Uchiha Izuna
“Madara, you called? I was sparring with Kasumi, what did you need?”
Izuna strolled into the office, still a little worn from his spar with Kasumi. He´d been outside when one of the servants informed him of Madara calling him to the clan head-s office, something about it being a mission.
He walked over to his brother, preening over the older man´s shoulder to see what he was working on, when Madara groaned and let his head drop onto the table with a low thud. Izuna winced at that, but didn´t comment, only pulling out a chair from next to Madara and sitting down beside his brother.
He frowned when it took Madara a few seconds to raise his head and meet his brother´s eyes. Deep dark circles were under them. His hair was messy – well, messier than usual – and his skin was a shade paler than before. Izuna´s eyebrows furrowed in worry and he held out a hand to Madara´s forehead, running a hand through his bangs.
“When´s the last time you slept, brother? You look horrible.”
Madara tsk-ed and swatted his brother´s hand away, eventhough there was no real heat behind his actions. Only a dismissive wave and a tired sounding sigh.
“Thanks, Izuna. I certainly haven´t heard a nicer comment in a while,” the man deadpanned, earning himself an eye-roll from his younger brother.
Izuna rested his chin on his hand, tilting his head. “I worry. You haven´t come out of this room in god knows how many days. Had I not checked in with you yesterday I probably would have thought you passed out in here or something.”
Madara shook his head, focusing his attention back on the letter in front of him. “It doesn´t matter. I´ve gone longer without sleep and there´s still some things I have to finish, otherwise the elders won´t let me be. They´ve been angrier than usual lately. I´m tempted to punch Daichi in the face.”
The last sentence was said with a lot of bite behind it, so much that his desire for physical violence against the elder translated into actual violence, and the table cracked slightly with the pressure that Madara was gripping at it with. Izuna could relate, though, knowing how frustrating it can be to argue with that particular elder. He was a stubborn man with the tendency to repeat himself, even when the point he made was already clear, and Madara, who had no patience for that – for pretty much anything, really – was a frequent victim of that man´s whining. It was quickly getting old, but Daichi held a high respected position, so he couldn´t do much about it, even as a clan head.
Izuna grimaced in sympathy. “Let me know when you´re doing it, I´ll join you.”
Madara levels him with a half-hearted glare, but doesn´t say much other than, “You´re supposed to keep me from punching our elders.”
The younger just shrugs, not even a trace of remorse in that action. “Not when the honorable elder is keeping my dear brother from having some time to himself.” There was a moment of hesitation before he brightened up a little and nudged Madara´s side, a mischievous smile on his face.
“What do you say, are you up for a spar once you´re done? Or maybe a mission we can do together? Something to get you moving.”
A small and soft smile graced Madara´s features at Izuna´s attempt to brighten his mood, but it fell just as quickly when he thought back to the reason he had called Izuna into his office in the first place, quickly replaced by a sigh. His hand reached up to pinch the bridge of his knows in order to fight off the oncoming headache, even knowing that it wouldn´t do much.
“As much as I want to, we can´t. The daimyo requested a mission.”
That´s enough to startle Izuna and he perked up, eyes wide in surprise. “The daimyo? Did something happen?”
Madara waves his curiosity off, too tired to answer many questions, but not wanting to shorten the little time he has with his brother too much. “Nothing out of the ordinary. The daimyo and his daughter want to go to the land of the stone for a diplomatic meeting. Something about the trades in the land and issues with the merchants, but I didn´t ask for the details. He just wants an escort, since it´s his daughter with him this time as well. The samurai he has are apparently not enough.”
Izuna hummed, taking said letter into his hand and letting his eyes skim over the contents. His brows crease ever so slightly, like they always do when he contemplates something, but the crease is soon goon, replaced by a raised eyebrow at Madara.
“You want me to go then?”
Madara mirrored his gesture, not saying anything and only motioning to the stacks of paperwork he still had on his desk. Izuna huffed, but nodded anyway. “Alright, alright, I get it. Do I get to choose who I take with me?”
Nodding, Madara absently stamps a few papers and puts them off to the side, not really paying attention to what exactly he was doing. “Choose who you want. But I would recommend taking Hikaku with you.”
Smiling, Izuna leaned back in his chair, waving a dismissive hand. “I was planning on doing that anyways. The brat has been going stir crazy in the compound too, so it will do him some good. I´m taking Hikaku´s and Mori´s squad then.”
Faintly pausing, Madara contemplated what he said before shaking his head, sorting through a few more papers. “Mori´s squad has a mission assigned to them already. Akito and his team should be free however, so search for them and ask them to accompany you. Any more won´t be necessary.”
The younger shrugged, and stood up. “That works out as well. I´ll get going then. Make sure not to overwork yourself too much, brother!” The last bit was said with a mixture of teasing and genuine worry in his tone, but Izuna knew that Madara wouldn´t let the work get to him worse than it did now.
Madara rolled his eyes at Izuna, but still shot a small smile towards him, thankful for the worry. “I don´t overwork myself. Now get going.” He shooed Izuna out of the room, but just before he reached the door and went to open it, Madara spoke up once again, this time with clear worry painting his features and slight furrowed eyebrows.
“And Izuna? Be careful. This is a long term mission, so send a message through your summons when you have the time.”
Used to his brother´s worried nature, he simply shrugged it off with a nod. “Alright, alright. You´re such a mother hen, Madara. It´s just an escort mission.”
A small tick appeared right above his eyebrow and Izuna only had a split second to dodge the incoming pencil that was thrown in his direction with a high pitched yelped. Madara grumbled something about his brother being a brat, but Izuna quickly made his way out of the room in order to evade any more potential projectiles flying his way.
.
Izuna, out of all things, hadn´t expected Kitsune to partake in this mission as well.
It did bother him a lot that there was no notice of this, but they were shinobi. They did not stand above the daimyo´s words and sometimes couldn´t disobey his wishes, no matter how annoying they might be. And in the end it would be easier to just take the addition in stride instead of making a huge fuss about it. This wouldn´t stop them from fulfilling the mission, just as he had told that rude organizer.
“Then again,” Izuna let his eyes flicker back to his team, “They´re pretty annoyed by that as well. Kitsune´s a new variable and we have no idea who he is and whether we can trust him to work with us on this. Still, not much we can do.”
Hikaku stood right behind him, face twisted in disdain. He wasn´t annoyed per se, since it wasn´t in Hikaku´s nature to get agitated or irritated easily, but he was a little bothered by it. However, Hikaku trusts Izuna enough to look past that and following his order of standing down. Confrontation and stress when it wasn´t necessary was not something that the young adult liked to engage in.
Kasumi was a visible more thrown off, but her relatively short temper made that reaction a given. Especially in the face of this man´s rude attitude and how he had ordered Akito´s squad away so dismissively, Izuna is surprised that she hasn´t tried to punch that man just yet.
Rasa was rather laid back about this and simply stood at the side. The man was more of an observer and only really engaged when he found something interesting, worthwhile his time or when it was about protecting kin. Otherwise, he would silently stand off most of the time, but was even more so attentive and observant because of that.
Izuna let out a low sigh and turned back to the organizer, who turned around and muttered something angrily. Something about Kitsune and his lack of manners.
It seemed that those words worked like a summons, because suddenly the air shifted ever so slightly.
Out of nowhere, a small burst of chakra appeared right in front of their group, and with it the figure of a man wearing white and red fox mask and simple shinobi clothes. His appearance startled the organizer so much that he promptly fell to the floor, papers fluttering out of his hands and scattering all over the floor.
Kasumi twitched at the back and instinctively reached for her dual blades, and even Rasa perked up in surprise. Hikaku and Izuna tensed at the presence that so suddenly appeared. The timing was jarring, which made Izuna suspect that this man had definitely been here the entire time, or at least long enough to listen to the conversation to then appear when he had been called, but he couldn´t figure out where this man had been. There was no chakra signature, and if it weren´t for the small burst of chakra from the shunshin, he still wouldn´t have, because this man seemingly had no presence.
A bright and chipper voice interrupted cut through the tense air like a knife, and Kitsune tilted his head to the side. While they might not have been able to see, his body language and tone of voice suggested a large toothy grin under that mask.
He raised a hand and cheerfully waved. “Yo, everyone! I´m not late, am I?”
There was a brief silence were Izuna and those around him just stared at the man. Suddenly, the gaping emptiness where his presence had been was replaced and something bright was in its place. Like flipping a switch, the entire area just seemed to brighten because of Kitsune in front of him. The bright shade of blonde hair – Izuna had never seen a shade like that before. Most Yamanaka were blonde, but even amongst them there was no one with shining hair like this. Izuna wouldn´t have forgotten a shade like that – and even brighter cerulean eyes that seemed to glow through the slits of the mask.
Despite being on guard, Izuna felt himself involuntarily relax in the presence of the man. It almost felt like he purposefully leaked his bright and warm chakra – dear sage, what was this chakra? He´s never felt anything like this before. It was as if someone had taken rays of sunshine and liquefied them, letting them flow all around them. Kind and warm, like the hugs his mother used to give him when he had been just a boy – and wrapped them all inside of it.
When Kitsune got no response, Izuna was pretty sure he heard the man snort a little, but it was covered up so quickly that he couldn´t be sure. He leaned down ever so slightly, not in a menacing way but definitely mocking the organizer. His head tilted to the side once again, like a curious animal that was eyeing his prey, so very much fitting for his name.
“I´m sure you already know, but I´m the moronic Kitsune you´ve been cursing out for the last thirty minutes. Had you asked nicely, I might have just introduced myself a little earlier.”
Not waiting for an answer of the still shocked man on the floor in front of him who continued to stared, completely baffled, he straightened himself once again and let his eyes fall onto Izuna and his group.
It was hard to see with the mask in the way, but there was something that flashed through this man´s impossibly bright eyes, darkening them for just a split second, before it passed. So fast that Izuna thought it might have just been an illusion or a trick the lights played on him.
“Hello to you all as well. You´re the Uchiha hired for this escort mission, correct? I knew you would come, but I wasn´t aware that you didn´t know of me being here too. To be honest, it was pretty last minute that they asked for me,” he shrugged, not sounding particularly apologetic, but not rude about it either.
Then, brightening once again, he held out a hand in greeting, energetic and probably smiling once again. “Nice to meet you, Uchiha-san.”
Izuna took a second to snap himself out of his daze and slowly reached out as well, not expecting to be directly talked to like this.
Because this man was looking directly into his eyes, no hesitance or wariness whatsoever.
It´s not that Izuna wasn´t used to someone looking into his eyes. Within the clan they trusted eachother not to use their kekkei genkai on one another – It was absolute highest rule that the sharingan was not to be used on kin, no matter what the situation – and frequently held eye contact while talking, because it was the polite and respectful thing to do.
He was never surprised when people outside of his clan, even outside of the battlefield, avoided to see into his eyes. Even without the sharingan activated, he knows people fear their eyes. The red glowing pinwheel eyes that are told of in storied to kids growing up, telling them to avoid them at all cost. Stories for kids who will grow up to be shinobi, to warn them off of the dangers of a sharingan induced genjutsu.
There´s only few people who have looked him in the eyes. On the battlefield it was Tobirama, when he sometimes caught the man slipping in battle, outside of the battlefield it was people who didn´t know who he was. And those few who did know and had looked at him have been careful to keep as much distance as possible.
This man however didn´t hesitate even for a second, reaching his hand out for a greeting and smiling at him – at least from how he could tell with the mask. The slight crinkle at the corners of his eyes gave it away, as well as his overall open and friendly stance – with impossibly bright blue eyes, clearer than the sky and kinder than what he expected them to be.
He was brought of his thought when Kitsune´s spoke up again, voice bright and almost even chipper, “I´m looking forward to working with you on this mission! Uchiha Izuna, correct?”
Izuna realizes that he probably should say something, or at least confirm what the man said, but it took him an embarrassingly long time to adjust to the man´s presence that just suddenly started flooding them. It was like he was directly looking at the sun, with his sharingan active and his eyes therefore even more sensitive than before.
“Right-,” he cleared his throat a little, not missing the way Rasa frowned at his reaction. He knew that Izuna liked to appear dignified in front of people, eventhough he usually flails a lot when they´re in the security of the compound, but this type of reaction from Izuna is unexpected for Rasa and his eyes zero in on the man who was the cause of it.
“Right. I hope this… unexpected turn of events won´t hinder the outcome of this mission.” He doesn´t feel the need to introduce himself when the man clearly knows who he is, nor does he want Kitsune to know his clan members by name. If it comes up, then so be it, but keeping ones name secure was one of the very first things he learned from Tajima. Izuna doesn´t want to say he looks forward to it either, because he´s more confused than anything else, really, but he´s not going to be rude when the man has shown no malice so far. He might be careful and suspicious of him, but his mother raised him with manners.
He only forgets them occasionally, but when he does, it´s justified.
By now the servant of the daimyo had picked up all of his scrolls and was giving Kitsune an impossibly dirty look. The blonde looked unfazed though and just tilted his head in a way that indicated a plain smile as he looked back at him, making the organizer only fume even more in response.
“Where have you been? You´re late, Kitsune.” His voice dripped with venom, but Kitsune didn´t react, only shrugging and looking away.
“I don´t know what you´re talking about. I´ve been here the entire time.”
Oh, he was definitely provoking this man. Hikaku snorted quietly, finding it very amusing, but when Kasumi shot him a sharp look he simply hid it behind a cough and rolled his eyes.
If possible, the man got three shades redder than before, but couldn´t muster a response. Kitsune, being entirely unhelpful, hesitantly raised his hand as if he wanted to ask a question, and then proceeded to play dumb.
“Ah – Are you okay? You honestly don´t look too good there.”
Izuna could have sworn he heard a vein pop.
“You –,” the man started but promptly cut himself off, clenching his hand into a fist, likely to keep himself from exploding. Or from punching the source of his anger, Izuna wasn´t sure.
“No, nevermind. Kitsune, Lord daimyo asked for your presence before the departure, but if you´ve truly been here the entire time, then I´m sure you know this already.” Snapping at the blonde, the man leveled the shinobi with a glare.
Kitsune just nodded and waved a dismissive hand at him. “Yes, I know already. Though I would have been glad had I been told during our exchange of letters. I would have prepared to meet the Lord then, but I guess there´s nothing I can do.” With a shrug, he stopped paying attention to the organizer and turned back to their group. Once again, Izuna found his eyes locked with the other´s, onyx clashing with cerulean, but this time with a little less intensity than before.
“Since I´m not familiar with how you work as a team, I would like to ask you to take the lead on this one. Just tell me how you wanted to do the formation during the escort and I´ll adapt accordingly. If you need me to, I can tell you what I specialize in to make the decision easier for you. Would that be alright?”
This… was entirely unexpected.
None of them had thought that Kitsune would be so open with his abilities, nor so ready to follow what Izuna would suggest. He could be lying of course, and just say this now to appear friendly only to disobey later, but no matter how hard he looked, there wasn´t even a bit of insincerity in this man.
Everything he said was meant to be the truth. Kitsune promised to cooperate and adapt, even agreeing to tell them about his abilities.
Izuna had a creeping suspicion that he might just take a liking to this man.
He schooled his expression back into something a little more serious and gave a serene nod in response, accepting the offer for what it was. “Your cooperation would be appreciated. We´ll talk about this after you talk to Lord Daimyo.”
Kitsune gave an enthusiastic nod before the organizer finally whisked him away towards the carriage where they were already seated. Izuna was left staring at the empty spot where the man had just stood in front of him, wondering just what in the world this interaction had been.
Hikaku stepped up, laying a hand on his shoulder and raising a questioning eyebrow. “Are you alright, you seem out of it?”
Of course he does. None of the other three had seen that look in those eyes. None of them had seen how he kept his gaze straight on Izuna.
But he doesn´t say that. Instead, he sighs and gently pushed Hikaku´s hand off his shoulder, turning to look at his comrades.
“You´ve heard it. We´ll prepare as we usually do until Kitsune comes back. Once he is, we´ll discuss further. I can imagine it´s not too long until they send us off.”
Getting a collective agreement form everyone in response, Izuna only looked back at the retreating back of the fox masked man one last time before shaking his head to get rid of the thoughts and turning to join his team.
.
Naruto quietly walked by the organizer´s side, letting his eyes wander around the place. There were still people scurrying around and finishing the last few things in order to depart. He saw some samurai lined up at the gates and at the carriage as well. The Uchiha squad that had been sent away was currently discussing something with a few other servants who showed them directions to the second carriage. Seemingly the one that the daughter of the daimyo would be seated in.
Was it normal that they were in separate carriages?
Well, Naruto sighs to himself, it´s not like he knows much about all these traditions and official meetings. He´s not about to question it when his only job is to guard the daimyo. Let them do what they always do, he´s just going do his job as a shinobi and maybe make some allies along the way.
It didn´t take long until Naruto found himself standing in front of the daimyo. The organizer at his side bowed deeply in greeting and spoke up to get the man´s attention. “My Lord, Kitsune is here, as you asked.”
The man turned ever so slowly, his robes sounding heavy as they moved with him and were dragged over the floor.
He was taller than Naruto was, but skinnier as well. His eyes were small like slits, scrutinizing everything they took in, and for a moment Naruto wasn´t sure if this was simply the structure of his features, or because this man seemed to constantly narrow his eyes in disdain at everything and anything.
He was dressed in fancy and traditional clothes, making Naruto who only wore a really simple uniform and some basic armor look entirely out of place. His posture radiated confidence and power, which really went hand in hand with the fact that this man was looking down on him – literally – with one of the most arrogant looks on his face. His chakra, what little he had of it, pulsed in disgust and disappointment, and Naruto very briefly felt the urge to give this man a piece of his mind, but this was the person who would have to approve of Konoha once it was built, so antagonizing him was a no.
“So, you are the Kitsune everyone has been speaking of lately?”
That´s all he said and despite himself, Naruto hesitantly bowed his head slightly. He didn´t miss the spike of outrage of the man next to him when he didn´t bow full on at the waist, but to hell with ranks and status. Naruto wouldn´t bow that deep to anyone, unless they have earned his respect and his loyalty, and so far, this man was on his shit-list.
“Yes, my Lord.” He grimaced at the stuffy use of honorifics, never having been one for those, but it was common to use them during this time so he would have to do it as well. He´d done it with Shirogane too, but unlike this man, Shirogane actually felt like a leader, a protector, to him. This man wasn´t even a shinobi.
There was a long stretched silence where he could feel the golden-brown eyes of the man on himself, but he didn´t falter. He kept his head slightly down, not moving until he was told to, partially because he didn´t know what to do, but also because he knew himself to be very expressive and wasn´t sure whether he would be able to keep his glare to himself.
Then there was a disappointed hum, followed by a dismissive sigh. The daimyo turned away, looking thoroughly bored.
“How disappointing. You truly do not look like much. I expected a warrior, not a brat with a mask.”
What a bastard.
Naruto knows he isn´t all that tall – malnutrition does that to people – but he´s well build if he does say so himself. Also, he might just be the strongest person in the entire world, now that Kaguya wasn´t resurrected, Sasuke was dead and Madara didn´t even have the mangekyou.
Not knowing any of that, this stuck-up daimyo called him a brat with a mask.
A tick appeared over his eyebrow and he grit his teeth to hold back on a snarky remark, instead focusing on being calm.
“I don´t know what you expected, my Lord, but I apologize. I might not look like much, but I´m confident in my skill. I will protect you to the best of my ability.”
Seemingly not reassured or interested at all, the man´s features twisted in disgust.
Naruto snarled inwardly, glad that his mask covered his features so well. He was a very expressive person after all, with his heart on his sleeve and his emotions on his face and in his chakra.
“If you continue to look like that and the wind changes direction, your face is going to get stuck like that, asshole,” he sneered in his mind and froze for no more than a split second when he felt the brief sensation of a grumble in his chakra coils, something that felt like light laughter. Naruto tried to feel for a moment longer, hoping it was what he thought it was, but there was no further response and Naruto´s shoulders slumped a little at that.
He´d hoped that maybe, Kurama was slowly regaining consciousness, but it seemed like it was still too early for that.
“Yes,” the man drawled, earning Naruto´s attention reluctantly back, “that is the bare minimum of what I expect of you, after all. It´s the reason why you are here in the first place. Had I not heard high praise of your abilities, I wouldn´t have asked for your presence after all. Now go and do as you´re told. I wish not to delay our departure longer.”
Well, Naruto had always been more of a “seek forgiveness, not permission” kind of guy, but he holds back when he thinks of punching the arrogance out of him like he´d done it with Sasuke, doubting this man would forgive him at all.
“For Konoha,” Naruto kept telling himself and spared a moment to appreciate that he was only supposed to protect, not interact with the daimyo.
“Understood.” Naruto gritted out, but straightened himself nonetheless.
He didn´t wait for them to dismiss him further or anything like that, despite the fuming of the organizer chakra that seemingly wanted to reach out to him and strangle him. Instead, he simply walked towards Izuna and his group again, ignoring the twinge of pain in his chest whenever his eyes landed on the clan heir, and hoped that this mission would go smoothly.