Hollowed Martyr - Naruto X RWBY

When Day Breaks

Souta's death had been a wakeup call. The first blow to his psyche which struck like a knife to his back. Before then, war had simply been his monotonous duty. Wake up, eat, fight, sleep- that was all he knew. A mindless existence full of blood, but at least it wasn't one he lived alone. But when he saw his youngest brother choke to death on his own blood, it dawned on Madara that war wasn't a game. War was no way to live. War was death, war was misery, war was hell.

Kuroi had been the second to go. After Souta's death, the boy's rage had become his lifeblood. A monster in battle, blade flying through fire and flesh alike. He and Souta had been close, nearly the same age- he had never recovered from the boy's death. Madara hadn't either, but no one would have ever known that... Madara had tried so desperately to train them, to make sure they would never be hurt again. But all of that meant nothing in the chaos of battle. Madara had been isolated by a group of adult Senju, and by the time he had returned to the battlefield, all that remained of his brother was his right arm, still clutching the sword he had fought till his last breath with.

Ruyuna, Izuna, and Madara had made a pact. Stay close, never run off, retreat if injured. They wouldn't lose another one, he wouldn't lose another one. Even as a wedge was driven in between him and Ruyuna, one formed from the brutal training Madara had dragged him through- Madara had still treasured his precious younger brother... but he had never got to tell him before he had the displeasure of watching him bleed out from a kunai wound to the stomach as they ran away.

Izuna had been the final to die, a story etched into the history of Konoha itself. It still plagued Madara's nightmares, more than any other- for it had been him who had put his final brother to rest. His own ego, his own blindness. He had for once managed to get Hashirama on the back foot, finally overcoming the seemingly insurmountable wall that was the Senju boy... but in his thrill, he had lost sight of Izuna, and that had been all Tobirama had needed to land a fatal blow... the eyes in his skull still burned even now, a reminder of that failure.

Each of his brother's deaths had taught him something. Souta's had taught him that he was in hell, that he needed a plan, that he needed to get out. Kuroi's had taught him that he must never run out of options. No matter what, he must have something up his sleeve. Ruyuna's had taught him that you couldn't let people protect themselves. Izuna's had revealed his destiny, as savior of the world.

Who better to save the world than he who held no living attachment to it?

The loss of his four brother's had molded Madara into the most terrifying shinobi the world had ever seen, a wicked and vile demon who lurked in the corners of the mind's of those who knew of him- a nightmare which haunted their every waking moment.

And now reflected in that demon's eyes was the very thing which had turned him from man to monster.

Ruby's corpse was so haunting it was almost beautiful, her skin turned ashen pale with a river of red pouring from her left eye socket and chest, two gaping holes with no end or beginning. Her right eye remained open, the lively silver now a dull gray, staring into the broken sky as if waiting for the sun.

The sun was here.

Madara stared breathlessly at her body, his eyes slowly moving across the courtyard. Weiss, Blake, Yang- the team of his most precious pupil, his friends- broken and bloodied corpses. Jaune, Nora, Ren, Pyrrha- what remained of them, a bastion of heroism now cloaked by darkness. He had sensed Ozpin's death, a beacon of heroism and good that had been burnt away. He was sure others had fallen too- even if he knew not their names.

His Akatsuki.

Adam, killed, his disguise shattered in his final moments- perhaps finding solace in his demise.