desperation
“Live” he begged. He clenched him closer to his chest as though a firmer grip would keep his life and blood in his body. He leapt though trees with all his speed, his figure a there and gone blur to even the most keen eyes.
The boy in his arm looked young enough to be a teenager. His side was drenched in blood and each leap would put renewed strain on makeshift bondage that was slowing his blood lose. His breathing were labored and his sweat soaked eyebrows were drawn together even in unconsciousness.
The older of two suddenly stopped. He crouched on a wide branch and lowered his burden down.
He checked his temperature and his bandage and cursed silently. He was burning up and his bandages were barely keeping his innards inside.
He had to go as fast as possible to reach the healers, but each jolting would worsen the wound.
He breathed in and slowly breathed out.
He can’t slow down, he can’t jolt him too much.
There was only one option left for him.
He had to cut down the distance.
So he did rearrange his most precious burden in his arms and took off in a different direction.
His shoulders were tense and his face was wary. But his steps were confident and sure as he leapt thorough the forest.
First to go was the sounds. One second the forest was full of birds chirping and crying and next the only sound was rustle of leaves as he leapt from a branch to next.
His frown became more pronounced but he didn’t pause even for a heartbeat.
Second to go was sunlight. Less and less light filtered down from overhead canopy, until there was no light left.
In this total darkness he did pause for a second but then activated sharingan. His red eyes glowed in dark and let him see in total darkness.
He kept going, leaping from a branch to next one. His body was taunt and ready for meeting any hostility with extreme prejudice.
He leapt through some vines shrouding the way and then there was nothing. No branch to step on, no forest even. He became weightless and floated in the same place.
There was no up and down, no ground and no sky.
Only a shapeless, unending dark void.
Suddenly his cargo startled to conscious and started to scream and clutch at his eyes. Blood stated to seep through his fingers.
“Izuna, stop. What are you doing.” He wrenched his hands away from his eyes and looked at the dark eyes.
The eyes were bleeding. The veins inside of eyes were ruptured. In front of him, his cargo, no his brother’s eyes were being destroyed.
Izuna cried out. “I’m not doing anything. It’s not me Aniue.”
Madara narrowed his eyes, if not him then who and how. His eyes suddenly widened in realization and tomeos started to spin and merge together, forming a new shape.
“Susanoo” he said. A blue rib cage engulfed them both. As soon as rib cage engulfed him. Izuna’s cries subsided.
Madara looked at his surrendering in suspicion. To be more correct, he looked at nothingness which surrendered them.
It might have been a mistake, choosing this way to go back to clan.
“Aniue, this is nami-chan’s void, isn’t it? Why did you came this way?” izuna was panting by the end of his sentences.
“You wouldn’t have survived otherwise.” Madara muttered.
Izuna raised his shaking hand to his brother’s face and tried to wipe his tears of blood. “Aniue, deactivate it, please. You are hurting your eyes.”
Madara shakes his head. “Your eyes will be destroyed. This environment is corrosive for eyes.”
Izuna said. “But yours were fine.” He looked at his face and his eyes lightened up. He activated his eyes and said. “It doesn’t hurt sharingan. Please stop using Susanoo aniue.”
“Izuna, I can’t risk it.”
“Aniue, I promise to tell you if it hurt me. This is nami-chan’s jutsu. Please trust in her.”
He grinded his teeth but gave a small nod.
Sosano started to lose its definition, and vanished.
Izuna held his breath. He blinked a few time and said. ”it doesn’t hurt.”
He sagged against his brother’s chest. Using chakara was seeping his last remaining strength.
“How long can you keep it activate?” asked Madara as he was surveying their surrendering.
“No more than half an hour.” He answered.
Madara’s frowned. His face was drown in concentration.
“Aniue. Talk to me.” Izuna rasped out.
“Izuna?” Madara got snapped out of his thoughts.
“I need something to concentrate on.” His voice grow faint by the end.
Madara swallowed and started to think aloud.
“One and half years ago, Nami-chan died when senju and their allies attacked our clan. She was four years old at time of her death. Before dying, and after witnessing her family’s demise, she activated sharingan and mangekyou sharingan in tandem.”
“What happened afterward is unknown. As witnesses say, a place, resembling here, was created and every last one of attackers were shredded to small pieces. Neither her life nor her eyes survived that jutsu’s casting.”
“Afterwards, a void-like place appeared next to our clan. Relocating did not get rid of it and it would keep reappearing next to clan.”
“It killed every last enemy who tried entering it but didn’t harm any of our clan and would instantly spat them out.”
Madara stopped.
“Yet here we are.” Izuna said. “What’s the difference?”
Madara hesitated for a second and then said. “Children who went inside, were thrown out near an adult in clan ground. Those who were returning back to clan were sent to either healers or their home. This place help you to reach your destination instantly, with unknown limits.”
He stopped saying anything.
Izuna looked at the black nothingness, surrendering them. “What was your goal when you chose this way, Aniue?” he asked gently.
“I wanted to get you to clan healers who could heal you, Izuna.” Madara rasped out.
“It seems, there is no clan healer who can heal me.” He closed his eyes. “That’s why we are trapped here. It’s a mortal wound.”
“Don’t say that Izuna.” He snapped at him.
He turned around franticly.
“Nami-chan.”Madara screamed. “Please, I need a healer to heal him.” He begged. “Use my chakara. Bring us to an ally healer who can heal him.”
The void started to tremble.
Madara doubled over panting. His face began to lose its color rapidly.
Inside total darkness, a white shimmering path was created.
Madara stepped on path. His feet burned.
Path was shaking and swaying beneath his feet, but he didn’t care. He started running with all his power.
Izuna muffled his scream. Each jolt hurt worse than one before. But he refused to show it.
He know in his bones he wasn’t going to survive. But he wanted to let his brother at least get out of here and survive.
As time passed even with sharingan, his vision was beginning to go hazy and unfocused.
He stubbornly kept sharingan active. He couldn’t let him use Susanoo again. His eyesight was bad enough as it was.
Izuna stubbornly kept his eyes open and his mind awake. He kept looking straight at the end of the path.
A jagged white wound was there.
He could see normal tress outside.
As long as his brother get out safely, he was fine with dying.
He refused to drag him to his death.
His head lolled back, he didn’t have any strength to keep his head up. Behind them, the path was crumbling. He really wanted to warn his brother, but was too far gone.
As his last shred of strength vanished, he started to loss his battle with sleep. He desperately kept redirecting his chakra to his eyes.
His brother leapt through jagged scar in the void and entered a forest.
The path behind them completely vanished.
Izuna let out a sigh of relief and stopped struggling to stay awake.
Madara watched as izuna went boneless in his arms.
Closing his eyes, Madara focused his sensing abilities to search for Clan. He found them easily, but their chakra signatures weren’t familiar to him. They were Uchiha clan, but they weren’t his clan.
They also were surrendered on all side by chakra signature of many clans.
He run toward them, remembering his request. An ally healer for his brother.
Maybe they would have someone to heal him.
In few seconds he reached a wall, he leapt over it.
Behind was a sprawling village, surrendered by walls and forest and mountains. There was something curved on mountain, but his sight was too blurry, and his chakra was too low to waste on using sharingan.
He headed straight to where he sensed Uchiha’s chakra.
He entered a compound on edge of village.
It was like a tiny village, inside of another village.
If it were anything like his clan, he know where healers would be.
Just shy of shrine, there was a building with weakened signatures.
Before even entering, he was spotted.
He was rushed to place Izuna on a bed and then healers started to descend on them both.
Questioning and prodding at them.