your lives were already written out, and your brother's was meant to be cut short. That was just the way it was, and now that he's alive…"

"What? Now that he's alive, things changed? Is that it?" he asked, mockingly. As far as his eyes could see, as much as his mind could comprehend, nothing has changed. Nothing of significance, anyhow.

"Well, actually yes," she replied, her fingers fidgeting with her sleeves, "as it should when you mess with the past. It's a chain reaction, you can't alter an event and expect things to go on as they were."

Like hail on a glass pane, the drumming of her fingers was as relentless as it was loud. Each click of the polished nails on the table echoed the tumultuous thudding of her heart beat. Mina's face, rigid with tension, belied her fading youthfulness; she seemed to have aged a decade in the past few days alone.

Her eyes darted downwards as she muttered something under her breath. He didn't catch it.

The Uchiha strongman's nerves were frayed to the quick.

"Beg your pardon?"

"I said," Mina began, "at least I thought they did."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

The air was so brittle it could snap, and if it didn't, one of them might. No-one spoke, what was there to say? Platitudes wouldn't cut it right now.

Madara let out a slow controlled breath and attempted to loosen his body's movements. He uncrossed his arms, whereas her eyes moved with the alertness that came from heavy stress, her hands remained clenched by subconscious demand.

"Tell me then," Madara repeated, "what exactly has changed?"

She avoided looking at his eyes, her lips quivering before biting them shut, the words were stuck in her throat but something was blocking them. The young Uchiha leader couldn't possibly fathom what was so serious that had her hesitating as though she was about to cross a thin, red line, a point of no return. She shot him a few glances, some of which he couldn't decipher, yet the only one he could, was one he never expected; pity.

His brows creased, his mind wandering in circles;

"Had your brother died, he would have granted you the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, saving whatever is left of your eyesight."

…

The dread crept over him like an icy chill, numbing his brain. He felt her steel gaze on his skin, descending until he was almost frozen to the spot. His stomach was full of lead; his feet were set in concrete; his mind was worryingly empty.

In this frozen state, his mind offered him only one thought; this woman was more dangerous than he had originally believed. There was no avoiding it anymore.

Madara's eyes widened. Fighting back the urge to let forth his Sharingan.

"What did you say?" he hissed, his voice- for the first time- quieter than hers, disbelief and uncertainty taking hold.

The once hesitant and shy eyes of liquid amber scrutinized him, fixated hungrily on his own, growing increasingly firm as her unyielding stance. Her head lowered, yet her orbs never left his. He fought against every muscle fiber in his being to go ahead and pin this woman to the ground.

Wait.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice growing adamant, "you're going to deny that your vision isn't deteriorating?" Mina egged him on, her subtle mockery giving her the leverage she needed to continue.

"All these years on the battlefield, the strain you put on your eyes, it's a wonder you're not blind-"

"What would you know?"he snapped.

No way on earth would she have been privy to this information, not her, nor anyone that wasn't high-ranking. Jet-black eyes narrowed on her, carefully contemplating on what to do with her, now that her existence seemed to threaten his own clan's secrets. Madara's uneasiness grew ten-folds.

Words flew from her mouth that he never thought she'd even know, let alone say out loud. Mina knew instantly from the look in his eyes that they had hit their mark, in that moment she knew she was walking dangerously close to shards of glass.

"I know more than you think," she breathed, "didn't you want proof? Here it is."

Madara would bet his life on it, hell would have to freeze over before his brother could let anything like that slip.

If Izuna didn't divulge it, then how could she-?

In the flash of a moment, Madara's memories pulled him back to that summer night, the night that he had found her asleep upon a book in the archives. He recalled it as clearly as day.

The images came back to him as vividly as if they had just occurred.

[…]

It was nightfall, with the moon lighting his path as he jumped from roof to roof, utilizing the smallest amount of chakra and making sure his steps were as light as a feather in order not to bother the inhabitants underneath him.

He landed to the ground with a faint thud. When he was inside, he had found her. Sleeping.

Her head was laying on the desk, resting above a book. A light blanket hanging over her shoulders and a small candle was her only source of light in this dark library. There was no one there it seemed. It was completely dark.

He saw her fidget a little.

She was waking up. Madara quickly hid in a dark corner.

A small smirk graced his face as he moved slowly in the darkness, closer to where she was sitting until he came up right behind her.

She didn't sense him as it appeared and he hadn't done anything to mask his chakra. Not once did she turn around, rather, focusing her gaze intently on something in front of her. He was curious to say the least, what sort of book could she be so desperate to read in the faint light? Peering over her shoulders, it seemed like she still hadn't recognized his presence yet. Madara's eyes swiftly looked over to the work between her fingers. He scanned it carefully and realized she had set her hands on something that didn't belong to her.

[…]

She should have never found it.

In an effort to collect himself, Madara's dubiety began to set in. Perhaps, she had read far too much into it before he had gotten to her, how else could he explain it?

He squinted at her through hardened eyes.

His unrelenting demeanor returned, his disbelief; obvious. Obvious enough for that strange woman to notice. She let out a deep sigh, eyes momentarily escaping his glare. The same inexplicable expressions graced her face like the moments prior, and he knew there was more to come.

The moon poured down on them, showering them with beams of light. They caught in her hair, these moonbeams, making each dark curl seem as though it was alight with white flames. Her skin was illuminated by the stars; she looked deathly pale, like her heart would stop any moment. That it was beating away inside her, like a constant drum.

Whatever it was that she was about to confess, was no better than the last, and to think his uneasiness couldn't get any worse; Madara's increasingly agitated state threatened to end their meeting short, doing something reckless enough to have him regret it later on.

"You don't have to worry, I won't tell anyone. Just as your brother never did when you would sneak out to meet Hashirama on the riverside as children."

She saw the shock register on his face before he could hide it.

"Skipping stones, urinating in the water, he'd t- you get the idea," a light blush painted across her cheeks as she went above and beyond to prove her point.

Surprise wasn't an emotion Madara has ever taken well. Generally someone would always end up getting hurt and it wasn't him. Yet, this time, it blindsided him. Such intimate details, as though someone had watched his every movement, an unfamiliar feeling seeped into his bones.

"Both of you refused to disclose your family's names, in fear of-"

"Who told you?"

Words left him. He stared into those bright eyes burning with nervousness.

"Answer me!" he roared.

No way could he have told her, Izuna might have been reckless in his actions but the kid certainly had a tight control over his own words, he wasn't manipulative for no reason. The only other person to know of this, as far as Madara could fathom, was Hashirama's own brother. And neither Senju- even had Hashirama met her- would stoop to such levels of stupidity to reveal such things. No one on this earth knew of their encounters as children- no one alive, that is.

Dead men tell no tales.

Which pegged the question-

"No one told me anything."

Why was it becoming easier for him to believe so?

What she did was nothing short of supernatural, she would have had to pull even the most veiled clan secrets out of the dead's tombstones, and the only way for her to do that was to join them. How she came to know about the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan's existence- when it was hidden even from his own kin- put Madara on high alert.

She devoured his expressionless face with her eyes, wishing with all her being that she could reach out to any sensible, merciful part of him, but in those perfectly shaped cheekbones, under the feathers of his dark lashes; were cold calculating calm eyes, ones that did not belong to an understanding man.

She continued to succumb to the endless torture of watching Madara's demeanor quietly morph to one of a cunning beast, shedding more and more of its humanity away. Despite the radiance of the candles' warmth in the chamber, the temperature had dropped, leaving both of them scrambling to put back up whatever was left of their guards.

She knew things she shouldn't have, things that could undermine his position as the Uchiha's Clan Head, putting his capabilities into question. She knew enough to have him consider wringing her neck once and for all, what a nuisance she was.

And Mina was well aware of it, the regret splayed all across her face, evident to the man sitting before her.

Much like a trapped gazelle, it seemed that she had spoken too soon, baiting the lion hoping it wouldn't bite. Her breath toppled out of her soft lips like a ball of dry tumble weed softly blowing through the night sky.

Just who is she?

No matter how Madara tried to justify his own reasoning, it never added up, leaving him to sincerely believe her makeshift of a story. As insane as it was, it managed to make the most sense, and that frightened him. For a moment. He let the preposterous idea slide. As much as she appeared dangerous, she was a mystery. This woman dropped out of absolutely nowhere, with knowledge that shouldn't belong to her; for the first time, Madara's bewilderment halted his decision to react.

"What else do you know?"

His brain formulated no thoughts other than to register that he was dumbfounded, and Madara was conscious of it.

Her unblinking stare and a new heightened self-awareness, prevented Mina from going a step further, choosing to weigh her words carefully before saying something that might finally trigger him to react.

In their renewed silence, she sat staring as though she was assessing him. He simply stared back, watching her till eternity until she slipped up again. No longer did he perceive the cold food on the table, nor the embellishment of the dining room he chose, there was nothing but the two of them.

"What does it matter, you already know that I didn't make any of this up. What would you have me do to prove you otherwise?" Mina side-tracked, avoiding his question, but that was all what Madara needed. Not even a proper confirmation for he no longer had doubt; that this woman knew things, things that could endanger him and the Uchiha.

He gave his shoulders a wiggle and lolled his head in a circle, and took a deep breath. It was a decent effort, enough to fool the casual observer, but for the onlooker with a keen eye, just as she was- he was a walking advert for tension.

Madara knew there was no point in hounding her further. This conversation was coming to an end, and not in the way either of them had expected.

She smiled coyly, averting her eyes to the side. Not out of fear, but seemingly surrendering, knowing already what laid ahead of her. Head bowed, as if in shame, she tried to retreat back, but it was too late. She had nowhere to go. The tension in his shoulders loosened, his fingers tapped at the edge of the table soundlessly. There was a bizarre air surrounding him, a kind of serene calmness that hadn't shown before. Yet, was far from comforting.

In the stillness of the night, she watched as the whites in his eyes veiled with a pure black shroud of malice, carefully arousing the carmine shade that painted his glowering irises. Those familiar orbs, those unique patterns that he owned- never portending of something good- came to life.

"Well then, what are you going to do?" she spoke, conceding herself to a fate she didn't know. The Uchiha leader found it odd. He raised his left arm, and with a single flick of his fingers, the doors leading to the deck came snapping shut, cutting off the only source of solace she could have had. The sudden bash of wood on wood was the tempest inside Madara made audible. It was how he wrote out his frustration, his disappointment into the air, and now that he was sure he got her full attention, nothing could hold him back.

There was no where she could run, had she even entertained the idea. And now the Uchiha brute made sure of that. Splinters of wood panels scrambled behind him, just as surges of his chakra leaked through his fingers, damaging the chabudai and crippling the bowls of food.

"What about?" he answered casually, seemingly unfazed by Mina's growing anxiety. Her hands trembled in response, and it wasn't for the chills he sent down her spine

His lethal stare was painful and piercing, but Madara figured she would have learned her lesson by now. She didn't dare look away, even as her body quivered under that kimono of hers.

"Ab-about—me," Mina's soft voice stuttered.

It's quite funny, I was just thinking the same thing.

Hostility oozed from every breath he took, from the single tap of his finger moving for the closest knife in his reach down to a sway of a single black strand of his locks.

"Why don't you tell me," he breathed, "what do you think I should do?"

From that moment onward, Madara would never forget the petrified look that etched on that poor woman's face.

Tobirama's POV

Yet again, I find myself carrying another invitation to the Uchiha.

What is wrong with me?

Guilt-tripping. That was new. Hashirama had only begun doing that recently, so Tobirama couldn't have developed an immunity to it just yet. But he chose to take this situation to be a very-well taught lesson to learn from.

Never, never let him get the upper hand.

Touka, his cousin, and he were nearing in on the compound. When he had informed Hashirama that he decided to go, reluctantly as it may be, the clan leader beamed of joy. In his haste, he had knocked down the chair he had been sitting on when he shot up ecstatically. As he was about to hug Tobirama in one of his embraces, the younger brother managed to dodge it narrowly. He wasn't in the mood to be strangled by the 6'2 man. Apparently, Hashirama had already assigned Touka for that task before he told him of his decision but he certainly didn't object to having one more to go along. He must have been rejoiced that his new persuasive method worked this time. On Tobirama nonetheless. Everyone in the house must have heard the news because Touka couldn't hold herself back from pointing it out.

"He managed to convince you of all people? I can't believe it," her laugh really got to him this time. He himself couldn't understand how he could fall to Hashirama's trick. It was inconceivable in his mind. Tobirama had long since began regretting this decision. They were leaping from tree to tree in matters of seconds, bouncing off their branches one instant only to land on others the moment after. They were going at full speed, meaning they could reach there in approximately six hours if they didn't stop for a break. And they didn't.

He was fond of Touka. She was smart, concise, clever. And similar to him in a matter or two. She understood him better than anyone else, aside from his brother of course. People often compared her to a hyena because of her angular chin and her overall appearance, maybe her sly attitude played a part in it as well. But Tobirama couldn't find a fault in her. She certainly would have had no trouble landing a man, however it was her choice not to. Not at the moment anyways, or so she said. She preferred to be on the battlefield, next to her cousins and comrades. Tobirama was thankful such a woman existed because in times of war, they needed all the help they could get.

"Boy, if you fell for that, then what chances do we others have?" She was still laughing at Tobirama's expense. He didn't like it but he wouldn't want to pick a fight with her. She was still a woman and had her ways of taking her revenge. He had seen it in action before and well, he would rather not see it firsthand.

"I got it. I messed up. I will get back at him, don't you worry about that," he finally replied after having stayed silent most of the journey.

"Come on, we're almost there."

They lunged down and landed on the soft ground, their feet imprinting into the moist soil. It was wet. It had been raining a lot recently, but- luckily enough- there was sun today. Tobirama looked up and stared at the sky. A flock of birds cawed as they flew together in an ordered pattern, bounding for the southern lands. Winter was upon them, it was time for them to find a warm climate.

They started walking down the pathway, taking their time after having ran most of the way here. It would take around an hour to arrive there with the pace they were going at.

We should arrive on time. Unannounced that is.

The Uchiha had no idea that they were coming, so he didn't know what to expect.

Hopefully, not the worst.

"So, how do you envision this would end?" she asked him, her voice as raspy as they had been as kids. Touka hadn't changed.

"Hard to say."

"You think he'll try to set you on fire again?" she was referring to the time Izuna did precisely that. The idea of it was nothing new to either of them, it was- in fact- a sight he got accustomed to on the battleground, not in his own home. It wasn't the first time that rascal Uchiha tried to light him up in flames, and Tobirama sincerely doubted it would be the last time either.

"Maybe," he couldn't predict what Izuna could do this time, "or maybe he'll burn his clan to the ground this time around," he added.

She chuckled. They continued walking into the forest in silence.

Tobirama couldn't say he was far too familiar with these lands, other than the times he spent parading back and forth between both settlements, bringing about peace treaty after peace treaty- often in vain. Each step he took brought him closer to his destination, something he was neither looking forward to nor despising for any particular reason.

It was an early fall afternoon and a frosty chill hung in the air. All the trees were tightly-knit, just one strand in a massive web of wild-life. Green leaves, yellow leaves, red leaves. It was a rainbow of rich, autumnal colours. The scent of earth and water drifted through the air; air rich with the fragrance of leaves and loam, pretty damp too. The forest path was wide and uneven, leading unto a clearing.

The only movement was the occasional bird, startling in a tree or a squirrel dashing up a nearby trunk, along with the sound of running water in the brook, it was as if they had come together under the same hypnotic quality as a harmonious music piece.

If he hadn't been on his guard, the white-haired Senju would have enjoyed the calm that accompanied this serenity. And from the looks of it, his cousin too.

A side-glimpse and he could tell those tense shoulders of hers had slackened a bit. Her claret-painted lips weren't pulled taut as they usually were.

"Hey, we should stop for a bit," Touka ushered to the river ahead of them. He nodded as they came to a close.

He needed the break as well; though he might not have admitted it.

He can feel its coolness even before he flicked it with his hand, sending droplets scattering over the surface like rain. Its depth was deceptive, mostly because it was as clear as a mountain spring, every rounded stone on the bottom, every fish, every swirling algae, was rendered in perfect clarity. Tobirama could see the underwater wildlife flourish in the shallow part.

Touka didn't wait, she leaned down near the riverbank and cupped her hands in the flowing stream.

The river winded through the heartland of forest as far as the eye can see, welcoming stray flora that came its way. It sparkled beneath the sunlight, its turquoise surface reflecting the bushes, the darkened boughs and fragrant leaves that encompassed it.

It was perfect, a scene picked straight out of an imagination.

Almost too perfect.

Something was off, Tobirama thought. It was not just his pessimistic nature holding him back from enjoying the view for however long it lasted, it was more than that. He turned around, his red eyes scanning his surroundings but all he was met with were the sounds of birds above becking for grubs. This forest must have been ancient though its leaves were reborn every year; the trees- birch, pine, oakwood- were thick and old, their roots were twisted. It might once have been filled with bird-song and animals that roamed, but is now mostly deserted.

It was ages past its former glory. Its canopy was dense enough to provide them shade from the sun.

Yet he was unsatisfied.

"Would you relax for once?" Touka quipped, as she rinsed her face.

"Humph."

His only response was a lowly grunt, his vision still scouring the area for a single blade of grass out of place. The sound of running water in the river had a relaxing, hypnotic quality, even the remote splashes of his cousin's movement.

He squatted, mimicking the woman's pose and let his fingers run through the cool water. She was right, it was refreshing, Tobirama felt like one with the whirling river. It flowed with perfect consistency, always forward, towards its destination; just as time did.

It fed this place, quenching the thirst of the mighty, centuries-old beings rooted to the rich soil. Together they were the epitome of perfection in his eyes, the water of life and the community of flora and fauna. Being here was enough to remind him of his privileged place in the circle of life, in an ecosystem that was both robust and delicate had they not been ravaged by humans' need for wars spanning millennia.

"Soothing, isn't it?" she hummed, her voice- although raspy and more powerful than an average woman's- was alluring in its own way, enough to seduce some of his men.

But he couldn't deny it, the water was soothing, but this was nothing new to him.

"This isn't going to end well, is it?" he hadn't meant to say it out loud, it had slipped unintentionally through his lips as a hushed whisper. He tore his eyes away from his own reflection in the ever-swirling water, the glimmer of his happuri flashing in his eyes, Toirama looked up to his older cousin, only to find her standing to her feet.

The left side of her face hidden by her absurdly long bangs, Touka's normally stoical expression lightened up, giving him a glimpse of her sly smile. She dried her hands in a cloth beneath her armor, all the while suppressing her laugh.

"You ought to believe more in your brother by now," it wasn't that often that one could read Tobirama's carefully guarded mind, but she was a close exception.

"Your brother may be a fool, but he didn't survive this long with nothing."

Her hazel eyes- lined by kohl- looked down at him, mirth filling them. He couldn't disagree with it either. He pulled himself back up, drying his hands in the air and sighed deeply.

"He's a fool with too much power," he reiterated, the thought of Hashirama's upcoming nuptials occupying his mind.

He closed the distance between both of them as they proceeded to continue walking.

"I can't argue that."

What a pain. The thought of Hashirama was exhausting in itself, but it didn't last for long. Something else interrupted it, something that prickled his senses.

Chakra.

He sensed faint traces of chakra coming from the north-west direction. Touka must have sensed it too as she also stopped in her tracks, quietly.

Wait, no.

His senses pinged another chakra signature radiating from the direction behind them. His eyes scoured his surrounding environment, as far as his peripheral vision allowed it. Something wasn't right. Though they may have been on Uchiha territory, these signatures did not belong to an Uchiha.

He didn't recognize these chakra impressions, not even as a third one appeared. Then a fourth, then a seventh, then-

Tobirama brought a finger up to his lips and made the signal to scatter. As they both leaped up, the Senju's eyes caught a flashing rapidly flung, spearheading its way right into Touka's back. Tobirama's eyes widened in horror as he tried to warn her.

"Watch out!"

Even though his words were far too late, her anticipation was quicker, managing to dodge the oncoming arrow just in the nick of time.

They both landed on the opposite sides of the river stream. They were surrounded yet neither could pinpoint nor identify who it was that was surrounding them.

Not even hiding in these trees was safe, his eyes couldn't spot where the next arrow would come from. The thick canopy covered over a distance, the closer he looked, the darker it became.

What the-

"Tobirama!"

An arrow came arching his way, though he had parried it, he hadn't expected an explosive tag attached to the end of the dart.

The moment he stepped a foot on the ground, Tobirama sprung backwards and across the stream, hands already forming the seals as a thick water barrier emerged from the river, managing to deflect the shock from the hand-made triggered explosive.

The soles of his feet grounded against the soil, having escaped the blast just in time.

He grunted, knowing full well they were trapped in this clearing while whoever was attacking them had the advantage of hiding in the shadows.

"Get down from there!"

Before he could finish shouting his order, Touka was already leaping to his side, unaware of another arrow shot right from her blind spot.

Crap.

In a split of a second, Tobirama rushed forward and reached out, grabbing her by the belt of her waist and shoved her down- out of the arrows trajectory. Touka fell to the ground, her body resounding with a heavy thud as she came in contact with the soil.

"Are you alright?" he growled, but she was already on her knees, pushing her body back up.

"Yes, I'm fine, jus-" she cursed but the Senju heir had already noticed a graze on her upper thigh. She had fortunately ducked it, yet he could see a narrow trail of blood from the scrape.

Her face contorted in pain as she found it difficult to lift herself off the ground.

"Don't move!" he warned her as he crouched next to his injured cousin.

He leaned closer, his hands hovering over the wound. It was barely a scratch yet from the way her thigh throbbed as opposed to her right side, he could tell she couldn't move it.

It's poisoned.

"Dammit," she breathed, her scowl imitating the pain of the paralysis, "how the hell was it able to do so much damage?"

Even for such a lousy abrasion that barely cut through the skin, the poison was still potent enough to paralyze her, the ability to execute its function with such small doses. Touka's hand instinctively went to her thigh, gripping it with as much force to try and stop the bleeding.

"Wait, stop."

Tobirama grabbed her by the hips and brought her to rest against the trunk of a tree.

"Go after the son of a bitch before they vanish."

"No, it's not safe to leave you here."

Tobirama's senses were all firing, anticipating the next surge of chakra, and where it would appear, but even then, staying out in the clearing like this made them prime targets for whoever it was shrouded in the darkness.

Touka set her blades to the side as her back hit against the wooden bulk.

"I can take care of myself," she ushered him away, a blue aura emanating around her right hand.

"These weren't the Uchiha, you need to find out who it was."

Although the last thing he wanted was to strand her alone like this, she was right. Someone was hiding out here uninvited.

Fuck.

She cut the pant cloth covering her thigh, and drifted her chakra over the wound, extracting trifling amounts of the green liquid.

"Don't worry about me. Now, hurry Tobirama," she pushed, though the pain was obvious across her face, her eyes were full of determination.

He stood up.

"Fine, I won't take long," he caught a last glance at his cousin, eyes roaming to the arrow steeped into the ground a few feet away from her. He made a mental note of grabbing it before they left.

He leaped right into the trees ahead, following the direction of where the arrow came from.

His mind split between following the trail of chakra left behind by the perpetrator, possibly perpetrators, and his cousin. Even though he had faith in her capabilities as a Genjutsu user, he couldn't leave her out in the open. He had left her with a barrier but he still couldn't risk getting too far.

He growled, as his feet landed heavily from one tree bark to the other, as he rushed forward at an inhuman speed, crushing the branches beneath him. Yet the further he want, the greater his senses dulled, the lesser he could distinguish the chakra. It was as if every step he took forward, the attacker would take ten more.

At this point, I could reach the Uchiha compound and I still wouldn't catch this devil.

Even though his frustration was getting the best of him, he knew he had to get his thoughts in order. No way was he going to find out who the hell it was who shot that arrow, there was something off with this whole circumstance and he felt that the moment he stepped into the clearing.

Those bolts weren't part of a set trap triggered when they both entered this territory; no, it required human manipulation.

Yet this whole spectacle felt like a trap, to lure him out or separate him from Touka.

Shit.

Tobirama halted, his sudden stopping nearly caused the tree under him to topple to the ground. He was in the middle of woodlands, forests whose canopy were so heavy it nearly blocked out all sunlight. The darkness was palpable, but so were Tobirama's thoughts.

He took a good look around him, scanning even the floor beneath him twenty feet down. Not a single sound, not a single thing out of the ordinary.

What the hell is going on?

His red eyes were the only orbs glowing in this eerie display, and he didn't take another second to wait and find out. Tobirama darted backwards, back into the direction of his cousin and the clearing.

Without noticing, his eyes spotted a shining light in his peripheral vision. The moment it set in, he stopped in his tracks and turned towards the glimmering flares.

Except it wasn't flickering light. He leapt to the tree ahead of him, and knelt on the branch, eyes squinting at the shattered pearly pieces in front of him. He tilted his head, his sight fixed intently on the particles of solids as white as his shaggy hair.

His fingers brushed against the rock-hard chunks, their consistency almost as smooth as powder.

Bone?

Silver brows raised quizzically, Tobirama wasn't sure how a human bone came to shatter in such a manner, for it was definitely not an animal's.

And what is it doing up here?

His eyes looked for the missing pieces but in their stead, found a half buried skeletal bone shoved into the tree bark to his right. He slid the pieces in his pouch and jumped forward, hand already reaching out for the white matter. Much to his shock- and what nearly caused him to lose his balance- the bone was beyond hefty, it was crammed in there with such force that his own grip couldn't pull it out with a mere tug. With chakra infused in the palm of his hand, he managed to yank it out successfully, but not without suffering another setback. The tree bark imploded into fragments, the wood was smashed to smithereens and so would his wrist with the immense weight it carried.

"Hnrgh."

Tobirama was left astonished with the heavy bone in his grasp, its density was far beyond that of a normal human being's. If he hadn't known better and it indeed belonged to a human, this skeletal bone would have been an adult man's femur. Had it not been for the sharpened, curled edge like that of a scythe's; even a prick of his finger left him bleeding.

What the-? It's almost like this bone was weaponized.

He wiped the blood away. He had never seen a weapon like this.

He took another quick glance but there was nothing else that was out of the ordinary, it may have been a hunch but he couldn't rule out the possibility that they might have belonged to their attackers.

Compose yourself, he scolded himself. This wasn't the time to lose his wits in awe. He made sure his eyes never missed a beat as he went back on his way.

He ran his hands over the silvery barks, feeling their blisters, their lichens and their dying foliage- one tree after another. Dread set his face like rigor mortis, his teeth locked tight together as his jaws clenched.

He had wished for time to have gone faster, faster than he had taken to reach the clearing once again. He leapt to his cousin's side, the barrier collapsing in his presence.

Touka was beginning to slip into unconsciousness.

"Hang in there," he comforted her, noticing the miniature pool of blood and poison at her sides.

"Take this," she handed him the medic's gauze that was stocked in her pouch, "I couldn't extract it all," her voice was sluggish even as she tried explaining herself, Tobirama's hands were already at work before she could even instruct him.

She couldn't close the wound until she was sure all of the poison was drained out, but in her condition, the younger Senju knew she probably wouldn't have lasted awake long enough to do it. He bandaged the wound superficially, yet tight enough to stop the venom from disseminating further- he took her left arm around his shoulders and carried her on his back.

She had lost complete control of her entire left leg. He was concerned, for the fact that a fast-acting toxin that was able to spread that far in such a short amount of time…

They must be well acquainted with poisons.

Touka's hands snaked around his neck as he lifted her legs in his hands, his powerful grip balancing her weight. She choked back a laugh, but her chuckle still rang in his ears,

"Wouldn't want to be you right now, carrying an old hag like me at your age."

Tobirama gave her a look, her amusement at her own situation right now was absurd to him. He had carried heavier objects in his lifetime. And she wasn't all that much older, three years difference was nothing.

"Save your strength," he cautioned, his voice softer than usual yet his expression remained the same old with his stern demeanor, if not somehow worse.

"Hmm."

She leaned her chin in the crook of his neck. Cheek to cheek, her hair brushed against his silver mane and even whiter fur.

Tobirama sprung forward, chakra flaring as he pushed himself past his limit; his speed was almost unparalleled in the shinobi world and he wasn't about to prove that claim wrong. Not until he was six feet underground.

Izuna's POV

"You did what?"

Izuna was in disbelief. He stood there, in the middle of a hallway, both awestruck and terrified of what he had just heard passing around as a silly maid's gossip. It didn't take long to track his brother as he rounded the corner, still- Izuna was shocked to say the least.

Madara halted, and turned to face his brother, his black mantle cloaking his broad shoulders as it draped to the ground.

"I did a lot of things," Madara's passiveness was surprising, "care to elaborate?"

What the fuck?

Izuna couldn't believe his brother.

"You must be kidding, right?"

His mouth was nearly agape as Madara only stared back at his sibling intently, still as a statue, silent as a mouse. It was obvious that he wasn't about to say anything else until he reminded him personally.

"I'm talking about the woman you threw in jail after your lovely dinner yesterday," he spat out each syllable with such sarcasm that even he himself found his own words hard to believe.

It took almost a minute of intense silence between the brothers before Uchiha Madara fully understood Izuna's statement, and almost another moment longer to give him a reaction. An unexpected one.

"Ah, that," Madara's eyes scanned both exits of the hallways, mentally calculating how he could get out of this conversation without having to confront his curious second-in-command. Izuna knew this tactic all too well, he knew just the several different ways Madara was concocting to avoid him; it was too bad they wouldn't work.

"Yes, that."

What really did take Izuna by surprise was how calm his elder brother seemed, his indifference and disregard for his own actions were sights seen less often than not. His comment was so out of character even for him that he must have thought he misheard.

"Why did I end up hearing about this from a maid's mouth?" Izuna questioned. It was really something if he- Uchiha Madara's brother and his very own right hand- had to hear about her imprisonment from some common servant instead of the perpetrator himself.

It was insulting above all, but that wasn't Izuna's main concern at the moment. Madara dismissed his questions and went merrily on his way.

What is wrong with him?

Izuna was at his heels, step by step, no way in hell was he accepting that as a response. As they walked along, Izuna silently began questioning Madara's sanity.

This is a first.

In all the times Madara dined with a woman, not once did he throw any of them in his own personal dungeon, hell, not even the common jail cells.

Izuna knew talking to his brother civilly would get him nowhere, so he did what he was accustomed to;

"What? Didn't she deserve a warm bed like the others?"

… and that was to taunt him.

Madara flinched, although it was subtle, Izuna's keen eyes noticed. Madara bedded the few women he would dine with, but as the saying went; there was always first time for everything.

He didn't take the bait.

"No, I figured she would like being chained to a cold hard floor better," he answered, rather flippantly. Though unpredictable, Izuna didn't let his comment throw him off balance.

Even as they continued to walk one behind the other, even as whoever was in their path cleared the way, disappearing into the backdrop in fear of the argument bound to erupt between them, even as Madara continued to side-line him; Izuna remained persistent.

"What did sh-"

"Say," Madara interrupted, his bellowing voice echoing across the corridors, "Did you ever talk to anyone about my childhood meetings with Hashirama?

Huh?

He wore a puzzled expression, what did that have to do with anything?

"No, why would I?"

Of all the things Izuna was capable of, revealing his brother's past wasn't one of them. But what was Madara thinking of changing the subject so abruptly? Not that he didn't even try to hide it. Madara came to a stand-still, and faced Izuna.

"What about her, did you tell her?"

Brows furrowed in confusion, the younger Uchiha had a hard time following Madara's train of thought, but now that he thought about it…

"Of course not, what do you take me for?"

Surely, Izuna had purposely let some information slip when he first met her, to gauge just how far she knew; but he'd swear on his dead father's grave that he had not disclosed something as personal as that, to a stranger no less.

Wait…

It struck him.

"What did she actually tell you?"

It was clear to him now, though she must have angered Madara at some point or another during their dinner, it was bound to be something serious if his brother saw it fit to lock her behind bars- or rather, underground, locked behind a virtual vault. His brother must have truly freaked out if he had to resort to that.

He probably already assigned a guard.

The house was eerily silent, and he could only imagine why; their unexpected guests tended to have that kind of effect in unbidden territory.

Reminding Izuna of how many other bones he had to pick with his brother.

Madara hesitated, seemingly running over the different scenarios in which this could play out. Izuna leaned against a pillar, hands crossed as he waited for his brother's untimely confession.

The windows to the hall let in shafts of sunlight that seemed to last shorter and shorter with each day. Crisp leaves laid like a golden carpet on the garden floor outside, startled birds shot from the emptying branches as twigs snapped in half. The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky, its rays shining through the few hanging leaves.

It was one of the few things that gave this house a warm touch in a typically unwelcoming setting.

"The woman is batshit crazy…" Madara blurted out before taking another step.

Tell me something I didn't know. Those exact same words echoing his own sentiments all those weeks back, when it was Madara who was the one that refused to believe him.

While it was unlike the Uchiha commander himself to curse so openly, and with such vulgarity, Izuna knew there was more that Madara wasn't willing to say.

"…But?" he encouraged him.

There was always a 'but'.

However, Madara's reluctance grew even more, as though the lump wasn't stuck in Izuna's throat, but his own.

Having had enough, Izuna quickly wedged himself in front of him in a bat of an eye, blocking Madara's not-so-leisurely stroll.

Where is he going in such a haste?

It was inconceivable to Izuna that his sibling was still trying to shake him off after all this.

Madara's stature may have easily overtaken his, but it took quite a lot for the man to intimidate his own brother. He uncrossed his arm and took a good look at his clan leader;

"You can give me the silent treatment all you want, but I'm not an imbecile," Izuna stated as a matter-of-factly, "she obviously told you something that she shouldn't have."

It didn't take him long to figure out what it was, considering Madara's sudden interest in his own conversations with strangers.

"What I don't get is why this seems new to you?"

She must have really pissed off Madara, but he could tell it wasn't the end of the story. As far as Izuna could recall, Mina was always oddly unhinged, but her knowledge was always fascinating to watch as it unfolded into real events.

"What I don't get is why you seem to be defending her?" Madara rebuked.

"I'm not defending her, I'm just curious as to why you locked her away."

Izuna let out a deep, controlled breath, clenching his fists and reigning in his growing agitation at his brother. Never had he seen Madara try so hard to irritate him by snapping the most ridiculous rebuttals. It was as if he was purposely playing dumb in order to keep his mouth shut, like he didn't want to talk about it right now.

Or right here, for that matter.

Huh.

Izuna tilted his head, perhaps if he tried looking at the guy in another point of view, he would understand the purpose of the man's actions. Madara's eyes flicked as his brother openly peered at him with suspicion.

"What are you doing?" he asked, completely unfazed by the shenanigans Izuna was accustomed to doing. His nonchalance was rather distracting.

"Oh," he piped up, rather enthusiastically, "I'm just checking if you've lost your mind, but to do that, might have to break that skull of yours open and look for a brain."

Madara's dark brows twitched in anger, his inherent frown making its way back into that empty expression of his, Izuna knew he had hit his target. If he could say so himself, that particular vein in his temple nearly bulged, a tell-tale sign only he managed to discern.

"What did you say, you punk?" a suppressed growl escaped Uchiha Madara's lips, yet he still managed to hold his frustration back.

His brother smiled back foolishly, beneath his friendly undertone was a rather solemn inkling.

"Now that I know you're actually Madara, you want to tell me what drove you to do that?"

There was not a sound in the house other than the chilly breezes of a fall afternoon, the cold air moving through the clouds and bringing in fine droplets through the windows embellishing this otherwise plain hall. The breeze tousled their hairs; the ink-laden, thick manes that was one of their clan's many striking attributes- but also managed to ease the tension brewing between both brothers.

Yet, the threat of a nightfall bringing about a rainstorm was always looming on the horizon. And so was another outburst.

"I'm not going to speak about this right here, of all places, so drop it," Madara warned before moving past his brother, their shoulders colliding.

So that's what it is, hmm.

It was as he thought but it didn't matter now whether Madara agreed to talk about it or not; he would have still found out, even if it meant paying her a lovely visit.

Izuna watched as Madara turned his back to him and walked away. His lengthy hair bathed in the setting sun, a golden hue sheened his entire figure, a lustre flickering upon the clan's insignia embroidered on both their backs and bringing out the bloody red and white hues that was renowned among the shinobi clans.

Izuna huffed, letting it slide this time, but not without a tiny jibe.

"So be it," he called out after him, shoulders shrugging as his boldness reached out, "but did you honestly think I wouldn't find out about the two Senju in our infirmary?"

That seemed to catch his attention, halting the poor leader in his tracks for the fifth time that day and delaying him from reaching his destination, wherever the hell that was.

His black cloak sweeping back in a swift movement before Madara could even turn. And when he did, that infamous glare wasn't held back; in a twisted, comforting way, it brought Izuna a familiar reassurance.

His smug attitude only served to agitate the already seething Uchiha leader, hoping it would bait him into slipping any kind of information.

"Izuna, don't you dare-"

"Hmm?" he stared at him wide-eyed, feigning idiocy, "dare what? I didn't say I would do anything."

Izuna was exceptionally talented at driving people crazy, even at a young age, when he would refuse to listen to his elder sibling when he was obliged to put on his pants as opposed to publicly urinating on dunces.

Some things haven't changed, if anything, his talent had grown over the years.

"Listen to me Izuna, I'm not in the mood to be the one putting out another one of your fires today, so I'm warning you one last time-"

In a blink of an eye, Izuna found Madara ramming into his personal space, their faces inches apart.

"You are not to go anywhere near them, understood?"

Izuna blinked several times, it never ceased to amaze him; how every time he looked at Madara up close, he would see himself. It was as if looking at- no, through- a mirror.

It was really a shame that Madara's intimidation never worked on him. However, that didn't mean the kid was a true moron, he learned his lessons quick and never repeated the same mistakes twice. And as far as Uchiha Izuna was concerned, the last time was a definite mistake.

"Why are they here?" he asked, genuine curiosity laced his gravelly voice as he ignored Madara's attempt at keeping him at bay. It wasn't noted that a Senju envoy would be on their way, not a single missive was sent; even if it had, Madara wouldn't so easily forget about it.

His brother stepped back.

"How would I know?" he sounded his annoyance at their unexpected arrival, "One was poisoned, and the other carried her here," Madara shrugged, the weight of his cloak seemingly bothering him.

While Izuna's displeasure was certainly there, his interest was far greater in finding out the reason behind their unannounced visit.

"Poisoned?" he asked, it was odd. If they were attacked early on, it would be illogical for them to run all the way here. But the matter of fact was, they came straight here at the speed of light, which meant that whoever assaulted them did it on their land.

Madara obviously seemed to have already arrived at this conclusion, Izuna noticed; which made sense for his rather bizarre behavior today.

"It doesn't matter, keep your distance away from them, Izuna."

"But what are you-"

"I'm afraid that's no longer possible," a hoarse voice interrupted their bickering exchange. Both brothers turned their heads to the hunched figure who had magically appeared out of the blue.

There, at the end of the hall, a few feet away from them- stood an old man. His feeble frame leaned over a mighty cane, his gnarly hands clung tightly to its knobbed head; his shuffling gait was eerily quiet.

Takayama was a sight to behold; his eyes closed- or whatever was left of them-, his thick, unkempt moustache was sliver-white blending with his notorious long beard, nearly half his height. Almost as tall as his hair, pulled back and tied in a slovenly mess.

"Senju Tobirama requests an audience with you, Uchiha-sama," his croaky voice was slow and he stumbled on his words as his chest heaved. His old wrinkled face crumpled beneath his heavy lids as he spoke.

Whereas Madara's youthful guise portrayed his momentary skepticism, Izuna's own lit up with sheer disobedience, an opportunity like this was hard to miss.

Besides, what he wouldn't do to sit down and have a nice little chat with his long-time childhood rival.

Thank you for reading!