Author's Note: I am so sorry for the long wait! I love the attention that this story is getting. I really appreciate it! This chapter is a curious one, in which I test my Hinata character. She's super OOC in this one, but I'm hoping she's not so bad that people dislike her. I know I can't please everyone, but I like it. ^.^ I have recently gone through a bit of plagiarism on Reincarnation, for those of you who are reading that story and saw the author's note there, so I'm trying to push onward with my stories and hope that everyone just enjoys! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Warning: OOCness, language, talk of death.

Word Count: 5,486

It felt like the world was collapsing around her as Hinata pushes her way through the crowd of mediocre healers who have killed more Uchiha than saved them, to the bed where her twin brother laying prone in front of her. Her hands tremble hard as she reaches over and lightly touches Izuna's face, this terrible stabbing pain in her chest that she's been ignoring for a few hours now has increased tenfold. She doesn't believe in psychic twin connection, but she does know that her chakra and Izuna's are linked together.

There is a bond through their chakra.

"Izuna..." Hinata whispers, reaching out to touch his cheek, red with a fever and clammy with sweat. There is a smell coming off of him. A horrible smell that she could only associate with infection. She lightly presses her thumb into the purpling skin beneath his eye, noting that he hadn't been sleeping well for a long time now, and had to wonder if this had something to do with him getting hurt.

Or if the Senju heir, legendary for his speed, was simply so much faster than him?

She honestly doesn't care. It doesn't matter what elements led to this moment other than one; they were still at war with the Senju over nothing. The only thing that matters is Hinata is staring down at her twin as his life is slipping away from him. Once more Hinata was losing a brother.

"Fix him!" Hinata says, looking over at the healers gathered around the room. She looks from face to face, when no one spoke up right away. "Please! Someone fix him!"

The oldest healer, a stern-faced old man, frowns down at Izuna as if he's already lost hope. But he promises. He promises to try. He promises to try to save Izuna's life like he doesn't already have despair and dejection written across his face. He looks like he has already given up. He's already lost faith in his own ability to save Izuna's life and Hinata can't even look at him anymore.

Against her better nature, Hinata wants to scream at him. She wants to punch and kick and somehow force him to figure out how to fix her twin brother. Like if he couldn't just do it out of the kindness of his heart and a strong sense of duty, then somehow she could simply force him. She knows he is doing the best he can. In the back of her mind, she knows he is trying, but she can't help but feel that more could be done. This can't be the end of Izuna. This can't be how he dies. Not here. Not for this war.

Not for a war no one even really knows what they are fighting over anymore. This is completely and utterly ridiculous.

Her twin brother was going to die because their healers were incompetent, this war was idiotic and everyone involved appears to have their heads in the clouds. Madara and Izuna included. It's not fair. Hinata lost her father and her baby brother to this stupid war, now it was demanding her twin's life too? No, she won't allow it!

"Don't promise me that you'll try!" Hinata snaps, glaring up at the older man. "Fix him! Please! I'm begging you!"

The healer sighs, looking sad. "I will try, Princess. That is all I can give you."

The roar in Hinata's ears is so loud, she half-thought that maybe there was a wild animal in the room with them, but her rational mind knew that wasn't the case. There was no animal. It was just her, the incompetent healers and her dying twin brother.

Hinata's not sure how long she sat there, standing vigil over her twin while he suffers in his sleep. At some point, she's not sure when, Madara snuck into the room, lowering down next to her. She didn't look at him, didn't move when he entered the room or when he sat next to her. She just sat there, staring at her brother. Every time she becomes aware of herself, she would reach out for the rag on his forehead, pull it off and clean it up. Then she would wed down the rag with cold water and put it back on his forehead.

Her back, neck, and hips hurt the longer she sits like that, but she doesn't move, even to adjust the way she's sitting. She just keeps quietly caring for her twin in hopes that somehow he will be able to fight this fever the infection is forcing on him and somehow he would be okay. He would wake up tired and in pain, but okay and then she would talk him out of this war for good.

"Hinata..?" Madara whispers in the darkness as night settles around them. She doesn't remember lunch or evening passing them by, but now candles around the room and the gentle glow of the moonlight through the only window is the only light. But Hinata can see fine.

"What happened?" Hinata asks softly, her hands rolled up into fists on her thighs. "What happened to Izuna?"

Madara shifts a bit next to her. He doesn't respond right away and Hinata doesn't even move to look at him. Her eyes are still settled on her twin's body. His breathing is heavy and his bare chest is glistening with sweat. He has a tortured expression on his face and will occasionally groan softly in pain. Or maybe he's having nightmares between the frail waking moments he has.

"What happened to him, Aniki...?"

"He wasn't faster than the Senju heir..." Madara says, his lips barely moving. He blinks a few times quickly. "He wasn't... he wasn't fast enough..."

Hinata blinks slowly. "Fast enough..? For what?"

Madara shakes his head slowly. "Tobirama used his speed to get the better of Izuna. He didn't stand a chance. He wasn't fast enough to avoid the strike."

The anger fires through Hinata faster than the strike that wounded Izuna. "Fast enough? Fast enough?" She spins on her eldest brother next to her. "What are you talking about? What are you talking about?" She turns her lilac colored eyes on the large black eyes of her brother. "This never would have happened if this war had ended! If you had put a stop to the killing and this idiotic war, Izuna would be okay! He wouldn't be laying in this bed dying!"

Hinata doesn't scream. She doesn't yell. She doesn't raise her voice at anyone, especially her eldest brother. She loved her twin, she had a bond with Izuna on a level no one else could ever be on, but Madara was special. From the moment she was born, he was special to her and she was to him. The bond that they share transcends regularity. They are like two halves of the same whole. More often than not, Hinata and Madara were on the same page. They just seemed to see the world much the same way. Izuna and Hinata couldn't be more different, but they were just as close.

She and Izuna may fight and argue, but she has never raised her voice. Not to Izuna and never at Madara. Not until today.

Madara stares back at her with wide eyes. He didn't expect that any more than Hinata did. She isn't that sort of person who would disrespect her eldest brother by yelling at him like that. But... she was. She was yelling at Madara.

"This war should have been over the moment father died and the clan passed on to you! The moment Hashirama Senju was made clan leader! Had this war ended then, Izuna wouldn't be dying in this bed!" Her hands hurt with how hard she's squeezing them. She looks away from Madara and down to her twin, feeling pain pulsate in her chest in sync with her heartbeat.

"Hinata, the healers - "

"They gave up," Hinata whispers harshly, tears streaming from her eyes. "They've already given up on him."

Madara frowns at her. "No, they haven't. No one is giving up on anyone. They are going to save him."

Hinata stares at him, closing her eyes for a moment feeling more tears slide down her cheeks before she opens them again to look at the worried expression flashing over her eldest brother's face. "Madara... you know as well as I do, there is no way that these healers will be able to help Izuna. If he heals at all it will be from his own strength, not from them. They aren't properly trained, never were. It's not their fault, but they do more harm than help."

Madara doesn't respond right away, a deep crease forming between his eyes. He looks down at Izuna, lips pressed together tight, unable to deny her words. Hinata knows that she is right because she's thrown his own words back at him. When their mother fell ill for the last time, he said that very same thing.

"They aren't properly trained, never were. It's not their fault, but they do more harm than help."

That was such an Izuna thing to do, throwing Madara's own words back at him. So much separates Hinata and her twin. Much of their personality differs from one another and yet in moments like this, it seems even Hinata can channel her twin with pinpoint accuracy. It was almost cruel and Hinata felt bad the moment the words left her mouth. She would never intentionally be mean to anyone, especially her beloved brother. The bond she has with Madara is special, always has been, and she knows that he will forgive her for her words, but she still feels bad for it.

Hinata looks down at her struggling twin, shame coloring her cheeks. "I am so sorry, aniki. I... I just don't understand. How could this happen..?"

"Izuna wasn't..."

Hinata looks over at him, her eyebrows pulled so tightly together she can feel the strain on her face. "Madara, this isn't about Izuna. Why is this war going on? What about ending it? What happened with that? About what we talked about?"

Madara closes his eyes, sighing loudly. "Those were the ideals of a starry-eyed dreamer, Hinata. I was but a naive boy when we talked about that."

Hinata almost channels Izuna again, ready to scoff at his words and shake her head at him. Both of which are actions very much like Izuna, but not like Hinata.

"No, brother," Hinata says softly. "You were right. You were right in your belief. We both were. Father and Izuna were wrong. No one wants this war anymore. No one even remembers what we are fighting about. This has to end. It has to. How many more family members are we going to put into unmarked graves that will fade from memory until we are buried in those unmarked graves where no one will be able to remember. Why do we all have to hurt and be sad through life until we are forgotten in death by our loved ones."

Madara frowns at her words. "That's enough, Hinata."

"It's true!" Hinata insists, reaching out and taking her eldest brother's hand. "Please, Anaki! Put an end to this! Right now!"

Madara pulls his hand away, moving swiftly to his feet. "Izuna isn't going to die, Hinata. That's final."

"Brother, please!" Hinata jumps to her feet too, following him to the door. "Madara, please wait!"

Madara slips his shoes on faster than Hinata even left the room and is already halfway to the forest before she manages to get hers on and looks up to follow him to the forest but he's already leagues ahead of her. She follows him deeper into the forest, but his form gets further and further ahead of her. He leaves her in the dust with ease. Hinata slows down as her brother's form vanishes in the trees. Heavily breathing, and away from the compound, Hinata looks around the forest, feeling fresh tears well up in her eyes.

She brushes them away and walks over to the nearest tree and lowers down in front of it, leaning her back into the rough bark to rub at her eyes. She sits there for a long time, thinking about all sorts of things. About her parents, this war, Madara, Izuna. All things that plummet her mood even more. She can't believe she yelled at Madara. That was so unlike her. She shouldn't have yelled at him. Izuna is his brother too. His mind is probably whirling too. In just a few short months, their worlds have been flipped upside down.

This has been hard on all of them, and Madara has been handling it with so much more grace than she is. There has to be something that has been stopping him from ending this war, she just can't see it. She knows Madara. She knows that he wouldn't continue with this senseless killing unless there was a very good reason. There had to be.

She just didn't know what to do now.

Izuna needs her to do something. But she isn't a healer. She doesn't have any skills other than the utmost basics in that as it is. But Izuna's body is going haywire, he doesn't have the strength to heal from the injury as well as the infection that she can already smell on him. He's... fading so quickly. Something has to be done. But they don't have the means. Or maybe they do. They simply don't have the knowledge.

If they had the knowledge, they might be able to find that certain herb or concoction that would boost Izuna's immune system and help him heal.

"Medical ninjutsu might be able to save him," Hinata whispers mournfully, rubbing at her face. She's no longer crying but her face feels puffy. She squeezes her eyes closed again, feeling exhaustion washing over her. She doesn't know medical ninjutsu either. None of the Uchiha do. It's just not something that they practiced. To be honest, no one really knew medical ninjutsu could even be a thing before Hashirama Senju and his prowess in it.

Hinata blinks, pulling her hands away from her face to stare at the wildflowers in front of her, blowing gently in the breeze. The sway is slow and peaceful, but beckoning somehow. Urging her to continue down the mental path that she has been going down.

She doesn't have medical ninjutsu to help her out or medical knowledge that she can take back to her people and use it to help Izuna. But maybe there was someone who did. Someone who may be willing to help her. But that would mean doing something that she really shouldn't do. Something that could get her into serious trouble. Something that would put Madara into a very precarious situation. If she does what she's thinking about doing, she could be kicked out of the clan. She could be disowned and left for dead. Or she could be killed on the spot.

But Izuna... Izuna's life is so much more important than that. It would all be worth it so long as he lives. She will accept any punishment from her family so long as Izuna lives. She simply cannot, in any way, shape or form, allow her brother to die when there is a chance that she would be able to save his life. He is her twin, the other half of her soul. She has to save him. She has to.

No, she should stop. She needs to think clearly. Maybe she's overreacting and Izuna will be okay. There is no need to be rash. She will just return to the medical hut and do what she can to help him. Provide him with fresh water and clean the sweat from his body, maybe hunt down some more herbs to help him. Or, make the vegetable soup that he loves from the plants she grew herself.

"Better than any other, dear sister," Izuna would say before digging in. "Almost my favorite meals when you make them." It used to be a rare occasion until their mother got sick, then she was cooking all the time. But Izuna would always compliment her cooking. It never ceased to make her blush in embarrassment. They couldn't be more different and Izuna was rougher with her than Madara was, but he knew how to be kind too. And he always picked the perfect times to do it too. She loved dinner with her brothers. That was when the rest of the world fell away. No war. No death. They weren't three siblings orphaned too soon.

They were three siblings that loved each other and were happy to spend time together.

She wants, more than anything, to go home to Izuna healthy and lively. But the pain in her chest is getting stronger. Maybe that pain is all in her head, but one thing she knows, Izuna isn't going to survive if she doesn't do something. No matter what.

Before she can chicken out, Hinata climbs to her feet, stretches out her amazing sight as far as it will go, and heads in the direction of the Senju compound. She's not sure what her family will do to her if they realize what she's done, but that won't mean anything if the Senju kill her on sight. But either way... either way, she has to try.

They came into the world together, there is no way Hinata is going to live in it without him.

Hinata knew they were following her.

She can see them perfectly with her super-powered eyes. They don't know she sees them and they have been giving her a wide berth, but watching carefully. She has to assume that there are a few different things going on in the Senju patrols' minds. Either she's lost, or a spy, or someone just passing through, or something. But they are a clan at war. So they are careful.

She doesn't mind them, though. So long as they don't try and stop her, she doesn't mind. She's glad that today was the day she wore her hair half down. With how long it is, she is able to hide her family crest emblazoned on her back. At least long enough to get close to the Senju leader and speak with him. From everything she knows about Hashirama, he sounds like a good man and wouldn't hurt her, but Hinata's not sure about his clansmen. They may see her as a threat regardless and kill her on principal alone.

So at least she's got that going for her.

Hinata makes it to the outside of the compound, fifteen feet away to see a collection of Senju men waiting for her. They haven't armed themselves yet, but they are watching her with dark eyes, ready to strike like angry vipers at their prey. She won't show them she's afraid.

Even though she is very, very afraid.

"State your business, stranger," one of the older men says, glaring at her. His dark brown hair is graying heavily on the top of his head and in his beard and mustache.

"I am here to speak to the Senju clan leader," Hinata says, willing her voice not to shake. She grips her hands tightly in front of her to keep them in their sight, but to grip them tightly into fists to stop them from shaking too. She rolls her shoulders back.

"Why would we send for our Lord?" The man sneers. "Go away."

"Now," someone says, and the group of men part ways immediately for that person to walk through them, "that is no way to speak to a girl, uncle."

The man looks away. "Yes, my lord."

Hashirama Senju walks through the men to stand before all of them. He looks Hinata up and down. Dark brown eyes wide and kind. So very kind she can actually see it clear as day.

His eyes find hers and he says, calmly, "Are you okay?"

Hinata feels her anxiety fade a bit as a small smile works its way across her face. She stops it before it spreads too far but she is thankful to him. He seems very genuine. This brings her back to the day of the fire that threatened the Uchiha clan compound. How Hashirama asked her if she was okay while she was trying to help put the fire out.

Standing beside him, if she recalls correctly was the Senju heir. The white devil.

Someone steps out from behind Hashirama. A very familiar shock of white hair and beautiful red eyes stare back at her, wide and confused, just as much as she is.

Tobirama.

She blinks rapidly, trying to understand what she's seeing, her stomach plummeting to her feet. Tobirama, the man she met in the nearby village. Tobirama, the Senju heir. Tobirama, the man that inflicted a wound on Izuna that he's not healing from. That nice man who helped her is the same man who may kill her brother. They are the exact same person. She didn't realize it.

"Hinata..." Tobirama says, red eyes wide. He blinks a few times. "What are you doing here?"

Hashirama looks back and forth between his brother and Hinata, confused. "You know her, brother?"

"We met in the nearby village," Tobirama says, narrowing his eyes a bit. "What are you doing here?"

Hinata swallows thickly. "I am here to ask for your aid," she looks over at Hashirama, "Lord Senju. My brother needs your help." She looks into his eyes, taking a few steps closer to him until she's just in front of him. "Please, my lord. I have no one else to go to. I know how this may sound, and the i-irony isn't lost on me, but I need your help. You are the only one who can save him."

Hashirama sways back in forth a bit, staring into her eyes thinking the same thing that everyone thinks when they see her.

"I can see you fine, my lord," Hinata says, watching his face as he sways.

Hashirama blinks in surprise. "Your brother is hurt? What happened?" He says instead of question her words, looking embarrassed about being caught.

Hinata hesitates. They don't realize who she is yet. She can't believe it. Hinata lowers down onto her knees before him. "My lord, my name is Hinata Uchiha," she can't look at Tobirama. She can't see the shock and confusion spread across his face, "and my brother was mortally wounded in the war against the Senju. He will die if you don't help him."

"You're an Uchiha?" Tobirama spits, red eyes narrowed in anger. Hashirama spares him a half glance, frowning in worry before looking back over at the younger girl in front of him.

Hinata turns pretty lilac eyes toward the Senju heir, sadly. "And you are a Senju. I suppose we were both caught off guard."

Tobirama opens his mouth, about to accuse her of something, she's sure, before her words sink in and his mouth closes slowly. He studies her face and her eyes, trying to decide if he believes she was just as surprised as he was, or if she had somehow planned this to get close to him for one reason or another. While he's figuring that, Hinata looks over at Hashirama.

"My brother was wounded by yours, my lord."

Hashirama blinks in surprise, then sadness washes over his face. He presses his lips closed for a moment before saying, quietly, "Tobirama hurt your brother?"

Hinata nods. "Yes. Izuna Uchiha is my brother." Surprise and horror spread across Hashirama and Tobirama's faces, while the Senju around them share looks with wide eyes. "Tobirama-sama gave him a wound across his chest. A terrible infection that he either picked up in their travels back to our home after the battle or was there already has prevented him from healing and he's..." she chokes, feeling sadness rush through her. Her voice hitches. She has to look down at the dirt beneath her for a moment. "He... he-he's not getting better. He's going to die if you don't help him."

Hashirama stares at her, his eyebrows pulled together tightly. "Izuna's sister... then Madara is..."

Hinata looks back up at him. "Madara is my eldest brother, yes."

The confirmation of her connection to the leader of the Uchiha clan makes all of the Senju behind the brothers begin whispering to themselves, eyeing her with dark intentions. Tobirama's frown is deep and troubled. Indecision is written across his face. Hinata can't look at them. She can't focus on them and what they may want to do to her. She's in dangerous territory and the only thing she has on her side is years old stories from Madara about what a great man that Hashirama is. Or, at least, what he was when Madara originally told her those stories.

She can only pray that he hasn't changed all that much.

One of the Senju men whispers something that Hinata didn't catch but Hashirama jerks his head in that direction without actually turning around and snapping in a strong, sharp voice, "Enough!" They, along with Hinata and Tobirama, jump at his voice. Everyone falls silent. A strong breeze works its way across the field, pulling at everyone's hair and clothes. Hinata uses the silence to take a few, shaky breaths, praying to each and every god and goddess the Uchiha believe in that this wasn't a huge mistake.

Izuna, she reminds herself to keep her resolve strong, Izuna needs me. He needs me to make this work.

Hashirama waits another moment to see if anyone else is going to say something before turning back to Hinata, taking a step closer and kneeling down in front of her with large, sad, dark brown eyes. "About Izuna... I'm sorry. I wish there was something that I could do for you."

Hinata practically lunges at him, grabbing his hands in her own, heart pounding in her ears. The Senju tense up, some even pulling out their weapons in defense of their clan leader but pause seeing she hasn't actually attacked. True to his legendary speed, Tobirama is right behind Hashirama, ready to rip her off his brother the moment she makes another threatening movement.

"You c-c-can!" Hinata insists, staring into Hashirama's sad eyes pleadingly. "You are a legendary healer! My bro-brother says - my brother says so himself! If anyone can fix him, it's you!"

Hashirama takes her hands gently in his own. "Perhaps, but I cannot go to the Uchiha compound. No one wants me there, nor would they accept my help if I offered,"

"I want you there," Hinata says, desperately clinging to her hope. "I'm asking for your help."

"No one else would, though," Hashirama says softly, giving her hands a gentle squeeze, dark eyes shining with sympathy and sadness. "I am so sorry. My thoughts are with you all. Maybe it's not as bad. Izuna is stronger than you give him credit for. Maybe he will pull through this with a gnarly scar and a crazy story to tell his grandkids someday." His optimism is fleeting and half-hearted. His kind smile is genuine and hopeful.

Tears slide down Hinata's cheeks and Hashirama's smile fades. "Izuna and I are twins, my lord. I feel his pain in my chest." She blinks slowly, feeling globs of tears glide down the pathways on her face and fall from her chin. "I feel him fading." She whispers. "Please..." she says brokenly, gripping his hands tighter. "Please do something! Please. I will do anything! Just do something to help me, please!"

Hashirama stares back at her with a look of devastation on his face. He opens his mouth to say something when a sharp, angry voice cuts through the air.

"Hashirama!"

Hinata's neck hurts with the force she twists around to see Madara at the tree line holding the very same two Senju patrols that followed her all the way here. One is walking in front of Madara with his arm twisted unnaturally behind him, his face twisted into actual agony, while the other is clawing at the hand Madara has over his throat.

The nature sage's dark eyes widen as the Senju men, including Tobirama, unsheath their weapons, pointing them at the Uchiha clan leader. Madara's blazing Mangekyo Sharingan makes most of them start to tremble when he gives them a disgusted half glance as if they were miles beneath him. His eyes land on Tobirama for a moment and the angry snarl on his face twists into something unnatural and demonic, Mangekyo spinning threateningly, before finally looking to his one-time childhood friend.

"Release my sister now," he demands, his voice deep and gravelly.

Hashirama pulls his hands from Hinata's standing slowly and stepping around her to look at the angry Uchiha patriarch. He holds his palms up toward the black-haired man, face settling into a hard expression. "Peace, Madara."

"Brother," Hinata pops to her feet, "I'm not-"

Madara glares at her. "Silence! I will deal with you later!"

Hinata's cowed immediately. Madara's anger has never been directed at her. Never. No, his anger isn't this. This is something so much more powerful than anger. This is actual rage. This isn't like Madara. He was never like this before.

"Nii-san," Hinata says. She has to try again. He has to understand that the Senju aren't the enemies. Not anymore. The anger and pain fueling this war are. It doesn't have to be like this anymore. There can be peace. For all of them. He has to understand that she's doing this for everyone. Too many people were destroyed by this war. Too many families torn apart by it. They all deserve better than this. She was doing it for their hearts and their bodies. People can find more joy in life if they didn't have to stress about this war every waking moment.

She was doing it for their souls too. Too many people dead long before their bodies caught up. It's not fair. Everyone deserves the chance to live. Too many people on both sides - Senju and Uchiha, as well as the respective clan allied with both - have already lost that chance for so many of their people. It has to end now.

Madara's Sharingan turned on her chills her to the core, more than any winter storm ever could. Madara has never turned his Sharingan on her with so much rage and hatred burning in those depths like molten lava. This isn't her brother. No wonder he's having such a tough time ending this war. This pain. This anger. This rage. It's taken ahold of him so tightly he can't let go.

Hinata won't let him suffer. Not like Izuna, not alone. She won't let this vile negativity burn like an infestation in her brothers so strong neither will live to see the end of this war.

"Not. Now." Madara's voice is so dark, it's not even his anymore. It belongs to something so much eviler than anything a human being should be capable.

Hashirama looks down at his clansmen as one turns purple from lack of air while the other howls in agony as his arm is twisted harshly. "Madara, stop this! Hinata is not a prisoner!"

"Liar!" Madara snarls.

"Enough!" Hinata yells, stepping in front of Hashirama, staring back into the eyes that should belong to her favorite brother, but inside she sees an angry, spiteful demon stare back at her. There is a flicker of surprise across his face as a piece of the brother she loves returns to his own body.

"Hinata..."

"That is enough, brother," Hinata says with her soft voice in a harsh whisper. "Release those men. Now."