Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Madara wove his fingers together, moving from seal to seal with practiced ease as his chakra surged. Flames swirled in his core and he molded them into a ball before breathing out, letting the sphere of flames fly across the pond in front of him. It crashed into the water’s surface and immediately exploded with devastating force. A pillar of steam and water rose high overhead, briefly shading the sun before warm rain began to fall down upon his spiky black hair.
“Good work, now Sakura?” Tajima ruffled Madara’s hair and turned to the rosette who gave a determined nod. Sakura’s fingers rolled through the same seals and Madara felt her chakra focus and then compress. She had less chakra but greater control and thus her fireball was distinctive and decidedly different then his own. The ball of flame that left her mouth was small, perhaps two feet wide at its zenith but it was made entirely of blue fire with a core of white and it screamed across the pond, slamming into the water and sinking deep before exploding with equal force to his own.
“Blue flames, you truly have impressive chakra control, Sakura-chan.” Tajima praised and gave the girl a pat of her own, his smile slightly dampened by the knowledge that both kids had just proven themselves. Uchiha were considered combat ready when they mastered the grand fireball and with both children now capable of it, he could not shield them from the war. Especially not now that things were heating up. “Come on, I have presents for the both of you.”
Madara couldn’t stop his grin as pride radiated through him. He was five now and that meant he could finally start serving his clan. His father’s lessons had picked up in pace and every day he and Sakura trained until they dropped. It was grueling but Madara feel himself getting stronger, his chakra growing and his control sharpening. He couldn’t make his flames dance like Akahiko or incinerate entire battalions like his father but one day he knew he’d manage it.
“Tajima-dono!” A shout broke the calm that had fallen upon the group and all eyes shifted to a runner who was panting heavily. He was an ashigaru, with some chakra of his own and he was clearly panicked. “I have news, the Senju are attacking again. They’re trying to take Naka bridge.”
“I see, children it looks like you’ll be getting to wear your gifts today.” Tajima said and the trio took off for the castle. Tajima lead them into his room where three sets of armor were waiting for them. Madara and Sakura both needed help getting the armor on, but once it was strapped into place it didn’t hinder their range of motion at all.
“This is very well made.” Sakura said softly, fingers ghosting over the crimson plates and a small smile tugging on her lips. It was twinged with sadness and Madara could understand. He didn’t want to fight in a war. Of course he wanted to defend his family and prove his strength but he had seen the price of war and knew that even the strongest of shinobi could be laid low. Everyone had someone who cared for them, who would miss them when they were gone.
“I will not lose another child if I can help it.” Tajima stated quietly and Sakura’s eyes glistened slightly. Madara took her hand and gave it a squeeze. By now he knew she was particularly sensitive about family and while she rarely spoke of her home in detail, he knew she was unwelcome. “Now come, we must move quickly. The Senju likely haven’t reached the bridge yet as it is deep in our territory but with that much water in the area we will be at a disadvantage if they do.”
Horns echoed through the castle, calling the ashigaru on station to arms along with the shinobi. Madara followed at his father’s heels, reaching the rapidly assembling convoy with Sakura at his side. A few other kids were present, all wearing armor though of lesser quality then what he had as the heir. It simply wasn’t possible to give everyone in the clan chakra conductive armor that could block a jutsu after all. Not even the Uchiha were wealthy enough to mass produce such sets and instead their best fighters were given them to ensure they would have a better chance of survival. Kagami would have earned such a set even if she hadn’t been the heiress.
“Sakura, Madara, march with the other children.” Tajima ordered and then glanced at the girl before shaking his head. They couldn’t risk her chakra reserves on a henge and seeing as she was an official ward of the Uchiha now, there was no point in hiding her. Madara saw the nerves on his best friend’s face but she still walked at his side without wavering.
“So you’re the clan heir and ward.” A boy who looked to be a year older then them commented as they began walking alongside a carriage full of arrows. A few bows were stacked in the center of the cart, though Madara couldn’t tell if they were meant for ashigaru or shinobi. It was likely they belonged to the mustered troops however as volleys of arrows could out range most jutsu and gave the farmers turned soldiers a fighting chance if they had to face down a shinobi on their own.
“Yes, I’m Madara and this is Sakura,” Madara replied and the boy gave a nod. His hair was curly and wild, kind of like Shisui’s and Sakura silently wondered if they were related.
“I’m Shou,” the boy offered them a grin as they walked. “So, seeing as this is your first time walking into battle you should know we probably won’t see any fighting up close unless we’re losing. If someone does come to fight you though, just run and spike your chakra to get help unless you can’t escape. We’re supposed to have guards to protect us since we’re just here to help with luggage and get used to being near battles.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Madara replied softly as they marched. The Naka bridge was fairly far inside Uchiha territory and if the Senju were making a push on it, they would have had to bypass any major towns and villages. It was a gamble, if they managed to secure the bridge they could cut the Uchiha off from a large swath of Hi but if they lost, their retreat would be through hostile countryside.
“I hope we can win,” Sakura said quietly and Madara’s eyes shifted to her. Sakura’s gaze was sad for some reason, her cheeks pale and devoid of their usual rosy hue. To Madara, Sakura was still quite mysterious, her appearances rather hard to explain and her clothes occasionally rather unusual. At first he marked it up to her being a tennyo but now he wasn’t so sure. He knew she didn’t come from Hi no Kuni, but perhaps she came from another region, Mizu was possible with her teeth.
“We will,” Madara replied, because there was no reason the Senju should be able to claim a victory here. They were far from home and forced to travel through forests rather then follow the roads. Their ashigaru would be worn down and their shinobi would be on edge from days of scouting and avoiding patrols. There was a reason armies didn’t just march into the heartland of their enemies after all and Madara was sure the Senju were about to reaffirm that lesson.
***
Arriving at the bridge in question, Sakura could feel her heart in her throat. She couldn’t sense any surrounding chakra but she had read about this battle in the library. As an academy student she had free access to the building now and while jutsu were beyond her reach, historical books were available. ‘Where are they?’ Sakura’s eyes roamed her surroundings. The road rounded a hill while trees flanked them on both sides. Ahead of them the Naka river carved its way through the countryside, nearly a half mile wide at this point. They were far south of where Konohagakure would be founded and the river was different then the one she so often watched back home.
‘The Senju are going to ambush us,’ Sakura knew the outcome of the fighting. The Uchiha would win, at least if this was actually her past but it would be a bloody conflict, one that would lead to a change in the politics of Hi no Kuni. With the prior alliance between the Senju and the Shimura, the clans in Hi were wary of the Uchiha and after today, the fighting would only grow worse.
Sakura heard the whistle of an arrow and her eyes snapped to a treeline along with the rest of the convoy. They weren’t near the river yet, they hadn’t even crossed it yet apparently the Senju had forced marched over it and were now in the surrounding trees. The thud of steel on wood startled Sakura so badly she nearly jumped as an arrow struck the cart behind her.
“Enemy attack!” Someone shouted and then all hell broke loose. Arrows fell from the sky in an endless deluge while shinobi burst from the forest. Sakura felt Madara’s hand on her shoulder as he pulled her under the cover of the cart, more arrows slamming into the wood over their heads. Shou ducked in beside him, his breastplate dented from where an arrow had hit him.
Turning, Sakura looked behind them and saw a wall of ashigaru wearing Senju colors sweeping down the hill. It was a classic hammer and anvil attack, and her fingers moved before she could doubt herself. Madara felt her chakra spike a moment before a ball of azure flame left her lips. The jutsu rocketed away from them, the blazing sapphire inferno punching straight through the first line of peasant soldiers before it struck the ground and exploded in a wave of liquid fire.
“Oh kami, what did I do?” Sakura whispered as her eyes went wide with horror. Men were screaming, burning away under the wrath of her chakra. The attack’s momentum shattered momentarily and the Uchiha shinobi reacted accordingly. Tajima charged forward to meet the incoming Senju while their own Ashigaru formed ranks as the Senju ashigaru scattered to avoid another devastating jutsu.
“You did what you had to, come on there are bows on the cart.” Shou replied, dragging them out from the cart and pushing a bow into Sakura’s hand. The weapon was odd in her grip, too large for her to fully use but it was better then cowering under cover the entire fight. Beside her, Madara knocked an arrow, obviously unfamiliar with the weapon. He drew it back, muscles reinforced by chakra and then let go, the arrow disappearing into the ranks of the Senju ashigaru. None of them saw it land, so Sakura had no idea if he’d hit or not.
Madara drew another arrow and then spun around. A Senju shinobi had broken through the skirmishing lines and was making a beeline for their carriage. The man’s brown eyes were bloodshot and terrified, his world narrowed down to the vulnerable line of carriages with manic focus. Shou fired off an arrow which cracked on the man’s armor, wood splinters flying around the Senju as he covered the last few feet between them.
Madara rolled to the side as a sword cut through where he’d just been standing. Sakura shouted and spiked her chakra, her hand gripping an arrow and she jabbed it at the man, the tip scrapping along steel plates and doing nothing other then drawing attention her way. The man’s katana whistled as it came down on her and Sakura raised her arm to intercept the blow. The force of the impact threw her from the carriage, the harsh clang of steel on steel ringing her ears as she landed. Sakura caught a brief glimpse of spinning crimson eyes before a woman took the Senju’s head off with a guandao,
Sakura’s stomach flipped and she emptied it onto the dirt as blood splattered the three children. Shivers wracked Sakura’s body even as she scrambled to her feet, the sounds of battle forcing her into action. Emerald eyes snapped to Madara and she ran to his side, hoping to keep him safe through the carnage surrounding them.
***
Madara was surrounded on all sides by utter chaos. There was nothing he could do to make a difference and it was tearing him apart. Sakura had moved first, her jutsu better against shinobi then large ranks of ashigaru and while she’d achieved several kills if he had been the one to notice the attack, his attack would have been far more effective. Shou’s chakra was weak, weaker then Sakura’s though he could clearly use the grand fireball since he was here rather then back home.
‘What can I do?’ Madara thought as the kunoichi who saved them darted back into the fray, her weapon bleeding flames as she spun it to divert a wave of arrows. He wasn’t Kagami, the Senju were moving far too fast for his eyes to track while the Ashigaru had slammed into each other, making any attempt to use jutsu just as likely to inflict friendly fire as kill Senju peasants.
Looking up, Madara saw an eagle circling overhead. The bird’s cry was piercing and it reminded him that there was something he could do. He had never managed to summon a combat eagle before, his chakra supply limiting him to messengers but Sakura was here and she would lend him her chakra if he asked.
“Sakura, can I have your chakra? I want to summon an eagle.” Madara said, watching the girl’s eyes snap to him. Something like knowing, premonition filled her gaze and she nodded. For a moment, Madara felt odd, as if the girl in front of him knew him entirely, as if Sakura was more spirit then friend but she pressed her left hand onto his back and then she was just his friend again, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes and face pale with terror.
“Do it.” Sakura whispered, voice rough from retching and Madara quickly nicked his thumb on his sword. His fingers danced through the familiar sequence of seals before he slammed his bleeding hand into the ground, his chakra surging and met by Sakura’s which helped guide the jutsu, squeezing every last drop of power out of their collective chakra.
Two children’s worth of chakra wasn’t much, sure Madara was a clan child but even so he shouldn’t have managed to summon a useful eagle. Sakura’s chakra control changed things however, making up for in quality what they couldn’t supply in quantity. A pillar of smoke erupted from the ground as Madara’s hand met dirt and both children felt their reserves drain, leaving them with only dregs. A sharp wind cleared the smoke and an eagle with warm ochra feathers towered over them, its golden green eyes taking in the three children before sweeping over the battlefield.
“Get on my back,” the eagle ordered and Madara grabbed Sakura, scrambling to obey. Shou followed and the moment all three were on the eagle’s wide back, its wings swept outwards and flapped downwards. Hurricane force winds sent dirt and debris skittering across the ground and they surged skyward. Arrows ricocheted off the sturdy feathers of the great bird before it climbed well out of range.
“Can you help my clan?” Madara shouted over the roar of wind rushing through their ears. The eagle looked down towards the ground, its eyes sweeping over the battlefield.
“It is too chaotic for any of my jutsu to help but I can keep you and your nest-mates safe, young lord.” The eagle replied and Madara felt his stomach burn with rage. Below his kin were dying and he was powerless to help. His chakra burned as it coursed through his body, the black rage slowly crawling through his veins.
“It’s okay,” Sakura whispered and wove her fingers with his. The girl was equally furious, what little chakra she had left smoldering like embers within her, the usual minty forest set alight by the wrath within her tiny chest. It reminded Madara, distantly that he had to control himself, that Sakura would bear the burden of the Uchiha because of her connection with him. As heir it was his role to control their flames, even as they raged within him.
Closing his eyes, Madara tried to breath. The battle below was distant but he could still hear the screams of the dying, the quiet clash of steel or rumble of jutsu. He could sense the chakra below him, sweeping over the terrain and occasionally going out in a terrible flash of light as someone died. He knew Sakura could feel it as well, her anger burning brighter with every passing second as her lips pulled back to reveal the fangs of a predator. For all Sakura seemed like a fairy, she was perhaps more of a fae and had proven herself deadly. More importantly, she needed him for she hadn’t been trained since birth to control herself and he did not want to see her fall to the curse of hatred.
“I’m fine,” Madara replied, pulling Sakura into a hug. Her entire body was tense, her shoulders forming a taught line and her teeth clattering against each other as her jaw trembled with the desire to bite. “I’m fine.” Madara repeated and this time it got through. What little of his chakra he had left brush against Sakura’s, calming her and slowly her eyes refocused, falling upon him with concern and guilt.
“I’m sorry, I…” Sakura trailed off and shook her head. He could tell she felt ashamed at her own loss of control but he couldn’t blame her. War was somehow worse then he ever could have imagined. He’d seen the wounded, heard the stories but experiencing it was just impossible to prepare for. The noise, the smells, the sights, even the feel of straps on skin and suddenly too tight armor, it was all completely overwhelming.
“It’s fine, you did fine Sakura.” Madara promised and Sakura swallowed, nodding as the battle finally began to die off. The Senju’s ambush had failed, their soldiers falling back as Tajima bested Butsuma, driving the other man from the battlefield. Madara watched as a cheer went up from the Uchiha troops and most of the Senju ashigaru were cut down as they sprinted for the bridge, their formation shattered. Sakura was at his side, holding onto his left pauldron, emerald eyes once again knowing as the battle wrapped up. Beside them, Shou hugged his knees, chakra keeping the boy from plummeting off the eagle as the bird orbited the fighting.
“The battle is won, but at great cost.” The Eagle’s voice rumbled through Madara’s legs and into his chest. The bird’s chakra was immense and now that he was focused on the great bird, he couldn’t believe he had managed to summon it. ‘I didn’t do it alone.’ The thought had Madara looking at Sakura with awe. Tear tracks were drying on her cheeks and her mouth was open as she greedily drew in air, still exhausted from the panic that had hit all of them. It wasn’t an impressive sight but the look in her eyes when she met his was pure determination. She would stand by his side come thick or thin and together they would do the impossible.
“We’ll end this war one day.” Madara said and Sakura gave him a watery smile as she nodded, her eyes bright with determination despite the tears.
“One day, we will. I promise.” Sakura answered as the eagle banked and slowly descended in a lazy spiral, its claws tearing up the soft dirt as it landed, wings flaring. Shou wobbled slightly and Madara felt relief sapping away what strength he had left. A razor sharp beak caught the back of his armor and carefully set him down without even denting the metal. Sakura soon followed and Shou jumped down, far less exhausted then the two who had managed to call in a full sized battle summons.
“Until next you need me, young lord.” The Eagle’s voice was like a contained storm, deep and unyielding. Around them, Uchiha and ashigaru looked towards the trio as the eagle bowed its head to Madara who was standing tall, Sakura at his side. It was a scene that all present would remember for the rest of their lives as the five year old gave the massive bird a nod.
“Thank you.” Madara replied and the eagle’s eyes shifted, almost as if it was smiling. Then it vanished in a burst of smoke and wind that rippled over the ruined road. Madara could feel his father’s chakra making its way towards them, officers piling away with orders to pursue the enemy or gather the wounded.
“I can see why you’re the heir.” Shou’s voice was somewhat awed, yet his words stung. Madara’s hands would have balled into fists had Sakura not had her fingers laced between his own. He shouldn’t have been the heir, Kagami could have done this alone but she wasn’t here and he was. At least he had Sakura.
***
Tajima looked over the children that had survived the attack. Shou had already seen a battle and now Madara and Sakura had survived their own. Sakura had even killed and he had to make sure she was alright before she left for home. The three kids were standing shoulder to shoulder, Sakura and Madara holding hands and clearly leaning on each other for support. Sakura’s presence truly was a gift, assuming she survived the war. She gave Madara a peer, someone who wouldn’t idolize him or treat him like the clan heir but instead as a friend and equal.
“Sakura, Madara we need to have a talk. We’ll be camping here for the night.” Tajima said, trying to hide the exhaustion from his voice. He had felt the flare of Sakura’s chakra as she attacked and then the panic as a Senju broke through the lines and reached his kids. It was a lucky thing that Setsuna had been nearby and able to help. She was nearly lost to the curse of hatred and a frequent face on his personal guard because of it but she was still deadly, her black rage boosting her strength and reflexes beyond her fellow Uchiha even as her body burned away under the force of it all.
Tajima gave Shou a nod, dismissing the boy and then pulled his two children onto a cart as the rest of the army made camp and collected the wounded. The Senju dead were thrown together into a pile and set ablaze while the dead Uchiha were carefully rolled into mats and put on wagons heading back to the fortress for proper funerals, their sharingan made useless before they were sent away. It was a grim job and both Madara and Sakura watched the goings on with horrified fascination.
“War is worse then hell.” Tajima said softly and both children looked to him with obvious confusion. “Hell is the results of our own actions. We have nobody to blame but ourselves. It is our karma that sends us to the frozen wastes.” Tajima explained slowly and both children hung on his every word. Madara’s eyes were wide and his cheeks were dry thanks to years of learning to control his emotions. Sakura wasn’t so composed but she was unbroken, her resolve still firm and visible in her emerald eyes. “War, war is not our choice. It can be, but for nearly everyone involved, it’s just something that they cannot control. They have no say, no agency, they are not the masters of their destiny. Worse, even for those who start a war, once it begins it spreads out of control.”
“It is an uncontrolled fire, unpredictable and all consuming. Wars are man made disasters, the results of people, not gods, not demons, just humans and for that they are all the more terrible.” Tajima let out a sigh and shook his head. He could clearly remember his own father giving him a version of this speech because it mattered. The Uchiha knew the pain of war more keenly then any save, perhaps the Senju but while the Senju strove to harden themselves and become the perfect, emotionless soldier, the Uchiha desperately clung to their humanity for their humanity was the only chance at salvation they had from the fires that burned within them.
“War is worse then hell and you should never start one unless you have no choice in the matter. However it is important to remember that worse then war, worse then all of this fighting and chaos, is a bad peace. When a people are subjugated and do not fight back, there is still death and misery. There is still tyranny and tragedy but if the oppressed do not fight back, they are complicit in their own suffering.” It was a heavy lesson and one that he knew neither child would understand. Sakura had a photographic memory, if she lived long enough, she would learn the lesson eventually but Madara would need to hear this repeated a few times before it stuck. Still it was Tajima’s duty to pass on this knowledge, war was worse then hell but sometimes it was necessary. Not all wars were evil and peace was not all important.
“I killed people.” Sakura said softly and Tajima reached out and pulled her into a hug. He gently guided Madara in as well and held both children as Sakura began to sniffle.
“You did well, Sakura. You defended your comrades. You killed people who would have killed you without blinking. You’re a soldier and you need to realize that means killing. No shinobi has clean hands and if you want to defend your clan during a war, that means killing your clan’s enemies. If you still want to leave the battlefield behind, focus on medicine-” Tajima saw the moment Sakura’s temper flared. Embers of Madara’s chakra, Uchiha chakra was still smoldering within her, sinking into her reserves and slowly becoming a core part of who she was.
“No!” Sakura shouted, cutting off the man she saw as her father. Her sharpened teeth clicked shut as she drew in a sharp breath because the ugly truth was she wanted to see another battle, to keep fighting. Besides the rage, fear and disgust there had been worry for Madara and the burning desire to protect him. She would not leave his side and he could not leave the war. Worse, she had felt an almost giddy excitement the moment she’d heard arrows in the air, a sick craving for violence that had moved her hands before any of the other Uchiha had noticed the secondary ambush.
“Very well, you’ll stay with Madara but you need to be honest with yourself. There is no shame in enjoying battle, so long as you do not seek it unnecessarily. There is no dishonor in being terrified or regretful once the fighting is done. It is the actions you take and how you live with them that show your true character and I am proud of how you two behaved today. You did very well Sakura, Madara.” Tajima gave his son’s shoulder a squeeze. Madara had summoned an eagle and while it was unlikely any of the Senju realized he was the one who had called it in, the knowledge the Uchiha had a new summoner would somewhat offset the losses they’d taken today.
“Thank you, chichiue,” Madara whispered and rested his head on Tajima’s breastplate. The boy was truly spent from the brief but intense fighting. He had done the unthinkable and Tajima knew he would go on to carve his name into history. Sakura would to, though she was never meant to and Tajima couldn’t possibly be more proud of them.
***
Sakura’s eyes had barely shut beside Madara when she woke in her bed at the Haruno compound. As she lay perfectly still, staring at the ceiling her mind spun wildly. She had seen war, killed even and she was only five years old. Before she met Madara, before she’d started traveling time, such an idea would have seemed alien.
‘You did well Outer. They would be dead by now anyways and if they hurt Madara, there would be no peace.’ Inner whispered and Sakura’s chest filled with fresh determination. Inner was right and though she sounded tired, Sakura could tell her Inner was proud of her. She had acted, even if it upset her, even if she would never forget the stunned look on the ashigaru’s face as her fireball vaporized his chest then exploded into the row of soldiers behind him.
‘Do you think people noticed me vanishing?’ Sakura wondered as she slowly pulled herself out of bed. Everything seemed strange, almost dreamlike as she got ready for a day at the academy. She hardly registered taking her bath before she was eating breakfast and then opening the door and taking to the rooftops as she quickly crossed Konohagakure.
‘The Uchiha already know, you’ve been appearing and disappearing randomly, many of them are sensors.’ Inner replied, sounding mildly amused before fading away into the background of Sakura’s now steadied thoughts. Inner was there when she needed her, a constant presence that came alive when it all became too much. Sakura was grateful for her and felt bad for those who didn’t have such a trustworthy other self, being too young to realize such things weren’t normal.
Arriving at the academy, Sakura ducked into her classroom through an open window and took her seat next to Izumi who was surprised by her sudden entrance. The older Uchiha girl quickly recovered though and flashed Sakura a warm smile.
“Good morning Sakura-chan, you were nearly late.” Izumi’s eyes crinkled as she smiled and Sakura felt her cheeks heat. She couldn’t understand why Izumi had such an effect on her, but she had too much on her mind to focus on why the older girl seemed to knock her off balance.
“Good morning Izumi-chan,” Sakura chirped back and glanced around the room. The other students were arriving from the hall at a steady pace and the chunin instructor appeared to be running late. They never learned anything in class she didn’t already know as Sakura had taken to reading every book she could get her hands on from the library and she could already use the three academy ninjutsu. ‘Perhaps I’ll test out at the end of this year.’ Sakura thought idly as she returned her attention to her friend who was looking slightly nervous. “What?”
“Would you mind meeting my cousins today? After class? Shisui wants to actually meet you and ‘Tachi-kun follows him around like a puppy.” Izumi explained, looking somewhat embarrassed yet hopeful. Sakura wasn’t sure why Izumi would think Sakura would turn her down, after all any friend of Izumi’s was prime new friend material, doubly so if they were Uchiha.
“Alright!” Sakura agreed happily, eager to make new friends and push aside the dark thoughts of the battle she’d just survived.