Chapter 08 — Sors Immanis

Someone kept flitting around in Kaiya's mind.

Kaiya held no love for the Senju, but she'd heard the woman mention she was Hashirama's cousin when she'd been captured. The healer didn't know what the Senju had been thinking. Perhaps she had done so to ensure she would be treated well. 'Well', Kaiya had thought the at the time, would be a relative term, the Senju lady would find. They kept the Senju prisoners in the old barracks, a converted sector for their safe keeping, far away from the main compound where Uchiha families lived. If anything, the Lady had ensured that they doubled down on their security—after all, Kaiya was one of the few meant to re-evaluate the seals used to suppress their chakra every week or so. If she doubled her visits as medical rounds, it was not as though anyone would care, least of all Hikaku, who was in charge of the domain now that he was on parental leave from the shinobi rosters.

"You know, I still don't see why you do this," he said casually in lieu of a morning greeting.

"If you're blind even with a sharingan, even I can't help you," she sassed, passing him by to walk through the entry and into the building. He followed behind her, signalling to guards inside to switch placements with him. Kaiya had become acquainted with the faces of captured Senju, but that was simply because there were not many of them in the first place. As of late, it would be the Senju who would have greater numbers in whatever lodgings their prisoners were kept in. The tide of war was fickle, often favouring the Senju and then the Uchiha, and then only to return to the Senju and…well, such was the nature of their loathful, never ending conflict.

Hikaku opened the first barred cell to their right, keys clanking in a manner very unlike the delicate clinking of the golden baubles that were always with him. He was like a cat with a bell, one could hear him wherever he went, but she knew better than to think it was a handicap. For what the sound was worth, it was a deceptive front; with every swish of his shoulder he could cast a sound-based genjutsu, entrapping all who heard the trinkets' metallic tinkle in but a moment. The Uchiha before her had genjutsu techniques and ploys in spades, but that was only natural for one who was half hailing from the Kurama clan, the clan famed for their illusions. Even here, in these sealed barracks where Hikaku could not use chakra, she trusted him with her life in case the Senju prisoners revolted suddenly, unlikely as that was to happen.

She knelt to the prisoners' level, placing the water bath and towels she'd brought with her in front of the four children—and they were children, she would insist, despite being shinobi they weren't any older than Kagami and she resolutely refused to call him an adult. It was a matter of principle.

"Hikaku, make yourself useful and get the other guards to fetch more water to speed up the process, I only have so many hands and so much time here,"

When he returned, she had already moved onto examining their chakra pathways, her sharingan activated. It was curious to him, how the seals managed to be so nitpicky about how chakra was used. As long as it did not leave the user's body, the chakra was allowed to be. Kaiya fine-tuned the seals often, replacing certain tags which, to his untrained eye, appeared the same as the others. Beyond making their own explosives, the sealings arts were not too often delved into within their clan, but given his compound ground status, perhaps he could justify a new hobby. If his wife let him, of course. The girls were a handful and Mariko depended on him especially in the evenings to make sure she was as sane and rested as one could be with a newborn. Kaiya worked in silence and they steadily made their way through the cells one by one. Ah, the new guest, he mused, the Lady Senju— Tōka Senju, he believed. Kaiya does not recognise her initially, the Lady Senju has her dark brown hair down, revealing a length she hadn't known the intricate top knot she'd seen before required. The sharp eyes and brows give the Lady away, however, and Kaiya notices her left eye is still hidden by the fall of the shorter hair.

The Senju does not flinch when Kaiya activates her sharingan one last time, "Lady Senju, allow me to take a look at your eye,"

It is worded as a request but in the enemy's den, there is no such thing, so Tōka does as she is told. There are no deformities to be found to Kaiya's surprise, a preference then, albeit an odd one. But then again, she thought, what was a shinobi without their many idiosyncrasies? Anyone claiming to be within Hashirama's inner circle very well had to have a certain strangeness to themselves. Kaiya stills and Hikaku is locked into the pause, wondering what the healer was planning to do.

"Lady Senju, you would know right? An…" she struggled with the name, attempting to dredge up the memory and then distantly she says, "I—Itama, wasn't it?"

Hikaku shifted, not appreciating the break from routine to question the prisoner regarding people he didn't know of, but he remained quiet and listened on.

"Yes, Itama, that would be another one of your cousins, now wouldn't it? How is he?"

If Tōka Senju thought anything of the name, she concealed it very well. Kaiya is unhappy with the lack of response, but it was to be expected. Nothing was free, she supposed, but she hadn't the faintest idea what this Senju could want to know from her. And even then, it was not as though a prisoner could very well trust the words of an Uchiha. Kaiya may not be in the business of lying to someone she believed was already quite helpless, but the Senju woman would never know that.

"He's young, isn't he? Twenty or so by now?" the medic-nin continued, in spite of the Senju's silence but there is something new to her mood—Tōka was agitated now.

"He's not dead now, is he?"

"You have the sharingan," the Senju lady states, instead of answering her questions, and Kaiya wondered if her enemy was trying to barter for an emotional trauma she could later capitalise on. She cannot imagine any other angle the Senju genjutsu specialist could take. So, she lies in the waiting, hums an affirmation and waits for what the Senju will say next.

"Why?"

Hikaku tries to step in, but Kaiya signals for him to rest easy and looks expectantly at the Senju as she answered, "My mother left me,"

"Itama is alive," the Lady Senju finally gives, not saying anything more.

"But not well?"

"…He's not able-bodied," and while Tōka has a certain expectant gleam in her eyes, she can't be bothered to believe that the healer would reveal anything further in this small exchange. No, she shares because it was not as though Itama was an active shinobi and because she wants to know what the name Itama means to the Uchiha tasked with ensuring both Tōka's health and imprisonment.

Kaiya blinked, then stilled. He had looked the picture of health when she'd last seen him…maybe, four years ago? 'Not-able-bodied' could mean many things, paralysis, blindness, perhaps a missing limb…many things she did not know how to heal.

Hikaku taps the heel of her foot from behind because he is concerned by the silence. He had entertained them for long enough, "Kaiya, if you are done,"

"Yes, of course," she murmured, turning to the Senju one last time before Hikaku locked the door to her cell, "Thank you."

Next time, Kaiya thinks, she will incense her clothes with poppy nettle. It might help the Lady Senju relax, answer a little more detailed than she might have normally done. After all, Kaiya was very curious how the Senju were doing.

)}●{(

He had known this would not go over well.

"Bench me?" she echoed, "Why?"

Madara sighed, longsuffering. This was not a conversation he'd have prompted if it hadn't been for his latest meeting with the Elders. Lady Hitomi had been most displeased with him. He grimaced.

Madara was not always the Clan Head he wished he was, not always the man he wanted to be. It is with great reluctance that he has allowed his dreams for peace to assume a part of his identity. The clan, family, were what motivated his every move. And so, he envisioned a life for them where they were free from the loss that plagued them during these wars. A life where Izuna was safe and able to begin his own family, free from fear that his children would go before his time. For his brother is paramount, and to Madara, life without Izuna, at an instant, would become desolate, meaningless. If his brother died at the hands of the Senju, Madara would never forgive them.

Never.

And he supposed that Kaiya feared that above all else.

Madara has never truly understood Kaiya Uchiha. Not when she became his retainer, not when she'd become a member of his squad—certainly not when she left it for a marriage she'd never really wanted—because he'd never been browbeaten into anything in his life, and not even now, but it was not for a lack of trying. Normally, he would consult Izuna for these things.

Izuna was perception incarnate. Since they were young, it was Izuna between the brothers who had the ability to befriend any he chose to. His brother may be highly selective with his company, but Madara knew that Izuna had no shortage of companions among the Uchiha. So, it was with great prudence that he listened to the clan heir's observations.

And he agreed this time. Kaiya was obsessed, by every measure of the word, with peace.

When was it that he himself had first noticed her oddities? It had been the riverbank, he was sure, she was so small then, so near death, and so content to have saved Madara and his friend the confrontation of their fathers and clans.

A self-sacrificing idiot, he had called her.

No, maybe it was sooner than that. He remembered, ten, standing outside the entrance to her family's residence with his father. They had waited until Lady Hitomi had talked Kaiya down from hysterical sobs and among them he had heard her lament and cry how she'd always known her mother would leave her, and that Kaiya hadn't been able to make her stay. What a horrifying thing, he had thought, even then, for a child to believe so firmly that a parent's love was both conditional and temporary. Among their clan, belonging to a single parent household or to a relative's as a result of being orphaned was not uncommon. Being abandoned? In the Uchiha clan it was unheard of. If his father had thought it merciful to allow her to remain in that cursed home, Madara had to disagree. The residence had been far too large for the eleven year old girl and knowing her proclivities, Kaiya likely welcomed the haunting visions of her sharingan, if only to get a glimpse of the Lady Sachiko.

A hypocrite, he'd wanted to call her, because she was just like him, like all Uchiha, allowing her sharingan to play with her heart.

And still, the healer clung to her Kimura inheritance, those damned oaths. Kaiya liked to pretend she hadn't crossed the line, convincing herself the paltry salve recipes and book of seals her mother had left her—twelve books, Madara's mother had admonished, Lady Sachiko had left her daughter twelve books in her place as a mother—which Kaiya coveted would save her from the Sage she'd sworn to.

Why the Uchiha lady felt any loyalty to her mother was beyond him.

It made him want to shake her to her senses.

Because, Sages, she would never say no.

Not when Kenta had married her, not when he'd wanted a child—and why? Because she'd thought it would make her aunt happy? Because she didn't want to refuse Kenta? Because she thought she would lose Kenta's favour?

—Not even when Madara had clearly seen the horror in her face when his father had told her how he wanted her apprentices to become combat trained as she'd accomplished.

And perhaps it was a useful quality for him as Clan Head. She never turned down a single mission. He could saddle her with troublesome figures like Lord Ide and she would accept. He could trust her to do everything in her power to protect his brother, if only because she feared what would happen if Izuna passed.

(And that was really such a laugh, how she still mother-henned the two of them, as though Madara needed protecting and as if he didn't already have an overprotective streak stretching over a mile long for Izuna. Madara suspected it had something to do with his late father.)

Kaiya pushed herself to her limits and it made her a more capable kunoichi who'd been able save many Uchiha lives. But she did not know where the limit lay, nor where it even should. Because Kaiya was an overly sentimental kunoichi who felt it was necessary to spare their clansmen of the gory visuals of death on duty by caring for corpses' appearances. The clan appreciated it, wives thanked her for sparing themselves and their children the gruesome sight that was death on the field at times. Izuna felt she should have stopped it long ago, because he'd seen her cry over the corpses over and over again. For all its apparent usefulness, her self-sacrificing streak, deep as it was wide, was problematic. Izuna had told Madara how stressed she was, burdened by their clansmen's secrets and sorrows, but not knowing how to help when she was pregnant. And then the child had been stillborn, she'd blamed herself, taken a figurative bludgeon and beat herself with it day in and out. Their clansmen had learned to set boundaries for her from then on.

And it only started there, because Kaiya was only human, and she fell short in more ways than one.

The healer failed to understand how much she was cared for. By his accounts, Kaiya probably thought he'd never known of her temporary reunion with Hashirama since he'd never brought it up, had never been angered by the act. It'd been the opposite, because by then Madara had been exasperated beyond belief by her willingness to simply let life happen to her when he knew that wherever the word peace concerned itself, she would square up.

And Rin, Rin was another topic entirely. Kaiya both loved and wanted to be with her friend and even then, even from Rin she ran. How insecure was she, to act like if she spent too much time with her friend, that Rin would tire of her and leave? It'd only gotten worse when Rin returned to life off the rosters to start her own family, the poor retired kunoichi wasn't being spared a second to bring up the affair that had become so glaringly obvious.

It was miserable to watch, and he'd been doing it for two decades.

Izuna had remarked what a tragedy it was, how Kaiya fancied herself in control of her own curse when she hadn't the faintest of ideas how much she hated herself. And while Madara could protect Izuna from his hatred of the Senju and Izuna could do the same for him, none of them could save her from herself.

And this brings him back to his current plight. For all the vice grip Kaiya's mind had on peace, while a good counterbalance to his brother's fatalist ramblings, he'd never once heard her envision herself in their imaginary peaceful dwellings. And it needed to stop.

Madara is brash, temperamental and the least sensitive of souls among her company. He does not pretend he can help her overcome her self-hatred, but the very least he can do is give her the opportunity, the time, to mature.

"I have a need for you in the compound. For the time being, join Hikaku's patrol and I'll give you an assignment later. Take this as…a reward, for your work thus far,"

"Is this because of what happened with Lord Ide?"

But of course, the medic-nin thought it was a punishment.

"No, I mean it. Kaiya, a reward."

"But our shinobi—," she protested.

"I am returning to active duty," he explained, "It will be enough. I cannot have you running yourself ragged without any care as to your condition anymore. You're dismissed, Kaiya. As you can see, there is no shortage of paperwork for me to work through," he finished, resting his cheek on his right palm, held up by the elbow on his desk and placed in perhaps the only spot that was not covered by a mass of paper, ink, brushes and scrolls.

Kaiya rose from her kneel and bowed in silence, equal parts pensive and troubled, then flickered away.

)}●{(

They try to be quiet; the twins are fast asleep and what separates the pairs from one another is but a thin wall.

"I don't see why this is so upsetting," Rin tells her when she learns of Kaiya's compound-ground status.

Kaiya bit her tongue. She should be happy, with some reluctance she responds, "I'm not,"

"Kaiya," the way Rin breathes the name out is as though years of exasperation have culminated into two syllables, "Kaiya don't lie,"

Rin is gentle, she is able to coax from Kaiya what no one else can.

"It's just—I need to—who else is going to—" the healer finds her words escaping her at every turn, "The dead. Healing. Lord Ide. The Kurama. I have responsibilities,"

"That others can manage, I promise,"

"Hikaku would prefer not to have to mingle with them, you know," she tried, referencing the shinobi's dislike for his father's parentage.

"Hikaku is a grown and capable man, he will manage,"

"And the elders?" Kaiya added.

"There is Lady Hitomi," Rin reminds her, unimpressed, "She is among the eldest of them, if you recall Kaiya and she knows best how reckless you've become,"

"Reckless?"

"Yes, Kaiya, she was most unhappy with your little interaction with the Senju and then of course, there's Shiji's report—you might as well have served yourself on a silver platter to the Akimichi! You're too quick to appease,"

Kaiya bristled at this, "And did he tell you he offered to skirmish with a Senju to avoid Lord Ide's request?"

"Yes, and I was very upset with my husband, but what is it with your secrecy? We are friends, are we not?"

"You—you wouldn't like it," she protested, her eyes downcast, but it sounded weak, even to her own ears.

"No, but when has that ever mattered to you? You've done plenty of things I haven't agreed with—Kaiya look at me,"

Kaiya avoided her friend's gaze still, "Kaiya can't you understand? I may be upset with you, I may disagree with you sometimes, but I've failed you as a friend if you think that makes me hate you,"

At this, Kaiya rose her head at a breakneck speed, to object immediately, but Rin plowed on.

"I'm just happy you're here, that I can spend some time with you. That Haru and Hina can get to know their aunt, my best friend, my sister," and Rin's voice cracks here.

"I'm sorry, I should've made more time," Kaiya muttered, thoroughly ashamed.

"I don't want an apology Kaiya. I simply think this will do you some good,"

"A shinobi endures," she recited in response.

"Be that as it may be, in our clan we do not endure alone. I want you to rely on me, on our friends, on our clan, and do it without feeling you are a burden."

The sliding door opened suddenly with a thud as it slammed into the frame and they both startled, within seconds Rin is up to check on her children, glaring at the Uchiha who came through the door.

"Oh? Am I interrupting something? Are we perhaps discussing Kaiya's self-importance? I have many stories for that subject,"

His tone is deceptively cheery given the scathing remarks, but Izuna has always been this way. Kaiya thinks he's said all of two nice things to her in all his life. But at least, he is transparent in his eavesdropping.

Surprisingly, Rin's twins are still fast asleep, but that does not ease her upset in the slightest. Rin eyed Izuna, her stare murderous, "This is not the time, Izuna,"

"You're right, it's time for my haircut, now isn't it?"

"Izuna," Rin says, tone reproachful.

Izuna raised his hands in the air, as if to say he is unarmed, safe. They all know better than to believe a shinobi, particularly one Izuna's calibre, was any less lethal just because they were without weapons.

"I'm just saying. She's appointed herself my second guardian when I already have one breathing down my neck."

Kaiya snorted, "It was your father actually who did that,"

"He's dead, and you still do it,"

"I am simply honouring the late Head's wishes,"

A soft sigh is expelled, it's Rin, who allows the bickering to continue while she looks for her comb and scissors. She had long since resigned to the reality of Izuna and Kaiya's relationship: they know no other manner of speaking to one another that did not involve sniping at each other until their points eventually came across.

"Oh please, you do it for Brother now,"

"Well, aren't you loved,"

"I am, thank you. There's not many who can say their Brother could start and end wars for them,"

"You abuse it,"

"What I do, is very little of your business,"

"Please, that's hardly true. My job has been to manage your business for all the time that I've known you,"

"You've always liked Madara's more than mine, why don't you hover over him?"

"Why, I didn't know you felt that way Kanko, I assure you I don't intentionally reveal my favouritism,"

Izuna snorted at that but whatever quip he would have said was interrupted by Rin taking him by the elbow and leading him away from the doorway and towards the seat she previously occupied across from Kaiya. The sliding door is shut gently behind them.

"There are few in our circle who would prefer you to be the Clan Head Izuna," Rin remarked while combing through the length of his hair, smooth and silky with few knots. A hair texture quite a bit different from his brother's and much easier to manage for it.

"That hadn't been my point, however, I'll have you know I'd make an excellent Clan Head,"

This time, it was Kaiya who snorted, leaning into the palm of her hand on the table and then covering her smile. It was just like Izuna to take an entirely depressing atmosphere and utterly transform it into something hopelessly comedic. She is thankful, not knowing how she would have responded to Rin's heavy concern. In fact, still not really knowing what to say to her friend.

"Then what was the point?" Rin asked, wetting the comb once more and dragging it through his bangs. He leaned into the soft movement subtly,

"There really hadn't been one," he admitted, mumbling.

Snip snip

Snip snip

It was a rhythmic, soft sound which interrupted the silence that had descended upon the three of them. Izuna, after a time, chose to break it himself.

"I knew you'd hate being taken off active duty,"

Snip snip

Clearly, Izuna already knew all the details of her mandated leave. Kaiya was alarmed at the return of the subject matter from before, didn't know how to respond, until he continued.

"Unfortunate timing, really, for it to be just when Brother was returning to the front," he turned to face Rin better, who was curious, "She likes to make fun of Madara and I for our preference for…robust, let's say, partners, but she's no better,"

"Izuna don't move your head,"

Snip snip

"All her hovering is equal parts admiration, you should've seen how starry eyed she was when Madara took out a group of a hundred or so bandits who fancied themselves special because of a little chakra training with the same ease as breathing,"

"I don't appreciate being exposed like this Kanko,"

He smiled sweetly at her, eyes crinkling, "Oh, but I love doing it,"

Snip snip

Rin raised a brow, not that Izuna would have seen it, "And here I thought it was tan, warm dark eyes and equally dark hair you were looking for Kaiya,"

Izuna choked, turning to Kaiya, an impressive feat given he had been drinking nothing to sputter on, "Hashirama?"

"Izuna!" Rin cried, having cut his bangs lopsidedly when he'd moved suddenly. He reached with his right to grasp at the much too short lock, groaning quietly, "This will take a while to grow out,"

"The Senju Clan Head, Kaiya, really?" he spat once Kaiya had remained silent long enough to assume guilt.

"That was a very, very long time ago," she replied conversationally.

"You and Brother both, I don't know what you've see in that man ever since you met at that stupid river,"

Snip snip

Rin had certainly heard of the Senju Clan Head, Hashirama Senju, but it'd been a very long time since she would've last gotten the chance to see him. After all, not long after she'd turned seventeen, she'd been recommended for a specialisation in infiltration. Feeling she'd finished trimming the head of hair before her, she swiped down Izuna's shoulder with her hands to clean off any fallen hair trimmings.

She hummed, "Well, I suppose he is famous for his strength, isn't he?"

"Skills he uses to slaughter our clansmen," Izuna pointed out,

"We are at war," Kaiya responded, "if you pull your punches, you're stupider than I thought Izuna. But even you have always faced Tobirama with the intent to kill,"

"We have always been at war with the Senju, it is a thousand year grudge that has yet to be quenched,"

"Neither clan has been fond of the bloodshed, Izuna, in spite of any grudges we may hold the war always subsides,"

"Only to return again, there is a reason why no peace treaty has worked in the past. The Uchiha and Senju are destined enemies. It is how the shinobi clans maintain balance,"

It is not a topic Rin ever enjoys hearing of, and the mother feared the Clan Heir may notice her distaste for the war, so she remained silent.

"We are losing, Izuna," Kaiya reminds him solemnly, "The clan grows unhappy with Madara's decisions to stay at war. He must do what has never been done before with success,"

Izuna does not pout, he is much to dignified for such things, "Ah yes, my brother, a natural at warmongering, ending the war between our two clans,"

Rin spoke up at this, "Speaking of, why was Madara on temporary leave? Certainly, I've heard speculation but none that I believe,"

Kaiya grimaced, "He's adjusting to a loss of vision, it came on suddenly, unlike with the previous cases,"

"And I'm prohibited from using it now too, no thanks to you Kaiya,"

"Isn't there any way to prevent it? Reverse the effects perhaps?" Rin asked. Izuna refused to shift in his seat and share his discomfort.

"Rin, it isn't so simple…what I'm about to say, you don't repeat to anyone. Any Uchiha who have tried have been detained and are being tried for treason against the clan,"

"Nothing a missive regarding a long-term mission won't cover up for their immediate families," Izuna piped in.

Kaiya continued, "Some have resorted to…extreme measures. The first successful case, he…he used…. his mangekyo's ability is the kotoamatsukami, it's a unique genjutsu which manipulates the thoughts and actions of their targets so perfectly that even the victims cannot tell. He used it on his brother, forcing him to do whatever it took to obtain a mangekyo. His brother took their sister's life. And then…he stole his brother's eyes, said he needed a fresh pair of eyes that were unused, undamaged, and that he couldn't go back to living, fighting, without its abilities. But it didn't do just that—restore his vision loss, I mean—"

"He evolved his original pattern," Izuna finished for her, "We call it the Eternal Mangekyo. Of course, he's under the strictest of guards and chakra suppression seals, for his…instability and obviously volatile loyalty to the clan,"

"How come I haven't heard about this?" Rin asked, horrified.

"He attempted to keep it under wraps, manipulating the memories of his remaining family members but a former friend caught on, reported him. As for the rest…we hardly want to incite panic," Izuna answered, "And that's about all I'll say on the matter,"

"Simply put, Rin, yes but the methods are…distasteful. It requires the user to take the mangekyo eyes of their blood relatives,"

There was no two ways about it, it was an incredibly grim subject.

"Can Izuna and Madara not just trade eyes?"

Silence of a different sort than before descended upon the three of them, Izuna staring at the healer and Kaiya staring back.

"And we didn't think of this why?" he sighed, running his hands through his hair, looking away, miffed with how he'd missed such a plausible solution.

Rin shrugged at that, "You two never tell me anything these days, hopefully, you'll learn to keep me in loop,"

For the second time that afternoon the sliding door opened suddenly, it was louder than the last time and the stance of Uchiha at the door was dripping with urgency. In an instant, Rin is called to care for her children who have awoken from their nap because of the noise. Distantly, the retired kunoichi wondered if she needed to put up a sign, painted onto to her door with the blood of the next intruding Uchiha.

"Sir! The Western patrol have encountered Senju and are engaged, their missives tell us that Hashirama and Tobirama are among them!"

Izuna flickered off elsewhere and returned just as suddenly, equipped with his sword, "What are you waiting for, let's go," he said, turned to Kaiya.

She looked at him disapprovingly, "I've been given orders to remain on Uchiha lands,"

"And? This is technically patrol-duty, is it not? Besides, are you really going to let me face the Senju alone? What happened to hovering? Wouldn't you love to see me in combat? Madara?" he goads, a twinkle in his eyes. What a proud git.

She sighed, resigned to his antics, "This once. And I don't want a word from Madara, this is entirely you,"

Rin is at the doorway between the living space they'd been conversing in and the bedroom where her children had been sleeping, she is cradling Haru and looked quite unhappy with the turn of events, "Kaiya, you've had a night of rest after months out and about, this is, perhaps, not a bright idea,"

"Neither of us have ever been very bright in your humble opinion Rin," Izuna quipped, taking Kaiya by the elbow and dragging her along. Kaiya waved goodbye to her friend, knowing that the next time they spoke, Rin would bring up the previous subject matter once more.

Change of the sort Rin asked her for, she worried, was very, very difficult.

)}●{(

The battle is a disaster when they arrive, both clans have brought with them reinforcements and hours later all who still stand may as well be dead on their feet, it is a dire circumstance for the Uchiha.

They stood atop a relatively levelled mountain top in the ranges, its terrain rocky and littered with boulders. The sky was clear, and the sun beat down on both clans with little mercy. The terrain was unfavourable to the Uchiha, after all, nothing here could be set ablaze and their weaponry skillset was limited, shinobi wire winding itself around a boulder being the most they could do. Kaiya was hidden behind one such boulder in its shade, attempting to heal the Uchiha which lay beside her. She noticed however, with a sense of foreboding regret that she'd have to stop administrating treatment—her chakra reserves were becoming too low—and switch to non-chakra-based aid. She ignored the voice in her head, egging her on to heal the man no matter the cost, she had only just today heard her friend's pleas. Certainly, she would fall into old habits, but not so soon.

Chakra exhaustion was to be expected in a battle that had lasted hours between the Uchiha and Senju. Most shinobi were wiped out from fatigue, grounded, or dead. Some Senju were huddled around bodies, mourning. Others kept fighting the few Uchiha in the condition to retaliate. Madara's own tête-à-tête had been reduced to a taijutsu battle sprinkled with rationed chakra usage. They needed to get out of here—it would be their third retreat, but she refused to care.

Kaiya was terrified of what might happen, her heart hammered frantically while she wrapped the unconscious shinobi's wounded leg, compressing and staunching the blood flow. Hashirama, she reasoned, would let them go. Madara could never win against Hashirama, and yet the Senju Clan Head never killed their own. But Izuna, her eyes tracked across the terrain to find him still fighting against Tobirama, Izuna was always near death these days, pit against the Senju brother. She had to pull him out. They were both short of breath, but swords still clashed—the Senju closed his eyes suddenly and was sent wayward into a boulder by a kick from Izuna. Her sharingan alive, she kept watch of Tobirama while the steam forming from their two colliding techniques created coverage.

Kaiya was no stranger to the techniques of Tobirama. She'd learned the hard way that evading Tobirama was extremely difficult. His sensing abilities were beyond belief and wherever he threw his kunai, he was liable to appear in a flash. Barrier ninjutsu was largely ineffective in his presence, he bypassed all physical barriers when he travelled. Once, the Senju had retreated. She'd performed first aid for all those that needed it and asked an Uchiha to bring her a kunai. The kunai was inconspicuous at first glance, but its feel reminded her of her book of seals. Looking at it closely an inscription was scratched onto its bandages: a circle from which three lines stretched on either side of it, the lines connected by a curve parallel to the circle. She'd burned it immediately, for fear of the Senju being able to track their location—caused a ruckus and demanded all gathered kunai to be checked. Each of his weapons were liable to have the seal inscribed on it and she recalled what Madara had told her about the Senju's modus operandi—to strike when his opponent was convinced of his victory, even if momentary.

Honestly, it was very fair to say she had an extremely healthy fear of all of Tobirama's weapons. So, when kunai sped towards Izuna, she was frantic. If Izuna could dodge the kunai, she reasoned, he could dodge this as well,

"Fire Release: Great Flame Thrower,"

She prayed that at least one of her fireballs would misdirect the kunai or burn that miserable seal off. But she knew, perhaps he'd begun to engrave it into the metal of his kunai.

One of the fireballs made its way towards Izuna, who leapt back to avoid it, glaring in her direction, but it meant little to her in comparison to the rush of relief she felt when he'd distanced himself far away from Tobirama's projectiles. She could've wailed in frustration when the scuffle between the two shinobi resumed at a close range.

What were they? She groaned, inseparable lovers? Could neither bear a moment in the presence of one another and not fight?

Behind her boulder and a ways away from the battle she'd been closely watching, she realised belatedly that she'd allowed herself a false sense of security when a Senju struck her from behind. The dense material of her armour plates prevented the blade from digging past metal and into flesh, and Kaiya was again reminded of how the Uchiha brothers stubbornly refused to wear armour the vast majority of the time. She fell forwards, the scrape of the sword as it dragged along her armour plate in her ears, and ducked her head, using her arms to springboard herself up and far enough away from her attacker. He'd switched his focus momentarily onto the unconscious Uchiha she had been tending to, likely wanting to ensure he'd die. Her eyes narrowed at the very poorly concealed vendetta.

She raced towards him, reengaging in close combat. The kunoichi parried his sword with a kunai and he ducked down to swipe at her lower limbs. She jumped just barely in time and grabbed onto his shoulders, launching her lower half upwards as she balanced herself atop them. Her hands moved to adjust her balance and she used her right to push his head nearer to the ground, tacking an explosive tag onto the back of his neck armour plate—maybe this was why the brothers loathed the battle attire? With his centre of gravity lowered past his knees, he buckled, while Kaiya swung her legs downwards and landed feet first into a crouch. The Senju recovered, rising back up to gain his footing while the Uchiha threw her torso to the ground to counterbalance a roundhouse kick with her right. The brunt of the force sent him sideways from her and finally, the tag exploded.

She panted as she watched the Senju collapse, confirming his death.

Madara.

Izuna.

They were no longer within her sights.

Woof. Rin really out here exposing the thought that had been nagging me the entire time Naruto started delving into the mangekyo and whatnot. I really like this chapter, partly because time flow when the chapters are literal days apart is so much smoother and easier to deal with but also because I finally get to back up and tie together everything that Kaiya has done thus far into this neat little bow called her own Curse of Hatred. Because every Uchiha who's got a sharingan and don't have the Will of Fire has apparently got one.

I feel like the story really started only these past two chapters. I think if I could do it all over again, I'd have started at chapter 7 and created a separate side set of stories from their days growing up in the Uchiha clan, especially since there's things that never made the cut. But alas. Maybe I will do that later.

I'll see you next chapter, likely coming in a month, since exams are taking priorityyyy.

Hope you're doing well! Stay healthy,

Myrelle