To Love or To Live

1 | First Impressions

The Senju Compound had begun to get boring. Izuna craved an adventure, and with her older brother out on a mission, she was left alone at home. It was getting late and she could only wonder what was talking him so long. The tree line ahead of her would lead her to leaving the compound, all she had to do was take a few more steps. However, she needed to be cautious of the shinobi that were on guard. It wouldn't be taken lightly to find a child sneaking out, no less one that was a girl.

It was an uncommon sight for a girl to be seen training to be a shinobi, and it was one that was quite frowned upon. Izuna didn't care much of what others thought of her, though. She had all the attention she ever needed from her mother and older brother, and because of this she hardly ever cared what anyone else's thoughts involving her were about.

Trying her best to mask her chakra, Izuna silently leaped from branch to branch, peering down at the half-asleep ninja to make sure wasn't going to be caught. For a seven year old, she had done a reasonably good job of masking her chakra and couldn't help but smile to herself. She, Senju Izuna, had actually escaped the compound at seven years of age! And right under the noses of the guards, too.

Because Izuna was so busy praising herself mentally, she hadn't noticed the quickly approaching figure, and it seemed as if the figure hadn't seen her either. Izuna was only brought back to reality when she felt a force pushing her backwards and throwing her off balance.

It was Izuna's misfortune that she fell off of the tree and landed on a rock. She had fallen directly onto the peak of the rock she was now leaning on, and could only curse herself for her bad luck. Trying her best to stand again, Izuna looked ahead and was startled to see a young boy laying in a puddle of mud.

Izuna looked at him curiously, as he appeared to be around the same age. She neared him with caution and watched as he stood up, trying aimlessly to wipe the mud off of his clothing. When he looked over at her, both their eyes had widened. He wasn't someone that she had seen before, and she had the feeling that he wasn't of the Senju Clan. His black hair was something almost uncommon for a Senju to have, and his his onyx eyes looked at her with guarded curiosity.

'Who are you?'

The question remained unasked, but it still lingered in the air. The two young children said nothing as they stared into each other's face, studying every detail. It may have looked like they were just curious, but they weren't just curious.

They were shinobi, and when a shinobi is curious he either ignores the feeling, or explores the depths of his curiosity. And that is what they did. Izuna memorized every feature on the boy's face. He had high cheekbones, a straight nose and eyes that looked almost like obsidian. He was undoubtedly handsome, but Izuna knew who he was--no, she had to correct herself. She knew what he was.

"An Uchiha," she whispered, almost inaudibly. Almost.

The black-haired boy had heard her.

"And what are you?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"I'm not supposed to tell you," Izuna replied, "It's a secret."

"Okay," the boy said in reply, "That's fair enough."

"Why are you here?" she asked him.

"I was bored," he stated flatly.

Izuna chuckled softly, "Me too."

The raven haired boy looked at her weirdly, it looked as if he was contemplating whether she was an enemy or not. He seemed to have decided on the latter.

"Come with me. If we're both bored, we might as well do something together," he said with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

"Sure," Izuna said simply in response.

The boy had started to climb up a cliff and she was close behind him.

"She's good for a girl," he mumbled to himself, looking back to see if she was still behind him and instead, finding her climbing ahead of him while he was lost in his thoughts.

"What's your first name?" she questioned, after he had finally reached to the top.

"Izuna."

Time seemed to have stopped for that single moment.

"Izuna?" she repeated, absolutely flabbergasted.

"Yeah, what's wrong with it?" he said defensively.

"That's my name," she told him with a frown.

And for the first time that night, the two Izunas looked at each other and broke out into a smile.

"Izu-chan, then!" the Uchiha boy said, smiling at her widely.

Izuna tilted her head towards him, her blue eyes looking into his with curiosity. "Izu... chan?" she asked, only to receive a nod from him.

"Yes, it'll be my nickname for you!" he said proudly, "Of course, you'll need one for me, too."

"Neko-Zuna!" she said brightly, watching as he gagged at the 'Neko' part in it. She frowned at him and asked, "You don't like it?"

"Neko's not very manly, Izu-chan."

"Hmmn... Zuna, then!"

Izuna nodded, content with her new nickname for him. The two sat silently together for a few minutes, looking up at the sky until it darkened. Suddenly, Izuna remembered her brother, on the nights they had stared up and gazed at the stars.

It was something they had done every time she was unable to sleep. Her mother had started it, when she had met her father. So sitting here with her new friend, Izuna couldn't help but be reminded of her family.

"I wonder if we can stop this war someday," the young boy mused out loud. "I don't even think we have a reason to keep fighting..."

"I don't know... I hope we can stop this war someday," she said sadly.

"How do we know what's worth fighting for," he said as he stood, "If it's not worth dying for?"

Author's Note: This is a collab fanfiction with MizukiChan_ and Rowena_Riddle123. We made it up after a little conversation on Mizuki's story called 'The Wars of Love'. If you haven't read it yet, you should go check it out! Izuna and Kazane are both in the same dimension and time-line so you'll get a few of the references if you've read both books! Thanks for reading!