Dusk till Dawn(Madara Uchiha)

Chapter Twenty: Nightmares in the darkness

Blood dripped from her smiling lips." Y-You . . . S-shouldn't kill . . . " she coughed as blood got caught in her throat." e-each other . . . you . . . where . . . . . f-friends" she said her voice coming out a little louder than a whisper. Her beautiful smile returned to her red lips as she closed her eyes. The sun shone down upon her as if the light from heaven was welcoming back an angle to their midst. Her white hair blew around her and her clothes ruffled in the breeze. She looked at peace even as blood poured from her small body and turned the innocent snow red.

Her eyes shot open and her smile fell when the sword was removed. Pain was evident in her eyes as she toppled forward crashing into him.

"I . . .  love  . . y-yo-......" she began but never finished as her voice seemed to fade away as her breathing ceased.

Madara awoke from his slumber sitting straight up in his bed, sweat covered his bare chest and covers. Gasping for air he glanced down at his hands that despite it being a year ago still felt as if her blood covered them. His now extremely long black hair clung to him as he pushed his blankets back and sat on the edge of the bed. Staring at his hands in horror, a feeling of panic rushing through him as he could have sworn he saw red. Filled with the intense urge to wash the supposed liquid off his hands Madara headed for the bathroom. Where he aggressively washed his hands in agitation as the feeling wasn't going away.

    Biting his lip and giving up Madara stared into the mirror. The person in the mirror was slightly blurry. He had messy black hair that flowed down his back with long bangs covering his right eye as more hair stuck up in random directions. His eyes were blurry dots and his facial expression looked dead. Around the person's neck hung a black chain from which dangled a deep green crystal. "Tch" he grunted in agitation at his poor vision and turned away to get a shower.

Once he had showered and dressed he headed for his study where he sat down and began to finalise the plans for the mission they had been hired for. Hours passed by within a flash by the time a knock sounded on the door before it opened and in came Izuna. Izuna had longer hair which he kept neatly pulled back and had gained some muscle however Madara could not see his expression.

Sighing, Izuna walked over to Madara's desk and picked up one of the papers from the lagrange stack. "How long have you been here?" asked Izuna calmly, setting the paper down and studying his brother. "Not long," said Madara standing from his desk and searching through some of the maps on a nearby shelf. Izuna scoffed "sure you have the bags under your eyes say otherwise . . . " Madara hummed in response as he squinted down at the map in his hands. His eyesight had been increasingly getting worse since he awakened  the mangekyou."brother are you even listening to me?" asked Izuna, slightly annoyed as he crossed his arms. Madara hummed once more which only angered his brother who snatched the map from Madara's hands gaining his attention.

Madara glared over at Izuna,"what is it you need?" he asked in an annoyed tone. "I'm worried brother, you've been increasingly more distant. Not to mention irritated. Have you not been sleeping?" asked the other Uchiha as he set down the map on the table and studied his brother. "I'm fine. Come we need to leave, we are expected in the land of fire in four days" said Madara casually blowing off Izuna as he headed for the door. "You blowing me off brother" said Izuna as he followed his brother casually crossing his arms and fishing for information that would ease his own conscience because in truth Izuna felt guilty. Guilty for this new version of Madara that looked empty and kept everyone at arm's length and denied any feeling. "We don't have time for this Izuna! Forget your worries and move on!" snapped Madara rather abruptly before becoming as silent as a graveyard.

Madara's hands balled into fists as his throat felt like it was tightening. "Brother?" Izuna's voice sounded as if it were miles away, an echo. As a weight seemed to drop inside Madara's chest as he took a breath. He had mindlessly walked to her room. An area of the castle he tried to avoid yet somehow as if on instinct he wondered here when heading out for the mission.