Blood Lust

Chapter 16

The wind howled around Hashirama and Madara as they made themselves comfortable in the padded grass. For some reason, Madara felt uneasy under the full moon that glowed brightly above them. Hashirama seemed to not notice, rambling on and on into the dense forest as if Madara was actually listening. There was something off about tonight, and Madara was itching to figure it out without worrying Hashirama.

They had went days without any issues, but that only made Madara more uneasy. His brother promised to return to him, and their family was one to never go back on their word. Izuna was far different than what he used to be. He was always kind and loving, and admired Madara greatly. Their family had the strongest bond out of any other. When Madara saw him again, he didn't recognize the man he saw. He was full of anger and hatred, but Madara understood why. There was a time where he was the exact same way and it took Hashirama showing up to ease that away.

"Madara?" Hashirama called out. He was looking at Madara as if he had been trying to get his attention for a while.

"Hm?"

"Can we go back now?" Hashirama sighed, climbing back up to his feet.

"Right," Madara muttered. "Let's go."

Madara led the way back home to the castle, which would soon be a grave mistake. For the last few days, he never let Hashirama too far out of his sight. Even in the safety of the castle, Madara was always nearby. Hashirama didn't realize how protective he was being, and just assumed he was needier than usual. This was the first time he allowed Hashirama to follow behind, and it would end up being the last.

They were nearly halfway to the castle when Madara noticed a sudden shift in the air. The moment he turned around to check on Hashirama, a whir of darkness flashed by and swept him away into the brush. His heart felt like it was going to rip out of his chest. There was no time for him to react.

Izuna tumbled and rolled with Hashirama in his clutches, but was thoroughly surprised when he was thrown off at great force. There was no time to waste with Madara quickly approaching them, so he lunged at Hashirama again. His hands merely grazed Hashirama, who was much faster than he expected. He almost could see Hashirama being stronger than his own brother.

"You're not making this easy, huh?" Izuna chuckled. "I expected you to be a weakling from the way my brother was protecting you."

"Why are you seeking to hurt your brother?" Hashirama questioned. "You have no idea how much he cares about you!"

Izuna couldn't stop himself from laughing. It terrified Hashirama to see someone so unhinged.

"If he cared, he wouldn't have killed my mate!" Izuna roared in a sudden change of emotions. "It feels like you've lost a whole part of yourself! He needs to feel what I feel!"

He ran towards Hashirama without any regard to his surroundings. If it hadn't been for Madara tackling him, Hashirama would have been trapped underneath the vengeful vampire.

"Izuna! I'll kill you if you touch him!" Madara growled as he pressed his brother into the dirt. His hands and knees pinned down the limbs of his brother as much as possible.

"You deserve to feel this agonizing pain!" Izuna cried out, trying to wriggle free. "Let me rip him away from you!"

"I only did what I did to avenge our family!" Madara belted out in an emotional rage.

Izuna grimaced, seemingly fighting the guilt eating at him. There was a moment where Madara's words softened him. The reminder of their family seemed to strike a chord inside of him. But that merely lasted a second.

"I still want you to suffer like me," Izuna snarled.

Madara's eyes grew wide once he felt Izuna trying to pry him off more frantically than before until one of his hands broke free.

"Run, Hashirama!" Madara shouted.

Hashirama was frozen with fear. He didn't want to leave Madara alone in this situation. In the back of his mind, however, he could hear Madara pleading for him to listen to him. He would only get in the way of Madara if he stayed. His body seemed to move on its own and started running towards the castle.

Izuna only grew more desperate, clawing at Madara's skin and kicking his legs to push him off. Madara struggled to hold him down, but was still managing the best he could until he heard a loud crunch. He had no choice but to let go of his brother and inspect the sudden pain radiating out of his left side.

His brother made the desperate move to break Madara's arm at the elbow and his knee---causing him to roll onto his untouched right side. It gave Izuna just enough time to slip out from underneath him and start running towards Hashirama.

"Fuck!" Madara roared as he delicately cradled his arm. He knew it'd heal by the next night, but until then...he was useless in a fight.

Hashirama had made it inside the castle, but didn't know where to go from there. In a time like this, he needed his sword. Madara hadn't come around to returning the weapons Hashirama had originally came here with, so he had absolutely no idea where to look. The castle was massive and had too many rooms, so he had no choice but to start knocking down every door until he found it.

Izuna wasn't too far behind, following Hashirama by his faint scent. He had no idea if Madara was behind him or not, but he wasn't going to waste any time by checking. The sun would be rising soon and the odds would be slimmer for him to win once it did.

Just as he reached the castle grounds, a slew of arrows darted past him---some just barely nicking his skin. Izuna stopped briefly to assess where they were coming from. His eyes followed their trajectory and found an entourage of vampire hunters standing guard in front of the castle. Hashirama stood behind them in the castle's entrance, wielding a sword. Izuna counted approximately ten men as he dodged more arrows, and there was a possibility of more hiding in the shadows. His odds were low with daylight approaching.

Swallowing his pride, he took off in the opposite direction. His heart was pounding abnormally fast as he ran. The feeling was familiar to him, but he refused to believe it to be true. It's just adrenaline, he assured himself.

"I need to go find Madara," Hashirama pleaded once Izuna was out of sight.

"The sun will be rising soon," Tobirama disagreed. "It's far too dangerous for you now."

"That's all the more reason for me to go searching for him!" Hashirama argued. "He could die out there!"

"My men will find him!" Tobirama assured with frustration. "You need to stay here!"

It was pure luck that Tobirama and his men were out hunting around the area. One of the men had seen the confrontation that occurred in the woods and reported it to Tobirama. It was then that he made the call to protect his older brother. Even with his disdain towards Madara, he still felt the need to protect him, too. They were on the same team now.

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adding this bc this is literally me. i live for the validation u all give me✋🏻 i appreciate all the votes & comments i get