Under the Daffodils || Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 4

Isamu learns of Hideki's death the day before the war with the Senju breaks out once more.

She does not cry, but she finds her finger tracing the handle of her katana when she is not looking.
———

"It is you again, the Uchiha girl."

It's been three years since they last exchanged blows, and Tobirama now has a couple of heads on her as a teenager.

"Is it your habit to save defenseless Uchiha boys?" He sneers.

"It is by coincidence that I am standing here, Senju." Isamu has been fighting nearby and has been forced into Tobirama's ring of fire, blocking the water jutsu that would've pierced through Izuna's head.

"Either you step out of the way, or I'll kill you before I kill him." His eyes flitted over to the left, and Isamu's eyes follow to see a brown haired boy clad in Senju gear on the ground, no longer breathing.

She bites the inside of her mouth to avoid her lips tilting upwards. The cycle of hatred, it is.

She does not reply, but slides into a traditional fighting stance, the moonlight glinting off her red armor. She has not stooped so low to let a child die right in front of her eyes.

It has been a mere three years, but living life on a battlefield has made time move a lot slower than it should. Still, they charge at each other in the exact same way they did three years ago, swords raised in the air.

Whatever she has gained in speed, he gained in strength. What has remained the same all these years is their desire to win.
———

How do you measure a life's worth?

The age that you die? By the number of wins? The number of goals you accomplish?

...Or is it by the number of kills you make?
———

Her katana remains on Tobirama's jugular vein, pressed hard but not enough to draw blood.

"Do it." He says. "Spare me no mercy like how you spared my men no mercy."

Whatever reply she has died on her tongue when she moves to dodge the wood attack that races at her at an alarming speed, almost too fast for her to catch if her sharingan hadn't been activated.

She danced out of the way a couple of steps back, leaning the weight away from her broken leg, while a tall figure lands in front of Tobirama. His hands move to perform another jutsu before he takes a good look at her face and falters, hands lowered to his sides.

"You're... a girl."

It is Senju Hashirama who stands in front of her, the God of shinobi, the man who will revolutionize the village system and bring peace.

It is Senju Hashirama, the man who emerges the war as the most powerful and will win the fight against Uchiha Madara, going down in history for generations to read about.

It is Senju Hashirama she knows she cannot beat, so Isamu takes the opportunity that he hesitates to look into his eyes.

They glaze over as snippets of genjutsu start to take shape.
———

"What is your name?" Hashirama says at last.

She gives him a rare smile, small but genuine. "Isamu."

The teenager in front of her nods. "Go. Take your friend and leave."

Isamu shoots off with Izuna on her back, ignoring the "Aniki, what are you doing?" from the distance.
———

"What did she show you in the genjutsu?" The white haired male asks his brother when the two Uchiha are no longer in sight.

Hashirama smiles, wind gently tousling his long hair. "She showed me that I'm not alone in my dreams."

He tells Tobirama of children playing together, different symbols on the back of their shirts. He tells him off smiles and laughter, of happiness children of war do not have the privilege to indulge in.

"Peace," Hashirama throws his head back and laughs. "An Uchiha girl showed me peace, Tobirama."
———

When Isamu finally wakes up again, they tell her she's been out for five days due to chakra exhaustion.

This is the fifth time she's experienced it in the past three years, and healers tell her it is not healthy for a growing body to be pushed beyond limits, but they do not stop her because rumors say she can stop an army with just a breath of fire.

"I heard you saved my brother." A deep voice says, rousing her from her sleep.

"I did what anyone else would do, Madara-sama."

Words around the compound say it is only a matter of a few days before he takes the clan head title, his skills growing to be more fearsome than his father's.

Still, she does not dare look into his eyes. Uchiha Madara, the back of her head whispers, the man who will turn world upside down in search of power.

"My brother and I owe you one." With that said, he takes one last look at her and leaves.
———

Kenji kisses her on the night of the first snow. She does not move away.

On that cold winter night, something warm blooms inside her chest.
———

"You cannot send her off to sleep with a Masahi just for some information, brother!" Izuna argues. Madara remains silent at the center, seated between Izuna and Tajima.

"Silence!" Tajima barks before turning to look at the girl kneeling in front of him. "Do you accept this mission?"

Her hand bleeds from where her fingernails pierce the calloused skin. If it is an obedient soldier he wants to see, it is an obedient soldier she will show.

"Yes, Tajima-sama."

Uchiha Isamu is thirteen.
———

She returns with two scrolls, one full of obtained information on the Senju and the Masahi, and the other of the man whose neck she pierced senbon into.

Tajima is pleased.
———

She did not tell Kenji, but he finds out either way. He cries for her, the tears that she herself cannot shed, the pain she does not know how feel.

She stands beside him until he is done, and together they head off into the next battle.
———

How do you measure a life's worth?

How useful you are? How talented you are?

Or is it the living for the important people you care about?
———

How do you measure a life's worth?

Isamu does not know.