Drowning In You

~*~*~

The serpent dove back beneath the waters with a triumphant screech as Madara barreled across the sky, rain pelting him from every direction and the wind doing its best to hinder him. But he had always been a powerful flier, and he swept along like the air was clear.

The ship's hull was barely poking above the water. A piece of the sail was tangled around what was left of the mast, and boards and planks littered the water's surface. A few of them had the surviving crew members clinging to them for dear life, tossed about by the waves. The crew that wasn’t dragged down with the ship, that was.

He circled the wreckage for a moment, sharp eyes seeking out the mens struggling forms. Ah, he’d start there, with that one. The only problem was that he had never grabbed a human out of water before, let alone very angry water with huge, violent waves and buffeting winds. He eyed the waves for a moment. It’d probably be best to dart in quick and grab rather than try to lift slow and carefully.

He adjusted his angle, then pulled in his wings and dove, approaching the unsuspecting human from behind. He was clinging to a wide plank with two other humans. As he swept in, he rumbled loudly in the back of his throat to alert them of his approach. The two humans opposite of his intended target looked up with wide eyes, and one opened his mouth, as though to scream or call out a warning.

Madara snatched up his intended before he could make a sound, shuffling him to one claw and immediately reaching for another. The man tried to scramble away, but with the raging waves, there wasn’t far he could go. With a grunt, Madara beat his wings powerfully, hovering in place and sending the waters into even greater turmoil. With some effort, he carefully moved the first human he grabbed to one of his back legs, hooking his claws around the man's chest. He was screaming and thrashing, and Madara had to hold him so tightly that he wouldn’t fall out it was almost worrisome.

With one front claw now free, he unsteadily dropped a little lower, reaching for the last human. He was frantically back paddling with his plank, trying to get out of his range. When he realized he wasn’t having much success, he let go of the wood entirely, and submerged himself.

Ah, that wouldn’t do. Madara dropped again, reaching into the water and plucking him out. Then, with a great heave, he started to climb again, getting out of the range of the angry waves and turning back to the merchant ship. The three men he carried wouldn’t stay still, thrashing and squirming and trying to pry his talons loose.

It was so annoying to handle people that weren’t from his village. These men and their ships were hired from outside. They had no idea the village was watched over by a clan of dragons. Sure, it was nice they were so terrified of him, but it was also annoying when he was trying to rescue them.

He resisted the urge to shake the silly humans, racing back to the ship. Thankfully, the men on this ship actually knew who, or rather, what, he was. He circled the ship first, so that they could see what he was carrying and hopefully get the hint.

Kageyasu, bless the man, was quick to catch on. Waving his arms, the merchant pointed to the stern of the ship, and Madara looped around to the ships rear. Carefully, avoiding the rails and the sails, he approached the deck. The crew gathered beneath him, ready to receive his cargo.

He dropped the man in his back claw first, waiting until he was safely caught by the crew and set down before releasing the second, and then the third. Then he was wheeling back to the ship wreck, skimming over the water. The next three he grabbed were just as foolishly terrified, and if Madara weren’t so focussed on saving them, he might have scolded them for being idiots when he was so clearly saving their sorry asses.

As it was, it took a few more retrievals until the rest of the men in the water realized he was not hunting them or snatching them up to eat. And then they were much more receptive to his approach, even going so far as to help him by making themselves more readily available.

The ship's hull was still visible, and a group had gathered there. They looked nervous as he approached, but they didn’t run or jump into the water screaming. So, that was a plus.

Flaring his wings to catch himself and angle almost vertically, he extended both back claws, carefully wrapping around two men. He had to circle around once more to grab another two, before he streaked back to the ship.

Only two left. He dropped off the four he currently held, and headed back to the sinking hull.

A flash of movement to his right caught his attention, and he adjusted quickly, lifting higher. A white shape was moving under the water, streaking along like an arrow, straight towards the ruined hull.

Apparently unhappy that the ship was taking so long to sink, the serpent burst out of the water again, muzzle wrinkled in an ugly snarl. Its neck arched as it reared higher, and a few more arches of his long, snaky body poked out of the water.

’Just how big is this thing?’

With a somewhat disdainful snort, the serpent examined the wreckage. Then it moved, circling around it like a barrier. Its tail came up out of the water, thin, elegant fins on the ends and sides.

’Oh, shit, no.’

The serpent's tail smashed down on the remnants of the hull, and its slow descent accelerated.

Hissing, Madara shot forward, streaking past the serpent's tail and diving to the wreckage. The two remaining men saw him coming, and waved their arms desperately to help him hone in.

But they weren’t the only ones that saw him. The serpent's gleaming red eyes honed in on him, and it shrieked with fury. Madara narrowly dodged being taken out by a swipe of its tail, gracefully arching around it.

He reached out, and snagged the men as he streaked by. He felt a little guilty; it was by no means gentle, considering how fast he was flying right now. But their potential whiplash was a cause for concern later on.

Madara climbed quickly, streaking for the safety of the sky, and zoomed back to the merchant ship. The serpent snarled, diving under the water and slapping its tail down on the surface with a resounding echo.

In hindsight, Madara should have worried more about where it went. Only seconds after it vanished, it leaped out of the water below him, reaching higher than should be possible, gaping jaws open and ready to clamp down.

Surprised that it could reach this high, he flared his wings, coming to a near halt in the sky and narrowing avoiding its snapping teeth. The glowing red eye of the beast nearest to him narrowed, and the serpent turned its head towards him, massive fangs bared.

Madara did not want to be on the receiving end of those teeth. Clutching the two survivors close to his chest, he reared back, sucking in a deep breath. Just as the serpent lunged again, he let it out with a rush of fire.

The serpent howled, flames dancing along its head and snout, and Madara looped around it, lifting even higher to fly through the clouds. It was even wetter and darker than before, but he had a good sense of direction. When he estimated they were just about above the merchant vessel, he dropped out of their cover, sweeping towards the ship.

Kageyasu and the others were waiting, and they caught his survivors when he let them go. “Are there anymore?” Kageyasu asked, practically screaming to be heard over the noise of the storm. Madara shook his head no, casting a wary eye at the churning waters.

“Kageyasu, you need to get out of here!” he called, carefully landing on the stern. The ship groaned under his weight, but otherwise remained steady.

“We can never outrun it,” Kageyasu said in dismay, shaking his head. Madara growled, pulling his lips back to bare his fangs.

“Yes, you can. Get your men to oars, and get out of here. If you keep a good pace, you should be at the Land of Lightning in a few hours.”

“What about that...thing?” he demanded, and Madara snorted, puffs of smoke trickling out of his nostrils.

“I will handle it. Just go.” Spreading his wings, Madara launched into flight again, climbing steeply and swiftly and vanishing into the clouds. He was thankful for his dark scales. He blended into the shadows nearly perfectly, and his sharp eyes let him see out of them as if they were never even there.

He watched carefully as Kageyasu’s vessel started to move, aided by the men adding their strength on the oars. Circling high above, he kept an eye out for their attacker.

It would have been better for the serpent if it were as darkly scaled as he were. Its long, white body was easy to see, and he watched it swim after the ship, easily catching up and sliding under it to emerge from the other side.

It hissed threateningly as it reared up, water falling from it like sheets. A few of the braver men, brandishing swords and spears, shakily stood their ground, weapons aimed at the beast, faces paling as the beast leaned closer.

Madara waited until the last moment. The creature's muscular neck flexed, and as it reared back to strike, he pulled in his wings to his body, and dove, skyrocketing out of the clouds. He roared loudly to announce his presence, and breathed out a mighty torrent of fire at the side of the creature's face just as it lunged forwards.

The serpent shrieked, flinching back, and Madara crashed into its head. It was unfair, how much bigger than him it was. He was barely the size of its head. Growling with effort, he dug his claws into the serpents flesh, gouging and ripping and tearing.

The serpent screeched and howled, flinging its head back and forth widely in an attempt to dislodge him, but Madara clung to it like a tick, wings flared wide for balance. Furiously, it writhed, and then brought its head down, smashing Madara between it and the side of the ship. The breath punched out of him, but Madara angrily bit into the things forehead. It snarled, grinding him against the ship painfully, then flinched back when he sank his back talons into the soft flesh on the underside of its jaw. The serpent thrashed and snarled, and eventually succeeded in biting down on the end of his tail. Madara yelped, his grip loosening, and the serpent took advantage of that to violently fling its head and throw him away.

Madara lost his grip, wings flailing, and tumbled over the deck of the ship, between the mast and the bow, belly up and wings folded awkwardly, feeling his tail graze the railing. He twisted aggressively upright, wings snapping out and catching him before he could tumble into the water. The moment he was balanced, he banked steeply, sweeping around the ship's bow to re-engage, and instantly wished he hadn’t.

In the time while he was flung away and struggling to right himself, the serpent vanished under the water, and surged out again as he looped around the ship, lunging at him. Caught off guard, Madara frantically flared his wings, trying to change direction, but his momentum was too great.

The serpent's jaws clamped down on his wing and shoulder, and it slammed him into the water.

Sages, that hurt!

Frantically, he twisted as much as he could, clawing and slashing at the serpent's head, but it seemed determined to keep him down, its bite not lessening in the slightest. With a surge of panic, he kicked and scrambled at its neck and jaws and cheeks, biting and clawing, but the serpent continued to drag him down, further and further from the surface.

He struck it in the nose with his tail, but even that didn’t seem to deter it. Deeper and deeper it bore him, until it was so dark even he could barely see.

’I’m not going to die like this,’ he thought desperately, and, sacrificing his limb, he twisted in the serpent's jaws, digging the claws of his other paw right into the thing's eye. Pain from the front leg clamped in its teeth radiated up his shoulder and neck, but it worked. He could hear it scream even in the suffocating water, and it flinched back, jaws loosening with its cry. He grabbed its horn, letting it take him for a ways, then kicked off, using limbs, tail, and wings to swim to the surface.

He finally broke free, gasping and panting for the breath that had been robbed from him. With great effort, and monumental pain from his shoulder, he somehow managed to get himself out of the water, lifting sluggishly into flight.

Every wingbeat sent screams of pain shocking down his spine, but he forced himself to climb steeply into the sky anyways. The serpent broke the surface shortly after him, blood streaming down its scales. It screamed furiously at him, and he turned mid flight to roar back, pulling in his wings to sweep around its head and breathe a river of raging flames.

The serpent flinched back, twisting this way and that, but Madara was relentless, diving back and forth, harassing the serpent, twisting and circling around its head and neck to bathe it in constant flames.

Apparently realizing that Madara seemed to have the upper hand at a distance, the serpent retreated back to the safety of the water, extinguishing the flames burning it. With a heavy groan, Madara turned to check on the ships progress. It was moving fast, but not fast enough.

Just as he was considering going after it, the serpent returned. Instead of lunging at him like an angry dog, it came out of the water slowly, muzzle wrinkled in a bloody snarl. Madara hovered in place, despite the pain in his wing, watching as its head slowly raised to his level.

“Had enough yet?” he called, really hoping that the creature would just admit defeat and slither away.

The serpent's eyes narrowed, and that was all the warning he got.

With the force of a mountain falling, the serpent's tail lashed out of the water, rising up and above his level, and smashing him on the back. Caught off guard, the blow temporarily paralyzed him, and with a howl of pain, he plummeted, wings crumpling unintentionally.

The serpent hissed with victory as he fell to the water again, splashing magnificently. Managing to spread his wings to keep himself afloat, Madara snarled at the serpent as it swam by him, forming a circle around him, a barrier from the rest of the sea with its body. Slowly, the circle got smaller, the serpent's body drawing closer, until he could feel its sides on the tips of his outstretched wings.

Madara carefully wiggled his wings and limbs, feeling the tingling pain from the unexpected blow start to fade. The serpent lunged, and Madara whipped his head around, unleashing a blast of flame right into its open mouth.

The horrific scream the serpent unleashed was unlike anything Madara had ever heard, and it flung itself away, its coil disappearing as it writhed and thrashed, before finally crashing its burning head into the water. He hastily hefted himself out of the water again, every nerve in his body screaming at him. He couldn’t hold out much longer, not with his wing in such bad shape. Not to mention the rest of him…. He was pretty sure he had a couple of broken ribs, and his front leg had been all but crushed in the serpent’s jaws.

A flash of lightning illuminated a shadow in the near distance, and without thinking twice, Madara turned tail and wobbled his way towards it. It was an island, rocky and sandy, with trees and life starting to sprout further inland.

He heard the serpent snarl, and give chase as he raced towards land, and he flapped mightily, lifting higher into the sky, and out of the serpent's lunging range. Unable to leave the confines of the water and lunge so far, the serpent followed slowly, body weaving back and forth as it swam.

Spying a rocky sea stack, a small distance from the island, Madara angled towards it, diving quick and steep and flaring his wings to catch himself. He landed hard and heavy before he could crash into it. With a groan, he stumbled onto his feet, and his wings collapsed heavily at his sides. He couldn’t even find the energy to bring them in.

The serpent slowed as it approached. On this mound of rock, far enough away from the island that the serpent could easily snatch him and drag him back to sea, but enough to land on, Madara was putting himself in considerable danger. The serpent had every advantage here.

Seeming to sense this, the beast rose up out of the water again, hissing menacingly. Somehow finding energy, Madara raised his wings, and flapped them a few times. Not to fly, but to get its attention.

“Hey, hold on a minute!” he called.

This was a long shot, but he was willing to try just about anything.

Inexplicably, the serpent paused. Embolded, Madara continued. “You’re a Senju, aren’t you?”

The serpent’s eyes, or rather, eye, narrowed dangerously. He ignored it, and went on. “Look, Senju, serpent, whatever or whoever you are. I know we’ve kind of technically been at war for about a hundred years, but how long has it been since our kinds fought? Over a decade. So why should we start now? I mean, yes, we technically are passing through your territory...But we’ll be out soon, I promise. We’re just off to the Land of Lightning. Only a few hours away.”

He pulled his wings in slowly. The serpent wasn’t moving, so still it was like a statue. In its stillness, Madara could actually take the time to see it. The waves crashed around its neck where it emerged from the water, but it seemed utterly unbothered. It’s blue and white scales glittered in the frequent flashes of lightning, and it was only now that Madara noticed three red lines on its face; two on its cheeks, one on its chin. Its head and neck were bloody and torn, and patches of its flesh were badly burnt.

“Listen, I’m sore and hurt, and I’m sure you are too.” He paused, and frowned. “At least I hope you are. I’d be disappointed in myself if you weren’t. This is your turf, isn’t it? But the people you attacked and the people that died in it are mine. They are under my protection. So, why don’t we call a temporary ceasefire, or stalemate, or however you want to call it. Let me and my people pass, and we’ll soon be out of your territory.”

The serpent regarded him for a long time. Wearily, Madara sat down on his haunches, curling his bleeding tail around his legs and draping it over his front claws. The bite wound on it throbbed painfully. “Come on, big guy. What do you say?”

The serpent's eyes narrowed. Then, with a rumbling huff, it turned around, dove under the water, and vanished.

Madara blinked. “I’ll take that as a yes, then.”

Laboriously, painfully, he spread his wings, and took flight, heading back to the ship. As he flew, the storm started to quiet, and the violent waves tossed and churned no more.

By the time he finally reached the ship, dawn was breaking. Gliding on stilled wings, he circled it twice, waiting until someone noticed his presence before angling towards the stern and slowly, carefully landing on the deck.

The moment his claws touched the wood, his wings dropped, and he landed with a groan. Kageyasu rushed up to him, hands going under his jaw and lifting his head up.

“You’re alive!” he exclaimed, voice painted with relief. His hands started moving, finding the wounds littering his body. “We feared the worst when we saw the serpent drag you under.”

“I’m not that easy to kill,” he muttered, closing his eyes and sitting on his haunches, purring softly when the man scratched him under the chin.

“Much to our joy,” Kageyasu replied. “Can you shift in this state?”

He wrinkled his nose, and nodded. With a sigh, he straightened again, rearing back onto his hind legs and shrinking back down into human form. Kageyasu winced.

“Oof. You look bad in this body too.”

“Thanks,” Madara said with dry sarcasm, scrubbing at his face. Flakes of dried blood came off with the action.

“Will it come back?” Kageyasu asked quietly, leaning forwards to mutter in his ear as more crew members started to approach and gather. “That thing?”

Madara glanced back at the water, calm and tranquil. The only sign that it had been there was the cracked railing and scratch marks on the side of the ship. The second defense vessel cruised along at her side, unharmed and untouched.

“I don’t think we’ll see it again.”

~*~*~*~

Kageyasu had the damages to the ship repaired as soon as they came to harbour. As repairs were being made, the crew unloaded the ship, loading them in wagons where they would be transported from the shore town to the Hidden Village of Cloud.

Madara licked his wounds, and damaged pride, in peace. He was lucky that dragons healed so quickly, especially their wings. While the men conducted their business, he was left to his thoughts. His clan was a strong one, unrivaled in the sky. They ruled the highest places, and made their home in the peaks in the clouds.

It made sense their greatest enemies thrived down below, on the ground, in the water. But Madara couldn’t recall any mention of the Senju having a sea serpent in their clan. It made no sense, to him. The Senju were forest dwelling creatures. Granted, they staked their claim on the land to the south of their mountain kingdom, and the sea bordering the Land of Fire…

Ah, that was why they fought so hard for the rights to the ocean. If they had a sea dweller, they’d be able to defend their claim.

IF the serpent he fought was a Senju. He couldn’t recall any Senju having such pale scales. All the ones he had seen were deep brown, green, yellow, orange, black, a mix of them all. Warm, earthy tones, countering the sky and night colours of the Uchiha.

For a Senju to be so pale, so out of the ordinary….Madara found that odd.

With a low sigh, he shoved his hands in his pockets, and returned to the ship. He had no interest in exploring the Land of Lightning. He’d much rather watch over his people, and get them back home safely.

~*~*~

In hindsight, he should have thought this through a little bit better. Leaning against the railing at his customary place at the bow of the ship, Madara cursed his idiocy.

They had to pass through the same territory to get home. The very same place where they had been attacked. The sea serpents territory.

As they drew closer, Madara grew more anxious, until he couldn’t take it anymore. Making up his mind, he sought out Kageyasu, standing at the helm. “Lower the sails,” he ordered, making his way to the stern. Kagayasu raised his eyebrows.

“I’m sorry? Why?”

“There’s something I need to check,” he said over his shoulder. Kageyasu frowned, until he apparently realized what he meant.

“I thought you said you took care of it?”

“Yeah, I did, for the time being. You try killing a sea serpent and see how well you do.”

Kageyasu held up his hands. “Sorry, sorry.” He glanced out at the sea, calm and tranquil and peaceful. “Be careful, Dara.”

“I will if you stop calling me that,” he grumbled. Stepping closer to the railing, he let his dragonic form take over him again. Carefully, he stepped over the railing, spreading his wings and taking off. Distantly he heard Kageyasu hollering instructions at his men, and the ship's progress slowed. The accompanying vessel followed suit.

He flew quickly, yet unhurried, close to the water's surface, and dilly dallying back and forth, sweeping one way and then the next. The ships were soon far out of sight, beyond reach. A little ways off, he could see the tiny dark speck of the island he had landed upon a few nights ago.

As he drew closer, head lowered and scanning the waters, he finally saw the tiny shimmer of white far below the water.

Satisfied that he lingered enough to get attention, he changed direction, heading to the island. The shadow of white in the water followed him.

With a few powerful beats, he landed lightly on the same rocky outcropping he had before. Now that it was lighter and he wasn’t fighting tooth and nail, he could see much better. The sea stack he perched on was short, and narrow, tooth-like and jagged. It was a few hundred yards away from the sandy shores of the island, and a dozen or so other sea stacks poked out of the water all around it.

Curling his claws around the jagged rock, he folded his wings, and waited. He could see the shadow that had been following him under the water slow, and circle his chosen sea stack, winding its long body around it twice.

Then, it finally lifted its head out of the water in front of him, neck arching elegantly, powerfully. Under the light of the sun and the clear skies and calm waters, it was not nearly as intimidating as the night they first met.

“Hello again,” he said conversationally. The serpent stared back at him, blinking long and slow. “I see you’re looking better. My apologies, for trying to gouge your eye out.” The serpent snorted, a shower of mist coming out of its nostrils. Madara liked to think it was in amusement. “Sorry to bother you once more. Trespassing in your territory, again.” The serpent's eyes narrowed, as if annoyed at the reminder.

Madara spread his wings, stretching them out. “And, well. We finished our business in the Land of Lightning. I’m asking, politely, if we can come back home through your territory. Otherwise we have to go all the way around the Land of Waves, and come up to the Land of Fire through the south, and still pass through Senju territory, only on foot. That’s not particularly ideal, not for either group.”

He draped his tail over the edge of the sea stack, watching in dangle. “And I’d like to go home, sooner rather than later. I’m sure you can understand that, seeing how fiercely you defended your territory.”

The serpent regarded him silently. Movement to his right drew his attention, and he looked over, watching the serpent lift its tail out of the water. For a moment, he thought he was going to get slapped off the rock, but the serpent just pressed its tail against the side of his sea stack for a moment.

Then it rumbled, loud and slow, and turned away. It sank beneath the surface of the water again, not looking back at him. The waters churned behind it, and it disappeared into the depths.

“I’ll take your silence as permission,” he sighed, standing to his full height and taking off. He saw no sign of the serpent as he flew back, not a shadow, not a flicker of white scales. He gave the ships the all clear, and he flew around and above them as they entered the last stretch of the journey.

It was with relief that Madara spotted the shores of the Land of Fire, and he loped ahead excitedly. A few people were out on the harbour, and they all looked up as his shadow passed overhead. Some of them waved, and he roared back in greeting.

He hung around just long enough for the ships to dock safely, and quietly warned the crew not to say a word about their encounter, and then he was off and heading to Castle Mount.

Izuna, Naori, and Hikaku were all sunbathing on the main plateau, wings spread out to catch the most rays. They startled up as he swept overhead and landed with a rush of wind. “Maddy!” Izuna exclaimed, scrambling to his feet with a clink of talons. He bounded towards him, and Madara opened his wings, letting Izuna curl against his side under the shadow of them.

“Hey hatchling,” he said affectionately, bumping his chin on Izuna’s head. Izuna grunted, bopping his head back to nudge one of his horns against his neck.

“Good to have you back,” he said. “How was the trip?”

“Ah. Good.” He pushed Izuna away, and his brother's eyes flicked down, noticing the healing marks on his shoulder and wing.

“Mads, what happened?” he demanded, and he snorted.

“Nothing. Was just showing off and spectacularly failed.”

“You? That’s surprising.” They all turned at the new voice, and Naori and Hikaku leaped to their feet.

“Hello, Father,” Madara greeted, bowing his head respectfully as Tajima approached. He was a big dragon, the largest in the clan, and several times Madara’s size. His scales were black, and scattered with the occasional dark red red. His wings and the underside of his throat and belly were the colour of red wine, and his horns were impressively long and twisted.

Tajima rumbled, sitting down on his haunches. Madara mimicked him, and so did the other Uchiha’s there, gathering in a small circle. “How exactly did you get those nasty scratches, my son?” he asked.

’Tell him. Tell him about the serpent, about the Senju. Tell him that they haven’t left, that we were attacked, that that’s a reason for going right back to war.’

“It’s embarrassing,” he muttered, looking down at his front talons. “Kageyasu challenged me, and I tried to prove him wrong, only I crashed into the side of a cliff.”

“You’re the most powerful, talented flier in the clan,” Naori said with a hum. She was a beautiful dragon, long and narrow and thin, her scales deep purple, and her horns and the spikes lining her spine black as night. “I find that surprising.”

“Everyone has their off days, don’t they Naori?” he shot back, and she wrinkled her muzzle at him. Izuna chuckled, nudging her in the shoulder. She swatted back at him.

“That was one time!” she grumbled.

“It’s not everyday someone flies headfirst into the ground,” Hikaku snickered. “No one is ever going to forget that.”

“I hate you all and this clan is dead to me,” she declared. Her defiance just bought a few amused chuckles.

“How did it go?” Tajima asked, turning again to Madara.

“It was lucrative,” he said easily. “Profitable.”

“Perhaps I should allow them to travel by sea more often, then. Although I hear a ship was lost.”

“Ah. Well. Yes. We ran into some bad weather, and one of the defense vessels crashed into a sea stack. We lost two crew members, but the rest we managed to get to safety.”

“That is unfortunate,” Tajima said gravely.

“Kageyasu is already talking about another voyage,” he went on slowly. “But I am not sure it’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“The risk is great, as you said before. The weather is hard to predict, and we could always run into another storm. It’s quicker, yes, but more dangerous.”

“We leave the decision to the merchants,” Tajima said. “They are our people, but we do not control them. If they choose to go by sea despite the risks, that is on them. We will simply provide them with protection, as we always will.”

Madara frowned, but didn’t argue. Tajima lingered around for a little longer, listening to the younger dragons gossip and bicker, before he slunk back off to his usual peak. Madara watched him go, then yawned hugely.

“I’m going to sleep,” he announced, standing. “Don’t stay up too late.”

“Yes grandpa,” Izuna snarked, and Madara thumped him on the side, purposefully ruffling him, and he puffed up, scales rising like the ruff of an angry dog. They were a deep shade of blue and purple, with tints of black along his wing bones and the lower half of his back legs and tail.

“Goodnight, brat,” he snipped, edging out of their little circle and heading towards the edge of the plateau. The others bid him goodnight, and he stepped off the edge, spreading his wings and flying towards his favorite ledge on his mountain.

The rock was still warm with the sun, which was nearly set by now. He patted the ledge a few times, trying to decide if it was the right temperature. Then, with a dissatisfied huff, he breathed a burst of flame onto the rock, heating it up and stomping the fires out soon after.

With the rock perfectly heated, he curled up on it, wrapping his tail around him and tucking his head under his wing. As he drifted, his mind wandered, and came back to the white scaled serpent.

The Senju, if indeed it was, was an enigma. A puzzle.

And Madara’s claws were itching to figure him out.